Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: N/A
Why: Recommended
I feel like I should start with a disclaimer that I did not include the writing style as a factor when rating this book. I'm not a huge fan of the fragmented writing style just because of how my brain works and what it needs in order to connect the dots, and I didn't feel like it was fair to give this book 2 or 3 stars because I loved everything about it but the writing style. I'm trying to separate my feelings about the writing style and my feelings about the story, since I know that some people love the whole fragments thing.
Review disclaimed. (Not even sure that's how you use that word but whatever I'm going with it)
So this book required me to go out of my comfort zone a little bit. I mean first of all I had to walk to the OTHER SIDE of the library (Fun fact: I walked to the science fiction/fantasy side out of habit and had to be pointed in the other direction. That's how frequently I venture away from "my side" of the library) And secondly I read a book that was NOT science fiction or fantasy. Putting sci-fi/fantasy aside, my next favorite genres are mystery, crime, and horror (can't watch scary movies by Stephen King books are okay for some reason?) so it wasn't like I was reading romance or anything, but it was still abnormal for me. Also it was like 200 pages shorter than my normal read. My books are normally 400-1000 pages, and this was a whopping like 220 pages. That said... I really liked it!
The first part of the book is confusing as heck. I had no idea where I was, who was speaking, what was going on, any of that. And what I didn't know when reading this part (it makes sense in the middle/end of the book but it's not a spoiler so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) is that there is an actual purpose behind how the beginning of this book is structured. The fragments have a purpose, it's just really hard to know/understand that until later in the book. Once you get past the first part of the book the writing becomes more "normal" and it was a lot easier to understand. And then the end gets all fragmenty again but, like I said before, there's a purpose to it and by that point in the book I realized what was going on and why the writing style was like that.
Basically this book is about this huge mystery surrounding Cadence's (the narrator) accident, but it also touches on some really important issues surrounding family dynamics and how the families on the island treat other people (and their own children). There were two things that I really liked about this book, but they are so different from each other that it's almost hard to imagine that they come from the same book.
So I made a list-ish thing because lists.
1. The plot. Specifically the ending. I pride myself in being able to tell when plot twists are coming pretty easily (except in A Song of Ice and Fire because the plot twists are insane in that thing) but when the ending came I just sat there in shock for a good minute or so. The book was like "turn left here" and I was like nope I'm gonna turn right because I'm SO SMART but the book predicted that ahead of time and I'm having a meltdown as I type this because I still feel so betrayed/shocked. Basically if you think you know what's going on in the book YOU DON'T.
2. The issues it talked about. The whole thing about Gat, the double speak that everyone on that entire island used, how the parents treated the Liars (which was just so messed up)... during some of these scenes I was honestly disgusted at the behavior of the adults. I really don't want to say anything more than I already have because it would get really spoiler-y but it was messed up.
This book was a really quick read, and I would definitely recommend it! The fragment writing wasn't my favorite thing, but it was a price I was willing to pay for the story.
See this review on Goodreads.
Showing posts with label 4 stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4 stars. Show all posts
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Book Review: The Dazzling Heights
Title: The Dazzling Heights
Author: Katharine McGee
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: The Thousandth Floor (Book 2)
Reason: On TBR
So, in my Instagram post I compared this book to Thor: The Dark World. I feel like I should explain that a little. Basically a ton of people hated the 2nd Thor movie because its plot resembled the first one quite closely. Personally, I didn't mind. The same goes for this book. The structure is the same as the first one (introduce dead person in the first chapter, now try and figure it out throughout the rest of the book), and normally that would bother the heck out of me. We all know my patience is about the size of a shot glass, maybe even smaller. But I was too wrapped up in all of the drama and the twists and the turns to give it a second thought. Like I thought about it at the very beginning, and then forgot about it until the very end. Basically what I'm saying is that while normally that type of structure would bother me, it didn't in this book because the story was so good.
So this basically takes up the story where the first book left off, and one of the things that made me really happy was the fact that what the characters had experienced wasn't trivialized. A lot of times in books the characters will wake up the day after the big crashing event only to realize that life is perfect and the sun is shining with happy flowers and all that jazz. Not here. The characters are (rightfully) struggling to come to terms with what happened on the roof, and how it will affect the rest of their lives (along with all of the dirt Leda has on them). There are still all of these misconceptions that the main characters have about that night on the roof, and the events leading up to it. Man and the dramatic irony... sometimes I just wanted to scream at the characters that they were wrong but I couldn't because... you know... it wouldn't do anything.
Calliope became my official new favorite character in this series. I can't really talk about why without spoiling it (dang it) but let's just say her character development was wonderful, and I really liked it at the end when [can't say what happens because it's a spoiler!]. It took me a second to remember who the old characters were from the first book, but they were so distinctive that eventually my brain decided to actually, you know, be useful, and it was a lot easier to follow the story after that. I loved learning how the characters were living their lives after everything that had happened, and watching them figure out new power dynamics and all of that.
This book had a great plot, great characters, and a great story. My only minor complaint is that I predicted basically all of the twists ahead of time, but it was so twisty that I began doubting myself anyway so I'm not sure that I can really complain. And the DRAMA. So. Much. DRAMA.
I would like the next one now. Please.
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Katharine McGee
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: The Thousandth Floor (Book 2)
Reason: On TBR
So, in my Instagram post I compared this book to Thor: The Dark World. I feel like I should explain that a little. Basically a ton of people hated the 2nd Thor movie because its plot resembled the first one quite closely. Personally, I didn't mind. The same goes for this book. The structure is the same as the first one (introduce dead person in the first chapter, now try and figure it out throughout the rest of the book), and normally that would bother the heck out of me. We all know my patience is about the size of a shot glass, maybe even smaller. But I was too wrapped up in all of the drama and the twists and the turns to give it a second thought. Like I thought about it at the very beginning, and then forgot about it until the very end. Basically what I'm saying is that while normally that type of structure would bother me, it didn't in this book because the story was so good.
So this basically takes up the story where the first book left off, and one of the things that made me really happy was the fact that what the characters had experienced wasn't trivialized. A lot of times in books the characters will wake up the day after the big crashing event only to realize that life is perfect and the sun is shining with happy flowers and all that jazz. Not here. The characters are (rightfully) struggling to come to terms with what happened on the roof, and how it will affect the rest of their lives (along with all of the dirt Leda has on them). There are still all of these misconceptions that the main characters have about that night on the roof, and the events leading up to it. Man and the dramatic irony... sometimes I just wanted to scream at the characters that they were wrong but I couldn't because... you know... it wouldn't do anything.
Calliope became my official new favorite character in this series. I can't really talk about why without spoiling it (dang it) but let's just say her character development was wonderful, and I really liked it at the end when [can't say what happens because it's a spoiler!]. It took me a second to remember who the old characters were from the first book, but they were so distinctive that eventually my brain decided to actually, you know, be useful, and it was a lot easier to follow the story after that. I loved learning how the characters were living their lives after everything that had happened, and watching them figure out new power dynamics and all of that.
This book had a great plot, great characters, and a great story. My only minor complaint is that I predicted basically all of the twists ahead of time, but it was so twisty that I began doubting myself anyway so I'm not sure that I can really complain. And the DRAMA. So. Much. DRAMA.
I would like the next one now. Please.
See this review on Goodreads.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Book Review: Here Lies Daniel Tate
Title: Here Lies Daniel Tate
Author: Cristin Terrill
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: N/A
Wow. My brain needs a couple seconds to catch up... it's already been like a half hour so maybe I need more than just a couple seconds. Maybe like a couple million seconds. *deep breath*
Here we go.
This book had so many twists and turns and surprises and man did I feel left behind. I feel like it would have been like riding a rollercoaster except I've never been on one because I am super afraid of heights and sharp drops and falling and yeah tangent whoops. Back on track. (Get it, rollercoaster? Track? Never mind.)
So we basically start off following this boy who is NOT Daniel Tate. And then IS Daniel Tate (for like 20 pages). And then he is NOT Daniel Tate again. And I WAS confused. But no honestly this was so confusing. I didn't figure out what was going on until like 100 pages into the book and that's 25% OF THE BOOK! But once I kinda-sorta figured out what was going on it was actually really good!
So "Daniel" basically gets wrapped up into this super big con where he winds up pretending to be "Daniel Tate," who mysteriously disappeared six years ago. At first he figures he will just use it as a helpful delay so that he can slip away, but everything moves much faster than he thought and he winds up being brought "home" to California.
Enter one of the most twisted, confusing, and secretive literary families that I have ever met. The Tate are just... wow. The only one I liked was Mia because she was the only one that made any sense. But basically everyone in this family has a secret to hide, and wow is it hard to figure everything out.
There were a ton of plot twists, some that were really predictable and some that blew my mind. But the ending? That was like an entirely different level.
LIKES:
+ The title (Here Lies Daniel Tate) can be connected in so many different ways throughout the book. Because "lies" can have so many different meanings, and I felt almost like it was a treasure hunt or whatever to connect "lies" to what was going on in the book and I felt so smart when I figured it out 😂
+ The ending was so unexpected yet I feel like it fit perfectly with the book. I almost feel like if it had ended any other way that it would have seemed "wrong" and would have been disappointing but for once I loved the ending! (I normally hate the endings of books but this was awesome)
+ All of the twists and turns were so confusing yet it kept me on the edge of my seat. (Although I will have to admit that this book was really not good for my health because I am a very anxious/stressed out person normally and this book just made it worse) I was constantly freaking out that "Daniel" would get discovered and trying to figure out how he would keep up this con and how the book would end...
+The story just really captured my attention, and once I started I couldn't stop because...
DISLIKES:
- THERE ARE NO CHAPTERS! Just little section break things so if you are like me and you need to stop at a chapter that is a multiple of either 5 or 10 (preferably 10) this book just wreaks havoc on your brain, which can't figure out where to stop and then you wind up forgetting to have dinner (true story) because how do you just stop in the middle of a random page?!
- There was one plot twist that was SUPER predictable, and it was supposed to be like the main plot twist but I called it on like page 50 or something so it wasn't a surprise. At all.
- The first 100 pages or so were really confusing it took a while for my brain to catch up.
This book was really good. The only reason that I'm not giving it 5 stars is because of the fact that it took me so long to figure out what was going on, and for the super predictable plot twist. But I would seriously recommend reading this book, it was awesome!
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Cristin Terrill
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: N/A
Wow. My brain needs a couple seconds to catch up... it's already been like a half hour so maybe I need more than just a couple seconds. Maybe like a couple million seconds. *deep breath*
Here we go.
This book had so many twists and turns and surprises and man did I feel left behind. I feel like it would have been like riding a rollercoaster except I've never been on one because I am super afraid of heights and sharp drops and falling and yeah tangent whoops. Back on track. (Get it, rollercoaster? Track? Never mind.)
So we basically start off following this boy who is NOT Daniel Tate. And then IS Daniel Tate (for like 20 pages). And then he is NOT Daniel Tate again. And I WAS confused. But no honestly this was so confusing. I didn't figure out what was going on until like 100 pages into the book and that's 25% OF THE BOOK! But once I kinda-sorta figured out what was going on it was actually really good!
So "Daniel" basically gets wrapped up into this super big con where he winds up pretending to be "Daniel Tate," who mysteriously disappeared six years ago. At first he figures he will just use it as a helpful delay so that he can slip away, but everything moves much faster than he thought and he winds up being brought "home" to California.
Enter one of the most twisted, confusing, and secretive literary families that I have ever met. The Tate are just... wow. The only one I liked was Mia because she was the only one that made any sense. But basically everyone in this family has a secret to hide, and wow is it hard to figure everything out.
There were a ton of plot twists, some that were really predictable and some that blew my mind. But the ending? That was like an entirely different level.
LIKES:
+ The title (Here Lies Daniel Tate) can be connected in so many different ways throughout the book. Because "lies" can have so many different meanings, and I felt almost like it was a treasure hunt or whatever to connect "lies" to what was going on in the book and I felt so smart when I figured it out 😂
+ The ending was so unexpected yet I feel like it fit perfectly with the book. I almost feel like if it had ended any other way that it would have seemed "wrong" and would have been disappointing but for once I loved the ending! (I normally hate the endings of books but this was awesome)
+ All of the twists and turns were so confusing yet it kept me on the edge of my seat. (Although I will have to admit that this book was really not good for my health because I am a very anxious/stressed out person normally and this book just made it worse) I was constantly freaking out that "Daniel" would get discovered and trying to figure out how he would keep up this con and how the book would end...
+The story just really captured my attention, and once I started I couldn't stop because...
DISLIKES:
- THERE ARE NO CHAPTERS! Just little section break things so if you are like me and you need to stop at a chapter that is a multiple of either 5 or 10 (preferably 10) this book just wreaks havoc on your brain, which can't figure out where to stop and then you wind up forgetting to have dinner (true story) because how do you just stop in the middle of a random page?!
- There was one plot twist that was SUPER predictable, and it was supposed to be like the main plot twist but I called it on like page 50 or something so it wasn't a surprise. At all.
- The first 100 pages or so were really confusing it took a while for my brain to catch up.
This book was really good. The only reason that I'm not giving it 5 stars is because of the fact that it took me so long to figure out what was going on, and for the super predictable plot twist. But I would seriously recommend reading this book, it was awesome!
See this review on Goodreads.
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