Lindsey Ziegler
The women chosen weren't that interesting and the emphasis was not on what they ate, but on other parts of their history.
I couldn't finish this one. It was dark to begin with, but when the main character was going to go undercover...nope, that was it.
If the main character had been white, like the author, I might have been able to continue, but it just felt like so much cultural appropriation.
It definitely hit me right for nostalgia. Well-written and well-thought out. The books he mentioned have stood the test of time.
Creepy.
Also, the style of writing was very strange. The perspectives jumped around (we even got a first person perspective from the dog) and left me feeling whiplash.
It started slow as well.
I've read this book at least five or six times. It's comforting and lush, full of life and magic.
Very compelling and strong characters. As a lover of fandom, I certainly could relate.
The details took away from the story of the book. One of those books where I couldn't see the forest for the trees.
A interesting and well-written story of a hidden part of WWII. The stories did jump about some and were a bit hard to follow, as the boys were generally similar.
2.5 stars.
You could definitely tell it was a debut. There was just a little awkwardness in the phrasing of most of the dialogue and the descriptions.
The story was interesting enough, although mostly predictable.
Super sad. Each new revelation showed more and more tragedy.
But there was hope, at the end.
This was a super hard read for me as my grandmother just moved into a nursing home, suffering from dementia, so everything that happened there was close to me.
The two main characters were interesting and well-developed. The story was compelling and kept me reading.
And thank goodness that Eliot was not the end-game. He's an idiot.
A little predictable, but likable and fully drawn characters, as you would expect from a Sarah Dessen novel.
DNF
I slogged through about half of the book, but nothing happened. Even the big twist didn't change anything.
There was just nothing here.
The main character had a strong voice, however, the book was rather predictable and didn't offer as much as a different perspective as I had hoped.
3.5 stars. Some of the plot seemed pieced together rather than fitting together well. The main characters were interesting, but some of it was just unrealistic. It seemed strange that both brothers fell for the same girl while trying to figure out their father's death.
Some of the stories were good, but mostly they were more analysis and less personal stories, like I expected.
It was very fast in the beginning and the end, but the middle got a bit repetitive.
The three main characters were developed, but nobody else was. There was also a lot of gaps that the reader was expected to fill, but with what, I've no idea.
3.5 Stars.
The theme of the story is very dark, but because the narrator is a kid, it helps. The plot was a little slow in parts and too fast in others.
It was a long book for the amount of stuff that happened and the characters never really developed that much.
Dark and twisted, with a very traditional fairy tale feel. Having read Wayward Children 1 first, I knew how the girls would end up, which made the book less enjoyable.
The reveal and climax of the novel were boring and non-consequential. And they never addressed any of the outcomes or of how this affected Jordan.
I definitely learned some new things about games and history. It touched on more than just board games, but not too much.
3.5 stars. Dark and strange, with interesting characters. It was a really quick read and the premise definitely carried it, but it was very violent. Far more violent than I would have liked.