tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42943962747372541262024-03-05T21:29:11.114+01:00Paperback TreasuresHannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.comBlogger939125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-82917531510134726772021-03-09T17:00:00.005+01:002021-03-10T19:55:57.631+01:00Review: Slay by Brittney Morris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcK2tsWvWhx1a-VQpNWkUJU82ZZyT470yii9_8KaeTwgNQuZet-ed8ESz0EYMm4QdfLJwm164i5EmoJtSzYqlSQpuN93Rkq3ZWfyas_tx7dZg7UNzYZRf2IOk5t0DHBhD8PMISYTlVh1w/s475/43723509.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcK2tsWvWhx1a-VQpNWkUJU82ZZyT470yii9_8KaeTwgNQuZet-ed8ESz0EYMm4QdfLJwm164i5EmoJtSzYqlSQpuN93Rkq3ZWfyas_tx7dZg7UNzYZRf2IOk5t0DHBhD8PMISYTlVh1w/s320/43723509.jpg" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Title: Slay</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author: <u><a href="https://www.authorbrittneymorris.com" target="_blank">Brittney Morris</a></u><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publisher: Simon & Schuster BYR<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Release date: September 24th 2019<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pages: 323<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary/sci-fi(?)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Source: Purchased audiobook through Audible<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43723509-slay" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781534445420" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span></span></div><p></p><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the "downfall of the Black man."
But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for "anti-white discrimination."
Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?</span></div></div></blockquote><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMB0BgI1X3IKqIvc7CuRhm57SaUWopPt-lbnC1O5A4YM_Rns_cwpJUD8Qh3ValEaXJJ0oS-jmuBtdou-hm_z5zlPqCbHDJ6NiFomAny4WJc1yOwjYrlxXWDXdNXY_jxTzpr1wotUprVV0/s300/4+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMB0BgI1X3IKqIvc7CuRhm57SaUWopPt-lbnC1O5A4YM_Rns_cwpJUD8Qh3ValEaXJJ0oS-jmuBtdou-hm_z5zlPqCbHDJ6NiFomAny4WJc1yOwjYrlxXWDXdNXY_jxTzpr1wotUprVV0/s0/4+stars.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I LOVED listening to <i>Slay</i>; it's a super fun and unique story with a strong voice and fantastic characters that tackles difficult conversations within an entertaining story!</div><div><br /></div><div>The characters are what make this novel so great. I loved Kiera; she has a strong voice and a unique but relatable personality. I loved reading about her dynamics with her friends at her predominantly-white school who put her in uncomfortable situations with their ignorance and problematic questions, with her parents, whose respectability politics have kept Kiera from confiding in them about Slay, with her moderator Cicada who later opens up and becomes her friend, her sister Steph, who was probably my favorite character, and her boyfriend Malcolm, whose storyline was very different than I'd expected, in a good way. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Slay</i> does a fantastic job of addressing social issues and systemic racism without being an "issue book." The racism Kiera has experienced in other video games and the backlash Slay receives are integral to the story, and anti-racist politics are at the heart of the novel, without Slay becoming a book "about" racism. The conversations differences between all of the Black characters demonstrate the complexities of anti-racist politics in a very accessible way. I also loved the discussion of intersections of anti-racist and feminist politics, especially through the conflicts between Steph and Malcolm. More so than being about racism and anti-Blackness, this novel is grounded in Black culture and celebrates Blackness. This novel would be great to recommend to anyone who might be interested in learning about these issues but doesn't want to read an "issue" book, or even anyone who is simply interested in the video game element and general story but who will also learn something along the way, or of course anyone who is interested in video games, etc. and doesn't fit into the white male geek demographic.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even though I personally am not a video game person, I loved reading about Slay. I honestly don't know how realistic the game is--I don't know much about game developing, and it seems like the author does, so maybe I am just ignorant of this, but I was under the impression that developing an online game with hundreds of thousands of players would require time and money that a high school student wouldn't have. I've seen others categorize this novel as sci-fi (and some of the technology does seem a little futuristic), so maybe if you read this novel as taking place in the future, that wouldn't be the case anymore, but I just assumed it was a contemporary while reading. Regardless of the logistics, however, reading about Kiera and other characters playing this game was super fun, and especially seeing the different cards that are all grounded in Black culture and celebrating Blackness is so important.</div><div><br /></div><div>Asides from the creation of this video game, though, there were a few more elements that I just didn't find realistic or had some questions on and that needed more explanation. It felt a bit too convenient that, despite this game being played by Black people all over the world, the important players end up being people important in Kiera's life. Additionally, I was surprised that, when the media discusses whether Slay is "racist" for creating a space exclusively for Black people and excluding non-Black players, a professor of African American Studies agreed that excluding white players is "racist against white people." Maybe I am just biased towards Ethnic Studies scholars, but I can't imagine any African American Studies professor agreeing that racism against white people exists rather than explaining that racism is systemic and that reverse racism does not exist. Of course, we didn't get to know this character very well, so maybe he had a reason not to speak up in this way, but these are just a few points that made me pause and that didn't seem entirely realistic or fully explained.</div><div><br /></div><div>I loved listening to <i>Slay</i> as an audiobook. I am not an audiobook person, but I've recently given audiobooks another try in order to have something to listen to while going on walks during quarantine; Slay is actually the first audiobook that I've listened to from start to finish since going on road trips with my parents as a child... I loved the narrator who read Kiera's chapters, and the format of having short interspersed chapters about other characters, read by different narrators, worked really well in the audiobook format. This book convinced me to give audiobooks another shot!</div><div><br /></div><div>I highly recommend <i>Slay</i> to anyone looking for a unique, fun story that celebrates Blackness and addresses a number of important issues! I'm excited to read Brittney Morris's second novel, <i>The Cost of Knowing</i>, which, since I was so late to this party, already comes out next month!</div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-55199296047101502022020-09-26T17:30:00.001+02:002020-09-26T17:30:04.028+02:00Review: The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8Pa8pOgSBc9HLptghyphenhyphenfV3HQr1N0nkWLdM9MGL9QRBoS_9FvmhHMRnHykzuKpMRntT0zzjE8Yvzw7EOponyuaaFFyZXpKfnmnE9igadZRD1fV48O9Tib4u6doHCdJW5zr7UZTo0ZkMpc/s475/42185079._SY475_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8Pa8pOgSBc9HLptghyphenhyphenfV3HQr1N0nkWLdM9MGL9QRBoS_9FvmhHMRnHykzuKpMRntT0zzjE8Yvzw7EOponyuaaFFyZXpKfnmnE9igadZRD1fV48O9Tib4u6doHCdJW5zr7UZTo0ZkMpc/s320/42185079._SY475_.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Title: The Sound of Stars</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Author: <a href="https://www.alechiadow.com" target="_blank">Alechia Dow</a></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="">Publisher: Inkyard Press</span><br /><span face="">Release date: February 25th 2020</span><br /><span face="">Pages: 432</span><br /><span face="">Genre: Young Adult sci-fi</span><br /><span face="">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span face=""><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44674904-the-sound-of-stars" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781335911551" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /></span><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population.
Today, seventeen-year-old Ellie Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie still keeps a secret library.
When young Ilori commander M0Rr1S finds Ellie’s library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more.
Humanity’s fate rests in the hands of an alien Ellie should fear, but M0Rr1S has a potential solution—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous journey with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.</span></div></div></blockquote><div style="margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJ3dRCk46sAoLqaU2PxHp3KPpdpo5EDZkqJbFXuVHRe4Ug3RTmAK3j3FHvi7fSghAvDt9AnhKkCEAoLSBPvYpG5at-XpFq80k7a8wIRRU-5aPu09WOJlrbKblJAwAWJMnvsKuul63BTg/s300/4+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJ3dRCk46sAoLqaU2PxHp3KPpdpo5EDZkqJbFXuVHRe4Ug3RTmAK3j3FHvi7fSghAvDt9AnhKkCEAoLSBPvYpG5at-XpFq80k7a8wIRRU-5aPu09WOJlrbKblJAwAWJMnvsKuul63BTg/s0/4+stars.png" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was super excited about this book both because I love Alechia Dow on Twitter and because the human-alien love story sounded super cool. Not only did this book meet my high expectations and tell a great story; every single detail about it is adorable and the book made me smile throughout. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The best thing about this book are the characters. I absolutely loved both Ellie and M0Rr1s. Ellie is a fantastic character through which to explore the alien invasion; I love how well the novel blends her experience during this alien invasion with her awareness that for her, as a queer Black woman who suffers from anxiety, the world was never really safe to begin with. Her dedication to saving humanity from this alien invasion, and her simultaneous skepticism of humanity being worth saving, make for a really interesting backdrop to this species survival story. M0Rris is a little harder to connect with than Ellie since he's, ya know, an alien, but I still really loved him. The parallels between Ellie's experiences as a Black woman and M0Rris's experiences as a labmade Ilori (a second-class citizen on his home planet) are really well done, especially in conjunction with both of their relationships to their own sexuality. Their romance is adorable, and I loved them together; I do think that it moved a little fast so that part of their connection was difficult to grasp, but I also think that makes sense under the circumstances.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I also absolutely loved Dow's writing style. Dow somehow managed to make this book feel very informal or conversational, in the sense that the first-person narration seems realistic and fun, while simultaneously dropping some gorgeous one-liners on you that will make you stop and marvel. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book makes tons of references to books and music, and a lot of those books are YA, which made me so happy. The whole love story starts with M0Rr1S reading Ellie's copy of <i>The Hate U Give</i>, and I don't know what could be better than a love story grounded in love for <i>The Hate U Give</i>. Ellie makes references to characters from lesser-known YA novels, too, which made me so happy to see. Asides from all of these references just being super fun, they felt very affirming both in the sense of establishing YA as "real" literature (whatever that means) and of creating a connection between Ellie and the reader, so every single one of them made me super happy (except for the Harry Potter references which, ya know, didn't age well--but since Dow wrote this novel before She Who Shall Not Be Named ruined our childhoods, I can't really fault her for that). These references made <i>The Sound of Stars</i> read like the most ~YA~ YA novel ever, which I loved.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">My only issue with the novel was the pacing. I felt like some parts in the beginning and middle were a little slow, while the ending happened REALLY fast, to the point where I felt a little lost. I'm not sure how to feel about the ending; I loved all the plot twists and how everything came together, but I still have so many questions! I feel like we need a sequel to this novel, but from what I understand, this is going to be a stand-alone...?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">I highly recommend <i>The Sound of Stars</i> if you're looking for a sci-fi book that simultaneously explores a number of important issues and will make you smile the entire time you're reading it. Everything about this novel felt very unapologetically YA, so even the things I've critiqued (the pacing of the plot and how quickly Ellie and M0Rr1S fall in love) kind of works and just made me love it even more. I'll definitely be reading whatever Alechia Dow publishes next!</span></div></div></div></div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-38511307755836814982020-09-12T17:30:00.003+02:002022-09-17T15:56:48.842+02:00Review: Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK55txlBW4s11aA4A6ga6mWPMturum8KgqfevZLiTtRDs1oESXXtvFCEYy0HTBov6o6rkK4fI2S4qnsbgVhWdUtA4t-HCrubqYpy9vQ9h3YQjKmK7Lcg9mef58JmFl9O4eowq_6DJKSvw/s675/53287484.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="447" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK55txlBW4s11aA4A6ga6mWPMturum8KgqfevZLiTtRDs1oESXXtvFCEYy0HTBov6o6rkK4fI2S4qnsbgVhWdUtA4t-HCrubqYpy9vQ9h3YQjKmK7Lcg9mef58JmFl9O4eowq_6DJKSvw/w271-h410/53287484.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>Title: Midnight Sun<div><span style="font-family: arial;">Author: <a href="https://stepheniemeyer.com" target="_blank">Stephenie Meyer</a></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="">Publisher: Little, Brown BYR</span><br /><span face="">Release date: August 4th 2020</span><br /><span face="">Pages: 662</span><br /><span face="">Genre: Young Adult paranormal romance</span><br /><span face="">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span face=""><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53287484-midnight-sun?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=LxVCJkKYef&rank=1" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780316707046" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /></span><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward's version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.
This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward's past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?</span></div></div></blockquote><div style="margin: 0px;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJ3dRCk46sAoLqaU2PxHp3KPpdpo5EDZkqJbFXuVHRe4Ug3RTmAK3j3FHvi7fSghAvDt9AnhKkCEAoLSBPvYpG5at-XpFq80k7a8wIRRU-5aPu09WOJlrbKblJAwAWJMnvsKuul63BTg/s300/4+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJ3dRCk46sAoLqaU2PxHp3KPpdpo5EDZkqJbFXuVHRe4Ug3RTmAK3j3FHvi7fSghAvDt9AnhKkCEAoLSBPvYpG5at-XpFq80k7a8wIRRU-5aPu09WOJlrbKblJAwAWJMnvsKuul63BTg/s0/4+stars.png" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book feels like it should be in a category of its own; any rating would be justified because I absolutely loved and despised this book at the same time. For nostalgia and making my inner 12-year-old happy, this book gets 5 stars; for everything else, probably more like 2 stars. I pretty much hated every second of this book, but hating it made me so happy, and I wouldn't have wanted this book to be any other way.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Being in Edward's head is, in a word, terrible. He is one of the most annoying characters I've ever met. If you thought that Bella's falling in love with a boy she barely knew was bad, she actually seems much more reasonable after reading <i>Midnight Sun </i>because Edward is so much worse. His obsession with Bella is a lot to handle, even though I do think the book does a good job of explaining how the allure of her scent and his inability to read her thoughts create this mysterious appeal. His constant whining and self-hatred are simultaneously annoying and reasonable, since he, ya know, is a monster. Edward appears entirely incompetent and as if he would be completely useless if he wasn't able to read other people's thoughts, and especially watching him learn to understand physical attraction as a confusing and new sensation despite being 104 years old is simultaneously the most annoying and funniest thing about this book. This book did not make me like him whatsoever, but it was extremely fun to despise him while reading.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The ending of this book was so terrible to read from his perspective. It's not surprising, since we know what happens in <i>New Moon</i>, but it was so sad to read the ending of the first book that was so happy in the original but knowing that Edward is planning on leaving. Before reading this book, I was hoping Stephenie Meyer would rewrite the whole series from his perspective, but after reading that ending, I fully understand why she doesn't want to write <i>New Moon</i> from Edward's perspective, and I honestly don't know if I could handle reading it. If you're going to read this book, prepare to be emotionally gutted by the ending.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My favorite thing about this book was finding out more about the vampire world and the things Bella didn't get to see. The more detailed explanation of Alice's vision and Jasper's skills, specifically, were super cool. I loved seeing how the whole family interacted with each other, and how they have thought-conversations with Edward. Everything between the baseball scene and the terrible ending was super fun to read, and I was on the edge of my seat with suspense despite obviously knowing the outcome. Seeing what the Cullens' attempts to protect Bella looked like that we didn't get to see, since Bella wasn't with Edward for most of that, was super cool, and I especially loved seeing the way they worked together and used their individual abilities to make that happen. I wish we had gotten even more insights into the vampire world and their family dynamics!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was expecting Stephenie Meyer to maybe have updated some elements of the story after all the critiques she's gotten, but... <i>Midnight Sun</i> is just as problematic as <i>Twilight</i>. The appropriation of Indigenous culture is just as bad in this version, and Edward's stalker-like and controlling behavior, his denigration of teenage girls other than Bella, and the generally outdated ideas of gender roles and relationships are even worse than they were in <i>Twilight</i>. In a way, that was frustrating to read again, but, in hindsight, anything else wouldn't have felt authentic, and maybe this can lead to some more conversation and reflection.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book was terrible for all the same reasons <i>Twilight</i> is bad, and those are the same reasons that I wholeheartedly love this franchise. I think this book is required reading for anyone who loved the series when they were younger; the nostalgia alone makes it worth it, and even the parts I hated I loved to hate.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Whether you love or hate or love-hate <i>Twilight</i>, please consider donating to the Quileute Tribe whose culture Stephenie Meyer appropriated! They have not received any compensation for this widely successful franchise that was built on their culture and legends. Their land is at sea level and some of the tribe's homes have been destroyed by flooding, as well as being located in a tsunami zone, so they are collecting donations in order to move to higher ground. I donated the same amount of money that I spent on this book to somehow compensate for participating in the appropriation of their culture, and I would encourage you to do the same! You can find out more and donate at <span style="text-align: center;">https://mthg.org.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-11640984899353729742020-09-02T17:00:00.003+02:002020-09-02T19:56:21.665+02:00Review: This Is My America by Kim Johnson<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XW10SdNQG4jUUmM4xqLmV9xWON6_bc6xhd61flFbXz5UwfecklE7oyRFbZ5TLrHmHHdg0GWSZdJjKi9mZ1tucMLpk_FDiKe2BpqhAbVAdiYdD7PCyqL9Dgy3uJ6I-ERmbdU-A31jvPU/s475/52855111._SX318_SY475_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XW10SdNQG4jUUmM4xqLmV9xWON6_bc6xhd61flFbXz5UwfecklE7oyRFbZ5TLrHmHHdg0GWSZdJjKi9mZ1tucMLpk_FDiKe2BpqhAbVAdiYdD7PCyqL9Dgy3uJ6I-ERmbdU-A31jvPU/s0/52855111._SX318_SY475_.jpg" /></a></div><span face="" style="font-family: arial;">Title: This Is My America</span><div><span face="" style="font-family: arial;">Author: <a href="https://www.kcjohnsonwrites.com" target="_blank">Kim Johnson</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="">Publisher: Random House Children's Books</span><br /><span face="">Release date: July 28th 2020</span><br /><span face="">Pages: 416</span><br /><span face="">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br /><span face="">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span face=""><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52855024-this-is-my-america" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780593118764" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /></span><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial;">Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time--her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy's older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a "thug" on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town's racist history that still haunt the present?</span></div></div></blockquote><div style="margin: 0px;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpD6EKg0aKmEvRCmpOIav0ETck2W-9UKPdBZig7gxnca6ZGyR7QZ1MH8kAcaBxW_G-uG7LG38lLevzGmzdJBfb6xgfqg3SdNIsMtDpZShNa57zbAgRyIUmHwUkrFPgQ-YtHgThoM-pBU/s300/5+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpD6EKg0aKmEvRCmpOIav0ETck2W-9UKPdBZig7gxnca6ZGyR7QZ1MH8kAcaBxW_G-uG7LG38lLevzGmzdJBfb6xgfqg3SdNIsMtDpZShNa57zbAgRyIUmHwUkrFPgQ-YtHgThoM-pBU/s0/5+stars.png" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A day after finishing this novel, I am still in awe, and struggling to express how important and how well-done <i>This Is My America </i>is. Part mystery novel, part exploration of the criminal (in)justice system, incarceration, and institutionalized racism, gripping and beautifully written, I can't recommend this book enough.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am so glad to see a book that explores policing and incarceration in relationship to racism, rather than just police brutality. While of course discussions of police brutality and the state-sanctioned murder of Black people are incredibly important, these murders are just the tip of the iceberg of the broader system of policing and incarceration that are deeply tied to institutional racism. Kim Johnson does a fantastic job of illustrating how these systems affect Black families and allowing young readers to understand the history of racism in the criminal (in)justice system. It is heartbreaking to see what these systems have done not only to incarcerated people, but also to the families they leave behind, like Tracy and her family, who, regardless of the outcome of this story, will never be able to get back those 7 years that her father spent behind bars for a crime he didn't commit--and to the other families around Tracy's who will never get justice. This is such an important story for teens (and adults!) to read about.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book does a fantastic job exploring a number of issues related to the criminal (in)justice system and racism in nuanced ways. The discussion of the idea of "good" or "not racist" white people is especially well done in relationship to Dean, Tracy's white best friend, and his family (who employ Tracy's mom). Especially the scene where Dean admits his own biases is really well-done. The novel clearly demonstrates how "good" white people abet racism and how racism is passed down in white families, encouraging important conversations about what it really means to be actively anti-racist.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Additionally, Beverly is a fascinating character who encourages important conversations. A Black woman whose dad was killed and whose brother was injured by the police, Beverly became a police officer in order to try to change the culture of policing from the inside. Other characters (especially Jamal) criticize this choice, encouraging important conversations about the possibility of police reform and how to enact change. I was a little disappointed by how neatly this conflict is wrapped up in the end, and especially since this book came out at a time when ideas about abolishing or defunding the police have become more mainstream, I could see how some people might critique that this take isn't radical enough or perpetuates the idea that there are some good cops and some bad cops, rather than critiquing the whole structure of policing. However, I think it opens up the opportunity to have really important conversations about different approaches to enacting change, especially since the whole premise of the novel illustrates the deep ties between the police and white supremacy, pushing back against the "bad apples" narrative that some discussions of police brutality rely on.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While this book is most explicitly about incarceration and criminal (in)justice, it's also a fantastic mystery novel. In order to clear both her dad's and her brother's name, Tracy launches her own investigation into the two murders. The mystery had some great twists and turns, and is a big part of what made this novel such a page-turner; especially in the second half of the book, once Tracy has revealed some secrets and found some other suspects, is super intense, and I couldn't put the book down. I especially loved how seamlessly the unveiling of the town's racist history and present is tied to this mystery element. Part of me even wishes that this book was more explicitly marketed as a mystery to attract mystery readers who might not otherwise be as willing to pick up a book marketed as a racial justice book--but regardless, if you're a fan of YA mysteries, you definitely need to pick this one up!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This Is My America is a fantastic read. With nuanced and complex characters, powerful writing, a gripping mystery, this novel makes accessible conversations around a range of topics relating to policing, incarceration, racism in the criminal (in)justice system, and white supremacy. Highly recommend!</span></div></div></div></div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-70607226030142358572020-08-27T21:12:00.002+02:002020-08-27T21:12:21.437+02:00Review: Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLipj5ddMEPPvZai6_vWVjS6VsGgGFxbmdz_KXPkKpnjAFU2bYzkLIjSSy-VLAPFGRpmrGN6GQK1cRoGD__owmvgbuUo3h4s_3ozp0HZYoMd4nuoo2v7pSDyfJzTMCH5KF0gCaQcFRi_U/s475/51787873._SX318_SY475_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLipj5ddMEPPvZai6_vWVjS6VsGgGFxbmdz_KXPkKpnjAFU2bYzkLIjSSy-VLAPFGRpmrGN6GQK1cRoGD__owmvgbuUo3h4s_3ozp0HZYoMd4nuoo2v7pSDyfJzTMCH5KF0gCaQcFRi_U/s320/51787873._SX318_SY475_.jpg" /></a></div>Title: Four Days of You and Me</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://mirandakenneally.com/" target="_blank">Miranda Kenneally</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Release date: May 5th 2020</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pages: 352</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51787873-four-days-of-you-and-me?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Ak8vLnNvi2&rank=1" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781492684138" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Every May 7, the students at Coffee County High School take a class trip. And every year, Lulu’s relationship with Alex Rouvelis gets a little more complicated. Freshman year, they went from sworn enemies to more than friends after a close encounter in an escape room. It’s been hard for Lulu to quit Alex ever since.
Through breakups, make ups, and dating other people, each year’s class trip brings the pair back together and forces them to confront their undeniable connection. From the science museum to an amusement park, from New York City to London, Lulu learns one thing is for sure: love is the biggest trip of all.</span></div></div></blockquote><div style="margin: 0px;"><div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn6_kiWGG7VlWexPbEr81-9h956t6HAd8ZO3eeEqVLFiCZDWO9FmpTvplZiMDlRZXC-_8dKRnD5y5hepSx7uXXnj_yHKiDm9S9XN3EjEuHUCLLPCJYaQIKEJVh8WEZlqpUldZi6EALfo/s300/3+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn6_kiWGG7VlWexPbEr81-9h956t6HAd8ZO3eeEqVLFiCZDWO9FmpTvplZiMDlRZXC-_8dKRnD5y5hepSx7uXXnj_yHKiDm9S9XN3EjEuHUCLLPCJYaQIKEJVh8WEZlqpUldZi6EALfo/" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">I absolutely love Miranda Kenneally's Hundred Oaks novels; every single book in that companion series is fantastic, and I've gotten used to knowing exactly what to expect when opening a Kenneally novel. So I was excited to see what she would write next, but also a little apprehensive about how this novel wouldn't have some of the elements I've grown to love of the Hundred Oaks novels, like the setting, the sports, and the cameos of previous novels' characters. I'm not sure if it was just because my expectations were so high because of my love for this previous series, but unfortunately I did not enjoy this one as much as the Hundred Oaks series.</font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">I liked the sound of the format of this novel in theory, but I didn't end up being the biggest fan of the execution. In theory, it sounds super cute to follow a couple on just four individual days over four years and to see them grow and change over those years. But the novel actually intersperses the chapters on those four days with chapters about the previous year, so we actually get to read about highlights from the couple's life throughout the whole four years, just with the main emphasis being on their school trips. This isn't necessarily an issue for the story, but it felt a little strange when this book is explicitly presented to just be about four days--I think I would have preferred if the previous year's events had just been included in flashbacks and things like that rather than getting their own chapters and quite this much attention, because it took away from the originality of just narrating these four days. Additionally, this is super nitpicky, but two of the school trips last more than one day, so even just the chapters about the school trips weren't only about four days. And also, more fundamentally, do any high schools really have their students go to both New York City and London for their school trips!?? </font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">The characters in this novel are alright. They are decent characters, but I didn't love them as much as I loved the Hundred Oaks couples. One of my favorite things about the Hundred Oaks series is reading about each main character's passion for their respective sport and learning so much about their sport and the life of someone who dedicates their childhood to something like that. Lulu is definitely also passionate--she is a very driven graphic novel writer, and she is a vegan who advocates for animal rights--but for some reason I didn't feel her passion as much as I did the Hundred Oaks characters'. Maybe this is just because I always loved learning so much about their respective sports that I usually knew nothing about, while Lulu's passions are ones I am already much more familiar with? But for some reason, I just felt like Lulu wasn't as fleshed-out and didn't have as much personality as Kenneally's previous characters. I did, however, really like the secondary characters, and it was great to see how Lulu's friendships and relationships shifted and solidified over the four years. </font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">Miranda Kenneally knows how to write some great romance, and the chemistry between her characters was always one of the best things about her Hundred Oaks books. But the chemistry in this one fell flat for me. Other characters in the novel make comments about how it is clear that Lulu and Alex are destined to be together, but I just couldn't see anything like that. I actually feel like we didn't get to know Alex well enough as his own person, and that we didn't get to see enough banter or flirting between Lulu and Alex to really feel their chemistry. Maybe this is just because of the format and because the novel spanned such a long time period (by YA standards) that there wasn't enough space for these every day-types of interactions, but I just felt like something was missing. Lulu and Alex were cute together, sure, but this novel didn't have me as emotionally invested in the protagonists' relationship and rooting for them to be together as much as the Hundred Oaks novels did.</font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">I feel bad for how negative my review sounds since I love this author, and maybe I'm not being fair by comparing this book to the Hundred Oaks novels so much. If I hadn't come in with such high expectations and the hope that this would be similar to the Hundred Oaks novels, I think I would have enjoyed it more; this novel is definitely still a cute romance with a unique format. But because of my love for Kenneally's previous books, this one just wasn't up to par. But of course I'll still read whatever Kenneally writes next, and am hoping I'll connect more with her next book again.</font></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "times new roman"; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-29991306094297079402020-08-10T18:00:00.002+02:002020-08-10T19:05:59.031+02:00Review: Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChIbK7UQWQtzDzYaV44kW05o9zvLZ1-uEpS1EPDszhlLC0UJ4KyuqSaPXDMjB_Weilou1MaAkaQTRYAtMa6D6MNbUiybLOFwbayrivpy-F6J7skQuXN3uHTOGVYv5LNgGiExYrFqiW-M/s475/43520622.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChIbK7UQWQtzDzYaV44kW05o9zvLZ1-uEpS1EPDszhlLC0UJ4KyuqSaPXDMjB_Weilou1MaAkaQTRYAtMa6D6MNbUiybLOFwbayrivpy-F6J7skQuXN3uHTOGVYv5LNgGiExYrFqiW-M/s0/43520622.jpg" /></a></div>Title: Not So Pure and Simple</span><br /><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: <a href="https://www.lamargiles.com" target="_blank">Lamar Giles</a></span><br /><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Publisher: HarperTeen</span><br /><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Release date: January 21st 2020</span><br /><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pages: 389</span><br /><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br /><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45239572-not-so-pure-and-simple" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780062349194" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Del has had a crush on Kiera Westing since kindergarten. And now, during their junior year, she’s finally available. So when Kiera volunteers for an opportunity at their church, Del’s right behind her. Though he quickly realizes he’s inadvertently signed himself up for a Purity Pledge. His best friend, Qwan, doesn’t believe anyone is worth this long of a long game. But Del’s not about to lose his dream girl.
And that’s where fellow pledger Jameer comes in. He can put in the good word, but with other boys circling Kiera like sharks, Del needs to make his move now. However, with all his plotting and scheming, Del never really stops to think: What does Kiera want? No matter, though—once he gets the girl, he’s sure all will sort itself out. Right? </span></div></div></blockquote><div style="margin: 0px;"><div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "times new roman"; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyc3hK2eFO9aBQCqyIZVnKDthB69aeDGiu0DbdHIxzdQDT4cBkfWBvKIkCO_o4HFAeaXgJdZOum8k9XYSjRQkPePn6drZ3u04bNc__at9WyNdlo3X2h6WiWensHxyx5WDjb6jlSU0a8-w/s300/4+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyc3hK2eFO9aBQCqyIZVnKDthB69aeDGiu0DbdHIxzdQDT4cBkfWBvKIkCO_o4HFAeaXgJdZOum8k9XYSjRQkPePn6drZ3u04bNc__at9WyNdlo3X2h6WiWensHxyx5WDjb6jlSU0a8-w/" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="arial"><br /></font></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><p><font face="arial">This book completely took me by surprise. I was expecting it to just be a funny story about a guy accidentally taking a purity pledge to get with a girl, and it does start out that way... but then it somehow turns into a really insightful story about toxic masculinity and male entitlement, in the best way possible! Not only is this book super entertaining; its message is a really important one, especially for boys and young men.</font></p><p><font face="arial">I don't think I've ever read a book by a male author about a male protagonist that explores toxic masculinity, male entitlement, and consent in such explicit terms, and I am SO happy Lamar Giles did just that. Del is a great character to use to teach especially male readers about consent and male entitlement to women's bodies because he's not a terrible guy that you would immediately judge or write off as someone who doesn't respect women. Del considers himself a nice guy, he has female friends and, I would think, could be a relatable character for teenage boys (although I of course can't speak of that with any authority). I honestly didn't even think he was super problematic in the beginning; he was a pretty average guy, which, I mean, isn't great, but wasn't anything that would've tipped me off to how this book would end up being all about his personal growth from an ostensibly nice guy to someone who actually thinks about consent and male entitlement to women's bodies. Since I wasn't expecting it, I was extra excited when the book started addressing consent and toxic masculinity so explicitly. </font></p><p><font face="arial">The lessons Del learns are SO important and something I haven't seen discussed in YA very much. I loved reading about the frank conversations his mother, sister, and female friends have with him. I've seen some other reviewers complain about how much of Del's realization about how men's creepy, predatory behavior affects women depends on him learning about his sister's experiences, and of course the idea that men would only learn to care about women because they have a mother/daughter/sister is problematic. But I actually really enjoyed seeing Del's family discuss these topics so openly, and I was especially impressed with the way Del's mom calls out his dad for his own participation in toxic masculinity and for enabling Del's entitlement to women's bodies; this conversation within their family, in my opinion, was really important for helping us understand how toxic masculinity is perpetuated by father-son relationships and can be passed down through generations. I also loved how Shianne explicitly calls Del out for the whole "I'm a nice guy, therefore I deserve a reward/am entitled to women"; all of the women in this book are fantastic characters.</font></p><p><font face="arial">The discussion of sex education is really well done as well, and this book clearly shows the consequences of abstinence-only sex ed. I was especially impressed with the discussion of teen pregnancy and how the lack of sex education intersects with society stigmatizing sexually active girls and teen moms but fails to hold boys accountable. </font></p><p><font face="arial">And finally, the racial politics of this novel are great; most of the characters in this book are Black, and their Blackness and experiences of racism definitely inform their conversations and ideas, without this becoming a problem novel about racism. I only wish that the connections between race and gender had been explored a little more; for example, Cressie has a YouTube channel where she talks about feminist issues, but we never see her talk about her experiences as a Black woman specifically, and Shianne, a Black teen mom, never speaks about the specific racialized sexism Black women, especially Black teenage moms, experience. </font></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The only element of this book I wasn't the biggest fan of was the discussion of religion. I'm not sure what the alternative would be, since bashing religion would probably alienate a lot of readers, but I didn't like how the pastor in this book basically gets a free pass for the problematic ideas around sex and purity he perpetuates and his borderline abusive behavior because he's simply "from another time." I do think the discussion of religion was important and necessary for the storyline, and I understand why this book went with the "few bad apples" route rather than holding organized religion more broadly accountable for its role in perpetuating gendered violence, but I do wish the pastor's actions had been condemned more explicitly. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I can see how some people might critique this book for being too didactic, and I could see how, for some female readers who already understand these dynamics, this might not be the most entertaining. But I personally still really enjoyed this book; it's a really quick and easy read, the writing style is unique and fun, and it's difficult to put down, so I do recommend it for anyone. I personally was incredibly happy when I finished this book just because I think it's so important and I was so glad to see a YA novel address these topics in this way. However, I do think that this book is geared towards teenage boys and would especially recommend it for male readers; honestly, I think this should be mandatory reading for teenage boys everywhere, especially anyone who self-identifies as a "nice guy." </span></p></div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-21889091455218307542020-08-05T17:00:00.001+02:002020-08-05T17:00:00.550+02:00Review: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Title: They Both Die at the End</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: Adam Silvera</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Publisher: HarperTeen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Release date: September 5th 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pages: 373</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33385229-they-both-die-at-the-end" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780062457806" target="_blank">Purchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.<br />
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Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been meaning to read Adam Silvera's books, and I absolutely love the title (and concept of this one)--I really hate happy endings (I know, what is wrong with me, but I will take a realistic ending that makes me bawl over a happy ending any day), so I was really excited for this one--this novel promises to break your heart, and it really does not disappoint.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While the emotions and the message were what I was expecting, the worldbuilding ended up being very different from what I'd anticipated. I was expecting this to be speculative fiction set in the future, but this book is actually set in an alternate present (in 2016 or 2017, I forget). At first, I was taken aback by that choice--I thought it was confusing and unrealistic that everything in this society is the same as in ours except that the Death-Cast exists. Especially one conversation between Rufus and Mateo, where they talk about what all will be outdated soon, which is entirely accurate for our present day, felt strange to me--how has this society made no other technological strides, but has managed to develop some kind of technology that can infallibly predict when you will die? Especially because the Death-Cast has existed for almost ten years in this alternate universe, and because society has developed lots of new businesses, such as the Last Friend App and lots of activities designed for Deckers (people living out their last days), it just seemed strange to me that everything else would be exactly the same in this world. After a while, though, I got used to this idea, and I appreciate that this alternate present, more so than a dystopian future setting, allowed Silvera to represent the lives of Latino youth in present-day New York City, in a way that really shaped the story.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless of when exactly the Death-Cast were to happen, though, I wish there had been some more discussion of how exactly these predictions work. I understand that the novel focuses almost exclusively on Mateo and Rufus and is more about how Death-Cast impacts individual lives than about how it works, and it makes sense that we wouldn't know much since the characters themselves don't know how this technology works. But I couldn't </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">help but question the practicalities of this technology. For example, I kept wondering how much receiving that Death-Cast call might impact what you do that day and therefore whether or not you die. The characters continuously mention that Death-Cast is infallible, and that there is absolutely no way to escape death once you receive the call. At the same time, though, there is a scene where one of the characters learns about world history BDC (Before Death-Cast) in school, and is asked to imagine how events such as 9/11 may have played out differently if Death-Cast had already existed, but how that would look like is never explained. If so many people who work in the same place were to receive the call, wouldn't many of them not have gone to work that day? But then, since Death-Cast is infallible, would they just have died some other way instead? While of course Death-Cast can allow you to live your last day to the fullest and can give you a chance to say goodbye, I didn't quite understand how it would impact historical events in any way. Additionally, I found the concept that you always get the call between midnight and 3am kind of strange. I understand the practicalities of this, of course--the Death-Cast employees receive a list of people to call at midnight, and then begin to make their way through the list until they finish at 3am. But, what about the people who die at, say, 1am? They might never be notified, which didn't seem to fit with the way the characters talk about not receiving the call as a surefire way to know you won't die today. While these are just details, I do wish that there had been some more exploration of how choice and fate relate in this universe, and how your choices might impact whether and how you die on a certain day.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Nonetheless, this novel is not so much about constructing a logical alternate universe, and more so about the characters and a message that applies in our universe as well. And all of that, I absolutely loved. I loved the writing and the pacing of the whole novel--the suspense was really well-done, and I was consistently paranoid about how either character could die at any moment. (This novel might not be ideal for anyone who already struggles with death-related anxiety--this same paranoia about Rufus and Mateo dying at any moment reappeared in my dreams for the next couple of nights after finishing this novel.) Even asides from the looming death of the two central characters, this is an emotional read; both Rufus and Mateo's families have tragic stories, and the flashbacks to their circumstances and their contemporary goodbyes made me tear up throughout the novel. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I also really loved how, in addition to switching back and forth between Mateo's and Rufus's PoVs, the reader got intermittent chapters from secondary characters or even complete strangers, who later turned out to be vaguely related to the central storylines. Those chapters really demonstrated how all of our stories connect and how seemingly small choices can really make an impact, and worked really well for the novel's message about making the most of our lives while we can.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">***This next paragraph is vaguely spoiler-y, although you wouldn't be surprised by this "twist" if you've read Silvera before.***</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I still haven't decided what to make of the love story or whether or not I'm sold on it. I was expecting the romance element because I know Silvera usually writes M/M love stories, but if I had come into this novel without those expectations, I think Rufus's and Mateo's first kiss (or Rufus's first suggestions that this might happen) would have taken my by surprise and it would have felt a little random in the context of the rest of the story. Part of me really likes the idea of not a love story, but something that could have been a love story if the two had had the opportunity to know each other for longer. So the elements that framed their relationship in that way, I liked, but some other parts I felt were a little overdone and a little too insta-love-y. Although I guess even those parts aren't unrealistic, since both characters know they are going to die and this is their only/last chance at love. Another part of me, though, just doesn't see Rufus and Mateo together in that way; to me, Rufus seemed like more of a big brother to Mateo before the romantic element to their relationship was introduced. It might just be my own heteronormativity that didn't allow me to see these two as romantic partners for one another (I think most people would have expected romance from a YA novel with the same concept about a boy and a girl), but I just didn't see them as compatible. I also think it could have been really cool for this novel to center a friendship between two queer boys (Rufus identifies as bisexual, and I've seen lots of other people label Mateo as gay, but I don't remember Mateo ever actually identifying as anything?). Despite all of this, I don't really mind the romantic storyline because it feels realistic, under the circumstances.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While I did have a lot of questions, I really loved this book. If you're looking for a thought-provoking tearjerker with a unique concept, you should definitely check out <i>They Both Die at the End</i>. I will definitely be reading Silvera's other novels!</span></span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-67675992292586251092020-07-27T19:02:00.001+02:002020-07-27T19:02:12.288+02:00Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmDkFuDGMc2yh0Ohsd4fDEb-2hKURcApQOfB60CQNu8aUaW6zxlWM4Q3d59xOgNaNSB4RpqDvazD6MsqVdk0UMD3WDGdUX-TIM6DrxuvDL3f-QUiN0JCwVtnjB17Ay9Ta0NQORN4xvgA/s475/19547856.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmDkFuDGMc2yh0Ohsd4fDEb-2hKURcApQOfB60CQNu8aUaW6zxlWM4Q3d59xOgNaNSB4RpqDvazD6MsqVdk0UMD3WDGdUX-TIM6DrxuvDL3f-QUiN0JCwVtnjB17Ay9Ta0NQORN4xvgA/s320/19547856.jpg" /></a></div>Title: Simon Vs. The Homo sapiens Agenda</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: <a href="https://beckyalbertalli.com" target="_blank">Becky Albertalli</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Publisher: Balzer & Bray</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Release date: April 7th 2015</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pages: 303</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19547856-simon-vs-the-homo-sapiens-agenda" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780062348685" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. </span></div></div></blockquote><div style="margin: 0px;"><div><div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "times new roman"; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyc3hK2eFO9aBQCqyIZVnKDthB69aeDGiu0DbdHIxzdQDT4cBkfWBvKIkCO_o4HFAeaXgJdZOum8k9XYSjRQkPePn6drZ3u04bNc__at9WyNdlo3X2h6WiWensHxyx5WDjb6jlSU0a8-w/s300/4+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyc3hK2eFO9aBQCqyIZVnKDthB69aeDGiu0DbdHIxzdQDT4cBkfWBvKIkCO_o4HFAeaXgJdZOum8k9XYSjRQkPePn6drZ3u04bNc__at9WyNdlo3X2h6WiWensHxyx5WDjb6jlSU0a8-w/" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="arial"><br /></font></div></div></div><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">I know I'm super late to this party, but... what an adorable book! I watched Love, Simon a while ago and bought this book because I loved the movie, but then never actually got around to reading it. After watching the spin-off series Love, Victor (which I loved even more than the original movie; so cute!!), I decided to finally read the book that started this franchise. And I was not disappointed!</font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I loved Albertalli's writing style, in particular the dialogue and Simon's internal dialogue. It took me a little time to get used to because it's different from what I usually read, but after a somewhat slow beginning, I loved everything about it. Albertalli's writing and dialogue are witty and endearing, but not in an unrealistic John-Green-type of way (not that I don't love John Green's writing--but.. I don't know any real people who talk like his characters), but in a way that felt entirely relatable and realistic. There are so many hilarious and insightful pieces of dialogue and Simon's thoughts in here that I absolutely loved. Because the writing is so great, I honestly didn't even care what happened; I'm sure this book would have been even more of a page turner if I hadn't already seen the movie and known who Blue was/how the story would end, but I couldn't put the book down regardless, because the writing is so captivating and brought elements of this story to life that the movie couldn't capture.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">I also loved the characters. Simon does plenty of things that are not okay, and admits to not always being the best person, like when he realizes how little he knows about his friends' lives. But none of those flaws make him a less lovable character; he is a completely realistic teenage boy, and I loved him. Blue is also an adorable character, and I the romance and chemistry between them through their emails is incredibly well done. I also loved him family dynamic and especially his relationship with his sisters. </font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">To be honest, I was a little suspicious of this book because it was written by a heterosexual white woman and, if the identities were accurately represented in the movie version, it would be primarily about teens of color and a white gay boy. I was worried that this would be another case of the characters' races not even being mentioned or being mentioned in passing but having nothing to do with the story and not being addressed at al. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this book's discussion of race. This is one of the few YA books I know that were white author about a white protagonist where secondary characters' races are actually discussed and addressed in a more meaningful way than just a passing comment on someone's skin color. Race definitely still isn't discussed enough in this book, but it is addressed a few times in a way that doesn't reduce race to skin color or diversity but actually addresses the histories of racism. While of course this can't replace #ownvoices stories, I do think that this is a step in the right direction in terms of what white authors can do to not just make their books "diverse," but to actually incorporate discussions of race and racism into their work. And asides from one comment about "coming out" being easier for girls, which I think is a little simplistic, I did really like the discussions of homosexuality as well.</font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial">I really loved everything about this book; this is such a cute, fun story that still addresses some important issues. I can't believe I waited this long to read it! I definitely need to catch up on the rest of the Simonverse novels.</font></p></div></div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-60739956927945101702020-07-13T19:09:00.000+02:002020-07-13T19:09:04.311+02:00Review: Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJqyq40CnWlMnxRXX4SMdpz5Y4y8Q2rIQu7gO6LNZN7ipcCUw6FbxqToQhkyxibjAsIHwKFqZHpqOHblFsWUPpv7XB6tVIpQ6UCO_5Neq3mIGTcMZZgcV9HJnnY_H6A_jdJRf0-hAUO0/s475/31625039._SY475_-2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJqyq40CnWlMnxRXX4SMdpz5Y4y8Q2rIQu7gO6LNZN7ipcCUw6FbxqToQhkyxibjAsIHwKFqZHpqOHblFsWUPpv7XB6tVIpQ6UCO_5Neq3mIGTcMZZgcV9HJnnY_H6A_jdJRf0-hAUO0/s320/31625039._SY475_-2.jpg" /></a></div>Title: Let's Talk About Love</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: <a href="https://www.clairekann.com" target="_blank">Claire Kann</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Publisher: Swoon Reads</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Release date: January 23rd 2018</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pages: 304</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31625039-let-s-talk-about-love" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781250294500" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Alice had her whole summer planned. Nonstop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting--working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual). Alice is done with dating--no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.
But then Alice meets Takumi and she can't stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).
When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she's willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated--or understood. </span></div></div></blockquote><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vZPdxQzph8Db-BH2DD0SuPJvLqY81usIE4NrmVgnZ6CWk1MoA5OqEvMhi86sMXZ7Og9nxwvxHT-wF0vPLq7704lgUOxHmxoZwD_VsIm0DVOoSWU0vu8RmjSGoHTdlmpVOJMF1Xyin2Q/s300/4+stars.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vZPdxQzph8Db-BH2DD0SuPJvLqY81usIE4NrmVgnZ6CWk1MoA5OqEvMhi86sMXZ7Og9nxwvxHT-wF0vPLq7704lgUOxHmxoZwD_VsIm0DVOoSWU0vu8RmjSGoHTdlmpVOJMF1Xyin2Q/" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This is such an important book! I don't know many YA books (or any books) about asexual teens, and definitely none about a Black biromantic asexual girl, so the sheer existence of this novel is great to see. When you add a unique and entertaining writing style and a lovable main character into the mix, you end up with an equally fun and important novel.</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved Alice's character and the writing style of this novel, which are hard to separate because, even though the novel is written in third-person, the writing is very much shaped by Alice's personality. I would love to be Alice's friend; even though she makes her fair share of mistakes, she is one of the most endearing characters I've read about in a while. Her strong personality, penchant for all things cute and romantic, and pop culture-influenced way of speaking closely shape the writing, which is very informal, using internet-speak (for lack of a better term?) and tons of parentheses for additional commentary. I could see how this writing style would get on some people's nerves, but I loved it!</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved the secondary storylines of this novel, primarily the exploration of Alice's relationship with her friends and her parents. Both her friends and her parents were infuriating at times, but their relationships were definitely realistic. I especially liked the exploration of Alice's jealousy of the relationship between Feenie and Ryan, her two best friends who are engaged to each other--even though Feenie pissed me off throughout the novel, to be honest. Why was she mad at Alice for leaving a party after she went upstairs to go have sex with Ryan (honestly, do you really need to have sex with your fiancé, whom you live with, in someone else's bedroom while you are at a party with both him and your best friend??), especially when Alice was cornered by a scary abrasive guy at this party after her friends left her? I was not the biggest fan of the way Feenie was not held accountable for this and the way the novel made it seem like both Feenie and Alice made mistakes, because yes, but.... I was 100% team Alice. But regardless, the exploration of these conflicts was realistic and well done.</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I'm not asexual, I cannot judge the accuracy of the portrayal of asexuality, but I will say that I learned a lot about asexuality by reading this novel, and I think someone who doesn't know a lot about asexuality would really benefit from Alice's explanations of her sexuality. I was especially interested in the way Alice navigated her relationships with partners who are not asexual, and I'm not sure what to make of the novel's take on this. In the beginning, Alice's ex-girlfriend Margot breaks up with Alice because Alice does not want to have sex with her and Margot wants to be with someone who actively desires her. In the process, Margot does say some ignorant things about it being unnatural not to desire sex, which is of course aphobic, but asides from these statements, I don't know how to feel about the novel's vilification of her character. I do think that sexual incompatibility is a legitimate issue and that wanting to be with someone you are sexually compatible with makes sense. Even though I of course understand that Alice shouldn't need to have sex just to please her partner, I also don't know if you can expect an allosexual person to give up sex in order to date someone asexual, especially if feeling sexually desired by their partner is important to them. To me, this seemed like a legitimate reason for Alice and Margot to not be compatible and to break up, so I was a little taken aback by the novel's vilification of Margot's decision as a refusal to accept Alice as she is. Is this just my allosexual bias/privilege talking? This seems like a complicated issue with no easy answers to me.</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I also had mixed feelings about Alice's and Takumi's relationship. On the one hand, I thought they were super cute together, and I loved the exploration of romance as separate from sex. On the other hand, their relationship moves really fast, and did seem a little insta-love-y to me--or maybe not insta-love, but insta-we are best friends together 24/7 now, since they do take a while to actually get together. And, honestly, if it hadn't been for the way this works in conjunction with the exploration of asexuality, this level of romance would have been a little too much to handle. In some ways, though, it felt like the novel was self-aware in this sense, since Feenie calls Alice out on abandoning her friends and spending every day with Takumi as soon as they meet, so maybe this was an intentional exploration of Alice's character. Regardless, I did like the romance; it's very sweet, even if it moves very quickly. I do wish, though, that the ending had been less rushed--especially since Takumi's handling of Alice's asexuality is contrasted to Margot's, I would have liked to see how they handle this as their relationship progresses. Takumi (who is allosexual) saying he's okay with sex not being a part of your relationship seems easy enough at first, but harder to actually deal with in a long-term relationship, so especially because a nuanced exploration of this seemed to be missing from the beginning of the novel, I would have liked to see this discussed in more detail at the end. </span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless of these smaller issues, this novel definitely sparks a lot of interesting conversations about asexuality (not to mention its discussion of race, feminism, and biromanticism). Alice is a lovable character, and Kann's writing style and voice are very entertaining. I'm definitely going to check out Kann's newer novel soon!</span><br /></div></div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-65651817057589691162020-07-07T18:00:00.000+02:002020-07-07T18:00:04.780+02:00Review: Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-4TeWp_oSWFnvoGaezlEe0XRbpVXteyZlxl3WSMb9op74A_defrFu7CNNvt1AtAXAmil1U76-t3md_rs5GV1fygTE5R-Hb3foeTgyciIJvYy5nIG3TVk0_uGZkoOUJJrWyuozUvk880/s475/36952596.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-4TeWp_oSWFnvoGaezlEe0XRbpVXteyZlxl3WSMb9op74A_defrFu7CNNvt1AtAXAmil1U76-t3md_rs5GV1fygTE5R-Hb3foeTgyciIJvYy5nIG3TVk0_uGZkoOUJJrWyuozUvk880/s320/36952596.jpg" /></a></div>Title: Blanca & Roja</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://author.annamariemclemore.com/p/welcome.html" target="_blank">Anna-Marie McLemore</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Publisher: Feiwel & Friends</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Release date: October 9th 2018</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pages: 375</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult; magical realism; retelling</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36952596-blanca-roja" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781250162717" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br /><blockquote style="background-color: #19b6ba; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; padding: 5px;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.
<p> But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. </p></span></div></div></blockquote><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9FLoDxKEaPIi587o30vnRwQj4mNuRiqo6-JpCLnAydkoFzEIyGFFnmgusJbhn2O3a90PRfhVNU-eTOjRPkwqapEfmtcjSzzkkTX_IbEMh4MgXB2sIYhWYYCu5oCZ6sXA_m2Y6Jj1Nlcg/s300/4+stars.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9FLoDxKEaPIi587o30vnRwQj4mNuRiqo6-JpCLnAydkoFzEIyGFFnmgusJbhn2O3a90PRfhVNU-eTOjRPkwqapEfmtcjSzzkkTX_IbEMh4MgXB2sIYhWYYCu5oCZ6sXA_m2Y6Jj1Nlcg/" /></a></div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial">Anna-Marie McLemore's books are one of a kind. Their books took a little while to grow on me--when I first read When the Moon Was Ours, my first McLemore book, I had no idea what to make of it, other than thinking it was beautiful and confusing, since their books are so different from what I'm used to reading. But if you go in with no expectations and just accept the queer, magical realism-influenced retellings McLemore writes for what they are, I think there's no way not to love them.</font></div><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial">Blanca and Roja are the youngest daughters in the del Cisne family, a family that was cursed by swans a long time ago to always have two daughters, one of whom will survive as a girl while the other is turned into a swan. While we get some speculation as to how this came about, there is no explanation of this "magic"; you just have to accept that this is the way things are for Blanca and Roja. And even though this might seem like a strange idea for a story, it makes for a very compelling read that allows McLemore to explore sisterly love, colorism, gender identity, and much more.</font></div><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial">I never know what how to review the characters of McLemore's novels, because I wouldn't say that I like any of them or that any of them are realistic or fully developed, but those stock terms just don't really apply to McLemore's stories. Blanca and Roja just are, and it works. The secondary characters are similarly clouded by mystery and magic, and I loved the way the narration switches between the four central characters.</font></div><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><div><font face="arial">McLemore's unique story allows for a powerful exploration of how colorism deeply shapes a small, predominantly white town's perception of this Latinx family, as well as Latinx communities themselves. Blanca, with her blonde hair and golden complexion, can sometimes pass for white, and abides by societal expectations, while Roja, with her brown skin, red hair, and rebellious attitude, is feared and reviled by the town. McLemore beautifully explores how deeply these differences shape their experiences, their relationship with one another, and their relationship with their parents. My only issue with the character building is the family's assumption that because Blanca is the more conventionally beautiful (by white beauty standards), more demure and "respectable" sister, that she would be spared by the swans and that they would take Roja, the rebellious sister, instead. Wouldn't the swans want Blanca, the sister who is perceived as "better," especially because she would fit in better with the white swans? I was confused by this element of the world building.</font></div></div><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial">McLemore also weaves explorations of gender and queerness into their stories in a very unique way. Page, Blanca's love interest, is a non-binary transgender boy who uses both male and female pronouns. While Page's gender is not the central topic of the novel, the text makes space for some important conversations between Blanca and Page exploring nonbinary identities.</font></div><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial">What really stands out about this novel, as with all of McLemore's novels, is the writing. Even in the beginning, when I honestly had no idea what was going on, I enjoyed every single one of McLemore's beautiful words; their writing is the kind you can get lost in regardless of the story--even though they always do lead you back to a fantastic story.</font></div><div><font face="arial"><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial">If you enjoy magical realism, or if you're looking for something different, or if you appreciate beautiful writing, or if you like fairy tale retellings, or if you like queer books (so... basically everyone?), I highly recommend this book! I need to catch up on the McLemore novels I haven't read yet.</font></div>
<p></p>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-44206773682173831212020-07-03T18:00:00.000+02:002020-07-03T18:00:01.452+02:00Review: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sánez<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Clarion Books</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: March 7th 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 452</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23447923-the-inexplicable-logic-of-my-life" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781328498021" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sal has always been certain of his place with his adoptive gay father and their loving Mexican-American family. But now his own history unexpectedly haunts him, and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, loss, and grief.<br />
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Suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and discovering that he no longer knows who he really is—but if Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I really appreciated Saénz's <i>Aristotle and Dante</i> for all the important contributions it made to YA, even if I was a little bored by the lack of plot at times, and it seems like writing really beautiful, important novels that nonetheless drag a little bit is Saénz's thing. His writing is beautiful, straight-forward but lyrical, and the characters and relationships he explores are really powerful. But even though I understand this isn't a plot-driven novel, there were points where I had to push myself to keep reading because it just felt like nothing was happening, so I have mixed feelings about this one as well.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Like in <i>Aristotle and Dante</i>, Saénz beautifully explores friendship and family. I loved reading about Sal's relationship with his dad, who is literally the most perfect YA dad that has ever existed. They not only have a father-son relationship but also a great friendship, and they talk about almost everything with one another. This was especially powerful in relationship to this novel's exploration of queerness and masculinity; the set-up of having Sal figure out how to stand up for and defend his father against his peers' homophobia in a way that doesn't resort to masculinist violence is really well-done. The novel also does a fantastic job of decentering biological family relations and demonstrating the importance of non-biological kinship, both between Sal and his adoptive dad and between his dad's relationship to his friends Sam and Fito, neither of whom have supportive parents and for whom he becomes a father figure. I also loved Sal's friendship with Sam and Fito, and I was especially glad that the novel showed a heterosexual guy being platonic friends with both a heterosexual girl and a gay guy that actually stays platonic. Asides from Sal's dad's storyline, there is absolutely no romance in this novel, which was great to see because of the way it allowed us to focus on family, kinship, and friendship.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">While the novel does a great job of discussing masculinity and homosexuality, its discussion of race is somewhat lacking. The premise of a white boy who was adopted by a Mexican family could have opened up a lot of important conversations, and I thought the exploration of Sal's anger at being called a gringo because it limits his ability to fully feel like a part of his family is well-done. However, the message that Sal is Mexican because his family is Mexican forecloses any meaningful conversations around whiteness. Sal being culturally Mexican does not mitigate his white privilege, which is never acknowledged. Additionally, Sal's family's race is never really addressed, i.e. we know nothing about their relationships to whiteness, indigeneity, and Afro-Latinidad. This premise could have made for some important discussions of whiteness by exploring the racial anxieties of a white character who doesn't identify with whiteness, but the implications of this are left unexplored.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24);">***This paragraph has some spoilers (but none about the main plot).***</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I wish Sam's character had had some more development over the course of the novel, and that her experience of sexual assault had been explored in more detail. Even though Sam and Sal's friendship is really beautiful, Sam can be a little irritating. She has no female friends and keeps talking about how annoying other girls are, and even though her desire for male attention is problematized throughout the novel, her disregard for other women is never discussed, and I wish we had seen some character development there. Additionally, I was really frustrated with how this novel handles sexual assault. Sam's boyfriend Eddie attempts to rape Sam at a party, and she escapes and calls Sal to come to her rescue. Later, Sal sees Sam talking to Eddie at school, and comes up to them to tell him to leave Sam alone, but Sam slaps Sal for interfering in her conversation and explains that Eddie was apologizing for "hurting" her. The message ends up being that Sal was wrong for trying to protect Sam from her attempted rapist since Eddie was apologizing, as if he obviously deserved forgiveness or as if "apologizing" for sexually assaulting someone somehow made it okay. The book also never refers to the attempted rape as attempted rape or sexual assault, but just calls it Eddie "hurting" Sam, and Sam does not at any point struggle with moving on from this experience. This might've just been because the novel is written from Sal's male perspective, but I really wish Sam's experience of sexual assault was actually addressed as such and explored as the traumatic event that it is.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Asides from these more political critiques, I just found myself a little bored at times while reading this novel. I feel a little strange calling this a character-driven and not plot-driven novel because there is actually a LOT that happens over the course of this novel, but the actual events aren't the focus; they're more so just catalysts to explore these characters and their relationships. I usually like character-driven novels, but at times this novel just dragged a little. It's 450 pages long, and even though admittedly, the chapters are really short and there's not actually as much text as you'd expect from that amount of pages, it still felt like a little much. In hindsight, I appreciate every element of the novel and wouldn't want to cut anything, but while I was reading I frequently had to push myself to keep going because it just felt slow at times.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">My review is ending up sounding really negative because there were definitely some things that bothered me about this book, but I did really like it overall. It's a beautifully written story that explores family and friendship in new and important ways, and I'm really glad I read it. This might just be one of those books that you're a little bored by while reading it, but that you really appreciate once you've finished it. Regardless, if you liked <i>Aristotle and Dante</i>, you should definitely check this one out as well--but if <i>Aristotle and Dante</i> was already too slow-paced for you, this one probably isn't for you either.</span></span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-18822784079829774682020-06-30T18:00:00.002+02:002020-07-01T03:35:18.942+02:00Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm7dxAM29IChOKz6i4eRDM_GJHYBl6BH72w55Qoth5xrOkRZJ3MAl9ZmIGjtJh8Prc5uB4hXHZaQJOdniPi-9bd4KeHOctWLs7ED0i8q1Zhq9cg7AMJ1Nn5IXUdZY1NWgqFU1QKkekDgs/s475/50794839._SX318_SY475_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm7dxAM29IChOKz6i4eRDM_GJHYBl6BH72w55Qoth5xrOkRZJ3MAl9ZmIGjtJh8Prc5uB4hXHZaQJOdniPi-9bd4KeHOctWLs7ED0i8q1Zhq9cg7AMJ1Nn5IXUdZY1NWgqFU1QKkekDgs/s320/50794839._SX318_SY475_.jpg" /></a></div>Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com" target="_blank">Suzanne Collins</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Publisher: Scholastic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Release date: May 19th 2020</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pages: 517</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult dystopian</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50794839" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781338635171" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined—every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I probably should have read the description for this book in order to save me this disappointment. When I like a series or an author, I will usually read their new book without reading the back cover or any kind of description because I like to go in not knowing anything about what's going to happen. So all I knew that this was a Hunger Games prequel, which I was excited about. If I had realized beforehand that this was a villain origin story for President Snow, I would have been much less interested in the novel, because the whole concept just doesn't seem necessary--I probably would've still read it, but I would've gone in with much lower expectations. This way, I was so disappointed once I realized this novel was about a young President Snow.</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not even sure how to review this book because most of my issues with it weren't with the execution or how this story was told, but just the premise of the novel. Out of all of the stories set in this universe Collins could've told, out of all the characters who could've gotten a background story.... why this one? </span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm honestly confused about what the point of this story was. Are we supposed to be more understanding and sympathetic with President Snow? It didn't seem like it to me, because Coriolanus really isn't a sympathetic character at any point. From the beginning of the novel, he only thinks and cares about himself and is constantly using people to get what he wants. He claims to love Lucy Gray, but he really sees her more as his property than as an equal, and his jealousy and possessiveness of his partner in conjunction with his future or emerging violence as a leader make him somewhat of a poster child for toxic masculinity. In the beginning of the novel, he is questioning the morality of the Hunger Games and the way this world is set up, but clearly he abandons those qualms later in life, so I really didn't get what the point of any of that was. Was that supposed to make us hope for a different outcome than the one we know is coming? Was it supposed to make us realize he wasn't all bad? I'm sorry, but I don't want to empathize with President Snow.<br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The one thing that I did like about this book was getting to learn more about the history of the Hunger Games. The tenth Hunger Games look VERY different from the Hunger Games we saw in the original novel; they are lacking all of the spectacle and technology that made them what we know them to be. It was interesting to see how they developed and how the elements we saw in the original novels came to be. Seeing the roots of the rebel movement in the original series develop in District 12 was also interesting, and I liked seeing some of the rebel songs and acts of rebellion that will become important in the future take shape here.</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">However, this background info wasn't enough to carry the story, which is honestly just... boring. Especially the actual Hunger Games are excruciatingly boring, both because they are lacking the spectacle of the future Hunger Games and about half of the characters just die from starvation or exhaustion, and because we read about them from Coriolanus's view as a spectator, rather than actually being on the ground in the Games. The second half that takes place after the Games is more interesting than the first, but still not particularly interesting. You could say that this novel is an interesting exploration of this world and how it came to be, and a discussion about human nature and power in relation to Coriolanus's character development... but it just isn't a fun read in any way. Since not much really happens, this book probably could've been 200 pages shorter than it is.</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><font face="">***This paragraph contains spoilers, although I guess they're not that spoiler-y because we all know what will become of Coriolanus Snow!??***</font></div><div><font face="">The ending is super confusing. On the one hand, I'm glad it is clear that, at the end of the novel, Coriolanus is unequivocally evil, because the alternative of still trying to make us empathize with him would have been worse. On the other hand... the ending happens wayyy too quickly; I had no idea what was happening half the time, and what happened between him and Lucy Gray at the end just didn't make any sense. Since their relationship was the focus of most of the novel, I think we needed some more actual exploration of what happened between them and how that relates to Coriolanus's embracing of Capitol values.</font></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face="">All in all, this book was really hard to get through. I felt like I had to finish it, but I put it down so many times because I was bored, and I think it took me almost two weeks to get through it. I really just can't get over the fact that, instead of writing a background story from one of the many beloved characters from these novels, or re-writing part of this series from someone else's perspective, or writing literally anything else, Collins decided to give us over 500 pages about a young President Snow being slightly less evil and becoming progressively more evil. I just feel like this is a story no one really needed.</font></div></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br />
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</div>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-64215832009939718712020-06-27T20:00:00.000+02:002020-06-27T20:00:17.731+02:00Review: Coming Up for Air by Miranda Kenneally<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: Coming Up for Air</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://mirandakenneally.com/" target="_blank">Miranda Kenneally</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: July 4th 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 293</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32470593-coming-up-for-air" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781492630111" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All of Maggie’s focus and free time is spent swimming. She’s not only striving to earn scholarships—she’s training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team and cheers her on. But Levi’s already earned an Olympic tryout, so Maggie feels even more pressure to succeed. And it’s not until Maggie’s away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the “typical” high school experience she’s missed by being in the pool.<br />
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Not one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate. After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to sacrifice in the water to win at love?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What a fantastic conclusion to this series! I love the characters, the romance, the writing, and the sports talk in each of these books, and Coming Up for Air has all of these Hundred Oaks staples and more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maggie was relatable and likable like all of the Hundred Oaks protagonists. I loved how driven and passionate she is without anyone else pushing her into being a successful swimmer, and her friendships and romance are just as fun to read about. The romance is adorable as always; I didn't mind the predictable-ness one bit, and was rooting along for this couple throughout the entire novel. Kenneally's books are always a safe bet if you want some adorable romance that will distract you from the real world and make you happy to go along on these characters' journeys.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In all of the Hundred Oaks books, I've loved reading about each character's passion and competitiveness in whatever each of them is good at, and this one is no exception. I loved reading about Maggie's dedication to swimming, being along for all the ups and downs of her swim meets and training, and getting immersed in all the technicalities and drama of these young athletes' lives. I never get how Kenneally can get me so invested in these technicalities--if you asked me if I wanted to learn about the specific times young swimmers need to meet, how exactly they train to shave second off their times, etc., I would definitely say no--but she manages to integrate these technicalities into the realities of the lives of the characters you grow to love in a way that makes you want to know everything about a topic you've never cared about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One thing that stood out about this book compared to the previous Hundred Oaks books was the emphasis on sexuality. Even if it was cringe-worthy to read about the way Maggie expresses them sometimes, it was great to see a female character who is so outspoken about her sexual desires. There are a lot of hot and heavy scenes, and even if the explicit message is mainly about it being okay to evolve at your own pace (i.e. to not have had sex yet), the general sex-positivity was great to read about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, a fantastic conclusion to a companion series of which I loved each one. Even though we always just get one book per character and it's a little different from saying goodbye to a group of characters and stories you loved, I am still a little sad we won't get any more Hundred Oaks books. But I can't wait to see what Miranda Kenneally does next!</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-50135792791409937172020-06-20T18:30:00.000+02:002020-06-20T18:30:56.095+02:00Review: That's Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: That's Not What Happened</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://kodykeplinger.com/" target="_blank">Kody Keplinger</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Scholastic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: August 28th 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 336</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37825410-that-s-not-what-happened" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781338186529" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah's story--that she died proclaiming her faith. <br />
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But it's not true. <br />
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I know because I was with her when she died. I didn't say anything then, and people got hurt because of it. Now Sarah's parents are publishing a book about her, so this might be my last chance to set the record straight . . . but I'm not the only survivor with a story to tell about what did--and didn't--happen that day. <br />
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Except Sarah's martyrdom is important to a lot of people, people who don't take kindly to what I'm trying to do. And the more I learn, the less certain I am about what's right. I don't know what will be worse: the guilt of staying silent or the consequences of speaking up . . .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I made the mistake of reading this book without taking a look at the description of it beforehand (if I already know I like an author, I will read their book without looking at any info on it because I like to go into a book not knowing anything), so I was expecting another fun, light-hearted read like the previous Kody Keplinger books I've read. And even though I had been in the mood for a fun, fluffy read, and that is absolutely not what I got with That's Not What Happened, it was a great read nonetheless, and I'm excited that Keplinger is trying something a little new!</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">That's Not What Happened is definitely an emotional read. I've read a few YA takes on school shootings, but none that were primarily about its survivors a few years after the fact. Being set so much later than the actual event does not make it any less heart-breaking; seeing how much the survivors are still suffering from having lost their friends and witnessed this traumatic event was a unique take on this issue and just as emotionally powerful. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I'm split on what to make of the premise of this novel, which seems to be a fictionalized account of Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott who were seen as Christian martyrs after Columbine. If the novel didn't have this resemblance to these real-life victims of a school shooting, I would have loved this story and its discussion of religion. The novel isn't explicitly critical of religion, but Christianity is not exactly portrayed in the best light, since many of the very religious characters are complete hypocrites who mistreat two young girls when they speak out against the story they've been holding onto. Parts of this seemed unrealistic to me--would they literally run a girl and her family out of town for speaking up and saying that part of the story they believe in is not true??--, but I don't know too much about small religious towns, so maybe I'm just naive. It definitely encourages an interesting discussion of organized religion.</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">However, since it does share this resemblance to these real-life people, I wasn't sure how to feel about this. Sarah's family, who seem to be a fictional version of Rachel Scott's family, are not portrayed particularly positively, which could be seen as disrespectful (since, to my knowledge, the real-life girls' declarations of faith have not been disproven?). To me, this didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the novel, but it does feel a little iffy thinking about it afterwards. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Asides from this potentially problematic premise, I loved everything about this book. Lee is a great character; she's a little oblivious at times, and stubborn about insisting that others' mourning should look like hers and refusing to understand why it might not, but definitely a realistic and lovable character. The cast of Lee's friends/fellow survivors is also well done, and I especially loved the romance. Lee is asexual (which I don't think I've ever seen in YA before), and I really liked the way the discussion of this was integrated into the romance in ways that respected asexuality as a legitimate identity, introduced you to some of the issues asexual people might face while dating, and still made for a swoonworthy romance.</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This was a very enjoyable read on many levels, and, even if the premise might be a little problematic, it would make for some very interesting discussion material!</span></span></span><br />
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-78408472147831077692020-06-15T20:50:00.000+02:002020-06-15T20:50:02.569+02:00Review: You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour & David Levithan<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1448074907l/27158835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1448074907l/27158835.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: You Know Me Well</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="https://www.ninalacour.com/" target="_blank">Nina LaCour</a> & <a href="http://www.davidlevithan.com/" target="_blank">David Levithan</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: June 7th 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 248</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27158835-you-know-me-well" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9781250098658" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">M</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.<br />
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That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.<br />
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When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other—and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.<br />
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Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, You Know Me Well is a story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="freeTextreview2651341767" style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">I wanted to love this book, since both of these authors are fantastic writers, and I loved the premise. And it was definitely a decent book; but I was kind of bored by parts of it, and it just wasn't anywhere near as great as either of these authors' individual books.<br /><br />One thing that I did really enjoy was the depiction of Pride and of queer spaces, and the different explorations of queer intimacy. Every single character (except for the main characters' parents) in this book is queer, which was awesome. Most of this novel is set during SF Pride, and we get to see a lot of different elements of Pride, which were super fun to read about. I really appreciated the exploration of queer intimacy; while there is definitely romance and heartbreak, at the heart of the story is queer friendship/platonic queer intimacy, primarily through Kate/Katie's and Mark's friendship, but also through both of their friendships with their respective also gay best friends. Queer friendships, platonic queer intimacy, and queer mentorship and community is something we rarely get to see due to the focus on romance, so this depiction is really important.<br /><br />But unfortunately, I couldn't really get into the story or connect with the characters. Mark was an endearing character, but I was honestly kind of annoyed by Kate/Katie (I was very confused by the way she insists on being called Kate, yet the book itself refers to her as Katie...) throughout the novel. Her inability to communicate was super frustrating, and her whole identity crisis about not wanting to go study art anymore just seemed really random because we never get any insight into why. It kind of felt contrived, as if we just needed some kind of conflict for her so that Mark wouldn't be the only one in need of help from a new friend.<br /><br />I also found the instant friendship between Katie/Kate and Mark to be unrealistic and overly emphasized-the concept of this new friendship was cool, but did they need to start doing *everything* together--including going on Kate's dates--as soon as they met!? I understand how it's necessary for the premise, but the whole concept of them immediately becoming best friends after spending one evening together felt a little forced to me.<br /><br />Both romance storylines were lacking development, in my opinion. Katie's idealization of Violet felt very manic-pixie-dream-girl-esque and overdone, and Violet never felt like a real person to me. While I appreciate the focus on Mark's and Katie's friendship, it meant that the romance was under explored and never felt real. For example, we barely get to see Katie and Violet spend any time together without Mark also coming along, so how are they suddenly in love? Similarly, Mark's evolving relationship with Ryan just didn't seem realistic.<br /><br />This one definitely had potential, and I appreciate this different approach to exploring queer spaces and queer intimacy, but the story and characters just didn't work for me. But of course I'll still read anything either of these authors will come out with.</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-30501483864904802712020-06-10T19:30:00.000+02:002020-06-10T19:30:16.952+02:00Review: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528476484l/39208438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528476484l/39208438.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: On the Come Up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="https://angiethomas.com/" target="_blank">Angie Thomas</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Balzer & Bray</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: February 5th 2019</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 447</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36137954-on-the-come-up" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780062498564" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.<br />
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But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons.<br />
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Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Hate U Give was a tough act to follow, but Angie Thomas does not disappoint! I'm tempted to say I loved this one even more than THUG, but... they're different books that do different things and I love them both in their own ways.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of my favorite elements of this book was reading about Bri's emerging hip hop career. Her manager wants her to market herself as a "ratchet hood rat" because that's what he argues will sell to the prime consumers of hip hop--white kids in the suburbs who want to consume stereotypical Blackness and gang culture. Her mother and friends push back against her embracing of this part--even though her playing this "role" is not always intentional, but a misinterpretation of her speaking out against the racial profiling at her school and the sexism in the hip hop industry. This made for fascinating discussions of respectability politics, hip hop culture, the angry Black woman stereotype, media portrayals of female rappers, etc. Asides from that, the scenes of Bri performing in rap battles were super fun to read!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also loved reading about Bri's relationship with her family and friends. I loved Bri's character, and even when she is being her most stubborn and continuously getting herself into trouble, her reasoning was completely understandable; I was just as torn as she was between her desire for success (in order to be able to help her struggling family) and her relationships with her friends and family. Her mother, brother, two best friends, and love interest were all fully developed characters, and I wanted to read more about each of their stories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fact that this is set in the same neighborhood as THUG after the events of Thomas's first novel and that we get references to the events and characters in THUG is another bonus! We get to see the aftermath of the riots play out in the Garden, and we get another great discussion of racial profiling, this time through an exploration of the policing of Black and Brown students at Bri's school. This discussion, and the different Black and Brown students' perspectives on how to fight back against these forms of violence, were also really well done. All around, a super important book; I hope we get many more books set in the Garden!</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-34257498675867185612020-06-07T19:46:00.000+02:002020-06-07T19:46:55.794+02:00Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: The Distance Between Us</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://www.kasiewest.com/" target="_blank">Kasie West</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: HarperTeen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: July 2nd 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 320</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15283043-the-distance-between-us" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780062235657" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.<br />
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So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.<br />
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She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was really excited to finally read a book by Kasie West; I'd heard great things about her, and I was in the needed of a fluffy romance, so this looked ideal. But unfortunately, nothing about this book worked for me. I was annoyed with the writing and storyline about 50 pages in, and it just went downhill from there. I thought about giving up so many times but I hate DNFing books so I pushed on, hoping it would getter, but the story and characters just continued to annoy me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So many elements of this story stilted and unrealistic to me, especially the romance. Guys just keep walking into the creepy doll store where Caymen works and immediately falling in love with her!? I could not get into the romance at all; it's not quite insta-love, since Caymen is very resistant of dating Xander at first, but it is insta-hanging out all the time and suddenly seeing each other all the time in a very forced and unrealistic way. Xander is somehow just automatically in love with Caymen after seeing her once, and they feel this deep connection because neither of them knows what they want to do after high school, when.... does anyone really know that?? Basically every twist and turn of their relationship was overly dramatic, unnecessary, and unrealistic. The message about how not all rich people are bad was also very frustrating, because... why?? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">***SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH***</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The plot twist towards the end made me even more irritated with this book. After all this discussion of how hard it is for Caymen and Xander to date because they come from such different worlds and because Caymen hates rich people, it turns out that Caymen's family is actually rich too; she just didn't know that because her mother is estranged from her rich grandparents. The way she finds out about this seemed super unrealistic (she just happens to run into her grandparents, whom she has never seen before even though they live in the same small town as her!??, at Xander's family's party??) and the fact that everyone just makes up after was just a giant mess.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The story, the characters, the romance, the writing... pretty much every element of this story annoyed me, and reading this book was a very frustrating experience to me. Will need to find something else to satisfy my need for a fluffy YA romance with endearing characters and some romance I will actually want to root for...</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-42500849772461735702020-05-27T17:31:00.000+02:002020-05-27T17:31:19.174+02:00Review: As I Descended by Robin Talley<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1455557048l/28218948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1455557048l/28218948.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: As I Descended</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="https://robintalley.com/" target="_blank">Robin Talley</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: HarperTeen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: September 6th 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 370</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult paranormal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28218948-as-i-descended" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780062409232" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—even if no one knows it but them.<br />
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Only one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey.<br />
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Golden child Delilah is a legend at the exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. She runs the school, and if she chose, she could blow up Maria and Lily’s whole world with a pointed look, or a carefully placed word.<br />
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But what Delilah doesn’t know is that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to make their dreams come true. And the first step is unseating Delilah for the Kingsley Prize. The full scholarship, awarded to Maria, will lock in her attendance at Stanford―and four more years in a shared dorm room with Lily.<br />
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Maria and Lily will stop at nothing to ensure their victory—including harnessing the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school.<br />
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But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what is imagined, the girls must decide where they draw the line. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was a super cool premise, but I somehow couldn't get fully into it. In theory, I loved everything about it--a creepy queer YA retelling of Macbeth? A Southern boarding school built on what used to be a slave plantation and is now haunted by the ghosts of the slaves that died there? Not one but two gay couples as the protagonists? Latinx mythology? Yes please. But for some reason, I kept waiting for things to really take off and for all of these elements to fit together, which unfortunately never happened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The setting of this boarding school on what used to be a plantation and the creepy atmosphere were really well-done; the one thing that I did get out of this book was some really creepy vibes. The interactions these characters have with ghosts are fascinating and engaging, and I honestly liked them better than I liked the interactions the characters had with each other. However, I wish the history of the plantation was worked into the ghost story better; I was hoping to hear the stories of some of the enslaved people who lived on this plantation, but that unfortunately was not the case, and the story of why this school is haunted fell flat for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The characters were okay; they're definitely interesting, but I felt like we didn't get to know them well enough outside of the paranormal activities to actually care about all that much. Especially Maria and Lily were confusing because their motivations just didn't seem realistic. What sets off the events in this book is Maria's desire to win a prize that guarantees a scholarship to any university of her choice... even though she's the daughter of a prominent senator and didn't seem to really need a scholarship to be able to go to a fancy school. Lily pushes Maria towards committing less-than-moral acts because she wants Maria to win a scholarship to Stanford, where she has already been accepted, so that they can stay together. Asides from being very confused about the timeline of these college admissions and this prize and scholarship, I just didn't buy that Maria and Lily would be be willing to cause this much harm to other people just to get Maria, who doesn't need a scholarship, a scholarship to Stanford. And since this is a Macbeth retelling, you can assume the point was to show Maria's and Lily's descent into madness because of their selfish desires, but because the evil spirits were the main focus, that element seemed kind of forced, and I was confused by the overall message.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even though the story and setting were intriguing, I had to push myself to keep going at times because I got a little bored and I was overall underwhelmed by the story. All around, a good atmospheric, creepy read, but an underwhelming story, characters, and message. I loved Robin Talley's debut but hadn't read anything else by her, so I will have to check out her other ones to see if they're more up my alley.</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-8331692099348710952020-05-24T17:42:00.000+02:002020-05-24T17:42:08.453+02:00Review: Adam by Ariel Schrag<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: Adam</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://www.arielschrag.com/" target="_blank">Ariel Schrag</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Mariner Books</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: June 10th 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 302</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Purchased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18222744-adam" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/7416/9780544142930" target="_blank">Puchase from Bookshop</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When Adam Freedman -- a skinny, awkward, inexperienced teenager from Piedmont, California -- goes to stay with his older sister Casey in New York City, he is hopeful that his life is about to change. And it sure does. <br />
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It is the Summer of 2006. Gay marriage and transgender rights are in the air, and Casey has thrust herself into a wild lesbian subculture. Soon Adam is tagging along to underground clubs, where there are hot older women everywhere he turns. It takes some time for him to realize that many in this new crowd assume he is trans -- a boy who was born a girl. Why else would this baby-faced guy always be around? <br />
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Then Adam meets Gillian, the girl of his dreams -- but she couldn't possibly be interested in him. Unless passing as a trans guy might actually work in his favor...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This book was WILD. Wow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know a lot of people took issue with this premise (especially once the movie version came out), but I think the story of a cis boy pretending to be trans is a fascinating perspective from which to explore trans issues--as long as you make clear that of course, pretending to be trans is absolutely not okay. So I was really excited to read this book to see how and if it would do that. And even though this was a super fun book to read, I'm still on the fence on whether it does this clearly enough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Adam, in the beginning of the novel, is truly terrible. He is frustrated at his lack of sexual experience and blames women for this. Asides from the whole pretending-to-be-trans thing, he and his disgustingly homophobic and pervy friend spy on his sister (!!!???) while she is having sex with her girlfriend. He is super ignorant when it comes to queer and trans issues, and makes a number of transphobic comments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But, I actually liked the fact that he was terrible in the beginning of the novel. While we are starting to get more and more novels about queer characters struggling with other people's homophobia/transphobia, we don't have a lot of books about homophobic/transphobic characters addressing their own prejudices and educating themselves about queer issues, and that can be a really powerful thing to read about. Reading about Adam learning so much about trans issues--even though it's for the completely wrong reasons--I think could be really useful for someone who isn't very well versed in queer and trans issues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also really loved the depiction of queer spaces. Adam and his group of actually queer friends go to queer sex clubs, a gay marriage rally, and a number of queer parties and gatherings, and the depiction of this subculture was much more explicit than what we are used to in YA, which I think can also be really powerful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, I thought the parodic depiction of white queer communities were really entertaining and powerful. Adam joins a community of almost exclusively white queer people who are hyper-politically correct and constantly trying to be more radical and to think of the least privileged queer people, all while ignoring the lived experiences of queer people of color. Adam--despite all of his shortcomings--comments on these discrepancies that make for a productive engagement with whiteness in queer activism. I was really disappointed that the movie completely erases this element of the novel, since this to me was one of the most powerful elements.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was really torn on what to make of this novel's depiction of sex. This novel includes some of the most graphic sex scenes I have ever read in a YA novel, and it discusses in detail how Adam straps down his actual penis in order to strap on a dildo in order to have sex with Gillian. On the one hand, pushing the boundaries on what level of sexual explicit material is acceptable in YA is really powerful, especially because of this discussion of non-normative sex acts such as the use of sex toys and the discussions around queer trans people's sexual pleasure that go along with it. On the other hand, the novel never really addresses the fact that all of the sexual interactions between Adam and Gillian, during which Gillian thinks she is having sex with a trans boy, are a clear violation of consent. There is one scene at the end that is especially icky in terms of consent. This novel really pushes the boundaries on what is acceptable in YA--in ways both good and bad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">***THIS PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS***</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even though I thought I liked where the novel was going, I was really frustrated by the ending. I cannot believe that Gillan stays with Adam after finding out that he is not trans. I felt like the novel would have needed to punish Adam (as bad as that sounds) in some way for pretending to be trans and for violating consent with Gillian in order to really demonstrate to readers that these choices are reprehensible. By having Gillian forgive Adam, the novel, if not condoning his actions, makes the case that they are forgivable and understandable, which really detracted from the novel's message. And then, the very ending, in which, after Adam and Gillian break up, Gillian starts dating another cis boy... As a declaration of the legitimacy of bisexuality (the way it's framed in the movie), this could have been an important point to make, but because this is never discussed, it veered into iffy turning-the-lesbian-straight territory.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Adam is one of the most shocking YA novels I've ever read, in ways good and bad. While I didn't love everything about it, and I really wish the ending had taken Adam to task for his actions more explicitly, this novel opens up a lot of important conversations and pushes queer YA in new directions. Plus, its shock factor makes it a super fun read.</span><br />
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-21059043927632672042020-05-23T18:30:00.000+02:002020-05-23T18:33:00.350+02:00Coming Back to Blogging!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hi!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is anyone there?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Does anyone still follow this blog after my accidental 4-year hiatus?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Does the YA book blog community still exist??</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Regardless, I'm coming back! I miss talking about YA with other people who are as obsessed with it as I am. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What I've been up to since I stopped posting...</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I stopped blogging in the summer of 2016, the summer I graduated from college and started grad school (and, honestly, the year before that my dedication to blogging was already pretty spotty) because I just wasn't willing to make time for this blog anymore. But I definitely did not abandon my love for YA! After graduating from college, I went on to get my MA in Comparative Literature, and wrote my Master's thesis about neoliberal diversity politics and Young Adult literature. I then went on to start a PhD program in English Literature and Critical Gender Studies, where most of my work has still been on race and sexuality in Young Adult literature and youth studies. Grad school can be kind of all-consuming, and since I was already reading and writing the whole time, I just couldn't get myself to do even more reading and writing for this blog. But I've still been thinking and writing about YA this whole time; just in significantly more formal and less fun spaces than this one....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Why I'm coming back to blogging...</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The main reason is because I miss it! I</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n my academic work I've started to talk more about online YA communities, and writing about teens' knowledge production and the way YA online communities can impact publishing trends has made me nostalgic for my days of participating in this world! I </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">recently started writing reviews of the YA books again because I missed working through my thoughts on a book by writing them out, without planning on posting them anywhere but GoodReads. But if I'm already writing them, I figured I might as well post them on here too... Plus, I miss the YA community! I've seen that many of the bloggers I interacted with back in the day aren't blogging anymore, and I don't know if the YA book blog community is quite the same as it was 5 years ago, but I'm hopeful that some of you all are still out there, and that there are new YA lovers to get to know!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also, ya know, what else am I supposed to do during quarantine!?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What to expect from this blog in the future...</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's no way I'll be able to post as much as I did during this blog's heyday--how in the world did I have the time to read 3 YA books a week and post 5 times a week?? Ah, right, by not having a life in high school...--but I am hoping to post at least once a week! During the summer I will probably even post more than that, but once school starts again reading and reviewing a YA book every week already sounds pretty ambitious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I might also write some longer posts adapting some of my more academic thoughts on race and sexuality in YA to a more informal style and writing more about that here too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other than that, this blog will mainly just be YA book reviews, unless... are memes still a thing? Does anyone still do Top Ten Tuesdays and Waiting on Wednesdays? Someone catch me up on what I've missed and teach me how to YA book blog in 2020...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If anyone is still following this blog and actually reading this, thank you for sticking with me! And even if not... I'm just looking forward to writing book reviews again :)</span>Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-72580361638788843282016-08-12T23:47:00.000+02:002016-08-12T23:47:05.113+02:00Review: This Too Shall Pass by Milena Busquets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: This Too Shall Pass</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: Milena Busquets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Harvill Secker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: May 12th 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 164</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Gift from publisher</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26117409-this-too-shall-pass" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/This-Too-Shall-Pass-Novel/dp/1101903708/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471031194&sr=8-2&keywords=this+too+shall+pass" target="_blank">Puchase from Amazon</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blanca is forty years old and motherless. Shocked at the unexpected loss of the most important person in her life, she suddenly realizes that she has no idea what her future will look like.<br />
To deal with her dizzying grief and confusion, Blanca turns to sex, her dearest friends, her closest family, and a change of scenery. Leaving Barcelona behind, she returns to her mother’s former home in Cadaqués on the coast, accompanied by her two sons, two ex-husbands, and two best friends, with plans to meet her married lover. Though she is haunted by both the past and the present, Blanca embarks on a new sort of journey alongside those she loves most, one of resilience and hope, teaching her to live on with the knowledge that even the most devastating pain will eventually subside.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While definitely not my typical read or the type of book I would want to read a ton more of, <i>This Too Shall Pass </i>was an interesting reading experience for me. It's very literary, much more literary than I'm used to, and with that come both the things I like about literary fiction and the things that make me not want to read it all the time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The writing is gorgeous. I don't know how much of this is Milena Busquet's writing and how much of it is excellent translation, but the words in this book are just so beautiful. It's the kind of writing that makes you stop and think after every other sentence. Saying this sounds so cliched, but I really think that this book is full of important life lessons, beautifully expressed and leaving a lasting impression.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also loved the main character Blanca. I've read a lot of reviews complaining about how much they disliked Blanca, and I can see why - she's not the most likeable character. She's selfish, incapable of love, and makes terrible decisions most of the time. But I really liked reading about her. I related to her problems, and regardless of whether she's likeable, I think she's a very realistic character and her story is very honest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, as with a lot of literary fiction, it was hard for me to really get to know the secondary characters or become invested in the plot. We get short descriptions, but I don't feel like we really get to know any of the secondary characters in depth, and none of them really have their own storylines. To some extent, this could be attributed to Blanca's self-absorption and emotional distance from everyone around her. But I felt like at least Blanca's mother's character could have been explored in more depth, considering she was supposedly the most important person in Blanca's life. We read about Blanca's problems with her mother towards the end of her life, but I don't feel like we ever get to see the two of them in any kind of positive relation that would justify her being so important in Blanca's life. Because I felt like I didn't really know the characters, I felt somewhat removed from the plot for a good portion of the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even though <i>This Too Shall Pass</i> is a very short read, it definitely packs a punch. Not necessarily the plot - not a ton of things happen, really, But the beautiful, thought-provoking writing makes it worth it. I would definitely recommend this for fans of literary fiction, or someone looking to give literary fiction a try, since this is a much quicker read than most literary novels. </span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-82441063774988863032016-07-25T14:30:00.000+02:002019-01-02T03:12:15.464+01:00Review: You Before Anyone Else by Julie Cross & Mark Perini<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: You Before Anyone Else</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://juliecrossbooks.com/" target="_blank">Julie Cross</a> & <a href="http://markperini.com/" target="_blank">Mark Perini</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: August 2nd 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 400</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: NetGalley - I received a free eGalley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27969076-you-before-anyone-else?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Before-Anyone-Else-Julie-Cross/dp/1492604925/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465562560&sr=8-1&keywords=you+before+anyone+else" target="_blank">Puchase from Amazon</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New York City model Finley is fed up with hearing the same feedback at castings: she needs to take some serious action to wipe the "good girl" stamp from her resume if she wants to launch to stardom.<br />
Enter Eddie Wells. He's shallow, predictable…and just as lost as Finley feels. Deep down, Finley is drawn to Eddie's bravado, his intensity. Except Eddie is hiding something. A big something. And when it surfaces, both loving and leaving Finley will become so much harder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My rating: 3 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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</b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I liked <i>You Before Anyone Else</i> right from the start. The writing is great; even though the book is 400 pages long, it reads super quickly because the writing flows so well and really absorbs you in the story. The characters are easy to like: they're not the most unique characters, but they are fully-developed and make it easy to care about their stories. I especially liked how You Before Anyone Else blurs the borders between YA and NA, since Finley and Eddie are living on their own and have very adult responsibilities, but the themes of the book are still definitively YA. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One thing I didn't find all that realistic is both Finley's and Eddie's success. Eddie just randomly decided to start modeling (we never even find out how and why he made that decision), and instantly, everyone loves him, and he gets all the jobs with all the big labels. I don't know all that much about the modeling world, but that just doesn't seem realistic. Finley struggles a lot more with getting modeling jobs, but, in the sense of the story, that's because her true passion is dance, not modeling, which she used to do but gave up a while ago. And when she suddenly shows an interest in dancing again, everyone is blown away by her talent and technique and she's immediately offered a job with a professional dance company. No matter how talented she is, I doubt that would happen if she hasn't practiced in a couple of years and is barely getting back into it. I wish we had seen some more actual struggle with the two of them succeeding because I think that would have made the whole story more believable.</span><br />
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</b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I really loved the romance in <i>You Before Anyone Else</i>. Finley and Eddie have great chemistry, and I loved the unconventional (for YA) start to their relationship. The two of them manage to fall for each other quickly without it coming off as unrealistic or insta-love-y. In addition to the chemistry that makes them fun to read about, they actually have a really healthy, mutually supportive relationship, which I think is really important to see in YA. I also appreciated, though, that the focus isn't entirely on the romance: both characters' individual stories matter just as much, and the novel revolves around Finley and Eddie trying to combine their own passions with their romance.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then, about half way through the novel, Eddie's secret is revealed and it steers the novel in a completely new direction. I'm still not really sure how I feel about this entire storyline, and I can't really talk about it without spoiling anything. It's definitely a surprising twist and it provides for an interesting story, but I just didn't really understand Eddie's motivation in all of this; he's such a good guy, but he's just being an idiot when it comes to this, to be honest. If the secret had more to do with his "bad boy" past, it would have made more sense to me, but his past struggles aren't really explored all that much, and it was more so his current decisions that I found confusing. And Finley's reaction is strange too, and also just really goes against what I wanted for her. I just don't know what to make of this storyline at all.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ending is a veeery happy ending, the kind that generally makes me roll my eyes at how unrealistic it is. These types of endings always annoy me because, even if the characters were concerned with real-life issues over the course of the novel, in the end things turn out perfectly like they never would in real life. Finely and Eddie don't actually have to make any difficult decisions because, by coincidence, someone shows up or something happens that ensures that everything works out just the way they wanted, without them having to give up anything. The realistic conflict of needing to decide between pursuing your dream, doing the "safe" thing, and staying with the person you love just kind of... disappears. I </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">understand that this probably makes a lot of readers happy, but to be honest, I feel like it discredits everything the characters went through before the ending.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm still not really sure what to make of You Before Anyone Else. It had a ton of potential: I loved the setup, the writing, and the characters. And I did really like parts of the story, like the initial romance and both characters' individual story arches. But the plot twist halfway through kind of threw me off, and it ended up dominating most of the novel from that point on. I do recommend <i>You Before Anyone Else</i> because it's a quick, entertaining read; just don't expect everything to be realistic.</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-87776286135416611822016-07-20T14:30:00.000+02:002016-07-20T14:30:35.479+02:00Review: The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: The Assassin Game</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: Kirsty McKay</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: August 2nd 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 336</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult mystery</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: NetGalley - I received a free eGalley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27969100-the-assassin-game" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Assassin-Game-Kirsty-McKay/dp/1492632759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465562037&sr=8-1&keywords=the+assassin+game" target="_blank">Puchase from Amazon</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At Cate's isolated boarding school, Killer is more than a game- it's an elite secret society. Members must avoid being "Killed" during a series of thrilling pranks, and only the Game Master knows who the "Killer" is. When Cate's finally invited to join the Assassins' Guild, she know it's her ticket to finally feeling like she belongs.<br />
But when the game becomes all too real, the school threatens to shut it down. Cate will do anything to keep playing and save the Guild. But can she find the real assassin before she's the next target? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My rating: 2 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Assassin's Game</i> sounded like a great read; with the theme of murder at an elite boarding school, it reminded me a little of the Private series, which I loved. The idea of the Guild and their game is fascinating, too. I was expecting a thrilling mystery. But unfortunately, I was very disappointed by The Assassin's Game; while the book had a ton of potential, I had a number of issues with the execution, and the novel just didn't have the level of thrill and danger that would have made it a worthwhile read for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A boarding school of geniuses and misfits on an isolated island has a ton of potential for unique and fascinating characters, but unfortunately, I wasn't all that impressed by any of the. Cate is okay, but I don't feel like we even got to know that much about her; I wish her passion for art had been explored more so that we could have maybe gotten to know her better. Cate also frustrated me with how useless she is in times of danger, never shutting up and listening to what anyone is saying to her. The entire cast of secondary characters is very underdeveloped: not Cate's best friend and roommate Marcia, whom we know basically nothing about, not Vaughn, Cate's childhood friend that suddenly reappears but who, to be honest, we don't really get to know either, and none of the other players in the Game that are really all just described with one or two adjectives each. Because none of the characters (and potential suspects) seemed like real people, I couldn't really get myself to care or try to figure out which one of them might be the killer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which leads me to my main problem with this book: the underwhelming-ness of the entire mystery. The novel starts out slow, with a really long introduction to the school and the game, and a ton of info-dumping. I kept waiting for the plot to pick up, and to some extent it does... buy in my opinion, it just doesn't pick up enough. I was expecting things to get completely out of hand, for people to actually be killed and for there to be a real sense of danger. But what happens, at least up until the very end, is actually relatively tame, and I never felt any immediate threat or danger. The plot just wasn't intense enough for me. It doesn't actually become dangerous for Cate until the very end, but I still found the resolution to be underwhelming: the bad guy's motivation is kind of petty and didn't seem strong enough to justify what had happened, And after this one scene of confrontation, the book just kind of ends, with a last chapter that wraps everything up nicely and reads more like an epilogue. I just didn't get out of this book any of the sense of thrill I like to read mysteries for.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To be honest, I don't think I can recommend this book. The writing isn't bad; it flows nicely (except for the info-dumping), making this a quick read, if nothing else. But w</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ith underdeveloped characters and a mystery that never really picks up steam or makes you feel any sense of threat or danger, t</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">he whole book was just very underwhelming for me. While I love the idea, there are other much better YA mysteries out there.</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-5132877472879226772016-07-18T14:30:00.000+02:002016-07-18T14:30:20.024+02:00Review: All We Have Left by Wendy Mills<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: All We Have Left</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://www.wendymillsbooks.com/" target="_blank">Wendy Mills</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: August 9th 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 368</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: Young Adult contemporary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: NetGalley - I received a free eGalley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26072969-all-we-have-left" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Have-Left-Wendy-Mills/dp/1619633434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465562215&sr=8-1&keywords=all+we+have+left+wendy+mills" target="_blank">Puchase from Amazon</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Interweaving stories from past and present, <i>All We Have Left</i> follows two girls, Alia and Jesse, who discover that hatred and love have the power to reverberate into the future.<br />
Then: Alia is a proud Muslim, even if it makes high school more difficult. Grounded for a stupid mistake, Alia decides to confront her father at his Manhattan office, putting her in danger she never expected. When the planes collide into the Twin Towers, Alia is trapped inside. There she meets a boy who risks everything for her.<br />
Now: Jesse is haunted by the past. Ever since her brother died in the September 11th attacks, her dad's rage and grief has overshadowed their lives. When one hate-fueled decision turns Jesse's life upside down, the only way to make amends is to face the past and find out the truth of her brother's last day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My rating: 3 out of 5 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I absolutely love the set-up of <i>All We Have Left</i>! I know there's a lot of 9/11 books out there, but I actually don't think I'd read any YA books about 9/11 before this one, and I do think the combination of these two stories from different time periods makes this a unique read. I loved the intertwined-ness of these two stories; it made them both feel more meaningful and made the whole book more suspenseful, since you're finding out what happened to Travis and Alia along with Jesse, but through Alia's eyes, All this being said, I did have some issues with the details and execution of the novel; I thought this story had a ton of potential to be an absolutely amazing novel, but because of some issues with the character and plot development, it turned out to be a pretty good book but nothing more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While I loved the two stories in combination, individually, I did have some issues with both stories, especially Jesse's. While some parts of Alia's story are underdeveloped, but I didn't mind too much, since most of her story takes place in the towers, the imminent danger overshadowing the exploration of anything else going on in her life. Jesse's story is more ambitious in the sense that it tries to cover a longer time period and a number of storylines of what is happening in Jesse's life. We start out reading about Jesse's romance with Nick, the "bad guy" who leads her to the "hate-fueled decision" that works as a starting point for the entire story. While I thought that Nick's racism and anti-Muslim ideas that Jesse gets sucked into due to her infatuation with Nick were a great premise, the book doesn't really have enough time to explore this in any depth: their relationship is insta-love-y and underdeveloped, making it hard to believe that Jesse would actually go along with Nick's hateful actions, and then regret them so deeply later on. Jesse's relationship with her family, especially her angry and spiteful father, is interesting too, but also isn't explored in enough depth, and I felt like their issues are resolved much too smoothly in the end. Jesse's relationship with Adam, a Muslim boy she meets at the interfaith center where she's serving her court-mandated community service, has a ton of potential, but again, it isn't explored enough and reads kind of insta-love-y. To be honest, I think there's just too much going on in Jesse's story to explore any of it in enough depth, since all of it has to share the spotlight with Alias's story in this still relatively short novel. All of the storylines had a ton of potential, but none were fully developed or let me really get to know Jesse enough for her to feel like a real person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One thing I did really enjoy is the writing. Wendy Mills's style is immersive and addictive; even when I had issues with the plot, I didn't want to put the book down. The descriptions are realistic and vivid, making you feel like you're there along with the characters. <i>All We Have Left</i> is the kind of book that you just keep reading without noticing the time passing, and, to be honest, that's the only thing that matters, since that's what I really love about reading. It also conveys emotions really well, making this book a very sad but hopeful read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I really wanted to love this book, since it has such a great set-up with so much potential. And I did really enjoy parts of it, and the writing made all of it worthwhile. But I still thought the novel had a number of flaws, and tried to cover too much ground and ended up not exploring any one thing in enough depth. I do recommend <i>All We Have Left</i> because it's a unique and engrossing story, but it's not the masterpiece I was hoping for.</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294396274737254126.post-40897752662039620212016-07-11T14:12:00.000+02:002016-07-11T14:12:44.074+02:00Review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title: The Woman in Cabin 10</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: <a href="http://www.ruthware.com/" target="_blank">Ruth Ware</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Publisher: Harvill Secker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Release date: June 30th 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pages: 352</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre: mystery/psychological thriller</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source: Gift from publisher</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26889459-the-woman-in-cabin-10" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Cabin-10-Ruth-Ware/dp/1501132938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468230602&sr=8-1&keywords=the+woman+in+cabin+10" target="_blank">Puchase from Amazon</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was meant to be the perfect trip.<br />
The Northern Lights. A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship.<br />
A chance for travel journalist Lo Blackwood to recover from a traumatic break-in that has left her on the verge of collapse, and to work out what she wants from her relationship.<br />
Except things don’t go as planned.<br />
Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin. But the records show that no-one ever checked into that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat.<br />
Exhausted, emotional and increasingly desperate, Lo has to face the fact that her sleep problems might be driving her mad or she is trapped on a boat with a murderer – and she is the sole witness...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My rating: 2 out of 5 stars</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've been really into mysteries and psychological thrillers lately, and <i>The Woman in Cabin 10</i> sounded like a great read, with the fear-inducing setting of the enclosed space of a cruise ship, a heroine with a dynamic backstory, and a psychologically complex murder story. But unfortunately, I found myself very disappointed by the execution of the novel: it just wasn't as gripping, suspenseful, or well-crafted as I had hoped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I started out liking Lo and enjoying her story. I felt for her during the break-in, and I wanted to keep getting to know her throughout the novel. But I quickly grew bored with her character. The characterization became very repetitive, focusing on her anxiety and her drinking and not much else. None of the other characters are fully developed, and I couldn't really keep track of them, making it hard for me to really care what happened to any of them or to figure out who was a potential suspect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The mystery was what I found myself most disappointed by in <i>The Woman in Cabin 10</i>. Like I said, I loved the set-up of the cruise ship and the woman in the cabin disappearing without anyone else noticing. But the development of the mystery is very mediocre. You find out who the murderer is relatively early on, and it's a very convoluted scheme - which I liked - but I wanted more shocking twists afterwards, some kind of suspenseful confrontation with the murderer, more connections to previous clues, and we don't get any of that. We find out what happened basically just through Lo's thought process, and I wanted more actual plot twists and, well, just more of a plot, really. I never had that edge-of-my-seat, can't-turn-the-pages-fast enough feeling that I love about mysteries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To be honest, the writing just wasn't strong enough to keep me interested. The narration is very heavy on description, light on dialogue, and the descriptions are repetitive at that, which bored me. The pacing is too slow for a successful mystery, in my opinion - honestly, the book could have probably been half as long because of its simple and straightforward plot, if it weren't for the lengthy descriptions. One element I did really enjoy were the newspaper clippings, emails, etc. in between sections; these heightened the suspense and worked as ominous foreshadowing for what was to come for Lo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Woman in Cabin 10</i> had a ton of potential but unfortunately fell flat for me. With a disappointing mystery that lacks suspense and plot twists and a rather slow pace, <i>The Woman in Cabin 10</i> just wasn't a book that really gripped me as a reader. If you're more interested in the character development aspect and the setting of the cruise ship, this book might work better for you, but if you're in it for the suspense and thrill, like me, I wouldn't recommend <i>The Woman in Cabin 10</i>.</span></div>
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Hannah Doermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07797679970202012252noreply@blogger.com0