The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project by Lenore Appelhans Review

The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project by Lenore Appelhans 5/5 Stars 272 Pages Published March 5th 2019 by Carolrhoda Lab

Where do I even begin with this book? I know it’s early in the year, but this has to be one of my favourite’s that I’ve read this year. It has a good message, it’s completely unique, I loved the characters, and I just felt so good reading it that I spread it out as long as I could, which is something that I don’t often do.

 

Tropetown is a town where fictional cliché and stereotypical characters live when they’re not working in the stories, different from where the main characters live, and a lot different than where the readers live. Following the last remaining Manic Pixie Dream Boy in town, Riley, it shows his life in first person as he goes through the hardest part of this short life so far, first beginning group therapy and then facing retirement because of what he is. I was immediately interested in his character, not because of his stereotype fully, but because he’s such a thoughtful person, and he really tries hard to carve out his own life, to be different and to make himself happy. And I think that’s something that I really needed to learn from someone else. Riley is that someone else.

 

After accidentally bumping into a girl named Zelda, another Manic Pixie but a Dream Girl, he knows she’s someone he wants in his life. Though she does send mixed signals, she’s most of what he thinks aout, and even more once he realizes that they’re in the same Manic Pixie Group Therapy. The characters in the therapy group really grow together, and I loved (almost) every one.

 

I think that this book is really about finding yourself within your stereotype, not being ashamed of it, but making it your own completely. I loved how good this book made me feel, even at the low points, because even though the world and the characters were fictional, they were really relatable and easy to love. The way they acted and the people they were seems like something to strive for, and I would love to take bits of their personality and add it into my own. My favourite character, of course, is Riley for all of those reasons.

 

Overall, I know I loved this book because of how long I stretched out reading it for. Even though I have so many books that I need to read, I made this last all weekend, and I wish there was more I could know about it. It’s something I just need for my bookshelf, and I know it’s something that I would read again. No matter what kind of books you read, I think that you should check this one out.

 

The book is available here, and here’s a link to the author’s Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks, & Sarah Pekkanen Review

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks, & Sarah Pekkanen 5/5 Stars 384 pages
Published January 8th 2019 by St. Martin’s Press

If you’re looking for a book that’s going to suck you in immediately and keep you locked into place with it’s twists and turns, then this is the book for you. Following a woman named Jessica, it shows her life in the first person viewpoint as she works her makeup job, helps her parents pay for her sister’s medical bills in secret, and lives in her apartment with her dog Leo. That is, until she happens upon a paid psychiatric study.

The study is simple at first, it’s anonymous and all she really has to do is answer a few questions over the course of a couple days on a laptop. She never suspects that the person running the study, Dr. Shields, would take a shine to her specifically, and change her life in ways she doesn’t even realize. The study is a questionnaire about morality, things like; could you tell a lie without feeling guilt, and; describe a time in your life when you cheated.

The viewpoint switches about every chapter or so, from Jess’s view into a second person recording of what she’s doing, and then even sometimes to Dr. Shields herself. I never expected this book to go to the lengths it did to confuse me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of the tv show Hannibal, specifically because of the psychiatrist/patient relationship that Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham have in the show.

Every single page of this book was exciting, even when the characters were just doing mundane things. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next, and at almost four hundred pages, this epic novel kept my attention from the very first page. It’s an easy read that kind of creeps up on you, before you know it you’re completely invested and absolutely NEED to finish it. I imagine that’s how Jessica felt in the story.

Overall if you’re interested in a psychological mystery page turner, than this is something you need to read as soon as possible. The characters are probably some of the most realistic that I’ve ever read about, and the world that they live in is our own, which just adds to the terror I felt reading this. I would say with one hundred percent certainty, if you think that this is a book that you’ll like, you need to pick it up. It’s something I would love to have on my bookshelf.

 

The book is available here, and here’s a link to the authors twitter accounts, if you’d like to keep up with them.

https://twitter.com/greerkh

https://twitter.com/sarahpekkanen

 

Thanks for reading!

Killing Adam by Earik Beann Review

Killing Adam by Earik Beann 5/5 Stars 224 pages
Published January 1st 2019 by Profoundly One Publishing

The biggest change to human technology was an accident. It began with four patients strapped to tables, and it ended with a completely new person. That person was Adam, first of his kind, and he changed everything. Gone were the days of dangerous streets and traffic accidents, once an AI took over, of course. The implants changed everything, but what no one thought of was what about the people who couldn’t get them?

 

When you think of a dystopian novel, you usually think of the technology, the housing situation, and how people’s lives are changed by it, right? This book brings up a whole new subject that I never even thought of, and that is that not everyone is fit to get an electronic implant. Following Jimmy Mahoney, a man who is stuck on disability because he can’t operate in and with the city around him.

 

The book begins with Jimmy going to an Implant Disability Anonymous meeting, the only form of a social life that he gets to have. Unlike a lot of the other members, Jimmy has the most basic type of implant, because his brain can send but can’t receive the signals from the implant itself. He can open doors and take the bus as well as use the elevator, but aside from basic text chat, that’s all he can do, and is classified as disabled. He doesn’t feel disabled, but because of the world around him relying so heavily on technology, he’s helpless.

 

Today is different than other days, because there’s a new girl. Her name is Trixie, and she’s only interested in Jimmy. He feels uncomfortable being around her because he has a wife, though their relationship is stressed because she chooses to be offline only when her implant forces her to be. But he soon finds out that she’s not interested in him that way. She’s part of a group that can give him a different kind of implant, and hack it’s way online. He wants a normal life, and he wants his relationship with his wife back, but is he willing to take the risk?

 

I loved reading this book. The characters were really interesting, and even though I couldn’t tell you what they looked like, I felt really connected to them. The story is told in third person. Sometimes you can feel pulled away from the story if you’re not used to reading in this viewpoint, especially when things are moving quickly and the characters are switching around, but I didn’t have that problem with this book.

 

If I had to choose a favourite character, I would probably choose Trixie because she’s the most interesting out of all of them. Not only does she go through major heartache, but she’s able to bounce back in the best way and make everything better. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and if you like futuristic technology and Artificial Intelligence mixed into a dystopian world, then this is the book for you.

 

The book is available here, and here’s a link to the author’s Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

Paper Girl by Cindy R. Wilson Review

Paper Girl
by Cindy R. Wilson  5/5 Stars 400 Pages Published December 4th 2018 by Entangled: Teen

First off, I would like to say that I love the cover for this book so much. It really stands out to me, and sometimes with young adult books, the covers kind of blur together because they’re very similar. This one has no problem being unique. A debut novel from author Cindy R. Wilson, I think it’s a perfect start to her career, and a really good insight to her writing. If you see this book, you’ll have to check it out.

 

Zoe is a young teenage girl who has crippling social anxiety. She’s left school, and been homeschooled for quite some time now. Mae misses going places with her sister, because Zoe has chosen not to leave her apartment for just over a year now, to avoid feeling nervous or anxious. This is a book about not only learning more about yourself, but overcoming that anxious feeling, tossing it aside, and living your life no matter what. Even if something stands in your way.

 

Her favourite thing at the moment is paper crafts, and she’s covered her entire room with them. She also is really into chess, and holds the top spot in her online chess league. That’s where she talks to her best friend, someone she never expects to meet, but holds very deep in her heart. Little does she know it’s the last person she expects it to be.

 

The story alternates perspectives between Zoe, and Jackson, a homeless teenager who’s about to graduate and head off to college. He has a rocky relationship with his drug addicted and alcoholic father, and has had a hard time at home since his mother died. He left because he thought it would be better for both of them, and though it’s made life harder for him, he seems to adapt well to big changes.

 

This book is very well written, and I didn’t feel at all like I was too old to be reading this, even though I’m not a teenager anymore, and the characters are younger than me. My favourite character would have to be Jackson, because he seems to push through anything he can so that he can get what he wants, no matter what. He’s optimistic when other people would be depressed, and he just seems like that kind of person that’s always happy and smiling. The world they live in is exactly like our own, so there’s no problems there.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this novel, and it was really easy to slip into the story and really take a lesson from it. The lesson here is, don’t let things stand in the way of you living your life. I think that’s really important, because you never want to let your life pass you by. If you’re a fan of young adult novels of any kind, or really just any feel good books, you’re going to love this one. Definitely check it out if you get the chance. The book is available here, and here’s a link to the author’s Twitter if you’d like to keep up with her.

 

Thanks for reading!