User Profile

Elska Bee

ElskaBee@outside.ofa.dog

Joined 1 year, 9 months ago

Favourite Genres: horror, magical realism, fantasy (but I'll give almost anything a go!) Lover of all things creepy and spooky or excessively cute

This link opens in a pop-up window

Elska Bee's books

Currently Reading

View all books
Shine (2020, Simon Pulse) 2 stars

Review of 'Shine' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

A fun read overall, but it was a pretty mediocre book.

The good:
- The actual writing was pretty decent, not standout, but not bad for a cheesy teen novel

- Not as childish as I was worried. there's teen drinking, swearing, and real-world problems among all the over the top k-pop drama

- Much of the 'over the top' drama was pretty entertaining despite being unrealistic at times

- The main characters weren't entirely one dimensional throughout
(notice how the praise is very measured?)

The not so good:
- With all the over the top drama, it felt like it would've worked better as a k-drama (which based on the acknowledgments at the end seems to be the goal). It couldn't decide how realistic it wanted to be and made for a bit of a confused tone. It could have been an entertaining melodramatic story OR it could have …

Midnight Sun (Hardcover, 2020, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) 3 stars

This amazing book was created August, 2020 by #1 bestselling author of the Twilight Saga, …

Review of 'Midnight Sun' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

No better or worse than Twilight.

If you are a twilight renaissance participant or a former twi-hard that's just curious, then I suppose you will get something out of it - I did - but it definitely has many flaws.

Being the same story as twilight but written from another perspective limits it severely, it has the same plot points just with other pieces filled in and a few flashback type sections sprinkled throughout.

The biggest downside was the length. It was very long and it felt like it by the end I basically had to start skimming paragraphs so that I could actually get through it without giving up. It's significantly longer than twilight, but most of that is Edward's self-loathing which gets very repetitive when he same analogies are used over and over. Repetition can work when done well, but here it felt like being talked down to. …

Mindful Eating on the Go (2018, Shambhala Publications, Incorporated, Shambhala) 4 stars

Review of 'Mindful Eating on the Go' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I'm very much a skeptic. I also don't like mindfulness. I hate yoga, meditation, reflective journaling, gratefulness lists and all that jazz. BUT I really enjoyed this book. You can tell it comes from someone who really knows what they're talking about. It doesn't focus on what you eat, but how you eat it. Which is so refreshing.

If you're someone who doesn't like being told what to do and how to do it as if there's "one true way" to eat, then this is the book for you. It's about examining how you eat and recognising if there are things you could do differently in order to make your relationship with food a more positive one. It's not about eating a specific meal plan or losing weight or eating less, but it helps you get insight into why you eat the way you do and deciding for yourself what …

The Crucible (2000) 4 stars

Review of 'The Crucible' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Originally I read this as a school assignment, but I've read it many times since. It's very short, but so packed with interesting characters and themes. To study this book was a delight and a fascination. If you normally don't enjoy historical fiction, if you normally don't read plays, I highly recommend this one. At the very least, it's incredibly short.

Harry Potter And The Sorcer's Stone (The Sorcerer's Stone) (AudiobookFormat, 1999, Random House Books On Tape) 4 stars

Review of "Harry Potter And The Sorcer's Stone (The Sorcerer's Stone)" on 'Goodreads'

No rating

I just couldn't get through this one. I don't mind middle grade books, but the writing style really made me feel like I was trudging through mud to get through it. I found I couldn't connect to the characters and the world building felt a bit underwhelming. The worst part is it kind of meanders and feels directionless. I know it ends up somewhere interesting, but it was taking too long to get there. In the end I put it down and never picked it up again at around a third of the way through.