The Thirteenth Tale

Alright, as promised, here I am to review my recent read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. First, quickly, I would urge you to check out the announcements page. There is lots of stuff going on you should check out! Also, I am really enjoying Crossed and I just started reading Fast Food Nation for my English class. I'm really liking it so far, I hope it holds strong. OK, now that that is out of the way, we can begin.
The Thirteenth Tale is kind of shrouded in secrets so I'm going to try to summarize this in a way that makes sense but doesn't give anything away. Margaret Lea is a biographer who has grown up around her father in his antique book shop. She has been reading for her whole life and always gets lost in the stories. One night, when she returns to the shop, she finds a letter from world-famous author Vida Winter. Miss Winter is dying and she wants someone to record her life story in a biography, and she things Margaret is the one for the job. Margaret is entirely shocked. Not only has she never met the author, but she has not read a single one of Vida Winter's dozens of novels. For research purposes, Margaret retrieves an antique copy of Vida Winter's The Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is captivated by the stories, and stays up all night reading them. But when she comes to the end of the book, she finds there are only 12 stories. Appropriately intrigued, Margaret agrees to go meet the dying author. Once at the house, Vida Winter takes Margaret on a journey through the dark secrets of her past. She tells Margaret of her days at the Angelfield estate, now long burnt to the ground. As Miss Winter continues though her story, Margaret carefully records the details, but she becomes more and more entangled in the story. In the end, both of these women must learn to face the ghosts and secrets of their past, the things that have haunted them their whole lives.
This book was simply marvelous. A friend gave me the book for my birthday and I kind of put it off for who knows why. Quotes all over the book say that lovers of books will love this book, and I most certainly fall into that category. When I did start reading it, I fell in love with both women's dark stories. The characters were so beautifully written, and Vida Winters chilling story felt so real and powerful. I would come out of the book in a daze, because I had fallen into the story so deeply I forgot anything else existed. I know that the next time I need to buy a book for a book-loving friend, this will be the one. I strongly recommend this thrilling and dazzling story, I know it is a book that will last though many generations.

Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Birthday

Unfortunately, I just don't have time for a book review today. I started reading Crossed, the sequel to Matched (because I'm putting off my homework reading) and I'm liking it way more than I liked the first book. But what I wanted to say was that my birthday was last week, on March 21st, and when I went to see how many people have been checking out my blog that day, I got a super awesome birthday surprise.

So thanks people of the USA! For my 3-21 birthday, I got a fun 321 from all y'all. Oh, that felt so awkward to spell... Anyway, thanks, more reviews to come!

Life

So I finished The Thirteenth Tale last night and it was absolutely incredible! I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. It wasn't blindingly fast-paced like The Hunger Games was, although there is nothing wrong with that, but it was one of those books that didn't have to have me on the edge of my seat for the entire book for me to want to keep reading. But I'm rambling. I will do a full review on that book in a couple of days, I just thought you should know that it was great. Now that I am done with that, I am resigned to finishing Pride and Prejudice, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, and Fast Food Nation. But I am going on a very long car ride this spring break so I should get a lot of them read and done.
Now for today's book, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass. I read this book a few years ago, actually, but even though it wasn't my favorite book, it kind of stuck with me. The book is about Jeremy Fink (obviously) who is going to turn 13 in a month. He is kind of an introverted kid, he collects "mutant candy" and if he can help it, he is never more than 4 blocks from home. His friend Lizzy is the exact opposite. She is ready to do anything at anytime, no matter what the consequences, just so long as it is an adventure. And she gets her wish when Jeremy receives a strange wooden box in the mail. A note that comes with the box says that inside is the meaning of life, but to open the box, you need all of the keys. If you try to open the box without the keys, the contents will be destroyed. Only one problem, how do you find all of the keys with no idea of where to start. Soon Jeremy and Lizzy start their amazing adventure to find the meaning of life, but when they start meeting strange people and going on strange trips all over the city, they start to think that maybe there is more than one way to find the meaning of life.

I enjoyed this book, though like I said before, it wasn't one of my favorites. The characters were nice, but I thought they needed more dimension than they had. I really enjoyed the ending, it was a good pay-off, but the rest of the book needed a little more editing before it went to print. I recommend it for kids about to go into junior high or kids already in junior high struggling with who they are and what they want to be. The ending really is inspiring, and it gave me a much better perspective on some parts of my life when I read it. I'm glad to have had it in my reading library.

Rating: 3.5/5

P.S. There is also a movie, which I just barely found out about. If anyone has seen it, please let me know how it is. But based on the IMDB page, not enough people saw it for it to even count as a movie. So I'm guessing it's not great.

The House of the Scorpion

So who has seen The Hunger Games? I saw the midnight premiere on Thursday and I actually loved it! I thought they did such an amazing job. For those of you who were worried about the PG-13 rating making it not bloody enough, I promise the scene at the cornucopia is plenty gruesome. It probably could have had more, but it was pretty realistic. And the actors were perfect. I loved all of them, and even though I am totally team Peeta, I wanted to see more Gale because the actor was fantastic. Well, my main point is that it was great.
Now, confession: I actually love Nancy Farmer. I have read quite a few of her books and I almost always adore them. So I figured I should talk about one of my favorites, The House of the Scorpion. This is a book about a boy named Matt. But things are not as they seem with Matt, because he is a clone. He is a clone of El Patron, the ruler of a strip of land in Mexico covered in poppies called Opium. For El Patron, Matt is the key to eternal life. He loves Matt like he loves himself, because Matt is himself, down to every last strand of DNA. But things threaten Matt. El Patron's power-hungry family and servants along with many other sinister characters of Opium. To most people, Matt is a monster. Something horrifying grown in a cow for nine months and then cut out, something with no soul and no chance of life beyond the one he already lives.
I adored this book. It pulled me in with Nancy Farmer's fantastic story-telling and for a while I didn't even register that it was a kind of dystopian fiction. Maybe dystopian is the wrong word... it takes place in a world of the future where clones exist. Anyway, the characters were frightening and sinister and they pulled me into the story instantly. I loved following Matt and I sympathized with him, which can be hard to get me to do. He felt like such a real character. I strongly recommend this book, and I will tell you now, it will pull you into an entirely new world you never would have thought existed.

Rating: 5/5

Chilling

Chilling isn't just clever wordplay in this case, it describes this book perfectly. The book Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson was very chilling. It is the story of a girl named Lia who suffers from anorexia, and most recently, the death of her best friend Cassie. Cassie was anorexic too, and her method of losing weight was purging. On the day of her death, Cassie leaves many messages with Lia, but she doesn't answer one of them. Now Cassie's ghost is plaguing her. It tells Lia to lose more weight, to join Cassie on the other side. The skinny side. Every time Lia eats something, the calorie count goes through her mind. She puts quarters in her bathrobe for when her watchful stepmother watches her step on the scale every morning. But no one understands! Even at 95 pounds, Lia can see the sacks of fat hanging off of her body. And Cassie is calling for her to drop those next 10 pounds...
This book was sometimes horrifying. As someone who never understood anorexia, the thoughts of this girl, a girl my age, made me sick on occasion. But annorexia is a real problem. The fact that Lia thinks of her food in terms of the number of calories that are in it just astounded me. Lia's description of herself while she was in the help center for anorexia made me want to cry. Anoriexia is a horrifying problem and this book tells us all of the horrifying details no one wants to think about. Some of the storytelling methods started to get on my nerves. There was a lot of scoring through words words crossed out when Lia wanted to amend her thoughts, and it really interrupted the flow. Also, the motives behind the anorexia, I felt, were never properly explained. And finally, Lia's family was kind of vague at times, and I felt like that part of the story was never told.

Other than that, this book was actually really fantastic. It has made me really want to get my hands on the book Speak also by Laurie Halse Anderson. I have heard it is fantastic. Wintergirls was appropriately chilling and real, and I think every girl in high school should read this book, no matter what. They need to understand the horrible world of anorexia, and this book really shows it.

Rating: 3.5/5

And Hope to Die

Steal dealing with the sad loss of my Grandparent's house, but we have found a lot of pictures and special memories we are so glad we haven't lost. You never know what you have until it is gone (see last review). On the other side of things, The Thirteenth Tale is turning out to be a fantastic book, and today I got a copy of Fast Food Nation to read in English class. I've actually heard that it is a great book and I can't wait to get started. One thing I know, in times of sadness, I'm glad I can turn to my special friends, the books.
And now to get started, Cross My Heart by Julie Wright. This is definitely in the category of LDS chick lit. It is very very very chick lit. Lovers of fantasy, this holds no dragons or death defying stunts. It actually involves so many love triangles and quadrangles my head was spinning (which the back of the book actually predicted, might I add). This books is about lovesick Jillian. A recent love study her boyfriend Jack took her to (a bit suspicious, Jack?) revealed that Jill was still in love with her ex, Geoffrey. Geoffrey, the one who stole Jill's advertising idea and got a promotion out of it, which led to his untimely dumping. Then, when Jill gets a job back in her home town with Geoffrey at a competing company and her parents down the road, she just happens to meet a wonderful (and Mormon) man named Allen. Allen is sweet and they really have a chance of hitting it off, if he wasn't so hung up on his ex-girlfriend who also happens to be dating some hot-shot in advertising. Whoever will Jill end up with?
I didn't love this book. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. I just isn't my kind of book, frankly. I picked it up at a teen writers conference when the author was there, and she signed my book (and mentioned that she was in love with my hair, thank you very much). The book just felt so predictable. All of the reactions were just what you would expect, and it felt like the Mormon side of it was so forced! Everything she said was like she was pushing the religion in my face, which is weird, considering I'm the same religion! The characters were kind of flat and the sarcasm wasn't great. Also, the ending held none of the surprise the book's blurb promised. The whole book just fell flat.

Rating: 3/5


P.S. The book says "Cecilia, Love rocks! Be Happy believe in yourself and keep writing" On a side note, Julie Wright was my favorite teacher at this writers conference. She was amazing and I would willingly go take another class from her!

Where'd Ya Go?

Today wasn't a great day for me. My grandparent's house burned down, and although my grandparents were fine, thank goodness, I've still been feeling a little shocked and a little out of it. Dealing with loss is hard, even if it is just a house. It is still the house you grew up in. Anyway, the mood I'm in made me feel like reviewing one of the sadder books I read this year, and one that kind of deals with loss. So the book I am reviewing is Gone by Michael Grant, book 1 in the Gone books. "In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE." This is the first line on the back of the book and it caught my eye. In Gone, one moment Sam is watching his teacher in front of the class, the next moment she has disappeared. Everyone is freaking out about where she is when all of a sudden other students run into the room. All of the teachers are gone. Everyone over the age of 15 has disappeared. Only toddlers, kids, young teens, are left. But that isn't the worst part. Soon people have started to mutate, some of them have powers, abilities they can't explain. Bullies crop up, and it is the powerful against the weak, and no one knows who to turn to.
I actually loved Gone, but the next books, Hunger and Lies, aren't nearly as strong. The fear in the kids in this book was so real. They are trying to ignore the fact that their parents are missing, and deal with trying to control a whole town full of kids. I mean, these kids all of a sudden have to deal with all of the babies and toddlers that no longer have moms, and there is no access to the outside which means that they are going to have to worry about finding food soon. I can't imagine that kind of responsibility! I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much, and I'm sure that readers of The Hunger Games, Everlost, Found, and Unwind will really enjoy this series too.

Rating: 4/5

Slapstick and Kiss

I know, my regular naming isn't up to par. I could not think of anything that creative to go with both books so you will just have to live with this one. Just to keep you updated (although I doubt you are keeping track of what I am reading every day of your life) I am reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and The Green Mile book 2 by Stephen King. I'm really thinking I could love The Thirteenth Tale. It is awesome so far, can't wait to let you know when I finish it.
Ok, I'm a little disorganized today. 2 books in 1 review has me distracted. The first book is Slapstick or Lonesome No More by Kurt Vonnegut. It is told as an autobiography written by a rapidly aging president of the United States. Incidentally, the last president of the United States. He tells the story of him and his twin sister growing up together, being geniuses and looking quite freakish. I mean, really freakish. They are far too tall, gangly, and the sister has 4 breasts. Shudder. Anyway, he tells the story of how he evolved  from everyone thinking that he was an idiot freak to becoming the final president of the United States and how his sister wasn't quite so lucky.
I didn't love this book. The main characters "senile hiccup" of saying "hi ho" all the time got to be annoying. When it comes right down to it, I read this book for English and only for English. I would have never picked it up on my own, and that's what I got out of it. I think if you like other Kurt Vonnegut you will like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Rating: 2/5

 The next book I read was called Kiss, written by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy. I adore Ted Dekker, I should just start with that. I really have to get to reviewing more of his books because I haven't read one I haven't liked, and more commonly loved. Kiss is about a girl named Shauna who wakes up from a 6 week comma missing 6 months of her memory. She can't remember her loving boyfriend, Wayne, and apparently the car crash she was in that caused her comma also caused her deeply loved brother severe brain damage. Her family hates her (although it wasn't like they liked her that much before) and they all blame her for her brother's condition. While Shauna is trying to understand what happened and remember the memories she has lost, she realizes she is starting to remember things not about her. They are memories from the people around her, and she thinks that maybe these people can't be trusted anymore. Because if these memories are right, someone is trying to kill her and it might be someone close to her.
I really really liked this book, as usual with Ted Dekker. You hit a certain point and you can't put the book down no matter how hard you try. I was up all night reading just to see who was behind everything with Shauna. She was a really great character and she had lots of great layers, and she was just oblivious enough and just untrusting enough that you didn't feel like she was stupid but you didn't feel like she was picking up on things way too fast. I don't know where Erin Healy's particular contributions were, but she certainty didn't take anything away from Dekker. I really like this book and I can't wait to get to their next book together: Burn.

Rating: 4/5

To Infinity and Beyond

Phew! Done with school for the week. You have to love getting a day off at the end of the week, it feels amazing. Especially when the weather is so perfectly lovely out! New announcement, but I'm not going to post it on the announcement page. If anyone here cares about James Dashner (awesome author) then go to find out his awesome announcement here: http://jamesdashner.blogspot.com/ It is just some info on his new series of books for grade-school age. Very cool for him!Last post I mentioned I was reading 3 books... Well I finished all 3 already. What? I've been bored! Anyway, without further ado, I'm going to review the book I finished today. Maybe I'll try to get through 2 of them tomorrow....
First up, Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon. By the way, I kind of love this woman's name, don't you? Sorry, off subject. Infinity is about a boy named Nick who lives in New Orleans. He is a regular kid, no dad around and he and his mom barely get by with the money she earns as a... ahem, dancer. He is mistreated by all of the people in his private school, including the principal. One day walking home from his mom's job, Nick gets shot (I won't give away why) and is rescued by a super-cool, ninja-fighting guy all dressed in black. When the strange man says he wants to pay for all of Nick's hospital bills, Nick is reluctant, but Kyrian (the ninja guy) offers Nick a job to pay off the debt. Life is actually taking a turn for the better! But the next day, when Nick goes to school, his fellow classmates are turning into zombies and eating each other! Now Nick's life is really in danger, plus it is full of Vampires, Demons, and even Werewolves, plus some really attractive new girl at school named Nekoda. What ever will he do?! This book is book one in the Chronicles of Nick series.
Infinity sounded really funny to me based on the back of the cover and I have been really excited about reading it. Unfortunately, this book just didn't cut it. Infinity was so clichéd, it sounded like it was written by someone really young who had never experienced any teen feelings and so they just based all of their dialogue on movies that they had watched that took place in high school. All of the reactions were just how you would expect, no surprises, but the reactions weren't well written, and I didn't love any of the characters. And apparently only super attractive women live in the same town at the main character, Nick, because whenever he sees a woman all he talks about is how attractive she is. The way women are portrayed in the book is like the author wanted you to feel like she could create strong, female leads, but it ended up feeling forced. I just felt like she was trying to stick some kind of strong female character in their so the book wasn't as male dominated, and it didn't work. I just really didn't like this book. Was I not clear on that?
Ugh! Just seriously don't read this book. It was not good. I kept being told it was good and it just isn't. It's amateur writing and I don't understand how Sherrilyn Kenyon got to be as popular as she is, or how this book sold enough copies for there to be not just 1, but 2 sequels. I wish I hadn't wasted my time on this book, and I'm trying to save you from the same fate!



Rating: 1.5/5

Stop Pretending

By the by, everyone check out the announcements page, I posted a very cool picture for a book I am very excited about coming out! The book covers are always beautiful and I can't wait to get my hands on this one. Other news, James Dashner said that us 13th Reality fans will be able to stop bothering him about a date for the release of The Void Of Mist and Thunder soon. Apparently the book was written and done a year ago and they have just been hiding it from us! But at least we will soon have a date to look forward to. OK, can't think of anymore business...
Updated reading list, I am reading Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy. As usual, I am loving the mystery and suspense of Ted Dekker's writing and I like Erin Healy's contributions, wherever those are coming in. I am also reading Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon and really not loving it. It seems like really cliched dialogue, but maybe it will turn out better. Oh, and I am also finishing up Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut, so look for a review on that one coming up.
Alrighty, on to the book. The book of the day is Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones. It is a very very short book written in choppy free-verse poetry based on the author's experience of her older sister being checked into a mental hospital when she was a young girl. The poetry is utterly gorgeous and I was sucked in immediately. I started reading and couldn't put the book down, which was actually OK because it only took me about 1 1/2 hours to finish the whole book.The main character is so easy to identify with. She is so pressured about her sister not being who she once was. She is terrified by the idea that her friends might find out, she worries about what people will say when they find out her sister is crazy, she worries about her sister in a sanitized room, and she worries about herself: if her sister went crazy, will she go crazy too?

This is one of those characters where you just want to give them a hug, because no one else in their lives will. I hope with all my heart I will never have to endure what she does. I think this is a beautiful book that will not take long to read, so it doesn't put you out at all. It also really leaves you thinking. I loved the poetry of it. I especially adore the poem where she talks about a boy, "I wasn't pretty until he called me pretty." It sounds like she has low self esteem, but who didn't feel like that? Up to that point, it has been your family and your friends who say you are pretty, and now this boy says you are pretty? I guarantee if you haven't had that happen yet, when you do you will understand that poem!

So go read it! The whole book, because it will stay with you for a long time after you have closed the pages.

Rating: 4/5

Put One Foot In Front of the Other

I feel like I haven't written anything in so long! I'm thinking it's because of that end-of-the-quarter crunch that just makes me go crazy. At least I'm finally done with my sprint to read as many Stephen King books as possible. I will still read them, of course, but I'm all done with the forced speed reading. Oh, don't forget to check the announcements page regularly, people! I will updating and getting rid of old information when new stuff happens to stay on top of it! And now, speaking of Stephen King.
So while I was on my mad dash, I happened to pick up a book called The Long Walk, written by Richard Bachman. For those of you who don't know what that means, Richard Bachman is Stephen King's pseudonym that is not quite so secret as it once was. I have been having a hard time properly enjoying Stephen King books and I picked this up expecting another 3-star worthy book, but I was very wrong! This book is by far my favorite I've read by Stephen King.
The Long Walk is about this event that takes place in Maine every year (well, someday) that involves 100 teenage boys. Boys sign up of their own free will to participate in The Long Walk, a walk to the death. The boys line up at the starting line and just start walking, which doesn't sound bad at first, but after a couple of days it isn't so fun anymore. You see, when you get tired, you can't just stop. You have to keep walking at 4 MPH or above for as many days as it takes because when you stop, you die. Brutally. You are killed by a firing squad. You are warned three times, once for every 30 seconds you stop, and then your life stops. It doesn't matter if you have a leg cramp, if you get Pneumonia, or even if you have to go to the bathroom. You stop, you die. So why sign up? Because these boys are poor, and the winner gets all the riches he can imagine plus one other grand prize. But what does that do to you? Walking with no sleep, feeling your legs turn to mush, fearing for your life for days and days and days until you are the only one left living? I'll tell you what, it's no picnic.
This is one of those books I can picture Suzanne Collins reading when she was younger. I can picture her going, "A world where kids are sent to a game show, where they are murdered in front of people and the last one living gets a comfortable life? Hmmm...." This book was eerie, very eerie. You get to know the characters and then you have to learn to let each of them go. They are dying all around as you march through Maine. The reactions of these boys is so realistic, it is a little scary. Maybe that is why I liked this book so much more than the other books by King, because it wasn't necessarily horror, it seems to fall a little more under a dystopian category, although we are never told the year or how The Long Walk started.

I really liked this book, and if you like The Hunger Games, I would definitely recommend it. You can see little bits of the book that most certainly acted as inspiration for that series. Be forewarned, this book is about teenage boys trying to prove how tough they are. That means language, and a lot of it. But if you have read King before, you know this already. Also, there is some more sexual material. Not extreme, but again, these are teenage boys looking to brag to their new buddies. You are warned! If these things don't bother you, I seriously suggest you go out and get a copy to read ASAP.



Rating: 4/5