Source: Borrowed

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 […]

Comic Reviews: Saga #1-2 and Saved by the Bell #1

Posted October 3, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Aside from a random Adventure Time comic I read at one point, Saga is really my first foray into this… genre? medium? Either way, I’m so glad I randomly decided to read it. I was sitting at Books a Million with Chris and he decided to read a little comics before we left the store, to make sure he wanted to buy it. He’s been getting into graphic novels and comic books lately. I decided to pull Saga off the shelf for literally the millionth time and read the first chapter. I wanted to see if it was for me or not, once and for all. Well, I ended up reading the entire first volume while sitting there in the store. I couldn’t stop and didn’t want to stop. I’m not experienced at all with what makes a good comic, but this story was SO cool and SO bizarre… I loved it. It took me a long time to fully understand what the fuck was going on. I mean, they’re on a whole different planet (literally) and there’s some intergalactic war going on. It was a bit confusing at times because you’re kind of thrown right into the action, but I’m not complaining. I can’t give this volume a perfect score because I’m still not 100% sure if I understand it, but it’s pretty damn close. Overall, Saga has some really cool art, fun characters, and LOL-worthy moments. I’m excited to see what happens next in Volume 2 and will […]

ARC Review: Even When You Lie to Me

Posted June 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

If you’re looking for a compelling novel that “explores sexuality – and its boundaries – in a way that’s both searingly honest and sympathetic,” you should probably go elsewhere. That was part of the blurb on the ARC, but I noticed the word “sexuality” was replaced with “relationships” on the Goodreads synopsis. I can see why it was changed, because that word would make a lot more sense. This was a tough one. It was compulsively readable – and really, I couldn’t stop – but at the same time… boring? Not sure how that’s possible, but it just was. I kept racing to see what was going to happen (more like see WHEN things were finally going to happen) but ended up disappointed by the end. This is a classic case of expectations (and a synopsis) leading to disappointment. I expected that this would be a romantic, sexual, forbidden love kind of story. It really was just about COMPLETELY self-loathing and self-conscious girl flirting with and pining over her English teacher. Things eventually get to the point you’re expecting, but it takes foreeeeever and happens way too late in the book to impact me. The main character, Charlie, is totally shy and complains about how ugly she is. This is, of course, off-set by the fact that her best friend, Lila, is the complete opposite. She’s confident, loud, and attractive. Because of course. They had a really weird dynamic; I don’t even know how to explain it. There was so much insecurity […]

ARC Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Posted April 29, 2015 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

This review was written immediately upon finishing the book (February 13th), so pardon any nonsensical flailing (AKA the whole review. Okay bye.) MY THOUGHTS? WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS, STUPID REVIEW GRAPHIC???? I DON’T KNOW HOW TO MAKE WORDS. This was my first Sarah J. Maas novel (don’t yell at me) and I can certainly now see what all the fuss is about. I decided to approach this one before Throne of Glass because honestly the synopsis of ToG didn’t appeal to me NEARLY as much as this one did. I love faeries! Love, love, love. Always have. When the lovely Andi lent me her ARC, I started reading it immediately because I was just so in the mood for it. I finished it in three days, which is a little longer than usual for me… BUT not that long considering it was over 400 pages and I pretty much read it in a few loooong sittings. I could not stop reading, folks. Even when there wasn’t much happening as far as plot-moving action, I couldn’t stop. So damn engrossing. Fantasy books can be very hit or miss with me; for some reason they don’t hold my attention as much as contemporaries do. I find myself getting distracted. Nope. Not with this book. I was drawn in immediately as I learned about Feyre, her family, and their history. I despised her sisters right off the bat and was hoping that there’d be some redeeming qualities eventually. No matter how poorly her family members treated her, […]

ARC Review: Things We Know By Heart

Posted April 15, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

I am actually pretty bummed about this book… which you would never guess, based on the decent rating. I had to break it down with my rating report, below, in order to sort my feelings out. If there was a way to give this 3.75 stars, I would. [EDIT: Upon further reflection, my rating has come down quite a lot. The issues I explain here have only bothered me MORE with time.] This book was easily at the top of my most-anticipated list for this year and the lovely Brittany let me borrow it ahead of time. There was just something about the topic that really drew me in. I expected something very heavy and sad, yet emotionally gripping and (hopefully) uplifting/ inspiring by the end. That’s not exactly what I got. When I first started the book, I was immediately drawn in. I wanted to know exactly what happened with Trent, how she tried to move on, and her experiences with the other organ recipients. Again, I didn’t exactly get that. The timeframe of this book starts a year after Trent dies and after she’s already met every other organ recipient. The boy who got the heart, Colton, never wrote back to her. She takes it upon herself to track him down and accidentally gets involved with him. Of course, you can immediately tell that this is going to be one of those books where she holds out until the last second to tell him the truth about how she […]

Review: Eleanor & Park

Posted September 16, 2014 / Book Reviews / 14 Comments

So I read this book right before I decided to start my book blog. As I said up there in the basics section, I saw the book at the store and passed it by countless times. The concept didn’t sound overly interesting to me so I never bothered. I had just lent my John Green books to a friend of mine, who then passed on Eleanor & Park to me. She highly recommended it so I decided to finally give it a go. The story was simultaneously an adorable tale about first love and a story that will break your heart. The love between Park and Eleanor was slowly developed perfectly. Pretty much think of the opposite of insta-love. The two were fascinated with each other at first but they both were mostly just curious. It all started when Park finally tipped his comic book so she could read along with him on the bus. Rainbow Rowell does such an amazing job of bringing the reader into their world and making you really feel for them. You remember all the first love jitters like they happened yesterday. Their story is more than just first love, though, as Eleanor struggles with her home life and Park is unsure if and how he can help. It’s just so heartbreaking. Eleanor & Park follows the two characters as they build their relationship, struggle with issues at home, and navigate high school. The end of the book was fitting but definitely left me wanting more. […]

Review: If I Stay

Posted August 9, 2014 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

Review: My expectations were too high with this novel. Everyone constantly raves about it and I’ve seen countless 5 star reviews. I’m not sure why, but it just didn’t hit that level for me. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked this book. I can see why it’s so popular and I’m really glad I read it, but I was expecting to be blown away. This tweet kind of sums up my reaction: I gave 'If I Stay' 3 stars immediately, got off the couch, thought about it and let it really sink in, then bumped it up to 4 stars lol — Lauren (@bookmarklit) August 8, 2014 When I finished the book, I was really surprised. I was like “that was it?” — but that was mostly because there were a million fuckin pages at the end of the book for discussion questions and author questions and other shit. I was totally caught off guard; I thought I had a good 30 pages left to read. In other words, I wasn’t mentally prepared for the book to end. It sounds stupid, but it completely threw me off and made me think “wow I don’t know if I liked this book that much.” After getting off the couch for a few minutes and coming back, I started to let the book sink in (like an ending normally would have). I’m pleased with the way it ended, after a lot of thought. This is definitely the kind of book that resonates with […]