Title: Good Omens Author: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman # of Pages: 412 (paperback) Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Humor Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Synopsis:According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist... Review: This book just wasn't my cup of tea.
I only decided to read this book because the TV show just came out, and I saw that Neil Gaiman is one of the authors (although I've only read one of Neil Gaiman's books). I just don't understand the British humor, and my biblical knowledge is pretty limited. It took me a while to finish (over a week), which means I just didn't want to read it.
There is third POV switching between multiple people, and it is VERY sloppy. It was hard to keep track of all of these people, especially since some of the character's POV would only come up once (because the character is insignificant beside the one moment they describe from their POV).
Title: Dear Evan Hansen Author: Val Emmich # of Pages: 368 (hardback) Genre: YA, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis:When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore--even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy's parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he's doing can't be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself. Review: “I had to die for them to notice I was ever alive” (191).
For some reason, I thought this book addressed an LGBTQ+ struggle. Although there is an LGBTQ+ character, the character's sexuality is not a main issue in this story.
This is a strange adaptation since it started as a play and was turned into book (instead of the other way around). Although I have not seen the play yet, I can imagine how this story would be more interesting as a musical than as a novel. The story is relatively mundane; Evan Hansen is an underdog high schooler who gets caught up in a lie that makes him more popular at his school.
What I do like about the story is how Evan struggles with his lie. Is a lie bad if it bring more good than harm? Although this idea to address this struggle comes from the original play rather than being Emmich's brain child, this conflict was well portrayed in the book.
However, this is not saying that the conflict is BETTER portrayed in the novel than the play. There is first person POV switching between Evan and Connor (although there are only a handful of Connor chapters). Although I wasn't as bothered by the POV switching as I usually am, it was still disorienting when the first POV change happened since the chapter was not clearly labeled. POV switching isn't so much of a problem for plays; I wonder if Emmich followed the layout of the play too closely.
If you're a fan of the play or you have any interest in reading this book at all, go for it! It's a relatively short read. However, if you're on the fence, maybe just watch the musical.
Title: Out of My Mind Author: Sharon M. Draper # of Pages: 295 (paperback) Genre: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis:Eleven-year-old Melody is not like most people. She can’t walk. She can’t talk. She can’t write. All because she has cerebral palsy. But she also has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She’s the smartest kid in her whole school, but NO ONE knows it. Most people—her teachers, her doctors, her classmates—dismiss her as mentally challenged because she can’t tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by her disability. And she’s determined to let everyone know it…somehow. Review:
"I have spastic bilateral quadriplegia, also known as cerebral palsy. It limits my body, but not my mind...We all have disabilities. What’s yours?"
Man, there are some REALLY good children's books out there.
I had low expectations; I haven't read a good YA book in a long time, and this book is aimed toward middle grade and younger audiences. I had no idea what to expect.
Out of My Mind is a touching story told from the first person narration of young girl with cerebral palsy. Melody reveals the internal struggles she experiences in a body that does not match her mind. This book will reveals what it is like to live with cerebral palsy and how frustrating it is to be accepted in a world with such a condition.
Like Small Steps, I loved how this story allowed the reader to see through the eyes of someone with cerebral palsy and experience the difficulties that come with communicating, building relationship, and operating in a not-so-accessible world. Although this is a work of fiction (unlike Small Steps), this story is much more emotionally moving than an autobiography (there were times where I was tearing up; it's been a long time since that's happened).
I would recommend this book to EVERYONE, not just young readers. Yes, the writing style is simpler to make it easier for younger reader to read. However, the story itself is rich with experiences and is an enlightening read for everyone.
Title: She Is Not Invisible Author: Marcus Sedgwick # of Pages: 218 (hardback) Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Synopsis:LAURETH PEAK'S father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers - a skill at which she's remarkably talented. When he goes missing while researching coincidence for a new book, Laureth and her younger brother fly from London to New York and must unravel a series of cryptic messages to find him. The complication: Laureth is blind. Reliant on her other senses and on her brother to survive, Laureth finds that rescuing her father will take all her skill at spotting the extraordinary, and sometimes dangerous, connections in a world full of darkness. Review: Even though this was a relatively short read (can be done easily in one sitting, She Is Not Invisible was still not worth the time it took to read it.
Sedgwick doesn't do a good job at making characters at their age. Both Laureth and her brother Benjamin act a lot younger than their age, which he tries to write into the plot (I see this as him being a weak writer; he should have just made both characters younger).
The story at its core is ridiculous; two kids going on an "adventure" with a lot of luck on their side might be something that interests little kids, but not something that continues to appeal to more mature audiences. If it weren't for the parts of the book where creepy guys imply they want to do some inappropriate things with 16 year old Laureth, I would say this book is meant for middle schoolers and younger.
Perhaps I'm the wrong audience for this. This book is told from the Laureth's first person POV, with the occasional chapter being one of her father's journal entries (distinguished by its journal style font and notes in the margins). I can imagine that younger readers might find this style fun and interesting. There was nothing wrong with this, and this quality alone does not make this book less mature; rather, the transition between first person narration and journal entries were executed more like a children's book instead of being better integrated into the story.
I think even young readers could find a better book to read than this one.
Title: Salt to the Sea Author: Ruta Sepetys # of Pages: 393 (hardback) Genre: YA, Historical Fiction Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Synopsis:World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety. Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people—adults and children alike—aboard must fight for the same thing: survival. Review: This book is borderline between one star and two stars.
I can't believe this is a Goodreads Choice 2016 WINNER.
The biggest problem is the first person POV switching between Joana, Emilia, Florian, and Alfred. This is always, and Salt to the Sea is a perfect example as to why. The chapters were very short, and the perspective overlapped (so there were times when the same event was described up to four times).
Sepetys hoped to increase exposure to the Wilhelm Gustloff; a tragedy that was greater than the Titanic. Although Septys describes some of the gruesome events that occurred as the Wilhelm sank, the overall execution through the first person POV switching weakened the weight of the impact. Also, the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff was such a small portion of this book; if education on the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff was one of Sepetys's main goals, she should have made it take up a larger portion of the book. The fiction outweighed the main historical facts.
To address this in the least spoiler way possible...the romance was very very weak and underdeveloped.
I had high expectations for this book, which might be why I ended up rating it so low. Not worth the read.
Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here Author: Patrick Ness # of Pages: 317 (hardback) Genre: YA, Fantasy, Contemporary Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis: What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions. Review: The synopsis for this book is a little confusing; let me clear a few things up. Most books focus on unexpected heroes: something supernatural/unconventional/paranormal happens in a supposedly normal town, and the hero must save the day. However, with every story, there are the rest of the people who live in the setting of the story. These people are bystanders as these riveting stories occur and lead as normal of a life that they can.
These are the people that this book focuses on. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a brief section addressing what the heroes are doing and how the supernatural/paranormal forces are affecting them and the town. The rest of the chapter focuses on what is happening amongst a group of characters who experience the side effects of these supernatural forces but do not directly interact with it. This group includes Mikey (the protagonist) and Mel (Mikey’s sister who shares Mikey’s suffering living with a political candidate mother), Jared (a descendant from an unimpressive God), and Henna (Mikey’s love interest).
The story is told in first person from Mikey’s POV, and he breaks the fourth wall numerous times by addressing the reader. This makes the story a little more casual and a little more fun. It’s unique from other styles of writing, and I had no problem with it disrupting the flow of the story.
The heroes are usually referred to as “the indie kids.” I was expecting the beginning sections of the chapters that focus on the indie kids to be a little more amusing; I was hoping for more obvious clichés from YA adventure books (multiple of the indies kids were named Finn; if this was a cliché, it is lost on me).
The concept sounded pretty interesting (I've read books where I've wondered about the extras and what their background is), but in reality, it's just another "contemporary" story about teens and their relationship issues (with friends, love interests, parents) with a touch of a supernatural component.
An average read. I remember liking The Knife of Never Letting Go, so I had higher expectation for The Rest of Us Just Live Here than the average YA book. It's an alright read, but definitely not my favorite.
Title: It's Kind of a Funny Story Author: Ned Vizzini # of Pages: 444 (paperback) Genre: YA, Contemporary, Psychology Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis: Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life - which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself. Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety. Review: This book is borderline between three stars and four stars.
It was a good read. Since Vizzini spent time in a psychiatric hospital himself (and eventually committed suicide after battling depression), I was very curious about this story as he would be projecting his own experiences in this fictional story. This, combined with a recommendation from years ago, encouraged me to read this book as soon as I got the opportunity.
This is one of the few books where I was hyperaware that the POV is from a teenage male's perspective. The writing style was difficult for me to get used to at first, but I appreciated how it didn't feel the same as most other YA nowadays. When I was starting this book, I was initially concerned about the topic; I've read a handful of books where the main character has depression, and many of them were triggering for me (i.e. Wintergirls, 13 Reasons Why, etc.). However, this book take a more lighthearted approach and is perhaps the opposite of triggering; it focuses on the healing process rather than the tragic spiral deeper and deeper into depression that many other authors focus on.
It's not really a funny story, but there were a couple parts at the end where I chuckled because a character said something sassy/snarky that was amusing. However, it is a relatively light read for a book addressing depression..
If you are interested in the topic, I would recommend giving it a read. It doesn't take that long to get through, and it's insightful as the author is most likely pulling from his own experiences in a psychiatric hospital.
Title: One Night at the Call Center Author: Chetan Bhagat # of Pages: 320 (paperback) Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Indian Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Synopsis:Six friends work nights at a call center in India, providing technical support for a major U.S. appliance corporation. Skilled in patience–and accent management–they help American consumers keep their lives running. Yet behind the headsets, everybody’s heart is on the line. Shyam (Sam to his callers) has lost his self-confidence after being dumped by the girl who just so happens to be sitting next to him. Priyanka’s domineering mother has arranged for her daughter’s upscale marriage to an Indian man in Seattle. Esha longs to be a model but discovers it’s a horizontal romp to the runway. Lost, dissatisfied Vroom has high ideals, but compromises them by talking on the phone to idiots each night. Traditional Radhika has just found out that her husband is sleeping with his secretary. And Military Uncle (nobody knows his real name) sits alone working the online chat. They all try to make it through their shifts–and maintain their sanity–under the eagle eye of a boss whose ego rivals his incompetence. But tonight is no ordinary night. Tonight is Thanksgiving in America: Appliances are going haywire, and the phones are ringing off their hooks. Then one call, from one very special caller, changes everything. Review: This was a borderline between one star and two stars.
I usually reserve one star rating for the books I really really hate. However, I saw on that the average rating for this book is 2.49/5 stars, so I had extremely low expectations when I began reading this book. These low expectations actually made me this story readable. Perhaps without any bias, I would have felt differently, but I was surprised that it wasn't as bad as the reviews were telling me it was.
Why would I read this book if there were so many bad reviews? Someone recommended this book to me, but I have no idea who. I'm not sure if Goodreads is buggy and accidentally added it to my recommended shelf, but either way it perked my interest as to how a book could be so bad.
One Night at The Call Center is the soap opera of books. Just because it exceeded my expectations doesn't mean it's a good book (any book that has any sort of plot/structure could exceed the expectations I had). If you don't think anything exciting could happen in just one night at a call center...you'd be right. Yes there were several DRAMATIC events that happen in this one night (and plenty of Shyam having flashbacks to past dates), but the way it's written is not very enthralling. Think The Office, but worse; everything is very mundane, and the "big" events that happen are usually due to people's ridiculousness.
Spoiler alert: everyone in this book is to some degree miserable with their life. Shyam particularly has a bad attitude that makes this read as unpleasant as his personality. The people at the call center seem to think Americans are stupid, yet they are not geniuses themselves. They come up with dumb plans to meddle with each other’s relationships, and the men (especially Shyam) act like they have more hardships than women just because they’re male.
This must be some man’s fantasy. Of course the protagonist goes from being heartsick and bitter over his ex, only to be proposed to in the end by her. And of course he gets to be the proud male to reject her. Priyanka’s spontaneous decision makes her seems shallow, which I’m sure is how the protagonist sees most women, thus painting her in such a light.
And OF COURSE when the protagonist thinks he’s an idiot, she still accepts him with open arms in the middle of the road.
If this is an accurate portrayal of Indian people's view of Americans, women, etc., then at least I can say I've learned something. At the very least, I can say I learned something about the author and what perspectives he has or has been exposed to.
Would I recommend this book? Nope, not to anyone.
(And yes, he really does thank Bill Gates and MS Word. Microsoft and MS Word seem to be an obsession of the author's).
Title: Turned at Dark Author: C.C. Hunter # of Pages: 32 (ebook) Genre: YA, Paranormal, Short Story Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis:Independent and strong-willed Della Tsang did not believe in ghosts, until she sees her dead cousin in a dark alley. She did not believe in vampires, until she turns into one. Should she follow her vampire cousin's lead and walk away from everything she knows, or join Shadow Falls, a camp for special teens? Review: This book is really short.
I'll always love C.C. Hunter's writing style, and this is no exception. However, I'm wondering how much research she put into writing from an Asian POV; Asian stereotypes seemed quite prominent in both this story and the other Shadow Falls books as well.
I can't really complain about this story because it's so short, and it's free! If you enjoyed the Shadow Falls series and want more, go ahead and give it a read. Could I have lived without it? Yes. Do I regret reading it? Not really.
