Leah on the Offbeat

I loved Simon vs. The Homo Sapien Agenda. I love how Albertalli writes. I am in the minority of not loving this book, but it wasn't a bad book.

Albertalli's story rest heavily on dialogue instead of descriptions, and it works really well. It makes for a quick read and it's very entertaining. For me, I just didn't like Leah very much. Parts of the book I liked her a lot and she was relate-able: like her torn feelings about Abby and how graduating high school really does go by fast. But I just couldn't actually like her.

I feel as though her character was shallow and lacked the depth that went into creating Simon in the previous novel. I felt like I didn't know Leah very well, and just couldn't get behind the character like I had been able to do for Simon. That being said: I will read every book that Albertalli writes no matter what. Her writing pulls you in and doesn't let go, and most of her characters stick with you. This may have not been my favorite, but I'm still glad I read it.

3/5 stars

Paperback Crush

Holy nostalgia!! This book was so fun!

I loved the book covers throughout: there were so many I recognized that I had completely forgotten about, and now I want to find them to read again. The author talked about books I've never heard of, getting into how the 70's YA fiction set the stage.

The history of how these books came to be and the taboo subjects the late 70's and early 80's produced was really interesting to read. Who thought a book about the history of YA books would be so compulsively readable?

It would have been nice to delve a little more on some of the series she mentions, and some sections (like the one on equestrian books) were a little sparse. I personally would have loved to have read a little more about the Thoroughbred series. I was a horse girl and those were my favorite books of all time.

The only thing that really bugged me about the writing was the author's political inserts. Mentioning Trump and Pence in a book about 80's and 90's YA fiction had zero place for that. I'm sure the author was trying to be funny, but that fell super flat and was really weird that it was there at all. Also, the book just ends. No warning, just literally ends with no tie-up or anything at all. I do wish that was done differently; the reader doesn't expect it and it's odd.

I will definitely be buying a copy of this book for myself, however. I truly enjoyed revisiting these books and a time that will never be reproduced. It would be great to go back to when these were sold new and experience it all over again.

4/5 stars

HEX

I'm confused on why this book was hailed as being so chilling.

It was ok...in places. It wasn't scary at all. The idea was great, but honestly I don't get the hype about this book. It's basically just fine.

The fact that you can cover a witch with a dishtowel while she's standing in your house is just dumb. There is no scare factor there, and it took me awhile to really get where the author was going with the curse, since apparently no one is scared of the witch at all. Until that is until the stupid boys begin tormenting her.

Team #witchtit anyone?

Then all hell starts to break loose. The witch finally gets angry and starts to sort of do things. Mostly it's the town population that do the terrible things to each other, not the witch herself. She stands there, waiting to be covered up by the next towel or something.

Honestly the thing for me about this book was how often this author talks about hurting animals in some way or another. I can't deal with that. It's unnecessary and made me skim more of this book that I would have wanted. To whip a calf that's tied down for practice made me sick. That was so unneeded. Hurt people all you want but I never see a reason to hurt animals. I definitely will not be reading this author again. Why he is so decorated is beyond me.

2/5 stars

Baby Teeth

This was so not good.

I don't give many bad reviews...but this one I just couldn't. The premise sounds so good; and it could have been. Instead it's predictable and maddening.

First off, the father is just frustrating as hell. I caught myself saying a few times out loud that I hated him. He's completely clueless; the typical dad who works and only spends fun quality time with his child; thus the child only shows her sweet side to him. He dismisses the mother's concerns about his daughter and her actions toward her mother. He irked me to no end throughout the book; all he did was turn a blind eye and act like the mother was an idiot and is not allowed to have negative opinions of her daughter, when she is the one who is with her the most.

The mother character is ok. Not great but a little better than the father. I did think however that she came off as very weak when facing off with her daughter. She caved way too easily and did not take the necessary precautions one might when actually fearful of a person, even if that person is a little girl. If my daughter obviously hates the ground I walk on, I'm going to lock doors and be alert and very cognizant of my surroundings. But I guess if don't want to believe what's right in front of you then you do none of those things.

As for Hanna....well....I felt like the author was trying too hard to make her awful. It didn't seem believable. I was not a fan of Hanna's point of view; I felt as though it gave away too much of the story. If it was through the point of view of only the mother (or even the father as much as I did not like him), it would have been constructed much better. There would have been more tension; the reader wouldn't know why the child was starting to act out and getting worse and worse, it would have been more surprising and creepy.

The story did have good parts, but they were few and far between. I was really looking forward to reading this and I'm really disappointed. I get this book is the publishers baby and they are pushing it as much as possible, but they should have read it first.

Cover art is on point though. I wouldn't change anything about that!

2/5 stars

The Black Spider

I really enjoyed this novella. It starts out serene in a nice Swiss village; people are celebrating and there is some of the best sounding food I've ever heard of being served. However it begins to become darker and darker as the peasants of the village are forced to do favors for the knights in the castle, and a deal is struck that will put their lives in jeopardy.

This was written in 1842 and it holds up well. The Christianity theme is quite obvious throughout, but being written by a pastor that's not surprising. It does not come off as preachy, rather as a parable about what can happen if you do not have faith and do not treat others well. 

This translated edition was done very well; I have heard the earlier editions of this translation were not done as satisfactorily, but this one flowed smoothly. This story was engaging and would recommend it for a good gothic horror story.

Solid 4 stars.

The Breakdown

Book received from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review, thank you.


I loved "Behind Closed Doors", and I was so excited to read this book as well. This story is more along the lines of a traditional mystery, which in my opinion is a nice change from the twisty-turny stories as of late, such as "Gone Girl".

"The Breakdown" begins with the main character, Cass, taking a shortcut down a dark road against the advice of her husband. She sees a car by the side of the road with a woman inside. After considering stopping to see if the woman is alright, Cass decides not to and goes home instead. Later on, the woman turns up dead.

Feeling guilty about her decision not to help the woman, Cass then starts to receive phone calls from someone who does not say a word, and she notices a man watching her outside her window. Cass also begins to have trouble remembering things that she does, and she is concerned that because her mother died of early-onset of Alzheimer's, that her memory problems are possibly more significant.

With everything that is going on, Cass just wants to know who killed the woman in the car? Things begin to fall into place, Cass begins to untangle the mystery that she is now apart of.

"The Breakdown" was an intense story that you want to read until the very end. It is enthralling and even though I thought I had it figured out, I still kept reading to see if I was right. I would definitely recommend this book!

4/5 stars

Daughter of Heaven

Book received from Netgalley and Endeavour Press in exchange for an honest review, thank you.


I wanted to like this book more than I did. The subject is fascinating: Wu Chao was a commoner in 7th century China and became the only female emperor China has ever had. This time in history was bloody with not only countries, but families were fighting for power and positions. Within the families there were power plays and hostilities; some committing suicide while others were sent into exile. With all of this being such an important and tumultuous time in history, I was excited where the author would take this. 

In truth, I had a difficult time getting through. There is a lack of organization throughout the book as it wanders from one topic to another, seemingly unaware of the main focus of the narrative for awhile before coming back to its senses and getting back on track. There are many tangents, and the author seems to have the need to follow every one of them. That being said however, it is quite obvious that the research for this book is extensive and includes a lot of outer history and is very detailed. The amount of outer history may be the reason the author became so sidetracked, and he could have very easily done without it. I feel as though the author relied too much on other people's sources (meaning I feel as that he took exactly what they said in a cut and paste fashion), so the story does not feel as though it is his own work. 

For being such a captivating topic, I feel the author could have done much better. This biography does not do the historical figure justice. I would not recommend this book, unless you are a history student that is in need of sources for a paper about Wu Chao.

2/5 stars