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magnoliabloomfield's reviews
54 reviews
The Loners by Lex Thomas
1.0
I get why some people would like this book and I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading it because it wouldn’t be fair to author who worked so hard on it. So I won’t spoil and I’ll try not to be mean.
I did not like this book. That doesn’t make it bad, I just didn’t like it. Like I don’t like coffee but plenty of people do, my opinion holds the same weight here.
The only thing I’ll clarify for you is this: if you are wanting something like The Maze Runner where they’re trying to figure out the catastrophe, this is not the book for you.
If you like stories that focus on the politics of anarchy like, idk, the walking dead? Then you will like this book.
Also, if you’re offended by stereotypes then trigger freaking warning. They’re all walking stereotypes and the one mean thing I’ll say is: none of the characters are likable. Maybe they’re not supposed to be, that could be a thing the author was going for, idk. And the author really needs to look up how long hair grows in one year.
And the girls are represented and treated like crap by the author, there’s no nice way to say that but yeah. Get ready for stereotypes out the wazzoo and if you’re a sexual assault victim STEER CLEAR. and if you hate Pick Me girls and Mary Sues same.
I did not like this book. That doesn’t make it bad, I just didn’t like it. Like I don’t like coffee but plenty of people do, my opinion holds the same weight here.
The only thing I’ll clarify for you is this: if you are wanting something like The Maze Runner where they’re trying to figure out the catastrophe, this is not the book for you.
If you like stories that focus on the politics of anarchy like, idk, the walking dead? Then you will like this book.
Also, if you’re offended by stereotypes then trigger freaking warning. They’re all walking stereotypes and the one mean thing I’ll say is: none of the characters are likable. Maybe they’re not supposed to be, that could be a thing the author was going for, idk. And the author really needs to look up how long hair grows in one year.
And the girls are represented and treated like crap by the author, there’s no nice way to say that but yeah. Get ready for stereotypes out the wazzoo and if you’re a sexual assault victim STEER CLEAR. and if you hate Pick Me girls and Mary Sues same.
The Line by Teri Hall
4.0
The official story is not always the true story.
This story was cozy yet compelling. There were slice of life moments of a girl learning to grow orchids, but doing it amidst a totalitarian government and conspiracy theories and propaganda. This story hits much closer to home reading it in 2021.
While this book makes me think of popular series like maze runner or ready player one in some ways, it is a bit different. It’s not fast paced, but it’s not slow either. The characters, the people are what drive the plot as they react to the events around them. I was drawn in and compelled to read it but it didn’t get my heart hammering, which is appreciated since I have anxiety haha.
It’s a bit mystery and a bit scifi. There are new words and terms used but they’re not that hard to get a grasp on.
I’m honestly upset by the poor reviews I’ve seen of this book, it was really quite good. If I’m being honest I would have given it four stars because it’s not quite up there with my my most beloved five star books, but the fact people were dissing on it made me want to bump it up higher. I thoroughly recommend it.
This story was cozy yet compelling. There were slice of life moments of a girl learning to grow orchids, but doing it amidst a totalitarian government and conspiracy theories and propaganda. This story hits much closer to home reading it in 2021.
While this book makes me think of popular series like maze runner or ready player one in some ways, it is a bit different. It’s not fast paced, but it’s not slow either. The characters, the people are what drive the plot as they react to the events around them. I was drawn in and compelled to read it but it didn’t get my heart hammering, which is appreciated since I have anxiety haha.
It’s a bit mystery and a bit scifi. There are new words and terms used but they’re not that hard to get a grasp on.
I’m honestly upset by the poor reviews I’ve seen of this book, it was really quite good. If I’m being honest I would have given it four stars because it’s not quite up there with my my most beloved five star books, but the fact people were dissing on it made me want to bump it up higher. I thoroughly recommend it.
The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
4.0
After going for nearly two weeks without power due to an ice storm I appreciated how realistic this was. Things didn’t immediately turn Mad Max and Thunderdome, but had a more natural and believable progression.
I imagined Herb as Bruce Willis from the movie Red, that made it fun.
Really my only complaint would just be that, while realistic (sadly) the small love story was a bit shallow. The girl would date anyone who asked her out because the guy she wanted to date hadn’t yet. Like, you can turn guys down if you’re not that into them, that’s only fair to them. Also I have no idea why he liked her other than she was beautiful, but her character wasn’t developed enough to know if she was even all that likable.
I imagined Herb as Bruce Willis from the movie Red, that made it fun.
Really my only complaint would just be that, while realistic (sadly) the small love story was a bit shallow. The girl would date anyone who asked her out because the guy she wanted to date hadn’t yet. Like, you can turn guys down if you’re not that into them, that’s only fair to them. Also I have no idea why he liked her other than she was beautiful, but her character wasn’t developed enough to know if she was even all that likable.
Empty by Suzanne Weyn
DNF
I kept tripping over odd things that seemed too futuristic compared to the rest of the story. The characters were very stereotypical and dull
I kept tripping over odd things that seemed too futuristic compared to the rest of the story. The characters were very stereotypical and dull
Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick
3.0
Really I’d give it more of a 2.5. I really liked the first book, even with the annoying child, and the cliffhanger ending was great. But I’m slightly disappointed with this second book.
First of all it’s a different narration than the first one, Ashes was just Alex’s third person POV and now we follow at least three, sometimes only one page chapters at a time.
I could do without cannibals having a sex life.
It woulda been nice to know what happened to Ellie but she’s barely even mentioned.
Then we get things like Tom going “Haha right, I’m not going to help this bad guy after everything he just did! He doesn’t deserve it!” To going straight over and helping the bad guy and doesn’t even save him and Tom almost dies for NOTHING.
Also we kind of stopped learning about the condition of the world and the technicalities of the Changing, and Alex’s abilities aren’t explained or expanded any more than seeing movie trailers in her mind of every act of sexual assault the cannibal boys imagine doing to her.
It feels like we went from this big, wide story about a global scifi event in book one, to a micro zoomed scope of just the drama happening between people.
And we understand it’s cold, you don’t have to say “their eyes puckered” every time someone steps outside.
Some action scenes that, looking back on it now, weren’t really essential to the plot for more than a little were stretched out way too long.
I lost track of who was telling what lies to who and what was the truth, and there were sometimes where I’d hear that line from the book “Character’s and Viewpoint” by Orson Scott Card on writing: “well that’s convenient.” Like, when everything goes wrong ten ways to Sunday but when it seems like the end there’s a really flimsy answer/escape that you’re like “… in what version of reality…?” I get that it’s fiction and you have to suspend belief a little, but not so much that your audience gets ejected from the story.
I still have some high hopes for finishing the series, maybe it’s like the Southern Reach trilogy where the first and last books were great but the middle one was garbage.
First of all it’s a different narration than the first one, Ashes was just Alex’s third person POV and now we follow at least three, sometimes only one page chapters at a time.
I could do without cannibals having a sex life.
It woulda been nice to know what happened to Ellie but she’s barely even mentioned.
Then we get things like Tom going “Haha right, I’m not going to help this bad guy after everything he just did! He doesn’t deserve it!” To going straight over and helping the bad guy and doesn’t even save him and Tom almost dies for NOTHING.
Also we kind of stopped learning about the condition of the world and the technicalities of the Changing, and Alex’s abilities aren’t explained or expanded any more than seeing movie trailers in her mind of every act of sexual assault the cannibal boys imagine doing to her.
It feels like we went from this big, wide story about a global scifi event in book one, to a micro zoomed scope of just the drama happening between people.
And we understand it’s cold, you don’t have to say “their eyes puckered” every time someone steps outside.
Some action scenes that, looking back on it now, weren’t really essential to the plot for more than a little were stretched out way too long.
I lost track of who was telling what lies to who and what was the truth, and there were sometimes where I’d hear that line from the book “Character’s and Viewpoint” by Orson Scott Card on writing: “well that’s convenient.” Like, when everything goes wrong ten ways to Sunday but when it seems like the end there’s a really flimsy answer/escape that you’re like “… in what version of reality…?” I get that it’s fiction and you have to suspend belief a little, but not so much that your audience gets ejected from the story.
I still have some high hopes for finishing the series, maybe it’s like the Southern Reach trilogy where the first and last books were great but the middle one was garbage.
Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke
4.0
“Evil seldom takes shape immediately.”
I knew this combo was going to be great, I’ve been a fan of Cornelia Funke since Inkheart, before the trilogy was even complete, and Guillermo Del Toro is a fascinating human being.
It was a fun read for sure and I don’t have anything bad to say about it, but here’s the thing.
It was hard to tell what age range this was written for, it felt like all of them at once tbh. So there’s the intense broken bottle face scene, but the scene with the Pale Man carried only a fraction of the terror it did in the movie. So while it’s great as is I couldn’t help but think it also could have been more.
I knew this combo was going to be great, I’ve been a fan of Cornelia Funke since Inkheart, before the trilogy was even complete, and Guillermo Del Toro is a fascinating human being.
It was a fun read for sure and I don’t have anything bad to say about it, but here’s the thing.
It was hard to tell what age range this was written for, it felt like all of them at once tbh. So there’s the intense broken bottle face scene, but the scene with the Pale Man carried only a fraction of the terror it did in the movie. So while it’s great as is I couldn’t help but think it also could have been more.