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renatasnacks
Tony invented a car and Pepper Potts was a total badass. I was into it. Oh yeah and the whole part about Brilliant/spooky.
Also the "Good Morning, Tony" oneshot included with this feels like a forerunner to Fraction's cool experimental-ish stuff with Hawkeye. I dig it.
Spoiler
Detroit Steel turning their free app into a bittorrent network for drone pilots?!Also the "Good Morning, Tony" oneshot included with this feels like a forerunner to Fraction's cool experimental-ish stuff with Hawkeye. I dig it.
Um... I care slightly less about the Mandarin than I do other Iron Man plot lines. It was fine, but not my favorite volume. I did really like Tony's AA meeting confession. OH, and Tony Stark + Peter Parker 4eva, oh my god.
The premise of Reality Boy is that the protagonist, Gerald, and his family were featured on a SuperNanny type reality show. At age 5, Gerald would shit on things to express his rage. This kind of went viral and led to him being known as the Crapper up until the present day, when he's in high school and seeing an anger management counselor.
I read a few reviews that questioned whether Gerald would be so famous from just being on a few episodes of one reality show, and it does seem sketchy, but King sets it up by making it clear that he went viral on YouTube and became kind of a cultural touchpoint for anger, and also that it's more of a local fame--he can't shed the name from people he's grown up around, but he doesn't seem to be recognized by outsiders (although they do seem to be familiar with "The Crapper" if asked). So, given those parameters... okay. Fine. He's the Crapper.
MY biggest issue was the British slang? I know this is a review copy so maybe it will be changed for the final version, but there's SO much of it. Halfway through the book I actually looked up A.S. King because I really thought she was American--which she is, but apparently she lived in Ireland for 10 years as an adult? But then, weirdly, Gerald calls out his imaginary guidance counselor Snow White for using British slang, and then he realizes he's been internalizing the British TV nanny? But a lot of the British slang comes from Gerald and other characters, not Snow White? Like, the school apparently has a "lav pass." Hannah repeatedly talks about "doing the wash." Is that regional? Do any American say that? Wait or is all of that inside Gerald's head? Ah now I'm overthinking this. The point is: it was weirdly distracting for me.
OK now that I've discussed the basic premise and the British slang, the book itself... was fine. A.S. King is good at writing about families with ~issues~, and I've loved her other books. Maybe the problem was that Gerald's family issues seemed... over the top? His mother and older sister Tasha, who both treat Gerald poorly, never seemed like realized characters. Gerald and his middle sister believe their older sister is a sociopath, which, okay, but... I don't know. It started to feel implausible, I guess. I did like seeing Gerald's side of things (since the show made Gerald out to be the worst child, not Tasha or the mother), and the little behind-the-scenes look at reality TV.
Also, after awhile, the long, long trips through Gerald's coping mechanisms seemed excessive?
I really wanted to like this book more than I did, I think. I've loved A.S. King's earlier books, and I love the idea of exploring what a childhood captured on reality TV would do to a teen, but... this just wasn't the book I was hoping for.
I read a few reviews that questioned whether Gerald would be so famous from just being on a few episodes of one reality show, and it does seem sketchy, but King sets it up by making it clear that he went viral on YouTube and became kind of a cultural touchpoint for anger, and also that it's more of a local fame--he can't shed the name from people he's grown up around, but he doesn't seem to be recognized by outsiders (although they do seem to be familiar with "The Crapper" if asked). So, given those parameters... okay. Fine. He's the Crapper.
MY biggest issue was the British slang? I know this is a review copy so maybe it will be changed for the final version, but there's SO much of it. Halfway through the book I actually looked up A.S. King because I really thought she was American--which she is, but apparently she lived in Ireland for 10 years as an adult? But then, weirdly, Gerald calls out his imaginary guidance counselor Snow White for using British slang, and then he realizes he's been internalizing the British TV nanny? But a lot of the British slang comes from Gerald and other characters, not Snow White? Like, the school apparently has a "lav pass." Hannah repeatedly talks about "doing the wash." Is that regional? Do any American say that? Wait or is all of that inside Gerald's head? Ah now I'm overthinking this. The point is: it was weirdly distracting for me.
OK now that I've discussed the basic premise and the British slang, the book itself... was fine. A.S. King is good at writing about families with ~issues~, and I've loved her other books. Maybe the problem was that Gerald's family issues seemed... over the top? His mother and older sister Tasha, who both treat Gerald poorly, never seemed like realized characters. Gerald and his middle sister believe their older sister is a sociopath, which, okay, but... I don't know. It started to feel implausible, I guess. I did like seeing Gerald's side of things (since the show made Gerald out to be the worst child, not Tasha or the mother), and the little behind-the-scenes look at reality TV.
Also, after awhile, the long, long trips through Gerald's coping mechanisms seemed excessive?
I really wanted to like this book more than I did, I think. I've loved A.S. King's earlier books, and I love the idea of exploring what a childhood captured on reality TV would do to a teen, but... this just wasn't the book I was hoping for.
I wanted to like this more than I did? From what I knew about it it ("the angst of being a teen! the thrill of being a boat!") seemed like a very tongue-in-cheek satire of teen drama but it's pretty slapsticky. I think tweens and young teens will really love this. Am I too grown up for this? That's a TERRIBLE realization but possibly true.
The title of this caught my eye when I was reading reviews of upcoming books, and I was kind of like, "Ughh great somebody who thinks it's cute to wash their hands and label it OCD" but then I read the review and it's about characters who have ACTUAL OCD and go to group therapy for their OCD (which manifests in different ways than just handwashing and tidiness). So that made me decide to buy it for the library, and then I decided to read it because the cover looks really cool? That is the story of how a professional reader such as myself chooses her books.
Anyway, I really liked it! I liked Bea as an unreliable, but accurate narrator--the way she is in some ways very honest and in other ways unaware about what she's actually doing, and we have to piece things together from what people say to/about her. We learn that Bea's OCD manifests partially in her needing to check in on particular strangers, to know they're okay--we learn that others call this behavior stalking, but Bea can't help herself. It all comes to head in a pretty intense way :O
Overall I recommend this as a unique teen romance and/or as a psychological thriller almost. Also, give it to anyone who says "lol I'm so OCD I always have hand sanitizer in my bag."
Anyway, I really liked it! I liked Bea as an unreliable, but accurate narrator--the way she is in some ways very honest and in other ways unaware about what she's actually doing, and we have to piece things together from what people say to/about her. We learn that Bea's OCD manifests partially in her needing to check in on particular strangers, to know they're okay--we learn that others call this behavior stalking, but Bea can't help herself. It all comes to head in a pretty intense way :O
Overall I recommend this as a unique teen romance and/or as a psychological thriller almost. Also, give it to anyone who says "lol I'm so OCD I always have hand sanitizer in my bag."
All girl spy boarding school? Is that a book synopsis or a LICENSE TO PRINT MONEY?
Seriously awesome though, oh man. Just the perfect blend of cool spy gadgets and girl power and humor and realistic ~teen girl feelings.~ This series had been vaguely on my to-read list forever and it's definitely as good (or better) than the awesome premise makes it sound.
Also there's not really any strong language (except Farsi! HA GET IT) or sexy stuff so it's a good tween read. Or for anyone really. Holla.
Seriously awesome though, oh man. Just the perfect blend of cool spy gadgets and girl power and humor and realistic ~teen girl feelings.~ This series had been vaguely on my to-read list forever and it's definitely as good (or better) than the awesome premise makes it sound.
Also there's not really any strong language (except Farsi! HA GET IT) or sexy stuff so it's a good tween read. Or for anyone really. Holla.
I read some of Axe Cop as a webcomic and I wasn't sure the gimmick (a profesh artist illustrates ideas produced by his 5 year-old brother) would stand up in a collected volume, but it honestly got funnier and funnier as I kept reading. I literally laughed so hard I cried over this, in public.
I loved the commentary from Evan along the way, and I think this would honestly appeal to all ages.
I loved the commentary from Evan along the way, and I think this would honestly appeal to all ages.
According to GoodReads, I started reading this in May and got 20% through it, which is the point where I realized it was a concentration camp story and I had to put it on hold until I felt emotionally prepared to read it. I guess I decided that this weekend I was prepared to finish it, though this pile of used Kleenexes begs to differ.
When Code Name Verity first started getting buzz, I admit I thought, "Do we really need another WWII story? What's left to tell?" Then, of course, it was a fresh and brilliant novel and I loved it and so did basically everyone.
Same with Rose Under Fire--did we really need another concentration camp story? Well--maybe we needed this one.
Wein's frame is smart, having Rose narrate her story after the fact. I haven't seen as many WWII novels deal with a character's trauma like this. So many books focus on how horrible being in a camp was--which, yes, it was--but less time is spent on how horrible being out of the camp was, too.
Too, setting it in Ravensbruck, focusing on the Rabbits (who were medically experimented on)--all of this is a different take on the standard WWII narrative and important history. And including the Nuremburg trials, and how survivors might respond, and how gendered everything was, and, and, and...! It's all so richly nuanced and powerful, without ever feeling didactic.
Unsurprisingly from the author of Code Name Verity, the friendships--sisterhood--between the prisoners is so beautiful and important and moving.
I saw some reactions that were disappointed that this didn't have the same suspense/twists as Code Name Verity, but I... mean, I wouldn't want to read the same story twice, I guess, and I'm not sure how that kind of narrative would play out in this story.
Oh, also, as a longtime Girl Scout, I was VERY moved by reading all of Rose's Girl Scout songs and traditions and realizing how many had survived to present day. Such a powerfully humanizing and relatable element--I am sure many other present day Girl Scouts would respond similarly.
When Code Name Verity first started getting buzz, I admit I thought, "Do we really need another WWII story? What's left to tell?" Then, of course, it was a fresh and brilliant novel and I loved it and so did basically everyone.
Same with Rose Under Fire--did we really need another concentration camp story? Well--maybe we needed this one.
Spoiler
Wein's frame is smart, having Rose narrate her story after the fact. I haven't seen as many WWII novels deal with a character's trauma like this. So many books focus on how horrible being in a camp was--which, yes, it was--but less time is spent on how horrible being out of the camp was, too.
Too, setting it in Ravensbruck, focusing on the Rabbits (who were medically experimented on)--all of this is a different take on the standard WWII narrative and important history. And including the Nuremburg trials, and how survivors might respond, and how gendered everything was, and, and, and...! It's all so richly nuanced and powerful, without ever feeling didactic.
Unsurprisingly from the author of Code Name Verity, the friendships--sisterhood--between the prisoners is so beautiful and important and moving.
I saw some reactions that were disappointed that this didn't have the same suspense/twists as Code Name Verity, but I... mean, I wouldn't want to read the same story twice, I guess, and I'm not sure how that kind of narrative would play out in this story.
Oh, also, as a longtime Girl Scout, I was VERY moved by reading all of Rose's Girl Scout songs and traditions and realizing how many had survived to present day. Such a powerfully humanizing and relatable element--I am sure many other present day Girl Scouts would respond similarly.
Bro. What's the point of me reviewing Hawkeye, bro? Why aren't you already reading it, bro? Bro. BRO. Read it.
Ahh! I loved this and also got an anxiety tummyache from it at some points. More than anything it reminded me of [b:The Glass Castle|7445|The Glass Castle|Jeannette Walls|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1368431406s/7445.jpg|2944133] for being a memoir about a family that's so strange and may seem abusive to an outsider, but is written about with such compassion and humaneness for everyone involved. Reading it, your heart breaks for young Aaron, growing up gay in a VERY strict evangelical Christian household, but he also makes you understand that his parents genuinely think they're doing what's best for him. He finds humor in aspects of their religious practice while never making light of their faith. It's a pretty impressive tightrope to walk and he does it admirably, I think!!
He also successfully makes the reader understand how high stakes things can become with an upbringing like this. Like I almost had a heart attack when Aaron realized he left his forbidden Bon Jovi cassette in his mom's car. Whew!!
Recommended for anyone really, but anyone who grew up in an evangelical family or area maybe especially appreciate it, as might LGBTQQ teens. Or anyone who loves a skillfully written memoir cuz damn this one's good.
He also successfully makes the reader understand how high stakes things can become with an upbringing like this. Like I almost had a heart attack when Aaron realized he left his forbidden Bon Jovi cassette in his mom's car. Whew!!
Recommended for anyone really, but anyone who grew up in an evangelical family or area maybe especially appreciate it, as might LGBTQQ teens. Or anyone who loves a skillfully written memoir cuz damn this one's good.