Short and Simple Reviews: Wild Bird, Love & First Sight, and The First Time She Drowned

This is a place for books that I didn't fully review.

Maybe I listed my likes and dislikes, had a little short paragraph, or a few sentences to convey my feelings on the book, but whatever the "review" is, all of them are short and simple. (hence the clever name)

This week I have a couple of books I listened to on audio thanks to Audiobooksync. Audiobooksync offers two free downloadable audiobooks every week during the summer, so check that out if you're interested.

3:47 a.m. That's when they come for Wren Clemens. She's hustled out of her house and into a waiting car, then a plane, and then taken on a forced march into the desert. This is what happens to kids who've gone so far off the rails, their parents don't know what to do with them any more. This is wilderness therapy camp.

The Wren who arrives in the Utah desert is angry and bitter, and blaming everyone but herself. But angry can't put up a tent. And bitter won't start a fire. Wren's going to have to admit she needs help if she's going to survive.

In her most incisive and insightful book yet, beloved author Wendelin Van Draanen's offers a remarkable portrait of a girl who took a wrong turn and got lost--but who may be able to find her way back again in the vast, harsh desert.

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Review

This book features a teenage girl, Wren, being forced by her parents to attend a Utah wilderness camp after she gets into the wrong crowd. The book immediately starts with Wren being taken in the very early morning with no clue what is happening. There's a lot of denial on her part, and anger. Throughout a large part of the beginning, Wren yells at everyone and whines for help, not that I blame her. She has no idea how to survive in the Utah wilderness and she does have good reason to be upset. It was great, though, to see throughout this book how much she grows and changes. This book mostly takes place inside Wren's head, as sometimes not a whole lot happens in the wilderness, but it was interesting seeing the pieces fall into place as she slowly tells us what made her parents send her to the camp. One really great thing about this book as well is that there is no romance! This is a YA book where a teenage girl becomes self-reliant and changes without any love interest trying to "help" her. Overall this was a pretty decent read and great on audio.

 I hereby give this book

3.5 Stars

Meaning: I liked it, but it wasn't quite amazing

Love is more than meets the eye.

On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right?

As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a sweet but shy girl named Cecily. And despite his fear that having a girlfriend will make him inherently dependent on someone sighted, the two of them grow closer and closer. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn’t meet traditional definitions of beauty—in fact, everything he’d heard about her appearance was a lie engineered by their so-called friends to get the two of them together. Does it matter what Cecily looks like? No, not really. But then why does Will feel so betrayed?

  

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Review

I really enjoyed the narration in this book. The MC, Will, has a very instinctive voice that is prone to humor. It worked really well on audio. The premise of this book was also interesting, a blind teenager that might be given an opportunity to see. I thought it discussed interesting ideas, not only things that what a procedure like that would do and how it would actually affect the brain, but I really liked how the characters discussed things like art in this book. Will was born blind so he had never seen art before, of course, so it was interesting how Cecily tried to explain it as well as how Will tried to explain things to her. The main reason why I could not give a full four stars is Will frustrated me later on in the book. Will feels "betrayed" by Cecily not telling Will about her appearance. I sided more on Cecily's side than Will's and I think Will overacted. Honestly, why does her appearance matter all that much to him?

 I hereby give this book

3.5 Stars

Meaning: I liked it, but it wasn't quite amazing

Cassie O’Malley has been trying to keep her head above water—literally and metaphorically—since birth. It’s been two and a half years since Cassie’s mother dumped her in a mental institution against her will, and now, at eighteen, Cassie is finally able to reclaim her life and enter the world on her own terms.

But freedom is a poor match against a lifetime of psychological damage. As Cassie plumbs the depths of her new surroundings, the startling truths she uncovers about her own family narrative make it impossible to cut the tethers of a tumultuous past. And when the unhealthy mother-daughter relationship that defined Cassie’s childhood and adolescence threatens to pull her under once again, Cassie must decide: whose version of history is real? And more important, whose life must she save?

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Review

This is a very powerful and heart-wrenching read. I listened to this book on audio and while it was wonderfully narrated, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the audio. This is not a happy book and is, in fact, a very depressing read. If you want to feel gut-wrenching sadness while during your chores, go ahead and listen to the audio. I could clearly hear and feel the emotions of Cassie. There is so much betrayal and sadness in her life, she feels like she is drowning in it, but her toxic relationship with her mother keeps reappearing. Cassie's mother would most certainly not win any mother of the year awards and every time I thought that things must get better for Cassie, whether in her flashbacks or in her present, things kept going downhill. I'm glad that the book ended on an optimistic note, but there was a moment where I was worried that she was becoming her mother. Overall, this was a good book and it's unfortunate that there are teens who have lives like Cassie's.

 I hereby give this book

3 Stars

Meaning: I liked it

REVIEW: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

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MY THOUGHTS
So, I first read this book in 2012 but I decided to reread this recently because I still hadn't picked up the next books in the series and wanted to refresh my memory (although I guess that wasn't necessary because it looks like they are companion books). Even though I reviewed it back in 2012, I scarcely call that cringe-worthy mess a "review", so here are my more up-to-date and coherent thoughts on this book.

When Ismae was in the womb, her mother ingested poison meant to kill Ismae. But Ismae survived and has since been known as the daughter of Death. When she needs to escape a violent arranged marriage, she is sent to the convent of St. Mortain. There she is trained to serve the God of Death and carry out his wishes. His wishes usually mean killing men that are betraying their country and carry the mark of Mortain. After a man, Duval, argues with the convent for ruining his plans and killing the betrayers he was planning on integrating, Ismae is sent to stay with him at court. Not only to catch betrayers, but the convent is suspicious of Duval. The longer she stays in court, the more confused Ismae gets because she is not sure who is the real betrayer.

I mostly listened to this on audiobook but I switched from physical format and audio multiple times. The audio was fine, but it was confusing at points because there is a very large cast of characters and I sometimes had a hard time keeping track of who was who. When switching formats I would get further confused because the pronunciation of a name would not always match what I expected the name to be spelled. Nevertheless, I did like this book. It has a very interesting concept, assassin nuns with a historical backdrop, hints of magic, and political betrayals. This is a pretty hefty book and while there are major moments, I will admit that there were multiple occasions where I lost interest. A lot of the book was more politics and less murder, which yeah, I don't want murder, but when you are already confused by the cast of characters, adding politics in the mix does not pique your interest.

Probably one of the strongest things in this book was the female characters. The female characters in this book are incredibly strong. There is, of course, the obvious strength, the ability to kill, but just the way the female characters in this book have to go about their life requires strength. These girls are forced to grow up early. Ismae is forced into an arranged marriage in her young teens and then almost raped. The Duchess is only twelve but is having to deal with a possible marriage to a creep that has been previously married six times. She's trying to help her country, but no one cares for her interests but Duval and (because of her age and sex) everyone thinks that they know better than her. These girls have to have strength because they are given very little power and it made me sad and frustrated throughout this book, but I still loved the fact that they remained strong.

Ismae herself is an interesting character. It is a struggle at times with her because she has a very different perspective than most. She is devout to her saint/god but is not hesitant when it comes to killing. She begins with thinking in black and white and in thinking of only her role, but she changes throughout the book. It is a slow change and it takes her a while to process it, but I do like how she ended up changing. I'm being vague, but I'm trying not to spoil things.

IN CONCLUSION

Overall, I did like this book. I don't think I liked this as much as the first go-round. The first time I read it I was blinded by the premise of "assassin nuns" and all of the glowing reviews, so I ignored any of the confusing bits. This is still a pretty great read and it makes for an intriguing book. I plan on reading the next two books pretty soon!

I hereby give this book

3.5 Stars

Meaning: I liked it, but it wasn't quite amazing.

REVIEW: Take Me There by Susane Colasanti

In one short week . . . three lives change.

Rhiannon is devastated after the breakup with her boyfriend and wants him back. Nicole's ex is still in the picture, but she can't help having a new crush. James and Rhiannon are just friends, though he may try to take it to the next level. Will their desire to take a mean girl down a notch bring these three friends what they want . . . and more?

Set during one life-altering week and told in three realistic perspectives, this engaging, witty novel by the author of When It Happens shows the ups and downs of love, friendship, and karma.

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MY THOUGHTS
It took me awhile to get ended this book, but I ended up enjoying it!

This book is from the perspective of three characters: Rhiannon, Nicole, and James.
Rhiannon's boyfriend just broke up with her, without explanation, and wants him back
Nicole broke things off with her boyfriend, and is now chasing after a crush...on her math teacher.
And James has always been best friends with Rhiannon, but does he feel for more?
These characters will overcome challenges, as well as have some fun.

I read this in audiobook format while I was at work, so I basically listened to it for a few weeks. This fact made the book feel slow, but to be honest, the first part has a very slow pace. This especially worsens with the unusual formatting. You start with Rhiannon telling you what happened from her perspective in the first half of the week, then Nicole will give her perspective of the same days, then James. Then the process repeats itself for the last half of the week. It's a very interesting perspective, and I'm torn at how I feel about the same days being repeated. On one hand, it was repetitive. On the other, It added so much more depth and let me understand the lives of all the characters.

As for characters, I was meh about them at first. Rhiannon was especially irritating because of how she was hanging onto her ex-boyfriend, who is a a-hole. I was mostly upset by her moping and how I just knew that things would come back and bite her. Eventually, the characters grew on me and, in the span of only a week, they grew as well!

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I did end up liking this book, even though it took awhile. The format is hard to get used to and the pacing was a bit slow at first, but the last half really picked up and I loved the growth of the characters. To be honest, I think I would have liked this book more if I read it in traditional form rather than audiobook, but I still liked it. This was a very realistic read and great for fans of contemporary!

I hereby give this book

3 Wheels

Meaning: I liked it