Prove it or Lose it: Remembering Old (Old!) Reads

Prove it or Lose it is a new series on Book Princess Reviews where Sha digs through Mandy’s old ratings/reviews on Goodreads and Mandy can either PROVE the book deserved the rating she gave it … or she has to LOSE the previously assigned rating.

Like the idea? Feel free to use it yourself and pingback to this post.

As of this moment, Mandy has rated 770 books on Goodreads. Which is … a lot of books? Considering that with time, book opinions change (sometimes very, very drastically), I couldn’t help but ask if there were any books she regrets rating highly or very low. First answer: probably but I don’t remember.

Cue me digging through her Goodreads to pull out some of the more fascinating selections so we can all find out Mandy’s thoughts now! Will she stand by previous ratings? Or will 2018 Mandy be like, “Um, I think that was my evil twin.”

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Book: Just Listen by Sara Dessen

Rating: 5 Crowns (in August 2013)

Sha picked because: Mandy dropped a five star review on a book that legit states the female MC “has nothing” until “tall, dark, and music-obsessed” bad-boy Owen comes along. We all know my stance on romance, so can Mandy convince me this book truly and deeply deserves five stars?

Mandy’s thoughts: Eh, I’m not entirely sure. I remember I was alllllll ready for the Dessen feels since I heard she was the queen of contemporary, and I think this was like the second one I read by her? I remember really enjoying it at the time since it was emotional and I did enjoy the ship. But I think it wasn’t focused on boy saving girl? Like, just he was there and helped her with her struggle with eating with music? Idk, it’s all vague thoughts but I have vague remembrances of enjoyment, music, cute ship, and emotions.

Prove it or Lose it?: PROVE IT. I will give because emotions can make use go crazy with the ratings.

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Book: The Awakening/The Struggle (The Vampire Diaries #1-2) by L.J. Smith

Rating: 1 Crown (in August 2013)

Sha picked because: I have a dark book history. Doesn’t everyone? And the first time I read this book I swooned, okay? I SWOONED. But I was thirteen so whatever, don’t shame me like I clearly shame Mandy every day. What I want to know is how Mandy was apparently immune to the vampire love that swept the nation when she gave this one star??

Mandy’s thoughts: Oh, yeah, no, I’m still firm with this one. My mom bought me like the entire book set because we were hardcore into the TV series, but I read this book and it was…it just had a very cold vibe to it and a ton of things were changed from the TV series and like, this was before I realized books were usually the best and not the TV series? It was one of the rare occasions, I was fully into the TV/movie instead of the books, and it just didn’t have the same vibe to it. I just remember being so mad with it after I was done with it.

Prove it or Lose it?: LOST IT. Because she totes just compared book to TV I don’t know this girl. 

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Book: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Rating: 3 Crowns (in July 2015)

Sha picked because: Is three stars plausible for this book? IDK. I remember strong feelings of like for this book when I first read it. Sadly I have no book reviews pre-2018 so I can’t double-check what was in my mind. I can check Mandy’s mind though!

Mandy’s thoughts: Okay, I have like vivid random memories of this for some super odd reason. Like, I literally can remember the cover of this and thinking it was super fancy in my grandparents’ living room in the dim light because my grandma didn’t want to use lamps to save on electricity but wouldn’t keep the blinds open because it would be warm. So I squinted a lot in reading this book. I remember enjoying it except I was really :O faced when like halfway through the MC cuts off all her hair and I remember little Mandy was like, BUT BEAUTIFUL HAIR. I liked the ship, but I think the hair really traumatized me and it did have a feeling of coldness to it that I never really emotionally connected.

Prove it or Lose it?: PROVE IT. Mandy really does get intense on small details that anyone else would find insignificant. Hair cutting? Yup. That Mandy.

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Book: Now You See Her, Now You Don’t (Sabrina the Teenage Witch #16) by D. G. Gallagher

Rating: 5 Crowns (in October 2016)

Sha picked because: These book are ingrained in my childhood! My library had so few English books but apparently a commitment to owning the entire Sabrina the Teenage Witch series … so here we are, with me having read pretty much the entire series. I think I’m just excited Mandy was as much a fan as me.

Mandy’s thoughts: All Sabrina books are 5 crowns. Alllllllllllllllllllllllll. Well, I mean, except for a few. But Sabrina is queen. And her books are queen. The end.

Prove it or Lose it?: PROVE IT. No contest.

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Book: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

Rating: 4 Crowns (in October 2016)

Sha picked because: I … think I just need answers on this one. Sure, we all read Rainbow Fish as children. But rated it on Goodreads? And rated it four stars? Like Mandy legit got critical on a children’s book about a glittery fish.

Mandy’s thoughts: Okay, like Rainbow Fish is epic? Like, he is holographic scales? And their rainbow? But to tell the truth, the real question is why 4 crowns? Why not five? What was it in past Mandy’s brain that was like, one crown must go! Yeah, idk, I think we can leave off a rating for this one, because this is quite questionable…not the fact that I rated it but why we are missing a crown.

Prove it or Lose it?: LOSE IT. For shame, Mandy. How do you sleep at night?

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Book: Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata by Jennifer Allison

Rating: 5 Crowns (in November 2016)

Sha picked because: The summary of this book is 100% more intense than half the books I’m reading these days. Gilda has all the drama in her life. You go Gilda! (I also can’t tell, is this middle grade, is this for old ladies, idk idk idk but okay!).

Mandy’s thoughts:  Omg YES. Gilda Joyce was lifeeeeeeeeee. She was what really got me into spooky, ghostie books. She was this awesome little middle grade detective that had to find out the truth about the ghosties in the world. Little kid me was back in her grandparents’ living room in that stupid darkened room scared to keep her back to the door to find the ghosties. GHOSTIES WILL FIND MANDY AND THEY WILL COME UP AND I WAS NOT AS STRONG AS GILDA JOYCE. 5 crowns well deserved. Man, I should read these again. Why is this not on the Readthon TBR????

Prove it or Lose it?: PROVE IT. Mandy went all caps here, so the love is legit.

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That’s it for our first edition of Prove it or Lose it!

Should we do another edition, or is this good enough as a one-off? Did Mandy convince you with her arguments? What old books are hiding in your Goodreads? Let’s discuss!