Search
Search results
Tubes: Behind the Scenes at the Internet
Book
Tubes: Behind the Scenes at the Internet by Andrew Blum is...'Utterly engrossing. The year's most...
The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels
Book
Could everything we know about fossil fuels be wrong? For decades, environmentalists have told us...
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
8.5
Rate It
Book
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is the original classic by Beatrix Potter. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was...
Ali A (82 KP) rated How It All Blew Up in Books
Sep 8, 2020
How it All Blew Up is about Amir, a closeted, eighteen-year-old. He always knew it would be hard to come out to his Muslim family, so he hasn't. When some bullies find out and blackmail him, Amir gets scared, skips graduation, and fleas to Rome. He gets taken in by a group of new friends and he spends his summer having late nights where he can feel like himself. Until his old life comes back knocking. Now, Amir is telling the whole story, with the entire truth, to a U.S. Customs officer as his family has just been detained. Can Amir get his hard-won freedom back?
I went into this book thinking it would be a storyline I don't really see: representation of a queer Muslim in YA... I didn't really get that. Islam plays no part in this story - Amir openly admits his family isn't that religious. When asked if his parents would disapprove of him being gay, he replied:
"Yes and no. Our culture is pretty conservative, even if you're not religious."
It also went into this huge countdown leading up to what happened on the airplane and why the family is detained and when we get there... it just felt like it fell short of what it could have been. I also just didn't care much for the main character, he never really clicked with me and I honestly don't know why but I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of his choices and reasonings.
The whole story also felt very unrealistic to me. How on Earth does an eighteen-year-old make enough money editing Wikipedia pages to get to Rome, get his own apartment, and live there a whole month? There were so many side characters that would be mentioned in passing for only a page and then never heard from again? Amir's high school boyfriend we get built up to be this whole thing, for him to just toss him aside. We had all these supposed close relationships (Amir and his sister were supposedly super close??) but everything felt surface level and not flushed out. There's an entire scene in the novel, that I won't get into because of spoilers, but it just felt wrong and had no real build up to the entire scenario besides small side remarks.
The only character I really even cared for was Amir's sister, Soraya. She was only thirteen, but she was a firecracker just waiting to be messed with. She cared for her brother, regardless of anything.
I did enjoy the back and forth of the interrogation rooms and what happened as it made it a super fast read. Apart from that though, I think the story fell short of what it could have been.
*Thank you Bookish First and Penguin Teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I went into this book thinking it would be a storyline I don't really see: representation of a queer Muslim in YA... I didn't really get that. Islam plays no part in this story - Amir openly admits his family isn't that religious. When asked if his parents would disapprove of him being gay, he replied:
"Yes and no. Our culture is pretty conservative, even if you're not religious."
It also went into this huge countdown leading up to what happened on the airplane and why the family is detained and when we get there... it just felt like it fell short of what it could have been. I also just didn't care much for the main character, he never really clicked with me and I honestly don't know why but I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of his choices and reasonings.
The whole story also felt very unrealistic to me. How on Earth does an eighteen-year-old make enough money editing Wikipedia pages to get to Rome, get his own apartment, and live there a whole month? There were so many side characters that would be mentioned in passing for only a page and then never heard from again? Amir's high school boyfriend we get built up to be this whole thing, for him to just toss him aside. We had all these supposed close relationships (Amir and his sister were supposedly super close??) but everything felt surface level and not flushed out. There's an entire scene in the novel, that I won't get into because of spoilers, but it just felt wrong and had no real build up to the entire scenario besides small side remarks.
The only character I really even cared for was Amir's sister, Soraya. She was only thirteen, but she was a firecracker just waiting to be messed with. She cared for her brother, regardless of anything.
I did enjoy the back and forth of the interrogation rooms and what happened as it made it a super fast read. Apart from that though, I think the story fell short of what it could have been.
*Thank you Bookish First and Penguin Teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
VirtualBrowser for Chrome™ with Flash-browser, Java Player & Extensions - iPhone Edition
Utilities and Productivity
App
Run the *real* Chrome Browser with Web Store, Extensions, and a Premium option for saved settings,...
Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror
Book
An unprecedented high-level master narrative of America's intelligence wars, demonstrating in a time...
Politics security conflict
VirtualBrowser for Chrome + Flash Player, Java & Browser Extensions - iPad Edition
Utilities and Productivity
App
Run the *real* Chrome Browser with Chrome Web Store Apps, Extensions and (Premium option required...
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated My Sister's Bones in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/my-sisters-bones-by-nuala-ellwood
NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!
<b>Trigger warnings are noted in the first paragraph.</b>
<b><i>Were all of us, every day, just a hairbreadth away from evil. If Ive learnt anything from fifteen years of reporting, its that. But I couldnt expect these people to understand.</b></i>
This is a really heavy read as it deals with some really dark and depressing subjects, <b>such as the war and refugees in Syria, domestic & child abuse, rape, death, mental illness, alcoholism and miscarriages.</b> Dont read this if youre having a low period in your life because this is not going to make you feel any better, throughout its a rather distressing and upsetting story.
Each character in this novel was well developed, no matter how small a part they played in the plot. Ellwood has done a fantastic job with her research into PTSD as Kates fears and anxieties seem so real to the reader. Though Ive never experienced anything even close to PTSD, I can really imagine how terrifying and disturbing it would be, from reading this book. Its definitely the best and most harrowing description of the condition Ive ever read in a fiction novel.
This was a really well presented novel and Im amazed that its a debut! It was excellently written and thought out. My only issue being that sometimes, the timings in this book felt a little off. When Kate and Paul were together, one minute they'd be serving dinner and the next, after a small 5 lined conversation, it would be midnight and time for Paul to leave and Kate to get into bed. It seemed like large chunks of the day would just disappear.
Maybe I shouldnt have read some other peoples reviews on this beforehand, but because I was expecting all these super duper amazing twists, I kind of didnt feel that they were super duper amazing. I also found some of them to be a little far fetched and silly, rather than surprising.
I can definitely see why this has gained so many 5 star ratings, but its all down to personal preference at the end of the day, and this one was just a little too dark for my liking. That's not to say I didn't like this...I enjoyed this a lot, hence the 4 stars. I found myself not wanting to put it down, even when my eyes were telling me it was definitely time for sleep. It was certainly a thrilling and page turning read, but I dont know if I could recommend this to anyone because of all the dark subject matters. It seems like the sort of book some people are going to love for its dark realism and others are going to hate that and find it too distressing to read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!
<b>Trigger warnings are noted in the first paragraph.</b>
<b><i>Were all of us, every day, just a hairbreadth away from evil. If Ive learnt anything from fifteen years of reporting, its that. But I couldnt expect these people to understand.</b></i>
This is a really heavy read as it deals with some really dark and depressing subjects, <b>such as the war and refugees in Syria, domestic & child abuse, rape, death, mental illness, alcoholism and miscarriages.</b> Dont read this if youre having a low period in your life because this is not going to make you feel any better, throughout its a rather distressing and upsetting story.
Each character in this novel was well developed, no matter how small a part they played in the plot. Ellwood has done a fantastic job with her research into PTSD as Kates fears and anxieties seem so real to the reader. Though Ive never experienced anything even close to PTSD, I can really imagine how terrifying and disturbing it would be, from reading this book. Its definitely the best and most harrowing description of the condition Ive ever read in a fiction novel.
This was a really well presented novel and Im amazed that its a debut! It was excellently written and thought out. My only issue being that sometimes, the timings in this book felt a little off. When Kate and Paul were together, one minute they'd be serving dinner and the next, after a small 5 lined conversation, it would be midnight and time for Paul to leave and Kate to get into bed. It seemed like large chunks of the day would just disappear.
Maybe I shouldnt have read some other peoples reviews on this beforehand, but because I was expecting all these super duper amazing twists, I kind of didnt feel that they were super duper amazing. I also found some of them to be a little far fetched and silly, rather than surprising.
I can definitely see why this has gained so many 5 star ratings, but its all down to personal preference at the end of the day, and this one was just a little too dark for my liking. That's not to say I didn't like this...I enjoyed this a lot, hence the 4 stars. I found myself not wanting to put it down, even when my eyes were telling me it was definitely time for sleep. It was certainly a thrilling and page turning read, but I dont know if I could recommend this to anyone because of all the dark subject matters. It seems like the sort of book some people are going to love for its dark realism and others are going to hate that and find it too distressing to read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated My Name Is Anna in Books
Nov 9, 2018
Two women – desperate to unlock the truth.
How far will they go to lay the past to rest?
My name is Anna is one of those books that captures your attention from the moment you look at its cover. Then, it drags you into a story, makes you bite your nails throughout, lifts you up in the air with the amazing writing and than smashes you back into the ground with the incredible twist at the end. Exactly what you want and need from a thriller.
The story is being told by two girls:
Anna, a girl raised with a religious mother, where everything is forbidden and everything is a sin. And when on her 18th Birthday, Anna decides to disobey her mum and go to a theme park, she feels like she has been here before. And then random events lead to her realising that she was taken away when she was a little girl. And her real name is not Anna at all…
Rosie, a girl whose big sister has been missing for fifteen years. And when the media is ready to let the story go after the fifteen years anniversary, Rosie is determined to do whatever it takes to discover the truth of what actually happened on that day at the theme park.
The first thing I noticed in this book, that makes it different than all the stories about the kidnapping is – that the plot is being revealed in the first chapters. I was not expecting to immediately know that Anna and Rosie are sisters and Anna was kidnapped as a girl, but this was stated in the first chapters in the book. I personally thought that this would be the big twist, but the twist came to be so much better than that.
I loved how you could relate to both girls, for different reasons, and how even though they were sisters, how one little moment changed their lives completely. How Anna was raised with different beliefs than Rosie, and how they grew up to be so different, but the same…
This was a great story that give you thoughts about ‘’what could’ve been…’’ and it makes you wonder – if certain things didn’t happen, would our lives be the same?
The end for me, was particularly meaningful. The last moments, the realisation, the conclusion, the story that ended, or the one that never begun, all the things we could’ve been, but are not, and all the things that we wish we could have changed, but we can’t.
If you, like me, are into kidnapping stories, amazing twists and thriller stories that take your breath away, this will definitely be the perfect book for you. This will be a hit at the beginning of 2019, and it will hit the top shelves. I know it hits my favourite shelf – for sure!
A huge thanks to Penguin Random House UK, for providing me with a hardback copy, in exchange for an honest review of this book. The opinions in this review are entirely my own, and completely unbiased.
How far will they go to lay the past to rest?
My name is Anna is one of those books that captures your attention from the moment you look at its cover. Then, it drags you into a story, makes you bite your nails throughout, lifts you up in the air with the amazing writing and than smashes you back into the ground with the incredible twist at the end. Exactly what you want and need from a thriller.
The story is being told by two girls:
Anna, a girl raised with a religious mother, where everything is forbidden and everything is a sin. And when on her 18th Birthday, Anna decides to disobey her mum and go to a theme park, she feels like she has been here before. And then random events lead to her realising that she was taken away when she was a little girl. And her real name is not Anna at all…
Rosie, a girl whose big sister has been missing for fifteen years. And when the media is ready to let the story go after the fifteen years anniversary, Rosie is determined to do whatever it takes to discover the truth of what actually happened on that day at the theme park.
The first thing I noticed in this book, that makes it different than all the stories about the kidnapping is – that the plot is being revealed in the first chapters. I was not expecting to immediately know that Anna and Rosie are sisters and Anna was kidnapped as a girl, but this was stated in the first chapters in the book. I personally thought that this would be the big twist, but the twist came to be so much better than that.
I loved how you could relate to both girls, for different reasons, and how even though they were sisters, how one little moment changed their lives completely. How Anna was raised with different beliefs than Rosie, and how they grew up to be so different, but the same…
This was a great story that give you thoughts about ‘’what could’ve been…’’ and it makes you wonder – if certain things didn’t happen, would our lives be the same?
The end for me, was particularly meaningful. The last moments, the realisation, the conclusion, the story that ended, or the one that never begun, all the things we could’ve been, but are not, and all the things that we wish we could have changed, but we can’t.
If you, like me, are into kidnapping stories, amazing twists and thriller stories that take your breath away, this will definitely be the perfect book for you. This will be a hit at the beginning of 2019, and it will hit the top shelves. I know it hits my favourite shelf – for sure!
A huge thanks to Penguin Random House UK, for providing me with a hardback copy, in exchange for an honest review of this book. The opinions in this review are entirely my own, and completely unbiased.
Booksy: Learn to Read Platform for K-2
Education and Book
App
Featured in the New York Times article "Learning to read with tablets"! Booksy is a...