Some tragedies bind us, as lies do; they are ropes braided of hurt and bitterness, and you cannot ever fully understand how pinioned you are until the ties are loosened.
My expectations were very high due to the blurb and the hype. It did deliver in part, the first half of the novel was pretty promising, however, it lost steam after she leaves the boarding school (Or maybe I just lost interest). Her consistency as a character suffered as well. I didn't find it believable at all that she warms up so much and so quickly to Mr. Thornfield. By that point I basically stopped caring.
“A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort.”
I don't usually go for the dark and eerie but Flynn's writing always pulls me in. It's easy to get lost in her stories of sweet decay and twisted minds.
I would lie if I told you I didn't buy this book because of the two hugging bears on the cover. The book itself offers common sense information most functional people would never question.
As a disclaimer, plays in written form are not my really thing, I don't usually enjoy them. However, the synopsis was intriguing so I decided to go for it. It was too short for me to become properly immersed, but the ending was impactful, it shifted my outlook on the rest of the play. I'd love to see this on stage.
“Many things led to this day, for all of us. A forgotten son, a vengeful mother, a brother with a long shadow, a strange mutation. Together, they've written a tragedy.”
This is actually my second time reading it, the first time was a few years ago, at the peak of its hype. I truly disliked it then, I gave it a 1★ and I promised myself I will never go near this series again.
Anyhow, after seeing some rave reviews, recently, I decided to give it another try, thinking, maybe, I had just read it at a bad time. My view on it has changed, a bit but not a lot. I haven't fallen in love with it, I just don't despise it with the fire of a thousand suns as the first time around.
The characters and their troubles felt too familiar. I've read a handful of dystopian novels by now (though this read more like a fantasy) and this did not stand out to me.
Mare, the main character was the typical special snowflake. On top of that, she was also much too trusting and naive despite having lived in a rough environment. Most of the characters behaved and acted quite unnaturally so it was difficult, many times, to suspend my disbelief and get immersed in the story. The love triangle was very unconvincing, both the love interests being immediately taken by our heroine. The world building and the plot lacked nuance. The author tried to add some by including certain betrayals, but I saw them coming so for me the attempt failed. Additionally, quite a few things did not make any sense thought the book. Overall, a paint by numbers kind of YA. Nothing too offensive or awful, just kind of bland for me.
I listened to it in audiobook form and perhaps this was the reason for my improved reading experience. The narrator did a pretty good job, enough to keep me engaged and get to the end without feeling stupid for giving it another shot.
It ended on a major cliffhanger yet I don't want to pick of the next book to find out what happens, especially because even hardcore fans of the series say it's a downgrade from the first one.
“Here's something about Mom: she's bad with annoyances, but great in a crisis. If a waiter doesn't refill her water after she's asked three times, or she forgets her dark glasses when the sun comes out, look out! But when it comes to something truly bad happening, Mom plugs into this supreme calm.”I didn't hate this, but I didn't enjoy it either, only briefly. Was I supposed to find this hysterically funny? Because I didn't. Every character, except for Bee, maybe, was so damn over the top.
The book examines in tedious details the life of an eccentric uppity white upper middle class couple. It mentions ad nauseam that the people forming this couple are both geniuses. This is clearly mean to to be sooo ironic because they act completely moronic and immature.
Then it uses mental health as a ruse and makes fun at how a woman was almost committed to a mental institution because she was a misunderstood artist.
It also makes fun some more of Indian online secretaries being paid 75 cents an hour. How funny this is, ha ha. Another thing that's really funny in this book: a girl going through the trauma of thinking her mom is either dead or hurt. She has to take it upon herself to look for her because her husband of 20 years can't be bothered because he's labeled his wife crazy and he's shagging a coworker.
And what about that cop-out ending? Yes, yes I know this was all meant to be a satire, I don't care, for me it wasn't good.
This series is still enthralling even after 11 years. This is the 4th time I've read the first book and I loved every second of it.
“Online content and new media are changing our communities and changing the demand for and accessibility of that content. The discussion of representation is one that has been repeated over and over again, and the solution has always been that it's up to us to support, promote, and create the images that we want to see. Ten years ago, making that suggestion would have required way more work than it does now, and my love of taking shortcuts probably wouldn't allow me to make any dents on that front. But with ever-evolving, new accessible technologies, there are so many opportunities to reclaim our images. There's no excuse not to, and I've never felt more purposeful in my quest to change the landscape of television.”
This was a solid, enjoyable memoir. I love Issa Rea, she's smart and funny and her presence in TV is like a breath of fresh air, so I'm glad I had the chance to find out more about her. I listened to it in audiobook form as this is how I take my memoirs.
“If we want to feel an undying passion for our work, if we want to feel we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves, we all need to know our WHY.”
If this isn't a perfect example of beating a dead horse, I don't know what is. So boring, repetitive for such a short book. Also riddled with platitudes that are supposed to help you find you why. After all, a happy worker is a productive worker. You're wasting away on your feet, hustling hard so that corporate giant can make more money from your work, but you might as well do it with a smile on your face because your why discovery suddenly made you feel fulfilled.
Acevedo is masterful at creating characters I can root for. We have yet again an emotional and uplifting story. Poet X is still my favorite but Acevodo's writing and narration pulled at my heart strings once more.
“The future was one thing that could never be broken, because it had not yet had the chance to be anything.”
An enjoyable story with good characters. Her portrayal of teenagers and families is very genuine. And there's something about Dessen's writing that consistently draws me in.
“I was taught how to by the sunlight pilgrims, they're from the islands furthest north. You can drink light right down into your chromosomes, then in the darkest minutes of winter, when there is a total absence of it, you will glow and glow and glow.”
Reading this was almost like a magical experience. I read it in one afternoon and finishing it felt like coming out of meditation. I was fascinated by the characters and the setting. The only short coming is that it ended too soon.
“We sit in the ruin, each reading a book, or three of us read out of four. Three different voices speak to us. We have taught the children to read again this week. Here, where there is no voice, apart from ours, they are desperate for any other. They will even sing to themselves, sometimes. The boy whistles. He makes his voice croak. He sings the same thing again, but breathing in. A bird echoes the first notes of Vivaldi.”
Walsh's writing is smart and sophisticated but the stories felt so lifeless to me.
What a strange little book. I didn't know where this was going for a good while but I ended up invested in the characters by the end.
I mean, it was pretty much preaching to the choir because I already subscribe to what he's saying in this book, nevertheless, I still enjoyed reading it.
This was pretty much preaching to the choir, I do share most of his opinions so I didn't dislike this essay collection. But if I really think about it, it wasn't a very memorable read for me so I don't feel like rating it higher.
Didn't hit me as the TV series did. Nonetheless, a worth-while exploration of how the unit came to be and its importance.
This entire collection is fun and relatable, it just isn't particularly memorable to me.
DNF at around 60%.
Just as a fever makes cold feel colder, love can make loneliness feel lonelier.
DNF at 30%.
This is going to sound crazy, but... from the moment I first set eyes on you I haven't been able to stop thinking about you.
DNF at around 30%.
Aidan was nowhere to be seen. She pictured him glowering in the shadows somewhere, breaking sticks or punching walls, or something equally useless.