WHOA. DOUBLE REVIEW.

Since I have been completely and utterly lacking my writing of reviews- or any writing, for that matter- I have... A DOUBLE REVIEW.

EPIC.

Can I just say most unrelated cover ever?

So... This book was kinda meh. I enjoyed it, but it lacked a lot of what I think makes a good book- well developed characters, a good, intriguing, and unique *coughcough* plotline, and good writing. Sadly, this book only managed to be yet another cliche paranormal romances. At least I could get through it this time—unlike books such as Wicked Lovely or Twilight.

There are just some things I’d like to point out:

Grace was the good girl going against her brother. Thankfully, there was no love triangle. More of a Higher class - Lower class scenario, which was kinda annoying because you know that she somehow is gonna break the curve and they'll love each other forever more. Fun! I described her as “stupid and annoying”. In my terms, of course. Not that she’s actually stupid. She was the typical heroine of any YA paranormal romance novel- reckless, risk-taking, curious, clever, beautiful- hello, I’d like some flaws that aren’t the same five. Sheesh.

Daniel was boring. He was a super strong and fast guy- fun! It’s just like any other hot guy on the track team. And she said his voice is raspy—where’s the appeal in that? That’s not sexy. That’s strange. I don’t care how supermegaawesomefoxyhot he is; he’s not an interesting character! And isn’t that what really matters? DANIEL IS BORING. I need an actual bad boy. Like Puck, from Glee. He’s cute. :D Or like, Percy Jackson. He can be counted as a bad boy, right? He gets in trouble with the law and all that stuff. (Nah, I just wanted to include him in my list of fictional characters that I am irrationally in love with.) But you see my point. Daniel is the equivalent of Edward Sullen Cullen. He is a hot yet uninteresting young fellow. (And I mean uninteresting in a cliché sense- now, if he was real, then he’d be plenty interesting. But in paranormal romance novels? Yawn.)

Jude, however, is pretty boss. NOT. Even though he understands that Daniel isn’t a good person because he’s so boring He’s so stubborn. I hate characters like that. I know he’s a good person otherwise, but still. Stubborn characters are good, but “NO I’M RIGHT AND YOU’RE WRONG AND UGLY” characters are just stababble. (How would you spell that?) Just listen to what Grace is saying for a sec, would ya, Jude? It might reveal some very interesting things about your otherwise meaningless (in the smallest way, of course) life.

Sheesh, what a butt.

The mystery, however, was okay. I didn’t really guess who the killer was, because, to be truthful, I didn’t really care. Nor did I care that that (RED RIDING HOOD SPOILER!) the dad was the werewolf in Red Riding Hood. Hell, I just wanted those gummy worms my friend was holding! (Spoiler over.) I just thought the killer was an annoying freak who needed some chill pills. Just like my vice principal!

The whole Hound of Heaven thing was kind of a letdown (though “Hound” should’ve given it away—I wasn’t paying attention, okay?!). At first I was like, “YAY NO WEREWOLVES JUST PRETTY MAGICAL PEOPLE!” and then this is what happened:

Daniel: Hey Jenn! I’m really sexy and girls are attracted to me even though I’m probably the most boring guy you’ll ever meet in a novel.

Me: Get a life. And drink some water; your voice is weird.

Daniel: Oh, and I’m a sexy, sexy werewolf. I have a moonstone! It keeps the wolf at bay.

Me: I’m sorry, I lost you after “sexy”. Do you need a cough drop or something? Really, it’s no problem. I have lemon mint, chamomile, honey lemon, and plain cherry. I can go out and get some other stuff if you’d like. Here, you know what? Just take them all.

REALLY? Why can’t you just be a nice, simple warrior that occasionally gets power hungry instead of a WEREWOLF?

Is that so much to ask!?

I just want a good book.

And world peace.

Maybe a mint-chocolate chip ice cream on a waffle cone.

So would I read this again if I had the chance?

HECK YES. It’s like a bad romantic comedy (emphasis on bad)—addicting but very stupid.

(Note- the second book is actually a lot better.)

So yeah, read it if you want another paranormal romance. If not, read something else, like the Book Thief or Going Bovine. Or Harry Potter. Those are much better choices.

And if you do read it, I just have to advise you on one thing:

Bring cough drops.

My rating: 2 stars

 Oh, yes. Thank you for a book that is a thousand and six times better than the Dark Divine.

It was ‘cause of Talbot.

THANKS, TALBOT!

The plot was so much better. Now that party-pooper Jude is gone, Grace and Daniel can be together in all their boringness and the Divines are perfectly fine with that, so the whole hobo lovers thing is good. Yeah, whatever. Not as much romance! Which is pretty freaking awesome, seeing as a good book can have both a big super “THIS IS THE ACTUAL PLOT SO FOCUS ON THIS” plot and a smaller plot with a love triangle or something. So now, it’s kick-ass hobo hunting-

Oh, crap I wrote that wrong. Let’s try that again.

So now, it’s kick-ass monster hunting with Talbot! (That should be the name of a TV show.) He’s such a boss. The secrets and surprises in this plotline were much better, even if it was obvious that Talbot isn’t who he seems he is. Hot guys have flaws that aren’t always predicable. (BUT NOT DANIEL, APPARENTLY.) Well, Talbot is a bad guy. Let’s just say that; I won’t go any further into that. I love potential love interests who aren’t actually in love with you and then suddenly you’re in love. FUN FUN FUN.

Talbot is awesome, and I think he’s extremely hot (if you haven’t caught on already). He’s pretty much this new older guy that I wanna hug because he’s just so darn huggable. His story is amazing and the fact that he’s a bad guy falling for the good girl thing is just pretty darned awesome. It’s like the Lion King 2, just not nearly as awesome. (Except I don’t have my friend talking along with the video cassette in the background—YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.) He’s awesomesaucespectacular, funny, sarcastic, and very hot. *sizzle*

The new villains are actually bad! FINALLY. I was getting sick of first degree controversy. “Ms Grace Divine, you have been charged with loving someone you’re not allowed to.” Great. Daniel’s father wants to challenge Gabriel, Mr Peace Love Hippies, flight not fight, the beta of a powerful werewolf pack. Well, crap. Cuz Daniel’s dad (I’ll call him Greg) is totally gonna pwn him to pieces, and unless a true alpha shows, they’re pretty much screwed. (PLOTLINE! :D) These guys were villains that were just plain evil- until a lot of them sided with Daniel and Grace and turned boring (kidding. Kidding). The entire plot set up for the next book is revealed, and boy, is it intense, because…

Daniel, a true alpha, is now full wolf. Things just got really screwy. Now, I know this is just another plot twist and Daniel is going to turn back into a human if this series ever ends, but I actually did not see it coming, unlike starts with a T and ends with an –albot being part of Greg’s pack. (I can’t remember his name. Caleb? Abel? Cain? Joey? Let’s stick with Greg.) So after the Daniel/Greg fight, he’s pretty much screwed for life. Oh, Danny boy. You make me chuckle with your predictable transformation.

However….

Grace and Daniel are still as boring as ever. I have to admit though, Grace is better. Now that she's killing stuff, she seems like a much more interesting person, but it's getting really Buffy the Vampire-Slayer-y, and I don't even watch that show. But her training with Talbot is interesting enough. I also like how she was looking for Jude, but the fact that she went against Daniel was just annoying and cliche. "Bella! Don't drink that milk! You're lactose intolerant!"

Daniel, on the other hand, was just boring and overprotective as usual. Typical Edward Cullen. Please, paranormal romance authors. Can you please stick to your own plot? Or is the next book going to be about victor the evil werewolf?

But I still enjoyed the book. The Lost Saint was intriguing and I had a hard time putting it down at times-- I was hooked. I'd strongly recommend reading this series; it just keeps improving book by book. I've found a new guilty pleasure!

My rating: 4 stars

Flawless

*small spoilers from previous book and this book*

Wow, I really wish I could say that flawless was flawless, but alas, I cannot. Sadface. Although the plot and all the subplots with the different characters was really, amazing-- wren and Spencer made me wanna puke. Everyone else was okay, though.

I mean, seriously. Spencer is like my age and wren is like my grandpa. Excuse my exaggeration, but isn't wren technically a pedophile because of this...? Really. I'm just asking here. And they're not even cute together. There's really no spark between them besides how they like the same things. I like the same things as my friends, but that doesn't mean I watch kid shows while doing the horizontal naked dance with them.

Well, I actually do do that first part. But we've all watched Dora with our friends out of boredom and hate for Paula Dean... Y'all.

I'm sorry. I'm getting off track here. Anyways, and what bothered me most was that she did this after Melissa forgave her. Props to you, Melissa. And you suck, Spencer. Seriously. I may not hate you as much as Kate, but in this book, I detested you. But don't take it personally, really.

Besides that, though, flawless really was flawless. The struggles the other characters had to face really were believable.

Emily was just trying to figure out who she was and whether she was a lesbian or no. She was in that confused stage where she didn't know what to do. Oh, and along with that, her ex was trying to rape her. I don't know about you, but she's got it pretty tough. Although this plot was a bit different than what you may think is a relatable plot, it was pretty good. There needs to be at least one partially relatable and not cringeworthy part. Really.

Aria had a not so little secret, and it was spiraling out of control. I feel that Aria's problem was a huge problem that is easily related to things that we're going through- just on a much bigger scale. And as I said before in my other review, all Shepard does is blow it up to full scale and wraps it into words. Again, this is so effing real. I love it.

And last... Hanna. again, she's struggling to be perfect again. But this time, she's being compared to little miss amazing Kate. Well, crap now. Again, Shepard just brings this to life. and oh, Kate is such a bitch. Really. She is that character that I really just want to kill then bring back to life then kill again. *revs up chainsaw* a dead Kate is a happy Jenn! Oh, and I don't really hate Hanna anymore. :P so much pity.

Toby was seriously an amazing new character introduced. It was kinda awkward as to what he did to Jenna back in the good ol' days (here's a secret- when I say that, I don’t know the actual year. ;D) and he was hot. Don’t forget that. Yes, he was very hot. And right until the very end of his life, sara Shepard just brought it alive. I've said that a lot, but it's true. 100% true and amazing. This also ties in with the Jenna Thing which, too, was just epic.

This is not your normal young adult novel. This is epicsauce in a can.

The Pretty Little Liars series is really something. So grab he first book before I stab you or something. 

 

My rating: 4 stars

Pretty Little Liars

*small spoilers*

After months of waiting for my friend to lend me her book, she finally gave me Pretty Little Liars. Hurrah! Screw her brother’s girlfriend who took the book for like, ever. I could not put down this book. It was intriguing, the voice and descriptions were vivid, and I just flat out loved it like an American loves (or despises) McDonalds. Okay. That was a bad analogy. Seriously. I can’t explain how good of a book this is: it really portrays the anguish and confusion some of them are going through- a lot better than other YA books, no doubt about it. Only a few things bothered me.

The relationships were bothersome. Aria and Ezra were cute together, but illegal. The same with Spencer and Wren. (By the way- that’s such a pretty name. I don’t think a guy should have that name. It’s weird. I thought they should switch names. That would totally work.) Emily being a lesbian was okay- you need at least one unique one. And Hanna was just a bitch to Sean, aka what’s-his-insignificant-virgin-face.

She was also a bitch to her mom. Nuff said right there.

But on the bright side, the plotlines were pretty good, aside from the relationships.

Hanna’s problems as a pre-teen were great for the plot. Feeling imperfect is something teens can relate to today, seeing someone more beautiful and perfect than you is definitely something teens can relate to. Shepard really made Hanna’s pain real and strong, putting it into words. And that’s when she started becoming bulimic.

This part of the plot was just amazing. I feel sympathy for her, even though she is a bitch.

I enjoyed reading about Aria and her complete awkwardness between her and Ezra. I’m a sadist at times. Though I said the relationships weren’t my favorite part, they were completely bad. Just bad. And weird. I don’t know why I liked this Ezra/Aria relationship so much (though I’m totally against this dating a minor thing). Also, Aria was trying to find herself throughout the entire book, seeing as Icelandic Aria was basically a façade. Oh, and her parents. That’s another amazing plotline Shepard just throws in there.

Wow, and I thought YA books were supposed to be about drinking!

Emily is going through this awkward stage where she doesn’t know anything about whether things are love or lust, whether her emotions are true or not. But most of the time, it’s TRUE LOVEEEEE. Oh boy. Or girl. Excitement! But with Emily, Shepard really does put some thought into this instead of “OMG I LUV U SOOOO MUCH Y RN’T U ANSRING UR FONE DONT U LUV MEEE :’(“ Emily really is feeling some conflicting emotions. Yay, no more fake teen drama!

Spencer is falling for her sister’s British, hot, and BRITISH boyfriend with the name of a prissy girl and is trying to stay true to her academics. In the end, she makes out with him naked and her family hates her and wants her to burn in hell.

Call me selfish, but I think this is a pretty good start for a good plotline.

And finally, the main plot is so unique and spectacular. It’s truly a marvel. I mean, we have pregnancy, suicide, and anorexia… but it’s all been done. But your friend haunting you with things that happened years ago?

And your friend is dead- don’t forget that.

This is a new, amazing idea. It’s new, fresh, and Sara Shepard is pulling it off almost perfectly.

Pretty Little Liars was truly an amazing book. Thief girl will most definitely be reading the next few books. And if they’re not good, who cares? It’s a guilty pleasure.

Shepard mixed up intrigue, romance, mystery, murder, hate, revenge, and memories into a big batter of amazingness. And what have we here?

Oh, it’s just the book.

So.

Frigging.

Epic.

My rating: 4 stars

After

I don’t know why, but I actually enjoyed After. Although it wasn’t enough for me to run to the book as soon as I got home, it was enjoyable enough. When I read it during the free periods that I had during school, I was constantly intrigued, reading at least 50 pages per sitting. After captured the confusion and distress of Devon amazingly, and I was totally feeling everything that Devon was feeling, there! Seriously. Only a few flaws were screaming in my face. And my face is so delicate, you see.

The names were SO STUPID. Devon Davenport. Come on. No one likes a name with alliteration. And Dom? DOM!? What person would call them DOM? Really, now. It’s a weird name that isn’t pretty, like a weird name like Sapphire or something. Actually, no, I don’t really like that name, either. And the worst part? DR BACON. Who the heck would have the last name Bacon? I would totally think that if your surname is Bacon then you’re the awesomest person like, ever, but in a book? No way. That’s weird. I get witty last names, but not random last names. My vision- Amy Efaw, at the kitchen table, nomming on her bacon. “Hey, I’ll name the doctor Dr Bacon! What a splendid idea!” Is that a cruel joke? Bacon is yummy goodness in a crispy strip, not a doctor. Just saying.

Capitalization of certain words was a little weird. It bothered me. I get that Efaw was trying to emphasis on the words, but it was just… meh. That’s a good word. I really don’t like that writing technique unless it’s a proper noun. I’ve used it, I admit. But it was in a completely different way- it was a group. I didn’t like it, either, but I lack creativity in names. I’m probably naming my child Reginald, whether it’s a girl or a boy. Or like, Naomi. Anyways. I like it when it’s an actual proper noun, not just That Night. :\ I feel completely hypocritical here, but it’s just so frigging annoying at times.

But on the other hand…

The characters were so real. As I said before, Efaw really portrayed Devon’s desperation and confusion well. I could really feel all the conflicting emotions even though Devon is just a character. Also, Karma was a really unique yet believable character. I know people that cut, and Karma was just another one of them- confused and hurt with conflicting emotions all raging in her head. It’s all really just a different way of expressing it.

The use of poetry was really amazing. Emotion was all jumbled up into those half page pieces, wrapped together by words. I really loved all the poems, and though I used to love poetry, it usually doesn’t affect me as much as writing does.

After was the exception.

Devon finally “freeing herself” was, I must admit, corny, but it showed character growth. At first, she was lying to herself about what was happening: pregnancy, jail, the lawsuit, but in the end, Devon really knew what was happening and I, for one, was surprised. I thought it would end like any other YA novel: she’s home free and meets her new, better, and sexier Prince Charming! Uh, no thanks! I want that to happen to me, not them. Not to be selfish or anything. But it’s so cliché. And I already got T-Swizzles. Thanks, though.

So yeah. I would recommend to any girl (or guy… o_o) who is a fan of YA. After is a book I soon will not forget. Or however it goes.

My rating: 4 stars

The Bell Jar

So this post took a while for me to dig up from the recesses of my mind drawer in my room, but I've found it. I've really found it. The Bell Jar, a classic coming of age novel, was a recent read for Jenn here.

What can I say? I was pretty surprised.

Not pleasantly, though.

I was pretty excited when I started reading this- oh boy, insanity and suicide!

Not really. But I was still excited. However, in the end, I had some mixed feelings about this novel.

While The Bell Jar had an amazing voice (in writing terms, of course. No, it just started talking out loud- yeah, that’s what happe...more 

The Bell Jar, a classic coming of age novel, was a recent read for Jenn here.

What can I say? I was pretty surprised.

Not pleasantly, though.

I was pretty excited when I started reading this- oh boy, insanity and suicide!

Not really. But I was still excited. However, in the end, I had some mixed feelings about this novel.

While The Bell Jar had an amazing voice (in writing terms, of course. No, it just started talking out loud- yeah, that’s what happened) and amazing characters and metaphors, I just… didn’t feel that extra something, the special something that appears in some other books that I love.

It was a good book, but I’ll start with the cons so this review finishes on a good note.

It was immensely confusing. Sylvia Plath put a little bit too many flashbacks in there, making the reader (aka moi) confused as to whether things were happening just then. A present tense narrative could’ve helped, but I don’t think that it would have captured Esther’s struggle as well.

It was a bit slow for my taste. It never seemed to really get any further, while it actually did. But I found it hard to get through, like I was a tomato and trying to get through Jell-O.

That’s right.

Tomatoes are inanimate.

Sex always bothers me. Sure, I can have a non-awkward conversation about the topic-

HAH.

Who am I kidding?

Sex is NOT the easiest subject to write about or read about, and yet authors back then used it ever so lightly. Life isn’t like this, authors:

Person 1: Hey, I had sex last night.

Person 2: So did I!

Person 1: What a small world.

Okay. That’s a really bad example. I don’t even think that’s a bad example. It’s more like a bad roleplay. Like It’s a Small World meets Jersey Shore. *shudders*

It’s a seriously recurring theme in adult and young adult (seriously, aren’t they called young adult for a reason? Does every other teenager go out and have sex on Friday nights or is that just in books and TV shows?)

It’s disgusting, dirty, and cliché. Can’t we just have one book without sex? Look at Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and Hunger Games, teaching abstinence everywhere. When Harry was having that urge, he just talked about Ginny’s nice skin and hair, no problem!

Anyways, the Bell Jar did not make me very happy in the area of coverage. And just when I started to have hope- the first adult book I had ever read without sex! Oh, boy oh boy!

Okay, now onto the good things.

Sylvia Plath put some amazing metaphors in this. The fig tree, the bell jar- and they all fit perfectly, unlike jeans I try on. Curse you for not taking short people into account. -.- anyways, this was also part of Sylvia Plath amazingly epicsauce writing style, which was so... I don't know. Lyrical? Flowing? Puncturing? It doesn't matter, but just the way Plath wrote was beautiful in its own way. So kudos to you.

Would I recommend this book?

Certainly.

Would I skip over the sex parts?

Um… YES.

So go on, rip those pages out and read, my friend!

My rating: 4 stars

Angel

Yay, another book! I actually recently finished After and still have yet to review The Bell Jar (or more, type it up). But here's Angel. :D

{Before reading review}

No.
 
I will NOT let myself get excited for these books, ever again.
Okay, this is completely stupid. Angel? The frigging six year old that betrayed them like a bajillion times? (So, maybe it was about 6, but whatever; I've never been able to count.)

Really, James Patterson? Are you seriously going to let Angel, a mastermind six year old that can F*CKING KILL THE REST OF THE FLOCK JOIN THE FLOCK AGAIN?

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

Ugh. All this series has done is gone downhill, and I have not been happy with it, at all. Nothing that the flock does makes sense anymore. Hell, FANG was:

"Oh, Fang, I wuff you!"

"I wuff you, too, Max!"

"Let's make out!"

"No, I have to go. Go make out with Dylan."

"But I don't like Dylan! FANNNNG!"

Oh, yeah, and Angel betrays them. Again.

I don't think the book can get any more meaningless, but I'm not counting on it.

I mean, why couldn't James Patterson just stop after he wrote the third book? Everyone loved the first part of the Maximum Ride series; but there are only few who really love it now.

And yet, this series is so addicting. I hate it now, but it's SO ADDICTING THAT I JUST HAVE TO READ THE NEXT BOOK.

Meh.

{After reading review}

I was wrong. So wrong.

Angel was a lot better than I expected it to be. No joke. I expected terrible crapola but instead, I received puppies and unicorns.

Not really. But I still got happiness.

I was completely intrigued. I didn’t want to put it down, and if I hadn’t had a volleyball tournament today and Daylight Savings ending yesterday, I would’ve finished it in a matter of hours.

Unfortunately, Jenn here still needed her WTF stickies.

On the bright side, Jenn only needed 11. 11! And like four of them were examples of the same thing.

Is this amazing?

Screw yes, it is!

But just so you guys are left on a happy note, I’ll say the cons first, most of which relate to Angel. Of course.

Minor spoilers

Max is always on Angel’s side. She thinks that Angel deserves a second chance, blah blah blah blah blah. Dude, the girl tried to take over the flock! She’s betrayed you over and over and over again! And you just go, “Aw, she’s so cute. Let’s forgive her again so she can just hurt us more or whatever.” In the end, Angel sorta saves them, but hey, whatever. The little freak gets what she deserves.

Angel acts like a little know-it-all. She’s a little too perfect right now. She knows Max, she comforts her, and another thing: her vocabulary is like, huge. For a seven year old. Dude, when I was seven, I was running around the playground pretending I was a Powerpuff girl. And writing short stories. But that doesn’t really count, because they were about unicorns named Ruby. (No, I’m not kidding. I’ll upload the manuscript if you want.) And did I mention that her vocabulary is HUGE? She talks like Max. And Max talks sort of normally, though I have been noticing that she’s been eating thesauruses in her free time.

They’re not fugitives anymore. That seriously bothered me. Max has a cell phone and everything, and I’m thinking, “What? What happened to ‘Let’s not bother anyone in case we really need to and stay under the radar instead of shaking a tambourine and going “Come on! Watch us do stuff!” Whoopee!’” (That’s a lot of quotation marks. But you get the point.) I seriously miss that. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I don’t like the new “LET’S SAVE THE WORLD AND PRANCE IN FLOWERS!” thing. And Fang’s blog is just a part of that. I questioned this, but never too much when I read the first few books: A BLOG? REALLY? WHAT. THE. HECK.

Bye-bye old villains and global-freaking-warming, hello Doomsday Group.

‘Nuff said.

Dylan. Again: ‘Nuff said.

(Because you know Fang is sexier.)

PROS

The Flock is still hilarious as ever. Max, however broken and idiotic she is, is still her old, sarcastic self, Iggy is so hot as awesome as ever, and Total is still his epic self. So things really haven’t changed that much. :D

The Doomsday Group is a lot better than the other villains. Seriously. These people want the human race to die! Kaboom, all that stuff! It’s better than people killing Max Ride and her gang. Because really, that just gets boring after a while. The end was completely thrilling with all of the intense action and roundhouse kicking and Chuck Norris training videos and intensity and roundhouse kicking and action and I feel like I’m repeating myself. I’m not gonna spoil it too much, so I’m just gonna say that it. Was. Awesome.

The love triangle isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Max is indecisive, but Fang has run away with Maya!

NOT MAYA!

And so the screaming continues.

Did I mention that I love this?

Angel finally isn’t being a butthead. She’s basically sacrificed herself so she could save the whole freaking world. That’s gotta count for something, right?

Right?

And so has Gazzy. But he lives, so that’s not as much awesomeness. But he’s still epicsauce, I have to tell you that.

And some other notes:

-The DG was like CESSNAB from Going Bovine.

-This was a bit similar to SWOES. Not that that’s bad or anything.

-Max/Maya was totally Fringe. Just saying.

(OMG, PETER JUST HAD SEX WITH FAUXLIVIA)

-James Patterson is… weird. It’s nothing wrong with the book- definitely not with the book. It’s scary. He portrays a teenage girl almost… well, perfectly. And no offense, but he’s a lot older than Max and yet he shows her feelings about Fang and Dylan really, really realistically. In the way that it’s not realistic, but like a girl. If you know what I mean. O_o It’s creepy. Creepy, I tell you.

-So what IS Max's hair color?

-WHY DIDN’T IGGY AND GAZZY BLOW ANYTHING UP?

Spoilers over

So in the end, did I love the book?

Sorta.

Did I hate it?

No way, Jose. (Or whatever your name is.)

I liked it- that’s definitely true. And I would definitely recommend it; just skip the fourth, fifth, and sixth book.

Happy reading!

My rating: 3 stars

13 Reasons Why

NOTE: I still have to review The Bell Jar, which I had finished earlier last week. Silly Jenn!

There are 13 tapes.

There are 13 reasons for Hannah Baker's suicide.

My expression when I found that out: Whoa.

I basically sped through this book the way Clay listened to those tapes, only taking a break every once in a while. What can I say? The author has an amazing way of writing. I’m pretty sure that he captured the essence of a girl that was feeling so much stress and pain perfectly.

I might as well start with the good things, because you know. There always have to be bad things unless it’s Harry Potter. But that’s the only exception, I swear.

The writing style was amazing. As I said before, it captured the essence of a suicidal girl. The author could write like how a teenage girl would speak. And a literate teenage girl, thank god. He captured all of the spite and hate and wistfulness that Hannah must have felt, all the regret and tears that she had been through. I think this was one of the reasons I was completely hooked onto this book.

The plotline was a lot different than your usual suicide books. Usually, it’s a close friend or a sibling or a significant other of the suicidal character mourning and slowly recovering. Come on, you know we’ve all read those books. But in 13 Reasons Why, you hear Hannah instead of the speculation that comes from all of the other characters. You know, the hate and pain and all that crap that you have to read about over and over if you’re a book fanatic like I am.

Now, onto the bad things. :\

The scenarios were a bit… unrealistic. Not like all the touchy-feely stuff, no, not that. That definitely will happen to someone in their life. I have to admit, all of the bad things that were piled onto Hannah were awfully realistic. Friends come and go and perverts will be there. Of course. But you’re not gonna have people perving on you with crappy friends and everything, all in less than two or three years. It just seems a bit unrealistic, if you ask me.

The formatting bothered me. It constantly switched from regular font to italics, italics italics italics. It was easy to know whether Clay or Hannah was talking, but still, it bothered me a lot. It’s nothing terrible, but I don’t know, I guess I’m just an easily bothered person. :P But I don’t know, I guess it was the most convenient way to do it.

Also, suicide is kind of a common topic. In Chasing Brooklyn, Gabe committed suicide. It has to happen in every other book I read. It's so... cliche nowadays.

Authors of the world: Imagination is endless. SO STOP WRITING ABOUT SUICIDE. I'm bored of it.

Okay, so that’s about it. I would highly recommend this book. It’s a fast read, and I’m sure you’ll get through it as quickly as I did, too, so you won’t have to go through the torture of reading a terrible book really slowly. Yay, books!

My rating: 4 stars
  
Five books read, fifty-five to go. 

Jenn wins?

Not really.