This book was definitely interesting, though I felt that the ending was a cheap cliffhanger. I don't actually like books like that - I prefer ones that semi-wrap things up but still leave you wondering/wanting more. Not with so many things left unanswered that the author's practically guaranteed a read just because you dislike unanswered questions. The action in this felt heavily paced towards the second half of the book, but that's like a lot of action/horror movies. The concept is interesting - one I haven't seen in any of the modern books, so that was nice. I don't feel as invested in Benson as I should, though, and I felt some of the relationships were sacrificed in favour of action and fighting.
Julianna Baggot has created a dark dystopia where powerful people have made decisions 'for the good of all' that leave others on the outside - literally. There are some bits that are weak - the hints at romance, and some characters that seem to be there mainly to carry along exposition and bring our main characters together. Some 'speeches' come across as something that the author wrote as description and then tried to clumsily translate into something a character would say out loud, but it just doesn't flow. Also, at least two characters seem to be involved mainly for cheap plays on the reader's emotions, though that may simply be because they aren't given as much time in the plot as I would have liked. But the world is fascinating, and the two main characters, Pressia and Partridge, held my interest and my emotions. The world painted is one that's not so hard to imagine, and the landscape is very vividly described. I'll be giving the second one a try when it comes out.
I'm a bit surprised reading the reviews for this book, but then I wondered if many of the readers have taken the time to think about how children's books often take the normal and alter them to be slightly outside the boundaries. Munsch in particular deals with extremes all the time in his books, and this one is no different. Also, these are all reviews from an adult perspective, looking at things in an adult way - most kids books are creepy if you look at them this way, actually. Remembering this book from the perspective of a kid, I remember viewing it as slightly silly - a mother going all the way across town to rock her grown child - and also reassuring at the same time. Kids love the absurd and they love the idea that their parents will love them forever. When you're five you're not thinking it's creepy and stalkery, you're thinking that it's cool that this mom loves their little boy that much.And there's a lesson at the end, too - that kids should love their parents in return, and take care of them. It's still a book I would read to kids. Kids don't expect their books to be 100% rooted in reality, and that's why absurdist concepts work so well for them.
I kept reading this mostly for the stories about the various deaths and how they're dealt with, to be honest. Morbid, but it's a job that people do and this gives insight into what their job entails. The insight into the author's life, though... Not so interesting, except her relationship with her grandfather. Sometimes I felt as though the jump back and forth was too acute - it's like random insights strung together and some writers can carry that off, but others can't, like here.
I kept reading this mostly for the stories about the various deaths and how they're dealt with, to be honest. Morbid, but it's a job that people do and this gives insight into what their job entails. The insight into the author's life, though... Not so interesting, except her relationship with her grandfather. Sometimes I felt as though the jump back and forth was too acute - it's like random insights strung together and some writers can carry that off, but others can't, like here.
A tearjerker at times, and compelling, but I felt a bit as though the growth that we should have seen wasn't there. But by the same token, sometimes that's the way life is - people should grow and learn and change, and they don't. I felt that Kate had more growth than Tully did - Tully especially seemed to always be looking for something more, and even at the end I wasn't sure if she'd really learned anything. It's good enough that it drew me in, but thinking back on it, I would have liked more - to be drawn into why and how certain things happened. Like how Johnny fell in love with Kate, when Tully seems to be more his type - of course, I always got the feeling that Tully just wanted Johnny because the life that he gave Kate was the one thing that she didn't have. But how did Johnny fall in love with Kate? What sustained their marriage? We're told that he loves her, but not shown. At the end I was left with the niggling question of whether or not Johnny would go to Tully - he told Kate he wouldn't, but I wasn't so sure. I would have liked to feel more certain of that, since their love was so deep. We were told over and over that he'd never do that to Kate, but we never hear why. The ending made me cry, with its unfairness - there are glimmers of the hope that maybe Tully will learn and change, but I would have liked to be more certain of that.Still, an enjoyable read.
I found this book to be compelling and that it drew on my emotions in more than one way... Love, loss, regret, fear, trauma, family, friendship - this book covers it all, and it drew me in and kept me engaged until the last page. I was impressed by the character growth throughout the book, especially with Michael, and the fact that the author didn't shy away from certain paths of the plot. I'll be checking out other books by this author.
Downgrading my rating of this. Trying to reread and I find myself skipping most of the explanation and build up - it's not holding my attention at all, even though it should be. The first sex scene with Clay and Elena bothers me, as even though it ends as consensual, it starts out very much not consensual, and I don't like that Kelley Armstrong chose to go there. It rubs me the wrong way even on re-reads. I don't like what it says about Clay as a character and I have too much experience with human men pushing their boundaries to have patience for the mental 'oh but he's a werewolf who can't control himself' that I need to make to excuse that scene. The men grate at me, too, even though they want to protect Elena. They protect her by being controlling bastards, and I would have liked to see Kelley Armstrong buck the whole 'pack control' thing instead of using it to make it so easy to have the woman be submissive to the others. Clay is submissive as well, but Elena seems to be at the bottom of the pack chain. Ugh. I don't know. I thought that maybe on a second read I wouldn't have as many issues with this book but I still do. With a fantasy animal like the werewolf I would have liked to see the author use the fantasy element instead of invoking pack order and the inevitable control the males have over the females. that's my problem with it - it's a conscious choice on the part of the author.I'm going to try some of the other books in this series because I don't have as many negative memories of them, but this one still remains a disappointment to me.
Interesting! I liked the new take on the Salem Witch trials. I felt a bit as though there was too big of a build up, and that the climax was rather quickly dealt with... The concern for the welfare of the characters does not last that long. I'd have liked to see a more indepth exploration of Connie's new understanding of herself, too. Still, interesting and engrossing.
Not nearly as involving and well thought out as Cussler's later books... And the sexism is incredibly obvious! Not one I would reread.
I don't quite think I'm supposed to dislike the main character so much, or that I'm supposed to find the plot laughable and the descriptions amusing in their torrid floweriness. There is no true depth, no growth in the main character. A good book leaves you wanting more, questioning things eagerly. A bad book - like this one - leaves you irritated and hating the questions left unanswered because there are too many and you're not interested enough to keep reading to find out the answers - or worse, without the confidence that they WILL be answered. This book is definitely the latter.
Reading this was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. She had so much of her life stolen from her, but she still seems to have a positive outlook on life. her love for her mother and for her children is obvious here, and I have to imagine that it would be quite different if she hadn't had them. I don't feel like this is something that she wrote because other people wanted her to, which I'm glad of. I was worried that it would feel like a book that was rushed to print. I wish her all the best.