I hate spending time reading about the plot of a book on review sites - just tell me, Did you like it or not?

Monday, November 24, 2014

After the End

After the End (After the End #1)

by

352 pages
Published May 6, 2014 by HarperCollins 
 
 
This is the first book that I've read since having a baby that I actually finished; one that kept my attention and that I enjoyed. It has elements of that movie "The Village" in it, with some paranormal powers thrown in. I will be reading the next in the series.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker (Dork Diaries #6)


Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker (Dork Diaries #6)

by

one star

352 pages

Published June 4, 2013 by Aladdin (first published 2010)

This review is also by my 11 year old daughter. All opinions are her own.

The problem in the story is the cell phone. Nikki keeps getting these random and crude text messages that are supposedly from Brandon, her “boyfriend.” It’s pretty obvious they are not. That leaves one person. Who would be jealous of Nikki and enjoy ruining her life? I wonder if it might be Mackenzie!
At the end of the book, when Mackenzie receives the text from “Nikki to Brandon” that said there was a diamond necklace in the dumpster behind the school.  Number one, why would Mackenzie believe that Nikki really threw away a diamond necklace? Number two, why would she dive into the dumpster with her amazingly expensive dress still on?
As I said, the cell phone is the whole problem. Plus, it doesn’t make sense when Brandon tells Nikki, “When have I ever used a smiley face?” He uses a smiley face on every text he sends! Example, he sent a text to Nikki telling her “HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Sitting here eating your box of chocolates and thinking of you J!!” I double-checked that.
And this swim thing, I know some high schools that have pools in them, but no middle schools! Maybe they went down to the high school every day. That part of the book was timed very wrong. The swim lessons and skills tests were in the middle of the winter! Nikki can’t even keep her head above the water in a 4-foot pool. She blacked out before her feet touched the bottom. What’s the deal with wearing scuba gear to a skills test? She thought it was allowed because it wasn’t on the sign posted in the front of the pool. Which said, “NO RUNNING!” It’s not on there because if it were then every other obvious rule in the world would have to be on it. She also wore a kiddie float toy and put it around her waist. Nikki is 14 years old! Did she ever take swimming lessons?
This book had a way too happy ending. Also, at the end, everything went perfectly right for Nikki. There’s a dance in this book, I wonder if Nikki could POSSIBLY go with Brandon! There’s also a “sweetheart queen” I wonder who MIGHT win! Also, the cliffhanger at the end could easily be the end of the series. Every book so far has looked like it is the end of the series; I’m tired of all the happy endings.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Skating Sensation


Skating Sensation (Dork Diaries #4)

by

1 star

288 pages
Published June 7, 2012 by Simon & Schuster UK

This is the 2nd review my daughter has written. Also, she wrote this all on her own with no help from me. The thoughts are all hers.

There are too many smiley faces and exclamation marks in this book, and way too many “OMGs.” I know this is the age of cell phones and texting, but this is a book! I don’t want to read someone’s texts. It’s sheer luck when Nikki gets into the ice skating show.  If you want to perfect something, you always practice, not try to find a way out of it. Nikki’s friends pretty much forced her to get in the show, and she wanted to stay in it, and she kept finding a way to hide the fact that she couldn't skate.
Why does the author call it Dork Diaries? These girls are NOT dorks. They are dressed really nice, and Nikki always seems to have a different pair of boots on every day. Plus, their skating outfits are amazing!
I also am very against the part when Nikki keeps bugging her parents to get her a really expensive iPhone. Then she finally gets it. This is teaching girls that if they keep asking and begging for something illogical for them to have, they will get it anyway. This cell phone causes a lot of problems later in the books. Nikki says that she would pluck out her eye with a dirty spatula rather than read Moby Dick. Moby Dick may be a little boring in different parts of the book, but it is a pretty good story. Instead of making a list of things she’d rather do, why doesn’t she just get it over with?
 Why did the owner of Fuzzy Friends (Brandon’s grandma) let Nikki skate for the shop and not Mackenzie? Mackenzie did ask first. I also hate that Nikki says she found out about Brandon’s family by accident, she really peers over bathroom stalls and fence completely on purpose. Chloe and Zoey are so nice to Nikki and give her things, but Nikki gives them nothing in return. Chloe and Zoey still hang out with Nikki anyway.
Mackenzie locks Nikki, Chloe and Zoey in a closet in the skating arena to die! This has gone too far! 14-year-olds don’t attempt murder! Nikki is still freaking out about whether or not Brandon likes her. Brandon flat out told Nikki he likes spending time with her! At the end, they all get away with everything because of some crazy miracle. The end is happily ever after for everyone, again.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life


Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (Dork Diaries #1)

by





This book was a stretch. None of this would actually happen in a normal middle school. A normal 14-year-old girl would not focus this much on popularity.

Nikki, the main character, is pretty spoiled. Nikki’s little sister, Brianna, is the girl that was supposed to be a pampered brat. Oh yes, she certainly was. I have noticed that in this book, everything is totally exaggerated. So Brianna is treated like an adorable kitten. Her parents think everything she does is so cute. The problem is that when Brianna makes a mistake, like spitting food in a fish tank, she is never corrected. Nikki has to clean up after her, not what a normal sister would do. If I was Nikki, and, say, Brianna spit her food in the fish tank, I would not fish it out immediately, I would bring her down and show her what a mess she made. It’s so sad that Nikki hates her sister.

Mackenzie, on the other hand, is even more spoiled. She is just so… glittery. She’s so glittery it’s unnatural, and gross. Normal girls her age, even popular and rich girls, would not be this way. Where are her parents when she is strutting through the halls like she’s at a fashion show? No parent would approve of her having gazillion designer purses! If Mackenzie were real, she would be broke. No matter how rich she was to begin with. The whole “CCP” thing is just something the author probably made up at the last minute. I read the part about Mackenzie keeping Nikki out of her locker, and it’s completely uncalled for. 14-year-old girls don’t do that. No one would do that!  It also doesn’t make sense that the teachers and the parents in the book have no idea what’s going on.

No one in the book acts the way a normal person would. Nikki doesn’t do anything when Mackenzie is being so terrible to her. What bugs me is that instead of talking to a real person, like her mom or dad, Nikki is constantly whining to her diary about how horrible her life is. Someone needs to tell her that it could be worse. She has friends, she has her own room, and she is talented.

What’s the deal about Nikki’s parents pulling her out of school to go to a funeral for someone they didn’t even know? I also hate the part in the beginning of the book when Nikki says she thinks that it’s better to tell your secrets to the world rather than write them in a diary.  I just hate it when Nikki calls her mom “brain dead” when she gives her a diary. Personally, I keep a diary, and I think it has helped me a lot. The author should not have put the part about Nikki starting off as a diary hater, and the next day turning into a full scale, 4-page-a-day writer.

Nikki is not a good role model for girls. The whole cell phone thing is just dumb. I know I wanted a cell phone once, and my mom sat down and told me why not having a cell phone is better than having one. Someone needs to tell Nikki to let the dream die. The whole book is just drama, drama, and drama.

Nikki also has a computer in her room. I am totally against her ordering things online without her parents knowing. Who in their right mind would order a payphone off eBay and put it in their locker?
 The only thing I liked about this book was the art. Although it is not something a 14-year-old would draw, it is amazing.