toreadistovoyage's Reviews (1.58k)

While I liked the characters, I thought many of the choices they made were idiotic. The main conflict could have been resolved by communicating - indeed, all it took to fix the problem was a conversation. This was reminiscent of many other books.

There was essentially no plot or story happening in this book - this was basically all smut. The characters were flat, their choices and motivations at times unclear, and the ending, wherein a character makes a choice that shows a complete personality change/shift that had not been developed at all, came out of nowhere. Read it if you want a steamy Disney retelling.

This was a silly, realistic book with great illustrations. My son giggled several times while reading it, but he was not that into it. There is a lot of name calling and pranks, some of which were just mean. We will not be continuing the series.

This was intriguing. Perry is such a great character - she is strong, passionate, honest, and just authentically herself. The story starts a bit slow (I wasn't entirely sure where this was headed), but it ends in a very satisfying way. And while it isn't truly a sequel of Firekeeper's Daughter, it does have many of the same characters.

I loved this book - it was part memoir, part exploration of what friendship means and entails. The authors were honest and authentic. They put things I have felt and understood about friendship into words. 

I read this in solidarity with my nephew (it was his summer reading). Ugh.

Thematically, sure, it was good. Exploring the impossibility of the 'American Dream', the friendships of men, fear, violence, and more, I can understand how there would be a lot to discuss. But themes alone are not enough to redeem a book. There are other books to explore these themes that are far better (both in terms of writing and plot).

I had some major issues with this book, including:

1. There is no character growth. Or real character development. I know it is a novella, but still. The characters are not flushed out enough to be impactful.

2. The only female character is unnamed and depicted poorly.

3. Almost nothing happens in the story. There is a bit of action at the end, but even that is lackluster. 

4. There is a load of problematic content. And you can argue that that was "just how it was back then" 0r whatever. This is still read because of its status as a classic. Being a classic doesn't automatically make it a good book.

Kiese Laymon is a brilliant writer. This memoir explores race, disordered eating, addiction, family, gender, trauma, abuse, and more. Very well done.

This was...a mess. Issues with the writing, the characterization, the entire premise of the story, the magic system, and the world building. That being said, it was entertaining. I'm not sure if I will continue this series or not.

This was fun, but it also reminded me of many other books/movies and didn’t feel entirely original (but it also didn’t really feel like a copy of anything). I can’t really explain it.

This had a bit of everything: an academia setting, a murder mystery, social commentary/exploration of many modern, relevant issues. Very well written. An unlikeable main character (at least in my opinion) that doesn’t distract from enjoying reading the book. It felt a bit too long (a few things felt very repetitive). Overall, very solid book.