Sing - Vivi Greene

Rating: ★★★★☆

GOODREADS

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

1. ALL THE FEELS

2. Beach-summer setting

3. So many cute boys!

4.Great narrator

5. Predictable with a twist

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book. 

I'm not sure why I requested Sing on Netgalley. Maybe it was the beautiful cover or the fact that I've read a bunch of bloggers rave about it, but when it came down to reading this book I wasn't excited. All my expectations were for a cliché, overromantized story that would just annoy me. I'm very happy to say that I was ABSOLUTELY wrong about this novel. Sing by Vivi Greene made me smile with every single page and there's not a YA-loving person I wouldn't recommend this for.

Lily Ross is a world famous singer that is under the scrutiny of the media on a Taylor Swift level. She constantly dates people, even though she always vows not to, and writes her most famous hits about said boys. When her perfect famous boyfriend breaks up with her, Lily and her two friends escape to a Maine island so she can reinvent herself, her love for music and figure out why she always seems to need a boy.

Vivi Greene successfully created a narrator who is at once very removed from the reader (who of us has the same issues as a Taylor Swift??), yet extremely relatable. When I was a teenager, I was the girl who hated the girls who always needed a boyfriend. WHY? Sing actually gives me the answer to this question - and I enjoyed reading it. In a genre where there are either really independent girls or girls who do everything for boys, I thoroughly enjoyed the complexity of Lily's romantic feelings. She knows she always needs a guy and writes her song about them, but she want to change that about herself. In the end, this is a story about whether or not we can change and how much we should listen to what society tells us. And spoiler alert: it's one of the most surprising endings I've read in a while.

The setting of this novel is also great. We go from the glitz and glam of famous New York to a quiet island in New England. Now if you know me, you know I love New England and the beachy, summer setting makes this book just perfect for this month. The descriptions are gorgeous and as Lily falls in love with the island, you can't help but do the same.

Non-surprisingly, I really enjoyed reading Sing. Lily made me smile a lot and I loved reading about her self-discovering journey and the amazing friends she has along with her. This is a feel-good book that lights up any rainy summer day (which I've had way too many of!) and will make you want to dance around in your room and be your own Lily Ross.

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Rating: ★★★☆☆

GOODREADS

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

1. Amazing characters

2. Classics students in Vermont

3. Some REALLY messed up twists

4. Pretentious writing that put me off

5. I want to cuddle the twins and keep them safe

The Secret History has been haunting me for months. Years. Everyone has read this novel and it has been on my parents bookshelf for such a long time, that it seemed ridiculous that I haven't picked it up. But I never did. Until this summer, because if summer is for one thing, it's for long books.

It's hard to review this book and though I've said it before, this book might be the hardest one so far. Though I love the characters in this book (ESPECIALLY the twins!!), the writing was absolutely awful. I don't know why, but I felt like this was a Classics 101 class and was written in a way that was somehow pretentious and somehow for people who never read. It was a weird combination and I wasn't comfortable with Donna Tartt's constant need to show how she can describe things - something that is normally fine, but threw off the pacing of the 300 middle pages of this novel.

However, if you enjoy that kinda writing and are okay with severe pacing issues, there are some great characters in this novel. Our narrator, Richard, is new to his Vermont college and decides to join the classics students; a small group of five who only have one professor and meet in his office the whole time. Very early on, the reader notices something off about all the characters, though our narrator blissfully ignores this. 

Plot-wise, this book is one heck of a roller coaster. Many people have praised this novel for being crazy, yet plausible. I just found the whole story crazy. Nothing plausible about it. Yet enjoyable to read at times. Towards the end, I feel like it was one of those season finales where the writers know there won't be a next season anyway, so they just pull out every crazy trick they have. Donna Tartt wrapped this story up in a way that there will no re-introduction to these characters, so why not go crazy?

Like I said, I really enjoyed the characters of this novel, though I can't really discuss them without spoiling the book for everyone. I kinda wish someone else would take the twins and put them in their own, still very messed up, world with better writing. When it comes to creating characters, it's clear that not many people can do it better than Donna Tartt.

So many things about this book annoyed me while reading it, yet I can't give it less than three stars. I won't ever forget these characters and if you know me, you'll know that I love love love an amazing, well-rounded character. Donna Tarrt gave me more than five of them, which is a rare feat in one novel. But I also know I won't try to read any other books by her, because the writing is just so not my style. All I can say, try reading this yourself and figure out if the writing works for you.

The Life of the World to Come: A Novel - Dan Clunchey

Rating: ★★★★☆

GOODREADS

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

1. Amazing writing

2. Philosophy all around

3. 500 Days of Summer romance

4. Death row lawyers!! 

5. A tad overdramatic at times

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book. 

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Life of the World to Come by Dan Clunchey. For once, this wasn't a cover-download, but I just really liked the synopsis of the story. Leo Brice, a law student, meets Fiona, a Marilyn Monroe-esque girl who takes him on a crazy roller coaster during their time together. But like all good things, this ends too and Leo is left to pick up the pieces of their relationship and his life.

What I loved most about this book is the amazing writing. On the one hand, this is a novel about first loves and how they can take a piece away from us. On the other hand, it's about Leo's law studies and how he deals with having to represent a client on death row. Though these two things might seem completely unrelated, Dan Clunchey ties them together beautifully with a narrator whose voices I absolutely loved.

At its core, this is a book about death. Death of friendships. Death of love. Death of justice. Death of certain people. This sounds terribly pessimistic and dark, but it somehow isn't. Leo at his core loves life, and though he might forget it at some points, his voice always carries a certain optimism with it. And if it doesn't, there are other characters who fulfil that role in the novel.

Overall, The Life of the World to Come is an easy and amazing read. What makes life worth living? You leave the novel knowing what Leo would say, but you will continue thinking about your own answer for a long time after finishing this novel. If you love lawyers, doomed romances and/or philosophy, you cannot miss this stunning novel. 

The Summer That Melted Everything - Tiffany McDaniel + Q&A!

Rating: ★★★★★

GOODREADS

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

1. Paradise Lost references in chapter titles and plot

2. Well-rounded characters

3. Amazing setting descriptions

4. Well working plot

5. Grab you tissues

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book. 

The Summer that Melted Everything is the debut novel of Tiffany McDaniel. She has also made a great trailer where you can see exactly how much other people have loved this novel too!

So don't just take my word during this review: trust other people who love books too! And because Tiffany is amazing, she always answered some questions for you readers. Read those first and then my thoughts about the novel below!

Q.  Tell us a little about yourself.

A.  I’m an Ohio poet and novelist who wishes I could ride the back of Moby Dick across the great Atlantic, make a web with Charlotte, and shoot the breeze (but no mockingbirds) with Atticus Finch.  I want to spend every summer bottling Dandelion Wine with Ray Bradbury, and spend all my Octobers haunting around and checking sugar for arsenic with Shirley Jackson.  

Q.  What inspired you to write The Summer that Melted Everything?

A.  When I was twenty-eight I felt like I was melting.  It was one of those Ohio summers that just about turned me into a puddle of myself.  Thus the title was born.  As far as what inspired me to write this story, I always say what inspires me always are the characters themselves.  My characters feel very real to me, as if at some point I will actually meet them in full presence, if not here in this world, perhaps in the one after.  They exist and in their existence they inspire me to tell their story as honestly as I can.  

Q.  The story is really very sad. As a writer, did you ever want to stop and turn away from the world you created?

A: I’ve always said I’m drawn to the crash, not the landing.  I want to explore the wreckage, the broken fragments, the things that which were once whole and are now scattered upon the ground.  I never have that urge to stop or turn away because to me these moments that test us emotionally are moments we’re closest to the truth of our own infinite selves.

Q.  Is your book based on personal experiences? 

A.  While the story itself is not based on personal experience, the landscape certainly is.  The story takes place in the fictional town of Breathed, Ohio, which is a landscape very much reflective of my childhood summers and school-year weekends spent in southern Ohio, where the hills speak, the creek paces in its own good time, and the roads are dirt-laid and grass-lined. That wildflower song, front porch chatter, and southern twang has shaped me as a writer. Having spent my childhood summers down-home was like being one of the rolling hills, forever rooted in rust and dirt and moon-shine magic.  

Q.  Do you have anything you would like to say to readers?  And where can readers find you?

A.  I would like to say to readers that without you, there are no novelists to be had.  Readers give meaning to an author’s words.  So if you like a book, tell everyone you know.  Be that book’s champion because if you do, you’re being a champion for the author herself.  My only hope is that readers like what I’ve written.  That they can count on me to deliver a story that is worth both their time and their hard-earned money.  Nothing would make me happier than to know a reader has finished one of my books with the pleasure of having read it.  That’s what I strive for as an author.  To be someone’s favorite author as so many authors have been mine.  

As far as where readers can find me, I’m not on social media, but they can jump on to my website here at www.tiffanymcdaniel.com

Readers can also connect with me directly through my website.  That connection to readers is very important to me.  As I’ve said, they’re the ones who determine an author’s entire career.  How can I not give them some of my time, when they’ve given me some of their time reading my book?

My review:

The novel is set in Ohio in the 1980s and starts off with Autopsy Bliss putting an add in the newspaper inviting the devil into his town. The devil shows up in the shape of a homeless black boy, who is the same age at Autopsy's son Fielding. Fielding find the devil, who calls himself Sal, and brings him back home. This does not only send the whole town into a heath wave, but also triggers the start of many bad events in the town.

Tiffany McDaniel tells this story in a surrealistic way, reminiscent of Paradise Lost by Milton. This is referenced by her starting each chapter by a line of two of the novel. Though you don't have to read Paradise Lost to understand this novel, the writing style becomes a lot clearer when you do. This is not just a real story about a family taking in a black boy. This is almost a Biblical story about who the devil is and how he can hide in the people we least expect it from.

What I thoroughly enjoyed while reading this was the coming of age element. Fielding is a young teenager in a white family. When Sal comes in, he is suddenly confronted with racism and discrimination. People already hate the devil before they even know who he is. Though Fielding tries to help Sal, we also see how young he is and how he's unable to resist the influence of certain people. I loved how Fielding isn't just an upright, always smart kid. He's growing up and discovering himself and his world and he hits a few serious bumps along the way in figuring that out.

This book is so much more than I can do justice to. It's about religion, race, love, family, abuse, death and so much more. All these themes are interwoven beautifully by McDaniel and you'll breeze through this novel on any hot summer day.

As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner

Every single day, my life becomes more and more about my thesis and the authors connected to it. When I went to Boston, I decided to have a little break (just a tiny one, because I did spend an amazing day at the Hemingway archives, living my dream of being a real researcher who looks at super important, life changing documents) and focused on an author who always seems to be mentioned in the same breath as Ernest Hemingway, but isn't from the same group: William Faulkner.

In case you know as much about William Faulkner as I did, which is nothing, he is a Nobel prize winning author from Mississippi, who lived from 1897 until 1962. (Hence the connection with Hemingway, since they worked in the same time period) He is mostly known for The Sound and the Fury, but I read As I Lay Dying, because I loved the cover and the summary interested me immediately.

As I Lay Dying is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and how this influences her family, community, and bystanders who were strangers before in Southern America. This book is the perfect example of why so many people dislike modernism - it's tough. Faulkner alternates between 15 narrators, jumps between time and action and makes the reader do a lot of work. A lot of times, I had to read passages several times to really realise what's going on. This is focused reading, not a simple beach read that you half read while also talking to someone.

However, I found it truly worth it. When I finished it, I left feeling "so why did I even read this?" and then some days passed. And this book kept popping up at different moments throughout my normal day. I'd remember a line. A scene. A character.

It's simplicity is what grabbed me. There is no real point to this book - it's a telling of the death of a mother, wife, matriarch and a woman in a small community. This effects so many more people than you'd expect and in completely different ways. Yet, life also continues for all of them and they have to move on and deal with new issues that arrive.

There's almost no setting in this book. No explanation as of who the characters are and where they come from. No deep analysis of their relationships. But I absolutely loved it. With minimal words and writing, Faulkner is able to transport you to a different world and to connect with characters.

I'm extremely grateful that I read Mrs. Dalloway before this book, because otherwise I wouldn't have had the skills to appreciate this book. It might not be the best first dip into modernism, but I could appreciate it, even though I'm far from an expert.

Zero K - Don DeLillo

Rating: ★★★☆☆

GOODREADS

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

1. Unlike any other read

2. Dystopian

3. Confusing

4. Short, easy language that carries a punch

5. Makes you think for day after

Let me introduce myself: my name is Emma and I'm the last person on this planet to hear about Don DeLillo. When the release of Zero K was announced, the press jumped on the book of this amazing 'best American author ever', and I was clueless who he was. And I hate that. So the first thing I did was pick up Zero K when I could and read through it so I finally also know who Don DeLillo is.

Jeffrey Lockhart is called to a compound in the middle of nowhere to witness his stepmother dying. But not just ordinarily dying - Artis is incurably ill and instead of waiting out her days, she wants to be frozen and preserved until medicine can save her. Jeffrey and his father Ross are there to support. Though Jeffrey understand and supports Artis decision, his father then tells him he wants to do the same, because he hates the world he has to live in. But how much can we humans decide about life and death?

Zero K is the perfect read for this day and age. We live in a world where every day we wake up to some horrible news story about murder, rape and unhappiness. It's not a big jump to be in Don DeLillo's world and to see Ross' point of view: this day and age can be tough at best. That's what I so loved reading this novel. Though I felt like it took place in a more future period of time, solely because of the writing, it could take place right now. We have technology, we have war, we have people looking for a way out. This book raises so many interesting questions about life and I bet not one reader will walk away not asking themselves if they agree with Ross.

However, this book is really a more mental game. Not a whole lot actually happens plot-wise. As a reader, it's a lot about putting your own experiences in there and really reading between the lines at what the meaning of this novel is. While I enjoyed the writing, it was really fast-paced and I finished it in a day, there just wasn't enough in there for me. I left this book feeling kinda 'so what?' about all the characters. Because of the minimalist style of Don DeLillo's writing, I didn't get to connect with anyone well enough to truly enjoy this story.

Overall, I would compare this book to a meal at a really fancy restaurant. You are awed by the beauty of the food and will think for days about what exactly was put on your plate and how it was achieved. However, you also won't really be full, because there was barely any food. The writing was great, the plot was original; there just wasn't enough in this story to drive me crazy about it. I can see why Don DeLillo is praised so much, but he might just not be the writer for me. 

The Boy Most Likely To - Huntley Fitzpatrick

Rating: ★★★★☆

GOODREADS

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

1. SWOON SWOON SWOON

2. CUTEST plot-twist

3. You'll want summer and a hot boyfriend to run across the beach with

4. Original story

5. Heartbreaking at times

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book. 

Oh Huntley Fitzpatrick, you have my heart. Always. Forever. After My Life Next Door, I couldn't wait to read the companion novel The Boy Most Likely To. You don't have to have read the first book, but do it anyway because it's amazing!

In The Boy Most Likely To we follow Alice and Tim, small town badasses with her being a notorious heartbreaker and him an alcoholic with coping issues. Together, they are a match made in hell, but when Tim moves into the garage of Alice's family, they are drawn to each other.

I read this book when summer in the UK was starting (what a lovely week of summer we've had), and I was preparing to go on a trip to see my boyfriend in the States. Perfect circumstances. The Boy Most Likely To is extremely swoon-worthy and gave me serious envy of every teenager growing up in America. Being 17 and able to drive to dates (on the beach, at night) makes it all sound so much more romantic. 

Though the premise is quite cliché, Huntley Fitzpatrick is a genius at navigating that comfort level of knowing what will happen and throwing in the unexpected. Though you can predict the ending, the journey there is insane and filled with plot twists that I did not see coming. I found the beginning a bit slow, because I was worried that I'd stay cliché, but trust me - it doesn't. 

Both Alice and Tim are narrators and both are really well written. Personally, I gravitated towards Tim. Though both of them have some serious, way beyond the usual task of teenager, decision to make, they still stay fun and also go through the things all teenagers go through. I was just so touched by Tim's voice and how he feels about love that I could never stop rooting for him.

I love the realistic vibe of this novel. Though Tim and Alice immediately have a connection, it's not love at first sight and not a story about how love can conquer anything. Sometimes, love gets conquered. Sometimes, it breaks your heart. And trust me, in this book you will cry.

Overall, I have little to fault The Boy Most Likely To on. Like I said, the beginning can seem cliché, but that's literally only the first 20 pages. After that it's amazing and flawless and now I want to be on the beach, after running, with ice cream and romance.