Book Review: Blackberry Winter

Mar 052013

Hey guys! Instead of a regular post today, I’m going to take this opportunity to review a book I read recently as part of Peanut Butter Finger’s book club. Each month Julie selects a book for us to read, and this month we were lucky enough to read Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio.

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Overview

After waking up to discover a freak snowstorm has hit her Seattle apartment in the beginning of May, reporter Claire Aldrige gets assigned to write about a similar spring snowstorm (also called a blackberry winter) that occurred in Seattle exactly 77 years prior.

At first Claire is hesitant to write the story – thinking it will be a waste of time and not part of her normal news beat – but after sifting through the newspaper archives from the first storm in 1933, she stumbles upon a heart-wrenching story that captures her interest. Claire learns that during that first blackberry winter, a three-year old boy went missing and was never seen again. Claire had recently lost a child herself during a tragic running accident, and the story instantly touched her heart. At that point Claire made it her mission to write the story and figure out what happened to the little boy who disappeared in the first snowstorm.

The book bounces back forth from Claire’s perspective as she tries to solve the mystery of the missing little boy, to the first snowstorm in 1933 when the boy’s mother Vera tries in vain to search for him.

It’s a truly touching story about the lengths that mothers will go to to care for their children, and we get to see that Vera will literally do anything to find her son. We get to see the pain she feels at having lost him; a pain that Claire shares at having lost her baby. Eventually Claire unravels the story and we get to see what happened to Vera and her missing son.

My opinion

When Julie posted the choices for this month’s book club, I was thrilled when I saw that one of the options was a book by Sarah Jio. I recently read another one of her books, Violets of March, and could not put it down. I was really excited when Julie announced that we’d be reading another one of Jio’s stories for this month’s book club.

Like Violets of March, Blackberry Winter did not disappoint! The whole time I was so excited to find out what happened to the little boy who went missing and I kept turning page after page. Some parts foreshadowed a bit too much, but I didn’t really mind. I think I finished this book in about five days and I was so sad when it was over (not because of the story, but because I truly enjoyed reading it).

I think Sarah Jio is becoming one of my new favorite authors and I will definitely keep an eye out for her books from now on. This one was great!

Questions of the day: If you read this book, what did you think of the ending? What did you think about the relationship between Claire and her husband? Did you like the way those events unfolded?

Book Review: The Secret Keeper

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Feb 022013

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far! I am just popping in with a quick book review as part of Peanut Butter Fingers’ book club, but of course I’ll be back on Monday with a full recap of my weekend

This month for the book club we read The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.

Plot Overview

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In the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Laurel Nicolson, a typical sixteen year old girl living among her many sisters, baby brother, and parents in the 1960′s. Laurel is hiding out in a tree house when we first meet her, in order to get some peace and quiet from her noisy family and dream about her future.

Laurel’s peaceful reverie is disrupted when she sees a stranger walking up her driveway. She immediately gets a sense of foreboding and feels that something awful is about to happen. Laurel then sees her mother talking to the stranger when — all of a sudden — Laurel’s mother abruptly brings a knife down on the stranger and kills him.

Laurel’s mother didn’t know anyone saw the violent exchange, until a police investigation later that evening revealed that Laurel witnessed the whole thing. Laurel backs up her mother’s story that the man was dangerous and it was self-defense, but she knows in her heart that there was something more going on.

The story then switches to 2011, when Laurel is an adult and is heading back home to celebrate her mother’s ninetieth birthday party. Laurel realizes that her mother’s health is deteriorating and this may be her last chance to talk to her about the stranger that she killed that day when Laurel was sixteen.

Laurel spends the next few weeks talking to her mother and doing a little digging of her own, when she unearths some deep secrets about her mother’s past, including a former lover and an old friend who died suddenly and mysteriously.

Throughout the book Laurel finally pieces together the mystery of her mother’s past and realizes that while there was so much she didn’t understand about her mother before, she is still the wonderful role model she always was and Laurel loves her no matter what.

My Opinion

This book was a bit slow-going for me and I admit it took me quite a while to get through it. I think the biggest problem for me was that the book kept switching between characters and settings, and early on it was really difficult for me to remember who I was reading about and during what time period. I think another thing that complicated this matter is that all three heroines- Laurel, Dorothy, and Vivien – shared similar character traits and personalities, so it was hard to keep their stories straight at times.

Other than that I really liked the mystery behind this book and I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of it all. There was one pretty big plot twist (which I figured would happen) but I was still caught off-guard with how everything unfolded. The story itself was brilliant.

I also really liked the descriptive writing in this story. There was one scene in particular – when Vivien was swimming by the stream – that I absolutely loved reading. The imagery made me feel like I was right there which was lovely.

One last thought about this book is that I wish there was more of a final lesson to be learned from the story. I felt like I read a fun tale but that I didn’t really take anything away for myself. I guess you could say I learned to appreciate what I have in the moment, because it could all be gone in a flash, but I wish the author had elaborated a little more on this point. I felt like Laurel solved the mystery and then it was over. I would have appreciated a bit more closure and discussion about her feelings.

All in all I really liked this book (once it got going) and I would definitely recommend it!

To read more book reviews, please check out my book review page.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

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Nov 012012

Hey there people! Today I am posting a quick review of the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher as part of Peanut Butter Finger’s Book Club. Every month Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers picks a book to read and then bloggers from across the web post their reviews. This month’s book of choice was Thirteen Reasons Why, and it was a good one! You can read of all my past book reviews here.

I also owe you guys reviews of a few other books I have read recently (e.g., Insurgent, Sarah’s Key, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Memoirs of a Geisha- oops!) but lately I have spent more time developing yummy recipes for you guys instead Winking smile However, if you’re interested in reading more book reviews, leave me a note in the comments below and I promise to make them a higher priority. Anyway, here’s my review!

Overview

Thirteen Reasons Why is the sad story of teenager Hannah Baker who moved to a new high school, becomes the victim of false rumors, and eventually kills herself because she feels alone and depressed. Before killing herself, Hannah makes a tape recording explaining what she is going through and why she has decided to end her life. The tapes identify thirteen people who have affected her life and made her feel so miserable and alone.

Before Hannah dies, she mails the tapes to the first person on her list, and asks that they be passed on to the next person. She explains that she made copies of the tapes and if they are not passed on, they will be released to the public.

Some of the events that she discusses in the tapes are illegal and reveal dark secrets, so the tapes get passed along from person to person. Hannah wanted people to understand what she was going through, and the tapes were the best way she could show people what happened in her life.

The story is told through the perspective of Clay, a classmate of Hannah’s who is the only person on the tapes who didn’t do anything to hurt her. Instead Clay is the “good guy” who could have saved Hannah but didn’t know how. Clay had always had a crush on Hannah but was too shy to act upon it. The one time Clay did try to get closer to Hannah, she pushed him away. Because of Clay’s feelings for Hannah, the reader sees Hannah in a positive light and gets to understand her better. Clay listens to the tapes, one by one, and soon the reader understands what happened to Hannah and why she decided to end her life.

In the end, the moral that I got from the story is to act upon your feelings and never wait for the last minute because you might be too late. Always pay attention to how your actions are affecting someone else. You may think the things you say are not a big deal, but when piled onto whatever else someone might be going through, your little joke may just be the last straw. Always treat people with kindness and if you think someone is struggling in life, reach out to them to see if they need help.

My Thoughts

When I first started this book, I have to admit I was rolling my eyes in annoyance. The book starts off talking about freshman in high school and how so-and-so hooked up with so-and-so and that made them cool. It seemed like a typical book about high schoolers, complete with peppy cheerleaders, obscene house parties, guys in cool cars, etc. It honestly seemed like a book I would have enjoyed when I was twelve and I almost put it down.

However, as I got further into the book, I started realizing its true meaning. It wasn’t about who hooked up with who or who was popular; it was about a girl who was struggling and no one was able to understand what she was going through. No one was able to help. The book had so many beautiful quotes that made me feel sad for this character and realize how unhappy she was. It seemed amazing to me that this girl had absolutely no one to turn to in her time of need.

In my high school experience, I was definitely one of the “peppy cheerleaders.” I was happy in high school, had plenty of friends, and had pretty much everything I wanted. I remember being friendly to everyone but now on second thought, could I have done more? Could I have reached out to people that seemed to be struggling along and helped them? Was I ever unintentionally one of someone’s “reasons why?”

Upon reflection, I can only think of one clear time when I went out of my way to help someone in need. This guy who used to go to my high school started a blog a few years ago and posted a link to it on facebook. He and I had never been close friends, but I knew who he was so I clicked the link. What I saw on his blog shocked me. He seemed depressed and often talked about how he had no job, no friends, and no purpose in life. I remember feeling scared that he might commit suicide. I didn’t want to be the one who had read his blog and done nothing about it.

So, I contacted him via facebook. I asked if he wanted someone to talk to and suggested we could be like pen pals. I remember he thought I was joking and asked why I would want to talk to him, and I just explained that it seemed like he needed a friend. We swapped long emails back and forth for months- never covering any really serious topics, just keeping it light.

Sometimes he would tell me about problems with his family or job and I would always try to give positive advice. I liked to think that if something was really bothering him he would have felt comfortable talking to me about it, even though he was thousands of miles away from me and we had never even been close in high school. Through the years we have stopped talking as frequently, although I do still hear from him from time to time. He says he is busy with his new job and new life, and I am happy for him now that he seems to be in a better place than he once was. I like to think that by being there for him, maybe I helped him out a little.

This book reminded me that little things like that can make a big difference in a person’s life, and sometimes you just have to be on the lookout for someone who needs help.

You may have read the news recently about Amanda Todd. She was a young teenager in Canada who was a victim of bullying. Before killing herself, she left a video behind on YouTube explaining what she went through. You can read her story and watch the video here.

It amazes me that I heard about Amanda Todd at the same time that I started reading Thirteen Reasons Why, since the two stories are so similar. I don’t take coincidences lightly and have to admit I am wondering if this is some sort of sign. Is there someone I know who needs help? Should I start looking at all of my friends and acquaintances more closely? I am probably reading way too much into this and it will probably turn out to be nothing, but I want to be on my guard more than ever to see if there is anyone in my life who seems like they are in trouble that I may be able to help.

This book may not have been the best book I have read in a while, but that’s ok. It reminded me of an important lesson that so many of us tend to forget.

Book Review: Gone Girl

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Aug 302012

Hey guys! I am still away in Italy (yay!) but I wanted to make sure I get this book review posted before the end of the month as part of Julie’s Book Club. So far I have read a number of books as part of the Peanut Butter Fingers book club, but this one has been my favorite. It is beautifully written and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Feel free to read my review, below, but be warned- it includes spoilers!

Overview

Gone Girl is the mysterious story written by New York Time’s best-selling author, Gillian Flynn. Gillian paints the picture of an unhappy marriage- both former writers from New York who lost their jobs in the Internet boom- Nick and Amy now live along the Mississippi river in a huge empty home in the town where Nick grew up. The story begins in Nick’s perspective and shows him working in the bar he owns with his sister. Soon he gets a call from his neighbor that the front door of his home is wide open and the cat is outside. Feeling concerned, Nick arrives home to find that his wife, Amy, is missing. Then the story jumps to Amy’s perspective, through a diary entry from their life a few years ago when they were still in New York. The book continues in this manner; alternating between Nick’s experience with trying to determine what happened to his wife (while the evidence suggesting he is guilty for her disappearance begins piling up) and Amy’s detailed descriptions of her deteriorating marriage through her diary entries. By the end of Part I, the reader is basically convinced that Nick is a murderer and that he is responsible for sweet Amy’s disappearance.

Then, in Part II of the book, there is a huge switch; Amy’s diary entries stop and the reader gets a glimpse into Amy during present day. It turns out she has run away and staged her disappearance to frame her husband for murder. She made up all the diary entries, gave her husband sleeping pills and put his fingerprints all over incriminating evidence, and cut herself deeply and then cleaned it up so it would look like her husband had done it. It was a huge plot switch, and the rest of the book discussed how she accomplished everything and how Nick was avoiding being arrested for her murder.

Eventually, Nick appeals to all of Amy’s weaknesses through multiple TV interviews, and he convinces her to come back to him. In a weird twist at the end, Amy returns to their town and all suspicion around Nick vanishes. Although Amy wants everything to go “back to normal” and continue their “happy” marriage, Nick is furious that his wife tried to frame him for murder and considers her a psychopath. Amy knows Nick is furious, so she intentionally gets pregnant with his baby to keep him from doing anything rash. She knows that if he is a father, which he has always wanted and she has always avoided, he will be forced to accept Amy again and do nothing to harm her. Amy is brilliant and evil and always wins in the end.

My Opinions

Well, that summary was really crazy to write. The whole plot twisted and turned so much, that there is no way to write a “brief” summary that makes any sense. In fact, writing it out that way makes me realize how disappointed I was by the ending. I mean, the whole time Nick and Amy are so incredibly furious at each other that it is really hard to imagine that they just sucked it up and became husband and wife again in the end. It just seemed like an anticlimactic ending to a really dramatic story. And Amy was so evil, that I wanted to believe Nick would get back at her at the end, which didn’t happen.

Despite my grievances with the ending, I though this story was incredible. Not only was the whole plot painstakingly planned out to the last detail (except the end, maybe), but the word choice and way everything was written was phenomenal. There were so many one-liner jokes and perfect references woven throughout the narrative, that I often times found myself blown away by the perfection of the writing. I just really liked the little details and examples that were included in each scene that really helped to paint a picture in mind. The writing itself was beautiful.

I also really liked the pace of the story and this was definitely a book I didn’t want to put down. It was a page turner for sure and, though the ending wasn’t something I would have chosen, I really loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in suspense and action-packed novels. This was a great one!

Book Review: Wild

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Jul 302012

Hey guys! This morning I’m doing a book review of Wild, by Cheryl Strayed as part of Julie’s book club. I’ll be back later today with a regular weekend recap, but for now, here is my review of Wild!

Overview

Cheryl Strayed wrote Wild as a memoir to document her journey hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) more than 1,000 miles from the Mojave desert in California to Washington state. After losing her mother to cancer and leaving her husband for drugs, other men, and an unfortunate abortion, the 26 year-old decided to hike the PCT all alone in order to pull herself out of the slump that was her life.

Through her journey, Cheryl faced physical challenges such as sweltering deserts and slippery, snow-covered passages, as well as emotional challenges such as letting her mother’s memory rest and moving on from her ex-husband. Though Cheryl faced rattlesnakes, bears, and creepy men on the trail who tried to take advantage of her, the hardest thing for her to overcome was to fill the void of emotions left in the wake of her past. Eventually, Cheryl completed her hike and realized she was full again and put all of her troubling habits and memories to rest.

My Opinion

I thought this book, though slow at times, was incredibly inspiring. Cheryl faced so many obstacles during her hike that certainly would have made me break down into tears or turn right back around and give up, and yet she remained strong and persevered. I loved reading about her past and hearing about how she got into the position she was in. Though she was vague to everyone else she met along the way about why she was hiking the PCT, she let readers have a glimpse into her past, and seeing everything she went through was crucial to connecting with her as a character.

Overall I thought the book was pretty well-written, though like I said it was slow at times. I thought some details could have probably been omitted since they weren’t entirely relevant to the overall plot, but then again it is a memoir and it should be told as it happened.

This is a great book for anyone who is feeling a little down in the dumps and wants to read a story about a truly inspirational woman who was able to turn her life around without the help of anyone else. I think it’s safe to say Cheryl Strayed is certainly a role model to us all.

Discussion

So, what did you guys think of Wild? What did you think of the characters she met along the way and her immediate bond with them? How did you feel about the way she talked about men and her relationship with them? Did it bother you that she didn’t seem to regret her intimacy with so many strangers? How did you feel about how she left things with Paul? Any thoughts on her use of symbolism, either in regards to the lost Vietnam bracelet, the Bob Marley t-shirt, or the feather from Doug?

If you’re interested in hearing more about Wild, Oprah has an interview with Cheryl Strayed on her website. It’s pretty interesting and I recommend checking it out!

Note: Pictures courtesy of CherylStrayed.com and Oprah.com

Book Review: The Maze Runner

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Jul 092012

Hey people! Sorry I’ve been so behind on book reviews…I’ve actually finished a couple of books recently that I still need to write reviews for. Gah! Luckily I’m knocking one off of my list tonight by reviewing The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Overview

The Maze Runner begins when the main character, Thomas, awakes in a dark box resembling an elevator and realizes he knows nothing about himself or his past. He cannot remember where he lives, how old he is, or what his family looks like. Although he does seem to have memories of the world and how it works, he cannot remember how he knows these things. Furthermore, he has no idea where he is or why he is in a dark, rising box.

Soon the box surfaces and Thomas finds himself surrounded by other young boys in a wide expanse of land they call, “the Glade.” Soon the boys explain to Thomas that the Glade is actually a fully-functioning little community with crops, animals, and even a small board of boys called “Keepers” that act as their government. The Glade is also surrounded by high stone walls that mark the entryway to giant mazes, which change each night. There is a group of boys called “Runners” who make it their job to run through the mazes each day to try to find an exit from the Glade. Despite the fully-functioning community in the Glade, the boys are all unsure why they are there and are constantly seeking a means of escape. While Thomas cannot remember who he is or why he’s been put in the Glade, he has a strong urge to become a runner.

Soon after Thomas’ arrival, a girl is unexpectedly brought into the Glade by the same box, which is the first time that has ever happened in the two years that the boys have been trapped there. She comes with a warning that everything will change and then shortly after she claims that she has “triggered the ending.”

When everything changes in the Glade Thomas finds his courage and makes friends with other “Gladers” by showing them that he is loyal and will risk his life to save a stranger. Together with the help of the girl and a select group of Gladers, Thomas is able to use the maze to solve a code, defeat horrible monsters called Grievers, and escape from their entrapment.

The book ends abruptly without Thomas or the other Gladers really figuring out what has been going or why they were put in the Glade in the first place, but they know the world has suffered a terrible disease and they were selected to try to save the world.

My Thoughts

I was told to read this book from a couple of different people (though now, of course, I can’t remember who) and was hoping that it would be along the lines of Hunger Games and Divergent. In other words, weird, but well-written and engaging. However, I found The Maze Runner to be too fast-paced and far-fetched to keep up with. As soon as I got used to an idea, I felt like it was being challenged and changed into something else.

For example, when Thomas first arrives, the Gladers tell him that no one in two years has ever survived outside of the walls at night. However, a few quick chapters later, Thomas goes and does just that. Also, at the beginning of the book no one had ever defeated a Greiver (the terrible monsters), but at the end of the book about half of the Gladers do. It just seemed a little too unbelievable and I wasn’t really a fan of the plot.

This was still an interesting and fun read, but I have to be honest when I say that I was kind of happy when it was over. It made me want to go read a history book and I felt like I lost a few brain cells from reading it, even though it was fun.

Discussion Questions

If you’ve read the book, feel free to share your comments on the following questions in the comments section below!

What did you think of Thomas’ relationship with Theresa? It seemed so forced to me and was lacking any details. I understand they couldn’t remember their history together, but it made it really hard to relate to their relationship. Also, why were they telepathic??
What were your thoughts on the ending? I know they wanted to leave readers at a cliff hanger so we would buy the sequel, but I felt the ending was extremely rushed and I was left with so many questions that I didn’t even want to read the sequel.
Who is your favorite character? I like Minho

Book Review: Drop Dead Healthy

Book Club 6 Responses »

Jun 272012

Hey everyone! I hope you are having a relaxing evening. I just finished cooking dinner (a delicious new Asian recipe to come tomorrow!) and now I’m watching the Olympic Swimming Trials on the couch. I figured this is the perfect time to finally write the Drop Dead Healthy book review as part of Julie’s book club. I really enjoyed this book and have already recommended it to a ton of my friends, so even if you don’t normally read my book reviews you should read this one!

Drop Dead Healthy follows the popular writer A. J. Jacobs on his mission to become the world’s healthiest man. As a writer for Esquire, Jacobs is no rookie at documenting crazy journeys like this one. He first began writing these types of books when he tried to become the world’s smartest man by reading an entire set of encyclopedias. He then moved on to attempt becoming the world’s most biblical man by trying to live his life completely by the bible. This time around, Jacobs aimed to be the world’s healthiest man by dedicating a chapter of his book to each body part and trying to make it as healthy as possible. Jacobs focuses on the normal aspects of a healthy lifestyle, like being more active and maintaining a balanced diet, however he also spends time talking about your ears, eyes, skin, fingers, etc. He interviews A-list doctors and world-renowned health experts on their opinions on how to be extraordinarily healthy. He tries out crazy fads like juice cleanses and caveman workouts and provides his own down-to-earth perspective on each.

Jacobs’ sense of humor makes this book a fun read, and he does a great job at taking all of the advice he receives with a grain of salt, so to speak. He often interviews experts with conflicting opinions (i.e. a germaphobe and a germ-embracer) and whittles it all down into advice you could actually follow. His dedication to the project is admirable and Jacobs is not afraid to try any healthy activity, no matter how crazy it might sound. By the end of the book, Jacobs provides an overview of the most important things he has learned through his journey and highlights the activities he plans to maintain in the long run.

My Thoughts

As a person who generally is fascinated by health and is always striving to be as healthy as possible, I found this book very interesting. I was actually shocked by how many unhealthy habits I have that I didn’t even realize. This book definitely made me think twice about wiping the counter down with a sponge or letting my dog sleep on my pillow. It’s filled with a ton of random interesting health tidbits that I never would have known otherwise.

This is definitely one of those books that I couldn’t stop talking about to my friends and family. “Did you know that dolphins sleep with half of their brain awake while the other half sleeps,” I’d say to anyone who would listen, “that way they can come up for air even while they’re sleeping!” These kind of comments would pop out of my mouth at random and I’m sure I drove everyone nuts, but I enjoyed it. I really loved learning so much about the human race and how our bodies have adapted through evolution. It was all really fascinating to me.

Although I learned a lot from this book, some chapters were definitely more interesting than others (finger exercises? Come on…) and I felt like all of the most important ideas were summarized in a bulleted list at the end. After reading that list I kind of thought ok, now why did I just read that whole book? But it was still a fun and interesting read. As I mentioned above, I have already begged a bunch of my friends who are interested in their health to read this book, so I totally think it was worth reading.

Overall the big takeaways that I got from the book were:

Humans were built to walk. Sitting around on your butt all day is horrible for your body, and you can’t counteract it just by exercising for an hour. Walk as much as you can, each and every day. Wear a pedometer to help remind you to keep moving.
Germs are a serious thing and they are everywhere. Wash your hands with soap and warm water more frequently than you think you need to and always be careful not to touch high-traffic areas like light switches in hotels and doorknobs in the bathroom. And always wash your hands after holding the handrail on the subway. Yuck.
Don’t be afraid of the doctor. I know personally, my health insurance card that I use to pay for things like medications and copayments for doctors’ offices just changed and I have been too lazy to look into the new card and set everything up. This is going to change ASAP and I’m going to schedule appointments with the dermatologist, the dentist, and a regular physician. I need to suck it up and go. Period. It’s stupid to ignore my health for such a minor issue.

Anyway, those are the big takeways I got from the book, but there were a ton of other interesting tips and pieces of advice in there. It was a great read for sure!

So tell me, if you read the book, what was your biggest takeaway? What habits will you change after reading this book? What did you find most interesting? Will you ever make a never-ending to-do list like Jacobs did to remember everything you’re supposed to be doing?

Fashion Friday #9 / Book Review: Divergent

Book Club, Fashion Fridays 6 Responses »

Jun 152012

Hello everyone! Happy Friday! First things first, to start off this beautiful morning in the best possible way, I want to announce the winner of last week’s slow cooker giveaway. And the winner is…Timi! SlimKicker loved her awesome challenge idea: “A good challenge for me is to do 100 pushups in a week, but each day make it more than yesterday.” Timi, if you could please shoot me an email we can get the slow cooker over to you. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Anyway, now that that’s taken care of, let’s get to this week’s Fashion Friday post!

Jeans: Forver 21 ($9 baby woot!)

Shirt: I think also Forever 21 but purchased ages ago

Flats: Urban Outfitters

This is a pretty simple, summer outfit. I wasn’t wowed by it, to say the least (you know those mornings where you throw on a hundred different outfits only to pick something you actually don’t even like? Yeah. Me this morning). Thank goodness Fabio had a client meeting today and therefore didn’t have to be at work as early as usual. He was able to talk me down and tell me I looked great, which saved me from at least another 15 minutes of ripping apart my closet. Why do I do these things?

Anywho, I wanted to use today’s post to talk about a book I finished reading last weekend, Divergent.

Book Review: Divergent

Source: Wikipedia

Divergent is the first book in a series by Veronica Roth which follows the life of Beatrice (later called Tris) as she grows up and struggles to fit into a warped-future United States on the brink of war. In this warped-future time, people are divided into “factions” (like colonies I guess) based on their ideals. At sixteen, members of each faction take an aptitude test to tell them which values are most important to them, and, which corresponding faction they could belong in. Members can then choose to stay in the faction where they were born, or pick a new one depending on their aptitude test results and their personal interests.

Tris was born into the Abnegation faction which values being selfless. The other factions include Erudite: The Intelligent, Amity: The Peaceful, Candor: The Honest, and Dauntless: The Brave. When Tris takes her aptitude test, however, her results show that she is Divergent and could fit into any number of factions. Tris then makes the bravest choice of all by leaving her family in Abnegation, where she didn’t feel she belonged, and joining Dauntless. In Dauntless, Tris learns more about herself, her capabilities, and her strength. She also finds friendship and love, and finds out she will do anything for those she cares for, which shows that she really is selfless and would have fit in at Abnegation after all.

After Tris is initiated into Dauntless, she learns of a plot against Abnegation and uses her bravery and strength to save her family and her people. While Tris still identifies with the old Dauntless values, new rulers have partnered with the brilliant Erudite to corrupt the values and use the bravery and violence as a war strategy. Tris then has to fight through the warfare to save her people, making brave sacrifices along the way.

The book ends when the war seems to have calmed down, though I am sure the next book in the trilogy will pick it right back up again.

My Thoughts

This book is a lot like the Hunger Games series, in that it is a bit of a weird subject, but incredibly well-written and action-packed. I actually think I like Divergent a bit more than the Hunger Games, which tells you how much I enjoyed the book. I am actually already hoping that they will be making a movie after Divergent (anyone know?).

I thought the character development in the book was fantastic and you feel Tris’ emotions the same way you would feel your own, including the not-so-nice ones that most people wouldn’t admit to feeling. I think because the portrayal of Tris is so real, the reader gets drawn right into the plot of the book and can’t put it down.

I really enjoyed this story and as soon as I’m done reading my current book (Drop Dead Healthy, as part of Julie’s June Book Club) I definitely want to read Insurgent, the next book in the sequel.

So, if you guys have read this book, what did you think? What did you think of Tris’ decision to pick Dauntless over Abnegation? What about her brother’s choice to select Erudite? How do you think Tris’ friendship with Christina will change now that Will is dead? Do you think Peter and Marcus will sabotage everything?

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Previous Fashion Fridays

Book Review: Still Missing

Book Club 3 Responses »

May 312012

Good afternoon everyone! How is your day going so far? Today I want to share my review of Still Missing, the book chosen by Julie’s book club for the month of May. Although I was too late to post for the blogger link up (somehow I didn’t see when she asked for our reviews?) it’s still fun to participate and I did read the book so I might as well post my review! I will warn you that it does include spoilers so if you haven’t finished it yet you should stop reading this post now (Britt this means you)!

Brief Summary

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens tells the story of Annie Sullivan, a 32-year old realtor who gets abducted during an open house by a man who she deems, “The Freak.” While she is abducted, she is forced to live in an isolated cabin with The Freak and adhere to his strict rules, which include using the restroom only at specific times during the day, never leaving the cabin, and being raped by The Freak every night. Eventually Annie gets pregnant and grows to love her baby, only to have her die at the hands of The Freak. This is when something inside Annie snaps and she realizes she will do anything to escape from The Freak, and manages to kill him while he is chopping wood. Annie then finds her way home and attempts to solve the mystery of who The Freak was and why he abducted her.

In the second half of the book, when Annie is solving the mystery of The Freak, she realizes that her own mother was responsible for her abduction as a type of get-rich-quick scam. Through this discovery and a few bumps along the way with her friends and potential love interests, Annie grows to understand herself better and begins to get over this horrible time in her life.

My Thoughts

On the one hand, I really enjoyed this story. It was well-written and fast-paced and there were times when I just couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen and blew through this book in about a week. I love when books hook me from the beginning and keep me turning page after page (or, you know, kindle-button-click after kindle-button-click). I was really happy with the writing style and was so thankful that the story is told with a mix of past- and present-tense events so that even during the most suspenseful parts, you know that somehow Annie will be safe in the end.

On the other hand, I found this book pretty disturbing and creepy. I made the mistake of reading it while I was home by myself, and found myself crouching under the covers and jumping at small noises in my apartment. The detail and level of description in the scenes with The Freak were great because they were so realistic, but they were really sick. It made me sad that this actually happens to women way more often than I realize and I need to be more mindful of my safety (my parents are probably thrilled to hear me say that…).

All in all I thought it was a really good book. It was pretty simple and gets the job done if you are looking for a quick thriller to read. I would recommend this book to a friend (and I have) and think it was definitely worth reading.

Discussion

What did you think of the book? How did Annie’s relationship with The Freak affect you? How about when she started to feel sorry for him? Personally I almost lost it when he killed that duck, but we all know I’m a duck lover. What did you think of Annie’s relationship with her friends and family? Who do you think was the worst?

Book Review: Fifty Shades Of Grey

Book Club 4 Responses »

May 212012

This morning I wanted to post my review of Fifty Shades of grey, by E. L. James.

Fifty Shades of Grey was, to me, one of those books I just had to read to see what all the hype was about. I held out for a while due to constantly being in the middle of some other page-turning book, but one night after having some drinks with friends, everyone was chatting about Fifty Shades and I gave in. I was in need of a new book anyway, and all their talk finally lured me in and I bought an electronic version on my Kindle (which, in hindsight, was a great decision). Peer pressure is tough to resist, I tell ya.

Anastasia (Ana) Steele, the heroine in Fifty Shades of Grey, starts off the book by interviewing Christian Grey, a mega-millionaire with breath-taking good looks, for her college newspaper. She does the interview in place of her sick roommate, and is completely unprepared for the interview. During the interview, Ana feels embarrassed and overwhelmed whereas Mr. Grey is cool and confident, which incidentally, is pretty much how all of their interactions are. Their relationship blossoms from this interview and the two meet a few times throughout the next few days.

Although the chemistry between Ana and Christian is palpable from their first meeting, it takes a little while for things to start heating up. Eventually Christian flies Ana to Seattle in his private helicopter and shows her his monstrous apartment. There she finds out that Christian has more issues than she originally realized, including very disturbing sexual preferences. Ana is inexperienced and naïve, and although her friends warn her to stay away from Christian, she can’t escape his good looks and charm.

The book follows Ana as she gets closer to Christian and eventually falls in love with him. They have a very rocky relationship and always seem unstable. The book ends abruptly with a breakup between Ana and Christian, which I presume is one of the main reasons that people buy the sequel to the book.

In my opinion, this book was poorly written with a slow-moving plot and terrible use of diction (the repetition of some phrases was almost unbearable i.e. “Oh My”), but for some reason the plot keeps pulling the reader in. I guess I was just really curious about how the story would turn out, which, I didn’t really find out anyway since it ended so suddenly.

I found the dialogue between the characters to be unmoving and I didn’t ever really grow to like Ana, which was one of the major faults I found in the story. If you can’t connect with the main character and can’t feel sympathy or happiness for her, then what’s the point of reading the book?

I honestly think one of the main reasons why this book is such a phenomenon right now is because of all the sex scenes. Christian and Ana seem to have sex in between every conversation and, although I felt it was unnecessary and distracting, I think many women find it exciting and different. Whatever gets people reading, I guess.

Anyway, I’m not sure I’d recommend this book to many people, although to be honest most of my friends will read it anyway. It’s just one of those books.

What did you guys think of Fifty Shades of Grey? Am I being too harsh? I’m open to any and all opinions!