Cruel Beauty

September 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

LeeLeave a comment

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
(Cruel Beauty Universe, book 1)
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  Yes
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 2 – 4
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Um… Blended fairytales.
Least Favorite Thing:  I rolled my eyes so many times I gave myself a headache.

I had been meaning to read this for at least a year and I grabbed it because I wanted a quick, easy read. It was quick, but it was a little too boring to be “easy” to read. It wasn’t a bad book, it just didn’t meet it’s potential. Check out my review for more details (link above).

My Posts About Cruel Beauty

Green by Jay Lake
(Green Universe, book 1)
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 5 – 12
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  This quote lol
Least Favorite Thing:  Descriptions ad nauseam…

I read this for a Travelling Book Project I’m participating in as part of a discord book club. It took me a while to get used to the writing style, but once I did I moved through it pretty well. I just didn’t enjoy the actual plot (once the plot actually started) and the way it went from non-magical to magical fantasy out of almost nowhere…

My Posts About Green

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
(Sookie Stackhouse, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 13 – 14
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I just… I just… I just liiiiike it…
Least Favorite Thing:  Um. I hate Bill.

This book is just such Junk Food. I honestly don’t know why I even read this one after the first one. It’s not my style of novel at all, but I just like the trash I don’t know y’all.

My Posts About Living Dead in Dallas

Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
(House of Night, book 1)
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 14 – 17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Interesting vampire lore.
Least Favorite Thing:  Um… The protag was just soooo OP…

I had trouble connecting to the main character because she was so mentally young. This is not technically a bad thing though, because she was young and this was the first YA book in a while where I’ve actually felt like the protag was their age.

My Posts About Marked

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
(Sookie Stackhouse, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 17 – 18
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I’m Eric trash…
Least Favorite Thing:  Bill was barely even “on screen” (so to speak) and I still had to hear about him every ten seconds.

DAMMIT SOOKIE GET OVER BILL YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY FREAKISHLY HOT DUDES WHO WOULD KILL FOR YOU (literally) AND BILL IS SO FUCKING BORING, GIRL!

My Posts About Club Dead

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
(Sookie Stackhouse, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 19 – 21
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Debbie finally got abjured lol
Least Favorite Thing:  Does she have to break down every time she kills someone? I mean isn’t she used to that by now?

Honestly I’m trash for these books. This is not even my genre. I hate romance books so much, but I cannot stop with these. I bought all the ones the used bookstore had!

My Posts About Dead to the World

Uninvited by Amanda Marrone
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 25 – 26
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Teamwork makes the dream work.
Least Favorite Thing:  Are there any normal parents in this town? It’s only helicopter parents or parents who give zero fucks…

I have had this on my shelves for years and I thought it was about time I got around to reading it. I don’t know why I didn’t do it before, it wasn’t exactly a hard read…

My Posts About Uninvited

When She Hollers by Cynthia Voigt
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 26
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I like how it ends hopefully, but we never actually see the resolution of her story.
Least Favorite:  Never got to see her stab the creep…

I am a major Cynthia Voigt fan and I realized one day that I had somehow missed this book! How could I have missed this book? No idea! But I had to get my hands on it asap and read it.

My Posts About When She Hollers

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
(Sookie Stackhouse, book 5)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  September 26 – 28
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Sookie calling the various men on their bullshit.
Least Favorite Thing:  Why is she constantly horny? Are normal humans this horny all the time??

I am utter trash for the Sookie Stackhouse books. I know they aren’t good and I don’t even like this genre, but I cannot stop with this series. Help? lol

My Posts About Dead as a Doornail

In Progress

Words from Books

LeeLeave a comment

palimpsest

/ˈpaləm(p)ˌsest/
noun

  1. a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain
  2. something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form
They swept through me until I forgot to fight, forgot that I had ever been anything but a palimpsest of memories overwritten by visions.

– Rosamund Hodge, Cruel Beauty

Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

LeeLeave a comment

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok

I found this book difficult to finish, but it wasn’t all bad. And I know a lot of other people loved this book, so who knows, you might too.

The mythology and blend of fairytales (think rumplestiltskin + beauty and the beast + greek mythology + something else) was pretty interesting and the writing was decent. Unfortunately that’s about where my praise ends.

The whole plot of her “mission” really drags and drags and gets nowhere for the majority of the book. At one point the author resorts to changing an entire character’s personality out of nowhere in a desperate attempt to move the plot along.

And of course there’s the unexplained fact that Nyx is extra special and “not like other wives girls” that is never even remotely justified in the text, just commented on and forgotten.

What really got me, though, were the romances. They were both extremely insta-lovey and contrived. Like she kisses one for no reason after just meeting him and now she’s in love and then the other she hates except his shoulder? was? attractive? and now she has to fight her love for him and also have sex in a magic sky garden? The only redeeming factor of the world’s most unromantic love triangle was the way it wound up being resolved. I have definitely never seen that in a story before and I have to admit it was interesting, if not entirely surprising.

The ending was odd in that it felt both rushed and too long at the same time. It felt like the elements were kind of jumbled and then there had to be a little up-and-down that was meant, I think, to play on the reader’s emotions, but actually just tried my patience.

All in all I wanted to give it three stars, but I could only justify two and I can’t imagine I’ll read anything by this author again soon.