Megs is a logic-driven mathematics student studying at Oxford, when her sick and dying brother, George, reads Narnia and wants her to ask C.S. Lewis wMegs is a logic-driven mathematics student studying at Oxford, when her sick and dying brother, George, reads Narnia and wants her to ask C.S. Lewis where Narnia came from. Megs is reluctant to bother Lewis but does so because she loves her brother, and even reads Narnia despite thinking that it won't be for her. Instead of giving Megs a simple answer to the question "where does Narnia come from?" Lewis gives her the story of her life, a bit at a time, to write down from memory and share with George. Megs wants a logical answer, that point A and point B inspired Narnia, but learns that creativity isn't that simple. We learn about Lewis' childhood, his time at Oxford, his time during the war, his educational and religious journey, all interspersed with getting to know the present day Lewis who lives with his brother, is writing letters to his future wife, and interacting with other writers such as Tolkien. We also get Megs and George's interacting, and George drawing pictures as Megs tells him the stories.
This book captured perfectly what it is to be a child lost in that story for the first time, when truth and logic don't matter so much, only the magic of being lost in the imagination. I also loved that this book captured what it is like to be a writer. I think that so often readers look for simple explanations for how or why an author writes something, and this is something I actually see quite a bit with the Narnia books. So I love that the author was basically like, no inspiration comes from a variety of places to the point where it is sometimes hard for an author to link to a specific thing.
This is not my normal type of read. I thought it would be overly sentimental, but it was beautiful, and I think it helps that the writing was elegant but not overwrought or prosey. ...more
YA contemporary is probably my least favorite genre so it was a surprise that I picked this up and an even bigger surprise that I enjoyed it! I heard YA contemporary is probably my least favorite genre so it was a surprise that I picked this up and an even bigger surprise that I enjoyed it! I heard this one from a podcast and decided to give it a try. I was in a choir in high school that always did one concert a year that was all the songs from a musical, and I have gone to a few musicals, but I am also not a musical buff. I think this book is probably even more of a blast if you are.
As the summary says, this is a retelling of Mamma Mia! except with Millie living in New York City with her father and trying to figure out who her mother is. This is mostly because Millie got into and wants to go to a special high school in California that specializes in theater and her father is reluctant to do so. Millie is curious about her mother, but also wants to know if her mother will be able to talk her father into letting her go. Millie and her friend find clues through her father's old LiveJournal, cue tears from millennials about how old we're all getting. Her journey also brings her to an internship, where a potential mom is, where she bumps into her high school nemesis who compete for this position.
Emma Lord has a really engaging writing style that just worked for me. Millie is a splashy character but was written in a way that she wasn't obnoxious, yet also had so much character growth. The group of characters she encounters are fun, and I loved her relationship with her aunt and father. In fact, that is probably my main complaint of this book, the relationship with her father is one that is such an integral part of this book and shines throughout, yet her father is actually in the book very little.
3.5 rounded up, and I will definitely be checking out more by the author. ...more
I think so much of this book was really heavy-handed. Tahir included so many big issues in this book, so many that it felt like they weren't really exI think so much of this book was really heavy-handed. Tahir included so many big issues in this book, so many that it felt like they weren't really explored as they should be.
But the ending had me laughing so hard, and not in a good way. (view spoiler)[So I'm to believe that Salahudin confesses to all of the drug stuff ON THE STAND in court and the judge is basically like, "oh you're so altruistic and honest and I deal with so many liars! So the court will suspend all but one of the sentences so you'll only have to serve for 18 months." Like, WHAT. Maybe if he was a rich white dude. (hide spoiler)]...more
Was this book slightly less cringey in terms of unprofessional behavior and stupid set-ups than Ms. Hazelwood's first book? Yes, this book was an imprWas this book slightly less cringey in terms of unprofessional behavior and stupid set-ups than Ms. Hazelwood's first book? Yes, this book was an improvement in that regard. Plus, even though the intimate scenes still are very technical, there was no boob swallowing! And, while this book was still fairly plotless, it did have a BIT more of a plot. It is your typical contemporary romance with very little plot, very little character development, over-the-top miscommunications, and very little good relationship development outside of lots of "witty" banter.
On the other hand, Bee herself was still a ridiculous, immature, and unprofessional main character who I disliked very much, this book was still OBSESSED with how short she was to how tall he was. Also, it's like Hazelwood just discovered who Marie Curie was and decided to throw every bit of information she knows at us because if I decided to take a shot every time one of the Curies was mentioned in this book, I'd die of alcohol poisoning before even hitting the halfway mark. It actually got me wondering if the author knew any other scientists, because when listing Nobel Prize winners, Malala was mentioned along with Marie Curie, instead of another female winner of a scientific category. It was just as filled with basic white feminism, and I think it's hilarious that these books are attempts to show how badass, capable and awesome women in STEM are when Bee is just constantly having to be saved, both professionally and in actuality, by Levi.
Just based on the author's bio and Bee's characterization, I have a suspicion that while TLH was a fanfic of Rey/Kylo, this is a fanfic of the author and Adam Driver....more
I mostly enjoyed this one. The writing was compelling and drew me in easily, and I liked all of the characters involved. Plus, my sentimental side enjI mostly enjoyed this one. The writing was compelling and drew me in easily, and I liked all of the characters involved. Plus, my sentimental side enjoyed the light romantic angle. One of my main complaints about books from this era is that there are so many books set during or just after WW2 and yet just use the setting without really going into, for example, persecution towards Jewish people and other groups or the camps or really much except this idea of the US or the UK under attack. So I greatly appreciated that this book actually did go into that a bit. However, (view spoiler)[Ann's rape scene felt really unnecessary and put a bad taste in my mouth, which is why I docked it down a star. (hide spoiler)]...more
I have never read Carrie, but I do remember watching an adaptation of it in the early 2000s. Based on that, this felt like a very true-to-the-originalI have never read Carrie, but I do remember watching an adaptation of it in the early 2000s. Based on that, this felt like a very true-to-the-original retelling, but with amazing commentary about race, racism, and more. Trigger warnings for so much, this is a YA book but had me, an adult reader, seriously upset at some scenes.
My heart really hurt for Maddy and Kenny, and I knew enough about the original to have a sense of dread and anticipation the entire time for the events that were going to unfold. This was also an amazing full-cast audio recording. ...more
I did not care for this book. If I had written this review closer to the time I had read it, you'd be getting a more in-depth review but alas I did noI did not care for this book. If I had written this review closer to the time I had read it, you'd be getting a more in-depth review but alas I did not.
I thought that the author did a good job of making me feel immersed in the setting, and some of the information about linguistics were fascinating, albeit basic. However, the characters weren't really characters, just tools to beat everyone on the head with those messages with a hammer, and this book was basically all tell and not show. There was no subtlety, no nuance, and Kuang does not trust her audience's intelligence to get these messages without the flashing blaring lights. We're supposed to feel this sense of tragedy that these characters' friend group broke up, because it's hinted at immediately so we're supposed to feel this sense of foreboding, but how am I supposed to feel a sense of their bond when 80% of their interactions are just debates about linguistics and none of the character growth or building or bond. Everyone is incredibly one-note, with characters either being good and having their words be straight out of 2022, or bad and evil. It's only with the interludes that you get the occasional deeper look into people.
This is somehow neither plot based nor character based. It is entirely message based....more
Somewhere between a 3 and a 4 but I decided to round it up because I did ultimately have a great time reading this book. I never really got attached tSomewhere between a 3 and a 4 but I decided to round it up because I did ultimately have a great time reading this book. I never really got attached to the romance, and there were elements of this book that didn't work for me, but I loved all of the found family elements to this and so many of the characters made me smile. Plus, I appreciate how unique the concept was. ...more
I've been thinking about my review and rating of this for a week and I'm still not sure what to rate this. It's a 3.5 but I can't decide whether to roI've been thinking about my review and rating of this for a week and I'm still not sure what to rate this. It's a 3.5 but I can't decide whether to round it up or down. I'm settling for down, because it's a 300 page book where I spent the first 200 pages debating if I should stop reading it or if it was worth continuing!
This was a rough read for a good portion of it. You are reading this book entirely from El's perspective and are going in near the end of her time at this school where everyone teaches themselves and the school/occasionally other students are out to kill you but people attend this school because their chances in the real world are worse.
El is friendless and basically Destined to be evil so this dark air follows her everywhere to the point where everyone just assumes that she's a dark sorceress. The only one who seems to like her is Orion, the golden boy who wants to save everyone at the school (which just makes the school hungrier) and saves El a few times. This makes El FURIOUS, but while everyone likes Orion, he is also a loner because everyone just wants to be around him but they don't really know him and everyone's basically trying too hard. So the first 200 pages you had elements of this interesting dynamic where Orion wants to hang out with her and El is furious with him, but also it's so much info dumping and backstory, and all in El's super cynical perspective. This, for me at least, was incredibly difficult but I saw so many readers say that it gets better after a certain point so I trudged through. I saw Naomi Novik describe it as a story where El realizes how nice it is to have a friend and then that opens up her world a lot and I think that is an apt description, as that to me is where the story really started to shine, and where more started to happen.
So I left this book not particularly entranced with the world or its characters, but intrigued as to where it goes from here and I've heard that the second book is such a huge improvement. I'd also be curious how this would be as a reread after completing the series, because even in the pages where I was struggling, there were some great scenes and snippets, and that's where the rating struggle is because it's a book that thinking back was more solid than the actual reading experience would indicate. ...more
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