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aliciaclarereads's Reviews (1.25k)
I loved this book and this series so fiercely as a tween. It was one of the first chunky fantasy books I ever loved (I believe I read it before Harry Potter) and my copy certainly shows its wear and tear. This book is particularly unique: the plot is basically a step by step of the hero's journey with incredibly clear influence of Star Wars and The Lord of Rings. Nor is this book particularly well-written: it's not bad at all, but rather simple and straightforward, which is explained by the author being FIFTEEN when he wrote this! I can't really recommend this to anyone who didn't read it as a child or tween, but it might come off as rather childish - which is why I love this. Sitting with this book was so nostalgic for me and I was so utterly charmed all over again. Eragon and its sequels will always have a very special and dear place in my heart.
EDIT: I just saw that this book is being reissued, which I'm guessing means it was also edited by the new publisher distributing it. That makes me really happy because this book had so much about it that was great but it really needed a stronger edit to make the story really shine. I'm happy for the book and rooting for Gabby Rivera's success!
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I had a bit of mixed feelings on this one. First of all, this book is filled to the brim with queerness and women. Women, especially Latina and black women, get a really big voice in this book which is so excellent. Rivera is also really funny. Her portrait of Portland and crazy white lady feminism was hysterical and so incredibly accurate. I kept rolling my eyes so hard at Harlowe, which she super deserved. The last third of the book was also really strong. Juliet really started to come into her own, and the scenes where she goes to a big queer POC party was really wonderful and beautiful.
About 75% of the way through the book, it becomes explicit that the book is set in 2002, which resolved a lot of my initial problems. Juliet is really clueless about a lot of basic terminology, such as preferred pronouns, allies, intersectional feminism, etc. I was really surprised that a girl who attends a liberal arts private college in the age of twitter and tumblr discourse didn't know these terms. When I realized that, Juliet's cluelessness made SO MUCH more sense to me. The access young kids have now to queer resources and language through the internet is incredible. It's such a shame that generations of kids didn't have the same resources. Maybe I missed something early on in the story, but it wasn't made explicitly clear.
Which leads to my larger point: this story really needed a stronger editing process. A lot of the story felt weirdly rushed, but then parts just went on for a little too long. The ending starts to build on this theme of Juliet needing to breath that really wasn't there for the first half of the story, but I wish it had been! The copy I read had some weird formatting issues, which is just an unnecessary distraction for the reader.
Basically, Gabby Rivera has a really wonderful voice, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else she writes (this hinted Latina scifi punk band story sounds AMAZING). I think she deserves a really strong editor to help her polish off the stories and make them completely shine. It think it's super valuable to have Rivera's voice literary world.
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I had a bit of mixed feelings on this one. First of all, this book is filled to the brim with queerness and women. Women, especially Latina and black women, get a really big voice in this book which is so excellent. Rivera is also really funny. Her portrait of Portland and crazy white lady feminism was hysterical and so incredibly accurate. I kept rolling my eyes so hard at Harlowe, which she super deserved. The last third of the book was also really strong. Juliet really started to come into her own, and the scenes where she goes to a big queer POC party was really wonderful and beautiful.
About 75% of the way through the book, it becomes explicit that the book is set in 2002, which resolved a lot of my initial problems. Juliet is really clueless about a lot of basic terminology, such as preferred pronouns, allies, intersectional feminism, etc. I was really surprised that a girl who attends a liberal arts private college in the age of twitter and tumblr discourse didn't know these terms. When I realized that, Juliet's cluelessness made SO MUCH more sense to me. The access young kids have now to queer resources and language through the internet is incredible. It's such a shame that generations of kids didn't have the same resources. Maybe I missed something early on in the story, but it wasn't made explicitly clear.
Which leads to my larger point: this story really needed a stronger editing process. A lot of the story felt weirdly rushed, but then parts just went on for a little too long. The ending starts to build on this theme of Juliet needing to breath that really wasn't there for the first half of the story, but I wish it had been! The copy I read had some weird formatting issues, which is just an unnecessary distraction for the reader.
Basically, Gabby Rivera has a really wonderful voice, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else she writes (this hinted Latina scifi punk band story sounds AMAZING). I think she deserves a really strong editor to help her polish off the stories and make them completely shine. It think it's super valuable to have Rivera's voice literary world.
read for OWLs Magical Readathon 2019: Charms, an adult book
I think story-wise I'm sitting around a 4/4.5, but this audiobook performance is so incredible that I have to boost this to 5 stars. I truly don't think I'd have the same intense reaction to this story had I been reading the physical copy because these narrators added so much depth to the work. Bouncing back and forth between the voices was definitely confusing at first, but the audiobook is paced so well that just when you know you're forgetting who's who, the actors restate the characters name before they resume their story.
Daisy Jones & the Six is a tale of success, love, family, loss, failure, and the intensity of passion around music. We get to hear from the members of the band and the people around them recall the history of how the band came together, found incredible success, and fell apart. It's told only in dialogue with every sharing how they remember an experience, which of course leads to many sides to the same story that are never quite the same as each other. Each time I felt myself siding with someone, a new perspective would make me rethink that choice. It's just a messy and complicated story with no good guys or bad guys, just a lot of in between.
I'm a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, which Jenkins Reid cited as a big inspiration, so I was so completely hooked on this story. People falling in love, falling out of love, writing songs about each other? Yeah I'm sold. Just like [b:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|32620332|The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|Taylor Jenkins Reid|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498169036s/32620332.jpg|46885151], this story is stacked with incredible, dynamic characters. Seriously, the plot is really basic; this book is really about the strength of the characters and how they react to one another. Billy and Daisy, who are the real stars of the book, are incredibly frustrating in a lot of their actions, but there was so much heart behind it all. The rest of the members were each unique, and although there were so many male voices that I'd mix up (I mean yeah I get it, men were and are dominate in this industry, but it didn't make it easier when I forgot who was who), the characters all had their own footing. I love the variety in the characters, especially the various amount of personality in the band. I just have to say, god bless Warren. What a constant lovely voice of reason and comedy.I love that Pete gets a voice right at the very end. It so checked out with him just bopping along amidst the drama Everyone goes through their own personal journey and the endings are pretty satisfying. Not that everyone got exactly what they wanted, but they get what they need. (.......... yes I referenced the Stones. I'm just going to fall into a classic rock hole for a few weeks okay?)
I honestly kept forgetting this was a fictional band, and not just some podcast telling an oral history. Even though we don't actually get any of the music (I think one of the songs was recorded? But I haven't listened to it), you can feel it pouring out of this book. You understand why these characters all remain tied together for so long - they were all just that damn good at making music. My heart soared and my heart broke, but I ended this book not hating anyone. Just understanding that life doesn't always go how you want it to.
The ending... well Jenkins Reid is proving to me that she likes to throw in a few things you won't predict are coming. It made me audibly gasp "whoa" and gave the book a really loving and hopeful ending, despite all the pain we'd just experienced reading through the band's break up.
All this to say that Taylor Jenkins Reid's historical fiction is really excellent. Can't wait to see whatever fictional celebrities I'm going to fall in love with.
I think story-wise I'm sitting around a 4/4.5, but this audiobook performance is so incredible that I have to boost this to 5 stars. I truly don't think I'd have the same intense reaction to this story had I been reading the physical copy because these narrators added so much depth to the work. Bouncing back and forth between the voices was definitely confusing at first, but the audiobook is paced so well that just when you know you're forgetting who's who, the actors restate the characters name before they resume their story.
Daisy Jones & the Six is a tale of success, love, family, loss, failure, and the intensity of passion around music. We get to hear from the members of the band and the people around them recall the history of how the band came together, found incredible success, and fell apart. It's told only in dialogue with every sharing how they remember an experience, which of course leads to many sides to the same story that are never quite the same as each other. Each time I felt myself siding with someone, a new perspective would make me rethink that choice. It's just a messy and complicated story with no good guys or bad guys, just a lot of in between.
I'm a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, which Jenkins Reid cited as a big inspiration, so I was so completely hooked on this story. People falling in love, falling out of love, writing songs about each other? Yeah I'm sold. Just like [b:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|32620332|The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|Taylor Jenkins Reid|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498169036s/32620332.jpg|46885151], this story is stacked with incredible, dynamic characters. Seriously, the plot is really basic; this book is really about the strength of the characters and how they react to one another. Billy and Daisy, who are the real stars of the book, are incredibly frustrating in a lot of their actions, but there was so much heart behind it all. The rest of the members were each unique, and although there were so many male voices that I'd mix up (I mean yeah I get it, men were and are dominate in this industry, but it didn't make it easier when I forgot who was who), the characters all had their own footing. I love the variety in the characters, especially the various amount of personality in the band. I just have to say, god bless Warren. What a constant lovely voice of reason and comedy.
I honestly kept forgetting this was a fictional band, and not just some podcast telling an oral history. Even though we don't actually get any of the music (I think one of the songs was recorded? But I haven't listened to it), you can feel it pouring out of this book. You understand why these characters all remain tied together for so long - they were all just that damn good at making music. My heart soared and my heart broke, but I ended this book not hating anyone. Just understanding that life doesn't always go how you want it to.
The ending... well Jenkins Reid is proving to me that she likes to throw in a few things you won't predict are coming. It made me audibly gasp "whoa" and gave the book a really loving and hopeful ending, despite all the pain we'd just experienced reading through the band's break up.
All this to say that Taylor Jenkins Reid's historical fiction is really excellent. Can't wait to see whatever fictional celebrities I'm going to fall in love with.
Why I went from the first book in this series to the last, I can only say: I was craving a pirate story!!!
This book had a lot of conflict about half of which was just the main characters not communicating? Not a fan of that but otherwise I adored this. Definitely going to go through more of the Knights Miscellany books.
This book had a lot of conflict about half of which was just the main characters not communicating? Not a fan of that but otherwise I adored this. Definitely going to go through more of the Knights Miscellany books.
read for Popsugar 2019 reading challenge: a book set on a college or university campus
read for Popsugar 2019 Reading Challenge: a book with a title that contains “salty,” “sweet,” “bitter,” or “spicy”
read for Popsugar 2019 Reading Challenge: book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title