Heidi
Really caught my interest, could use loads more development. I am interested in the movie coming out based on this story.
While reading this book I put some of her advice into practice and noticed immediately the results looked a lot like she said they would.
She also writes very concisely and paces the book so that it keeps your attention and tells you the info you are there for but doesn't linger on unnecessary bits.
One note: there was one paragraph talking about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and she used it to back up a claim she was making. While it is argued in general that there are some parts of the hypothesis that can be seen as possibly correct, the SW Hypothesis has been proven false and using it as support to an argument made me pause for a sec and wonder about other research mentioned. Maybe she knows about the false proof of the hypothesis and was merely using it to demonstrate a point? I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, the rest of the book was so great.
The overall story was interesting to follow but the characters and dialogue were weakly developed and served only to move the plot along. The dynamic between Cynthia and Trevor mostly didn't make sense and Cynthia was a very 1-D character. I liked the very last twist, and that sort of helped to redeem how Noreen was portrayed for me, because I just kept feeling like she didn't make sense either. But since she was entirely fleshed out by an unreliable second source narrator for a particular purpose, it makes sense that she, as a character, did not make sense.
This book felt like it was supposed to be character driven but didn't really develop the characters enough to make me care about them. The only one who was fleshed out much was Hana, who was not even the main character. There were lots of descriptions of fighting and a good cursory explanation for why the formation of Israel was so contentious. But nowhere near enough story or character development to make this a good story.
Maybe 3.5. Good writing and an interesting story, but at times felt a bit unnecessarily slow? Worth a read.
I think this will need another read-through to fully process. It's not dense, but it is highly philosophical and complex.
Only read if you are able to separate the movie and the book (if you liked or watched the movie). They can only be read as two separate stories. The characters are very different. I watched the movie and then learned there was a book, and figured since the movie was so good the book would be too. The book is missing elements good books should have, such as characters that are able to change, and characters with redeemable characteristics. The priest is evil, greedy, and has no good traits. Vianne is a bit bitchy. Armande is a pretty cool old lady. It is also difficult to distinguish in what time period the story takes place.
A Rebel in Gaza: Behind the Lines of the Arab Spring, One Woman's Story
I loved this book. Her writing is great, even translated. The story is inspiring and told from a point of view I think we often don't get to see in the United States, or the western world for that matter.
Funny and heartfelt. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by Ali Wong, and that is the mode I highly recommend you consume this book in as well.
Though I am pretty sure no one can go on a drug cocktail binge like this and make it out with any semblance of normal base brain function, it serves the purpose of the book pretty well and creates some subtext I liked. I have mixed feelings about it though, it feels like an unrealistic fantasy wrapped in real life, both in ways that make a nice sort of surreal picture and also in ways that make me question the story's solidity.
I think I need to read this book rather than listen to it to give it a fair rating. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator sounded like William Shatner trying to be carefree, complete with weird emphasis on syllables. It was distracting. If I read this book, I assume I'll pick up on more things and be able to give it a more complete review and rating.
A really interesting story, but told from a very broad, technical POV. I had a hard time visualizing some of this story because he describes what is happening but not the objects to which things are happening. Or, he describes them, as in “there is a door in the top of the chamber”, but doesn't describe the scene. Also, some parts felt a bit rushed. I am on the fence about whether or not to read he next one. He's not a bad author, he's just obviously new, and I think he's got potential to get better.
Kinda like 27 Dresses, but with murder: always a murder cleaner-upper, never a murderer, and usually begrudgingly. It's a well-written story, and I loved the voices the audiobook reader does. But these characters all behave predictably and barely have character arcs, only reaching small ones at the end, that, arguably, were kind of already present. Instead of spoiling and saying outright why I feel that way, all I can say is that their arcs resemble, in a murdery sort of way, that of their 27 Dresses counterparts.
I love the way Sierra Simone writes smut/stories. I love the premise of this book and the story and the characters. What I don't love is when babies and pregnancy come into the story. Yes, they are included in the traditional “happily ever after” of a lot of smut stories/romance novels, but they don't need to be. I think this is the first of her books I've read where the MC gets pregnant, and so it's hard for me to really be mad at it happening here. It's just that when a baby enters the story, it almost inevitably cools the smut factor the story has.
Well-written and engaging, but slow to start, and at times I found myself so annoyed with the teenage drama aspect that I almost quit. But once you get past those, it's a very good and interesting story. Worthwhile read for sure.
Omg I hated this story. I hate all the characters (except, kinda, Karen and Ethan because they're annoying but they own who they are) and not in a fun way. It wouldn't be so bad that the ending is predictable (I think it's kinda supposed to be) if the way it for there wasn't what it is. Any more reasons would be spoilers. But it gets two stars instead of one because the writing was done very well.
I loved this book. Kristina Newman is hilarious and inspiring. It is a new favorite of mine. I listened to the audio book, which is read by her, and I think that really made it even better.
Wow. Very intricately woven, character development was amazing. Loved it. I was able to guess one of the big twists, but wasn't certain about it, and that didn't lessen its impact at all. So good.
Started so strong and got so irritating towards the end. Idk how I would have wanted it to be but not like this. It turns from an intelligent sort of hunt for a killer to a classic action that “turns him into a man”...
An enjoyable read, but I really don't like the ending. I'll just say that her vague past tense in the epilogue is either poorly written to appear straight past tense when it actually isn't, or that the end is shit. Otherwise an enjoyable read. Also, don't expect any bedroom scenes that go beyond the equivalent of (in a movie) the screen going from a make-out scene to the next morning a couple waking up together... I may have been mislead by a Cosmo review of the book. Overall, an enjoyable read, though.