Tag: Book Review

Book Review: The Dazzling Heights (The Thousandth Floor #2) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult dystopian
Length: 422 pages
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 29th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

All that glitters is not gold.

New York City, 2118. Manhattan is home to a thousand-story supertower, a breathtaking marvel that touches the sky. But amid high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, five teenagers are keeping dangerous secrets…

Leda is haunted by memories of what happened on the worst night of her life. She’ll do anything to make sure the truth stays hidden—even if it means trusting her enemy.

Watt just wants to put everything behind him…until Leda forces him to start hacking again. Will he do what it takes to be free of her for good?

When Rylin wins a scholarship to an upper-floor school, her life transforms overnight. But being there also means seeing the boy whose heart she broke, and who broke hers in return.

Avery is tormented by her love for the one person in the world she can never have. She’s desperate to be with him…no matter the cost.

And then there’s Calliope, the mysterious, bohemian beauty who arrives in New York determined to cause a stir. And she knows exactly where to begin.

But unbeknownst to them all, someone is watching their every move, someone with revenge in mind. After all, in a world of such dazzling heights, just one wrong step can mean a devastating fall.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

I listened to this on audio, which I did really enjoy. The voices weren’t odd and the speaker did a great job. Definite props to the audio book.

But, the book itself? Nothing happened until the last few pages. Seriously.

I know this book is meant to be high drama and such. I got bored with this model though the longer this book went on. The high school hormones were ruling the day and I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling form time to time.

Characters more or less were still interesting. I liked seeing the arc for Leda, because I was really not liking her at first. Watt did her a lot of good. Avery and Atlas definitely have the oddest story and it I am kinda curious what will happen next with them.

There were so many rotating relationships I couldn’t keep track. People were kissing over here, people were kissing over there. And based off of the prologue i thought the entire book was going to have a different more mysterious focus. The character didn’t even show up for the book except for the very beginning and the very end. I would have loved to see more of them.

This unfortunately had all the makings of a weaker second book. So much so I haven’t decided when (or if) I’ll pick up book three. I’m not even sure how this whole saga could end.

I do love the way the world is set-up and find all of the futuristic stuff amazing. I think it would be pretty cool to have a lot of those gadgets.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult dystopia
  • Language: some
  • Romance: kisses, make-outs, a few fade to black scenes with no detail
  • Violence: murder by drowning, physical
  • Trigger warnings: drug use, underage alcohol consumption, a teacher kissing a student

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Book Review: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Fiction
Length: 277 pages
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Publisher: Square Fish
Expected Release Date: September 9th, 2005
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.

Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

AN INTERESTING CONCEPT.

This was a SUPER quick read. And a very interesting take on heaven.

The whole idea of someone aging backwards until their a baby again in the land of Elsewhere was a bit odd and troublesome to me, but I thought it was unique to think about. While this didn’t change any personal concepts on what I believe the afterlife is like I still found it thoughtful.

It’s a very moving and bittersweet story for Liz, who’s life is cut way too short by an accident. She had to cope with grief and depression to find the hope that she could in her new world. Liz definitely pulled at my heart strings. I love the characters that were in her world and how they each brought something to the story. Betty, Owen, Thandi, and more surrounded Liz when she needed it to help her move on.

It’s even more well-imagined when I got to the dog portion. OHEMGEE talking dogs? SERIOUSLY ALL I WANT. I love the perspective and life and love that came from having a dog in the afterlife. They were cute and spunky and I wanted to hug them all.They also brought a different layer to the story because they were constantly just as thoughtful as the humans.

I like that there was a tiny touch of romance and overwhelming friendships. I think Liz needed something like that to understand her story of life and death. While wildly different they can also be wildly similar.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fiction
  • Language: little
  • Romance: a few kisses
  • Violence: discussion of death and how people died (some included were: cancer, overdose, hit and run, gunshot wound, plane crash, flu and more)

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Book Review: Rebel (Legend #4) by Marie Lu

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Sci-Fi / Dystopia
Length: 384 pages
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Expected Release Date: October 1st, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Respect the Legend. Idolize the Prodigy. Celebrate the Champion. But never underestimate the Rebel.

With unmatched suspense and her signature cinematic storytelling, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Marie Lu plunges readers back into the unforgettable world of Legend for a truly grand finale.

Eden Wing has been living in his brother’s shadow for years. Even though he’s a top student at his academy in Ross City, Antarctica, and a brilliant inventor, most people know him only as Daniel Wing’s little brother.

A decade ago, Daniel was known as Day, the boy from the streets who led a revolution that saved the Republic of America. But Day is no longer the same young man who was once a national hero. These days he’d rather hide out from the world and leave his past behind. All that matters to him now is keeping Eden safe―even if that also means giving up June, the great love of Daniel’s life.

As the two brothers struggle to accept who they’ve each become since their time in the Republic, a new danger creeps into the distance that’s grown between them. Eden soon finds himself drawn so far into Ross City’s dark side, even his legendary brother can’t save him. At least not on his own . . . 

SATISFIED.

First of all y’all. I thought my babes June and Day ran off into the sunset, figured things out, and were this fantastical happy ever after.

This was not the case and that was probably my biggest gripe. THOUGH, I will say, there was a *perfect* ending to them so I’m fine. It’s fine. I can overlook this issue because at least this book closed that fact.

What I was loving was the relationship between the brothers, Eden and Daniel. I love the focus on them and figuring out how to really be in each other’s lives again after the horrors of the war in the Republic. There was a lot of struggle, miscommunication and tender moment between the two. Their bond deepened over the story and I just adore a great brother dynamic. It’s super charming.

I’m so excited we got more of June and Day too. I NEEDED CLOSURE (see first two paragraphs). I got that and more. They were like cute kids falling in love all over again and I’m totally smitten with Daniels’ confessions of love. HERE FOR IT.

I wasn’t sure this book was wholly necessary (still on the fence), but I don’t think it was completely unnecessary either. Sometimes you get continuation of series books that really don’t fall in line. I’m grateful that this one was a good story and really gave the whole series a finale it deserved.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult sci-fi / dystopia
  • Language: none
  • Romance: a few kisses, a no detail fade-to-black scene
  • Violence: murder, kidnapping, physical, stabbings, knife fights, gun wounds, descriptions of war

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Book Review: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 325 pages
Author: Beth O’Leary
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: April 10th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.

After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly colored mold on the walls counts as art.

Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.

Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes – first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more.

But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea…especially if you’ve never met.

What if your roommate is your soul mate? A joyful, quirky romantic comedy, Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare is a feel-good novel about finding love in the most unexpected of ways. 

CUTE AT TIMES.

I didn’t know how I was going to feel about this book when I first started reading it. I wasn’t immediately drawn in and had a hard time connecting with everything. I think the second half of the book was MUCH better and I was so excited when Tiffy and Leon finally met in person.

This was a charming read. I loved watching Tiffy and Leon’s friendship start over post-it notes. That’s precious. The notes were cute and endearing and I really do think letter writing is its own form of intimacy (especially because nobody does it today). You could easily see the opposite spectrum of personalities they had. Tiffy effervescent and loud. Leon reserved and thoughtful. It was an opposites attract that worked so well.

The main conflict centered around Tiffy’s ex boyfriend, Justin. He angered me to a whole other level and I don’t feel like giving him the time of day in this review. What I did like was the approach that Tiffy’s friends had to help her. It can be hard in many ways to work through an awful situation like that (emotionally abusive) and I love that Tiffy had such a strong support group.

I thought the premise was unique too. I think I would be way too nervous to share a flat with someone I had never met, but I’m really happy it worked out for them. I got some good bubbly feelings from this, but it just didn’t have everything I needed to be a GREAT rom-com.

Overall audience notes:

  • Adult contemporary romance
  • Language: some strong throughout
  • Romance: kisses, make-outs, some almost love scenes (with mild description) and one fade-to-black love scene
  • Violence: physical
  • Trigger warnings: abusive relationship (emotional/controlling), PTSD from the relationship

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