This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story
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Lambda Literary Award finalist for the best LGBT YA novel of 2018 A fresh, charming rom-com...
Silk 2 – Generative Art
Art & Design, Entertainment and Games
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Draw beautiful flowing art with Silk. With Silk's award-winning magic brush, anyone can be an...
Lies My Teacher Told Me for Young Readers: Everything American History Textbooks Get Wrong
James W. Loewen and Rebecca Stefoff
9.0
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Now adapted for young readers in grades 7 and up, the national bestseller that makes real American...
History Nonfiction Textbook Classroom Teacher
Snow White Must Die
10.0
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In a small town in Germany a boy is accused of murdering his beautiful girlfriend. On a September...
![Liar Liar [Audiobook]](/uploads/profile_image/c45/0b28ae40-c575-4c28-89c9-4a911a2ccc45.jpg?m=1659273441)
Liar Liar [Audiobook]
8.5
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He swore he would always protect me, that he would take my darkest secret to the grave. But I’m...
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Delirium in Books
Jun 7, 2018
I really, really, really wanted to like this book. In fact, I wanted to love it, but it just didn't happen. I just couldn't get into it at all no matter how hard I tried. It's gotten some rave reviews so maybe there's just something wrong with me.
Lena is a seventeen year old girl who doesn't challenge anything about her government. She's too scared of the consequences. In a few months, on her 18th birthday, she'll be cured of the disease, the disease of love. She's looking forward to the day she can be cured of love. In fact, she's counting down the days. However, everything changes when she meets the gorgeous Alex, an invalid (another name for someone who is uncured after their 18th birthday). Now she doesn't want to be cured as Alex has opened her eyes to this disease called love. Lena is wondering if love was ever really a disease at all. Lena is putting herself at risk to be with Alex. Will she have her happy ever after or will she be cured?
The world building isn't bad. The story takes place in Portland. The author does a great job of trying to make the reader believe in a world where love is banned. It is quite believable.
I don't think the cover suits the book at all. Lauren Oliver has a habit of just putting faces on the covers of her books. However, I think this is the easy way out. Putting a photo of a face on a book doesn't really tell us anything about the book. I wish Ms. Oliver would consider changing her covers to make them relevant to the actual story.
The title, however, definitely suits the book. Love is seen as a type of delirium. It's banned, and the government wants everyone to believe how love will make you delirious. It's a great title for the book.
I found the pacing to be too slow for my liking. Don't get me wrong, it's written quite nicely, but it's just too slow. I had to force myself to read the book most of the time. I just couldn't get into it, and I found myself not really caring about the characters. There is one good bit, and it's only about two or three chapters towards the middle of the book.
The dialogue is easy to understand and is written beautifully. There are a few swear words however. (Lena drops the f-bomb a couple of times and the s word is used a couple of times as well). The good thing is this book isn't littered with swear words which is nice.
I just couldn't relate to any of the characters. Lena drove me crazy!! She was too much of a goody goody and too scared throughout the book. It especially annoyed me when she couldn't tell the difference if she was crying or sweating. I've never had a problem telling the difference!! And Alex, nothing really annoyed me about him, but I just couldn't feel him if you know what I mean. I basically found that I couldn't give a toss about what happened to Lena and Alex. I did like Hana as she was more of a free spirit and willing to take risks. I liked how full of life she was. She was the only character I kind of cared about, but she wasn't a main character, nor was she mentioned as much as I would've liked her to be.
Throughout most of the book I just felt really bored with the book which made me kind of sad because I really wanted to enjoy this book after reading some reviews about how great this book was. It was a challenge for me to get through the book, save for two or three chapters. This book just didn't really do anything for me, and I won't be reading the rest of the series as I don't really care what happens.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. It's just too boring and is lacking something.
Overall, I'd rate Delirium by Lauren Oliver a 2.5 out of a 5.
Lying in Wait
7.7
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Book
Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller! Featured in the Richard and Judy Spring 2017 Book Club 'Gone Girl...
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Call Me by Your Name (2017) in Movies
Jan 7, 2018 (Updated Jan 7, 2018)
From denial and hatred, to jealousy and love, Elio is portrayed as a clearly complex teenager in the sense that he is more withdrawn than his peers, infatuated with his music. But it is soon obvious why he feels like an outsider and misunderstood. On the other hand, Oliver, a charming and confident archaeologist, appears to be playing games at first only to reveal his mutual love in return. The last scene is heartbreaking when the reality dawns on them both.
The first half is definitely slow-paced, the build-up may have taken a little too long, because by the time the relationship develops, most of the film has passed. But in the meanwhile, we explore the sights and sounds of rural Italy, which is utterly glorious. The language and cultural exchange is exquisite and Elio's parents are to be hailed as truly inspiring. It is bittersweet, yet realistic.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Vanishing Girls in Books
Feb 13, 2018
This book was just sort of eh... I don't think it's really a spoiler to say that the "vanishing" part for Dara doesn't take place until well into the plot. The story is more the tale of Dara and Nick's lives before and after their accident (told in their own voices, jumping between time). It's actually rather compelling as is and the whole "vanishing" almost seems like an unwelcome distraction once it arrives.
It's not to say the whole book is bad. I struggled with the rating, really. There's a lot of suspense that simply captures the sisters' lives and tumult surrounding the accident. Oliver does a good job portraying Nick's teen life and her growth as she works at an amusement park over the summer.
Still, the "vanishing girls" part feels contrived at times and parts of Dara's life, as it unfolds, seems forced. Overall, I'm still sort of unsure about this one, truly. It leaves you a little uneven, which who knows... may be the point!