Review of Shame: The Guest Cottage by Nancy Taylor

You know, sometimes I like to ditch the complicated intellectually challenging books. Sometimes I just gotta take a break from all the dense prose and themes and turn my brain off a bit. There are times I just gotta pick up a good mindless romance novel that I will probably fly through in two days regardless of its flaws. The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer, is not what I had in mind.

Oh… this was bad. I mean it. This book was pushing Twilight levels of bad. Usually I’m not too harsh on certain books for reasons of not being in the target audience, which might be the case here, but if Thayer’s target audience is single middle aged women going through a mid-life crisis of sorts, then I wouldn’t even recommend this book to my mother. (We’ll she’s still married to my dad so….)

The worst part about this book is that it had so many interesting ideas going for it and the overall premise of the novel, while sounding like its straight out of Nicholas Sparks book isn’t that bad of an idea.

So the story follows two protagonists. Sophie, a 36 year old mother of two going through a divorce, and Trevor, a 30 year widowed father of a grieving four year old. Due to the circumstances plaguing the both of them, they both rent a large cottage in Nantucket for two months, without realizing the other booked it as well. They decide to share the cottage since its big enough for both of them and their children. And there you have the basis for the rest of the book.  Now this idea, as convenient as it makes a romance possible isn’t a bad idea, after all they are two adults going through harsh changes in their life and they are just looking to get away from their lives for a bit. 

            Over time, the two begin to grow close... I think, and supposedly bond over their losses. I say supposedly because they don’t really talk to each other about them half the time, and the few times they do try to come off as strong and powerful when it doesn’t really have an effect since most of the dialogue is very unrealistic. The romance also seems very one sided throughout the better part of the book with Trevor becoming infatuated with Sophie, and Sophie constantly telling herself she is too old for him.. And she does this constantly.

            This book honestly has too many flaws too it. There are events that are literally summed up in one or two paragraphs and repetition of doing certain activities together, and… I know this is hard to criticize any book for this…. There is too much character development. What I mean by that is the fact that most of the book is Sophie and Trevor reflecting on their problems and their life. Sophie has been married to an architect for 16 years, because she wanted to get back at her parents who always pushed her competitively to achieve success, specifically her musical talents on the piano. And if that sentence was a lot to take in, then don’t worry, you aren’t crazy. Trevor actually gets less character development, since we barely know about his childhood other then the fact his parents are somewhat estranged. His wife, Tallulah wanted to be an actress, and she had such a materialistic personality that she was almost never nurturing to their son, Leo. Also, Trevor doesn’t really seem to grieve since by how Tallulah is written, she is made out to be such an unlikable character, with the exception of the times she is affectionate to her son.

            That’s another thing, the children. Sophie’s children are Jonah, and Lacey. They are most clichéd cardboard cutouts of children I have ever read! Jonah is 15 years old and obviously going through that anti-social phase where he suppressed his emotions and locks himself away in his room with his electronics. Lacey is the typical ten year old girl who is so wide-eyed and innocent she is practically blind to the fact that her parents are splitting up. Leo, Trevor’s son, is actually an interesting character, even more then the protagonists, and possibly the one redeeming feature of this entire book. Ever since his mother’s death, Leo had developed odd behaviors. Such as eating the same food, laying his clothes out a certain way, being possessive towards a special stuffed animal of his and playing with legos in an obsessive manner, that when anyone tries to touch them, he goes into a tantrum. Now this could have been written better but I’ll let it pass because it was the most interesting aspect of the book.

            The dialogue was another thing wrong. If it wasn’t an exposition dump or lacking logic it was just straight up unrealistic. The first scene of the book involves Sophie wondering where her husband is since its late at night and he hasn’t come home yet. After going through his laptop and finding a few clues, she waits for him. The moment she confronts him once he arrives home, he just outright says he wants a divorce. I am not kidding, he just says it so straight forward that to call it blunt would be and understatement. Now having gone through break ups before, most of the time before the suggestion is actually thrown out there, there are a few lines before it in a pitiful attempt to cushion the blow. Her reaction is also beyond unrealistic, since usually a divorce is supposed to be… I don’t know… HEARTBREAKING? In case you wanna know why her husband wants a divorce, its because he fell in love with the secretary who works for him… gotta love the humping-the-secretary cliché right?

            For god’s sake, even when Trevor and Sophie become a couple its so unrealistic. For most of the book leading up to the point, there were small hints that they had feelings for eachother, most of them coming from Trevor, while Sophie kept telling herself she is too old. And then, after visiting a client from his business, he comes back to the cottage and outright asks her to marry him, and she says yes. Wow, that was quick and she didn’t even finalize the divorce. I don’t think she even consulted a lawyer yet! 

            The point of a romance is to watch two people grow close and become a couple. It s to see those private moments they share together that makes their romance grow and here it was so out of the blue, and we barely had any of those moments they are supposed to share to signify they like each other. Just a few glances but that was it. No awkwardly long hugs, no accidental touches. The only time we got those when Sophie places a hand on Trevor’s shoulder or something. But that’s it.

            As you can already tell. I didn’t like this book. With the exception of Leo, the characters were uninteresting, the dialogue was unrealistic, the story got repetitive and scenes were either glossed over too quickly or dragged out too long, and it was always in the wrong places. No characters that popped up made any lasting impression. The romance might even be worst then Twilight. Yeah I said it! Bella and Edward had more chemistry then these two lovebirds.

            This book gets a one out of five stars. Only because my scale doesn’t come with a zero..

Book Review: On the Island by Tracy Garvis Graves

Hello my lovely bookworms, it is a rainy Tuesday morning on my college campus and I going to be reading to a bunch of three year olds in a few hours and I FINALLY HAVE TIME FOR ANOTHER REVIEW YAY! It's been two damn long,

On the Island by Tracy Garvis Graves

So, I have always been critical of romance novels. I can never the find the perfect love story to live my single life vicariously through. Some of my favorite romance stories include: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffinegger and The Man Without A Shadow by Joyce Carol Oates, where there is a central conflict to the story. Well with On the Island, the conflict creates the story.

On The Island is the debut novel by Tracy Garvis Graves, and was published in 2012. She followed up the story with the sequel novella, Uncharted which I am DESPERATE to get my hands on.

30 year old Anna Emerson has been assigned to private tutor T.J. Callahan, a reclusive 16 year old who is in remission from cancer. They are chartered a private plane to take them to Male where T.J.'s parents are spending summer vacation. Then the pilot has a heart attack en route and the plane crashes into the sea. Anna and TJ manage to survive and swim to a nearby seemingly abandoned island.

They start figuring out how to survive, feeding on whatever fruits they could find, teaching themselves how to fish, making a shelter and a fire and even recovering some items from the crash to improve their efforts. They endure everything from tropical storms to sharks to sickness and injury and overtime, as the years go by, they form a special bond and begin to fall in love.
Okay first I know that sounds cliche, and before anyone calls PEDOPHILE on Anna, i will ask you kindly to SHUT UP because TJ was 19 when any sexual relationships formed between the two.
We watch TJ and Anna learn more about each other, beyond just being a student and teacher. TJ wants nothing more then to regain all the friends he lost when he underwent therapy, he talks about how everyone just walked out of his life because he was supposedly dying. Anna has a boyfriend John, who she is frustrated with because she wants to get married and have kids but for some reason, he is holding out, so she is conflicted with if she wants him or not.

There were a few flaws with the book. It was a little to fast paced in some places, specifically in first 100 pages of the chapter. I mean before page 100, TJ starts building a shack. No kidding, he starts building a house, made from an abandoned shack further in the forest. Also, there were many occasions where logic was thrown right out the window, such as the moment when TJ and Anna call their parents. Let's be realisitc, if you went missing for 3 years and were presumed dead, and you call your loved ones, they aren't immediately going to believe that its really you! Right? We'll for TJ's parents and Anna's family, they believe it after a few sentences. Also I've mentioned they had hardships to endure on the island. The problem I had with that, is how rushed these events are. TJ gets injured and sick and its wrapped up with only a few pages. I mean the whole situation with a shark infesting the lagoon was longer then that! Even building the shack took up a few chapters. We never really get a feeling to the time passing by, because they seem to overcome obstacles a little to easily. I wouldn't call this Mary Sue territory, but I could've had scenes drawn out a bit more. So I can't be too harsh.

Another thing about the book is their time on the island only take the first half of the book. When they get rescued, Anna is 33 and TJ is almost 20. They are clearly in a relationship and make their best to adjust back to civilian life. Anna wants TJ to live the oppertunities he could've lost while on the island, even though TJ is absolute when he says he loves Anna and wants to be with her, and this is when their relationship is really thrown into conflict.

The book is a romance about how two people from different parts of life make eachother part of their own. Anna and TJ are 13 years apart, they are in different stages of their lifes and despite that, they have a special kind of love for eachother that I don't usually see in such easy-to- read romances. The best parts of the book is when they interact. The way they grow closer to eachother comes off as genuine and emotional, and when Anna cries for TJ, you really feel for her.

This book is a very relaxing read, and a very interesting read. We see two people fall in love, despite the conflict they are in and the conflict that arises in the relationship itself because of who the characters are, and that makes for a love story like no other. Despite its flaws, the book was certainly a page turner, well worth the read.

But these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? If not, do you wanna read it now?Comment below and stay tuned for more!!

Also if it's possible, subcribe to the authors newsletter and her blog!

Update

Hello my lovely bookworms. I would like to apologize for not posting any blogs for the past few weeks. School and work have been piling on. However with midterms almost over, I'll finally have time to post some book review. There are some book reviews on the way, however the format of the reviews will be different. Also I'll try other kinds of blog posts. One I am working on is adaptation reaction where I write a blog post reacting to a movie adaptation of a book I read and give its pros and cons. Also there will be some top ten lists. And some book related posts on the way. I hope you are all still here and stay tuned.

Book Review: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

It looks like dystopian fiction is a major trend in young adult fiction now huh? With books like Maze Runner, Divergent, and The Hunger Games, teenagers have been introduced to fine concepts of dystopia, even if they refused to read 1984 or Anthem in their English class. What if I told you they were all rip-offs!?!? Okay that's too harsh, but lets be fair, none of them would even exist if it wasn't for Koushun Takami's controversial novel, Battle Royale. To me this book is the original Hunger Games.

Anyway, Koushun Takami wrote this book in 1999 and was published in his home country of Japan. Let me also point out this is a one hit wonder in the world of literature. This book acted as both a political statement to the Japanese government, as well as the most violent book I ever read involving teenagers killing eachother (the Hunger Games have NOTHING compared to this book). Almost immediately after it was published it was banned in Japan and only recently has it surfaced here in the States!!! However Japanese culture is very prominent in this book so bare with me.

The book follows a 15 year-old named Shuya who, along with his I think 9th grade class, *I don't know the education system is different in Japan,)\ is randomly selected to participate in a contest called Battle Royale. The rules are simple: Kill eachother until the last one standing within 72 hours. The winner gets a lifelong pension from the government. There are a lot of unfair rules to the game, every teen has to wear a collar around their neck, this acts as a tracking device and a detonator. Every few hours or say one quadrant of the island is closed off, and if you aren't out of that zone in time, or try to force the collar off, it will detonate. Shuya teams up with Noriko, a girl who has a crush on him, and Kawada, a transfer who has a very interesting past which I won't give away do to spoilers. They must survive in this battle while everyone, some of them who are close friends are killing eachother around them.

One of the things I liked about the book, which really impressed me, was the character development. Takami was actually able to give every student (all 42 of them!) a personality. We get a look into all of their pasts, we get to know some things about them, and as well a glimpse into their psyche, the only downside to it, and spoiler, most of them are killed off almost immediately after we get to know them. Some of them do get their own story arch and they are emotional and sometimes disturbing. You really get the feeling that these are real teenagers in a scary situation.

There is a level of paranoia throughout the book, as classmates constantly question who to trust, who not to trust, constantly checking their backs and constantly acknowledging that anyone can turn on them at any given moment. Some of them give into the paranoia with friends turning on friends.

Takami also did a good job with exploring the world he created, being shown through flashbacks with the characters. It wasn't in depth, but I guess this flaws gets a get out of jail free card since we are given it through the perspectives of the characters, who are in fact teenagers with very little knowledge of their government.

If there were any flaws I found in the book it was the text itself. There were a few awkward wording here and there, which probably is a result of the translation from Japanese to English.

To me, Battle Royale was very unsettling. Books like the Hunger Games and Divergent owe a lot to this book. Takami wasn't afraid to express his feelings and attitudes towards politics with this book. Which is probably where the controversy came from. But ten years later, it has built a passionate fanbase.....STEPHEN KING, loves it, and even recommended it on his 2010 summer reading list. I personally love this book, it was emotional, disturbing, and even uplifting.

It certainly broke ground in the dystopian genre as we know it today, and it does provoke alot of though. That, along with the well written prose, complex characters and a page turning thrillride of a story earns this book Five exploding neck braces out of Five.

But like always...these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? Comment below, go get the book, give me feed back and hopefully you enjoy it!!!

P.S. TAKE THAT HUNGER GAMES MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

I don't usually mention film adaptations of books I've read because I'd rather you read the book then watch the movie but I will break my rule here and also recommend the film adaptation of Battle Royale. It was directed in the authors native country of Japan and was the final film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It remains the highest-grossing foreign film 

Book Review: The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

Michel Faber has to be one of the most ground-breaking authors of the 21st century. He is widely known for his 2002 book, The Crimson Petal and the White, which was also made into a TV miniseries! He has also written many short stories surround this hit book, as well as Under The Skin, The Fire Gospel, One Hundred and Nintey Nine Steps, The Courage Consort and The Book of Strange New Things.

The Book of Strange New Things was written in 2014 and according to Faber, it may be the last book he ever writes. And boy did I have quite an interesting experience with this book.

Now to the story....

Peter is a 33 year old Christian minister, who is chosen by USIC to take a journey to a distant earth-like planet called Oasis. His purpose is to teach the inhabitants about Christianity, the natives or "the Oasians" as they are called, have already gone through 2 previous pastors, both of which disappeared under unknown circumstances. During his stay on Oasis, he gets to know the Oasians and makes a friend, Alex Grainger, the USIC's pharmacist, The oasians have their own language, and in the text they are written out in symbol's clearly so the reader is unable to understand. They also can't use "T"s or S's in their vocabulary, so these symbols substitute the letters for possible reasons to the structure of their vocal chorts. This is interesting because we don't know the type of sounds they make, leaving it up to the reader to imagine the noises they make, however it is possible that humans are capable of learning the language since Peter begins speaking their language, but once again, we don't know how it actually sounds. They are also naturally stoic creatures, and are almost genderless that Peter seems to rely on his own intuition to distinguish who's female and who's male.

Also, during Peter's stay, he exchanges messages with his wife back on Earth. While they exchange how much they miss each other and love each other, there is also something darker happening. With every message that Bea sends, it describes something that's been happening back on earth. It starts out small with some certain goods not in stock at the local supermarket, but then it escalates. Bea begins to describe natural disasters creating destruction and death on massive scales, economic discomfort, political decline and violence breaking out in the streets and how hard she is trying to get by without her husband. There is no given explanation to it, but its hinted at why all the people that work for USIC don't seem in a rush to go back home. Peter tries his best to give Bea all the comfort he can while he's away, but he begins to spend time with the Oaisans more and more, and communicating with his wife less and less.

This is where I found myself hating Peter a few times. He seems so dedicated to teaching the Oaisans about God he seems to forget he has a wife sometimes. In the first three chapters of the book, its made very clear that Peter and Bea really love each other, There is alot of depth given to their relationship throughout the book, talking about how Peter was a drug addict who met Bea who was a nurse in a hospital he was treated at. Upon getting married, he turned his life around and became a Christian minister, and he seems very passionate about it, which seems to work against him. Throughout the first half of the book, Peter attempts to comfort Bea by reminding her to pray to God and other religious advice, something Bea seems to get annoyed with. It all takes a major turn when Bea finally claims to have no more faith and on top of that, she is pregnant with Peter's child.

*SKIP THIS TO AVOID SPOILERS*
The ending of the book was probably the most bitter-sweet-at-the-same-time-emptiest ending I've ever read. Peter finally decides he wants to go back to Earth, which is now dying, to be with his wife and child. However, before he leaves, Bea sends him a message not to return to Earth because it will comfort her to know he is okay, and to make sure he doesn't come back. she is moving house. But Peter, who seems to have lost his faith in God, still chooses to go back. And it really is left up to us to decide whether Peter and Bea reunite or not. This ending was hopeful, but at the same time, it isn't. It made everything Peter was doing seem pointless. He goes to a planet to teach the natives about God and yet he looses his own faith, so what is the whole point of teaching Christianity? And does he ever find his wife? I personelly don't believe he does, but by how he is written, I don't think he ever gave up hope. That's really just my opinion.
*SKIP THIS TO AVOID SPOILERS*

I began to wonder how Faber can write such a deep but at the same time, an empty story. Then I did my research. Michel Faber wrote this book while his wife, Eva, was dying of cancer. This leads me to believe that the deteriorating relationship between Bea and Peter is sort of an allegory to the author and his wife. Peter loves Bea, and Bea loves Peter. In the book it's made clear they barely spent long periods of time apart, and the distance, gets between them during Peter's stay on Oasis. As Peter and Bea begin to grow distant, so does Peter and his Christian faith. He constantly tries to remind himself that God has a plan, but he can't bring himself to accept everything that is happening to his wife back on earth, even if it means abandoning his mission. By how this conflict is conveyed in the book, its almost like it is out the control of the characters, Peter is to dedicated to his Christian values, and Bea is so lost her loneliness that the turmoil happening on earth begins to effect her. Its almost like God is doing it himself, kind of like how you slowly loose someone you love to a disease they can't fight.

Now the book has its own share of flaws. Many of the other characters were really just there for the background, coming into the spotlight just to show how Peter interacts with the other members of USIC. However, Alex Grainger, gets her own character growth. She starts out like everyone else, seemingly stoic, focused only on her own self-interests and doesn't care much for the Oaisans or Peter's work. As the book progresses, we learn more about Alex and she seems to be a person suppressing her emotions for the sake of everyone around her. When Peter comes along, she seeks comfort with him, and they grow a special bond which almost seems romantic.

Actually most of the members of the USIC don't seem to care much about the Oasians, even acknowledging them as freaks, The only other contact the humans and the Oaisans ever make is when they exchange medical supplies for food surplus. The food on Oasis is made solely from a white flower, and its harvested and seasoned to resemble and taste like foods from Earth. It's never explained in full detail and adds a level of mystery to the Oaisans.  Even at the end of the book we still know very little about them. What we do know is that they have a very fragile anatomy, anything as simple as a bruise can cause severe damage. They seem very welcoming and are clearly facinated with Christianity, with a few of them refusing to follow it, but every community has their atheists right? I know many of the humans at USIC are.

The book was very well written, advancing the plot when it had to and taking time to embellish the world it created. Aside from Peter, Alex and possibly Bea, I really wish the other characters were flushed out a bit more. But that's forgivable. The book is very thought provoking and I think whether you are religious or not you will enjoy it. With ideas of faith and dedication to the person you love always being addressed, the book acts as a very interesting character study of Peter. The book has other suprises which I have not discussed which can make the story all the more interesting. This is why I am giving the book 4 cute little deadly fanged creatures out of 5. 

Book Review: The Dead Zone by Stephen King

Ah, Stephen King, my man, you always catch me every time with your books, and you always add something new to every story of yours. I’ve been meaning to get to The Dead Zone for a while but other books kept getting thrown to the top of my reading list since I never follow the order of the list I make, but I got to it and my god…

So the story starts off with Johnny Smith, a school teacher with psychic-like abilities, he acquired mysteriously from a head injury when he was a child. Years later, just after he graduated college, he gets into a near fatal car accident which leaves him in a coma for five years. Five years later, he wakes up to find; his girlfriend, Sarah had left him, his religious mother had gone crazy, and a part of his brain is damaged, which creates a “dead zone” in his psychic abilities. This “dead zone” means that there are certain details he can never see within has flashes or visions. The story follows his recovery, and his efforts to continue living despite having such a supernatural ability. Giving a few spoilers, he helps solve a murder in his hometown, and he later moves on to tutor a boy of a rich family and then attempt's to stop the campaign of a political figure, Donald Trump…I’m sorry I mean Greg Stillson. Okay, apparently I am not the only person out there comparing the two, but come on, they are pretty similar. I would into further details on these plotlines but that would cause spoilers.

Greg Stillson was one of those villains we don’t see a lot in stories. The only other literary villain I can compare him to is Iago from Othello. He has a grand reputation in the public eye, as he is a working class type guy running for president, so for most of the people, he is a person who knows what the people want. But behind closed doors, he is malicious, he is merciless and he is a massive, massive asshole, with no redeeming features. Most villains these days tend to have redeeming features, such as a tragic past, which fuels their motives, and makes us feel sorry for them. But with Stillson, there is nothing redeeming about him, he knows what he wants and is willing to do any dirty trick in the book to get his way.

This story was more of a character study then a plot driven story. We follow the life of a man trying to live a normal life despite having a special ability. It is made very clear that Johnny sees his psychic abilities as more of a curse then a blessing, making his existential crisis more interesting. This power he possess really interferes with Johnny’s life, and it makes his character more complex.

I was originally going to say that I thought the book was a little underwhelming because of how slowly paced the narrative was. I like a slow story because it can make the build-up to the climax more intense, but I did find myself forcing myself to read in certain places. But that all changed when I caught something clever in the way the book was written. For starters, the concept of the dead zone is never explained. But like in most Stephen King stories, the supernatural never has an explanation, defined by its own term. There is a small plothole through-out the story, almost like there is a “dead zone” in the narrative. What did Johnny see when he touched Stilson’s hand? What made Johnny realize he was “running out of time”? And what could be the cause of the dead zone? Well near the end of the book, those questions seemed to be answered, but not straight forward. It was so clever, because until you get near the end, you never notice the hole in the story because of how subtle it is.

This story was worth the read. It is a perfect example of a character driven story. If you want a story about a man discovering more about who he is, then I recommend this book.

But these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? Comment Below. And let me know if you spotted the reference to another Stephen King book in this book, because I came across it and I thought it was hilarious!!!

Book Review: Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

Hello my lovely bookworms! I had quite an expreience reading this book.

I am not the biggest propaganda book fan, so it really says something when I picked up to read Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo and loved it. Published in 1939, Johnny Got His Gun was the book that got Trumbo blacklisted by the government during the Mcarthy Era, as it was considered a piece of communist propaganda. And yes, it does show, but it goes further than that, actually criticizing the nature of democracy when it comes to war. Finally a book that I can agree on!!

Johnny Got His Gun is an anti-war novel set in the aftermath of the first world war. The main character is Joe Bonham, a 20 year old serving in the army at the time. When a morter shell hits him, he looses all his limbs and his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. He basically reduced to a living piece of meat with a perfectly functioning brain. But the horror of it is, he is a prisoner of his own body, being unable to interact with the world around him. Throughout the book, which takes place all in Joe's head by the way, we see Joe reflect on his life before the war, such as his night job at a local bakery, his close relationship with his father and his girlfriend Kareen, and some of the dreams and ideas he has. He starts by trying to feel like he is a human again, attempting to regain his sense of time, and sense of communication. He actually is able to reach out to the people taking care of him, by tapping his head against the pillow in morse code. How it ends, well you'll just have to read the book.

When reading the book, I really felt like I was getting a glimpse into Joe's psyche. Seeing how he processes his thoughts. While the way he processes them, and how one thought leads to another, seems very bizarre, but at the same time, it's very realistic. We see what drives him, what made him happy, sad, angry and how he interacted with others. The way he drifts between reality and fantasy is confusing, but for a reason. He isn't aware of his own conciousness. Since he has no senses, he doesn't know when he's awake or asleep, making it hard to distiguish a dream from real life. To watch 

Joe making the effort to regain basic human awareness, such as time, is such an obstacle for him, which for us is so simple. This makes his situation greater than we see it. But with every small accomplishment he makes, it makes the horror of his condition greater. He will always be a living piece of meat, and can never be human down to his pure existence.

Now, this book is a product of its time. The casual racism and sexism appear within the pages of the book. Thankfully, its nothing more than a reflection of the fundamental ways of thinking of the time, and doesn't aim to bash either race or gender. Considering this book is a propaganda piece really shows as well. There are many points in the novel where Joe goes into passionate tirades about what it really means to fight for democracy. Does democracy have a meaning at all? It goes beyond the classic message of war being all hell. In fact it goes deeper than that. The deepest and probably most powerful statement in the book was when Joe thought about all the men who died in the war. They didn't die thinking of honor. Their last dying thought was fear. When it comes down to it, we are all human with human desires and fears. We desire freedom, we fear death, and why should we die for something we can't gain since we are dead for it. Now these rants made in the book are obviously statements being made from the author through his character, and it gets very in your face. While some may find it distracting, I found it facinating. At the end of the day, it really comes down to your personal political views and whether you agree with Trumbo or not. 

Now one of the flaws many people might find with this book is the way it was written. I don't know if Trumbo was going for a stream-of-consciousness narrative or not, since the book alternates between the third and first person perspective. The first person perspective is really Joe's thoughts and feelings, which are mimicked by the narrater as well. Also in sentences where there are supposed to be quotation marks and commas, there isn't any. The only puncuation marks that appear are periods. However, this wasn't a product of poor editing or even poor writing, this was intentional. Trumbo was trying to mimick the constant process of thinking humans possess.

I would call this book and instant classic. The ideas presented are interesting, and the book goes into subjects not many people like to talk about and its a good look into a dark aspect of America's past. But I would hesitate to read this book. My initial reaction to the book was upsetting, but that's what made it so good. It gets you thinking about your own views of the world, as well as make you thankful for the basic thinks in life you have, such as limbs and senses. It's amazing how a message so basic can be so powerful. If you're looking for a book that can make you think, and challenge your beliefs, check it out!!

But these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? If so, how was it? Comment below and stay tuned for more!!

Book Review: First Love by James Patterson and Emily Raymond

So since Valentine's Day just went by I decided I am going to review a romance novel as my first review. Now I should warn you I am very cynical when if comes to romances since having been single for too long makes Valentine's Day to me as Ebenezer Scrooge is to Christmas. But that doesn't mean that romances all suck, there are a few that I love and I am... still questioning if this is one of them. Also forgive me for all the typos. 

James Patterson is probably the most widely read author out there. He has sold over 300 million books world wide and the number continues to grow. He is widely known for many of the books series he writes. From the crime dramas of the Alex Cross series to the YA fantasy of Maximum Ride, Patterson has written a name for himself for all ages. Not even joking, I've found his books in the graphic novel section, the kids section, the young adult section and he takes up TWO whole book shelves in the fiction section. 

I'll be honest. I don't like James Patterson. His writing style comes off as too simplistic, and I don't believe he deserves his title as the World Guinness top selling author, especially since nowadays he has a SECOND AUTHORS NAME ATTACHED TO HIS. 

But granted he has a fan base, and if really comes down to my personal taste. 


When I picked up this book at Barnes and Nobles, I was really just doing it cause I had just finished reading The Stand by Stephen King and I needed an easy read, and I'll be honest... I don't regret buying it. There are still problems I have with it, but I'll get to those later. 

So to the book...

Axi Moore is a 16 year old girl who decides OUT OF NOWHERE to run away from home with her friend and crush Robinson and go on a road trip around the country. Robinson is very charismatic and has a very energetic vibe and isn't afraid to take risks where Axi is.....at least supposed to be reluctant. I'll get to that later. Anyway, the pair goes around the country, usually by stealing cars and visit many cities like Hollywood, New York City and even Las Vegas. All the while they grow closer to the point.....they build a romantic relationship. But there is a problem. You see, Axi Moore is a cancer survivor, and she met Robinson at the hospital she was getting treatment, Robinson on the other hand isn’t so lucky. He’s dying of cancer and doesn’t have long to live. And this becomes the road trip version of The Fault in Our Stars… and A Walk to Remember… and any other Nicholas Sparks novel in existence. 

(Look I know I basically gave away most of the book at this point but come on!! Killing off one of the lovers has become such a cliched plot point it just ANNOYS me!! Look I understand that authors don’t owe us happy endings, and in real life not everything is what its cracked up to be but I think I can speak for everyone when I say to authors like Nicholas Sparks and John Green that WE ARE ENTITLED TO AT LEAST ONE HAPPY ENDING THAT’S THE POINT OF CHEERING FOR A ROMANTIC COUPLE!!!)

Anyway side comment aside lol... Now to get the negative stuff out of the way. 

There are a lot of problems I have with this book. The first problem is the fact that there are moments when a chapter is so rushed that in the next transition they are in a different part of the country already. Many moments are glossed over, like when the couple stop off in Beverly Hills to visit Axi’s favorite author. I swear to God the visit is literally ONE PARAGRAPH! We never know what Axi and this author talk about, we don’t know why this is her favorite author, nor does it have any significance to the plot! Axi’s character. Axi presents herself as a good girl turning into a bad girl but we only have her word that she was a good girl to begin with. We never get an example of how she was a good girl, all we know is she is breaking her nice girl charm, to go on this road trip. It’s literally revealed in the first chapter. Also, there is a poor level of depth given to her. In her back story we learn that she had lost a little sister to the same cancer she developed and as a result of that, her mother left her and her father, and her father turned to alcohol to cope with the loss. Interesting background but it doesn’t have much effect on Axi as a person. I would’ve liked to have seen a memory or an embellishment of what Axi’s family were like when they were still a solid unit. Another problem is: I mentioned that they stole a few cars in order to get around, and they almost never get caught! Oh wait, they do get caught once in Arizona but they manage to fight out of that the dumbest way possible. I won’t tell you how because I want you to read it yourself. And finally, there is Robinson. Robinson’s background is deliberately kept in the dark throughout the book, until the very end when the road trip ends at his family’s house in North Carolina. Robinson reveals to Axi he was sent to her home town of Seattle to live with his uncle while he received cancer treatment at the local hospital, well it turns out he fell in love with Axi first and decided to STAY IN SEATTLE because of her. IF THAT’S NOT OBSESSION I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS!! 

Now you can all say I am just a cynical jerk who has been nit picky all the way through and you could be right. This is just a cute tear-jerking love story… which is why I still don’t regret buying it and reading it. That’s right, this book has so many flaws and yet I still ended up loving it!! Why?

This book has so much redeeming features I can’t hate it. First of all, Axi and Robinson are just adorable together. You really feel like they’ve known each other for a long time. I was very convinced that these two were in love and for reasons other than “the other one is pretty”. They have their cute moments but they have their moments when they argue. The road trip plays like a metaphor for Axi’s grief over Robinson’s cancer, throughout the book she constantly insists to herself that they will be together forever, despite knowing he won’t. We find ourselves doing the same thing in real life, trying to run away from things we don’t want to face, but knowing deep down we don’t have a choice. This is a lesson we all have to learn in our lives, and Paterson conveyed it in a very relatable way. (He did in fact dedicate this book to a girl he dated back in the 70’s but died of a brain tumor.)

So final thoughts. The book is an easy read. If you want something short, sweet and simple, check out this book. Yeah it’s rushed in a few places where it shouldn’t be and a moment or two where logic is thrown right out the window, but the romance was believable and I was really invested in Axi and Robinson’s relationship. So it’s not the best romance in the world, but I certainly don’t regret buying it.

Which is why I am nice enough to give it 3 stolen cars out of 5. (I don't use stars lol, you'll learn the joke as the blogs go on.)

Introduction to Me

Hello everyone, my name is Michael and I am new to the blogging world so bear with me because this is my first blog. I am 20 years old. I major in Sociology. I hope to become a social worker and hopefully an author. That saying, I am a writer too.

I also writer for the Odyssey Online, and yes I write book reviews there as well. I also written a few film reviews and every once in a while I'll write an article stating my opinion on a topic going on in the media but most of them are book reviews.

So if I already write book reviews for an online newspaper, why form a blog?

We'll I am glad you ask. I like to talk about books and not just by means of reviews. I look to compare books and film adaptations, compile top 10 lists, talk about authors and even ideas that are conveyed through books. It's just I can't get away with non reviews of books on online newspapers so my bookworm friends told me to make a blog so here I am making a blog!

How am I doing so far? Lol

Anyway, there is alot coming you're way, I have alot of books to review, alot of book related things to rant about (mostly involving film adaptations of books that suck) and much more so stay tuned everyone!!