stargrace's reviews
609 reviews

 A very interesting book that had a lot of informational facts that I didn't know. Alex Trebek led a fascinating life, and I loved the 'just an ordinary man' perspective that the book came from, but, while reading I personally found a lack of flow. It read like a book of disjointed facts that were about the same person but didn't really fit together. Each chapter was a 'fact' and some were explained in great detail and others left me wondering. The first half of the book read much different than the later half when he started talking about his career. It was probably on purpose, it almost felt like he was uncomfortable talking about himself (he states numerous times that the game should never be about the host) and he spends a lot of time paying homage to the wonderful contestants he had over the years. I feel like that could have probably been an entire book all in itself, and not in his autobiography where I was there to read about him. Still, the book was an enjoyable quick read and my first Canadian autobiography. 

Whhaaaaat did I even just read?!
Review to follow once I've digested.

You can read my review and others like it over on The Nomadic Reader:

Normally I take a bit of a break between series books, but I enjoyed the 1st book to the Blood and Ash series so much, that I immediately jumped into Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. Poppy has found out that everything in her life was a lie, including her love interest, Casteel Da'Neer.

Watching Poppy come to terms with all of the lies she has been told was a fantastic moment spread throughout the book, and showed her growth from the first book. She's strong, brave, and doesn't back down from what she believes in. I've finally found a character I can appreciate. I also have my moments of annoyance with Poppy. She repeats herself (and her thoughts) a lot, and portions of the book were a slow read. It built up though, and the final quarter was amazing and over before I knew it.

Kieran is probably one of my favourite characters, despite his smaller role. The bond he has with Casteel and his friendship with Poppy is beautifully written. I'm expecting more of this in the third book - the author is very obviously building up to a threesome, I'm just not sure when it's going to happen.

Keep in mind all of the triggers from the first book, because those haven't gone anywhere. There's a lot of violence, a lot of sex, and a lot of everything mixed together. I'm OK with it but you might not be, and that's OK too. 

 Note: The star rating is not for the story itself, or a reflection on her as a person. I did not enjoy the act of reading the book because of the layout / grammar / disjointed thoughts. Her situation is of course horrific, the author obviously went through some traumatic stuff that no one should have gone through. But it was a bad read. It was all over the place, and didn't flow. I felt like I was reading a high school student's diary - which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was awkward.

She came off as a spoiled immature spiteful entitled person. That was the view I got going in, and going out. She repeats over and over on all the monetary things she does for other people, and at one point even says she dreamed of her family to bowing to her because of what she had provided for them.

Yes, parts of her life have been unfair. Her family were not the best people. She never ever takes responsibility for any of her actions or reactions to these things, and constantly places the blame on what everyone else has done to her.

I'm of course, glad, that her life is finally her own - the conservator should have never ever been a thing. She is perfectly right in the fact that she shouldn't have been forced to perform for others while at the same time being told she was too sick to pick out her own food. That's pretty messed up.

The formatting (or lack there of) and grammar of the book were hard to digest, but I'm sure fans will appreciate its simplicity. It was insightful to hear things from her own perspective, and I hope it brought her a little bit of closure to get it out in the world. 

 I keep wavering over what to rate this, and there's one reason for it, really.

I loved the writing. I even loved the story.
What I didn't love, was afterwards, when I learned the true inspiration for the story, from the author himself. That, I really didn't love.

Others have already said it more clearly than I ever could, so I'm going to link to this reddit post that goes over the specifics of why I'm uncomfortable, and why despite having finished this book, and enjoying it, and the author's writing, I just can't give it the rating I thought it deserved, now that I have a better idea and a bit more education on the subject.

Reddit post explaining the 60's scoop in Canada, and branching into why it's bad that a non magical dude 'rescued' these children.