A couple days away from this book and I feel more comfortable with my three star rating. I very much liked this book at the beginning and enjoyed JuleA couple days away from this book and I feel more comfortable with my three star rating. I very much liked this book at the beginning and enjoyed Jules. But the reasons I liked Jules had to do with his similarities with other boy characters that are honestly fleshed out more and ultimately more honest. Jules, and in fact the length of this book, is a combination of Nemo's story in "Mr. Nobody" and Holden Caulfield of...well you know. At times, it seemed almost to be a parody of the former, with inserts of the temporal philosophical ponderings of the latter. While I would not go as far to say that this book is completely derivative, I do think that it relies heavily on inspiration from at least the Holden Caulfield trope. While Jules does not express his depression with meanness, the sensitive white boy theme is seen throughout this book and it's really the main thing that makes this book charming (well, along with the pixie dream girl, Alva).
So then towards the end, the book kinda veers off into a combination of a John Green novel (namely, The Fault in Our Stars), One Day, and with a sprinkle of Nicholas Sparks. This is the part of the book I liked the least. Obviously I kept reading it but when the *Big* part happens, I was tempted to put the book down. Yet, it didn't surprise me that the book went there. In all honesty, because the book heavily relies on Jules' cute angst, the plot comes and goes so of course they have to throw in this big thing at the end. There is definitely a realistic element to this book in the sense that it documents how one catastrophic event can change the lives of an entire set of siblings. But often times, that sentiment felt lost (perhaps due to the trainslation?) I sometimes had to remind myself exactly of the book's themes because sometimes it just felt so ambiguous. Back to Alva, I liked her but as I said, she is very much the embodiment of the pixie dream girl. Almost all of the elements are there: she's witty, a bookworm, mysterious, she disappoints Jules, she's portrayed as choosing the wrong men, ETC. --- down to the very end. Both Jules and Alva are very much caricatures and the only complex character is Jules' brother, Marty (definitely not Liz, she's even worse than Alva).
This was a pleasurable read if only because almost all of the characters were such caricatures that you almost know what to expect. Would recommend for anyone fans of the ones above who are tired of reading/watching the ones above. ...more
This text has me shaken up. This is not your typical "tragic mulatto" story by any means - although perhaps it begins that way. Nella Larsen's novellaThis text has me shaken up. This is not your typical "tragic mulatto" story by any means - although perhaps it begins that way. Nella Larsen's novella begins with the olive-skinned Irene, who is living a seemingly happy life in New York City with her black husband and their two sons. When we first meet her outside of flashbacks, she is "passing" herself - that is, she is enjoying the benefits of being so light skinned that no one is questioning why she is at a posh rooftop restaurant in Chicago. Then she encounters a childhood, "friend", Clare who is also light like Irene. Except, Clare is passing for white. Clare has a rich white husband and a daughter but as of late, she has wanted to get in touch with her blackness. Put another way, she misses the life she may have had were she not passing and forced to throw away all elements of her "true" identity. Irene is both enthralled and annoyed with Clare, and the reasons for these conflicting emotions are as complicated as Irene and Clare themselves. As the novella progresses, it is clear that Clare brings up in Irene a sense of instability, and she consistently tries to free herself from Clare's influence but usually to no avail. She is also wrestling with her failing marriage to a dark-skinned man who really wants to live in Brazil.
I found this text quite charming and really complex for something so short. The book is told in omniscient third person which can be annoying but I found it okay but as others have noted, Irene is an unreliable POV. There can be multiple readings of Clare and Irene's relationship, including the fact that Irene's passion and revulsion of Clare can very much signal a homoerotic tension between them that Irene is attempting to repress. The text also interrogates class because, although Irene is not passing socially, she and her husband live firmly within the black middle class (and even have maids). Clare's white father died and therefore Clare's class status seems to be one of the motivating factors for her to marry rich and white, and therefore live as a white woman.
So for me this book was quite interesting and much better than the pre-Civil War and Reconstruction tragic Mulatto books that I'm used to. I thought the telling of the tale from Irene's POV was a fantastic choice and really served to complicate notions of passing as automatically about self-hate. As the genre suggests, the end is expectantly tragic but I don't think this predictability took away from the story significantly. I liked the style of writing and even though Irene is utterly unlikeable, it was pretty entertaining. ...more
Swing Time was a very good novel at its beginnings. But towards the end, I felt like it, or Zadie or even me, got lost. In a major way. I still ended Swing Time was a very good novel at its beginnings. But towards the end, I felt like it, or Zadie or even me, got lost. In a major way. I still ended up giving this book four stars because I remember the waves of literary wonder I had while I was reading the first half of this. But I am rather disappointed with just about all the plot lines' endings.
As I noted for my review of On Beauty, Zadie Smith is a remarkable writer and the writing style is really probably the best character in her novels that I've read thus far. Unlike On Beauty, this is told in first person, and the character takes us through her life - about 30 years or so with some intermittent skipping and flashbacks. The protagonist is unnamed, which is almost so irrelevant to the plot that one wonders why Zadie Smith chose to do this at all. The star of the novel, at least in my opinion, is the protagonist's mother, followed closely by Tracey, the protagonist's childhood best friend/frenemy. The novel isn't really about Anything, really, besides the general theme that seems to run through most Smith novels: what it's like to be biracial, growing up in the West. Although I am relatively skeptical of the "tragic mulatto" trope, I think it is good that Zadie is writing about experiences she can relate to. I think that is generally the best kind of realistic fiction writing. Any way, so the book is not really about anything in particular. The protagonist and Tracey bond both over their love of dance and the fact that they both have a white parent and black parent. The protagonist's mother, who I enjoyed the most, is Jamaican and her father is white. What I enjoyed most about the mother is the fact that she seemed like a real person I suppose. I know that in some ways she is supposed to be a caricature but I think in actuality she is probably one of the most real characters in the novel. She stood as a foil for the protagonist because at least she actually wanted and stood for something. I rather enjoyed her diatribes and agreed with her generally about the protagonist. Although the protagonist is certainly relatable and even worthy of sympathy, she generally annoyed me with her awkward attempts to differentiate herself from these people who had no choice but to stand for something. Which is why, the protagonist is generally only interesting when compared with Tracey and the protagonist's mother, and when those characters are in the novel less and the flashbacks become less frequent, the novel really takes a dip for me. At first, I enjoyed the introduction of Aimee, an iconic celebrity (I pictured her like Madonna) who hires the protagonist and is basically Tracey in celebrity, older form. But towards the end, I felt like she was a poor substitute and I was starting to not understand the point of her. Pretty much the only thing I enjoyed about the Aimee elements of the story were her volutourism humanitarian effort fails in the fictional African country, and the protagonist's negotiation with her body within the African continent, in relation to her biracialness. Other than that, I kinda wish the novel had ended about 150 pages before it did. In general I do not enjoy untied up endings and this novel pretty much did not tie up anything - or at least not in a satisfying way. In the case of this book, though, all's well that begins well. ...more
This book made me a bit angry. Not sure why exactly. It's your relatively typical sad, tragic story about a nerd who can't catch a break right? I don'This book made me a bit angry. Not sure why exactly. It's your relatively typical sad, tragic story about a nerd who can't catch a break right? I don't feel good about this book or anything, and a part of me wonders why I read it. Oscar really makes me quite sad. I feel drained.
Oh so you might be thinking, 'well then why did you give it 4 stars then dodo'? Well my curious friend, truth is this was good writing. 'Enough for 4 stars?' Mhm. Yes. Yep. And yas. It wasn't the all time BEST or anything (although I could see that being the case if you like less 'traditional' writing styles) but Díaz definitely has a remarkably unique voice. Probably could tell it was him from a mile away and I've only read one of his books (not sure if I will read more but that's for later to tell). Characterization was on point and the back stories were bomb. That's part of the reason why this book makes me so sad because I really got attached to Oscar and (view spoiler)[ well he died. got killed, actually. you knew the former, don't play (hide spoiler)] . At first I wasn't quite sure what to make of Yunior's point of view. The first time I tried to read this, I stopped at Yunior's part because I was just like what the hell is this? But now...well now I'm very glad that it is from Yunior's POV and not from some random third or Oscar himself.
And to tell you the truth this book really wasn't about Oscar. Not entirely anyway. If anything this is an ensemble cast, which I'm really starting to like more and more. I do think that the historical details were the best part of the book. If only because I learned so much about people I literally never of before reading this. One thing that bothered me about this book is not the quite frequent use of the N-word (mostly in narration) but the fact that while anti-blackness was mentioned a lot, nothing in the book really went into depth with it. Before reading this book, I knew and understood surface level things about the DR's relationship with Haiti, Haitians and blackness (particularly their own). And while the book reflected a lot this is, I was really disappointed that none of the footnotes seemed to address the root cause(s) of all this turmoil. I thought that this made it a little hard to accept the use of the N-word consistently (as well as Negro), even though it didn't seem like any of the characters were denying themselves that they had black ancestry. I mean, unless I missed something which is possible. To be honest, I skipped over some of the Spanish because mine isn't the sharpest.
Anyway, I liked the writing and the characters. They're definitely memorable. Characters that stick in such a way that you're not sure they weren't real. In hindsight I'm glad I read this but it was definitely not a leisure book. ...more
All throughout this book, I had it in my mind that I was going to give this book about only three stars. It has all the characteristics of a first novAll throughout this book, I had it in my mind that I was going to give this book about only three stars. It has all the characteristics of a first novel (or rather, a first unpublished novel): it has only shadows of the author's voice, the characters are awkward shadows of themselves and the dialogue is quite winded, to the point of redundant. But for all of these faults, this is actually quite an extraordinary gem, if only because it complicates the white savior narrative of Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird and is an interesting reconciliation of racism and what it means to disagree with it.
This is by no means as outrightly a political novel as TKAMB. There are no long and drawn out court scenes, nor is Atticus particularly active in the novel. There isn't even really an explicit plot. The novel only lasts, at most a week, and it is all centered around one event: the dismantling of Atticus as Scout's hero.
New characters are introduced and old characters are lost. Dill and Jem are not present in the novel but are mentioned briefly. This is actually not as much of a loss as you would think, as the character of Henry (not in TKAMB makes up for them both). Uncle Jack is also quite fun in this book. I think I should recant what I said about the characters. GSAW does not make shadows out of the characters but rather, exposes them in very raw and quite awkward ways that TKAMB does not. Atticus is the same Atticus only different and I think that this is what unsettles so many about this book: Scout is no longer cute little scout and Atticus is no longer a hero. It's all complicated now, kind of like growing up. It is actually quite brilliant (perhaps of her agent, because it is possible that Lee never wanted this published in the first place).
One of the things that I didn't like so much is how long the dialogue dragged on. It was certainly interesting, but it was pretty stilted at times and I didn't enjoy how didactic it got. It screamed first writer mistakes; that is, detailing every single part of a real life dialogue, which wasn't so bad in audio form but would have been worse had I read it. Some parts were more enjoyable than others but I got the sense that the book was almost deconstruction of Scout and Atticus and less a novel in itself. It was about Scout discovering that her childhood was not what she thought it was (which is okay). I liked that because I think it's true to life and truly, if Scout and Atticus really existed outside of Lee's memories (most likely of herself and her own hometown) then I am sure they would have faced similar dilemmas. So I am in the minority of people who liked GSAW. Shoot me. ...more
I think what was most awful about this book is that it smacked of white saviorism. Perhaps Cleave wanted to resist the temptation to make the secondarI think what was most awful about this book is that it smacked of white saviorism. Perhaps Cleave wanted to resist the temptation to make the secondary character of Sarah as a white savior but he did it anyway and I'm not really surprised which I guess is why this was disappointing.
Little Bee was really a cool main character but Cleave wrote her in a way that made her seem inhuman. Which I think just goes along with society's way of portraying POC as wise, older-than-they-are supernatural individuals, as if things like the murder of their family or staying in an immigration detention center wouldn't break any normal human being (for the record, Cleave did try to make Little Bee a little less than invincible at certain parts, but it annoyed me that she was always forced to put on a good face around Sarah and Charlie. Her inner monologue was truly better than what she actually said).
I actually quite enjoyed Sarah if only because it was entertaining to see Cleave struggle to write her as a non-white savior. He eventually did it but after that point, it was almost comical to see how the story angled towards Sarah in terms of sympathy. I was made to feel more sorry for Sarah (view spoiler)[ Poor Sarah, she lost her finger and eventually her husband because she's an abashed cheater, meanwhile Little Bee practically died and her sister was raped right before her eyes...and then she died. And while we're on the subject, I abhorred how Cleave depicted the men who pillaged the village. They're cannibals, really? (hide spoiler)].
I think by the end, although I didn't agree with a great deal of the ideology within the book, Cleave did manage to write this book exceptionally well. It wasn't funny though. ...more
This is Toni's most recent novel and I have deliberately not looked at reviews of it for fear that (per usual), you lot would ruin it for me. So now, This is Toni's most recent novel and I have deliberately not looked at reviews of it for fear that (per usual), you lot would ruin it for me. So now, I'm wondering if the lack of fanfare (or at least, that which I perceived) can in part be due to the feeling I'm left with...
I'm not exactly sure how to feel, other than this book is 4 star worthy. I did like this. I liked that it was a departure from what I usually think of from Morrison: historical fiction with very troubling deep themes centered around the African Diasporic experience. God Help The Child is set in the present and is about Bride, a "blue black" girl who, among other things, has become a successful career woman. Her rough relationship with her light skinned mother is the main talking point of the novel, and is further complicated by her relationship with a man named Booker who also has a complicated past. The thing is, I guess none of the story is as complicated as I assumed it would be. I guess I'm used to reading between between the lines for Morrison books. But the themes of colorism, the depth of loss, what it means to love and the journeys one goes on for that love are relatively (re: Beloved) straight forward. I get the feeling from reading this one that Morrison is appealing to a younger audience - or at least a more modern one.
I guess what struck me most about this story is its realism - there were parts that were repeated and in real life, yes older people repeat stories. And yes, in stories people don't forget the past and the hurt inflicted on them even if it was for a "greater good". I also enjoyed the varying perspectives and even that Morrison decided to shift the POV from first to third in a short period of time. It is interesting I think that save for Booker, Bride and Sweetness, none of the other characters are resolved. While also makes sense from a realism point of view. I guess I'm glad that it was realistic and I liked the writing. It's very short so it's worth the read (or in my case, the listen) so I recommend it. But it's definitely not as "dense" as Toni's other, perhaps more classic works. I think this one will have to simmer in itself for a little bit in order to garner more appreciation but for now I'm glad I read it. ...more
All in all, I have an attitude. This is not to say that I did not enjoy this book -I did- but in a way I feel almost tricked by Murakami. Honestly, I All in all, I have an attitude. This is not to say that I did not enjoy this book -I did- but in a way I feel almost tricked by Murakami. Honestly, I think the way I feel can be attributed to things being lost in translation. It was so often in this book that I didn't understand the characters and their feelings until bad things started happening. They just happened almost with no warning and so I feel a little tricked...
Toru is a nice guy and all but he really is quite an annoying protagonist. You start out with him, hurt over his best friend's mysterious suicide. And his best friend's girlfriend, Naoko is all hurt too and so they hurt together. And then Naoko can't take the hurt well (nor can she seem to deal with having sex with Toru) so she drops out of school and goes to a mental health center in the middle of nowhere Japan. And apparently (I say that sarcastically) the two of them love each other although I'm pretty sure nothing of that kind was mentioned AT ALL before she went away. Toru writes her letters and in the mean time he meets a classmate named Midori who has a dying father and too many other dead relatives to mention. Midori is alive and Naoko, well, is living in the past and she's depressed.
Everyone and everything besides Midori are depressing in this story really. At certain times i couldn't help but wonder what the point was of so many depressing elements in the story (view spoiler)[ Especially the deaths of Naoko and Nagasawa's girlfriend later. I felt like Naoko's suicide seemed to defeat the purpose of the story...whatever that is . It's like anyone who wasn't immediately mentioned again killed themselves. It was really quite terrible. (hide spoiler)]
There was wonderful prose in this although at times the prose seemed to be a space filler in otherwise unneeded pages. The end leaves something to be desired but I guess that's the point. I'm not sure how I feel about Murakami in general after reading this story. This is his most popular one and it's so beautifully vague I'm not sure I can handle another one....more
The four star rating is based on entertainment value alone. I thought most of the book was complete and utter BS.
I'm not sure if I can say why.
If it'The four star rating is based on entertainment value alone. I thought most of the book was complete and utter BS.
I'm not sure if I can say why.
If it's any consolation, Juliette stopped doing that whole strike out thing. And there's been way less crazy metaphors in this book.
Ignite Me promises to be exciting and it was. I couldn't really stop reading once I started and it was hard not to be immediately drawn into the plot. Even if the plot was BS
In case you read the strikeout, what I mean about the plot and the overall book being BS is, Mafi essentially negated what occurred in the first book to fit her purposes. Any feelings Juliette had for Adam? Oh those were just feelings bred in desperation. All the crap that Warner pulled? That was just because he loved her and wanted to understand her and "it was just your imagination, love"
Poor little Juliette. She was as fooled as I was because I totally believed that Warner was a monster this entire time. Oh wait, he is.
I know that Mafi felt the need to do a 180 with the character of Juliette. I know that, to satisfy the whole love triangle thing, she had to make Warner look fallible, sweet and kind and loving and the thing is, while you're reading it, it's really hard to not believe all this because all the reasons that I hated Warner (and Juliette did) were completely disarmed one by one. Like a "10 reasons why you should love Warner more than Adam Q&A session". I mean seriously. And the reasons you should hate Adam were listed just as clearly as the former. It was really quite obvious what she was doing and i hated it the whole time but I couldn't really stop reading it.
Another thing I'd like to know is why in the world is Juliette so attractive? She must be quite something (I mean, besides her little superpowers) if all of three guys apparently are interested in her. It's almost sickening how much Kenji refers to how hot she was and "if i wasn't your friend..." and all that stuff. And obviously she is enough for Adam and Warner to fight over (oops is that a spoiler). I just don't buy all that "I'm so obliviously beautiful and everyone wants to be with me" protagonists. Ew. It's obnoxious and unrealistic.
I'll admit that Juliette did improve in the finale of this trilogy and overall I think that Mafi did a good job on this trilogy as a whole.
As much as i hate where this plot went, I must rate this book based on pure intrigue. I don't really like Juliette (almost, at all). But she was interAs much as i hate where this plot went, I must rate this book based on pure intrigue. I don't really like Juliette (almost, at all). But she was interesting to read about. That may be why I have such mixed feelings about this. While there was for sure, incredible writing in here (it seems the excessive figurative writing has been, at the least, polished) I just...
So we find Juliette only a few weeks after the end of the first book. She's housed at Omega Pointe, ran and founded by Castle. His mission is to help and protect (and ultimately mobilize) those special creatures like Juliette from and against the Reestablishment. Juliette cannot quite adjust to life with *gasp* people and the only one she really clings to, initially, is Adam (view spoiler)[ As you can imagine in a couple STEAMY scenes, alright? (hide spoiler)] But eventually, Castle orders silly little Juliette to get up and train her power, since she so obviously knows very little about it. Remember Kenji? Yeah, he begins to help integrate her into the Omega Pointe society and hone her skills.
Somewhere in between all that, Juliette finds out something tragic: (view spoiler)[ Adam, her love, who is one of the only ones who can touch her, must fight to even do so. To be with Juliette, proves exhausting. (hide spoiler)] Juliette pretends to be selfless and then comes along little Warner and God knows how I feel about THAT thing.
The problem with this book, is not its dialogue (sometimes, though), not its plot, not its execution, its Mafi's tolerance of this weird love thang between Warner and Juliette. I don't know why she capitulated to that whole Team Warner mess, or if that was her plan from the start (view spoiler)[ And I don't know why Warner and Adam must be brothers (hide spoiler)] but it didn't even seem feasible. I don't care about how cute this guy looks like with a dog, or if his father beat him or his father is a mean person or whatever excuse Mafi made for him. Adam had problems. Juliette had problems. Do you see them attacking and killing innocent people on purpose? Well, maybe. But will Mafi give them the benefit of the doubt? No. But when it comes to Warner, it's all "well maybe he's not so bad" and i just feel like this attitude is entirely too convenient and Mafi has just been feeding into the Warner fandom.
I do not support.
I do not like Warner. And I don't care about how nice he is. (view spoiler)[I admit that the little scene with him and Juliette was steamy but I don't care BECAUSE I WANTED IT TO BE WITH ADAM (hide spoiler)]
Another thing that I can totally leave is Juliette. Oh wait, she's the protagonist. I mean, she was always crying about something and no sooner than she set the resolve not to cry anymore, she was doing it again a chapter later. Jeez, give me a break.
I'm gonna read the next book. I promise. But it might take a long time for to swallow all that Warner crying mess. Bye. ...more
The Things They Carried is a really weird book to like. I mean, to like it too much is to be almost a bit sardonic. I mean, who seriously enjoys booksThe Things They Carried is a really weird book to like. I mean, to like it too much is to be almost a bit sardonic. I mean, who seriously enjoys books about young soldiers sent into needless war, dying their heads off? Maybe someone out there does. While this contained excellent prose and writing, I have a difficult time calling such a story excellent or anything of the kind.
On the other hand, to say it's a bad books seems a bit rude too. I mean, it's depressing and it makes me lose faith in humanity and all that jazz but these stories...they are more or less real. And to discredit this book entirely feels a bit douchebaggy.
So. Without doing any of the above, I'm in this weird gray area. I have mixed feelings about this book in general.
I knew this wouldn't be a fun book from the moment I started it as a high school war unit book. No sir. I, by definition, hate war. But, with historical pretexts and all, I decided that this would be a pretty interesting read if nothing else (and it's not like I had much choice in the matter, as it was assigned reading).
I read about what these Vietnam war soldiers carried. Narrated by the author, Tim OBrien, it chronicles his time in Vietnam in nowhere near chronological order. There are many flashbacks to the past and forwards to the future. There is death amongst a rather tight knit unit which includes Jimmy Cross, Rat Kiley, Norman Bowker, Curt, Azar, Ted Lavender, Mitchell...you know...
Kiowa. Darn it.
These soldiers all carry something from home or what they believe will protect them in a war they didn't even choose to be in. There is death and heartbreak and oBrien illustrates somewhat, what these soldiers carried back home with them (at least, those that lived).
My teacher told us that this is semi-autobiographical or...roman-a-chef which was nice, as OBrien actually served in the war and it came off as realistic and grounded in reality. There was no semblance to the valor and glory of war and it was often disheartening to read how helpless most of the soldiers were during their battles in Vietnam.
Again, it is difficult to rate this on any level of enjoyment. There were parts that made me really sad which, from a literary standpoint, make this story a good one. However, I wouldn't necessarily want to read this again, and I'd only recommend it to someone who has delusions about how great war is. War really sucks. Not the soldiers who fight in them. But war itself is a racket. That's the basic summary of what I took from The Things They Carried....more
What can I say about this that hasn't already been said by the hundreds (or is it thousands?) of others who have already reviewed this? Should I mentiWhat can I say about this that hasn't already been said by the hundreds (or is it thousands?) of others who have already reviewed this? Should I mention that this is a book about incest, and it doesn't pretend to be anything less or more than that? Should I mention that this is just really depressing and because of this, it's not particularly easy on the eyes (IMO)?
I have to give Ms. Suzuma credit for combating such a taboo topic. I mean, a brother and a sister in a romantic & sexual relationship consensually is not usually something an author wants to write about. At least not with any comfort. But Suzuma managed to tackle this more or less with grace and she made the characters Understand what Lochie and Maya were going through with their Feelings.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Lochie and Maya are brother and sister in London. Because their mother is a drunk and their father abandoned them for Aussie years ago, the two teenagers (Maya, 16. Lochie 17-18) are forced to care for their three younger siblings basically by themselves. While Maya has friends, Lochie is extremely, disarmingly shy and as a result, he hates school (even though he's really smart) and he never speaks to anyone if he can help it. And if he can't, then he gets really nervous. The only time he feels normal is when he's playing house with Maya and helping the kids in the afternoon and evening. They all look up to him and Maya thinks of him higher than perhaps anyone else. So...they realize they have feelings for each other. In That Way. And despite how wrong they know it is to be together in That Way, neither of them can get enough. Their lives become dependent on the life of the other. This obviously poses some problems and they must keep their forbidden love a secret for an indefinite amount of time.
This might sound really...gross if you read the summary. But once you get into the book, it's like all you can do is sympathize with Maya and Lochie. The author makes their feelings realistic and desperate.
The book is split into two parts, alternating between Maya's POV and Lochie's. Lochie was always very melancholy and he often skirted being emo. He was also quite a pessimist was annoying sometimes even though I know their relationship couldn't last. But his constant depression made things even harder for him and Maya and I didn't like his part until the very end. There were also several elements in the story that never quite capitulated. Maya had a friend that liked Lochie that was never mentioned again after awhile; there were a few people who were mentioned that never quite had any relevance by the end of the story. There were also several parts that I felt were redundant, such as Lochie and Maya's constant 'my loves' and their worries about getting caught. However, this may have contributed to the overall genuiness of the novel.
This is a really sad thing to read and I'm not sure I would read it again, just because it's pretty emotionally taxing (esp. at the end). However, it is well written and it dares to explore things that seem a bit rare in YA (or literature in general) books. So okay. ...more
This book was not a simple read like most YA novels I've read. This here 5th Wave was an Experience. And let me tell you what I mean by thatLong time.
This book was not a simple read like most YA novels I've read. This here 5th Wave was an Experience. And let me tell you what I mean by that. Well first, it has to do with the duration in which I spent reading this. Ah...It's embarrassing. But ah... About 2 months
Ahem. Well. 2. Cassie just takes you back. At least for me. She sat me down and it's so deep (not really in a profound way) but it's just so much to absorb that it is at times hard to swallow.
3. There are multiple parts here and this is one long novel. I mean, this isn't really one of those books that you read on the beach for a couple days. Um no. You have to sit down and read this over several days (and if you're like me, several weeks).
Now, with all that being said, there are also two (3 actually) POVs which is just...eh. I mean, I didn't mind them but it's not really what I signed up for. I mean, I didn't ask to have 2 POV. I thought it would be all about Cassie. But that's okay. My feelings aren't hurt or anything.
So. Cassie, Ben & Evan (kinda...). Three 'teens' that have survived the aftermath of the four alien 'waves' that have swept over planet Earth. Did I mention that these waves came in like Exodus like forms (no locusts, though) and it killed the majority of the human race? But then...this wouldn't be an apocalypse novel, would it? Cassie has made a promise to her younger brother that they will be together indefinitely. This was after a group of soldiers took him to Camp Haven for 'safety' and their father was shot dead by those same soldiers (ooopss SPOLIER)
Ben is just...alone. He was more or less taken up by those same soldiers into that same camp and, like Cassie's little brother, trained to fight against the so called enemy. Ben is of course, Cassie's previous high school crush that didn't know she existed.
Finally, Evan is this mysterious guy who saves a half dying Cassie and brings her to his forested refuge. And he likes her and she likes him but Cassie has trust issues (and rightfully so).
I really did like this. Cassie was hands down one of the best female protagonists of the year (and she's pretty funny too which is cool because her life is really sucky). It will probably grow on me more with time. I'm not sure that it was like...like altering or anything (there is a lot of hype surrounding it this year) but it was pretty good. I know it's pretty terrible to compare a book to any form of film but it reminds me of the series 'Falling Skies' which I actually like quite a bit. Hmm. ...more
I had really high hopes for this. Like, through the roof. And sadly *tear* I was let down towards the end. Like, through the basement.
Ahem, enough.
HeI had really high hopes for this. Like, through the roof. And sadly *tear* I was let down towards the end. Like, through the basement.
Ahem, enough.
Here it is: there is a young Australian girl (for once I didn't mind reading about Australians) whom starts working at a grocery store for extra cash. Immediately she meets a fellow employee, a guy named Chris. And before she knows it, Amelia has fallen in love with him. But here's the problem: while she's only 15, attending high school, he is 21, attending 'uni' (university). That's a six year difference and Amelia is quite sure that he doesn't love her back anyway because she is not sophisticated or charming or anything like some of her other fellow co workers. But who knows....maybe he does?
I just loved the first half of this. Okay, love is the wrong word to use, maybe. I really liked the first half. There. It was charming and I really liked Amelia as a main character and I really enjoyed the literary banters between her and Chris.
Where it started getting bad, was when I realized that Chris is one of those annoying main guy characters who drinks and smokes ALL the time. I mean, I get it, he's young and has no worries and ah-who-cares-if-i-have-liver-problems-when-im-older-that's-later-and-this-is-now and all that other 'live while we're young' crap. Jeez. And to think that Amelia (even during the second half of this thing, I still thought she was a pretty good main character) almost got sucked into this lifestyle. Also, at first the inserts of Chris's diary entries were cute but then...after I was a bit disgusted by his constant drinking, they got boring and they all seemed incomprehensible and ranting and blahblahblah. I must preferred Amelia's narration. Now the reason why the second half of this book was less than satisfactory, cannot be fully disclosed lest I put up a 'this review contains spoilers' post on here (and we don't want that, do we?) I just...I don't know what the heck I was even suppose to get out of that. I guess that's the point, and the author even kinda warned me by referencing the end of 'Great Expectations' but still...jeez. What. the. heck? That was the like the worse noncommittal ending....
But no sequels. please no sequels. Maybe I am preaching to the choir but despite the terrible ending, this book does not need it. If you base this book purely on what the summary first says, 'love is awkward' then 'Love and Other Perishable Items' fit right into that description. ...more
Maybe I would have appreciated this a bit more if I was British. Maybe. Who knows, really?
This book...well it's suppose to be a tear jerker. It's supMaybe I would have appreciated this a bit more if I was British. Maybe. Who knows, really?
This book...well it's suppose to be a tear jerker. It's suppose to make me think (in the novel kind of way, that is). It's suppose to stick with me for a long time. Yeah, I know.
And trust me, it will. It was a really good read. It was funny, charming, witty, angsty (just a little bit), romantic but not raunchy (yeah, it's not Fifty Shades of Gray), and even a bit profound in certain places. Oh yes, and it was sad. I won't tell you why because it's not really...crucial right now (and frankly I'm not sure how you cannot know already. There's a bunch of reviews down here that outright say it. And perhaps you have heard about the movie's ending). Anyway, this story of old Emma and Dexter is all those things above and more. Their love story- a story that meets back up with Em and Dex every July 15 (the day they met) for twenty years- is about the first full-out, adult chick-lit novel I've ever read and it will probably rank among the best of them.
That being said, reading this, it wasn't always particularly fun to read. I guess I should mention the fact that I'd watched the end of the movie before I'd even touched this book and I knew beforehand how the story would end.
And I read the darn thing anyway.
The thing is, knowing what happened was not even what made this book sometimes a burden to get through. It was Emma. And Dexter for that matter. I guess it has something to do with my age, but I liked them far better when they were in their twenties than when they were in their thirties and forties for gosh sakes. As I read past the 1990s and into the 2000s couldn't help think, "God I hope I don't end up like Emma".
I mean, Emma was a pretty depressing character. She wasn't annoying, which is a rarity for me and female protagonists. She was smart and witty and quietly beautiful and blahblah and she was actually quite relatable. But...sigh...she was just so melancholy all the time. Jeez. It's like her life sucked, like karma had it out for her the WHOLE time. It was very miserable to read parts of her story, actually. And eventually I just got to the point that I just wanted to get on with some of the uncomfortable break-up, heartbreak parts because there were so many of them and I just wanted her to PULL IT TOGETHER.
Next, it's Dexter. I get that he's hot. Fine, actually. That he's British. That he think he owns the world because he is all these things plus kinda rich. But um...why in the world does he have to drink so much? I know that's part of his persona (along with drugs and cigarettes for darn's sake) but gosh. Every time he picked up some random liquor (which was at least every other page with him) I just wanted to scream into the book 'Put the alcohol down and go to AA!'. The thing is, the author never made Dexter's fondness of alcohol seem like a problem. He just made it seem like, I don't know, Dexter's cool hobby because Dexter is just so cool. And I'm not like some alcohol tolerance activist or anything but I just got so annoyed when Dexter got drunk over and over and over again and then got in trouble over and over and over again with it.
Their lives were full of constants. I don't feel like going over them rights now, so I won't. But that was one of the reasons why this book did not get five stars from me. It is also one of the reasons why it took so long to read this (haha, look at me blaming the book and not myself).
Other than that, this was a wonderful novel. A bit frustrating and that...last bit was quite unnecessary and now it's got me trying to write British and I didn't realise that being British was quite this fun and I will surely stop now (that doesn't sound British, does it?) Ahem, anyway.
It's not for the faint of heart but if you have a long flight or something and are looking for a touching chick lit, go for it. Good luck. ...more
One thing you cannot say about Angela Johnson is that her writing is convoluted. Despite the contrast in their writing, in terms of style, this authorOne thing you cannot say about Angela Johnson is that her writing is convoluted. Despite the contrast in their writing, in terms of style, this author is a bit like Ernest Hemingway.
I don't necessarily like this type of writing. I guess that's why I struggled when I read Old Man and the Sea and all of Angela Johnson's other novellas (because, let's face it. Most of her books are really short).
But perhaps tolerance to a form of writing different from long, winding, descriptive paragraphs, comes with age. And, when I read this novella, unlike with her other books, I actually understood what was going on. That's saying quite a bit because all through out The First Part Last, Heaven and Sweet, Hereafter I barely knew what the heck anyone was even talking about. Like I said, the writing is so simple and so short, that if you're not paying attention you'll miss the whole book.
But that didn't happen this time. Which is why I gave this book four stars.
Okay, enough. Here's the synopsis: Scotty-a self proclaimed vegetarian- has an autistic brother, her (yes, she is a girl. why wouldn't she be?) mother is dead (I don't really know why) and her father has remarried (or has started dating again. One of those). Anyway, she's held a grudge against this guy named Kris for a long time now (she's a junior in high school) because he put gum in her hair when they were little kids and she had to cut it all off. However, one day, on the train, Scotty begins to change her mind about this Kris guy. He's actually a nice guy who even stays on the train with her past his stop to help watch out for her little brother. And then everything changes.
I had to get a little dramatic there because I didn't want to sound anti-climatic. But that's basically it. I enjoyed all of the characters in the story. It's just that...well, by the end of the book I didn't even feel like I knew much of anything about Scotty's family and friends or even Scotty herself. I guess that's because this book was so short. I also liked some of the metaphors Scotty (the author) used. They weren't overly complex and ostentatious the way some authors tend to make them. At times I was a bit annoyed by the way Scotty said things like 'burbs' and 'mad real' (or something like that). If it wasn't for the reference to iPhones, this book could have been placed in the nineties or early 2000s.
I don't feel like I got much out of the whole story and I don't think Scotty or any of the characters did, either. It was like (view spoiler)[The train crashed (not that they described it in very good detail), Kris died and Scotty's little brother got into a coma before waking back up and Scotty feels bad (kinda) (hide spoiler)] and that's just it. There was no lesson; no nothing really. Things just seemed to happen to the characters whether it had anything to do with the core plot or not.
However, I did enjoy this novella for the most part. I recommend it to fans of Hemingway or people who do not enjoy convoluted, long stories. It's definitely not for everyone. ...more
Let's be honest: This book was written for twelve years olds. Doesn't it look that way? That being said, when Ashley suggested I read this back in likLet's be honest: This book was written for twelve years olds. Doesn't it look that way? That being said, when Ashley suggested I read this back in like, August I was very hesitant. There comes a time in literary endeavors, that books like these or any books that I thoroughly enjoyed in 4th, 5th, 6th grade, suddenly appear juvenile (which makes sense because they ARE). Anyway, so when Ashley suggested to this me, I simply ignored her and then she talked about it AGAIN and then I said, 'hmm well I suppose since Ashley liked it...maybe...' So I checked it out and...then I didn't read it for a long time. It was slow going at first, I'll admit.
It's not a book I've become use to reading. This is the story of Lyla and Tripp. They are two high school students (although I am convinced that they have just barely graduated 6th grade) that are opposite ends of the social spectrum. Lyla is a very smart, perfectionist, celloist whose mother passed away when she was younger. She also has a best friend named Annie who is an anal control freak. Tripp is laid back and cares little for his grades. He is a loner because his best friend moved away and his father passed away suddenly; he does not have a very good relationship with his mom and the only friend he seems to have is his guitar.
Tripp's mother decides one day that in order to get her son out of his loner phase, that she should take away his guitar. Tripp is livid about this but then finds a way to play a precious guitar by signing up for 'music time' during the lunch period. Lyla, because she wants to get into some prestigious music school, decides to practice during lunch time as well. To her best friend's chagrin, she shares a room with Tripp every other day so it just so happens that the two of them encounter each other indirectly in the form of note or some other misc. form of communication. And because they are so different, they decide to keep their 'relationship' on the low. Together, they write songs together and Lyla questions her perfectionism and Tripp is no longer a loner and blah blah blah.
It's not the most original of concepts. One of the most interesting aspects of it are the random inserts of song lyrics, tests and paraphernalia like that. As I said, it is a book mostly aimed at middle schoolers so it is very clean and pristine. No cursing, slang, kissing (no, really. sorry guys). Nothing. It is a very clean book almost to the point of...well boring. But for what it is, it is a very nice, little novel. Perfect for middle schoolers with discretionary parents who don't want their children reading anything that could be rather more that 'G' (if books had ratings, anyway). I liked Tripp and Lyla's relationship because it was sweet and pure and lalalalala and there is a bit of a twist at the end that may scare your pants off (for those of you of the Generation Z persuasion).
Anyway, nice read. I don't have to read it again or anything but I am sure that if I was five years younger, I'd appreciate it more. ...more
I mean, come on. Red haired protagonist in space...in the very distant future. Haha. Sounds I kept thinking this was a ripoff of Across the Universe.
I mean, come on. Red haired protagonist in space...in the very distant future. Haha. Sounds like a ripoff to me.
But that is where the problem lies...
It wasn't Across the Universe.
Mostly because, despite the deceiving cover, they were not in space for 85% of the book. And that's like...boo because I like space operas. I was ready for some ripped off Across the Universe with splashes of romance between a hot guy and a spunky red head. Yeah, no.
Okay okay. There were splashes of romance and yes they were in space. But this struck me as less of a space adventure, and more of a mixed up thing between Cast Away and maybe...Gilligan's Island (with some more creep factor thrown in there).
The 'spunky' female protagonist is Miss Lilac LaRoux, heiress of the largest fortune in the galaxy. Her father is this businessman who owns half the planets or something and she has grown up with him, motherless, under his protective watch. Meanwhile, there is Mr. Tarver, who is a hometown boy gone hero soldier, who just happens to be on the Icarus, the ship Lilac is vacationing on (think Titanic, guys). When they first lay eyes on each other, they both know there's a little connection there. But unbeknownst to Tarver, Lilac has major daddy trust issues and she turns down Tarver the next day. Later, the Icarus pulls out of hyperspace mysteriously and the Icarus is on its way not only out of orbit, but out of gravity altogether. Oops.
In the chaos, Tarver finds the bratty chaos and the two manage to get on an Escape Pod and dismantle themselves from the Icarus before it's too late. They land on a strange planet that doesn't appear to have any form of life on it. The two of them, awaiting rescue that may never come, must forge ahead, deciphering the mysteries of the planet and their complicated pasts and feelings for one another.
I'm seriously contemplating giving this three stars. It's not that I disliked it. It's just that, I thought there would be more something there. I don't mind survival stories but for me, survival stories are almost like scraping the dirt. They're easy to make adventurous, easy to make the reader feel for the characters. And while I didn't mind the way these two went about it all, I got quite bored with the whole 'no-food-no-water-I'm-so-weak-I'm-sick" routine after about 100 pages. And then there was that whole aliens-with-brains-not-bodies thing and I just. I don't really get it, in the sense that it seemed totally far removed from what i thought this book would be about. I suppose that whole thing was in an effort not to turn this story into the final novel in the Across the Universe trilogy, but it was really weird and even by the end I wasn't quite sure how any of it was even possible or what it had to do with the Icarus. Hmm. I enjoyed the romance. I don't actually mind out of the blue romance, as long as it's...passionate. I'm not sure how I really feel about Lilac's side of things, as she was often an inconsiderate jerk to Tarver with no explanation for weeks. Tarver was my favorite of the POVs, but I wish I had gotten to see some of the poems he wrote and took a glimpse more into his homelife. Into the homelives of both of them. The world building in general was lacking to me, as I wasn't entirely sure where they were, at point in the future this was, or how even it got to the point that no one even mentions planet Earth. Cool concept, but I wanted to know more. I needed a reason.
Also...I couldn't even really look at this book for the first 50 pages with a straight face. Wanna know why?
The Icarus???
The ICARUS???
Lilac explained this name later on, but I just...why in the world would someone name a ship Icarus. Shoot yourself in the foot why don't you? Just call the ship Titanic why don't you? And while you're at it, run out of lifeboats and run into am iceberg why don't you?
Overall, this was a pretty good read. It was more aesthetically beautiful than anything and maybe that's why I deigned to give it 4 **** instead of 3 ***. ...more
So...I started this book three months ago, on my Kindle. You know, comEww.
How was this book, Imani?
In a word: Terrible.
In three words: A bit terrible.
So...I started this book three months ago, on my Kindle. You know, common, every day sisterhood book. The popular, beautiful older sister gets cancer. The younger, dorky, nerdy sister has to deal with all the life changes. Blah blah. Blardy blar. Alright, but anyway. So Tess -a freshman- has to deal with her sister's cancer and a senior named Nick, who has a bad reputation. Meanwhile, her sister, Kristina, copes with her cancer by talking to a clingy freshman. Oh! And lets not forget that her picture perfect rich family actually has coping issues. Her mother is a health freak, shopaholic, and does not understand Tess. And the father is always playing golf or at work and is consequently never home.
Shocking.
When I was reading this a couple months back, this book didn't seem nearly as bad. I got through the majority of it thinking that it deserved about three stars. But when I decided to finish it up today, it just started to totally suck. Here's why:
1.) Tess was very irritating. I know that the book is about her balancing her own life with her sister's cancer but many of her decisions and reasoning were completely unrealistic and selfish. And for a freshman, she seemed pretty goshdarn mature. If I spoke to my parents like she did, I wouldn't be able to speak again.
2.) Kristina was also very irritating. I sympathize with the fact that she had cancer. But when people were trying to help her (except when it came to the clingy freshman: Jeremy) she barely ever accepted it. I found that rude. I mean, I know that she was reacting hard to her new way of life but jeez.
3.) Nick was very annoying. What was his purpose exactly?
4.) The cheesy dialogue. Mostly everything of what everyone said was incredibly corny. Who really speaks like that? Everything sounded contrived and scripted, like the author stole the whole thing from a bad Lifetime movie.
5.) I just hated everyone in the book. The only people who were tolerable were Jeremy and Clark Kent, Tess's friend.
6.) It was full of bad cliches: nerdy, girl jealous of her beautiful sister; beautiful popular girl, who's captain of the volleyball team (although I'm surprised she wasn't a cheerleader); man-whore guy who takes an interest in the nerdy girl; (view spoiler)[Best friend who secretly likes nerdy girl; nice freshman gets in a goshdarn car accident. (hide spoiler)]
I guess I should mention the art thing but it's just so totally irrelevant I refuse to talk about it. In short, this is a very mediocre book about cancer and the effects it has on stupid people. I understood the pain sometimes but there was so much crying and 'sorry' and 'oops' and 'i didn't know' and crap like that, that the whole cancer thing didn't even seem relevant anymore. I just kind of detested it by the end.
I hate to sound insensitive but what choice do I have when I read poor books like this? ...more
If you're looking for an intense romance, or even an innocent one, this is not really the book for you (especially if you're looking for the former). If you're looking for an intense romance, or even an innocent one, this is not really the book for you (especially if you're looking for the former). If you're looking for a quirky, cute book about a confusing friendship, then you have come to the right place.
Jonah=Ghost Boy Beatrice=Robot Girl
Together, they are some of the weirdest kids in school. Beatrice, daughter of a college professor that's constantly making her and her mom move, was dubbed 'robot' by her bipolar mom after Bea refused to cry over her dead pet. Bea embraced this nickname. Now, she finds herself in a new home in Baltimore, Maryland (but you knew the state already, didn't you? I hope so). She has to attend a private school in which she does not really fit in because all the kids have gone to school together their whole lives. Bea has a bit of trouble relating to anyone, until she lays eyes on Ghost Boy, aka Jonah (I can't remember his last name or anything. I guess it doesn't matter). He became Ghost Boy after a rumor was spread that he was dead, and when he actually showed up at school, everyone pretended that he was a ghost. Plus, his pale skin and ice blond hair matches the name. At first, he is reluctant to speak to Bea. He hasn't a friend since his mom and twin brother died in a car accident (view spoiler)[ In actuality, his brother, mentally disabled didn't actually die. Jonah's dad made him think that and stuck him in a special home in order for Jonah to grow up normal. Jonah doesn't find this out until later, though. (hide spoiler)]. However, eventually, Jonah begins to 'open up' to Bea and she does the same. They have no defining terms for their relationship. They're not just friends. They're not even boyfriend and girlfriend. They are just...there. Which is maybe how it should be.
Overall I liked Bea's narration and all. At times, especially at the end, she was a little naive but for the most part she was a decent protagonist with an interesting story. I liked Jonah about 40% of the times. The other 60% of the times he was being a bipolar jerk to Bea and everyone else. His life is...well, bad. But he doesn't have to be so bitter to the people who obviously care about him. (view spoiler)[His running away broke my heart. He left Bea and all their plans for the future. I almost hated him by that part of the story. (hide spoiler)] It was also a very pretty book setup (i.e. the chapters) and I liked the radio show that Jonah and Bea always listened to. It was a very cute story (Even if it's not a romance). ...more
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