Jennifer T

This is NOT a book

Revisado: 02-05-23

Coming from a person that just loooooves a good self-help book - and even more audiobooks - this was a huge letdown. At a first read - and you really do NOT need more than one - it just comes across as a mere collection of tidbits you can find all over across social media. Am I glad the author compiled all of that together for us? Maybe but at the same time, why bother with buying a book that is not giving anything that I cannot find elsewhere for free?

I usually really appreciate Jen Sincero but this was a boring and unhelpful listen. I will be returning the title.

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Lovely book and a must read for both women and men

Revisado: 11-11-18

This book has been a fantastic read and a first step into broadening my horizons not as a woman but as a human being.

Often feminism has been marketed as a women-only movement, as something that benefits women while lessening men. I never agreed with that so I ended up thinking feminism was not for me.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gives us a peak into a way of thinking that is much more modern and more into the idea of equality of all. I grew up in a small city in the centre of Italy and I was shocked finding out how much this book speaks to me about my upbringing.

I will definitely recommend the book and probably buy some copies for my friends and family for Christmas.

January Lavoy did a fantastic job reading the book.

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Very disappointed

Revisado: 11-09-18

It took me almost three weeks to finish this book. It took me a week to finish the first one and ten days to finish the second one, so why did it take me sooo long to finish this one?

Simply put, it was boring and much less interesting than the first two instalments.
By the end of the book, I rolled my eyes at Diana so frequently, they are actually hurting but let's start at the beginning. She has become such an annoying character, I wanted to slap her in the face so hard and so many times I literally had to stop reading the book for a while. After a year together, two children and a trip to the past; I know more about Matthew and vampires than Diana who kept asking stupid and obvious questions during the entire book.

Instead of making her more aware of herself and her relationship with Matthew, the trip to Elizabethan London made her gullible, weak and so whiny. I waited and waited for her to finally embrace her power and become a strong woman and witch but I am still waiting. She is the character that evolved less in this last instalment and it's a pity.

In this book more than ever, I felt her relying on Matthew for everything. I could understand that at the beginning: in the first book, it was hard for her to embrace her magic and it was even harder to face the truth about her magic and her parents; in the second one, she had a hard time learning how to use her magic and she had been thrown in a completely different world but in the third book I don't see any reason for her fragility and lack of willpower. It feels like she and Matthew are one but in the wrong way. She goes on and on about her decision to let go of her fears to embrace her power but in the end, she ends up being a professor, with children and complaining about taking a seat in the Congregation. I feel the romantic plot took too much space over her personal one, preventing her to become fully herself.

And at the same time, I was really confused about her attitude toward her children. At moments, it seems like they are her sun and moon, like they are everything she's ever wanted yet she has no problem leaving them to go to Venice and while she's away, she doesn't get any sad feeling about that.

She started the book as a professor and she finished the book as a professor with the addition of children and a family. I feel like she didn't accomplish what she set out to do, that is discover herself and embrace her own nature.

Also Diana's voice felt so little in this book, she always sounded like a damsel in distress. It was very hard to imagine her as a strong, independent witch, professor and woman. In my opinion, Jennifer Ikeda did a brilliant job in the first two books and given how Harkness portrays Diana in this last book, I assume Ikeda read Diana's part like that to convey this exact message. The whole thing left me baffled.

Maybe because I was so disappointed with Diana, maybe because her lack of personal development left a void in my heart but I appreciated the male characters a lot more than in the other two. It was so exciting to see Jack again and I must say I didn't understand Diana's initial disappointment in Jack being a vampire. Marcus has officially become one of my favourite: he is wise but brave, fair but loving. I wish we knew more about him - I know Time Convert is about him but I heard it's not as good as these books - and his relationship with Phoebe.

Gallowglass' love for Diana reminds me a little bit how shocked I was when Harry Potter got together with Ginny Weasley: it was so sudden my only reaction was huge dismay. I honestly don't see how Gallowglass could have developed romantic feelings and frankly I feel a little creeped out knowing he watched after her as a baby and growing up and feel in love. Fatherly feelings would have made much more sense than love but apparently the author wanted to give us an unrequested and pointless twist. There was really no point in this storyline: it started suddenly and ended as abruptly with Gallowglass leaving. He comes back and there's no mention of said feelings anymore so why were they there in the first place? We'll never know for sure but I assume it was to fill a couple of blank pages.

Matthew also got a little bit out of character. We all heard the tales of Matthew the assassin, Matthew the invincible vampire but when his skills really should come and play; he waits for his wife to come and rescue him. The portrayal of Diana and Matthew being what it is, I simply don't believe Matthew couldn't have taken down Benjamin on his own. I understand it's a nice touch for Diana to come and save the day but I would have preferred if they did it together. This should have been a tale of Diana overcoming her fears and Matthew his aloofness but neither overcome anything.

I loved how Baldwin character developed. He was portrayed as Matthew and Diana's enemy but eventually he got around and understood why they were fighting so hard. His decision to recognise Diana as his sister and ultimately give her his seat on the Congregation proved how far Baldwin had come since ADOW. As for other characters, I wish we had seen more of him.

Adding Jack to the plot again was a nice touch but again I feel like I'm missing some parts as his relationship with Diana and Matthew in particular has blossomed behind the scenes.

Finally, a brief thought about the ghosts: that storyline really had me in an urge of throwing away my iPhone and the book with it. Assuming the theory that only when one is over someone's death, he is able to see his/her ghost is valid for all ghosts; why hasn't Matthew seen Stephen's ghost? They met only briefly so I doubt he's still mourning a person he basically doesn't know.

Overall, I feel like so much has been left unsaid while so much has been repeated and repeated throughout the book. The author explained some things like they were mentioned for the first time when, in fact, we knew them from either ADOW or SON. Lines and lines wasted on something that we already knew while many questions has been left unanswered.
What happens with Miriam and Chris? Also, who is Chris (he's supposedly Diana's best friend but we got to know him only in this book?!)? When will Phoebe become a vampire? What's the point of Ashmole 782 and whose skin/hair is made of? Also, what is the meaning of what Philippe's ghost said? Will someone else ever see his ghost?

Also there were some plot holes as deep as Mariana Trench but I won'y go into those because we'd be here till Christmas.

Finally, a thought on the narrator: girl, what happened? Ikeda created beautiful voices for the characters and then forgot about them with Hamish and Gallowglass sounding the same.

Would I read a fourth book, if there were ever one? Probably yes but I am not overly excited nor I'll be waiting for the book on the edge of my seat. I would like some closure but I am glad it's over.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Very entertaining book and good performance!

Revisado: 10-06-18

Jennifer Ikeda delights us with another good performance as narrator of the All Souls trilogy. She's just that good and makes listening a bliss. When it comes to audiobooks, my attention span is very low because I tend to do other things while listening but Ikeda manages to keep me focused for hours and I love that!

As I probably mentioned with the first book though, I find her lack of training in French so annoying but she does a wonderful job in portraying all the different characters. Now, onto the story...

I loved the way Matthew changed as soon as they land in the XVIth century. To be fair, I found him so annoying at times but I understand why the author made the choice to make him even more protective, full of guilt and with a huge tendency of mansplaining things. Yes, this is the same Matthew we fell in love with in the XXIst century but they did go back a few centuries so it made sense to me that Matthew went back to a behaviour that was socially accepted back then.

I was so touched by their encounters with both Philippe and Steven. Especially with Philippe, I really look forward to seeing him appear on the TV show because I've grown to like him so much as a character and I was even more sad when they had to say goodbye. And I loved the way Steven was introduced: for a few seconds, I thought someone from the Congregation found them given Steven's modern scent but no, it was Diana's dad! I loved how he pushed her toward her powers and it made me fully comprehend why he and Rebecca had to spellbound Diana a few weeks (or is it months?) later his encounter with his fully grown up daughter.

Matthew and Diana's departure from the XVIth century left me in tears, especially at the thought of Annie, Jack and all the witches that helped Diana find out who she is.

There is one thing I really don't get though and that is Christopher Marlowe and Diana's relationship. It is so not like Diana to simply give up and we saw this with Ysabeau and Philippe. Both were really against her but she still attempted and eventually succeeded in winning their hearts. With Marlowe, I got the feeling she didn't care and I was so disappointed since she had seemed so eager to meet him.

At the end, I really liked the book and I appreciated how Matthew and Diana's relationship has evolved. I look forward to reading the 3rd book!

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Quite impressed

Revisado: 09-28-18

I have to say I came to buy the book after watching the first two episodes of the TV show. Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer got me hooked and I simply couldn't wait for the episodes to come out, I had to find out how the story went on and I must say that so far I am quite impressed.

The star of the show is Jennifer Ikeda, no doubt. She is a wonderful narrator and I appreciated that thanks to her narration I could tell whenever more people were talking. The only thing I found very irritating - being a French student - is the hideous French accent. Matthew is French so he should have a flawless French accent in my opinion, instead Ikeda kind of butcher the French language. I understand it must be difficult to find someone who could speak flawlessly both French and English for the reading but still, she could have made a little more effort. Setting aside my disappointment for how French was handled, she did an amazing job. When you listen to a book, the narrator is key for you to completely like the book and Ikeda made the narration so natural, I felt completely surrounded by the characters.

On to the story...I like that it's initially set in Oxford and the general academic vibe you get at the beginning. Both Diana and Matthew are really good characters and I liked that the author took the time to go into depth about their families. Sometimes us readers don't really get the chance to know a lot about the character's backstory and to me this always feel like a huge misstep. I like Matthew a lot - he is very charming after all... - but I don't understand his overprotective behaviour sometimes. I get that he as a vampire has a very clear definition of what it's his but it felt odd at times anyway.
Diana is so so naive, I hope she gets some sense in the following books. I liked how she changed her mind about Matthew in a time of crisis, I liked how she went against her specie's misconceptions but at times I overheard myself saying out loud "God, she is so stupid". Am I too cynical to appreciate Diana's unconditional love for Matthew? Maybe but still she and her relatives seemed very out of sync.

Nonetheless I look forward to seeing the couple traveling to the past!

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Loved it but...

Revisado: 09-05-18

As this is the last book of the trilogy, I am going to talk a little bit about the trilogy overall first. I love how Jenny Han writes, all the books are a light read and you hardly ever get bored. The story per se goes as expected and, at least for this genre, I don't think that's bad at all. Actually, I loved it: it makes the story more approachable and relatable. I also loved how in this last book, the author tackles the theme of college. I hardly ever saw that in YA novels and movies: they are either set way before that is something teenagers talk about or they are more focused on unrealistic but likeable themes (love, friendships...). Also, I loved how almost all the characters evolved and found their own space: Kitty is by far my favourite character. She is witty, sarcastic and I love how she grew fond of Peter. Peter is a likeable character as well and I got to know him a little bit better with each book.

Now onto the things I didn't like. I didn't like Peter's mum character at all because - at least to me - it seems very unrealistic that a mum would go and ask her son's girlfriend to break up with him. Maybe it's cultural - I am after all from a different country than the character - but I have been a teenager and I never heard something like that in real life. It feels like something that would happen in a telenovela but definitely not in 2018. Maybe I am wrong and as I said maybe it's something that happens in the US way more often but it felt off.

As I am speaking about Peter's family, I also feel like we didn't get enough info about them.
It is true that Lara Jean is the star of the show but Peter is in the spotlight as well so I would have liked to get to know his family a little bit more. Instead, we get only bits and pieces and sometimes it was hard to piece them all together. At the beginning of the trilogy, I thought maybe it was because Peter was going to disappear - at one point my money were on John Ambrose McClaren - but then when I realised Lara Jean and Peter were the real deal, it felt odd not to know much about Peter's life. I get that the book is written by Lara Jean's point of view but still a little bit more of information would have been good.
Maybe, if I got to know them better, Peter's mum intrusion would have felt more appropriate but like this it felt odd at best. I mean, why a person that Lara Jean has met only a few times feels like it is her right to get a saying in Lara Jean's decisions? And also, why didn't she speak to her son instead?! That I'll never understand.

I also felt like Lara Jean's character didn't evolve as much as others. Her dad finally gets out of his shell, starts dating and ends up getting married again; Kitty's wittiness gets more and more on point; Peter introduces himself as the hot and cool jock but turns out to be fragile and sensitive in his own way; even if we don't get to see Margot that much I felt like she changed through the books and especially in this last one I got to see how hard it was for her to let go of her role as a mum for her sisters. I didn't feel like Lara Jean changed as much and at one point I really begun to dislike her, especially with Peter.

Her - sometimes inexplicable - jealousy toward Gen (which by the way has disappeared into thin air after two books with the excuse of a new boyfriend from church that, I'm assuming, lives on the Moon) has been replaced by other issues and college is a big one of them. Overall I was disappointed in how the love story evolved because it didn't evolve at all: as soon as a new problem arose (first Gen, then Gen again and now college), she broke up with him only to feel bad about it 5 seconds later.

Of course, all the disappointment has been erased by the happy ending: in spite of my dislike of Lara Jean, I felt like Peter deserved a happy ending and he does love Lara Jean so I am happy they ended up together.

Would I read the books again? No. At least for me, these are not books I will want to read over and over again (and that's why I am returning them) but if I had the chance to go back in time, I would still buy them and read them once. I would have probably liked them more if I were younger (I am 25 now) but overall, they are a light read and they do leave you all warm inside.

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esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

Nice read

Revisado: 09-02-18

This is my second read via Audible and it made me realise how important it is for the success of the book to be read by someone that is good at it. Before this book, I listened to another that was performed so poorly, it made me dislike the book.
However, this is not the case: Laura Knight Keating did a wonderful job.

The book itself is really nice although I cannot really say much about the story because I read the book after watching the movie so I already knew how everything would go. Anyway, it's a good read and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for nice, casual read. The main character, Lara Jean, is very relatable - even if I am way past my teenage years - and it made me remember how it was for me in high school.
Overall, it's a sweet story!

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