"Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail" by Leigh Bardugo
Initially, this story started out a little confusing with some details sloppily included and unclear in their meaning. However, once you got into the story and past the back story, the story began to fold out clearly. Although I thought the story was sweet, I believed it to be moderately underdeveloped and rushed. Characters had minimal development, and the story panned out in jagged stagnated parts that didn't flow smoothly. I understand that the true story took place in each consecutive summer of Gracie's life, however I feel that Bardugo could have tried a little harder to make the tail (hahahaha get the pun?) flow better. Although character development remained a little weak, I did enjoy reading about Gracie's anxiety. Being someone who also deals with anxiety, I really related with the descriptions of Gracie's condition, ("hot knot of tension she always seemed to be carrying beneath her ribs..." (pg. 18)).
Star rating: 3/5 stars
Overall Ranking: 10th
Strengths: Relationship development, descriptions
Weaknesses: Poor character development, jagged plot structure
"The End of Love" by Nina Lacour
Star rating: 4/5 stars
Overall Ranking: 3rd
Strengths: Diction, plot development
Weaknesses: N/A
"Last Stand at the Cinegore" by Libba Bray
Star rating: 1.5/5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 12th
Strengths: Creativity, humor
Weaknesses: Fluid plot development
"Sick Pleasure" by Francesca Lia Block
Star rating: 4/5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 6th
Strengths: Beautiful diction, subtle moral
Weaknesses: Weird character name choice, weak relationship development
In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins
Star rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 2nd
Strengths: Character and relationship development
Weaknesses: Can she turn this into a book?
Souvenirs by Tim Federle
Star rating: 4/5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 5th
Strengths: Character development
Weaknesses: Unfinished metaphors and ideas
Inertia by Veronica Roth
Star rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 7th
Strengths: Relationship development, creativity
Weaknesses: Cliche ending
Love is the Last Resort by Jon Skovron
Star rating: 1.5/ 5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 11th
Strengths: Interesting Characters
Weaknesses: Weird writing style, unrealistic
Good Luck and Farewell by Brandy Colbert
Star rating: 4/5 Stars
Overall Raning: 4th
Strengths: In-depth plot and characters
Weaknesses: N/A
Brand New Attraction by Cassandra Clare
Star rating: 3.5/ 5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 9th
Strengths: Creative setting and interesting characters
Weaknesses: Weak relationship development
"A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong" by Jennifer E. Smith
Star rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 1st
Strengths: Highlighting character flaws and relationship development
Weaknesses: Character development
"The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" by Lev Grossman
Star rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Overall Ranking: 8th
Strengths: Character development
Weaknesses: Plot sort of slow
Top Three Favorite Quotes (in no particular order)
"Part of my soul detached and tried to follow A, but it slammed into the closed door like an alcoholic or a dazed, wounded animal and collapsed onto the ground," from Sick Pleasure by Francesca Lia Block
"I was more comfortable just watching antics like these, turning them into a myth in my mind, a legend. I watched life so that I could find the story inside it-- it helped me make sense of things," from Inertia by Veronica Roth
Last day of Booktube-A-Thon!!!!