Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise (Book Blogging Test Day 5)

Today, we're going to travel to the magical land of:

SHOUJO MANGA! 

(For those of you not in the know, this gif is from a funfilled anime/manga known as Ouran High School Host Club. I prefer the anime, but either one is LOADS of fun!)

Shoujo manga is defined as: manga marketed towards females between the ages of 10 and 18.  So basically it's like manga equivalent of YA books. (Except you're less likely to encounter dystopias or robots in shoujo. Not impossible though?)

Now before I get started, let me add this disclaimer: there is some GREAT shoujo manga out there. It's definitely the largest type of manga I consume.  That being said...there's definitely a lot of issues that pop with the genre, frequently.  Like my biggest pet peeve.

Anyone who has read pretty much any shoujo manga ever has encountered the dreaded amnesia arc.  Usually it happens towards the end of a manga when the couple has finally gotten together, there's no external or internal drama, so clearly SOMETHING needs to happen. So the mangaka thinks...EUREKA. I have it!  Love interest will have a car crash/get mugged/hit their head in the swimming pool/fall off a cliff/any dumb crazy reason ever, and BAM. The love interest will lose their memory...but ONLY of the main character.  Because they can't remember the other person they will revert to being a total asshat/a new love interest will be introduced (usually a total mean girl who knows the guy is in a relationship, BUT SO WHAT WHO CARES.)  This also happens dramas ALL. THE. TIME. And it makes me want to punch people.

It's just such a lazy plot device, and it's way, way, WAY overused.  And it incorporates basically all of my least favourite things ever.

1. Significant other being a jerkfaced LOSER.
2. Mean girls who have nothing else to them other than being total horse butts and their entire purpose in life is to ruin the significant other's life. Cue lots of mean girl attacking significant other, particularly in front of the main character.
3. Girl fights over boys.

It's basically a plot device that wraps all of my other least favourite plot devices inside of it.  It's like a plot device bomb.  And it's ruined otherwise good series for me.  That being said...the only manga I could remember off the top of my head (despite looking at a very long list of manga with amnesia) with this problem was Hana Yori Dango, also known as Boys Over Flowers.  This manga WOULD not be included in my otherwise good series - there's waaaaaay too many other problems with it to qualify, but it's the best example I could have come up with for this trope anyway.  (I've talked about my Hana Yori Dango issues before. It's hard for me to admit my addiction to this story despite it standing against like everything I believe in.  And it IS important to the genre - there's a reason it's still one of the most popular mangas twenty years after the fact. So it's not a manga I actively steer people away from...but I don't go herding them towards it either.  For a GREAT shoujo manga, I steer you towards Cat Street)

In Which I Must Have Landed in a Terrible Parallel Universe or: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Summary

Goodreads:  Taken from the poverty of her parents' home, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with only her cousin Edmund as an ally. When Fanny's uncle is absent in Antigua, Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive in the neighbourhood, bringing with them London glamour and a reckless taste for flirtation. As her female cousins vie for Henry's attention, and even Edmund falls for Mary's dazzling charms, only Fanny remains doubtful about the Crawfords' influence and finds herself more isolated than ever. A subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, Mansfield Parkis one of Jane Austen's most profound works.


Thoughts

Person who is inhabiting my body right now - who are you and where did you put Elizabeth?  How is this even possible?!  I LOVE JANE AUSTEN.  That has been a defining fact of my life for well over a decade now.  And yet, here I am, and I freaking hated this book.  Not mild dislike, not meh feelings  -  hated. If I rated on pure feels this would be a one star.  But I can't justify rating this book lower than some of the other books I've rated two stars (although this is making me rethink my lack of one stars so far this year). Because it's still well written and whatnot, it's just...this plot sucks! 

Be warned, spoilers follow!

This book is so moralistic, and I actually think Maria Bertram's story might have been more sympathetic to discover.  I mean how sad is it that she's fallen in love with a man who toys with her, goes after her cousin, then retoys with her - but still doesn't love her?  In her place, don't you think she would have believed he loved her and would marry her?  Why wouldn't she think that? In another love story, it wouldn't be terrible she married someone else and then had an affair - if she was the main character, it would simply be tragic.  I think I would have connected with that story more than this one, which really punishes her for these decisions, even as the narrator acknowledges that it isn't just a fling for Maria - she truly loves Henry.  She'd be a much more sympathetic leading lady.

That being said, I don't dislike Fanny, but she and I are definitely opposed in our core beliefs.  A lot of people have a problem with her character because she's a super goody-goody. Which I don't disagree with at all, seeing her character develop from being very withdrawn to blossoming into a character who is much more open - actually because of Henry Crawford, but more on him later - is beautifully done.  There's nothing wrong with her exactly, but as I tend to gravitate to more bold heroines, it's not surprising she's not one of my favourites.  I think a lot of her opinions are spot on. For example, I agree that Mary isn't a good match for Edmund - but it's less to do with the moral reasons and more to do with the simple fact that they have entirely different interests/life goals.  And unlike Fanny, I don't think Mary's reaction to Maria/Henry's affair was appalling - she simply wanted to do what was best for her family, and...well I guess I just would have acted and believed the same things as Mary.  I think her reasonings and reactions were smart (and even though it was perhaps not wise to confess her thoughts on Tom's being ill...when your entire future is based on your husbands income and place in society...doesn't it make sense that she'd be interested in what Edmund's future changes might be?  I'm kind of used to that kind of thinking in my historical fiction!)  And since Mary is Fanny's foil, I'm automatically on the opposite side of the spectrum here.

As for the love interests...I'm sorry but Edmund is boring, and he totally doesn't deserve Fanny.  He spends the entire book mooning over Mary - to Fanny.  And then after all that, all we get at the end of the book was - yes he was super sad about Mary, and when it was appropriate to move on he did, and he realized...oh yeah Fanny is pretty cool!  THAT'S TELLING, NOT SHOWING JANE.  You are better than this!  There was no gradual change of heart we saw, and there was no love confession.  NO. LOVE. CONFESSION.  How can you go from reading things like:

“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” 

And most especially this:

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope...I have loved none but you."

To a simple summation of what happened! 

But...but...I was promised a love confession!

Seriously this change of heart happens in like the last few pages of the book, and all of a sudden they're married! It reads like an epilogue, actually.  If they are supposed to be the main romantic focus here, I want some character development here! Not having super intense events happening (the scandals happen all together and towards the very end)...and then it immediately diffuses into - these people were happy, these people weren't here's a quick version of why, the end!  It's like she skipped the entire falling action bit that's supposed to go between the climax and the conclusion!  So you really don't feel like Edmund ever really loves Fanny nearly as much as she loves him.  And that makes me unhappy.  Edmund's character never evolves from start to finish in the book.  He is literally exactly the same person at the beginning of the book as he is at the end, and since he's a main character I think that odd, since Fanny, Henry, and Mary at the very least go through some pretty major character development.  And since he's supposed to be the leading man...I expect more.  (Or as I put in my goodreads review - Edmund is a boring sissy boy.)

On the flip side, I thought Henry Crawford showed real promise.  It feels like with his attention to Fanny, he is the one who really brings her out of her shell.  While she's comfortable with Edmund, it never goes beyond his company.  With Henry, she starts being more open with everyone.  He also woos her, and makes her feel like she's the only one he is into, and it feels like he's truly falling in love with.  Which is why it comes as such a shock when he runs off with Maria - even the explanation for that doesn't feel like it fits his character.  While I can see he is a guy who is easily distracted (which is not an attractive attribute of his) - if the explanation is that his pride was stung by someone he's already won, wouldn't he still be after Fanny more than after a woman he had already made his conquest once?  That reasoning just doesn't ring true to me.  He woos Fanny despite her significant (but relative) poverty in comparison to her cousins, despite meeting her family.  He still woos her.  And I honestly don't believe it's because she kept saying no - I think that peaked his interest at the start, but I feel like he really did fall in love with her through the process.  No, he isn't a perfect love interest or character.  I feel as far as Jane's "bad boys" go, he is actually not so bad.  That being said, I totally could have been convinced of Edmund as a love interest...if Jane had ever made it feel like more than just a one-sided love of Fanny's part.  (Actually, maybe those parallels with Maria are on purpose, but because Maria is less moral she doesn't get a happy ending?)   The whole ending just felt like it was really half-hearted and lazy.

I'm going to go re-evaluate my life now.  Things are different now that there's a Jane Austen book I loathed.

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 05 - A book or series you hate

It's honestly really, really difficult to make me hate something.  Mostly because it's hard for me to hate anything that someone has spent years of their life dedicating heartfelt work into.  As an artist, it hurts a bit when I dislike things because well...as an artist I understand what it's like to be on the other side of the process.

That being said, I seem to have a specific trigger for RAGE when reading.  When it's pointless.

Example 1.  Waiting for Godot

There is nothing NOTHING worse than this book.  Period. The end. Ever.  The entire point of the book is THAT IT HAS NO POINT.  I just can't.  I don't give a crap about your existentialist points.  They're full of shit and so are you Thomas Beckett.  There's three whole pages of gibberish.  It's not even real words, or even charming nonsense words like Dr. Seuss (who I adore).  IT'S NOTHING. THE WORLD IS EMPTY AND MEANINGLESS AND BOOKS LIKE THIS SHOULDN'T EXIST.

Example 2. Heart of Darkness

Until I read Waiting for Godot, this was the worst book I'd ever read.  I honestly can't remember anything but a very specific scene I will get to.  I'm pretty sure it's set in Africa.  ....and that's all I've got.  I'm not sure even when I read it that I understood anything that was going on, to be honest.  What I do remember is a specific scene somewhere in the middle of the book.  The characters are stranded somewhere in the jungle because they need screws for their ship.  And then literally like a sentence later IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH...they're sailing down the river.  Wait what? When/where did they get the screws? What was the point of telling me any of that then?  WHY????


As much as slut shaming and carboard bffs are enough to make me want to throw a book across the room, none of these have anything to the rage induced by these books. (Probably because I HAD to read them).  That being said, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbevilles is definitely up there on this list.  I think it's an important book, and I think Hardy wrote some great commentary on the society at the time, but man do I loathe that book.  I didn't include it in this list because I feel like I can't talk about the reasons why I hate it without spoilers and well...I feel like there are people out there who will actually read it. And I know people who love it. So there you are *shrugs*

And that concludes books I loathe!  Any other books I should avoid at all costs?

The White Princess (The Cousins War #5) - Philippa Gregory

Summary

Goodreads:  Philippa Gregory, #1 New York Times best­selling author and “the queen of royal fiction” (USA Today), presents the latest Cousins’ War novel, the remarkable story of Elizabeth of York, daughter of the White Queen.

When Henry Tudor picks up the crown of England from the mud of Bosworth field, he knows he must marry the princess of the enemy house—Elizabeth of York—to unify a country divided by war for nearly two decades.

But his bride is still in love with his slain enemy, Richard III—and her mother and half of England dream of a missing heir, sent into the unknown by the White Queen. While the new monarchy can win power, it cannot win hearts in an England that plots for the triumphant return of the House of York.

Henry’s greatest fear is that somewhere a prince is waiting to invade and reclaim the throne. When a young man who would be king leads his army and invades England, Elizabeth has to choose between the new husband she is coming to love and the boy who claims to be her beloved lost brother: the rose of York come home at last.


Summary

This is really, really intense right from the start.  You are catapulted right into the middle of Elizabeth's anguish over the death of her lover, and at first I thought I was going to love this, especially as you start out with a bang.  I'm not going to talk about why this is a bad book, because I don't believe it is.  I've read at least half of Philippa Gregory's novels, and I've always enjoyed them to varying degrees, so the writing in this is very much on par with her other novels.  Instead, I'm going to talk about why this book was not for me personally.

I am horrified by the amount of rape in here.  I wish I could say it was unnecessary, but as it is historical fiction there is a chance this happened, and it absolutely reflected the societal views of the time.  So it is necessary.  But even from the beginning I wondered if I would be able to make it through, and how on earth I was supposed to support these two characters falling in love.  I don't care if it reflects societal norms, I can't support any man who repeatedly rapes someone.  And beyond that, he's completely under his mother's thumb (and she tucks him into bed which is weird).  But that's the least of my issues with Henry.

I also didn't realize there were so many books in this series!  Having read Gregory's Tudor series in a completely random order, I feel like generally her books don't have to be read in a certain order.  That being said, I do feel like it would enhance my understanding of what's going on and keeping everyone straight (WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DAMN ELIZABETH'S?!)  Also Richard is her Uncle...that doesn't come clear unless you try and figure out all the relationships but ummm...I'm pretty sure even back then uncle/niece was not kosher?  Maybe I'm wrong, and that's just super gross to me.

In general, my biggest issue with the book outside of the rapes that thankfully stop about half way through the book (maybe sooner), was simply that it was....boring.  I don't deal well with books about obsession - while I appreciate the creepy bits of Edgar Allen Poe's writing, I don't particularly enjoy most of his stories.  I thought Bellman & Black was THE WORST.   I just can't get behind obsession!  And this whole book is "Henry freaking out about potential boy/king guy and main character continues to be powerless".  Seriously.  That's the entire plot...and it's like it is on loop.  THIS GOES ON LIKE 5 TIMES.  I get it once, maybe even twice?  But after that?  I'm out.

None of this is on Philippa Gregory, except perhaps her choice in characters and time period, because honestly that's what happened (judging by my skilled Wikipedia searches).  But reading a whole book about a woman who doesn't love (but sort of does?) her husband, who has no control over anything, focused on a man who is terrified/obsessed with a boy, is just not for me.

TL;DR

This book wasn't for me because of the subject matter, but it is otherwise what one expects from Philippa Gregory's writing.  Like her? Read through this post and see if anything bothers you, and decide from there.

Top Ten Book Turn-Offs

 Hosted by The Broke and Bookish

1.  Absent/abusive/neglectful/general bad relationship parents when it serves no purpose in character development or plot and it is left unresolved or is sort of brushed over as if everything is ok.


2.  Insta-love (which is sort of a given, but there you are).


3.  Main character abandons her family, friends, and all common sense for a guy (or girl I suppose, but I've not seen any lead females do this for a girl, so there you are).


4.  Extreme lack of self confidence.  There is a point when the absence of self confidence is so lacking that it just becomes unbelievable, and it rarely serves a purpose in the plot.  I'm not saying my heroine needs to be self-assured like Celaena, in fact heroines like Mia Thermopolis are fantastic.   But then there are others who will not be mentioned who are just plain ridiculous and they piss me off.


5.  The lead doesn't think she is pretty enough to be with the guy she is with, and while she's got no self confidence about any of her abilities, it is particularly focused on being valued for looks.


6.  Hot, rich jerk.  In chick lit it seems to be ok for the guy to be an arrogant prick, but he's almost ALWAYS rich and hot.  He's at least one of them.  Don't get me wrong, I get sucked into it too, but would the lead let the guy treat her like that if he wasn't rich and hot?  Things to think about.


7.  The cardboard cut out best friend.  She serves no purpose other than as a sounding board about MC's love interest.  OR, even worse you're told she is the best friend, but she promptly acts like a backstabbing b*@#& the whole book, so we never understand why they were friends in the first place.


8.  Love interests unreasonably sticking together, even when the other is a danger to their life.  I can't really explain this well, since technically Katniss and Peeta would fulfill that requirement, and I totally love Katniss and Peeta.  It's more like Bella/Edward and I KNOW this will be an unpopular choice...but Mara/Noah.  Ah - that's what it is.  I need some sort of bond that is made before and outside of just romance for it to work for me - the others stink a bit of instalove.


9.  Slut shaming.  There is something particularly about the use of slut that really, really bothers me.  I briefly ventured out into contemporary YA earlier this year and literally every book I read during that brief foray involved some pretty serious name calling and bullying - but not in a way that I think exposes bullying as a problem.  This word more than any other in YA literatue really upsets me, and it bothers me a lot that it is so easily found.  It's not exactly the word itself (although it sort of is), it's that characters can so easily be painted as "sluts" and written off.  It's seriously the easiest was to disregard a character.   And it's just as offensive when the protagonist is the one being outcast as a slut.  It's just a particularly vitriolic word that I feel is hard to articulate exactly how...just lots of bad feeling come quickly to the surface.  To me it's more horrid to use against someone than b*#$@.  And I think part of the reason it really bothers me is that it is definitely a gender thing.  If a guy is called a slut in a book (or in life), it's usually in a joking manner.



10.  Possessiveness or guy acting in a dangerous way (like a vampire almost sucking girl's blood, etc.) being explained away because he didn't mean it.  Ok I'm sorry, but that is the first sign of an abusive relationship.  Sure it's in the paranormal world usually so it's not the guy beating on the girl or screaming at her, but the message is the same, and that's really not ok.  Plus the situation often gets a rapey sort of feel.  Seriously not attractive, guys.

Olivia Benson would not approve.

There are no pictures (I was originally going to post books that fit my list, but then it made me feel really catty so I decided against it) so this is a rather boring post :-/.  In other news, I am doing a giveaway for The Evolution of Mara Dyer to celebrate my 100th post on the blog, so go check it out!
That's it for my TTT this week, what's on yours?  Leave me a link below!  (And as always just a reminder...really leave a link or I won't be able to find your blog haha)

Interview With The Vampire - Anne Rice

Synopsis                                   

Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force–a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.

(Not really many plot synopses on this out there - but if you somehow DON'T know what it's about, wikipedia has a very detailed synopsis - lots of spoilers though)

Thoughts

I just found this...disturbing.  And boring.  I had a flight where all I had with me was this and The Virgin Suicides - needless to say it was a very, very long flight.  I can count the number of books I haven't finished on one hand - this is one of them.  The other is The Silmarillion (which I WILL finish someday! I refuse to let it beat me!).  So take this review with a grain of salt - perhaps things spiced up after I gave up on the book.  The story is very slow paced.  I usually appreciate detailed descriptions, but man, listening to Louis narrate is like listening to an angsty teenage boy...for 400. Whole. Pages.  I had a hard time reading some of the more graphic violent scenes - something that surprised me as I wholeheartedly approve of scary vampires, but I suppose I don't like vampires enough to stomach it.  Most disturbing to me was the really weird relationship between Claudia, Lestat, and especially Louis.  I get that she became a woman trapped in a child's body but...it was a little too...sketch for me.  Between the long winded prose, an unlikeable character, an icky child-woman/man relationship, and a general disinterest in vampires (I know, I know I was reading a book that is almost 400 pages about vampires), there was nothing to interest me, and I'd already been through the torture of The Virgin Suicides.  Needless to say, clearly this book wasn't for me.  This is not to say it isn't for everyone - I did appreciate that Rice didn't flinch from a more gothic view of vampires, and the history is interesting.  And if you like vampires, you should really read the book that inspired the more modern view of vampires.

Recommended

I mean, if you totally dig vampires, this series is a classic.  Again, this is another book to read to see what all the hype was about.  Read it if you've seen the movie and want to know about the book...but if you are interested in seeing what Anne Rice is like, I really don't think this novel displays her strongest writing style.

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

Synopsis                                           

First published in 1993, The Virgin Suicides announced the arrival of a major new American novelist. In a quiet suburb of Detroit, the five Lisbon sisters—beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the neighborhood boys—commit suicide one by one over the course of a single year. As the boys observe them from afar, transfixed, they piece together the mystery of the family's fatal melancholy, in this hypnotic and unforgettable novel of adolescent love, disquiet, and death. Jeffrey Eugenides evokes the emotions of youth with haunting sensitivity and dark humor and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time. Adapted into a critically acclaimed film by Sofia Coppola, The Virgin Suicides is a modern classic, a lyrical and timeless tale of sex and suicide that transforms and mythologizes suburban middle-American life.
(from Barnes and Noble)

Thoughts

I hated this.  I honestly could find no redeeming qualities to this novel.  It's told from a collective neighborhood boys' point of view.  Which I guess is cool, but it's so removed from what the girls are feeling that I don't get it.  The girls just seem crazy.  They don't have personalities, really.  They just find creative ways to kill themselves - just to do it as far as I can tell.  It's like they didn't have a reason.  I get that the parents are kind of crazy, but that doesn't seem to be the reason why they committed suicide.  The boys spend the entire book trying to solve a mystery that is never really posed or solved.  It's been a while since I read this - like a year so I don't have a lot of ready examples.  The entire book just had this disconnected mood, like everything was kind of pointless.  I think this is one of those books that tries to be intellectual at the expense of...well pretty much everything.

Prose - not bad, but not very interesting
Characters - not developed, not easy to connect with
Plot - is there one at all?

Recommended

No one.  Unless (like me) you are interested in seeing what all the hype was about.  Maybe you'll find something in it I couldn't.

If you liked this, you might like:

Book Review

P.s. I Love You - Cecily Ahern

Synopsis

"A novel about holding on, letting go, and learning to love again.
Now in paperback, the endearing novel that captured readers' hearts and introduced a fresh new voice in women's fiction" — Cecelia Ahern.

Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.

Thoughts

I found that the topic was moving, but I was unimpressed at how it was executed. The ideas and actions often wandered - something deep would be discussed and then BAM! - they're in the middle of the ocean? I understand, having dealt with the deaths of people I love, how one moment you are ok and then something tiny sets you off. Ahern did a good job showing the reactions of those in grief...but at times the situations Holly is put in seem so contrived.

The prose was not sophisticated - it almost sounded as if it hadn't been proof read. It just sounded...juvenile almost. The dialogue sounded so forced! The vocabulary was not very diverse...it made it hard for me to get fully absorbed in the novel.

On the other hand, the concept of this novel was outstanding. Although the story line wavered at time, if it had a little more continuity I would have loved the entire premise of this book. Ahern's take on death and grief was perfect - many authors have the tendency to overdo it and then have the character magically ok a short time later. I felt she depicted Holly's journey in a true manner. I also liked the ending (I don't want to give a spoiler here, but if you read the novel, you will understand what I mean in regards to the man).

Overall

Overall, plot was good, writing was not. An ok read.

Recommended

Chick lit lovers who don't mind delving into a more serious topic.

You might like:


                              

Book Review                                      Book Review

The Black Gryphon - Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon

Rated: D

Synopsis(from allreaders.com)

"This book is listed as part of the Heralds of Valdemar series, but it actually takes place about 1000 years before Valdemar even existed. Ma'ar and Urtho, the Mage of Silence, are at war with one another. Skandranon, one of Urtho's gryphons, is a spectacular aerial fighter. Amberdrake, Skan's human friend, heals the minds, hearts, and, sometimes, bodies of many of the soldiers and healers, but even he sometimes needs a shoulder to lean on. Winterhart might be someone Amberdrake could come to depend on, but first she has to get past the secret about herself that she's buried and her belief that the nonhumans in Urtho's army are little more than somewhat intelligent animals. Zhaneel, another gryphon, has suffered because the humans around her believed that, but, with help from friends, her stunted self-esteem blossoms. In the end, they must all try to survive the consequences of the Mage Wars."
Melissa Cookson, Resident Scholar

Thoughts

This book didn't really do it for me. I'm pretty picky about books that feature other species like gryphons, faeries, elves, etc. All of the races here acted very human. I understand that part of the point here was interracial cooperation (showed through the species) and that the other species are human equals, but I feel that emotionally they should be tinged with other qualities. The story line was kind of iffy too - it ended up being kind of like a fantasy romance novel. It was a very stereo-typical for this genre, which isn't necessarily always a bad thing, but in this case it was for me. I knew EVERYTHING about what was going to happen within the first three chapters. It kinda takes the fun out of it when you know who's going to hook up with who, who's going to die, who's actually a traitor...it was too easy to see through! I'm the queen of looking up the ending of a book before I finish reading it, but the fun is in seeing how things get to that end.

Overall

A below-average book, but its good if you are in the mood for exactly what this book has to offer - no surprises, fantasy war and love.

Recommended

Sci-fi/fantasy readers, romance readers who don't mind other species being featured in the novel.
Fantasy/Sci-Fi Readers who don't mind romance.

The Sleeping Beauty Proposal - Sarah Strohmeyer

Rated: F



Synopsis

A wickedly funny fairytale for modern women from the “laugh-out-loud funny” (Washington Post Book World) author of The Cinderella Pact.Genie’s commitment-phobic boyfriend is finally proposing—on national television. To the woman he’s been seeing on the side. It’s a major wake-up call for a girl who’s hit the snooze button on her life a few too many times.With no names mentioned on the broadcast, Genie finds herself flooded with presents and congratulations. It’s up to her to explain the mistake, but sometimes waking up is hard to do.When her parents start planning the reception, she can’t help enjoying herself. Why call off the so-called engagement just yet? It’s fun to play princess. But unless a prince shows up—and soon—this dream could start getting weird.

Thoughts

This book was the most ridiculous piece of crap I have ever read. The plot is outlandish. The characters are insanely unbelievable. There was NO substance to this book. The main character is your stereotypical middle-aged woman. She talks about the same things all these woman talk about in these sort of books - weight and marriage. Her boyfriend is a grade-A asshole. Completely black character. The new love of her life is perfect: smart and absolutely gorgeous. These characters act to the extreme of their stereotype. Its almost laughable - if it didn't hurt so much to read it. I tried. I don't ever not finish a book, but this one sorely tempted me.

Overall

This book was not worth my time. It takes a lot for me to not enjoy anything about a book, but this book managed to be so ridiculously over the top it made it to my small list of least favourite books of all time.

Recommendations

No one. But if I'd have to pick, a chick lit fan with low standards.

Go Ask Alice - Anonymous

Rated: F




Synopsis

January 24th
After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs....

It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth -- and ultimately her life.

Read her diary.

Enter her world.

You will never forget her.

For thirty-five years, the acclaimed, bestselling first-person account of a teenage girl's harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. As powerful -- and as timely -- today as ever, Go Ask Alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction.

Thoughts

This is a "true story" (this point has been contested, but to no avail) written by a young woman. I have to say that I did not enjoy this novel. The prose is very childish. I understand it is written from the point of view of a young woman who did not expect this to ever be read, but the prose was so poor it was painful to read. Sadly, I really couldn't get past that.
Overall

Disturbing, not well written. I did not like it.

Recommended

Parents who force their kids to read things to scare them into being good? I wouldn't particularly recommend this one to anyone.