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writer6's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee, but I unfortunately didn't love it as much as I love Jeff Zentner's first two books, The Serpent King and Goodbye Days. I liked both Delia and Josie as characters, but I definitely didn't love them. Personally, I found both Delia and Josie rather annoying at times throughout the book. Plus, while I enjoyed the overall plot of Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee, I didn't find it as enjoyable and compelling as Zentner's writing for The Serpent King and Goodbye Days is to me. Ultimately, Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee is a really good and enjoyable book, but it's still my least favorite of Jeff Zentner's three books.
My rating/score: 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars on the Goodreads rating system, and 7 out of 10 on my own personal scoring system.
My rating/score: 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars on the Goodreads rating system, and 7 out of 10 on my own personal scoring system.
emmabeckman's review against another edition
4.0
Cute! Definitely not as hard-hitting as Goodbye Days. Here for Lawson in every way. I would definitely suggest that people come into this book with laidback expectations, as it's definitely... sillier than you might anticipate. I enjoyed the amount of silliness overall, but I think the book did get a bit repetitive about halfway through. Some of the same jokes were made more than once and not as inside jokes, which worked the first couple of times but then got a bit old. I think Jeff Zentner's books (that I've read) are really good ones to give to YA boys (and all other genders, but especially if you're trying to get a boy to read more, or really anyone to read more). The two protagonists/perspectives are girls, but I think the writing is such that young adults of all genders will be interested in the story and the characters.
ktmomma's review against another edition
2.75
The character development was on par for this author, but the plot felt like he let a 5th grade boy design it. Then he clubbed you over the head with moral platitudes at the end in the form of character reflections. So disappointing. Read anything else he’s written.
mizzlroy's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but it didn’t captivate me the way his previous books have. I also felt like the end was a bit rushed and I would’ve like to see their lives about five years down the line. Still it was a good story and I know some of my students will really enjoy it.
befsk's review against another edition
4.0
As someone who often takes fun in reading/watching things because I know it's going to be entertainingly bad, I completely relate to the premise of the book - a pair of high school girls start a public access TV show where they show terrible horror movies and lightly mock them.
The very short chapters and the swapping between the two protagonists every time is a little disconcerting at the start of the book. Their voices are very similar - which is actually realistic if these two are best friends. It does, however, make it difficult to tell the two apart for the first 10% of the book, but if you stick with it and remember that one of them has an absentee father and the other has aspirations to be on TV, then you're good.
After that initial problem I found it hard to put the book down because it's so sweet and realistic and fun, but not mindlessly so. It's got a sadness to it but the friendship between our two protagonists does a lot to move the story forwards and add heart to the book.
The love interest for Josie is so sweet and adorable and perfect. Slightly too unbelievably perfect, but I loved him regardless.
The girls are relatable and random and mildly funny. Not as funny as the book thinks it is though, unfortunately. I'm baffled as to why every idiot these two meet have the same random quirks. Like thinking that holding a fart damages your liver and keeping bread in your truck for snacks and claiming that something that they've been told is physically impossible is 'just my opinion'. The amount of people that have these specific traits must be a severely small amount because I've never met anyone with any, separately. Yet we meet 5 or 6 characters that do exactly this, to prove they're idiots and continue a running gag that they'd have no way of knowing anything about. Minor thing but it's really been pissing me off.
No matter what niggles I have with book, I cannot emphasise enough how fun and sweet it is. It grabbed me and didn't let me go.
I received this ARC through Netgalley.
The very short chapters and the swapping between the two protagonists every time is a little disconcerting at the start of the book. Their voices are very similar - which is actually realistic if these two are best friends. It does, however, make it difficult to tell the two apart for the first 10% of the book, but if you stick with it and remember that one of them has an absentee father and the other has aspirations to be on TV, then you're good.
After that initial problem I found it hard to put the book down because it's so sweet and realistic and fun, but not mindlessly so. It's got a sadness to it but the friendship between our two protagonists does a lot to move the story forwards and add heart to the book.
The love interest for Josie is so sweet and adorable and perfect. Slightly too unbelievably perfect, but I loved him regardless.
The girls are relatable and random and mildly funny. Not as funny as the book thinks it is though, unfortunately. I'm baffled as to why every idiot these two meet have the same random quirks. Like thinking that holding a fart damages your liver and keeping bread in your truck for snacks and claiming that something that they've been told is physically impossible is 'just my opinion'. The amount of people that have these specific traits must be a severely small amount because I've never met anyone with any, separately. Yet we meet 5 or 6 characters that do exactly this, to prove they're idiots and continue a running gag that they'd have no way of knowing anything about. Minor thing but it's really been pissing me off.
No matter what niggles I have with book, I cannot emphasise enough how fun and sweet it is. It grabbed me and didn't let me go.
Spoiler
And it was nice to get a book with a solid, fully fleshed out ending. And a happy one at that.I received this ARC through Netgalley.
blurringpages's review
5.0
I absolutely adored this book. I loved the characters and seeing their stories unfold.
I connected so much with Delia and what she went through. It was amazing to read something that helped me understand feelings I had been through.
I connected so much with Delia and what she went through. It was amazing to read something that helped me understand feelings I had been through.
judemoon's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5 ✰
I can't really make a serious review about this book because the only thing I can think of is how glad I am to have read it?? It was exactly what I needed to read right now, as it's a book that screams comfort and hope. I loved Delia and Josie and Lawson and Arliss and everyone on this book. This made me cry as I hadn't cried for a long time and that means I connected a lot with this book, which is what I always try to find. I feel a little bit warmer after finishing it, I like that. <3
I can't really make a serious review about this book because the only thing I can think of is how glad I am to have read it?? It was exactly what I needed to read right now, as it's a book that screams comfort and hope. I loved Delia and Josie and Lawson and Arliss and everyone on this book. This made me cry as I hadn't cried for a long time and that means I connected a lot with this book, which is what I always try to find. I feel a little bit warmer after finishing it, I like that. <3
ellysreadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
deestie's review against another edition
2.0
Spoiler:
I didn't like this book, because one of the girls has nothing and ends up with nothing. Very uninspiring read.
I didn't like this book, because one of the girls has nothing and ends up with nothing. Very uninspiring read.