If you read the first book and are wondering if you should bother continuing on with the series... FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY, DO IT! The twists and turns are subtle enough not to give you whiplash--no severe whiplash, at least--but not slow enough to make you lose interest. I've been losing some major sleep over this series. Though, I still have to admit the love triangle is still really creeping me out. (I know the fact that they're not [insert spoiler here] is kind of obvious, but the implication is making me shudder.)
After about forty to fifty pages of this book I had to put it down. I just couldn't go on. It was Jocelyn, Jocelyn, Jocelyn. I almost felt like I was reading a child's book; "See Jane run. Jane runs fast. See Jane sit. Jane's seat is comfy. Jane doesn't know how to throw in 'her mother' or 'she' until later on in the story." I went back to read it some months later, though.There's only two big things I need to say about this book as the synopsis given already is sufficient. The first being that I'm sick and tired of authors being afraid of conflict. It's straight cause and effect; I need this to happen so I'll throw in a sentence and BAM! it's true. This book was not nearly as bad as others I've read in the past year or two but it still made me all twitchy eyed. The other has to do with the ending. Don't worry, there's no spoilers but... c'mon! Way to nip a romantic triangle in the bud! I needed many, many showers to get the feeling of mental uncleanliness gone.
This book is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The writing style isn't for everyone but I absolutely loved it after I gave it a try. I love how all the stories come together and the ending is just spectacular. I wish the circus was real so I could be a rêveur.
I'm reviewing the entire series at once because I just can't bring myself to sit down and write three reviews for these. Not only because they don't deserve individual reviews but I feel the same way for all of them. I was really hesitant on reading these books. I was told that they were Twilight fan fiction so I was slightly intrigued and put off at the same time. Then a friend told me she had read a review saying something about it being a cake with too much icing, but ohhhh... the icing and, add the pressure of a handful of people telling me to read them, I caved. It also helps I was gifted the books because I don't think I'd have ever bought them.The writing "style" of this series I give half a star for because it was unbelievably painful. Not only did I feel like I was reading a story written by a middle school-er (because we all know middle school-ers know far too much about sex this day and age) but there were so many loose ends that were never tied up that I found myself completely exasperated. Whoever was in charge of editing this for her, if anyone, should be fired. I do however have to make a side comment about something that was said in the first book about utilizing a thesaurus during their email banter. It made me laugh hysterically because it was exactly what I had been thinking about the author herself.The story itself I give three stars for, because—while I was exhausted of the same inward thinking over and over again—it was going in a good direction. The characters actually do grow, though personally I couldn’t grasp that until after I finished reading and started thinking about what I wanted to say about it. It just seemed a little hard to grasp while being in the middle of reading it all. I believe that if E. L. James had taken a little more time, found a better editor, and had gone back and filled the holes that are rampant through the series that this would have been really, really good.Lastly, I’m bothered this was a Twilight fan fiction. I know that it was redone to technically not be (or so Wikipedia says), but it just screamed rip off in my eyes because of it. But that’s a personal issue.All in all, I’d read them again if I have nothing else sitting around to divulge my time, but I’m still glad I didn’t buy them and that I didn’t wait on the six month waiting queue from the library for them.
I'm reviewing the entire series at once because I just can't bring myself to sit down and write three reviews for these. Not only because they don't deserve individual reviews but I feel the same way for all of them. I was really hesitant on reading these books. I was told that they were Twilight fan fiction so I was slightly intrigued and put off at the same time. Then a friend told me she had read a review saying something about it being a cake with too much icing, but ohhhh... the icing and, add the pressure of a handful of people telling me to read them, I caved. It also helps I was gifted the books because I don't think I'd have ever bought them.The writing "style" of this series I give half a star for because it was unbelievably painful. Not only did I feel like I was reading a story written by a middle school-er (because we all know middle school-ers know far too much about sex this day and age) but there were so many loose ends that were never tied up that I found myself completely exasperated. Whoever was in charge of editing this for her, if anyone, should be fired. I do however have to make a side comment about something that was said in the first book about utilizing a thesaurus during their email banter. It made me laugh hysterically because it was exactly what I had been thinking about the author herself.The story itself I give three stars for, because—while I was exhausted of the same inward thinking over and over again—it was going in a good direction. The characters actually do grow, though personally I couldn’t grasp that until after I finished reading and started thinking about what I wanted to say about it. It just seemed a little hard to grasp while being in the middle of reading it all. I believe that if E. L. James had taken a little more time, found a better editor, and had gone back and filled the holes that are rampant through the series that this would have been really, really good.Lastly, I’m bothered this was a Twilight fan fiction. I know that it was redone to technically not be (or so Wikipedia says), but it just screamed rip off in my eyes because of it. But that’s a personal issue.All in all, I’d read them again if I have nothing else sitting around to divulge my time, but I’m still glad I didn’t buy them and that I didn’t wait on the six month waiting queue from the library for them.
I'm reviewing the entire series at once because I just can't bring myself to sit down and write three reviews for these. Not only because they don't deserve individual reviews but I feel the same way for all of them. I was really hesitant on reading these books. I was told that they were Twilight fan fiction so I was slightly intrigued and put off at the same time. Then a friend told me she had read a review saying something about it being a cake with too much icing, but ohhhh... the icing and, add the pressure of a handful of people telling me to read them, I caved. It also helps I was gifted the books because I don't think I'd have ever bought them.The writing "style" of this series I give half a star for because it was unbelievably painful. Not only did I feel like I was reading a story written by a middle school-er (because we all know middle school-ers know far too much about sex this day and age) but there were so many loose ends that were never tied up that I found myself completely exasperated. Whoever was in charge of editing this for her, if anyone, should be fired. I do however have to make a side comment about something that was said in the first book about utilizing a thesaurus during their email banter. It made me laugh hysterically because it was exactly what I had been thinking about the author herself.The story itself I give three stars for, because—while I was exhausted of the same inward thinking over and over again—it was going in a good direction. The characters actually do grow, though personally I couldn’t grasp that until after I finished reading and started thinking about what I wanted to say about it. It just seemed a little hard to grasp while being in the middle of reading it all. I believe that if E. L. James had taken a little more time, found a better editor, and had gone back and filled the holes that are rampant through the series that this would have been really, really good.Lastly, I’m bothered this was a Twilight fan fiction. I know that it was redone to technically not be (or so Wikipedia says), but it just screamed rip off in my eyes because of it. But that’s a personal issue.All in all, I’d read them again if I have nothing else sitting around to divulge my time, but I’m still glad I didn’t buy them and that I didn’t wait on the six month waiting queue from the library for them.
Ow. I think my IQ dropped with this book. I really wanted this book to be good. I really, really did. It took me far too long to read, considering the subject of the book and the addiction I have with it, but the writing just kept getting worse and worse. She kept jumping all over the place and, in the copy I bought from B&N, there were so many issues; i.e. words ending with "-ing" instead of "-ed", words missing such as "of" and "the". Where are the editors!? A few errors are acceptable but it seemed to be every other page I was stumbling through an issue.
I'm torn between giving this book a three and a five. A three because the writing gave me whiplash. It was like, "Oo, this would be good to throw in here! One horribly placed sentence will connect these thoughts! Awesome!" There was little depth in the characters, also. They were kind of blank slates with names and voices. After saying this, one has to wonder why I wanted to give it a five. This book is able to turn your mind to goo and suck you in like a train wreck. I barely got any sleep because I could not put this down, I was that entranced.
Pandemonium (Delirium Series #2)
Ahhhhhhh! Amazing. The back and forth made it hard to feel for the people in the "then" but still amazing.
It took me a while to decide what I wanted to rate this book. At first I wanted to give it 3 stars then 2 because of all the grammar issues, the plot holes, the contradictions, the horrible math at the end, etc. Why did I give it 4 stars, though? I really liked what Lauren Kate was trying to accomplish. I had theories all along about how this would end and was actually kind of happy when it came to that point and I was right... until the twist came and made me kind of happier. I haven't read fan fiction since high school, but if Lauren Kate doesn't provide another book like Fallen in Love to slightly continue the ending of this book, I might have to delve into it again. (So message me if you write a continuation fan fiction to this, please!)
Again, we can't give halves, but I felt a little better about bumping this one up to 4 stars. I felt like this book had a lot of promise. That is until I hit a certain chapter (that I won't say where it is but I'm sure you'll feel the same when you hit it.) I guess, the best way to explain is that I wasn't AS irritated about being strung along and getting little answers as I was in the second book. I heard the next book is the final book and I'm a little scared that we'll never know what ever really happened between them to make this all happen in the first place. I have to say, though, this book made me want to actually purchase the series instead of borrowing it from the library.
I really wanted to give this one 2 1/2 stars but we can't do halves. The entire time I was reading it I kept asking, "...and?". It was like a never ending filler. I never felt like anything was really connecting, like there was a huge amount of plot missing. I had to keep telling myself that it has to get better and then got caught up in wanting to know what happens in the end but was stuck with, "Yea... well... it's kind of like this but... ya know...".
The story itself I give 4 stars. The writing, however, I give 2 stars. So an overall 3 stars. I do, however, have to rant a little bit; "Mike" is a name, "mic" is short for microphone! All in all, if you can look over horrible writing and concentrate on the story, it's an okay book.
Seeing Redd (Looking Glass Wars Series #2)
I don't quite know where to start. While I praised the first book so much it has left me at a loss for words to explain how... mediocre this one was. The relationships are lacking so much. This was easily overlooked in the first book because they weren't as large a focal point as they are in this book which makes one wonder,"Why bother?" And the ending left me feeling like someone had ripped a digital page out of my ebook as a cruel joke to never let me know whatever became of Alyss, Dodge and the rest of the kingdom. In the end, this book left the empty taste of filler in me.
I really loved this book. I'm a little confused on why a world based on imagination has such unimaginative names, however. It was really fun piecing together everything that was 'distorted' in the story, as well.I highly recommend this for people who like Gregory Maguire (Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister, etc.)
