It's hard to ignore how special this story is considering we know the author so well. I've watched Christine for a while, ever since her comedy sketch about pronouncing Hermione "Her-my-own". It's really cool seeing her actually complete her novel and the fact that she documented the entire thing on her YouTube channel?? That in itself is extremely inspiring and admirable and I commend her for it!! The story was cute and quirky enough for me to get through in two days. The plot itself was pretty interesting, kind of a version of 17 Again but in classic '90s romcom atmosphere.
I would say, it was really hard distinguishing Christine from the main character Shane. Shane's voice, her likes and dislikes, her quirks, her blog, everything is Christine. They are one in the same, and I think because of that, it was a little weird to read? It read more like a fanfic at times, which (I was telling Alyssa) isn't bad, no hate on fanfiction, but I do think there's a difference between fanfiction and books on the shelves. And you can't really get around the countless years of experience and skill practice to improve your writing, so in this case, it was apparent that this was a 'beginner' novel if that makes sense? I sound really mean and hypocritical I mean what do I know - but I think it's worth noting the interesting results of birthing a book from internet stardom like this, ya know? Because this has rarely been done before, I would assume that it's just one of those things that you can't really see coming when you already have an audience who knows you so well as an author.
That being said, it was really cool getting to read a product I watched video to video in the making. Congrats to Christine and I can't wait to read the next one!
Rating: 3/5 stars
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41147279-again-but-better
Monday, May 27, 2019
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Cruel Prince
I feel like this is a hit or miss among readers and sadly, it was a miss for me. I don't know - I just never got fully invested with the story or its characters. Although the Faerie world is cool, I didn't care much for it? I think a big dictator of my appeal to a story is the character composition and in here, it was kind of...not that interesting. Maybe it was a little too cliche or juvenile for my taste. I feel really mean but it was hard for me to get through this one - even when the romance peaked, I wasn't charmed by it in the slightest, which is weird because I'm very easily charmed.
But it could also be that I wasn't in the mood for this type of story? I don't know.
If there's anything I'd praise, it'd be the world building! That was the most interesting part and I wanted to see more of the faerie world without the main character's narrow eyesight.
Rating: 1/5 stars
Goodreads summary: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26032825-the-cruel-prince
But it could also be that I wasn't in the mood for this type of story? I don't know.
If there's anything I'd praise, it'd be the world building! That was the most interesting part and I wanted to see more of the faerie world without the main character's narrow eyesight.
Rating: 1/5 stars
Goodreads summary: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26032825-the-cruel-prince
Saturday, May 18, 2019
A Christian Historical Romance
I read this because it was recommended by Tashapolis on YouTube and she described it as "really good" and the ratings across all markets were also pretty unanimous about it being "really good". This historical romance is based of the Book of Hosea from the Hebrew Bible.
The first half of the book, I'm not gonna lie, was so difficult for me to get through. I'll try not to spoil too much but the main character Sarah goes through so much hardship that it's almost unbearable to read from her eyes. I guess that would be my only warning: this isn't lighthearted! Very different from the rom-com novels I'm used to. I dreaded having to go back into this world just to dive back into her anguish and unfortunate circumstances. Like if I was having a bad day, I'd try to read this book and my day would just turn even more sorrowful because of what Sarah has to go through.
Anyway, for some reason, I convinced myself to keep going ('some reason' being that this was actually really hard to obtain from the library and also because I wanted to see why it had gotten such good ratings). The second half of the book was great. I think it totally made up for the first half and by the end, you understand as a reader why all that bad stuff had to happen, not unlike the feeling of looking back at your own bad experiences and accepting it was necessary to have gone through them. The conclusion and character arc was powerful enough to resolve everything into a satisfying read. It's a gigantic complex arc for character development and along with the characters, you feel every ounce of guilt, hate, self-loathe they feel, but also patience, faith, redemption, and serenity.
I keep repeating it but the characters are really well done. Francine Rivers is a master at working with character flaws and letting that be the groundwork for relatability within the audience. Every character in here I related to...and that's kinda weird considering this was written in the 1850s during the California gold rush. The thing that I definitely appreciated the most - and probably one of the main reasons why it's so acclaimed - is the message about God's undying love for sinners. I usually steer away from thinking about these things but the Biblical messages are constantly present and interweaved throughout the story and it's not something that sits lightly on your chest when you're trying to grasp the magnitude of that God-given love it's trying to illustrate.
To wrap it up, here's an accurate and beautiful art portrayal from THEJANARENEE
The first half of the book, I'm not gonna lie, was so difficult for me to get through. I'll try not to spoil too much but the main character Sarah goes through so much hardship that it's almost unbearable to read from her eyes. I guess that would be my only warning: this isn't lighthearted! Very different from the rom-com novels I'm used to. I dreaded having to go back into this world just to dive back into her anguish and unfortunate circumstances. Like if I was having a bad day, I'd try to read this book and my day would just turn even more sorrowful because of what Sarah has to go through.
Anyway, for some reason, I convinced myself to keep going ('some reason' being that this was actually really hard to obtain from the library and also because I wanted to see why it had gotten such good ratings). The second half of the book was great. I think it totally made up for the first half and by the end, you understand as a reader why all that bad stuff had to happen, not unlike the feeling of looking back at your own bad experiences and accepting it was necessary to have gone through them. The conclusion and character arc was powerful enough to resolve everything into a satisfying read. It's a gigantic complex arc for character development and along with the characters, you feel every ounce of guilt, hate, self-loathe they feel, but also patience, faith, redemption, and serenity.
I keep repeating it but the characters are really well done. Francine Rivers is a master at working with character flaws and letting that be the groundwork for relatability within the audience. Every character in here I related to...and that's kinda weird considering this was written in the 1850s during the California gold rush. The thing that I definitely appreciated the most - and probably one of the main reasons why it's so acclaimed - is the message about God's undying love for sinners. I usually steer away from thinking about these things but the Biblical messages are constantly present and interweaved throughout the story and it's not something that sits lightly on your chest when you're trying to grasp the magnitude of that God-given love it's trying to illustrate.
To wrap it up, here's an accurate and beautiful art portrayal from THEJANARENEE
Rating: 4/5 stars
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