Category: Reviews

Alright, halfway done with my book revie—oh, hey guys! ummm…what are you doing here? Oh, riiiggghht, you’re here for the review; ofc, I’m so stupid! Anyway, let’s get started, I’m sure you didn’t see what I was writing *awkward laugh*

Okay, so, as I’m sure by the title, you already know what this review is about: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I read this about three weeks ago and finished it about a week ago, so not my best length of reading, but I was busy, okay! I’ve been traveling the whole summer, and I’m going to be taking three AP courses this year, so I’ve been preparing for school as much as I can.

Back, to the review, this book was probably the most confudling, confusing book I’ve ever read. It was super difficult to decipher the hidden layers and the general story just jumped around so quickly that I struggled to understand anything. I didn’t even know until I was about halfway through the book and my grandfather told me that Vonnegut had been a veteran in WWII that S5 was even about him! To be sure, it made a lot more sense once I knew that information, but I still had trouble deciphering it. I think this would have been easier and better to read in class with my ELA teacher and to slow down while reading it (even though I was going abominably slow, I know).

I can’t really do a normal overview because I had such trouble understanding the book, and I’m going to probably re-read it again later in life. But, I can tell you what I do know and test my comprehension. So, basically, the book begins with what I presumed to be first-person narration, with Vonnegut as the voice. He talks about his experience coming back from the war and acclimating to regular life. He also talks about his goal to write a book about his experience in the war. Eventually, we get to a point where it seems the narration shifts to talking in the third person about a person called Billy Pilgrim, often referred to by that full name. It isn’t immediately clear that this shift is into the very book that Vonnegut describes wanting to write. Billy Pilgrim we follow through his odd and roundabout life, one part of which is that he time travels within his memories. Yeah, Billy’s pretty cool—he also is friends with some aliens. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s way wack. Anyway, Billy was also in the war, and his story sometimes seems to cross with Vonnegut’s, seeming to reflect Vonnegut’s own life story, though way more cool than Vonnegut’s life. I think the best way to sum it up is that Billy Pilgrim is Vonnegut’s cooler, celebrity version.

Wow, okay, that was a pretty good explanation, and I think I said everything well. Huh, I surprised myself with how well I did. Anyway, that was the overview I could generally understand, and I have a strong suspicion that, upon re-reading, I’ll be able to glean a good amount more, especially if I let some time pass.

Age: 14+

Genre: Semi-autobiographical, fiction, historical fiction, dark comedy

My Rating: 7/10

Hey, guys, sorry for not posting in a while, I finished Passing a while back but was wrapped up in my summer travels and couldn’t find the time to write this review. I have another review coming shortly, as well as a summer review post. Also, hold tf up, cause about two hours ago, Tay announced The Eras Tour movie, and my sanity has been unstable ever since!! I’m literally so excited and glad that all our clowning was not in vain. Plus, I think the movie was filmed on the night I attended TET (yeah, I got tickets back in December and sometimes my brain just goes !!!! from that night), so I’ll be famous *mwah*

Anyway, enough about that, I’ll include my summer Tay activity in the summer post coming soon. For now, let’s talk about Passing, besties. To be honest, this book was not my absolute favorite. I liked it well enough, and there were certain parts that were gorgeous and just touched my nerves, but all in all, I wouldn’t say it was my favorite summer read—I’d say that was Emma (it just got me, y’know, and was a happy place).

I read Passing about a month ago, and I liked that it was a shorter read (around 150 pages), and the story was great. I actually watched the movie (I didn’t know it was a book too, don’t kill me!) before I read it, and found that I like the movie better now than the book. It was beautifully done.

Wait, I’m like 100% getting ahead of myself—let me back up and give y’all an overview of the book. So, Passing is set in the 1920s/30s and focuses on a woman called Irene Redfield. We meet Irene as a middle-aged woman, married, and with two kids, though none of that is the center of the story. No, the story centers around the melting of something in Irene’s past—an old friendship unexpectedly rekindled and the dangerous implications of it. Irene unexpectedly reunites with her childhood friend Claire, who is “passing” for white. “Passing” was one of the aspects of the book that really drew me in, and it’s explained in the book as being relatively common for lighter-skinned black people. Both Irene and Claire are light-skinned, though only Claire is “passing”—she’s married to a racist white man. The book follows Irene’s feelings as she and Claire grow acquainted again after all these years, and how different the two women are.

Some things I liked about the book: 1. The concept of “passing,” as I stated above. I read The Vanishing Half a few years ago and absolutely loved it. It was the first introduction I had to passing, and I was fascinated by it. So, that was one of the reasons that compelled me to pick up Passing, though I was a bit disappointed by the lack of content on passing itself. The story focuses more on who the two women are themselves, not exactly the implications of their differing races, though that does play an important role in the end…

2. Claire’s husband. This wasn’t exactly something I liked, but it did create a feeling of fear I’ve never come across in a book. Books don’t usually make me feel afraid, but this character certainly struck that in me. Just wait ’til you read it and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Irene’s emotional reaction to meeting him = intense.

So, yeah, like I said, this book wasn’t especially jaw-dropping to me and didn’t strike an intense emotional cord in me, though I could tell that was what it intended (especially the raw ending). But, no flack to Larsen, I didn’t feel those intended emotions. I liked those certain parts, and I’m glad I read it, but I wouldn’t rank it as a favorite.

Age: 12+

Genre: Historical fiction

Rating: 5/10

Well, this was certainly a deviation from my usual reads, and I had a feeling of being posh and academic when I was reading it. I had to look up so many words I lost track while reading this book, and I am certain that if I had been older I would have understood much more of this book. But, that’s not to say I wouldn’t recommend it to my peers; I just think they should analyze it deeper than other books.

The drama, the tension, the existentialism—everything felt like dark academia. This is cool because I’ve never really read dark academia before. I did read If We Were Villains, which felt very similar to this, but I like that my taste is expanding. I’m very new to the genre, so comment if I’m using it incorrectly, but I’m starting to be interested in dark academia. Admittedly, I haven’t read any light academia, so I may also be interested in that. Also, comment down below with light academia recommendations!

I recently read something somewhere (haha) that said that you should look for books that you feel inside yourself, to paraphrase. I definitely don’t always follow this, as I’ve read a lot of classics simply because I felt I needed to, not because they made me feel something. But, it’s absolutely super important to look for those books, whatever they may be. For me, I think the books I feel inside myself are romance books, which isn’t something I’m ashamed of. The most prominent one that’s coming to mind is Beach Read, which still has a chokehold on my heart—that book ruined my life, I swear. Still, I felt it inside myself, so that’s all that matters.

The point I’m trying to get at is that I’m starting to feel dark/light academia books inside myself as well (again, new to the genre so help me out!). I’d love to explore it more and get super emo, so I’m going to look for more books in the genre. Always good to explore things you’re interested in.

There was a lot going on in this book, some of which were mildly disturbing, but also some weird plot choices. I didn’t fully understand the ending, and I also thought it could have been shorter (did I really have to read 600 pages for all that?). But, all in all, it was definitely an educating and cool book, especially the class parts with Greek and philosophy. Sorry for not including more specific examples of things that stood out to me, but I don’t want to give any spoilers. Just know, I do recommend this book, though it is for someone who enjoys the genre of dark academia fiction. It wasn’t a soul-crushing, spellbinding book that captured me like no other, but, to be honest, sometimes that’s not what I want to read; sometimes I want an interesting, intriguing book.

Age: 15+

Genre: dark academia, fiction

Rating: 7.5/10

Hey all! I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, so not reading as voraciously as usual, but I did manage to read Normal People by Sally Rooney. I wanted to post another review so I can keep up with my goal of posting regularly! To be honest, I didn’t entirely love this book, but that might be explained by the fact that I would absolutely not recommend this book to any of my peers—it was a bit past my age group!

In the simplest of terms, I did have a few reasons for disliking the book, but there was a certain aspect of it that drew me in; it was the story of messing things up in your love life royally and still having love and possibility in your life. I feel like a lot of the books I read, stories I am told, or songs I listen to are about either the romantic idea of a soulmate or being in love with the absolute right person immediately in your life without messing anything up. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea that there is a soulmate out there for me, and think if you find your soulmate, you are the luckiest person ever. But, if we strip away everything and face the real, cold world, it’s hard for me to say that I’m going to find my soulmate immediately and not going to fall in love with the wrong person or get my heart broken. I can’t just wait around for my soulmate—that’s not how it works, I have to be kidnapped by a handsome fae—and if I do I’ll miss out on all the real, ugly parts of love in the real, hard world. I know that sounds scary, but I feel like I want to have that pain so I can finally understand those feelings I hear in books.

Normal People was beautiful in that it showed two real people living in the real world and falling in love with the wrong people, making mistakes, and generally messing everything up—they didn’t cling to finding the “one” but allowed themselves to experience all the pain of doing things wrong. I liked reading this book because it reflected how I’ve been trying to synthesize the love I see in books and the love I want to have in the real world. What the characters go through is messy, difficult, and full of mistakes, but those are all part of real life and I liked that Sally Rooney didn’t shield me like other authors had.

This is getting far more honest than I imagined, but I would like to say that I do love a bit of shielding now and then; the world is cruel and love is scarce, so it’s nice to escape to a perfect world of perfect love stories. But, as I’m growing up, I guess I do want to know what’s waiting in store for me and have my shelter taken down a little bit. I have enough armor that it doesn’t hurt to realize that I’m going to make mistakes in love, hurt or be hurt by people, and most probably fail completely. I applaud and thank Normal People for making me feel that it’s okay to make those mistakes. For a moment there, reading fantasy and romance books, I was getting deluded by the idea that my love life would be a perfect 200-300 page book with a wonderful, picturesque love, so it was refreshing in a weird way to get grounded in the real and surprisingly not-scary world by Normal People.

For everything else, I didn’t really enjoy the book. As I said, I would have been fine reading it a bit later than I did, as well as maybe discussing it with someone—you guys don’t count! So, I do advise all of you to evaluate honestly whether you want to read it and I’d love to know your thoughts as well; I think it’s a very thought-provoking and dividing book.

Genre: fiction

Age: 16+

Rating: 5/10

I’m pretty ashamed of how long it’s been since I posted a review, but I have some valid explanations I think I should tell you guys. Firstly, as I stated in my most recent post, I’ve been prepping for my AP exam these past two months, leaving little time for recreational reading. Secondly, even when I have found time to read, I haven’t found a book that’s really captured my interest. For a while, I was in a bit of a reading slump, then I saw that my sister purchased the second TOG book on Kindle, so I did finally had something good to read, but you guys know how much I hate reading on Kindle. So safe to say, my inner book nerd has been starved of good fantasy and romance for too long.

That is until my mom managed to get a copy of Six of Crows about a month ago, when, like always (I think I’m seeing a theme), my sister snatched it right up. To be fair, I’d already read it and she was leaving soon and didn’t want to have to bring it with her. But, still, come on?! She didn’t even give me a chance!

Anyway, after she was done with it, I finally got to dive back into the Grishaverse, one of my absolute favorite book worlds, apart from the ACOTAR universe. I highly recommend Leigh Bardugo’s books because they’re generally geared toward a younger audience than me, and Shadow and Bone is a great introductory to fiction that makes you fall immediately in love with the genre. I was so ecstatic to get a real copy of SOC because I’d only read a borrowed version, but also because I’ve recently finished the second season of Shadow and Bone! If you guys haven’t seen it, GO WATCH IT NOW!!! It is 100% the best book-to-screen adaptation I’ve ever seen, hands down. And, the crows are in it, so: AGHGHHGH!

So, I had a lot of the show’s visuals fresh in my mind when I read SOC, which made it so enjoyable—highly recommend. The book is just fantasy perfection: worldbuilding (check), romance—but not overt and plot-driving—(check), found-family (check). Also, it’s one of the only fantasy books I’ve ever read that isn’t based around a “chosen one” plotline. What I mean is that a lot of fantasy books have an MC that has a special power/mysterious fate/dark past, but SOC isn’t like that at all. It’s about a group of teenage criminals, none of them supernatural, who manage to pull off a never-been-done-before heist. SOC really introduced me to that narrative style, and I definitely feel that it’s one of my favorites; there’s just something about feeling like the MC could actually be you and isn’t some far-fetched person you can’t relate to.

This book is just perfection and was exactly what I needed to get out of my reading slump and give my book-loving soul a balanced meal. Granted, I didn’t finish it immediately—I’m still doing school, so it’s not like I don’t have any responsibilities—but I still loved every minute of escaping into my room and curling up with that beautiful cover and one of my all-time fave books.

Genre: fantasy, Y/A

Age: 11/12+

Rating: 9/10

I’ve been waiting for this one! Bring the beat in, indeed, Queen Bey! I swear I’ve been wanting to read Throne of Glass since I found out that SJM had another fantasy series apart from ACOTAR. And, I know, my ratings and opinions on it may be controversial, but everyone is allowed to have an opinion—especially me—and we are all equal here.

I absolutely loved ACOTAR. Hands down. No questions asked. It had been on my list for a while, but then I found a used copy of the first book and absolutely needed the get the rest. I have been nonstop thinking about it since, like, November, when I read it! That’s how much I love this series and these characters. I’ll say it: Feysand is 100% my OTP!

So, when I heard that SJM had another series, I was excited, but not certain that I would love it. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely loved ACOTAR and SJM enough to try Throne of Glass, but I wasn’t positive I’d love it. I’ve read stuff from authors that I loved, then tried other books from them and not loved them at all; in my opinion, it’s a hit-and-miss.

But, I definitely wanted to try it, and I saw that my sister had pirated a copy of it onto our kindle account. Ugh, I know. I hate reading on the kindle and I love that I have paperbacks of ACOTAR to reread, but you gotta do what you gotta do when it comes to fantasy.

Reading it, I loved the writing and the third-person narration. I instantly fell in love with how strong Caleana was, and I’m like 98% a Chaol shipper—the thing is, that other 2% is pretty important because how in the heck do you pronounce his name? Ch-uh-oll? ChAol? Is it like a funny spelling of Coal? Anyway, I just had so many reactions when reading ToG that I knew it was a good book. You know when you have those moments where you smile and giggle to yourself, have to put the book down and fume to yourself, or rant about certain characters not confessing their true feelings? Yeah, those are always indicators of a great book that connects with a reader and I felt those when reading ToG.

The only downside (and I’m not even sure if it’s a downside) is that I have a bad tendency to search up fanart or TicToks on Pinterest of something I’m reading to get a reference to appearances or simply to feel closer to a book. But, this is bad because sometimes I see spoilers (which I’m usually fine seeing) but proved fatal when reading ToG. I realized my mistake when I saw stuff on Pinterest about characters I didn’t know yet and now I’m super confused about who Aelin, Rowan, and others are. So, the series isn’t ruined for me, I’m just now at a confusing crossroads where I don’t have any more books in the series but still have a lot of questions. I should probably stop going on Pinterest when I’m reading a new series, especially because then I have so many wonderings I end up reading the whole series just to find out the full story. Nevertheless, I’ll definitely find a way to get the rest of ToG (cheaply)and read it, right after I finally read A Court of Silver Flames at long last!! Now that’s definitely been a long time coming!

Genre: fantasy, fiction, Y/A

Age: 13/14+

Rating: 9/10