Review: Me Before You

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I don't know why I do stuff like this to myself. How do you rate a book that the only emotion that you are capable to feeling is when am I ever going to stop crying. All of those people who call me emotionless can go stuff it while I go wallow in my pit of despair.

Maybe I'll write an actual review one day, when I can process something other than how much I really wish I didn't have a final tomorrow so I could throw myself headfirst into a bottle of tequila like I want too. Until then, It was devastatingly good about a controversial subject matter that more people should be willing to openly talk about. My personally having two family members that are in situations such as Will's made this hit me even harder than I expected. Which is more selfish.. wanting to force life even if they don't want it or wanting to die even if your loved ones will lose you. I can't answer that, but I know that I'll think about it even more after reading this book.



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Review: Where Sea Meets Sky

Where Sea Meets Sky by Karina Halle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Man, do I wish that I felt more with this book. I'm rounding up to 3, but that is being generous because I am biased when it comes to Karina. I probably obsess over her and her books to a fault, even when I don't LOVE them. Seriously, she has her own shelf. It would be a little embarrassing, the level of my fan girl, if I was easily embarrassed. Anyway.

One of the things that hooks me with Karina is how amazingly real her female characters are. They are imperfect, can be difficult or weak, and at times downright hard to like but you love them anyway. I have never been able to not connect with her characters, not be able to see pieces of who I was and who I am in them. And though I can still see those pieces that make Karina's characters so special to me, I wasn't able to connect with Gemma. Maybe it was her actions during the road trip or maybe it was her inherent refusal to be willing to connect with other people, I'm not really sure. I really wanted to find that connection though, especially to a character that struggles to form emotional attachments. It would be the pot calling the kettle black if I held that against her. But nonetheless, she and in turn the book never clicked with me.

There definitely were saving graces throughout the book though. The descriptions of New Zealand really spoke to the level of love and respect Karina had for the country and made me want to hop to next flight so I can see everything for myself. It painted such an outstandingly vivd picture. I felt like I was experiencing some of the trips right along with the characters. The side characters also packed a surprisingly poignant punch, especially Tibald and Amber. I guess I should mention Josh too. You know, the hot tattooed art student who dropped everything to travel to New Zealand to chase after a one night stand, only to deal with frustration and disappointment for weeks until Gemma pulled her head out of her ass, Josh. Do I really need to say more? Didn't think so.

So. I can't outright say that I didn't enjoy this, because that's not entirely true. I guess it is more along the lines of wanting and expecting more. Some could say it is a little unfair of me, but that's my opinion. I expected more from Gemma and Karina both, but I didn't quite get it.



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Review: Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Things I learned from this book...

-Everyone involved in the early American punk scene was one big incestuous relationship. Everyone had sex with everyone else at one point or another. Male, female, transsexuals, johns, etc.
-Everyone was on drugs. How did punk even get started? I mean really, it amazes me that punk even remotely got off it's feet, everyone was so messed up.
-Patti Smith still kind of freaks me out, but you have to respect her determination.
-Lou Reed is a douchebag.
-Even completely drugged out of his mind, I still love Iggy. He's so perfectly strange.
-They consider Jim Morrison to be a forerunner of punk because of his stumbling drunk performances seemed to be a fuck you to the buttoned up squares going to the shows to be "cool". I love the Doors and Jim to a fault, but let's get real. Those performances were less fuck you's and more I'm wasted out of my mind and don't know what is going on. But hey, it gave Iggy motivation to do the Stooges so I'll take it.
-Nancy Spungen went to England to clean herself up. Well that worked out well.
-to quote William S. Burroughs "I always thought punk was someone who took it up the ass". I find it interesting and a little amusing that this was the term that was used to coin this movement. I respect that they took a derogatory term and flipped it on it's head though. It's very punk of them.
-No one liked Steven Tyler. Well, that isn't really new, but it needs repeating.
-Malcolm McLaren is still one of the worst things that happened to punk.

I'm a little torn on my feelings on this book. It was incredibly interesting, but less an "oral history of punk" and more of an oral history of the absolute sex and drugged fueled insanity that was NY/Detroit punk. How the albums that came out even remotely decent is shocking, much less as game changing as they were. It was interesting to see the NY scene's take on the origins of punk, obviously they lay claim to the title for themselves rather than the UK scene. I see it as more of feeding off each other, they have the same nihilistic anarchy and general fuck off feeling put out through simple but heavy guitar riffs. They brought music away from the heavily synthesized embellishment that came out of the late 60s/early 70s rock and took it back to the basic 50s rock with a twist. It was garage rock with a flair of fuck you. I guess a majority of the hate towards UK punk seems to come at the heels of the fashion statement that came along with them. Like so many other genres, people latched on to a fad to follow and lost it's way with the music. It doesn't make [some of] those bands any less influential under all of that crap though.

Anyway.

I loathed to enjoy most of this book. While the antics of the scene had it's moments of enjoyment, the fact that the same scene played a part in destroying so many lives makes it hard to read about it. They did it to themselves, yes, but that doesn't make it any less sad to see how they ended up. They definitely lived the sex, drugs & rock n roll lifestyle full tilt though and created amazingness in their wake. No matter whether it was the NY or the UK scene who started punk, they created something amazing and in turn influenced so many others to create even more.

Now I need to find a book on the Cali punk scene to finish my journey of punk off.



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Review: Marrow

Marrow by Tarryn Fisher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I have to stop fucking killing people.


I ended up pulling an all nighter in my desperation to finish this book, and sadly I am still barely functioning right now. I'm too old for that shit. But every time I tried to find an acceptable stopping point, something else happened that forced me to keep trucking along with Margo until the end.

I always find it incredibly hard to actually review one of Tarryn's books. I don't know that I feel eloquent enough to do her books justice. When I say eloquence, it isn't in the language of her books alone, but it's the feelings that emanate from her characters and her words. With Marrow it is the sense of utter frustration. Margo is fed up with her lot in life and in the Bone in general. After witnessing so many horrors, she just snaps and becomes a kind of vigilante serial killer seeking justice for the people who can't get it for themselves. It's a bit of a heartbreaking journey to watch, seeing a girl become so beaten down from her life that she breaks in such a way. It does, however, speak volumes for the ability of an author that you still root for such a character. You go along with her wholeheartedly as she stalks her prey. Those recesses of your mind that people don't like to believe are there celebrate what she is doing, seeking justice for those who are killed, raped or abused. Margo is her own justice system and a small part of you actually respects her for that. That is the ability that Tarryn has in her writing with her anti-heroines. It's an amazing thing and one of the reasons that I toss 5 star reviews on her books like freaking confetti. I may not like the subject matter, some of the characters or even the incredibly depressing ending, you feel it every step of the way.

I also want to mention all of the call backs to her previous books. Marrow obviously ties into Mud Vein in an incredibly strong way, but it isn't only that. It's the bright blue Docs, the blue nail polish, the carousel that goes round and round, the trip to Florida, the pink Zippo. It's like a love letter to the readers who have been with her every step of the way. For someone who has such a black soul, it's pretty freaking amazing to see how much she loves her characters and the readers who love them along with her.

(And she's pretty too, because really that is all that matters.)



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Review: The Raven

The Raven by Sylvain Reynard

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I've seen the word soporific tossed around in a few reviews already and I'll just go ahead and add that one in this one too. Because seriously. It's my own fault though, I really should have known better. I was absolutely not a fan of Gabriel's Inferno, but I have been on a PNR kick so I decided to give this a shot just in case. Lesson learned.

The worst part of me is that even if this wasn't one of the most pretentiously boring books I have read in a long time, it honestly seemed like a giant cop out of a book. It just seemed like all of the vampire stuff he took out to make Gabriel's Inferno an "acceptable" fan fic and tossed it into this book and called it a day. Outside of the amazing level of detail that he added in with Botticelli's work, there was really nothing that worked for me.

Anyway, I'm opting to go with 2 stars on this. Honestly, I considered one but one of my biggest pet peeves with any book is when an author just skips over fully researching their subject matter, and it is obvious that this wasn't the case here. I respect that, even if I disliked the book itself.



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Review: The Unleashing

The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Color me somewhat surprised but I really, really enjoyed this.

This is my first foray into Norse mythology..well other than Thor but let's face it, as pretty as Tom Hiddleston & Idris Elba are is, there isn't much to the movie past the pretty. I loved all of the mythology, even though there wasn't much in the way of detail other than the basics, but it gives me an excuse to wikipedia binge later on tonight so complaints from me. The star of this book, however, were the Crows. All of the women were strong, funny and relatable. That just isn't something that is horribly common in PNR books and it really makes me want to sit down and read everything this author has written to see if they continue on with that trend. And to add even more yay to this, I even liked all of the Ravens. So much win.

The only thing that keeps me from just 5 starring this and calling it a day was the fact that the point of views were really jumpy. It wasn't something that bothered me, per se, but if I got even a little sidetracked I could lose track of who was talking and need to skip back a bit. Anyone with those pesky little creatures who insist on interrupting your reading time for things like food or referring the potential start of an all out war over the Xbox know that being sidetracked is pretty much guaranteed. It obviously didn't hinder my process too terribly much though, so like I said, no major complaints about it.

Anyhoo. Great read, great mythology, great characters. It's really a win win kind of situation here.



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Review: Love, in Spanish

Love, in Spanish by Karina Halle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I love how real this series is. Adultery isn't pretty, it's an incredibly painful situation for everyone involved and Karina doesn't sugar coat it. However, even despite how tough it is, she is able to write it in a way where, even if you don't agree with their actions, you can empathize with them. You may not agree with anything about how their relationship started, but you can understand why it happened and want them to achieve their happiness together, despite how it started. I think that really says something about the characters that Karina has created with Vera and Mateo. As for LIS specifically, I really appreciated seeing more from Mateo's perspective. And that this was a true follow-up and not a recreation of LIE. I loved being able to further delve into their relationship as they continue to struggle to piece everything together. Neither of them are perfect, but together they are something perfect in their imperfections, so it makes for a great read.



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