Why don't I remember Beverly Cleary being such an a-hole with her writing?
Wait. Let me rephrase that before I ruin the name of one of the most belovedWhy don't I remember Beverly Cleary being such an a-hole with her writing?
Wait. Let me rephrase that before I ruin the name of one of the most beloved childrens' writers of all time.
Cleary did something with The Luckiest Girl that very few writers of fiction for younger readers do today : She REFUSED to coddle the reader by giving them everything they wanted. We were given a sweet-bitter-sweet resolution. Notice the use of sweet twice? This is because the sweet outweighed the bitter by a large margin. This book was definitely meant to satisfy. But it didn't satisfy with the neat little bow that so many modern stories tend to serve up.
Don't worry. There's no messy. Luckiest Girl is a throwback, written during an era gone by, when people were cordial and pleasant, and boys kept their hands to themselves, or at least 'pretended' to for the sake of the parents of the girls they were trying to date. In reality, I'm sure the stories were different up at those fabled parking spots where boys took their dates. But of course, none of that would ever be recorded in a Beverly Cleary book. Here is the land of eternal youth and optimism.
I first read and loved this story as a child, which is why I'm shelving the book additionally under childrens as well as YA (the protag is a teen). This is a very innocent story of young love. Yes, the majority of readers would consider Luckiest Girl as outdated, but I don't care. There's nothing wrong with an occasional peek at the past.
Who knew an 'almost kiss' could be so darn exciting? After reading book after book of in-depth adult content (that would be sex, people), there was something extremely magical about picking up this book and getting to read about a girl who was excited just to be seen by the other girls wearing a cute boy's letterman jacket.
It's hard to top the feeling that comes with just about any book which reminds you of your childhood. I remember being young and wanting to go on an adventure like the character Shelly got to have. The California described in this book was partially reminiscent of the California that I knew and loved growing up, but when seen through the eyes of the past, it was also a landscape that I never got to see. I wanted to go to California past and live in Shelly's less-hectic world. She made it seem like she was having so much fun!
I would love to encourage people to go back and revisit books that were their personal childhood favorites. There's something wonderful about getting to recall these little moments of joy from the past. Sometimes you'll read a passage or scene that brings to mind things that you'd forgotten, and it's like getting to recover small magical moments that you hadn't realized you'd lost. ...more
3.5 stars I don't know if I would have enjoyed this book had I not read Dark Hunter first, so please base my rating off of that fact, and not coming f3.5 stars I don't know if I would have enjoyed this book had I not read Dark Hunter first, so please base my rating off of that fact, and not coming from someone who went into this book without knowing anything about this extended world. This series connects to the Dark Hunter (adult) series by the same author, with the main character Nick being a prominent player in that series. I liked Nick in that series, so I came to this series to catch a glimpse of his back story.
Infinity read as very teen boy in a puppy-dog sort of way. It was almost so YA that the book read closer to middle grade. But that's okay. I didn't mind the vibe for this particular story.
I'm jotting notes down about a year after I read the book, so I can't remember enough to give a proper review. I know that I have gotten stuck on book 2, so I don't know what my future will be with continuing the series. ...more
I didn't want to throttle anyone for the same extreme abusive behavior I'd seen in previous books.
Con :
It was all filler. There was no plot d Pro :
I didn't want to throttle anyone for the same extreme abusive behavior I'd seen in previous books.
Con :
It was all filler. There was no plot driving the story ahead. Nothing "new" happened, outside of yet another boy taking interest in Sam (which came from out of nowhere and went absolutely nowhere, so I failed to see the point). No wonder all the girls hate her. I'd probably be hating her too by now. She's a beacon for the male species.
There was literally nothing that happened in this story which didn't feel like a repeat of something that happened in previous books.
The sad thing about this is :
I put the book aside for about a month after the first few chapters failed to hook me, then I picked the book up again. I should've just let go, so I wouldn't feel the pressure to read the last book when it comes out. I hiked up that mountain, dammit. I can't go back the way I came now. O.o ...more
3 months later and I just now noticed that I never reviewed the book. Ah well. Too late now. I don't remember anything, other than this was 2.5 stars.
3 months later and I just now noticed that I never reviewed the book. Ah well. Too late now. I don't remember anything, other than this was probably the book of the series that I liked the most out of the 4 I've read so far (entertaining enough outside of the usual ridiculous behavior). Which makes me sadface a little because I didn't quite like it enough to go up to the full 3 stars (although I don't think it's bad enough to be a 2 star read, so 2.5 it is).
[image] It's not fair that I'm angry right now. I thought I was finally hitting a stride with the Fallen Crest series. I thought I was learning to enjo[image] It's not fair that I'm angry right now. I thought I was finally hitting a stride with the Fallen Crest series. I thought I was learning to enjoy the ride enough to cave and ignore the repetitive writing plus editing flaws because the drama was exciting and addictive. I actually kind of liked book 2 (which I still haven't reviewed yet because I had to jump ahead and unload my pent-up frustration over book 3).
Why couldn't the sketchy behavior have been limited to the "enemies" of Mason, Logan, and Samantha? Why did I have to start liking the male leads, only to have it all snatched away when their bad behavior became inexcusable (again)?
It's NOT okay that Logan and Mason (view spoiler)[threw Kate to Budd, knowing that he was going to hurt her. I'm guessing that they probably knew (if only subconsciously) that she might be raped. But even if they didn't know how far it would go, the fact that they would set a girl up to be physically beaten by a male takes them out of the running for "hot" male leads. (hide spoiler)]
Doesn't anyone else get this? These two guys shouldn't be viable romance leads now. Especially while starring in a high school series with a younger target age range. This is the worst possible shit that anyone would want their daughter reading and aspiring to date. Extreme questionable behavior should be reserved for adult anti-heroes...or at the very least, younger male leads who aren't considered swoon-worthy. Broken people who need help - fine. Guys who are fawned over by every available female - not fine.
Saving Samantha is NOT a good enough excuse. ANY decent human being would not throw another person to the wolves like that. If they'd set Kate up to have a go-round with another chick, whatever. She would've gotten what was coming to her for the stunt she pulled in the bathroom. But what happened goes beyond basic revenge payback.
Again, there were enough side characters in the book who could have been as evil as they wanted to be. I just don't want to see young male leads being swooned over when they are prone to downright disgusting behavior.
Remember : Kate was set up to be (view spoiler)[beaten and/or raped. By a guy. This was not a chick fight. This was a life-altering crime. (hide spoiler)] And Logan and Mason were going to ignore it happening.
THIS IS NOT OKAY. AND IT'S NOT EXCUSABLE FOR THE SAKE OF ENTERTAINMENT VALUE.
Logan and Mason : Use your brains, kids. Find another way to save the girl you love.
(And it sure was awfully convenient that Sam just happened to be the only person in town jogging by at that exact moment when everything started to go down with Kate.
And it was even more disgusting that the convenience store guy did jack shit about what was happening.)
And I know I mentioned the repetitive stuff, but I'm really tired of everyone pressing kisses to Sam's forehead, temple, and shoulder. There was one instance where it happened 3 times within the span of a page and a half. And...for a girl who can run, she sure gets carried around a lot. Must be that all-consuming addiction thing.
Gah. I really was enjoying this book too, up until M&L went back onto my shit list.
Jasper had grown up with a killer in the house. A killer for a father. Combine the murderous impulse with the paternal impulse and you got...
Jasper had grown up with a killer in the house. A killer for a father. Combine the murderous impulse with the paternal impulse and you got...
Perfect intro to the series. You can read Career Day before reading book 1 (which is probably a great idea), or after, like I did. This gives you just the right amount of character insight to leave you curious for more.
It's just a few pages, so the risk factor is low. You can find the story on wattpad for free HERE.
Well, you got Billy Dent. A guy who raised his son to understand the human body in a very special way. A guy who taught Jasper how to hit an inside fastball and how to separate an arm at the shoulder joint.
I'm probably the most happy that Career Day managed to make up for the disappointment that was Serial Killer Groupies. ...more
It took me so long to finally finish this book. If it hadn't been for me needing to churn out 2 books for the yearly challenge before it expired, I miIt took me so long to finally finish this book. If it hadn't been for me needing to churn out 2 books for the yearly challenge before it expired, I might not have even bothered picking this up to finish the last few chapters; that's how badly I'd lost interest.
Not much has changed. I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness. I internally groaned at the offensive stereotypes. I read on because the book was a fun readNot much has changed. I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness. I internally groaned at the offensive stereotypes. I read on because the book was a fun read. Yep - not much has changed.
The series ending was more heavily manufactured than I would have preferred. (view spoiler)[Kalona could've just gone to be with Nyx without the entire death scene. I didn't care for the spin of the nerd herd getting to see him in the afterlife. It was just odd and entirely too convenient.
I think it was the author's way of having to meet the death quota (Nowadays, you get ridiculed if no one important dies during a conflict like uh *cough* Breaking Dawn.) But that imaginary "quota" was met with Heath's death, which felt more organic and plausible with the story itself. (hide spoiler)]
But, whatever. It's over. Time to move on. ...more
Ha. Myrnin had a pimp hat. Just when I didn't think he could surpass the vampire bunny slip
This man wearing clothes from the OMG No store.
Ha. Myrnin had a pimp hat. Just when I didn't think he could surpass the vampire bunny slippers. I heart me some Myrnin.
3.5 stars. If I hadn't been so bored with the first half of Ghost Town, this surely would have been a 4 star read for me because the last half had me glued to the virtual pages. So much awesome was crammed into those final chapters. I think the slow start/hectic finish might be a Morganville series thing because I've noticed that most of what I find entertaining about these books often tends to happen in the second half. It's entirely possible that there might be some pacing issues at work here.
Oh well though. I was so surprised, impressed, and repelled by the solution to the "memory loss" issue that I'm excited to tear into book 10 to see how one certain person is going to handle THAT fallout. This is a good thing, especially considering how long it took for me to read book 9 after finishing book 8 (it was awhile).
Yay for finally trying to finish this series after all of this time, haha. ...more
This is probably a case of me not being the intended audience for the book. However, I think the margin of people who this book would appeal to might This is probably a case of me not being the intended audience for the book. However, I think the margin of people who this book would appeal to might be on the smaller side.
It's not a bad message about learning to love yourself. Not at all! That said, the delivery is probably going to appeal mostly to very young teens and readers with little to no love and/or sexual experience. If you've already been through a heartbreak or two, this probably won't be the book to pick you up and make you feel better about yourself.
Young love is grand. Self discovery is grand. Unfortunately, this just wasn't my favorite book for 'coming out' or 'accepting yourself.'
There were some cute moments though. The method of using The Great Gatsby as a means to communicate messages was lovely. It made me look at the story in a whole new light.
Replace the last word in that acronym with the word book.
2.5 stars. Why? Why did I have to think of every single other YA dystopia that I've everFDB.
Replace the last word in that acronym with the word book.
2.5 stars. Why? Why did I have to think of every single other YA dystopia that I've ever read while I was reading Red Queen? Why did Mare have to be yet another parody of a YA heroine?
If I hadn't read Matched, Delirium, Wither, Hunger Games, Pawn, Divergent, The Selection, Legend, and however many others (*edit* okay, I get the Red Rising connection now), I probably would have enjoyed this book, even to the point where I could've overlooked Mare's love drama and basic inability to figure out what she should be doing.
But I do read. Quite often, in fact. And I only give passes for cut-and-paste worlds when I'm reading paranormal romance (because let's face it, most of us are only making pit stops in that genre for the sexy times). This trend of all YA dystopia mirroring each other NEEDS TO STOP.
Oh, and I don't like fat shaming. That can stop too. Fat family? Really? It reminds me of that Nicole whatever-her-name-is who made that awful youtube video.
Disclaimer : For once (okay, maybe this happens every so often) I actually understand why OTHERS would love Red Queen. If you aren't already over-saturated on this genre, it's an entertaining read. So I might actually venture that this is worth a recommend for anyone who thinks that the synopsis looks good and doesn't read much of this type of book. If you fit that description, by all means...I think you'll have much better luck with the book than I did.
So I will say that the FDB is only for MY reaction to the book. But I honestly don't think it will be a bad book for everyone else.
3.5 stars. I know. I'm surprised too. My feelings about the Caster Chronicles series that spawned this new Dangerous Creatures series were mixed, and 3.5 stars. I know. I'm surprised too. My feelings about the Caster Chronicles series that spawned this new Dangerous Creatures series were mixed, and I never got around to finishing the previous series after seeing some spoilers for the end of book 4. I was unsure whether or not to try the spin-off books, until I saw that there was a prequel short story offering, and figured that I could spare a few minutes of my time.
This prequel was pretty much all Ridley and Link, which hooked me instantly. I never fully got on the Ethan and Lena bandwagon with the last series, but was always a big R&L fan.
Link is the offbeat stoner-type kid who makes fun of his best friend for being "whipped."
Ridley is the siren who uses her sexuality to bring all the men to their knees, including Link.
What trouble are these two going to get in to next? My guess is that it's going to be trouble of epic proportions.
So the big question is this : Can you read Dangerous Dream if you haven't read Caster Chronicles? I would hesitantly say yes, you can. It might take you until about 50% in to start to get a handle on what's going on (but it's a short story, so 50% is really only a few minutes). I don't know if you'll completely understand just how awesome Link and Ridley are if you haven't gotten to know them before now, but by the time you get to the club scene and find yourself immersed in Ridley's predicament, you will probably get a feel for whether or not you'll like where this story is going. If you'd really like to know more about the world background and difference between light and dark casters, but don't want to have to read through 4 books of Caster Chronicles, you could always rent the movie Beautiful Creatures for a quick crash course and introduction of the characters, even though R&L are side characters in that movie.
If things keep going as they are, I have the feeling that this series is going to be a big hit with me, and I'll end up liking it more than I did Caster Chronicles.
Troublemakers always make for more interesting stories. Link and Ridley have never marched to the beat of the traditional drum, so I look forward to what's up next.
A free copy of this story was provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ...more
I really hate to do this to a book, when it seems like the author had good intentions with what he was doing.
Coming of age tale
!@#$@#$!#$%!*#$!1!
I really hate to do this to a book, when it seems like the author had good intentions with what he was doing.
Coming of age tale : check Poignant moments of self-reflection : check Personal discovery of one's self : check
So what exactly is the problem, you ask? Here's the deal - every so often, I come across a YA book where I feel like the entire thing is written like it's supposed to appeal to YA readers, but is so out of touch with YA lit culture that it misses the mark. This is one of those times.
I suddenly felt cool as hell. "Yes! Momma's older sister. She's a hoot!"
Uh...no. If you just said the words, "she's a hoot!" you are, in fact, NOT cool as hell.
I can't even classify the book as Adult lit which just happens to have a young protag. The character voices are not going to match up well enough for adult lit either, since the male lead comes across as very young and clueless.
Where do I start? Can I start with Sam, the kid from Cali who said "Brah" 31 times? What decade are we living in, again?
Or do I start with Jake, the male lead, who calls his father "The Preacher," and is completely ignorant to life in general?
Or do I start with the "hit you over the head" life lessons which seemed like a bad version of an anti-bullying campaign?
I get it. The kid is confused. He was raised by a strict, conservative family. I'm sure that in some parts of the country (this would be the U.S.), people are so isolated from normal society that they are bullied into small town thinking and small town ideology. I saw that hideous remake of Footloose, after all (no, I was not serious in actually using Footloose as a real life reference).
However, the message of the story was so drowned in Jake's sheltered existence that it made me as a reader start to loathe him as a character. He was like a parody of a small-town kid, all fresh from the country and ready to tackle the big city! Never mind that he thought the Sikh kid was Muslim, or spent half of his conversations with other people trying to talk them into why it was or wasn't wrong to be gay, based on his Biblical upbringing. This kid was just painfully awkward - how he made friends was beyond me. He was at Columbia university, hanging out and having new experiences, yet he was SUCH A BUZZKILL.
"I don't know," I said, looking around. "How about 'Holy Cow!' or 'Gosh!' or just go with some deity no one cares about - like Zeus!"
He couldn't have just said that it bothered him when she swore by using the name of JC? What's with the "substitute" swearing cues?
Dude (yes, I can say dude. It's cancelled out by the amount of "Brah-age" going on here), seriously. I grew up in a conservative family. Even I knew how to not be an asshole when I was around non conservatives. For a story that was trying to teach a message of tolerance, I thought Jake was the slowest learner of the whole damn bunch. Even the strict parents were less frustrating.
Because guess what? No one wants an entire story of a person battling what's right and wrong in their head. It's called moderation, folks. A few well-placed chapters would have done the trick. Whining about your struggle to deny, then justify, yourself gets old fast.
It always goes back to my complaint about preachiness. Giving a strong point of view does not necessarily equate to having a plot. Apparently, it was a huge deal for this book to try and reconcile that it's okay to be gay and Christian at the same time because there might be some discrepancies in the Bible. Okay, so that might be interesting if the book was a research or non-fiction book, but not so much when it's plopped down in the middle of a coming-of-age story.
Too bad the entire 'new doctrine' part wasn't mentioned in the synopsis, or I wouldn't have picked up the book.
For me, I love to read books about religion and spirituality when they're marked as such, and I know what the content is going to be about. This book wasn't marked as such, and so I thought this book was fiction about a kid deciding that it was okay to come out of the closet...maybe because...oh...a person came along who got into this kid's head. Ya know?
So you decided to embrace your homosexuality? What's next, Jake?(view spoiler)[We still didn't do everything - we didn't go "all the way" - but I will say that neither of us held back.
Wait, what? How do you not go all the way, yet still manage to keep from holding back? After an entire book of waiting for someone to decide that he was okay to hook up with guys, that's the big ta-dah? Really? (hide spoiler)]
I WADED THROUGH AN ENTIRE BOOK OF SELF-REFLECTION AND THIS IS WHAT I GET IN THE END?
Pfft.
This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy....more
Cade thought he was alone. His parents had prepared him to live in a world ravaged by a pandemic. H
Marooned in an empty, devastated world.
Cade thought he was alone. His parents had prepared him to live in a world ravaged by a pandemic. He was an uncivilized young man living in the wild. He imagined that only a few survivors remained - until the day Dara wandered into his territory while on a camping trip with her boyfriend and shattered the realm of everything he thought he knew.
What I loved best about this story is how authentic it felt. While there was an undercurrent of attraction between the two main characters, the amount of romanticism was dialed down in favor of two characters being simply curious about one another. After all, they were from different worlds.
"There's some guy living in the middle of nowhere in clothes from the 1800s, fishing with a spear, disappearing and reappearing anywhere he wants to, and the only reason you can come up with that I'm interested is that I might want to do him?"
I mean, yeah, I was rooting for the wild boy and city girl to get together. How could I not be? But what made this story great is that it wasn't just another romance with little to no plot. Most of the fun was in seeing an untamed person adjust to life as the rest of us know it.
Fingers sliding along the surface, he made it bleat and squeal. Ms. Fourakis popped her head out of the kitchen. "Don't buy anything else from the appstore."
As one could imagine, trying to take a boy from the wild and integrate him into society wasn't going to be easy. Throughout the read, I never really knew if Cade would be able to fit in with his new life. I think most readers are going to struck with a sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"It's okay Cade. You're doing fine." Cade closed his eyes. He was so sick of fine.
Not gonna lie. When I saw Cade described with dark eyes and dark hair in dreads, it wasn't hard to immediately imagine Samuel Larson in my head. [image]
I really have no complaints. It probably wouldn't have hurt for the publishers to cut a few chapters because some of the day-to-day happenings started to meander on there for a moment, but hey, I have no problems admitting to skimming those few chapters. Otherwise, I am happily surprised by what a great gem this turned out to be. I'd love to see what others think of the story! This book had characters I could get behind, a unique twist on the Tarzan theme, and the perfect amount of humor and emotional moments to tie everything together.
...and the ending. Never, have I seen an open ending handled quite this perfectly. When I was a few pages from finishing, I started to panic a little, almost unsure if I could handle this story being over without a book 2 to fall back on. But then, the ending came and I loved exactly how it finished.
Two cultures, both building pyramids to lift them to the heavens. People were beautiful.
This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final version....more
Don't look at the shadows too long, or a demon might look back.
4.5 stars. Words - lovely, haunting, beautiful words.
"That's what m
Don't look at the shadows too long, or a demon might look back.
4.5 stars. Words - lovely, haunting, beautiful words.
"That's what makes you my favorite." He reached up and wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb. "Every wicked bit of you."
Words - dark, scary, ominous words.
You were sent here to die.
Words - damning, horrific, perilous words.
I am the plaything of a demon.
Words - funny, bantering, entertaining words.
"I hope you aren't planning to order me back to bed." "No, you have far too much crockery at your disposal."
This isn't the Beauty and the Beast of your childhood. Do you dare to seek out the man inside the demon?
[image]
You will hate and hurt each other and become your own monsters.
I'm happy to have found another book to add to my beautiful word porn shelf. Laini Taylor was needing some company.
What I didn't like : the weird melting pot of mythology and lore, both new and old, real and imagined. We have the B&B mansion happenings, the greek gods and characters on the outside of the story, and mentions of things which brought me back to our world, such as the day of the dead. It was a bit congested up in this mix.
That's about all I didn't like though, so no real major complaints. For once, I didn't mind the lack of fantasy-ish action in this particular story, since I wanted to read a re-telling of the B&B couple itself. While I love female assassins in fantasy, I wasn't a huge fan of Graceling, so that comparison didn't mean squat to me.
You may know Beauty and the Beast, but not quite like this.
Are you an adult who loves to read and chat about young adult books? Join us over in the Rated YA-MA group!
To hell with the rules. I was finished with them all.
3.5 stars. And so it ends.
***DEAD AIR***
You see that line above? That's the section w
To hell with the rules. I was finished with them all.
3.5 stars. And so it ends.
***DEAD AIR***
You see that line above? That's the section where my thoughts should go, but I'd have to include major spoilers if I wanted to tell you what I really thought about the biggest points of the story. Instead, I'll be sterile and vague. That always makes for an entertaining review, right? O.o
Many of you know that I prefer my contemporary romance reads to have some sort of "bigger picture" story outside of a couple's struggles with their relationship. But sometimes, a romance is just a romance, and a book is better for not trying to be more than what it is. This is one of those times.
Sure, there were tornadoes, fires, and runaway horses. Yes, there was a huge, world-rocking moment for Rose and Noah which had nothing to do with their relationship. However, my reason for reading is Rose and Noah. We readers wanted to know - were they finally going to choose whether to be Amish or English?
Who wins the war? Stubborn Girl or Mr. Suspenders? I'll never tell.
I appreciated how this story chose to show the struggles of a couple who were determined to be together "forever" at such a young age. It was inevitable that Rose and Noah were going to have to deal with the consequences that stemmed from the choice they made. Even with the sweet, "all encompassing" love story, these two didn't get off the hook quite so easy. Romance is lovely, but relationships take work after the dust setttles. Generally, it makes me uncomfortable to see two characters so young trying to pledge forever to each other, but in this case, it works...because of the hardships which are thrown at this couple.
Their story is sweet, stressful, and even thought-provoking at times. How can two different cultures mesh together, when neither one is designed to fit with the other?
Maybe I'm a little sentimental because Rose's predicament of (yes, this is an actual spoiler) (view spoiler)[being pregnant at such a young age (hide spoiler)] is one I can relate to. I've been there. I know what it's like to want to make the situation work, even when everyone is saying that it's not a good idea.
The love story is very potent, and it will make some people roll their eyes. But for me, I loved the way that it was written, and I think the author did a great job of showing both the positives and negatives of choosing to give up everything for love when you're still young and learning.
Sam's chapters weren't necessary, but since I wasn't bored, it wasn't a big deal. I think I liked book 2 just a little bit better, but overall, I'm pleased with how things ended. I'm very glad I read this trilogy.
Plus, Amish stories are so fascinating. I don't think I'll ever get tired of peering in the windows of various religious and cultural groups, just to see how the other side lives.
This book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy....more
It's the Marines meets Maze Runner meets Unwind meets Fight Club (the cover even reminds me of the FC cove
"Welcome to the post-human age."
It's the Marines meets Maze Runner meets Unwind meets Fight Club (the cover even reminds me of the FC cover) meets some weird version of The Island of Dr. Moreau/Jurassic Park (without the animals) mashup - in this book's version of "it really sucks to go to juvvie."
The show Beyond Scared Straight would probably love to have some of Phoenix Island's tactics at their disposal.
I'm itching to shelve this book as horror lite, but I'll go with science fiction and a nod to dystopia (even though the "off-island" world isn't on the same abnormal scale that Phoenix Island is).
Who would miss them? They were just a bunch of throwaway orphans.
Since the book was something of a slow-starter, I'm not sure if I was on board enough to start caring about what happened to the characters by the time the action finally started kicking in. With some retooling, Phoenix Island would probably work better as an adult offering. I expect YA books of this category to hit harder and faster out of the gate, whereas I am more patient to wait out a slow build with adult literature.
However, all is not lost. This is exactly the type of book that my teenage son would have loved a few years ago. At the first hint of danger and/or violence to come, he would have stayed glued to the pages, waiting for it to happen. He would have cared less about character attachment, and more about seeing how the shit was going to hit the fan. While he and I both read and enjoyed books like Unwind and The Maze Runner, we definitely had different reasons for why we liked those books. In retrospect, Unwind is still a book I think about, while Maze Runner has dulled with time for me (because I've read much better from the genre since then), and I'd actually put it on par now with Phoenix Island, which might not be as good of a compliment as it would have been a couple of years ago.
"They look like the damn Hitler Youth."
Even though I'm sort of half-and-half on this book (the second part was pretty good - I'm just sad that it took me so long to get invested), I'm going to go ahead and recommend Phoenix Island to anyone who wants to get away from the Matched, Delirium, Wither type of romantic sci-fi and delve into something grittier.
This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy. ...more
I...uh...yeah. Breaking Dawn plot tactics, really?
What do I even say? What CAN I even say without spoiling?
As indicated by my star rating, Killer FrosI...uh...yeah. Breaking Dawn plot tactics, really?
What do I even say? What CAN I even say without spoiling?
As indicated by my star rating, Killer Frost was my least favorite book of the series, which is a bit of a shame for a series ender. Even so, 3 stars is still a halfway decent rating from me, so all is not lost.
FIRST, the not-so-great...
1. It took far too long to get to the point where the story grabbed me and took over.
2. Logan Freaking Quinn (her words oft borrowed by me) was not as shiny as he'd been in the past. I almost forgot that he was there.
3. Breaking Dawn(view spoiler)[no one really dies who's important to the story, which is unrealistic when you go to WAR (hide spoiler)] all up in a fight scene - no.
BUT what I did like...
1. As usual, Ms. Estep put a lot of care and thought into her world and the characters who live in it. Groundwork that was laid in the very first book came back full circle.
2. I appreciate the variety of mythological gods and creatures the reader gets to learn about (or revisit). You can tell that this author loves her mythology...maybe not on the same level as Rick Riordan, but still. I had wished for more information at times than just face-value name dropping, but I've (unfortunately) read much sparser "mythology" founded stories than this one, so I'm happy for the most part.
3. Since it was time to get things wrapped up, at least Gwen got to go out in a blaze of glory. She'd never be able to fill Rose Hathaway's shoes, but the kid's got some guts, nonetheless.
I'm ready to close the page on Mythos Academy. It was a fun ride, but the time was due to end the story.
I'll definitely be curious to see what series is up next from this imaginative author.
This book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
There's a reason why I liked Clerks 1 better than Clerks 2. Two words : Donkey Show. If you've seen the movie, maybe you'll understand why I immediateThere's a reason why I liked Clerks 1 better than Clerks 2. Two words : Donkey Show. If you've seen the movie, maybe you'll understand why I immediately had this thought after reading a passage in the book : So what, would you rather jerk off a donkey or fingerbang Kathy Rhinebeck?
The Troop was my Clerks 2 (full of gratuitous giggles and squeamish moments), when I was looking for Clerks 1 (offbeat moments which felt like an inside joke to those in the know).
I was hoping for more detail of an outdoorsy survival story (it's called The Troop, after all) than the direction the story went in.
If anything, I wasn't even scared. I was just not feeling the tone of the story. I liked the author's explanation for why he chose to use the outside source data to tell the story, but I have rarely been a fan of this type of method to get a lot of information out there.
One thing that did work in the book's favor was sort of a throwback to classic style horror. Gone were the standard dilemmas and silly drama moments which have plagued similar books of late. If you're looking for a back-to-basics mind screw, then there's a chance you'll find something worth checking out here.
This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
From his pocket he whips out a red lollipop - one of the fancy ones you can only get at the Cracker Barrel.
3.5 stars. It is entirely possi
From his pocket he whips out a red lollipop - one of the fancy ones you can only get at the Cracker Barrel.
3.5 stars. It is entirely possible that the above sentence made me think of the unfortunate interview in the picture below.
[image]
That noted, I do think Cracker Barrel has some awesome candy.
What's my point in all of this, you ask? Well, my point is, that I might have laughed a few times at the character antics in Racing Savannah. It was a fun, cute, and enjoyable love story.
I won't act like there weren't a few moments sprinkled throughout which made me twitchy, but I'm able to overlook a little bit of awkward pining, repetitive questioning of self worth, an overdone focus on scents, and ridiculous snap judging when there was some character growth present. It was all kind of a balancing act. Sure, I kind of had a "trying to be relevant?" thought when Twilight and Harry Potter references showed up, but then one of the main characters had Star Wars sheets and I couldn't help but smile. So yeah...balancing act. We almost toppled over a few times, but I felt like there was enough positive to keep the stack from crashing.
I never want to hear my dad say "doing the nasty" again.
When stacking this book up against similar books in the genre, I think it came out ahead of the last several I've read. I wanted to smile. I wanted to see some horse racing. And I guess I got that!
The strength of this story was mainly in the humor and the details around Savannah chasing her dream of racing horses. The characters themselves were not always three dimensional in my mind. I felt like they were popped out of "make your own YA character" molds and dropped into the story.
Even if I didn't attach to the characters and wanted to tell Savannah to loosen up a good portion of the time, I'm glad I took a chance on the book. It might have taken me a week to read because I was busy, but I keep coming back when I had the chance.
"In my heart, I'm an exotic dancer," Jack replies. "What. A. Dumbass."
This book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.
Stacia (the 2010 club)
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