As you know, I’ve been slumping really hard lately when it comes to both reading and blogging. I’ve read a bit over the past two months, but I haven’t written a single review. I feel like I’ll never catch up, so instead of writing full reviews for everything I’ve slacked on, I’m giving you a few quick reviews at a time! Wish me luck as I am forever behind.
THE REVIEWS
This Is Kind Of An Epic Love Story by Kheryn Callender
Disclaimer: An Advance Reader’s Copy of This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kheryn Callender was provided to me by Indigo Books and Music in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion in any way!
I have had this book on my TBR for what feels like forever now and I finally had the chance to pick it up! Here are my quick thoughts on This Is Kind Of An Epic Love Story:
—
What I Loved
- LOVE LOVE LOVE the diverse characters (black, hispanic, gay, bisexual, hearing impaired)
- Love the use of ASL within the story and how descriptive it was
- Love that our main character, Nate, takes the time to learn ASL in order to communicate with Oliver James without a second thought
- The self-discovery
—
What I Disliked
- the amount of arguing and sulking between our two lead characters
- the writing style, it wasn’t bad…but it was lacking a little something…
—
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story and while I would have loved a little less arguing and sulking around and a little more discussion of feelings, the story was cute and extremely diverse!
I would 100% read more from Kheryn Kallender in the future!
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Disclaimer: An Advance Reader’s Copy of Pride by Ibi Zoboi was provided to me by Indigo Books and Music in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion in any way!
—
Listen…I have never read Pride & Prejudice. I know, sad right? Want to know something even sadder? I’m not sure I even really knew what the actual plot of the story was. What kind of book blogger am I right? Anyway, I knew that PRIDE by Ibi Zoboi was a retelling of the classic tale and I decided to give it a try! Nothing like a new contemporary retelling to catch you up to speed!
—
What I Liked
- Zuri Benitez; she was strong, tough and memorable and I absolutely loved her
- The relationship; while I did feel as though it went from “enemies” to lovers kind of quickly, I did enjoy where the relationship ultimately ended up
- quick and fast paced
- beautiful poetry throughout the story
—
What I Didn’t Like
- As mentioned above, the quick “enemies” to lovers. I put enemies in quotations as I don’t think they ever really were enemies, but rather they both were stubborn and refused to acknowledge one another for a hot minute
- It kind of had a bit too much going on towards the end? I’m sure it all relates back to the source material, but I kind of wish the last couple chapters of this novel were spread out a little more to avoid the abruptness of the ending
—
Overall, I really enjoyed this re-telling…even though I have never read the original. Maybe I should get on that?
We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan
This one has been sitting on my shelf for a while and I was about to donate it when I realized that it was written in verse and that I could probably read it super quickly. So, I decided to finally pick it up!
—
What I Liked
- an extremely quick read
- read it in a single sitting
- written in verse; think Ellen Hopkins
- the story was quite dark in nature as well, so if you enjoy Ellen Hopkins, this is probably a good one for you!
What I Didn’t Like
- a little to quick + an abrupt ending
- I want to know what happens after the final pages
- really didn’t love the outcome/ending at all
—
Overall, this was a really important story…however, I wish there was just a little more to it.
There you have it! A little dent in my “to-review” pile! I hope you don’t mind the short formatting this time around and I hope to do better in the future!
Thank you for reading!
Big City Bookworm 