You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
chloefrizzle's Reviews (993)
Somehow, the tone of this book manages to be equally crude and pompous. Which is kind of what I was expecting, but paired with how slow it is, just became annoying.
DNF @9%
DNF @9%
The blurb for this book calls it a "love story." I don't really even think that this book is a story (much less a love story, which at least implies that there will be characters you can root for).
It's not a story. It's more like a ramble. A vagabond stumbling through the desert, parched, meandering, hopeless, and boring.
I feel so strongly of "It's not you, it's me." I had a 1star amount of fun. But it feels like it's my (and the publicity team's) fault that I went into this book expecting characters to ship, a speculative fiction plotline, and humor similar to Princess Bride.
Here's who I would recommend this book to: people who love the movie 500 Days of Summer (loser protagonist, pining after a doomed relationship). People who like when the author is a character in the book (not in a John Green way, more like in a Lego Movie way). People who like it when books prioritize Weirdness over Plot. I know those people are out there, and I hope this book finds them.
I have a lot to say about this book¹, but most of it would be an angry rant², so I'll just abstain³.
* MY THOUGHTS ON EDITED VS UNEDITED: *
This book has a partner book, which is Unedited. It's a very long unedited version of Edited.
If Edited is a (sometimes barely coherent) pererration, Unedited is so much more. It truly does read like a rough draft, difficult to follow and full of extraneous details.
However, if that is the kind of book you're looking for: a drift through abysmal characters and an Ode to Writing, Unedited is the superior version.
[ Just as an FYI: ]
Unedited could also be called "Uncensored." Edited could be passed off as an older YoungAdult book, but Unedited has way too much (sex, language, etc) to keep that label. For context (at least in the copies I read), Unedited is 3.2 times longer than Edited. It also has 5.1 times more F-bombs. The density is somewhat increased.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
¹ The part of this book that bothered me the most is when Lyga is complaining that no one likes his endings, how he can't write good endings, and how they're problematic for him, and. And I've read other Lyga books; I LOVED THE ENDINGS. It was my favorite thing about the books. So to have our page time wasted with a pity party is lame. But to have it wasted on critique that ISN'T EVEN ACCURATE, even worse.
² This book seriously angered me. I had high hopes for it, and it bombed every one.
³ Of course I couldn't help myself. I had⁴ to include some pretentious and contradictory footnotes to help you understand what reading this book is like.
⁴ Or maybe I didn't write a review at all. Maybe this is all in your head; a complicated and irrelevant dream⁵ sequence.
⁵ You're on Goodreads. The beige colorscheme reminds you of the stucco Walmart building you once kissed a girl in. But wait, you don't have lips, they're all blurry. They say to you, the⁶ password is broccoli. You nod, then panic. Where does that key go! You try it in your bikelock? Finally, a way to escape. You wake up, only to find your blanket has been replaced by a mat of woven bacon.
⁶ Dream sequences don't have quotation marks. You would know that if you'd ever dreamed before.
It's not a story. It's more like a ramble. A vagabond stumbling through the desert, parched, meandering, hopeless, and boring.
I feel so strongly of "It's not you, it's me." I had a 1star amount of fun. But it feels like it's my (and the publicity team's) fault that I went into this book expecting characters to ship, a speculative fiction plotline, and humor similar to Princess Bride.
Here's who I would recommend this book to: people who love the movie 500 Days of Summer (loser protagonist, pining after a doomed relationship). People who like when the author is a character in the book (not in a John Green way, more like in a Lego Movie way). People who like it when books prioritize Weirdness over Plot. I know those people are out there, and I hope this book finds them.
I have a lot to say about this book¹, but most of it would be an angry rant², so I'll just abstain³.
* MY THOUGHTS ON EDITED VS UNEDITED: *
This book has a partner book, which is Unedited. It's a very long unedited version of Edited.
If Edited is a (sometimes barely coherent) pererration, Unedited is so much more. It truly does read like a rough draft, difficult to follow and full of extraneous details.
However, if that is the kind of book you're looking for: a drift through abysmal characters and an Ode to Writing, Unedited is the superior version.
[ Just as an FYI: ]
Unedited could also be called "Uncensored." Edited could be passed off as an older YoungAdult book, but Unedited has way too much (sex, language, etc) to keep that label. For context (at least in the copies I read), Unedited is 3.2 times longer than Edited. It also has 5.1 times more F-bombs. The density is somewhat increased.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
¹ The part of this book that bothered me the most is when Lyga is complaining that no one likes his endings, how he can't write good endings, and how they're problematic for him, and. And I've read other Lyga books; I LOVED THE ENDINGS. It was my favorite thing about the books. So to have our page time wasted with a pity party is lame. But to have it wasted on critique that ISN'T EVEN ACCURATE, even worse.
² This book seriously angered me. I had high hopes for it, and it bombed every one.
³ Of course I couldn't help myself. I had⁴ to include some pretentious and contradictory footnotes to help you understand what reading this book is like.
⁴ Or maybe I didn't write a review at all. Maybe this is all in your head; a complicated and irrelevant dream⁵ sequence.
⁵ You're on Goodreads. The beige colorscheme reminds you of the stucco Walmart building you once kissed a girl in. But wait, you don't have lips, they're all blurry. They say to you, the⁶ password is broccoli. You nod, then panic. Where does that key go! You try it in your bikelock? Finally, a way to escape. You wake up, only to find your blanket has been replaced by a mat of woven bacon.
⁶ Dream sequences don't have quotation marks. You would know that if you'd ever dreamed before.
The blurb for this book calls it a "love story." I don't really even think that this book is a story (much less a love story, which at least implies that there will be characters you can root for).
It's not a story. It's more like a ramble. A vagabond stumbling through the desert, parched, meandering, hopeless, and boring.
I feel so strongly of "It's not you, it's me." I had a 1star amount of fun. But it feels like it's my (and the publicity team's) fault that I went into this book expecting characters to ship, a speculative fiction plotline, and humor similar to Princess Bride.
Here's who I would recommend this book to: people who love the movie 500 Days of Summer (loser protagonist, pining after a doomed relationship). People who like when the author is a character in the book (not in a John Green way, more like in a Lego Movie way). People who like it when books prioritize Weirdness over Plot. I know those people are out there, and I hope this book finds them.
I have a lot to say about this book¹, but most of it would be an angry rant², so I'll just abstain³.
* MY THOUGHTS ON EDITED VS UNEDITED: *
This book has a partner book, which is Edited. It's a shorter edited version of Unedited.
If Edited is a (sometimes barely coherent) pererration, Unedited is so much more. It truly does read like a rough draft, difficult to follow and full of extraneous details.
However, if that is the kind of book you're looking for: a drift through abysmal characters and an Ode to Writing, Unedited is the superior version.
[ Just as an FYI: ]
Unedited could also be called "Uncensored." Edited could be passed off as an older YoungAdult book, but Unedited has way too much (sex, language, etc) to keep that label. For context (at least in the copies I read), Unedited is 3.2 times longer than Edited. It also has 5.1 times more F-bombs. The density is somewhat increased.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
¹ The part of this book that bothered me the most is when Lyga is complaining that no one likes his endings, how he can't write good endings, and how they're problematic for him, and. And I've read other Lyga books; I LOVED THE ENDINGS. It was my favorite thing about the books. So to have our page time wasted with a pity party is lame. But to have it wasted on critique that ISN'T EVEN ACCURATE, even worse.
² This book seriously angered me. I had high hopes for it, and it bombed every one.
³ Of course I couldn't help myself. I had⁴ to include some pretentious and contradictory footnotes to help you understand what reading this book is like.
⁴ Or maybe I didn't write a review at all. Maybe this is all in your head; a complicated and irrelevant dream⁵ sequence.
⁵ You're on Goodreads. The beige colorscheme reminds you of the stucco Walmart building you once kissed a girl in. But wait, you don't have lips, they're all blurry. They say to you, the⁶ password is broccoli. You nod, then panic. Where does that key go! You try it in your bikelock? Finally, a way to escape. You wake up, only to find your blanket has been replaced by a mat of woven bacon.
⁶ Dream sequences don't have quotation marks. You would know that if you'd ever dreamed before.
It's not a story. It's more like a ramble. A vagabond stumbling through the desert, parched, meandering, hopeless, and boring.
I feel so strongly of "It's not you, it's me." I had a 1star amount of fun. But it feels like it's my (and the publicity team's) fault that I went into this book expecting characters to ship, a speculative fiction plotline, and humor similar to Princess Bride.
Here's who I would recommend this book to: people who love the movie 500 Days of Summer (loser protagonist, pining after a doomed relationship). People who like when the author is a character in the book (not in a John Green way, more like in a Lego Movie way). People who like it when books prioritize Weirdness over Plot. I know those people are out there, and I hope this book finds them.
I have a lot to say about this book¹, but most of it would be an angry rant², so I'll just abstain³.
* MY THOUGHTS ON EDITED VS UNEDITED: *
This book has a partner book, which is Edited. It's a shorter edited version of Unedited.
If Edited is a (sometimes barely coherent) pererration, Unedited is so much more. It truly does read like a rough draft, difficult to follow and full of extraneous details.
However, if that is the kind of book you're looking for: a drift through abysmal characters and an Ode to Writing, Unedited is the superior version.
[ Just as an FYI: ]
Unedited could also be called "Uncensored." Edited could be passed off as an older YoungAdult book, but Unedited has way too much (sex, language, etc) to keep that label. For context (at least in the copies I read), Unedited is 3.2 times longer than Edited. It also has 5.1 times more F-bombs. The density is somewhat increased.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
¹ The part of this book that bothered me the most is when Lyga is complaining that no one likes his endings, how he can't write good endings, and how they're problematic for him, and. And I've read other Lyga books; I LOVED THE ENDINGS. It was my favorite thing about the books. So to have our page time wasted with a pity party is lame. But to have it wasted on critique that ISN'T EVEN ACCURATE, even worse.
² This book seriously angered me. I had high hopes for it, and it bombed every one.
³ Of course I couldn't help myself. I had⁴ to include some pretentious and contradictory footnotes to help you understand what reading this book is like.
⁴ Or maybe I didn't write a review at all. Maybe this is all in your head; a complicated and irrelevant dream⁵ sequence.
⁵ You're on Goodreads. The beige colorscheme reminds you of the stucco Walmart building you once kissed a girl in. But wait, you don't have lips, they're all blurry. They say to you, the⁶ password is broccoli. You nod, then panic. Where does that key go! You try it in your bikelock? Finally, a way to escape. You wake up, only to find your blanket has been replaced by a mat of woven bacon.
⁶ Dream sequences don't have quotation marks. You would know that if you'd ever dreamed before.
I didn't enjoy this book. However, Literally Everyone who has reviewed it before me gave it 5stars, so I'm not sure if you should take my word for it.
This book follows Thora, a slave with aspirations of becoming an investigator. She and her friend Diem get shipped off to solve a mystery and play the game of politics.
I think the greatest falling of this book was on a nuts-and-bolts level. I was constantly confused. Like, I think the character is alone, but then it turned out they were in a crowd. I didn't understand what Thora's short term objectives were. I couldn't feel time passing due to the transitions often being minimal.
The worldbuilding felt like it wasn't really rooted. People have an interesting vocabulary, where they say certain words (reckon, true) a lot. Where did this come from? The religious culture is obsessed with death. Does this really come into play when actual death is taking place? Not really. It's mostly just a mantra and artistic style.
And don't even get me started on the winter hat. I get that it's a symbol of romantic commitment and rebellion against the caste system, but do we have to flip flop how we feel about it 3 times in the end of the book alone?
Thanks to Netgalley and Small Heart Press for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
This book follows Thora, a slave with aspirations of becoming an investigator. She and her friend Diem get shipped off to solve a mystery and play the game of politics.
I think the greatest falling of this book was on a nuts-and-bolts level. I was constantly confused. Like, I think the character is alone, but then it turned out they were in a crowd. I didn't understand what Thora's short term objectives were. I couldn't feel time passing due to the transitions often being minimal.
The worldbuilding felt like it wasn't really rooted. People have an interesting vocabulary, where they say certain words (reckon, true) a lot. Where did this come from? The religious culture is obsessed with death. Does this really come into play when actual death is taking place? Not really. It's mostly just a mantra and artistic style.
And don't even get me started on the winter hat. I get that it's a symbol of romantic commitment and rebellion against the caste system, but do we have to flip flop how we feel about it 3 times in the end of the book alone?
Thanks to Netgalley and Small Heart Press for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
I am bored. This book is long.
The writing is too sparse for me. The characters are bland.
Gave up at 12%.
The writing is too sparse for me. The characters are bland.
Gave up at 12%.
I picked up this book because I was intrigued with the main character's emotional arc: opening up emotionally and accepting romantic commitment.
But what made it hard for me to love this book was the love interest's emotional arc: needs to take sex less seriously. Because I don't really think that wanting a romantic and committed relationship before sex is a character flaw. It feels worse that this character is a Muslim, so it's an arc that goes against his religious/cultural beliefs.
But what made it hard for me to love this book was the love interest's emotional arc: needs to take sex less seriously. Because I don't really think that wanting a romantic and committed relationship before sex is a character flaw. It feels worse that this character is a Muslim, so it's an arc that goes against his religious/cultural beliefs.
This book is full of interesting ideas. The worldbuilding is fun, and the book gives you just enough information on all of it.
However, this book really needed a few more editing passes. In both pacing, dialogue, and continuity issues, I found the hiccups too big to really enjoy the story. The characters interacting felt stilted, like they were being fed lines instead of speaking from the heart.
Even our main character Maia, often felt like to me that she was becoming a caricature of herself. I have loved brash and rough around the edges protagonists before, but this one didn't work for me. Oftentimes, her outbursts felt so over the top, without any explanation given for them. So, instead of feeling like a personality trait, it felt like a quirky personality glitch.
Thanks to Kim Mullican and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
However, this book really needed a few more editing passes. In both pacing, dialogue, and continuity issues, I found the hiccups too big to really enjoy the story. The characters interacting felt stilted, like they were being fed lines instead of speaking from the heart.
Even our main character Maia, often felt like to me that she was becoming a caricature of herself. I have loved brash and rough around the edges protagonists before, but this one didn't work for me. Oftentimes, her outbursts felt so over the top, without any explanation given for them. So, instead of feeling like a personality trait, it felt like a quirky personality glitch.
Thanks to Kim Mullican and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
I kept waiting for it to get character-interesting. It just kept giving me worldbuilding-interesting.
DNF @ 25%
DNF @ 25%
TBH, I picked this up for the birds. I wanted to try a literary fiction book, and it was the birds that led me to choose this one.
Disappointingly, it was much more about melancholic wanderlust. Highly recommended to people looking for that, but not recommended to people wanting to learn more about Arctic Terns.
I suppose I am just not a Literary Fiction Girlie.
Booktone = Resolution Blue (Emotional, character focus). https://youtube.com/watch?v=AD4WKlAB0Jw
Disappointingly, it was much more about melancholic wanderlust. Highly recommended to people looking for that, but not recommended to people wanting to learn more about Arctic Terns.
I suppose I am just not a Literary Fiction Girlie.
Booktone = Resolution Blue (Emotional, character focus). https://youtube.com/watch?v=AD4WKlAB0Jw
This is a book that I would definitely recommend to people who love YA fantasy. There's some fun characters, world, magic, and romance. However, I don't think it would appeal to people outside that lovers-of-YA-fantasy group.
My full video review with detailed thoughts is at https://youtu.be/u59KqqJaLEw
This is a story about Marguerite, a princess with an evil uncle who is conspiring to steal the kingdom. Thrown into this mix is craft-based magic, sweet soulmates, and strong chosen-one vibes.
I liked how this book helped us understand its magic and politics. It didn't take it too slow, but it didn't shove it all in our face at once either. It helps that Marguerite was learning along with us the details of the magic.
However, where I didn't connect with this book was in the descriptions—particularly in emotional reactions. This book is so fast paced that it doesn't take time to really describe what is happening. It also doesn't take much time to let us feel the emotions of our main character. For this reason, I found it hard to get emotionally attached to her and her story.
Thanks to Sword and Silk Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
My full video review with detailed thoughts is at https://youtu.be/u59KqqJaLEw
This is a story about Marguerite, a princess with an evil uncle who is conspiring to steal the kingdom. Thrown into this mix is craft-based magic, sweet soulmates, and strong chosen-one vibes.
I liked how this book helped us understand its magic and politics. It didn't take it too slow, but it didn't shove it all in our face at once either. It helps that Marguerite was learning along with us the details of the magic.
However, where I didn't connect with this book was in the descriptions—particularly in emotional reactions. This book is so fast paced that it doesn't take time to really describe what is happening. It also doesn't take much time to let us feel the emotions of our main character. For this reason, I found it hard to get emotionally attached to her and her story.
Thanks to Sword and Silk Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.