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libralita's reviews
487 reviews
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
4.0
From: http://sevendemigodsanswerthecall.tumblr.com/post/114530720714/title-the-crucible-author-arthur-miller
This probably won’t be the best review because, I didn’t read most of the book because I was sick for a week and we read the book in class, because this is a play and plays should be read aloud. So, I haven’t really felt like catching up with it because I already have a lot of makeup work as it is. So I ended up starting the book about 1/3 into Act 2. I will probably listen to the audiobook at some point when I have to take the test on it, and we’re also watching the movie in class so that’s helpful.
So after watching most of the movie and my teacher kind of explaining what happened I understand it better. That being said, the premise alone just interests me so much. Witch trials just are very interesting, and kind of frightening because you hear about people who just hang people for doing simple things. Watching our court systems being abused to such a degree is frightening.
Abigail is probably the most interesting character, her affair with John and how she drank blood to kill his wife. Then her and the other young girls of this town pretending to be have seen the devil, almost playing a part in getting a lot of people hung by pretending to see demons and devil near people. That’s just the most interesting thing. She’s also just such a horrible human being, just such a bitch. I love it.
Also, I love the writing, I didn’t struggle with the language as I did with Hamlet however it has this older style. I really enjoyed hearing it and the way it was written. It had wit at some points and very ponient lines.
Despite not knowing what was going on most of the time, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend the movie and the book.
This probably won’t be the best review because, I didn’t read most of the book because I was sick for a week and we read the book in class, because this is a play and plays should be read aloud. So, I haven’t really felt like catching up with it because I already have a lot of makeup work as it is. So I ended up starting the book about 1/3 into Act 2. I will probably listen to the audiobook at some point when I have to take the test on it, and we’re also watching the movie in class so that’s helpful.
So after watching most of the movie and my teacher kind of explaining what happened I understand it better. That being said, the premise alone just interests me so much. Witch trials just are very interesting, and kind of frightening because you hear about people who just hang people for doing simple things. Watching our court systems being abused to such a degree is frightening.
Abigail is probably the most interesting character, her affair with John and how she drank blood to kill his wife. Then her and the other young girls of this town pretending to be have seen the devil, almost playing a part in getting a lot of people hung by pretending to see demons and devil near people. That’s just the most interesting thing. She’s also just such a horrible human being, just such a bitch. I love it.
Also, I love the writing, I didn’t struggle with the language as I did with Hamlet however it has this older style. I really enjoyed hearing it and the way it was written. It had wit at some points and very ponient lines.
Despite not knowing what was going on most of the time, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend the movie and the book.
Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki
4.0
TBR Jar Challenge: Read a Graphic Novel
Review:
First the art style, while it’s not really my cup of tea, I still enjoyed it.
As someone who hasn’t read a graphic novel in 5 years or more, it was okay. It’s not so much a continuing story so much as a series of small stories, usually about a page, maybe two. It made me feel a little bit nostalgic because when I was little I would always get those Archie comics and they usually were a series of short stories involving those characters.
The scenarios and characters were fun, though I really disliked Frances. She was just annoying and I didn’t really care for her.
This is a fun, quirky and weird book. The story during prom night was really weird but I would recommend this book.
Review:
First the art style, while it’s not really my cup of tea, I still enjoyed it.
As someone who hasn’t read a graphic novel in 5 years or more, it was okay. It’s not so much a continuing story so much as a series of small stories, usually about a page, maybe two. It made me feel a little bit nostalgic because when I was little I would always get those Archie comics and they usually were a series of short stories involving those characters.
The scenarios and characters were fun, though I really disliked Frances. She was just annoying and I didn’t really care for her.
This is a fun, quirky and weird book. The story during prom night was really weird but I would recommend this book.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
3.0
I liked the beginning of the book, but as Ester continues to lose her mind, it gets hard to get through. Ester bothers me the same way Holden from Catcher in the Rye. It’s obviously horrible to read people trying to attempt suicide. It’s just a book that needs a stiff drink to get through. The only part I didn’t really like was when Ester was at her lowest point.
Before that point, Ester was whinny but she was interesting and I sympathized with her struggles. I liked the fig tree metaphor and understood it, I’ve been in the situation where I let things pass by me because I couldn’t decide what to do.
When Ester’s in the mental ward it’s pretty interesting. It’s scary but I still enjoyed it.
Before that point, Ester was whinny but she was interesting and I sympathized with her struggles. I liked the fig tree metaphor and understood it, I’ve been in the situation where I let things pass by me because I couldn’t decide what to do.
When Ester’s in the mental ward it’s pretty interesting. It’s scary but I still enjoyed it.
The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare, Holly Black
3.0
This was an...odd book.
I don’t really know how to feel about this book, to be honest. After watching a video of Cassie and Holly talking about it, I’m starting to understand it a little better. I went into this completely blind, all I knew was that it was about a magic school and it was compared to Harry Potter. This kind of helped get across what the authors plan on doing with the fact that Call is possibly The Enemy of Death, which I don’t completely believe because this is Cassandra Clare. So, we’ll see but if Call is who is he is then I think this will be for a pretty interesting series and what the authors said in the video, about the Good vs Evil aspect.
With that said, I do have some problems with this book. Particularly Call, I know he’s 12 but god he was annoying and so stupid at times. Like what really bothered me was when he brought a fucking chaos-ridden wolf into the school. Like are you crazy? And then Aaron and Tamara were like, “Cool! Let’s keep this thing here” Yeah, they’re 12 but still that’s really stupid.
I really like Aaron at the beginning, my favorite line was when Rufus told them that they were going be taking their first magic test:
"They all yelled in excitement. Tamara yelled because she was happy, Aaron yelled because he liked it when other people were happy, and Call yelled because he was sure they were going to die." (pg 120)
Like, Aaron you shit I love you. I don’t know how I feel about him being the Makar, I don’t want this power to go to his head like it’s starting to. I want him to be adorable and happy for everyone. Like there was a line where apparently he convinced the Assembly to let them keep the wolf because he’s the lord and savior.
Then Tamara, she sometimes is annoying like she’s kind of a brat but when she broke down about her sister. That was a really touching scene and that’s about the time I started getting INVESTED IN the book.
The writing was a bit of a problem, since I have read some of the Mortal Instruments books, I know some of these plot points that Clare used. So I could kind of tell who wrote what…well I haven’t read any Holly Black stories but I can tell what’s Cassandra’s so I can kind of assume Holly wrote the other stuff. The more middle grade elements are probably Holly’s and then the darker is probably Cassandra’s. Call being The Enemy has Cassandra’s finger prints all over, she’s paritcually the M Night Shyamalan of YA…expect y’know not terrible. So that bothered me a little.
Also I found the idea if you eat an element you’re more connected to it pretty stupid. Like Jasper pricking his finger to be more connected to air or the trio eating sand. I don’t know why, it just seemed stupid. I’m sure it’ll come back.
I can’t think of much else to say, this was an okay book. It was odd and I guess I’ll be CONTINUING the series.
I don’t really know how to feel about this book, to be honest. After watching a video of Cassie and Holly talking about it, I’m starting to understand it a little better. I went into this completely blind, all I knew was that it was about a magic school and it was compared to Harry Potter. This kind of helped get across what the authors plan on doing with the fact that Call is possibly The Enemy of Death, which I don’t completely believe because this is Cassandra Clare. So, we’ll see but if Call is who is he is then I think this will be for a pretty interesting series and what the authors said in the video, about the Good vs Evil aspect.
With that said, I do have some problems with this book. Particularly Call, I know he’s 12 but god he was annoying and so stupid at times. Like what really bothered me was when he brought a fucking chaos-ridden wolf into the school. Like are you crazy? And then Aaron and Tamara were like, “Cool! Let’s keep this thing here” Yeah, they’re 12 but still that’s really stupid.
I really like Aaron at the beginning, my favorite line was when Rufus told them that they were going be taking their first magic test:
"They all yelled in excitement. Tamara yelled because she was happy, Aaron yelled because he liked it when other people were happy, and Call yelled because he was sure they were going to die." (pg 120)
Like, Aaron you shit I love you. I don’t know how I feel about him being the Makar, I don’t want this power to go to his head like it’s starting to. I want him to be adorable and happy for everyone. Like there was a line where apparently he convinced the Assembly to let them keep the wolf because he’s the lord and savior.
Then Tamara, she sometimes is annoying like she’s kind of a brat but when she broke down about her sister. That was a really touching scene and that’s about the time I started getting INVESTED IN the book.
The writing was a bit of a problem, since I have read some of the Mortal Instruments books, I know some of these plot points that Clare used. So I could kind of tell who wrote what…well I haven’t read any Holly Black stories but I can tell what’s Cassandra’s so I can kind of assume Holly wrote the other stuff. The more middle grade elements are probably Holly’s and then the darker is probably Cassandra’s. Call being The Enemy has Cassandra’s finger prints all over, she’s paritcually the M Night Shyamalan of YA…expect y’know not terrible. So that bothered me a little.
Also I found the idea if you eat an element you’re more connected to it pretty stupid. Like Jasper pricking his finger to be more connected to air or the trio eating sand. I don’t know why, it just seemed stupid. I’m sure it’ll come back.
I can’t think of much else to say, this was an okay book. It was odd and I guess I’ll be CONTINUING the series.
I Was Here by Gayle Forman
2.0
TBR Jar Challenge: May-Read a book published in 2015
This is an interesting book, but I didn’t really care for it. While I liked the mystery of who All_BS was and tracking this down. It was completely predictable that Meg didn’t have Mono in tenth grade but she was depressed. I also found the predictable love story between Cody and Ben and it was a bit annoying. It was a good, quick book to read after such a big thing like Heir of Fire.
I also admire Forman for being able to add cursing and actually say the main characters had sex. Good for her for some realism in YA.
However there were a couple really good quotes:
“Look how easy it is for them. What good is all of our intelligence if it makes us crazy? I mean, other animals don’t kill themselves.” –Cody (pg 133)
“You had a pile of rocks, and you cleaned them up pretty and made a necklace. Meg go jewels, and she hung herself with them.” –Tricia (pg 151)
This is an interesting book, but I didn’t really care for it. While I liked the mystery of who All_BS was and tracking this down. It was completely predictable that Meg didn’t have Mono in tenth grade but she was depressed. I also found the predictable love story between Cody and Ben and it was a bit annoying. It was a good, quick book to read after such a big thing like Heir of Fire.
I also admire Forman for being able to add cursing and actually say the main characters had sex. Good for her for some realism in YA.
However there were a couple really good quotes:
“Look how easy it is for them. What good is all of our intelligence if it makes us crazy? I mean, other animals don’t kill themselves.” –Cody (pg 133)
“You had a pile of rocks, and you cleaned them up pretty and made a necklace. Meg go jewels, and she hung herself with them.” –Tricia (pg 151)