After fifteen-year-old Chloe starts seeing ghosts and is sent to Lyle House, a mysterious group …
Review of 'The Summoning' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
This was a very meh read. It was a nice quick fix at the time, but it doesn't have enough of anything to make it truly compelling.
The characters were fine but not great and writing was also fine. My biggest problems were how contrived some plot elements felt and how cartoonish the villains were.
The best part was that it didn't hold back on creep factor for a younger skewing YA.
But... It also has one of my most hated tropes: "you're not actually mentally ill, you have powers and taking your meds is weakening you" This is SUCH a dangerous trope and I really hate seeing it. SPOILERS: They also have the character institutionalised and the people running the group home are
"Three teens at a summer program for gifted students uncover shocking secets in the sanatorium-turned-dorm …
Review of 'Asylum' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
This was an extremely underwhelming book. I remember being so frustrated by characters' decisions and it really wasn't able to communicate the spooky vibe it was going for. There's better middle grade stuff in this genre, don't bother with this one.
Review of 'Vampire Academy Series By Richelle Mead' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Anything over a 3.5 for this would be generous despite my nostalgia.
This is my first time rereading this book in over ten years and I liked it more than I was worried. I can't say it has aged amazingly, but most of the difficult topics (self-harm and depression, age gap crushes) are dealt with in a way that never glamourises or romanticises and even has some good healthy takeaways by the end. I do however wish that conversations around slut-shaming and bullying were handled a bit better. The former simply had a messy message and seemed to contradict itself, the latter not seriously acknowledged despite how prominent the bullying/school drama plotlines are throughout.
The writing style is very simple and easy to read which is fine, but older readers might find it a bit lacking. I found the multiple plot elements enough to hold interest. The school politics wore …
Anything over a 3.5 for this would be generous despite my nostalgia.
This is my first time rereading this book in over ten years and I liked it more than I was worried. I can't say it has aged amazingly, but most of the difficult topics (self-harm and depression, age gap crushes) are dealt with in a way that never glamourises or romanticises and even has some good healthy takeaways by the end. I do however wish that conversations around slut-shaming and bullying were handled a bit better. The former simply had a messy message and seemed to contradict itself, the latter not seriously acknowledged despite how prominent the bullying/school drama plotlines are throughout.
The writing style is very simple and easy to read which is fine, but older readers might find it a bit lacking. I found the multiple plot elements enough to hold interest. The school politics wore on me a bit, whereas the journey Rose goes on to learn to be more responsible and trust people around her was well done imo. I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding of the vampire society and how the school is run. I think the author put a lot of thought into the position each character in the book has in society and how that affects their choices and how they treat others. Most of the time they treat each other poorly! but societal pressure and petty teenage angst create a pressure cooker environment in the school that is palpable. Rose in particular is mean to almost everyone except Lissa, which is acknowledged in the book and honestly just made me like Rose more. Give me petty teenage characters that get angry and mess up (Not perfect and bland protags that have no room for growth)
Anyway, this book despite its length has a lot going on and although it is very much a vampire YA book published in 2007, I did enjoy my time reading it!
