Aimee

• Rated 5 stars

“It is actually as good as everyone says it is. In fact, it's better. So emotional, moreso than any other 'emotional' book I've ever read, and so interesting when it comes to the stuff about Afghanistan life and such. I probably wouldn't have read this if my English Literature teacher hadn't given it to us - I don't usually click well with books dealing with other cultures - but hell, am I glad I did. I really, really related to young Amir in more ways than one, especially personality-wise (not that I've witnessed any rapes, however...) and actually enjoyed reading about his growth and search for redemption. His story was just heartbreaking, not to mention poor Hassan's. I actually burst into tears when the quote "For you a thousand times over" was mentioned again near the end. The whole thing's just beautiful, despite being pretty horrific in places. Definitely my new favourite book, and will be for a long times. I just know that everything I read from now on will be boring in comparison - The Kite Runner is that powerful.”

Aimee wrote this review Thursday, October 15 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Not at all as good as the first one - but that's the case in every book series, right? The second books in a trilogy/whatever always seem like bridges; just something to pass the time while the best things get resolved in book 3. I'm not saying this'll happen with the Generation Dead series, cause I don't even know if Dan Waters is DOING a book 3, but I have a feeling, if there are going to be more books in the series, that Kiss of Life will seem like the least exciting of the lot, and will be passed off as 'not as great' as the first, and 'not as good' as the possible third.

Although a lot happened in the story, I can't say anything really made it as good as Generation Dead. I was eagerly awaiting experiencing Adam as a zombie but, although I LOVEDLOVED his first chapter, his story just seemed boring in comparison to his story when he was alive. I know, I know; isn't that the point of a zombie? But seriously, although I did like reading about him, I just felt myself really dislking him. And the whole Phoebe-and-Adam-getting-together thing was way too anti-climatic, and eventually I really could not care less whether they were together or not. Tommy suddenly disappearing was anti-climatic too, and pretty crap considering he's meant to be a main character. I suppose Daniel Waters wanted another New Moon, or something. I kinda got the impression that the person who edited this book had no idea what they were doing, because there were dozens of silly typos and grammar mistakes in every chapter, and things like that really annoy me at times. But, hang on, good points of the book? It was fun; it was light and fluffy (even the zombie massacres, haha), and I liked reading about Phoebe and Margi and Adam again because I could remember their characters from the previous book. There were lots of one-liners that made me laugh out loud, and as like with Generation Dead I thought the writing was pretty clever and actually kept me reading. But other than that, definitely not superior to Generation Dead. I do feel quite let down with the ending - I was hoping that everything would be resolved rather than have to wait for another book (I presume) to find out what happens - but, in all honesty, the conclusion to the previous book was too good to beat, so with that I'm not surprised. I do look forward to reading the next one, if there is one, but I hope it has more of an effect on me than this.”

Aimee wrote this review Thursday, October 8 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Very slow, hard to get into, but actually pretty funny when it comes to the ending. Because of the old-style language, I found it hard to follow and understand, especially around the beginning; but at the end I was able to appreciate it all that little bit more and then found the humour in Austen's words. Absolutely despised Lady Catherine throughout the book, and found Mrs Bennett and Lydia to be completely IMPOSSIBLE to like in any sympathetic ways. Mr Darcy's character intrigued me, and I wish we could've seen more of him instead of all the other random posh snobs we followed throughout the story.

At least i can now say I've read Pride and Prejudice, and that I didn't hate it as much as I thought I was going to; I just don't think I'll be reading it again any time soon.”

Aimee wrote this review Friday, October 2 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I waited almost a whole year before I got this (I could never find the original publication in our shops, so waited until it was re-published over here) and now I've finally been able to read it, I can definitely say that the long wait was worth it. It was just as good - better, in fact - than I imagined it to be, and the story intrigued me just as much as it did when I first found the book last year. The writing was superb, and I loved the little tape recorder symbols that told you whether or not the tape was playing. Clay was an incredible character who I empathised with immediately, and seeing the story through his first person narration made it much more heartfelt and emotional - I could almost hear the static of the tapes and the click as Clay changed the sides over. Although nothing that happened was really that unexpected, I still believed in it - some suicides are driven by just one action, just one person; it's just as likely that a few little things in progression could send someone to it, even when the reasons may not be exactly THAT terrible.”

Aimee wrote this review Saturday, August 29 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“I wasn't sure if I'd like this, but as it turns out, I loved it. The concept is unique, and whole time-travel-thing interested me to no end. It all got me thinking, anyway, and at one point I made myself freak out over the idea of having two Henrys. Really enjoyed reading this, although it was pretty hard-going and tiring because of the leaps from one moment to the next. The constant talk of sex perhaps put me off slightly, but not much. Really need to see the film now.”

Aimee wrote this review Saturday, August 22 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I am one to judge books by their covers, and I knew immediately that I wouldn't like this book; it seemed all girly, romantic, and shallow. And that it was (to me) but, surprisingly, I still enjoyed it. I liked the way it was written, and thought it a nice change from the standard novel format. The epilogue wasn't needed, however; I would've been satisfied by ending with Alex and Phil's last chat instead of adding that load of overdescribed stuff that completely ruined the flow of the book to the end. But that's just me. Probably wouldn't read again, but kinda glad I did; some of Ruby's one-liners were classic.”

Aimee wrote this review Saturday, August 22 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“A completely spot-on account of this 'Big Brother' rubbish the tv is full of these days. Not as funny as the previous Elton book I picked up, but still enjoyable and daft. Took a while to get used to all the different characters, but in the end they all had their own voices and made the story pretty epic. If only someone would blow up the Big Brother house in real life, I say. *wink* haha.”

Aimee wrote this review Monday, August 10 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I kinda figured out who did it around halfway through, but I put it out of my mind until the end. The characters were witty, although it was hard distinguishing the circle members from each other, and same goes for the police. Quite a good read, but not sure if I'd want to read it again. ”

Aimee wrote this review Thursday, August 6 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“No way is this anywhere near the best novel Picoult has ever written, but it is quite obviously made unique by the comicbook graphics after every chapter. The description of the storyline intrigued me, but I didn't enjoy reading this half as much as her others. Trixie annoyed me somewhat, but I can't quite pinpoint the reason why. And the storylines about Alaska seemed too unnatural to me, even though it is a real place and was pretty vital to Daniel's character. I also could not believe that girls of 14 were partaking in games like Rainbow; I'm a teenager myself, albeit 16, and although kids I know do this kind of stuff now, I can't imagine them doing it when they were 13/14. It's ridiculous. However, I was just as gripped to Picoult's writing and plot twists as I ever have been in her better books.”

Aimee wrote this review Friday, July 31 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“In truth, this really isn't my kind of book. It wasn't at all deep; the characters were all just names on a page, and the main girl just didn't seem to act her age at all. Oh, and the plot was quite laughable and unreal. But, as a fun read that just filled in the time between my usual novels, it was fine. In fact, I quite enjoyed the humour and the carefree writing style. Doubt I'd read it again, though.”

Aimee wrote this review Sunday, July 26 2009. ( reply | permalink )