Jessica

This novel is beautiful. I became instantly attached to Edgar's character, as well as to Almondine's. I was sad to be done with such a beautifully-told story so soon (though I tried my hardest to go slow and just savor the lovely prose). On the other hand, the book did make me cry at least 4 times–I don't think I've cried so often (or so hard) over a story since I read [b:Where the Red Fern Grows 10365 Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166154337s/10365.jpg 115] in second grade. Like other reviewers, I was also a bit disappointed in the ending, but not so much that it overshadowed the rest. I am definitely eager to see what this author does next.

As riveting as the first book. A key theme in this installment is “we are the choices we make,” which often serves to illustrate how most things in life are not black and white. There is not simply good vs. evil, but rather many shades of grey in between. And how do you cope with that reality when you are merely 14? When you are forced to make life-changing decisions, without knowing which possibility is more “right”? I'll be interested to see how Ness ties everything up in the third book. . . .

I can't believe I waited so long to read this, the sort of sequel to Graceling. I was initially very disappointed when I found out that Katsa was not a character in this book, and it put me off for a long time. Such silliness. This book is every bit as good and engaging as Graceling was, though it takes place in a different kingdom and has only one (very interesting) character in common. I look forward to reading the third book.

A timely read that offers a unique view into the hillbilly mindset (and at times hit uncomfortably close to home). But it's ultimately lighter on the analysis than I had been led to believe from interviews with the author. I can see how/why many government programs aren't the answer to Appalachia's woes but would have liked more insight into how we can “put a thumb on the scales,” as the author put it. Without more concrete ideas about this, it left me feeling pretty pessimistic about US culture in general.

An interesting read. At times, I felt I was reading a script for Big Love (though Golden is a much more sympathetic figure than Bill ever was). Yet other times the story would veer in an unexpected direction and feel like something entirely new. About halfway through, I became way less interested in Golden and preferred the chapters that focused on Rusty or Trish. Rusty is a total ass, sure, but he also produced the most laughs. Though can we talk about the Rusty hand-job thing for a minute? EWWWW. So not necessary and left me liking Trish a whole lot less, someone I was actually rooting for most of the book. And by the end, I'd have to say the characters on the margins–Hulia, Nestor, June–were the most interesting to me and I wish they had been fleshed out more.

Fast-paced, some interesting twists, and several truly creepy/f*cked-up scenes. Tempted to dock a half-star for the romance bits, though. They felt sort of forced and are completely unnecessary. My kingdom for a supernatural thriller without a romance!

I've loved every Alan Moore graphic novel I've read, but this collection of shorts was a very painful, difficult read. I stuck with it, thinking there would be some brilliant nugget at the end to tie it all together. But I couldn't bring myself to read the last story, an overly indulgent self-referential yarn about the author writing the stories in this tome. But I'm still counting the whole book as read, because that was a lot of terrible stories to slog through.

If my mom and sisters hadn't praised this series and likened it to the Hunger Games, I would never have picked it up. The premise is interesting enough, but this book has one of the worst first paragraphs I've ever read. Thankfully, the writing seems to improve as the story progresses, and I'm intrigued enough to want to know how the story plays out. I would have liked to give it 2 1/2 stars, though. The plot seems to drag out a lot longer than it really needs to, and there's a general formulaic predictability to the story so far.

I wanted a feel-good cheesy book for the holidays, a novel equivalent of a cheesy Lifetime movie. This was definitely cheesy, but I never cared about the characters enough to get warm fuzzies from it. Too repetitive, and far too many plot contrivances. Though I did find the village itself charming and exactly the kind of setting I'd love to live in, especially during the holidays.

I'm as shocked as anyone that this one fell flat for me. It had such a promising start, but the characters are ultimately unlikeable, the narrative too repetitive, and the ending too unsatisfying.

I hated the main characters throughout most of this installment of the trilogy. I get that it was meant to create drama, but I admit I ended up scanning many chapters, just waiting for Tally and Shay's inevetible switch back to their regular personalities.

Overall, it was a decent series. Interesting concept, but sometimes poor execution.

A decent enough idea and fast=paced writing, but this is the 3rd of 4th book in a month I've read where the baddies were Russians, Nazis, or both, and that is getting super old. If you are inventive enough to write novels like this, you are inventive enough to think of new reasons for bad behavior.

Very beautiful writing and a few interesting characters. But overall, I felt not enough time was spent post-collapse or on the characters that I felt most invested in. Also, I'm for some reason really bothered by the fact that they never show/explain how that one village turned the lights back on!

An excellent debut. The few twists weren't that hard to guess and Clara's endless self-admonishments get old pretty quickly, but the writing itself was so beautiful that these things are easy to overlook.

Rowell's writing itself is as fun as ever (some great one-liners!), but the story and characters fell flat for me. First, I did not realize it was an actual story with the characters from the fanfic in Fangirl (I know. I didn't re-read the cover copy before I just dove in, okay?!). Though I don't think it would have been a much better book even if I had realized this before reading. Not only because the story should be able to stand on it's own, but also because not much really happens for the first half of the book. I didn't feel invested in the characters, whose whole backstory happened somewhere else, and the romance didn't feel earned. It also felt uncomfortably fetishized, which is a shame, because I think we need way more LGBTQA representation in literature, especially YA.

Another one I should have stopped reading. I think small-town racism has been explored better and with more nuance in other titles without having to resort to an unreliable 9-year-old narrator and murdering one of the characters. Also, never kill the dog! That was over the top unnecessary.

Kinda wish I could unread this. It was compelling enough at first, if repetitive, but I kept hoping it would reveal more about the father's motivations than the very thin, unsatisfying reason revealed in the last few pages. And even though I suspected where the plot “twist” was going, I'm still very disgusted the author decided to include not only incestuous rape but a pregnancy resulting from that, especially the rushed way in which it was done at the very end. I understand what trauma does to your psyche can be a compelling topic to explore, but the author doesn't really do that here–it just ends up feeling sordid.

WTF even did I just read? This is a super dark, but also super compelling and above all, super WEIRD read. I wasn't sure at first I was going to be able to stick with it because of the animal stuff (I really can't handle animal deaths in fiction very well), but I'm glad I did. It's unlike anything I've ever read.

Also, small gripe, but was anyone else bothered by the seeming continuity error toward the end? The beginning makes references to the 80s–80s cars in the garages, Wham and B-52s posters on the walls, legwarmers, Carolyn is only in her early 30s now, but was 8 on Adpotion Day–but then at the end he makes repeated references to Adoption Day being 1977. An error in the first printing only, perhaps?

Quirky, creepy without being too creepy, somewhat predictable, but fun concept and I love the typesetting.

2.5 stars, really. Intriguing concept and I really enjoyed the scenes that focused on glassblowing. But most of the rest seemed rather far-fetched for the time period, and 2/3 of the sisters are highly annoying for a large portion of the tale. The book also could've used a stronger hand with edits, especially at the beginning. I almost gave up reading as it was just progressing so slowly. I'm curious how much some of my quibbles are related to the translation itself. . . . Also, the whole Strobel subplot felt like it was leading to something larger (especially since it was so jarringly out of place with the rest of the novel) that just never materialized. Unless that gets picked up again in the next book in the series.

Before I read this, I had no idea about all of the plagiarism controversy surrounding the author. So, that sucks. It was a decent read, and very fast-paced. It kept me turning the pages, even though I guessed all the twists ahead of time and everything felt really familiar. I'm curious to see where the series goes, but I do hope her plotting improves. Or the editing. Many scenes felt like totally unnecessary fluff, unless she plans to use them somehow later.

An important, thoroughly engaging read. While some found the protagonist too whiny and self-absorbed, I found Riley was a very believable teen voice. However, the novel is not without its flaws. Bec was too manic pixie dream girl for my tastes. And I think the author lost a big opportunity to introduce gender-neutral pronouns, and discuss in general how improper pronoun use can further harm trans and non-binary individuals.

This was such a strange reading experience for me. I'd be absolutely bored and about to give up on it, and then some spark would engage my interest for a chapter or two before I'd get utterly bored again. In the end, I feel like nothing really happened and there was no character development. It's entirely possible the book was too smart for me, though.

This is a, well, fair portrayal of the woes facing our current food system. It offers a wealth of practical information on how to best ensure our food system is fair. And while being a conscious consumer is a good thing, the author advocates we become involved citizens as well, as just opting out of the system and tending our own backyard gardens, while admirable, will not solve ensure food equity for all.

Quirky little comic with an inventive narrative style. Well drawn, intriquing premise, but ultimately unsatisfying for me. And too short!