bandherbooks's Reviews (3.65k)

Sorry, but this was fairly terrible. I gave a whole extra star for the fact I did really enjoy the initial premise.

Despite a strong opening including a main character from Bulgaria, a really intriguing (and different) Bulgarian folk legend about witches, and a mystery, this soon devolved into a stalker love triangle cluster f*.

I couldn't take this seriously when there was such memorable lines as:
"Because...you don't even know me. I don't need to know you." His stunning eyes were ruthless. "I need to have you."

AND

"Still, there were worse things than being "stalked" or "claimed" by a guy like Rhys. And what was the American obsession with stalking anyway? We had no such word in Bulgarian-people expressed their emotions in all kinds of ways, and to pursue a woman was expected of men; it didn't automatically mean crossing criminal lines."

Sigh. I read word for word until about 1/2 way through, then just buzzed through to the ending to see if it got any better (it didn't). I wish instead this was about Thea's sister. That chick sounded pretty bad ass.

I really enjoyed this! I think many may be turned off by the very realistic tone of this novel, but I found it refreshing, heart breaking, and liberating.

Molly Barlow ditched town after her mother turned her biggest secret into a best selling novel. The novel tore apart Molly's relationship with basically everyone in Star Lake, especially the three siblings Julia, Gabe, and Molly's once boyfriend, Patrick. After a year at boarding school Molly has to spend 99 days back in Star Lake, counting the minutes to college and a new start. Forced back into a life where everyone blames her for what happened, can Molly find forgiveness, move on, or even start something new with Gabe? Or start something back up with Patrick?

Spoilers ahead - so please stop reading now if you don't want to know!

That is basically the premise, but this novel takes on a lot more. Molly's big secret is that she hooked up with her long time boyfriend Patrick's brother Gabe. She confessed only to her mother, who then turned it into a novel that everyone read. The thing I loved about 99 Days is Cotugno's confrontation of the huge double standard of slut shaming on girls. Everyone is mad at MOLLY, not Gabe. Only Molly gets chased out of town, only Molly gets her car keyed, her house egged. And shoot, Molly did do wrong, but she isn't the only one to blame here.

Molly is also not a very likeable character all of the time. She makes big, huge mistakes and gets right smack dab back into a triangle with the two brothers, but this is what I loved about this book. This felt real. Life isn't all soul mates and butterflies. High school relationships get ugly, and this book showed that to its max. Molly is really torn between two people, and yes, she is being selfish and full of hormones, but again that is how it goes sometimes.

The ending of this book was just perfect. No fairy tale, not happily ever after. Just a girl finally being done playing in a zero sum game with two boys who didn't have her best interest at heart. Bravo.

I listened to this on audiobook in April of 2015, and Will Patton's narration bumped this up to ALMOST a five star for me. Patton just has a way, and he and King make a natural partnership. I sure hope the subsequent books in this series keep him as narrator. I'll never be able to forget that one scene with Brady and his mother. Horrific and hilarious all at the same time? If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're missing out.

Not your normal Stephen King supernatural fare, but a straight-up detective murder mystery that still made you feel super super scared. King has a knack for making me feel creeped out (thanks for throwing in the clown mask AND a creepy ice cream truck driver), and his phrasing and characters are just the best. Retired Detective Hodges (Kermit) and his unlikely cast of supporting players are a great team. And that damn ending. Oye.

Apparently there will be more books featuring some of the characters - so yay!

While this really awesome squad of trained women fighters did exist in 19th century India, this historical fiction take was actually quite boring. A lot of telling instead of showing, with much of the action taking place off the page. A love story between the main character and a guard is fairly lackluster and not really necessary. I wish this was better. However, it did check off the "Book set in Asia" square on my 2015 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge.

Bee's mother ran away. Through a series of emails, letters, reports, and other miscellanea, 8th grader Bee pieces together why Bernadette ran, and where she might be.

I read this to get inspired for my library's first ever Book to Art Club, and I am happy I finally checked this one off my back list. I had a blast reading this darkly humorous novel about one woman's complete unwillingness to behave or do anything she doesn't want to do. I found Bernadette's character to be oddly compelling, despite her darker tendencies. Tons of fun, and I'm going to look forward to leading our discussion and make handmade post cards.

BTW - Bernadette is a great name (I have one, my daughter).

This is simply adorable. Rice captures dorky romance at it's best (but not always cutest) moments. Really sweet. I loved the simple drawings and black, red, and white color scheme.

A historical fiction tale about Beryl Markham who grew up in Africa, trained and raced horses, and flew airplanes. She was a woman who bucked society's norms, but this account left me a little cold.

I will say it did inspire me to read her own memoir, West With the Night. I hope Hemingway glowing review holds true upon reading.

I love this premise, and the art was super fun, but overall I found this volume frenetic and lacking in character development. There was more information on the characters in the blurb then I found while reading, and I really had to struggle to keep each lady straight. I think younger readers (which is the intended audience) will really enjoy Lumberjanes, so I will recommend it to them.

This is only the second Sarah Dessen novel I've read (The Truth About Forever was my first) and I have to say the main characters are pretty similar in both of these stories. That said, I thought Saint Anything was excellently plotted, the full cast of characters was well-rounded, human, and relate-able, and I was riveted throughout the story.

I did have to peek ahead while reading regarding the "Creepy Guy" because the tension was killing me and I did find myself yelling at the book regarding this (TELL SOMEONE! KICK HIM IN THE NUTS!). Good job Sarah Dessen. However, how that plot point was resolved did bug me a little

Spoiler

Ames the creepy guy finally takes the creepiness to the physical attack level and if Sydney's dad hadn't been there I'm pretty sure she would have been raped. Holy traumatic Batman, but this incident is basically brushed off with little ramification to either Sydney or Ames. She decided not to press charges?! Come on.

Also, I loved Mac and Layla, and their entire clan. I want to be in that family. Give Layla a book too please.

Love and Death play an eternal game, selecting different players throughout time. Love never wins. Until now? Henry is a white orphan, the ward of a wealthy family who dreams of playing the bass professionally. Flora is a black jazz singer and aviator, and dreams of owning her own plane and flying it around the world. They are both pawns in the game of Love and Death, chosen at birth. They fall in love, but will they both choose each other despite all the obstacles in their lives? If they don't choose each other, Death will claim Flora's life.

I'm giving this four stars because of uniqueness of the plot, the diversity of the characters, and the loveliness of the prose. That said, there was so much going on here that I felt I needed a few hundred more pages to really sink into everything. Love and Death were my favorite characters, but I didn't quite buy the love between Henry and Flora (despite the story resting on this premise).