Booktubeathon Wrap Up

emilymccoll
Aug 3, 2017
5 min read

Hi everyone! I'm still recovering from last week's Booktubeathon readathon but I'm finally a little rested and caught up enough to share my thoughts on the books I read. First, here are my stats:

Books Read: 4

Pages Read: 1212

Reading Challenges Completed: 6/7

Instagram Challenges Completed: 7/7

Books Reviewed:

Illuminae (3/5) (read a hyped book, read a book because of the cover)

Everything Everything (4/5) (read about a character different from you)

The Ice Dragon (3/5) (read a book in one day, read a book outdoors, read a book with a person on the cover)

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (4/5)

Not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Here are my reviews!

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Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman (3/5)

I wanted to love this, thought I'd love it, but I didn't. There was so much promise and I really enjoyed certain aspects of it, but I couldn't fall in love with it like so many other people. Illuminae follows Kady and Ezra, exes who find themselves in the middle of a space war, fighting for survival and a way back to each other. The format is undoubtedly cool. It's compiled of transcripts and emails and ship blueprints and other found documents, which was really fun to look at. It also made for a very quick read. Unfortunately, because of this format, it was really hard to get into. For a lot of the novel, I had absolutely no clue what was going on. There is so much science and background and action thrown at you without much explanation. The found documents do provide context, but not enough and too quickly and too vaguely. Maybe some people were better at following than me, but I was often confused, which doesn't lend to happy reading. This format also creates distance from the main characters because we only get to see them through an outsider's perspective. That said, I really did feel for Kady and Ezra and their relationship. One pro of the email/message format is that they came across convincingly as teenagers. Their banter and swearing and shortforms seemed very realistic to me. I ended up really believing in their love for each other and I wanted them to get back together. I liked how action-packed this book was. There was rarely a dull moment and I liked all the twists and turns the plot took. There were a few heart-stopping moments and one twist in particular that almost tore my heart out. I just wish that my confusion hadn't gotten in the way of most of the book. Even when I got a hold on the background and the general plot, there would be all this talk of hardware and hacking and numbers and space crew, and I ended up glazing over these parts rather than trying to force myself through them. I feel like I am so close to tipping over to 4 stars but at the same time, perilously close to tipping backward and giving it 2 stars. I'm a bit of an outcast with my opinion here, but I really did see a lot of potential that I'm sure was fulfilled for a lot of people. Just not for me.

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Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon (4/5)

This is probably one of the best young adult contemporaries I've read, at least in a long time. I'm not a huge fan of the genre because it's usually filled with teenage angst, poor writing, insta-love, and highschool drama. This had (basically) none of this. Madeline Whittier is allergic to everything, so she lives a secluded life indoors- that is, until a boy moves in next door. It's a simple premise, and an overdone one at that. Girl meets boy, boy changes girls life, etc. But it is so well written. I adored the characters. Maddy's perspective of the world, of loneliness, of board game nights with her mom, of sickness and selfishness, of peeping out windows at boys that she can never have, was such a breath of fresh air. Her mind felt truly unique. I also loved the inclusion of Maddy's pictures, diagrams, and observations. Olly was such a sweetheart. While they do fall in love quickly, I'd be hesitant to call this insta-love because of the time taken to develop their relationship. The pair email frequently, and reading some of these emails reveals true bonding rather than mere infatuation. They get to know each other, they make each other laugh, they make each other think. They are just an adorable couple through and through. The one negative that holds this book back from being truly fantastic is the ending. It's a cop-out, an easy solution, that undermines Maddy's experiences at the beginning of the novel. People have noted that the message sent by this ending is potentially harmful. I wish the author had resolved the dilemma in some other way, but I continued to enjoy the book despite the twist. Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was light and fluffy, cute, and easy to read.

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The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin (3/5)

A children's short story following a little girl and an ice dragon. It was cute and I liked it, but it didn't blow my mind. Like other Martin books, death and innocence are prevalent themes, though this story obviously has less graphic violence. The illustrations in this edition are gorgeous and they were easily my favourite part.

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Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire (4/5)

I didn't like this quite as much as the first one, but it was still utterly enchanting and magical and I loved it. Before Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, Jack and Jill lived in the Moors, a world of blood and darkness, science and magic, a world the children called home. Outside of the strict gender roles their parents set for them, they finally discover how to be themselves. The setting for this magical tale was amazing. The Moors are a kind of a gothic mashup between Dracula and Frankenstein, which is totally my jam. Jack goes to be a mad scientist's apprentice and Jill goes to be a vampire's daughter. The way these two sisters' worlds interlock was so interesting and brilliantly done. McGuire's writing continues to transport to another time with its beautiful, lush descriptions and haunting tone. Her prose is so effortless and wonderful. The plot itself is imaginative, completely unique while drawing on a familiar fairy tale sensation mixed with something dark and gothic. The one thing that knocks this down a step from Every Heart a Doorway is the almost preachy way McGuire goes about gender roles. The message is fantastic - don't force gender roles, and, there are many valid ways to be a girl. However, it comes across pretty heavy-handed when it is mentioned multiple times in each chapter, to the point of being unnecessary. It didn't really detract from my enjoyment, but it became too repetitive. Mentioned a few less times and it would still have been a strong and impactful message. And, as with Every Heart a Doorway, I continue to feel like these stories aren't long enough. The length and scope of these stories is clearly intentional and it's not like they are half-formed or lazy. They follow a deliberate arc and are filled with lots of details to flesh out the story, but I can't help imagine what these could be if they were just *more*. But that's just my bone to pick, because clearly other people enjoy the length too and I doubt it's going to change for the rest of the series. I can't wait for the third one!