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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Emergency Contact - Mary HK Choi

Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Image result for emergency contactBlurb (on back of book): For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.
Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him. 
When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

MY OPINION: ***

I honestly don't think I would have ever picked this book up had it not been front and center in a bookshelf at my local bookstore. I mean, I'd never heard of it before, I'd never seen it before, and it wasn't something that I had had any interest in reading previously. It came out this year but it didn't get a lot of hype, it seems.

I've read a lot of mixed reviews about this book and I agree with the ones that were far less than fans of this book if I have to be quite honest. I wouldn't go as far as to say I hated it but I did think it was strange and not at all what I had expected.

THINGS THAT WERE GOOD:

*I think it was mainly the cover that caught my eye and perked my interest. It was so simple, yet so beautiful and almost indicated a cutesy pink, fluffy, contemporary romance novel that would be very summer-like.

*The Asian protagonist. I think that there is a lack of Asian contemporary novels and though the fact that was Asian wasn't some huge thing, I did appreciate the small diversity in this book, though maybe it wasn't written in the best way.

*Sam. I loved his quirks and his eccentricities and his determination and ambition. I loved how he was calm and almost passive at times and serious at others.

*The texts. There wasn't much of a dynamic relationship between the texts that were exchanged between Penny and Sam but that was realistic. When people text in real life, it's not quotations and deeply introspective things.

*The ending. I really liked the ending. The book definitely redeemed itself in my eyes by the last 25% of the book.

THINGS THAT WERE NOT SO GOOD:

*The story itself was really slow-paced. I thought it took forever and ever to get to the point. I mean, Sam and Penny didn't even meet for real until really far into the story and the romance didn't start until 350 pages in!

*Penny. I didn't like her character. She was rather judgmental, almost a hypocrite at points. She's rude to her mother, who's a MILF, which I did not know about before this book, just because her mother flirts with men and dresses like younger people. I mean, it's a free country and we people can do whatever we want, regardless of age. She shouldn't be ragging on her mom just because her mom likes to have some fun still. She even thinks Sam is gay because he's holding an espresso cup?? I was confused at that point but to be honest, I couldn't really understand her character. She accuses Mallory for being racist and then proceeds to be racist herself soon after and then asks herself is she's the one who's racist. I don't know, she just didn't agree with me.

*The romance felt almost forced. I think that Sam and Penny could have just stayed friends and it would have been fine, even for me (If y'all don't know, I live for romance novels). Also, it didn't really start until the very end.

Overall, I didn't hate the book nearly as much as a lot of others but it wasn't my favorite. I would recommend it to people looking for a newer, more unusual and different book of 2018.

Main Character: Penny, Sam
Sidekick(s): Jude, Mallory, etc
Villain(s): Lorraine, misunderstanding, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This was all very real to life.

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