There is not much I can say about this book that other reviewers haven't already expressed. The Push is a gutpunching, disturbing and devastating noveThere is not much I can say about this book that other reviewers haven't already expressed. The Push is a gutpunching, disturbing and devastating novel. Yes, it centers around motherhood, but it also provides a glimpse into generational trauma. I will read anything Audrain writes....more
We remember the past, live in the present, and write the future.
The last time I read a book with this tone was Please ignore Vera Dietz, and in a We remember the past, live in the present, and write the future.
The last time I read a book with this tone was Please ignore Vera Dietz, and in a world of young adult contemporaries with fluffy romance where that one special person changes the depressed MC's outlook on life, it was so nice to return with this. I saw the word aliens in the synopsis and rolled my eyes, but this is more magical realism than sci-fi, which I adore. The short chapters describing how the world could end complement the present, and all the science stuff didn't completely go over my head.
A cynical yet nuanced story like We are the ants doesn't come often. Many of the characters are morally grey, or even more leaning to the 'bad' side. Thanks to the well-executed and realistic situations, you can understand why Henry is sick of it all and thinks there's nothing good in the world. You are completely invested in his troubled life, and even if you have never thought about this deep subject before, We are the ants will make you question things. The world will end some day anyway, what does it matter if it's tomorrow or not?
Henry Denton's life sucks. His ex-boyfriend killed himself last year without explanation, his grandmother has Alzheimer's and he's severely bullied at school. The aliens couldn't have picked a worse person to decide the future of the world. But they did, and now Henry has to decide in 144 days whether he will press the button that saves the world or not, because in his opinion there is nothing to save. In the middle of all this, he meets Diego Vega, a boy who is missing the word past in his vocabulary. I love how Diego doesn't magically change Henry, instead Henry's character development is fuelled by the different characters all whogive their input on the question: If the world was ending and you had a chance to stop it, would you?
Hutchinson somehow balances this heavy backstory with humor and brutal honesty. My favorite characters besides Henry must be the rich popular boy Marcus, who only wants Henry for sex and humiliates him in public. But like everyone else, he too has a story and his reasons.
I really appreciate the portrayal of especially 2 of the stigmatized topics here: mental illness and homosexuality. It doesn't look down on therapy and getting help, but almost normalizes it. Also the book doesn't end in a predictable way (view spoiler)[with Henry getting help and leaving us wondering. How often do you see that? (hide spoiler)] Henry is gay, but it's not the main point of his character. He doesn't play into any stereotypes and I'm glad to see more books with LGBTQ+ characters whose sexuality isn't constantly at the forefront. I like this normalizing of queer characters. We are humans just like everyone else (although maybe a little more glittery)
Suicide and death are also big themes in the book, and handled with great sensitivity in my opinion (cough cough unlike what I've heard of that show and the shitty book). Henry's quest to find out why his boyfriend killed himself is an internal struggle that too many can relate to.
Loved it, loved it. Can't wait to see what this author next puts out. I'll even be okay with something even 'weirder' than aliens as long as the characters are this amazing and fleshed out. Maybe dragons next?...more
4.5 stars One of the most epic YA fantasy books I've read in a long time. It feels like the genre is drying out, but The impostor queen was so fast-pac4.5 stars One of the most epic YA fantasy books I've read in a long time. It feels like the genre is drying out, but The impostor queen was so fast-paced and intriguing I couldn't put it down. Stunning world-building with just the right amount of detail, a strong cast of characters with interesting motives and a plot that doesn't allow you to stop reading. This book took away my free will. ''Put it down, Sarah. You need to paint your nails, you need to do this and that'' said my stressed mind and I thought about catching up on tv shows or going out, but this book made me excited to read for the first time since my hiatus started. That voice was silenced by the book yelling ''READ ME. YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.'' Guess which one won? I wish I could write a longer review for this because it deserves it. For now I'll settle for saying what a fantastic surprise this was. Sarah Fine takes you into a unique fantasy adventure with a simple but sensible magic system. Also thank you so, so much, Ms Fine. Thank you for writing a queer heroine into a fantasy book. You rock, and make me want to read all your other books. (as a fellow lgbtq+ person I nearly screamed when I noticed the representation. And it's not the central part of the book. Fun fact: queer people don't only exist in contemporary fiction about finding yourself. I would never erase the importance of those stories, but it's so so nice to see a member of the community in a book where their sexuality isn't the central focus. Yes, I'll admit I fell in love a little with these female characters. P.S Girls are awesome, that's all I have to say) Why aren't more people talking about this? Just hand me the sequel already so I can get back to this story. ...more
''All I'm saying is there are rules. You don't get wasted. You don't take off your top. You don't flirt with raging drunks. You don't dress like a ''All I'm saying is there are rules. You don't get wasted. You don't take off your top. You don't flirt with raging drunks. You don't dress like a slut. You have to play by the rules. If you don't, this is what happens.
If there is one book released in 2015 that everyone should read, it’s this one. Especially teens. This will make you feel a dozen different emotions, but most of all anger. I’m furious because in 2015 this book is more relevant and needed than ever. How messed up is that? I’m angry because rape culture exists, I’m angry because people only care when it happens to them. Because a whole town jumps at the chance to protect the golden boys who haven’t had to work for jackshit but push the victim away like she is nothing.
In What we saw, the victim’s voice is silenced and our main character is the only one who thinks about her, and digs deeper to find out the truth.
You hear the old excuses - she’s asking for it, she dressed inappropriately, she led him on. No. No. A woman should be able to walk fucking stark naked on the streets without being touched, catcalled or looked at any differently. At least in a perfect world. Any situation where a person is unable to give consent means no. Any situation where a person says anything but yes means no.
Murder is crystal clear; it’s a terrible crime that deserves punishment. Why this gray area with rape? ’’Maybe she regretted it after’’, ’’Well, she didn’t say no. You can't spell sex without consent. That's the difference between rape and sex, but why are the lines so easily blurred? I hate when people try to sugar-coat this. If there's even a slight matter of doubt, it crosses a line and you need to stop.
Just because some white teenage boys on the basketball team with rich dads get accused, they don’t have to stand for what they did. I watched the Dr Phil episode covering the Steubenville case where these 'poor' upper-middle class women cried their eyes out for their ’innocent’ baby boys. ’’You’re ruining their future!’’ they screamed. I don't give a single fuck. They ruined something in a person that will take years of help to repair, they don’t get a second chance.
In this day, women can’t own their sexuality. ’’Boys will be boys’’ is a phrase thrown around in this book. It's because these ideas are spread that they're different and the same rules don't apply to both genders. '''Boys will be boys' is what people say to excuse guys when they do something awful.''
It is not enough. WE need to stop the slut-shaming, the comments, the bullying. Because then something like Steubenville happens, and you’ll see how ignorant people are until one can’t tell the difference between the ones who really believe it and the ones who are insecure and too scared to speak up - the ones who could help, like our MC Kate.
This is a raw, honest depiction of how damaging rape culture is. I want to thank Aaron Hartzler for writing this, and hope it gets read by a million people. Spread this like wildfire. I love how this doesn't immediately take sides. Kate is heavily influenced by people in her town, people who are claiming that these boys are innocent. You have to use your brain, don't buy what everyone else tells you. Kate has to make some very tough decisions in this book, but she does it for the greater good and I admire her. Her friends who promote rape culture are of course not likable at all, but you understand where they're coming from and that's what's important about this topic. Ignorance is dangerous.
''Why does everybody say 'feminist' that way?'' ''What way?'' ''The way Dooney kept saying 'herpes' after health class last year. Like it's this terrible, unspeakable thing.
This along with Some Girls Are are would be on my perfect required reading list for teenagers. We need to talk about this. __________________ Lastly, because I’m a psychology nerd, I’ll link you to an episode of one of my favorite podcasts The Psych files; an episode about victim blaming, because this is one of the biggest issues in the book. It talks about why we blame the victim and how it's because we'd like to think we would act differently in a situation like this. But we don't really know Til it happens to you. *TW sexual assault.* Lady Gaga wrote this very powerful song for a documentary and it's amazing and says everything that's left to say without making this review 15 pages long. ...more
4.5 So this is a sad book. In case you haven’t guessed it. Isn’t there something sinister about smiley faces? You know there's something hiding behind 4.5 So this is a sad book. In case you haven’t guessed it. Isn’t there something sinister about smiley faces? You know there's something hiding behind there, and boy was this dark. More happy than not is a contemporary book with a sci-fi twist. Recently a new procedure at the Leteo institute helps you forget, It follows 16-year-old Aaron who wants to forget that he’s gay. The first half was okay but I didn’t feel connected to the characters at all. The second half is fantastic. It was a little confusing but in the end, everything came together and it’s really clever.
Don't let the sci-fi element scare you away. (I know this was compared to Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, which I hated for your information, but it’s way better). Adam Silvera balances it out with incredibly realism in the personalities and setting. The characters breathe and are flawed and terrible and amazing. We have a large cast of characters for a contemporary, and they all fit and served the story well. My favorites are Genevieve - Aaron’s awesome artist girlfriend, Aaron’s mother and Thomas.
It’s okay how some stories leave off without an ending. Life doesn’t always deliver the one you would expect.
It’s incredibly diverse and thoughtful story with beautiful writing. For most of the book, I enjoyed myself, I found the characters to be very realistic and three-dimensional, but I didn’t have an enormous emotional connection to them. Then it happened. This story took an unexpected turn that caught me completely off guard and made me extremely emotional. It’s very clever and it adds the sci-fi twist to the book without feeling forced. Really, really liked this book. Can’t wait to see what more Adam Silvera will publish.
If the blind can find joy in music, and the deaf can discover it with colors, I will do my best to always find the sun in the darkness because my life isn’t one sad ending - it’s a series of endless happy beginnings....more
[image] Fine, Leigh Bardugo. You got me. I can't deny your talent anymore. Just hand me the sequel and we'll forget my beef with the Grisha trilogy, be[image] Fine, Leigh Bardugo. You got me. I can't deny your talent anymore. Just hand me the sequel and we'll forget my beef with the Grisha trilogy, because this was amazing.
Leigh Bardugo’s name is everywhere in the book world. I read the first two books in the Grisha trilogy, thought they were one of the most overhyped YA novels ever and was decided this author wasn’t for me. The characters were dull and annoying, I never seemed to get a grip on this world which everyone praised for its creativity, and I couldn’t care less for the plot. But I read this anyway. And I’m glad I did, because it’s one of my favorite books of 2015.
’''Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.’' Brekker’s lips quirked. ’’I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.’' ’’My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,’’ Matthias said primly, and then wondered if the sea air was rotting his brain.
This cast! They have strong personalities and extremely well-written backstories. I felt like I knew them. I love how they’ve been through a lot and may not always get along. They bicker and joke like a bunch of five-year-olds.
KAZ. Marry me, please? He’s the strong and overly confident leader. We slowly start seeing more and more of his humanity. He's like the younger version of Jack Sparrow, and absolutely hilarious.
’’I’m a business man,’’ he’d told her. ’’No more, no less.’’ ’’You’re a thief, Kaz.’’ ’’Isn’t that what I just said?’’
Inej, who I absolutely adore. She worked at a brothel until Kaz recruited and she’s a girl full of darkness and so complex.
Those jewels had been purchased with the sweat and blood and sorrow of girls like her.
Nina. She’s clever and honest and sassy.
’’’It’s not natural for women to fight.’’ ’’It’s not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.’’
Although Matthias, Wyler and Jesper don’t have as much page time as the others, I really enjoyed their characters as well.
All the feels. The characters are incredibly well-written and fleshed-out. There’s this reverse character-development that I love. We see each of them as they are now and sometimes go into their backstory. There’s always more to discover and you start understanding why they are like this. Each one of them has black hearts, flawed and beaten to the bone. But together they make the best team of thieves. The plot is perfectly paced and the last half is full of twists.
I love where this is going. They are all broken street kids and if it hadn’t been written from so many POVs we would’ve missed out on the amazing punch they pack.
Oh, not to mention the ships. Punch me in the face, Inej and Kaz. Just when I thought I was sick of the trope where the boy is broken and selfish but a badass girl is his only weakness. ONE LAST TIME. There’s very little romance but it’s slow-burning and beautiful.
The world and plot quickly expands to something much grander. I haven’t read something like this in a long time. This world is much larger than just Ravka, and introduces a magic system, diverse characters and beautifully described settings. The character and power dynamics are countless but each one important. Not to mention that it’s action-packed and contains a lot of badassery.
Would’ve been 5 stars if it hadn’t been a tad bit too long. Six of crows packs quite the punch. I loved it. It was awesome.
P.S Fjerdans, you say? Blonde, blue-eyed people from a country that’s colder than a freezer? I’ll bet my bookshelf that they’re based on Scandinavians. But I won’t complain. It IS cold as fuck....more
3.5 Teeth is a difficult book to summarize. It’s about an island with magical fish, a family desperate to cure their son’s disease… and a fish boy. And3.5 Teeth is a difficult book to summarize. It’s about an island with magical fish, a family desperate to cure their son’s disease… and a fish boy. And it’s bloody sad. It’s been so long since I read this novel that I can't write a proper review. If you want to know more about this, go read Anna's review (who recommended the book to me). It sums up my feelings pretty well, except that I didn't love it quite as much. Gorgeous writing, real characters and a very compelling story. I should give it a re-read sometime. Recommended for those who enjoy magical realism and all things weird....more
4,5 stars Absolutely beautiful and magical. Well worth the hype, if not for the story or romance that's actually slow-burning and cringeworthy at all,4,5 stars Absolutely beautiful and magical. Well worth the hype, if not for the story or romance that's actually slow-burning and cringeworthy at all, then for some of the best writing I have read in YA fiction. AND one of my favorite romantic relationships because it feels real and fragile and so sad. This is what I love seeing, no pretending to become someone else for your partner, that's not healthy. Shahrzad and Khalid are on the same wavelength and complete each other. You see this in the stunning writing and how it made me ache for my own relationship. There are multiple ways to say I love you, and I think this is one of the best examples for a healthy relationship and it made me so happy. My soul sees its equal in you. This and many more quotes made me melt, and I'm not much for romance!
I absolutely loved this and need the sequel now. This was my perfect romance. ''I know love is fragile. And loving someone like you is near impossible. Like holding something shattered through a raging sandstorm.''...more
4.5 We were alive. I remember it that way. We were still alive, and we couldn't see how close we were to the end.
I can describe this book with one 4.5 We were alive. I remember it that way. We were still alive, and we couldn't see how close we were to the end.
I can describe this book with one word: Haunting. Explaining the plot is quite challenging, even thought it’s not that complicated at first glance. We follow two completely different teenage girls. Violet is an ambitious ballet dancer while Amber is in a juvenile detention center. They do have something in common: Orianna. Is she real or is she a ghost?
The walls around us is a story of friendship and crime and viciousness. It’s incredibly atmospheric and creepy. This is my flavor of horror, where nothing is in your face but instead it’s subtle and so well done, keeping you on edge.
Nova Ren Suma’s writing style is stunning, particularly in Amber’s chapters. It’s vivid and beautiful and made me want to cling onto every sentence.
I haven’t read anything set in a prison before, and honestly thought The Shawshank redemption was ridiculously over-hyped (put down your pitchforks!). It would’ve been a much better movie if he did it. The setting is one of my favorite parts of this book. The juvenile detention center where we meet Amber is a world of its own; with dangerous bloodthirsty girls and a few who are trying to make the best of the situation. Each one is fleshed-out and has a distinct personality. I really loved the relationships that formed between them, flawed yet heartwarming.
It’s a slow-moving psychological mystery cleverly tied together. The mystery isn’t unnecessarily confusing, but you do have to figure some things out for yourself. Nova Ren Suma’s writing talent shines when she gives the reader just enough details to have a clue what’s happening, but enough to come up with different theories. And thankfully, the ending is perfect. No loose ends, nothing. It’s bittersweet but deserving. Everything I want from a creepy book.
Not to mention that this book and Haunting by Halsey fit perfectly together.
Cause I’ve done some things that I can’t speak And I’ve tried to wash you away but you just won’t leave So won’t you take a breath and dive in deep Cause I came here so you’d come for me I’m begging you to keep on haunting me
And The walls around us is still haunting me.
It's a book about justice and injustice, about loneliness and guilt. It benefits from the slow pacing because this is first and foremost a book about people and questioning their innocence. Amazing setting, amazing characters, flawless writing. I need to buy the rest of Nova Ren Suma's books as soon as I can. ...more
Because Liz Emerson held so much darkness within her that closing her eyes didn't make much of a difference at all. 4.5 What a cruel little book thiBecause Liz Emerson held so much darkness within her that closing her eyes didn't make much of a difference at all. 4.5 What a cruel little book this is. If I could use one word to describe it, it would be heartbreaking.
One day the most popular girl at school takes her car and drives off a cliff. This is Liz Emerson’s story, equally loved by everyone and equally hated by them. It is told by an unknown and very surprising narrator.
What I love the most about Falling into place is that it constantly surprised me. It’s not a journey back to point out at what exact point Liz cracked. People seem to think there’s The One Thing that drives people to end their lives. It’s not. It’s all of these small things, that eventually tip over into something too large to handle. I think this book paints an excellent portrait of that, without shying away from the darkest details. Liz's journey to making this serious decision happened slowly, but the whole book has a very sad undertone. There are barely any moments of happiness and you can see why Liz feels so lost.
Every single character is flawed, bitchy, terribly unlikable and real. They seem shallow at first, nothing but stiff stereotypes but there’s so much more to them. They're all fucked up in some way, and they know it. It’s high school, the teenagers are out of control and vicious and unapologetic. They’re ignorant. There’s slutshaming, life-altering revenges because of petty things, and a lot of bullying. Most of these are done by the main character. This is where you ask, ’’Why would I want to read a book about unlikable people who do awful things?’’ The above are huge pet peeves of mine, and even though these actions are terrible and something that shouldn’t be easily forgiven, I think it was more understandable within its context. Because it will make you think about how no matter how horrible they are, they actually deserve better. This is a great example of how you can assume things because you don't understand them. These teens have been neglected and had to fight on their own in a world that bends you until you break. Their values are fucked up, and it would be weird if they weren't. This next quote sums it up perfectly.
The truth is, Liam has always thought of Kennie as a slutty, stereotypical Barbie with even less intelligence. Because that’s what he’s been told. Now he looks at the grimy tracks of makeup on her cheeks and the broken girl trapped in her eyes, and he realize that he’s an asshole.
Can you see it? That's called character development and there is a lot of it in this book, sometimes very subtle.
The story itself is heartbreaking, helpless and dark. It’s about the things you want to do, but can’t. The actions and words that could save someone. Because if someone asked Liz, really paid attention to her, maybe she wouldn’t have driven her car off the road that day. Maybe she could’ve gotten help. But things don’t magically resolve like that. The MC ruins so many peoples’ lives and she knows it, but she can’t stop. She doesn’t know how to apologize or ask for help, which is what she needs.
Liz looked back and counted the bodies, all those lives she had ruined simply by existing. So she chose to stop existing.
The writing is some of the best I've seen in YA contemporary for a long time. It's stunning and captures how empty Liz feels. Never did the third person PoV bother me, because it's so well-written and actually made me love the book more. The perspective gives us an incredibly wide look at all the side characters who are just as important as Liz.
I watched her carve her mistakes in stone, and they arranged themselves around her. They became a maze with walls that reached the sky. Because she learned from so few of them, she was lost. Because she didn’t have faith in anything, she didn’t try to find a way out.
I was infuriated by how the adults acted in this book, and yet didn’t think it was surreal. There is one scene that hit me particularly hard. Not to spoil anything, but Liz tries to hint at her mental state to an adult and is misunderstood and told that you just need ’’the right motivation’' to get better and change. Like it’s easy. It’s fucked up how someone can be quietly screaming for help and heavily hinting at that they’re depressed without anyone knowing and many people in the world are going through the exact same thing. This book hit me much harder than I expected.
4.5 stars because it took so long for me to feel the characters were more than just mean and sad without any redeemable qualities and the ending was underwhelming. I highly recommend this to those who enjoyed Some Girls Are. My problem with that book is that the story and drama went a little overboard, and felt like it was just going for shock factor. The same goes for Falling into place, hence the removal of the half star. I’m still amazed by the fact that this is a debut novel and that the author wrote it while in college.
Final verdict: No matter what you think of this book, I doubt that it will leave you unaffected. Amy Zhang is an author to watch, and I’m already dying to get my hands on her next book. I'll just need some time to piece my heart back together.
She wanted to go back. She wanted to be the little girl again, the one who thought getting high meant being pushed on the swings and pain was falling off her bike....more
4 1/2 stars It’s been a while since I read The 5th Wave Once the hype had calmed down just after its release, I was afraid I’d be disappointed. Then cam4 1/2 stars It’s been a while since I read The 5th Wave Once the hype had calmed down just after its release, I was afraid I’d be disappointed. Then came the inevitable negative reviews, as always. I started wondering if I only liked the book because I read it on a rainy day and it was the perfect read for one sitting. Maybe it was just another ’’fun’’ book without any emotion? WRONG.
I can’t find a reason why anyone would be disappointed by this sequel. It has everything that made me love the first one; heart-stopping action, believable characters and a fantastic plot which drives you crazy with guessing. It is a powerful and addicting story. I couldn’t stop reading, because it feels like you’re there with Cassie and the gang when the rest of the world has ended.
I think what sets this apart from the other YA dystopian/sci-fi books is the depth and heart aching realism. It’s not about some unbelievable supernatural threat; instead it talks a lot about humanity and survival instead of using difficult science terms to make it sound cool. It’s surprisingly easy to picture yourself in a situation like this, and that’s what makes it so fantastic.
This second installment dives deeply into the characters, especially Ringer. There are flashbacks that make your heart ache. This series could completely abandon the apocalypse plot and just focus on the characters, because they are fantastic. You wouldn’t expect this to be funny, but our main character lightens the mood. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, you fucking alien motherfucker.Cassie, ever so sassy, ever so poetic. I love her.
Yancey knows how to set the scene, how to make you catch your breath and stay up late at night just because the story is so engaging and won’t let go of you. It feels real, it’s scary and dark and shocking. Will they make it? There’s loss, death and secrets are revealed. It’s all a big dilemma, and the reader wants to solve it. You want to help these poor kids. It gets inside your head, makes you paranoid. We see some very cruel methods to exterminate humanity. Honestly, how does Yancey come up with these things? I’d best describe this series as intense. It’s an amazing ride that never stops surprising. There’s not much else to say. I just hope Yancey continues to impress and gives the series the conclusion and explanation it deserves. This is now my favorite on-going series. ...more
4.5 The living always think that monsters roar and gnash at their teeth. But i’ve seen that real monsters can be friendly; they can smile, and they can4.5 The living always think that monsters roar and gnash at their teeth. But i’ve seen that real monsters can be friendly; they can smile, and they can say please and thank you like everyone else. Real monsters can appear to be kind. Sometimes they can be inside us.
Probably the first time I love a book that isn't already surrounded by praise. This has an average rating of 3.45, which is alright but nothing that makes you rush to buy it. The vanishing season is not for every reader out there. It's a slow-paced story focusing on very few people with barely any plot. Why is it so good then, you ask? In case you didn’t know, Jodi Lynn Anderson specializes in beautiful writing and creating amazing realistic characters. Then she makes them suffer and puts the reader through a lot of stress because they've grown so attached to the story. It's frustrating and sad and makes for one of the most unique writing styles and plot structures I've read.
This story follows two girls and one boy; Maggie, Pauline and Liam. It’s a very simple story that I can’t explain for the life of me. Maggie has just moved to a small town and is struggling to fit in. Just as she's starting to make new friends, girls mysteriously vanish in the fall. That's all I'll tell you, and that's all you need to know.
Authors, take note! This is how you write a love triangle. I avoid them like the plague, but in this book it's well done for once. Anderson writes about young love in a way that tugs at your heartstrings. It’s not pretentious, intangible or simple. There's no over dramatized problem to avoid the characters from getting together. It’s complex and feels like something much more than a connection between - in this case, three people.
I love Maggie who is a quiet artist feeling lost. I love Pauline and her over to the top energy and how she doesn’t understand how privileged she is, her naiveté and her childishness. I love Liam, the boy in between the two, who works hard on secret projects just to see the people he loves smile when he reveals it to them. Who everyone thinks is as weird as his father.
If a love triangle happened in real life (which is pretty rare, if you ask me), maybe this is what it would look like. It reminded me a little of the relationships in The infernal devices, two friends in love with the same person without the intense rivalry or clichés. This is better, though. No angst, just feelings and reactions that feel completely real. These three people all deeply care for each other but can't be with who they love without hurting the other friend. There's so much respect between them but they can't turn off their emotions,, and that's what got to me. To be so close and so far away at the same time. Bittersweet stories are my favorite, and this sure has its fair share of both happy moments and incredibly tragic ones.
Calling this book a mystery would be lying. There’s a murderer in town, but that is much more of a backdrop rather than the main plot. Don’t pick it up if you’re expecting a spooky read and it’s your first time with this author. The UK title The Moment Collector suits much better, and makes more sense. There's a paranormal element to it, but you should read this if you want a highly character-driven book with stunning prose, not a murder mystery with twists and turns, or you'll end up disappointed.
If you enjoyed Tiger Lily, I can’t see what’s stopping you from picking this up. It has the same lonely tone, same close look at a few characters who make their way into your heart and stay there. Both these books broke my heart into a million pieces. That's how you know it's good. I’ll definitely give Tiger Lily a reread sometime, because I went into it with such high expectations the first time and didn’t understand it was supposed to be character-driven.
P.S: Listen to Youth, Landfill or Still by Daughter and I guarantee you’ll be a mess when you finish the book. Jodi Lynn Anderson, stop breaking my heart. It takes far too long to repair and I’m not ready for that. Everytime I keep waiting for yet dreading a new book of hers, because it will inevitably affect me so much I can't think of anything else to read for a while. ...more
It takes a lot for a book to scare me. The last time I had shivers down my spine when reading, was in middle school. I read Harry Potter and the GobleIt takes a lot for a book to scare me. The last time I had shivers down my spine when reading, was in middle school. I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, hiding under the covers late at night. When I put it down, I spent a good hour glancing at the door, prepared for a pale man with a snake-like face would walk in. Charm and strange managed to get under my skin, provoke deep emotion and shock me. It genuinely frightened me, and I was close to sleeping with the lights on.
I will keep my summary short because this book is a mindfuck and most of the fun is figuring out what’s going on. The story is told in two timelines: before and after. One follows Drew as a young boy, while the other is about Win’s life at boarding school, when he has left his old life and name behind him. He is still haunted by the ghosts of the past and battling against himself.
Despite being a short book, not much happens in the first half of Charm and Strange. Be patient. It starts off slow and sometimes I wondered what the point of it was. And then, it clicks. This is a psychological thriller that doesn’t completely rely on its ending, which I love. It’s not that single twist that comes completely out of the blue. We first receive vague traces of who Win used to be and who he is now. At last, Kuehn starts to give us tiny clues that eventually make up a whole picture. It’s ugly, dirty and unexpected. Once things are revealed, you start seeing the book in a whole different light, wondering why you didn’t pick up on it before.
This was emotionally draining to read. It certainly isn't for the faint of heart; it is for the curious ones who love all things dark and complex. The author puts us in the main character’s shoes, making us feel as lonely and lost as he is. Win thinks he’s going crazy, and is a completely unreliable narrator. The book is triggering and shocking, tackling nearly every taboo and heavy subject that there is. What I love about Stephanie Kuehn’s writing is that she is a master at showing, rather than telling. This is an incredibly risky story for YA, and the only possible way this could’ve been written for this age group is in a very clever sense, with great caution and thought.
Charm and strange is extremely dark and tragic, unflinching and ruthless. It is a wild tale that doesn’t spare any details. It has an isolated and incredibly lonely feel to it. It pushes boundaries, explores taboos and messes with your head. This is an extremely well-written psychological thriller that unravels with grace and anticipation. It is all of these things, but probably not what you think it is....more
This is a love story, but not like any you've ever heard. The boy and the girl are far from innocent. Dear lives are lost. And good doesn't win. This is a love story, but not like any you've ever heard. The boy and the girl are far from innocent. Dear lives are lost. And good doesn't win.
3.5 They weren’t joking when they said that this was a tearjerker. I never really cried, but would like to think that I would’ve, had I been the type who cries because of a novel. Nonetheless, this book left me utterly destroyed and defenseless.
Tiger Lily is a beautiful, tragic book. It’s easy to see why it’s gotten so much hype; the lovely, delicate prose is magnificent, the characters intriguing and broken. It’s a quiet and lonely story, told through the eyes of the constant observer; Tinker Bell. Lyrical writing can always make wonders for a story, but this ended up being somewhere between half-decent and amazing. So here’s my reason for rating it 3 stars: There were moments of brilliance sprinkled here and there throughout this otherwise average book.
The writing - no matter how wonderful it is - cannot make up for the nearly plotless story that struggled to kept me interested. The pacing is on the slow side, and not much happens.
The characters are all extremely distant and it’s hard to pinpoint their personalities. This creates a fascinating mystery around them, and yet was to the book’s disadvantage. As the story goes on and we continue to get zero details, my interest wavered. Tiger Lily is a seemingly cold character, and it took a while before I warmed up to her mysterious and dreamy personality. Once I did, the disappointment was a fact. We follow her everywhere; in her darkest moments and in her best ones. And yet, I couldn’t fully connect with her or any of the other characters, no matter how charming or intriguing they were. Just like the narrator Tinker Bell, I was nothing but an observer.
Still, the longer I was around her, the more I could see the colors of her mind and the recesses of her heart. There was a beast in there. But there was also a girl who was afraid of being a beast, and who wondered if other people had beasts in their hearts too. There was strength, and there was also just the determination to look strong. She guarded herself like a secret.
There’s the word I’m searching for: guarded. No matter how long I thought of these people, they never got to me. The story itself made me very emotional, but indifferent towards most of the characters.
A faerie heart is different from a human heart. Human hearts are elastic. They have room for all sorts of passions, and they can break and heal and love again and again. Faerie hearts are evolutionarily less sophisticated. They are small and hard, like tiny grains of sand. Our hearts are too small to love more than one person in a lifetime.
I would lie if I said this book didn’t affect me emotionally, severely even. It hits you, every single thing that these poor characters go through makes you want to hug them. Hug these sad personalities who you care about, even if you barely know them. The atmosphere gives you a sense of helplessness; you all know the story about Peter Pan, don’t you? You see the ending coming, and yet it shocks you. Tiger Lily is a dark, heartbreaking little book. It is the definition of bittersweet. I won’t tell any secrets, but let’s simply say that the ending is happy and hopeful, and at the same time very tragic.
Final verdict: I think I loved this book. And severely disliked it at the same time. It deserves more than a trivial three-star rating, for it affected me deeply. Tiger Lily is not a novel that will make it to my favorites list. It will not even sit on my favorites shelf of this year. Yet, it is a story that will always stay with me, and one I will return to. Just read it, and maybe then you will understand. ...more
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