I’m Salty – Book Review: Salt to the Sea

  

“Guilt is a hunter. Fate is a hunter. Shame is a hunter. Fear is a hunter.”

Salt to the Sea is one of those books that coerces Faith into delivering one of those rare and (somewhat) thoughtfully serious reviews. This is the sort of paradoxical book that is a timeless historical work of fiction.

Grief. If you do not feel grief post-reading this book, then perhaps you’re not completely sane. Possibly for the first time, I am feeling appropriately salty. Evidently, reading this book will make you upset… but in a good way? I believe that this means that the book has done its job. It’s appropriate especially when considering the title and the tale.

This book, encapsulated in one word, is cinematic.

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DEAR Lois Lane: Fallout

DEAR is an acronym at my elementary and middle schools, for Drop Everything And Read. On this blog, I’m gonna use it to review either books I really liked (or really didn’t) in an open letter format. I hope you enjoy this!

White Pine Wednesdays: Delusion Road

Hello world!

Now that you have recovered from our April Fool’s post, we are back to our regularly scheduled (and well written 😉 ) posts!

This week, I’ll be reviewing Delusion Road… which is actually harder than it sounds. Trying to type this out reminds me of something Paul once said (I can’t find the post right now): it wasn’t a terrible book, it was just… meh. Forgettable. It was enjoyable enough that I finished it without feeling like I was slogging/obliged to read it, but at the same time, it was missing that thing that would have me rate it higher.

It was a solid book all round: even though it was filled with cliches (just look at that summary: I dare you not to roll your eyes). However, it was solid: especially with the character development. Even if the plot was sort of boring, the character arcs (and how they grew) were very interesting. I didn’t hate any characters (which surprises me) as they all had something to add. If anything, the occasional predictability made it comfortable.

This is the kind of book that you have to read in a certain mood, otherwise it feels really meh. I enjoyed the easy style of writing and plot, but it was missing something essential. (The mean, sarcastic person in me says “originality”.)

Even so, I would rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

~ Sarah

(And I’m really sorry about the short review, but balancing procrastination, building a crane out of popsicles and an English-cum-media assignment/presentation – due on Friday, but assigned on Tuesday – is stressing me out)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A News More Exciting Than Us!

Hello, err’body!

On this lovely Sublime Fridays, Faith and I have an exciting new announcement (no, it’s not another meme XD ). We’ve decided to try something new: we’re going to be reviewing books in French from now on! We will still post the occasional English post but we wanted to branch out and improve our French too, so we thought that this would be a great platform to start! Please excuse our horribleness in French, as it won’t be perfect by any means. So here’s our very first duo French review!

Which Wednesday: Sisters

Ah, sisters. The bane of their siblings existence and a perpetual annoyance. The reasons why Katniss volunteered for the Hunger Games, the letters were sent (in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before) and general drama. (Also the reason my parents found out I was blogging. Thanks). I myself have a sister – I think that the world (at least mine) would be a lot better without one.

Here’s to you, you little monster.

(PS I would have never volunteered in the Hunger Games for you.)

Today I will be comparing Blood Red Road and My Sisters Keeper. If you did a double take, then you’d be right, as these books actually have very little in common. However, I’m stuck for ideas currently, so if you guys have any topics/themes, PLEASE COMMENT THEM (#desperate #thirstyandIknowit).

White Pine Wednesdays: The Outside Circle

Howdy peeps XD

Today, I will completely disappoint Paul (nothing really funny here, sorry) and post a “boring” review. Whilst it may not be the most “rainbows and sunshine” of reviews, this book still shines a light – on some of Canada’s more shaded issues.
My sixth review will be over the very first graphic novel nominee this year (the very first and very only, actually).

Book Review: My True Love Gave to Me

 

Have you ever wanted to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s in the middle of March?! Never fear, here’s the closest thing you’ll get to do just that!

Note: Faith is the only person who posts a holiday book review in springtime. Feel free to take plenty of screenshots because this is probably an exclusive absurdity that you’ll never see anywhere else.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Seriously, winter is now non-existent and THIS is the kind of book review you’re bringing us? You betcha. (Unless you live in the southern hemisphere in which winter is actually ARRIVING – geography is so weird it makes my brain spin every time I try to think about it… but it’s simultaneously awesome. I just can’t imagine having Christmas while becoming fried into a crisp under the sun!) Welcome to a slightly shameless couple-month-old book review. Let’s go! 😀

5 Books, 5 Looks

Happy mid-March!

For us, this means that we have March break. Which means that we no longer have a minotaur, Medusa, school, and well GAEA on our heels for a week; all of which are all trying to crush our guts into smithereens. If you did not know, we are now not-so-secretly demigods. As bloggers, this also means one week of hardcore post workouts. Not as in stretches after you workout, but a workout in writing all the posts that we never found the time to do. As per usual. 

Since my demigod powers unfortunately don’t extend to reviewing most books I read, this is me trying to make up the difference. So, these posts are going to simply be some of my short-and-straight-to-the-point bookish thoughts. (Although, I’m the least straight to the point kind of person when I talk. Or at least I do a lot of this thing called rambling).  Anyways, for this first one, I chose a variety of YA that I’ve finished in fall. Basically from last year. So, let’s commence the mini book review marathon!

[Click the covers for the book’s Goodreads page and summaries.]

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Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider (3.5/5 stars)

 

UK cover

The summary sounded cliched and I will waste no time saying that… it was. It’s a blend of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, but sometimes we can’t help but like cliches. If you find yourself turning enough pages to realize that you’re wanting to find out the obvious, then it’s a winner because it was good, cliche or not. If anything, I think some parts of the book actually tried to counter the cliche of trying to be weird and different and I really liked the humour: it was teen-like and it actually got me laughing out loud. I just felt somewhat satisfied reading this and sometimes a dose of quirky characters is what you need.

 

Cover thoughts: I love the UK one. It’s cool with the whole tree/lung thing… and I love the colours. The “normal” one is nice too but… it’s a bit too normal.

Possibly the best quote in the book:

“‘Hey, Nick, do you know what it would say under your photo in a high school yearbook?’ I asked. ‘Most likely to be friend zoned.’

 ‘Funny,’ Nick grumbled. ‘Sharpen that wit of yours any more and someone might think you actually have a point.’”

This exchange is basically me.

Honest (Book) Trailers: 99 Days

Hello, fellow book friends! Today, I’m deviating from our usual format to bring you another Book Sins post. You can find the other here.

WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS, MEAN WORDS, AND PISSY SARAH

White Pine Wednesday: Rabbit Ears

This week, I’ll be talking about Rabbit Ears, by Maggie de Vries.

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Initial thoughts:

Well. The cover looks familiar (Delusion Road, TAOGSA and Brannan filter), but that’s just me. This also deals with sex, albeit sex work, and looks very, very, very sad. I’ll save this until I’m being annoying. It’ll probably shut me up quick. But anyway, the Robert Pickton (aka the most infamous Canadian serial killer) twist (and the real life relation) are certainly unexpected… I’d like to see how this goes.

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After Reading:

Some stories are hard to tell. Some stories are hard to listen to. Some stories are hard to read. Some stories are unsettling, uncomfortable and upsetting. Rabbit Ears is all of theses and more. It deserves to be read, at the very least.