Review: Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

3 Stars

“I knew how to die. It was living that scared me.”

I'm guessing in due time everyone will be comparing this to Fault In Our Stars, since anything that is remotely similar to a popular book must be differentiated. 

Well, there's no use comparing Side Effect May Vary to Fault in Our Stars, and not because they have no similarities, it's merely the fact all novels containing the subject of cancer always have vast resemblance. So, what I’m evidently saying is - I will not judge this book based on its originality but on its content. 

It’s hard to break this book into my own blurb because there is not much to summon up. It’s essentially about a girl named Alice who is revealed to have leukemia. She creates a bucket list of things she needs to complete before her death. Forming a close relationship with Harvey is one of them. They were buddies during their younger years, before fate took them to different directions 

“Then we’d drifted. High school did that to you, turned you into pieces of driftwood. And the parts of you that you’d tried to keep in one piece became the property of the wind and water, sending those dear pieces you were not.”

After a while, their relationship begins to blossom again. Once Alice is certain her expiry date will come soon, her doctor exposes she’s on remission. 

Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

3 Stars

I have this bad habit when I’m reading particular books. As I’m reading, I precipitously nod off (I’m still reading, but unconsciously) My mind however has wondered off and I'm thinking about other things. Such as: “What should I eat tomorrow? Or “What the hell did I even do today?” Now, I don’t essentially notice I’m doing this, surprisingly. It’s only after a while when I return back to reading yet again, and the book is going on about something I don’t even remember occurring, I then comprehend that I must have nodded off. And the furthermost bothersome part about this habit is: I have to go back and read the section I missed, again. 

This happened more often than I'm able to count in the lovely bones. Don’t get me wrong, the lovely bones has a nice structured idea (not very original) but nonetheless a good Idea. 

However, the author accomplished to make my tedious life more entertaining than a book. Is that what the book lacked, entertaining the readers? The characterization was spot on for some characters, (not all) but then again that does not mean the characters were attention-grabbing. The book was intriguing at first. I’m not being a creep or anything, but the only stimulating part in the entire novel was the opening of chapter one, and that's when she gets murdered. The rest was in slow motion, and then in the last 100 pages it was instantly fast-tracked five years into the future. 

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

                                             4 Stars

Now, I’ve had one or two obsessions in my life. 

Or maybe five.

Well, okay ten to be a little more accurate.

They were of course fandoms such as Buffy or Harry potter. I can’t say they were very healthy fandoms that made me jump out of bed and say, “Today’s going to be a fun day!” Because was it really going to be more fun than Harry’s day? Harry would be learning how to disappear and reappear, then cast some killer magic spells, while I just replayed my previous day over again.

I’m no longer apart of any fandoms but I can still associate towards those who do, especially Cath in Fangirl.

Cath never had her life planned out. She only ever plans what to write next on her fanfiction: Simon Snow. But after her twin sister manages to convince her to attend college, she finds herself unable to let go of Simon Snow and adjust to her new college life. As she juggles with difficulties of reality and holding onto her fantasy world of Simon Snow, Cath begins to realize you can’t always keep everything the same. 

“Underneath this veneer of slightly crazy and mildly socially retarded, I'm a complete disaster.”

Review: Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield

4 Stars

"They call me Friday. It has been foretold that on Saturday I will drown..."

Friday Brown's mother has frequently told tales of their female ancestors, who each acquired the Brown family curse that tragically all ended their life. Friday and her mother travel from to town in the outback desert as they attempt to elude the family curse, however fate leaves Friday alone after her mother's abrupt death. 

"I am nothing. I feel like nothing. I want my life to matter. What if one day I'm gone and Nobody ever I knew existed."

Seventeen year old Friday makes a decision to continue her past lifestyle of traveling, and meets the lonely boy named Silence at the train station. He introduces her to a group of street kids, who she is able to relate to and become dependent on. It is on the other hand the charismatic Arden - the group leader who will challenge Friday more than she would she like. 

Friday Brown came nothing close to what I envisaged, especially the end which had left me stunned. The book was split into two parts. I view the first part as being fundamental in providing the reader simply with the backgrounds of each of the the street kids. The second parts unravels each character and shows their true nature and growth, or how some of the characters have come to disintegrate as a human, and the transformation of all the characters can evidently be displayed by the change of setting in the book, from the city in part 1 to a ghostown in the outback in part 2.