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mynameismarines's reviews
1076 reviews

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom by Maryanne Vollers, Yeonmi Park

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4.0


I talk about this book in my November reading wrap-up video.

Don't worry about my rating for this book. How do you rate a story like this, a book like this? I don't know. I don't know at all. What I do know is that I was unable to put down Yeonmi's story once I picked it up. It at once gave me a glimpse into a life in a place I knew nothing about, had never really thought about, could never imagine even if I tried. Yeonmi's story is incredible and it's the kind of story that makes you think, that puts things into perspective and that makes you want every single person to read it, even if it's only to be exposed to a life outside of their purview.

I mentioned this in my video and they aren't complaints, but just two observations to keep in mind as you go into the story: 1- It's told in quite plain language. All of the emotional complexity comes from the events, as the way Yeonmi tells the story is straight forward and 2- detached. This, especially in the beginning, can have a sense of detachment. You can almost feel the way she has had to compartmentalize in order to tell this story. The story is no less touching for the way it leaves a little bit of space between the reader and the tragedy, but that space, to me, did exist.

I'm not typically a huge non-fiction reader, but for anyone who wants to dip a toe into the genre, here is an important yet accessible read.
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

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5.0


I talk about this book in my November reading wrap-up video.

When I first started reading this trilogy, I made it through books and never even cracked open the cover of this last one. It took me another year and a reread of those first two books before I made it here, to the end. I was pretty scared that something was going to happen to the characters that I had grown to love. I built up my own sense of foreboding.

In the end, I found this a really satisfying end to the trilogy. It wasn't always easy to read, especially in regards to Frodo who really has experienced too much to ever be the same. That and the end of the age that the end of this book marks really gave me feels on feels.

I liked that even after defeating the enemy, the story wasn't really over. There were far reaching effects to deal with and that felt truer than any clean cut, happily ever after. As I'm writing this review, it's been a couple of months since I read this and I have to acknowledge that a lot of the other details are a little fuzzy in my head now. I think I tore through it too fast to get to the resolution. Just as I appreciate The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers exponentially more on reread, I have a feeling that when I revisit this one again, I'll really get the feel and scope of its details.

For now, it's enough to know that all my bbs are okay.
In Perfect Light by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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5.0


I talked about this book in my Hispanic Heritage Reads wrap-up video.

I stayed up past my bedtime to read the last 50% of this book and I'm pretty sure there were tears for most of that time. This was not an easy book to read for me and part of the reason I just sat down and finished it off was because prolonging it was making me "dread" the reading experience. I kept thinking, "oh no! Sad things are going to happen!" I know, weird. And still I gave it five stars because this is a beautifully written story.

There are multiple threads here but the story centers around Andres Segovia, a man struggling so much with his rage that he lashes out twice in the beginning chapters of the story. The story tells us in bits and pieces why Andy carries around that rage and and what has happened in his life, starting with the death of both his parents when he was just 10 years old. It never got easier for Andres from that moment. Never got easier than being orphaned. We hear the bits of his story as he relives them or tells them to his lawyer Dave (who we learn is more connected to Andres than we realize at first) and his therapist Grace (who is a widow and dealing with a new diagnosis). We also meet Grace's son, Mister, who is trying to adopt a little boy who happens to be blind.

I don't know if I've mentioned yet but it's a devastating story. The prose, though, was fluid and effortless and lyrical, but in an understated way. It isn't that Alire Saenz is particularly flowery, but just that his words seem like they all fit perfectly. His words flow and speak so much truth into this devastating story. Anything more sensational or less thoughtful or less grounded in human experiences would've come off as tragedy porn. This was devastating (have I said that yet?) because it was too real.

I love, love the way the prose was set-up. We followed around the four characters and got their points of view, but every once in a while, there was this piece of omniscient text that placed everyone within a stretch of time. Something like, as Andy left the bar, Grace was with her Doctor and Mister was kissing his wife and Dave was in the courtroom. It just gave you such a sense of the whole story with all of its moving parts. It was a lovely way to tie everything together and anchor it down in specific times.

This book definitely explores some difficult topics including sexual assault, child molestation, child abuse, terminal illness and drug abuse. I would proceed with caution if need be.
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

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5.0


Video: in the mood for middle earth

[Aug 24, 2015] I definitely appreciated this more the second time around, though I still think The Fellowship of the Ring is slightly better. There was a bit more of a road trip feel to the first one. There were more descriptions of battles in this one which is a thing I appreciate less. Still, though, here are the characters I love and THAT ENDING, THOUGH, RIGHT?

[Nov 25, 2013] I FINISHED IT. That's all the review there is just: yeah. I did it.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

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4.0


I talked about this book in my August reading wrap-up video.

Another engaging, thought provoking read from Toni Morrison. It was just 200 pages, but took me a couple of days to get through because the subject matter was heavy and her writing is always dense and layered. I actually found the writing her a little more accessible here than in my first Morrison book, Beloved. I more often felt I knew what was happening, and that the action wasn't lost in the poetry.

The narrative style was a bit strange. It kind of bounced around in the story it was telling and in the style in which it was telling that story. At the very end, the whole took a turn into the very difficult and gross. It was never an easy read, but by the end, I felt my skin crawling. I think in parts it lacked a bit of cohesion.

Take that criticism with a grain of salt, however, because this felt important to read. I saw a few of my own identity struggles reflected in Pecola's wish to have blue eyes. It's easy to say that this story doesn't have the same weight it did 30 years ago because these conversations happen more frequently in some sections of our society. I can't speak for a whole, but on a personal level, I had experiences in my school years where people said things to me like, "he doesn't date black girls" or "you won't be cast in the play because you are dark." Society's notions of beauty haven't changed THAT much, and many of us who are still young, can probably relate to the way Pecola was meant to feel lesser.

The most amazing thing to me, though, was that the story of beauty was at the surface, but soon Morrison was discussing issues of racism, class, the cycle of poverty and abuse and disappointed hopes and lack of privilege. It spiraled from this one wish, for blue eyes, and soon encapsulated so many other struggles.

Definitely a worthwhile read.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

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3.0

I read this while traveling and found that it went quickly by and also helped the time pass quickly. Zevin's writing style was very fluid and easy. It was a story that kept my attention and had little treats throughout the writing, because here is a story about a book lover, meant for book lovers.

Despite all that, though, I found this story to be very cliche and predictable. Everything I thought would happen did and when the big tragic element was introduced, it went the way that all stories of that sort go. It was basically a very formulaic read broken up by little book recommendations between the chapters.

I'm not sure how much staying power this will have in my memory, but it was nice enough.
Slammed by Colleen Hoover

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1.0


Full review and discussion video.

It kind of hurts me to see so many four and five stars for this book because I just don't get it. Whatever charm was here, I missed entirely. This is a poorly written story with unlikabe characters, a problematic romance and an amazing amount of tragedy porn to boost up an otherwise skinny plot.

Slammed is often categorized as New Adult because the main characters and 18 and 21, but most of the action takes place in a high school. Sure,
Spoilerhe may be her teacher
, but that really doesn't take away the juvenile feeling laced throughout the entire story.

That's helped along by the fact that Layken is a brat. I have nothing against an 18-year-old dating a 21-year-old but THIS 18-year-old? Dear god. She spends half the story slamming doors and acting out or else storming or stomping out of places.

It also doesn't help that we spend like 3 chapters of them having ONE DATE and the rest of the book make a big damn deal about how they can't be together and it would ruin their lives, careers, educational paths and probably the entire world, who knows, but OMG they have to be together. It's melodramatic, hard to buy into, AND SO CHILDISH.

I'll mention again that Hoover's writing style also doesn't help the cause. She tells the entire story in a very, "first I did this and then I did this and then I did this" kind of way. It's riddled with graceless writing and extraneous details. Also, I'm baffled by the choice to include written performance poetry. Slam poetry is super effective but all of it that we got in this book? Awful. Truly bad. It felt like reading the crap stuff I wrote when I was in middle school.

Considering how trite and trivial the entire thing reads, it's actually kind of impressive how much super serious tragedy Hoover tries to insert into the damn story. Everyone dies so Will and Layken can be thrust together. It's cool. Who needs parents anyway?

Finally, I'll just give a big fat NOPE to Will and Layken.
SpoilerI know that the whole story is them struggling against the inappropriateness of their relationship. I don't know what Hoover's end game was but all it did for me was highlight JUST WHY STUDENT TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS ARE SO IMBALANCED. Will takes advantage of his position as a teach over Lake time and time again and I hated it.


No, thank you.
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

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4.0


I talk about this book in my June reading wrap-up video.

This was incredibly up my ally as it combines fairytale retellings, a coming of age story and an incredibly strong narrative voice. I was so enamored with what is ultimately a dark and sad story. I considered giving it five stars, but I also have to admit to myself that the pacing was a bit inconsistent and at times the storytelling felt a little too on the nose.

That aside, this is certainly amongst my favorite reads of the first half of this year. The last book I read was Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, so perhaps my heart is all tender to stories about growing up. In this book, like in Gaiman's, it's such a heartbreaking process as trouble and heartbreak and sadness seeps into the world of the little boy main characters.

I loved David. I don't think we get too much of an idea of his character which means it's hard to attach to him very personally, but I loved his role within this story. My heart went out to him from the beginning as he recently lost his mother and struggled to reconcile his new life with his old. He was brave and wonderful as he traveled around the fairytale land. I never faulted him for any of his actions or thoughts because they all seemed relateable and real.

And that ending man. As true to life as it is to love and lose and have happiness and sadness, it still kicked me in the gut. Real life is sad. I'm impressed, though, that Connolly doesn't shy away from that truth. I'm incredibly happy that I picked this up.
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

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4.0


I talk about this book in my May reading wrap-up.

I really did like the story of the Monstrumologist, but more, the story of Will Henry, the orphaned boy, apprentice-assistant, brave wonder of a child.

I loved that we got this story in Will Henry's voice, looking back on it as history that has passed but clearly left a mark. Sure, our main character is 12 and this categorized as YA, but the narrative really offered lots to sink your teeth into, especially with themes of loneliness and inheriting sins from your parents and responsibility to community and to science, the nature of monsters and even how much we can blame them for hunting when people hunt too. It turned just a regular monster story into a rich monster story, with enough complexity that it didn't feel dumbed-down by blood and guts.

Oh, but there was blood and guts. There were times that I had to put this down before bed and read something else because it was a bit too disturbing for me and not the last mental image I wanted to fall asleep to. I'm not usually a fan of gory stuff, but this story really called for it and Yancey excels at it.

The one downside for me is that the pacing was a bit off. The last half of the story really flew by but from about 20-50% it dragged on some, for me personally. It made the story feel dense, like I wasn't making any progress. As I said, though, the story went over a cliff at the halfway point and that momentum carried it through the end.

I think I want to continue in the series. The only hesitation is because this story was resolved so well that there isn't any real pressing sense to move forward. I really do like Will Henry, though, and when I come back to this world, it'll be to catch up with him.
Mosquitoland by David Arnold

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2.0


I talk about this book in my May reading wrap-up.

This is one of those books that is less than simple to rate and review because it engages (or tries to) the emotions. I finished last night and I felt a certain sadness and I also pretty much hated every single adult we met save maybe an old lady on a bus. I felt icky and I have to at least acknowledge that the story did that purposefully and worked in that regard. I mean, if it was Arnold's intention that I love all these characters, well that was a failure.

My biggest concern was a lack of connection between myself and the story and characters. That may seem strange since I just talked about my emotions being involved but those were mainly EW and WHY and I DON'T LIKE THIS and not really anything that was focused on my need to find out what specifically would happen to these characters. At the end of the day that boils down to the fact that I felt this story was a bit too manufactured. It felt contrived and by the 5th time Mim met someone who was also a wonderfully quirky character with some kind of light neurosis I was like, "ALRIGHT ALREADY."

The writing was lovely in many parts and gave me a good chuckle at points, but this just wasn't meant for me. There was a perpetual wall between me and Mim and the plot.

Not much more to say.