REVIEW: Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

Title: Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned"
Author: Lena Dunham

Genre: Humor, Autobiography.

Publication Date: September 30th 2014

Publisher: Random House

Format: E-Book

Pages: 256

Rating: 3/5

"There is nothing gutsier to me than a person announcing that their story is one that deserves to be told," writes Lena Dunham, and it certainly takes guts to share the stories that make up her first book, Not That Kind of Girl. These are stories about getting your butt touched by your boss, about friendship and dieting (kind of) and having two existential crises before the age of 20. Stories about travel, both successful and less so, and about having the kind of sex where you feel like keeping your sneakers on in case you have to run away during the act. Stories about proving yourself to a room of 50-year-old men in Hollywood and showing up to "an outlandishly high-fashion event with the crustiest red nose you ever saw." Fearless, smart, and as heartbreakingly honest as ever, Not That Kind of Girl establishes Lena Dunham as more than a hugely talented director, actress and producer-it announces her as a fresh and vibrant new literary voice.

My knowledge of Lena Dunham before I picked up this book was pretty limited – I knew she was the creator/writer/star of Girls and that was about it. Despite that, I picked this up because I’d heard so good things about it and I have this new obsession about trying books that are normally out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed reading it for the most part.

I personally found it funny. Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot I could relate too, but there were still things I found funny even though I’d never experienced something like that. It was also reasonably quick and easy to get through – it didn’t require a lot of thought so I could read it late at night when I was starting to get a little tired.

There were some things I didn’t like. I found it kind of hard to follow at some points – I would get confused with people in the story. The biggest thing was the timeline – there wasn’t really one at all, the entire story was just all over the place. I never realised how much I appreciated strict linear timelines until now. There were also a few parts that I just found completely unnecessary or just plain weird.

This might sound strange, but I don’t know if it’s a book I would recommend. Sure, I enjoyed it but I think you need to be in a particular mood to read something like this. 

REVIEW: Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame

Title: Wentworth Hall

Author: Abby Grahame

Publication Date: January 1^st 2013

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Rating: 3/5
Blurb: A must-read for Downton Abbey fans—a lush, historical novel about the secretive Darlingtons of Wentworth Hall.Can’t get enough of Downton Abbey? Visit Wentworth Hall. It’s one of England’s oldest estates, and the Darlingtons are among the elite class of British society. But under the wealth are secrets that must stay hidden.



It’s 1912, and eighteen-year-old Maggie and her mother have just returned from a year abroad where Lady Darlington has had a baby boy, James. But he is not the only addition to the house. They have also brought back Therese, their new French tutor, as well as welcomed the orphaned teenage twins, Teddy and Jessica, who have just lost their father aboard the Titanic. This adds to an already crowded house of Darlingtons and staff, all of whom have a penchant for gossiping about their employers.



As time passes, it becomes clear that Teddy and Jessica would rather be anywhere else and that Maggie is a different person from the one who left Wentworth. Her family’s financial future rests with her finding the best husband—and her parents are sure that is Teddy.



When scandalous satires start appearing in the newspaper with details that closely mirror the lives of the Darlingtons, the family is determined to find the culprit and keep their affairs under wraps. But at Wentworth Hall, nothing stays secret for long….

Review: I have a sort of rule with myself that I will not take reviews from Goodreads to mind before and during a book because some of my absolute favourite books have received books terrible reviews that they completely do not deserve (see Atonement, Shatter Me etc.) Therefore before reading this book, I tried to keep an open mind despite the low average rating of 2.83 and pages upon pages of reviews with one star saying that they ‘could barely finish’ the book and whatnot.

I soon learnt, much like many of the other reviewers, that this was not a book to judge of the beauty of the cover (I’m a sucker for covers with girls in proper dress for the era) or the comparison to Downton Abbey in the blurb. I was expecting a book filled with mystery and romance with the obvious historical element to it, and of course, I was hoping for a little bit of a Downton Abbey feel to it. Immediately, I was hoping that Maggie would become a sort of Lady Mary-like character- a cold exterior at the beginning that would eventually make way for a good heart. For a few chapters, I held onto this hope but it was soon forgotten- Maggie became a sort of secondary character who was only really bought up when she was needed, I felt like she didn’t get the chance to really develop as a character at all. Furthermore, I feel like there wasn’t really any character that got the chance to develop, sure we learnt about their dreams and their pasts and whatnot but they never really grew into anything. I don’t think there is a single character that I could genuinely say that I liked or even felt sorry for at all, except maybe the baby because the poor thing would have to grow up in that.

The ‘secrets’ of the Darlingtons and the other characters weren’t really secrets, if you paid enough attention to things then you could easily see them coming. I had been expecting some real mystery surrounding the secrets but there wasn’t any- I felt quite let down by this. I think probably one of the only things I enjoyed were the satires that were included. They were meant to be absolutely ridiculous but they were actually much more enjoyable than most of the book, which is a shame really as I had been so excited to read this book before it was released.

Though I didn’t overwhelming enjoy this book, it was a very quick read which was nice and it didn’t really require much of my attention, other than an eye roll now and again.

REVIEW: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN

Title: Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

Publication Date: 1813

Publisher: Penguin Classics

Format: Paperback

Pages: 367

Rating: 3/5

Blurb:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. Renowned literary critic and historian George Saintsbury in 1894 declared it the "most perfect, the most characteristic, the most eminently quintessential of its author's works," and Eudora Welty in the twntieth century described it as "irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be."

Introduction by Anna Quindlen.

Commentary by Margaret Oliphant, George Saintsbury, Mark Twain, A.C. Bradley, Walter A. Raleigh, and Virginia Woolf.

Anna Quindlen is the winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for commentary and the author of three bestselling novels, most recently Black and Blue, a children's book, Happily Ever After, and an inspirational book, A Short Guide to a Happy Life.

Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide

Review:

It’s been a while since I read Pride and Prejudice and my review is certainly late, but I had to take time and fuel myself off that. Then Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick came along and I couldn’t hold my pants, and I took a reading break after reading The Infernal devices because that just asked to be murdered repeatedly, in a straight jacket, against a wall because of it’s amusingness plus dreadfulness (I have mixed feelings. A Love/Hate relationship if you please.) 

So here I am with my IPod beside me, which I used to fuel out my opinions on the book straight after the read at 2 o’clock at night and I know this is going to be a long and tiresome project.

Pacing: It was slow paced. Some parts I felt were totally unnecessary, but I guess that’s what made up the story and the life of Lizzie. Really, half the book is about her travelling. That’s nice and all, but I would like to see some more Darcy and Lizzie scenes.

Characters: Jane Austen really does know how to write her characters! I thought they were EXCELLENT. Her characters are so beautifully sculptured and woven like silk, I would dive fathomlessly into their personalities if I could. I love everyone one of them, even the ones that annoyed me. Miss Bennet, though I wanted to kill her sometimes and strangle her after, made me want to laugh and hit her head against a wall. Mr Collins, oh my gosh, words cannot describe how much I thought he was a complete disaster and respected Austen for creating him. Lydia Bennet, I wanted to do to her what I wanted to do to her damn mother. Lizzie Bennet annoyed me at times, but when do main characters not?

Writing: Pride and Prejudice is so beautifully written, but at times it was hard to grasp the meaning of her sentences. Especially at the beginning as it was my first classic Jane Austen book. Although at times I wish she would describe the tone of dialogue and the expressions on peoples faces when they said it. There is only so much the mind can do.

Romance: I didn’t feel the Romance between Darcy and Lizzie Bennet. It just didn’t feel tangible for my taste. It was like all her life she hated him and despised him then when they decided they didn’t hate each other they decided to get married, because they just merely didn’t hate each other anymore.

 Jane and Bingly’s romance even had more interest than that. The mystery, the longing and the loss was intriguing, but I wanted that from Lizzie! I like the main characters to have what they’ve always wanted. I want them to be superior.

 I understand the fan clubs excessively ponder over Darcy’s affections toward Miss Bennet but I really think it’s all fuelled by the TV shows, the spin off books and other stories that bring that tone out. I watched Lost in Austen after that and felt like I felt more connection between the main character and Darcy.

I know there must be that in underlying tones beneath the words that expressed her love for Darcy, but I didn’t even feel it! It was like she hadn’t even given enough fuel to the fire for it to really shine. I’m not a girl that needs to see a bouquet of flowers from the male lead to know that he must care for her, though I did actually feel Darcy’s affection throughout the book and even in the abrupt moment when he confessed his love for her.

But with all the fan club love over Darcy, I feel like I haven’t read the right book. It was like they grabbed at anything that could lead to love and fluffed it up like a pillow to make it seem bigger and grander.

I would never want to say this, but I do feel like one must watch the movies before reading to feel connection between Darcy and Lizzie.  I really wanted to like this book. It frustrated me. 

REVIEW: Captivate by Carrie Jones

Title: Captivate (Need #2)

Author: Carrie Jones

Publication Date: January 5th 2010

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Format: Paperback

Pages: 273

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: He smiles. It's a wicked smile. Kind but not kind. Handsome but dangerous. Feral almost. I can see why Nick nearly killed him, Nick...
I ask again, "Why were you in the road?"
"I was waiting for you."


Zara and her friends thought they'd solved the pixie problem. And they did - sort of. The pixie's are all locked away, deep in the woods. But the king's needs grow stronger each day that he is in captivity, while his control over his people weakens. And it's enough to draw a new king into town. Astley claims he is different. He claims there are pixies who can live peacefully with humans, that it doesn't have to be all violence and nastiness all the time. Zara wants to believe him...until Astley also claims that she is fated to be his queen.

There is no way Zara would ever turn pixie. And she's got good friends who will make sure of that. Besides, she and Nick are so in love they're practically inseparable. But when they very thing Zara wants to protect most is exactly what's at risk, she is forced to make choices she never imagined...

Review: As you can probably tell by my review of Need- the first book in the series, I was really excited to pick up Captivate. Sadly, I found myself a little disappointed with the sequel. The summary sounded amazing to me- I couldn’t wait to meet Astley and see some Zara/Nick/Astley scenes to spice things up a bit but what we were actually given wasn’t what I expected. I found myself getting increasingly annoyed with Zara especially towards the end (I won’t say why as to avoid spoilers) but I felt like I wanted more. That being said, there are parts of the novel that I really did enjoy, such as: the pixie tips at the beginning of each chapter, Issie and Devyn and the references to the show ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ (possibly one of my favourite shows ever). Despite this, I felt like there wasn’t enough action in this book to keep it interesting especially towards the end and the action that was there wasn’t very satisfying. Therefore, yes I was a bit disappointed with Captivate but I still plan on picking up the third book in the series- Entice, at a later date.

REVIEW: Nevermore by James Patterson

Title: Nevermore (Maximum Rise #8)

Author: James Patterson

Publication Date: August 6th, 2012

Publisher: Little Brown and Company

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 368

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: One last chance…
For Max, Fang, Angel, Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy.
Before it all ends.

Are you ready for the final chapter? Are you ready for the ultimate flight? Because THIS IS IT. One last incredible, explosive adventure with an astonishing ending that no one could have seen coming.

Review: As it seems to have become a bit of a usual part of my reviews, I decided I’d give you a little backstory on how I got into Maximum Ride in the first place before I tell you my thoughts on the last book. In Middle School, one of my best friends (the very same who suggested I read Halo, and Cecilia Ahern whom has become one of my favourite authors ever) suggested that I started this series way back when the fifth book- ‘Max’ was just coming out. As usual, I doubted this friend’s opinion, a fault which I completely apologise for now. However, once I got into the series I quickly finished all five books within the week and became connected to all the characters and their stories. Hence, if I were to give advice to those of you who have never read the series I would beg you to pick it up because I’d be sure that you’d enjoy it. And that concludes the little backstory, so onto the review.

From here on, I cannot be assured that there will no lie any spoilers from any of the books including Nevermore so be warned. 

From here, I’m going to break it down like Chami’s review which you can find here. If you have yet to read it, (this also contains spoilers).

Characters:

Maximum Ride has been in my life since I was about thirteen so of course throughout that time I’ve grown closer to the characters and started to believe that I really knew them and could almost predict their reactions to certain situations. However, in this book I felt like these were entirely new characters being presented to me and I felt like I could no longer connect with them - almost like this was a fanfiction (certainly not an insult to any fellow fanfiction writers) where the characters were a little bit too out of character. Honestly, I love Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel and even Dylan at some times but it felt like James Patterson had completely lost touch with his characters. 

Plot:

To be honest, the previous book - Angel, was when the plot became to loose my interest. Things started to become too…weird, for lack of a better word. For one, Maya infuriated me and while I know some people quite liked her, personally I thought the idea of a Max clone that Fang went off with to be just terrible. I was really hoping that James Patterson was really going to pick the whole thing up with the book and finish the series on such a high note that I would feel content with the ending but sadly, it just didn’t happen for me.

Overall:

I know this review might sound a little like I’m calling James Patterson a terrible writer or something, which is not true- I am a massive fan of James Patterson but I feel like he didn’t put enough into the writing of this book, it really felt like he wasn’t committed to this book or that he’d lost his passion for the series and the characters. 

BEWARE OF SPOILERS FILLED REVIEW/RANT BELOW.

**

 

As I said up above, I wasn’t really a fan of Maya so I have to admit, while it seems cruel, that I didn’t mind that much when she died, however the whole Fang’s new flock betraying him sort of thing just drove me crazy. We’ve seen a fair amount of betrayal through this series from flock members and those outside the flock and so I almost felt like it had begun to repeat itself. On the topic of repeating, I was very disappointed that Ari made another appearance in this book not because I don’t like Ari as a character but because I felt like James Patterson could not just leave him alone. I felt the same way about Jeb and Dr Martinez, I believe those three characters are only ever bought up when James Patterson had completely run out of ideas. 

Finally, I’ve got to ask- what was that ending? I just can’t even fathom the right words to describe how I feel about it and honestly I would have been much happier with the first ending rather than that bit added on.

Anyway, thank you if you actually made it through this insanely long review I promise reviews won’t be like this in the future- of course, if you prefer reviews of this length then please let us know.

x Ely

REVIEW: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Title: Halo (Halo #1)

Author: Alexandra Adornetto

Publication Date: August 31^st, 2010

Publisher: Atom

Format: Paperback

Pages: 496 pages

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: Three angels are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human. They work hard to conceal their luminous glow, their superhuman powers, and their wings. Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and they are unable to resist their attraction to each other. But the angels’ mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?

Review: When a friend picked this off our school library shelves and begged me to read it, I assumed that it would be like any other angel book in existence but my friend was 100% sure that it wouldn’t be. True to my friend’s word, it isn’t like every other angel book you’ve ever heard/seen/read and due to that, I quite enjoyed it.

Of course, there were moments where I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at what was happening. And while the romance was sweet, at time, I found it unbelievable and maybe even a little dull. The novel could certainly have done with some more action as it led up to the big problem scene and less about Prom.

All in all, Halo was quite enjoyable and I do plan on finding the sequel sometime in the future.