Thalia @ Pictures in the Words

I just ordered these from abebooks, and they're gorgeous! I can't wait to get them in the mail! (Plus, they were SUPER cheap--only $36 for ALL the books, and that includes the shipping I had to pay because some of them are coming from the UK.)

I don't have my own copies of Harry Potter because I only read the first three and wasn't a huge fan, but now that I'm trying again with this series, I want my own set. And they're beautiful! 

This isn't my favorite book by Gurtler, although I appreciate the awareness it raises for kids with allergies. I am, slightly, disappointed that the peanut butter isn't what actually killed Alex, but only because it allowed so much room for growth for Sam. I don't feel like she ever got to the point where she could accept herself again when everyone though it was her fault. She only wrote her letter to Alex after she realized it wasn't her fault. 

So, yeah, I wish there was more growth for her before she knew it wasn't him. (A kid with asthma that severe shouldn't have been smoking weed, for heaven's sake, by the way.) There were a few grammar/phrasing problems throughout that pulled me out of the story sometimes. And part of me is a little disappointed that Casper ended up being a douchebag and Zee the knight in shining armor. But oh well. Overall, it was alright, so I think I'd give it three stars.

Well, it got straight to the point! Alex is already dead and Sam is trying to deal with the consequences. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but her reaction seems fairly melodramatic and eyeroll-worthy. Which sucks, because I want to sympathize with her, but her whole martyrdom thing is getting on my nerves right now.

On the plus side, I really, really like Casper. 

Well...not the ideal ending, in my book, but it was still a good read. The focus on Edward died down a bit, and although I desperately wanted more adorableness out of the main couple, I was relatively satisfied with where they ended up. It was a pretty reflection of how this would probably play out in real life.

Four stars!

Okay, now we're going somewhere! But I mean...come on! I wanted more from the the first kiss than a vague description that left me wondering if it'd even happened!

Now that Ella has discovered Edward Willing wasn't exactly who she thought (hoped) he was, I kind of understand her a bit more on this front. Ella figuring out that Edward didn't necessarily stay single the rest of his life after his wife died is, actually, the same sort of deflated reaction I had when realized Edgar Allan Poe's only love was not Virginia, but also Sarah Royster before his death. I get it. Realizing the artists you'd hoped nothing but the light of true love had guided were just as human as everyone else kind of sucks.

HOWEVER, despite how much I do relate to Ella's feelings right now, there's also a reason I've never tried to write a book about being disappointed by Edgar Allan Poe's second love (or, I suppose in his case, a return to his first love, which still stings more than I care to admit). It doesn't add any progress to this particular story, and while I find it interesting, less weight should be given to it. I want to focus on Alex, not Edward Willing, thank you very much.

(Can we also stop using random words and phrases in various French and Italian? I really don't have any idea what's going on sometimes, and I'd prefer not to have to Google translate.)

I really wanted to love Zoe Letting Go, and while it wasn’t exactly bad, it wasn’t great either. I’ve yet to read a truly magnificent novel about eating disorders. This one wasn’t particularly surprising or haunting, although I enjoyed Zoe’s journey and learning more about her and her frame of mind. The unfortunate thing, however, is all the secrets of this book are pretty obvious, and the management at Twin Birches was too passive to actually help Zoe with any of her crippling problems. I felt like it was fairly unrealistic in that regard. However, this is also one of those books that I don’t really have a strong opinion either way—not good or bad, but just kind of there.

I would, however, recommend that nobody who is triggered by eating disorders read this book. Zoe’s narration is such that it would be damaging to anyone attempting to fight against her mindset, and I don’t think it would be particularly helpful to anyone who has struggled with eating disorders or can be triggered by reading about someone who is still lost in their own battle (and doesn’t want to get out of it).

What I Liked: Spoilers!

Well, I still like it, but there are... well, there are "buts" about that.

I don't really like the immense tie in to the artist Ella is obsessed with, Edward Willing. I just don't get the appeal of him. I mean, we just spent a chapter dedicated to reading random papers in the elusive Willing archive. I just don't get the point. Ella talks to his picture, obsesses over details about him--there's even excerpts from his letters to his wife strewn throughout the narration. And Alex is basically a blip on the map right now, which doesn't really leave me a lot of time to cheer the two of them on as a main couple. Just...more chick lit, less random art references? 

I'm just writing brief comments here and checking this book of as "read" without writing a legitimate review for it. This won't be published on my blog, or anywhere other than here, so you can count it as a status update if you want to.

I just didn't like this book. The main character, Lee, had too many people obsessed with her and she herself was obsessed with passing judgment off on others. The ending was predictable and sad, but I was too angry about everything else to really pay attention to it very much. 

My question, though, is why exactly is women's chick-lit, like this, so awful, boring, and judgmental? The idea has only just occurred to me as I sat down to write this brief comment. It seems to be a stereotype now that books written "for women" that are busy and don't have much time to read are usually terribly written, terribly executed, and just terrible on every level. I'm wondering why that is. Why are books like this popular with anyone?

I don't see the likability factor, especially in this one. 

Measure for Measure was perhaps my least favorite Shakespeare play I read in my class a couple semesters back. I sometimes have difficulty grasping the concept of Shakespeare’s “comedies,” because I am used to comedies being funny instead of simply having everyone get married to different people at the end. Measure for Measure also featured a strong female lead who ended up being forced to marry someone completely random for the sake of the genre, which confused me then and still confuses me now. However, it did have a couple good speeches, and although I wasn’t really sold on the whole thing, I didn’t loathe the experience, which is a little bit of a plus.

What I Liked: Spoilers!

Good news: I'm LOVING it! I'm really enjoying Ella's narration and her character; I'm interested to see where this whole thing with Alex goes (because it's going somewhere, right?). It's so relatable. In addition, I'm pretty sure I'm a real life Sadie. It's actually well written and fun, and I haven't seen that in books in so long that I might cry of relief when I finish if I end up really liking it.

I've been waiting to read this book for YEARS, and I'm finally getting around to it! Please please please please break me out of my reading slump once and for all. No more two star books! *waves flag*

Yikes! The whole second half was about their married days--switching back and forth between emotionless flashbacks and the repetitive agony over Gabby's coma. (Does Sparks ever switch off the drama, I wonder? Honestly--it's highly unlikely Gabby would have sat down with Travis and had a serious conversation about "If I'm ever in a coma..." and then get into an actual coma a few months later.) 

So everything about the last hundred pages summarized years' worth of relationship development, of which we got none during the first half. It just reiterated over and over and over again how much Travis loves Gabby, how he can't live without her, how difficult the choice would be to make to let her live or not. Granted, I'm slightly surprised that Sparks let her wake up at the end--usually melodramatic tragedy is his style. 

(Also, let me just say that other people aren't going to be paying that much attention to what kind of relationship you have. The nurse in the office? Travis's sister? Random passerby? They aren't going to take detailed notes about how much you seem to love each other. They're not going to remember things you did for your wife the way you do. You will not, despite how much you might think it's true, be their beacon of true love in a dying world. Your relationship may be that important to each other, but it's probably not that important to everyone else.)

Two stars.

Ugh, I'm so sick of the whole thing. Unlike some of Sparks' novels, these characters are tolerable, but still annoying. There are pages of dialogue through one evening, and Travis and Gabby had spent one full day together before Travis decided to kiss her--after she'd made it incredibly clear that she had a boyfriend she loved dearly and planned on marrying.

I mean, I know we're supposed to be rooting for Travis and Gabby, but I'm so sick of the main couple having to come about by hurting other people in the process. Kevin is a nice guy, and while it's set up so I'm supposed to think he doesn't belong with Gabby, it just sucks that it's going to happen because she met someone else. I hate that. Someone should write a book about what it's like to be the Kevins of the world instead of the Travises or the Gabbies. 

Anyway, I'm irritated that he keeps doing and saying extremely flirtatious things, even though Gabby has made it clear it makes her uncomfortable. Why can't we all just respect each others' boundaries and, geez, Travis, you could at least try to be her friend before you come out and say it's impossible. 

(Also, do these people ever stop drinking?? They drank all day on the boat, then had two more beers at dinner. I know I've never had alcohol in my life, but wouldn't you be getting rather tipsy if you'd been having nothing but beer from 11am onward?)

In order for me to enjoy a book, I need to like the narrator. I need my main character to be, if not likable, at least possible to sympathize with. I need them to give me a reason to care. I need them to fight for what they want, and if they can’t or won’t, I need a dang good reason why. Most importantly, I need to be able to tolerate their existence.

Sky, of Searching for Sky, did absolutely none of those things for me. She was, perhaps, the most insufferable part of the story, and considering how unique and interesting this plot could have been, my dislike of the main character is pretty upsetting. However, no matter how much I might have wanted to, I couldn’t look past how idiotic and childish she was throughout the narrative. In addition to that, I wasn’t surprised by anything that happened, and because of Sky’s mindset, the writing was childish and immature throughout. The only thing I liked about this book was Ben, Sky’s friend and neighbor in California, and he didn’t get nearly enough screen time as I would have liked. Overall, I was pretty disappointed with this read, and was generally relieved when it was finally over.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Please also keep in mind that I read this book several months ago now, so I might not be as detailed as I usually am, but my general feelings are still the same as they were then.

What I Liked: Spoilers!

WHY do I keep reading Nicholas Sparks' books? WHYYY?

Oh yeah, because I own almost all of them, and I have a sick, twisted desire to read all the books I own?

Ugh. So far, completely predictable. I guess when you've read a handful of his books, you've basically read them all. And I have no interest in "dog" politics, which is what the main focus is so far. I don't like Gabby. I don't really like Travis, either.

This is going to be painful, isn't it?

I probably should have guessed that this would not have the happiest of endings... The Cain and Abel metaphor was easier to process in these characters the closer I got toward the end, and I guess nothing could have worked out any other way. 

I will speak religiously now, because I am religious, so I do believe Cain was much more than just a story. It is interesting, for me at least, to see this played out in a way that makes me sympathetic (completely) to Cal (the Cain character), especially because Cain is the epitome of the first real evil in the world. He murdered his brother out of jealousy. But, although it was kind of the same, it was also much different for Cal, who did, inadvertanly, murder his brother out of jealousy as well. Cal, I believe, is the real hero of this story, as heartbreaking and uncomfortable his story may be.

So I did, for many reasons, love this book. I like that it made me think about things, acknowledge in a very interesting way that there is always more than one way to look at any story, and see those interpretations reflected here. I liked the writing and the characters, their development, and my emotional investment in all of them. I do wish the Eden metaphor had been a bit extended as far as Adam and Kate's story went, because Kate/Cathy reflected literally nothing of what Eve represents. (Although perhaps a large chunk of the Christian world believes Eve was evil--my religion doesn't believe Eve is the cause of all sin in the world, so I guess I don't know how Kate's character is supposed to be taken.) 

The one thing that bothered me was Lee, Adam's Chinese servant. He was wise and philosophical at times, yes, but most of the time, he seemed stuck up and snobbish. He yelled and humilated and degrated his friends, all in the name of making them see clearly. I only realized how much I disliked him when he started to get in on Cal after Adam got sick and Aron had died. Yeesh. I don't think I would have given this five stars anyway, that Lee was a major roadblock for me as far as enjoying this book fully went.

Still, four stars is nothing to scoff at, since it feels like I've read nothing but disappointment for the last several months. Yay!