THE GOLDFINCH

By: Donna Tartt

Plot: About a boy, Theo, who unintentionally(?) steals a priceless work of art from a museum after there was a terrorist attack. He and his mom were in the museum at the time, and the story follows him for the next several years.

My Thoughts: Ugh, this book. What do I think about this book? I guess it depends on where I was at in this massive book that determines whether I was enjoying it or not. At the beginning I was enjoying it. I really liked when Theo was living at his friend's house. I liked his friend and I actually really liked his friend's mom too. Unfortunately this didn't last long.

Once his dad comes back, everything goes downhill. And as soon as Theo meets Boris, I started to dislike it more and more. Because I freaking hate Boris. As soon as he came into the picture the book just sucked, basically. Reading about two loser teenage boys getting drunk/high/stoned/whatever everyday is just so not appealing to me whatsoever and basically felt like a chore to keep reading about it.

Finally, when the book was getting too boring to even keep reading, it jumped a few years into the future and that's the only reason I kept going. Problem was, now I just really don't even like Theo. I didn't care anymore. The fact that he still even has this painting, just shows what kind of a person he is. Except, shocker, his "best friend" stole the painting. Of course this psycho took his painting and of course Theo is too stupid to realize it.

Then the whole fiasco of getting the painting back and oh my heck I DON'T CARE and even writing about it is making me angry. I hate everyone in this book and I'm so done with it. It felt like a chore to even write about this book. So disappointing because there were points I was enjoying the book, but that didn't last long.

Favorite Quotes: "You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life."

Rating: 2/5 I was like really happy when the book was finally over.

MIDDLESEX

By: Jeffrey Eugenes

Plot: The (long) story of Cal(liope) being born a hermaphrodite. The story begins two generations before our main character but is told through Cal's perspective.  

Thoughts: This was one of those books that I've heard (read) people say that it was good, but didn't really look into what it was actually about. I've had it for years but was finally inspired to read it when Georgia said it was her favorite book and I'd already read Karen's favorite(s). Anyways I finally read it and it was not my cup of tea. It immediately reminded me of that one episode of Grey's Anatomy where the girl finds out she has testes and can be a boy if she chooses. So the premise actually wasn't that strange to me, I think it was more some of the other aspects of the plot and the writing that made it not my favorite.

It was kind of weird how there was SO much backstory. It was almost halfway into the book before we get to the main character. I mean, it was good, and I almost enjoyed reading about the parents and grandparents more than Cal, but still. I also didn't buy that Cal would know so much information about the backstory. It just didn't seem believable, especially knowing the intimate thoughts and details of his grandparent's relationship. I honestly thought maybe it'd be revealed at the end that it was all just a story that Cal made up because he wanted to be an author. It was just weird. I didn't buy it.

Towards the end of the book the rambling got to me. I just don't need this much information or backstory into a character that doesn't even really matter in the scheme of things. I don't care! It got to the point I was just skimming and that's never good. There was just so much detail into inconsequential things and that annoyed me. Also the lack of information given to Cal when in New York and doing all these tests was just infuriating. It's not like she was 7 or 8 years old and probably wouldn't have understood. She was a freaking teenager! I know it was to just build up to the whole "I'm a boy and I'm running away" scene but it was dumb. The whole hermaphrodite thing was never even explained to Cal. It was basically Cal just thinking, "I'm a boy now" and to deal with that shocking information meant just running away.

The whole 'running away' thing and everything that transpired after that just seemed very out of place. Let me get this straight, Cal goes to New York for a doctor's appointment, runs away, gets on a bus, hitchhikes with who knows how many people, ends up homeless in California and during all that time still manages to hold onto his high school student ID card?? Why would he even take it to New York in the first place?? I couldn't, with that whole scenario. The only part I really liked at the end of the book was the ransom money/car chase scene. That was pretty awesome and was as ridiculous as the whole book was getting. I was also glad grandma came back into the picture, because I hadn't forgotten about her and wondered what the heck happened to her.

Favorite Quote: "...that to be happy you have to find variety in repetition; that to go forward you have to come back where you began."

Rating: 2/5 Overall this book was just ugh. The first half was much better than the second half for sure. I feel like I could have liked it, if it was maybe a hundred pages shorter. 

WONDER

By: R.J. Palacio 

Plot Summary: This is a story about a boy August who was born with an extremely rare genetic disorder that caused his face to develop abnormally. He gets stared and pointed at whenever he goes out in public so he's been home schooled and sheltered by his parents his whole life. He is starting normal school for the first time in his life and the book covers his first school year.

My Thoughts: At first I was really enjoying this book. I loved the main character August (Auggie) and I loved his sister and her point of view and then I started not loving it so much. The author just kept going and going with the new perspectives from random characters. I usually love multiple points of view but in this book it felt like every perspective was talking about the same thing and it just got repetitive. Especially because they didn't really have distinct voices. Grammar does not make a character distinctive. (Via's boyfriend.) I loved Auggie and his sister's chapters the best and wish he would have just went back and forth between those two. Some of the character's perspectives were so short and totally pointless to the story. They were basically there to reiterate how weird looking August is. I get it. He looks weird. Enough already.

Overall it didn't feel like there was enough of a story. Half the book was spent talking about August being weird looking and the other half was actually spent moving the plot forward. So it didn't really feel like there was much to the story. Things finally started happening, and then it ended. And I wasn't a huge fan of how it ended. It was way too sappy. The whole graduation scene was like a cheesy movie. I mean who even graduates from the 5th grade? They are going to the EXACT same school next year! What is the point of that? *SPOILER* And of course now everyone wants to be his best friend and the bully that was so mean to him all year is transferring schools. What are the odds of that? It was not believable. *END SPOILER*

Also, someone please explain to me all the one eyed pictures. Everyone had two eyes. I don't understand.

Favorite Quotes: "Sometimes you don't have to be mean to hurt someone."

"I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives."

My Rating: I'd give it 3/5 stars. It was well written and there were a lot of parts I enjoyed but also a lot of parts I didn't.