typedtruths's Reviews (1.8k)

3.5 stars

• It had everything I love: fantastic characters, witty dialogue, action-packed battles, twists and turns, and, of course, the retelling of ancient mythology.
• Unlike the Percy Jackson series, this series is consistently well-written and paced.
• The characters are genuinely funny and have the cutest relationships, especially Carter and Sadie.
• It took me awhile to get into this. It took about 150 pages for anything to really happen.
• Sadie's predicament with Walt and Anubis really irritated me too. I'm not a love triangle fan.
• I did like Walt and Anubis as individuals, though, and the ending was perfect (imo).

Overall? While this wasn't the best book of the trilogy, it was still a solid finale.

From the moment I saw the word synesthesia in the blurb of this book, I knew that I had to pick this book up. I have been mildly fascinating with the condition since learning about in primary school but I have never had the chance to read anything from the perspective of a synesthete before. However, this may or may not have largely been the reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did. While the overall story was entertaining and engrossing, I did have a lot of minor problems with how the romance and plotline aspects of this story were handled.

For starters, this is one of those plotlines that had me questioning why a teenager with no police or detective training/affiliations would be investigating a crime instead of the professionals. It infuriates me when characters like Nikki put themselves in needlessly dangerous situations. The entire situation with the escort service and finding the abandoned car made me nauseated. For one, what kind of “high-class” service would employ whatever underaged girl just rang them and asked for work? Would there not be some sort of ‘interview’ or initiation process? And there is no way the receptionist would have been so loosed-lipped. For all they knew, Nikki could have been a cop! Also, why did Nikki feel the need to contaminate evidence? There is no way that can end well. Either she will now be implicated in the crime or she will have ruined the police’s chance at having physical evidence against the true culprits. It’s a lose-lose scenario - and clearly frustrated me!

The mystery itself wasn’t too bad. I was definitely invested and interested in Peyton’s situation and desperately wanted to know what had happened to her. I felt that some of the twists were done well and I was pleasantly shocked by at least one of them. The pacing, however, was appalling. It was sooo slow! To the point where I couldn’t make myself read large chunks of the book at a time because I would get bored. I felt that the overall story could have been cut down - by a lot - if there wasn’t so many lengthy yet useless descriptive paragraph or inner monologues.

This was largely due to the writing style, I think. Someone else’s review (sorry, I don’t remember who) said that Brown had a peculiar way of spending paragraphs detailing how every piece of information/clue related back to Peyton’s assault (which we obviously already knew because we were with Nikki as she discovered it) and I have to agree with this. Nikki would spend a lot of time recapping or thinking about how everything connected. However, all this really did for the reader was halt the pace and made the story drag out.

On top of that, Nikki was ridiculously impulsive and reckless. I found it really hard to root for her when she would constantly make bad decisions and put herself in situations that she had no need to be involved. Arguably, she was able to defend herself because of her martial arts training but that doesn’t trump the fact that she is a minor with no official training. She should not be messing around with people capable of beating someone to within an inch of their life!

With that being said, I thought the action sequences were written incredibly well. They were realistic and detailed enough that I could easily visualise the scene playing out even though I have no personal experience with martial arts/hand-to-hand combat. I also liked the no one was immune to injury, even the ‘good guys’, and that Nikki personally kicked ass as much as she got her ass kicked.

The story’s romance was too unnecessary for my tastes. I absolutely loved that Nikki was completely comfortable with how she choose to conduct her sex life but I, personally, thought that we needed more time and development in her relationships as readers. I have no judgement for people who wish to conduct purely physical relationships but I did find it hard to get emotionally invested in Nikki and Dru’s relationship when even they weren’t all that emotional about it. Does that make sense? It didn’t help that I was not a fan of Dru in the first place. Nikki kept saying that he was more than his reputation but I never felt that we truly got to see that ‘soft’ side of him that she seemed to.

To add another grievance to the list, this book suffered - majorly so - from Missing Parent Syndrome. It know that’s something a lot of other YA books suffer from and in cases like Shade Me, I can kind of see why Brown felt the need to do that. It does give Nikki the chance to get away with the reckless and impulsive behaviour we see in this story and if her father had been around, she wouldn’t have been able to investigate the mystery… which means we wouldn’t have had a plot. It was still annoying, however, and I wished we had the chance to explore their relationship instead.

Overall?

As much as I have complained so far, I actually enjoyed this book overall. I thought Nikki’s synesthesia was incredibly well-done and it added an amazing element to the story, one which really set the book apart from the other books in its genre. There were a lot of things that did annoy me about this story, like the romance and Nikki’s recklessness, but, in the end, this was a mostly entertaining read. I will definitely be picking up the sequel next year!

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.

your either going to love or loathe this book, but dear god, did I adore it. parker is me. on so many layers. it hurt.

This is the type of book that I had to sit back and think about for awhile after reading it. It was peculiar and different but it was also a little… too different? I think the premise was there - and it was a strong, unique storyline - but somewhere in the writing style and disjointed plot it got lost.

The writing style was little hard for me to swallow. It changed between first, second and third POV randomly and it got awfully confusing trying to figure out what was happening. I thought the second POV were meant to be flashbacks/dreams at first but even that wasn’t consistent. I wasted way too much time trying to realise if the events in those passages actually happened or not. It actually kind of distracted me from the general storyline and characters. I also felt that the writing style as a whole tried to be flowery and poignant but it just didn’t suit the story, especially in the beginning when the author was trying to build up this derelict dystopian world. The prose just felt completely out of place! It was almost like the author was trying too hard. I know that this is a debut story so maybe Griffin is still trying to find her voice...? Either way, I personally found it was distracting from the overall plotline.

I didn’t mind the characters all that much. Nell is a feminist, bisexual woman of colour so I was obviously in love with that aspect of the story. The fact that she was also independent, headstrong and happily introverted just made my day. Yes, she was a little abrupt at times but I felt that she as a whole she was a realistic and well-rounded character. I just wish I had connected to her on a more personal level! No matter how much I tried - and as much as I admired her from afar - there was something that just made it really hard for me to care for her. I never felt that we got to know her well enough as I was constantly surprised by the things she said and did.


The secondary characters were much better. I thought Ruby and Io were great characters! Io’s humour was so sweet and I loved Ruby’s loyalty - no matter what Nell threw her way, she stuck by her. Julian could have done with some more fleshing out in my opinion and so could have Nan. I just wish familial relationships had played a larger role in the story as a whole? Unfortunately, I could not stand Oliver’s character. Everyone may have thought it was cute that he kept “going after” Nell after she had turned him - down no fewer than eighteen freaking times - but that’s just harassment and not okay. Did he not get the message that Nell was interested? Well, obviously not… but her should have. I could not stand him.

The plot was what let this story down. It was far too slow-paced and oddly vague. I never really felt like I understood exactly what was happening at a given moments so I was constantly confused having to reread entire pages to try and figure out what was happening. The world and general idea of the post-apocalyptic society was clever but I really didn’t enjoy the Nell’s journey within it. I definitely think focusing on a specific element would have helped. I found it hard to believe that her love for engineering was all that sincere. We barely ever her see her tinkering/building things? She justs draws a lot so the idea of her being a mechanical prodigy felt out of place. It probably didn’t help that the ending completely threw me out of whack. I don’t think I quite understand its significance? It was over before I knew it and I’m still wondering what I missed… I don’t understand her mother’s sub-storyline at all.

Overall?

I think this was a decent debut but just not my cup of tea. The plotline was too vague for me to 100% grasp what was happening at all times and I was almost constantly confused. It was also a little more slow-paced than I usually like. I did like Nell as a protagonist but I struggled to connect to her character and story. The secondary cast was much better, and I really wish we could have spent more time with them. This was not a bad novel but definitely not the best dystopian or sci-fi novel I’ve ever read.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.

Dead Girls Society was the perfect blend of Nerve and Never Missing, Never Found with a splash of Pretty Little Liars. If you adore those sorts of thrillers then you’ll be in for a treat! The plot had an irresistible, almost addictive quality to it that left you effortlessly flipping through the pages. Hope, our protagonist, was a pleasant MC and the whole cast of characters was well-rounded and engaging. If the ending had not been quite as predictable and the writing style had been a little bit more than I definitely would have adored the socks off this one.

I am usually a character-focused reader but it was the plot and thriller vibes that drew me into this particular story. The mysterious email which kickstarted the story was a little cheesy and cliched, but the more the story progressed, the more it built. I don’t think I have ever read something that used these tropes in combination before so I was actually kept on my toes trying to anticipate what would happen next. There were moments that really had my heart beating, although there were probably just as many moments which had me rolling my eyes. Did I predict the ending? Absolutely. From the very first breadcrumb, in fact, which was a massive disappointment. Unfortunately, if you read a lot of books like this - like I do - you’ll probably have the same problem. As a whole, I think the plot did a pretty great job of balancing predictable and addictive though.

Hope was an okay protagonist and I did enjoy the wider cast but they were just… not memorable. I don’t know how else to put it. Nothing about the characters really spoke to me or stood out. I didn’t think they were unrealistic or dull, they were just not as fleshed out as I would have liked. I never felt that we got to know them particularly well and some of their interactions were a little… off? I did like Farrah and Lyla but I thought Ethan was wishy-washy. I definitely didn’t feel invested in his and Hope’s relationship and I didn’t like Tanner much. I also wished that we had gotten a bit more from the familial relations, particularly Hope and her sister. Also, I need to say that I absolutely disliked Hope’s mother. Yes, she was amazingly supportive of her medical condition but dear God, she is one of those cringy mothers that baby their kids and is clueless about teenagers. The school scene made me suffer from second-hand embarrassment so frigging much.

One minor aspect of the story that pissed me off, and needs mentioning, was how the affluent characters in this story were treated. Hope was so judgemental towards them, mocking them behind their backs and assuming they were all snobbish or bitchy. She actually acted shocked and blown away to find out that Tanner - who was wealthy - was just (a) not the jackass she’d expected him to be and (b) actually had some problems with his home life. Does she assume that wealthy people buy their mental health and happiness? I don’t know why else she would expect someone to have a perfect life just because of the wealth of their parents. I do understand that Hope came from a lower socioeconomic family who struggled to afford her medication and living expenses simultaneously - and it was probably jealousy that caused her internalised bias - but it doesn’t excuse why she was genuinely rude towards certain people or how she acted superior to people who did not have money problems.

I did love the author’s effortless incorporation of diversity. Our main protagonist has cystic fibrosis - which I have never seen portrayed in YA before - and I felt that it was seamlessly incorporated into the story. I would have liked a little more from Hope’s personal experience with it, especially because it is a fatal condition and affects almost every aspect of her life, but I liked that it was always present and talked about. The multiple POC secondary characters and the prominent f/f relationship were also a nice touch.

Overall?

Dead Girls Society was a thrilling read but I had some problems with the predictability of the ending and the blandness of the characters. I would definitely consider picking up more of Krys’ books in the future if she continues to write solid contemporary thrillers like Dead Girls Society.

I'm so conflicted. I do not know what I feel about this book. I definitely did not enjoy it wholeheartedly but I did appreciate some of what it did was trying to achieve. The ending was by far my favourite aspect of the story. It would have been so much more gut-wrenching and impacting if I had found the romance even remotely shippable before that… but I did not, unfortunately. I struggled with Grace’s character so much. I found the portrayal of her mental illness incredibly problematic. I cannot believe that she was barely acknowledged as needing help, despite clearly suffering from PTSD. It really bothered me that she was not only not receiving professional help but that everyone just ignored it. She was obviously in great distress and the fact that everyone just… let her be like that really bothered me. Henry even fears for her safety at one point. I know that the situation is tricky but I would have loved to see him step up and a) talk to her about it or b) talk to an adult about it. Henry’s entire attitude towards Grace was actually quite problematic. He thought of her as being broken, as being not good for him pursue, and I just found that so, so problematic.

On a more positive note, I will say that I adored Lola. She was literally me the entire book. She told Henry whenever he was being idiotic to cut it out. She called him out for being a douche when he selfishly jeopardised her own grades by goofing about with Grace instead on working on the newspaper. She was hella supportive and tried to piece everything back together for her friends because she is a saint. Most importantly, though? She told Henry not to date a girl who had not read or seen Harry Potter… I’m smiling just thinking about. Life advise right there. It is just so me.

Extra Thoughts:

• I adored the writing style. It did not go overboard like I feared. It was nicely poetic and it definitely made me want to read more of her books in the future.
• I was disappointed that this book was Americanised. I have no idea why it was not set in Australia. Is there a reason?
• Speaking of which, I am so disappointed in Murray’s character! The one Australian character in the book overused (old/bogan) Australian slang to pick up girls. This honestly has to be one of my least favourite tropes of all time!
• The fact that all of the characters had such ‘cool parents’ felt a little over-the-top.
• Sadie was pretty awesome, though.

Please note: the diversity was awesome in theory but Alaina Leary @ Disability in Kidlit found both Grace’s disability and mental illness portrayal slightly problematic. Please check out her discussion to get more information on the representation in this book.

Wow, what a powerful and honest portrayal of what it is like to grow up severely deaf. Definitely recommend! Full RTC.

3.5 stars

Incredibly addictive. Iffy world building. Genuinely enjoyed the characters. Predictable and slightly underwhelming at times. But, again, so addictive. RTC.

... i've never felt more heartless but, umm, i didn't think it was tragic enough 🙈. underwhelmed.