gruhuken's review against another edition
4.0
It's been about 4? 5? years since I read this for my school's WeRead program but I very much enjoyed it. Just leaving a review here to show off that i met the author at the event and she is *incredibly* cool and gives hilarious talks
random_spider's review
3.5
**Not yet a settled review**
Shine was good. It's my second book by this author, and even though I knew it couldn't beat Bone Talk, it was still able to entertain me. We follow our young protagonist (with social issues about her condition) took on the internet, and then later meeting his mother's lost twin? (I'm not sure, but she IS family.) This is actually a potent collaboration of mystery and psychological thriller genre, found within a middle-grade novel (which was new for me.)
I treat this book as a weaker version of Pretty Baby (by Mary Kubica), but I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book because it's pretty decent. I like the Yaya character (Filipino term for housemaid/household helper.) And the connection/mistranslation between disabilities and supernatural beliefs was handled well. It goes to show how harmful beliefs and taboos could be in someone's life, especially in an isolated place where escape isn't easy. The book had problems though, like the themes in the first half of the book was totally abandoned in the later parts like it didn't matter much. Our main protagonist was also transformed into a background character in the third act.
A reliable 7/10 rating. Need fresh rereading for updates and justifications.
Shine was good. It's my second book by this author, and even though I knew it couldn't beat Bone Talk, it was still able to entertain me. We follow our young protagonist (with social issues about her condition) took on the internet, and then later meeting his mother's lost twin? (I'm not sure, but she IS family.) This is actually a potent collaboration of mystery and psychological thriller genre, found within a middle-grade novel (which was new for me.)
I treat this book as a weaker version of Pretty Baby (by Mary Kubica), but I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book because it's pretty decent. I like the Yaya character (Filipino term for housemaid/household helper.) And the connection/mistranslation between disabilities and supernatural beliefs was handled well. It goes to show how harmful beliefs and taboos could be in someone's life, especially in an isolated place where escape isn't easy. The book had problems though, like the themes in the first half of the book was totally abandoned in the later parts like it didn't matter much. Our main protagonist was also transformed into a background character in the third act.
A reliable 7/10 rating. Need fresh rereading for updates and justifications.
umrah's review against another edition
5.0
This book really absorbed me in. The plot is amazing, I could feel the atmosphere surrounding the book, just by reading it. Best read on a rainy day. :D
mezzythedragon's review against another edition
4.0
The mystery element was rather predictable, and it started off a bit slow for my liking, but I did enjoy reading Gourlay's second novel. There are Filipino elements like the names Banawa and Yaya (not to mention Yaya's personality which can border on stereotypical, but oh well), but not once did Gourlay beat the audience over the head with ethnic identity. I have probably said this in other reviews, but I like how an author doesn't feel he/she has to justify the character's existence simply because he/she is of another race or ethnicity. In this story, on the other hand, Gourlay focuses more on Rosa's condition, the Calm, which has rendered her mute. I don't often get stories about people who have different physical abilities, so that was good.
indio_ink's review against another edition
5.0
From the book: "This is not a ghost story"","" even though there are plenty of ghosts in it. And it’s not a horror story"","" though some people might be horrified. It’s not a monster story either even though there is a monster in it and that monster happens to be me."
kirstysbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this story. This book is about a girl called Rosa who has a disease called The Calm which means she is unable to talk. She lives on an island where people with The Calm are viewed as monsters so she rarely leaves her house. Whilst we see Rosa's story in the present we see her mother as a child with her twin sister Kat.
At first, it took me awhile to get into this story as but once I had got into it I found it to be really fast paced and I sat and read a large portion of it in one go. I thought the story was really well written and the combination of the past and present worked really well. For such a short book there was quite a lot happening in it and there were many different themes that were explored.
At first, it took me awhile to get into this story as but once I had got into it I found it to be really fast paced and I sat and read a large portion of it in one go. I thought the story was really well written and the combination of the past and present worked really well. For such a short book there was quite a lot happening in it and there were many different themes that were explored.
shane_delier's review against another edition
3.0
This book has a unique charm and I liked it overall. The multiple loose ends and questions that I have when I finished it are the things that are keeping me from giving it a higher rating tho.
replaceblue's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75