shellballenger's reviews
496 reviews

Type of read: Lunch/Weekend Read.

What made me pick it up: Maas sucked me in with ACOTAR and now I just want more of the Maasverse and let's be honest, to prepare for the interconnection of all her literary worlds.

Overall rating: I was not prepared for 'Crown of Midnight.' Absolutely not prepared. Maas has shown time and time again that their world-building and character development is definitely a strong suit and that is absolutely the case with 'Crown of Midnight.' I feel like 'Crown of Midnight' was the first that we really got to see past the smoke and mirrors into Celaena Sardothien as an individual, assassin, AND champion. I'm finding Celaena much less annoying than I did in the first few books of the series and the progression of the books is both a natural fit but still leaves enough to surprise that I feel like the reader is still surprised (or at least doesn't completely figure it all out right away). I've already started on the next adventure in this beautiful series and I can't wait to see what comes next!

Reader's Note:  'Crown of Midnight' includes graphic depictions of death and has some very vague, vanilla spicy scenes.

Type of read: Commuter Read.

What made me pick it up: Stephen King is a regular on my TBR and it's always been a goal of mine to read The Dark Tower series in completion.

Overall rating:  I will die on this hill....Stephen King is a literary genius. 'The Drawing of the Three' had the perfect amount of craziness, structure, and wit to keep you moving through the pages. Where 'The Gunslinger' felt a little more like unplanned chaos, 'The Drawing of the Three' is perfectly planned chaos with amazing timing and just enough of King's classic quips to make you both squirm and smile. Completing the series has long been in my TBR and after finishing this 2nd installation, and hearing from a good friend on their view of the series, I'm excited to see what comes next in this crazy adventure to the tower. I'd also be remiss if I didn't say that Frank Muller was an absolute legend at narration and I feel like they made 'The Drawing of the Three' all that much better. I was able to enjoy about 75% of the book in audio form before my library loan lapsed and I switched over to my paperback copy and I found myself reading in Muller's tone and voices. It was absolute perfection.

Reader's Note: 'The Drawing of the Three' includes themes of drug use, sex, mentions/references to rape, and death/dying. There is also some politically incorrect language. If you're familiar with King's writing, 'The Drawing of the Three' is very much in his normal vein of vulgarity.

Type of read: Commuter Read

What made me pick it up: I found the wonderful world of Spotify audiobooks, and 'Shatter Me' was one of my suggested books.

Overall rating: 🎵🎵Conceal don't feel...don't let them know...well now they know...🎵🎵

That this book is an absolute dumpster fire.

First, I have to point out that my speedy reading of 'Shatter Me' was not due to my interest in the book but because I was working on a data project at work and 'Shatter Me' gave the perfect amount of background noise and random laughs to make a few days in Excel more fun. Ok, now that's over with, onto the review.

I think it's because of all the focus on Juliette's hands and touch but I immediately thought of Elsa from Frozen and then I couldn't unsee this weird Wish.com+Zombieland, dystopian version of Elsa as I read 'Shatter Me.' (Yes, I fully realize this book was published before Frozen came out, still.)

I had so many issues with 'Shatter Me,' with the biggest ones being:
-Minimal world-building, like to the point that you're not sure what year/age/area/world you're even experiencing all of this in.
-Language - Juliette's character continually talks in metaphors, euphemisms, and overly complicated descriptions. There is no reason that everything has to attempt to be so poetic and thoughtful. Not every sentence needs to be earth-shattering. Sometimes you can just say he moved across the damn room.
-The repetition in 'Shatter Me' doesn't lend itself well to an audiobook - which is on me for choosing this format - but, if you're going to include literal scratching, you might want to give your audience a bit of an idea of what's happening so they can better understand the story. It took me about a quarter of the way through the book to realize the scratches were intentional and were pencil scratches.

On the list of positives for 'Shatter Me,' Kate Simses is a brilliant narrator, and I feel like their voice very much fits my mental picture of Juliette. And they do a great job switching into varying voices for the other characters. That's about it for the positives.

I would not recommend 'Shatter Me' and I won't be continuing this series.

Reader's Note: Just don't.

Type of read: Lunch/Weekend Read.

What made me pick it up: Mass sucked me in with ACOTAR and now I just want more of the Maasverse and let's be honest, to prepare for the interconnection of all her literary worlds.

Overall rating: Not going to lie, I really enjoyed 'Throne of Glass.' There is a simplicity to this series (at least now) that I really enjoy. I think it helped that I had the background from 'Assassian's Blade' so I better understood Celaena as a character. I've seen some suggestions to read first, third, or fourth in the series depending on how much you already know. Reading first was the route I took - it's how my box set came - and it helped create that baseline of who Celaena is. I don't feel like 'Throne of Glass' was earth-shattering, I didn't throw the book across the room or feel like my heart was ripped out of my chest as I turned that last page, but I do feel like Maas did what she does best...build that magical world that we all want to dive right into. Looking forward to seeing the progression of characters and world in 'Crown of Midnight.'

Reader's Note: 'Throne of Glass' includes graphic depictions of death.

<b> Type of read: </b> Commuter Read.

<b> What made me pick it up: </b> One of the prompts for the TN R.E.A.D.s challenge is to read an alternative history novel and 'The Plot Against America' caught my eye.

<b> Overall rating: </b> Let's start out with the obvious - I had to keep reminding myself that 'The Plot Against America' is fiction. Roth writes it in such a way that you feel as though you're being retold something by your grandfather. This book has a beautifully bland recollection quality - almost as if you were sat down at Sunday supper with your family and suddenly found out that your grandfather has this whole other life that you never even knew about. The casualness is one of the things that makes 'The Plot Against America' seem scarily real.

I did find I had to do this book in chunks and couldn't take on super long marathon sessions; however, I think that was more because of the audio and how I take in tones (the narrator was fabulous but they had a tone and cadence that was very mellow and somewhat monotone - in the best sort of way - and that made it to where it was easier for me to zone out). Because of this, I wish the chapters were broken down into more manageable chunks, or there was more breathing room in the audio. I did listen to it at 1.25 speed, which isn't uncommon for me, and I still struggled to find natural pauses that didn't occur right at the chapter breaks.

'The Plot Against America' is an extremely slow-moving tale of what the world may have looked like if Charles A. Lindbergh defeated Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940. I do think Roth could have made their point, and their story, stronger with a bit of editing to remove a bit of the mundanity. 

Overall, I would recommend 'The Plot Against America' but with a few caveats due to the pacing and content of the book.

<b> Reader's Note: </b> 'The Plot Against America' includes themes of antisemitism, war, and prejudice. There is also some language that is used in the book that definitely fits the time and theme of 1940s America but that may not be as common or accepted with today's general audience.

<b> Type of read: </b> Commuter Read.

<b> What made me pick it up: </b> Disney + alternate ending = TBR. I've been wanting to start the Twisted Tales series and 'Go the Distance' was the first available at my library. 

<b> Overall rating: </b> Arrrrrggggghhhhh......I wanted to like this book but it just felt...forced. I felt like Calonita was trying to put in too many of the little quips and personality traits that make Meg who she is and it came off feeling forced, unnatural, and cheap. I'm usually not one to shy away from YA but this was the very Y side of YA. I'm still planning to read some others in the Twisted Tales series, especially since there are multiple authors that contribute, but I wasn't a huge fan of the way Calonita approached 'Go the Distance.' Loved the concept, loved that Meg got to be the star of the show, hated how it was done and how juvenile and whiny it came off.

<b> Reader's Note: </b>

<b> Type of read: </b> Weekend/Lunchtime Read.

<b> What made me pick it up: </b> BookTok made me do it, plus I read the first books in the series and 'Haunting...' ended on such a cliffhanger that it should be a crime.

<b> Overall rating: </b> The writing was better, the storyline was worse. I'm a little mad at myself for wasting time on this series. There were some laughs, not purposefully provided by the book but as a result of reading the literal character and narrative chaos that graced these pages, and for that, I'll give it a pass...but definitely not a recommendation. 

<b> Some thoughts while reading: </b>  <i> </i>

<i>-Maybe I'm just a pansy, but I truly don't believe you can kill that many people - and be open with others about killing that many people - and still be walking the streets. But what do I know, I'm not a magic hacker dude with a secret lair, a vendetta against literally everyone, and apparently millions of dollars to buy off the authorities because it's very clear I'm killing people for both my day job and in my spare time.</i>
<i>-I don't understand how people just all of the sudden be like 'Yeah, I'm totally ok with killing this guy.' Like how did Daya go from a voice of reason (somewhat, at least by this series' standards) to killing guys in Zade's basement? (Yes, I know trauma makes you do things, but dang.)</i>
<i>'Yo dawg, I thought you killed my dad, so I stole your girl and sold her to a sex ring. Oops! My bad.' WTF is this?!</i>
<i>-The next time something is wrong with me, I'm just going to cauterize the wound, because that will definitely keep me alive and 100% prevent more shock and blood loss.</i>
<i>-The writing (ahem, grammar) is better in this one versus both 'Satan's Affair' and 'Haunting...' but I can't tell if it's because I'm not listening to it as an audiobook so my brain is reading what it wants or what it thinks should be on the page versus what might actually be there.</i>
<i>-I think one of the things I struggle with in this entire series is the character development. We're given information about the characters and what they're doing or how they're acting towards other characters but then they blatantly do something that goes against their views and beliefs, or even just what would make them the most money/what they said was their end goal.</i>
<i>-There's so many holes in this storyline and the timing just doesn't make sense.</i>
<i> -Still confused on how the hell Zade has all this money; all of these safehouses; has saved over 100 people that he apparently still visits and has set up a whole network of community, training, and support for; is in his 30s; and just overall has maintained his secret identity. I know books don't always have to be realistic, but damn, this one is delusional.</i>
 <i>-53% done...WHY IS THIS BOOK DRAGGING ON SO MUCH!?!?!?!?!!</i>
<i>-Ok, so this is where reading 'Satan's Affair' gives you a tiny edge in understanding the characters of Hunting Adeline...not by much though.</i>
<i>-With 20% of the book left, I'm already over it.</i>

<b> Reader's Note: </b> As always, read your trigger warnings, friends. Carlton does us all a favor and outlines all of these at the beginning of the book but if you're participating in the audiobook version, make sure you know what you get into. 'Hunting Adeline' includes death, dying, torture, sexual assault including rape, stalking, weapon play, domestic and child abuse, talks of and critiques of mental illness, sex trafficking (child and adult), and non-consensual/dub consensual encounters.