Court
I don't think that I'm sold on the art work (although the full page spread of the kiss is truly lovely – I think the skulls in other pages came off as cheesy to me, among other stylistic choices) and I craved more story. I was so looking forward to this, I wanted (and expected) more. It felt very cut, copy, and insert twist here. I liked the combination of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, the 'twist' of the sleeper being the evil magic user , and the dwarves...but there was a luster that was usually there that was lacking this time. The whole thing just made me sigh, it was close, maybe?
Even though I was expecting a lot more (I've been wanting to read this for a few years), I did enjoy the story. Nick Hornby is a great author.
I think I would have liked Jess and JJ more had I read this when I was in high school (around the time when it was published). I would have thought that JJ was ‘deep' and that Jess was a bit more ‘appropriately anguished'. Hopefully they were fun to write, but I found that they were rarely insightful and were mostly plot tools.
I did love when Jess talked about being tied to others, now to see if I can find the quote.
I love that Amy Poehler isn't afraid to be human, to share some of her faults. My favorite part is when she talks about the apology, it was just so right. When I mess up I want so many things, I want to explain, I want forgiveness, I want it to be viewed that I'm not at fault...but Anastasia was so right, there were other things in play and she was perfectly forgiving.
I adored how Amy Poehler talked about being a mom, being pregnant, and having a body in general (and being private about her divorce – respect). I also enjoyed her talking about awards and Parks and Rec. I also think it's silly for the negative reviews that complain how she ‘name drops'. How can she not? She's worked with so many talented people, and she is grateful, humorous, excited, and at times even at times in disbelief about the the other notable people she's come into contact with.
The audio book was the way to go. Although, I might have to pick up the book, I hear that there were lots of pictures and visuals.
I wanted really badly to be madly in love with this book. It came so highly recommended to me by a dear friend. It's closer to 3.5.
Some Things that I loved:
Loved the comics– so good also the art work started out ls if they were drawn with chalk and then became more refined, digitally processed to go with the story
Loved details and there were instances of imagery/literary devices (etc) that I highly enjoyed, such as ‘that she'd somehow kick free of the sinking car and clawed her way to the surface through the night-black water, cold as a soda from the fridge, the city lights sparkling above her like stars.'
That in the comic Princess X's parents were alive... At least in the beginning
That there wasn't a romance and the flirting (?) was bearable
I LOVE purple
It did keep me reading and wanting to know what came next, even as I worried that it might be predictable.
Some Things that annoyed me to varying degrees:
They had to look up what Lyukemia was, they're supposed to be about 17 and 18, they should know what bone cancer is, this creates an imbalanced perception of their characters' intelligence and is thus is a weakness of the author's writing, there are other instances of odd knowledge or lack of. I understand that these might be instances of informing the reader, but they feel uneven and unnatural.
The working in of the character Trick was poor. She sees a flyer, sees a potential need that she might have to call him in the future and then immediately has some lame computer issue, like a dead battery that she doesn't even try to do anything about, at all.
There were times where I had to reread passages because it was confusing what space/setting the characters were in, it made me feel like I was watching shakycam footage, which gives me a headache.
May mentions that she is writing a book in the beginning, it is never mentioned again.
May's character contradiction, it seems like she is addicted to soda, enjoys pizza, takes the bus (sometimes needlessly) but is somehow this amazing runner without really even trying.
May doesn't seem to care or fully realize that Trick never told her that he had been in contact with Jack (lie by omission) which seems to conflict with her obsessive nature to find Libby.
Even though May is obsessed with trying to find Libby she can't seem to finish reading Princess X, I understand that this might be a pacing technique that the author is employing, it's just not a believable one. May is convinced that her BEST friend is still alive, finds a unique relic of their shared childhood, and even though it's summer and she has NOTHING to do she can't pull an all nighter reading a webcomic that might lead her to Libby? That makes her a bad friend.
Parts of this was hilarious! At times however, I did not fully enjoy the non sequiturs. Also I was not appreciative of the music at the end of some of the tracks, I felt that it was too much of a filler, sometimes playing for more than a minute. This may be because I was listening to this audiobook on my walking commute and not on a car stereo.
