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Mike
Mike is 40% done with Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)
The big problem with this book is that Sky is a passive protagonist with no emotional investment in the story. She's easily the most boring protagonist that Crewe has ever written about. Plus, all of Crewe's other novels seem like they were written with some sort of thematic purpose, and this just seems like Crewe had a mildly interesting story idea.
Aug 02, 2017 10:32PM Add a comment
Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 300 of 313 of The Fault in Our Stars
For everyone who says that this book romanticizes cancer: man, I'd hate to see what you think an unromantic book about cancer is like, because this book makes having cancer and loving someone with it sound fucking miserable. There's absolutely nothing romantic about the cancer itself - in fact, it gets in the way of every romantic element the characters try to introduce into their lives.
Aug 02, 2017 08:19AM Add a comment
The Fault in Our Stars

Mike
Mike is on page 240 of 313 of The Fault in Our Stars
I am actually enjoying this much, much more than I did when I was thirteen. I'm really surprised by how real Hazel and Augustus feel to me.
Aug 01, 2017 12:48PM Add a comment
The Fault in Our Stars

Mike
Mike is on page 150 of 313 of The Fault in Our Stars
On one hand, I kind of want to write a defense of this novel, because I actually do think it's a flawed but still very, very good book about fear of oblivion and the idea that nothing we do actually matters. On the other hand, I cannot think of a single conversation more stressful than one in which I'm defending this book.
Jul 31, 2017 07:44AM Add a comment
The Fault in Our Stars

Mike
Mike is on page 90 of 313 of The Fault in Our Stars
I can see why people call this book pretentious, but I'm not sure if I agree. There's a difference between a book being about pretentious characters and the book being pretentious itself. These are over-schooled, under-socialized teenagers, and they're appropriately smart-ass. There are moments when they get put down, and that keeps the book feeling self-aware and grounded, for me at least.
Jul 30, 2017 12:02PM Add a comment
The Fault in Our Stars

Mike
Mike is on page 30 of 313 of The Fault in Our Stars
I thought that after not having read a John Green book or having watched a Vlogbrothers video in years, and having heard all sorts of reasons to hate him, I would hate re-reading this book. But uh... no, this is still really, really good. I can't decide if that means people have been too hard on it, or if I just haven't progressed at all as a person since I was thirteen.
Jul 29, 2017 07:40PM Add a comment
The Fault in Our Stars

Mike
Mike is on page 120 of 336 of Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)
Regarding the twist: I considered that it might happen, but then wrote it off as too dumb. What a fool I was.
Jul 29, 2017 05:54PM Add a comment
Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)

Mike
Mike is 32% done with Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)
Maybe I just don't like stories about time travel that much? This isn't a bad book at all, it's just easily the weakest thing Crewe has ever written. I think the biggest problem is that the worldbuilding - at least so far - feels shallow, and the stakes aren't fully explored.
Jul 28, 2017 07:17PM Add a comment
Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 90 of 336 of Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)
In retrospect, I have no idea why I thought I would get any enjoyment from an NA romance. Other than one of the biggest examples of rape as a plot device I've ever seen, there's not really much I actively dislike about this book, it's just really boring. I said recently that I have very little interest in reading petty teenage drama, and apparently, that also extends to older characters.
Jul 28, 2017 04:30PM Add a comment
Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 60 of 336 of Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)
I'm realizing that this is probably going to be a romance with a rape used as a plot device to start it, rather than a romance that involves overcoming trauma. And suddenly I like this book a lot less. Besides, the writing isn't even as good as I initially judged it to be.
Jul 27, 2017 08:11PM Add a comment
Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)

Mike
Mike is 24% done with Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)
I hate to say this, but so far, this is easily the least interesting Megan Crewe book I've ever read. Crewe has never had the most original story ideas, but in Fallen World and Give Up the Ghost, there was always intrigue from the very beginning, some reason to get invested. Here... gotta be honest, the premise isn't that original, and Sky isn't a very compelling protagonist so far.
Jul 26, 2017 08:20PM Add a comment
Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 30 of 336 of Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)
This book appears to be following a pretty predictable trajectory, but the writing is good enough and Jacqueline is a strong enough character that this might not be bad. I don't normally think of myself as a romance fan, but this hasn't offended me so far.
Jul 26, 2017 07:06PM Add a comment
Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)

Mike
Mike is 8% done with Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)
I'm not really far enough in to have any thoughts. This isn't exactly an unusual setup for a contemporary sci-fi book, but it's not bad so far either.
Jul 25, 2017 05:58PM Add a comment
Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)

Mike
Mike is 24% done with Wickedpedia (Point Horror)
This is one of the most absurdly contrived horror plots I've ever read, and that's really saying something. Having Cole make Wikipedia articles about his enemies makes so little sense on so many levels that the plot falls apart when you give it even a glancing thought.
Jul 24, 2017 09:52AM Add a comment
Wickedpedia (Point Horror)

Mike
Mike is on page 90 of 176 of Love Is the Higher Law
This is a pretty simple book, but it's a very good look at collective trauma, and it feels very respectful to me. Restraint is a good look on Levithan.
Jul 23, 2017 09:14AM Add a comment
Love Is the Higher Law

Mike
Mike is on page 360 of 371 of I'll Give You the Sun
I want to nitpick this book more, but honestly, nothing I can say will change the fact that this is one of the best books I've read so far in 2017.
Jul 22, 2017 07:05PM Add a comment
I'll Give You the Sun

Mike
Mike is on page 30 of 176 of Love Is the Higher Law
I still like this book. I've seen some clips of witnesses to 9/11 describing what they saw years after the fact, and the prose here is very reminiscent of that. I'm remembering why I used to like Levithan so much.
Jul 22, 2017 10:07AM Add a comment
Love Is the Higher Law

Mike
Mike is on page 450 of 485 of City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
Rereading this book for the first time since I was thirteen, I'm realizing for the first time how much I genuinely loathe the twist at the end of this book. It's just the laziest possible obstacle Clare could've put between Jace and Clary getting together - it totally ruined any organic development they might've had over the coming books.
Jul 22, 2017 07:30AM Add a comment
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

Mike
Mike is 12% done with Wickedpedia (Point Horror)
To be honest, I knew this would be bad going in, and it was only a question of how bad it would be. And the answer to that question turns out to be... pretty fucking bad. Terrible, terrible writing, and the older I get, the less patience I have for reading about petty high school drama. I assume this is what all YA feels like to people who hate YA.
Jul 21, 2017 12:18PM Add a comment
Wickedpedia (Point Horror)

Mike
Mike is on page 420 of 485 of City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
Not gonna lie, Luke's story sounds like it would be way more interesting than the actual plot. I would totally read that book. Much as I hate to admit it, there are things about this book that work - I actually think I really like the worldbuilding, even if some of the mythos is cliched.
Jul 21, 2017 08:06AM Add a comment
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 390 of 485 of City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
The action sequences in this book are really boring and unmemorable, and the plotting is atrocious. Absolutely no suspense or buildup to any climax.
Jul 20, 2017 08:44PM Add a comment
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 300 of 371 of I'll Give You the Sun
Yeah, this book gets me more and more emotional the more I read it. Noah's chapters especially get to me.
Jul 16, 2017 07:08PM Add a comment
I'll Give You the Sun

Mike
Mike is on page 90 of 455 of We Are the Ants
I saw a couple reviews that said Hutchinson is trying too hard, and... yeah, that sums up the problem pretty well. There's absolutely no subtlety or restraint - Henry's life isn't just bad, there's basically no aspect of it that could be worse. And, of course, from literally the opening sentence, it's obvious where his character arc is going. I wanted to like this book, but... yeah, I'd rather be rereading WGWG.
Jul 16, 2017 09:51AM Add a comment
We Are the Ants

Mike
Mike is on page 270 of 371 of I'll Give You the Sun
This book really is amazing, I can see why people like it so much. The more I get used to Noah's voice, the more I like it. It really is just stunningly inventive.
Jul 15, 2017 06:51PM Add a comment
I'll Give You the Sun

Mike
Mike is on page 30 of 455 of We Are the Ants
So far, this is basically if lowercase-will from Will Grayson, Will Grayson was abducted by aliens. The main difference being that Hutchinson is way less funny and insightful than David Levithan. I really, really don't want to hate this book, but already, I have trouble imagining that I'll like it very much.
Jul 15, 2017 01:23PM Add a comment
We Are the Ants

Mike
Mike is on page 270 of 485 of City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
This plot is completely aimless. The characters' goal should be to find Clary's mother, but they have basically no idea how to do that, so the story gets bogged down in a bunch of subplots, while they wait around for anything to advance the main one.
Jul 15, 2017 11:07AM Add a comment
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 240 of 371 of I'll Give You the Sun
If I had one problem with this book, it would be that I wish Jude's path to becoming less of a death-obsessed recluse had more to do with her sculpture and less to do with a guy. I feel like romance is the most obvious angle possible, especially for a YA novel. A platonic friendship probably would've worked a lot better. Still, that's IF I had one problem with this book, which I don't, because it's really good.
Jul 14, 2017 08:47PM Add a comment
I'll Give You the Sun

Mike
Mike is 78% done with Laura's Wolf (Werewolf Marines, # 1)
That might just be the biggest anti-climax I have ever read. You can't just resolve the conflict two thirds of the way in! I literally have no idea what the rest of this book is even going to be about, as far as I can tell, the story is 100% over.
Jul 14, 2017 06:29PM Add a comment
Laura's Wolf (Werewolf Marines, # 1)

Mike
Mike is on page 240 of 485 of City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
Y'know, I'm not sure why I can't build up more vitriol against this book. Intellectually, I know that it has all these enormous flaws, but other than the prose and the girl hate, I don't actually mind reading this book at all. I'm honestly not sure why that is - really, I should be hating this. I'm just not, for whatever reason.
Jul 14, 2017 03:58PM Add a comment
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

Mike
Mike is on page 210 of 371 of I'll Give You the Sun
I feel like I haven't talked enough about how unique and good this book is. Noah and Jude are both extremely well-rendered characters, the writing is fantastic, and even though this isn't really all that realistic, it feels real. It takes an exceptional book to have this kind of impact on me.
Jul 13, 2017 04:29PM Add a comment
I'll Give You the Sun

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