Book Blog #42: White Fang by Jack London

Title: White Fang
Author: Jack London
# of Pages: 252 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Classics, Adventure, Animals
Rating:★★★★★
Synopsis: FIERCE. FEARED.

White Fang is part dog, part wolf-and the only one of five tiny cubs to survive. In his lonely world, he soon learns to follow the harsh law of the north-kill or be killed. 

But nothing in White Fang's life can prepare him for the cruel owner who buys him and turns him into a vicious killer-a pit dog. forced to fight for money.

Will White Fang ever know the kindness of a gentle master or will he die a fierce killer?

Review: So, let me give it to you straight; I'm not a big fan of classics. At all. Like, all those layers, the symbolism? Not my thing. And Jack London? I've defiantly heard of him. I even tried reading one of his books, Call of the Wild.

Key word: tried.

In short, I wasn't very enthusiastic in reading this book. And what's up with addiction to wolves? A lot of people like them, but I would prefer the soft, furry puppies that I know and love. The cover, on the other hand, was something to be enthusiastic about. It's very artistic y'know?

The first thing I see when I open the book is an introduction from K.A. Applegate (well, actually, the first thing I saw was the title page, then a list of Scholastic classics, another title page, and the verso), who I know as the author of Eve and Adam. I found that it was one of the most enlightening introductions I have ever read (which is great, but not that big of an achievement considering the fact that it was one of the few introductions I actually read).

So then finally I get to the actual book. And even though it took me a whole week to read it, I actually enjoyed it. A lot.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So it starts out with these two dudes who have a bunch of sleigh dogs. But there's this pack of hungry wolves and a reddish color dog kept bringing the dogs to the pack and eating them. So one of the guys dies and the other guys almost dies, blah blah blah. Then you get to hear more about the reddish dog and how there are three dogs hitting on her. One of them is, like, really young, the other has one eye, and the last one is just some youngish one.

This part was really epic. One-eye and youngish one team up and kill the really young one, and then One-eye kills Youngish! And then She-wolf has the hots for One-eye and have pups together. And, of course, one of those pups is our very own White Fang!

It really surprised me that White was introduced so late into the book. But, hey, fine with me! It's kinda cool to see how everyone is connected. So, One-eye ends up dying and so do White Fang's siblings. And White Fang goes exploring and finds man, who are described as gods. His mom finds him and it is revealed that her name is Kiche. I found the way humans were described very...revealing. I never really thought about how the relationship between man and dog might feel different to the animal than to us.

Gray Beaver acts like a weirdo and gets drunk, eventually selling White Fang to stupid Beauty. And then Beauty is EXTRA mean, making White Fang fight. I was wondering when he was actually going to become a pit dog...it didn't seem like he was going to for the longest time (I read the back cover, y'know?). But he does and then FINALLY he is saved by a new owner!

I love, love, LOVE the ending! When he was learning to love and to be loved, I almost cried. It was so adorable!!!!

"White Fang had ceased eating, lost heart, and allowed every dog of the team to thrash him. In the cabin he lay on the floor near the stove, without interest in food, in Matt, nor in life...And then, one night, Matt...was startled by a low whine from White Fang...A moment later, Matt heard a footstep. The door opened, and Weedon Scott stepped in. The two men shook hands. Then Scott looked around the room.

'Where's the wolf?' he asked.

Then he discovered him, standing where he had been lying, near to the stove. He had not rushed forward after the manner of other dogs. He stood, watching and waiting.

'Holy smoke!' Matt exclaimed. 'Look at 'm was his tail!...He never looked at me that way all the time you was gone.'...What of his joy, the great love in him, ever surging and struggling to express itself succeeded in finding a new mode of expression. He suddenly thrust his head forward and nudged his way in between the master's arm and body. And here, confined, hidden from view all except his ears, no longer growling, he continued to nudge and snuggle" -White Fang, 203.

I thought that the above quote was one of the cutest things! I loved that. So much. Another thing I really loved is that the dog doesn't die at the end. Jeez, what a relief.

SPOILERS END

So, you kind of have to read the book yourself to understand why it's such a good book. The first few chapters might be hard to read, but once you get to the part that focuses more on the dogs (I think it's about Chapter 4), it gets really good! And the chapters are really short, so it won't take that long to get to that point.

Just read it.

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Read the first draft here

Book Blog #41: Paper Town by John Green

Title: Paper Town
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 305 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary
Rating:★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

Review: Honestly? This was my least favorite John Green book so far. But it's probably my own fault. I didn't do my research and realize that one of the genres was mystery.

See, the cover looked so innocent! There was a nice little map with a big ol' push pin! And the title, Paper Towns, sounded so cute! Note that I didn't know what a paper town was at the time.

SPOILERS BEGIN

The only time I had to read this week was at night. I thought it was going to be a pleasant nighttime read, so you can imagine my horror when Margo and Q found that dead guy. And when Margo told Q to close the window and Q said that it was as if Margo saw a ghost, I flipped out. So I thought it'd be a good idea to read the back cover which said a bunch of stuff about discovering the real Margo. This added to my panic because I thought FOR SURE that Margo was going to be some ghost seer or something. And I hate ghosts!

By now, you can tell that I probably the biggest wimp ever.

Luckily (or unluckily for me. To save myself from further terror, I refused to read this book only during the day when, incidentally, I didn't have very much time to read, thus the five days it took me to finish a three-hundred page book) that wasn't what the book was about at all, but it didn't help that Q kept suggesting that Margo killed herself! This probably wasn't a good book for me.

Is it just me or did Margo seem a lot like Alaska (from Looking for Alaska) and Q seem like Miles (also from LfA)? Margo and Alaska seemed daring while the dudes were both wimpy, "perfect", and sheltered.

What I DID like was the familiarity of Green's writing style. He never fails to makeme laugh SOMEWHERE in his book My favorite part was when the people on the rode trip realized that Radar had to wear a Confederate shirt!

SPOILERS END

All that aside, this wasn't his finest work. But in his defense, Green wrote this in 2009. He improved a lot since then.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #40: Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

Title: Eve and Adam
Author: Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
# of Pages: 291 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating:★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: And girl created boy…

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?

Review: Alright, I have to admit it; the cover is freakin' amazing. I mean, look at how awesome and science fiction-y that apple look! This is what grabbed my attention. That and the fact that Grant cow rote it. Not that I think he's a fantastic writer or anything. In fact, it took me a while to get used to his writing style in the first book I read of his, Gone. As far as the other author, I didn't recognize it. Apparently, she's married to Grant. Go figure. But, whatever, it'll probably be a pretty good book, right?

Wrong. The plot was a mess. The authors focused on all the wrong details. There wasn't enough development. And who the heck is this Solo guy, anyway? Hello, it's called EVE and ADAM, not Eve and SOLO! I just don't get why he's our leading guy. It should have been Adam. Jeez.

Speaking of leading character, I hated the POV switching between the two (Eve and Solo. And Adam, at the end. But that would make three protagonists, so let's not count him). If you've read my Legend review, you know that I REALLY hate poor executed POV switches, especially in first person. But if you've also read my Under the Never Sky review (and yes, if you've noticed, I AM promoting my other reviews. Is it that obvious?), you know that I DO like POV switches in third person. Now, that does not mean that I will like ALL third person POV switches; I'm saying that, so far, it's better to write in third person if you're going to. But, then again, if you suck at writing in third person, then write in first. Or second. I don't know; don't listen to me. I have no idea what I'm saying.

Onto my next point: the romance was cheesy. Not sure if that's the right word to use or not. But a good novel with romance in it (note the difference from a romance novel) makes you feel the chemistry between the character. I felt nothing. And what's with the whole "Adams the perfect guy" thing? The way he was described did not fit the image of MY perfect guy. I doubt that every single little person in this book would disagree with me.

I really, really hope there isn't a sequel. And hopefully I've learned my lesson; don't judge a book by its cover.

I'm adding an extra star because of the cover. Not that that's fair to the other books over reviews, but whatever. Life isn't fair.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #39: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
# of Pages: 288 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Realistic Fiction, Mental Illness
Rating:★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss—her life—and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend’s memory and feeling guilty for not being able to help save her. In her most powerfully moving novel since Speak, awardwinning author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all—hope.

Review: Well, gosh. This book was surprisingly depressing. It shouldn't have been though, surprising. I knew what this book was before I began reading.

The cover looks mysterious and...ice-like, I guess. Seems like an appropriate cover according the the title.

The big thing that I really didn't like about this book was how the protagonist came about her solution to her problems. Not everyone is going to see ghosts of her best friend who died  (which was another thing that I didn't like. I wish the author supplied more details about the best friend before she died. Ad not in those out-of-order flashbacks either).

I'm having a really hard time writing a view about this book, though. The reason? Anorexia is a sensitive topic to, well, most people. The extent of my knowledge about it is none of your concern. But I really didn't enjoy reading this book. Some of you reading might love this book, whether you can relate to it or not. I didn't. So don't tell me that I'm wrong or I can't understand something. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #38: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 231 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:★★★★☆
Synopsis: Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

Review: It's weird; the book is similar to TFIOS yet it is nothing like it. I mean, not to sound vague on purpose or anything. It seemed like a nice way to start off a review at the time, but no it just sounds confusing. Forget it.

I remember when I found this book at the bookstore. I looked at the cover and thought, "What the heck is THAT?!" It seemed like steam or something completely unrelated to looking for something (I didn't read the back cover). But I get it now. It's smoke! ...right? Smoke from a cigarette.

I had very, very high expectations for this book. I mean, it's JOHN GREEN, the author of TFIOS! Bt I guess I should have lowered my expectations since this book was written BEFORE his master piece.

I'll start with the bad stuff. The role-modeling factor was bad. There's smoking, drinking, bad language, reckless driving, etc. I personally did not like the fact that Green made it seem that all teenagers did this stuff (see list in pervious sentence). I wish he tossed in more rule FOLLOWERS instead of rule BREAKERS. Just for variety.

Another thing I didn't like was the plot line. It seemed to be all over the place. Half of the time, I couldn't even figure out the point of it all. I suppose it's about Pudge finding the Great Perhaps, but I don't know. Before seemed to be a lot of development and nonsense fluffy while After was the actually meat of the story. And yet the After was smaller than the Before. Weird.

Now to the positive stuff. The constant countingdown of days because it left the reader wondering what was going to happen. And I really like how the readers can relate with the characters. Sometimes. Like the quote below:

"I hated discussion classes. I hated talking,  and I hated listening to everyone else stumble on their words and try to phrase things in the vaguest possible way so they wouldn't sound dumb, and I hated how it was all just a game of trying to figure out what the teacher wanted to hear and then saying it. I'm the teacher, so teach me." -Page 32-33

Besides the obvious fact that Pudge is complaining (which I think annoys everyone because no one wants to hear someone complain all the time), I totally get that. I also wish that all classes would be lecture classes. And that's why I love Green so much.

But, despite all that, I have to knock off a star. It just wasn't amazing like TFIOS.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #37: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Title: Tiger's Curse
Author: Colleen Houck
# of Pages: 403 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Romance, Paranormal-Fantasy
Rating:★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

Review: IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S STARING INTO MY SOUL. The cover is freaky. Like, really freaky. Imagine waking up every morning, and then glancing over to your bedside table to see THAT. It might not seem that scary on your screen, but your probably haven't just woken up from a deep sleep not exactly knowing what going on.

Like usual, I'm writing this review based on my notes, so I'm sorry if its really choppy.

SPOILERS AHEAD

It's really, really obvious that the tiger is the prince. The prologue, the extremely tame tiger, and it's human like actions are all clear signs that its not a regular tiger. So when it was revealed that he was Ren the prince, it felt like a magic trick gone wrong.

Our protagonist, Kelsey, is not all that bright. I don't care what kind of instinct you have, you DO NOT touch a tiger without a professional handler around. And even then, it's not safe. She's an idiot! It also seems really unrealistic that she'll just up and go to Indai with a strange man that she hasn't know for very long and a tiger. And who in the right mind would send an eighteen year-old girl who has pretty much not training as a handler to India to help the tiger settle in?

The author concentrates on too many little details. Like how fantastic the plane is. Or how awesome Ren's house is. I don't really care! Why does Kelsey have all this free time, anyway?

So, I was looking at the praise for the book and I noticed that two talked about how it's like Twilight. This freaks me out. If there's someone out there linking this book to Twilight,  then it must be really similar in some way. And, what do you know? It is! There's the stupid love triangle and a guy who's really old, but looks really young. And Bella's kind of an airhead, just like Kelsey!

Speaking of Kelsey, you know what really annoyed me? The fact that she ordered Ren to call her Kells. It's not cute if the other person didn't make it up!!! And the dialogue is really weird.

"'My favorite style, though, is the way you were wearing it earlier when you had it draped across both of your ram loosely. That way, I get the full effect of your exquisite hair tumbling down your back.'" (Pg 131).

Okay, seriously you guys? Exquisite hair tumbling down your back? I mean, who talks like that? ONLY FANTASY GUYS IN CHEESY ROMANCE BOOKS!

The action scenes are poorly written. I don't feel the suspense at all! You know they're going to survive, been there, done that.

I don't get the big deal about Kelsey leaving. Why is she leaving, anyway? It's not like she's doing anything important at home. Sure, she can say all that crap about Ren not being independent enough without her, but personally, I think he'd do fine. Who needs Kelsey, anyway?

Something else I noticed was that there wasn't really a bad guy. Sure you can probably find the opposing side, but it's not very obvious. This, in particular, bugged me. I love reading about the bad guys! They're usually brilliant masterminds (although I wouldn't set my expectations too high for one in this book) that are SO much smarter than the protagonist. Well, that is, until they're beaten at the end.

Of course, I could rant on. But I think of bored you enough. I DO NOT recommend this book!

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #36: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
# of Pages: 376 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered.

This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent energy storms will. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must come together to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

Review: Alright, you guys. What happened to her legs? If you look really closely at the cover, you could see that they're cut off. Weird. Other than that, it's very eye catching. Loved the colors too.

Now let's quickly move on to the content.

 There have to be a billion words that Rossi just threw at me without an explanation. Sure, maybe some of them were explained later on (some of them later than other's), but by that time, I didn't really care. Well, I did, but I'm trying to say that it was too late.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Also, I noticed a few mistakes/stuff I didn't like. The scene when Roar is introduced into the story was too fast paced. Some of the beginning scenes where Perry shows sights of liking Aria were really, really cheesy.At the Box, Aria said that she took the elevator up to the roof when Perry clearly stated earlier that the elevator only went down, which is why it didn't have any buttons. I thought at first that maybe there was more than one elevator, but they both called it THE elevator. And when did Aria learn to read?

Sorry I put that all in a giant, wordy clump. But now I want to get to the awesome stuff.

I frickin' burst out laughing when Perry smelled Aria wanted to touch him and stuff. And when they finally get together was absolutely cute, cute, cute!!! I'm almost cried, it was so awesome. And the ending, my gosh, I can totally see it all in a movie. AWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, and the was this quote:

"Perry tipped his chin at Roar. 'I need you.' Roar followed him without question. He explained what he wanted in the elevator."

I just thought it sounded funny.

Let's give it 4.5 stars

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Read the original post here!

Book Blog #35: Legend by Marie Lu

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
# of Pages: 320 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. 

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Review: Oh jeez. This is going to take a while.

The cover looks fantastic. Very clean, neat, and futuristic looking. This is why I bought the book; the cover's awesome. But I should have learned my lesson from Grave Mercy, the other time I read a book based on it's cover. I should have read the back.

My rant begins with the Trials. What are these things, anyway? Lu barely explains them in the beginning, and, although she provides a little more depth later, it's still not very clear what EXACTLY they are.

And what's up with these names? Day and June? Lu must have been staring at the calendar when writing. Day and June are our two lovely protagonist. The whole book is written in first person, but switches POVs ever chapter. I don't know, some authors can pull it off. But not Lu. No way. Absolutely not. It seems to me that Lu is an amateur writer who can't tell a story without having TWO people telling the story instead of one. Do you get what I'm trying to say? It was an bad decision as an author to use two points of view.

"The minutes drag on. I tuck my slingshot away and play a few rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Tess. (I don't know why, but she's crazy good at this game.)" -Page 9

How old are they, five? It's sounds like they play Rock, Paper, Scissors a lot. WHY ARE THEY WASTING PRECIOUS TIME DOING THAT WHEN THEY SHOULD BE CONCENTRATION ON THEIR SURVIVAL?!

Metias, June's brother, has to be bipolar. One moment, he's got a stick up his butt and is all mad at June (because she misbehaved), but the moment someone agrees with him, he's all "Don't be so hard on her!" Can't look like the bad guy, huh, Metias?

"When I was seven years  old...I dipped a ball of crushed ice in to a can of gasoline, let the oil coat the ice in a thick layer, and lit it. Then I launched it with a slingshot through the window of our local police headquarters...They never found out who did it...I had committed my first perfect crime." -Page 22.

Wow. The security of the police headquarters must be really bad or something because I REALLY doubt that a seven year old can commit and so called "perfect" crime without get caught.

Y'know, all this complaining about the rich/poor people really gets on my nerves. Sure, you might think that the poor are filthy and the rich are snotty, but don't you have anything better to think about?

I found it surprising that no one knew the faintest detail of what Day looked like. He's committed so many crimes, you'd think they'd at least get a better guess at his skin color.

I noticed all of these points mentioned about in the first eighty pages. Now onto the rest.

I wish the characters would stop talking TO me. Just tell me your story and go away. Here's an example of when June asked me a question:

"How did he break into this bank in ten seconds, with four armed guards at the back entrance?" 

I don't know, June. How DID he do that? Why don't YOU tell ME? It's your story, isn't it? So you should tell it! This is all really, really stupid. That's the thing; Lu tries to make her characters equally smart. Which, I guess, makes sense SINCE THEY'RE BOTH EQUALLY STUPID!!!

Day is constantly meeting his brother (John) behind the house. I'm surprised that his mom doesn't question his actions. I mean, John mysterious gets some...stuff for Eden to help him recover and his mom doesn't push John to reveal where he got it from? Speaking of Eden, Day thinks that he's Eden's only chance of survival when he's not. Eden could recover on his own! Anythings possible.

I found it incredibly unrealistic that June could just spend, what, three days in a poor sector and suddenly WHAM! Your an instant beggar. This is, of course, how June meets Day. And it makes me sick, sick, sick! They have that instant attraction thing, and Day trusts her almost immediately. I knew he was a fool, but I thought he would have a little common sense. And that kissing thing...it's just not right.

So, yeah. If you couldn't tell, I didn't like this book. It might be good for, like, fourth graders, or something. But not me, no way.

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Read the first draft here!