Scan barcode
abbier_14's reviews
162 reviews
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I decided to sleep before writing this review to collect my thoughts because when i finished the book my mind was blank for what I wanted to say.
I guess that just describes the book then. It was average, nothing too harmful or outragous but it isnt going to stick with me for the rest of my life. However i still think it is a three star because it is alright for a debut, and I can imagine this being a light digestible read (haha get it) if you are like lying on a beach or something.
- The characters were alright. I loved Cai and Jarred (i cant even remember if that was his name and i finished it 12 hours ago), and the others were fine. I wish we got to learn more about the aunts but whatever.
I think that is the biggest thing with this book is it feels as though we just skimmed the surface of information about the world. We are given just enough facts for things to make sense but not enough to full dive deep about the things that really matter and would be interesting.
- This world had soooo much potential however we barely explored anything. Book eating was not very central to the book, there were times where Devon would eat a book of information to learn it and im like 'thats so cool i wish i could learn more' but we never did. Like it could have been so cool to see how this ability affected their lives but they just were normal? They just felt like humans who occasionally ate books which was so frustrating because the start was giving me twilight vampire vibes and i was like yesss I cant wait.
I think this is due to the book eaters being separate from humans that it actually makes them seem more human. We have no real points of comparasion because they are so cut off. Imagine how cool it would be if we learnt that so many people we thought were humans like inventors and stuff were actually book eaters because they basically could learn anything in the time it takes to eat a meal which is how they are so smart.
Devon did kinda touch upon this when she said she didn't feel smart even though she has eaten so many books and im like how??? She would literally be amazing at standardised tests which are used to measure intelligence so i dont understand. See things just werent explored, blank throwaway lines that are just left in the air.
- Also the plot left a lot to be desired. I was drawn in from the start but Im guessing that was from wanting to learn more information after being just thrown in to the book. This plot is basically like a run away heist thingy which is the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. When I pictured it i imagined a kind of dystopian world where they were trapped kinda like Piranesi .
However I will give it merit I was scared at the end I didnt want to keep reading due to tension and I didnt want something bad to happen lol. The plot does try to be interesting by having Devon working for both teams so we dont know what side is going to win in the end.
However im conflicted over the ending. So on one hand Im glad it isnt so happy due to Cai basically being gone due to consuming a book eater (and something else which I have already forgotten). However I feel like it ends too abruptly.
What is going to happen to the families now? we have basically forgotten about them as they havent been mentioned for ages. They have no access to redemption which means mind eaters are going to either roam free of be killed. Unless Devon is going to start to become the supplier of redeption but it sounded as though she just wants it for her son. And because the knights are disbanded it means no one can keep the dragons in check or can boss around the families anymore. Does that mean the families are going to go back to their old ways of killing the mind eaters? but surely Devon is sympathetic to them as she wouldnt want anyone to kill her son? Are the families now free to marry who they want? Yes that was Devon's goal for her daughter but how are they going to prevent inbreeding which was already caused harm to the women's reproductive system.
Basically the ending was confusing more than anything and I would rather have had a cryptic prologue than nothing at all. There are way more consequences to Devons actions that are not acknowleged.
I think all in all it would have been better if things were explored a bit more in depth as I think that would have solved my main problems of not understanding the ending and the world being superficial.
I guess that just describes the book then. It was average, nothing too harmful or outragous but it isnt going to stick with me for the rest of my life. However i still think it is a three star because it is alright for a debut, and I can imagine this being a light digestible read (haha get it) if you are like lying on a beach or something.
- The characters were alright. I loved Cai and Jarred (i cant even remember if that was his name and i finished it 12 hours ago), and the others were fine. I wish we got to learn more about the aunts but whatever.
I think that is the biggest thing with this book is it feels as though we just skimmed the surface of information about the world. We are given just enough facts for things to make sense but not enough to full dive deep about the things that really matter and would be interesting.
- This world had soooo much potential however we barely explored anything. Book eating was not very central to the book, there were times where Devon would eat a book of information to learn it and im like 'thats so cool i wish i could learn more' but we never did. Like it could have been so cool to see how this ability affected their lives but they just were normal? They just felt like humans who occasionally ate books which was so frustrating because the start was giving me twilight vampire vibes and i was like yesss I cant wait.
I think this is due to the book eaters being separate from humans that it actually makes them seem more human. We have no real points of comparasion because they are so cut off. Imagine how cool it would be if we learnt that so many people we thought were humans like inventors and stuff were actually book eaters because they basically could learn anything in the time it takes to eat a meal which is how they are so smart.
Devon did kinda touch upon this when she said she didn't feel smart even though she has eaten so many books and im like how??? She would literally be amazing at standardised tests which are used to measure intelligence so i dont understand. See things just werent explored, blank throwaway lines that are just left in the air.
- Also the plot left a lot to be desired. I was drawn in from the start but Im guessing that was from wanting to learn more information after being just thrown in to the book. This plot is basically like a run away heist thingy which is the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. When I pictured it i imagined a kind of dystopian world where they were trapped kinda like Piranesi .
However I will give it merit I was scared at the end I didnt want to keep reading due to tension and I didnt want something bad to happen lol. The plot does try to be interesting by having Devon working for both teams so we dont know what side is going to win in the end.
However im conflicted over the ending. So on one hand Im glad it isnt so happy due to Cai basically being gone due to consuming a book eater (and something else which I have already forgotten). However I feel like it ends too abruptly.
What is going to happen to the families now? we have basically forgotten about them as they havent been mentioned for ages. They have no access to redemption which means mind eaters are going to either roam free of be killed. Unless Devon is going to start to become the supplier of redeption but it sounded as though she just wants it for her son. And because the knights are disbanded it means no one can keep the dragons in check or can boss around the families anymore. Does that mean the families are going to go back to their old ways of killing the mind eaters? but surely Devon is sympathetic to them as she wouldnt want anyone to kill her son? Are the families now free to marry who they want? Yes that was Devon's goal for her daughter but how are they going to prevent inbreeding which was already caused harm to the women's reproductive system.
Basically the ending was confusing more than anything and I would rather have had a cryptic prologue than nothing at all. There are way more consequences to Devons actions that are not acknowleged.
I think all in all it would have been better if things were explored a bit more in depth as I think that would have solved my main problems of not understanding the ending and the world being superficial.
The Green Mile by Stephen King
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5
I am sooo disappointed I genuinely believed this would become one of my favourite books of all time. Unfortunately I now have permanent lines in my forehead from where I have been frowning in confusion and frustration throughout the book.
When I finished the book my final thoughts were 'are you joking?????' and not in a good way
- I started this book a month ago so I barely remember how it started. I will say that if I wasn't so busy that this would have been a quicker read for me as it was digestible and smooth.
I wouldnt describe this book as boring per say, but it definitely has lots of unnecessary information. This always comes off as the main character loving the sound of their own voice, and as the characters always seem to be writers in SK novels im gonna interpret this to mean King also loves the sound of his own voice (but what writer doesnt im guessing).
I think this is my biggest weakness when reading SK novels is that it is sooo difficult to separate the main character from him, he has such an omnipresent influence throughout the whole book that it is hard to immerse yourself into it.
I did not need to read about mouse that has no relevance until the end, but then has no real pay off.
I did not need to read in depth about a mans urinary infection just for it to set up healing powers, just have him have a wound or something idk.
I did not need to read about everyone in the room and how they die when you are in the middle of the climax of the book.
- I think this books biggest weakness is the characters. Due to the story this book is trying to tell once the characters were done for the whole book unraveled.
King was terrribleee at introducing and establishing the characters, and I mean terrible. It was so bad that in the last chapter of the book there was a really significant moment but I just couldn't comprehend it as I didn't know who was talking and their role in the book.
So. Many. Names. No. One. Described.
Some level of humanity and characterisation is attempted by having the characters briefly mention having wives and children... but appart from that thats it.
This makes the book fall down as it means I lack empathy for literally all the characters. My feelings are the same for the ones that are meant to be 'good' and the ones that are meant to be 'bad'.
This is one of my pet peeves in books is where we are meant to think a character is bad just because the character whos perspective we are in thinks so.
For example, Percy is described as being terrible and annoying before we actual see the terrible and annoying behaviour. All he has done so far is just swing his batton around just in the air. It makes me actually want to support the character because I believe they are being unfairly mistreated lol. In the end Percy does become a horrible person, but it is also interjected with scenes that make me feel sorry for him? I don't know what King was going for, if we are meant to feel sympathy or like ha hes getting what he deserves.
However this can also happen on the inverse with characters described at good. For example John Coffey (lIKe tHe DrINk BuT nOT sPelT thE sAMe). I could not care less about this man. His 'goodness' is not established, the main character just has a 'hunch'. This makes the whole plot of this book practically pointless as I dont see things the same way as the main character so everything feels less poignant. I am not attached to him I was never sad, in fact I was almost frustrated and annoyed when we had to read about the main characters sympathy for him and I was like FOR WHATTTTT.
- The plot is also very frustrating and there are several things that I would change. First being get rid of the magic altogether. When I realised this book was going to have a magic element I kind of let my hopes slip a little as this was not what I was expecting. I wanted a serious, disturbing story about the criminal justice system. What I got was this little sappy fantasy book where the mean guys are mean but we are just little good guys unfairly treated by the big bad world. The 'Us vs Them' mentality in this book really annoyed me.
I also hate how Coffey is innocent I think it makes the book way less compelling. This kind of reminds me of Of Mice and Men where this guy with limited mental capacity does something horrible. What makes that book interesting is that Lennie actually DOES kill the woman accidentally, which sparks discussion over whether or not you agree with the ending and what you think should of happened to him. Instead this book gets rid of all that and has Coffey do nothing wrong to try and gain extra sympathy points.
I think this book would be WAY more interesting if Coffey had killed the girls but then the main character has a moral dilemma about killing him as he does not fully comprehend what he has done. Mens rea and all that.
But then all the sympathy Coffey would have gained from me goes out the window when HE GIVES PERCY A BRAIN TUMOUR!!!! WHICH THEN LEADS TO THE DEATH OF ANOTHER INMATE. LIKE WHAT? Im sorry but what. How are all the guards streaming with tears when executing Coffey when he literally does this.
His magic can do both evil and healing but the guards obviously disregard that as it solves their problems by removing the people they dont like. How convenient. Its attempted to be justified by Coffey saying 'hes a bad man' or whatever which sorry does not work on me.
However I will give this bit merit as it does spark discussion about whether he is in right to do that. Is this a commentary on how the state believes they have a right to end a life just because they have done something criminal in the eyes of law? Hmm. But then it just makes Coffey as bad as any other anyway so for me it just doesnt work with what the book is trying to make me feel.
And then Wharton is the real murderer? No. The murder of the two girls should have remained a mystery that would have added a way more nuanced dynamic.
I also hate how the magic had this whole long subplot where he goes round solving illnesses and the crises of the world. I just couldnt suspend disbelief that a long serving death row officer would randomly 'trust' a prisoner that much that he would go into his cell alone and sit close to him on his bunk. No matter how innocent Coffey seems I was like what? I mean they literally talked about how innocent Wharton seemed and then he suddenly turned, why would Coffey be any different?
That means I obviously hated the part where they go and save that mans wife. I also found it rich that the main character was like 'this wasnt a prison break it was more like a field trip'. HA. This is what i mean the main characters see themselves as such angels and do mental gymnastics so they dont see themselves as bad. I hate when characters are morally grey but written like they are good people. If they are morally grey LEAN INTO IT.
Don't even get me started on the modern day timeline sections.
However saying all this I reallyyy enjoyed Del and his execution. I think that was the most engaging part of the book for me I liked his character (apart from Mr Jingles). I also was sad when the main character's wife died in that bus crash in the end. Just something about the way it was written just seemed so hopeless.
- Another thing I have noticed about SK novels is that they love to be set in a time period where slurs and misogyny were acceptable. So many slurs in this book and all the wives were preparing food or standing meekly in the corner.
Obviously I accept the viewpoint that this is to enhance the immersion into the old time period, but to me it just got a bit uncomfortable and I kept picturing King writing that and idk I felt slightly weird about it.
I think it also doesnt help that the book has a bit of a white saviour complex about it. It attempts to touch on race by having Coffey be a black man, but barely skims the surface. It talks about racism enough for King to have said its included and hes not ignoring that aspect of history, but then not enough to where he can be accused of writing about something he has no experience in. It felt a little tokenistic if im being honest.
I think the main takeaway I have from this book is that I have no takeaway:
Is this a commentary on the death penalty and how its bad?
Is this trying to talk about racism like To Kill a Mockingbird?
Is this a fantasy book?
Is this about people with mental disabilities commiting crimes and what is an ethical way for them to be punished?
Who knows. All I know is that ive read it.
I am sooo disappointed I genuinely believed this would become one of my favourite books of all time. Unfortunately I now have permanent lines in my forehead from where I have been frowning in confusion and frustration throughout the book.
When I finished the book my final thoughts were 'are you joking?????' and not in a good way
- I started this book a month ago so I barely remember how it started. I will say that if I wasn't so busy that this would have been a quicker read for me as it was digestible and smooth.
I wouldnt describe this book as boring per say, but it definitely has lots of unnecessary information. This always comes off as the main character loving the sound of their own voice, and as the characters always seem to be writers in SK novels im gonna interpret this to mean King also loves the sound of his own voice (but what writer doesnt im guessing).
I think this is my biggest weakness when reading SK novels is that it is sooo difficult to separate the main character from him, he has such an omnipresent influence throughout the whole book that it is hard to immerse yourself into it.
I did not need to read about mouse that has no relevance until the end, but then has no real pay off.
I did not need to read in depth about a mans urinary infection just for it to set up healing powers, just have him have a wound or something idk.
I did not need to read about everyone in the room and how they die when you are in the middle of the climax of the book.
- I think this books biggest weakness is the characters. Due to the story this book is trying to tell once the characters were done for the whole book unraveled.
King was terrribleee at introducing and establishing the characters, and I mean terrible. It was so bad that in the last chapter of the book there was a really significant moment but I just couldn't comprehend it as I didn't know who was talking and their role in the book.
So. Many. Names. No. One. Described.
Some level of humanity and characterisation is attempted by having the characters briefly mention having wives and children... but appart from that thats it.
This makes the book fall down as it means I lack empathy for literally all the characters. My feelings are the same for the ones that are meant to be 'good' and the ones that are meant to be 'bad'.
This is one of my pet peeves in books is where we are meant to think a character is bad just because the character whos perspective we are in thinks so.
For example, Percy is described as being terrible and annoying before we actual see the terrible and annoying behaviour. All he has done so far is just swing his batton around just in the air. It makes me actually want to support the character because I believe they are being unfairly mistreated lol. In the end Percy does become a horrible person, but it is also interjected with scenes that make me feel sorry for him? I don't know what King was going for, if we are meant to feel sympathy or like ha hes getting what he deserves.
However this can also happen on the inverse with characters described at good. For example John Coffey (lIKe tHe DrINk BuT nOT sPelT thE sAMe). I could not care less about this man. His 'goodness' is not established, the main character just has a 'hunch'. This makes the whole plot of this book practically pointless as I dont see things the same way as the main character so everything feels less poignant. I am not attached to him I was never sad, in fact I was almost frustrated and annoyed when we had to read about the main characters sympathy for him and I was like FOR WHATTTTT.
- The plot is also very frustrating and there are several things that I would change. First being get rid of the magic altogether. When I realised this book was going to have a magic element I kind of let my hopes slip a little as this was not what I was expecting. I wanted a serious, disturbing story about the criminal justice system. What I got was this little sappy fantasy book where the mean guys are mean but we are just little good guys unfairly treated by the big bad world. The 'Us vs Them' mentality in this book really annoyed me.
I also hate how Coffey is innocent I think it makes the book way less compelling. This kind of reminds me of Of Mice and Men where this guy with limited mental capacity does something horrible. What makes that book interesting is that Lennie actually DOES kill the woman accidentally, which sparks discussion over whether or not you agree with the ending and what you think should of happened to him. Instead this book gets rid of all that and has Coffey do nothing wrong to try and gain extra sympathy points.
I think this book would be WAY more interesting if Coffey had killed the girls but then the main character has a moral dilemma about killing him as he does not fully comprehend what he has done. Mens rea and all that.
But then all the sympathy Coffey would have gained from me goes out the window when HE GIVES PERCY A BRAIN TUMOUR!!!! WHICH THEN LEADS TO THE DEATH OF ANOTHER INMATE. LIKE WHAT? Im sorry but what. How are all the guards streaming with tears when executing Coffey when he literally does this.
His magic can do both evil and healing but the guards obviously disregard that as it solves their problems by removing the people they dont like. How convenient. Its attempted to be justified by Coffey saying 'hes a bad man' or whatever which sorry does not work on me.
However I will give this bit merit as it does spark discussion about whether he is in right to do that. Is this a commentary on how the state believes they have a right to end a life just because they have done something criminal in the eyes of law? Hmm. But then it just makes Coffey as bad as any other anyway so for me it just doesnt work with what the book is trying to make me feel.
And then Wharton is the real murderer? No. The murder of the two girls should have remained a mystery that would have added a way more nuanced dynamic.
I also hate how the magic had this whole long subplot where he goes round solving illnesses and the crises of the world. I just couldnt suspend disbelief that a long serving death row officer would randomly 'trust' a prisoner that much that he would go into his cell alone and sit close to him on his bunk. No matter how innocent Coffey seems I was like what? I mean they literally talked about how innocent Wharton seemed and then he suddenly turned, why would Coffey be any different?
That means I obviously hated the part where they go and save that mans wife. I also found it rich that the main character was like 'this wasnt a prison break it was more like a field trip'. HA. This is what i mean the main characters see themselves as such angels and do mental gymnastics so they dont see themselves as bad. I hate when characters are morally grey but written like they are good people. If they are morally grey LEAN INTO IT.
Don't even get me started on the modern day timeline sections.
However saying all this I reallyyy enjoyed Del and his execution. I think that was the most engaging part of the book for me I liked his character (apart from Mr Jingles). I also was sad when the main character's wife died in that bus crash in the end. Just something about the way it was written just seemed so hopeless.
- Another thing I have noticed about SK novels is that they love to be set in a time period where slurs and misogyny were acceptable. So many slurs in this book and all the wives were preparing food or standing meekly in the corner.
Obviously I accept the viewpoint that this is to enhance the immersion into the old time period, but to me it just got a bit uncomfortable and I kept picturing King writing that and idk I felt slightly weird about it.
I think it also doesnt help that the book has a bit of a white saviour complex about it. It attempts to touch on race by having Coffey be a black man, but barely skims the surface. It talks about racism enough for King to have said its included and hes not ignoring that aspect of history, but then not enough to where he can be accused of writing about something he has no experience in. It felt a little tokenistic if im being honest.
I think the main takeaway I have from this book is that I have no takeaway:
Is this a commentary on the death penalty and how its bad?
Is this trying to talk about racism like To Kill a Mockingbird?
Is this a fantasy book?
Is this about people with mental disabilities commiting crimes and what is an ethical way for them to be punished?
Who knows. All I know is that ive read it.
Mile High by Liz Tomforde
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
After finishing this book im a shell of my former self and it has drained my will to live. Loads of reviews are like 'its good at the start but then it went down hill unfortunately' but no, this was bad from the first page.
The MFC:
Blah blah blah boo hoo hoo
➞ So the MFC is insecure about her body and constantly complains about how her work uniform doesnt fit but never once tries to get a bigger size? Her brother is a millionaire and offered to get her clothes before so im sure he would be willing to help. Also its unprofessional if you are literally working for a nationally recognised team yet you are not presentable (also it would make her feel better about herself but whatever). This is a thing her co-worker/boss/ manager idrk mentioned to her but instead of the MFC being like yeah ill get another size she sees it as a personal attack (ill get more into this later in the Internalised misogyny/unnecessary vilification section).
➞ I hated that the MFC does not care about her appearance at all but then also hates it. What im trying to say is im sure there are unfortunately people who hate their body so much that they give up, but there are also plenty of curvy people who embrace their looks and compliment their figure with the right clothes, and spending time on their makeup and hair etc. But the MFC constantly has her unwashed hair in a bun (ill get more into that in the race issues section), wearing ratty 'sweats', disgusting shoes, goes out with food on her face urgh. Characters can simultaneously be curvy while also caring about their appearance. It just rubbed me the wrong way and just made it frustrating when MFC would complain about her looks instead of sympathetic.
➞ And then of course her insecurities are magically solved by the MMC because you need a man to make you love yourself. Honestly it was kinda gross, especially as we got to read the MMC's thoughts as well, because it made it seem like he only liked her body because of sex (mentioning her larger boobs, bum, and thighs) and not due to him just being attracted to her in general. Dont get me started on her 'this is me' speech to the press i skipped those pages as i didnt want to deal with the second hand embarrasment.
➞ The author tried to make her this quirky person who loves thrifting, dogs, and eating but it was just horrible. I mean at least she had hobbies unlike the MMC who was the least fleshed out character but somehow also the worst. Its meant to make her seem more likeable but as someone who does not care about thrifting and also hates dogs it made me dislike her more. I do not care about this stupid dog sidequest I skipped most of those scenes.
➞ Another minor thing that annoyed me about the MFC is that she never works? Like all her job entailed was doing a safety briefing at the start and then the only other scenes of her on the plane was her talking with her friend and on her phone. I mean she even has the audacity to not be apologetic or embarrased when her manager caught her on her phone. I mean what are they even employing you for if all youre gonna do is travel to new cities for free and take up space. Like in the first chapter the MMC asks her for water and shes like 'the cooler is over there' and im like WHAT THIS IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB TO GIVE HIM THAT STUFF. The author was so lazy when it came to fleshing out their jobs i mean the MFC never was like 'im tired for having to stand up for a six hour flight' or anything when im sure being a flight attendant is super challenging as they are literally like waitresses in the air but whatever sure this is fiction.
MMC:
Apparantly we are meant to like this guy? Im sorry but what.
➞ This man is disgusting and a menace to society. He treats women like objects, see: notes on his phone describing every what every women he has slept with was good at in bed so he doesnt 'forget' them, and is so selective with the women he respects. The only women we see him being nice to is the MMC, his sister, and his friends wife (and that dog owner lady but idgaf about the dog plot). Every other female character in this he has been cold too or downright rude e.g. not giving the women who are hired to walk with him after the game the normal human decency to be like 'hey sorry but im too tired and not feeling it sorry for wasting your time'. I mean he literally shouts at one of them 'dont touch me' and embarrases her infront of the paparazzi because hes having a little moody wa wa wa moment. Its gross this is not the sort of person i would support or find attractive.
➞ He also really objectifys the MFC and it is not sexy or desirable. At the start of the book i was like this is trying to be steamy without being steamy if that makes sense, like the author didnt know what age range she was gonna market this book too, so when the MMC was staring at the MFC's boobs, bum, thighs etc it came across as creepy. This is because there hadn't been an established mutual sexual attraction so it read like the MFC was trying to do her 'job' but then this random man who she didnt know is giving her unwanted attention. Again not a good look for this guy. It also takes away from the message of the story that the MMC helped the MFC love herself because like i said it seemed like he just liked her for her sex appeal rather than anything else.
➞ So after reading all of this you are trying to convince me that this is all a persona?
hahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahhahahahaha.
No. Absolutely not.
I guess this is a chicken and the egg situation. Did his agent create this persona from scratch and then the MMC became it from pretending for so long, or was the MMC already like this and the agent decided to play it up to create his defining image?
Who knows, all i know is that the MMC did not garner any sympathy from me what so ever as you reap what you sow. If you thought having a 'bad boy'(🤮) image would be good for your career that you agreed to play the role then you need to live with the consequences if you want to settle down or no one is taking you seriously anymore.
Im pissed that the author tried to spin it on its head that the agent was an evil mastermind who gives a monologue and laughs at peoples misforture and was responsible for all of this. No the MMC is a grown man, he has agency and free will, and was literally the one that HIRED the agent. If he hated it so much he could have fired him wayyy before his 'epiphany' that his agent was the one ruining his life.
Dear Tomforde, when you make all your 'villains' into a caricature it really creates the opposite effect where the character you are trying to make us feel sympathy for is the one who looks stupid. Its so frustrating and makes my eyes roll. It does not feel geniuine so none of the emotions feel real for me to care for the characters, making the conflict pointless.
➞ Perhaps the most laughable aspect of the MMC is that he has been in therapy for 10 years and still acts like this. This therapist needs to be fired bc what an earth is this man doing. I need a spin off book (by a different author) where the therapist is actually an undercover agent spy or something or has evil intentions to steal money while making his patients worse because there is no other plausible explanation for how bad he must be at his job lmfao.
The MMC was like 'my therapist is my friend. No, hes family' and im like ok no wonder this isnt working. I can imagine after 10 years how this relationship has become complacent where the therapist and patient have reached a wall and the sessions arent even helping anymore but its now just seen as a routine or something they have always done so must continue to do. The therapist must be rolling in cash by now.
It was so funny when the MMC was like 'ive had years of therapy but it took a conversation with my best friend to make me realise i am loved' or something along those lines. I mean at least he is self aware.
This man had both Mommy AND Daddy issues lol. The daddy issues 'resolved' by suddenly having a confrontation at Christmas. I mean what was the therapist for? He should have been helping you slowly build a relationship with your Dad, not bottle up your emotions for you to explode at a family gathering (i mean that was probably the most realistic part of the story tbh lmao).
Dont get me started on the Mommy issues what a bloody cliche. It was so funny when the MMC had finished giving his speech to her and he was like 'you should get a different bag that one looks dated' or something and im like lmfaoooo thats not a sick burn you think it is why are you randomly giving fashion advice. And then after he does this instead of having a therapy session to try and work out what the therapist did wrong, he called the MFC *eye roll*.
➞ A minor thing but i hate how him being aggressive on the ice is seen as impressive or endearing, and we are meant to like the fact that he is always in the penalty box. Im sorry but all i couldnt think about is how sorry i feel for the players who have to share the rink with him and how i hope they dont get involved in his fights or temper tantrums.
The issues with race in this book:
Why is the author afraid to write the words Black or Racism?
➞ Apparantly this was a bipoc relationship but i had no clue the MMC was black. I had the cover with a plane on it but even if i had the one with the creepy shirtless man i probably wouldnt have even realised, as he just looked like the classic 'tall, dark and handsome' MMC in literally all romance books.
➞ The only reason why i new the MFC was mixed was because her dad was describe as black and her mum was described as white. Nowhere does the MFC explictly state she is a biracial women. The characteristics used to describe the MFC is 'curly hair, blue-green eyes, freckles, and tanned skin'. Read that description and dont tell me that that couldnt be describing any single race in existence. Even white people can tan ffs.
➞ And then the author tried to tackle a serious and heavy topic that I, a mixed race girl with a white mum, wouldnt even feel comfortable writing as thankfully my mum is not racist so i wouldnt feel i could accurately the portray the self loathing and emotions you would feel growing up in an environment like that. Let alone a white women trying it, as evident from the scenes in the book. Again, nowhere does the MFC state that he mother is RACIST towards her, just that she holds a random grudge or something. And dont get me started on the fact her black dad tried to justify it by saying the mother has suffered 'generation trauma' as thats how her own mum treated her.....ok but it is now a completely different dynamic with new implications that the author does not touch upon.
➞ Unfortunately the MMC descriptions were way too subtle to even interpret them as a black man. Apparantly the only things the author associates with black men are 'gold rings and black tattoos that barely stand out from his skin'........ I cant even its almost laughable. Oh and also he was a womaniser and bad boy ofc. Again, no where does the author explicitly state he was a black man, that description could be any race, from the weird shirtless man cover i would have guessed latino or something like that. We didnt even get a description of the race of his parents to help us out like Dora the explorer trying to deduct clues.
Again the MMC briefly mentioned at the end how 'he doesnt look like anyone else on the ice' and that he is glad he has made it this far. But the author never touched upon how his race has impacted his career, or said the word RACISM again. I dont know whether to be glad at that though because of how bad the whole thing with the MFC's mum went it would probably be equally bad.
➞ I wouldnt say that these characters didnt 'act black' as obviously black people are not a monolith, but what i will say is that it lacked black culture. I mean it could even be little things.
For example, the MFC actually caring about her hair and not leaving it unwashed in a bun. Coming from a mixed race girl with curly hair, my hair is definitely the thing i care most about of my appearance and spend the most time on lol.
She could have a brief sentence of putting a bonnet on before bed or going to a Black ladies salon to get a silk press before that event where she had straight hair. Or when she went to get her nails done with that little girl she could have taken her to get her hair braided or something.
Or with the MFC being a foodie she could have had a scene cooking her great grandmas southern soul comfort food recipe or something, or her dad could have cooked it with her when he visited. SOMETHING ANYTHING PLEASE.
➞ Dont get me wrong I am not saying that authors cannot write characters of a different race to them. But when they are this uninformed and clearly do not want to touch on the issues and experience people of that race can face then i have a right to be frustrated.
Internalised misogyny/unwarrented vilifying:
The author clearly hates her mum or has been bullied by girls because why are all the female characters villains? Examples:
➞ MFC's mom. I wouldnt have included her in this section if that storyline was handled correctly and written to be genuine but it wasnt. It could have been so good like i see the potential of added dimention to the MFC and an explanation for her feelings, but if it was written by someone else.
➞ MMC's mom. Her character wasnt fleshed out in the slightest. All we ever heared of her was
hushed whispers that enabled us to realise she was a touchy subject from the dad, sister, or MMC, but we only get one scene where the mom is actually there in person. This is why all the conflict feels so one dimentional because we either have cartoon villains or in this moms case where it feels like they have stumbled into the scene, gets shouted at by an angsty character, and then booted out of the door never to be seen again and the MCs are vindicated.
➞ MFC's Nashville friends. Why just why. They didnt add anything and were obviously there to compliment the MFC's racist mom plot but fell flat. It portrayed these women to be extremely superficial, only caring about looks and men, and taking advantaged of the MFC to get to the hocky boys. It just made me feel frustrated by the MFC's lack of backbone to tell them to f off. Maybe im just extremely selfish and i havent noticed but if i recognise i hate myself around the same people then im not going to hang around them any longer. And then we had that pick me scene where the MMC chose the MFC right infront of the friends to make them jealous.
➞ Tara the other flight attendant. Right off the bat she was made out to be a cartoon villain. Not one word in and shes already implying the MFC is fat and telling them to stay away from the boys in the team (again another thing i agree with bc how awkward and weird if the team are dating the flight attendants, but maybe im forgetting this is fiction). But OMFG how hypocritical are MFC and her flight attendant friend. They criticise Tara for telling them to stay away from the boys but then she is apparantly flirting with the agents or whatever. But MFC was literally being a massive hypocrit too because you cant criticise Tara for liking them while actually getting with one yourself!!!!!! EVERYONE IS A HYPOCRIT IN THIS SITUATION WHY IS TARA MADE OUT TO BE THE VILLAIN. Dont get me started how at the end Tara is FIRED for fratenising and MFC laughs at it when you are literally in a relationship with one of the players!!!!!!!!! I dont understand how blind everyone is. Justice for Tara honestly. She wanted exactly what the MFC has but failed miserably but is somehow the bad guy.
➞ I HATED the MFC's use of the terms 'puck bunny', 'jersey chaser', 'WAG'. Just call all other women sluts why dont you. The way to make the curvy MFC feel good about herself is not to make her an internalised misogynist (i guess it fits with her mommy issues but i still hate it). She brings down all the women who is not in her inner circle just because they are thin and pretty and get male attention.
For example, she is at a function or something with her brother and a women comes up to her brother basically saying hey and inviting him to come hang out with her if she wants. But the MFC is adamantly against it saying you cannot go out with 'HER'. Please sit down and tell me what is it is about 'her' that makes you hate her so much. She hasnt spoken more than 5 sentences, you dont know her at all, and yet you are judging her based on what grounds? Literally in the first half of the book you wanted your brother to start dating, so which is it?
Another example of when MFC was sitting with the friend's wife separate from the other 'WAGs' because apparantly they are fake and only after fame and money. Sure. You are just so special that you are the only wife of the team that fell in love because of a pure connection, no one else who is in a relationship with a sportsman has ever done that. Honestly all the women in this friendship group are seriously insecure and vile.
I HATE how the one character who isnt 'obsessed' with the hockey boys is the one who gets to be with one in the end. I hate hate hate the dangerous anti women narrative this book was pushing, especially if the readers relate to the MFC.
Honestly Liz who hurt you?
General plot points:
➞ This book had very weird sibling relationships. You know how i mentioned where the MFC was against her brother dating that woman? I genuinely thought it was going to turn into this weird thing where she wanted him to date her and have him all to herself. Honestly they were so possessive of each other and she was constantly mentioning how he was 'shirtless' and im like why does this sister keep noticing that about her brother.
Lindsey or Lindsay idk the MMC's sister was the absolute worst. She was a lesbian character (well not explicitly stated of course) who talks about how she has 'stolen' girls off the MMC before and when he showed her a pick of MFC the first thing she said was look at that ass. Does the author like to be objectified? Why is everyone who is attracted to women in this book so weird about it.
➞ Third act conflict sucked as always. The MMC broke up with her to 'protect her from himself' (where is the therapy) and then three pages later regretted it. Can men stop acting irrationally and then come crawling back in books its not cute. I know people like grovelling but i hate it it seems so immature. And now they are getting married for somereason? pfft good luck. At no point did i think they were a cute couple or was excited for their relationship.
➞ Hated every character they were so bland.
The MFC:
Blah blah blah boo hoo hoo
➞ So the MFC is insecure about her body and constantly complains about how her work uniform doesnt fit but never once tries to get a bigger size? Her brother is a millionaire and offered to get her clothes before so im sure he would be willing to help. Also its unprofessional if you are literally working for a nationally recognised team yet you are not presentable (also it would make her feel better about herself but whatever). This is a thing her co-worker/boss/ manager idrk mentioned to her but instead of the MFC being like yeah ill get another size she sees it as a personal attack (ill get more into this later in the Internalised misogyny/unnecessary vilification section).
➞ I hated that the MFC does not care about her appearance at all but then also hates it. What im trying to say is im sure there are unfortunately people who hate their body so much that they give up, but there are also plenty of curvy people who embrace their looks and compliment their figure with the right clothes, and spending time on their makeup and hair etc. But the MFC constantly has her unwashed hair in a bun (ill get more into that in the race issues section), wearing ratty 'sweats', disgusting shoes, goes out with food on her face urgh. Characters can simultaneously be curvy while also caring about their appearance. It just rubbed me the wrong way and just made it frustrating when MFC would complain about her looks instead of sympathetic.
➞ And then of course her insecurities are magically solved by the MMC because you need a man to make you love yourself. Honestly it was kinda gross, especially as we got to read the MMC's thoughts as well, because it made it seem like he only liked her body because of sex (mentioning her larger boobs, bum, and thighs) and not due to him just being attracted to her in general. Dont get me started on her 'this is me' speech to the press i skipped those pages as i didnt want to deal with the second hand embarrasment.
➞ The author tried to make her this quirky person who loves thrifting, dogs, and eating but it was just horrible. I mean at least she had hobbies unlike the MMC who was the least fleshed out character but somehow also the worst. Its meant to make her seem more likeable but as someone who does not care about thrifting and also hates dogs it made me dislike her more. I do not care about this stupid dog sidequest I skipped most of those scenes.
➞ Another minor thing that annoyed me about the MFC is that she never works? Like all her job entailed was doing a safety briefing at the start and then the only other scenes of her on the plane was her talking with her friend and on her phone. I mean she even has the audacity to not be apologetic or embarrased when her manager caught her on her phone. I mean what are they even employing you for if all youre gonna do is travel to new cities for free and take up space. Like in the first chapter the MMC asks her for water and shes like 'the cooler is over there' and im like WHAT THIS IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB TO GIVE HIM THAT STUFF. The author was so lazy when it came to fleshing out their jobs i mean the MFC never was like 'im tired for having to stand up for a six hour flight' or anything when im sure being a flight attendant is super challenging as they are literally like waitresses in the air but whatever sure this is fiction.
MMC:
Apparantly we are meant to like this guy? Im sorry but what.
➞ This man is disgusting and a menace to society. He treats women like objects, see: notes on his phone describing every what every women he has slept with was good at in bed so he doesnt 'forget' them, and is so selective with the women he respects. The only women we see him being nice to is the MMC, his sister, and his friends wife (and that dog owner lady but idgaf about the dog plot). Every other female character in this he has been cold too or downright rude e.g. not giving the women who are hired to walk with him after the game the normal human decency to be like 'hey sorry but im too tired and not feeling it sorry for wasting your time'. I mean he literally shouts at one of them 'dont touch me' and embarrases her infront of the paparazzi because hes having a little moody wa wa wa moment. Its gross this is not the sort of person i would support or find attractive.
➞ He also really objectifys the MFC and it is not sexy or desirable. At the start of the book i was like this is trying to be steamy without being steamy if that makes sense, like the author didnt know what age range she was gonna market this book too, so when the MMC was staring at the MFC's boobs, bum, thighs etc it came across as creepy. This is because there hadn't been an established mutual sexual attraction so it read like the MFC was trying to do her 'job' but then this random man who she didnt know is giving her unwanted attention. Again not a good look for this guy. It also takes away from the message of the story that the MMC helped the MFC love herself because like i said it seemed like he just liked her for her sex appeal rather than anything else.
➞ So after reading all of this you are trying to convince me that this is all a persona?
hahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahhahahahaha.
No. Absolutely not.
I guess this is a chicken and the egg situation. Did his agent create this persona from scratch and then the MMC became it from pretending for so long, or was the MMC already like this and the agent decided to play it up to create his defining image?
Who knows, all i know is that the MMC did not garner any sympathy from me what so ever as you reap what you sow. If you thought having a 'bad boy'(🤮) image would be good for your career that you agreed to play the role then you need to live with the consequences if you want to settle down or no one is taking you seriously anymore.
Im pissed that the author tried to spin it on its head that the agent was an evil mastermind who gives a monologue and laughs at peoples misforture and was responsible for all of this. No the MMC is a grown man, he has agency and free will, and was literally the one that HIRED the agent. If he hated it so much he could have fired him wayyy before his 'epiphany' that his agent was the one ruining his life.
Dear Tomforde, when you make all your 'villains' into a caricature it really creates the opposite effect where the character you are trying to make us feel sympathy for is the one who looks stupid. Its so frustrating and makes my eyes roll. It does not feel geniuine so none of the emotions feel real for me to care for the characters, making the conflict pointless.
➞ Perhaps the most laughable aspect of the MMC is that he has been in therapy for 10 years and still acts like this. This therapist needs to be fired bc what an earth is this man doing. I need a spin off book (by a different author) where the therapist is actually an undercover agent spy or something or has evil intentions to steal money while making his patients worse because there is no other plausible explanation for how bad he must be at his job lmfao.
The MMC was like 'my therapist is my friend. No, hes family' and im like ok no wonder this isnt working. I can imagine after 10 years how this relationship has become complacent where the therapist and patient have reached a wall and the sessions arent even helping anymore but its now just seen as a routine or something they have always done so must continue to do. The therapist must be rolling in cash by now.
It was so funny when the MMC was like 'ive had years of therapy but it took a conversation with my best friend to make me realise i am loved' or something along those lines. I mean at least he is self aware.
This man had both Mommy AND Daddy issues lol. The daddy issues 'resolved' by suddenly having a confrontation at Christmas. I mean what was the therapist for? He should have been helping you slowly build a relationship with your Dad, not bottle up your emotions for you to explode at a family gathering (i mean that was probably the most realistic part of the story tbh lmao).
Dont get me started on the Mommy issues what a bloody cliche. It was so funny when the MMC had finished giving his speech to her and he was like 'you should get a different bag that one looks dated' or something and im like lmfaoooo thats not a sick burn you think it is why are you randomly giving fashion advice. And then after he does this instead of having a therapy session to try and work out what the therapist did wrong, he called the MFC *eye roll*.
➞ A minor thing but i hate how him being aggressive on the ice is seen as impressive or endearing, and we are meant to like the fact that he is always in the penalty box. Im sorry but all i couldnt think about is how sorry i feel for the players who have to share the rink with him and how i hope they dont get involved in his fights or temper tantrums.
The issues with race in this book:
Why is the author afraid to write the words Black or Racism?
➞ Apparantly this was a bipoc relationship but i had no clue the MMC was black. I had the cover with a plane on it but even if i had the one with the creepy shirtless man i probably wouldnt have even realised, as he just looked like the classic 'tall, dark and handsome' MMC in literally all romance books.
➞ The only reason why i new the MFC was mixed was because her dad was describe as black and her mum was described as white. Nowhere does the MFC explictly state she is a biracial women. The characteristics used to describe the MFC is 'curly hair, blue-green eyes, freckles, and tanned skin'. Read that description and dont tell me that that couldnt be describing any single race in existence. Even white people can tan ffs.
➞ And then the author tried to tackle a serious and heavy topic that I, a mixed race girl with a white mum, wouldnt even feel comfortable writing as thankfully my mum is not racist so i wouldnt feel i could accurately the portray the self loathing and emotions you would feel growing up in an environment like that. Let alone a white women trying it, as evident from the scenes in the book. Again, nowhere does the MFC state that he mother is RACIST towards her, just that she holds a random grudge or something. And dont get me started on the fact her black dad tried to justify it by saying the mother has suffered 'generation trauma' as thats how her own mum treated her.....ok but it is now a completely different dynamic with new implications that the author does not touch upon.
➞ Unfortunately the MMC descriptions were way too subtle to even interpret them as a black man. Apparantly the only things the author associates with black men are 'gold rings and black tattoos that barely stand out from his skin'........ I cant even its almost laughable. Oh and also he was a womaniser and bad boy ofc. Again, no where does the author explicitly state he was a black man, that description could be any race, from the weird shirtless man cover i would have guessed latino or something like that. We didnt even get a description of the race of his parents to help us out like Dora the explorer trying to deduct clues.
Again the MMC briefly mentioned at the end how 'he doesnt look like anyone else on the ice' and that he is glad he has made it this far. But the author never touched upon how his race has impacted his career, or said the word RACISM again. I dont know whether to be glad at that though because of how bad the whole thing with the MFC's mum went it would probably be equally bad.
➞ I wouldnt say that these characters didnt 'act black' as obviously black people are not a monolith, but what i will say is that it lacked black culture. I mean it could even be little things.
For example, the MFC actually caring about her hair and not leaving it unwashed in a bun. Coming from a mixed race girl with curly hair, my hair is definitely the thing i care most about of my appearance and spend the most time on lol.
She could have a brief sentence of putting a bonnet on before bed or going to a Black ladies salon to get a silk press before that event where she had straight hair. Or when she went to get her nails done with that little girl she could have taken her to get her hair braided or something.
Or with the MFC being a foodie she could have had a scene cooking her great grandmas southern soul comfort food recipe or something, or her dad could have cooked it with her when he visited. SOMETHING ANYTHING PLEASE.
➞ Dont get me wrong I am not saying that authors cannot write characters of a different race to them. But when they are this uninformed and clearly do not want to touch on the issues and experience people of that race can face then i have a right to be frustrated.
Internalised misogyny/unwarrented vilifying:
The author clearly hates her mum or has been bullied by girls because why are all the female characters villains? Examples:
➞ MFC's mom. I wouldnt have included her in this section if that storyline was handled correctly and written to be genuine but it wasnt. It could have been so good like i see the potential of added dimention to the MFC and an explanation for her feelings, but if it was written by someone else.
➞ MMC's mom. Her character wasnt fleshed out in the slightest. All we ever heared of her was
hushed whispers that enabled us to realise she was a touchy subject from the dad, sister, or MMC, but we only get one scene where the mom is actually there in person. This is why all the conflict feels so one dimentional because we either have cartoon villains or in this moms case where it feels like they have stumbled into the scene, gets shouted at by an angsty character, and then booted out of the door never to be seen again and the MCs are vindicated.
➞ MFC's Nashville friends. Why just why. They didnt add anything and were obviously there to compliment the MFC's racist mom plot but fell flat. It portrayed these women to be extremely superficial, only caring about looks and men, and taking advantaged of the MFC to get to the hocky boys. It just made me feel frustrated by the MFC's lack of backbone to tell them to f off. Maybe im just extremely selfish and i havent noticed but if i recognise i hate myself around the same people then im not going to hang around them any longer. And then we had that pick me scene where the MMC chose the MFC right infront of the friends to make them jealous.
➞ Tara the other flight attendant. Right off the bat she was made out to be a cartoon villain. Not one word in and shes already implying the MFC is fat and telling them to stay away from the boys in the team (again another thing i agree with bc how awkward and weird if the team are dating the flight attendants, but maybe im forgetting this is fiction). But OMFG how hypocritical are MFC and her flight attendant friend. They criticise Tara for telling them to stay away from the boys but then she is apparantly flirting with the agents or whatever. But MFC was literally being a massive hypocrit too because you cant criticise Tara for liking them while actually getting with one yourself!!!!!! EVERYONE IS A HYPOCRIT IN THIS SITUATION WHY IS TARA MADE OUT TO BE THE VILLAIN. Dont get me started how at the end Tara is FIRED for fratenising and MFC laughs at it when you are literally in a relationship with one of the players!!!!!!!!! I dont understand how blind everyone is. Justice for Tara honestly. She wanted exactly what the MFC has but failed miserably but is somehow the bad guy.
➞ I HATED the MFC's use of the terms 'puck bunny', 'jersey chaser', 'WAG'. Just call all other women sluts why dont you. The way to make the curvy MFC feel good about herself is not to make her an internalised misogynist (i guess it fits with her mommy issues but i still hate it). She brings down all the women who is not in her inner circle just because they are thin and pretty and get male attention.
For example, she is at a function or something with her brother and a women comes up to her brother basically saying hey and inviting him to come hang out with her if she wants. But the MFC is adamantly against it saying you cannot go out with 'HER'. Please sit down and tell me what is it is about 'her' that makes you hate her so much. She hasnt spoken more than 5 sentences, you dont know her at all, and yet you are judging her based on what grounds? Literally in the first half of the book you wanted your brother to start dating, so which is it?
Another example of when MFC was sitting with the friend's wife separate from the other 'WAGs' because apparantly they are fake and only after fame and money. Sure. You are just so special that you are the only wife of the team that fell in love because of a pure connection, no one else who is in a relationship with a sportsman has ever done that. Honestly all the women in this friendship group are seriously insecure and vile.
I HATE how the one character who isnt 'obsessed' with the hockey boys is the one who gets to be with one in the end. I hate hate hate the dangerous anti women narrative this book was pushing, especially if the readers relate to the MFC.
Honestly Liz who hurt you?
General plot points:
➞ This book had very weird sibling relationships. You know how i mentioned where the MFC was against her brother dating that woman? I genuinely thought it was going to turn into this weird thing where she wanted him to date her and have him all to herself. Honestly they were so possessive of each other and she was constantly mentioning how he was 'shirtless' and im like why does this sister keep noticing that about her brother.
Lindsey or Lindsay idk the MMC's sister was the absolute worst. She was a lesbian character (well not explicitly stated of course) who talks about how she has 'stolen' girls off the MMC before and when he showed her a pick of MFC the first thing she said was look at that ass. Does the author like to be objectified? Why is everyone who is attracted to women in this book so weird about it.
➞ Third act conflict sucked as always. The MMC broke up with her to 'protect her from himself' (where is the therapy) and then three pages later regretted it. Can men stop acting irrationally and then come crawling back in books its not cute. I know people like grovelling but i hate it it seems so immature. And now they are getting married for somereason? pfft good luck. At no point did i think they were a cute couple or was excited for their relationship.
➞ Hated every character they were so bland.
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I was anticipating this read so much and it definitely paid off. This is the first book i have ever annotated and had so much fun doing so.
➢ Ok my first point is just a little negative thing but then ill move onto the best bits. I wonder what reading this book would be like if you hate Bella and are not team Edward because those things are obviously very central to this book. In some places when Edward was describing Bella's great qualities it was almost in a telling not showing way, which read like Stephenie Meyer was trying to show everyone who hates Bella why she is not as bad as they make out. Now i didnt really mind it because i love Bella anyway from just reading her perspective but i can imagine how annoying that could be if you are not a Bella stan and you have to read about Edward just gushing over qualities that you dont think Bella has.
➢ Onto a more positive note i love Edwards mind. He is so dramatic and unintentionally funny. It was great being in his mind and seeing how a 100 year old vampire was trying to fit into a mortal teenagers world, i think it goes against the criticism that Edward doesnt have a personality, i think he is just compared to Jacob who is just so loud and eager that his peacefulness is seen as boring. Again like with the first twilight book i loved the enemies bit at the start and the whole debate about killing her and stuff, we get to see stuff we didnt know about from Bella's perspective.
It would be interesting to see what the reaction would have been to twilight if the original works were from Edwards perspective. The books are described as creepy and toxic etc and yeah i dont agree with him staying in Bellas room without permission but i think hearing Edwards side makes the overprotectiveness thing more nuanced and more understandable? but i dont know, ive never found the overprotectiveness that annoying so maybe im biased. But yeah i wonder if we only knew about Bella from Edwards perspective how she would be perceived by readers. But i loved seeing another side to their relationship and how scared he was about Bella not liking him it was really sweet.
➢ Loved how we got more of the Cullens and their dynamic. Being able to hear the characters thoughts through Edwards mind really added some layers to the characters that may not have been shown just through their thoughts and actions. For example, Jasper seemed way more 'boyish' and playful in this compared to how Bella sees him when hes trying to control himself, and i loved how carefree Emmett is. I also liked Rosalies and Edwards dynamic of siblings who wished the other didnt exist i thought it was funny and brought some humanity to the Cullens. OMG the flashback scenes with Carlisle and Esme almost made me cry they were so cute.
➢ Also like how we got Edwards perspective on school and Bella's friends. Im honestly suprised that the kids in the school thought the Cullens were weird bc i would have thought they would be the popular kids. I guess if they are always keeping to themselves and people get the adrenaline reactions from looking at them then i guess it makes sense, and it would be annoying how smart they are lol.
I loved his hatred of Mike Newton it was so funny his jealously when he would speak to Bella. I am kinda sad that Jessica is kinda mean because i really liked how bubbly and fun she was from Bella's perspective. I guess thats just Bella seeing the good in people though. Also Edward being a matchmaker for Angela is so nice of him.
➢ It was also interesting to read about Renee and Charlie from Edwards perspective. It was cool that how clearly Edward can read a person's mind is kind of like how their personality is. Like Charlies mind being very difficult to read is probably like how he stays out of Bella's way and doesnt want to be a nuisance. Im still conflicted over whether i like Charlie bc in this book he isnt too bad but i remember being annoyed at him from Bella's perspective.
I honestly hate hate hate hate Renee. Urgh she needs a serious reality check she is so selfish and manipulative. Like Edward it would be cool to see what Renee would be like as a Vampire. I personally feel she would be like James who loves the chase and finds it exciting, as Renee cant even stay in one place if it means raising her daughter. Her mind being like someone is shouting to Edward is interesting and i guess it reflects how she comes before anyone else in a lot of peoples minds and how good she is at manipulating. eww.
➢ Even if you arent team Edward i think this book is still pretty nice to Jacob. It isnt until the prom seen so at the end where Edward is hostile towards Jacob, as he realises he could be a threat. In the book Edward compliments him as honest and pure which i thought was pretty nice. It just makes me sad how down hill Jacob goes in New Moon and i wish his character was still likeable because i miss Twilight/Midnight sun jacob.
What this book did confirm to me was how much i hate the stupid stupid smelly wolves. I do not care about them at all they feel superiour for no reason and it annoys me to no end. Billy suckssssssss balls hard if i was Edward i would not have had that self control and would have booted him into next week. I dont care if the wolves and vampires befriend in the end blah blah blah i just dont care for them at all.
➢ OMG honestly the car chase bit of the book made me feel like i was in baby driver or something. It was sooooooo cool and satisfying how they used their powers to be super efficient in getting to Bella. Alice using her future sight to tell Edward directions so he can swerve around traffic, when the side mirrors broke off Edward using his mind reading to use Jasper and Alice as wing mirrors, Jasper being like a drug to keep Edward focused and in control. SO SO cool. I wish i could see it in a move with some music over the top as that would have me on the edge of my seat.
It honestly felt the book had turned into like a crime novel and Alice was the detective coming up with ways to hide the crime in order to get away with it. It was interesting getting their side of the story and how much they had to work together in order to protect Bella. It showed how much they care about her and was probably the most interesting thing they had done in years lol.
But yeah this book was really good. Im annoyed that it took me ages to read because ive been super busy but hopefully next time i read it i have more time to enjoy it in one go. It lived up to expectations.
➢ Ok my first point is just a little negative thing but then ill move onto the best bits. I wonder what reading this book would be like if you hate Bella and are not team Edward because those things are obviously very central to this book. In some places when Edward was describing Bella's great qualities it was almost in a telling not showing way, which read like Stephenie Meyer was trying to show everyone who hates Bella why she is not as bad as they make out. Now i didnt really mind it because i love Bella anyway from just reading her perspective but i can imagine how annoying that could be if you are not a Bella stan and you have to read about Edward just gushing over qualities that you dont think Bella has.
➢ Onto a more positive note i love Edwards mind. He is so dramatic and unintentionally funny. It was great being in his mind and seeing how a 100 year old vampire was trying to fit into a mortal teenagers world, i think it goes against the criticism that Edward doesnt have a personality, i think he is just compared to Jacob who is just so loud and eager that his peacefulness is seen as boring. Again like with the first twilight book i loved the enemies bit at the start and the whole debate about killing her and stuff, we get to see stuff we didnt know about from Bella's perspective.
It would be interesting to see what the reaction would have been to twilight if the original works were from Edwards perspective. The books are described as creepy and toxic etc and yeah i dont agree with him staying in Bellas room without permission but i think hearing Edwards side makes the overprotectiveness thing more nuanced and more understandable? but i dont know, ive never found the overprotectiveness that annoying so maybe im biased. But yeah i wonder if we only knew about Bella from Edwards perspective how she would be perceived by readers. But i loved seeing another side to their relationship and how scared he was about Bella not liking him it was really sweet.
➢ Loved how we got more of the Cullens and their dynamic. Being able to hear the characters thoughts through Edwards mind really added some layers to the characters that may not have been shown just through their thoughts and actions. For example, Jasper seemed way more 'boyish' and playful in this compared to how Bella sees him when hes trying to control himself, and i loved how carefree Emmett is. I also liked Rosalies and Edwards dynamic of siblings who wished the other didnt exist i thought it was funny and brought some humanity to the Cullens. OMG the flashback scenes with Carlisle and Esme almost made me cry they were so cute.
➢ Also like how we got Edwards perspective on school and Bella's friends. Im honestly suprised that the kids in the school thought the Cullens were weird bc i would have thought they would be the popular kids. I guess if they are always keeping to themselves and people get the adrenaline reactions from looking at them then i guess it makes sense, and it would be annoying how smart they are lol.
I loved his hatred of Mike Newton it was so funny his jealously when he would speak to Bella. I am kinda sad that Jessica is kinda mean because i really liked how bubbly and fun she was from Bella's perspective. I guess thats just Bella seeing the good in people though. Also Edward being a matchmaker for Angela is so nice of him.
➢ It was also interesting to read about Renee and Charlie from Edwards perspective. It was cool that how clearly Edward can read a person's mind is kind of like how their personality is. Like Charlies mind being very difficult to read is probably like how he stays out of Bella's way and doesnt want to be a nuisance. Im still conflicted over whether i like Charlie bc in this book he isnt too bad but i remember being annoyed at him from Bella's perspective.
I honestly hate hate hate hate Renee. Urgh she needs a serious reality check she is so selfish and manipulative. Like Edward it would be cool to see what Renee would be like as a Vampire. I personally feel she would be like James who loves the chase and finds it exciting, as Renee cant even stay in one place if it means raising her daughter. Her mind being like someone is shouting to Edward is interesting and i guess it reflects how she comes before anyone else in a lot of peoples minds and how good she is at manipulating. eww.
➢ Even if you arent team Edward i think this book is still pretty nice to Jacob. It isnt until the prom seen so at the end where Edward is hostile towards Jacob, as he realises he could be a threat. In the book Edward compliments him as honest and pure which i thought was pretty nice. It just makes me sad how down hill Jacob goes in New Moon and i wish his character was still likeable because i miss Twilight/Midnight sun jacob.
What this book did confirm to me was how much i hate the stupid stupid smelly wolves. I do not care about them at all they feel superiour for no reason and it annoys me to no end. Billy suckssssssss balls hard if i was Edward i would not have had that self control and would have booted him into next week. I dont care if the wolves and vampires befriend in the end blah blah blah i just dont care for them at all.
➢ OMG honestly the car chase bit of the book made me feel like i was in baby driver or something. It was sooooooo cool and satisfying how they used their powers to be super efficient in getting to Bella. Alice using her future sight to tell Edward directions so he can swerve around traffic, when the side mirrors broke off Edward using his mind reading to use Jasper and Alice as wing mirrors, Jasper being like a drug to keep Edward focused and in control. SO SO cool. I wish i could see it in a move with some music over the top as that would have me on the edge of my seat.
It honestly felt the book had turned into like a crime novel and Alice was the detective coming up with ways to hide the crime in order to get away with it. It was interesting getting their side of the story and how much they had to work together in order to protect Bella. It showed how much they care about her and was probably the most interesting thing they had done in years lol.
But yeah this book was really good. Im annoyed that it took me ages to read because ive been super busy but hopefully next time i read it i have more time to enjoy it in one go. It lived up to expectations.
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I didn't like this one as much as the main series but im unsure if that is due to the actual content or whether its because its just one long run on chapter.
That was the most frustrating thing i do think it was long enough to have individual chapters, or atleast have a little symbol in between paragraphs to act like break. Honestly this is more for my reading enjoyment but i understand how it could be a stylistic choice to have it be one long chapter with no breaks as thats what Bree's life is like. She cannot sleep as she doesnt follow the normal human sleep/wake cycle like the Cullens do so life is like a long chapter to her i guess.
However I like how the other side of things were explored in the book that we didnt see in Eclipse. I liked the insight into how Victoria created her army and how they were manipulated and lied to. It was funny reading about them being afraid of the sun but it shows how clueless they were about the whole thing and they were basically lead to their death.
It was also interesting hearing about the behind the scenes with the Voluri, I cant remember if its cannon that the Edward knew the Volturi knew about the newborns but then did nothing about them to try and get the the Cullens to die. Its interesting as it shows the dynamics between the Voluri and the attitudes they have towards the Cullens where they are intimidated and then use dirty tactics to try and get rid of them. This makes me appreciate breaking dawn a bit more an the whole battle scene where it is just them talking. I think the politics and power dynamics in twilight is interesting.
I wish Diego and Bree's relationship was explored a bit more because again they suddenly kissed and liked each other but we barely had an interaction. It made the betrayal of Riley less impactful as i didnt really care about them yet so when Bree is talking about missing Diego i didnt share the same feelings and was also confused about why shes so sad if its only been a day. Again i can understand how their fast relationship could show how little you can trust each other in the Vampire world outside of the Cullens and that if you want to survive you need to latch onto someone quickly, so if one person shows a little bit of respect youre suddenly in love. I need to remember that this is a short story, and that maybe if this was more drawn out with Diego and Bree having a relationship from earlier it would have been better.
This is also a Freaky Fred appreciation post i love his ability hes so cool.
That was the most frustrating thing i do think it was long enough to have individual chapters, or atleast have a little symbol in between paragraphs to act like break. Honestly this is more for my reading enjoyment but i understand how it could be a stylistic choice to have it be one long chapter with no breaks as thats what Bree's life is like. She cannot sleep as she doesnt follow the normal human sleep/wake cycle like the Cullens do so life is like a long chapter to her i guess.
However I like how the other side of things were explored in the book that we didnt see in Eclipse. I liked the insight into how Victoria created her army and how they were manipulated and lied to. It was funny reading about them being afraid of the sun but it shows how clueless they were about the whole thing and they were basically lead to their death.
It was also interesting hearing about the behind the scenes with the Voluri, I cant remember if its cannon that the Edward knew the Volturi knew about the newborns but then did nothing about them to try and get the the Cullens to die. Its interesting as it shows the dynamics between the Voluri and the attitudes they have towards the Cullens where they are intimidated and then use dirty tactics to try and get rid of them. This makes me appreciate breaking dawn a bit more an the whole battle scene where it is just them talking. I think the politics and power dynamics in twilight is interesting.
I wish Diego and Bree's relationship was explored a bit more because again they suddenly kissed and liked each other but we barely had an interaction. It made the betrayal of Riley less impactful as i didnt really care about them yet so when Bree is talking about missing Diego i didnt share the same feelings and was also confused about why shes so sad if its only been a day. Again i can understand how their fast relationship could show how little you can trust each other in the Vampire world outside of the Cullens and that if you want to survive you need to latch onto someone quickly, so if one person shows a little bit of respect youre suddenly in love. I need to remember that this is a short story, and that maybe if this was more drawn out with Diego and Bree having a relationship from earlier it would have been better.
This is also a Freaky Fred appreciation post i love his ability hes so cool.
Gallant by V.E. Schwab
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book was simultaneously too descriptive but not detailed enough, and dragged out but also rushed. This feels like a draft of notes you would find scribbled down on a napkin.
- I did not like the writing style of the book. It relied on very long descriptions of every single second yet it did not add anything. I had to read a description of something multiple times in order to get an image of what it was like in my head. It wasnt very effective and made the book so slow, we are told everything yet nothing at the same time.
- The characters were not fleshed out and I did not connect to any of them. The most frustrating character was Death. I mean he was literally Death and the main villain in the story yet we knew nothing about him. He was not creepy or scary, just a stereotypical kind of villain who just talks but then does nothing and gets stopped by a random teenage girl.
- The plot was horrendous if not non existent. This book was very slow from the beginning and very repetitive. Its just this girl going around a big house and reading her mother's diary, which was very boring and we did not need to see the excerpts as many times as we did.
And then when there is finally an 'adventure' it makes no sense and is soooo predictable. Why do we have to go tonight? its in 6 hours just sleep and wait for the next night so you can prepare better? The plot is just nothing nothing nothing then a very sudden change of pace which is why i said it is both slow and rushed.
It was so easy for the main character to escape that one of the characters had to be killed to make it look like there was a struggle when there really wasnt.
The most frustrating thing is at the end we are back at the beginning!!!!!!!!! absolutely nothing has changed i am so confuseddd. What was the point of going behind the wall if all your going to do is just shut death back out but then be stuck in the same cycle again. Why on earth would Olivia stay in Gallant if apparantly Death hasnt haunted her dreams yet. Knock the house down and move to Australia like what.
Frustrating, anticlimactic, and unsatisfying im glad its over.
- I did not like the writing style of the book. It relied on very long descriptions of every single second yet it did not add anything. I had to read a description of something multiple times in order to get an image of what it was like in my head. It wasnt very effective and made the book so slow, we are told everything yet nothing at the same time.
- The characters were not fleshed out and I did not connect to any of them. The most frustrating character was Death. I mean he was literally Death and the main villain in the story yet we knew nothing about him. He was not creepy or scary, just a stereotypical kind of villain who just talks but then does nothing and gets stopped by a random teenage girl.
- The plot was horrendous if not non existent. This book was very slow from the beginning and very repetitive. Its just this girl going around a big house and reading her mother's diary, which was very boring and we did not need to see the excerpts as many times as we did.
And then when there is finally an 'adventure' it makes no sense and is soooo predictable. Why do we have to go tonight? its in 6 hours just sleep and wait for the next night so you can prepare better? The plot is just nothing nothing nothing then a very sudden change of pace which is why i said it is both slow and rushed.
It was so easy for the main character to escape that one of the characters had to be killed to make it look like there was a struggle when there really wasnt.
The most frustrating thing is at the end we are back at the beginning!!!!!!!!! absolutely nothing has changed i am so confuseddd. What was the point of going behind the wall if all your going to do is just shut death back out but then be stuck in the same cycle again. Why on earth would Olivia stay in Gallant if apparantly Death hasnt haunted her dreams yet. Knock the house down and move to Australia like what.
Frustrating, anticlimactic, and unsatisfying im glad its over.
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5 rounded down
I was not rooting for these characters to get together at all. The ending felt so underwhelming they were professing their love and i was like... OK? get on with it already.
First of all I dislike a lot of the characters in this book, ranging from mild annoyance at their general vibe to frustrated at their existence.
- Fern is so indecisive and just bleh its insane. She has dreams of becoming a cosy coffee shop owner in a big city because of course she does and all of the other ones are too basic in her opinion. But she will never be able to afford it unless she sells the resort she grew up in, that she absolutely does not want to work in whatsoever. But then when a listing for her dream property comes up shes just apathetic about it? and im like what this has been your dream for more than 10 years. I just cant understand how she gives up her coffee shop dream to working in her mum's resort so quickly. I bet soon shes going to regret her decision and we are back to square one because thats just the kind of person she is.
I guess I just didnt vibe with her as we have different personalities and perspectives so often a lot of her mindless thoughts were boring and frustrating to read. I also automatically hate characters whos personalities revolve around loving Toronto or Seattle or New York or whatever other big city the author lives in. Probably because i cant relate and it also makes them seem pretentious like they are just this tortured soul trying to make it in the big city.
Speaking about tortured souls i hated her rebellious teenage phase thing where she basically was a terrible person to everyone around her and set fire to their family house because she wanted to be cool and edgy and throw a party. idk cant relate just made her more unlikeable to me. It also isnt clear why shes angry. She read her mum's diary and then went off the rails because she found out her dad walked out and Peter isnt the father? like she already knew that idk what her problem is.
OMG and then when her and Will have their third act conflict she literally goes and TRIES TO BURN DOWN HIS CLOTHES and im like you need therapy what sort of reaction is that.
- Did not like Will, again pretentious art person in big city who thinks theyre indie but their Mum is like a millionaire famous artist. He also needs to sort himself out and work on his communication problems. TWICE hes not bothered to text Fern about where he is and if hes ok. Honestly just so annoying i didnt find him attractive or anything. The whole "i thought i would be different uwu" thing is stupid and pathetic (sorry im salty lol).
- Also werent a big fan of the side characters. This book is meant to have elements of mother/daughter relationships and coping with grief and regret. Yeah that would have been nice if the mother and daughter werent annoying as hell. This is probably a bad representation of how Maggie actually was because we only get to read about her in her diary, which probably exagerrates stuff and is written in a personal tone, but it was just sooo urgh like eye roll worthy.
Hated Whitney because i dont like when best friends have this whole "if you break her heart ill kill you rant". It just feels so performative and honestly goes against boundries like why are you trying to get involved in my relationship you have no authority and it doesnt involve you.
I also didnt like Jamie and Peter as much as the other reviews did. They were just ordinary people.
- The plot was kind of boring and weird. I could kind of tell from the summary that i wasnt gonna vibe with this, which is a shame because i really enjoyed every summer after, but it was just something about how big of the gap is between them meeting that is just a bit ridiculous.
First of all i didnt really believe their "chemistry" when they first met. Seemed like just an ordinary day to me walking around the city they love and wont shut up about even though no one cares. Literally nothing happened to where i would understand the agreement to meet up a year later with no contact.
Thats another thing thats weird is why Will didnt giver her his phone number? Honestly that probably would have saved a lot of this mess as they probably would have texted everyday until they eventually burned out, never message again and then this whole thing wouldn't have happened as Fern wouldnt be waiting for him at the dock.
That was another stupid thing, Will went to the dock and then didnt actually speak to fern..... im sorry but that is so dumb and unforgivable if i was fern i would be furious. What was the point. Seriously.
And then to top that all off theres the obvious third act conflict caused by miscommunication which could have been solved in two seconds with a note or a text. Yay i was so glad when i got to that part, so fun.
Honestly after saying all this it was a basically decent read, but boring and had a LOT of things to nitpick as ive shown.
I was not rooting for these characters to get together at all. The ending felt so underwhelming they were professing their love and i was like... OK? get on with it already.
First of all I dislike a lot of the characters in this book, ranging from mild annoyance at their general vibe to frustrated at their existence.
- Fern is so indecisive and just bleh its insane. She has dreams of becoming a cosy coffee shop owner in a big city because of course she does and all of the other ones are too basic in her opinion. But she will never be able to afford it unless she sells the resort she grew up in, that she absolutely does not want to work in whatsoever. But then when a listing for her dream property comes up shes just apathetic about it? and im like what this has been your dream for more than 10 years. I just cant understand how she gives up her coffee shop dream to working in her mum's resort so quickly. I bet soon shes going to regret her decision and we are back to square one because thats just the kind of person she is.
I guess I just didnt vibe with her as we have different personalities and perspectives so often a lot of her mindless thoughts were boring and frustrating to read. I also automatically hate characters whos personalities revolve around loving Toronto or Seattle or New York or whatever other big city the author lives in. Probably because i cant relate and it also makes them seem pretentious like they are just this tortured soul trying to make it in the big city.
Speaking about tortured souls i hated her rebellious teenage phase thing where she basically was a terrible person to everyone around her and set fire to their family house because she wanted to be cool and edgy and throw a party. idk cant relate just made her more unlikeable to me. It also isnt clear why shes angry. She read her mum's diary and then went off the rails because she found out her dad walked out and Peter isnt the father? like she already knew that idk what her problem is.
OMG and then when her and Will have their third act conflict she literally goes and TRIES TO BURN DOWN HIS CLOTHES and im like you need therapy what sort of reaction is that.
- Did not like Will, again pretentious art person in big city who thinks theyre indie but their Mum is like a millionaire famous artist. He also needs to sort himself out and work on his communication problems. TWICE hes not bothered to text Fern about where he is and if hes ok. Honestly just so annoying i didnt find him attractive or anything. The whole "i thought i would be different uwu" thing is stupid and pathetic (sorry im salty lol).
- Also werent a big fan of the side characters. This book is meant to have elements of mother/daughter relationships and coping with grief and regret. Yeah that would have been nice if the mother and daughter werent annoying as hell. This is probably a bad representation of how Maggie actually was because we only get to read about her in her diary, which probably exagerrates stuff and is written in a personal tone, but it was just sooo urgh like eye roll worthy.
Hated Whitney because i dont like when best friends have this whole "if you break her heart ill kill you rant". It just feels so performative and honestly goes against boundries like why are you trying to get involved in my relationship you have no authority and it doesnt involve you.
I also didnt like Jamie and Peter as much as the other reviews did. They were just ordinary people.
- The plot was kind of boring and weird. I could kind of tell from the summary that i wasnt gonna vibe with this, which is a shame because i really enjoyed every summer after, but it was just something about how big of the gap is between them meeting that is just a bit ridiculous.
First of all i didnt really believe their "chemistry" when they first met. Seemed like just an ordinary day to me walking around the city they love and wont shut up about even though no one cares. Literally nothing happened to where i would understand the agreement to meet up a year later with no contact.
Thats another thing thats weird is why Will didnt giver her his phone number? Honestly that probably would have saved a lot of this mess as they probably would have texted everyday until they eventually burned out, never message again and then this whole thing wouldn't have happened as Fern wouldnt be waiting for him at the dock.
That was another stupid thing, Will went to the dock and then didnt actually speak to fern..... im sorry but that is so dumb and unforgivable if i was fern i would be furious. What was the point. Seriously.
And then to top that all off theres the obvious third act conflict caused by miscommunication which could have been solved in two seconds with a note or a text. Yay i was so glad when i got to that part, so fun.
Honestly after saying all this it was a basically decent read, but boring and had a LOT of things to nitpick as ive shown.
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-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? No
3.5
It doesnt feel like ive finished the twilight saga...i dont know it just feels a little underwhelming. Not neccesarily in a bad way because its not like i hated anything that happened, i think i just have to get my head around a non dramatic ending. Especially after sort of knowing what happens at the end of BD part 2 so i was expecting something that didnt happen which im grateful for because its sad, but then it also felt weird because i didnt realise how divergent the movie is from the book canon.
Thinking about it I do like this whole mindgames thing that happened in the field, and how they were trying to outsmart eachother. Literally like a game of chess, which is the cover. And then Bella represents the Queen as she was a key piece in protecting everyone and letting the trial continue. I think ill be able to appreciate the ending more if i re-read as i now know nothing terrible is going to happen, which was what i was bracing for lol, so i can let myself relax and take it in.
-Starting the book I really enjoyed part one of Bella's perspective. As soon as i read the first sentence i was excited to be reading a twilight book again. Great vibes, loved the wedding and the angsty nervousness on Esme's Island. It was cute, then the big massive plot twist happens and im drawn in 100%.....and then it suddenly switches to Jacobs view.
- I was not feeling Jacobs view at all. After what happened in eclipse im not sure i like Jacob that much and i also dont find him that interesting when he's not having banter with Bella. Im sure SM wanting to add this for people who prefer the wolves to get a better insight into how they operate and stuff but it just feels badly placed. It was like you reached a cliffhanger, and then you have to watch the next episode play out in slow motion while youre desperately wishing it away so you can find out what happens next. Honestly im not sure if i would actually read Jacob's part if i was doing a reread. Im not that interested in the whole shifting dynamic with the pack, and i also don't really care for Leah or Seth.
I will say the only bit i do like is it works out how the Cullens get past the treaty thing and that whole stuff. I do like the wolves but only when its interaction with the cullens or about the Quileute.
- I dont know whether its because i was reading this during a busy week of my life but the pacing felt a little slow, especially Bella's pregnancy and the gathering of allies at the end. It did feel as though some chapters could be removed as it was just the characters sitting around. Im sure this was to build tension and maybe if i was reading in the right mindset i would have appreciated it a bit more. I feel like this book has great highs and low lows.
- Okay so Bella's part 2 perspective felt like another book which i have seen people say and I agree with. It was more like gathering all of Carlise's friends and preparing for battle. However I lovedddddd when Bella got turned i was so happy for her to get what she finally wanted. I also loved reading about everyone's ability, i thought i was cool how different everyone was. It is a shame we didnt get to see how they would play out in battle but oh well. Bella's power being her shield is so cute and rewarding for her, shes felt like shes a weak little fragile mortal for the whole time shes been around the Cullens, and then she got a chance to finally be the vital part of their family to protect them from a massive threat. I did like that aspect of the 'battle' and was rooting for Bella.
- I like Renesmee, at first i was scared she'd throw the whole tone of the book off but i think she actually fit pretty well and i like how it kind of helped Edward through turning Bella as it was basically the only way to save her. I think Renesmee Carlie Cullen is a cute name (dont shoot me i just think every name other then mine is cool and interesting lol) and she has such a sweet power. I love how her ability is a flip on Edwards.
At first i loved Rosalie because I liked how she still had a longing for her human life and was a nice contrast to Bella, i liked their conflict. However in this i realised how much her longing for children would harm Bella and she just took on this new personality that i did not like. I forgive Bella for loving Nessie even though she was killing her, she loves Edward and Nessie's a product of that, of course she would want to protect it. But Rosalie was just a bit much and its a shame because i thought i would really like her character.
I think this book was missing the essential part of twilight, Bella and Edwards relationship. We have part 1 of the book which had the wedding and island, but then after that it was focused on something else. There were a view cute moments such as nights after Bella had turned, and holding eachother's hand in the baseball clearing nearly made me cry, but that was not enough for me lol. I also feel like there were barely any family scenes with Bella, Edward, and Renesmee all interacting which i think is due to there being so many characters in the Cullen house. It was so cute when Edward gave Renesmee an ipod I just wish there were more scenes because he's probably a cute dad.
Unanswered questions i have about twilight lol:
- How did Edward make Renesmee... like in the book there was this whole thing about how Mens bodies barely change throughout their life, but then women's bodies have to change in order to have children? I dont know but surely Edward isnt producing sperm right. Like they dont pee or anything sooooo the logistics are off. I dont know why im trying to understand the logic behind a fantasy book but this was just something i was thinking whle reading lol.
- Also another thing. So apparantly Vampires dont pee or number 2, they only fart....um so if they fart in the living room is that the Vampire equivalant of pooping in the middle of the room? Like do they go to the bathroom to fart? does farting have the same connotations as it does for humans? I also dont know where i got this information so its probably not even something SM said lmao but im still confused
But anyways i still really enjoyed the twilight saga and the first movie has become the background noise of my life. Im excited to read her other books they seem a good way to get back into this world, i also want to do a reread maybe over the summer or something. If i read this when i was younger i cant imagine how obsessed i would be, at least i can catch up on my obsession now lol.
Im team Edward and im not sorry about it.
Thinking about it I do like this whole mindgames thing that happened in the field, and how they were trying to outsmart eachother. Literally like a game of chess, which is the cover. And then Bella represents the Queen as she was a key piece in protecting everyone and letting the trial continue. I think ill be able to appreciate the ending more if i re-read as i now know nothing terrible is going to happen, which was what i was bracing for lol, so i can let myself relax and take it in.
-Starting the book I really enjoyed part one of Bella's perspective. As soon as i read the first sentence i was excited to be reading a twilight book again. Great vibes, loved the wedding and the angsty nervousness on Esme's Island. It was cute, then the big massive plot twist happens and im drawn in 100%.....and then it suddenly switches to Jacobs view.
- I was not feeling Jacobs view at all. After what happened in eclipse im not sure i like Jacob that much and i also dont find him that interesting when he's not having banter with Bella. Im sure SM wanting to add this for people who prefer the wolves to get a better insight into how they operate and stuff but it just feels badly placed. It was like you reached a cliffhanger, and then you have to watch the next episode play out in slow motion while youre desperately wishing it away so you can find out what happens next. Honestly im not sure if i would actually read Jacob's part if i was doing a reread. Im not that interested in the whole shifting dynamic with the pack, and i also don't really care for Leah or Seth.
I will say the only bit i do like is it works out how the Cullens get past the treaty thing and that whole stuff. I do like the wolves but only when its interaction with the cullens or about the Quileute.
- I dont know whether its because i was reading this during a busy week of my life but the pacing felt a little slow, especially Bella's pregnancy and the gathering of allies at the end. It did feel as though some chapters could be removed as it was just the characters sitting around. Im sure this was to build tension and maybe if i was reading in the right mindset i would have appreciated it a bit more. I feel like this book has great highs and low lows.
- Okay so Bella's part 2 perspective felt like another book which i have seen people say and I agree with. It was more like gathering all of Carlise's friends and preparing for battle. However I lovedddddd when Bella got turned i was so happy for her to get what she finally wanted. I also loved reading about everyone's ability, i thought i was cool how different everyone was. It is a shame we didnt get to see how they would play out in battle but oh well. Bella's power being her shield is so cute and rewarding for her, shes felt like shes a weak little fragile mortal for the whole time shes been around the Cullens, and then she got a chance to finally be the vital part of their family to protect them from a massive threat. I did like that aspect of the 'battle' and was rooting for Bella.
- I like Renesmee, at first i was scared she'd throw the whole tone of the book off but i think she actually fit pretty well and i like how it kind of helped Edward through turning Bella as it was basically the only way to save her. I think Renesmee Carlie Cullen is a cute name (dont shoot me i just think every name other then mine is cool and interesting lol) and she has such a sweet power. I love how her ability is a flip on Edwards.
At first i loved Rosalie because I liked how she still had a longing for her human life and was a nice contrast to Bella, i liked their conflict. However in this i realised how much her longing for children would harm Bella and she just took on this new personality that i did not like. I forgive Bella for loving Nessie even though she was killing her, she loves Edward and Nessie's a product of that, of course she would want to protect it. But Rosalie was just a bit much and its a shame because i thought i would really like her character.
I think this book was missing the essential part of twilight, Bella and Edwards relationship. We have part 1 of the book which had the wedding and island, but then after that it was focused on something else. There were a view cute moments such as nights after Bella had turned, and holding eachother's hand in the baseball clearing nearly made me cry, but that was not enough for me lol. I also feel like there were barely any family scenes with Bella, Edward, and Renesmee all interacting which i think is due to there being so many characters in the Cullen house. It was so cute when Edward gave Renesmee an ipod I just wish there were more scenes because he's probably a cute dad.
Unanswered questions i have about twilight lol:
- How did Edward make Renesmee... like in the book there was this whole thing about how Mens bodies barely change throughout their life, but then women's bodies have to change in order to have children? I dont know but surely Edward isnt producing sperm right. Like they dont pee or anything sooooo the logistics are off. I dont know why im trying to understand the logic behind a fantasy book but this was just something i was thinking whle reading lol.
- Also another thing. So apparantly Vampires dont pee or number 2, they only fart....um so if they fart in the living room is that the Vampire equivalant of pooping in the middle of the room? Like do they go to the bathroom to fart? does farting have the same connotations as it does for humans? I also dont know where i got this information so its probably not even something SM said lmao but im still confused
But anyways i still really enjoyed the twilight saga and the first movie has become the background noise of my life. Im excited to read her other books they seem a good way to get back into this world, i also want to do a reread maybe over the summer or something. If i read this when i was younger i cant imagine how obsessed i would be, at least i can catch up on my obsession now lol.
Im team Edward and im not sorry about it.
Final Offer by Lauren Asher
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- I read the first two books ages ago so i cant remember what the characters were like and how they compare to this one, or how similar the plot lines are throughout the whole book, but i rated them 4 stars for somereason.
- I didnt really have a character i liked in this? I didnt hate Lana or Cal, i just didnt warm to them. Infact i was suprised when i read the reviews on this that so many people hated Lana because that didnt occur to me. Yeah shes bland and a little boring or frustrating at times but not enough for me to hate her.
I didnt really care for Cal. I didnt find him charming or whatever so i wasnt really invested in their relationship. I also feel as though his addiction was a bit unrealistic as he drinks from stress but then can miraculously stop just because he has a girlfriend, but while being in the exact same situations and environments? idk but obviously this is meant to be light hearted so him beating his addiction was gonna happen regardless.
- I hated the towns people though. Why on earth are they bullying and isolating Cal because he broke up with someone however many years ago when he was like 21 and they barely dated. Like surely everyone goes through that why are you holding a grudge against him. And it was even worse because they were one of the reasons behind Cal continuing to drink, which is what they were criticising him for in the first place.
I just hate when small towns all band together to 'protect' the FMC because its just so childish. What good is that doing for anyone? No one can grow or move past the situation if the whole town is doing that. Also they hadnt interacted with him since he broke up with Lana so they had no clue what his situation was like or if he had changed they were just staying in the past. Urgh
- Also booooooo not the third act conflict. I thought we had moved past the miscommunication trope causing a breakup like 75% of the way through. In that situation i dont think two people in love would jump to conclusions that quickly without hearing the other side, causing the breakdown of their whole relationship.
Lana had trust issues throughout the whole book and while reading i didnt really mind and i thought it was understandable given her past, but now i can see why it got on some peoples nerves. Like she hears a snippet of conversation, does not know the context whatssoever and then just compleatly ices Cal out when he has no clue whats going on.
That whole thing could have been cut out because why was this book 600 pages. I get people would probably complain that it was too perfect and happy so the author cant win, but if there is going to be a third act conflict at least make it plausable and something actually worth breaking up for/hard to fix.
- Like i said at the beggining i cant remember anything from the first two books so i dont really understand the whole grandfathers will thing. However i think its actually stupid like this grandpa guy is being a little mastermind trying to set up his grandsons in order for them to get their inheritence? huh. To me it just felt manipulative and weird, also compleately unrealistic but this is fiction so.
Also their dad was just so over the top a charicature of someone who doesnt care for his kids. I was rolling my eyes and he was obviously used as a plot device to try and gain sympathy for the brothers.
Some parts were good but some aspects of the story were terrible. If i read the other two again i probably wouldnt have rated them that high.
- I didnt really have a character i liked in this? I didnt hate Lana or Cal, i just didnt warm to them. Infact i was suprised when i read the reviews on this that so many people hated Lana because that didnt occur to me. Yeah shes bland and a little boring or frustrating at times but not enough for me to hate her.
I didnt really care for Cal. I didnt find him charming or whatever so i wasnt really invested in their relationship. I also feel as though his addiction was a bit unrealistic as he drinks from stress but then can miraculously stop just because he has a girlfriend, but while being in the exact same situations and environments? idk but obviously this is meant to be light hearted so him beating his addiction was gonna happen regardless.
- I hated the towns people though. Why on earth are they bullying and isolating Cal because he broke up with someone however many years ago when he was like 21 and they barely dated. Like surely everyone goes through that why are you holding a grudge against him. And it was even worse because they were one of the reasons behind Cal continuing to drink, which is what they were criticising him for in the first place.
I just hate when small towns all band together to 'protect' the FMC because its just so childish. What good is that doing for anyone? No one can grow or move past the situation if the whole town is doing that. Also they hadnt interacted with him since he broke up with Lana so they had no clue what his situation was like or if he had changed they were just staying in the past. Urgh
- Also booooooo not the third act conflict. I thought we had moved past the miscommunication trope causing a breakup like 75% of the way through. In that situation i dont think two people in love would jump to conclusions that quickly without hearing the other side, causing the breakdown of their whole relationship.
Lana had trust issues throughout the whole book and while reading i didnt really mind and i thought it was understandable given her past, but now i can see why it got on some peoples nerves. Like she hears a snippet of conversation, does not know the context whatssoever and then just compleatly ices Cal out when he has no clue whats going on.
That whole thing could have been cut out because why was this book 600 pages. I get people would probably complain that it was too perfect and happy so the author cant win, but if there is going to be a third act conflict at least make it plausable and something actually worth breaking up for/hard to fix.
- Like i said at the beggining i cant remember anything from the first two books so i dont really understand the whole grandfathers will thing. However i think its actually stupid like this grandpa guy is being a little mastermind trying to set up his grandsons in order for them to get their inheritence? huh. To me it just felt manipulative and weird, also compleately unrealistic but this is fiction so.
Also their dad was just so over the top a charicature of someone who doesnt care for his kids. I was rolling my eyes and he was obviously used as a plot device to try and gain sympathy for the brothers.
Some parts were good but some aspects of the story were terrible. If i read the other two again i probably wouldnt have rated them that high.
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have no clue what to rate this book because it's worse than all the books ive rated 3 stars but way better than the books ive rated 2 stars because those are trash. So i guess its 2.5 rounded up but it doesnt feel right to me.
I feel lied to why was everyone going on about this book.
- I had this problem with Truely devious as well but i dont like when random teenagers somehow solve a murder and the police were somehow incapable. Like the police have better resources and equipment but some random girls passion just outweighs all of that.
The ending wasnt even satisfying anyway. There was literally no way for us to have worked out how Andie was killed on our own through clues or hidden, subtle things from what we've been told. We just had to rely on waiting for a character to tell their whole life story to this random girl and hope that they confess to murder for somereason.
It was soooo unrealistic that any of these people agreed to talk to Pippa. If i was one of them i would be like no go away im not revealing any of my private information about something that is very traumatic to you. Like huuuh i was just baffled by all the interviews tbh.
I also HATED how biased Pippa was about the whole thing. Like im sure the whole point of an EPQ is that yeah you can use what youre interested in to pick a topic, but from then on you should look at research or collect primary data objectively, and only come to the conclusion from the evidence youve gathered. Not use your feelings to make assumptions that you dont even know are true or not, especially when dealing with a murder investigation like what.
- The characters were charicatures of teenagers, police, and drug dealers. They were so stereotypical that it was just soo painful to read. Im so glad thatMax wasnt the murderer because that would have been my last straw, making someone be the most over the top rude and aggressive so they can be the obvious suspect throughout the whole book and then suddenly have it flipped around and not be him is not a plot twist btw.
The family dynamic was cringe everyone was too happy lol. There was also just too many characters all with just similar plain girl names that i had nooo idea who was who.
- Also side rant but if the author was planning to go down the racist police route you dont just have a police officer come out and say that "he must have done it because hes brown". No the whole point is that the police put up a front that they are not racist, but then somehow cases involving ethnic minorities never get solved and are treated with disrespect for some compleately unknown and mysterious reason, how strange.
But yeah the author didnt really touch on racism again which i was kinda glad at because i know it would have been handled poorly. Ive seen in reviews this book be said to have a white saviour trope and i can kind of see it, especially that scene where Pippa 'stands up' to Ravi in the supermarket, omg how cringe was that.
But yeah i wasnt really entertained but i also didnt hate it as much as my two stars. It was just unremarkable and i was counting down the pages very early on.
I feel lied to why was everyone going on about this book.
- I had this problem with Truely devious as well but i dont like when random teenagers somehow solve a murder and the police were somehow incapable. Like the police have better resources and equipment but some random girls passion just outweighs all of that.
The ending wasnt even satisfying anyway. There was literally no way for us to have worked out how Andie was killed on our own through clues or hidden, subtle things from what we've been told. We just had to rely on waiting for a character to tell their whole life story to this random girl and hope that they confess to murder for somereason.
It was soooo unrealistic that any of these people agreed to talk to Pippa. If i was one of them i would be like no go away im not revealing any of my private information about something that is very traumatic to you. Like huuuh i was just baffled by all the interviews tbh.
I also HATED how biased Pippa was about the whole thing. Like im sure the whole point of an EPQ is that yeah you can use what youre interested in to pick a topic, but from then on you should look at research or collect primary data objectively, and only come to the conclusion from the evidence youve gathered. Not use your feelings to make assumptions that you dont even know are true or not, especially when dealing with a murder investigation like what.
- The characters were charicatures of teenagers, police, and drug dealers. They were so stereotypical that it was just soo painful to read. Im so glad that
The family dynamic was cringe everyone was too happy lol. There was also just too many characters all with just similar plain girl names that i had nooo idea who was who.
- Also side rant but if the author was planning to go down the racist police route you dont just have a police officer come out and say that "he must have done it because hes brown". No the whole point is that the police put up a front that they are not racist, but then somehow cases involving ethnic minorities never get solved and are treated with disrespect for some compleately unknown and mysterious reason, how strange.
But yeah the author didnt really touch on racism again which i was kinda glad at because i know it would have been handled poorly. Ive seen in reviews this book be said to have a white saviour trope and i can kind of see it, especially that scene where Pippa 'stands up' to Ravi in the supermarket, omg how cringe was that.
But yeah i wasnt really entertained but i also didnt hate it as much as my two stars. It was just unremarkable and i was counting down the pages very early on.