I'm really disappointed with this one! The Guest List by Foley is one of the best mystery's I've read; so, of course, I was excited to get into The HuI'm really disappointed with this one! The Guest List by Foley is one of the best mystery's I've read; so, of course, I was excited to get into The Hunting Party. And oddly enough, even though the storyline's are so similar to one another (a group of old friends isolated somewhere together), this one lacks enthusiasm and intrigue. The characters, too, lack depth and believability. Therefore, I wasn't a fan....more
What a strange novel! Catherine House is definitely unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s odd, mysterious, confusing, and very blunt with its writingWhat a strange novel! Catherine House is definitely unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s odd, mysterious, confusing, and very blunt with its writing. That said, although I loved all the uniqueness and strangeness, the story and end left a lot to be desired.
Most importantly — what happened in this book? It felt like the entire story was a lot of strangeness that never came to conclusion. In simpler terms, it felt like there was no rhyme or reason as to why characters were acting the way they were; or why Catherine House was the way it was or anything. Everything/everyone seemed lost and confused, but there wasn’t a lot of connection on that — rather everyone was that way, just because, I guess.
Therefore, while I enjoyed the beginning and was eager to see how the mysteriousness of the story would unravel, after the 50% mark once I realized nothing was progressing, I started losing hope, because sometimes there are books that have so much promise but fail to execute. I feel this was one of them....more
Some essays were monumentally better than others but, overall, I still wasn't too big of a fan. I guess I didn't agree with too much Jia wrote about, Some essays were monumentally better than others but, overall, I still wasn't too big of a fan. I guess I didn't agree with too much Jia wrote about, and there was nothing that "wowed" me....more
I had no idea what this was about going into it. I found this short-story for free online and thought "why not?" But goodness. It's about torture, andI had no idea what this was about going into it. I found this short-story for free online and thought "why not?" But goodness. It's about torture, and I was not ready to read about something like that, right now. Plus, the writing is okay. But the story itself is nothing special and I probably wouldn't have read it if it wasn't free....more
This was tough to get through! I felt completely disconnected from the characters and story, which made it difficult to empathize with Corey and her fThis was tough to get through! I felt completely disconnected from the characters and story, which made it difficult to empathize with Corey and her friends passing. And unfortunately, that's pretty much the purpose of the book - talking about and reminiscing about the past before her death.
Also, although this book spans only six days, those six days dragged. Too much happened and not enough - if that makes sense?
I wish I could say more, but I wasn't a fan and I'm just glad I managed to read until the end. Really, I wish I could've felt more of an attachment to Corey. She has many complex emotions and memories throughout the book - but none of which I could connect to. That said, I still think the story has the potential to be phenomenal if you can relate to Corey and her internal struggle....more
Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the drawing style. It was too cluttered and made following the story somewhat tough, since I was distracted by the arUnfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the drawing style. It was too cluttered and made following the story somewhat tough, since I was distracted by the artwork. Touching story, though! Very eye-opening, as well. I related to the story quite a bit as my entire family is from Poland, and the cities that were mentioned are places I often visit during the summer....more
I knew going into Forever… that it was about teenage sexuality; what I didn’t know was just how much it was going to be about thaActual Rating: 2.25/5
I knew going into Forever… that it was about teenage sexuality; what I didn’t know was just how much it was going to be about that. And I mean: All. The. Time. It was to the point where it felt like Katherine didn’t have a personality; Michael came off as a major jerk because all he wanted was sex from Kath; the other characters were so unimportant and were only there to talk about sex; I forgot she even had a sister at one point…
The entire time Katherine was with Michael I wanted to literally shake her and say, “ABORT! LEAVE!” because of how awful this guy was. Seriously, he was just a big no-no. I’m tempted to make a new shelf on Goodreads and call it “terrible book boyfriends” and plop this book right in there, ‘cause Michael and how he pressured Katherine into everything had me fuming. Oh, and Kath’s “friends” were just as terrible and bland. Is this just me?
Simply said, I am not a fan of this book. The main reason I didn’t give this a one-star rating is because I did fly through it; partially because I was interested to see if somewhere it would redeem itself. It didn’t.
Either way, I’m still going to read some of Judy Bloome’s other novels in the future, because I’ve heard there's a few she's written that are much better than this one....more
As this book is not coming out for quite some time, I won’t reveal much about the plot or characters for those of you who are anticipating this novelsAs this book is not coming out for quite some time, I won’t reveal much about the plot or characters for those of you who are anticipating this novels release in February, 2020!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before its publication.
Now, as the 2-star rating on Goodreads dictates, this book was “OK.”
The Illness Lesson is definitely an odd read, that I will say. I won’t uncover more on that, as I feel half of its oddness is what makes the book what it is. That said, the contents of the novel and its writing feels very victorian and lyrically-styled, which I enjoyed; however, that’s where my enjoyment stops. The characters and plot, on the other hand, felt slow and predictable.
Really, it isn’t so much the predictable/obvious plot that deterred me, so much as the characters which felt to me as though they had little-to-no personality. Perhaps that’s how I personally read the novel, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get any “feeling” from the characters. And being that I care instrumentally about the connection I form between myself and the characters within a novel, I greatly missed that bond.
I understand that others will probably form an attachment to these characters and wonder where I am coming from, and I hope you do! But for me, Caroline was the only one I felt any sliver of understanding, and even that was rather scant. Though, I did agree with her decision, in the end. I would have done the same as her — meaning the end was satisfactory and almost had me bump the rating to a 3-star rating, but it misses the rating by a mark....more
Although this book starts on an interesting note with Clementine surviving a plane crash, the story unfortunately becomes cliche and predictable. It bAlthough this book starts on an interesting note with Clementine surviving a plane crash, the story unfortunately becomes cliche and predictable. It becomes your run of the mill YA romance: girl meets boy. Boy helps her find herself. He finds himself, too. There’s drama and jealousy. Yada yada. While this is fine, I personally was hoping for something more.
Am I becoming too old for YA? Maybe that’s the problem. I could see myself loving this five years ago. Now, it feels like a washed down version of 5 other YA novels I’ve read before.
But if you’re into those warm fuzzy reads where everyone seems to find their way in the end, and you’re younger than 18, I wouldn’t not recommend this. There’s nothing wrong with the writing or story, really. I just found it to be a little too boring. ...more
I’m convinced this was written for children but advertised as Young Adult because it would make more profit or something (or maybe I have no i 2 / 5 ~
I’m convinced this was written for children but advertised as Young Adult because it would make more profit or something (or maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about?), because the writing in Five Feet Apart is not good. There are too many exclamation marks, the story feels awkward, nothing flows, which are only a few reasons why I couldn’t finish this.
From the start, I had this sneaking suspicion I wasn’t going to like this. After all, a good friend of mine read this and said: “It was an okay read? I don’t know what else to say about it.” Not exactly the best way to describe a book — but I was still open to giving it a shot, given a movie is coming out; I figured it must be somewhat good if Hollywood wanted to adapt the story into film …
Nope. It’s not.
And maybe to others Five Feet Apart will be super cute, but everything felt so young to me. It felt like there was instant-love going on, the characters were all cliché, I didn’t like the main character or the romantic interest, the story was eh, and I was literally so irritated with all the exclamation marks everywhere. No one talks so animated all the time! Why didn’t anyone have their own personality!
I’m clearly ranting right now, but in my defense, this book put me into a reading slump and now I don’t know what to read. Regardless, even though I didn’t like this, I would still recommend it to younger teens (13-17), because they might relate. But anyone older than that might find this too underdeveloped to read....more
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! After finishing The Kiss Quotient a week ago, getting approved for this arc was amazing. I started it rig 2 / 5 ~
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! After finishing The Kiss Quotient a week ago, getting approved for this arc was amazing. I started it right away. And, sadly, I realized it was going to be nothing like The Kiss Quotient.
The Kiss Quotient characters had chemistry, whereas in this book, I felt like there was little-to-no chemistry. Obviously, that’s my opinion and some of you will disagree when the book is released. But, I wasn’t a fan.
I’ll write more when the book is released in May; I don't want to risk giving the plot away. Either way, I think many of you will like this story and I still recommend it to those who enjoyed The Kiss Quotient. I have a strong feeling I'll end up having the unpopular opinion, but we shall see in May!...more