Review: The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

 

Initial reaction: I need to think on this one a while, because while the ending of this came to a close much better than I originally thought for the direction it intended to go, I found myself liking some parts of this book and disliking most of it for the way it was presented and dealt with certain things in the progression. Trying to decide a rating between 2 and 3 stars, but still undecided.

Full review:

I read this book over a week ago and I’m still having a hard time figuring what my end thoughts are on the book. I understand its appeal, but…I did not like this book very much. Quite the understatement, to be quite honest. To me, that’s unfortunate because I understood where it wanted to go and how subversive it is to many YA tropes where “Love heals all” is often applied to characters with disabilities in notable attempts to sell the romance.

Review: The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

Quick review for a somewhat quick read. I actually liked “The Sun Is Also A Star” more than I liked “Everything, Everything”. It’s a very ambitious novel that covers a lot of ground, probably more than I think one book could really cover, but what it manages to do still resonated with me on more than one level, and the cross-cultural elements of the novel really stayed with me after I finished the novel, even when I found the events not as satisfying as I would’ve liked.

Review: Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

Quick review for quick read. So a few confessions on my read of “Perfect Escape” – I read this book in a matter of a 2 hour marathon reading session and it was a random read I picked up from my library. I loved the other books I’d read from Jennifer Brown, so “Perfect Escape” was a definite pick up for me for the author as well as the promise of a roadtrip family story with coming of age leanings and a character with a disability (OCD).

Review: Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King

Initial reaction: Probably one of the most original and engaging stories I’ve read of its measure. Sarah’s story and different personalities really held my attention throughout the read.

Full review:

It’s on an ironic note that while that the protagonist of this book (Sarah) was worried about being “original”, “Still Life with Tornado” is truly one of the most original reads I’ve seen in the YA spectrum to date. I honestly have never read a story quite like this – blending a bit of speculative fiction/magical realism with a rather heavy coming of age tale.

Review: Scientific Secrets for Self-Control

Quick review for a quick read. This isn’t the first “Great Courses” audiobook I’ve listened to, but it was one of the ones I was most disappointed by. A shame because the topic is very fascinating in terms of how self-control is regulated by the brain. It touches on several topics with support from several studies: brain injury and how it affects self control, mental energy and fatigue, dietary influences in brain energy, making decisions, how fatigue factors into difficult topics, self control and finances, etc. I found that I wasn’t really the biggest fan of the audio lecturer. His dictation didn’t feel immersive/enthusiastic about the topic and the transitions between topics weren’t as smooth from lecture to lecture as I would’ve hoped. I did have a few takeaways for the knowledge base and topics this series of lecture covered, but not enough for the time and energy that it took for me to move through this audio course (which was well over 3 hours).

Overall score: 2/5 stars.