Category Archives: diverse books

Book Review: Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

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Does My Head Look Big In This CoverBook: Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Published May 2007 by Orchard Books|360 pages

Where I Got It: borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

What It’s About: 

When sixteen-year-old Amal decides to wear the hijab full-time, her entire world changes, all because of a piece of cloth…

Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full- time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.

Can she handle the taunts of “towel head,” the prejudice of her classmates, and still attract the cutest boy in school? Brilliantly funny and poignant, Randa Abdel-Fattah’s debut novel will strike a chord in all teenage readers, no matter what their beliefs.

What I Thought:

I loved this book!  I think this one is another favorite I’ve read so far this year.

It’s such a light-hearted book, and it made the book feel really balanced with everything that Amal had to deal with.  There were several times when I felt really angry at other people because of the things they said or the way they acted, but I also liked how strong her faith was, and how it didn’t waiver.

Like, when Amal was asked to give a speech to give insight into Islam and terrorism, and why they did what they did.  I loved that Amal refused to do it because they’re not representative of Islam.  I also liked her response to the class president.

“You’re Christian, right?

“…Yeah…what’s that got to do with anything?

“Ok, well I’ll give the speech if you give a speech about the Ku Klux Klan.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, why not?  They were really religious, so obviously what they did was textbook Christianity, right?  And how about those Israeli soldiers bombing Palestinian homes or shooting kids?”

The fact that she’s the only Muslim at her school, and thus the authority on all thing Muslim…sadly, it wasn’t that surprising, but it still made me angry on her behalf.  And the fact that if she’s wearing a hijab, it’s either because her parents are making her do it, or it’s because she’s a religious fanatic.  And the fact that the guy she has a crush on thinks she’s repressed because she believes until waiting until marriage to have sex, or even kiss someone?  Also made me really, incredibly angry at a fictional character.  But at the same time, I felt like that scene was very true to life, and I loved how she strongly she believed in it.

I think some people might find Does My Head Look Big In This? a little preachy, but I honestly didn’t mind that (in this instance) because it’s coming from such a different perspective.  Plus, I didn’t really find the book to be preachy, but I can understand why some people might think that.  And Amal does encounter quite a bit of ignorance and stupid comments and assumptions, and I thought she dealt with it really well.

I was expecting more anti-Islam sentiment, and I’m not sure if it’s something that happens a lot in Australia, or if it was because the book took place not that long after 9/11 (and I’m the first the admit that I’m completely clueless about any impact it had elsewhere in the world), or if it’s really not as bad as I (very wrongly) assumed.

Reading this book, I definitely realized how little I actually know about Islam, and I do wish that she explained the meaning of the hijab.  I know why Amal wears it, but I’m curious if there’s a meaning behind it.  And I also wish we saw her explain some of the tenets of Islam, but the book worked well without it (and I can always read about it on my own).  Towards the end of the book, I did find myself wondering how the story would play out in different parts of the world.

My Rating:

4 stars.  I really liked it, and I thought Amal had a strong voice.  She was funny and someone I could relate to, and this book made me think about some of the perceptions I had Islam.

Book Review: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

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Akata Witch CoverBook: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Published April 2011 by Viking Children’s|349 pages

Where I Got It: borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy/Magical Realism

What It’s About: 

Twelve-year-old Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born American. Her features are African, but she’s albino. She’s a terrific athlete, but can’t go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits. And then she discovers something amazing—she is a “free agent,” with latent magical power. Soon she’s part of a quartet of magic students, studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But will it be enough to help them when they are asked to catch a career criminal who knows magic too?

What I Thought:

I loved Akata Witch!  It is such a great book, and I am so glad I read it!

I really liked Sunny, and she’s pretty awesome!  She’s awesome at soccer, and she finds some really cool friends who introduce her to a world she never knew existed.  I liked seeing her learn more about her own powers, and how being an albino turns out to be a strength for her, instead of something that makes her stand out.  I also really liked seeing her learn more about the grandmother that no one talks about, and why her family really moved back to Nigeria.

What I loved most about Akata Witch was seeing Sunny studying magic, and how connected it was to Nigerian folklore and myths. I know nothing about Nigerian mythology, and I feel like I learned so much just by reading Akata Witch.  It was a little hard to get into at first, because I’m not at all familiar with African myths, but this book is worth reading because it’s very richly imagined, and now I want to read more about African myth in general, but especially those from Nigeria.

Another really cool thing about this book is that there are different levels that Leopard People have to go through as they learn more and more about magic.  While they don’t have to be at a certain age to go through the different levels, it is a really good idea since there are really bad consequences if they fail- and I like that they really do take it seriously, which (to me) is really different than other fantasy (and even paranormal) books where there aren’t really consequences and the characters can be sort of…whatever…about being introduced to a world they never knew existed.

I also loved that they have a teacher, and that they also have their own mentors.  They have so much to learn, and this book is definitely the start of Sunny’s magical journey, and I am so glad that there’s a sequel in the works because I want more set in this world.  I feel like I wouldn’t do the world justice if I tried to describe it, but it’s so different than anything I’ve read before.  Just trust me when I say that the world-building is amazing.

My Rating:

5 stars.  Akata Witch is amazing, and I loved that it wove in Nigerian folklore and mythology,  It’s one of my favorites of the year, and I can’t wait to read Okorafor’s other books.

Book Review: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

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An Ember In The Ashes CoverBook: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Published April 2015 by Razorbill|366 pages

Where I Got It: borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: An Ember In The Ashes #1

Genre: YA Dystopic Fantasy

What It’s About: 

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

What I Thought:

It seems like there’s been some buzz around An Ember In The Ashes, so I’m really glad that I read it not too long after it was published, because I have a tendency to not like books that have a lot of buzz surrounding them.

Anyway, I really liked An Ember In The Ashes!  It’s really different, and there is an Ancient Rome feel to it that I really liked. It was a lot darker than I expected, and this is a really cruel, harsh world that I wasn’t expecting. But it really worked, and made you hope that things would get better, and that Elias and Laia would change things.

I thought the dual narration worked really well in this book!  It’s something that’s hit or miss for me, but I really liked seeing two people who are against the Empire for different reasons, and you see how two very different people see the Empire.  I have to say, though, that I really liked seeing how much Elias changed, and his part of the story was infinitely more interesting to me than Laia’s.  Her story was interesting too, but it didn’t really get my attention the way that Elias’ did.

I found the world really fascinating, and there’s this…atmosphere that’s horrifying and creepy, and it’s a world I wouldn’t want to live it.  I could picture the Masks so well, and it’s the same with Blackcliff.  There’s so much more to this world than we see in the book, and it seems really intricate.

I’m definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, and I’m really glad there is one, because I want to be in this world more! Plus, with how the book ended, it’ll be nice to actually see where things go.  But if it were a stand-alone, I think I might be okay with that, because while it leaves things open enough for a sequel (again, I’m glad there is one), it would also be interesting to imagine where things would turn out.  I’m glad I don’t have to!

My Rating:

4 stars.  I really liked it!  It’s definitely a dark, cruel Ancient Rome-type world, but it’s such a great book!

Book Review: Under A Painted Sky

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Under A Painted Sky CoverBook: Under A Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

Published March 2015 by Putnam|374 pages

Where I Got It: borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

What It’s About:

Missouri, 1849: Samantha dreams of moving back to New York to be a professional musician—not an easy thing if you’re a girl, and harder still if you’re Chinese. But a tragic accident dashes any hopes of fulfilling her dream, and instead, leaves her fearing for her life. With the help of a runaway slave named Annamae, Samantha flees town for the unknown frontier. But life on the Oregon Trail is unsafe for two girls, so they disguise themselves as Sammy and Andy, two boys headed for the California gold rush. Sammy and Andy forge a powerful bond as they each search for a link to their past, and struggle to avoid any unwanted attention. But when they cross paths with a band of cowboys, the light-hearted troupe turn out to be unexpected allies. With the law closing in on them and new setbacks coming each day, the girls quickly learn that there are not many places to hide on the open trail.

This beautifully written debut is an exciting adventure and heart-wrenching survival tale. But above all else, it’s a story about perseverance and trust that will restore your faith in the power of friendship.

What I Thought:

I really liked Under A Painted Sky!  As much as I love history, I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, and pretty much every single time I read it, I always wish I read more of it.

Under A Painted Sky initially came across my radar because I follow a few blogs that focus on diversity in books, but I was really intrigued by the story.  I’m really glad I read it, because it’s such a great story about friendship and people who accept you no matter what.

I really liked Sam- she’s definitely a survivor, and I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her.  It was the same with Annamae.  I loved how they looked out for each other, and how bonds can form, even in horrible circumstances.  I loved that they were so accepting, and that they became close with a group of cowboys who were awesome.  I instantly cared for Sam and Annamae, and I also came to care about the cowboys and even Sam’s dad, even though we didn’t see a lot of him.  Sam missed him, and that made me miss him.  I also really liked how connected Sam was to her Chinese heritage, and how we saw the Chinese Zodiac and Chinese folklore throughout the book.

Really, West, Cay and Peety are quite awesome too.  I LOVED how accepting they were of Sam and Annamae, and how strong their bond was.  It really does stand out, and both girls trying to hide the fact that they were girls disguising themselves as boys made for some really funny moments.  It’s normally something that irritates me (and I have no idea why) but it worked really well in this book. because the Oregon Trail is dangerous enough as it is, much less for two girls on the run.

It was the characters and their journey that really stood out and shined in Under A Painted Sky.  They definitely had obstacles, and adventures but their actual journey across the Oregon Trail…it was part of the book, and how their friendship got strong, but Under A Painted Sky is really more about the characters than the plot.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s some action-packed scenes throughout the book, and even though the Oregon Trail is an awesome setting (and now it makes me want to play the game), I found it didn’t really matter that much to me.  Still, you definitely feel like you’re on this epic road-trip, Old West style.

My Rating:

4 stars.  I didn’t fall in love with it, but everyone needs to read it!  It’s such an amazing book about friendship and hope.

Book Review: Liar by Justine Larbalestier

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Liar CoverBook: Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Published September 2009  by Bloomsbury|371 pages

Where I Got It: borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

What It’s About: 

Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing? Taking readers deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them—and herself—that she’s finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers see-sawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly.

What I Thought:

I thought Liar started off really strong and I initially liked it, but I slowly became indifferent towards the book by the end of it.

What really lost me was the revelation of the family illness- that her family were werewolves.  That was when the book started to lose me- and while it was first at first, by the end of it, it just felt like a lame excuse for why she lied all the time.  I get that things run in the family, which I could have handled.  And if the werewolf thing is a stand-in for something else (mental illness and period-related issues seem like the best possibilities, but the second one doesn’t explain the fact that her one uncle seems to be affected by the family illness), I thought it didn’t really do a good job of it, just because it turned into something I wasn’t expecting, and it felt out of place.

I’m fine with unreliable narrators, and one who’s a compulsive liar makes for a really interesting unreliable narrator because you’re never sure what’s true and what’s a lie.  What became really clear to me was that Justine really needed help.  She really did- her brother being a good example of this.  At different points in the book, she has a brother who hates her, he never existed, or he died and she was involved somehow.  Not only that, but it’s never resolved, and it’s randomly mentioned, but you don’t really hear about it after a certain point.  Which makes me wonder why it was even included…I guess to show how much of a liar she is, but you definitely get that throughout the book.  Maybe to show family issues?  Anyway, one of the very few things that you could actually trust is that she’s in desperate need of help, and it’s a shame that she doesn’t get it.

She gets sent up to the Greats (how they’re related to her, I could never figure out) in the country, and she runs away because her life will end if she’s not in the city.  I really wish we could trust her stories about her family, because I am oddly curious about what they’re really like, and if they noticed that Micah needed help.  And if they did, why they didn’t try to get her more help. Maybe they did, but Micah never talked about it?

While you couldn’t trust a lot of what Micah said, something I could trust (and actually liked) was how she felt out of place- race being a big one, since she’s bi-racial.  Part of me wishes that had come up more, because it really doesn’t in the book.  Which is fine, because there are so many other things going on, and just because a character is bi-racial doesn’t mean the story has to focus on that.  But there is a part of me that wishes we saw the impact it had on Micah’s life.

My Rating:

2 stars.  Micah definitely has a strong voice, and I liked that she’s such an unreliable narrator, but the big reveal about the family illness made me feel indifferent about the book.

Book Review: Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

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Openly StraightBook: Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Published May 2013 by Arthur A Levine Books|253 pages

Where I Got It: the library!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary- LGBT

You can find Openly Straight on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

A funny, honest novel about being out, being proud…and being ready for something else.

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He’s won skiing prizes. He likes to write. And, oh yeah, he’s gay. He’s been out since 8th grade, and he isn’t teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that’s important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys’ boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret — not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate breaking down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben…who doesn’t even know that love is possible.

This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate being different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.

What I Thought:

I have so many thoughts about Openly Straight that I’m not quite sure where to start!  There a lot of things I really like, but there are also things that were really frustrating.

Like, I can relate to Rafe wanting to start over and not do the whole label thing.  It’s something we can all relate to, because we put labels on ourselves.  Others put their own labels on us.  And it’s annoying and frustrating, because we’re more than whatever people label us as.  It’s something we all have to deal with, and it can be hard when it’s all people see us as.

I really understood where Rafe was coming from- people definitely saw him as the gay kid, and didn’t seem interested in who he was beyond that.  His teachers seemed to constantly want the gay opinion (not my words, by the way, it’s phrased that way in the book at one point).  Everyone around Rafe is super-supportive, to the point where he felt like he had to transfer to all-boys boarding school on the other side of the country.  I don’t blame him at all for wanting to get away from it.

A really great example of what he has to deal with is Halloween one year.  He dresses up as an ’80’s rocker chick for Halloween, and everyone’s either uncomfortable (pretty much all of his classmates) or they see it as a statement (his teachers) while a couple of kids at his school (straight, if anyone’s wondering) did the same type of costume the previous Halloween, and everyone thought it was hilarious.

That was one thing that really stood out to me- the fact that he does it, and an uncomfortable statement, just because he’s gay, and yet, it’s really funny when someone who’s straight does it.  It’s something I never thought about before, and it made me sad that so many of his classmates were uncomortable with his costume.  And that people saw it as a statement, even though he didn’t mean it that way- he just thought it would be a great costume.  It’s amazing how people see a type of costume differently, just because of who’s wearing it, and I can totally see people reacting the way they did.

I knew pretty early on that not telling his new classmates he’s gay was going to backfire, especially when he starting falling for his classmate Ben.  Him hiding it was going to end disastrously, and I’m not surprised that it really messes up his relationship with Ben.  However, I really like the message that hiding even a piece of who you are never ends well, and can cause a lot of pain.  And that replacing one label with another can be just as bad, if not worse, than the one you’re trying to get rid of.

I did find myself really frustrated with Rafe at times.  By the end of the book, I was finding myself really frustrated with how he was so tired of people making a big deal out of the fact that he was gay.  I understand where he’s coming from, but at the same time, I felt like he took so much for granted.  With all of the news recently, with teens killing themselves because of bullying, I really felt like Rafe didn’t realize how lucky he was that he wasn’t bullied and that everyone in his life was supportive.  His parents are really accepting- they even threw him a coming out party!

It did make me think about whether being really supportive has a negative effect.  It’s still better than the alternative, of course, but is it possible to be too supportive?  It certainly is in Rafe’s case.  It did feel like everyone in Colorado was trying too hard to show how supportive they were, and it just made them feel stereotypical and flat.

Still, even though I’m not too fond of Rafe, sometimes, we learn by making mistakes.  And I really feel for him.  He didn’t want to be defined by his sexuality, and yet, that’s all people seem to expect- that it should define him.  You see it more in the flashbacks of his life in Colorado, but I am curious about how it relates to his life at boarding school now  that he’s come out to his new classmates.

Let’s Rate It:

I do have mixed feelings.  There are things I like (don’t be someone you’re not, we all have to deal with labels, regardless of who you are) but those are overshadowed by other things, like how much Rafe seemed to take for granted, how uber-supportive everyone else was, and how predictable certain things were.  I will say that he did seem to appreciate how lucky he is to have the parents he does, and that certain things needed to be predictable in order for him to realize that he needed to be himself- his whole self and not just part of it.  But it still took away from the story a little bit.  I still recommend it, because I did start thinking about things I would never think to think about.  Openly Straight gets 3 stars.

Book Review: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

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To All The Boys I Have Loved Before CoverBook: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Published April 2014 by Simon & Schuster|274 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before #1

Genre: YA Contemporary

Check out To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her.

They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her, these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

What I Thought:

After loving Han’s Summer trilogy, I’ve been wanting to read everything else she’s written, and this one was one that I was anxiously waiting to read!

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting exactly.  Don’t get me wrong, I really liked it, but it took me a while to get into the book. There’s quite a bit of set-up, so you know what’s going on, and why the letters get sent.  In a lot of ways, I think I was expecting the nostalgia that I felt with her previously mentioned series, and while there are some similarities, it’s also a different book.

I know the letters are what spur a lot of the events in the book, but I really expected more with the letters.  I really thought they’d be huge.  Them getting mailed was big, of course, but…I don’t know, I just expected something more with them, that’s all.

I thought Lara Jean was interesting- it very much seemed like her sister took care of so much after their mother died.  Lara Jean did too, but it really felt like Lara Jean couldn’t do anything without Margot sometimes.  I did like seeing her try to figure things out herself, and how she and Kitty did some of their annual Christmas traditions without Margot.  I get Margot maybe feeling a little hurt or left out…but I kind of also liked seeing them with her.

There was a point where Lara Jean and Josh were super-irritating, and it was Peter who acted pretty realistically during that whole thing.  Lara Jean seemed super-innocent (which I can relate to) and I understand why she acted the way she did (same with Josh but to a much lesser degree) but I still felt like it was a bit excessive.  Also, her friendship with Chris didn’t make a lot of sense to me- and considering they were best friends, I kind of expected something more with their friendship.

I wasn’t a big fan of the drama in it.  Sometimes, I don’t mind drama, but I guess I wasn’t in the mind for it with this book. And while I plan on reading the sequel, I’m also not sure about it.  I feel like this book stands on its own really well, and with an extra chapter for closure, I think it would have been fine without a sequel. But I love Jenny Han as an author, so I’ll definitely be giving it a chance.  It is why I kept going with this book, even though I wasn’t sure about it at first.

Even though I wasn’t sure about this book at first, I did like seeing the letters and what happened as a result of Kitty mailing them.  It was pretty obvious early on who did it, but I liked seeing Lara Jean deal with all of the Peter stuff and Josh stuff, and how her relationships with her sisters changed (even though I wanted more resolution with Margot because I felt like we got none).

Let’s Rate It:

It is a cute, sweet book and I liked that it was all about crushes!  I wish that letters were more of a thing in the book, and I felt like it started off slow, but it did become what I’d expect from a Jenny Han book.  To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before gets 4 stars.

Book Review: I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

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I'll Give You The Sun CoverBook: I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

Published September 2014 by Dial|259 pages

Where I Got It: I checked out the e-book from the library!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary/LGBT

Check out I’ll Give You The Sun on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell 

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways…until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah’s story to tell. The later years are Jude’s. What the twins don’t realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

What I Thought:

After reading The Sky Is Everywhere ages ago and loving it and anxiously awaiting Jandy Nelson’s next book, I finally read I’ll Give You The Sun.

Unfortunately, I’m kind of torn between not really liking it and thinking it was okay.  I really wanted to like it more, because I did love The Sky Is Everywhere.

I did like that Noah and Jude narrated the book.  It’s different from a lot of other multiple narrators in that Noah and Jude are on a different timelines.  Because I don’t pay attention to summaries or anything, I thought it meant that Noah had died or something really bad happened to him because of that timeline, and it took a while for me to realize he was still alive.  But then I was more confused, because if he’s alive, why didn’t he really appear in Jude’s timeline?

It is an interesting way to tell a story, but it didn’t completely work for me.  On the one hand, I do kind of like that they have two different pieces of the story, but at the same time, I felt like the story wasn’t completely there for me because of it.

I just don’t know how I feel about I’ll Give You The Sun.  I was expecting something that more like The Sky Is Everywhere, which I connected so much with, and I really wanted that connection in this book.  That connection did happen, but not until the last 4 or 5 pages, and at that point, I wondered where that was for the rest of the novel.

I didn’t care for Noah or Jude, and I found that Noah randomly titling the scene as a painting to be really annoying, while Jude’s tendency to quote her grandmother’s book was quite.  I did feel for Noah, and I understand how and why he became the person he did.  He had a lot to deal with, especially since Noah is gay, and we see him struggle with how he presents himself to the world.  With Jude, I felt like she stayed relatively the same.  They didn’t feel genuine in the way the characters in her previous novel did.

Let’s Rate It:

Overall, I’ll Give You The Sun just isn’t my book.  I thought the way the story was told was interesting, and a big part of why I kept reading was because 1- I loved the author’s previous book to pieces and gave this one a chance that I probably would not have given it otherwise, and 2- I did want to know what happened and why things fell apart.  I think this book turned out okay for me.  I’ll Give You The Sun gets 2 stars.

Book Review: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

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The Bluest Eye CoverBook: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Published July 2007 by Vintage|143 pages

Where I Got It: checked out the e-book from the library!

Series: None

Genre: Adult Literary Fiction/African-American Literature

Check out The Bluest Eye on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in.Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing.

What I Thought:

I’ve been on a Toni Morrison kick lately, and so I picked up The Bluest Eye.  It is what I’m coming to expect from a Toni Morrison novel, well before we knew Toni Morrison.

I liked The Bluest Eye, and I felt like this one, more than any of the other books I’ve read (except for Home) was about…life.  The one thing that I keep noticing with Morrison is that I pay much more attention to the writing than the actual story.  It’s weird, because the actual writing is something I almost never pay attention to.

But with Morrison, it’s all I seem to pay attention to, and The Bluest Eye is no exception. There are several different narrators of The Bluest Eye, and they all come together to tell the story of Pecola.  Honestly, it took me a while to realize that there were several different stories of some of the people in Pecola’s life, and I found myself having to go back and re-read certain parts of the book, because it was starting to not make sense to me.  It’s definitely one of those books that you have to read carefully.

I did like reading The Bluest Eye after reading some of her other books, because her writing style- which has grown and changed- is still relatively the same.

Let’s Rate It: 

While I only liked the story (and found the narration to be a bit all over the place), it’s hard to not like The Bluest Eye. Morrison really does know how to tell a story.  The Bluest Eye gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

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Afterworlds CoverBook: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Published September 2014 by Simon Pulse|413 pages

Where I Got It: checked out the e-book from the library!

Series: None

Genre: YA- Half Paranormal/Half Contemporary

You can find Afterworlds on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld comes a smart, thought-provoking novel-within-a-novel that you won’t be able to put down.

Darcy Patel has put college on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. With a contract in hand, she arrives in New York City with no apartment, no friends, and all the wrong clothes. But lucky for Darcy, she’s taken under the wings of other seasoned and fledgling writers who help her navigate the city and the world of writing and publishing. Over the course of a year, Darcy finishes her book, faces critique, and falls in love.

Woven into Darcy’s personal story is her novel, Afterworlds, a suspenseful thriller about a teen who slips into the ‘Afterworld’ to survive a terrorist attack. The Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead, and where many unsolved and terrifying stories need to be reconciled. Like Darcy, Lizzie too falls in love – until a new threat resurfaces, and her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she cares about most.

What I Thought:

Afterworlds really is a unique book!  It’s a novel-within-a-novel, and there is something very meta about this entire book.

I’m really not kidding.  I did get the sense that Westerfeld was poking a bit at YA tropes and just the YA community in general, but in a really good way.

I don’t even know how to begin reviewing this book…but I guess I should start with Darcy’s story.  I really liked her story, and I liked seeing her navigate New York and the publishing world, especially with the help she finds in other awesome writers.  I don’t know what that world is like, but it is one that feels so real, like that’s what it is like for one person- and it really felt like bits and pieces of it may have come from Westerfeld’s own experience as a YA writer.

I also liked that we saw Darcy over the course of a year, and how much she went through with her book and her personal life. And I loved that in quite a few ways, her life intertwined with Lizzie’s story, and how much Darcy and Lizzie had in common. Which does make sense, since Lizzie is one of Darcy’s characters.  They both had these really big things happen that would change their lives, and I liked seeing both of their stories.

I really like that we not only see Darcy working on Afterworlds but that we get the actually Afterworlds story! And not just an excerpt or quotes but the full novel.  It was kind of disorienting at first, because you get thrown into both stories, and there’s nothing to indicate which story you’re reading.  But the two stories are so different that I knew which story was which in no time.

I also liked Lizzie’s story, especially at the beginning.  It’s so weird, because I really liked Darcy’s story as the book went on, and I liked Lizzie’s story less as the book went on.  Still, it’s an interesting way to tell a story, and I think there was a lot of potential for it to not work.  For me, it worked a lot better than I could have expected or imagined, but I think the way it’s told isn’t for everyone.  Given that Afterworlds is such a big part of Darcy’s life, and different aspects of it come up throughout the book, it makes sense that we would see Darcy’s story.  It would be a very different book if we didn’t have her fictional story, and Lizzie’s story helps Darcy’s story come to life.  Both stories need each other, and you see the effects that each story has on the other one.

I found the conversations about re-telling myths and stories that are part of a culture to be not your own to be really interesting, especially given all of the recent discussions about reading diversely.  Like, it’s okay that Darcy re-tells stories from Hinduism, because her family is from India (even though Darcy herself doesn’t seem particularly religious, and her family, from what we see of them, don’t seem to be particularly religious either).  I have no idea why I find it super-interesting, but I do.  Also, I love that her family is totally cool with Darcy having a girlfriend, and that it wasn’t a big deal when Darcy told them.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked Afterworlds, and how you needed both stories in order to tell the other one.  I liked seeing how Darcy’s life and Lizzie’s life intertwine, and how both stories have an effect on the other one.  Darcy’s story is easily 5 stars, while I’d really have to give Lizzie’s story 3 stars, so overall, Afterworlds gets 4 stars.