Mari
I've reached the point of dimishing returns with the Hunger Games series. This book mirrors the other books to closely, hitting major plot points in past books with disappointing accuracy. Some aspects were interesting--learning a little more about the Covey, meeting younger versions of future characters, the "sister" relationship, some new mutts in the games--but not enough to make me remotely interested in reading another book in this world, if it continues.
I've reached the point of dimishing returns with the Hunger Games series. This book mirrors the other books to closely, hitting major plot points in past books with disappointing accuracy. Some aspects were interesting--learning a little more about the Covey, meeting younger versions of future characters, the "sister" relationship, some new mutts in the games--but not enough to make me remotely interested in reading another book in this world, if it continues.
This harrowing story is written with so much historical context and sympathy that humanized the Donner-Reed Party very well. This book does an incredible job of breathing life into these emigrants' stories and legacies.
Throughout the entire tale all I could think was, "Why? Were things that bad in Illinois that they had to risk everything in the wildness?" Mary Ann Graves said it best in her letter to family back east, "Stay at home--you are in a good place."
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning about the Old West, the wild idea of Manifest Destiny and the people who embarked into vast nothingness to create what they thought would be a better life.
This harrowing story is written with so much historical context and sympathy that humanized the Donner-Reed Party very well. This book does an incredible job of breathing life into these emigrants' stories and legacies.
Throughout the entire tale all I could think was, "Why? Were things that bad in Illinois that they had to risk everything in the wildness?" Mary Ann Graves said it best in her letter to family back east, "Stay at home--you are in a good place."
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning about the Old West, the wild idea of Manifest Destiny and the people who embarked into vast nothingness to create what they thought would be a better life.
Updated a reading goal:
Read 50 books in 2023
Progress so far: 0 / 50 0%
The first half of this book is what I imagine the Olympic Village is like during competitions. The graphic descriptions constantly took me out of the book. I knew more about the characters' favorite sex positions before I got to know the characters themselves, so the sex felt hollow on the page.
The second half is when the book takes off with the real drama. I started to love the verbal sparring between all the characters in the second half, whereas the sniping in the first half felt unnecessarily cruel instead of engaging a lá Ms. Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
Page 292 had me rolling a tear when Stasie and Nate bared their souls. Very touching and genuine moment.
Stasie made me roll my eyes when she said the egotistical thing about having more therapy than Nate so she knew better. I thought he did go to therapy after all that stuff with his parents and that's why he was such a good communicator?
Anyway, in spite of all that and the typos throughout, the ending was satisfying. That is, until the epilogue ruined it. Why can't authors just let their leads enjoy themselves? Why do they always have to book-end a relationship with The Life Script ™️?
This book was a fun read, though. Now I'm going to rewatch The Cutting Edge (1992).
The first half of this book is what I imagine the Olympic Village is like during competitions. The graphic descriptions constantly took me out of the book. I knew more about the characters' favorite sex positions before I got to know the characters themselves, so the sex felt hollow on the page.
The second half is when the book takes off with the real drama. I started to love the verbal sparring between all the characters in the second half, whereas the sniping in the first half felt unnecessarily cruel instead of engaging a lá Ms. Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
Page 292 had me rolling a tear when Stasie and Nate bared their souls. Very touching and genuine moment.
Stasie made me roll my eyes when she said the egotistical thing about having more therapy than Nate so she knew better. I thought he did go to therapy after all that stuff with his parents and that's why he was such a good communicator?
Anyway, in spite of all that and the typos throughout, the ending was satisfying. That is, until the epilogue ruined it. Why can't authors just let their leads enjoy themselves? Why do they always have to book-end a relationship with The Life Script ™️?
This book was a fun read, though. Now I'm going to rewatch The Cutting Edge (1992).