4/5⭐ Oooh, yes this is exactly the type of horror I enjoy: a combo of creepy, smart, and dangerous. The author balanced science, plot, horror, characters, and relationships really well. The bouncing around from POV to POV was almost too much but didn't detract from my overall enjoyment. The representation as far as neurodiversity, sexuality, and race/ethnicity was refreshing. Definitely recommended. #bookemon

1/5⭐ The beginning w/ Onye trying to fit into society was decent. By the middle I was so lost in how the world works that I disconnected completely. The magic system isn't explained. New abilities appear only when convenient to the plot but underused in mitigating obstacles later. Onye is combative & despicable. Characters bounced instantly between anger & laughter. The relationships & plot, especially in the end, were incomprehensible. #bookemon

1/5⭐ Amazingly there's almost no plot OR character development. Usually books show progress in at least one area. There are so many layers of distancing, like the narrator's recounting of long past events, the irritating 2nd-person narration of the only interesting character, and the infodumping. I enjoyed the difficulty of Leckie's Imperial Radch series, but if this book has anything going for it, it went completely over my head. #bookemon

Art is not one great act of creation, but many small ones. When you read one of my poems, you fail to see the weeks of careful work it took me to build it--the thinking, the scratched-out words, the pages I burned in disgust. All you see, in the end, is what I want you to see.

#bookemon

3.5/5⭐ I just wanted more: more complexity, more character/relationship development, more volumes (really disappointed it's the end). However, the art is stunning, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Poppy's character. One of my favorite female characters for her strong will, determination, and adherence to her personal values. The conclusion was satisfying, just thin. #bookemon

4.5/5⭐ Everything a book about the Holocaust should be: brutal and important. Appropriately, I finished this book about the necessity of remembering today on #YomHaShoah, #HolocaustRemembranceDay.

“Live,” he whispered. “For my Chaya. For all our Chayas. Live. And remember.”

#YomHaShoah #HolocaustRemembranceDay

I didn't complete the journey I'd intended, but I still read some books for #adventureathon. Check out my reviews! #fantasydragon #fantasyadventureathon https://youtu.be/-eUr_pNE_yU

4/5⭐ Great discussion about how to think about writing from both a writer's and reader's perspective. I definitely want to go back and actually do the exercises.

4/5⭐ Much of the info wasn't new to me as someone who's gotten migraines since childhood, but it was validating to get a neurologist's explanations for the management strategies I had come to on my own. I appreciated Turknett's hot air balloon analogy for how triggers work. I recommend this book for both people with migraines & for people without to understand how much we deal with on a daily basis either trying to avoid or get through a migraine.

1/5⭐ If you were ever interested in seeing what it's like to live in the mind of a man who fantasizes himself as a broody perfect hero and objectifies women onto pedestals, look no further. The completionist in me felt obligated to finish the series with volume 3 even though I disliked volume 2, but ultimately I regret the money and time I spent on Dawn. #OWLsReadathon2019

4/5⭐ Still love this family and their journey through the challenges they face while striving to remain true to each other. It's especially nice to see the book tackle how the world reacts to various differences: in learning ability, body weight, race, finances, etc.

1.5/5⭐ Occasional nice imagery but no discernible purpose. Some stories dipped into already existing folktales/stories to highlight a specific character/angle but were too short for me to derive any meaning. Most felt like writing exercises to inspire new ideas or allow the author to practice but weren't strong enough for publication. The 2 exceptions were Simmering (great satire) & The Victory Burlesk (well demonstrated point). #OWLsReadathon2019

4.5/5⭐ Exemplary. #OWLsReadathon2019

1/5⭐ Self-indulgent twaddle masquerading as philosophy in the guise of a goddess pretending to be profound but really just an untouchable pin-up figure designed to tease the male gaze. #OWLsReadathon2019

3/5⭐ One of Crichton's better books, at least if you ignore the vast amounts of infodumping (in both narrative and dialogue). I probably enjoyed this one because the novelty of traveling back in time to a historical period of academic interest speaks to me. #OWLsReadathon2019

4.5/5⭐ The fascination w/ kids surviving on their own followed me since I 1st read it in elementary school. The challenges the kids face are engrossing & compelling. I adore the consistent theme of defining & finding home. It all felt very real: Dicey's efforts to keep them together, the siblings' relationships, the characters' individual complexities. I fell into the characters & world so that every time I continued it felt like coming home.

2.5/5⭐ As usual with anthologies, there were a few standouts but most fell short. The best stories were Riccio's, Ameriie's and Burke's, Meyer's, and Schwab's. Individual ratings and notes at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2799154417. #OWLsReadathon2019

2.5/5⭐ Gorgeous art. However, all that perfect slow build of tension in the last 2 volumes didn't resolve at all. This volume has such a non-ending with too many massive things happening without proper depth. We don't know what happens to most of the characters. The times the Descenders choose to interfere or not seem to be motivated more by plot need than by what makes sense in universe. Too many loose threads, even with the planned continuation.

The entwining of trees and wire vines, the colors...artwork doesn't get much more beautiful than this!

5/5⭐ "His voice had a wonderful flow to it, and even the awful things he had to say were beautifully said." This book in a nutshell.

You cannot "enjoy" a book about the Holocaust. I often had to put it down because it was so difficult to experience. But the way Jane Yolen uses the tale of Sleeping Beauty as a living interpretive lens for the characters and readers...wow. Just wow. This book is truly in a league of its own. #OWLsReadathon2019

4/5⭐ More good progression and tightening up of the plotlines and tension into the final confrontation.

2/5⭐ I like the Rose Red TV mini series, but these characters didn't feel like the ones in the show or like fleshed-out people at all. I wasn't thrilled with the audio narration. Nothing was scary, especially because we're being told it in a diary entry after the fact. The weird sexual dynamic at the end seemed bizarrely out of place. I recommend any fans of the show just fill in the blanks of the Rimbauers with their own ideas. #OWLsReadathon2019

4/5⭐ Good plot progression; I can definitely feel everything slowly coming to a head and building great tension. The artwork continues to be lovely. Chapter 1 was especially mindblowing with the juxtaposition of the three different character/location focuses. The chapter is especially an accomplishment given how little dialogue there is. A perfect example of how powerful and meaningful well-done art can be.

2/5⭐ Sigh. Repetitive, slow, expositional, unfocused, flat romance, missed or slightly off-feeling plot beats, and a complete disservice to Lazlo's character. This book had great ideas but was executed really poorly for me.

Catch up wrap up number three is for #buzzwordathon! Check out my reviews! https://youtu.be/nbD2JZN5Jyk

I continue my wrap up catch up with my reviews for the #irishreadathon! https://youtu.be/5b3uPWdiYSk

“What‘s a horizon?” Lazlo asked, straight-faced. “Is it like the end of an aisle of books?”

“The library knows its own mind,” old Master Hyrrokkin told him, leading him back up the secret stairs. “When it steals a boy, we let it keep him.”

He had loved the library, and had felt, as a boy, as though it had a kind of sentience, and perhaps loved him back. But even if it was just walls and a roof with papers inside, it had bewitched him, and drawn him in, and given him everything he needed to become himself.

4/5⭐ I want to be Lazlo's friend. His humor & camaraderie with others, like the librarians at the beginning, were wonderful. The romance slowed down the pace a lot, but the absolutely gorgeous writing made it a worthwhile experience in itself. The ending was epic and foreshadowed well, but ultimately I didn't care so much for it. I'm invested in Lazlo and hoping the sequel doesn't drift too far away from what makes him such a great character.

“You think good people can't hate?” she asked. “You think good people don't kill?” [...] “Good people do all the things bad people do, Lazlo. It's just that when they do them, they call it justice.”

3.5/5⭐ This book includes some great tips, and I loved the little illustrations. Kondo's anecdotes really make her strategies shine. I did think it was slightly repetitive, both internally and with her first book.

So begins my effort to catch up on wrap ups! Check out my belated February reviews here: https://youtu.be/8XjqAfIuP7c #februarystats #stats #wrapup #februarywrapup #readingstats

3.5/5⭐ I think a younger reader would appreciate it more than I did, though I did find parts compelling. Also I hope M. Night Shyamalan has acknowledged that his movie The Village clearly drew inspiration from this book. #owlsreadathon2019

1/5⭐ I just wasn't invested in any character or plot point. The game itself is what kept me in the first book, but that ended and in this book the author is clearly forcing things to have a happy ending through contrived means. Aizhana was always flat, and she turned Nikolai into an equally flat character. Even though things happened on the page, there wasn't enough complexity or connecting thread to make me care.

She had told the frog, "Certainly, anything"; and her father had brought her up to understand that she must always keep her word, the more so because as Princess there was no one who could force her to.

#fantasydragon #adventureathon #fantasyadventureathon

But the world turns, and even legends change; and somewhere there is a border, and sometime, perhaps, someone will decide to cross it, however well guarded with thorns it may be.

#fantasydragon #adventureathon #fantasyadventureathon

2/5⭐ There wasn't really anything unique about these fairy tales, nor did they have a particularly excellent descriptive style to make the retelling interesting. Everything was hyperbole and completely unnuanced: every princess/prince beautiful and perfect and beloved by literally everyone, the weather always lovely, etc. I enjoyed Rana's story the most. #fantasydragon #adventureathon #fantasyadventureathon

Check out what Harry Potter profession I chose in my #OWLsReadathon2019 TBR! https://youtu.be/N9t9RU32SEQ

4.5/5⭐ Everything an adventure should be. Jane's wild journey was immensely freeing and satisfying. I cannot praise enough the description and complexity. There are many character arcs and plotlines. I got completely swept up in some of the scenes, like the power of the fire dancing and awe at the landscape's beauty.

I had some minor quibbles, but none last long, happen often, or detract from the excellent aspects of this story. #buzzwordathon

Get 'em.

#buzzwordathon

"I'd endured his nonsense as long as I was able before telling him that Mrs. Fournier's life was her own business and that if he wished to make himself useful to me he would point out the sights and explain the things I was seeing."

2/5⭐ Not terrible, but too sweeping in scope and oddly combining a documentary style with fiction that both failed to capture me. #fantasydragon #adventureathon #fantasyadventureathon

1/5⭐ The 1st 20% about Elphaba's parents had no point, no trajectory, & was bizarrely, jarringly sexual. For a book supposedly about the Wicked Witch, we don't get her perspective until 25% of the way in & never an explanation for her green skin or water weakness. I skipped to the end to see if it got better, but no, the surface-level incoherent narrative didn't resolve itself in any way. #fantasydragon #adventureathon #fantasyadventureathon

1/5⭐ Dry and bland. I appreciate the themes the author tried to incorporate, like preconceptions and fate. But it seemed like she bent and twisted the original Arthurian mythology to try to make those themes work, ultimately making everything seem unnatural and forced. #adventureathon #fantasyadventureathon #fantasydragon

4.5/5⭐ Some claims Kondo makes seem far-fetched, but overall I adore her approach to decluttering and finding joy in your possessions. The gem in this book for me is her transparent discussion of how she initially started in tidying, what methods failed for her, and why.

Last month I read 14 books between #blackathon and #contemporaryathon, including many 4 and 5 star reads. Check out my reviews! https://youtu.be/dzuHRfVVpf0

1/5⭐ The pacing was slow, dry, and not helped by the frequent, jarring sentence fragments. The protagonist and antagonist were set up as Completely Good and Completely Evil with no hope of any nuance or hook whatsoever. #buzzwordathon

2/5⭐ It started off okay, with interesting, often amusing characters and the potential for a compelling mystery. But the worldbuilding was severely lacking, and in the last few chapters every single point of conflict, both internal and external, was "resolved" in a cop-out way so that the characters didn't actually have to struggle to overcome them.

#februarystats #stats #wrapup #februarywrapup #readingstats