This was one of those books where my reactions to it fell mostly in the extremes, and there are going to be SPOILERS so I can talk about freely about the missteps. I was immediately drawn in by Annabel and the obvious tension in her. She had been recently ostracized by her former best friend, popular mean girl Sophie, and her life at home is also fragile, between a sister currently recovering from an eating disorder and a mother who has a history of depression. […]
Daring Greatly, or, the TED Talk that is now a whole book
I struggle with how to review and rate books like this. In the first place, I feel like they aren’t for me. I typically don’t pick up “self help” or “personal development” books of my own volition; to wit, this was a monthly book club selection. That’s not to say that I am stubborn, that I refuse to get anything out of them, that I’m dismissive of their messages, or that I think they’re a waste of time — none of those are true. It’s […]
FFS WHYYYYYYYYY
Who’s ready for some kvetching? Plot-wise, all you really need to know is that Heartless is the origin story of the Queen of Hearts, of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. So although you know how it’s going to end, here is a general SPOILER WARNING for the rest of this review, because I don’t want to dance around the details of what bugged me. The very biggest problem is that the heroine, Catherine Pinkteron, is an absolute mess of a character. To a certain extent, […]
Six books in, and still not a weak link to be found in the series
So, look. Typically in my reviews I go the very remedial route of talking about broad themes from the book, how well the characters and/or worldbuilding were developed, and I comment on the pacing and overall competence of the plot. If I am very lucky, something will stand out that either makes me want to rant, or go on a gushing squeefest, and I can write a better than milquetoast review. When you get to the sixth book in a consistently excellent series, there isn’t […]