Hello guys! Happy Monday!
I work night shift today, so althought I do have to work, I get to sleep in and spent most of my day at home!
I'm starting the week for Mark This Book Monday with a tough read and a wonderful book all rolled into one, one I cannot recommend enough for everyone to read and then stop and think.
This is one book that will be better if read with someone, and that's why I'm so happy I was doing a buddy read for it with the very awesome Becca of Pivot Book Reviews and Pivot Book Totes! You can read her review of the book HERE.
I got approved for it by Harlequin Teen that are usually wonderful to me like that via NetGalley! As an ARC it is part of my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and also my ARC August challenge!
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was one tough book to read, at least the first third of the book was extremely heartbreaking to read. But, this is one of those books that I think everyone needs to read, we all need a reminder about what the perpetuated lies and standards of "us vs them" really are.
This a great example that if we are looking for diverse reads they are out there, this is historical fiction set in more modern times, of the long and very tough journey of integration.
The story is told from two points of view: Sara, the black girl that is for the first time enrolling into an all white school; and Linda, the white girl whose father is the main opposer of integration and equality in their town, and the more vocal, given that he runs the local paper.
The book starts with Sarah's POV, and there was a point I wasn't sure I could continue reading. The amount of hate and humiliating stuff they go through was upseting, saddening, maddening and made my blood boil. I was feeling as anxious and my heart rate got higher with the tension and anxiety that Sarah went through. Really amazing how the narrative made me feel so much!
Then we switch to Linda's POV and we see things from her side, and lil by lil see her thinking for herself and finding out that maybe those beliefs she thought she had weren't so right or as strong as she thought they were. It was a fantastic example of how reality differs from theory and how when "them" as an abstract entity becomes a real human being in front of you, the differences are not so big.
This book is mainly about the differences or lack thereof about being black or white, but then adds yet another layer and it can be just about being different in a way that society as a whole, or a chunk of society seems to disapprove of, for no other reason than being different, fear and hate just turning it into an " us vs. them" fight once again.
Hope and finding the right way to live life the way you want to, making sure you don't have to hurt others but not letting them making your choices for you would be the very positive message by the end of the book. So be warned but not be discouraged at all, this is a must read of a book! 4 to 5 stars for this one, I can't seem to be able to pick a rating for it!
View all my reviews
I work night shift today, so althought I do have to work, I get to sleep in and spent most of my day at home!
I'm starting the week for Mark This Book Monday with a tough read and a wonderful book all rolled into one, one I cannot recommend enough for everyone to read and then stop and think.
This is one book that will be better if read with someone, and that's why I'm so happy I was doing a buddy read for it with the very awesome Becca of Pivot Book Reviews and Pivot Book Totes! You can read her review of the book HERE.
I got approved for it by Harlequin Teen that are usually wonderful to me like that via NetGalley! As an ARC it is part of my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and also my ARC August challenge!
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin TalleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was one tough book to read, at least the first third of the book was extremely heartbreaking to read. But, this is one of those books that I think everyone needs to read, we all need a reminder about what the perpetuated lies and standards of "us vs them" really are.
This a great example that if we are looking for diverse reads they are out there, this is historical fiction set in more modern times, of the long and very tough journey of integration.
The story is told from two points of view: Sara, the black girl that is for the first time enrolling into an all white school; and Linda, the white girl whose father is the main opposer of integration and equality in their town, and the more vocal, given that he runs the local paper.
The book starts with Sarah's POV, and there was a point I wasn't sure I could continue reading. The amount of hate and humiliating stuff they go through was upseting, saddening, maddening and made my blood boil. I was feeling as anxious and my heart rate got higher with the tension and anxiety that Sarah went through. Really amazing how the narrative made me feel so much!
Then we switch to Linda's POV and we see things from her side, and lil by lil see her thinking for herself and finding out that maybe those beliefs she thought she had weren't so right or as strong as she thought they were. It was a fantastic example of how reality differs from theory and how when "them" as an abstract entity becomes a real human being in front of you, the differences are not so big.
This book is mainly about the differences or lack thereof about being black or white, but then adds yet another layer and it can be just about being different in a way that society as a whole, or a chunk of society seems to disapprove of, for no other reason than being different, fear and hate just turning it into an " us vs. them" fight once again.
Hope and finding the right way to live life the way you want to, making sure you don't have to hurt others but not letting them making your choices for you would be the very positive message by the end of the book. So be warned but not be discouraged at all, this is a must read of a book! 4 to 5 stars for this one, I can't seem to be able to pick a rating for it!
View all my reviews
