Michelle
Goes a long way in describing white male anger, feeling “left behind,” and a cycle of abuse, poverty, and dysfunction. Now what?
Eliza is the least interesting part of this book for a while – when you're a depressed introvert with social anxiety, that'll happen. What do artists owe their fans? When does the act of creation take you away from the rest of your life? Can people get off George RR Martin's behind?
Maybe it's the teen girl in me hidden in the well-into-adulthood woman, but I like when Eliza's brothers school her parents about just how colossally they messed up.
Unavoidable Spoilers for this, and Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell! I would recommend both of these authors, even if you read this and know/discover some of the details. These are spoilers, but they're not, imo, SPOILERS!
“But I don't get one thing, and it's a kind of important thing,” Svetlana says, and here she finally stops and turns to face me. “Do you want to be with me, or do you want to be me?”
I recently read Guy in Real Life,* by Steve Brezenoff. I seem to have preordered it. I do that a lot, and then can't remember why. Could have been the cover. Could have been a comparison to Eleanor and Park. Could have been that they have similar covers. As I type this, that seems to job my memory. An article on cover trends!
As an unabashed fan of YA, I like a lot of things I'm seeing these days, particularly books about misfits and geeks. Another book I read about a year ago that works for this trend is The Summer I Became a Nerd. “Summer” and “Guy” are very similar in exploring the same gaming world.
Guy went to a surprising place, and did so in a way I could have never predicted. Lemme explain.
In the beginning, “Guy” reads as a simple love story. Lesh and Lana have a bit of a meet cute, and it seems like their obstacle is going to be that he's a headbanger ??? is that still the term? ??? and she's a D&D dungeon master.
Where it subtly went a different way is that Lesh, while grounded, gets pulled into World of Warcraft. (Never mentioned by name.) He doesn't find himself interested in playing an orc and gaming with his friend, but secretly creates an elf who looks a whole lot like Lana.
This decision could be chalked up to horny boy creating a hot looking female to stare at, who looks like his crush. And this is maybe what it is, or part of what it is, or how it started. As he games, he finds himself slipping into the role of Svvetlana. (Two v's because regularly Svetlana was already used in the game.) He allows other players to think he's female.
And there are repercussions. See, not spoiling more than I must for this discussion.
I will say that he learns a little of what it's like to be female, including the male gaze, and someone who crosses boundaries in a way that most women either know or fear.
Eventually Lana finds out about his character, and asks the question quoted above. And here, for me, is the biggest similarity to Eleanor and Park. Both endings, in the tradition of The Lady or the Tiger? doesn't answer all the questions, instead asking the reader to reach his or her own conclusion. Lesh answers Lana, to an extent, and is honest, but the reader will be left with questions.
Like any sane person, I have a love/hate relationship with endings like this. Eleanor and Park has me mentally begging for One More Line!
It's clear Lesh likes ??? like likes ??? Lana. It's also clear he wishes he could be more like Lana, to what extent is left unclear. Maybe the point is that he doesn't have to know that answer today.
Lana, by the way, is terrific. Intelligent, funny, creative. And even formidable.
I would recommend this book, all the books mentioned, with a recommend in capital letters for Eleanor and Park! What I think might not work for some readers of Guy in Real Life is a lot of time is spent in the various games, and those are written very realistically, with immersion in those fantasy realms. It's cool and creative, and so very relevant about who Lesh and Lana really are, but if you think nothing ever happens on Mad Men, or that there was no point to the “beetle” scene in Game of Thrones, eh.
Of “Guy” and “Summer,” I would label “Summer” the more accessible book about gaming and geek culture (and being a girl into these things) if this is foreign territory. I recommend Eleanor and Park to anyone with a soul.Still, “Guy” raises interested questions about identity and the search for self. The characters feel real, complex, and engaging. I was blow away by how Brezenoff deftly lead me into the book, and had me read a good long way, before I realized some of the issues he'd brought into play. I have to wonder if some of this is because if I, a woman, play WoW as a guy, no one will give me grief ??? in fact, I'll get less grief, and be allowed to game in piece* ??? and the exercise never raises questions about identity. My choice would be met with a shrug, a male playing as a female is looked at as dishonest, and his gender identity and sexuality are regarded with suspicion.Good choice, you, in picking this book. Allow me to pat myself on the back.Guy in Real Life becomes an acronym, G.I.R.L. This refers to men pretending to be women. Some of the “men” undoubtedly would not self-identify as such.**Okay, there are some people with souls who probably didn't like E&P, so please allow me my moment of hyperbole.But like Lesh, love playing a female blood elf. I prefer a hunter to a healer, though.
On a clear night in blacked-out countryside, in between bomber runs, when the tracer fire ceased and the searchlights went dark, the stars did not fill the sky so much as coat it like hoarfrost on a windowpane. You looked up and saw The Starry Night, he told me; you realized that Van Gogh was a realist painter.
I honestly don't know what to rate this or what the review should say. I was not the ideal reader for much of it, and considered portions of the story to be a chore, but other portions I loved, and I'm glad I read it.
The grandfather character – I label him this because it's deliberately unclear what's true of Chabon's real grandfather and what's not – threw a cat out a third story window as a kid. And then this gets mentioned 2 or 3 more times. Why? I don't know, but I'm not exactly the ideal reader for this detail. And since fiction readers are more empathetic, I'm not sure who that ideal reader is.
I enjoyed that the story, not being linear, ended up this pleasing whole, that it cataloged much of a life, and the ups and downs of a marriage when one of the people has mental health issues.
Connecticut – Part of my United States of YA project to read (at least) one YA per state.
It had a Sheltie in it, that was nice.
Mia was too much of a whiner. First world problems galore. Understandable fears, concerns, and insecurities repeated t0 the point most sympathy was lost. Who can't find one good or interesting thing about being a princess? Travel? The opportunity to meet inspirational people? The chance to do good?
Also, the kid was oblivious to very obvious things.
It had a Sheltie, though. Oh, and Anne Hathaway narrated. Don't think I ever saw the full movie, so that the book was different wasn't a problem.
Big fan of Joe Hill, big fan of parts of this book, but was ultimately disappointed and felt the story got away from him.
This is one of those books where you know you're enjoying it, and you know you care about the characters, but you don't know just how much until the end, when all your feelings rise up.
I read this for the first time when I was maybe 10-years-old or so. My mother and grandmother were fans of the author and it was easy for me to fall in love with her writing as well.
Aspects of the story are dated, certainly the musical references that are there to make the heroine seem young and hip, but it's still an enjoyable read.
The writer is more famous for the Elizabeth Peters books, but I'm a Barbara Michaels fan through and through and think any of the books issued under that name are worth a read.
This is the second book in the SanFranVamp series and I have to say I enjoyed it a little bit more than Bloodsucking Fiends, which I also enjoyed. I think the key to it was Abby Normal, a hysterically funny goth girl. I met Abby first in her brief appearance in A Dirty Job and she provided most of the laugh out loudiest lines here. She is a complete brat and yet is rarely annoying, particularly in how she works toward the goal of doing enough for the homeless. ::Recalls details, shakes head, grins::
All the stuff I like in the first book, I still liked her and so this review is going to be a little short. Christopher Moore's madcap sense of humor and characters who manage to be dim and brilliant all at once are still well represented.
I'm holding off on reading the third in the series and am planning on tackling some earlier works, starting with Practical Demonkeeping My strategy has to do with Moore having cameos from past books – I want to start from the beginning so that I can “Catch” then all. (See, this is one of those references.)
Moore is always a good pick if you want something that's funny and clever and occasionally slips in some deeper topics.
I liked this. It wasn't a 5 star for me because the ratio of seriousness of lightness, and the very easy resolution of issues, didn't quite hit the target for me. And that's a really personal thing, and I in no way find it a personal failing of the author. I just wanted more with her brother's illness, the obstacles to not fall away so quickly.
I'd almost compare it to the Schitt's Creek world, in that it was meant to take place in a town without homophobia. Here, there was some bigotry, some homophobia, but very little. There was almost this feeling that all Liz ever had to do was try harder to be popular, athletic, unique, and voila – that her worries were not quite real. I mean, I can't fault the author for wanting it to be a better world, but it seemed like there was one bad person, and once she was dealt with... Just like I understand Dan Levy wanting to make his world one of inclusion, I can't begrudge this for Leah Johnson.
But in the end, I gave in and was moved by the fairy tale ending Liz never expected to receive.
I liked it as I was reading it, but having trouble remembering it. Might have been I was in a bad place. Blame me, not the author.
Wandfasted tilts heavily toward a romance novel, which I don't think The Black Witch did – there was romance and love interests, but it was more about prejudice and the resistance. Wandfasted is essentially the story of Elloren's (from The Black Witch) parents meeting and the rise of The Black Witch, who was Elloren's grandmother. At the time of this book, the Gardnerians were the underdog, and as we know from the novel, they eventually rose to power, and learned nothing from their oppression other than to punish others.
Anyhow, there was some really smutty hand holding. No, not kidding. You'll know it when you read it. As long as you go in knowing this is largely a romance novel, this isn't bad. It's interesting to speculate on what happens next with Elloren's parents since Elloren thinks they were on board with her grandmother, which is not what Wandfasted reveals.
Nice start to a series, but would have liked more action and focus on the competition the main character was in, as opposed to the romance angle. But I know a lot of people are into love triangles. I know who I want her with, and have read a million romances in my lifetime, but I picked this up to read about a female assassin. [b:A Court of Thorns and Roses 16096824 A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) Sarah J. Maas https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491595796s/16096824.jpg 21905102], also by the author, focuses on romance, too – but the cover and the plot ask for it, beg for it. I have all the series novellas, which I plain on reading fairly soon.
I did not love this book. Tons of action, certainly violence, but disjointed motives, and I felt emotionally flat, and skimmed a lot. Too many points of view for me to become absorbed.
Here is where I want to give the author all sorts of credit, and go to bat for her. The “cast” was diverse, and I love that. But I don't believe it was unbelievably diverse, as I've seen said in a lot of reviews. A handful of PoC and a few people who fall under the umbrella of LGBTQA+ does not seem implausible even for a small “white” school. Sometimes when people are underrepresented, when they do show up, sometimes readers or viewers are left with an inflated perceptive of how prominent they are.
One of the classics from my childhood. I would read the book...and then immediately start reading it again.
What can I say? I really had fun with this one, and would love to read more YA with nerd/geek characters!
Near perfect read. I like and respect the premise – the nods to other books, including mashups of “literature” and horror. I liked what the book had to say about the human instinct to ignore the things we want to keep at a distance. And I liked what the book had to say about women not being taken seriously. Bahni Turpin! I listened to the audiobook, and I'm so glad I did. If I listed my favorite audiobooks of all time, no narrator would show up more than Bahni Turpin. I just love her work, and she blew me away yet again.A deal with the devil. I kept on thinking about the Audre Lorde quote about how the master???s tools will never dismantle the master???s house. The white women at the center of the story are invested in not rocking the boat, in not challenging their husbands, in justifying the status quo. White women, then and today, come by a lot of their privilege through the white men with whom they align, and these women find out just how precarious it all is. Early on, we're told a story about the vampire which shows his modus operandi – target black people, appeal to the greed and ego of white men. The main character, Patricia, tries to appeal to her friends, telling them he's harming black children. They try very hard not to believe, wanting to choose ignorance, especially since their husbands are in business with him. Patricia fairly early on makes the association that those kids could be her kids, and you save children when in peril. Why, yes, there's foreshadowing then. I had sympathy for some of the women, I also wanted to smack them, and their willfull ignorance. These women were rarely overtly racist, but they happily lived in their segregated neighborhood, chatting about gated communities, oblivious to what's happening down the road from them. Arguably the most heroic person is a black woman who looks after the main character's mother in law, and she I would have loved more of her perspective. She also calls the ladies on their B.S.This story is the road to these women removing their blinders, which might be a bit of a familiar feeling to some people these days. You could definitely read it through the lens of BLM, and a theme of which lives matter, and to what degree. Not that the author is overt, or directly invokes it. A quick Google search indicates he is not publicly political. SSDGM by a Vampire The women are fans of true crime, and that just might be what saves them. The excerpts and discussions are murderino approved! Blah Blah Blah The vampire, and just about every man in this story is a big old mansplainer. The vampire mansplained until the last moment. Some “people” cannot be killed enough. The men also kinda ruined the book club for a bit. Being a woman with important information, and being gaslighted and not heard is a pretty classic (and relatable) horror trope. He has his father's eyes. One of the classic authors of satirical horror was a man named Ira Levin, and I have to think Grady Hendrix, who is a student of the genre [b:Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction 33670466 Paperbacks from Hell The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction Grady Hendrix https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504436657l/33670466.SX50.jpg 54542087] had him in mind, particularly [b:Rosemary's Baby 228296 Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary's Baby, #1) Ira Levin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878603l/228296.SY75.jpg 883024] and [b:The Stepford Wives 52350 The Stepford Wives Ira Levin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554371721l/52350.SY75.jpg 1534281]. The Levin books and this one have oodles in common, particularly husbands who will sell out their family for success, and wives who are belittled while living the saying that you are not paranoid if people really are out to get you. You CAN judge a Grady Hendrix book by it's cover. He has the best covers these days. I cannot decide which version of My Best Friend's Exorcism I prefer, but I think it's the VHS looking one.[bc:My Best Friend's Exorcism 41015038 My Best Friend's Exorcism Grady Hendrix https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533059241l/41015038.SY75.jpg 46065002][bc:My Best Friend's Exorcism 26118005 My Best Friend's Exorcism Grady Hendrix https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1456208235l/26118005.SX50.jpg 46065002]Genius. Meanwhile, this cover is –Chef's kiss– Women's fiction, literary fiction, horror, maybe even Twilight. Compare:[bc:The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires 54333381 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires Grady Hendrix https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593499474l/54333381.SX50.jpg 68534292][bc:Commonwealth 28214365 Commonwealth Ann Patchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1483278132l/28214365.SY75.jpg 48242398][bc:Twilight 41865 Twilight (Twilight, #1) Stephenie Meyer https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361039443l/41865.SY75.jpg 3212258][bc:Bite Me 8570832 Bite Me Christopher Moore https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442548654l/8570832.SY75.jpg 6752024]Here's a secret I usually also end up becoming a bit chocked up ready books by this author. The stories are camp, and satire, and funny, but there's also a real heart there that comes shining through at unexpected moments. What else? I hate when pets die horribly in horror, and this author HAS DONE THAT BEFORE in a way that – no pun intended – haunts me, so when I saw there was a dog in this one... See, I am traditionally so worried about the pet that any time they're on the page I'm so freaked out that my enjoyment of the story is diminished. In case you are like me, and would prefer to know going in... The book takes place over several years, and the dog does eventually die, and it IS sad, but Ragtag does not die a sad horror story death. Close, but...Oh, the son is obsessed with Nazis, and Patricia never pursues that, which to me is just part of the theme of not wanting to deal with the hard stuff. Also, I am not saying this would automatically make him evil, considering what I read, but it fascinates me that she never pursues this. Major Spoiler And nothing comes of it. I suppose it was just there for the reading to track and worry about.
Extremely creepy!
I'd dare say a point is being made about female power traditionally being as precarious as it is feared and how female emotions were often viewed as hysteria.
A new Stephen King book will always hold excitement for me. I've been reading him practically my whole life, and my mother read him as well. I'd probably embarrass myself if I ever met him.
I enjoyed this book. The thriller/chiller stuff was pretty late on the scene. King take time to explore the central mystery of how a man could be in two places at once, each conclusively, long before the bad guy makes an appearance.
I'm not going to say the story wasn't at all about the outsider, but I will say that King seems to be more interested in the good – but flawed – characters dealing with issues of morality and belief. How do you clear your conscience when you feel in part responsible for the destroyed reputation of a man who might very well be innocent? How do you find the courage to do the right thing if the right thing is dangerous? How do you pick up the pieces after a sudden loss or multiple losses? How do you learn to forgive? How do you balance being a person with logical, organized mind while also allowing yourself to make room for a belief in the seemingly impossible?
A very beloved character from the Bill Hodges trilogy makes an appearance here, so if you're interested in Mr. Mercedes (and the two related books) you really ought to read those first or else you will encounter significant spoilers. I was very glad to see this character, though, and felt they added something very important to The Outsider.
Check out the wink and a nod to Mr. King's well known disregard for the Kubrick The Shining movie! Also, anyone who knows the author's politics won't be surprised to know there are a handful of comments about the state of our country today – not tons of mentions, technically, but they're there.