Review: Elusion

Summary

Soon, Elusion® will change the world and life as we know it.

A new technology called Elusion is sweeping the country. An app, visor and wristband will virtually transport you to an exotic destination where adventure can be pursued without the complications—or consequences—of real life.

Regan is an Elusion insider. Or at least she used to be. Her father invented the program, and her best friend, Patrick, heir to the tech giant Orexis, is about to release it nationwide. But ever since her father’s unexpected death, Regan can’t bear to Escape, especially since waking up from the dream means crashing back to her grim reality.

Still, when there are rumors of trouble in Elusion—accusations that it’s addictive and dangerous— Regan is determined to defend it. But the critics of Elusion come from surprising sources, including Josh, the handsome skeptic with his own personal stakes. As Regan investigates the claims, she discovers a disturbing web of secrets. She will soon have to choose between love and loyalty…a decision that will affect the lives of millions.

Suspense, thrills, and romance fuel this near-future story about the seductive nature of a perfect virtual world, and how far one girl will go to uncover the truth behind the illusions.

Rating & Review

Oh, Elusion. How fitting that I finished this book today when it is going to be live and on shelves tomorrow for it's big unveiling! SUCH mixed feelings about my rating for Elusion. I don't believe I've ever wavered so much when giving a book a score! Starting out, it was a solid 2.5 or 3 star book but the way that the last 1/4 of the book went, I had to boost it up to a 4 star. 

So here's why I wavered ... the beginning of this book is ... hmm ... I don't want you to think that Elusion isn't good so I'm trying to think of the best way to say this ... wait, I've got it. The beginning of this book is like a stubborn, bull-headed kid who is dragging their feet and refuses to run. You know that this kid has some energy and momentum behind them but they just won't pick up their feet and show you what they've got! It's frustrating (bordering on annoying) but there's nothing that you can do to make this kid pick up the pace. You can't rush it, you just have to wait for it to happen. That's what the beginning was ... I didn't think that it was boring ... just very slow. Very, very slow. To the point where my husband made a comment about how it never takes me this long to read a book. My husband makes it a habit to never bring up what I'm reading or he knows that he's going to "get" to hear all about what I'm reading, going to read or want to read, what characters I love, authors I can't live without and so on and so forth. The speed of my reading must have been very weird for him to take a chance and say something knowing what might be in store for him if he did. 

But (and it's a big ol' booty) ... it picks up. When it picks up, it's not this flash-paper type of situation, it's a slow, smoldering burn that quickly builds up into this raging fire that you just can't escape. So ... okay ... I think I'm all out of weird descriptions (you're welcome) and I'll get on with this dog and pony show. 

Okay ... the meat of the story ... I don't really have any problems with the story except that I wish that there was more background on the society's lifestyle in this book. Why is the Earth trashed? Why is there this smelly rain, why the nasty clouds ... what happened?!? I think that I got distracted with those questions when the characters would do things like put on their oxygen masks. The story really didn't feel like it was totally unbelievable, so maybe the authors thought that they wouldn't bog the novel down with those types of descriptions but I think just one or two paragraphs with some reasoning would be appreciated.

The characters were pretty well written. I did think that a couple of them could do with a little more depth ... I would have loved to hear more about Regan and her best friend's relationship. At times in the beginning I found their friendship to be a little disjointed ... I didn't see as much friend-love between as I had hoped to ... they just didn't seem that close, to be honest. And then Josh ... I would have enjoyed finding out more about him and his past ... the surface of his story was skimmed but it felt almost unfinished. 

Oh. Geez. I almost forgot. There is a lot of computer speak in this. A. Lot. Alotalot. I did skip paragraphs. And skim paragraphs. I think that this info was needed for the most part but it was just boring. 

Now, all of that being said ... this was a pretty good book - one that I'll probably read again. Especially in the ending. Damn, that ending was pretty good. Not what I expected AT ALL. That last page just threw me for a big loop and left me sitting there wondering why I didn't blow through the book to begin with. Elusion isn't listed as the beginning of a series ... but it has to be with how the book ended. So go pick this up as soon as possible so that you can wait for the next one with me!

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Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

ISBN: 9780141345659

Date Published: January 2012

Pages: 313

Summary

 

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Rating & Review 

This isn't one of my usual reads. Usually I don't gravitate towards books that are about cancer, it's just taken too many people from me. I don't want to go through that heartache again, even if it's for a fictional character. But when this book came up on the list for my book club, I was pretty intrigued. 

The book is pretty well written, the characters were well thought out and their path/destiny was an interesting journey. I thought that the naked honesty about facing and living with death was admirable. I appreciated the light humor sprinkled throughout and I also enjoyed the bittersweet moments of humor and sadness that really touched my heart.

I really liked the part where Gus was saving the world (which is what two of my friends call playing military-ish video games) and he saved some kids in the game and said "my life bought them a minute and that's not nothing". That really resonated with me - every minute is so important. 

There was one character that drove me absolutely nuts. I didn't like this character at all and even though the book was based almost completely around him, I found parts of his involvement in the book to just be a waste of time. Why was the book hinged on this character? I keep thinking that if some of his interactions with Hazel had been different, it would have changed the tone of the book and it may have changed the lackluster ending for me. 

I'm always in constant search for a novel that has two things: I want a flawed main character, I want them to be so messed up that I almost can't stand them because you usually get to see this amazing character transformation/growth happen during a novel. I think it's pretty damn close to magic to watch those transformations happen and a great author can make it almost seamless. The second is for a book to make me feel. I don't care what it is... love, hate, disgust, admiration... it doesn't matter, just make me feel. This book delivered the first but I thought it fell short on making me feel. 

Now don't get me wrong, it was sad but it didn't break me down and I think I was waiting for that. I expected for this to have a gut-wrenching ending and when it didn't, I felt a bit let down. And that just kind of ruined ... everything for me. I think that an ending can make or break a book and this ending didn't do the book justice at all for me. 

All of that being said, it's being turned into a movie and while I don't feel compelled to see it now, I probably will get it on Netflix because I have to see how all of the characters are portrayed and see if maybe I was wrong about any of them. 

Buy it on Amazon 

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Review: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

Title: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

Author: David Foster Wallace

ISBN: 9780349111889

Date Published: October 1997

Pages: 288 

Summary: 

David Foster Wallace made an art of taking readers into places no other writer even gets near. The series of stories from which this exuberantly acclaimed book takes its title is a sequence of imagined interviews with men on the subject of their relations with women. These portraits of men at their most self-justifying, loquacious, and benighted explore poignantly and hilariously the agonies of sexual connections.

Rating and Review:

This is one of those few books for me that just did not click. I didn't get it. I didn't like it and I didn't agree with it.

I couldn't even finish the whole thing. I just couldn't. I tried and I just couldn't. And this wasn't like a gradual thing ... like the book was good in the beginning and then it started to taper off ... no. This was a bad experience for me from the very beginning.

The fact that so many people have given this book four and five stars just BAFFLES me!! I just don't understand how this was a good book. I get the short stories. I kinda like the darkness and taboo-ish-ness of the stories but I just didn't connect to them.

I actually reread some of the interviews because I was honestly wondering if I had missed something. Was I reading too fast? Skimming? Not paying attention? Oh, no. I was right the first time. I paid attention, the book just didn't do it for me.

The kicker is that the movie version of the book looks interesting. It looked funny and entertaining ... I just can't figure out how this book translated into THAT.

Not for me. But it might be the best book ever to you. Good luck.