I rarely read non-fiction books, but when I do I pick them very carefully. Sadly this was very unfortunate pick for me.
I had expected a love letter toI rarely read non-fiction books, but when I do I pick them very carefully. Sadly this was very unfortunate pick for me.
I had expected a love letter to all mothers out there but my expectations were no met. Writing was good and some parts did resonate with me but I can't help but feel disappointed because this book gave me nothing new.
So if you think that this book will help you miraculously ace your daily struggles of motherhood, you are wrong. In my opinion, most of Laura's advice wouldn't work for majority of moms around the world. Make sleep date once a week, do this or that for yourself every week, go there, organize that, meet this or that group... I mean come on! I am super lucky to have helping husband and I am on maternity leave and I still would not be able to squeeze ALL THAT into my week. How are single moms and working moms or multiple moms supposed to do that? Most of the time I had a feeling that this book was written for "privileged class" of mothers who have three babysitters and gang of housemaids on call all the time. I just didn't like the tone of it at all even though writing was okay.
Which leads me to the most important part - word "guide" in title is very misleading. You and I, As Mothers: A Raw and Honest Guide to Motherhood reads as Laura Prepon's memoir from her pregnancies and time when she became mom and not as help book. So if you are her big fan, you will most probably enjoy it. However, I was here for something else and didn't get it. Simply said, it was not my cuppa. This is very personal and subjective book so of course it is not going to fit everyone. But what didn't work for me, may work for you so check other reviews before writing it off completely.
*ARC provided by publisher as an exchange for honest review*...more
All Systems Red was a complete miss for me. The fact that this is super short novella and it still took me four days to read it tells you a lot. I likAll Systems Red was a complete miss for me. The fact that this is super short novella and it still took me four days to read it tells you a lot. I liked the idea behind the story but narration was just plain boring and didn't do it for me.
Short stories have never been my thing and my inability to enjoy this novella only proves it. If you are fan of short stories do not be discouraged by my rating! But from my subjective point of view - it's not worth your money so rather get a library copy as I did myself... ...more
I though that this would be THE heart-breaking novel. Even though it is only fictional retelling of true events, I expected a powerful story that woulI though that this would be THE heart-breaking novel. Even though it is only fictional retelling of true events, I expected a powerful story that would occupied my mind even when I wasn’t reading it. It was just a wisful thinking.
In good conscience, I can’t give this novel more that two stars, no matter how powerful subject. Why?
One would expect that when you write sequel to worldwide bestseller, you do your research properly to make story as authentic as possible. Same as the main protagonist of this novel, I come from East Slovakia and fully speak and understands not only Slovak language but also all east Slovak dialects and Eastern Slavic dialect Rusyn. Author uses Slovak language in this novel but with wrong translations, making it look like she simply used google translator. Why not have someone competent to translate for her? Why not have someone from the region she is writing about to read it over? I would understand (but not justify) a self published debuting author doing such a mistake, but not published author of her rank with so many possibilities and so many assistants whom she mentions in acknowledgements. This was sloppy job on Mrs. Morris’s side.
Readers who doesn’t speak Slovak language would never realize this and consequently would not be bothered by it as I was. So all in all it doesn’t ruin the story itself. However, there is still the issue of extremely poor writing style and weak storytelling skills. This book proves that relying on powerful topic and setting does not make good story if writing and storyline are inadequate. Yes, there were some touching moments but overall prose left a lot to be desired. It was rigid, impersonal and made me feel disconnected from Cilka and her story. Moreover, this book provided the worst case of telling-no-showing description of falling in love which made whole romance part fell completely flat for me.
This book suffers from the same fate as previous instalment - fascinating world but terrible storytelling and extremely boring narration. But while noThis book suffers from the same fate as previous instalment - fascinating world but terrible storytelling and extremely boring narration. But while novelty fueled my reading at the beginning, now when novelty has worn off I am struggling big time with writing style of this series. I definitely need a break from it. I'm not abandining this series for good, hopefully I will return to it one day and feel differently about it....more
A Hero Born is the biggest disappointment of the year for me. I admit, I picked it up because it was called "Chinese Lord of the Rings". But sadly, suA Hero Born is the biggest disappointment of the year for me. I admit, I picked it up because it was called "Chinese Lord of the Rings". But sadly, such comparison only resulted in me having enormous expectations that were not met.
Instead of epic powerful tale, all I got was boring story, poor storytelling and impersonal writing style that left me indifferent towards characters. Even fight scenes were super boring and I truly struggled to finish this book. I definitely will not continue reading this series.
*Advanced Reader Copy provided by publisher as an exchange for honest review*...more
Have you read the synopsis? What an unique and compelling premise, right? However its executions did not work for me at all. Let's look at all the thiHave you read the synopsis? What an unique and compelling premise, right? However its executions did not work for me at all. Let's look at all the things that ruined the book for me.
WRITING STYLE There was too much telling-not-showing. I read english version (originally written in russian) so it may have been caused by inproper stylistic translation, who knows. Either way, it lead to story lacking true emotions.
ROAD TRIP FEEL Metro 2033 had a road trip feel to it. Hero goes from station to station, meeting various people and talking with them about everything and nothing. Those side characters are never present for too long. Road-tripy feel simply does not work for dystopian novel. It was boring with minimum action and what good is dystopian novel if it does not keep you on the edge of your seat?
PROPAGANDA The story was too "in your face" philosophical, touching all subjects from politics to religion and meaning of life. It felt as if author wanted to present his views on given matters in forcefull way using long monologues and left no space for discussion. It took bigger part of the book and it was seriously annoying.
Metro 2033 is a story with plenty of potential that was not met. So sadly, I won't continue reading this trilogy....more
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is another example of great premise going to waste. Whoever writes blurbs at HarperTeen should get a raise because The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is another example of great premise going to waste. Whoever writes blurbs at HarperTeen should get a raise because every time I finish a book by HarperTeen I vow to never read anything by them again only to break this resolution as soon as I come across some of their amazing blurbs. Unfortunately, as in the case of this book, great blurb does not guarantee great read.
Storytelling - 1 STAR Setting of The Loneliest Girl in the Universe was flat. No wonder since it took author two short chapters to reveal some background information and then I was thrown into the plot without further detailed introduction of main character. Those of you who like to be thrown headfirst into the action, you will be pleased by this book. To me, it felt like nothing more but prolonged summary with zero real feels to help me build some relationship with narrator or make me feel connected to her before story picks up.
Characters and storyline - 2 STARS But even though I found MC superficial (she thought/acted/behaved like the most ordinary teenager which was highly unbelievable for a girl born and brought up on a space ship billion miles away from Earth only by her parents with no real human interaction for last 5 years), I was still hoping that exciting and unique storyline would save this story for me. However, tremendous potential that this story had was not met at all. I know that this is YA novel meant to entertain not to lecture, but being YA novel is not an excuse for storyline to be shallow and for characters to be underdeveloped, is it?
Twists - 3 STARS Fortunately, there were flickers of greatness when it comes to twists and those flickers kept me entertained enough to finish this novel. Nevertheless, it was not enough to make this book memorable for me in any way and I am afraid that in couple of days I won’t even remember the name of the main character...
*ARC provided by publisher as an exchange for honest review*...more
I have love/hate relationship with classics. I am either completely swept off my feet by them or not at all. In this case, Rebecca falls into the secoI have love/hate relationship with classics. I am either completely swept off my feet by them or not at all. In this case, Rebecca falls into the second category. In my humble opinion, even great prose was not able to save this novel from being boring and impersonal. I didn't connect with any of the characters, narrator especially (btw,what is her actual name?). Disappointment....more
Superficial and shallow characters. Simplistic writing. Underdeveloped world-building. Well, scratch that, there was zero woThis was bad, really bad.
Superficial and shallow characters. Simplistic writing. Underdeveloped world-building. Well, scratch that, there was zero world-building. No differentiation between individual POVs, all voices sounded the same. Dragging and boring storyline; it took me forever to finish even though it is not that long book. Insta-love(s); there was no development for romances. Only telling, no showing.
Simply said, this is YA fantasy nightmare.
The only thing that kept me reading was premise and distant promise of good things to come. I keep hearing that this series gets better with every instalment and that overall this series is worth the initial torture. Guess I may (or most probably may not) give the sequel a chance in the future....more
Worldbuilding - 2 STARS Pestilence is a romance set in dystopian world but in its core this is not a dystopian novel. This should serve as a warning foWorldbuilding - 2 STARS Pestilence is a romance set in dystopian world but in its core this is not a dystopian novel. This should serve as a warning for all of you hardcore dystopian/fantasy/paranormal lovers who (like me) expect actual worldbuilding when presented with new world/creatures - there is almost none worldbuilding in this book.
Plot line - 1 STAR Worldbuilding aside, this novel also lacks plot. Literally, there wasn't happening anything remarkable that would push story forward. There was only annoying bickering between MCs and nothing else! I can't remember the last time when I was bored as much as while reading Pestilence.
Romance - 1 STAR The worst thing about this novel - romance was one big failure. To be honest, I found romance in this book disgusting and not romantic at all. There even wasn't any chemistry between Sara and Horseman, at least I didn't feel it. Author set on a quest to make a complete villain into romantic hero but it didn't work out. "Hero's" transformation was unrealistic, fairytale-like and just plain stupid. Author made it look as if hero wanted to change just so he could win Sara over, not because he realized his wrongdoings. Moreover, there was no believable romance development at all. Except for lust, I had no idea what Pestilence saw in Sara and vice versa. How could she even consider indulging such a soulless creature? How could she even think about having sex with THE killer while being witness to all those terrible deaths all around her? But what could I expect from one-dimensional characters... Simply said, I couldn't find it in me to root for the "romance". If you want truly good and believable romance with somehow evil but complex hero, go for Extinguish by J.M. Darhower and avoid this book.
If above mentioned factors don't deter you from enjoying a novel, then pick this book up. But it wasn't for me at all. What a disappointment and waste of my time!...more
I love slow burn romances and I was looking forward to reading this novel. Then surprise happened. Not only whole story was too slow, but there was noI love slow burn romances and I was looking forward to reading this novel. Then surprise happened. Not only whole story was too slow, but there was no burn and definitely no romance for almost whole book. To say the truth, real romance didn’t start until last 15% of the book. I expected enemies-to-lovers trope and hot chemistry but all I got was not so special, slow-paced self-discovery story with juvenile banters and distant romantic undertone. Disappointment!
And what was with all that blinking? I counted 150 times when either Jasmine or Ivan blinked at each other. Let me tell you, it got super annoying after a while!
This is a second time I got „burnt“ like that by book by Mariana Zapata because of incorrect expectations. Looks like our definitions of what we consider slow burn romance to be are different and I think it is time to say goodbye to this author. But it is only my subjective feeling, don’t be deterred from reading this book yourself. Just don’t expect novel focused on romance......more
Without further ado, let's get to the explanations for my low rating.
My first problem with this book was very insensitive and annoying narrator. I unWithout further ado, let's get to the explanations for my low rating.
My first problem with this book was very insensitive and annoying narrator. I understood that Mackenzie grieved and everyone grieves in different way. But instead of grieving 18-year-old, she sounded like insensitive and petulant child disrespectful towards other people's feelings and grief. But I could have tolerated that. I don't have to 100% agree with main character to enjoy the book.
However, the thing I could not let go was weak storytelling.
Ryan's Bed was my first book by Tijan and I wasn't very impressed with her storytelling skills. It was classical case of telling not showing. Moreover, whole story was built on unrealistic situations and teenage drama. It made otherwise potentially emotional story look sterile to me.
On the top of that, I felt like many important parts that author intended to present to her readers were "lost in translation" among other unrealistic situations and unnecessary drama. What I mean is that heroine's twin sister committed suicide and author never properly got into whys. Tijan probably wanted to focus on Mackenzie and her way of coping. But what is the point of circling around teenage suicide in the book only to never touch the subject properly and to only gloss over it to create "atmosphere" for the story? Why to make such a heavy topic the focus of the story only to never address it properly? Maybe I'm being harsh but that's how this novel made me feel and even twist at the end did not save the book for me.
All in all, not everything was bad. Surprisingly, even after all that I mentioned above, this story kept some sort of addictive charm and I was able to finish it. Call it a curiosity, but I truly wanted to know how things would turn out for Mackenzie & Ryan after that super weird way that had started their relationship. What a pity that novel didn't reach its overall potential...
*ARC provided by author as an exchange for honest review*...more
My dream has come true. Nikolai has always been my favorite character from Grisha trilogy and I was ecstatic that he was finally getting his own serieMy dream has come true. Nikolai has always been my favorite character from Grisha trilogy and I was ecstatic that he was finally getting his own series. Enter my huge disappointment.
Nikolai's character bears so much charisma and yet it was completely missing in this book. What a shame. I think the reason behind this is that he didn't get enough "space" due to other three POVs in this novel which were quite boring. So even though writing style was very readable, overall storyline was boring. After Grisha trilogy and Six of Crows duology I had expected much more from Mrs. Bardugo in the storyline department.
Another thing that I did not like about King of Scars and I feel that I need to point out is the unnecessity of this novel. In my opinon, authors simply should not write spin-offs if they can't come up with new villain (view spoiler)[(why Mrs. Bardugo had to resurrect the old villain that had already been destroyed; a lá Voldemort style; is beyond me) (hide spoiler)] ....more
I love second chance romance but this one felt flat to me. I blame weak and overly dramatic storyline. (I have never encountered heroine who would cryI love second chance romance but this one felt flat to me. I blame weak and overly dramatic storyline. (I have never encountered heroine who would cry so much in so few pages and overall story was quite unbelievable...)...more
Setting – 4 STARS Sci-fi nerd in me really enjoyed the setting. I liked a lot how authentic it felt, how detailed everytOverall Rating: 2.3333333 STARS
Setting – 4 STARS Sci-fi nerd in me really enjoyed the setting. I liked a lot how authentic it felt, how detailed everything was.
Narrator – 1 STAR If only Jazz (main character) was more lovable and less of an a$$hole to other people. I didn’t like her crudeness and rudeness at all. It was impossible to connect with her and root for her. I didn’t care for her one iota and to tell the truth I couldn’t stand her after a while. Author definitely failed big time in narrator department.
Storyline – 2 STARS Now to the story itself. Artemis is part heist, part survival story. For all intents and purposes, I found the whole concept of the heist pointless and boring. The “fun” didn’t started until the after part when everything went south and start for the survival began. However, it was too late for me to get into the book and enjoy it.
Recommended only for true lovers of all sci-fi and scientific....more
What a disappointment. „Storytelling“ was chaotic, confusing and even non-existent here and there. I got lost in the story (in a bad way) so many timeWhat a disappointment. „Storytelling“ was chaotic, confusing and even non-existent here and there. I got lost in the story (in a bad way) so many time that I lost count. And yes, in my opinion, even in comics authors should include some sort of consistent storytelling....more
Romance in this book and consequences surrounding it were not up to my personal taste and prevented me from enjoying this book. Moreover, super easy sRomance in this book and consequences surrounding it were not up to my personal taste and prevented me from enjoying this book. Moreover, super easy solution of all problems and unbelievable complete change of main character equaled to the indifference and a lot of skimming on my side. Which is a shame because premise was great and writing was lovely......more
I am very sad to say this, but all you need to know about this novel is that it has underdeveloped storyline and characters. And book suffers a lot beI am very sad to say this, but all you need to know about this novel is that it has underdeveloped storyline and characters. And book suffers a lot because of it.
All I got was a little bit of suspense, plenty of sex, ridiculous and unbelievable romance (who trusts so completely a questionable guy seconds/days after meeting him while knowing basically nothing about him?), naive heroine and forgettable hero who thinks too much of himself but hasn’t achieved anything yet.
After great The Artists Trilogy and twisted Javier Bernal’s books I had expected so much more from this novel... Even Karina’s writing didn’t save this story for me.