The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m
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Girl Against the Universe - Paula Stokes

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes
Image result for girl against the universeGenre: YA Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): Maguire is bad luck.
No matter how many charms she buys off the internet or good luck rituals she performs each morning, horrible things happen when Maguire is around. Like that time the roller coaster jumped off its tracks. Or the time the house next door caught on fire. Or that time her brother, father, and uncle were all killed in a car crash—and Maguire walked away with barely a scratch.
It’s safest for Maguire to hide out in her room, where she can cause less damage and avoid new people who she could hurt. But then she meets Jordy, an aspiring tennis star. Jordy is confident, talented, and lucky, and he’s convinced he can help Maguire break her unlucky streak. Maguire knows that the best thing she can do for Jordy is to stay away. But it turns out staying away may be harder than she thought. 

MY OPINION: ***

I can't say that this was my favorite book.

I liked the whole message and overall theme of the book. I liked the characters well enough, but there were just some things about it that didn't click with me as a reader.

I found this book by going through the related section of The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson, a book that I absolutely LOVED and needed to find something close to it. This book just didn't cut it.

It's about a girl named Maguire Kelly who believes that she is bad luck because of a few chance events of her past. She was in a car accident with her father, uncle, and brother and was the only one who managed to survive without even a serious injury. She was also a part of a rollercoaster accident where the car jumped off the tracks and managed to injure everyone except for her. Along with these come other minor accidents, such as causing someone to trip and hitting a guy in the... place with a tennis ball.

So yeah.

The whole idea of this book was interesting and not a bad plot. It focuses around Maguire's tennis-playing skills and her trying to move on and be brave until she reaches an ultimate goal of going to Ireland and traveling on a plane to visit her grandma and have a second memorial for her brother, father, and uncle.

Something I DO want to say about this book: it deals with mental health issues AND manages to STAY there. I don't know if it's a good thing or if it's a bad thing but to me, it was both mediocre and good. I like how the author stayed focused on the fact that Maguire needs help and goes to therapy, etc, but I also would have liked to see more development of various relationships in this book, including with her mother, Tom, her half-siblings, her friends, and of course, Jordy.

The therapeutic sessions in this book were realistic and helpful and I really enjoyed reading through them. Daniel was an amazing therapist who seems like he would be helpful to everyone. They seemed as if they really clicked and he really helped Maguire through all of her problems despite her being scared and nervous and reticent at the beginning.

Jordy was definitely one of the best characters because he was just so much better than normal guys. He was nothing like real boys are but I liked it because he really helped Maguire pull through her worries and problems and move on.

The one thing that made me bump this down to a three stars rather than four or five was that the book was repetitive and predictable. It was cliche almost and it made it tiresome and boring. It was very obvious as to what was going to happen Maguire gets the guy, she manages to fulfill her challenges, she learns that she's not a curse, she goes to Ireland, she reaches her goal, something bad happens and she realizes that it was actually a good thing in a way and it was almost boring because I would have liked more plot twists, cliffhangers, red herrings, that sort of thing.

I would recommend this book to YA readers who are looking for a strong female protagonist, a dramatic contemporary read, and a romance novel!

Main Character: Maguire
Sidekick(s): Jordy, Penn, Jade, etc
Villain(s): Being cursed, bad luck, death, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: All of this book was very real to life.

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