This story was absolutely messed up and also incredibly fascinating, with one of the most dysfunctional family units I have yet to come across. Reality shows are all the rave in the recent years, Reality Boy is the best example of how these shows are the opposite of reality. Do we ever stop to think of the psychological toll they take on a child? Especially when too young to understand how life can be so unfair. Network Nanny, the show in this book, is not very far off from our own running Reality shows. How do you think the kids in Supernanny will grow up with everyone at school, in their whole town, have seen them at their worst? Imagine your childhood tantrums shown on national TV! More often than…
2013 DNFs [Part 2]
Posted by Giselle • 35 Comments
Hi everyone. I actually have not DNFed many books since the last round-up post back in May (which is a good thing) but just recently I did have to put down a few so instead of posting full reviews for them I like to do these round-up posts to explain why a book didn’t work for me – and hey maybe what I hate is something you love in books, you never know! 🙂
Red
Alison Cherry
Felicity St. John has it all—loyal best friends, a hot guy, and artistic talent. And she’s right on track to win the Miss Scarlet pageant. Her perfect life is possible because of just one thing: her long, wavy, coppery red hair.
Having red hair is all that matters in Scarletville. Redheads hold all the power—and everybody knows it. That’s why Felicity is scared down to her roots when she receives an anonymous note:I know your secret.
Because Felicity is a big fake. Her hair color comes straight out of a bottle. And if anyone discovered the truth, she’d be a social outcast faster than she could say “strawberry blond.” Her mother would disown her, her friends would shun her, and her boyfriend would dump her. And forget about winning that pageant crown and the prize money that comes with it—money that would allow her to fulfill her dream of going to art school. Felicity isn’t about to let someone blackmail her life away. But just how far is she willing to go to protect her red cred?
I wasn’t expecting the level of silliness this book had going on. It was kind of satire and while I usually enjoy those kinds of reads this one was just annoying for me. They live in this whole town of people who bread redheads and if you’re a brunette or a blonde in that town you’re basically a pariah. The town is run by a guy called Mayor Redding – how convenient O_o Just silly things like this that made it all ridiculous. Maybe it was meant to be funny or something, but it only gave me a headache.
Here’s about the tone of this book:
“Lorelei’s mother had won the Magnificent Mommy award for having produced seven redheaded children, the highest number in the community.”
“It’s exactly what they want to hear! There’s nothing they like better than a reformed girl who’s seen the light and realized how important pageants are.” (a pageant only redheads can be in, of course. No lesser beings.)
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Tumble & Fall
Alexandra Coutts
A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings
The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that’s left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.
I usually try to get through at least 40-50% of a book before I decide it’s not worth my time and DNF it. This one was an exception. At only 10 pages in (no joke) I was already wanting to put it down. By 20% I could not take anymore, it was really that bad. 3 POVs all in 3rd person, characters as flat as doormats, writing that was so off I felt jumbled, insta love… I read some reviews after I put it aside and it seems like I made a good choice. The quotes and plot happenings I read about that happened later on in the book are definitely not improvements from the first part. The father buying his son a prostitute and the POVs having no links to each other, and so on. There is no way I would have ended up enjoying this one whatsoever.
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The Dollhouse Asylum
Mary Gray
A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields–a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus–she is thrilled to have a chance at survival.
At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne’s heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.
The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now “Persephone,” and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.
If they play it right, then they’ll be safe.
But if they play it wrong, they’ll die
At first when I was reading and things were just odd and kind of stupid, I figured there were drugs or mental illness involved (no I’m serious), but it’s really just an annoying book.
It’s about this young teacher, Teo, who, after this zombie-like epidemic has returned (or so he says), builds this “ideal” town where he brings 7 couples with him who are all students. He renames them after famous couples in literature – like Romeo and Juliet – and forces them to act and dress like them. If they want the vaccine they have to do as he says. So… 13 teens and one weird 24 year old. Why is he in charge? Why are they not just… you know… taking the vaccine? Oh wait, maybe it’s the lion. The lion Teo lets out of some random hole (in a wall or the ground I’m not even sure) who eats and kills one of the couples. Lolz. A freaking lion!
Then there’s an icky romance, an even ickier love triangle – with 2 brothers – and an irritatingly naive protagonist.
“Plus, I’ve broken Teo’s cardinal rule: Never interfere with what he says. I’m mostly mortified I somehow forgot about that unspoken rule, but I can’t help wondering why he thinks calling people names is okay. But that’s Teo. His mind is so far ahead of everyone else’s that he has a hard time being patient sometimes.”
Uurgh. Being an advanced human being is so demanding!!
“I shake my head; It’s impossible to be perfect. Of course, Teo knows that, but who am I to challenge his authority?”
“I can’t help wondering if it hurt him to be angry, if he realizes how much he hurt me. But it doesn’t matter; I’ll do anything to prove myself to him. Because I can show him I’m worthy of his love, his dreams, this place. He might have unrealistic expectations, but I can do better. He will see.”
Yeeeah… O.o
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That’s all for today’s DNF round-up. If I’m lucky it will be the last one of 2013. Seeing as I read 200 books a read, a total of 14 DNFs this year is actually fairly low (well I find) so I have been having generally good luck with books this year. What are some of the books your had to DNF lately?
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