Exposing myself: sharing some of the first reviews I ever wrote

I don’t know how most people get into writing book reviews, but I was introduced to it by my high school librarian. I have always loved reading, but it never occurred to me that there might be an online book community. I was part of the book group in high school that went to the library once a week during lunch to discuss the books we were reading and sometimes got free ARCs from the librarian.

Our librarian wanted to take us to the ALA conference and get us into the feedback sessions for the Teens’ Top 10. But she wanted evidence that we were good readers, so she encouraged us to make Goodreads account and she allowed us to write book reviews that she posted on the library’s website. I read a lot of books, so I wrote a lot of reviews. I was going back through some of them recently and found that…they were not great. My writing skills have vastly improved over the years. But I thought it would be really fun to share a few of them, just for you to get an idea of what teenage Delaney was writing about books. So read on for some potentially cringe-worthy reviews!

Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman

My review: Thunderhead is the sequel to Schusterman’s Scythe, and it is well matched. While sequels can often fall flat, Thunderhead exceeded expectations. He did a great amount of even further world building in this book, this time allowing the reader into the mind of the thunderhead and it’s experiences. Schusterman has somehow made this disembodied, elevated version of the cloud a likable character, which is a feat withing itself. Thunderhead creates a new, interesting story that is an excellent continuation of Scythe while not at all being a repeat of the first book. There is extreme character development in Citra and Rowan, as well as the new character, Grayson. I also extremely enjoyed the relationship building such as between Citra and Scythe Curie. Schusterman is a master of building character while weaving an intricate and interesting story. The book is both suspenseful and beautiful while never being confusing for the reader to follow. The twists to the story were interesting and well-prepared, but never felt forced. I laughed and cried by the time this book was over, and I love and detest the ending, which is how you truly know when a book is amazing. I cannot emphasize enough how well-written and well thought-out this book was. I would recommend this book to anyone, regardless of their favorite genre.

My commentary now: this is the first review that I posted to the library blog. I am surprised that this one is not too bad; I suppose I put some thought into it since it was first. It could have used some editing to reduce redundancies, and it isn’t very specific, but I guess I was trying to not be overly long or give spoilers. B+

The Traitor’s Kiss by Erin Beaty

My review: Not to be dramatic, but I would die for Sage Fowler. What an awesome character. She is a strong and smart woman in a world where that is rejected, but still manages to find her place while never having to surrender any of her freedom. She finds love, and despite being repeatedly describes as “wild” finding love is not about finding a man to “tame” her, but she finds a man who completely accepts who she is and understands that she is going to do things that aren’t “ladylike.” And despite being this strong, smart woman, she is still a beautifully flawed character who makes mistakes but also proudly states that she wants to make the mistakes herself, not have them made for her. Truly feminism in medieval times done right. Besides this, the plot of the book is incredibly intriguing. Filled with political intrigue and intricate plotting. It is not an action-packed book one would normally expect from a book in this time period, but it still keeps you on your toes along with the twists and turns of the plot. It was incredibly interesting and kept me involved the whole way. The book made me think, while I was also able to enjoy the lively characters, as well as the swoon-worthy romance. I only have two legitimate complaints. The first is that I wish there had been slightly more explicit world building. It took me a while before I was able to understand the countries, regions, and the politics surrounding them. The other involves a spoiler. One of the only casualties of the book is that of the younger brother. Why the death had to be a child, I don’t know. I suppose so it would have a personal effect on the main character, but that would still be present if one of his men had died. Not to mention, the book did not proceed long after that, so the effects of the death were not widely seen as changing or having an effect on the character’s personality or performance of his job. The only instance to show this would be if there were to be a sequel. Which I have to say, I would not be opposed to. A sequel that takes place a few years later around where their wedding would be, that leads to Sage assisting Alex strategically against another enemy would be something I would definitely read. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a book that provided both hearty plot and romance.

My commentary now: Well, I was definitely thinking about someone reading my review, I was clearly trying to make it funny and interesting. Some of the things I say in this review simply don’t make sense: “it is not an action-packed book one would normally expect from a book in this time period.” I guess I meant I would expect a medieval historical fiction book to be more dry, but I also don’t know why. However I stand by the fact that the worldbuilding was confusing, with lots of names just thrown at the reader that I certainly couldn’t keep straight. I can tell that I struggled with something I still struggle with: writing a review of a book I love and actually articulating why I loved it. But I can give credit to my younger self for also critiquing the book to give a balanced review. B-

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

My review: I have very mixed feelings about this book. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, I really did. I liked the author’s tone and writing style, I liked the magical element, and I really liked the plot. I just question whether it could have been shorter. The book is 532 pages. Sometimes, a book needs that much, but I didn’t feel like the extreme length was necessary. I found the first 100 pages extremely difficult to get in to. It was a lot of exposition about Lazlo’s early life that did not need to be fleshed out as much as it was, as it did not hold much relevance to the plot, only his character. Lazlo was often treated poorly because of his status as a foundling child, which makes sense, and is an important piece of his character and his interactions with others, but it took 82 pages to set up his life before he even left for weep. Even if you read at a page per minute, that is over an hour it takes of basic exposition before he even begins his journey. Then we are finally introduced to the second protagonist, Sarai, who also has a great deal of exposition involved with her character. And while this world building is necessary, and mostly interesting, it felt like something I had to slog through. We learn early on that Sarai has magical powers of some sort, but it takes 60 pages before this is revealed. The time span was too long and instead of achieving the author’s purpose of building suspense, it just made me irritated. After about 200 pages, the story picks up, but it felt like a long time to wait. Then I got to the end, and was waiting for the climax. Half of he big reveal of the climax, I had already deduced about 300 pages ago, so it did not give me the same satisfaction of the climax that would have occurred if I hadn’t already predicted it. While the majority of this is negative, I did still enjoy the story. I really liked both of the main characters, as well as some of the minor ones. The world of weep was intriguing and mystical. I would recommend if you are interested in the world building portion of fantasy and lots of vivid descriptions of the environment, or a star crossed romance. Do not expect action or suspense though.

My commentary now: this review reveals two things about my reading tastes that I clearly hadn’t quite figured out yet: I do not like worldbuilding and I do not like slow stories. To be fair, these days I am more patient with things which are slow-paced, but there is a good reason I don’t usually read fantasy. We also see a prime example of the fact that I felt really bad about writing negative reviews. I constantly feel the need to qualify that “I actually liked it!” throughout all my critique. How I will critique this review now: there are more concise ways to say that the worldbuilding is tediously slow. I ranted the entire time about a single thing. C

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

My review: This book is so amazing simply because it is so realistic. Many of the thoughts and insecurities Molly has are things that I can relate to. Let’s be real, being a teenager is really hard no matter what. So many of the things Molly worries about are universal. She is scared of growing apart from her family, whom she loves. She really wants to fall in love, and feels like she is behind society’s standards for having a boyfriend, because she is seventeen and never kissed anyone, while her peers casually talk about sex. So many of her struggles are universally relatable, which makes her a great character that you are able to feel for. If you can’t relate to Molly as much, chances are you are able to relate to her twin sister, Cassie. The most important part of this book is by far the realistic familial relationships portrayed. They are a close family that loves each other, but they also come with their quirks. And just because they love each other doesn’t mean they don’t fight, it just means that they work through the issues together and overcome them, while still understanding that they will fight again, and may drift apart in the future, but it will be okay. Becky Albertalli made me feel things and think about stronger topics without even realizing what was happening because the story was so engrossing, and she seamlessly combines her themes into the narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading a book with representation and romance, including fans of Rainbow Rowell and Julie Murphy.

My commentary now: it’s so cute how I say things are “universal” and then just list things that I related to and which are not, necessarily, universal. However, it was relatable to me and I think that was the important part. When I started writing reviews, I felt like I was trying to sell the books to everyone, rather than just helping books find the right readers. I don’t need to explain why “everyone” might or should like it, just what I did and did not like. Like all of these, I tend to be pretty vague about how the book made me thing or what topics it dove into. But unlike some of the others, it does at least reflect my true feelings about the book, which is that I loved it. B

I have to say, I was prepared for all of these to be horribly cringe-inducing, and while they aren’t works of art, they aren’t actually that bad either. Could they have used some editing? Absolutely. Was the writing pretty basic? Definitely. But also I was a teenager writing book reviews for fun. So I have to give myself a little grace. There are plenty more where that came from, so let me know in the comments if this is something you would like to see again!

When did you start writing book reviews? Do you have anyone to thank for getting you into it? When was the last time you went back and read an old review? Let me know in the comments below!