Friday, October 18, 2013

Dear Life, You Suck Review

Author: Scott Blagden
Title: Dear Life, You Suck
Published: 03/26/2013
Good Reads-
“The shrinkadinks think I have a screw loose. Ain’t playing with a full deck. Whacked-out wiring. Missing marbles.” 

Irreverent, foulmouthed seventeen-year-old Cricket is the oldest ward in a Catholic boys’ home in Maine—and his life sucks. With prospects for the future that range from professional fighter to professional drug dealer, he seems doomed to a life of “criminal rapscallinity.” In fact, things look so bleak that Cricket can’t help but wonder if his best option is one final cliff dive into the great unknown. But then Wynona Bidaban steps into his world, and Cricket slowly realizes that maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t totally suck.

Review:
I don’t know what to think about this book. I guess it was okay. And I can’t find the right words to describe it, so I’ll just say what happens. So the book is told from Cricket’s POV, he’s our main character that went through some struggles in life and is currently trying to find his way. Cricket lives in a Catholic home for boys, and since he’s about to turn 18 and graduate he needs to figure out his next step. Dear Life, You Suck is supposed to be one of those heartwarming stories about a lost and broken soul finding their way in life. But honestly, all I can remember is the lame romance and funny yet seriously inappropriate jokes, which were mainly uncalled for. To me a lot of the crude humor was just a space filler to keep things from looking too empty, but they sorta were. I came into this book totally open minded and I think the biggest turn off for people is the language that Cricket narrates the story in. To me it didn’t add or take away from the story, it distracted from what was actually happening or lack of.

This is a really short and totally lame review, but I like, took forever to write it and completely forgot everything that happened which is my own fault. I just wanted to write something down, so whoever plans on reading Dear Life, You Suck can be a little more prepared, I guess. I could just make a bunch of jokes about how his life turned into choosing the lesser evil, which one he could handle, although that would be me doing the same space filler thing. The bottom line is that this book is a weird collaboration of a romance, (but too rushed to be emotional), inspirational (sorta maybe) and struggle. My favorite thing about the book and the most I could remember was how seriously Cricket took being a role model to the younger kids. Sure, he wasn’t perfect, and even far from it, but he always watched out for the little ones and their feelings. Which I thought was adorable.

Overall, Dear Life, You Suck kinda meant nothing to me; it wasn’t as empowering as I think it was written to be. Slightly enjoyable, and scores a 2.5 on my charts!

Friday, October 11, 2013

Infinityglass Review

Author: Myra McEntire
Title: Infinityglass (Hourglass Trilogy)
Published: 08/06/2013
Good Reads-
The stakes have risen even higher in this third book in the Hourglass series.

The Hourglass is a secret organization focused on the study of manipulating time, and its members — many of them teenagers -­have uncanny abilities to make time work for them in mysterious ways. Inherent in these powers is a responsibility to take great care, because altering one small moment can have devastating consequences for the past, present, and future. But some time trav­elers are not exactly honorable, and sometimes unsavory deals must be struck to maintain order.

With the Infinityglass (central to understanding and harnessing the time gene) at large, the hunt is on to find it before someone else does.

But the Hourglass has an advantage. Lily, who has the ability to locate anything lost, has determined that the Infinityglass isn't an object. It's a person. And the Hourglass must find him or her first. But where do you start searching for the very key to time when every second could be the last?

Review:
Okay so this book was a disappointment, at least to me. I didn’t read anything for like a month or more and then I picked up Infinityglass and expected it to blow me away like Hourglass, and Timepiece did. But it didn’t, it was lameish and that makes me really sad cause it’s the end, no more Hourglass novels, and all we get for closure is this stereotypical love story. Trust me, it hurts to just think the words, let alone write them out.  So if you haven’t read the first two Hourglass books do so, cause they’re a heck of a lot better and then read the review.