If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan ★★★★☆ Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light. So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they have been, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly. Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants, in the body she wants to be loved in, without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self? Farizan handles a smattering of tough topics eloquently and without hesitation. This tale of forbidden love serves to humanize many groups of people who shouldn’t need humanizing; gay, trans*, and even Middle Eastern people. Farizan expertly balances the feeling that Sahar is no different than a girl down the street with the dangers of her country - most importantly, to Sahar, the view of homosexuality as a crime. As I read, my heart ached for Sahar, and for Nasrin. Their story raises a lot of important questions, and is one willing to slap you in the face if that’s what it takes to wake you up.
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These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (Starbound #1) (Available November 2013) ★★★★★ It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever? Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it. This book was fantastic, a blend of sci-fi, survival, and creeping horror. I love that it’s told from both Tarver and Lilac’s points of view, keeping in check their strengths and weaknesses, and adding to the suspense. I couldn’t stop reading; I had to know what happened next. And it was never what I expected; These Broken Stars threw me for a dozen loops. Tarver and Lilac face impossible odds, terrifying circumstances, and new problems. Kaufman and Spooner gave them distinct, well-done personalities, and had them fall in love slowly and realistically. Happily, the love story isn’t the main focus of the novel until much later, and it does add to the book. The only thing I found a little bit off about These Broken Stars was that only Tarver and Lilac sruvived, out of the fifty thousand souls on board. I would have liked for them to encounter another survivor or two, but at the same time, the fact that they were utterly and totally alone helped to set the mood for the story. These Broken Stars was a deliciously new, tense science fiction, that had me interested from page one all the way to the end. My advice for you - read it. Read it now. Mermaid in Chelsea Creek by Michelle Tea ★★★☆☆ Everyone in the broken-down town of Chelsea, Massachussetts, has a story too worn to repeat—from the girls who play the pass-out game just to feel like they’re somewhere else, to the packs of aimless teenage boys, to the old women from far away who left everything behind. But there’s one story they all still tell: the oldest and saddest but most hopeful story, the one about the girl who will be able to take their twisted world and straighten it out. The girl who will bring the magic. Could Sophie Swankowski be that girl? With her tangled hair and grubby clothes, her weird habits and her visions of a filthy, swearing mermaid who comes to her when she’s unconscious, Sophie could be the one to uncover the power flowing beneath Chelsea’s potholed streets and sludge-filled rivers, and the one to fight the evil that flows there, too. Sophie might discover her destiny, and maybe even in time to save them all. I absolutely loved Tea’s gritty fantasy and gosh-darn incredible writing. Tea has a way of describing ordinary objects in ways you wouldn’t think to, lending a sense of the fantastical to bits of glass and a stinky, polluted creek. I love Tea’s complicated, important background characters, every bit as developed as Sophie, who I love even more. She’s normal, the kind of girl you could pick off any sidewalk corner, until Tea lets you know she isn’t. Tea’s urban fantasy is coated in filth and grime, and she knows exactly when to wipe it away and when to pile more on. If I had to change one thing about this book, it would be to add in more scenes with the mermaid herself, but I love the menagerie of characters and creatures Tea snuck into the pages, and their tie to Polish mythology. I loved this book, and you’ll love it too. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair ★★☆☆☆ In some of the most harrowing scenes ever written in modern literature, Upton Sinclair vividly depicted factory life in Chicago in the first years of the twentieth century. The horrors of the slaughterhouse, their barbarous working conditions… the crushing poverty, the disease, and the despair - he revealed all through the eyes of Jurgis Rudkus, a young immigrant who came to the New World to build a home for himself and his family. Sinclair’s writing style is somewhat dense, some of his characters flat and plot points improbable. But at the same time, it’s interesting and rife with scandals and insights into life in the early twentieth century. Sinclair is an expert at making every misfortune that falls Jurgis and his family personal to the reader, even if we don’t live in the early 1900s. Parts of this book had me on the edge of my seat, praying for Jurgis’ life right along with him. However, towards the end (after chapter 28 or so), Sinclair deviated from his story of the stockyards and tyrannical packers to talk politics and Socialism. The last few chapters read more like propaganda pamphlets than a novel, and Jurgis actually has very little to do in them besides listen to long political speeches and debates. Up until that point, though, Sinclair kept me interested in every paragraph, and I enjoyed his book. We is Got Him by Carrie Hagen ★★★☆☆ In 1874, a young boy named Charley Ross was snatched from his front yard in Philadelphia. The child’s father received a letter that read: “”Mr. Ross; be not uneasy you son charley bruster be all writ. we is got him and no powers on earth can deliver out of our hand. You wil have two pay us before you git him from us, and pay us a big cent to.” “ Philadelphia had just won the bid to host America’s centennial celebration. The country had survived revolution, civil war, and recession, and city politicians were eager to prove the country had matured enough to survive another hundred years. What they couldn’t foresee was how a child’s kidnapping threatened to unravel social confidence and plunge a city into despair. Hagen expertly weaves this historical narrative as we see Philadelphia’s mayor fight to preserve his city’s stature, and watch the manhunt spread from Philadelphia to the streets of New York. Based on a tremendous amount of research, the author accurately captures the darker side of America—with its corrupt detectives, thief-catchers, spiritualists, and river pirates—as a country in which innocence had become an ideal of the past. Hagen’s true crime novel, about the first recorded ransom kidnapping in America, was fascinating. Reading through the first few scenes of the book, it’s crazy to imagine a world where parents didn’t have their kids under constant supervision, and seeing strangers talking to children wasn’t worrying, but commonplace. Even kids are much different today; we learn about stranger danger when we’re very little. Charley and Walter Ross knew nothing about it; they willingly got into a strange buggy with two strange men. The police force’s handling of the case was also astonishingly different from today’s kidnapping cases. While We is Got Him was eye-opening to just how much America has changed, it was also a bit dry in places. Hagen often began talking about the upcoming Centennial or other background events, that, while interesting, weren’t necessary to the story of the kidnapping, or could have been shortened. However, much of her book was told like a regular novel, not a textbook, in that she allowed us to “get to know” the characters and used dramatic irony to her advantage. Although the book rambled on a little, I liked it a lot, and it was very interesting to read about everyday life in such a different time. Anyone interested in crime and its history would love We is Got Him, as would my fellow history buffs. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #1) ★★★★☆ When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with odd markings. This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with golden-haired Jace. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know… . I loved City of Bones. Not quite as much as I loved its predecessors, the books in the Infernal Devices trilogy, but still quite a lot. I thought that the variety of Downworlders, the mystery of Clary’s past, and rich details Clare puts into the story keep it interesting throughout. However, several scenes could have been shortened considerably and not done any harm to the story. I also didn’t like that this book and Clockwork Angel followed very similar formulas, but since City of Boneswas written first, I’ll forgive Clare. The thing that really got on my nerves was the love triangle. In TID, I was a big fan of the love triangle; it was executed perfectly and actually added a lot to the story. But in this book all I couldn't think of why Clare put the love triangle into play at all. Frankly, it was just annoying and cliche. But, I concede, overall City of Bones was a well-thought-out, beautifully detailed urban fantasy. The Maze Runner by James Dashner ★★★★☆ When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift. Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind. I liked this book for the fact that it was different from other dystopias. The concept of being stuck in a maze with grievous monsters and no memories is pretty unique and I thought it was done well. The beginning of the book bothered me like hell, since I had no idea what was going on and no one seemed forthcoming with information, but at the same time it was brilliant of Dashner to write it that way, as I’m sure Thomas didn’t like it much either. Once I got a feel for what was happening, I started to enjoy the book much more. Some of the characters, like Gally, seemed very one-sided, but overall they were written well. I thought Thomas and Teresa’s characters were written especially well and that all of the Gladers seemed human. The final chapter threw me for a loop, and I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell ★★★★★ Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. I couldn’t put this book down. I mean that literally; every time I tried to put it down and go to sleep, I immediately had to pick it up again and keep reading. So I’m here at 3:36 in the morning, telling you that Eleanor & Park is the best book I have read in a long, long time. There were about a thousand times while I was reading that I had to put the book down and bite my lip and try not to melt or squee or some ridiculousness, because it’s just that adorable. But it’s also poignant and heart-racing and makes you think about everything. And I do mean everything. Eleanor’s home situation is a scary, all-too-real undercurrent to the love story, and Park’s family, seemingly the polar opposite, is a great testament to not judging a book by its cover. I don’t think there ever has been, or ever will be, another story quite like this one. I am going to shove this book into the hands of everyone I meet. Edit from 2020: It's been six years since I read Eleanor and Park, and a lot has changed about how I view the book. It's come to my attention that this book has deeply racist (anti-Asian and anti-Black), and fatphobic content. When I read it I wasn't able to fully understand the issues with the book, but I have a much better understanding of them now. There's a great thread by Naomi Giddings explaining some of the problems with this book, so if by some chance this review shows up when you google Eleanor and Park following the release of the movie, may I suggest reading that instead? My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult ★★★★★ The emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister — and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister’s Keeper is the perfect book about what it means to be a family, and a sister. I’m torn between recommending this book to every single person I meet or telling them never to read it, because it will rip them apart. I cried for hours after I read it. Picoult’s writing style and fully developed characters brought the story to life. I never doubted for a second the love Anna had for Kate, or her need for freedom. This book threw me for some loops, some good and some bad, but all handled excellently by Picoult. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien ★★☆☆☆ Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo–alone and unaided–who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside … I am not completely in love with The Hobbit. I do like it, but it wasn’t what I expected. It’s more a problem of the hype being so great, the book could never live up to it. This may be one of the few instances where the movie is better than the book. The book was long-winded and a little boring at times. It keeps going long after it could have ended, and I almost didn't want to read anymore. There are definitely adventurous, exciting parts of the book, and they were great, but there was so much filler in between them I nearly fell asleep. Some of them - like killing the dragon - were mentioned only in passing. Because there are so many characters, there isn't a lot of character development. Bilbo changes through the story, but almost no one else does. There are also no female characters in the entire book. Middle Earth is complicated, and Tolkien obviously put a lot of effort into his world-building, though. He invented a language, for god's sake! Learning about the different peoples and creatures inhabiting Middle Earth was fascinating and my favorite part of the book. |
Once Upon a Time...As a longtime lover of stories and a believer in the power and magic of books, I've spent my life seeking out the best reads. This blog is dedicated to reviewing the books I read - good, bad, or magnificent - to help other readers find their next favorite books. Currently ReadingKing Zeno
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