Olivia's Books, Quotes and Opinions

Sorry I don't buy Daddy's everything-I've-done-I've-done-for-you mantra. The heroine is a bit childish in her want for attention and warmth, but who isn't?

No point in recommending this, although I really, really love it. Its a me-book, obviously.

Sandinista! Go and show your bruise before it fades away! Report! Call someone! Don't wait for the lazy-ass school-system to be conscious and righteous on its own! Speak to Alecia's mother at least. Hurry, girl, and stow away that silly gun!

An unforeseeable miracle has happened: Sandinista's personality and her story have begun to grow on me. I happen to enjoy the book!

"The book suffers from severe metaphor and adjective overload and from tragic coolness. The style is intentionally distractive, because the narrator has ADD and her POV is supposed to show it. I am not sure yet if the story can hold my attention long enough."

of the "Treasure Map of Boys": You gotta love Roo. And her embarrassing parents kind of make me nostalgic.

Why is nobody reading this book? It's so interesting - especially Mattie, the emancipated, intelligent, alchemy practicing automaton, who is still bound to her maker by the winding key he refuses to hand over. I keep picturing her soft curls, her metallic limbs, her clockwork heart and her porcelain face as the cute doll from that otherwise awful Oz movie although she is human-sized and an adult. 

... Maybe because it's character-driven and a bit melancholically slow? 

I resolved to hold my own hand and collect enough courage to finally read "No and Me". I am glad, because it has been a very beautiful and rewarding experience, although at some points I was almost too afraid to go on turning the pages. The ending is realistic and fitting, but also so very, very sad, uncomfortable and soul-haunting.

"Under Amber Skies" has been the most enjoyable story in this collection so far. It is situated in an alternative World War II Poland in a village on the Baltic coast. 

The heroine's father is an inventor whose wondrous machines (like kitchen tools and agricultural vehicles) are secretly powered by amber stones. The heroine's mother is a tough patriot who wishes her husband would concentrate on designing new weapons able to destroy the Nazis, who employ metal owls to spy out the enemy.

When her father disappears and her mother grows more and more fanatic, the heroine and the boy she is not allowed to love become a target and have to use their wit ... and a special wrist-watch ... to survive.

A 19-years-old, London-based theatre director falls in love with a steampunky actrobot starring as Shakespeare's Juliet.

As boring, forgettable and incomplete as it came across, it has unquestionably been squeezed out by its creator to fill the designated spot in the anthology. 

This feels like the paranormal sister of 'Pushing the Limits' with a bit of "Hush Hush" and "Angel Star" mixed in  *double-yuck-and-shudder*.

'Oh, I am not supposed to have feeling for the other sex. Emotions were the downfall of civilization. Oh, the AI almost touched my cheek and my breath has accelerated to the speed of light. I don't understand ...' Such a disgustingly syruppy, mushy-gushy romance diguised as post-apocalyptic fiction ... Absolutely insufferable, bland, no-dimensional. I am shocked although cover and byline are quite clear about this.

I have been loving it so far, but now a BOY enters the scene. I could do without a BOY for a while. Honestly. 

25%: Good Gracious! Why is everybody so extremely interested in Becca's past sex-life? She is being harassed with money offers for blow-jobs and made fun of by girls puking their guts out at parties. So immature and so unbelievable! And she just blushes and cringes ... and swallows the drinks she is given by gossip-hungry classmates. If the book continues in that vein, the ride will be over for me soon.

39%: That's it. Book, we have to part ways.

 Re-reading (it's been 5 years!)... and, no, I am not interested in watching the movie.