Wow. I didn’t really expect to be giving this book five stars. Sure, lots of people said it was fabulous but I kind of had my doubts since it was a middle grade book. I definitely shouldn’t have. It’s a wonderful book- beautifully written and well paced. This would be a wonderful way to introduce the discussion of mental health to a young person/ child, though as an adult I still found it entertaining.

Meh. There was nothing inherently wrong with this book of poetry- it just didn’t inspire or effect me in any meaningful way, which is what I look for in poetry. I’ve never been a huge fan of avant-garde poetry and I suppose that includes the Language subgroup as well. If you like short, simplistic verse with straight forward language then you might like this. It just wasn’t for me.

By the time I got to the end of this book, I found myself still quite confused as to how this became so popular online. It’s not a terrible book and it is far from the worst thriller I’ve ever read, but there was nothing particularly new /exhilarating about it. I think one of the elements that may have made this story more intriguing or appealing to some people, was the addition of snuff porn to the book. I have heard many people say this book is essentially torture porn and I do not agree with that at all. It is obvious that the use of snuff porn is meant to further villainize the guilty parties in the book and create a sense of fear. However, I found that much of the writing style and pacing of this book was simply too awkward or too slow to keep me feeling scared or heavily invested. Aside from the pace and the writing style, I also had a hard time enjoying this book because many of the characters felt like two dimensional stereotypes to me-the woman who acts like a damsel in distress and likes others to make decisions for her, the ex drug addict who is trying to take care of their child and reshape their life, etc. While I don’t think this book was particularly terrible, I did feel as though it was perhaps hyped up to much for what it was.

Cute! Wonderful! Gorgeous, as usual. The plot was entertaining and kept you turning the page. This is a very easy read and I would recommend it for anyone who might be moderately interested in graphic novels or fantasy. I will say that my only negative critique is that the pacing on this one perhaps wasn’t as perfect as the first installment in the trilogy was, but that critique is so minor that I’m still giving this five stars.

A super quick read but thoroughly entertaining. A good overview if you’re curious about astrophysics but don’t want to get into anything overly complex, long winded, or mathematical.

This graphic novel/comic was amazing. If you are at all interested in the history or politics of Iran but you feel overwhelmed by the complication their end, this is a great way to get a general introduction into things with a sort of inside view. The art is simplistic yet endearing and many of the little stories inside are informative and heart benching. The only negative thing I can think to critique is that the ending was quite abrupt. That being said, it was overall amazing and still worthy of five stars.

My wife and I read this book within two days as a small challenge for ourselves so that we could go and see the new movie (since I don’t like to see movies before their accompanying books). This book was much better than I expected and I enjoyed it immensely, although it is far from perfect. The book is often touted as a novel that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. That seemed like something of a stretch. However, now that I’ve read it, I can heartily agree with those comments. Something about the simplistic problems presented in the book and the wide variety of characters makes it appealing to various ages. The book made me cry twice and I don’t cry often when reading, so that says something about Alcott’s ability to get emotional responses. However, the book have a few antisemitic descriptions of Jewish people, which upset and surprised me. I know that Alcott was an abolitionist so I hadn’t expected racism in the book but it was there. Also, the book only gets 3.5 stars instead of 4 or 5 not only due to the antisemitism but also because the ending felt a bit flat, which was actually quite surprising for me since earlier parts of the novel were so strong.