Favorite Books of 2014

I was originally going to attempt to fit all the books I read this year into categories, but that got kind of long and boring. So in simple form, here are my top 10 favorite books that I read in 2014. Order is a bit difficult. The top 3 immediately made my all-time favorites list; the next two were added in retrospect and are practically tied for placement. After that choosing books were difficult. Number 10 was very difficult to decide because I had run out of books that had completely stood out in my memory.

1. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
3. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (technically started in 2013)
4. Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
5. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
6. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
7. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáen
8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer 
9. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King 
10. Le Petit Prince d'Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (in French)

NEW YEAR THINGS
In the new year, I'm probably going to be reading more classics that are difficult to review because there isn't much new to say about them. I probably only will make a post if I feel like I really have something to say or it means a lot to me. However, I still plan to intersperse light reads in between to keep me from burning out, and I'll hopefully catch up with some other ideas I've had instead of reviews.

Other than that, here is what will hopefully get done in the New Year on this book blog (TV stuff will be mainly on tumblr):

• I'll finish my analysis of Obsidian (on whether it is a good critique of Twilight), I promise.
• I want to catch up/finish The Lunar Chronicles, because that was the one YA series I found entertaining and interesting. (I probably won't read Fairest though.)
• I'm really excited for A.S. King's 2015 release, I Crawl Through It, which is her usual surrealism (but possibly more surreal?) about kids trying to escape from standardized tests. I also want to read Reality Boy, but I'm on the fence about Glory O'Brien.
• I might try out some writing advice, or at least musings on writing.
• I do have some things to say about ways to interpret and our personal experiences in regards to stories, including television, and that will probably appear here as well.
• THE BIG ONE: I planned to run a series of posts about the most influential books in my life and how they shaped my reading and writing habits. I've got the first of these written and would love to work on them and run them weekly at some point in 2015.
• Also, I want to do retrospective reviews of books I love and why I love them. I had started rereading The Things They Carried, actually...

Three Contemporaries: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry; Ask the Passengers; Please Ignore Vera Dietz

I had these all written out and ready to edit and post but then, Blogger deleted it. Or I did by mistake somewhere. I have no idea, but it disappeared, so I have rewritten and pieced back together all of these reviews. I'm very frustrated because I liked the originals, and of course you have no idea what the first draft was like, but I really wanted to share these books so I went through with the rewriting. All three of these I read in a week for the purpose that they could decrease my stress level because they were quick (though I wouldn't call them all "light"), and they worked. I definitely recommend them.

Update: I found the old reviews; I had simply just changed the title and saved it that way and thus didn't recognize it. Oh well. I guess it doesn't matter now.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

This is a 2014 release, and while I've tended to prefer to "catch up" with the literary world (both canon and popular) lately, this seemed like a quick and fun read and like the others in this post, I couldn't wait so I checked it out from the library. While Zevin has written books in the middle grade and young adult markets before, this one is an adult book. However, it's short and fairly simple and there aren't too many words on a page. Aside from some cursing and sexual references, I wouldn't call this too adult in nature. (I measure all adult books by American Gods now, for the record.) It's more like a "universal" book, which is perfectly fine with me.

It's also a book tailored for book lovers. The titular Fikry owns a bookstore and is very particular about what he reads. Many references to real books are slipped in, often with tongue in cheek, so that may or may not be for you. The plot is one of life, as it takes its time to unfold over many years on a small fictional New England island. A.J. Fikry has recently lost his wife when it begins and he looses a very rare Edgar Allen Poe book that would have been his fortune when he retired. Then he finds a toddler named Maya who had been left in his store with a note from her mother who then committed suicide, and he elects to raise her despite knowing nothing about kids. The banter between them was charming and hilarious. As she grows up, Maya, the local police chief, Fikry's sister-in-law, her husband, and a young salesman from a publishing company all have roles to play in softening Fikry to where he will stock works that may not be particularly literary in his store, among other things.

Overall I found the characters to be understandable and I also appreciate how Zevin slipped in diversity; Fikry is part Indian and Maya is black, and while this does inform and influence their characters, it isn't a substitute for character traits. I also liked how everything came together at the end...it may not be a plot-driven novel, but it was woven together nicely.

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Everybody Sees the Ants was one of my favorite books from earlier in the year, so I was really looking forward to picking up more from A.S. King.  This one follows Astrid, a girl who lives in a very traditional small town that also functions as a rumor mill. She is questioning her sexuality amongst the negative attitude toward gay people from members of the community and the pressures her lesbian best friend and girlfriend instill on her to just "come out" already. Astrid doesn't want to be put in a box--and that's a powerful theme I believe can apply to all socially constructed or otherwise labels, not only sexuality. The arc of the novel may be straightforward, but it's Astrid's inward questioning over what coming out really means that makes it more nuanced.

Ask the Passengers, which came out the year after Everybody Sees the Ants, is written in a similar style and format. As such, reading it for me meant I was always comparing it to the latter, which I overall enjoyed more, even if I think this one was still pretty good. Astrid, sends her love away to passengers on planes that pass overhead. There were snippets of the stories of the random passengers that received her love which, although thematically relevant, never gelled as well for me as the dream sequences in Everybody Sees the Ants. However, I did enjoy the imagined and often humorous Frank Socrates as much as the ants. I also think that Everybody Sees the Ants has a more nuanced portrayal of love because Lucky is self-aware as to the differences between "movie star love" and real love; although it's a bigger part of the novel, I was never quite sure why Astrid decided she loved Dee so much. I understand how she is attracted and feels comfortable with her (except when she goes to far), and they have some cute moments, but what's their deeper bond? That said, it isn't like the novel makes it seem like they are eternally bound, either, and I also appreciated the frank discussions they had about when they were ready for sex.

While maybe I didn't relate to it as much, Ask the Passengers was good, and I look forward to reading King's other novels even though they may be different. Personally in this one I loved the role the philosophy class played; it was especially fun for me because my dad teaches philosophy, so I got a lot of the jokes and enjoyed sharing them with him. I still love the way King writes complex characters; they often may seem to do ill-informed things, but they still can be relatable. The parents may always come off worse, but hey, it is written through the eyes of a teenager and they still have redeeming qualities. Lastly, I just couldn't stop reading this book...even though the general plot arc is inevitable given the not really original concept, there are plenty of turns along the way that raised the stakes and made it much more interesting. 

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

So naturally I also picked up King's Printz award-winning and breakout novel, Please Ignore Vera Dietz. This one took me a little bit longer to get into. It was formatted a little differently and I could not easily relate to Vera. She was someone who worked a full-time job on top of school and for whom school didn't seem to have as much influence in her life. (Also, I dispute the credibility of a high school offering a Vocab class.) I was under the impression that the story of Charlie and Vera's past was simple and I was not entirely sure the direction the novel was going.

That said, I soon began to get really into it. Aspects of the characters were slowly revealed and it all fell into place. There's a palpable sense of guilt and knowledge of the ups and downs of relationships, between friends and parents. Furthermore, I just love how the characters are very flawed and completely messy. What they do may not be the right thing, but they do have some sense and they're learning.  Another thing I like about King: her characters may be a bit messed up, but they always face consequences from both the authorities and their parents. The same happened in Ask the Passengers. (On the other hand, that one also offered a critique of the school discipline system, because the protagonist did something justified but was still punished.)

The magic realism in Please Ignore Vera Dietz is perhaps more overt than Ask the Passengers and Everybody Sees the Ants.  Vera experiences visions of her dead friend, he narrates a little bit from beyond the grave, and he even helps her in spirit. Speaking of narration shifts, there are also brief sections narrated by Vera's father (complete with flow charts), and the inanimate pagoda which watches over the town also has a few sassy things to say. I really enjoyed this unique structure. As a whole the book felt like a compiled file of what happened to Charlie and how Vera currently as she is trying to figure that out. It's a little bit like the structure of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me, actually, which is one of my favorite books.

I realize I've left out a description of a plot, but honestly it's hard to explain. It's a contemporary, but also veers toward a mystery, albeit one where the whodunnit isn't that important in the overall scheme of things. It's about the death of a friend who was once close, yes, and coping with the guilt from that. But it's also about growing up and gaining new responsibilities and using them wisely. It's about the role parents have in their children's lives, whether for good or for bad. It might even be a bit about the impact of alcohol and abuse. What it wasn't was something clear-cut, and I love that.

A Frustrating Update

It appears that Blogger lost a post where I had written reviews of 3 books I recently read. I really, really want to rewrite them, but unfortunately it won't be as soon as I thought. I'm very discouraged at the moment. Ugh.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: A pleasant surprise

Screw the Obsidian analysis I've barely started and the almost-complete Doctor Who finale write-up I still haven't posted on Tumblr (which may just never go up, at least completed). I'm in the mood to review this while it's still fresh in my mind. (Although admittedly it's been possibly over two weeks because I forgot about this post.)

I bought Cinder quite a while ago when I still had YA optimism, because it was (and still is, go check it out) just $2.99 on Kindle. But by the time I had started reading it, I was getting increasingly frustrated by the age group. The thrill of reading genre series as I had when I was younger was leaving me, as I began to feel in YA they were too similar with elements I just wasn't fond of and I gravitated more toward the underrated contemporary novels when I did read the
I was planning on not reading YA purely for hype, and deleted a few from my to-read list because the synopses had not appealed to me. I was prepared to write for a middle grade market, as I was dissatisfied with this one.

Until now.

Well, I mean, I'm still going to be critical. There are still elements and patterns I'm not fond of that are apparently in the majority of what is published in this age group, and those are also the things I will probably never write. But still, there is hope for a little something different.

Enter: Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

The ironic thing, considering the above, is that this would have been one of the first to go if I was eliminating books I had no natural interest in. Fairytale retellings? Cinderella? I was the strange girl who didn't grow up on Disney princess movies and who isn't too interested in happily-ever-afters. Well, Cinder is actually an unpredictable retelling to an extent, and is only the first stepping stone in a larger series (which is one I want to continue for once!). It probably isn't going to change your life or make you think too much, but it succeeds in the inoffensive entertainment and interesting departments, which is sometimes just as good.

From first glance, this seems like a lot of ideas thrown into a blender. Cinder is a cyborg (not an android, although those exist too) who works as a mechanic and is the ward of a wealthy family containing her step-mother Adri and step-sisters Pearl and Peony; they live in New Beijing, a futuristic Beijing after the Fourth World War in which there was a lot of destruction that caused the world to join together and form about five nations, this being the Eastern Commonwealth; there is a deadly plague running rampant and oh, there are also these Lunars who are oppressive brainwashing aliens who have an eye on a political foothold...you get the idea. But, for the most part, this felt well put-together and original instead of tossing several ideas in a blender.

First off, I'll air my few criticisms.I believe the worldbuilding comes off a little short in regards to the other aspects. Cinder takes place in a futuristic China, which is great--YA dystopias are overwhelmingly USA-exclusive--but there isn't a whole lot of Asian influence. I believe others have covered this better than I ever could (check this out), but mostly there were a few simple names, the mention of pagodas or a Buddha statue, and the fact that the ruler is called "emporer" (which made me think of how my world history teacher believed the dyanastic cycle in China would come back as it has throughout history). That's it. We get to learn how the world became more united through the war, but what happened to the culture?

Furthermore, I was initially a bit confused over how human and how robot Cinder is. At first I imagined her as a complete android like Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, so phrases like "her heart winced" were jarring. Eventually I remembered what a cyborg actually was (how silly of me), although it is a bit disappointing that she mostly behaves as a human. Also, I guessed the plot twist very early on (and some of the other twists in advance), which didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book because I did have a good time with it, but it did make the ending feel a bit anticlimactic. Still, I am looking forward to continuing this series, which I hear only gets better.

Onto the good things, then. Despite the aforementioned predictability which had to do with a different aspect, Cinder does not adhere too firmly to the fairy tale. Her robotic foot is an important symbol but it doesn't have the same plot significance (unless I missed something?). There isn't a Fairy Godmother, and other elements are cleverly changed or thinly incorporated. Most refreshingly, one of the step-sisters is nice, and the other step-sister and the step-mother have motivations to be grouchy. The romance is also not as prominent and both characters are fully established as people with their own stories, and it takes on a slow build that made me so happy exists in a YA book. And I'm not going to spoil, but there were a few twists that made it even better.

I don't think I'll get to the rest of the series until the new year, but I am looking forward to it. Cinder wasn't perfect and it wasn't significant, but it was fun, and that was the genre I needed at the time and it's still a genre that has legs.

What I've Been Reading #1

I decided to stop doing wrap-ups strictly by month because that was preventing me for reading how I wanted to. That said, nearly all of these books I began in October.

1. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury: This is actually a collection of disconnected stories, which I wouldn't have thought would have appealed to me, but I'm so glad I read it! I liked it more than The Martian Chronicles and it's about on par with Fahrenheit 451 for me. There were two stories in a row that made me cry; I love how there is something hopeful about Bradbury's work, but the endings are never quite happy. I immediately added this to my favorites list, and I think it will stay there! 5/5 stars.

2. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout: I read this because I got the Kindle ebook for free and it was supposed to be a commentary or deconstruction on Twilight. I'm currently stalled on writing an analysis of it with that angle, where I will talk about in more in depth. I do believe that is the best way to enjoy it; while it was clever at times, the love/hate relationship got quite repetitive, and it isn't anything spectacular. 3/5 stars.

3. Stardust by Neil Gaiman: I don't really have a good gauge for a rating on this one so I'm not going to give it a star number (I gave it 4 on Goodreads, but it might be 3.5, but it's not the same 3.5 as others...). I didn't really have any problems with it, although I fell into the bad habit of not focusing enough when the narrative focused on another character than the protagonists. I thought it was lovely and I loved the sort-of-twist at the end. It was cute. I've started the movie too and enjoyed it so far...but they gave away the twist already!

4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: I loved the satiric tone and the concepts, but then it became a bit baffling. I've since came up with a good analysis as to why many of the characters did not change, and I've come up with a great thematic theory that explains the ending. But overall it's a case of liking it in theory, but the actual reading experience did not have as strong of an impact. Still though, that beginning... 4/5 stars.

5. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: I could have done without the really long chapter full of historical details of what he was stealing, but overall I really enjoyed this. I loved the atmosphere and the twists, and Dorian's inevitable but still shocking decent to madness. I definitely recommend. Still, it's not my absolute favorite (yet),. 4.5/5 stars.

6. The Golden Apples of the Sun/R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury: The edition I read was not exactly the same as you can find separately in stores, as it was in an omnibus so it removed stories that had been in The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man and added five more in their place. I enjoyed it for the most part, but the stories were much smaller so I didn't get as attached to them. There were some good ones, but I didn't feel a sense of continuity. 3/5 stars.

7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: I loved the first 100 pages or so, but after that I seemed to be distanced from it. It just didn't move me as much as it did some others; I felt a little bit manipulated, actually...especially with his ease at becoming a published author. Also, he was practically an outsider in Afghanistan the whole time (especially later, where you may even call him an American tourist), which felt was a bit convenient for marketing to and hooking American readers. I don't mind the foreshadowing or the plot convenience, but there was something between me and the novel. Maybe it's just the hype. 4/5 stars.

And here is what my TBR looks like!

• Currently I'm in the middle of Cinder by Marissa Meyer, because it's about time I did some YA to review, and I won't spoil it but I'm really enjoying it! Maybe I won't give up on that market quite yet.
• I just bought Frankenstein and Jane Eyre.
• I still have The Da Vinci Code, and in ebook format I have The Warrior Heir, Throne of Glass, and The Darkest Minds, which I will get to eventually for review.
• I also plan on getting to Around the World in 80 Days and Great Expectations by the end of next year!
• Otherwise, I am patiently awaiting Christmas gifts.

I Must Be Cynical: My Fair Share of the Sun

I saw a play last night. It was a school production, and unusual in the fact that it was only one act. It was even more unusual in that there was no singular lead, backdrop, or specially-made costumes. For the most part it consisted of fourteen students sitting in chairs or on ladders wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, seven across from the other seven. It was called My Fair Share of the Sun, a very new play. And it was amazing...until the very end.

The summary, from this:

Uncle Fy and his niece Zoe plant 14 white birches along the lonely dirt road to his cabin in the woods. Shortly thereafter, a violent storm destroys the house and uproots the elder trees, who were the beloved caretakers of these 14, leaving them to fend for themselves. Despite the best efforts of a few of the trees, the group splits into two rival groups, each living on opposite sides of the road, as they race to grow to the sky and crowd each other out in an insatiable hunger for sunlight. They descend into chaos and treachery but, in a momentous climax, achieve an ironic peace—chained to the tiny society that defines their entire world, trying to decide who owns the sun. This is a symbolist play about us—all of us—and our struggle to be the social creatures we all know we have to be in order to live together on both sides of the road.

It sounds so cheesy. And the beginning was, and the ending was. But the middle? It was brilliant. There was childish bickering as they tried to figure out what they meant in this world and understand each other. There was the beginning of rivalry, and the descent into greed and madness. Whole scenes were comprised of shouting and screaming in terror. The fear of dying and the desire to die and get it over with. They turned against each other, sometimes very brutally. A few took control and bullied the others into following along to throw rocks at the rivals. A couple tried to strangle squirrels. And near the very end, it looks like even the good ones on the dominating side are going down the wrong path.

Except...the ending.

Up until the ending, it appeared that they a few trees were going to systematically destroy the others in an endless struggle. They would make more and more enemies with each other. It was like Lord of the Flies with trees.  Their bond was going to be their downfall. It was so beautiful and dark. This was a five-star play for me. But then...the ending.

See, the dominant faction of trees, at the request of what appeared to be one of its good members, joins branches in the middle of frigid weather that was in danger of killing them. The apparently good tree assures the others that they're not going to fall backward, which terrifies the trees across from them, because it looks like they will fall on top of the others and kill them all. The lights go out. There are screams and cracking sound effects.

But they didn't all die. They became intertwined, some of them even switching sides of the roads. And I mean, I suppose that is ironic. But it was just a little bit thematically inconsistent with what came before for my tastes. And I think I really wanted more of the terrifying decent into darkness.

This accentuated something about myself. I spent most of my time yesterday figuring out what I really wanted to write in terms of age range, and how dark was acceptable. I just really love unhappy endings, especially when they say something about ourselves.

A Departure

I've been musing a lot today on genre and what I want to read and write. There are some directions this blog will turn.

1. Yet more thoughts on the landscape of the current market of literature, especially that for children and teens, as I wonder what the heck I really want to write and how to go about it. (This was so much easier when I didn't worry about where in the bookstore my writing might be found someday...)

2. Continued analysis of current books to see if there really is so much sameness that I feel is stifling me. 

3. My thoughts on a very obscure play I saw that sort of exemplifies what I want to see from stories, and how this may not actually be considered compatible with the age range I want to write for.

Writing Update

My reading and blogging have taken a step back because of 1) stress and 2) not exactly doing NaNoWriMo, but I started writing a new novel just to try something different on November 5th and though I would just keep track of the progress on the website for fun. I'll be pretty happy if I hit 5,000 words

It's a children's/middle grade contemporary realism story about growing anxiety and perfectionism, and probably also about growing up. While I have a general sense of the character arc, I honestly don't know a lot about where I'm going to make it a complete novel, but I've found that I work better that way. It's not the easiest to write quickly, but because it's less restricting I tend to write more that way.

And, well, I can never resist jumping in to a story!

The Fault in Our Stars, Revisited

Courtesy of Better Book Titles

This is long overdue for a proper re-review, even if I never reviewed it in the first place to begin with. There are vague spoilers, although you probably know what they are.

I've always been critical of popular things, and typically avoid them. Especially if they are teenaged things. It just isn't really for me, I've discovered in this roudabout experiment I've undertaken this year. I had always avoided the teen section because I was really not a fan of romance and I was also in middle school at the time and felt a bit alienated from YA. After entering high school I was so busy I didn't have as much time to read...and also didn't know what I should read. Eventually I wanted to reconnect with the book world, and this one seemed so popular and critically acclaimed (though honestly I don't know what made me really want to read it), so I started with it, unofficially beginning my "YA experiment" which has practically ended except for the occasional snarky review or analysis.

Now, as this predated my reviews I didn't really read this critically, and the same goes for Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, though I can confidently say this was the only one to really make an impact on me. That said, it was not something I was interested in reading again, even in the long run. And I think that's crucial. It had impact, but nothing I really wanted to continue to savor.

What The Fault in Our Stars was rally about to me was what I deemed to be the central theme: the inevitability of death. For me, it wasn't about teenagers or even teenagers with cancer (no offense). In fact, I've argued that they're functionally adults. It's really best if you read it as a life on fast-forward about two people who love each other and death inevitably comes. That line about how her parents knew the same thing would be coming to them? Yeah.

Because the thing is, if it isn't read this way (and I'm in doubt as to whether the majority of fans do), the most common criticisms are absolutely true. The philosophical discussions are not only out of place in teenagers (and I say this as someone who has always been surrounded by "nerds") but most people. Teenagers also don't perfectly fall into relationships like this...as John Green has said multiple times on his website. (Because yet another interesting thing to talk about with TFiOS is how it's Green's book to deal the least with awkward teen relationships and worldviews, and yet it's the most popular.) Chapter 1 had me rolling my eyes because of their instantaneous meeting, but I had never really read a romance novel before so I figured they had to get that part over with instead of building things slowly as they got to know each other (something I find more realistic and relatable).

Hazel and Gus weren't really characters to me. Their relationship did not have anything that made it unique, or anything that gave a reason for the particular two of them to be together. And Gus does fall into many YA/etc boyfriend tropes that I just don't find attractive, and that quite frankly alienate me. Yeah, it's subverted in some ways as he degrades, and I wouldn't want to be in Hazel's position. Honestly, I cried for the last 100 or so pages after the twist, but it wasn't because "oh no poor Gus, I've grown so attached to his character." It was "oh no, what if something like this is in my future?"

It isn't necessarily a story of a relationship for me. Nor one about cancer, or teenagers. So really, I don't belong in its sphere of influence. I think John Green has some good ideas about teenage relationships and teenager stories, but this is the only book that it really came together for me, and it's not even the one about how teenage sexuality is awkward or the one about why you shouldn't think of people as more than people. This one isn't revolutionary. It has some good jokes and musings, avoids the teen boy speak I just don't connect with, and meant something personal to me when I read it. But almost in a superficial way. It wasn't like other books I've loved, where I knew why the theme connected with me. This one just connected with me because it was a very real and painful thing, but something about it just doesn't feel real.

Halloween Musings and Recommendations

It’s strange, I associate Halloween with “do I really have to get a different costume every year for one party or dance?” instead of a particular feel and desire to watch or read something spooky. It isn’t like Christmas in the sense of an overall atmosphere. But I am going to come up with a spur of the moment recommendations list because I feel a sort of obligation. So here are some things that do remind me of Halloween.


TV: (sorry, don’t really have a good movies list)

• “Hush” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer - THE MUSIC. THE DESIGN. SO CREEPY. (And I mean it’s also funny and weaves together characterization points about how they communicate…and it’s not even my favorite Buffy.)
• "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" from The X-Files - I know it sounds contradictory, but it’s a haunted house story and I first saw it around Halloween.
• Alternatively “Home” from The X-Files if you want to be really disturbed.
• And, well, probably “Blink” from Doctor Who if that wasn’t a given. Or maybe The Talons of Weng-Chiang if you can stomach the racism. Or The Seeds of Doom if you can stomach the frank violence. Really, anything from the Gothic era or some of the black and white era could work well.

Books; or, where I realize just how little scary stories I have read:

• Probably anything by Neil Gaiman, though I would have to say The Ocean at the End of the Lane (my favorite), Coraline, or The Graveyard Book
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, because I’m currently reading it and maybe it’s because of the time of year, but there is a creepy vibe to it.
• Frankenstein is also probably awesome but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. And Ray Bradbury wrote Halloween-sounding stories like Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Halloween Tree, and The October Country…none of which I have read quite yet but I’m sure they’re fabulous.
• And there’s always Stephen King. My parents like him…and I haven’t read any of his yet because I just don’t know where to start!

What stories remind you of Halloween?

P.S.: I'm really behind on blogging but my workload shout shorten up a bit soon...hopefully. My next post is kind of a big one.

In Which I Attempt Coherent Thoughts on Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight

During my Reading Renaissance at the beginning of sixth grade, aka what really got me into discussing and just loving books in a way I hadn't before, I read a lot of fantasy series (more or less). Some were middle grade and some were YA, although the YA was obscure, different from popular series nowadays, and I don't remember much about them. Some have stayed on my favorites list, some haven't.

Regardless, I am kind of nostalgic for fantasy series I can get lost in. But unfortunately, since my Second Reading Renaissance (aka This Year), most of the popular fantasy series in these age groups haven't interested me, which didn't help to fuel the nostalgic reason for rediscovering reading. There wasn't really any new middle grade, and after checking out the YA options I was constantly disappointed with how many were described as "fantasy-lite" with a heavy dose of romance. I mean, I don't need hardcore fantasy, but I'm personally interested in childlike wonder and fun characters and how they respond to the world. (Also, as I've said many times, I've never been into romance.)

What I was most interested in out of the options, though, was Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. It seemed really complex and unique, though I admit I was a bit disappointed when I did learn the first book was mostly about romance, but...I had hope. And while it may not be my favorite (though I highly doubt something like this will make my favorites list nowadays), it was worth it.

The first thing typically said about Laini Taylor is that her writing is gorgeous. This is absolutely true. It's magical and enchanting and so easy to get lost in, and then there would be some references to present-day events or colloquial talk that reminded me these books do take place in the present day most of the time. Reading it is like falling into a haze, and that's probably why I've been stalling so much writing this. It's really hard to compare to anything else. It's one of those things that sort of feels real, but also feels like it's a sweeping fairy tale.

This series doesn't just take place in modern-day, though, but modern-day Prague and Morocco, as well as some otherworldly realms. And Karou, our heroine, isn't your plain and ordinary heroine who needs a guy to make her feel special. She has blue hair and "tattoos" of eyes on her palms; she goes to an art school in Prague; she dated and lost her virginity to a guy she spends much of the beginning of the first book turning down; she has a family of half-human, half-animal chimerae who she can't tell anyone about; she goes on errands all over the world for teeth; she collects languages for presents.

Because you know what this trilogy does that other YA authors have been afraid to do? Tell a story about some people that doesn't fell the need to make the main character a "relatable everygirl" so the reader can fulfill the fantasies they apparently have through her. Not to mention that these characters don't feel like teenagers, but people who just happen to be 17 or 18. That's how you write a YA novel. Certainly that trope has its uses--most notably in the portal fantasies like Harry Potter and Narnia--but there also exist many books just about the stories of others. This is one of them. (It's also written in third person omniscient past tense.)

Another fantastic thing about these books is that Karou's relationship to her best friend is more prominent than the romance. Zuzana is absolutely delightful, and though there is an initial bump in their relationship when Karou begins to be involved in strange events, their love oozes through the pages. Best friend female relationships are something not seen too often in YA, especially when the main plot contains a romance, so this was refreshing. Zuzana and her boyfriend, Mik, provide a more human element to the story and general adorableness.

As for the romance, I really didn't feel like it took to much prominence in the storyline. Book 1 is, perhaps, primarily a romance, but there is a twist, and even before that I did not feel like it fell into the usual problematic tropes. Book 2, however, deals with the consequences of the characters's situations and has very little romance. It's a very different book as a consequence, although both do not have much melodrama or angst, and I'm really glad the "drama added to relationship because they need a storyline for the rest of the trilogy" (like Divergent, for example) was not a part of this.

Still, I liked both of them. With Daughter of Smoke and Bone I fell under the spell easily, but the second half of the book consists mostly of  a backstory and was not as engaging for me, even though I found the exploration of the demon and angel worlds interesting. With Days of Blood and Starlight, however, I had trouble getting into it (partially due to a Ray Bradbury hangover) but ultimately I was more engaged in the second half. There is one plot point I'm not completely sure was handled right, but I feel like that might be a case of me missing something.

I doubt this trilogy will become my favorite, but it's the best take on YA fantasy I've seen so far. And it's made of magic. No, it's not the easiest thing to get through, but if you're expecting all YA to be easy and quick, that isn't helping the genre.

Also, bonus points to Days of Blood and Starlight for Zuzana's boyfriend body positivity:

"It was true that being surrounded by bronze-hard pectorals and biceps bigger than her head cast Mik's physique in a new light, but really, who needed biceps bigger than her head?"

The Maze Runner: Girls, Boys, and YA

The debate of gender and YA lit isn't anything new. Here is an essay I read about it recently, for example,and I don't even think that one mentions John Green. However, it's really hard for me to take a firm stance on either side of this debate, because it is true that, for the most part, I don't get much out of YA, aside from the fun of reviewing it. I've personally never been into reading romance and "girly" things, and I do love bittersweet endings, even though I certainly don't think that all YA is happy endings and rainbows. But yeah, read what you want. You've got lots of bloggers and vloggers to discuss/fangirl with, just don't discredit those of us who prefer other things as snobs.

Disclaimer aside. Now, The Maze Runner.

I believe I first started seeing The Maze Runner on advertisements on Facebook around 2010 (aka at the height of Hunger Games fervor), saying you should read it if you liked The Hunger Games. Naturally, I avoided it for a while until I sort of ran out of things and picked it up, in the fall of 2011. This was the time where I was just reading to read, so I didn't get much out of it. I remembering finding the writing bland and, in some places, I really wanted to rearrange the sentences. I enjoyed the second one more when I read it in a few months, but I think I was more in the mood for it then. All of which is to stay, I'm not the one to critique it because I barely remember the plot. I also haven't seen the movie. If you want an actual feminist reading, try this or this.

What sparked this post is a line from the movie review in Entertainment Weekly: "Don't let that YA tag put you off, though. There isn't a dying heroine or hunky vampire to be found anywhere in this better-than-average adaptation of the James Dashner bestseller."

Now, I am not a fan of dying heroines and hunky vampires, and this pissed me off. [Though after some squinting, I realized that the dying heroine is just a reference to The Fault in Our Stars, which isn't even a trend. Wimpy heroines, on the other hand...]

"But I can't see!"

Yes, The Maze Runner was published in 2009, which in publishing terms means that it had nothing to do with The Hunger Games (2008, different publisher) and the ensuing dystopian craze (and despite my misgivings, I don't think it was rushed out without a copyedit...it was just a poor one). It was just there at the right time, rather than an actual response to it. However, it was marketed as a response to it, despite not having much in common. Namely, one that is more boy-friendly.

So, the YA with "serious" themes and no love story and excessive sentimentality (not that there aren't sad parts) is worthy of consideration, while the rest are just for teen girl fantasies. [I want to be clear that I'm not personally attacking the reviewer, but this is just something we see far, far too often when YA is discussed. I'm probably also to blame here.]

Because whatever you think of the quality of YA, it at least often tells the stories of young women (and often written by women). They might be wimpy and terrible role models and lack spark of life, but they're girls. And, as is well documented, girls will read books featuring any protagonist but boys will stay away from books about girls. But it's not just about that...The Maze Runner features just one girl (which admittedly is a main part of the plot) who, if I remember correctly, spends most of the book unconscious and, like Thomas, is gifted with abilities to magically help solve the story. There is an additional (manipulative) female character in the second book, and apparently a third in the last, which I never read. All three are potential love interests. Meanwhile, the boys insult each other with made-up curse words. Yeah, it's also not my kind of book.

[And I say this as someone who rarely engages in a feminist critique as the primary critique of a work, disagree with several of them, and have I mentioned recently how much I love Lord of the Rings?]

This of course would be more of a problem if The Maze Runner was more popular than it actually is. I'm really not specifically targeting Maze, but rather the culture it exists in, as sparked by that movie review. I want to believe that there is good YA, and I think there is, but they're also the ones not explicitly written to be YA as we currently know the term. They're just books which feature adolescents. But when you have media specifically creating the image of "YA for boys," I have a problem. Because I just want to read (and write) books that don't have to conform to expectations of a particular genre/age group, and they're getting harder and harder to find which discourages me, and a lot of that is down to stigma and bad marketing decisions.

Does this make sense? I don't know. I still believe James Dashner needs a better copyediter, though.

EDIT: This is all sorts of offensive, because it literally says that the movie has more mass appeal because it's about boys. (Naturally, that's probably true, but it doesn't have to be. A lot of my problem has to do with the way things are marketed, rather than what they actually contain or even our culture.)

Ramblings: The hypocricy of embracing literature for young people

This is something that has been bothering me lately, related to a larger issue of the age gaps and marketing in children's publishing. I should really make a big post about it, or perhaps a series. Regardless, I'm sure this won't be the last time I talk about it.

Here's what I don't understand. You have many adults (rightly, I expect) arguing that they deserve to read YA and it's relevant and important to them, but they get a book written for a slightly younger audience and all of a sudden it's too young and can't be considered just as good. Or when there's a middle grade book they like, they'll go around calling it YA because that sounds more sophisticated. (See: The Giver, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson.)

Yes it's not written for you, it's not going to have small print and fancy words and really complex sentences, but that doesn't make it any less valuable. It doesn't mean it can't mean something to you once you get past these trivial details.

You can defend your YA, but I'll always defend the books that got me reading and that continue to captivate,me unlike anything else, and I don't want that to be forgotten in the debate. And I don't care if you call something like Harry Potter YA, I'm going to stick to what the book was marketed for because we should just embrace them for what they are. Yes, the landscape of children's publishing has changed, but it may have lost something along the way.

(On the plus side though, our generation will not be looked down upon when we are adults rereading Harry Potter, because everyone else will share the same nostalgia in some way.)

September Wrap-Up/October TBR

No reviews to link this time because I am going to review the first and last books together soon.
Here is how my reading went this month!

1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: They didn't lie, her writing is absolutely fabulous and it is effortlessly imaginative, even if the actual story underneath the world isn't too original. I just fell into the beautiful world; truly remarkabale fantasy, but many elements of the real world are retained to make it releatible, even if it's just everyday life in Prague. Of course, it did really feel like a set-up to a larger story and it is structured a bit strangely (I liked the first half better than the second, personally). The romance wasn't overbearing and there are explanations for it. I'm not sure it's my favorite because it didn't have that rare personal connection for me, but it is head and shoulders above most YA fantasy and a great way to spend my time. 4.5/5 stars.

2. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite novels of all time, and I recently realized I hadn't read anything else from Bradbury's impressive bibliography and made an agreement with myself to read as much as I can eventually. Like much of Bradbury, this is a collection of loosely collected short stories. I didn't fall into it as easily as Fahrenheit, but it was compelling and became more so as it went on. It's somber, bizarre, amusing...it's all about the human experience (more social than scientific, for example), and I should've seen the Cold War twist coming. 4.5/5 stars. (I really hate ratings.)

3. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells: I've been trying to read this on my Kindle for a while and I finally got going and finished it (the public domain Kindle format is very frustrating). It's definitely influencial and it does have a foundation in real science (something you don't see with SF nowadays), but I think it's my least favorite Wells novel. It doesn't have many other quandaries in it to think about (in contrast to the future split of humanity in The Time Machine and the lack of adhering to morals when invisible in The Invisible Man), and I just felt distanced from it. Of course it is pretty creepy, but isn't an all-out action blockbuster (which I don't mind). I just feel like it doesn't offer much beyond its concept, and since its concept has been so common in more recent storytelling, the bare bones is kind of underwhelming. Also, those aliens were really focused on the small part of the globe that is Great Britain. 3/5

4. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor: I was kind of on a Bradbury hangover during the first half of this book and I was also splitting my time between reading the War of the Worlds ebook, so it didn't grab me as much as the first book and I wasn't paying attention as much as I should have. However, I really enjoyed it after that, and I just love how different and immersive and beautiful this is. I figured I would like the war book more than the romance one, and I think it has a better structure as well. They're both very different, but they're both gems. More thoughts later. 4.5/5 stars.
It felt like I didn't read as much as I wanted this month, but I read some great books and it worked out in the end. Here's what I'll probably be reading next:

• I am currently reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley for school and it's fabulous.
• On my Kindle (where I got it once for free) I'm about 25% of the way through Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This isn't really the book I like to read and the writing feels a little bland to me, but I'm mostly intrigued by (and going to review it for this purpose) the fact that it's pretty much an intentional parody/attempt-to-be-better-than Twilight. It's actually pretty successful so far...every time I think it's gone to far, the main character talks about how he's a jerk and she wants to be better than him.
• The Illustrated Man and The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury: of course
• I still have The Da Vinci Code.
• And on my Kindle (because they were cheap) I have Cinder, Throne of Glass, The Warrior Heir, and The Darkest Minds.

Musings: Endings and To Kill a Mockingbird

 (Obviously there will be spoilers for To Kill a Mockingbird.)
I've always been that strange person who will love almost every ending. I think I just like the idea of an irrevocable closure. Debating over whether something fictional should have ended up that was simply does not interest me. I'd rather look at what's given instead of speculating.

As such, I haven't been more frustrated by the ending of a book in recent memory as I have been with To Kill a Mockingbird. This thoroughly surprised me. Not only is it a classic, but seemingly one that is easily beloved by a younger audience. And don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed parts of it, especially the courtroom scenes. Atticus is great. There are important points made about racism. But I was waiting for the punch-in-the-gut feeling that this was really good, that it was life-changing, and I never really got it. I thought I might when Tom was killed, when it seemed like Atticus was going to be hunted down...but then the ending just killed it.

Mostly what bugs me is this. Jem possibly killed someone. Sure, probably in self-defense, but he killed someone. Maybe. We never know. Does it matter? The book seems to imply that it doesn't. Atticus goes along with the Sheriff's story about Ewell falling on his own knife, even though it's unlikely. Jem may have gotten taller and moodier, but he's still a child and is protected by that, not even aloud to come to terms with what happened himself. He and Scout can forever be children, wise enough to understand the world around them already.

Aside from the lack of closure as to what happened, I just find this extremely ill-conceived. Jem probably is confused and guilty and scared, whatever the outcome may have been, but we are spared ever seeing any of this. Who said this was a coming-of-age story? Jem and Scout don't grow except physically. They aren't awakened to the harsh realities of the adult world. Sure, they witness some horrible things, but seem perfectly capable of handling it immediately or after a brief talk with their equally wise father. Never do they contemplate their role in society as white children or change their worldview; they seem to know who is good and bad immediately in a world that lacks complexities. Never are their eyes opened to the harsh realities of rape and abuse; they just simply take it in without further comment, only function as the eyes through which the meat of the story (the courtroom scenes) are told. They are forever shielded and rather detached as narrators.

So yes, I don't agree with what this says about growing up and childhood. But I've got another gaping problem with the ending. We are never shown any investigation, any angry family members looking for revenge, any attempt by Atticus to defend his son legally. But maybe he doesn't have to. Jem isn't just a child, but a white child. We've just spent most of the book seeing the injustice blacks had to endure, and are we really going to end with a white boy escaping any sort of guilt? Or perhaps it was a full-grown white man, as it could have been Boo as well. But no, the Sheriff thinks it's best that no trouble is taken, and unanimous good guy Atticus Finch agrees.

Maybe, just maybe, if Jem had privately confessed his guilt and horror to Scout and how he feels even worse that he (or Boo) is not subject to the same law that punishes innocent men, and the two realize how awful the world really is, we would have some sort of reasonable ending. Instead, we never know, there are inconsistencies, and Scout and Jem are forever idyllic children.

(Of course another option would be that the plan to assassinate Atticus succeeded, something I actually thought was going to happen, and I know I'm cruel for suggesting it, but it really would have made more thematic sense and awakened our characters and driven the point home. Though it doesn't do much for the black and white morality, though.)

I know many people aren't going to agree with this and I'm sure I'm not articulating this correctly, but I've hesitated much too long in saying something definite about it. Whether or not there are some uncomfortable racial issues underneath the whole thing (I personally am not sure I fleshed that out fully), I at least felt a vast hole in place of growth and complexities to Jem's character--or Scout, for that matter--that prevented the book for really peeling back the idyllic childhood glaze and driving its point home.

(Also I just firmly believe growing up is about realizing how horrible the world is.)

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King: A Letter

Dear Everybody Sees the Ants,

I don't know how to begin this. Perhaps that is the reason I have stalled writing this review. It's just so hard to write reviews of things I really love. I mean, I'm not sure if you'll make my favorite books' list, but you are a diamond in the YA rough. You deserve to be more popular.

This is going to be one of my more personal writings. I love writing and reading about personal connections to media, but I always feel a tad egotistical for inviting others to read about myself. But oh well, you're just a book after all.

I can't say I've had a Nader McMillan in my life, but I have been bullied. I was picked on in choir class for God knows what, but it damaged my confidence and I'm just getting over hearing the sound of my own singing voice. And then I met my boyfriend, who was picked on for God knows what too, but it damaged his confidence, in this case about his physical appearance. I've been there. Many of us have.

I've never been suicidal, but Lucky isn't painted as suicidal either. He expresses a wry, sheltered point of view, something that isn't annoying and is compelling. He doesn't sound depressed, but he is. I love the nuanced portrayal of Lucky.  Because I've had troubles myself, during the summer, and during the time reading this, and during the time writing this. I'm a perfectionist and I get way too hard on myself. I also get too obsessive over making sure I appear strong enough and I feel guilty for dragging others down when I'm not. But I never contemplate suicide, for my own reasons.

I love my parents. I really do. They're not close to the friction between Lucky's parents, and I am grateful for that. But there are still disagreements and arguments and yelling between everyone in the household and sometimes I just want to get away. The adults in you are portrayed heartbreakingly flawed, and oh, I loved it.

You have some cruel plot twists, though. I say plot twists because they changed how readers saw the story, but they were probably more like character-twists because they were centered around the characters. The first one was just cruel but thematically resonant. The second one was just heartbreaking. And my jaw dropped on both.

I love how you aren't quite a love story. Lucky is fortunately self-aware about the nature of love and lust, and the relationships are complex. He knows that what he feels might just be movie-star love. He knows he's like a sibling to her, and it's that note he ends on. There's attraction and there's true caring, but nothing overpowers. Nothing is put into a box of "girlfriend" or "friend" or "sister."

I don't think I've ever read a book with magical realism before, but I enjoyed this. It isn't too strange, and it's just taking metaphors to a whole new level. I've always been interested in dreams and how they relate to our inner thoughts, and the ants! The ants were just plain amusing at times, whether they were forming a halo and singing, or throwing grenades, or spelling profanities. But that's not what they were about. They were about being the hardships that everyone must go through.

Everybody sees the ants.

To many happy rereadings,
Olivia

P.S. (from December 14, 2014): I realize I never actually wrote about specifically why I found this book so interesting and personal, and I still don't think I'm ready to share that. But to give you a general idea: this book put in me in the mind of someone who felt very real and very close to someone I know well, and so it was like learning a little bit more about him.

August Wrap-Up and September TBR

I previously just did this on tumblr to display all the links to my reviews, but I think I'm going to also do it here, especially because I'm not planning on writing a full review (at least not anytime soon) for To Kill a Mockingbird. So, here is a summary of my reading this month because I don't write a review for everything, but if I did, I'll link it. I'm also attempting to put ratings but I've got to say, I'm bad at them.

 Overall this was a pretty good reading month considering my time became limited by school.

1. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (review has spoilers): I can't say this is going to be a tip-top favorite of mine or anything, but I really enjoyed reading it. I personally thought it was a much quieter story than the hype suggested, and so while it wasn't what I expected I was actually pleasantly surprised by what it really turned out to be. 5/5


2. "Nothing O'Clock" by Neil Gaiman: This is that Doctor Who ebook short story written for the 50th anniversary and is the last one featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond (in really early pre-Rory travels, actually). It's Neil Gaiman, Doctor Who, Eleven and Amy, and less than 50 pages, so how could I resist? It was really fun to read and I loved how creepy and abstract it was (really just tradition Gaiman, though). 5/5

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: I don't know if I'll actually write a review for this one sometime. I'm still puzzled. This was one of the more widely-loved classics, even among the younger crowd. And yet...I didn't really feel it. Certainly very important points were made, it was well-written, and I loved the courthouse scene, but I wasn't a fan of the ending and how it handled childhood. Scout hardly developed and consequences weren't addressed, with the end seeming to imply that it's okay, you're just children, and you're going to stay that way. I guess I was expecting the punch-in-the-gut feeling I get from good books, especially about the growing up subject matter, and I didn't get it. 4/5.

4. Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (review to come): Definitely a new favorite. This was my first read of King's and while it may be the consensus best, I'm going to be checking more out. I really wish her books (or at least this one) was more popular. This one is about bullying, problems with parents and relationships with others in general, and a loved one who has been forever MIA from the Vietnam War. I am going to be writing a full review, so for now I will just say that I loved the themes, the nuanced portrayal of the adults, how the relationship spanned and alternated between more than one kind of love, the plot/character twists, and the amusing description of the metaphorical ants. 5/5.

As for the books I'm planning on reading next month/the future:

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: I've just started reading this. I also have the sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight, which I expect I'll be reading afterward.
•  Brave New World by Audious Huxley: I'm going to be reading this one for a class.
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: Because I still have it on my shelf and haven't gotten around to it.
• I'm going to Barnes and Noble in a few to pick up their leatherbound Ray Bradbury edition, because I adore Fahrenheit 451 but haven't read anything else by him, but they really intrigue me. It is an omnibus of The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and The Golden Apples of the Sun, though they are all short story collections anyway.
• On my Kindle I have barely started reading two ebooks that were free when I had downtime: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells and Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
• This month I have also acquired Cinder by Marissa Meyer, The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, and Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas because they were cheap on Kindle, and I hope to get to them eventually.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: I think we were lied to

THIS REVIEW IS NOT SPOILER FREE. THERE ARE SPOILERS. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU. (Sorry I just want to talk about the ending and what that means for the book as a whole. If you want to know what I thought: I loved it, and it probably won't be a favorite but I don't have much to complain about either.)

(Also I would like to point out that I am going back to school tomorrow, and I know my blogging and reading time will severely decrease. I'll still be around, just not as frequently. It's been a great blogging summer, so thank you all!)

They lied to us.
They said this was a different kind of book.
It wasn't.
I'm pleasantly surprised.

Okay background first: I first heard about this book near the beginning of the year on Barnes & Noble's blog, where it was listed among the most anticipated releases of the year. I think it had an original release date of February something? Anyway, I can't say I was very up-to-date in the YA world (and now that I have a little more knowledge, this doesn't change), but it sounded right up my alley. Lockhart's other books didn't really interest me and I did pick up The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, but had some issues with that one that I should really definitively write up somewhere. It didn't deter me from really wanting to read this, though.

From all the descriptions--which were all vague--this sounded like a tightly-plotted thriller with a twist ending where everything would fall into place. Lockhart in an interview even cited Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me as an inspiration because of how everything clicks into place. When You Reach Me also happens to be one of my favorite books of all time, and I can verify that its plot is expertly complex and multiple events come together at a particular point. Code Name Verity was also well-done like that. (I suppose they both of "twists," but perhaps with less emphasis.) So, I was expecting a complex thriller about deception.

Instead, We Were Liars is a very different book. And it rightly should be.

It's bound to be controversial because of a) the hype, b) the experimental writing style (I didn't mind, and I liked some of the crazy metaphors), and c) the twist. Because a lot of people believe that once you know the twist or if you figure it out, it's not any good. For some things, this may be true, but I think when done right, it gives you a whole new perspective on the story. And that is what We Were Liars does.

I'm going to be honest with you and admit I never saw the twist coming like some others because I was under the impression for some reason that Gat saw her right after the accident and then sort of sullenly walked away, not speaking to her again. Well, there is a reason my mental image of "I never heard from him again" is one where he is still present

But the twist in We Were Liars isn't something that just suddenly makes sense, the key to the mystery. It just slowly unveils itself. And it puts a spin on everything you've read before, but more more subtly than "oh now suddenly all those disparate parts make sense!"

It reveals that this book is actually about grief, guilt, loss, tragedy, and maybe even mental illness.

It is carefully written so that nothing contradicts., though I wouldn't call the careful editing "clues". No one else explicitly mentions the other Liars as if they are present like Cady describes. Which brings us to perhaps the biggest question: what were they? My original idea was that they were a coping mechanism, inserted in her writing so she could help herself deal with it. I still kind of like that idea. I also really like Ariel Bissett's theory about hallucination. If it is all in Cady's head, then I like how Gat's feelings are more ambigious: did he actually really like her, or does she just wish that? The appearances are much more detailed than you'd think hallucinations would be, but not quite as contrived and convenient as ghosts. Maybe it's a combination of all three. I'm not sure it matters at all, either. The book informs you from Page 5 with a very violent metaphor that not everything should be taken literally.

In essence, actually, We Were Liars is an episode of The Twilight Zone.  It has a twist ending. It is an amplification of a fear, and it is ambiguous. The question of whether or not it's supernatural is kind of trite. Sure, it isn't a perfect metaphor; there is a creepy, mysterious tone to it all, but not quite to the "this is so wrong!" extent of The Twilight Zone. Still, I think the comparison points out how much of a small-scale story We Were Liars really is.

Perhaps I am struggling  to convey my appreciation for this little story, but I've got to say, I read it at the end of a summer that was probably my worst yet. I had hardly anything to do and when I thought about what I wanted to do, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It got bad near the end, climaxing just before I finished this book. And I know this isn't about depression, not quite. But I could really sympathize with the way she behaved at times, and Mirren was also ill.

We Were Liars also touches a bit on classism and families, and how those with so much can be unhappy at the core--almost like The Great Gatsby in that way. It's a small story with a lot to say, none of which I expected, and none of which is overstated. Some people won't feel like it lives up to the hype, but I just think the hype was misguided.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Another spoiler-free review (this may become a regular thing for books I don't need to pick apart). I was going to add a marked spoiler section at the bottom to gush about the plot twists, but I'm not sure I really have much to add that would be more than a recap and fangirling.

This historical fiction is about two young women in England who become a pilot and a spy during World War II, and this is the account of a their mission in Nazi-occupied France that becomes a disaster. I really can't say much more than that. The historical atmosphere is lovely and the author even wrote a "debriefing" at the end explaining what liberties she did take, and a list of sources is also included. While female roles in the English military during this time were few, there were some of them, and I really liked how this book uncovered that instead of defaulting to the traditional all-male cast. It made the story much more unique.

I admit I had a bit of trouble reading this in places. I got a bit lost over the aircraft and spy descriptions sometimes and then couldn't visualize what was going on. This doesn't take away from my appreciation of the book, though. It's purely my fault and this one is already on my "should reread sometime" list.

The diary style that Code Name Verity is written it naturally lends itself to some suspension of disbelief: I know my diary is a jumbled mess of getting feelings and events down as quickly as possible. I don't take the time and write in prose form--I wouldn't trust myself to remember a lot of dialogue, for one--and in some places of the book you would think the narrator would be in a position to write something briefer, and certainly much of the story is closely tied to what is being written. Personally, for me, I didn't mind the style, but others may feel otherwise.

Now to the things I am not going to spoil. At the beginning it is easy to get caught up in the backstory--which is why I took a bit longer reading that because I didn't feel much momentum--but eventually you begin to realize that there is danger in the present tense. She is a prisoner, after all. And then there is a FANTASTIC use of an unreliable narrator and it takes off from there. I can't say I've read a lot of unreliable narrator books, but I did really enjoy these plot twists. Not all of them are related to the unreliable narrator trope anyway.

And at the core of all of this was a lovely friendship between well-drawn, amusing, and inspiring female characters. Amidst the twists and thrills, there is a true emotion to it all.

So I DEFINITELY recommend this. You may follow it the best if you're into history and/or aircraft, but there is an expertly plotted thriller that can hold anyone's attention.

Slice of Contemporary: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Anna and the French Kiss

Something different this time. Two books, two much shorter, as-less-spoilers-as-possible reviews. Can I do it? I think so...

These are both contemporary YA novels (well, one actually is more of a recent historical, but close enough). I stopped reading contemporary for a long time, but I'm starting to think I might have more luck with them in YA because they may lead to less romances that annoy me. Well, possibly...

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

This really wasn't high on my TBR list, but the library had it out and I picked it up when stocking up on books for vacation. And I am so glad I did.

A big movement circling around the Internet (and elsewhere) is a push for more diversity in YA and books in general. Aristotle and Dante is about two Mexican-American (although middle-class) teenage boys--which I didn't know about before reading the book--and there are also gay themes, which I did know before reading the book. I'm a white heterosexual female and could I relate to this? Oh yeah. And it's not like the diversity "doesn't make a difference," either, because I really enjoyed reading about these kids and their neighborhood and culture. It was different, and I loved that. Furthermore, it looks like it might be a bit autobiographical; Sáenz is Mexican-American and gay and while he may have grown up a decade or so before Ari and Dante, there is still something about this novel that seems really personal, and that is a joy.


I sort of enjoyed this so much that I forgot to take notes, honestly, and I don't want to give too much away. I loved the involvement of both sets of parents and I loved Ari and Dante's struggles of self-discovery and life in general. A very teenagery thing. They made bad choices sometimes, but that is expected and by the end they learn from it. The writing style was very quiet and succinct, but I did not feel distanced. There was kind of a subtle beauty to it all.

This one is definitely on my buy-in-the-future-to-reread list (along with The Giver).

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Something else that was not high on my TBR, although this time it wasn't because I didn't really know what the book was about, but because I didn't feel comfortable buying it or checking it out from the library...I've never been into romance or so-called "chick-lit" and never wanted to be associated with typical "girly" things since I was little. But when I discovered my library's ebook and audiobook lending database, this was what I went for to check it out. I didn't have much of a choice, really; I'd heard so much about it and Eleanor & Park was my first choice, but it was already checked out. Besides, this seemed like a quick read that could benefit from the ebook lending.

Supposedly, this was a light and "adorable" story and a go-to book if you're ever feeling down. This...is not really how I'd describe it. I did really enjoy the first half; Anna's situation was relatable; it's set in France and I study French so that was fun; and even though it was obvious St. Clair was the love interest from the start, he was his own person, shorter than Anna (although not ridden of cliches), and because he had a girlfriend, Anna was concerned with just being his friend. I am a personal fan of love interests becoming friends first and gradually getting closer that it develops into something more, so I enjoyed that aspect, as well as Anna knowing she couldn't have him and not trying, even if she felt jealous at times.

But unfortunately, for much of the second half, there was a lot of drama and it seemed to drag on too long, and they were constantly put in contrived awkward situations which isn't really my thing. Not to mention a sort of thing that "just happens" and fulfills all the [huh I never finished this sentence; I think it was talking about her kiss with the other boy?]. The drama I do not particularly enjoy reading, but I'm conflicted of course, because of course it happened and the emotions are valid and this stuff does happen in real life. And the characters learned from it by the end. And I did like how, really, a lot of the mess happened because they were awkward teenagers and had trouble communicating. So...I think I like it better on paper, but it wasn't feel-good and an "adorable" exploration of romance for me. I just didn't feel it by the time I got to the end. I'm not sure if I'll read Lola and the Boy Next Door and/or Isla and the Happily Ever After...

So, one stellar book and one that was not offensive but didn't deliver what I expected or wanted when actually reading it. Not too bad of a selection. Romance is always going to be a tricky thing for me, and I have my reasons, most of them personal, but I promise I will try. I think I'm just being harder because I have to write actual reviews and really I've never cared about romances in books and now I have to point that out and compare it to my own experiences, which are...atypical. (I love Oz/Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though, does that count? Though Tara is equally awesome, don't get me wrong.)

Next up: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: Let's talk about love

Yes, it's another YA book with a love story, but I read this on recommendation from my friend and I actually quite enjoyed it. This one is a dystopia where love is a disease and illegal and is cured when you are 18, but main character Lena falls in love with only a few months to go before her cure. So, let's break this down accordingly, because I don't have too much to say otherwise.

A future where love is a disease: This was the reason it took me a while to get into this book, despite Lauren Oliver's lovely writing. I just never got a good grasp of the world, and it doesn't help that the first two chapters are essentially infodumps. I never got that creep factor from the cured people like I got from the characters in The Giver and Fahrenheit 451, and it was hard to see how different they were supposed to act for a while (there is quite a bit of telling rather than showing in this book). I had a very hard time wrapping my head around how the United States in the future would close off its borders and outlaw love, rewrite the Bible, and somehow everyone believed that love really did kill you and was the root of all evil...I mean, I get the whole increasing divorce rate and alcoholism, but aren't those just as accurately results of a lack or love? And would the governing body and the majority of the country be willing to give up loving their spouses, children, parents, friends, interests, and whatever else? Eventually, there were enough hints about a conspiracy and a large amount of "sympathizers," but it would have been much better if this was set more than 60-some years after love had been outlawed (40-something after the cure was perfected). It does not allow much time for this brainwashing to set in if that's really the case, and if it's not, I still have no idea how we got here. (I know it's a trilogy, but it harmed my enjoyment of this novel because I couldn't get the premise in my head.)

There were some parts that I did like, though, such as oil being rationed and the "intranet," mostly just because of its renamed title, but still I was glad it finally answered what happened to the technology.


Overall I think this might have worked much better if it was not set so much in the real world: if it was an alternate universe or something else mysterious, I think I would have been able to have immersed myself in the story more. Plus there is the issue of uncured babies becoming attached to mothers who cannot love them back, which is a very real issue, but is never explored in the book (and Lena is one of the few who. Others have discussed that, though.

Lena falls in love: This is what Delirium is for the most part about, falling in love. But not necessarily falling in love with someone else. Allow me to explain.

Oliver does a great job of describing what it feels like to be in love: getting distracted, feeling beautiful, seeing the world in a whole new light, being paranoid that everyone will see it written across your forehead, etc. However, I never really felt that she was greatly improved by Alex specifically, and it didn't help that he was a very generic YA boyfriend: sweet, already in love with her, attractive in the thin and muscular sense, older, an outsider (though human)...he was nice and inoffensive enough (though at first he was a bit creepy, having remembered and seen her before), and I liked how it was played out, but I never really got a great grasp on him as a character who Lena fell in love with. But this book is mostly focused on the actual falling in love, not the relationship, so it gets a bit of a pass.

The frustrating part was that the story really could not have been any other way with Lena. Hana would be the one to rebel, choose to fall in love, and escape...but Lena's backstory won't allow that. As such she is kind of, forgive me, manipulated by Alex's character to get into the situation she needs to be for the story to take place, which accounts for him already loving her, kissing her first without even asking if it's okay...that sort of thing. It is only after all this that that Lena can break free and gain more agency. I still don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, it would have been a completely different story and character; on the other, it would avoid some cliches and uncomfortable moments

But hey, I did really enjoy Delirium once I got past the first half where everything was set up. I have been told that the rest of the series shouldn't be my top priority and frankly I'm not too interested--though Lauren Oliver shows no sides of slowing down writing and I'm sure I'll pick up another of her books sometime. Meanwhile, my next review looks to be a 3-in-1 affair.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy: Review

 Well, this was a bit disappointing.

It isn't bad, but I just felt like it was more average than I expected and I was let down for a bit. Good but not great. Sure, it's exciting and the pages kept turning, but I just didn't feel like it did anything for me. It was missing something to make it really special and stick with me. I admit I'm so tough on books these days because I realized how some reads could mean so much personally or at the very least expand my imagination, and I turned away from new releases and series because they stopped doing that for me. "Entertaining but I forgot about it afterward" just didn't cut it, even if I didn't have any quibbles with the actual books when I read them. However, I do have more issues with The 5th Wave, so this might be a step below that level.

The beginning was tough to read simply because, for me at least, the descriptions of mass destruction were really disturbing. I didn't want to imagine and live in a world where there was a likely chance everyone I loved and myself had died. But after Cassie's first section of the novel it all got a bit ordinary. I can't say I'm the biggest science fiction fan, but I have seen my share of alien invasions with The X-Files and Doctor Who. Nothing in this book really surprised me. In fact, it seemed to cram as many alien tropes in as possible, and as a result caused some problems. I still don't know what the aliens are doing and why they are doing it. If they haven't had a form for years and were "downloaded" into humans, then how and why is there a mother ship? What if some of those hybrid alien-humans were by the sea, would they have been wiped out by the 2nd wave? How were these kids not suspicious when these adults had all this tech when this book takes place in 2013-14 (evidenced by the prequel being set in 1995)? [Yes I realized "the aliens left it" but still, they seem too advanced to let that slip.] What do the aliens want, anyway? Please tell me if I missed something.

Now, of course an argument can be made that the actual plot is just window dressing for character development, or for examining how the characters respond to their situation (aka The Buffy Method). Viewed this way, I would say the book preformed mildly well, although I personally did not feel too invested in the characters (Except Sammy. Don't you dare kill Sammy.) and I was so confused to what was going on in the background that I wasn't sure how to root for the characters overcoming their situations. Also, for a section of the book the romance seems to stray away from Cassie's drive, but I'll get to that later. Still, I did like the promises to save Sammy and I really enjoyed the climax where all the storylines came together.

Let's talk about structure, because this book has an interesting one. It took me a bit to get used to, but once it turned into alternating sections of Zombie and Cassie, it was fine. At first, though, it was a bit odd, because we aren't told that this is someone else and we have to figure it out. What I mostly found strange was that the Silencer and Sammy, who each narrate once, were written in third person instead of first like the rest. I could understand the Silencer because he was an alien, but Sammy? Yancy did a good job writing a five-year-old's point of view, he might as well have made it first person to be consistent and not appear that you just can't get inside a five-year-old's head (because isn't every other account of a five-year-old in third person?).

The book is written in present tense, which I'm not a huge fan of because it always sounds funny to me at first, but I get used to it. It was a bit strange in places in this novel, though, because it was hard to figure when everything took place. For example, when we switch to Sammy's POV, we're reading something that happened before Cassie's narration began the book. I was honestly not sure if what Zombie was experiencing happened at the same time as what Cassie was narrating. (Not to mention how confused I was about the crazy technology.) Also, in the first section Cassie uses past tense to tell about the first four waves, which is fine except when it said "Now I was watching him through the kitchen window," which is some sort of past present and doesn't quite work. In Zombie's narration the same thing happened: "'We're going to be the first squad to graduate.' And I'm right." But he can't have any knowledge of the future!

I also found Zombie's side of the story more interesting than Cassie's when he got to the crazy training camp. Although, still, Reznik and Ringer were little more than one-dimensional. Meanwhile, Cassie gets bogged down with a romance subplot that sort of comes out of nowhere. She is constantly describing him from the moment she sees him. He kisses her and doesn't know why and she doesn't question it or talk about their relationship at all for quite a while or even feel awkward about it (like, really, Cassie's never been kissed before, what does she think about it and what are her worries?). Not to mention the narrative hasn't been kind to its tough heroine by physically hurting her and having her nursed to health by an attractive guy who then easily ends up in a relationship with her. How many times have we seen this? Worse, when she begins to question how he is dangerous (which she guessed from his soft hands of all things), we get your typical paranormal romance conversation about how he makes her feel human and he won't hurt her. Yes, I know it's science fiction, but Evan is still a deadly being and it's the same story once again.

I know I can come down hard on YA romance and it's not because I hate the genre, although I did avoid romance when I was younger because it was perceived as "girly" and I didn't want myself to be belittled as a result. But I'm critical now because I've experienced being in a teenage relationship, and I knew several other couples, and we all had more complex dynamics and our fair share of awkwardness and insecurities and discussions. Yet this book is hardly about romance, and it just feels thrown in to check a box and adds nothing insightful. Worse, the way it changes Cassie's character for the middle of the novel is almost insulting, and it almost is just padding until she's strong enough to find Sammy. It slows down the forward momentum that was there in the first section of the book.

So I'm debating whether I'll read the second book after it comes out...I was frustrated at times while reading it, but I'm still intrigued now that the smoke has cleared a bit after I read it. Perhaps more will be explained and I can properly get my head around it. And you know what? It's already going to be a movie...