Title: Shatter Me Author: Tahereh Mafi # of Pages: 340 (paperback) Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Synopsis:Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. Review:The book was terrible. This book was weird.
And to think that I was considering giving this book five stars.
The beginning was so good! I thought it was going to be one of my new favorite books. I had already planned out part of this review in my head; I was going to describe Shatter Me as "beautiful" and "artistic". But the romance ruined every thing. It was cheesy and cringe-worthy. And unfortunately made up 80% of the book.
Title: My Life Next Door Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick # of Pages: 394 (paperback) Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis:The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.
As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? Review: Well, I suppose it lived up to my expectations.
I had seen this book in an ad one day, and it's cute, refreshing-looking cover stayed in my mind ever since. Now, over a year later, I have finally gotten my hands on a copy and took the time to read it. I was hoping for a romance that was squeal worthy at least, but I didn't get my hopes up very high for a book who's focus is the romance.
Now, if you compare it to other YA romance books, such as Shiver, this one was quite good. Jase and Samantha's relationship is very cute (I'm not marking this as a spoiler because this fact is mentioned in the synopsis, and I would have hoped the anyone who hasn't read the book yet would have already assumed that the main guy and girl would get together in a romance novel)!
However, when it's compared to all the other books I've read in my life time, this one is just decent. The romance didn't satisfy me as much; I was a bit exhausted of romance in general from young adult novels. The ending had a lot of drama in it that, while making the book much more interesting, did not match the flow of the rest of the book.
Now, after I finished the book, I felt incomplete. Not all of the conflicts that arose were finished. When I found that there was going to be a sequel, I was relieved, but only for a moment. The second book would be from a different character's point-of-view, and any kind of POV change (whether it's in the middle of a book or in the middle of a series) bothers me.
One of the biggest unresolved conflicts was Samantha's relationship with Nan. I would have liked them to either have been friends again, or both come to the understand that their relationship could not go back to the way it was.
Other than the ending, I was disappointed of the lack of confidence Samantha had in herself. She knew what the right thing to do was, yet she caved into Clay and tried to distance herself from Jase and his family. Sure, I understand why she didn't speak up about her mother's wrong doing, but she shouldn't have let Clay try to control her.
Everyone in the book is always telling Sam about how smart she is, and yet she isn't even smart enough to realize that distancing herself from the Garretts isn't going to help anything? The least she could have done was stuck around to support the family.
If you are really into romance, then, yes, I recommend this book to you. However, if you want a good read that has a broader focus, I would look elsewhere.
Title: The Giver Author: Lois Lowry # of Pages: 179 (paperback) Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Fantasy Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis:Jonas' world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back. Review: Original review post on Goodreads - 5 stars
This was one of the first dystopian books I read, and it was because of this book that I'm hooked on anything dystopian today. It's sweet and short, yet so full of detail. And when I was craving for more? I read her other "sequel" to it.
Second review, third reading - 5 stars
"Almost everyone citizen in the community had dark eyes...But there were a few exceptions: Jonas himself, and a female Five who he had noticed had the different, lighter eyes" (Lowry 20).
Those are the darkest lighter eyes I have ever seen.
I reread The Giver after I watched the movie because, after I saw it, I realized I had forgotten parts of the movie. So in able to a full compare and contrast, I had come to the decision to read this book for the third time.
After finishing the book, I was shocked to find how inflated the romance is in the movie. The book barely has any of that; some romance is hinted at, but is not one of the focuses of the book.
Instead, The Giver focuses on different types of love and caring: the love for family, friends, and even the people around you. And exploring that aspect love is a beautiful experience, more beautiful that what is shown in the movie.
Questions/Comments that Arose
Is it implied that people with lighter colored eyes are the ones have the ability to be a Receiver of Memory? Do any dark eyed people have a chance at this position?
The memory transferring process is unclear. How is it that the ability to see color can be taken away, and how is it that memories (such as memories of color) can be returned to only certain people?
Since Jonas can now see color, couldn't he describe people's eye color instead of using words such as "lighter" and "darker"?
I love how the ending is ambiguous! This book can stand alone and be a wonderful book, but Lois Lowry's other books allow the reader to see what else happens if the reader wishes to know.
Compare/Contrast the Book to the Movie
One scene that didn't make the movie was the apple throwing scene. This scene was suppose to be the first time Jonas realizes something is different about the world and begins to see color. However, in the movie, he seems to be able to notice all kinds of colors - not just red. When he was biking, they showed him noticing the green of the leaves and the blue of the sky. Then they skip to the scene where he see the red of Fiona's hair (which was exactly as "red" as I was hoping).
The movie is shorter than I was expecting. Sure, the book is quite small too, but it would have thought that would have allowed more of the smaller details of the book to appear in the movie adaptations. But, alas, that is not the case. The development of the dystopian world was not satisfactory, and the plot seemed rushed when it didn't need to be. The movie wasn't even two hours long!
The people who live in The Giver's dystopian society have a morning ritual where they discuss their dreams with member for their family unit. Jonas describes his dreams as "fragments afloat in his sleep" (34). However, in the movie, it was implied that people typically didn't have dreams because of the injection (which everyone, even someone as young as Lily, had to have). The injection is not even part of the book! Instead, there are pills for when people begin to hit puberty, or experiencing their first Stirrings.
Although I noticed that Lily's age in the movie was an Eight becoming a Nine (instead of Seven becoming an Eight), I understand that the change was to show how (and when) children receive their bicycles.
The movie made the city seem like it was on some mystical island/hill surrounded by mist; however, the city in the book seemed to be more of a normal piece of land separated from the rest of the world by a natural boundary, such as a river.
What I don't understand is why they changed Jonas' number. He was 19 in the book, a decent number that allows building anticipation while we wait for the announcement of his assignment and plenty of time for Jonas to stress about why his number was skipped afterwards. 52 (?) is a good number too, but is there a reason for this particular number? Why not 50 or 53? Of course you could ask them same question about 19, but that was the number that Lowry chose. Why not stick with that number?
Fiona and Asher get different jobs (Nurturer/Caretaker of the Old, Some weird pilot job/Assistant Director of Recreation). It would have made more sense if Asher was an Assistant Director of Recreation - it didn't quite make sense to me why he was hanging out among the younger children after Jonas saw the war memory.
I can understand why they changed the format of Assignment instructions. A big folder of papers would have been hard to show in screen, so the digital instructions being read aloud were helpful. Also, the movie people appeared to have cut down Jonas' rules from eight to five. And I'm glad they changed the transmission process of the memories; the way it is described in the book may not be appealing to see on the screen.
The book states that Jonas' training will be in the Annex behind the House of Old, therefore still within civilization. But the movie puts his training on the very edge of the whole community in some random, weird little house.
The fact that the Giver loses the memory once it is given to Jonas is not stressed in the movie. In fact, the Giver seems to keep all the memories he shares with Jonas, such as when he was reliving the war memory and it was accidentally transmitted to Jonas.
I love how Jonas thinks choosing your own mate and job would be unsafe, emphasizing how different this society is. This was lost in the movie.
The plan in the movie was rushed and was more of a reaction to the realization that Gabe was going to be released. But the book shows that Jonas and the Giver's memory release plan was thought out more carefully. However, it is true that the actually escape from the community did occur in response to the news of Gabes release (in which Jonas took him from his house, not the Nurturing Center), but the Giver was unaware of this until later.
It is implied that the Giver will request to be released after his work in the community is done, which is something that was not mentioned in the movie at all.
The ending was not the same at all. Asher was not flying one of the many search planes that were looking to Jonas. Jonas never had to jump of a cliff with his bike because he was being chased by the police, nor did he have to fight to save himself and Gabe from drowning. There was not discussion of a memory boundary that will release all the memories once it is crossed.
It seems, however, that the memories do get released back into the community. But the creators of the movie made up a some-what logical explanation for why this is so, while in the book, the event is mysterious. Many parts of what Jonas is exposed to does not always have a logical explanation; just like emotions, the process of how the memories are transmitted from one person to another can be hard to understand. This further shows how different the society is to the world Jonas learns to understand, reasonable versus mythical. But this is not demonstrated in the movie.
Not only that, but the movie's ending was not ambiguous. It clearly shows Jonas arriving at a home, thus a "happy" ending. A mysterious ending would have been better and would have left the viewer thinking.
Despite the many difference between book and movie, there are also many similarities. There are many parts of the dialogue that are taken straight out of the book.
I absolutely recommend this book! Read it before you watch the movie!
Title: Breaking Point Author: Kristen Simmons # of Pages: 416 (paperback) Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance Rating:★★★☆☆ Synopsis: After faking their deaths to escape from prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed.
Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper's true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion….
Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself.
Orders are shoot to kill, and soldiers are cleared to fire on suspicion alone. Suddenly Ember can’t even step onto the street without fear of being recognized, and “laying low” is a joke. Even members of the Resistance are starting to look at her sideways.
With Chase urging her to run, Ember must decide: Go into hiding…or fight back? Review: I actually had a hard time finding what I didn't like about this book. But the major tip off that I didn't like it was the fact that it took me over a week to finish it. It just didn't grab my attention. So after finishing, I sat where I was for a moment and thought about why this book was not as amazing as the book.
I finally concluded that there wasn't enough focus on the main characters' romantic relationship. Sure, there were romantic parts present, but not as much as I was hoping for.
I wasn't fond of the focus on Tucker and let's-change-the-reader's-perspective-on-this-bad-character thing. And it didn't seem like very much was achieved...
I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone since it wasn't very interesting.
Title: Where She Went Author: Gayle Forman # of Pages: 274 (paperback) Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Synopsis:It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.
Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.
Review: I didn't see any improvement in this book compared to If I Stay. Where She Went has about the same flashback format as the first book in order to fill the reader in on what happened during the (unnecessary) three year time skip.
If anything, this book is completely unnecessary. It would have been better if what happens to Mia and Adam's relationship was left up to the reader's imagination. Nothing is accomplished in this book that wasn't already assumed at the end of the first.
While it's a quick read, I would not put this book as a priority read.
