Viviana

Thoroughly enjoyed this story.

I related to both Elinor and Marianne’s personalities in some ways but me being an eldest daughter just made Elinor the MVP of this book in my eyes. Marianne was getting on my nerves at times but I liked her character development at the end.

Edward’s character is fine, but Colonel Brandon is goals *chef’s kiss*

I enjoyed seeing Elinor and Marianne’s sisterly relationship develop and how they both complement each other’s personalities and learn from each other.

The annoying characters: Lucy Steele made me roll my eyes incessantly and I kept saying “shut up John, no one cares” every time John Dashwood said something. Willoughby’s character is unforgivable, though. He’s worse than Wickham, imo.

Overall a beautiful work by Jane Austen, it’s obvious why it’s a beloved classic.

If you’re looking for an enjoyable love story, with compelling characters set in the Regency era… then look somewhere else because you won’t find it here.

This book was a pain to finish. The only reason I didn’t DNF it is because it had sat in my library for too long and if it wasn’t gonna give me a good time while reading it then the least it could do was to add to my reading app stats.

I thought people were overreacting in their reviews of Benedict‘s character but they were right: he’s such a jerk almost the entire time. Next to zero redeemable qualities in his own story. I just know his character during his Netflix show season must be better because you can’t really make it worse. Sophie is a nice enough character but nothing remarkable. They fall in love SO quickly when they don’t spend that much time together nor show they have that much in common. It doesn’t feel organic at all. They’re in love because the author says they’re in love. The writing in general is not good and there’s so much misogyny scattered throughout the book.

I wanted to read Colin and Benedict‘s story in preparation for the next couple of seasons of the Netflix show, however I certainly won’t be reading any more from this saga. There are far better romances out there I can spend my time with.

A fascinating insight into a young Coriolanus Snow’s mind.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book because well, Snow is horrible and why would I want to get inside his head? But the book captured me since the first chapter.

This is a villain origin story done right. Even though I disagree with Coriolanus’s decisions and way of thinking, you can see why and how he got there. He is the result of the struggles he faced in childhood plus the influence the society around had in him. It feels eerily realistic, it reflects the real world and real people in an almost scary way. The events with Lucy Gray and his role as her mentor in the Hunger Games were only the last straw for him to snap and become who we see in the HG trilogy.

Lucy Gray was also an interesting character and seeing her through Coriolanus’s unreliable POV made her even more compelling.

I went into this book ready to hate on Snow some more, but in came Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom. If I disliked this version of Coriolanus (right before he became a monster), I HATED Highbottom and Gaul. Highbottom is a petty adult who had a vendetta against a teenager for something he had no idea about. And don’t get me started on Gaul. That woman is the equivalent of Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and worse. You can see where Snow learned all his tricks from. Gaul is despicable.

I had originally rated the book 4.5 stars because the third part dragged for too long, in my opinion. However, I decided to give it the 5 starts because overall the book is amazing and the attention to detail is remarkable. Suzanne Collins is a genius. Now to patiently wait for Haymitch’s prequel.

Radio Silence is easily one of my favorite stories from the Osemanverse. As a former straight-A, perfectionist student, I related so much to France’s and Aled’s struggles. The whole cast is lovable (except Carol Last of course. We hate her to the moon and back.) and I’m glad they created this friend-group to support and celebrate each other.

At this point I think I’d read anything Alice writes!

While I appreciated the devastating description of this post-apocalyptic world and thought the premise was compelling, the story gets repetitive pretty soon into the book. Not to mention all the horrors and despair throughout it. I feel like the book could've been cut to half its length and still be impactful. As it was, I didn't enjoy it. It was too dark and I disagreed with many of the decisions the father makes.