Fangirl, a book review

by Rainbow Rowell
published in 2013
a chocolate covered 5/ 5 stars
Goodreads / Amazon / Rowell's Website

Cath shook her head. "Now is all you get," she spat out, wishing she could make more sense. Wishing for more words, or better ones. "Now is all you ever get."

Fangirl is everything. It's everything that's good about chick-lit, it's everything that's good about YA. It's so honest and genuine that sometimes I wonder if it's actually written, or whether it's just the previously recorded words and dialogues of an 18 year old girl living her life. I guess it's kind of a both. This book is like the voice of a college freshman, rendered into a fresh prose that makes it so delectable to read. (If this book was a food it'd be chocolate to the power of chocolate). 

Meet Cath. She loves Simon Snow, the book series that has taken the literature world by storm. As teens, she and her twin sister Wren read and wrote Snow fan-fiction, mainly as a hobby, but also to keep themselves grounded, after their mother left when they were little. But now with college looming around the corner, Wren has taken a more independent approach on life, and has mostly grown away from Snow fandom, and has told Cath that she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath has never felt this alone, and her sulky roommate (who happens to have the world's most positive boyfriend) doesn't help the mix. Oh and her fiction-writing professor doesn't approve of fan-fiction. Cath is now facing the biggest hurdle of her life, but also a door of great opportunities... And as she acts on both of them, Cath will discover that to live, sometimes you got to step out of your comfort zone. 

Fangirl is honestly the best book I have read in a long time. Everything in this book just felt right, it felt like it belonged. All the elements were so balanced, from the quirky friendships, the blossoming romance (sigh), the AWESOME fan fiction, and the family situations. It's a coming of age novel that really enraptures you, and after a while it doesn't even feel like you're reading. It feels like you're living the story, it feels like you're being.

Book Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, #1)

by Libba Bray
published in 2003
a forgiving 2.5-3 stars
Goodreads / Amazon / Author's Website

"Because you don't notice the light without a bit of shadow. Everything has both dark and light. You have to play with it till you get it exactly right."

A Great and Terrible Beauty, is like what the title suggests, both great and terrible. But for me, it tilted towards terrible.

It's the Victorian Era, and the only place where Gemma Doyle wants to be is in England. Instead, Gemma's stuck under the sweltering heat of India, her dreams of going abroad quickly evaporating under the torrid sun. But one eery vision of the future later, tragedy strikes her family and Gemma is sent packing to the Spence Academy in London, under the worst possible circumstances. At Spence, Gemma's visions seem to occur more often, and Spence's gothic styled building intensifies the supernatural feel. Now, Gemma must question all she's every known. Or what she thought she had known.

I thought the book started off great. The characters had vivid, colorful personalities, and the setting felt very three-dimensional. Gemma had quite a distinct character, one that made her feel alive, vibrant. She always had a strong opinion, and her solid narration made me, the reader, feel involved in the story. 

Unfortunately, the story started to unravel as Gemma started to discover her supernatural talents. Suddenly, several new, important plot lines appeared, yet they held a weak presence throughout the book. The story started to feel drab, as the characters' emotions were never amplified; they just feel flat. And scenes containing very dramatic elements felt like smooth poetry, I mean for a supernatural book, everything just felt a little too natural. 

Poem: A Book's Embrace

A little poem that came in mind while reading a very good book. Hope you guys like it! :)

A Book's Embrace
Tangled hair, oversized shirt
Hardcover cradled in hands
Staring at the words, staring at the world
A new dimension, born.

Blind,
deaf,
of the sun, the clouds,
the crying rain.

Alive,
vibrant,
from the depth of the black
ink.

A touch, a gasp
The soul is shaken
The breath is quivering
The heart is breathing.

A gift,
to be embraced by a book.

The Diviners, a book review (The Diviners, #1)

by Libba Bray
published in 2012
a bone-rattling 5 / 5 stars
Goodreads / Amazon / Website / Trailer (super creepy)

"Naughty John, Naughty John,
does his work with his apron on.
Cuts your throat and takes your bones,
sells 'em off for a coupla stones."

Some might say that only movies can evoke the most imagery in one's mind. But after reading The Diviners, I would completely disagree. This book didn't just make me feel like I was living in the era of the storyline, it made me feel like I belonged to it.

New York City, 1926. This bustling city suddenly gets a new addition: 17 year-old Evie O'Neill. After committing much too many troubles, Evie is sent packing from her drab hometown to the streets of NYC to live with her uncle. There she discovers that her hidden supernatural powers are more needed than ever, as she finds herself caught in the midst of a murder investigation. 

To say that this book scared me would be a hell of an understatement. It left me sweating with fear, eyes with horror and mind filled with speechless terrors. Yet it kept me up t'il midnight, day after day, as I silently flipped the pages with such an anticipation that only a good book can make you feel. 

Speechless, a book review

by Hannah Harrington
published in 2012
the cover makes it... 6/ 5 stars
Goodreads / Amazon / Website

The thing is, despite everything going on- I don't want to change schools. It feels too much like running away. Let the jerks that vandalized my locker and my car and harassed me think they can just run me off that easy? No.

"Here's the thing. I need a book with a gorgeous cover and an interesting backdrop. It has to exude personality, and it has to be completely, blatantly honest. I need the characters to be true, real. It has to be something that I could somehow, even indirectly, relate to. Also, because I'm being really picky here, it can't be a super long, marathon read, nor should it contain only 30 pages of really deep stuff that I act like I understand but I actually don't. It has to be appealing to read. You know, you know?"

"Oh, well, just take Speechless by Hannah Harrington!"

Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret. And since she's on top of the high school social ladder, she's got a lot of secrets on her hands, all ready to be spilled. But the last secret she told almost killed a person. And now, Chelsea is a loner, an outcast. So she decides to take a vow of silence, because that way, not another person will be hurt because she couldn't shut that mouth of hers. Her reign of silence gives her time to think- of her actions in the past that lead to her situation now. But it also gives Chelsea a chance to really dig deep in her roots, and to uncover the real self that she had hidden without even knowing.

Saving June, a book review

by Hannah Harrington
published in 2011
a to the moon and back 4/ 5 stars
Goodreads / Amazon / Website

 "Now I'm counting up the days, counting all the ways
I never said what I meant, but it's too late 'cause
June is over and so are we
And I'm the one left, with nothing to save."

Saving June is like a hum. A steady hum that can sometimes go a little off track, but still keeps its senses anchored to the ground. And sometimes, there are rattles and sparks thrown in the way, and that hum just turns even more powerful, until it wraps around you and then suddenly you're breathing the same air it's breathing.

Saving June is about a road trip. And then some. Haley's older sister June just killed herself. Discovering her in the car, a bottle of sleeping pills in her hand, Haley cannot stop thinking of what June could have been. June, smart, sociable, a loving daughter. But June, weak in depth, concealed, revealing only partially her whole. So Haley decides to bring June's urn to California, the place where Haley thinks June wanted be set free. In comes along June's trusty side kick and best friend, Laney, and the mystical Jake Tolan, who has an apparent connection with June. Together they set off for a roadtrip of a lifetime, a roadtrip of undetermined length and spontaneous decisions. But a roadtrip for one sole purpose, and that is to save June.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a book review

Author: Stephen Chbosky
Pages: 213
Year Published: 1999
Rating: A hearty 4/ 5 stars
Goodreads / Amazon / Trailer   

The problem was nobody was there to play Rocky, the muscular robot (I'm not quite sure what he is). After looking around at everybody, Mary Elizabeth turned to me.
"Charlie, how many times have you seeen the show?"
"Ten."
"Do you think you can play Rocky?"
"I'm not cut and hunky."
"It doesn't matter. Can you play him?"
                                                                            "I guess."
                                                                            "Do you guess or do you know?"
                                                                            "I guess."                                  
                                                                            "Good enough."                                                        

Charlie (sighing)

Charlie (chuckling softly)

Charlie.

Sometimes, it's that book that's all weird and unstructured and messy that draws you in. And this is one of them.

Charlie is a freshman. He is also very socially awkward, but very aware of what surrounds him. Or more like unaware that he is aware. He notices the little details that people leave out, and he perceives the silent emotions emitting from a person's soul.

Book Review: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Pages: 550

Year Published: 2006

 Rating: The world...

"The notes were born on her breath, and they died at her lips."

 

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

I finished this book with my back propped against a pillow, my legs resting on my bed. I finished this book with a sweater draped over my chest, and my hair in a ponytail. I finished this book to the cracklings of the heating, the whistling of the wind. I finished this book surrounded by darkness but bathed in light. I finished this book and did not know what to do next.

I didn't even cry. I didn't, but I could feel the tears inside of me, stuck yet traveling across my body, slowly and with morose. And I don't know, maybe I'm exaggerating my emotions, but I'm not. This book, this modest book with freshly worn edges and a few wrinkled pages has taught me so much. It has taught me, shown me, softened me and strengthened me.

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)

Author: Laini Taylor

Pages: 417

Year Published: 2011

My rating: An undeniable 5/5 stars!

Quick synopsis from Goodreads:
Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

Sometimes, you forget what a good book can do to you. Pounding heart, wide eyes, shortened breath. Daughter of Smoke and Bone revived that feeling in me.

From the turn of the first page, I was sucked into a mysterious world, boldly crafted by Laini Taylor. This is the kind of book in which you have no idea what to expect. The synopsis gave away nothing, which was perfect, because you actually had the freedom to roam around in your own thoughts, your own imagination, and think about all the different possibilities this story could take in. And the writing. Rich, velvety, deep. Yet not overly excessive. Taylor is an amazing storyteller that isn't afraid to show originality.

Book Review: How to Save a Life

Author: Sara Zarr

Pages: 341

Year Published: 2011

Quote: "Sometimes the road home is the hardest to find"

Quick synopsis from Goodreads:
Jill MacSweeney just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she’s been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends—everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she’s somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one. Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted—to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she’s sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It’s harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too? As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy—or as difficult—as it seems.

Before I read the last 50 pages or so of this book, I thought I had already set my mind on my thoughts for it. And trust me, they were good thoughts. But then, all the storyline slowly unraveled down into a sort of unnatural ending. So now I am torn. I do not know whether or not I should still love this book. The things a bad ending can do...

I have read all of Sara Zarr's book. Story of a Girl, Once was Lost, Sweethearts. None of them appealed to me, yet when I laid my eyes on How to Save a Life at the library, I knew I just had to read it. And so began a journey with a book that I had low hopes for, but remained open hearted to. And wow, after a few dozens pages, I thought I had found my book. The story, the characters, the details... They just fit so right, so at ease.

Book Review: The Queen of Kentucky

Author: Alecia Whitaker

Pages: 375

Year Published: 2012

My Rating: 3.5/ 5 stars!

Quick Synopsis from Goodreads:
Fourteen-year-old Kentucky girl Ricki Jo Winstead, who would prefer to be called Ericka, thank you very much, is eager to shed her farmer's daughter roots and become part of the popular crowd at her small town high school. She trades her Bible for Seventeen magazine, buys new "sophisticated" clothes and somehow manages to secure a tenuous spot at the cool kids table. She's on top of the world, even though her best friend and the boy next door Luke says he misses "plain old Ricki Jo." Caught between being a country girl and wannabe country club girl, Ricki Jo begins to forget who she truly is: someone who doesn't care what people think and who wouldn't let a good-looking guy walk all over her. It takes a serious incident out on Luke's farm for Ricki Jo to realize that being a true friend is more important than being popular.

Well, Alice Whitaker, you got me. You went beyond what I was excepting, and wrote an ostensibly cliché book into a one of a kind, one that you could call your own.

After reading the synopsis and the first few chapters, I thought I had the whole book figured out. First, Ricki Jo would be that awkward new girl at school, but then would slowly blossom into one of the "populars". Then she would catch the attention of her since-the-school-year-started crush, the hot but actually not hot bad boy Wolf. While their relationship developed, Luke, Ricki Jo's lifelong best friend, would be watching silently from the side (but not in a stalker-ish way) wishing that Ricki Jo would realize that he is the one who is truly for her. Then, several turn of events, including the realization that Wolf is actually a jerk, would lead to our naive yet oh so charming protagonist to discover that Luke was the one she should've loved from the beginning. The two would then have a heart-felt conversation, kiss, and live happily ever after.
 
Well, needless to say, this book was not like what it seemed.

Would you judge a person like you judge a book?

When I was young, I used to judge a book by its content, not by the number of praises it had. I always looked at the synopsis, and I found books with snippets of positive reviews in the back rather annoying.

Well, times have changed, and so have my perspective on the world- and books. These days, I am more attracted to books with plenty of praises in the back, or that have received many awards. I still look at the sypnosis, but the praises make up a bigger part of my decision to whether or not I should borrow it.