no

"This is what Americans like to hear about the war." - my mother

In the very likely event I will be forced to pray in school (Texas moment), I am going to bust this book out instead of praying.

A bit stuffy and over-reliant on cliche, but a solid book. I think Perry and I view religion in similar ways, so that was cool.

Fun, but not particularly notable. I found Kembral's voice annoying at times (for example, her calling her daughter a 'potato-shaped human' and her boots 'Good-Ass Boots') but overall the characters were decent and their motivations solid.

never thought I'd like a romance novel, and yet here we are!

A very emotional work. I think I, too, need to vanquish my inner cowboy.

However, sometimes the art can be a bit tricky to comprehend because there's so much hard shading. Most of the time it manages to be both beautiful and and not too busy. :)

Hmm. Logically right up my alley: horror, queer people, Appalachia...Missed the mark a bit for reasons spoilered below. But that's a me thing.

I do not enjoy graphic sex scenes. Or any kind, really. I skipped both: you can definitely skip the first one with no issues; for the second, read the start of it. Still a great book, I was just not expecting pages of sex.

Beautiful prose! The perspective is very close--you can really feel yourself as Leslie, moving through the town.

Score breakdown:

Objective-ish quality: 4.5 (counted twice)

My enjoyment: 3

((4.5 x 2) + 3) /3 = 4

Apparently, I've met the author. I do not remember this.

the writing style is a little weird, but once you get used to it it is very beautiful

I've read this book so many times, and it feels like a warm hug each time.

Surprisingly good! I was wary of the whole dark academia billing, as I dislike TikTok trends/aesthetics/what-have-you, but it was very enjoyable! I'm not a huge fan of fairy myth or romance, but both elements worked out well. One of the few romantic subplots I've actually enjoyed is in this book! The characters fit well together, and had a healthy relationship. The prose is deliciously descriptive, but not overbearing. I also enjoyed the in-world quotes that preceded each chapter.

Issues:

I couldn't decide on a rough time period that the book is based on, so details like television, the common use of cars, and women wearing pants in a misogynistic society threw me off. I was thinking the world building was 1920s-30s-ish, but I'm getting a 50s, maybe even 60s impression now. I really don't know. It doesn't matter much.

Lastly, Preston is just a bit too perfect. Sure, he's arrogant, but no-one ever treats their partners well all the time. I wish that wasn't the case in books or real life, but, considering the goings-on of the story, he should have at least one minor mistake interacting with Effy. On the flip side, she does make mistakes relationship-wise, making her portrayal stick out less in a book of messed-up people.

not really sure how to feel about this one! it is well written and the characters and their relationships are compelling, but also: it's confusing due to the switching POVs, and more graphic than I was expecting.

though the POV switching was often confusing, I did like how personal the short one-or-two sentence ones were. I just wish there was a better way to differentiate between Her thoughts, the others' thoughts, shared thoughts, etc.--they're all italicized! it might have worked better with small caps and/or bolding.

my friend read this last year and kept talking about it, so naturally I did, too!

it was disappointing.

loved the roman graffiti references (I made bread today) but did not love the cheesy romance and cheesier red panda jokes. why. why. why.

it made my head hurt in a good way between cringes :)

I will not touch the bears, even though they have melted-chocolate eyes. I will not touch the bears, even though they have such plush fur. I will not touch the bears, even if they have soft fuzzy ears. I will not touch the bears.

I do think Whittlesey overuses the specific phrase "desperately sad", though, are there any alternatives?

give me descriptions of 1890s clothing or give me death

this book was alright, I think I just like my magic systems weirder than the one in here. the themes would benefit from a little more subtlety, too.

didn't particularly move me, but I haven't read 250 pages in one day for a long time!

Written by Cheryl Strayed, Wild is a memoir focused on Strayed's navigation of her grief and the mountain wildernesses of the western US. After the death of her mother, Strayed decides to hike the PCT with little planning to "fill the hole in [her] heart."

I've always been curious of hiking (especially backpacking) as my dad loved to tell me stories about the time he spent hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail. I haven't gotten to experience much hiking because I live in Texas, so I was quite excited when I came across this book.

One fault of the book is how similar many of the scenes are. Repetition is an important element of writing, but Strayed overuses it, using more or less the same turns of phrase to describe her emotions. I would have liked to see more of her struggles with grief on the trail itself, not just her grief before she went on her hike. Presumably, she also went through negative emotions on the trail along with the positive + the expected exhaustion.

Frankly, it's amazing Strayed safely navigated the trail alone. She hitchhiked with complete strangers on many occasions, encountered rattlesnakes, carried too little water and a too heavy bag, and walked for a few days with duct-taped sandals as shoes. I can imagine there was a little embellishment involved, but it's still an absolute feat. This comment is separate from my writing judgements.

Wild is an entertaining book for those who love memoirs of nature and grief. I was absorbed by Strayed's story, though some of her arrogance pulled me out of it.

I don't think I'm the target audience here--my school's book club voted for this because it's a horror book and works well for October. However, it's a middle grade book. I am in a high school book club that usually only reads YA, and my personal taste is a mixture of YA and adult.

In conclusion: I'm too old for this book and I think it's dumb.

approved by my mom and dad 👍 (they own a copy signed by Homer and some of the other rocket boys)

I took the time to write a nice long review for this, but I forgot to save it before switching to the dates read page :(

A brief summary: good book that was interesting and different from the others in the series, but had problems with subtlety. As a fluid person myself, I think that Jeri didn't need to explain their gender each time they met a new character. Readers are smart, just put something like "the characters made small talk, and found that they had a few things in common." They'll understand!

Additionally, the sections between chapters that are annotations of a Tonist text are really funny and accurate to irl religion. As someone raised Christian, that is exactly what goes on in the adult Sunday school classes.

alright. nothing Shusterman writes will ever top Challenger Deep for me, but I can see dystopian lovers enjoying this!

2.5
I understand that this is heavily fictionalized, but I know absolutely nothing about 17th century Peru and I feel like this book would have been more interesting with a more solid grounding in history, at least with the setting.
Docked a star for the use of not-like-other-girls trope.

if I were Three Seagrass, I would have kept the cat.

4.5

special thanks to my therapist, who let me borrow her copy.

I was on board with this book until I got to the ‘~feminine energy~ of your mother' part. that felt weird. yes, parents absolutely have a large effect on your future relationships, but what the hell? I know I have nonstandard views about gender, but I think most people would agree with my opinion that there is no such thing as ‘feminine/masculine energies' and how parenting affects them. parents do have some effect on gender expression but?? what. I think ‘feminine/masculine energies' falls under pseudoscience.

the genetics part was cool. I found that quite interesting.