Author: GoodeyReads

Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

GoodeyReads8 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 268 pages
Author: Sally Rooney
Publisher: Hogarth
Release Date: August 28th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Connell Waldron is one of the most popular boys in his small-town high school–he is a star of the football team and an excellent student, and he is never wanting for attention from girls. The one thing he doesn’t have is money. Marianne Sheridan, a classmate of Connell’s, has the opposite problem. Marianne is plain-looking, odd, and stubborn, and while her family is quite well off, she has no friends to speak of. There is, however, a deep and undeniable connection between the two teenagers, one that develops into a secret relationship.

Everything changes when both Connell and Marianne are accepted to Trinity College. Suddenly Marianne is well liked and elegant, holding court with her intellectual friends, while Connell hangs at the sidelines, not quite as fluent in the language of the elite. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle each other, falling in and out of romance but never straying far from where they started. And as Marianne experiments with an increasingly dangerous string of boyfriends, Connell must decide how far he is willing to go to save his oldest friend.

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a novel that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the inescapable challenges of family and friendships. Normal People is a book that you will read in one sitting, and then immediately jump up to share with your friends.

INTERESTING.

This won’t be a long review. I don’t think I really connected with this book so when I got to the last page and realized that was the end, I was so confused. How is that the end? I needed way more.

It was an interesting set-up having no quotations. At times I struggled with it, but as I got further into the book I think it really made sense for this story. It conveyed its own emotional pull in the background.

There was a lot of sadness in this book and it was hard for me to keep reading, yet at the same time, I kept flipping pages, curious to what happens next. Normal People is a depressing love story. It was deep with learning about belonging somewhere and acceptance of who someone is. I didn’t love the big miscommunications because it hurt that much more when they realized they had both made mistakes.

Some of the side characters were eh and misplaced in the story. I’m not sure they were wholly necessary as they felt thrown in to add more dimension.

At times, things were a bit to sexual (for my personal preferences) and I would skim by those. I was cheering so much for Marianne and Connell to figure things out. And I think this review is so hard to write because I’m still not sure if that happened. They both helped each other get to better places, but was everything as it should be? That will be for you to decide.

I’m a sucker for fully explained and happy endings. This is where my differences lay within the story.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary fiction
  • Language: a bit of strong language
  • Romance: kisses, detailed sex scenes, a lot of casual sex
  • Violence: domestic, physical
  • Trigger warnings: sexual assault, mentions of past domestic abuse, domestic abuse, bullying, suicide ideation, suicide, depression, drug use

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Book Review: The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1) by Laurie Forest

GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Young adult fantasy + paranormal (witches)
Length: 601 pages
Author: Laurie Forest
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: May 2nd, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War. But while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.

When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But she soon realizes that the university, which admits all manner of people—including the fire-wielding, winged Icarals, the sworn enemies of all Gardnerians—is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.

As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, everything Elloren thought she knew will be challenged and torn away. Her best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of misfits…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to hate and fear.

GOOD ENOUGH TO PURSUE BOOK TWO.

I had heard about a million different conflicting reviews and issues with this book. But with a personal friends and Morrighan’s Review (give her a follow!) I chose to give it a chance.

Overall, it was good. I definitely had some issues with it but I liked what was being laid out and want to see where it continues to go.

Things I liked:

  • The way that racism was depicted as always a bad thing (this is a fantasy so it’s between the different races in the book: witches, fae, werewolves, etc.). Elloren (and others) would make me so mad with how they were all treating each other and the things they would do and say. But, as time went on Elloren consciously realized what she was doing and how wrong she was. This allowed her character to grow a lot and made the book so much better.
  • I really loved the setting. There wasn’t a lot of world-building, but I thought it was fun to have it at a school. I feel like any school setting is immediately judged against Harry Potter, but this is so vastly different I had a good time with it.
  • The nuanced relationships. Things were a lot more focused on friendships rather than relationships (though, those are definitely building up). Since Elloren was evolving she was opening herself up to new people and they were all learning from each other.

Things I struggled with:

  • For a witch her doesn’t have powers (but obviously does) they NEVER SHOWED UP. I thought surely within 600 pages we have that grand moment where her powers come in full force, but nope. So now I have to wait til I get book two to see how that comes out.
  • Elloren was a wreck most of the time. I felt she cried literally every other page (not saying crying is a bad thing, but if I notice something recurring that often, holy wow). Her emotions were kind of all over the place and boys were taking up a lot of her time.
  • There wasn’t much that moved the plot forward. She spent her time at school, making friends, overcoming her own misguided sense of hatred, but at the same time, it didn’t lead anywhere. Things are happening further away from her, but the “battle” hasn’t come to them yet. I guess this book was setting up for all to come.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy + paranormal (witches)
  • Language: b**ch used a few times
  • Romance: a lightly passionate kiss
  • Violence: magic, physical, bullying
  • Trigger warnings: racism, bullying, racial slurs, animal cruelty

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Book Review: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 528 pages
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 73rd, 2016
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Andie has a plan. And she always sticks to her plan.

Future? A top-tier medical school.
Dad? Avoid him as much as possible (which isn’t that hard considering he’s a Congressman and he’s never around).
Friends? Palmer, Bri, and Toby—pretty much the most awesome people on the planet, who needs anyone else?
Relationships? No one’s worth more than three weeks.

So it’s no surprise that Andie’s got her summer all planned out too.

Until a political scandal costs Andie her summer pre-med internship, and lands both she and Dad back in the same house together for the first time in years. Suddenly she’s doing things that aren’t Andie at all—working as a dog walker, doing an epic scavenger hunt with her dad, and maybe, just maybe, letting the super cute Clark get closer than she expected. Palmer, Bri, and Toby tell her to embrace all the chaos, but can she really let go of her control?

A FUN SUMMER READ

a Bookstagram friend recommended this when I was looking for distracting books that I could be wrapped up in. I loved that this totally came through and I found myself flying through it.

I loved all of the dogs in here because I personally used to work with dogs so I felt all of this on a personal level. I thought it was unique too as I haven’t seen that be part of a plot before. I honestly think it would be the perfect summer job to walk dogs! HOW FUN.

The love story was cute. I was invested in it from the start and loved Clark. He was sweet, and nerdy and I would definitely be into a fantasy writer. Their interactions were absolutely precious and I had no problems loving them. I wish they both communicated a little better with each other, but overall I actually loved that it wasn’t enemies to lovers (my generally favorite trope). This was a summer fling kind of romance and YES. I am all over it.

Andie’s friends on the other hand were realllll annoying at times. That and the fact that for a contemporary I felt 500+ pages was too long were my only issues. Some random pieces of her friends lives were almost playing too big of a part in the story, and then it kind of ended weird? I understood where her friend was coming from, but was also reallll confused.

Andie had some Daddy issues that caused her to spiral at times but I liked her character. She was a lot more emotionally aware as a teen than I expected, even when she made some mistakes. She had to bounce back from a lot as she tried to navigate her summer and what was more important. There was a strong take on communication and re-connecting with family. I appreciated and enjoyed watching Andie and her Dad both work at their relationship.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: lots of kisses & make-outs, discussion of “bases” and going all the way but no actual depicted love scenes

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Summer TBR

GoodeyReads11 Comments

Hello, Top Ten Tuesday!

I think this is a great topic this week and I’m excited to get to it. I feel like a lot of books don’t actually come out during the summer. They all come out in May so we can read them all summer. Because of that, most of my picks are things I’ve interested in getting through this summer before the new releases of the fall come out!

BECAUSE FALL WILL BE AMAZING. Summer has lots of great options too.

Here we go.

Age of War (The Legends of the First Empire #3) by Michael J. Sullivan

I AM LOVING THIS SERIES. Take note: it’s full of so many amazing b.a. heroines that I can’t put it down. It’s a great epic fantasy! Highly recommend.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

I have finished book one (why did I wait so long to read these?). And I’m hopeful I can get through the rest this summer!

Vow of Thieves (Dance of Thieves #2) by Mary E. Pearson

I CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS BOOOOOOOOOK.

Rage (Stormheart #2) by Cora Carmack

I HAVE BEEN WAITING TWO YEARS FOR THIS. THE HYPE IS REAL.

Wild Savage Stars (Sweet Black Waves #2) by Kristina Perez

After being blown away by the first book I am super excited to see how this book plays out. It’s based off of Tristan & Isolde.

Recursion by Blake Crouch

My husband and I both enjoyed Dark Matter and we’re both intrigued to see how Crouch’s sophomore book goes.

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

After loving Next Year in Havana, I immediately added this to my TBR. Now I need to wait til my library gets it in.

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

I’ve read almost all of her books, but missed this one last year! I heard this one will rip out my heart, what else is new?

Jackaby Series by William Ritter

I have read Jackaby and I have the rest of the series sitting in my house. I need to get on this.

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson

IF I DO ANYTHING THIS SUMMER I WILL FINISH THIS AUDIOBOOK. It’s 45 hours long y’all. I’ve listened to 10 so far and have barely made a dent. I’m really enjoying it, but since it’s an epic fantasy it just takes longer to work through.

Have you read any of these yet? What’s a book on your summer TBR? Lets talk in the comments!

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