Bethany’s Comments (group member since Feb 11, 2014)

Bethany’s comments from the 2014 Hub Reading Challenge group.

I read this one last week and absolutely loved it! I was a little skeptical because I've read so many dystopian books claiming to be the next Hunger Games, and they rarely stand up to the comparison. One of the qualities that set The Testing apart was the author's ability to create realistic, interesting, likable (and hate-able) characters, none of whom were purely good or bad. She also did a great job of building suspense, which kept me turning the pages late into the night. The conclusion was satisfying yet it also left me wanting to dive right into Independent Study, the second book in the trilogy. I downloaded it as soon as I finished and can't wait to get started reading!

I really liked this one. It was a fun read. I definitely would not have picked it up if it wasn't for the Hub Challenge and I'm glad that I did.

I agree with the comments that the third story was definitely the best. As a dog lover, I enjoyed these stories of canine soldiers.

This was cute and had great pictures, but I sometimes felt that the pictures didn't match with the captions very well. There were some interesting facts and sidebar stories with links to more pictures and information on the web.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it as much as I expected to. The story was good, but I agree with Lucie's comment about the characters. It also seemed like there was a lot going on...maybe a few too many subplots? Having said that, I still found it to be a quick and enjoyable read and gave it 3 stars.

I like this one too. I was glad that it didn't end up being to scary for me to handle!

I was ready to give this one 4 stars but then it started to get a little convoluted at the end. I'm not sure if the book is to blame or if I just spaced out my reading too much and lost the thread. Overall, I found this novel to be very original and extremely engaging, a thriller for people who are interested in language and persuasion.

For some reason, I did not like these books nearly as much as I did American Born Chinese. I just didn't feel connected to the characters. Given the events of the story, I would have expected to have a much more emotional response than what I actually did. I really liked the idea of the books and typically enjoy historical fiction, but for me they ended up being a letdown.

I have not read this book, but I wanted to clarify that the Alex Award is for books written for an adult audience that have teen appeal, so The Death of Bees is not considered YA.

I really liked the idea behind this book and ultimately I did enjoy it, but certain characters really got on my nerves. Mary Shelley's aunt and Julius, for example, drove me nuts. The author kept me off balance throughout, not knowing for sure if something supernatural was really happening or not. I thought the setting was well developed and I felt like I learned more about the time period. Overall, it was a worthwhile read, but I'm not sure it will be an easy sell to teens.

Ariel wrote: "I just finished this book. I quite enjoyed it, but did not love it. I thought that certain parts (self-injury, depression, anxiety) were very realistic, but some of the school/home situations seeme..."

I read this book prior to the challenge and felt the same way. I do think Roskos shows a lot of promise and it was a good debut novel.

I listened to this on audiobook a few years ago and absolutely loved it. The reader is so great. Ed and the Doorman are definitely memorable characters. I still think of the Doorman having his morning coffee. Having read The Book Thief as well, I appreciate the fact that Markus Zusak has a lot of range as a writer.

I found this book a little difficult to get into, but ended up enjoying it and appreciating how unique it was. I was very happy with the ending though it didn't really fit with dark tone of the rest of the book.

I finished listening to this one last week. It was cute and enjoyable, but I doubt I will seek out the sequel. I agree that the reader did a great job. I found the conclusion a bit unsatisfying, but I guess that's what the sequel is for :)