feel like I did my duty to western australia's literary scene by reading it, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Something just does not sit right afeel like I did my duty to western australia's literary scene by reading it, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Something just does not sit right about a cis man writing a trans narrative in such a close POV, about an experience he could never really experience or capture. especially since Australian publishing does not publish trans stories, certainly not to the hype and buzz this book has received within WA. More thoughts to come perhaps...more
“To those out on their own paths, setting little fires”
honestly don't have much to say about this book, because it's not that it's bad I was just
“To those out on their own paths, setting little fires”
honestly don't have much to say about this book, because it's not that it's bad I was just underwhelmed. this book is sooo hyped and I was expecting more
the first 150 pages are just character introductions, except I didn't find any of the characters that compelling or interesting. I thought their arcs were underdeveloped and left too loosely hanging. It's at it's best when dealing with Mia's history and the adoption storyline, but it felt spread too thin. and a lot of the storyline was predictable
I did like Trip and Pearl's relationship, the bits about Mia's past and the discussion around the adoption and how thoroughly this went over arguments on both sides
even though I liked this book, I just don't seem to see what everyone else did in it....more
"Roses have both petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn’t believe something weak because it appears delicate. Show the world your bravery.”
y
"Roses have both petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn’t believe something weak because it appears delicate. Show the world your bravery.”
yeah so ,, this was incredibly disappointing for me and everyone should just go watch the buzzfeed unsolved episode instead BECAUSE SHANE AND RYAN NEVER LET ME DOWN LIKE THIS BOOK DID.
this book has so many issues all of which we will be going into later but the thing is, I probably could have overlooked them to some degree if this book was at least entertaining but despite this book a murder mystery and based on true crime it was so, so boring
I definitely expected this book to have more direction. We're introduced to Audrey - a girl interested in science and crime. When murders start happening in her area she's compelled to investigate. I was expecting a pointed, driven book as Audrey raced to solve the crime but honestly this book was a romance in which Audrey randomly stumbled upon clues and considering Audrey was supposed to be bright and bold she was .. kind of dumb. I mean literally everyone I've seen review this book said they guessed who the murderer was on chapter 2, and so did I.
On top of that, she just puts herself into ridiculous, silly situations. Like wandering off alone at night when there's a murderer, or stalking people into dark alleys, and I just was like GIRL I thought you were smart.
And this all leads me to talking about Audrey Rose as a character because going into this I wanted to love her. But the whole time reading it I just wanted her to shut the hell up. her monologues about feminism were hollow and irritating and listen, I'm all for feminist characters, but WHY OH WHY are you trying to play off a girl who complains about girls at literally every oppurtunity as a feminist. Audrey Rose IS the "I'm not like other girls" girl and, seriously, you're not gonna sell that girls feminism to me.
But we're gonna get back to feminism in this book in a minute too. Lets talk about romance
"There’s nothing better than a little danger dashed with some romance."
The romance absolutely did not do it for me in this book. Is it just me, or is anyone else getting sooo bored of a book throwing a male and female character in the same room, and you can practically hear the author throwing their hands up in the air and saying "he was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it anymore obvious?"
Because it was so so obvious what was gonna happen between Thomas and Audrey and I was never rooting for it. I need authors to start building up chemistry and genuine romance instead of relying on the fact and he's a guy she's a girl.
On top of that, I did NOT like Thomas Cresswell at all. He's the sterotypical kind of rude, kind of obtuse but he's actually a softie deep down trope. And listen, if you like that you'll probably like him. Because he's not really a bad guy, but he just exhausted me and this book never compelled me to care about him or Audrey. Which is a BIG BIG problem when so much of this book is preoccupied with putting it's leads in romantic sleuthing situations.
I basically know the romance isn't going well for me when I roll my eyes at the "I love you" moment and thats what happened here.
FEMINISM AND SIMILAR ISSUES
The feminism was the whitest, fakest feminism ever. If you're going to write a book about feminism then you should primarily be portraying women is this not a no brainer? But throughout this whole book the only prominent female character is Audrey, and any other woman who appears is shunned by Audrey and ridiculed for not being "enlightened". I hated it so so much.
Audrey is also biracial, her mum being Indian, but this fact is only used to talk about how Audrey has lovely skin and then completely glossed over for the rest of the book. Which is ,, weird. Especially in this time period. the fact Audrey's rich, well off father was married to an Indian woman at a time when India was actively colonised by Britain would have been .. a bit of a deal And while I'm all for not making people suffer for their marginalisations in historical fiction if you're writing a book about how misogyny harms women in the 1800's, I feel like there's room for a realistic exploration of how race and racism plays into that too. it just felt weird, fake, and definitely thrown in. this review nails my anger about the feminism
I mean, Jack the Ripper was a man who, specifically, preyed on women (prostitutes particularly) which has some nasty implications about women, sexism and female sexuality. And when you look at the actual top suspects for Jack the Ripper most of their motives are driven by gender dynamics which means this book had an interesting oppurtunity to explore that and it DIDN'T. I was hoping for the Jane the Ripper version of events in this book to be honest.
The mental illness representation was also a straight up mess I mean, we're shown a character who's supposedly mental ill, locked in an actual asylum, given some medicine and apparently is now completely cured ?? excuse me what :??
On a smaller note: The dialogue definitely annoyed me and some things were obviously not researched properly which was annoying.
THINGS I ACTUALLY LIKED
Probably the only good thing about this book was the villain and their motives. While I guessed the killer early, their motives were interesting and original. And I thought the reveal was done fairly well, even though, again, it was obvious. I can see this was supposed to be more about the emotional impact and if I didn't know the villain was the villain I probably would have felt sorry for them.
Also, I'm literally always here for steampunk elements and this book had some.
Fear is a hungry beast. The more you feed it, the more it grows.
I mean, maybe if I wasn't excruciatingly bored through this book it would have been better But due to the fact I was bored I then had to analyse literally every single flaw of this book to pass the time and I just urgh.
If this book had nailed even ONE of it's elements I would have liked it so much more. But a book that's boring, portrays shoddy feminism and representation, coupled with a romance I didn't care about and an obvious plot twist it was just, not for me AT ALL. And I'm not going to continue this series probably....more
“Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or performance. It's the closest you'll ever fi
“Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or performance. It's the closest you'll ever find yourself magic in this world.”
there are two main opinions about this book:
1: it's terrible and awful burn it to the ground I don't want to live in a world in which caraval exists. 1 star I am disgusted
2: I AM SHOOKED. This is the greatest book out and I need to travel forward in time to buy the sequel. I would personally die for this book, 5 stars fuck me up fam.
THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND. (Until me I guess? Because I literally feel so neutral on this issue)
Okay, I want to COMPLAIN about people who said this was the worst book ever because my expectations were way too low and its not the worst book ever. Like, it's got nothing that is extremely bad and must be avoided, but it's got nothing extremely good going for it either. It's truly one of the most mediocre, average books I've ever read. Such a true three star book.
The SETTING, MOOD AND AESTHETIC were the best parts of the book, in my opinion. I really liked the circus/carnival setting, the way magic is interwoven into the story and the absurdity of the world. It kinda felt like being in a Tim Burton movie. Unfortunately, the worldbuilding outside of the actual Caraval is NON-EXISTENT.
The middle of this book was really addictive to me. I couldn't stop reading it and I was genuinely entertained. This is one of those books that allows you to theorise and guess and play along which I really liked. "Just another chapter" stuff.
But THE ROMANCE AND ENDING really messed things up. The romance for me was cringey and unnecessary and annoying. There wasn't any build-up, and I found it all very disney princess "I love him so much even though I met him 3 days ago". And that just annoys me soo much!! The main male love interest is literally the YA male bad boy brooding masculine superman with an incredible jawline stereotype. If I had a dollar for every time his "perfect rows of muscles" were described I would have had enough money to buy a spaceship to fly to Mars in.
The ending is a big massive spoiler, but I was just really unimpressed with the revelations at the end, and I felt like so much was left unexplained or unresolved. I realise there will be a sequel, but I kinda just wish the book had been ended properly and left as a standalone. I also felt like the whole ending and the tragic moments were pointless (view spoiler)[ HELLO it was so obvious Julian/Tella wouldn't die (hide spoiler)] and I just didn't feel any pay-off from the ending at all.
BUT I did find the writing enjoyable, I know it's been described as overly flowery, but I enjoy that so I was into it. I found the writing really pulled you in, despite my problems with this I couldn't stop reading because the writing style and plot progression kept me wanting to continue.
THE BADDIES also stereotypical, mustache twirling diabolical villain with no complexity. I was so exhausted with the reveal of the villain because I GET IT. I also found the other antagonists like the girls father and the count to be, really annoying.
“No one is truly honest,” Nigel answered. “Even if we don't lie to others, we often lie to ourselves. And the word good means different things to different people.”
This book was just so, so average. Everything felt done to the bare minimum to me. The characters were developed enough it wasn't obvious they were poorly written, but not developed enough to make them real or important or to make an impact. The plot was coherent enough to be interesting, but not enough to be memorable. The issues and themes were present enough that it was clear they impacted the story, but weren't developed enough to make any solid point or leave an impression.
There wasn't any specific aspect that really really blew me away, but there wasn't any I hated with a passion either. Everything was just so basic and yet, enjoyable in a way. It's an easy book to read and you're into it when you're in the moment, but I would never reread it and I don't feel particularly excited about the sequel, which I may or may not worry about.
I went into Caraval knowing very very little. I only really knew people kind of hate it, but I didn't know why or for what reasons. Caraval was just okay. It wasn't as bad as people said, but it's not something I would rave about either.
The thing is, coming into this book I read really, really excited I'd heard ALOT of good things and no bad things at aok. short story
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long story
The thing is, coming into this book I read really, really excited I'd heard ALOT of good things and no bad things at all. I wasn't expecting to dislike this, and yet? I did.
The thing is, first off, I just didn't connect with the characters. Everyone loves Finch, but I didn't really. I mean, he was okay. I didn't HATE him, but I also didn't particularly enjoy him. I just found him a little too .. unrealistic? Violet I liked a bit more, but again I had the same issues. Her and Finch were just so unrealistic I can't connect with characters who are my age but act nothing like people my age. I don't understand the book obsession with making teenagers only read classics and communicate in metaphors and philosophical observations alone.
There were so many parts of this book where I just felt so unconnected because I was so distracted by the absurdity of the actions of these people. I think it was supposed to be kind of 'cute and unique' byt the whole time I was just like where are these teenagers coming from is this the difference between American and Australian's high schools??
I mean? Just. URGH. URRGGHH. They just came off as so pretentious and fake to me and goD I just can not deal with it I don't know why this irritated me so much but it did.
I don't know, I said this book feels like a mix between The Fault in Our Stars and Perks of Being a Wallflower that doesn't actually work and I stand by it. I don't know, the characters just annoyed me.
And I didn't even care for the romance of it all?? I didn't really find myself invested in Finch/Violet's relationship at all. I was so blergh about it. Which makes it really hard to care about the book when 85% of it was about their relationship.
I only got 70% of the way through this book. (My loan on the audiobook expired so yea) and maybe I'll finish it later but probably not. I already know what happens and I don't really care for finishing the book now. (view spoiler)[ I've heard Finch's suicide makes him all manic pixie-boy ish at the end and I'd rather not go there (hide spoiler)] It's not really like I was enjoying it anyway.
EDIT: I don't usually change my ratings on books but I've been thinking about this and realsiing how much I truly hated it. Like, I just can not get over how pretentious and unrealistic the whole thing was. Like first up tf kind of school do they even go to (I'm convinced every ya author didn't go to high-school because they're always portrayed wrong) second of all, I'm realising the ONLY THING I know about any of these characters is that they're mentally ill and it sucks. They're the flattest people ever and nothing is "ultraviolet remarkeyable" about them. thirdly -- piss off w/ the whole "I read, I'm a 'deep thinker' so I'm obviousllyyy smarter then any of you" like URGH why are they like this I just can't w/ the whole philosophical teenage thing JUST EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS WAS PRETENTIOUS AND GROSS I'M DONE IT'S A SOLID 1*
WARNING: UNPOPULAR OPINION BECAUSE I DIDN'T FUCKING LIKE READY PLAYER ONE
anyone I saw writing a negative review for this got like, abused in their comWARNING: UNPOPULAR OPINION BECAUSE I DIDN'T FUCKING LIKE READY PLAYER ONE
anyone I saw writing a negative review for this got like, abused in their comments BUT. Im going for it anyway
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unmarked spoilers ahead. ft, appearances from the voices of adele and beyonce
sum up Ready Player One in a single word? wanky
[image] replace with: that 400 page book which used 80s references to condescend people not invested in that culture was incomparably wanky
okay, I'm going to start with the good stuff
• the worldbuilding around the OASIS, and the setting was really good. I thought that the way that OASIS was built, described and functioned within this world was very well thought out and clever. It was definitely something high-tech enough to be interesting, but also realistic enough to be plausible. The setting in 2044 and the way the Earth/living standards are set up are well thought out.
• The other tech industry was a good "villain" in that I thought their motivations were plausible, and the interaction between them and the OASIS made sense. The gamers motivations to prevent the Sixers from winning and ruining OASIS were believable and the worldbuilding was intertwined with the motivations of characters which I liked
• It was reasonably fast paced
• OG. WHAT A GUY.. HIS NAME IS FUCKING OG THE GREAT AND POWERFUL IM LAUGHIN
OKAY. AND NOW I GET SALTY
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First things first, back to my point about it being wanky. I KNEW I was coming into this book to get lots of 80s references, I was fine with that, I was excited for it. I wanted the nostalgic feel of Stranger Things, because thats what people told me I'd get. I wanted that homage.
• things I didn't get: that
What I got instead was a "gate keeping" attitude in which any person/character who didn't have enough knowledge of the 80's was deemed not smart enough and not cool enough. The overabundance of 80s references reached the point of insanity. I can't get over this bit when Art3mis orders some drink and Wade is like 'OH SHE'S GETTING THAT BECAUSE IT'S THE SAME AS *CHARACTER* DRINKS. SO COOL. SHE'S WORTHY'
The 80's references were so oversaturated I couldn't actually separate them from their characters. Like, these characters literally WERE 80's references.
the whole time, it just felt like the author was leaning over me like "yeah, yeah, i know so many references. mhhm, another one, another one. YOU THINK I don't have more ?! HAHA, fooled. Have another, have ten more. I know everything there is to know about the 80's, don't test me kid. you don't know explicit detail of every spider-man comic ever released, FAKE FAN FAKE FAN.'
Anyway, it was really fucking annoying. It should have been a nice throwback to the 80's, not a fucking wank fest in which everyone loses their fucking mind and can't keep it together over pac-man. But seriously, the condescending tone about people who don't LIVE THE EIGHTIES annoyed me so fucking much.
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Right, next up: characters.
Wade was ........ so fucking annoying. First of all, his attitude sucked. But that aside, his charactersation was just not good. His knowledge of the 80's was just unbelievable. He mentions at least a dozen shows that he's watched a dozen or so times, now, I'm struggling to believe he actually had time to watch the amount of shit he has, that many times. His knowledge was all-consuming and it was just unrealistic. He has literally no flaws. his main flaw ? he's overweight and a geek boy who can't get girls. Well do not worry. Welcome to Wade's Biggest Loser Story:
"I spent 4 weeks doing pushups in the morning and now I look like an Abercrombie model :)"
You're a geek boy? well don't worry, you're superior to all those other boys anyway ! You're a nice boy !!!!!! and anyway, *beyonce voice* who run the world ? geeks geeks. Wade owns 5 fedoras. JFGHFJG HE JUS ANNOYED ME SO MUCH ALWAYS BITCHING ABOUT HOW GIRLS FIND HIM WEIRD WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T LIKE, STALK THEM, FAM.
Wade honestly felt like such a self insert/wish fulfilment type character. He annoyed me so fucking much, he was just rude and weird, and his obsession with Art3mis wasn't healthy. His obsession with Hallidays and OASIS genuinely wasn't healthy.
The female characters were so ghdh WE DESERVE BETTER. Art3mis had potential to be a great character, but she was ultimately reduced to a love interest. She tried to separate from Wade to focus on the Easter Egg but then he stalks her and she ends up with him ??? Also, I found it annoying we were supposed to give Wade Nice Boy Points for thinking her "curvy" avatar was hot, when we ALL KNOW it was the KimK type curvy and SHE LITERALLY IS TINY THIN IRL ANYWAY
Aech is so ?? *adele voice* WE COULD OF HAD IT ALL. Representation, is NOT real when it's a twist. It's so disappointing Aech was a black, female, lesbian and we didn't get to see that AT ALL. We get 1 chapter before she goes back to being a 'male' in the OASIS. Urgh, it's just annoying. I know Ernest Cline was trying to do a "oh look, you treated this person a certain way thinking they were white/male/straight now treat them the same when u know they're black/female/gay BUT IT WOULD HAVE JUST BEEN WAY BETTER IF WADES BEST FRIEND WAS REPRESENTED AS A GAY BLACK GIRL. You can't even say this is a diverse book because thats a "spoiler" urrhtgtjhgkj
also fml because Kira is also the reason Og and Halliday stopped being friends like why do they only exist for male relationships & angst urgh
The main evil guy in the evil corporation who's name I can't remember was so plain? He was such a stock villain and he just ??? died ???
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Deus ex Machina
• Can't pass a level? Don't worry, I will magically whip some obscure knowledge out my ass to save the day • Party got crushed by a sinister army? lucky some guy at this party happens to be able to fight them with unbelievable, rule-defying levels of power • don't have somewhere to stay? NO WORRIES, a random billionaire is gonna show up in a space thats supposed to be barred to all characters to offer you sanctuary? "didn't the rules of this universe establish this was a private chat room"" yeah, they did. but turns out there's this other rule where thats not true SURPRISE • Died? Well, no worries. Turns out you're the first person in history to get a FREE LIFE
it annoyed me how convenient some plot points were
OTHER STUFF I JUST DIDN'T LIKE
• There is a bit when a character calls paraplegic people "repulsive" • YOU CAN'T GO FROM OBESE TO MUSCULAR IN 8 WEEKS FROM DOING 20 MINUTE EXERCISES ACTUALLY FUCK OFF IDK WHY THIS ANNOYED ME SO MUCH BUT IT DID • the fact he's called Wade like Wade Wilson it says alot tbh • stalking stalking stalking • the fact I had to read an entire chapter of Wade talking about the sex he had with a doll and masturbating and how it's like "THE COOLEST BOY THING EVER" • TOO MUCH detail it felt like a slog. I was skimming entire pages of irrelevent detail about exactly what model of haptic suit Wade decided to buy that day
So yeah, overall I just didn't have a good time with this book it was just so obnoxious and annoying I couldn't get into it at all lmfao worst hype ever
yeah bro I know it won a Pulitzer prize i know it won the Goodreads choice award i know it has a 4.33 Goodreads rating i don't care this book is GARBAyeah bro I know it won a Pulitzer prize i know it won the Goodreads choice award i know it has a 4.33 Goodreads rating i don't care this book is GARBAGE. maybe it's just because world war two stories aren't my thing but it has literally EVERY single trope it incorporates is TIRED and i didn't care to see it again. the ''good'' nazi, the naive but sweet young french girl with no personality cos she's a metaphor, the missing family member and nazi's hunting for treasure. i hated it, can we get something new! and tbh, I found this so boring. I didn't care about the characters, I didn't think the tension was there, and I didn't find anything about this interesting or enlightening or challenging. I didn't like how each chapter was a page !! annoying and didn't lend itself to interesting development or depth. I kept waiting for it to get good but at 83% i decided it wasn't going to and just skipped to the end to read the final pages. sorry to everyone who thinks this is art but I'm different...more
"We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.
☆☆☆ full review now posted ! ☆☆☆
Everyone raves and raves about thi
"We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.
☆☆☆ full review now posted ! ☆☆☆
Everyone raves and raves about this book, so much so I pretty much bought it blind when I saw it. (And then promptly left it on my shelf to collect dust because who actually reads books when they buy them?)
Anyway, a friend of mine offline read this book and loved it and told me how I had to read it right now because that infamous plot twist could not be missed and so I finally got my shit together and read We Were Liars and was ....... pretty disappointed.
Maybe it's just because the hype has been so extraordinarily high for this book that I felt let down but .. this book didn't feel like anything to me? I didn't care about the characters or the plot or their complaints at all. HELLO you're in the 1% living on an Island please shush it's not that bad. Maybe it's because Gat compared himself to Heathcliff and my eyes rolled so far into my head I saw my brain (which is because I hate Wuthering Heights, not because it was a bad comparison)
Honestly this book was just a whole lot of eye rolling for me. Everything felt fake deep. Even the writing felt like it was trying to be way more meaningful and metaphorical then it was. It makes sense John Green blurbed this book.
There were moments I genuinely liked. Some of the scenes between the teenagers were nice, and I liked Gat and Cady together. I liked the way the mystery slowly unfolded and I liked that this was quite short but still packed a punch. But mostly I was just .. waiting for the plot twist to hurry up and come so I'd know what the fuss was about.
One of the main issues I had with this book is that I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters. Even a week after finishing this I couldn't remember their names until I googled it. The only one I felt strongly about was Gat. I found Gat the most compelling of the characters, mostly because of the exploration of the way his ethnicity (Gat is biracial Indian/white) plays into his experience with the other Liars. I thought the Liars were fine, but I didn't feel strongly about them and so ultimately the final section of this book didn't really effect me emotionally at all.
I really, really didn't care at all about Cady and I think that was the main problem. The majority of this story is about her discovery and her growth and I just couldn't connect to her so I didn't feel any personal investment in her arc at all. It was hard to connect to her and sympathise with her which definitely prevented me from really enjoying the plot.
I also found the family tree and relations so confusing and I was unsure which kid belonged to who and which Aunt was which and that definitely detracted from my reading experience.
THEMING I didn't care at all for the issues of these people. I didn't care to sympathise with their racism, their "woe is me I'm not going to get the biggest mansion" attitude. I found Gats take on the racism within the family interesting, but since it's all through Cady's perspective it's not exactly a great way to represent all that.
Despite how I didn't care about 90% of this book though, I did find the mystery element interesting and that was really what propelled me forward. The mystery unravels slowly which I really liked and does come to a pretty shocking conclusion (I did say "what the fuck" so a star for that?). I think e.lockhart did build up the suspense pretty well, and took this book in a direction I wasn't expecting.
WRITING
I found the writing really annoying at times. While some of it is nice, some of it seemed so fake deep. I didn't understand the necessity of some of the metaphors used, especially since they were just describing ordinary things. I felt like so much was thrown it because it sounded nice or was a nice aesthetic without it being important.
Admittedly, aesthetic is important to this book so I can't fully hate on it for that I just didn't love it. I did like that this book is short though, it makes it way easier to read and it's really easy to say this book didn't drag or meander at any point.
ABELISM
This book uses a lot of ableist language. I can't count how many times "crazy, insane, mad, deranged, invalid" were all used. Just as a psa.
“He was contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee. I could have looked at him forever.”
I don't know, maybe this book is more of an it's me, not you issue but I just can't bring myself to care or feel strongly about it. I feel like I've definitely missed something with this book? I mean sure, it's fine and I didn't 100% completely loathe it, but I wouldn't point it out in a store to a friend and go "oh wow yes you HAVE to read this one"
Do you know what I mean?
This book just felt like a blackhole of nothingness, and I lost a few hours into the hole and it was okay but I didn't get anything back out of it, event hough I feel like I should have because everyone else seems to have got something out of it
I will stop rambling and making no sense now.
“See the world as it is, not as you wish it would be”
for people who saw my original review, I want to say I still 100% stand by everything I said. the reason I'm deleting it is because, as a white reviewfor people who saw my original review, I want to say I still 100% stand by everything I said. the reason I'm deleting it is because, as a white reviewer, I didn't want to talk over East Asians who have reviewed this book and talked about why it was racist. So I will briefly list my issues with it, and then link to #ownvoices reviews instead. They say what I did and much more but are written by Asian reviewers who's experience and knowledge is better then mine
THE ISSUES I HAD
• stereotyping/fetishising of Park and other Asian characters • consistent use of orientalist ideas/language • emasculation of Park as an Asian man • glorification of racist bullies at the end of the book. Lack of ill-effects for racist characters actions • use of racist language • infantilisation of Parks mum • othering of Asians and their culture • stereotyping of Beebi and DeNice as black women
And there are so many more, which you can/should go out and read if you're interested
REPRESENTATION ASIDE
If I was ignoring the rep, I also didn't like this book because I genuinely just found it boring and felt like nothing really happened. I just wasn't that into the romance and I really hated the ending.
I just found Eleanor and Park to completely fit that trope of being the "Edgy kids who are different" and I really hate that trope. Plus I found the plot twist about who's writing on Eleanor's books really uncomfortable and it just didn't sit right with me in how it was portrayed.
I did like ! the music stuff. I found it really cute maybe because I really love Joy Division and it featured heavily so that was cute.
I JUST DON'T LIKE THIS BOOK In my original review/comments it got, I was stunned about how many people were more offended about something being called racist then they were about the book being racist. Again, liking something does not equal blindly supporting every aspect of it. ENJOY CONTENT CRITICALLY. ...more
Percy Jackson is one of those insanely popular books I really want to love. I AM UNASHAMEDLY A BANDWAGON JUMPER !! Ok!! and I hate being out of the loPercy Jackson is one of those insanely popular books I really want to love. I AM UNASHAMEDLY A BANDWAGON JUMPER !! Ok!! and I hate being out of the loop.
The first time I read Percy Jackson I had to dnf it. Admittedly, at the time I was in a massive reading slump and reading anything was a challenge but I still could not push myself past that 100 page mark. I WAS UPSET. It was not how reading PJO was supposed to go. I wanted to love it like everyone else
Fast forward almost a year and I give it another go. (and btw, those first 100 pages were still incredibly painful) but AT LEAST I finished it this time. At least I didn't dnf it.
Percy Jackson is about a boy .. called .. Percy Jackson who discovers he's a demi-god. Son of Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea - he's sent to a place called Camp Half Blood which offers sanctuary to demi-gods who are hunted relentlessly by monsters sent from the Underworld.
However, Percy's world is shaken up even more when he discovers Zues, King of the Sky believes Percy has stolen his lightning bolt from which his power derives. Percy is sent on a quest to retrieve the bolt from Hades, God of the Underworld with his new friends Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood.
LOOK, I GET why people would love this book. It's action packed, I'll give it that. Every scene included monsters and angry gods and fights and so much more. It was really fast paced, and the worldbuilding and the way that the Greek Myth was interwoven with the story was really neat. I used to do an Ancient History major and I loved the way the mythology stayed accurate whilst also having a modern 'twist'
But I found I couldn't connect to the characters that well. I love character-driven stories. To me, the plot is irrelevant if the characters are well built. With PJO, the characters take aback seat to the plot. That's not bad, and I know alot of people like that. But I wish the characters had more depth.
Percy was interesting and I loved the incorporation of his ADHD and dyslexia. I loved that those two aspects were incorporated into the decisions he made - it made those aspects of his character have a much more real presence in the text.
Like, there was a bit when it said something like "Then I did something so impulsive I should be the poster child of ADHD". I liked that dyslexia/ADHD was given positive representation and was something which actually came in handy, rather than was a hindrance.
I enjoyed the voice and tone he gave to the book. He details the story with a tone of irony and sarcasm which makes it stand out. His sarcastic account of the things that happened and lamentation at his own misfortune gave PJO a unique voice which made reading the story much more enjoyable. Percy Jackson has a self-decrepitating humour and quick wit which makes each scene just that little bit more fun, and maybe puts a not-so-serious spin on the whole thing.
Percy's character wasn't bad, I just wish there was more. Something a bit deeper. However, I understand this is book 1 and such things may come later.
I quite enjoyed Percy and Annabeth's character, but I had the same issues. I just wish there was something /more/. I really enjoyed the way Annabeth was portrayed and I enjoyed her wit and cleverness. She is a universally loved female character and I understand why. She's intelligent (duh! Daughter of Athena) but also unrelentingly honest and strong, and she carries herself with dignity. I liked that she stood up for herself and against others, and also that her strength did not come at the sacrifice of her femininity. I hate when female characters must be made "manish" to be strong.
Grover was !! poc. Which was really nice to see. I also loved the humour he brought to the story, and his unflinching loyalty to himself and his friends. Grover's regret for what has happened in his past was an aspect of his character I hope will be explored more. I really thought Grover added that extra dimension to the trio. I loved his animal and environmental activism !
I am glad I finished PJO this time. I found it a really fun story, it was just that I found some of the writing a bit bland. It IS a middle grade novel and I think you can tell from how it's written. However, I still think the story was really fun
ALSO , unpopular opinion but why is the movie so HATED?!?! I don't think it was that bad .. for this book
Anyway, a solid 3*. I liked it, I just didn't think it was outstanding :)...more
“Love blinds. We have both tried to give our sons, not what they needed, but what we needed. We’ve been so busy trying to rewrite our own pasts, we
“Love blinds. We have both tried to give our sons, not what they needed, but what we needed. We’ve been so busy trying to rewrite our own pasts, we’ve blighted their present.”
So I did it. The book that has been hurting my poor, Harry Potter loving heart since it's release last month. Honestly, I don't know how to feel.
I went into this with very low expectations. I've read the spoilers, I've seen the reviews. I've seen so many criticisms of this, of J.K, of the writing the plot the characters. You name it - I've seen hate on it.
I think those criticism are founded. CURSED CHILD does not feel like the Harry Potter I grew up with. It doesn't feel like Hogwarts. It's all so wrong. It really does read like a fanfic.
The first thing that struck me was like - Wow. Harry Potter and co. are OLD. And I know this might be weird but it immediately disengaged me from them. Immediately I was unable to connect with them as I had before. When I read Harry Potter the first time he was a kid like me - I loved to go on adventures with him, to deal with the trials of school with him. His day to day life was relatable, I mean, I was a kid too. A kid who envied HIS childhood. But I mean ?! 40 year old Harry. I can't roll with that. He's immediately unrelatable to me. Alot of dialogue from Harry / Ron / Hermione was them complaining about the hardships of being old. And it's just ?? It loses the magic. It immediately pulls the magical story of wizard schools and dragons and spells and potions into something so incredibly mundane and Harry Potter should never feel mundane.
The next thing that struck me was the characterization. These people are not the Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Draco ect. we grew up with. They're just not. In fact - half the time I was left wondering if Jack Thorne ever read the books - because these portrayals are soo movie. Ron was reduced to a wise-cracking fool who wasn't capable of anything. He felt like a weird stand-in for Fred and George Weasley. He didn't feel like Ron. Hermione was just ? silly ? So many of the things she did were soo out of character. She was stupid, she bent for others, there was a part where she refused to defend Harry and Ron? (I'm sorry but Hermione ALWAYS defends them so smh). I just ? It was all wrong.
BUT THE BIGGEST ABOMINATION, the absolute heartbreak of this book resides in the charactersation of my #1 son, Harry James Potter. Now you listen here, Harry Potter is my child. I HAVE CRIED FOR THIS BOY TOO MANY TIMES. Ok ay I don't appreciate when people try to mess with his personality and call it Canon. This was not Harry Potter. His dialogue made no sense - it completely disregarded some of the fundamental aspects of his character. His respect ? gone. His sarcastic humour? gone. His unflinching bravery ? gone. His selflessness ? gone. Harry was SO RUDE, he was so mean !?! And so much of it didn't make sense.
(view spoiler)[ He perpetrates rumours Scorp is Voldy's son even though he, as a child, had to also deal with terrible rumours and should sympathise. And WOULD sympathise since he's a sympathetic guy. The fact he hates Al for being a Slytherin. His treatment of McGonagall who's always been a friend/mentor to him and someone he deeply respects. His treatment of Albus with the whole map thing ?? THE FACT IT WAS EVEN SUGGESTED HE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT CEDRIC DYING. No no no no no no no no. (hide spoiler)]
the only bit I liked, when I was like ayy it's ma BOY was (view spoiler)[when he wouldn't let anyone volunteer to take on Delphi like ofc he wasn't gonna let you guys this is Harry Potter (hide spoiler)] ALL IN ALL JACK THORNE GET UR GRUBBY HANDS OFF OF HARRY POTTER HE DIDN'T DESERVE THAT.
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“They were great men, with huge flaws, and you know what – those flaws almost made them greater.”
Ok. Plotwise. The plot is kind of fun, if you ignore the huge plot holes and failure to grasp some of the basics of the actual canon. I mean, the time travel aspect was fun, and if you try not to think about it too much and ignore all the crazy conveniences that popped up to move it along it does pass as a plausible plot.
But jokes because I DO think about it too much. (PS. UNTAGGED SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT YOU'VE BEEN WARNED)
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We'll start with the time turner, shall we? First of all - ok. I could accept it existed, I could allow myself that reach BUT THEN HERMIONE HIDING IT IN A BOOKCASE. wtf nooo. I mean, why tf even hide it with riddles that's ridiculous. Surely she's smarter then this (SHE IS SMARTER THEN THIS)
Going back in time to save Cedric ????
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Again, surely Albus and Scorp are smarter than this. Clearly thats a terrible idea. Clearly its not going to work. This whole plot point was just such a stretch. I don't know why they thought it was a good idea. It wasn't and any decent, mildly intelligent wizard should know that. (I know that and I'm a goddamn muggle)
Okay. The fact that Cedric was so embarrassed it turned him evil ? wtf wtf JUST WHY. The fact he killed Neville and became a Death Eater. Can ! We ! Not ! Disrespect ! His ! Character ! Like ! This !
Oooh boy! And we haven't even got into the big thing yet. Delphi . . . .. . fucking Delphi.. GOD just NO. I mean, first of all practically it doesn't even fit in with the canon timeline (Delphi was born @ Malfoy manor before the battle of hogwarts and yet Hermione/Ron/Harry were there before the battle with Bellatrix aND SHE WASN'T PREGNANT FOR SURE. Also, the insinuation Astoria was involved (possibly raped?) by Voldermort was .. really icky. ? I didn't like that at all. Anyway, all in all that whole thing was a mess. EVEN IF voldermort COULD have kids (which lbr he probs can't) Voldermort was never available to do that, he had no reason. ?!?! URGH JUST PLS STOP it was so bad.
Finally, I was really annoyed the villian was Voldermort yet again. I'm sorry but it's soo lazy. Could they have not thought up something new and funky fresh. It would have been refreshing. Voldermort coming back is So Tired and just destoys the entire point of 7 books. Voldermort is dead! Gone ! finished ! We didn't go on that horcrux hunt for nothing !!!!!! just urrrrrrgh
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okay other weird plot points. Albus kissing his aunt ??? g ross. The convenience of Draco HAPPENING to have another (flawless) time turner The weird outbursts from Harry at Minerva? The "Evil base" being in a wizards old people's home (what ) TeDDY LUPIN WASN'T IN IT Rose ? ? ? ?? Rose and Scorp ??? ( sorry but there's NO chemistry there and Al and Scorp are canon boyfriends) The bit when they watch James/Lily die. The fact Harry is all 'I have to see it' even though he has seen it. Deathly Hallows. In extreme detail. It was just really uncomfortable to me.
THE BIT WHEN THE TRAIN LADY ATTACKED THEM WHAT WAS THAT WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK [image]
OTHER NOTE I was also disappointed on an authorial level by J.K in this. Honestly, I was expecting more diversity. J.K champions diverse Lit on twitter, but lets be real she had a great oppurtunity to implement that and it fell through. TRUE, you can argue Hermione is black but it's not explicit so it doesn't mean anything. They could have made anyone more diverse. (The queerbaiting on Al and Scorp was REAL) but instead it's all "white and straight" and idk I'm just a bit disappointed in her for that.
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Ok. But what did I like ?
Okay. It is fun. In a fanfic kind of way it is a fun story. We should never consider this canon, but it is entertaining. I did read it in one day. And I'm damn willing to bet the stage is amazing. The stage directions and settings were really amazing and I think implemented this show would be, aesthetically, really nice.
I also appreciated Draco's redemption arc. That was nice, and you know what, deserved. I appreciated Snape's a little less, because I hate snape forever and always but if you're a fan I can see you'd appreciate that too.
I appreciated Ginny's take on being possessed and how NO ONE helped her after Chamber of Secrets .. which .. was true. I AM SO SHOOK ABOUT HOW RON SAID EVERYONE THOUGHT SHE'D BE A SLYTHERIN LIEK GODFUCKING DAMN YES YES BEAUTIFUL
I also quite liked Draco's little revelations about being jealous of the trio, and of not revealing Harry at Malfoy Manor which - ok yeah was solid work.
It was just everything else that was a mess. You cannot take this seriously because it wILL fall flat. But if you are able to detach yourself from the characters and try not to view them as the one's we know and love perhaps you'd really enjoy it. I'm not able to do that, however. Which is why I can't give this any more than a 3*. It deserves a 2, sentimentality makes me bump it up to a 2.5 and that's my FINAL RATING.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? 2.5*. Sorry, not sorry.
NOTE: Sick of people telling me I didn't like this because it's a script. No. No I've read scripts before, I've read scripts and loved them. This isn't bad because it's a script. It's bad because it reduces our characters to uninspired tropes, because it's full of plot holes and because it's lazy. Bye !
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