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breannalynn's reviews
124 reviews
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
2.0
EDIT: I lowered my rating from 2.5 to 2 stars because I just really dislike this book. Every time I think about it I get a little angrier for the time I lost.
I’ll start by saying that while I respect the ‘twist of meaning’ at the end as Cadence puts it, it didn’t do as much for me as it did for other people. I wasn’t blown away by any means, and I just really hate the ‘figment of their imagination’ trope. I find it so cheap if not done right, and in my opinion it was not done well here. I would have been less critical of the four weeks where Cadence imagined the liars, which is a dumb name if I’m being honest, if she hadn’t gotten an entire redemption ark and chance to say goodbye to them as well. Was she seeing ghosts? Traumatic hallucinations? I think the fact that I need to ask says everything.
I’ve heard people defend the fragmented chapters and say that they act as an insight to Cadence’s memory, which is fair, but if that’s the case I don’t think that was done very well either. The chapters weren’t stopped in places that reflected a break in memory or an inconvenience for Cadence. They all just ended at awkward moments and completely fucked with the flow of the story.
While this wasn’t a horrible read, it wasn’t a good one either. I don’t think there was a single line of dialogue or thought in Cadence’s head that didn’t have me rolling my eyes. Who the fuck talks like that? I doubt I have to mention the pretentiousness of it all, which was addressed in a way, I guess?? The length of it was literally Gat saying “do yall ever think about, how, like, people in the world suffer? woah” and Cadence forgiving her family in the end for virtually all of their rich asshole behavior and bigotry because now they were ‘brought together’ by the fire, and granddad punished himself by building a big metal and glass fortress with a Japanese garden. boo hoo. if he wanted to punish himself he should have donated his shit and spent some time reflecting on his privileges for once. I just hate when authors try to appear woke in their books by addressing base level racism and patriarchy and whatnot, but never have nuanced discussion around it. STIR THE POT A LITTLE. It’s such a cheat to take the easy way out and take sides everyone will agree on. Yes, the family is selfish. Yes, the granddad is racist. Yes, people in the world fucking suffer. Cadence couldn’t have had a grander revelation? The book ends, essentially exactly as it started, minus three people.
My final complaint without being overly rude (Which I may have been already, I apologize) is just how one dimensional this story is. Are you really telling me that her family forgives her that easily? I agree that they shouldn’t hold grudges, but I don’t see how EVERYONE in her annoying ass family could be all peachy with her being the sole survivor. Surely one of those aunts would have blamed her in some way or another. It would have at least been more interesting to see the aunts show contempt for her earlier in the story, so that we are left wondering as to why. I feel like this story had so much potential but it was wasted on bad dialogue and teenagers who are not realistic in the slightest sense. Everyone was so boring. suffering through the first three quarters was not worth it in my opinion.
(I don’t hold any contempt to the author, of course, and I’ve heard many great experiences from other people with this story, and I’m happy for them. My experience was just not the same.)
2/5
I’ll start by saying that while I respect the ‘twist of meaning’ at the end as Cadence puts it, it didn’t do as much for me as it did for other people. I wasn’t blown away by any means, and I just really hate the ‘figment of their imagination’ trope. I find it so cheap if not done right, and in my opinion it was not done well here. I would have been less critical of the four weeks where Cadence imagined the liars, which is a dumb name if I’m being honest, if she hadn’t gotten an entire redemption ark and chance to say goodbye to them as well. Was she seeing ghosts? Traumatic hallucinations? I think the fact that I need to ask says everything.
I’ve heard people defend the fragmented chapters and say that they act as an insight to Cadence’s memory, which is fair, but if that’s the case I don’t think that was done very well either. The chapters weren’t stopped in places that reflected a break in memory or an inconvenience for Cadence. They all just ended at awkward moments and completely fucked with the flow of the story.
While this wasn’t a horrible read, it wasn’t a good one either. I don’t think there was a single line of dialogue or thought in Cadence’s head that didn’t have me rolling my eyes. Who the fuck talks like that? I doubt I have to mention the pretentiousness of it all, which was addressed in a way, I guess?? The length of it was literally Gat saying “do yall ever think about, how, like, people in the world suffer? woah” and Cadence forgiving her family in the end for virtually all of their rich asshole behavior and bigotry because now they were ‘brought together’ by the fire, and granddad punished himself by building a big metal and glass fortress with a Japanese garden. boo hoo. if he wanted to punish himself he should have donated his shit and spent some time reflecting on his privileges for once. I just hate when authors try to appear woke in their books by addressing base level racism and patriarchy and whatnot, but never have nuanced discussion around it. STIR THE POT A LITTLE. It’s such a cheat to take the easy way out and take sides everyone will agree on. Yes, the family is selfish. Yes, the granddad is racist. Yes, people in the world fucking suffer. Cadence couldn’t have had a grander revelation? The book ends, essentially exactly as it started, minus three people.
My final complaint without being overly rude (Which I may have been already, I apologize) is just how one dimensional this story is. Are you really telling me that her family forgives her that easily? I agree that they shouldn’t hold grudges, but I don’t see how EVERYONE in her annoying ass family could be all peachy with her being the sole survivor. Surely one of those aunts would have blamed her in some way or another. It would have at least been more interesting to see the aunts show contempt for her earlier in the story, so that we are left wondering as to why. I feel like this story had so much potential but it was wasted on bad dialogue and teenagers who are not realistic in the slightest sense. Everyone was so boring. suffering through the first three quarters was not worth it in my opinion.
(I don’t hold any contempt to the author, of course, and I’ve heard many great experiences from other people with this story, and I’m happy for them. My experience was just not the same.)
2/5
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
5.0
ive tried writing a review several times, but i think i’ve drained my brain by crying too much. if the idea of time flying by fills you with dread, you’ll absolutely hate this. i did, and i love it for that.
Vita Nostra by Sergey Dyachenko, Marina Dyachenko
5.0
I think I’m going to need several years to fully digest this book. I went in expecting dark academia and magic, but I got so much more. The ‘magic’ system is more philosophical than anything, and if you read closely you’ll find it actually makes sense in the real world too. This book was like a spiritual journey for me, and that ending... holy shit. I was confused at first, but the longer I sit on it the more amazed I am at the talent of the authors. Beautiful.