"If I Stay" by Gayle Forman (N1)

I Bawled My Eyes Out

If I Stay

By Gayle Forman

# Pgs: 304

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Overview:



In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

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Review:

You know, I never realized until I started to blog about the books that I've read how many books have actually made me cry. Seriously, up until this point I thought I was something of an "untouchable". If that isn't an obvious enough clue about this book, then maybe this is: This book made me cry.

Gayle Forman's If I Stay is a realistic fictional novel about a girl who seemingly loses it all. Everything.

Almost.

Mia, the main character, is held in a state where she's the only one capable of making a choice. The choice. The most important choice that each of us face at least once in our life, if in different situations; the choice between letting go and holding on.

And as the reader, we get to relive along with Mia the sudden violent cataclysm that brought her to this point. It's a touching, thoughtful read. It makes me consider what choice I would've chosen if I were put in her situation... It also makes me think about what in my life makes it worth living.

Forman's an intelligent author. Using flashback and imagery to paint the devastation in my mind, Forman forcefully brings a relatable, tragic, heart-strong teenage novel to the table at dinner, making the feast so very bittersweet. While I ate up the words of this book in a day, I found myself both laughing and crying simultaneously.

The truth is that I find the best out of books that contain tragic storylines. I don't believe in fairy tales or happy endings; they don't exist.

That's probably most often why I like to read fairy tales or paranormal fictions; it's so interesting how many different perspectives there can be about one type of subject. That's probably why I most often read paranormal fictions, but why tragic, realistic or historical fictions are my favorites.

This book does not make it to that category I have that I call "favorites", but I'm fond of it. You have to be careful when you read this that you're sure this is the type of book you want to read. Some people might find this disconcerting as while it seems somewhat paranormal as Mia is a spirit while she has to make this very important decision, it is overall not. Mostly this book is realistic, with an out of body experience on Mia's part and loads of powerful memory flashbacks.

I love-like this book, so I'd give it a very if-y four point five out of five. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic tragedies. Thanks for reading.

What's Up With The World? (M2)

The Beneficial Properties

of

Reading

Books

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Has anyone else ever been asked in that irritating tone of voice, "Why do you read?" In the case of some students here a little less literate than I, it's not even asked with an actual interest in "why I read". No, instead it's a sneer upon their face and that tone of voice like reading is beneath them. It's "Why do you even like reading?" After a time, although it's a question that makes me want to roll my eyes and ask "Why do you even like breathing?" I've actually began to consider my answer to this often-asked question.

Why do I like to read?

Keeping in mind that reading is a glorious experience that, with the proper words and proper person telling it, will "take you to other places of your imagination"; there are plenty of reasons why to keep reading besides the fact that I enjoy it.

Reading a good book boosts your creativity, your imagination. Likewise, your empathy for the characters and for other people becomes greater. It builds your concentration and attention, it encourages you to chase your dreams, to achieve your life goals.

Reading improves your writing skills, your vocabulary, and your analytical thinking. Your mind, your brain, is a muscle with it's own neuro circuit developed just for reading. This comes from the need to focus on language, your vision, and the associative learning that takes place as you read a book with a plotline. By working out your brain, you keep your mind sharp and, essentially, young. In the end, reading protects your brain from Alzheimer's.

When you read a book, you have time to think about what is happening. As the reader, you have the unique ability to press pause and absorb it all in. If you're watching a movie or listening to music, then you generally don't press pause to think about what is happening. For a movie, you press pause to make popcorn or go to the bathroom.

Most of all, what I like about reading, is that you experience the story. As you read you imagine what's happening, the great plot, the complications, the interactions between the characters or between the protagonist and the antagonist, that takes place. Although it might be written from a different POV, a different gender, a different species, a different name; a reader connects to the character that isn't all that possible when you watch a movie. Because there's a difference between experiencing the story and watching it happen with someone else experiencing it.

You want to ask me why I like reading? Why do you like playing video games, or watching tv, or playing around on your iPod? Why do I like reading? Why do you follow boy bands, or play sports, or watch movies?

I like reading because I don't like it. I love it. Reading is as much a part of me as the lungs in my chest and my two left feet. It's there, and there are so many possibilities out there in the world that exist, so why not use it? Why not read?

I like reading because I do.

That's pretty much it.

"The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan (M1)

Hmm...

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

By Carrie Ryan

# Pgs: 336

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Overview:



In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

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Review:

I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan a couple of years ago, but I still have that impression that reading this book had left on me back then. Honestly, the fact that I remember this book at all is a miracle. I have a terrible memory, especially when it comes to the books that don't evoke enough emotion from me when I read them.

But Carrie Ryan's book I remember because it was anything but generic. The storyline was something that I've never come across before, the idea somewhat original. Though at some parts The Forest of Hands and Teeth got just a little boring to read, I found myself following the main character's example by paying attention.

I remember the thought that it seemed almost like it was two books in one; like there were two major moments in the books that could've been climaxes. There were likewise two areas in the book where I thought I'd be reading the last sentence of this first book but, to my surprise, I found it continued on.

Ryan wrote this book with very nearly wonderful imagery, but at some points I felt like the characters themselves were underdeveloped. Reading this book I remember thinking that Ryan could've taken this book to the next level, but she just settled for what is. There were so many opportunities that presented themselves for Ryan to mix it up, to throw in some kind of spice and really send us reeling. I was a little disappointed that the book was as flat as it was, but for some reason (probably the fact that it was very different and so very interesting despite the dull tones at points) it capture my curiosity. However I can't help wishing that Carrie Ryan would've added some sort of meaning to the story other than just mindless romance and mindless zombies. It was just such an easy book, such a safe book, to read; there was nothing that challenged us as the reader, and it seemed like there was nothing much that challenged the main character, Mary either.

If you're going to write based on the point of view of a female character in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled world, I want my main character to have some kind of strength about her. Whether it's charisma, how to survive on wild plants, bows or knives... There's got to be something that the character can do to keep herself safe. There wasn't anything like that in this book. It seemed like everyone else was protecting her, for her. It seemed like for every complication that popped up, there was some coincidental, simple, not so involved (easy) way out of it. She struggled, but not in the way that she should've.

I haven't read the second book in the series as it wasn't out at the time that I read the first book, but now that I'm thinking about it I suppose I better refresh myself with the series. Regardless of how much I am chewing this book out right now, there were parts of it that I did enjoy, and I'm majorly curious on how the second book turns out.

I'd probably give this book a two out a five, and recommend this book to anyone who likes the whole post-apocalyptic, dystopian society, zombie, sci-fi book. Thanks for reading!

"Through Her Eyes" by Jennifer Archer (L2)

Predictable

Through Her Eyes

By Jennifer Archer

# Pgs: 384

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Overview:



Every ghost has a story to tell.

The last place Tansy Piper wants to be is stuck in Cedar Canyon, Texas, in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of small-town kids. But when her mother decides to move to the desolate West Texas town, Tansy has no choice but to go along. Once there, Tansy is immediately drawn to the turret of their rickety old house, a place she soon learns has a disturbing history. But it's the strange artifacts she finds in the cellar—a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal—that have the most chilling impact on her.

Tansy soon finds that through the lens of her camera, she can become part of a surreal black-and-white world where her life is intertwined with that of mysterious, troubled Henry, who lived in the same house and died decades earlier. It seems their lives are linked by fate and the artifacts she found, but as Tansy begins spending more and more time in the past, her present world starts to fade away. Tansy must untangle herself from Henry's dangerous reality—before she loses touch with her own life forever.

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Review:

This book is a YA paranormal romance fiction written by Jennifer Archer. I was a little wary about reading this book because of my past experiences with ghost fiction stories. I wondered how it would play out. This book did not draw from me a sense of suspence or haunt. I wasn't scared or nervous or really much of anything about this book. It was kind of flat, and majorly confusing. There were many aspects and character decisions that the author made that didn't make much sense to me. Things were either over explained, or an idea plainly repeated.

I was not sucked in to the pages, and often found I had to put the book down out of boredom. There were certain points in the book where it got exausting to read.

This ghost book contains the usual; mysterious winds, some-what possessed objects, a half-crazy main character who most of the time seems to be in a daze. It's all very dreamlike, this world that Archer created. Unreal, to a point. Which is good I suppose since it is supposed to be a paranormal fiction. It contains the same old, same old awkward teenage girl that moves into a new town, who has never seemed to have a real place to call a home except for the last place she just moved from that she now wants to, but then doesn't want to, move back to.

Maybe it's just me, but as some points it seemed like the whole "new school, mean teenagers" thing was a little over-stated. Yeah, we get it. The teenagers in this school are viscious, spoiled, daddy's trust fund babies.

I don't know, I could go on about the problems I had with this book. I suppose though that if you're a thirteen year old it's a great read. The problem is that I'm not thirteen and I think that this is a book that does not belong in a high school library. It was too flat, too boring, and it made me nauseous to read. At some points it was great, fun even, enjoyable to read... but I'd have to rate this book as a one in a half, two out of five. This is not a book I'm going to remember.

"Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein (L1)

I'm in Love

Code Name Verity

By Elizabeth Wein



# Pgs: 368

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Overview:

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

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Review:

I have no idea how Elizabeth Wein did it.

I am hooked.

By part two of this book I was ready to start singing it's praises. I don't know how to possibly serenade it with my love. It captured me, it captivated me, it took a couple of chapters to get in to, but this is the book. It is the one. I'm telling you that I am in love.

Code Name Verity made me laugh and very nearly cry at parts. For nearly the entirety of part two, I bawled my eyes out... The characters had so much, well, character and bravery that despite their own misgivings about themselves we've come to find, as the reader, how strong they really are. You have to remember that this is a historical fiction, the setting of which takes place during WWII. Though it stays away from the horrors of the Holocaust, the book gives our attention to a different point of view; that of a pilot and a spy. Code Name Verity gives me the mind to think about just how far I am, as a person, willing to go for someone else. It reminds me how devestated I am to see a loved one go through any kind of suffering, let alone the kind of suffering that "Verity" and Maddie go through together.

This book is remarkably well researched, filled with little in-facto's about the war, about the popculture of that time, and written literature I honestly had no idea existed. It's intriguing to want to learn through a book such as this without actually meaning to. When you fall in love with a character, when you see start to see things through their point of view, when you start to think through their minds... It's really quite difficult to put a book such as this down. Nearly impossible.

Through this I'm given an insight to the espionage and brutality that came with such a war as WWII. It was absolutely riveting. This is the kind of book that I have to return to the library so that I can buy my own copy. I'll want to read it again. In fact, I already do.

This story is beautiful. I'm kind of hoping they don't make a movie out of this, put to the words the visual aspect and drama that can be read here if one would just open their eyes. Then again, I'm kind of hoping they do. We did grow up in a visual culture, after all.

How can I stop telling you how much I loved this story? What can I say to convince you that this is a book that needs to be read?

Code Name Verity was written with a mind blowing sense of complexity. Little things that normally one would never notice seemed to overall tie the book together. The growing sense of desperation between two suffering best friends... With no idea what to do... One captured by the enemy and made to reveal everything... The other... Dead?

It's definitely a tear-jerker, especially since all isn't what it seems to be. My heart goes out to the main characters for the majority of the book, more so once I figured it out.

But you'll have to read all about that to find out how and why. And I would highly recommend that you do. I'm really hoping they don't make a movie out of this, because I know that then they (whoever they are) would butcher it. There would be no justice done to this wonderfully woven tale that Elizabeth Wein created. This book is outside the boundaries of the rating system. I cannot within my good conscience put a number to a book such as this.

But if I had to it would be ten. You know, out of five. The best book I've read since the book thief, three years ago. This is a book I cannot forget.

Now that I'm done being overly dramatic...

You should still read it.

Ok. That's it. Now I'm done. :)

"Under the Never Sky" by Veronica Rossi (K2)

Lesson Learned

Under the Never Sky

By Veronica Rossi



# Pgs: 400

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Overview:



In a world of danger

an unlikely alliance

breathtaking adventure

and unforgettable romance

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Review:

Quite an inspirational overview I thought; so unique when compared to other back covers... Not really. But it's simple and to the point, without giving away a lot of information. Without giving away any information, really. That's good, I think, especially when compared to some book overviews where it gives away all the details of a book. Regardless of how short or long the overview is, it captured my curiosity. I was interested in finding out what it was about.

To be honest, I was kind of put off by the cover though. People always say not to judge a book by it's cover, but if we're all going to be honest we do. We live in a visual age. What a book looks like attracts us just as much as what the overview details. Those two things together will either make or break the reader to the book. The buzz about the book, however, can override what it looks like and what the book's about. Though I've only heard a little bit of buzz about this book, and I was extremely put off by how the cover looks, and likewise the overview didn't really catch my interest, still was I overall curious about the book. This curiosity is what made me want to read it. Not anything else.

Anyway, let's talk about the book. I was pleasantly surprised that the author was able to draw me in to the pages. She created a mix world of science and fantasy fiction, that seemed to have a air of post-apocalyptic happenings too. The character's names are strange, but fun. One of the main characters was Peregrine, or Perry. I suppose I'm singling him out mostly because every time I read his name I thought of Perry the platypus. Later, as the story developed, I managed to mostly seperate the image of an idiotic cartoon character with the viscious, beastly, but human, Perry.

It could be a little confusing at points, I thought, parts of it just a little understated. However the author makes up for this by the captivating development between the main characters. Romance was not, as is with so many books today, just thrown in at the very beginning. It was not love at first sight between Perry and Aria, it was hate and an almost dark curiosity about the other. The love that began to grow between them was slow growing, with trust between them gradually built first. After they fought, after they struck a deal, after they slowly began to save each other, after they began to trust one another... That is when they found some love. The problem now is that it's forbidden...

I thought that Aria was, at first, a bit of a spoiled brat. I mean, if you compare the two characters, despite Perry being the brother of a Blood Lord, Aria was the one who lived the privleged, protected, life. She had a steady food source and knowledge about the old world, but no freedom or real knowledge about the new one. Perry had knowledge about how to survive, some freedoms, and power, but his seemed to be the dying race. The way they were thrown together in the book made me think of puppets on string. They had no say in the matter.

I enjoyed this book. If I had a problem with it, it came from me wishing it could be a little more of something. Emotion? Tragedy? Or perhaps the characters reactions to what tragedies there were could've been better? Probably all of the above. The way Veronica Rossi wrote the book tended to be at some points a little flat. I already mentioned how I feel about the front and back covers of the book, so you know how I feel about that.

Without a doubt I'm going to check out the next book from the library when it comes out. This is not a book I'm interested in buying, but it was well enough that I'm anxious for the next book in the series to come out... All in all, I'd rate this book as a three and a half out of five. I was kind of on the fense about some things, but other parts were created with such clarity and brilliance that I would not put the book down. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi is a book that I'd recommend for YA fantasy fiction lovers... with a warning or perhaps added bonus of a science-y romance touch to it. 

Lost in Translation (K1)

The Pros and Cons

of

Movies

Based off Books

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It's always been stated that the book is always better than the movie. It can also be said that some of the best movies are based off of books... With that in mind, let's consider the pros and cons of movies based off of books.

1. First and foremost is the accuracy of how the book is portrayed on the big screen. Nothing bugs me more than when something symbolic or important to the book is left out in the movie. Come on, you can't tell me that it doesn't bug you when there's a whole scene left out in the movie that was in the book? Things happen for a reason! Don't change perfection! Or, if you're going to change something, then just rewrite the whole thing and give it a different title.
2. Once again, consider the accuracy. It's a small thing, but if in the book the character is described as a giant of a man, with ash black hair, winter eyes, and the voice of a god... Then don't give me some dopey, brown haired pudgy munchkin man who doesn't in the least match the description of the character in the book. I don't care if said man is such a celebrity that he is worshipped by millions of fans worldwide. I'd rather have someone whose name I've never heard before who matches the description perfectly than otherwise.
3. Another thing I absolutely detest about today's movies is when the producer or the director or whoever decides that *Gasp!* the last book has too much plot in it to fit it all in just one last movie, so we should stretch the series as much as possible to make as much cash as is possible. Let's keep the fans waiting. Grr... Not cool. Especially when the last movie doesn't need to be stretched, but when you are, in fact, trying to make as much money as possible by following in the footsteps of movie producers before you. Harry Potter... Twilight... And now The Hunger Games? I understand with Harry Potter, but The Hunger Games does not need to be stretched into four movies. That's just a waste.
4. Another thing that bothers me is just how many movies today are based off of books. Think about it. One minute I'm reading this really good book and the next minute I find out that it's becoming a movie. Suddenly everyone at school is gushing about the movie and about how great the book was and I'm left thinking that the book was better when it wasn't an object of movie fascination. The book is always better than the movie. I understand this. And hey, movies based on books are great to visually see what's happening. Most of today's society isvisual people I just wonder if mayber there really is nothing new under the sun as I've been told? Is that why it seems like screen writers today, directors, producers, whoever's in charge of it, is that it seems like no one writes their own movies anymore? Do they have to buy the movie rights to a book in order to make a movie? Maybe it's just me.
5. The last thing I have to say about movies based off of books is this: I kind of appreciate it. Especially when the movie is made right. I understand that those that make the movie aren't going to be as religious about books as I am, that they're not going to make the movie to my vision of perfect. Regardless of that, the movies that are made right can be beautiful and are, in their own right, based on themselves. Not the book. If that makes any sense.

So that's my five pros and cons (mostly cons) about movies based on books. But don't let that stop you. I'm a pessimistic person; I'm always thinking negatively. Books help though, so...