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HyruleBalverine (16 KP) rated The Gargoyle in Books
Nov 27, 2017 (Updated Nov 27, 2017)
A literary Journey that will have you questioning the reality your characters live in.
I typically read books in the science fiction, science fiction / fantasy, crime Thriller, or horror genres. A friend of mine suggested that I read this book because she really liked it. I will admit to going into with skepticism expect there to be some sort of romance novel. While there is some discussion of a romantic history and potentially some romantic feelings between the characters that is not what this book is about.
As you read through the story someone getting to know the characters and events unfold including the tails that Marianne tells of the past, you start to question whether this woman is telling the truth or she is actually crazy. The book never blatantly tells you one way or the other, but leaves it up to you to decide based on what you read and take from the book. I definitely has a clear opinion as to what was really going on but I won't spoil it for you by telling you what I think or why.
I will tell you after having read this book, I made it a point to recommend it to other friends I have that read because I thought it was that amazing especially given that it is not the type of story I typically read.
As you read through the story someone getting to know the characters and events unfold including the tails that Marianne tells of the past, you start to question whether this woman is telling the truth or she is actually crazy. The book never blatantly tells you one way or the other, but leaves it up to you to decide based on what you read and take from the book. I definitely has a clear opinion as to what was really going on but I won't spoil it for you by telling you what I think or why.
I will tell you after having read this book, I made it a point to recommend it to other friends I have that read because I thought it was that amazing especially given that it is not the type of story I typically read.
tapestry100 (306 KP) rated Angel Catbird, Volume 1 in Books
Aug 2, 2017
This is an unfortunate disappointment for me. I haven't read much of Atwood, but I'm familiar with her and her significance as an author so I was more than intrigued by the idea of a graphic novel written by her. Well, imagine my disappointment in what she gave us: from her rather self-serving foreword, where in the first paragraph she reminds us that she is “an award-winning nice literary old lady” and then goes on to great lengths about her lifelong interest in comics, to the flat story that is nothing but one overused superhero trope and bad pun after another, to the lackluster art (sorry, but Johnnie Christmas' art just didn't save this enough for me), to the interjected facts about the number of cat and bird deaths in Canada, the US, and the UK that occur each year, I was shocked that this got published. I would assume that had anyone other that Margaret Atwood presented this project, it would have been shot down. This is nothing to me but a vanity project and one that I just can't see myself continuing. The only reason I can't give it 1 star is because it is Margaret Atwood, after all, and it seems sacrilegious to do so.
ClareR (5674 KP) rated The Dangerous Kind in Books
Mar 27, 2019 (Updated Mar 27, 2019)
1 in 100 People
This was such an enjoyable book - the subject matter however, was very uncomfortable. The story is set in the present day and 2002. In the present day, a radio presenter for Radio 4 and former newspaper reporter, Jessamine, presents a programme about potentially dangerous people, and whether there had been signs of their violence in the past. In 2002, we follow a 13 year old girl called Rowan, who is in care. She becomes involved with some very disturbing men. Paedophiles. Nothing is described explicitly, but anyone with any kind of imagination will be able to fill in the gaps from the descriptions we’re given.
This was such a well written book - there was an underlying feeling of menace through both timelines that made me feel very uncomfortable (which was no bad thing as it really added to the experience!) and the main characters had me fighting in their corners throughout.
I’m a big fan of the ‘literary twist’, and this certainly delivered. This book is well worth your time and money, I highly recommend it!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the author for reading along with her readers.
And the 1 in 100 refers to those who are likely to go on to commit some sort of violent criminal act. Not such a nice thought....
This was such a well written book - there was an underlying feeling of menace through both timelines that made me feel very uncomfortable (which was no bad thing as it really added to the experience!) and the main characters had me fighting in their corners throughout.
I’m a big fan of the ‘literary twist’, and this certainly delivered. This book is well worth your time and money, I highly recommend it!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the author for reading along with her readers.
And the 1 in 100 refers to those who are likely to go on to commit some sort of violent criminal act. Not such a nice thought....
ArecRain (8 KP) rated Beauty and the Mustache (Knitting in the City, #4; Winston Brothers, #0.5) in Books
Jan 18, 2018
Oh, thats okay, Miss Reid, I didnt need my heart today or anything.
All joking aside, what a powerful book. It has been a long time since a book has taken a hold of me and not let go until I finished it. It has been even longer since I have read a book so well done, that I find myself skipping over passages, not because I am bored or distracted, but because I am so engrossed that my eyes cannot keep up with my brain. I was hungry for every page, devouring every word like I was starving.
Reid has literary prowess I dare not compare to others I have read before. I was so deep in her fictional world that it felt like I was losing my own mother. Ashleys frustration ate me alive because it became my frustration. This novel had more soul than most humans I have encountered.
Do yourself a favor and read this book. Want a meaningful story? Read this book. Enjoy a good romance that is more than a romance? Read this book. Book hangover? Jaded? In a reading slump? Please read this damn book.
My only complaint is that I feel the author passed on a great opportunity by not calling it Beauty and the Beard. Honestly, I dont remember her mentioning a mustache, but there were beard galore!
All joking aside, what a powerful book. It has been a long time since a book has taken a hold of me and not let go until I finished it. It has been even longer since I have read a book so well done, that I find myself skipping over passages, not because I am bored or distracted, but because I am so engrossed that my eyes cannot keep up with my brain. I was hungry for every page, devouring every word like I was starving.
Reid has literary prowess I dare not compare to others I have read before. I was so deep in her fictional world that it felt like I was losing my own mother. Ashleys frustration ate me alive because it became my frustration. This novel had more soul than most humans I have encountered.
Do yourself a favor and read this book. Want a meaningful story? Read this book. Enjoy a good romance that is more than a romance? Read this book. Book hangover? Jaded? In a reading slump? Please read this damn book.
My only complaint is that I feel the author passed on a great opportunity by not calling it Beauty and the Beard. Honestly, I dont remember her mentioning a mustache, but there were beard galore!
Kyera (8 KP) rated The It Girl (It Girl, #1) in Books
Feb 1, 2018
The It Girl series follows Gossip Girl character, Jenny Humphries at her new boarding school, Waverly. The sophomore must navigate an entirely new set of social rules in her attempt to become New Jenny - an it-girl. But life at Waverly isn't always what Jenny dreamed for herself and sometimes it's so much better.
Overall, the book is enjoyable in a simple, YA, guilty read way. It's not going to win any literary awards, but if you enjoy books about privileged kids, boarding schools or volatile relationship dynamics you will like this read. Although it is fiction, sometimes I am astounded by the level of debauchery surrounding these students.
The first book, It Girl, introduces us to the large cast of characters. New girl, Jenny, who is looking to reinvent herself. Junior class prefect, Brett, who seems to have it all together. Privileged princess, Callie, who thinks appearances are everything. True it-girl, Tinsley, who is the puppet-master of Waverly. As well as all their girlfriends and the rotating batch of potential boyfriends.
School seems perfect - the guy she has her eye on seems to be crushing back, her roommates seem great and she's been invited to join the advanced art class. What could go wrong? {{spoiler}}Tinsley returns to school and is none too happy about the new girl in her bed.
Overall, the book is enjoyable in a simple, YA, guilty read way. It's not going to win any literary awards, but if you enjoy books about privileged kids, boarding schools or volatile relationship dynamics you will like this read. Although it is fiction, sometimes I am astounded by the level of debauchery surrounding these students.
The first book, It Girl, introduces us to the large cast of characters. New girl, Jenny, who is looking to reinvent herself. Junior class prefect, Brett, who seems to have it all together. Privileged princess, Callie, who thinks appearances are everything. True it-girl, Tinsley, who is the puppet-master of Waverly. As well as all their girlfriends and the rotating batch of potential boyfriends.
School seems perfect - the guy she has her eye on seems to be crushing back, her roommates seem great and she's been invited to join the advanced art class. What could go wrong? {{spoiler}}Tinsley returns to school and is none too happy about the new girl in her bed.
Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Ararat in Books
Mar 15, 2018
"Popcorn" books can be a lot of fun no matter what time of year it is, but they seem especially appropriate in the Summer time, and this latest horror offering from Christopher Golden is a pretty perfect Summer book. Engaged, moutain-climbing authors / documentary filmmakers Adam and Meryam are in a race to be first up Mt. Ararat into a cavern that has opened up as the result of an earthquake, possibly revealing Noah's Ark. Unsurprisingly they make it and discover that the cavern appears to actually be the ark itself, and it contains a rather disturbing discovery inside. Nevertheless, they assemble a team of international archaeologists, religious experts, mountain guides, and government representatives and get to work studying their findings. As a blizzard approaches, effectively trapping them inside the Ark, things begin to take a turn for the worse at the site as the body count begins piling up, and the tone of the book switches from adventure mixed with some mystery to a straight-up frightfest. This is one of the scarier books I've read in a while, using some pretty shocking violence to really up the fear factor. As a result, while not likely to win any literary rewards, Mr. Golden has created one of the year's most entertaining books, and written a story that would make a great Summer blockbuster.
Often cited as one of the most influential comic-books/graphic novels, alongside the likes of [b:V for Vendetta|5805|V for Vendetta|Alan Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1343668985s/5805.jpg|392838]'V for Vendetta' and [b:Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns (The Dark Knight Saga, #1)|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159]'The Dark Knight Returns', this was, if I'm honest, one such that I'd never even heard of until the 2009 movie of the same name.
Set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superhero's are (were) real but have since been outlawed, there's a definite argument to be made that this would inspire the Pixar film The Incredibles: family drama, costumed superheroes coming out of retirement, conspiracies afoot ... see what I mean?
But whereas The Incredibles is aimed at a family audience, this is anything but: violent throughout, slow (at times seemingly glacial) moving and even dealing with the effects of (and fallout from) rape, this is definitely not one for the younger reader!
On the plus side, it does have a stunningly realised world alongside a compelling backstory to several of the characters: like several other literary classics, this is one that I can now say that I've read but wouldn't really be rushing back to do so again anytime soon.
Set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superhero's are (were) real but have since been outlawed, there's a definite argument to be made that this would inspire the Pixar film The Incredibles: family drama, costumed superheroes coming out of retirement, conspiracies afoot ... see what I mean?
But whereas The Incredibles is aimed at a family audience, this is anything but: violent throughout, slow (at times seemingly glacial) moving and even dealing with the effects of (and fallout from) rape, this is definitely not one for the younger reader!
On the plus side, it does have a stunningly realised world alongside a compelling backstory to several of the characters: like several other literary classics, this is one that I can now say that I've read but wouldn't really be rushing back to do so again anytime soon.
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