Posts Tagged With: book review

YA Book Review: Shadow and Bone – 4 out of 5

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Ashley Lauren


Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadowandbone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I tend to be super wary of YA fantasy books – actually I’m wary about fantasy in general. When it’s good, it’s good, but when it’s bad it’s poison to my soul.

No poison here – hooray!

Bardugo did good here. I mean, I always have something to nit pick but overall I really enjoyed this. I like the flavor of the setting. I’ve heard some criticism of the Russian/Not Russian of this and to all those people I lovingly flip the bird. This is fantasy, folks, and as much as you might disagree that means the author can do *~*~anything she wants*~*~ to her setting (so long as it’s consistent and works with plot and all of that, of course). It’s beautiful magic. If you’re going to moan about the improper use of Russian words, you should probably also be concerned with the fact that magic doesn’t exist in real life. Just sayin’.

Sorry for that side track – let me start over. I like the flavor of the setting. I love the back and forth between suspense and life. I like our main character and how we get deep but not too deep. I like the conflicting romance and, even more, I like what took me by surprise. Characters evolved in great ways. Bardugo had my hand quivering at a page turn because I didn’t want to see what would happen next because I was so sure it shouldn’t happen but everything was just going wrong… anyway, that’s enough of that before I have to hide this in a spoiler.

Like I said, I have some nit-picky. Teenage girls are annoying with their wallowing, sulking, and cattiness and I would rather not read about it, but so it is.

I have high hopes for this series moving forward. Once, just once I want to be totally satisfied with a YA series when I’m done with it. I’ve given a lot of them a chance (The Hunger Games, Twilight, Divergent) and by the end they all sucked. Come on Bardugo. I am rooting for you here.

Categories: Pick Ups, Weekly Review, Young Adult | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Reviewing a Classic: Slaughterhouse-Five – 4 out of 5

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

slaughterhouse

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Goodness me, the clock has struck-
Alackday, and fuck my luck.”

Tell you the truth, I don’t really get satire. Never have. Candide? Hated it. I just didn’t find it funny. I didn’t really find Slaughterhouse-Five funny either – except for the quote above. I did a great big make-people-look-at-you-on-the-train kind of guffaw laugh at that quote. And then I continued reading to find that Billy Pilgrim did the same thing before they trucked him off to the hospital.

So… somewhere in here I’m clearly not getting it.

That aside, I still liked it. I tried reading this book maybe seven or eight years ago and was completely lost. I expected a story – that’s not what this is. On my second attempt it made sense in that I knew it wasn’t supposed to make sense.

The point I’m trying to make is that sometimes you need to just read something and it’ll absorb into you. Your brain will try to decipher it like your high school English teacher but it’s really your body that you’re reading with. That’s this book. Vonnegut’s writing reminded me of Salinger, but it didn’t quite hit me with instant love.

There’s a reason why this book is one that’s so popular. I just can’t tell you what that reason is.

Categories: Pick Ups, Weekly Review | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: A House in the Sky – 5 out of 5

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout

Print

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There’s a reason why this book is so popular – Lindhout’s courage to tell her story is something people should pay attention to. Few who go through her distress live, and even fewer are willing to open their experience to the world. It can’t have been easy but I’m really glad Lindhout did. This is an excellent book which, for it’s length, depth, and emotions ties I read it very quickly.

Lindhout’s personality really came though and I identified with her so clearly. She loves to travel and see the world. She has the pull to go anywhere and everywhere. I can 100% understand. I can understand the thrill of traveling somewhere “off the grid,” where your presence as a tourist is a curiosity instead of an expectancy. Where you can accidentally see what real life is like instead of a show. I haven’t traveled the way Lindhout has, and I doubt I ever will. I think it’s testament to Lindhout’s writing style that, even though I know she gets into a horrible kidnapping situation, when she’s telling me about her initial trips and all she sees and the “risks” she takes, I all I feel is jealous and envy, not fear of the unknown. She’s lived and seen amazing things. It’s incredible.

So, there’s that piece to the book. It’s the unexpected wonderful part of this story – understanding her before the kidnapping, seeing through the lens of a backpacker. There’s also the terrible part when she is kidnapped. Lindhout holds little back. She manages to take this long kidnapping step by step and not a moment of it is boring. She’s able to pull us into her mind, to see her hopes, scares, wonders, and realities. To see her struggle between hatred for her captors and understanding, to see her strategies. What I like best is that Lindhout has showed what worked – but also what didn’t. This isn’t a Hollywood movie. She makes some awful, horrible errors. Errors that I myself could have easily done in her place. It’s a gripping, terrible reality.

It’s no spoiler that Lindhout survives. What I’ve often found reading memoirs is that sometimes this does ruin things. Because the author is the main character we know they are going to make it. That doesn’t hinder the suspense in this story. I found myself wondering how it was going to work, feeling her true despair. That’s all testament to just how well this story was put together by Lindhout and her co-author.

Excellent memoir and well worth all its praise!

Categories: Debuts, Pick Ups, Travel, Weekly Review | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

YA Book Review: Wild Cards – 4 out of 5

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

WildCards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m just not going to argue with a book I read so fast. Whenever a book makes me flip page after page after page, it has something going for it. That’s how I have been with everything Elkeles has written. When I go back through and analyze afterwards I can usually identify things that bother me, that I wish were different. But I’m not going to ignore the fact that in the moment I was there and loving it. That’s what I really want in a book in the long run.

So, we have Derek and Ashtyn. Don’t be fooled – this isn’t a book about plot. Yes, there is one, since you need one in a book but that’s not what this is about. It’s about these two characters and how they fall in love. There’s no suspense or question that this will be how them book ends. Derek and Ashtyn are going to be together and we’re just reading a book on how that happens. If you want some kind of suspense about that when you read a book then this is not for you.

Elkeles does a really good job of making these two characters exist in real life. They have plenty of their own baggage and they are definitely teenagers. This is one of those books where the characters act their age. They are young, hormonal teenagers and because of this they sometimes do stupid things. You can see them learning and faltering along the way and as a reader you can’t help rooting for them. You want them to figure out their life because you hope if they can, then maybe you can, too.

Okay, that might have just been me. What I’m saying is that it’s easy to connect.

There were two things that bothered me about the story.

1) Ashtyn’s main character flaw. She projects herself as such a strong, independent young woman, a football player who, despite living with her father seems to have raised herself. For all of that, though, she can’t seems to handle herself and it’s bothersome. I wanted her to figure out about Landon on her own. For all the time she spent around guys I just don’t see how she or even her guy friends would have let her be with someone so negative to her life. I don’t see why Derek had to point out as many of these things to her as he did. I wanted her to do more on her own – but it wasn’t a deal-breaker on how I liked then.

2) Derek’s grandmother lives in Texas and the football clinic is in Texas and miraculously they are located withing CABBING distance? Texas is huge – what were the chances of them being in the same exact place?!

I’m kidding about that last point – kind of.

If you love cute, fun, YA RomCom, you’ll love this. That’s all you need to know.

Categories: Pick Ups, Weekly Review, Young Adult | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Tell the Wolves I’m Home – 4 out of 5

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

wolves

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My writing doesn’t tend to have a lot of “plot.” I always find my stories to be much more character driven, with dialogue and thoughts progressing everything much more than outside occurrences.

This is how I feel this book is driven. It’s from the perspective of a young girl named June. The premise is simple: June’s beloved uncle, Finn, has died and we watch as June copes with this tragedy.

It sounds like it’s going to be simple but it’s not. Not even close. June has a lot going on in her life – dealing with Finn’s death just being one of them. Her relationship with her sister, her parents, her uncle’s boyfriend, and most, importantly, herself make this story a whirlwind. Just when you think she’s coming to grip with one area some other character will knock it all to pieces.

Perhaps the part that I found the most fascinating was the way the characters understood and reacted to AIDS. I’m from a generation where I grew up without a lot of those initial misconceptions of the disease. I’ve never thought I could get AIDS from someone just by touching them or kissing them. I’ve never thought of it as only a “gay” disease. This book takes place in a time when AIDS was just beginning to be known. I think it does such an incredible job of understanding the hurt and devastation that misunderstanding AIDS and homosexuality caused on so many lives.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. At times it was hard to read and I also felt it to be a bit long for the events. Still, it’s a book that will stay with me in a very good way.

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YA Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman – 4/5 stars

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

ifistay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let’s keep this short and sweet.

There are times when I read a YA book and I am overly aware of my own age. (For the record, I am 25 years old and married. I’m old). If I Stay made me feel that way. As I’m thumbing the pages, turning quite quickly, I might add, I felt hyper aware of how perfect her family was, how I knew what he ending was going to be, how it all just felt so obvious.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t cry. I was totes tearing up on the Metra (ahh, the life of a commuter – crying on the train).

What I mean is that this really is a great book, it’s a fantastic book if you’re 16. It feels a little funny when you’re older because you start identifying with the mother more than the child (whoops).

I don’t think her life had to be perfect for this accident to be so traumatic. I don’t think each part, in that respect, had to be so obvious. This is why I rated it as I did – but really, it’s a fast read that, depending on the person could really move you. Me? I might forget it. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, it just means it wasn’t for me.

Categories: Pick Ups, Weekly Review, Young Adult | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

YA Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door – 5/5

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

lola

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know why, but for some reason people on Good Reads aren’t a fan of this novel.  Boggles my mind – I loved this book. It’s exactly what I wanted it to be when I opened the cover. Eccentric protagonist who has an adorable next door neighbor. Cheeeeck!  I am a firm believer that the faster you read a book the more you will like it, especially when it comes to YA.  You need to get absorbed.  I ate this book up in about a day and read until the wee hours of the morning to finish it.  That may be why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

But wait – there’s more! There’s actually depth to the novel, which shouldn’t be miraculous, but when it comes to YA I sometimes get skeptical. I love books where the protagonist is, by far, the most flawed of everyone. Lola is clueless. She’s totally selfish at times, but somehow still endearing. Because it’s written in first person we can forgive her fault since, let’s face it, we forgive our own all the time. Despite what the rest of the world seems to think, I enjoyed Lola so much more than Anna. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective.

Sure, there are some scenes that are silly (the glasses breaking?) and the entire reason why she and Cricket had a falling out was just unreasonable (obviously she would have assumed Calliope was lying. I mean come on.) and the fact that Max turned out to be a prick wasn’t needed (sometimes people have to break up with good people to be where they want. It happens. Don’t cop out and take the easy way out and make him a jerk at the last minute.)

But there are some wonderful parts. I love, love, LOVE that her parents are gay. Gay and adorable and freaking strict as all hell. Perfect. I love how, despite his last three paragraphs of jerkiness, the other boyfriend was actually a good person (despite the band ad craaazy tattoos), etc. And I just like Lola. She’s such a real young adult protagonist. She’s naïve in all the right ways, selfish and ornery and yet still a good person. It’s really an excellent balance between being young and not irritating the crap out of the reader – not an easy feat.

Oh, but one more thing, why in the hell is that boy named CRICKET? (And how was there never, not once, a “Jiminy!”?)

Sorry, this is all over the place. All you need to know is that this is adorable and you should read Stephanie Perkins.

Categories: Pick Ups, Weekly Review, Young Adult | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Debut Book Review: Time Off For Good Behavior – 4/5 stars

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Ashley Lauren

Time Off for Good Behavior by Lani Diane Rich

timeoff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wanda. What a protagonist. She’s spicy, saucy, and damn if she doesn’t keep hold of your interest. I feel so pleasantly rewarded with this book. This is Lani Diane Rich’s first novel and it sizzles. I picked it up for two reasons: one, I’m trying to get some more traditional “chick lit” under my belt, and two, it’s a NaNoWriMo novel, and I have a special place in my heart for those. I didn’t even need to keep that special place open, though, the character Wanda stole it all on her own.

Wanda’s luck goes from bad to worse and, I have to say, a lot of it is her own damn fault. She’s the kind of character who draws you in right away. The plot keeps you going. I was definitely drawn in by one after another event and with Wanda staying strong, wisecracks flying, it wasn’t hard to keep the pages turning.

This book, for me, was an up and over winner. I love Wanda and her sassiness. Towards the end of the book, though, as much as I loved Wanda, I felt my appreciation for the book start to wane. Wanda is a great character for the reader because she is a pain in the butt. She perpetuates problems, she’s eccentric and erratic. The problem is that I loved her –and so did the rest of the characters in the book. For such a catty attitude, there were far too many people who enjoyed her company, who fell over themselves to help her out. It just didn’t quite fit. For as screwed up as her life was, she had so many people who were willing to take her in. To me, the answers were just a little too easy and, at times, super cliché.

Still, there was enough about this books and the characters that I loved to keep the rating up. It’s a story that made me laugh, snort-laugh (which is more on the evil side), and feel downright tender. And feels are good.

Pick it up!

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