Travis_J_Smith – Page 14 – Cannonball Read 17

Cannonball!

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

August 3, 2022 by Travis_J_Smith 5 Comments

Including avoiding Solitaire altogether! Unless you want to take what seems like a lovable side-character from the Heartstopper series and completely ruin her for yourself like I did. That is the only thing I can say with certainty that this book accomplished, and I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. To Oseman’s credit, she was 17 when she wrote this, and it was her first published book. I know I wouldn’t want the novel I wrote at 17 distributed for everybody to read. Trust me, mine […]

It’s no Heartstopper

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

July 31, 2022 by Travis_J_Smith Leave a Comment

I read the barebones ebook, so no added illustrations, which is why I say the characters of Nick and Charlie should be kept to graphic novels only. They lose so much of their luster without the adorable illustrations. That and limiting herself to fewer words in the graphic novels helps, I feel, as it focuses things a lot better. In Nick and Charlie, it feels like the quality of the writing fades in and out, like one moment it’s on par with Solitaire (which she […]

Now I have to wait a whole ‘nother year!?

Heartstopper, Volume 4 by Alice Oseman

July 30, 2022 by Travis_J_Smith Leave a Comment

Well, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, and Oseman to finally dive headfirst into the more serious matters she’d been dancing around. However, I don’t know that I expected it to go this far. That’s not a bad thing. I appreciate that Oseman didn’t aim to give readers some twee, PG version of these things. That would’ve been a disservice to the characters, their story, and the subject matter. Nick, Charlie, and everyone around them are in the absolute trenches in volume four. At the […]

“So she’s a mystic autistic?”

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

July 30, 2022 by Travis_J_Smith 5 Comments

That title is the question my fiancee posed to me when I ranted to her about this book. Honestly, I’d say she’s not necessarily wrong. Although Willow is never confirmed to be autistic, probably in large part due to her family situation being so everchanging and her school counselor being an abject failure, she clearly is, and the book seems to just be her, through some voodoo magic, causing drastic shifts in the lives of everybody she comes into contact with. Like she just exists […]

Yes, yes, we see what you did there…

Loveless by Alice Oseman

July 27, 2022 by Travis_J_Smith 7 Comments

Given the author, I was expecting this to fall somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum, going so far as to ask my fiancee which character(s) on the dust jacket she thought would be on it, but I must say I was surprised to find out where exactly on that spectrum our main character Georgia wound up falling. I knew almost instantly where Oseman was going with it, from the moment Georgia was repulsed by the people kissing around the fire, but naturally it took over half […]

Now I’m starting to see the differences…

Heartstopper, Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

Heartstopper, Volume 3 by Alice Oseman

July 27, 2022 by Travis_J_Smith Leave a Comment

Heartstopper really is just a warm hug of a series. Even when I know where things are going already, having seen the television show already, I’m not about to turn down that comforting, familiar squeeze. Volume two continues the trend of having most of the same beats as the show, but gone is a lot of what the show added in to heighten the drama. Basically, it’s fewer anxious moments and a faster happy ending, which I see nothing wrong with. Perhaps some of those […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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