Archive for June 2014
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl
By: Gillian Flynn
This book was absolutely unpredictable, crazy, and a whirlwind of emotions. It was phenomenal.
Gone Girl is the twisting turning suspense and thrill filled story of a marriage gone terribly horribly wrong. Nick and Amy Dunne are a young married couple about to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary when things start to go awry. On the morning of their anniversary Amy disappears and Nick comes home to the house in disarray. The police get involved, and the public and media get involved and things start looking really bad for Nick. Scandalous and inappropriate behavior on Nick's part don't help anything, but could he really be the killer that everyone thinks he is?
The way this book is written really draws the reder in and developes the story in a mysterious way. It is written from the first person point of view of the two main characters Nick and Amy. Each chapter switches back and forth between the two and this is really what I love. You get to see the perspective of both sides of the story. This really keeps you on your toes both mentally and emotionally. I found myself going back and forth trying to decide who was the "good guy" in this book, who should I be rooting for? This really drew me in and I loved every minute of it. I am for sure going to read her other two books Dark Places and Sharp Objects because I simply loved the writing in this book.
I would 100% recommend this book to read, it would make for great summer reading at the beach or wherever you just chill out. It was a thrill and pure addiction.
Let me know if you have read Gillian's other books and what you thought of them!
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Divergent by Veronica Roth
Divergent
By: Veronica Roth
This is a recently very popular book series that is being made into movies as most people know. I still have yet to see the movie, but after finally getting around to reading the first book, I really want to.
This book takes place in a Utopian society where everyone is split into 5 different factions. Each faction represents a different human quality. Truth, knowledge, selflessness, peace, and bravery. People are born into a faction and raised in that fashion until they turn 16. They are then administered a test to help them decide which faction they wish to belong to. Beatrice Prior, our heroine, doesn't quite fit into any one particular faction. This is called divergence, this quality is feared by the people in control and so she is forced to keep it hidden. She must choose a faction to "belong" to and hide her true individuality.
I thoroughly enjoyed this first installment of the series. I am going to go on a tangent and just say I really like to see all of these young adult series that feature a strong female protagonist (Ex. Divergent, and Hunger Games). It is extremely refreshing to know that there is more out there for younger girls to relate to than the weak and submissive women found in other series such as Twilight or 50 shades of Grey. I feel very strongly about the importance of a strong girl to look up to. When I grew up I was always looking for an exciting adventure featuring a girl and now they are popping up everywhere. Anyway, Beatrice is certainly a tough cookie. She has to make many difficult decisions in order to find out who she truly is. I love the themes that emphasize individuality amongst a Utopian society. Yes, I know it has been done before, but I really think this series so far has brought a new and fresh feeling to it. It is a creative story and world keeping me turning the pages. I finished it in 2 days if that says anything haha.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone to read if you haven't already. I look forward to reading to next two in the series.
Let me know what your feelings on YA books are. Do you agree that a strong female is important to have for girls these days?
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Little Bee
By Chris Cleave
This is the story of life and how everything can change in an instant. The unlikely meeting of two women will change everything in their lives forever. Sarah, a British journalist, and Little Bee, a Nigerian village girl have a horrific first encounter that will follow them and tie their lives in an impossible knot. This story is so magical and beautiful, the eloquent writing transports you to another world. The characters are so real and relatable. The way Cleve works makes you feel everything these two are going through so clearly. He portrays the realness in choices. Everyday we are faced with important decisions, and these decisions will shape both who we are and what our future will be.
This heart warming story is a quick read, but there is no word wasted. It has been a while since I have read a realistic fiction book that has carried me away. This book kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next to these women. The real magic in this book is truly in how the story unfolds. This is an ABSOLUTE MUST read.
Please share your feelings on this book, or if you have ever had to make a big decision that changed your life.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Never Let Me Go
By: Kazuo Ishiguro
Never Let Me Go is a weird, oddly compelling, quick read. Though it was a quick 288 pages, it was not necessarily an easy read. It is the story of a young woman named Kathy and her experiences growing up in a "boarding schoolish" building. This novel is written from the point of view of Kathy in the present looking back at her time and reminiscing with recently reunited friends from her past. She starts to look back and slowly realize that their time at school was maybe not quite normal compared to most people.
This book is written almost like a journal, with an informal sounding voice. While I can understand why Ishiguro wrote it this way, at times it left me wanting more. I got frustrated with being lost and unsure where the story was leading, and which hints of information were important to the big picture. While this book kept me reading and waiting to see when the ball would drop and all would be revealed, I was somewhat unimpressed with the ending. It was rather unsatisfying with nothing really feeling totally resolved. Overall I would say if you are into kind of odd sci-fi reality this would be a great book to give a try.
Let me know in the comments if you have read this book or anything like it!
This book is written almost like a journal, with an informal sounding voice. While I can understand why Ishiguro wrote it this way, at times it left me wanting more. I got frustrated with being lost and unsure where the story was leading, and which hints of information were important to the big picture. While this book kept me reading and waiting to see when the ball would drop and all would be revealed, I was somewhat unimpressed with the ending. It was rather unsatisfying with nothing really feeling totally resolved. Overall I would say if you are into kind of odd sci-fi reality this would be a great book to give a try.
Let me know in the comments if you have read this book or anything like it!
The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
The Mistborn Trilogy
by Brandon Sanderson
So I just want to start out by saying my brother Brian suggested this trilogy to me partly because I think he wanted someone else to be able to help talk about how he felt about the series. Now I know he hasn't finished the series, but I wanted to get some of my thoughts out there to see if anyone else has read it or just to let people know about it.
Let me start out by giving a brief overview and my feelings on each book individually.
Book 1: Mistborn
So the series takes place in an "Earth-like" setting called the Final Empire where the world is full of ash and mist and the sun is red making plant life hard to grow. Everyone is ruled by the oppressive Lord Ruler who thinks of himself as a God and has forbidden any other religions except his own. There is a hierarchy amongst this civilization where obviously the Lord Ruler is at the top and then his minions of Inquisitors and Obligators, next come the Noblemen and finally the Skaa who are treated like slaves. Within these people some contain a power within them called Allomancy. This power is supposed to be contained within the Noble family lines, but sometimes it makes it into the Skaa population. Amongst these Skaa there are rebel forces who have been trying to overthrow this, for lack of a better word, government. This is what this book revolves around.
We meet our main character, Vin, as she is working for a thieving crew made up of Skaa. She is a very meek and quiet girl, but she has some sort of special talent. We find out later that she contains Allomantic powers, and in fact is one of the most powerful kind of Allomancers, a Mistborn. She has grown up on the streets and in the slums where she has learned to never trust anyone. She eventually makes it into another crew where she learns more about her powers and has to learn to trust. This crew has come up with a crazy plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler and SPOILERS!!!! They end up succeeding. Vin has to work with her team and trust that they are there for her.
I loved this first book. The main character is a strong female character who can seriously kick some butt! There is so much fun adventure and action but it is mixed with some cool points of growing up and learning who you are and how to trust including a relationship.
Book 2: The Well of Ascension
So after the downfall of the Lord Ruler the whole of the Final Empire is in total chaos. They are left without structure and now everyone is trying to claim the new found empty throne. The crew has to find a way to keep the throne out of another Lord Ruler situation. They have to work to convince everyone that equality and freedom in the empire is a good thing. All the while Vin is convinced that something even more terrible is threatening their world and she is the one who must face it.
This book was a little bit of a let down after the first one. It focused too much on the political side of things and there was much less excitement, action, and adventure. The characters in this one also were much more annoying. Vin was always whining about silly things like the man she was falling in love with. She also was not the confident young woman from the first book, always second guessing things and who she was supposed to be.
Book 3: The Hero of Ages
This book starts out with even more going wrong than in the previous one. This god-like power has been unleashed on the empire and the world is slowly ending because of it. The ash is even more prominent and now there are mists appearing at all times of day killing people. Vin feels responsible and is trying to find a way to fix everything.
While this book gets back to some action and adventure, it is still lacking for me. There is still a lot of politics and a lot of whining. This time the whining comes from secondary characters. Many of them are losing faith and hope and so it feels depressing most of the time. There are a lot of unfocused side stories and I felt somewhat lost at time while reading this one. My biggest problem with it was the ending however. It felt very forced, like the author was just giving up on trying to make sense and he just said yeah.... the end. It was incredibly frustrating and unsatisfying to read.
Anyway overall the series started out strong and then slowly let me down. I wish the themes from the first had carried through better with more focus on growth and less on faith. I found that this theme was pushed too hard by the end and had lost a lot of meaning for me. I would highly suggest reading at least the first book. I loved the action and strong female lead. The magic of the world was so unique and cool to learn about, I just wish it had held throughout better.
Let me know in the comments what you think about the series if you have read it or if you decide to read it! Also if you have any book suggestions for me let me know!
Thanks
Let me start out by giving a brief overview and my feelings on each book individually.
Book 1: Mistborn
So the series takes place in an "Earth-like" setting called the Final Empire where the world is full of ash and mist and the sun is red making plant life hard to grow. Everyone is ruled by the oppressive Lord Ruler who thinks of himself as a God and has forbidden any other religions except his own. There is a hierarchy amongst this civilization where obviously the Lord Ruler is at the top and then his minions of Inquisitors and Obligators, next come the Noblemen and finally the Skaa who are treated like slaves. Within these people some contain a power within them called Allomancy. This power is supposed to be contained within the Noble family lines, but sometimes it makes it into the Skaa population. Amongst these Skaa there are rebel forces who have been trying to overthrow this, for lack of a better word, government. This is what this book revolves around.
We meet our main character, Vin, as she is working for a thieving crew made up of Skaa. She is a very meek and quiet girl, but she has some sort of special talent. We find out later that she contains Allomantic powers, and in fact is one of the most powerful kind of Allomancers, a Mistborn. She has grown up on the streets and in the slums where she has learned to never trust anyone. She eventually makes it into another crew where she learns more about her powers and has to learn to trust. This crew has come up with a crazy plan to overthrow the Lord Ruler and SPOILERS!!!! They end up succeeding. Vin has to work with her team and trust that they are there for her.
I loved this first book. The main character is a strong female character who can seriously kick some butt! There is so much fun adventure and action but it is mixed with some cool points of growing up and learning who you are and how to trust including a relationship.
Book 2: The Well of Ascension
So after the downfall of the Lord Ruler the whole of the Final Empire is in total chaos. They are left without structure and now everyone is trying to claim the new found empty throne. The crew has to find a way to keep the throne out of another Lord Ruler situation. They have to work to convince everyone that equality and freedom in the empire is a good thing. All the while Vin is convinced that something even more terrible is threatening their world and she is the one who must face it.
This book was a little bit of a let down after the first one. It focused too much on the political side of things and there was much less excitement, action, and adventure. The characters in this one also were much more annoying. Vin was always whining about silly things like the man she was falling in love with. She also was not the confident young woman from the first book, always second guessing things and who she was supposed to be.
Book 3: The Hero of Ages
This book starts out with even more going wrong than in the previous one. This god-like power has been unleashed on the empire and the world is slowly ending because of it. The ash is even more prominent and now there are mists appearing at all times of day killing people. Vin feels responsible and is trying to find a way to fix everything.
While this book gets back to some action and adventure, it is still lacking for me. There is still a lot of politics and a lot of whining. This time the whining comes from secondary characters. Many of them are losing faith and hope and so it feels depressing most of the time. There are a lot of unfocused side stories and I felt somewhat lost at time while reading this one. My biggest problem with it was the ending however. It felt very forced, like the author was just giving up on trying to make sense and he just said yeah.... the end. It was incredibly frustrating and unsatisfying to read.
Anyway overall the series started out strong and then slowly let me down. I wish the themes from the first had carried through better with more focus on growth and less on faith. I found that this theme was pushed too hard by the end and had lost a lot of meaning for me. I would highly suggest reading at least the first book. I loved the action and strong female lead. The magic of the world was so unique and cool to learn about, I just wish it had held throughout better.
Let me know in the comments what you think about the series if you have read it or if you decide to read it! Also if you have any book suggestions for me let me know!
Thanks
