The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 2

I thought this was fun to do a couple months ago, and I've decided to do another post like it. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2017 so far.

THE GOOD:

1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline was surprisingly intoxicating. I'm not a gamer, and never have been, but I found that I couldn't have cared less about the gamer-basis of the story. I liked it, don't get me wrong, and the concept was great. I really loved how the book addressed the difference that technology can have on our lives. I also enjoyed how the main character realized that our lives can't be a game, and that we have a duty to the real world, not a world that was created to be an oasis for us. Lastly, I liked how the main character and all the other characters learned that it's not about what we look like that's important; it's the make up of our minds and thoughts that make us who we are. 
2. Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare was an engaging read. The second book in the Dark Artifices series, this sequel didn't disappoint. With dark twists and turns leading Jules and Emma and Cristina and Mark through Faeire and out, this book was crazy up until the very end, where I sat shocked with the copy of it in my hands. The ending surprised me the most, and is the only thing I can think about now that I've finished reading it. I understand why Cassandra Clare made that choice, no matter how surprising, but sometimes when I least expect it, I imagine being in Julian's position and I find that it physically hurts my heart to think about after that ending. I'm already anxiously expecting the third installment of the Dark Artifices series, and if this is the first time you've heard of Cassandra Clare, I recommend her first series, The Mortal Instruments, to pull you into the Shadow World.

THE BAD:

1. 99 Days by Katie Cotugno was not what I was expecting. I thought the concept for this book was good, but I didn't like the main character. I think the biggest complaint I have for this book is that the main character, Molly, made a mistake, then ran away from it, came back to the situation, and then made the same mistake again. She loved running away, and it was her default setting when in a situation that she didn't see was in her favor. She also made the same mistake twice, and knowingly, so her character arc was pretty much nonexistent. But, if you're into those love triangles with two brothers and a summer full of romance, you might give this book a shot. Despite the main character and all her flaws, the story wasn't what I would describe as "ugly" but bad enough to not be a satisfying read. 

THE UGLY:

1. Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz was loooooong. It was so long. When I say this book was long, it was unnecessarily long. There were many aspects of this book that could have been cut out. Other than that first initial thought, I do want you to know that I wanted to like this book. The topic (immigration reform) is something that is highly controversial, especially in America right now. In the end, the book turned out to have a great concept, but horrible character, plot and theme execution. First of all, like I mentioned earlier, it's long. 400 pages is too long for a book like this, and I found many little bits and pieces where I thought didn't belong and could have been cut out. The main character, Jasmine, seemed to have no flaws.  She was basically the perfect golden girl. To go along with her perfect academic record, she was also a cheerleader. I was a cheerleader a couple of years ago, and I appreciated the first couple paragraphs of the book talking about what a cheerleader is really like. Other than that, I hated the part where (spoilers ahead) the team goes to Nationals after Jasmine blew it for the team at Regionals. It felt too perfect and too good to be true and I hated it. I felt like it would have been better for Perfect Jasmine if she didn't get to go to the cheerleading competition of her dreams, because at least that meant there was one thing in the book that at least felt realistic (spoilers over). Honestly, you could have kept the cheerleading bit out of the  book entirely. Now, I know people have strong opinions when it come to politics, and I am no exception. Immigration reform is something the politicians in our country debate about everyday, and I've you've learned anything about a well crafted argument, you know that you have to address a counterclaim and then craft a rebuttal. This book didn't do that. I understand how people feel about immigrants in this country on both sides. One particular side seemed to be ignored, the side that believes that illegal immigrants should not be in America because they aren't documented. Seeing as many undocumented immigrants have committed crimes that have often cost the life of a child, that side has many pieces of solid evidence on their side. I was disappointed when this book hardly even addressed that side of immigration reform, and only talked about how undocumented immigrants should be granted the right to stay if they've lived in America for a long time and haven't done any bad. I agree that if they haven't done anything wrong, it's awful for them to be deported, but people do have to do the right thing and come into the country the right way. So, I was disappointed when this book didn't have any counterclaims to that except it's not fair. Nothing in life is fair. Moving on, there was bit about marriage in there that I thought was totally uncalled for and completely stupid, but the characters were desperate at that point in the book, so I understand why it was in there. But still, uncalled for and completely stupid. I think the only time I really liked Jasmine was when she said that she couldn't do it. Speaking of marriage, I thought there were way too many fights between Jasmine and her love interest. I think a lot of those fights were unnecessary and could have been cut out, once again saving the story from 400 pages of long text. And then speaking of characters, there was one that I felt was unnecessary and not needed to move the plot along. Cutting this character out would have also saved the book a lot of space. Jasmine sounded like a 13 year old narrator. She called her parents "Mommy" and "Daddy" regularly throughout the book. Though this was justified through Filipino culture, it still felt little kid-ish, coupled with the fact that she tried to talk to the readers and said things like "eek" and "boy-radar." There were also texting bits that felt awkward and forced. Lastly, I thought the book ended too soon. The solution and the wrap-up was too fast. It felt fake and, based on all the hardships the characters took to get them to the end, wasn't an ending that did the story justice. Coupling all these details together, this book truly wasn't one I enjoyed at all. It wasn't realistic enough for me, and it was hard to read because the main character was seemly perfect with the voice of a 13 year old. Take this with a grain of salt because these are my own opinions, but I don't recommend this book to anyone. Seeing as most people these days don't have a lot of time, the whole 432 pages thing is already unappealing already. For these reasons, I've made this book the ugliest book I've read so far in 2017. 

Final disclaimer: these are all my opinions. I don't mean to hurt feelings or push you away from a book that you've wanted to read. By all means, read the book that I deemed the ugliest and form your own opinion. I'd love to hear it. For now, that's all on the good, the bad, and the ugly from 2017 so far.