Reading is Write Book Reviews

Monthly book reviews

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Sorry to Disrupt the Peace by Patty Yumi Cottrell was published March 17, 2017. It is the winner of the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. The book centers around thirty-one-year-old, Helen Moran, whose brother has just committed suicide. Helen goes back home to “investigate” his reason behind taking his own life. As she steps into her unnamed brother’s life, readers can begin to understand how unraveled the main character is from the inside. With the book’s progression, Helen puts her brother’s life under a microscope and learns that he wasn’t the person she thought he was. In fact, he’s nothing like she thought he was. She examines his relationships with other people such as their adopted parent’s, his friends, and even their sibling bond.

Patty Yumi Cottrell is the author everyone wants to be. Right away, readers can notice the risks she takes with her novel. For starters, there are not quotation marks whenever a character speaks. At first, I was kind of iffy about this. However, as it began to be clear why, I started to love that aspect. Helen is telling the story about herself not her brother. She’s the type of main character you love to hate. With her take on the story, the novel adapts with a signature style. Along with Cottrell’s writing style, it’s not surprise I fell in love at the fist sentence. But, that doesn’t mean every book is perfect.

The ball immediately starts rolling from the first to last page. However, in the middle, I have to admit that it did drag. I found myself putting the book down for long periods of time. There comes a point in the novel where the character just doesn’t do anything interesting. The plot seems to drag along until it just doesn’t anymore. Once it picks up again, readers are unable to put it down.

I would rate this book 9.5/10 due to the stalled plot. Other than that, I loved the book completely with my heart and soul. The novel embraces readers in a way I myself haven’t felt in a long time. It reminded me why I love reading.

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When Katie Met Cassidy is a novel written by Camille Perri. It came out June 19,2018 and is prices at thirteen dollars on Kindle and fifteen dollars for a printed hardback. As a Kindle user, Amazon suggested it and to be honest, when I read the summary I wasn’t convinced it was going to be that good. However, seeing as it was an LGBT book and there are very few of those, I went ahead and bought it. When the book was released, I read two pages and gave up. Now, I have no clue why I did that. A few days ago, I had no plans and decided to pick it back up and, let me just say, that was one of the best decisions of my life so far. No joke.

The book goes back and forth between the two main characters, Katie, and obviously, Cassidy. Katie has just been dumped by her finance and Cassidy is afraid of getting older. Both woman struggle with their own lives and when they meet, the plot explodes with fast action wit, passion, and charisma. Katie finds herself questioning her sexuality because all her life, she was straight. When she starts to dive deeper into her past of her old friends before she got with Paul, she realizes that maybe, after all this time she was wrong. On the other hand, Cassidy, an androgynous character, was burned by her first love and never healed. To pass time, Cassidy sleeps around but when Katie comes into the picture, everything changes.

Still, I feel like I should point out that this book was not an ooy gooey romance. Yes, Katie and Cassidy had their lovely moments but there was also a sub plot of finding you inner self and becoming okay with it. For instance, Katie struggles with what her mother will think of her being lesbian whereas Cassidy struggle with understanding that Katie is new to the scene.

I can already say that this book is now in my top five favorites. I loved the way the author wrote it and how the plot moves forwards. The only thing I had an issue with was that sometimes the dialogue didn’t sound realistic. Also, I would have liked to know a few things that the novel failed to wrap up. There were some loose ends, not too many, but enough to make me question what comes next. However, given the authors writing style, I think that is exactly what she wanted the readers to think about. Perri’s book was all about what’s next and not so much as planning out the future.

Overall, I would rate this book 9.7/10 because of the dialogue issues. This was the kind of book that a reader can sucked into and finish in less than a day. When I finished it, all I wanted to do was go back in and experience the magic of Camille Perri’s words again and again.

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Message #2

The next book review will be update very, very soon. I'm super excited and just had to share how amazing this current read is but, I won't tell you what the book is yet. The update should be poster by Friday, July 20th so be looking for it!

[ignorance]

“I think literature is best when it’s voicing what we would prefer not to talk about.”

— Rick Moody (via coral)

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"If one can fall into love, to give up and dive headfirst, knowing that everything can chance in a heartbeat- there must be an upside." -Rebekah Crane

The Upside of Falling Down is a quirky novel written by Rebekah Crane. The main character, Clementine/Jane/Bunny/Teeny experiences a trauma that leaves her memory in shambles. From the very start, she contemplates her next step in life. She sees Clementine as this outside person who isn’t her. In a quick decision, she runs from her father and winds up in a small town in Ireland with a boy she just met.

Now, usually, when I read book about amnesia a trend follows. The character has a flashback and boom, bam, they’re whole again. However, in this novel, the main character views this from many angles. She isn’t sure if getting her memory back is something she wants. While this goes in her mind, Jane, (that’s what she mainly called) attempts to make her own path with the help of Kieran, Siobhan, and Clive. Their relationships in this book were genuine and realistic. I loved how Jane had to work with each of them to gain their trust and how their stories weren’t told but shown.

The authors writing style is nice, her dialogue is on point and realistic. I only found a few flaws whole reading. For instance, the lack of description. I would have liked to now more about the small town, the cottage, and such. The ending was very sudden. The plot pulls together in two chapters as Jane finally realizes that her stay wasn’t just on a whim. I felt like the author could had talked more about the background plot as well as the character that ends up making Jane and her friends have a common connection.

Overall, I would rate this novel 7.5/10 due to the weird ending, the lack of clichés, and even the price. I bought this book for three dollars on amazon kindle and it was a nice but fast read. I wasn’t expecting it to go in the direction it did. I love reading books without clichés, but I can’t overlook the way it concluded. While the ending was good, I would have liked it to be drawn out from maybe the middle of the book instead of being hit with so much information at once. Still, it was definitely worth its price and more.

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The Oracle Year, by Charles Soule, is by far one of the best books I have read in a long, long time. In summary, Will Dando, a New York bassist wakes up with 108 predictions in his head. With his friend Hamza, he works to deal with this new part of his changing life. The story is told from a handful of point of views, but this adds to the escalation of the plot and how the story comes to life off the pages.

Soule’s characters are thrilling, wild, and realistic. The way he tells the story is almost magical. With each chapter, he feeds into the plot leaving readers hungry for more. The work of Soule is really something else as the story unfolds. His characters question their lives, fate, and religion. The development of each person is effervescent and amazing. His characters, especially Will, grow to want more instead of what was promised all while realizing life had more in store for them.

I really loved reading this book. It was a classic page turner, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wins a multitude of awards. The book takes readers on a ride of contemplation and questioning. I would rate this book 10/10 given the writing style, the character development, and lack of clichés. The Oracle Year is worth reading and rereading many times over.

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Red Queen, written by Victoria Aveyard is an adventure from start to finish. The first couple of chapters are a little boring but once you get past them it’s a whirlwind. The main character, Mare Barrow is a Red ruled by the superior Silver’s. When Mare is exposed as abnormal from other Red’s, the Silver King and Queen are forced to take her in and cover up the incident. I can’t say much more about the plot without spoiling it. One thing I loved was that each character is unique. Like Mare, they have their own rules and issues to deal with. As Mare gets closer to each of them, she finds herself torn between herself and her new friends. I love Mare a lot. She isn’t your usual main character. The author writes her as a real person with real emotions and feelings.

However, there are some parts of the story I have read in elsewhere dystopian novels. The main character enters into a kind of love triangle, but it is not sappy or unrequited. Mare feels something for both of the characters and it hits the reader deep in the gut. This cliché is made up for at the end of the novel.

When the climax comes, I have to admit, I was in shock. I’m usually really good at predicting the end of the novel but not this one. The last two chapters will have you on the edge of your seat as the conclusion comes. It opens up for the next installment of the Red Queen series, Glass Sword. Overall, the Red Queen novel is definitely worth reading. I would rate it 9/10. Keep looking back for more reviews, including the rest of the Red Queen series!

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“None of us ever know all the possible courses our lives could have and maybe should have taken. It's probably just as well. Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever. Just ask Pandora.” ― Liane Moriarty, The Husband's Secret

Unless you live under a rock, you know that due to the recent adaption of Big Little Lies, Liana Moriarty is becoming huge. I haven’t read BLL so I jumped into this book not expecting anything. The novel is told from the point of view from three women who lead very, very different lies. Cecilia is a suburban type mom who is in a happy marriage. Tess is a savvy business owner whose is also married. However, when her world is rocked, she is challenged. And, finally, Rachel is attempting to cope with aging and her son making his own path and her daughters murder.

First, let me say that this is worth the read. The ending (I won’t spoil it) was unexpected and alarming. The author takes an eye for an eye, let’s just say that. Second, even though it revolves around these women’s perfect live, Moriarty portrays them as real people with real problems. Each of the women struggle with more than just the plot problem. Third, the pace of the novel was slow for me. I felt like it could have sped up some. However, there isn’t that much extra you have to worry about. It takes a while for the point to get across but when it does, oh man, get ready!

Overall, with ten being the best and one being the worst, I would give this novel a solid eight. I felt like more could have been added in from the side characters. They had a lot of potential of contributing more but never got the chance. Still, the novel was amazing and definitely worth the read!

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Hey!

After not a lot of deliberation, I have decided to start, another, new tumblr. This particular one will be dedicated to book reviews and quotes, other than that, there won’t be a lot of posts. Anyways, to kick off this new blog, my first review will be up asap.