amelianotthepilot's reviews
739 reviews

I actually liked Maxon before this. It paints him in a sort of privileged player light that I don't love. Previously, to me, he has seemed kind and caring despite his upbringing and despite coming from a place of privilege seems to acknowledge it and try to be considerate in the selection process. Somehow these 64 pages have made me loose respect for him.

Yet again this series is rough. The book cover is truly doing so much work here it is gorgeous. 
damn these suck. it’s so back and forth the whole time, within one sentence America decides she's fully into maxon only to decide in the next sentence she’s actually going home and will date aspen. Aspen sucks and Maxon is too mature and kind to her. I still don't understand how these books were spread out like this, I think the whole selection plot could be one book instead of 3-absolutely nothing happens in this book you can honestly skip it. Yet again the rebels are still meaningless.
lol at my old 2014 review tho💀 (I was 15)

repeat: My main problem with the series in general is the random blatant sexism and racism. The girls in the selection are just wives who will bare children, they're objects, and while this is poked at (maybe once) it's not actually called out for being bad. The racism lies mainly in one character being Asian and is referred to as 'exotic' and also seems to be a 'conglomerate Asian' of just random various Asian stereotypes and cultural dress. But furthermore the  two groups of rebels the north (implied Canadians) are described as 'civilized' and 'smart' while the south (implied Mexico and South America) are described as 'barbaric' and 'uncivilized', attacking viciously without purpose. There is also heavy classism. Although this is meant to be a dystopian plot device dividing the characters and their upbringings, the characters who rise classes basically immediately forget their struggles and upbringing and the commentary and morals end up not existing. America easily fits into her new raised class and bosses her maids around while displaying minimal niceties the reader is supposed to commend her for. 
Overall this is a simple, albeit lacking 2000s dystopian with blatant problems and racism but at least it has pretty dresses and a fun little plot I guess....

Man this series is rough. The book cover is truly doing so much work here it is gorgeous. I still stand by that this would make a great tv show, the reality tv, pretty dresses, PeasantxRoyalty would be fun. Bummed the tv show never panned out lol
It's a fun trashy dystopian YA read from the 2000s. The love triangle is ridiculous and I can't believe this selection plot spans three whole books before the ridiculous ending it has. America and Aspen's relationship immediately falls apart in the beginning of the story only for her to pick it up again when he returns later in the book (spoiler i guess). 
My main problem with the book (and series in general) is the random blatant sexism and racism. The girls in the selection are just wives who will bare children, they're objects, and while this is poked at (maybe once) it's not actually called out for being bad. The racism lies mainly in one character being Asian and is referred to as 'exotic' and also seems to be a 'conglomerate Asian' of just random various Asian stereotypes and cultural dress. But furthermore the  two groups of rebels the north (implied Canadians) are described as 'civilized' and 'smart' while the south (implied Mexico and South America) are described as 'barbaric' and 'uncivilized', attacking viciously without purpose. There is also heavy classism. Although this is meant to be a dystopian plot device dividing the characters and their upbringings, the characters who rise classes basically immediately forget their struggles and upbringing and the commentary and morals end up not existing. America easily fits into her new raised class and bosses her maids around while displaying minimal niceties the reader is supposed to commend her for. 
Overall this is a simple, albeit lacking 2000s dystopian with blatant problems and racism but at least it has pretty dresses and a fun little plot I guess....

Please ignore 2014 me's review lmao I was 15

Absolutely what is this. It romanticizes abuse by showing the king as class/status upgrade but also excuses his actions by blaming it on the job and his upbringing. fr this whole series is oof

…so I have never seen the show that the Fonz is from but I know who Henry Winkler is so I guess I’m not the main demographic for this but I saw it was the best goodreads book of 2023 so I gave it a listen.

He is a fantastic audiobook narrator and which makes it even more impressive when you find out he’s dyslexic and seemingly avoids reading at all costs. From this book I’ve learned that he was raised by Jewish German parents who escaped Nazi Germany and were very strict, he is dyslexic which has challenged him throughout his whole life from being perceived as dumb at school as a kid to not reading his scripts and just adlibbing everything he does. I also got the impression he is quite old fashioned and doesn’t understand women as he describes a weird moment acting on stage where he made a woman uncomfortable and he doesn’t understand why. However over all he seems like a very humble, improv talented, friendly guy.

Honestly enjoyed this way more than I expected to. It was really well written and her life is truly so complex and interesting. She struggled so much but also had so many iconic pop culture moments that were interesting to hear the behind stories of. It spans from her family background and her growing up with an alcoholic dad and pushover mom with two siblings to starting working young in a mickey mouse club and broadway to her eventual pop star career in her teens and her dramatic tumultuous relationship and abortion with JT. It’s a feminist story of how she’s been oppressed and used by everyone around her including her image being controlled by the public. 

I read this as part of an annual read along from Dec 20-31 that was promoted on BBC. However after reading it I do not understand the hype and upon asking my UK friends absolutely none of them had ever heard of it.

It is a spooky winter children’s fantasy story following a boy named Will Stanton who is the youngest of 7 kids and on his 11th birthday finds out he is an ‘old one’, a super powerful ancient magical being who is the last hope against defeating The Dark. It has many similarities with and clearly influenced Harry Potter (it predates HP by about 20 years). Both feature 11 year old boys who fight the evil dark and are guided by old men. But unlike Harry Potter, Will doesn’t actually do anything, everything just happens TO him. He also has no friends on his journey and is guided by a series of ancient adults. The main adult being Merriman who is an old all knowing wizard plot device who of course never tells Will any information and always shows up exactly when he means to (similar to Dumbledore and Gandalf). The story follows will as he collects the 6 ‘signs’ (belt buckles) in order to defeat darkness however every time he collected a belt buckle didn’t feel very accomplishing. He was handed everything and shows no initiative or heroic/adventurous behavior. All in all not a very good kids book, let alone annually rereadable.

guys what is this? y’all really serious about this?

not only is the writing terrible on multiple accounts (weird grammar mistakes that somehow got past editors, inconsistent locations and world building, lazy world building, bizarre and random character conversations, and the biggest problem: constant time jumps) but the romance is ridiculous. When met with a billion red flags our MC carries on thinking he’ll change. 

The author has said that she based Xaden off her husband, and the MC clearly seems to be a self insert which pop off good for her I guess but also the relationship is a mess. They both have horrible communication skills. Violet is delusional and self centered and too trusting while Xaden is a make manipulator who thinks he knows what’s best for her.

Nothing in this is hot even the spicy scenes are the most vanilla boring scenes I’ve ever read. 

It’s basically Divergent with dragons. I don’t mind tropes but this reaches a new level of ridiculousness. However I will say that this was marginally better than ACOTAR. 💀

I’m glad I finally got around to reading this! A hilarious age old story of a demon and an angel who realize that the beauracratic ways of their jobs working for hella no heaven respectively basically just cancel each other out so they might as well just not do anything.  Meanwhile the apocalyptic is beginning and they realize they actually enjoy living on earth and would rather it not end. 

john green had recommended this book but i thought it was only okay However he was recommending the book and I listened tot eh audiobook.

The audiobook is read by Leslie which is fun but she excessively adds little tangent stories which makes the whole book a bit messy. Her life as difficult and interesting but the book was not as funny as I’d expected and more full of life struggles, rants, and motivational speeches. There was also not as much SNL as I thought there’d be which I realize her career is more than just SNL but that’s why I was interested ngl