Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

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Book: The Sky is Everywhere

By: Jandy Nelson

Edition published: 2015

By: Walker Books

Goodreads description: Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to centre stage of her own life – and suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two boys. One boy takes Lennie out of her sorrow; the other comforts her in it. But the two can’t collide without Lennie’s world exploding…

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My rating: /5

There’s not much to say about Lennie Walker.

She’s 17.

Wuthering Heights obsessed.

Clarinet player.

Band geek.

Quel dork.

Hopeless romantic.

Poem writer.

And, as of four weeks ago,

Sisterless.

There were once two sisters,
Who were not afraid of the dark.
Because the dark was full of the others voice across the room,
Because even when the night was thick and starless,
They walked home together from the river,
Seeing who could last the longest without turning on her flashlight,
Not afraid.
Because sometimes in the pitch of the night,
They’d lie on their backs,
In the middle of the psth,
And look up until the stars came back.
And when they did,
They’d reach their arms up to touch them,
And did.

This book is beauty. There is no other way to describe it. It is pure beauty, written in words. Crammed between pages.

I am slightly like Lennie Walker, but mostly in the way that I am a hopeless romantic. So this book was absolute perfection for me. But even though I’m such a romantic that I even enjoy predictable boy meets girl novels, I’d much prefer an exciying, not always joyful rollercoaster of a journey. And that is exactly what this book gave me. A journey.

I got to follow Lennie in the perfect way, I could so easily see inside her mind, and she didn’t hold back with her thoughts. In this book it is is so easy to make a friend with Lennie, and simply because her experiences are so hard to convert into words without knowing Lennie as a person, it makes you feel so close to her.

Now I’ve shared my thoughts on this book, I think there is no better way to describe how special the writing is than sharing some quotes:

I’ve forgotten quite how luminous he is, like another species of human doesn’t have blood but light running through their veins.

I’m full on gawking, wondering what it would be like to be so cool and casual and fearless and passionate and so freaking alive.

That’s exactly it – I am crazy sad and, somewhere deep inside, all I want is to fly.

“That’s a misconception, Lennie, the sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.”

When he plays all the flowers swap colors and years and decades and centuries of rain pour back into the sky.

You can tell your story any way you dann please. It’s your solo.

As you can see, Jandy Nelson writes like no other human being on this earth. If we lost her, we really would lose a freaking library. Possibly one of the most beautiful libraries on earth.

-Beth

Review: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

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Book/Play: A Streetcar Named Desire

Author/Playwright: Tennessee Williams

Edition Published: 1974

By: Signet Books

Goodreads Description: The story of Blanche DuBois and her last grasp at happiness, and of Stanley Kowalski, the one who destroyed her chance.

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My Rating: /5

When Blanche goes to stay with her pregnant sister and brother-in-law, it is her last chance at being happy. With no money or relations, Blanche is lonely and relies on drink. But will living with her family save her, or destroy her?

I am sad to say I didn’t enjoy Streetcar very much. I did find the description and depth of setting and character outstanding, it has to be very well written in order to be performed on stage.

Stella: He’s on the road a good deal.
Blanche: Oh. Travels?
Stella: Yes.
Blanche: Good. I mean – isn’t it?
Stella [half to herself]: I can hardly stand it when he is away for a night…
Blanche: Why, Stella!Stella: When he’s away for a week I nearly go wild!
Blanche: Gracious!

To my understanding, Stanley is supposedly the bad guy in Streetcar. But I just felt that honestly, the characters are all just as bad as each other. Yes, Blanche had some bad stuff coming to her, but she did bring them on herself, to a point. I mean, what could she expect after very nearly undressing in front of Stanley, asking him to fasten up her dress, playfully squirting him with perfume and softly touching his thigh?

I honestly didn’t sympathize much with the characters. Although, yes, I would love to know what happened to them after the play, I don’t really care that much for them.

The plot was simple, nothing much really happened. I found the way the characters interacted with each other and how their personalities clashed very interesting, and I did find the book easy to read. But that’s due to the plot just not being very complex.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this book. It was like a song that I expected to get better, but never actually did.

-Beth

Review: Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

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Book: Night Owls

By: Jenn Bennett

Edition published: 2015

By: Simon & Schuster

Goodreads description: Feeling alive is always worth the risk.
Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco’s night bus—turns Beatrix’s world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive…and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists.
But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is.

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My rating: /5

When Bex meets Jack on a rare nighttime ride on the Owl, San Fransisco’s night bus, her world turns upside down.

Jack is amazing, beautiful and lights fires in Bex’s heart, but there’s something behind his gorgeous eyes.

As Bex and Jack get to know each other, they learn more about each other – and themselves – than either of them ever expected.

He laughed, stretching out his long legs beneath the squat table. When he did, his thigh bumped against my knee and then stayed there, sending a chain of warm chills through my nervous system that short-circuited my frontal lobe.
“Zen would tell me to embrace the middle pencil,” he said.
“Ah, the HB pencil,” I agreed, nodding.

“So boring, that HB.”
“You’re no HB. You’re like ten Prismacolors all at once.”

This one was a slow starter for me. It was mostly due to the fact that I was still in the world of Simon and Baz, but it definitely improved after the 1/4 mark.

I must have read about 3/4 of this book just today, once I got involved with the characters I couldn’t stop reading. But before I tell you what I loved about this book, I want to tell you about my only annoyance.

There was one, tiny, tiny part of this book when Jenn mentioned the possibility of the couple being in a long distance relationship – and slightly mocking the fact that it could ever work out. Maybe it’s just be (probably) but I just felt like she meant it as a joke – that it would be impossible. I’m no longer in an LDR, but not because of the distance. But to this day, I have this tiny niggle.

Aside from that, and on an entirely different note, this book is so touching and lovely, and actually quickly became one of my favorite books. Yep, it’s up there guys! It’s seriously one of the best books I’ve ever read, the plot is original, and even though it is heavily set around romance, it isn’t…bland, flat and predictable like some books are. Well, saying that, some of this book was predictable, but the little details are so beautiful. The originality is shockingly outstanding, and as you know, I love originality.

And no matter what annoyances I have about one line in this book, it is beautiful. Inside and out.

-Beth

Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Book: Carry On

By: Rainbow Rowell

Published: 2015

By: Macmillan Children’s books

Goodreads description: Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

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Rating: /5

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One that has ever been chosen. So how did he end up here, at Watford? The Mage’s Heir? Why was he chosen?

Simon is a magician, apparently the greatest one that has ever lived, but he can’t even cast a spell. He is hopeless, and it doesn’t help that his girlfriend has just left him, there’s a magic eating monster walking around with his face, and his enemy – roomate – hasn’t even bothered showing up this year.

“I can’t just turn it on,” I said.
“Try.
“I
can’t, damn it.” I was waving my sword around – I was pretty good with a sword already at 15 – but the chimera wasn’t corporal. (Which is my rough luck, pretty much always. As soon as you start carrying a sword, all your enemies turn out mist and gossamer.)
“Close your eyes and light a match,” Baz told me. We were trying to hide behind a rock. Baz was casting spells one after another; he was practically singing them.
“What?”

“That’s what my mother used to say,” he said. “Light a match inside your heart, then blow on the tinder.”
It’s always fire with Baz. I can’t believe he hasn’t incinerated me yet. Or burned me at the stake.

Carry On is one of those books that gets under your skin and will never leave. It is amazing. It is freaking magical.

And yes, that was a cheesy joke, I know, but if you have read this book, you will understand why I made it.

Simon and Baz…they’re…indescribable. Incredible. All the big words in the world put together.

This book was the first I’ve ever read about magic. And probably not the last, but maybe the one that’ll mean the most to me.

There are so many things I could say about this book, the author and the way it’s written. But I honestly don’t think the words would come out the right way, in the right order. And even if they did, they would never, ever do it justice.

This book is beyond anything I can write, ironically. Rainbow Rowell managed to use our measly 26 letters, to write this book. But using them to describe what she wrote…is impossible. This book IS the sun. The center of my universe right now, and it feels like all of the light is coming from those pages, instead of a ball of fire.

This book, it makes everything feel okay again. It reminds you that there is good – and love – in the world, wherever you go.

It is pure beauty, in ever sense of the word.

And what, exactly, could be better than that?

-Beth

Review: Unborn by Daniel Gage

unborn

Book: Unborn

Author: Daniel Gage

Edition Published: 2015

By: Daniel Gage and Vanquish Books

Goodreads: “It’s nothing personal. You’re just part of the transaction.”

Cameron Briggs always wondered what the strange birthmark on his shoulder meant. For his entire life, it seemed he was never meant to be anything special, that is, until the day it happened. Something dormant inside of him awoke.

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Rating: /5

The first book in The Birthright Theft series by Daniel Gage, Unborn is an action filled science fiction novel following Cameron Briggs. Cam has always wondered what the scar on his back meant, now he’s about to find out.

One day, Cameron feels stronger and faster than he ever has before – something inside in him has stirred.

What Cam doesn’t know is that he’s a victim of birthright theft, something that is continuously on the rise. People with undesirable lives are being given a second chance, to be reborn into wealthy and even royal families.

But what happens to the people who have to give up their life for another?

“Are you sure, Cameron?” Dealer X asked. “Sure you want to do this, to get involved in this world?”

Cam flinched as Dealer X used his name, but it was the only sign of vulnerability he gave. But it was slowly replaced by realization as Cam’s determination solidified in his jaw.

“I’m already involved,” Cam said. “And I said, get off my partner.”

Unborn has to be one of the best, if not the best science fiction/action book I’ve ever read. The writing is impeccable, the story filled with suspense, the chapters quickly passing by as you’re caught up in the characters lives.

I loved the way the book starts with many characters that later become involved with one another’s lives. Yes, it is confusing, but I knew everything would be explained soon enough. And it was.

The best thing about this novel has to be how unique and original it is. I have never read a book quite like it, that adopts the same or similar concepts. And I think that has to be one of the most challenging things in modern novel-writing: finding something that no one else has attempted before. For that reason alone, I fell in love with this book. On top of this, I absolutely loved the plot, characters (especially Emma), and writing.

I’m so glad this is part of a series, and I will definitely be purchasing and reviewing the next book if it is released. I also loved the way this book left a lot unsaid, although it could be viewed as a single book.

The only warning I have is if you want to read this, prepare for gruesome parts. I wasn’t expecting some bits to be so detailed, so if you don’t like intimate, gruesome fights, you might have to skip a few pages.

NOTE: We have been kindly asked by Rachel from Vanquish Books to review this book. This is an honest and independent review and it has been my privilege to partake in this.

-Beth

Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

mockingjay

Book: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Edition Published: 2011

By: Scholastic UK

Goodreads summary: Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

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Rating: /5

Katniss has now survived The Hunger Games twice, only the escape the arena on the second. But she’s still not safe. Panem is fighting back, and a revolution is unfolding. And it seems everyone has a hand in the carefully laid plans, and Katniss has to put them all together.

She has to be the Mockingjay. The symbol of the fight, the battle, the revolution. No matter what the personal cost.

It is impossible to be the Mockingjay. Impossible to complete even this one sentence. Because now I know everything I say will directly be taken out on Peeta. Result in his torture. But not his death, no, nothing so merciful as that. Snow will ensure that his life is much worse than death.

Before I talk about the good, let’s start with the things I didn’t like about this book. There isn’t many things, just one big one. One very big one in fact.

The ending. Not the very last pages, where everything is happy between Peeta and Katniss – that is possibly one of my favorite parts about the book. But the last 50 pages or so, I just…didn’t like. And I know Emma will back me up on this one.

It just felt somewhat rushed. Like Suzanne had decided each book had to be under a certain number of pages and just crammed everything in. I feel like some things that need to be explained, weren’t explained. And although The Hunger Games were abolished, Katniss is back in District 12 as she was before. She loses Prim. Annie loses Finnick. Yes, Annie loses Finnick, which means she should be mad, right? Crazy without her lover to calm her. But no, she’s barely mentioned after he dies. And when she is, she is completely sane.

It seemed like more could have happened. Like Suzanne Collins went halfway to happiness – with The Hunger Games finishing and Peeta being back to normal – but not all the way there. It’s a bit like, if you’re going to decide to go the happy way, go the happy way. Don’t start going that way and then take the second left turn off the road. This just really annoyed me, and actually made me pretty sad. I think this could be one movie that I like more than the book. I can’t wait to find out.

Now, for the good.

I have to say, this book absolutely consumed my thoughts for hours. I actually walked around, ate, thought in a daze. About this book. About Katniss. About her situation, her mind. About the Capitol. The suspense just took over, and whenever I could in the past 24 hours, I have held that book and read. And read. And read.

I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.

And I have to give The Hunger Games so much praise for this, because it evoked something in me I have never experienced before. To be so consumed in a fantasy world that the real world no longer seems normal. And just, simply for this, I believe this book and this series deserves 5 stars. I feel, currently, like this book deserves all the fricking stars in the sky. And beyond. I am truly part of the fandom. And The Hunger Games is honestly the best series I’ve ever read.

Is The Hunger Games a dystopian series?

This is something I would really like to discuss. Apparently, The Hunger Games falls under the adventure fiction, science fiction, drama and action genres, but not dystopian (according to Wikipedia, anyway). But obviously, this series is dystopian. Unless, of course, it is not set in the future. Because anyone in their right mind would classify the actual Games (and Panem) as undesirable. So, it comes down to the question, is The Hunger Games set in the future? And, is it a dystopian series?

-Beth

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

catching fire

Book: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

Edition Published: 2011

By: Scholastic UK

Goodreads summary: Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol – a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

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Rating: /5

Katniss and Peeta survived the 74th Annual Hunger Games, and now the Capitol wants revenge.

The tributes from District 12 are now part of another battle. Ever since Katniss tricked the Capitol into letting two people win The Hunger Games, there have been whispers of an uprising, a rebellion against all they’ve ever known.

Now, all eyes in Panem are on the “star-crossed lovers.” Can they live up to their expectations, and put out the flames that are just starting to spread?

There. He’s done it again. Dropped a bomb that wipes out the efforts of every tribute who came before him. Well, maybe not. Maybe this year he has only lit a fuse on a bomb that the victors themselves have been building. Hoping someone would be able to detonate it. Perhaps thinking it would be me in my bridal gown. Not knowing how much I rely on Cinna’s talents, whereas Peeta needs nothing more than his wits.

As the bomb explodes, it sends accusations of injustice and barbarism and cruelty flying out in every direction. Even the most Capitol-loving, Games-hungry, bloodthirsty person out there can’t ignore, at least for a moment, how horrific the whole thing is.

I am pregnant.

I absolutely am in love with Suzanne’s writing. She has become near the top in my favorite author list. She is not just a writer, an author, but a person who works magic, casts spells. Magic that makes minutes spent reading seem like seconds as you flick between pages, intensely reading.

I love the plot of Catching Fire, it is very different from the first book. It makes the series unified, yet separate. Obviously, there is elements of the first book that filter in to the second, but there is also alarming differences too. Katniss’s attitude and maturity, her thoughts and emotions, and the fact that she is willing to work with allies, for example.

It makes the books interesting, instead of boring, which they could very easily be. No one would want to read a series that just repeats events from the books before. The Hunger Games does the complete opposite of that. It keeps you alert and ready to read. No matter where you are or what you are doing.

-Beth

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

hunger games

Book: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Edition Published: 2011

By: Scholastic UK

Goodreads summary: The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The ‘tributes’ are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.

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Rating: /5

Every year, one girl and one boy from each District of Panem fight to the death. The odds are one in thousands that you will be chosen, but as Katniss Everdeen is about to find out, it is not impossible.

When her beloved 12 year old sister is selected to be a tribute in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss feels it is her duty to volunteer to take her place.

But will it be that hard, really? When killing animals is second nature to Katniss, will killing people be that different?

Certainly Peeta has thrown a wrench into our star-crossed lover dynamic. Or has he? Maybe, since he hasn’t spoken much about me, we can still get some mileage out of it. Maybe people will think it’s something we plotted together if I seem like it amuses me now.

As you know, The Hunger Games isn’t normally the genre I would go for. But, I am thrilled to say, I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Honestly, no matter what amount of hype it has had, I was scared I wasn’t going to like it. Just the thought of reading a SERIES is daunting to me.

But, The Hunger Games is one of those books that really deserves the hype it gets. Suzanne’s writing is truly gripping, and the suspense is amazing, even when you’ve seen the movie. I loved the movie, and I’ve seen it twice or three times, but this was my first time reading the book, and I was actually shocked at how much I really loved it. The pages went by without me noticing, and I flicked through without feeling the need to count the pages until the next chapter, like I do with some books. Even though I knew constantly what was going to happen next, I still felt the suspense.

I am scared that I love the book so much because of how similar it is to the movie, the acting is impeccable, and attitudes are spot on, the scenery is stunning, I just can’t get over how accurate it was. But, luckily, I haven’t watched Mockingjay Part 1 (or 2, obviously), so I will be finding out what happens for the first time.

This is a book that truly deserves 5 starts without question. I just hope the next 2 in the series live up to my expectations.

-Beth