Beginning Thoughts on "It's Kind of a Funny Story"

Over the weekend after finishing Allegiant, I started reading "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini.  Something about the interesting cover captured my attention, however it wasn't what I was expecting.  I guess this is what I get for not reading the inside flap!!

The opening scene is Craig simply hanging out with his friends.  The first person writing technique makes me think that this book will be more about the character and his inner conflict instead of a man vs. man conflict.  At first, Craig seems like an average person, until he introduces his brain, which is deep and dark.  He struggles with depression but refuses to let anyone know because of his pride.

Although I'm not that far into the book, the author has done a great job of setting up the plot. 

There is a movie version of this book and in my next post I will link a preview and hopefully will have seen it by then so I can do some comparing and contrasting like I intend to with "Catching Fire" when it comes out. 


Happy blogging!
 

Allegiant : The Trilogy Comes to a Close

Heheheheh

No spoilers but oh my gosh

Allegiant was just amazing.

I'm kind of at a loss for words, but the sheer realism in this book struck me well and made me completely satisfied with the ending of this trilogy. hence why it took me so long to blog about it.  I finished it on the 23rd, the day after it came out.  I might have a problem.  >:)

Veronica Roth wrote amazingly: she wasn't an evil bloodthirsty author like some are, and she wasn't a complete pansy either, which made me really happy because that's what frustrates me with books.  The ending is either too sad or too happy: this was such a perfect balance and the ending made sense with no actions that were uncharacteristic like many trilogies end with.

Okay, so essentially Allegiant was about the continued journey of Tobias and Tris, and how they have had to adapt to their environments in and out of the city they used to call home.  I can't really give you more than that because it's continued from a series & spoiling books is just evil.

The characters were all great and relatable.  I really hated Tris, but I think that's a sign of good writing because making characters what seem real are what induce feelings towards them, and I really appreciated thoughts made for each character to revisit how they act and why the act that way.

As mentioned above, the writing was phenomenal.  One thing that Roth seemed to lose her touch for was that, in her previous books, she'd always set up multiple opportunities to expand the plot early in the book, and then come back to them and make the readers go "OOOOOH that makes so much sense." Well, she did set up many opportunities at the beginning by mentioning multiple characters and situations that simply faded out of your vision by lack of importance.  I really thought she would make something out of it once more, but alas, she only visited a few and seemed to forget about the rest, like most of the audience.  This touch is what I really loved about her, but it wasn't enough to cease my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the ending to my favorite post-apocalyptic trilogy.  Thanks for reading!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I remember the time when I first picked up the book Divergent by Veronica Roth with fond joy.  It was quite possibly one of my favorite books of the year: I read it at the beginning of 8th grade and towards the end its popularity skyrocketed.  I'm proud to say that I'm rereading it and its sequel Insurgent so I will have a fresh mind for the new book which releases today: Allegiant.  This is the reason my post is so short.  I'll update my progress later, but I'm eager to go back to reading!

Sorry this barely makes sense, happy blogging! 

Update: I HAVE FINISHED ALLEGIANT.  THE TIME FOR BLOGGING IS SOON c:<

I have much to share with you all.  aka the two people who read this but oh well

An Unexpected Break

So far, I'm about halfway through "Every Day", which I am enjoying a lot!  My brother informed me that there's a prequel, so I'll probably read that after this week's fling.

Last week I found out that Allegiant, the third part of one of my favorite trilogies, is coming out this coming Tuesday.  I was hoping to finish Every Day by the middle of the week, but alas: homework.  :(

ANYWAY, I've decided to take a break from Every Day and catch up on Divergent so my mind will be fresh for the new installment.  I have high hopes, and considering that Insurgent was a bit predictable, I am hoping the final novel will head out strong.  Unfortunately, according to my relationships with trilogies, this hasn't ever been the case.

Then again, Roth has never failed to surprise me.  We'll see!  :D

Happy blogging!

David Levithan

Previously I have read the works of David Levithan such as "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" and "Dash and Lily's Book of Dares".

One book I've had a hold on for awhile called "Every Day" is his most popular novel, but I still haven't read it!

My hold is up and I can finally check it out; luckily I was in need of a book and I've started on it.

"Every Day" is a realistic fiction book with a twist of the supernatural; "A" is a human being, but they travel around every day, inhabiting a new body at midnight.  (S)he has to go on the person's daily life so nobody suspects them, and they continue to do so until they meet a girl named Rihannon.  

I'll save the rest for later, but when A falls in love, they have to choose whether or not to ruin other lives by pursuing the one thing that could give life a meaning.

Thoughts on ATTWN

And Then There Were None was amazing and extremely well-thought out novel.

I loved the growing suspense and the allusion of the Soldier Boy's poem & how well it outlined the story.

I can see why this was taught in 7th grade English and I'm quite frankly mad at my teacher for not reading it to us; it was one of my favorite suspense novels I've ever read!

One of the things I felt the author did best was capture emotions and make the situation seem so real, which astounded me at how much I actually felt for the characters and how sad I felt about their impending doom.  The note at the end sealed the process quite nicely and ended the novel with an unexpected twist which showed how everything made sense.

I'll probably turn this post into a book review once I get it back from my brother who is happily indulging himself in this book so I can add quotes and such.

Thanks for reading!

And Then There Were None

While working on my book review of "Gone Girl" and trying to prevent spoilers, I started the well-loved novel "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie.

This book is about a group of people summoned by a mysterious host with seemingly nothing in common.

I am only 18% in and it is building suspense quite well.  I know from my friends who read this awhile ago that they will be killed off, one by one.  I don't really remember that much because they told me about it awhile ago. 


My favorite thing about this book so far is the cover art: at first it looks normal but if you look a little closer, you'll see the skull in front of the house foreshadowing a not so happy beginning, or ending.

Based on what I know, I made a connection to a recently aired reality TV show called "Whodunnit?" which is about hte same thing.  There is a fake murder every day and the killer is disguised as a guest.  In order to save your life for the next day to keep competing for the 1/4 of a million prize, you have to prove to the killer that you're a worthy adversary and be the best to solve the case.

















 

The Book of Awesome :)

Currently I'm about halfway done with Gone Girl, and I intended to write about it this week but I can't help it!  This book is just so adorable!

"The Book of Awesome" is a book that my brother checked out of our library and, immediately after finishing, recommended it to me.

To begin, the book made a great first impression.  I mean, who wouldn't be interested in the title "The Book of Awesome"?  Essentially, it just talks about the little things in life that you can forget are truly awesome.

I feel like as a child, I really would have loved this book.  The author is a blogger, and you can definitely see that shine through in his writing, which is cute and playful but sometimes excessive.  Unfortunately, the tone I picked up was more annoying than fun, but it was still okay.

The other thing I didn't like about this book was more personal: I prefer books that you can sit down with and read for hours.  "The Book of Awesome" is more of a sectional reading because, as awesome as some things can be, it's hard to withstand reading in an annoying tone and in segmented, nonflowing sections.

Overall, I can understand why my brother liked it but it just wasn't my cup of tea.  Although enjoyable, it was a little overboard and crazy!  I guess that's just the way life is.  :)

Starting "Gone Girl"

Over the weekend, I checked out the book Gone Girl from the ebook library based on soaring recommendations from my friends, Goodreads, and even my mom!

The story's views are split into the present and the past; the present narrated by Nick Dunne, and the past is written about in journals of his wife Amy.

While I'm only about 60 pages in, there isn't much to talk about.  The premise seems promising, starting by offering a sense of action: the disappearance of present day Amy on the "happy couple's" five year anniversary.

So far, I have enjoyed the reality of these relationships: much too often, people in novels fall in love unconditionally and all at once.  I lucked out once again: these characters were leaning (more realistically) towards the kind of relationship where they cover their feelings and pretend like things are "no big deal" instead of the usual picture perfect couple who solves every issue promptly and efficiently.

 Sorry for the short post.  All I can really say is that I'm eager to continue this book!