So this book inspired a new blog category: bleh. Meh is for books that are irritating but don't really raise my ire. Bleh is for books that I am actively feeling irritated about.
Last weekend we saw a sneak preview of the movie version of this book. It was completely awesome. I loved that the characters were real, belieavable, fully fleshed humans. They were not stereotypes or cariactures. Even when they were angry at each other you could tell that this family loved each other. I could keep praising the movie (it's hilarious, the music is amazing, it made me miss my roller skate obstacle course days with Katie, etc).
So after seeing the movie for the second time this weekend I saw the book and thought it would be a fun read. Especially when I realized that the author was also the screenwriter for the movie. I was wrong. In the book Bliss is incredibly unlikable. Shes whiney, self-righteous, and just plain annoying. The book is full of obnoxious asides and I just felt like Bliss was icky. I wasn't rooting for her at all. In the movie I loved that she found a place she fit it in doing something she loved and found a way to have good relationships with her family and best friend too.
In the book the ending is really rushed feeling and I just didn't buy it. I'm really glad I hadn't read the book before seeing the movie because it would have kept me from seeing it and I LOVE the movie.
I've been having a hard time getting into any books lately for some reason. Knock'em Dead was a cute, though crass at times, mystery. It was an interesting story and the characters were well done. Even though I wasn't in love with it I would definitely read another Rhonda Pollero book sometime. On the other end, there is Tempest Rising with its horrific cover art. I had read some really good reviews and the fact that the main character is a mermaid made me willing to overlook the cover. Apparently I will go against my better judgment for the promise of a good mermaid story. And I tried really hard to like the story but just couldn't. It was really painful reading & I just wasn't into it. So I need to get out of my slump somehow, especially if I'm going to reach my goal of 365 books this year.
