Review: The Telling by Alexandra Sirowy

Title: The Telling

Author: Alexandra Sirowy

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publishing Date: August 2nd, 2016

Pages: 400
Audio Length: 11 Hours and 59 Minutes

Genre: YA Mystery Thriller
TW: Murder

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio 

 

Lana used to know what was real. That was before, when her life was small and quiet. Her golden stepbrother, Ben was alive. She could only dream about bonfiring with the populars. Their wooded island home was idyllic, she could tell truth from lies, and Ben's childhood stories were firmly in her imagination.
Then came after.
After has Lana boldly kissing her crush, jumping into the water from too high up, living with nerve and mischief. But after also has horrors, deaths that only make sense in fairy tales, and terrors from a past Lana thought long forgotten: love, blood, and murder.

I have been dreading writing this review. I read it a month and a half ago and just didn't know what to write. Now I didn't know what to write and I didn't remember as much about the book as I should have. Oops.

I had originally picked this book up because of the cover and of course I really love anything that's horror or thriller or mystery. So I thought it sounded like a good read. 

This is another one of those books that we requested and it never got reviewed, so I decided to read and review it... 



The cover is honestly one of the best part of this book. I love the underwater and the colors. I do not like the bright red or the beads. I understand they're part of the story, but I feel like they're super out of place. 



I loved the idea of this story. I wanted this to be a crazy scary mystery thriller. It sounded like it would have been. I wanted a good mystery I could sink my claws into. And just... no...

It ended up being way weird, and not at all thrilling. I ended up figuring out the "big gasp" pretty quickly, so that was disappointing. 

*Spoiler*
The relationship was sooo incestuous. It was gross and I felt really awkward reading it. It made me so uncomfortable. 
I feel like the author could have gone another way than what she did. I understand they're only step siblings, but when you're step siblings with someone that long they're basically you're family at that point. 
*End spoiler* 



I felt like especially for a mystery thriller this book was incredibly slow. I like some slow burning mystery thrillers, but this just felt like it took forever to read. I just kept waiting for it to be done so I could go on to the next book. 

I just felt like the pace could have picked up a lot quicker, or had a better build so that the anticipation could have hit harder. Some of the best things about horror movies is the build up. 



It was just flat. I haven't read any other books by this author, but if they're anything like this I'm not going to care for it much. I didn't care for the characters, there was no character development. The story didn't drive it. It just felt flat and like it was trying too hard. 



Well I felt like the characters were all pretty flat. I couldn't connect with any of them, I didn't like any of them, I didn't care what happened to them. I would have liked to have strong feelings towards them one way or the other. Died, lived, kidnapped, whatever, I just didn't care much.  

I couldn't at all picture where they were, or even what was really happening. I don't like books with a lot of over descriptions, but I felt like this one didn't have enough. 



As I said above I had the big WOW figured out, so the ending was kind of weird and predictable. So it was just a bit meh.



The narrator did the best she could. She brought a little bit of life to this book.



Quite a disappointment. I was really hoping for more and it just fell really flat. 

“The good and bad are indistinguishable in the dark.”
― Alexandra Sirowy, The Telling

Alexandra Sirowy was born and raised in Northern California. She has a graduate degree in International Studies and loves to eat, laugh, travel, read, and go on adventures. She's the author of the YA thrillers THE CREEPING, the Bram Stoker award shortlisted THE TELLING, and her latest, FIRST WE WERE IV. She lives in California with her husband and daughter. Visit her at alexandrasirowy.com.

I Read That Movie: Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

I  read that movie is a feature where we compare movies or TV series, and the books they're based on.

Title: Five Feet Apart

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publishing Date: November 20th, 2018 

Pages: 288

Length of Audio: 6 Hours and 51 Minutes

Genre:  YA Contemporary 

Series:  Standalone

Source: Audio

  

In this moving story two teens fall in love with just one minor complication—they can’t get within five feet of each other without risking their lives.
Can you love someone you can never touch?
Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.
The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.
Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.
What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too? 

Mini review:

What made me read this book: 
I saw the preview for the movie. I didn't even know it existed prior to that. 

What did I like the most: 
I love Will. I just want to say that. I am in love with Will. I really liked Stella too, surprisingly. 
I feel like this was a really well written romance. Especially since the two MC's can't touch each other. It really shows how you can fall in love without having to be physical. 
This book gave me feels. It was a bit slow at first, but it didn't take long for me to not want to stop reading. 
Anyway. It gave me all the feels. I felt hope for the two of them, heartbreak because... well I can't tell you why. It'll ruin the book. 
I wanted Will and Stella to be together. I wanted them to have their innocent love. 
I keep going back and forth between 4 stars and 5 stars. If you look at my goodreads it's 4 stars... no 5 stars... no 4 stars.
I think it's more 4.5 stars.

What didn't I like: 
I do feel like this was too short at times. It felt a bit rushed and I would have loved to see more interaction between Stella and Will (Not physical, obviously) But I wanted to know them better. Especially Will. 
And as I said it was slow at the beginning, but it picked up pretty quickly. 

Release Date: March 15th, 2019

Cast: Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Moises Arias
Length: 1 Hour and 56 Minutes

Series: Standalone

A pair of teenagers with cystic fibrosis meet in a hospital and fall in love, though their disease means they must avoid close physical contact.

Mini Review:
At first I was doubtful of this movie. I didn't think I would love it. Just like the book it took a bit for me to get into this movie. It took a bit for me to love the characters. 

Let's compare:

Did I see the movie or read the book first?
I read the book first. But only because I wanted to see the movie.

Like the movie or the book better?
I honestly can't pick. I loved them both equally. I do feel like I felt more with the movie. I cried a lot more that's for sure.

How does it compare?

This movie is one of the best book to movie adaptations I've seen. They really didn't change much at all, and the emotions that went with the book definitely also went into the movie. 

Do the actors match the characters in the book?
YES I could not have picked better actors! Especially Will. I absolutely LOVE Cole Sprouse. Ugh my heart.

Major differences?
THE ENDING. If you've read the book you'll understand. And really, it isn't a big deal. It's something I was really looking forward to, but doesn't change the story any.

Fun Facts?

The balloons Stella uses for Will's birthday are purple. Purple is the official color of CF patients.