christianreader | Kiwiria's August Adventures

A Hundred Pieces of Me - Lucy Dillon, 3/5, Audiobook ~17.5hrs
I mostly liked it, but some parts were much, much, MUCH too trite. I'd basically called the ending at 33%!

So in the end, I guess I'd have to say I liked the first 80% of the book. I didn't care much about the flashbacks and felt we could easily have skipped past those (or gotten the information in other ways), but really enjoyed following Gina in the present, and see how she grew and found peace with herself. I LOVED Buzz, liked reading about Gina's work, and loved how her friendship with Naomi stuck.

I did not care for the ending. It was too open and too trite.

I liked the narrator, Juanita McMahon, but was quietly amused that though she sounded like a native Brit, she didn't know how to pronounce Leominster. Guess that's not intuitive/common knowledge even to native Brits.

Raven - Audrey Faye, 4/5, 328 pages
Despite the events of the first book, I'd actually still call this the darkest of the lot. I just wanted to gather all the ghosts up and hug them :-( Must be hard to be Hayden and not be able to really do anything for them.

I do miss hearing from Hayden more though. I understand why he couldn't be the main character in this or the last book, but I miss him. I really grew to love him in the first novel, and wish we could have heard more from his point of view in these later books. As a general rule I don't mind having so many different viewpoints in one book, but there will always be some I'd rather hear from than others.

I Wish You All the Best - Mason Deaver, 4.5/5, 320 pages
This book grabbed me by the heart and did NOT want to let go again, and so I finished it in just a day.

In some ways it reminded me of both "How to Be a Movie Star" by T.J. Klune and "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda " by Becky Albertalli - while at the same time being completely its own. But the characters seemed real in much the same way as in those books. I laughed out loud on several occasions... and I also found myself with tears in my eyes. I am SO glad Ben had their sister to turn to when times got rough.

It was heartbreaking to read what Ben had to go through while trying to find their place in the world, but I appreciated how they found friends (and family) along the way, and actually allowed those people to be there for them... even when they couldn't reveal all their secrets.... and at the same time, I found it extremely realistic how Ben reacted when circumstances suddenly got to be too much (trying to be vague and stay away from spoilers here).

Until You - T.J. Klune, 4/5, 162 pages
Short and sweet and made me laugh out loud on several occasions. I absolutely LOVED Paul drunk on Jäger and adored the idea of a gay anthem X-D

And as always, T.J. Klune takes toxic masculinity and tosses it as far away as at all possible. Darren, Vince and Charlie all give awesome examples of how to openly communicate feelings - even when - in the case of the two latter ones - they may be out of practice.

Gregor the Overlander - Suzanne Collins*, 4/5, Audiobook 6.5hrs
Very sweet story about a boy on an unusual quest to find his father. It was a fun 'read', and the narrator (Paul Boehmer) did an excellent job reading it. I fell completely in love with Boots and loved seeing her interact with the various characters of the Underland. She was absolutely adorable :)

The plot itself isn't anything out of the ordinary, but it's well-written and entertaining.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins*, 5/5, 366 pages
Only my third reread, I think? And the first since I saw the movie, which of course means I now can't NOT picture all the characters as they were portrayed there. I still really like it, and now definitely want to rewatch the movie.

The Test - Sylvain Neuvel, 2/5, 112 pages
Objectively speaking I can see that this book was very well written. Good premise, tight plot, interesting twists. Unfortunately it just really, really didn't work for me.

I will say though, that you should definitely go into this story blind. Read only the blurb and nothing else. It will pack a much different punch that way.

How to be a Movie Star - T.J. Klune*, 5/5, Audiobook ~12hrs
Yes, twice in one year, but it was finally published as an audiobook, so I had to have it!

Book of the Month: I Wish You All the Best - really sweet!
Biggest Disappointment: The Test. As much as I loved Sleeping Giants I'd expected to at least LIKE this.