A year and a half ago, when I first read The Raven Boys, I was thoroughly impressed. Everything in my brain screamed thatSometimes there are no words.
A year and a half ago, when I first read The Raven Boys, I was thoroughly impressed. Everything in my brain screamed that Maggie reached new heights, that she is the only one with the potential to build a story unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. And yet, while my brain was thrilled, my heart was oddly silent. I recognized the sheer brilliance of it all, but I didn’t really respond emotionally. However, there was hope. With Maggie, there’s always hope.
The Dream Thieves is a whole new ball game, friends. It’s a book that consumes, that eats you alive and then dreams you back to life. It’s a mind-shattering, life-altering experience only one author in the whole universe can provide. There is nothing, nothing in this world comparable to Maggie Stiefvater’s writing. The elegance and the cleverness of it are unparalleled in young adult literature, and she’s only getting better with each new book.
Even though The Dream Thieves is very much Ronan’s book, it is also Adam’s book, and Blue’s book and especially Gansey’s book. In fact, Richard Gansey III is such a strong presence, such an overwhelmingly well-rounded character, that every book inevitably becomes his. His is an old soul in a 17-year-old body and his calm demeanor the only anchor in his turbulent surroundings. While Ronan and Adam are both walking, talking disaster, each his own kind of train wreck, Blue is the closest to Gansey in that she is very firmly set in her own skin. Like Gansey, she has an infallible sense of self, a clear idea of who she is and a self-awareness that doesn’t match her age.
By destroying an object that belongs to one of her characters, an object of immense sentimental value, Stiefvater gives her readers a subtle message: Do not get lulled into a false sense of security. My writing may possess a certain gentle beauty, but nothing is really sacred. No character is safe. She does this like she does everything else, with elegance and grace, and that makes the threat all the more terrifying.
The Dream Thieves is almost impossible to summarize. The plot is very dispersed and vague, the mysteries still too big and solutions too far to fully comprehend. But does it matter? Certainly not, for it is a far superior book to anything I’ve read in a very long time. Stiefvater’s immense creativity spills from every page, breaking the confines of the genre and of YA literature in general.
It pains me to think that I have to wait almost a year for the next book, but perhaps it’s for the best. I took my time with The Dream Thieves, savoring each page and thinking through each event so as not to miss even the smallest of details. Waiting 10 months will give me time to absorb everything and prepare myself for yet another dose of Stiefvater’s brilliance.
It wasn’t easy to organize my thoughts on this book. It’s been a while since I’d added something to my ‘books that changed me’ shelf, and although GonIt wasn’t easy to organize my thoughts on this book. It’s been a while since I’d added something to my ‘books that changed me’ shelf, and although Gone, Gone, Gone didn’t affect me as strongly as Raw Blue, for example, I’m pretty sure it’ll stay with me for a very long time. Truthfully, for a while I even thought my rating would be four or four and a half stars, but then I decided that I need to make it abundantly clear that this is a book everyone needs to read, and that it’s likely to change at least some small part of you and show you beauty in that calm, quiet way I’ve learned to appreciate.
A year after 9/11, two 15-year-old boys in Maryland are trying to find a way to live with themselves, and then maybe with each other. Craig’s boyfriend Cody went a little crazy after his father died in the Pentagon on 9/11. Craig is trying to get over him by taking care of as many animals as he possibly can, but he’s mostly unsuccessful. Even though he’s only 15, the loss of his lifelong friend and first boyfriend changed Craig irreparably. That’s why he’s fighting so strongly against his attraction towards the new boy in school, Lio. Abandoned by his mother, Lio just moved from New York to Maryland with his father and two sisters. When they were children, both he and his identical twin got leukemia – the only difference is that Lio made it, and his brother didn’t. He is a quiet, quirky boy who rarely talks and dyes his hair many different colors at once.
These two boys – I can’t bring myself to call them characters – will warm their way into your heart before you even realize what’s happening. Hannah Moskowitz left nothing to chance. She built two people with fears, habits and family connections, people that are incredibly complex, but identifiable, and so fragile that it’s impossible not to love them and feel protective towards them.
I really can’t go into this right now. I probably shouldn’t have kissed him back. But I’ve sort of wanted to kiss him ever since I saw his fucked-up hair that day in Ms. Hoole’s class, and really since the conversation right after, when he told me he cuts it when he’s nervous, and I immediately wanted to know everything in the whole world that makes him nervous, and everything in the whole world about him.
Although it tackles hard subjects such as cancer, loss of a family member and insanity, Gone, Gone, Gone is essentially a warm and hopeful story. It’s a book I want my kid and my nephews to read when they reach their teens, along with Suicide Notes and Brooklyn, Burning. I have an e-arc of this (thank you, S&S), but I’ll preorder a copy for myself right this second, and while I’m at it, I’ll get one for my sister as well. I have a feeling this book will bring a smile to my face whenever I see it on my shelf and I’ll certainly want to reread it many times in years to come.
The first review I wrote consisted almost entirely of incoherent gushing. This one is pretty much like that, but I did manage to include some useful iThe first review I wrote consisted almost entirely of incoherent gushing. This one is pretty much like that, but I did manage to include some useful info. Don’t expect much, though. I can’t remember the last time I felt this way about a book.
As a dedicated reader, I don't think I've ever connected to a story quite this much. There are so many books that are close to my heart for some reason or other, but there was never one so achingly familiar and mine. And it wasn’t just one character that I felt close to, but parts of every character and every situation. I recognized some of myself in Julie’s dedication to her studies, in Celeste’s quirks, in Matt’s courage and hidden vulnerability, in Erin’s absentness and denial. It was nice to be able to read a story and really understand.
I’m making it sound like a sad book, aren’t I? Well, it’s not. This is a book you want to read when you're feeling a little nostalgic and disconnected from the world. It will pull you right out. Flat-Out Love is surprisingly witty. During the first 80%, I thought I could describe it as my favorite summer read. However, the last 20% showed me that it’s so much more than that. Every emotional reaction the story evoked was very strong: when I laughed, I laughed so loudly that I woke the neighbors; when I cried, I sobbed like I was facing the end of the world, and in the end, I melted into a huge puddle of goo.
After moving to Boston to start attending college, Julie found herself living with her mother’s former best friend Erin and her seemingly perfect family of intellectuals. She soon became emotionally attached to every member of the Watkins family, especially the oldest brother Finn, whom she never met in person, but communicated with regularly via email.
”Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” (Leo Tolstoy)
I think there are two types of dysfunctional families: the ones that yell and the ones that are quiet – the latter being so much harder to portray. Character development is what Jessica Park should really be proud of. Her characters came alive for me, they became living, breathing people with problems, quirks and a sense of humor. Who could resist Celeste, a scarily intelligent 13-year-old who won’t leave the house without Flat Finn, a cardboard cutout of her oldest brother? Or Matt, a math geek with horrible T-shirts and a sense of humor that’s right up my alley?
Flat-Out Love completely changed my mind about self published books.I hope all of you will read it soon so we can gush about it together. ...more
Exactly a year before, the Soviets have begun moving troops over the borders into the country. Then, in August, Lithuania was officially annexed into Exactly a year before, the Soviets have begun moving troops over the borders into the country. Then, in August, Lithuania was officially annexed into the Soviet Union. When I complained at the dinner table, Papa yelled at me and told me to never, ever say anything derogatory about the Soviets. He sent me to my room. I didn’t say anything out loud after that. But I thought about it a lot.
Despite her father’s caution, 15-year-old Lena Vilkas, her 10-year-old brother Jonas and their mother Elena are charged as criminals and arrested in their home in Lithuania by Soviet officers. Lena’s Papa didn’t return from work the previous day and they don’t even know if he’s alive. The three of them are forced into a train car with forty-six other people, mostly women and children. Among them are Ona and her newborn baby, taken from the hospital just as soon as the umbilical cord was cut, Miss. Grybas, a perfectly harmless spinster teacher, a mean bald man, supposedly a stamp collector, Mrs. Arvydas, wife of a murdered Lithuanian officer, and her 17-year-old son Andrius, who has to pretend to be feeble-minded in order to stay with his mother. Needless to say, they are all treated like cattle.
After spending more than 8 weeks in the train car with only two buckets of water and a bucket of food a day for all of them, they arrive to a beet farm where they’re expected to work all day, most of them digging in frozen ground with hand shovels and bare hands. For months they have nothing but hunger and disease in labor camp, and just when they think things couldn’t possibly get any worse, they get moved to Siberia - supposedly to build a factory, but in reality, they’re just expected to die.
Lena’s story is powerful for many reasons. Of course none of us can stay indifferent to a story about so much suffering and Ruta Sepetys chose a very smart way to tell it. Her writing is very matter of fact, her sentences are short and to the point. She allowed herself very little emotion, thus giving the reader a chance to fill in the gaps. I think it was the only way to tell such a horrendous story without overdoing it.
When I finished this book last night, I was completely grief-stricken. I thought: “What am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to just stand up and walk around like I didn’t just take a long, hard look at the ugliest side of humanity?” For the first time in my life, I felt that my education has failed me. How is it possible that we just went around all this, barely mentioning it? We dedicated so much time to Hitler and his victims (and we should have), but we’re talking about 20 million people here! 20 million people they just omitted to tell us about. I’m not saying I was completely clueless about it all, far from it, but I was never really confronted with it. And I absolutely needed to be.
I think everyone should read Between Shades of Gray. Saying that it will help you appreciate the little things sounds like a horrible cliché, but it’s also undeniably true. Just get ready to be crushed into pieces by all the atrocities and suffering this relatively short book describes....more
“When death captures me,” the boy vowed, “he will feel my fist on his face.” Personally, I quite like that. Such stupid gallantry. Yes. I like that a lot“When death captures me,” the boy vowed, “he will feel my fist on his face.” Personally, I quite like that. Such stupid gallantry. Yes. I like that a lot.
A few days ago, when I was starting The Book Thief, my mother stopped by and saw the book on my coffee table. Having just read it herself (and knowing me better than anyone else in the world, I might add), she was determined to save me from myself. She did her very best to convince me not to read it. She described in detail the three day long headache all the crying had caused her and the heartache she now has to live with, but I’m nothing if not stubborn. I guess I never learned to listen to my mother. I’m pretty sure her parting sentence was: “Don’t come crying to me.” And I didn’t. I huddled in a corner and cried inconsolably instead.
Death himself narrates the story about a little girl named Liesel growing up with her foster parents in Nazi Germany. At the beginning, I felt somewhat intimidated by the idea of Death as a narrator. I assumed that his voice would be dark and thunderous, but for the most part, he was a ray of light illuminating earth’s saddest time. Incredibly insightful observations and occasional dry humor are only some of the things no one but Death could have brought into this story. Besides, we hear people calling God’s name every day for many reasons, but when Death calls to Him in despair and even those calls fall on deaf ears, no one can fail to understand the gravity of the situation.
I do not carry a sickle or a scythe. I only wear a hooded black robe when it’s cold. And I don’t have those skull-like facial features you seem to enjoy pinning on me from a distance. You want to know what I truly look like? I’ll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue.
The Book Thief is not one of those books you read compulsively, desperate to find out what’s on the next page. No. It is, in fact, better to read it slowly, in small doses, in a way that allows you to savor every word and absorb the power and the magic it contains. All the while, you know what’s going to happen. Death has no patience for mysteries. However, anticipation of the inevitable makes it even worse. My whole body was tingling with fear because I knew what was coming and I knew that it was only a matter of time. Zusak found a way to give a fresh approach to a much-told story. He offered a glimpse at the other side of the coin. Really, should we feel sorry for the people hiding in a basement in Munich suburbs? Sure, bombs are falling on their heads, but most of them are members of the Nazi Party, willingly or reluctantly. Some of them truly think that Jews are no better than rats. Some, on the other hand, are hiding a Jew in their own basement. Some are just innocent children. But the more important question is, are we any better at all if we don’t feel compassion and sorrow? Death does a great job of asking all these questions in a calm, unobtrusive way.
I’m not pretentious enough to believe that my clumsy words can ever do this book justice. I won’t even try. Time will speak for it, as I’m pretty sure it will survive for decades and generations to come. The Book Thief and Markus Zusak should find their place in every school textbook all over the world.
Seven thousand stars could never be enough for this book.
I don’t know how to review a book that took my breath away. Shiver left me with a feeling of complete satisfaction, joy spiced with sadness 6.5 stars!
I don’t know how to review a book that took my breath away. Shiver left me with a feeling of complete satisfaction, joy spiced with sadness - as weird and paradoxical as that sounds. I’m so grateful to have read this book after all…
There aren’t many books on my 'books that changed me' shelf. In fact, there were only seven until today. But Shiver deserved its place, and now there are eight. What’s so special about it? I’ll try to be polite and refrain from gushing, but it won’t be easy.
Boy saves girl, girl falls for a boy and they end up living happily ever after. Only the boy isn’t a boy at all, and the happily ever after is meant for some other people, in some other story. I was suddenly struck by how dissimilar we were. It occurred to me that if Grace and I were objects, she would be an elaborate digital clock, synced up with the World Clock in London with technical perfection, and I’d be a snow globe – shaken memories in a glass ball.
Grace is an amazing character! I love how strong and decisive she is, always scared but never really showing her fear. She reminds me of a girl I used to be know. After the way she surrendered to the wolves at the beginning, I was afraid she would be another one of those characters. But only a few chapters later, a huge white she-wolf showed up at her window, and instead of cowering in some corner, Grace snarled back at it! Not many authors can make you feel such pride at the very beginning of a novel!
When can you say for sure that you’ve fallen in love with someone’s writing? If your mind isn’t registering words at all, but sounds and colors and emotions so strong that you can feel them twirling inside of you, beautiful, agonizing and powerful.... that’s it – you’re in love! I know this because it happened to me with Maggie Stiefvater. Obviously not everyone feels the same way, and that’s ok. There are times when I too appreciate a very different writing style, more economical and crisp. But sometimes I just want to marvel at other people’s talent, and Stiefvater gave me that chance.
I’m pretty sure Shiver will become my comfort book, familiar and soothing like the blanket I wrap myself in when I’m not feeling well. There are only a few books I keep going back to: The Master and Margarita when I need to restore my faith in love, Dolores Claiborne when I need courage, Harry Potter when I need optimism, lately I’ve added The Reapers Are the Angels for when I need strength, and now I have Shiver to remind me that there’s beauty everywhere.
First of all, let me just say that reading this as an ebook is a crime against literature and should be puEach time someone dies, a library burns.
First of all, let me just say that reading this as an ebook is a crime against literature and should be punished as such. The edition I’m holding resembles a diary with its worn cover, wonderful illustrations, little handwritten notes, blue ink and a rubber band holding it all together. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the prettiest book I’ve ever seen. If you can’t get your hands on a paper edition, wait until you do or you’ll be robbing yourself of the most wonderful experience.
Second, I think it’s safe to say that this book isn't for everyone. The mixed reviews have already proven as much. Many of you would probably be severely irritated by this dreamlike experience. Besides, a lot of people find Lennie to be quite unlikeable and I must admit that I can see why. She makes so many horrible mistakes. She is lost, insecure, her actions can often be interpreted as selfish and she is very skilful in telling lies. If that’s all someone can see in her, there’s no reason to even try to like her. But I saw a different layer of her character, one that is confused, scared and alone and it didn’t take long for her to win me over.
I put aside for a moment the fact that I’ve turned into a total strumpet-harlot-trollop-wench-jezebel-tart-harridan-chippy-nymphet because I’ve just realized something incredible. This is it - what all the hoopla is about, what Wuthering Heights is about – it all boils down to this feeling rushing through me in this moment with Joe as our mouths refuse to part. Who knew all this time I was one kiss away from being Cathy and Juliet and Elizabeth Bennet and Lady Chatterley!?
Writing a plot summary or trying to explain The Sky Is Everywhere in any way would probably do more harm than good. If I tried to write about Lennie’s story, about her sister Bailey who died of arrhythmia while rehearsing for the role of Juliet, I’d be running the risk of making this book sound so ordinary. The Sky Is Everywhere is nothing short of extraordinary in every way that counts.
Joe… must I go there?! I’m trying to be an adult here, a serious, calm, respectable adult. But Joe can take that away in a second and turn me into a useless, gushing teenager with his joeliciousness, his musicality, his gentleness, his humor, his boldness and his Frenchness and those damn eyelashes. Bat. Bat. Bat. *swoon*
The secondary characters are just as amazing: the hippie Gram who grows flowers famous for their aphrodisiac powers, the five-times-married-five-times-divorced uncle no woman can resist and the sweet and charming brothers Fontaine. They all had a huge part in making this story so special, so unlike any other story I’ve ever read.
And Jandy Nelson, where on earth did you come from?!? Your writing is like this huge energy ball that found its place in my stomach and just exploded over and over and over again, making me cry, laugh or jump with excitement, turning me into whatever you wanted me to be at that particular moment. You had a remote control for my moods and you weren’t afraid to use it and for that you have my eternal love and respect. Yes, I had a Maggie-sized hole in my heart and yes, I thought you might fill it for a second, but instead I ended up with a Maggie-sized hole and a Jandy-sized hole right next to it. You are nobody’s replacement, lady. You are far too good for that.
I will shut up now and try to preserve some semblance of dignity.
Oh, but I forgot my favorite quote: This is our story to tell. He says it in his Ten Commandments way and it hits me that way: profoundly. You’d think for all the reading I do, I would have thought about this before, but I haven’t. I’ve never once thought about the interpretative, the storytelling aspect of life, of my life. I always felt like I was in a story, yes, but not like I was the author of it, or like I had any say in its telling whatsoever. You can tell your story any way you damn well please. It’s your solo. ...more
There are three things in this world I truly believe in. That the truth will set us free; that lies aWorry not, my dears, this review is spoiler-free.
There are three things in this world I truly believe in. That the truth will set us free; that lies are the prisons we build for ourselves; and that Shaun loves me. Everything else is just details. - Georgia Mason
There's not much I can say about the Newsflesh trilogy that I haven't said a million times before, nothing spoiler-free at least, and I refuse to spoil even the smallest detail for any of you. As a result, this will be more of an emotional outburst than an actual review, so feel free to abandon ship if you’re not a fan of my all-too-frequent displays of sentimentality. I apologize in advance.
How do you bring down a massive government conspiracy? You don’t. You do what the crew of After the End Times does: you run for your life, save a few people, bury more than a few, tell the truth, and make sure to get it all on camera. Oh, and you pay attention when the villain starts explaining his actions because there might me more to it than he’s ready to admit. And when you stop to think about it and realize that it’s not worth it at all, you keep doing it because there’s nothing else you can do, and you hope for the best.
I didn’t dream of funerals this time. Instead, I dreamed of me and Shaun, walking hand in hand through the empty hall where the Republican National Convention was held, and nothing was trying to kill us. Nothing was trying to kill us at all.
As the story progressed and the science in it became more and more wild, I kept expecting to reach the point where I’d stop believing it, where it would be too much, but I never did. Therein lies the talent of Seanan McGuire – she is able to make the craziest things sound entirely convincing. It helps that her sense of pacing is nothing short of extraordinary, not to mention her ability to emotionally manipulate her readers. It’s not easy to keep people engaged and utterly fascinated through more than 500 pages, and yet Seanan McGuire accomplished it no less than three times.
I could (and should) say that the Newsflesh trilogy has ended with Blackout, but it hasn’t for me, not really. After 1800 pages, so much laughter, countless tears and a few frustrated screams, I know I’ll be back to reread it often. In fact, I’d already reread both Feed and Deadline more than once. Why would Blackout deserve any less? In any case, I’ve gained more from this experience than just a book I can label as my all-time favorite. I’ve bonded with people over it, and today I have the privilege of calling some of them my friends. We are a diverse group, but we started with this one thing we had in common, and in time, we developed some more. Therefore, it seems vastly unfair to call this just another trilogy. For me, it was much more than that. It was a chapter of my life and a truly life-changing experience.
Aside from the already released Countdown, Mira Grant will write two more novellas in the Newslesh universe, San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats, and How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea. Seanan McGuire will also launch another duology with Orbit: Parasitology and Symbiogenesis, as Mira Grant. The story will have nothing to do with the Masons, but I’m sure it will be amazing. I guess we still have something to look forward to after all.
We know that we were in the right (The coming dawn, the ending night). So here is when we stop the lies. The time is come. We have to Rise. -From Dandelion Mine, the blog of Magdalene Grace Garcia, August 7, 2041.
I wish I could pay someone to write this review for me… I think it will turn out to be one of the hardest I’ve ever written. Or one of the easiest… whI wish I could pay someone to write this review for me… I think it will turn out to be one of the hardest I’ve ever written. Or one of the easiest… who knows with these things?
First of all, don't you just love this cover? Maybe you need to read the book to fully appreciate it, so all of you who haven't… what are you waiting for? There aren’t many authors who can portray emotions and transfer them to the readers like Eagar does. Her writing style is readable and clear, and still it draws you in completely, making you feel so many different things. For me, sometimes those feelings were pleasant, but most of the time powerlessness and sense of detachment overwhelmed me, so much so that I feared I would suffocate. That probably sounds like a bad thing, but it depends on what you’re looking for in a novel.
Some of the most beautiful and the most honest moments in Raw Blue are related to surfing, and while I don’t know anything about it, and despite not being a water person at all (terra firma for me, thank you!), I can certainly understand the passion and the single-mindedness behind it.
Carly is one of those characters that crawl under your skin and stay there. And Ryan… he is the perfect person for Carly precisely because he’s not perfect at all. He doesn’t feed her insecurities by having none of his own. He’s a guy with many flaws, but he’s also the one to find all the undamaged parts of Carly’s personality and bring them to the surface.
I thought that the awkwardness of having sex with someone for the first time was amazingly well described. It makes me happy that there are YA authors who write sex scenes the way they should be written, removing any illusions and silly expectations. We’ve all been there: the little insecurities, self-consciousness, fear of not being accepted, of doing something wrong. Carly worries about all that and much more because her mind is not that of a normal 19-year-old.
The value of this book lies partly in the secondary characters: the neighbor Hannah, whose life is so messy that her symmetrical name is the only thing she’s proud of; Danny, the precious 15-year-old with synaesthesia; Emilio the café manager and others that make this story far more real.
I've posted most of my favorite quotes as status updates.
I am breathless, speechless and whateverless (probably mindless) at the moment. The best I can do is quote my favorite, if sometimes cowardly Newsie, I am breathless, speechless and whateverless (probably mindless) at the moment. The best I can do is quote my favorite, if sometimes cowardly Newsie, Alaric Kwong:
"Son of a chicken-fucking soy farmer and a diseased convention-center security guard."
This book broke my heart. Twice. Today I have a headache and puffy bags under my eyes. But it was worth it.
Kellis-Amberlee is a fact of existence. YoThis book broke my heart. Twice. Today I have a headache and puffy bags under my eyes. But it was worth it.
Kellis-Amberlee is a fact of existence. You live, you die, and then you come back to life, get up, and shamble around trying to eat your former friends and loved ones. That's the way it is for everyone.
Two of my favorite books this year both have zombies in them. One is The Reapers Are the Angels. The other is Feed. (view spoiler)[I wonder what that says about me. (hide spoiler)] But they are really very different books, because The Reapers Are the Angels is completely character based. Temple is the only constant – you live and you die with her. Reading the first half of Feed felt very much like watching a documentary. This is a book about politics, about the clash of generations, about a world that is terrified. It’s about standing up for your beliefs, choosing your priorities and knowing who to trust. It’s about friendship, convictions and brotherly love.
It is the year 2039. and the world after the Rising is a very different place. Siblings Georgia and Shaun Mason and their friend Georgette "Buffy" Meissonier are journalists. The three of them run their own news blog. They are the first bloggers ever to be allowed full access to a presidential candidate and they intend to make the most of it. They have George to lead and be as objective as possible, they have Shaun using his people skills to open the doors for them, and, thanks to Buffy and her technology, they have eyes and ears everywhere – which can be both good and very dangerous. Their ratings are suddenly going up and their credibility is as strong as ever (which is all George really cares about). But politics is a dirty business and before they know it, they find themselves in a world of trouble. If I would have to choose a single word to describe each of them, Georgia would be truth, Shaun would be adventure, and Buffy would be emotion. All three of them are weird in their own way, but they are also amazing persons.
It is with great joy that I report that the youth of America aren’t actually riddled with ennui and apathy; that the truth hasn’t been fully forsaken for the merely entertaining; that there’s a place in this world for reporting the facts as accurately and concisely as possible and allowing people to draw their own conclusions. I’ve never been more proud of finding a place where I can belong.
There is no romance in Feed. Georgia and Shaun don’t date. In fact, George doesn’t even touch people other than her brother. But there’s heart in every sentence and there are emotions too big for words. Seanan McGuire did extensive research for this book - it involved doctors, epidemiologists, technicians and people who were willing to try some of the stunts she described. That’s just one of the things that make this book amazing.
Feed has been nominated for the Hugo Award, and it's definitely a well deserved nomination. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Apparently, it already won the Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction in 2010. That too was well deserved.
The second book, Deadline, was released on May 31st 2011. The third book, Blackout is expected in May of 2012.
The harvest is the end of this world, and the reapers are the angels.
I've read countless books in my life and through them I've been introduced to The harvest is the end of this world, and the reapers are the angels.
I've read countless books in my life and through them I've been introduced to literally thousands of characters. Some of them I forgot almost instantly. Others I need to be reminded of and even then remember only faintly. Then there are some I remember clearly because a part of them was important to me. But there is also a very small number of characters that stay with me always, characters that follow me around like shadows... shadows that once taught me an important lesson I'll never forget. One of them is Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne. Alden Bell's Temple is another.
This woman, this young girl, this child, is sixteen characters folded into one, and yet on the surface she is as simple as a girl can be. She is a character that makes your heart ache and your head spin. She is someone you have no choice but to love... someone you'll do your best to understand... someone you'll always want to be.
At first I was expecting a paranormal YA novel... I didn't read any of the reviews and I guess I just made a stupid assumption. Temple IS fifteen years old and the book really HAS zombies, but that's where the similarities with all the novels we usually read end. The Reapers Are the Angels is NOT a YA novel! It's post-apocalyptic fiction at its best. Actually, it's not a novel that people under the age of 18 should read. It has violence, sex and more violence and it's scary and horrible at times. But it is also wonderful and deep and mature and not to be taken lightly at all. The psychological developement of Bell's characters is astonishing, almost incredible.
If you have a strong stomach and you want to take a break from all the predictable fiction that surrounds us, The Reapers Are the Angels might be the novel for you. It doesn't follow any rules, it will make you skip dinner, and it will definitely make you cry. But most of all, it will surprise you with its simplicity and its depth and it will probably teach you a thing or two about yourself... and about who you want to be when world as we know it comes to an end.
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Alden Bell's gorgeously written and bloody tale, which mutates from a zombie story into something of beauty and meaning. . . . Bell clearly owes great literary debt to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" and the Southern Gothic school of Faulkner and O'Connor, but The Reapers Are the Angels shows the reader that they need not settle for mere blood 'n' guts when horror tales can, and should, go many extra miles. —Sarah Weinman, Summer Reading Pick, Salon.com...more
Slavenka Drakulić wastes no time writing novels that are widely acceptable. If you ever come across one of her books, make sure you are ready to embraSlavenka Drakulić wastes no time writing novels that are widely acceptable. If you ever come across one of her books, make sure you are ready to embrace the unexpected. Her stories are powerful descriptions of the most basic human nature: love, fear, survival and life.
The Taste of a Man is one such story. It’s a story about the impossibility of love and the denial of loss, about the boundaries of sanity and about the things we are ready to do for the person we consider our own. It’s a story about the Divine Hunger.
Unlike so many of her other novels, this one is not based on a true story (and for that we are grateful). Instead it is based on deepest parts of our nature, hidden for millennia under strongly ingrained morals of our civilization. It’s like a game of Have you ever we all played as children: - Have you ever taken something that doesn’t (and can never) belong to you? - Have you ever loved someone so much that you would rather take their life than let them live without you? - Have you ever abandoned sanity because of love? - Have you ever felt that we are confined by the rules of our civilization that tell us how to live, breathe and love?
This is NOT trivial literature. If you do not have an open mind, please choose another book. If you do not have the patience for the subtlety of human communication and relationships, you won’t appreciate this book. But if you are able to open your mind AND your heart to these powerful sentences, they might just change your life. They will most certainly change the way you think about love. ...more
Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
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Books:
books-that-changed-me
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