Review: Goose Chase

Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I feel like I would have loved this if I was still a part of the target audience (upper elementary/middle school). I did really appreciate how it satirizes classic fairy tales and the main character was pretty funny. However, I had trouble really caring about anything that happened. Honestly, I read about 100 pages (it was only a couple hundred pages total anyway) and then skipped to the last couple of chapters and googled what happened in between. Just not really my thing anymore, I guess!

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Review: The Story Girl

The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A sweet story, but not much happens in it. That's okay because I always enjoy her writing style, but I do enjoy her books about older protagonists I think more than her books about children. I think I might like the second one in this series a bit more, but I did like this one.

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Review: North and South

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I listened to the first half of this before the audiobook was automatically returned to the library. Then I took about a month (or longer) break from it before getting it out again about a week ago. I liked it alright, but I wasn't very upset when it automatically returned the first time. I wasn't even totally sure I was going to finish it, although I'm glad I did. It didn't hold my attention as well as I was hoping it would, but I was sort of interested in the basic plot. I debated about going down to 2 stars, but I don't think it deserves that low of a rating. It was fine, just not something I was fascinated by. I think when I read that it was "like Pride and Prejudice but for socialists," my expectations were a bit too high. I just didn't connect well to any of the characters. Oh well. I am looking forward to watching the mini-series! If I remember, I'll come back to this review and let you know how it compares. I hear the mini-series is quite good! We shall see. :)

Update: I watched the first episode from the mini-series last night and I really, really liked it!! I think this may be a rare case where I like the TV show better than the book.

Update #2: I just finished the show and absolutely loved it. I definitely enjoyed it far more than the book, which is unusual. I think it will be something I watch again and again!

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Review: North and South

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I listened to the first half of this before the audiobook was automatically returned to the library. Then I took about a month (or longer) break from it before getting it out again about a week ago. I liked it alright, but I wasn't very upset when it automatically returned the first time. I wasn't even totally sure I was going to finish it, although I'm glad I did. It didn't hold my attention as well as I was hoping it would, but I was sort of interested in the basic plot. I debated about going down to 2 stars, but I don't think it deserves that low of a rating. It was fine, just not something I was fascinated by. I think when I read that it was "like Pride and Prejudice but for socialists," my expectations were a bit too high. I just didn't connect well to any of the characters. Oh well. I am looking forward to watching the mini-series! If I remember, I'll come back to this review and let you know how it compares. I hear the mini-series is quite good! We shall see. :)

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Review: Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a really good fantasy novel! It took me a while to get through, but toward the end I couldn't put it down. I was told it was sort of a cross between Harry Potter and Black Panther. I think this heightened my expectations somewhat unrealistically. I can see the Black Panther similarity a bit (which is awesome!), but I really don't see any similarities to Harry Potter. However, it had some great character development and was action-packed all the way through. I'm glad I finally got around to it and I am looking forward to reading book two when it is released!

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Review: Lavinia

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. A good retelling that made me want to reread the original (The Aeneid). Although I remembered his first wife and Dido quite well, I actually didn't remember Lavinia at all. The story reminded me a lot of Circe, but perhaps just because of the ancient setting in both. Nothing really stood out to me, but it was enjoyable enough. This is only my second book by Le Guin, so I'd like to read more by her!

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Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading this aloud to my little guys, and I think they enjoyed it too! We had a great version with color illustrations that made it even better.

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Review: Outlander

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really struggled to decide how many stars to give this. On one hand, I enjoyed the story overall and was interested in what was happening to the characters the entire time. On the other hand, there were some really problematic elements that bothered me a lot.

My biggest problems circled around Claire's relationship with Jamie. On several occasions, she (view spoiler)[ expresses that she does not want to or cannot have sex with him, but he basically forces her to because he is "not a man to be stopped." She doesn't seem overly upset by this, but I am of the opinion that if someone says "stop," you stop -- no matter what. Anything else is rape, which is obviously not an indicator of a healthy relationship. I also hated how he literally beat her and then she forgave him the next day. I know she was angry at first, but then she rationalizes it. I also know that for the time period it may have even been expected, but I don't see that an excuse to make it ok. Finally, this is a little thing, but it really did bother me that she didn't struggle more when thinking about her first husband, Frank. She rarely seemed to miss him and didn't even struggle that much when thinking about wedding (and bedding!) another man. I'm not sure what this says about her first marriage, but I can't think it is very good. (hide spoiler)]

For all of those reasons, I almost gave it 2 stars. However, as I said before, I did enjoy the story. I am on the fence about whether or not to continue the series. I am thinking about just watching the TV show, because I heard it takes out some of the problematic elements, which would make it still more enjoyable for me. We'll see.

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