Format: Audio/Physical

Review: The Isle of the Lost

Posted December 9, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

It feels kind of stupid to point out that this book feels very young, considering it skews towards Middle Grade. Goodreads does list both YA and MG as categories for it though. Be that as it may, this book feels very young. I borrowed the book from my 13 year old sister, so that should give you a solid indication of the best audience (she loved it). I couldn’t resist borrowing it from her though, because hello? Disney villains! The premise of this story is just so appealing to Disney lovers. It sat on my shelf for a number of months before I was compelled to read it. I started with the physical copy from her but realized it didn’t really hold my attention in that format. I got the audio from Scribd and decided to truck along, using both formats (until Winter was released and I switched to just audio). Speaking of the audio, the narrator was the worst. Sofia Carson is an actor in the Descendants movie (which is essentially the “second book” in this series, I guess). She narrated the book as if she was over-acting in a Disney movie. So. Yeah. Not fun. The plot was pretty slow as far as pacing is concerned. Most of the action was at the end, and even then… it was anticlimactic. It read like a prequel novella and not a story that was needed on its own. I did like it OVERALL even though I have more complaints than […]

Book Buddies One Year Anniversary Review: A Madness So Discreet (and Giveaway!)

Posted October 29, 2015 / Book Buddies Reviews, Book Reviews / 14 Comments

Book Buddies is a discussion-style review that takes place with one of my two buddies. (Learn more and see past reviews here) We both read the book and then have a private discussion about it. We post our discussion as a review on the last Wednesday of each month. You’ll be able to see our similar/different opinions on the overall book, characters, writing style, etc. – just like a regular review. The first half our discussion will take place right here, and the second half will be on Kaitlin’s blog! (Link below) It’s the one year anniversary of Book Buddies! Back in October 2014, I expressed an interest in finding a Book Buddy to read and review with each month. I just wanted to collaborate with one person by reading the same book and discussing it – like our own mini book club. I put out an “application” for people to fill out and see who had similar books to me on their TBR. Kaitlin and Cristina both stuck out to me right away, and I couldn’t choose between them! I ended up asking them both and deciding to alternate months, with different goals in mind for each. Kaitlin and I would be binge-reading book series together, while Cristina and I would read books based on the season or holiday. It has been such a fantastic experience reading with these ladies and getting to know them each month. I can tell I made the right choice! 🙂 We decided to ALL read the same book this […]

Review: Two-Way Street

Posted October 2, 2015 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

For an outdated road trip book with characters I barely liked, this book wasn’t bad. It was a really quick read and perfect for Bout of Books (when I read this back in August). I’m glad I finally read it but it’s definitely not a new favorite. This had alllll the makings for a book I’d love. I read Ex-Mas back during the holidays last year and loved the concept: exes taking a road trip together and falling back in love. In this book, Jordan and Courtney are taking a road trip from their hometown in Florida to their new college in Boston. They broke up a few weeks earlier but decide to make the trip up together still. The gist of the story is that Jordan says he dumped her for some girl he met on MySpace (yep, this book is old) but really that’s a lie. He’s covering ~something~ up that I happened to figure out within the first few chapters. I really, really didn’t like Jordan that much. He made CONSTANT sexist references to girls, their clothing, their habits, and their bodies. I rolled my eyes and/or cringed at something he said or thought in literally all of his chapters. He’d talk about girls like they were crazy, generalize all of them into one big group, and talk shit about their “slutty” clothes. He even said Courtney looked like a tramp at one point! All of that macho bullshit is SO not okay with me. Otherwise, I did […]

Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Posted August 17, 2015 / Book Reviews / 14 Comments

This was so cuuuuute! AH. I finally see what all the hype is about (to an extent…). I started listening to the audiobook of this but eventually decided to finish it up with my copy from the library. I’m so glad I did because I was ridiculously excited to find out who the eff Blue was. So, this book was chock-full of adorable and realistic moments about relationships, friends, and family. I’m SO SO glad I finally read it. It centers around Simon, who has been emailing with a mystery guy named Blue. They know that they both go to the same high school and neither one of them is openly gay. I won’t spoil too much about how things progress, but UGH THE FEELS. “People really are like house with vast rooms and tiny windows. And maybe it’s a good thing, the way we never stop surprising each other.” I started off literally loving this book but my obsession waned a little in the middle. I liked it, but I wasn’t getting the same off-the-charts level of feels as everyone else. That changed back again towards the end! I can’t really count this as an all-time favorite for some reason but it comes super close. This is such an important story about coming out, being yourself, dealing with friends, communicating with your parents… you name it. It was such a realistic story about high school; I felt like I was back there dealing with all of the same issues. […]

Mini Reviews: Magonia and The Good Girls

Posted July 3, 2015 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

I don’t really even know what to say about it, except that it was incredibly unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I actually HATE birds and am very afraid of them, so I’m surprised this book worked for me at all. We chose this one for my book club and pretty much all agreed with that. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I did have a few major struggles: It was hard to picture Magonia and the bird people. I feel like most fantasy books have the issue of too much description, but this one could have used a bit more. When writing about a land that’s technically an ocean with ships and different bird-creatures, people are going to have a tough time picturing it. I needed more detail overall. I know that Aza was trying to learn what the issues were in Magonia, as well as her reasons for being there, but it was hard to grasp. They didn’t really tell her anything, and thus the reader didn’t know anything. It would have been better to have a bit more information and explanation. Aza’s reaction to Magonia was not believable. Obviously most of the book is pretty unbelievable, but what struck me the most was that Aza just accepted it. She literally learned that she was basically a bird person in this crazy place above the clouds… and she just went with it! I would have been screaming “what the fuck” repeatedly. Same with Jason. How did […]