gracescanlon's reviews
729 reviews

Holy exposition, Batman!

I’ve checked the e-book out from the library three times now, but have never read past the first chapter. I admit defeat; I am DNF’ing this one at 7%.

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? begins with the most tedious telling, with no showing that I can recall. The author seemed to feel it necessary to explain the backstory and current implications of every single action or spoken dialogue. This lack of skill had me rolling my eyes so far back into my head and so often that I worried they’d get stuck staring at the darkness of my eye sockets forever.

The concept intrigued me, so I tried — I really did. I couldn’t get past the first chapter, as the world-building was so weak I wanted to scream. Telling is necessary in storytelling, of course, but it shouldn’t completely dominate the story — at most, it should make up 30% of it, with the rest told via showing.

The biggest impact telling the story without showing had on me as a reader, though, was that I just. didn’t. care. about any of the characters, Elise least of all. She had the personality of a damp sponge — though to use the word “personality” in any sentence describing the character is generous. So, I didn’t care; I was annoyed by the clunky (at best) storytelling; and, worst of all, I was bored bored bored.

I value my own time, so I will not pick this up again.

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World by Brooke McAlary

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hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.75

An excellent intro to slow living. Brooke shares her methods for slow living, her struggles with it (even into the present!), and offers anecdotal and (loosely referenced) scientific arguments for slow living. She doesn’t give a set of rules, or standards, for slow living, and is careful to stress that slow living can and does mean different things to different people. She gives examples of her own slow living practices and of possible practices the reader could consider implementing. Definitely a great starting point for learning what slow living is and why it’s worthwhile, however you do it.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

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emotional slow-paced