Dal Cecil Runo
I wish I've had this book as a teen
Something I love about Joey's books is that she knows how to sound like a teen without sugarcoating a story. There is a lot of realism, no matter how fantastical the paranormal aspects may be. There is beauty in the supposed simplicity of the narrator's language. YA is not my go-to age category, but I can enjoy it when it's sincere.
Why 5 stars?
1. Did I put the book down?
No I didn't, and I listened to the ebook with a robotic voice reading it for me. It has to be good if I can't put down an ebook.
2. What about the characters?
I love Tara, and her Dad, and everyone in this story. They feel real. No need to say more.
What about the structure?
Good pacing, not a predictable structure. Joey knows how to do her mystery, and do it well.
4. The writing?
It is about a teen, it sounds like a teen, and it wasn't jarring, again, I'm listening with a robot screen reader.
5. Subjective points
Yes. If I say all the stuff I love about this novel I'd be dropping spoilers and I don't want to. So, yes.
Can't find the words to thank the author for her work.
This is my brief, much less detailed ramble after reading The Weaver in its audio book version.
I am a real life lucid dreamer who's still afraid of openly saying it. I'm trying here. I've been afraid of nightmares all my life, and as I grew older, everyone around me has pushed me to belittle the significance of whatever my dreams try to tell me.
Then this book happened.
Eliane is a dreamer, raised as a weaver, in a world where having dreams is considered a plague. The Council has developed a method to take away people's dreams. For some reason Eliana is still able to dream, so she hides this skill to protect herself. As the story unfolds, Eliana learns the extend of the damage The Council has done to the island, and she will also learn to overcome her fears to embrace who she is and the hidden powers of her dreams to maybe, possibly, save herself and her loved ones from impending disaster.
The writing is skillful and the world is intriguing enough to make this blind person care regardless of not visualizing all the sensory details the author created, the characters feel realistic, and I know I am biased because of my personal connection to the symbolisms used throughout the story.
I am one of the readers this book needed to reach, and I don't know how to thank the author. I know she'll never see this, but I had to write it somewhere. Kiitos Emmi.
Children out there need and deserve a book like this.The story follows Isla, as she learns to adapt to changes at home, virtual school, and then another home with her other parent. It sounds simple at first, but as the story moves along, we learn more about Isla and her families.
The writing style reflects the main character's perspective so well, it feels like we are in the mind of a 4th grade child with a vivid imagination, but as adults we can pick up the subtleties as well.
All in all, a 5 star read, with lovable characters and an important message that a lot of children out there can relate to.
Very helpful
This was a very easy to follow book. Great tips, evergreen information. This helped me start my own newsletter. I will revisit the book often when I need to remember some specifics.
I love you, Cassie
Partially blind reader here, and in this book's case, that's something I should mention before I dive in with my rambling reviews.
Why 5 stars?
1 did I pu the book down?
No, impossible. I listened to this in ebook formate with the screen reader telling me the whole thing. I remember as soon as I finished the 1st book I went on to this one. I had lunch while listening, did some other mechanical chores while listening, I didn't stop until I finished the book.
2. The characters.
I already said in my review of book 1 that I love Tara, and now I love Cassie. I wont go into spoilers, but it is known from quite early on that Cassie is blind, and also she's in the foster care system. I'm partially blind and adopted. Should I say more?
3. Structure
This book is where the repetition aspect was effective instead of jarring, unlike some other books.
Tara has a hard dilemma in this story, and with every attempt she makes, it hurts more and more. I want to quote it, but I'll restrain myself and keep spoilers out of this.
4. Writing?
It takes sensitivity to write a character like Cassie Yates. Joey understood her so well it kinda scared me.
5. Subjective stuff
Although Cassie is the more known case of the pitch-black blind portrayed in fiction, her personality was something I needed to see as a teen. I'm thankful to find her as an adult. This book made me cry, and made me thank my adoptive parents for being in my life.
Quick, easy and helpful.
Ireland is a small country with a giant heart. I've been there and I remember many things, but I wondered about how much ishas changed since my time there. This book is up to date and helpful. The author keeps updating on her website. All in all a nice read that brought up happy memories.
Entertaining retelling
Very nice and engaging story. I kept turning pages. I liked most of it, and the characters felt real. Fully recommend it.
That was awesome
Time travel is hard to write well, but this book delivers. Its A sweet YA scifi with a strong love story element, but it's not a romance. I love the honest realism of the emotions the characters present.
Now I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Middle of the road
This book is a thriller/suspense about a Finnish bodyguard trying to figure out who killed her former employer after she resigned due to a fight over a lynx fur coat.
I was so here for this. I could relate to Hilja losing her temper over animal fur. I am one of those. No shame.
Hilja had a thing for lynxes, and as the book goes on, the reader learns why is this so important to her.
The international mystery aspect was a great contrast to the familiarity I got from the Finnish countryside setting. I was so into this. “Kiitos! Vihdoinkin!” I shouted late at night when I started the audiobook on Scribd. Now my rating system...here we go.
1. Did I put the book down?
I did. I hesitated to pick it up again. I can't give it a star here. The narrator practiced her Finnish pronunciation, but no one helped her with the Russian and the random out of the blue Spanish that suddenly appeared. I know a multilingual narration is a pain in the a** for a lot of narrators so, I was satisfied that at least she handled the Finnish names well. Can't say the same for the Maria Kallio series narrator. Oof. I dropped that after a couple of minutes.
2. The characters?
I like Hilja, for the most part. I wanted to like this book. And then...and then...I think I can give it a star here, because I did enjoy multiple aspects of her character. So there goes.
All The Love In The World!
This book...I am so eternally grateful that this book exists.
Before I start fangirling, quick disclaimer, I'm a partially blind reader. Audiobooks and ebooks with a robotic screen reader are the only way I can read books.
So, I have a defined rating system for fiction books. Here it goes.
1. Did I put the book down?
Impossible. I listened to the audiobook version on the Scribd app. I started in the early afternoon and I couldn't let go of the book. My body refused to fall asleep until I finished. I felt it that much. There goes one big star!
2. What about the characters?
Georgia is perhaps one of the most relatable characters I have ever read. Oh, yeah, another quick disclaimer, I am asexual. Anyway, very relatable for the most part. All the supporting cast was awesome to read about too. I know people like all of these characters in the real world. It'sunusual that I get so hyped while reading a contemporary story, but when it happens, it is a big hype from me.
3. How about structure?
Engaging! At no point did I feel bored, even if the story revolved about college life. There was always something going on, and the way Georgia slowly figures things out was realistic for many aces out there who are still discovering their orientation, which brings me to...
4. Writing
It's good and it flows nicely. The author is not trying to be someone she's not. The dialogue sounds realistic and to me that's a big plus.
5. Subjective stuff
Like I said, I'm ace. I would love to read more books with ace protagonists. This was the basics, a story about a character figuring out who she is and discovering that she is not really into romance and sex. Fantastic! Alice is paving the road for us aspiring authors who also happen to include this kind of perspective into our stories. I am so glad that this book got published and quite popular. There are no specifics I would critique about it, so here it is, my 5 stars in detail.
I'm always curious to read books about Hedge witchery, but this particular story was written for a different demographic. It wasn't for me. Not the author's fault. I still recommend it for mothers who enjoy fantasy.
Master of the Craft
At no point in this book did the author stop surprising me. Fantastic story with so many subtleties, realistic characters, beautiful and clear prose. What else can I ask for? 5 stars!
Science fiction meets Norse Mythology
It's official, Andri is among my favourite authors. I couldn't put this book down and I read it in one evening.
The worries and warnings of the sci-fi genre meet the poetry and transcendence of old Icelandic myths. A book that clearly has that distinct North Atlantic island's flavour, yet it doesn't ignore the existence of the rest of the world. The contrasts of a mechanised and heavily controlled society against the most primal and pure aspects of human nature.
It's an entertaining yet thoughtful story, with a refreshing writing style.
Some important information here, yet the author's seemingly deliberate erasure of disabled communities around the world while at the same claiming a global perspective for a better world in the phase of climate change, is what made me give the book a lower rating. The “I am healthy with all my limbs and brain and senses” bias (whether unconscious or not) was a true let down as the book progressed. Don't claim to be all inclusive if you plan to erase entire communities from your “handbook for a better planet” thing.
One of the most helpful books I've read in a while. You don't have to be a romance author to find gems within it. If you're a new or even an experienced author, but marketing has always been some mysterious monster from another dimension you don't understand, i think this book will shine a light for you.
Can't recommend it enough.
Very helpful
This was an accessible read and the author is honest about the life of a writer and all the things that could, and usually do go wrong and waste people's time. The possible solutions are presented with clear ideas and examples.
All in all, I recommend this to anyone interested in improving their time management skills before or while they're building their author business.
Bilingual review (Spanish - English)
ESPAÑOLSuperhéroes extraños, conspiraciones, diversidad y bardeo bien argentino. ¿Qué más querés? Si te gustan las historias de superhéroes pero quieres leer una que tenga algo diferente y único tenés que leer Singulares. Leé o no podemos ser amigos.
ENGLISHWeird superheoes, conspiracy, diversity, and very Argentinian banter. What else do you want? If you like superhero stories and you'd like to read a unique take on this genre, then you must read Singulares. If you can read in Spanish, and you don't read this, we cannot be friends. Also, English translation is in the works (January 2023).
Accessible and HelpfulThis book is short, and the language is accessible to anyone interested in its content. There's no need for a psychology degree to understand it, no fancy academic jargon, no lengthy tangents.
The book is a balanced mix of theory and anecdotal examples that back up the theory.
The audiobook's narration is smooth and easy to listen to, and the book has been published in multiple retail platforms so it's quite easy to access. Fully recommend it.
I bought the book because it was on sale, I like Jenna's YouTube channel, and so I was curious to see the work in itself.
I have a rating system for fiction books so here it goes.
1. Did I put the book down?
Not really. I am almost blind, so I read with text to speech software that sounds a bit annoying. So if a book is well written, and the pacing is good, and the story is interesting, it will sound good even with a robot reading it. Sidenote, I had no cash for the audiobook so...I only paused my reading because I had to sleep. I was maybe going to DNF, but I felt like picking it up again just to see. So in all fairness, I read it in 2 sittings, it gets the star. Good sentence flow.
2. What about the characters?
Here I have an issue. The main characters were unrealistically perfect. Yes, Tobias had to kill, but we are all used to killings in fiction aren't we? It was a gladiator-like contest. The killings did not make me think he was flawed in the slightest. What flaws did he have? There was not much realism here, and I cannot give that star.
3. What about structure?
I suppose I can give half a start here. It was well paced, yes it was, but it was predictable. No I don't remember other reviews. It was easy to figure it all out, too easy, and that is a huge no no for me. I love it when I cannot predict things. I'm not talking just about the big reveal, everything was easy. Half a star for good structure.
4. How was the writing?
It was good. Some strange word choices here and there but everyone is allowed to have their own style. I can give it a star. I appreciate the effort she put into this aspect of the novel.
5. Overall subjective stuff?
I am not the target audience. This is for straight women, I'm ace. I can give it half a star because it had some good representation, but...this had too much love stuff, the love was very focused on the physical aspect of romance, and I don't give a....
All in all, this is very commercial, and I can see the appeal to younger, straight girls. There were a lot of shirtless dudes running around and killing each other. Great. It's fine, not for me.
I received an ARC to give this an honest review. Now, how much honesty? To clarify, I'm partially blind, and I use a screen reader, with a robotic voice.
Why did I give this 5 stars? I'll use my usual rating system:
1. Did I put the book down?
Yes and no. I did stop for brief moments, because the narrator goes on tangents and back and forth between present moment and backstory. I am not at my best time right now, and because I related so much to this way of thinking, I had to take some healthy breaks. But, I wanted to know what happened next. As soon as I felt like I could go on with it, I did. Finished this in less than 24 hours. There goes one star.
2. What about the characters?
I couldn't relate more. This is where I'm fearing that I'll get too personal. I'll try not to.
Emma, the protagonist and narrator, suffers from anxiety, with hints at depression, and a sense of being born in the wrong time and place. OCD runs in the family, too. This is why all the going on tangents.
I'll just say that I'm dealing with my own anxiety and depression. I'll just leave it at that so I don't spoil other things.
Daisy, the old lady who shows up at Emma's home in the middle of the night, is suffering from Alzheimer's.
I'm currently working with an old lady who's going through advance stages of senile dementia and Alzheimer's.
This story hit home, and it hit hard. There goes a second star.
3. Structure?
Tangents...tangents everywhere. For the first time I see why it is narrated that way, and it fits the portrayal of Emma's psyche so well, that I can sense it comes from a real life perspective and I'm here for it. There goes the third.
4. Writing?
Savy's prose feels like a new friend that you just met at a bar, and you end up chatting through the night, only to realise that you're the last 2 to leave the bar after the music stops and the owner's like “ey-yo we're closing in 5!” Natural flow, no snob pretentiousness...I'm here for it. Fourth star.
5. Purely subjective stuff
Like I said in point 2, this book hit home, hard. Not only about the stuff I talked about, but also, music. I'll not spoil things, but there were parts where I could almost see my younger self walking in Emma's shoes, or like Emma was walking in mine. When I said “I need this book” and signed for an ARC, I just knew this, and I'm glad the book delivered.
It's a must read for 2020.
I understand this is for teens...but I'm not impressed
Barely 2 stars from me
This review contains heavy spoilers
So, I found this book through my querying process, and recently found the audiobook and gave it a listen because we are supposed to read recently released books in the genre we write in. I went in not expecting much because I'm an adult and this is for teens. I had my “let's be nice” hat on.
First I'll detail my rating system and why I'm giving it this rating.
1. Did I put the book down?
Yes, and almost threw my phone against the wall. I'll detail more about that later. I picked it up again soon after, out of spite, and sped through it, bookmarking the stuff I needed to bookmark, dreading the rest of the book, knowing that if I didn't finish it quickly, I'd just DNF and wouldn't have the proper knowledge to write this flaming review. So half a star because I sped through it, but I did pause the audiobook and took breaks often.
2. Characters
Stereotypical fictional teenagers. You know it's bad when you can assign each one a label and the book doesn't prove you wrong. The hot, exotic, reluctant bad boy; the opposite morally good twin sister of the bad boy; the girl with an attitude; the stoic Russian boyfriend of the girl with an attitude. Should I go on? Ah yeah, the “I have one quirky trait” protagonist. She likes some manga...and strawberries, and that's it.
I will give the author a break and say she handled the scenes of grief better than other YA authors I've seen. I still didn't care, but it's fine, I can give her that. Still, no star here because damn I couldn't care less. I was speeding through this.
3. Structure
Predictable. The exotic reluctant bad boy just showed up in a surveillance cam and the bland protagonist was instantly attracted to him like...seriously. I know, I know, “Come on, its YA!” Sure...it's boring. So the story keeps moving with the whole back and forth between the prisoners and the guards and the mysterious things and so on and oh! Evil aliens! As if this couldn't be more tropey. And oh wait! The aliens are blind! Alright folks, here is where I was about to throw the phone at the wall. Of course the less important pseudo-major characters died, because romance and grief mix together like any other mainstream novel...I'm bored. Next.
4. Writing
It was fine at first, the average YA style, no problem. It sounds like a teen except in some tiny moments here and there but, it was fine I guess. When I picked up this thing again, after the “guys, I'm pretty sure those things are blind” moment, it seems the line editor also got bored and abandoned the project. A lot of repetitions in sentence style. Sure enough, soon enough, sure enough, I heard that sentence starter perhaps 7 times in one chapter alone. For reference, the chapter where the bland protagonist and the exotic bad boyfriend are exploring the alien ship. I myself have had this same repetition problem with sure enough or whatever enough. So here I am not heartlessly bashing, I noticed it and I learned from it too. Besides that problem, I can give it half a star here because I still managed to finish this story somehow. I give her a break.
5. Purely subjective stuff
The good: I liked seeing the use of other languages in this story. Fantastic. More of that please, already half a star.
The bad: so the evil and creepy non-human creatures are blind AND asexual...oh? I didn't know I was suddenly the source of inspiration for this novel. Hi! I'm also blind and asexual. Ooooh I am sooooo scaryyyyy.
I can laugh at this stupid trope. I've seen it so much I'm kind of feeling pity for the lack of creativity in today's writing world. Authors really can't think of some other disadvantage other than blindness? Something spookier than milky white cataracts for the aliens to look so evil and soulless? Really? Are you authors that deprived of imagination lately? Here I am being heartlessly bashing, not just to this author, but to everyone who falls into this stupidity.
I'm an adult, I'm fine. My reason to write this whole thing is precisely because this is aimed at teens. Do you authors think blind and visually impaired teens don't read? And this thing has an audiobook available! I've seen this trope from Harry Potter and Percy Jackson to the rarest and lesser known YA books. It's there. It's everywhere. Whenever I see it, I will call it out. Teens with disabilities are bullied more than the average school kid. Reading is a potential escape to those teens as well as any other teen out there. Getting into this supposedly cool world where teens have superpowers only to find out that the only creatures, again, CREATURES, somewhat experiencing a similar disadvantage are all evil and they all have to be killed because they deserve it.
Listen, I understand that this is just fiction, but a child trying to escape from possible daily abuse at school and some even at home, might find this persisting trope another signal saying “you should be dead because your eyes are ugly.” Is that the message authors want to send? I don't want to think so. This is just some bullshit overdone trope that they learned in their years of imitating their favourite authors and now it's a part of their own stories because they sincerely cannot think of anything else.
Well, this was my ramble of the day. I'm staying clear from YA sci-fi if this is what it has to offer. Not impressed.
So you see, I didn't get to 2 stars at all!
For soecific demographicsIt's a nice, short and sweet read with helpful information, but it's specifically targeted to American women. If you live somewhere else, this may appear a bit too narrow and distilled.
Part biography, part history, part military guide.
This is not an epic memoir. This is what it is. A good example of Finnish culture: here are the facts, this is what happened. Finns aren't drawn to impress and appear bigger than they are. It's not their thing.
Mr. Häyhä killed hundreds, but he just did his job, and wanted a quiet life. That's what you'll get from this book. Mr. Saarelainen is knowledgeable and straightforward. I've learned things from this book and I'm very happy to find a legit recount of what happened during the winter war. No exaggerations, no delirium of grandeur.
Bonus comment: I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did quite a good job with all the Finnish names. Thank you for the efforts in putting this book together.
Made-up fantasy, too visual, too many classes. I'm blind, I don't do made-up worlds in general. Not the book's fault. I should have read the blurb before picking it up. Someone recommended it because there's a blind character somewhere, but this is clearly for sighted readers. Just not my kinda genre.