I always hate it when I dislike a book. Alas, it happens. Books are rated usually by the emotional I felt reading the story but writing style as well.
NUMBER 5
Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger
Pages: 286
What's it about?: A boy from a prominent family in Greece is found dead in a dumpster and Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis sets out to find out why.
I thought the plot of this book was promising, but Siger's writing just didn't cut it for me. It was good, but that's about it. Nothing too great. I thought the book took too long to pick up its plot. I think another reason this book didn't cut it for me was the politics. I went into this book not knowing anything about Greek politics (which I will say is my fault). Siger went on and on about them without actually explaining anything. Many points had to be reread so I could understand them.
Also, if I have to be completely honest about the ending, I thought it was bland. I thought to myself, "That was it?" as I read the last few pages. The events on these last few pages I saw coming from chapters before.
Bland book. Not really my thing.
NUMBER 4
Toys by James Patterson
Pages: 364
What's it about?: The Elites want to destroy humans. Technology is on the rise to kill.
The plot was definitely interesting and a neat concept, but I don't think it was executed well. Many of the descriptions were bland and some of the dialogue had me internally screaming, "Are you kidding me?!" A lot of it was very cliched. Some parts of the novel reminded me of every dystopian novel ever. I don't like stereotyping, but at times this definitely came off as the male book equivalent of a "chick flick".
I know short chapters is a Patterson thing, but honestly, many of them could've been put together. I wasn't satisfied when many chapters ended like the way a reader should be.
This novel also didn't scream "Patterson" to me. It came off as the coauthor actually did all of the writing, Patterson edited it, and now the coauthor is using Patterson's name to get more readers.
The ending did pick up a bit and I liked the characterization of every character except Hays. He didn't seem developed enough for me and he came to terms with being who he really is really quick without any sort of development in between.
Yeah. Just not one of Patterson's best.
NUMBER 3
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niggenegger
Pages: 500
What's it about?: Henry is a time traveler and he's not sure what causes this. Clare meets him at six years old on one of his travels. Throughout the novel, their story develops, Henry randomly traveling and Clare awaiting him.
I have so much to day about this book that you'll be surprised this isn't ranked number one.
I really wanted to like this book. I was so excited to read it. I thought the plot was promising but it ended up not being executed well.
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what the plot was. A woman falls in love with a time traveler. So...? All I got was a boring play-by-play of someone's life. The trailer for the movie and the summary on the back of the book made it out to seem that Henry was going to go on these grand adventures. They ended up being very bland. All while reading I could tell so much of it relates to the author. In fact, the author has the same hair color and eyes as Clare. She's from South Haven, Michigan like Clare. And now she currently lives in (the actual city of) Chicago like Clare and Henry.
That leads me to a certain point. Thank God I am from Chicago so therefore I was able to picture everything in my head. I know exactly where Belmont is and same with Lake Shore Drive. I know that Grant Park is just a grassy area by the Bean and not something with swings and slides. I would've liked to see some description of these places anyway that weren't just "I took a left on Belmont and then onto Western." If you aren't from Chicago, most of her descriptions will mean absolutely nothing to you. "Stupid Lincoln Park." Do any non-Chicagoans actually know what Lincoln Park is? The same was done with South Haven. Granted, the house and the meadow were described well. But other than that, I didn't know what to imagine.
Adding more detail leads to my opinion on the author's allusions. I congratulate her on her knowledge of so many things. But I guess try expanding that and showing us that you really do know what you're talking about? The author knows of so many bands and Clare and Henry would randomly recite works of literature. It takes up quite a bit of the story and without any knowledge, these chunks mean nothing.
Not only could some detail be added, but some needed to be taken out. There is so much unimportant detail in this novel. Constant lists of bands. Play-by-plays of what characters are doing that have no significance to the story. Lists of what they're putting on and what they're taking off before sex. I don't fucking care. I spent more than half the book being bored and skimming through it so I can get to the points that actually matter.
I thought Henry's interactions with uber-young Clare were a little strange. I'm reading about a 40 year old man interacting with a six year old girl. Dear Lord. I also thought the development between Clare and present day Henry was too fast, Romeo and Juliet fast. Present day Henry just met Clare and hours later they were in love.
I also question the jobs of these characters. There's no way that Clare and Henry would be able to live the way they do in Chicago as a librarian and an artist that spends a great deal of time just making art rather than dealing it. I mean, being a librarian is a livable job. But you probably won't live the way Henry does.
Finally, these are just two nitpicks and don't affect my view of the book that much: Nobody in Chicago calls it the El. That's a tourist and a suburban thing. If Henry was a typical Chicagoan, he would just call it the train or (to be even more Chicagoan) the specific line he's taking. For example, "Dom, how are you getting there?" "Oh I'm taking the Blue Line". The author also included some Italian that is wrong. "Bella donnas" does not exist. That would be "belle donne". But I do need to thank her for saying Lake Shore Drive. People are under the notion that Chicagoans call it LSD. No. No we do not. That's a suburbanite-trying-to-be-from-the-city thing.
Dear Lord. I don't know, man. I wanted to like this book so bad. I wanted to be able to fall in love with it. But I couldn't. I was bored and a lot of the times the book angered me. I thought the reveal of what would happen to Henry was way too early in the story so when it actually happened I felt absolutely nothing. The ending did nothing for me as well. I spent the last 100 pages counting down to the last one.
NUMBER 2
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Pages: 295
What's it about?: This book explores the life of women of color in rural Georgia during the 1930s. It addresses many social issues of the time.
Ugh. I know you're supposed to like this book because it's a classic. To be honest, I'm very upset that I didn't like this book. I just found it very boring and none of the characters were likable. I liked Celie for a while but even she became unlikable. The book itself was difficult to read. I had a difficult time keeping track of who was talking when. I understand this was done because the story is told in the form of prayer, but I thought it was just distracting.
The only redeeming quality of the book was the end. It was nice to see everyone at peace after reading through so much anger.
NUMBER 1
Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead
Pages: 256
What's it about?: An anthropologist recounts the information she found while staying in Samoa.
I had to read this for a class. This was boring. Just a list of things with hardly any stories. I wasn't engaged at all. Then I found out that some of the facts in this book are probably wrong. Samoans have come out and said that Mead believed everything they told her and later they found some of their jokes in her book labeled as facts. So that ruined this book for me.
And that's that! Stay tuned for my January reads! School is hitting me hard so hopefully I can get to that blog soon.
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