simonlorden's Reviews (1.38k)

This story was shockingly short - already the ebook is so short, and then half of it is the foreword and the afterword. And yet it raises a huge moral question. I liked that the afterword was included with the story and wrote about some possible interpretations. It definitely makes you think, and I think it's supposed to make you feel uncomfortable.

Sadie is a book about every horrible thing that can happen to a little girl, and a teenager who is doing her damned best to protect her little sister from all of what happened to her. And she fails.

It is a brutal, horrible book that is brilliantly written and will make your stomach turn, and I don't think you can say in general terms that it's not for kids or teens, because this shit happens to kids or teens, and many of them don't have the privilege to think of it as adult material.

I recommend listening to the podcast as well, although I'm a bit baffled to find that one episode is "missing" and the end of the story is not available in that format.

 

 At 20%, I was bored and hated everyone, but I thought I'd keep going to see if it gets better. It somehow never did. The twist at the end was mildly interesting, but I don't think I can take another book with these characters. (if I have to read another Callum POV I'll just throw the book.) 

A Pride & Prejudice remix where "Elizabeth" is a trans man called Oliver, and Darcy is a gay man, and also they're all teens.

I think it would have been MUCH better if the author wrote a modern retelling instead. Both the language and the attitudes in this book was simply way too modern. I also couldn't get used to all the characters being called "boys" - I know they are teens in this retelling, but even then if they are of marriageable age, surely "young men" would have been more suitable.

I don't think that queer people necessarily have to be miserable in historical stories for "realism". But their happy end will not look the same as cishet people's happy end. The way Oliver has always planned to tell his whole family (and possibly the world) about him, "Elizabeth Bennet" being a man, is just beyond my suspension of disbelief, as is the way he manages to INHERIT their house. Sure, you can have a doctor testify in court that he's a man, but do you really think the court won't demand physical proof, or literally anybody in the city won't speak out about this family having five daughters up until now?

One other strange thing was that making the second eldest child 17 years old made the other three far too young, but at least the Lydia/Wickham story was taken out, probably for that reason. 

Overall, I simply wasn't sold on this as a historical novel in any way.

A haunted boarding school in an old building, with only four students and three teachers. And of course, there is a sinister reason behind their selections and the existence of the school. An exciting, creepy story that can be read in one sitting, like the other books by this author that I read. I have no complaints really.

Entertaining, but not very special. I'm a bit disappointed that

everyone survived at the end

, it took away from the emotional weight I guess.

I'm binging this author's works because they are interesting and short enough that you can comfortably read them in one sitting. This one takes place in a Louisana plantation, focusing on a teenage girl whose father marries into a very strange family. I feel like the "plot twist" is pretty obvious from the beginning, but I still liked the build-up and the creepy atmosphere.

Nona is amazing, although nobody can compare to my love for Gideon. The parts with John were kind of weird and too close to home - interesting at first, but I got bored of them by the end.