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paperbackparker's reviews
446 reviews
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
3.0
3/5 stars from me!
i LOVED the world building in this book, and i loved when we were inside wade’s head. but i feel like this book lacked a lot in regards to characterization, pacing, and diversity.
1) all of the characters fell flat for me. they were all very one-dimensional. the dialogue seemed very forced and unrealistic to me, but that just may also be for personal reasons. i could not stand how artemis was written. she seemed a lot like a prop in wade’s story rather than an actual person.
2) the pacing was very confusing for me at times. i feel like at some points, we would follow wade for every minute of the day, and then we would see him a couple days later with only a sentence to describe what had happened. of course, it may have been written like this for a reason, i just don’t know what that reason is and it really affected how the story impacted me.
3) HOLY CRAP THE DIVERSITY, OR LACK THEREOF, IN THIS BOOK SUCKED. i feel like we go through the whole story knowing it’s not diverse at all and then last minute, the author’s like “oh shit i should make this appealing to people who aren’t white and straight and don’t fit societies standards of beauty!!!!!!!!!!” and he shoved every possible diverse characteristic into one character near the end to save it all. it was incredibly forced and fake and extremely disappointing. i would have much rather had the whole story not be diverse than feel like having diverse identities was a box that needed to be checked off.
overall, i had fun reading this book, but mostly just because of the world it was set in, and its politics. this is definitely not my most favourite book in the world, but i might recommend it for a fun read. now that i’ve read it, i’m excited to go and see what they’ve done w the movie.
i LOVED the world building in this book, and i loved when we were inside wade’s head. but i feel like this book lacked a lot in regards to characterization, pacing, and diversity.
1) all of the characters fell flat for me. they were all very one-dimensional. the dialogue seemed very forced and unrealistic to me, but that just may also be for personal reasons. i could not stand how artemis was written. she seemed a lot like a prop in wade’s story rather than an actual person.
2) the pacing was very confusing for me at times. i feel like at some points, we would follow wade for every minute of the day, and then we would see him a couple days later with only a sentence to describe what had happened. of course, it may have been written like this for a reason, i just don’t know what that reason is and it really affected how the story impacted me.
3) HOLY CRAP THE DIVERSITY, OR LACK THEREOF, IN THIS BOOK SUCKED. i feel like we go through the whole story knowing it’s not diverse at all and then last minute, the author’s like “oh shit i should make this appealing to people who aren’t white and straight and don’t fit societies standards of beauty!!!!!!!!!!” and he shoved every possible diverse characteristic into one character near the end to save it all. it was incredibly forced and fake and extremely disappointing. i would have much rather had the whole story not be diverse than feel like having diverse identities was a box that needed to be checked off.
overall, i had fun reading this book, but mostly just because of the world it was set in, and its politics. this is definitely not my most favourite book in the world, but i might recommend it for a fun read. now that i’ve read it, i’m excited to go and see what they’ve done w the movie.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
4.0
this was going to be a 3.5/5 stars for me, but aunt beast made it a 4/5.
Secrets for the Mad: Obsessions, Confessions, and Life Lessons by Dodie Clark
4.0
maybe more of a 3.5? i don’t know.
dodie isn’t ~THE BEST~ writer in the world, but i thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. it was aesthetically pleasing, thought-provoking, and just a fun, quick read. i really appreciate dodie as a person and artist, and i think this book did a great job at showing who she is. it was interesting to go deeper into her thoughts, reading stuff that her music and videos don’t necessarily always say. if you’re a fan of dodie, or are just looking to learn more about this interesting gal, i definitely recommend this book.
dodie isn’t ~THE BEST~ writer in the world, but i thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. it was aesthetically pleasing, thought-provoking, and just a fun, quick read. i really appreciate dodie as a person and artist, and i think this book did a great job at showing who she is. it was interesting to go deeper into her thoughts, reading stuff that her music and videos don’t necessarily always say. if you’re a fan of dodie, or are just looking to learn more about this interesting gal, i definitely recommend this book.
The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by David Levithan, Rachel Cohn
3.0
this book was so frustrating!! i wanted so badly to love it but i just didn’t. there were parts that i thought were really good, but so much of it was awfully unrealistic and just... not good. i also found lily to be super annoying, so there’s that too. ugh. i’m honestly so disappointed.
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
4.0
4.5 stars! i was so excited about this book, and i’m happy that i liked it as much as i did. the only reason i’m not giving it a full 5 stars is because it didn’t make me cry lol. i empathized quite a bit with the characters, but i wasn’t connected enough to cry, which was disappointing tbh. otherwise, i loved the book. i loved that it made me think. i loved that it made me more understanding of anxiety, OCD, and just mental illness in general. although i find them hard to understand sometimes, i thoroughly enjoy john green’s writing and ideas. his books are always a nice (although somewhat unrealistic) escape from simple, basic YA. overall, i’m happy i read this book, and i’m sure i’ll be thinking about it a lot in the future.