Review: Until Friday Night

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Ick. I feel like I have to make an excuse for myself for reading this book. Cause it was available on my audiobook app and I was in the mood for a "light rom com." But this was not what it should have been. It was just teenagers dealing with family tragedies in immature ways. Which COULD HAVE been true to life if written better, but I expected the characters to sort of...grow up...through their trials and start to do things differently. Not turn to alcohol and parties and sex and cling in a very unhealthily, emotionally dependent way to his vulnerable girlfriend while passing it off to everyone around them, even the supposed adults who should have been protecting the girl, as "real love." THAT was just a cheap attempt at trying to make troubled teenagers look like characters in a Sparks novel. It made me wish that somebody would put that boy in therapy already.

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Review: The Left Hand of God

The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a tricky one. It started out really dark and violent and intriguing. Almost like a more intense, contemporary dystopian remake of a Dickens novel Oliver Twist, maybe, or Nicholas Nickelby. It had the right idea of cruelly mistreated boys finding another path to a happier life. And the character, Cale, never lost his intrigue for me. But I felt like the story and the whole plot sort of just...died. It began with an air of mystery and thrill, and a cat-and-mouse chase, and then devolved into your typical kingdom-encompassing dystopian war against the self-righteous oppressors. It stopped being an interesting inner battle of Cale trying to figure out who he would be as a free man. And the story never addressed the original mystery of what Cale saw in his captivity that triggered him to finally make his escape. Hoffman sort of wrote the story like that incident didn't matter anymore. But it should have. So it all left me just sort of dissatisfied with what could have been a really cool story.

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Review: Before I Fall

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I don't know what the hype is about. The "Groundhog Day" premise is still an interesting draw to the story, but I was expecting the main character, Sammy, to eventually decide to turn around her whole attitude and life, like Bill Murray's character did. She did not. The conclusion fell totally flat and I didn't feel as if the character had learned anything or changed much at all.

The story starts with all the shock value of high school teens entrenched in issues of sexuality, alcohol, and disregard for laws and rules that would keep them safe, but the resolution did NOT involve a real "coming of age" theme in which Sammy or any of her friends realize the recklessness of their ways and decide to try and behave in a more mature manner.

She basically swapped one crush for another - who was admittedly more worthy of it but who still behaved as if he wasn't living the same day over and over again and instead acted as if his emotions were progressing at the same rate as the character who was living the same day again and again. It didn't feel right or genuine.

The worst part is that when Sammy figured out there was ONE MAJOR ISSUE that she could work to correct/fix/atone for, she didn't really fix the source of the issue. The source was her awful friend, Lindsay. If Samantha had TRULY come to care in a more mature and understanding way, she would have helped her friend Lindsay come to a state of repentance and emotional closure with her past issues. And they both would have a newfound courage to continue on a more responsible and less selfish past. But she didn't. THEY didn't.

When the "groundhog day" cycle ended, Sammy and all her friends started and continued the same day in almost the exact same way. Sammy's best change of heart was that she treated her family, especially her little sister, a lot better. And her inner dialogue sounded like she appreciated her friends more, but she didn't really DO anything to try and help them see a more selfless way to make it through high school. The conclusion just didn't cut it.


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Review: Half Wild

Half Wild by Sally Green
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bummer. After the first one I was so excited, and then this just fell flat. It was boring. Hardly anything ever happened. So much of the book was just Nathan thinking. Trying to understand his gift, obsessing about being with Annalise again, feeling confused about his relationship with Gabriel, and wondering about his dad and joining the Alliance. Ok, ok, so there was some talking with other characters about these things. I hung in there, finally got closer to the end, and then some interesting things happened. It took too long to get there. And Nathan's inner monologuing has become boring.

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Review: A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh wow. Guys. Should you read this book? Yes. If you like fantasty? Yes. If you like sad, real stories? Yes. If you like young adult fiction? If you like books that find tenderness and beauty and truth in exquisitely told stories? If you are a human? Ummm...YESSSSS!

I love how Ness taps into the teenage mind. The narrative is so utterly true to how a teenager that age would actually think and feel and act and experience real dilemmas. A lovely, understated read that finds closure with the simplest yet profoundest of truths.

I'm interested in seeing the movie just so I can relive those emotions with a different perspective, and it did get good reviews. Did anyone see the movie?

Still, I'll probably keep this book in its own place in my heart, a separate thing from any movie remake of the story or any other book with similar themes. It's that special.

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