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Finding Harry Styles
gb hope
314 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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July 11, 2021
I went into this thinking that either the author was aware of how silly the concept is and was writing a comedy or that they would make something so inept that it was funny. Neither happened, this book is terrible in an uninteresting way. It feels more lazy than inept. I only read like 30% and that was too much.
October 16, 2014
I keep coming back to this review because I’m unhappy with what I’ve written. I have sugar-coated my actual response to this book in an effort to ‘keep the peace.’ I just don’t feel like I can leave my review as is because I’m lying about this book. That being said, I am re-writing my review, again. I’m going to stay true to my original feelings concerning this book. If that bothers anyone I’m sorry. You are entitled to your opinion just as I am entitled to mine.
That being said, I did not finish this book (stopped at 65%). I’ll get to that later.
Before the book even starts we get a “bibliography” of all the characters in the story. From the synopsis I was expecting maybe 3 main characters. The two guys and the girl they are looking for. Maybe one or two incidental characters along the way. Instead I get a list of 27 characters. I kind of skimmed past this, hoping it was just characters and not POVs. I was wrong. There are actually more than 27 names dropped into this book. There are people introduced for no purpose other than to tell us they committed suicide.
This book’s prologue starts out dark and gritty and interesting. I was actually curious and intrigued. I thought that maybe the book I picked out to be ‘okay’ might actually surprise me. There are a lot of descriptions and the writing truly sets the mood, even if I’m completely confused by what is happening.
Also the cover of the book drew me in. I was intrigued by the color scheme and the fact that there weren’t words screaming at me on the cover.
*There may or may not be spoilers to follow. You have been warned.*
The book starts out with a group wandering through a deserted area. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t completely confused by what was going on. There are abandoned cars and dead bodies and a group of girls who killed themselves presumably because Justin Bieber is dead.
I was more or less invested at this point. The prose was descriptive and detailed. There were characters who had obviously gone through a lot and I wanted to know where they were going and how they were getting there and why on earth were there so many dead bodies and abandoned cars.
Then I got to chapter one and all the intriguing prose was gone. I got a newspaper article about people who were dead or killed themselves or whatever. It was boring. I had no reason to connect to these people.
When I finally do meet a character, Liam, I find out that he’s leaving a cruise ship with a bunch of other people who apparently have no survival skills just because he’s annoyed that their boat doesn’t have any power. My initial reaction is what? Why would you leave a ship? My second reaction is why did the ship personnel let him (them) leave? Then I just gave up because it’s fiction and I’m supposed to suspend my logical thoughts. One of the girls who left the ship with Liam is Sabrina, from Jakarta, Indonesia, and she reminds us of that at least five more times.
Let me show you the worst of the offenders.
“Where are you from, Sabrina?”
“Jakarta, Indonesia.”
“Oh, really?”
While he was in that position he looked back at the drifting liner…
…
“Where did you say you were from?”
“Jakarta.”
Allison gave that some thought then dropped the topic.
…
He asked her where Jakarta actually was, and she explained that it was on the north coast of the island of Java.
“Near Australia,” she said, seeing his blank expression.
“Ah, I’m with you now. Have you been on cruise liners long?”
“No, that was my first contract. My family are going to be so disappointed.”
“No, they don’t. And if this is happening over there as well,” He realized he shouldn’t have said that. “they’ll just want you to get home.”
“Thank you for watching out for me.”
-Okay, so to be fair, this actually had a bit of a purpose, but really, it’s just filler.
…
“Tell me about Jakarta.”
She suddenly stopped walking, distressed. “We will be able to find where we left Julius?”
…
“Young lady,” he said to Sabrina, “where are you from?”
“Jakarta. Well, Depok, in Jakarta.”
“I’ve been there. In about 2005. Well, extraordinary to see you here.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
Next we get to meet Michael, who is a chauvinistic pig. He’s in the States because his girlfriend is interviewing for an au pair position. Instead of sticking around for his girlfriend he takes off to Connecticut to have sex with some woman he met online. Michael also wants you to know he works out and has an erection when he wakes up. Michael also thinks that women should cook food for him and sleep with him. I have yet to see if he sees any other purpose for women. Michael also steals a bike.
Next characters are Dave and Lulu Springsteen (who are American, and with a name like that how could they not be American?). They are the couple who are interviewing Charlie (Michael’s girlfriend and Liam’s sister). She’s running late and Dave is upset. Lulu apparently likes Charlie’s pure nineteen year old skin (this is invasion of the body-snatchers creepy). Then the power goes out.
Next is Taylor Harrison (yes like the American President because she’s also American). She works at a Country Club. She’s convinced the owner (although we don’t know he’s the owner at the time) is a part of an organized crime ring because he’s apparently overly polite and spends too much time at the Club compared to normal businessmen. Taylor is a vapid teenager who doesn’t care that a bride’s wedding day was completely ruined and that her boss is freaking out trying to keep everything together. She lists off a bunch on names of fellow co-workers, none of whom really matter aside from her friend Kacie. Taylor spends most of the book eating food and doing the simplest of chores, because she’s still being paid but can’t be bothered to actually do anything that resembles work.
Another lazy loser is Steven Ziegler. He’s a security guard at a hoity-toity housing community. He’s more fascinated with his Kindle Fire HD than actually being a security guard. He’s also the owner of a submachine gun. He’s a real winner. His fingers are apparently too beefy for him to text and instead of helping people or trying to figure out why they power went out he just sits in his security booth puzzled. Until her breaks into someone’s house because the power’s out and they’re not home. Eventually he teams up with a bunch of rich people and they have more or less a block party and eat lots of food.
At some point Charlie has joined up with the Springsteens and Jonathan, who works for them or in their building, I don’t know. Charlie introduces her obsession with One Direction, which is fine, it’s the point of the book, I think. I guess. I don’t even know.
The story continues and Michael ends up stealing from a store and having his bike stolen. All I have to say is sweet karma I’m so glad you didn’t let me down. He also meets Molly and they steal bikes and then get run over by a horse and buggy. True story. Molly dies. Michael does not. I’m upset about this.
Liam and his group are apparently riding on the horse and cart that ran over Michael (if that’s not true then that is what I was lead to believe, so whatever) and they are riding with two other men and two other women. We get this whole description of how Liam thinks they’re couples and then they’re not and then everyone from Latvia is insulted with this conversation between one of the Latvian men and Allison (the whiney Englishwoman traveling with Liam):
“You English?” asked the man.
“Yes, I am,” Allison responded in a condescending tone.
“I was in England last year.”
“Were you really? Did you enter the country illegally?”
For the first time, Liam was mildly amused by Allison Davies.
“Sorry?” asked the foreign man. “I from Latvia. I in Lincolnshire, picking potatoes.”
“Fascinating,” said Allison, with a nod to emphasise her sarcasm.
-The conversation continues but I think it’s clear that Allison has a bit of a problem with foreigners, which is funny considering she’s a foreigner right now.
We meet a few more characters and we only get to find out their nationality if it’s something interesting, like Filipino. And apparently some girl named Danielle who can say she’s four different nationalities. I guess I’m confused by this because most people are not one specific nationality, especially in America, you know, the Melting Pot. And unless you go back multiple generations most people are actually from America. But, whatever, I’m just arguing a pointless argument. But maybe it’s important for us to know about Danielle’s ethnicity because she’s nearly raped. But she gets away, which, I’m kind of surprised to hear, considering everything else concerning women in this book. And of course Danielle is obsessed with 1D as well and has the exact same tattoo as Harry. And stars annoy her.
Liam’s group gets to Boston, to find it more or less on fire, or completely charred, which really shouldn’t be surprising. And they more or less ride right into gunfire. They basically have to run or die, so they run.
Meanwhile the Country Club people are acting more like they’re at summer camp. They’ve been eating gourmet meals, playing softball and going on walks. Probably playing golf as well.
Michael ends up killing someone who threatened him, even though he was the one trespassing. I can’t blame him, it’s a fight or flight response, what I can blame him for is trying to justify his actions and saying there was nothing else for him to do. And he steals her gun, which is actually a good idea, but ugh. I can’t stand Michael.
Liam’s group decides to go camping, which is probably the smartest idea they’ve had and of course the girls only carry one item because they’re delicate or worthless or wimpy, I don’t know. They stop for the night and Sabrina has a breakdown because she’s scared and of course Liam’s there to protect her. I seriously with they’d just get together so we can’t stop hearing about Liam’s naughty thoughts and secret glances at Sabrina. Their group is confronted the next day and Julius dies. And Liam basically has this to say: ‘She was his now and it was down to him to protect her.’ While I get the idea I don’t appreciate the fact that this girl is being treated as property. She doesn’t belong to anyone. UGH.
The Springsteens and Charlie arrive in Long Island at the mansion, which just happens to be where scuzzy security guard Ziegler is and they are reunited with their children. Yay. They meet other people in the ‘enclave’ and we find out that Mr. Ivanovic has more or less become dictator over the group.
Then we go back to Michael and we get to meet all of his ex-girlfriends and we find out he’s pretty much a man whore because he really doesn’t tell us anything about any of these girls. He ends up meeting with the Army and they give him a ration pack and tell him good luck.
Liam and co steal rations from a BMW showroom and then take a nap. And of course Sabrina sleeps with her head in Liam’s lap. That probably gave him some more naughty thoughts.
This is where I get confused. We are at the Country Club and Ferguson is giving a speech and Taylor blocks him out and all of the sudden we’re talking about Lulu and Charlie and I have no idea how they are connected to the Country Club because they are all secluded in a house in their snobby neighborhood eating food cooked on an outdoor grill. And then we are completely enveloped in the world of the Springsteens and Charlie. WHAT???
Then we get my feminist hackles up with an exchange between Ivanovic and Danielle. He more or less comes on to her, and actually kisses her, and she just stands there looking like an idiot. She slaps him after he said he expected to be slapped. Danielle justifies not slapping him at first because they’re not living in normal times. Apparently when the power goes out it means women have no right. Great. Thanks. Then when Ivanovic says she doesn’t have to hold back because of the way things are. NO. NO. NO.
Liam and co find some guy on a boat who agrees to take them to New York but he decides to go rescue his wife first. They get mad, but before that Liam finally kisses Sabrina but he makes sure not to go too far because of her cultural beliefs. I’m kind of shocked this is here, I’m impressed actually. Then I’m not impressed because Liam takes a running long jump over the boundaries.
Then Michael ends up stealing a bunch of cell phones and shooting them in the forest, which is convenient because he’s able to thwart an assassination on Ferguson’s life and he gets roped into this bizarre Country Club life and I’m seriously done with this book. I have no idea why I’m still reading it. I’m only 50% of the way through this book. I’m just tired of all the convenient situations.
I’m seriously starting to question the common sense of people in this book. At one point a cruise is compared to the Titanic. We all know the Titanic sunk, right? So, why this: ‘You could stand on the stern rail and imagine you were on the Titanic.’
There’s also this: ‘Sabrina was becoming more and more clingy towards Liam, something which he decided he quite liked.’ Women do not need men to be complete. Women can be independent and strong.
And this is where I lost all respect for this book and anything contained in this book. Charlie is talking to Mrs. Grainger, who used to be an author and she more or less attacks readers who dare to dislike her writing. Let me quote directly from the book. (I will be editing the swear words because my reviews are ‘clean.’)
‘Charlie was surprised. “You wrote novels? Wow. What kind of novels?”
“Oh, erotica, dear.”
“What?”
“Yes. And here’s another good thing to come out of all this – no more total a**holes posting one star reviews on my books. And some who moan at me and they haven’t even finished the copy they were reading. I’m so happy those f**kwits have thrown themselves off a bridge. I mean, if you don’t like something, just forget it, just go away, go back to your f**king knitting, or something. Why do they feel the need to say “it just didn’t work for me”? Really, please, who gives a sh*t for their dumb-a** opinion?”
-Well, let me answer that question for you, dear Mrs. Grainger. We rate books at one-star because they didn’t hold up to their hype. When I see a book that has a 4.00 or higher rating on a review site I know that one of two things has happened, either the book is amazing or people aren’t giving honest reviews, so I check out the book. I take a chance because I would hate to miss such an amazing literary masterpiece.
I finish that book, or I don’t because I don’t enjoy it and then I go online and I tell people why the book didn’t work for me, because it’s my right as a reader to give my opinion, just as it’s your right as an author to write what you want to write. I can appreciate the effort and time it took to write a novel, but that doesn’t mean I have to praise it up one side and down another. Especially when I was greatly offended by said book.
As a reader I have a right to put down the book and say, ‘nope, done’ because I hate the book. This is called life. There is no way in the world that EVERY SINGLE LIVING HUMAN BEING is going to love your novel. It is not statistically possible. If, as an author, you can’t handle that, maybe you, Mrs. Grainger, should stop writing for the world and go back to writing for your friends. And stop yelling at young girls who just wanted to know what you wrote. Goodness, you’re an adult, you should grow up an act like one. Take a negative review as a learning experience and grow from it. It’s called criticism and it’s part of being an adult. So, you, dear Mrs. Grainger have caused me to put this book down at 65%. You were the straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak.
The Complete Lack of Concern for Human Life:
Liam and Sabrina are talking about how they wish they had a time machine after making yet another pop culture reference to the movie The Time Machine and Sabrina thinks she wants to go back to see when President Kennedy was shot. Liam thinks that great, or to have been in New York during 9/11. Sabrina wants to take her dad to see D-Day. Liam thinks that’s sweet. I think that’s morbid. What is wrong with these two? Let’s go back and relive some of the greatest tragedies in the last century. Awesome. Let’s also go watch the Holocaust gas chamber murders or the Rwandan genocide. I mean, honestly, let’s forget the fact that people died, it would be fascinating. Or, hey, forget that, Liam just wants to go back to the night he lost his virginity, so he could do it ‘better’ this time around.
Then lets make a tasteless reference to 9/11 again. ‘Liam, yawning but refreshed, felt he was experiencing what it must have been like to go through 9/11, unable to tell the time of day as the sunshine was blotted out, not by dust, but by smoke.’
-Really? Do you really think that was what people were thinking about? That the sun was blocked out with dust? I’m pretty sure most of New York was living in fear that another plane might crash into the city. Or they might have even been worried about loved ones who were unaccounted for. Seriously, Liam, grow up.
Racism:
‘Danielle had tried to talk to the woman called Pam, but there was no real interest from her in making friends. The fact that the woman was black disturbed Danielle –it was like there was a slave on the property.’ NO. OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS NO.
The Overwhelming Misogyny:
“I’m Jane, sir.”
“Yes, yes, but before the world got screwed up. What’s your full name? What brought you here?”
--
All three females were dressed exactly like the waitresses from the day before, in white blouses, tied with a black belt and the sexy socks over the knees. (We apparently can’t wash pants around the Country Club)
--
“Will you be requiring company this evening, sir?”
He looked at Taylor. “Sorry? What?”
“Company, sir. Female companionship.”
He stared aghast at Taylor. (For the first time I have found respect for Michael.)
--
Buzzword Counts:
Gun(s): 53(not counting the specific kinds of guns such as Uzi, submachine, etc.)
Harry Styles: 21
Dead: 27
Kill: 16
Power: 33
I don’t want to search for all the swearing in the book, but it was more than I care for. I understand that it’s a way of life for some people but it just seemed like it was thrown in at times for shock appeal.
The formatting of this book is whacky. You have
to get used
to reading sentences like this.
And it makes no sense.
Because then there will be full paragraphs written perfectly. It bugged
me.
A lot.
The story was also littered with pop culture references that only seemed to be thrown in to either compare them to this story or to talk about some stupid point in the original context.
I was extremely disappointed in this book, especially after reading the prologue, but I am so insulted by this book that I don’t care how it ends.
Thank you for your patience as I rambled a bit, but I just needed to get my true feelings out so I could stop feeling guilty about this review.
That being said, I did not finish this book (stopped at 65%). I’ll get to that later.
Before the book even starts we get a “bibliography” of all the characters in the story. From the synopsis I was expecting maybe 3 main characters. The two guys and the girl they are looking for. Maybe one or two incidental characters along the way. Instead I get a list of 27 characters. I kind of skimmed past this, hoping it was just characters and not POVs. I was wrong. There are actually more than 27 names dropped into this book. There are people introduced for no purpose other than to tell us they committed suicide.
This book’s prologue starts out dark and gritty and interesting. I was actually curious and intrigued. I thought that maybe the book I picked out to be ‘okay’ might actually surprise me. There are a lot of descriptions and the writing truly sets the mood, even if I’m completely confused by what is happening.
Also the cover of the book drew me in. I was intrigued by the color scheme and the fact that there weren’t words screaming at me on the cover.
*There may or may not be spoilers to follow. You have been warned.*
The book starts out with a group wandering through a deserted area. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t completely confused by what was going on. There are abandoned cars and dead bodies and a group of girls who killed themselves presumably because Justin Bieber is dead.
I was more or less invested at this point. The prose was descriptive and detailed. There were characters who had obviously gone through a lot and I wanted to know where they were going and how they were getting there and why on earth were there so many dead bodies and abandoned cars.
Then I got to chapter one and all the intriguing prose was gone. I got a newspaper article about people who were dead or killed themselves or whatever. It was boring. I had no reason to connect to these people.
When I finally do meet a character, Liam, I find out that he’s leaving a cruise ship with a bunch of other people who apparently have no survival skills just because he’s annoyed that their boat doesn’t have any power. My initial reaction is what? Why would you leave a ship? My second reaction is why did the ship personnel let him (them) leave? Then I just gave up because it’s fiction and I’m supposed to suspend my logical thoughts. One of the girls who left the ship with Liam is Sabrina, from Jakarta, Indonesia, and she reminds us of that at least five more times.
Let me show you the worst of the offenders.
“Where are you from, Sabrina?”
“Jakarta, Indonesia.”
“Oh, really?”
While he was in that position he looked back at the drifting liner…
…
“Where did you say you were from?”
“Jakarta.”
Allison gave that some thought then dropped the topic.
…
He asked her where Jakarta actually was, and she explained that it was on the north coast of the island of Java.
“Near Australia,” she said, seeing his blank expression.
“Ah, I’m with you now. Have you been on cruise liners long?”
“No, that was my first contract. My family are going to be so disappointed.”
“No, they don’t. And if this is happening over there as well,” He realized he shouldn’t have said that. “they’ll just want you to get home.”
“Thank you for watching out for me.”
-Okay, so to be fair, this actually had a bit of a purpose, but really, it’s just filler.
…
“Tell me about Jakarta.”
She suddenly stopped walking, distressed. “We will be able to find where we left Julius?”
…
“Young lady,” he said to Sabrina, “where are you from?”
“Jakarta. Well, Depok, in Jakarta.”
“I’ve been there. In about 2005. Well, extraordinary to see you here.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
Next we get to meet Michael, who is a chauvinistic pig. He’s in the States because his girlfriend is interviewing for an au pair position. Instead of sticking around for his girlfriend he takes off to Connecticut to have sex with some woman he met online. Michael also wants you to know he works out and has an erection when he wakes up. Michael also thinks that women should cook food for him and sleep with him. I have yet to see if he sees any other purpose for women. Michael also steals a bike.
Next characters are Dave and Lulu Springsteen (who are American, and with a name like that how could they not be American?). They are the couple who are interviewing Charlie (Michael’s girlfriend and Liam’s sister). She’s running late and Dave is upset. Lulu apparently likes Charlie’s pure nineteen year old skin (this is invasion of the body-snatchers creepy). Then the power goes out.
Next is Taylor Harrison (yes like the American President because she’s also American). She works at a Country Club. She’s convinced the owner (although we don’t know he’s the owner at the time) is a part of an organized crime ring because he’s apparently overly polite and spends too much time at the Club compared to normal businessmen. Taylor is a vapid teenager who doesn’t care that a bride’s wedding day was completely ruined and that her boss is freaking out trying to keep everything together. She lists off a bunch on names of fellow co-workers, none of whom really matter aside from her friend Kacie. Taylor spends most of the book eating food and doing the simplest of chores, because she’s still being paid but can’t be bothered to actually do anything that resembles work.
Another lazy loser is Steven Ziegler. He’s a security guard at a hoity-toity housing community. He’s more fascinated with his Kindle Fire HD than actually being a security guard. He’s also the owner of a submachine gun. He’s a real winner. His fingers are apparently too beefy for him to text and instead of helping people or trying to figure out why they power went out he just sits in his security booth puzzled. Until her breaks into someone’s house because the power’s out and they’re not home. Eventually he teams up with a bunch of rich people and they have more or less a block party and eat lots of food.
At some point Charlie has joined up with the Springsteens and Jonathan, who works for them or in their building, I don’t know. Charlie introduces her obsession with One Direction, which is fine, it’s the point of the book, I think. I guess. I don’t even know.
The story continues and Michael ends up stealing from a store and having his bike stolen. All I have to say is sweet karma I’m so glad you didn’t let me down. He also meets Molly and they steal bikes and then get run over by a horse and buggy. True story. Molly dies. Michael does not. I’m upset about this.
Liam and his group are apparently riding on the horse and cart that ran over Michael (if that’s not true then that is what I was lead to believe, so whatever) and they are riding with two other men and two other women. We get this whole description of how Liam thinks they’re couples and then they’re not and then everyone from Latvia is insulted with this conversation between one of the Latvian men and Allison (the whiney Englishwoman traveling with Liam):
“You English?” asked the man.
“Yes, I am,” Allison responded in a condescending tone.
“I was in England last year.”
“Were you really? Did you enter the country illegally?”
For the first time, Liam was mildly amused by Allison Davies.
“Sorry?” asked the foreign man. “I from Latvia. I in Lincolnshire, picking potatoes.”
“Fascinating,” said Allison, with a nod to emphasise her sarcasm.
-The conversation continues but I think it’s clear that Allison has a bit of a problem with foreigners, which is funny considering she’s a foreigner right now.
We meet a few more characters and we only get to find out their nationality if it’s something interesting, like Filipino. And apparently some girl named Danielle who can say she’s four different nationalities. I guess I’m confused by this because most people are not one specific nationality, especially in America, you know, the Melting Pot. And unless you go back multiple generations most people are actually from America. But, whatever, I’m just arguing a pointless argument. But maybe it’s important for us to know about Danielle’s ethnicity because she’s nearly raped. But she gets away, which, I’m kind of surprised to hear, considering everything else concerning women in this book. And of course Danielle is obsessed with 1D as well and has the exact same tattoo as Harry. And stars annoy her.
Liam’s group gets to Boston, to find it more or less on fire, or completely charred, which really shouldn’t be surprising. And they more or less ride right into gunfire. They basically have to run or die, so they run.
Meanwhile the Country Club people are acting more like they’re at summer camp. They’ve been eating gourmet meals, playing softball and going on walks. Probably playing golf as well.
Michael ends up killing someone who threatened him, even though he was the one trespassing. I can’t blame him, it’s a fight or flight response, what I can blame him for is trying to justify his actions and saying there was nothing else for him to do. And he steals her gun, which is actually a good idea, but ugh. I can’t stand Michael.
Liam’s group decides to go camping, which is probably the smartest idea they’ve had and of course the girls only carry one item because they’re delicate or worthless or wimpy, I don’t know. They stop for the night and Sabrina has a breakdown because she’s scared and of course Liam’s there to protect her. I seriously with they’d just get together so we can’t stop hearing about Liam’s naughty thoughts and secret glances at Sabrina. Their group is confronted the next day and Julius dies. And Liam basically has this to say: ‘She was his now and it was down to him to protect her.’ While I get the idea I don’t appreciate the fact that this girl is being treated as property. She doesn’t belong to anyone. UGH.
The Springsteens and Charlie arrive in Long Island at the mansion, which just happens to be where scuzzy security guard Ziegler is and they are reunited with their children. Yay. They meet other people in the ‘enclave’ and we find out that Mr. Ivanovic has more or less become dictator over the group.
Then we go back to Michael and we get to meet all of his ex-girlfriends and we find out he’s pretty much a man whore because he really doesn’t tell us anything about any of these girls. He ends up meeting with the Army and they give him a ration pack and tell him good luck.
Liam and co steal rations from a BMW showroom and then take a nap. And of course Sabrina sleeps with her head in Liam’s lap. That probably gave him some more naughty thoughts.
This is where I get confused. We are at the Country Club and Ferguson is giving a speech and Taylor blocks him out and all of the sudden we’re talking about Lulu and Charlie and I have no idea how they are connected to the Country Club because they are all secluded in a house in their snobby neighborhood eating food cooked on an outdoor grill. And then we are completely enveloped in the world of the Springsteens and Charlie. WHAT???
Then we get my feminist hackles up with an exchange between Ivanovic and Danielle. He more or less comes on to her, and actually kisses her, and she just stands there looking like an idiot. She slaps him after he said he expected to be slapped. Danielle justifies not slapping him at first because they’re not living in normal times. Apparently when the power goes out it means women have no right. Great. Thanks. Then when Ivanovic says she doesn’t have to hold back because of the way things are. NO. NO. NO.
Liam and co find some guy on a boat who agrees to take them to New York but he decides to go rescue his wife first. They get mad, but before that Liam finally kisses Sabrina but he makes sure not to go too far because of her cultural beliefs. I’m kind of shocked this is here, I’m impressed actually. Then I’m not impressed because Liam takes a running long jump over the boundaries.
Then Michael ends up stealing a bunch of cell phones and shooting them in the forest, which is convenient because he’s able to thwart an assassination on Ferguson’s life and he gets roped into this bizarre Country Club life and I’m seriously done with this book. I have no idea why I’m still reading it. I’m only 50% of the way through this book. I’m just tired of all the convenient situations.
I’m seriously starting to question the common sense of people in this book. At one point a cruise is compared to the Titanic. We all know the Titanic sunk, right? So, why this: ‘You could stand on the stern rail and imagine you were on the Titanic.’
There’s also this: ‘Sabrina was becoming more and more clingy towards Liam, something which he decided he quite liked.’ Women do not need men to be complete. Women can be independent and strong.
And this is where I lost all respect for this book and anything contained in this book. Charlie is talking to Mrs. Grainger, who used to be an author and she more or less attacks readers who dare to dislike her writing. Let me quote directly from the book. (I will be editing the swear words because my reviews are ‘clean.’)
‘Charlie was surprised. “You wrote novels? Wow. What kind of novels?”
“Oh, erotica, dear.”
“What?”
“Yes. And here’s another good thing to come out of all this – no more total a**holes posting one star reviews on my books. And some who moan at me and they haven’t even finished the copy they were reading. I’m so happy those f**kwits have thrown themselves off a bridge. I mean, if you don’t like something, just forget it, just go away, go back to your f**king knitting, or something. Why do they feel the need to say “it just didn’t work for me”? Really, please, who gives a sh*t for their dumb-a** opinion?”
-Well, let me answer that question for you, dear Mrs. Grainger. We rate books at one-star because they didn’t hold up to their hype. When I see a book that has a 4.00 or higher rating on a review site I know that one of two things has happened, either the book is amazing or people aren’t giving honest reviews, so I check out the book. I take a chance because I would hate to miss such an amazing literary masterpiece.
I finish that book, or I don’t because I don’t enjoy it and then I go online and I tell people why the book didn’t work for me, because it’s my right as a reader to give my opinion, just as it’s your right as an author to write what you want to write. I can appreciate the effort and time it took to write a novel, but that doesn’t mean I have to praise it up one side and down another. Especially when I was greatly offended by said book.
As a reader I have a right to put down the book and say, ‘nope, done’ because I hate the book. This is called life. There is no way in the world that EVERY SINGLE LIVING HUMAN BEING is going to love your novel. It is not statistically possible. If, as an author, you can’t handle that, maybe you, Mrs. Grainger, should stop writing for the world and go back to writing for your friends. And stop yelling at young girls who just wanted to know what you wrote. Goodness, you’re an adult, you should grow up an act like one. Take a negative review as a learning experience and grow from it. It’s called criticism and it’s part of being an adult. So, you, dear Mrs. Grainger have caused me to put this book down at 65%. You were the straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak.
The Complete Lack of Concern for Human Life:
Liam and Sabrina are talking about how they wish they had a time machine after making yet another pop culture reference to the movie The Time Machine and Sabrina thinks she wants to go back to see when President Kennedy was shot. Liam thinks that great, or to have been in New York during 9/11. Sabrina wants to take her dad to see D-Day. Liam thinks that’s sweet. I think that’s morbid. What is wrong with these two? Let’s go back and relive some of the greatest tragedies in the last century. Awesome. Let’s also go watch the Holocaust gas chamber murders or the Rwandan genocide. I mean, honestly, let’s forget the fact that people died, it would be fascinating. Or, hey, forget that, Liam just wants to go back to the night he lost his virginity, so he could do it ‘better’ this time around.
Then lets make a tasteless reference to 9/11 again. ‘Liam, yawning but refreshed, felt he was experiencing what it must have been like to go through 9/11, unable to tell the time of day as the sunshine was blotted out, not by dust, but by smoke.’
-Really? Do you really think that was what people were thinking about? That the sun was blocked out with dust? I’m pretty sure most of New York was living in fear that another plane might crash into the city. Or they might have even been worried about loved ones who were unaccounted for. Seriously, Liam, grow up.
Racism:
‘Danielle had tried to talk to the woman called Pam, but there was no real interest from her in making friends. The fact that the woman was black disturbed Danielle –it was like there was a slave on the property.’ NO. OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS NO.
The Overwhelming Misogyny:
“I’m Jane, sir.”
“Yes, yes, but before the world got screwed up. What’s your full name? What brought you here?”
--
All three females were dressed exactly like the waitresses from the day before, in white blouses, tied with a black belt and the sexy socks over the knees. (We apparently can’t wash pants around the Country Club)
--
“Will you be requiring company this evening, sir?”
He looked at Taylor. “Sorry? What?”
“Company, sir. Female companionship.”
He stared aghast at Taylor. (For the first time I have found respect for Michael.)
--
Buzzword Counts:
Gun(s): 53(not counting the specific kinds of guns such as Uzi, submachine, etc.)
Harry Styles: 21
Dead: 27
Kill: 16
Power: 33
I don’t want to search for all the swearing in the book, but it was more than I care for. I understand that it’s a way of life for some people but it just seemed like it was thrown in at times for shock appeal.
The formatting of this book is whacky. You have
to get used
to reading sentences like this.
And it makes no sense.
Because then there will be full paragraphs written perfectly. It bugged
me.
A lot.
The story was also littered with pop culture references that only seemed to be thrown in to either compare them to this story or to talk about some stupid point in the original context.
I was extremely disappointed in this book, especially after reading the prologue, but I am so insulted by this book that I don’t care how it ends.
Thank you for your patience as I rambled a bit, but I just needed to get my true feelings out so I could stop feeling guilty about this review.
Read
September 23, 2014This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2015
an apocalyps so real you think it could happen.
i loved it.
i loved it.
June 29, 2014
Fun, Exciting and Scary
By Zombie Glorya
Want a story that has a scary plotline, exciting action and fun background? Then Finding Harry Styles is it. Disaster, chaos, bewilderment, etc...all describe the latest from GB Hope. Definitely a must read for you post-apocalyptic fans. I have enjoyed this one so much. Now it's your turn.
By Zombie Glorya
Want a story that has a scary plotline, exciting action and fun background? Then Finding Harry Styles is it. Disaster, chaos, bewilderment, etc...all describe the latest from GB Hope. Definitely a must read for you post-apocalyptic fans. I have enjoyed this one so much. Now it's your turn.
August 18, 2014
I received this book from the Author to review. I was a bit scared because usually I don't read this type of books but in the end I really enjoyed it. The whole story takes place during a worldwide total power black-out and it follows quite a few people, all in the pursuit of the ones they love. Sometimes I found a chapter quite scary, but overall, this book was really well written and seemed quite realistic at times. It made me want to read more books in his genre. I really recommend it!
September 7, 2014
**Actual rating 3.5-4 stars**
I purchased this book for two reasons - I had a train journey to London to get through and the author made me laugh with something a bit random. So I thought what the heck, even though I probably would not have bought it normally.
I actually really enjoyed it. More than I thought I would for sure, and it was a highly entertaining way to kill what would otherwise have been an extremely dull couple of hours.
There are various characters scattered around the country after a sudden and unexplained mass power loss. NOTHING works. Not mobiles, not cars, not tablets not anything. You can't call the emergency services, you can't microwave your dinner and unless the person is standing right next to you communication is impossible. You COULD try standing on high ground and shouting loudly, but that is as likely to get you killed as anything else.
So anyway, we meet a few people, follow them on their journey as they try and find each other, or loved ones, and it is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, often you will need to suspend disbelief and holding it all together at the core is One Direction. Not the band themselves that much, or the boy of the title who is much loved by girls everywhere, but more the idea of hero worship and obsession - not just of celebrities but of people you have in your life.
There are some parts where I thought "oh well THAT would never happen" but this is after all, fiction. The writing is solid if not polished and the flow is good - I liked how the author explored how different personalities dealt with different situations, and it was pretty well constructed as we jumped between one group and another.
I really liked the ending because I did what the characters did....completely ignored something major that had just happened then stopped and went "erm hang on a minute..."
Overally then an enjoyable dependable read. Its not going to win any literary prizes, but I was engaged with the story, wanted to know the outcome and really wouldnt mind if the author continues with the tale. I'd like to know what happens next to our little group and I'd like to know more about the event itself - this story is about the consequences and as such was surprisingly addictive.
Happy Reading Folks!
I purchased this book for two reasons - I had a train journey to London to get through and the author made me laugh with something a bit random. So I thought what the heck, even though I probably would not have bought it normally.
I actually really enjoyed it. More than I thought I would for sure, and it was a highly entertaining way to kill what would otherwise have been an extremely dull couple of hours.
There are various characters scattered around the country after a sudden and unexplained mass power loss. NOTHING works. Not mobiles, not cars, not tablets not anything. You can't call the emergency services, you can't microwave your dinner and unless the person is standing right next to you communication is impossible. You COULD try standing on high ground and shouting loudly, but that is as likely to get you killed as anything else.
So anyway, we meet a few people, follow them on their journey as they try and find each other, or loved ones, and it is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, often you will need to suspend disbelief and holding it all together at the core is One Direction. Not the band themselves that much, or the boy of the title who is much loved by girls everywhere, but more the idea of hero worship and obsession - not just of celebrities but of people you have in your life.
There are some parts where I thought "oh well THAT would never happen" but this is after all, fiction. The writing is solid if not polished and the flow is good - I liked how the author explored how different personalities dealt with different situations, and it was pretty well constructed as we jumped between one group and another.
I really liked the ending because I did what the characters did....completely ignored something major that had just happened then stopped and went "erm hang on a minute..."
Overally then an enjoyable dependable read. Its not going to win any literary prizes, but I was engaged with the story, wanted to know the outcome and really wouldnt mind if the author continues with the tale. I'd like to know what happens next to our little group and I'd like to know more about the event itself - this story is about the consequences and as such was surprisingly addictive.
Happy Reading Folks!
January 4, 2015
This kind of story is usually "my thing". I love a good Apocalypse. I wanted this book to be more than it was. There were some good parts, most definitely. My main issue was the characters themselves. Maybe if I was a teen or twenty something they might have made perfect sense to me. But having gone beyond 40, the fact that all the characters we deliberately written to be young,hot, and really into sex bothered me. I even asked myself, was I like this once? Young , hot, and really into sex? I told myself YES. Yes I was and if I was a teen or twenty something this book would have made perfect sense. I would not have noticed the glaring plot holes, or that society completely fell apart in a 24 hour time period. And I could have focused more on Michael's morning "wood". Yes folks, I mentioned "good parts" above (no pun intended). I got a good chuckle. There were several of those moments. I feel like there was much not finished with this story and if it was about 200 more pages, it would have fleshed out into something more.
January 17, 2016
Revolution meets tigerbeat in this twisting tail of a boyfriend searching for his girlfriend and the girlfriends brother also searching for her in New York. Different concept with Multi character storyline . Interesting but felt slightly unfinished. The wonder of the mysterious "H" as in was it Harry Styles and what happened to him in the compound. I enjoyed it and my daughter got laughs from me reading it. Excellant young adult title for the tweens.
April 14, 2015
My thanks to NetGalley and Bronwyn Editions for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
First, the good. It was an interesting take on an "end of the world as we know it scenario" and some of the characters were pretty interesting.
The negative, the author killed off the interesting ones.
I'm going to explain the thought process behind the stars, or lack thereof, that I have granted to this book. To me, every book starts off at five stars and stars or percentages of them are removed as the book goes in ways in which I do not agree.
The first star was deducted because the author was unable to write Americans as convincing at all. The Americans all had British vernacular when speaking, thinking, etc. It drew me out of the story. Also, not every single person in America has a gun, especially not Uzis or other machine gun style weapons. The characters were in the NJ/NY/Boston area and the gun laws in those areas are rather strict and severe, so having a lot of guns and/or ammo for said weaponry is not overly easy to come by. Also, I HIGHLY doubt that after two hours of loss of power that a cabbie would try to rape his fare and that after only a day and a half without electricity that people would be committing suicide and freaking out and shooting first, looting the bodies later. Yes, this is a particular imagining of how society would look after a "end of the world" type of event, however I would like to think that people would be a bit more civilized then that.
Second star deducted for the following quote, of an older lady in the book who was a writer. I copied and pasted this from another reviewer's review, but it is how it appeared in the book I read.
‘Charlie was surprised. “You wrote novels? Wow. What kind of novels?”
“Oh, erotica, dear.”
“What?”
“Yes. And here’s another good thing to come out of all this – no more total a**holes posting one star reviews on my books. And some who moan at me and they haven’t even finished the copy they were reading. I’m so happy those f**kwits have thrown themselves off a bridge. I mean, if you don’t like something, just forget it, just go away, go back to your f**king knitting, or something. Why do they feel the need to say “it just didn’t work for me”? Really, please, who gives a sh*t for their dumb-a** opinion?”
That is just insulting to the reader. Actually, this is going to remove two stars from my possible total of five. That's how much this quote irritates me. Especially since I received this book with the express purpose to read and review, regardless of my opinion, positive or negative.
The fourth star was removed due to the raging anti-female sentiments that came across to me in this book. Women were either madonnas or crazy-b*tches that were crazy because of men. Women were property and to be protected. They couldn't take care of themselves. Sabrina at the end actually shot and killed someone who was threatening her group and after she did so, her boyfriend (who earlier that day kissed her awake and then ripped her shirt open and demanded she wake up his sister. Her reaction was shock and happiness) took the gun from her and led her passively to the wagon they were traveling on. She went meekly along. This is just one example among many of where the men were "taking care of"the women folk and they were cooking and cleaning for the men. Not cool. I can take care of myself and I'm sure most women in America (as that is where this takes place) can do so as well. Yes, some of the women were not from America, but even the ones who were only used sarcasm and eye rolling to make their thoughts known. They didn't fight or stand up for themselves.
The ending was also GARBAGE.
SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!
You are telling me that the electricity comes back and the FIRST thing the survivors notice is a TRAIN crossing sign flashing and a TRAIN traveling??!?! Really??!? There wouldn't be SCADS of military vehicles and planes and stuff moving around, ESPECIALLY around NYC trying to gain control of the people who went nuts without power for like a week (ok, ok, maybe a month, time passing wasn't very clear) that the powers that be would be focusing on getting the TRAINS up and running again?
And I'm sorry, but after like a month or so without power and maintenance, how the HELL were trains able to work without some MAJOR maintenance?
And another complaint, WAAAY too many characters. It was hard to keep them straight, the cool ones were introduced and then killed off and I got Charlie and Danielle confused in that I THOUGHT Charlie was the sister of Ian and the girlfriend of the scummy Michael, but apparently it was Danielle, who was hardly focused on AT ALL. Seriously, until Charlie said her BF was in England, I thought Michael was into HER. Then I was like, ok, his GF is someone else, but WHO? I completely forgot all about Danielle, as she had like five pages of time.
Also confusing was the two Long Island gated communities. Couldn't have come up with a community in like NJ and one in Long Island to keep the readers from getting so confused?
The book was unclear with both characters and locations. It was over the top less than positive towards women and it had some rather pointed hatred towards readers who had opinions contrary to the author's about how great his book was.
I would not recommend this book to anyone, which is sad. I really wanted to like this book and was in the mood for an "end of the world as we know it" book and this one didn't deliver. One star.
First, the good. It was an interesting take on an "end of the world as we know it scenario" and some of the characters were pretty interesting.
The negative, the author killed off the interesting ones.
I'm going to explain the thought process behind the stars, or lack thereof, that I have granted to this book. To me, every book starts off at five stars and stars or percentages of them are removed as the book goes in ways in which I do not agree.
The first star was deducted because the author was unable to write Americans as convincing at all. The Americans all had British vernacular when speaking, thinking, etc. It drew me out of the story. Also, not every single person in America has a gun, especially not Uzis or other machine gun style weapons. The characters were in the NJ/NY/Boston area and the gun laws in those areas are rather strict and severe, so having a lot of guns and/or ammo for said weaponry is not overly easy to come by. Also, I HIGHLY doubt that after two hours of loss of power that a cabbie would try to rape his fare and that after only a day and a half without electricity that people would be committing suicide and freaking out and shooting first, looting the bodies later. Yes, this is a particular imagining of how society would look after a "end of the world" type of event, however I would like to think that people would be a bit more civilized then that.
Second star deducted for the following quote, of an older lady in the book who was a writer. I copied and pasted this from another reviewer's review, but it is how it appeared in the book I read.
‘Charlie was surprised. “You wrote novels? Wow. What kind of novels?”
“Oh, erotica, dear.”
“What?”
“Yes. And here’s another good thing to come out of all this – no more total a**holes posting one star reviews on my books. And some who moan at me and they haven’t even finished the copy they were reading. I’m so happy those f**kwits have thrown themselves off a bridge. I mean, if you don’t like something, just forget it, just go away, go back to your f**king knitting, or something. Why do they feel the need to say “it just didn’t work for me”? Really, please, who gives a sh*t for their dumb-a** opinion?”
That is just insulting to the reader. Actually, this is going to remove two stars from my possible total of five. That's how much this quote irritates me. Especially since I received this book with the express purpose to read and review, regardless of my opinion, positive or negative.
The fourth star was removed due to the raging anti-female sentiments that came across to me in this book. Women were either madonnas or crazy-b*tches that were crazy because of men. Women were property and to be protected. They couldn't take care of themselves. Sabrina at the end actually shot and killed someone who was threatening her group and after she did so, her boyfriend (who earlier that day kissed her awake and then ripped her shirt open and demanded she wake up his sister. Her reaction was shock and happiness) took the gun from her and led her passively to the wagon they were traveling on. She went meekly along. This is just one example among many of where the men were "taking care of"the women folk and they were cooking and cleaning for the men. Not cool. I can take care of myself and I'm sure most women in America (as that is where this takes place) can do so as well. Yes, some of the women were not from America, but even the ones who were only used sarcasm and eye rolling to make their thoughts known. They didn't fight or stand up for themselves.
The ending was also GARBAGE.
SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!
You are telling me that the electricity comes back and the FIRST thing the survivors notice is a TRAIN crossing sign flashing and a TRAIN traveling??!?! Really??!? There wouldn't be SCADS of military vehicles and planes and stuff moving around, ESPECIALLY around NYC trying to gain control of the people who went nuts without power for like a week (ok, ok, maybe a month, time passing wasn't very clear) that the powers that be would be focusing on getting the TRAINS up and running again?
And I'm sorry, but after like a month or so without power and maintenance, how the HELL were trains able to work without some MAJOR maintenance?
And another complaint, WAAAY too many characters. It was hard to keep them straight, the cool ones were introduced and then killed off and I got Charlie and Danielle confused in that I THOUGHT Charlie was the sister of Ian and the girlfriend of the scummy Michael, but apparently it was Danielle, who was hardly focused on AT ALL. Seriously, until Charlie said her BF was in England, I thought Michael was into HER. Then I was like, ok, his GF is someone else, but WHO? I completely forgot all about Danielle, as she had like five pages of time.
Also confusing was the two Long Island gated communities. Couldn't have come up with a community in like NJ and one in Long Island to keep the readers from getting so confused?
The book was unclear with both characters and locations. It was over the top less than positive towards women and it had some rather pointed hatred towards readers who had opinions contrary to the author's about how great his book was.
I would not recommend this book to anyone, which is sad. I really wanted to like this book and was in the mood for an "end of the world as we know it" book and this one didn't deliver. One star.
May 15, 2020
Edited to add: This author added me as a friend on Goodreads when he saw I was reading his book. He then proceeded to send me weird, unsolicited messages regarding my review. He told me he wasn't sure why I wanted to "pull [his] book to pieces," and that his book was only for fun and he did not make any money. He then blocked me. I ended up reporting this behavior on NetGalley when I submitted my review.
______________________
Today's review is a very serious one for me, and I'm sure you can understand that I have a lot to say upon seeing my first-ever one star rating. I received Finding Harry Styles for review, and I requested it on NetGalley because the title drew me in with it's fun nature. I expected this book to be a fan fiction about finding Harry Styles in New York City. Instead, I got a post-apocalyptic novel in which there is a worldwide blackout. Harry Styles plays no role in the book whatsoever, except that a few characters are One Direction fans. Don't be fooled by the title.
My main concerns with this novel are with the chauvinistic undertones. Women are treated extremely poorly throughout the entirety of the book, and are portrayed as weak, submissive creatures who must be protected and controlled by the men at all times. This really disturbed me, and I honestly couldn't believe that women were written in this manner.
To illustrate my point, I would like to share a few scenes in the book that really stuck out to me. In one scene, a murder has just taken place, and a female character is crying. The man she's with doesn't approve of this behavior, so he slaps her across the face to shut her up. This unnecessary violence and abuse really shocked me.
In the same way, the author writes a scene in which a man kisses a woman without her permission, then tells her she can slap him if she wishes because he knew it was wrong. She slaps him, and as the chapter closes, readers learn that the man let the woman slap him because he knew she would not be strong enough to cause him any pain.
This chauvinistic writing is not appropriate, and I could not believe how present it was throughout the book. Similarly, the author does not talk highly of race or diversity, and even includes a racial slur in the book. Again, I was shocked and upset with this choice of writing.
The last reason I felt truly compelled to give this book a one star rating was the treatment of suicide. In Finding Harry Styles, characters begin killing themselves after just a few days of the power being out. This continued every so often throughout the novel, and it was upsetting that the author chose to include these deaths in the story. Suicide is a very serious issue, and when young people in the book are killing themselves just because they can't use their cell phones anymore, that marginalizes an issue that should instead be talked about in a respectful manner. Thus, with the poor treatment of women, race, and suicide, I have no choice but to give this book the lowest rating. I cannot recommend this book to anyone because of this content.
Moreover, even if I put all of those issues aside, I would still rate Finding Harry Styles with a low star count due to the writing style. This novel is replete with characters, and the point of view changes often to follow these different characters. I found it extremely difficult to differentiate between characters, especially because new characters were introduced in nearly every chapter, but then dropped off shortly thereafter. If the author wished to include so many characters in Finding Harry Styles, it would have been helpful to label each chapter with a character name so the reader can distinguish between them easier.
In addition, the pacing of the novel was very slow and unbalanced. At the beginning of the book, the characters switched up quite regularly, but later in the novel we focus on certain characters for a long period of time. When the writing switches back to other characters, it was disorienting because it had been so long since we heard of them last. In the same way, there was no clear goal for the characters in this book. I spent the novel wondering what was going to happen, because it seemed the characters were just wandering around the East Coast trying to stay alive. As the book ended, I felt there was no point to the story whatsoever, and I just witnessed a lot of violence for no reason. Of course, no reader wants to feel this way.
Finally, the writing overall was not executed well. There was a lot of telling, and not a lot of showing, so I never had a clear vision of the characters or setting. I would have preferred less straightforward writing, as it detracted from the reading experience when I was told flat-out every action. The author also mis-quotes a very popular movie, which did not affect the plot at all, but definitely detracted from the author's credibility. In the same way, the author includes a scene in which a character is an author, and speaks very poorly of people who leave her one star reviews. It's almost as if this author is now challenging the reader to give him a bad review. I found that extremely unprofessional.
In the end, I am glad I completed Finding Harry Styles so I could share my thoughts on this novel and warn others of its contents. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book to anyone, and I would not pick up any other works from this author in the future.
______________________
Today's review is a very serious one for me, and I'm sure you can understand that I have a lot to say upon seeing my first-ever one star rating. I received Finding Harry Styles for review, and I requested it on NetGalley because the title drew me in with it's fun nature. I expected this book to be a fan fiction about finding Harry Styles in New York City. Instead, I got a post-apocalyptic novel in which there is a worldwide blackout. Harry Styles plays no role in the book whatsoever, except that a few characters are One Direction fans. Don't be fooled by the title.
My main concerns with this novel are with the chauvinistic undertones. Women are treated extremely poorly throughout the entirety of the book, and are portrayed as weak, submissive creatures who must be protected and controlled by the men at all times. This really disturbed me, and I honestly couldn't believe that women were written in this manner.
To illustrate my point, I would like to share a few scenes in the book that really stuck out to me. In one scene, a murder has just taken place, and a female character is crying. The man she's with doesn't approve of this behavior, so he slaps her across the face to shut her up. This unnecessary violence and abuse really shocked me.
In the same way, the author writes a scene in which a man kisses a woman without her permission, then tells her she can slap him if she wishes because he knew it was wrong. She slaps him, and as the chapter closes, readers learn that the man let the woman slap him because he knew she would not be strong enough to cause him any pain.
This chauvinistic writing is not appropriate, and I could not believe how present it was throughout the book. Similarly, the author does not talk highly of race or diversity, and even includes a racial slur in the book. Again, I was shocked and upset with this choice of writing.
The last reason I felt truly compelled to give this book a one star rating was the treatment of suicide. In Finding Harry Styles, characters begin killing themselves after just a few days of the power being out. This continued every so often throughout the novel, and it was upsetting that the author chose to include these deaths in the story. Suicide is a very serious issue, and when young people in the book are killing themselves just because they can't use their cell phones anymore, that marginalizes an issue that should instead be talked about in a respectful manner. Thus, with the poor treatment of women, race, and suicide, I have no choice but to give this book the lowest rating. I cannot recommend this book to anyone because of this content.
Moreover, even if I put all of those issues aside, I would still rate Finding Harry Styles with a low star count due to the writing style. This novel is replete with characters, and the point of view changes often to follow these different characters. I found it extremely difficult to differentiate between characters, especially because new characters were introduced in nearly every chapter, but then dropped off shortly thereafter. If the author wished to include so many characters in Finding Harry Styles, it would have been helpful to label each chapter with a character name so the reader can distinguish between them easier.
In addition, the pacing of the novel was very slow and unbalanced. At the beginning of the book, the characters switched up quite regularly, but later in the novel we focus on certain characters for a long period of time. When the writing switches back to other characters, it was disorienting because it had been so long since we heard of them last. In the same way, there was no clear goal for the characters in this book. I spent the novel wondering what was going to happen, because it seemed the characters were just wandering around the East Coast trying to stay alive. As the book ended, I felt there was no point to the story whatsoever, and I just witnessed a lot of violence for no reason. Of course, no reader wants to feel this way.
Finally, the writing overall was not executed well. There was a lot of telling, and not a lot of showing, so I never had a clear vision of the characters or setting. I would have preferred less straightforward writing, as it detracted from the reading experience when I was told flat-out every action. The author also mis-quotes a very popular movie, which did not affect the plot at all, but definitely detracted from the author's credibility. In the same way, the author includes a scene in which a character is an author, and speaks very poorly of people who leave her one star reviews. It's almost as if this author is now challenging the reader to give him a bad review. I found that extremely unprofessional.
In the end, I am glad I completed Finding Harry Styles so I could share my thoughts on this novel and warn others of its contents. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book to anyone, and I would not pick up any other works from this author in the future.
October 31, 2014
I was skeptical about this story, since the title involves a boy band member. However, it definitely surpassed my expectations! The writing style and writing ability of the author are excellent. I really felt like the accuracy of GB Hope's vision of the Apocalypse was spot on. People die, as they would. Even people we were just getting to know but really liked. And it really effected the other characters, which is something usually missing from these types of books. I love that! On the downside, being American, I did notice a number of British errors: I accept that curb is kerb and a flashlight is a torch, but no one in New York would be likely to have an MRE containing curry, oat biscuits and tea. Our MREs in America have Pop Tarts, riblets and coffee or similar. No business owners or bosses would insist on a constitutional walk--Americans are lazy!
May 25, 2015
After an unexplained event takes out all electricity, communications, and transportation in the US - and possibly the rest of the world - we follow two men searching for the same girl: Michael Clavell is in Connecticut and is trying to find his way to his girlfriend in New York; and Liam McCalister disembarks from a cruise ship in Massachusetts and tries to find his sister. During their travels, Michael and Liam encounter extreme violence, but also great gestures of kindness, friendship, and even love.
Throughout the course of the book, we are introduced to an enormous cast of characters - too many to keep track of even with the list at the beginning. Most of the female characters are not portrayed in a very attractive light. However, most of the male characters are not to be admired either, being violent and/or sexually depraved. A couple of ruthless men take advantage of the situation and set themselves up as leaders, forming their own communities with hierarchies and rules, mostly for their own advantage. This book provides a surreal glimpse into what lengths some people will go to in order to survive, and what trivialities other people will cling to in the face of doom. While this book deals with a lot of serious issues, it maintains a mostly ironic and slightly humorous tone.
Overall, I felt that most situations were resolved too easily. However, be warned, there is a cliffhanger ending and many issues do remain unresolved.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post: http://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com...
Throughout the course of the book, we are introduced to an enormous cast of characters - too many to keep track of even with the list at the beginning. Most of the female characters are not portrayed in a very attractive light. However, most of the male characters are not to be admired either, being violent and/or sexually depraved. A couple of ruthless men take advantage of the situation and set themselves up as leaders, forming their own communities with hierarchies and rules, mostly for their own advantage. This book provides a surreal glimpse into what lengths some people will go to in order to survive, and what trivialities other people will cling to in the face of doom. While this book deals with a lot of serious issues, it maintains a mostly ironic and slightly humorous tone.
Overall, I felt that most situations were resolved too easily. However, be warned, there is a cliffhanger ending and many issues do remain unresolved.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post: http://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com...
May 20, 2015
I enjoyed this book because it was different. Not your typical "post-apocalyptic" book in that there are no zombies. No viruses. Just a complete loss of electricity, as well as to vehicles and most other items that we all probably rely on way too much.
One thing that I always find interesting in these stories are the reactions of people and how groups form. Who becomes a true leader, and who becomes a dictator. You see several groups form in this story, and each one is fascinating in its own way - some are even scary.
The title maybe off putting for some; really it just relates to a couple of the characters and their love of One Direction and Harry Styles.
Honestly, the book entertained me, and I couldn't put it down.
Maybe the women could have been stronger. Maybe some of the men not so bossy. The only thing that really bothered me was the one comment made about online reviewers saying "It just wasn't my thing". I do use that line because not everything I dislike is going to be disliked by others. I say it because I don't want anyone - other readers or authors - to think I'm judging them based on something I didn't enjoy and that they did.
At any rate, I did enjoy this book. Different and entertaining.
One thing that I always find interesting in these stories are the reactions of people and how groups form. Who becomes a true leader, and who becomes a dictator. You see several groups form in this story, and each one is fascinating in its own way - some are even scary.
The title maybe off putting for some; really it just relates to a couple of the characters and their love of One Direction and Harry Styles.
Honestly, the book entertained me, and I couldn't put it down.
Maybe the women could have been stronger. Maybe some of the men not so bossy. The only thing that really bothered me was the one comment made about online reviewers saying "It just wasn't my thing". I do use that line because not everything I dislike is going to be disliked by others. I say it because I don't want anyone - other readers or authors - to think I'm judging them based on something I didn't enjoy and that they did.
At any rate, I did enjoy this book. Different and entertaining.
November 5, 2014
When a worldwide black out suddenly strands countless people two men will stop at nothing to find the one they love. One man searches for his sister while the other searches for his girlfriend.
While maneuvering the deadly streets on their way to New York, they each face difficult obstacles in their path. Fallen airplanes, crashed cars, looters. But they also meet survivors along the way who will soon become invaluable friends.
Meanwhile in New York girls flock the street hoping and praying for the safety of One Directions Harry Styles.
I did not think I was going to like this book but it was a pleasant surprise. I (not being a 1D fan, don't shoot me) could have done without Harry Styles being mentioned altogether but even with it being a form of apocalyptic fan fiction I still really liked the story and the characters.
I'm looking forward to reading more from G.B Hope.
Until next time,
Ginger
In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review.
My review is my honest opinion.
September 20, 2014
A realistic style of writing for the apocalyptic genre. Plus realistic characters - I could see if there might be issues with remembering characters the way the story flits about, but I enjoyed it. I recommend it.
September 15, 2014
That's what we're talking about!
Yes, I could find fault with some of the set pieces, but overall I loved the idea of this.
Yes, I could find fault with some of the set pieces, but overall I loved the idea of this.
October 15, 2014
What if all the power in the world just disappeared? No electricity, batteries didn't work, engines of any kind didn't work. And you are hundreds, possibly even thousands, of miles away from your loved ones. What would you do? Where would you go? Remember, no phones, no internet, no cars, trucks, planes, or trains. What now? How would you survive? This is what happens in "Finding Harry Styles". When I was offered the book by the author in return for an honest review,I was reminded that it is not on of my usual genres and there was a good possibility I would not like the book, but he was willing to take the chance if I was. Not only did I enjoy the book, I read it in just one day. It really had me thinking and I had to check and make sure my phone and tablet were still working. I would recommend this book to anyone over 13 years old, due to some very mild sexual situations and scenes of suicide and quite a bit of violence. But the book does make you think, what would you do?
November 21, 2015
In a world that suddenly looses power, how would you react? Finding Harry Styles follows the lives of a few individuals as their world collapses around them. Bikes and horse drawn wagons instead of cars for transportation? Sure, but it also means people with guns making the rules instead of elected officials. I did find it slightly confusing at times as the story jumped from one group of people to another without any clear indication. This might have been because I was reading an advanced electronic readers copy provided by NetGalley and those issues will be cleaned up on final edit. Overall, this action-packed story was captivating with a highly satisfying ending.
September 15, 2014
While the storyline is creative and original, the number of characters and the relative short time you get to spend with each one really distracted from the overall story. I kept having to go back and refresh my memory as to who was who and how they were related/intertwined. The plot is fast paced so it keeps your attention, but unfortunately I never really bonded with any of the characters because you don't get to spend that much time with them. Also, some of the graphic scenes seemed unnecessary and gratuitous.
April 2, 2015
Harry Styles and the New York Apocalypse is an unusual, fun trip through the post-apocalyptic East Coast of the US, and should be read before Harry quits One Direction like Zayn.
September 12, 2014
DNF
Received with thanks from Netgalley.
Received with thanks from Netgalley.
shelf
November 15, 2021Once up on a time I answered a question for an author quickly, politely, and thoroughly. I accepted a friend request. I got a response and thanks to my message. The next day was a Sunday, and I received another question, which I saw the next day because I'm not checking my messages 24/7 and have a life. By the next day I'd already received an "annoyed" message and been blocked. Because I didn't respond the same day. Soooo, yeah, cool.
December 31, 2018
What was going on?
Don't let the title mislead you. Harry Styles is mentioned a handful of times throughout this book. Initially, I bought this book for a university essay on dystopian fiction, but only got round to reading it two years later. The blurb make this story seem interesting, and a different take on the traditional apocalyptic story. The premise was to draw me in. So I was optimistic about reading this novel.
However, I was sorely mistaken. My first meeting of characters should not have been a list of names, with their ethnicity in brackets. But I kept an open mind, pleasantly surprised to be thrown into the action in the prologue. If the story had started from here it would have been great. But it didn't. After introducing several characters in the prologue, we're treated to a few chapters from before the action of the prologue takes place and given even more characters to follow. I found that I just didn't care about them at all.
Narratively, being told from different perspectives really didn't work. The blurb alludes to three different views of this event, but that is far from it. As a reader, jumping into different perspectives and returning to another, expecting to remember where that one left off was infuriating. Perhaps it would have worked better for just three perspectives, in three parts. Some of the story may have been repeated, but it would have read a lot easier. Furthermore, more often than not, I was confused about who was the boyfriend, and who was the brother.
This piece lacked atmosphere and character description. We don't really find out what one of the characters mentioned on the blurb looks like, until the last few chapters of the book. And the repetition of phones not working every other page up until page 50, bored me. I get it. Phones don't work. What else doesn't work in an apocalyptic world? Why should I care for the characters?
Finally, I get the feeling this is a very early draft of this book. It hadn't been copy-edited, evidenced by the littering of commas, a selection of triple spaced words, and the frequent use of overly complex words. If there had been a little more care in checking the sentences, and how it would read to someone other than the author, I think this book could have done a lot more with the story.
Overall, I have to give this book one star. Never before have I been so tempted to take a pencil through a book I'm reading to give comments on it myself. Sadly I will not be recommending this book, nor will I be reading it again.
Don't let the title mislead you. Harry Styles is mentioned a handful of times throughout this book. Initially, I bought this book for a university essay on dystopian fiction, but only got round to reading it two years later. The blurb make this story seem interesting, and a different take on the traditional apocalyptic story. The premise was to draw me in. So I was optimistic about reading this novel.
However, I was sorely mistaken. My first meeting of characters should not have been a list of names, with their ethnicity in brackets. But I kept an open mind, pleasantly surprised to be thrown into the action in the prologue. If the story had started from here it would have been great. But it didn't. After introducing several characters in the prologue, we're treated to a few chapters from before the action of the prologue takes place and given even more characters to follow. I found that I just didn't care about them at all.
Narratively, being told from different perspectives really didn't work. The blurb alludes to three different views of this event, but that is far from it. As a reader, jumping into different perspectives and returning to another, expecting to remember where that one left off was infuriating. Perhaps it would have worked better for just three perspectives, in three parts. Some of the story may have been repeated, but it would have read a lot easier. Furthermore, more often than not, I was confused about who was the boyfriend, and who was the brother.
This piece lacked atmosphere and character description. We don't really find out what one of the characters mentioned on the blurb looks like, until the last few chapters of the book. And the repetition of phones not working every other page up until page 50, bored me. I get it. Phones don't work. What else doesn't work in an apocalyptic world? Why should I care for the characters?
Finally, I get the feeling this is a very early draft of this book. It hadn't been copy-edited, evidenced by the littering of commas, a selection of triple spaced words, and the frequent use of overly complex words. If there had been a little more care in checking the sentences, and how it would read to someone other than the author, I think this book could have done a lot more with the story.
Overall, I have to give this book one star. Never before have I been so tempted to take a pencil through a book I'm reading to give comments on it myself. Sadly I will not be recommending this book, nor will I be reading it again.
December 11, 2014
I wanted to like this book. It has a great premise on two fronts: an apocalypse story which addresses (1) the plight of foreigners traveling abroad and (2) the concerns of fangirls worried about their favorite celebs. Unfortunately, it's really ineptly written. There are a ton of basic stylistic errors, enough to be distracting, and the author can't write an American voice to save his life. The pacing is all over the place, less in broader plot terms than from paragraph to paragraph, with characters being "shockingly attacked" in a way that would be deliberately comedic in a better book. Plus there's a creepy misogyny threaded throughout, with women being referred to as "females" and generally relegated to helplessness while the capable men take over (come on dude, this was old hat in apocalypse stories back when The Death of Grass was written). I still think there's a lot of potential in this premise for something really fun and witty, but this book does not deliver.
August 20, 2017
3.5. This book started with quite the weird moment. Still it hooked me up quite fast.
I can't say I loved it because I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it. But it's definitely a good book.
I'm 99% sure it was some sort of One Direction fanfiction in the beggining. There's a page on my netgalley file where the name Michael gets switched for Harry.
And Harry Styles IS on this book. I don't care if he's called H. He's sad 'cause he got split from "his 4 friends". Honestly?
One Direction aside, I did find this book to be fun and entertaining. A bit gory but it's normal in a post apocalyptic book.
EDIT: I kept coming back to this review, and now that I know a little more about books it's obvious to me that this book is not as good as I originially thought.
I can't say I loved it because I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it. But it's definitely a good book.
I'm 99% sure it was some sort of One Direction fanfiction in the beggining. There's a page on my netgalley file where the name Michael gets switched for Harry.
And Harry Styles IS on this book. I don't care if he's called H. He's sad 'cause he got split from "his 4 friends". Honestly?
One Direction aside, I did find this book to be fun and entertaining. A bit gory but it's normal in a post apocalyptic book.
EDIT: I kept coming back to this review, and now that I know a little more about books it's obvious to me that this book is not as good as I originially thought.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2014
The premise of this book is kind of interesting, the execution is pretty bad. All electrical power goes out along the eastern USA. Everything, including airplanes and cruise ships lose power. One Direction is performing in NYC. Regular people try to deal with the situation while wondering about the boy band's status.
I can't believe I read the whole thing. I guess that I was wondering what happened to Harry too. It's written in fan fiction style. It's all over the place and the characters are confusing. The ending reminded me of endings of 'The Monkees' TV episodes.
I can't believe I read the whole thing. I guess that I was wondering what happened to Harry too. It's written in fan fiction style. It's all over the place and the characters are confusing. The ending reminded me of endings of 'The Monkees' TV episodes.
July 17, 2014
Now in paperback from WWW.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk.
June 23, 2014
Now available from www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk
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