REVIEW: THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by STEPHEN CHBOSKY
Saturday, December 21, 2013
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Labels: 2013 reviews, book review, coming of age, contemporary, fiction, humor, reading, realistic fiction, review, romance, stephen chbosky, teen, the perks of being a wallflower, ya fiction, young adult
REVIEW: THE LOVELY BONES by ALICE SEBOLD
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Labels: adult, adult fiction, alice sebold, contemporary, death, fiction, mystery, the lovely bones
How to Write the Most Obnoxious Romance Possible
Friday, December 20, 2013
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Labels: book problems, how to, romance, specifically pertaining to twilight
REVIEW: HYPERBOLE AND A HALF by ALLIE BROSH
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Labels: 2013 reviews, 5 star, allie brosh, autobiography, graphic novel, humor, hyperbole and a half, memoir, nonfiction, reading, review, romantic comedy, satire
REVIEW: MATCHED by ALLY CONDIE
Thursday, December 19, 2013
MATCHED is the first of three books in a trilogy by Ally Condie. Again, this is another fairly popular book that's been out for a while, and I must say that I was disappointed. The premise sounds interesting enough, if heavily reminiscent of Lois Lowry's THE GIVER: the main character, Cassia, lives in a dystopian/utopian Society that controls every aspect of its citizen's lives, including marriage, family, work, and even death.
The worst part about this book is that it didn't have to be as bad as it was. The characters, although boring as hell and oftentimes frustrating, were all honestly decent people, so ethically speaking, you couldn't hate them. I hated them anyway, but I felt kind of bad about it. I mean, none of them are terrible people, they're just boring and have nothing to contribute. Plus, Cassia's fucking useless and a pain in the ass.
I guess this could be seen as 'kind of the point,' because the Society that all of the characters live in more or less wipe them of their personalities, but come on. The main character's annoying little brother was more interesting than Cassia and her two love interests combined.
Speaking of love interests, I guess the one thing this book didn't fuck up completely was the romance, because at least it wasn't completely dysfunctional, and both boys genuinely did seem to love her. I was especially proud of Xander, who, instead of going into the stereotypical jealous rage and becoming evil and killing everyone, helped Cassia find the one she truly loved.
That's love, bitch.
But, still, I've got to give this book two stars, because it lacks such a massive key component that I kind of feel weird calling it a book at all.
It pretty much has no plot whatsoever. No rising action, no climax, no denouement, or any of that whole swishy hill thing from, like primary school. The whole thing is a super transparent, heavily symbolic commentary on our own modern society, which is fine in its own right, but come on, you don't have to give up plot for the sake of symbolism. It's not even remotely necessary. What the fuck.
I was so disappointed, too! This really interesting set-up is presented to us, and you keep reading, thinking that something's going to happen, but no. Nothing happens. Half the book is literally Cassia describing motherfucking letters and hiking in the fake woods and Mr. Angsty Poetry Man {Ky}. I honestly expected her to join an awesome rebellion of renegade poets and writers and artists at the end and take back her man and make the entire book worthwhile, but nope.
I already knew I wasn't fond of stories that are almost exclusively focused on romance. Some people are, and that's fine, but I just can't handle it. So, although I can sort of see why this book garnered attention, fuck that, I'm not reading the rest.
Posted by Unknown at 10:19 PM 0 comments
Labels: 2013 reviews, ally condie, artsy covers, book problems, book review, dystopian, fiction, matched, no list, review, romance, ya fiction, young adult
REVIEW: EON: DRAGONEYE REBORN by ALISON GOODMAN
Monday, December 16, 2013
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Labels: 2013 reviews, alison goodman, asiatic cultural fiction, book review, eon: dragoneye reborn, fantasy, fiction, high fantasy, reading, review, ya fiction, young adult
REVIEW: ENCHANTED by ALETHEA KONTIS
Thursday, December 12, 2013
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Labels: 2013 reviews, alethea kontis, book review, enchanted, fairy tale retelling, fantasy, fiction, library trip, no list, paranormal romance, reading, review, romance, ya fiction, young adult
REVIEW: BEASTLY by ALEX FLINN
Monday, December 2, 2013
It's the Beauty and the Beast tale, except set in New York, and about fifty times darker. The worst part is that it doesn't even make up its own dark stuff, it just magnifies the creepy elements already in the classic story and makes them realistic. The dad who sells her out. The reason why the curse was placed in the first place. Etc. etc. etc.
And I really liked it.
I hate insta-love above all things. But in this book, even with the many time skips, you can actually watch and feel Adrian and Linda falling in love. It's kind of painful. And it should be beautiful, except for the parts that killed it.
Being disappointed in this book makes me sad, mostly because a lot of the raw emotion it evoked was pure and brilliant, and obviously, the characters and character development were exemplary. But there were just so many uncomfortable parts. So many.
First of all, the dialogue and writing itself always seemed slightly... Off. I couldn't quite place it at first, but then the realization hit me: Everything's a simple sentence, and nothing hurts.
So yeah, the writing is choppy and the dialogue sounds stilted and awkward. That hindered the reading experience somewhat, even if it lowered my rating by a star, which is fine.
But then we get to Adrian, who, even though he developed spectacularly, was so awkward and creepy in places that I literally had to put the book down after short bursts and wander off to read something else. I don't know about you guys, but I'm one of those people who gets loads of secondhand embarrassment. I have a tendency to bite my lip and giggle-snort when someone on film, in books, or in reality does something stupid or humiliating.
So yeah, loads of lip-biting and giggle-snorting. Oh, and don't forget the eye-rolling, yeah?
I just... I mean, it wasn't even his ridiculous methods of courting Linda that freaked me out. {Although it was mostly that.} Sometimes he'd just get randomly angry and throw things around, and then apologize, which was supposed to show character development but just made me feel like he was really lame. Also, the whole section with him changing my name sounded so childish that I wanted to smack his furry face and tell him to sit down.
It's actually been a while since I've been so utterly embarrassed for someone's existence, so, in a way, Adrian King should get a round of applause from me and my delicately blushing features.
Except no, you get a 3/5 stars instead.
All-in-all, it's a beautiful stand alone romance, if you can get over the cringe-worthy courtship rituals and the somewhat choppy writing. But seriously, it's not a long read, so if you ever feel the need for a story with a happy ending. Because yes, there's a happy ending.
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Labels: 2013 reviews, alex flinn, beastly, beauty and the best, book review, fairy tale retelling, fantasy, fiction, paranormal romance, reading, review, romance, standalone, teen, ya paranormal romance, young adult
REVIEW: HUSH, HUSH by BECCA FITZPATRICK
I actually really did like how the author took a serious, creepy, mysterious sort of story and threw in a light tone and a couple of jokes. Super-heavy stuff tends to bog me down, and anyway, with Hush, Hush, you got the sense that the book wasn't taking itself too seriously, which it shouldn't have.
In the end, I'm really conflicted on how to judge this book, but I'm going to go ahead and give it a 3/5, because, although it had its marked flaws, it was an enjoyable read for me for the most part.
I might pick up the rest of the series, which I believe consists of four complete books, but I'd like to hear from you guys first. Does the series improve, deteriorate, or just stay about the same?
Seriously, though, I want to know if Patch ever gets an attitude change.
EDIT 1/12/13: After reflecting a little and reading a couple of reviews off of goodreads, I've made up my mind and have decided to drop my rating by one star. Two words, you guys: RAPE CULTURE.
Posted by Unknown at 7:09 PM 0 comments
Labels: 2013 reviews, artsy covers, becca fitzpatrick, book review, fiction, gothic, hush hush, paranormal romance, review, romance, ya fiction, ya paranormal romance, young adult