Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

I got this book over a year ago and I have no idea why I waited an entire year to read this book...

(Excuse any white stuff on the book, that is just paint) Before any spoilers come (because they're coming), let me give you a little overview. First off: the cover. In one word, interesting? *shrugs because she doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing* It consists of a face (which I don't usually like on book covers, but this is okay because it's a drawing and not a photo of a face) with some scribbles surrounding it. It is written by Alex Flinn, who also wrote Beastly. Essentially, this book is about a sixteen year old boy who gets a restraining order from his ex-girlfriend for domestic abuse. This is one of the best books I've read in a while. I enjoyed it so much that it was actually painful to close the book, both at the end and when I had to do something else. It was very clever and well-written and I just couldn't believe some of the things Nick (the main character) would do. I would recommend this book to everybody. I was reading a lot of reviews on Good Reads and one thing I kept reading was that teachers would keep it in their classrooms or make their students read it because it is so well-written and developed. So if you're a teacher, this book might be something you would want to look into. The ex-girlfriend's name is Caitlyn and there is a sequel called Diva which is about how she is coping with the situation at a performing arts school. I look forward to reading it.

The review is essentially over, and now I just want to talk about what happens (which means spoilers), so if you haven't read it then you are not invited past the end of this sentence.

To all those people who have not read the book, shame on you. I just want to let you know what you are getting yourself in to: spoilers, spoilers, and more spoilers. In the court, when the judge ordered Nick to keep a journal of his experience, I thought that was such a clever way of letting the reader know what had happened between him and Caitlin. It was much more creative than constant flashbacks (I know that when he wrote in journal, his entrees were essentially flashbacks, but he was having them with and on purpose. It wasn't just a random recollection of memories the character decided to remember with no clear rhyme or reason). I looked forward to the journal entrees more than what was happening in the present.

I think the author did this on purpose, but my perception of Nick greatly changed while I was reading this book.At the beginning I was thinking along the lines of his ex-girlfriend being a little over dramatic. But as I continued reading the journal entrees Nick was writing, I started thinking, "What a jerk this guy is! I don't know how his girlfriend stayed with him for so long!" Which I really didn't. I just couldn't understand how Caitlyn didn't just stand her ground and say "Enough!". But I'm sure she had a reason, whether she was afraid or didn't know how to end it, or something else entirely. Towards the end, I could tell that Nick really understood what he did to this girl and he takes responsibility for his actions, which I like. I also liked that he decided to retake the anger management class.

So that's it for today. Did you like the little one way conversation I added at the end or should I omit it completely in future reviews? I hope you enjoyed this review and choose to join me again in the future!

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Back Cover:

 

 

Inside cover:

 

 

 

 

A lot of people have heard of and read 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. If you haven't, it's about a girl (Hannah Baker) who commits suicide because of 13 people and she sends a shoebox filled with cassette tapes for the people to listen to. She sends it to the first one, and then they send it to the next one on the list. The book follows Clay as he listens to the tapes for the first time, but he is confused. Why is he on this list? What did he do? Is he the last one on the list? If so, what does he do with the tapes if he has no one to pass it on to? So many questions will be answered by the time you reach the end of the book.

I really enjoyed the book and I think she had a reason to commit suicide, even if the reasons in particular seem unimportant, she explains to an extent that you (or at least I) understood why she wanted to commit suicide. Some people are saying that her reasons weren't enough for someone to commit suicide. Whether she had a good enough reason or not, that's up to you. I think she did.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially to someone of at least thirteen years old. I think a lot of people would enjoy it (even the people that have told me that she didn't have a reason to commit suicide said that they enjoyed it and that they would recommend it to others). I also think that some people who might have been depressed or suicidal in the past would be able to relate to this book. This is just a guess though; I wouldn't know because I have never been suicidal or depressed before.

I really like this book because of the moral behind it. Basically, this revolves around the fact that you never know how your actions (even the smallest or "unimportant" ones) can affect someone else's life. I think people should read this book for that reason alone. If we really took that into account the next time we spoke or interacted with others, we would have no bullying or suicide (especially amongst teens). There would be a lot less racism, homophobia, and just plain old judgment towards others. People would feel a little more free to be themselves because there would be less fear of someone judging you and hurting you; we'd be a little more confident, comfortable, and proud to be who we are. If you get anything out of this book, it should be to really think about how your words and actions can affect others, even if they are done in a "jokingly" manner (because we know that every joke has a little bit of truth in it).  It really opens up your eyes on how what you do or say can really have an impact on someone's outlook on life and I think Jay Asher did a beautiful job of getting that point across. And for that, I applaud him.

P.S: A movie is going to be made for this book and I heard that it will be staring Selena Gomez as Hannah Baker and hopefully she will do an amazing job.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Warning: This is a fantastic but depressing book. You will probably cry.

I got the collector's edition because it's the same price as the original so I figured " Why not?". One reason why I picked this up is because I love watching the Vlogbrothers(youtube.com/vlogbrothers) which consists of John Green himself and his brother Hank Green. He always talks this book I decided that I would read it because John has a very nice, funny, and relatable personality and I hoped his book would be showcase that. I was right.

In case you can't read the description, here it is:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Agustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kids Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

This book is so good and popular that you've probably already heard a thing or two about it. There is a major plot twist that I did not see coming. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good and unique love story. On Vlogbrothers, John said that the movie would come out on June 6, 2014 in the United States and I am definitely planning to go to the midnight premier.
 Has anybody else this book? If so, what did you think about it?

Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

I finished reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth about a month ago, but a lent it to friend before I was able to take pictures of it. But I can't wait any longer to write a blog post about it! So I'm going to have to update the pictures later.

This is how the original cover look like...

... and this is how the new cover looks like.

Personally, I like the original cover better. I don’t see why they have to change such a pretty cover in the first place. Okay, I'm done with my rant now. This book is a sequel to Divergent and I also have a review on that as well ( check it out here). Even though I did enjoy this book, it wasn't as good as the first book. I feel like this book had to many high points, where eventually, you didn't know what the climax was supposed to be.

Although it wasn't as good as the first one, it was a really good book and I did enjoy it. One thing I thought was interesting was that the first book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and this book started off exactly where it ended. Similarly, this book ended on a cliffhanger as well. I feel like the endings of these two books lacked a bit of an ending, as if the entire plot was one really big book that was split up into three pieces. But that's how I think a sequel should be; not one book that was really good but with two or more sequels that felt like the author was just writing because the first book was successful (which sadly seems to be happening more often).

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes action and excitement in a book. Although, you wouldn't understand it fully unless you read the first book. The third (and last) book is called Allegiant and is coming out  October 22, 2013 and I couldn't be more excited! Veronica Roth also has a blog and her blog she has a timer counting down the release of Allegiant (click here to see it).

A movie is also in the process for Divergent and I can't wait till it comes out! Is anyone planning to see the midnight premier? I know I am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Review: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

I normally like Sarah Dessen's novels and this wasn't an exception. Overall I liked the plot, but it left  a little to be desired. I first got this book in order to get a ticket to meet Sarah Dessen and to get the book signed. She’s one of my favorite authors and here’s her signature:

 

The plot is about a girl named McClean who moves a lot with her father, and every time she moves she goes by a different name and changes her personality. It also talks about a boy whom she meets and other friends. The back of this book contains a small but accurate summary of the plot.

Personally, I don’t think this was her best  novel (that honor goes to This Lullaby). From a scale of one to ten (one meaning that I didn’t like this book at all and 10 meaning that I loved it), I would rate this a seven. I liked it but I expected more. One thing that I’ve noticed about Sarah Dessen is that the beginnings of her books are very boring. That wasn’t the case with this book. I liked many aspects about the plot such as the characters and the transformation McClean has gone through. I also liked that this book kept me interested, I wanted to keep reading for hours on end (luckily I read the majority of this book on multiple long flights, so I didn’t have mush stopping me from reading for hours).   What I didn’t like was that there wasn’t a very exciting point of the novel. Most of her novels have a very climatic and exciting part of her novels but I didn’t find it here. Overall, the positives outweighed the negatives so I would recommend this to most people. If you like books that are more action packed or fast paced, you’re not going to like this book. If you like slower, semi-dramatic, and dare I say “teenager-y” books you’ll probably like this. Heard of any new books lately? Let me know in the comments.

Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

I recently finished reading a book called "The Adoration of Jenna Fox". The aesthetics of the cover are very interesting. It consists of a girls face made up of puzzle pieces, and there are blue spaces where the puzzle pieces are missing. The reason behind the cover becomes obvious once you reach about three-forths of the novel.



 

I picked this up at random while at the library and I was not disappointed

The novel has a very interesting plotline that talks greatly about the ethics of her certain situation. The beginning can be a little slow but once you reach the middle, it’s extremely addicting. It takes place in the future, although the author does not specify when ( I assume it takes place sometime in the next century). Jenna Fox was in a coma for a year before she wakes up. She has no memory of her past whatsoever nor of her family. Much of the first half of the novel consists of her trying to figure out who Jenna Fox really was. I really enjoyed this novel although I would not recommend it to everybody. I just think that many impatient people would just give up and stop reading this book because the first half isn't that great. If you are in this situation where you are really bored reading this, just keep reading! I promise, it gets better. One more thing, this book is actually the start of a trilogy. The second book is called The Fox Inheritance, and the third book is called Fox Forever. I'm curious to see how these books are because personally, I think this should be a stand alone book. I don't think a second one needs to be written, but I do want to read it because I am curious. When I do read it their will definitely be a review of it on this blog. Has anyone read any good books lately? Leave a comment below! Bye!

                                      

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

For todays blog post, I wanted to do a review on one of my favorite books thus far: Divergent by Veronica Roth. This book has been pretty popular lately and there's a movie in the making. The cover is really interesting: it has a eye made out of flames with an urban city in the background. They recently just the changed the book cover. The new cover has a  black silhouette of a girl sitting on a mound with three ravens flying above her. Personally, I like the original cover better and I don't see why they needed to change it in the first place. 




The original book cover.
 

The new book cover.

There is no summary in the back of the book, so I will put a brief summary with no spoilers in this review.

Divergent takes place in a futuristic society made up of five factions. These factions value one moral as their main priority. The factions are as follows: (1) Candor values honesty, (2) Abnegation values selflessness, (3) Dauntless values courage, (4) Erudite values intelligence and research, and (5) Amity values peace and friendliness. The characters are born into their faction, but at sixteen they are able to choose what faction they want to belong to for the rest of their lives and take a test telling them what faction would be a good choice. The test scores do not influence what faction they choose. The main character is Beatris (Tris) Prior, who was born in Abnegation, and the majority of the book is describing her test, what faction she chooses and her initiation into the faction. Along the way, she makes some friends including Christina, Will, and Four, a mysterious man who raises many questions to Tris and to the reader. There are many surprises and obstacles along the way and a shocking ending that will leave you wanting more.

One problem I find with many novels is that they are a bit slow and boring in the beginning; that is not the case with this novel. It is exciting all the way to the very end and incredibly addicting. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who likes young adult or fiction novels. I would describe this as more of a fantasy novel with some science fiction influences. There is a sequel called Insurgent and third book which has not come out. There is a movie in the making that is set to release in theatres on March 21, 2014. It stars Shailene Woodley (from Secret Life of the American Teenager) as Tris Prior. It also stars Theo James as Four.
                  
                                         

                                       

Comment below and tell me what good books you've read lately!