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readingrobyn's reviews
738 reviews
Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
3.0
So I'm not a parent, at the ripe age of seventeen I shouldn't even be giving a second look at anything to do with parenthood, outside of preventing it. (One healthy dose of Teen Mom twice a year is good enough at present time.) But I do have a thing for picture books and seeing this was too good to pass over.
My conclusion, I really want to remember this book. This is the sort of thing that parents of dastardly children will have a special appreciation for. But I did get a certain kick out of it as a former terror of the night myself. I was definitely one of those kids to which this would apply and I'm infinitely surprised looking back at the patience my mother maintained over those many, many years. Me and sleep had the tenuous relationship where I didn't like it and it didn't like me, so getting me to sleep was no easy task. On that alone this made me smile.
However, as my only negative, I wasn't the biggest fan of the illustrations for some pages. Humor doesn't give a picture book a pass on the overall art.
My conclusion, I really want to remember this book. This is the sort of thing that parents of dastardly children will have a special appreciation for. But I did get a certain kick out of it as a former terror of the night myself. I was definitely one of those kids to which this would apply and I'm infinitely surprised looking back at the patience my mother maintained over those many, many years. Me and sleep had the tenuous relationship where I didn't like it and it didn't like me, so getting me to sleep was no easy task. On that alone this made me smile.
However, as my only negative, I wasn't the biggest fan of the illustrations for some pages. Humor doesn't give a picture book a pass on the overall art.
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
3.0
Twenties Girl is a ghost story about Lara, a young struggling business women who just got dumped by both her boyfriend and her flaky business partner. Enter Sadie, a 1920's loving former 105 year old who just can't rest in peace without her beloved necklace.
Allow me to start by asking: Is there such thing as a reasonable ghost? I know that them being overly demanding is what make plots like this one work, but for once when the all seeing heroine is freaking out I would love to see a super-reasonable ghostie be all, "Don't worry about it and I'll just come back later when I wouldn't be inconveniencing your life. I'm dead so I have a little bit more perspective then I did when I was living, but If you could at some point save my immortal soul then that would be great too. kthxbye"
But I do love this kind of ghost story, so much so that I've been a little over saturated, but what sold this book for me was Kinsella's writing. Her dialogue and creating individual character voices was what kept me interested despite my former experience in this genre.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't all that it could have been for me. For 435 pages, it didn't feel like it's length matched it's content. The story has this comfortable familiarity to it, but sometimes it got to a point where I was just stuck waiting for the next plot point to come, already knowing what it is. I was just waiting for things to get to the punchline and waiting and waiting.
The characters suffered from this as well, even though they were all energetic and fun, it took till well into the third half of the book for me to start really wanting to root for them. Before that I felt very sympathetic for Lara and Sadie, but I never had that moment where I connected with them. I would feel bad for the situation and then one of them would do something and I would just think "someone needs to smack this person, why hasn't that happened yet?"
This frustration happened especially when it came to Lara's relationship with Josh. I know it was suppose to be frustrating, that's part of why I can applaud Kinsella's writing, but it was still there after some 200+ pages. Why? I have no idea.
There were a lot of moments like that one that pushed my buttons but still much to my surprise I found myself enjoying the story. I am a sucker for good dialogue and I absolutely loved the way things ended. This may not have been the most smooth introduction to Sophie Kinsella's writing, but I'm intrigued. This book reminded me just how much I love these sort of romance novels with their bold female leads and swoon worthy boys and shitty best friends. I definitely need to get back in the swing of reading these.
Allow me to start by asking: Is there such thing as a reasonable ghost? I know that them being overly demanding is what make plots like this one work, but for once when the all seeing heroine is freaking out I would love to see a super-reasonable ghostie be all, "Don't worry about it and I'll just come back later when I wouldn't be inconveniencing your life. I'm dead so I have a little bit more perspective then I did when I was living, but If you could at some point save my immortal soul then that would be great too. kthxbye"
But I do love this kind of ghost story, so much so that I've been a little over saturated, but what sold this book for me was Kinsella's writing. Her dialogue and creating individual character voices was what kept me interested despite my former experience in this genre.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't all that it could have been for me. For 435 pages, it didn't feel like it's length matched it's content. The story has this comfortable familiarity to it, but sometimes it got to a point where I was just stuck waiting for the next plot point to come, already knowing what it is. I was just waiting for things to get to the punchline and waiting and waiting.
The characters suffered from this as well, even though they were all energetic and fun, it took till well into the third half of the book for me to start really wanting to root for them. Before that I felt very sympathetic for Lara and Sadie, but I never had that moment where I connected with them. I would feel bad for the situation and then one of them would do something and I would just think "someone needs to smack this person, why hasn't that happened yet?"
This frustration happened especially when it came to Lara's relationship with Josh. I know it was suppose to be frustrating, that's part of why I can applaud Kinsella's writing, but it was still there after some 200+ pages. Why? I have no idea.
There were a lot of moments like that one that pushed my buttons but still much to my surprise I found myself enjoying the story. I am a sucker for good dialogue and I absolutely loved the way things ended. This may not have been the most smooth introduction to Sophie Kinsella's writing, but I'm intrigued. This book reminded me just how much I love these sort of romance novels with their bold female leads and swoon worthy boys and shitty best friends. I definitely need to get back in the swing of reading these.
Happyface by Stephen Emond
3.0
Turn those frowns upside down, and remember to just keep swimming, I mean smiling!
I was first attracted to Happyface when I saw the bright yellow cover calling my name from the library shelf. I was like a moth to a smiling, yellow flame. When I opened it up to take a peak inside, I was rather surprised.
The journal format is nothing new when it comes to a coming-of-age Young Adult novel but Happyface takes this format to an entirely new level, as our main character Happyface expresses his life in both art and text. Through sketches, cartoons, comic strips, and illustrations in various styles, Happyface tells a multi-medium story. This adds to the book in a way that it would just not be complete without it.
The font used throughout the journal for all of the text is something that takes a little getting used to. It's a little much when looking at a full page of this font, but paired along with the art and empty space it's pretty readable.
Now, our main character, nicknamed Happyface, is going through some major life changes. New town, new school, family issues, girl issues, I-Am-So-Lonely issues but decides with this new start he's going to start a project. The Happyface project, to just keep smiling, to improve himself, and to distract himself from his ever mounting personal problems by finally getting out there and making some friends, and maybe even getting a girlfriend.
Oh, Happyface, how to mend a broken heart.
There is a pretty wide range of characters, mainly focusing on the new friends Happyface meets at his new school. And right off the bat he has entered into a group of friends when he connects with Gretchen, the pretty, unattainable girl who quickly takes center stage. For the former outsider, Happyface is trying his best to adjust to his new postion. Throughout all of his changes, Happyface's writing feels very genuine. His problems are real, and he's trying his best to become someone, even if it's someone he isn't.
The book was pretty strong for me, a solid three stars, but I had some problems with the climax and resolution. It was handled decently but I had issues with the sudden changes in the characterization of the secondary characters, the weak conclusion, and the way that the possibility for a deeper message was kind of skimmed over.
Still, this is definitely something I would recommend, especially for male readers. It's rare to find a solid high-school story told from a male point of view that doesn't pander to it's audience. Overall, I really enjoyed the characters, the art, and the way the high-school experience is portrayed.
Hop over to my blog post on Reading Robyn for a look at some examples of the art inside the book.
I was first attracted to Happyface when I saw the bright yellow cover calling my name from the library shelf. I was like a moth to a smiling, yellow flame. When I opened it up to take a peak inside, I was rather surprised.
The journal format is nothing new when it comes to a coming-of-age Young Adult novel but Happyface takes this format to an entirely new level, as our main character Happyface expresses his life in both art and text. Through sketches, cartoons, comic strips, and illustrations in various styles, Happyface tells a multi-medium story. This adds to the book in a way that it would just not be complete without it.
The font used throughout the journal for all of the text is something that takes a little getting used to. It's a little much when looking at a full page of this font, but paired along with the art and empty space it's pretty readable.
Now, our main character, nicknamed Happyface, is going through some major life changes. New town, new school, family issues, girl issues, I-Am-So-Lonely issues but decides with this new start he's going to start a project. The Happyface project, to just keep smiling, to improve himself, and to distract himself from his ever mounting personal problems by finally getting out there and making some friends, and maybe even getting a girlfriend.
Oh, Happyface, how to mend a broken heart.
There is a pretty wide range of characters, mainly focusing on the new friends Happyface meets at his new school. And right off the bat he has entered into a group of friends when he connects with Gretchen, the pretty, unattainable girl who quickly takes center stage. For the former outsider, Happyface is trying his best to adjust to his new postion. Throughout all of his changes, Happyface's writing feels very genuine. His problems are real, and he's trying his best to become someone, even if it's someone he isn't.
The book was pretty strong for me, a solid three stars, but I had some problems with the climax and resolution. It was handled decently but I had issues with the sudden changes in the characterization of the secondary characters, the weak conclusion, and the way that the possibility for a deeper message was kind of skimmed over.
Still, this is definitely something I would recommend, especially for male readers. It's rare to find a solid high-school story told from a male point of view that doesn't pander to it's audience. Overall, I really enjoyed the characters, the art, and the way the high-school experience is portrayed.
Hop over to my blog post on Reading Robyn for a look at some examples of the art inside the book.
Looking for Angels by Valiska Gregory
4.0
I loved flipping through this book as a child just to look at the artwork. Everything about it is beautiful to look at, almost magical with all of the water colour gardens and adorable small angels throughout the book. This story is just perfect for grandparents!
As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins
2.0
As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth is a book that I would describe as a contemporary adventure. For sixteen year old Ry this is the tale of how one misstep turned into his struggle to find his way back home. It's an interesting premise, but for me it fell rather flat.
The spirit is there, but I never really connected with Ry. He never felt like a real person, or rather a convincing older teenage boy, and that made me question the believability of his situation more then once. This is another example of grade A parenting and avoidance of an obvious solution in order to tell a story. Which only gets worse when adults get involved in trying to help Ry on his journey home.
Still, this did have it's redeeming qualities. I always enjoy coming across YA with a male protagonist in a coming of age story. There isn't enough of them and I'm hardly one to discourage this being read by it's more target audience. Also, despite it's flaws, the story being told was in some cases very interesting and is definitely a unique take on a road trip type novel.
I would recommend this to younger YA readers, even going as low as middle grade. I would just try not to think to deeply about the plot and just go with it. This wasn't my type of book, but it has some aspects that I think will really appeal to a younger male audience. Even better, parents of pre-teen like creatures might be interested in using this type of story to explain to their kids how to deal with situations like say, talking to strangers or getting lost in an unfamiliar area.
The spirit is there, but I never really connected with Ry. He never felt like a real person, or rather a convincing older teenage boy, and that made me question the believability of his situation more then once. This is another example of grade A parenting and avoidance of an obvious solution in order to tell a story. Which only gets worse when adults get involved in trying to help Ry on his journey home.
Still, this did have it's redeeming qualities. I always enjoy coming across YA with a male protagonist in a coming of age story. There isn't enough of them and I'm hardly one to discourage this being read by it's more target audience. Also, despite it's flaws, the story being told was in some cases very interesting and is definitely a unique take on a road trip type novel.
I would recommend this to younger YA readers, even going as low as middle grade. I would just try not to think to deeply about the plot and just go with it. This wasn't my type of book, but it has some aspects that I think will really appeal to a younger male audience. Even better, parents of pre-teen like creatures might be interested in using this type of story to explain to their kids how to deal with situations like say, talking to strangers or getting lost in an unfamiliar area.