Review: Sophie's Choice

Sophie's Choice by William Styron

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Well, I finished it. And I despised every moment of it, from the writing to the characters. Maybe I just don't understand or appreciate a writing style such as Styron's, but I just found it incredibly tedious and tiresome to wade through all of Stingo's incessant (and lust-fueled) rambling. I hated him and in turn ended up absolutely hating Sophie and Nathan. When you reach the climatic point in the novel and you don't feel even the slightest twinge of anything other than, thank god this means it is almost over, then you know that you should just call it a day and admit failure.

So, yes. Sophie's Choice. Huge, gigantic and miserable no go for me.



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Review: Tatiana and Alexander

Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This one didn't hit me quite as hard at The Bronze Horseman did. There was just something missing with it. However, I do think it was a great ending to Tania and Shura's story. So much so that I'm unsure whether or not I want to read the third book in this series. The epic-ness of what these two have gone through for each other is amazing enough in itself. I don't know that I want a dose of the realities of marriage thrown in, lol.



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RIP Robin Williams

Review: Dust to Dust

Dust to Dust by Karina Halle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



One of the most bittersweet times in a book obsessed person's life is the ending of a series that you loved. You are excited to get that last book, but at the same time you don't know what to do with the fact that you are never going to see them in a new book again. And because I'm a huge and probably slightly crazy sap, I have been a mess while reading this book.

I probably love this series to a fault. Nothing that I've read by Karina Halle has ever really compared to what I feel for this series. So, obviously, I am far from biased in my feelings here. It's pretty much one of those situations where it could be absolutely terrible and I would still think that Karina, and her Dex and Perry, pretty much walk on water. The strength of my fangirl would probably be a little embarrassing if I had the capability to be embarrassed by my obsessions. Alas, I do not..so whatever. I loved this book. I loved this series. I loved Dex and Perry. I loved the resolutions. I loved the heartbreak. I loved to hate the fact that it's over.

Anyway. On to an actual review, rather than an ode to EIT.

Dust to Dust picks up directly after the end of Ashes to Ashes. Directly after, with Perry waking up after encountering Dex's "brother" for the first time. After waking up and rushing home, she finds out that Dex is no where to be seen. He's gone and Perry knows where he is going to be. Back to the beginning--New York City. Where it all started. Where Pippa first met Dex and where she first brought Perry into the Thin Veil, essentially forcing them to become who they are now.

This book isn't the most traditionally scary. I never really got creeped out, per se, but I definitely stayed on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen. Would Perry be able to save Dex, as he has done for her so many times? Did she finally have the confidence in herself and her abilities when it mattered the most? You'll have to read to find out, but obviously I'm not penning this as hate mail to Karina Halle so I'm sure that gives you a clue about that.

It's kind of awesome as a reader to be able to watch people grow throughout a series and watching the growth of both Dex and Perry and their respective families and friends has been pretty amazing. It's also been a little crazy for me to see how much the author has changed over the course of the series too. Expanding from EIT to writing more series, becoming traditionally published..everything. It kind of blows to see the ending of this chapter, but I'm excited to see what else is to come.

So, yeah, 5 stars from me. The series isn't perfect and it's not for everyone.  However, it has been a perfect, wild ride for me and I loved every moment of it.



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Review: The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Wow. I said earlier that I was unsure whether I wanted to scream or cry while reading this, and it still holds true now that I am finished. My general feeling after finishing this is shock over how horrifyingly relevant this book still is. In 2014. Still.


"Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare backs and shoulder, on the street, in public, and legs, not even stockings on them, no wonder these things used to happen."

How many times have women heard this? What were you wearing when you were assaulted?

"But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one plump finger. Her fault, her fault, her fault, we all chant in unison. Who lead them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us. She did. She did. She did. Why did God allow such a terrible thing to to happen? Teacher her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson."

And so it begins. The covering of women, the outlawing of reading and gaining of knowledge of women, based on the views of the Old Testament. Control the women to control the men. Women are put in their rightful place, as procreators. Women are protected. Unless they can't procreate. Those take care of the home or are deemed Unwomen and sent to the colonies.

"You wanted a women's culture. Well, now there is one. It isn't what you meant, but it exists. Be thankful for some mercies."


The one thing that sticks with me throughout this is Ofwarren's hope though. It may be minuscule, but there is always some in some way. She always feels something. Anger, love, horror, fear, fight. “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.” Don't let the bastards grind you down. She reads this and it sticks with her. No matter what she is doing. She seems broken on the outside, but she finds little ways to fight back the entire time. It provides the book a desperately needed undercurrent of hope.

Overall, this was just an amazing book. It may not be the happiest book on the planet, in fact I'd consider it more horror than dystopian. That's just me though. But everything aspect of it made me think. And worry. And wonder about what I am teaching my kids now and what I can do differently in the future. That is what makes a book amazing for me.



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A Shade of Vampire Series Review.

I finished it.  The entire series.  There was a lot of skimming involved, but it happened.  And it was miserable.  Honestly, by book 4 I had absolutely no clue why I was continuing to do this to myself.  I mean, am I really that stubborn when I made a decision to do something?  I am, apparently.  

I will say that the books eventually get better.  Not better as in them being good or anything, rather better as in you no longer feel the need to toss your iPad in the middle of the road so it can be run over repeatedly because you've lost all hope in books.  Okay, so that's a little dramatic.  I'd never willingly let anything happen to my iPad.  It would have been considered it I had borrowed a copy of a paperback from a friend.  Friends don't let friends read questionable books and all.  Unless you are me and obviously lack common sense.  

Anyhoo.  

I never saw why this is so warrants so many 5 star reviews on Goodreads & Amazon.  The writing was disjointed, plot lines were tossed in with little understanding, characters were absolutely idiotic, eighteen year old girls were knocked up by their ex-vamp new husband (honeymoon baby, cue the awwwws) and said babies (twins!) are apparently going to be so amazingly awesome that the bad guys want to kidnap said children and we never find out why.  Please, authors, stop with the it is so amazing for teenagers to be pregnant, husband or not, story lines. It's not adorably sweet.  

I just need to stop now.  Bottom line is that I kept reading out of curiosity about the reviews and since the books were a part of Kindle Unlimited it didn't cost me anything this month.  But now I am going to get back to my HP reread and remind myself that there are books out there that do provide good literary influences for teenagers.  

1 Star out of 5.  Yeah. 

Review: Maybe Maby

Maybe Maby by Willow Aster

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I liked this so much. It was a great mix of sweet, funny, heartbreaking and eye-opening.

Mabel (Maby) suffers from severe depression with OCD tendencies. It's always been difficult, but since the murder of her mother, it has spiraled out of control. To do some serious paraphrasing, this book is about her journey to being able to cope with her struggles and find out what..and who she wants in her life. And by who, I mean the three guys that are vying for her attention.

The love square(?) definitely gets old pretty quickly. Honestly, that was probably the most frustrating aspect of the book. It's a pretty obvious choice as a reader. However, it is the fact that even though it was clear to me, I could always understand why Maby was able to twist things up in her mind. It's easy to be on the outside looking in and say "why can't you decide", "why can't you stop", etc. I'll attribute a well written book to the fact that I was never frustrated, I just wanted Maby to be able to get herself there too.

I guess that was why I liked this book so much. It deals with some serious issues, but it was done in such a way to not make light of the issues but not make it completely dark the entire time either.



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Review: The Strain

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This book is one of those that I could never really decide if I liked it or not. It started out incredibly slow, but I appreciated the detail that was put into it by the end of it. It built the anticipation up just enough that I was pretty involved by the end of it. I was definitely able to very vividly see the vampires and how they functioned in my head, which definitely upped the creep factor in. So, I'm undecided on my opinion. It was slow, but still interesting by the end. I'll probably check out the next in the series if I stumble across the book, but I don't feel the need to rush out and buy it otherwise.



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