Time for some more MINI REVIEWS! Which are super fun, I must admit.
You can admit it too, if you want. But then like all my reviews are fun because I’m fabulous. And humble. So so super humble.
Anyway! 2017 is currently playing this fun game called “THROW ALL THE BOOKS AT CAIT ALL AT ONCE” which means I’m 87 years behind on my TBR. I also blame moving house 2 weeks ago. So I’m going to smoosh 3 reviews together all published by Text Publishing! (Thank you so much!)
I’ll also link to longer reviews over on my Goodreads if you are extra super nosey. Also bless you.
MARSH AND ME BY MARTINE MURRAY
Publishing July 2017
Goodreads Buy Publisher Longer Review
★★★☆☆
This was a super cute tale about imagination and throwing things at people you just met. Which is 100% how I handle meeting people too. #relatable. I was a bit surprised that it featured the dreaded manic pixie dream girl who the boy crushes on her and she changes his life and etc. etc. I hoped to be spared that until reaching YA. But anyway. It was still a cute and quirky middle-grade novel. It’s also set in the same world as Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars!
THINGS TO LIKE
- It features music! Marsh sings and Joey plays the guitar.
- It’s also all about storytelling. Which is life.
- Joey is a sensitive and nice boy and he doesn’t appreciate it BUT I DO.
- Features a treehouse.
- Unlikely friendships.
- Chocolate with salt in it which is divine.
I did feel a bit old for it as I am…well, old. But I loved Marsh’s fierce imagination and the tales the kids spun to get them through tough times. <3
STILL LIFE WITH A TORNADO BY A.S. KING
Published May, 2017
Goodreads Publisher Buy Longer Review
★★☆☆☆
Well this made so so so very little sense to me. It’s like abstract art…and I just don’t click with that sort of thing. However, this author has won a ton of awards and I truly think a lot of this is “it just doesn’t click with me” sort of dislike. But really: I had no freaking clue what was going on.
WHAT WENT WRONG FOR ME:
- It says that Sarah is having an “existential crisis” but the level of hallucinations she had would indicate severe depression or…more. Possibly schizophrenia? I feel like it romanticised mental illness by making Sarah & Co. view her struggles as “a simple teenage crisis that all artists have”. Hmm. No.
- I’m not a fan of books that include mental illness but don’t DEAL with it.
- It’s a story of domestic violence, but I still struggle to understand why Sarah was never subject to it. Why did the dad beat her brother but not her? I suppose the father was very very psychologically disturbed and when does domestic violence ever make sense. But I just understood NO ONE’S motivations.
- Also the balance was hard to manage when Sarah’s mum is being horribly physically abused and Sarah is just having a meltdown because her art isn’t “original enough”.
- It felt out of proportion.
- The book then got SUPER BIZARRE because Sarah started meeting past/future versions of herself.
- Righto.
- It didn’t really seem YA, especially with the mother narrating half and talking about marriage problems and life as a nurse.
- Sarah was so angsty and I just didn’t understand her.
I was engaged more at the end! But the middle and beginning were more like falling into a pit of lettuce, and we all know my feelings on lettuce. * However I reeeally wanted to see how it’d pan out so I was engaged! The style was just too confusing, abstract, and metaphorical for me to really like the book. I need black-and-white-facts, my friend.
* If you’re new here, my feelings are: no.
BALLAD FOR A MAD GIRL BY VIKKI WAKEFIELD
Published May, 2017
Goodreads Publisher Buy Longer Review
★★★☆☆
This is like a contemporary / paranormal hallucinating murder mystery. Which is quite the exciting combination, let me tell you. It has everything: ghost possession, hallucinations, teenagers with greasy hair, and so much pizza. The only thing I wasn’t keen on is just the writing style. For me it was rather unemotional and I didn’t really connect. Personal thing, though!
THINGS I LIKED
- Set in ‘STRAYA, MATE.
- Only 300 pages so a nice light read for the evening if you don’t mind people being murdered everywhere.
- Contains so much pizza.
- I was really really interested to know what the heckin’ hop was going on!! A mystery is a solid win when it has you turning pages.
- Grace’s hallucinations and her body falling apart while she gets drawn further into the paranormal was seriously creepy and yes please.
- No romance at all for Grace!
- A cute dog — WHO DOESN’T DIE.
THINGS I LIKED NOT SO MUCH
- Grace, unfortunately, is kind of a selfish brat.
- The book keeps telling me Grace is hilarious and a jolly joker BUT NEVER SHOWED IT. Where is the funny.
- I am personally really opposed to “pranks”. They scare me, ok. People do stuff for a “laugh” but it just sounds super traumatic to me and all I can think of is how a simple joke could really ruin someone struggling with mental health or invisible disabilities. Please no.
- The writing = just unemotional to me. Like at one point Grace falls down a hole in a graveyard and she’s like “now I am in a hole” and I’m like “BUT WHAT ARE YOU FEELING?????” We seemed to miss most of that. It made the book seem closed and distant.
- I always slightly think that solving murder mysteries through magical means IS CHEATING. SHERLOCK WOULD NOT BE PROUD.
- The book got to eat pizz and I did not. #rude
PIZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I love it. the end. jk. My favorite is this kind called mama mia’s, but then it went out of business, (#RUDE!!) and now we make pizza, or buy some from little ceasers, which is a teensy bit bland. where is the parmesan? where it the garlic-y crust? WHERE IS THE GREASY DELICIOUSNESS??? you know what, I’m very tempted to post the comment without using google to see how to spell these words. nah, I’m using google. 😛
Most crazily, ~Olive
Olive recently posted…The give-away! (finally)
I adore homemade pizza the best. <3 Plus you can make it exactly how you like that way.😂😂AND MAKE PLENTY FOR LEFTOVERS WHICH IS LIFE.
Mushroom pizza is the best, obviously.
I’ll Give You the Sun is THE book about artists. XD
I haven’t read any of these. I don’t think I’m planning to either. They don’t really sound like my sort of thing.
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Obviously for sure. I mean mushrooms everywhere are the best. I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN IS AMAZING. SO MUCH LOVE.
CAIT IT’S BEEN MONTHS? YEARS? I DON’T KNOW BUT HOW I’VE MISSED YOU AND YOUR REVIEWS AND POSTS BUT NOW I’M BACK. i have a convession: this year i haven’t read more than 5 books. in the last 12 months i’ve probably read about 6. BUT ALL THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE because my art foundation is over, summer is HAPPENING and it’s time to add books to my TBR list so i’m going to be stalking all your old reviews to see what books sound good to me….
OHHHHH HI HAWWA!!! THIS IS A GHOST FROM THE PAST.😂 *gives you welcome back cake* And aww don’t even feel bad though! You are like doing great things with art and uni and all that so YOU’RE AMAZING, DON’T FORGET IT. That is exciting you’ll have more time for books this summer though. *flails around in piles of books*
PIZZA, THE BEST KIND IS THE lUMBERJACK PIZZA. IT IS A PIZZA COVERED IN HAMBURGER AND BACON, WITH BAR-B-Q SAUCE FOR THE SAUCE.
P. S. Ballad For A Mad Girl sounds interesting.
I LOVE BACON SO MUCH SO THAT SOUNDS AMAZING.
“Now I am in a hole’. Lol!! And I always come away hungry after reading your posts. (Dreaming of someone just walking up to my desk at work and gifting me a warm slice right now…But work is having a cookout at the back of our building for us today, so yum hamburgers & hot dogs!) And that cover for Marsh and Me- adorable!!
I’M SORRY.😂 My blog is a special kind of food torture, isn’t it? If it makes you feel better… I FEEL LIKE PIZZA NOW TOO AHHHH.
Ballad for a Mad Girl sounds soso interesting, plus who doesn’t love a dog that doesn’t die ? 😉
I KNOW RIGHT?!? Any time a dog lives deserves huge celebration.😂
Marsh and Me looks cute! I am a full supporter of books all about storytelling. 😀
IT IS SUPER CUTE. And I like it when characters have big imaginations. MY PEOPLE.
Nice mini-reviews! Shame none of the books really blew you away. I haven’t read Still Life with a Tornado yet because I’m waiting for the medium size paperback release, but I’m looking forward to it. I’ve read most of A. S. King’s books (aside from the newest book, I think I’ve only not read the short story collection) and I really like them. I think my favourite is Ask the Passengers, which is also I think one of the books with lesser abstract and lesser metaphorical elements (other than the thing with the planes, but it didn’t play a huge role for me). I think I actually prefer her books that have lesser of these elements. Ask the Passengers is about a girl who’s falling in love with another girl. I Crawl Through It, another one of A. S. King’s books is the one with a lot of metaphorical elements, and I actually liked that one the least. I still found it enjoyable though, but I didn’t always get what was going on. Anyway, take of my recommendation what you will, I could perfectly understand if you never want to try an A. S. King book again!
oh I’m glad you like AS King! I’ve read two of her books now and they didn’t work for me at all… 😭 But I think that’s because they’re a bit abstract and my brain just doesn’t work with it? I’m glad you love them though!! I got SO confused in I Crawl Through It though (what the heeeck was the helicopter) so I’m glad to know you struggled with it too. I’m not alone.😂
Pineapples on pizza are the answer to everything, hello.
I haven’t read any of these, but another one of A.S. King’s books, I Crawl Through It, is a recent add to my TBR. I love books written in this kind of style!! Aw, Marsh and Me sounds super cute <3
Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality
Ellie @ On the Other Side of Reality recently posted…11 Thoughts While (Attempting) to Read Flame in the Mist
I AGREE. I CAN ONLY AGREE. Pineapple gets unfair persecution for being on pizza. It’s lovely.
Good luck with I Crawl Through It! I…was also so confused with that one.😂 I’d love to see what you thought of it!
Best kind of pizza? Anything without meat and onions. Oh, and pineapple. I’ve never understood that. (I was always the only kid at birthday parties who didn’t want the stupid Hawaiian pizza. Sorry, but pineapple just does not belong on a pizza. Does that make me a bad Canadian for saying that?)
I’m trying to think of good books with artist characters. I can’t really think of any at the moment. Well, I can think of books I didn’t like with artist characters… but not many that I did like. Let’s see… Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick and Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr both feature sort of paranormal art themes, and I did enjoy those. Also, a middle grade book called A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord had a bit of art in it (although, the main character wasn’t that great at it). If we’re going to include writing as art, then I’ll have to go back to the classics and say the Emily books by L. M. Montgomery. I quite enjoyed those.
I LIKE PINEAPPLE ON PIZZA!! I don’t see why it wouldn’t be on there?!😂
I don’t feel like I come across a lot of arty characters? Like Clary from Shadowhunters was awesome and I loooved I’ll Give You the Sun. So at least there are those for me. 😂
Most of my reviews seem to come out as either mini or mega reviews, haha, I can’t seem to find a middle ground! Either I start writing and forget to stop (runaway train syndrome!) or I write a sentence and then proceed to spend hours clawing for a bearable word count. I guess my writing aptitude must just fluctuate – do you ever find that or am I just a raving lunatic in need of serious help???
SAME. I just wrote a review for Lord of Shadows and it’s like longer than these three combined.😂 WHY IS REVIEWING SO HARD AHHHH. heheh.
Cait, haven’t you heard of the pizza scale?? At one end there’s like the worst pizza of all time, but it’s pizza, so it’s still decent and you’re probably still going to eat it. At the other end of the scale is the best pizza and THIS PIZZA CAN BRING PEOPLE BACK FROM THE DEAD IT’S JUST SO GOOD. The entire scale is just pizza all the way up. AKA is there really a bad pizza??? PROBABLY NOT. However, I really really like pizza. I have heard somewhere that you like pineapple pizza?? I am in MASSIVE AGREEANCE WITH THIS. Just no ham because 1, I’m a vegetarian, and 2, I’ve always been scared of ham. BUT I DIGRESS.
I was so totally intrigued by Still Life With A Tornado, but I can see how it would get a little, like, whaaaaaatt??? Just based on the premise it seems like it’s either one of those books where you love it and it speaks to you or you have no idea what the flipping heck is going on. I AM WARY OF THIS.
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I haven’t heard of the pizza scale omg. I haven’t been living clearly. And I actually have never had a pizza I hated so I think I am lucky on the pizza scale. (Or just have low standards because PIZZA. 😍) And yesssss I like pineapple on pizza! I mean why not?! It’s delicious and it’s pineapple. Ham is delicious though! I like sausage too! And mushrooms. But get thee away from me, seafood. Ew.
And YES! Still Life With A Tornado was definitely one of those books were you’d appreciate it or be like “whaaaaa”…the latter was me obviously.😂
How can you ask my favourite kind of pizza!?!?!
Marsh and Me sounds really cute and I will consider getting it for a younger cousins birthday,
A loved the mini reviews.
BECAUSE I’M MEAN AND I ASK CRUEL QUESTIONS.
And Marsh & Me would be a great book for smaller humans!! Totally recommend!
Your mini reviews are great! Except now I want pizza, every time I read your blog I leave wanting food.
That is an unfortunate side-affect, I ADMIT.😂
Mini reviews are SO fun! You get to talk about more books in one post, AND it limits the ranting. Which we all need.
The important question here is: HOW DID YOU HOLD UP ALL THREE BOOKS IN ONE HAND, CAIT???
I read Still Life With Tornado and I thought it was pretty good! However, I can see how it was confusing. (I DEFINITELY didn’t get the past/present/future selves thing — I probably would’ve gotten it if only Sarah saw them, but then mom and Bruce too???) And yeah, I think Chet (omg I actually remembered his name!!!) would’ve abused Sarah — but for some reason it didn’t happen that way???
OBVIOUSLY CHEESE PIZZA IS THE BEST.
May @ Forever and Everly recently posted…Writerly Update #7 // I’m Restraining Myself From All Caps Please Save Me
sOooo truuuuue. And plus sometimes I just don’t have THAt many thoughts about a book?!? So this is helpful just to do a smol amount of thoughts.😂
Also my hands are TALENTED. Also double-jointed.😂
I was super confused if Still Life With A Tornado was supposed to be magical realism? Or was her whole family just really really in need of therapy?! I HAVE QUESTIONS. And congrats on remembering the names.😂I barely remembered Sarah’s name hah.
CHEESE. <3
I love cheese pizza, ideally with as many different types of cheese as possible. And nothing else. Because I’m picky.
Also I just realized that the only books I can think of with artist characters are middle grade (or possibly even younger), and not very good…
I haven’t read any of these, and I probably won’t. None of them really appeal to me, and I’d rather not waste my time, since my TBR is huge already.
CHEESE IS LIFE, FOR SURE. I also love mushrooms on pizza, and sausage, and preferably pineapple. Because yes.
And fair enough! None of them really captured me. *hides*
I now must read Tornado and Ballad. I love dead people and weird things. Also, I am seeing so many Sherlock references nowadays. It’s
SHERLOCK FTW. I love Sherlock so much.😂
Ballad for a Mad Girl and Still Life With Tornado were on my TBR already but idk when I’ll get to them because my TBR is 1,000 miles tall! And I usually go for plain cheese pizza but I also like chicken alfredo or chicken PESTO. PESTO IS THE BEST. Recently I discovered i liked BBQ chicken pizza though, which is saying something for me because I don’t usually like BBQ.
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My TBR sounds very similar to yours.😂😂 ALSO CHEESE IS LIFE.
Italian pizza served in Italy is definitely a win.
Not like “spaghetti Bolognese” pizza. No no no.
I would LOVe to go to Italy and eat proper pizza. I feel like one can’t truly have eaten pizza until that moment.
Exactly
Definitely sad that you didn’t like Still Life with Tornado, as that is the one I am likely to read out of all three. But the romanization of mental illness would definitely turn me off. A lot. I must confess, I don’t always love books with artistic characters? I get mildly scared I think, because I am the least artistic person ever. As for pizza, I like ALL the pizza, is this a trick question??
You might like it better!! I swear my brain is just NOt cut out for abstract.😜 I’m a plague on society sometimes. :’)
All pizza is good pizza…UNLESS IT HAS SEAFOOD ON IT AND THEN WE CAN’T TALK.
Yay mini reviews! Glad there were some highlights to balance out the dislikes (mostly) in these reads. Also yay for cute dogs and unlikely friendships. Lovely reviews, Cait!
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Thanks, Cyn!! They weren’t terrific books for me, but at least not dismal failures, right?!😂