Summer Reading Part 3

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A.N. Roquelaure
1 STAR RATING

So I was recommended this book by my boyfriend and I'm offended that he thought I'd like this. To be fair, I am a huge erotic fan and an even bigger fan of retellings of classic stories. This particular one did nothing for me. I was put into a bad mood from the very first chapter, when Sleeping Beauty isn't even awake for her deflowering. That colored the rest of my reading experience. I didn't care for the Prince and felt his arrogance unwarranted. I felt that he didn't heard the right to be making Beauty into his sex slave. Her Stockholm syndrome did nothing to endear me to her. I found her inner narrative annoying and tedious. The spanking scenes all felt repetitive and not sexually appealing at all. I just didn't like this book.










Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
4 STAR RATING

I had listened to parts of this memoir last year but never fully through. I'm glad I came back to it because it's a great collection of essays. Lawson is beyond relatable. I hear her life stories and find little pieces of myself reflected back at me. She read her own audio book and her voice really brings the book to life. There was even a bonus chapter at the end, after the epilogue. I am excited to go back and read her first book.














A Dog's Journey by W. Bruce Cameron
2 STAR RATING

I was so close to giving this book 1 star but the ending pulled it through for me. I hated the voice of CJ and Gloria. Their character arcs were annoying and I found it hard to care about them. CJ had so many problems in her life, many self inflicted that it felt hard to have sympathy for her. The last few chapters were the saving grace of this novel. It finally comes full circle for the dog and he completely understands his purpose. I was not surprised to find myself crying when the dog's soul or conscious or whatever finally moved on. It was such a touching ending to the book series.









Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
5 STAR RATING

This was where the story picked up for me. I'm fully invested in Harry's journey to defeat Voldemort. The audio book does a fantastic job of sucking me into the book. Harry is a bit more likable and the absence of Hermione was almost agonizing. It's so obvious to be now that Rowling was setting up the romance between her and Ron. He was the most the most distraught when she was petrified. The battle between Harry and Tom was epic. I wish he was the final villain instead of the damaged and freakish present Voldemort. It's always nice when the villain is handsome and charming. Makes you love to hate him.