It has some flaws, but overall it's an interesting read
343092
I don't think this book is the best thing since peanut butter, but considering most of the schmaltz out there about AIDS, this is a fairly realistic and unsentimental novel (it reads like non-fiction, and in some ways it is) about taking care of people who are ill. One could make the argument that her tone can be condescending at times--home-health care aides aren't always entirely honest--but it didn't take away from my enjoyment. In fact, I read it in one day.
3768799
For a diehard baseball fan, this is a very interesting topic.  The author talked to hundreds of baseball insiders for perspectives and stories.  Overall, it's a good read and covers the topic well.  There are a handful of very intriguing stories and a few that make you laugh out loud.  The book suffers in a couple of ways.  First, the author doesn't do a good job of telling the reader about the relevant written rules of baseball (as opposed to his topic of the unwritten rules).  There were several instances where a short description of what the rulebook says would have been helpful.  Second, the book drags as times as the author seems compelled to recount 5 examples of a particular aspect of the game when two or three would do.

If you like baseball a lot, the book will be enjoyable, but not one of the best ever.
3523927
This post-apocalyptic fantasy was a little bit underbaked, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. (It helps to have a protagonist whose first act as queen is to storm in Daenerys-like, freeing a bunch of slaves and setting fire to their empty cages.) The book has its share of flaws -- especially in its pacing and worldbuilding -- but there's a certain charm to it that makes me want to read on and see if those flaws are addressed in the sequels.
3832450
Interesting but a little slow in places, but it kept me reading
164985
It was very interesting, but it could have better.
4269151
2.5 stars

This book had its strengths but it also had some major weaknesses. This review my be a little all over the place, because I have a lot of thoughts about this book. I hope the author takes it has constructive criticism because I do think there was potential.

First, kudos to the author for not shying away from some hard topics. She touched on some things that I had never read about in a novel before, and I applaud her for that.

Next, I thought Neil and Kari's relationship was cute. There relationship was believable for the most part. I can understand why Neil was so taken with Kari when they meet. Once we find out who he is, I think it must have been nice to meet someone who like him not his relationship. However, I thought there age difference was a little hard to swallow. She is 17, and he is 23. Later in life 6 years is not a huge difference, but when one person is 17, it's a ton. Also, I thought their relationship moved to quickly, especially considering what happened the last time Kari moved to quickly with a boy.

This brings me to my next point. The timeline in this book was weird. There would be times when I thought days or weeks had to have passed because of how much happened, but then Kari would say something about it happening early the same day or the day before. The timeline could have been stretched without adding any more events and the story line would have become much more believable.

Also, I spent the whole book under the impression that they were in a city in the Midwest. I know they talked about riding the subway, but they also talked about Chicago, and when Neil was talking about it, it was implied (at least to me) that it was only a few hours away. Add to that the fact that Kari's mom appeared to be a die-hard Bears fan and voila - Midwest. But then they talked about seeing an NYPD car and going through Manhattan and I realized they were in NYC. I was confused by that to say the least.

This book was a prime example of do not write the way you think/talk. I don't care that it was 1st person, the million exclamation points are not necessary. The reader should add their own emotion to the lines as they are reading. It is not necessary to do it for them. On the same note, this book read like an adult trying too hard to sound like a teenager. It read like the author learned how teens talk from watching teen dramas on TV. Not the most realistic.

I thought the plot wrapped up way to neatly and to quickly. All of a sudden, there was a confrontation and it was over. And *spoiler alert* I don't care what he did, your reaction to seeing someone shot is not "At least the f***er is dead." It just isn't. Plus, when Kari finally went to the police. They could have just gotten a search warrant for Eddie's computer, found the file then arrested him for statutory rape and creation of child pornography with the intent to distribute. She was 16 at the time. It would have upheld. Of course, this didn't happened because it didn't go along with the author's plans for the story line, but I think it's what should have happened.

And can I just say that the cover has nothing to do with the book?

Anyway, like I said, I liked the premise, and I liked the characters, but execution needed some serious work. I think sending this book to a professional editor would have taken care of a lot of these issues. They are things that you wouldn't change just doing a reread on your own.
4740581
A little convoluted in parts and too predicable, but still not a bad read
1948631
There were some questionable parts I wasn't fond of but overall I really enjoyed it.
4682592
American Nations offers a fun and interesting read on how this nation (or federation of nations) came to be.  It offers an important reminder that any attempt today to claim ownership of what the forefathers of this country wanted or intended are flawed or duplicitous: there simply was no true consensus across the peoples of colonial and revolutionary America on what this country was supposed to be and what its core values were supposed to be.  Rather there was a constant tug of war, with various regions occasionally emerging powerful enough to leave their marks on certain eras of our history.

The book is most interesting when exploring the formative years of each of the nations, and the dynamic of their interactions.  It becomes a bit duller as it approaches the modern era, and starts to feel like a generic political blog discussing the red v blue divide.  I also wasn't too impressed with Woodward's generalizations into private versus public Christianity, and some of his nations, most notably the Midlands, seem weakly defined.  Lastly, in the epilogue, Woodward begins to veer about arbitrarily, suddenly extolling the virtues of certain tribes in northern Canada.  It almost sounds like something a hipster would suddenly gush about in a coffee shop.

I'm a bit amused by the comments complaining about Woodward's harsh treatment of some of the nations, particular the deep South.  This is not a video game, in which the developers try to balance out each side's strengths and weaknesses to achieve parity.  And at the end of the day, we talking about the institution of slavery.  I'm not sure how you're supposed to put lipstick on that pig.  Lastly, I think some of those critics are forgetting how Woodward repeatedly reminds us of how insufferably moralistic and crusading Yankeedom was and is.

It's actually a somewhat cynical book, maybe depressing or even dangerous.  The implication from the thesis of the book is that the core belief system of each of the nations lives on today and continues to heavily shape our political discourse.  Thus we are doomed to wage the cultural war between the yankee nations and the southern nations into perpetuity, and objective progress is an illusion or a fleeting fluke.

The book left me wishing for more discussion of how the nations evolved into the current political environment.  Did a general diminishing of each of the individual nation's influence and power actually aid in the poisonous polarization today?  Haven't the divisions highlighted by the contrasting belief systems of the nations more or less been subsumed by the city versus rural divide?  I wish the Woodward had considered and discussed these points a bit more.

I don't want to give the wrong impression with my criticisms.  It was great refresher on American history, and I'd highly recommend it.  One more small complaint: the paperback version feels pretty cheap, physically.  The cover is flimsy and is already showing creases after one read through.
247029
Premise slightly convoluted, but overall a very good read
518051
Lots of things work in this book (see the four stars & other reviews) - however some really don't:

1. The two first persons are very alike in their style - it would have been more convincing if their "voices" were distinguishable
2. Lots and lots and lots of trauma - seem slightly overdone. I get the impression there's a competition in the angsty contemporary YA/NA books  to come up with the most horrendous situations (I raise your "rape and murder of mother in front of you" with "dead family and beaten to a pulp and future career plans ruined") which leads me to my third complaint:
3. lots of trauma - selected "outside" behaviour of the extremely traumatized kind - on the "inside" (described thoughts, interaction with the selected special few) completely rational - this contrast is jarring making the "traumatized parts" seem as add-ons for effect.
4. It's first person - so it can be excused with perceptions but some of the described behaviour of the surroundings seem less than likely (don't want to add spoilers but an example which isn't the worst but isn't too spoilery: if you have really close friends during vacations and on Sundays, why would they completely ignore you during school - because you asked them to? But why would you ask them to?)

So why the 4 stars? Because it's well-written (pet peeve: sometimes it's "you and me" not "you and I"), compelling, and I liked the characters.
2465875
The topic isn't everyone's cup of tea; but if you're interested in the topic, it's an good read.  For the most part the logic behind it  hangs together reasonably well.
1989944
The novel has a very interesting plot, but I feel the author never quite fully developed the possibilities, especially at the end.  It is one of those stories which runs fast and furious then slows; this tends to make the reading a bit uneven.  The unevenness of the pace is not particularly bad, just a bit annoying because I could get excited and then have to say why did it slow down?.  The characters are generally well developed and one can get very involved with them.  I liked the novel and will probably reread it at some future time.  All in all, it is a good read.
3656856
Writing on my Forehead was an enjoyable book, but it has some problems.  I really enjoyed the unfolding of family history, and the really relatable characters. Saira, Big Nanima, Mohsin, both of her grandfathers, all had incredible stories to tell and I read most of this book in one evening.

The book is primarily about American-born Desi, Saira, and her relationships with her family.  She uncovers her family history bit by bit, initially when she travels to Pakistan for a family wedding, and then again when staying with her father's relatives in London.  She's a bit of a rebel, defying her parents to act in the school play, turning down marriage proposals to attend college in Berkeley and have affairs.  She takes after her aunt Big Nanima, a social activist who studied teaching in London so that she could return to Pakistan to teach young women literature, and never married but lived independently all of her days.  It is another perspective on women in Pakistan, one that most Westerners do not get.  Even the traditional women portrayed in the book - the faithful wives and obedient daughters - have a strength of will that some people might find unexpected in what appears to be a male-dominated culture from the outside.  This book is a view both onto that traditional culture as well as into American culture.

One theme was about Saira as a budding journalist, about learning to Bear Witness from her cousin Mohsin, the photographer, and from her paternal grandfather, who worked alongside Gandhi for a free India.  I would have liked to read more about Saira's life as a journalist, but the book never really got into that.  Most of the book occurred before her life as a journalist, and the rest occurred afterwards.
However, about 80% through the book, the story jumps, far into the future, a series of events unfolds quickly - almost too quickly - almost too pat - and plot twists reveal secrets.  It's entertaining in its own way, but it somehow seems to lose the theme of the book.  Saira's actions didn't make sense, even when they were explained by the book's final twist.

So, while I enjoyed this book very much, it was disjointed enough that it has flaws - and it's can't be a prizewinner.  And I'm sad about that because the book has a lot of potential.  Many books and movies suffer from this problem - the problem of endings.  It is forgivable as long as the ending doesn't destroy the contents of what you've read, and if you enjoyed the journey.  I did.  I would still recommend it as a book for reading pleasure.

I should note that for me, a 3 star is a good rating.  It means a book is enjoyable.  Four stars is for an especially favorite  book, one I would re-read.  Five stars is for a classic, an absolute work of literature that will stand the test of time.  In the past, I would give 5 stars to any book I liked, but now that I am reviewing for Amazon Vine, I decided to have a more fair rating system that could distinguish between Good, Very Good, and Great.
2007056
This is an interesting and frightening story that I knew nothing about prior to reading it.  It gave me quite the education.

The book's flaws are that Grann has some flaws as a writer.  His style is too often breezy, peppered with silly rhetorical flourishes, and he writes sometimes like a mind reader, purporting to tell us the private thoughts of people who died 90 years ago.
4007186
With three primary protagonists and several minor ones, this book encompasses quite a bit.  For the most part I did enjoy it, but there were times where I was thinking, "OK, this is a little too much."  For example, there is one protagonist that has everything bad possible happen to him, and I mean EVERYthing.  And then there are multiple situations or "coincidences" that occur in order to make it all fit together that are simply too over the top to be believable.  I do believe that our lives are interconnected, but I feel Mr. Snyder took this philosophy a little too far for a real solid, believable read.
4081227
I know there are a lot of "pros" or folks that claim to be that say this book is not so great, but for those of us who are definitely not "pros" it's interesting, I've learned a few things and pretty fun to read too..