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Conservation and Development

Andrew Newsham and Shonil Bhagwat

(0 Ratings) Rate It

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Conservation and development share an intertwined history dating back to at least the 1700s. But...

Rebuilding Year (Reconstruction #2)

A.M. Arthur

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Publisher Description Can two very different men fake a relationship for the sake of a...

Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Dreamland in Books

Jan 6, 2020

Dreamland

Sarah Dessen | 2000 | Fiction & Poetry

6.6

(7 Ratings)

Book Rating

"Dreamland" by Sarah Dessen tells the story of Caitlin O'Koren as she navigates her first love with a boy named Rogerson as her family is going through the crisis of her older sister Cass running away. Caitlin finds a home in Rogerson when her parents start to treat Caitlin like Cass, putting her schedule on the refrigerator, going to every game Caitlin cheers at, packing snacks for the team. But when Caitlin discovers that Rogerson isn't the man she met in the parking lot that night, she starts to pull away from those closest to her - ditching school, avoiding her best friend, missing cheer practice, smoking weed, pushing her parents away. Caitlin then has to figure out what's more important, her relationship with Rogerson or her relationship with her friends and family.

I loved this novel. I think it was beautifully written. When the ball drops about Rogerson and Caitlin's relationship, you don't expect it at all. You are so involved in the book and the characters, rooting for the relationship, wondering if Cass is going to come home, questioning Caitlin's parent's motives, that when it all happens, it feels like it's not only happening to Caitlin, but to you too. I think that Sarah Dessen did a wonderful job of putting this type of relationship on paper and having it be relatable while still being realistic.

In contrast, I didn't like how rushed the ending was. There's this point of 2 to 3 pages being a couple weeks to a month long and it just feels rushed. I wish I could've gotten a little more development when it came to the end of the novel, but I don't think it injured the story or the plotline in any way. Secondly, I wish there was more character development on Rogerson. I think that for someone that Caitlin is supposedly in love with, we don't really know much about him. And maybe that's because he just naturally wasn't very open with Caitlin, or if that was the author's choice. Either way, I wish there was a little more.

I would 1000% recommend this book to young adults as well as adults. I think that this novel does a wonderful job of giving you an insight into unhealthy relationships and shows how hard they are to get out of. Without revealing too much, I think that this book could really start a conversation.

Kudos

Suswatibasu (1702 KP) rated A United Kingdom (2017) in Movies

Oct 1, 2017

A United Kingdom (2017)

2017 | Drama, Romance

9.3

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

One of the greatest love stories in the past century

Rarely can you make a claim that a true relationship is the greatest love story in the past century until you hear about Seretse Khama and his wife Ruth.

As an African chieftain of Bechuanaland, now Botswana, Khama was studying law in the UK before meeting Ruth, a secretary and daughter to a British Army captain. Even after the Second World War interracial couples faced much prejudice, but none so much as a king of a British protectorate and an ordinary white woman.

Facing many trials and tribulations, even exile from his own country thanks to the British relationship with the then apartheid nation of South Africa, the couple attempt to endure endless hardships to be the rightful rulers of Botswana.

It's always magnificent when you hear these stories are based on real life events. The Notebook has nothing on this.

Kudos

Autumn (3 KP) rated Breaking Beautiful in Books

Jan 19, 2018

this book wasn't what I was expecting. most YA novels aren't when I think about it. anyway, this was wonderful. I think of it as a story of a girl discovering who she is and what she needs.
thankfully I have about zero experience and only academic knowledge about abusive relationships. therefore my only complaint was that there was no explanation in how Allie got into this destructive relationship. from a moralistic standpoint this is probably one of the worst books to give a teenager in an abusive relationship. it demonstrates no means of prevention or plausible solutions of extracting oneself from such a situation. apparently your only means of escape are 1. getting the shit beat out of you until your partner thinks you're dead or 2. your partner dies. not terribly plausible.
points for self-actualization and having a character with CP; big WTF for not helping anyone.

Kudos

Tayla (27 KP) rated Warcross in Books

Jun 19, 2018

Warcross

Marie Lu | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

8.3

(17 Ratings)

Book Rating

Relatable Main Character (1 more)

Quick Listen

Unrealistic Relationship (0 more)

Fun Futuristic Story

I listened to Warcross on Audible instead of reading it, so I am reviewing based on that:

Warcross is an extremely fun, fast paced book with a lot of action. I immediately felt connected with Emika Chen as I can remember being so poor I was living off ramen trying to figure out how to make more money. As I understood more about Warcross the game, I couldn't help but wonder how close we are to this type of technology. I also couldn't help but think of how similar this is to Ready Player One in the sense that it is all virtual reality. The added hacker aspect was pretty intriguing, however. It also loosely reminded me of 50 Shade of Grey, minus the sex scenes. The relationship between Emika and Hideo, the billionaire, seems unrealistic.