Monday 9 November 2015

Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes

Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes
Published: Harper Children's, September 2nd, 2014
Pages: 336
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 1.5/5

How I Felt: I picked up this book because I loved the cover and I was intrigued by the synopsis, but while I was able to speed through this book in a day, I didn't really enjoy it. I didn't like the writing style at all, I found it annoying and cliché; it's written as if the protagonist is speaking directly to the reader and I didn't really like that. Also, I don't know if it was just my copy or something but there were so many grammatical errors and after a while it really started to get on my nerves.

There was a lot of humor in this book and at most times it felt very forced. There was only one scene that I found genuinely funny and that was with the protagonist's phys-ed teacher just after the halfway point in the story. The whole plot and story had a very big 'Mean Girls' feel to it. There are three popular girls at this high school, and our protagonist Anika is one of them. There's the clueless one, the one everyone fears because she's the mean girl and then there's Anika. All the characters in this story had very messed up family lives. Jared, Logan and Anika, I really liked how her family problems were sort of resolved at the end, I found that so touching.

I didn't like the romance too much, I found it to be an annoying back and forth love triangle mixed with a little bit of insta-love so I didn't find that aspect enjoyable at all. But now let's discuss what I did like.

I loved Anika's relationship with her mom, it was so sweet, and just a ray of sunshine in this dark contemporary. I also liked how as the book progressed, Anika learned to be selfless and really started to help people more, like Tiffany. What she did with Tiffany almost had me in tears and I found it so heartwarming. And finally, her speech at the end was beautiful, yet very cliché. Like I said, huge Mean Girls vibes going on in this book. But I have to admit I did cry at the end. I just felt so bad for the characters, and the scene happened at just the right moment the crying couldn't be avoided.

Overall I'd say this book was okay. I can't say I highly recommend it, but if you like Eleanor and Park and Mean Girls, this is a perfect combination of the two so you'd probably really enjoy it. But to me, the combination of themes from both stories didn't work too well.

Favourite Quotes:
  • “Ceaseless.
    Almost too much for this small frame.
    You make me part of the sky.”
  • “But if I can keep my mind on these pages I don't have to care. I can make this all just go away. Poof. I can stay in this book and then this book gets to be real and everything else gets to be fake and who cares anyway.”
Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes***
*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

*Images taken from Google.ca

Monday 2 November 2015

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Published: Square Fish, May 7th, 2013
Pages: 372
Source: Paperback, purchased
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.75/5

How I Felt: I absolutely loved this book! I was a little worried about reading this because I heard that it's slow paced and full of world building, and while it was full of amazing world building, it was in no way slow paced! It took me a while to finish because I had to take large breaks from reading because of school, but when I finally had time for reading, I flew through this! If I didn't have to read it like this I probably would've been able to finish it in three days.

Going into this book I've heard nothing but amazing things about the Darkling. Even though he's evil everyone loves him. I just didn't see it and I feel like I'm the only one. I was all for Mal in this book, especially toward the end. The Darkling was just pure evil (and he's also old enough to be her great-grandpa), and I couldn't find it in me to like him at all.

Genya and David were amazing, I hope we get to see more of them! I also want to see more of Zoya because I feel like she'd make a good ally in the future for Alina.

I definitely want to learn more about the origins of the powers in the next books, I would love to learn more about how someone can have them and where they originally came from. I also really want to learn more about the Apparat and what angle he's playing, in this book he was such a big mystery and I definitely have my theories.

Alina was a great protagonist, she was so realistic and funny. I loved getting to see her train and become stronger and really start to grow as a person. She's just so stubborn and smart and I'm excited to see her character grow into her power and come into her own. The decisions she made, and how she viewed her situations were so realistic and so easy to relate to and I really loved that aspect of her.

I will admit the ending made me cry (it seems like every book I've read recently has made me cry). It was so touching to see such growth in Alina, and her determination to keep her values and stay herself. It was adorable to see her with Mal again.

Overall, I really loved this book! I highly recommend it for fantasy fans! I can't wait to get my hands on the next book and see how the world develops and where the story goes!


Favourite Quotes
  • “I'm sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”
  • “They are orphans again, with no true home but each other and whatever life they can make together on the other side of the sea.”
  • “You're shaking."
    "I'm not used to people trying to kill me."
    "Really? I hardly notice anymore.”
     
 Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo***
*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

*Images taken from Google.ca

Popular Posts