DNF @60%. Started off incredibly strong, but lost all its momentum somewhere around the halfway mark. I couldn't care less about a possible (view spoiDNF @60%. Started off incredibly strong, but lost all its momentum somewhere around the halfway mark. I couldn't care less about a possible (view spoiler)[romance between Laure and Andor (hide spoiler)] which is what the narrative was most interested in when I gave up, and (view spoiler)[Coralie having made a deal of her own was so obvious, I couldn't wait patiently til Laure caught up to me in between her pining after Andor. I skipped forward a few chapters and yep, Coralie did. Whoa, didn't see that coming!! (hide spoiler)]
Left unrated because it's not objectively bad at all- the author is very talented. It's not the book's fault I lost interest, and I'm sure someone else would love where the story was going....more
Very fun and entertaining at first, lost major steam and deflated like a sad balloon at the anticlimactic ending, in which (view spoiler)[a rando is rVery fun and entertaining at first, lost major steam and deflated like a sad balloon at the anticlimactic ending, in which (view spoiler)[a rando is revealed to be the baddie, and she's very, very easy to take down after running circles around the MCs for the entire book. (hide spoiler)]
I also have to agree with another reviewer that psychopathy is treated like some kind of superpower that gives you extra strength, agility, intelligence and reflexes, because those kids are pretty much mini supervillains who can get away with anything, unless a fellow superv I mean psychopath decides to take them down. It makes for an entertaining read, seeing all those paranoid little shits scheming the entire time and manipulating everything and everyone, but it's a bit baffling once you step back and think about it for a second.
There's also a loooot of red herrings/ stuff that never amounted to anything ((view spoiler)[like the guy who shrugged and left while Andre was holding the first dying victim; they make a huge deal about finding his identity, and then a "big reveal" moment that he was actually the next victim. ....And? That scene could've been taken out and nothing would've changed. Chloe STABS someone in the basement, and that someone is described as being fit and big (iirc); and yet it ends up being Megan. She's also described as being fit, but seeing as the other option was male lacrosse player Will, I don't think they'd look anything alike. Charles' strained relationship with his family is set up to be a big deal, and nothing ever happens with them after the glass-to-the-forehead scene. Same with him becoming student president (or something, I didn't care), it never came up again and all he ever did for the position was throw a celebratory party or something. Trevor driving a girl to suicide is also never mentioned again. Megan being a perfect antagonist, who stalks the MCs like a professional assassin for the entire book, just devolves into a raving maniac at the end who, after luring them all down there cool as a cucumber, just swings a gun around and rants. (hide spoiler)]
On the plus side, the character work is pretty good, especially for the main ones. Chloe, Charles and Andre all have very distinct mindsets and POVs, they never read like it's just the same character over and over (unfortnately very common in multi POV books) Even minor ones like dr. Wyman or Trevor are fleshed out.
Honestly fun while it lasted, and a waaay more entertaining reading experience than, say, A Certain Hunger, but still definitely not a new favourite....more
Didn't enjoy this as much as I expected. I overall didn't really enjoy the series as much as I expected after really enjoying the first book.
It has iDidn't enjoy this as much as I expected. I overall didn't really enjoy the series as much as I expected after really enjoying the first book.
It has its moments, but overall it has a plot > characters approach that isn't my favourite, and this book in particular didn't juggle the really dark parts ((view spoiler)[multiple deaths, betrayals, May Castellan (hide spoiler)]) with the ridiculously childish ((view spoiler)[the entire battle of New York, with flying pigs, bickering rivers, the Party Ponies, the enemy army turning their back and leaving "until sunset" for no reason whatsoever and pretty much waiting for multiple rounds of reinforcements to arrive for the heroes before advancing again, Percy's parents fighting the monsters too and of course not dying immediately even though multiple trained fighters had fallen doing the same thing previously (hide spoiler)]) well at all.
I don't think I'll continue on with the series....more
DUDE, some very dark stuff went down here. I'm pretty sure we've moved from middle grade ground solidly into YA. I was kind of speechless. Also speechDUDE, some very dark stuff went down here. I'm pretty sure we've moved from middle grade ground solidly into YA. I was kind of speechless. Also speechless about Rick Riordan's knowledge of obscure monsters that I'd never even heard of (I'm Greek).
The character development was a bit lacking (not too crazy about the (view spoiler)[love triangle of clueless Percy/ Annabeth/ Rachel. Rachel generally feels shoehorned in tbh. Percy fully becoming a badass hero who swings around chains and kills giants with one hit was also OTT. (hide spoiler)]), so it loses major points for me because I'm characters>plot, but still. Very solid.
P.S. There's something about the Labyrinth, sprawling, underground, ever changing, can lead anywhere, can lead anyone to you in the dark and you wouldn't know a thing, that creeps me the shit out of me....more
The very last reveal of the Who in Whodunnit was a total asspull. The reveal could've maaaaaaybe worked if the character work wasn't so sloppy, but noThe very last reveal of the Who in Whodunnit was a total asspull. The reveal could've maaaaaaybe worked if the character work wasn't so sloppy, but now it didn't work at all and vaguely stank of the author not knowing who it was either, but had to pick *someone*.
The one redeeming feature of the series were the sections in the past. Everything in the modern sections sucked, and that's because the characters sucked. Not as in "bad people", but they are so bare bones that they barely even existed. Even the main POV character barely exists, and we're in her head the entire time. Meanwhile, the "past" sections feature very vivid and memorable characters, in nuanced and frequently tragic situations that we barely got to see because we HAD to focus on cardboard cutout teenagers instead. Bleh....more
The first half of this book was complete and utter bloated nonsense that I'm convinced was only put there to turn the plot into a trilogy ✨for profit✨The first half of this book was complete and utter bloated nonsense that I'm convinced was only put there to turn the plot into a trilogy ✨for profit✨.
The author spends a significant amount of time recounting the first book (could've just included a small recap on the first page, but how else would we bulk up the page count? Decisions, decisions) or laser focusing on the Stevie/ David dynamic, which is as stale as a piece of toast that slid behind the counter months ago, or mentioning the moose signs with Stevie muttering "Not true/ no moose" 82639 times (a moose had better appear at one point, otherwise I have no idea why that's even there other than being a Long Con joke) or thinking that sweaters are the epitome of fashion of some reason:
[The author is describing Janelle as fashionable and roasting Stevie's hoodie/ leggings combo because why not] Janelle was dressed for the occasion in a burnished orange sweater and jeans and a chunky black scarf, with a spicy autumnal perfume that smelled of bergamot and clove.[.......] Many people existed; Janelle lived. (just because she has a fashion sense??)
Maris was a singer. She had jet-black hair and tended to dress like she was always about to go perform a set at some smoky little cabaret. Today she wore a snug black sweater and a pair of jeans with high boots. Ah yes, THE cabaret outfit, a sweater and jeans!
There was someone else watching closely—a small person with large, luminous eyes. She was wearing a brown sweater and peering at Stevie over the top of her tablet.
And my personal favourite quote, which has nothing to do with sweaters but I had to mention it:
[The author was just talking about maple syrup being the backbone of Vermont for the millionth time while the characters go for lunch. Everyone is looking at Stevie because it was her deductions that led to book 1's finale] “How do you feel?” Nate asked as they walked to a table. “Like the prettiest girl on syrup mountain,” Stevie replied. Okay??
But as soon as (view spoiler)[Ellie's body is found (hide spoiler)], the book thankfully becomes readable again and the pages start to fly by. It's still nothing incredible, but at least things get moving again. Can't say I'm overly impressed by the teenager solving a case that, supposedly, the entire FBI couldn't because the connection that finally does it was a pretty simple one (I'd figured out who it was since the first book, it's all but directly pointed out), but okay. That's literally the entire plot and I knew I was signing up for that. I think I was just expecting Stevie to have more personality so I'd be rooting for her to solve it instead of her being a walking milquetoast.
I also think it's pretty obvious that (view spoiler)[Frankie and Eddie are Ellie's parents. (hide spoiler)]. I'm surprised genius Stevie hasn't figured that out yet.
The next book will almost definitely be another bloated piece of nonsense too because there's barely anything left to solve, but I'm gonna be reading it anyway. Why not see how it all ends, right?
P.S. I hate how judgemental Stevie was of Fenton from the very first time they met. Because she..... smokes? I have no idea why, but insert Tyra's "I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU" rant here. I really wanted to like Stevie more....more
There's been some conversations recently about how we should take all representation where we can get it and let it exist, even if the book/movie/seriThere's been some conversations recently about how we should take all representation where we can get it and let it exist, even if the book/movie/series/etc. isn't necessarily good. So, I'm gonna leave my review unrated, because it'd be 2 stars and I wouldn't like to bring the book's total rating down.
The book isn't even bad per se, it's just harmless fluff for people who prefer books to read like saccharine, sappy and predictable fairy tales where nothing ever really goes wrong a la Red White And Royal Blue. The main character is basically perfect (Skye is an amazing singer and dancer who chooses a notoriously difficult song for her audition and nails it at 17 with basically no formal training besides being in a choir, she breezes through the show's challenges and manages to juggle filming, practicing and studying for school), everyone loves her on sight besides the Obvious Bully Characters (because of course they're cartoony Disney villains who Just Suck, more on this later), and there's never any doubt that she's going to win the competition, or that she'll never have to face her friends in said competition. Can't bother with that when we can have a Ferris wheel date!
None of the above is a sin or a reason to have the book dragged through the mud, and it's not about the book being uNrEaLiStIc because the realism arguments are almost always bullshit when most people -including myself- read fiction to have fun, but it IS about conflict and how the absence of it makes for a very boring experience in which you know that every tiny "obstacle" will be overcome immediately. Would I have preferred to have Skye be bullied and alone and involved in petty competition drama the entire time? Absolutely not. But didn't particularly enjoy the Zero Conflict Besides Fatphobia approach that this book chose, either.
Don't get me wrong, fatphobia has been a problem for literal decades (and I'm plus sized, I know aaaaaall about that. I even got comments about having too wide an ass/ hip area when I was skinny) so it's not "just fatphobia" like it's something easily brushed away, Lyla Lee deciding to tackle that is still a ballsy move; but there's tons more she could've done. The kpop industry is notoriously toxic on all sides, from overworking, underpaying and mismanaging their artists all around to sexism/ double standards, fatphobia, colorism, cultural appropriation and casual racism to non-Korean artists. I understand that Lyla obviously couldn't critique all of those issues even if she tried, let alone critique them properly, in a fluffy YA book, but basically none of that besides the fatphobia, that concerns Skye directly, is ever even mentioned, and even the fatphobia is mostly attributed to Those Mean Bully Characters We Have To Bring Down A Peg Personally instead of it being an industry thing. Bora, Melinda, Bobby, even Skye's mom to some extent, they're just mean because the book needed *someone* with a face to stand up to instead of a vague We Live In a Society thing, because that definitely couldn't be solved in said fluffy YA book, while Bora COULD be fired (spoilers, sorry) And I also expected more on the social commentary side of the book rather than the author just laser focusing on the predictable romance.
So the plot was nothing to write home about, the social commentary was lacking, what else? The characters, apart from The Bullies that I've already covered, were also weak as hell because they get barely any characterization even when they have "screentime". I'm looking at Henry in particular while saying this because he graduated from (vague hand gestures) Shallow Snobby Model to Just Makes Heart Eyes At The Protagonist And Is Conveniently Rich. Wow, awesome character work! I did like Lana, though.
One last mention goes to the beyond outdated Harry Potter references (that even Lyla Lee herself has acknowledged, so I'm gonna mostly let this one slide), the clunky "Oh no he/ she didn't!!!" hip quotes, and the fact that this is supposed to be a book drenched in kpop that barely ever mentions other groups or artists besides BTS, and even if it does it's a passing reference once, while BTS gets a shoutout every other page.
3,5 stars, rounded down. It had some genuinely creepy moments, but kept trying to out-twist itself by the end by suddenly revealing stuff that the rea3,5 stars, rounded down. It had some genuinely creepy moments, but kept trying to out-twist itself by the end by suddenly revealing stuff that the reader couldn't possibly know or guess, making most of the ~twists~ look like asspulls. Not to mention the random teenage drama of who fancies whom in the middle of a supposedly life or death situation and the shoddy character work....more
Okay, this book kind of blew me out of the water. I was expecting it to be good because Ali recently recommended it and our tastes very much align 90%Okay, this book kind of blew me out of the water. I was expecting it to be good because Ali recently recommended it and our tastes very much align 90% of the time, but still. I'm a grinch. I don't give out 4 stars willy nilly.
I liked the book's take on magical realism, how soft and vague the border between magic and reality was. That idea, of some places in which reality is "softer" and easier to manipulate and easier for things to fall between the cracks, is something that I first encountered in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory, and then Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and quickly realized that I LOVE that concept. Now Bone Gap makes three, and it was just as fascinating.
The plot was pretty basic, but it's really the character work that shines here. The book isn't particularly long, but Laura Ruby still manages to develop a rather large cast well, even when she has to lean on a few stereotypes to help her as a jumping point to show that none of those people are JUST that even when the other characters (and the reader) think so. It's the best kind of multiple narrators when one character's POV shows that what we were shown before through a different character may, just maybe, have been filtered through their own biases and experiences and may have been completely misinterpreted.
Not to mention that life isn't black and white and there's no immediately obvious answer to every dilemma, and a lot of media falls into that pitfall. Bone Gap doesn't.
The one thing I can pinpoint as a negative of this book is that, well, it's YA. We spend a significant amount of time following a teenage relationship in detail and, as an adult, I can't say I was THAT compelled by it. The YA "tag" also means that the book could probably go even darker if it hadn't been, but oh well.
Honestly, it's always hard for me to talk about books I enjoyed, because it all boils down to "It resonated with me" and that's deeply subjective. Give Bone Gap a try if you're interested in magical realism and things not being what they seem....more
I don't know who this is for but it wasn't for me. The single reason why this book doesn't get one star from me is that the writing is absolutely beauI don't know who this is for but it wasn't for me. The single reason why this book doesn't get one star from me is that the writing is absolutely beautiful and I'd love to read more from this author because, as cliche as it is to say, he really has a way with words.
However, nothing else worked for me. Literally everything you need to know about the book is already right there in the blurb: it's a typical coming of age story, except it's ~darker and edgier~ because this one is an ALLEGORY! .....And that's it. That's all that happens. Teens ~growing up~, and when I say growing up, I mean having tons of sex and fighting with each other, because they never do anything else.
My biggest issue was the protagonist. Not Lumen herself, exactly, but the fact that this is a "good girl gone bad" story written by (as far as I can tell) a cis male author. We're repeatedly told that the protagonist is not like other girls; she's smaller, a late bloomer, enjoys reading and drawing maps instead of hanging out with other people her age, and, gasp, drinking beer and talking to boys! Everyone else breaches but Lumen refuses because she's just that special, while everyone else just gives in to their impulses she's still fully lucid and in control of herself and only breaching because she wants to, because she's wild and unruly. She has no meaningful relationships with other women BUT every man with lines in the story is attracted to her, Peter, Roy, the random breaching dude, even her teacher in a lovely Snape "You remind me of your mother" moment, and of course she's never afraid of any of the men (not in normal life, I mean when actually dangerous situations arise) because she's Not Like Those Other Cowering Girls and that makes her extra attractive. Her entire "good girl gone bad" arc, if it can be called that, is just her using sex to cope with her complicated feelings about ~growing up~ (wow, revolutionary) And, again, this is a male author writing about a teenage girl wanting to have kinky sex and wanting to be (view spoiler)[raped/ choked (hide spoiler)], even getting mad at her Pure and Honest boyfriend who won't do that to her.
Look, a lot of that could just be attributed to Lumen having some kind of (view spoiler)[personality disorder, like sociopathy (hide spoiler)] because that's implied in the story, especially in the later chapters with adult Lumen. But I don't know how much of that was written on purpose and how much just happens to read that way because in the end this isn't a character who's making any decisions on her own, this is an adult man puppeteering a teenage girl. And that didn't sit right with me. The author can write about whatever he damn well pleases, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna praise it when I see it.
And there's the fact that there's zero paranormal elements seeing as breaching is just an allegory for puberty and nothing more. The blurb tells you as much but I was still expecting something more and seeking something more in the story, and it never comes. There's no fantastical/ speculative element here. It's just a straightforward allegory. Again, nothing wrong with it, it's not BAD automatically just because I don't like it; but it's still not for me and I didn't enjoy it.
Don't get me started on the ending. The twists had zero impact on me, I was checked out and nearly skimming at that point.
P.S. I weirdly got Hemlock Grove (the show, not the book, hated the book) vibes from this?...more
Mediocre in every way. The writing is barely passable, the characters are paper-thin and only do what the plot requires them to do without ever havingMediocre in every way. The writing is barely passable, the characters are paper-thin and only do what the plot requires them to do without ever having any agency, said plot is boring and predictable (it being an ~allegory~ for repression is a desperate effort to make it more interesting that ultimately fails), the ending is ridiculous (I lost it at the "EVERYBODY WAS FLYING" bit in the end), and I hated the pop culture references (EVERY SINGLE POPULAR ARTIST HAS ACTUALLY BEEN A VAMPIRE ALL ALONG!!!!) with a burning passion. Its attempts at humor (a vampire Facebook obviously has to be called "Neckbook") were eyeroll worthy.
Gets 2 stars instead of 1 because it was mildly entertaining at parts and I didn't completely hate it, but I'm never reading this book again. I'll forget all about it in a week tops....more
What worked: *Emoni's family is EVERYTHING. You can *feel* the love between her, her grandmother and her daughter. After so many book moms 3,5 stars.
What worked: *Emoni's family is EVERYTHING. You can *feel* the love between her, her grandmother and her daughter. After so many book moms repeating "my child is everything to me, I'd do anything for them" over and over again, but the author failing to SHOW that and sometimes having them.... not actually care about their children at all, seeing Emoni love Emma so deeply was refreshing as hell. You can feel it, you can see it, it's all right there and it's amazing. 'Buela loves them both and is prepared to do anything for them. Emoni's relationship to her father Julio is more complicated, but you can feel the love there too. *Emoni's other non-familial relationships are all equally well-written. I wish Angelica and Laura'd been in the book more, but what we did see of them was lovely. Malachi was mostly good, but more on this later. Chef Ayden and the guidance counselor did everything they could to help the students without becoming overbearing or a "tough love" stereotype. *Every single description of food and cooking was beyond evocative. I wanted to eat and drink everything described. Also loved that cooking was an intuitive act for Emoni; some people really are born like that. *The Spain portion of the book was one of the best parts for sure. I wish we could've seen even MORE of it, honestly.
What didn't: The book fell on a bunch of different YA pitfalls.
-Pitfall number 1, "The female protagonist says she's not interested and the guy still pursues her, they end up in a relationship after all because "no" meant "yes, just be more persistent about it"" (Malachi would probably be labelled a creep irl if he kept going after a girl who told him to leave her alone, but here it was okay because Emoni didn't REALLY mean it and he somehow knew it so it was romantic that he persisted!) -Pitfall number 2, "Whatever is deemed repetitive and boring will just be skipped no matter how important it is to the plot" Namely, the cooking class students working really hard to earn money for the Spain trip by working at the school cafeteria (we didn't SEE any of that and we were only told that it was really tiring etc. and that it all worked out in the end) and the working portions of the Spain trip, that were basically skipped over completely. I mentioned before that I loved everything that had to do with cooking in the book, and I really enjoyed many of the lessons, so I'd have loved to see all the hands-on experience the students were getting. -Pitfall number 3, "Everything works out perfectly always" (view spoiler)[Emoni needs some more money to go to the Spain trip? Her aunt sends her the amount, she "forgot" to do it earlier just so we'd have a little scare about whether Emoni was going or not. Both Tyrone and Julio do an 180 at the end just so they can help Emoni cope with Emma alone after 'Buela gets a boyfriend (because of course her "Gloria time" was just her getting into a relationship, that's the only way to feel good about yourself, right?) Every single chef that Emoni meets is immediately dazzled and offering her, a literal teenager, a job on the spot. Malachi keeps pursuing her even when she said no just so we'd romantic relationship in the book (you can't have a YA book without romance, right?), because a book about a biracial chef mom working her ass off to do something for her future apparently wasn't compelling enough already, we needed to see her ~fall in love~ too. (hide spoiler)]
I definitely liked this more than The Poet X but I don't think Elizabeth Acevedo's writing is for me....more
I definitely wasn't the target audience for this and I'd have appreciated it a lot more as a teen. I still enjoyed it, it's not often that you see stoI definitely wasn't the target audience for this and I'd have appreciated it a lot more as a teen. I still enjoyed it, it's not often that you see stories about friend-breakups and self-empowerment (it's usually "get a relationship, that's automatically a happy ending in itself")...more
Giving this book just 1 lone star seems harsh even to me, but a 2 feels too generous.
Katrina Leno read (or watched, or both) Practical Magic (the famiGiving this book just 1 lone star seems harsh even to me, but a 2 feels too generous.
Katrina Leno read (or watched, or both) Practical Magic (the family of witches; the story centering on two sisters; the small town setting), loved it, then read The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (again, the small town setting; the magical realism; women turning into birds; sexual assault as drama), loved it too, and decided to combine the two into this book, that tries so hard to be lyrical and ~evocative~ and ~heartbreaking~ that it misses out on EVERYTHING else. Just to be clear, I dislike both of those stories, Practical Magic was boring and Ava Lavender was borderline offensive, so it's no wonder I didn't like this mashup of them either.
The writing wasn't evocative and lyrical at all. I didn't like a single quote and I didn't feel a single thing for the characters while reading, because they were all so underdeveloped and all tell-don't-show that they never felt like anything more than puppets, parroting whatever the author made them say. Not to mention the severely heavy-handed foreshadowing that explicitly telegraphs everything that is going to happen, just one tiny centimetre away from outright stating it. (view spoiler)[Georgina's powers are so painfully apparent from the get-go, seeing her struggle to figure it out/ it being used as a source for drama when the reader knows from the first chapter was frustrating as hell. Same goes for Mary's rape reveal, you didn't need more than 2 braincells to figure it out, especially with her acting the way she was. (hide spoiler)] Maybe that's just me, an adult, reading a YA book and having a bit more experience than the 18 year old characters, but them and Georgina in particular (she is the main character) seemed dumb as hell for the entirety of the story.
Of course, now we arrive at my favourite plot point that was also my favourite in Ava Lavender (sarcasm), (view spoiler)[the Rape as Drama plotline. That is handled so, so painfully wrong, from the book hardly bothering with the VICTIM and instead focusing on her dimwitted sister who only figures it out at the last 10%, to its existence at all (sexual assault as drama is so overdone; it's basically a staple of ~hard-hitting~ contemporaries. It's just as overdone as using 9/11 as the setting for your tragic finale), to Mary becoming ~a changed person~ after it, from a flakey, kinda bratty girl to someone who decides to leave her family and raise two random birds, as a bird herself because she can now shapeshift at will, when before she could only float as a human, at best (??) At least we never got a male character telling Mary that "I'll love you even now, despite what happened", like an actual quote from Ava Lavender, that made me cringe into another dimension. (hide spoiler)]
And, of course, the F/F romance, one of the book's selling points, that is a textbook insta-love, no-nuance, we-kissed-once-and-now-we-can't-be-apart-even-though-we-never-even-hang-out one. It's a hard no from me.
And, lastly, one smaller nitpick that, if I'm right, points to the author and editor not wanting to Google even the simplest shit (let alone write a good ~hard-hitting~ story about being queer, family legacy, magical realism, and sexual assault like the book was supposed to be): there is a supporting character named Elvira (Vira for short), who says her name comes from her mom having gone through an "intense vampire phase" when she was born. The name Elvira instantly evokes Cassandra Peterson's horror hostess character: [image] Who is actually a witch in her own "lore" and has nothing to do with vampires whatsoever. However, there is another character that predates Elvira by 30 years, Maila Nurmi's Vampira, who was also a horror hostess: [image] I'm not sure whether the character is meant to be a vampire or not, seeing as the persona was mostly influenced by Morticia Addams (and let's not even mention how similar the two look, Maila Nurmi sued Cassandra Peterson over this, for good reason), but she's a "vamp" for sure.
So my question is: did Katrina Leno straight up confuse the two and thought they were the same character? Did she just glance at a picture of Elvira like "Well, she looks like a vampire, so......*shrug*"? How did both of those scenarios survive trough editing? Or am I missing something and there's some well known vampire character named Elvira that I don't know of that Katrina Leno knows intimately?? Somebody help!...more
I'm reminded once again why I shouldn't read YA anymore. It's frustrating for everyone involved, especially when you think you're reading a book aboutI'm reminded once again why I shouldn't read YA anymore. It's frustrating for everyone involved, especially when you think you're reading a book about a friendship and you're getting pages and pages of how much Cleo wants to lick Dom's collarbone instead, or her ~coincidentally~ deciding to let her friendship with Layla go for good when she and Dom are officially in a relationship; of course it was getting a boyfriend that finally fulfilled her, finding new friends in Sydney and Willa just didn't cut it. Not to mention the fact that Cleo and Dom were insufferable to read about, the narration was so desperate to paint their relationship as super deep and philosophical ("Oh, we talked about fate and stars and Shakespeare~") that it ended up falling flat on its face for me.
Also, the entire drama about (view spoiler)[the rumor about Cleo's dad (hide spoiler)] is brushed off like it was nothing in the end, even when it's made to be a huge deal, to the point of a possible police investigation. (view spoiler)[Ms Novak says she's "going to do the right thing" but we never see her do anything, we're only told that the entire thing was promptly, magically, forgotten. (hide spoiler)] Why even include that, then? Just for some quick drama?
Special mention: Sloane (view spoiler)[being a Disney villain that's mean just because she can be, and her getting away with everything in the end, from bullying to attempted defamation, with not even a slap on the wrist, or Layla ditching Cleo completely for Sloane and never looking back; OK, Cleo was a bit clingy indeed, but Layla letting Sloane's "bitch" to Cleo, who's been her best friend for years and her "you over everything" (a phrase that's promptly forgotten after the beginning of the book even when it's supposed to be a big deal) slide? What the hell happened to this girl in the span of a few weeks? (hide spoiler)]
The book had some good parts, namely that Cleo was a very realistic teenager that speaks and acts like one, the friend breakup was equally realistic and painful as hell, the emphasis on how hard human relationships can be was effective, and everything involving the diner was absolutely lovely, but they weren't enough to save the book overall for me....more
First of all, the book's selling point, the LGBTQ+ and Latinx representation. While the representation is INCREDIBLY important, 2,5 stars, rounded up.
First of all, the book's selling point, the LGBTQ+ and Latinx representation. While the representation is INCREDIBLY important, because there's still people who STILL have to squint to see themselves in books in the year 2020 (and usually in stereotypical, offensive scenarios; ask anyone Latinx and they'll probably tell you the only times they see people like them in stories is in drug cartels) and we NEED more diverse books, Cemetery Boys has a lot of technical issues that bring the book down and make it awkwardly obvious that this is a debut. At least, to an adult reader, actual young adults who haven't really read much will probably think otherwise- I know full well I'm not the target audience for this, but I don't think that YA books should be any less cared for or complex than adult books.
-The plot is predictable and generic (for example, the "Chekhov's Gun" item is mentioned at least twice, in case the reader didn't catch it the first time).... -...And filled with convenience (for example, there was absolutely no reason for the entire (view spoiler)["meeting Julian's friends and Yadriel keeps saying the wrong thing" scene; I get that Aiden Thomas was going for a "Yadriel isn't a perfect, smooth talking protagonist who always knows what they're doing", but logically the entire scene didn't need to happen at all. Julian just wanted to see his friends so he could have just.... walked down the steps under the overpass by himself when they arrived at the stairs and take a look at them..... there was no actual reason for Maritza and Yadriel to go down too besides moving the plot forward and having the characters meet Rio and see his car that they're later going to steal (hide spoiler)] Or (view spoiler)[Catriz being proud of Yadriel for being a legit brujo in the end instead of getting jealous of him just like he was jealous of everyone else in the family, a "You're just like them" scenario; but of course we couldn't have that because Yadriel had to have all the time and ease in the world to bring his uncle down (hide spoiler)]) -The characters are paper thin (Yadriel's only character traits are being trans and Latino; he has no life, no hobbies, no friends, nothing outside of the events of the book, he never feels like a real person; Maritza is never anything more than a loyal sidekick who's always available to tag along with Yadriel; the family/ friends of the characters are just there to speak their dialogue like ventriloquist dummies. Julian is the most fleshed out character that I felt like I knew, but one character out of the entire cast isn't nearly enough for a good book) -The writing is clunky. There's a lot of references to memes that will end up dating the book HARD in the future ("Bold of you to assume that......" is one example), and there's a LOT of exposition and awkward infodumping that brings the narration to a sudden halt. ~Thing/ term we've never seen before: *appears* ~The narration: *quickly swoops in to explain to the reader exactly what that is* A classic case of show VS tell. Aiden Thomas just tells most of the time. -The romance is also clunky. (view spoiler)[Yadriel is kinda into Julian from the beginning, but they barely even flirt before just falling head over heels, I-can't-be-apart-from-you-for-more-than-2-minutes, in love for each other. I thought this was a slow burn romance, but it goes from 0 to 100 way too fast in the span of one chapter or so. Don't get me started on the random date they went on (on a stolen car, no less; call me a boring adult, but I hated that) that was rendered meaningless by the end- I understand that Aiden Thomas wanted to avoid a Bury Your Gays cliche moment, but the ending was so saccharine-sweet and convenient that it lost me completely. Of COURSE Julian would live, even though him being alive all along was impossible; how was his spirit moving around if he was alive??? There was zero reason for him to be alive anyway, even the dead sacrifices were brought back in the end. Make it make sense! (hide spoiler)] -And, like I said, I disliked the saccharine-sweet, "this is where the music swells for a dramatic, everyone-got-what-they-wanted" ending.
"So, why the 3 star rating even though the MASSIVE paragraphs above point to the book being more of a 2 for you, Niki?" Honestly, I still mostly enjoyed the book. The ideas, the intentions and the author's enthusiasm were all there, it was mostly the execution that fell waay short. Seeing as this is a debut and the author is still learning, I think the problem mainly lies in the editing. This could have been brilliant with better editing. Maybe next time!...more
I 100% get the comparisons between this and The Secret History, this book is the closest I've read to it without being an aWell, this was interesting!
I 100% get the comparisons between this and The Secret History, this book is the closest I've read to it without being an actual ripoff (I'm looking at you, The Lessons, which tried to copy everything TSH did minus the murder without getting WHY it did so)
The themes of friendship, tragedy, complete devotion to a subject (a discipline? Does the word apply to languages/ theatre?), coming-of-age-as-a-young-adult, and, of course murder; the academic setting; the characters being a tight-knit group; the arts playing a huge role (pun intended) in the story; the book being divided into a Before and After a crucial event; a police investigation actively taking place in the After bit; the POV character looking back on the events of the story years later and able to provide commentary on how his views have changed (or haven't) since then. I saw all of the similarities (plus two lines that were copied almost exactly from TSH; one was the "you recognized the art students because of the paintbrushes in their hair and the carefully paint-spotted clothes" and "[it wasn't x, it was y] That felt like an important distinction back then") (I've reread TSH at least once a year every year since I first read it in 2011 and I have a strong memory, so yeah, I pretty much have it memorized) but still, the book managed to make itself original enough that, again, it's not an actual ripoff.
For example: one of the things that irk people about this book is those kids constantly quoting Shakespeare to one another, even in basic everyday conversations, but I personally liked that. It set the book apart (never read that before, that's for sure) and it didn't feel unrealistic, especially for people who are supposed to live and breathe Shakespeare like those kids.
Speaking of them, they're also distinctly different from the characters in TSH. Sure, you can see traces of Richard in Oliver, Henry in Richard, Francis in Alexander, Camilla in Wren if you squint, but, for the most part, they felt fresh to me. Most importantly, they DO get developed (I'm looking at you again, The Lessons), even if it's not as much as I would have liked.
You know what, since I already mentioned it, let me just get straight to the two negative elements of the book, plus one honourable mention.
The two things I want to mention go hand in hand: too much Shakespeare, and too little characters. Other reviewers have actually counted up the amount of verbatim Shakespeare in the book and it comes up to, like, 5-10% of the entire book? That's about 80 pages of pure, unfiltered Shakespeare, and may I just say, as a person whose native language isn't English, Shakespeare is HARD to read. I'm not saying that M.L. Rio should have been mindful of me specifically ("Oh hey, maybe a Greek girl will read my book in the future, better think of HER") but, even expecting a lot of Shakespeare, I think it may have been too much; especially since all that space could have been devoted to more character development. I'm not a theatre nerd and while I get wanting the book to be a love letter to theatre, of sorts, I still didn't like its approach.
This book isn't too terrible when it comes to character development, but I really wanted more from it. Wren, in particular, was little more than a cardboard cutout, and Meredith wasn't much better, her sex appeal is all she gets. (view spoiler)[While I did see and feel James and Oliver's "romance", so to speak, I still wanted MORE from it. The author was obviously going for some Kill Your Darlings vibes between them, and I think she could have taken it up a notch. I also never bought Oliver and Meredith's romance, it was lukewarm at best and I didn't get why so many pages had to be devoted to Oliver agonizing over whether she likes him for real or not, or him wanting to be with her instead of wherever he is, or him ending up with her when he gets out of prison somehow. (hide spoiler)]
My (negative) honourable mention: (view spoiler)[Richard never really got much time to shine before his Evil Face Heel Turn, and I don't really get WHY he "turned evil", so to speak. He didn't get the role he wanted ONE time?? He tried to kill a classmate because he was mad at a decision someone ELSE, their professors, made?? At the risk of sounding like a surfer dude, "Hey man, why don't you chill a lil" I think that his entire transformation was more about having a clear cut "villain" for the book's convenience than anything else. (hide spoiler)]
Other than the above, I was pleased with the book. Special shoutout to (view spoiler)[the Halloween Macbeth production, which literally had me at the edge of my seat, Richard's death scene, and James' drunken breakdown when he talked solely in King Lear's Edmund's unhinged lines (hide spoiler)] for being creepy as hell, which meant that I immediately loved them. 10/10 for those scenes...more
To be perfectly honest, I'm a bit conflicted about this book.
On the one hand, like I said on one of my updates for it, I loved living vicariously throTo be perfectly honest, I'm a bit conflicted about this book.
On the one hand, like I said on one of my updates for it, I loved living vicariously through those teenagers because my own life is an absolute horrorshow right now (*deadpan* being an adult is so great, you guys! Living through historical events (Covid in particular) is so not stressful, you guys!), I loved seeing China with none of the usual tropes (which is even a plot point!), I loved the conversations about family, duty, trying to find your place in the world, privilege, yellow fever/ racism, and mental illness. None of it felt tacked on just so that the book would talk about ~deep topics~, it all came up naturally between the kids.
On the other hand, I disliked that -Ever (the protagonist) was basically perfect. She's a master choreographer at age 17, everyone likes her, boys fall in love with her on sight (and even fight over her!), she's selfless (except for that one time (view spoiler)[she sleeps with Xavier even though she knows he has feelings for her and she doesn't, essentially using him (hide spoiler)]) and always putting others before her but always ends up getting her way in the end (especially when she's supposed to be (view spoiler)["grounded" towards the end of the book, but is still able to go on trips and sneakily choreograph an entire routine, which takes up hours (hide spoiler)], which also leads us to
-How the book was so over the top and unrealistic at times- the entirety of it is, but especially the big finale of (view spoiler)[teenagers organizing a huge celebration/ auction for a good cause in the Taipei National Theatre, which even celebrities attend.... (hide spoiler)] *eyeroll* I get wanting to end the book on a high, triumphant note, but this was just a bit too farfetched for me. I know this sounds nitpicky because, well, it's not THAT completely unbelievable, but it just felt like the book wanting to one-up itself over and over.
-The characters (besides Ever) were a bit all over the place. We're told that Sophie "spends money like it's nothing" but then it's revealed that (view spoiler)[she's from a poor family? Where does she even find that money? (hide spoiler)] We're also shown from the beginning that she's the definition of (view spoiler)["every man for himself", but it was still very jarring to see her turn against Ever as fast and viciously as she did*, especially when she was forgiven as easily as she was by the end (because Ever is selfless! ......And because it was covenient for the plot to have everyone be besties by the end, so they can have said Huge Celebration/ Auction at the Taipei National Theatre (hide spoiler)]. Xavier (view spoiler)[isn't actually a sleazy Player, he's in fact a sensitive artist with a heart of gold that's completely devoted to Ever because he's so in love with her (hide spoiler)]; Rick (God, what a terrible name) (view spoiler)[isn't actually a devoted boyfriend, he's ALSO so in love with Ever that he's willing to cheat on his mentally ill girlfriend and then promptly break up with her so he and Ever can fuck in the hot springs, I guess. (hide spoiler)] The author was probably going for a "Don't judge a book by its cover" approach, also tied into the tropes I mentioned before, but at times like these I really felt that I was reading a book, if that makes sense- that these weren't real people, these were characters that acted according to a plot and doing what was convenient for that plot.
-*Also hated that that entire drama was based on slutshaming, girl hate, and also convenience; (view spoiler)[Sophie got Ever's nude pictures at EXACTLY the right time for revenge, not one day before or after the "event" that angered her, and she was, of course, able to distribute them everywhere at lightning speed (hide spoiler)]. I mean, it was obvious that those (view spoiler)[nude pictures (hide spoiler)] would come up again in a negative way the moment Ever said that they were "for her eyes only". And the entire thing didn't even end up having consequences, it was a big deal for 10 minutes or so.
Truth be told, I had fun with the book and I recommend it, but by the end I was ready for it to be over....more
(Yes, Kat [paperbackdreams on Youtube] brought me here too)
Why is my 2020 reading list filled with books I thought were going to be about [x thing], b(Yes, Kat [paperbackdreams on Youtube] brought me here too)
Why is my 2020 reading list filled with books I thought were going to be about [x thing], but turned out to be anything but? This is the fourth one by now; The Glass Hotel (we barely even set foot in the hotel), Supper Club (more about the narrator's internalized misogyny in which she brags about being fuckable because she's skinny, less about the titular Supper Club parties), And I Do Not Forgive You (less than half of the stories were actually about revenge)
And now? The synopsis promises us the ~death girls~, a story of three college students’ shared fascination with poetry and death, and even makes sure to highlight each girl's favourite poet. The book is surely about them, yes? NO. The book is actually about one of the three girls specifically and her navigating the grief from her brother's death alongside her Golden Retriever of a boyfriend, who's 1/3 attracted by her allure, 1/3 scared shitless of her, and 1/3 ~wants to save her from herself~ It's very telling that it's the boyfriend who (view spoiler)[ends up taking Claire away from the Ashers' house in the end (hide spoiler)] and not her "friends".
In fact, the girls never get a proper scene together. We get a (dry as fuck) narrative chapter in the beginning that tells us (not shows) of the girls' poetry reading nights, and how close they are, and how great it was that they had found each other because they're so alike..... and then the book proceeds to put them all together in a scene once (!) again ages later, in which they're fighting because they've already drifted apart. Am I supposed to care? We never SAW them together, we never got a feeling of how they are all together, we're only TOLD that. There's no "death girls" to speak of. They're not a group that exists in the book, only in Meg Wolitzer's imagination, and we're supposed to take those little narrative nuggets and run with them.
I was really irked when The Furies did that as well: promised us a girl group and then laser-focused on only two of the girls, leaving the others in the dust. Why promise a group of people if you're only going to write about one or two of those people? What's the point?
I also don't understand why the other characters in the book thought Claire was soooo fantastic, with everyone running around her in circles, squealing for her attention. She's distant, she's cold, she's not particularly charismatic as far as I can tell (unless this is another thing I'm supposed to take as well established just because Meg Wolitzer thinks so herself) Is it because she's ~mysterious~? I was honestly more concerned and interested about Laura's increasingly erratic and irritable behaviour (that no character seemed to care about, even when these girls are supposed to be friends) than Claire fucking off to live with a grieving family* because she wants to wear Lucy Asher's skin.
Honestly, this was very obviously the author's first book. The writing is simplistic, plain, and reads like she whipped it up in 2 days because it was due tomorrow for a creative writing class, and none of the themes are explored with any kind of nuance (sometimes it feels like the author is hitting you over the head with a shoe, screaming "GRIEF IS A PROCESS! NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT ALONE! DO WHAT'S NECESSARY TO GET THROUGH IT! ONE DAY YOU'LL WAKE UP AND IT'LL BE OKAY!"). There were more scenes of characters gushing over how great Claire is than the ~death girls~ all together, or people talking to each other in earnest, something this book badly needed. What a disappointment.
*The Ashers were the only likeable and rather well-written people in the book. You can feel their grief and their connection to each other even when they don't feel it themselves, and they're both kindhearted, even if it's a bit creepy that they essentially replaced Lucy with Claire, even if it was -mercifully- only for a little bit....more
Comparing this series and The Raven Cycle was a more apt comparison than anyone realized: by the end, both series fell in the same "great potential, sComparing this series and The Raven Cycle was a more apt comparison than anyone realized: by the end, both series fell in the same "great potential, shoddy execution" pitfall, except TRC did, at least, the one thing I wanted it to do: delve deep into the characters.
I said this in one of my updates for the book but here it comes again: I had read 70% of this book and felt like I had read absolutely nothing, both character-wise and plot-wise. The plot was kickstarted a little at the end (more on this later), but the character development (as in, getting to know the characters better, not them ~changing for the better~, I don't care about that part all that much) I wanted never happened. Either the character development in the first book was better, or I just believed in its potential to develop later, because I remember being a lot more invested in them in the first book.
I definitely believed that the adults would get a little more "screentime" the second time around, but Augusta and Juniper were firmly benched (and yet we're supposed to care when they (view spoiler)[start dating again officially (hide spoiler)] by the end), and Harper's dad, despite being a founder and a pretty important part of the first book, is completely absent here. Are we supposed to believe that he wasn't involved with running the town AT ALL and just left Augusta and Juniper make all the decisions? Truth be told, they didn't make all that many decisions at all because it's the kids running the show, but you get my point.
As for the kids, there was SO MUCH we didn't get. Harper learning the truth about her powers and having to leave her family home wasn't explored at all, and don't even get me started on the laughably vague "lessons to control her powers" she was supposed to be having with Augusta and Juniper, of which we're shown ONE lesson, that never amounted to anything anyway because she learned to control them by herself. More emphasis was given in That One Passionate Make Out Scene in the Lake With Justin than anything else regarding Harper.
Of course, poor Justin was underdeveloped in the first book to begin with, and that didn't change at all here. His fall from grace in the eyes of the townspeople, when he went from being the town's Golden Boy to basically being a pariah, or his relationship with his mother and sister when his mother still treats him like he's more special than May even when SHE has the Hawthorne powers, neither is explored at all. We're just told things instead of being shown them. Also, how the hell was he able to (view spoiler)[wield the Deck of Omens to talk to the Beast near the end? Was it because he was corrupted and the corruption created some vague connection between him and the Beast, so he was suddenly given powers just because the plot demanded it? And were we supposed to feel scared about him dying or something? (hide spoiler)] Because I know I didn't.
Same goes for Violet's (view spoiler)[injuries in the fight with Ezra/ Richard, when Gabriel oh-so-conveniently pops back in the story at EXACTLY the right time to save her. (hide spoiler)] I wasn't expecting something to predictable and eyeroll-worthy, but here we are.
Violet and Isaac are probably the most well-developed characters. I liked seeing them together (except for that stupid as balls scene in the beginning, when they think it's a great idea to do that ritual with the Beast again all on their own; like hell it'd work, if it did the book would just end right there, and that was in the first 50 pages of a 350 page book) and respected their interactions.... when I thought that it was just a platonic friendship ("Finally! A friendship between a boy and a girl in a YA book, with no romantic undercurrent! Violet herself says that she mistook Isaac's human decency for romantic attention when that wasn't the case! Fucking finally!") But then, predictably, they start dating in the end. I love how the two explicitly bi characters end up in a "straight" relationship, while the lesbian relationship of Augusta and Juniper is nothing more than a footnote, and this is the series that was marketed as "a more diverse Raven Cycle".
May was alright, probably the most nuanced character in the book. I don't have anything else to say about her.
The reveal that Ezra, May and Justin's dad, was (view spoiler)[secretly an immortal founder and the Big Bad All Along? Weirdly convoluted and kind of pulled-out-of-the-author's-ass just to "defy expectations" for everyone who thought the literally named Beast was the Big Bad. Why exactly did Richard want to destroy the border between Four Paths and the Gray (or whatever it was that he wanted to do, I really couldn't be less interested in him or the predictable "big battle" with him at the end that happened offscreen) to "gain the powers of the other founders" when he HAD the powers? He was a Sullivan, and yet he had the immortality of a Saunders (he himself says it)? Seriously, I don't get it? What WAS his own power, after all? Sullivans can either destroy or heal, but all we ever see Richard do is control the corrupted trees and be immortal. I really, really think that the Richard Twist was put in the book just to have a Big Twist, but it wasn't pulled off well at all, in my opinion. (hide spoiler)]
This book would've benefited A LOT from having POV chapters for the characters instead of just third person narration.
TL;DR because I want to wrap this review up already: the characters were pretty flat, a lot of potential wasn't taken advantage of at all, and things happened just because the plot required them to happen by the end. I still mostly enjoyed the book, but I think that's mostly because I spent the entirety of it taking the scraps and hoping for more to come, that never came. I definitely enjoyed The Devouring Gray more....more
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