I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

I never believed Noah and I shared a soul, that mine was half a tree with its leaves on fire, like he said. I never felt like my soul was something that could be seen. it felt like motion, like taking off, like swimming toward the horizon or diving off a cliff or making flying women out of sad, out of anything.

It's me again!! 

Hi!

As promised, here I am finally with another review. Life has punched me in the face with a sign that reads "HERE I AM! LOVE ME!". It has teamed up with Stress and Confusion to wreck havoc in my life.

But I will prevail and continue to Read Books and Do the Blog Thing! And also capitalize Words unnecessarily.

A while ago, I was google chatting with Linnea and Marissa. Linnea and I were reading Reign of Shadows (Review to come very soon!) while Marissa, the little rebel, was reading I'll Give You The Sun and weeping. 

Well that inspired me to go find my copy tucked away on my shelves and read it. Which resulted in my staring in shock at my ceiling at two in the morning (it's always 2am)

Genre:  Contemporary

Feelings: YES

Cuteness: YES

Fast pacing: The way this book is formatted makes it difficult to justify putting it down.

Series: Nope

Read if you like: Siblings, art, colors and forgiveness

Content: Gay character. Lots of kissing. Some discussion of various body parts. Affair stuff.

Trigger warning? Suicide, bullying, loss of a parent

In summary...His chapters are when they’re fourteen, her chapters are years later. They both have two sides of a story, and back and forth, it will be revealed what happened in those years between to ruin their relationship.

Thoughts: Dried up pain, stone dust, ocean waves crashing on a cliff. Capital Letters.

Messages: A lot. Forgiveness, regret, dealing with grief. This book has A Lot.

Rating: 5/5 stars

I cannot. I do not. Where to begin?

This book has a Soul. A soul that has proved to not be for everyone, but it’s one that snuck it’s way into my heart. Something about the relationships. Something about the colors. The way the story wove itself, the way it clung to you long after the last page.

-The Characters-

I Have So Much Trouble Liking Characters. How many times can I say this? I write in first person but for some reason as soon as a story is written in first person it feels very hard for me to like them. This story has TWO first person perspectives and I adored both characters.

I fell for them. I felt for them. I loved the spirit, the struggle, the strength. The snark and wit. The way they reacted to those around them. Also I adore siblings. And this story had such a conflicting, difficult, wonderful siblingship that I don’t think I’ll be forgetting anytime soon.

-The Writing and Plot-

OH.

Oh.

Can we just talk about the narrative? I have never been so entertained while reading a story ever. Nelson has this way with words that transports you right into these characters brains, even if those places are scary sometimes.

Can we just talk about the Plot? The twists and turns? The angst? The ending?

Can we just talk about the Book?? This story is structured so wonderfully. The book consists of two pov’s as mentioned, but there’s not a lot of switches because each chapter is quite long. Some being as long as 60 pages. Which means after the first two, you think, “WAIT GOTTA READ ONE MORE CHAPTER.” But then it leaves you hanging so you read one more.

Then you’re over halfway through.

This is why I read it in one night/morning.

The idea of a story being told through past/present, the back and forth, is one that’s been used before but this book took such a different approach to it, one that worked so well for the story. I cannot even. Bye.

-Messages and Other-

I cannot sum up simply what this book means, what this book is saying. I just know it’s saying a lot. It’s got so much that will speak to so many people. But not everyone.

It’s one of those books that is going to find the right hands to be in.

Some hands will enjoy it, setting it on their shelf to look at fondly.

Some hands will dislike it. Shrug, say “eh” and put it back.

Some hands will clutch it once it’s over. They will soak up every word.

It’s a book that has a Soul, and the only way to know if that Soul is for you, is to go and read it.

Find a copy.

Shorties Entry 2: The Ghost in the Glass House by Carey Wallace, Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff and When My Heart was Wicked by Tricia Stirling

I am the ultimate loser.

Yes, it has been about two months since I last posted. I have excuses!

1: NaNoWriMo. I participated in Camp NaNo last month and it basically took up all of my writing brain.
2: Reading slumps. I honestly just have not read much. I did not finish a single book last month and it's tragic.
3: Sickness. School. Life??

But I have returned. I have two shiny books to review. I have started about 5 other books and once school ends...well I will be reading obsessively. Stay tuned for that!

These three books aren't as "short" as the last set of shorties I reviewed, but they all were very quick reads I read in about a day. Sadly, all three of them I was pretty disappointed by, and today I am going to share why.

The Ghost in the Glass House by Carey Wallace

Clare's intense interest in these visitors was a source of gratification to Bridget's mother and a point of content with Bridget, who though about ghosts, very much the same way that most people thought about God: Despite the fact they were probably real, it was unforgivably impolite to talk about them.

Growing up, the roaring twenties were my life. Lately, because of my dear friend Emma, has made me rediscover how much I love the twenties.

So, naturally I went on a rampage to find 1920's books. I was so freaking excited when I found this. Ghosts??? 1920's?? How about yes?

Sadly...it was not quite a "yes" book for me.

Stats:

Genre: Like...I can't say paranormal. But. Ghost-ish middle grade historical?

Feelings: No

Happiness: The writing was fun to read, but other than that...not much

Cuteness: No .-.

Fast pacing: Nopety nope.

Series: Nopeeee

Read if you like: Middle grade books, and really quirky old fashioned type prose.

Content: Other than a bunch of 12 year old's talking about being in love and kissing people? Nope.

In one sentence... Clara finds a glass house in her yard. There is a ghost. They fall in love. She is 12 years old. That was not one sentence but shhhhhh

Thoughts: A cave, filled with old furniture. 

Messages: Not really any heavy messages in this book? Very....very....middle grade.

Overall:

Rating: 3/5

This review is SPOILER FREE

The Lovely Bits:

I really wanted to love this book. It had all the components of a book I would love. And I didn't enjoy it, just....not enough.

I can't really do my normal -Characters-Plot-Messages- layout, because none of these things I actually liked in this book. So I will switch it around some.

I did like the prose in this book. It had that really fun old fashioned feel that I love to read in books. The setting was very vibrant and real to me, and when I read it, I did feel caught up in this little world. 

Jack was a likable ghost. He was mischievous and fun, though juvenile. I honestly think he was the only character I actually liked in this book.

I feel bad that there's not enough to say about this book that I liked. Because it was not awful. The only reason I didn't like it, was because I didn't realize it was middle grade. When I read ghosts, I want dark ghosts. I want scary ghosts. I didn't expect this tiny book to be full of so much 12 year old drama and...nothing scary.

So, basically, this book was not for me.

The Less Lovely Bits:

Clare. Bridgit. Whatever those two other boys were named. They really just weren't likable. Simply because, they were 12, and caught up in their 12 year old drama. Bridget constantly talking about boys and asking Clare who she is in love with really got on my nerves. I mean, yeah it's 1920 and they're 12. But I am a 16 year old teen living in the 21st century, and that was not the type of story I wanted.

Clare I felt like I wanted to like? Because she was the main character, because she wanted what was best, because she was stubborn and went about stealing keys to get her way and have fun. But she was...(again, bringing this up,) 12, so her priorities were way out of wack. So I really didn't connect with her at all. 

And Bridget. Ah, Bridget. Bridget I think is one of those characters that if she grew up, I'd love. She's spirited and determined, and she seems like a fun character. But she came across annoying. So, so annoying. 

There's not a whole lot to say about this? It was a very simplistic book. There was no heavy plot, no suspense. It was a very quick, simple book that I think a lot of younger readers will love. Not teens.

Even for younger readers, the messages seemed a little off. It's honestly always bugged me when young people in books are obsessed with romance. I understand that life for a young kid in the 20's was very different, but any type of book with that bothers me.

Why?

Because right now everywhere you look 12 and 11 year old's are pulling out their smart phones and getting boyfriends and...it bugs me. What happened to being a carefree kid? Being 12 is right on the brink of being a teen, and getting closer to high school. Childhood is so short, and I know I am only 16, but I wish so much I could go back in time and give 12-year-old-me a shake and yell "Stop obsessing over boys and makeup! There will be enough drama in two years! Go have fun"

Yes, books should be historically accurate. Yes, it's okay for books to have these things. I still wish there was less of it. Childhood books should be about childhood, not things that they will have plenty to deal with in high school.

Overall, it was a fun book and I want to have younger kids read it because ghosts are awesome. But, it really wasn't for me. And a lot of it's little messages irked me. 

Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

..., and I went back to my old habit of walking the halls looking down most of the time. It was different now, though—before I’d done it without thinking, because I didn't know another way. Now I was actively avoiding a life I knew might be out there. But it was my choice.

Ah. This book. It was small, it was cute, it had a killer cover. And the concept? Someone using music and playlists to figure out a friends suicide? And each chapter had one of the songs??

I needed it. I even made the playlist so I could listen while I read.

Gods, was I disappointed. 

Stats:

Genre: Contemporary

Feelings: There should have been more 

Happiness: There should have been MORE

Cuteness: No

Fast pacing: Not realllyyy?

Series: Nope

Read if you like: Music? Mediocre characters? Pretty covers?

Content: Not much, I think just some swearing. And, it deals with suicide, so.

In one sentence... Hayden is dead, and all he has left behind is a playlist for Sam to listen to, and try and figure out the truth.

Thoughts: Nothing. I'm really sorry, but I seriously got nothing from this book.

Messages: Honestly....not much.

Overall:

Rating: Like...1.5-2/5, maybe?

This review has PLOT SPOILERS but really. They are so obvious it hurts

The Lovely Bits:

 Uh. I liked the cover? I liked the concept?

Honestly, this book is so concept driven. I've read a lot of books about suicide and depression, and this concept seemed so intriguing and unique to me. But everything else was so mediocre, and it bothers me because this book could have been great.

The Less Lovely Bits:

There's nothing to really say about Sam. He was...nothing. He was kind of pathetic and annoying and I wanted to like him because of what he went through but he was so... I don't know, man. He wasn't anything special.

Then there's Astrid! The tough girl! With piercing! There to put his life back together! It was. No. 

The problem was all of the characters were molds. They had no unique aspects that set them apart. They were archetypes on a page, basically. 

There are two things I really need to love a book. Emotions, and good characters. This book had neither when it should have had both.


Was there any? Unless I was so fed up by the end I missed it, I don't remember any actual solution to the whole "what does the playlist mean" question. The plot was weak. So weak.

And then the end came and gasp! You discover that Astrid is the one hurting those who hurt Hayden, Astrid is the one messaging Sam with Hayden's account. Even though....Astrid told Sam she knew the password to Hayden's account and constantly dropped hints through the whole book.

Yeah. Big reveal. 

Suicide books are a big deal. They're very important books to be written, and I really wanted so much more from this. I wanted a beautiful friendship story, with music and sadness.

Instead I got some guy-girl drama, with some muggings in the background and the music as some...plot thing that never even gets figure out. And Hayden's suicide? It felt like a plot device and that really bugged me. 

Suicide books are a big deal. When an author writes a book about this, I expect messages. Authors needs to use suicide in books to raise awareness, not to attract teens to their books, not to make the plot "work."

Overall, this book just didn't work. At all. Weak characters and plot aside, it really didn't have enough seriousness about the subject matter. Suicide is such a fragile subject and it really wasn't handled well here. Luckily, it was not heavily triggering like Thirteen Reasons Why, or I would be a raging monster right now.




When my Heart was Wicked by Tricia Stirling

"We are rare birds with sharp teeth and gilded wings," she would tell me. "We soar above roofs and treetops, shooting through clouds and tickling the moon. The stars are our nightclubs where we dress in silver bangles and eat men whole before spitting them out. People tell us we have our head in the clouds and we laugh, ferociously baring our teeth. We don't like the be pulled down to earth."

This book's cover grabbed me as soon as I walked into the store. And it was so tiny and cute, it immediately caught my attention. And then I read the synopsis. It sounded just like my type of story! Witches, and darkness, and facing inner wickedness. 

Ah, yeah, no it didn't work. 

Stats:

Genre: Paranormal-ish?

Feelings: Not really

Happiness: I had a weird uncomfortable feeling during this whole book

Cuteness: Ew no

Fast pacing: Slow? But not painfully

Series: Nope.

Read if you like: Ah....choppy but pretty prose, and weird witchy stuff 

Content: A uncomfortable sex scene thing. Like, not graphic but it was just...no. Some dark magic stuff, and swearing.

In one sentence... Lacy used to be bad, but she got better. Now? She's not so sure

Thoughts: Dirt under your nails and black boots

Messages: Ah...I honestly am not even sure. People are bad but people can get better?

Overall:

Rating: 

This review is SPOILER FREE

The Lovely Bits:

During the first bits of this book, I really did like it. The prose was choppy, yes, but very pretty and fun to read. The character voice was strong, and the plot really neat.

It had just a very unique feel and atmosphere that I was really liking. The elements of the black birds and things like that was so intriguing. I loved the way things were described, and how dark and twisted everything felt.

But as it progressed, it got...not as intriguing and pretty.

The Less Lovely Bits:

Lacy was...frustrating. I thought she was a cool character at first, but after a while her character ARC and motivation feel flat and I was so confused and I wanted to give her a good shake. And yell at her a lot.

If this book hadn't been so short, I doubt I would have finished. I kept waiting for some redeeming factor. As it went on it just got worse and worse. 

The prose that was pretty started to get repetitive, weird. It felt a little try-hard. After the first 100 pages, everything felt too forced. And the dialogue started getting so stilted.

Really, I don't remember much of this book. I remember it left me feeling very weird and uncomfortable. Like a lot.


So, I would still maybe give it a try if you feel up to it. Because it was pretty. It may be another case where it wasn't for me. 


And that's it! Those are the three shorties I've read the past two months. Let me know if you read them, and what you think!

And I will try and post more. Seriously. I swear.

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

“Depression is like a heaviness that you can’t ever escape. It crushes down on you, making even the smallest things like tying your shoes or chewing on toast seem like a twenty-mile hike uphill. Depression is a part of you; it’s in your bones and your blood.


I have been on a reading rampage so I have two books to review. I've been wanting to review this ever since I finished it. -cough- in a day. So. Here we go. Also, a quick note. I am restructuring how I do my reviews! 

Stats:

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

Feelings: Well. This book is about suicide so... 

Happiness: Some surprising moments of humor.

Cuteness: I was back and forth on the ship? But yes. Also brief sibling love.

Fast pacing: No but I couldn't stop thinking about it whenever I walked away, hence why I rudely ignored my 4h club to finish it.

Series: No

Read if you like: Sad stories with a good dose of hope plopped in your face at the end

Content: Some kissing, some light swearing, some darker things (again...suicide,) but nothing graphic or unnecessary. 

In one sentence... Two teenagers who would have never met, team up as "suicide partners".... but as the planned date comes closer...doubts start to arise as they two start to fill in the holes in each other's lives.

Thoughts: A old playground. Sacrifice. Rain. A campsite.
Messages: Your past does not define you, what you decide to do with yourself and your future does.

Overall:

Rating: 4.5/5

This review has LIGHT SPOILERS in the negative section. You can skip that.

The Lovely Bits:

Ahhh! This book! I was reading another book was having the hardest time picking it back up. I opened to the first page of this one and couldn't stop. It sucked me in right away, making it nearly impossible to stop reading. 

It was a very easy read, but still held a lot of weight. It made you think. It made you wonder. The story wrapped you up in a hug and didn't let go once. I found it very easy to relate to Aysel and Roman, even with the differences of our situations.

-Characters-

The characters were amazing.They felt real and realistic, and tore away at my heart little by little. Aysel. (pronounced Ah-zelle) Aysel was really great. She was a tad over-reactive, but really I could connect to her. She was really sassy and snarky, and I enjoyed that. 

I mean...ah. The character development. The way this story was structured. This was so well done. 

-Writing and Structure-

The writing was simplistic, but very beautiful. It was fun and snarky, with some amazing descriptions and analogies. 

It was almost refreshing to read, but that's because any time a book has a unique format it feels refreshing.

-Messages and other-

It perfectly captured depression, and portrayed it in a way that I think was less triggering than other books, like 13 Reasons Why. I feel like any book about suicide should be read in one sitting simply because or else you might be thinking about death more than you should be. But this one was lighter on that aspect than 13 Reasons Why. 

Really...this just made sense. It wasn't overly un-realistic, cheesy, or forced or overly romance. It wasn't too dark, it didn't leave you drained and upset. It didn't end all "Be POSITIVE DON'T BE SAD." Even with the sad ending.

The Less Lovely Bits (Spoilerssssss)

While this was well done for a debut...I could still tell it was a debut. Because of the ending. I'm not sure what I was expecting? The book was reasonably light, but it could have had a tragic ending. And it wasn't too pat, but I feel like a lot of debut authors are more cautious. And I could tell with this.

Aysel was a little annoying in the beginning. Everything was, but it got progressively better. 


----
Okay seriously that's all. Overall, I loved it. A lot. It was really an enjoyable and beautiful book and I want people to read it. 

At the back of this book there's a list of numbers for suicide hot lines and stuff. And I'm going to sound like everyone ever....but if you ever have thoughts about death or anything please don't keep them to yourself. Please. You can get past this stuff. Talk to a trusted friend, or give one of those numbers a call. Don't throw your life away. A lot of days feel like crap but those crap days are what you fight for to get some really amazing days.

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

“It was time to let go of the mad desire to remember. It was time to start living whatever life would come. In the present, not the past.” 

I've been so busy lately, so sorry I haven't posted in a while. But today, I bring you a review for a lovely book I just finished. It was quite predictable and probably cliche, but I really enjoyed it. Definitely produced some smiles.

Stats:

Genre: Contemporary. Road Trip book!

Feelings: Some happy flaily feels

Happiness: See above. I definitely grinned reading this.

Cuteness: The bits with Hudson were very insta-love, but honestly kinda adorable. But there was a lot of friend-cute.

Fast pacing: No, but this book is split up into five different "parts" so it was a very quick read.

Series: Nope.

Read if you like: Road trips, fluff, friendship stories, self-discovery sentimental reads. Also I think fans of Morgan Matson's Since You've Been Gone would like this. It has a similar DO ALL THE THINGS vibe.

Content: Light kissing, few cases of swearing, drinking. Some "rebellious" behavior, I guess.

In one sentence... Four different people meet one girl on her journey to see the northern lights, and the changes she makes in their life are nothing they would expect.

Thoughts: People coming and going. The sound of an engine running, loudly played music, running in the woods, swimming in a river, and the color red.

Overall:

Rating: 4.5/5 This is a tentative rating. I loved it and I consider it to be amazing, but that is more of a personal meaning to me. I am rating this not completely for quality but because I personally loved it. If I was going to be picky the rating might be smaller. 

This review has LIGHT SPOILERS

The Lovely Bits:

Okay I am just going to go out and admit it, I pretty much got this book from the cover. I've had friends give me lectures on that but I have no shame. Seriously who hasn't done that? And normally I like fantasy and adventures, with detectives or ghosts or misunderstood evil people doing bad things and...you know, being misunderstood. I do have contemporary books I love, but not as much. But this one? I couldn't help it. It was so cute. And that's what the whole book is. It's cute. Literary? No. Award winning? No. Influential? Not really. But it was cute and I liked it.

This book. I flew through the whole thing, becoming easily caught up in the story and the different characters. Everyone was damaged and interesting, even with their annoying moments. It was light, cute, but meaningful.

There was a lot of development, and I'm a sucker for character development. I also love stories about a bunch of random people being connected somehow. I also love road trips, and self-discovery books. So basically this was everything I could want.

Bree, I think was my favorite of them all, because her story was the most intense and serious. The writing was very simplistic while still being pretty. I don't think it was too obvious how hard he was trying to make it pretty.

It's hard to write my feelings about it? I read it at kind of the right time for me. Looking at it now, it's harder to figure out what it is I like. I think it's simply a case of a book having all the right components for me. 


The Less Lovely Bits: 

Leila was a little too perfect. Yes, she did had flaws. But it seemed like Adi Alsaid made this perfect girl, and then remembered he was supposed to add some flaws and sprinkled in some random things like a tragic back story and amnesia. She was likable and hate-able all at the same time.

(okay spoilers from here on out. Skip all the bold if you don't want spoilers)

Hudson. Okay he was sweet, and the insta-love wasn't too ridiculous. It wasn't the type where they know each other for a day and are planning to get married. It was more of a case where they knew each other for a day, they are attracted to each other, and they kiss, might have a future and stuff like that. But I didn't like how he came back in the end. I would have preferred if they both went their own ways and dealt with it. It seemed a little too pulled together and happy for me. Yes, this is a fluffy romance, but I still wanted Hudson and her didn't have a happy ending.

Also the random little girl whose name I don't remember at the end bugged me. She was annoying. When she got "lost" in the pathetic attempt for an intense climax I kind of wished she'd got eaten by a bear. Don't hate me. 



Overall, I did enjoy it. A lot. I would recommend it to those who don't mind a fluffy, kind of cliche read.

Also I really want to go on a road trip.