Andrea
As with anything by Rainbow Rowell, this was full of heart and feels. Everything felt nostalgic and wonderful. I love everything fall so this was right up my alley. I could almost imagine I was right there with them. As much character as Deja and Josie had together I felt the biggest character was the pumpkin patch–it stole the show! I loved every page of it. Faith is a great artist that perfectly matched with Rowell's style. A match made in heaven.
I was super disappointed. I loved Evelyn Hugo so I was pumped to read this (especially with all the hype) but it was pretty lacking. I didn't like the characters, it was very repetitive (they kept circling the same things over and over, it all felt like one extended chapter) and I wasn't a big fan of the storyline. spoiler ahead and the twist at the end felt trite and recycled from Evelyn Hugo. I just wasn't impressed and had to force myself to push through the last hour of the audiobook. I will concede that the topics were not for me. I really hate stories about addiction and drug use. I can't standing cheaters... just wasn't for me
4.5
I couldn't give it higher because of the mild spoiler death of an animal which is a big trigger for me. (PSA Please don't forget to check trigger warnings ahead of time so you're not surprised like I was). However, it was handled the best it could have been handled in my opinion. I absolutely loved this book. The audiobook is the ONLY way to read this. It was FANTASTIC!
Minor spoilers
I felt this book focused too much on the manic pixie dream girl cliche which is especially problematic when used in conjunction with the “damaged first nations” girl trope. I would expect better from a Canadian on how to represent first nations in literature. I don't expect it to be perfect but I expect it to at least try and avoid the damaging stereotypes. The book dragged on for me. The first half was a struggle to get through. The writing is beautiful but the story was too slow paced for me. This is entirely preference based and does not speak poorly about the book itself as I know some people like a sleepy small-ish town story. It just wasn't for me. I was hoping for a little more ghost story of the literal kind and less of a ghost story metaphorically. I wanted to give this a two star but I changed it to three because the last half took an interesting turn.
I'm so confused by this book. When I picked this one up I thought I was getting a story about H.H Holms and his murderous rampage... I also expected it to have information about the world's fair but only as it pertained to Holms' story. What I got instead was a book 70% about the conception, making, and opening of the Chicago World's Fair and 30% about a psychopath's twisted day to day life. And they intersected in the most minimal way. Honestly, I felt like I got way more action and suspense from the World's Fair than by any of the horror Holms committed. The only real connection between the two parts of the book is that it created an atmosphere where missing people were not looked into too carefully and gave Holms an influx in victim choices. But like... that's it.
The reason I'm torn is because I reeeeally like the parts about the fair! They were fascinating, intriguing, and suspenseful. But it's not what I thought I was signing up for. The parts about Holms were not very in-depth. In fact, I didn't find them all that interesting. And I guess it's because we don't know a whole lot of what really happened during that time.
I wish the two aspects had been turned into their own books. The World's fair portion gets a 5/5 from me. The H.H. Holms parts gets a 2/5.
3.5 stars
It was interesting but felt a little too fanfic-y. Which isn't a bad thing per se. It just felt a little hollow of the soul and energy that the games had. I had a few issues with how they decided to portray the time jumps. I felt they could have used the medium in a more creative way–and it would have made it less confusing in the beginning. I did enjoy the story though. It was fun to see these characters again.
Another great book in the Mortal Instruments series. I loved the characters, the plot, the flow. Just great fun!
There is way too much to discuss in this book than I can write here. I hated to love it but it was far too interesting not to enjoy.
Nice summer read. Light and fluffy. I felt the pacing had a few hitches. My biggest gripe was that the 3/4 of the book was spent on wedding mishaps and not a whole lot of character development. Most, if not all, the interconnected issues between characters was addressed at the end feeling rather rushed as the majority of the book was spent on resolving one hiccup after another. I felt it could have been dispersed a little better throughout the story. Spoiler the moment where Brooke reveals herself to be a psychologist was probably the cringiest scene in the whole book. “‘Brooke. What kind of doctor are you?' She looked at me, then smiled. ‘I'm a psychologist.' She held my eye for a moment longer, then gave me a nod.” This was seriously too much for me. I had to put it down. The whole holding the gaze and nodding after a reveal felt like what you'd see in a very dramatic movie gunning for an Oscar. I actually groaned out loud. end of spoiler I give it a 3/5 because while I had a few problems with it I don't think this book was meant to be taken seriously. It's fun. It's perfect for a beach read. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times. In fact, the second to last chapter was so much fun I read it twice and giggled the whole time.
I was hoping this book would tell me whether or not I like Matson's books (I really didn't like Since You've Been Gone but I loved The Unexpected Everything). This was to be the tie breaker but alas, I'm still not sure. Not sure if i'll pick up any more of her books, but I'd still recommend them to someone looking for a summer read.
I don't even know how to describe this book. Heartwrenching, sad, powerful, gripping. Just read it. And don't bother with anything other than the Audiobook.
Super cute and I'm thinking of changing my name to “ Not-as-big-as-Medium-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock-Jock”
“Unfortunate”
Don't let my rating fool you. It's so bad it's good.
This is a hilarious balance between pastiche and parody. It pokes fun of every YA paranormal romance trope while still actually telling a story. Made me laugh out loud and also cringe. And sometimes...simultaneously. Well worth the time.
It was an interesting concept but I felt the author spent waaaay too much time on the characters insecure inner monologue about her sister and about herself. It got to the point where I was starting to feel like whole sections were just copy pasted. Not enough emphasis was placed on solving the crime.
There were some things I wanted to see more of in this next book but overall it was a fun read. I really enjoy stories that draw you in, and have a slower pace. It feels more immersive. And OMG that ending!!!!
There's a photo missing in the digital pack of photos on the Audible version. Just fyi.
This book set the bar pretty high for the rest of 2017. I absolutely loved this memoir/exploration of Canadian culture/history of Canada! It was such a weird yet satisfying blend of so many things that it's hard to pinpoint exactly where it falls. But labels don't really concern me. Whatever you want to call it, it was fantastic.
While so many of the things Myers reminisces about from his childhood are far removed from my own experience, the way he luxuriates in the comforting realm of nostalgia kept bringing to mind my own nostalgic feelings for a time gone by. It felt like being in on all his references while never having experienced them personally.
What stands out the most for me is how funny it was. You might be thinking that I should have expected a book written by a comedian to be funny, but honestly it didn't cross my mind. It was a memoir about his life and about Canada–both of which rely heavily on relaying facts and series of events... not much room for humour. Within the first 25 pages I'd laughed out loud a minimum of six times in a crowded store–and I didn't care! I was in love. I knew I needed this book in my life.
I don't want to give too much away so I'll just finish this by saying I'm feeling fiercely Canadian after reading Myers' book and I felt the full range of emotion during my journey between its pages. Every Canadian should read it.
It was good. The Ellingham mystery got a little muddled for me. It was given in small chunks that were out of order so I kept getting confused as to what happened to who and when. I lost track of the timeline. That could have been done better. I also got uncomfortable with the relationship between Stevie and David. I'm normally a fan of enemies to lovers but this just felt... awkward and uncomfy. I did like the secondary mystery with Hayes because I couldn't see how it could be proven to be a murder and what evidence could even be found but it was satisfying in the end. I also like that the Hayes mystery still had mystery to it. Questions unanswered. Normally this would bug me but I know there are 2 more books. I'm excited to see how it ties into the overarching mystery too. I liked the school atmosphere but I wish we saw more of it. It felt really vague; more of a concept. And lastly, I had issues with the characters. I easily lost track of who people were. We got introduced so quickly to everyone and then their personalities were not that differentiating so I didn't remember who was whom and what they did in school. But overall, a lot of fun. Excited to keep reading when I have the chance.
HUUUUUUUUUUUGE trigger warnings. Some of the worst animal cruelty I've ever come across and it's handle with very little grace or consideration for life.
At times unforgivingly brutal and at other times laugh-out-loud funny, I can honestly say this book was a journey. I have a very hard time handling animal cruelty so there were moments when I almost couldn't finish reading but the story kept me going. I had to remember that it's a different culture, and a different way of looking at life. It was an interesting glimpse into life in Africa. Trevor Noah is a great story teller and I'm really glad I listened to the audiobook because it made the experience that much more amazing.
I was not prepared to like the characters as much as I did. I've heard nothing but great things about this book so I'm glad to be in the “know”. Definitely lived up to the hype.
SPOILERS**
I'm not going to write too long of a review but the first half of this book was delightful and then the second half just crumbles into weak writing and weak plot.
Some examples:
1. Percy is incredibly protective of his violin case and keeps it with him, glued to his side the entire journey and YET the minute it's important to the plot when Monty asks if he took it with him his response is “it's just a violin...” ummm what? The entire book you've been cuddling that thing like it's your lifeline and now for Reasons it's “just” a violin... made me cringe it was so corny.
2. I never got the sense that Monty idolized his father or cared what his father thought. In fact, he spends the majority of the time doing the complete opposite. And hates him. But suddenly, because plot, we find out in the last like 50 pages that his father was no role model. That whole set up was just weak. Left a bad taste.
3. Finally, the whole monty mutilation at the end was just so trite. Perfect Monty had to be “ugly” to learn his lesson. His good looks had to be taken away for him to be put in his place and accept that Percy is forever sick, and that he had no life back at home... By this point in the story I was just done with it all.
I really enjoyed the first half. So it's a shame by the end I just wanted it over.