Tag Archive for: 2 Stars

The Sirens of Titan

The Sirens of TitanTitle: The Sirens of Titan
Author(s): Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 224
Length: 9h 20m
Narrator(s): Jay Snyder
Source: Owned
Reason(s): Book Club
Rating:
Spice: 0.5 Flames

My Thoughts

THE SIRENS OF TITAN is so different from most books I’ve read. It was mildly entertaining with interesting views on free will, fatalism, and manipulation. I liked that the story made me think and challenge my own views and beliefs of the universe, God, and people. However, I’m not really a huge fan of satire and that aspect hindered my enjoyment of the story. I’m glad I read this book at least once, but I’ll never read it again and I’m glad it’s over.

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest HitsTitle: The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits
Author(s): Jennifer Weiner
Genre(s): Contemporary
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 377
Length: 15h 32m
Narrator(s): Dakota Fanning
Source: Owned
Reason(s): Book of the Month
Rating:
Spice: 2.5 Flames

My Thoughts

The longer THE GRIFFIN SISTERS’ GREATEST HITS went on, the angrier I got at it. I thought the concept was interesting but if the author mentioned that Cassie was the ugly fat sister one more time, I was going to scream. I get that the author wanted the reader comparing Cassie and Zoe to show that beauty isn’t the only value a person has. I just felt she beat us over the head with it and it really irked me.I also hated that Cassie wasted her life after Russell died because Zoe was too selfish to admit that he didn’t love her (Zoe). I also hated that she had coerced him into marrying her, then cheated on him and was pregnant with Tommy’s baby, and flogged Russell into depression for cheating on her with Cassie.

 And, most of all, I hated that when the reader finds this all out, there are still nearly 100 pages left to read. 

The one saving grace was Dakota Fanning’s narration. I also liked the ending (it just took too long to get there).

The God of the Woods

The God of the WoodsTitle: The God of the Woods
Author(s): Liz Moore
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 478
Length: 14h 36m
Narrator(s): Saskia Maarleveld
Source: Owned
Reason(s): Book Club
Rating:
Spice: 1.5 Flames

My Thoughts

I thought THE GOD OF THE WOODS was a very interesting read with a lot to discuss (i.e., it’s a great book for a book club). I wanted to love it, but I didn’t. I loved the concept, but the story seemed really disjointed, way too long, and so depressing. I also despised most of the characters, making it hard for me to love the story since I’m a character-driven, rather than plot-driven, reader.

I don’t think I was in the right frame of mind when I started this one. However, it’s my book club’s pick for November so I kept going. I would’ve rather read this when I was more in the mood for this type of story. I might’ve liked it more, but maybe I wouldn’t have. The beginning held so much promise and then it just kept letting me down.

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Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & ParkTitle: Eleanor & Park
Author(s): Rainbow Rowell
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Format(s): Audio
Pages: 328
Length: 8h 57m
Narrator(s): Rebecca Lowman, Sunil Malhotra
Source: Owned
Reason(s): Book Club
Rating:
Spice: 1 Flames

My Thoughts

ELEANOR & PARK was supposed to be a cute coming of age story about two misfit teenagers growing up in Nebraska in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the story suffered a great deal due to bad Asian representation and uncomfortable descriptions of Park, Josh, and Mindy. You could definitely tell that their Korean heritage was from an outsider’s perspective. The audiobook didn’t help with the bad Asian representation because it made it sound like Mindy was Chinese instead of Korean. Linguistically speaking, her accent would’ve been different.

I also think she would’ve spoken English a lot better than she was portrayed to because she was immersed in English ALL. THE. TIME. She wasn’t a recent immigrant nor was she surrounded by the Korean language on a day to day basis. Everything around her was English. Of course, she would still have an accent, but I don’t think she would’ve spoken in such broken English. I hated that Mindy didn’t share her heritage with her sons. Park says more than once that he didn’t know what it meant to be Asian. Even if Mindy was sad to leave her country in pursuit of love, I feel like she would’ve shared her culture with her sons. The family didn’t even eat Korean food at their house. I could’ve totally gotten behind Park feeling different from the other kids in school and learning to be proud of his heritage, but none of that was explored.

The one redeeming quality is the underlying story. I thought it was a cute romance and I loved how much Eleanor and Park leaned on each other to survive their day to day hardships.