ellemnope's Reviews (2.4k)

A full review of this book will be forthcoming on my blog. However, the brief synopsis of my opinion is this: The Girl Without a Name is a decent read, but there are things that caused me pause and detracted from my ability to enjoy the narrative. It's not a bad book by any means, but I just felt based on bits of the story and sections of the writing, I think it could have been much better with some increased editing. It just needed a bit more sharpness.

Block very easily translates her profession into the novel, with medical expertise showing through her writing. This is definitely a strength as it makes the book much more believable. However, the primary character of Zoe Goldman is so incredibly lax with her adherence (or rather lack there of) to basic patient privacy rules for the medical profession, that I found myself inherently disliking her. Being a physician herself, Block should have been able to clean this up to be less offensive while still enabling events to take place that would properly move her plot in the correct direction. This was probably the largest issue I had with the novel and absolutely resulted in a large amount of the influence over my final rating.

Overall, the story has good bones and the ending is well structured. I was pleasantly surprised with it's originality. The writing has moments of being relaxed but intriguing, showing that the author definitely has a literary touch. Ultimately, I just felt that some pruning and fine tuning was necessary to make the book a more enjoyable read. The Girl Without a Name has a decent premise, but needed a bit more realism in character development and streamlining of plot. I didn't dislike it, but didn't wow me.

This one nearly felt as if it were written by two different authors. The portions of the book written in the past were beautifully written and stripped of any awkwardness. They were well-crafted and believable. The modern portions of the novel were something else. They seemed overly corny...too juvenile. The characters weren't as rich and the storyline was jolting rather than seamless. Thankfully, there was enough of the former to keep the book on track. I enjoyed the premise of the novel and very much found interest in the historical significance. It was a particular surprise to discover that a good portion of the book actually took place near where I currently live. This may have aided in increasing my tolerance with those portions that felt lackluster. Overall, I appreciate why the novel was written as it was, but still feel that the narrative would have been stronger with either full abandonment of the modern storyline or further development of the characters and plot in these pieces.

Up until the last few pages, I honestly thought this would become my new favorite John Green novel. But...nope. Still an excellent read, but the ending just left me wanting. The biggest issue was finding myself liking Quentin's version of Margo Roth Spiegelman. The actual Margo left a sour taste in my mouth. Damn you, realistic characters.

Like all of Green's novels, the characters are well done and well-rounded. They aren't dumbed down and they aren't oversimplified. They are "real" teenagers, not just cardboard cutouts or stereotypes. And they have realistic thought processes. His books are fun and good reads, but they aren't fluff pieces. They are cerebral narratives with excellent life applications for any age.

Paper Towns ranks up there among the best of his novels. No, it didn't become my favorite, but it's still up there. And I would still highly recommend it for fans of either Green or the YA genre.

A light and entertaining read. It read pretty quickly and really seems to be a good freshman novel from Lauren Graham. The last third of the book was actually the best, but… there just didn’t seem to be enough substance and the ending, while somewhat rewarding, seem to leave off in a unfortunate spot. I could’ve used a lot more.

Meh. That's about all I can muster for this one. There is a lot of musical history, so maybe those who are highly musically inclined would find this more interesting, but for me it just seemed a bit of a whiny tale of a man who has been dumped. Rob is not a super likable character. At least he wasn't for me. He was whiny and fairly dull, not to mention overly clingy. The story itself just kind of droned on. It wasn't offensive in any way, but it wasn't gripping in any way either. I honestly probably should have just put this one in the DNF pile, but my stubbornness meant that I push my way to the lackluster end. Like I said...meh.

I really enjoyed du Maurier's writing. She writes in a way that feels so much older than the time period presented in the novel while still remaining relatable and energetic. This is a classic that doesn't drag. The characters are rich and fully fledged and the storyline moves quite well. The only downside is the intermittently overly florid language...du Maurier does tend to overdo her nature descriptions on occasion. The ending was a bit sudden, which (because the ending is always the determinant for me) resulted in knocking this one down from a 5-star to 4-star rating. Overall though, a very good read.

I enjoy Gregory's works so much. It doesn't hurt that I'm a big fan of Tudor England. It's a rich and tumultuous history. Nothing like a little historical scandal. This one is reeeeaaally long, but oh so worth it. All about the little known Dowager Queen Margaret of Scotland, Gregory manages to develop a fantastic story that melds the lives of three women all through the perspective of one brilliant character. I enjoyed picking this book up every night and read until my eyes just wouldn't stay open.

This was a wonderfully fantastic read. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I was still very much entertained. Caraval is a smooth and easy read that I finished in just a few short days. There were a few small things that felt mildly juvenile in the writing, but they were minor issues that only snagged me up for a moment. Overall, I was very pleased and I look forward to reading the sequel.

Not a bad Little Red Riding Hood retelling. A pretty light read (all things considered) with a mildly predictable story line. I will give some props to the author for throwing me off the scent (pun mildly intended) when I thought I had it all figured out. (I did, but a few bits of her narrative made me convince myself that I was wrong.) All in all, I read this one quick and have no regrets for the fact that it landed on my reading list.