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| 1492658278
| 9781492658276
| 1492658278
| 3.79
| 6,361
| Mar 05, 2019
| Mar 05, 2019
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liked it
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Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but thi
Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book. Let’s start with what I liked about this book. Ariel’s struggle to maintain academic excellency in a high achieving school environment was all-too realistic. He taught himself to play the system to earn extra credit on poor assignments, insert as many AP classes into his schedule as possible, and choose hobbies a college would look favourably upon. Ariel found little joy in what he did. He carved more and more time from his family (the one thing he still kept for himself) and became sleep deprived, irritable, and reckless. It was a scary journey into the effects of academic pressure. I saw myself in Ariel’s pains, as I know so many readers will. Sometimes, I even caught myself thinking, “Okay, Ariel, quit chatting with your friends and finish that essay and maybe you won’t be so stressed.� He was stressed because of all the work, and the little time he had with friends was the reprieve. It’s so, so sad how we are conditioned into believing more work is the answer. Not smarter work. Not better priorities. As much as I ached for Ariel’s journey with schooling, I halted when it came to him as a person. He started his senior year, and it was like all of a sudden he didn’t understand math and really, really found Amir (his close family friend) super sexy. As a reader, I’m told that Ariel is the top student in the school and that everyone thought he hated Amir. The introduction of these plot points just felt like poor writing to get the story rolling. Ariel and Amir’s romance was very cringe-worthy. Leading up to the first tutoring session (and then during), every time Ariel looks at Amir he notes a different sexy/extremely attractive part of his body that he somehow never saw in all the years they knew each other. The fact that this attraction comes out of nowhere and is put in almost every thought Ariel has about Amir was overwhelming. What is worse is that before they make the relationship official, the pair do not talk of anything of substance. It’s largely based on attraction. Afterwards, they have a running joke about Harry Potter but for as much as Amir seems to love HP, I never got the same interest from Ariel (he has nothing in his personal life that suggested it.) I enjoyed the relationship between Ariel and his sister, Rachel. The way academic pressure pops up in her life was a surprise, but not unknown. Despite only being in fifth-grade, the realities she faces are happening more and more. I’m glad her story was brought in, too. And of course, Rachel is absolutely so sweet. I saved the possibly worst for last. I got so, so annoyed with Sook, Ariel’s best friend. I really wish this character was not in the book. Sook’s family is rich and has ties to Dartmouth. They want their daughter to go to Dartmouth (and have pulled ties for her to go there), but she wants to be a musician instead. The narrative is interesting in the beginning. Everyone in this book is focused on the traditional college track, but Sook wants to carve her own path. But Sook ends up representing the worst of “spoiled rich girl� stereotypes. The way this happened infuriated me because it diminished the entire beginning of her narrative AND reflected horribly on her friendship with Ariel. I had a gross taste in my mouth at how she treated him. If someone treated me like Sook, do not expect them to be my friend. This is not friendship. NONETHELESS. If you want to read this book for YA that handles academic pressure, I recommend so much. But the friendship themes in this book, and the romance, just were not it for me. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 18, 2018
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Oct 31, 2018
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Oct 18, 2018
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Paperback
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| 006267367X
| 9780062673671
| 006267367X
| 3.32
| 3,931
| May 15, 2018
| May 15, 2018
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it was ok
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What YA fan hasn't dreamed of meeting their favourite author? Penaflor had a home run waiting with this exciting premise featuring three best friends
What YA fan hasn't dreamed of meeting their favourite author? Penaflor had a home run waiting with this exciting premise featuring three best friends and the new boy at their school who befriend famed author Fatima Ro. However, a dragging plot line, two-dimensional characters, and lackluster climax sapped the strength from this novel. All of This is True is told using multimedia, an absolute sell for me with novels. If I wasn't already hooked on the summary, I was in for the creative storytelling method. But the innovative technique didn't successfully transmit character voices. In a book that was clearly going for a thriller vibe, I was left with two-dimensional main characters and � worse � a central character with no voice at all. Soleil's chapters were all told in journal entries she recorded, in the past, when she first met author Fatima Ro. Penny's and Miri's chapters came from a television interview, and their voices were so similar I kept forgetting who was speaking. Worst of all: the characters spent so much time talking about Fatima, I was left with very little impression of who they were. All of This is True is ultimately the story of Fatima Ro stealing Jonah's story (a dark past) and how the published version causes harm to him. Despite the severe consequences for Jonah, and the horrible truths about Jonah that come to light, Jonah himself never has a voice in this book. Miri, Penny, and Soleil don't even talk that much about Jonah ... which is frustrating because I wanted to know more about him. It was a disservice to cut out a voice that meant so much to this narrative. At the end of the day though, I devoured this book. I kept reading, dying to know what happened next and why Fatima was so precious to the girls. All of This is True is compulsively readable. Penaflor makes her point that authors owe their readers something. I question now what that something is. ...more |
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1
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Oct 16, 2018
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Oct 16, 2018
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Oct 18, 2018
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Kindle Edition
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| 0062679651
| 9780062679659
| B079DR5C1W
| 3.75
| 1,439
| Feb 12, 2019
| Feb 12, 2019
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None
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0
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not set
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not set
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Oct 18, 2018
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Kindle Edition
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| 0062498533
| 9780062498533
| 0062498533
| 4.46
| 970,271
| Feb 28, 2017
| Feb 28, 2017
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it was amazing
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I need to come back later to write actual words that will represent my thoughts and emotions. Right now I'm a massive case of THANK YOU FOR WRITING TH I need to come back later to write actual words that will represent my thoughts and emotions. Right now I'm a massive case of THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS ANGIE THOMAS and THIS. THIS JUST HAPPENED. Words on pages that need to be read. ...more |
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1
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Oct 12, 2018
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Oct 14, 2018
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Oct 15, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 0373212445
| 9780373212446
| 0373212445
| 3.66
| 4,850
| Aug 29, 2017
| Aug 29, 2017
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really liked it
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I promise I have no desire for the world to become a hot dystopian mess where dictators throw us in pits to fight for scraps of food, and we all have
I promise I have no desire for the world to become a hot dystopian mess where dictators throw us in pits to fight for scraps of food, and we all have to wear potato sacks so no one becomes envious of wealth. BUT I LIVE FOR BOOKS LIKE All Rights Reserved. Kind of like how I sometimes go into my basement and purposefully think, "Maybe there's a murderer in here" just to absolutely terrify myself, I pick up dystopian fics to imagine a world gone wrong to give myself a kick in the butt so I know THIS IS NOT WHAT WE WANT PEOPLE. Speth lives several years in our future, where every single word is copyrighted, restricted, or trademarked. Individuals may speak freely until their fifteenth birthday, upon which they receive a cuff on their wrist that will monitor and charge them for every spoken word, voluntary laugh, and select gestures. Speth sparks a revolution when she chooses not to speak after witnessing her friend Beecher commit suicide because of his mounting word debts. For a dystopian hero, Speth stands out as a more passive leader. Indeed, she never chose her fight (but what hero does anymore?) and her "superpower" is her decision to not speak. The initial two-thirds of the book happened as a result of Speth, not because of Speth, and her inability to speak meant she observed, played along, and suffered in silence a lot. Through Speth's perspective, I grew to love her younger brother Sam. I gained a lot of information broken up by character introductions and OMG I did meet some of the best characters. But after a bit, Speth's silence grew frustrating. Preventable (upsetting) events happened and she did nothing so she could maintain her silence. Once the major plot line started up, I was ready. There had been too much should I but shouldn't I? inaction until that point! The book ended with a few loose threads, but apparently there is a sequel, which I didn't realize going in. As much as I disliked how loooong the center of this book was, though, I absolutely adore the worldbuilding that I gleaned. 4 crowns. ...more |
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1
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Oct 19, 2018
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Oct 27, 2018
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Sep 27, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 153444324X
| 9781534443242
| 153444324X
| 3.18
| 21,898
| Dec 11, 2018
| Dec 11, 2018
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really liked it
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Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Margaret K. McElderry Books and Edelweiss. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my reade
Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Margaret K. McElderry Books and Edelweiss. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book. I loved every single moment of this book. I started the prologue with low expectations (I had accidentally glanced at the ŷ ratings, which I hate to do as it influences me and I prefer to be unbiased) but the writing was captivating. Every character bled their emotions on the page, be it Parker’s cockiness or Juniper’s stalwart determination. They were not caricatures of “a heartbroken best friend,� for example, but fleshed out and realistic depictions (minus the whole murder mystery dinner, because let’s be real, we all lack the motivation to plan that). Pitcher’s crowning glory in this book has to be the characters. They are all twisted up in emotions and motivations and dark pasts. My favourite? Parker. His character arc is not so much him learning something, but us, the readers, learning who he really is. Seeing the side he tries to hide � but is actually visible if you read through his actions. People like Parker exist, they are real, and Pitcher’s depiction is so real it hurts. I cannot forget to give mentions to the Shane and Ruby. Do I think this is a romance that would have defied the stars? Who knows, really. What sold me so much was that � oh. Wait. Yes, this is definitely spoiler territory. Let’s just say the truth of their relationship was an emotional high point for this book. I cannot ignore this book’s faults. This Lie Will Kill You is extremely predictable. I knew who the killer was from the prologue. (It was so obvious, a part of me wondered if it was a red herring. It wasn’t.) I guessed over 80% of the “dark secrets� held by the main characters. The main characters make really dumb decisions at several points in the novel often at odds with their character to enable the whole “trapped at the mystery dinner� plot to go forwards. I had to sit and contemplate these faults really hard, because usually all of this makes me dislike a book. Why would I want to read a book where I can guess what is going to happen? Why would I recommend it? The fact is that by the time I reached “the end,� I felt nothing negative. I just felt like I had a lot of fun. I truly enjoyed every moment I had read. This Lie Will Kill You was one of the first books I’ve read in a while where I just submerged into the writing and didn’t think “I need to take note of this, because after I have to write a review.� I was just sucked into the action-packed plot and fascinating characters. By its end, I was aching for the main characters � their losses, their lies. I recommend this book and give it a four crown rating. If I re-read it, I think I might start really picking apart what is available for dislike, but this one read left me with more than I expected: a hollow little ache in my chest for the characters that could have been more, but chose a darker path one fateful night. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 27, 2018
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Oct 15, 2018
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Sep 27, 2018
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1534404953
| 9781534404953
| 1534404953
| 3.71
| 9,831
| Jan 08, 2019
| Jan 08, 2019
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really liked it
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Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Simon Pulse through NetGalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this
Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Simon Pulse through NetGalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book. I imagine the drafting process for this novel included a meeting somewhat like this: “Kiersten. You must now make a choice. For Slayer, will you target A) readers who have only watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer or B) readers who have watched BtVS and read the comics or C) the readers who make up your dedicated fanbase but have not touched any Buffy-based media?� And Kiersten White said, “Why not all of them?� Slayer accommodates new and old Buffy fans alike, but not without a few bumps in the road. I’m well-versed in all things Buffy seasons one to seven, and White condensed the main facts � why vampires are major icksters, how Buffy got to be the icon she is today, what the heck a slayer is � quite well. I never read the comics, but I got all the important facts as well: Seed of Wonder, no more magic, okay, yes, alright. The issue became less “wait, what does that mean� and more “okay, but can *this* version actually start?� White spends almost 30% of the book explaining who is who, what is what, and why everything is happening. The first third of the book is so heavy on info-dumps I started scrolling forwards, eager for the action to begin. Main character Athena (Nina)’s actual actions feel drowned out by the many times she “pauses� to give information to the reader. Considering I skimmed several of these pages, and still understand the entirety of the book, I believe a lot of this info was unnecessary and just weighed down on the plot. Once I broke through what I loosely refer to as the “introductory section,� though, I was hooked. Nina’s character arc focuses on understanding her role as slayer: what it means within her family and what it means in relation to Buffy and the many other Chosen Ones. I love that in Slayer, Nine knows about the world of Slayers, that she has seen everything they can do, before she realizes she will be part of that world as well. Not to mention Nina has trained her entire life as a nurse � as a Slayer, she must fight her trained instincts to heal. White brought up several points about decisions and how we make them and � just the scene with Cillian and the decision Nina makes. That scene. If you know, you know. Putting Nina’s two worlds up against each other makes for such an interesting read and exploration of Slayer identity! There are moments in this book for die-hard Buffy fans. No, do not expect Buffy to walk in and start strutting around. This is Nina’s story. But there are fun parallels to Buffy’s own Slayer journey. Not to mention how amazing the fight scenes were. I swear I was watching a Buffy episode in my mind. White wrote the absolute best fight scenes in this book. They felt so true to BtVS with the moves, the quick thinking, and the inventiveness. The characters. There are definitely standouts in this book. I liked Nina for her journey and willingness to be herself, even if everyone else (literally, everyone) had already made up their minds on who she should be. A demon comes in later who is the absolute best and so much comedic relief and again: so much BtVS feels. For the most part, Nina and Artemis� relationship was the strong sibling bond we love to see in our books. Rhys and Cillian were good, I just wish they had more page time! As for other characters, well, let’s just say there is so much duplicity I don’t even know who is who or who to like or what was what. Which, I mean, outside of the Scooby Gang, kinda classic Buffy? I think by book two I will have nailed down my Spikes (evil but you want redeemed) and my Giles� (okay but also like half the characters are Watchers so it’s hard though!). I’m awarding this book 3.5 crowns. The beginning was just so hard to get into. I put it down three times at the start because the writing was so dry. Then after that “introductory section� I was flowing forwards with crazy action scenes, witty humour, and so much character enjoyment. Yes, I recommend, but do be aware the beginning takes a moment. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 25, 2018
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Oct 10, 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 0061985848
| 9780061985843
| 0061985848
| 3.88
| 99,039
| Aug 31, 2010
| Aug 31, 2010
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liked it
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Sha: Meet the first book in a trilogy that promises to delight fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural and Teen Wolf. If I threw all three of t
Sha: Meet the first book in a trilogy that promises to delight fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural and Teen Wolf. If I threw all three of those shows in a pot and mixed them together I would get a lot of doom and gloom with some snarky wit because otherwise the viewer would be sobbing themselves to sleep every night and who said the undead don’t like a chuckle now and then? Except Paranormalcy is PINK RHINESTONES AND GLITTER AND CUTE BOOOOYS, yes, yes, all caps were very much needed. (If you think I said “pink rhinestones� to make some kind of ironic statement, you would be wrong, because there are literal pink rhinestones. Very frequently.) Paranormalcy (book one) follows Evie, who lives in the underground tunnels the IPCA calls home. She captures vamps and werewolves and goblins and hags using a pink rhinestoned taser called Tasey (oh no, I spoiled the best part of the book) but whatevvvvvs that’s boring, because what she really likes doing is watching the in-book version of Pretty Little Liars (minus the mystery aspect, so basically just kissing). If you think that’s a little too Girl Next Door, whoa, hold on: hardly past chapter one, you’re greeted with a boy who is made of water (????) who breaks into the IPCA and Evie just can’t stay away from and a woman made of fire (okay, this is a little too fire and ice for me) who’s prancing around killing everyone. Not to mention everyone keeps repeating the lamest poetry ever. “Eyes like pools of melting snow.� They dream about it. They say it in unison. Like, please, if you’re going to crack dramatic lines like this, make them better? Let’s unravel this and figure out if this book is all salt or a little sweet! Rate Me Up, Scotty Sha: Never have I ever skimmed a book so hard. Okay, maybe about 40% of my class readings. But YA lit-wise? My eyes were soaring across the pages like a bird that just found its wings. I. Could not. Finish fast enough. From me, one star. Mandy: As Sha continuously reminded me, I was the one that brought this book upon both of our book lives, and back in the day, I used to loveeeeeeee this. I thought it was hilarious, it gave me book goals to have my own taser with a wondrous name, and made me see that paranormal books were the root of me living my best book life…in 2008. However, reread time? I’m 100% with Sha, and my skimming game was brilliance. And parts actually got me really upset? Therefore, one crown from moi. Was it Characters or Caricatures? Sha: Point of contention number one: who was even a real person in this book? Evie, our MC, was clearly written out to be “that girl who dreams about being a typical teenage girl.� Except one, she’s super weird. And two, her idealization of teenagerdom is way too extreme. She nearly faints when she gets to see high school lockers in person. Mandy: I definitely agree with Sha. I feel like Evie was every version of a girl discovering a cool supernatural or fantasy world and being OMG, SO COOL, I’M TOTALLY FANGIRLING. LET’S ALL BREAK OUT INTO ARIEL’S JAM AND SING “PART OF YOUR WORLD.� But instead of fangirling over cool new supernatural worlds, she did it with boring soap opera humans (oh, who am I lying, I used to love me some good soap operas.) But still � that was basically her entire characterization. Except she did everything like she was a hyperactive chipmunk? I’m serious when I say that I swear she was on a sugar rush for the entire book and wasn’t even as deep as Lish’s fish tank. Sha: Don’t even get me started with Lish’s characterization. Lish gets *no* personality. What do I know about her, having finished the book? Well, she’s a mermaid. She was (effectively) the secretary at IPCA. She was Evie’s friend (because she checked in on Evie after she returned from missions � which the secretary would do, tbh). Then there’s Raquel, the woman in charge at the IPCA center � who’s only standout quality was that she � also checked in on Evie after missions? Mandy: I think the only thing I actually know about Lish is that she’s supposed to be the spunky, supportive friend that is all FEISTY because she pretend curses and wants to hear about cute men. But she didn’t do it, so I don’t actually know what she was. Sha: Oooh! I forgot about the pretend curses. Could it be because she got about five minutes of page time, even though Evie pledges undying best friendship? And that this minimal page could is due to, hmm� All other pages devoted to the CUTE BOYS in the book? Mandy: Now that you mention it� I Will Go Down With This Ship? Mandy: Okay, I used to be down with this ship. Like, Lend (omg, Lend, like why evennnnnnnnnn that name) and Evie were the feels. The feely feels. The feels of my feels. But now? I loathe them. There was zero chemistry. I was too focused on his name, and how stupid she was being. I mean, the man just pops in with this weird shimmery body, and tries to tell you ~important~ things, and she’s all like, TAKE ME AWAY TO THE LAND OF LOCKERS AND CALCULUS BOOKS AND I WILL IGNORE ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL THE STRANGER DANGERS SIGNS. Oh, did I mention ZERO chemistry or tenison???? Sha: The first time I read this book I spent their entire relationship trying to understand how Lend’s body “looks like water� and “feels like glass� and this time when I read the book I tried to understand. For the first time I understood that Lend is invisible to everyone but Evie, unless he “puts on� a shape. That is how unclear his description is. But in terms of their relationship itself? How about this example: Evie is super excited. Finally, she is going to prom. Lend’s prom, to be exact. She has the hair, the dress. She runs up to his room, all glammed up. She swings open the door. But � he’s just laying on his bed, in his regular clothes, sketching. He doesn’t look up. He simply says, “Take off clothes, put on tux. Takes two minutes.� This is Evie’s first prom! I think she’s crazy about this high school stuff, but if you actually cared about her, wouldn’t you, I don’t know, get a corsage, gasp when you see how amazing she looks, put in some effort????? Mandy:…wait, they actually went to prom? Oh bleep. I must have been skinming too hard at that part. Bleeping bleep. Um, can we talk about Reth for a few seconds here? Because I have so many thoughts about this, and he’s somehow still a contender for a love interest even though he was creepy as bleep, a total predator, and no one does a single thing about his creepy fairy self? Sha: Oh, yes. Prom happened. And then Love Interest Number Two shows up and insists once more that Evie “let him fill her.� Oh, darns, did we not hash that creepness out yet? Mandy: His storyline made me feel SO uncomfortable. Evie constantly talks about how much he creeps her out to all of her superiors, and guess what! They do nothing, and he just magically appears over and over and over again. He basically kidnaps her and locks her in his…hut? IDK, fairy house. Anyway, he locks her in there, she panics, and has to get some other fairy to come and get her � and what does Reth get? Literally no repercussions besides a strongly worded order to stay away from her. He felt like a slimey, creeptastic predator � oh, because he was � and he apparently is still around in the third book. He made me very upset with the stupid phrases that Sha mentioned above and so much more, and I still don’t know why we had to have him around sooooooooo much. Tell me I’m not alone in this, Sha. Sha: You’re not alone for a second. I like to believe that this book would not have survived published in 2018. The amount of not-okay that Reth exudes (while apparently being pegged a love interest??) is uncomfortable at best. The Plot Thickens, Curdles, and Goes Sour…or was that the milk? Sha: The plot in this book moves faster than me when I’m driving and I panic because even though it’s a forty zone and I’m GOING FORTY GODDAMMIT the person behind me is riding my bumper so I inch up to fifty and still it’s NOT ENOUGH??? so then I’m flying at seventy and holy shit may there be no cops. That is the one thing and one thing only you need to know about this book. Because one second you’re cracking open the book and it’s all, hello, I’m Evie, welcome to chapter one. And the next you’re knee deep in evil fairies and hags and fire people and water shape-shifters and a prom and nothing makes any sense but you’re there. Mandy: I remember there is this one scene in the novel where someone important literally gets stabbed in the neck. Like, FATALLY stabbed in the neck, and it’s all like :O and OMG, and all of a sudden, the character just gets up, walks over to some other people, the chapter ends, and we never talk about the neck stabbing again. I feel like there was so much time focusing on how much Evie liked pink, her soap opera, and wanted to caress a locker, and major, major, MAJOR plot points got two seconds of screentime. Sha: Can I just preach this a thousand times over? Literally, there is a fire woman running around killing hundreds of paranormals and Evie is spending her time thinking about how cute Lend is. The Write Way Mandy: White has obviously made a big name for herself with her book, And I Darken, and I have to believe her writing gets better with time. I will say that the thing that I absolutely did enjoy was the mythology. I thought it was fun and quirky and it was just this brand new concept of having some sort of FBI agency for paranormal creatures. I still standby this as one of the coolest concepts that I’ve seen in YA. Sha: I sob at the thought of how great this premise is. I really do like agents hiding in the shadows to protect citizens from the dangers of the paranormal world. But Evie’s character was not the one to tell that story. She was just too childish and obsessed with boys. Mandy: My very first comment to Sha once starting this book was why did we have to have every man’s cuteness described to us. Literally, any male character pops onto the book scene? We had to have a comment � or a PARAGRAPH � letting us know whether or not he was cute or not. I DON’T CARE IF THE JANITOR VAMPIRE WAS CUTE. I JUST WANTED TO GET TO THE PLOT. The Conclusion of All Conclusions Sha: Alright, so this review clearly was not a positive one. White had some ups with this book. Agents who protect people from the paranormal world? Cool. The idea that there is a resistance that *also* helps people and paranormals? Equally cool. But this book was just very underdeveloped. Way too much time was spent on Lend and Evie, to the point that any actual plot was put on the backburner. If this review sounded like it just talked about romance and sometimes a rando fire woman� that’s kinda how the book read? I ended this first book feeling like it was actually just the first part of a two part episode: as in, all the pieces were set up, but the writers refused to give any actual answers. Super frustrating! Mandy: Sha said it so brilliantly: the book is basically about romance and rando fire woman, and there was just nothing else to it besides some serious locker envy and discussion of hot pink things. This story had potential to be something great and funny and fresh, but instead it was random hyper chipmunk that gave me a predator and a bland love interest. It made me uncomfortable and not feeling a single thing for anything. Definitely would not recommend � also, Sha, we really need to stop ruining our childhood favorites. We’re crushing them very valiantly…or at least I am. EDIT: I reviewed my rating. While I don't love the plotting pace in this book, there is still a structure. My initial one star rating wasn't fair to the quality of this book VS the other one books I've rated one star. I'm now rating 2.5 with a round up to 3. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0373210043
| 9780373210046
| 0373210043
| 3.96
| 21,210
| Dec 29, 2009
| Dec 29, 2009
|
liked it
|
Mandy and Sha are back in action for the next buddy read in this Soul Screamers series! After prowling comments on the last post, it’s clear that Mand
Mandy and Sha are back in action for the next buddy read in this Soul Screamers series! After prowling comments on the last post, it’s clear that Mandy won the crowd with her two-star review, but Sha is ready to convince Book Princes and Princesses alike that this series is worth the time!� unless she’s had a change of heart? Let’s kick things off with a summary of where we left off in the last book (and assume that if you’ve not read book one, there will be spoilers). Kaylee is now living with her previously absentee papa, who has taken a full-time position as a � factory worker? to give her the life she so dearly deserves. But for any sassy Sophie fans out there, the bitchy cousin still makes weekly Sunday dinner visits with Uncle Brendon that are none-too pleasant. Sophie is determined to make Kaylee’s “life hell� now that Val (Kaylee’s aunt and Sophie’s mom) is dead, because Sophie thinks Kaylee had something to do with the death at the end of Book 1. Of course, we readers know Kaylee’s involvement was the “stop the aunt from aiding and abetting a demon who is snatching young girls� souls� variety, but you know. Kaylee and Nash are going strong (some may say, too strong?) and Tod is, uh, Tod. Shall we begin to review now? Do it For the Ratings Shania: For Vincent’s first book in the series, I stood firm on a four star rating. This time, I’m moving back a little from my fangirl status (yes, okay, four stars is a fangirl for me!) and giving a 3.5. My Soul to Take continues to build the Soul Screamers universe, but the Kaylee-Nash romance is dragging on me a bit. Not to mention Nash? Not my fave dude in the world. Mandy: So, um, I somehow did worse with this book than the last one which seems absurdly impossible? But this book 100% managed to do it. SO SORRY, SHA. It’s a solid one crown for me. I’ll Make a Character Out of You Mandy: complains about a character Shania: rebuts. Mandy: ^^^ This is 100% how it’s going to go tonight on Sha and Mandy: Taking On Early 2000s Forgotten Paranormal Series. Also, what is with me and percentages today? ANYWAY, where do I begin with these characters. I wasn’t a fan of anyone and everyone. Even my lady Harmony…okay, I’m lying, Harmony was still a solid for me. Everyone else? They just felt so blah for me. Even newbie, Allison (lol, or Addison WHICH SHA SOMEHOW DID NOT CATCH MY SLIP UP). How about you, Sha? What did you think of our newcomer? Shania: I liked Addie! Everyone trashed her because she “chose� to sell her soul (except Tod, of course). But they were literally ignoring the fact that she signed a demon contract? How many times did the characters have to reiterate that demons were sneaky and evil, then whip around and shame Addie for falling for a demon scheme before they note the irony? Mandy: Okay, I did lie. I did think Addie was pretty cool. She was chill and I didn’t totally hate her. I mean, she seemed like she had a great heart and what she did at the end of the book was pretty heartfelt. I just wasn’t feeling our main team. I mean, I know you’re a total Tod lover, but I felt like he was getting far too intense about saving a particular ex-girlfriend that he totally disregarded everyone’s safety. And I totally didn’t get Kaylee’s motivations for helping her. Shania: I think Tod’s motivations may have had something to do with the fact that Addie was destined for an eternity of torture if she didn’t recover her soul� As for Kaylee, she’s just our average, everyday demon-fighting heroine. IDK, heart of gold argument? I’ll give you that one. Rip it or Ship it? Shania: OMG, Kaylee and Nash in this book. KAYLEE AND NASH. I was banging my head against the wall, and not to the jammin� Sia and David Guetta tune. Background info: we find out Tod’s ex Addie is going to lose her soul forever and Kaylee pledges to save the girl no matter what. Nash is like HELL NO and also “if I say no, Kaylee, that means you can’t either.� I give Kaylee mad props for giving zero craps about what Nash wanted because thankfully, she knows what independence means. To a certain extent? Like, from time to time, Nash would drop a savage “it’s your own fault, Addie, you deserve to suffer� kind of comment and Kaylee was just like *draps arms all over hottie boyfriend* “Yes what he said, but also, I pledge to help you!� Mandy: blahblahblah Shania: I suppose we can’t forget about Tod and Addie. I mean, I have made it utterly clear how much I adore Tod. Imagine how much I adore Tod and transfer that to him adoring Addie and that would be their relationship in this book. Mandy: says something, probably. Shania: I think it was sweet! As readers, we get a sense of Tod as “fully human,� showing emotion. Nash sasses Tod the entire novel for caring about Addie (after sassing him the *first* book for caring about no one, brotherly love I guess?) but I think it goes to show the depth of Tod’s character. Also, duh. I � Tod. And Addie is really cool. Actual Mandy: I hate to say it, but that’s actually a better conversation than I probably would have had. I do have to agree with Sha over the romance. I did think Addie and Tod had a certain something-something to them, and I think it was sweet the way that Tod fought so hard for her. Did I agree that everyone literally need to drop all of their boring lives to do dangerous things to save her? Nope, but I think they were a decent couple. Actual Mandy, still: As for Nash and Kaylee, I’m bringing the percentages back out, and 100% agree with Sha. While I might have agreed with Nash at some moments (UM, CHASING AFTER DEMONS IS DANGEROUS AND, LIKE, NO ONE SHOULD BE DOING THIS?) it was notttttttttttttt his place to be telling Kaylee what she needed to do and when she needed to do it. She’s her own woman, and he needed to simmer his butt down in a chilly corner. Any man going that alpha over his girlfriend needs to vamoose his butt away. So Kaylee and Nash were not a delightful moment for moi. INSERT A GIF OF SOMEONE BEING ALL “boy bye� (shhhhh…let’s just pretend Mandy did this and not tell Sha) Are We Just [PLOT]ing Along? Shania: The amazing thing about Vincent’s Soul Screamers series is she actually knows where she’s going. Hate the books if you want, but one point you need to give her is that for a five book series, each novel progresses the storyline with purpose. Book one we learn souls can be stolen. Book two, we learn about the demons who snatch those souls. And book three� Well, I suppose that really would be a spoiler. Mandy: It would be a spoiler for me, for sure, since I somehow managed to forget this book was a series, and forgot to read the rest of it. OOPS. However, I do agree that it was interesting the progression that she took. I mean, it’s not just about Kaylee sitting here, screaming her head off anymore. It’s taking the mythology to a new level and playing with the things that she hinted at in the first book. I will give Vincent the credit for that. What did you think about this particular plot, Sha? How did it compare to the first? Shania: I think this plot brought the book to the next level for sure. I mean, book 1 really dealt with backstory and origins. Now we know who Kaylee is, we can get more into the nitty gritty: what nasty stuff is going down in this Netherworld we keep hearing about? And how might a soul screamer stop it (should they be so inclined?) Also, at the end of this book, we get the first glimpse at Avari, who will be the Big Bad for the rest of the series. Mandy: To be honest, I wasn’t feeling the plot so much. I mean, it had its interesting moments, but I was so not invested. I think it might have been due to the fact that I wasn’t feeling the characters, and therefore, I couldn’t sum up the energy to care about the plot and whether they were living, dying, or taking some really questionable night-time visits to Texas stadiums. Also, I’m totally King Triton � YET AGAIN � and I just was like, you meddling kids, you are being idiots doing these foolish things. Get your acts together, Scooby Gang, and that really messed with me and the plot because I’m some old bearded merman now. To Conclude Were any minds changed? Should our readers pick up this book? Shania: If you’re looking for a series that picks up pace with each book and is *actually* worth the time and investment, Soul Screamers is for you. Check out book one, My Soul to Take. If you like it, you’ll like the series, because it’s the same writing throughout. However, if like Mandy, Book 1 is not for you, then maybe skip out on this one. Mandy: To be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first book, and I definitely wasn’t a fan of this one. I think it just lost some of the coolness that the first one had and I was much more involved in the mystery aspect. This was just a bit more cringeworthy, and I literally gave no feels for anything in the book. I just wanted more from this book, and alpha bf just pushed it way over the edge. If I was going to recommend a book, definitely read the first one and totally skip this one. Well, that’s it for this review and also � this buddy read series? Mandy is struggling and it seems like our minds are made up. Sha will probably finish the books on her own time and I think we can all guess what Mandy will do. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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Paperback
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| 0373210035
| 9780373210039
| 0373210035
| 3.88
| 42,702
| Aug 01, 2009
| Jul 28, 2009
|
really liked it
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Buddy read of the Soul Screamers series, let’s go! I’m so hyped for this. For anyone tuning in now (a.k.a., you’ve not caught the teasers Mandy and I
Buddy read of the Soul Screamers series, let’s go! I’m so hyped for this. For anyone tuning in now (a.k.a., you’ve not caught the teasers Mandy and I have dropped the past week) Book Princess Reviews now includes a feature where Mandy and I (Sha) read a series week by week and drop combined reviews on our thoughts. If this first one goes well with you, perhaps we will continue? Aaaaand grab some popcorn because this will be a blockbuster. Let’s Rate this Out the Gate! Mandy: I don’t know if I’m going for 1 or 2 crown yet. Still figuring this out because I don’t even know. That about sums everything up. I don’t know???? Sha: Okay, you know this review is going to be cray when the OG Book Princess gives Book 1 of the series a possible one crown and newbie to the blog drops the following: I wholeheartedly believe My Soul to Take is a solid four crowns. Think you can back up that one crown, Mandy? Mandy: I got my bullet points ready, Sha. BE PREPARED. The Writing Style (Let it Floooow, Baby) Mandy + Sha: Vincent has such an easy flow to her writing. It honestly is just so easy to sit down for an hour and zip through a quarter of the novel while not even trying. There was a good flow to everything, and I felt like she didn’t just put things in to put things in. It’s just so easy breezy. There is also a poetic element to the prose; Vincent keeps paragraphs from becoming chunky with too much description, but she also uses such beautiful metaphors. We both agree that this book stands out in the YA section for its writing. I mean, look at Kaylee, slurping her soda and contemplating darkness and light in the same paragraph! “So who’s this Tod?� I slurped the last of my soda, watching as passing headlights briefly illuminated his features, the abandoned him to short stretches of shadow. It was like rediscovering him with each beam of light that found his face, and I couldn’t stop watching. (p. 129). The Characters/Characterization My Soul To Take brings to us a few unique main characters that bring our story right along. We have Kaylee, our main heroine and beloved soul screamer, who lives with her annoying cousin, Sophie; super young looking Uncle Brendon; and kind of uptight Aunt Val. Kaylee’s best friend is Emma, cool and chill, and we also have the dashing Nash as our love interest. Later on in the novel, we meet the very ~mysterious~ and spunky, Tod, who just so happens to sport an intriguing goatee. There are other characters, obviously, but these are the main peeps you need to know. Sha: As you can see, Tod’s goatee is a standout in this book. Mandy: Truer words never spoken, Sha. However, Harmony was my lady in this novel. Sha: I do like Harmony a lot. For those not up on the up, Harmony is Nash’s mother. She has a few secrets in this book like *so many* of the characters, but that is all part of the plot moving forwards. But sadly for Mandy, Harmony is a (lovely) side character in Book 1, so she does not get a lot of page time. Perhaps in Book 2! Let’s talk Kaylee’s inner circle. Book starts, she’s sneaking out to a club with BFF Emma. You ready and willing to ditch me for the Emster, Mandy? Mandy: Oh, I think you are so good, Sha. For me, I forgot Emma existed half of the time? Truthfully, she seemed like she would only pop out when she was needed and Nash wasn’t around. I mean, I was looking for the Watson to Kaylee’s Sherlock and all I got was Emma’s mom who was controlling her cellphone. I honestly felt that was the true friendship there. I think she has a potential to be more than just the obligatory sidekick since she seemed cool, but she’s stuck for now as being The Dreaded YA Sidekick. Sha: Are you forgetting that Emma was grounded after chapter two of the book? Our blondie babe had no choice but to hand her cell over to her mom. I didn’t feel the lack of presence that you’re talking about, and when Emma was around, she was always supportive of Kaylee. Like in most supernatural books, we had the typical “I have powers but can’t tell people� kind of sitch going on BUT Kaylee actually told Emma most of it?? And Emma didn’t shame her or anything, she understood?? Like, Emma is so sweet and maybe the princess this blog deserves. There, I said it. Emma was watching me again, and I must have looked as sick as I felt because she put one hand on my shoulder. (p. 52) Mandy: HOW RUDE. But probably deserved. Should we talk about the great Kaylee, our heroine of the series? Sha: Oh, let’s! I know you have thoughts, so I’ll give you final word. I think Kaylee is a great example for teens. (In some ways.) She has a job. How many MCs have jobs in YA lit, excuse me? I really appreciated that. She drives, but relates the difficulties of paying for your own car insurance and gas. We actually have scenes of her at work (not a book where the MC mentions a job but never actually goes). Another thing I enjoy about her character is that she isn’t perfect. She makes really dumb mistakes. Thanks for being human, Kaylee! (I do need to complain about how often she eats takeout food and drinks soda. Like, only drinks soda. Girl, please try some water.) […] I parked on the street in front of his house, a fast-food bag in one hand, drink tray in the other. (p. 55) I swallowed a big bite, then washed it down with a gulp from my soda. (p. 111) Mandy: And she does take an unnaturally long time to screw on said soda’s cap on, too. It was even a cliffhanger in a chapter. I do see your points above, Sha, but I have to raise you on them. Kaylee is the classic Special Girl. I mean, she fits just about every checkbox for this particular cliche. ~Special Girl~ who is also super judgey of anyone that isn’t her friend and is dance squad ready. She has a complex personality but mostly because she’s confused � she thinks about how terrible it is she saw a girl die but also Nash’s arm is touching her and that’s magical?????? Things like this just sort of made me want to let out a death wail. The first introduction we have from Kaylee of Emma in the first paragraph is that Emma has CURVES which Kaylee promptly has to tell us because that’s clearly a) what’s important and b) exactly what I think about my best friend the moment I see her. This was clearly to show us that Kaylee is ~special~ pretty as in Mary Sue pretty and we should all just start sing “What Makes You Beautiful� right now because clearly she doesn’t and this is about to be a thing. I was not a fan of darling Kaylee. Sha: I wouldn’t say she was judgey of the dance girls. In one scene she calls Meredith, the dance captain, a very sweet girl. She also praises Sophie for her dedication to the team. Mandy: Oh. I have ~thoughts~ on that. I felt like she really harshed on Sophie’s intense dance mellow quite a bit. Sha: Let’s agree to disagree and move on, yes? If Kaylee and Sophie can live in the same house, mayhaps we can still survive this review. (If you could see the chat convo happening at the same time as we write this review� It’s not nearly as civil.) Rip it or ship it? In this edition of Rip-it or Ship-it, our book bloggers Mandy and Sha determine if Kaylee and Nash will go the mile! What say you, Mandy and Sha? Sha: Huh. The Nash-Kaylee dynamic. I want to keep this brief because spoiler-no-spoiler that gets deep in the next few books so expect a longer paragraph there BUT for now I will say the romance is okay. It’s alright. I’m fine reading it. Happens fast but eh. Mandy: You see, Sha, this was my shipppppppppp. When I first read it all of those years ago, I was totally under the impression you could fall in love in 4 days because this was logic? So I was so into Nash and Kaylee (mostly because Nash has swoony brown hair), but this time around, I…I mean, I didn’t completely hate it other than the fact he was just SO cliche? Agreed. I was fine reading it but I did have judgey eyes with how fast, deep, and cliche it was. Sha: I think we need to end this paragraph with one word. Tod. Mon amour. Oops. Now it’s not the last word. Tod. The Plot (Year 2009, so much un-cooler than the Year 3000) Mandy: Some of you might be too young to remember the great 2009 � 2011 height of book madness. Twilight had officially hit it bigggggggggggggg, and everyone sat down and realized Supernatural/Paranormal sellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllls, so let’s just take the Mary Sue/Gary Sue formula that Meyer somehow perfected and let’s shove as much instalove, cliched characters with limited growth, absent/wrong parents, and literally the same formula for how the plot goes about for exactly every single book. This book is exactly that. Sha: Whoa, someone swallowed her savage pills with a dose of savage water and� I’m in so much shock I can’t even formulate good words. So Mandy clearly wrote that (^^) up there and are we feeling her one star now? No one will pick up this book now, Mandy! And it is hella good! The plot is not formulaic, were we reading the same thing? You did pick up the eBook, who knows, are there dupe books? At the start of the book, we find out Kaylee screams when people are about to die. This first book in the series is *clearly* a first book: it focuses on Kaylee’s heritage and sets up her “world�: who are her friends, where does she live, etc. But there is also a mystery. Young girls in her area are dying with no known cause and Kaylee wants to stop it. I mean, let me just put on my Nancy Drew hat because I love me a girl with initiative. When did Bella ever try and solve a mystery, Mandy? Pics or it didn’t happen. Mandy: UM, BELLA HAD A VERY IMPORTANT MYSTERY. She googled some werewolf stories or something. SHE DID RESEARCH. IMPORTANT RESEARCH THAT INVOLVED WIKIPEDIA. But it was still research and like a lame mystery, but give a girl some credit. I had wayyyyyyys, Sha, and I counted them. I mean, she did play Nancy Drew and I give her credit � especially when she asked for help from ADULTS (which I do give her a round of applause for that) but I mean, a lot of it did get pushed aside for some of the romance pieces and I mean, she did not want to solve mysteries at the first part, too (which I mean, I give her praise, too, since I wouldn’t jump on it in the beginning, BECAUSE DEATH). Anyway, it just got too cliche for me at parts. I willlllllllllllllllll admit it did have some twists and turns and I would have been quite surprised by the ending had I not remembered the ending from the first time around. It was an intriguing ride…even though I was salty with it. To Conclude Were any minds changed? Should our readers pick up this book? Sha: I’m sticking with my four stars and yes, please pick up this book! If you’re hesitant look for My Soul to Take at a library. The plot is great, ignore Mandy, Kaylee is a dynamic character, ignore Mandy. Did I mention ignoring Mandy? Mandy: Noooooooooooooo. I didn’t completely hate the novel, but I mean, I think its cliches just got in the way. That being said, it did have some great aspects to it � the unique and captivating mythology, the easy flow to it, and the plot was intriguing.However, the characters, the cliches, and the romance just totally failed me…and even Tod’s goatee couldn’t save me. If you’re looking for a throwback to this interesting YA era that is totally different, go for it. But if you’re not…I might totally skip it? SORRY, SHA. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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Paperback
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| 039925692X
| 9780399256929
| 039925692X
| 4.04
| 68,775
| Feb 12, 2013
| Feb 12, 2013
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it was amazing
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Out of the Easy is my third book by Ruta Sepetys. Her first two, also historical fiction, focused on tragic events: the forced displacement of the Bal
Out of the Easy is my third book by Ruta Sepetys. Her first two, also historical fiction, focused on tragic events: the forced displacement of the Baltic people by Stalin (Between Shades of Gray) and the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff (Salt to the Sea). I wasn’t sure what to expect from Out of the Easy because, clearly, no large historical event was at the center of the novel. To my pleasant surprise, Out of the Easy is my favourite Sepetys novel to date. Josie Moraine never knew her father. Her mother Louise, a prostitute, hardly spares her a second glance. Out of the Easy‘s summary neglects to mention the strong themes of family and friendship explored within its pages. Though Josie’s blood relations never did her any justice, the people she surrounds herself with become truer family than I have encountered in a long time. Her tender relationship with the elderly Charlie. Patrick. Charlotte. The berating but protective from Willie Woodley. And oh, how to share my love for Cokie. His willingness to care for a young girl who can give him nothing in return is without compare. This hodge-podge family-by-choice is incredibly touching and an outstanding feature in Sepetys� book. As a main character, Josie kept this book alive. She loves books, and even earned her first job at a bookshop. She proudly quotes that she reads an average 150 books a year. Not to be underestimated, Josie regularly wears a gun strapped to her thigh (independent), cares for her aging benefactor with meals and medical help (caring), and is good friends with Willie’s girls (non-judgemental). I’m not trying to elevate her to perfection status, but Josie is certainly the well-rounded character we seek and best of all (at least to me) she can make it through a huuuge portion of this book without any romance. Indeed, the romance. Josie has seen the ugly side of lust and body attraction, and anyway, she has more important things to attend to at the moment. Josie is focused on getting into college, a task that poses a lot of difficulty for a girl who is A) from an unfavoured part of town and B) unable to procure a lot of money for tuition. I really enjoyed that one of Out of the Easy’s main plotlines was about a girl working hard to get to college. This is a reality for many girls today (not just in the 1950s). Toward the end of the book, a few scenes curled my stomach. They weren’t bad scenes � on the contrary, I had become so emotionally invested and all of a sudden everything seemed to be going wrong for Josie and I was devasted. It’s been a long time since a book had me panicked and upset and ready to throw the book away because I thought everything amazing that the main character had earned was just going to be wrecked. This book touched me emotionally in ways I DID. NOT. EXPECT. I’m giving this book four and a half crowns. It came SO CLOSE to being a full on five, except the ending left me feeling a tiny bit jilted. I wanted more! There were two or three plot threads that, though they don’t affect my understanding, were left loose. Sepetys could honestly write a sequel and I would not complain. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 25, 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 0778327116
| 9780778327110
| 0778327116
| 4.09
| 172,509
| Sep 27, 2005
| Nov 25, 2008
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really liked it
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Trigger Warning: this book contains disturbing and mild-to-graphic scenes of sexual assault. I do not recommend this book for anyone under the age of
Trigger Warning: this book contains disturbing and mild-to-graphic scenes of sexual assault. I do not recommend this book for anyone under the age of sixteen. Yelena has been held in the Commander of Ixia’s dungeons for over a year, awaiting her execution, when she is offered a job as poison taster instead. The security chief assures her the job is not much of a step up, since she will be playing with death every day. This is not a huge exaggeration, since Yelena ends up dodging haunts from her past, assassins after the Commander, and exiled magicians. The plot drives forwards from the second she accepts the security chief, Valek’s, offer. Yelena is not passive about her fate, either. Though she may be trapped within the Commander’s palace, she learns as much as she can about poisons and trains her body in case a chance for escape comes. Yelena’s story takes place in the fictional land of Ixia, which shares its borders with the magic-rich Sitia. While Sitia is not explored too deeply in this book (beyond the author explaining the Commander’s distaste for magicians and his wishes that the two lands remain separate), Ixia is described as a military land divided into military districts that are governed by generals and headed by the aforementioned Commander Ambrose. This take was interesting, particularly the “Code of Behaviour� that stipulates how citizens must act (ex: murder isn’t accepted, even in self-defense, and people must apply for formal papers if they wish to move, or build a house, or even travel). I will say that some world-building aspects in Poison Study clashed with the notion of a military-driven government (and ultimately made it hard to place the time period or create a rounded image of Snyder’s created universe). For example: Commander Ambrose’s palace is equipped with the “luxury� of heated water tanks placed one floor above the tanks. When a chain is pulled, water cascades down on the bather’s head. (A shower?) The chef in the palace “creates� swirled pastry buns dusted with cinnamon and sugar but doesn’t know what to call them. (Cinnamon buns?) Before Commander Ambrose took over ten years ago, Ixia was ruled by a King and Queen. It was a monarchy that is now flowing into a military rule. In the castle, Yelena ends up befriending two scouts, Janco and Ari, the seamstress, Dilana, and the cook, Rand. There were so many positive voices in this book supporting her sometimes I accidentally forgot she had murdered someone? As the reader I was given insight into Yelena’s reasons, but she does not explain to anyone until much later, so for others to accept her based on her present attitude and interactions was really interesting. Yelena is not sorry for what she did, but she does carry the heavy guilt of taking a life, and we get to watch her work through that burden over the course of Poison Study. Commander Ambrose is another character that may not have had a PoV, but was very important to the book. Towards the end of the book, an enemy tells Yelena something about the Commander in an effort to make him look weak. The disclosure is not made central to the plot, but it is major think point in the book. To remain spoiler-free (I’m trying so hard these days!) I won’t say what was said BUT I will drop some thoughts. I don’t think Snyder’s goal was to educate readers on ins and outs when she include *this* but instead she wanted readers think about power dynamics. What gives a Commander power? I did not think *this* was added as shock factor or purely for plot. I did, however, question the use of the word “mutation.� Was it in reference to the snow cat (metaphorical “mutation�) because if not then I’m uncomfortable. If you have read Poison Study, I welcome your perspective. I cannot write this review without making mention of the trigger warning I left at the top. Yelena went through severe abuse prior to the start of the novel. She relives some of those scenes in flashbacks. I was uncomfortable reading those scenes because of the mild-to-graphic descriptions. The main perpetrator clearly had no soul and I struggle to accept what happened “then� with a lot of the other scenes in this book � the the assault scenes were extremely dark, and harshly contrasted with the lighter mood in the rest of the book. Nonetheless, I was hooked onto Yelena’s investigations as a food taster. She gained a lot of freedom in the castle � I mean, she was poisoned, so where could she really run off to � and soon she was running her own investigations into suspicious court dealings. Yelena is independent, she is fierce, and she is extremely determined. She makes it very clear that even though she never had someone watching out for her, she doesn’t have a problem ensuring her own survival. At times her decisions are foolish, making her more realistic. I loved her more with each page. Four crowns for a great heroine’s even better character arc and so much assassins and magic. I am too hooked on assassins and magic, I think maybe. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 24, 2018
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Sep 24, 2018
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Sep 24, 2018
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Paperback
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| 0743400291
| 9780743400299
| 0743400291
| 4.08
| 1,876
| 2001
| Mar 01, 2001
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liked it
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Mystery: Lauren is not convinced her mother's death was an accident, which kept her away from her godmother's house for seven years. When she finally
Mystery: Lauren is not convinced her mother's death was an accident, which kept her away from her godmother's house for seven years. When she finally returns, she finds a lukewarm welcome and a recurrence of the troubling events leading up to her mother's death. I made the questionable decision to read this book at night, and during several scenes, I got so spooked, I swore I felt something on the back of my neck. The eerie mood evoked in Chandler's writing, coupled with Lauren's terror as she finds objects knotted in locked room, creeped me to no end. Events get more and more unexplainable, terrifying, and dramatic as the pages turn, until the conclusion wraps. Characters: Lauren is a bit spoiled, though she is conscious of it. At times in the book she resorts quickly to money to solve problems, which removes her ability to actually reflect on how the issue can be 1) an actual problem for someone who isn't affluent and 2) resolved using her own problem-solving skills. Holly and Nick were fun characters to read, and Aunt Jules brought such complexity to the plot. I have issues with how Nora was portrayed, because she was shown as having a mental illness that is grossly untreated. But I can't quite put my finger on how she could have better been depicted. I'm too unsure about that aspect of her character as a whole to comment. I would just say to take Nora's characterization with a grain of salt. Romance: I liked Nick but I think I liked his dog better. VERDICT: If you're looking for some chills, pick up this book, turn off the lights in the house, and settle in for ~spooky times~. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 23, 2018
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0743400283
| 9780743400282
| 0743400283
| 3.96
| 3,642
| Oct 01, 2000
| Oct 01, 2000
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liked it
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Mystery: Megan arrives at Scarborough house with the eerie feeling that she has walked the halls before. She feels drawn to the grave of Avril Scarbor
Mystery: Megan arrives at Scarborough house with the eerie feeling that she has walked the halls before. She feels drawn to the grave of Avril Scarborough, her great-aunt that died under mysterious circumstances fifty years ago, and recalls details she couldn't possibly know as a newcomer to Scarborough. Soon, Megan is unable to twist her own thoughts from memories she associates to Avril's tragic last days, and she realizes that if she doesn't find answers soon, she may meet the same fate as her great-aunt. This mystery was eerie and brought in some supernatural forces towards the end. I was weirded out by the events going on in Scarborough House that, equally, terrified Megan into believing someone meant her ill. I didn't suspect the whodunit until everything was revealed. Characters: Megan is a great main character, if a little unrealistic to the majority of sixteen-year-olds today. (Bear in mind this is written in 2000.) She is quick to befriend others and stands up for her mother and family back home against her grandmother, the narrow-minded Helen Scarborough. Helen is depicted as an antagonist from the start of the book (she sent away her daughter for marrying a man of another race and doesn't acknowledge her grandchildren because they are adopted). Her attitude is erratic in the novel (explained in part by the mystery) but she does show character growth at the end. Romance: It's hardly a spoiler when the summary itself indicates Megan's attraction for her cousin. Chandler avoids an insta-love romance narrowly, but Megan and Matt's connection does lack any true on-page chemistry for the reader. The pair are comfortable at best. VERDICT: Read this book if you want to be suitably creeped out and not distracted by a romance sneaking in every other page. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 23, 2018
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Mass Market Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1328519023
| 9781328519023
| 1328519023
| 3.54
| 4,290
| Mar 05, 2019
| Mar 05, 2019
|
liked it
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Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of HMH Teen through advanced distribution at YALLFest. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for
Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of HMH Teen through advanced distribution at YALLFest. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book. This book was meh for me. That’s the best and first word that comes to mind when I go to describe my experience. It’s such a horrible, horrible way to finish up a read, but also something that I know can be super subjective—so if you’re on the fence, here are my major thoughts to help you make a final decision. Kim and her boyfriend Connor just broke up, but her parents didn’t let her get out of the Student Scholars for Change trip to London that she absolutely begged to go on, so now she’s stuck in a foreign country with a boy who wants nothing to do with her. I’ve never been to London, much like Kim, and would have liked more description of the sites the visiting students looked at. Sometimes London references were A) lost on me or B) awkwardly tossed in. Kim spends more time in a Thai restaurant than she does exploring any local sites. I guess I’ll just keep saving up for my own trip to the UK! Cook’s writing style leans heavily on tell over show. A huuuge part of my “meh�-ing in this book came from how little emotion I got off protagonist Kim. As we know, her ex ends up dead. But the writing following Kim’s discovery left me hugely disconnected: I felt like a puppet that had its strings cut. I collapsed to the floor. Alex dropped down next to me. There was a strange smell in the air, like hot metal. Coppery, like burning pennies. I struggled to get up. You Owe Me a Murder, p. 78 (Quote from an advance uncorrected proof.) The combination of short sentences (better, in my opinion, for academic writing than fiction) and lack of emotionalism (Kim is collapsing, she is smelling, but what is she thinking?) just did me in. This style holds up throughout the book, which made it hard for me to care about pretty much everything happening. As a character, Kim is said to be very analytical and smart, so this could be a reflection of her personality. It just didn’t work for me. At the airport on her way to London, Kim meets and rapidly befriends Nickie. I liked Nickie’s character the most, if only because she was the most fleshed-out and interesting character. During the Students for Change trip, Kim also grows close to fellow student Alex and � that was literally the weirdest relationship I’ve ever read. I’m sorry. She lied to him various times, he called her out, (she apologized in a non-apology way), she lied to him in various ways again and went full shade, he got upset, and then with no actual make-up moment they are together. I DON’T care if you think this is a spoiler because how is this EVEN a developed relationship of any kind. (Okay, if you think this is a spoiler I’m a little sorry but that whole dynamic confused the hell out of me.) I do have two issues that I will drop into a magical spoiler box so read at your own discretion because they do ruin some plot points. (view spoiler)[ (1) TREATMENT OF SUICIDE / MENTAL ILLNESS Kim’s ex’s death is framed as an accident/suicide. By the end of the book, there is no conclusive evidence for either theory. Immediately after his (Conner’s) death, there is talk of ending the trip. One student is like, “I feel bad the guy decided to kill himself, but it has nothing to do with me.� (YOMAM, p. 87.) On page 86, the same character said, “I guess the police will ship …� —his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat � “the body back.� As a reader, I personally ended up with the impression that Connor’s apparent suicide was a minor inconvenience to his trip-mates, which was not a portrayal I appreciated. Not enough of the book is spent discussing the fact that someone *actually* died, especially considering so many people honestly think it was by suicide. (hide spoiler)] (view spoiler)[ (2) STALKING Kim lies about dating Connor. The truth later comes out that she and Connor had a sexual relationship, wherein she was emotionally invested but he only wanted sex. When Connor ended the relationship, she began to stalk him. My issue with this (besides the very fact that stalking is not okay) is that Kim isn’t really called out on her stalking. She admits the truth of the relationship to new “boyfriend� Alex (YES, the stalking too) and Alex basically says, “Wow, Connor is a jerk.� OKAY, but then she stalked him. STALKING isn’t okay. (hide spoiler)] If you did read the spoiler section, yes, it’s a lot. And you might be thinking, SHA, HOW ARe you just meh with this happening? But with the writing style and the lack of character development/emotionalism it was just kind of hard to care? I kind of just worked towards the end to see what happened and then I was like, oh. k. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 14, 2019
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Jan 14, 2019
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Sep 21, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 4.35
| 237,609
| Feb 02, 2016
| Feb 02, 2016
|
liked it
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Ruta Sepetys excels in her detailed depictions of tragedies that history neglected. Salt to the Sea is no exception, bringing to life the devastatin
Ruta Sepetys excels in her detailed depictions of tragedies that history neglected. Salt to the Sea is no exception, bringing to life the devastating sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff in 1945. My heart clenched as I read of desperate civilians, racing for lifeboats that couldn't bear their weight, and mothers tossing babies overboard in hopes for survival. The final scenes of this book were stark and full of impact. Sadly, the rest of the book did not match up. Salt to the Sea is told from the perspective of four characters, each with their own secret to unravel: Joana, a nurse who calls herself a murderer; Florian, a Prussian on a mission he will reveal to no one; Emilia, a (view spoiler)[ pregnant (hide spoiler)] Polish girl; and Albert, a sailor who speaks lovingly of his Hanneke. Each of their PoV chapters are hardly more than two pages long, ending at random moments ("That's when I saw it. Perched on top of the barn was the largest nest I had ever seen.") or on emotional high points that could have been explored further but just weren't. As a result, it's extremely hard to connect with the characters, since you only get to know them in tiny snippets. Not to mention, each character spends the majority of their very short PoV thinking about someone else instead of themselves. Which, yes, selfless is good ... unless you're a reader trying to learn about a protagonist's motivations. In a book where you have your main characters experience terrible death, torture, and struggle, the absolute last thing you want is to be disconnected from the narrative. However, that was how I spent the gross majority of the book. For example, Joana's only trait was "the nurse" and whenever she was depicted, she was trying to heal people. That was it. She was in the act of healing, thinking about healing, or about to go heal. With Joana, Florian (who only cared about his mission), and Emilia (who only cared about Florian), I could work up an interest because they still cared about making it to the Wilhelm Gustloff and helping other survivors. They were sympathetic characters, if very flat ones. But Albert was the most sniveling, annoying character I have read in quite a long time. I can see what Sepetys was going for: she wanted to show a German who appreciated Hitler's ideals. And I'm all for characters that are meant to be hated. But I didn't hate Albert because he went around preaching extermination of non-Aryans. I hated him because he talked like a ten-year-old and was genuinely weird. In writing a book that hinges on the ending (a.k.a., the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff), giving the main characters "dark secrets" can add to the plot. Until the ending of the book, the characters are only travelling on the road. So I can understand why the four leads would have dark pasts. Except never did these dark secrets really interest me, or actually add to anything (except Florian's, which did help the group from time to time). Emilia's secret is only revealed at the end of the book but was already guessed at (and dismissed) at the beginning ... so I kind of had my suspicions. Never once did I actually believe Joana was a murderer, and (view spoiler)[ when she explains the story to Florian, the speed with which she accepts she isn't one kind of ruins all the drama. She carries all this guilt for four years, but all he has to do is say, "She might still be alive," and Joana is okay? (hide spoiler)] Albert's secret was interesting but ruined by him being so dislikeable. I still think this is a valuable book to read. If Sepetys' Author's Note at the end of the book proves anything, it's that she is thorough in her research. I learned a lot throughout this reading about the events surrounding Operation Hannibal and the sinking of the WG, things I had never learned or heard of before. You need a historical fiction book where you can trust the words you see, the facts before you, and with Sepetys I always do. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 18, 2018
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Sep 19, 2018
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Sep 19, 2018
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||||
| 014242059X
| 9780142420591
| 014242059X
| 4.37
| 262,906
| Mar 22, 2011
| Apr 03, 2012
|
it was amazing
|
They took me in my nightgown Lina is fifteen years old when the NKVD arrive at her door to take her, her mother, and her little brother away. She do They took me in my nightgown Lina is fifteen years old when the NKVD arrive at her door to take her, her mother, and her little brother away. She doesn't know what's happening, but even though her mother assures her everything will be just fine, she knows something terrible has arrived at her door. Lina's age is particularly important in this novel. Unlike some of the historical novels I have read, Ruta Sepetys keeps the reader unawares of information that Lina, at fifteen, would also not know. This means that when her mother repeatedly charms the cruel NKVD guards, Lina is angry and confused, unable to understand why her mother would be kind to people who push her against walls and call her "pig." But Lina learns throughout the book that being kind to the people that control her next meal is the only way to survive. The reader learns about the NKVD, Stalin, and Lithuania as the book progresses, along with Lina. I will say that some information will never come, though. Sepetys does not explain in detail why Stalin is set on removing Lithuanians from Russia or when all the deportations started. She does not say where people go when they are deported (for example, those who are bought in one chapter). Personally, I found this made sense (and honestly, it did not detract from my reading). Most fifteen year olds know enough to like or dislike a president (Lina has a formed opinion on Stalin) but not enough to follow their political career. The novel looks closely at survival, without making a point out of every scene. I appreciate this so deeply about Sepetys' writing. In a few sentences, Sepetys can leave an impact on me that other authors might need a paragraph to convey. "Twenty minutes," the officer barked. He threw his burning cigarette onto our clean living room floor and ground it into the wood with his boot. We were about to become cigarettes. All the characters in this novel become so beloved to me. (I mean, give or take the few that you're really supposed to dislike.) My favourite may just be Jonas, Lina's brother, who became a true younger brother to me. At the beginning of the novel, he is fearful and sobbing, clinging to his mother. In the pages of this book, the cruel treatment of the NKVD hardens him into a different boy. Sepetys truly changes his character until I barely recognize who he once was. So much is carried in this book. The hardships that Lina, her family, and the people they encounter go through are hard to describe. They are all seen as less than worthless, used for labour and nothing more, forced to work until they collapse and then mocked for being lazy. I needed to pause in my reading sometimes because of the weight. Yet I was also buoyed by their strength, the ways they fought back (passive resistance) and clung to the hopes of finding their loved ones again. I have studied the Holocaust in school. In fact, just last year I took a course at my university called Teaching the Holocaust. We studied the Holocaust from beginning to end, learning how the Nazis would ask Jews to inform on each other in exchange for protection; how Jewish women would sew valuables into their clothing to later bribe the Gestapo for scraps of food; and how the smallest kindnesses in the prison camps kept the Jews hopeful for survival. Of course, this story is not about the Jewish people nor is it about the Holocaust. This is about Lithuania and Stalin's oppressive regime. I bring up the Holocaust because of the very stark similarities I found between the two in my reading. By the end of Between Shades of Gray I learned that it is estimated Stalin killed more than twenty million people during his regime (from famine, from labour camps, and from torture). A Reader's Guide question at the end of the book asks why it may be that the Baltic peoples' genocide is relatively unknown. I believe it comes in great part because, unlike Hitler, Stalin did not keep meticulous documentation of his plans. Lina's group is brought to the Arctic without clear reason. There is no supplies there and an unfinished building. Then, even when the survivors return home, years later, they fear repercussions from the now-KVD if they speak out. As a result, there is no formal record, and little informal record. What remains is the art: what is depicted in this very novel by Lina as she draws the devastating events that befall her family and friends. This novel cannot be missed. It has become a record of a history that oppression and fear work to erase. I would recommend over and over. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 18, 2018
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 3.91
| 12,335
| Mar 15, 2016
| Mar 15, 2016
|
liked it
|
This is a tough review to write, mainly because I did not plan on reading this book and as a result, completely forgot to review it until now, over tw
This is a tough review to write, mainly because I did not plan on reading this book and as a result, completely forgot to review it until now, over two months later. Between then (the time I finished the book) and now, I've read at least twenty books, so my exact thoughts are blurred. Thankfully I hashed out my main points with a friend in a *saved* text conversation, so I have some references. Exit, Pursued by a Bear starts out strong. Hermione is on her way to her last summer at Camp Manitouwabing, a cheer formation camp. There's a lot of bonding with the new members of the cheerleading team but nothing matches up to her super tight bond with Polly, her best friend. E. K. Johnston's writing shines when it comes to describing the female friendship between Polly and Hermione, who as Hermione herself acknowledges, compliment each other in the best of ways. In fact, female friendship is a standout in this novel as Hermione quickly befriends (and helps out) many of the women she encounters, whether they are on her cheer team or competing against her. The summer comes to an abrupt end when at a camp dance, someone spikes Hermione's drink. She awakens the next day in the hospital to learn she has been sexually assaulted, that she will need to take a pregnancy test (but only after two weeks, when the results can be trusted), and that nothing will be the same. Hermione's approach to this knowledge is to bolster through. She returns to school immediately and tells her cheer team to treat her just like normal. My first issues with the book came with her inconsistencies: one moment she was balling, thinking "OMG someone on my team assaulted me!" and the next she was 100% certain it wasn't them. I'm not saying this attitude isn't possible in a victim of sexual assault, I'm saying that Johnston's changes in her characterization were too quick. There was no fluidity between the two, no explanations in Hermione's thought processes. In fact, a lack of explanation to what Hermione was thinking was present in a lot of the book. I got to see how she reacted to events, but I didn't get her complete thoughts on them. There is always a slight discrepancy between what we say aloud and what we are thinking -- as a reader, I got a lot of what Hermione was saying aloud, but not what was going on in her head. As a result, some of her decisions were unclear or didn't make sense to me. Hermione starts off the book with a boyfriend, Leo. Not for a second do I understand why she is dating him. She never has positive things to say about him, likening him to a burden in most cases, and he is rude and dismissive to her feelings just about 24/7. Yet she insists he's a good boyfriend, I'm not quite sure to who? It was an odd aspect of the book, and I'm not sure what the point was. If I was supposed to glean a lesson, I didn't from them. My biggest gripe with this book comes in the form of the therapist, Dr. Hutt. 1) He's unrealistic. A therapist who drives two hours to see a patient just because they "interest" him, and then he doesn't mind just sitting there for the entire one hour session, if that's what she needs? 2) He totally violates codes of ethics. When she's relaxed and her eyes are closed, he pulls out a scented spray that she expressly told him triggers her. And unsurprisingly, she is triggered! I would have appreciated a therapist who actually asked questions and actually, I don't know, did therapy than what was shown in this novel. From reading the comments, I've seen that this book is supposed to be a positive representation for survivors. So I won't comment on how every single person in this book is like, Yes let me volunteer DNA! Yes let me personally drive to deliver news that could be done over the phone! That wasn't the worst thing in this book to me, and offering a positive representation is never a bad thing. I loved Polly and Hermione's friendship. The fact that Hermione is slowly building a healthy relationship with another man (Dion) is nice to see. And Hermione being able to continue the sport she loves (cheerleading) with the support of her coach and friends? So empowering. This book receives three stars from me because it was a quick read, it was a different way to read a story of a sexual assault survivor, but I cannot ignore the heavy improbabilities and character development issues that weighed on the plot. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 17, 2018
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Hardcover
| |||||||||||||||||
| 1492667242
| 9781492667247
| 1492667242
| 3.86
| 9,388
| Feb 05, 2019
| Feb 05, 2019
|
it was amazing
|
Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but
Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book. This review will contain both a spoiler-free and a with-spoiler section. I do not recommend looking at the latter if you plan on reading A Danger to Herself and Others because a major plot point in the book would be ruined. <><> SPOILER-FREE REVIEW <><> The beginning of A Danger to Herself and Others didn’t draw me in right away. The narrator and our main character, Hannah, describes her arrival at the psychiatric hospital from processing to placement in her room. The action happening in front of her (which would help physically situate the reader, things like a man asking her name, or her walking down a hall) was drowned out by her very scattered, seemingly random thoughts. I quickly realized this is how Hannah likes to be, that she processes what is in front of her and thinks deeply about everything before reacting. Getting used to her character took a moment, but once I knew that she was a studious and serious girl, I began to dig deeper into the book. Hannah accepts her term at the psychiatric hospital with grace: she’s not supposed to be there, so of course her time will be short since soon it will be discovered that she was placed by accident. Hannah knows why she was accidentally placed: it’s left to the reader to uncover this information and if the decision was truly an accident over the course of the novel. Even though Hannah is calm about being placed, she still shows her dislike of being confined, of being told when to shower, of having someone else choose when and where she eats. Her bursts of panic washed over me when she walked into her room � eight feet by seven as she had measured by pacing back and forth � to see the small space she inhabited and could not leave. Hannah’s days follow a close routine: meals and talk-therapy with “Dr. Lightfoot.� (Hannah nicknamed the doctor based on ballet shoes the woman would wear.) Dr. Lightfoot’s portrayal in the book is what truly made this reading both thought-provoking and unforgettable. (Not that Hannah’s journey is anything to dismiss.) The doctor does not come to each session ready to crack open Hannah’s secrets. She is not a wealth of happiness and joy, promising Hannah everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows. Dr. Lightfoot works steadily to see why Hannah is at the psychiatric hospital, becoming neither a friend nor an enemy. Just a doctor. Which was exactly what Hannah needed. I don’t know what I can say about Lucy other than her friendship with Hannah truly ruined me. <><> SPOILER-(ish) REVIEW <><> If you are reading this, I really hope you have either already read A Danger to Herself and Others because going into this book already spoiled will ruin a lot of the climax. I want to touch on one great and grand thing that I find Sheinmel did very well with this book. A hands down reason that I believe this book needs to be shared with friends, with libraries, with teens suffering from mental illness. Alyssa B. Sheinmel depicted a mental health institution positively. Out of context this does not make sense, so allow me to explain. I have never visited a MHI nor have I researched them. I have no knowledge on how they are run. The most information I do have comes from, surprisingly, YA fiction. And none of those depictions are positive whatsoever. I have read a book where an underage teenager is committed against her will without any medical reasons and immediately force-fed unnamed medication by the staff until she breaks out days later. I read a book where a character recalls a past trip “in the loony bin� where she lived strapped to a table. These representations tie together to create a fear of mental health institutions, places where you will be mistreated, misdiagnosed, and abused. I do not want to deny these things can happen. But when YA books are written for teenagers who suffer so very often from mental health issues, and then mental health institutions are depicted so terribly when for many, it’s actually a life support, well, it’s maybe more than disconcerting? In A Danger to Herself and Others, Sheinmel showed Dr. Lightfoot and the mental health institution as a place Hannah needed to be. At the beginning of the book, Hannah is confused but certain she should not be at the facility � in response, Dr. Lightfoot gives her space. Hannah begins to talk more, and Dr. Lightfoot listens. Hannah is given medication when the doctor knows what medication is required. Hannah is informed what the medication is for (though she does not have a choice in taking it, because she is underage). I am not going to say Sheinmel’s representation of a MHI is positive as in “happy�, because that is not the case. Hannah suffers. She is uncomfortable with her lack of privacy and she loses rights she had “on the outside.� But Sheinmel shows how a MHI can help someone with a mental illness. This book made me shocked. This book made me sad. This book made me think more on things that I already think about, and didn’t think I could think more on. I do want to throw in Sheinmel’s disclaimer that she did not write this book to educate anyone on mental health/illness. As I said before, I myself do not know how accurate her depiction is to the current state of psychiatric hospitals today. All I do know is I think teenagers need more healthy representations of mental health and this book does that. I could go on about this book for sooo much longer. I could talk about Hannah’s recovery process, and how the way she longs for Jonah and Lucy (particularly in the bathroom scene) really got to me. The way her parents dismissed Hannah’s way of viewing the world as “just imaginary friends.� My only true gripe with this book is how rare Hannah’s form of mental illness is. Not only is she in the twenty percent for having it, she’s in the one percent of the form she has. (*Forgive me if my percentages are off, I forgot to bookmark the page.) But this, of course, just goes to Sheinmel’s disclaimer that she is not writing to educate and not once in reading this did I feel like she used mental illness as a plot device or hook. YES, Hannah’s discovery is a turning point in the book, but Sheinmel doesn’t use this for shock value. Sheinmel instead shows how it can be surprising to learn you have a mental illness, and to see how much it affects your daily life. I rate this book at 4.5 with a hiiiiigh recommendation rating. On any websites that don’t allow .5 expect to see this as a 5. I knocked off a point because I do find that with some of the topics covered in this book, personal experience or intensive research is required. But this is a personal opinion! (And maybe there is/was, it just wasn’t mentioned.) Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 10, 2018
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Sep 19, 2018
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Sep 10, 2018
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062225464
| 9780062225467
| 0062225464
| 3.83
| 39,765
| Apr 14, 2015
| Apr 14, 2015
|
really liked it
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The first time I read this book I was haunted � not only by questions of who could have killed a baby, but by the moral/ethical conundrums McCreight c
The first time I read this book I was haunted � not only by questions of who could have killed a baby, but by the moral/ethical conundrums McCreight casually slipped into the narrative. What better time than Halloween to question the way you live your life, when the line between the dead and living blur and mortality seems oh-so frail� Molly Sanderson still feels new in town. Her husband has settled into his professorship at Ridgedale University, but she never planned to be a journalist. She never expected to lose a child. And she certainly did not prepare herself to be the lead reporter when a child’s body is found on university property. But Molly rises to the challenge: she sees this as an opportunity to understand her emotions following her miscarriage and if she is not born to be an investigative reporter, I don’t know who is. Molly asks all the right questions at the right time. She has a fiery determination that pushes her on but also the common sense to not just run into a suspect’s house without second thought. I was so happy when yes, Molly goes into a random male suspect’s house � but thinks to text her husband the address. Like. A protagonist who doesn’t just run around as though a murder didn’t just possibly happen, when a murder just possibly happened? Whoa. Thanks McCreight! Needless to say, I enjoyed Molly’s PoV, and the switches to Barbara and Sandy were not moments of “less than� either. They were simply different sides to a many-faceted story (because be warned, at the beginning you will have no idea why the three are connected, which I loooved). Barbara is the manic, helicopter mom. She dotes particularly on her youngest son, Cole, who has been displaying the creepiest behaviour lately. As a mother, Barbara doesn’t say “the creepiest behaviour� but I can tell you the truth. Cue the example where Cole pops up beside her bed one night to say he has “bad images in his head.� The Barbara chapters add a spooky element to the story that really adds tension to everything else going on. Sandy, meanwhile, is simply looking for her mom. As if a baby’s body being found is not enough, there’s a missing woman that the police just aren’t dedicated to finding. Sandy wants so badly to live her life � even if she still doesn’t know what that would mean, or how she would do it, with a mother who’s more absentee than anything else. Where they Found her doesn’t beat around the bush. There are no chapters that waste time with meaningless dialogue or idle chit chat. Every single encounter is a little clue towards why Sandy’s mom is missing or why this baby was found on university property or why these three women are connected. Not to say the writing feels forced! The opposite: the writing flows, and it does so at a pace that keeps you engaged and burning to read more and KNOW WHAT HAPPENS! I feel like this is the vaguest review I have ever written, but that’s truly because McCreight is deliberate in her secrets. If I let one thing slip, the whole mystery could crash down � and I love this book so much that to ruin it for someone would be a real nightmare. I love this book. Like, adore it. It is a greatly written mystery that truly engages the reader from start to finish, and makes it easy to connect with every character along the way. I only have one negative, and that would be the ending. It came off a bit too rushed for me. As I said, I really liked the characters and found them easy to connect to. So obviously when the story ended, I wanted to know how everyone ended up. But some character endings were a bit vague (I knew what happened, but not exactly how) or rushed. I’m giving this book four and a half stars. It’s not quite perfect (as I mentioned, the ending left me feeling a little un-tethered) but Where they Found Her remains one of my favourite and most recommended mystery novels to date. Join me on my book journey! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jan 2018
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Sep 10, 2018
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Hardcover
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my rating |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 3.79
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liked it
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Oct 31, 2018
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Oct 18, 2018
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| 3.32
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it was ok
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Oct 16, 2018
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Oct 18, 2018
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| 3.75
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not set
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Oct 18, 2018
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||||||
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| 4.46
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it was amazing
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Oct 14, 2018
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Oct 15, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.66
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really liked it
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Oct 27, 2018
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Sep 27, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.18
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really liked it
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Oct 15, 2018
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Sep 27, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.71
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really liked it
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Oct 10, 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.88
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liked it
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Jan 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.96
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liked it
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Jan 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.88
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really liked it
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Jan 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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|||||
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| 4.04
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it was amazing
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Sep 25, 2018
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Sep 25, 2018
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|||||
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| 4.09
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really liked it
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Sep 24, 2018
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Sep 24, 2018
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|||||
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| 4.08
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liked it
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Jan 2018
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Sep 23, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.96
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liked it
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Jan 2018
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Sep 23, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.54
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liked it
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Jan 14, 2019
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Sep 21, 2018
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| 4.35
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liked it
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Sep 19, 2018
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Sep 19, 2018
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|||||
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| 4.37
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it was amazing
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Jan 2018
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Sep 18, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.91
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liked it
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Jan 2018
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Sep 17, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.86
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it was amazing
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Sep 19, 2018
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Sep 10, 2018
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|||||
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| 3.83
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really liked it
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Jan 2018
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Sep 10, 2018
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