This one was better than the last. Mostly cause Ethan is dead.
After three books, I thought, surely Ethan and Lena would run out of ways to c3.5 stars
This one was better than the last. Mostly cause Ethan is dead.
After three books, I thought, surely Ethan and Lena would run out of ways to confess their love??
It didn't matter if we were dead or alive. We could never be kept apart.
Apparently not.
Because, now that Ethan is dead, we have a whole new angle. Pining.
Even when I didn't know anything else about where I was or what I was supposed to be doing. You were my Wayward, even then. Everything always brought me back to you. Everything.
Mutual. Pining.
I love her beyond the universe and back. I love her from this world to the next.
Sigh. Just shootme now.
Okay, so if you manage to wade through all this lovey-dovey he-is-my-moonshe-is-my-stars stuff....the plot was actually a bit decent (better than the last two at least).
Ethan sacrificed himself at the end of book 3 and is now in the underworld. Which is a lot like the real world - only with lots of arbitrary and convenient rules to keep the plot plodding along.
Lena is mourning yet another death until she plucks up the courage to do something radical. Like bring her boyfriend back from the dead. After all, when has that idea ever gone wrong?
From then on, Lena and her friends spend all their time following arbitrary and convenient rules to bring back her dead boyfriend.
As usual, the only reason I'm continuing this with this series is because the authors can write absolutely amazing side characters.
Well...side character.
I abso-freaking-lutely adore Link. He has such a hilarious personality that it really makes this series shine.
As I followed him along the sharp black stones, I could hear Link's voice in my head. "Bad move, man. He's gonna kill you, stuff you, and add you to his collection of idiots who followed him back to his creepy cave
Audiobook Comments Read jointly by Kevin T. Collins and Khristine Hvam. As usual, I enjoyed the narration by Kevin Collins and all the character he gives to the folks of Gatlin County.
For the first time, we have the story written from the perspective Lena. We have a new narrator (Khristine Hvam) for Lena's parts. However, what really threw me off was that the new narrator did all the accents differently. Some of them were so different that I really had to pay attention keep track of who was who.
When I first met you, that's what I remember. I looked up at the sky and thought, I'm goi
2.5 stars
This Chaos was not Beautiful. It was just Chaos.
When I first met you, that's what I remember. I looked up at the sky and thought, I'm going to love this person because even the sky looks different.
Its just... everything is SO DRAMATIC all the time. I'm exhausted. I'm drained. I just don't care anymore.
The mortal world is in a state of Beautiful Chaos and destruction, which will ultimately lead to an exquisite end.
See? It's all fluff and drama and ANGST.
All of these plots are blending together - there's hardly any distinction between the books and we keep circling the same problems every time.
To Summarize: Ethan LOVES Lena. Lena LOVES Ethan. But they can't be together BECAUSE REASONS (actually, it's because if they were to bang, Ethan would burn up and die. BECAUSE REASONS. (But they still make out all the friggin time))
I needed to touch her, like I needed to breathe.
Can you feel my frustration?
To Expand my Summary: Ethan's hometown (Gatlin) is experiencing an absolutely insane summer - locusts, heatwaves, terrible storms - are all condensing on their little town.
Link's mom thinks it's the end of the world - and she just may be right.
In the last book, Lena decided to be a special snowflake and claim herself (opposed to letting either the dark or the light side claim her).
Her decision caused the whole Caster world to be thrown into chaos. Again.
Ethan's dreams are getting crazy. Again.
Lena is withdrawing from him. Again.
They both experience crazy fits of jealousy and love. Again.
Rinse & Repeat.
Honestly, the only thing keeping me going is Link.
I love absolutely everything about this kid. He was just bitten by an incubus and now is a quarter supernatural. He's renamed himself the Linkubus. The Linkubus.
And despite feeding off people's dreams and being a creature of the night, he's still the best dang thing about this series.
“Hey, Ethan." "Yeah?" "Remember the Twinkie on the bus? The one I gave you in second grade, the day we met?" "The one you found on the floor and gave me without telling me? Nice." He grinned and shot the ball. "It never really fell on the floor. I made that part up.�
He's my only reason for reading this book. I could care less if anyone dies in this book. (well, except Ridley and that's only cause Link is crushing on her and Link deserves happiness.)
But.
Here comes the real question: Is he worth suffering from this level of love?
She closed her eyes, and I closed mine, and even though we weren't holding hands, it felt like we were.
Honestly. Yes. The Linkubus makes every last word worth it.
“This church picnic ain't no picnic./You're my fried chicken./ Holy finger-lickin'..." Savannah yelled at him over the music. "Are you callin' me a piece a fried chicken?" "Nah. Not you, Slush Queen. Never." He closed his eyes and pounded out the drums on the dashboard of the Beater.
Link is my true love.
Audiobook Comments Read by Kevin T. Collins - he did a pretty good job of it.
I was not boy crazy. Really, I wasn't. But I was lonely, I guess.
Ohhh Nelly, I think I'm getting too old for these novels...
When there's someth
I was not boy crazy. Really, I wasn't. But I was lonely, I guess.
Ohhh Nelly, I think I'm getting too old for these novels...
When there's something or someone, when there's anything that makes you happy, you don't let a continent or an ocean or an empty pocket keep you apart
Yuuuuuup. Definitely too old for this mess.
It just felt so incredibly...preteen-end-all-be-all love. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy this one but every major decision our main character (Drew) made just made me want to roll my eyes.
Maybe it's because I'm more than a decade out of this but she seemed just so oblivious to everything that really mattered.
Case-and-point: Oh? There's a boy hanging around waiting for me to drop off the leftover cheese every day from the cheese shop? Huh. Weird. (absolutely no thoughts to his obvious homelessness and hunger).
Case-and-point: Oh? I have a pet rat? Let me confine that rat to a too-small cage in my backpack for 8 hours at a time because I want to keep him with me. (absolutely no thoughts from her OR her mother about animal cruelty.)
Let me drop everything, get on a bus with the homeless boy and abandon my pet rat in some big poetical goodbye worth of Anne of Green Gables. (ABSOLUTELY NO THOUGHTS about how she hid that rat in her backpack for nearly a year and no one noticed. Oh no. Let me just abandon the poor tame thing to starve in the wild.
Ethan lives in Gatlin and which is just about the most
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Teenagers. Everything is so apocalyptic.
Truer words have never been spoken.
Ethan lives in Gatlin and which is just about the most boring town in existence.
Well...until Old Man Ravenwood's niece shows up in the company of a wolf and driving a hearse. Things suddenly got a lot more interesting.
There's just something so...ethereal...about Lena. The way she moves, the way she talks, her hopes and fears and loves - Ethan knows right away:
Lena wasn't just some girl you took to the last three rows of the CINEPLEX. She was more than that.
Well, hot damn. Isn't that a stunning endorsement. (Okay, okay. Sarcasm aside, I was actually really taken with this story.)
Within a few days Ethan finds himself falling hopelessly and helplessly in love.
I never loved you any more than I do, right this second. And I'll never love you any less than I do, right this second.
But this isn't solely a love story. Lena is a caster - belonging to a magic race - and there's a horrible fate looming over her.
On her sixteenth birthday, Lena will be claimed as either the light or the dark. And if she goes dark, she's powerless to stop it.
Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures.
Unusual for YA lit/romance, we have a love story from a guy's perspective. And we are blessed with lines such as:
You're so full of crap, you could pass for a toilet.
Utter brilliance.
Where do I even begin?
The rating is so low because it took me three tries to get through this novel and I'm not going to go attempt it again.
Ethan felt so over-the-top mellow dramatic that he actually turned a rather cool concept into something that needed to be slogged through.
There was so much emphasis on the will-they-won't-they aspect of Ethan and Lena's relationship that I honestly completely detached and didn't care one whit whether they would ever get together.
The only thing that kept me going was Lincoln - Ethan's deeply southern best friend.
Lincoln made the entire book worth it - and if he would've starred in this novel, I would've five-starred it in a heartbeat.
He's off-the-cuff hilarious and provides a much-needed break from Ethan's lovesick musings.
Audiobook Comments
The reader had the slowest southern accent I've ever had the displeasure of listening to. I've stopped listening to this book twice now solely cause it was just draggggging.
I had just about given up hope of ever finishing...when I've discovered that my newly acquired reading app lets me listen to books on 2x speed. Success!
Another note: The song "Sixteen Moons" floats in and out of this book several times and the audiobook went above and beyond.
I absolutely motherfreaking love it when I listen to audiobooks that takes lyrics and creates songs for us. Now, every time I read the lyrics, the melody goes through my head.
Sixteen Moons, Sixteen Years Sixteen of your deepest fears Sixteen times you dreamed my tears Falling, Falling through the years
The Finer Books Club - 2018 Reading Challenge: A book on your DNF list
It felt more like the author was frantically filling in plot holes rather tOverwhelmingly underwhelming.
And that is as about as positive as I can get.
It felt more like the author was frantically filling in plot holes rather than writing something new.
The Transfer - Was this one reallllly necessary???
From the main books, we already know that Four picked Dauntless because he wanted to escape his abusive father.
And this short story....told exactly that. I suppose, it was just a really, really drawn out version... but still. Felt like a waste of page space.
The Initiate - This was a bit interesting.
We see some of the main players from Divergent (mainly Eric and the Dauntless-born initiates) as Four comes to terms with his new life.
But honestly, it feels like we already lived through this.
Divergent - A Stiff enters dauntless, gets ridiculed but manages to come out on top.
The Initiate - A Stiff enters dauntless BUT he's like, super nervous and stuff, gets ridiculed and manages to come out on top.
And we see how he gets his tat. That bit bugged the ever-living daylights out of me.
He goes on and on about how NO ONE CAN KNOW HE'S DIVERGENT. And what does he do? Literally gets the most divergent possible tattoo on his body ever. I mean, honestly. This kid.
The Son - Four trains for a leadership position.
He spends most of the time waffling on whether or not he wants to do it. Then decides not to "because reasons."
Four is all like, "oh no, I don't like that my faction is corrupted. Whine whine whine."
Then he abandons the leadership position thus allowing the corrupted guy to get the spot. NO WONDER YOUR FACTION FALLS APART.
The Traitor - honestly just filling in plot holes.
How does he get into the computer room?
How does he know about the abnegation attack?
Then, he meets Tris and falls in love with her because reasons. Blah blah blah.
Extra scenes from Four's perspective - talk about a waste of paper. No inner revelations, no big reveals.
Honestly, I think I preferred it when we weren't in his head. He seemed much more interesting that way.
The Finer Books Club 2018 Reading Challenge - a book with a number in the title
No. This isn't some euphemism for a beefy gay man.
She motherf*cking literallyf*cked **spoiler alert** She f*cked a bear.
She literally f*cked a bear.
No. This isn't some euphemism for a beefy gay man.
She motherf*cking literallyf*cked a literal bear.
What. The. Hell.
Okay. So. I'm not a cultured reader. I read mostly YA and...well...that's about it. BUT, I am a reader. A layman reader. So, here is the review from a casual just-for-fun reader:
She f*cked a bear.
For the record: did I pick up this book knowing there will be bear-f*ckery? No.
I picked it because I wanted (for once) to read a novel. I wanted one of those fancy English-students-read-this sort of novels.
I found this 120ish page book on the "suggested reads" table of my local library. Here's the blurb from the back:
Marian Engel, one of Canada's most celebrated and provocative novelest, died...The short and controversal novel "Bear," her last and best-known work...
It sounded good - it had all the hallmarks for cultured reading, right? It won prizes, it's by a treasured national author, it was controversial. I was pumped - watch out world, I'm gonna get cultured.
The book started off okay. It's a bit pretentious but it was manageable. There's an isolated, island house donated to a historical society and it's filled with old books.
For once, instead of Sunday school attendance certificates, old emigration documents, envelopes of unidentified farmer's Sunday photographs and withered love letters, something of read value had been left to them.
A librarian (Lou) is sent there for the summer to categorize and catalog the collection. There's an old bear chained up that was the family pet that our Lou needs to care for.
At this point, the book wasn't too bad. It wasn't particularly gripping but hey. Not bad. Then we get to the "First Look":
As she sat down, she realized the bear was standing in his doorway staring at her.
Bear. There. Staring.
She stared back.
Again, not bad. She starts to befriend the bear, bringing him food, petting his fur, giving him anthropomorphic characteristics....essentially all the things that even a five year old knows NOT to do with a wild animal.
At one point Lou walks the bear on his chain to the island's edge and as the bear swims, she jumps in naked.
Yes, it was a bit odd - it was odd that she thinks of the bear with so many human emotions, that she goes skinny-dipping with him, that she notices his very "male-ness" when she first meets him....but I maintain that at this point, there wasn't any indication that things were going to go so far south.
I remember thinking, "Oh jeez. That's those fancy-novels. Free spirits. Wouldn't it be funny if..."
Turns out, that was not funny.
To summarize the rest of the book: (And note, I'm summarizing this in the blandest way possible but I'm still putting it as a spoiler - so you have been warned):
Did the side character know? Did anyone find out? What was the plot?
Honestly, from pg 80 on I skipped every page that involved genitalia and stimulation thus reading maybe 20 of the 40 remaining pages. It was just too much.
I didn't get the plot but I am not going back for it.
After all, this is Morticia. This is the Grand High Witch.
Ultimately, this was a name-dropping, humble-brI really, really tried to like this one.
After all, this is Morticia. This is the Grand High Witch.
Ultimately, this was a name-dropping, humble-bragging mess of a book. Literally, this book was just her narrating her career in the blandest way possible.
Huston spends the first half of the book obsessing over her obsession with Jack Nicholson - it was literally her describing Jack's career and including her own experiences as side-stories. Not particularly what I was interested in, but it was palatable.
And then, when we finally moved on to her career, the book became just: I worked with so-and-so and it was really great. Or: I met so-and-so and he was kind to me but rumored to have a mean streak. So-and-so gave my career a huge lift.
I was pulling out my hair. Too many people were introduced and not enough of them were followed up with or given enough distinct characteristics to remember them. I completely gave up on keeping track of who was who by the end of the 10th chapter and passively listened to this audiobook until it finished.
It was like reading a Wikipedia article in first person only not as interesting. I didn't feel any emotional connection to this book other than relief that it was over.
The 2018 ABC Challenge - W
Audiobook Comments Huston DID read her own book, but she did not inflect much tone variation to the text. Her voice did take on a really tragic tone every time something sad happened to her but it felt rather forced and it seemed like something I'd hear on a soap opera.
Cinderella is a tired tale. It's been done. It's been redone. It's been re-redone.
So, if I'm going to pick up (yet another) retelling, it really has tCinderella is a tired tale. It's been done. It's been redone. It's been re-redone.
So, if I'm going to pick up (yet another) retelling, it really has to blow me away. I need to be wowed. My socks must be knocked off.
Those socks remained firm. (Not even a twitch.)
In this version, Ash (our Cinder) is raised by her (unsurprisingly) evil stepmother and her only joy is rereading fairytales next to the fireplace ashes (hence the name Ash (how clever)).
She would rather be alone in her room than alone in the midst of a celebration she was not a part of.
Just when her life is at the pinnacle of hopelessness and she's sinking into a deep depression, she meets Sidhean. He's a member of the fae - and promises to whisk her away to his lands.
Soon he's all she can think of. Only his promises aren't what they seem and she's none the wiser.
“Every time you come near me,� he said, “you come closer to the end of everything.�
Then one day, Ash meets Kasia (the Queen's Huntress) and through their friendship (and eventually love) she finds the courage and hope to keep living.
With her heart hammering in her throat, Ash asked, ‘Will you do me the honor of dancing with me?� She looked up at Kaisa, and the huntress� look of bewilderment was changing, slowly, to a small, tentative smile.
I liked the idea of this one. The darker aspects of the tale, the menace of the fairies and the sweet romance between Ash and Kasia...only nothing really clicked for me. The characters felt flat, their phrases alternated between wooden and cliche, and the romance was just too predictable. No spark.
The strongest emotion I felt was just overwhelming boredom and exasperation. I lost time that I can never get back.
I'm seriously questioning every positive thought I had about this series. Is the last one just so much worse than the rest or was the whole series terI'm seriously questioning every positive thought I had about this series. Is the last one just so much worse than the rest or was the whole series terrible and I never noticed?
Latest is up - a totally serious take on writing Young Adult Lit!
The Written Review
An absolute dumpster fire
I do not say this
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Latest is up - a totally serious take on writing Young Adult Lit!
The Written Review
An absolute dumpster fire
I do not say this lightly. This has (quite possibly) been the most difficult book I've ever forced myself through.
It violated the three "Big Three": Plot, Character and Dialogue. I can handle a book is a bit sucky on any one of those, or even two. But all three? The entire book? Are. You. Kidding.
The Plot (aka The Plotholes)
After you die on Earth, your Firstlife is over. You then have three options. If you signed with one of the two realms (Troika and Myriad aka Heaven and Hell), you will go there. If you are Unsigned, you go to Many Ends (Purgatory).
Tenely (our main character) is at the age of consent (17) and thus can be recruited by either side. She declines to make a decision and is thrown into essentially a concentration camp by her parents until either (A) she signs with one or (B) she ages out (at 18).
Troika and Myriad are at war and have been at war for over a hundred years and are constantly sending "laborers" to recruit more soldiers. BUT it's never explained (A) the purpose of the war and (B) what they are fighting for.
Let me repeat this: The entire plot of this book is which side Tenley will choose to fight for and we have no idea why they're fighting.
The best part? The book goes on and on about how there's No Second Chance - once you die, that's it and you can never go back. Tenley died four times.
The Characters (aka My Hit List)
We center on Tenley - a particularly special girl with a special destiny and an especially special personality. She's a quirky special snowflake.
“Oh, and let’s not forget the time I was waterboarded. So fun!� Shut up! common sense shouts. I’m oversharing when it’s time to be a vault. Oh, who cares? This is a wonderful day, and I love absolutely everyone!
Just picture an entire book filled with that...and add in the obsessive number comparisons which crops up because she's Ten-ley. Get it? GET IT? It's so quirky!!
“Just thirteen streaks of blood.� In the ancient past, thirteen steps led to the gallows. A hangman’s noose has thirteen knots. At thirteen, children are considered teenagers.
Tenley is relentlessly pursued by two Laborers - Archer (Troika) and Killian (Myriad) - hell-bent on getting her to sign with their realm and getting into her pants. They are technically in their Secondlife but can possess Shells to interact with the human world.
Also, they are unbelievably hot (like you have no idea how completely gorgeous they are. OMG. heavy breathing.). Don't believe me? Sloan (the former mean girl / sworn enemy) completely collapses at the sight of them - regressing to the mind of an elementary child:
“He’s hot,� Sloan says in a stage whisper. Hoping he’ll hear and respond? Then she gives up all pretense of timidity and makes grabby hands. “Yummy yum yum, give baby some sugar.�
But of course, in typical YA dogma, both hotties completely fall in love with the quirky main character within the first day. Thus burdening her overtaxed mind with more decisions. It's a rough life.
The Dialogue (aka How Was this Typed with a Straight Face??)
Now I smile sweetly at him. “Cockiness kills as surely as this knife.� I use the tip of my weapon to give his berries a little pat.
Archer (along with the other characters but he's especially like this) is given that "edgy humor" - which came off as cripplingly cringey:
"If your lady balls are so big, why don’t they call you Hairy Cherries? Or Furry Meatballs?"
Or this:
"Well, duh. Because neither name describes your explosive temper. Oh! I know. I’ll call you Sperm Bank! It covers the balls and the explosions."
Or this:
"Boobs are awesome, yeah? Literal fun-bags. I don’t know what you girls are always complaining about."
Killian aka the "he-slut" (EXCUSE ME GENA SHOWALTER, it's man-whore and you know it) has finally found love through Tenley. Sure he used to bang everything that moved but Tenley tamed him with just a look. Oh, and he's Irish because he says Lass. Eighteen times.
The Summary (aka this is literally me the entire time)
Me vs. Tenley [image]
Tenley: [image]
Me: [image]
After all my complaining, there is something positive that can be gained. If this can be published, anything can happen. Never give up on your dreams.
The Finer Books Club - 2018 Reading Challenge: A book a friend doesn't recommend
P.s. With many thanks to Angela's Booked for "not recommending" this book.
P.p.s. I will be reading Book 2 solely to "not recommend" it to you.
Ohhh yeah, (check out the video to see all my unpopular opinions...if you dare.)
Anyway, onwards to the review!
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[image]
Ohhh yeah, (check out the video to see all my unpopular opinions...if you dare.)
Anyway, onwards to the review!
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I thought about falling to my knees on purpose. This was the kind of beauty you worshiped. The kind you built temples for and offered sacrifices to...what would a goddess want from a mediocre mortal like me?
BWAHAHAHA....wait....she actually published this?
So, I reread the entirety of Twilight in preparation for this novel. I really shouldn't have. Twilight was not re-imagined...this was literally the same book.
For those not familiar, Stephenie published a gender-swapped Twilight.
This was a cool idea - instead of Edward, we have Edyth, instead of Bella, we have Beau, etc. Like before, Beau/Bella moves to town, and falls in love with a 100-year-old vampire (etc).
"It would be more...prudent for you not to be my friend," she explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Beau."
What changes is our perception of the story due to gender roles - for example Dr Cullen (now Dr Corrine Cullen) lives in Forks because her husband (Ernest/Esme) adores small-town life.
I didn't question that choice when Esme wanted to live in a small town but I paused a bit when Ernest voiced that opinion.
Girls forcing hubbies to live in small town is cute and normal. A guy constricting his wife to limit her career so he can live the small town life - completely different vibe.
So, that bit was interesting.
However, Stephenie just changed the characters' pronouns and not their personalities.
I can understand if their core traits were the same (i.e. Edyth/Edward is protective, Beau/Bella is clumsy) but this book went too far.
Beau becomes this ultra-feminine guy (i.e. he borrows and snuggles into Edyth's scarf cause he's cold). For context, Bella doing this with Edward's jacket made sense in the context. With Beau.... not so much.
Perhaps it's because scarves are not naturally warm enough to warrant the action... or perhaps it's just ingrained into society that men don't wear their girlfriend's clothing.
There was no humor in her face now. Her eyes were intense, narrowed, the long lines of her lashes stark black against her skin. Her voice had a strange heat to it. I couldn't remember how to breathe.
"Will you accept a ride with me to Seattle?" she demanded, voice still burning.
At any rate, that scene (like so many others) felt awkward and cringey to read.
Stephenie Meyer was supposed to swap the genders, not turn Beau into a girl.
Ctrl+F "She" replace with "He"[image]
In addition, I had a pretty big issue was the amount of reused material.
To put this into context, people have been rewriting fairy tales for decades.
When you read a retelling of Cinderella (even a gender-swapped one), the characters are all there (step-monster, step-monster's spawn, etc) but the order of events, their personalities and how things happen is drastically changed.
I might know where the plot is going, but I have no idea how it will get there. Life and Death was identical to Twilight.
From the first look to the big reveal in the meadow - nothing original.
Even Rosalie/Royal still had that whole jealous petty cat fight relationship going on with Bella/Beau... complete with Beau constantly noticing Royal's hotness (and then getting all down because he'll never be so hot.)
Even the quotes were the same. I could totally understand re-using the big quotes - the ones that really defined the first novel (i.e. "uncontrollably and irrevocably in love") but so much of the ordinary dialogue was reused that it became boring.
This book had so much potential but it fell so, so short of that.
P.s. Technically, it's a 2.5 star book but honestly, so much of it was blatant self-plagiarism that I just knocked off a couple of stars out of annoyance.
Edit: because according to private messages I'm sexist a**hole and should be ashamed of my review.
Ok. So.
This may be a bad example but it's the best one I can think of to convey how it felt to read this book.
So, picture a book whose premise is that all dogs are cats and all cats are dogs. Flipping species.
And the first scene starts with:
Dog: sniffs scratching post before deciding to scratch couch. Kills a mouse.
Cat: chases tail, rolls in mud.
And while yes, I consciously know that the species are swapped... but the dog is doing VERY catlike things... so much that it's hard to think of the dog as a dog, instead the actions begin to associate within my mind as a cat.
And yet, everyone else in the book looks around and goes, "yup. That's a dog, you can tell by the meows."
It would have worked far better if the dog kept some core traits and adopted a few of his new species. Instead, because the dog acts so catlike that wherever he is in the scene, all I can think of is how the dog is a cat.
So... might not be the best example but that's how it felt reading this book.
Beau did SO many things that would make sense as a girl (aka as Bella), but since he was a man, those actions no longer made sense.
I could definitely have seen this book as a really great way to play on everyday bias present in society but it just wasn't handled with the finesse needed for such a wild and broad concept. Instead, the book came off as clunky and heavy-handed.
Audiobook Comments Well-read by Michael Crouch... though I could have used a bit more distinction between characters - with tone/inflection.