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looseleafellie's reviews
250 reviews
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
3.0
Actual rating: 2.5 stars.
Having loved Simon Vs, I have to say that this book somewhat disappointed me. Don't get me wrong -- it's got all the wit, great writing, and thoughtfulness you'd expect from Becky Albertalli, but I felt like it kind of perpetuated the idea that once you get a boyfriend, everything gets fixed.
I get the feeling that this wasn't the intention. One side character says that she's not interested in dating at the moment (though she did just go through a messy breakup), and one of Molly's moms says that she didn't date at all during high school. Furthermore, it's mentioned that Cassie's girlfriend had never dated anyone before Cassie. But I feel like the state of being single isn't normalized ENOUGH, and towards the end Molly says things like, "I can't believe I went this long without kissing anyone, because it's AMAZING! I should have done this way sooner!" (I'm paraphrasing).
Oh, and need I mention that Molly suddenly gains a sense of self-esteem when someone likes her back?
Yes, I get that this is supposed to be a romance sort of story. But I'm getting sick and tired of stories where a teenager has never been kissed/never dated, and thinks they need to get a boyfriend/girlfriend, and then when they do it fixes everything. We need books that show it's perfectly normal to have never dated at ages 17, 18, or even 19 and beyond.
Having loved Simon Vs, I have to say that this book somewhat disappointed me. Don't get me wrong -- it's got all the wit, great writing, and thoughtfulness you'd expect from Becky Albertalli, but I felt like it kind of perpetuated the idea that once you get a boyfriend, everything gets fixed.
I get the feeling that this wasn't the intention. One side character says that she's not interested in dating at the moment (though she did just go through a messy breakup), and one of Molly's moms says that she didn't date at all during high school. Furthermore, it's mentioned that Cassie's girlfriend had never dated anyone before Cassie. But I feel like the state of being single isn't normalized ENOUGH, and towards the end Molly says things like, "I can't believe I went this long without kissing anyone, because it's AMAZING! I should have done this way sooner!" (I'm paraphrasing).
Oh, and need I mention that Molly suddenly gains a sense of self-esteem when someone likes her back?
Yes, I get that this is supposed to be a romance sort of story. But I'm getting sick and tired of stories where a teenager has never been kissed/never dated, and thinks they need to get a boyfriend/girlfriend, and then when they do it fixes everything. We need books that show it's perfectly normal to have never dated at ages 17, 18, or even 19 and beyond.
Into the Black by Gabe Cole Novoa
4.0
***Minor spoilers***
Into the Black makes a very worthy sequel to Beyond the Red. Whereas the first book focused mostly on Kora’s troubles as ruler and her need to find a husband, this one focuses on Eros and his campaign for the throne of Safara.
I actually liked Eros more in this book than I did in BTR. I think seeing him interact with his nephew Mal shows off his compassionate side more. Kora also has a lot of character development as she navigates her strained relationships with her brother and Eros. There was also a new major supporting character, Deimos, who I really, really liked. I hope he gets a lot of attention in the third book.
Another thing I liked was finding out more about Safara and its territories, and how Sephari society works. I found the information about the Sephari religion especially interesting, and the scene where Eros is evaluated in the temple may be my favorite in the whole book.
There wasn’t much I didn’t like, though I feel like the pacing overall could have been a bit faster. I also think the romance between Eros and Deimos might have progressed a bit too fast — Eros went from curious interest to “OMG I totally want to spend the rest of my life with this guy” within a relatively short time span (and yes, they went through a lot together in that relatively short time, but Eros doesn’t strike me as the sort of person to be declaring undying love within a matter of weeks of meeting someone). Finally, I caught a few typos throughout the book, though they didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.
Overall, Into the Black did a great job of continuing Kora and Eros’ story, and I can’t wait for The Rising Gold to wrap it all up.
Into the Black makes a very worthy sequel to Beyond the Red. Whereas the first book focused mostly on Kora’s troubles as ruler and her need to find a husband, this one focuses on Eros and his campaign for the throne of Safara.
I actually liked Eros more in this book than I did in BTR. I think seeing him interact with his nephew Mal shows off his compassionate side more. Kora also has a lot of character development as she navigates her strained relationships with her brother and Eros. There was also a new major supporting character, Deimos, who I really, really liked. I hope he gets a lot of attention in the third book.
Another thing I liked was finding out more about Safara and its territories, and how Sephari society works. I found the information about the Sephari religion especially interesting, and the scene where Eros is evaluated in the temple may be my favorite in the whole book.
There wasn’t much I didn’t like, though I feel like the pacing overall could have been a bit faster. I also think the romance between Eros and Deimos might have progressed a bit too fast — Eros went from curious interest to “OMG I totally want to spend the rest of my life with this guy” within a relatively short time span (and yes, they went through a lot together in that relatively short time, but Eros doesn’t strike me as the sort of person to be declaring undying love within a matter of weeks of meeting someone). Finally, I caught a few typos throughout the book, though they didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.
Overall, Into the Black did a great job of continuing Kora and Eros’ story, and I can’t wait for The Rising Gold to wrap it all up.
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
5.0
I ripped through this book in a day and have no regrets. The descriptions of the opulent futuristic city of Orleans were absolutely gorgeous, and the story was perfectly paced to keep me up reading late into the night.
I liked our protagonist Camellia right from the start, though I worried that she might end up being the typical rule-hating YA heroine who rebels just because she can. However, her somewhat rebellious nature followed naturally from her character development, and she made an excellent foil to the also-rebellious but deliciously evil Princess Sophia.
Overall, I would describe The Belles as resembling the Uglies trilogy with a dash of The Hunger Games and The Selection thrown in, but with enough heapings of originality, charm, and flair to avoid seeming derivative. This is definitely one for any dystopia-lover’s shelf, especially if you’re looking for something fresh and unique. I, for one, am eagerly looking forward to the sequel.
I liked our protagonist Camellia right from the start, though I worried that she might end up being the typical rule-hating YA heroine who rebels just because she can. However, her somewhat rebellious nature followed naturally from her character development, and she made an excellent foil to the also-rebellious but deliciously evil Princess Sophia.
Overall, I would describe The Belles as resembling the Uglies trilogy with a dash of The Hunger Games and The Selection thrown in, but with enough heapings of originality, charm, and flair to avoid seeming derivative. This is definitely one for any dystopia-lover’s shelf, especially if you’re looking for something fresh and unique. I, for one, am eagerly looking forward to the sequel.
We Own the Sky by Sara Crawford
4.0
Okay, admittedly, about 80% of the reason I initially decided to pick up a copy of this book was because of THAT COVER. I'm a sucker for gorgeous covers. However, I can assure you that the story inside definitely does the cover justice.
We've had plenty of stories about vampires, mermaids, and ancient myths of all types, but I can't recall ever coming across a book about the Muses. Especially not one with a modern take on Muses, where any artist who dies can become a Muse. That's right -- in this story, there are pop star Muses, emo Muses, and '50s pin-up girl Muses. Also a love-interest Muse. We'll get to him in a minute.
Our protagonist is Sylvia, a lonely, music-loving teenager with a history of depression. Over the course of the story, we see her use music to connect with the real world and make some new friends, which I thought was a lovely arc. She has a quirky habit of naming objects that are important to her -- her iPod is Murphy, her journal is Lily, her drum set is Charlie. She also has an excellent taste in music, as the references sprinkled throughout the story attest (anyone who listens to The Beatles as much as she does is a winner in my book).
Sylvia's love interest is Vincent, a Muse from the 1800s who died at 19 and now eternally looks that age (so it's totally not creepy :P). A lot of people have compared their relationship to that of Edward and Bella -- the immortal dude who stalks his love interest, and the clingy girl who can't live without her man -- but, you know, at least Vincent never got the overpowering urge to kill Sylvia.
Okay, in truth, the romance wasn't bad. I just kind of wish there had been more connection between Sylvia and Vincent other than "We both love Art" and "tingly feelings." I didn't really get a sense of how their personalities match up, and I often found myself asking whether their relationship would exist if Vincent was a regular human. But like I said, it's still a better love story than Twilight (*badum tish*) (No, actually I'm serious).
So what's the main conflict in the story? Well, the modern Muses are overseen by the original Muses from Greek mythology (Calliope, Erato, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Urania, and Clio -- but not Thalia, because ... well, read the book to find out). Urania, the current ruling Muse, has been very lenient about which artists can become Muses. This has angered her sister, Clio, who vows to kill some of the modern Muses to pare things down a bit. Of course, she wants to start with Vincent, who has flaunted the Muse rules by becoming visible to his artists -- most recently, Sylvia. We get a dual narrative -- Sylvia going about her high school life and trying to explore her new-found musical inspiration, interspersed with what's going on in the world of Muses. Vincent acts as kind of a bridge between the two. You'd have thought that this sort of holistic narration wouldn't leave many surprises to be discovered, but there are, in fact, plenty.
Overall, the general appeal of this book to me was the unique concept. I loved exploring this modern interpretation of the Greek Muses myth, and Sylvia's sensitive character and heavy musical themes just added to the joy of reading We Own the Sky. If you'd like to read something that blends mythology, modern music, and a Twilight-esque romance, then this book is for you.
We've had plenty of stories about vampires, mermaids, and ancient myths of all types, but I can't recall ever coming across a book about the Muses. Especially not one with a modern take on Muses, where any artist who dies can become a Muse. That's right -- in this story, there are pop star Muses, emo Muses, and '50s pin-up girl Muses. Also a love-interest Muse. We'll get to him in a minute.
Our protagonist is Sylvia, a lonely, music-loving teenager with a history of depression. Over the course of the story, we see her use music to connect with the real world and make some new friends, which I thought was a lovely arc. She has a quirky habit of naming objects that are important to her -- her iPod is Murphy, her journal is Lily, her drum set is Charlie. She also has an excellent taste in music, as the references sprinkled throughout the story attest (anyone who listens to The Beatles as much as she does is a winner in my book).
Sylvia's love interest is Vincent, a Muse from the 1800s who died at 19 and now eternally looks that age (so it's totally not creepy :P). A lot of people have compared their relationship to that of Edward and Bella -- the immortal dude who stalks his love interest, and the clingy girl who can't live without her man -- but, you know, at least Vincent never got the overpowering urge to kill Sylvia.
Okay, in truth, the romance wasn't bad. I just kind of wish there had been more connection between Sylvia and Vincent other than "We both love Art" and "tingly feelings." I didn't really get a sense of how their personalities match up, and I often found myself asking whether their relationship would exist if Vincent was a regular human. But like I said, it's still a better love story than Twilight (*badum tish*) (No, actually I'm serious).
So what's the main conflict in the story? Well, the modern Muses are overseen by the original Muses from Greek mythology (Calliope, Erato, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Urania, and Clio -- but not Thalia, because ... well, read the book to find out). Urania, the current ruling Muse, has been very lenient about which artists can become Muses. This has angered her sister, Clio, who vows to kill some of the modern Muses to pare things down a bit. Of course, she wants to start with Vincent, who has flaunted the Muse rules by becoming visible to his artists -- most recently, Sylvia. We get a dual narrative -- Sylvia going about her high school life and trying to explore her new-found musical inspiration, interspersed with what's going on in the world of Muses. Vincent acts as kind of a bridge between the two. You'd have thought that this sort of holistic narration wouldn't leave many surprises to be discovered, but there are, in fact, plenty.
Overall, the general appeal of this book to me was the unique concept. I loved exploring this modern interpretation of the Greek Muses myth, and Sylvia's sensitive character and heavy musical themes just added to the joy of reading We Own the Sky. If you'd like to read something that blends mythology, modern music, and a Twilight-esque romance, then this book is for you.