I liked this book before I started to really know the characters. Initially, I felt I could relate to some of them and the story took me back to drunken college days and some fond memories but that is about where my relating stopped. As the story went on, I began to relate the whole novel to a night of boozing. In the beginning, you have a few drinks and start to feel the buzz which leads to good times and lots of socializing. You are having fun and making friends, albeit superficial. As the drinks increase, so does the excitement and poor decision making. But as the night progresses and the alcohol wears off, your true feelings and personality come to light (be that good or bad) and things aren't as entertaining. By the end of the book, when all of the true colors of the characters were revealed, it made me think of the morning after a night of debauchery (or motherf***ery, as in the story) when the alcohol has worn off and the hangover remains. Not a good feeling. I was disgusted by the majority of the characters, with the exception of maybe Kelly, and surprised at how weak their connections and loyalties to each other were. I think this book does a good job of showing how friendships can progress and regress based on certain events and the harsh reality that comes with seeing who a person actually is, rather than who you initially imagined. As far as formatting goes, I liked the idea of different narrators who allowed us to see their unique perspectives on each event but for me, it got a little confusing. It took a page or two to figure out exactly who was narrating and the constant switching back and forth on the timeline caused me to have to stop and figure out where we were.
p.232
Oh Stephen, you've done it again. Sucked me into a ridiculously long book (1,200+ pages) and kept me interested the whole time. I think that's what makes our relationship work. Granted, sometimes you can get a little out of control with the number of characters in each book but I can overlook that. Especially since you have great character development, even for the characters that only live for about four pages. I see you continue to repeat the normal themes from other books and while that would bother others, I find it endearing. I tend to be interested in your view of religion and politics and how you can portray them in each of your stories in a different way. This particular tome gives us a glimpse at how quickly a society can deteriorate under poor guidance. It took this town about a week to fall apart, mutiny, and find a solution. Granted, that is extreme and they were cut off from the world, but I think it is relatively accurate of how a dictator can quickly destroy a nation. It was also interesting to see what a person will do when they know there are no consequences. And by interesting, I mean terrifying.
"A refusal to face the orderless, reasonless beast, that can arise when frightened people are provoked."
Things quickly became out of control when the Dome came down and Stephen, being his clever self, used multiple points of view, which allowed us various glimpses into the different happenings around town. They also provided us with information that other townspeople didn't have which added to the suspense. It all eventually came down to good vs. evil and seeing who chose which side. In the end, we see that we all make evil decisions as some point, but you either feel guilty and try to make amends or your conscience looks the other way and you go deeper to the dark side. One of the best ways this was portrayed was when two of the main "evil" characters slowly started to rot from the inside out. Gross, but very fitting.
I've heard that people either love or loathe King, and I seem to fall under the former category. If you can deal with a little bit of gore and supernatural, I definitely recommend this thriller. And to you Stephen, thanks for entertaining me and I assure you, I will be back for more.
p. 1280
I really liked this book and definitely recommend it! This story takes us to a lovely inn in Main run by the Littles. The setting was idyllic and I connected with it personally because it made me think of my family's vacation home. I could picture myself sitting on the Adirondack chairs and enjoying the breeze coming of the water. While the setting is ideal, the Littles' lives and history are not. The Littles' lives changed 20 years ago when the twins were in a car accident that killed a family friend. This event sent their lives spiraling into different directions and Little Island allows us to see how this event affected the family 20 years later. As the story progresses, little secrets (no pun intended) are slowly revealed, which change the view of the past greatly. I enjoyed hearing how each family member saw and interpreted things differently and how it affected them in their own ways. I loved the ending and the hope it signified for future changes as well as the possibility for mending broken hearts and relationships. If you are looking for a good book with some interesting turns, I would recommend checking out Katharine Britton's Little Island. p.310
This is a very short novella that has a good basis for a book but very poor development. I'm not familiar with Ally Carter's work and I tend to feel a little gypped when it comes to novellas but this book left me with more questions than answers. I think Macey and Hale are two very unique characters that obviously have interesting backgrounds but we are never privy to what those backgrounds are. We hear a little about Macey's "school" but have no idea what type of school it is or how she was recruited for it. We hear a little about Hale and some of his past heists but that's about it. I think the basis of these characters are intriguing but the book left a lot to be desired. It was hard to follow some of the story because things jumped around a bit. One thing I did enjoy, the story was not predictable when it came to the love/relationship aspect. In novellas like this, one usually assumes the male and female leads will develop a romantic relationship but that's not the case in Double Crossed. It actually seems like the main characters begin to develop a professional respect for one another and their unique skills but we never get to find out where that leads. Overall, this was an interesting read but I wish it would have been a full story rather than just a novella. p. 44
Fool Me Twice
Wait, what??! This book had potential! I really enjoyed the main character, Chapel, who was extremely sarcastic, if a little vulgar, and Shoestring was the cutest, scariest thing I could imagine. The pace of the book was extremely fast which left some things unanswered and unexplained but overall, I was enjoying myself. Then, all of a sudden, it ended. There was a “war” and a very unhappy ending which didn’t make sense. No rhyme or reason, it just ended. Left me wondering where the rest of the book was. Very bizarre! p. 466
In this sweet novella, we are introduced to Nicola, a successful business woman who has recently returned home for a few months. Little does she know that those three months will re-introduce her to the man who shattered her heart in high school and lead to a different perspective on events that have happened in the past. Blair is the handsome, charming, artistic high-school-heart-breaker, but he very quickly makes it clear that things are different now from what they used to be. Blair is easy to like and makes an effort to welcome Nicola back home. Meanwhile, Nicola despises Blair and has a very tight grip on the past and everything negative thing that has ever happened to her. Eventually, Blair is able to break through Nicola’s walls that she has put up and teach her that sometimes, we have to let go of the past in order to have a future. I really enjoyed the majority of the characters in this book. Blair seemed sincere and his excuses for what happened in high were legitimate (even though they were excuses for bad behavior.) I loved Nicola’s parents and their quirkiness (definitely some dementia going on that was never fully addressed.) I was happy to see that Nicola’s best friend was able to move on and find happiness for herself. But despite all of that, I never warmed up to Nicola. She seems to base her whole life around judgment. She holds onto the quick judgments she made as a child (which were distorted) and uses them to color her world. She is also very concerned with everyone else’s judgment of her and allows that to impact her confidence and ability to be herself. I like to think that Blair eventually helped Nicola to overcome her strong hold on the past but it would have been nice to see some of that happen in the book.
p. 134
I knew exactly what to expect with this book so I’m not sure why I was so disappointed. This is the second book in the Witch and Wizard series which is one of James Patterson’s young adult series. I’ve read the Maximum Ride books which is very similar to this. I know to expect two page chapters, kids rebelling against the adults, and the theme of “kids can make a difference.” For some reason though, I just wasn’t interested in this book. I got sick of the siblings getting caught and then escaping over and over. I don’t feel like anything really happened in this book to carry the story along. It’s not often I give up on series, but I’m pretty sure this is the last Witch and Wizard book I’ll read. p. 279
I was dragged through many different emotions while reading this book. Initially, I was very interested in the story line and thought it had great potential. It didn’t take long for me to become a little annoyed with the main characters. Tully is the rebellious one with a mother who is a drug addict who constantly let her down while she was growing up. Katie is the perfect overachiever who doesn’t realize how good she has it. Somehow, these two complete opposites meet on their street, Firefly Lane, and become lifelong friends (a little farfetched but I’ll go with it.) As the main characters were developed, it bothered me how extreme in their different personalities they were and it became predictable. Katie is going to play the victim and Tully is going to be selfish. The overall theme of this book seemed to be “the grass is always greener.”
Even though they are best friends, they are both very wrapped up in their own lives and never seem to take the time to consider what it must be like for the other one. Throughout the book they show they care in various ways like showing up when they need each other or calling each other on their crap but at moments it seemed superficial. It took me a long time to connect with these characters but about halfway through the book, the author hooked me. I felt like the second half of the book began to pull on the heart strings and address real topics that families face. I’ll admit, by the end of the book, the tears were streaming. I think I would rate the first half of this book a 3 but the second half a 4. Even though the characters irked me at times, I enjoyed seeing their lives play out. Since my lasting impression will be enjoying the end of the book, I’m going with an overall rating of 4/5.
p. 397
I was disappointed by my last two books so I decided to return to an old favorite who I knew would give me a quick, romantic, easy read and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m a pretty big fan of Nora Roberts because I think she does romance without being trashy and every girl could use more romance in her life (trashy has its place as well.) Side note: two of my favorite romance series are Roberts’ Bride Quartet and the Inn Boonsboro trilogy. Check them out! This novel introduces us to the feisty Kirby, the mysterious Adam, and the lovable Fairchild. The latter may be at the top of my list of favorite characters. He is adoring, quirky, brilliant, and hilarious. He may be why I liked this book so much. All three main characters are artists who live in a “world of restrained wealthy where champagne fizzed quietly and dignity was an essential as the proper alma mater.” There is a certain level of intrigue and mystery to this love story and the dialogue is full of witty banter and biting sarcasm. Sure, there were parts that were predictable but I found myself surprised by at least one twist. The only thing that bothered me a little was the point of view would change rapidly from focusing on one character for a long period of time to another with very little warning. I caught myself doing a couple double takes to figure out who was thinking/talking. Overall, this book was a very entertaining, quick read. P. 168
As soon as Sue arrives at Briar, the foreshadowing begins with phrases such as “I thought I knew all about (Maude). Of course, I knew nothing” which leads us quickly to believe there will be a twist to this story at some point. And lo and behold there is! There are actually quite a few. Overall, I think the twists were pretty clever but that’s about all the good I have to say about this book. I think that may be because the first twist took the story completely off track from the reason I picked the book up in the first place. I enjoyed the idea of con men and thieves and deceit but the main character who was supposed to be doing all of that was relatively dumb and all of the characters that continued to be introduced were just as ignorant. I don’t think I found any character I actually enjoyed throughout the whole book other than maybe Charley Wag, the dog.
As far as writing style goes, I understand the author’s goal of creating a Victorian novel but she fell very short. There were long periods of lag time between the twists and instead of using these times for character development; they seemed more for passing time and filling up pages. I also hated the “love story.” I have read a lot of classics and Austen and Dickens do a great job of developing love stories set in this time period and while it is drier than more contemporary literature, you still understand how the relationship developed. There was none of that in this book. I don’t want to spoil anything but I feel like the love story in this book started out as shock value and the author just ran with it. This book was not what I thought it would be and not in a good way.
P. 419
Summary: The unnamed narrator of this book uses support groups, for afflictions he is not a victim of, as a cure for his insomnia until he meets a fellow support group junkie, Marla Singer. Marla also attends support groups of various conditions and the narrator finds himself being judged for being a liar. Soon after, he meets Tyler Durden who changes the way he sees everything. Tyler is a sort of revolutionary who forces the narrator to take risks and re-evaluate his life. In doing so, Tyler creates Fight Club where people can beat each other up in order to experience a manner of freedom. As time goes on, fight club isn’t enough for Tyler so he creates Project Mayhem, a way for members to induce pandemonium on corporate America through various pranks and plots. The narrator eventually begins to see that Tyler is getting out of control which leads to the realization of some of his own ideas and view of things that he was previously unaware of. Review: Unfortunately, this was one of those times I saw the movie before I read the book and I think it greatly affected my opinion. The point of fight club is to be able to go somewhere and let out aggression and frustrations that other parts of your life are causing, in a very manly way of course. The narrator was very cynical while Tyler was very focused on bringing down the “man.” Since I saw the movie, I knew the big twist was coming and it changed how I read the narrative from the very beginning. I was able to pick up on queues that I know I would have missed on the first reading but it also allowed me to understand the book better than I think I would have had I not seen the movie. The writing was a little spacey and hard to follow at times but I believe that was to accentuate the narrator’s state of mind. I enjoyed how the book ended and the narrators desire to undo all of the things that got out of control. His realization that he was unable to do so was well done and the outcome of that was extreme but fitting. Overall, I’m not too big on anarchy or blood and punching people in the face to cope so this book wasn’t for me but I highly recommend the movie based simply on the fact that it’s one of Brad Pitt’s best.
P. 139
