Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson Author: John Green and David Levithan # of Pages: 310 (paperback) Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis: will grayson, meet will grayson One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical ever to grace the high school stage. Review: This review contains spoilers about writing style. Plot spoilers will be hidden.
This book contains sexual content, foul language, and other mature content. If you don't think you can handle that, look elsewhere.
I almost gave this book two stars. Through most of the book, I was pretty confident with my decision. It wasn't until I reached the last ten pages did I suddenly change my mind and gave three. The ending was touching!
When I read the first two chapters of this book, I noticed a distinction between them in writing style. Since this book is co-written, I had a sneaking suspicion that John wrote every other chapter with David writing the chapters John did not...
I finally decided to it up and find out once and for all if I was correct and if my theory that the odd numbered chapters were written by John (as they seemed to have his writing style). And, what do you know? I was indeed correct.
I was not impressed with what Levithan did with his chapters. Pretty much all of his chapters were in lowercase (yes, including the words in the beginning of the sentence) and the dialogue was in chatroom format, even when the characters were not talking in a chatroom. I understand that the author may have intended the writing style to reflect the his Will Grayson, but it was just really annoying and made it harder for me to connect to the characters. There are more effective ways to show aspects of a character, and this isn't one of them.
However, there was one quote I enjoyed from Levithan's chapters:
-"we're always having this conversation. but if we keep focusing on why you have it so bad, you'll never realize how you could have it so good." (Levithan 243).
I noticed that will grayson didn't have a lot of self-confidence and, to be frank, was annoyingly depressed most of the time. This quote accurately demonstrates what I think of depression. People, including me sometimes, are always thinking about how terrible their life is and don't pay attention to the great parts of their life. will grayson, for example, has a GREAT boyfriend and an accepting mother, but he doesn't appreciate them as much as he should. will grayson is one of those people who thinks that no one, such as Tiny, can possible understand the "misery" he feels. However, just because Tiny is happy a lot of the time doesn't mean he doesn't feel the pains of life. The difference between Tiny and will is that Tiny is willing to enjoy life. He isn't going to let the bad part of life get him down because, after all, you only live once. You might as well have fun doing it.
Even though this is not one of my favorite John Green books, I do recommend it. Among the crappy, cheesy writing, there are some really deep messages that I thought were portrayed very well in this book. If you read the whole book and one off these messages gets through to you, then that's all that matters.
Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Author: J.K. Rowling # of Pages: 759 (hardback) Genre: YA, Adventure, Fantasy Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis: 'His hand closed automatically around the fake Horcrux, but in spite of everything, in spite of the dark and twisting path he saw stretching ahead for himself, in spite of the final meeting with Voldemort he knew must come, whether in a month, in a year, or in ten, he felt his heart lift at the thought that there was still one last golden day of peace left to enjoy with Ron and Hermione.' With these words "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" draws to a close. And here, in this seventh and final book, Harry discovers what fate truly has in store for him as he inexorably makes his way to that final meeting with Voldemort. In this thrilling climax to the phenomenally bestselling series, J.K. Rowling will reveal all to her eagerly waiting readers. Review: This book, my friends, used to be my favorite book of all time. The book seemed to be spotless, the definition of perfection. It had amazed me so much that I was unable to read anything for two whole days (which is a really long time for me)!
But a second reading revealed that it is not as amazing as I once perceived it. In order to give this book a fair review, I took notes while I read. These notes will include spoilers (of course) and will make up most of my review.
Notes
*This is the completely non-edited version of my notes, other than some basic formatting.
DEATH TOLL
•Charity Burbage (Ex-Hogwarts teacher)
•Hedwig
•Mad-Eye
•Scrimgeour (Minister)
•Gregorovitch
•Bathilda
•Dobby
•Crabbe
•Fred
•Snape
•Lupin
•Tonks
•Colin Creevey
•Horcruxes
•Etc. (Including the fifty others who died fighting Voldemort).
NOTES
"'I don't think you're a waste of space.'" Dudley Dursley, page 40.
I have to agree with Aunt Petunia; that was pretty sweet of him.
"...there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front of him. Fred and George turned to each other and said together, 'Wow — we're identical!'" (51).
I just really love Fred and George!
-Hedwig's death, while still very sad in the book, is more heroic in the movie. I was a little disappointed to find out that the book portrayed her death in this way (I remembered the movie version clearer than the book).
-When Kingsley questioned Lupin to see if he wasn't an imposter, shouldn't have Lupin said it back?
"'How do you feel, Georgie?' whispered Mrs. Weasley. 'Saintlike,' he murmured. 'What's wrong with him?' croaked Fred, looking terrified. 'Is his mind affected?' 'Saintlike,' repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. 'You see...I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?'" (74).
This is a pretty well-known quote, but I still love it!
"'When I get married,' said Fred, tugging at the collar of his own robes, 'I won't be bothering with any of this nonsense...'" (138).
This made me really sad...
-Why would Lupin make Harry the godfather? Isn't he a bit young? Doesn't Lupin have any more mature friends to trust his child with?
-Evil guy pretends to be generous but pays for the consequence later cliché (aka, Voldemort waiting until midnight to get Harry Potter)
"'Are you a wizard or what?'" (651, Hermione to Ron).
^I love this quote because it ties back to the first book near the end, and Ron had said to Hermione, "Are you a witch or what?" Or something along those lines.
"Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic as he asked, 'Are you intending to let him hurt you?' 'Certainly not. You must kill me.' There was a long silence, broken only by an off clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix was gnawing a bit of cutter one. 'Would you like me to do it now?' asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. 'Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?'" (683).
^Snape is so great! XD
-Why does Voldemort have to kill Harry?
"'After all this time?' 'Always,' said Snape." (687).
I didn't realize this quote came from Deathly Hallows!!! It almost made me cry!
-I'm so happy Harry fixed his old wand! I didn't like any of the other ones he had obtained.
-Does Snape get a picture in the Headmaster office? Even though he was a headmaster for a very short time, I think he should get the honor. Plus then Harry might be able to talk to him through his picture...
-The epilogue was a little weird. Very few authors can pull off the what-happened-to-the-characters-after-they-married-and-had-kids ending, and I'm not sure if Rowling quite pulled it off. A whole bunch of names were thrown at me, and I found it completely unnecessary. Sometimes the fate of the characters after the end of their adventure should be left to the reader.
---end of notes---
I thought the final battle with Voldemort was really...short. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. Harry's "death" wasn't as stunning to me as it was the first time I read it; for some reason, I had been really impressed that Harry was able to pretend to be dead while he could hear his friends' reaction to his supposed death.
The two biggest deaths that I found the saddest was Fred's and Snape's. It's hard to imagine a George without Fred; the two of the are an amazing duo and were among my favorite characters. I was doing a little research and found out that George marries Angelina Johnson and has a son named Fred...that really touched my heart. (Don't tell George, but I favored Fred slightly more than George!).
Now, Snape is a very interesting character. I can't remember my exact view on his character, but I do remember being very confused on if he was a friend or a foe. After all, he WAS extremely mean to Harry. However, the answer is clear now; Snape is a friend. Snape had a bad childhood, especially with his parents always fighting. The lack of parental support may have led to his misguided choices of joining the Death Eaters. However, unlike our antagonist, Voldemort, Snape can feel love. He feels compassion for Lily, who may have been one of his closest friends. Even though he dislikes James, he is willing to watch over Harry. True, he was cruel to Harry at times, but that was to disguise his true intentions. And, eventually, he even cared a little for Harry. Everyone deserves a second chance, and Snape used it well.
Deathly Hallows is still a great book, although my perception of it's image is slightly degraded. I am still willing to give it five star because of the emotional turmoil it was able to inflict on me, although not in the same way it did the first time.
And now, I have completed the Harry Potter series for the second and perhaps last time in my life.
Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Author: J.K. Rowling # of Pages: 652 (hardback) Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis:The war against Voldemort is not going well; even the Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses. And yet, as with all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate—and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort—and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability. Review: Oh jeez. The Harry Potter series really does evolve from the first book to now into something different.
I had almost forgotten that this book was the one that contained Dumbledore's death, although I did remember before it happened. But I had forgotten that Snape was the one to do the deed, so it was a shock when I read it. I thought it was something involving the Horcux, like during Dumbledore and Harry's adventure to retrieve it.
The retrieval of Slughorn's memory did not seem to be as crucial as Dumbledore depicted it to be. Although it does a great job of explaining what Horcruxes are to the reader, it only serves Dumbledore in telling him how many Horcruxes Tom Riddle created. But I don't think even Dumbledore could have been sure that Tom would have mentioned that piece of information in his conversation with Slughorn. Harry on his own would have found the memory extremely beneficial as he does not know what Horcruxes are up to that point, but Dumbledore could have just as easily told him.
On a lighter note, here are some quotes that I liked!
"On the other hand, the Prince had proved a much more effective teacher than Snape so fat" (Rowling 239).
I really liked this quote because it's humorous to those who have read the book more than once (or have somehow found out that Snape is the Half-Blood Prince). After all, the Prince and Snape are the same person.
"...what if Ron and Hermione started going out together..." (283).
I love this mostly because I love HermionexRon. End of story.
Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Author: J.K. Rowling # of Pages: 870 (hardback) Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis:Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His best friends Ron and Hermione have been very secretive all summer and he is desperate to get back to school and find out what has been going on. However, what Harry discovers is far more devastating than he could ever have expected... Review: In case anyone didn't know, this book is the longest book in the series. It's also one of three Harry Potter books that I have in hardback.
It's hard to carry this thing around with me
It's so easy for me to slip into the world of Harry Potter; I laugh when it's funny and cry when it's sad. Rowling spent way too much time writing details on the beginning bit and that was really, really boring for me.
Harry has some major emotional problems, which is understandable; he's experienced a lot in his short fifteen years of his life. But that doesn't prevent me from thinking that he should just calm down. He throws a lot of tantrums throughout the book...I wish he'd handle frustrating situations a little bit better.
Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Author: J.K. Rowling # of Pages: 734 (paperback) Genre: YA, Adventure, Fantasy Rating: ★★★★☆ Synopsis: The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there are spells to be learnt, potions to be brewed and Divination lessons (sigh) to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march... Review: Jeez, Rowling disappointed me with this one. I just couldn't give this one five stars.
So far, out of the four books I have reread, this one is my least favorite. It doesn't help that Rowling increased the size of her books by three-hundred-ish pages.
First off, I don't like the beginning. I hate it when the reader knows information that is unknown to the majority of the characters in the book. Harry is oblivious as to what happened to Bertha until the end bit, but I knew she was dead from the start because of that first scene with Frank!
Harry's weird obsession with Cho seemed a bit odd to me too. She's not even an important character; I don't know that much about her! Yet the protagonist can't seem to stop thinking about her. It's a little annoying.
What is up with the Triwizard thing? If they've had fatalities with this tournament before, who was the stupid person who decided to bring it back? And look what happens on its return: the death of Cedric! This tournament doesn't make any sense; why should it take the place of Quidditch? It's liking telling a high school with a huge sports program to disband their football team for a year. Quidditch involves a greater number of the student body than this dangerous and rather boring tournament. There's only three rather short tasks through the course of a year! Seems like a rip-off to me.
On a more positive note, Cedric's death was more maudlin than the first time I read it. I almost cried when I pictured the scene in the movie with shovel-face Robert Pattinson as Cedric when he's hit with the killing curse.
I pray for improvement in the next book. Of course I'm going to recommend it; if you've gotten to book four, you're pretty committed to the series anyway.
Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Author: J.K. Rowling # of Pages: 435 (paperback) Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis: Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has already survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. But his hopes for a quiet term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It's assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it a coincidence that he can feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney's ghoulish predictions seriously? Review: Not sure what to say in this review other than what I've said in the first two. This is another fantastic book that is hard NOT to read. Instead of doing more important things, I found myself sprawled across my bed for hours reading chapter after chapter of this book.
It's like a drug, an addiction I can't possibly get over. Everything plays out so perfectly; in my mind's eye, I can see scenes from the movie as I read the words off the page.
Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Author: J.K. Rowling # of Pages: 341 (paperback) Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis: The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike. And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girl's bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble beings, and someone--or something--starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself. Review: Another great book from Rowling. After reading it for the second time, I am beginning to understand the story a lot more than the first time I read it. The only problem is that I have a hard time figuring out if the plot is being too predictable, or if it's just me slowly remembering what was happening the book.
SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE SERIES! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Of course, upon reading the book the first time, I didn't know that Ginny and Harry were going to get together later on in the series. But since I DO know this, I realized how cute it was that Harry saved Ginny! Rowling was shipping her characters from the very beginning. Even Ron and Hermione, as shown by Ron rushing to the infirmary after hearing that Hermione was cured from her petrified state.
There was also that huge hint that Harry was a horcrux as Dumbledore tells Harry that he can speak Parcetongue because Voldemort is inside of him.
Kind of unrelated to the book, but do you know how many times I had to google all of these terms to make sure I spelled all of the right? A lot of times. It just goes to show how far I've fallen out of the Harry Potter fandom since I watched the last movie.
