Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Mini Reviews - quick book thoughts

So I’m going to do some quick reviews of books that I read earlier this year, haven’t been reviewed yet, and therefore probably won’t ever be formally reviewed by me.  I liked some of them quite a bit, but for a multitude of reason didn’t write a formal review.

The Passage by Justin Cronin – This is one of my top 5 books read this year.  LOVED IT.  It was also the first or second book I read after starting this blog and it was definitely a daunting book to try to summarize.  I think if I read it now I’d probably have a better shot at finishing the review, but back in Feb/March there was just no way.

I loved that I couldn’t skim this one (every time I started to accidentally skim I had to go back cause I missed something important).  Every word has a purpose and there are a lot of words in a 750 pg book.

9/10  (So close to 10/10 but not quite up to Gone with the Wind and The Power of One on my list of favorite books)

Other Reviews that did it better than I could

Good Girls by Laura Ruby – Another good book that I really enjoyed reading.  I didn’t review it because I ended up reviewing The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti and I would have covered a lot of the same thoughts.  The Purity Myth is nonfiction about how the abstinence movement has a gender bias (we only truly expect it of girls) and Good Girls is a fictional young adult novel that highlights the dangers of that message and how the gender bias plays out in school.

8/10

Other Reviews


Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma – It’s hard to believe I could want to root for a brother and sister having an incestuous relationship .  Unfortunately this book for me was a little too depressing.  Something very heartbreaking happens at the end, but that wasn’t what made the book depressing.  What really bummed me out was that even after the depressing event (that I don’t want to spoil) happens, the book finishes with Mya moving forward in the same hopeless situation she started the book in, with less support IMO.

The writing is beautiful and Suzuma does an incredible job of making you care about Mya and Lochan.  The ending was just a little too bleak for me.

7/10

Other Reviews

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – I read way to many gushing reviews before reading this book and it wasn’t able to live up to my expectations.  I thought it was cute, but I think how much you love this book or Lola will depend on whether you find the main characters (Anna and St Clair or Lola and Cricket) entertaining.  Anna and St Clair didn’t wow me the way I was expecting from all the reviews.  I reread Anna about a month ago and enjoyed it more because I wasn’t expecting too. 

7/10

Other Reviews

Perfect on Paper: The (Mis)Adventures of Waverly Bryson - Maria Murnane
I remember enjoying this while I read it…..and now I can barely remember what it was about.   Seriously I just had to go refresh my memory and read the Goodread synopsis.  Really sad considering I have the sequel on my iPad right now.  Basically it’s the reading equivalent of eating Cotton Candy, enjoyable in the moment, but with no substance or beneficial properties.  I feel like I laughed out loud when reading it, but obviously nothing stuck.

6/10 (I really did enjoy reading it)

Other Reviews (the first one includes quotes that reminded me why I enjoyed it so much)


2 comments:

  1. Someday I intend to tackle The Passage, but books exceeding 400 pages scare me off these days. I know it'll just take me way too long to finish them!

    Also, I've been avoiding Anna and the French Kiss because of how annoying St. Clair was in Lola. I just don't know that I can do a romance with him as the hero...

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  2. I don't want to further scare you away from The Passage, but it did take me 15 hours to finish (over a Sat-Sun). I wouldn't start it until you have a couple days to devote to it.

    Give Anna a shot - that one won't take you very long and you'll probably enough it as a light read since you aren't expecting magic.

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