rogier caprino
2.5/5
My thoughts
Liar, Liars, pants on fire . Fire ... FiRe FIREeeeeeEeee !!!! mad cackle
This lovely summer abode is full of half truths, half lies and loss somewhere, here and there. I'm not allowed to go into specifics so let start what I'm able to mention.
We were liars consists of 90% of nothing that happens. Yes there are conversations between characters ,flashbacks and king leer fairy tale-esque chapters. The excitement only happened in the last 40 odd pages. I have enjoyed slow moving or plot lacking books in the past. And in most cases my love of the characters are the reason for this . I can not say this while reading we were liars . And here I say I did not feel attached to any of them . They are spoiled rich kids and their spoiled fucking family ( pardon for my language ) . I felt meh towards the MC.
The writing
I have grown fond of lyrical and poetic prose. But miss Lockhart did not do it for me. I do have to add that I loved the king leer chapters. I've recently studied it in English class and it was nice to see it used in someway.
I did however not like the description of the Indian male love interest. I don't know what's she means with it but could she not have worded it differently . A sentence from the galley
“He was contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee “ 5%
Maybe I'm overreacting . Does she mean coffee as a likeness to the darker skin tone.
Romance
The romance is nothing special but useful to me personally. I used my real life crush to in the place of the love interest ( btw my straight crush is Indian also ). And used him in the story to get over my unrequited love/ crush thingy . The big reveal and the circumstances were used to get over it. #amIMorbid ?. Unrequited love thingy is a bitch . So that's something personal . #stopFalling4thestr8'ies
To wrap this up I found this book pretentious. I'm not ashamed to be the black sheep and also will not pick an other book John Green praises and blurbs. I've not read any green book but I'm 100% I will not like it as well. The same with Rainbow Rowell . I do however maybe want to try Lockhart ‘s previous books . I did not like it but you might . A lot of people surely do.
8 - 15 September 2020 / 4.5 out of 5 . see my first read through for my thoughts
march 5 -17 - 2014 / 4.5 out of 5
My thoughts
We've all used our imaginations during our childhood ,current children still do and future ones will do the same. As we grow older were confronted with reality and the fantasies , forts build out of pillows and blankets and playing with stuffed animals stops and fades away. Of course authors never lose this marvelous thing. Though some are better then others . The riverman is a tale of the girl who imagined, the boy who wants to believe - beliefs and at the same still remains sceptic and that mysterious evil that steals all .Both real and imaginative .
You should not judge a book by its cover but I do anyway , from time to time and requested The riverman on NG for that sole reason .So glad I got approved. The riverman is about Fiona loomis and Alistair Cleary who were once close friends when they were younger . But now at the age of 12 in 1989 , they have drifted apart like some friends do when growing up. On a particular day in October Fiona needs his help to save Aquavania and stop the Riverman. Ooh , how I like Alistair . In A very skeptic way Alistair listens to her and tries to play along and helps her . He tries to figure it out but can't figure it out if it's real or not and starts to believe , still a skeptic thought remains. The story of Fiona loomis in Aquavania is written anecdotally and in the 3rd person. In this way it does not feel like there was any info dumping and it could be seen as the detachment from Alistair from what Fiona tells him.
Characters
The main characters are Fiona , Alistair and Charlie , who's Alistair best friend. I will mention my thoughts of them briefly.
Alistair is the one I could so relate with. He feels like an outsider and is friend with Charlie not because Charlie is that good of a friend but because it is convenient and Alistair is scared that he will lose that only friend if he demands Charlie to be better friend . When they hang around they only do what interests Charlie and that is playing video games. Alistair has certain maturity to him but you can still see he is still a child. I loved his eye for detail and observation. Also he's a kind kid that gets in though situations in this book but still keeps his head in the mid of it.
I've had some difficulty with Charlie. He's the resident cat lady or rather cat boy and gets bullied because of it but he does not give a kaka about that. I've had sympathy for him but along the way my liking for him changes. A mix between hatred , confusion and sympathy after the things he did and a accident that happened to him . He will be an interesting character to watch in the other two books of this trilogy.
And finally Fiona . She is very mysterious and once you think you know her , she does something unexpected . And this puzzling ambiance of her makes Alistair fall in love with her but at a steady pace. You don't really get to know Fiona at all but only see glimpses of her and this quote explains her perfectly .
She left reminders of herself, but she didn't leave herself, and I was sick of it.
I hope we get to know more of her in future books .
Ok , I was never really scared of the big kahuna . The riverman only appears at the last 30 pages but the tension is creepy and unnerving. I don't know a lot about him but I put him the same class of that of count Olaf.
The setting
Yes we get to know about Aquavania , it is fantastical and anything you can dream of can happen it but what drew me in the first place starting from page one is the town of Thessaly. I've always loved the small town feeling in books maybe because of the reason that Paramaribo , Suriname has that same atmosphere. Thessaly has that close knit community and even has a Christmas tree with lights that represent every Thessaly originated battle perished soldier. That's really cool is you ask me. This is middle grade book but an amount of darkness is present. There are mentions of sex, trailer parks, drugs , vandalism and even an scene were someone tells about murder that was committed. This book is not for the smaller of the smalls but more for upper middle grade and even an upper YAer or Adult can read it .
A younger person will enjoy the marveling Aquavania and an Adult has an coming of age book to come too. This book tells you about death in some way or an other , that living in a fantasy world or using your imagination is fine and dandy but that you should break from that and be in the present as well. I can't wait for the sequels and hoping to get ahold of Mr starmer previous books. I hope you will enjoy this mysterious , magical , grounded and smart middle grade book that people from different ages will get something out of. I will not easily forget about this book.
3.5
My thoughts
( I could not find real american foot ball audibles* ,so I created one)
B24 B 22 C 10 ,Hut Hut Hut .
( an audible* cry out )
American football is one of the four major sports in ‘Merica . As I'm from South America , specifically Suriname , I have never experienced or seen a live match on TV . I've only come in contact with this sport through American media. Ok now a bit on the sport !
American football (known as football in the United States and gridiron in some other countries) is a sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field 120 yards long by 53.33 yards wide with goalposts at each end. The offense attempts to advance an oval ball (the football)down the field by running with or passing it. They must advance it at least ten yards in four downs to receive a new set of four downs and continue the drive; if not, they turn over the football to the opposing team. Most points are scored by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.source ; Wikipedia *Now that we know what american football is I can share my thoughts on this novel . I know little or nothing at all of the sport .Out of the pocket has been the first American Football centric novel I've read ,I do have others on my radar or on my shelf but this is the first. So I can not say if the author represented well enough but I could feel as if was a part of the team trough Bobby's eyes . I could feel the comradery between the team mates and the rush of adrenaline on the green during a match . Bobby Framingham has it all ,he is the school's star quarterback , popular and dating a cool weird chick. Ok kinda dating . But he's is hiding something , his attraction to men . His not coming out because it could damage his future foot ball college career . Involuntary coming out of the closet changes his carefully crafted cocoon. He's outed by a school reporter .Ok that's a quick rundown on the Out of the Pocket . ( it's really paraphrased version of the synopsis , hahaha) ok now on the characters , pacing and all that jazz.The charactersBobby has a great voice trough out the book. A great friend and team mate who would have had my back in a match if I was one of the characters in this novel. It took me a quarter of the book to emotionally attach to him with this said it does not mean he was annoying or anything. He felt like nothing special but at end of Out of the Pocket I felt for him dearly . And I like how he handled the situation caused by the outing and how dealt with the kid that outed him . Bobby was of course furious but calmed down did nothing stupid and handled it well. Up to bro . ( tiny 5'4 roro tries to hive five him lol ) . I don't know or can't remember but I envisioned bobby to be 5'9 ^^. The remaining cast of characters were okay. Nothing special but the ones that sticked with me are his parents. They were in his life. A lot of times YA novels don't have present parents and if they have some the parents often take a back seat in the scheme of things ( hope I'm using the expression correctly ). Bobby is very consumed about his parents and especially his father and after I thing that happens they grow closer. Coming out and an other thing started the growth. *I hope I have an great coming out experience when I come out. My dad thinks it a face and mum does not know yet . Ok enough of my life drama ( you're here for the review gosh darn it lol , tnx for the eventual comments of what I just shared )
The plot and such
Out of pocket is written in first person past tense. The things that made it special in my opinion were the sports articles appearing at certain moments in this book. I loved one in particular. Just saying
2nd.The other thing that I loved to read about was the football terms , I've was never interested in American football. I must watch one now . Name your favorite team in the comments and do say so why ^^ .
One thing I did not like and which dropped the rating with 1 1/5 star was the notion being gay is okay as long as your not effeminate. I don't know if this is intentional but it appeared at least twice in Out of the Pocket. It's only okay when you're a jock/ athlete .AKA very masculine . I'm not effeminate but I would get crushed at a football match . I'm more like the artsy skinny kid but this rubbed me the wrong way. In the past I felt like effeminate gay guys gave the gay community a bad rep but I now I don't think that way anymore . That's who they are . Ok back to the review . Later on Bobby come to same conclusion but I did not take way what already was done . Maybe I'm bitter or hypocritical but effeminate statement should not have happened. Also the new upcoming romance has an open ending I which I don't like. I wish it did't ( the open ending )
My final thoughts
I've had this book on my wish list since 2011. By then it was already 3 yrs old . Every time I had the opportunity to buy it I did not. I was planning to buy it early 2012 when I would win cash again but my access to the internet was cut 2013 so I was not able to. Now 2014 it is out of print . I bought a kindle version with the sum of credits I had left and some I had recently won at the time . It is freaking $ 14 . Overpriced and I did not love it 100% but still happy I gave it a try. I hope you all give it a try . Library lend it or find it at second hand bookstores . $14 dollars is not worth it for the kindle . Time flies for sure . When this book was published not a lot of current day athletes came out but recently that has changed. Ranging from nfl players to a WWE superstars and even Olympic divers like Tom Daley and Matthew Mitcham ( he's 26 or soon to be and he's so adorable , search him up on YouTube his ukelele videos brighten up my day immensely ) . I can't wait for openly straight but hopefully I won't wait till it's out of print
*audibles: Audible, a tactic used by quarterbacks in American football to change a play at the line of scrimmage
My thoughts
Hi all, your fateful netherling guide is back * he twirls around in a sickly green mist and reappears in a gothic attire resembling to a tattered rag clown * Did y'all miss me , heh???
A lot happened in Splintered . Yesiree bob , a lot, a lot. Stuff happened and we were acquainted with lovely mad creatures and quite few will be present on todays trip* toot toot??So what has happened to Morpheus * cat scratch *, Jebswoon* and Allysa . Let's take a look.
The plot: we were rather soon head first in wonderland in the previous book but don't expect that in this book. Character growth, motive and secrets are more important in the sequel . Some people found some parts dragging and were bored , so it is better seeing the sequel as a whole other book. A different book but still the same .(my first attempt was difficult for this reason but after I figured this out I liked it more at my second try ) There are still enough maddening wonderland madness in unhinged for those that are wondering. I have re read Alice in wonderland and trough the looking glass months before I picked up unhinged and I I feel like that more of the looking class is incorporated in the sequel. More of wonderland was used for it's predecessor ( is that the right term , O well ). Maybe to avoid repetition. I don't know. Splintered had a nice rounded up ending and I asked me self how Miss. Howard would continue the story . I can quite surely say I'm not disappointed.
Ok ,that's enough reviewer. Let's talk about the characters ect ect . It is quite hard being a half half . Don't you all agree. Hihihihi hahahahahahaha ( the human and other half constantly butting against each other)
We have more chessie . I'm referring to the Cheshire Cat for all that don't know who that is He's far more prominent in unhinged. A happy Cheshire grin from me. I love how he interacted with Morpheus, Allysa and other characters
Ok now onto The Boys. I'm undecided on what team I'm on at the moment. Both had heartfelt moments with Allysa and also did some or had some dastardly moments. I will not go in to detail but boys. You . $&$@!? I know it is not completely there fault but still . I want them to be both happy. Now sedge way into the romance triangle part, it was fine but not my favorite part of the book. I liked it more in Splintered because the good and the bad boy were recognizable but in unhinged both qualities intermingled. That is good in away because people are not one thing.* the naughty streak comes out * will any of you write Morpheus /Jeb slash . The ship name could be Jebpheus . If any of you does it , gimme a tweet will ya * giggle*??
Now onto Queen Allysa . I can imagine the stress of keeping parts hidden from society but she was selfish at moments. I still liked her but even more so when the secrets were revealed, how she acted when they were revealed and how she did not fall apart after the incidents in the end. Any toot else Where toot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we are coming to an end. This review is shorter for obvious reasons: Spoilers. I hope you all liked this review and comment away away away ( echoing ) I hope to see more character growth, more madness in Ensnared. And hopefully they will be alive, it is okay that they will be more than a little scarred but they need a pulse when I'm at the end. The title is ensnared and I'm anxious to see how it continues. I love youuuuuuuuuuuuu.Tooot, Toooot , Tooot ! ( you will know what I'm referring to when you're finished with unhinged )
