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Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut | 1969 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Non-Realistic Classic
The first time I read this book, I took everything at face value. I thought anything I would be reading for an English class would be a realistic piece of literature. Boy, was I wrong. This science fiction WWII book launched my love for Kurt Vonnegut’s body of work, and I am so glad for it.
  
Eleanor & Park
Eleanor & Park
Rainbow Rowell | 2016 | Young Adult (YA)
Great story
This book was very good and I would recommend it to anyone looking to a young adult fiction book that was very realistic to the families who live like the ones in the book.
  
Darkness Falls
Darkness Falls
K.C. Luck | 2018 | Dystopia, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
9.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
As a major fan of dystopian fiction and lesbian fiction Darkness Falls is the best of both worlds! Each character is unique and developed there is no unnecessary fluff it all flows. The event that causes the world to collapse is plausible, which is important to me in my dystopian fiction. The reactions of the characters is also realistic. From the resourceful ones to those in denial. I highly recommend this book and believe you should have K.C. Luck on your list of up and coming authors to watch out for!
  
History Is All You Left Me
History Is All You Left Me
Adam Silvera | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.3 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
History isn’t everything
Adam Silvera is a really good author if you want a YA gay realistic fiction with a twist.
In this heartbreaking endeavor, the twist is that our main character is addressing the entire novel to his dead first love, using “you” throughout the “Today” sections to speak directly to him. Silvera plays with time and pieces together the mystery of Theo and Griff’s past beautifully.
  
PI
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Original Review Posted at <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-parrot-in-the-oven-mi-vida-by-victor-martinez.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Note: Formatting is lost due to copy and paste.

     Oh. Another required reading. Yay. After Dreamland's disaster, I was going to call it quits here and go hide in a cubicle for awhile. Not that it's bad idea... but I'm pretty sure I would've failed high school already with that many absences (so not happening).

      Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida is about a fourteen-year-old boy named Manny who lives with his abusive father and just wants to fit in with the others around his neighborhood.

      I had hoped that Parrot in the Oven was going to be majorly better than our last reading in English. I guess it went out okay in the end, but I ended up flipping back and forth to find a certain something.

 A glossary, which I didn't find to my misfortune. With the Spanish terms and translations that were used in the book at the least. It would've have helped me so much since I haven't taken Spanish. Okay, there were a few translations in English after the Spanish throughout the book, but not all of them. I still say that a glossary would have been majorly helpful (and not just to me... I hope). In fact, I have no clue what the title says. Besides the Parrot in the Oven part. I
guess it's time to stroll on over to Google Translator.

      Parrot in the Oven, is a bit different, but similar when compared to other realistic fiction. It might just be me and realistic fiction (because I'm definitely not it's biggest fan, considering the fact I rarely give realistic fiction a high rating...), but there tends to be not so much going on, besides a typical Mexican American teenager with family problems typically contained in realistic fiction and wanting/trying to fit in with others (also typically found in realistic fiction). I might be wrong with that view.
 
*holds up warning sign* ATTENTION: MINI-SPOILER ALERT!
 
You have been warned of the next paragraph containing tiny mini-spoilers that may give away a tad bit too much information about the book. Continue at your own risk.
  
     The end tends to be rushed into 2-3 chapters. Manny was going on with his typical life, until a disaster at a party, and then boop. He decides to join a gang. Shortly after, boop. Someone gets in trouble, he realizes something within just hours/a day and boop. Goes home and "happily ever after," the end.
  
His Bloody Project
His Bloody Project
Graeme Macrae Burnet | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Intriguingly realistic
I saw this advertised on my library service and I'm a sucker for an interesting looking cover so thought I'd give it a go and it was a rather pleasant surprise.

This is a very realistic and intriguing tale - so realistic that I had to double check to see if I was reading a non-fiction rather than a fiction. But it's definitely not true, and it goes to show how well written and laid out this is that it makes you feel like it's a true story. The structure works very well and despite being set in olden times with slightly old fashioned language, it never comes across as particularly difficult or tedious to read. It's an engaging crime story and keeps you entertained right to the end to find out the full story. Even Roddy Macrae is a likeable protagonist despite his crimes.

My only issue is that the ending is a bit of a letdown. This story turns out exactly the way you'd expect and I think I may have been expecting some sort of twist or surprise. Despite this, it's still a very entertaining and enjoyable read and a different way to tell a story.
  
The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories
The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories
Marina Keegan | 2015 | Biography
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Marina Keegan could definitely write! I loved loved loved this book, whatsmore it is a non-fiction. Marina was obviously a well loved member of the Yale community and always took pride and wanted to be the best at everything she did. Her writing is truly amazing and this book contains a few short stories that Marina wrote and they're excellent. My favourite story from the fiction part of the book has to be 'reading out loud'. The stories were all very different and realistic. The non-fiction part was equally as good and I think this is the part in which she excelled. My favourite was 'why we care about whales' I am a sucker for animals, however this story was very thought provoking and makes you think of things that you probably wouldn't have thought about before.

I definitely recommend this book if you want to start out with a non-fiction book.

It's so sad, this young girl had such a promising career and life ahead of her and then taken so quickly.
  
The Carrier
The Carrier
Sophie Hannah | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Once again, I have mixed feelings about a book. While this one was well written and the solution to the mystery not easily guessed, I felt the characters weren't particularly likeable. Unfortunately, that included the detectives. The ending also seemed a bit unresolved, which I know is realistic, but I prefer my fiction to be wrapped up a little tidier. Overall, I liked this book, but I'm not rushing out to pick up more of the author's work.
  
40x40

Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated Survivors in Books

May 20, 2018  
Survivors
Survivors
K'Anne Meinel | 2018 | Dystopia, LGBTQ+
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have had this book on mt 'list' for awhile. It was worth the wait. It mixed two of my favorite genres of dystopian and lesbian fiction together. It was well researched and written. The characters were realistic and for the most part likable(there were a few you wanted to slap). The ending could have been better or another book could be written to continue the story. It just left me wanting more which is not necessarily a bad thing.
  
I suppose I'll mention this was one of the books we just finished in English. Apparently, I think that Breathing Underwater is the best book so far in the school year that was required reading. (Notice I didn't say the best book I've ever read...)

Nick seems to be a person who is quite spoiled and probably has the perfect life being handsome, popular and rich. Beneath the surface though (see what I did there?) he's abused by his father often and has taken out his anger on others as well, such as Caitlin. As a result, there are many consequences due to Nick's actions. It make me really sad to hear that his father was abusive though. Comparing my very own life to Nick's life, my life seems to be easy as pie.

I don't seem to have a lot of reaction from this book. I typically don't read YA Realistic Fiction that much on my own when I look on my list of Books Read.

Why I really gave it such a high rating is the dramatic storyline and the emotional process that Nick takes to recover and learn from his many mistakes that really makes his life far from perfection when he takes an anger management.

Though I don't typically read Realistic Fiction, I highly recommend that if you enjoy reading Realistic Fiction, you read the book. As mentioned earlier, the book has a dramatic storyline and is an emotional and powerful read.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-breathing-underwater-by-alex-flinn/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>