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| 0062321293
| 9780062321299
| B00SRX214K
| 3.75
| 1,179
| Oct 20, 2015
| Oct 20, 2015
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it was ok
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2.5 stars Historical fiction is the genre that I've been trying to delve into much more this year. This paired with a fondness for (at least the idea o 2.5 stars Historical fiction is the genre that I've been trying to delve into much more this year. This paired with a fondness for (at least the idea of) spy thrillers, as soon as I heard about Velvet Undercover, I was excited. A teenage spy sent into Germany from the UK during World War I? Color me intrigued. This book was entertaining... but not exactly mindblowing. I'll start with my biggest point of critique and the thing that kept this book from ever really engaging me fully: the writing. I have this thing with historical fiction - especially those set in Britain or with British characters. I really need the writing to feel authentic and engrossing. If you're in Britain, you should at least attempt to present British-sounding dialogue and terminology. You should not, like this book, talk about a dinner of stew and biscuits - when biscuits in Britain means cookies. *facepalm* Overall the writing was so Americanized and watered down for its target audience. That's not to say it was bad, but it just left me wanting more. And with settings in London and Berlin, I really want a sense of atmosphere to where I can picture the places, the people, and the mannerisms in my mind, but this book never quite got there. The plot, luckily, kept me going. Samantha Donaldson gets recruited by MI5 due to her having lived in Berlin as a child, to dive into the field and save an undercover agent who may very well be compromised. She's been trained at a special school and has a knack for code breaking, so she's glad to be able to put those skills to good use. However, she doesn't go completely voluntarily. She's blackmailed into it, being promised information about her father who went missing during a diplomatic mission. As far as mysteries go, Velvet Undercover does a lot of things right. You're pointed in one direction, Samantha is gradually decrypting clues as she goes along, and before long there are some murders and plot twists that convince you to keep reading. It really is interesting and compulsively readable in that sense. And as the story, for a large part, takes place in the royal palace in Berlin, it was cool to see an image of how one of the enemy countries was governed. Though the book doesn't delve into it too much, you do get a sense of the political maneuvering during the time period (and the foreshadowing about the consequences for the country and the world in the coming decades). But, yet in other things, this book is a bit simplistic and juvenile. And not in the sense that this is a fun, rompy spy novel - it's completely serious - but Samantha can be pretty dumb. She arrives in Berlin knowing that there are two suspects that could be Velvet. She focuses only on that and gets annoyed when it's been like a week and she's not sure who it is yet. Seriously, after like a week, she plans to just ask one of the two if they're Velvet. And I'm supposed to believe she's a top notch spy with a promising future? Her sleuthing was pretty simple, and she jumped to conclusions way too quickly. I kind of expected that she would first spend some time (months, pretty much) adjusting to her surroundings and gaining the trust of the people, doing some sneaky and intelligent poking around here and there, but... no. Not really. That's not to mention that the plot twist that should shock you was about the most obvious you might expect from such a spy novel, and that Velvet ended up being exactly who I thought it was - from the first mention of that character on the page. I still kind of enjoyed figuring out how the pieces fit together, and the story had a pretty solid construction, but it just didn't wow me. At all. I guess it's all about managing expectations. Velvet Undercover is a story you read for the plot and setting, not the characters or the romance (which isn't a big deal - very much a side story - but also gave me pretty much zero feels). The story is solid and mildly addictive to read. And yet, at the same time, you shouldn't expect serious sleuthing, intriguing puzzles, or shocking plot twists. I hate to say it, but remember the 'teenage' in the 'teenage spy novel' label. Summing Up: Though I mostly enjoyed this book for its unusual setting and intriguing premise, Velvet Undercover never really wowed me. Samantha is pretty freaking dumb for a supposedly brilliant teenage spy, and I called the plot twists from a mile away. Above all, though, I really wish the writing had impressed me more. Writing style is more than half the battle in historical fiction with me, and Brown's was so average and bland that I'm doubtful I want to try another one of her novels. But we'll see about that at a later date. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: I... don't really know. *An electronic review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. Merged review: 2.5 stars Historical fiction is the genre that I've been trying to delve into much more this year. This paired with a fondness for (at least the idea of) spy thrillers, as soon as I heard about Velvet Undercover, I was excited. A teenage spy sent into Germany from the UK during World War I? Color me intrigued. This book was entertaining... but not exactly mindblowing. I'll start with my biggest point of critique and the thing that kept this book from ever really engaging me fully: the writing. I have this thing with historical fiction - especially those set in Britain or with British characters. I really need the writing to feel authentic and engrossing. If you're in Britain, you should at least attempt to present British-sounding dialogue and terminology. You should not, like this book, talk about a dinner of stew and biscuits - when biscuits in Britain means cookies. *facepalm* Overall the writing was so Americanized and watered down for its target audience. That's not to say it was bad, but it just left me wanting more. And with settings in London and Berlin, I really want a sense of atmosphere to where I can picture the places, the people, and the mannerisms in my mind, but this book never quite got there. The plot, luckily, kept me going. Samantha Donaldson gets recruited by MI5 due to her having lived in Berlin as a child, to dive into the field and save an undercover agent who may very well be compromised. She's been trained at a special school and has a knack for code breaking, so she's glad to be able to put those skills to good use. However, she doesn't go completely voluntarily. She's blackmailed into it, being promised information about her father who went missing during a diplomatic mission. As far as mysteries go, Velvet Undercover does a lot of things right. You're pointed in one direction, Samantha is gradually decrypting clues as she goes along, and before long there are some murders and plot twists that convince you to keep reading. It really is interesting and compulsively readable in that sense. And as the story, for a large part, takes place in the royal palace in Berlin, it was cool to see an image of how one of the enemy countries was governed. Though the book doesn't delve into it too much, you do get a sense of the political maneuvering during the time period (and the foreshadowing about the consequences for the country and the world in the coming decades). But, yet in other things, this book is a bit simplistic and juvenile. And not in the sense that this is a fun, rompy spy novel - it's completely serious - but Samantha can be pretty dumb. She arrives in Berlin knowing that there are two suspects that could be Velvet. She focuses only on that and gets annoyed when it's been like a week and she's not sure who it is yet. Seriously, after like a week, she plans to just ask one of the two if they're Velvet. And I'm supposed to believe she's a top notch spy with a promising future? Her sleuthing was pretty simple, and she jumped to conclusions way too quickly. I kind of expected that she would first spend some time (months, pretty much) adjusting to her surroundings and gaining the trust of the people, doing some sneaky and intelligent poking around here and there, but... no. Not really. That's not to mention that the plot twist that should shock you was about the most obvious you might expect from such a spy novel, and that Velvet ended up being exactly who I thought it was - from the first mention of that character on the page. I still kind of enjoyed figuring out how the pieces fit together, and the story had a pretty solid construction, but it just didn't wow me. At all. I guess it's all about managing expectations. Velvet Undercover is a story you read for the plot and setting, not the characters or the romance (which isn't a big deal - very much a side story - but also gave me pretty much zero feels). The story is solid and mildly addictive to read. And yet, at the same time, you shouldn't expect serious sleuthing, intriguing puzzles, or shocking plot twists. I hate to say it, but remember the 'teenage' in the 'teenage spy novel' label. Summing Up: Though I mostly enjoyed this book for its unusual setting and intriguing premise, Velvet Undercover never really wowed me. Samantha is pretty freaking dumb for a supposedly brilliant teenage spy, and I called the plot twists from a mile away. Above all, though, I really wish the writing had impressed me more. Writing style is more than half the battle in historical fiction with me, and Brown's was so average and bland that I'm doubtful I want to try another one of her novels. But we'll see about that at a later date. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: I... don't really know. *An electronic review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Oct 07, 2015
not set
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Oct 12, 2015
not set
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Sep 22, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 1743316518
| 9781743316511
| 1743316518
| 4.21
| 1,756
| Jun 01, 2014
| Jun 01, 2014
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it was amazing
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5 stars I couldn't help myself - I was on such a shipping high when I finished Every Breath that I had to dive into Every Word right away. And I regret 5 stars I couldn't help myself - I was on such a shipping high when I finished Every Breath that I had to dive into Every Word right away. And I regret nothing. This series is seriously shaping up to become one of my favorites. Our heroes, Rachel Watts and James Mycroft, are back in another thrilling adventure that is equal parts intensely dark and incredibly sexy. At the end of Every Breath the ship was a definite THING and now sparks are flying all over the place. Seriously, someone give Ellie Marney all the awards for writing AMAZING kissing scenes. These two have electrifying chemistry, for serious. It's been a longgg time since I've been so infatuated with and flaily about a romance. They are gold. GOLD. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows - oh no. Rachel's parents' disapproval of Mycroft notwithstanding, after a few chapters of shippy bliss, the plot blasts off and OH NO, Mycroft flies off to London to solve a murder that has some similarity to his parents' deaths. And he neglects to really let Rachel know about this at all, aside from what she later realizes was a kiss goodbye. She decides to follow him because he isn't always mentally stable when his parents are involved, and though that might sound a bit clingy and impulsive, it really is for the best. Rachel keeps Mycroft grounded. And boy, he needs that, because Mycroft has some serious emotional issues in this book. He's obviously not coping well with the cold case of his parents' murders. He plays pretend to make people think he's all right, but Rachel can see through it all. He believes he's broken and the real James Mycroft died in that car accident with his parents. He believes Rachel deserves better than a broken person. THE PAIN. THE FREAKING PAIN. When all you want is for two characters to keep kissing and they have so much baggage between them that they refuse to? That hurts. (But no worries, seriously, there's more than enough really good kissing.) *cough* But. Um. The story. Though it's maybe a bit beyond the realm of plausibility that an Australian pathologist would be called in for a carjacking death in England - and that he would be permitted to bring his (admittedly brilliant) teenage assistant with him - it was a great case to read and solve. I got serious Sherlock vibes off of some of the events, general atmosphere, and antagonists. You actually get glimpses of crime scene investigations and autopsies, so mystery fans will probably LOVE this. And, oh boy, this book is intense. I can't even really go into it because of spoilers, but the mystery heats up and gets complicated, and our characters kind of face MORTAL PERIL. I felt VERY INTENSELY about all of this. It's like I was in the room with them, scared for them, and boy did I have to keep reading to find out how it all ends. Definitely more intense and thrilling than book 1, in the best possible way. And the set up for book 3? SO GOOD. Must read now. At the end of the day, though, what I love most about this book are these characters and their beautiful romance. I'm not one for ships with a ton of baggage and drama, but believe me when I say that Mycroft's tortured past works for them. It's complicated, sure, but it's also extremely realistic. They really fight for their relationship and all the scary, heavy shit they went through in this book makes their relationship so much stronger. And they still have banter at the worst of times. And the kissing. Oh god, please keep kissing. Summing Up: This series is DOING THINGS TO ME. Wattscroft is dominating my life right now, and I regret nothing. Every Word has pretty much the perfect combination of Sherlock-like dark and thrilling mystery and oh so swoony romance. That all makes for a freaking addictive read that you won't want to put down for a second. I have gone down the rabbit hole and now I have no choice but to dive into Every Move right away. Oh and someone crown Ellie Marney Queen of Kissing Scenes, 'kay? 'kay. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: Everyoneee. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 19, 2015
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Oct 23, 2015
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Mar 09, 2017
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1743318537
| 9781743318539
| 1743318537
| 4.12
| 1,050
| Feb 02, 2016
| Mar 01, 2015
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really liked it
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4.5 stars On an absolute feels high, it was inevitable that I had to read Every Move immediately after Every Word, finishing my binge of what is now on 4.5 stars On an absolute feels high, it was inevitable that I had to read Every Move immediately after Every Word, finishing my binge of what is now one of my all-time favorite series. Intense action, thrills, and romance make for an addictive and engrossing read. Holy intensity, Batman. Every Move pulls no punches. The stakes are high - like insanely high. After Every Word, I think it was generally understood that Wild is not a friendly guy... But in Every Move, he gets possibly even scarier. Murders start littering the streets of Melbourne, bodies resembling those of Rachel and Mycroft, sending a clear message that they are in danger. A secondary character who became super dear to my heart in this book ends up in mortal peril, and I felt like CRYING SO HARD FOREVER HARD. It was thrilling and action-packed, and obviously I needed to read it as quickly as humanly possible. Page turner? Absolutely. And the climax packs a punch. Mycroft and Rachel aren't about to just go into hiding or surrender to Wild. With their keen wits and intellect, they find out what he's after, and there's one final dramatic showdown. It had me on the edge of my seat, and there were some Sherlock level mindfucks and traps, making this so entertaining to read. No worries: the romance is still mega shippy. Yeah, it doesn't exactly start off well - Mycroft is consumed by his battle with Wild while Rachel is left dealing with PTSD after the events of Every Word. Mycroft doesn't really win any best boyfriend awards as far as that is concerned. But oh man, I was all about Rachel's character growth here. The PTSD stuff was for real, but she overcame it like a boss, while also reconciling with her mother (finally) and clearly fending off Harris's advances, because even though she and Mycroft hadn't been too close recently, that love is real. The two have so much dark shit to deal with, but they come together and are freaking unstoppable and so lovable. Maybe not enough kissing for me, but man oh man, there were plenty of feels. So for all intents and purposes, this book was super feelsy and intense and I enjoyed every second of it - but there are two tiny things that keep me from giving it a full, perfect score. First, yeah, if you know Sherlock, you'll probably guess who the bad guy is. I knew instantly, though it wasn't at all that obvious. Second, oh my god, I'm so tried of YA mysteries hinging on the characters not trusting the police. I get that if they did inform them, they would get shut out of investigating, but seriously, the stakes were so high and the police had done a fine job protecting you thus far. I mean, the book was more exciting because they were on their own, but I don't feel like that's fully realistic. (Also, the fact that it was Rachel who lashed out and contacted Wild seemed really out of character to me.) Summing Up: Short but sweet - because how many more ways can I say that I love Every Move and this series? I'm only sad that it's over now, because I could read about more of Rachel and Mycroft's adventures until the end of time. This book was at times scary (murder!) and heavy (PTSD!) but so well-written and well-developed. These characters - the supporting cast as well - have imprinted on my heart, and I just cared so much about all of them. And at the center of it all is still that absolutely beautiful ship. Rachel and Mycroft 5ever! GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: EVERYONE. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 25, 2015
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Oct 27, 2015
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Mar 09, 2017
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1442490012
| 9781442490017
| 1442490012
| 4.32
| 1,023,003
| Jan 01, 1908
| Jan 14, 2014
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really liked it
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4 stars You know how sometimes you pick up just the right book at exactly the right time? That was Anne of Green Gables for me. Despite it being a clas 4 stars You know how sometimes you pick up just the right book at exactly the right time? That was Anne of Green Gables for me. Despite it being a classic - which fails for me more often than not - I couldn't resist picking this book up after seeing some of my friends still raving about it and this supposedly awesome ship that happens in the series. I'm so glad it was selected for book club. This book is absolutely DELIGHTFUL. To put things in context, I picked up Anne of Green Gables to read after a death in the family. It wasn't someone I was super close to, but feelings of grief crept into my heart anyway, and I was haunted by the mortality of humans. WELL that sounds pretty dark, huh? Anne is the exact right kind of happiness to brush all of that away. Right from the start, her voice JUMPED off the page. I was greeted by this too-adorable-for-words 11 year old who is just so fascinated by the world around her, the endless possibilities, and the places her imagination can take her. She reeked of LIFE. I swear, I fell in love with her right away. Anne is an 11 year old orphan who gets adopted by an elderly farmer and his sister - by mistake. They were actually hoping for a boy, so he could help out on the farm. This isn't ideal - and originally they intend to send Anne back. But then as Matthew takes Anne home, he is enchanted by her cheerful chatter and can't stand the thought of breaking her heart. Marilla is a little more stern... but before long Anne worms her way into her heart as well. Anne will have the same effect on almost all readers. She's just so fascinating and creative. She's inspiring in how she looks at the world and finds beauty in almost everything. She's over-dramatic in a super charming way. She can be a typical kid, with tantrums, stubbornness, and drama, but it fits so well into her character that you basically want to reach through the page and give her a hug no matter what. I can imagine that some people, who aren't character-focused (or voice-focused) readers might find this book a little hard to get through. It can seem a bit aimless as there aren't really big conflicts in the book (it's more of a slice-of-life style novel), and it takes place over five years with some awkward and hasty seeming time jumps. You really are just watching Anne grow up. And if you don't like her voice, you may find the pages upon pages of straight dialogue (or, actually, monologues) tedious. But I was fascinated and enchanted. Just reading Anne's quirky and adorable words put a goofy grin on my face and had me cracking up more than once. And that's exactly what I needed. And for the heavy shippers among us - there is definite hope, though given Anne's age nothing really happens yet. At the beginning of the story she gets a rival and an "enemy" in Gilbert Blythe, who calls her "Carrots" for her red hair. The shipping started then and basically never stopped. It's just adorable childhood love - though Anne is so stubborn that she insists she hates him for the length of the story. It's not hard for readers to see through that though, and that just means there's some slow-burn goodness happening here. Must pick up the next book ASAP!!! Summing Up: Anne of Green Gables is happiness. Plain and simple. Seriously, Anne's voice is AMAZING - filled with hope, happiness, and life. And that's just what I needed. It's been ages since I fell so deeply in love with a main character. I would adopt her if I could. Yes, long run, story-wise, not much happens, but I enjoyed this book thoroughly. And now I must have more Anne and Gilbert Blythe foreverrrrrrrrr ♥ GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: Fans of character-driven novels. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 17, 2015
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Nov 22, 2015
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Oct 06, 2015
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Hardcover
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| 4.23
| 824,502
| Feb 24, 2015
| Feb 24, 2015
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really liked it
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4.5 stars Don't think I'll write a full review, but this book was absolutely delightful. One of the best NA novels I've ever read. I was giggling, swoo 4.5 stars Don't think I'll write a full review, but this book was absolutely delightful. One of the best NA novels I've ever read. I was giggling, swooning, and awwing. The ship is full of banter, hotness, and slow burn goodness. There is actual depth and character growth. And though this book does do some of the typical NA stuff (i.e. everyone has a dark, traumatic past) it does it do much better than all the others - with realism and actual meaningful development. Highly recommended! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 28, 2015
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Dec 30, 2015
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Sep 22, 2015
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Kindle Edition
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| 144242673X
| 9781442426733
| 144242673X
| 4.01
| 392,082
| May 26, 2015
| May 26, 2015
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did not like it
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1 star God - fucking - dammit. I think my review of To All the Boys I've Loved Before made it exceedingly obvious that I adored that book. I shouted my 1 star God - fucking - dammit. I think my review of To All the Boys I've Loved Before made it exceedingly obvious that I adored that book. I shouted my love from the rooftops. I couldn't wait to dive into the sequel and have more of the happy shippy feels that so delighted me. BUT NO. THIS. FREAKING. SUCKS. [image] At the end of To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we are left on a pretty exciting and promising cliffhanger: Lara Jean finally admits to having feelings for Peter and maybe they can happen for real. Misunderstandings notwithstanding, he makes her happy, and that's worth an actual shot. So she writes him another letter - which you soon learn is made of cuteness - but then the drama quickly follows. It's not happy times for Peter and Lara Jean. No. Peter is still friends with Gen, his ex and the one-dimensional mean girl who makes Lara Jean's life miserable. Gen can't seem to let Peter go, and he lets it slide because of mysterious things happening in her personal life. Yeah, they were friends for a long time, and maybe Gen doesn't feel that close to anyone else, but if your girlfriend feels uncomfortable with this, you need to AT LEAST meet her halfway. Instead he runs off to Gen the second she calls and leaves Lara Jean in the dark. That's. Wait. What? [image] There's arguably a reason for Gen's meanness - the personal stuff she's working through - but it's nowhere near good enough for Lara Jean to forgive her or for Peter to keep taking her side. Seriously, when it becomes abundantly clear that Gen leaked a video of Lara Jean and Peter making out in a hot tub onto the internet - which looks like they might even be having sex - leading to cyberbullying and actual bullying for Lara Jean? Yeah. No. That shit will never fly with me. Nothing excuses Gen's total bitch moves in this book. Peter is almost the complete opposite of who he was in the first book. He's withdrawn, inattentive, and he pushes Lara Jean away. Lara Jean makes some excuses for him, but arguably when the two are together, they have some cute moments. But there's so much tension building throughout the story, and it's untenable. This book pushed me to start to resent Peter (as much as my head didn't want to), to become tired of Lara Jean's (rightful) jealousy, and to believe the relationship was absolutely doomed to fail. So much drama. WAIT - SERIOUSLY - I DIDN'T SIGN ON FOR THAT. [image] And Josh, the other angle on the love triangle in the previous book? Swept under the table and almost never heard from again. But, we couldn't just let the romantic drama die there, right? NO. Lara Jean has to have another beau come into her life - the last recipient of her love letters: John. John comes out of nowhere, pretty much, and as he lives in a different district, he barely gets any page-time. But when he's there he's being the perfect gentleman (seriously, no negative or complex elements to his personality that we know of; completely adhering to Lara Jean's idealized image of him from three years ago) and he clearly indicates that after so many years, he still has feelings for Lara Jean. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME SWITCH SHIPS THIS LATE IN THE GAME. Honestly, this guy is here being the quintessential good guy, while Peter's being a douche, pretty much. You feel such an urge to just say, fuck the douche, Lara Jean, and be with this guy. (EVEN THOUGH PETER FREAKING KAVINSKY WOULD NEVER BE SUCH A DOUCHE.) John may be completely boring, but at least he's honest with you. But THEN, at the end of the day, Lara Jean decides she's REALLY in love with Peter, and though they don't actually talk about any of their ten billion ISSUES and just retcon a lot of shit instead, they stay... together. Seriously. Wut. [image] This book is for the people who believe that exes can (and should be able to) be friends, that drama is almost a charming part of life, that fighting serves to make a relationship stronger (even if it's not actually resolved *grumble grumble*), that teenagers do stupid shit - and that that kind of realism is fun to read about. Now I'm not saying that I don't like any of those things at certain times, but the combination was deadly and completely the opposite of the first book. This book made me confused, sad, and angry, and I expected happiness. The banter disappeared, Peter was no longer swoon-worthy, and all I got was 337 pages of (arguably avoidable) drama. That's... not what I wanted. Seriously, if all these characters insist on being so stupid and drama-laden, they deserve to all just die alone. [image] Summing Up: P.S. I Still Love You is absolutely one of my biggest disappointments of the year. It reached soap opera levels of drama, and it took a massive surge of willpower to not just toss it into the garbage with 30 pages left, never to be finished. I did finish it, but I'm not at all happy. This is the kind of sequel book that I'm going to sell secondhand and then pretend never happened. To All the Boys I've Loved Before was a standalone. Right? RIGHT?! Right. Okay bye. GIF it to me straight! [image] ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 04, 2015
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Oct 06, 2015
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Sep 04, 2015
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0399256946
| 9780399256943
| 0399256946
| 3.46
| 11,480
| Apr 07, 2015
| Apr 07, 2015
|
liked it
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3 stars When I finished reading Rebel Belle, I knew I needed the sequel in my life as soon as humanly possible - so I ordered it right away. The first 3 stars When I finished reading Rebel Belle, I knew I needed the sequel in my life as soon as humanly possible - so I ordered it right away. The first book of this series was so much fun and so adorably shippy, that I just needed more of the feels rollercoaster. As such, one might say that my expectations were a touch high. Perhaps too high. Though I still enjoyed Miss Mayhem (which has one of the best titles ever, let's be honest), I do feel like it has a bit of second book syndrome. Harper's voice is a delight, as always. Honestly, she is one of the biggest selling points for this series. She's just so adorably peppy and wonderfully flawed, and I love her relationship with David. Though the two were established as a couple at the end of Rebel Belle, they aren't instantly sappy and mushy about each other. The banter is still there in full force, just with extra nicknames (boyfie *snickers* forever lol). The two do have some trust issues and melodrama in this book, which was less fun, but globally the ship is still going strong. It does feel like on the whole Miss Mayhem turned up the drama and down the fun, action-y bits. There's tension between Harper and David, between Harper and Bee, between Harper and Ryan (though not in the love triangle sense), and Harper ends up feeling a bit shut out of her social circle. There are admittedly some more mysteries, action-packed sequences (in the trials that Harper has to face), and Southern cultural things (like the pageant Harper and Bee decide to participate in). But whereas these aspects were super fun in Rebel Belle, I felt like here they got bogged down by the drama. I still enjoyed most of it and read at the speed of light, but I wasn't really delighted. The biggest disappointment, I think, is that Miss Mayhem tries to bring world building into the picture - actual depth and meaning to the existence of the oracle and these mysterious Ephors people who may or may not be evil. They want to train David and Harper has to go through some epic set of trials. And it seems like this is all going to be a BIG THING, shaping the futures of our main characters and possibly building up towards the ultimate conflict of the series. And then it... isn't. Which I can't really go into without spoiling things. (view spoiler)[Basically, at the end they find out the Ephors have all died out because they needed to be in contact with the oracle to survive. And without them, the powers of the oracle, the paladin, and the mage will fade. And so, just like that, without any huge battle or anything... they're all going to go back to normal? (hide spoiler)] It was honestly one of the most anti-climactic endings I have ever read, and it leaves me at a total loss. Where is the series even going to go from here? Didn't that just make the entire thing pointless? I suppose it will leave more room to focus on the contemporary aspects of the series, but I'm just worried that it's going to be entirely all too boring. I'll still read it, because I'm heavily invested in MY SHIP but... yeah. I'm worried. Summing Up Though on the whole I still found Miss Mayhem to be a fun and entertaining read, the drama and anti-climactic ending lead me to believe there is a definite case of second book syndrome. I love these characters and my ship, so I am still invested in the series, but I no longer have any sense of where this story is going... in the bad way. And, I mean, this book was only 273 pages. Was it even necessary at all? GIF it to me straight! [image] Basically, my feelings about this book. Recommended To: Fans of the first book? I'm at a loss at the moment. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 08, 2015
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Jul 09, 2015
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Jun 14, 2015
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1408854287
| 9781408854280
| 1408854287
| 3.73
| 36,048
| Jul 02, 2015
| Jul 02, 2015
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liked it
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3.5 stars The Watchmaker of Filigree Street came pitched to me as "for fans of Samantha Shannon" and came with a blurb by Shannon herself. That definit 3.5 stars The Watchmaker of Filigree Street came pitched to me as "for fans of Samantha Shannon" and came with a blurb by Shannon herself. That definitely caught my attention, but when I heard about what the rest of the book would contain (clairvoyance, Victorian London, Japan, and a heavy focus on characterization), I knew I had to check this book out for sure. This adult historical fiction is something completely different and very imaginative. I definitely enjoyed it. In The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Thaniel Steepleton, a synesthete telegraphist at the Home Office, narrowly escapes the Fenian bombings in 1884 thanks to an intricate and mysterious watch. The watch set off an alarm to warn him, and thus is not just a little bit suspicious. He finds the watchmaker, Keita Mori, and helps Scotland Yard investigate further. Thaniel gets thrown into a world of whimsy (with all of Keita's inventions - the most adorable being his clockwork octopus, Katsu) and culture, as he discovers the Japanese community within London and starts learning the language and history himself from Keita. As a japanophile, this was not just a little bit exciting for me. I though the setting and writing were absolutely beautiful, and Keita was instantly charming as a kind, mysterious, and (later very obviously) clairvoyant man. The story got off to a bit of a rough start, however, because it also partially tells the perspective of Grace Carrow, a physics student in Oxford. It took a while before the storylines came together, so it was slightly confusing at the beginning. Grace is a very complex character, and one that will ultimately be really interesting for readers to dissect. She's a physicist, an intellectual, and some would say a feminist. Ideally she wants to do her research and provide for herself, but her parents are forcing her to marry before she can inherit any of her dowry. But, somewhat hypocritically, Grace is very harsh on her own sex. She's against the suffrage movement because she believes most women would vote based on frivolous things, and she thinks becoming a mother would turn her brain into mush. She's rather self-centered and prone to jealousy, and some would deem her unlikable. But she offers a brilliant look into the gender roles and expectations of the time period, and I would not label her wholly unrealistic. I do wish we'd seen more growth from her by the end though. I believe one of the biggest selling points of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is its incredible diversity. Not only are gender roles and the Japanese culture explored in detail, social class absolutely plays a role, and there are LGBT characters as well. The romance there is subtle, but wonderful. The romance aspect of the book didn't get heavily emotional (which, as a YA reader I'm more used to), but for adult historical fiction, I definitely appreciate all that it brought to the table. But what I absolutely love most about this book (aside from the clockwork octopus, because duh) is the exploration of the concept of clairvoyance. It's not just a parlor trick, it's not always one hundred percent accurate. Keita sees possible paths as they become more and less likely, and sometimes it confuses him. Sometimes he loses track of what's happened and what hasn't, which can mess with the order of history and lead to him forgetting things as certain paths are eliminated. You know how time travel books can be hard to get right, because it's difficult to handle all the paradoxes? The same thing kind of happens with clairvoyance, and I think Pulley did an absolutely brilliant job of it. It made for a really creative story and, at least in my case, forges a deep connection and understanding between Keita and the reader. Ultimately, I feel like the book might be a bit too short to really effectively showcase all of its important elements. The first half of the book puts a much heavier focus on the conspiracy of the Fenian bombings in London, but in the latter half of the book, this is kind of set aside as the story becomes much more personal and much more about the characters themselves. There's a bit of an imbalance there, and I felt like the Fenian conspiracy storyline wasn't really done justice. I wanted to know more about that - for sure - instead of just the couple of paragraphs of conclusion at the end. Certainly I also feel a bit let down about that because I just don't know about that particular part of history at all - for British readers, it may not be as big of an issue. Summing Up: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a creative debut filled with diversity. Good for anglophiles and japanophiles everywhere, with an excellent dose of LGBT romance to boot. I'm not saying that should be your reason for reading, but it definitely helps. Pulley has put down an intricate setting of whimsy and culture and created incredibly complex and intriguing characters. And as the best historical fiction does, it's made me want to learn much more about this part of history. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: Fans of The Bone Season and/or The Miniaturist. *A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 20, 2015
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Jun 21, 2015
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Jun 06, 2015
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Hardcover
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| 0062360043
| 9780062360045
| 0062360043
| 3.64
| 6,228
| Nov 29, 2013
| Oct 13, 2015
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liked it
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3 stars I'm a sucker for all things gender bending, so when I heard that Newt's Emerald would be using this beloved trope in a regency historical setti 3 stars I'm a sucker for all things gender bending, so when I heard that Newt's Emerald would be using this beloved trope in a regency historical setting with bonus magic, I was immediately excited. Not to mention, the author, Garth Nix, is somewhat of a legend - one I had yet to experience. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it never crossed the line from "good" to "great". In Newt's Emerald, Lady Truthful Newington (our main character) is a young girl about to debut in London's high society. Her coming of age would also come with the inheritance of the family's legendary emerald jewel - a conduit for their weather-controlling magic. But tragedy strikes and the emerald disappears - is stolen - right from under their very noses. What ensues is a mystery, a historical fiction in regency London with balls, gentleman callers, and all the pressures of high society, and a slowly developing romance. Now, all of that might sound like Debby bait, but I was kind of left wanting. I think my first stumbling block is probably the characters. They're not awful or anything, but just a bit undeveloped. I am a character reader, so I need to really feel connected to them to thoroughly enjoy a book. Truthful (aside from snort-laughing at her name every time I read it) is just a little bland. Charles, her love interest, is first really gruff (and they have kind of a hate-to-love transition, though I felt it was exceedingly obvious), but he very suddenly and dramatically does a one-eighty at the end. The evil characters are mean and evil - to the extent that you almost can't believe Truthful didn't instantly know who would have stolen the jewel. The side characters are just there to fulfill roles and hardly felt real. I mean, I hate to use the word one dimensional, but whoops, I just did. I mean, I do have some measure of respect for Truthful. She's not a damsel in distress, and she wants to actively help find the emerald - hence, why she dresses up as a boy to find it. She would not be allowed to make inquiries and venture out unaccompanied otherwise. But sometimes she reeked of desperate naivete, and she charged into situations she should have known were not safe. It's like... I wanted to like her, but every time I was starting to get to that level, she did something stupid again. While dressed as a boy, she meets Charles, who almost demands to help her in her quest. She's desperate for help and eagerly agrees - but all the time you know that Charles is lying about at least part of his identity. That already kind of raises a red flag for me, but he also constantly makes disparaging comments about women and about Truthful - because he's been scorned by love before. Truthful doesn't take this lying down and feels rightfully irritated by the douche, but you just know where it's heading. It's so obvious from the start, and that transition from hate to love feels anything but genuine. He finds out about her deception, but quickly gets over it - and asks for her hand. She's suspicious of him, hears he's engaged (as his fake identity), tries to distance herself, then finds out about his deception, and is strangely just instantly happy and not at all angered! I want to believe that has nothing to do with his status, but I didn't get the feeling the love was deep and genuine yet soooo... I want to be clear that I don't think this book is bad, and it certainly had some good moments. If you're very much into historical romance, and you don't mind leaps from hate to love, there are enough enjoyable and funny escapades to make this a fun story. But I just lacked the depth. The characters, romance, and plot were too simple for me. And the magic in this world was hardly explored. I did, however, enjoy the regency setting - the writing, superficial shenanigans, and descriptions of the high society world were reminiscent of Jane Austen. I guess I just expected a whole lot more - especially from a well-loved fantasy author such as Garth Nix. It's like he was trying to write a gender bending, magic-infused Pride & Prejudice but just forgot to add any swoon or real depth. Sad day. Summing Up: Newt's Emerald is a historical fantasy romance with the high society shenanigans you love and an entertaining gender bending mystery. This book had all the ingredients to become one of my favorite books of all time, but it just didn't get there. It wasn't developed enough. But it gave me a few laughs, and while simplistic, I mostly enjoyed it. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: YA historical romance fans in the mood for a touch of mystery and magic. *An electronic review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 29, 2015
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Oct 02, 2015
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May 01, 2015
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Hardcover
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| 0062242938
| 9780062242938
| B00RLR9TSE
| 3.93
| 18,880
| Sep 22, 2015
| Sep 22, 2015
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it was ok
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2.5 stars Oh how I wish I had loved this more. Rae Carson and I have had a kind of rocky relationship till now. Though I wouldn't say I really disliked 2.5 stars Oh how I wish I had loved this more. Rae Carson and I have had a kind of rocky relationship till now. Though I wouldn't say I really disliked the Fire and Thorns series, I was never really impressed, and the hype completely baffled me. Despite that, I decided to give Walk on Earth a Stranger a shot, hoping that different characters in a different setting with a different story would finally let me fall in love with this author like almost all of my friends are. But... unfortunately... I'm still unimpressed. Walk on Earth a Stranger is a perfectly adequate and average novel, but when I read books, I want more. Walk on Earth a Stranger is a historical fiction/fantasy story about the California gold rush and the many pioneers who set out across the country hoping to reach the fortunes they've always dreamed of. Our main character, Leah, has a secret, magical gift: she can sense when gold is near. This gift however, leads to the murder of her parents by her uncle, who hopes to exploit her. Desperate to stay out of his manipulative clutches, she runs away to take on the trail herself. Though no part of this book really made me mad, disappointed, or squeamish (the childbirth scene notwithstanding), every part of it just screamed average to me. Leah's a pretty good main character, but I didn't fall in love with her. I appreciate her thirst for independence - going so far as dress like a boy to give herself more freedom to escape from her uncle - and the lengths she goes to to protect and help others. She takes on tough manual labor and work that no woman chooses or is allowed to do, and she kicks some men's butts at it. But other than that, her personality didn't really sparkle. She's not particularly witty or funny or charming. Maybe I was lacking a sense of complexity in her character and her voice. Plot-wise, I was mildly entertained but also a bit let down. I mean, the beginning was really strong - Leah discovering her parents' murder, the small-town Georgian atmosphere, the appearance of her shady Uncle, and her decision to don the guise of a boy to escape from it all. But after that, it was walking. And walking. And riding a horse. And riding a boat. And riding a wagon. And walking. I mean, she meets people along the way, and there are some interesting interactions there, but they're traveling for the entire book. A lot of people die along the way - the trail providing all the risks you'll know from The Oregon Trail game: cholera, childbirth, stampeding buffalo, measles, Native Americans, land and weather conditions - but for some reason, I just had not forged an emotional connection to any of them, so I didn't even blink. It felt like the plot had no peaks or valleys. No build up to exciting climaxes. Leah's magical gift of goldscrying was hardly used, just as a thing she was hiding from other people that occasionally helped find things. She didn't even meet her uncle again until the very end of the book, for all of like five minutes. There's no big conflict in this book aside from man vs. nature, and I'm sorry, it turns out that that isn't enough to enthrall me. I liked some of the nostalgia winks to The Oregon Trail, but I was also growing increasingly more bored. It's like this whole book is just a set up for the series, but I have no idea what the long run plot is even going to be. In the bad way. It feels kind of pointless. What I will say is nice is the diversity. Carson includes a lot of characters from different backgrounds, but she doesn't forget the historical context and inherent prejudices. Leah's best friend and love interest, Jefferson, is of mixed race decent: half-Native American, half-Caucasian. The company they join to travel west includes families of Southern conservatives, a slave owner and his slave, French-Canadian immigrants, German immigrants, a zealous priest, and "confirmed bachelors" - a charming name for gay men. As such, Carson manages to tackle a lot of topics of racial tensions, gay rights, and feminism, and she does this in authentic-feeling ways with a modern, humanist perspective. If anything, I have the utmost respect for that - and I loved how at the end of the book, the characters that remained managed to become a charming family of misfits. There's a couple of scenes that made me really proud of them and of Leah. But that romance? It gave me exactly zero feels. Which is also a weird thing, because it is very clearly a friends-to-something-more kind of romance, which ordinarily would totally be my thing. But you barely see the friendship that had built up for years. It's further complicated because by the time Leah and Jefferson meet up with the company to travel west, he's kind of infatuated with another girl. So there's not much romance either. There are small moments that I suppose should set my shippy heart on fire, but I just shrugged. I think that might have something to do with the fact that (a) Jefferson ran off after a rushed, out-of-the-blue proposal (for convenience) to Leah at the start of the novel, leaving her alone to deal with the deaths of her parents, (b) the fact that after that he seemed infatuated with someone else (which he might be retconning later, because screw you), and (c) the fact that Leah seems to really just see him as a friend until she sees him fawning over Therese. This... is supposed to make me cheer for them? I can see why some might, but I just will not. Here's the part where I decide to break up with Rae Carson. As far as historical fiction (and fantasy) goes, I tend to expect more from the writing. Carson's writing has always seemed rather simplistic to me, and in Walk on Earth a Stranger, it struck an additional nerve as she frequently and casually threw in modern terms that absolutely would not fit into the time period. That's jarring to me and pulls me out of the story. Neither do I feel like the magic was explored well enough or described in beautiful, engrossing ways. It was just a thing. Kind of there. In the background. What other kinds of magic exist and how this shapes the world is a complete mystery for now. But other than that, I think it's a style issue. I can't seem to bond with her characters, no matter how hard I try. I'll never be more than slightly impressed in passing. Her plot-lines do not have enough action for me, and there's not enough character growth or swoon-worthy romance to make up for it. I can totally understand why a lot of people swear by this author, but I can't keep forcing myself to read these books that are never much better than "okay" for me, in a desperate attempt to understand the hype. So for now... Goodbye, Rae Carson. May you have much better luck with other readers. Summing Up: Walk on Earth a Stranger was never bad enough for me to decide to stop reading, but by the time I finished, I realized that I was pretty bored the whole way through. There wasn't enough of a story for me, and I just couldn't connect to the characters or the romance. I will, however, give a big thumbs up to the diversity. And though I appreciated finally getting a book exploiting my nostalgic feelings about The Oregon Trail, I should have realized that a story about traveling for miles and miles and miles and miles might inherently be a bit boring. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: Rae Carson's established fanbase. *An electronic advance review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 17, 2015
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Aug 21, 2015
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Apr 30, 2015
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 149261257X
| 9781492612575
| B00UTWFVDK
| 3.89
| 14,703
| Aug 04, 2015
| Aug 04, 2015
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liked it
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3.5 stars Cuuute and, in some ways, exactly what I needed, but definitely not that memorable. After waiting a couple weeks to write a review, I found I 3.5 stars Cuuute and, in some ways, exactly what I needed, but definitely not that memorable. After waiting a couple weeks to write a review, I found I no longer had anything to say. But on the other hand, I wouldn't mind revisiting this story some day if I'm in the mood for some fluff. ...more |
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1
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Dec 17, 2015
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Dec 18, 2015
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Apr 28, 2015
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Kindle Edition
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| 1447294130
| 9781447294139
| 1447294130
| 4.03
| 246,854
| May 19, 2015
| May 21, 2015
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really liked it
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4.5 stars Uprooted is one of those books that had a pretty quiet release, but then a massive tidal wave of hype in the book blogging community. People 4.5 stars Uprooted is one of those books that had a pretty quiet release, but then a massive tidal wave of hype in the book blogging community. People who know me probably know that hype and I aren't exactly friends. And I feel like the book would have benefited if I waited a year or so to read this, so that some of those hyped thoughts would have faded from my mind. So ultimately though I won't praise this book as utter perfection, I think it is a brilliant book that is worth reading. Just.. maybe not quite at all-of-the-feels level. Uprooted is another fantasy take on Beauty and the Beast. And boy, there are a lot of those out there, aren't there? But believe me when I say that Uprooted is well and truly a unique read. It's filled with magic and lore, a main character who grows from ignorance to a force to be reckoned with, and within one standalone novel it packs a powerful story arc with a war against the magical wood corrupting the world. The writing is noteworthy too - lush and full of rich detail. Much of the story played out like a movie in my mind, and so I can't wait for this to be adapted to the silver screen. Agnieszka, the main character, is handpicked from the villages of the valley to live with the Dragon - a wizard (not an actual dragon) who protects the valley from the wood. The wood has many fearsome creatures but is particularly fearful for how it can corrupt human beings. Being in the presence of the wood, the wood can start to control the minds of the people, and it uses them to make the people fight to extinction. There's magic and mystery there that make this a very thorough and creative novel. While Agnieszka is with the Dragon, she discovers that she in fact possesses magic and can fight back against the wood. The system of magic is incredibly intriguing. The Dragon is very much a by-the-books type, his magic being the product of hundreds of years of study, but Agnieszka is more the natural type. Certain words speak and call to her, in a way that doesn't make sense to the Dragon. It fits her character: stubborn and messy, but filled with good intentions. Gradually they find out that with their two types of magic combined, they are a dream fighting (and healing) team - a good thing too, because the threat of the wood is rising, Agnieszka's own friend Kasia having been corrupted. While Uprooted is mostly (I believe) being promoted as a young adult novel (at least with respect to the main character's age, it would definitely qualify), it very much reads like an adult novel. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but not something that I really expected. The book read so slowly to me. It took me ages to get through it. I only managed like 40 pages in my hour and a half commute. Now, that's partially my own fault, but it did mean it took me ages to really get into the story. It's not fully action-packed, and there's a lot of development of the world (which is ace) and Agnieszka as a character (who is awesome). If you do read this book, it might be a good idea to just set some evenings aside where you can read many pages in single sittings - I did so for the last 80 pages and was infinitely more thrilled by its magnificence. Granted, that last part also had way more action and higher stakes (SO MANY DEATHS WTF), so I pretty much had to keep reading anyway. I do feel like the massive hype that this book got kind of put a damper on my enthusiasm, to be honest, particularly with respect to the romance. Like with A Court of Thorns and Roses, I can't help but compare this to Cruel Beauty - which I think I can definitively say is the best take on Beauty and the Beast that I've read. It's ruined me for other books (*dramatic sob*) particularly with the gloriousness that is Nyx and Ignifex. Since people were raving so much about the ship in Uprooted, I kept waiting to have all the feelings about their perfection together and it didn't quite get there. I mean, at the end of the day, I like the ship a lot, but the book didn't spend all too much time on the romance, choosing instead to go for an intricate and unique fantasy plot. And that was pretty much near perfect, but it did mean I didn't get the romantic feels that I was expecting. The ship is good - but at the beginning I was really hesitant by how the Dragon constantly insulted Agnieszka for being a "stupid idiot". He treats her with pretty much zero kindness, so I was off the bat questioning it, like, "Umm, I'm supposed to ship this?" As time passes, he gets a little bit less gruff, and Agnieszka manages to see through some of his other rough edges, realizing that he's doing that to prevent himself from making connections to other people and the valley in particular. So at the very end, I was a bit charmed by his irritability. When they practice magic together, there's a clear connection and chemistry between the two that is quite palpable. And when they did get to kissing it was really good kissing, but still. It was not exactly all of the feels-ville for me. Perhaps on a reread, with my knowledge of the Dragon and his ways, it would be. Summing Up: Curse you, hype machine, for making me expect a novel of 100% perfection!!! But seriously, Uprooted is a great book. My high expectations aside, it's loaded with fantasy brilliance, a unique storyline, a main character to root for, writing to write home about, and a gradual romance that is quite beautiful. It's a bit of a slower read (at least for me) but definitely worth it. I only really wish... there had been a map. *map obsessed* *cries about lack of map* GIF it to me straight! [image] Full of memory... and anger. Recommended To: Fans of Beauty and the Beast retellings, Crimson Bound, and Sarah J. Maas. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 18, 2015
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Aug 04, 2015
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Mar 31, 2015
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1594748071
| 9781594748073
| 1594748071
| 4.13
| 1,287
| Jul 07, 2015
| Jul 07, 2015
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liked it
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3 stars The adventure continues! Followers of my blog will know I've been knee deep in the William Shakespeare's Star Wars series for well over a year 3 stars The adventure continues! Followers of my blog will know I've been knee deep in the William Shakespeare's Star Wars series for well over a year now. As a true Star Wars fan and lover of words, I cannot resist. William Shakespeare's The Clone Army Attacketh brings another fun, funny, and insightful installment to the series, accompanied by the beautiful illustrations fans are already familiar with. The movie Attack of the Clones has been pretty much second to last in my order of preference of the Star Wars movies, so Doescher had his work cut out for him. However, he took my most hated movie and completely impressed me in The Phantom of Menace, so my expectations were relatively high. The problem lies in that not that much happens in Attack of the Clones. It's really a middle installment in that way - certain pieces are moving, but there isn't a really intense climax to blow you away. That being said, there's plenty of Obi-Wan in this book, as Doescher follows his adventures and battles in detail and spends a good amount of time analyzing the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin. There's a lot of friction there, which makes it interesting. And, well, Ewan McGregor (in my head) makes everything better. Other beloved characters return, such as Yoda, R2-D2, and C3P0, and seriously I can never get enough of snarky R2-D2. R2-D2 [image] You tell him, sassypants R2-D2. You tell him. I think what really makes this book kind of a downer is the creepy romance between Anakin and Padmé. I mean, not only was it ridiculous because in the first book(/movie) Anakin was 9(!!) and Padmé was almost an adult - and he called her an angel and pretty much fell in love right then, but Doescher does what Shakespeare kind of requires: he adds monologues to clarify their feelings. Well, Anakin's feelings are creepy. He totally lost me when he muses on how he would hold back the more intense/jealous sides of himself until after Padmé was in love with him. I mean, good that he's self aware, but also that's messed up. In the movie this was never such an issue because you mostly just see the physical chemistry between the two - and though it was never a favorite ship of mine, I didn't mind it as much. Another thing that Doescher changes about the romance is that though in the movie Anakin and Padmé are together for quite a long time and you see small moments shared while other things are going on, Doescher combines most of these scenes into one romantic lovefest. This, to me, did more harm than good. Padmé starts the scene musing about how Anakin is still a little boy, and ends saying he's a man and she's in love with him. That transition needed more time - it just didn't feel authentic to me. At the end of the day, however, I still enjoyed The Clone Army Attacketh. Doescher carries on his trend of subtly including humor, working off of famous quotes and Shakespearean scenes, and his soliloquys do help to better understand the characters and their inner conflicts - especially concerning Palpatine's rise in the senate and all of his skillful manipulations. That kind of got me to think more about just how complex this story is and I greatly appreciate that. And ultimately, this book serves well as the set up for Anakin's downfall in The Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge - which I can't wait for. Anakin's character arc is one of my favorite things in the Star Wars universe, and I think Doescher's doing a great job with it. Summing Up: Fans of the series need not fear - William Shakespeare's The Clone Army Attacketh continues Doescher's trend of skillful, fun, and insightful retellings. Though I winced more than once because of the romance, I like the depth that Doescher is giving the story and the characters - and I can't wait to see it all conclude in The Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: Fans of Star Wars and Shakespeare. *A finished copy was provided for review purposes by the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 24, 2015
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Jun 26, 2015
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Mar 27, 2015
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1633920534
| 9781633920538
| 1633920534
| 3.74
| 820
| Nov 17, 2015
| Nov 17, 2015
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really liked it
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4 stars As awesome as Dahlia is as a person and a Twitter presence, it makes me so happy to confidently say that I don't think she can write a book I w 4 stars As awesome as Dahlia is as a person and a Twitter presence, it makes me so happy to confidently say that I don't think she can write a book I wouldn't like. With Just Visiting as a fourth success in my book, I am a very happy bookworm indeed. This college visit road trip novel, with its excellent focus on friendship, put a definite smile on my face. Just Visiting tells the adventures of Reagan and Victoria - two best friends in their last year of high school, going out on college visits, desperate to get out of their way-too-small town. It's a story about friendship, family, romance, and finding (and earning) your independence. In addition, there's so much diversity that there will be something for everyone to relate to (or be enlightened by) - social class, disabilities, race, it's basically all there. I especially loved seeing Victoria's interactions with her deaf mother. Loved that her family felt so normal! Now, I should say upfront that this book isn't all rainbows and butterflies and happy times. Reagan has been dealt a pretty shitty hand in life, and some of the stuff she has to go through made me legit so uncomfortable and tense. Her family situation is obviously not the best. Her mother is a total nightmare. The betrayal of her ex-boyfriend turned out to be about 20 million times worse than I suspected it would be and almost made me sick to my stomach. But all that just served to make me feel involved in her life and connected to her. I was right there with her, hoping for her to break free and find happiness, because goddammit she deserves it. Her character is so fleshed out and real that even though she comes from a totally different walk of life than me, I felt that connection anyway. Her distant behavior and negativity might ward off some readers, but it's easy to see the reasons for it. Luckily, on their adventures, Reagan meets a certain guy who manages to bring some lightness and happiness into her world. Dave is super geeky, but completely lovable. They quickly fall into an easy banter and there's an undeniable attraction between them. I very quickly started bouncing up and down, chanting for a kiss, but I was denied for quite some time. They were just so cute together! Then, you know, there had to be a modicum of drama because Reagan is not uncomplicated. And the result was that I shipped it a bit... less. The drama is real, and even a good guy like Dave logically would get pissed, but I dunno. My happy feels fizzled out a little. Victoria's almost the polar opposite to Reagan. She has a happy family, she has a clear goal in life (fashion designing), and her general disposition is a positive one. She's vivacious and her voice is fierce, and she definitely helps to balance out Reagan. And though it seems like compared to her biffle, Victoria has everything figured out, she's still finding herself this year too - in life and in love. I found it a bit harder to connect to Victoria, to be honest, because of her sheer extroverted nature and her casual hook ups (which is fine, but not something I can personally identify with). Incidentally, she does get a sweet ship in the end, but not one that gave me a billion feels. However, the focus of this book is on friendship, and that was excellent. I mean, I appreciate romantic feels whenever I can get them, but the fact that neither of these ships were my top ships of all time did not really take away from the brilliance of the book. The friendship and support between Victoria and Reagan is truly beautiful. It isn't uncomplicated, as they keep quite a few more secrets from each other than you would expect from best friends, but they both invest time, effort, and emotion into the relationship. That's freaking beautiful to see. The other thing that I will praise endlessly about this book is the absolute realism. The college visits were so nostalgic to me - it felt like I was walking across campuses again myself. The worries about majors and finding the right place for you were also extremely relatable. It's so easy for communities to latch onto one walk of life as being the right one - the expected one - for everyone, and I love that Just Visiting makes it clear how many options are out there. Now the fact that this book didn't get a perfect rating from me is not something that I can pin down to a concrete reason. While I love the focus on friendship - one that is so healthy and positive - and I feel like the book makes some great points about growing up, it didn't fully resonate with my heart. It might be because of how the romance kind of fizzled out towards the end for me, or it might be because the ending skipped over what I felt would be crucial moments, decisions, and conversations between Reagan and Victoria. But I feel like Just Visiting is a great, entertaining read anyway - and one important to the YA readersphere: we need more positive female friendships like this one. Summing Up: I'm so glad that Just Visiting exists to counteract the very many toxic friendships we see in YA. It doesn't need to be like that. Reagan and Victoria are two flawed, real characters, fighting for freedom, and forever finding comfort and support in each other. These college visit trips were so true to life - so much so that I almost want to push it into the hands of every high school senior. Yeah I didn't get all the romantic feels I wanted, but there was happiness, banter, and a touch of spice. Add in all the diversity, and this is a book I would heartily recommend. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: High school seniors and fans of Open Road Summer and/or Since You've Been Gone. *An electronic advance review copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 02, 2015
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Nov 04, 2015
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Mar 26, 2015
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Paperback
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| 1250021928
| 9781250021922
| 1250021928
| 3.80
| 15,052
| Apr 14, 2015
| Apr 14, 2015
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liked it
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3.5 stars I'd never before read a book by Courtney Summers, but I've been hearing amazing things about them all the time. So when the opportunity arose 3.5 stars I'd never before read a book by Courtney Summers, but I've been hearing amazing things about them all the time. So when the opportunity arose to read All the Rage, I figured I should grab it. I was slightly scared of it, because books with such heavy topics are usually far outside my comfort zone. But the subject matter is important, and I wanted to see how this could completely crush my feels. All the Rage is an important and powerful book, for sure. If you missed it in the blurb, All the Rage is about Romy, a rape victim, who is subsequently ostracized in her community. It paints a painful and realistic portrait of our society today, which jumps so eagerly to victim blaming and silencing. When Romy's accusation comes out, she is not only cut off from her friends, but she's bullied in school and becomes a shell of the person she used to be. She has certain compulsions that keep her going, but she's barely holding on. When people refused to believe her and silenced her to prevent more drama, they effectively killed her. As you might expect, All the Rage is heavy. It's powerful and painful and will make you hate society for being so messed up. Stories like these happen far too often, and when you see the way that Romy is treated in this small town where everybody knows everybody's business, you may just lose faith in humanity. Romy's hopelessness will assault your feels when, for example, she hopes a pregnant woman doesn't have a girl. She hopes it's not a girl, because life would just be way too hard for her. Let it be a boy, because things would be so much easier. Excuse me while I dab at the water that is leaking out of my eyes. A large part of this book focuses on how Romy now has trouble accepting love from those around her. Her parents are actually really great, but there is a degree of hesitance there. They will always be worried about her now, and she doesn't want to be looked at with pity at all. She finds most of her solace in her part-time job out of town, where she meets a guy who doesn't know what happened. Romy is now inherently distrustful of men and scared of intimacy - of ever being violated again - but this seems to be a nice guy, and with him she could be different. Free from the shell she'd become. The romance there is light, and I liked it but didn't love it - but I did love the emotional journey this took Romy on. Facing your demons is hard, but pretending to be someone you're not just isn't healthy. There's also a mystery aspect partway through the book, as Romy's former best friend disappears. Her disappearance furthers the split between Romy and the community, and Romy's internal struggle becomes much harder when she's confronted with the feeling that if she'd gone missing, people wouldn't care so much. In fact, they might all be better off. Murder on your feels, for real. However, the resolution to this mystery was a bit sloppy to me. I can't quite pinpoint whether or not I think it was necessary in the story. I think it just lacked a kind of intensity and climax that I was expecting, given the overall subject matter and the blurb. But the mystery did keep me turning the pages, desperate to find out what happened and who precisely was involved. I will say that I was slightly confused by the story at times, because there are passages in third person - including the prologue - while the rest of the book is in first person. Now, with that in mind, and the mention of "another victim" in the blurb, I thought that the 3rd person sections were about somebody else. It wasn't until far later in the book that I realized it was still about Romy, and it was a stylistic choice to reflect how she looks back on her rape as having happened to a completely different person. She involuntarily remembers the experience almost as if she's watching a movie. This is one of the ways that Summers makes important and creative stylistic choices that will clearly be impactful for most readers, but it kind of flew over my head. I think what's most important to note about All the Rage is that it's not a book that'll spell everything out for you. It's a book to digest slowly, taking in the dramatic scenes and thinking to yourself what it all means and represents. Summers took the advice of "Show, don't tell," to heart. I think that's great for certain contexts - this book would do so well as a book club book or as a discussion book in class. But for my personal preference, I would have liked a bit more clarity, a bit more specificity. I really had to sit and think for a couple of days how I felt about this book and what certain passages meant and what Romy's actions were trying to covey - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some readers like that style of book, and I certainly think it's well-executed. But whether it was my mood at the time or my general disposition, I found it's not the most effective style for me. Though the message in All the Rage is clearly an important one that I hope will have a tremendous impact for many readers, I must admit that for me it wasn't the most emotional experience, and I sometimes had trouble connecting to it. And I think that this is mostly because of the emotionless, detached tone of voice. And I completely understand why that was the case. I can only imagine that a rape victim who is cast out of society would feel completely dead inside and be so withdrawn. I get it. It's a realistic view of such a character. But for me I think there would have been more impact if I had known how Romy was before the attack. If there had been scenes of a vibrant, regular high school girl, who later is turned into this shell, I think the emotional impact would have been far greater for me. Or if there were scenes past the end of the book, where Romy does start to speak up again, that would also have had more impact for me. Preferably both. As it was, I just had difficulty connecting and letting her pain wash over me because the experience is just so far away from my own and we only got this narrow view in terms of timeline. Summing Up: This review is tremendously long, and I think that shows the best thing about All the Rage: it spawns so many thoughts. This story is important and powerful, one that I hope reaches many readers - teenage girls, young adults, and certainly all rape victims. It's a book that will make you look at society and demand, "Why???" Hopefully, it is one that will inspire change. Though it may seem like I have a lot of critiques in this review, most of them come down to, "It's not you, it's me." Summers has written an important story in a beautiful style - but it wasn't the most impactful experience for me. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: Readers who like "thinky" books and tough subjects. *An electronic review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 14, 2015
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Apr 14, 2015
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Mar 18, 2015
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Unknown Binding
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062366823
| 9780062366825
| 0062366823
| 3.98
| 2,005
| Mar 17, 2015
| Mar 17, 2015
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liked it
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3.5 stars
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Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 2015
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Apr 03, 2015
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Mar 17, 2015
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ebook
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| 0062369059
| 9780062369055
| 0062369059
| 3.40
| 25,525
| Mar 17, 2015
| Mar 17, 2015
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liked it
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Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 31, 2015
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Apr 2015
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Mar 17, 2015
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Kindle Edition
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| 3.61
| 679
| Jun 26, 2014
| Jun 26, 2014
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did not like it
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1 star I guess this is karma, right? I read Catching Liam and I was totally in love - filled with hope for more NA books I could completely fall in lov 1 star I guess this is karma, right? I read Catching Liam and I was totally in love - filled with hope for more NA books I could completely fall in love with - and then the SAME AUTHOR just has to ruin everythinggggggggg. Teaching Roman is just blah. So bad, it's almost hilarious but for the fact that I want to cry. I can't even believe the sheer stupidity that happened in this book. But I'll try to keep calm and explain. [image] My basic problem with Teaching Roman is that it is nothing but sex. And I like my sexy scenes every once in a while - the slew of NA titles I went through in March will attest to that. But this relationship has no development, no emotion, no reason. Jess and Roman are attracted to each other physically, but I swear, NOTHING else about their relationship is developed. And thus it becomes a steaming pile of sappy crap that just makes me craugh if not rage. And that's about all I can say without spoiling the whole book. WARNING: The following spoils all the events of Teaching Roman. You have been warned. I just cannot talk about its ridiculousness otherwise. So Teaching Roman had a foundation in Catching Liam - where one certain scene made clear that Jess had a crush on her ex-professor. Now, I'm generally pretty okay with student-teacher relationships when done well, and especially since in this instance he was NO LONGER her professor, I didn't feel like a power imbalance would keep me from shipping it at all. But. I never got on board this ship. The book starts out that Jess breaks up with her boyfriend Brett because he proposed to her and she realized she wasn't really in love with him. I thought for about 5 seconds that I could relate to Jess, because I've also always been the studious type with a "5 year plan" who maybe stuck to the safe choices that ensured that plan. A passionate relationship hasn't really occurred for me. But that's about all of the character depth that we even get for Jess. At a certain point in the story she mentions off hand that her dad died when she was young. And my reaction was, "wait, WHAT?!" Jess = studious. That is her only character trait. I feel like I don't even know her. [image] But, okay, she is newly single, and her best friend Cassie is also single after being cheated on, so the two go off to Mexico for a week-long vacation. At the airport, they run into the ex-professor, Roman, who is coincidentally going to the same place. In this first scene, he already seems to be mentally undressing Jess, and they exchange flirty comments. Cassie notices and teases Jess that she should hook up with him. Jess brushes it off. When they arrive at the airport, Roman is being picked up by his grandmother, and he introduces Jess as she was standing right there. The grandmother seems to instantly think they're in a relationship or going to be or well they're going to be together forever. Er... okay. Jess's luggage gets stolen and Roman shortly runs after the guy, so she thinks he's kind of heroic and then the two part. Later that day, Cassie is completely wasted - her goal for the vacation - and almost gets arrested, so Jess calls Roman for help. (She doesn't speak Spanish and didn't have any cash.) Roman helps her out and gets Cassie back to their hotel safely... and then he and Jess kiss. And they have sex. And they agree to have a one week fling on their vacation, with the promise that "what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico." At this point the book kind of fast forwards from sex scene to sex scene. Any actual conversation between the two is pretty much omitted, so I feel like this relationship is purely physical. However, even the sex scenes are completely bland to me. Apparently there's some spanking and biting in their relationship but... [image] Notably one of the most awkward scenes is when Roman invites Jess over for dinner at his grandmother's place. They almost have sex in the kitchen. And I swear, I am not joking about the next part. He fingers her, but he had been cutting up peppers, so when they start actually having sex, their genitals are pretty much on fire and they have to stop. Yeah. That's so awkward. And not even funny awkward. Just cringe-cry-sigh-wince awkward. Which isn't helped by the fact that after they get themselves cleaned up, the grandmother is waiting for them and knew what they were doing and suggests for them to keep some milk on hand in the future. I swear to god I'm not kidding. [image] In some of the very brief dialogue that takes place in this novel, Roman indicates that the second Jess walked into his classroom, he knew she was everything he wanted in the world. And that it was therefore tortuous that she was his student. She will think endlessly on how handsome and whatever Roman is. But I never got the sense they actually got to know each other. I honestly don't know anything about Roman aside from the fact that he's close with his grandmother and apparently has a smoking hot body. Seriously. They are that undeveloped. Okay, so the week ends, and Jess has to go back to college, and per their agreement their involvement will end. On their last night, Jess prevents Roman saying, "I love you," but the sentiment is obvious. Then. Of course. One of my favorite (/sarcasm) plot elements: Jess has a pregnancy scare. Jillian butts in and calls Roman so he can be with her when she takes the test, and then he confesses that he loves her, he will always love her, and no matter what he wants to stand by her side. Well, haha, the test is negative. But yeah. They decide to actually give the relationship a shot - because, yeah, they're in love. Ugh. The book then speeds through a couple months of them in a relationship which mostly consists of studying together in private and having sex in between. They then make the stupid fucking mistake of going to a bar together, where of course Jess's jealous ex-boyfriend sees them together, and he reports them to the dean and the Student Ethics Committee. This is a student-teacher relationship book, so obviously this was a necessary cliché. [image] Roman then freaks out about potentially losing his job - but more importantly not being able to finish his PhD - which makes Jess think that he regrets their relationship and thinks it's just a physical thing not worth more trouble, and drama drama drama. She offers to transfer to a different school so they'll both be okay, but he refuses, she cries, and drama drama drama. They break up. HUZZAH! But I was not rejoicing for long. Jess still has to go before the Student Ethics Committee, where her lawyer sister helps her out, getting the case dismissed by insisting that they got together after she took his course, and they are both students and consenting adults. Roman is there and afterwards tries to win her back. He pushed her away before because he didn't want her to sacrifice her academics. He came prepared to offer to resign if it looked like she would get expelled. But Jess doubts his love for her and runs away again. But then. If only the book had ended then. No... then, Jess finds out that Roman rushed off to Mexico because he got a call that his grandmother was dying. She obviously goes after him. Her sister gives her a lift to the airport, where she pretty much tells her to, "go for love! I had one chance at a romance and I let it slip away, and now as a result I'm married to my job." The feminist in me is screaming. Her sister is twenty-freaking-six. And being ambitious in your work is fine. For fuck's sake, can we stop spreading this idea that you are incomplete without a romantic partner???? And that if you don't marry that one true love in college you'll end up a spinster????? [image] Yeah, you probably see where this is going now. Jess finds Roman at the airport and they are reunited. In Mexico, they rush to the hospital and his grandmother - who barely fucking knows Jess and had seen them like twice - is delighted to see her. Jess herself had said earlier that, "Aba would expect to see me." FOR FUCKING WHAT REASON!?! She also muses to herself that she can't remember the exact moment when she fell in love with Roman, but for a certainty she knew why. BUT THEN DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHY AND I WAS KIND OF HOPING SHE WOULD BECAUSE I DON'T FUCKING KNOW. Fine, after an afternoon with grandma, they go back to the hotel where Roman tells Jess he snuck her into the hospital room by saying she was his wife (it was family only). And. Of course. This made him realize how natural it sounded. And how much he wanted it. And then he proposes. And he doesn't even let her answer because he knows her answer. And then he says he wants to get married tomorrow. And I wish I were fucking kidding. [image] Jess is overjoyed Yeah. That all happened. I'm not kidding. I don't like instalove. I don't like rushing into a romance without having that foundation. There was NO foundation here, aside from the hint that Jess liked Roman in Catching Liam. I don't like early I love yous. I don't like lust-based relationships - at least, not when there's never any development on top of that. I don't like cardboard characters. I don't like pregnancy scares. I don't like jealous ex-boyfriends. I don't like marriage being treated like a totally normal, accepted thing when altogether the two have been together for max 3 months. FOR. FUCK'S. SAKE. [image] The only thing this book even remotely had going for it was the friendship between Jess, Jillian and Cassie - but then Jillian and Cassie apparently found out about Jess's spontaneous marriage - weren't fucking mad about it despite Jess not telling them at all - and surprised them with a deluxe villa for their wedding night. Real friends. Would not support. Such. Fucking. Bullshit. [image] Screw you, book. Screw you. Summing Up: This book is ridiculous. And stupid. And bad. And aggravating. Thoroughly undeveloped and unromantic. And Jess is supposed to be the fucking SMART one in the group. *concussion-worthy headdesk* To be clear, I still would say Catching Liam is worthy reading, but definitely skip this one. It's not as enraging as other NA books which promote abusive relationships and possessive love interests, I guess, but it's just so undeveloped. I'm amazed that anyone thought this was worth hitting the publish button. I mean, if the sex scenes were REALLY FUCKING HOT that would maybe be a reason, but even those weren't that good! I'm just stunned and thoroughly disappointed. I will, however, tentatively be checking out the next book in the series when it's released, hoping that Albin got all of these awful tropes out of her system now, because I know she can do so much better. GIF it to me straight! [image] Recommended To: Don't even. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 18, 2015
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Mar 19, 2015
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Mar 16, 2015
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ebook
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| 0062279920
| 9780062279927
| 0062279920
| 3.91
| 6,519
| Nov 18, 2014
| Nov 18, 2014
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liked it
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This is probably my favorite in the series by a narrow margin. Honestly, I could relate to Georgia's personal struggles both in regards to following a
This is probably my favorite in the series by a narrow margin. Honestly, I could relate to Georgia's personal struggles both in regards to following a strict plan for the future to please her parents, and in the frustration of being considered "boring" in the bedroom - at never having had a relationship with true PASSION. So when I started, I thought I would over the top love this, but in the end it was just as cliché as the others. Obviously with one glance, Logan renounces himself of his playboy ways - Georgia *changed* him, wheee. I think that's mostly my problem with these books: they all hinge on this "bad boy" look for the guys, but magically, they aren't really bad boys at all. And I guess to a certain extent, that's nice and kind of swoony - I feel like it worked for Reece best. But with three in a row that are almost exactly the same? It's just too easy. Too quickly executed. Too obvious. Too cliché. But. Well. You don't really read NA for plot and strong character development. (I mean, I'm still hoping for it, but I don't expect it anymore.) And when it counts, Sophie Jordan always delivers the swoons. This series is like crack. Really addictive. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 13, 2015
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Mar 14, 2015
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Mar 12, 2015
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Kindle Edition
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| 0062279904
| 9780062279903
| 0062279904
| 3.80
| 7,645
| May 13, 2014
| May 27, 2014
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it was ok
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Not as good as Foreplay.... Honestly, Shaw made me feel uncomfortable with how much pressure he put on Emerson, and how he wouldn't leave her alone ev
Not as good as Foreplay.... Honestly, Shaw made me feel uncomfortable with how much pressure he put on Emerson, and how he wouldn't leave her alone even when she asked. There's a fine line there, and yeah, they kind of addressed that behavior at the end, but I still winced too many times for me to really like this. It's also a bit too dramatic for my taste. But the bedroom scenes are really hot. So there's that.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 13, 2015
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Mar 13, 2015
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Mar 12, 2015
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ebook
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my rating |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 3.75
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it was ok
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Oct 12, 2015
not set
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Sep 22, 2024
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| 4.21
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it was amazing
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Oct 23, 2015
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Mar 09, 2017
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| 4.12
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really liked it
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Oct 27, 2015
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Mar 09, 2017
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| 4.32
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really liked it
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Nov 22, 2015
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Oct 06, 2015
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| 4.23
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really liked it
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Dec 30, 2015
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Sep 22, 2015
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| 4.01
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did not like it
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Oct 06, 2015
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Sep 04, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.46
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liked it
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Jul 09, 2015
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Jun 14, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.73
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liked it
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Jun 21, 2015
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Jun 06, 2015
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| 3.64
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liked it
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Oct 02, 2015
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May 01, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.93
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it was ok
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Aug 21, 2015
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Apr 30, 2015
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| 3.89
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liked it
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Dec 18, 2015
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Apr 28, 2015
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| 4.03
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really liked it
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Aug 04, 2015
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Mar 31, 2015
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|||||
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| 4.13
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liked it
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Jun 26, 2015
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Mar 27, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.74
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really liked it
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Nov 04, 2015
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Mar 26, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.80
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liked it
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Apr 14, 2015
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Mar 18, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.98
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liked it
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Apr 03, 2015
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Mar 17, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.40
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liked it
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Apr 2015
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Mar 17, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.61
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did not like it
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Mar 19, 2015
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Mar 16, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.91
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liked it
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Mar 14, 2015
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Mar 12, 2015
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|||||
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| 3.80
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it was ok
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Mar 13, 2015
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Mar 12, 2015
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