Book Blog #91: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Title: Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
# of Pages: 512 (paperback)
Genre: Classics, Historical Fictions, Literature
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: In an overgrown churchyard, a grizzled convict springs upon an orphan named Pip. The convict terrifies the young boy and threatens to kill him unless Pip helps further his escape. Later, Pip finds himself in the ruined garden where he meets the bitter and crazy Miss Havisham and her foster child Estella, with whom he immediately falls in love. After a secret benefactor gives him a fortune, Pip moves to London, where he cultivates great expectations for a life which would allow him to discard his impoverished beginnings and socialize with the idle upper class. As Pip struggles to become a gentleman and is tormented endlessly by the beautiful Estella, he slowly learns the truth about himself and his illusions.
Review: I regret that I will not be able to include all of my thoughts of this book in this review as it would take me a considerably long time to collect them all.

Despite the fact that it took me over a month to finish the book, I actually really enjoyed Great Expectations by the time I reached the ending.  However,  Dickens tends to write lengthy descriptions of situations that made parts of the book...boring.

What I found amazing is how all the characters have changed from the beginning of the story to the end.  Everyone grew in different ways and changed for better or for worse.  There are two endings for Great Expectations, and the one that Dickens had originally written for the story was not the one that most people read as the ending. I read both endings, and I liked the second ending  (that is more light-hearted than the original) considerably more.

I have to thank those who have forced me to complete this book; I would not have been able to finish without their encouragement. I would also like to thank Shmoop (it's beginning to sound like I won an Oscar or something) for supplying chapter by chapter summaries so I could better understand what the heck was going on in the detailed chapters that I read while I was half asleep.  I urge those who have not read it to do so sometime in the future, if only to enjoy the shock of the ending.

I do recommend this high-praised piece of literature, although not if you are not a fan of reading classics or anything Dickens.

Book Blog #90: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Fallen Angels
Author: Cassandra Clare
# of Pages: 424 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. Clary’s best friend, Simon, can’t help her—his mother just found out that he’s a vampire, and now he’s homeless. When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Review: Well, this book took me longer to read than I expected. I really wanted to finish reading Great Expectations (which I haven't yet. It's hard to get into than I thought it would be), so City of Fallen Angels took the backseat as far as reading priority.

However, since I was reading this book at the same time I was reading Great Expectations, it was a bit of a relief for me to read it. Unlike Dickens' book, it was so much easier to read Clare's book. However, that does not change the fact that there were plenty of flaws that plagues the pages that make up The Mortal Instruments's fourth book.

For example, it doesn't even feel like Clary is the protagonist before. Simon became a leading character, but the other charcters also had their fair share of time in the spot light. There was so much drama; Jace is having relationship problems with Clary, Simon with Isabelle and Maria, Maria with Jordan, Alec with Magnus, etc. It's exhausting to read about.

There was a lot more interaction between Jace and Simon. This in particular is something that I didn't like very much because Simon turned into a nagging mother, asking Jace if he was okay. And JACE! I don't even know who he is now. Jace Wayland? Morgenstern? Herondale? Lightwood? I'm pretty sure it's not Morgenstern because he is not directly related to Valentine, but, then again, he was raised by Valentine early on. Does that make he a Morganstern? It's a puzzle of names that I'm not going to even try to figure out (although I'm sure I can Google it and some sort of explanation will come up).

So, yeah. I'm sure that if you hated this series, you wouldn't have read this far. So, to all the TMI fans, read this book. But if you don't like the series, don't waste your time. It's an okay book, I guess (do you feel my confidence in my opinion?).

OTS #7: Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New Year! It's been a long time since I've written an OTS, but I had nothing better to do today so...

Kidding, kidding, relax! I just came across some great writing material and thought that I might share it with y'all. For the first time in ages, I was browsing the internet and came across a blog called chocopal. The first post immediately captured my attention:

I mean, it's HARRY POTTER! However, I'm a bit ashamed; I couldn't remember which book this one was. I had to Google it, and I figured out that it was the first one and also goes by a different title. This blog post also mentioned it later on. 

But the reason why I'm (in a way) reblogging this post is because of what was said really early on. I've been hearing the term Philosopher's Stone a lot recently because of the same reason why the blogger's sister knows of it.

"Me: Uhh… okay. Do you know anything about the Philosopher’s Stone? Before you read it, I mean?
Mimi: Yeah!
Me: *impressed* Really? How?
Mimi: Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Completely read my mind.

So, this post is actually a lot shorter than I expected it to be.  I might not be able to post a book blog for a while because I'm really trying to finish Great Expectations, and it's been a little hard...I've been limiting myself to a chapter a day on City of Fallen Angels, so that's going to take a while too...

Anyway, I hope you guys had a great year and that this year will be even better!

Book Blog # 89: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Title: Through the Ever Night
Author: Veronica Rossi
# of Pages: 341 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Romance, Dystopia
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: It's been months since Aria learned of her mother's death.

Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.

Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It's a moment they've been longing for with countless expectations. And it's a moment that lives up to all of them. At least, at first.

Then it slips away. The Tides don't take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry's control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist? Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?
Review: PLEASE: Read this book directly after reading Under the Never Sky.

I didn't take my own advise which is why I didn't like this book as much. I spent the first hundred pages trying to remember what happened in the first book, therefore not enjoying the book at all. It got to the point where I didn't feel connected to Aria and Perry's relationship, so their time together didn't seem as wonderful as it did in Under the Never Sky (from what little I can remember).

To make it worse, I actually liked the story MORE when Perry and Aria weren't together. Their separation made their relationship complicated, and it made Perry doubt Aria's love for him. For some reason, I just loved that.

Then, when they finally got back together, I was a little disgusted. I can really relate to Soren, especially when they say those cheesy lines to each other. Yuck.

I think I can officially say that I have fallen out of love with Aria x Perry. Sorry, Rossi, but I just didn't feel that magical spark that I usually do when I read about a happy couple. One reason may be because of Perry. He seems too mushy for a guy; he wouldn't be someone I would want to be with. But I guess what I want doesn't matter much (although I AM the reader who is buying the book and supporting the author, publishing company, etc.; I'm not going to be the one dating Perry. Aria, in contrast, was portrayed wonderfully. The same goes for Roar, Liv, Soren, and most of the other characters.

If you liked Under the Never Sky, then you'll like this one too. Although Through the Ever Night is not as great as Under the Never Sky, it's good enough to convince me to read Still Blue in the future.