coralinejones's Reviews (556)

What a weird little book. I'm not mad at it at all.

I wish we had more Blob / Bob. Clearly, given the title of the story and all, it's not hard to assume we all expected he'd be a bigger [much bigger] point of contention in the story, right? I honestly think the length of this novel is it's biggest enemy. Just as it starts to get even more intriguing, it ends.

The concept is SO good. Like it's just so odd and pleasant to read about. It's unlike anything I've come across. I've read multiple stories of X character falls in love with some ambiguous creature but it never unfolded quite the way Blob did.

It truly could've gone in any direction. I'm not completely disappointed in how the story progressed but I do wish it was a bit longer. I think we missed out on something really spectacular. More character development, just a tad more story. I wonder how Bob ended up in the long run...

Also Vi is extremely annoying and I get how that can take away from the story for most people. I know unlikable characters aren't the be-all, say-all for a story. A book can have an unlikable character and still be a good time, a fun read. I believe it's like that here, and that the story wouldn't have worked if Vi was a good person.

I started getting tired of Julian's POV but overall, this book is pretty good. Quite average, but real. Someone else said that these people could be your neighbors. Your coworkers. Your family members. I agree! It's worth a try.

Bizarre. Strike one was the repetitive usage of the word "mucus". Strike two was the unnecessary descriptive sentences about it. Strike three was the monotonous chatter of the main character.

Literally was a stream of consciousness that would not end. And it's only 90 pages long.

I'm also a lesbian clown (not literal) living in Florida with a weird family situation who loves older women. So naturally I understood.

The end kind of made this feel like a waste. The atmosphere was so eerie and fun to explore until it slowly came crumbling down the more we got closer to the end. I have so much more I want to say but all-in-all: I'm starting to dislike dual POVs / multiple timelines, and I'm sick of books being marketed poorly. 

Nothing happens. There's a very interesting concept here that isn't executed at all. I'd argue there wasn't even an attempt made...

I found this book insufferable. So many words to say so little. There are genuine moments of beauty in between these pages but the overall concept just gets lost in so, so, so, so much prose. I enjoy flowery writing but this is too much for me. Not to mention that this book isn't really horror? I think this was not marketed properly.

I'm exhausted. Why do I keep putting myself through this? Why do I find this CW-esq slop so entertaining? Someone stop me.

What's the plot? Where's the editing? Why is it so long? What is this? Omega heat? Professors acting wildly inappropriate towards their students? I can't do this. The plot will inch forward and then we'll be sat in traffic for 14 hours. There's an entire section just detailing the characters at this amusement park and it's excruciating. We don't need all this, lmao.

What's crazy is that out of the 3 books I've read out of this series, I enjoyed this one the most somehow. I found myself kind of... Not necessarily enjoying this character... Tolerating him, perhaps? It's Caleb.

But you know who I hate? Our main protagonists. Goodness. They're insufferable. They need to grow a backbone. Can they stand up for a second? Falling to their knees LITERALLY over some fuckass men who hate them and burn their clothes off for humiliation purposes. I'm going to rip my hair out.

When there's a sliver of plot this series isn't HORRENDOUS, just a tad awful. But between all the plot holes, corniness, random smut, terrible dialogue, and poor characterization I just. I can't.

What throws me off is how this ISN'T a young adult series but they act like children, are supposedly teenagers, but are put in WILDLY adult situations. If this was college, the introduction of intrusive college professors wouldn't make sense, right? Because they're grown and should be allowed to make grown decisions? And so they're teens. But that also doesn't work because they're off pretending to be adults?????? Like if you close your eyes and imagine these characters you see 25 year olds. IN FACT! When you go and look up art of these characters to get some visuals EVERYONE ENVISIONS THEM AS GROWN ADULTS! BUT THERE'S A SCENE TALKING ABOUT TEEN FAE SEX ED!!! SO WHAT THE HELL IS IT!! WHICH IS IT?!? I'm so fed up, oh my God. Oh my Godddd.

No, and one last thing. Diego. His entire character. Is that allowed. Why is he allowed to be written like that. One of the only characters of color and every time he's in a scene he's saying some random Spanish word. Who talks like that in real life. Every person I know that is bilingual or otherwise does not randomly show up like, "Hola muchachas." and they're dead serious about it. WHAT IS THISSSSS.

I'm reading the rest of the series, though. Fuck out of here. I started this mess and I have to see my way out of it. I survived my entire teen years watching MTV / CW / ABC Family slop. I'm equipped for this.

I liked reading this memoir reflecting on the Playboy days as much as I enjoyed reading Holly's account. The tones are extremely different however. Holly's being a tad light and playful, which matches her personality. Highlighting the terrible "working" conditions of the Playboy Mansion whilst exploring her happier memories while being there. Hanging out with Paris Hilton, filming reality TV, etc. Holly's memoir felt... Cartoonish, in a good way!

Crystal's, however, paints a very realistic light on what it must've been like being in that house. She gets straight to the point and doesn't sugarcoat a thing. There aren't details about spectacular parties and spa days on Hefner's allowance. There's many tales about jealousy, manipulation, fear. 

I love both books. I recommend both books to get a full picture of it all. I really felt for Crystal and I'm happy to see where she's at in life currently. Very gorgeous. Traveling. Advocating for the rights of animals. Owning a farm. Living the life. A much better life after the chaos of her earlier years. Good for her! True "Good For Her" literature!

You know... The hell does this have to do with sharks.

I wanted to give Jaws the benefit of the doubt; multiple reviews stated copious amounts of racism, sexism, and homophobia littered within the story. Not for any literary reason, either. Sometimes I can grit my teeth and bare it for the "greater good", aka experiencing the actual story, but this was God awful. Just useless.

I'm not saying it needed to be All Shark for this to be good, but I did not care for the town's politics and the random subplots that had NOTHING to do with the "murder mystery" of "what thing" or "which shark" was causing all these deadly murders. Did I care to read about a husband's wife having a CNC kink? Not necessarily. Did I care about the mafia? No. Did I need to read "her vagina yawned open"??? Absolutely did not. The plot itself is interesting! It can be creepy. The execution is just grating.

I just don't think I like horror written by white men in the 70s. I don't!