emilyusuallyreading's reviews
746 reviews

What I Liked
I appreciate Ally Condie's love for poetry and art and the incorporation of several beautiful pieces into this trilogy. Some of her descriptions caused me to search for certain paintings and poems on my own. I am thankful for any author that encourages readers to appreciate culture and art.

The conclusion of the love triangle ended in a way I could accept.

Spoiler

If Cassia had turned around and chosen Xander to create a random plot twist, I think I would have thrown the book out the window.

What I Didn't Like
There is almost no context surrounding Cassia's "dystopian" world. A few of my questions about the government were finally answered, although in a vague and inconclusive way. The Society is run by several boards of Officials in multiple cities. There is a physical Pilot, but it never is made very clear how the Rising is orchestrated. There is an Enemy that is called only that: the Enemy. We never learn who they are, why they exist, and what point they have. The world-building in these three books is pitifully sub-par.

In Matched and Crossed, I enjoyed Ky's character the most. In Reached, even though the book is split into three POVs: Cassia, Ky, and Xander, they do not have distinctive voices. I frequently had to flip to the first page in each chapter to remind myself who was talking at the time.

I was a little hesitant about reading this book, because I was afraid it would be yet another excuse for Christian Americans to sit back and explain why they are not obligated to help the needy in third world countries. However, as a student who fully intends to pursue humanitarian work as a career, I am eager to learn anything I can about what should be improved about relief efforts, so I thought I would give this a go.

I agreed with much of what Lupton said about how simply giving out handouts to poor villages and communities causes a high level of dependance on charity and discourages self-improvement. He emphasized the significance of micro-loans and empowering acts of relief, which I fully support. However, I do feel as if there is a need to expand a little more on the circumstances when straight-forward aid is a very good thing. Sometimes there are communities that consists mostly of orphans; these vulnerable groups of abandoned children need someone to step in and provide for them what they need, to help them survive as they receive an education, until they are able to step up and serve their communities on their own.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of excuses from Lupton. He expressed well his desire for Christians to serve in a way that empowers rather than cripples the poor.

Obviously, there is no need for me to review a classic book like this one. It's an excellent read. While it's is a bit long (it took me about a week to read all the way through), it held my attention well. The slave Jim's accent is written painstakingly; I often had to read and re-read what he said to try to get a grasp on what he was saying. Twain's wit is fantastic. He approached controversial subjects that were groundbreaking for his time.

If you've gone your entire life without reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, put it at the top of your reading list. It's a great story.

I heard of this novel through another blogger who highly recommended the story, so I entered with high hopes. The story was whimsical and charming. Although it was a bit long, I finished it in a single Saturday.

In some ways, I feel like Spinelli was stretching a bit to make Stargirl as quirky as he possibly could. She carries a rat around on her shoulder, even at school. She paints freckles on her face. She dresses in homestead dresses and decorates her desk at school each day. She calls herself Stargirl, for crying out loud. But I did ultimately feel like Spinelli succeeded in creating a lovely character. Stargirl is incredibly kind; she sings Happy Birthday to every student at her school. She searches the newspapers every day for a chance to send cards to complete strangers.

I would recommend Stargirl if you want a charming, clean "first-love" story about a girl who simply doesn't fit in and a boy who wants to be normal.

A tragic story. Daisy Miller is an excellent analysis of the double standards that rested in the traditional lifestyles of the 19th century.

I need to vow to never again read a Stephen King novel. Never, never again. My freshman year of college, I read Misery and it left me absolutely terrified, trembling alone in an airport waiting lounge at midnight. Not the best idea. Since the new adaptation of Carrie was about to come out in theaters, I decided to read the book for myself.

While the story is mildly disturbing, it isn't actually that scary. But something about Stephen King's writing style leaves me horrified. Every single time. I don't know why my silly brain thinks, "Emily, it's not going to be scary. Just go ahead and read the book before you see the movie." Nope. Nope. Just nope.

Carrie is a bit long, but I finished it in a single day. I couldn't stand to put the book down until I knew what happened at the end. Only read Carrie if you're strong of heart.

I could barely set Outlaw down as I read the first several chapters. A woman named Julian and her young son, Stephen, are shipwrecked on a coast of a neighboring island somewhere near Australia. Stephen vanishes in the wreck, a cannibalistic tribe captures Julian, and chaos ensues after that.

The descriptions of tribal culture display an authenticity that could only be written by a man like Ted Dekker. He spent much of his early life living with a tribe of headhunters in Indonesia, as his parents were missionaries. His personal story is haunting and beautiful, and it is recreated in many ways through this novel. While I wish the final part of Outlaw went on a little longer and spoke perhaps a bit more symbolically at times than straightforward (when you take a look, you'll probably see what I mean), I still enjoyed the read very much, and I recommend it to anyone who loves Ted Dekker.

Something I enjoy about Dekker is that his writing style is never the same. People like to place him into this box of a Christian writer who pens down stories of serial killers, but truly, he has written in every genre and style and storyline that you could even think up. And Outlaw is vastly different than all of these.

I really had no idea what to expect when I picked up The Road, but I was stunned. Pleasantly stunned. I was left speechless by the beauty in Cormac McCarthy's writing, and now I wish I could go to Barnes & Noble and buy every other books he's written.

The Road is about a man and a boy; it never mentions them by name. They live in a world that was ruined many years ago. The plants and animals have all died, so all that is left is ash and debris of what used to be mankind. Remaining humans resort to cannibalism and all sorts of monstrosities in order to survive. The Road is a book about the love between a father and son, as well as being about the broad subjects humanity and morality.

While The Road carries some heavy and frightening topics, it's beautifully-written and worth a read if you can handle some dark content.

If you have ever struggled with the idea of legalism or routine in your daily quiet time and worship, this is the book for you. It approaches the struggles of growing up in an evangelical Christian world where worshiping our Creator can turn into the thing to do because we've always done it instead of the desire of our hearts. Crowder explains how he broke out of that box and how he realized that praise is something we are, not simply what we do.

David Crowder is hilarious from the first page to the last and yet sometimes manages to be extremely convicting and poignant in his messages. Whether telling personal stories of his own walk with the Lord or having the reader walk through the psalms, Praise Habit is a great read for the Christian who is looking for encouragement and a new perspective on praise.

Uglies was one of my favorite books throughout my middle school years. It takes place in a futuristic setting where the world lives in utopian cities where everyone is made to be "pretty" on their sixteenth birthday through extensive plastic surgery. All Tally wants is to turn pretty like everyone else, but when her best friend runs away to live with the Smokies in the wilderness, everything begins to spin out of control.

Don't be deceived: Uglies is not just a girl book. It is thrilling. It kept me at the edge of my seat from the first page to the last. I get just as caught up in the story as I did when I was a young teen. Read this book.