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taliaissmart
I just felt like this didn't make sense as a story choice for a children's book. Although the ending has a somewhat hopeful tone, the majority of the book is spent on extreme violence- I would have hated this book as a child. I didn't think the writing was particularly strong, either. It was over-the-top in the sense that the author was very clearly trying to add drama and intrigue to a story that would have probably felt sufficiently dramatic without the wordiness. I liked the art, though!
2.5 stars
I enjoyed Monks' writing, but I found the stories difficult to relate to- maybe I'm just too far removed from the Appalachian mindset. In my opinion, the best stories were the most speculative: "Rasputin's Remarkable Sleight of Hand" and the titular story.
I enjoyed Monks' writing, but I found the stories difficult to relate to- maybe I'm just too far removed from the Appalachian mindset. In my opinion, the best stories were the most speculative: "Rasputin's Remarkable Sleight of Hand" and the titular story.
I'm so incredibly frustrated! I desperately wanted to enjoy this book because I tend to think Stephenie Meyer doesn't get the credit she deserves for being at least a pretty good storyteller but now I'm questioning it all! And I'm mad.
I thought the beginning had a lot of potential, and I was so excited at Alex & Daniel's crazy meet-cute (they strike up a casual convo on the train and he asks for her number only to have her roofie him so she can bring him back to a tent in a barn and torture the shit out of him) that my heart was skipping beats all over the place. I was fully committed through the twin-swap! I was eating this shit up. It wasn't incredibly inventive, but it was FUN and the writing was decent!
And then what the hell happened?? All of a sudden Daniel was starting to drive me crazy! What is this man's deal telling this torturer woman he loves her after like one day?? Based on literally nothing about her personality (which, by the way, is just "I love science and I'm obsessive about trying not to be killed all the time"), this man is IN LOVE?? And he's so annoying about it too like Jesus Christ give her time to adjust to not being as mortally threatened as she was a minute ago! Maybe my romantic issues are showing here, but if a man told me he was head-over-heels-ready-to-die-for-me and I hadn't even really said anything interesting to him in conversation AND I had had ugly bruises all over me for the literal 2 days we'd known each other I would be like GOTTA GO!! And then I would steal all of this man's brother's dogs and skedaddle.
So the romance part bothered me a lot. And then the tension and violence kept building and building but for some reason I was honest to God just losing all interest at an exponential rate. This book had too many dang pages, which gave me extra time to get bored and realize that I didn't really like any of the characters that much. By the end, I was like...anyone can die at this point except literally any dog and I will be completely unfazed. Which is not how I wanted to feel.
Ultimately, this book hooked me and then unhooked me and then slowly crawled away from me. Less than ideal.
I thought the beginning had a lot of potential, and I was so excited at Alex & Daniel's crazy meet-cute (they strike up a casual convo on the train and he asks for her number only to have her roofie him so she can bring him back to a tent in a barn and torture the shit out of him) that my heart was skipping beats all over the place. I was fully committed through the twin-swap! I was eating this shit up. It wasn't incredibly inventive, but it was FUN and the writing was decent!
And then what the hell happened?? All of a sudden Daniel was starting to drive me crazy! What is this man's deal telling this torturer woman he loves her after like one day?? Based on literally nothing about her personality (which, by the way, is just "I love science and I'm obsessive about trying not to be killed all the time"), this man is IN LOVE?? And he's so annoying about it too like Jesus Christ give her time to adjust to not being as mortally threatened as she was a minute ago! Maybe my romantic issues are showing here, but if a man told me he was head-over-heels-ready-to-die-for-me and I hadn't even really said anything interesting to him in conversation AND I had had ugly bruises all over me for the literal 2 days we'd known each other I would be like GOTTA GO!! And then I would steal all of this man's brother's dogs and skedaddle.
So the romance part bothered me a lot. And then the tension and violence kept building and building but for some reason I was honest to God just losing all interest at an exponential rate. This book had too many dang pages, which gave me extra time to get bored and realize that I didn't really like any of the characters that much. By the end, I was like...anyone can die at this point except literally any dog and I will be completely unfazed. Which is not how I wanted to feel.
Ultimately, this book hooked me and then unhooked me and then slowly crawled away from me. Less than ideal.
The beginning of this book made me cringe- not because it was poorly written or anything, but because it felt so trivial. Like, these girls start to connect over a show that is clearly pretty so-so and they're over-complimenting each other on art and writing that is not good. It felt very realistic but in a way that made me remember how I sometimes really dislike the reality of the fan experience. (Sidenote: why are none of these girls shipping the two lead characters together??? Most unrealistic part tbh.)
I thought that the evolution and genuine nature of internet friendship was explored fairly well. I've definitely connected really closely with people without necessarily meeting them irl first, and this book validated that experience.
Where Gena/Finn gets really interesting, though, is in the aftermath of the fan convention. We begin to see the darker aspects of these characters' lives--mental illness, family issues, and then really intense grief--in ways that complicate the narrative. Rather than feeling trite and silly, the characters' relationships recenter around exploring the complexity of love. Toward the end, I teared up several times.
Although the subject matter started out on a somewhat too-sincere note (almost to the point of insincerity), I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by this novel's outcome.
I thought that the evolution and genuine nature of internet friendship was explored fairly well. I've definitely connected really closely with people without necessarily meeting them irl first, and this book validated that experience.
Where Gena/Finn gets really interesting, though, is in the aftermath of the fan convention. We begin to see the darker aspects of these characters' lives--mental illness, family issues, and then really intense grief--in ways that complicate the narrative. Rather than feeling trite and silly, the characters' relationships recenter around exploring the complexity of love. Toward the end, I teared up several times.
Although the subject matter started out on a somewhat too-sincere note (almost to the point of insincerity), I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by this novel's outcome.
DNF @ page 135
At first, I thought this book was funny and silly, but I quickly started to feel bogged down by the huge number of characters, lack of a coherent plot, and incessant attempts to make jokes about insurance and tourism. My urge to read (generally) is stronger than my desire to read this book specifically, and I don't want to deal with that. Maybe I'll come back to this book/Pratchett at some point in the future.
At first, I thought this book was funny and silly, but I quickly started to feel bogged down by the huge number of characters, lack of a coherent plot, and incessant attempts to make jokes about insurance and tourism. My urge to read (generally) is stronger than my desire to read this book specifically, and I don't want to deal with that. Maybe I'll come back to this book/Pratchett at some point in the future.
