tori_storydelver's reviews
625 reviews

Definitely was better than most the Oz books, but I don't think any of them deserve more than 3 stars! just because it was better compared to the previous books in the series does not (1.) Make L. Frank Baum a better writer (2.) Mean this book Succeeded in holding a more complicated plot or (3.) mean he ended yet another book with an awfully convenient item that wraps everything up perfectly.

I couldn't help but think throughout this book that as a toddler I would have loved to hear this story read out loud to me. Baum's imagination outshines his writing skills by a lot. If you are looking for a nice, simple bedtime story to read to your children I couldn't recommend this series enough, but to anyone else it might just be a waste of time.

This book was not at all what I was expecting. I expected spells and rituals with lots of insight into herbs and their properties. Instead I got personal story after personal story. Not that that in itself is a horrible thing. In fact, I really liked some of the stories she shared with us. What was horrible was the organization of this book. spells and rituals scattered throughout it. The actual "Spells" section has very few spells in it. To top it all off there are many parts of this book where the title of that specific little story really has nothing to do with what the story is about. She gets a little off topic at times too.
In all it wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't wonderful either.

I feel like Stephen King's books are either going to be hit or miss with me. This one was absolutely a hit! I loved this story! Although I agree that it isn't very scary as a whole, there were a couple times my heart was pounding. I love the character Jack Torrance, it is a shame the movie version doesn't do him justice because it is one of my favorite parts of this book.

What can I say that hasn't already been said about this book? Nothing. So, I'll just have to talk about what everyone else already has said they love. This is the most beautifully written modern story I've ever read! Seriously, the prose is absolutely gorgeous, the book is worth reading on that note alone! I also really enjoyed going back and forth through time. I thought it really added suspense that the story needed to keep the readers captivated in the last third of the book. The perspective of a blind girl is brilliant, it really makes all your senses involved in the story and not just imagery. On top of all that, everything is stringed together in the end and not in a neat and convenient way that so many books do.

I really wanted to love this book. It is the first Dickens I've read and it has tons of 5 star reviews. I love classics, but this one just didn't impress me as much as it has most everyone else. I started listening to this as an audiobook and 2 hours into it I had to stop and restart it, because I thought that I surely had missed something. No, that is just how slow the beginning of this story is. It picks up from there, but this was the hardest book to get into . I loved the characters and the way you sympathize for both sides, although I'm worried a few characters are a bit forgettable. All the reveals near the end of the book made me appreciate this book as a whole. Ultimately, I liked the book and was glad I stuck through the beginning.

Why haven't I read this book sooner!? seriously this might be a new favorite! I don't know how the balance between the silly and the philosophical work, but believe me, they do.

I went into this book without having watched the movie or knowing anything about the story, which I think is the right way to read this book. So many of the other reviews seem to have a hard time separating Holly Golightly from Audrey Hepburn. While the movie (I now know) is a romance and portrays Holly as someone glamorous and likable, the book seems to be about a much darker side to this same character. Holly's life is not glamorous, sure she is a socialite, has beautiful clothes, and likes to discuss her preferences in jewelry. But she also is running from a bad past with seemingly no set destination in mind, which may be the reason she ends up with such bad company. I read this as a character study of a young adult who thought she knew what she wanted, but found out that that sort of lifestyle comes at a price, and that really a "normal, boring" lifestyle would offer her more personal freedom, if nothing else.

This was a very enjoyable read! I loved how everything was tied together and really appreciate Maggie Stiefvater's research into divination and all things witchy and magical that clearly went into this book. I didn't like all the characters, in fact our main character, Blue, was one of my least favorites. I found my favorite characters were Calla and Persephone who are largely side characters. I could relate with the friendship of Blue and "her boys" because I was the sole girl in my group of high school friends. That being said, I think there was way too much of a love interest built up way too soon. I really wish we could see Blue building a friendship with these boys without being romantically attracted to any of them. Ultimately, I gave this book four stars because the writing fell a little short. The story didn't flow as well as it should have, and time wasn't spent on certain parts of the book that really needed it. These things were not distracting while reading, but with such a great story behind it it's disappointing when there are pieces lacking that so clearly stick out.