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Is German Better Than English?

10:12 PM

Book Review: Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt

3:13 PM

Summary from goodreads:
1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life - someone who will help her to heal and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.

Rating: 3.2/5
Tell the Wolves I'm Home, written by Carol Rifka Brunt in first person point of view, is a coming of age novel surrounding June Elbus, the self pitying main character. The book had a brilliantly executed plot, an engaging writing style appropriate for the story, and a fair amount of round characters. What it didn't have, however, were likable characters.

Obviously, the likability of a character does not determine a novel's success from a literary point of view, but it is a very big deal when the novel is written in first person. This is because the entire novel from beginning to end follows this character's thoughts and feelings which makes it very mentally exhausting to read if said character is a pain. June Elbus' most dominant character trait was self pity. This is clearly understandable considering the fact that one of her closest relatives dies. But as a reader reads on, June Elbus goes from an understandably upset teenager to an almost pathetic and whiny character. In addition, she was the type of character whose mantra was 'I'm not like other girls' (without it being explicitly said). But June wasn't the only character who felt sorry for herself. Just about every single main character in the story had a scene in which they expressed their reason as to why their problems were more tragic and pity worthy than June's. It's simply an annoying trait to read.

Nevertheless, Tell the Wolves I'm Home did have it's moments. For example, the writing style is very similar to what a reader would see in a young adult novel. At first, it's a bit odd since it dealt with such heavy subjects, but it's actually a very impressive effort. The narrator was barely a teenager, so the the style was appropriate. What's even more impressive is the fact that the teenage voice was there throughout the entire novel. The narrator did not once fall out of her mentality, and that is easily an effort to be commended.

Despite the characters' unlikable personalities, they were all round and complex. June developed and learned a great deal throughout the story, as well as most if not all of the side characters. They all had depth and underlying meanings for their actions and it was endearing to see them unravel and to understand the thought process that lead them to do whatever it was they did.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home is a good enough book to keep the reader engaged. For some, it's a page turner. For others, it's a difficult read. This book is for all the readers out there who are looking for a tear jerker.

book review

Book Review: The Graveyard Book - by Neil Gaiman

7:47 PM

Summary from goodreads:
After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own. Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . .

Rating: 3.8/5

The Graveyard Book, written by Neil Gaiman, is a fantastic and simply written novel appropriate for all ages. Although the book lacked the presence of round characters, it had a plot and writing style that kept the audience interested and its unique execution of the story is an effort deserving of praise.

First and foremost, it should be noted that this particular book may not be fully appreciated the first time it's read. The reason for this because the presentation, so to speak, can be considerably confusing. The Graveyard Book starts out as an ordinary novel. The characters are introduced and the conflict is exposed. Not too far into the story, however, the story shifts from the main plot and has entire chapters dedicated to short stories that seem irrelevant and unnecessary. But as the reader keeps reading, one realizes that the short stories are intertwined with the main plot, making several reappearances and occasionally serving as informative excerpts regarding the characterization of certain personalities.

With that being said, although the characters were likable, they were, for the most part, both flat and static. The main character, Bod, did not develop throughout the story considering the amount of change and risks he had to physically undergo. He went from infancy to toddlerhood and then onto adolescence but his overall personality remained stagnant. The same goes for the minor characters as well, although the side characters arguably had more dimension and depth to their personalities.

As for the writing style, it was simply easy to read. It was not necessarily thought provoking, but it kept the readers interested. As a result, perhaps purposefully so, The Graveyard Book has a wide range of audience. Younger age groups would be able to read this book with awe and anticipation of such a unique and extraordinary plot while older age groups are able to read the book with ease and content. This is not the only result, however. The simplicity of the writing made the the imagery and the feelings so raw. It was as if the reader were being transported to a graveyard and was watching Bod from the sidelines. It made the emotions real enough to be transferred onto the reader as well.

As a whole, The Graveyard Book deserves the praise it has received and the awards it's won. I would easily recommend this to anyone who is looking for an easy to read yet suspenseful novel.

fairy tale

Original Plot of Rapunzel

9:47 PM

Most children have heard of Rapunzel. Beautiful girl with long hair locked in a tower and eventually marries a dashing prince. The Disney version was executed beautifully, and the way they worked with the plot was amazing. Not many people, however, know of how the story was originally written.

If you enjoy the childhood memories you had with fairy tales, then I suggest you leave this page (even though this isn't even the most drastically changed fairy tale).

The story started with a couple with a baby on the way. At some point in her pregnancy, the woman wanted nothing more than lettuce. Lucky her, their neighbor, a witch, had a garden with Rampion lettuce, so her genius husband deicides to jump over to the witch's garden and steal lettuce. But this craving did not disappear after one serving of lettuce. Oh, no. She still craved the leafiness and oh-so-amazing taste that no other plant could match. So her husband, once again, carried out his fool proof plan to steal the witch's plant. As it turns out, the plan wasn't so fool proof after all. The witch catches him stealing her hard work. Her precious leaves were being stolen by her neighbor! She could not stand for this. She WOULD not stand for this. How dare he think he could get away with such an unforgivable crime. She would confront him. And confront him she did. She stuck it to the man. Told him he couldn't carry on stealing her lettuce. But he was a stubborn man. He didn't go away quietly. He had to make a deal with the witch. He told her she could have anything she wanted if only she would let him take all the lettuce he wanted. But what could match her invaluable lettuce? Ah! She came to a conclusion. She would let this robber take her lettuce as long as he agreed to give up his first born child. Was it worth it, though? Were irreplaceable memories he and his wife could make together raising a beautiful baby girl worth giving up? But, of course it was. So he agreed to the terms.

When the baby was born, and she was named after the lettuce that was obviously worth so much more than herself, the couple gave it to the witch as promised. And the witch, being a witch, decided there was nothing better to do with this girl than to lock her up in a tall tower with no way out. The girl grew up to be beautiful and developed a beautiful voice. She sang to her heart's content. One day, a prince heard her beautiful voice and realized he wanted nothing more than to see the girl that possessed it. So he followed the voice. He followed it until he reached the tower. But, alas! There was no way in. So he waited. He hid in the bushes, because that's the normal reaction, and watched as the witch called out "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair". And at that moment, the girl with the beautiful voice dropped all her hair down the window, which served as a way of entrance.

The prince left after witnessing this, but he wasn't gone for long. When he returned, he chanted what the witch had, and lo! and behold, down came Rapunzel's hair. He climbed up the hair and convinced Rapunzel to run away with him. When the witch cam back, Rapunzel let out the only secret she ever had to keep in her entire life. The only one. She said to the witch: "How come the prince is so much lighter than you are". (I guess she takes after her parents). The witch, of course, was furious. She cut off all of Rapunzel's hair and awaited the prince to execute his plan. When the prince called for Rapunzel, he was greeted with what he expected: her hair. He climbed up with the intention of taking Rapunzel away. Instead, he was greeted with an angry woman who's pride had been wounded. The witch pushed the prince out of the window, and he landed in a bush. He lived, but two thorns punctured his eyes and he was left blind.

The prince, blind and confused, roamed the woods for years. One day, however, he heard a familiar voice. He followed the voice, once again, and was met by Rapunzel. Rapunzel, with two children now, saw the prince and cried into his face. But she didn't just cry into his face, she cried into his eyes. And because of this coincidence he gets his sight back.

That's it. That's how the story ends.

book review

Book Review: Meritropolis - by Joel Ohman

7:57 PM

Summary from Goodreads:

The year is AE3, 3 years after the Event. Within the walls of Meritropolis, 50,000 inhabitants live in fear, ruled by the brutal System that assigns each citizen a merit score that dictates whether they live or die. Those with the highest scores thrive, while those with the lowest are subject to the most unforgiving punishment--to be thrust outside the city gates, thrown to the terrifying hybrid creatures that exist beyond. But for one High Score, conforming to the System just isn't an option. Seventeen-year-old Charley has a brother to avenge. And nothing--not even a totalitarian military or dangerous science--is going to stop him. Where humankind has pushed nature and morals to the extreme, Charley is amongst the chosen few tasked with exploring the boundaries, forcing him to look deep into his very being to discern right from wrong. But as he and his friends learn more about the frightening forces that threaten destruction both without and within the gates, Meritropolis reveals complexities they couldn't possibly have bargained for...

Rating: 3/5
Ever since the undeniable success of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the dystopian genre has become very prominent in the lives of many, if not all, book lovers. Although Meritropolis, written by Joel Ohman, is completely different plot-wise in relation to The Hunger Games, it is also a dystopian novel. Meritropolis has a noticeably unique plot and a writing style that is simple enough for the age group it is intended for to understand. Even though it has good qualities to it, it is painfully hard to ignore the stereotypically written female characters in the novel.

The story started out interestingly enough for the average reader to get hooked. It was not the kind of sci-fi novel in which the only explanation that is given for the reason chaos is present is that the characters live in a corrupt society. Paired with this explanation, readers are also basically told who is at fault and who is on a quest to right the antagonist's wrongs. This was not the case in Meritropolis. There were events and comprehensible reasons for why people were dying and why leaders were acting the way they did. Because of this, the readers didn't know who to side with, making this book a distinguishable dystopian novel.

Another aspect that perhaps not everyone would catch at first is that Charlie's main goal was not to benefit the society, but to avenge his brother who was a victim of the corruption that is found in the novel. Even when he wanted to 'save' other characters, it was not because he wanted to save them out of the goodness of his heart, but because he didn't want to relive what he experienced with his brother's incident. All in all, his motives were, in a way, selfish (but in all honesty, anything other than that would be completely out of character).

One of the most irksome things in the story, perhaps even annoying enough to stop a person from finishing the book, is the stereotypical portrayal of the female characters. There is only one way to describe every single one of them: Mary Sue. This is really shocking because the minor characters in the beginning of the story had distinct personalities and were characters one would be excited for. These characters, however, were male. Every single time a new female character was introduced, any reader who appreciates the finer things in life would hope and pray that she is somewhat different and a bit more tolerable than the last. The thing is, though, these female characters seem like they were supposed to come off as strong female leads, and they were. But they were inaccurate. They didn't have any depth and they were all ridiculously similar to each other. Interestingly enough, none of this would have been a problem if the main character were a girl. Nothing would change, not even the name. Even though Charlie is characteristically selfish, writing him as a girl rather than a boy would have been so much more entraining and interesting to read. It would have been unlike any other book and it may have even been even more successful than it is now.

Aside from the disappointing female personalities, Meritropolis is a good book to read if you are looking for a simply written sci-fi dystopian novel with a decent plot.

book review

Book Review: Paper Towns - by John Green

5:40 PM

Summary from Goodreads:
Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

Rating: 3.5/5
This is a novel people would generally want to read because the author of Paper Towns is the very same mastermind responsible for the heart aching journey that was The Fault in Our Stars. To be honest, a person never truly knows what to expect when it comes to books written John Green. It could either be a ridiculously uncomfortable story that makes the readers cringe with second hand embarrassment or a ridiculously sad story that makes the reader curl into a ball and cry for nine days straight. Paper Towns is no exception.

When a reader first begins to read Paper Towns, they would most likely assume that it is a romance since the storyline revolves around a soon to be high school graduate, Quentin Jacobsen, who is madly in love with an adventurous girl, Margo Roth Spiegelman, who has no limits when it comes to carrying out a scheme she has carefully planned out. Upon closer reading however, the reader comes to realize that Quentin is not as in love with Margo as he is infatuated with the idea of her. In fact, it could be considered a border-line mystery novel. Throughout the book, the protagonist tries to find out who Margo really is when he is hit with the realization that he didn't know the real Margo, he just accepted the portrayal he was given of her.

Paper Towns, like all of John Green's work, has a wide range of diverse and round characters that sometimes overthrows the main character's likability. The novel doesn't focus solely on Quentin, but it give the readers insight on his friends' personalities as well. This is particularly interesting because Paper Towns is written in first person point of view, so naturally one wouldn't expect much background on any character that wasn't Quentin. Granted the reader's were not given specific details about their back stories, the way the characters spoke and acted with or around Quentin was more than enough for the readers to understand their characterizations and have opinions on all of them based on these simple aspects.

Alongside the amazing characterization was engaging writing. The way in which John Green wrote this book drew in the readers, not necessarily through the plot (although that did play a pretty large role), but through the way it was written. The protagonist, Quentin, had an unfaltering voice that was consistent throughout the book. The same could be said for all the other characters, major or minor. Because of this, it could easily be said that John Green is an unbelievably talented writer and deserves all the attention he has been getting recently.

The one and only thing that was slightly bothersome while reading some John Green books in general is that the middle portion of the stories tend to be quite bland. The middle is when nothing in particular is really going on (aside from angst and occasionally self pity) and the reader is tempted to skim through it to get to the good parts again. This problem does occur in Paper Towns, although it is, to a certain extent, much more tolerable than any other story.

Even though Paper Towns is not an outright romance, it would be extremely exciting if this was made into a suspenseful romantic comedy. It had an entertaining storyline, varied characters, and amazing writing. What more could you want from a book? If you are the kind of person that likes cute stories with meaningful plots, this is definitely the book to read.

top ten books

Book Review: The Cuckoo's Calling - by Robert Galbraith

6:53 PM

Summary from goodreads:
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review:
The Cuckoo's Calling, written in third person point of view by Robert Galbraith, was a surprisingly entertaining book to read. The characters had round personalities which was paired with gradual character development, there was an entertaining plot which was, as hard as it is to admit, slightly predictable, and the writing style was simple yet professional and elegant.

Firstly, the characterization in The Cuckoo's Calling is something that has failed to make an appearance in too many books, so it was very refreshing to see characters with personalities and quirks so unique to themselves. The way the characters acted to certain situations was always appropriate given the information the readers were given about their personal lives. Even the side characters had distinctive personalities that really set them apart from everyone else. Since this is a mystery-crime novel, there were a lot of side characters all of which were extremely important. Not only that, but their personalities really stood out through their statements in the end of novel when the mystery was solved. Along with the unique personalities, there was also character development, which is a huge plus to any book.

Aside from the characters, Galbraith succeeded in drawing in the readers with a simple yet compelling storyline. There was the perfect amount of foreshadowing throughout the book which really aided in the mystery aspect of the story. As mentioned previously, The Cuckoo's Calling was slightly predictable. It was not predictable in the sense that the readers knew exactly what a character was going to do and when they was going to do it. In fact, the reader was mostly surprised at what was happening at that specific moment. It was predictable in the sense that the main idea was stereotypical; the main idea being 'was it a suicide or was it a murder'. With that being said, there should be no regrets after a reader finishes this story. It may not have been one hundred percent satisfying, but the lead up to the end was thoroughly enjoyable and well worth another read.

Something that should be emphasized was the easy to read but sophisticated writing style. There was imagery, detailed descriptions, and a lot of similes. There was also a lot of dialogue, which may or may not be a good quality depending on what kind of reader we're talking about. Some may find the excessive dialogue entertaining, others may find it exhaustive. Even though there was admittedly a lot of dialogue, there was also a lot of everything else to even it out. Just to be clear, this book was about thirty to forty percent dialogue. If that sounds like an amount you can personally endure as a reader, then by all mean, give the book a read.

As a whole, The Cuckoo's Calling is definitely a book some would read more than once, particularly for those who are into crime novels. If you are not very fond of dialogue however, this is probably a book you should avoid.

Ben Aaronovitch

Book Review: Foxglove Summer (Peter Grants #5) - by Ben Aaronovitch

8:58 PM

Summary from Goodreads:
In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London - to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can't take the London out of the copper.

Rating: 3.5/5

Review:
Written in first person point of view by Ben Aaronovitch, the fifth installment of the Peter Grant series was, although unique, somehow unimpressive and vaguely disappointing. In spite of the unique plot line and the masterfully subtle diversity, it did not seem to draw in the reader (this could obviously differ from reader to reader), and the main character was quite simply not likable In all honesty, there was too much going on in the story and it may have been too much to handle. As a Peter Grant series reader, one would expect much more from Foxglove Summer.

An aspect that did not disappoint was the diversity. Foxglove Summer was not your generic 'every single character is white except for maybe that one side character that is not significant in any way whatsoever' story. In fact, the main character is black. Not only that, but there was a Muslim doctor, and strong female characters. The impressive thing about this, however, is that it is done in a way where it isn't abnormal to have these characters as some of your main personalities. Aaronovitch managed to expertly represent certain groups that tend to be forgotten with the majority of writers in a surprisingly subtle and appropriate manner.

Aside from its diversity, Foxglove Summer succeeded to a certain extent in having a unique story line. The reader quite simply had no idea what was going to happen next. At times, there was too much going on and at times, it was not clear as to how anything lead up to certain events. But as a complete whole, everything made sense, the main conflict was resolved (in a writer's sense), and in the end, the reader got their expected share of magic and action.

Something that is worth noting and appreciating is the amount of knowledge the author had about what he was writing. In the acknowledgements section, it is shown that Aaronovitch had first hand practiced experts he was consulting in the matters he was writing about (as in police matters and countryside affairs). (It is also shown in his writing by the way).

Although this Foxglove Summer may not be everyone's cup of tea, it is certainly worth reading if you are into action, complicated plots, and amazing representation.

guardians of the galaxy

Movie Review - Guardians of the Galaxy

10:17 AM

Pages

Is German Better Than English?

Book Review: Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt

Book Review: The Graveyard Book - by Neil Gaiman

Original Plot of Rapunzel

Book Review: Meritropolis - by Joel Ohman

Book Review: Paper Towns - by John Green

Top Ten Books I Want to Read

10) Time Machine/The Invisible Man - by H.G Wells

9) Eleanor and Park - by Rainbow Rowell

8) Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl - by Jesse Andrews

7) The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise - by Julia Stuart

6) I Called Him Necktie - by Milena Michiko Flasar, Sheila Dickie

5) Falling Into Place - by Amy Zhang

4) Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt

3) Eleven - by Tom Rogers

2) Perfect - by Rachel Joyce

1) The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil - by Stephen Collins

Book Review: The Cuckoo's Calling - by Robert Galbraith

Book Review: Foxglove Summer (Peter Grants #5) - by Ben Aaronovitch

Movie Review - Guardians of the Galaxy

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