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mrs_a_is_a_book_nerd's Reviews (456)
Audiobook. I loved this book! The story, the narrator's, the language... All beautiful! Elizabeth Acevedo has yet to disappoint.
3.5
Again, good concepts and lessons, and good writing, just a little forced. Just didn't feel "authentic" to me. And yet I liked it.
Again, good concepts and lessons, and good writing, just a little forced. Just didn't feel "authentic" to me. And yet I liked it.
It was good. And then it was really good. And then it was oh, so good. And then... it was just so.
I was head-over-heels in love with this book--like heartbreakingly so. But then the ending was just... not it for me.
Still a good read. Still some achingly beautiful prose. Just... bummed that the ending didn't live up to the rest of the book.
I was head-over-heels in love with this book--like heartbreakingly so. But then the ending was just... not it for me.
Still a good read. Still some achingly beautiful prose. Just... bummed that the ending didn't live up to the rest of the book.
I received this ebook as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The idea is interesting enough: Quiet, socially isolated "new girl," faced with the fear of losing her only two friends in town, lets herself get enmeshed in a revenge scheme with deadly consequences.
The problem is: I don't buy it. I don't buy how quickly Jess and Kayla let Violet in on their plan. I don't buy how (relatively) easily Violet joined in. I don't buy that 3 teenagers could get away with murder. I don't even buy the authenticity of the characters -- they're flat. I don't feel invested in any of them. The dialogue is shallow and trite...a few swear words thrown in now and again just felt like the author was trying to write teenagers without actually knowing any.
Sorry. This book was a disappointment. At 71% and a death in, I have no desire to know the outcome.
The idea is interesting enough: Quiet, socially isolated "new girl," faced with the fear of losing her only two friends in town, lets herself get enmeshed in a revenge scheme with deadly consequences.
The problem is: I don't buy it. I don't buy how quickly Jess and Kayla let Violet in on their plan. I don't buy how (relatively) easily Violet joined in. I don't buy that 3 teenagers could get away with murder. I don't even buy the authenticity of the characters -- they're flat. I don't feel invested in any of them. The dialogue is shallow and trite...a few swear words thrown in now and again just felt like the author was trying to write teenagers without actually knowing any.
Sorry. This book was a disappointment. At 71% and a death in, I have no desire to know the outcome.
Audio. SO GREAT! I have the print book coming so I can read it again!
I am a HUGE fan of Jodi Picoult's work--I've read most of her previous books and I read everything new she writes. I'm completely awed at her talent for taking contemporary issues and weaving a compelling and insightful narrative around what is clearly credible, informed, and deep research.
This book is no exception. It just feels a little more "fantasy-esque" than my taste for fiction typically indulges. I loved the moments of criticism and satire that she used to describe the behaviors of many members of the American public, as well as our "un-leader", during the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing months of uncertainty and devastation. I loved the narrative arcs with Finn and with Gabriel. And I don't doubt that the premise she uses to link the two are real: scientifically and anecdotally documented. It just didn't work for me. I lost investment in the protagonist's story as that thread unwound to an ending that--while I'm sure was intended to validate the experiences of people who have lived such realities--I found just a bit too cliche' or novice for what I've come to expect from Picoult's work.
It's well-written with compelling characters and a dynamic protagonist. It just didn't leave me mulling my view of the world at the end.
This book is no exception. It just feels a little more "fantasy-esque" than my taste for fiction typically indulges. I loved the moments of criticism and satire that she used to describe the behaviors of many members of the American public, as well as our "un-leader", during the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing months of uncertainty and devastation. I loved the narrative arcs with Finn and with Gabriel. And I don't doubt that the premise she uses to link the two are real: scientifically and anecdotally documented. It just didn't work for me. I lost investment in the protagonist's story as that thread unwound to an ending that--while I'm sure was intended to validate the experiences of people who have lived such realities--I found just a bit too cliche' or novice for what I've come to expect from Picoult's work.
It's well-written with compelling characters and a dynamic protagonist. It just didn't leave me mulling my view of the world at the end.
I received an advance reader's edition through a giveaway on Goodreads. I am providing my honest review so far.
The copy I won arrived in the mail on Thursday or Friday last week and I haven't been able to stop reading since I cracked the cover. Today I had to force myself to put it away for the day so I can actually get some work done.
The story centers around two teens--and their mothers--who come from complicated backgrounds.
Asher was taken by his mother Olivia around age 6, when she decided not to be her husband's punching bag any longer. Dad--a prominent surgeon--agreed to stay away in exchange for her not publicizing that he was a violent abuser. They have since lived a modest life surviving on Olivia's income as a beekeeper. Ashton has had no contact with his dad--to his mother's knowledge.
Lily was also taken by her mother as a child from a father who posed a threat to Lily's physical and mental well-being. They disappeared in the middle of the night, changed names and lives, Lily tells people her father is dead (because he is, to her). Their life free of her father hasn't been an easy one, and despite her mother's best efforts, there are some secrets about their past lives that must be kept, because letting them out has left permanent scars. So they again move to a new town where no one knows them, and they try to start a new life with a clean slate, truths locked tightly away from everyone, safely out of reach of Lily's father, who doesn't know where to find them--until he does.
Asher and Lily meet when Lily begins at her new high school and they instantly fall madly in love. It's the kind of love neither of them knew could exist, from their own broken family experiences. But a few months into the relationship, Lily is tortured by keeping truths about her life before him hidden from Asher, and some of Asher's behaviors raise the question of whether his father's biological influence includes a violent streak.
Then, Lily's mother arrives home to find Lily dead--in Asher's arms--and all of the questions and truths come tumbling out as Asher stands trial for her murder.
HOLY!! I was chewing through the book BEFORE the massive plot twist near the halfway point. Now my mind is spinning as I move through the second half. I'm not familiar with the co-author's work (though I will be checking it out after this!), but this is CLASSICLY what I know of Jodi Picoult: contemporary, hot-button topics dealt with so deftly and sensitively, posing all the right questions for the reader through epic, heart-wrenching mic-drop prose.
You won't leave reading this book unchallenged--or unchanged.
UPDATE: I finished the second half in a day. Loved it so, so much.
RUN to get this book!
The copy I won arrived in the mail on Thursday or Friday last week and I haven't been able to stop reading since I cracked the cover. Today I had to force myself to put it away for the day so I can actually get some work done.
The story centers around two teens--and their mothers--who come from complicated backgrounds.
Asher was taken by his mother Olivia around age 6, when she decided not to be her husband's punching bag any longer. Dad--a prominent surgeon--agreed to stay away in exchange for her not publicizing that he was a violent abuser. They have since lived a modest life surviving on Olivia's income as a beekeeper. Ashton has had no contact with his dad--to his mother's knowledge.
Lily was also taken by her mother as a child from a father who posed a threat to Lily's physical and mental well-being. They disappeared in the middle of the night, changed names and lives, Lily tells people her father is dead (because he is, to her). Their life free of her father hasn't been an easy one, and despite her mother's best efforts, there are some secrets about their past lives that must be kept, because letting them out has left permanent scars. So they again move to a new town where no one knows them, and they try to start a new life with a clean slate, truths locked tightly away from everyone, safely out of reach of Lily's father, who doesn't know where to find them--until he does.
Asher and Lily meet when Lily begins at her new high school and they instantly fall madly in love. It's the kind of love neither of them knew could exist, from their own broken family experiences. But a few months into the relationship, Lily is tortured by keeping truths about her life before him hidden from Asher, and some of Asher's behaviors raise the question of whether his father's biological influence includes a violent streak.
Then, Lily's mother arrives home to find Lily dead--in Asher's arms--and all of the questions and truths come tumbling out as Asher stands trial for her murder.
HOLY!! I was chewing through the book BEFORE the massive plot twist near the halfway point. Now my mind is spinning as I move through the second half. I'm not familiar with the co-author's work (though I will be checking it out after this!), but this is CLASSICLY what I know of Jodi Picoult: contemporary, hot-button topics dealt with so deftly and sensitively, posing all the right questions for the reader through epic, heart-wrenching mic-drop prose.
You won't leave reading this book unchallenged--or unchanged.
UPDATE: I finished the second half in a day. Loved it so, so much.
RUN to get this book!
I always love an Allen Eskins book, and this one is no different. Complex characters, interesting plot. I love how his main characters always wrestle with internal struggles on top of whatever they're facing in the main conflict.
More twists than a roller coaster!
It's what Colleen Hoover fans have come to expect from her work, plus a tightly woven suspense plot with teeth.
I didn't love the ending... It kind of felt like the story screeched to a halt. I wanted a complimentary voice to the one I read throughout the novel. The narrator's response to her discovery seemed disproportionate to the realization. It just didn't work for me.
It's what Colleen Hoover fans have come to expect from her work, plus a tightly woven suspense plot with teeth.
I didn't love the ending... It kind of felt like the story screeched to a halt. I wanted a complimentary voice to the one I read throughout the novel. The narrator's response to her discovery seemed disproportionate to the realization. It just didn't work for me.
A mystery in a mystery, leading to... you guessed it!
Stevie Bell's dreams come true when her application to attend the famous Ellingham Academy in Vermont is accepted. Not only is the school renowned for the free education it provides elite young prodigies, but it also is the scene of the historical cold case she thinks her talents might just be able to crack. Upon arrival, she meets a host of other teens with varying passions, and best of all, they all seem to accept Stevie for hers: a gift for true crime and detective work. Before long, her cold case project to uncover more about the strange kidnappings and deaths that leveled the Ellingham family is joined by another student's project to make a movie: it's more than she could've wished for...until the other student ends up dead, in a most unusual way. Was it a terrible accident, or something more calculated? And if the latter, who? And why?
The characters are individual and unique, dialogue is witty, and there's nothing cliche about the plot. It's not a mystery I couldn't put down, but I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Stevie Bell's dreams come true when her application to attend the famous Ellingham Academy in Vermont is accepted. Not only is the school renowned for the free education it provides elite young prodigies, but it also is the scene of the historical cold case she thinks her talents might just be able to crack. Upon arrival, she meets a host of other teens with varying passions, and best of all, they all seem to accept Stevie for hers: a gift for true crime and detective work. Before long, her cold case project to uncover more about the strange kidnappings and deaths that leveled the Ellingham family is joined by another student's project to make a movie: it's more than she could've wished for...until the other student ends up dead, in a most unusual way. Was it a terrible accident, or something more calculated? And if the latter, who? And why?
The characters are individual and unique, dialogue is witty, and there's nothing cliche about the plot. It's not a mystery I couldn't put down, but I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.