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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The Leaving Season - Cat Jordan

The Leaving Season by Cat Jordan
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Image result for the leaving season
Blurb (on back of book): Middie Daniels calls it the Leaving Season—the time of year when everyone graduates high school, packs up their brand-new suitcases, and leaves home for the first time.
It happens every late August, but this year Middie’s boyfriend, Nate, is the one leaving. Nate, who’s so perfect that she can barely believe it. Nate, who makes her better than she is on her own. Nate, who’s promised to come back once he’s finished his gap year volunteering in Central America.
And when he does, it’ll be time for Middie to leave, too. With him.
But when tragedy strikes, Middie’s whole world is set spinning. No one seems to understand just how lost she is… except for Nate’s best friend Lee.
Middie and Lee have never gotten along. She’s always known that she was destined for great things, and Lee acts like he’s never cared about anything a day in his life. But with the ground ripped out from under her, Middie is finding that up is down—and that Lee Ryan might be just what she needs to find her footing once more.

MY OPINION: ***

This book was SO CUTE at times. At others, it was not so cute.

The premise of this book was definitely interesting. I loved the whole idea of it and for the most part, it was very well-done. I loved the simplicity of the writing and the way that it really brought me into the story. It was just that some things made me feel a little unsatisfied.

I went into this book having HIGH expectations, though I really don't know why, seeing as I had never heard of it before in my life and randomly found it at the library the other day. However, I liked the blurb.

Middie is kind of SELFISH. She was really rude at times and at others, it was like she didn't care about anyone's feelings except her own. The author built up this relationship between her and Nate, this boy she's known for 10 years and has been dating for five of those ten. It was confusing to me how somebody could just throw that all away in the span of 2 pages and not feel HORRIBLE about it. Instead of WAITING for some time after the "tragedy" she runs to Lee, the other boy, which I thought was weird considering she just broke up with her boyfriend.

We also get this whole relationship between her and Lee but I thought that the romance aspect of their relationship was very sudden and very rushed. I get that their relationship was never supposed to be a thing and I get that they're both grieving but the romance to me felt very fake at times. I could totally see them as just friends until that "love" aspect was really built up so that I could start loving them together. By the end, I loved them together but I think that the best time for the first "real" kiss should have been the ending instead of really random make-out scenes throughout the book.

Also, Lee is supposed to be this "bad boy" but I saw none of that. He's made out to be a pothead, which I also never saw, and he's just this bad influence on somebody like modest, good-girl Middie. However, I saw NONE of that throughout the story and instead saw a misunderstood boy. I love how the author wrote this and showed that not everybody is who somebody thinks they are. I think it's important to really develop an outer shell of a character but I admire authors who go deeper than that.

The fact that he was in love with Middie for years was ADORABLE but I do think that the predicament was so complicated (the whole being-in-love-with-his-best-friend's-girlfriend thing).

I kind of loved Nate. He was so sweet and while I didn't really see him with Middie, mainly because none of the "passion" was written in when they were together like it was with Middie and Lee, I loved him as a character and as a person. He was NICE, he was a SUITABLE boyfriend, and he was UNLIKE any other real boy out there.

I hope we all meet our Nates in the future.

I think that the whole Honduras thing could have been more elaborated on. I would have liked to have learned more about their economy, their culture, their government, what exactly happened, and just overall details about Honduras and what happened to Nate.

The dialogue at times was very... scant and a little unrealistic but overall, the writing was beautiful. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a romance YA fiction read!

Main Character: Middie
Sidekick(s): Lee, Nate, Haley, etc
Villain(s): Death, misunderstanding, grief, love, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.

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