Full Review from my blog Owl Eyes Reviews

3.5/5 stars.

I watched the movie of this book a really long time ago. (Like when I was 10.) I didn’t remember a lot, only that my dad made me close my eyes a lot. But, apparently, I remembered a lot more than I thought I did. Surprisingly, that didn’t hinder me from enjoying the book as it usually does. I’m really glad that I have read this book now because I was really eager to read it in the first place because I wanted to listen to the music from the musical.

It was a little hard for me to get into this story at the beginning because of the way it is written. I wasn’t expecting a diary style book. When I was younger, I used to love diary style books but now I feel like they kind of drag on. It’s because of this I avoided this book for the first few days after I finished it. However, after about fifty pages of this book, I was able to get into it.

I was really interested in the fact that Alice Walker was able to address so many issues in this book. It was so wonderful to see things like sexuality, gender and the struggles of being a dark skinned woman addressed by a black woman. Especially in a historical setting. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Even though this book wasn’t my favorite, I will never get tired of reading books in the perspective of black woman. No matter the story, I always find myself identifying with the characters. It is very validating.

I have a really hard time visualizing plays when reading them. That is why I don't really rate them very high because there are some plays that I just don't see. However, with this play it was very different. I found this play really fun and beautiful. I could see it. It gave me the wonderful feeling that I feel when watching and performing in plays. It gave me butterflies and I seldom feel that while reading a play. Gorgeous play. It reminded of the stories that I like to write. I loved it and hope that I get to see it live someday :)

Reread 7-11-16

I read this book for the first time almost four years ago. I remember absolutely loving it. However now, after having read it for the second time, I do not feel the same way about this book. The first time I read this book I think I focused only on the storyline. I think the story line of this book is awesome. However, I don't resells,like the main character at all. I didn't really connect with what a lot of the characters. The one thing I did still really like is the complete randomness of the writing. It was all of the place and I really appreciated that. I NEVER change the ratings when I Reread but I had to with this one because I do not feel the same about it anymore.


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Oh. My. Gosh. I have NEVER loved a classic book before. I just thought that they were not my thing. But, my English teacher thought I would like this one to read for our independent book project. Guys, this was fantastic! I was on the edge of my seat and then- SOME HORRIBLE PERSON TORE A PAGE OUT OF MY BOOK!!! IT WAS THE CLIMAX PAGE!!! Thank goodness I live near a library or I would have cried. So good <3

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3.25/5 stars.

This is getting dark. I like it. :)

This play about a girl who's best friend died, but it was also very sexually charged. This left me very confused because I wasn't quite sure what to take seriously and what was a joke. I think this is one that I need to see because I'm so confused.

I'm having very confused feelings about this play. My school is going to be performing it this upcoming fall and I am reading it in anticipation of auditioning for it. However, after reading it, I'm not quite sure if I am going to audition. First of all, I'm very confused as to how this play works. I think it's one that needs to be seen because I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters in my head. Secondly, this play is set in pre-communist China. All the characters have chinese names. From this, I would assume that the characters are supposed to be at least of Asian descent. I personally do not think that I would be able to pretend to be an Asian woman when I am not. I know that I personally would find it disrespectful if someone who was not black decided to play a character who was written as a black woman. I need to do my research and talk to my professor, however, right now, I'm not so sure that I will be auditioning for this play in the fall.

BookTube-A-Thon Book #1

Quick and easy read. I loved the art! The artist did a great job with drawing curvaceous African Woman. It was fun :)

BookTube-A-Thon Book #2

Very cute. Very Sweet. And very short. (VERY VERY SHORT) Which is exactly what I needed right now :)

TW: Sexual Assault and Rape

I do not give out one stars lightly. I think that in my lifetime, or at least in the time that I have been recording my ratings of books (so for the past six years or so), I have only given out three one star ratings. This book will become my forth. At this point, I’m not quite sure that I can put my thoughts into words, but I sure am going to try because I have a lot to say. There are many reasons why I did not like this book and I really hope that I will be able to voice my problems clearly.

The first thing I realized about this book is the fact that I didn’t really like any of these characters. Especially the main character Toru. He was sexist, misogynistic and he didn’t really care about anyone around him. He thought that he cared for the people around him, but the way that he cared for people was hurting them. All of the other characters bugged me as well. Most of the men seemed to be worse than Toru when it came to their treatment of people and the women seemed to be written as vessels for Toru to play with. (Even thinking about it makes me so mad.) Any time that I thought one of the female characters was doing well for themselves, they somehow got mixed up with Toru again. I was like “TORU IS AWFUL WHYYYYY?!?!?!” In the end I was left so mad with these characters that I just couldn’t.

The main thing that bugged me in this story was the uncomfortable aura and presence of rape culture and sexual assault. Toru made nonchalant jokes about rape and raping people. Like this one:

Spoiler

“I’m not kidding, I might end up forcing you [to have sex with me]”.

THIS IS NOT OKAY. There were a few moments where Toru talked about sexual encounters he had once had that, in my eyes, were rape. Like this one

Spoiler

"The first girl put up a terrific struggle when I tried to get her undressed and into a hotel bed…”.

AND, some of the other characters would joke about rape like it was nothing. Like this

Spoiler

"If you feel like raping anybody in the middle of the night, don’t get the wrong one.”

IS STILL NOT OKAY. In reality, almost every sexual encounter that occurred or was talked about in this book was sexual assault in one way or another. It was absolutely appalling for me to read. The fact that none of this was touched upon or acknowledged in this book really just left me with a really gross feeling after reading.

I was not drawn to this story at all by the end of this book. The only reasons I finished reading was because I wanted to see what was going to happen. I wanted to see if all of the horrible things that were happening in the book were going to be remedied at all. (Surprise Surprise) They were not. I was left in the end trying to figure out what this book was supposed to be about. I think that Murakami was hoping to make an interesting coming of age story that touched on mental illness, however, this story ended up showing me how prevalent rape culture is. Very disappointing.

I’ve had this book on my TBR shelf forever. Thank goodness for my Adolescent Lit. Class. I’ve been searching through my TBR shelf for Middle Grade and Children’s books to read this whole month. This book just so happened to be the first book I picked up. I remember there being a huge hype around this book when I first added it to my list (back in 2011, yikes). So I was very excited to pick it up. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.

I enjoyed the first part of this book very much. It seemed to be such a wonderful story about friendship and being in the fifth grade. There were no fantasy aspects whatsoever. I was very much in love what was happening. Unfortunately, as soon as the fantasy aspects came into play, the story became less genuine to me. I’m not quite sure if this is because of my feelings towards fantasy or if it was the book itself. To me, the fantasy aspects made everything feel fake. And yeah, I get it, fantasy is not supposed to be real, but the way it was written in this book made me feel really distanced from the characters.

Overall, this was not my favorite book. I really enjoyed the first half, but the second half just wasn’t my favorite. I do not think that I will be using this for a read aloud in my future classes.