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: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

5 Stars

Spoilers ahead if you have not read the first book. 

I avoided reading Days of blood and starlight for more than a month, although I read the first and second chapter of DOB&S - I felt as if I already knew how the book was going to play out. The first book was outright amazing, except the ending left me confused about Karou’s (heroine) character. The little twist at the end was least to say: baffling. 

Apparently, if you have read the first book, Karou was actually resurrected and is really another person named Madrigal who is a Chimera. I wasn’t entirely confused…I was misled. Was Karou the character who I’ve learned so much about throughout the first book, or was she Madrigal – a character who I was unfamiliar with, until she was hurled at me in the last couple of chapters? It was irritating. 

The plot twist included Akiva (her forbidden love interest) who had misfortunately done something terrible and betrayed Karou. I felt at that time as if it was just a reason to bring about a complication in their romance, so it would not be tedious. 

I was far from right about my predications about the second book. I had thought Karou would show a great distaste to Akiva for thirty pages, and then be all over him. I had thought there will be angst between Akiva and Karou for an excruciating 500 pages, similar to several YA books. I was very surprisingly incorrect. The book was solely focused on character building, world building and most significantly the plot. Truthfully, there was only fifty pages of Karou and Akiva together, and there was barely much romance…more like tension (good tension). 

Review: The Forest of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan

1.5 Stars

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is nothing but mah. 

Props to the writer who faintly has beautiful way with words, but also has a way with boring me to tears. Yet, I can't tell if I'm bored stiff because of the way it’s written that causes my eyes to go heavy with sleep, or if perhaps it’s the plot. It could be the characters in addition. Or, possibly it’s all three combined together to make tremendously dreary story.

Here’s a little blurb about what the book is about.

The forest of hands and teeth is about a village under the leadership of the strict and enigmatic sisters. This village happens to be surrounded by zombies who continually attempt to break through the fences in order to devour the people. Mary’s great-great-great-great-great grandmother saw the ocean and her story has been passed down five generations. This becomes Mary’s bothersome and egoistic dream to see the ocean. 

Wait, sorry did I say that was a blurb or the WHOLE plot? It’s puzzling because I truly can’t tell the difference between the plot and the blurb. 

You can almost just predict what's going to occur in the story from merely the blurb. 

Fence + Zombies = that adds up to them finally managing to break through the fence, suddenly... doesn't it?

Mary + her ocean dream = her going through a boring journey to see the ocean.

I want to introduce to you the most selfish character in the book.

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: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

 5 Stars         

“Is he scared of the dark?”                              “Like all monsters. Because it reminds him of what he truly is.”

I still recall the last mythology book I read, sadly. I prefer not to. I mean who would not want to erase the boring journey of Hades searching for his right wife? (If you have not guessed, I’m talking about The Goddess Test)

Cruel Beauty was able to substantiate to me that (Greek) mythology can be interesting in YA fiction, if handled correctly. 

It composed of everything I pursue for in a book:unpredictable Mystery, Imperfect heroine, both fascinating setting plus backstory. And lastly, a story partly based on BEAUTY & THE BEAST. You know, you have not completely stopped being a kid, when you continue to think of Beauty & the Beast as one of the greatest love stories. 

Quick summary of Cruel Beauty: 

Nyx Triskelion, never feels as if she belongs. Maybe, it’s because she’s motherless. Or her father pays more attention to her twin sister. Or perhaps, it could simply be the fact her father betrothed her to an evil ruler of the kingdom for a bargain. Nyx begins to train as young as nine to defeat Ignifex, in order to free herself and release her kingdom from Ignifex‘s curse, that has entrapped and left them isolated from the rest of the world for nine-hundred years. As she puts her plan to action, she realizes not everything is black and white as it seems, and killing Ignifex proves to be more difficult than she imagined. 

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. 

Review: The Pianst by Władysław Szpilman

               5 Stars                  

I loved The Pianist for a number of reasons but the supreme reason goes to Władysław Szpilman's storytelling. Szpilman writes down the struggles he had endured to survive, when Warsaw was under occupation by the Nazis. Władysław voice never grows bitter, plus, his emotions never twist to abhorrence, and it’s why, I find myself respecting him so admirably. His story was in no means out of hatred or disgust. His intention was not to spit political statements about WWII. As mentioned on the title, it was solely based on his extraordinary true story to survive when the whole of Europe went into chaos. Not to forget, it was about his determination to live long enough, in the hopes to achieve his dream.

Wladyslaw Szpilman was a polish Jew born in Warsaw. He had three siblings and two loving parents. He was a talented musician growing up; he studied in Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland and then attended the prestigious Academy of Arts in Berlin, before Hitler was in power. He then worked at a polish radio performing Jazz and classical music. But at 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland and developed a new general government, which established a ghetto in Warsaw, specifically for Jews. Life for Władysław turned into a daily torture. Hunger and illness sweeped every corner of the streets in the ghetto. Senseless hate by the Nazis and unjustified death leads Szpilman to escape, rather than await his death. However survival behind the walls of the Warsaw ghetto - proves to be as difficult as a rapid death. 

Review: Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys

                                                4 Stars

I did not look good after I finished 'Between shades of gray'. My nose could have passed as the red nosed reindeer. It had become an awful shade of red from the sobbing. Similar to my close friend, I’m frankly not a big fan of books that will give me a headache from the crying that I have to withstand, coincidentally one my favourite genre is historical-fiction and history has a lot of grieve. Too much. I hate to cry and I prefer to sit silently and concentrate on a blank wall or an object, so tears do not spill out. But I failed to do so for this book. 

The first and second part of this book had strangely no effect on my emotions, but the third section of the book really warmed me up to the human compassion people were able to display, in a time of disaster. 

Between shades of grey is different from other WWII books, because it does not focus on an event that is widely known by the world, but the one that has been overlooked quite some time by history as inconsequential. 

The Baltic countries beside Russia such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland also suffered greatly in WWII. Between shades of gray captures the hardship one of the Baltic counties had to go through. 

Review: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

3 Stars

Neil Gaiman is a fairly good at writing books that will entertain all ages. I suppose he even sometimes has a difficult time deciding what genre his next novel should be categorized, since his story can range from children to YA to adult books. 

I necessarily don't have much to say about 'The ocean at the end of lane', besides essentially that it was a crossroad between children and an adult novel. 

The novel commences with a middle-aged men who after he attends a funeral, he goes to his childhood place, which is a farm at the end of the land. He then abruptly starts having recollections of curious events that happened in childhood, after gazing at a pond. 

The beginning was purely wonderful and enjoyable. I loved the setting of story, and I especially loved the tone of his seven year old self. 

“I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.”

The middle and the ending became neutral. It simply became a book with a lot of weird magic in my view

Review: Evermore by Alyson Noel

1 Star

I felt inclined to write a review about Evermore, considering this is the worst book I have ever read (pun intended). You would be deficient not to notice the similarity between evermore and twilight. I think the author was personally saying, "In your face Stephanie Meyer, let's see if you can write a worse love story than this." Twilight wasn't anything staggering, but at least it was somewhat entertaining. 

I read this book last year, and by now my memory of Evermore has faded. Yet, some terrible recollections remain intact. The plot. 

I introduce to you the most boring plot to be printed on paper. 

- Ever’s parents and sister die (you don't uncover how they die up until the end of the book). Why the author revealed it at the last couple of chapters... Well, only god knows. Nevertheless, I had only one thought about their death: Worst death ever. I was unable to even summon up any sad emotion for her families’ death. Imagine that. I hardly got a description of how her mom and dad were as parents. Aside, from her sister (I sort of bonded with her small sister) who was a ghost that aggravated Ever constantly. Ever was unkind to her sister, continually wanting her to go away - into the after-life, presumably because she was getting sick of her and couldn't stand the sight of her any longer. Seriously, she's your dead sister have a little more compassion, will you? 

Review: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

                                         2.5 Stars

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Initial reaction when reading the blurb: Yeah, I sooo want to read this! 

Reaction after finishing: mah...

Blurbs are one of the utmost misleading information to be given to a reader. Reading a blurb and thinking it sounds decent is like watching a movie trailer, and thinking the film itself is awesome, primarily based on all the cool visual effects shown in the trailer.


From the rating - it seems as if I enjoyed the Archived. It was entertaining from time to time. The writing was also decent. But as I kept reading along I realized the archive (the main storyline of the whole book) is strikingly stupid. 

This book wanted to be original. 

This book wanted to be unique.

But it simply wasn’t.

“I didn’t want to accept it, but the fact is, they were people. Copies of people. Because the only way to truly record a person is not in words, not in still frames, but in bone and skin and memory.”

Review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepety

4 Stars

Out of the easy is rather a simple story if you dig under the layers of the plot. I don’t mean that in either a good or bad way. The story should have been slightly more complex for a historical fiction. I’m not particular sure if it intended to inform us about the life in New Orleans back in the 50’s, because nothing was added to my knowledge that I didn't already expect of 50’s New Orleans. Out of the easy taught me the importance of social class and your background in 50’s New Orleans and...basically that’s all. 

“My mother’s a prostitute. Not the filthy, street walking kind. She’s actually quite pretty, fairly well spoken, and has lovely clothes. But she sleeps with men for money or gifts, and according to the dictionary, that makes her a prostitute.”

So from the opening paragraph you can already guess there was going to be major mummy issues. This book was based on mummy issues. I thought there might be some fights between the heroine and her mother about her being a prostitute. But the would have been too ‘simple’. The mother instead had to be the most cold-hearted parent that every existed – or that’s how she’s portrayed. Well, she’s not far from being the worst, however the constant mention of all the bad things the heroine’s mother had done got extremely tiring. 

Josie on other hand is the opposite of her mother. She’s intelligent, demanding and caring. I’m not particularly sure how many times the secondary characters had to mention that Josie is intellectual, but they did it enough times that I finally remembered. You know because I can’t understand the first time. So you have to do it again and again and again.