Review: Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



“Any kind of history you read is basically the winning side telling you the others were bad.”

If that doesn't perfectly describe this book, I don't know what does.

I am of two frames of mind thinking about this book. One is that I found John Lydon's stance on the entire punk scene to be outstanding, and one that I agree with so I'm biased. When the punk scene started it was something completely different than what it evolved into and a lot of punks now don't seem to realize that. The fact that it is a scene now is the greatest indicator of that. Punk's origins wasn't about looking and thinking the same to fit in with a group. I respect Lydon for recognizing that and harping on it so much throughout the book. That part of this book was incredibly interesting; seeing how punk started and changed in such a short amount of time.

What wasn't interesting was how repetitive and bitter he still was about the Pistols. I won't fault Lydon for his bitterness, I'd be bitter as hell too, but 200 pages of incessant whining about it is more than my patience can take. The books starts to lose it's emphasis on the contribution of the Pistols and turns into a giant manifesto on why Malcolm McLaren is the worst person on the planet. But hey, he doesn't harbor any feelings of hatred toward him. Ha. I guess you should expect no less from Johnny Rotten though.

Despite the overabundance of bitterness, I still enjoyed this read. It's written like John Lydon talks: brash, nihilistic, narcisstic and incredibly entertaining. It talks about the British punk scene like no other artist would be able to do in the same way. I may not agree with a lot of Lydon's "truths", but you can't deny that he wasn't a major player in the punk world. This book is worth a read just for that aspect alone.



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Review: The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



One of the things that I don't care for with audiobooks is my inability to highlight stuff. I guess I could have taken notes as I was listening, but I generally listen in situations where I can't. Anyway.

I'll admit that I was incredibly surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It usually takes me a while to get through audiobooks because it is hard for me to keep my attention focused, but this one kept me intrigued every time I was listening. The story flowed well and the author was able to hit just the right notes with the intrigue to not make it feel YA, but still keep it YA. Also, Will Patton was an outstanding choice as narrator. I've always liked him in general, but he is outstanding as a narrator.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the author takes the rest of this series, and listening to Will read it to me.



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Review: The Pact

The Pact by Karina Halle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I had to wait to check this one out until I was no longer in a fuck the world mood. I don't know about anyone else, but during those times the last thing I want to read is happy people doing happy things. It doesn't make me happy, it only makes me want to throw my beloved iPad in front of a moving vehicle. Alas, I had some freaking awesome news today and I felt the happy wash over me so I could finally get this one read.

I loved this departure from Karina's usual writing style and color me a little surprised by that. I didn't doubt that Karina could do a feel good story, it is that it takes a lot for me to love that kind of story line. I guess I need to chalk that up to Karina's amazing talent in creating incredibly relatable and likable female characters. I can't think of many other authors who has never failed to make me love every one of her female characters. Stephanie was no exception of this. I loved everything about her throughout the entire book. I never had an eye-roll moment that you usually get at least once. So, kudos to Karina on that one especially.

I think the only thing holding me back was that, while I did like Linden and his fabulously dirty mouth, I didn't love him like I did Stephanie. He never quite made it "there" for me. At one point, I actually wished that he was real so I could deliver a much deserved swift punch to the throat. I wish I could nail down exactly why he didn't fully connect with me (other than him being an idiot), but I can't. The only thing that I can possibly think of, is that Stephanie just overshadowed him in her awesomeness.

In my not so humble opinion, if you are looking for a read that is just going to make you feel good when you finish it, and you want a rocking female lead, this is a great choice for you.



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Review: The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I think this has been one of the bleakest, yet somehow poignant, look at how quickly one can slip into a severe and debilitating depression. That descent happening throughout the story of a young woman attempting to establish a life that goes against the status quo of era adds even more to the level of despair portrayed.

I initially went into The Bell Jar knowing of Sylvia Plath and her infamous suicide, but not really knowing much about her or her works. Plath's willingness to starkly break down her personality, her illness, her failings, and her defiant opposition toward conventional feminine roles are woven together to show a strength that I wonder if Plath even realized she possessed. In doing so, she was able to completely blow open the heavily stigmatized mental illness for the world to see. She made it readable, but still showed the level of despair and alienation that she felt during the time. The fact that her contrasting views of gender roles and what she wanted from her life versus what was expected from her as a female was a huge factor into her breakdown only served to heighten the sense of defeat. It's easy to see why she became an important figure of the feminist movement.

It's even harder to read this book knowing how Plath's life ended despite hopeful ending of the book. Depression is a beast of an illness. I'm grateful to people such as Plath, who were so willing to open their life experiences for others to see that they are not alone.

“When they asked me what I wanted to be I said I didn’t know.
"Oh, sure you know," the photographer said.
"She wants," said Jay Cee wittily, "to be everything.”



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Book Sale!

Tarry Fisher's Mud Vein is on sale for $0.99!  If you haven't read this, I would highly recommend it.  If you are new to Tarryn, be prepared for very atypical and complex characters intricately woven into an equally complex storyline.  This one especially.  I do feel the need to add a disclaimer that this does not have a conventional HEA.  Some say the ending is downright depressing.  There is a beauty in that ending though, even despite how sad it was. 

http://amzn.com/B00JHVUQ70

Review: The Game Plan

The Game Plan by R.L. Mathewson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I think this is the first book in the Neighbor From Hell series that I just kind of meh over. RL's books usually fall into that guilty pleasure category for me. They are ridiculously over the top and can definitely be eye roll worthy, but I find most of her books hilarious because of that. The Bradford food obsessions, over the top vanity, constant fighting and highly questionable relationship skills are all absolute campy entertainment.

However, after 5 books in the series, we have just hit the point of redundancy. I can see some aspects where RL made the attempt to change up the male lead a tad, but with so many of the other Bradfords continuing to play major roles in the story line, it just doesn't do enough to separate itself from every other book in the series much less stand out among them. I think this is going to be a problem with any future book in this series though unless something drastically different happens.

I won't say that this book wasn't good, but really I could have just reread either Jason or Trevor's books instead and been more entertained even despite having read them multiple times already...



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Review: Twisted

Twisted by Cari Quinn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




The books in this series have been kind of hit or miss for me, but thankfully this one was a hit. The tension between Jazz and Gray has been palpable throughout the series so far and seeing it all come to a head in this book made for a really solid read.

I'm going to start off by saying that I skipped just about every sex scene in this book. I didn't do it because they weren't well written, but because I'm just not feeling that scene at the moment. The plus side to that for me is that, even despite not reading the sex aspect of the book, I still really enjoyed what I was reading. It's all to common to fall into the easy sell of loads of sex and little plot line when you know that it sells, but that definitely wasn't a problem here. Twisted is a plot-driven erotic novel and not the other way around. The story flashed between now and then, so we really got a good picture of what formed the relationship between Jazz and Gray. It does get a little crazy at times, but I would be lying if I said that wouldn't be disappointed if I didn't get a little craziness from Oblivion. That is part of what makes me like this series. Can it be over the top? Without a doubt, but it is still done in a way where it is believable. Especially from a rock band on the rise to fame.

I do have one major issue though. I'll stick it in a spoiler for those who don't care to know though..
Can we PLEASE stop with the unplanned pregnancies with this one? It was frustrating with the first book, it's frustrating with this one. If I have to read it in the next book, there is a good chance that my brain will explode along with my will to continue with this series. Even if I understand why it would be continued on with Jazz, that doesn't mean that I can't be over the unplanned pregnancy trope within this genre. Especially when there are so many other issues that should be focused on without bringing a baby in the mix. Unplanned pregnancy happens, yes. I am just so far over reading it without this genre that it isn't remotely funny.

If it wasn't for the aforementioned spoiler, this would have been a solid 4 star read for me. That's a personal thing for me though, so take that it as you will. I'd still recommend this to anyone looking for a hot rock star read chock full of interesting and dynamic characters.




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