koelkat
a great book to learn about lgbtq sexual health. the author is straightforward and factual, covering all kinds of topics lgbtq teens (and parents) need to know from coming out to gender expression to foster homes. The book has a very dad-tone to it, something reminsent of "look, you're either going to learn from me or someone who doesn't know Jack so it might as well be me, the professional." I'd recommend this book for any young person who is realizing they are gay and for parents of a queer kid.
literally could not care for anything in this book. All the characters felt flat, the plot was so weird, and the romance was extremely forced. I would've liked it better if the story was focused on Bear and Janessa instead of Autumn and Callie that had no chemistry whatsoever. By the way, if you were looking for a spicy holiday novella, this is not it there was one scene that was a little beyond vanilla at the very end Also I'm not sure why Biscuit was in the book-he hardly had any scene time.
Even if you aren't a fan of classics, you should definitely give this book a try. It has a slow beginning, but it really picks up. I loved Jane as a character, though there were times I didn't understand her obsession with the love interest. I think that the romance could have been built a little better because I didn't understand why she liked Rochester, but he did eventually grow on me a tad.
Even though the ‘twist' was a tad bit predictable, the story had me hooked. Jackson's voice as a writer never ceases to amaze me, straightforward and blunt but also unnerving and uncomfortable. This book is one of those I'm going to have to re-read to catch all the little subtle details that I missed on my first read-through.
I was one of the few kids that didn't think about being married. I never contemplated my wedding, and generally couldn't picture myself being with a husband. Even now, it's hard to picture myself being married to anyone, period. And while being married sounds amazing to spend your life with someone, I've had my reservations about it.
Now, after reading this book, I don't think it's completely off the table. It is good to be aware of these problems that modern women are having. It's one of those books that I think everyone even slightly interested in the topic of women's rights should give a try: the writing is fast-paced and interesting with facts and stories I could hardly believe were real–but they are, unfortunately.
The only reason this book has taken me so long to read is because, let's be honest, the subject matter is heavy and it makes the world bleak. I strongly recommend reading this book along with a horror book; for me, at least, it took my mind off of being scared of men haha.
Thx for reading ❤
I don't like memoirs. I remember reading one in middle school, and what little memory I have of it, it was–lack of a better word–boring. My friend and I used to joke about how you'd have to deem yourself so important to write a book about yourself (the only exception being war heroes or nurses). In my eyes, everyone was living the same normal life, so why write about your dull life?
When I first heard about this book, I was wary because everyone knows books without dragons are tedious to read. But I–like Machado–am a sucker for haunted houses. So I downloaded it onto my kindle and spent the most of two days reading it, being totally immersed into the life of a writer trapped in an abusive relationship with her girlfriend.
I found myself relating to her story: the feeling of being trapped and somehow forgetting the world is out there. Even though the author's experiences are her own, I found that the feeling is the same, no matter if it's an abusive girlfriend or homophobic parents.
Each chapter treated like a piece of micro-fiction helped expand the world of the dream house, especially when a new style or structure was used (my personal favorite is the chapter Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure).
I rated it a four star, but I have to bump it up to a five. I'll look forward to re-reading this book.
Thx for reading ❤
I was a little wary of it being an older book with language, but it ended up reading pretty clearly. As this is my first mystery book, I didn't expect it to finish in little over a day. The characters were surprising and with each chapter the questions grew larger and larger. Fun fact, I was actually supposed to read this in school, but quarantine hit. If my class did get around to reading it, I definitely would've read ahead of everyone else.
Even though the writing was inconsistent, the stories really did show how cats change our lives for the better. The section breaks between scene changes and povs were a little confusing, but I liked the cat's inner monologue and how each story was connected someway.
my rating for each story:
1. Sea of Words: 2 stars
I really liked Miyu as a character and looking into her life. But I don't understand her character arc involved with her cat or why the ending was so abrupt.
2. First Blossoming: 4 stars
Loved Reina and Mimi's relationship and how their lives mirrored each other. In my opinion, the best story in the book.
3. Slumber and Sky: 3 stars
While it has a good theme and an interesting premise, it was a little forgettable. The whole bracelet thing was very cute and portrayed depression and grief in a realistic way though.
4. The Temperature of the World: 3 stars
I really wanted closure for this character because i was empathetic and invested. But her journey with her cat fell short and is more focused on her nephew if anything.
thx for reading <3
Between this and Good Omens, I'll just accept the fact that I don't care for Gaiman's adult books.
Yes, yes, this book has a paragraph of the amount of prizes it won and rightfully so. This is an amazingly done book with Neil Gaiman's unique storyteller writing style, the characters, the settings, and the anecdotes. However, I found the progression of the plot as well as the pacing to be such a headache that it's what brought this book to a one-star.
First, I don't think this book should've been as long as it is. Although some anecdotes were entertaining, I didn't think they affected the story all that much and honestly left me confused. I understand that it was fleshing out the world, but some stories felt up-right unnecessary along with some of the scenes lacking any point to the plot whatsoever.
For the first 100 pages it was great! The story was interesting as well as the whole world we were setting into, but everything after The House of Rock scenes felt more and more boring. I think there is some merit to not enjoy a book simply because it's boring even though it has a good theme and interesting message.
TL;DR book was boring and badly paced. On another note, I did sense some saving grace in the book so I might re-read in the distant future.
I love the movie Warm Bodies because it's a teen rom-com set in a post-apocalyptic world that is also a great metaphor for the epidemic of depression in the U.S. And because the saying goes ‘the book is always better', I picked up the book from a dusty bookshelf and started reading.
Books like these make me sad: the author had a solid idea and a great message to tell the world, but the execution is something to sigh and groan about. The romance was pretty insta and only happened because of her dead boyfriend's memories and feelings circulating in R's brain. In fact, I have no idea if R really loves Julie (who is the true manic pixie dream girl) or if it's just Perry, the dead boyfriend, placing these thoughts and feelings.
I think the message of this book is great: when the world's crashing and burning, you can still be able to enjoy life. But between R being a zombie and witnessing all of Perry's memories and thoughts, it really should feel that Perry should be the protagonist. He's far more fleshed out than R, is more interesting because of it, and actually has good groundwork for a character arc.
Perry obviously had severe depression in life, adopting nihilism and staying in a pessimistic mindset. If he got what he wanted, death, but came back as a zombie and saw what he wanted was worse off than where he was, it would make a compelling story and more articulate the message of the book: when the lights go out, that doesn't mean you should too.
The movie, I feel, really excelled here in just sticking to a teen audience by only conveying one message of the book: have compassion for people who have mental illness. Not to mention, at the time more teens could relate to the allegory of depression. This theme doesn't really come up in the book all that much. The first few chapters set this up, only to be interrupted by Perry's story for most of the book, and then be revived in the last few chapters.
TLDR; good message but horrible execution. The movie was better.
this book was very interesting in some parts especially with the lichen chapter, the mental health benefits of LSD, and the challenging belief that humans are the end-all-be-all of life. However, I found that some points of the book I didn't get all the science-y words and phrases and couldn't keep up with scientists' names. A good read though to learn more about interconnections of the world.
As a writer, I have to fangirl. The book is written in a way that fits the aesthetic of Gothic Victorian England. Especially the dialogue. God it was so good. I know if I was in that time period I would've died from syphilis a long time ago, but I'd give up some worldly possessions to be a cozy cottage core Victorian witch with a dramatic husband
okay so this book is a political fantasy. I didn't know that going in or else I would've never picked up the book. Now I could go on and on about how the story was just one surprise after another with barely any breathing room, or frankly any explanation, but this book has already caused a reading slump so I'll just sum the plot up:
-Something unexpected happens
-Hesina: I'm confused
-Someone random casually infodumps about how it was done and calculated
-Hesina: I should've seen this coming!
That's it.
That is the whole book.
I have to say, the twists the book took were very surprising and could've been done well if things were different. But as for world building and characters...I don't think I'll remember anyone's name by the end of today. Which is another point: what the hell is a sooth? I get that they can do magic and shit, but their magic is never explained and the descriptions are not descriptive at all. In fact, they're extremely vague and this description problem can be applied to literally any fight scenes. In fact, I would just skim the fight scenes and move on because what happened would be explained better in conversation afterwards anyway.
-sigh-I'm tired so tl;dr a political fantasy with so many plot twists I got vertigo and am now just confused