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theavidreader405's Reviews (194)
This was short and simple. Somehow my idea of what this book was about was entireeeely wrong. Overall I enjoyed this novel. As a graduating college student who is job searching and regularly having existential crises, this made me feel a little more hopeful and better about the months to come.
I like that the “greater being” in this novel can be viewed as God, the universe, a higher being, etc. I loves that some of the omens were easier to see as omens than others.
I think this would be great for anyone who is questioning themself, the world, etc to read. (Or really anyone!)
I like that the “greater being” in this novel can be viewed as God, the universe, a higher being, etc. I loves that some of the omens were easier to see as omens than others.
I think this would be great for anyone who is questioning themself, the world, etc to read. (Or really anyone!)
This book made me have all the feels. I loved Owens writing and how she talked about all of the different birds of the marsh. I love Kya and Tate. My heart was filled with joy in their youth. When Tate left for college and didn’t come back, I sobbed. All the tears!
***This will be a longer review.
This is an easy read meant for elementary age children. I did not feel any kind of excitement or interest in this book until Bree, Hwin, Aravis, and Shasta made it to the valley. Once they made it through the valley I was finally semi-interested.
Here are the things I liked about the book:
At the climax/after an event Bree, Hwin, and Aravis have a conversation about how they doubted and judged Shasta because he came from a poor background in which he was a fisherman’s boy. They come to the conclusion that they were wrong about Shasta. I liked this message. I especially liked that they admitted that they judged Shasta wrongly because of who he is and where he came from.
This is pretty much the only thing I liked about this book.
Here are the things I didn’t like:
-The pacing was off and didn’t kick off until after the halfway point of the book.
-The dialogue between The King and Prince Rabadash is awkward and hard to understand at times.
-*one of my least favorite things* The villains in this book are described as having tan skin and wearing turbans. I recognize this this was written in 1954, but was really upset that these characters can easily be compared to people of the Middle East. Unless an adult were to have a conversation with a child about this, a child could easily begin distinguishing who is considered “good” and “bad” at a young age.
-Lastly I am disappointed in references/descriptions made to Queen Lucy, Queen Susan, and Hwin. *Again, I recognize that this was written in 1954, but it’s still disappointing. Early on in the book Queen Susan decides not to marry Rabadash, but Rabadash has the intentions of forcing the marriage and the whole crew is trying to figure out their escape. Mr. Tumnus comes up with a good plan while Susan has been sobbing the whole time and rejoices because he's "saved us all". Maybe it's the way I read this scene, but Susan seemed frail, weak, and "hopeless" to the men around her. This is not at all how I imagine Queen Susan.
In another scene the horses and teens have made it across the desert and through the valley. Hwin says she feels like she can't go on (due to their hard ride from the previous days), but basically says that sometimes we think we know our limits, but really we can go on further. She makes this comment because they are pressed on time. Lewis writes this response "'I think, Ma'am," said Bree very crushingly, "that I know a little more about campaigns and forced marches and what a horse can stand than you do'". I did not like this dismissive response. Yes, Bree does know more about these things because he is a war horse, but his tone and dismissive response to Hwin really bothered me.
Later in the book the Narnians are preparing to aid King Lune against Prince Rabadash and his men. Queen Susan has stayed behind at Cair Paravel and Corin says "She's not like Lucy, you know, who's as good as a man, or at any rate as good as a boy." Nope. Just no.
LASTLY! At the end of the book King Lune shows Aravis her apartment. He says to Aravis (speaking of Queen Lucy) "....she has been seeing that your apartments are put to rights for you better than I could have done it". This comment reinforces stereotypes against women.
Overall, I didn't like this book. I was upset about the underlying themes of xenophobia and misogyny.
This is an easy read meant for elementary age children. I did not feel any kind of excitement or interest in this book until Bree, Hwin, Aravis, and Shasta made it to the valley. Once they made it through the valley I was finally semi-interested.
Here are the things I liked about the book:
At the climax/after an event Bree, Hwin, and Aravis have a conversation about how they doubted and judged Shasta because he came from a poor background in which he was a fisherman’s boy. They come to the conclusion that they were wrong about Shasta. I liked this message. I especially liked that they admitted that they judged Shasta wrongly because of who he is and where he came from.
This is pretty much the only thing I liked about this book.
Here are the things I didn’t like:
-The pacing was off and didn’t kick off until after the halfway point of the book.
-The dialogue between The King and Prince Rabadash is awkward and hard to understand at times.
-*one of my least favorite things* The villains in this book are described as having tan skin and wearing turbans. I recognize this this was written in 1954, but was really upset that these characters can easily be compared to people of the Middle East. Unless an adult were to have a conversation with a child about this, a child could easily begin distinguishing who is considered “good” and “bad” at a young age.
-Lastly I am disappointed in references/descriptions made to Queen Lucy, Queen Susan, and Hwin. *Again, I recognize that this was written in 1954, but it’s still disappointing. Early on in the book Queen Susan decides not to marry Rabadash, but Rabadash has the intentions of forcing the marriage and the whole crew is trying to figure out their escape. Mr. Tumnus comes up with a good plan while Susan has been sobbing the whole time and rejoices because he's "saved us all". Maybe it's the way I read this scene, but Susan seemed frail, weak, and "hopeless" to the men around her. This is not at all how I imagine Queen Susan.
In another scene the horses and teens have made it across the desert and through the valley. Hwin says she feels like she can't go on (due to their hard ride from the previous days), but basically says that sometimes we think we know our limits, but really we can go on further. She makes this comment because they are pressed on time. Lewis writes this response "'I think, Ma'am," said Bree very crushingly, "that I know a little more about campaigns and forced marches and what a horse can stand than you do'". I did not like this dismissive response. Yes, Bree does know more about these things because he is a war horse, but his tone and dismissive response to Hwin really bothered me.
Later in the book the Narnians are preparing to aid King Lune against Prince Rabadash and his men. Queen Susan has stayed behind at Cair Paravel and Corin says "She's not like Lucy, you know, who's as good as a man, or at any rate as good as a boy." Nope. Just no.
LASTLY! At the end of the book King Lune shows Aravis her apartment. He says to Aravis (speaking of Queen Lucy) "....she has been seeing that your apartments are put to rights for you better than I could have done it". This comment reinforces stereotypes against women.
Overall, I didn't like this book. I was upset about the underlying themes of xenophobia and misogyny.
I liked this book much better than the Horse and His Boy. The writing was better and the story flowed easily. This book felt more magical and I enjoyed it a lot.
Entertaining and an easy read. Juicy family secrets. I enjoyed reading this.
I gave this book a good shot and didn't finish it. I made it about 60% of the way through.
I listened to this via audiobook and disliked the two people reading this book. It felt like they didn't "fit" for the book and everything felt....terribly awkward...but I told myself I wouldn't let this affect my opinion of the book itself.
Let's first talk about why I couldn't get into this book. The book lacked world building and character development which left me feeling unsatisfied most of the time. I loved the concept of the book: Earth has been inhabitable and after 300 years we have to return because we can't live in space anymore. There is a brief mentioning of a nuclear war that made Earth inhabitable, but I wanted a little more back story than that. I think if there had been less focus on relationships/love between almost all of the characters, there could have been more potential for world building and character development.
I didn't connect or feel much for the characters. I liked that there was a focus on four characters (Clarke, Wells, Glass, and Bellamy) and that chapters switched between characters. I liked that there was flashbacks from pre confinement. Again, I think that if there had been less focus on relationships/love I might have felt more for the characters and wanted to continue reading.
Overall, this book lacked character development, world building, and it felt like a big love fest between the characters. Even the love fest I wasn't that interested in. I think I might have liked this when I was 13, but I'm 22 and felt like I was forcing myself to read the book.
I listened to this via audiobook and disliked the two people reading this book. It felt like they didn't "fit" for the book and everything felt....terribly awkward...but I told myself I wouldn't let this affect my opinion of the book itself.
Let's first talk about why I couldn't get into this book. The book lacked world building and character development which left me feeling unsatisfied most of the time. I loved the concept of the book: Earth has been inhabitable and after 300 years we have to return because we can't live in space anymore. There is a brief mentioning of a nuclear war that made Earth inhabitable, but I wanted a little more back story than that. I think if there had been less focus on relationships/love between almost all of the characters, there could have been more potential for world building and character development.
I didn't connect or feel much for the characters. I liked that there was a focus on four characters (Clarke, Wells, Glass, and Bellamy) and that chapters switched between characters. I liked that there was flashbacks from pre confinement. Again, I think that if there had been less focus on relationships/love I might have felt more for the characters and wanted to continue reading.
Overall, this book lacked character development, world building, and it felt like a big love fest between the characters. Even the love fest I wasn't that interested in. I think I might have liked this when I was 13, but I'm 22 and felt like I was forcing myself to read the book.
Not as exciting as Prince Caspian, but it was still good and felt magical.
The world building of this book was well thought out and presented well. I loved Rin and her growth over the book. I thought I knew how this book was going to turn out in the beginning, but I was presently surprised how it did!
This book does have: gore, genocide, violence, drug abuse (including psychedelics that alter the mind), rape
This book does have: gore, genocide, violence, drug abuse (including psychedelics that alter the mind), rape