Tag: young adult

Reviews

My Dearest Darkest Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on My Dearest Darkest Review

*BEWARE OF SPOILERS*

Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy… but she’s also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of a river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn’t let her drown. Finch doesn’t know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she’s felt a constant pull from the school and the surrounding town of Rainwater, like something on the island is calling to her. Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena’s suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch and has a sinking feeling that from now on the two will be inexplicably linked to one another.

Finch is an interesting character for sure. I think when we are introduced to her she seems quite innocent and unassuming. She is very much a loner and wants to be by herself which contrasts starkly with Selena. A lot is revealed to Finch over the course of the storyline and she does evolve and become more accepting of her parents death and starts to live a bit more through the help of her new friends.

Selena was the more entertaining of the two perspectives. Her life is way more chaotic being the popular girl and trying to maintain her reputation even though it’s not necessarily who she is as a person. I think all teenage girls can relate to putting on a façade when they are in high school to try and appear more put together and become popular but Selena becoming a mean girl kind of went to the extreme. As we learn more about her throughout the course of the plot I became more attached to her and seeing how her feelings for Finch grew and her trying to push them away was very endearing.

The premise was super interesting, finding out about the history of the town and how everything connects back to Nerosi. I liked all of the representation within the book but some of the side characters weren’t very distinct and distinguishable from each other. As the plot progressed and we get more revelations it did start to feel a bit predictable though it didn’t shy away from getting a bit dark which I enjoyed!

⭐️3/5 stars was a slow start

Reviews

Sadie Review

by amyleighreads5 Comments on Sadie Review

*SPOILERS*

34810320._SY475_This was interesting!

Sadie is a mixed format story revolving around two sisters, one has been murdered and the other is on a mission to extract revenge.

Sadie is a character that you can really put your support behind. She is very straightforward and driven and you can relate to her in a way. If I was in a similar situation I would have probably done the same thing. She will do absolutely anything for her sister and it kind of broke my heart as we learn throughout the course of the plot what she has had to endure. I thought she was brave, focused and devoted to her cause.

I have to say I really enjoyed the different formats and timelines of the story. West following Sadie and trying to extract the truth and dig deep into their history and her motivation behind running away and then having Sadie doing her own digging and finding out where Keith is now, and uncovering all the details about Silas as well. The mystery aspect of the story was very well done and the buildup of anticipation through the pacing and the tone of the book enraptured me.

Every single character in the book served a purpose and made some form of impact upon Sadie and drove her to the next location. I like that we see how West makes these same discoveries for himself and kind of comes the same conclusions as Sadie following all of the clues and picking apart their conversations and trying to find out what her motivations were was highly engaging.

The ending is a point of contention for me. I think I have come to the conclusion that I don’t really like open endings. I need a resolution, I need to know whether or not Sadie is alive and I really wanted to see what happened in those last few minutes.

⭐️4/5 stars This was fast, purposeful and highly impactful

Book vs. Movie

📚Book vs. Movie🎥

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 📚Book vs. Movie🎥

I thought I would start this fun new series on my blog where I compare a book with their movie adaptation and I give you my thoughts and opinions on both. Whether or not you should just stick to the book or if the movie is better than the book, pros and cons and what I would recommend overall!

This month I decided to go with To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before because it’s pretty fresh on my mind as I just read it a few weeks ago. I see the hype for the movie all over my social media but I try not to watch movie adaptations if I haven’t read the book first. I don’t know it’s just a personal preference of mine I would prefer to read the book and then watch the movie and kind of know what’s going on.

So with all that being said these are my thoughts on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before are:

Pros: I believe they cast Lara Jean very well, she is exactly how I pictured her in my mind! She was also a lot more mature in the movie compared to the book, which I appreciated. I liked that the movie stayed with the original storyline of the book, it didn’t really deviate all that much from the original.

Cons: I wanted to see more of the connection she shares with her family, especially Margot. They kind of skated over the fight that they had and it was quite a significant scene in the book. Also it didn’t quite depict how close the Covey’s were to Josh. Lara Jean especially had quite a close relationship to him and that wasn’t really shown in the movie. They didn’t quite go in depth with her relationship with Peter either. They had a lot of scenes together that really deepened their connection that wasn’t shown in the movie.

Overall thoughts: It was a great adaptation in my opinion. Both the book and the movie were super entertaining, a little bit cringey and very fast paced. They do tackle some deep emotional topics that are very current in today’s society which I thought made both the book and the movie very relevant.

My Recommendation: Either depending on your chosen format. You definitely don’t need to read the book first to enjoy the movie! I slightly enjoyed the movie more but I think it was because I had already read the book and was already informed on the plot.