Aminah Mae Safi
Autore di Tell Me How You Really Feel
Opere di Aminah Mae Safi
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Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Sesso
- female
- Nazionalità
- USA
- Agente
- Lauren MacLeod
Utenti
Recensioni
3,7 stars
I'm usually a big fan of the hate to love trope. I get that misunderstandings are pretty much the backbone of said trope, but there's an art to executing it without it being annoying or plain stupid. A pretty big thing on the list is that the main characters need to be likeable, at least to an extent. If you want to have a character be a bit of an asshole, then at least make her a loveable asshole. Effectively, when I'm reading a romance, I need to be able to actually root for the couple.
What I liked:
- Both Sana and Rachel's families. They had their flaws, but they were there, and they loved the girls.
- I thoroughly enjoyed the cultural representation. As a pasty white atheist Finn, I have no idea how accurate it is, but I love that it's there.
- I loved Sana as a character. Sure, she acted like a dick to her parents (what teenager doesn't?) but other than that she was sweet and kind and doing her best to struggle under the pressures placed on her.
- Diesel was the ultimate bro in the best way possible.
- The ending wherethe girls got together while still both pursuing their respective dreams
What I disliked:
- Rachel. I get she was supposed to have a character arc from an insufferable shedevil to a redeemed love interest, but I just didn't get there. I still have no idea what Sana saw in a girl who was never anything but rude and dismissive toward her. And yeah, Rachel has baggage, but who the hell doesn't? Being insecure is no excuse to treat other people like shit.
- The conflict. I hate when the conflict in a romance is effectively nothing but miscommunication. If the main conflict could have been resolved with people being honest and having a ten minute conversation, then that's just the author being lazy.
If I reviewed this book as a romance, this would be closer to a two star read. However, if I pretend the romance didn't happen, we get to the 3,7 stars, which I'll round up simply for mathematical reasons.… (altro)
I'm usually a big fan of the hate to love trope. I get that misunderstandings are pretty much the backbone of said trope, but there's an art to executing it without it being annoying or plain stupid. A pretty big thing on the list is that the main characters need to be likeable, at least to an extent. If you want to have a character be a bit of an asshole, then at least make her a loveable asshole. Effectively, when I'm reading a romance, I need to be able to actually root for the couple.
What I liked:
- Both Sana and Rachel's families. They had their flaws, but they were there, and they loved the girls.
- I thoroughly enjoyed the cultural representation. As a pasty white atheist Finn, I have no idea how accurate it is, but I love that it's there.
- I loved Sana as a character. Sure, she acted like a dick to her parents (what teenager doesn't?) but other than that she was sweet and kind and doing her best to struggle under the pressures placed on her.
- Diesel was the ultimate bro in the best way possible.
- The ending where
What I disliked:
- Rachel. I get she was supposed to have a character arc from an insufferable shedevil to a redeemed love interest, but I just didn't get there. I still have no idea what Sana saw in a girl who was never anything but rude and dismissive toward her. And yeah, Rachel has baggage, but who the hell doesn't? Being insecure is no excuse to treat other people like shit.
- The conflict. I hate when the conflict in a romance is effectively nothing but miscommunication. If the main conflict could have been resolved with people being honest and having a ten minute conversation, then that's just the author being lazy.
If I reviewed this book as a romance, this would be closer to a two star read. However, if I pretend the romance didn't happen, we get to the 3,7 stars, which I'll round up simply for mathematical reasons.… (altro)
(2.5)
Tell Me How You Feel is a perfectly fine book, there’s nothing actively wrong with it but I never became engaged with the relationship and the leads. The book takes place over the course of a month so their relationship felt rushed and very insta-lovey. Overall a middling read that would have been better if more time had been taken to develop their relationship.
Tell Me How You Feel is a perfectly fine book, there’s nothing actively wrong with it but I never became engaged with the relationship and the leads. The book takes place over the course of a month so their relationship felt rushed and very insta-lovey. Overall a middling read that would have been better if more time had been taken to develop their relationship.
This was a four-star book most of the way, but eventually the little annoyances piled up high enough to knock one star out of place.
1) Many of the chapter titles are contemporary song lyrics, sometimes with unfunny puns, that rarely match the tone of the story, including "Oo-de-lally" and "A Pox on the Phony King of England" from Disney's Robin Hood for, respectively, a tense nighttime escape and the introduction of a vengeful queen (who doesn't actually question Richard's claim to the English throne); "The Boys are Back Inn Town" when seeking lodgings in an unfamiliar caravansarai; "Electric Feel" for ~romance~; "Take Met Out" ("...to the Ball Game"?) for a chapter in which Yusef/Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi/Saladin contemplates Richard's military moves; and even, lord help us, "Wonder Wall" during the climactic approach to Jerusalem which, we are informed, does not actually have walls. Why the heck didn't the editor say this was a bad idea? These titles catapulted me out of whatever mood/momentum I had, and since the chapters are often short, especially as the action ratchets up at the end, it happened a lot.
2) The overly simplistic good guys vs. bad guys of the traditional stories. If we're going to remix anything in this series, can't it include old-timey morals? I was also a little bit irked that our chief villain was Queen Isabella, a woman (cool) with basically no nuance in her character (not so cool).
3) I'm not asking for a comprehensive summary of the Third Crusade (there is a timeline in the back), but the occasional chapter in which it's revealed that there was a complete reversal of fortune in the war that had no effect whatsoever on the main story was kind of...weird.
4) For the love of all that his holy, why must every. single. one. of our "merry band of misfits" (phrase used repeatedly) be paired off romantically? Is it not possible that two of them might like each other as friends but not as potential life partners?
As with A Clash of Steel, you need to approach Travelers Along the Way being quite generous with the source material. As in Nottingham, there are no archery tournaments (and again, the idea is mocked), though unlike that book, Travelers Along the Way more than dishes up the action and adventure you're probably seeking if you're reading a retelling of Robin Hood--so I doubt you'll be disappointed in that quarter. But there's no equivalent of the Sheriff of Nottingham and few of the merry band of misfits align with characters from Robin Hood. I think Teni is Little John, since she's big and fights at a bridge, but there's an actual knight named John who's also big; and Teni's horse is named "Red", so I mentally substituted Red for Will Scarlett and found that amusing; but Viva, John, and Majid don't clearly line up with anyone. I was particularly sad not to see an equivalent to Friar Tuck, but I guess if we had an aspiring priest we'd lose out on being able to pair every. single. one. of the merry band of misfits off romantically.
Okay, last complaints, I promise: First, I desperately wanted a map; second, why the heck is Rahma's cloak on the front of the book red? Her whole thing is that she's Rahma of the Green Hood!
Quick summary:
Rahma followed her older sister, Zeena, to the Crusades from somewhere between the Tigras and the Euphrates, possibly near Baghdad; the latter wanted to avoid the inevitable fate of marriage, the former wanted keep her safe from danger and, well herself. Zeena has a fiery temper and tendency to pick fights; Rahma is cunning and clever; they bicker a lot, but they do love each other.
As Travelers Along the Way opens, they've been ordered to save themselves from a siege gone south--but Zeena is determined to follow the fight to Jerusalem. As the sisters make their way, they meet up with their merry band of misfits: Teni, a Mongolian woman warrior who found the open road more interesting than a diplomatic mission to Rum/Byzantium; Viva, an alchemist obsessed with recreating Greek Fire and the last surviving member of her Jewish family, introduced in a scene painfully ripped off from A Knight's Tale; Majid, an old childhood friend (and therefore, of course, new flame) of Rahma's, now a spy in Queen Isabella's court for his disreputable but influential family; and John, a would-be Templar who's so interested in healing others that he reads and admires the work of ancient and foreign scholars.
The six certainly get up to some fun hijinks: stealing the queen's prize horse, robbing first a bunch of Templars and then the queen's caravan, rescuing boyfriendo from execution, escaping the queen's fortress, and negotiating lasting peace in the Middle East. You probably know how that last one really worked out...
Rahma's story is first-person, but we also get third-person asides from Queen Isabella, who's constantly enraged that she's being denied Queendom of Jerusalem on the political chessboard and equally infuriated that a thief has stolen her abused horse (which doesn't quite seem the equivalent) and robbed her of both wealth and secret treasure (now I'd understand the wrath); and from Richard and Yusef (seriously, we're just calling the great Saladin "Yusef"?) reflecting on massive battles and political machinations that all just seem so rushed and remote.
Rahma speaks often of how the war has negatively impacted the people of the land, but the war doesn't really make much of an impact on her journey. No one she meets talks of having lost a loved one, a few refugees are given a passing glance, locals still seem to have what they need to make their living without having been looted, there are no ruined stretches of land filled with the trash of armies on the move... These Crusades feel almost as distant as they did back in England's Sherwood Forest.
But again, as with A Clash of Steel, there is still enough fun to be had with Travelers Along the Way to make this a worthwhile read. I loved the variety to be found in the merry band of misfits, which could have felt forced but didn't, and most of their adventures are cleverly thought out (though Rahma's last escape was total deus ex machina, I was so annoyed by the chapter titles at that point that the annoyance rolled together).
Ugh, I need to stop being negative. This was fun. Fun, fun, fun. Just don't come expecting any nuance.… (altro)
1) Many of the chapter titles are contemporary song lyrics, sometimes with unfunny puns, that rarely match the tone of the story, including "Oo-de-lally" and "A Pox on the Phony King of England" from Disney's Robin Hood for, respectively, a tense nighttime escape and the introduction of a vengeful queen (who doesn't actually question Richard's claim to the English throne); "The Boys are Back Inn Town" when seeking lodgings in an unfamiliar caravansarai; "Electric Feel" for ~romance~; "Take Met Out" ("...to the Ball Game"?) for a chapter in which Yusef/Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi/Saladin contemplates Richard's military moves; and even, lord help us, "Wonder Wall" during the climactic approach to Jerusalem which, we are informed, does not actually have walls. Why the heck didn't the editor say this was a bad idea? These titles catapulted me out of whatever mood/momentum I had, and since the chapters are often short, especially as the action ratchets up at the end, it happened a lot.
2) The overly simplistic good guys vs. bad guys of the traditional stories. If we're going to remix anything in this series, can't it include old-timey morals? I was also a little bit irked that our chief villain was Queen Isabella, a woman (cool) with basically no nuance in her character (not so cool).
3) I'm not asking for a comprehensive summary of the Third Crusade (there is a timeline in the back), but the occasional chapter in which it's revealed that there was a complete reversal of fortune in the war that had no effect whatsoever on the main story was kind of...weird.
4) For the love of all that his holy, why must every. single. one. of our "merry band of misfits" (phrase used repeatedly) be paired off romantically? Is it not possible that two of them might like each other as friends but not as potential life partners?
As with A Clash of Steel, you need to approach Travelers Along the Way being quite generous with the source material. As in Nottingham, there are no archery tournaments (and again, the idea is mocked), though unlike that book, Travelers Along the Way more than dishes up the action and adventure you're probably seeking if you're reading a retelling of Robin Hood--so I doubt you'll be disappointed in that quarter. But there's no equivalent of the Sheriff of Nottingham and few of the merry band of misfits align with characters from Robin Hood. I think Teni is Little John, since she's big and fights at a bridge, but there's an actual knight named John who's also big; and Teni's horse is named "Red", so I mentally substituted Red for Will Scarlett and found that amusing; but Viva, John, and Majid don't clearly line up with anyone. I was particularly sad not to see an equivalent to Friar Tuck, but I guess if we had an aspiring priest we'd lose out on being able to pair every. single. one. of the merry band of misfits off romantically.
Okay, last complaints, I promise: First, I desperately wanted a map; second, why the heck is Rahma's cloak on the front of the book red? Her whole thing is that she's Rahma of the Green Hood!
Quick summary:
Rahma followed her older sister, Zeena, to the Crusades from somewhere between the Tigras and the Euphrates, possibly near Baghdad; the latter wanted to avoid the inevitable fate of marriage, the former wanted keep her safe from danger and, well herself. Zeena has a fiery temper and tendency to pick fights; Rahma is cunning and clever; they bicker a lot, but they do love each other.
As Travelers Along the Way opens, they've been ordered to save themselves from a siege gone south--but Zeena is determined to follow the fight to Jerusalem. As the sisters make their way, they meet up with their merry band of misfits: Teni, a Mongolian woman warrior who found the open road more interesting than a diplomatic mission to Rum/Byzantium; Viva, an alchemist obsessed with recreating Greek Fire and the last surviving member of her Jewish family, introduced in a scene painfully ripped off from A Knight's Tale; Majid, an old childhood friend (and therefore, of course, new flame) of Rahma's, now a spy in Queen Isabella's court for his disreputable but influential family; and John, a would-be Templar who's so interested in healing others that he reads and admires the work of ancient and foreign scholars.
The six certainly get up to some fun hijinks: stealing the queen's prize horse, robbing first a bunch of Templars and then the queen's caravan, rescuing boyfriendo from execution, escaping the queen's fortress, and negotiating lasting peace in the Middle East. You probably know how that last one really worked out...
Rahma's story is first-person, but we also get third-person asides from Queen Isabella, who's constantly enraged that she's being denied Queendom of Jerusalem on the political chessboard and equally infuriated that a thief has stolen her abused horse (which doesn't quite seem the equivalent) and robbed her of both wealth and secret treasure (now I'd understand the wrath); and from Richard and Yusef (seriously, we're just calling the great Saladin "Yusef"?) reflecting on massive battles and political machinations that all just seem so rushed and remote.
Rahma speaks often of how the war has negatively impacted the people of the land, but the war doesn't really make much of an impact on her journey. No one she meets talks of having lost a loved one, a few refugees are given a passing glance, locals still seem to have what they need to make their living without having been looted, there are no ruined stretches of land filled with the trash of armies on the move... These Crusades feel almost as distant as they did back in England's Sherwood Forest.
But again, as with A Clash of Steel, there is still enough fun to be had with Travelers Along the Way to make this a worthwhile read. I loved the variety to be found in the merry band of misfits, which could have felt forced but didn't, and most of their adventures are cleverly thought out (though Rahma's last escape was total deus ex machina, I was so annoyed by the chapter titles at that point that the annoyance rolled together).
Ugh, I need to stop being negative. This was fun. Fun, fun, fun. Just don't come expecting any nuance.… (altro)
Liste
Premi e riconoscimenti
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Statistiche
- Opere
- 5
- Opere correlate
- 2
- Utenti
- 556
- Popolarità
- #44,900
- Voto
- 3.6
- Recensioni
- 26
- ISBN
- 25
TW:
Well after a slow start the characters grew on me and I ended up enjoying this novel. The story itself is not remarkable, and judging by other reviews, not new. Readers should know this is mostly about the characters and given the book takes place over 24 hours we learn a lot about the three main women. Amazingly I did not find any of them annoying. They were completely relatable young adults struggling to make sense of the world and how they fit in. I loved the dynamics between them and particularly enjoyed their interactions with one of the quirky customers. Some parts of the ending were a bit cliche but why not right! Nothing wrong with throwing in a few 'happy ending tropes' that even had me smiling and feeling hopeful. Also, really amazing rep.… (altro)