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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing — Hank Green

My first review of 2020! Here we go.

RATING: ✖✖

Initially, I was enticed by the lure of sci-fi/’young-ish’ adult in the spotlight of modern media frenzy, but found the plot dissolved into minor intrigue and petty drama rather than the focus on the viral dramatics.

SYNOPSIS: The Carls just appeared.

Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles

raderasenaresop — Book cover, pic from Goodreads.

across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship–like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor–April and her best friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world–from Beijing to Buenos Aires–and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.

Okay, most of us are probably familiar with the other Green’s work. The John Green of the Vlogbrothers, the other half of the CrashCourse founder-squad (I think? Don’t quote me on this.) Anyway, I was all about the John Green hype a few years ago, as a mere tween, engulfed by the awkward teen romances and quote-worthy Pinterest boards his books entailed. As a slighter older awkward teen, I was excited about Hank Green venturing into the writing universe with a debut novel of his own, titled ‘An Absolutely Remarkable Thing’. As I read the initial blurb + first saw the cover design, I was thrilled. Delighted. Absolutely, positively happy.

But then I read the book — and, well … it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. I’ll let you know why.

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November — Want To Read

NOVEMBER – WANT TO READ

Every month, I cycle through an obsession with a number of books I convince myself I will read, then inevitably end up abandoning because of x,y,z reasons. Sure, I still read, but it usually ends up as a pick from my pre-existing library, or something free off of the Internet (because I’m a student, and though I wish I could spend 18$ per every new, fresh hardcover fantasy release, I can’t.)

So, without further ado, I present a segment of my blog which I will dedicate solely to the books I have been interested in reading. Maybe I’ll read them, maybe I won’t. Maybe they’ll end up just as segments on this blog, but OH WELL.

Here we go.

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The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson

RATING: ✖✖✖

The self-described ‘counterintuitive approach to living a good life’, this is the author’s 2016 ‘self-help’ novel intended to help you make your life better — by caring about it … less?

SYNOPSIS: In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people. There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor.

I’m not a seasoned self-help book reader. Maybe it’s because I’m on the younger side of rader90 the age spectrum, or maybe it’s because I assume I somehow have my shit together, or maybe it’s because I haven’t really been interested in picking up any nonfiction book promising to change my life because I simply don’t believe they can. I have to admit, however, that the neon-orange warning-sign feel this cover gave me — and the stark approach of its title — intrigued me. It intrigued me to the point where I actually picked this book up and read it, and so here are my thoughts.

Here’s the thing: self-help books tread a fine line. You want to help the reader, but you also don’t want to make the reader feel like an idiot. You want to express a message, or an idea, but you don’t want it to come off in a preachy, know-it-all way. You want to help, sure, and that (in essence) should be ‘easy’ if you have a concrete concept and a solid way of expressing yourself. The issue lies in the fact that not every reader requires the same ‘help’ — which is why self-help books really are up to the reader to interpret, and therefore hard to write because your solid idea might not be as solid to every one of your readers.

So, how did I interpret this book?

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The Proposal – Jasmine Guillory

RATING: ✖✖

A romance novel starting with a failed proposal in the middle of a stadium, promising drama and spicy romance? Yay! A romance novel with a good, dramatic setup that flops, with a forced sense of diversity and a bland romance? Nay …

SYNOPSIS:When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn’t the hard part–they’ve only been dating for five months, and he can’t even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans…

At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik’s rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He’s even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik’s social media blows up–in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can’t be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes…

I did not like this book. I’m starting to sound like a lonely, desperate spinster when it comes to how many of these romance books that I’ve been roasting, but I’m sorry — I just can’t bring myself to like some of them, least of all this one. I was just so … disappointed? by it. I’ve been hearing all of these reviews praising Jasmine Guillory’s romance novels, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to pick one up and actually try it. My mistake.

I fell for the juicy premise and the cute cover, but I discovered that this was not my style. I can see how some people really enjoy this style of writing, but I can’t bring myself to like it no matter how much I try. Generally, I enjoy romance novels with an overall fluffy, feel-good sense of emotion to them — this one, to me, felt messy. I couldn’t get on board with the structure or the characters, and Guillory’s style of writing was, to me, not ideal. She’s not a bad writer, don’t get me wrong — I just didn’t really like the way she formulated her descriptions, speaker tags, general story setup. It’s hard to describe because this is such an individual thing between readers, but for people who don’t intend to review this book, it’s probably relatively unnoticeable.

ANYWAY, back to the actual novel. The forced diversity thing I mentioned in the beginning — it was just weird. I’m all for literary diversity in books, as I think everyone should feel that they can find some parts of themselves represented in books, but it should happen in an organic, natural way. In this book it was just very blunt, and generic. This book essentially boiled down the main characters’ personalities into three parts:

Nik: black female writer & Carlos: latino doctor tacos

I can’t remember anything more than that. Their personalities just didn’t feel fleshed out, and I disliked the cardboard-cutout feeling they gave me. This, in turn, turned me away from the romance itself. I just didn’t root for them. I stopped liking them as characters, so I stopped liking their romance, and so I stopped liking the novel itself. Sorry.

The final issue of the book was, to me, the sense that it was heading in no direction. It starts off with a bang, this big, failed Jumbotron proposal, and then it just … fizzles out. There’s nothing else dramatic happening, nothing big or exciting that forces the romance and makes it feel exciting and spicy. It feels more like watching a sped-up Sims 3 gameplay — they just go about their daily lives and then they occasionally have a date and then they stand and stare into a wall and then they sleep and do it all over again. I mean, sure, things were happening in their lives — but they were just normal stuff. A good romance, should — in my opinion — show 1) that both of the characters are growing and experiencing things independently and 2) that these individual growths enable them to become a better couple. Otherwise, the relationship becomes either bland or weirdly co-dependent — which I dislike, at least. In this book, it was just bland. I didn’t feel like I would start bawling and being sad if they didn’t end up together, and I didn’t feel like I’d be any happier when they did end up together.

Not my cup of tea.

99 Percent Mine – Sally Thorne

RATING: ✖✖

Spoiler alert: I did not like this book whatsoever.

SYNOPSIS: Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that’s inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.

What the frack just happened. I needed to vent my emotions in a review after reading this. I have had no prior experience of Sally Thorne’s writing, but I have not been able to escape the millions of glowing reviews of ‘The Hating Game’ (her other book). This led me to believe that her newest romance-novel ’99 Percent Mine’ would be equally amazeballs as everyone made ‘The Hating Game’ out to be. BOY, was I wrong.

First of all, this book made me seriously doubt my English. Yes, it is not my native language, but the way this was written and structured … Miss Thorne had me thinking I was reading in another language. There were just so. many. sudden jumps in dialogue and explanations that left the reader reeling. I thought I was stupid, or tired, or just missing the point — but no. Every other paragraph was like metaphorically crossing a river, only you had no bridge and were swept violently away by currents and lost all sense of direction. That was the general structure of the book, IMO.

Secondly, the romance itself. Gah. I’m sorry, but Darcy and Tom just did not scream ‘OTP’ to me. The book had a good setup that might’ve been able to shoulder the suboptimal structure, but I thought the characters themselves were … strange. At first, I liked the badass, independent stuff Darcy had going — I was like alright, OK, I can get on board with this. Aaaand then 200 pages go by of her whining, and I’m like: ._.

I got where Thorne was heading with this character — or at least I think I do — but that was not where we ended up. At all. At any point in the book. Darcy turned into a whiny, wannabe strong- independent-woman character. This general personality enabled any and all actually believable strong-independent-woman-moments to feel more like she was being annoying and stubborn. Ouch.

And then Tom. I read another review who also had an issue with what they coined as the: ‘ 2008-brand of massive overprotectiveness these characters sported‘. I agree, wholeheartedly. I want to read about humans — people who can talk and think and reason about collective issues. Not glorified wolves who just grunt and howl and run around instead, because at times the book did really feel that way. The dialogue was choppy, there was a lot of angst that went in no direction, and then they were all fighting suddenly ? As the reader, you’re sitting there like: ?!!?!?!?!?!??!.

I will, however, still give it two stars because the cover is really, really pretty. It’s my bad for being a sucker for the aesthetics.

Daughter of the Siren Queen (#2) – Tricia Levenseller

RATING: ✖✖✖

The sequel to the entertaining first installment in the ‘Daughter of-‘ series, Levenseller’s second book remains just as fun to read despite its few minor faults. Anyone looking for an exciting twist on pirates and adventure should look no further within the YA genre – this is it.

SYNOPSIS: Alosa’s mission is finally complete. Not only has she recovered all three pieces of the map to a legendary hidden treasure, but the pirates who originally took her captive are now prisoners on her ship. Still unfairly attractive and unexpectedly loyal, first mate Riden is a constant distraction, but now he’s under her orders. And she takes great comfort in knowing that the villainous Vordan will soon be facing her father’s justice.

When Vordan exposes a secret her father has kept for years, Alosa and her crew find themselves in a deadly race with the feared Pirate King. Despite the danger, Alosa knows they will recover the treasure first . . . after all, she is the daughter of the Siren Queen.

I told you I would read the sequel, and I did, so here I am. I breezed through the book within a day once I got down to reading it, testament to its readability, but I’ll get into the places in the book I struggled a bit more with as I write the review.

The book’s protagonist is still Alosa Kalligan – Daughter of the Pirate King (as we learned in the first book.) – who by now has escaped the ship on which she ‘pretended’ to be captured. Having defeated (ish) her enemies, she’s back to commanding her own ship and her own all-female crew – the Ava-lee is her pride and joy, and she longs to get back on the sea and sail as the true Captain she really is. However, there are a few setbacks to her plan:

1) The enormous secret mentioned in the synopsis which kind of disrupts her entire life.

2) The uNfAiRlY attractive Riden who apparently keeps her distracted with his breathing (?)

3) The enormous treasure on Isla de Canta, guarded by sirens, which Alosa needs, apparently.

Continue reading “Daughter of the Siren Queen (#2) – Tricia Levenseller”

The Red Labyrinth – Meredith Tate

RATING: ✖✖✖

A swift YA read with a fast-moving plot and intriguing storyline. A worthwhile read for fans of ‘The Maze Runner’, ‘Red Queen’ and ‘The Hunger Games’.

SYNOPSIS: The massive labyrinth was built to protect Zadie Kalvers’ isolated desert town. Unfortunately, living in the maze’s shadow makes her feel anything but safe. Even without its enchanted deathtraps and illusions, a mysterious killer named Dex lurks in its corridors, terrorizing anyone in his path … But when Zadie’s best friend vanishes into the labyrinth-and everyone mysteriously forgets he exists- completing the maze becomes her only hope of saving him.

In desperation, Zadie bribes the only person who knows the safe path through-Dex-into forming a tenuous alliance. Navigating a deadly garden, a lethal blood-filled hourglass, and other traps-with an untrustworthy murderer for her guide-Zadie’s one wrong step from certain death. But with time running out before her friend (and secret crush) is lost forever, Zadie must reach the exit and find him. If Dex and the labyrinth don’t kill her first.

A free ARC copy was provided to me by NetGalley (thank you, NetGalley!) – the book will be officially published in 2019 (04 Jun). Setting that aside for now – let’s get into the review!

The Red Labyrinth promised to be filled with wonder, danger and excitement – and the cover speaks volumes for itself (yes, I fell for the cover trap. I always do.) but instead, the reader is faced with a slightly different reality.

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Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

RATING. ✖✖✖✖

A breezy, thrilling YA sci-fi read whose 80s nostalgia is enough to make anyone weep for a pair of leg warmers. I’m not kidding.

SYNPOSIS: In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

Well. It’s only fair I get into the review! I devoured this book over a weekend when I really should’ve been studying, so saying it kept me interest piqued during each and every page is an understatement, to say the least.

Ready Player One is the perfect mix of Ender’s Game sci-fi, a tribute to 80s memorabilia and a homage to gaming culture in general. As someone who’s spent her fair share of her childhood on the internet, all of the above makes me positively giddy with excitement. Since the book was a fairly quick read (clocking in at ca 390 pages.) it was a no-brainer for me to enjoy it!

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