love_booksforlife's reviews
511 reviews

The Walking Dead, Vol. 24: Life and Death by Robert Kirkman

4.0

This is a good installment. Pretty shocking at the end. Can't wait to see what happens as the story continues!

About That Fling by Tawna Fenske

2.0

I liked this book for the first 40 pages or so. It was an interesting romance plot. Jenna needs just one night of wild abandonment. Unfortunately, her choice of fling isn't the greatest, having quite a few personal connections to herself that she doesn't realize right away. I liked this book at times. I liked Jenna and Adam at times. I really didn't like Mia, Jenna's best friend, which was a hindrance to reading the book. I felt as if Fenske put just a little too many side stories and tried too much to tie them together. The mediation stuff, dealing with Jenna and Adam's work, was a little too much for me as well. I wanted more of the main story. All in all, an okay read but I wanted more.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald

3.0

This was good quick re-read for me before teaching it to my seniors. The story is very good but the long windedness of some of the chapters pulls away from the amazing characters. Excited to teach this for the first time!

Hell House by Richard Matheson

3.0

First of all, this is the creepiest book I have ever read. And the only book that has kept me up at night. The paranormal stuff was so well done and terrifying. The only thing that dropped my interest was the OVERLY sexual subject matter. I get that it was part of Belasco's life but it was a bit much for me at times. All in all, a good read that I would recommend, with a warning.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

4.0

I have some mixed feelings about this book. It was a great concept with likable characters. It was pretty predictable at times but still enjoyable. The length was what got to me. There were a few places I felt it was dragging on; some places that could have been cut to get more to the point. With that, I realized that I really liked the book when I finished it and am excited to read more about Cassie and the rest of humanity.

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this book (which I seem to be having for a lot of book recently). The story was interesting, although I felt as though not much was happening. One hundred pages in the same place when they should be moving was a bit annoying. I still like Cassie, Ben, and Evan so seeing more of their story was good. There are some things that happen, especially in Poundcake's history chapters, that are just overly sad and really got to me. I think the thing that I liked the least was having a huge chunk of the book from Ringer's perspective. This could just be a me thing because I really don't like Ringer at all. She isn't even interesting to me and I found myself trudging through her sections. By the end, what she finds out is interesting but I still don't like her. I'm looking forward the last book so that I ca see how this all ends.

Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

2.0

I wanted to like this book but found that, in the end, I just couldn't. The writing is more suited for young adult. At first, I was turned off by this, not because I don't like YA but because that's not what I was expecting, but then I realized that Star Wars always has a bit of a campy feeling to it so I was okay with it. Some of the wording got me, too. I'm pretty sure "Duh" was used a few times, which is okay if this story was told in our galaxy but it isn't. I wanted to like the characters but ended up not really caring about them by the end. I didn't like the interludes throughout the book. They detracted from the story for me. I know why they were there, to show what life was like around the galaxy, but they just ended up annoying me in the long run. I am looking forward to the new movie, but I'm not so sure I will continue with this series.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

5.0

This book was amazing on all levels. The set-up, an autobiography in free-verse poetry, was just beautiful. It allowed Woodson to tell little stories that put together make up her fascinating life. The civil rights and religion aspects were great as well. I was transported into Woodson's life and felt pulled in by the lyrical and poetic language of the vignettes. I can't wait to recommend this book to my students and anyone who will listen to me.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

2.0

I have mixed feelings about this book so my rating would be two and a half stars really. There were moments that I really liked it and wanted to read more. I very much liked the format of sections in the first part of the book. The party chapter that moves almost like water from one event and year to another was beautiful to read. It was seamless. The section with the plays worked as well, giving you just enough story to carry the introduction of Lotto's plays. What I didn't like...was everything else. I disliked both Lotto and Mathilde. Mathilde is cold, even when you read about her backstory and feel bad for her, she is still cold. Lotto is supposed to be overly charismatic but I never actually saw that. They all loved him but I couldn't seem to find out why. He was way too much in love with himself and overly cocky. The worst aspect is probably the area that everyone else loves: the two parts to the novel. It's interesting that you get to know Lotto and then Mathilde in the two parts. There were areas where the one assumed something that was actually wrong, which was a good look at real life. My problem was that I wasn't a fan of the book by the time part two rolled around and I was frustrated having to read more about the characters. The two parts are really like two entire novels.
All in all, while parts and the concept of the structure are good, the actual novel itself, especially the characters, left a lot to be desired.

The Initiation by L.J. Smith

4.0

This is a book I haven't read since high school. I still like it but now, reading it as an adult, I see the almost immaturity of it. The teenagers in the book are naive I think. I also know that Cassie and a certain boy have a soulmate thing going on but it was a little quick for them to tell each other that they were in love with each other after talking only twice. In lust I would believe but not love. This book also has a lot of set up for the rest of the series. The whole world of witches is very interesting and I like how it is set up. All in all, it's good, just a little young.