Uprooted by Naomi Novik

A mediocre plot can be amazing if delivered with great story-telling. Uprooted, however, is not mediocre. It was action-packed and there were so many things going on that readers would be constantly on the edge of their seats. I loved the story, I thought it was an amazing mix of fantasy and romance with a lot of beauty-tames-the-beast feels which every woman loves and don't you disagree. 

BUT! Issue #1: I think there are pages that the story can do without (maybe 50 of them? give or take?). I was about 10% into the book when I had to stop because the descriptions were repetitive. Specifically how the spells were cast. More specifically how they "let it flow out of" them. It was all over the book you can't miss it. That and there were just parts that I wanted to skip completely. I understand how there's a calm before the storm as in other-stuff-before-the-twist but I thought making a point about how politics worked and how the citizens in the capital were petty was too much. Especially since Sarkan already talked about it before Agnieszka went there.

AND! Issue #2: The voice used in story-telling is confusing. It's not because each scene calls for a different pace. It's experiencing a simple story telling using simple prose and vocabulary for one chapter and then suddenly going Alice in Wonderland feels. It didn't happen throughout the book. But it happened.
It was ...
Chapter 1: The ball is red. 
versus
Chapter 2: The spherical object is a of a color at the end of the spectrum next to orange and opposite violet. Like rubies and blood and it was scarlet.

I think I liked parts of this book but felt meh during the other parts.

Oh and apparently, 417 Goodreads users marked this as YA ... um ... no. Lol. Although I had the same first impression of the book due to the opening, there are other parts that are a bit too adult to be young adult. 

3.5 stars.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell remembers high school ... and mix tapes! It was mid 90s when I was in HS but we still made mix tapes. I still have some of them lol. I think that was what made me finally read it and when I did I couldn't stop. I couldn't put it down. It made me feel so much sadness and gushiness and a lot of other stuff I don't want to name anymore. Most of the time I was just like omg-poor-eleanor.

I loved the romance part, of course, but it's not because of the gushing and kissing and Park being romantic, it was how they didn't even like each other at first. It was how things just fell into place without them even noticing. Okay maybe they noticed lol. But it's not always love-at-first-sight in high school. Or any other era of your life. So that was so relatable. Erm ... moving on.

Park had a regular teenage life with supportive parents and a close extended family and regular teenage problems he learned to deal with. Having a parent you think you can't please is pretty normal for a teenager. That may be a teenager over analyzing things. That may be a parent not knowing how to deal with a teenager. Or a parent having favoritism ... that's not far from reality either. Eleanor's life is full of things so wrong in so many levels. I think the sweetest thing about their relationship was how they were both (okay mostly Park) trying to understand each other because things are different in their own home. 

There may be a ton of issues in here that may be overwhelming and incomprehensible but isn't that how teenagers are like sometimes? They try to carry the the whole world on their own. Or they tend to make a big deal out of everything. Every insecurity and every other thing they can't comprehend. every pimple and freckle. They tend to over analyze. Sometimes they don't and adults can't even tell what's worse. It gets better kids. Take it from your loving aunt.

P.S. I was a mess in that part when Park's mom finally understood ...

Five stars.

The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski

As much as this book's characters are filled with emotional turmoil, the only thing it stirred is my rationale (I do have that sometimes). I'm still loving the political and scheming bits of the second book but I can't give it a five because both main characters seem to have ran out of common sense. 

Let me break it down. Kestrel was written to be a strategist. She's supposed to be good at making decisions, cutting losses, picking the perfect solution out of varied options. Her flaws are: 1) her father and 2) Arin. When a strategist decides on a solution that is the lesser of evils, the strategist will then move on. This is not to say that the strategist lacks emotional and moral judgment but putting the idea out there knowing that it will be carried out because it will benefit the empire the most (but still save a lot of lives!) and then whining about how it's all her fault and self destructing because of it doesn't follow. So I guess my issue is her character is inconsistent?

I kept waiting for the how-much-their-crimes-will-cost-them twist and when it came it was a bit of a disappointment. Not because it's a hanger. It just is. Where do you think all this spying and treason will lead? Especially because, from the very beginning, the emperor and all of the empire knows about their supposed relationship. 

Also, what is up with Arin's suicidal attitude? I'll leave it at that because I can't even --

Err ... I still can't wait for the last installment. Heh.

PS: They used the word "foodstuffs" in this book. It doesn't have anything to do with my rating. I swear to God. It just really bothers me ... I'm just saying.

3 stars.

The Wedding (Notebook #2) by Nicholas Sparks

Okay so nobody died. Yay! Still, it was boring.It was basically this guy who was making calls the whole year to get things in order. I was waiting for a conflict but there was none whatsoever. That's a lot coming from someone who doesn't like conflict very much. It also got predictable halfway through the book. As in I knew, somehow, who the wedding was for. I think it was because she said her daughter would regret it if she didn't have a "proper wedding" ... but that's just me.

The book was well written as in it was easy to read so it was okay. My major issue is in the story. I see why most women would love this book (that may sound stereotypical but, hey ...). I mean, who wouldn't want to feel like a queen and have her husband court her again ... and over and over again? I'd love that too but I feel for a guy who is faithful to his wife and did his best to provide for his family but, apparently, is still "majorly" flawed because ... I dunno, he couldn't say "I love you" all the time because it wasn't in his nature. It seems a bit petty. If, for example, he brought her a perfume for their anniversary, one that he let his secretary pick, would he have known that she felt that way? Would she have cried? Would she go to NY to be away on her own? Also, I'm not an expert on being a parent and in marital affairs but would a mother go to her kids about marital issues? Would a mother burden her children about it? Hey why don't I make my son a shock absorber, never mind that he'll surely pick my side and hate his father afterwards. Again, I'm no expert but I think I'd go to my friends. Or my siblings, even.

There's another side to this so why lay blame? Maybe she was too busy tending to the kids too that when they left, she, herself, didn't know what to do with the two of them being alone. She did bury and busy herself in redecorating the house after their kids left, right? And they didn't say in the book that she asked him to go away on vacation or anything. Men can be dense.

Don't get me wrong. I loved that they made the marriage work in the end. Or I should say HE did something to make it work in the end. People say a relationship is always a two-way street ... 

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Now there's a book boyfriend if I ever saw one ... or read about one. Tall, cute, intelligent, kind ... and socially awkward. I read a review (well browsed a review) that said they don't get how he's supposed to be a nerd but looked hot. Well, IT guys can be lookers too ... just not in the office where I work. Why can't there be a Lincoln IT guy in the office where I work?! I so want to file this under the category fantasy. Get it? Fantasy. No? Okay, I'm not as witty as Rainbow Rowell. Deal with it. 

The review blurb on the cover of this edition said it's a story that's easy to relate to. I had to agree. The fantasy~ish part stopped at the Lincoln character. Isn't that what some people look for when reading? Something to relate to? That's why Coelho's books are such hits. Something confirms what they believe in. But let's not dwell on that. I gave this book five stars because it's very rare for me to read a book and find it hard to move on to another. I don't want to move on to a new book. I want this wonderful, wonderful feeling to last. It doesn't happen much. Not even with my favorite authors. But, alas, I am 17 books from my target this year so I will move on. I liked how this was such a light read but have so much truth in it. 

Isn't this always the case when you or your bff is dating a douche bag?

And it was laid down with such smart assery I even love it. SO MUCH.

People go to bars hoping to meet THE one but, yes, we don't want them smelling like Jager and cigarettes. I actually LOLed at stripper song.

I liked Chris's character too, actually. Although he's no more real than Lincoln is. Is there ever a guy who doesn't get flustered or isn't awkward when a girl cries? I thought it's either they just ignore the girl or get angry and then ignore the girl. Or they console the girl but get tired of it eventually and just ignore the girl. Chris's ignoring the girlfriend and not marrying type, I guess, I can charge to his "artist complex"? I know people like that, thus, I think there's more possibility for him to exist. Plus, Chris and Beth's break up was ludicrous, as the characters put it but ... his argument is actually pretty valid.

Valid argument. Period.

I borrowed this book from a co-worker (THANK YOU!) but I have to buy my own copy for my small collection. Along with Ms. Rowell's other books. I mean, how can I not?!

I was thinking the best part about the book was that it was set in 1999. I was graduating from high school and starting college. I remember the movies and the songs they talked about and how it was when emails and the internet was new-ish. I thought it was perfect ... but then I had to be the dork that I am and make calculations and disappointed myself. Towards the end, the "reconciliation" between Beth and Lincoln part, Beth said her favorite song was Here's Where The Story Ends that she saw on MTV when she was on her 8th grade. That would make her 14? She's supposed to be 28-29 in the book which was set around 1999-2000. Well, that song was not recorded until 1989 and released (or became a hit) until 1990 so ... she had to be 19-20, right? Bit late for an 8th grader. GOOD THING I LIKED THE STORY TOO MUCH TO ACTUALLY CARE! I'd give this 6 stars but I only stop at 5, really.