Take a photo of a barcode or cover
alysynhardt's reviews
421 reviews
From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant by Alex Gilvarry
4.0
This novel came to me at the right time.
Alex Gilvarry is a brilliant writer, and while the novel was excellent, I was so conscious of his decisions the entire time.
The novel fuses fashion, comedy with Guantanamo Bay, trauma. The comedic aspects of the story come mostly through Boy's voice, or the "ironic" moments throughout the novel, but also (and the most fun for me) the footnotes. The footnotes were so hysterical. They also work to both poke fun at Boy, while discrediting him.
Ultimately toward the end, the novel turns darker, as it should. Nothing felt forced, the novel was both pedantic and entertaining. It had me constantly googling stuff, saying is this real? does this really go on?
I think the best aspect of this novel wasn't necesarrily the main character, for I'm not sure if I ever actually liked him, but his voice. The dialogue was so perfect and spot on I felt like it was being plucked from my own head, yet at the same time I knew I could never be this witty or funny.
It also has some dreamy descriptions of New York and America overall, that both express a love for it while simultaneously addressing it's problems. The whole novel slipped in and out of visions and dreams, questioning the validity of truth.
The only reason it didn't get five stars is because I really feel the Gilvarry is going to write even better novels in the future of his career.
Alex Gilvarry is a brilliant writer, and while the novel was excellent, I was so conscious of his decisions the entire time.
The novel fuses fashion, comedy with Guantanamo Bay, trauma. The comedic aspects of the story come mostly through Boy's voice, or the "ironic" moments throughout the novel, but also (and the most fun for me) the footnotes. The footnotes were so hysterical. They also work to both poke fun at Boy, while discrediting him.
Ultimately toward the end, the novel turns darker, as it should. Nothing felt forced, the novel was both pedantic and entertaining. It had me constantly googling stuff, saying is this real? does this really go on?
I think the best aspect of this novel wasn't necesarrily the main character, for I'm not sure if I ever actually liked him, but his voice. The dialogue was so perfect and spot on I felt like it was being plucked from my own head, yet at the same time I knew I could never be this witty or funny.
It also has some dreamy descriptions of New York and America overall, that both express a love for it while simultaneously addressing it's problems. The whole novel slipped in and out of visions and dreams, questioning the validity of truth.
The only reason it didn't get five stars is because I really feel the Gilvarry is going to write even better novels in the future of his career.
A Muse Is Born by J.R. Morgan
I'm not going to give this a star rating since it's a self published book and not really read by anyone yet.
I will say that I had a lot of fun reading my first, what I assumed to relate to an ARC. I went through it page by page and just edited and restructured it. It was a fun creative outlet for me these past few days. Editing works has always been interesting because you can approach the same book so many ways.
Here's what I did and didn't like.
Liked:
The concept, a writer falls in love with a girl and uses her to fuel inspiration for his writing.
Matthew's mother. Really, I thought she should become a more integral part of why Matthew is the way he is. Her lunacy sort of foreshadows the ending a bit.
The relations between sex & death. There should be more darkness, not necessarily scary movie gore, but a foreboding Chuck Palahniuk type of fear running throughout the book. It'd feel more exciting. But what was there, toward the end was so interesting. Matthew's writing process and how dangerous it is is as a creepy ritual. I loved that.
LGBT awareness, always good to see.
The gypsy camp scene.
Didn't like:
The typos, obviously, but more than that the sentence structure. Unnecessary wording made it a little confusing.
The book told too much and showed very little.
The book seemed to switch genres about three quarters of the way through. The ending should've been carried throughout.
The dialogue, unrealistic for both the guy and girl, especially that age. Felt very forced.
The book could've used more direction from the beginning.
I wish the side characters were less one dimensional
The awkward POV. It's Matt's POV but we often see things Regina does that he wouldn't. It sort of makes more sense by the end I suppose, but it was annoying to read.
I never knew the characters. I knew he was a writer and she was a timid actress, but you're never really inside them.
I think the pretentious attitude of the characters makes them really unlikable at times, but this also could be really fun to play around with. Characters don't necessarily have to be likable.
Overall, this book might be good for 50 Shades fans, which is definitely not my thing. But it also has some really cool quirky dark elements that I think should be expanded.
I will say that I had a lot of fun reading my first, what I assumed to relate to an ARC. I went through it page by page and just edited and restructured it. It was a fun creative outlet for me these past few days. Editing works has always been interesting because you can approach the same book so many ways.
Here's what I did and didn't like.
Liked:
The concept, a writer falls in love with a girl and uses her to fuel inspiration for his writing.
Matthew's mother. Really, I thought she should become a more integral part of why Matthew is the way he is. Her lunacy sort of foreshadows the ending a bit.
The relations between sex & death. There should be more darkness, not necessarily scary movie gore, but a foreboding Chuck Palahniuk type of fear running throughout the book. It'd feel more exciting. But what was there, toward the end was so interesting. Matthew's writing process and how dangerous it is is as a creepy ritual. I loved that.
LGBT awareness, always good to see.
The gypsy camp scene.
Didn't like:
The typos, obviously, but more than that the sentence structure. Unnecessary wording made it a little confusing.
The book told too much and showed very little.
The book seemed to switch genres about three quarters of the way through. The ending should've been carried throughout.
The dialogue, unrealistic for both the guy and girl, especially that age. Felt very forced.
The book could've used more direction from the beginning.
I wish the side characters were less one dimensional
The awkward POV. It's Matt's POV but we often see things Regina does that he wouldn't. It sort of makes more sense by the end I suppose, but it was annoying to read.
I never knew the characters. I knew he was a writer and she was a timid actress, but you're never really inside them.
I think the pretentious attitude of the characters makes them really unlikable at times, but this also could be really fun to play around with. Characters don't necessarily have to be likable.
Overall, this book might be good for 50 Shades fans, which is definitely not my thing. But it also has some really cool quirky dark elements that I think should be expanded.
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
3.0
I'm between a 3 and a 4. I think I need more distance from it.
At the beginning I really thought I was going to hate it. It was contemporary in that high school jock/cheerleader way that I think is really unrealistic and not at all like high school. But then it made some interesting metaphors and theories about love, and loss of childhood, and relations to chemistry and math, and I'm a sucker for that stuff. Plus I love young adult books that sprinkle in words of other languages, like every teenager goes around telling each other what l'esprit de l'escalier means in french (not quite sillage, but you know). But I do appreciate all the references from Foucault to Harry Potter (though we really could've done without the constant vamp bashing, despite it's truth).
The 'I don't conform' thing is very YA, but also kind of annoyed me. I guess I'll add more to this later.
I also could kind of see the ending coming, I think maybe most teenagers would be able to. I did love how it ended as a "personal tragedy" though, it sort of reminded me of a flipped and more positive version of A Spectacular Now's ending, romantically at least.
The parents annoyed me a bit because the ending again seemed too easy, but it has to tie together to get the point across I guess.
The plot was a bit, ehhh. The mystery of it all, not really the point and kind of wasted page space of Ezra piecing it together.
I also have to say that while I initially didn't love Cassidy because I thought she's just too good to be true, I realized we are seeing her though Ezra, and who hasn't known girls like that anyway? So by the end I really did like her character a lot.
Overall, really good and quick read, perfect for the age group. I believed the entire time, Ezra was a dude in senior year of high school who'd been through a bit of a loop the past year. I'd recommend it.
At the beginning I really thought I was going to hate it. It was contemporary in that high school jock/cheerleader way that I think is really unrealistic and not at all like high school. But then it made some interesting metaphors and theories about love, and loss of childhood, and relations to chemistry and math, and I'm a sucker for that stuff. Plus I love young adult books that sprinkle in words of other languages, like every teenager goes around telling each other what l'esprit de l'escalier means in french (not quite sillage, but you know). But I do appreciate all the references from Foucault to Harry Potter (though we really could've done without the constant vamp bashing, despite it's truth).
The 'I don't conform' thing is very YA, but also kind of annoyed me. I guess I'll add more to this later.
I also could kind of see the ending coming, I think maybe most teenagers would be able to. I did love how it ended as a "personal tragedy" though, it sort of reminded me of a flipped and more positive version of A Spectacular Now's ending, romantically at least.
The parents annoyed me a bit because the ending again seemed too easy, but it has to tie together to get the point across I guess.
The plot was a bit, ehhh. The mystery of it all, not really the point and kind of wasted page space of Ezra piecing it together.
I also have to say that while I initially didn't love Cassidy because I thought she's just too good to be true, I realized we are seeing her though Ezra, and who hasn't known girls like that anyway? So by the end I really did like her character a lot.
Overall, really good and quick read, perfect for the age group. I believed the entire time, Ezra was a dude in senior year of high school who'd been through a bit of a loop the past year. I'd recommend it.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
4.0
Not three stars because I like it more than Huckleberry Finn, but not five stars because I prefer Tom Sawyer, Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
4.0
Loved it.
The doodles and drawings were my favorite part. Hilarious, but also sad.
Forney really understood the character and the story.
Also love the expectation theory that's applied here and I think this book is for more than just kids.
I have no idea why this book would ever be banned. It's beautiful.
The doodles and drawings were my favorite part. Hilarious, but also sad.
Forney really understood the character and the story.
Also love the expectation theory that's applied here and I think this book is for more than just kids.
I have no idea why this book would ever be banned. It's beautiful.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
3.0
I don't know where to place this book because it was my first Rainbow Rowell read & I loved the style of writing. I liked how the characters always seemed to be doing something while they talked. It was like stage direction and the characters were actors that kept busy. It made them seem more realistic. I also loved her ability to give character descriptions without devoting a paragraph just to paint an image to the reader. It was often included in conversation or I was able to just form an image off their personalities alone, which is rare for me in books. I feel like Rowell gets how friendships and human relationships work. Her female characters are strong and quirky and I love them.
But I also felt like the characters annoyed me. I couldn't tell the difference between Beth and Jennifer until their stories became more developed. But their voice sounded exactly the same to me. I know friends are supposed to be similar and that they're talking through email, but really? Also, the longer emails felt like monologues at times.
And really when I think about it, this book was a movie. Right down to the completely unrealistic actor's looks. Lincoln is supposed to be some cute handsome old school guy who still lives with his mom?
Sticking with the 'this book is a movie' theme, the ending. GAG. Wayyyyy too cheesy for me.
But overall it was a good read & I'd still recommend it to a friend.
But I also felt like the characters annoyed me. I couldn't tell the difference between Beth and Jennifer until their stories became more developed. But their voice sounded exactly the same to me. I know friends are supposed to be similar and that they're talking through email, but really? Also, the longer emails felt like monologues at times.
And really when I think about it, this book was a movie. Right down to the completely unrealistic actor's looks. Lincoln is supposed to be some cute handsome old school guy who still lives with his mom?
Sticking with the 'this book is a movie' theme, the ending. GAG. Wayyyyy too cheesy for me.
But overall it was a good read & I'd still recommend it to a friend.
Paper Towns by John Green
3.0
I liked the road trip & fun parts of the book a lot more than I like the more reflective parts.
But still definitely liked it.
Just not as much as LFA or even An Abundance of Katherines.
But still definitely liked it.
Just not as much as LFA or even An Abundance of Katherines.
Black No More by George S. Schuyler
4.0
This book does a really great job of exercising my satire/irony skills. A lot of carefully chosen language here. I love the progression & the ending is one of those scenes I wish more people would read just to feel something and wake up. Racism isn't dead and this book is still relevant.