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coralinejones's reviews
413 reviews
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
5.0
Shut up... I was not expecting to like this at all, let alone as much as I did... I may have to read the other two books now. It was cute, simple, sweet; surprisingly very atmospheric. I finished this in one day, in about 3 hours? I could feel myself at that summer house too.
Isabel is a bit selfish, and very insecure, but she felt realistic and honest. I hope as the series continues she grows up a little bit because every time a character called her a baby I had to agree.
#JusticeForCam, #JusticeForJeremiah, #JusticeForTaylor
Isabel is a bit selfish, and very insecure, but she felt realistic and honest. I hope as the series continues she grows up a little bit because every time a character called her a baby I had to agree.
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
I'm sorry the way the plot connected and finished pissed me off to bad. I love magic realism and how it doesn't have to make perfect sense, but enough to feel realistic and honest... This was sooo silly. Soooo silly. Freaky Friday but not as good. Our protagonist, Katy, is far too grown to be as dependent and obsessive with her mother. She felt so childish, especially while in Italy, and why did she do that to Eric? Ew.
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
okay well... i ended up finishing it anyway... i liked it the second time around, better than the first attempt. what i wrote above i still feel, but i can't help but acknowledge that when the story gets good, it gets really good
3.0
original: i gave it all my best efforts but this is ultimately not for me. it's not the length or even the story, but GRRM's obnoxious writing style. i love details but one thing i can't help but knock is how unnecessary so much of his prose feels for me. i feel like i've been given details that do NOTHING for the overall story. i could deal in the first book, the second book was tedious and not enjoyable for me, but this book? i can't take it anymore.
okay well... i ended up finishing it anyway... i liked it the second time around, better than the first attempt. what i wrote above i still feel, but i can't help but acknowledge that when the story gets good, it gets really good
Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
it's not that this book is bad, i'm just going to return to it at a later date!
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
3.75
The story was fun at first, then got very boring and repetitive. I was going to give this 4 stars but every time I read "He said, she said, I said, they said, she said." I started to lose my mind a little. Also the consistent use of "Protect her." Like we GET IT! After a while it just wasn't fun to read anymore
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Hm. Simple prose. There's some pretty relatable passages worth taking quotes from. Some of the bullying was so intense I had to skip it. I wasn't a big fan of the ending... Not that this read was pointless, but I did have a moment of "Well, that was it?" once I finished.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
slow-paced
2.75
I'M FREE! WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!
But no, seriously, as a huge Hunger Games fan this book was ginormous let down. I knew it would be, and that's why I put off reading it for so long, but given the movie is coming out this year, and that there's a current Hunger Games resurgence happening, I figured I would give in and finally get it over with.
This book is extremely disjointed in my opinion. It starts off slow and tedious, starts to pick up a bit, and then we get overwhelmed with song lyrics and Lucy Gray's odd personality. (Though, finding out backstory for the songs that we heard back in 2012 was cute). We get annoying tidbits about Snow being an opportunistic, jerk off, asshole, and then the games start. It's an interesting read, as the games are, and then it goes back to being really slow. Add an unrealistic, uncomfortable romance, that wasn't selling it, and then it just ends.
There's some really honest moments in there but I realized, early on, that those segments were when I could connect memories and Easter eggs from the original trilogy to this book. I liked finding out very minute details about The Hunger Games, like how the 10th Games really transformed the whole idea of The Hunger Games; how that year they became very raunchy and gory because nobody was watching / wanted to watch. I enjoyed the various opinions about the Games, finding out that there were, in fact, people in and out of the capitol who were against them, and that they knew very well that they probably shouldn't move society in this direction. I think those moments highlighted how horrific the whole idea of The Hunger Games is, and helped make the original trilogy, and what we know about even scarier and upsetting.
A lot of the book is actually a nod towards MockingJay and the events that went down in the last book rather than the first two.
I didn't go into this thinking it would be this action-packed, super tense, scary-horror filled story like the original Hunger Games. I didn't go into this assuming I'd read about rebellions or Snow's hatred for Katniss or how he felt about Peeta or any of that. I knew we wouldn't. I knew this was, in a sense, a villain origin story, and that we would be seeing the Hunger Games from another perspective but... It still fell short. It was boring. I genuinely felt like there wasn't much detail about the actual Hunger Games or why Snow became the person we knew in the 74th Games. There was too much emphasis on Snow and his very odd relationship with Lucy Gray, which I found weird. Yes, to a degree, that is the point, but...
I dislike Lucy Gray as a character. Others described her as Snow's Manic Pixie Dream Victor and I agree 1000%. They're trying to market Lucy Gray, in promotion for this movie, as similar to Katniss? People saying Snow hated Katniss so much because she reminded him of her and like... Sure? Off the small basis of the very, very end when he came in contact with the Katniss plant when Lucy betrayed him? Is that really enough to sell what he did to her? Does it really explain how he turned into the soulless, evil, tyrant we know?
I think at the end of the day, this book didn't need to be written. It's well-written. Suzanne Collins' brain is still amazing and I wish I could pick it apart and know everything there is to know about The Hunger Games from her perspective, but this is a story that didn't need to be told. Her original work was so well-written that, not knowing about Snow's previous backstory, was okay because how the Games was presented sold us instantly.
I think if you never read this, you wouldn't miss out on anything.
But no, seriously, as a huge Hunger Games fan this book was ginormous let down. I knew it would be, and that's why I put off reading it for so long, but given the movie is coming out this year, and that there's a current Hunger Games resurgence happening, I figured I would give in and finally get it over with.
This book is extremely disjointed in my opinion. It starts off slow and tedious, starts to pick up a bit, and then we get overwhelmed with song lyrics and Lucy Gray's odd personality. (Though, finding out backstory for the songs that we heard back in 2012 was cute). We get annoying tidbits about Snow being an opportunistic, jerk off, asshole, and then the games start. It's an interesting read, as the games are, and then it goes back to being really slow. Add an unrealistic, uncomfortable romance, that wasn't selling it, and then it just ends.
There's some really honest moments in there but I realized, early on, that those segments were when I could connect memories and Easter eggs from the original trilogy to this book. I liked finding out very minute details about The Hunger Games, like how the 10th Games really transformed the whole idea of The Hunger Games; how that year they became very raunchy and gory because nobody was watching / wanted to watch. I enjoyed the various opinions about the Games, finding out that there were, in fact, people in and out of the capitol who were against them, and that they knew very well that they probably shouldn't move society in this direction. I think those moments highlighted how horrific the whole idea of The Hunger Games is, and helped make the original trilogy, and what we know about even scarier and upsetting.
A lot of the book is actually a nod towards MockingJay and the events that went down in the last book rather than the first two.
I didn't go into this thinking it would be this action-packed, super tense, scary-horror filled story like the original Hunger Games. I didn't go into this assuming I'd read about rebellions or Snow's hatred for Katniss or how he felt about Peeta or any of that. I knew we wouldn't. I knew this was, in a sense, a villain origin story, and that we would be seeing the Hunger Games from another perspective but... It still fell short. It was boring. I genuinely felt like there wasn't much detail about the actual Hunger Games or why Snow became the person we knew in the 74th Games. There was too much emphasis on Snow and his very odd relationship with Lucy Gray, which I found weird. Yes, to a degree, that is the point, but...
I dislike Lucy Gray as a character. Others described her as Snow's Manic Pixie Dream Victor and I agree 1000%. They're trying to market Lucy Gray, in promotion for this movie, as similar to Katniss? People saying Snow hated Katniss so much because she reminded him of her and like... Sure? Off the small basis of the very, very end when he
I think at the end of the day, this book didn't need to be written. It's well-written. Suzanne Collins' brain is still amazing and I wish I could pick it apart and know everything there is to know about The Hunger Games from her perspective, but this is a story that didn't need to be told. Her original work was so well-written that, not knowing about Snow's previous backstory, was okay because how the Games was presented sold us instantly.
I think if you never read this, you wouldn't miss out on anything.