Friday 24 July 2015

Mini Reviews ft. Vanishing Girls and Unspoken


Here's a couple mini reviews.  The format is a little all over the place because I decided I didn't want to make any more of these "My Take" picture things, but I still had one left over that I had pre-made.  So, sorry about that, but I'm sure it won't be too disrupting.

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

This book managed to get two stars from me.  As I said above, it was overall just much too slow and frankly pointless for me.  By the end, I was left with an overwhelming feeling of anger - I'd spent all this time reading for that?!  I felt like the ending didn't add up - although I'm sure other people feel differently.  Another thing that annoyed me was that there was the covering up of past events from the reader by the narrators [or narrator, singular].  It was frustrating for me that the narrators weren't telling the reader everything they knew just to prolong the story.  I also didn't like the characters, but that didn't really affect how I felt about the book [except for that annoying aunt, saying she talked to Dara every day - that made me more angry.  Also Parker because I felt like I was meant to be rooting for him and Nick, but I just thought he was awful].  The only good things about the book (for me) were that the characters were fairly realistic and I liked the setting of the amusement park.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

This was an okay read for me.  It was entertaining and funny at times, but other times it was predictable and the characters' choices were annoying.  The story follows Kami and Jared, teenagers who thought each other to be imaginary friends until they end up meeting in the small town where Kami lives.  Strange, mysterious things occur and the main plot is Kami and her friends trying to figure out who is behind it all.
I liked Kami, the main character.  Her humour, fearlessness and determination made her both a strong female protagonist, though probably not in the way you'd expect, and perfect for working for the school paper.  She definitely had her flaws too - sometimes she could be mean without realising it and she rushed into things - but that made her more realistic.  The main problems I did have with her though, were some of her choices in regard to Jared and Ash - and their choices in regard to her.  They could be so frustrating!  A lot of time was spent explaining that [Kami was pushing Jared out because she didn't want to get hurt etc even though she's supposed to be always on his side and he's always on her side and she definitely trusted him.  I thought that the positives of being that close to him would have outweighed this "possibly getting hurt" business, since it seemed so unlikely to happen.  Also Kami wasn't the only one adding to this frustration - Jared was the worst at giving mixed signals, and shutting Kami out too!  So much unnecessary drama!]  That was the biggest negative of this book to me.  It's also worth mentioning that whilst some of the jokes made me laugh nonstop, others missed the mark.  One more issue is that I thought the mystery could have been solved a lot earlier on - I figured out most of it pretty quickly. [Also I totally caught on that Angela liked Holly waaay before Kami did!].  Overall, this was a nice, sweet book that was also extremely frustrating.

Have you read either of these?  Let me know your thoughts!

6 comments:

  1. I haven't read any of these books but I've heard of them. I've never felt like picking up a Lauren Oliver book and I honestly don't think I will now :S however, I do own Unspoken and since many people, you included, say it's funny it could be a nice read to kill time :)

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    1. Well, I can't say that I highly recommend her books - though I did like Panic. The only one I haven't read now is Before I Fall, but I don't think I will pick that up.
      Yes, Unspoken is funny - and it's also a little addictive - so I think it would be good for that! :)

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  2. I haven't read either book~ I have read the Delirium trilogy and Panic by Lauren Oliver though, and I have to say I've never quite enjoyed any of her books :/ I didn't strongly dislike any of them, they were just kind of okay. Thanks for the review, I probably won't pick up Vanishing Girls anytime soon.

    I haven't read any Sarah Rees Brennan's books, though I have read Shadowhunter-related content that she contributed to with Cassandra Clare, and if Unspoken is anywhere near as hilarious as those novellas, I think I'd enjoy it xD
    Is Unspoken like a fantasy book, or is it more of a realistic mystery?

    - Connie @ The YA Book Thief

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    1. That's unusual - usually I see people either loving or hating her books, hardly ever in between. No worries :P

      I actually picked up Unspoken because of a short story I read by the author that made me laugh until I cried. It was definitely had a lot of funny moments. I've also read her contributions to The Bane Chronicles, and I'd say that's a good book to base your opinions off for her :)
      It's more fantasy/paranormal than realistic mystery.

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  3. I haven't read Unspoken--although I really do want to!--but I HAVE read Vanishing Girls. I kind of like this? Eh. I'm still not really sure. I love Lauren Oliver, buuuut I didn't personally connect with that one. But that's just me. I've heard some really rave reviews about it!

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    1. I recommend Unspoken if it sounds like something you would like. Yeah, I've heard a lot of people say that they loved Vanishing Girls, but like you, I didn't connect with it. Add to that how annoyed I was, and that's why I didn't like it.
      Thanks for stopping by :)

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