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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated The Last Song in Books
Apr 27, 2018
My Summary: Ronnie does not want to spend the summer with her dad. Her dad left them three years ago, and she hasn’t really forgiven him for it. She hated him for it so much, that she refused to take his calls, quit playing the piano, and never read the letters he sent her. What is she going to do all summer stuck with a dad she hates in a small town with nothing but sand on every side of her, no clubs, no friends…
When she finds Will, the cutest volley-ball players slash aquarium volunteer in her back yard helping her protect un-hatched sea turtles from being eaten by raccoons, she judged him as not-her-type. She doesn’t expect to find a friend in a jock-rich-perfect-family boy, nor does she expect that this will be the best—most exciting, most scary, most fun, most painful—summer of her lifetime.
My Review: I’m not really sure where to start here, other than I am so utterly pleased with The Last Song, I cannot begin to find words to describe it.
Ronnie, Jonah (her brother), Her dad Steve, Will… all the characters really, were such real characters. I felt everything they felt, I laughed when they laughed, and I (nearly) cried when they cried.
I hate it when books suffer from "happy-land syndrome—" where everything works out just too perfectly that it seems silly. The Last Song seemed to work perfectly, but it didn’t have that plot-manipulated feel to it. It didn’t feel like Sparks was just trying to move the story along and causing things to line up too perfectly to be realistic—it felt like the story was writing itself, and it was perfect. The pacing didn’t feel rushed or slow. It was not a thriller, but I did find myself sitting on the edge of my seat dying to find out what happens. I read it through in two or three days (which is fast for me right now, what with school the way it is!). There are twists, there are surprises—some beautiful, some painful, but all wonderful.
The writing was contemporary. It was easy reading and it wasn’t Dostoevsky, but it wasn’t bad either. The humor was light and witty and sarcastic, sometimes laugh out loud, and more times than I can count my sister would look up from her homework and say “Haley. What is so funny?” The perspective alternated between several different characters, but it wasn’t disorientating. It was all from third person perspective, but I still felt like I could get inside the character’s head.
The end was perfect. That’s all I can really say about it because any information would totally ruin the story. All the loose ends were tied, all the questions were answered, and the ending was open to the future but closed in a wonderful conclusion. Suffice to say I grinned so wide I couldn’t see, and my cheeks are still sore.
Audio Review: Let’s just say that I almost gave up reading The Last Song when I started listening to the audio. Pepper Binkley read Ronnie’s perspective and had a high pitched voice, she read a little too fast (which is rare. Most of the time readers are way too slow), there was no differentiating between voices of characters so you couldn’t tell who was talking, and she seemed up tight and nervous. Scott Sowers read the various men’s perspectives, and he read alright. He was a little slow and his voice took some getting used to but he was otherwise ok. I did get too frustrated to get far in the audio book though. I ended up quitting and reading the paperback. I recommend reading The Last Song over listening to it.
Content: blissfully clean. There was romance between Will and Ronnie, but no sex. It wasn’t needed, either. I feel like the fact that they didn’t sleep together added to the book rather than took away from it. It was also clean of foul language. There was some mention of God and the Bible, but never did it feel like Sparks was preaching.
Recommendation: Ages 14+
When she finds Will, the cutest volley-ball players slash aquarium volunteer in her back yard helping her protect un-hatched sea turtles from being eaten by raccoons, she judged him as not-her-type. She doesn’t expect to find a friend in a jock-rich-perfect-family boy, nor does she expect that this will be the best—most exciting, most scary, most fun, most painful—summer of her lifetime.
My Review: I’m not really sure where to start here, other than I am so utterly pleased with The Last Song, I cannot begin to find words to describe it.
Ronnie, Jonah (her brother), Her dad Steve, Will… all the characters really, were such real characters. I felt everything they felt, I laughed when they laughed, and I (nearly) cried when they cried.
I hate it when books suffer from "happy-land syndrome—" where everything works out just too perfectly that it seems silly. The Last Song seemed to work perfectly, but it didn’t have that plot-manipulated feel to it. It didn’t feel like Sparks was just trying to move the story along and causing things to line up too perfectly to be realistic—it felt like the story was writing itself, and it was perfect. The pacing didn’t feel rushed or slow. It was not a thriller, but I did find myself sitting on the edge of my seat dying to find out what happens. I read it through in two or three days (which is fast for me right now, what with school the way it is!). There are twists, there are surprises—some beautiful, some painful, but all wonderful.
The writing was contemporary. It was easy reading and it wasn’t Dostoevsky, but it wasn’t bad either. The humor was light and witty and sarcastic, sometimes laugh out loud, and more times than I can count my sister would look up from her homework and say “Haley. What is so funny?” The perspective alternated between several different characters, but it wasn’t disorientating. It was all from third person perspective, but I still felt like I could get inside the character’s head.
The end was perfect. That’s all I can really say about it because any information would totally ruin the story. All the loose ends were tied, all the questions were answered, and the ending was open to the future but closed in a wonderful conclusion. Suffice to say I grinned so wide I couldn’t see, and my cheeks are still sore.
Audio Review: Let’s just say that I almost gave up reading The Last Song when I started listening to the audio. Pepper Binkley read Ronnie’s perspective and had a high pitched voice, she read a little too fast (which is rare. Most of the time readers are way too slow), there was no differentiating between voices of characters so you couldn’t tell who was talking, and she seemed up tight and nervous. Scott Sowers read the various men’s perspectives, and he read alright. He was a little slow and his voice took some getting used to but he was otherwise ok. I did get too frustrated to get far in the audio book though. I ended up quitting and reading the paperback. I recommend reading The Last Song over listening to it.
Content: blissfully clean. There was romance between Will and Ronnie, but no sex. It wasn’t needed, either. I feel like the fact that they didn’t sleep together added to the book rather than took away from it. It was also clean of foul language. There was some mention of God and the Bible, but never did it feel like Sparks was preaching.
Recommendation: Ages 14+
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Bascomville in Books
Jun 12, 2019
Genre: Contemporary, Teen
Page Count: 284
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.67 out of 5 stars
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the life of Max Bascom, whose home is Bascomville. Bascomville has its own special kind of normal, where fathers can get job leads from their sons and Christmas dinners can end up to be Chinese take out. Max does his best to navigate Bascomville and to keep it running as smoothly as possible through good times and tragedy. And he also forms a special bond with the girl next door, Janice, who understands Bascomville despite coming from a world much different.
This book is so fabulously written. I usually don’t take review requests, but I’m glad I did for this book. It’s part romance, part literary masterpiece, and it captures “growing up” so well. I wish I had this book when I was in middle school or high school because I can relate to making your own kind of normal.
“Us? Normal?”
“How do you know we aren’t? How do we know everybody doesn’t make their own?”
She considered this for a moment then dismissed it. “If everybody made their own then nothing would be normal. Nothing could ever be normal.”
“Exactly.”
That’s my kind of definition of normal. And I think everyone needs to remember that normalcy doesn’t really exist a little bit more.
I didn’t see the plot twists coming ahead of time and I never got bored. On top of that, this book is incredibly quotable. There’s some good life advice in here, like when Max helped Janice cover up vandalism on her house:
And I knew then that ultimately we can save neither ourselves nor our loved ones from life. We can only live it.
Max is a complex character that I like and dislike. He is, ultimately, human, not a hero. He tends to overreact sometimes when Janice is involved, but for the most part he’s likeable. He’s loyal to his family, loves his little sister, and wishes for a world with a level playing field.
My favorite character is his little sister Lily, though. She actually has it worse than Max. She lives at home with her parents after Max goes to college and has to deal with her mother pretending she doesn’t exist and her father pretending to be her best friend to make up for it. Her home life is lousy at best and she practically raises herself for her last years of high school. But she’s strong enough to not break under pressure and she’s not one for self-pity.
“Fair is for dorks. I don’t need fair to make things work.”– Lily Bascom
So why only a 4.5 instead of a 5?
It’s because of the long descriptions, like this one that characterizes Mr. Birnbaum, Janice’s father, through his workshop.
I stepped inside and caught my breath. It was, to me, a foreign wonderland, this workshop. I am not a particularly handy person, and the panorama of neatly arranged rows of tools hanging on pegboards, the fittings categorized in plastic bins, the copper piping slung above the rafters, the worktables and vises and clamps and braided electrical cords all echoed the prowess of this man. I felt humbled, and strangely calm. I still wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing but I was no longer nervous about it. I could leave disappointed, even chastised, and be all right with it. Such was the power of Sheldon Birnbaum and this place.
While these descriptions certainly add character and depth to the story, they can sometimes be a little excessive and make my attention lag. This book is certainly not a fluff book and isn’t meant to be one, but the long descriptions make it slightly more harder to get through than it has to be.
This is a good book for anyone to read and I can’t recommend it enough, especially to teens. It helps us remember that we all need to make our own normal.
Page Count: 284
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.67 out of 5 stars
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the life of Max Bascom, whose home is Bascomville. Bascomville has its own special kind of normal, where fathers can get job leads from their sons and Christmas dinners can end up to be Chinese take out. Max does his best to navigate Bascomville and to keep it running as smoothly as possible through good times and tragedy. And he also forms a special bond with the girl next door, Janice, who understands Bascomville despite coming from a world much different.
This book is so fabulously written. I usually don’t take review requests, but I’m glad I did for this book. It’s part romance, part literary masterpiece, and it captures “growing up” so well. I wish I had this book when I was in middle school or high school because I can relate to making your own kind of normal.
“Us? Normal?”
“How do you know we aren’t? How do we know everybody doesn’t make their own?”
She considered this for a moment then dismissed it. “If everybody made their own then nothing would be normal. Nothing could ever be normal.”
“Exactly.”
That’s my kind of definition of normal. And I think everyone needs to remember that normalcy doesn’t really exist a little bit more.
I didn’t see the plot twists coming ahead of time and I never got bored. On top of that, this book is incredibly quotable. There’s some good life advice in here, like when Max helped Janice cover up vandalism on her house:
And I knew then that ultimately we can save neither ourselves nor our loved ones from life. We can only live it.
Max is a complex character that I like and dislike. He is, ultimately, human, not a hero. He tends to overreact sometimes when Janice is involved, but for the most part he’s likeable. He’s loyal to his family, loves his little sister, and wishes for a world with a level playing field.
My favorite character is his little sister Lily, though. She actually has it worse than Max. She lives at home with her parents after Max goes to college and has to deal with her mother pretending she doesn’t exist and her father pretending to be her best friend to make up for it. Her home life is lousy at best and she practically raises herself for her last years of high school. But she’s strong enough to not break under pressure and she’s not one for self-pity.
“Fair is for dorks. I don’t need fair to make things work.”– Lily Bascom
So why only a 4.5 instead of a 5?
It’s because of the long descriptions, like this one that characterizes Mr. Birnbaum, Janice’s father, through his workshop.
I stepped inside and caught my breath. It was, to me, a foreign wonderland, this workshop. I am not a particularly handy person, and the panorama of neatly arranged rows of tools hanging on pegboards, the fittings categorized in plastic bins, the copper piping slung above the rafters, the worktables and vises and clamps and braided electrical cords all echoed the prowess of this man. I felt humbled, and strangely calm. I still wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing but I was no longer nervous about it. I could leave disappointed, even chastised, and be all right with it. Such was the power of Sheldon Birnbaum and this place.
While these descriptions certainly add character and depth to the story, they can sometimes be a little excessive and make my attention lag. This book is certainly not a fluff book and isn’t meant to be one, but the long descriptions make it slightly more harder to get through than it has to be.
This is a good book for anyone to read and I can’t recommend it enough, especially to teens. It helps us remember that we all need to make our own normal.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Turn It Up! in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<i>Turn It Up!</i> was a totally random pick I chose from my library's OverDrive catalog because they didn't have the book I so desperately wanted in my hands right at the very moment. <span style="font-size: small;">Come on, American Panda. Come to meeee.</span>
Or maybe they did but I didn't feel like reading any fantasy. I've been wanting more and more cute contemporary romances lately. <b>Give me all the cute contemporaries, bookwyrms.</b> I need to feed my latest addiction until I'm tired of it and go back to my usual fantasy groove.
Anyways...
<b>Jen Calonita's latest novel is about acapella groups.</b> I love and admire acapella (Pentatonix is one of my favorite groups) so this novel caught my eye <i>really</i> quick. <b><i>Turn It Up!</i></b><b> is essentially Pitch Perfect set in a high school setting instead of college.</b> I was hoping that I would enjoy the book a lot since it <i>is</i> about music and acapella.
Unfortunately, <strong>the book focuses too much on Lidia's and Sydney's problem with little to no progress</strong> and an ending that was basically handed over to the characters on a plate adorned with musical notes and shoes. <i>Boom.</i> Happily ever after for everyone.
This is basically the summary of the book:
<ul>
<li>Girl has a crush on a guy</li>
<li>Other girl ends up falling in love with the guy</li>
<li>Girl catches other girl and guy kissing, creates tension among friendship</li>
<li>Girl develops other interests and chases after it because it conveniently keeps her away from other girl and guy as well</li>
<li>Other girl tries to push guy but really, she's in love but she values friendship</li>
<li>Girl falls in love slowly with another guy</li>
<li>Guy somehow gets between girl and other guy by accident - oopsies</li>
<li>Girl and other girl realizes they don't have to be this way</li>
<li>Somehow they become best friends again and everyone lives happily ever after</li>
</ul>
I was expecting more... I don't know, music to be involved? There's certainly conflict among the acapella group, but it felt like the musical angle wasn't even needed to create drama among the characters since there seemed to be issues well before the acapella group became a thing. 🤷
A lot of the issues seemed to have roots since middle school/early high school - they just seemed to have escalated. And <strong>while the Pitch Perfect movie had their drama, it was at least entertaining and catchy.</strong> I can't say the same for the book.
<strong>The writing felt off</strong> - there were times where it felt awkward due to punctuation usage, mainly exclamation points. Sentences that didn't need an exclamation had one, or maybe it's just the phrasing of the sentences themselves. It didn't really help me enjoy the book more.
And then there were the characters. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a hard time thinking of how old most of the characters are. I know <i>Turn It Up! </i>is set in high school, but there were times where I felt they were a little younger. 🤔
<b>But hey, there were <em>maybe</em> a few parts that were good!</b>
<ul>
<li>Eventually, everyone got past their differences - hooray</li>
<li>There <em>is</em> a cute romance, and I definitely ship it</li>
<li>Sometimes I wanted to smush the two characters together</li>
<li>Lidia's family is cute and adorable</li>
</ul>
Anyways, those smol little bits that were good didn't make up for the bad. I wanted more from <em>Turn It Up!</em> and <strong>I got a Pitch Perfect version in book form that was less entertaining than the movie.</strong>
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/turn-it-up-by-jen-calonita-ya-pitch-perfect/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Or maybe they did but I didn't feel like reading any fantasy. I've been wanting more and more cute contemporary romances lately. <b>Give me all the cute contemporaries, bookwyrms.</b> I need to feed my latest addiction until I'm tired of it and go back to my usual fantasy groove.
Anyways...
<b>Jen Calonita's latest novel is about acapella groups.</b> I love and admire acapella (Pentatonix is one of my favorite groups) so this novel caught my eye <i>really</i> quick. <b><i>Turn It Up!</i></b><b> is essentially Pitch Perfect set in a high school setting instead of college.</b> I was hoping that I would enjoy the book a lot since it <i>is</i> about music and acapella.
Unfortunately, <strong>the book focuses too much on Lidia's and Sydney's problem with little to no progress</strong> and an ending that was basically handed over to the characters on a plate adorned with musical notes and shoes. <i>Boom.</i> Happily ever after for everyone.
This is basically the summary of the book:
<ul>
<li>Girl has a crush on a guy</li>
<li>Other girl ends up falling in love with the guy</li>
<li>Girl catches other girl and guy kissing, creates tension among friendship</li>
<li>Girl develops other interests and chases after it because it conveniently keeps her away from other girl and guy as well</li>
<li>Other girl tries to push guy but really, she's in love but she values friendship</li>
<li>Girl falls in love slowly with another guy</li>
<li>Guy somehow gets between girl and other guy by accident - oopsies</li>
<li>Girl and other girl realizes they don't have to be this way</li>
<li>Somehow they become best friends again and everyone lives happily ever after</li>
</ul>
I was expecting more... I don't know, music to be involved? There's certainly conflict among the acapella group, but it felt like the musical angle wasn't even needed to create drama among the characters since there seemed to be issues well before the acapella group became a thing. 🤷
A lot of the issues seemed to have roots since middle school/early high school - they just seemed to have escalated. And <strong>while the Pitch Perfect movie had their drama, it was at least entertaining and catchy.</strong> I can't say the same for the book.
<strong>The writing felt off</strong> - there were times where it felt awkward due to punctuation usage, mainly exclamation points. Sentences that didn't need an exclamation had one, or maybe it's just the phrasing of the sentences themselves. It didn't really help me enjoy the book more.
And then there were the characters. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a hard time thinking of how old most of the characters are. I know <i>Turn It Up! </i>is set in high school, but there were times where I felt they were a little younger. 🤔
<b>But hey, there were <em>maybe</em> a few parts that were good!</b>
<ul>
<li>Eventually, everyone got past their differences - hooray</li>
<li>There <em>is</em> a cute romance, and I definitely ship it</li>
<li>Sometimes I wanted to smush the two characters together</li>
<li>Lidia's family is cute and adorable</li>
</ul>
Anyways, those smol little bits that were good didn't make up for the bad. I wanted more from <em>Turn It Up!</em> and <strong>I got a Pitch Perfect version in book form that was less entertaining than the movie.</strong>
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/turn-it-up-by-jen-calonita-ya-pitch-perfect/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Bound for Justice Box Set
Book
Bound for Justice: A Box Set Against the Rules Targeted by a drug cartel, Teague is out for...
ANTHOLOGIES AND COLLECTIONS BONDAGE AND BDSM CONTEMPORARY EROTIC ROMANCE
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated A Brand New Ending in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I really wanted to enjoy this book especially since I enjoy books that are set in an asylum. For the first half, I really enjoyed the book, but the second half read more like an erotica, and I just couldn't finish it once I got to about 71%.
After being abused by her step-father since 15, Phoenix attempts to kill herself after jumping off a bridge. She is placed in an asylum to make sure she gets better. There she meets Braeden and feels drawn to him. Braeden also feels drawn to Phoenix and doesn't know why.
I thought the title was an interesting one. It definitely caught my attention! I love it!
The cover is a bit bland, but it still caught my attention. The lost girl on the front is what I loved about it.
I think the world building would have been a lot better had there not been insta-love. Phoenix and Braeden instantly feel drawn to each other, and they're automatically in love. This really annoyed me! Also, if an aide in an asylum pursues a relationship with a patient, that aide could/would be fired for misconduct. However, Braeden never gets in trouble even though a lot of people know about him and Phoenix.
The pacing goes back and forth between being slow and decent. For the most part, it is decent, but there were a few bits where the pacing slows down a lot, especially as we keep getting told how much Braeden and Phoenix "love" each other. Their feelings for each other are mentioned a lot which I felt was quite redundant.
The plot of the damsel in distress and the knight in shining armor has been done before, and I liked the fact it was set in an asylum. I'm always intrigued by mental disorders and what not. That was the plot for the first half of the book. In the second half of the book, the plot just went to how much sex could Braeden and Phoenix have.
In the second half, all Braeden and Phoenix did was have sex...graphically!! I felt like I was reading a whole different book! I felt like this book went from a sweet contemporary romance to an erotica book! It seemed every other sentences was about them having sex or thinking sexual thoughts. This is what really put me off the book, so at 71%, during another erotic sex scene, I stopped reading. I don't do erotica books. I really wish I had known this book has very graphic sex scenes and a lot of them because then I wouldn't have even bothered wasting my time.
I couldn't really connect to the characters. I kind of liked Phoenix, but there was just something missing with her. I really couldn't feel anything emotionally when it came to her. I did at the beginning, but she just became sort of a dull character. Braeden just annoyed me for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that his swearing was over the top or that he abused his position of authority. He tried to hard to come across as a bad boy a lot of the time, and it just wasn't working. I did like Rain though, and I would've loved to hear more about her.
The dialogue wasn't working. There was way too much swearing, and most of it didn't feel natural. Braeden was the one who swore the most, and it was like every other word was the f word. Braeden's friends swore, Phoenix swore, the doctor/Braeden's father swore...practically every character mentioned in this book swore. With all the swearing, the majority of the dialogue felt very forced and very fake.
Overall, A Brand New Ending by S.A. Rolls just didn't do it for me. The dialogue felt too forced, and I felt like I had picked up an erotica novel even though it's not labelled as such. However, this book has got a lot of great reviews, so perhaps I'm just too much of a prude.
I'd only recommend this book to those who are 18+ who enjoy reading erotica.
<b>I'd give A Brand New Ending by S.A. Rolls a 1.5 out of 5. </b>
(I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review).
I really wanted to enjoy this book especially since I enjoy books that are set in an asylum. For the first half, I really enjoyed the book, but the second half read more like an erotica, and I just couldn't finish it once I got to about 71%.
After being abused by her step-father since 15, Phoenix attempts to kill herself after jumping off a bridge. She is placed in an asylum to make sure she gets better. There she meets Braeden and feels drawn to him. Braeden also feels drawn to Phoenix and doesn't know why.
I thought the title was an interesting one. It definitely caught my attention! I love it!
The cover is a bit bland, but it still caught my attention. The lost girl on the front is what I loved about it.
I think the world building would have been a lot better had there not been insta-love. Phoenix and Braeden instantly feel drawn to each other, and they're automatically in love. This really annoyed me! Also, if an aide in an asylum pursues a relationship with a patient, that aide could/would be fired for misconduct. However, Braeden never gets in trouble even though a lot of people know about him and Phoenix.
The pacing goes back and forth between being slow and decent. For the most part, it is decent, but there were a few bits where the pacing slows down a lot, especially as we keep getting told how much Braeden and Phoenix "love" each other. Their feelings for each other are mentioned a lot which I felt was quite redundant.
The plot of the damsel in distress and the knight in shining armor has been done before, and I liked the fact it was set in an asylum. I'm always intrigued by mental disorders and what not. That was the plot for the first half of the book. In the second half of the book, the plot just went to how much sex could Braeden and Phoenix have.
In the second half, all Braeden and Phoenix did was have sex...graphically!! I felt like I was reading a whole different book! I felt like this book went from a sweet contemporary romance to an erotica book! It seemed every other sentences was about them having sex or thinking sexual thoughts. This is what really put me off the book, so at 71%, during another erotic sex scene, I stopped reading. I don't do erotica books. I really wish I had known this book has very graphic sex scenes and a lot of them because then I wouldn't have even bothered wasting my time.
I couldn't really connect to the characters. I kind of liked Phoenix, but there was just something missing with her. I really couldn't feel anything emotionally when it came to her. I did at the beginning, but she just became sort of a dull character. Braeden just annoyed me for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that his swearing was over the top or that he abused his position of authority. He tried to hard to come across as a bad boy a lot of the time, and it just wasn't working. I did like Rain though, and I would've loved to hear more about her.
The dialogue wasn't working. There was way too much swearing, and most of it didn't feel natural. Braeden was the one who swore the most, and it was like every other word was the f word. Braeden's friends swore, Phoenix swore, the doctor/Braeden's father swore...practically every character mentioned in this book swore. With all the swearing, the majority of the dialogue felt very forced and very fake.
Overall, A Brand New Ending by S.A. Rolls just didn't do it for me. The dialogue felt too forced, and I felt like I had picked up an erotica novel even though it's not labelled as such. However, this book has got a lot of great reviews, so perhaps I'm just too much of a prude.
I'd only recommend this book to those who are 18+ who enjoy reading erotica.
<b>I'd give A Brand New Ending by S.A. Rolls a 1.5 out of 5. </b>
(I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review).
Common Powers Box Set
6.0
Rate It
Book
Soul Bonds It’s not how big the power, it’s how you use it. Mitchell’s tired of one...
CONTEMPORARY EROTIC ROMANCE GAY GLBTQI
Kyera (8 KP) rated Eliza and Her Monsters in Books
Jan 31, 2018
I always read before I go to bed, so last night I decided to pick up Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia. I fell in love and before I knew it, I was 50% done but I thought I could read for another 15 or so minutes – that turned into me finishing the book at midnight. I don’t regret a thing. This is a mental health book that deals with trauma, anxiety, and depression, so I would just like to give all readers a trigger warning. I personally felt that it was beautifully written, but not everyone will feel the same way so I suggest a level of caution if you think you may be triggered by these things. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel harmed by this book or any book.
Just a warning, I do talk about the relationships in this book as well as some plot points. I don’t discuss anything that wasn’t mentioned in the synopsis on the book or Goodreads, but if you haven’t read those then this is your spoiler warning.
Our main character is Eliza, the anonymous creator of the famous webcomic Monsterous Seas. She has always been more comfortable online than dealing with the real world, or real people. All of her friends are online. She has always kept her identity a secret and as the popularity of her work has grown, the fervor to learn her identity has as well.
Eliza has always been content to spend her days in school drawing and talking to no one – that is until there is a new guy in school, Wallace. Against all odds, he is a fan of Monsterous Seas and actually writes fan fiction about it. It doesn’t take long before they become friends and Wallace gets Eliza to come a little more out of her shell. Their friendship was so precious and I loved watching them bond over a story that was so important to each of their lives.
The romance aspect of the book also made me super happy – I legitimately was smiling every time they were super cute together. Even though they each had their issues to deal with, they didn’t push each other past their respective lines of security. They were supportive of one another and I think that Wallace was the perfect foil for Eliza. Yes, they had their troubles but at the end of the day, they were there for one another.
The family dynamic was completely relatable if frustrating at times. Eliza’s parents don’t truly understand what her webcomic is or how famous it is, which causes a lot of friction within the family. Her parents want to understand her more, but Eliza is very closed and protective of herself. While they may not understand the importance of it even if she took the time to explain it and what it means to the world, she doesn’t even give them the chance. Eliza is defensive and her lack of communication is what ultimately leads to the worst crisis she experiences, despite her parent's well-meaning intentions.
The most heart-warming part of the novel was the scene in which one of her brothers stood up for her and supported Eliza. It was such a precious moment and it was nice to see a positive familial connection being formed. Eliza learns throughout the novel that she never gave her family a chance and that maybe she doesn’t really know them. The growth that she experiences over the course of the novel was wonderful to see and gives you hope that (although she’s fictional) perhaps things will change for the better with her family and her life.
As a person who feels infinitely more comfortable talking to someone over the internet than in person, there were many times that I related to Eliza. I completely understand the anxiety of talking to another person, even one-on-one. I cannot imagine the stress and havoc the reveal of your identity to millions of people would have on your psyche and body. My heart broke when we found out her identity was exposed because Francesca wrote a character so real that we could feel her horror and destruction.
There was also some diversity in this book, although it wasn’t as explored as it could have been. Wallace’s family is a unique situation and I would have loved to learn more about them, but understand that it would have slowed down the pacing of the novel. I can’t say more because I don’t want this to have actual spoilers, so just go read the book. While it is not explicitly mentioned in the book, the author wrote in a tweet that she wished her portrayal of ace/demi sexuality was truly addressed. I think that would have brought a wonderful level of diversity that we don’t normally see in books and could use more of.
If it wasn’t clear from my ‘I read it in one sitting into the wee hours of the night’ tale, I absolutely loved this book. It was very relatable and as an introverted fangirl myself, I personally felt represented by this book. Even though I didn’t know about it before it was published, I definitely expect it to make my best of 2017 list. It is a contemporary that, in my opinion, honestly and respectfully tackles mental illness, family relationships and is so wonderfully written that I hope you fall in love with it as well.
Just a warning, I do talk about the relationships in this book as well as some plot points. I don’t discuss anything that wasn’t mentioned in the synopsis on the book or Goodreads, but if you haven’t read those then this is your spoiler warning.
Our main character is Eliza, the anonymous creator of the famous webcomic Monsterous Seas. She has always been more comfortable online than dealing with the real world, or real people. All of her friends are online. She has always kept her identity a secret and as the popularity of her work has grown, the fervor to learn her identity has as well.
Eliza has always been content to spend her days in school drawing and talking to no one – that is until there is a new guy in school, Wallace. Against all odds, he is a fan of Monsterous Seas and actually writes fan fiction about it. It doesn’t take long before they become friends and Wallace gets Eliza to come a little more out of her shell. Their friendship was so precious and I loved watching them bond over a story that was so important to each of their lives.
The romance aspect of the book also made me super happy – I legitimately was smiling every time they were super cute together. Even though they each had their issues to deal with, they didn’t push each other past their respective lines of security. They were supportive of one another and I think that Wallace was the perfect foil for Eliza. Yes, they had their troubles but at the end of the day, they were there for one another.
The family dynamic was completely relatable if frustrating at times. Eliza’s parents don’t truly understand what her webcomic is or how famous it is, which causes a lot of friction within the family. Her parents want to understand her more, but Eliza is very closed and protective of herself. While they may not understand the importance of it even if she took the time to explain it and what it means to the world, she doesn’t even give them the chance. Eliza is defensive and her lack of communication is what ultimately leads to the worst crisis she experiences, despite her parent's well-meaning intentions.
The most heart-warming part of the novel was the scene in which one of her brothers stood up for her and supported Eliza. It was such a precious moment and it was nice to see a positive familial connection being formed. Eliza learns throughout the novel that she never gave her family a chance and that maybe she doesn’t really know them. The growth that she experiences over the course of the novel was wonderful to see and gives you hope that (although she’s fictional) perhaps things will change for the better with her family and her life.
As a person who feels infinitely more comfortable talking to someone over the internet than in person, there were many times that I related to Eliza. I completely understand the anxiety of talking to another person, even one-on-one. I cannot imagine the stress and havoc the reveal of your identity to millions of people would have on your psyche and body. My heart broke when we found out her identity was exposed because Francesca wrote a character so real that we could feel her horror and destruction.
There was also some diversity in this book, although it wasn’t as explored as it could have been. Wallace’s family is a unique situation and I would have loved to learn more about them, but understand that it would have slowed down the pacing of the novel. I can’t say more because I don’t want this to have actual spoilers, so just go read the book. While it is not explicitly mentioned in the book, the author wrote in a tweet that she wished her portrayal of ace/demi sexuality was truly addressed. I think that would have brought a wonderful level of diversity that we don’t normally see in books and could use more of.
If it wasn’t clear from my ‘I read it in one sitting into the wee hours of the night’ tale, I absolutely loved this book. It was very relatable and as an introverted fangirl myself, I personally felt represented by this book. Even though I didn’t know about it before it was published, I definitely expect it to make my best of 2017 list. It is a contemporary that, in my opinion, honestly and respectfully tackles mental illness, family relationships and is so wonderfully written that I hope you fall in love with it as well.