alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

I loved this book, its premise, and its characters.

After glancing through negative reviews, I concede that the characters do feel contrived. And I do wonder about the book's message-- don't underestimate someone until you really get to know them. But both the "enwisened" characters and the aristocratic do that to the other side...

There is room for improvement, but I liked it because of its dabbling in philosophy and applies those theories to everyday situations, aand because of the Cinderella love story between middle aged people.

Full review on Papercuttts

Super-short synopsis: The Princess Diaries + more romance between hot co-eds.

I was irritated with some large leaps in logic that I was asked to take. Example: one character finds the Prime Minister’s phone number after a quick search online. As in, Oh gimme a minute and I’ll google David Cameron’s phone number. This sort of thing happened frequently.

But then I realized that this story would be perfect as a Disney Channel Feature Film starring the latest Blondie McStarlet — you know, the kind where the unfeasibility of the story is passed over like last year’s homecoming dress in favor of the idea of a hot British guy falling in love with a laid-back all-American girl-next-door.

So if you don't care about using your brain, and you overlook the freakishly bad relationship examples (about which I go into more detail on my blog Papercuttts) you might enjoy this as an indulgent breeze read.

(note: I got a free copy of this book for review but that didn't change my honest opinion.)

This is a series of 14 characters, each with its own mini story of 2-3 sentences. Each character is completely separate and isolated. Not only from the other characters, from any other character, but also from reality. The result is a haunting, quiet, and depressing look at flat characters who are stuck on repeat.

It's interesting, but it's quite short and not worth the sticker price.

See my full review on Papercuttts


note: I received an advanced e-copy for review purposes but that did not affect my honest opinion of the book.

Listened to the audiobook and now I'm totally hooked on Lovecraft.

Sasha has a special gift: when people hear her voice, they automatically say exactly what is on their minds. This gift causes relationships to end, but is useful in getting confessions from bad guys. Do to this, she has been a tool of the government since a young age.

Character-wise, Sasha is a pretty well-developed and has legitimate inner-conflicts. The author did a great job thinking through the effects that treating people as less than human will have. She shows a lot of patterns that a girl who has been trafficked, abused, or abandoned would have. Plot-wise, however, it was a little too farfetched for me. No matter what fictional world is created, all worlds have to abide by the law of Allowed Amount of Coincidences. I wouldn’t recommend this book because it breaks the law.

Full review to be published 13/2/15 on Papercuttts.

Each chapter focuses on a different character and is a completely different story than all the others. The thing that ties them all together is a main thoroughfare in the center of Tehran. At some times the writing is beautiful, thoughtful, and even poetic. Other times, it is rushed and abrupt. The stories are billed as non-fiction, but read the notes in the back and the author explains that she pushes the boundaries of that label.Overall it is interesting, but sensationalized.

Orhan is a young man whose grandfather recently passed away. The grandfather willed the family business to Orhan, bypassing Orhan’s father, and left the family property to Seda, a woman that no one had ever heard of before. Orhan decides to go track this woman down and find out why she gets the property.

The story goes back and forth between WWI-era Turkey, following Seda’s narrative, and present-day with Orhan. It’s a beautifully woven tale that humanizes the politics of the time to show how it affected an average village in Turkey.

Seda is Armenian, and as such, is Christian. Armenians are a minority people-group in Turkey, and her family were the minority in a primarily Turkish-Muslim town. During this time, Turkey was undergoing political and cultural turmoil, which contributed to the start and execution of an ethnic cleansing. The Armenian people were the target.

As dense, heavy, and sorrowful as it is, the author, Aline Ohanesian, does a wonderful job of providing hope to the reader through Seda’s story.

Read the full review, including some lovely photos from Turkey, on Papercuttts.

ps I got this as an e-ARC but that didn't affect my honest review!

Will Grayson, Will Grayson was my first exposure to both John Green and David Levithan, the ever-so-trendy YA authors. It’s like a crime that I call myself an avid YA lit consumer, and haven’t read The Fault in Our Stars or Boy Meets Boy. This was also my first time reading a book with LGBTQ prominent characters. Dumbledore doesn’t count, you guys.

At first, I was a bit averse to picking this book up on account of its being stuck in the GAY & LESBIAN genre. I just always assumed that a book filed under “Gay & Lesbian” as one of its defining characteristics wouldn’t interest me. I mean, even if I read a book with straight characters who are thinking of / talking about / taking action on sexual thoughts all the time, I’m not too interested. I usually breeze through those parts and judge the author. So I always thought, “Well, the only way this book would have enough content to be in this category is if the characters are all lusty all the time.”

Will Grayson, Will Grayson isn’t like that. When you get right down to it, it's about two teenagers getting over their self-absorbed teenagery selves and learning how to be good friends.

It surprised me in really good ways, and it has a refreshing emphasis on healthy friendships (not psycho lust interests like so many other YA books that SHALL NOT BE NAMED). It definitely broadened my horizons and showed me some of my own biases. Read it, it’ll be good for you!

Full review on Papercuttts Book Blog.

PS I got an e-ARC for review purposes but that didn't change my honest opinion of this book!

Throughout the book, I was interested in the story, but had to keep taking two-second reading breaks to roll my eyes. I really dislike romances where the characters don’t show me how they have a long-term sustainable relationship based on something other than, “I just knew it,” or “We had a special connection.” I couldn’t get past how Jam was so in love with a guy that she knew for approximately a month, and whom we as the reader know nothing about besides she thinks he’s hot.

I’m glad I kept reading, however (full disclosure: until 3am). The author, Meg Wolitzer, is not a bad romance writer, and everything made sense in such a clear way in the end. It’s one of those endings that makes you think back and remember all the clues and hints that were dropped along the way.

The book isn't really about romances though. It's about the balance of living in the present, and what it costs to stay stuck in the past.

Full review on Papercuttts: 'Belzhar' Strikes a Good Tone

Twelve teenagers from all over the world, who have been training their whole lives to kill each other in Endgame, battle it out in a world-crossing adventure. It’s like Battle Royale, James Bond (they have zero hindrances in regards to money, weapons technology, fake IDs, or being stopped by guys with guns), and Hunger Games, + alien overlords. Though I like the idea of how this book pairs clues and secret messages with internet adventures that gives clever readers the chance at winning real-life gold, the story for the story’s sake is predictable and poorly executed.

And don’t get me started on the theme of, “Yay for diversity, we have characters from all over the world! … in order to determine WHOSE RACE IS THE BEST.” I’m crossing my fingers that the characters stop fighting under this purpose in future books.

(PS I got a copy of this from Netgalley, but that obviously didn't change my opinion at all)