OYENTE

Bookworm

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What a precious story.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 06-25-19

The Skinny:
After losing a few of her toes and a failed attempt at marrying Prince Charming, Isabelle encounters Cinderella's fairy Godmother, who tasks her with finding the lost pieces of her heart in order for her wish of being beautiful to be granted. Unbeknownst to Isabelle, there are far more important reasons to make her heart whole again. Chance is warring with Fate to change her future and save her from an untimely demise, but time is not on her side.

Thoughts:
Going in, I had no idea what an impact this book would have on me. I never thought I'd root for Cinderella's ugly stepsisters either; Donnelly did a fine job of reinventing those two girls into something of beauty, but not the superficial kind. Isabelle's journey to find the lost pieces of her heart is one that touched and warmed my own, leaving prints in it forever. It deftly paints the magic and beauty of the human heart and delivers an empowering message. I can't love it enough.

Bottom line: Stop reading this and buy your copy already!

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esto le resultó útil a 16 personas

Never thought I'd root for the bad guy...

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-21-19

The Skinny
Joe Goldberg is a psychotic stalker who becomes obsessed with the not-so-perfect Guinevere Beck, who makes the mistake of strolling in to the bookstore where Joe works to buy a book. Joe easily tracks her down online and starts stalking her, learning all he can about her, breaking in to her home to steal panties and other Beck memorabilia. Then he seamlessly plants himself into her life, working his way into her heart.

Thoughts
This book is very different from anything I've read or listened to before. Not just the story but how it's told. You're in Joe's head 100% of the time, talking in second person to Beck, and my, what a fascinating place to be that is, especially if you listen to the audiobook. Kepner did a phenomenal job with Joe's character and the narrator perfectly brings him to life. Of course, I watched the Netflix series first, since I had no idea there was a book!!! But I enjoyed it just as much as the show; they're both binge worthy. Joe is charming. But he's also mental, and he does bad things to people. In real life, I would be terrified of a guy like Joe. But fictional Joe is a different story. I wanted Joe to get the happy ending he didn't deserve. He's bad, yes, but he's witty, and funny, and smart, and literary-savvy, and poetic, and candid, and oftentimes relatable. It's hard not to root for this guy, more so because his victims are easily disliked and messed up themselves.

This is clearly fiction, as Joe would not get away with every crime in real life because #forensics #technology, but I really didn't care. I was as obsessed with this book as Joe was with Beck. Okay, maybe not that much, but you get my drift. This book was also very sexual, which might putt off the more prudish listeners out there, but I was able to overlook it, and it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Bottom line: Listen to it. It's good.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Promises more than it delivers.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-11-19

The skinny:
You have Lira, a beautiful siren princess who rips royal hearts from their chests with her bare hands, and Elian, a witty pirate prince who makes a successful career out of hunting Lira's kind. How awesome is that??? The story takes off when Lira makes a mistake that pisses off her one-dimensional, evil queen mother, who turns her into a human as punishment. Lira now has to bring back Elian's heart to win her mother's favor and become a siren again. Dun-dun-dun.

Thoughts:
This book starts off with a bang. It's dark and different, and it paves the way for what I thought would be a fantastic story. I was riveted through the first quarter of the book, but my enthrallment slowly faded away as the story sailed on (pun intended). I was expecting a lot more from Lira's complex darkness, a nail-biting romance, and some fun pirate swashbuckling to top it all off. But both Lira's transition to humanity and her slow budding romance with Elian were underwhelming. And, you guessed it, no swashbuckling shenanigans.

My rapt interest briefly returned toward the end of the story, when Elian finds out who Lira really is, but those scenes were followed by the final battle and ending which can be best described as lackluster. Let's just say it was an undeserving finale and wrap up for this book's potential.

Bottom line: It wasn't what I was hoping it would be, but I still enjoyed the story, even with all its disappointments.

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esto le resultó útil a 29 personas

Definitely over-hyped.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-28-18

The skinny:
At seven years old, Jude's parents are murdered, and she and her sisters are whisked away to Faerie (a separate world from ours, where immortal faeries live in a feudal-ish system). Fast forward ten years, and Jude is a bullied human who's trying to fit in this magical word she's grown up in. The end. Jk...sorta.

Thoughts:
The problem with this book is its plot and its pacing. It started off great, but then it took a nosedive into Snooze Land. You see Jude as a tough girl who wants to be somebody, a girl who's trying to make a name for herself, and you follow along as she puts up with/stands up to the faeries, who love to pick on humans for their mortality and susceptibility to magic manipulation. And that's about the gist of it. While minor plot twists kept things from stagnating, I scratched my head as I listened, wondering where the story was supposed to be going, but I didn't get any solid answers until around the third act, when things finally got interesting.

Jude is an intriguing MC. She doesn't fit in to any of the tropes as she's sort of a gray character, neither good nor evil. I liked that about her, even though I didn't necessarily relate to her. To be honest, I did not relate to any of the characters, but strangely, this did not take away from my quasi-enjoyment of the story. I also liked how her relationship with Cardan evolved toward the end, and yet still left lots of room for more in the next installment, which I have a feeling will be much, much better than its predecessor.

Bottom line:
It was an ok listen. But with the promise of a much stronger sequel, I think it's worth giving the series a try.

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esto le resultó útil a 28 personas

Broke my little bookworm heart...

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-25-18

"I don't know what the point of all this is...there are times where there can't possibly be a point. Others, it's like the stars have lined themselves up just for you...I decided, however long I get, if I can spend time with the people I love, I don't really care what the point is."

The skinny:
Matty and Tabby are best friends. They're not only neighbors, but they grew up together from infancy--they're practically family. Except Matty is in love with Tabby. He's content with just being her best friend and spending time together, hoping maybe one day there will be more between them...until varsity basketball stud Liam Branson comes into the picture and whisks her away. Understandably, Matty doesn't take this very well, and his behavior nearly costs him Tabby's friendship, but unbeknownst to Matty, the cards in his future hold something much, much worse.

Thoughts:
It started off slow, with several basketball scenes I would have gladly skipped through, but even when I did stop listening, I always came back for more later. And my persistence paid off. The story got better, and then, just as I was rooting for Matty's happy ending, it slammed me with a heart-wrenching twist I never saw coming. I must say, I think this is the first time a book has made me laugh and cry at the same time. Kudos to the author (you're still fired for breaking my heart, btw).

In spite of the plethora of f-bombs scattered throughout the story, I really did enjoy this book. The characters and their friendships and relationships felt all so real and relatable, which I think is why I am left with such sadness after finishing it.

Bottom line:
It's not perfect, nor one to go down as one of my all-time favorites, but it's a book I'll be thinking about for quite some time. So if crying and laughing in your car sounds appealing, (and if you can deal with Matty's cursing internal monologue) then give it a listen!

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

If I were a Caraval player, I'd ask for a refund.

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-18-17

The Skinny:
Caraval is a magical game hosted on an island every year by the mysterious Legend. Scarlet has been writing to Legend for years, asking him to host Caraval in her home island so she and her sister can attend. Legend finally responds to her last letter before she gets married and sends tickets for Scarlett, her sister Tella, and Scarlett's fiance (whom she's never met). But the game is being hosted on another island, and Scarlett doesn't know how to get herself and her sister there without getting caught by their abusive, psychopath father. Tella, however, has been planning to escape, and when Scarlett tells her about the tickets to Caraval, Tella devices a plan to get them there with the help of a young sailor (Julian). But when Scarlett arrives with Julian at the new island, Tella is nowhere to be found, and Scarlett soon learns that finding her sister is all part of the game.

Thoughts:
This book had the perfect ingredients for buttery, periwinkle greatness that fills the tongue with velvety joy, but the ingredients were poorly mixed and baked into a burnt, deflated pancake of moldy gloom and sour sprinkles the color of dejection green...

Ok it wasn't THAT bad, but you get the gist. That description, btw, should give you an idea of how the author likes to describe everything. Though I make fun of it, I have to admit it did add to the whimsical, magical theme of the story...except it's way overused, and half the time those descriptions made no sense:

"Aiko beckoned Scarlett onto a street lined with hanging lanterns, smelling of flowers and flutes and long-lost love"

Although I did like Scarlett, it annoyed me that she was constantly harping about being in Caraval to find/save her sister, and she reminded me of this every five minutes (in case I forgot because her actions said otherwise).

Another problem with the book is the dad. We are told he used to be a loving father until Scarlett's mother left them, and this somehow turned him into a villain who tortures his daughters and kills people who disobey. Yeah, right. I could see the dad being angry, depressed, detached, cold, indifferent, you name it. But an abusive father? I don't buy it. You don't become an abuser because your wife leaves you unless you were an abuser to begin with.

This book's biggest downfall, however, is its plot. Caraval is supposed to be this highly coveted, magical and whimsical game, but it was more along the lines of a bland scavenger hunt where all clues and answers conveniently fall into Scarlett's lap, and all the other players are irrelevant background fillers, thus robbing the story of any sense of competition, urgency or tension. All Caraval brings to the table are confusion and lies.

Bottom line: it's interesting and confusing enough to keep you invested in the story--and the characters are likable--but when all is revealed at the end, you might feel a little miffed.

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esto le resultó útil a 23 personas

Expected more

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-11-17

The Skinny:
Catherine Pinkerton is a girl of noble birth who loves to bake and dreams of owning her own bakery. But alas, the birdbrained king of hearts is infatuated with Cat and wants to make her his queen. Cat has no interest in being queen, of course, but Cat's parents, want the best for their family, so they want her to be the queen. And queens can't be bakers.

Thoughts:
This book, in a nutshell, is about Catherine's attempts at following her dreams despite the many obstacles in her way, all the while falling in love with the king's jester. Oh and there's a monster in the mix, but he's just a subplot to a very slow story.

I thought the world building and the characters were developed well, and I liked them all. The problem with this book is its dragging plot. It has you following Catherine as she does her best to figure out how to avoid marrying the king and opening a bakery. On the side, we have the slow-budding romance with Jest, and the mysterious and infrequent attacks of the Jabberwock. I listened to this with a friend while on the road, and I cannot tell you how many times I fell asleep, waking up to realize I didn't miss much (my friend did stay alert and listen, but then again, she was driving). And when I did listen, I kept wondering why we were past the midpoint and the story was still dragging. The story doesn't pick up until about the 70% mark. From here on out, the book was pretty good. Meyer does a great job of transitioning our hero into a villain, and the ending is tragic and cruel, and maybe I shed a tear (or maybe I was cutting an onion in the car), but it was well executed.

Bottom line: Not a bad listen, but having loved and devoured Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, I expected so much more from this.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

OHMYGOSH THIS BOOK!!!

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-16-16

The Skinny:
My Lady Jane is a witty, comical, and lighthearted Tudor re-imagining set during the reign of young Edward VI. Instead of the clash between Protestants & Catholics, we have Eðians & Verities. Eðians have the power to shape shift into animals, and Verities hate them and want to burn them and be off with their heads and all that jazz.

The book is told in three alternating POV's: Edward, Jane, & Gifford. The story begins when King Edward is told he is dying from "the affliction," and must choose a successor to rule in his place. Given that the next person in line is his sister Mary, a well-known Verity, Edward decides (on John Dudley's suggestion) to name his cousin Jane Gray as the next ruler, forcing Jane to marry Dudley's son Gifford. Neither the strong-minded-book-loving Jane nor the stud-who-spends-his-days-as-a-horse Gifford want to be married to each other, and when these two interact, hilarity ensues. But unbeknownst to them, they are thrust in a plot of conspiracy and betrayal, and will have to work together to survive and set things right for England.

Thoughts:
FYI, this is not a typical YA book. Instead of a lot of action and tension, there is banter and silly, clever humor throughout the whole book. And it is unputdownably (yes I just made that up) entertaining. But if you are not in the mood for a happy, snort-in-your-car, bubbly read, then this book is not for you.

Bottom line: It was so much fun. I adored it from start to finish.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Entertaining

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-21-16

This book won't go down as one of my favorites, but with that said, I did enjoy it and there was nothing I did not like about it.

We follow the story of Gideon, a sarcastically hilarious MC with a temper, who--thankfully--has zero feminine tendencies (no description of all the different colors in the girl's eyes and how they glitter under the sun) and actually sounds like a realistic dude. He's training to be an Army Ranger when he suffers an accident and dies. But then he comes back to life, wearing a mysterious metal cuff he can't take off. And he can heal like Wolverine.

Enter Seeker chic (love interest), who drops in to scoop Gideon on a road trip to find the rest of the horsemen, all the while fighting and escaping from the unsavory Kindred (aka the bad guys), who are after some heavenly key that only the Seeker knows about. Add some horsemen training, bonding and fighting, and that's the book in a nutshell.

What I really liked:

Gideon
Jode (Conquest)
The horses
The romance
The sarcasm
The hilarious scenes (I was laughing like an idiot in my car)

But even with all its positives, I still didn't love the book. I was never dying to find out what was next and was ok with not listening to the story for a couple of days at a time. And I'm not dying to get my hands on the next one either. I'm not sure why; I can't figure out what's missing for that wow factor.

Bottom line: it was a good, entertaining listen.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Ruined the series for me

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 06-16-16

Mannnn this is painful. I had so much love for this series. The 5th Wave is one of my top favorites books of all time, so how did this happen???? The second installment was a lackluster filler of a book, so I was expecting a badass third book to make up for it. That wasn't the case.

The Plot:
I think this is the most glaring issue. Yancey ruined the Others right from the start of this book, finally revealing the motivations behind their invasion. I can't tell you what it is because #spoilers, but I can tell you that it's an overused trope. If the author was going for original, he totally failed. Yancey stripped the aliens of their badassery in an attempt to make them more multi-dimensional, but it made no sense. Who the hell are these aliens, the guardians of the galaxy?? Who put them in charge?? Their logic makes the waves seem totally unnecessary. Couldn't they do things differently if they are so freaking intelligent?? Do they pull these stupid-ass waves on other planets too?? Where do they come from??? I read from another review that the author changed his mind on the aliens after he wrote the first book, and if that's the case, it shows. It annoyed me to no end. And the final showdown with Vosch? PFFFF. Unsatisfying, to say the least.

Ringer:
I can tell Yancey is 110% #teamringer. Although I liked her more in this book than in the last, she is still my least favorite character. But she is Yancey's special snowflake: badass, and perfect, and just totally taking over the spotlight. It's as if Yancey changed his mind on Cassie being our main lead and shoved her aside.

Cassie:
What the efff happened to Cassie??? Book 1 Cassie was hilarious and snarky, and I loved her! Book 2 Cassie is hardly present. Though we see more of her in this book, she has suddenly and mysteriously crossed into the annoying MC territory. Her train of thought was downright silly, and being in her head was cringe-worthy at times.

Cassie & Evan:
And yet another thing Yancey ruined for me. I was so shipping these two since book 1. Book 3 Cassie & Evan were the farthest thing from romantic. I had zero feels for them this time around. There was no showing their love, only telling and implying. It was weird and practically nonexistent. They belong in an episode of Botched, because that's what Yancey did to these poor love birds; they didn't even get a proper wrap up. Argh.

Ben/Zombie:
One of the few redeeming elements of TLS. The action and suspense from his POV was pretty awesome. I enjoyed his chapters the most.

Sam:
This kiddo became a little far-fetched: A five-year-old who is way too mature and knows how to build bombs. Yeah, right. Even with all his experiences, he still has a not fully developed 5 year-old's brain. And what's with the Cassie hating? The kid loves Ben more than his own sister, who risked everything for him. And by the end, Cassie is still just an afterthought for this little punk.

The Ending:
Like I mentioned before, unsatisfying. It's meant to be sad and deep and thought provoking, but the author failed because I shed zero tears and all I felt was disappointment. It was more of like an "awwwe, that's terrible" feeling, akin to the one you get when you hear about something tragic happening to a complete stranger.

Having finished the series, I don't think I will recommend them anymore, even with its stellar first book. So with all that said, why three stars? The writing, the action, and Ben. One star for each.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas