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kristallmarie's reviews
214 reviews
The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
1.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
I don't like giving one-star reviews, especially to books that haven't even come out yet, but man. This was not good. The writing was lovely, and that makes it even worse, because then you know the author is capable of writing well. But the characters! And the plot!
On the characters: Our main girl (I literally had to check the description because I forgot her name, apparently it's Rosie, though I may have just forgotten because first-person POV), spends the whole story complaining about being poor even though she has a fancy place to live and nice clothes. Yes, she has to save up for expensive things, but so does everyone else. Suck it up, princess. Then there's Annelise, who's kinda fun, but really just a generic modern hippie. I did like her, though despite the mystery of who she is, we never learn much about her outside of that. Cressida was interesting, at least. Horrible, but interesting.
The plot is the worst part. Nearly three-quarters through the book, this goes from being a really interesting story about a girl who's obviously into this weird, mystical girl to being about a girl who has a thing with a guy she met one time before because he has a cute puppy? It feels like the author got sick of the original story and decided to write a new one instead of finishing the first one? I've never been this disappointed and frustrated by the direction a book took. Shaking my head, man.
I don't like giving one-star reviews, especially to books that haven't even come out yet, but man. This was not good. The writing was lovely, and that makes it even worse, because then you know the author is capable of writing well. But the characters! And the plot!
On the characters: Our main girl (I literally had to check the description because I forgot her name, apparently it's Rosie, though I may have just forgotten because first-person POV), spends the whole story complaining about being poor even though she has a fancy place to live and nice clothes. Yes, she has to save up for expensive things, but so does everyone else. Suck it up, princess. Then there's Annelise, who's kinda fun, but really just a generic modern hippie. I did like her, though despite the mystery of who she is, we never learn much about her outside of that. Cressida was interesting, at least. Horrible, but interesting.
The plot is the worst part. Nearly three-quarters through the book, this goes from being a really interesting story about a girl who's obviously into this weird, mystical girl to being about a girl who has a thing with a guy she met one time before because he has a cute puppy? It feels like the author got sick of the original story and decided to write a new one instead of finishing the first one? I've never been this disappointed and frustrated by the direction a book took. Shaking my head, man.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
3.5
This is, for the moment, the last of the "books I saw as movies first" books. I think, in this case, I liked the movie better. Which isn't to say I didn't enjoy the book! It's just personal preference. Mrs. Frisby is still an absolutely wonderful protagonist: You don't see mothers as heroes very often, and she's so brave in the face of horrors for the sake of her children! It's amazing! The rest of the characters didn't make much of an impression, including Jeremy, who's much less present here than he is in the movie. That surprised me a little. I do like how scientific the story is, though. Do you suppose it counts as sci-fi? Because I think it should!
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
4.0
I'm on something of a streak reading books with movies I saw first! I knew that, like with Jurassic Park, this one was pretty different from its adaptation, and while I adore Studio Ghibli's version of the story ,I might just like this, the book version, more! Though that feels a bit like comparing apples and oranges in this case. Yes, the stories share a lot, but the vibe is totally different! The book has a more urban fantasy than fairytale feel, and Howl is so much more likeable here! He's such a loveable little scoundrel! Sophie's much the same, though she's less morose, which I really appreciate. This is, as they usually are, a case where the book is better than the movie, and with a movie that good, that's saying quite a lot!
The Ruins by Scott Smith
4.0
This is another case of my reading the book after seeing the movie, but this is also one of the rare cases where I liked the movie better. This was a good book, I just think the movie made better choices. That being said: I wasn't bored even once during this whole story, and that's hard to do! It was disturbing and gross and I loved it! The only thing I didn't like, the thing that brings down the star rating, is the weird sexual stuff. Now, I'm not one of the people who thinks sex doesn't belong in books. If it fits what's going on, sure! But these didn't fit at all. In fact, the way the author used clinical terms like penis and sperm instead of the more appealing words makes me wonder if they were supposed to be gross. Because they had my skin crawling!
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
5.0
It's official! I've read all of the books Caitlin Doughty's written so far! And like the others, I loved this one! I love her YouTube channel, though, so that's kind of a given. These books all read like longform essays strung together. More a podcast than a book, and honestly? I'm about it, especially considering her subjects are so interesting. I knew of the existence of the catacombs in Mexico (Thanks, Ray Bradbury!), but I'd never heard of the angelitos, or the high-tech columbarium in Japan, or any of these other traditions! Fascinating stuff! And she manages to do it without getting bogged down in the grimness of death, which, being a horror reader, I run into a lot. Here's hoping she's working on a new book soon!
When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw
3.0
I know I say it all the time, but this one's especially hard to rate. I loved the setting and the references made the story feel really grounded, but I finished this book before bed last night after being in its universe for over a week, and I couldn't tell you the main characters' names. One of them is into fashion, and one of them is into movies, and they have opposite family lives, and that's really all I could tell you about them. That being said, I did cry a few times. The writing is nice and it hit pretty hard, given I'm a queer nineties baby myself. Not a bad story overall, I just wish the characters were more fleshed out. If you're a fan of Pose, give this one a read!
Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
2.0
This book wasn't what I expected. I expected bones and plant magic and Southern Gothic vibes, and while I got that, I also got a bunch of dull-as-dirt characters and one of the least interesting romances I've ever come across. Were it not for their having different names, I would've thought all the leading men (There's three? Or four? I can't remember, they all blur together) were all the same person. Our MC, Laurel, is somehow flatter than Kansas while also being "so quirky!" She gave up college to collect bones? So unique!
I could let all that go were it not for the fact that the writing here is absolutely gorgeous. It's atmospheric and eerie and I absolutely loved it! Like, seriously, this is some of the most beautiful, flowing writing styles I've ever come across.
And that just makes me even more annoyed, given how much potential this story had. It's a real shame.
I could let all that go were it not for the fact that the writing here is absolutely gorgeous. It's atmospheric and eerie and I absolutely loved it! Like, seriously, this is some of the most beautiful, flowing writing styles I've ever come across.
And that just makes me even more annoyed, given how much potential this story had. It's a real shame.
The Lost World by Michael Crichton
1.0
I read the first Jurassic Park book not long ago, and it was amazing! And I had lots of people on Twitter telling me I should read the second one, and I listened because if the first book was great, it stands to reason that the second one would be, too, right? Wrong. Hoo, boy, wrong! This book was as big a disappointment as I've ever read. The characters (Including the resurrected Ian Malcolm, who I loved in the first book) are obnoxious, especially the kids, there's far less action, and any time a meaningful conversation is being had, it gets cut off for "Oh, look, a dinosaur!" Snoozefest seems an apt descriptor for this book. Such a shame, too, when there was so much potential!
On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe
3.0
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a romance reader. It sounded cute, though, since I am myself plus-sized and a fan of What Not to Wear! But alas, it turns out I'm just not a romance reader. I spent the whole story waiting for something exciting to happen, but there was nothing that wasn't mundane. A kiss or a makeout or even sex or an "I love you" isn't anything special enough to build a whole story towards. I do believe I'm gonna stick with fantasy and horror officially.
All that said, the story itself is fine, and the characters are likeable enough, so I'm giving On The Plus Side three stars!
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a romance reader. It sounded cute, though, since I am myself plus-sized and a fan of What Not to Wear! But alas, it turns out I'm just not a romance reader. I spent the whole story waiting for something exciting to happen, but there was nothing that wasn't mundane. A kiss or a makeout or even sex or an "I love you" isn't anything special enough to build a whole story towards. I do believe I'm gonna stick with fantasy and horror officially.
All that said, the story itself is fine, and the characters are likeable enough, so I'm giving On The Plus Side three stars!
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
5.0
I knew that this book was gonna be a lot different than the movie before I started reading, but I didn't expect it to be a horror book! And I absolutely loved it! It totally makes sense, too, because yeah, dinosaurs in real life would be terrifying! Especially that one bit with the compys at the beginning of the book. You'll know what I mean when you get to it. It's horrific. And ironic! The little guys are scarier than the big guys!
The atmosphere was palpable, and the characters! I loved some the same as I did in the movie, but Hammond! God, what an asshole! I didn't expect that! And I really liked Genarro, which I didn't expect, either! The different deaths shocked me, and I really loved most of them, though the one made me really sad. And the differences in Tim and Lex! I do definitely get why they switched them around.
Overall, I really, really loved this book! My only issues were how many times things were described as moving "crazily," and how unsatisfying the ending was. I've been told I need to read The Lost World to round it out, so as soon as I finish the ARC in my NetGalley reading list, imma check that one out!
The atmosphere was palpable, and the characters! I loved some the same as I did in the movie, but Hammond! God, what an asshole! I didn't expect that! And I really liked Genarro, which I didn't expect, either! The different deaths shocked me, and I really loved most of them, though the one made me really sad. And the differences in Tim and Lex! I do definitely get why they switched them around.
Overall, I really, really loved this book! My only issues were how many times things were described as moving "crazily," and how unsatisfying the ending was. I've been told I need to read The Lost World to round it out, so as soon as I finish the ARC in my NetGalley reading list, imma check that one out!