Parris
I think I liked this book but i was lost maybe 40% of the time reading it. This is a kind of story that is ambitious in its goals, but i'm not sure if the author really pulled it off; I wanted a bit more explanation in some scenes and more development between characters than just barely interacting to keep pulling the plot forward. I also personally wanted more romance but it was not really a main story point.
I don't know if I'd recommend this book. The first half was really hard to get through and I thought about dnf-ing multiple times. If you like stories with things like parallel worlds you might like it.
That was such a nice book. Knowing the subject matter I braced myself for heavy, religion-fueled drama but it was just a book about love, loving others, and learning to love yourself.
The way Tanner's parents' and Autumn's support and genuinely wanting the best for him was so touching, and seeing Sebastian not have that kind of support in his own family was devastating. This is why you love your child unconditionally, and raise them with the support and finesse needed for them to be able to grow into a loved, mentally healthy adult.
As for my 4 star rating, I personally needed about 50 extra pages added onto the last page of this book. I won't say why or in which way, but goddamn, my heart needed more.
A great book idea let down by shaky writing and character development points not fully explored. The book is fine, and I felt motivated to see it through to the end. But boy oh boy, if you don't like it when characters don't take the time to talk to each other about their relationships with each other, that's 70% of this book.
Not a huge fan of how Zach's character was written. Wish there was more relationship building between all four of the boys. Felt like some of the first 300 pages could have been trimmed down so the “ending” didn't get crammed into the last 15 pages. The book honestly just left me wanting more than it actually delivered.
Excuse me while I check my phone screen for dents after slamming my finger on the 5 star rating button. WHAT A BOOK. Couch did everything right with this book; a perfect book does not exist but this book was perfect for me.
Where do I even start. The teenagers felt like teenagers, the dialogue was witty and reminded me of conversations I had with my own friends back in high school. I laughed out loud so much. Sky is such a lovable character, you're rooting for him within the first 50 pages, easily. Each character is fully fleshed out, and the story moves at the perfect pace that I just couldn't stop reading.
Found family? Check. Learning to love oneself? Check. AMAZING PLOT REVEALS that had me gay gasping, even if I saw some of them coming? CHECK. Tying up ALL lose ends? Check. Good people have good things happen to them? Check!!!
I will definitely be reading this again, and I feel it will become one of those comfy reads that I pull out whenever I'm needing a pick me up. Just wow. Thank you to my friend Drew for pair-reading it with me and putting up with my obnoxious overreactions as we made our way through!! Glad this was a winner for us
Yeah that's a no from me. There were some good moments in this book, but they were never to do with anything that happened between Arek and Matt. Unconvincing chemistry, forced “but he doesn't like me” misunderstandings, and 400 pages of plot that could have been skipped if the two characters actually talked honestly to each other. A bit of a let down.
All i could think about when reading this book is how much I want to reread TJ Klune's The Extraordinaries to experience Nick and Seth's fantastic relationship arc again.
McQuinston does it again! This book is like grabbing a hot cup of coffee, jamming yourself into the perfect wedge in your couch, and getting ready to enjoy your favourite story.
I could go on and on about what I loved about this book. The characters who I wish were real and present in my daily life. The amazing descriptions of homes, restaurants, insane parties, yes, even crowded trains, that made me feel like I was actually there. The unique plot of a someone lost on a train, and how everyone just straight up accepts and believes it instantly.
But more than anything else, I loved that this is a story about finding your home, and how a home can be a place, a time. A person. I wish everyone on this earth, who is in need of it, could have the found family that August finds in this book.
I really enjoyed this book! I found Evelyn's character, her stories and relationships with the various people in her life so interesting, and I really loved how unapologetically Evelyn she was. The story of Monique slowly coming to learn who Evelyn was was also nice, but slightly less satisfying for me.
While I thought a lot of important issues were touched on by having Evelyn explain her feelings to Monique, it sometimes bordered on Evelyn basically going “What you said is politically incorrect and I am here to inform you otherwise” and Monique reacting with “Oh my god yes you are so right sorry” that was a little too on the nose for me.
And now i've read the number one most hyped book on Tiktok/booktube and can say I get the appeal. Worth a read!
Here is my actual rating:
1/5, for, as an author, to put that much time and effort into creating a fictional character with a devastating background, and then to drag them through hell over and over again, scene after scene, with so little hope for him to get better and feel happiness. Seriously, fuck that.
Also, 2/5, for having this book be as long as it was. Though with some touching scenes and moments of friendship, camaraderie, people trying to understand each other even if when it's too difficult, as a whole, I felt numb desensitized as I read on. Each time something absolutely horrific happened, it would hit a little less hard each time, because it was so overdone. Overdone sometimes to the point of bitter comedy, where I had to roll my eyes and throw my phone down for a minute.
Also, 3/5, for keeping a compelling story going, making me question what it means to be alive, how much we are all shaped by uncontrolled circumstances, the importance of found family and having bonds in society. I thought about what it means to get old, what it might be like to want to die, how unfair and cruel the world can be but how there are still moments that really shine and make us want to continue on and get better. I think there is a lot to be learned from Jude's inner monologue, but I also don't think he is right some of the time, and by that I mean I don't think Yanagihara wrote him to have the capability to actually improve and get better. I am bitter about this.
Also, 4/5, for making me unable to stop thinking about this goddamn book and Jude. This book wasn't an enjoyable read but I didn't quite feel like it was excruciating or “trauma-porn” either. Yanagihara's use of the language is absolutely terrific, and the story telling was a really great mix of simple, straightforward dialogue and prose mixed with just the right amount of metaphoric or flowery language.
A 5/5 rating for this book does not exist for me.
Lastly, I just really want to say that I firmly believe in therapy and counseling and the ability to recover from your trauma, no matter how bad. I worry that people will read this book and takeaway a very wrong, dangerous message of futility and giving up. Just because Yanagihara didn't allow Jude any chances, doesn't mean there aren't any.
Lastly lastly, I can't wait to forget about this book and don't think I'll be reading anything else by the author unless a dramatic change in perspective is apparent.
4/5 mushrooms, would shroom again. So I went into this book completely blind, knowing nothing but the title and cover image. The first half of the book was not unpleasant by any means, but the slow burn up to the part where plot pops off was a little too slow for my liking. The second-half is insane, and I devoured the last 200 pages real fast.
There are some scenes in this book that were really uncomfortable for me to read due to content related to the violation of women's bodies and autonomy. While I did not factor this into my rating, nor do I think scenes of that nature do not belong in literature or cannot be used to show the inherent wrongness, I personally felt in two specific scenes that maybe I didn't want to read this; it felt really icky. If you have similar feelings or for your own personal reasons don't want to interact with that kind of content, please go in with caution.
It feels a little wrong to give a book like this a certain number of stars rating. Nor does it feel right to say something like “I enjoyed it” or “the writing was nice.”
I can say this: I'm glad a book like this exists and is there for those who need it. I have no doubt that one person's personal story can help illuminate the truth for others, and become a first step for seeking help or understanding your own situation.
It honestly hurts me that this ended up as a 3 star for me. For the sake of keeping my review visible without the spoiler filter, I will be more vague than not, but basically the book went from 5 stars all the way to the last 100 pages, then to 4 stars for plot shenanigans, and then 3 stars for the ending.
The positives: I really, really liked the writing. The funny bits were SO funny, dry humour everywhere. Each side character was so nicely fleshed out and I really felt strongly for characters like Luc's mother. The chemistry between Luc and Oliver started out great, and I loved the “oh right we're fake bfs but wait am I catching feels? Nah that can't be it” vibes. Dialogue was generally great. I absolutely fell in love with Luc as a person... his back story is quite tragic and you really sympathize and feel for him as the story progresses.
I'm not going to equally list off my negatives, but I would just like to say that for me personally, the ending was not good, and a lot of the emotional buildup that was getting me attached to the story and characters was actually reversed at the end. Please believe me when I say I know what the story was trying to do, and I get what it's like to be damaged by your past experiences. I get trauma, and I get self esteem issues. I really do. But when you start to think the one of the two main characters is logically, and mentally, better off without the other character, then really where does that leave me as a reader?
I'm disappointed, but I cannot say that I did not enjoy my time immensely with most of this book. Am definitely open to reading more from this author in the future!
This is a five stars with the new ending, four stars without as originally written. Look, I knew what I was getting into, and for the majority of this book my heart just HURT, all I felt was pain. I just wanted Aaron to be okay, to hug him and tell him that it will be okay.
I know Silvera was attempting to dive into a whole range of ideas and problems, and for the most part I think he did such a great job viewing each issue from Aaron's teenage eyes. There's a lot that I regrettably can't say I relate to because of my upbringing, but I hope those that grew up in similar situations to Aaron can overcome and get the happiness that they deserve. Everyone deserves to be loved, to be happy with who they are.
Being able to make memories and be able to remember them is both a blessing and a curse. I think More Happy Than Not made me really reflect on how important our experiences are to us, both positive and negative. It's because we have a past that we can keep moving forward into the future.
This book absolutely destroyed me. I've never cried as much at a book before. This was a recipe for disaster as I, someone very afraid of death and sometimes paralyzed by the thought of it, chose to read a book about two people who know the day they will die, just not what time. Jesus. Christ. The book lets you know upfront what the ending will be, it's in the fucking title, you think you'll be prepared but, yeah, nope.
Great characters all around, really lovely moments and different ways to effectively show that life is worth living, even if the time you have left is known and small. I sometimes thought there were a little bit too many “inside jokes” or characters recalling their own memories that we don't have the proper context for. I'm also going to nitpick but i'm really shocked that the “world tour” going through a list of 10 countries and one of them was “Africa” was not edited out. The start was a bit slow but you slowly get invested and, obvious to my guttural reaction, start to feel immensely for Mateo and Rufus.
Definitely recommend, but maybe not for those afraid of death...
Edit 2/27/2022: After still not being able to stop thinking about this book i've bumped my rating from 4 stars to 5.
I debated between one or two stars. The book is bad, but just compelling enough to not dnf. To anyone who DID dnf, I completely understand why because the first 10 chapters (of a 23 chapter book) where excruciatingly bad. Some of the sloppiest writing I've read so far. The second half is slightly better, but the author did not deserve any of the emotional buildup later on between the two characters with that awful beginning.
The premise and characters of this book were let down by atrocious writing. Characters were set up to be a certain way (personalities, backstories, hangups) and then acted and spoke in ways that were absolute opposites to what their character should be like. The characters are all supposed to be adults teaching at private school, but not once did any of them act like an adult who's had a job or required to be professional before. No one in this book acts like a real, living, breathing human being.
The book also badly needed an editor. The phrases “he bristled”, “licked his lips”, “wiped their hands on (clothing)” all appear at LEAST 5 times throughout the barely 200 page book. Not to mention the drink that is a beer one page and then gin the next.
Unfortunately will not be reading another book by this author as there are more creative, capable m/m writers out there who I would rather spend my time reading instead.
This was quite the adventure that I was NOT expecting with the way the book starts off. Percy and Felicity are such strong characters that I sometimes found myself more involved in their character development than Monty's, but I appreciate seeing those tiny little gears starting to turn in his head at the end (Racism? What could that be?)
The book has great pacing and I love how the act of touring is used to propel the plot. I enjoyed each new location and the different side characters introduced. And the writing was really tight, I could see each scene vividly in my head and felt super tense when I was supposed to. Really fun book, def recommend!
Absolutely fantastic sequel to Six of Crows! I loved the various plots all weaving in and out at the same time, the success and often setbacks, and just oodles of character development! Wylan and Jesper forever please. But, the book drags a bit as it heads towards the final act, and I struggled sometimes to make it there. That being said, a really great conclusion to the duology!
After one hell of a rollercoaster ride all I can say is I freaking LOVED this book. The way this book just slams the pedal to max speed at the 30% mark, and then continues to impossibly accelerate beyond that, faster and more insanely... just, wow. I was COMPLETELY sucked in from the get go and just got more and more invested into each character and the twists and turns that awaited them. The story is insane, and don't get me wrong, I think a certain, high level of commitment to that craziness is needed. But I'm just sitting here after putting the book down and just... yeah, I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while. 5 stars, full recommendation.
Magic? Check. Character development? Check. SPICE?! Fucking check. I'm sorry but I just LOVED this book!! I was so drawn into the world of dark mansions and libraries crammed with books, ever rainy weather, formalities yet filth.
Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush... I ship Robin and Edwin so damn hard. The journey they took to truly know each other was extremely rewarding. I really do commend Marske's writing on this one; I probably highlighted about half of this book with favourite quotes, witty one liners, and absolutely heartbreaking prose. 5 stars!
Also thanks to my reading partner Drew who kept me on track by reminding me of all the important plot points. What should we read next??
To end with a quote (oh god how do I even pick):
“Robin had walked into the maze of him and solved him with no string required at all, and Edwin had been stupid enough to let that slip out of his hands.”
Most of my read through this book was me making a face like that emoji with the raised eyebrow and horizontal line mouth. Some chapters were fun, some chapters dragged. I'm a little upset with Mikey's character, I felt he was kind of doomed from the get go. And I guess I just didn't really feel it at the end? I mean, it was nice, but i'm not jumping up and down or teary eyed. Hm. It was okay?
What a disappointment. The synopsis pulled me in, and with each character's intro chapters, I was good to go. And then... nothing. This book is bland and boring. None of the characters have any strong motivations, there is no clear goal, and about 200 pages could have been cut from this book because of shallow “philosophy” banter that wasn't as significantly relevant to the overall theme as the author must have thought it was. The book's biggest sin is being boring. The plot doesn't really move, characters don't change or grow, and the last couple of chapters are I guess supposed to build up to this big reveal but it doesn't matter because the book. is. not. interesting. Pass, I do not recommend.
This was SO GOOD! I was pacing myself, reading a couple of chapters each day and then I had about 150 pages left and I just could not stop. There were so many epic scenes, and I loved the strong, complex characters of both Zoya and Nina. Leigh Bardugo I'm so sorry I skipped the previous book and read out of order, imma head back to Crooked Kingdom ASAP.
Heartwarming as always. I really resonated with the talk about how when boys hang around too many girls in school, they're called gay, but then when they hang around too many boys later on, they're... called gay. There is so much gendered language and gendered expectations in everyday life, and it's so important to be able to realize how careless words can really affect someone. This book/series, through the perspective of the mother, just points out these things so naturally and earnestly, it's really nice.
As a self help book, this is a generous 3 stars. As a story, it's an even more generous 2 stars. 2.5 and rounding down because it just wasn't interesting.
I agreed with some of the pieces if wisdom in this book; there is worth in having faith and continuing to try to do what you are passionate about despite having setbacks. I believe in speaking and being understood without words. I subscribe to positive vibes(tm).
But man, this book had a handful of “points” and just kept regurgitating them explicitly, with no trust that the reader could understand what's being said on their own. Two examples:
“When I had my sheep, I was happy, and I made those around me happy. People saw me coming and welcomed me, he thought. But now I'm sad and alone. I'm going to become bitter and distrustful of people because one person betrayed me. I'm going to hate those who have found their treasure because I never found mine. And I'm going to hold on to what little I have, because I'm too insignificant to conquer the world.”
Prior to this being spoken by the boy, we as readers already got it. It didn't need to be explicitly said. The boy's turmoil could have been shown in a more interesting way than just speaking it.
“But this payment goes well beyond my generosity,” the monk responded.
“Don't say that again. Life might be listening, and give you less the next time.”
The alchemist turned to the boy. “This is for you. To make up for what you gave to the general.”
The boy was about to say that it was much more than he had given the general. But he kept quiet, because he had heard what the alchemist said to the monk.
Just say the boy accepted it silently. Those last two sentences are completely redundant, we got it! We can understand nuance! We really can!
Didn't work for me, time to move on to something better.