My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From the cover:
"Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.
Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship."
This book is wonderful in so many ways. A few of those ways:
First, Aza and Daisy's relationship is so interesting...both the way they balanced each other out and the way they handled conflict. It's always refreshing when I read a book like this, with best friends who genuinely love and want the best for each other, even when they clash with each other. They got upset with each other, for valid reasons, but they never lost sight of how much they cared about each other, and they did their best to show that even when they were fighting.
Second, it was touching to see the relationship between Aza and Davis develop. The two of them were so unique and had been through so much, I was worried that their burgeoning relationship would end up being just like every other realistic fiction romance. Now, this is John Green we're dealing with here, so I'm not sure why I was worried, but of course I didn't need to be. The two of them together were just as one-of-a-kind as they are individually, and as bittersweet as it was to watch them struggle to find a balance as they grew closer to each other, I loved every minute of it.
Finally, Aza's struggle with her mental health felt so real that at times it was difficult to read about. As hard as it was, though, we need more books like this. We need books that dig into what it's like to struggle with things like OCD, depression, anxiety...more books that help us realize that, while we may feel like everything is wrong with us and nothing about us is normal, there are people all around us going through that same struggle. The thing that particularly resonated with me was Aza's worry that if you need a pill to make you feel like yourself, then the self you are while taking that pill is not actually you. I know people who have struggled with this very thing, so to read a book with a character going through that hit me hard. Give me more books that help me understand what struggles like this feel like. I want them all.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Monday, March 26, 2018
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Alex and Eliza - Melissa de la Cruz
My rating: ⭐⭐
From the cover:
"Their romance shaped a nation. The rest was history.
1777. Albany, New York.
As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters—Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival that of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball.
Still, she can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington’s right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can’t believe his luck—as an orphan, and a bastard one at that—to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history."
Could have been worse, but could have been waaaaaaaaaay better. The development of the story was crazy choppy, and the progression of Alex and Eliza's relationship was super weird. It almost seemed like what used to happen to me when I would start working on something. I'd have all these great ideas for key scenes, so I'd skip around and write those scenes, and then....bleh, I don't want to have to do the hard part of coming up with the in-between stuff! This book? Key scenes with no in-between. Its one big redeeming quality is that it's a relatively quick read. If a book has to be choppy and weird, at least it only took me a few hours to read.
From the cover:
"Their romance shaped a nation. The rest was history.
1777. Albany, New York.
As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters—Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival that of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball.
Still, she can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington’s right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can’t believe his luck—as an orphan, and a bastard one at that—to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history."
Could have been worse, but could have been waaaaaaaaaay better. The development of the story was crazy choppy, and the progression of Alex and Eliza's relationship was super weird. It almost seemed like what used to happen to me when I would start working on something. I'd have all these great ideas for key scenes, so I'd skip around and write those scenes, and then....bleh, I don't want to have to do the hard part of coming up with the in-between stuff! This book? Key scenes with no in-between. Its one big redeeming quality is that it's a relatively quick read. If a book has to be choppy and weird, at least it only took me a few hours to read.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Lucky in Love - Kasie West
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐
From the cover:
"Can’t buy me love…
Maddie’s not impulsive. She’s all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment—
She wins!
In a flash, Maddie’s life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she’s talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun…until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now Maddie isn’t sure who she can trust.
Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn’t seem aware of Maddie’s big news. And, for some reason, she doesn’t want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?"
Ok...I'm about to thrown down some serious venting, so before I do I'm going to say this: My issues with this book aside, I don't think it's necessarily a bad read. It's quick, it's fluffy and cute, and ultimately I enjoyed it for what it was--a total dessert book. This would be a great "dip your toe" title for teens who aren't big fans of reading. If that's the kind of read you're looking for, maybe skip the rest of this and grab a copy. If you aren't sold and want to know why I rated it three stars instead of five, keep reading...but you've been warned.
Alright. So Maddie's dad got laid off a few years ago, and if she wants to go to college she has to get a scholarship to pay for it (unheard of, apparently.). As a result, she is hyper-focused on school, scheduling regular study sessions with her friends and basically spending every second making sure she's as prepared as she can be. She gets amazing grades, volunteers, and works part-time at the zoo. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it if it means she can get into and pay for University of Southern California and study to be a vet. Or something like that. Because she loves animals, we're told (never shown. Only told. That was a big issue I had with this book).
Then, on Maddie's 18th birthday, her friends mysteriously bail on her with no notice, even though they've been established to be fairly reliable, so she makes a bummed-out visit to the gas station for candy (because she's super poor, so obviously she buys all her candy at the gas station, where it's more expensive than basically anywhere else...but that's neither here nor there. Just an irritating detail to someone who was also a very poor teenager and would never have been able to afford to regularly buy tiny bags of gas station candy). On a whim, she buys a lottery ticket, and....gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasp! SHE WINS! 50 million dollars.
Suddenly everyone wants to be her friend, needs money from her, is treating her differently. Maddie is incredibly book smart but apparently has zero experience interacting with other human beings or in any way standing up for herself, because holy hell, this book becomes ridiculously foolish decision after ridiculously foolish decision. Bypassing the fact that someone as seemingly meticulous and logical as Maddie doesn't strike me as the type to make these spur-of-the-moment decisions on spending ludicrous amounts of money, even if she is suddenly super rich, where the hell were her parents?! The book introduces pretty early on that her parents are going through a pretty rough patch, but what kind of parent is like "wow, cool, you just turned 18 and are a multi-millionaire. Good luck with that." They do tell her when she wins that she should get a financial adviser, but then nothing else is said of it. Instead, they sit by while she rents a yacht, buys an almost $100,000 sports car, gets swindled out of half a million dollars by some super extended family member, etc etc etc. Who does that?
With all the craziness in her life, at least Maddie has Seth, her super cool and definitely Asian coworker at the zoo. He's funny, confident, friendly...and also, please don't forget that he's Asian. Because he is, remember? You can tell by his last name and the fact that people regularly say obnoxious and racist things to him. It would have been cool to learn about Seth's heritage through subtle descriptions or details about the character, but this book isn't big on showing. I'll try to let that go. Maddie's relationship with Seth was sweet, but like in a candy corn way. There's not really any subtlety or flavor to it, but if you need a sugar fix it'll get you there. He was a good friend, it was nice that he was always there for her, I just wish he...and most of the characters, for that matter...hadn't been so one-dimensional.
There were so many opportunities for greatness in this book, but everything ended up over-simplified and a little flat. Not Kasie West's best book. Like I said, it's an ok read, and it has its uses. However, if the whole "financially struggling newly 18-year-old wins the lottery" storyline was what pulled you in, might I point you to Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith? Similar plot, but I enjoyed the execution more.
From the cover:
"Can’t buy me love…
Maddie’s not impulsive. She’s all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment—
She wins!
In a flash, Maddie’s life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she’s talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun…until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now Maddie isn’t sure who she can trust.
Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn’t seem aware of Maddie’s big news. And, for some reason, she doesn’t want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?"
Ok...I'm about to thrown down some serious venting, so before I do I'm going to say this: My issues with this book aside, I don't think it's necessarily a bad read. It's quick, it's fluffy and cute, and ultimately I enjoyed it for what it was--a total dessert book. This would be a great "dip your toe" title for teens who aren't big fans of reading. If that's the kind of read you're looking for, maybe skip the rest of this and grab a copy. If you aren't sold and want to know why I rated it three stars instead of five, keep reading...but you've been warned.
Alright. So Maddie's dad got laid off a few years ago, and if she wants to go to college she has to get a scholarship to pay for it (unheard of, apparently.). As a result, she is hyper-focused on school, scheduling regular study sessions with her friends and basically spending every second making sure she's as prepared as she can be. She gets amazing grades, volunteers, and works part-time at the zoo. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it if it means she can get into and pay for University of Southern California and study to be a vet. Or something like that. Because she loves animals, we're told (never shown. Only told. That was a big issue I had with this book).
Then, on Maddie's 18th birthday, her friends mysteriously bail on her with no notice, even though they've been established to be fairly reliable, so she makes a bummed-out visit to the gas station for candy (because she's super poor, so obviously she buys all her candy at the gas station, where it's more expensive than basically anywhere else...but that's neither here nor there. Just an irritating detail to someone who was also a very poor teenager and would never have been able to afford to regularly buy tiny bags of gas station candy). On a whim, she buys a lottery ticket, and....gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasp! SHE WINS! 50 million dollars.
Suddenly everyone wants to be her friend, needs money from her, is treating her differently. Maddie is incredibly book smart but apparently has zero experience interacting with other human beings or in any way standing up for herself, because holy hell, this book becomes ridiculously foolish decision after ridiculously foolish decision. Bypassing the fact that someone as seemingly meticulous and logical as Maddie doesn't strike me as the type to make these spur-of-the-moment decisions on spending ludicrous amounts of money, even if she is suddenly super rich, where the hell were her parents?! The book introduces pretty early on that her parents are going through a pretty rough patch, but what kind of parent is like "wow, cool, you just turned 18 and are a multi-millionaire. Good luck with that." They do tell her when she wins that she should get a financial adviser, but then nothing else is said of it. Instead, they sit by while she rents a yacht, buys an almost $100,000 sports car, gets swindled out of half a million dollars by some super extended family member, etc etc etc. Who does that?
With all the craziness in her life, at least Maddie has Seth, her super cool and definitely Asian coworker at the zoo. He's funny, confident, friendly...and also, please don't forget that he's Asian. Because he is, remember? You can tell by his last name and the fact that people regularly say obnoxious and racist things to him. It would have been cool to learn about Seth's heritage through subtle descriptions or details about the character, but this book isn't big on showing. I'll try to let that go. Maddie's relationship with Seth was sweet, but like in a candy corn way. There's not really any subtlety or flavor to it, but if you need a sugar fix it'll get you there. He was a good friend, it was nice that he was always there for her, I just wish he...and most of the characters, for that matter...hadn't been so one-dimensional.
There were so many opportunities for greatness in this book, but everything ended up over-simplified and a little flat. Not Kasie West's best book. Like I said, it's an ok read, and it has its uses. However, if the whole "financially struggling newly 18-year-old wins the lottery" storyline was what pulled you in, might I point you to Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith? Similar plot, but I enjoyed the execution more.
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