Word Revel
Book blogger, recent Sociology grad in her twenties. Stares at labels when no books are in sight. Disproportionately reads YA. This is a companion blog to http://wordrevel.com.
Scarlet
Initial thoughts: I thought that it would be impossible for Scarlet to match Cinder but against all odds, it did. The Little Red Riding Hood is one of my least favourite fairy tales and yet Marissa Meyer managed to make me love a fairy tale retelling based on it. She took all the good parts and spun a tale that I could delight in. My reservations melted away so quickly after I started reading Scarlet that I almost can't justify my apprehension prior to reading Scarlet anymore.
Cruel Beauty
Actual rating: 3.5 starsFeb 4, 2015
Full review is now up on Word Revel.
Jan 6, 2015
Initial thoughts: Now where do I start? With my feelings right now or my general feelings throughout? Generally, I liked Cruel Beauty but in the end, something didn't entirely sit quite right with me. As I sit here staring at the screen, I feel like there was a missing piece I didn't quite grasp. Cruel Beauty was beautifully written and narrated. It truly was a fairy tale retold. The timeless setting was glorious and while the style emulated the fairy tales of olden times, it still felt like a modern story because it was like a fresh and new fairy tale. Yet I felt a sort of emptiness after the closing lines. Regretfully, that wasn't because I was sad the book was over.
Rubinrot (Liebe geht durch alle Zeiten 1)
Erste Gedanken: Wie ich es geschafft hatte Jahre lang nichts von dieser Trilogie mitzubekommen ist mir ein Rätsel. Nichtsdestotrotz habe ich endlich Rubinrot durch und war total entzückt. Zumindest konnte ich durch meine Jahrelange Verspätung das ungekürzte Hörbuch anhören. Das hat sich auch gelohnt. Saphirblau folgt sobald ich an das Buch komme.Initial thoughts: Yes, I know I must've lived under the hugest rock not to have come across this trilogy before. This is what happens when you almost exclusively read contemporary fiction for years on end. On the plus side, I had zero expectations and I came out loving Ruby Red. Can't wait to get my hands on Sapphire Blue!
Fangirl
Jan 10, 2015Book review is up on Word Revel.
Dec 29, 2014
Initial thoughts: Fangirl was funny and sweet and wonderful. I've hardly come across books set in college that weren't heavy on the romance. This book was about Cath who tried to find herself, even though she felt she was losing everything dear to her—her high school boyfriend, her father and most painfully, her twin sister Wren. It was about pursuing one's passion; in Cath's case, writing fanfiction. It was also about gaining trust in other people like her roommate Reagan and Reagan's friend, Levi. The only parts that I didn't much care for were the stories of Simon Snow, be it the fanfiction or canon. I liked reading about Cath's feelings and thoughts about Simon Snow but not so much the actual written pieces.
Island Girls (Audio)
Initial thoughts: Good light fun, which makes for an easy listening when you're in the mood too read but way too tired to process difficult concepts.
A Blind Spot for Boys
Initial thoughts: This book has a cover that is such a deterrent for me, the saving grace was the author's name. I had previously read a book from Justina Chen that I loved, so I pushed aside all misgivings. I am so glad I did because I loved A Blind Spot for Boys even more! It's not some sappy romance as that cover might have you think. It is a book about love, tragedy, pain, hope and acceptance. It truly is.
World After
Initial thoughts: I liked Angelfall a slight bit better but World After still was very good. Somehow second books in dystopian trilogies seem to contain a lot of waiting. It's tiresome. It serves no purpose. I mean, yeah, books need time to breathe but if half the book is spent waiting for something, I'd expect the characters to stand out more. At least World After defies other clichés, such as the main character being the hero. Penryn wasn't the sole hero in this world and neither was she special compared to other humans. She did have her wits though.
Angelfall
Initial thoughts: I enjoyed listening to the audiobook because I thought Caitlin Davies was a wonderful narrator. She sounded conversational without going over the top and didn't try too hard to come up with voices for all the characters. The narration flowed well and sounded very natural, which I liked.Angelfall itself was a good book too. Humans and angels interacting on the same plane was something new to me. It was interesting to see individual angels with their own traits. They were distinctive characters that didn't fail to surprise. As with a lot of dystopians, there were periods of time that nothing seemed to be happening. Everyone was just trudging along in the hopes of reaching a destination. Those times hardly ever hold my interest. Nonetheless, I liked Angelfall.
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
Actual rating: 3.5 starsInitial thoughts: As a whole I liked the concept of a collection of short holiday stories. Where My True Love Gave to Me shines is the multiplicity of views. There are stories for Christmas, Hanukkah and Winter Solstice. There are stories about people who subvert heteronormativity. There are stories about people from multicultural and non-White backgrounds.
Sadly, not every story struck a chord with me. One I even would've abandoned if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. It's easy to flip to the next chapter with written words but not so with spoken words. In any case, I thought the narrators were chosen well to portray each of the stories and they certainly added to my enjoyment of My True Love Gave to Me.
Shooting Yourself: Self-Portraits with Attitude
Initial thoughts: This is a good compendium that brings together photographers who do self-portraiture. Great for inspiration. If you were expecting a how-to guide, this is isn't it. For that, Shooting Yourself contains way too little instruction.
Wavelength
Initial thoughts: Wavelength's subject matter is one many can relate to: stressing out over the need to study. Oliver so badly wanted to get into his choice university course and so set his mind completely on studying. The trouble was that no matter where he went, he came across a lot of distractions, so he packed up for his one week break to spend it at his father's place. Little did he expect even more distractions.The thing aboutWavelength is that it isn't terribly interesting. To me it read like a story a friend would've told me about their "disastrous" term break during which they didn't manage to accomplish their academic goals. And whenever that happened, I'd sympathise for the the first three minutes, after which I would switch off. Spending every waking moment of my vacation studying never was a primary concern to me. And since complaints about not studying enough surrounded me so many years through school and university, Wavelength appealed to my memories but not in a good way.
There wasn't much about the individual characters that caught my attention either. The ending of the book was fairly abrupt too. While I don't mind open endings, I do want to see how particular event impacted the characters. How did they respond? Did they change as a result? I didn't see that in Wavelength. As much as the title of the book is Wavelength, the ups and downs of the plot and the characters remained decidedly flat for me.
On the Road to Find Out
Took a look at the first few pages but the prose came off as way too irritating for me to endure. As much as I constantly seek out books that revolve around sports, I'll have to give On the Road to Find Out a miss.
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature
Initial thoughts: Evolution versus creationism seems to be a constant hot topic among high schools. Seeing the debate play out in Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature was fairly entertaining, though hardly as complex as I would've expected. The characters weren't especially developed. They were rather one-dimensional, such that the (fundamental) Christians were vehemently against evolution, while the supporters of evolution had nothing to do with the Christians.To add to that, the Christians were collectively cast in a bad light, which I found excessive. There are nice Christians and nasty Christians, as there are nice non-Christians and nasty non-Christians. For the most part Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature purported dichotomies on issues where a lot of people don't actually hold such extreme views.
All the Bright Places
Read June 22–24, 2015 (Rating: 4 stars)Alternated between audiobook and advanced reader copy (ARC)
Thoughts and review submitted under the audiobook edition
Stealing Parker
Book rating: 3 starsAudiobook rating: 3.5 stars
Initial thoughts: Stealing Parker is one of those books that is much better as an audiobook because the narrator adds to the enjoyment of it. Yet even without the narration, Stealing Parker surprised me. I didn't like Catching Jordan at all, in part because of too much boy crazy and too little sports. With Stealing Parker my expectations were adjusted, so I knew not to expect all that much about Parker's actual involvement in softball.
This time round I focused more on her character development from the beginning to end and the surprising turns in the plot. For me, Stealing Parker is a case where I didn't like the character but still connected anyway on the levels of family, personal faith/religion, friendship and pursuing something one can't rightfully have.
I read Free to Fall by Lauren Miller over the weekend, which had a very interesting premise — complete reliance on a handheld device that made all the decisions for for its owner. What drink should you get at a coffee shop? Which topic should you pick for your term paper? Did you have enough time to talk to your friend before your next class?
These ideas about the integration of smartphones into our lives is a very pertinent issue today. Set in 2030, this book visits a possible future that would make me shudder. Yet it is fascinating what kind of an impact technology can have on humanity. Also, who is ultimately in control?
Anyone who has ever asked these questions might be interested in checking out Free to Fall. I'll be posting my book review in the coming days.
Currently reading
A Corner of White
Post-TV: Piracy, Cord-Cutting and the Future of Television
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Girls, Texts, Cultures