Scan barcode
egbella's reviews
212 reviews
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
4.0
I remember reading this several times years ago and loving the spin the author put on the classic Snow White tale. After stumbling across it again so much later, I can say it still hasn't lost any of its appeal for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this somehow both intricate and simplistic story, and didn't want to put it down.
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
1.0
I was very disappointed in this book. Hollis definitely has an engaging writing voice - albeit a bit too chipper at times, while talking about some difficult subjects - but my main issue with this book was that it is not a Christian book, despite it being marketed as one. There were only a few trivial references to spiritual matters, with the rest of the book devoted to Hollis' own hard work and earned success. The entire thing felt like nothing more than self-help. Most of her answers to 'lies' and questions seemed to be just to suck it up, work harder, and you'll find the type of success that she has. I believe Hollis definitely meant well, and it was a fast read, but I found myself feeling sad for her by the end.
The Kill Order by James Dashner
3.0
I remembered liking this book a bit better than I did on the re-read. I'll give it three stars, as I don't necessarily dislike it, but also wouldn't feel inclined to recommend it.
Pros:
~ Plenty of action, and I had no trouble reading the whole thing in a day.
~ Pretty well-paced
~ The whole thing with Deedee
~ The dreams/flashbacks showing what happened right after the sun flares
~ Hints of where WICKED originated from
~ Alec (I just like grumpy, but soft-hearted mentors okay?)
~
~ Getting to see another set of characters deal with this new world.
~ The glimpse of Thomas at the end.
~ Occasional humor. A few spots actually made me smile.
Cons:
~ Horror-level violence and gore. I don't think it's worse than the later books of the original trilogy, but something to be aware of. If you're squeamish (like me), some scenes may bother you.
~ The physical focus of Mark and Trina's relationship. Personally, I don't agree with the choices they made, but besides that, it felt very flat and shallow. And kissing when you're supposed to be quarantining is...not smart. The motivation may be understandable but still.
~ The end felt a tad rushed to me?
~ Overall, the characters felt pretty underdeveloped (Trina is the bland but beautiful female, Alec is the grumpy soldier mentor, Mark is basically Thomas, and the rest lacked a lot of distinguishing characteristics). I didn't care much about any of them and would have liked to know them better.
~ Not necessarily a con, but definitely more action-focused than anything else. Some people may prefer that, but I would have liked some more depth from the characters and world too.
~ Some of the dialogue actually made me cringe. A combination of not fitting the characters well, and being repetitive I think.
~ Not as much explanation or world-building as I hoped for. I would have liked to see more of the origins of WICKED and what the world was like closer to when the sun flares hit.
~ Occasional humor, again. I know I haven't been in their situation, but some of it seemed too flippant, to the point of being tasteless and cruel. And a little crude, although that's not new to this series.
Overall, I don't dislike this book, but it could have been better. It's intense, action-packed, and offers some interesting tidbits about the world - just didn't measure up to its potential, in my opinion.
Pros:
~ Plenty of action, and I had no trouble reading the whole thing in a day.
~ Pretty well-paced
~ The whole thing with Deedee
~ The dreams/flashbacks showing what happened right after the sun flares
~ Hints of where WICKED originated from
~ Alec (I just like grumpy, but soft-hearted mentors okay?)
~
Spoiler
The characters' battle with the Flare and slip into insanity. Heartbreaking but really well done.~ Getting to see another set of characters deal with this new world.
~ The glimpse of Thomas at the end.
~ Occasional humor. A few spots actually made me smile.
Cons:
~ Horror-level violence and gore. I don't think it's worse than the later books of the original trilogy, but something to be aware of. If you're squeamish (like me), some scenes may bother you.
~ The physical focus of Mark and Trina's relationship. Personally, I don't agree with the choices they made, but besides that, it felt very flat and shallow. And kissing when you're supposed to be quarantining is...not smart. The motivation may be understandable but still.
~ The end felt a tad rushed to me?
~ Overall, the characters felt pretty underdeveloped (Trina is the bland but beautiful female, Alec is the grumpy soldier mentor, Mark is basically Thomas, and the rest lacked a lot of distinguishing characteristics). I didn't care much about any of them and would have liked to know them better.
~ Not necessarily a con, but definitely more action-focused than anything else. Some people may prefer that, but I would have liked some more depth from the characters and world too.
~ Some of the dialogue actually made me cringe. A combination of not fitting the characters well, and being repetitive I think.
~ Not as much explanation or world-building as I hoped for. I would have liked to see more of the origins of WICKED
Spoiler
and why their predecessors made the choice to release the Flare~ Occasional humor, again. I know I haven't been in their situation, but some of it seemed too flippant, to the point of being tasteless and cruel. And a little crude, although that's not new to this series.
Overall, I don't dislike this book, but it could have been better. It's intense, action-packed, and offers some interesting tidbits about the world - just didn't measure up to its potential, in my opinion.
Just Enough Light for the Step I'm On by Stormie Omartian
5.0
This was the perfect, light read for this stage of my life. Highly recommend it to anyone dealing with hardship or uncertainty (which is basically everyone, right? I recommend this book to everyone.).
Most importantly, the content was godly, encouraging, inspiring, and a great reminder of how God is always present in our lives - no matter what hardships are shaking us. I enjoyed the author's style of writing, including her usage of personal anecdotes to illustrate points, and the formatting (Scripture verses at the end of each chapter, and a prayer starter). She was conversational but to the point, comforting but challenging, and her faith in God is very inspiring. I finished the book with a renewed sense of purpose for this season of waiting and testing in my life.
I'll definitely be coming back to this book!
Most importantly, the content was godly, encouraging, inspiring, and a great reminder of how God is always present in our lives - no matter what hardships are shaking us. I enjoyed the author's style of writing, including her usage of personal anecdotes to illustrate points, and the formatting (Scripture verses at the end of each chapter, and a prayer starter). She was conversational but to the point, comforting but challenging, and her faith in God is very inspiring. I finished the book with a renewed sense of purpose for this season of waiting and testing in my life.
I'll definitely be coming back to this book!
The Fever Code by James Dashner
4.0
I'm currently re-reading these books, and in chronological order this time, instead of the order they were released. After the Kill Order (which I didn't like as much as I remembered), comes this one, and I was pleasantly surprised!
Pros:
~ I just like prequel stories. They can definitely mess stuff up if not done well, but I felt The Fever Code was pretty good about staying true to the original books while still offering valuable backstory.
~ Getting to see the main characters (Thomas, Teresa, Aris, Newt, Minho, Alby, Chuck, Gally, etc.) before their Maze adventures. Their personalities felt very consistent with the later books. And I liked Thomas and Teresa's characters a lot more after seeing them in this book. I was never very fond of either of them in the rest of the books.
~ The depth and backstory of the people working at WICKED. I found Dr. Paige's character development particularly fascinating. The contradictions in her actions between her love for the kids and her passion to find a cure no matter what the cost, seemed very human and made me appreciate her character more. Even if I despised her by the end.
~ As a whole, the entire portrayal of what WICKED did to try and find a cure. I often stopped and wondered what I would do in that situation, and it drew some thought-provoking questions. How much can be justified in pursuit of a final good? How do you even determine what is good? There was a constant back and forth of both selflessness and selfishness that gave depth and realism to the themes.
~Good intrigue and suspense, and many times that I couldn't quite tell what was going to happen next the first time I read it. Even re-reading it, the balance of foreshadowing and secrets was good.
~ Thomas 'forgetting' his real name. That sequence was well-done.
~ Newt's snippet of backstory at the beginning (and his family relationship with Lizzy)
~ In general, most of the things I liked about this book were because of the very nature of a prequel. I enjoyed all the tie-ins to the rest of the books, and the clues laid for the rest of the story. The explanations for things that happened later were neat to see. I enjoyed them.
Cons:
~ Parts of the prose itself seemed pretty amateurish. Not quite sure why, but there were several places that pulled me out of the story as the writer in me thought, "wow, that's a lot of 'telling'", or "that probably could have been worded better." I thought some parts could have been trimmed.
~ Thomas and Teresa's thoughts and actions when they were young. I get that they're supposed to be incredibly smart, but most of the things they said and did felt way older than they were said to be. I would never have pegged Thomas at almost 5 near the start of the book.
~ Not necessarily a con because I think I'm just being slow, haha, but I still don't know whether it was Teresa or Dr. Paige that wrote the final memorandum to the staff at the end of the book. Also, after reading the Maze Runner book, either I'm missing something else or there's an inconsistency:
~ Like the rest of the books, a bit more usage of language (including 'made-up') than I'd like.
~ I'm not sure what to think about Thomas and his friends being able to sneak all over the place. I suppose it makes sense if WICKED was willing to let them do some things just to monitor them, but some things they did felt way too easy to get away with. Including them getting outside.
Overall, I know prequels tend to get a lot of grief, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I thought it was pretty well-written and most of all, I enjoyed the explanations, character development, and tie-ins to the rest of the series.
Pros:
~ I just like prequel stories. They can definitely mess stuff up if not done well, but I felt The Fever Code was pretty good about staying true to the original books while still offering valuable backstory.
~ Getting to see the main characters (Thomas, Teresa, Aris, Newt, Minho, Alby, Chuck, Gally, etc.) before their Maze adventures. Their personalities felt very consistent with the later books. And I liked Thomas and Teresa's characters a lot more after seeing them in this book. I was never very fond of either of them in the rest of the books.
~ The depth and backstory of the people working at WICKED. I found Dr. Paige's character development particularly fascinating. The contradictions in her actions between her love for the kids and her passion to find a cure no matter what the cost, seemed very human and made me appreciate her character more. Even if I despised her by the end.
~ As a whole, the entire portrayal of what WICKED did to try and find a cure. I often stopped and wondered what I would do in that situation, and it drew some thought-provoking questions. How much can be justified in pursuit of a final good? How do you even determine what is good? There was a constant back and forth of both selflessness and selfishness that gave depth and realism to the themes.
~Good intrigue and suspense, and many times that I couldn't quite tell what was going to happen next the first time I read it. Even re-reading it, the balance of foreshadowing and secrets was good.
~ Thomas 'forgetting' his real name. That sequence was well-done.
~ Newt's snippet of backstory at the beginning (and his family relationship with Lizzy)
~ In general, most of the things I liked about this book were because of the very nature of a prequel. I enjoyed all the tie-ins to the rest of the books, and the clues laid for the rest of the story. The explanations for things that happened later were neat to see. I enjoyed them.
Cons:
~ Parts of the prose itself seemed pretty amateurish. Not quite sure why, but there were several places that pulled me out of the story as the writer in me thought, "wow, that's a lot of 'telling'", or "that probably could have been worded better." I thought some parts could have been trimmed.
~ Thomas and Teresa's thoughts and actions when they were young. I get that they're supposed to be incredibly smart, but most of the things they said and did felt way older than they were said to be. I would never have pegged Thomas at almost 5 near the start of the book.
~ Not necessarily a con because I think I'm just being slow, haha, but I still don't know whether it was Teresa or Dr. Paige that wrote the final memorandum to the staff at the end of the book. Also, after reading the Maze Runner book, either I'm missing something else or there's an inconsistency:
Spoiler
In the memorandum mentioned above, it's claimed that Teresa's going to write 'WICKED is good' on her arm before her memory is wiped, but after she enters the Maze in Maze Runner, then she tells Thomas that she wrote it down in waking moments between feverish dreams.~ Like the rest of the books, a bit more usage of language (including 'made-up') than I'd like.
~ I'm not sure what to think about Thomas and his friends being able to sneak all over the place. I suppose it makes sense if WICKED was willing to let them do some things just to monitor them, but some things they did felt way too easy to get away with. Including them getting outside.
Overall, I know prequels tend to get a lot of grief, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I thought it was pretty well-written and most of all, I enjoyed the explanations, character development, and tie-ins to the rest of the series.
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
4.0
Full RTC. Overall, a solidly-written story with interesting characters, gripping action, and some unexpected plot twists.
The Death Cure by James Dashner
4.0
Full RTC. A gripping conclusion to the series, and I liked the full-circle strategy Dashner used at the end.
Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating by Marshall Segal
4.0
Personally, I felt this book could have been split into two (as one section refers to singles and the other to those dating), but I can also see why they were put together. Overall, this book contained a lot of encouraging and biblical insights for pursuing a godly romantic relationship. It struck me as a little odd that the author was still newly married while writing this, but as the book focuses on the singleness and dating stages of a relationship - not marriage - it didn't really bother me. I was thankful to read this book, and glean some very helpful lessons from Segal's personal experiences and thoughts. I felt it painted a very strong, appropriate picture of singleness and dating from a Christian perspective.
A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes
5.0
Finally found the time to read this one! (By found the time, I mean I made the best of an awful stomach flu haha). And once again, I'm astounded with Nadine Brandes' work.
Was the book perfect? Of course not; there were some inconsistencies and things that confused me, but overall, I really enjoyed this story. The characters, the worldbuilding, the dystopian aspect of it (I'm a sucker for good dystopians), the weaving of faith, the romance subplot (and this from someone who isn't especially fond of most romance stories), the plot twists...I was sucked in from the start and can't wait to see how the rest of the series plays out.
I'd like to come back and do a full review on this soon, but for now, I definitely recommend this!
Was the book perfect? Of course not; there were some inconsistencies and things that confused me, but overall, I really enjoyed this story. The characters, the worldbuilding, the dystopian aspect of it (I'm a sucker for good dystopians), the weaving of faith, the romance subplot (and this from someone who isn't especially fond of most romance stories), the plot twists...I was sucked in from the start and can't wait to see how the rest of the series plays out.
I'd like to come back and do a full review on this soon, but for now, I definitely recommend this!