The ending is Coai
Do you really want to read a book about a guy called Dank? Do you? DO YOU?
I'm gonna be like Mallory and use a listing format for this review.You should read Going Vintage if you love:
- Lola and the boy next door and Adorkable
-Fluffy and funny books.
-60s vibe and references (food, clothing, antiques etc)
-Vintage retro fashion, such as puffy cute prom dresses (which I adore!)
I need something like that in my life; for prom or not.
-Mentions of hand craft and sewing.
-Main female characters that grow and understand the mistakes they have made.
-Cute male love interest who isn't a douche, has great dress sense (imo) and wears horn rimmed glasses.
Yep....
-Slow development of romance that doesn't heavily focus on making out and is realistic.
-Family bonds and drama.
This book really hit the nail on the head for me in terms of character development and the romance part. The only thing that I think seemed a bit too much was the family drama (there were two and one was pretty melodramatic that I thought could've been developed more so it seemed more realistic).
And I can totally imagine this as a John Hughes movie just set in the 60s, like it would just be totally awesome with the pretty clothes, funky music and cast...
Me everyday.
Where do I start? This book was just about two annoying teenagers pining for each other but they couldn't act on their feelings for multiple stupid reasons.
I don't even know why I'm wasting my time writing this instead of doing homework but somethings have to be said!
The book deals with the subject of bullying and I seriously just want to bang my head on the wall for not only was this subject not properly explored, it was also used as a plot device (EVERYTHING WAS A PLOT DEVICE!) to prevent Tate and Jared from getting together.
Btw, I should warn you people that this review will be cluttered and incoherent, littered with lots of ranting and swearing so if you cannot handle the hatred please click the exit button.You have been warned.
Tate has been best friends with Jared (the supposed bully and love interest) since she was a little girl but all that changed when Jared started to turn Tate's high school life hell for no reason that Tate can find.
Now, I personally didn't find Jared's 'bullying' to be horrifying (call me cold hearted and insensitive) since our protagonist here didn't seem to have received that much psychological trauma (all i got was just that she was scared of Jared, constantly harassed by Jared's sidekick Madoc, Jared made her cry a lot and no boy wanted to date her).
There was no mention of school counseling, moving schools, teachers interfering or telling her parents so they could help her (hell, her grandmother knew that Jared was treating Tate poorly yet she doesn't interfere and even encourages her to get with him. Wut?) scenes that could at least illustrate more aspects of the bullying. There were also no mentions of any mental stress or depression that Tate experienced to illustrate how she is trying to cope with all the 'bullying' from Jared.
Tate's so called best friend K.C. (that insufferable annoying twat)also knew how Jared treats Tate yet does nothing to help; in fact, she encourages Tate to be with Jared, disregarding all the shitty things he did to her because he is sooo hawt.
Instead of calling this book 'Bully', I really think it should be renamed to 'Possessive Abusive Asshole' because really, instead of a story about the bully and victim falling in love, it really is just a story about the emotional abusive relationship between two people.
Jared doesn't harm Tate in any physical way, instead, he is of the emotionally abusive type, in that he:
-Intimidates Tate with looks and gestures
-Makes light of the way he treated Tate (such as he thinks they should be together)
-Using power to make sure that every guy in school knows that she is off limits
-Spreads rumours about her to make no one wants to date her
-Lashes out at her
-Manipulates people around her (i.e. K.C.) to hurt her
Now I know that Jared has had terrible things happened to him in the past (I give no shit about that) and that's why he did what he did but really, it still doesn't justify his actions and can I say how random it was that he just decided to stop 'bullying' her and just goes to pursues her instead because she wrote a bloody poem about their childhood?
And Tate just forgives him so easily! There was some resistance at first, but I swear, every time Jared appeared she would drool and hate and drool and hate and CAN YOU JUST MAKE UP YOUR GODDAMN MIND??
There was even like two pages of her dreaming she had sex him (sex or make out I don't know, I skipped it) and I was just like is this really necessary? I thought you HATED him!
In the end, Tate and Jared ended up together like that was any surprise but- fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
UUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKThis is probably what maked me mad the most because it's sending out a terrible message to girls out there with similar situations that if a guy treats you like shit, it's okay!
Because he is probably suffering from something even more terrible so he is a victim just like you! He's handsome and he 'loves' you so you should just forget about the way he treated you because he is a tortured soul that needs to be loved and this is what you deserve.
If you're stilling reading thank you for your patience, you deserve a chocolate cake.
Ok I'm done.
The first part of the blurb sounded amazing and then the boy was mentioned and I'm just like URGH haven't been been past the instalove thing?
Actual rating 2.75This book was a pleasant surprise, even though it's not 5 star awesome-ness, it kept me reading and didn't have me hurling my laptop across the room.
The concept of the story was interesting but had me a little confused at times (in terms of timeline and period it was in)and I liked the little stories told by Peree, it reminded me of the Aborigine's dream time stories (very folk-like and creative) which I really love. I however didn't really give a shite about the Scourge, like were they supposed to make me shit my pants?
The main character Fenn is a sightless girl (one of the reasons why I was so interested in this book) and she was a major let down because she didn't sound very much different from your typical YA heroine (not that she was wimpy or anything); I mean she's sightless, so she must have a much different outlook on things and the way she perceive people, yet sometimes I felt like she had eyes that could see and could describe some things really and I mean really well.
The other characters weren't that interesting to me and the romance was pretty decent (again, could've been developed more) though that twist at the end was kinda like whoa, you went there for real but then they didn't make a big deal about it so I was like 'eh'.
One thing I should note is that this book has a pretty slow pace, there is not much action and drags on a bit (the climax was also pretty underwhelming), but it's overall alright, so if you are terribly bored, check this out, I don't think you would feel too murderous with this one.
:)
Thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
You know that excitement you get when you read the blurb of a book that seems to have it all? And the anger and disappointment you feel when it doesn't deliver?That's exactly how I felt when I finished Ink. I mean, my expectations were knocked down a few notches after reading some reviews but it was just as disappointing because it didn't turn out to be the awesome sauce I had hoped for it to be.
So we have our girl Katie Greene who gets moved from the U.S. to Japan after her mother died to go live with her aunt. At school, she meets the brooding Yuu Tomohiro (who is obviously bad news for her) and discovers that his drawings can move and come to life. Katie's curiosity is peaked and she starts to follow Tomohiro to see what he's up to and to ask him about why his drawings can come to life.
Now, one of the main problems I had with this was that Katie felt like an obsessive stalker once she saw Tomohiro's drawings move. People around her warned that Tomohiro is dangerous and that she should stay away from him, even she said it herself that he looked like a psycho, yet she goes off following him after school and constantly keeps tabs on him. And she accepted the fact of moving drawings pretty quickly, sure she suspected it might be hallucinations but the way she kept demanding an answer from Tomohiro seemed weird and forced, because say the drawings don't actually move, wouldn't she be announcing to the world that she's gone loons?
That aside, Katie was quite annoying/whiny and a bit of an ungrateful brat with the way she treated her aunt Diane and the way she deserted her friends after she and Tomohiro became an item.
All the secondary characters weren't developed well enough and they just randomly popped up in the story when they're needed. Katie's adjustment to Japan and her exploration to the culture could've also been developed further instead of leaving the book pages for more Tomohiro.
The villain in the story is a bit of a joke and I saw him coming a mile early anyway, so if the author was going for a surprise attack it didn't work.
Now I know you're all dying to hear about Yuu Tomohiro.
In the book he is described to have copper hair and dark eyes but the face that all I could think of was Takeshi Kaneshiro.
Because let's face it, he's totally swoon worthy.
And the Tomohiro in the book? Eh....not so much. Some of the dialogues he had with Katie were cute and witty but their relationship developed way too fast, it didn't feel natural and the whole hot and cold thing he did at the start just did now work for me.
The redeeming part of the book is perhaps the mystery regarding why Tomohiro's drawings can come to life and the whole mythology around it but it never explained clearly if the drawings that come to life are literal or figurative of the imagination since they can be destroyed by destroying the artwork itself (and they're in black and white). Also, the whole ink spurting out everything was confusing because there was a scene where ink was pooling out of Tomohiro's mouth and all I could think of was why isn't he gagging? Isn't ink poisonous?
The ending to the story was pretty blah, I was kinda pissed off at Katie'
s decision in the end because she was doing whatever she felt like and didn't even think about her family's feelings. Like she could've made that decision earlier instead of at the last minute.
On a side note, the illustration in the book are very pretty, I just wish there were more of them....
Also, thank you NetGalley for sending me this book, even though I didn't quite enjoy it. :)
So this book sounds alright but there are just parts to the blurb that have me going wtf-She awakens one day in a secret laboratory to discover that her body is now half-robot and is forced to hide her own secret: that she still has human emotions and a human mind. If the scientists who made her find out, they’ll erase what remains of who she was.
I'm not a science whiz but isn't one of the goals towards robot technology is to create a robot that is able to have emotions and a mind? So shouldn't scientists be ecstatic about the fact that Kaitlyn is able to feel and study her more (even if she's going to be a slave robot, scientists would still be interested in studying her) instead of 'erase what remains of who she was'?
And she's a half robot, emphasis on the half. I think it wouldn't be that shocking if she still has her emotions and mind since she is still half human!
Kaitlyn finds an unlikely ally in Lucas, a handsome, brilliant scientist who can’t get over the guilt he feels knowing she was once a vibrant, beautiful young woman.
So obviously this guy is the love interest, so he has to feel sorry for her because then that would lead to them interacting and ultimately fall in lurrve.
The part that I highlighted (in bold) makes it sound as if Lucas think robots are a bad thing and I suppose altering humans to robots probably is, but as a scientist, I think it would be very unlikely for him to feel that way because first of all Kaitlyn allowed her body to be donated to science, so it's not as if a bunch of scientists forced it upon her will. And second of all, Lucas feeling guilty knowing she was once a beautiful young woman?
I'm pretty sure they didn't alter Kaitlyn's face so that she'll look like Wall.E and Kaitlyn will probably still be flawless and beautiful so why are you sorry? And I don't think scientists would consider robots/cyborgs to be a bad and tragic thing. Because why the hell would they create them then?
So book, when I read you you better prove me wrong.
Or you can:
2 stars for a Gayle Forman book you say?
Sooo.......this was an expected disappointment.
But then I still secretly hoped that I would like this since while I'm not Forman's biggest fan, her novels are still tolerable.
Just One Day reminded me of the movie Before Sunrise where two strangers go on this whirlwind tour in Paris and Vienna respectively for one day and fall in love.
Before Sunrise
Now, while I wasn't gaga for the movie, I liked it a lot better than Just One Day mostly due to the fact that the relationship between the male and female characters felt more organic and developed. That's not to say that the romance here is instalove, but I just didn't connect and fall head over heels for the pairing.
[EDIT 30/3] Now that I think about it, it's one of those disguised instaloves where the girl and the guy don't fall head over heels with each other immediately but periodically have these 'sparks' and the supposed deep emotional interactions and conversations (but really, they lead to very little development and leaves the reader unattached) and then finally! They declare their love or in this case make out and have sex. and because it's taken them so long to get to action, you don't really think it's instalove but really, it is.
Our girl Allison meets Willem at an underground Shakespeare performance in London. Willem gives Allison the nickname Lulu (because she reminded him of the movie star Louise Brookes) and she takes it, wanting to step out of her comfort zone and be bold and rebellious.
While she broods over the fact that she didn't get to visit Paris, Willem suggests that she can take the train from London to Paris in just two short hours. Since Allison doesn't know Paris and can't speak any french, Willem decides to show her around for just one day.
And then the romantic adventure begins, though really, I can't remember a single exciting thing that(that's supposed to make me fall in love with their love) they did in Paris even though I just read it a few hours ago.
I think that's the fundamental problem I had with this book. I couldn't connect with Allison or the feelings she had with Willem and why he changed her because later in the book, Allison makes choices that she never would have made had she not met him and I think I would've understood her decisions better had I known how/why Willem changed her.
As a character, I felt Allison's growth and when she stood up to her Mother, I was like hell to the yes! But again, the processes of her finding her identity could've been explored more, such as her Shakespeare classes and her friendship with Dee.
If you were counting on Willem to be this enigmatic/charismatic/funny/charming/cute foreign love interest like Étienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss, well too bad cos you ain't getting any.
I'm still looking forward to Just One Year though, seeing as I want to see how it would work out between Willem and Allison as one year passes by and if they're feelings are as strong as the day they had in Paris. Something I don't believe in
"Yes, it's a contemporary. The killer is not a supernatural creature. I'm talking about ye old traditional knife-wielding maniac. Yes, it will be bloody. Yes, it will be sexy. Yes, it will be scary."
I haven't read bloodiness and pure psycho maniacs in a long time, if ever.
GIVE IT TO ME!!!!
Yes, Christian Bale...
Honestly I did not have high hopes for this book because of it's deja vu Across the Universe storyline but this was actually really good!
So, in the year of 2027, Teegan was living the best day of her life. However, that ends abruptly when she gets shot and finds herself 100 years into the future when she wakes up from being cryonically frozen.
The world building of When we wake was explored quite well. The story is set in Melbourne, and in 2127, the environment is severely damaged, with oceans rising and extreme weather patterns. Meat has become frowned upon and almost everyone is a vegetarian.
In the novel, Australia has become the new superpower of the world, a land of sources and an open minded continent in terms of gender and sexual orientation.
However, it has a no migrant policy and anyone who tries to come into its borders is sent to detention camps. People from other countries who have received government permission to stay in Australia are called Thirdies and are treated with an less than welcoming attitude.
It was a pretty realistic future where all the electricity are generated by solar/hydro/wind while third world countries still use fossil fuel because they have more oil sources and it's much easier/cheaper for them to do so.
There are some twists to the story, and while they're not that obvious, I wasn't all that surprised when the revelations were revealed.
Now, onto the characters:
Teegan was a great protagonist. When she found out that she was 100 years into the future, she didn't believe it and still felt like she was living in the past, with her boyfriend, family and friends' memories still fresh in her mind.
She wasn't really your typical brooding heroine who complains about her situation. She dealt with the condition she was in (even though she still felt like it was 2027)and tried to live a normal life even though the government is pampering her as this miracle that woke up 100 years later.
The secondary characters were diverse and very likeable. However, because they're not your average YA secondary characters, Teegan stands out in contrast due to her typical YA female looks. Which was a little bit disappointing. It didn't bother me much but still.
And of course we have romance.
The romance between Teegan and Abdi took the back seat of the story and burned slow and sweet. It didn't feel rushed (considering Teegan still had feelings for her boyfriend from the past when she woke up) and as far as I know, I don't think there'll be a love triangle.
So why did I give this 4 and not 5 stars? Well, the similarity of concepts between this and Across the Universe annoyed me a bit, even though it was done quite well. People who have read Across the Universe will notice that when they read this: it'll feel like it's the prequel to ATU. It also had the nerve to name on of its chapters: Across the Universe. And I don't care if that was a Beatles reference.
. Also, Teegan was cryonically frozen when she was dead. The process/science as to how the freezing process can bring her back to life was never explained properly. In the story, Teegan said she didn't understood much of the science terminology and steps to comprehend how she was frozen felt like a cop out to me.
Aside from that, I enjoyed the book alot. The ending tied its knots together perfectly and even though there's no cliffhanger (thank god) I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW!
Me:
You:
Me:
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG Cynthia Hand has a new book coming out!
But it'll be released in 2014!!
Give me a title...a cover...a blurb...ANYTHING!
Me reading the blurb:
And here's why:
Loki has a rare gift: He is a Dreamhunter. One of the few in the world who can hunt and kill immortal demons in their dreams so they never wake up again.
The real Snow White...is a beautiful monster girl filled with rage and hurt, who has an epic untold story ...Snow White has killed every person who has dared come near the castle where she once lived with the queen. Mysteriously, she lets Loki live.
Of course she lets him live! How else are they going to have electrified make out sessions?
And the fact that the premise sounds so familiar to [b:Anna dressed in blood|9378297|Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)|Kendare Blake|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317793801s/9378297.jpg|14261925] makes me gag even more. WHERE IS THE ORIGINALITY?!
And the cover...Snow White you just don't look scary or intimidating or terrifyingly enchanting as the blurb says.
JUST LOOK AT THE COVER!!! 
THIS IS JUST ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS
LIKE THE BEST COVER OUT OF THE SERIES!
It looks creepy and scary yet still manages to have a sense of loneliness and hollowness that just... MAKES ME SPEECHLESS.
This book will break my heart, mash it up to potato gravy, burn it to nothing and I know I will still love it.
I need the book NOW!
