Review: Rainbow Rowell – Fangirl

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Fangirl
Rainbow Rowell

Cather is an identical twin. Her twin, Wren, has been waiting eagerly for college to start – she has a partying spirit. Cather on the other hand is slightly more neurotic, and just wants to hide in her dorm room between fiction writing classes. The question is, is the anxious Cather able to have a life and love like her sister?

Cather touched my heart. I worried about her, I worried with her, and hurt with her. Now I remember why I don’t read books like these – I identify with the protagonist too much! I love the book, because it makes me feel, but then again, I hate it because I do feel!

I literally couldn’t put this book down, I enjoyed it so much. I wanted to even read it at the dinner table, but I didn’t. I finished it in two days, which for me at the moment is sort of a record. I’m surprised I got into it. Lately it’s been I get a couple of pages into a novel and give up.

The romance! The betrayal! Arg! I always knew what was happening, but some things hit me like a rock anyway. Does anyone else already see the funny thing about the twins’ names? I didn’t even notice until it was pointed out in the text.

I see character development in Cather, but not really in the other characters. That’s not to say that they are 2D character, rather they have been fleshed out, and from Cather’s perspective, it’s just the way things are. I loved Levi – I’d totally date that boy too! And the other characters who were sometimes a bit narky? Yeah, I could see why they were like that.

If your child is curious about going to college, this could be a good novel to point out the negatives of things (such as underage drinking and clubs), but also the positive things (sometimes your roommate turns out to be great!). I’d recommend for older teens, or even those already at college. It’s such a good read, especially for aspiring young authors.

Another couple of minor things that added bonus points to my reading experience? Cather’s father had a mental illness, and she was forever writing gay fic. I love variety!

I couldn’t believe that someone had gotten away with writing novels that seemed like a complete rip off of Harry Potter. And then I googled it after finishing the novel and then found out that it’s just a fictional novel that was created by Rowell. Some people say they’d love to read those books – inspired by Twilight perhaps? Not me anyway.
I would read Rowell’s novels again. I received this novel free for a review – but I opted to receive it, and it was just as good as I say it is!

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Review update: 15 December 2021 – Wow! I guessed that it had been about 7 years since I read this novel, and I was right. I very happily devoured it again over three days. I had mostly forgotten the ending, so that was good too. In my last review I commented that I wouldn’t want to read the Simon Snow novels, and lo and behold, when I read Carry On / Wayward Son, I thought it sucked! This novel gets to stay on my bookshelf, but the others can go to a different home. Still five stars from me.

Review: Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer – Between the Lines

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Between the Lines
Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer
Delilah has a fairy-tale that she reads, over and over and over. It has a happy ending, which is what she wants from her life. She falls in love with the main character, but will they be able to be together?
12283261This was a strangely compulsive read. I think it was mainly curiosity on my part to see what solutions Delilah could come up with. I did like the spider. Poor spider.
I seriously could not imagine why someone would want to go into a book. And stay there. For the rest of the book’s existence. WHY? WHY? WHY?
Ok yes, I get that Delilah is an outcast. But really, she could have tried harder. It’s not just that she likes that book before she can see into it. There are plenty of other books with similar story lines of losing a father. Her mother does an awesome job of raising her! I’m irritated that she doesn’t seem to know how lucky she is. I expect high schoolers to be self-centred, but really.
The whole fairytale was a neat idea. I did want to know what happened, and how things would work out. But being told not to fight? Forcing yourself not to? Putting braces on a dragon? Some of that was just sad, in a funny kind of way.
I liked the ideas behind this book, but in practice I’m not sure it entirely worked for me. What about other novels? What if they all have characters stuck? Does Delilah want to go on a quest to rescue other book characters?
This was an exceedingly easy read. I’m not sure I get enough tones from Picoult to say whether this is an accurate measure of her work, but I hope for more collaborations – surely they will be just as strangely compelling.

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Review: Ann Brashares – Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

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Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood
Ann Brashares
4 girls were united by birth dates in September. 2 summers ago, they found the pair of travelling pants that would change their summer. This is the last summer they have together before college.
Thank goodness this was a talking book or I never would have gotten through it. That’s not to say it was a good book, or that the reader was fabulous though.
The reader failed in my mind. I often couldn’t remember which of the four girls were speaking. The boys could have been a bit more male sounding too. This lead to complications when I couldn’t remember which girl wanted to do what. B and Carmen were easy to keep track of because that were in unique situations. But the other two? I can barely remember their names now. Tibby and uh, someone else?
This is a novel aimed at teenage girls. Specifically probably younger teenage girls in America. I can’t see anyone but a naive girl enjoying it. It’s all about first love, veiled thinly with concerns about going to college.
I can see this book not going down well with some parents. There are some almost sex scenes, sex is alluded to, and two opposite sex characters go swimming together in their underwear. Not to mention a childbirth scene.
I can’t remember the statistics of people being queer, by I thought it was something like 1/7. So where are the queer people I. This novel? One of the four girls could have been gay. Younger gay people need the opperyniruvti read about queer people just like themselves, those that have friends. A gripe I have with other queer books is that the main character is almost always lonely. Some have to be well adjusted with friends! I think authors are missing the minority that could make their novel a cult book.
The Pants don’t seem to feature prominently. I don’t think any if them actually rely on The Pants. They just use them as an excuse to not lie. How hard is it really?
I remember reading the first book in this series in high school after a girly friend raved about it. I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it at that point, being able to ignore the often repetitive dialogue. Perhaps I’d better reread it and see if I can rescue this series in my mind.

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Review: Jessica Queller – Pretty is What Changes

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Pretty is What Changes
Jessica Queller
Jessica has just received the news that she has a breast cancer gene that gives her an 80%+ chance of getting cancer. It’s given to her in the baldest way possible, yet it will change her life radically.

I’ve got a vested interest in reading this novel. It’s part fiction, part fact, and it hits close to home. I have a family history of reproductive cancers, and I’ve often considered whether I’ll need a mastectomy.
Somehow I feel like her case was sort of divinely touched. She didn’t have any huge problems with her reconstruction or anything else. It makes it a bit different that this is in the USA. I’d almost guarantee that Australian women, and women in other countries don’t have access to the same resources.
I found it interesting that a writer would find then to write something like this. I certainly wish I had time! Writing is her thing and she uses it to promote awareness for this cancer, which is great.
I picked up this novel off of the super reduced stack at uni. The partner bought it for me, figuring I’d start it and not necessarily finish it. Or maybe he thought it was a present for my mother. Anyway I settled down to read it, and he couldn’t believe I was taking the time to do it. Sometimes I like an easy to read fiction book! His argument was that the writer was some sort of person he’d read about or something. I don’t follow movies or anything so I had no idea. I’m evaluating the movie purely on what I read.
Jessica spins the tale convincingly. I felt the changes in the protagonist and at times it was painful to read. I didn’t necessarily empathise – I’d chop off my breasts in an instant if I knew I would reduce my chances of cancer. But then I’m not partner shopping either.
The title of the book was really well applicable to the contents. It’s not that she feels ugly afterwards, she’s got fantastic new breasts! But it’s rooted in what her mother thought of her, so it’s deeper than the reader would think.
Would I recommend this novel for breast cancer survivors? Maybe. Not in Australia though perhaps. I would recommend it for those women thinking about being tested for BRCA mutations or preventative surgery. Any more insight you can have is good insight.

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Review: Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones

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The Lovely Bones
Alice Sebold
Susie Salmon is dead. Not only that, she was raped and murdered by a neighbour. Her father suspects who did it, but has no proof. The policeman who is investigating lets him slip through his fingers. Susie can’t move on until she sees her family at peace.
I can’t believe how much time Susie spends waiting for her family to move on. Wouldn’t you get bored, after 8 years of looking and not participating? I guess that’s part of her ‘growing up’. I don’t see why she can’t grow up in the other world though. Who knows?
It’s a nice idea of heaven, but I find it hard to believe that in the next heaven there will be the people Susie loved in life, including her dog. How could they all possibly fit, if every person just had two more people who cared for them? It would be an exponential growth of people wanting to share lives together! At least it is something.
This novel pinged gently on my own beliefs about the afterlife. Ruth is a neat character, but I often wonder whether her life in the future will get any easier, or what path she will continue to tread. I can’t see her as a bartender for the rest of her life, paying for a flat so that she can walk the city in search of human touches.
Just like real life, things didn’t turn out perfectly, particularly for the side characters. I was frustrated that Susie held on to Ray so tightly. Ray also held on – and I thought he could have moved on. I felt for the poor boy who was accused of killing animals, and Susie.
It’s funny how such a touching and sensitive topic could be treated with such elegance that you feel compelled to keep reading. I found myself staying up late reading it. This is the second time I have read this novel, but the first reading was many years ago and I had forgotten how the story went. I can see it as a re-read when I want to feel deeply about something without really knowing way.

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Review: James Phelan – The Last Thirteen #3

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The Last Thirteen #3
James Phelan
Sam is still racing to find the others in the Last Thirteen. Little does he know that he’s already met some of them, and that some of them might already be in the hands of the enemy.
20721529Sam comes face to face with Solaris again in this cliff-hanger. You know it’s going to happen. I feel like none of these novels would be complete without a Solaris encounter.

It’s an interesting concept that they can change the future by being aware of it. I’ve read a lot of books with interesting instances of time-travel/seeing the future, and what this can do to people, and this isn’t particularly a new concept. It’s treated well enough however.

I wonder also whether different people have the same dream, more often than just Sam, and his newly-rediscovered friend. I hope to see more of it in future books.
This novel fills out what they are actually looking for and adds an interesting touch of history. It’s such a good thing they appear to have lots of money, because Sam has a serious case of jetting around the world! You’d think he’s stick in one spot and get on with it.
I want to keep reading these! I’m not quite hooked, but this novel felt like it had more meat in it than the others, and I’d be really happy to see more of it happening.

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Review: Sarah Moon (ed.) – The Letter Q

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The Letter Q
Sarah Mood (ed.)
This isn’t a novel at all. It’s a collection of letters by queer authors to their younger selves. The book was produced because every young person identifying as queer has a right to know that their situation of feel lost, alone or misunderstood isn’t unique – there’s someone out there that can understand.
I enjoyed it because it had so many emanations with my teenage years, and it’s always pleasing to read about other success stories.
Another thing is that I often read short story collections to find new authors whose writing style agrees with me. Those are just letters, but the authors hint enough about themselves that I can tentatively pick ones that I’d buy books to try.
I initially picked up this novel because one of my favourite authors, Julie Anne Peters, has a contribution in it. I’d also already encountered Erika Moen from her comic, DAR.
I had fun trying to pick whether the writer was male or female in each case where it wasn’t immediately obvious. A weird thing to do when the authors are all queer and any sexuality or gender could be presented. I didn’t do this in a judgemental way, just in an interested way.
If you’re queer, you’re questioning, you just want to understand more about what queer people go through, this could be a good novel for you to read.

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Review: Liam Hearn – Blossoms and Shadows

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Blossoms and Shadows
Liam Hearn

It’s rare that I don’t finish a novel I’m reading because I like to give books a chance to improve. I’m a little less tolerant of talking books however because I only have limited time to listen to them and if a reader is bad, I don’t see why I should force myself to listen.

This one wasn’t given a chance after the second disk. The reader wasn’t great, and I struggled to differentiate the characters.
Even worse was that 9350510the writing was dry and uninteresting. The main character was potentially interesting, a girl wanting to learn medicine from her father. But the trials of her uncle who wanted to go to a special school, no, I couldn’t have cared less.
I realise that this book is a translation from Japanese, and so a sprinkling of Japanese words is expected. In this case however, there were so many that I struggled to fix the place names in my mind.
I really loved Hearn’s other novels, but this one just wasn’t my flavour. I get a feeling this novel was meant to be a kind of history – I don’t love history. Maybe if you have an interest in this area this book could be an easy introduction for you.

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Review: Traci Harding – The Ancient Future, The Dark Age

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The Ancient Future, The Dark Age
Traci Harding
Tori is a scholar who specialises in British mysteries. She’s still living at home with her parents, but she’s decided to go out and spend time with her aunt to recover from her brother’s unnecessary death. Little does she know that she is going to be scooped up into the past, and change the possible future.

Tori is skilled in martial arts, and is a black belt. What never became clear to me was why she had learnt it, why she was so proficient, and why she seemed so defensive around men.
The concept of time travel is dealt with in a sensible and understandable way. As confusing an idea as it is, Harding had her mind wrapped around what she wanted to achieve right from the word go. It has a strong feel of being well planned. I still felt confused sometimes, but it all became clear in the end.
This novel contained multiple climaxes, meaning that just as the chapter was finishing, another section would start. Had I been reading it myself, I would have said it was a bit of an epic. But being read to me in a fantastic voice? Yep, it flew by.
Something that knocked me out if the narrative at the bringing was that this novel was read by the same reader as in The Gene of Isis, and I felt like I was overwriting a character in my mind that I already knew.  And then later on, there were a few sentences here and there that didn’t seem to be the main reader at all.
The overall verdict? I loved it, would read it again, and really, really want to get my hands on the next book in this series. I think I’ve discovered a new favourite author – Traci Harding, I’ll read your books any time. I have to save up my cash, and buy myself the paperback of these novels.
Arg, what annoys me is that I already wrote up this review on my phone, complete with picture, and then it ate it. Not a good start phone, not a good start.  Now, this is the first time I’ve put in a photo from my phone – please let me know what it looks like. You can expect from now on that cover images from books will be taken in poor conditions like this one! The full experience.

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Review: Aimee Bender – The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

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The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Aimee Bender
Rose wakes up one morning with the ability to taste the feelings of the person who made the food she eats. This feeling gets worse for her as she pinpoints things, and she ends up subsiding almost entirely on junk food. Not to mention the rest of her family is just as bonkers and aimless.
It was an easy, throwaway read that I got through, but didn’t feel any particular need to keep reading. But I had time, I didn’t have anything else I needed to do, eh, it was in the book basket at the house we were staying at.
I didn’t really understand what happened to Joe. I was puzzled throughout the narrative. I was unsatisfied by her father’s responses. And his fear of hospitals. He could have done something! He never tried it! What about her poor Grandfather? Why did she never notice anything before? Is she blind because she has a hypo sense of smell?
The ending is distinctly unsatisfying. In fact, when we get down to it, it’s all unsatisfying. I wanted a relationship with George. I thought that’s what she was going to get. But no, she gets all withdrawn and sorry for herself! Boring, everyday life, when she could legitimately be helping others.
Rose does meet an interesting way of cooking, but really? Couldn’t she just explain to someone rationally (particularly as she gets older) that she has this problem? I get that her mother doesn’t understand, but her father? Why isn’t he brought in until the very end?
Things about this book were weird just because they could be. I didn’t get the affair, the woodworking, the weird packages from Grandma. Why were these thrown in? They didn’t add anything! They just confused me!
I was irritated by the lack of dialogue quotation marks. Arg! Is it so hard to make sure that I know when they are talking to each other? Particularly when their voices all sound so similar, since everything is filtered through Rose?
I found myself confused at the end about when things were happening. What year was this in? Are we having flash backs? What is happening??
I’ve seen some mixed reviews by others since reading it -I think it’s good in theory, but could have more done with it in practice.  If you’ve got a couple of hours to spare where you can’t do anything too absorbing or you’ll miss important conversation, give this book a try and see what you come up with.

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