April 1, 2018

March Wrap Up


WRAP UP:

Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
My Rating: ★★★★

This was a really fun read. I loved the virtual world and I feel that the corrupt company aspect was fairly interesting to read about. I wish that the ending had been a bit more developed. It feels like it all ends too abruptly and it's just very anticlimactic. Also, what I think was supposed to be the last minute plot twist didn't really feel like anything too significant. A few of the other plot twists scattered throughout the book were either uninteresting or I had already predicted them. There will be a sequel though, so maybe that will improve.


Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
My Rating: ★★★

I had to let this one sit for a while before I could form coherent thoughts on it. I have never read a book that had me so divided. There were a few things I enjoyed and they redeemed the book for me, but mostly I couldn't stand this book. I have so many issues with this, and my thoughts are so jumbled that I think I'll have to do a review at some point because I can't express my feelings in a single paragraph. I will say that it's genuinely nice to know that so many people found this book helpful and benefitted from reading it.


A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
My Rating: ★★★★

I picked this up for the spring 24hr readathon. This was...different. I liked the story overall. I felt that it was fully realized given how short the book is and the ending definitely made me cry. All this being said though, I didn't really 'get' it. I'm not sure what the point of the monster's stories was, they just didn't seem to really be relevant to what was going on in the main characters life. The whole situation with the bully also confused me, the bully's actions and the fight didn't seem to have a point.


A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
My Rating: ★★★

I also read this for the 24hr readathon. This book is sooo strange and another one I didn't really 'get'. It's hard to pick one thing that made this book feel off, I think the problem is there are too many different things jammed into this one story. I'm honestly not sure why this book is praised as much as it is. However, I did like that the main character is a young girl who's interested in science, especially considering when this was written. I also enjoyed the vocabulary this offered and that the way it was presented would benefit young readers.


The Last Battle by C.S Lewis
My Rating: ★★★ (3.5)

I've had to force myself to read the last few books just so I could finally finish the series, and this one was no exception. The ending though was wildly unexpected. The way things ended for Susan was so annoying, there's been little to no development of her since Prince Caspian and now she's this awful person for no reason? I didn't understand that at all. Lewis introduces the concept that strong faith in one god-like figure is equal to having just as strong a faith in another even if you didn't/don't believe in them, which I did find interesting.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare
My Rating: ★★★★

The beginning of the Tempest actually starts at the end of the characters' overarching story, which I thought was an interesting way to tell it. There was a lot of magic and trickery in this. I especially liked how positively the ending wrapped up. I also enjoyed that the story seems to be focused more on the characters and how their histories connect than it does settings or the stories politics.


A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
My Rating: ★★★★

I've been wanting to listen to more audiobooks and this was mentioned in a short audiobook recommendations video I saw, so I picked it up. It was very quick and what I did manage to absorb from this I enjoyed, but I don't think I retained as much as I could have if I'd read a physical copy of it. I definitely plan to reread this in the future to get a better grasp on its contents.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My Rating: ★★★★

I loved this so much. I was already familiar with the Coraline story because of the movie. Neil Gaiman narrates this himself and does a really great job at all the accents. There are a few song snippets that sounded really creepy, but fit the vibe of the story well. This may be the first audiobook I've actually enjoyed and it has me excited to read more Neil Gaiman works.


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 
My Rating: ★★★★★

No book will ever be perfect, but this was pretty damn close. It's so realistic. One of the friends-turned-enemy was so infuriating but was a very well written character. She isn't the 100% pure evil bad guy character, but she is exactly the kind of person that anyone could meet in real life, in fact we all probably know a few people like her already. There is a reason this book is so well loved, and it absolutely deserves it.


The Vegetarian by Han Kang
My Rating: ★★★★

I really enjoyed this book, and it was a fairly quick read even though most of the book is exposition. I'll admit though the ending left me a bit confused. The story isn't told from the main character's perspective, but rather some of the people in her life. The reason for the main character's sudden turn to vegetarianism explains her mental state, but there's no explanation given for another characters fixation with her or his mental state during the section of the book in his perspective. Overall, the ending felt a bit jarred and under-developed.

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
My Rating: ★★★

For a book that's largely about a relationship between two women in the 1950s,  the romance felt completely off. It seemed really forced and it kind of came out of nowhere. Once the relationship did seem to pick up, it just felt off and unhealthy. The writing in this was also a miss for me. The most mundane things would be overexplained and it would drone on for several paragraphs and other things weren't explained enough and didn't seem to make any sense. The ending was alright, though it was going in a different direction that it changed last minute. Overall, this was fine, but I won't be recommending this often.


City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare
My Rating: ★★★★★

This was my second time rereading it and of course I loved it. I flew through books 2-5 so fast the first time I read the series that I hardly remember what they were about. There were so many things in this I forgot about it almost felt like I was reading it for the first time. The angst was intense, but I loved getting to experience it all again. 




POSTS: 


  • Modern Adaptations I'd Like to See - linked here
  • Book Related Songs - linked here
  • TBR Book Tag! - linked here
  • Separating Authors From Their Works: A Discussion - linked here


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