Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

With all the hype around this book, I finally picked it up and read it. I actually got the audiobook version, which I really didn't like, and I don't think I'll be listening to another book anytime soon, because it's just weird for me. Anyway, I didn't like this book. I know that a lot of people did, but to me, it's just so overrated. It was so stereotypical. You have this golden boy, Ezra Faulkner, whose athletic future gets destroyed in a car accident. After that, all of a sudden, he starts questioning his life and his friends and sees the error of his ways and realizes how meaningless it all was. He finds that his jock group of friends and his popular girlfriend don't really care for him and how they are leading such profoundly pointless lives. Obviously, in light of this devastating realization, he joins the so called "nerd" group, and sees how they are all awesome people and friends. And of course, add a new, mysterious, quirky, beautiful girl and there you have it, a perfect YA story.

I expected more from this story, really. I found that I only liked the ending, which was realistic enough, but I also found that it was to show how things aren't always perfect in life, which I find a given.
Also, this book seemed to be trying too hard at times. For example, Cassidy quoting Foucault, talking about escaping the Panopticon, and how she had this secret, a tragedy that explained all of that, that damaged side of her. Like she needed a reason to think about such profound things, and like she needed a reason to be moody and just feel down sometimes.
I thought this book was going to be better when it started, and not fall under such stereotypical categories, but in the end, it did, and I just didn't liked it, even though I really wanted to. 

Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This was once again a book recommended on Goodreads. I did hear great things about it even before that, so I picked it up to see what it was like. It did not disappoint.

I really, really loved it. First of all, this is not an easy, happy book. It's not something that you can breeze through, without really thinking about it and it's not a book that you can relax to. I mean, that goes even without saying because it is about World War II. Still, it's an amazing book. It's about a girl called Leisel Meminger, who is traveling with her mother and brother to a foster home when her brother dies. That's the moment she steals her first book. After that, she arrives at Himmel Street, where she meets her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. As Leisel learns how to live with them, and as she starts to learn to read and starts loving books, she is also slowly getting to know people on Himmel Street, amongst whom she finds her future best friend Rudy.

And after a while, her parents start hiding a Jew in their basement, Max, and he and Leisel soon become very good friends.

I should've mentioned this before, this book is narrated by Death. I thought this brought so much to the book, and really elevated it to the next level. Because, one thing that really dominated the WW II (or any war for that matter) was Death. So, who better yo translate the feeling than the Angel of Death himself? I also liked that the book wasn't consistent chronologically. It sort of jumped through time as... well, Death tried to reconstruct the life of Liesel Meminger, the Book Thief. I really enjoyed that.

I really liked the way this book was written. It was honest and the story ran smoothly. Also, the characterization was really nicely done, because there was this wide range of characters that you hated at one moment, but liked and understood at other. 

I really loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. I think that branding this book as YA doesn't make much sense because I don't think this is age specified. I think adults can read it and enjoy it, which goes for some other YA books obviously. So, in conclusion, great read and I really thoroughly enjoyed it.

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All time favorites: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

 I thought I'd share another one of my absolute favorites. I read this book quite recently really, maybe just over a year ago. And I loved it since the first page. Some books you need a couple of chapters to really get into, but this one wasn't one of them. It became a favorite from the very first sentence.

I am not going to get into the plot (I never really do), but the main character is Charlie and he is a freshman. He's a shy and introspective person and kind of sits on the outskirts of life. This is a story of his coming-of-age, getting to know people, getting out of his comfort zone and trying to navigate through the new experiences of high school.

Charlie is the most honest, real and believable character ever written. He has this sort of naive innocent aura around him, but at the same time he is so intelligent and perceptive. There isn't really an intense, engaging plot here, but the book is still a page-turner. You get sucked in and you don't want to get out. I think that's the most important quality of good books, making the form more important than the content. This book touches so many different topics and it deals with all of the problems a teenager could ever face, like drugs and death, or gay friends and even sexual assault.

I just loved this book. Charlie's fears and feelings are my own. I am a huge introvert who has dabbled into the problems of social anxiety, so I can totally relate and feel for him. This book is also really funny, at times even laugh-out-loud funny, because Charlie is awkward, but also kind of cute in his awkwardness.

Huge part of this book is music. I think it really adds to the feel of the book. For me personally, music is very important and it defines a lot of points in my life, so I really appreciated how music was incorporated into the book and how important it was for the characters. It was always in the background, adding to the atmosphere. And it was all great music, great artists and songs. 

Also, every sentence in this book is so on point and nothing feels too much, it's all so well written.

This book got a lot of publicity when the movie came out, which was really good I think. Whatever makes people read this book is good enough. I think the movie was really great. I loved the actors, I think they did an amazing job. Obviously, the book is better, because some things had to be cut out of it for the movie, and for me really, there will never be a movie that is better than the book. And the movie seemed to have a more optimistic end to it, where as the book kind of left in on a melancholic note (that's the way I saw it, but some people who read the book and have seen the movie didn't agree with me).

Anyway, I think every teenager, boy or girl, should read this book. Charlie isn't this perfect character that you can look up to, but that's just the thing. No one ever is. And Charlie, even though he faced all kinds of problems, was still trying to make everything right and to make sense out of things. Which is all you can really hope for. I think this book is a MUST read. 

Review: The Maze Runner series by James Dashner

There's a lot of hype around these series and it's recommended to everyone who loves a good YA dystopian novel, which I totally do. So, I decided to give this one a try and I didn't quite like it.

In the first book, The Maze Runner, a boy named Thomas wakes up in this strange place, remembering only his name and nothing else. He is surrounded by a lot of boys who are in the same situation as him. They don't remember anything at all, except their names. They are located in the central part of a maze, which everyone calls the Glade. The maze outside is ever changing and the boys are trying to map it out so they can find a way out. They are organised by the type of job they do and the ones that go out in the maze to find a way out are called the Runners. But, there is a great danger lurking outside of the maze, hence the runners (because they have to run in order to avoid being caught). Also, right after Thomas appears in the lift of the Glade, a girl comes. The first girl ever. And she delivers this scary and weird message to the boys and they start to work together on getting out.

When I read the plot summary, I thought it was fascinating. And it was. But that is the only thing that's good about the book. I don't really like the style of writing in this book. There was zero characterization. I couldn't relate to Thomas at any point in the book. You can read that he is sad, or scared or confused, but you don't feel it. I thought that the secondary characters were a lot more interesting, like Minho, who is a fellow runner, or Newt who is kind of the leader of the group, but they were pushed aside as secondary characters even though they had a lot of potential. The female lead, Teresa, was awful. She is described as this smart and pretty girl, but you don't really see that, which is annoying, so she kind of becomes this stereotypical female character that hasn't got anything special about her. None of the characters are developed. 

The plot was interesting enough, and even when I didn't like the first one (which I found the best out of the three), it ended on such a cliff-hanger that I had to read the next one. 

The second one, The Scorch Trials, was really strange and jumbled and nothing really happened. There were a lot of new, confusing elements which were supposed to begin to explain the plot, but they were kind of bleak and didn't really tell anything new. I liked this one less than the first, but now I was deep into the story and again it ended on a cliff-hanger so I had to pick up the last one too.

The last one, The Death Cure, was just plain disappointing and annoying. I didn't get any satisfactory conclusion or explanation to the whole story. I don't even think there was one. Nothing was quite thoroughly explained. The ending was a total cliche, starting a new, better life and all. I was quite angry with it. I kept reading in order to get some kind of closure on the plot, but I was left empty handed.

All in all, I don't get the hype around it. It was enjoyable enough, but it can it even get close to the other YA dystopian novels that I read. The plot was intriguing, but don't expect the ending to be this huge revelation, because it's not. I wouldn't say that you can definitely skip this book, but I also don't think that you will be missing out on anything. Nevertheless, there is a movie coming out that is based on these books, so I am looking forward to seeing how well executed it is. 

Review: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I often see this book on lists of books you should read before you die or novels you shouldn't miss etc. but I was never personally attracted to it. I knew that Sylvia Plath was a poet, and I was never really into poetry (excluding Bukowski). Still, I decided to give this one a go and see if I like it. And in the end I did.

This book tells the story of Esther Greenwood (Sylvia's semi alter-ego), a young girl who comes to New York after having won a competition and she seems to have this amazing, bright future ahead of her. But, since the beginning of the novel, you can sort of see that not everything is great with Esther. She slowly starts to lose her mind and kind of starts sinking into a kind of depression. She ends up dropping out of school and going home, where her mother isn't sure how to help her. She takes her to a psychiatrist who refers her to this mental institution, where they specialize in shock therapy.
I know this summary doesn't really tell much, but the plot isn't really what you should be curious about. It's the way you can actually read how Esther feels and how she spirals further down to her illness.
I really liked the way Plath writes, at least in this book. It's crisp and so honest. It's a sincere story of a young woman who tries really hard to battle her inner demons and problems. I like that you kind of get a glimpse to a mind of someone who is sick and you can see how that person thinks and what she has to go through on a day to day basis. For me personally, this was so important, given the fact that I am going to be starting psychological studies. This book also made me quite sad. You can see Esther who can't get away from herself, who is starting to live inside her own head, isolated from the world. It also shows how attempts from her surrounding to help her fail and why that happens.
So the whole concept of the book and certain thoughts were amazing. But it did take me a lot to read this book. It wasn't a compelling book that I couldn't stop reading. The writing got messy and jumbled at certain points, and was a bit hard to understand at times, at least for me. Also, I was expecting more from this book somehow so it was a bit of a letdown. But in the end, I really did enjoy it and I appreciated the insight. I would recommend this book because I think it really is one of those books that you have to read to understand, even if you don't necessarily like it.

Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

I've read this book when I was a lot younger, maybe 6-7 years ago and at that point I was completely in love with it. Recently, when I visited an annual book fair I came across the new edition of it, as well as the two sequels and I bought it just to see if I would still like it. And I do. Not as much as I was in love with it before, but I still think it's amazing. 

It's a story about a 12 year old girl called Meggie, who lives with her father Mo. They share a mutual love for books. Meggie learned to read when she was five, and since then she has been obsessed with books. But as it turns out, Mo, who is a bookbinder, has a special gift. He can read the characters out of books, make them come to life by reading out loud. When Meggie was three, he read out loud from a book called Inkheart and the villain from it Capricorn, his loyal servant Basta and a fire-breather named Dustfinger escape from the book. But that's not all. Meggie's mom ends up being sucked into the book.

At present time, nine years later, Capricorn sets out to destroy all the copies of Inkheart, so he can never be brought back and wants to use Mo's ability in order to gain more power in the "real" world. Meggie learns about her fathers talent and tries to help him in order to stop Capricorn and maybe even save her mother.

This is a book about books and lovers of books so it's actually right up my alley. 

Funke's style of writing is really smooth and beautiful. I think the idea of the story is quite different and that's what I really enjoyed. Also, there is this huge palette of these exciting, versatile, thrilling characters. My favorite is Dustfinger. He's one of those characters that's neither good or bad, you can fit him into either category. Those are my favorite characters, because they are the most realistic to me. And he's just kind of misunderstood and lost and he just wants to find a way to get back into his own world, where he belongs.

I think this is a great book. Even if it is probably for younger teens, it is still good and well-written. And can make an interesting read for all ages. Especially if you are someone who loves all things book related. 

Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Let's start off with this: John Green writes the same characters over and over again. If you read Looking For Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns you' ll know what I am talking about. The main characters in all three books are quite similar. Miles (Looking For Alaska), Colin (An Abundance of Katherines) and Quentin (Paper Towns) are basically the same boy. They are kind of quirky and geeky, but still smart and thoughtful. On the other hand, Alaska (Looking For Alaska), Lindsey (An Abundance of Katherines) and Margo (Paper Towns) are these unattainable popular girls, who aren't really the people they seem to be. Still, I liked all of the three books. But, still Paper towns is a favorite out of all three. It's a about a boy named Quentin who was, in his early childhood, a friend with Margo. She is the most popular girl in school. Quentin is completely fascinated by her. He feels that they have this remarkable connection. And one day, this theory of his is kind of confirmed when Margo visits him just before she disappears out of the town. 

Now, I am not gonna go further into describing the plot because it would inevitably lead to its trivialization. But the book was amazing. It's funny and intelligent and sad. The characters, their voices and their struggles were authentic and real. At least to me. What I loved the most is that this was a story of idealizing people and expecting more from them than they can give you. It tells how tragic it can be to love an idea of someone and not that someone itself. If you want to read a book from John Green, and don't know which one to choose, I would recommend this one. You won't regret it.

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

After reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and absolutely loving it, I went seeking for other books by this author. Thus came Fangirl. After seeing the title, I was really put off by it. I HATE the word "fangirl". When I read it, in my mind there's an instant pop of an image of a 12 year old squeaking girl who can't control her emotions and who obsesses about "celebrity". Don't get me wrong, I am a person who loves franchises and books and authors and actors, but I don't worship them, I just appreciate and respect their work. So, I was kind of disappointed by the title and didn't really want to read it. 

Well, I was wrong. This book is AMAZING. The story follows a girl named Cath, who is just starting college and she's dealing with the fact that her sister doesn't want to share a dorm room with her because she wants to get the real "college experience". Cath, who is a bit of an introvert and is used to her sister doing everything with her, finds herself kind of intimidated.

The special thing about Cath is that she writes fan fiction about Simon Snow (a series of seven books that have been made into movies and it's sort of obvious that the Simon Snow series is actually the Harry Potter series. The story of Simon Snow isn't really the same story as Harry Potter, but that's beside the point) and she's very famous in the fan fiction world. I am a bit skeptic of fan fiction I find it kind of strange, but I loved it in this book, it fits well into the story and I quite enjoyed the little bits of Cath's fan fiction. 

Cath also has to deal with her roommate Reagan and the boy who always hangs out with her, Levi. She is also taking a writing class and there's a boy there called Nick and she starts to write and hang out with him. On top of that, she's feeling guilty because she left her dad behind and he doesn't do well on his own.

The thing that really drew me in and made me love the book, is that I can completely relate to Cath. She is basically me. Of all the books I ever read and all their characters, Cath is the one I relate to the most. 

Rainbow Rowell's writing is just spot on. It's so easy and fluent. After reading this book I just felt so good, I kind of couldn't stop smiling. It was just purely amazing and I loved every bit of it. I highly recommend reading this book.
Btw, the love story is to die for. Literally. It's so beautiful.