love_booksforlife's reviews
511 reviews

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

4.0

I really liked this book! For me, it's four and a half stars. The half went down only because some of the book had me scratching my head for what just happened. BUT, I loved the characters and the plot. It was emotional and yet funny. The best part for me was narration. It was smooth and just laugh out loud funny. The humor was what made me fall in love with it!

If I Could Turn Back Time by Beth Harbison

1.0

I have never wanted to give a book zero stars until now. I went into this book really excited because I love the premise. Peggy Sue Got Married is one of my favorite movies and it had the same plot; girl gets a chance to redo her life at the end of high school. The problem is, Peggy Sue did it right and this book did not. I felt as though it was trying too hard to be something that it wasn't. It should have been a sweet and light romantic comedy, instead it started with the main character really wanted to save her father...wait no...get together with her high school boyfriend...wait no...have more fun? I'm not even sure. The first person narrator doesn't help anything. Instead of scenes there was more internal dialogue. My problem was that I didn't actually like the narrator enough to enjoy her page long explaining and rants. Raime does some weird things during the book that I just didn't understand. And she spent half the book celebrating the fact that she has a 19 year old body and not a 38 year old one. I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su, Kate Rorick

4.0

I really liked this update of one of my favorite classics. I haven't watched the youtube series, but I will now. Lizzie and the rest of the Bennet gang (along with Charlotte) have the perfect amount of sarcastic and warmth. I liked the concept of the videos and communications being the update of the novel. The only drawback was the "old" language at times. It gave a fake feeling to some of the dialogue that threw me out of the narrative flow of the story. But, all in all, I really enjoyed this novel!

Adverbs by Daniel Handler

4.0

When I first went into this book I was a little confused and not into the trippy ride. BUT, then I let go of reality and just went along with the ride that is Adverbs and loved it. It was a bit of wacky fun and magical realism mixed with some beautifully structured metaphors for love. Handler put together a series of short stories that seemingly connect, although as he himself admits there are people with the same name all of the time in life so you can't say fro sure if the characters are the same. Even with that, the stories are all looks at love in our crazy world. At time the stories don't seem to make sense, but think about them a little more and you realize that a bird isn't necessarily a bird and it could be the end of or changing of a relationship. The stand outs for me were "Soundly" and "Naturally". "Soundly" is a heartbreaking story of two women who have been best friends for years. It took a lot for me not to cry at the end of this story. "Naturally" is just so well written, the story of a man who has to tell the woman he is dating his secret, that he is fact a ghost, a ghost of her past. Loved it! The best part however is the meaning behind the title. Life isn't about what you do or who you do it with but HOW you do it, the function of an adverb.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

4.0

This cute little story about a woman who is obsessed with finding her own Mr. Darcy is just that...a cute story. Jane gets an all expense paid trip to a resort in England that is a trip back to the past to Jane Austen's time complete with a brooding Mr. Darcy character. This is not a hot and heavy romance but more of a slow (or really quick) burn young romance. I really liked the concept of the book and the setting. I cared about Jane and wanted her to find love. I do wish it was a little longer with more development and little cute scene, but to enough to not like the book.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

4.0

This is a very good book. I haven't had a chance to see the movie yet so I am excited to see how they put in Pat's inner dialogue, which drives this novel. Pat Peoples had something happen to him and he is finally back from the "bad place" where he was committed. He isn't all there and you can see that very quickly when reading. I enjoyed his mother as a character. She is woman who is stuck and doing what she can to just be happy. The relationship with her son was beautiful. I was a little overwhelmed with the football, which makes up a good portion of the novel but I was still able to read through it. The incident which landed Pat in the "bad place" was a little predictable but still felt good when he finally comes to remember it and come to some kind of peace. Good read!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith

3.0

I liked this book, mainly because I like Pride and Prejudice. I was very disappointed with the added zombie story mainly because I wanted more of that. This is the classic novel with some bits changed or added, not a reimagining which is what I was hoping for. So, it was disappointing but still enjoyable.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

2.0

There were more things I didn't like about this book than I did like. Starting with the positive: I liked the format. It was interesting for Laurel to be writing to dead people. I also found a similarity (the good parts at least) between Laurel and her sister May with me and my sister. But...that's about it. The format worked against the characters I felt. The letters give you the characters through only Laurel's vision. I really didn't get a good sense of anyone other than Laurel and she seemed very young to me at times. I teach 13 and 14 year olds and they don't act as young as she does in no way. The entire novel was a study in lack of communication and people having bad relationships without realizing how bad they really are. Laurel idolized May but May was a horrible sister most of the time. Laurel has a good set of friends so it's not like she is trying to fit in but she still makes really bad decisions. I've seen the concept of young girl having bad things happen to her and have to deal with it done much better. Read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson instead of this book, trust me.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

2.0

I have one word to describe this book: SLOW. The story moved incredibly slow and had entire chapters or pages about side characters that didn't really matter to the story. I liked seeing some of my favorite characters from Pride and Prejudice but they weren't the same for me. All in all, this was a great concept that I just couldn't get on board with while reading.

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison

4.0

This was a cute read. While some of the book isn't historically accurate, the characters still have a great feel to them. I loved watching Jenny try to find love and seeing a young spunky Jane Austen learning about life and writing!