‘Maybe I’m holding out hope that one day, someday, things will change.’
Imagine living your entire life inside your house only ever having seen you‘Maybe I’m holding out hope that one day, someday, things will change.’
Imagine living your entire life inside your house only ever having seen your mother and your nurse. Imagine never being able to feel the wind on your skin, or grass between your toes. Imagine growing up never having friends, never having a sleepover, and never being able to anticipate going on a date. This is the life that Madeline Whittier has been forced to live due to an immunodeficiency that causes her to be allergic to practically everything. When a new boy named Olly moves in next door, Madeline begins to test her boundaries because conversing with Olly slowly opens her eyes to what she’s been missing all this time.
Everything, Everything, despite the serious topic, read like a breath of fresh air. Madeline was such a wonderful character with such a quirky sense of humor and a resiliency you can’t help but admire. Her constant breaking of rules lacks what you would expect would come as completely reckless, but instead shows Madeline’s tenacity to experience the world for however long she’d be able to survive it. The narrative is told in typical story form but we’re also given snippets of her journal and the online chat sessions with Olly. The writing style flows wonderfully and it’s easy to get completely immersed in it and consume it quickly. Reminiscent of Jandy Nelson, Katie Catugno, and Jessi Kirby’s writing styles.
The romance was shockingly wonderful and I loved the progression that their relationship took. Their cutesy antics constantly put a smile on my face and I just loved reading how he slowly taught her about the world he lived in, that she had never experienced. With this being such a quick read, I was pleased that their romance didn’t feel quick as well. There were some real heart-wrenching moments that left me blubbering just a bit, because you can’t help but feel from the very beginning that there couldn’t possibly be a happy ending in sight. It only helped matters that I kept envisioning Madeline and Olly as these two:
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While I won’t get into spoilery detail, the ending does have to be mentioned because it’s been a game-changer for a lot of people and their overall opinion of the book. Admittedly, there is a definite twist at the end that changes everything and is hastily “resolved” and not adequately so in my opinion. For me though, the magic of the book was the heartwarming romance and the incredibly charismatic characters which were both solid enough to withstand a somewhat skimpy resolution. Everything, Everything is no doubt an impressive debut from a promising new author.
I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review....more
‘Some people say that night blooms. But night descends self-consciously. Night cuts slowly.’
Is it possi**spoiler alert** My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
‘Some people say that night blooms. But night descends self-consciously. Night cuts slowly.’
Is it possible for two souls to inhabit a single body? By day, Carly is in control but as soon as the sun sets Kaitlyn takes over. Every day, the same pattern. The two are aware of the others existence, calling one another sister, writing notes back and forth to each other. When they lose their parents in a car accident and they are committed to a mental hospital after being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, Kaitlyn doesn’t handle this very well. The counselor sees her as the “wrong” identity, the one that needs to be dealt with and gotten rid of. Kaitlyn begins hearing voices, seeing a frightening girl that she’s not sure is real or simply a figment of her imagination, and nightmares of a house of terror. Kaitlyn has to deduct exactly what is fact and what is fiction in order to find out the truth about Carly and of herself.
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Flash forward to two decades later and we learn that a tragic fire took place at Carly’s school killing several students with Carly herself being declared missing. Not until Kaitlyn’s diary is uncovered do we learn of what really caused the fire and what took place that disastrous day. It uncovers much more than a simple psychological mystery; there is dark magic and murder and horror. The story unfolds through a series of e-mails, medical transcripts, diary entries, and notes between the duo. Epistolary stories are a favorite of mine, giving me the feel that I’m sorting through documents attempting to uncover the mystery and solve the investigation and The Dead House definitely gave me that feel. The writing was terrific and while it didn’t necessarily scare (few stories do these days though) several passages did leave my skin crawling.
‘I am lucky to be here. The Dead House descended like music curdling into time, and as it did I grew wet and cold, and it was dark and I was so alone… It had devoured me.’
While I loved the feel of this novel I did feel it bit off more than it could chew adding a few too many side stories that weren’t ultimately necessary to the already tangled mystery and the strangeness of the dark magic inclusion that never felt fully fleshed out. The romance(s) were equally trivial putting a melodramatic spin on things that definitely could have been omitted to maintain clarity and focus on the real story. What really brought this one down for me was the ending. I’m all for endings of ambiguity that leave me to make up my own mind about how things turned out, but this one ends like you ran into a dead end. There were just far too many unresolved questions and too few answers for my liking, but if you like concocting your own ending then this is the book for you. I still very much enjoyed the premise and the execution and look forward to reading more from this debut author.
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I received this book free from The Novl in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review....more
Never would I have thought I'd enjoy reading about the drama of a 14 year old girl. Georgia is hilarious and reminded me of a younger, British versionNever would I have thought I'd enjoy reading about the drama of a 14 year old girl. Georgia is hilarious and reminded me of a younger, British version of Daria. Between Georgia dressing up as an olive, shaving off her eyebrows, her Scottish wild-cat Angus and her crazy baby sister who calls everyone a tosser... well Georgia is a new favorite. ...more
Debut novelist Susan Rieger doesn’t leave a word out of place in this hilarious and expertly crafted debut that shines with the power DNF @ pg. 175
Debut novelist Susan Rieger doesn’t leave a word out of place in this hilarious and expertly crafted debut that shines with the power and pleasure of storytelling.
Uh, bullshit. This is far from hilarious. And far from storytelling. And before you interrupt with 'epistolary IS storytelling' you're right, IT CAN BE because I love me an epistolary novel and that is actually the sole reason I picked this up but this is a series of e-mails, court documents, legal memorandums, depositions, and even legal articles explaining legal processes to us lesser mortals that aren't aware of how a divorce works. And it still doesn't manage to tell a story. Rieger attempts to include personal e-mails from Sophie to attempt to draw us into her story but it was a failure because she was completely uninteresting and it simply didn't mesh well with the rest of the story or rather, the process. This felt like a How To Guide for newbie lawyers on handling divorces. At first I enjoyed the flashbacks it gave me to my law classes having to sift through massive amounts of paperwork to get the tiny sliver of information that I need but then I realized the court documents are bullshit too and possessed information that would never be included.
'Witnesses who came forward on both sides described a neighborhood straight out John Updike's novel Couples.'
Yeah that would never be in a Supreme Court court transcript. Never. So basically that was added as an attempt to make it more fun? More interesting? Well, court documents aren't fun or interesting so if that's what she was going for maybe they shouldn't have been included at all. There was a ton of editing out that could have been done because most sections lacked purpose and/or meaning and was basically just inconsequential filler. But honestly, the whole book felt like inconsequential filler and I had zero desire to finish it....more
This is not a genre that I typically jump for but I was in dire need of some serious fluff since I had finished The Book Thief and Rose Under Fire in This is not a genre that I typically jump for but I was in dire need of some serious fluff since I had finished The Book Thief and Rose Under Fire in the same day. Plus, I haven't heard anything other than amazing things about Rainbow Rowell.
Attachments was an absolute treat and I really loved it. The chapters alternate between Jennifer and Beth's conversations over e-mail which are written in the form of almost instant messages and then normally written chapters from the point of view of Lincoln. Lincoln was a charming character but Jennifer and Beth were the absolute frosting on the cake. Extremely witty and entertaining, Jennifer and Beth were two girls that I would love to be friends with. Jennifer is married and currently having issues dealing with a husband that wants to start having children while she's still not sure. Beth is in a long-term relationship with a guitarist in an up and coming band and wants to settle down but she doesn't think he'll ever want to. Their conversations were constantly cracking me up. Here's an example of how Jennifer and Beth's chapters appear and a little snippet of the humor.
<> Now that I think about, we've known each other six years, and I've never seen you in a bathing suit. Or a tank top. <> Not a coincidence, my friend. Iv'e got the arms of a Sicilian grandmother. Arms for picking olives and stirring hearty tomato sauces. Shoulders for carrying buckets of water from the stream to the farmhouse. <> Has Chris seen your shoulders? <> He's seen them. But he hasn't seen them. <> I get it, but I don't get it. <> No sleeveless negligees. No direct sunlight. Sometimes when I'm getting out of the shower, I shout, "Hey, look, a bobcat!" <> I bet he falls for that every time. <> It's Chris. So recreational drugs are a factor.
And my favorite, because I'm a total Jennifer.
<> Even construction workers don't whistle at me. <> That's because you ooze preemptive leave-me-alone death rays.
Lincoln was an interesting main character since I can't recall the last Chick-Lit type novel I read that featured a male character. It was a success though. Lincoln is in his late 20's and has just graduated (again) from college and has moved back home to live with his mom. He plays Dungeons & Dragons on the weekend, doesn't like to go out to bars and is terrible at connecting with females. He stumbles upon Jennifer and Beth's emails in the course of his daily job duties and while they were clearly violating the personal email rule he never reported them. Instead, he continued reading about their lives that interested him in a way he couldn't understand. While I was anxious to find out what happens when the two finally do meet, the ending was a bit overly mushy and leaned a bit too much towards 'perfect'.
Attachments is a charming and adorable tale of finding love in the least expected ways and a touching story of female friendship....more
The summer of 1816 was named the "Year Without a Summer" after the eruption of Mount Tambora caused a long and dreary Volcanic Winter. With everyone kThe summer of 1816 was named the "Year Without a Summer" after the eruption of Mount Tambora caused a long and dreary Volcanic Winter. With everyone keeping to the indoors, Mary, her future husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori all entertained themselves by telling ghost stories and then inevitably it was suggested they each come up with their own type of horror story. It was during this very summer that Mary Shelley, at the age of eighteen, came up with the initial concept of Frankenstein.
'After days and night of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.'
Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a man that through experiementation in both science and alchemy devised a way to combine pieces of human corpses and give them new life. Frankenstein is a legendary story and has become a pivotal part of our cultural understanding of the supernatural world, however, the novel is actually nothing like the classic movies involving lightning, screaming and Frankenstein actually being excited at his accomplishments.
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His shock and awe quickly transforms into a horrific realization at what he was capable of and he ran away in terror, leaving the monster alone. We’re told Frankenstein’s story first and the steps that led to the monsters creation and the subsequent events as well. Frankenstein depicts him as a monster, thus the reason he is never given an actual name, but when we are finally given the story via the monsters point of view we realize this ‘monster’ is quite possibly anything but. His is a story of complete despondency that easily garners your compassion regardless of the pain and suffering he has wreaked. He may be a creation but is he still not a person? Is his creators ensuing abandonment to blame for his conduct because Frankenstein had a duty beyond just his creation? I believe it is. Without his creator there to teach him the ways of the world, he was forced to observe, learn and interpret on his own. So then it was his observances of society what transformed him into who he came to be? A matter of circumstance? He became an outcast of society because of his appearance and after a time became lonely and craved a companion. He sought out his creator so as to force him to duplicate his work.
This is my first read of the classic and I must say it’s nothing like I was expecting. It ended up being a strange and eclectic blend of genres. It was science fiction, with the creation of a man from pieces of corpses, and it was gothic and horror, the dead coming back to life and wreaking havoc on the world. Neither of those were the sole purpose or point of this story; it only set the scene. At the heart of this story are the revolutionary and intellectual questions about life, death and existence. About scientific possibilities and how far is too far. And it’s about compassion and lack of it in this world. Was Frankenstein’s monster truly an outcast only because of his appearance, because initially he showed the utmost caring towards individuals and even saved a drowning girl at one point. Society saw the monster and judged him harshly based off that alone, never giving him the benefit of the doubt. It’s a fictional accounting of a harsh world but it’s a rather truthful and distressing accounting. This is Gothic literature at its very finest and I’m so glad I finally conquered this incredible piece of work.
‘Once I falsely hoped to meet with beings who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of unfolding. I was nourished with high thoughts of honour and devotion. But now crime has degraded me beneath the meanest animal. No guilt, no mischief, no malignity, no misery, can be found comparable to mine. When I run over the frightful catalogue of my sins, I cannot believe that I am the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime transcendent visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness.’...more
This was an extremely strangely written story for me as I had never read anything written in second person narrative before.
'Thank you, but I'll wait This was an extremely strangely written story for me as I had never read anything written in second person narrative before.
'Thank you, but I'll wait to eat them. Stained fingers, stained map, you said.
You're tame enough to feed by hand, said he.'
Adding to the confusing way of writing was the complete lack of quotation marks which I have seen more and more of in literature these days and still am not clear as to why this is done. I dislike it greatly. Unfortunately, the story didn't benefit from these choices in writing styles; it actually diminished my interest because it was a constant struggle trying to grasp what was being said.
The story itself had huge potential and I was eager to start this but was greatly disappointed at the disjointed nature I felt was created by using that form of narrative. ...more
"How long will you keep me?" I asked. You shrugged. "Forever, of course."
I honestly never had any intention of picking this up as I try and stay away f"How long will you keep me?" I asked. You shrugged. "Forever, of course."
I honestly never had any intention of picking this up as I try and stay away from those books with the tough subjects but they always seem to find their way into my reading pile anyways. Plus, it's an Aussie read. I have to give it a shot for that alone. :) And despite the tough subject and despite the fact that it was a hard, emotional read, this book was well worth the read.
I really enjoyed the writing style, the whole thing written in letter form from Gemma to the man who stole her away from her life, Ty. It's natural to dislike Ty and I totally did... at first. Forget sympathizing or caring about the hardships he went through; he kidnapped a 16 year-old girl, drugged her, and had planned it all out to the point that he had a new ID and passport ready to get her on a plane to Australia. This was not a spontaneous decision. No, this was a plan that had been in the making for many, many years. I found it amazing (and shocking) the amount of time and energy he spent into making this whole plan work. He built a house in the middle of the Australian desert and stocked it with enough supplies for them to survive together for a very long time. It was honestly quite scary if you really think about it.
But, as time progressed Gemma slowly began to warm up to him. She saw a different side of him that she couldn't help but like. And dammit, I began to like him too despite the other half of my brain trying to remain rational and recognize the situation for what it was. Kidnapping aside, (yes, I know, that's a pretty big thing to brush off) I think the sole reason I gained a soft spot for him was I truly believed he cared for Gemma. Even before he kidnapped her from the airport he was watching over her (yes, I know, that's stalking) and actually saved her from a pretty grave situation that she wasn't even fully aware of. As Gemma states, 'What you did to me wasn't this brilliant thing, like you think it was.' And it wasn't, despite his best intentions and even though he truly thought that he was saving her, it was still wrong. Despite loving the letter style of writing I think it would have been even more brilliant as a dual-narrative; I would have loved to get a glimpse of everything that was happening from Ty's point of view.
Definitely one of those books that sneak up on you emotionally. You have no idea how invested you are in what happens for these characters until it's all over and you realize how much you had been hoping for that happily-ever-after type ending. The ending, while I wouldn't call it perfect, was definitely fitting and managed to make the whole story even more plausible.
Emotional and powerful, Stolen is a thought-provoking story that will have you questioning right and wrong and the grey areas in between.
'And, let's face it, you did steal me. But you saved my life, too. And somewhere in the middle, you showed me a place so different and beautiful, I can never get it out of my mind. And I can't get you out of there, either. You're stuck in my brain like my own blood vessels.'
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