Quick Update

Dear Blogger,

This is just a quick post to let you all know that I haven't posted because school started. Yes, the dreaded school. For school I am currently reading FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley for the second time. I do plan on writing something on the blog about the books I read for school, though I don't really know how one can "review" a classic. One thing to mention about FRANKENSTEIN that I've noticed both times through it - is it just me, or does Mary Shelley go into quite excessive detail describing the characters' emotions? I swear, the lady goes on for three pages about Dr. Frankenstein feeling depressed, basically just repeating herself. Oh well. It's a classic for a reason, I guess...
On another note, I've also been trying to read two books from the middle of the summer that I have just been struggling to get into. Not only do I not have that much time, but they aren't as interesting as the back of the book made them out to be. I'll get back to you on that.

-Victoria

Not Just Paper -- PAPER TOWNS by John Green

Dear Blogger,

I'm really not sure how long this post is going to be, because the book PAPER TOWNS by John Green was so amazing that I don't even know what to say. In all honesty, the book speaks for itself. You all absolutely have to read it. The quote on the front of my copy says "Profoundingly moving" by SLJ. I don't know who that is, but they're absolutely right.
I'm sure you can tell by just this second paragraph that I loved this book. I loved it in a different way than I've loved other books. I loved this book like I loved THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER by Sarah Dessen, which was in a tender, intimate way. It's the kind of book I want to hold close to me because I'm not quite ready to be finished with it yet, and I'm not sure that I ever will be. The words and characters of this novel will stay with me for a very, very long time.
PAPER TOWNS is about a guy named Quentin in his final year of high school going on an adventure with the subject of his long-time affections, Margo. After this night, he believes - hopes - that he's left the right impression on her, and that it won't be a one-night-stand so to speak (they don't sleep together, FYI.) But the next day, Margo doesn't show up to school and then she's just missing all together. As Quentin makes it his mission to find her, he realizes that she is not who he thought she was, but even this realization does not stop him from piecing together her clues and creating an image of her in his head. Many Margos suddenly spring into existence as he and his friends try finding her in the final stretch before they choose what path they want to take.
I think what I loved most about this novel was the idea that you perceive people in a pretty set way, and when you finally see through the "cracks", as John Green puts it in the book, you can either be disappointed or you can accept them for who they really are. In this way, when the exact opposite of what I thought would happen in the end occurred, I had to either be upset and dislike the book, or I could roll with it. I rolled with it.
It was so much better.
If what I expected to happen had happened, then the book would have been just paper, like Margo was a paper girl - being exactly what she was expected to be and not so much herself. Because the opposite happens, this book becomes REAL.

*SPOILER ALERT *I would like to share a quote with you that stuck out for me:

"Imagining isn't perfect. You can't get all the way inside someone else. I could never have imagined Margo's anger at being found, or the story she was writing over. But imagining being someone else, or the world being something else, is the only way in" (Green, 299).

I love that quote so much because not only can I relate to it in terms of the past - I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only one disappointed by somebody or something that didn't live up to your expectations - but in many ways I feel like John Green is Margo and we are Quentin; when we finally get to the end, when we finally find Margo, what we thought would happen has been totally written over. We find out that Margo did not leave the clues intentionally, we find that what we expected to happen when she and Quentin reunited was not going to happen. John Green gave us the framework and we built up our own Margo, and then he went ahead and wrote over all of that in the end.

-Victoria

Source for Cover Art: http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=paper+towns+john+green&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1311&bih=655&tbm=isch&tbnid=mmE9f4ObqZiMHM:&imgrefurl=http://johngreenbooks.com/paper-towns/&docid=DGmgQ1nij097hM&imgurl=http://johngreenbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/PaperTowns2009_6A.jpg&w=546&h=824&ei=qUdOUJmQDaiY2wXEq4GACQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=173&vpy=110&dur=2107&hovh=276&hovw=183&tx=106&ty=131&sig=110521532527818361811&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=93&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:73

The Wonderful DEARLY, DEPARTED by Lia Habel!!!

Dear Blogger,

This will be the first review where I have actually written out notes, so let's see how this goes with the newer, more organized me.
DEARLY, DEPARTED is about a young girl named Nora Dearly who discovers the existence of zombies - good and bad ones - and fights alongside these creatures for equality and love. I don't want to write much more summarizing because I'm afraid of giving something away!
So first of all, this book was freaking fantastic. I love, love, LOVE the zombies. All zombies in general, actually. I am an avid player of COD: Black Ops Zombies and I love the movie Zombieland...I've even wanted to write a book about a zombie apocalypse and survival. So obviously I fell in love with this book rather easily. But I don't think you need to be a zombie fan to love the book. There are so many other great aspects about it as well.
So the first thing I'll talk about is that while I was reminded a bit of TWILIGHT in terms of the relationship between Nora and zombie-boyfriend Bram in comparison to Bella and Edward ("You won't hurt me, I KNOW IT!!!", "But I'm a moster!"...) it was the imperfection in DEARLY, DEPARTED rather than the perfect, glorious vamps of TWILIGHT that made this novel way less eye-roll worthy and 100% more believable. Seriously. This love story also keeps me way more on-edge because Bram WILL die again, and soon (three years). The impending doom/tragedy on their newfound love is so heartbreaking. I mean, people thought that Bella and Edward's relationship was THE most heartbreaking and dramatic thing ever, but ugh. Please. They were just whiny about everything, making it SEEM like it was a way bigger deal than it actually was. But Bram is already dead, and he has the marks on his body to prove it, and he will die again! Come on! And I mean they can't even consumate their love before he dies because he doesn't have blood! (Thank you Lia Habel, by the way, for being realistic about that and not making up some excuse like "Oh, the venom can make that happen for him", or in this case "The juices they pump into him make it work." No.)
The second really great thing about this book was the dialogue. It was realistic, not too serious but not so funny that you find yourself going "Yeah, yeah. Okay." It was written as people really talk, which I find a lot of books lack for the author's fear that it won't be taken seriously or whatever. There was just the right amount of wit and tone of voice to make each character interesting and unique. I also enjoyed how sometimes the character's narrative would tell you what they would have said if it wouldn't have been innappropriate in the situation. It was funny in parts.
Now I am not normally of fan of books that jump perspectives, but this book was so good that I actually wish I saw more of the less likeable characters' perspectives, such as Wolfe's. Just a random side-note, there.
Now a few things I didn't particularily like but that still did not ruin the novel for me (as in the last novel I reviewed)...
I actually have the same complaint as I did in the last novel I reviewed. DEARLY, DEPARTED is a futuristic novel, but the characters have reverted back to the Victorian way of things, modelling that era. Due to that, I was a bit confused as to how the many, many, many references to Bing Crosby applied, considering that it is A) set in the future and you would therefore think that many other musicians have come out of the woodwork since then and B) they are modelling the Victorian era and wouldn't you think they would then be listening to Victorian music? It can be argued that now we still listen to Mozart or Chopin...but still...It was clear that Lia Habel is definitely a fan of Bing's, but I didn't really buy it in the novel. It was sweet to have Bram sing the songs though. :)
The other thing was that even if only a little bit, I was reminded of TWILIGHT. Only at the very beginning and then again at the very end. The huge space in between, not so much. I think it mostly had to do with Bram and the "monster clan", how he was afraid of hurting her but she insisted on being with him anyways, how he sang...I didn't like that, but the entire middle made me forget about TWILIGHT entirely, so that was good. It also helped that it switched perspectives from Bram and Nora quite often, so that reminder was not a constant thing. It couldn't be.
The last thing I have to say is that I kind of wish Nora wasn't AS stubborn simply because she seemed childish at some points. However, it gave her great character development and her stubborness, like the reminders of Twilight, disappeared throughout the entire middle. BECAUSE THE MIDDLE WAS SO ACTION PACKED!!! It was great.
Overall, I really loved this book. Loved the zombies. I am definitely buying the second book in the series when I get the chance. Thanks, Lia Habel!

-Victoria

Source for cover image: http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=dearly+departed+lia+habel&hl=en&biw=1311&bih=655&tbm=isch&tbnid=48MjCrabdLwD7M:&imgrefurl=http://liahabel.com/dearly-departed/&imgurl=http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy223/liahabel/ddcoverhighrez.jpg&w=681&h=1023&ei=iQRFUKbbGojs0gG3sYHACw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=184&vpy=119&dur=1862&hovh=275&hovw=183&tx=81&ty=154&sig=110521532527818361811&page=1&tbnh=158&tbnw=114&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:70