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michaelapr's reviews
74 reviews
Isabella Moon by Laura Benedict
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Well that was a disappointment. Based on everything I'd read, this book was supposed to be a ghost story and a mystery. A mystery where the ghost is trying to get someone to solve their murder. All of which sounded intrig ing and fun. That was not what this was.
Instead I had to read through multiple pointless plots that I did not care about or want to read with very little focus on Isabella Moon- ya know, what the book was supposed to be There were also so many unnecessary details that was not needed, most of which were sexual in nature. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude, but the amount of unnecessary gross sex scenes, thinking about sex, and the enjoyment of victimizing women in this book was obscene.
I made a note early on saying that this book felt like it was written by a man. Except I also felt insulted for men in this book, which never happens. But it was clear, to me at least, that this author felt that all men thought about sex all the time and wanted deep down to hurt women all the time even if they didn't realize it. How awful and incorrect. But the author also didn't portray women very well either - she often portrayed her female characters as typical stereotypes, which bordered on harmful in some cases.
Then, after all that, the ending is disappointing and pointless, with our main characters fate left as a hazy, confusing unknown.
Honestly I would have DNFed this book if it wasn't for my book club. It's safe to say I do not recommend this one (and neither does my book club!)
Instead I had to read through multiple pointless plots that I did not care about or want to read with very little focus on Isabella Moon- ya know, what the book was supposed to be There were also so many unnecessary details that was not needed, most of which were sexual in nature. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude, but the amount of unnecessary gross sex scenes, thinking about sex, and the enjoyment of victimizing women in this book was obscene.
I made a note early on saying that this book felt like it was written by a man. Except I also felt insulted for men in this book, which never happens. But it was clear, to me at least, that this author felt that all men thought about sex all the time and wanted deep down to hurt women all the time even if they didn't realize it. How awful and incorrect. But the author also didn't portray women very well either - she often portrayed her female characters as typical stereotypes, which bordered on harmful in some cases.
Then, after all that, the ending is disappointing and pointless, with our main characters fate left as a hazy, confusing unknown.
Honestly I would have DNFed this book if it wasn't for my book club. It's safe to say I do not recommend this one (and neither does my book club!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gaslighting
Minor: Racism
Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I love Backman and the way he writes. This book is not getting as high of a rating as I normally give a Backman book. While I enjoyed reading (and listening) to this book, the ending fell flat to me. The majority of the book was funny and insightful and just really fun. The ending felt... not right. I feel like I was, however, seeing glimpses of Backman's style of writing found in Beartown, my first one of his books and one of my favorites, in the end of this one. So that was interesting.
Overall, a good story with a bummer of an ending - I enjoyed the first book that Britt-Marie originated from, My Grandmother Told Me To Tell You She's Sorry, better.
Overall, a good story with a bummer of an ending - I enjoyed the first book that Britt-Marie originated from, My Grandmother Told Me To Tell You She's Sorry, better.
Disappeared by Linda Castillo
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I feel bad rating this book 2.25 stars but here we are. I did not enjoy this book. And I know enjoying a book about the Holocaust is not really a thing, however most of the time you can say the book was enlightening or the writing was poignant or you felt something. I did not experience any of these things. Most of the time the story keeps you at arms length - I felt like I was a witness, an objective witness. This isn't what I would expect out of such a heavy topic, with or without the romance written in.
I did get a weird feeling reading this book. It's hard for me to explain but there were parts I would think Are we romanticizing the Holocaust? Surely not. But also it did not feel like an authentic telling of the Holocaust, true story or not.
Speaking of which, I did hear that this book was considered controversial and so I looked it up. I feel like this explained a lot of my feelings. Apparently the Auschwitz Memorial states, “the book contains numerous errors and information inconsistent with the facts, as well as exaggerations, misinterpretations and understatements." I tend to agree with this, especially the understatements. This might be because of the writing style, which tended to just tell the reader a bad thing and that it was bad without making the reader actually feel anything. There's also segments where Josef Mengele shows up and it seems like the author just put him there because we all know who that is but then it wasn't accurate to what everyone knows. This irked me for reasons that I can't explain.
Anyway, all of that is to say that I have the unpopular opinion of not liking this book and I do not feel bad about it.
I did get a weird feeling reading this book. It's hard for me to explain but there were parts I would think Are we romanticizing the Holocaust? Surely not. But also it did not feel like an authentic telling of the Holocaust, true story or not.
Speaking of which, I did hear that this book was considered controversial and so I looked it up. I feel like this explained a lot of my feelings. Apparently the Auschwitz Memorial states, “the book contains numerous errors and information inconsistent with the facts, as well as exaggerations, misinterpretations and understatements." I tend to agree with this, especially the understatements. This might be because of the writing style, which tended to just tell the reader a bad thing and that it was bad without making the reader actually feel anything. There's also segments where Josef Mengele shows up and it seems like the author just put him there because we all know who that is but then it wasn't accurate to what everyone knows. This irked me for reasons that I can't explain.
Anyway, all of that is to say that I have the unpopular opinion of not liking this book and I do not feel bad about it.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An intriguing story that kept me wanting to know the end although it's a slower pace than it needed to be.
The Maple Murders by Micol Ostow
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
There was a lot of potential with this one and it just didn't deliver for me. It felt very rushed in the end and not as much happened as I would've thought. It was nice to see these characters again though (even if I'm almost positive this author has never heard an actual teenager speak before, judging by the dialogue) and now I'm tempted to rewatch the first season of Riverdale again. So there is that!
The Graves Family by Patricia Polacco
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I don't have much to say on this one. It was a good story and I enjoyed the audio book. It's not quite a 4, however. Maybe it's the ending, which felt a bit unsatisfying, or maybe certain parts felt too drug out with too many bad things happening one after another - I'm not sure. Overall a good read, though. I enjoyed listening to it, it was pretty fast paced, and I was rooting for Jesse the whole time!
Though I have a question for those who have read it - Was Hatchet like this?? I was one of the few students who did not read Hatchet in elementary school and I'm just curious as there was a Hatchet reference and both books appear alike on a surface level.
Though I have a question for those who have read it - Was Hatchet like this?? I was one of the few students who did not read Hatchet in elementary school and I'm just curious as there was a Hatchet reference and both books appear alike on a surface level.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief and Car accident
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I feel kind of bad because I know I should love this book. I have to teach it and other people think it's absolutely wonderful. But here's the thing: The concept is good, the execution leaves something to be desired - at least for me. The conversations that can come, have come, from this book are great and that's what makes the book a classic and a staple of speculative fiction.
Reading this book was, at times, like a fever dream. One minute I knew what was happening and moving a long, the next I was thrown into some kind of fever dream like state of confusion having to figure out what the heck was going on. In some cases I'm sure this was on purpose, others I felt like Bradbury himself got lost in his own language and writing. This is made even more believable knowing from the beginning how much Bradbury loves cramming as many similes as he can on a page. Montag himself, and everyone he met after Clarisse, didn't make much sense half the time. This could be because half of them were stupid from watching plotless television (Bradbury did that on purpose I'm sure) or they talked in circles around the point (I'm starting to think this is just the way Bradbury talks/writes).
As I said though, this book can bring up a lot of good conversations, not just about book censorship but other topics as well - although it's important to point out that this book is more about the anxieties of technologies like TV and the Cold War than book burning. I hesitate to make too many comparisons between our world and Montag's world, however. Because we are not living in Fahrenheit 451. Speculative fiction should not be used in this way - I get sick and tired of people saying "We're living in 1984, We're living in Fahrenheit 451." This is a warning to people in 1951. This is an airing of anxiety based in a time we are not in. Use this book as a way to connect to problems we see now, that's the point of speculative fiction, don't use it as a way to show how awful the world has become.
Anyway, I do wish I liked this book more. I'm hoping that as I teach it, the experience will make the book better. Sometimes it's better to experience a book collectively rather than alone.
Reading this book was, at times, like a fever dream. One minute I knew what was happening and moving a long, the next I was thrown into some kind of fever dream like state of confusion having to figure out what the heck was going on. In some cases I'm sure this was on purpose, others I felt like Bradbury himself got lost in his own language and writing. This is made even more believable knowing from the beginning how much Bradbury loves cramming as many similes as he can on a page. Montag himself, and everyone he met after Clarisse, didn't make much sense half the time. This could be because half of them were stupid from watching plotless television (Bradbury did that on purpose I'm sure) or they talked in circles around the point (I'm starting to think this is just the way Bradbury talks/writes).
As I said though, this book can bring up a lot of good conversations, not just about book censorship but other topics as well - although it's important to point out that this book is more about the anxieties of technologies like TV and the Cold War than book burning. I hesitate to make too many comparisons between our world and Montag's world, however. Because we are not living in Fahrenheit 451. Speculative fiction should not be used in this way - I get sick and tired of people saying "We're living in 1984, We're living in Fahrenheit 451." This is a warning to people in 1951. This is an airing of anxiety based in a time we are not in. Use this book as a way to connect to problems we see now, that's the point of speculative fiction, don't use it as a way to show how awful the world has become.
Anyway, I do wish I liked this book more. I'm hoping that as I teach it, the experience will make the book better. Sometimes it's better to experience a book collectively rather than alone.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Eleanor & Park is a reread for me. I did not remember anything about it from the first time (I've read a lot since 2018). After rereading I've decided Eleanor & Park is still a 3 star for me, but not a 3.5 like before. It was hard for me to get through some of the super gooey parts, I'll be honest- probably because I'm not the audience for this book anymore. Or because my heart has lost some of its romance from disuse. But it's well written and sweet so it still gets a good rating from me. I also liked the ending better than before even though it's a very "young YA" ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexual harassment