klsteel's reviews
400 reviews

This is literally the first picture book I've ordered for the library that I will not put on the shelf. This book is mean-spirited, nonsensical, and just plain bad.

I’m feeling sassy this afternoon. Blame it on a bout of anxiety that tipped into idontgiveashit. And in feeling like such, I’m going to post a review on The Fault in our Stars. I hated it. Most people loved it. I have many similar problems with this book that I did with All the Bright Places. (See review).

First off, the characters. Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus sdlkfaj Waters are two of the most pretentious old-but-not-really characters I’ve ever met. They are flat and speak as if they each have a Doctorate’s degree in philosophy hanging on their walls.

They are essentially the same person and they make incredibly insipid observations about he world around them. Like such:

“Why are breakfast foods breakfast foods…Like, why don’t we have curry for breakfast?”

Uhh, people do eat curry for breakfast, dumbass. You’d think with as smart as she is, she’d know a little about other cultures.

“A nonhot boy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault.
But a hot boy . . . well."

Another thing that I have a problem with is their romance. Augustus stares at her when they are in their first meeting together. STARES AT HER. That’s not cute. That’s mother-effin’ creepy! I’m not against love at first sight or anything, but COME ON. Then they take advantage of a charity and take this trip to Amsterdam to meet a piece-of-shit author and they end up kissing in the house where ANNE FRANK WAS CAPTURED. Ew. ew. ewwwwww. And everyone around them is okay with this? *keeps reading* They’re clapping?? CLAPPING?

Let us move on to the wonderful land of John Green living out his dream of being a deep-thinker through Hazel and Augustus and failing. These quotes are particularly worthy of the eye-roll.

“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”

“I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is improbably biased toward the consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it-or my observation of it-is temporary?” Wut?

Gag.

Also, this book has one giant flaw with me. One of my big red buttons you should never ever push. It’s romanticizing dying, death and the ill. They are dying. Yes. It’s sad. Yes. The characters however, were so damn annoying and shallow I did not cry at the end of this book. Nope.
Throughout this whole book, cancer and death are being treated like some magical beings that grant you the ability to love and to feel and make your life actually worth something since you have so little of it. That’s not how it is at all. People don’t suddenly feel like their life is so important or good and they certainly don’t start speaking soliloquy. Just take a look at one of our local college professors who died recently of cancer. He didn’t find any meaning to his life. He didn’t suddenly gain an appreciation for things. He was PISSED. He took no visitors, no gifts, phone calls, nothing. He died relatively alone and angry. I knew the one friend who visited him and it was really hard to do. She could see his anger.



Just because a book makes you feel all the feels doesn’t mean it’s a masterpiece. If anything, I want to cry because it was so terrible.
Don’t even get me started on that stupid cigarette thing that Augustus does. That’s got to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.

Another book about Lirael?!

Oh sweet buns I can't wait! GIMMEEGIMMEEGIMMEE

“Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.”

-Goodreads

Oh this book made me feel things. So many things. My shriveled up heart might have even beat a few times.

Blue and Gansey are going to KILL ME Y’ALL.

“Blue,” he warned, but his voice was chaotic. This close, his throat was scented with mint and wool sweater and vinyl car seat, and Gansey, just Gansey.

She said, “I just want to pretend. I want to pretend that I could.”



“Everything jumbled against everything else in just a few chaotic moments. Fingers in hair, hands cupping necks, mouths dragged on cheeks and chins in dangerous proximity.
They stopped, noses mashed against each other in the strange way that closeness required. She could feel his breath in her mouth.
“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if I kiss you,” he whispered. “Maybe it’s only if you kiss me.”

Oh sweet lord take me now.



And Ronan and Adam?? There’s such a growing tension between them and I’m completely adoring it.

“Later, Adam walked out through the cool, damp night to his small, shitty car. As he sank into the driver’s seat, he found something already sitting on the seat.
He retrieved the object and held it up under the feeble interior cab light. It was a small white plastic container. Adam twisted off the lid. Inside was a colorless lotion that smelled of mist and moss. Replacing the lid with a frown, he turned the container over, looking for more identifying features. On the bottom, Ronan’s handwriting labeled it merely: manibus. For your hands.”

Awwwwww.

I’m going to go ahead and guess that Ronan already knows how he feels about Adam. He’s probably known it for a while too. Adam on the other hand, I think is just starting to sort of spin the wheel with this possibility. He tosses it around a few times, but usually ends up kind of shaking it off. Ronan couldn’t possibly… He’s too big of an asshole and Adam thinks he’s unknowable.

Let’s talk about Adam a bit. I had issues with him in the last book. And I had issues with him in this book too. BUT. He does some growing. Albeit, slow growth, but growth nonetheless. He’s so convinced he’s unknowable and I think deep down he thinks he’s unlovable too. Then comes this beautiful moment where he’s just about to testify against his own dad, alone, and in barges Gansey and Ronan.

“Gansey strode between the pews as Adam’s father stared at him. He went directly to the bench, straight up to the judge. Now that he stood directly beside Adam, not looking at him, Adam could see that he was a little out of breath. Ronan, behind him, was as well. They had run.”

Adam thinks no one really knows him, but that’s completely the opposite. Ronan and Gansey know him so well, they knew Adam wouldn’t drag them into his legal/personal issues with his dad. They knew that deep down, Adam really did want and need them there for support. So they went anyway. They offered their support anyway, damn if Adam acts mad about it or not. And you know, I was certain Adam was going to do that thing he always does when an Aglionby boy tries to help him.

But I was wrong. Happily wrong. Adam actually accepted help guys!! Let’s throw a party ’cause the boy grew a brain!

Also, can I just take a moment to say, I KNEW NEEVE WAS GOING TO SHOW UP AGAIN.

Moving on.

Let’s all just agree that Jessie Dittley is the hero of this story. He and Blue were so great together and I really looked forward to their scenes.

I seriously could go on and on about every detail of this book. I consumed it whole and I’ve got the final book coming in the mail tomorrow. I’m not ready for it to be over!



I really wish the Squash One song was real. I smiled like a huge doofus every time Ronan chimed in with it.

5 out of 5 cats, easy.

Review originally over at The Falling Bookshelf

This book was such a treat and I can’t believe it took me so long to pick this up. So far, I’ve been a fan of everything Maggie Stiefvater has written, and this was no exception. I’m not even entirely sure what I expected going into it, but what I got was this great mystery with a big dollop of something fantastical plopped on top.

The characters are all great in their own way. Blue is beautifully written without being too much. She’s quirky but sensible and it was so refreshing to read an odd character without her being turned into your typical manic pixie dream girl. Just a pinch of strange is good enough.

It’s not often that something in the story catches me off-guard. I usually, and unfortunately, always see it coming. (Or my husband does and then RUINS IT. Buuuuut, that’s another issue). This book genuinely surprised me. For obvious reasons I’m not going to divulge what that surprise is, but I highly suggest you read this book to figure it out.

The only reason I have this book at four cats instead of five is the ending. It wasn’t bad, but I did actually go back a few pages because I felt like I missed something. It was all super-climactic and then… it was over. It didn’t necessarily resolve but that somewhat makes sense seeing as there are four books in this series.

(I also can’t wait to see what role Neeve plays later. I know she’s got to have a key role deeper in the story!)

Maggie was super nice to us and didn’t just give us a paranormal romance. I really didn’t get that vibe from this book. I mean, sure there is that whole, “kiss your true love and he’ll die” prophecy poor Blue has hanging over her shoulders, but that’s not entirely the whole tone of the story. It’s her friendship with the boys and how that develops and grows that sets the story going. Each Raven Boy has his own tragedy, his own story, his own quirks, and again this is done without making them super stereotypical. (THANK YOU MAGGIE).

Definitely pick this up. Definitely read this. It’s been a long while since I’ve inhaled a book so quickly and I immediately bought number two for my Kindle after finishing this one.

4 out of 5 cats.