Hey, BookTube, it's Sylwia! I'm here with another
wrap-up. So, I read Paper Towns and this
was actually kind of an experience for me.
Did it have adequate representation? One
of the main secondary characters is a
black male. Everybody else is white. Did it
perpetuate healthy ideals? You know what?
I'm going to say yes. A lot of
controversy behind John Green's writing
is that people argue that his writing is
the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope which
is a harmful trope. The Manic Pixie Dream
Girl trope is about the idea that women
are used as plot devices to help men
learn and grow.
John Green has openly said that his goal
in writing his books is to subvert that
trope, you know, turn it on its head and
show that: no! This woman has her own
stuff going on and you're being selfish
and you shouldn't be using women in that
way. I went into this book expecting the
worst because I've heard a lot of people
that I love- I love their reviews and I
cherish their opinions, I've heard them
trash this book so I really expected for
this to make me mad and I was really
surprised that I disagree and I think
John Green did a great job of showing
that women are their own people and, like, get it together.
Did it teach me
something or make me think? Yes it did
because I had to think a lot about
whether this was the trope once again or
if it was actually teaching something
positive. So, I thought a lot while
reading this book. What was the writing style
like? It was mostly accessible. There were
a few chunks where I got a little bored.
It wasn't consistently engaging but it
was engaging and it was readable. Are the
characters now my all-time favorites? I
wouldn't go that far. I really enjoyed
watching the characters come to life
through the movie so if you were
wondering if you should watch the movie,
I think the movie adds a little bit more
dimension to the secondary characters.
They felt very secondary here, whereas
they felt a little bit more full of life
in the film. Was the plot cleverly
written? I wouldn't say it was the most
clever thing in the world, but I do feel
like the message was shown and I
appreciated it and I especially loved the
ending.
Did I enjoy reading it? I would say so, mostly.
I gave this three out of five stars
because i have become very critical. I
think it might be four but let's say
right now it's a three. So if you've been
thinking about picking this up, I
actually think this was a smart book.
Then I got through the Hamiltome: Hamilton the
Revolution this is actually not narrated
by Lin Manuel Miranda. At the very, very
end of the audiobook, he reads the
little footnotes. That was a little
disappointing. I would have enjoyed
hearing this in his voice, but I
understand how he really couldn't read
this because it talks a lot about him so
that would be very strange for him to
complement himself so much. So, I think i
can only ask three questions for this.
Does it have adequate representation?
Yes.
Did it teach me something or make me
think? It did. It teaches you a little bit
about how Broadway works in a very vague,
minimal way/basic way, I guess. What was
the writing style like? I don't think I
could have ever gotten through this
without the audiobook. A little bit of it
dragged for me. It wasn't the best
non-fiction book ever read but it was
really good.
Did I enjoy reading it? Yes, for the most
part. I think I ended up giving it 4
stars.
Lastly, I finally DNFed The Left
Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
this morning, like an hour ago. Did it
have adequate representation? The only
enjoyable thing about this book is that
makes you think about gender because in
this science-fiction world, humans- well,
not humans, but I guess creature biology
is different. It makes you think about
gender and makes you think about the
social norms of gender on our own planet
but that's about all. Did it perpetuate
healthy ideals? I don't think it did
either thing. Did it teach me something
or make me think? Like I said, it makes
you think a little bit about gender but
that's all.
What was the writing style like?
COMPLETELY inaccessible, just so
incredibly difficult to read, it almost
reads like it's in a different language.
A lot of the time I didn't know what was
happening. There were a handful of scenes
where I felt like I knew what was
happening. There was one entire chapter
that was totally readable, i actually
just recommend that you read that
chapter, that's really the only
interesting take away from this book. Are
the characters now my all-time favorites?
No. Was the plot cleverly-written? I
didn't finish it so I don't really know
where the plot goes. Did I enjoy reading
it?
No. It put me in a terrible slump so I'm
dropping it. I'm so sorry. I just can't.
I dropped it at 165 pages. Come talk to me in the
comments! <3
