Michelle
This will go down as one of my favorite books ever. I have cried so ridiculously hard and felt so much. It's weird to say I feel like kindred spirits with a goddess, I get it, but the pull between her need for solitude and company, her closeness to animals, her search for connection, her sadness at the cruelties of others, her fear and devastation at loss, only to discover that's part of living ... I am just overwhelmed with love for this book, even though it's left me vulnerable to emotions I've suppressed.
I cannot recommend this story enough, but if you're like me you'll need a tissue or ten!
Matteo and Rufus spend their last day on earth together, and encourage each other to get past their fears. They also fall in love. If they'd had a lifetime, perhaps they wouldn't have stayed together, but in that day and moment all they could do was celebrate their time together, and believe in who they could have been together. They deserved to revel in being young and in love, and connected to someone else so deeply. This made me think about the stuff I put off ... and I'm not a youngin' any more. Matteo failed to live his life out of fear he would die, and learned too late that you die no matter what, and so you need to live while you can. I liked the other POVs – some of the people were connected to Matteo and Rufus in ways they would never realize, and the way the author revealed those connections was moving. Did I sob? No. I saw the title, and believed it, so I was prepared. But I was moved, and I did cry a little, and I think I'll take the message to heart. Now, [b:More Happy Than Not 19542841 More Happy Than Not Adam Silvera https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437759419s/19542841.jpg 27669922] made me ugly cry.
My mind is a-whir with all the points I want to make here, and all the disclaimers I have as well. Ultimately, this book is dated, which means some of the issues I have are a result of societal evolution. Still, my making allowances for this, as I routinely do, did not help me to enjoy this book more. Before I get into the main focus of my issues – but the image above is a preview – I'd like to say almost nothing worked for me in the story. I found all the characters either creepy or strange in their reactions, down to choices and to dialogue. There is a character that is supposed to be a creepy relative, and he was only slightly more off than anyone else. The good guys and the bad guy seemed to be a bit similar. The Kindle edition I read is also very poorly done, filled with formatting issues. Anyhow, there are 2 POV characters, one a 16-year-old girl with a sexually predatory murderer on her trail, and the other is the sexually predatory murderer. Fair enough when stated that way. Jody, the girl, spends the majority of the book in night shirts or missing her pants. She has a short night shirt, she has a short and tight night shirt, and she has a loose night shirt that – oopsies – falls off her shoulders and allows people to see down it. Her narration is obsessed with what her night shirts are doing at any given moment, what the hem line is doing, what parts of her body are being revealed. The thinness of the material. Even when she is being chased, she is conscious of these details. At one point, she is wearing shorts, but sustains an injury high on the thigh, and so off with the shorts. She also takes a really long shower at one point in which she thinks of the boy she likes. It doesn't completely go masturbatory on her part, but the whole thing seems designed with the intent of the rest of her narration – to remind us she is an attractive (but in many ways innocent and untouched) 16 year old. I don't think Laymon is trying to say this girl is obsessed with her own body, but I think he is obsessed with her body, and doing the thing some male authors do of thinking women are constantly in thought and deed catering to the male libido. He isn't in her head so much as watching her and making his fixations her thoughts. Which the other POV character – the sexually predatory murderer – is going to cover just fine. He has a purpose in being obsessed with her body and her, er, sexy innocence. Her POV should be a reprieve from that, even a rebuke of that as we know her as a full human being. In that way, authors get their cake and etcetera, etcetera. They can be creepy and empathetic, and you can't extrapolate what messed up thoughts they share with the bad guy. But everyone is obsessed all the time with the female body. There's a 12 year old boy who has his whole family slaughtered – first couple chapters – but never loses his fascination with copping a feel or catching a glimpse of Jody or a female cop character. I'll return to the female cop character.This kid is just creepy, and combined with everything and everyone else, seems to imply all men are capable of assaults on women they deem attractive. Or people? There are a couple sexually predatory murderers mentioned who like boys. The kid's erection becomes a plot point. There are moments when Jody also seems to give in a little to his advances. She says he's like a creepy little brother, but she also lets him stick his nose in her crotch for comfort – not making that up – or kisses him on the mouth since he's upset. She's worried her father might come in and get the wrong idea. Jody packs at one point to leave to evade the bad guy, and she thinks her father will be upset that she didn't pack a skirt or dress, not that there are any plans to go anywhere that would specifically need those items, just that it's somehow wrong for her not to have access to these items. The bad guy on more than one occasion wonders why women don't wear skirts and dresses anymore since pants and culottes impede access to ... stuff. With the exception of an old woman, I do believe every other female given a name is sexualized to some extent. The only other female character of any note, other than victims of the central gang, is a female police officer. Upon meeting Jody, she helps bandage her upper thigh injury – the one that forces Jody to remove her shorts – and Jody makes note of seeing down the woman's blouse, and reveals the cop has a thing for black sexy lingerie. God, what's her name? Bonnie, I think. We'll roll with it. Like Jody, Bonnie's character is mostly a hot body in revealing clothes, with just a subtle whiff of actual characterization that is not about her hot body. Jody and Bonnie are both good with guns and fighters, which I still think is presented as being hot. Jody's father makes clear he is attracted to Bonnie, and Jody understands it since Bonnie has big breasts that bounce when she shoots a gun. Dad wasn???t watching the target. His eyes were on Sharon. Jody checked; that???s where Andy was staring, too. Watching her there, NRA cap turned backward so its bill stuck out behind her, the rifle jumping with each shot and throwing out flashes of brass as its muzzle spat fire and white smoke, her whole body absorbing the recoils that hit her with quick hard jolts and shook her shirt and made her thighs vibrate even though Jody knew her legs must be almost as solid as wood. She does look great, Jody thought. No wonder the guys are staring like a couple of nuts. They???re probably wishing they were on the other side so they could watch what the recoils are doing to her boobs.Oh, Sharon. Bonnie is Sharon. Sharbonnie has packed – for the trip that is off-duty, but not unrelated to her job – a flimsy robe. In case anyone is wondering, she shares with the 12-year-old erection and Jody's dad (and Jody) she is naked under the robe, and let's head to the vending machine. She also shares over lunch that she has a tattoo in a mystery location. Because ever and always, the author wants to make sure the reader has something about the bodies of his female caricatures, er, characters, to imagine. Jody's father, btw, has “had kept his chivalry in spite of feminism,” and specifically worries that the condom will fall off inside Jody if she sleeps with a boy. Not just general failure rate of condoms so much as wanting to mention specifically what might happen if someone is INSIDE his daughter. His daughter who should wear dresses and skirts more. He slapped her on the rear once, which is not in isolation a problem for me. It just happens to be partnered with everything else. A whole lot of night shirts and testosterone. Which reminds me that Jody has no connection to any other female character, other than the big-boobed cop. She starts the book with a friend who doesn't make it to page 10, I don't think. No other friends that I recall are mentioned, or call her to see how she's doing. No friend she wishes to call and talk about the friend they just lost. Her mother is dead. Her world is entirely males who objectify females or one female written to be objectified. There is a love interest who has no substance, maybe because Laymon realized the limits to how many people Jody actually seemed to know. I like good, twisted villains. I do. But I'm wired to care about Jody, maybe even more in this case than the author cares about Jody. And I'm of an age where it irritates me that she is spends the book as T and A. That even that strong, capable part of her – or Sharbonnie's – nature seems to be given as just another reason she is sexy and pursued by the bad guy. I read this, and I feel both like Jody and Jody's mom, which makes me feel so sad to see her portrayal. And I realize how spoiled I've become as women authors get a voice, and many male authors are writing women with more empathy and complexity. Endless Night is the book version of slasher films. Jody is a final girl. 1980s me, coming of age, wouldn't know to be sad or offended. The author clearly wasn't aiming to be a sexist. Jody is scrappy, after all, which is why the bad guy – Simon – can't leave her alone. It???s more than just how she looks. She has ... a quality. A freshness. Maybe it also has to do partly with how spunky she was when we were after her.Anyhow, Simon's POV is super gross, but I think it should be. The author really pushes the envelope with describing Simon and his cohorts raping and torturing people. And I get it – horror novel, not Sunday brunch – but my issues with the Jody POV make me unable to go along. Because there are similarities, right? Everybody objectifies women, even the good guys. Simon, hand to God, even objectifies himself as he spends a lot of the novel disguised as a woman. I can't even untangle this plot point. Is the author saying Simon's enjoyment of dressing this way cements him as a sick puppy? Is (was, sorry) the author incapable of writing someone dressed this way, and describing one's self, without making it about level of attractiveness? Oh, look, the male villain put on a dress and now he's breasting boobily too. I mean, how could one not? ;)Anyhow, there were moments of horror and suspense. Those happened. This is why I upgraded to 2 stars. But I never want to read a Laymon book again. I have better choices in horror, in authors, in life, than to read books that gross me out in a bad way. And I know you know there are good gross outs and bad ones. It's not Laymon's fault that time has moved on. That's what time does. It's not his fault that we live in a time with increasing book options. It's not his fault that many female readers expect a different portrayal of female characters that aren't about how many boners they cause, and even when they are cognizant of that, they're also quite possibly addressing and critiquing that. Anyhow, a recent horror novel I really enjoyed was: [bc:Violets are Red 40530821 Violets are Red Mylo Carbia https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1529021360s/40530821.jpg 62918160]But if you think you'll enjoy Endless Night, have at it. I just couldn't stop thinking, “Oh, THIS is what people mean when they say torture porn.”
I've always had a bit of a thing for Dracula, and by extension Vlad Tepes, but I think this story was made more powerful by the change of making Vlad the Impaler a woman, with all the additional trauma, struggles, complications, and twists that come with that choice.
Lada is presented as complicated, brutal, emotionally closed off, vindictive, and just as dangerous as any man. Good for her. ;)
In all seriousness, I love that she is presented in all her complex glory, a character capable of making heartrendingly bad decisions, one who makes a conscious decision not to love so much that she has too much to lose, thus insuring she won't ever hold on to anything that really matters.
This is everything I love most in a novel, particularly a YA novel – important issues, strong female characters, girls looking out for other girls, and strong friendships.
Every time someone steps forward to report they've been sexually assaulted, my heart goes out to them, and I admire their bravery. I hope they find justice and healing, and I hope they're believed. But I also wonder what it would be like to be put in Mara's situation – where you love both the accuser or the accused, or even just the latter.
How difficult it must be to love someone, to have had a healthy relationship with someone, to have that someone be someone you trust and who has been a force of good in your life, and to be confronted with the possibility that they've harmed someone so profoundly.
As much as I advocate believing the victim, I understand that it might be near impossible to do in this one instance, as illustrated in the character of Mara's mother, who is feminist and who has taught Mara to be feminist, but who cannot conceive of her son being guilty. Mara is able to come to perhaps a different conclusion than many might due to knowing her brother so well and because she has her own experiences related to the core issue.
Without giving too much away, I appreciated how Mara kept hearing in her head a derogatory phrase used toward her, and it was in realizing another girl was none of those things and still vulnerable to sexual assault, she was able to realize that she wasn't those things either.
Mara also grapples with still being in love with her ex, and a growing attraction to someone she'd never considered before, and this was also well written. The reasons for her break-up, the reasons she quickly grew close to someone else, and why the story line resolved the way it did.
I highly recommend Girl Made of Stars!
I have a few small nitpicks.
I found the occasional word choices odd and slightly incorrect. At one point, Mara avoided eye contact with a lake, which goes against my understanding of the term. :)
Mara and Charlie start a group called Empower for people interested in feminism and LGBTQ issues, and yet non-binary is treated like a new term, even though I think it should have been on Mara's radar for ... reasons.
This book is ... bananas! I loved it. I felt all the feelings. I laughed and I was moved. I hated and loved the two main characters in turn – felt for them and was angry at them. The tone was snarky and cynical, but then sweet and empathetic. And while I figured out some things, the book still managed to surprise me.
Anyhow, I'm actually hoping there's some kind of sequel as not everything felt resolved, and not everyone who deserved a comeuppance received one. I have to think that will be remedied.
I can't even share my favorite quotes, because they're spoilery, but they were choice.
I love that a conversation Violet had about the nature of Hell and the power of choice took on more resonance as the book continued. Letting go and holding on are both options, and each leads down a different path.
I also loved the different, very dark, fairy tales shared throughout the book. I actually thought I knew the darker versions of stories, and the darker stories, but ... whew!
Ba-na-nahs!
Edited because I forgot to mention I won a Kindle copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway, but I promise I'd tell ya if I didn't like it!
I listened to the audiobook of this, and the story and the narrator were a terrific match, January LaVoy did a great job with the various voices and accents, both the female and male characters. This was just plain fun with the setting of 1920s New York, and the slang, combined with the expert narration. And, of course, it was a bit creepy as well. A lot of future story lines were set up in The Diviners, and I plan to listen t0 – of course, in this case, listen to – the rest of the series. This made dull work at my business go a lot faster!
I enjoyed this book and the characters quite a lot. I do feel like I have to mention that the last portion of the book had a lot of animal suffering/animal experimentation on display. I don't fault the author for this, and I see the purpose, but I would have skipped this book had I known this is where we were headed.
Other thoughts:
I really think the book is not as clear cut as the description made it seem, or as clear cut as I've seen in other reviews. I think an argument could be made for the characters working to fulfill the dates of death they'd been given.
Simon's fate seemed a matter of luck, choice, and belief. His dying on the "right" date persuaded Karla, who believed anyhow, and then she took her death date in her own hands. Daniel didn't know for sure Simon's date came true, but I think he still believed, and after Karla was left with guilt, survivor's guilt, and anger. If Simon has survived his date, his siblings would have probably done the same. They were dominoes
I think the details of Simon's story were somewhat worthy of an eye roll. Once he moved where he did, when he did, it was hard to miss where the author was headed. I don't think she was being intentionally homophobic, but considering how these men were treated at the time like they were getting what they deserved... And then to have a character who an argument could be made pursued AIDS, well, I don't know. I have to say that it lacked imagination.
I very much appreciated the idea, in Daniel, that we stack up our regrets concerning family as time goes on, and then realize the weight of it all. We think we have time to fix everything, some day, and that almost always is false.
I very much hate that my heart is still breaking for that poor little starved, neglected monkey. And for Varya as well, but I went in expecting that.
I seriously am amazed how many critical reviews act like the book is a smut-fest. Yes, the beginning of the book focuses on Varya having hit puberty, and mentions pubic hair, but I don't think it was pointless, as people allege. Chloe Benjamin is asking the reader to remember their own confusion and awkwardness, not to mentally ogle a child. Simon's scenes reflected his mindset, his experiences living in a place where he could be as free as any heterosexual person in any other major city, and eventually the scenes spoke of sadness. But I think of all of this as a really small part of the book.
Also, swear words are ... words. You're reading a book. An author should have access to all the words he or she feels are needed. A “naughty” word will not make you crumple, and I don't understand adults acting like they've been sprayed with acid. Find it off putting, sure, but becoming a 19th century school marm?
I just commented somewhere or another that I'v never had a book crush – I don't “fall for” characters in books. I certainly would not fall for The Dragon in Uprooted – what a sour, stern character. But I believed that he was a good match for Agnieszka though, and vice versa.
But would it have killed someone to ever tell Agnieszka “good job?” :)
I liked Agnieszka a lot. I found her the type of strong female character I like to read. I think her magic came to easily and she always had the right spell too readily, but I kept turning the pages. Her evolution, and the choices she made at the end, really satisfied me and took the book to a whole new level for me.
The woods has villain – before my find out the origin of the threat – was pretty inspired. We know the woods are scary in fairy tales, but this took it to a whole new level of malevolence.
3 and 1/2 stars.
I like Franchesca Ramsey, and how she owns up to her mistakes, and then continues to do her best, which means she gets her butt handed to her from all sides on occasion.
Helpful glossary at the end of woke terms.
Her dog's name is Filthy McNasty.
I remain dismayed at every time I read a book by a woman who is trying to make the world better through social media platforms I have to read how people – mostly men – respond with the most toxic sludge imaginable.
Franchesca tried to take a page with the Lindy West playbook of trying to talk to one of her online attackers and find out why. It went a lot better for Lindy. It kinda went the way I had assumed it would go before Lindy's attempt went so well.
Won in a Goodreads raffle, but exactly my type of book.
This is the story of how my best friend disappeared. How nobody noticed she was gone except me. And how nobody cared until they found her . . . one year later.
Why isn't there, at this moment, a cover image tied to the Kindle edition? The author, the book, and whomever did the cover art deserve that respect.
Okay...
Neutral: I figured out the twist right away. I think that has to do with my being an adult YA reader who read a similar twist in a book by an author who also happens to be mentioned in this novel.
spoiler: My Sweet Audrina, VC Andrews The structure, in order to make sense, also gives a big clue.
I'm not mad about finding out. It's a good twist and I enjoyed tracking it playing out.
Positives: The friendship between Claudia and Monday is beautiful. The comment that Claudia had been saving Monday all along by being her friend and showing her a glimpse of a healthy family life was on point. I cannot say enough about this aspect when all too often we're fed a narrative that girls can never really be friends. Claudia never, ever forgot about Monday or stopped loving or missing her.
This is an OwnVoices book, which is incredible, and something that people should seek out. Anyone can tell a story about anyone, and the results can be terrific, but people with less amplification, less representation, of their own lives and stories should absolutely get several seats at the table for the good of art and for the good of humankind. And, frankly, for the good of readers who are rewarded with complex and truthful stories.
The truth at the center of this novel is an important one. Who is looking out for the poor child, the minority child, the child from a broken home? Who cares when one of these children disappears? Who listens when another marginalized child comes to the system that is supposed to be the safety net and reports someone she cares about is in danger?
Claudia, the POV character, has parents that will not let her fall through the cracks. They will do what it takes, even when extra obstacles are stacked in Claudia's way, to make sure she will succeed. Every child deserves that, but even with loving parents, not every child receives that.
Negative: My only criticism is that the twist – as much as I felt it clever and even understandable from a character standpoint – created some implausibility and pacing issues. I think every novel with a suspense or mystery element gets to play the timing card, where the main character is about to find out something important, but is interrupted. In service of the twist, this book greatly exceeded that quota, creating frustration, making scenes come across as filler, and just generally creating narrative issues, all in service of running out the clock before the reveal can happen.
I would eagerly read another book by this author.
I wonder if the author named the main character Rebecca because the name Becky is associated with basic, privileged white women ... and that's about right.
I don't think characters have to be likable, and some of the best characters are despicable to one degree or another. I guess in this case her bubble was just so frustrating. Toward the end, she is called out on living her life as if everyone else is a secondary character who only exists to support her, but this is after a book of watching her do this ... and nothing said to her seems to stick.
I wonder if, like the name Rebecca, it might be intentional to make her the protagonist, as opposed to a person of color, like Cheryl. That's privilege, in a nutshell. At the same time, I don't think an author would choose the least interesting character in the story in order to make a point.
Rebecca claims to love Priscilla – the nanny whose child she adopts – but Priscilla is an enigma out of, seemingly, Rebecca never taking a genuine interest. Later, she claims the same thing about Cheryl, Priscilla's daughter, but doesn't know her any better than she did her mother.
Her children seem to only exist to orbit around her – to be her inspiration, or validation, or frustration. Her husband's problems are unacknowledged other than to assert that everything will work out.
Privilege.
Rebecca would be the person saying she doesn't see skin color, and that someone could be purple with polka dots for all she cares. The only pass I can give her is that the book is set in the 80s and 90s, even if white women are still sorting out platitudes and microaggressions to this day.
The author does use the time period cleverly to speak to a modern reader. Rebecca hopes her black son will be like Bill Cosby. Even as she deals with Princess Diana's premature death, she imagines sparkling futures for other golden people who the reader knows will also die tragically. She believes in the near future racism will be a non-issue. Does it feel like a non-issue to you? Have we reached the promised land?
I don't know what to do, mentally, with this book, how to file it on my mind. Other than irritation at the main character, my reaction is pretty muted. I wanted more time with Cheryl, and by that I mean as the main character. Perhaps the best scenes were the ones where she called Rebecca on her cluelessness. I would love to know Priscilla's thoughts as well. Come to think of it, the husband would have been an interesting POV character. Her son, Andrew.
Instead I spent 300 pages with Becky. :)
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.
I liked this book okay as I was reading it, but suspected the real power of the story would hit me at the ending, that the book was building toward something. Sometimes books are like that. This IS how the book worked for me – when I looked back on the story.
I enjoyed the characters, and the idea of finding a mother/a self-nurturing side inside yourself. I think there are the mothers we have in the most literal sense and then the archetypal mother – sometimes the two are interwoven and other times ... not. The important thing is that it is deeply human to crave the a deeper, unconditional, life-giving, encompassing love we associate with mothers.
When I was a teen, my mother broke my heart, and I remember crying about wanting my mother, but in that moment I didn't mean her, I meant someone who would give me what I lacked, who would help heal the hurt caused by my actual mother's limitations.
Eh, I don't know.
This is the second book I've read by this (white) author, and both contained prominent black characters going through significant hardships at the hands of white people, and I have to confess I feel conflicted. Of course people should be allowed to write about characters of different races from their own. Still, I can't help but feel like people of color are the best people to write about slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, and civil rights until their voices are given as much weight as the voices of white authors.
???The survivor who was raped at knifepoint feels guilty she has taken up the space of a survivor who was raped at gunpoint. Everyone believes there is suffering worse than her own, that they should be strong enough to cope without me.???
The title undoubtedly refers to how many times this phrase, and similar ones, come up in the essays. Writer after writer wrestles with guilt for feeling pain over something that's “not that bad” compares to someone else, and the realization that what happened was plenty bad. Telling themselves “not that bad” to get through while trying to impress on the people they meet how bad it really was.
Anyhow, these essays are important, informative, and worth your time. We all have the power, in some way, to make this world safer, kinder, more empathetic, to choose to align with the hurt instead of bolstering a system that protects the perpetrator.
???The thing is,??? Rosina says, ???people don???t want to hear something that???ll make their lives more difficult, even if it???s the truth. People hate having to change the way they see things. So instead of admitting the world is ugly, they shit on the messenger for telling them about it.???The Nowhere Girls is similar in many ways to [b:Moxie 33163378 Moxie Jennifer Mathieu https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494950979s/33163378.jpg 46824140], and if you like one, you'll most likely enjoy the other one. I would recommend both of these books. Moxie is a little bit lighter than The Nowhere Girls, but both deal with feminism, rape culture, and the messages we send to girls about their worth. In addition, The Nowhere Girls has even more LGBT representations and one of the main characters (Erin) is living with Asperger's syndrome. The book also shows the best and the worst of people who identify as Christian. The principal in the story is also one of the villains, but she's interesting in, while never being sympathetic, portraying how some women end up as enemies to other women because of their own treatment by, well, the patriarchy. She believes she has to side with the men, with power, in order to hold on to her own power, never seeming to realize that if you have to be a tool for the oppression of other women or else you'll lose your power that you're deluded as to how much control you have. She is worn down by the fight to get where she is and willing to wear down others. I have to say I love stories where girls and women join together to support one another and find their strength. Also, holding the good guys to a higher standard in how they behave and in what they defend. ???There wasn???t any proof,??? he says, his voice rising defensively. ???That???s what everyone said. They said that girl was lying.??? ???That girl has a name.??? Grace tries to kill him with her eyes. When nothing happens, she turns around and storms away. ???Wait, Grace,??? he says. She stops walking but keeps her back to him. ???You don???t understand. You weren???t here. Everything was crazy after Lucy said all that stuff. Everyone at school, the whole town was, like, falling apart.??? ???Yeah???? she says. ???The town was falling apart???? She turns her head and looks him in the eyes. ???How do you think she felt????
Life is not unlike cinema. Each scene has its own music, and the music is created for the scene, woven to it in ways we do not understand. No matter how much we may love the melody of a bygone day or imagine the song of a future one, we must dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step, stumbling around in something that doesn???t suit the moment.
Overall, I loved the primary story line, and I was fascinated by the non-fiction aspect inside of the fiction – that there was a time when children were taken in large numbers away from their birth families and sold to rich adopters, and that much of this was public knowledge. I was drawn in to the story of the Foss family, although they were fictional, and wanted to read their story and discover what happened next.
What proved to be less successful for me was the modern day story line, with a wealthy, privileged woman finding out the truth her grandmother had been hiding. Although this meshed with the story I cared about, I really had less of a passion for what felt more like a romance novel that barely brushed against the plot I cared about.
I have no issue with romance novels, having reading literally thousands, but it wasn't the book I wanted to read at that moment. Avery's wealthy family and the people who swirled around them were also unappealing – shallow people concerned about reputation and comfort. We are told Avery's parents are good people, but little of that is shown.
And I get the irony there – that I didn't care much about this aspect while saying there should have been more of it so that I could grow to care. But this book is simply too short to do right by all the characters and plot lines.
I am asked to care about Avery, and I do, just not as much as I do the Foss family, but the things I've been asked to be concerned about are then settled off the page. To say much more would be a spoiler, but 20 more pages given to the modern story line to add some depth and tie up a few loose ends would have probably done a world of good for my enjoyment. I certainly would have enjoyed even more time on the timeline I really enjoyed.
I do want to thank the author for making me aware of a fascinating and tragic detail of American history.
Anyhow, I borrowed this from the library through my Kindle, and had a pretty long wait. I just looked, and my library system had 8 copies of the ebook to lend, and SEVEN people waiting per copy. This is a really popular read, and so many people do love the story in it's entirety, so my issues don't add up to much. I will return my copy in a minute, and the next person will receive an email to tell her (am assuming it will be a her) that the book she's been looking forward to is ready.
Happy reading!
He wants to believe that playing by the monarchy???s rules will keep us safe, but nothing can protect us when those rules are rooted in hate.
One of the best reads of 2018. If you like strong women characters, magic, adventure, PoC representation, and a compelling story, this will probably be your jam.
Excited for the rest of this series.
I had both the Kindle and the audiobook copy, and Bahni Turpin is a great narrator. I've never been disappointed in her.
The people who didn't care for this tend to be bothered by the author being successful, or having successful friends – but I knew that going in. Reading is supposed to make you more empathetic, and all the money and famous friends in the world can't shield someone from loss, mourning, and grief.
Joan Didion is called a cool customer early on in the book, and that sums it up – she is calm, measured, and thoughtful in her writing, not at all prone to histrionics, which made me as a reader respond in a similar manner as she explores a very bad year in her life.
???Am I the worst person???? ???Well, no,??? says Simon. ???That would be Voldemort.??? ???But I???m close, right? Like, Voldemort is here.??? I level my hand up, almost to the roof of the car. ???And I???m here.??? I drop my hand a few inches. ???And then the next worst guy is down here. Like, the dentist who killed that lion. He???s right here.???
Becky Albertalli is one of the best YA writers today – fight me!
She consistently writes diverse, funny, relatable character, and she did it again. I'm not sure any book will beat “Simon” in my heart, but I think I had more laugh out loud moments this time around.
When I say she writes diverse characters, I mean she does it in this wonderful this-is-the-world-today way that seems so natural and right, and I'm a sucker for it.
If you like her previous books, I don't see how you wouldn't like this one, with all the familiar characters, the poignancy of realizing their group is about to break apart as they head to different schools, the confusion of first love, the funny moments – like where they ate dinner prom night – and even a plot about the courage to call out a friend for being racist and not letting anyone convince you it's not a big deal.
Edited July 2020 to include a critical link to the Native representation in the book: Twitter Thread on Justina Ireland's DREAD NATION .
I liked Dread Nation for many reasons. It's the type of book I go out off my way to read. Own voice, diverse characters, LGBTQA+ representation.
Honestly, there are white cis male authors I enjoy, but I don't particular feel I need more of that perspective in my life to the extent I have to do looking for it – that POV tends to find us all. Even in this novel, we wrestle with the powers that be thinking the color of their skin makes them more favored in the eyes of God, more valuable, more deserving of wealth and safety.
The difference is that Justina Ireland treats this perspective as the evil it is.
I enjoyed the story through out, but it never transcended into love. I'm glad I read it, I never got impatient for it to end, I was intrigued at where the plot was going, concerned about the characters. tense when the shamblers (zombies) were shambling, appreciative of the subtext that spoke to racism, colorism, shooting unarmed black men and women out of unfounded fear, and happy that a very important character was clearly written as asexual, while the main character seems quite possibly bi.
I don't know if I bought the discussions where the last details emerged. The asexuality reveal felt natural enough, but it seems to me that during that time period people often felt same sex attraction without really identifying it in those terms. This might just be me not reading the right books written in this time period, but I've read books that definitely made me wonder, but no one at the time the story was written, or the diary passage, or the letter seemed to think twice about it.
I'm open to suggestions that will prove me wrong about homosexuality or bisexuality being on the radar of your average person back then.
Oh, I loved that Jane was reading Tom Sawyer, and how I thought I knew exactly what she was reading based on the version we all know, but this version is set in a world where the dead roam. :)
And Tom Sawyer, of course. I???ve taken a liking to the little urchin, and I???d like to see where he ends up. It seems the boy is always running afoul of a pack of shamblers in the midst of his Missouri adventures, and the boy???s derring-do reminds me of my own exploits.
I look forward to the next book in the series! And, to be shallow, the next book cover which I hope si just as stunning!