dlrosebyh's Reviews (773)

if this book is about religious trauma, i will be the religion. i hated it sm

It has been 1939. Nazi Germany. The nation is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and it will continue to be so. Liesel's life changes at her brother's grave as she picks up a solitary thing partially concealed in the snow. It's The Gravedigger's Handbook, accidentally placed there, and it's her first act of book stealing. So starts Liesel's love affair with books and words, as she learns to read with the assistance of her accordion-playing foster father. Soon, she's taking volumes from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, and everywhere else there are books. However, these are perilous times. Liesel's world is opened up and locked down as her foster family hides a Jew in their basement.

This is a one-of-a-kind book for me. It differs from the other books I've read. It's narrated from the perspective of death, and death tells the narrative in an unreliable manner, making the characters fascinating. There was never a dull time in this book; it was a page-turner. This novel had me in tears at school at 6 a.m and obviously,  I didn't want the book to come to an end.

The characters were the greatest part for me. Every one of them was well-developed and relevant to the story. There were no additional characters that appeared for one scene and then never appeared again. I believe Markus Zusak planned the book excellently. Rosa or Rudy are my favorites, although Liesel is a strong second. I adore the mystery factor, as well as the historical one. It's only been five hours, yet I'm already missing these characters.

The chaotic streets of New Beijing are crowded with both humans and androids. People are being ravaged by a horrible plague. A cunning lunar people keep watch from orbit, ready to strike. Nobody is aware that one girl's decision will determine the fate of the planet.

Cinder is a cyborg and a talented mechanic. She has a murky past, is despised by her stepmother, and is held responsible for her stepsister's illness. She is a second-class citizen. But when her life starts to entangle with that of the dashing Prince Kai, she finds herself thrust into the middle of an interplanetary conflict and a forbidden attraction. She must learn mysteries from her history in order to safeguard the future of her world because she is torn between loyalty and betrayal, duty and freedom.

I was anticipating this book because I adore Marissa Meyer's previous works; contrary, I wasn't satisfied. In all honesty, I thought the book was cliched, but it kept my attention and was quite fast paced. The last three chapters were supposedly the "plot twists," but I already had an idea what is going to happen, so they didn't really surprise me. However, I am eager to read the other books because I've heard they're far better than Cinder.

Now, I enjoy books that feature the chosen one trope. And it's much better if the selected one decides to topple the government. But that didn't really work for me. 

 

It's not riveting, there are several narrative gaps, and the entire scenario is underdeveloped. All of the characters lacked power, and it wasn't merely a wonderful novel in general. 

Daisy and Noah both have the same plan: they'll utilize the holiday concert to get a Julliard audition. However, when they are picked to perform a duet for the event, they are concerned that their differences would derail their hopes. 

 

Noah, a cello prodigy from a musical family, wishes to follow in his father's footsteps. Daisy, a fiercely independent disabled violinist, is used to battling for what she wants and enjoys taking chances. When they play, though, the two surprise one other. They are in perfect harmony. 

 

After their performance goes viral, the rest of the country falls in love with them just as much as they do. However, viral stardom isn't everything it's made up to be. Nobody seemed to be interested in their talent or songs. People have reworked Daisy and Noah's love story to make Daisy an inspiration for overcoming her cerebral palsy and Noah a saint for looking past it. 

 

Daisy gets weary of her impairment being the only thing others notice about her, and all the attention exacerbates Noah's anxiety issue. They can see their dream getting closer than it has ever been. 

 

The plot and portrayal of this novel are its strongest points. Don't get me wrong, I adore Daisy and Noah, but there wasn't much chemistry between them. Personally, I believed there was little build-up in their relationship and that it was executed too quickly. I can imagine them together in the future because their characteristics complement one other, but given this is a romance novel, I wish there was a genuine build-up in their relationship. 

She flipped when she first saw him. He fled the moment he first saw her. Although not much has changed by the seventh grade, that was in the second grade. It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort for Bryce, according to Juli, who says: "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." But in the eighth grade, everything is turned on its head: just as Bryce starts to wonder if Juli is more than meets the eye, she starts to question if he is.

When we see the adaptation before reading the book, one of two things might happen: either we fall more in love with the book or we become bored since we already know what will happen next. In this instance, my love for Flipped has grown. Flipped is one of my go-to comfort movies; I'm not sure why, but it simply does. And now that I’ve read the book, I can say the same thing.

It's fascinating to read the same situation from two points of view, and it's gratifying to see how Bryce and Julia's personalities have changed since they first met. I like how diverse in temperament Juli and Bryce are from one another, although they accomplish the same goal in a different time period. I can't emphasize enough how much this book gave me butterflies while I read it in the park because of the unrequited crush, the yearning, the angst, and the fluff.