The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Fault in our Stars by John Green is a young adult book about...well...cancer? It is about way more than just the disease though. It is a story of the struggle of having the disease, knowing someone who has cancer, and loving someone who has cancer. Hazel, the main character has a form of cancer that is terminal. She is not looking for a cure, but just a way to prolong the inevitable. In the beginning, she seems like she is hiding from the world and just letting herself become the disease. She goes to a support group and meets friends there and everything is turned around. She ends up falling for Augustus, a boy with osteosarcoma, he had his leg removed and has a pretty good chance of staying in remission, and they enjoy their "infinite time".
I was really unsure how to approach trying to critique this book. It certainly makes you think about what it would be like to be in Hazel's situation. I don't know how she, and others like her, can be so strong. She is always worried about everyone else and never her own health. The writing style is not exactly anything new or exciting, but it definitely got the feelings across. I always enjoy a story that makes you think, and this was an easy read, and one that I could not put down. I would suggest it to pretty much anyone, but I know it is also definitely not a book for everyone...if that makes sense...
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I finally get to review a book that I LOVE!!! YAY!! haha
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a classic coming of age story, but I would say it is anything but your average take on this story type. It follows a freshman in high school named Charlie and his many ups and downs in life. It goes through all your normal awkward teenage problems like drugs, sexuality, love, and even life itself. He enters school this nerdy kid with no friends, and leaves having learned more about himself and growing into his own as well as making 2 of the best friends he could have, Sam and Patrick.
The epistolary, or letter written, narrative is probably my favorite thing about the whole book. It pulls you in so well and makes it so believable and incredibly relatable. I felt like it was letters written to me and I felt everything Charlie was writing. I felt his innocence, his vulnerability, his naivity, his love, and his longing to fit in. I did find that I could feel connected to other characters as well though. Whenever his new friends would be aggrivated or short tempered, I could totally relate. At times I got sick of his childish actions and innocence as well. The fact that I could relate so well even though it was from just the one character's perspective just goes to show how well the book was written.
I too use writing in order to help me make sense of my life and to get any frustration or worry out of my mind. Everyone has their insecurities and their ways of dealing with them and it might just be that I related to this situation so well, that I loved the book and Charlie, but I honestly think this is a book everyone should read.
P.S. I saw the movie and loved it as well, but I have always been one who loves the book more.
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
I don’t even know where to start with reviewing this book… I
think it was my sister who pointed it out to me, but I can’t really remember.
All I know is that whoever it was was very wrong in suggesting it to me.
Geek Love is a story about a family of “Freaks” in a
traveling show. All of the children, or “dreamlets” as the father, Al, calls
them were created through drug experimentation during pregnancy. There is the
oldest, Arty, a flipper finned boy, the twins, Elly and Iphy, conjoined twins,
Oly the albino, hunchback, midget, and Chick who somehow has telekinetic
powers. They were brought up to be proud of these deformities because they are
what make the family successful.
I don’t know if it was the writer’s choice or the editor’s
choice to organize the flow of the story the way it was. It is really jumpy and
difficult to follow. The chapter and part names are not really helpful in
placing where you are in the timeline of the story, which is really
unfortunate, because I felt myself trying to figure out where I was for the
first couple sentences of each chapter. Was I in the present or past… I’m
really not sure why on Earth it skipped around like it did.
While the writing was intriguing and beautifully
descriptive, the story was terrible. I hated all of the characters, and couldn’t
understand who I was supposed to be rooting for. I am no expert in writing, but
I feel like a strong lead role is kind of important in a book. All of the
characters were weak and submissive, or incredibly manipulative and evil.
I didn’t like this book at all. I got to the end and all I
could think was, “Umm….What was that?”
Awakenings by Oliver Sacks
Being my first review, I probably should have picked an
easier book. I mean really, who picks a non-fiction book of case studies? It is incredibly difficult to figure out
where to start on a non-fiction book. Not to mention that this is basically a
book of case studies. It makes it hard to try and depict what the author was
“trying to do” or "analyze the story". All I can do is ramble on about the
writing style and my opinion on how the history was presented, so here it goes.
If I were
to have to describe the book in one “sound bite” phrase, it would have to be
intriguing and wonderfully difficult. Thank god there was a glossary in the
back, and if you are going to tackle this book, you might want a dictionary
with you as well. Awakenings by Oliver Sacks is a non-fiction view of the
mysterious sleeping sickness epidemic that was present during and after World
War I. Oliver Sacks, a doctor at Mount Carmel Hospital, uses a lot of tricky
medical terms and very advanced language to describe his patients. Once you get
through all of the fancy terms and get used to having to look something up
every other sentence it is an incredible story. It is amazing, and sad, to read
about all the different patients, and the effects of this new “miracle” drug
L-DOPA. The case studies are a rollercoaster ride of emotions to read through.
Most are only a few pages long, but are extremely effective in showing the
struggles of each individual patient.
I probably
would never have picked this book up without having it recommended to me during
my senior year in college. I was researching Parkinson’s disease for my senior
thesis and the librarian mentioned this book. The sleeping sickness was
discovered to be a form of Parkinson’s disease and this book describes the
initial trials with the drug L-DOPA in trying to cure it. The history is
amazing, as are the stories of these people. It was a difficult read, and I
probably would not recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have an interest in the
history of Parkinson’s. I am not sure how to give a rating to books because
most books I have only read once, with the exception of the Harry Potter books,
and I am not very good at trying to rate things to the general public, sorry.
