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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
You know when you’re playing a game with a small child, and you’re winning but then the kid pulls out this made up rule out of nowhere that makes THEM the winner? That’s what this book is like. Absolute nonsense. Almost everything just *happens* by chance or with no real reason behind it.
I can’t go into too much detail without “spoilers” (but this book is so predictable I don’t think there even could be spoilers). However, I think every issue in the book is just resolved off screen, if you will.
Add in a main character with absolutely zero likability (and not in an interesting way), a tangled plot/subplots, and the most drug-trip inspired setting.
What a mess.
I can’t go into too much detail without “spoilers” (but this book is so predictable I don’t think there even could be spoilers). However, I think every issue in the book is just resolved off screen, if you will.
Add in a main character with absolutely zero likability (and not in an interesting way), a tangled plot/subplots, and the most drug-trip inspired setting.
What a mess.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
I was really thrilled with this book for the first half of it. However, once Alice made it into the half way woods and Ellery died, I didn't feel as connected to it. I think Ellery's character added a lot to the story and I felt that I was not as invested in the story after his "death". During the later parts of the book, the story felt very rushed and I did not enjoy it as much. However, I still really enjoyed this book enough to give it four out of five stars.
I really, really wanted to like this more than I did. The premise is interesting and the whole book has this feeling of being haunted, you know? But Alice and Finch are both irredeemable assholes in their own ways and I think they deserve each other.
Bonus points for Finch being black and written to be a desirable love interest, LOVE to see it, but negative points over how it felt like the author was trying to gotcha-moment you with his blackness. There was a short yet VERY heavy-handed scene about police brutality where Alice was being disrespected by a cop and got angry about it, and Finch got angry that she was angry because he's like you don't understand the danger I am in around cops. I thought it devalued the danger women are in while alone with cops, the way men see women as childish extensions of their male companions, AND the rampant police brutality directed towards black people.
Also, having what seems to be the ONLY character of color in the bookbetray the main character? Felt weird. Have him be black and maybe don't try to hit us over the head with police brutality in a book about fairy tales, just to turn around and have the only black character irredeemably betray her.
Books can and are political, but this was awkward and heavy-handed, and the story is not interesting enough to hold up its premise.
Bonus points for Finch being black and written to be a desirable love interest, LOVE to see it, but negative points over how it felt like the author was trying to gotcha-moment you with his blackness. There was a short yet VERY heavy-handed scene about police brutality where Alice was being disrespected by a cop and got angry about it, and Finch got angry that she was angry because he's like you don't understand the danger I am in around cops. I thought it devalued the danger women are in while alone with cops, the way men see women as childish extensions of their male companions, AND the rampant police brutality directed towards black people.
Also, having what seems to be the ONLY character of color in the book
Books can and are political, but this was awkward and heavy-handed, and the story is not interesting enough to hold up its premise.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5/5- creepily captivating. Not perfect but pretty damn close. One of the most engaging books I have read in a while.
Hmm, ik had echt meer van dit verhaal verwacht. Het begin is leuk, boeiend en overzichtelijk. Hoe verder je in het boek komt, hoe meer chaotisch en onduidelijk het voor mij werd. Voor een Young Adult boek voor 15 jaar en ouder, werden er naar mijn idee vaak dure woorden gebruikt waarvan zelfs ik de betekenis niet altijd wist. Jammer! Ondanks de prachtige cover en het veelbelovende verhaal achter op het boek, viel hij mij erg tegen en kwam ik er moeilijk doorheen.
Alice and Ella have had to move around a lot. However, when Alice's grandmother dies it seems that their luck is changing....then strange things start to happen, and they're linked to the Hazel Wood. What secrets does her grandmother's estate hold?
This book was quiet a surprise. It had been really hyped up and I can see why! It was a good story. The mix of fairy-tale and the real world was interesting, especially with the way it was written. I really liked the plot twists too because I really didn't expect it.
I went through a lot of emotions whilst reading this book which is how I know it was good. The only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is because sometimes Alice's attitude was really annoying.
Overall, this book was really good and unlike anything I've read before. We all know the original fairy-tales were dark and this proves it.
4/5 stars.
If you like mystery and contemporary I'd definitely recommend it.
This book was quiet a surprise. It had been really hyped up and I can see why! It was a good story. The mix of fairy-tale and the real world was interesting, especially with the way it was written. I really liked the plot twists too because I really didn't expect it.
I went through a lot of emotions whilst reading this book which is how I know it was good. The only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is because sometimes Alice's attitude was really annoying.
Overall, this book was really good and unlike anything I've read before. We all know the original fairy-tales were dark and this proves it.
4/5 stars.
If you like mystery and contemporary I'd definitely recommend it.