Living Literarily

I had many fellow book-lovers recommend  Roar , so I saved it for a relaxing road-trip, anticipating an enjoyable read. And that is what I got... for the most part. First, this book is definitely a romance. It hits you over the head with intense physical emotions in the first few pages  and it never leaves. Whether it's a villain or a random soldier she vaguely recognizes, Aurora (or Roar), can sense the myriad of men who are attracted to her. Apparently none of them are unattractive or boorish, it just so happens that every man she meets wants something more from her. I found this a bit ridiculous. The attraction that supposedly every man has for her seems forced and makes her less sincere. I don't care how attractive you are supposed to be, most girls I know, models and nerds alike, are more likely to assume someone isn't attracted to them than is. It's a sad truth, but we aren't built like that. Also, she does not have the fiercely confident and experience

OK, before anyone judges my harsh review of this much beloved book, I have to defend my two star review. My first complaint is the voice. I have grown up in a family of 8 children, I have many cousins with young children whom I am close to, I babysit, and I am generally very familiar with children. This book felt like it was going between the voice of a two and twenty year old. That took away from the story to me.  I am also well travelled and have German family. The Holocaust has long fascinated me and I still have memories of visiting concentration camps at a young age and being physically ill over what I learned and saw. One of my favorite movies is La Vita é Bella (please watch it). This book did not line up with a lot of the history of WWII that I have read. Also, the extreme ignorance of the main character is unbelievable.  The concept is good and I feel like putting children in the context of some of the world's greatest tragedies is a powerful tool, I just felt like

I am so excited to share this book with you! In a quick one sentence descriptions: this book is Cinder meets Persuasion. In a world recovering from the effects of genetic modification gone wrong, the population is split between the Luddite nobility and the Reduced. The Reduced have a limited mental capacity which makes them perfect slaves, but that has been changing. Enter Kai (yes, I realize the name is the same from Cinder, but they came out around the same time and he is just as dreamy if not more) and Elliot, both from the two very separated classes, but united in their love for adventure. Their story plays out as an awesome feminist and unique retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. I love the original story, so I was wary of anyone messing with it, but I approve and am currently in the midst of the second book which a retelling of *drumroll please* THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL!!!!! One of my all time favorite books, musicals, and my go-to sick movie. I am enjoying it just

I devoured this book! Why? Because it is paced extremely well and I actually cared about what happened in the end. From the first word this book pulls you in as it describes the tragic scene of the murder of the main character’s father. The lead, Kate, is a hard character to get close to, but I guess that remains true to her tough gun-slinging cowgirl exterior. We meet her in a time of great distress and her thoughts tend towards narrow and feverish in her quest to avenge her father, hence the title. The few supporting characters were likable and fit in with the landscape of the book. Jesse and Will were immediate favorites of mine as Kate fell into their unlikely hands. They felt like brothers and that is sometimes a hard relationship to portray (or maybe I am just picky because I have four of them!). Even the memories shared of characters such as her mother and father seem sincere. My one complaint is more a matter of personal preference than true dislike and that

If you had told me a while ago that I would be giving a vampire book five stars, I would have laughed in your face. There is a bit of a story behind how I came to read this wonderful novel and it starts with the rekindling of an old friendship. It had been years since I had seen my good friend Elliott and I was surprised to see a message from her on my Goodreads account. Of course, it was about books that I had read. We began talking and texting about our most recent reads and soon we were meeting up at our favorite local bookstores. The first time we met up, she handed me this book. I was doubtful and started to question every conversation we had in which I thought she had good taste. *Yes, I get judgmental about what books people like. I'm working on it. But, I also consider it extremely rude to not read a book received as a gift. It's like telling someone that you don't want a piece of their soul because you don't like the color of their shoes. I'm

(Disclaimer: This is a review written less than 5 minutes after finishing the book so it is not articulate as I would normally like my reviews to be. I may rewrite it later when I can stand to think about this book without vomiting.) This books is a bad Spanish novella that decided to cram everything into two episodes to save money.  The first half was actually more 2 stars for me. It was frustrating that the characters were so flat and everything was rushed without details. The sex that was present in every conversation irked me, but I understood the author was trying to stay true to the book The Picture of Dorian Gray which Doreen was based on. Oscar Wilde would be appalled to see what has been done.  I try to be kind to books, so I am going to be generous and say this was 1.5 star book for me, which only means I have read worse. After reading another reader's review I thought the second half of the book would be better, but it wasn’t.  The closest I came to relatin