Memorial Day

Kat says

May 27, 2014 at 12:42 am

Hope everyone had a happy memorial day! I was on good reads today and I happened to come across the book background(the thing they put on the inside of the book jacket to get you interested). Now because my sister said the book (I’d tell you love you but then I have to kill you)is amazing I took her word for it and agreed. But to be honest I had I only read the book background-thingy like I did to day I would’ve thought “hmm, interesting what else can I check out.” and never read it(the horror!) It really just goes to show how closed minded people can be. for example this review. by a user

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1169804-steph-reviewer-x
Wrote:
“Recommended for: No one

Read in June, 2008
I picked this book up because of all the media hyper surrounding it—the Disney option and the New York Times bestseller status, not to mention the cute cover and interesting premise. Who hasn’t found themselves imagining what it would be like to be a secret government operative during an especially boring Physics lecture? Behold: the appeal of this book (to me, at least).

With all this in mind, why oh why was I so disappointed upon finishing it?

Because this book was subpar to its media attention. The writing, the characters and the subplot were average. Boring. I didn’t learn anything particularly new reading it, I wasn’t entertained, and I wasn’t blown away with Ally Carter’s prose. What’s ironic is, the elements that would’ve made this novel a winner—such as character development, for starters—were all there. The girls had interesting (and heartbreaking) backgrounds. But those were for the most part ignored, except for some scenes where Cammie feels the loss that her friend could be facing and feels the loss of her own father, which I felt were the best parts in this entire novel.

Because of all the superfluous jokes and one-liners inserted in places that did not require the likes of them. (And usually in parentheses and followed by an exclamation point so the reader can feel the excitement!) The only comment I have of this is: Uncooked spaghetti is not as clever a weapon choice as the author seems to think it is…

Because of the underdeveloped relationship between Josh (is that his name? I can’t be bothered to check) and Cammie. I would’ve liked to see the beginning stages of first love instead of being told, after the fact, that they went to such and such movie or something equally nondescript. With a book based on the challenges of falling in love as a spy and having to lead a double life, one would’ve thought such details of the romance would be shared from time to time.

Because of the main character. No way in hell is she sixteen and no way in hell is someone that average, intelligence-wise, would be qualified to go to such a pizzazz school like Gallagher Academy. Oh, and, how was she able to fool the adults in that place even for a second? What does that say about the school we are led to believe is The Godsend of Security?

I’m not understanding what makes this as popular as it is. It’s not really funny and it’s not really bright. What gives? The only redeeming quality it has, in my opinion, is that it’s making me re-evaluate my verdict of The Squad: Killer Spirit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, which I am coming to realize is infinitely better.

If I had to describe this book in a word, it’d be: Lifeless. No real stakes and no stimulating qualities. Get it from the library. ”

This really surprised me because had the person bothered to read the rest of the series they would’ve seen how the characters grew. They would have found how the characters grew and how Josh would never fit into Cammie’s world but Zach(who I absolutely love by the way) did. They would have seen how Bex matured and Macey found where she belonged. They would have seen how Cammie grew into a women and how her mom (Who knew all about Josh) gave her the space to make her own mistakes. They would have found how the book really grew and the stakes really did become higher and in fact they became more personal too which made the books infinitely more better. They would’ve understood (if they paid an ounce of real attention) that Cammie was raised to live in that lifestyle unlike someone who’s only talent is writing bad reviews because they have no taste.
Also, dialogue is half the fun.
I could go on and on but I guess in short what I’m trying to say is I’m really grateful that I’m not such a closed minded individual, that I fell really sorry for people who need to make themselves feel better by writing that kind of stuff,(though everyone is entitled to their opinions), and that I’m really grateful that Ally had the imagination to write such an amazing Story, (along with the Heist Society and highly anticipate Embassy Row,) because Ally you have a gift and none of your fans could be more happy you chose to share it with us!

Comments

kaitlin says
May 26, 2014 at 8:00 pm

Hope you had a Happy Memorial day Shellie!

Kat says
May 27, 2014 at 12:42 am

Hope everyone had a happy memorial day! I was on good reads today and I happened to come across the book background(the thing they put on the inside of the book jacket to get you interested). Now because my sister said the book (I’d tell you love you but then I have to kill you)is amazing I took her word for it and agreed. But to be honest I had I only read the book background-thingy like I did to day I would’ve thought “hmm, interesting what else can I check out.” and never read it(the horror!) It really just goes to show how closed minded people can be. for example this review. by a user

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1169804-steph-reviewer-x
Wrote:
“Recommended for: No one

Read in June, 2008
I picked this book up because of all the media hyper surrounding it—the Disney option and the New York Times bestseller status, not to mention the cute cover and interesting premise. Who hasn’t found themselves imagining what it would be like to be a secret government operative during an especially boring Physics lecture? Behold: the appeal of this book (to me, at least).

With all this in mind, why oh why was I so disappointed upon finishing it?

Because this book was subpar to its media attention. The writing, the characters and the subplot were average. Boring. I didn’t learn anything particularly new reading it, I wasn’t entertained, and I wasn’t blown away with Ally Carter’s prose. What’s ironic is, the elements that would’ve made this novel a winner—such as character development, for starters—were all there. The girls had interesting (and heartbreaking) backgrounds. But those were for the most part ignored, except for some scenes where Cammie feels the loss that her friend could be facing and feels the loss of her own father, which I felt were the best parts in this entire novel.

Because of all the superfluous jokes and one-liners inserted in places that did not require the likes of them. (And usually in parentheses and followed by an exclamation point so the reader can feel the excitement!) The only comment I have of this is: Uncooked spaghetti is not as clever a weapon choice as the author seems to think it is…

Because of the underdeveloped relationship between Josh (is that his name? I can’t be bothered to check) and Cammie. I would’ve liked to see the beginning stages of first love instead of being told, after the fact, that they went to such and such movie or something equally nondescript. With a book based on the challenges of falling in love as a spy and having to lead a double life, one would’ve thought such details of the romance would be shared from time to time.

Because of the main character. No way in hell is she sixteen and no way in hell is someone that average, intelligence-wise, would be qualified to go to such a pizzazz school like Gallagher Academy. Oh, and, how was she able to fool the adults in that place even for a second? What does that say about the school we are led to believe is The Godsend of Security?

I’m not understanding what makes this as popular as it is. It’s not really funny and it’s not really bright. What gives? The only redeeming quality it has, in my opinion, is that it’s making me re-evaluate my verdict of The Squad: Killer Spirit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, which I am coming to realize is infinitely better.

If I had to describe this book in a word, it’d be: Lifeless. No real stakes and no stimulating qualities. Get it from the library. ”

This really surprised me because had the person bothered to read the rest of the series they would’ve seen how the characters grew. They would have found how the characters grew and how Josh would never fit into Cammie’s world but Zach(who I absolutely love by the way) did. They would have seen how Bex matured and Macey found where she belonged. They would have seen how Cammie grew into a women and how her mom (Who knew all about Josh) gave her the space to make her own mistakes. They would have found how the book really grew and the stakes really did become higher and in fact they became more personal too which made the books infinitely more better. They would’ve understood (if they paid an ounce of real attention) that Cammie was raised to live in that lifestyle unlike someone who’s only talent is writing bad reviews because they have no taste.
Also, dialogue is half the fun.
I could go on and on but I guess in short what I’m trying to say is I’m really grateful that I’m not such a closed minded individual, that I fell really sorry for people who need to make themselves feel better by writing that kind of stuff,(though everyone is entitled to their opinions), and that I’m really grateful that Ally had the imagination to write such an amazing Story, (along with the Heist Society and highly anticipate Embassy Row,) because Ally you have a gift and none of your fans could be more happy you chose to share it with us!

- Livi says
  June 1, 2014 at 11:09 am
  
  ‘LIFELESS’!!!!!!!!!! Has the person who wrote the review even read the same book?! That could not be further from the truth. You’re so right, they are closed minded and I hope they feel very ashamed putting that. Like you said, if they gave the books more of a chance rather than deciding they didn’t like them and picking holes that don’t exist, maybe they might have changed their mind. Maybe it was written by another author jealous of Ally’s talent because I can’t see any other explanation as to why someone would interpret the books that way or be so rude. Don’t listen to them!
  
Sabina G. says
May 27, 2014 at 8:30 am

I hope that everyone had a good Memorial Day! Thanks to the men and women who served in our army! Especially the ones who died for our country!

Soph13 says
May 28, 2014 at 4:53 pm

always 🙂

Livi says
June 1, 2014 at 11:11 am

On a lighter note, happy Memorial Day. We should always remember that they gave their lives for us.

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