nico
1.6 ★
worst heterosexual propaganda i've ever seen...
the first chapters in adam's pov are ok, and even his relationship isn't bad, even though it would've been great not to notice the intense misogyny and clear gender stereotypes... and then eve's pov starts and i would've loved it if it, again, wasn't for the clear negative gender stereotypes. it just sucks to see “women” being represented like that, especially cause you can tell this is just what people thought women were like back then. and then the whole “i love because he's masculine, definitely not because of insert every single one of adam's traits, but because he's a MAN and i'm a WOMAN” yeah. how about you fuck yourself ??
can't believe my aunt just gave me this book saying “i think you'll love it”... why? how? in what world really?
update: just found out this is supposed to be a critic, and making fun of the bible.. well, apparently he did a very good job, because i thought he was being fr with this
3.25 ★
this was so fun, i loved the world-building and the whole concept of caraval is amazing. the plot twists and constant changes in the narrative were so entertaining, but i feel like it was missing something plot wise, there were times i couldn't stop reading, but there were others where i couldn't get myself to read more and i feel like all these inconsistencies were what bothered me the most. i also don't know how it happened, but there were times when they were suddenly mentioning something that had just happened but i couldn't remember even reading about it? i think some scenes were too extensive and detailed, while others were so quick and idk maybe it was a me problem, but i felt it happening way too many times on different days while i was reading, so i don't think it was
1.75 ★
never once in my life did i think i would rate a book like this so low... it was. something. i should've read some reviews first because any book loved by taylor swift fans and whose only reviews are “loved the taylor swift references” is an indicator of how good they actually are.
i had a lot of problems while reading this. first and foremost, claire. the way she was caracterized was so discrepant with one another. sometimes, she was full of life and outgoing, ready to scream, and other times, she lacked confidence and was quiet, and went unnoticed. and then meredith's own characteristics changed as well based on which claire she was talking about.
meredith and wit's relationship was also a huge miss to me. it was cute at first, but i really can not get over the fact that all that happened in just a week. it was pissing me off. not to mention the title is literally “the SUMMER”... that wasn't a summer. that was a week.
and a very shitty week at that. i can't believe meredith ignored her friends for what? almost 2 years, and when she finally gets to be with them, she ditches them for a random guy she just met. and gets her friend to apologize to her??? nah. i actually couldn't stand her. she's selfish and entitled. being mad when her cousin told a story about claire from the day she died ?? ok and ? did she ever think that her cousin was also in the accident? and has suffered as well ?
i was so pissed reading all of this, and i really thought the assassin game was gonna be a very important part of the plot with maybe the romance as just a side plot. no, they literally forget about the game once they get together. boring. hated it. do not recommend.
3.25 ★
i feel like the beginning captivated me, but after that, i slowly lost interest. it's a great book, it tackles significant themes and it's a nice read, but i feel like there were a couple of things that i could not get past. some dialogues felt a bit weak to me, and in general, the whole world-building seemed to be missing a lot more development. besides that, i enjoyed this book and i would recommend it if you're a horror fan. jake was an amazing lead character, and i felt like the author did a fantastic job at portraying all his issues as a gay black teen who also sees ghosts, really liked to see his character development.
4.25 ★
holy shit. i have no words to describe what i'm feeling right now. this was so good, so amazing, so wow!!! it had everything, from the callbacks to iconic pieces of horror media, to a great supernatural plot, down to the originality and unexpected twists. this book does exactly what the scream movies do, it takes the clichés and uses them in their favor, which works so well. i don't read a lot of horror books, so i thought this would be a great start since it falls a lot more under the murder mystery and thriller genres, and i'm so glad i chose it. another thing i absolutely loved was SPOILERS the owl society !!! listen listen listen, as a dc comics reader and lover, i loved the similarities! i don't know if it was on purpose or accidental, but seeing the owl society being used in a way you never see anyone use dc's owl society was groundbreaking. i am going insane with how much i loved this book.