Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (796)

Content

Single Parents

6.6 (5 Ratings) Rate It

TV Show Watch

This ensemble comedy follows some single parents as they lean on each other to help raise their...

Gunkimono

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Tabletop Game

In war-torn feudal Japan, the soldiers are restless. The endless battles, betrayals, and broken...

Boardgames SamuraiGames 2018Games

Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink (Pilgrims, #1) in Books

Apr 27, 2018

Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink (Pilgrims, #1)

Stephanie Kate Strohm | 2012 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I liked Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink. For the most part, it was a good read. There was only one thing that I didn't particularly like, but it was a pretty large part.

The good:

-The plot was fun. I enjoyed the storyline, the twists and turns, and the ending. Some of it I saw coming, some of it I didn't—but even when I expected it, I enjoyed seeing it work out.

-The characters: Dev (Libby's extremely gay friend) was fabulous in every sense of the word. If he were real, he'd be my buddy, even though he'd be constantly criticizing my shoes. Garrett, the reporter, is so nerd-tastic that I literally geeked out when he was introduced. Cam's romantic side was the hero every girl dreams about.

-The relationship progression: I knew from the get-go that Cam was going to be the greasy sleazy character that charms the girls but is really a jerk, and that Garrett was going to be the awesome-sauce hero. But when Libby first meets the characters, the reader perceives them just like she does: that Cam was a Shakespeare-quoting flower-throwing romantic, and Garrett was a nerd (again, I liked him more from the beginning anyway). The transition happened so slowly and flawlessly that I didn't see it happen, it just did.

-I've lead camps before. They're so much fun. Strohm nailed it! I loved the little girls! Ah for those scenes I totally wanted to be Libby.

-The writing was totally great. It felt like a teen's interior monologue, it was witty, fun, clear, and easy to read. It was perfect for the genre.

-The ending was pretty darn perfect. I liked what Libby learned, and how she changed. If the character hasn't changed from the beginning of the book to the end, nothing happened! The change was good. All in all the whole book was pretty cute.

The only not-so-good thing:

-I couldn't figure Libby out. Why doesn't she watch Battlestar Galactica or play Assassin's Creed? (That would totally be her thing. I bet after this story ends she turns into a total geek.) Libby was somewhat contradictory. She seemed to have a pretty clear view of right and wrong, and she was smart, but she didn't pick up on things that were blatantly obvious (trying to keep it spoiler-free here).

When there is only one not-so-good thing in the whole book, usually I'll rate it pretty high. But when the only not-so-good thing in the whole book is the main character? The whole way through reading this I kept thinking "Libby, what the heck are you thinking?" and she kind of annoyed me. I liked her, but again, her character seemed conflicting.

All in all, I enjoyed Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink, and would still recommend it for a fun quick light read.

Content/Recommendation: Little language, few references to sex. Ages 14+

Kudos

Merissa (12934 KP) rated Moon Justice (Aurelia Fridell #2) in Books

Apr 11, 2023

This story picks up where Fractured Moon finished. Ceithin and Aurelia travel to Alaska for some much-needed time alone, where Aurelia can spend time learning about her wolf. Things are never that easy though and their time in Alaska is interrupted in the form of a Kodiak shapeshifter. They are also pressed to return home where they find that things have changed in their absence, and not always for the better.

There is a lot that goes on in this book and it will keep your interest as you turn the pages. However, I will say that there were a couple of things that 'niggled' at me once I had finished it. Firstly, the whole 'thing' in Alaska - I'm really hoping that it will lead to a more developed story with Garrett and Mars as I felt that it ended rather abruptly and without actually going anywhere. Then there was the whole 'madman raising an army' situation. It seemed like a lot of hot air about nothing. Now, don't get me wrong. The storyline itself was fast-paced and well-written. It's just that I felt parts of it could have been 'more', bigger somehow. It felt like a big build-up, with a good action scene before and then... poof, it was all over.

Don't get me wrong though, this story isn't rushed and does come to a satisfactory close. On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed it which is why it gets four stars. I felt the story ended nicely for Ceithin and Aurelia and would love to know more about this family and their friends, hopefully starting with Garrett and Mars as they go to Alaska.

Recommended for fans of the paranormal and shapeshifters.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
August 5, 2016

Kudos

ClareR (5885 KP) rated South in Books

Apr 26, 2019

South

Frank Owen | 2016 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy

6.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

I do like a post-apocalyptic kind of book, and this delivered in spades. It was written in a completely believable way, beginning with a second American Civil war, that was ended by the North releasing hundreds of airborne viruses that infected and killed those in the South indiscriminately. And those viruses continue to kill.
Vida meets two brothers, Garrett and Dyce, and they travel together in a world where to travel alone is death, to travel or to be outside when the wind blows is death.
I loved the world building in this. There will always be comparisons to Stephen Kings ‘The Stand’ with books like this, but other than viruses and a complete breakdown of society, I couldn’t actually see a comparison.
I’m looking forward to reading ‘North’, which is the final part of this two part series, and seeing where the authors take us.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Corvus, for my copy of this book.