emilyusuallyreading's reviews
746 reviews

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

4.0

I had heard of Neil Gaiman, but I did not know of The Graveyard Book... and I wasn't clever enough until about halfway through to realize that this was heavily inspired by The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. The stories each carry a nostalgic feel of: "Hey, I remember this" as I recall tales of Mowgli's life, but each of them is unique enough to give Gaiman's characters their own weight and significance. I am not one for reading about ghouls and ghosts and the paranormal, but I very much enjoyed The Graveyard Book.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

5.0

My roommate read The Giver on a whim and then dropped the book in my lap, saying, "Read this right now." I did so reluctantly at first, unsure about what I would think of a book of twelve-year-old children. I was pleasantly surprised. Lois Lowry paints a world far more fascinating than most dystopian novels I've read. I love how the use of simplification to help the reader see the underlying cruelty of the city's government more than if it was described in great detail. This is a book I will recommend to children for a long time.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

1.0

I usually like the excitement of "kidnapped" kind of novels, but I hated this one. Truly, I hated it. The reader was expected to almost root for the steamy and uncertain romance brooding between Gemma and her kidnapper. Ty is portrayed as a sexy, lonely, and tormented soul. Gemma is shallow and angsty, and her confusion about her feelings for Ty are never portrayed as indicators of abuse but rather misunderstood young love that her parents will never understand. Stolen is a mockery for anyone who has ever been in any kind of similar situation of abuse or force by a sexual predator.

My Bonny Light Horseman: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, in Love and War by L.A. Meyer

3.0

This book simply does not match up to the first few in the series. Jacky is a maiden throughout these books, but she's constantly put into scrapes that test her purity. Can she manage to make it through without getting into too much trouble? Sometimes she's forced into close scrapes, like having to entertain the gentlemen after dancing, but sometimes she enters into awkward relationships entirely of her own volition (making out for hours in a tent with a fellow spy), even though she truly believes she is in love with Jaimy from her ship's boy days. I liked the natural feeling of adventure in this story (although it seemed a little rushed at times) much more than in Mississippi Jack, but I didn't love Jacky's increasingly declining morals and how ridiculous it seems that she actually loves anyone at all.

Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West by L.A. Meyer

3.0

While I love this series and I will always find myself attached to L.A. Meyer's delightful characters, this book is where the series goes down in quality, in my opinion. A few of the new characters, such as Fink, come across as two-dimensional and over-ridiculous. The language is often unnecessarily crude, and when all else fails in the plot, Jacky can sing a tune and everything will be fine again. There are a few ridiculous rabbit trails that took away from the main storyline, such as Jacky being welcomed as a member of a Native American tribe after a couple of days (because that's what has to happen if your hero travels west) and eventually being carried away by a tornado but otherwise unharmed. Some new characters were a joy, and I really did like reading more from Jacky, but compared to the first few in this series, Mississippi Jack disappointed me.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

3.0

This is the second book in the Divergent trilogy, and it is a bit less thrilling than the first. I greatly enjoyed the dynamics between the five factions, but the romance also accelerated in Insurgent. I can never get into young adult romantic relationships in YA fiction, and this held true for the dynamics between Tris and Four. There were several awkward scenes that left me cringing (or reading them out loud to my roommates, who were always ready to laugh with me), and I believe Veronica Roth explained how Four smelled like wind at least four times throughout the book. It took me about two or three days to read through Insurgent.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

4.0

I chose to purchase this trilogy because it's all I've been hearing about recently in the way of popular young adult fiction and because the film is coming out in a few months. My little sister loves the series, and several of my friends at college recommended it to me as well. While I personally prefer the tone of The Hunger Games over Divergent, I enjoyed learning about the factions and trying to decide where I would fit best. The idea of a Fear Landscape was also fascinating: an arena of sorts that you enter in order to face and ultimately conquer your greatest fears. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was clean, entertaining, and I finished the book in a day.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

2.0

The final book in the Divergent trilogy, it took me forever to get through this one. I felt like the entirety of this story could have been fit into five chapters at the end of Insurgent. More awkward teenage romance scenes (as well as plenty of unnecessary angst), surprise twists that didn't feel natural and seemed to drag on forever, and an ending that felt contrived and could have worked... if it had been done so much better.

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer

5.0

Bloody Jack is my favorite book from my middle-school years. I've read it probably seven times in the last decade, and it never fails to bring me joy and a sense of adventure. There is some minor foul language and heavy content in Meyer's books, but the characters are lovable and the storylines are exciting and fresh. As soon as I heard that the long series was finally coming to an end, I decided to read it through from the very beginning.

Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady by L.A. Meyer

5.0

I enjoy this book. It amazes me that Meyer can go from writing a gritty novel about ship's lore to a story about the same young woman attending a boarding school and succeed at both, but he has. I love his style of writing, as well as his characters.