Remy Mcwin

I always wanted to learn more about the 50's and what life was like during the time period. This book seemed like an obvious choice: it was written by an acclaimed author, it had glowing reviews, and it took place in the 50's and early 60's. However, the book seemed to be a disappointment in my opinion. I realized the book was more of lessons Annie learned during her early childhood--her passion for reading, sciences, boys, coping with loss, etc. While this might be fine to some, I particularly did not care about it at all. Her stories were alright at best; nothing in the book was a "page turner". Most of it felt like a lot of describing (Ex. her describing her rock collection). I was disappointed she didn't really address the things you think of in the 50's such as the juke boxes, diners, cool cars, Cold War, etc. Perhaps watching movies gave me that stereotype and they weren't a big factor in the 50s. However, she did talk about the polio epidemics, and I enjoyed reading about that. Unfortunately for me, many of the stories she talked about could have taken place during any time period. Dance classes have existed for decades and aren't unique to the 50s (besides the specific dance moves). Overall, I could see the book appealing to some, but if you need something to help you get to sleep, read this.

There are just some books that everyone is going to have to read due to their school. The list includes The Scarlet Letter, The Lord of The Flies, the Great Gasby, etc. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of them. I think this book is pretty good in the fact that it's one of the first books that students read that is "An American Classic". I read it in eighth grade, and it was a great stepping stool for books with harder language, themes, and symbols. With that said, I think the story was above average-- engaging, not terribly boring, but just okay. But that's just my humble opinion. Of course the trial scenes and the chase scene were great and all, but, and I'm sorry if I offend anyone, the book was just okay. Would I read it again? No. Was I glad I read it? Sure. 3.3 stars.

I think being forced to read this book could be used as a sort of sentence in the legal system. In fact, forcing someone to read this book might break the eighth amendment of cruel or unusual punishments. I get it there is a lot of symbolism or whatever, but it's absolutely boring to read. The climax at the end of the book was not worth it, and for most of the book it just felt slow, boring, and hard to follow along. People claim it's an American Classic and it's a sin to speak ill of it, but I don't care. The saddest part about this book is the fact that it's an American Classic, forcing generation after generation of innocent high schoolers to read a miserable book about some woman who got it on with a man and had a baby that might be possessed by the devil.

This book was just alright-- I've definitely read worse, but I've read better. You either love or hate Chris. I leaned toward disliking him. There wasn't really anything special about this book in my opinion; it was your typical nonfiction book that, to put it bluntly, talks about a dead person. My biggest complaint was Jon put the chronology of Chris life out of order. The book may be talking about Chris' death and then all of a sudden talk about Chris' adventure in South Dakota or Mexico. Sprinkle in a little of Jon's personal life, and you've got yourself a book that is just good enough enough to stay on an English reading list.

I was familiar with John Green as I've watched his crash course videos for chemistry. On the videos, his personality seemed cooky and a little strange. Reading this book confirmed it. The book entails a list of various things and he rates it. While at first I slightly enjoyed the format, it got tiring very quickly. He used way too many quotes throughout the book to the point where it felt repetitive (He even admitted it in the Postscript). Additionally, some of his chapters were downright strange. If the sociopath alarms aren't going off in your head after he gives a glowing review on googling strangers, a higher rating than his rating for teddy bears I might add, then I don't know what will. Anyways, the book felt more like an autobiography painted to be a funny book about reviews. I believe the most obvious example of this took place in the Notes App chapter. It talked mostly about his life, before he tries quickly wrapping up the chapter and rates the amazing...Notes App. Personally, I think if someone who was not famous wrote a book similar to John's (like me), it would flop immediately because the person is not popular and no one cares about their opinions. To sum it up, I think how you like the book is how relatable you find John Green. If you find him relatable, you'll likely find the book very enjoyable. If you don't, like me, you'll find the book weird. After watching his Anthropocene podcasts, which is basically the book but better, I saw the vision in the Anthropocene Reviewed and what he tried but failed to do. I'd suggest you reading his fiction books, which sound better, before reading this one. I give it two stars.

Simply one of my favorite books of all time. It's about the life of Dantes and how he was wrongly accused and how he eventually fought for justice. There are so many great moments in this book I don't even know where to start. My favorite parts (among many) was when the Count reveals the identity of himself to people. It made me shed a small tear. The ending was great too. The Count of Monte Cristo is truly a classic, and Alexandre Dumas deserves way more praise. I'm a high school student who barely reads, but after reading this gem of a book, it moved me in a way no other book has. I'm sure more intelligent people can explain the hidden themes and all the hidden meanings and symbols in the story, but on the surface the story is excellent. Five stars.

As a high school student who was forced by my school to read it, I found this book quite enjoyable. It was very relatable as I live in the state that the book takes place in. The book was eye opening as it showed the injustices, corruption, and racism that plagues the state even to this day. Furthermore, it had a great overall theme and was easy to follow. I would give this book five stars, however, my only issue (very very minor) was that Bryan often broke off from the main story of Walter McMillan to talk about someone else. While I have no problem with that, I was often slightly annoyed as I really wanted to find out the fate of Walter. Additionally, if you don't live in the state that this took place in, I could see the book being less relevant and perhaps a little boring. Other than that, it was a great and inspiring book, and a must read for a young adult.

I had this book as a required summer reading book when I was in eighth grade. Unfortunately, I found this book terrible and did not have a good time reading it at all. Most of my friends I talked to felt the same way, but I found a couple who really enjoyed the book. So, my final analysis is either you really love the book or you don’t. I fell into the group that didn’t like it. The only thing stopping this book from getting 1 star is the fact the ending was pretty good.