Friday, December 29, 2017

The #FridayReads Review (12/29/17)



Welcome to The #FridayReads Review, a regular Friday segment where I share what I've been reading the past week, and what I'm planning to read next! Want to join the Friday fun? Post your own #FridayReads Review and leave the link in the Comments below, or just Comment with what you've been reading!


>> CURRENTLY READING <<
Prince in Disguise
Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm (ARC)
After passing on three fantasy books I decided to give this teen contemporary romance a try. The banter is slightly odd, but the characters are realistically engaging and the story has proven fun and interesting enough to hold my interest. Currently half a dozen chapters in and happily sneaking pages whenever I can.


>> JUST FINISHED <<
Honor Among Thieves (The Honors, #1)
Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre (ARC)
5 Stars. ALL THE STARS. An engrossing and exhilarating teen sci-fi with a kick-ass female lead and sweet but strong sentient ship. Review to come.


>> PASSED <<
Tempests and Slaughter (The Numair Chronicles, #1)Walk on Earth a Stranger  (The Gold Seer Trilogy, #1)

Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce (ARC)
I've heard such amazing things about Tamora Pierce, so when an ARC appeared from the publisher I decided it was time to give her a try. Sadly I didn't even make it through the first chapter - I didn't mesh with the writing style, where I'd expected YA I instead found MG, and I got the feeling the story would be a slower one with little action (not my cup of tea). For my full review, see my Goodreads comments here.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson (ARC)
Passed after 2 chapters. As much as I enjoyed Rae Carson's Fire & Thorns series, I'm just not much for westerns and with its slower journey story and little magic to speak of I sadly passed.


>> [POSSIBLY] READING NEXT <<
(subject to change with my ever-shifting reading whims)
Honey So Sweet, Vol. 8
Honey So Sweet vol. 8 by Amu Meguro (PBK)
Time to finish this utterly adorable series!


So what are you reading this week?

Friday, December 15, 2017

The #FridayReads Review (12/15/17)



Welcome to The #FridayReads Review, a regular Friday segment where I share what I've been reading the past week, and what I'm planning to read next! Want to join the Friday fun? Post your own #FridayReads Review and leave the link in the Comments below, or just Comment with what you've been reading!


>> CURRENTLY READING <<
Honor Among Thieves (The Honors, #1)
Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre (ARC)
This sounded right up my alley, and it turned out to be true! Really enjoying this teen sci-fi about suspicious sentient spaceships and the tough girl who gets mixed up with them.


>> JUST FINISHED <<
Top Ten Clues You're Clueless
Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas (PBK)
4 Stars. A fun and relaxed read with a relatable and realistic story and characters. Bonus: it takes place Cmas Eve, so I highly recommend it right now! Review to come.


>> [POSSIBLY] READING NEXT <<
(subject to change with my ever-shifting reading whims)
Love, Life, and the List
Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West (ARC)
The ARC keeps tricking me with its 2018 release date, but this releases in just a few weeks so it's top of my TBR pile!


So what are you reading this week?

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Monday, December 4, 2017

DNF Review: A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares (Krystal Sutherland)

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares
Title: A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares
Series: standalone
Author: Krystal Sutherland
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons BYR
Release Date: September 5, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Told: Third Person (Esther), Past Tense
Content Rating: Older Teen (strong language, underage drinking, innuendo, violence, abuse, attempted suicide, parental neglect, body parts, disturbing serial crimes...)
Format Read: ARC (trade)
Find OnGoodreads
Purchase OnAmazon | B&N | Book Depository
Summary:

Ever since Esther Solar’s grandfather met Death, her entire family has been doomed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime—a fear that will eventually lead each and every one of them to their graves. Take Esther’s father, for instance: He’s an agoraphobe who hasn’t left the basement in six years. Then there’s her twin brother, Eugene, whose fear of the dark goes far beyond the things that go bump in the night. And her mother, Rosemary, is absolutely terrified of bad luck.

As for Esther, she’s managed to escape the curse…so far. She doesn’t yet have a great fear because she avoids pretty much everything. Elevators, small spaces, crowds—anything that might trigger a phobia is off-limits and is meticulously recorded in her semi-definitive list of worst nightmares. 

Esther thinks she has it all figured out, until she’s reunited with an old elementary school classmate—and first crush—Jonah Smallwood. The encounter leaves her stranded at a bus stop and swindled out of her phone, all her cash, a Fruit Roll-Up she’d been saving, and her list—not to mention her dignity. But the theft is also the beginning of an unexpected friendship between the two, one that sends the pair on a journey of self-discovery as they try to break the curse that’s consumed Esther’s family. Together they face their greatest fears, one debilitating phobia at a time, only to discover the one fear they hadn’t counted on: love.


*          *          *

I did not finish this book. I stopped at Chapter 27 (Page 240 of 348).

I tried to finish this book. I really did. For over 2 months I tried again and again, setting it aside for a week or two and then picking it back up to try once more. But with every try the story further depressed and eventually disturbed me until I simply couldn't continue.

This isn't to say the book is bad - on the contrary. It's an engaging story with an original plot, a snarky and unique voice, and an air of The Addams Family, and for those who enjoy grittier realistic fiction with a touch of the macabre I would highly recommend it. But for an easily depressed soul such as myself who really can't handle contemporary fiction without a soppy romance focus, this story was just too real for me - with its colorful, catty cover and interesting summary I was fooled into believing I could handle any heavier content, and was sorely mistaken. The book has a serious dark side in the spiraling phobias of Esther's family, as well as Jonah's abusive situation, and to deal with it the understandably rather unstable teens drink and act out to excess. (There is also quite a lot of strong language, which always puts me off.) Just one of these things, possibly two, and I might have been able to soldier through, but all of it together left me ever more melancholy with every chapter until in a declaration of self-kindness after the disturbing Chapter 26 I finally allowed myself to let the book go unfinished.

I did lightly skim the remaining 100 or so pages and am glad to say the story does have a redemptive conclusion. But it came in the wake of even more unsettling content, and I am relieved I did not subject myself to it fully.

Conclusion: If you love darker realistic fiction with playful premises, do not pass this up. But if like me you require your contemporary reads to possess a large amount of fluff and good feels, don't let the flowery purple cover fool you - there's sadly little of either to be had in this book.

For Fans Of: The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle (my review)

Friday, December 1, 2017

The #FridayReads Review (12/1/17)



Welcome to The #FridayReads Review, a regular Friday segment where I share what I've been reading the past week, and what I'm planning to read next! Want to join the Friday fun? Post your own #FridayReads Review and leave the link in the Comments below, or just Comment with what you've been reading!


>> CURRENTLY READING <<
Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School, #2)
Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (PBK)
Last month I was in such a reading slump but still itching to read something so I finally just started re-reading my favorite series! Thoroughly enjoyed the first book but I've never been much of a series binger so now in the midst of Book the Second I'm starting to get antsy for a different read. Not sure exactly what though, so in the meantime Sophronia's adventures continue.


>> JUST FINISHED <<
The Stone Heart (The Nameless City, #2)Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight 1Yokai Rental Shop Vol. 1

The Stone Heart by Faith Erin Hicks (PBK)
3 Stars. While the story is interesting, for such a big fantasy plot it reads rather subdued and simplistic. Still I enjoyed the very quick read and look forward to finishing the series with what I believe is the final volume next year.

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight vol. 1 by Rin Mikimoto (PBK)
4 Stars. Almost didn't bring this home from the library and now so glad I did! Despite the boy's caboose fetish I really enjoyed the characters, humor and story - will definitely be picking up the next volume!

Yokai Rental Shop vol. 1 by Shin Mashiba (PBK)
3 Stars. Not quite as good as I'd been hoping but a little more interesting than I was expecting with both an unusual yet also rather familiar premise with intriguing characters and twists. Might give the second volume a try.


>> [POSSIBLY] READING NEXT <<
(subject to change with my ever-shifting reading whims)
Ash Princess
Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian (ARC)
Still eyeing this after a month - time for fantasy?


So what are you reading this week?