Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Overall, I liked this book. It contained a lot of elements that made it enjoyable: action, adventure and romance. Plus, it had a pretty kick-ass heroine and a swoon-worthy love interest. Also, the premise was really interesting and unique. That being said, there were certain aspects of this novel that made me nitpicky.

The book is mainly about Katsa. She lives in a completely made-up world where there are seven kingdoms ruled by some unjust and corrupt kings. In this world, there are also people born with "graces"--meaning that they have some extreme, unhuman-like abilities. Katsa is a graceling and her ability is probably the scariest one of all...killing. Her uncle is the king and he uses her as his personal "thug" to go out and kill, threaten or torture anyone who crosses him. Katsa spends a good chunk of the novel coming to terms with this horrible (although useful) grace while embarking on an adventure that teaches her not only about the world around her but also about herself.

I really liked the fact that Katsa was a strong heroine. She definitely didn't need saving like so many other female characters do. In fact, Katsa did all the "saving" in the book herself. She was a really strong character. But, when I say strong, I mean strong in the physical sense of the word. I felt like her strength was mentioned and described a little TOO much. So much so that I can't even think of another adjective for her other than just, well, strong. Also, it got annoying that she could do basically everything without fail. At the end, I got a little confused as to what her actual grace really was. Even though they do speculate what it could be, I just found that she was good at too many things. She didn't have enough flaws to make her relatable and likable. Not to say that she was downright unbearable because I did root for her and I was on her side but a lot of times I got annoyed with how she shunned anything and everything feminine like it made her a stronger person if she didn't dress up and grow out her hair.

On the flip side though, I did like that there wasn't too much fixation on looks in this book. Or at all, for that matter. It made the relationship between Katsa and Po, her love interest, that much more interesting. I've read so many YA books where the main characters fall for each other because they're gorgeous and hot and sexy. Katsa and Po definitely weren't like that. Their relationship was based more on friendship and understanding rather than lust and good looks. It was refreshing. However, I thought the transition from friendship to romance was a bit...abrupt. I mean, the author spent about half the book building a good friendship while the romance took about a page to go from nothing to everything. And I mean everything. I found that to be pretty unbelievable seeing as how Katsa hadn't ever had a boyfriend but she goes all the way in one fell swoop? It felt really rushed.

Another thing that was a major downfall for me was the pace of this book. A good section of the story dragged on and on and on. I can understand the beginning being slow because there's a lot of worldbuilding and explaining going on, but I don't need to see a hundred or so pages of the main characters going from point A to point B. There was a lot that could've been cut out and it would've made no difference to the plot. It was literally torture waiting for something to finally happen and for the characters to finally reach their destination. I was so incredibly tempted to skip ahead.

In the end, though, it was worth it. I thought the book was incredibly creative and most of the graces that the author came up with were really, really cool. I also liked how this fantasy world almost felt real at certain points. Like this could actually exist and happen. Sometimes there were moments where I could eerily draw parallels to our own world.

It's an excellent effort but the slowness of the story t made it something I probably wouldn't ever re-read.

I give it a: 3/5 stars.

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Review: Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

I haven't really fully developed my thoughts on this book yet. I'm sort of on the fence about a lot of it and I don't know how I feel about many of the issues this novel presents. As I do with many of my problems, to figure out how I feel, I'm going to write through my thoughts and attempt to come to a conclusion. And I thought: why not bring you along for the ride?

The reason this book is so hard to put a rating on is because it's kind of about a touchy subject. Especially in today's society. The main character is overweight. I know that there are many books out there that have overweight protagonists in them but this is by and large ABOUT her weight. It addresses those uncomfortable topics of obesity and healthy eating habits and exercise and self-esteem that we'd like to ignore. And for that, I really appreciate this book. It's brave to take on this subject matter in today's social climate, when so many of us are already incredibly weight conscious and bombarded with conflicting messages to eat healthy, to look right, not too fat, not too skinny, etc, etc. Does it provide a clear answer to a lot of weight-related issues? No. Does it provide a unique perspective? I think it does, a little. Is it helpful to people actually going through these things? That's questionable.

The plot: Rosemary lives in a small, very southern, very gossipy town. Her mom owns a beauty parlor in which all the gorgeous, skinny girls from her school come to get their perfect hair done so that Rosemary can feel even more inferior. So, to deal with her pain, she eats. And eats. Then eats some more. This cycle is spiralling so out of control that Rosie decides to do something about it and attempts to lose the weight...however she can.

The problem with this book is that I didn't find it encouraging or uplifting at all. I was actually a little depressed after I read it. Rosie basically had to change a LOT about herself in order to feel good or feel remotely attractive and worthy of any attention. I felt like all she fixated on was her looks. She wanted OTHER people to see how smart she was and how she was interested in poetry and English but all WE ever saw her think about was her weight. It was really, really sad. Perhaps, this is the reality that so many girls go through today but in this book it felt like this obsession with weight was strangely justifiable. It was compared to having a serious health problem like cancer.

The book seemed to hint at the fact that the issue at hand is getting healthy. However, Rosie took some really UNhealthy routes to get to a "healthy" weight. And the biggest problem about that in the book was that it made it seem like these unhealthy habits were okay...as long as they were producing results. In fact, Rosie barely ate in the entire book and the reader was put in the uncomfortable position of having to go between rooting her on when she avoided the donuts and sweets and watching her drink only water for her lunch break. And the worst part is that there weren't really any consequences to this behavior, all she had to deal with were some stomachaches. Nobody ever found out about this weight-loss technique of hers except a friend who just said "It's so bad for you!" and that was that. But, she lost the weight, so it didn't even seem to matter anymore. I don't know, it just bugged me that I was rooting for her to get healthy but it ended up with me watching her become basically anorexic and increasingly MORE weight conscious than ever before.

Maybe this book is supposed to be realistic and honest which is perhaps why the author chose to write from this perspective. But, considering that this is such an important topic for lots of teens today, I just thought it could've been handled better. With more encouragement of self-esteem and personal strength rather than weight obsession and a fixation on outer covers, I feel this book could've been really good.

The setting was delightful--southern town? Beauty shop? Sign me up. Even though the characters were pretty two-dimensional and the writing was just okay, I felt engaged in the story. But, if there was less concentration on JUST the numbers on the scale, I feel I wouldn't be checking how many pages I had left until the ending.

I guess I give it a: 2/5 stars.  

Review: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

I usually strike out with supernatural and paranormal books. Especially of the YA variety. Maybe it's because they're all trying to be the same thing and lack a lot of originality. Maybe it's because it's such a creative genre in and of itself that the books just don't live up to the creativity expected. Or, maybe it's because I'm just a hater. Whatever the reason, I usually end up giving the lowest ratings to supernatural/paranormal YA books. This novel, however, is different.

I actually really enjoyed this one. And now I'm going to use a completely original phrase that has never been uttered in ANY book review before: It hooked me from the very first page. No, really, though. The prologue was so creepy. I actually read it online and after that, I absolutely knew that I had to read this book. It was probably one of the scariest openings I've read, and it seriously sent shivers down my spine. After that boom of a beginning, the story does not let up. There wasn't any down time in this book for me. I read it straight through and only put it down when I had to go to the bathroom or eat or, you know, go to work and school. But, oh I how wished I could just crawl back into the book the moment I got the chance. Funny anecdote: I was almost finished and was getting to a really, really good part when I looked at the clock and saw that my class started in ten minutes so I had to get out of my car and run to the classroom. It was useless, though, because I couldn't concentrate on anything and was counting the minutes until I could get out of there and finish the 20 pages I had left to read. God, it was torture.

The main strength of the book is the plot, the story, the concept. And, I'll mush those three things together because in the book, they are all kind of the same thing. The concept that you read about in summaries is one that you get when you read the book--it doesn't disappoint. So, if you read a synopsis and think it's worth reading, then you should really just pick up the book because it delivers what you want. The plot was wonderfully crafted. I think you can tell that Kelley Armstrong is a seasoned pro at this kind of thing because she absorbed me so completely in the story that I never got a chance to think, "I wonder when we're getting to the good part," like I do with so many other books. It wasn't even that it was action-packed...it was just that the author made sure that every scene was interesting and not just filler. Like I said, I didn't find myself bored at any part of this book so you know that she did a good job.

Obviously, this isn't some great masterpiece. I'm not going to say the writing was amazing and beautiful and so original. Because, well, it wasn't. But, honestly, that's not what this book is aiming for anyway. This book is all about the story being told and makes the writing a means to get to the story instead of making it an obstacle getting in the way of the story. And I really respect an author who realizes what she has to do to her writing in order to achieve the affect that she wants. I wasn't sitting there thinking, "Man, that metaphor was really horrible," or, "If only she used more literary devices." She made her writing small and discreet so that you could enjoy the show. And, for that, she's a great writer and an expert at what she does.

The characters? I really liked them as well. I was SO GLAD that they weren't insanely gorgeous or absurdly unrealistic. Chloe, the main character, could've been any girl in school. I actually really liked that the author put normal kids (well, some) in there and not OMG-the-most-popular-in-school types. Also, I'm incredibly glad that she put a kid with acne in her story. With all the teen books that I've read, I have yet to encounter a main character that is dealing with skin problems. Which is weird because 90% of all teenagers deal with acne in high school. It should be brought up more in YA lit. It's a trivial thing, I guess, but it takes trivial things like that to make a character more relatable to the reader.

You may have noticed that I didn't actually tell you what this book is about. Well, that's because I am really scared of spoiling you since this book IS all about the plotline. So, I guess I'll just tell you the it's about a girl who can see ghosts. If you wanna know more before you jump into this book, I'd suggest goodreads...that has good summaries and they usually don't spoil you much.

All in all, I'm definitely going out to get the second in this trilogy as soon as I can. And that's not JUST because it leaves off on an insane cliffhanger but I'm genuinely curious as to where the author takes the story from here. Okay, maybe those two are kinda the same thing. Whatever.

I give it a: 4/5 stars.



Review: Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson



I don't think you can fully appreciate the YA genre if you haven't read Laurie Halse Anderson. She just gets how to write for teens. She doesn't BS and she definitely doesn't sugar-coat the issues that a lot of teens go through. For those of you who haven't heard of this fabulous author, you may have come across the novel Speak in your browses through the library or local bookstore. I actually haven't read that particular title because I think it takes quite a lot of emotional power to sit down and read books dealing with rape. I do intend to read that book but I just thought I'd start off with something smaller and lesser-known of her's. When a person I trust recommended Catalyst, I was sold. The premise seemed like something that would be really interesting.

Which brings me to...the actual premise of the book. Okay, for those of us who have gone through the process of applying to colleges, we know how incredibly stressful it is. It was so stressful for me that I mostly hid in my room senior year, huddled behind piles and piles of library books, refusing to see daylight and dealing with ANY of this college crap. More horrifying than the actual applying (which don't get me wrong, it sucks) is the waiting for your acceptance letters...or rejections. And it's this indecisiveness that puts most teenagers on edge. Am I going to get in? What if I don't get in? What in the world will I do? It's basically waiting for either the beginning of your life or the end of your world. And that wait is brutal. Trust me, I know. So, I was extremely excited to learn that Laurie Halse Anderson had chosen to write about this very stressful period in a teen's life. 

Basically, the book is about a girl named Kate who has applied to her dream school--MIT. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it's a pretty prestigious school. It's also incredibly hard to get into. But, Kate is smart. She gets excellent grades. She places in local science fairs. She balances all that with a job in the pharmacy and running for her track team. So, for some reason, Kate decides to apply ONLY to MIT and have no back-ups because, well, she figures she doesn't need one. It seems like a great idea at the time, but when acceptance letters start to come in, Kate is not so sure if her great idea was so great after all. Because, God forbid, what if she doesn't get in?

This is just the basic premise of the book. There are so many more layers to the story, so many other characters with stories of their own in the book, and so many more aspects to Kate's personality that you'll discover while reading this novel. This is what makes Anderson such an incredible writer. She strips her language down to a strange simplicity but within that simplicity lies a complex mastery of language that few writers can pull off. This book is honest. So honest that it's brutal. You'll want to look away but you can't because you care about Kate, you care about her story. 

However, as with most books, there are some flaws. Nobody's perfect. There came one point in the book (which I would say is a pivotal moment in the story) where I had to put the book down and throw up. It seriously disturbed me. It was one of the most emotionally scarring things I've read in a book and it just made me want to quit reading. I'm obviously not going to tell you what it is but I just want you to be prepared before you jump into this YA novel thinking these are just fun little high school problems you're reading about. If you go in thinking that, then boy are you in for a nasty surprise. Like I said, Ms. Anderson does not sugar-coat. Like, at all. For most of the book, this was a good thing. But in that moment, it just broke the barrier of reading about something horrific as opposed to actually experiencing something horrific. When I read that scene, I felt like I was actually witnessing this in real life. That was scary...and not the good kind of scary.

To sum it up, I think Laurie Halse Anderson is probably one of the most powerful writers I've come across in YA. She can navigate her way through themes, symbols, characters so effortlessly that you won't even notice her doing it. But, sometimes, you'll feel the brutal honesty wear you down and overwhelm you. So, come prepared with a box of tissues and a barf bag before you start reading this book. That being said, please DO read this book. It's absolutely worth it.

I give it a: 4/5 stars.

Some Random Thoughts

 A lot of things have been going through my mind lately that I wish I had the time or the energy to write. But I don't so I'll just concentrate on two topics that have got me particularly angry. (Just a little note this is not book-related at all).

So, I'm a fan of Taylor Swift. Yeah, go ahead and mock me or whatever. But, I think she's actually a really talented singer/songwriter who has really honed her skills at a very young age. I also think it's quite a feat that she accomplished writing so convincingly and honestly about her teen years and even about her young adult life. As someone who reads YA, I don't think it's easy at all to portray those awkward and difficult years in a really accurate way. A lot of times when someone writes a story about a teen girl or sings songs about teen life, they fall into the trap of making it cliche'd and incredibly dumbed-down. That's probably the reason why so many people just look at Taylor Swift and know that she writes her own songs and dismiss her songs as typical "puppy love" or just mindless, spineless girl wanting a random boy. But I think it's a crime to dismiss T.Swift so casually.

She writes with pure emotion and to skim over her songs as just cutesy music or to label her as someone who can't sing about any real things, would be dismissing a lot of what young kids go through in high school as unimportant. It may be unimportant to YOU but to them, it's real life. And sometimes adults forget that. They forget that those intense emotions we feel during our teens IS real life. It's a part of our life. Dismissing them as unimportant is what leads to issues like teen suicide. We don't think that what happens during high school affects us because we've grown up and moved past it. But a lot of kids don't move past it and take their own lives. Was it not important for someone to recognize their emotions as authentic and help them? It definitely is.

What role does Taylor Swift play in all this? She created a new genre that was never accurately portrayed in music (at least not in my generation). Usually, teen artists are just puppets that sing someone else's songs or can only write about certain topics that are purely "fun" and mindless. Music that you can dance to, not music you can actually listen to or relate to. But Taylor's songs touch on bullying, cheating, growing up, being naive, and of course, falling in love. And she does it in a way that makes these emotions authentic and not just silly girls being silly. To just say that her music is all "rainbows and butterflies" without any substance is not only offensive to her as an artist but to all the girls around the world who can relate to it.

What also bothers me is when Taylor gets the "anti-feminist" label. Yes, she sings about boys and love. Yes, she wears flowery dresses and makes heart signs. That makes her a weak woman? What about the fact that she writes all her own songs? That she empowers girls to take control of their lives and reach for their dreams? That she basically organizes and controls almost every aspect of her life at the tender age of 20? And that she beat out almost every male artist (besides MJ) the past year on the charts? If that doesn't describe a strong woman, I don't know what does. It's just because she sings about love and wanting boys that makes her anti-feminist? I'm sorry that she can't conform to the stereotypes of feminism. I'm sorry that she finds ways to be strong by sticking to her personality. I'm just kidding, I'm not really sorry about that. Look, I'm not saying Taylor Swift is the most perfect artist, the most talented person ever. I'm simply analyzing the critiques she usually gets and a lot of them just completely ignore reality.

ANYWAY. I also wanted to shift your attention to this article:   http://dft.ba/-1D9. Take some time to read that but also take some time to read some of the absolutely horrendous comments underneath it. But, if you're too lazy, basically the article is addressing some German politician who said that "multiculturalism" just isn't working out in Germany because immigrants are just uncivilized people who can't be a functioning or helpful part of society. Now, she doesn't phrase it like that, but that is basically what she is saying. The article argues that either the multiculturalism isn't working because immigrants are not acclimating into the society, are not making efforts to fit in, or that Germany isn't doing a very good job at giving these immigrants a fighting chance. Look, if you treat these people with disrespect and prejudice, of course they're not going to find good jobs or vote or feel welcome. As a result, they'll retreat back into their own cultures and make neighborhoods that are secluded from the rest of the community. How do you stop people from isolating themselves from society? Well, for starters you can stop isolating them. Stop discriminating. Stop judging. Just stop being so hateful.

Then, there are these lovely, absolutely intelligent commentators who say things like "ship Muslims back to their own countries." Yeah, forget the fact that many muslims are actually U.S. citizens. Forget that they vote, go to school, start businesses in the U.S. Just ship them back because a minority amongst them abuse their religion. Send them all back. (Obviously being sarcastic).

There are also people saying that immigrants should submit to "American culture." I'm sorry, what exactly IS American culture? What is a unifying thing that we all Americans have in common? Well, if we go back to the pilgrims' time, it was escaping religious persecution, finding freedom and liberty. Huh. Doesn't that "American" ideal contradict the sentiment that all people of a certain belief should be shipped away? America was founded on freedom from religious persecution, people. Other than those basic American values, there really is no unifying American culture. Other than the fact that we all want freedom and happiness and a safe place to live, away from discrimination and hatred, there is no one culture. And that's how it should be. Freedom from persecution and discrimination. THAT should be the unifying culture. THAT should define us as a people.

Anyway, that was just my rant about the absolute bigotry in the world. I'm not sure if this is coherent at all. Probably isn't.

Review: The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

I have an exam tomorrow for my poetry class so OF COURSE I would be updating my blog. That's what I call dedication (or procrastination, same thing). Anyway, before I get into the nitty gritty details of this book and my analyzation of it, let me give you guys a little preface. Okay. So, I love Sarah Dessen and Elizabeth Scott. And Deb Caletti gets thrown in with those authors quite a bit. When I first picked up a book by this author (Honey, Baby, Sweetheart), I was so excited because I thought I'd love it. It was the kind of book that is RIGHT UP my alley. When I finished it, I was left really disappointed because I didn't like it all that much. Next Deb Caletti book I picked up gave me the same results. So, you can see the apprehension I had before picking up this particular book. But the cover was so gorgeous and the premise sounded so good that I just had to read this.

The story revolves around a seventeen-year-old girl, Scarlet, and her family and neighbors. But mostly Scarlet. It starts off with her older (and quite obnoxious) sister coming home married and pregnant. Surprise, surprise. Where this book gets oh-so-interesting is the part where Scarlet finds herself falling deeply in love with her sister's husband and figuring out that her sister doesn't really love him all that much. A lot of the story deals with this particular complication but it also deals with other things. Like, Scarlet's need to help EVERYONE around her, whether they ask for her assistance or not.

All in all, I liked this book. It was okay. But I wish I had liked it more because I so badly want to love Deb Caletti's books. And it is this want that makes me analyze her more closely than I would others. I have narrowed down two specific reasons why I liked this book but also two reasons that prevent me from REALLY liking it. So here they are.

I liked:
1. The secondary characters. They were so colorful and interesting that I felt pulled to their storylines and found myself empathizing with them, rooting for them, or scolding them in the short periods that I did see them. The surrounding characters are what make Deb Caletti's books comparable to Sarah Dessen's or Elizabeth Scotts. They're definitely not stereotypes...they seem like actual people that pull on your heartstrings just as much as (or even more than) the main characters. My favorites were Clive Weaver and Fiona Saint George. I found myself really wondering what was going in their lives.

2. The overall theme of the book. I love that Deb Caletti writes books for girls that have great messages to them. This is no exception. You'll find lots of introspection and ideas that really make you think about your own life. This is something that I find missing in a lot of other YA contemporary novels targeted at girls--they sorely lack a significant theme that explicitly relate to the average girl. Deb Caletti always has that in her books and that's why I view her as a respectable YA author.

However, that being said...

I disliked:
1. Oh my gosh, the similes. Too. Many. Similes. Don't get me wrong, I love figurative language. It adds beauty, depth, style. But this book just took it too far. Every other sentence was a simile or a metaphor for something else. It was annoying because I would be caught up in the story and then find myself being pulled out of it because of these similes and/or metaphors. I understand that an author wants to paint as clear a picture as they can but, honestly, when they put too many similes in their books they risk TELLING instead of SHOWING which is a major problem. This isn't to say that there weren't some beautiful comparisons and poetic language--there definitely were. Some of them left me in awe. But I felt like it got to the point where it was becoming separate from the novel instead of being a part of the novel. She could have cut a lot of those things out.

2. The judgmental main character. I've had this problem with quite a few of Deb Caletti's books, I always find it irksome that the main character seems to mercilessly judge everyone around her. And every time her negative response to someone turns out to always be RIGHT. I mean, she is the narrator of the story, and we are seeing the world through her eyes, so when she makes a generalization about someone (example: bad boys don't belong in libraries) it makes me laugh at first. But then, I realize that she's being COMPLETELY SERIOUS and that it's not just the character but the writer that's holding this view. And that just throws me off. I don't know about you but I definitely don't want the voice of the main character to switch to the voice of the author. Ever. Unless I'm reading an autobiography. But, you see what I'm getting at? We know that the main character is flawed because she holds views like this but her views are treated as the RIGHT views of the book and not just a character flaw. This kind of makes the book a little preachy because we keep getting hit by what the character believes is right but it automatically translates into what the author believes is right. This takes away all the subtlety in regards to theme that novels should always have.

Anyway. Bottom line is that this book was good and fairly enjoyable. Deb Caletti has talent as a writer and I really respect her as one of the major authors of the genre. But, I just wish she'd tweak some things so that I could REALLY enjoy her books.

I give it a: 3.5/5 stars