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review 2018-01-20 17:25
Review of "No One Lives Twice No One Lives Twice" (Lexi Carmichael #1) - Julie Moffett
No One Lives Twice No One Lives Twice - Julie Moffett

This reader's personal opinion, ©2018, all rights reserved, not to be quoted, clipped or used in any way by goodreads, Google Play, amazon.com or other commercial booksellers* 

 

Well, this stayed unexpectedly action-packed start to finish so was fun (particularly when turning to the James Bond international espionage drawing in MI-6, CIA, FBI, NSA...).

 

I enjoyed the read.

 

Not sure it's what I'd consider Young Adult.  Lots of romantic possibilities with yummy men (not what I'd consider a love triangle, thank goodness -- but definitely a PG or less explicitness so maybe that accounts for the "YA"?  Lexi is an independent adult with degree, steady job, own home, not a teenager, not a 18-24 college student or new adult, not in any academy type of setting -- pretty much not seeing where this is YA.

 

Which is a good thing; YA is a love/hate for me with many great books but far more angst-y, clueless, high school-ish, and loveg ringlets.

 

Read for the booklikes' YA Book Club; I think it may have been just me unless someone has yet to join in or post.


*©2018.  All rights reserved except permission is granted to author or publisher (except Penumbra Publishing) to reprint/quote in whole or in part. I may also have cross-posted on The Reading Room, Libib, LibraryThing, and other sites including retailers like kobo and Barnes and Noble. Posting on any site does not grant that site permission to share with any third parties or indicate release of copyright.  

 

Ratings scale used in absence of a booklikes suggested rating scale:

★★★★★ = All Time Favorite 
★★★★½ = Extraordinary Book. Really Loved It.
★★★★☆ = Loved It.
★★★½☆ = Really Liked.
★★★☆☆ = Liked.
★★½☆☆ = Liked parts; parts only okay. Would read more by author.
★★☆☆☆ = Average.   Okay. 
★½☆☆☆ = Disliked or meh? but kept reading in hopes would improve.
★☆☆☆☆ = Loathed It. Possibly DNF and a torturous read.
½☆☆☆☆ = So vile was a DNF or should have been. Cannot imagine anyone liking.  (Might also be just an "uploaded" word spew or collection that should not be dignified by calling itself a "published book." If author is going batshit crazy in the blogosphere over reviews -- I now know why they are getting bad reviews.  Or maybe author should take remedial classes for language written in until basic concepts like using sentences sink in. Is author even old enough to sign a publishing contract or do they need a legal guardian to sign for them?)

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text 2018-01-11 22:57
Reading progress: 31%.
No One Lives Twice No One Lives Twice - Julie Moffett

Hmmm…nothing seems to faze her.Not sure I like that (I mean you are held at gun point several times, your home is broken into several times including when you are home, stuff tossed about ... and you go to bed without even changing sheets?).

 

On the other hand, I wouldn't want to be reading endless whining about it.

 

I certainly don't like that a co-worker she is definitely not interested in (and has told him so) only gives her a safe ride after she promises a tongue kiss ... WTF?  

 

Lots of potential romantic interests have been tossed in (not a love triangle or anything yet).  

 

I want the more collected chick from the beginning of book back.  Not this unfazed one potentially letting the dudes walk all over her; one confident in her own skills instead of self-deprecating them in comparison with all the new guys that have shown up in the story.

 

Reading for a booklikes book club -- YA Book Club. 

 

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text 2018-01-11 02:42
Reading progress: 8%.
No One Lives Twice No One Lives Twice - Julie Moffett

Enjoying this; probably because so far I like Lexi.  

 

Getting a Romancing the Stone vibe.  Well, not a jewel or a romance yet; just something about the atmosphere with everyone after the "papers" BF supposedly sent her.  

 

I really, really hope this isn't headed to an ending where it was all a setup by BF to get her to have adventure and romance instead of living life in the cube farm.  I'm deliberately avoiding reviews until after I finish book to avoid spoilers.

 

 

Reading for a booklikes book club -- YA Book Club. 

 

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text 2018-01-11 01:49
Reading progress: 2%.
No One Lives Twice No One Lives Twice - Julie Moffett

So far — in a good way — this is not coming across as YA.  Possibly because Lexi is turning 25, has college degree, a not- new job, and a roommate-less apartment.

 

Reading for a booklikes book club -- YA Book Club. 

 

I can relate to the "shoulder surfing" comment.  It's always irritating when uninvited, but at least she's civil service at a time where government offices are non-smoking (*bad flashbacks* to tiny offices and cubicles with already poor ventilation where the shoulder surfers chain-smoked and often made snickering comments about needing a brain straw to get in my head ...)

 

 

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review 2014-01-06 03:21
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
Snow Country - Yasunari Kawabata,Edward G. Seidensticker

What an intriguing read! I read this for the GoodReads <i>International Reads</i> book club I am a part of and I am quite glad this was the book that was chosen for the month of December (yeah, I know I am late with this review shhhhhh!). I found this book to be very thought-provoking and beautifully written. The themes are not one a person may be able to grab at first glance. That's why, before reading this book, I recommend you put in some time into researching this book and then coming back to <i>Snow Country</i>. An article I highly recommend reading is from  <a href="http://japaneseliterature.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/snow-country/">Contemporary Japanese Literature</a>, a site that takes various Japanese works and analyzes them/reviews them. They did a wonderful job in explaining a lot of the meaning and hidden messages that were throughout the book in great detail. It definitely helps the reader to better understand what Kawabata was trying to convey in his work.

Yasunari Kawabata has a very interesting style when it comes to story-telling. I will not mention his actual "writing style" as this is a translated work and, therefore, will not be fair of me to rate. However, his manner of telling a story is beautiful in its own right. He incorporated beautiful imagery and astounding descriptions of Japan's scenery that take your breath away. Literally. The amount of depth he goes into in his own analysis of human behavior is a curious and interesting view. He goes on to question  what it means to waste one's own life for something that isn't necessarily important to one person but can mean the world to another. I really did find myself questioning the same things as I read the book. The one thing I could not truly appreciate about Kawabata's story was how he jumped around from one scene to the other with little warning. I understand that is his way of writing something and that it is very common in a book that is, basically, haiku-esque. However, I felt it to be a bit jarring and it took me out of the reading experience multiple times because I had to backtrack and figure out that we were in an entirely different area than we were previously. It's not a huge problem but it did appear often enough to distract from the main plot.

Kawabata's characters were one of the most interesting aspects of the book. None of them are likable except for maybe... one. But that's the point! You are not meant to like them! They are flawed. They are broken. They will be their own demise! All that coincides with the theme of the book. Humans are flawed. We go after things we cannot have and ultimately make ourselves miserable. Shimamura, main character, is always bored with his life no matter how good he has it. He has all this money and he knows not how to make himself happy because he detaches himself from reality. He conjures up these fantasies about his life and the people around him that when he finally gets to have that one person, he sees that they are not what he imagines. They, too, are flawed. This is why he and Komako's relationship is doomed from the start! He sees her one way and she is not like that. The same thing could be said about Komako. She wants to change him. She wants him to care more. To be more like how she wants him to be. And he can't. He is a detestable man with selfish needs and an uncaring heart. He is unable to fully commit himself to just one person because that is not who he is. Komako is no better. She lowers herself to him, drinks herself to sleep on most nights, and doesn't know when to let go of something that is not good for her. She is the perfect example of someone who puts up with abuse because she believes she doesn't deserve any better. And perhaps she doesn't... that is for the reader to decide.

One character that might be "likable" is Yoko. She is another girl that Shimamura is pining after. She might seem "likable" because of how little we know about her. She, throughout the most part, shows how polite and humble she is. But that's usually portrayed as a front. The way that Shimamura, in his mind, conjured her to be. However, there's a part in the book where he has a conversation with her and she says a few things that someone who is "pure" and "innocent" should not say. Like running away with a man who is married, has kids, and a mistress on top of that (I told you Shimamura is a very detestable man... the pig). What is Kawabata trying to say here? That nothing and no one is truly perfect. The ending perfectly reiterates that and drives it home to the reader that the relationships between these two characters (Shimamura and Komako) will never work out, their separation inevitable.

This truly was a very beautiful book filled with imagery and poetry, making this a read for many to enjoy. I recommend you to read this book at least once in your life. It has complex human emotions, beautifully written imagery, and thought-provoking scenarios. There are times when it feels like the transitions from one scene to the next are too abrupt but it's just a minor drawback. Read it for the simplistic beauty that is human relationships. Not for the characters or their selfishness, but for the study of their interactions. I think it should be quite the experience.

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