This is such a complicated book, because I kind of like it in hindsight but I also think it's one of the most non-books I've ever read.... but I alsoThis is such a complicated book, because I kind of like it in hindsight but I also think it's one of the most non-books I've ever read.... but I also love it so much in hindsight??
Can I just reiterate that slice-of-life stories are aggressively not my thing? And that I hate cheating as a plot device so fucking much oh my god can it just die already? Finding Yvonne is a slice-of-life story about a girl who becomes pregnant, and while some elements - like the unapologetic feminism - stood out to me, other elements - like the aggressive cheating being completely excused - left me less optimistic.
Inherent to Finding Yvonne is a sense of forgiveness for bad deeds, and a great sense of objectivity on the part of the narrator. Colbert clearly does not want to condemn Yvonne for her actions or slut-shame her at all, and this is both the greatest strength and greatest weakness of the book. On one hand, I think the lack of slut-shaming is lovely, and I definitely loved the nuance with which this narrative was crafted. On the other hand, the book does not acknowledge emotional cheating as a wrong. Like, the narrator literally says it:
"I did nothing wrong."
Yvonne, I appreciate that you don't want to pay forever, and I appreciate that you've taken down slutshaming but um, yes, you did do something wrong. ➽It's no one's business that Yvonne had sex with two people in a week, but pursuing a serious relationship with two people at once is bad, period, and I wish the book could've acknowledged that nuance.
And honestly, ignoring the cheating, I just didn't think the book was all that good? The writing is excellent, and the feminist take is stellar, but due to the slice-of-life nature, the character progression is lackluster at best - and that's what makes a novel for me. Though I think Colbert writes excellent voice, leading me to begin the book really loving Yvonne's character, frankly, she doesn't have a particularly interesting character arc. And since the side characters left me cold, as I think is usual for Colbert books, I just found myself feeling one step removed.
I will give Brandy Colbert a definite check in the activism and being an awesome person box. Themes like the heavily anti-slut-shaming message - though it's marred by the book barely passing the Bechdel test - and the important discussion around race and erasure of mixed-race Warner's blackness all definitely left an impression on me. But with so little attachment to the characters, this just could not progress past a 2.5 for me.
So let's run this down. We have:
♔ A fairly interesting narrator ♔ Slice-of-life nature and readability ♔ Feminism, primarily black characters, and important conversations
AND YET all good things are ruined and we also have:
♚ A lackluster love triangle involving cheating ♚ Excusal of said cheating ♚ Barely any solid character progression ♚ just... nothing especially interesting.
Just... god. I wish there was more happening here and less weirdness around cheating, because I feel like this could have been really awesome.
this series is so aggressively Not For Me it literally needs a sign saying “everything critically great about sff that Elise does not like in sff allthis series is so aggressively Not For Me it literally needs a sign saying “everything critically great about sff that Elise does not like in sff all in one book” because that is what this is
Let’s just admit this one is my fault. I knew this wasn’t going to be a book for me. I knew, going in, that both Binti and Binti:Home were extremely well-written and yet absolutely nothing I enjoy reading. I should not have read this, I should have stopped at Binti, and I regret my actions. I’m sorry, okay?
But... do you want to hear my severely mixed opinions on this book anyway? Because I’m giving them.
I think the problem with this novella series is it is entirely for people who looooooove worldbuilding. And here is the thing: I do not care that much about worldbuilding. I am so consistent on this that I have it in my bio - I read primarily for atmosphere, characters, and themes and I genuinely don’t think I have never enjoyed anything primarily because of the worldbuilding.
Okay, but I have mentioned characters and themes, right? So why aren’t those factors? Yes, the character work in this book is - occasionally - really fantastic, and the theme work even more so. I think my greatest excuse for not liking it is that… the themes just aren’t the focus. I know everyone markets these books as being all about theme work, but jesus, where the fuck is the theme work? Because to me, it is buried under about eight layers of worldbuilding that I don’t actually care that much about.
I would totally love these... if the themes were the focus. And I would probably evangelize them if Binti herself were the constant focus. Listen, the only reason I kept reading these is because I literally adore Binti - her coping mechanisms for ptsd, her mix of anger and calm, the occasional exploration of her now being two species all made an impact on me. And her platonic relationship with Okwu randomly means a lot to me, your local platonic relationship stanner. But it’s just not the focus!!
Hey, maybe I’ll get some comment saying I just didn’t get it and I need to reread. Maybe I just don’t understand Good Literature. It’s chill.
Okay, let’s be fair to the book - I’ve seen a lot of reviews praising how subversive this book is. This book is also a part of a genre I have no knowledge of. Sooooo before taking my review as the gospel, please do consider that I may just not be the intended audience for this. As the #1 supporter of trope subversions everywhere, I would consider leaving this out of my review a huge waste.
Oh, but on the topic of tropes, because I’m angry: something I always appreciated about this series was the total lack of romance. Adding a romance in the final book with a newly-introduced character? Bad choice. I know I sorta hate romance, but really... why?
Listen, I hate giving it’s-not-you-it’s-me reviews. I hate feeling like I’m copping out or trying to avoid offending anyone when I write these. So trust me when I say I would not hesitate to trash these if they were bad - I just actually genuinely think this is a case of it’s-not-you-it’s-me.
This was a DNF for me - it's yet another dystopia with a ridiculously flat romance.
I'm often confused by the dysto-romance genre. Because I don'tThis was a DNF for me - it's yet another dystopia with a ridiculously flat romance.
I'm often confused by the dysto-romance genre. Because I don't think it's even putting in an effort. Yes, I find romance books pretty annoying. But some books that focus on romance or have a major romance element are fantastic.The romance just has to developed.
And here it's not at all.
I mean, come on, why do all these romance-focused novels have to contain instalove and flat pairings? Who is this even marketed to? WHO? Does anyone genuinely want to read flat romance plots? Why not at least put in some effort? Develop your romance! Develop your characters!
This is just ridiculous. Everything about this book was so aggressively meh that I have nothing else to say. Whatever. I'm out.
So, okay, this was a very quick DNF and I have three reasons why and I’m going to start calling them the Holy Trinity of YA Genre Fic Fails.
theSo, okay, this was a very quick DNF and I have three reasons why and I’m going to start calling them the Holy Trinity of YA Genre Fic Fails.
→ the Petty DramaTM on the literal first page that is of course between our heroine and a More Liked Mean Girl That is definitely not being set up for subversion. So far is the most important conflict of the book, but of course girl will not become an interesting or complex villain. Girl is a bitch. Boycott character development 2k17.
→ the main character does not have any. common. sense. She’s the type of lead who would definitely go back into a burning house for her diary. my proof is that she’s the type of lead who, every fucking time she senses that something isn’t right, acts AS SUSPICIOUS AS POSSIBLE because that’s totally going to make me believe she’s in a life or death situation. Like, not that I don’t get your emotional turmoil, but you’d better offer me some development if you’re going to be emotional or shut the fuck up
→ the romance is so adgjradhktadhkkrsf god I swear in the first three pages homegirl breaks out that “he’s cute, but nothing SPECIAL like the HOT CREEPY BOY because creeps are so hot haha” and three fucking pages later after he pulls out a snack and calls her some Italian phrase which totally doesn’t feel like exoticism she goes BMAO (blushing my ass off) in ten seconds flat
I don’t even know guys, it was messy and would recommend finding something else if you’re looking for a creepy read that Avoids Te Tropes
This book is… certainly not something I will ever forget. The question is whether that is a good thing.
Forbidden is contemporary fiction about aThis book is… certainly not something I will ever forget. The question is whether that is a good thing.
Forbidden is contemporary fiction about a brother and a sister who fall in love. Before you say ew, I will note that it is trying to talk about the dangers of neglect by parents. Maybe. This relationship occurs between a sixteen and seventeen-year-old, one year apart, who have essentially grown up as the "parents" of their household. And indeed, it is, in some ways, a deeply heartbreaking story. The ending is actually AWFUL; you’re disgusted, but still, you find yourself thinking that they deserved more. Unfortunately, very little about the story conveys this same heartbreaking effect.
Of course this story is not meant to be comfortable. And of course, it is deeply uncomfortable to read about two siblings — they're BIOLOGICALLY RELATED, too, like not even adopted, and that would STILL be fucked up — having sex. (They quite literally have sex. on page.) But the existence of this relationship is not the problem, not really. Well, it’s certainly awful, but it’s not the main problem with this narrative as a whole.
The problem is that I felt the narrative romanticized this codependent, unhealthy relationship to a frankly insane degree. The book goes so far as to make this a forbidden, star-crossed lovers tale in structure and form, and worse, strongly suggest consensual incest is morally okay. This is a discussion I’m not going to get into because I just frankly know what the comment section is going to look like, but I think the message “trauma can breed codependent and incestuous relationships” is close to completely ruined by the implication that incest is fine, actually.
The book also fails to properly address the trauma of either of these characters. Lochen is essentially no longer speaking due to trauma; the narrative fails to actually address this, or the rather more disturbing fact that he is essentially physically abusive to his little brother. This is resolved, actually, in a way I found rather disturbing; he almost kills his brother at one point, which is not normal even under heavy pressure. Maya is portrayed as being fairly well-adjusted, which is a choice that strikes me as simply odd, given that 1) she clearly would have trauma given her circumstances and 2) is in a codependent incestuous relationship.
Another issue is that their mother is clearly written as an alcoholic, but the narrative makes it more about her being a slut who wears low cut clothing. This is a fucking disaster of a narrative choice.
One of my main problems with this is honestly just that it's… kinda terribly written. The actual writing quality is almost hilariously bad, to the point where I cringed at much of the dialogue. I think this poor quality contributes to the confusing narrative around incest and their mother, though I do want to draw a fine line here - narrative is not writing quality, and a fantastically-written book can still have shitty messages. This just managed to hit shitty messages and shitty prose.
What’s odd is I almost understand why this received so much cult popularity a few years ago. I think we need to remember the early 2010s YA market for a minute, and the popularity of books such as Ellen Hopkins’ Crank and Thirteen Reasons Why. Not to say that either of those books are completely without merit, but the reason these books received hype was not just for reasons of quality: it was for the fact that they portrayed teenagers as deeply flawed and human. In a world where YA books dealing with intense topics were not so common, where teens were often written as more superficial, I can understand why books that seemed to be willing to go darker would gain popularity. It’s just that this does not hold up.
I don't know if I liked or appreciated this. I don't think it’s worth your time.
This book is not perfect. To be quite honest, I thought the characterization was mediocre at best and the moral conflict, while fairly decent, did notThis book is not perfect. To be quite honest, I thought the characterization was mediocre at best and the moral conflict, while fairly decent, did not deserve the hype it got.
But what can I say? It was so damn entertaining.
I was really happy to find myself so engaged in a book. I’ve been slumping a bit lately, but this book kept me engaged to the end. I was desperate to find out exactly what happened. The sheer force of my desperation to finish deserves four stars alone. My love for the pacing probably sprung from the odd formatting and plot twists. What great twists, seriously.
Unfortunately, my desire to finish was mostly working alone. The characterization here is nothing to scream about. I don’t hate these characters - in fact, I liked the two major girl characters and one of the major guy characters a fair amount. They’re just not all that well developed. Part of this is the odd formatting. I’m sorry, but you can’t develop characters all that well with this format. They have no strong narrative voices because they can’t have narrative voices.
I have to admit, there is one major expection to my “these characters are mediocre” rule. I love me some omniscient, mysterious narrators. Don’t want to give anything away, but the interviewer is far more interesting than that funny IT guy from Illuminae. I want to see more in the sequel for sure.
This is my biggest problem with Illuminae as well, but that book at least inspired emotion out of me. There's one major difference in quality, and it is simply screaming. Illuminae doesn't have such a stupid love triangle.
The love triangle here is… well, it’s idiotic. I hated the drama between these three so much. I honestly hated it so much that I began to hate these two male characters in general. Who fucking cares about who ends up with who? You just discovered a gigantic fucking robot under the earth. ALIENS EXIST. WHY DO YOU CARE WHO ENDS UP WITH WHO. And most of all, why would I care?
Aside from the love triangle, this was fairly good, and I’ve heard enough good things about book two to give it a try, especially since I have a free copy. I can’t wait to see what happens next....more
This was good for 100 pages. Truly, I was somewhat enjoying If You Find Me. Okay, the pacing wasn't great, but it was just starting to get good asThis was good for 100 pages. Truly, I was somewhat enjoying If You Find Me. Okay, the pacing wasn't great, but it was just starting to get good as section one ended, and I was desperate to start section two.
And then it immediately fell off into the abyss of girl hate surrounding a boy and instalovey romance being what makes a rape victim feel better about herself.
I am not kidding when I say I went from enjoying this to hating it in around thirty seconds. Section two starts off with Carey being hated for her beauty. Delaney, her stepsister, is there to be a bitch who throws herself at boys. The new boy shows up and is absolutely perfect and respectful and the only one who doesn't like Delaney. And then there's that stupid, cringey, instalove-filled romance.
// I GO ON A VERY LONG RANT
I'm so sick of this "boy helps a girl recover after a rape" narrative. Girls do not need boyfriends to recover from trauma. This is just a gross narrative! You can't tie new self-esteem to whether you get a boyfriend. What about girls who don't magically get boyfriends? What about girls who don't want boyfriends? Do they get books, or is it only stereotypically pretty straight women who are interested in dating? It would be one thing if this were some books, but I literally see this trope constantly. It's like we can't have a girl character be a rape victim unless she has a boyfriend. Yes, it's nice to see rape victims can still date and have lives, but it's not nice to see that rape victims aren't important without boyfriends. The prevalence of this trope is honestly pretty fucked up.
I also just wasn't very thrilled by this book. The pacing isn't even remotely on the side of okay. I hated every boring minute of section two. Just as it would get good, I would find myself bored again.
// RANT OVER; WHY NOT ONE STAR?
Section three did somewhat redeem this book for me. While the twist was nothing particularly shocking, it still made me flinch. I liked seeing Carey pick herself back up. I also liked that Delaney was redeemed. Unfortunately, this friendship was executed so messily that I don't know whether to give the book credit for ending the book-long girl hate. I mean, I guess that's an improvement.
I did like Carey's relationships with her family. It's so rare to see non-terrible stepmothers in YA lit. Really, it's ridiculous how rare this is. Points for that. And obviously, points for the strong sibling relationship, which I truly loved so much. Nessa and Carey are so compelling together.
VERDICT: I had a lot of issues with the romance and girl hate in this, so despite a good family theme, I really wouldn't recommend this book....more
I'm actually not someone who is that bothered by the existence of “dystoromance”. It's annoying, yeah, but as long as the characters and romance areI'm actually not someone who is that bothered by the existence of “dystoromance”. It's annoying, yeah, but as long as the characters and romance are good, I can handle a not-that-scary dystopia. My issue is that the characters and romance in “dystoromances” are usually terrible; flat and barely worth mentioning, let alone reading.
Bowen and Fiona don't even have much chemistry. Their relationship is angsty and cheesy and completely boring. Their relationship was yet another bastardization of the enemies-to-lovers trope. By that, I mean a submissive girl and a hot alpha male type guy and from the beginning the heroine cannot shut up about how amazingly hot he is. We GET it, authors, you are so amazing for having two characters go from hating each other to loving each other. Remember when that trope was actually used in a meaningful way?
Not only is Fiona seriously flat, she has a severe case of idiot syndrome. I recognized this even as a seventh grader. She's both cardboard and so stupid that she's actively annoying. It would be one thing if her stupidity were a result of her odd situation and trauma. Nope, that would require character development. She's stupid for plot reasons.
This has some good moments, to be fair. The beginning is especially enticing and creepy. It's clear that the author could've made this whole thing a suspenseful and heart-pounding adventure. She just chose to focus on romance, leaving us with underdeveloped worldbuilding and a badly paced plot. ...more
An Ember in the Ashes is not all bad: this book does have decent plotting, and it's certainly engaging enough that I understandThis was DNFed at 71%.
An Ember in the Ashes is not all bad: this book does have decent plotting, and it's certainly engaging enough that I understand the hype. But oh wow, there is so much here that just turned me off completely.
I think we've addressed this probably but we need to talk about it: Rape and constant misogyny is used as a plot device quite a bit. The misogyny is honestly not critiqued very much, either. I kept hoping for the misogyny to lead to some kind of social commentary. It never did. In fact, I finally DNFed specifically because of the misogyny. “Helene is a girl, so her brain works differently and she's more romantic than you”– really?? Seriously.
For me, characters are what make a book. Without solid characterization, there's nothing for me to enjoy. And unfortunately, the characters here aren't even close to my standards for decent characters. Not only are the characters flat vehicles for the terrible love square ( / diamond / crisscross thingy), they are also actively annoying.
—+ Laia... is disappointing. Here's the thing: I should love Laia. She's got badass heroine potential I'd love to see explored and there were moments in which I thought she was about to grow on me. But she is so naive, and I just cannot live in the heads of characters with this little cynicism. Maybe some readers will be able to handle this, but I can't stand the fact that she lives in such a brutal world and still manages to completely lack common sense. I am Laia's age (I was at the time of reviewing this initially) and I don't live in a brutal world where rape is around every corner, so how, exactly, is she more naive than I am? This just feels like bad writing.
—+ Sort of the same thing with Elias - he has potential. But just like Laia, he is written as incredibly naive when convenient to the plot, and not-naive when inconvenient. And again, his naivety is so inauthentic. Refusing to state his loyalty to the empire at a dinner table despite the fact that he could be killed for acting traitorous is admirable, sure, but it's also... not smart.
He also treats Helene like crap, constantly, despite them being best friends since they were six. At one point, Helene risks her life to save someone she considers a romantic rival, someone who she barely knows, and someone who the bigotry of her society would indicate she should despise. He responds to this by pushing her away and treating her terribly, assuming that she's done nothing to help Laia live. And like... I just. I think the book leans too far into miscommunication between the two, which is strange: he has very real reasons to be suspicious of her, and I think the narrative doesn't lean into the character conflict enough and leans too far into the romance conflict.
—+ On the topic of Helene deserving better. She's super flawed, but she's actually got very interesting characterization, despite not being a POV character (I know she's a POV character in book two and develops). Helene and Elias' friendship / possible relationship is written surprisingly well - as I believe Sabaa Tahir intended, I felt sad for both of their roles in this, though I primarily wanted them to be friends. Unfortunately, it's on the losing side of a love triangle and as mentioned before, Elias is a dick.
I have, in the past couple years, begun to suspect that the only reason I liked this character was because I did not get her point of view. All of these characters are, in bare outline, very likable and compelling. It's the presumed naivety of the writing that lets them down.
—+ The love square is a Mess. As stated, Helene and Elias are the only two characters with any good reason to care about each other whatsoever. Keenan is essentially an obstacle for Elias and Laia's true wuv. Elias and Laia... have a serious case of instalove. Or maybe just instalust; their relationship seems entirely built on sexual attraction. Their dynamic also - and I completely do not think this is the intent - has a touch of a master/slave relationship dynamic that I find very offputting; Elias is literally the child of Laia's slaveowner. And he starts the book not agreeing with this, it's starcrossed lovers, I get that. But there's just... there's a scene in this book where the male romantic lead pretends that he's been raping the female romantic lead to avoid them being caught. It really left a bad taste in my mouth.
I will, however, state on main that I think the new covers of this series are so much better than these originals. The book two cover? Laia's pose in that is a classic. That cover change was a good decision do not @ me
This had and has a lot of potential, but this book ended up being a rather large disappointment for me.
This is probably the shittiest dystopia I ever read.
While main character Emma initially seems to be a complex, developed character, she's quicklyThis is probably the shittiest dystopia I ever read.
While main character Emma initially seems to be a complex, developed character, she's quickly reduced to her conflict between two brothers. Will and Jack fall neatly into the bad boy vs. good boy love triangle. They're both fairly shitty, to be honest, but Will is an actively abusive asshole. He's truly one of my least favorite romantic interests.
The worldbuilding is also incredibly vague. I'm not sure anyone went beyond "ZOMBIES!!!" when thinking about how to plot this. The actual plot is lackluster and full of conveniences.
I don't have much else to say. This book is just vaguely terrible drama with no proofreading....more
Let me tell you something straight off. This is a love story, but not like any you've heard.
Well, then why was it?
Keep in mind I did not finish
Let me tell you something straight off. This is a love story, but not like any you've heard.
Well, then why was it?
Keep in mind I did not finish this– I was far too annoyed.
• It's a romantic tragedy, and the romance isn't good at all. There are so many reviews on this page swooning over Peter, but I found him a completely unappealing romantic hero. He doesn't much of a character, frankly. There's also a fair dose of instalove.
• Yet another book with a fairly interesting MC who falls over herself for a boy. This kind of story is overdone and uninteresting.
• Dull storytelling. There are a lot of cool ideas here, like backstory for Hook and for Smee. But somehow the book made me want to sleep.
I just ended up completely disappointed and uninterested in finishing. I've seen reviews mentioning girl hate later in the book, which is completely unsurprising, and I don't feel interested in finishing. Unless it improves drastically in the second act (in which case drop me a note), I'll just live in confusion as to why this is such a loved book.
This book is such a trash fave....... but lbr it's really entertaining
I have to admit, this book surprised me. Yeah, I saw the hype. But I also saw aThis book is such a trash fave....... but lbr it's really entertaining
I have to admit, this book surprised me. Yeah, I saw the hype. But I also saw a complaint about flat characters, which is my #1 pet peeve, so my expectations weren't high.
Weirdly enough, my low expectations helped my reading experience. I was expecting so little out of the characters that the little I got amazed me. In the first hundred pages, Scarlett is weak and totally cardboard. But she does get a lot better; in fact, her arc is pretty cool. It's a little one-dimensional, but her character towards the end is a complete improvement over her initial character.
Why Caraval Rocks
The best thing about this book is the plot. The plotting of this book is incredible. It takes around 150 pages to pick up, but at that point the story improves. There are so many twists, each one more creative than the next. I haven't been so reluctant to put a book down since Crooked Kingdom. I straight up screamed at one of the plot twists. It's seriously awesome.
The second best thing is the writing. I can't believe this is a debut, because the writing is gorgeous. Scarlett describes her emotions as colors, which Stephanie Garber apparently did mean to be read as synesthesia. It sounds like purple prose, but it's somehow not. The writing instead makes the story more vivid. The setting descriptions are also well done; I could really picture the town where Caraval takes place.
The Negatives; or, Why Do YA Authors Need To Do This With The Romance my ass is Tired
The worst thing about this book is the first hundred pages' romantic aspect. In the first hundred pages, the romance really bothered me. There's too much focus on the romance rather than on the plot, and there's not nearly enough building of their actual relationship. Scarlett likes him because he's hot even though he acts like a complete asshole. I also had a lot of trouble ignoring that Scarlett and Julian were cheating, even though Tella had expressed she didn't really care for him. Julian did not know Tella's true feelings about him, And some of his behavior borders on harassment - the same when-girls-say-no-they-mean-yes trope as always.
However! I really do not want to spoil things, but issues with the main romantic relationship are fixed to some degree. I'm not praising the twists and turns of this plot for nothing, people. If Julian and Scarlett bothering you towards the beginning, keep reading, because it really, really does get better. (view spoiler)[ Their relationship is later based more and more on mutual respect, and Scarlett calls him out for lying to her. (hide spoiler)]
That can't really make up for my initial dislike of Julian, though. I still have an issue with how unbothered Scarlett seemed by Julian's initial harassment. Frankly, that's the one thing about this book that I didn't solidly love. Julian spent two hundred pages harassing her and it's just... accepted? That's not good. That's terrible. YA Fantasy needs to stop this before I murder someone.
Recommended because I personally loved it, but more tentatively than most of my recommendations. I know that sounds weird because I almost gave this five stars, but this book is very polarizing and I would read some more reviews before deciding whether to buy this....more
I'm officially DNFing this out of frustration. This was a FAILED buddyread with Silv and Rin -links lead to their reviews. All of us DNFed whichI'm officially DNFing this out of frustration. This was a FAILED buddyread with Silv and Rin -links lead to their reviews. All of us DNFed which doesn't seem like a great sign??
➽ The biggest issue here was the worldbuilding. The beginning of this book is incredibly frustrating. We are thrown into the middle of war with Tashi and their friend running away and it's not explained... at all. I think Julia Ember wanted to avoid info-dumping and made up for it by explaining... nothing. That's not a good solution. I can easily ignore info-dumping for two pages if it leads to some fantastic content later, but this... I want to say that I understood nothing about the war. I can't care about something I feel nothing for.
➽ The entire concept and reasoning behind tiger bonding. I wanted the book to focus on this and I expected Tashi and their tiger would be the focus!! And yet... no. I was left misunderstanding the entire concept of tiger bonding and why anyone would want to give up half their lives to bond to an animal. How does it actually advantage Tashi?
➽ This book is also, as should be expected due to the 180-page length, very rushed. Yes, it's a novella, and I've never been a fan of novellas. But I genuinely think Ember should market herself more as a writer of novellas than a writer of books. My expectations might've been adjusted and I think I would've enjoyed this a bit more.
➽ I will say that Tashi, our protagonist, was maybe what I liked most about this. They do have a lot of moments of being slightly idiotic. However, it bothered me way less than it sometimes does. I tend to heavily dislike too-stupid-to-live type characters, which maybe doesn't reflect well on me. But somehow I still really liked them - their occasional naivety feels like a character trait more than authorial convenience, which is a decision I actually like.
➽ The nb rep also seemed pretty good so far!! I'm not nb and can't specifically say whether it's accurate, but it was done in a really casual way that I loved. I didn't feel like Ember was trying to educate, which I love - the whole "let's explain someone's existence" talk that happens in so many books often feels almost out-of-place. It's a part of Tashi's character but also doesn't define them.
➽ Unfortunately, they're also stuck in this incredibly cringey love triangle. It's one of those love triangles where there's a bad boy and a good boy. And as is usual for these love triangles, you know who they're meant to end up with from they're beginning. Thankfully, it looks like Tashi is going to end up with the best friend instead of the evil commander - that's definitely my preference in this type of love triangle. My question, then, is why does evil commander have to exist?
I was just ranting about this trope yesterday. Y'all have got to learn the difference between morally ambiguous love interests and love interests who read like they're on the verge of physically abusing their partners for 90% of the book. Xian is terrifying. His relationship with Tashi is one of the most cringeworthy and creepy things I've read this year.
And as I mentioned above, even ignoring the "this-isn't-enemies-to-lovers-it's-just-creepy" thing, this relationship felt totally rushed. If they hadn't gotten together in this book and the tension had been drawn out until halfway book two, this could've led to some delicious tension. But Tashi gets together with Xian really quickly. And of course, you can also tell that Tashi is going to end up with their best friend anyway. What's the point? It's written in this way like it's meant to be somewhat creepy but also... sexy?? And I'm not feeling it at all.
VERDICT: Maybe the second half is better, but honestly, I'm not sure I want to find out. If you can get past the terrible love triangle and the confusing plot, Tashi's character is fun and the possibility of a well-done friends-to-lovers trope is promising!! But for now, not so much.
This book is a ton of fun. Bits of it read like any typical YA contemporary, but there's a spark here, and I can't wait to see what Riley RedgateThis book is a ton of fun. Bits of it read like any typical YA contemporary, but there's a spark here, and I can't wait to see what Riley Redgate comes up with next.
Okay, some pros first. This book is hilarious. Seriously, I could not stop laughing. Jordan's narrative voice is relatable and fun, and her character is very well built. She also gets an extremely good arc and develops well.
There are a lot of delightful side characters in this book, who I genuinely enjoyed learning about. They all have distinct, well-done personalities, which was a definite bonus. There's no popular mean girl, thank god. Riley Redgate sticks to interesting, flawed main characters.
However, and this is partially a flaw of the blurb, it's implied that the protagonist goes through gender confusion, and that issue is really not touched on. She mentions the possibility of being trans twice but only once does she consider it seriously. I kind of wish the author had explored this a bit more. The author did explore, to some degree, the different ways guys treat other guys, and her own desire to be one of the guys. That I loved. It was just a case of incorrect expectations.
That being said, this book did portray bisexuality pretty well. Jordan got to actually say the word! Multiple times! It's kind of sad how rare that is. Jordan ended up with the guy, not the girl, but this wasn't presented as rejecting her nonstraight identity so no complaints!
The seventy pages of the book didn't really do much aside from throw in a romance, which wasn't great. I really wish Redgate could have focused on a few of the side characters or Jordan's character arc a bit more.
4.5 Stars. Jesus god, it's like Marissa Meyer knew exactly what aspects of Lunar Chronicles I liked and which aspects I didn't like.
The first half of4.5 Stars. Jesus god, it's like Marissa Meyer knew exactly what aspects of Lunar Chronicles I liked and which aspects I didn't like.
The first half of this book is very similar to a Lunar Chronicles book. It's got a decent romance, some good character work, fantastic worldbuilding, and a whole lot of disney shine. The last 100 pages are so much darker than TLC ever got (with the possible exception of side novella Fairest). And it's INCREDIBLE. I seriously loved the conclusion of this novel.
The one issue is the middle section. Not only is the middle section boring, it's inconsistent. Pages 250-350 go all over the place in terms of character work. Catherine's character goes on emotional ups and downs in seconds, and about three of her outbursts could have been cut from the final novel. This review really explains my two main concerns with the character arc. In the end, her character change into the queen of hearts really does make sense, so I'm not as bothered by the middle section's plot weirdnesses.
Eh, maybe I should just be giving this four stars. But those last fifty pages fucked me up on such a deep level that I'm going for 4.5....more
Cause: the sins of the mother. Effect: are the sins of the daughter.
4 stars. DAMN.
This book is completely terrifying. (Do not read at night!) It'sCause: the sins of the mother. Effect: are the sins of the daughter.
4 stars. DAMN.
This book is completely terrifying. (Do not read at night!) It's eerie, but it doesn't stop at the creepy serial killer figure. The book builds up a claustrophobic atmosphere, where you never know what's happening. It's suspenseful and eerie and everything I've ever wanted out of a book.
The character work is surprisingly well-done as well. This author writes prose like she was born with a pen, and the effect is incredible.
Without the fantastic conclusion, And The Trees Crept In would simply be a good paranormal novel. But the conclusion of this book was simply so creative and well-done that it's elevated.
Highly recommended for fans of suspense who don't mind being creeped out. (Weirdly enough, this book is more suspense than horror.)...more
2 stars. I'm going to temporarily DNF this because while I am in love with the writing style, it's way too boring and I can't take seeing it on my “2 stars. I'm going to temporarily DNF this because while I am in love with the writing style, it's way too boring and I can't take seeing it on my “currently reading” shelf at all times.
The Good
An incredible writing style. This author makes her words flow gorgeously across the page.
The Bad
This book is just boring. There's very little plot. There's very little intrigue. And what plot exists is often ignored in the favor of romance. There's also instalove, which does not work for me at all. It's cheesy. There's no tension in their interactions. It's like they're in love because the author wants them to be.
This is by no means a bad book, it just didn't do it for me. ...more
2.5 stars. A okay dystopia/fantasy suspense novel marred by too many deaths for shock value and some very odd dialogue.
To elaborate: no one speaks2.5 stars. A okay dystopia/fantasy suspense novel marred by too many deaths for shock value and some very odd dialogue.
To elaborate: no one speaks like this. “You are incredible. Like, um... like the acrobat, yes? At the circus?” OR my personal favorite: “I'm a monster.” “I could go to sleep right here.” There are also far too many exclamation points used. And of course she does! This could be the perfect hiding place! It makes the novel feel much more middle-grade and amateurish than it actually is.
The other problem is, everyone dies. Except for the protagonist and her love interest. Shocking, right? At some point, the deaths are just no longer effective and add nothing to the plot.
The ending also doesn't really tie up the main plot, only one character's story. And though she's technically the protagonist, in a story that used so many points of view, only resolving one character's arc is not a conclusion.
I'm giving this stars mainly for the excellent worldbuilding and creativity. Don't recommend. ...more
Of all the dystopias I've ever read, I'm really surprised to say a standalone that I almost donated has been one of my favorites. I'm surprised FreeOf all the dystopias I've ever read, I'm really surprised to say a standalone that I almost donated has been one of my favorites. I'm surprised Free To Fall didn't get more hype, given how tightly plotted and intriguing it is. So here I am, with yet another "this-was-underrated-now-enjoy-it" review.
I have to say, this isn't necessarily a character-driven book. There are no memorable, can't-get-it-off-your-mind characters. Yes, but man, if this wasn't one of the most exhilarating books I've ever read. I'm not lying when I say I could not put this down. I was desperate to figure out how it would all end. There are so many creative twists and turns, and I was desperate to know how it would all work out.
The worldbuilding all feels believable despite the fact that this dystopia takes place in the future. This world didn't feel 5000 years away: Free To Fall terrified me so much because of how close this world came to being our world. And despite the concept of “technology controlling everyone”, the book didn't feel like a heavy-handed declaration of ~the dangers of technology~.
Free To Fall might not have shined in any other category, but every other aspect of the book was quite solid. I liked the writing - there were actually quite a few standout lines that made me stop and think.
The characters were good as well. While they were not as memorable as some other books I've read, these characters were developed, likable, and fun to read. Rory never comes off as overly pretentious or ~not like other girls~. In fact, this book puts a great emphasis on relationships between women. Hershey, who at first seems like she might become a vehicle for slutshaming, is developed well. I adored seeing her become close friends with Rory.
I'm taking off almost an entire star simply because the romance plot felt quite forced at points. The boy wasn't actively disgusting. But oh man, what a cliche and boring romance. Girl meets a boy who makes her realize how bad her world is? That's never been before. Really, I think the book would've been far stronger without a romance. But of course for a book published in this era, the guy is one of the major marketing ploys.
VERDICT: Aside from a slightly annoying romance plot, this book shines. One of the most unputdownable things I've ever read. ...more
This book is a wild ride. I ended it completely won over by the well-paced action scenes and terrifying cliffhangers. It's incredibly exhilarating.This book is a wild ride. I ended it completely won over by the well-paced action scenes and terrifying cliffhangers. It's incredibly exhilarating. That alone deserves four stars.
The issue is that this isn't a good mystery / dystopia novel. Matt De La Pena's style shines when he writes action scenes, but slow, creepy, atmospheric scenes come off flat in his style. This book seriously suffers in terms of atmosphere.
There's another issue here, and it's glaring: the characters. Shy is one of the biggest fuckboys I've had to deal with in literature. It's only easy to ignore because of the action. His sidekick, Addy, is portrayed in a pornographic way, and doesn't get developed nearly enough. There's also a fairly pointless love triangle.
While I enjoyed this book a ton two years ago, I can't really recommend it due to these complaints and due to the terrible sequel. ...more
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