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btwnprintedpgs's Reviews (1.3k)
I kind of want to do a duel review of this book and it’s sequel just to compare the two. Ah well, I’ll describe the differences in the second book’s review.
A Need So Beautiful is about Charlotte, an orphan child who has no memory of her past before she was found at the age of six. She’s had “the Need” for a while, which is like an impulse that she has to follow that usually results in helping someone else, and often hurting herself or those she loves. As the Needs become stronger and stronger, those around her begin to forget about her, forget their memories of her, and they’ll keep forgetting until there’s nothing left of Charlotte – in body, mind, and soul.
I found this books captivating. I’ve read a few other reviews where people were like ‘eh’ but I couldn’t put this book down. I loved the mystery of it, and the over all idea was interesting, different. It was like angel-like idea, but it wasn’t like the fallen angel idea. Instead, Charlotte grows up not really knowing what she is.
We get to understand everything that’s happening to Charlotte as it happens. We discover what/who she is when she does, and there’s something to that that makes it easy to connect with her character, to feel what she feels ’cause to both the reader and the characters, everything is new, it’s a surprise and you both experience it at the same time – the surprise, the denial, the pain. That kind of just made everything more interesting.
The pain, I think that was the thing that hit me the hardest. Honestly, no one should have to be forgotten…
Also, the ending of the novel was a surprise, and it made me want to read the second book immediately.
Honestly, it wasn’t the best book on the planet, there were holes and the insta-love thing was blah, and the writing wasn’t the best writing. But there was something about it that kept me reading. The real merit of the novel, in the end, were the emotions.
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.75/5
-review by http://betweenprintedpages.wordpress.com/
A Need So Beautiful is about Charlotte, an orphan child who has no memory of her past before she was found at the age of six. She’s had “the Need” for a while, which is like an impulse that she has to follow that usually results in helping someone else, and often hurting herself or those she loves. As the Needs become stronger and stronger, those around her begin to forget about her, forget their memories of her, and they’ll keep forgetting until there’s nothing left of Charlotte – in body, mind, and soul.
I found this books captivating. I’ve read a few other reviews where people were like ‘eh’ but I couldn’t put this book down. I loved the mystery of it, and the over all idea was interesting, different. It was like angel-like idea, but it wasn’t like the fallen angel idea. Instead, Charlotte grows up not really knowing what she is.
We get to understand everything that’s happening to Charlotte as it happens. We discover what/who she is when she does, and there’s something to that that makes it easy to connect with her character, to feel what she feels ’cause to both the reader and the characters, everything is new, it’s a surprise and you both experience it at the same time – the surprise, the denial, the pain. That kind of just made everything more interesting.
The pain, I think that was the thing that hit me the hardest. Honestly, no one should have to be forgotten…
Also, the ending of the novel was a surprise, and it made me want to read the second book immediately.
Honestly, it wasn’t the best book on the planet, there were holes and the insta-love thing was blah, and the writing wasn’t the best writing. But there was something about it that kept me reading. The real merit of the novel, in the end, were the emotions.
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.75/5
-review by http://betweenprintedpages.wordpress.com/
This novel… It was like the regurgitation of every other fairytale known to man. When I read the synopsis, I thought PRINCESS AND THE PEA!
Yeah… I got that… but I also got some JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, SNOW WHITE, CINDERELLA, and SLEEPING BEAUTY.
And a lot of FAIRIES. Like, they were EVERYWHERE mixing up EVERYTHING.
Basically, this author thought that one fairytale wasn’t enough, no. Instead, she just stuck a bunch together and made ‘em pop up randomly throughout the book.
Another thing I didn’t love about the book was the insta-love. After spending like one hour with said frog prince, she falls in love with him, instantly assumes he’s human in some way, and finds that he’s like her new bestest friend ever. And it’s just like … no.
There’s also a lot of evil fairy, nice fairy, surprise fairy, and all that, and I'm here like C'MON!
Think all of those fairytales above mixed with a large amount of YA fey mythological stuff all kind of rolled up and forced to fit together.
The characters were interesting (they’d have been a lot more interesting if there wasn’t a million of them… I mean, they’re the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, or whatever, but on top of that there’s like three brothers, and a royal palace of people…). I liked one character, and everyone thought she was insane… The prince’s name bugged me, but I could live with it… and I liked Trix, Velius, and Erik (i.e. the three main supporting characters) more than the main ones…
Speaking of this main character, she left nothing to mystery. Instead, within, like, the first 20 pages, you know the name of every single one of her family members, what they do, what their specialty is, what she does, why her family hates the royal family, some stuff about fairies and how they work, the king, someone’s father, and this frog who’s her new best friend. TA-DA.
Honestly, this book would be so much better if the author stuck to one fairytale and expanded and worked at it to make it something amazing. But she didn't... so well...
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
World Building: 2.5/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall: 2/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.70/5
-review by http://betweenprintedpages.wordpress.com/
Yeah… I got that… but I also got some JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, SNOW WHITE, CINDERELLA, and SLEEPING BEAUTY.
And a lot of FAIRIES. Like, they were EVERYWHERE mixing up EVERYTHING.
Basically, this author thought that one fairytale wasn’t enough, no. Instead, she just stuck a bunch together and made ‘em pop up randomly throughout the book.
Another thing I didn’t love about the book was the insta-love. After spending like one hour with said frog prince, she falls in love with him, instantly assumes he’s human in some way, and finds that he’s like her new bestest friend ever. And it’s just like … no.
There’s also a lot of evil fairy, nice fairy, surprise fairy, and all that, and I'm here like C'MON!
Think all of those fairytales above mixed with a large amount of YA fey mythological stuff all kind of rolled up and forced to fit together.
The characters were interesting (they’d have been a lot more interesting if there wasn’t a million of them… I mean, they’re the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, or whatever, but on top of that there’s like three brothers, and a royal palace of people…). I liked one character, and everyone thought she was insane… The prince’s name bugged me, but I could live with it… and I liked Trix, Velius, and Erik (i.e. the three main supporting characters) more than the main ones…
Speaking of this main character, she left nothing to mystery. Instead, within, like, the first 20 pages, you know the name of every single one of her family members, what they do, what their specialty is, what she does, why her family hates the royal family, some stuff about fairies and how they work, the king, someone’s father, and this frog who’s her new best friend. TA-DA.
Honestly, this book would be so much better if the author stuck to one fairytale and expanded and worked at it to make it something amazing. But she didn't... so well...
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
World Building: 2.5/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall: 2/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.70/5
-review by http://betweenprintedpages.wordpress.com/
This book was… refreshing. Like you don’t even know. Before I started reading this, I had been burning through a bunch of books that were all based on fairytales and it was absolutely mind numbing.
There were two things to this book I loved:
1. There was nothing supernatural about it. No demons popping out of the sewers, no vampires or werewolves slinking around after dark, and none of this book came from a freaking fairytale story book.
2. This book was a light (?) read. The emotions, they were there, and absolutely intense. There was a real world problem (coping with the death of a loved one), however… the way that comes out in this novel isn’t depressing. It doesn’t bring you down, but instead it gives you hope… maybe I’m describing this wrong… All I know, is that this book didn’t bring me down, it made me smile, it let me look at life at a different perspective, and I loved it.
I think the best part of this book was the fact that it was so real. There wasn’t any instant-love, or even instant friendship, but instead readers get to see a relationship unfold from the beginning. The scenery, the actions, the story, it’s so realistic and yet it still sweeps you away from your world into the book.
The book has Gray and Dylan alternating chapters, narrating their own feelings as their relationship grows, their thoughts change, and their adventures begin.
Dylan’s a really dynamic character. She’s one of those people who can jump into your life, blow it to pieces, and then hop back out in the blink of an eye. She’s like the Luna Lovegood of the book, and, as with Luna, her character works so well. I loved that fact that Dylan managed to see the world from a different point of view, acting as probably the most optimistic character I’ve ever read about. Dylan not only changed the way Gray looked at the world, but really opened my own eyes to a more positive way of thinking, and I think that really made the book all the much better.
Dylan’s quirkiness was balanced by Gray’s sarcasm, making the book equally as hard hitting as it was hilarious. This is the perfect book for someone who’s in between novels and wants something they can laugh with, but also learn something from.
I don’t even know if this review even does either character justice (definitely doesn’t do much for Gray…), but honestly, you have to pick up this book and read it, it’s too good not to.
The one thing that killed me was the end of the book, mainly because it ended… but then I learned that Kacvinsky released a sequel (Oct 31,2012), WHICH I CAN’T WAIT TO READ… but I must ’cause University is a lot more work than I had expected…
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 2/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.82/5
-review by http://betweenprintedpages.wordpress.com/
There were two things to this book I loved:
1. There was nothing supernatural about it. No demons popping out of the sewers, no vampires or werewolves slinking around after dark, and none of this book came from a freaking fairytale story book.
2. This book was a light (?) read. The emotions, they were there, and absolutely intense. There was a real world problem (coping with the death of a loved one), however… the way that comes out in this novel isn’t depressing. It doesn’t bring you down, but instead it gives you hope… maybe I’m describing this wrong… All I know, is that this book didn’t bring me down, it made me smile, it let me look at life at a different perspective, and I loved it.
I think the best part of this book was the fact that it was so real. There wasn’t any instant-love, or even instant friendship, but instead readers get to see a relationship unfold from the beginning. The scenery, the actions, the story, it’s so realistic and yet it still sweeps you away from your world into the book.
The book has Gray and Dylan alternating chapters, narrating their own feelings as their relationship grows, their thoughts change, and their adventures begin.
Dylan’s a really dynamic character. She’s one of those people who can jump into your life, blow it to pieces, and then hop back out in the blink of an eye. She’s like the Luna Lovegood of the book, and, as with Luna, her character works so well. I loved that fact that Dylan managed to see the world from a different point of view, acting as probably the most optimistic character I’ve ever read about. Dylan not only changed the way Gray looked at the world, but really opened my own eyes to a more positive way of thinking, and I think that really made the book all the much better.
Dylan’s quirkiness was balanced by Gray’s sarcasm, making the book equally as hard hitting as it was hilarious. This is the perfect book for someone who’s in between novels and wants something they can laugh with, but also learn something from.
I don’t even know if this review even does either character justice (definitely doesn’t do much for Gray…), but honestly, you have to pick up this book and read it, it’s too good not to.
The one thing that killed me was the end of the book, mainly because it ended… but then I learned that Kacvinsky released a sequel (Oct 31,2012), WHICH I CAN’T WAIT TO READ… but I must ’cause University is a lot more work than I had expected…
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 2/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.82/5
-review by http://betweenprintedpages.wordpress.com/
Ever thought of a world without your parents? World where the guilt of killing your own friends claws you from beneath the surface and the remanence of the war only creates a brutal world for you to live in? Well, that is how the story begins, full of problems with no answers. I was truly fascinated by how realistic the feeling of wanting death could be. Even though I have never thought of it, when I read through the book, I understood that everyone has a reason for living. When a person loses all of those reasons, they have to look within themselves and people around to find new reasons. This book assembles humans in a completely different way and gives you a bone-chilling ride through the way of humanity. The title itself “Insurgent”" means ‘a person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as belligerent’, and with that title, you know that the books gonna be awesome!
The thing about this books is that since it is written in first person, all the characters are from her perspective. It also hides the full picture of what all the characters are thinking, or what their actions represent. The first thing everyone should know about this books is that all the characters are defined by the faction they are placed in. Dauntless: Fearless. Abnegation: to refuse or deny oneself. Erudite: characterized by great knowledge. Condor: state or quality of being open. Amity: friendship, peaceful harmony. Some of the characters in the book who possess multiple faction qualities are known as “Divergent”. (Which is also the name of the first book by Roth). Beatrice Prior, is an amazing character. Her personality deviates drastically but her struggles and bravery makes her truly worthy of being a divergent. Tobias also being divergent, (who btw is is Tris’s bf) tries to keep Tris in place during the time of her depression but Tris always breaks all the rules he makes, which results in a good ending. The rest of the minor/ major characters have a definite personality that feels like it’s built upon someone that everyone can connect to.
In all honestly, the lying, the betrayal, the backstabbing was very annoying, and yet absolutely necessary in this novel. As irritating as Tris was in many points in this book with her layers of lies, I found myself agreeing with her on many aspects. Especially about truths, as well as Tobias’ view of her. Even though she lied, they were fairly calculated lies by the end, and, though irritating, they did make the plot move, in some ways, lying was the only way.
In this book, Tris is faced with guilt, grief, betrayal, as well as a number of choices that could go any which way. But will she face them with the same selflessness as her parents? She always did say Abnegation just wasn’t for her…
I love this series and I am waiting for the next book to come out. It says it’s to come out in fall of 2013, which seems like a long time to wait, but being the last book of a trilogy, I would expect it to be nothing less that AMAZING.
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.31/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
The thing about this books is that since it is written in first person, all the characters are from her perspective. It also hides the full picture of what all the characters are thinking, or what their actions represent. The first thing everyone should know about this books is that all the characters are defined by the faction they are placed in. Dauntless: Fearless. Abnegation: to refuse or deny oneself. Erudite: characterized by great knowledge. Condor: state or quality of being open. Amity: friendship, peaceful harmony. Some of the characters in the book who possess multiple faction qualities are known as “Divergent”. (Which is also the name of the first book by Roth). Beatrice Prior, is an amazing character. Her personality deviates drastically but her struggles and bravery makes her truly worthy of being a divergent. Tobias also being divergent, (who btw is is Tris’s bf) tries to keep Tris in place during the time of her depression but Tris always breaks all the rules he makes, which results in a good ending. The rest of the minor/ major characters have a definite personality that feels like it’s built upon someone that everyone can connect to.
In all honestly, the lying, the betrayal, the backstabbing was very annoying, and yet absolutely necessary in this novel. As irritating as Tris was in many points in this book with her layers of lies, I found myself agreeing with her on many aspects. Especially about truths, as well as Tobias’ view of her. Even though she lied, they were fairly calculated lies by the end, and, though irritating, they did make the plot move, in some ways, lying was the only way.
In this book, Tris is faced with guilt, grief, betrayal, as well as a number of choices that could go any which way. But will she face them with the same selflessness as her parents? She always did say Abnegation just wasn’t for her…
I love this series and I am waiting for the next book to come out. It says it’s to come out in fall of 2013, which seems like a long time to wait, but being the last book of a trilogy, I would expect it to be nothing less that AMAZING.
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.31/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
This novel is a mother-daughter collaboration. Picoult, known for her controversial and thought provoking novels toned it down for this book, either that or it was written mainly by her daughter.
Now let me get straight to the point. I didn’t love this novel. Actually, I don’t know if I even liked it. It was so unmemorable that I’m sitting here wondering if it was any good. I do recall struggling to finish it, though, if that’s any indication as to whether I enjoyed reading it. Note: I finished it about a week ago.
This book is about a girl, a social pariah who managed to injure the most popular girl in school on more than one occasion. She has one best friend until one day she opens a fairytale book. Within days she becomes obsessed with this fairytale and begins hiding from her only human friend. Not a good idea. Add in the fact that she can hear Oliver, the storybook’s main character speak, freely at that, well that just points to insanity.
Oliver has a lack of courage. He was gifted by some godmothers who left out the gift of courage, replacing it with the gift of life. However, he’s smart, good-looking and perfect in every way. I’m sorry, but really? They say he has a lack of courage and yet he’s willing to jump into the unknown when he asks Deliah to get him out of his book. I’m sorry, but that’s pretty ballsy.
I don’t know, nothing about this book was really ‘wow’ to me. It was pretty 2D. After reading Picoult’s other novels (My Sister’s Keeper, The Pact, etc…) this was really boring. There was no depth to the story, to the characters, just a whiny pretty boy and an anti-social girl who are in love with each other. It doesn’t help that their main connecting point at the beginning is that fact that his character grew up without a father. You don’t fall in love with a book character just ’cause of that. And it doesn’t help that they keep pointing out that that was their main connecting factor. And Oliver even admits at the beginning – he never had a father, really. His father was just mentioned in passing. Heck, he didn’t even have a mother. He was just a freaking book character who was born from the written word.
Throughout this novel, there was always some aspect that bothered me. There were so many kinks in the story, as well, and I just ended up utterly disappointed in the end.
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
World Building: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 3/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.48/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
Now let me get straight to the point. I didn’t love this novel. Actually, I don’t know if I even liked it. It was so unmemorable that I’m sitting here wondering if it was any good. I do recall struggling to finish it, though, if that’s any indication as to whether I enjoyed reading it. Note: I finished it about a week ago.
This book is about a girl, a social pariah who managed to injure the most popular girl in school on more than one occasion. She has one best friend until one day she opens a fairytale book. Within days she becomes obsessed with this fairytale and begins hiding from her only human friend. Not a good idea. Add in the fact that she can hear Oliver, the storybook’s main character speak, freely at that, well that just points to insanity.
Oliver has a lack of courage. He was gifted by some godmothers who left out the gift of courage, replacing it with the gift of life. However, he’s smart, good-looking and perfect in every way. I’m sorry, but really? They say he has a lack of courage and yet he’s willing to jump into the unknown when he asks Deliah to get him out of his book. I’m sorry, but that’s pretty ballsy.
I don’t know, nothing about this book was really ‘wow’ to me. It was pretty 2D. After reading Picoult’s other novels (My Sister’s Keeper, The Pact, etc…) this was really boring. There was no depth to the story, to the characters, just a whiny pretty boy and an anti-social girl who are in love with each other. It doesn’t help that their main connecting point at the beginning is that fact that his character grew up without a father. You don’t fall in love with a book character just ’cause of that. And it doesn’t help that they keep pointing out that that was their main connecting factor. And Oliver even admits at the beginning – he never had a father, really. His father was just mentioned in passing. Heck, he didn’t even have a mother. He was just a freaking book character who was born from the written word.
Throughout this novel, there was always some aspect that bothered me. There were so many kinks in the story, as well, and I just ended up utterly disappointed in the end.
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
World Building: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 3/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.48/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
Honestly, I picked this up on a whim. I was on a trip to Wasaga Beach and my mom wanted to check out Walmart. I saw this and began reading it as we tromped around the store. I was instantly addicted. It may have been because she use the woodchuck tongue twister, or because I just found the first chapter entertaining, but I got hooked.
This book was electrifying. It starts off with Echo Emerson, who has post-traumatic stress syndrome after an accident, that she only remembers because of the scars on her arms. After her accident, she disappeared for a month, just like that. When she got back, she was marred with these scars and was cast as an outsider. She really struck me, because in her family, from the start, you could feel the tension between them all. As we learned more about Echo, though, you feel more and more for her character and her struggles.
Noah, on the other hand, is the school’s girl using druggie, who has a bad rep. Granted, it was an earned rep, but as with every reputation, you only get to see one aspect of a person. Unlike Echo’s battle with her memory, Noah has waged war with the system.
The two of them struggled for a normal life they could never have.
Vaguely using each other to get what they want, they realized that they could get more out of their relationship. Teaming up, they try their hardest to get information from their files to gain something of importance to them. However, what they didn’t expect was the heated romance that developed between them.
In all honestly, I really liked this book. In a novel where the characters were always worrying about sex and drugs and stuff, McGarry avoided those things, showing that a relationship doesn’t have to be defined by sex and your life doesn’t have to be controlled by drugs. That was a great thing about this book.
I also loved how strong the characters were. They really sweep you up and pull you into the story. We get to see the internal battle within the to main characters as the perspectives switched between the Echo and Noah. I also loved Grace and Lila. Grace, not really because she was nice, but because of how realistic she was. There are so many people out there who’d rather save face than be seen with someone not considered ‘cool’ or ‘normal’. I loved Lila because she was that friend who stuck with Echo through thick and thin, and it really added to Echo’s strength throughout the novel. Noah’s friends Isaiah and Beth were a lot of fun too, but Beth was a little irrational at times, though I do know people like that, so it just made her more realistic.
I honestly believe the characters were the strongest part of McGarry’s book. Though the plot’s important, a book’s just not a book if the characters never come to life.
I don’t know what it was about this book that caught me, but once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. Even at the end I was hoping for more.
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.19/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
This book was electrifying. It starts off with Echo Emerson, who has post-traumatic stress syndrome after an accident, that she only remembers because of the scars on her arms. After her accident, she disappeared for a month, just like that. When she got back, she was marred with these scars and was cast as an outsider. She really struck me, because in her family, from the start, you could feel the tension between them all. As we learned more about Echo, though, you feel more and more for her character and her struggles.
Noah, on the other hand, is the school’s girl using druggie, who has a bad rep. Granted, it was an earned rep, but as with every reputation, you only get to see one aspect of a person. Unlike Echo’s battle with her memory, Noah has waged war with the system.
The two of them struggled for a normal life they could never have.
Vaguely using each other to get what they want, they realized that they could get more out of their relationship. Teaming up, they try their hardest to get information from their files to gain something of importance to them. However, what they didn’t expect was the heated romance that developed between them.
In all honestly, I really liked this book. In a novel where the characters were always worrying about sex and drugs and stuff, McGarry avoided those things, showing that a relationship doesn’t have to be defined by sex and your life doesn’t have to be controlled by drugs. That was a great thing about this book.
I also loved how strong the characters were. They really sweep you up and pull you into the story. We get to see the internal battle within the to main characters as the perspectives switched between the Echo and Noah. I also loved Grace and Lila. Grace, not really because she was nice, but because of how realistic she was. There are so many people out there who’d rather save face than be seen with someone not considered ‘cool’ or ‘normal’. I loved Lila because she was that friend who stuck with Echo through thick and thin, and it really added to Echo’s strength throughout the novel. Noah’s friends Isaiah and Beth were a lot of fun too, but Beth was a little irrational at times, though I do know people like that, so it just made her more realistic.
I honestly believe the characters were the strongest part of McGarry’s book. Though the plot’s important, a book’s just not a book if the characters never come to life.
I don’t know what it was about this book that caught me, but once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. Even at the end I was hoping for more.
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.19/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
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Karou is an enigma, not only to those around her, but to herself. A childhood in Brimstone’s shop, where small wishes can come true in a second, and larger wishes are not too far, Karou has grown up with everything except an understand as to who she is, or where she’s from. How did she end up with Brimstone? Who are her parents? Why does Brimstone like to collect teeth? All these questions bounce through Karou’s mind everyday as she doubles as a normal teenager at her art school in Prague. As the demand for teeth increase, Karou begins to question more and more the why in all of this. In Morocco, she gets her answer in the form of Akiva.
However, sometimes, the truth hurts more than the lies, and sometimes, the truth reveals itself a little too late. And actions, once executed, can not be taken back.
This book hit me like a whirlwind. I first picked it up, not really comprehending what this book was even about (I didn’t read the synopsis… and the book doesn’t really come with one…). It started out fun, a normal teenage girl wishing she could catapult and ex-boyfriend into the next country, but then the layers began: the secrets, the varying perspectives, the mysteries. It also had a “Pocahontas” kind of feel to it. There were a number of strings that were weaved through the book, leaving you enthralled and trapped within the pages.
One thing I especially loved about this novel was the fact that even though there was a lot of things going on, Taylor managed to still put in humour throughout the novel, adding to her characters, who already pop out of the page. I also loved the mystery of the novel and how she put it all together. The novel, told from a third person perspective, had chapters where they’d just be little snippets of things, that, even though short, added greatly to the story, every layer, every string weaved through the novel, adding up to the end, where everything comes together. The whole story is breathtaking, heartbreaking, shocking, mysterious, shocking, and then a little bit more shocking (’cause we didn’t have enough before).
Amazing book ! I can’t wait for the second one (But I will…)
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.08/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
However, sometimes, the truth hurts more than the lies, and sometimes, the truth reveals itself a little too late. And actions, once executed, can not be taken back.
This book hit me like a whirlwind. I first picked it up, not really comprehending what this book was even about (I didn’t read the synopsis… and the book doesn’t really come with one…). It started out fun, a normal teenage girl wishing she could catapult and ex-boyfriend into the next country, but then the layers began: the secrets, the varying perspectives, the mysteries. It also had a “Pocahontas” kind of feel to it. There were a number of strings that were weaved through the book, leaving you enthralled and trapped within the pages.
One thing I especially loved about this novel was the fact that even though there was a lot of things going on, Taylor managed to still put in humour throughout the novel, adding to her characters, who already pop out of the page. I also loved the mystery of the novel and how she put it all together. The novel, told from a third person perspective, had chapters where they’d just be little snippets of things, that, even though short, added greatly to the story, every layer, every string weaved through the novel, adding up to the end, where everything comes together. The whole story is breathtaking, heartbreaking, shocking, mysterious, shocking, and then a little bit more shocking (’cause we didn’t have enough before).
Amazing book ! I can’t wait for the second one (But I will…)
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.08/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
This... was hard to read. At the beginning, I just couldn't get into it. Later on, it was a little better, but not by much. Colasanti's narrative lines kept jumping from place to place, as if Noelle (the MC) was unable to have any consistent thought at one time. The subject matter of the novel is very heavy and quite depressing. Noelle is bullied, harassed, physically abused, and verbally abused by her peers and her mother. Honestly, though one may feel pity of Noelle throughout the novel, it's really hard to connect with her. Maybe it's 'cause of her random thoughts or just the character or the writing, but something was off enough for me not to really connect at all. I really liked the characters that weren't Noelle... like Simon and Sherae. Julian was cool too. But Noelle, it just didn't work right.
Some parts weren't quite believable and others occurred out of the blue. I just wasn't feeling this novel.
Although I appreciate Colasanti's attempt to address the matter, one would have to get through the novel in order to really understand the concept of bullying, suicide, etc. It's a heavy subject matter and in order for it to be read, one must be able to connect to the character, connect to the story, be enthralled with the novel to really get it's full message. Right now, it's hard to get through it...
Plot: 3.5/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.80/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
Some parts weren't quite believable and others occurred out of the blue. I just wasn't feeling this novel.
Although I appreciate Colasanti's attempt to address the matter, one would have to get through the novel in order to really understand the concept of bullying, suicide, etc. It's a heavy subject matter and in order for it to be read, one must be able to connect to the character, connect to the story, be enthralled with the novel to really get it's full message. Right now, it's hard to get through it...
Plot: 3.5/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.80/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
3 things came to my mind when I saw this book in Costco:
1. THERE'S A FIFTH ONE !? WHEN IN THE WORLD DID THAT HAPPEN O_O ?
2. ... what happened in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th one again... ? /fail.
3. I MUST HAVE NOW!
Yeah, I'm a little insane~ I seriously missed these four though (even if I can't remember WHAT happened to them, I still remember that I have LOVED THEM ALL)
Right from the get go we’re shot back into the sisterhood’s world, where all four of them have split up, and about ten years have past. Carmen’s an iPhone addict, Lena is basically an artistic, pack-ratty hermit, Bridget’s as energetic and adventurous as ever, and Tibby is in Australia, now an enigma to her ‘sisters’. However, upon being invited to Greece by Tibby, all of them jump at the opportunity: they’ll be together again.
Then the unthinkable happens.
Struck with a death that shakes their world, the sisterhood is left one short. As they begin sorting through their depression, as well as their own lives, they find that their lost sister left them with more than they could’ve ever imagined.
This book was extremely depressing. Like, I did not know one could put so much depression and sadness into one book. My gosh. I will say, though, it was good. I really liked the self-discovery portion of the novel as the sisters split off after Greece and kind of found themselves and realized who and what really mattered in their lives.
We also learn a lot about the characters and revisit a number of memories from both the past books and the characters’ ‘childhoods’. Admittedly, there was some repetition in their actions, as well as their discoveries, as if they hadn’t learned the first time. However, it was a great book. In the end, the mood was bittersweet, but it was definitely an amazing ending to their story.
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.88/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
1. THERE'S A FIFTH ONE !? WHEN IN THE WORLD DID THAT HAPPEN O_O ?
2. ... what happened in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th one again... ? /fail.
3. I MUST HAVE NOW!
Yeah, I'm a little insane~ I seriously missed these four though (even if I can't remember WHAT happened to them, I still remember that I have LOVED THEM ALL)
Right from the get go we’re shot back into the sisterhood’s world, where all four of them have split up, and about ten years have past. Carmen’s an iPhone addict, Lena is basically an artistic, pack-ratty hermit, Bridget’s as energetic and adventurous as ever, and Tibby is in Australia, now an enigma to her ‘sisters’. However, upon being invited to Greece by Tibby, all of them jump at the opportunity: they’ll be together again.
Then the unthinkable happens.
Struck with a death that shakes their world, the sisterhood is left one short. As they begin sorting through their depression, as well as their own lives, they find that their lost sister left them with more than they could’ve ever imagined.
This book was extremely depressing. Like, I did not know one could put so much depression and sadness into one book. My gosh. I will say, though, it was good. I really liked the self-discovery portion of the novel as the sisters split off after Greece and kind of found themselves and realized who and what really mattered in their lives.
We also learn a lot about the characters and revisit a number of memories from both the past books and the characters’ ‘childhoods’. Admittedly, there was some repetition in their actions, as well as their discoveries, as if they hadn’t learned the first time. However, it was a great book. In the end, the mood was bittersweet, but it was definitely an amazing ending to their story.
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.88/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
I started this book way back in April. I heard so much about this book. My friends were raving about how good it was, how it was better than The Hunger Games. So I read it (or well, started it). I got to page 108. Ironically, I stopped after I had completed the boring part of the story. Then, yesterday night, I restarted from page 1. This time, I made it to the end (I finished it this afternoon). I have to say, due to my high expectations, they fell kind of short.
Saba is your stubborn, pain-in-the-butt female lead who does not trust anyone who isn’t her twin brother Lugh. She hates her younger sister, and doesn’t like to accept help. The book started out and I was instantly like “I hate Lugh and Emmi, Saba’s cool” then came the middle “Saba’s alright, Emmi’s not too bad either… I like Jack” then came the end “HOLY HELL SABA YOU’RE SUCH A WASTE OF TIME! LISTEN TO YOUR SISTER AND JACK FUUU–” But then, at the very end I liked her again… though I also liked Emmi too. And loved Jack~ haha. I don’t know if Young wanted me to feel so at a loss with her characters once I finished the book, but that sums ‘em up, pretty well. The change in the characters throughout the novel was astounding. It was interesting to see, and I like that I ended up liking most of her character.
Honestly, the action doesn’t start until she meets Jack… Well, actually, it doesn’t start until a little bit after.
The thing about this book is that everyone has varying opinions. I personally liked everything after page 160 something. Comically, that’s when I started hating Saba a little bit more each turn of the page, but then Jack kept getting better so it kind of evened out. On the other hand, my sister liked the beginning to when they meet up with the Free Hawks. Then she got bored until the climax of the novel (like page 340 something). It depends on the person, of course. But doesn’t it always?
Although Saba drove me insane, I liked this novel. The language of it… well that was hard to get past ’cause it was relatively irritating. Unique, but mildly irritating. (You’ll see in the quotes). Conversely, Young managed to still create this world that captivated me. She invented machines and creatures that added to her plot. She made a world in which no one was really safe, not even the crazy King. So even though this book was absolutely maddening, there was something about it that kept me reading (the second time around).
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.04/5
-review by Between Printed Pages
Saba is your stubborn, pain-in-the-butt female lead who does not trust anyone who isn’t her twin brother Lugh. She hates her younger sister, and doesn’t like to accept help. The book started out and I was instantly like “I hate Lugh and Emmi, Saba’s cool” then came the middle “Saba’s alright, Emmi’s not too bad either… I like Jack” then came the end “HOLY HELL SABA YOU’RE SUCH A WASTE OF TIME! LISTEN TO YOUR SISTER AND JACK FUUU–” But then, at the very end I liked her again… though I also liked Emmi too. And loved Jack~ haha. I don’t know if Young wanted me to feel so at a loss with her characters once I finished the book, but that sums ‘em up, pretty well. The change in the characters throughout the novel was astounding. It was interesting to see, and I like that I ended up liking most of her character.
Honestly, the action doesn’t start until she meets Jack… Well, actually, it doesn’t start until a little bit after.
The thing about this book is that everyone has varying opinions. I personally liked everything after page 160 something. Comically, that’s when I started hating Saba a little bit more each turn of the page, but then Jack kept getting better so it kind of evened out. On the other hand, my sister liked the beginning to when they meet up with the Free Hawks. Then she got bored until the climax of the novel (like page 340 something). It depends on the person, of course. But doesn’t it always?
Although Saba drove me insane, I liked this novel. The language of it… well that was hard to get past ’cause it was relatively irritating. Unique, but mildly irritating. (You’ll see in the quotes). Conversely, Young managed to still create this world that captivated me. She invented machines and creatures that added to her plot. She made a world in which no one was really safe, not even the crazy King. So even though this book was absolutely maddening, there was something about it that kept me reading (the second time around).
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.04/5
-review by Between Printed Pages