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theabigaillo's reviews
382 reviews
Passing by Nella Larsen
4.0
ok, so wow. i don't have any big words to describe this book, except that it's ... sad. everyone's struggling in their own world, completely self-absorbed, so i guess it's realistic, but still. damn.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
4.0
so, i'm not sure if i liked this book enough to rate it 4 stars? which i guess is weird, since i just rated it 4 stars, but let me explain.when i first read it, i would probably have rated it a 3 or 2.5. i liked the story, but faulkner's writing made me want to personally throw as i lay dying into the fiery pits of hell. but then mr. klein (my ap lang teacher) explained the writing, and my brain was like, "magic." so now i have to rate it 4 stars out of sheer respect for faulkner's brilliance, but i'm not sure if i liked it as much as i liked other books i rated 4 stars?hey, at least i get to say i read faulkner and thought he was brilliant like a pretentious snob. thanks for that, mr. klein.
The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver by E. Lockhart
3.0
original review (4 stars): Damn it, it's just fun!re-read (3 stars): not as fun the second time around, though. tragic.
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie
Someone on Twitter (@freudiancascade) recommended this book because it's a "YA with gay lady pirates", so I kind of need this now?
Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh
3.0
honestly, i really wanted to rate this higher. for most of the book, i was freaking out because i loved almost everything. the pacing was abysmal and Mariko made some pretty stupid decisions, but everything else was to die for. i didn't even care about the flaws that much because i was enjoying myself too much. but then, everything just vanished. the whole book had been leading up to this climax that just ... wasn't there. was Ahdieh just trying to stretch her plot out into two books when it could easily have been one? i don't know.
e been should have seen it, right? i'm definitely excited to read the second book because Mariko and Okami are my absolute OTP, but i'm just disappointed by Flame in the Mist.
Spoiler
also, Ahdieh made a big deal out of Mariko supposedly knowing everything while not knowing that her family was high-key terrible, but i didn't believe it. i don't really know why, but that whole thing just made me roll my eyes. anyone who was as smart as she was supposed to have been should have seen it, right?
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
4.0
Stargirl ... she grew on me. She really did. At first, I thought, "Hm. Interesting story. Yes, I've heard this message at least a million times, but still. The writing's pretty cool!" Yet by the end, I felt ... changed. Maybe not as profoundly as [b:More Happy Than Not|19542841|More Happy Than Not|Adam Silvera|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437759419s/19542841.jpg|27669922] (that damn book), but changed for the better. However, personally, I'd have liked to be able to see inside Stargirl's mind. Seeing her from Leo's POV is cool, but learning about what makes her tick would be even more interesting for me. Guess I'll just have to read [b:Love, Stargirl|846984|Love, Stargirl (Stargirl, #2)|Jerry Spinelli|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320395760s/846984.jpg|23288]!
The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
2.0
ugh! still not any better! so disappointing. still too focused on Arin and Kestrel's love for each other and not focused enough on the betrayal! the attempted assassinations! you're in the court, Kestrel, and there's plenty of intrigue around, so get your mind out of the gutter and start being useful! and Arin, stop making assumptions about Kestrel. just stop. but the ending of this one was just like the ending of [b:The Winner's Curse|16069030|The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy, #1)|Marie Rutkoski|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377023523s/16069030.jpg|21861552]: so promising! so I'll probably keep going on to the next one just so I can get some closure.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
3.0
I'm pretty sure half of this book was just symbolism that I didn't understand, so maybe I'll re-read it later. But eh.