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Pandabearbooks
I love a great world with relatable characters who seem realistic, even if they are fantastical.
Currently reading
City of Ashes
With a Bullet
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Bridget Jones: Elämäni sinkkuna
When Dimple Met Rishi
2,75 starsCheesy, cute, corny, cliched. This wasn't bad , exactly. Unoriginal? Certainly. It had some funny moments and a lot of eyerolly moments. The best bits were the ones shedding light on Indian culture, as well as the family relationships. A romantic comedy for teenagers who've never read or seen one before.
City of Bones
Entertaining YA is what this book is. Nothing original or profound, but definitely entertaining. The book is an interesting blend of Harry Potter, Supernatural, Twilight, and - for obvious reasons - Star Wars. I knew where the story was headed from early on, because the author isn't exactly skimping on the hints. In a way the "twist" was even a welcome direction to take, all things considered.
Character-wise the book seemed to limp a little bit. Clary and Jace aren't really relatable and they are actually pretty annoying in parts, but luckily the sidekicks have more promoise for the future. I would like to see something from the point of view of Simon, Alec, Isabelle or even Hodge (why not even Church?)
If anything, this first installment in the series gives the followups a lot to improve on. I'll definitely be reading on.
(Also, the writing style is pretty fanfictiony some how. Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing if you're looking for a light read - just that if you don't like fan fiction, you prolly won't like this either.)
Re-read June/2017 - This was somehow better the second time around, having now read it with lower expectations.
True Colors
3,5 starsThe plot wasn't all that original, but I didn't really pick this book up for a spectacular plot, if you know what I'm saying. I pick up an Anyta Sunday book when I feel like reading a well-written book about love and family. I also like her common theme of "enemies to lovers" because I'm trash for that trope.
I think my favorite thing about this book was Marco's Papa, though. If all parents were like him, the world would have a lot less shitty people in it.
Concourse
3,25 starsI was in the mood for an easy read of the romance variety. I wanted to be entertained and to have some second hand feels. And I got that. I think the book was well written for what it is. The characters were okay, even though I didn't understand Val's decision to not just be upfront with Ash from the beginning. But that's romance books or you, I guess. The plot was probably the weakest point for me, considering nothing came as a surprise.
I've read better romance books, but I've also read a lot worse. A good fast read that didn't make me thing too much.
Taboo For You
3,75 starsI've been sliding back into a bit of reading slump, so I browsed through my Kindle books for something short and sweet that I enjoyed the first time around. This is what I ended up with.
This book's a pretty warm and fuzzy one, with very real characters and a lovely sense of family. It perfectly portrays the selfishness of youth even in the "good kids", it shows how hard it is to risk getting hurt, how easy it is to settle for "okay" when achieving "amazing" would mean risking getting burned.
All in all, this book is pretty lovely, if not the literary masterpiece of the decade.
Carry On
Such a pleasant surprise. A book that was essentially (if I got this right) a "fanfic" written by the main character of Fangirl, based on the fictional Simon Snow series from the book, inspired by the actual Harry Potter series. Genius. (eta: might have been just the actual final installment of the Simon Snow saga. I have yet to read Fangirl, so.The resemblance to Harry Potter was quite glaring in the beginning, but it faded more and more throughout the book while the actual world got more and more solid, the characters grew into themselves and the plot became quite interesting and full.
I just really liked this book. Maybe a four and a half star read more than a five star one, but I couldn't come up with anything I didn't like about it, so I think I'll gladly round this up to five.
The Finder
2,25 starsI didn't hate this book. I think even dislike would be going too far. But I didn't really like this either. The book as a whole was like a glass of room temperature water. You'll drink it if you're too lazy to get up for a refill, but you'd really prefer an ice cold bubbly one.
The reason I even finished this book was probably just the anticipation of the story picking up and a hope for a surprising twist. Then, when the killer was exactly who I thought it would be from the first mention of the character, and when even the relationship with the love interest only got lukewarm (no pun intended) at best, I was only reading to finish the damn thing and not have wasted hours on another DNF.
On the surface the story wasn't horrible or anything, but there was something about the writing that just didn't click for me. I generally don't prefer first person narration, but I can enjoy it if it's well done. In this one, the narration felt somehow emotionless and I had a really hard time empathizing with anything or anyone. It sort of felt like someone was recounting a memory they had no emotional connection to anymore, but they were still trying to tell you what they think they felt at the time.
Another thing that made this a poor choice for me was the romance. I just really didn't feel the chemistry between the main characters, even though I did appreciate the fact that the story focused more on the emotions instead of plain old lust. I think I would have enjoyed this more with out the sex scenes altogether, because those felt pretty flat.
So, nowhere near the worst thing I've ever read (not even the worst I've read this year) but I don't think I'll be picking up anything more from this author.
Want To Play? (Monkeewrench #1)
3,75 starsThis was a relatively strange reading experience.
The plot was okay (although I pegged the killer from the fist hundred pages), the characters were good, if a little eye-rolly, the details were on the silly side (some of it can be blamed on the outdatedness of the book, some might have just been laziness in the research), and over all the same story has been told quite a few times in books and crime shows.
However, there was just something about the way the story was told, the mood and the pacing and just the general atmosphere, that it simply felt right to me. It felt cozy and comfortable and interesting and it made me want to read the sequel. I even read this on the buss, I was so keen on finishing, and I never read on the buss! (because I'm a big baby who gets motion sickness)
So I guess the final verdict would be: thoroughly enjoyable, if a little unoriginal.
 - P.J. Tracy)
Hyvä aviomies
3,5 tähteäEn tiedä johtuuko itse kirjasta vai siitä miten paskan tekeleen luin juuri tätä ennen, mutta Hyvä aviomies oli lukukokemuksena jotenkin todella virkistävä. Se oli samaan aikaan mukava ja sydäntäsärkevä. Hahmot olivat todella uskottavia ja samaistuttavia (etenkin Tess) ja kirjailija osasi kuvata ihmisiä ja ihmisten motiiveja todella hyvin. Teksti oli helppolukuista ja tunnelma miellyttävä kaikessa pahaenteisyydessään. Ihmiset olivat vioittuneita mutta silti pidettäviä.
Juoni itsessään piti otteessaan välillä enemmän, välillä vähemmän. Mitään suurta mysteeriä ei sinällään ollut, muuten kuin sen osalta mitä Rahcel ja Cecilia tekisivät. Syy sille, ettei tämä saanut silmissäni täysiä pisteitä, on ehkä eniten siinä ettei tässä ollut mitään erinomaista. Kaikki oli tehty hyvin, mutta ei poikkeuksellisen hyvin. Parasta olivat hahmot, huonointa paikoitellen valjuksi jäänyt tunnelma.
The Night Book
2 starsA promising plot, shit execution.
The characters were ridiculously flat. What came to mind was someone describing characters to an amateur theater production and them portraying said characters in a over the top and see through manner.
The "romance" was absolutely fucking ridiculous, unbelievable, poorly described and uninspiring. The plot might have worked if Meriel's point of view had been completely axed and there had been at least some mystery to the story, but this was basically just boring, predictable diarrhea soup that I regret wasting my time on.
The only reason I kept reading was the fact that the one thing the author actually knew how to do (at times) was structure his chapters in a way that kept me waiting for something interesting to actually, finally happen.
I will most certainly not be reading anything else of Madeley's, and the main thing I'm taking away from this is that I will never take recommendations from anyone who five-starred this crap.
Fangirl
4,25 starsIt's silly how much I could relate to Cath, especially compared to my own 19-year-old self, having just moved away from home. I never wrote fanfiction, but I sure as hell read it, and I was so painfully clumsy and awkward and anxious, socially. I still am, some days, but I have managed to develop into a (mostly) functioning adult, somehow.
I'd read Carry On before this, so that helped in getting into the story, too. I did enjoy Rowell's writing style and characters as well, even though they weren't the best I've ever read. They were somehow real.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
This took me longer than expected this time around! Not too surprising considering this is by far my most read Potter-book, so it's sort of lost the hook for me. Very enjoyable still.
Until You
Three and a half stars for this one. I'm basically going to consider this an interlude in anticipation of AFS#4 which will most likely (hopefully) be Corey's story.
The Girl Before
I really tried to push through and finish this, but I ended up not listening to any audiobooks because this was holding up the queue. I think the real problem with this, for me, was that it just really _really_ was not what I was expecting based on the blurb. I did not enjoy the story, I felt really bad while listening to it and I had a constant feeling of dread with me as the story progressed. Maybe I could have finished this if I read it another time, but for now I'm giving up on this.
Päivi hyvä
Olipa aivan pikkasen ahdistava kirja. Itsekin on ollut töissä paikoissa, joissa ajatuskin töihin menosta on ahdistanut, mutta onneksi omalle kohdalle ei kuitenkaan tällaisia kokemuksia ole osunut.
The Queen & the Homo Jock King
i'm so fucking happy i found t j klune. i find the covers of his books offputting, which is the reason i didn't pick up his work sooner, but by god can he write. wolfsong made me cry ugly snotty tears and this one made me giggle and cackle and made my neighbors hate me while i read long into the night because i just could not put this down. this book was adorable, over the top, cracky, outrageus and over all hilarious. something about klune's way of writing characters and dialogue just clicks with my brain.//Reread jan 2017 - still as laugh out loud funny as the first time around!
