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Rachel King (13 KP) rated Enclave in Books
Feb 11, 2019
This book is less dystopia and more post-apocalypse, with zombies thrown in - though they are never given that name. Though the plot focused solely on Deuce's life inside and outside the enclave, I was much more curious about the details of the world that Deuce lived in. The answers to these questions were sadly few and far between. It quickly became apparent that it was not in Deuce's nature to be inquisitive, and I was often distracted from Deuce's single-mindedness to be a Huntress. Deuce's two closest friends come from the other two groups, but little is told about these groups or the members that populated them. I was especially curious about Deuce's Breeder friend, who fathered a baby boy, but he is unfortunately removed from the plot before much development could occur.
Many loose threads are pushed aside to make way for the character of Fade, and Deuce's relationship with him. I saw much potential in Fade's character because of the potential of his backstory, but the possibilities of what he could accomplish in the enclave are wasted. In the end, despite the title of the book, the plot seems to be more about what happens Topside than saving or reforming the enclave. Plus, I know little more about the Freaks (zombies) than I did when I started the book. While the book brimmed with potential, much of the characters' potential was unrealized, and the book ended with too many loose ends and unanswered questions. While I typically love YA literature, I think this book was too juvenile for me.
Many loose threads are pushed aside to make way for the character of Fade, and Deuce's relationship with him. I saw much potential in Fade's character because of the potential of his backstory, but the possibilities of what he could accomplish in the enclave are wasted. In the end, despite the title of the book, the plot seems to be more about what happens Topside than saving or reforming the enclave. Plus, I know little more about the Freaks (zombies) than I did when I started the book. While the book brimmed with potential, much of the characters' potential was unrealized, and the book ended with too many loose ends and unanswered questions. While I typically love YA literature, I think this book was too juvenile for me.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Extras (Uglies, #4) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
I enjoyed this book as an epilogue to the Ugly Trilogy. It resolved the one aspect that I thought was left hanging in Specials, the fate of the planet Earth itself in regards to how the current human race treated it, as opposed to how the Rusties were notorious for destroying it. I liked that I got to see how Tally and the other Cutters were viewed from an outsider with the viewpoint of Aya Fuse. In addition, the reputation economy that Aya lived in was unnervingly familiar to our own Western society of blogging, social networking, computer and television-centered lifestyles. Of the four books, I found this one the most enlightening and original, in the same genre as other dystopian literature. It seeks to reveal the truth through a piece of fiction, or as one character in the book proclaims, "I guess you sometimes have to lie to find the truth."
I did find the resolution that the Extras came up with regarding the protection of the wild to be a bit far-fetched and lacking detail and explanation - it takes much, much more to train for life in outer space than just floating around on zero-gravity attachments. The lightness with which this topic is approached in the novel does not do it justice by any means, but I had to remind myself that this is still a Young Adult novel. At the same time, this concept opens up a whole new plotline that Westerfeld could pursue in the Ugly series, should he want to, which I do appreciate.
I did find the resolution that the Extras came up with regarding the protection of the wild to be a bit far-fetched and lacking detail and explanation - it takes much, much more to train for life in outer space than just floating around on zero-gravity attachments. The lightness with which this topic is approached in the novel does not do it justice by any means, but I had to remind myself that this is still a Young Adult novel. At the same time, this concept opens up a whole new plotline that Westerfeld could pursue in the Ugly series, should he want to, which I do appreciate.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Heart Berries: A Memoir in Books
Mar 18, 2018
Chaotic coming-of-age manifesto from a First Nations female survivor
This memoir about pain and trauma written by an indigenous woman should not be typecasted and categorised as "Native Writing", although many themes do arise in this area.
As the author explains, this book is less about identity and more about coping with huge swathes of pain - from having a baby taken away right after birth, child sexual abuse to being institutionalised with bipolar disorder, Terese Mailhot is first and foremost a survivor. What she reveals in her writing, is that these issues take different shapes in every community, and for her, she attempts to consolidate her experiences and what she has learnt from her parents together.
In one instance, she talks about how she can't understand the notion of forgiveness preached by white therapists, because she has learnt that pain is a ritual to undertake. And in this way, we see where she appears similar to other survivors and where she diverges because of her belief structures. She also speaks about pain being inherent in the Native condition because of centuries of mistreatment by colonial powers - and so she refers to it differently than some.
Where I struggled with this, is her relationship with her 'boyfriend' Casey, which felt irritating because it took up far too much of the book - and I did just want to shake her and tell her to get a grip especially as she has young children, and it seemed almost juvenile. But overall, an important piece of literature in this growing sphere.
As the author explains, this book is less about identity and more about coping with huge swathes of pain - from having a baby taken away right after birth, child sexual abuse to being institutionalised with bipolar disorder, Terese Mailhot is first and foremost a survivor. What she reveals in her writing, is that these issues take different shapes in every community, and for her, she attempts to consolidate her experiences and what she has learnt from her parents together.
In one instance, she talks about how she can't understand the notion of forgiveness preached by white therapists, because she has learnt that pain is a ritual to undertake. And in this way, we see where she appears similar to other survivors and where she diverges because of her belief structures. She also speaks about pain being inherent in the Native condition because of centuries of mistreatment by colonial powers - and so she refers to it differently than some.
Where I struggled with this, is her relationship with her 'boyfriend' Casey, which felt irritating because it took up far too much of the book - and I did just want to shake her and tell her to get a grip especially as she has young children, and it seemed almost juvenile. But overall, an important piece of literature in this growing sphere.
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated Idaho in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Read me review here: https://bookbumzuky.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/review-idaho-by-emily-ruskovich/
<i><b>Take your picture off the wall
So I wont have to see your eyes
And maybe soon I wont recall
The painful things that once were nice</i></b>
This is one of those pieces of literature that is so beautiful and so emotional that its hard to get your words out. Im stuck on how to convey the beauty and excellence of this book.
Told through several different perspectives over several different years, this novel is a character study of how one event can affect so many different people. If youre into slow paced, character focused novels with little mystery and action, then this novel is going to become one of your favourites.
Without going through every single character and scene, I feel like its not easy to comment on this novel, but I dont really want to give anything away because I think this is a book you should start off with, not knowing much about it. If Ruskovich wanted you to know more about this piece of work, shed have written a different synopsis.
All I can say about this book is that its a <b>must read</b> debut for 2017. Im looking forward to more of Ruskovichs work.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Random House, Vintage Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.</i>
<i><b>Take your picture off the wall
So I wont have to see your eyes
And maybe soon I wont recall
The painful things that once were nice</i></b>
This is one of those pieces of literature that is so beautiful and so emotional that its hard to get your words out. Im stuck on how to convey the beauty and excellence of this book.
Told through several different perspectives over several different years, this novel is a character study of how one event can affect so many different people. If youre into slow paced, character focused novels with little mystery and action, then this novel is going to become one of your favourites.
Without going through every single character and scene, I feel like its not easy to comment on this novel, but I dont really want to give anything away because I think this is a book you should start off with, not knowing much about it. If Ruskovich wanted you to know more about this piece of work, shed have written a different synopsis.
All I can say about this book is that its a <b>must read</b> debut for 2017. Im looking forward to more of Ruskovichs work.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Random House, Vintage Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.</i>
An intriguing retelling.
A modern reimagining of Shakespeare's Othello, this sees a Ghanaian diplomats son, Osei, on his first day at a new school in an American suburb of Washington DC in the 1970's. Dee quickly befriends him, and Ian decides that he doesn't like this. He decides to undermine this friendship and dispose of O. Yes, racism comes in to play here. Both the learnt racism of the children (from their parents), and that of the teachers.
This is all squeezed in to a very Shakespearian time frame of a day: we all know that in a Shakespearian play, people fall in and out of love, get marries and murder one another within 24 hours. For this reason, I can forgive the more mature behaviour and plotting of the 11 year old children. It seems unlikely to me as a mother of an 11 year old, that real 11 year olds would necessarily behave in this way; but this is literature and an author can bend their story and their characters to however they want them to behave. The changeability of the children's affections ARE more realistic, however.
I think this would probably be a great book for students to read at school before they access the original Othello. It would have made a great 'compare and contrast' exercise for me when I studied Othello (many years ago!).
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and the ending is a real 'heart in mouth' moment!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth for my copy of this book.
This is all squeezed in to a very Shakespearian time frame of a day: we all know that in a Shakespearian play, people fall in and out of love, get marries and murder one another within 24 hours. For this reason, I can forgive the more mature behaviour and plotting of the 11 year old children. It seems unlikely to me as a mother of an 11 year old, that real 11 year olds would necessarily behave in this way; but this is literature and an author can bend their story and their characters to however they want them to behave. The changeability of the children's affections ARE more realistic, however.
I think this would probably be a great book for students to read at school before they access the original Othello. It would have made a great 'compare and contrast' exercise for me when I studied Othello (many years ago!).
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and the ending is a real 'heart in mouth' moment!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth for my copy of this book.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Something Rotten (Thursday Next, #4) in Books
Nov 26, 2019
In his previous Thursday Next books Fforde has explored the world inside books and how Thursday - literary detective from an alternate reality from our own - interacts with its denizens. Now he turns that on its head.
Thursday, along with her young child Friday, decides it is time to leave the Bookworld behind and return to the real world, despite the danger this poses from the all powerful Goliath corporation. They have already erased her husband from existence and wanted to do the same to her. But Goliath are now benign and repentant. But that doesn't mean that Thursday can have a happy ending. Not only does she need to get her husband back, but unless Swindon can win the Superhoop croquet world cup there will be an unstoppable chain of events leading to the end of the world.
As usual with Fforde the plot is complex, convoluted and wildly improbable but that doesn't stop him pulling the reader into the slightly off-kilter world of the Nexts. As could be expected the humour is packed in tight. Literary jokes, in world jokes, real world jokes. Playing with language and words in every inventive way possible. All of these are his stock in trade and he uses them to great effect here.
This was for me a little weaker than the first three books, possibly because now back in Thursday's world is a little more mundane than seeing works of literature from the inside but there are still plenty of laughs to be had and the various plot strands will keep you guessing
Thursday, along with her young child Friday, decides it is time to leave the Bookworld behind and return to the real world, despite the danger this poses from the all powerful Goliath corporation. They have already erased her husband from existence and wanted to do the same to her. But Goliath are now benign and repentant. But that doesn't mean that Thursday can have a happy ending. Not only does she need to get her husband back, but unless Swindon can win the Superhoop croquet world cup there will be an unstoppable chain of events leading to the end of the world.
As usual with Fforde the plot is complex, convoluted and wildly improbable but that doesn't stop him pulling the reader into the slightly off-kilter world of the Nexts. As could be expected the humour is packed in tight. Literary jokes, in world jokes, real world jokes. Playing with language and words in every inventive way possible. All of these are his stock in trade and he uses them to great effect here.
This was for me a little weaker than the first three books, possibly because now back in Thursday's world is a little more mundane than seeing works of literature from the inside but there are still plenty of laughs to be had and the various plot strands will keep you guessing
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Absinthe in Books
Jan 12, 2020
This has been borrowed from the Kindle Unlimited Library.
I'll be honest. With how this started I was expecting it to be erotica. That prologue with how "Absinthe" walks into the principles office, sucking on that lollipop, and how they recognise each other from their voices alone. I expected it to be a bit...kinky with them going on to have sex in his office. But then we go back three months and see how their relationship started with the Karma dating app.
I was really rather enjoying this. It had the angst of love that couldn't really happen but them being unable to fight their feelings or stop seeing each other. But then their secret got out and things fell apart around them both. And then years passed. YEARS! I began to get a little fed up with the characters after five years had passed and they hadn't found each other. Yeah, one of them was looking for the other but...it wasn't really going anywhere.
They did eventually find each other but it wasn't great between them for quite a while and my initial enjoyment of the story had waned a little by then. I did like the epilogue and how their love of classic literature worked its way into their lives. That bit was cute.
It was those five years with the travels and the trying to find each other and despising each other...it knocked it down a star for me. It just seemed too long.
I'll be honest. With how this started I was expecting it to be erotica. That prologue with how "Absinthe" walks into the principles office, sucking on that lollipop, and how they recognise each other from their voices alone. I expected it to be a bit...kinky with them going on to have sex in his office. But then we go back three months and see how their relationship started with the Karma dating app.
I was really rather enjoying this. It had the angst of love that couldn't really happen but them being unable to fight their feelings or stop seeing each other. But then their secret got out and things fell apart around them both. And then years passed. YEARS! I began to get a little fed up with the characters after five years had passed and they hadn't found each other. Yeah, one of them was looking for the other but...it wasn't really going anywhere.
They did eventually find each other but it wasn't great between them for quite a while and my initial enjoyment of the story had waned a little by then. I did like the epilogue and how their love of classic literature worked its way into their lives. That bit was cute.
It was those five years with the travels and the trying to find each other and despising each other...it knocked it down a star for me. It just seemed too long.
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