Loved this! The writing is amazing, filled with so many details but it still flows great and is very readable. You can definitely tell it is written bLoved this! The writing is amazing, filled with so many details but it still flows great and is very readable. You can definitely tell it is written by two professional journalists.
This book made me so angry and just breaks my heart how so many people knew about some of these things and it still went on for so many years, and happened to so many women. These men are disgusting. And even after they came forward how can so many people actually blame the women? I can't even comprehend how this plays out in their minds in order to rationalize that thinking.
I greatly admire all of the women in this book. From the ones who came forward, to the ones helping get the story out, to the ones trying to fight for justice. They are putting themselves out there to face harassment and even death threats in order to right wrongs and hopefully make things better for girls in the future. So courageous.
I absolutely recommend this book. I think these women's stories deserve to be heard....more
I loved this book but it is such a tragic story. It is unimaginable what this and so many other women had to endure. The abuse is unimaginable and verI loved this book but it is such a tragic story. It is unimaginable what this and so many other women had to endure. The abuse is unimaginable and very hard to read about. To actually make it out of Auschwitz alive and then be sent to a prison camp in Siberia? My heart was breaking reading this story. I had previously read many books on Auschwitz but I knew nothing about the Siberian prison camps, so it was shocking to learn about what they were all about.
The characters were extremely well written; they were not perfect and were very real. The relationships between them all really helped make the book. I genuinely cared for so many of them, especially Cilka. The strength and bravery that this lady must have had to survive what she has been through is mind blowing. It's very true what they say in the book how everybody reacts so differently in these situations and it is so easy to judge from the outside, but you never really know unless you were there. It is definitely a page turner and even though I felt sick reading it many times, I could not put it down. I cried many tears.
I have been seeing that the reviews of this book are all over the place but personally I loved it! I am a big fan of post apocalyptic and dystopian boI have been seeing that the reviews of this book are all over the place but personally I loved it! I am a big fan of post apocalyptic and dystopian books in general, but I loved the mother daughter relationship aspect of this one.
It has strong moral and ethical elements, especially focusing around how quickly these can change when we or someone we love are faced with survival situations and how far we will go for the ones we love. Is it okay to deceive people or put people's lives in danger if it is to save someone else? Is it okay to put one daughter's life in danger to potentially save another? I couldn't imagine a worse nightmare for a mother than having to choose between to kids. I think as a mother of young kids it made the emotions Myra felt seem very real. When I think about how hard it is to raise children in today's world, I cant even imagine the strength it took for Myra to raise Pearl in that situation. The strength of a mother's love is beautiful!
Although the book is very suspenseful and kind of grim there are strong messages around forgiveness, understanding, perseverance, strong women and hope.
This book is very fast paced and the short chapters kept me wanting to read just one more. I definitely recommend this book and I feel like adults who are fans of YA will really enjoy this....more
I loved this book. I have to admit that the editing needs a lot of work and it could get very repetitive, but the subject matter was great. There was I loved this book. I have to admit that the editing needs a lot of work and it could get very repetitive, but the subject matter was great. There was a lot of useful information and thoughts to ponder and it is one of those books that you need to buy a copy of so that you can randomly read over and over again with a highlighter.
I just really like how I felt after reading this book. I felt so happy, optimistic and inspired. It was very motivational....more
This book is extremely intense. I have multiple family members who have dealt with many of the things he has dealt with and it was just really hard toThis book is extremely intense. I have multiple family members who have dealt with many of the things he has dealt with and it was just really hard to read. I literally felt sick to my stomach reading it, found it hard to sleep and felt overall pretty down. It is very heavy. If you or anyone in your family has dealt with addiction then please be warned, this entire book is basically one big trigger. This honestly may not be the best book for you, although if you make it through, it may provide hope. It is very honest and very dark.
I loved the perspective it gives. It really helps to show how such small steps can spiral out of control to the point where decisions are not just poor decisions but become about survival. Not everyone is given an equal chance starting out in life and it can be very hard to overcome the effects that has on a developing child's mind.
Overall, I loved this book. I found it hard to put down and I genuinely feel so proud of Jesse. Not many people who live the life that he lived are ever able to come back from it and achieve what he has. I applaud him for his courage. I'm sure the book would have been interesting based on content alone but the writing was very good as well.
I do recommend this book. I thought it was amazing but it definitely will not be for everyone however, I suggest you at least try it out because it is so good....more
The ending....I loved it!!! I enjoyed book two but I found that I was starting to get a little bit bored with the school setting so I was kind of worrThe ending....I loved it!!! I enjoyed book two but I found that I was starting to get a little bit bored with the school setting so I was kind of worried going into this one. It was so good! Loved the story, loved the strong, brave, awesome female characters, loved the world, loved the magic. I just loved it! You can really see the development and growth of the same characters as they grow up throughout the three books. More of the world and the magic system is explained and it was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy.
Beautiful book! I didn't know much about this book going into it, only that I have heard a lot of people say they love it. I'm so happy I didn't becauBeautiful book! I didn't know much about this book going into it, only that I have heard a lot of people say they love it. I'm so happy I didn't because I don't usually read romance books, but I absolutely loved this one. It definitely has a beautiful romance in it but it also has an intriguing mystery and so, so much more. This book made me angry, happy, it made me laugh out loud, it broke my heart and it made me shed quite a few tears. It really shows how cruel people can be. How the judgments and prejudices people have can affect lives, how people are so afraid to go against the crowd and how strong humans can really be when strength is their only choice.
The scene setting in this book was amazing. I loved the nature in this book and the descriptions of the marsh were so beautifully written. It made me really want to go there. I think so many of us in today's world have lost this connection to nature. We could learn a lot from Kya.
I definitely recommend this book, it's one I will not soon forget. I couldn't put it down. I loved it!...more
I thought the writing in this book was beautiful. I was hooked from the first chapter. It's like nothing really seemed to be happening yet but the wayI thought the writing in this book was beautiful. I was hooked from the first chapter. It's like nothing really seemed to be happening yet but the way that the author wrote it just feels so ominous, dark, silent and creepy. You can just feel like something bad was going to happen. I was instantly on edge. The writing style was very descriptive but in many short sentences; it seemed to work very well at adding suspense. I've never read a writing style like this that was so calm and descriptive and real but so intense and suspenseful. I really enjoyed it a lot. The relationships between the characters were very real and didn't seem invented to make the perfect story. I even stopped at one point to look up if this was a true story, it has that kind of feel to the writing.
I am also a very big nature lover and I absolutely loved being lost in the descriptions and the places that the author describes in the book. He really portrayed the beauty of the physical world so well. Great book! I will definitely be looking up some of the other books by this author....more
I really loved this book. It is a book that tells the stories of women around the world and their struggles, and the things that have been done or neeI really loved this book. It is a book that tells the stories of women around the world and their struggles, and the things that have been done or need to be done to help empower them and lift them up. When women are more empowered, everybody benefits. So heartbreaking and encouraging to read these brave women's stories and see the changes that can happen. It makes me so angry how women all over the world are treated and how it is looked at as okay because it is the way it has always been.
Melinda Gates is very inspiring. I really enjoyed her writing style. She has done and continues to do so many wonderful things to help empower women around the world. She is so down to earth, passionate, caring and empathetic towards people. She really approaches change from a point of empathy and by trying to understand the culture and why certain practices are done in the first place instead of just saying they are wrong and need to be changed. People do not like to be judged and will often fight back if they feel that they are. She is very outspoken in her opinions. She doesn't try to push it on people, but she also doesn't let someone else's difference of opinion hold her back from communicating hers. I admire her strength.
I feel like some people may say that there was too much talk about her personal life and history added in. She did talk about it a lot and I felt like it sometimes went a bit off topic but I actually really liked reading it anyway. I love both Bill and Melinda and I enjoyed reading about all aspects of their life. If their was one couple in the whole world whom I could sit down and have dinner with it would definitely be Bill and Melinda Gates.
"When women hear our own voices in another woman's story, our courage grows, and one voice can become a chorus. When it's "he said/she said," the woman can't win. But when it's "he said/she said/she said/she said/she said/she said," transparency has a chance, and light can flood the places where abusive behaviour thrives."
Wow, I really loved this book! I read it so fast; it's been a while since I have read a book that I just could not put down. The way Taylor Jenkins ReWow, I really loved this book! I read it so fast; it's been a while since I have read a book that I just could not put down. The way Taylor Jenkins Reid does character development is just genius.
I personally didn't have a lot of interest in the subject of the book and was actually scared to read it because I thought it would be an average three star for me at best, but it was definitely a solid five star. Her characters just seem so real. They are so raw and complex and you hate them and love them, all at the same time. There are just so many emotions in this book. I was rooting so hard for all of the characters in this book. I genuinely cared about them. Haha Except Eddie, he I could have done without.
I really loved how it showed how all of the characters had such a different take away from the same situation. Everybody was in their own head, molding the situation to their own life and experiences. It's just one of those topics that I can sit and ruminate on for hours. It is just so true and happens so often, about things that are not even important. It's like the life we think we are living with others, is just so completely different to them than what we think it is. It's so crazy to really think about. I loved reading the book through the thoughts in all of the characters heads and growing with the characters while they discovered themselves. I just really can't explain how this book hit me. I feel emotionally drained, but I love it. If you are someone who loves character development and reading about the inner workings of someones mind and how it affects their actions, I definitely recommend this book. You will love it.
"It scared me that the only thing between this moment of calm and the biggest tragedy of my life was me choosing not to do it. That really tripped me out, that everyone's life was that precarious. That there wasn't some all-knowing mechanism in place that stops things that shouldn't be happening. That's something that always scared me."...more
This book is hard to read. It is such a sad story. You read it and know that it is real, and it breaks your heart to know that people live like this aThis book is hard to read. It is such a sad story. You read it and know that it is real, and it breaks your heart to know that people live like this and feel this insecurity and fear on a daily basis, but at the same time it is just so hard to really imagine it. This is so far from my own reality that it is very hard to even understand it. I cannot believe how young the author of this book is and how grown up he seems. I love the beauty in which he talks about his country and his family. This is just a really great book. It really helps paint a picture of what families are living through in Syria and what the experience of getting to Canada was like. One thing I do wish is that it talked more about what life was like for the family after they moved to Canada and how it was to adapt and start all over. I can imagine that struggle could be a book of it's own. ...more
This book was SO good! Even darker and more intense than the first one. I cannot wait until September to read book three. I don't really know what 4.5
This book was SO good! Even darker and more intense than the first one. I cannot wait until September to read book three. I don't really know what to say that I didn't say in the review for the first book. Same writing style, same humor but much less of the excessive ridiculous eyebrow waggling. So...in my opinion, this one was even better. Very fast paced and one of those books that I just couldn't put down. I loved it....more
I rarely give a fantasy or sci-fi book higher than 4 stars because although I LOVE them and they are so entertaining, they often don't change4.5 stars
I rarely give a fantasy or sci-fi book higher than 4 stars because although I LOVE them and they are so entertaining, they often don't change me or leave me with a new outlook or viewpoint on life in any way. This book was so amazing. It was entertaining and left me with lots of things to think about. It's pretty deep for a YA sci-fi book. It has a lot of interesting political and life lessons to think about.
The first three quarters of the book are definitely more character driven so be prepared for that and then the last quarter is intense and crazy and I definitely teared up a couple times. Go Cobb! I loved the characters and all of their personal growth. There were a lot of times when I thought I had everything figured out and didnt at all. Loved the characters, the ship, the banter, the story. Really an all around great book! Will definitely be reading the next one!!...more
This book had me hooked! I loved it. Those last 100 pages or so!! Wow, I cannot wait for book three. I was a bit whatever going into it beca4.5 stars!
This book had me hooked! I loved it. Those last 100 pages or so!! Wow, I cannot wait for book three. I was a bit whatever going into it because I didn't love the first book as much as everyone else. I thought it was good, but that's it. I could not get over the similarities to the Name of The Wind. I loved how it was a completely different story line from the first book. Not just another year, with another problem, at the same school. Same characters but completely different book. I absolutely noticed a difference in the writing style in this book over the first one, especially in how she developed the characters, and I thought it was fantastic.
I love the characters. They are all so individual and I really like them all. I didn't just like a few and the rest are just there and I barely remember their names. The characters were very real and I loved how they kept questioning the "right" thing to do. Even as an outsider looking in it was hard to say. Is there always a right way? In a lot of fantasy books I often find that the main characters just know the right thing to do, because they are just so selfless, and always choose what is best for the world overall. Eye roll! This often actually really annoys me. This one was not like that. It was a constant struggle of making bad choices and trying to figure out what the right choices were. I loved that internal struggle and growth.
This book really expanded the world and made it much more complex. In the first book I felt like the switch from the school setting to outside of it didn't flow very well and I kind of missed the school. Not so in this book, I am loving everyone out in this awesome world.
There is a lot of military and political talk that can be quite long. I really enjoyed it but I feel like some people may find it boring. It is not a super fast paced book for most of the book. I liked that though. The slow everyday planning helped me get more connected to the characters and build the suspense and emotional connections for the last portion of the book.
I don't think I liked the religious explanation parts. I get how they added to the book but I found them kind of boring. I think that's a personal preference though not the writing, and it really isn't a large portion of the book. And the swear words drove me crazy! Tigers tits? Great tortoise? It was just very hard to take those sayings seriously.
My last small annoyance I have to mention, and I find this in a lot of fantasy and YA books especially, but the focus on beauty and describing all of the characters as either beautiful or not. What does that even mean? It's very annoying. And hating beauty. And the main character being different and not beautiful. For example the Lily girls. They were super skinny and beautiful and Rin hated them. Called them whores. She hated Dajis beauty and wanted to ruin her porcelain skin. Why not say she hated her because she murders people or is evil?? I mean I could think of a lot more valid reason to write that statement. But Rin, "She had always known that nothing could make her attractive; not with her mud colored skin, sullen face and short jagged hair". Why does that make her unattractive? Can't we just describe what the person looks like? Black hair? Blue eyes? Tall? Why does the description have to be beautiful? Especially for some and not others. And why do we have to hate that? Everyone is beautiful and it shouldn't be something we hate about people. Okay rant over. :)
Anyway, I loved the book and definitely recommend this series so far to the fantasy lovers out there!! R.F. Kuang is a great writer....more
This book is horrifying, devastating and VERY hard to read. I don't even know what to say, I cried through much of it and it has broken my heart. The This book is horrifying, devastating and VERY hard to read. I don't even know what to say, I cried through much of it and it has broken my heart. The awful things that these girls have to endure, I can't even imagine. And the strength that some people have to be kind when it costs them so much. This book will stay with me forever. I do recommend this book as it brings awareness to such horrible atrocities, but be warned that it is very hard to read.
I also really liked the writing style. The lack of all the extra made it very intense and emotional for me....more
This book is just so shocking but at the same time a lot of it is not. I learned so much and it made me so angry and sad. There is a history 4.5 Stars
This book is just so shocking but at the same time a lot of it is not. I learned so much and it made me so angry and sad. There is a history of drug addiction with many members of my family and I found this book really hard to read. I seriously don't think many books have ever made me so angry. How much of this disaster could be avoided, and how easily it is for people to cross the line and justify their actions when money is involved. When I read all of the stuff that the drug companies do to market their stuff, I was so disgusted. I can't even comprehend how these people can justify this or how they can even sleep at night. I kept having to stop reading. I also had to keep reading quotes out loud to my husband because I was so outraged and just needed someone to talk to about it.
I also found it really scary. Most of the addicts in this book start using based on genuine prescriptions prescribed by a doctor. Doctors are just people too and although the majority of them are just trying their best you really, really need to take your own health into your own hands and really research any prescription or treatment before starting it.
The people in this book are so brave for sharing their stories. It is so important that more people step up and do this to help remove the stigma associated with addiction and just to help inform people. I personally did not know how many people's addictions started from an injury and a legit doctor's prescription.
The one thing that stopped my from giving it a five star was the actual writing style sometimes. I found that all of the descriptions, and people and timelines were a bit all over the place, and I kept getting a bit mixed up and had to reread sentences and stuff.
I definitely recommend this book and I think if more people were educated on this topic it really would help lower the addiction rates in the future.
I would also like to stress that this whole book is one BIG trigger. If you have dealt with this issue in any way, I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure you are in a really good place right now before reading this book. It will definitely trigger many emotions and memories, and you will need to be in a mindset to be able to deal with that.
Phew! Now I need to start reading a fun epic fantasy book; this book has hurt my soul!...more