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

Unravel Me - Taherah Mafi - UPDATED REVIEW

Unravel Me by Taherah Mafi
Genre: YA Dystopian
Amazon.com: Unravel Me (Shatter Me Book 2) eBook: Mafi, Tahereh ...
Blurb (on back of book): The thrilling second installment in New York Times bestselling author Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series.
It should have taken Juliette a single touch to kill Warner. But his mysterious immunity to her deadly power has left her shaken, wondering why her ultimate defense mechanism failed against the person she most needs protection from.
She and Adam were able to escape Warner’s clutches and join up with a group of rebels, many of whom have powers of their own. Juliette will finally be able to actively fight against The Reestablishment and try to fix her broken world. And perhaps these new allies can help her shed light on the secret behind Adam’s—and Warner’s—immunity to her killer skin.
Juliette’s world is packed with high-stakes action and tantalizing romance, perfect for fans of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard and the Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken.


OLD REVIEW

UPDATED REVIEW
MY OPINION: ****

spoilers ahead

I would like to say that although I gave this book the same rating as the previous one, I liked this one considerably better but it just didn't merit a four star rating for me.

I felt that this book was a lot more put together and organized as a whole. I had a sense of an actual plot happening, there was character development, the writing was a lot more cohesive, and the characters were way less annoying. I especially liked that the absurd metaphors from the first book were not as ridiculous in this book and actually started to make sense sometimes. The writing was my biggest problem with this series the second time around and while it isn't perfect, it's shown a drastic improvement from the first book.

Juliette has started to grow into the independent and strong woman that I know she is deep down inside of her. She has started to rely less on the people around her and more on herself. She has demonstrated that she doesn't need to lean on a boy in order to survive, which I loved. She has also started to develop an actual personality that isn't just whining and complaining about her curse the entire time. I actually started to see her emotions and her thought process and her weaknesses, rather than her constant I-hate-myself-because-I'm-a-monster mantra that she seemed to live on in the first book. Yes, there were times when her selfish and ignorant self came out and I wanted to smack her but it was less often and less annoying.

I apparently loved Adam in the first book the first time I read this series, but this time around, I don't know what I saw in him. He seriously was the most annoying character. I didn't like the way that he treated Juliette after she broke up with him for his own good, might I add. He became a different person with extreme anger issues who needed a reality check. It felt like all he wanted was to make out with Juliette, even though he was putting himself in danger which obviously was taking a toll on Juliette's mental health and view of herself. He kept saying that he wanted to try to do whatever it took so that they could be together but I felt zero chemistry between them. It was lust, not love, and I stand by that statement.

I don't know why I ever disliked Kenji! He was the comedic relief we were all desperately waiting for, especially in between the angsty annoying love story of Adam and Juliette. He provided the laugh that we all needed and he was the character who showed the most loyalty and leadership. I loved how he took care of everyone and was friends with everyone and was just a genuine person.

Warner is my absolute favorite and I loved him more and more every time he came into the picture. I apparently was still an Adam stan when I read this book for the first time but I have one hundred percent switched sides to Team Aaron. Aaron/Warner was the boy we've all heard of: the broken, cruel, terrible boy with daddy issues who was forced to step up and become a evil and powerful leader at a young age. He's been abused by his father for his entire life which has made him the person he was today. However, Juliette and his love for her changed him and has definitely made him into a better man and I can't wait to see how this all ends. I felt so much pain for him when Juliette still chose Adam, despite them being broken up.

While a lot of people may see the love triangle as unnecessary, they're my guilty pleasure so I was absolutely in love with it, especially since they're brothers and are two very different people. I'm very interested to see how this one ends.

I despised Castle. Everything about him was so annoying and I wanted to punch him every time he spoke. I understand that he had a mission to help those with special abilities but the way he went about it was rude and quite frankly cruel. I hated that he forced Juliette to do things she didn't want to do, kept secrets from her about Adam, and made consistently bad decisions throughout the book.

Adam's secret power was not my favorite and it wasn't something I was expecting. I loved Warner's though, because there's so much potential with his.

There isn't as much action in this book as you would expect from a young adult dystopian novel. However, I'm not a fan of action so that was fine with me. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a romance and character driven novel set in a futuristic world.

Main Character: Juliette
Sidekick(s): Adam, Aaron, Kenji, James, etc
Villain(s): Anderson, etc
Dystopian Elements: This book was set in a futuristic world.

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