Tag Archives: 2-stars

Review: Tara Altebrando – The Leaving

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The Leaving
Tara Altebrando

11 years ago, six children went missing from their school. Now they have returned, with nothing but a few scraps of memory of their time away. Stop there – only five have returned? What happened to Max? Why were they chosen?

26073074I wasn’t won over by the way there were ‘bytes’ of information from the way that Scarlett and Lucas thought. I didn’t like the consciousnesses changing, and I thought Avery was an idiot. A rich, spoilt idiot.

I think that the ‘romance’ in this one was just a distraction from the whole premise of the book. This is apparently a thriller, yet I never felt threatened. In fact, I’m not sure that the kids that returned felt threatened either.

That was one of the most unsatisfactory endings in my whole life. What is this, is it going to be a series? Is it just a discussion of losing your memory?

I’d like to read the science behind this. Brains are fascinating in the way that they forget things and develop false memories. I think it is well documented how dementia patients begin to suffer, and the way memories can be lost in childhood. I could certainly do without some of mine!

I so wanted to like this novel. Look at the pretty cover? Yes yes, it called to me. The blurb? Seemed good. But then it just took my time and I wasn’t even that keen on it. 2 stars from me.

2star

Review: Jesse Andrews – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Jesse Andrews

Greg Gaines hates high school. He has mediocre grades, and a disinterest in hanging out with one group at a time. He prefers to drift on the periphery – right up until the point when his mother tells him he has to re-befriend an ‘old flame’ from his past. It seems to Greg that after this point, his life becomes more complicated than he ever imagined.

12700353I didn’t even realise Earl was black. Call me stupid, but I didn’t even look at the front cover before I started this novel. And then it doesn’t bother me that people would be a different race to me, so I guess I didn’t pick it up for ages.

Greg is constantly self-depreciating, and it’s easy to tell why he doesn’t become friends with people. We really don’t understand why he is even writing the novel if he hates it so much to the end. In fact, I’m not sure I understood any of his motives – ever. I just couldn’t care!

Rachel had some potential there, but as Greg says, it was never really about Rachel when it should have been. Greg manages to be a selfish bastard the whole way. The reader doesn’t even feel like that until it’s pointed out by Greg’s acquaintances. That’s the danger of having an unreliable first person narrator I suppose.

There were some humorous points in this novel, and maybe that’s what made it a good film? Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t generally read novels to laugh, and I expect a rock-solid storyline – not what seemed to me a slap-dash novel of ‘let’s pick things that can be made funny, when they really aren’t’.

I had trouble picking this novel off the shelf to read, after my partner told me that it probably wouldn’t be my style. Lo and behold, it wasn’t really my style. For a major motion picture, I just couldn’t love it. I dawdled between giving it two or three stars, and I’ve decided to settle on two. Just because everyone else seems to love it doesn’t mean that I have to bow to that! I’d go for Jesse Andrews other offering, The Haters.

2star

Review: Nancy Pennick – 29

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29
Nancy Pennick

Allison is settling in for a normal Junior year of high school. Little does she know that her heart will be attracted to the bad boy in her English class, and her older brother will be set on a rampaging trail to force her to betray her loved ones.

27467537Cliche, cliche, cliche. Fall for for the ‘bad boy’, get dumped, go back to the ‘safe choice’. Seriously girl, I’d be pretty worried you know what love is before you head off into the woods with someone.

I really liked the idea behind this novel, once it finally got going. Innovative, yes. Well executed? No. I was hanging out for details the whole time, and that was what kept me reading. But in fact, I basically started skimming because I no longer connected to the characters. They could all die for all I cared.

More could have been done here about the literature that was included. There should have been some importance linked to Fahrenheit 451. If there was, I missed it. With that, how did Ash possibly afford all those books she bought? Hasn’t she heard of a library? Ash is just a weak secondary character. In fact, I felt like I didn’t know much about any of the others because Allison was so absorbed in herself.

I’m giving this 2-3 stars, erring towards 2 stars. I made the mistake of starting it, and then I finished it, but it really wasn’t worth my time. It needs an update in its speed and the tell/show method.

2star

Review: Abigail Ulman – Hot Little Hands

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Hot Little Hands
Abigail Ulman

This is the debut of a ‘striking, wry, utterly fresh new voice in Australian Literature’. A collection of nine short stories cover ‘stumbling on the fringes of innocence, and the marks desire can leave’. If anything could bring me back into reading literature, I thought this novel would be it.

24681815I read at least five of the short stories (I had to say I had read half at least), and although the prose was fantastic, the characters believable, there was something about each storyline that left me grasping at anything that would give me meaning with them. I’d read each one, and feel sort of empty, not fulfilled.

For some reason I thought I would enjoy this set of short stories published by Penguin. Instead, I started them, found that I couldn’t get into them, and put it back on the shelf for a very long, and guilty time. Here I am, writing a review at least several months down the line.

I want to enjoy Australian literature, I really, really do. I feel so bad that I don’t even like my home country’s literature. Even when I studied it back in high school, and then in university, I couldn’t enjoy any of these texts (for my other reviews, see ).

Although I couldn’t finish it, I’m putting that down to the fact that I’ve stopped trying to get through novels that I can’t stand unless they belong to a specific author who has sent me a novel. I have so many novels to read that I don’t want to waste my time on something that I’m pretty sure I won’t love. I’d like to be proven wrong, but so far, this novel isn’t it.

2star

Review: David Metzenthen – Dreaming the Enemy

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Dreaming the Enemy
David Metzenthen

Although Johnny Shoebright has returned from the jungles of Vietnam, he remains haunted by the acts he was forced to carry out, and the ones he endured. He fears the living, and finds it hard to believe that anyone could possibly feel like he does.

28052051It’s the 20th anniversary after the Vietnam War. Since this novel was published and made its way into my hands I have seen a bunch of novels on the same topic. I know better than to ask for them though. I’m not even sure I asked for this one.

There’s just something about the prose and the interlacing of fact and fiction that didn’t do anything for me. The dreams of Johnny are very different to the life he finds himself in now, and I accept that it is probably a genuine choice of the author. Johnny himself is split between the person he ‘should be’ and the person he is. Brilliant execution, just not the right subject.

I think it’s just me. I’m not particularly interested in war stories (says the person who read Max, and enjoyed it), and so this perhaps never would have worked for me. I’d love to be proved wrong, but my rule of generally rejecting novels about wars seems to be the right choice for me at the moment.

I feel guilty, but I only got about half-way into this novel before I was distracted by something else shiny. I did read it solidly, paying attention to the details, but in the end, I just couldn’t bring myself back to read it. I’m giving this only 2 stars, I think that for the right audience it would be a hit – that audience is just not me.

2star

Review: bud smith (editor) – First Time

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First Time
bud smith (editor)

This novel is a collection of essays, stories and poems about the first time the authors had sex. I only bought this ‘novel’ because one of my favourite authors had written a piece for it. Sadly, it didn’t turn out anything like I hoped, not to mention the humping bunnies on the front cover

18364966By the feel of things, I think the authors had a wide scope of what they could write. For me, I hate poetry. I especially hate random poetry where I can’t work out any of what is going on. Other examples were of not-true stories. What is the point of writing expository fiction if your reader can’t connect in any way with it?

It’s stupid of me, but for some reason I thought this would be a collection of stories about queer people’s first times. I figured this because two of the authors that I knew had works in this book were gay, and I liked their other pieces. So as such, this ‘novel’ wasn’t for me. I’m not interested in the first times of straight people, generally these seem to be boring. Queer people (and I know I am generalising here) have more interesting first times, or first meetings, because half the time they don’t know what they want or if their partner will be willing, available and accepting.

Honestly, I read about half this book, picking and skipping authors that I wasn’t interested in. There is no way I would have read it in its entirety. I will be freeing it into the wild in the hopes that other people might get something out of it. If you’re queer, I’d recommend the Letter Q instead for relatable fiction. Let’s give this one 2-3 stars and call it a day.

2star

Review: Hamilton Hill – Legend of the East Road

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Legend of the East Road
Hamilton Hill

Peter has just entered the world of Luhonono. Magdalene and Gimbo are waiting for him there, ready to start adventures in an unseen world. Setting out to find a princess and instead finding evil makes this novel roll forward.

26115925This novel was slow. Very, very slow. The first half of the novel happened, and nothing had happened. The princess they set out to see isn’t all that exciting. I thought she might be in peril! And additionally, 2/3 explorers already knew who she was.

I felt overwhelmed at all the detail, often I just wanted the story to happen more quickly! I couldn’t have cared less whether it was Peter or Gimbo who had the fastest eyes – their rivalry didn’t seem real. The relationships did develop, but it was in an awkward manner.

This novel was written by someone who had a real love of African culture and traditions, but wasn’t able to merge it seamlessly into an exciting read. There was so much potential here, but it just didn’t make it in. Chopping out some more dialogue or trimming down the perspectives would make this novel stronger.

For example, a simple discussion of a cubby house is stretched out over multiple pages to include a snake sighting (Chapter 6). I think a simple paragraph with the mysticism of the place would have done a far better job of setting the scene, and there was no need for all the internal dialogue by Mags.

The ending was a disappointment. Just as the pace picked up and things became slightly more enthralling, very quickly they were over and the sorcerer was dealt with. I did finally feel vaguely like reading it at that point, so that meant I could give it 2 stars (I finished it after all).

I’ve seen various things that have proclaimed this a ‘young adult novel’ or the back of the book which says it is ‘middle grade fiction’. Middle grade fiction is what this is. I’m not sure there were any deeper themes explored. However, I’m not sure if it common to middle grade fiction to start talking about the attraction that boys have for girls. Please correct me if I am incorrect – this isn’t usually my genre of choice.

All I’ve seen elsewhere are overwhelmingly positive 5 star reviews, and it seems strange that I can only give this one 2 stars. It’s not the fault of the intended audience, I loved the Dragon of the Month Club. Did I somehow not read the same novel that they did?

2star

Review: K.J. Gillenwater – Acapulco Nights

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Acapulco Nights
K.J. Gillenwater

Suzie’s current lover is pushing her to set a date for their marriage. The only thing stopping her is the fact that she is already married to a man in Mexico. When an old school friend is planning to go there, Suzie jumps at the chance to set things right, and move on with her life.

AN-KindleCover-FinalRomance. Romance, romance, romance. I forget that I generally don’t enjoy the ‘smoking’ sex scenes or powerful erections. I appreciated the differences between James and Joaquin’s love-making styles, but I wasn’t left asking for more. I read other great romances (Deep Blue) lately, and they just have an individual spark that makes them great. This novel attempted to keep me interested in Mexico, specifically Acapulco, but it just didn’t happen.

I struggled to finish this, and left it sitting on my bedside table, half read for more than a month. When I picked it back up again, I finished it off in half an hour. There just wasn’t enough substance for me in there.

Isn’t Suzie an adult? She is a complete and pathological liar. Poor Suzie, she has to choose between two smoking-hot men, and to do that, she has to insist on having a divorce from a mistimed earlier marriage. Excuse me for not feeling more sympathetic. If you can afford to live in a house by yourself and buy an overpriced coffee once a week, I’m pretty sure you could afford the trip to end the marriage yourself.

I didn’t find myself satisfied with the Mercedes-Suzie dynamic at the ending. I also couldn’t have cared less about who she ended up with. James might be a soft-touch, but I don’t think he’s blameless either, even if he isn’t the total user of Joaquin-standards. Perhaps I would have enjoyed reading it from different perspectives instead.

Didn’t love it. Unless you have a thing for Mexico and love triangles, don’t worry about reading it.

2star

Review: Dan Ford – The Evolution of Adam

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The Evolution of Adam
Dan Ford

Highly evolved spiritual entities make simple animals into humans with sentience and free-will. What follows in recent times is their journey towards enlightenment and the quest for ‘God’.

22849011I put off reading this novel because it sounded like yet another ‘Spiritual Quest’ novel that wanted to tell me how to live my life. Instead I found a fiction that was just how the blurb announced it. The only problem was that the blurb read more as an advertising brief than a quick summary of the text.

The characters had very nice variety in them. Although I felt like Adam was the main character (of course, since the book is sort of named after him after all!), the other characters got airtime and some development. I didn’t feel like I needed to prefer one over the other, and I think the majority of people could find someone that they related to.

Oh dear. This novel was a bit of a tome, since despite having large text it came in at 500 pages. My feeling was that for every three sentences, it could be replaced with one sentence to give a more pithy and powerful novel. I got caught down in the colour of clothing and the insecurities of the characters when I should have been entranced by the story.

I confess that I didn’t finish this novel (I read up to chapter 4), which would usually be an automatic 1 star from me. But I’m giving this novel 2 stars. The storyline would have been fine, but the wording was just too much for me. I can see the potential there, I’d be willing to try reading it again if some serious editing took place.

2star

Review: Antonia Senior – The Winter Isles

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The Winter Isles
Antonia Senior

Somerled is a young boy when his family first travels to the unforgiving slopes of Scotland. His future doesn’t seem bright, his father loves but doesn’t trust him. His beloved mother keeps standing tall by his side at all points. When he grows to be a warrior, he is able to achieve unbelievable feats in battle.

25838712Honestly, this book almost bored me stupid. Somerled gets into bigger and bigger battles, produces more and more children. The battles are like road humps, they just keep happening. I didn’t finish reading it, and don’t even feel that sorry about it. I have better things to read. If you’re looking for a innovative warrior story, I’d go for Eirelan.

The only light point of this novel was getting the perspectives from the women. It was refreshing to have something other than Somerled’s endless questioning and optimism. The mental voices were crisp and distinct, I could easily tell them apart, and that’s something that is rarely done well.

My history is rusty, even though I generally have some idea of what is going on in the Celtic and Gaelic areas. This novel didn’t fill in any gaps, and I didn’t feel like I got anything out of it. Boring. 2 stars only for its excellent perspective work.

2star