You might notice my reviews skipped some numbers.

There’s always going to be books I dislike, but I didn’t want to give them their own posts. I don’t want to give them too much space. I squished them in a monthly post for your pleasure instead.

This seems like a good time to mention that my reviews are scored from my personal experience reading the book. The measures I’m using are far from objective: I’m welcoming bias with open arms. I reserve the right to be unreasonable. I don’t pretend to be an authority on literature either.

Here’s 3 books that missed the mark for me in January:

4th read: The Existence of Amy

I had issues with the way this book approaches mental illness. During the first few chapters, I thought it could be a good tool to educate. By the last few chapters, I was worried this book would cause harm instead.

It’s true that someone with a mental illness might face more criticism for their behaviour, but that does not excuse our mistakes.

One small example that comes up in the book is Amy being consistently late for work. Instead of waking up earlier and/or apologizing to her coworkers/superiors, she ignores their remarks about it. When they attempt to have a direct conversation, she avoids giving an explanation or seeing things from their perspective. She stands there feeling like a victim instead. I would have had a lot more sympathy if we saw an attempt to wake up earlier or an apology somewhere.

A different (perhaps unconventional) barrier I faced when trying to appreciate this book was the large font size.

My brain craves small, unassuming letters, cramped onto a page until it brims. It’s difficult for me to remain engaged when the letters stretch out to take space and I’m constantly pulled back to the physical realm to flip pages. I wish I had bought this book on kindle instead of paperback, so I could have adjusted the font to my preference.

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SYNOPSIS

Amy has a normal life. That is, if you were to go by a definition of ‘no obvious indicators of peculiarity’, and you didn’t know her very well. She has good friends, a good job, a nice enough home. This normality, however, is precariously plastered on top of a different life. A life that is Amy’s real life. The only one her brain will let her lead.

What is it really like to live with mental illness? An insight into the reality of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety and depression.

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REVIEW

The beginning half bored me, while the other half infuriated me. At first, a lot of Amy’s emotions and behaviours felt familiar (when it came to living with depression/anxiety) but that was not sufficient. I had to force myself to keep reading.

It was only in the second half (around chapter 29) that we learn new information that changed my perspective of the characters. At that point, indifference turned into indignation. It’s one thing to be accidentally rude because of mental illness, but it’s another thing to use it as an excuse for bad behaviour. I started to really hate the characters (though the plot did get more interesting)

6th read: Mouth Full of Ashes

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SYNOPSIS

Mourning the sudden loss of her sister, Callie Danoff wants nothing more than to embrace a fresh start in a new town, leaving the haunting memories of her sister’s death behind. But when her brother Ramsay drags her to a spooky boardwalk, the two become entangled with a local vampire gang and its enigmatic leader, Elijah. Callie refuses to accept their existence… until she and her brother unknowingly ingest vampire blood. Now they only have three days before they turn into vampires themselves. 

With her carefree summer thwarted, Callie must trust a group she barely knows in order to save her family.

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REVIEW

I don’t think this book was right for me.

I didn’t feel invested in the characters and relationships. It felt like a lot of their decisions/actions lacked logic.

The vampires were a little stereotypical. I wish they were more interesting (or cunning!)

23rd read: Ghost World

Where do I even start with this one?

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SYNOPSIS

Ghost World is the story of Enid and Rebecca, teenage friends facing the unwelcome prospect of adulthood, and the uncertain future of their complicated relationship. Clowes conjures a balanced semblance, both tender and objective, of their fragile existence, capturing the mundane thrills and hourly tragedies of a waning adolescence, as he follows a tenuous narrative thread through the fragmented lives of these two fully realized young women.

Originally serialized in the pages of the seminal comic book Eightball throughout the mid-1990s, this is a quasi-autobiographical story (the name of one of the protagonists is famously an anagram of the author’s name) about two best friends facing the prospect of growing up, and more importantly, apart.

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REVIEW

I didn’t like this one. The synopsis attracted me, but the execution was poor.

I disliked every single character. They were shallow, mean and judgmental (& never once in an endearing way!) The character development was splotchy.

I really don’t understand the relationship between Enid and Rebecca.

I’m not sure there was a plot at all.

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