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3.48k reviews by:
snowbenton
Review copy generously granted by NetGalley.
Romy lives in a small town where, when she tells everyone that the sheriff's son sexually assaulted her while she was drunk, her friends turn on her and the sheriff himself calls her an attention seeking liar. And then her former best friend goes missing, and everyone starts wishing Romy was gone instead.
The whole book felt very disjointed. It starts by saying NOW, then TWO WEEKS BEFORE, then back to NOW, even though the first chapter happened well before the TWO WEEKS BEFORE chapter. I spent a lot of time jumping back pages to make sure I didn't miss something, only to realize entire sections just didn't relate to anything else. Romy herself was also so scatterbrained that it made it difficult to keep up; it seemed at some points that she was actually hallucinating, which made it seem melodramatic and less meaningful. So much of the story hinges on her presence at Wake Lake, yet I never understood why she went there because the chapter skipped from her being at work to waking up the next morning.
The ending was a definite letdown. It restated a chapter from the beginning, and instead of feeling like a circular, promising ending it left me feeling empty. I wanted to believe that Romy could recover from what was done to her, but the ending made me feel like she was not willing to take the steps she needed to to take care of herself.
I liked the way that Summers writes supporting characters. Romy's mother and her mother's boyfriend are wonderful, her not-quite boyfriend Leon is sweet as is his discerning sister, and even the staff at the restaurant where Romy works felt fleshed out. When Romy goes for her runs I felt like I could picture the town and the forest around her. Summers has a great touch for atmosphere.
I believe this is a story that needs to be told and read and I loved the way that she described Romy's fear for an unborn child and how a mother is described as "A woman who doesn't think about daughters she doesn't have." This was such a brutal condemnation and so fitting. I just wish the story itself was told in a more cohesive way. Too many important parts were missing.
Romy lives in a small town where, when she tells everyone that the sheriff's son sexually assaulted her while she was drunk, her friends turn on her and the sheriff himself calls her an attention seeking liar. And then her former best friend goes missing, and everyone starts wishing Romy was gone instead.
The whole book felt very disjointed. It starts by saying NOW, then TWO WEEKS BEFORE, then back to NOW, even though the first chapter happened well before the TWO WEEKS BEFORE chapter. I spent a lot of time jumping back pages to make sure I didn't miss something, only to realize entire sections just didn't relate to anything else. Romy herself was also so scatterbrained that it made it difficult to keep up; it seemed at some points that she was actually hallucinating, which made it seem melodramatic and less meaningful. So much of the story hinges on her presence at Wake Lake, yet I never understood why she went there because the chapter skipped from her being at work to waking up the next morning.
The ending was a definite letdown. It restated a chapter from the beginning, and instead of feeling like a circular, promising ending it left me feeling empty. I wanted to believe that Romy could recover from what was done to her, but the ending made me feel like she was not willing to take the steps she needed to to take care of herself.
I liked the way that Summers writes supporting characters. Romy's mother and her mother's boyfriend are wonderful, her not-quite boyfriend Leon is sweet as is his discerning sister, and even the staff at the restaurant where Romy works felt fleshed out. When Romy goes for her runs I felt like I could picture the town and the forest around her. Summers has a great touch for atmosphere.
I believe this is a story that needs to be told and read and I loved the way that she described Romy's fear for an unborn child and how a mother is described as "A woman who doesn't think about daughters she doesn't have." This was such a brutal condemnation and so fitting. I just wish the story itself was told in a more cohesive way. Too many important parts were missing.
It's very hard to write a review when nothing happened in the entire book.
Eleanor was awful, Park was barely tolerable, the writing was mediocre at best, and the story was so boring that it took me five days to finish a book that should have taken two hours. It felt like it was set in the eighties just so Rowell could name drop eighties bands and have a reason for Park to make mixtapes. The "romance" took fewer pages than the nauseating angst.
Park's parents were pretty cool, I guess.
Eleanor was awful, Park was barely tolerable, the writing was mediocre at best, and the story was so boring that it took me five days to finish a book that should have taken two hours. It felt like it was set in the eighties just so Rowell could name drop eighties bands and have a reason for Park to make mixtapes. The "romance" took fewer pages than the nauseating angst.
Park's parents were pretty cool, I guess.
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Helluva dystopian adventure. It was nice seeing a dystopian that wasn't a young adult love triangle. This was a great story about human nature and fear. I wish I cared about the individuals more, but I did care about the fate of the silo as a whole.
Funny and outrageous, but it lacked cohesion and order between the stories themselves. I found myself somewhat terrified of Wilder-Taylor even as I laughed at her stories.
I was a little nervous about reading this because I love to hate the villain, and I was worried I would start to sympathize with her. Luckily for me this back story only further shows Levana's cruelty and insanity. It was fascinating to see her interact with her family and watch her become the person that we love to hate from Cinder. Meyer does a great job of making Levana a compelling protagonist, giving her just enough flaws and power to pull the reader through her life.
Hemingway's prose seems simplistic at first, as the old man has another unlucky day of fishing and is fed by the young man he taught to fish years ago. But as the man's life slowly comes into focus, Hemingway's prose seems the only thing that could give it justice: a humble man with incredible skills on the water, but more stunning than anything is his determination and will. The best example I can think of of a man vs nature story.
Stephanie has finally come into her own as a bounty hunter, and I love seeing the scenes with her and Morelli as they grow closer (and then apart, and then closer again) though personally I'd throw him to the curb -- and then throw myself at Ranger.