It's been awhile since I've done a book review, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. I just haven't done any reviews. So I decided to just lump them into one looooooooong post. If you're not a reader then you can just come back tomorrow...I'm hoping to have my SWIMSUIT post ready by tomorrow. But for today, here's the last four books I've read...
Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahonThis is one of the strangest books I've read, it has this weird story line about a little girl who was kidnapped and murdered by a rabbit--a person dressed as rabbit (i.e. like what people dress up at Easter). Then there's this whole cast of trashy characters that are intermingled without much explanation, so you're always getting confused about who goes with who and how each character belongs in the story. It's supposed to be a mystery, which I guess it is, because you're trying to figure out who took this little girl, but I didn't think of it as a mystery. I thought of it as a story of a bunch of dysfunctional people. In the end, of course, the person who ends up being the kidnapper/killer is never who'd you expect. It was quite ridiculous. Don't waste your time on this book. The characters are yucky, the story is a little unbelievable and my biggest thing was the story was mainly about this group of kids who would just go off in the woods to play all day long and the parents never wondered where they were. The parents were just awful. But...I guess I shouldn't judge other people (but theses people aren't real). You definitely could read a worse book, but...
I give Island of Lost Girls 1 out of 5 stars.
Dark Places by Gillian FlynnI'm not going to even give this book any justice by giving it much space. This is one of the worst books I've ever read. I checked it out because the story takes place in a small town in Kansas and I thought it would be fun to read a book that takes place where I grew up. The town the book takes place in is a fictional town, but all the other places they were talking about was real. I'll just say there isn't one character in this book that you'll like, they are all awful mean, people. The story is hideous--a family is basically butchered in the night--and the family's oldest son is convicted of the murders. There's one survivor, the youngest sister. The book is about her. It's just awful. Don't read it, it's terrible, dark, ugly, mean.
I give Dark Places a rare 0 out of 5 stars.
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahonThis is the second book by this author that I read in about a month's time (the other is that one at the top of this post). Now, I should've learned after reading Island of Lost Girls that I wouldn't like this book, but I thought I'd give this author another chance, reading the synopsis of the book I thought it looked different. Nope. Yucky characters who you are supposed to sympathize with but really you just want to grab them by the shoulders and shake the poo out of them. This book has a little girl being murdered (again, same as with the other book) and a whole slew of characters that the author tries to get you to like or dislike or think that they were the ones who did it. And just like the other book, at the very end, the person who did is the one person you don't expect and don't really read much about. So, if I read another of this author's books (which I won't), I'll probably guess the child killer by page 2. There's a lot of meanness and bullying in this book. It's just one of those books that makes you feel uck--dirty. It's not the worst book I've ever read, so I won't give it one star, but...
I give Promise Not to Tell 1 out of 5 stars.
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de RosnayI don't even like to put this book in the same company as those other three yuck books. This one actually deserves it's own post. It's so drastically different that you'd wonder how the same person would end up reading such different kinds of books. Anyway, here it is. This book has a very sad, dark story line...it's about the round up of French Jews in Paris on July 16, 1942 and what happened to them. (Google that and you can read more about the history). But it's about a young Jewish girl, Sarah, who is 10 years old when her family is taken away by the French police and what happens to them. The story weaves it's way through decades and families. I'm not going to tell you much about it because I want you to read this and I don't want to ruin it for you. It's a touching story not just about Sarah, but about those who are part of her life long after she's gone. I really liked this book.
I give Sarah's Key 5 out of 5 stars.
What are you reading this summer...I always love to know what other's are reading!
