Tuesday, February 18, 2014

DNF Mini Reviews



Here's an update of some recent DNFs.  And a mini-review for each one.


1.  Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1) by Gena Showalter

My Synopsis:

Alice grows up in an extremely sheltered and paranoid house.  Her father won't let her or her sister outside after dark because of "monsters" that he just knows are out there.  Alice basically knows he's crazy, but has no choice but to go along with what her father wants.  On her birthday, she convinces her dad to let her sister dance at her dance recital and for them all to go watch her, knowing that they won't be home before the sun sets.  And that might be the biggest regret of her life....

It turns out the monsters are real.  After losing her entire family, Alice goes to a new school where she's immediately in insta-love with the leader of a pack of bad-ass bad boys.  From there, well, I don't want to spoil anything, but she basically figures out that these monsters are super-secret zombie ghosts that only "special" people can see.  And these "special" people band together to fight them.



How far I got:  206 and then I skimmed the rest.

Why I DNF'd:  Oh God this book!!  I was expecting SO much!  I thought I was going to get an Alice in Wonderland retelling with zombies!  I was thinking there was going to be like a going to Wonderland event??  Or zombies that everyone could see?  I'm sorry but ghost-zombies living in a normal world where normal people are just going on with their lives oblivious?  What the hell??  I don't want super-secret zombies.  I want super scary, we-kill-everyone zombies.  Besides the girl being named Alice and the white rabbit clouds... how is this related to Alice and Wonderland?  So they are fighting ghost-zombies and when they aren't there's all this high school drama going on.  Like someone dumped somebody and all these mean girls snarking at each other... and all Alice can think about is whether or not her and Cole are "official".  Bitch you just found out you are a zombie slayer... why do you care about high school drama anymore??

Then we have the insta-love.  So Ali goes to school on the first day and meets Cole.... the brooding bad boy.  She's told he's "dangerous" and he actually hard-core glares at her from across the hall.  But that doesn't stop her from having a full-on hallucination about making out with him.  One that's so real that she forgets where she is and thinks maybe it really happened.  I'm sure there are some girls out there that, like, swoon over guys like Cole, but I'm not one of them.  He's all gruff and rude and comes off totally controlling before he even knows the girl.  But it's all supposedly for her own good that he's acting like a tool.  All he cares about is her safety and if that means he has to talk down to her for her to be safe, well hey, he can't help that.  I guess I just don't enjoy a female character that needs a guy looking after her.  It reminds me too much of Bella/Edward stuff.  Oh yeah and of course he has violet eyes.  Because no annoying YA book boyfriend would be complete without having eye colors that barely exist:  like gray, violet, yellow, black, or a color of blue that is only possible in your imagination.  When was the last time you met someone with gray or violet eyes?

So yeah I didn't want this to get ranty or anything, but you've got super-secret ghost zombies, an angry, controlling, douchey guy, and unneeded drama... it just wasn't for me.  AT ALL.

Goodreads


2.  You Against Me by Jenny Downham

My Synopsis:

This is a book told from both sides of a sexual assault.  You have the brother of the victim, Mikey, who's family is falling apart.  His mother is beyond messed up and they are one step away from losing his youngest sister to social services.  He is determined to see the guy who did this to his sister punished and is going to do everything he can to see it through.  The middle sister (the victim) is so traumatized that she won't leave the house.  Mikey works his ass off at a bar/restaurant with dreams of being a chef one day.  Ellie is the sister of the alleged rapist.  She wants desperately to believe that her brother, Tom, is innocent.  Her family is wealthy and they are supporting Tom in fighting the charges.  But they have family problems of their own as well.

Mikey and Ellie meet and at first they don't realize that they are talking with the enemy.  Then Mikey finds out, but doesn't let Ellie in on it.  Then Ellie finds out, but they've both sort of fallen for each other by then.


How far I got:  About halfway.

Why I DNF'd:  So this book was MUCH more readable than the other book I've featured.  It was actually really interesting to read about this forbidden couple and what would happen if people ever found out about them.  The thing was, I didn't like Ellie.  And I think that's what killed it for me.  She was described as the typical "innocent" girl.  Completely sheltered and treated as if she would break.  Never been kissed, never been touched, completely pure.  And she was totally hiding shit for her brother, which was shitty.  If your brother sexually assaults a girl, you do not cover for him!!!  And if you do, you suck!  I don't care if you think you are in denial... that's crap.

The other thing about this book was that it was a little too English for me.  Don't get me wrong, I love the UK and everything... but this book had SO much British slang in it that I had a hard time understanding what they were talking about at times.  I mean I've read a lot of books about Brits and none have even come close to having as much slang in it as this one had.  And I'm talking like all Sophie Kinsella's books combined.

Examples:  pram (what the hell is a pram?), bullocks, the class prat, she's gagging for it, slapper, blag an invite, bunking school, "How's the real world?  Full of tossers."
-Like I seriously needed Urban Dictionary UK Edition for some of it.

So yeah I just wasn't into this super delicate flower girl who was covering for the rapist.  And while I did enjoy Mikey's character, I wanted to strangle his mother.  As a mother it became hard to read about her.  And the 3rd person didn't help me to connect.

I would not tell someone not to read this book.  I wasn't bad at all... I just kind of lost interest with the one character, so I moved on.  You might totally love this one because it does handle a sensitive topic really well.

Goodreads


Have you read either of these books?  What did you think of them?

12 comments:

  1. Oh no! Sorry you didn't love Alice! I haven't read it, but I love the cover :D I hate insta-loves. I don't understand why they even exist.

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    1. I love the cover of Alice as well, which is one of the reasons I bought it :( The insta-love in it is just bad... oh and there's also a love triangle too! Although it's pretty obvious who she's going to pick so not really a big point in it!

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  2. Sorry you didn't enjoy these. It seems with Alice, you either love it or you hate it!

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  3. I've been interested in You Against Me for a while. The whole girl covering for a rapist thing is a big turn off though. And "she's gagging for it" sounds really dirty...

    I love these DNF posts!

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    1. I love reading ppls DNF posts too!! You Against Me isn't bad... I just felt like she was covering for him because she wanted to believe he was innocent (even though what she saw clearly showed he wasn't). So I guess some people wouldn't blame her for being in a tough spot. I just didn't care for her or her choices... or how she was portrayed as so innocent and on a pedestal. Those types of characters turn me off.

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  4. I haven't read either of these but I like hearing why someone didn't finish a book, it helps me to know if I'd like it or not. Both of these sound terrible. I hate zombies so the first one is out, and the fact that the girl in the second one is covering for her rapist brother is just so messed up!

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    1. I hated the first one. The second one wasn't bad at all. It was just how I felt about one character that made me stop reading. I feel like lots of other people would really like it though.

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  5. When waiting for my dad, I started reading Alice and liked it pretty well, but never did get around to finishing it from the library. I'm glad I don't have too many regrets now seeing your review. UGH, insta-love. As for the 2nd book, that's a toughie. I hate that one character can ruin a love for a book, but I don't think I'd be able to stomach her either! Great reviews as always :)

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  6. Alice in Zombieland looks... interesting, but I can't finish anything I've tried from Gena Showalter. Thanks for saving me the time in case I felt like I wanted to torture myself again. :)

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  7. I've read Alice in Zombieland and just thought it was ok, like you I was expecting so much more from that book. I haven't read the other one but the whole forbidden romance sounds interesting. I'm not sure if I will give it a try though because with the reasons you mentioned above with the sexual assault, I'm not good with that either!

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  8. I've never really been interested in reading the second book but I really did want to read Alice sometime so that is a little disappointing. All the cliches would make me so frustrated though so maybe it's a good thing I won't read it now haha

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  9. The Alice in Zombieland book reminds me of the "Pride & Prejudice and Zombies" and "Sense & Sensibility and Sea Monsters" proofs. Like, here's a general tale with a huge monster spin on it. Throw in some cliches and a meh storyline...and voila! A book. I'm sorry these were disappointing. :( I thought about reading Alice in Zombieland, but really never got interested in the premise. Also, the cover. It doesn't impress me much. Alas. :(

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