Monday, August 21, 2017

August 14-20th Wrap Up

I was able to complete four books this past week! It was split down the middle for me enjoyment wise.


First, I finally finished The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana. It wasn’t a terrible book. I just did not love it as much as I wanted to. I received the free e-book from Penguin First to Read in exchange for an honest review. I LOVED the cover. I wanted to love the book. It was an interesting enough story but it felt like I was reading a rushed first draft. I like the concept and the ideas behind where everything was going but it was just okay. Some reveals felt super rushed while other parts of the story dragged on an on. The foreshadowing happened within a page of each other so there was no questioning the relationship and what it meant for the story. I was sadly bored with most of the way the book was written even though I loved the idea behind the story. I really wish I could have loved it more.



I then finished Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. This book was hyped to me by my book club ladies and I used it to complete the challenge “book cover with only two colors”. I can honestly say that I loved this book. I kind of knew halfway through where it was going, my guess was directionally correct. The only reason though was because the ladies kept telling me it wasn’t what I thought. Think the unexpected. This book is good if you go in blind and don’t listen to anyone say anything. I have already said too much! Even if you know the end it is still good to read. It is a slow build but the last chapter wraps it up nicely and quickly.

Next two books I read are super hyped on Book-tube, GoodReads and blogs. I was only really impressed with one of them though.

Milk and Honey was just okay for me. I am not a huge poetry person, I’ll start with that. I think poetry is extremely subjective to the reader and you definitely are hit with some poems while others are nonsense. That being said I did still give the book 3 stars. I was able to connect with a couple of the poems and wrote some down to reflect on but I would not even contemplate purchasing it. I felt it was overly graphic, warning for those with rape triggers, and should be well vetted before handed to teenagers or young minded readers. I think certain graphic pieces could have been left out and it would have ranked high for me but the lewdness of some of the poems just threw me way off and not in a contemplative good way. I understand from the Authors point of view those graphic poems added to the experience but as the reader it was not lyrical enough to cover up the crudeness and those specific pieces stick out like sore thumbs in comparison to the rest of the collection.
Then ending on a happy note!

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I LOVED this book. Let me say that I again, I LOVED this book. Eleanor and Park are star crossed lovers. They live in a small town that goes back generations and generations and Eleanor is the new girl. Not only is she new and that makes her stand out but she has flaming red hair and dresses like a boy with other dubious fashion choices. I liked their relationship. They didn’t fall into instant love. They actually didn’t speak for a good chunk of their time together. I read some reviews where people complained that their relationship from nothing to in love was too quick, but put yourself in your 16 year old shoes. How quick did you fall in and out of love and how passionate were those loves when you held them? I think the Author did an excellent job portraying a 16 year olds relationship and how life isn’t perfect and things stand in the way. The book does elude to abuse without getting into detail. There is strong language towards minors but the way it was crafted I think allows for preteens, teenagers, young adults and not so young adults to enjoy it.

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