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zorhose's reviews
70 reviews
The Woods by Harlan Coben
3.0
meh. at some point this was building up to something promising but then it lost me.
i'll admit this is not my familiar genre, so i don't know the standards and conventions, but that usually means i'm easily impressed. here, i rarely felt surprised even when twists did take place.
i didn't like Cope. to me he was a prime example of "men written by men". i might dig through my copy later and edit this with some examples, but he was giving casually misogynistic, sometimes racist remarks throughout the entire book. i guess i still didn't completely hate him and there were other characters that were more annoying, but if there's a first person narrator with these kind of flaws it always makes me wonder about the author.
in general i felt like the message and the theme of the book were quite muddled. but maybe that's on me for going into a thriller with the expectation that there will be a message. as i said i'm new to the genre.
this wasn't awful. i had fun and it kept my interest while reading it, but the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying which dampered my reading experience. i might still watch the netflix show that the unremovable sticker on the book cover advertised. we'll see.
i'll admit this is not my familiar genre, so i don't know the standards and conventions, but that usually means i'm easily impressed. here, i rarely felt surprised even when twists did take place.
i didn't like Cope. to me he was a prime example of "men written by men". i might dig through my copy later and edit this with some examples, but he was giving casually misogynistic, sometimes racist remarks throughout the entire book. i guess i still didn't completely hate him and there were other characters that were more annoying, but if there's a first person narrator with these kind of flaws it always makes me wonder about the author.
in general i felt like the message and the theme of the book were quite muddled. but maybe that's on me for going into a thriller with the expectation that there will be a message. as i said i'm new to the genre.
this wasn't awful. i had fun and it kept my interest while reading it, but the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying which dampered my reading experience. i might still watch the netflix show that the unremovable sticker on the book cover advertised. we'll see.
Brennende Lichter by Bella Chagall, Marc Chagall
3.5
to me this definitely served as a quasi introduction to jewish holidays, a field i'm not very educated in. after reading this i feel the need to learn more.
bella chagall is definitely very observational and the way she recounts these moments from her childhood made me feel like a child again myself.
i read this quickly but in theory the chapters would make it perfect for reading them one at the time as a bedtime story.
bella chagall is definitely very observational and the way she recounts these moments from her childhood made me feel like a child again myself.
i read this quickly but in theory the chapters would make it perfect for reading them one at the time as a bedtime story.
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
3.5
I judge middlegrade and children's books in general by wether or not I would like to read them to a child. This one I would definitely read to one.
I knew that this was going to be different from the movie, which is why I was hesitant for many years to pick this up. After all, the movie sets a high bar. But I was also curious, so this year I finally got around to it.
It is different. Almost every single thing is. But the core of both stories is Hiccup, a brave, observant underdog, who saves the day by doing things differently from his ancestors. And it works. The changes the movie made make sense for a cinematic release, but the book is a good story on its own. Suitable for bedtime reading-out-loud.
I knew that this was going to be different from the movie, which is why I was hesitant for many years to pick this up. After all, the movie sets a high bar. But I was also curious, so this year I finally got around to it.
It is different. Almost every single thing is. But the core of both stories is Hiccup, a brave, observant underdog, who saves the day by doing things differently from his ancestors. And it works. The changes the movie made make sense for a cinematic release, but the book is a good story on its own. Suitable for bedtime reading-out-loud.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
5.0
Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
Got an hour into this book and noticed it's not for me. Haven't seen her family's reality show and therefore was little invested going in. It seemed like she might have some interesting topics to discuss with her first hand insight to the fundie life style and reality tv, but in the first hour at least the conversation was superficial.
I feel like she might've written this book 10 years too early. Maybe with more time for her to reflect and grow away from her cult and family this could've been a more solid memoir. This way it felt like someone grapling with their family history for the first time. It was mostly just a recounting of things that happened in her life without much added context or wisdom and it felt like she still held back a lot.
As an audiobook narrator Jill also didn't really work for me. I found her way of speaking kinda annoying tbh...
Anyway, I'll just quit now. The waitlist is long for this one so I might as well return it to my library asap.
I feel like she might've written this book 10 years too early. Maybe with more time for her to reflect and grow away from her cult and family this could've been a more solid memoir. This way it felt like someone grapling with their family history for the first time. It was mostly just a recounting of things that happened in her life without much added context or wisdom and it felt like she still held back a lot.
As an audiobook narrator Jill also didn't really work for me. I found her way of speaking kinda annoying tbh...
Anyway, I'll just quit now. The waitlist is long for this one so I might as well return it to my library asap.
Out of the Blue by Jason June
2.0
this one... didn't hit for me.
i do love some good merfolk stories, but here the magical aspects didn't click with me. #fishing is not the way i prefer seeing fantasy elements modernized and some of the humorous elements(vampires, santa, etc. also being real) took away from the magic by confusing the lore. If I were Sean I'd have a lot more questions than what was on that PowerPoint.
I liked the concept of the journey and appreciated the moments where some of the implications of giving them only one month to decide the rest of your life were seriously discussed.
I also liked the fact that they didn't end up together. They are teenagers and even if they are legitimate soulmates, leaving your life behind for one person is rarely a decision that ends well. Maybe because I had to make a similar decision when my gap year ended, but I thought that was a good call by the author and the characters.
One thing that could've made this book better would've been to focus more on Sean and his best friend towards the end. She made a lot of questionable choices and I wish there had been a longer discussion between the two of them once the main conflict was resolved.
She did have her rant at earlier in the book, which also didn't feel entirely justified since she shut him out and hid her feelings from him and to then give him an ultimatum like that... yeah idk. I think it's probably realistic for a teen going through that kinda thing with her mom, but I wish there was any pushback on the notion that he sees her as a side character when he was literally worried about her the entire book, while he was going through his own heartbreak (which makes everone a little self centered).
Sean in general is a bit too gentle and easy to forgive in my eyes. At least there's a little character development on that front, but I feel like he had a right to call out at least Miguel and his bestie a bit more. (Even if Miguel didn't know Sean's ex cheated I still think it's a pretty dicky move to complain to Sean (again, his currents bf's ex) that he's not getting the promposal of his dreams yet, sorry.) But maybe I'm the problem.
Maybe, at the end of the day, I'm just too much of a rom-com hater and the only thing I find worse than a rom-com is a self aware rom-com, so me and this book were never meant to be. Either way, just keep swimming~
i do love some good merfolk stories, but here the magical aspects didn't click with me. #fishing is not the way i prefer seeing fantasy elements modernized and some of the humorous elements
I liked the concept of the journey and appreciated the moments where some of the implications of giving them only one month to decide the rest of your life were seriously discussed.
She did have her rant at earlier in the book, which also didn't feel entirely justified since she shut him out and hid her feelings from him and to then give him an ultimatum like that... yeah idk. I think it's probably realistic for a teen going through that kinda thing with her mom, but I wish there was any pushback on the notion that he sees her as a side character when he was literally worried about her the entire book, while he was going through his own heartbreak (which makes everone a little self centered).
Maybe, at the end of the day, I'm just too much of a rom-com hater and the only thing I find worse than a rom-com is a self aware rom-com, so me and this book were never meant to be. Either way, just keep swimming~
Y/N by Esther Yi
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
was this easy to read? no. i think while the plot itself is easy to follow, the writing and the message were complex and at times purposefully obfuscated.
but to me the book was intentionally written.
i wish i knew the right person to recommend this to irl. someone who both understands fandom and would enjoy this type of novel. because there are a lot of interesting discussions to be had based of some of the questions and ethical dilemmas this book poses. i will definitely try to get my hands on a physical copy for a future reread.
also i feel like it's a good litmus test whether you first read y/n as [your name] or [yes or no]. happy to say that i originally read it as the latter(just like moon)
but to me the book was intentionally written.
i wish i knew the right person to recommend this to irl. someone who both understands fandom and would enjoy this type of novel. because there are a lot of interesting discussions to be had based of some of the questions and ethical dilemmas this book poses. i will definitely try to get my hands on a physical copy for a future reread.
also i feel like it's a good litmus test whether you first read y/n as [your name] or [yes or no]. happy to say that i originally read it as the latter(just like moon)