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| 0141346116
| 9780141346113
| 0141346116
| 3.70
| 402,913
| Apr 06, 2010
| May 10, 2012
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did not like it
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this book is a hate crime against the city of chicago and i take that very personally. Maybe I'll get around to writing a proper review for this, but l this book is a hate crime against the city of chicago and i take that very personally. Maybe I'll get around to writing a proper review for this, but let me just say: 13-year-old me loved this book. Like, love loved. Trying to reread it now I can't fathom the amount of fatphobia, misogyny, poorly veiled homophobia, and general unpleasantness both Green and Levithan poured into this. And all of that while taking itself way too damn seriously. The best way I can think to describe this is probably pretentious and poorly executed. Chicago, sweetie, I'm so sorry. You deserve better. DNF on page 78 ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 13, 2022
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Jun 13, 2022
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Jun 13, 2022
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Paperback
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| 031237982X
| 9780312379827
| 031237982X
| 3.93
| 185,581
| Mar 10, 2009
| Mar 10, 2009
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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May 23, 2021
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Jun 08, 2021
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Jun 08, 2021
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Hardcover
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| 0439738547
| 9780439738545
| 0439738547
| 3.90
| 1,444
| Aug 01, 2005
| Aug 01, 2005
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really liked it
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Reading this series always feels like coming home. I come from a long line of horse fanatics, so it's no surprise that I spent the majority of my chil
Reading this series always feels like coming home. I come from a long line of horse fanatics, so it's no surprise that I spent the majority of my childhood in the saddle. And whenever I wasn't riding, I was grooming horses or cuddling horses or mucking the stables. And whenever I wasn't doing that, I was reading one horse book after the other. Revisiting these books now, as an adult and after having had to say good-bye to my own pony last year, is the ultimate form of self care. PLOT: 5 / 5 The first book in the Chestnut Hill series is relatively short, but it has a good plot nonetheless. I loved the little bits of drama, which felt very realistic considering these are pre-pubescent girls in a boarding school. I loved the way everything came together and how the main focus of the storyline were the horses and the school's different tournaments. I simply flew through this book. CHARACTERS: 4 / 5 This book follows Dana Walsh, horse enthusiast and new alumni at Chestnut Hill. Dana is a bit on the wild side, a little untamed, a lot sassy, courageous and short-tempered and very, very funny. I would have loved to have a friend like her when I was younger because you just know there's never a boring moment with her around. Of course there's also the obligatory mean girl, but Laura is well-written enough that it doesn't seem cartoonish. She's mean and bratty, but she can back it up with lots of talent and hard work, too. I also loved every single one of the other girls we were introduced to, Honey and Kathy and Samantha. While they were all described in brevity, I felt like they were distinguished from one another and all had their own characteristics. Overall, these characters were well-rounded. WORLD BUILDING: 5 / 5 There's not much to say about this. I loved Chestnut Hill so much when I was younger, and I still do. Setting a prestigious all girls' boarding school with an outstanding equestrian program in Virginia was a smart choice on Lauren Brooke's part, and she has delivered an outstanding setting. Every single location in the book felt real and tangible and made me yearn to be right where the girls were. This book is simply perfect to dream your life away. WRITING STYLE: 4 / 5 Brooke's style is fun and easy to read. I liked that you can really tell that she knows a lot about horses, yet the sentences weren't exactly riddled with language only riders can understand. This book is exceptionally easy to read. DIVERSITY: 2 / 5 There is no tangible diversity except for Wei Lin, the one Asian side-character, who doesn't play a particularly important role. One topic that is grazed is elitism and class-distinction, since some of the characters are in the habit of bullying those with less money and less distinguished backgrounds. This is often addressed and called out, though I do hope that it will be more of a topic in future novels. OVERALL RATING: 4 / 5 These books are my comfort reads, and I'm delighted to find that they don't contain any shitty messages or problematic contents. They are the middle-school books I wish there were more of. ...more |
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2
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May 15, 2021
not set
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May 17, 2021
not set
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May 17, 2021
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Paperback
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| 0062059939
| 9780062059932
| B00BG7DY04
| 4.08
| 1,615,669
| Apr 24, 2012
| Apr 24, 2012
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 2015
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Apr 03, 2015
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Sep 19, 2020
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Hardcover
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| 0312360304
| 9780312360306
| 0312360304
| 3.91
| 248,044
| Mar 04, 2008
| Mar 04, 2008
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it was ok
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In case you were already worried I had forgotten about this series: fear not, my friends. Here I am, resilient and refusing to succumb to the absolute
In case you were already worried I had forgotten about this series: fear not, my friends. Here I am, resilient and refusing to succumb to the absolute handful that is this book (and its two predecessors). It's time to get back into vampyre-land, pronto! PLOT: 2 / 5 Okay, the storyline is definitely not this book's strongest suit. Luckily for it, though, its predecessor, Betrayed was so boring and uneventful that Chosen easily shone in comparison. On the grand scale of things, very little happens up to the second half of the book, when events start picking up by the humans who belong to a religious organization called the People of Faith begin openly attacking - read: brutally murdering - vampyres. Add to that Zoey's big dramatic love triangle showdown and the whole unresolved undead/dead Stevie Rae issue, and you've got a huge chunk of action. I wish that this action would have been spread out a little bit more evenly over the course of the book, because the way it read now felt like a poorly rolled burrito: first, a whole lot of nothing, and then everything hits you at once. Also, the only reason the Casts managed to make this book (and the entire series) as long as it was is because they really follow Zoey through the motions of every. single. minute. Like, there's so much unnecessary daily life and every-character-gets-to-say-something that it just feels endless. Chapter breaks are good, people. Leave some parts out; readers can very well imagine Zo preparing a bowl of Count Chocula or getting dressed, thank you very much. And reading about that in detail is just tedious. CHARACTERS: 1.5 / 5 There's not a lot of new characters here, and the ones we already know undergo minimal development, so my opinion of Zoey and the Nerd Herd still remains largely unchanged. Jack Twist, Damien's new boyfriend, is kind of annoying because the authors are trying so damn hard to pass him off as cute and adorable that he just seems like an eight-year-old who somehow got lost. Erik Night, school hottie and one of Zoey's three boyfriends, is a bland doormat whose only character trait is having blue eyes. Erin and Shaunee add absolutely nothing to the story, and Zoey remains ridiculously overpowered. There are only two character arches I'd like to mention briefly: the first belongs to Aphrodite, who is really getting kind of a cool storyline and is the best version of a two-dimensional character in this entire series. I still think she holds a lot of potential. The second is Zoey Redbird's arch, which is, pardon my French, utter bullshit. Like being the Mary Suest Mary Sue to ever Mary Sue wasn't enough, now Zoey becomes a two-faced liar who cheats on her doormat of a boyfriend, Erik, with her human ex, Heath, and her teacher, Loren Blake. And of course, Zoey doesn't face any serious consequences because she really pities herself when everyone finds out, guys, come on, that should do the trick, right?? Not right. WORLD BUILDING: 2 / 5 Interestingly enough, this time around, the world building captivated me a whole lot more than it did in the first two instalments of the series. I genuinely enjoyed reading a little more about vampyre beliefs and witnessing their way of worshipping Nyx; I also found the different vampyre instances, such as the Sons of Erebus, that were introduced to be interesting. I do, however, feel like there's so much potential here that was never fully realized. The Casts could have gone places with their archetypically matriarchial vampyre society, but instead, they chose to write about Zoey getting it on with three guys and going to Starbucks at Utica Square at least four times. WRITING STYLE: 1 / 5 Yeah, I still don't know what the Casts were trying to achieve here. Like the first two novels, this one is filled with ellipses, parentheses, and lots and lots of made up words that are, I reckon, supposed to sound like teenage slang. Spoiler alert: they do not. I still throw up a little when Zoey's narrative voice tries to be relatable and funny and instead ends up being humiliating. Just a heads up: "miscreant" is not exactly a strange vocab word. DIVERSITY: 0 / 5 My least favorite part of the House of Night-series is and always will be its completely tone-deaf portrayal of sensitive topics. The Casts tried in earnest to create a diverse cast of characters: they have a Native American protagonist, a cute gay couple, and a black girl, all with considerable page-time. However, Zoey's heritage is only mentioned when it can be considered cool and convenient for her vampyre business, Damien and Jack have absolutely no character traits except for liking cashmere scarves and crafting respectively, and Shaunee is - still - only described as some type of brown-colored food. On top of this absolute failure of diverse storytelling, the Casts take it one step further and, in a desperate attempt at being quirky and cool, drop one or ten harmful bombs. Such as when Stevie Rae attacks a homeless woman and Zoey says something along the lines of "ew, Cowboy Boot, don't drink the street person's blood, she might have lice". Fuck you for saying that, from the bottom of my heart, and fuck you for perpetuating the stigma that homeless people (or, as the Casts like to call them, "street persons") are dirty and unsanitary and should pretty much be avoided at all costs because how gross is it to be homeless, huh?! Furthermore, the story continues being completely ignorant and problematic when Zoey's teacher, vampyre Laureate Loren Blake, takes advantage of her emotional vulnerability and coerces her into having sex with him. This is even worse considering the enormous power imbalance between them, which exists on three levels: Loren being an adult vampyre with Zoey a just-Marked fledgling (which is, by the way, illegal according to vampyre law); Loren being in a position that is equal to a teacher, preying on a student of his; and last but not least, Loren being considerably older than barely-seventeen Zoey. Of course, none of these issues are discussed; on the contrary, Zoey keeps excusing Loren's disgusting pedophilic ass and bends over backwards to make it seem like a hot and forbidden and therefore romantic romance. Here's the tea: it is forbidden, but not because it's romantic. Lastly, the book's 307 pages are chock-full with slut-shaming. Be it by calling someone a "ho" or "slut" outright or just by making snot-nosed comments regarding girls' sexual activity, the message is loud and clear: having sex makes you a bad, morally evil, gross person. (Oh, except for when it's Zoey who has sex with Loren Blake, because, you know, they're making love even though Zoey has two other boyfriends she's cheating on. So giving your boyfriend a blow job is bad, but cheating isn't? Got it.) Zoey also continously perpetuates the virgin/good girl versus slut/evil culture: "And there's nothing wrong with being a virgin. It's better than being a skank." Big fat yikes - yes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with not having had sex at a certain age, and no one should be shamed for it. BUT there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a lot of sex either. The only thing that's really wrong here is shaming girls for their sexual activity (whether they're having lots of sex or no sex at all), and fostering the virginity myth. It's cool if you want your first time to be special, with someone you love, but honestly? Having sex does not change your life, nor you as a person. On that note: abolish the construct of virginity and rate this book OVERALL RATING: 1.5 / 5 ...more |
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2
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May 20, 2020
not set
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May 24, 2020
not set
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May 24, 2020
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Paperback
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| 4.00
| 12
| Jun 28, 2011
| Jun 28, 2011
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liked it
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“Eine riesige Reise“: 3.5 / 5 “Unter fremdem Willen“: 5 / 5 “Die galaktischen Kraftsauger“: 2 / 5 “Geisterstunde im Museum“: 4 / 5 “Leichter als Luft“: 3 “Eine riesige Reise“: 3.5 / 5 “Unter fremdem Willen“: 5 / 5 “Die galaktischen Kraftsauger“: 2 / 5 “Geisterstunde im Museum“: 4 / 5 “Leichter als Luft“: 3 / 5 “Ein wohlverdienter Urlaub“: 3 / 5 “Erfolgreich gescheitert“: 3 / 5 “Choleriker unter sich“: 1 / 5 ...more |
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1
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Dec 2019
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Dec 02, 2019
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Dec 01, 2019
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Paperback
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| 4.09
| 11
| 2009
| 2009
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it was ok
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“Ein wölfischer Plan“: 2 / 5 “Der Schatz des Mauso Paulo Teil 1“: 2 / 5 “Perfekt versteckt!“: 3 / 5 “Der Schatz des Mauso Paulo Teil 2“: 3 / 5 “Agent Dopp “Ein wölfischer Plan“: 2 / 5 “Der Schatz des Mauso Paulo Teil 1“: 2 / 5 “Perfekt versteckt!“: 3 / 5 “Der Schatz des Mauso Paulo Teil 2“: 3 / 5 “Agent DoppelDuck (4): Enttarnt“: DNF “Der Schatz des Mauso Paulo Teil 3“: 3 / 5 “Das erste Mal mit Maske“: 4 / 5 “Klassisch gescheitert“: 2 / 5 “Totale Glücksfinsternis“: 5 / 5 ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 27, 2019
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Dec 02, 2019
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Nov 27, 2019
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Paperback
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| 0525423648
| 9780525423645
| 0525423648
| 3.62
| 792,656
| Nov 30, 2010
| Nov 30, 2010
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liked it
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me, age twelve: man i can't believe cassia loves ky so much and i hope she finds him and they live happily ever after!!!1!1!1!! me, age twenty one: man me, age twelve: man i can't believe cassia loves ky so much and i hope she finds him and they live happily ever after!!!1!1!1!! me, age twenty one: man, i can't believe ally condie single-handedly predicted the issues of late-stage capitalism when she showed the ruling class trying to control the proletariat through hard, mind-numbing work that results in complete exhaustion and inability to organize the fall of the class system! If I'm honest, I did not think I would enjoy this book when I picked it up for a reread this year. I remember pre-teen me loving this series deeply, and I also remember that pre-teen me was very easily excited and had little to critize. This time, it turns out, pre-teen me was right. This is a solid book, an enjoyable book, a book that made me think. It is by no means a perfect book, but it is still a good book nonetheless - one might even suggest it was ahead of its time. PLOT: 3 / 5 If you came looking for an intriguing political plot filled with action and rebellion, Matched is not the book for you. If you came looking for some very solid political commentary, interwoven with a moderately exciting plot line, look no further. Granted, Matched is a long book. In fact, it is so long that at times, you can't help but wonder why they didn't cut some of it. In my opinion, it wouldn't have harmed to make the book a bit shorter, a bit more concise, perhaps a bit more action-packed. But I understand that this is not Matched's style at all. Instead, it follows a storyline that is very straightforward and very polished. We watch as Cassia Reyes, the protagonist, is Matched with her best friend, Xander. We watch as she finds out that Xander wasn't her perfect partner, it was Ky Markham instead. We watch as she slowly but surely falls for Ky and as she begins to question the entire system their lives are built on. There are no uprisings in the conventional sense in this book; every act of rebellion is small, and hidden, and subtle. Ultimately, I wasn't interested that much in the story that took place. What kept me reading were both the characters and the political points Ally Condie was making. I do believe, though, that Matched could have benefitted from a more nuanced plot, or at least exploring the issues that were presented more in-depth. Sometimes, transitions felt a little rushed to me, even after pages upon pages of build-up. Say, for example, (view spoiler)[Cassia no longer endorsing the Society and wishing it wouldn't exist in the first place. While her arrival at this conclusion was hinted at through many little instances over the course of multiple chapters, it still fell a little flat. I would have wanted some more in-depth exploration of each individual instance to make Cassia's 180-degree-transformation more believable. (hide spoiler)] Or the introduction of certain problems (view spoiler)[ - in this case the apparent war that the Society seems to be involved in, which there was absolutely no mention of until the last hundred pages - (hide spoiler)] that could have been foreshadowed more in order to make the reveal understandable. All in all, I think Ally Condie played it a little safe with her plot in this novel. It wasn't anything outstanding, it wasn't overly complicated. It wasn't bad, either, but deeply average. CHARACTERS: 4 / 5 Where this novel really shines is its characters, and each individual development. CASSIA REYES, the novel's protagonist, is a solid main character. She is likable enough to care about what happens to her, yet still makes some royally bad decisions. She has some likes, which are constantly shown throughout the story. She even has a bit of spine, which causes her to rebel in her own little ways. The only thing Cassia does not have is an agenda. Sure, this book was written in 2010, at the height of the paranormal/dystopian-love triangle epidemic, but compared to other novels in its genre - the likes of which include The Hunger Games or Divergent - the main protagonist falls short. I understood her desire for freedom, her wish to choose her own life and not be restricted by a totalitarian government in every single decision down to whom she'll marry and how much she'll eat. I just wish that there had been something else, something from within Cassia herself, that had sparked her whole development. In my opinion, falling in love with Ky was a lazy and easy catalyst that robbed Cassia of any personal goals she might have had. I would have preferred her to be a girl, enraged by the orchestrated death of her grandfather, or a girl whose desire to write her own story transcended the metaphorical sense. A girl risking her life for the power of creative writing would have been that extra bit of badass that Cassia lacks. KY MARKHAM, on the other hand, had quite a lot of his own agenda, working for his optimized survival constantly. He appeared quite stoic and quiet at times, yet I still thought he was a very likable character, and I enjoyed all of his scenes. His fire and his passion were admirable, and his tragic backstory did break my heart a little. Overall, he was a well-written character that I enjoyed reading about, and also a solid choice as Cassia's love interest. XANDER CARROW is my baby and I will protect him with my life. Xander is my favorite type of character: warm, good, kind. From the very first page, he had the best interests of those he cares for in mind, first and foremost Cassia's. He wasn't a total pushover, either, but quite able to stand his ground and protect those he loves. Totally my favorite from the novel so far, and, for the record: he deserves way better. [image] The side characters, such as BRAM or CASSIA'S PARENTS were also well-constructed. Even if they didn't get a lot of pagetime, due to the fact that the novel follows Cassia's internal process closely all along, I still felt like I could get a good grasp of who they were and what they cared for. My favorite side character, even if he only had a very short lifespan in the book, was for sure CASSIA'S GRANDFATHER. He was a badass old man who lived and died on his own terms, and I felt real sorrow when Cassia bid him farewell. In general, Ally Condie's characters are both likable and believable. What I can't help but wonder is whether they would have had a little stronger characterization had they not been raised in a system as restrictive and clean-cut as the Society. WORLD BUILDING: 4/5 While Condie's world did lack some atmosphere, I still think it was solidly crafted. The system she has come up with is absolutely fucked up. The longer you think about it, the scarier it gets: a Society in which you are paired up with the love of your life based on variables such as genes and the highest probability of a successful marriage and healthy offspring; a Society in which nobody knows how to create art; a Society in which there are only 100 poems, 100 songs, 100 history lessons. A Society where you only see what you are told to see, and inevitably die on your eightieth birthday. Reading about Cassia's world felt claustrophobic. It was too clean, too polished, too perfect for comfort. The absolute restriction of freedom and personal choice didn't become apparent immediately, but was revealed over time, in little tidbits of information. It was absolutely chilling, and Condie's commentary on the importance of personal choice and the freedom of choosing one's own life is spot-on. WRITING STYLE: 4 / 5 I don't feel like the best judge for this category since I read the book in its German translation. What I could gather from that was quite solid: the style reflects the world Cassia lives in, clean, polished, perhaps a little heavy on the inner monologue. The translation, to anyone who is considering reading it, is very well done and flows nicely. Definitely one of the best German translations I have read, which is why I'd like to give kudos to the translator, Stefanie Schäfer. German readers, this translation is a very good choice if you can't get ahold of the English original. DIVERSITY: 0 / 5 This is where Matched falls spectacularly short. There is absolutely no diversity in this novel. Race is never mentioned or discussed, which may mean that some of the characters could be people of color - but could be doesn't count as actual representation. (Looking at you, J. K. Rowling.) Same with the sexuality: absolutely no mentions of anyone who isn't cis and hetero. One might argue that the Society is built around couples who produce the healthiest offspring, therefore eliminating same-sex couples - if one wanted to be punched in the face. Bisexuality is a thing, people, and there's other LGBT couples who could have biological children. Besides, there is an entire culture of singles mentioned - people who choose not to enter a partnership, therefore being allowed to date other singles of their choosing, but also being banned from marriage. It wouldn't have been hard to mention someone who wasn't straight here. Lastly, the Society in which Cassia lives is largely ableist: producing the healthiest offspring is code for nothing more but erasing disabilities. I mourn for the opportunities this book could have had if it had included a group of underground rebels with disabilites, for example. Overall, Ally Condie didn't include any kind of diversity, which may be due to the world-building. In the end, world building is always a choice, and choosing not to make your world diverse is also a statement. I hope this changes in the next two books. OVERALL RATING: 3.5 / 5 Contrary to what I expected, I still enjoyed reading this book eight years after I first read it. What it lacked in plot and diversity, it almost made up for in style, characters, and world building. I had some minor issues with the characters, including Cassia's lack of an own agenda, and the plot, which seemed to skip to important events at points, but overall, I did like this book and had a great reading experience. Whether this was fueled by late nights rewatching the The Hunger Games- and The Maze Runner-trilogies with Mira and a thereupon rekindled love for dystopian young adult fiction remains a mystery. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 12, 2019
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Nov 23, 2019
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Oct 12, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 4.44
| 9
| 2009
| 2009
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liked it
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 25, 2019
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Nov 27, 2019
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Sep 25, 2019
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Paperback
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| 0375832998
| 9780375832994
| 0375832998
| 3.81
| 75,705
| Sep 09, 2003
| May 10, 2005
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liked it
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pre review notes: what a wonderful, sweet, blatantly optimistic book * * * * * Me, reading this book and discovering I love David Levithan's work j pre review notes: what a wonderful, sweet, blatantly optimistic book * * * * * Me, reading this book and discovering I love David Levithan's work just as much as I did when I was thirteen years old and read it for the first time: [image] Man, I'm so happy that books like this exist because while it may not be a literary masterpiece, it is the written equivalent to a feel-good gay rom-com and sometimes, that's all you need. Like a rom-com, this book had many things going for it that would make you want to spend a cozy, content evening wrapped up on the couch. So settle in, grab a blanket, and dive into your Ben & Jerry’s - it’s rom-com time. PLOT: 3 / 5 I will say it openly: this book does not have the most interesting plot in the world. It's the very common story of boy meets boy, boy falls for boy, boy messes everything up and tries to win boy back. It's rather simplistic, really, but that doesn't mean that it isn't enjoyable. On the contrary: I think us gays truly deserve all the cliché romance stories in the world. Boy Meets Boy is a slice-of-life story, a coming-of-age tale about an openly gay boy in an openly supportive town. Because it's so short, it reads like a lengthy short story, which makes it the perfect fit for some light-hearted afternoon entertainment. This book's strong suit is definitely the way it handles both romantic and platonic relationships. There's lots of romance and some really cheesy first dates, yet nothing alludes to the "One and Only"-trope that is ripe in YA-literature. Boy Meets Boy portrays ups and downs of both romantic and platonic relationships in a way I've rarely seen, and it emphasizes consistently how important friends are in your life, even when you're in love and all you can think about is your significant other's smile. "In other circumstances, this would have been the start of a romance. But I think we both knew, even then, that what we had was something even more rare, and even more meaningful. I was going to be his friend and was going to show him possibilities. And he, in turn, would become someone I could trust more than myself." As someone who's a big advocat for the importance of platonic love and friendships being portrayed as just as meaningful as romance in the media, this meant everything to me. Another thing I found myself enjoying was the soft, delicate way in which Paul's and Noah's relationship is portrayed: "Noah and I keep our affections quiet for the rest of the night. We relish the briefest of touches - brushing against each other as we take the lemon squares out of the oven, skimming hand over hand when we reach to turn off the oven, pressing arm against arm as we wash out the mixing bowls." I loved reading something so innocent and mushy about a gay couple, since a lot of gay love stories feature a ton of repressed, almost desperate attraction that often leads to passionate sex. In light of that, such simple moments of intimacy that do not come down to the bedroom are often forgotten. Kudos to David Levithan for portraying these two boys in such a sweet way. This is a book you read after coming home from work, or while sipping wine in a bathtub, or before you go to bed. It makes you feel good, and it's easy enough to fall into, and sometimes, that's all I really ask for. CHARACTERS: 4 / 5 David Levithan's strong suit are definitely his characters. It is ambitious, if not to say straight up utopian, to write such a short novel with such a large cast of characters and have them feel fleshed out and very, very real. It's no easy feat, but Levithan achieves it through whichever prayer he sent to his lesbian God. "Self-esteem can be so exhausting. I want to cut my hair, change my clothes, erase the pimple from the near-tip of my nose and strengthen my upper-arm definition, all in the next hour. But I can't do that, because (a) it's impossible, and (b) if I make any of these changes, Noah will notice that I've changed, and I don't want him to know how into him I am." PAUL is the protagonist of this story, and he's as lovable as you want to slap him sometimes. There are scenes where he messes up - royally - and then there are scenes where he's so relatable like he just poured the thoughts from your own head onto the page. Paul has always been gay, and he's always been out, and it's never been a big deal. And that is something inherently refreshing to read, because LGBT+ characters in literature are predominantly characterized by their struggles. While those stories are so, so important, too, it's just as important - if not more so - to portray LGBT+ characters who haven't had a thorough identity crisis, who didn't experience a painful coming out, and who are just living their best lives. It's characters like Paul that are little reminders to real-life LGBT+ kids that they, too, can be okay. Now don't get me wrong: Paul is by no means a flawless character. On the contrary, he messes up big time, and at first, he's so caught up in his own feelings that he hardly even considers how his actions might affect others. But he's allowed to learn from his mistakes, and he's allowed to make a shot at redemption, and he's allowed to grow, and all of that within 223 pages. My favorite thing about Paul were his little quirks. He had so many fantastic random things about him that made him so tangible and believable. His going Elsewhere, his refusal to wear braces and displaying crooked teeth with pride instead, his praying to a lesbian God - all of these components added a note of realism to him. "I hope you don't mind whimsy. Oh NOAH, my sweet, gentle Noah. If I had to review Noah's character alone, this would be just six million heart-eye-emojis in a row. Maybe this is because I'm biased: if a guy is named Noah, his chances of being attractive to me are automatically somewhere around 85 %. Bias or not, I loved Noah with my tiny little heart, and David Levithan made it really easy to see why Paul would fall for him. Noah is the artist archetype: sensitive, soulful, a little messy. He has a room decorated with bubblegum wrappers and he paints music for fun - and it works. There wasn't a moment when I felt that Noah wasn't entirely believable, or that he was too try-hard. He was just sweet and artistic and I very much want to hold him. "'Someday your prince will come,' I assure him. 'And the first thing I'm going to say to him is, 'What took you so long?''" TONY is easily my favorite character in the book. Sweet, sweet Tony. I wish I could take him, swaddle him in a blanket, make him some tea, and shield him from the rest of the world for forever. Tony is a gay boy who's close friends with Paul, but unlike Paul, nothing in Tony's life is easy. He has uber-religious parents who are not too keen on having a gay son and try their hardest to gently nudge him onto a straighter (ha ha, get it?) path. Out of all the characters in this book, Tony had the biggest character development. His whole arc is so satisfying, so uplifting to watch. If I were allowed to only name one reason to read this book, it would be Tony. His story is seriously worth it. The other characters, while entertaining, didn't feel quite as fleshed out as Paul, Noah, and Tony, with the exception of TED and INFINITE DARLENE, who are both my babies and need to be protected. I enjoyed Infinite Darlene in particular. Sadly, characters such as JONI, CHUCK, or KYLE fell quite flat in their characterization. They weren't very likable (except for Kyle, who was okay) but worse than that, they weren't very memorable. WORLD BUILDING: 5 / 5 Paul's world is pretty much summed up in the town he grew up in, but that doesn't mean a lack of interesting sets at all. Instead, David decided to add some quirky and cool places that I honestly dream of exploring IRL. Whether it was Noah's bedroom or his studio, the "I Scream"-parlor or "Spiff's Videorama" - all of these places felt realistic and tangible, with just enough detail thrown in to picture yourself next to Paul when he's eating a bloody sundae or painting music with Noah. I honestly enjoyed staying in Paul's world, however utopian it may be. A town that is blatently open and accepting? A high school that actively encourages and supports LGBT+ kids, featuring a football-playing drag queen? Unthinkable in the real world, but a welcome refuge to flee to when you just need to believe that somewhere, a space this wholesome and loving exists. DIVERSITY: 4 / 5 There were so many LGBT+ characters. Seriously, so many. At first, it felt a little strange, like an overly optimistic author shoving everything he wishes was real into one story, but I'm beginning to think that perhaps, that might be because we've all been conditioned to accept the "one gay kid in a group of straights"-trope so readily. In all truth, most of the time, LGBT+ kids tend to flock together, so it didn't feel that unlikely that Paul has so many LGBT+ friends. As for other aspects of diversity, there wasn't really any emphasis on characters of color, characters with disabilities, or characters from other minorities, which is something I would have liked to see. It is the sheer abundance of LGBT+ characters that saves this rating from being at three (or even two) stars. WRITING STYLE: 5 / 5 Believe me when I say that David Levithan has one of my favorite styles of all time. His writing has great flow and is easy to read, but every then and now, it is peppered with clever, weirdly obscure references that remind one of John Green, only less annoying. "We both know when it ends. Our hands lower together, still holding on. We do not let go. We stand there looking. His hand over mine. Our breathing. We leave everything unsaid." David Levithan has a way with words that is profoundly poetic in a lot of ways. Sometimes, you'll find yourself pausing and wondering whether you are currently really reading a novel or a poem in disguise. Thankfully, he knows when to balance it out with funny remarks and simple descriptions, resulting in a book that is easy to read, while veering into the territory of artful writing. "Chuck is a short guy but he works out a lot, so as a result he's built like a fire hydrant. Most of the time he acts like a fire hydrant too. Conversation is not his strong suit. In fact, I'm not sure it's a suit he owns." I just had to share this part because it actually made me laugh out loud, and I never laugh unless I'm watching Brooklyn 99 or Modern Family. All these profound and tragically deep books are nice and such, but once in a while, I just want to read something sweet and funny. The last thing you should know about Levithan's writing is that his writing doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's so refreshing. Case in point: "In the end I dig into the back of my closet and find a sweater my aunt got me for my birthday last year. It's orange and green, and brings out the orange in my eyes even though my eyes are usually green. The neck is a little too tight and the arms are a little too long. I wear it anyway." Be like Paul. Wear that sweater anyway. OVERALL RATING: 3.5 / 5 This book started as a short story that David Levithan wrote for some of his friends for Valentine's Day. It is safe to say that I am no fan of Valentine's Day, but if David were to write me a story like this, I'd celebrate it every single year. This book has single-handedly revived my cynical heart. I am ready for romance. Boy Meets Boy is, by no means, groundbreaking literary work. It won't win a Nobel Peace prize, and it likely won't be adapted for the next big blockbuster, either. But not every book needs to be that, and this book is exactly what it needs to be, without ever pretending to be anything else: It is a story of love and friendship, a story of overcoming fear and finding courage, a story of a boy who meets a boy. "I find myself thinking back to something I saw on the local news about a year ago. A teen football player had died in a car accident. The cameras showed all his friends after the funeral - these big hulking guys, all in tears, saying, 'I loved him. We all loved him so much.' I started crying too, and I wondered if these guys had told the football player they loved him while he was alive, or whether it was only with death that this strange word, love,could be used. I vowed then and there that I would never hesitate to speak up to the people I loved. They deserved to know they gave meaning to my life. They deserved to know I though the world of them." In that spirit: this book gave a little piece of meaning to my life. It contributed something good, and for that, I am grateful. I love this book. You should read this book. And tell the people you love that you love them, while you're at it. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Feb 13, 2019
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Feb 20, 2019
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Feb 13, 2019
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Paperback
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| 3463405539
| 9783463405537
| 3463405539
| 3.75
| 3,574
| Jan 01, 2010
| unknown
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did not like it
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Ein mittelmäßig witziger Schreibstil ist eben leider nicht alles, was ein gutes Buch ausmacht, deshalb ist „Plötzlich Shakespeare“ bei mir jetzt plötz
Ein mittelmäßig witziger Schreibstil ist eben leider nicht alles, was ein gutes Buch ausmacht, deshalb ist „Plötzlich Shakespeare“ bei mir jetzt plötzlich aussortiert.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 2019
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Jan 2019
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Jan 01, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 0312360282
| 9780312360283
| 0312360282
| 3.92
| 271,057
| Oct 02, 2007
| Oct 02, 2007
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did not like it
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You might be asking yourself right now, Why are you doing this to yourself, Charlotte? Why would you continue reading a series after passionately hati
You might be asking yourself right now, Why are you doing this to yourself, Charlotte? Why would you continue reading a series after passionately hating the first book? Well, dear friends, the answer is very simply: spite. I never finished these books when I first began reading them. I read up until book nine or ten, and then I just stopped. And it bugs me. I truly, deeply desire to know what new heights of stupidity are reached in the final novel. I will not let this series conquer me, bring me to my knees as I surrender and disregard them instead of finally solving the mystery of just how stupid Zoey Redbird can get. Am I willing to make my way through ten more books I am most definitely enjoying because they are, quite frankly, nothing short of hilarious? Bet on it. The good news about this book is: I was definitely entertained while reading, and I learned a lot about writing. (Like which things to avoid.) The bad news is: I didn't enjoy it for its intended purpose - even if I'm not quite sure what the Casts were trying to achieve here, publishing a Grade-A-Twilight-parody probably wasn't it. Let's roll, folks. I've got many things to say about this wondrous continuation of Zoey Redbird and Her Friends Are Dumb and Also Annoying for Twenty Chapters Straight. PLOT: 0 / 5 I mean, the first novel, Marked, already offered an illogical and rushed plot, but at least something happened. Betrayed is about as thrilling as those pool games they play on the TVs at bowling alleys. Which means: nothing happens, but for some strange reason, you can't look away. In this second book of the series, approximately three things happen: 1. Zoey drinks her human ex-boyfriend's blood after being explicitly told not to do that multiple times, then wonders about how she'll manage dating three men who are - inexplicably - interested in her at the same time and whether that means she can't call Aphrodite a "ho-bag" anymore. 2. Fledglings - including our beloved offspring of a cowboy hat and a lasso, Stevie Rae, - die violently but come back to life, except their eyes are red now. 3. Zoey pets her cat and thinks about how grumpy she is. (The cat, not Zoey.) Amazing. My heart goes out to the poor trees that were turned into these 300 pages of absolute utter boredom and radical nonsense. One thing that the Casts really nailed here is consistency: don't you dare come looking for even a shred of common sense in these novels. You will not find any. I mean, the plot of this book is so boring that our favorite protagonist literally recounts everything that happens to her bestie immediately - in vivid detail. Zoeyboo. We were all there. We saw it happen. Why do you make me read over what you just did twenty seconds ago again. My favorite part is the only part where some action takes place: Zoey, as in the first novel, saves her beer bottle turned human ex-boyfriend Heath from a group of fledglings with fairly loose morals, before she meets up with her homie Nyx so that her tattoo can spread even further over her body. It's a miracle. I'm currently wondering if Zoey is truly Nyx's best option or if she's just sending Zoeykins on missions for the laughs. I sincerely hope it's the latter. CHARACTERS: 1 / 5 Man, every time I think I couldn't dislike ZOEY more she opens her mouth and spouts some nonsense like she's in any position to preach morals and values. Girl, you just wanted to hook up with your teacher and made out with your ex-boyfriend because your actual boyfriend is away for one week, but Aphrodite is a slut because she wears high heels and lipstick? What the fuck. Also she keeps reiteriating that she's not quote-unquote "power hungry", then turns around and says things like: "Grandma, I am the most powerful fledgling in the history of vampyres. I think I should be willing to get in a little trouble for something I feel strongly about." I feel strongly about how stupidly overpowered Zoeykins is. What did she do to deserve all these powers? Was Nyx so impressed by her calling Aphrodite and literally every other girl in a tanktop a "ho"? Or maybe it's her uncanny ability to make literally everything about herself: Aphrodite is talking to Neferet and Zoey decides to eavesdrop on the conversation, which is very clearly about one of Aphrodite's visions. Meanwhile, our little vampyre genius assumes that Aphrodite is running around talking about Zoey. Has she considered that she's not the center of everyone's life all the time? As for the rest of the cast of supernaturally annoying kids, nothing much changes. STEVIE RAE listens to country music, laughs at Zoey's jokes because no one else does, and then repeats the whole thing, except she's dead now. DAMIEN has yet to develop an actual character trait, and I'm still not sure what ERIN and SHAUNEE are there for. Add to that ERIK, who mildly impresses everyone in town by his absence and reciting Shakespeare, and LOREN BLAKE, some Ezra-Fitz-level creep who poses as an intellectual and emotionally mature teacher to take advantage of his underage students. Oh, and NEFERET is a super evil mega villain now. Surprisingly, it was Zoey herself who provided me with the perfect quote to sum up my feelings about her and this entire book: "It was so bizarre it was making my head hurt." Amen to that. DIVERSITY: -10 000 / 5 Again, the Casts throw in a colorful mix of diverse characters. Again, they try to prove they're the most problematic writers out there through stereotyping and downright offensive portrayal of these characters. Add to that a bunch of nonsensical moral values that Zoey preaches more fiercely than the Pope, and you've got a hot mess. Let's take Heath, for example, Zoey's football-playing ex-boyfriend. In one very memorable scene of the book, Heath tries to convince Zoey to get back together or at least drink his blood again - which, okay, is a little gross, but whatever sails your boat. Except Zoey, completely horrified, tells him explicitly to leave and that she doesn't want to drink his blood. Heath, like your average rapist, ignores her completely - even though she's clearly terrified, sobbing and telling him no multiple times, and cuts himself, leading to Zoey sucking his blood after all. The rape culture is so strong in this one. Or this lovely comment, when Zoey explains to him why they can't be together when she lives on for multiple hundred years and he dies after not even one century: "I can think of worse things than having a hot, young vampyre chic when I'm, like, fifty." Besides the fact that that literally says chic instead of chick, this portrayal of relationships the Casts are imposing is toxic and unhealthy. Old men getting their wrinkly hands on young, emotionally vulnerable and impressionable women isn't that uncommon in real life, and portraying it as some fun preference is straight up disgusting. But of course, it gets better: NEXT UP ON "HOW PROBLEMATIC CAN THIS SERIES GET: STUDENT-TEACHER-ROMANCE! Like Heath wasn't enough, we're also venturing into other problematic territory: Zoey having the hots for her teacher, Loren Blake. And Loren ignoring the rules that state very clearly that he's not allowed to have anything other than a professional relationship with the students, only to have Zoey strip for him so he can touch the tattoo on her back. The forbidden part of their relationship is discussed, yes - however, the discussion goes somewhat like this: Stevie Rae: "OMG, Zo, I can't believe you're crushing on Loren Blake, your teacher. That's so romantic and totally forbidden!" Zoeykins: "I know, Cowboy Boot, me either. He's so sexy, though, and I haven't mentioned I'm the most powerful fledgling in all of history for a couple pages, so let me throw that in." Stevie Rae: "Shit, you're right. I guess you can ignore the rules because you're super special, Zoeyboo." Zoeykins: "Thanks, Cowboy Boot. Talking to you always cheers me up." So, yeah, they acknowledge that a relationship that is anything other than your regular student-teacher-relationship is explicitly prohibited and that Loren is way older than Zoey, but it's okay because Zoey is special. First and foremost, however, Zoey is still sixteen, and the Casts should take a moment or two to think next time before they plan on writing some Pretty Little Liars homage that excuses pedophilia and portrays relationships where the man holds an obvious amount of power over the younger, vulnerable woman as romantic. Add to all of this the continued food-terms in which they describe Shaunee, the one black character in the book, plus a bunch of weird "jokes" that poke fun at pretty much everyone who's not cis, straight, white, and able-bodied, and you've got a good overall picture of how diverse this book is. WORLD BUILDING: 1 / 5 Since there aren't a lot of new places in this novel, save for some gross dungeon were Cowboy Boot and her evil Bootlings reside after her tragic death, I have nothing much to say about the world building, except that I was very glad to leave this world as soon as I possibly could. WRITING STYLE: 0 / 5 It is still my honest opinion that there should be a TV-series dedicated solely to unfathomably horrible quotes from books, because there's just so many. This book alone is ripe with them, so let me present to you my top three worst quotes: 3. "'Yeah, it's true. She actually sat on my lap while we watched TV last night,' Stevie Rae said laughingly." Pure gold. Thanks for amusing me, Cowboy Boot, I think, laughingly typing my review. 2. "Instead, I whispered, 'You look really young,' to my reflection, and pulled on my jeans and a black sweater. Then I rummaged (quietly - if I woke up Stevie Rae or Nala no way would I get out of there alone) through my dresser drawers until I found my old Borg Invasion 4D hoodie and put it on, along with my comfy black Pumas, and with my OSU trucker's hat securely on my head and my cool Maui Jim sunglasses I was ready. Before I could (wisely) change my mind, I grabbed my purse and tiptoed out of the room." I (wisely) decided to leave it at that because trust me, that monstrosity of a run-on sentence was not a singular instance. My all time fave, however, is for sure this absolute gem: 1. "'Tell them what's happening here. You know. I know you do.' Stevie Rae's face contorted, and the words sounded like they were being wrenched from her throat. 'Humanity! They're showing their humanity.' The creatures snarled like she'd just thrown holy water on them (and please, that's such an untrue cliché about vampyres)." Beautiful. A true literary masterpiece. OVERALL RATING: 0 / 5 Y'all, here's what I've learned so far: Cowboy Boot is still boring and annoying. Zoeykins is not only stupidly overpowered, but also stupid in general. I'm also a better writer than I thought. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Oct 27, 2018
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Oct 27, 2018
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Paperback
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| 0312360266
| 9780312360269
| 0312360266
| 3.81
| 504,699
| May 01, 2007
| May 01, 2007
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did not like it
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I recently read an article about how reading bad or below-average books can actually help improve your writing. So, for improvement's sake, I decided
I recently read an article about how reading bad or below-average books can actually help improve your writing. So, for improvement's sake, I decided to reread this lovely twelve-book series I devoured (and loved!) when I was 12 years old and on the brink of further implementing my book obsession (which has been pretty wild since the very beginning, to be honest.) I mean, wow. I'm not even certain enough of my brain cells survived reading this to actually write something after, good or bad or anything in between. I'm pretty sure they invented How Not To Write guides after this was published - and for good reason. I just want to know the Casts' secret. Did they bribe their publisher? Read out loud from this book until he was begging them to stop? How in the world did they convince someone to publish this? But let's start at the very beginning: Why this Book is Terrible and You Should Not Read It. DISCLAIMER: This is about to get very, very rant-y. I passionately hate-read this book and prepared to tear it to shreds in this review. I cannot stress enough that I do not mean to insult either P.C. or Kristin Cast personally. Remember, when I was 12, I loved this series and genuinely waited for each new release. PLOT: 0 / 5 Are the Casts in a competition with Anna Todd to see who can crank out the most illogical, cliché-filled plot? Cause it seriously looks like they're winning. I honestly didn't think there was any other book out there that had a worse storyline than After. Boy, was I wrong. In the first novel of the series, the protagonist, Zoey Redbird, turns into a vampyre (yes, they're cool and unique here, so you have to spell them with a y, even though it cracks me up every single time because the German pronunciation makes it sound like vampür in my head) by being Marked by a Tracker at school one day. What happens when you get Marked is basically: some dude shows up, points at you, recites the worst monologue I've ever laid my eyes upon, and finally, you faint and wake up with a brand new half-moon tattoo on your forehead. Because apparently, vampyres aren't just super strong and super fast here, they're also super good at tattooing people without any equipment or physical contact whatsoever. It's truly magical. Lo and behold, our dear freshly tattooed Zoey makes for the vampyre boarding school, the House of Night, where she is supposed to go to class for four years and participate in random subjects before completing the Change into an adult vampyre or dying a painful, slow death. By now I'm totally hoping it's the latter, but I'm out of luck. Why changing into a vampyre would take four entire years in the first place is beyond me. Instead of coughing up a lung or two, Zoey ends up running around like she owns the place, makes four new friends in one day, gets a hot boyfriend, and challenges the House of Night's resident Queen Bee for her position. Bitch, I don't even have four friends. What the hell? I mean, the plot literally takes place over the span of four days, and by the end of it, Zoey is not only the most popular girl in town, but the only fledgling in all of history with a filled-in mark. And she scores the hot, popular Senior dude after talking to him approximately once. Unless jamming your tongue down somebody else's throat is a weird new vampyre greeting, I'm calling bullshit. Don't even get me started on that part where Zoey becomes leader of the Dark Daughters, an elite school organization, even though she's, you know, only been there for one week. She knows next to knothing about the vampyre world, has no experience whatsoever, and her greatest deed so far was calling Aphrodite a "ho-bag" 611 times in a row, but sure, let's make her the leader of an important and respected student organization that upholds rituals deeply rooted in vampyre tradition and represents the school. Instead of someone who - just a wild thought here - actually knows what they're doing and didn't move in yesterday. My head hurts. CHARACTERS: 1 / 5 I'm giving this one star only because I'm so unashamedly amused at how bad these characters are. As a comedic ensamble, they'd be priceless. ZOEY REDBIRD is the protagonist of the series and doesn't only have a name that already screams Mary Sue! in fifteen foot high neon letters, she also has the personality of a cockroach, except cockroaches have an actual biological purpose and don't make me roll my eyes so hard I give myself a nosebleed every five minutes. Like your average Young Adult-Mary Sue, Zoey is sixteen, in high school, and way too cool for you - except she keeps complaining about having no friends and being so unique and different. Gee, Zo, I don't know, maybe if you developed an actual personality people would want to befriend you? All she consists of before she's Marked is the following rather short, but colorful list: hating on her stepdad (whom she so very eloquently calls "step-loser"); complaining about teenagers who party, drink, and have sex; and feeling superior to her (alleged) best friend, Kayla, and her ex-almost-boyfriend, Heath. Calling either of them stupid is a brave call from someone who uses the word "gihugic" unironically. (No, I did not make that up. Even my creativity has its limits.) Besides being annoying and dumber than a sack of sand, Zoey is also a plain old hypocrite: she loves complaining about Aphrodite and her friends, claiming that they run around acting like they're so much better than everyone else, but then doesn't take two seconds to turn around and talk about "some loser kid's blood" which she would very much like to consume because she's, you know, a vampyre and Elliott from Lit class is just a refrigerator because he has bad hair. If hypocrisy was an Olympic sport, Z-bird would take home all the medals. Other than that, Zoey constantly talks about fashion - Maui Jim this, Prada that. They don't even talk fashion this much on Project Runway, and that's a show about making fashion. Or she likes to remind everyone of how different she is because she doesn't have oral sex. She's truly earned a gold star, that one. I'm also pretty much convinced that Zoey invented the "overpowered MC" trope that has been ripe in Young Adult fiction these past few years, because get this: she's not only the first fledgling ever to have a completely filled-in Mark, no, she can also control all five elements, which has been unheard of in vampyre history, and ends up High Priestess in training with a full vampyre tattoo at the end of book one. While your average adult vampyre will have a half-moon tattoo on their forehead and then, after completing the Change, some ornamental tattoos on their cheekbones, Zoey is a fledgling with tattoos all over her body within four weeks. Of course, lovely Zoey isn't enough to bear just yet, so the Casts have come up with an entire quirky! and fun! group of friends for her. There's STEVIE RAE, who has the personality of a cowboy boot and is only there to talk with a Southern accent or giggle. (Stevie Rae used to be my absolute favorite character when I first read these books. What a blind fool I've been.) There's the twins, SHAUNEE and ERIN, who aren't really twins but are called that because they seem to be taking turns using their last functioning brain cell to complete each other's sentences. Truly amazing. There's DAMIEN, the token gay guy who doesn't fit in with the other gay guys at school because they're too girly, so he hangs out with a group of straight girls instead. I suspect he maybe does it to feel smart, because the female parts of their little gang seem to have a combined IQ of 45 on a good day. I would have rather read about Henrietta's Fighting Hens than spend one more chapter reading the cringy and embarrassing "banter" between Ms. Overpowered and her Group of Equally Annoying and Useless Friends. And there's APHRODITE, who - guess what - named herself after the Greek goddess of love and passion and is - you guessed it - a total bitch. I mean, Zoey pretty much acts like Aphrodite crawled out of hell to torment her personally with how gorgeous and sexy she is. Yay for reinforcing the demonization of female confidence in this absolute blast of a novel. Of course there's also some fun side characters, such as NEFERET who admittedly has a cool name but is, other than that, the worst mentor ever (seriously, Dumbledore is Teacher of the Year compared to her) and functions as a flat, two-dimensional villain later on in the story. I'm tragically bored by now. Last but not least, we have the pleasure of meeting ERIK NIGHT who has possibly one of the worst names I've ever heard and is about as charming as a piece of gum stuck to your shoe: he's clingy, annoying, and sugary sweet. WORLD BUILDING: 1 / 5 I mean, the Casts used a clever tactic here: they placed the House of Night in their home state, Oklahoma, so they wouldn't have to come up with any new places except for the boarding school itself. They even went so far to claim famous celebrities such as Shania Twain or Shakespeare himself are/were vampyres. Please. Shakespeare's currently laughing his gay ass off; he wouldn't be caught dead with a bunch of losers who think they have the moral high ground because they've never sucked a dick. The House of Night itself is quite vacuous itself: I recall a vague description of a bunch of stone buildings and a temple, dedicated to the vampyre goddess Nyx. That's pretty much it. DIVERSITY: 0 / 5 The Casts really try to be diverse: they have a main character who has Cherokee blood, a gay guy, and a Jamaican girl. However, those three turned out to be some of the most horrible, offensive, stereotype-ridden representation I've ever seen (which has to mean something, because it's not like there's an abundance of awesome rep out there.) Damien is soft-spoken and feminine, interested in fashion and cross-stitching - which, in itself, is fine. What's not fine is the blatant homophobia seeping through these pages: "And this is the token guy in our group, Damien Maslin. But he's gay, so I don't really think he counts as a guy." Wooooooow. Thanks, Stevie Rae, for reinforcing the notion that gay men aren't real men. What the literal fuck? Or, three pages later, the actual use of the f-word: "'Think National Merit Scholar in charge of the Honor Society mixed with cheerleaders and band fags.' 'Hey, isn't it disrespectful to your gayness to call them band fags?' Stevie Rae asked. 'I'm using the word as a term of endearment,' Damien said." Using a term that originated from gay people being rolled up in carpets and lit on fire, therefore resembling cigarettes - which are widely known as fags in the UK - as a term of endearment? I think my spirit just fucking launched itself into the sun or something. This is some Grade-A-Straightie nonsense. Shaunee, the Resident Black Girl, is only described in terms of food: latte macchiato, mocha, you name it. Anything edible that remotely resembles the color brown immediately becomes a substitute for her name. The bar is literally on the floor and the Casts dug a hole to avoid it. The stereotyping continues in a rampage of slut-shaming: Zoey's really thinking about Aphrodite's sex life a lot. I mean, the words "bitch" and "hag" make up 81 % of her vocabulary, and there's this lovely paragraph to further prove how saintly Zoey is: "Yes, I was aware of the whole oral sex thing. I doubt if there's a teenager alive in America who isn't aware that most of the adult public think we're giving guys blow jobs like they used to give guys gum (or maybe more appropriately suckers). Okay, that's just bullshit, and it's always made me mad. Of course there are girls who thinks it's 'cool' to give guys head. Uh, they're wrong. Those of us with functioning brains know that it is not cool to be used like that." Right. Because giving a blow job makes you morally bankrupt and sucks out your brain cells. [image] WRITING STYLE: 0 / 5 I, a writer with at least seven years of experience, can think of approximately zero words to describe the style which P.C. and Kristin Cast employ in their opening novel of the House of Night-series. All I can say is that there are so many parentheses. (Seriously, so many.) Instead of trying to describe it, though, I decided to compile a list of quotes from the book for both your and my amusement. (FYI, the little blowjob-excerpt was not from a conversation Zoey was having. It was an actual descriptive passage in the text.) Behold the beauty of words, employed by the Casts in the House of Night-series in a manner formerly (and thankfully) unbeknownst to mankind: "I guess it was time I took things into my own hands (after all, they were well manicured)." Okay, Zoeybird, do I look like I give a flying fuck about your fingernails? "Then I felt it. A tingling sensation that crawled over my skin and made my new Mark burn. Power. I felt power." This chick is really trying to be some cheap version of Harry Potter with her tingling sensation nonsense. Somewhere, J. K. Rowling is pissing her pants laughing. "'Isn't that weird? I'm a Redbird and a daughter of the sun, but I'm turning into a monster of the night.' I heard myself talking out loud and was surprised that my voice sounded so weak, especially when my words seemed to echo around me, as if I were talking into a vibrating drum." She hears herself. Talking. To herself. I'm going to have a stroke. "Suprise made me open my eyes. I was staring up at a light, which miraculously didn't hurt my eyes. Instead of the glaring light of the sun, this was more like a soft rain of candlelight filtering down from above. I sat up, and realized I was wrong. The light wasn't coming down. I was moving up toward it! I'm going to heaven. Well, that'll shock some people. I glanced down to seemy body!" I just lose it at that overly enthusiastic and super shocking my body! at the end there every. Single. Time. Or, my all-time favorite, unparalleled in its astonishing phrasing: "I enjoyed the way the world looked, sparkling and new, but it was my body that kept drawing my attention. I floated closer to it. I was breathing in short, shallow pants. Well, my body was breathing like that, not the I that was me. (Talk about confusing pronoun usage.) And I/she didn't look good. I/she was all pale and her lips were blue. Hey! White face, blue lips, and red blood! Am I patriotic or what?" I'm delighted. Thanks for the confidence boost, guys, because if a book that uses the terms "gihugic" and "birthday-cake-frosting-blue" can make it, I probably can, too. OVERALL RATING: 0 / 5 Man, I really tried to find something good about this book, but if such a thing exists, it's hidden awfully well. I don't know which illiterate demon possessed twelve-year-old me and told me these books were good, but I'm glad he's gone now. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 10, 2018
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Oct 17, 2018
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Oct 17, 2018
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Paperback
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| 0525476881
| 9780525476887
| 0525476881
| 3.51
| 535,855
| Sep 21, 2006
| Sep 21, 2006
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it was ok
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DNF on page 142 // Man, I have not had a good reading year this far. Maybe this is partly my fault, because I haven't been reading much. Maybe it's bec DNF on page 142 // Man, I have not had a good reading year this far. Maybe this is partly my fault, because I haven't been reading much. Maybe it's because I decided to declutter my book shelves and check up on how many of my old books a very enthusiastic 13-year-old me purchased en masse I still, you know, like. Spoiler alert: not many. The funny thing is, I remember reading this book back in 2014, and I remember that even back then, I didn't like it. I used to be a huge fan of John Green's works - except for his novel An Abundance of Katherines, which I felt was boring and confusing even back then. This year I thought, hey, maybe I wasn't old enough to get the point of the novel yet. Or maybe my English wasn't good enough so much of the story's essence got lost in translation. News flash: This is not the case. I didn't see a point in this book because this book is utterly pointless. PLOT: 1 / 5 The problem with AAOK is that there is no plot. The protagonist, Colin Singleton, and his best friend, Hassan, drive around after Colin was dumped by his latest girlfriend, Katherine XIX. (The fact that he's dated nineteen different Katherines is probably the only mildly interesting part about this entire book.) That's it. On page 142, I finally decided to have mercy on myself and stopped reading. I was just. So. Bored. CHARACTERS: 1 / 5 I mean, I don't even know where to start: with HASSAN, who's only there to provide comic relief but somehow just makes me want to unlearn how to read because every single one of his scenes is so goddamn annoying? With LINDSEY LEE WELLS who has the personality of a shoe box and whose only hobby is being not like other girls? Or with COLIN, who thinks he's special because he solved a rubik's cube once and pretty much is the most whiny, mopey, two-dimensional cardboard character ever? (He's definitely giving Bella Swan a run for her money. Watch out, Stephenie Meyer!) I mean, I see why Katherine dumped him. Maybe if he had an actual personality besides whining about how he's not a genius and prefers girls without make up, he wouldn't get dumped so much. WORLD BUILDING: 1 / 5 The one thing I thought was mildly interesting was the town called Gutshot, Tennessee, in which Hassan and Colin end up, but John Green made it sound so boring I seriously considered teaching myself how to cross-stitch because that still sounded like more fun than reading this book. DIVERSITY: 2 / 5 There's an Arab character who keeps saying he's not a terrorist, which totally doesn't downplay the racism and islamophobia most Muslims face every day. Also Colin is Jewish. John Green really tried for those diversity-stars. WRITING STYLE: 2 / 5 Look, John Green isn't necessarily a bad writer. In fact, his style is quite easy to read and often peppered with quirky and fun descriptions that make for solid afternoon entertainment. But then there's all the cringey components he adds that make you question if that half-quip of the lip that one semi-clever line coaxed from you is truly worth it. I'm talking about the fact that Hassan, resident Comic Relief, keeps referring to his you-know-what as Thunderstick unironically. I mean, it's hard enough to take him seriously as it is. Or that part where Hassan insists on being called Daddy. Or how Colin and Hassan keep saying lovely shit such as fug, fugger, or fugging. This pretty much reads like the blog of a whiny fourteen year old boy who plays ego-shooters all day and complains about the friendzone. OVERALL RATING: 1.5 / 5 If you want to bore yourself to tears, I totally recommend this book. It won't be hard in between the pointless plotline, atrocious characters, and cringey phrasing, I promise you. I can't believe I spent so much time trying to make myself finish this. I mean, fug. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 06, 2018
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Oct 08, 2018
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Oct 05, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 0330519484
| 9780330519489
| 0330519484
| 4.17
| 10,433
| Jan 01, 2010
| Aug 05, 2011
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liked it
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As with the first book, I absolutely detest the synopsis. Seriously, it doesn't do the book justice at all and just makes it sound cheap. The only acc
As with the first book, I absolutely detest the synopsis. Seriously, it doesn't do the book justice at all and just makes it sound cheap. The only accurate thing in there is probably calling Beck a grouchy granddad. Bad synopsis and less-than-impressive cover aside, this is a solid continuation of the story Jana Oliver began telling in Forsaken and makes for an enjoyable, quick read. Not quite as strong as the first novel, I still found myself intrigued by Oliver's world and her characters even though I found the plot rather lacking this time around. I believe this is just part of the infamous Second Book Slouch that pretty much no author seems immune to. But let's take a closer look: PLOT: 1.5 / 5 As much as I love Riley and her adventures, the series' second instalment definitely lacks the first book's fast-paced, high-stakes plot. It picks up right where the first book left off (view spoiler)[- after the battle at the Tabernacle - (hide spoiler)] which makes it quite easy to delve into in case you just finished the first book and open the next one right away, like I did. I imagine the transition may be a little more difficult for readers who don't continue with the series right away, though, and find themselves wondering where the hell Riley is and why there's so much police around. This plays straight into what I've already criticized in the first book: a run-on plot that stretches over the course of four books instead of four separate plots that form a cohesive story in the end, like little puzzle pieces coming together. (See also: the Divergent series. Veronica Roth pulled off a big story that was built from three separate, shorter stories beautifully.) I prefer having series that keep me interested over the course of many books, but deal with different problems in each book, instead of having the same problem be the foundation for the plot of six books. (view spoiler)[Granted, Riley is no longer protecting her dad's corpse, because her dad's corpse has been resurrected and is currently strolling around Atlanta. Instead, she has to find out who resurrected her father, all while trying not to be killed by a Grade-5-demon. There weren't enough high-stakes involved to form a solid plot by itself, though. (hide spoiler)] Overall, I just feel like the plot wasn't tied up properly in the first book, leaving me vaguely unsettled, like when you leave the house and have to check five hundred times whether you locked the door or not. That same little asshole voice that keeps telling me "But did you really lock it?" is the voice that kept telling me that the first book wasn't quite complete, which probably also ended up costing the second book precious scenes that could have been invested in a different, more interesting story line instead of having to clean up the mess that book #1 made. Another problem I had with this story was that it moved leisurely, to put it nicely, and nothing really happened for a long time. It was a little like watching Riley do her grocery shopping and hoping not to be mauled by a demon in the cereal aisle. Don't get me wrong, I love domestic scenes filled with peace and happiness, (God knows Riley deserves those after everything that's happened!) but they shouldn't make up two thirds of the plot. Last but not least, I felt like the Ori-storyline was unnecessary and unbelievable. A random freelancer who keeps watch over (read: stalks) Riley in search of the demon who is threatening her, but doesn't seem to do a very good job at finding it? Good-looking, super sketchy, never answers questions? And Riley just feels attracted to him because - he has a vaguely hot, smoldering bad-boy look? Yeah, right. (view spoiler)[When it turned out Ori was actually a fallen angel on a quest to get Riley's soul, I just sort of lost it. I mean, it's not the worst premise in the world, but I didn't feel like there was enough depth and realness to Ori and his story, detracting immensely from the credibility of his storyline. (hide spoiler)] Um, no, thanks. I'll take Beck being annoying and denying his feelings for twenty chapters straight over that any day, thank you very much. (view spoiler)[Also, how much do you want to bet that it was Riley he saw when that Grade Four demon attacked him at the bar? My heart. He's in so deep. (hide spoiler)] Even after 400 pages, Riley's attraction to Ori - whom I perceived as quite unlikable and untrustworthy - seems a little ridiculous and far-fetched. I didn't hate the story line, but I sure as hell didn't love it either. What I did love were the various insights into Beck's backstory and his true feelings, which were incorporated into the plot in a clever, interesting way and added to my mountain of love for that boy. (I would willingly let some Grade Three demon chew off my legs if it meant Beck gets a happy ending.) I also tremendously enjoyed how Riley dove into the magical world and the different realms of magic a little more in this book. The feud between witches and necromancers was well-thought out and fun to read; I enjoyed the rituals and the interesting take on different types of magic that Jana Oliver has taken. CHARACTERS: 4 / 5 There's not much to say here that I haven't said before: I adore Jana Oliver's ability to craft believable characters. They have both good and bad traits, they have good and not-so-good moments, they delight or frustrate you, they make the smartest decision in the world one moment and try to stab a demon in the ass two seconds later. It's delightful. RILEY, as in the first novel, continues being an honest portrayal of a seventeen-year-old girl who struggles both with being the only girl in a male-dominated job and coping with losing her dad. She grieves, she experiences repercussions from having a front row seat to the slaughter, she gets angry and stubborn and frustrated, but she's also caring and empathetic and brave. What I love most about Riley is the fact that on one page, you just admire her, and the next, you want to kick her really hard for making a stupid decision. Despite all of her inner tumult and her more or less smart choices, what she does is always understandable. That's all I ask for in a protagonist. The gold star for favorite character goes, as in the first novel, to BECK who continues being lovable, aggravating, and cool all at once. To me he's the most interesting character in the series and his tremendous development is beautiful to witness. There are some new characters that are introduced in Atlanta, such as the freelance Demon Hunter ORI. I must admit that I was not a fan of Ori's; he was just too sketchy, too good-looking, too casually cool, too much of everything for me. (view spoiler)[I understand why Riley would flee from her short-lived romance with Simon Adler, which came to a horrible end, into a good-looking charming guy's arms, though, even if my distrust regarding Ori outweighed my admiration for him by far. (Which proved to be the right hunch.) At the end of the novel, it's revealed that Ori is, in fact, not a freelance Demon Hunter, but a fallen angel on a quest to rob Riley of her soul. That wasn't that surprising to me, since I'd harbored a bad feeling about Ori from page one, but still a cool enough twist. I would have loved to delve deeper into his background and the why and how of being a fallen angel, though, instead of him just being hot and an incredibly douchy lover. (hide spoiler)] I'm not quite sure why his character was necessary to the story, either, so he has to be the first Jana Oliver character I'm not a fan of because he just wasn't as well-written as the others. On a different note, the relationships between the characters (Riley's and Ori's unconvincing romance aside) were just as enjoyable and complicated as they were in the first book. Oliver portrays both good and bad moments between friends without going overboard or adding too much drama. I loved Simon's character development, (view spoiler)[who turns from pious and lovable goody-two-shoes to a bitter, haunted boy who can't let the past go and blames his (now ex-)girlfriend (hide spoiler)]. I adored when Beck began opening up to Riley (view spoiler)[about his dyslexia, (hide spoiler)] and I enjoyed getting to know Peter King, Riley's best friend, better. The mutual pining between Beck and Riley continues and intensifies, so I'm just about ready to bribe Jana Oliver for a kissing scene by now. Get it together, you two! WORLD BUILDING: 5 / 5 I have nothing to add to my absolutely delighted review of Oliver's world-building for book one, except that she continues giving vivid and believable images in a well-thought out world that doesn't appear too alien. She truly deserves all the stars for this one. DIVERSITY: 3 / 5 As in the first volume, there's a lot left to be desired from this series diversity-wise. Few people of color dot the story, and there is one gay character who is almost never around. A delightful silver lining was Ori, who revealed himself to be quite open to sexual relations with both men and women (though he never specified his sexuality, it sounded a lot like bi- or panexual.) What does get represented quite well are struggles with old injuries, such as Stewart's mangled leg; dyslexia; and post-traumatic stress disorder. Riley frequently suffers from nightmares and panic attacks after the events at the Tabernacle, which I felt was realistic and portrayed in a respectful way. (view spoiler)[A major plot point is Beck's struggle with reading and writing, which I also felt was well written. Beck's shame and fear of being made fun of became tangible in the moments he confessed to Riley, and his continous efforts to become better at reading and writing were endearing, without painting him as some tragic boy who has to overcome his struggles to find peace. (hide spoiler)] All in all, the second book delved into some more diverse topics, if only briefly in some instances. WRITING STYLE: 5 / 5 Simple, light-hearted, with a good balance between humor and description and a knack for awesome fighting scenes. Everything I like in a book. OVERALL RATING: 3 / 5 While the plot and Ori's character didn't really do anything for me, I enjoyed Riley's quest (view spoiler)[to find her dad (hide spoiler)] and the daily struggles that she dealt with. I adore the characters - Beck especially - and find it a quick and enjoyable read that I finished way quicker than I anticipated. Time really flies while reading this book, which is everything I ask for. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 16, 2018
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Sep 06, 2018
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Aug 16, 2018
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Paperback
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| 0330519476
| 9780330519472
| 0330519476
| 3.99
| 18,536
| Sep 2011
| Feb 07, 2011
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really liked it
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Four years later, and I'm still surprised this series isn't better known. I read the first two books from Jana Oliver's Demon Trappers series in 2013/2 Four years later, and I'm still surprised this series isn't better known. I read the first two books from Jana Oliver's Demon Trappers series in 2013/2014, and years later, I'm still very much in love with it. There are few books nineteen-year-old me loves as fiercely as fourteen-year-old me did, but Forsaken is definitely one of them. Rereading it has been so much fun, because even now, I still perceive these books as something new, something fresh, and something well-written. This is YA-fantasy entertainment how I want it to be. PLOT: 3 / 5 Since the blurb doesn't do a very good job at summarizing what this book is about, I'll do a quick recap: Riley Blackthorne, 17, wants to become a Demon Trapper, just like her father, Paul, who is successful and well-known in his profession. Then Riley's dad is killed by a Grade Five demon, and Riley is stuck watching his grave until the next full moon so necromancers won't get a chance to resurrect Paul Blackthorne's body and sell him as an undead employee to rich people. (No joke: zombies are used as people's employees here. How badass/creepy is that?) Basically, everything goes to hell when the demon that murdered her father starts looking for Riley next. The plot is simple enough, but I honestly enjoyed the way the events are all linked to one another and ultimately, every scene seems to matter in the grand scheme of things. Jana Oliver manages to make a story about demons and necromancy as realistic as can be, with solid reasoning behind the characters' actions and a relatable character arch. Even if Riley camping out at the cemetery makes up the majority of the first book's plot, Oliver manages to throw in subplots - such as Riley and Beck's strained friendship, or the holy water that is being tampered with - that tie into the story neatly and add the appropriate amount of excitement. She definitely keeps the reader interested throughout the entirety of the book. Another big fat plus for me is that Oliver - unlike many other authors - doesn't forget characters' injuries: when Riley's leg is injured by a Grade Three demon, she feels the repercussions until the very last chapter. She cannot run as fast as her fellow Demon Trappers, for example, or is in intense pain after taking the stairs and putting strain on her leg. Since a lot of authors tend to injure the characters, then forget about it two pages later, I was super thrilled with Oliver's consistent and cohesive portrayal of injuries. Or that Riley - realistically - keeps grieving her father throughout the story instead of crying about him once and then moving on within a day to become the Tragic Hero like a lot of YA-heroes do. Realistic timing and development is a thing Jana Oliver does exceptionally well. The plot isn't the driving force in the book - the characters make up more than 70 % of its motor - but it's solid enough. There are only two problems that occurred to me in regards to the plot: sometimes, the transitions between scenes don't feel quite realistic, but rather like an abrupt "Okay! Next plot point!". I just wish Oliver had invested a little more time and effort in moving the plot along its different destinations more smoothly, which would have improved the quality of the reading experience immensely. (Somehow like that: "Road work ahead? I sure hope it does!" but, like, we're referring to a slightly bumpy road that could have some of its pot holes fixed here.) The second problem is that by the end of the first book, nothing is resolved. There is no resolution, no denouement, nothing that says "this could have ended here." I like my series to be cohesive and exciting over the course of many books, but I also find it important that each instalment in a series is resolved in one way or another, as in: separate little stories that later build a bigger picture. I prefer short stories that form one giant story when put together to one long, run-on story that is cut into different books. Sadly, The Demon Trappers seems to be the latter rather than the former, which is the main reason for losing two stars in this category. Other than that, Jana Oliver's book is exciting and fun to read, with a plot that's easy to follow but not overly cliché. It makes for lovely bedtime reading, for sure. CHARACTERS: 5 / 5 My God, I don't even know where to start! With Riley, who's cool and casual and a realistic 17-year-old girl? Or with Beck, the tortured but lovable guy who works with Riley's dad? Simon, the pious love interest? Harper, whom you just want to kick repeatedly because he's so delightfully horrible? As diverse and unique as Oliver's characters are, there's one thing they all have in common: they're believable. This is especially important since the book is very character-driven, with the focus on the characters' development and emotions and how their respective personalities and decisions impact the plot. All of her characters appear to be very realistic and more or less likable people.. RILEY BLACKTHORNE, for example, is an honest, hilarious, and likable portrayal of a teenage girl. She can kick some serious ass - like when she kills a Grade Three demon - but she's certainly not overpowered and fails as often as she succeeds. She's funny, but not mean; smart, but not a genius; and brave, but experiences fear. To me, she's an extremely well-crafted heroine with many positive and negative traits whose decisions might not always be the smartest, but are always understandable. There's a very clear standpoint that Riley is coming from, and it is prominent in every single one of her actions. Then there's DENVER BECK, referred to as "Beck" by everyone, five years Riley's senior and her childhood crush. Beck, a former Trapper apprentice, works with Riley's father, Paul, and has spent time serving in the army. He's a bit of a Southern cliché with his accent, farmboy background, and his love for beer and women, but he's the most lovable cliché I've ever encountered. My favorite part about Beck is how he's one of those "I don't care whether I live or die as long as everyone else is safe"-character types, the tough ones with the softest hearts (see also: Tony Stark) that I'm a sucker for. I'm also a sucker for mutual pining and unrequited love, and Jana Oliver pulls it off perfectly. The backstory between them(view spoiler)[ - when Riley was fifteen, she was deeply in love with then twenty-year-old Beck, who rejected her due to the obvious age difference - (hide spoiler)]makes everything all the more complicated and explains why neither Beck nor Riley is interested in making the first move for something that will most likely end in heartbreak and complicated work relationships. (view spoiler)[Now, at almost eighteen, Riley is much more mature and Beck begins seeing her as more than just his mentor's daughter eventually. (Not that he'd ever admit that. He'd rather snog a Grade Three demon, tongue and all.) (hide spoiler)] I love that Jana Oliver touches on age differences in relationships in a mature and sensible way: the characters are five years apart, which isn't too much so that it would become awkward and dangerous, and they only stand a chance once they're both adults. It's a very sensitive topic that can go wrong in so many ways (see also: Riverdale's creepy pedo-apologist plotline with Grundy and Archie Andrews) but Oliver made the right decisions for her characters at the right time. I ship Riley and Beck with all my heart - whenever those two idiots interact awkwardly, and a little begrudgedly, it makes me ache in the best kind of way. They're definitely a slow-burn type of romance, which is the best type of romance if you ask me - and as much as I like Riley's boyfriend, Simon, I'll never love him with Riley as much as I love Beck. (Sorry, Si.) WOLRD BUILDING: 5 / 5 Oliver's novel is set in Atlanta, Georgia in 2018, which is sort of funny now - but she still manages to make the setting believable enough that I find myself wondering every now and then how Atlanta is holding up after the recent massive demon attack. It's rather clever, really, to place the story in a setting that is familiar to the author and to many readers, then tweak that setting here and there. In this slightly dystopian Atlanta, for example, there's no metal in the streets because it's a valuable and expensive resource that people steal, then sell. There are demons that crawl through the streets like rats, and abandoned coffeeshops have been turned into schools, which sounds disturbingly surreal and uncomfortably possible. Oliver throws in enough detail to make you feel like you're right next to Riley, studying American History in an old Starbucks, or following Beck through the streets of Little Five Points to catch some demons, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming. Her very simple descriptions still leave a vivid image. This gritty, run-down, struggling version of Atlanta is very believable and an ideal location for the Demon Trappers that I very much enjoy visiting. What I also liked is that Riley, having grown up with demons and the Trappers' Guild, is familiar with most of the rules, but still has a lot to learn since she's only an apprentice. It's an effective way of revealing information to the reader without info-dumping or pulling the old "main character discovers secret magic world and knows nothing"-trick. The clear structures and guidelines of the Trappers' Guild are another aspect I enjoyed tremendously, since I dislike almost nothing as much as unclear magic/fictional systems. The categories of demons aren't ever explained in detail, but it becomes clear right away that First Grade demons are the smallest, least dangerous examples of hellspawn, while the Grade Five ones are the real bad boys. The weaponry - glass balls filled with holy water, among other things - is unconventional, but makes sense and provides a refreshing break from the beloved YA-accessory, the bow and arrow. DIVERSITY: 2 / 5 There are a couple of black characters, one gay character, and a lot of characters whose ethnicity remains unknown in the first volume of the Demon Trappers-series, but diversity-wise, there's room for a lot more. However, the lack of diversity in Riley's environment, which consists almost exclusively of straight white men, is well-explained: the Trappers' Guild is a little backwards in their ways. There aren't a lot of black members, they're not overly fond of Jack, a gay man who buys and sells demons, and women as Trappers have been unheard of until now. That is why Riley wanting to become a Trapper is such a big deal: she'd be the first girl ever. I love that Oliver mentions the struggles that Riley faces not just because she hunts demons, but because of her gender, and how the Guild is structured in a very conservative way. I can only hope that Riley breaks the mold and opens the doors for a more diverse cast of Guild members in the next few books. WRITING STYLE: 4 / 5 Jana Oliver's style is simple, but very enjoyable: she uses a lot of descriptions that are humorous and fun to read, adding a little light-heartedness to the rather gritty setting and the sad situation Riley is in. I don't want to say more about her style, though, because I read the German translation instead of the English original, so I don't feel like the best judge in this category. (Fellow Germans: the translation is marvelous and one of the few German translations I can whole-heartedly recommend.) EDIT: I've read online a couple of times that Beck is always speaking with a Southern accent, which Jana Oliver chose not only to mention, but accentuate via spelling, and that that's rather annoying to follow for 4oo pages. A stylistic flaw the German translator - thank God - chose not to incorporate. OVERALL RATING: 4 / 5 Even years after reading this book for the first time, I can whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA-urban fantasy stories, especially those mixed with dystopian fiction without having the main focus being a love story. (There is some romance, but it's not a major focus point of the plot, and there's no classic love triangle, which is worth mentioning.) EDIT: Yes, there is a love triangle, but it's rather unconventional. (view spoiler)[Riley is dating Simon, who's the only boy she has feelings for, while Beck is secretly in love with her, but doesn't want to make any moves (or admit he's hardcore crushing on her.) It's one of the few love triangles I've actually found well-written, realistic, and enjoyable. (hide spoiler)] Plus, the romance advances much further in the following books, but doesn't take up a lot of plot in the first. Jana Oliver's novel is a well-written story in a delicately crafted world with characters that are so realistic you almost expect them to jump off the page, and Forsaken has definitely laid a solid foundation for the rest of the series. Though it doesn't tie up loose ends and there's some things that need some work - such as the diversity of the characters or the plot in itself - it's a very good, very enjoyable start to a series I'm excited to continue. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 12, 2018
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Aug 14, 2018
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Aug 16, 2018
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Paperback
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