I wanted a fun, Christmasy read and saw that this was free on Amazon, so I gave it a shot. Unfortunately, it was NOT worth the read.
Firstly, the writiI wanted a fun, Christmasy read and saw that this was free on Amazon, so I gave it a shot. Unfortunately, it was NOT worth the read.
Firstly, the writing wasn't the best, and the story wasn't that great. It was also super rushed. I get that it's a short story, but some people can make even short stories have good pacing. With this, on the other hand, things were just like: bam, bam, bam, and finish. The writing also had some errors and mistakes. Some aspects of the story just didn't make sense or the characters were just stupid. I didn't like any of the characters. Also, it was just too steamy for my preference. There's a bedroom scene, and that was the last straw for me. Content warning: pretty heavy on the steam.
Honestly, you shouldn't waste your time reading this. Don't make the same mistake I did and find something else....more
Sorry, but I just couldn't get into this book. To put it succinctly, it was boring. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't the story itself that was wrong. I lSorry, but I just couldn't get into this book. To put it succinctly, it was boring. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't the story itself that was wrong. I love math, for one thing, and I think these women were awesome. But, the author just didn't pull it off well. The way it was written just wasn't good. Maybe it's just because I went into this book with such high expectations and the idea of it being more like a novel. But it's not—not really. It's written more like a history book. A dull one at that. It's mostly just the telling of facts. "Dorothy did this. Katherine did that. She went here; she went there. In the year blah blah she finally achieved this. She married this guy. She got this job and did that." It was legit like that throughout the whole book. (Wait, I think there were 3 women. Dorothy, Katherine…. I just can't remember the third lady's name. Honestly, the book was so boring I barely even remember anything about it.) There's barely even much dialogue. The way it was written made such a good real-life story seem tedious and mundane. It was written more like an egregious academic research paper rather than a novel, carrying the dry, monotonous tone of someone who isn't very invested or interested in their work. I was very disappointed with this book, especially since it's about such an important part of history.
There's just no story to the book. Everything is told rather than shown. The book thus felt shallow and uninteresting. Events and facts are given; that's it. It lacked depth and feeling, and thus elicited no emotion from my side. The characters' victories and defeats, their mountains and valleys, all of it—I just didn't get drawn into the story enough to feel for the characters. Sure, I was happy for them, but I didn't really feel for them, you know?
I will say this, though: these were some really strong, remarkable women. With all the crazy stuff happening these days, the definition of a strong woman has been lost. But this shows that a strong woman doesn't have to mean physically strong, "I don't need no man" chicks who can to "kick butt." These women were so courageous and brave, persistent and long-suffering, smart and wise, full of hope and determination. They were determined to not back down from the hardships of all the unfairness and racism and stuff happening in their time and were willing to work assiduously for their bright futures. While the book fell short of my expectations, the real tale is an incredible one about incredible women who did incredible things. I'm just sad this book seemed to lack the passion and drive the true story contained that had the power to draw people in.
Overall, the writing was just really bad. Shetterly is just a really bad writer. Sorry to be blunt, but it's the truth....more
This book was awful. The writing was so bad, it made me cringe. It was a disgrace. There was no development. No story. Nothing to explain a character'This book was awful. The writing was so bad, it made me cringe. It was a disgrace. There was no development. No story. Nothing to explain a character's actions because they had no personality. The story didn't feel grounded. It was so shallow. Too many cliches. Insta-love and insta-friendships. The dialogue was horrible and not believable at all. It wasn't even smart. Lots of repetitive words, and too many cliches. Etc. The language used in itself was terrible. It was overly-simple and childish. The entire book was written in this really childish way, as if a middle schooler—nay, an elementary student wrote it.
It's not even a full story. It's crazy short and ends in the most abrupt way. Just another one of those authors who try to chop up their stories and stretch it out to so many books, just to squeeze as much money out of it as possible. SMH
And that's not even mentioning all the writing errors. Oh my gosh, this book was chock full of them! It was brimming with errors, and it got so frustrating. So not only was the story's writing bad, but it was so incorrect, too. Like, there literally was a page that had 3 errors in the same, short paragraph, 2 of which were in the same sentence, and then right after that had yet another paragraph with 3 more different errors! There were spelling errors; punctuation errors, missing or misplaced periods, commas, and question marks after questions; run-ons; missing coordinating conjunctions, predicates, and linking verbs; and a whole lot more.
The characters weren't even likable. They all were jerks and were so detestable. A lot of times they were inconsistent, too. 2 girls hate the main character because of the horrible way she treated them when they were little, and then when she says sorry, they instantly become BFFs, and they're inseparable besties for the rest of the book. It's just not good writing. There's nothing that shows how they came to that or why they were like that. The characters all just had no personality and were all so flat, not to mention annoying.
Content-wise, there wasn't as much, I guess. There's no swearing, but there is one partial f-word that is cut off. The guy imagines kissing the girl the moment he sees her, and it's pretty gross.
Honestly, this was a disgrace, such a waste of time. I'm glad I didn't spend money on this; I got it for free. Don't waste your time or money on this book. It's not worth it, trust me. The book was horrendous. Why is it even in print?...more
I just couldn't get into this book. I got it as freebie and tried to read through it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea, I guess. I'm honestly not a faI just couldn't get into this book. I got it as freebie and tried to read through it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea, I guess. I'm honestly not a fan of her writing style. This was my first or second read of her books, but I don't really feel a connection with her style.
The story wasn't really interesting. I honestly found it pretty boring. I'm sorry if this all sounds critical or harsh, but it's just how I felt. That doesn't mean you won't enjoy it, though! It just wasn't for me. We've all got different tastes. So go ahead and give it a try if you want. ...more
This was….hmmm. I don't want to sound mean, but honestly, this wasn't worth the read. I'm glad it was short so I didn't spend much time on it. I got tThis was….hmmm. I don't want to sound mean, but honestly, this wasn't worth the read. I'm glad it was short so I didn't spend much time on it. I got this as a freebie from something. Don't remember what.
The writing needs a lot of work. There's a whole lot of room for improvement. It was just hard to get into. It was hard to follow sometimes, and I occasionally didn't get what she was trying to say at all.
The author also had a bad habit of making a new paragraph in the most awkward and weirdest places, even mid sentence sometimes. Maybe it's just the Kindle formatting? There were also a number of writing errors.
And finally, agh, the instalove! Okay, yes, I get that these are short stories. But you could at least show something that causes one to like the other. It was like one moment the guy didn't like her, and then the next he instantly likes her—with not really anything to let you see why that happened.
The only good thing I can think of was that in one of the stories the girl talked about what Christmas means to her, being the celebration of Jesus' birth and about God's love for us. That surprised me because I didn't know whoever wrote this was a believer, and I was pleased to see that that was included in there instead of the focus being on, like, presents and such.
Like I said, I'm not trying to be mean. I just honestly think the writing in this book needs significant improvement. Overall, I just wouldn't count it worth reading....more
To be honest, I was really disappointed with this book. I LOVE the Little House series and have read them countless times when I was a little girl. I To be honest, I was really disappointed with this book. I LOVE the Little House series and have read them countless times when I was a little girl. I tried to read this when I was around 10 and just could not get into it. It was so boring and did not have any of the original Little House feels at all. I tried reading it again when I was a little older, but I still just could not enjoy it.
The writing was bad, and the characters were all so changed. I really didn't like Laura in this book. Actually, I didn't like any of the characters in this book. Their personalities and character were all so changed and terrible. If you're a fan of Laura Ingalls' books and are expecting this series to be like them, beware. I doubt I'll be giving this a reread....more
This book was terrible. The story dragged, the writing was marginal; the moral was clouded over with too many scenes that focused on the wrong ideas, This book was terrible. The story dragged, the writing was marginal; the moral was clouded over with too many scenes that focused on the wrong ideas, desires (the lustful kind), etc; and the characters were detestable. There was nothing good about any of the characters, at all, and I hated each and every one of them. I only gave this book a try because it was free and the blurb had made it seem like this was a nice story of a girl and her siblings trying to find a home. But in reality it was terrible. No good lessons at all. Not even something about what a home really is and what makes a building a home and not just a house. Best to avoid this book....more
This series is absolutely terrible. Don't waste your time and money on it. The writing was terrible and cheesy; the characters were detestable, annoyiThis series is absolutely terrible. Don't waste your time and money on it. The writing was terrible and cheesy; the characters were detestable, annoying, and unbearably immature; the plots and "mysteries" were stupid; and, well, you get the idea.
My dad brought this back from a recent trip, thinking we'd like it. (He's never read it himself, so I can't blame him.) I knew from the blurbs that they would be bad, but I was bored one day and it was the only thing that was close by. It was one of the worst reads I've had this year, to be honest. It was just so cheesy and cringe. Ugh.
To give you an example of what I had to endure, here's a passage straight from Chapter 1:
I didn't know what to think. Did Frank hear me? Did someone sabotage his parachute too?
One thing I did know. If I didn't grab onto Wings Maletta in the next few seconds, I was going to be digging really deep for clams in the sandy beach below.
And I hated clams.
Like, seriously? What the heck? It's so cringe. It was like this incessantly, and I seriously could not stand it. Never reading this again....more
A friend bought this book for me for my birthday because she knows of my predilection for interesting facts. However, I had a hard time getting into tA friend bought this book for me for my birthday because she knows of my predilection for interesting facts. However, I had a hard time getting into this book. I don't mean to sound unthankful, and I don't want to say it because she just got this for me with the hope that I'd enjoy it, but I sort of found it boring. I also had a hard time envisioning all the experiments he did. However, I did find some of the facts interesting, and I would very much like to try some of the experiments one day myself....more
One of my friends bought this for me for my birthday. She said she didn't know what it was about but hoped it was good and the content was safe. I feeOne of my friends bought this for me for my birthday. She said she didn't know what it was about but hoped it was good and the content was safe. I feel really bad about saying this because she just bought it for me, but it wasn't a very good book. I'm not talking about storywise, but language-wise. The English translation has so many swear words, and it just made me feel sick reading it. I understand all the characters hard lives and dark pasts and are just really troubled people in general, but all the atrocious and needlessly frequent swearing that they do was enough to make me gag and want to put the book down.
I got this book from someone as a birthday present. I started reading it right away and finished it almost 36 hours later. The language in this book iI got this book from someone as a birthday present. I started reading it right away and finished it almost 36 hours later. The language in this book is terrible. They swear a ton, so please be careful and take that into consideration before reading.
There is also a lot of adult or "mature audience" content. For example, there are two rape scenes (none of them are successful, thankfully) and a woman who remorselessly commits adultery, and the topic of sex is discussed in other scenes. A few times I was tempted to not finish the book, but I did for the sake of the person who gave it to me. They meant well and had given it to me because they read somewhere online that it was really good, so I felt I should at least finish it.
The story was….sort of interesting, I guess? Unique, to say the least. But that's about it. The ending didn't make any sense at all and was very disappointing. I read some people's reviews that said the ending was "AMAZING!", but I read a lot more reviews that said the ending just sucked. And I wholeheartedly agree. Seriously, that's the story? That's the ending? It was terrible!!! It was a stupid, lazy ending, one of the worst I've read. I feel like the author had no idea how to tie in the two characters' stories and just wrote the first crazy thing that came to mind. It literally just made me tilt my head and stare blankly at the page for a long while before I finally said "What the heck?" Also, the "twist" at the end, the one that apparently made many people start in surprise, I'd figured it out already from around the middle of the book and was not shocked at all, so big disappointment there, too.
This was definitely not a book I wanted to end my year with. My verdict: this book isn't really worth reading at all. There are so many books out there in the world that are much more deserving of your time than this one....more
This book doesn't even deserve a star. The writing was terrible; the characters were sensual; and the content was immoral, inappropriate, and disgustiThis book doesn't even deserve a star. The writing was terrible; the characters were sensual; and the content was immoral, inappropriate, and disgusting. I can't believe this book is marketed as YA. Didn't finish because I just couldn't take it anymore. I only got in a few chapters and had to put it down because of how disgusted I was with the story. I do NOT recommend!
Thanks, Amazon. Your recommendations are always so relevant. (Sorry, my sarcasm comes out when I'm not careful.) I'm just glad I didn't waste any money on this book....more
This book was a mistake. Don't read this book. I would rate this negative 100 stars if I could. This was one of the worst reads I had this year. I didThis book was a mistake. Don't read this book. I would rate this negative 100 stars if I could. This was one of the worst reads I had this year. I didn't even want to acknowledge the existence of this book with a review, but after a lot of thought, I decided it was only right to warn people about it. I used to not add books that had unpalatable content to my shelves, but I always felt uncomfortable thinking that so many people might read those books because they had no one to warn them. I don't want to have books with that kind of content on my read shelf. But at the same time I also feel that if I know that something is wrong, then it's my responsibility to warn people against it and stand up for what's right. I feel like that's what God would want me to do, too. Especially because this book's intended audience is teens and young adults, I felt it necessary to take a stand.
The fact that some people actually gave this book a good review is beyond me. *gags* I can't find one good thing about it. Even if you don't agree with my views, the fact remains that the writing and story-telling skills are absolutely horrible.
I can't believe anyone would expose such loathsome, vile, scandalous content to their readers. It's shameful. No person in their right mind should want to read this, and no kid should ever even read this stuff. This story should never have seen the light of day.
Amazon recommended this book to me (I have no idea why) and since it was free, I decided to just read a chapter or two to see how I'd like it. A few pages in, and I was already ready to put it down, but I finished chapter 1 so I could have better scope to write a review. This book was immoral, excessively and disgustingly sexual, sickening, whatever you'd like to call it. It made me feel terrible reading, and I could not go on after chapter 1. The characters are all sensual and horrible and only care about people's outward appearances and seem to have nothing at all in their hearts or brains. The MC was terrible and odious and inordinately immature. I'm the same age as her, so you can't say I just don't get it. I can't believe how disgustingly immature the characters are.
From the very start of the book, you get LGBTQ elements, underage sex (and they do it secretly), and every bit of lustful pursuit.
This type of book should never be published. It teaches kids all the wrong things. What was the author thinking to put such content in a YA book? The world is already much too full of immorality and the mindset of sensuality without someone publishing a book like this. There is no lesson or moral in this story. Everything is just about the teens' lust for sex. It made me sick....more