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clairebau's reviews
35 reviews
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
3.0
Better then New Moon, significantly, in that there's less waffling around and waiting for stuff to happen, but there's still some. All 3 of the most important men in Bella's life (Edward, Jacob, Charlie) dismiss her autonomy and violate her consent in different ways, which was nasty, but the story was fun. Eager to continue.
Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephenie Meyer
2.0
This book exists because Stephanie wanted to prove that Bella wasn't simply a damsel in distress, and that the original saga didn't rely on antiquated gender roles as much as was critiqued. This is a futile task, because both of those things are true. Beau comes off as awkward and, at times, feminine (which is fine! Just not what Stephanie was going for!) 99% of this book is find-and-replaced with names and bodily descriptions. Almost no thought was given to changes in social gender norms across characters, so this was weird and unnecessary. Ending was fun, I guess, but not worth reading to the end for.
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
2.5
Didn't love it. I was frustrated by Bella's character. Even more than in the last book, she is not someone who does things; instead, things just happen to her. She's constantly collapsing from shock and overexertion, and one of the many more interesting characters has to take care of her and fix it. Obviously, this mirrors her character's frustration with being human and useless and whatever... but it was kind of a drag to read about.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Surprised by how... good this book was? I can't believe they nerfed movie Edward by making him less whimsical, joyful, and funny than he was in the book.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
I'm surprised by how much I disliked this. Sci-fi and generational epics are, like, my thing. But there was nothing that appealed to me here. It feels like story took a backseat to the pretentiously descriptive prose. The writing didn't feel smart, it felt like someone pretending at depth. There was no characterization, no worldbuilding, just scraps of random, bare minimum "exposition" that weren't interesting enough to keep my attention. Blue's letters read like parody of a Tumblr blorbo. I wanted to stop after the first few chapters, but I pushed through for a few more, hoping they would get better. They did not.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
4.5
Reread, obviously!
Katniss's time in 13 and her mission in the Capitol are a bit clunky in ways the first two books aren't, but this is still a gorgeous, near-perfect story. The ending after Katnisskills Coin felt a bit rushed, but maybe that was just my wanting more. Excited for the next prequel installment! Fingers-crossed it's in third person.
Katniss's time in 13 and her mission in the Capitol are a bit clunky in ways the first two books aren't, but this is still a gorgeous, near-perfect story. The ending after Katniss
The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Reread (the first time was required in elementary school)
Near-perfect book. I wish only that it was longer. This was the first book that affected me... Well, I wasn't sure how to end that sentence, but that's what I mean. It's the first book I remember thinking about deeply, even after I'd finished it. I was so enamored with the way Lowry had managed to describe color from the perspective of someone seeing it for the first time. The description of therelease of the twin baby boy was deeply emotional and surprising. Finishing this book felt like a milestone in my life, separating it into periods of before and after. I remember thinking to myself "this is what a book can be???" Yes. And this is everything a book should be.
Near-perfect book. I wish only that it was longer. This was the first book that affected me... Well, I wasn't sure how to end that sentence, but that's what I mean. It's the first book I remember thinking about deeply, even after I'd finished it. I was so enamored with the way Lowry had managed to describe color from the perspective of someone seeing it for the first time. The description of the
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, and War
Minor: Vomit
Misery by Stephen King
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Great thriller. Characterization and description were wonderful. I would've liked more obvious symbolism between the plights of Paul and Misery, if King was going to put her story in there anyway. This book does a pretty good job of staying fresh despite 99% of it taking place in one room, but it could have done a better one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
dark
tense
3.0
There was a lot I liked about this book. Near-perfect prose and incredible descriptions, all set atop a really cool concept. I also loved the mild body horror descriptions of the disease itself, so much that I wanted more of it.
Unfortunately, like most compilations of short stories, some were hits and some were misses. I loved the ones I loved: the story of a scientist's bond with a talking pig (I know, but hear me out) and one of a worker at a euthanasia theme park for kids (I KNOW, BUT HEAR ME OUT). These stories shined because they were conceptually cool and gorgeously bleak. But for every interesting story with likeable characters, there was at least one that was just... disappointingly boring. Girl prepares for funeral amid family problems. Person laments their dead relatives. Something something symbolism for the monotony of mass grief yeah, yeah, whatever... but I was bored, especially when I compared these chapters to the ones about, like, intergenerational space travel.
Besides being set in the same universe, there are some explicit connections between characters, but these, too, were... not very interesting? Why should I care that one character is the great, great grandniece of another when there's no plot significance? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to learn I'd missed some of these "connections," since I barely caught the ones I did on account of their meaning absolutely nothing. And I didn't like the last chapter, which felt pretentious. I guess I was more interested in the sci-fi aspects than the divine metaphysical.
Unfortunately, like most compilations of short stories, some were hits and some were misses. I loved the ones I loved: the story of a scientist's bond with a talking pig (I know, but hear me out) and one of a worker at a euthanasia theme park for kids (I KNOW, BUT HEAR ME OUT). These stories shined because they were conceptually cool and gorgeously bleak. But for every interesting story with likeable characters, there was at least one that was just... disappointingly boring. Girl prepares for funeral amid family problems. Person laments their dead relatives. Something something symbolism for the monotony of mass grief yeah, yeah, whatever... but I was bored, especially when I compared these chapters to the ones about, like, intergenerational space travel.
Besides being set in the same universe, there are some explicit connections between characters, but these, too, were... not very interesting? Why should I care that one character is the great, great grandniece of another when there's no plot significance? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to learn I'd missed some of these "connections," since I barely caught the ones I did on account of their meaning absolutely nothing. And I didn't like the last chapter, which felt pretentious. I guess I was more interested in the sci-fi aspects than the divine metaphysical.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Terminal illness