Review: Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

Read: Aug. 15-Sept. 11, 2017
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Format: hardcover, 406 pages
Publication: May 2015 by Quercus
Genres: dystopia, sci-fi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads:

"Where women are created for the pleasure of men, beauty is the first duty of every girl. In Louise O'Neill's world of Only Every Yours women are no longer born naturally, girls (called "eves") are raised in Schools and trained in the arts of pleasing men until they come of age. Freida and Isabel are best friends. Now, aged sixteen and in their final year, they expect to be selected as companions--wives to powerful men. All they have to do is ensure they stay in the top ten beautiful girls in their year. The alternatives--life as a concubine, or a chastity (teaching endless generations of girls)--are too horrible to contemplate.

But as the intensity of final year takes hold, the pressure to be perfect mounts. Isabel starts to self-destruct, putting her beauty--her only asset--in peril. And then into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride. Freida must fight for her future--even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known."

I gotta say, the blurb at the back of the book really interested me.....but the actual reading of the book.....not so exciting. This was one of those books for me.....where nothing was particularly wrong, but nothing was exciting enough to really keep my attention.

....still alive!

Hi peoples of my dead blog.

I know I haven't posted in a very long while, but bah.  I blame school for that.

School's like that, y'know?  Just sucks up all your free time and hobbies and creativity and motivation for everything until you just become a mindless homework completing robot with no emotions and....stuff.

Anyways!

I suppose now that school's over I'll have some more time!  But I'll also take this moment to mention that I'm not really back, I'm just kinda back.
Side note: Hey Gilf, you got your wish, I'm posting again!

What can I say?  I'm a mood blogger, and procrastinating has become a very close friend of mine.  I can't promise to start blogging weekly again, let alone daily, but....I'll try to post at least once a month?  Good?  Great.

Me running away from all that is school.
If I were a cat. 

Tiny (Text)Books for School

Okay, so....yes, I confess...that title is slightly misleading because although some of these books may be tiny (compared to...say, the world, perhaps), they aren't the tiny you're thinking about. By tiny, I mean....my reviews for them are tiny and lackluster, and....who am I kidding...it feels like the blurb is longer than my review! Aaah! That's...just....depressing. Maybe I've grown out of writing reviews....I'm running out of things to say...and....maybe...maybe...maybe it's time for me to just give up on writing reviews altogether?! Anyways....this post isn't about that....so....I don't know....here ya go...some TINY REVIEWS....

SUMMER SCHOOL

I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Summer school is finally over!  And I can go enjoy my summer like all the other grade 12's!

Wooooooo!

*FREE!  I am FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

*I actually, am not free, I cost a lot, and someone has already bought me, so buying me is completely out of the question.

So!  I'm going to complain lots now.  And we begin!

Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Wow...can we all just point at me and sigh (or mock and laugh at me derisively) because my reviews are so behind?  Like...months behind?  Heart of Darkness....I read this last year!  

 

Actually, scratch that...my reviews aren't behind.  Well, they are...but the only reason why they're behind is because I've been procrastinating on the other posts?  And I like to alternate them?  The posts just take so much time....ugh.  Well, summer is here!  I've got time!  Plenty of time!

YIKES.

It's been a SUPER long time since I've posted anything...more than a month...wow...almost two!  Well, to be fair, I DO have an excuse...I had exams...performances...graduation...prom...a bunch of stuff!   And, I guess...to be completely honest here....I was also kinda....a little tiny bit...lazy.

So!  I'm going to try to start posting again!  Yay.

*throws ripped paper in the air*

Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Read: November 8-17, 2016
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Format: hardcover, 172 pages

Publication: June 1996 by Scribner Classics

Genres: classics, historical, romance

Blurb from Goodreads:

"The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when, The New York Times remarked, "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale America in the 1920s that resonates with the power of myth. A novel of lyrical beauty yet brutal realism, of magic, romance, and mysticism, The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth century literature."

I had....super duper high hopes for this one.....and maybe that's why my rating is so low. I had friends who never read books read it, and tell me that it's a beautiful book. And the romance in this book was lovely. I. Got. None. Of. That.

I Think She Hates Me....

Hey peoples!

It feels like it's been a long while since my last post, huh?

But I was busy!  Like, busier than I've ever been before!  I had a final chemistry* exam, a chemistry assignment where I had to write a proposal to sell some new method of rust protection, a chemistry quiz, a huge review package in math, a math test, a financial plan, a community connections assignment, a Career and Life assignment, a literary analysis of something to do with turtles, tutoring almost everyday for a few hours and sometimes even twice a day, dance performances, dance practice four days a week after school, dance practice everyday at lunch, dance journals, two dance choreographies to finish, a biology test, an in-class King Lear essay on a topic I'm not sure I interpreted right, and finally, a hand-in essay inspired by A Modest Proposal.
*I don't think I need to explain how much I hate chemistry, how it's so hard for me, and how I procrastinated on doing anything in this chemistry course I'm taking online for four months (I had to teach myself the entire chemistry 12 course in about two months!)

Whew!

Review: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Read: Nov. 2-8, 2016
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (although I'm tempted to give it 4)

Format: Paperback, 152 pages

Publication: October 1976 by Penguin Books

Genres: classic, play, historical fiction

Blurb from Goodreads:

"Arthur Miller's classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in 17th century Salem is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially-sanctioned violence. Written in 1952, The Crucible famously mirrors the anti-communist hysteria that held the United States in its grip."

Okay, okay, so....

I realize that this is a....classic and it has a reputation for being a really great book.....

I also realize that there are many people who have reviewed this book and talked about all the significance and symbolism of this book....

So, because I read this book for pleasure and not school...I will "review" this as such.
Meaning, these are purely my rambling thoughts and nothing else.