Lili V
Why did this make me cry so much? I didn't know I was that invested until the sobbing started. Man, it's been a while since I've cried so much from a book. (I didn't even cry for A Little Life, and this gets me??)
I think it's just because I'm such a sucker for protagonist's forced into the position of sacrificing their loved ones for the greater good. I mean, can we all agree that it's such BS...and such a brilliant way to get a girl sobbing. I mean, come on!
The trio faces a new adversary who has already shown himself to be someone more dangerous than anyone they gone against before. He has connections and won't stop until Mason's under his influence. He has two first names so I don't remember if it's Park Sebastian or Sebastian Park, doesn't matter. He has more connections in the real world than the three can even dream of and they have to ask for outside help if they want to take him done once and for all.
I did enjoy this installment a bit more than the last one, so I'd rate this a 3.5 read.
The author is one of the only that I enjoy reading tropes that I usually avoid in YA or any fiction. I loath miscommunication with a passion, and yet I love when an author is able to manipulate secrets in their books from start to finish. They masterfully craft their story to keeping the reader intrigued in the characters lives from the beginning of the book when the ‘secret' is introduced and doesn't really bring it up again (even though the reader knows it's going to be a significant development within the characters' lives) until the very end.
This has to be one of the most challenging books I've ever read. This is definitely not going to be everybody's cup of tea, and if you know a whiff of what this is about, then you'll know if you have the emotional stamina to withstand its narrative trials. I went to this with my eyes wide-open about it's potential triggering substance but also not fully aware of the encompassing nature and the jumps in time and perspective. I knew I'd enjoy this book for the same reason I enjoyed the last few literary contemporary novels, they follow a slice-of-life portrayal that allows the reader to get an in-depth look into the characters' background, mentality, and all the general life experiences that developed who they are. I find myself more and more riveted by books that are more a character-study than an actual story.
Speaking of characters, this book was overflowing with personalities and interpersonal relationships that began throughout various stages in each main character's (the main four friends) adult life, from college to just beyond mid-life. Jude's history, in particular, and his friends' reactions to Jude's coping behavior are the main focus of this book. The author slowly reveals everything about Jude's past that shape who he is as an adult and the characters around him only really get to see what he decides to show them. That was my biggest–and only–problem with the book: Jude didn't communicate effectively (which is honestly to be expected) but while I can't fault his friends' logic and hesitancy to push for more open communication and therapy early-on in the book, I really wish they had.
Overall, when it came to the characters, Willem and Harold were obviously my favorite. It's hard for them not to be everyone's favorite. Andy is definitely a close second, and if he had more screen time, he probably would have tied for first as well. It's the relationship that these characters have, not only with Jude (though that does provide the biggest piece of evidence) but with all the other characters that illustrates so deeply and sincerely their compassion for others and their unyielding love for themselves and others.
I love the writing, it's one of the best I've ever come across; not for its use of language necessarily, but how it's stream of consciousness is constructed and presented. When I initially started this book, it was immediately apparent that I wouldn't be able to read more than a small chunk (50 pages at most) of it at a time; however, once I reached the half-way mark, it picked up the pace. It's long-winded but in the best way.
The stream of consciousness in this book is almost better than what I would expect, to the point that I'm sure there might be a better descriptor of the writing style. But stream of consciousness for the most part encapsulates the narrative perfectly. The reason I think there might be a better descriptor is because the multiple character POV passages flip back and forth in time, and their perspectives are sometimes reflecting on the past. This reflection and introspection provided an insightful view of their lives and the impacts of the relationships they developed over the span of years with the other characters. I enjoyed getting a full picture of certain events but the story was not superfluous in the slightest. The one caveat I would say to that is the actual writing itself is something I had to get used to and called for many breaks while reading. Its run-on style did not allow for the reader to come to a natural stopping point.
I could not in good conscious recommend this to everybody, but if you've made it through the synopsis and my review of this and think this might sound like something you'd pick up, then I say go for it. You won't regret it.
“Eventually, yesterday's outrage becomes today's normalcy.”
I can certainly see how this book highlights and reflects the present day's outrageous culture and transforms it into a national tragedy that can be blamed and singled-out as the cause for a frightened nation. I appreciate the more nuanced vision the author illustrates with the main character's thoughts and experiences discerning a variation of the well-known axiom that people are afraid of what they consider different/weird/foreign/atypical.
This book reminds me of two other books I've read before (I should say one book and one series, to be precise).
If you'd like to read more of my review, check it out on my blog: https://liliandherbooks.wordpress.com/2018/11/03/menagerie-menagerie-1-by-rachel-vincent/
Only 2 and half hours in but had to note my thoughts so far -
I'm enjoying it more and more as I listen. Augusten's personality is addicting as he narrates his various career-expanding pursuits and subsequent addictions. His voice in this part of his life-story is so easily relatable and descriptive. There's no difficulty in imagining the months and years of his life because the narrative flows so seamlessly. It's riveting how effortlessly he can capture a reader's attention and describe huge life-altering moments and revelations in such a composed yet genuine voice.
I finished it. And it's everything I didn't know I wanted in a book. His frank voice and self-awareness transpired anything I could even begin to imagine writing a memoir would entail. He's unapologetic in his story-telling about his previous apologetic nature and the beautiful self-realizations when he allowed himself to fall in love. The writing was definitely my favorite element of the book because there's no way you can start reading this and not be immediately immersed in Augusten's story. He's not just a character to me, his life is real, his story is real, engrossing and true.
There were so many quotable moments and this book had the best love letter and response to a love letter I've ever read.
Overall a pretty quick slice-of-life read as the writing flowed and had a simple style.
This book covered the expanse of about 15 years, from when Wavy was 8 to 21 years old. The story was the best part of the whole book because it followed all of the characters that interacted with Wavy or Kellen and their perceptions of the characters' unusual budding love story. I usually have to like the characters to some capacity in order to really enjoy a book, and for the most part I did, but I didn't connect to them all that much in this book. A lot of them seemed very two-dimensional and their backgrounds seemed very good-on-paper but not realistic. The writing, as I mentioned, was simple, and while not my favorite, it did allow for a relatively fast read. The story itself kept me interested because it unraveled over a longer time-period than we see in most books and provided a good backdrop to Wavy and Kellen's love story.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audio of this book. It brought the characters to life because the writing read more like a script than it did a work of prose. I know if I had picked the physical book to read then I would not have read it all the way through because during the first half, I would not have enjoyed the frequent staccato, juvenile sentences as Frances thought to herself. She is, however, my favorite character of this book because she went through the best self-discovery transformation.
The biggest reason I gave this book only 3.5 stars is because of the characters. I didn't enjoy reading about the Last twins themselves but I did understand why other characters would be obsessed with them. Aled was my least favorite character because at no point did he ever think about helping himself and the result of his selfish (and mostly insecure) actions led to unnecessary pain (in himself and the people who cared about him). I could see, however, myself in him in a lot of ways; and I did agree with his idea that Frances and him were two sides of the same coin. I could see myself in both of them and that's what really kept me reading (as well as the great story-telling). The podcast is a character unto itself and melds with the story quite flawlessly. It served as the foundation for a beautiful friendship between Frances and Aled.
I believe a lot of people (teenagers and young adults especially) can see themselves reflected in one or more of the characters in this book because they each confront the transition of adolescence to adulthood; and all the preconceived notions that come with it.
This book had great diversity in the cast of characters and spoke about other sexualities besides the hetero we see all the time. I appreciated that it wasn't a focal point in the book but a prominent side conversation about self-awareness and introduction.
Such an imaginative read. Definitely want to read more from this author, especially the rest of this series.
Binti is the first of her people to travel outside of her home, travel outside of her planet. All to pursue her passion and thirst for knowledge at Oomza Uni. She's faced with an unimaginable amount of tragedy soon after befriending a people she knew she would be spending the next part of her life with.
Her strength and dedication to stay who she is and adapt to change simultaneously threaded throughout the novel and ultimately made her journey an enjoyable one to read.
Hope to pick up other Tor.com novellas soon. I'm loving them because they're my kind of SFF.
Ugh, these books always get me! Stayed up all night reading this one, of course. I HAVE to know what happens with the slow-burn romances in this author's books. Always and forever.
I liked the relationship between the characters in this one more than I liked the characters themselves. I didn't connect that much with Jasmine in this book because while we learned a lot of the struggles she went through growing up, I don't think there was enough of her personality in the book. I understand the author wanted to portray that her life revolved around figure-skating but the developmental moments she highlighted of Jasmine's childhood only centered around the qualities that she would constantly point out made her “different”. Her vulnerable moments were few and far between, and then nothing would come of them. The story would just go on as if the two main characters didn't just share a MOMENT.
The main thing I didn't like about Jasmine was one of her character flaws so obviously this was a subjective preference on my part. She was all about being “anti-fake” and keeping to her promises, and being different than she was before because she's grown. Her refusal to confront her own bullshit was the most annoying thing to read. She sounded like a two year-old instead of a twenty-six year-old woman whenever she would have back and forth arguments with Ivan. And honestly, how...how could she not know that he was teasing her because he liked her? That's one of the oldest tricks and so blatant from the very beginning that her shock later on was a bit extra.
Solid read. This author is a must-read for me so I knew I had to give this a chance, and I'm glad I did. The writing was perfectly executed and one of my favorite aspects of this author's books, as well as the characters! The smart-ass camaraderie the main character shared with her demonic trio, Sacha, and Laila was hilarious and effortless.
The only reason this book received 3 stars was because the tension didn't really lead anywhere and I missed some of the back-and-forth pull that we got in my favorite book by this author, The Wall of Winnepeg and Me.
willnevergiveuponRH
This was surprisingly better than I thought. Except the relationship between main female and her harem went from zero to hundred in a second. Didn't mind it too much since I like when the author isn't afraid to introduce sex in a book but it surprised me how quickly it sprung up. Like Day 1 : Move in. Day 2: Go grocery shopping with one of your new roommates. Day 2: Get attacked by an overprotective mom. Still Day 2: Comfort sesh with the roommate and start making out in the car.
7/10/20
I can say that I definitely remember this book a lot more than I have the previous books in the series. I enjoyed the reread and knowing that I could just skip over the superfluous descriptions of eyes, guns, etc. (see review below for more info). I look forward to the next book because this installment definitely got me interested in the series again. I hope to see more character development which is pretty much all I'm here for at this point in the series.
9/8/18
This was honestly better than I expected. The last few books have been subpar and not memorable whatsoever. Like I didn't even remember that a certain male from the main polygroup died in the last one. Heck, I even forgot that the last one took place in Ireland.
This time we're in the Florida Keys. (As someone who's lived in FL for most of her life, it's a damn shame that I've never visited.) I thought the snake people would have taken a bigger role in the main story line but the author was subtle about incorporating it into the wedding plans shenanigans that WAS the main plot of the book.
I was surprised and excited to see the Four Horsemen back together again! I think the books with them around the mid-series time frame were some of my favorite because of the camaraderie they all shared; their thirst for the violent thrill underscored all of their adventures and made for a more thrilling read.
I didn't dislike the slower pace in this took with the wedding plans and the bridesmaids drama. I think it actually livened up the book and made it more lighthearted than we usually see in this series. But what let those moments really shine was the actual development of the main characters themselves. They're always rehashing the same therapy issues every book (not to mention the same damn descriptions about the males' eyes from the main polygroup, the type of guns they're carrying, where on their bodies they're carrying them, UGH JUST STAWP I DON'T CARE).
There were little interactions here and there between the Four Horsemen that got me all giddy and made me remember how I much I used to love this series. There was definitely much more potential here for the supernatural mystery to have taken the forefront but I don't mind the way the author handled it. I will always just wish for more growth and interaction between my favorite characters above all else.
Something I have to mention that I've been thinking about for the past 5 or so books is that I don't believe in Anita's character a lot of the time. What I mean is, her love, the way she displays affection sometimes doesn't translate well on the page. I just don't feel it. She can say that she loves them but I don't really see the actions that show it. She goes from extreme to extreme when displaying her affection - it's either a passionate embrace/full-on sex or a subtle intimate touch. I believe her anger more than I believe her love. I feel like she's been fighting her inner angst and pushing against her partners for so long that it's all that I expect of her character. Without it, there's like a blank space that ate her essence/personality.
This was a long ramble while running on VERY little sleep but it makes me wonder how much of this book I'll remember by the time the next one rolls around.
The writing and pacing were so good. I had to mark down some notes because seeing Liberty's childhood and upbringing crafted her character and life beautifully. It gave me an insight into her hometown, her family and her personal thoughts. The writing was flawless and the story was easy to get lost in and lose a few hours reading. I loved seeing Liberty's devotion to her sister and how naturally she fell into the role of caregiver–throughout the entire book. From the very beginning her giving nature was easy to discern and part of her personality.
The romance came later on in the book and the second half of the book was not what I expected but I did appreciate the new characters that were introduced and became a family to Liberty and her sister. The love interest in the first half was very enthralling because their connection grew organically, as did the romance in the second half. I'm glad with who Liberty ended up with but the second love interest was not exactly my cup of tea sometimes. He was very nice but he was more like a stock character of what the author thought an appealing billionaire Texan businessman should be. Which was pretty great in the end but made the story feel very formulaic.
willnevergiveuponRH
We figure out the mystery behind the main characters and the boys figure out the main character should not be taken for granted. I liked the backstory behind the main characters and the foundation of their relationship. It was very well-written and the beginning action portion was thrilling and fun to read.