Fangirl

I don't even need to explain myself for where I've been for the last almost three months. Let's just say that my interest in reading dropped substantially for a while and I'm working my way back into it. It's going to be slow and I don't even know how long it'll be until my next review, so let's just be happy with what we've got here.

This book is kind of an insight into the fangirl/boy subculture that is seen as a horrible thing in the media. It's actually more common than you think. Look around you and I promise that you'll find them everywhere... (Slowly steps backwards into the darkness.) Though I can tell you from experience that most of them are nice! Usually shy and introverted, but once you get them talking, they won't stop! I mean it, they don't stop.

The cover-

Cath thought college would be easy. She thought that her twin sister would be beside her the whole time and everything would go as planned. Well, she was in for a surprise. Wren decided to stay in another dorm to leave Cath with an opinionated, headstrong junior named Reagan.

Cath believes that their friendship could actually work until she gets to know Reagan's funny and always smiling boyfriend Levi. Cath finds that she actually hangs out more with Levi than she does with Reagan as Levi's smiles and cheeriness charms its way into her heart and eventually becomes romance.

Cath struggles to keep the balance between her fanfictions and her schoolwork, slowly feeling saddened that Wren has decided to leave her completely in favor of a wilder and more exciting life. Cath finally understands that no matter what happens, in the end she just has to Carry On.

My thoughts-

When I read this book, I felt like there was finally a book written by an understanding adult who completely gets it. They get that fangirls exist and that they aren't all following the crowd. Some of them actually love what they do and do it because they love it, not because it's trendy. No, it's not because they're part of a cult or something. It's not a cult, but a way to make new friends who have the same interests as you.

Can I just say that when I read this, I was still a lot depressed from the ending of Tamar, so I didn't really enjoy the book as much in the beginning. I actually just held back my tears, put the book aside and picked up this one. Even though it's a funny slice of life romantic comedy I wasn't feeling better. So I put the book aside for several days and came back to it when I had gotten over my grief period. 

Otherwise, this book is a really funny romantic comedy that combines coming of age and the morality of growing out of things. It's a really good read for adults and teens alike!

Age Rating- 14+

The characters often express their ideas in very explicit ways, swearing frequently and hinting at things that might be inappropriate for younger readers. That was my only turn off as far as the characters go. Cath doesn't swear at all, but really only Wren and Reagan are the danger zones. Specifically Reagan. 

The other main issue is the fact that when the book gets more serious, (about halfway through) characters start to very directly discuss their intimate experiences. Once Cath actually starts to consider that she has feelings for Levi, she confronts Reagan about it who tells her how close they once were before they realized that they were better off as friends than partners. The romance content is pretty tame for a book with characters of this age. 

((Please check out this book! It's one of the better romantic comedies out there that I actually enjoyed. And with the pace I'm going at, the next review should be out in about a week. I'm actually not going to procrastinate this time! I promise!))

Tamar

I apologize greatly for not being active on writing more reviews, but I went to New York City for a few days (and where I live, it's about 3 hours away so I got a ton of reading done.) and our computer unexpectedly broke and I hate typing on my phone. So I was waiting (and reading) until our computer would be fixed. So I have a backlist and a lot of reviews to type.
You NEED to read this one. It's a Carnegie Medal winner! I'm kind of out of touch with which ones win every year, but I do know from experience that they are always the best. I hope that one day I write a book that gets the Carnegie Medal. It'd be my dream come true.


The cover-

 

Tamar is a spy for the British army sent to the Netherlands on a top secret mission. All throughout the Netherlands, there have been small cells of rebels sabotaging Nazi camps, known today as the Dutch Resistance. They are scattered and "lack the one thing that makes them a considerable threat... unity." (I didn't quote from the book, I quoted from a television series that is also about rebellion, but in a fictional world. Star Wars Rebels if you must know.)

Tamar and his friend Dart have the mission to unite as many of the cells together as they can before the Germans suspect something is wrong. Their base is at the home of the beautiful Marijke who is Tamar's lover. She sheltered him on a previous mission to the Netherlands, so she could be trusted. Tamar naturally stays with her, but Dart is sent to an asylum where he has to pose as the apprentice of a doctor.

Everyone is tense with the war going on and the fact that both men are on secret missions doesn't make them feel any better. Tamar is having no luck with unifying the resistance cells and winter is slowly creeping up on the small farmhouse and its inhabitants. Paranoia is settling and both Tamar and Dart are going insane. The Nazis are onto them after a skirmish that ended up killing two German soldiers. 

A former ally has suddenly become an enemy when Dart decides to shelter him in the asylum to keep him out of the eye of the Nazis and even Tamar. Dart is faced with a difficult decision and he doesn't know whether to protect Tamar and the rest of his new friends in Holland or watch them all die at the salvation of his own life. Everything seems to be in a haze as no one knows who to trust and who is going to be by their side for the final battle.

Tamar is also the name of a girl living fifty years later in Great Britain. One night her grandfather suddenly commits suicide and leaves her a box filled with various diaries and passports and identity papers. She takes it upon herself to find out the meaning of all this and finally understand her namesake. With her cousin Johannes (Yoyo) she decides to take a roadtrip and understand what her grandfather was never able to tell her.

My thoughts-

It's an intense book that makes you feel all sorts of emotions! There's mystery in the beginning, a little bit of festivity and slight happiness in the middle and utter depression and anguish at the end. I love the way the two stories are paired together. They seem to wind around each other, making sense and then suddenly pulling away in opposite directions. The clues had been hidden around both main characters but they couldn't make sense of them until the end of the book.

Just now while writing this review I put my earbuds in my ears to listen to some music. The first song that came up was Hero by Skillet and as I was thinking about the lyrics, I realized that it describes the meaning of this book very well. I advise you all to listen to it partially because it's a good song anyways and also after you have read the book because it all just seems to come together. It describes the utter helplessness of being caught in a war and just fulfilling your service so you don't need to see any more of the pain.

Currently my mother is reading this and her first comment to me was "Do you seriously like intense war books? That does not seem like you." I can understand her surprise because I am a person who prefers light books and some darker ones, but none that come close to the intensity of this one. Yes, I enjoyed it. After our study of World War I, World War II and even also the Korean and Vietnam wars at school, I've found a new liking for wartime literature. I know I will never go through the same things these people went through in their struggles to make the world a better place, but I like to hear it from another person's voice.

The only thing I will tell about the ending of this book is that it makes you feel like lead. I got a headache and put the book aside as soon as I finished it. It's kind of like a feeling where you know the world is going to end but you can't do anything about it. You just sit there and let death come to you. I have never felt like this towards any book. Usually I'm apathetic and move on to the next book but I wasn't able to read for several days after this. I was secretly mourning for the loss of the main characters who had died and I had come to love.

Fahrenheit 451- The Temperature At Which Paper Burns

I have returned to the all too familiar realm of science fiction which I love dearly but cannot write for some reason. This time with a classic that I think lovers of apocalyptic stories will enjoy. Ray Bradbury was a well-known science fiction author from the 1950's who has written many stories about the future of the human race. Either from alien attacks or self-extermination, he has many ideas about the future and how we will be able to cope with our changing environments.
This is one of his rather well-known novels that I had been dying to read for a long time based off a suggestion from a good friend. She also steered me into requesting Animal Farm by George Orwell, another classic science fiction novel which should arrive within the next few days.

The cover-

In the dystopian world of Guy Montag, firemen do not fight fires, rather start them. The firemen in this world burn books. Why? Because books are dangerous and education is forbidden. People sit in their family rooms all day long watching television and being with their fake families.
Montag is a fireman. Every day he gets up, burns books and comes home. Not once did he question the logic of this in the many years he has been in that occupation. After all, no one ever goes against the orders of Captain Beatty. As long as Montag gets his salary, he is happy with whatever he does.
Only when he meets Clarisse, the girl who moves into the house next to him does he realize that books do have value and that humans need to preserve their history in order to advance their species.
When Clarisse is taken away to a mental institution, Montag starts secretly hoarding books and eventually becoming a fugitive to show people that books aren't nearly as evil as they are said to be and that censorship is not the way to a successful society.

My thoughts-

It's a very thoughtful story that really does tell the truth. With our government becoming more and more protective of who sees what, it may not be long until a world like this happens. Books tell so much more than just stories. They tell life lessons and give education, sometimes on subjects that we never want to say out loud. I feel that even though I am taking a formal education to get a good life later on, but most of my (in)formal education has been through books. I learned a lot more through books than I ever did in the classroom.
I believe that Guy Montag's story is one to bring the world back to what it used to be. Bring humans back together and help them live the way they used to. His cause was a noble one. It was a search to show people the truth. Even if they couldn't see it, he is happy that he did all he could.
This is one of those books that when you finish it, you just feel heavy and broken. It's a terrible feeling but only once in a while do I find books that make me feel like this.

((More library books to read! I also bought all of the book versions of the Star Wars episodes so I can't wait to read those once I finish all of my pending library books... Happy Reading everyone!))

The Tyrant's Daughter

This is a rather interesting historical fiction book that I came to like recently. Because of my exams screwing up my schedule and my laziness in general, I read this book a lot more slowly than other ones. In some ways that helped and in certain ways it didn't.
I think it is an interesting idea to write a story about the issues going on in the world today, rather than about something that happened a hundred years ago. I feel that it made this book seem a lot more real because we have experience and knowledge about these events and they are in our recent history. It could be related to by many people and it showed how hard things are in places of unrest.

The cover-

Laila grew up believing she was a princess. Her father was a king, her mother a queen and her brother a prince. And that was how it seemed until the day her father was shot and killed in a riot and her family was forced to flee their country and hide in the United States where they could stay until it was safe to return.
Watching her family in this unfamiliar situation, Laila is horrified by the sudden changes her mother and younger brother go through. Their mother starts working for a shady man who promises that they can help her and has cast off all ties to her life back in the Middle East. The only thing that Laila can do is let go too and make the best of their unfortunate situation. But not if there is something for her to learn out of all of this and make sense of the lies that she had been fed for so long.

My thoughts-

As I was reading this book, I was constantly thinking about the types of stories I have heard on the news regarding the issues in the Middle East. This book is kind of a deeper insight into the things that we hear about and about what is actually going on.
I really found it interesting the way the book was opened. It kind of began the way an old fairy tale would. Laila's father was a king. As was his father and his father and his father. Her mother was a queen. Her brother was a prince and when their father died, he would assume the throne. And this made her a princess. But her life was far from a fairytale. It was a nightmare.
This book has a very dark and serious feeling to it, but there was some comedy to give a break from constantly reading about the horrible things that Laila's family was going through, especially their mother. That was the job of Ian, a reporter for the school newspaper who has a habit of following Laila around and bothering her. I will give away a spoiler that she does fall in love with him, but it is a little limited.
The way Laila acts around him constantly makes me think of fanfictions that I've read for various series where the female love interest just cannot get their act together because they're so confused about what they feel for the male character. That's basically what Laila goes through. One minute she can't let go of Ian and the next she's running away from him every time he approaches her. She knows she wants to love him, but there are certain things that she has to sort out first.
There could've been a possible love triangle with this boy named Amir who is from Laila's home country, but never met her until she came to the United States. She meets him because he lives with the man that her mother is working for. He makes her understand about the truth of her father's regime. He is a man who ruled many others through fear and threats. In fact, in the middle of the school day, Amir's school was bombed. Many of his friends died that day and his sister suffered horrible aftereffects of the poison gas and being stuck in the ruins for so long.
I originally wanted there to be a sort of love triangle between Laila, Ian and Amir, but once I got to the halfway point of the book where it started to make sense why Laila was so drawn to Amir, I realized that it was not a good idea. This book is not a love book to begin with. It is politics from the eyes of a teenager. Laila needed Amir to give her the answers to the questions she had never asked anyone and tell her everything that was hidden from her when she was in her home country. After all, his cold and unforgiving nature will not allow him to love anyone, at least the way the story goes.
This book was a real eye opener for me and I think I now have a much better understanding of the things going on in the Middle East after reading this book. I really do hope that there is a sequel to this book where everything is settled and Laila can go back to her home country. But then again one of the things that Laila repeats over and over throughout the course of the book is that life is not a fairy tale. There is no magical spell that can suddenly make everything better. Happily ever after does not exist in the real world and there is no way to make it exist.

((This review has been pending since the end of June. I for some reason just had no energy to do it until today. I recently bought a book that I am very excited to read! I love big cats, tigers in particular, so I decided to read The Adventures of Jim Corbett- Man Eating Tigers of Kumaon. Jim Corbett was a British hunter who spent many years in India and tells his experiences with tigers. Looks like my (second) non-fiction review! Happy Reading!))

Silver

Before I begin with the craziness of this new review, I would like to thank an author friend for promoting my blog on her Facebook page. Because of my review on Weedflower and now this, I feel more motivated to write reviews and keep it coming all throughout the summer because hopefully people will see my passion for books and that I'm not doing it all for nothing.
This book was my diving back into the realm of science fiction and enjoying what I used to read a whole crazy lot of. It kept reminding me of the small parts that I saw of this show called High School of the Dead where these students get attacked by zombies and they have to fend for themselves against the undead while being restricted to their school. But then again, that was a really weird show with a lot of convenient things going on. In short it was cheesy, but the main idea is the same.

The cover-

At Paul's school, everything is normal. It's a normal academy filled with normal boys and girls. But when a mysterious silver beetle is found and it bites a kid, a dangerous infection spreads through the school and turns students into cyborgs. Their only intent is to kill and turn the refugees into infected humans.
A lockdown is put into place, but the cyborgs keep adapting to every wall they put up and tear through boarded up windows and closed doors. Their only weakness is bright light which paralyzes them and makes them stop moving for a few minutes before they continue their advance.
Paul and some of the other kids at the academy are the only ones left, surviving off of luck and determination that they will make it through the weekend and escape the school once the faculty comes back. There's only one problem. Can the others accept one another and throw away the past to secure that they will be able to live until the next day?

My thoughts-

This book really needed an ending. Like a good, satisfying ending. I was talking with one of my friends who has also read this book and she also agreed with me that the book needed a solid ending. But then again, the idea was such that the kids escaped the school and that was the end. I feel that the power of the infection should have been brought down a little bit so that there was actually a hope of fighting the infection and taking back the human race. The way the book ends, the escaped students are in a helicopter and that's it.
I think this is a hard idea to write a sequel about. I mean, how could this idea end and have a satisfying sequel? The cyborgs take over the world and the last surviving humans are forced to live underground? I wouldn't like that for a book, because where's the fun in that? If the cyborgs keep adapting the way they are, they will eventually find the humans living underground and possibly destroy them all too. And then all of humanity will be gone, so there's no more fun left.
I have to point out the way this book didn't really have a super complex story and stuck to the point the majority of the time. There are some books that I don't like because they tend to stray off into random directions and I can't seem to like that. I liked the simplistic concept and how it was developed throughout the course of the whole story. It was good to change up a little bit from the making my brain hurt because the story is so complex and it has like ten more books in the series to come to something that was like a one time pleasing. I'll read it once, think about it for a few days and then forget all about it until my review.
Even though I said so much about it, this book was pretty good. Not one of the best science fiction books I've ever read, but actually pretty decent.

((Onwards to my next review! It's a historical fiction book about problems we hear about every day. The fighting going on in the Middle East and how everything there is in absolute chaos.))