Tag: Book Review

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Everything tastes better smootherd and covered…right?

Posted on by Little Bee

Butter

3.5 out of 5 stars

As I stuffed my face with a bunch of crap this weekend, I started Butter by Erin Jade Lange. Oddly enough, the book opened with Butter, sitting on the couch, watching a news report about how airlines were going to charge obese individuals for two seats starting January 1st. As Butter watches this program with disdain, he looks at the coffee table full junk. And I mean…FULL of junk. His pre-dinner snack. So as I guiltily shove another piece of chocolate into my mouth, I quickly lose my appetite and read on.

I am going to be completely honest. (Though, I always try to be as honest as possible..sometimes brutally so). I am not huge. I am not skinny. I am not perfect. I talk down to myself… constantly. I put myself down constantly. I am my own worst enemy. My own worst critic. I degrade myself anytime I eat something I shouldn’t. Even if it is in moderation. Even if I count it towards a set amount of calories I may or may not be recording for that day. I look in my mirror and tell myself how disgusting I am. How I am not good enough. How I am not pretty enough because I am not a size 0-6. (Though, I don’t want to be that size.) But it hurts that that is the “size of beauty” in this day and age. It is disgusting. And I know, with 100% certainty, I am not the only person to do this, think this or say this.

Why? Why are we so hard on ourselves? Is there really a reason? Sure there are about a million reasons. It is what people say around us, or to us, in the pivotal moments in our young, adult life, when our bodies are changing, that shape our thoughts. And those thoughts, those moments, are hard to overlook, are hard to put out of our minds because they literally shape the person we become later in life.

Butter, was a miserable, self hating, 432 pound, 16 year old boy who drowned all his problems, thoughts, stresses, happiness and every emotion in between, with food. His mother was no help, constantly cooking and shoving more food into his face. His dad was no help, allowing Butter’s mom to go about ‘allowing’ Butter to get that big, yet his dad would not even talk to him. Seriously. His dad acted and reacted in a disgusting manner and instead of reaching out to Butter, shunned him. Rejected him.

Butter sat alone at school during lunch. He had to sit on a bench instead of normal lunch chairs because he was too big. He had to have special desks in all of his classes because he could not fit in the normal desks. He hated himself. One day, upon seeing a list of “Most Likely to…” online about his classmates, he discovered he was most likely to die of a heart attack. Many people who didn’t know Butter made comments on his “Most Likely To..” and someone even posted a candid shot of him eating during lunch. Butter decided, no one who didn’t know him was allowed to post negative and hateful things about him on the internet except him. He created a website called ButtersLastMeal.com where he stated on New Years Eve at Midnight, he was going to eat himself to death. Live.

The next day, he became one of the most popular kids in school. The book from there on was him trying to make peace with those in his life he would be leaving, the back and forth of him getting mad at his new ‘friends’ for being so supportive that he WANTED TO KILL HIMSELF, to reminding himself that the only reason people were talking to him and including him in was BECAUSE he was going to kill himself. LIVE.

I was appalled throughout this book. I was so ashamed for each and every one of those supportive assholes. I was pissed at Butter. I was pissed at his parents. I was pissed. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!? I was never a bully. I was always the person who stuck up for the kid being picked on. Always. I might not always be the nicest person, I might not always be the happiest person. But one thing I cannot tolerate is hatred. I remember only ever saying one disgustingly hateful thing in my life, and it was because I didn’t know any better. And that is what breaks my heart most about this book.

These kids SHOULD have known better. But no one cared. No one cared enough to TELL someone. In fact, they would post comments on Butter’s website about what his last meals should include. Egging him on EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. of the way.

Out of meanness, I wanted Butter to die. Because, that would make for a “WTF” face at the end of the book. So I prepared myself for his death. I am not saying he died, and I am not saying he didn’t. But I wanted to prepare myself no matter the outcome. Then I thought, maybe he would disappear, fake his death on the internet live, and then just disappear. There were talks about some Institute that helps heavier kids. In a state far away from Arizona. I prepared myself for every single thing that could have happened. So if you read this book, I suggest you do the same.

I shed some tears. But mostly, I was just angry and appalled and ashamed for humanity. For cycles of viciousness that should have been broken long ago. It is these moments in our lives, that shape who we are now. I don’t think I would have been as hard on myself, if it wasn’t for all the times I had food ripped out of my hands or told I needed to lose weight when I was an okay size. Still to this day, I hear it. I had to put up with it from my ex. True story: I lost 20 pounds while he was on a short deployment during Hurricane Isaac. 20 pounds. TWENTY. I figured he would have a look of wow! on his face when he came home. Do you know what I got? “Keep going, you still have more to lose to get to your goal.” That is what I got. So, to everyone who is a dick to someone because they aren’t like you. Fuck you. You should be ashamed of yourself. We aren’t supposed to look the same. It doesn’t mean we suddenly become less of a person. How boring would life be if we were all the same everything?

The important things is this. Be happy. Love yourself. I have been trying to do this, love myself. Getting through all the years of hating myself is hard. But, I want to be happy. Sure, I want to be healthy. But I am not going to not do something if it will make me happy. So I will eat chocolate when I want to. I will eat crap food when I feel like it. I will live my life. For me. Why should I live for anyone else? Why should you? Why should Butter?

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Living is more than just surviving and making it through the storm…relax and enjoy the waves.

Posted on by Little Bee

The F-It List

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads. I am trying to decide if it is 4.5 stars, or 3.5 stars, or somewhere in between. Either way, I highly encourage this book.

I want to start out first by mentioning, The Fault in Our Stars, By Johne Greene. I do not want to compare, because they are totally different, but at the same time, they are the exact same. I do not care what any other review says regarding they are not anything alike. Because I call Bullshit on that! Having that said, the difference is simple, yet, they are the same things. Confused?

In The Fault in Our Stars, Greene writes an intricate tale of two teens suffering from cancer, who meet in a support group for other teens with cancer, and who learn to love when tomorrow may never come. In The F-It List, it is from the perspective of Alex, Becca’s best friend. Becca finds out she as cancer, Becca has been creating a list since she was 9 years old of things she wanted to do before she died. Becca wanted Alex to complete items off this list so Becca could live vicariously through Alex.  Alex, did not want to think this way, about Becca dying, especially after her dad died right before summer break. Becca convinces Alex that its more of a list to help Becca feel more alive.

“All the more reason to do a bucket list. We have no idea how much time any of us have left, and what if we don’t get to do all of the things we dreamed we’d do?”

“We should never have any regrets, not when we’re dying and not when we’re alive. Like Ke$ha so wisely puts it, ‘Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young.'”

Such wise words for a 17 year old who has to put her life into perspective much sooner than most 17 year old high school seniors do. The book primarily focuses on Alex. Unlike The Fault in Our Stars, The F-It List focuses on those individuals who are forced to watch someone they love suffer with a disease they can do nothing about. I think this is where Greene lacked slightly. I think BOTH perspectives are super important. More than one person suffers, and they are different sufferings but both need some kind of help to move forward. The entire book was about Alex coming to terms with being allowed to be happy even though her father died and her best friend was sick and dying. This book makes the reader put into perspective just how precious life is. So many of us are caught up in trying to make it, we forget how to truly live. Or maybe, we never learned how to live. All we do is try to survive. When do we actually start living?

Read the book. It was relate-able. It uses current, real life situations. About two very real girls. Trying not only to survive, but to truly live.

Posted in Book Reviews

All animals are created equal! Some just more than others…..

Posted on by Little Bee

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So, I finally read Animal Farm by George Orwell, and let me say, I am glad I waited until I was 28 to read it. Many people read this in high school, I never had to, I was in different English classes and read different books. I can tell you this, I loved Orwell’s 1984, and after reading Animal Farm, I want to re-read 1984 to see what concepts I missed because I was too young to grasp or understand…

On Goodreads, I have seen this review: “The last line of the book, was quite amazing. The way the author left the reader, it kind of dazed me for a few seconds. The thought of pigs turning into humans, not physically, but mentally. The way the pigs had dressed, eaten, even walked. I really did like the backstory, the book though in general? Not so much.” This is only part of the review, the rest really didn’t say much except she liked Boxer because she likes horses. The comments section mentioned how they didn’t like the story either. My point? They are 14. I have wondered if I should make a response on this comment as well. That they seemed to MISS THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE BOOK. It is not merely about animals over taking a farm, it is so much more than that. She also said she “loves WWII and is a big history geek”….yet she doesn’t seem to realize this book was not about the entirely about the war (but merely references the relationship between Nazis and Soviets, the Allies and a few other incidences that occurred on the farm)? My heart is saddened by the way our youth are heading. Granted, when I was 14, I wouldn’t have recognized a book about communism and broken human nature if it beat me bloody and took all I had.

George Orwell was one interesting human being. I love his shock value. I understand what the book is about, however, I went ahead and did a little research behind the book and found who the characters represent in the story. That really brought this entire book together for me in my understanding fully. I will share it with you:

“Karl Marx (Major), Vladimir Lenin (Major), Leon Trotsky (Snowball), Joseph Stalin (Napoleon), Adolf Hitler (Frederick), the Allies (Pilkington), the peasants (Boxer), the elite (Mollie), and the church (Moses)” (gradesaver.com)

Now fully understanding that Marx was intended to represent Major, the passages I marked clearly in my book for future references really bring home how it became so easy for the likes of Stalin to come into power. When the impoverished are already broken, and are presented with a possible savior, how easy it is to stand behind that leader in hopes for a better and brighter future? When there is no hope left, how easy it is to see a sliver dangled on a string in front of their faces, to accept it no matter what the cost, because, “it wasn’t as bad as it was before…” even when they could no longer remember what it was like before. Because nothing changed. Eventually, everything came back around to what it was before the Revolution. Except with new leaders.

“And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices.”……”The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” These two quotes, the first in the beginning of the book during Major’s speech and the second being the last line of the book, specifically pinpoint where the Stalinist took the beginning ideals and corrupted them. I learned that Orwell believed in Socialist ideals, and that this book was a jab at Stalin because he took the ideal in the perverse form and ended up in a totalitarian form of government. One that knew of the “lower animals” lack of intelligence and understanding of what was actually happening. These perverse leaders taking advantage of the “lower animals” and making sure that the “lower animals” knew or at least believed, that 1) things were better than when Mr. Jones was around and 2) it is all for the greater good. And using mouthpieces like the likes of Squealer, helped ease the confusion, and the beautifully seductive words that came from his mouth recaptured, revitalized and eased any confusion or possible unease to rest.

I know that this book was geared toward Stalinism, but I like how I can apply various details from not only Animal Farm, but books like The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, and others to our lives now. It’s curious. And frightening.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Insurgent

Posted on by Little Bee

insurgent

Where do I even begin? I guess a rating? I give this book an overall 4 stars. Up until the last two or three chapters, the rating would have been much lower.

One of my main issues, and pet peeves with books, is when scenes suddenly change. I found myself often having to re-read passages to make sure I was following along correctly. In one sentence, they would be in one situation, but the next sentence would be hours later. That is very hard for my brain to switch from one to the other so drastically. This happened a lot more frequently during the middle of the book, up until after Tris was rescued. In fact, every chapter in which Tris was being tortured, I had to re-read multiple passages. HOWEVER! Man that ending!! The last couple of chapters really pushed that rating up!

Overall, the book wasn’t bad. It was continuously stimulating. Tris is a little annoying, with her constant questioning, and beating herself up. Where is her confidence?! Maybe that is the whole point of her particular level of Divergence…either way, mentally she appears weak, but always comes out strong, yet puts herself down and makes her self weak again. And then gets angry when others either thinks she is too young, thinks she is too weak, or thinks anything other than what she thinks of herself. I guess it is better than the alternative, where the female characters ARE weak and flaky, you know the ones I am talking about right? I know I have gone off on a tirade before in a previous blog how weak female characters is the bane of female existence? Princess Syndrome should not be reflected in YA books because so many of the readers are impressionable, young, females, who might not necessarily have other strong female influences in their lives. Being a damsel in distress is made to look awesome, where each girl wants their own Edward to protect and love them like Bella. Or those whiny females that can’t fathom going through the emotions and feelings, that are related to being a TEENAGER. Seriously, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS are needed! Take Cathy in the Split Worlds series (previous posting), she was a strong female character who went against what it was meant to be a woman! The Fae continued to place women in the same roles as in the earlier, medieval and 18th-19th century, with no rights, no say, just look pretty and give me heirs. Cathy FOUGHT this ideal like all the other women in the suffrage movement that gave us a voice. (I seriously just diverged a little, however, as you can see, I have strong feelings towards weak female characters in books because often times, readers RELATE to the characters and if a female character can’t cope, then the reader feels defenseless and unable to cope as well). Tris pushes that line. She is strong, but she lacks confidence. She is wreck-less, but she puts the lives of everyone before herself. She is somewhat relate-able, but she is almost entirely unreasonable. Which makes Tris a fickle character and one I don’t think I would want younger females to aspire to be like. What is the point of a strong character, who lacks confidence and makes herself weak with her own harshness?

I hope, with how Insurgent ended, it will give Tris that confidence in Allegiant. That is my hope anyway.

Posted in Book Reviews

The Fallen Blade

Posted on by Little Bee

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The cover is eye catching, the description intriguing, however this book fell flat on its face. My overall rating is 3 generous stars out of 5.

Majority of this book, I was completely confused. There were words in Italian that I constantly had to look up so that I could understand what was being said. I had to not only re-read paragraphs, but sometimes ENTIRE chapters just to make sure I understood what was going on. Sometimes it was very hard to distinguish between past and present, and which characters were involved in a particular scene. Sometimes I had to re-read entire sentences simply because the structure sounded off.

So why did I give this book a generous 3 stars? I kept pushing through. The story line is very complex. Taking place in the 1400s, Venice. I love medieval history. The fact that someone attempted the feat of medieval historical fiction, the “birth of the vampire” (though I am still not ENTIRELY sure Tycho is a vampire, because at this time period, vampires did not exist..) is to be applauded. Eventually, each character and story line connected. Once the connection occurred, even though I had to constantly re-read sections, I was intrigued and kept going.

I will eventually read the next two books, as the way it ended left me wondering more what happens to Tycho know that he knows what he was “bred” to do.

If you enjoy books that have multiple plot lines, medieval history, and pages full of deception, corruption and power hungry Venetians, AND, you can get past having to re-read every now and again, I do suggest this book. However, if you don’t like being confused, or re-reading sentences or chapters, then I would say stay clear from this one!

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover? Totally true here…I needed more, with less confusion. To play Devil’s advocate, this author speaks more than one language, and sometimes this book does read like it was translated from Google…

Posted in Book Reviews

The Split Worlds

Posted on by Little Bee

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5 out of 5 stars! (for the whole series!!)

Where do I begin? You know that feeling you get, after you have read something so incredible and feel empty once it is over? That is how I feel with The Split Worlds. Over the summer, I happened upon book 1, Between Two Thorns by happy accident. I will be honest. I judge books by their covers. If a cover or title is not remotely interesting or captures my attention, good chance I won’t give it more than a passing glance. Between Two Thorns stared me down like a showdown in the Wild West, and I my friend, lost. I am saddened, excited, confused and a slew of emotions right now with the conclusion. I have done some extensive research, and this series MIGHT continue depending on sales and reviews. I hope it does…or I might have to start shoving this series in the face of everyone I encounter. I enjoyed it that much.

Firstly, I find it amazing that this series actually started out as a series of short stories. In reading each book, it is definitely evident where each story would begin and end, but when put together as a whole part, it flowed amazingly. When I first started Between Two Thorns, I will say, I was extremely confused. The entire series is set between 3 “mirror” worlds set in the UK. Between Two Thorns takes place primarily in the mirror world of Bath called Aquae Sulis. Any Other Name transitions the key characters (Cathy and Will) move to Londinium which is where All Is Fair primarily takes place, with a few odd trips to Oxenford.

A little bit of where my confusion started were mainly understanding the differences between the “Split World” (the Nether) where the Fae-touched lived, and Mundanus where the innocents lived (us every day normal human beings). The Fae-touched never aged, never died (unless murdered), never anything when they lived in the Nether (but they could if they stayed in Mundanus too long). The Fae-touched are archaic, Victorian-esque, gossipy, and extremely patriarchal. Women were only meant for children, looking pretty, and gossip. Each of the Great Families had a Patroon, which is one of the Fae. (Lord Iris, Lord Poppy, Lady Rose are a couple you meet in this series at various times). These Fae are evil, manipulative, and any other horrible name you can think of. They are the reasons that the Fae-touched (the Society) are corrupt and “behind the times.” Many of the famous wars or “hostile take overs,” in Mundanus (William the Conqueror, War of the Roses…etc), were driven by the Fae-touched and their Patroons. The Fae-touched tend to be called “puppets.” Other character types in the books are Sorcerers, each having their own section of the land. Such as the Sorcerer of Essex, Sorcerer of Wessex, Sorcerer of Mercia (again all male, because a female knowing or having the ability of magic would be catastrophically dangerous). Each Sorcerer has a band of “police” called Arbitors. They were once Mundanes/Innocents, but were chosen to be tested for this particular police agency. Their job was to protect the innocents from the Fae and Fae-touched.  This was all very confusing to understand at first, but it didn’t take long for it to click and get going.

There are multiple story lines going on at once. In Between Two Thorns, I was ready for it come together so I could help make sense of my confusion and understand how each story related. If it was going to be multiple story lines the entire time, with no connection between any of them, then I probably would not have finished. Around page 70, I was sucked into the Split Worlds and finished the entire book within a few hours. I devoured each book since.

This book touches on so many topics when it comes to equality. Women in the Nether are married off, not for love, but for how that marriage (meaning potential children) could benefit the Patroon of the family. Cathy had been desperately hiding in Mundanus for a couple of years before her Patroon finally found her and eventually played a part in her being dragged back to Aquae Sulis so she could be married off to Will. Cathy was taught as a young girl about Suffrage, and women’s rights, and that women could be so much more than what women in the Nether believed or were taught. This teaching was forbidden and once it was discovered that Cathy was being taught these ideals, the Governess was removed from the home. But the damage had already been done. Cathy had knowledge of freedom, of wanting more, of doing more, and that is what she wanted for herself.

This series has so much going on all at once, but it is written in a way that it makes sense. Each main character of the book has their own narrative flowing through the series. Each character has their own part to play, and though each one of them get to their potential in different ways, every character connects at the end. Every story falls in place. Everything comes together. You love Cathy from the beginning, especially as a female reader that knows how it feels to be able to do, study, read, wear what she wants and voice her own opinions. To read about a culture that doesn’t allow for it, well, you automatically fall in love with the character who wants and knows of freedom, but can’t seem to get it for herself. I liked Will as well. Even though he was just as forced into his marriage with Cathy, and he is a prick, I couldn’t help but like him. It is evident that Will did as he was told, even though he didn’t necessarily agree with it, because that was how things were. He had to listen to his Patroon. So he did his duty, married Cathy, and attempted to make the best of it, that is the reason the men in the Nether had mistresses still, yes?

Cathy and Will have to keep secrets from each and from everyone else, while still attempting to keep it together. Cathy eventually accepts her fate to be married to someone she didn’t love, but eventually, could she love him? It was fun to watch the two of them grow, up and together. This series doesn’t necessarily include romance, but there are some aspects of it. I will give a spoiler, yes, Will and Cathy do fall in love with each other. Another spoiler, Cathy stops trying to run away for her freedom and instead, attempts to change Society as a whole.

I feel that no review I could write would justify the amazing-ness of this series. The series is humorous, political, aggravating, and heartbreaking. All in one. There is violence, fantasy, romance, some smut, corruption, mystery…every genre all rolled into one plot line. It was hard to get bored. Right when you would be getting to an awesome part, that particular character’s story line ended for the chapter and it went on to the next character! It was hard to put any one of these books down. I could never find a place to stop so I could go to sleep, or start work, or eat my dinner. I read each of these books within a day of starting it. They were that good. And sometimes, it is such a rare find, to find something by happy accident.

I highly encourage giving this story a read. I only spoke of two characters. There are too many, and too many stories, and too many connections, we would be here all day, even though, I could talk about it all day. When I move to the UK, I hope to happen upon the opportunity to meet Emma Newman at a signing, or again, by a happy accident.

*NOTE* The Author, Emma Newman, made a few clarifications for me 🙂 So I am going to pass them on :).  The Split World grew from short stories, but the novels were written as their own. There are about 55 short stories that help seed plot lines, do a bit of foreshadowing, and help further information about the characters.

I will add the link for the Split Worlds if you wish to join in 🙂 thesplitworlds.com

Posted in Romance

OoooooooOoooooO My…..

Posted on by Little Bee

wallbanger

My rating for Wallbanger by Alice Clayton: 4.5 out of 5!

Romantic fiction is not usually my cup of tea. In fact, romance in books in general, have never been my cup of tea. I first found Wallbanger months ago. I saw it sitting their on the shelf of New Romance at Barnes and Noble. I glanced at the back cover, thought to myself, I might have to give this a try. I placed the book back into its spot and moved forward to the aisle I was really there for. I passed by and looked at this book on 4 different occasions (because I have a SERIOUS book addiction…but I do read what I buy…eventually). I even checked out on Goodreads what others thought about it (I typically ignore this because of spoilers, or that I am afraid other people’s thoughts will cloud my judgment and ultimately my enjoyment from the book). I found, after the first few reviews, that people typically enjoyed this book, that it was full of wit and sultry spice! Finally, I bought the book.

From the very beginning of this book, I was captivated. I found myself laughing loudly (the kicker being I was in public) throughout  the first couple chapters of this book. I read the first half of this book within a couple of hours. I had to literally pull the book out of my hands to get work done.

The downfall to most romantic novels to me, is usually the sex scenes (like 50 Shades of Grey…gag) because they are horribly written and make it awkward and uncomfortable. Clayton, however, did not do this. I felt while reading the flirtations, sexual tensions, and ultimately the sexual encounters, it was legitimately believable. Caroline, who is 26, and Simon, who is 28, were both believable in their roles of this particular story. Their interactions, witty banter, down to their lifestyles, were what you find typically in this age range. Another thing that really made me like this book, she used ACTUAL words to describe what was happening. Not other terms that are not usually used to refer to any other part on the body (like ‘my sex’…who says that anyways?!..no one that is who…especially 23 year old virgins…I am just saying) or leaving my imagination to do the rest. Clayton makes you feel what her characters are feeling from their point of view.

So why 4.5 stars? As refreshingly amazing as this book was, I felt it took too long to get to the point. Though it was nice to see the budding friendship/relationship, I felt that some parts were a played out a little too long. I did enjoy some chapters beginning with a lot of sexual talking, and then you realize they are actually eating meatballs. This happened on more than one occasion and I found myself laughing loudly. This book left me with that real, warm, happy feeling inside. I smiled the entire time I read this book. I was even more delighted to know that this is a series, with the next two books coming out this year….however, only 1 of the next 3 books have the characters Caroline and Simon, but it will do I suppose.

I do suggest this book, even if romance is not your cup of tea. I was pleasantly surprised and I think I might have to be brave and step outside of my genre comfort zone a bit more often, or maybe not, I guess it depends 🙂 But for anyone whose O mysteriously went missing, this treasure hunt sure was fun!

* Note* For those of you just joining in on the fun, I don’t usually include a ‘summary’ as I think the “back of the book” suffices enough. I don’t like giving out spoilers if I don’t have to. I enjoy reading, and I enjoy telling others what my thoughts of the book are. I can give a book report, but where is the fun in that? I am all about discovering the fun for myself. I like to know how a book makes someone feel, the passion it can illicit, the imagination at play…that is what I look for in a review, so this is what I try to give in return!

Posted in YA Book Reviews

If I should die before I wake by Han Nolan

Posted on by Little Bee

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My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I couldn’t give my journal title a fancy or funny title, with this particular book, it is best to keep it as it is.

Every now and then, I stumble across a gem of a book. One that rips at every emotion in my very being. If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan is one of these very books.

The story is intricately told, going back and forth between Hilary and Chana. Hilary is a young teenage Neo-Nazi, who was in a motorcycle accident that placed her in a coma. During her time in a coma, she could hear what was being said and happening around her. Also during her coma, a person she referred to as “Grandmaw” would come and visit her from time to time. When she was visited, she went back in time and lived the life of Chana, a young Jewish, Polish girl during the early 1940s. Hilary relived Chana’s life from moving to the ghetto, escaping, being a political prisoner and taken to Auschwitz. Hilary had to feel every hurt, every lost family member, every beating, every minute of starvation that Chana experienced. Will Hilary wake from her coma? Will she be a changed person or will she continue to hate and show hatred to others? You should read it and find out 🙂

I was sucked into this book from the very beginning. I knew this book would probably make me cry. I mean, let’s face it, you pretty much know from the description of the book that it is going to make you angry at the ignorance that plagues our species, the hatred we exhibit towards others. It will make you feel the love that a family has for one another, the love and strength that people will share when the world is against them. The compassion in the understanding and the determination to just want to live. This story will tug at every heart string, it will shock your moral compass, and it is beautifully written to boot.

I have no qualms about this book. I gave it 4.5 stars simply because there were some areas I wanted a little more descriptions or a little more scenarios. I think the impact on Hilary by having to live out Chana’s life while she is comatose would have been more monumental if she were to experience some even harsher realities. I do not want to put anyone off from reading it by accidentally being misleading with that previous statement. There were some pretty serious events that take place, I just felt a few more wouldn’t have hurt.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

I would love to become a mindless sleepwalker…but I have the tendency to diverge…apologies.

Posted on by Little Bee

divergent

I have heard so much hoopla regarding this series. So many of my friends on Goodreads were dying for book three to come out. Always recommending and suggesting it. So, I used one of my free credits on Audible to listen to it. Let me tell you, that was a mistake. I do enjoy audiobooks, especially for when I was driving to work everyday, it made the drive less tedious and stressful. But Emma Galvin should NOT be a narrator. Ever. If I were to give a rating to this book based on the audiobook, it would be 2 stars. Generously.

I decided to re-read this as the book, instead of the audiobook. I still kept hearing such wonderful things about it…I decided that maybe, I didn’t enjoy it because of Ms. Galvin not being able to narrate a book in such a way it brings it to life. Amazon had Divergent on kindle for $3.99, so I said alright! Let’s do it!

It took me a couple of days to read the book, and even though I knew what was going to happen, I enjoyed it, immensely. I felt more connected to Tris and the other characters in the story line. I could feel the personalities and intricacies of the relationships much more when I read it. Some narrators are genuinely amazing, and bring a life and passion to the story that I could not have read on my own, but Emma Galvin fell short of what could have been and should have been done for Divergent.

As you can see, READ THE BOOK! Don’t listen to the audiobook!

Feelings:

* I LOVE Four

* I am curious about Christina…something not quite right. I feel something bad from her, but I could be wrong.

* Even though I understand why Tris has to go back and fourth with her “I am weak…no I am strong!” flip floppy personality, I still do not like the flip-floppy character sketch. I just don’t. Any book that I read that has a flip floppy character, I will say it…no matter how much I like the character, it is annoying. If you write, please stop with flip floppy nonsense! I don’t like people who are flip floppers in their personality in real life and I sure don’t want to read about it either! *end rant*

* Al disappointed me, though, I kinda saw him flaking out to begin with

* Keep your children away from Peter!

* I am glad that we do not have to decide where we want to live and what morals, values, and support system we would want to spend the rest of our life with…that would be hard. A person can’t just have ONE value system…its all of them that combine as one that guides a person to do well, unfortunately in life, there are always going to be bad apples….

* This book is all about control. Control over ourselves, and others taking control over us. I think you can apply this dystopian novel to current situations going on in the world today. I won’t tell you how or why…read the book, and see if you can figure out what I mean 🙂

At the end of the day, Veronica Roth wrote in such a way that Divergent was a quick, easy read. It didn’t have any lulls in action, reaction, or in character development. You literally got to progress with the characters as they went through initiation and training. You got to watch each of them develop into stronger people, or weaker. You got to watch some of them break, while others grew stronger. All at the same time. I give it a 4 out of 5 star rating. I am sorry..even though I recommend it, and I enjoyed it, that flip floppy character sketch prevents me from furthering it!

A funny picture I found:

 

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Posted in YA Book Reviews

And in the darkness, came light….

Posted on by Little Bee

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Rating: 5 stars!

I started this book Friday morning and decided to read for a couple of hours today….but what I found was, instead of only reading until 11:30 a.m. so I could get things done, I read the entire book. I went from 14% (from Friday) to finished in the matter of hours. That is how good this book was.

My favorite thing about a book, a good book anyways, is how it “hits the ground running” from the very beginning. I would rather read a book that takes off from the beginning, then read a book with a slow, boring, climb to the climax of the story. I find it refreshing to have a book that starts strong, and finishes strong.

A brief synopsis (I don’t usually do that….) Alina and Mal are orphans. They were brought to the same orphanage as children. They enlisted and served in the same military regiment. They were best friends. Alina fell in love with Mal over the years, but kept it to herself. Alina was average looking, frail even. When they were younger, people known as Grisha (they have some kind of magical power…fire, fabrication, fighting etc) came to test whether or not either one of them were Grisha. It was found they were not…however! Alina was, and she was able to hide it, for the fear of losing Mal. Nonetheless, in their service, they were tasked with crossing into the “Fold” in hopes to break free into the other side of this dark, nightmare of territory. They were attacked by nightmarish creatures that only live in the darkness of the Fold. Mal was significantly injured in the attack. Upon further attack, Alina felt this power flush through her, and a great light lit up the Fold. The creatures receded. She fainted. When she came too, she was taken to the head of the Grisha’s, The Darkling. There, he was able to call forward this power, and again she lit up the area the Darkling was camped out in. She was immediately whisked off to the Little Palace, where the Grisha were trained in harnessing their powers, Grisha theory, fighting and the like…because suddenly after all these years, the power exploded through her, and she would become the most wanted, hunted and sought after person in all time.

That is the only bit of information I will give regarding the story line. This book was such an adventure. Alina is a refreshingly strong female character. Sure, she is confused and lonely and lost, but she comes into her own throughout the story. I loved Mal, but I loved the Darkling, even though I shouldn’t. Mal and the Darkling are complete polar opposite. Mal is good. Darkling is evil. It is hard not to love either. It was hard not to feel the pains of Mal, of Alina, and feel sorry for the Darkling.

True to most YA books, there is a love story in there…two of them actually, but they are not sudden. They are slow, well worked out, story lines. The Darkling was slowly winning Alina over through trickery and giving Alina what she wanted most in life, to belong. Mal, it took near death (multiple times) and Alina no longer being in his life to realize how much he loves her. Alina’s love never wavered from Mal, but she did give her heart to the Darkling as well. Don’t be fooled, however, it is not the typical love story triangle. As Alina comes into her own, she learns what she wants, completely, and commits wholeheartedly.

This story is about passion, light and dark, good and evil, the good will of people coupled with hope and despair and what they are willing to accept out of this despair. Do I suggest this book? Yes…I recommend it! I cannot wait to get my paws on the next installment…though, as much as I want to rush…the final book does not come out until June 2014. So…I am trying to pace when I read the next book. (If you hate waiting as much as I do, I would suggest reading the book closer to the release of the final book….I didn’t realize when I started that the book was set to be released so far from now!)

*hopes a movie comes from this series…..*