Thursday, November 27, 2014

Thursday, November 27, 2014 - , , , No comments

I'll Give You the Sun

Rating: 5 stars
Author: Jandy Nelson
Version: Hardback

Goodreads:
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.

Review:
I’ll Give You the Sun wasn’t only a contemporary, but almost a mystery novel as well. The reason I say this is because as you progress through the story, you gain more clues as to why Jude and Noah’s relationship fell apart, as well as some shocking truths that escalated that separation. Also, on top of this being an extremely awesome story, Nelson tackles a few modern issues such as sexual identity; coping with death and grief; personal discovery and growth; and of course, love.  

This story was unique in it’s telling, because the chapters are told from not only alternating points of view, but also from different periods in time. For instance, one chapter might be coming from a 12 year old Noah, while the next will be told from a 16 year old Jude. However, the way she blended Jude and Noah’s story together seemed almost effortlessly done, since the story progressed very fluidly. Needless to say, this method of storytelling was very interesting, because to progress further into the book, you had to delve deeper into the past. 

As for the characters, I would probably say that Noah was my favorite. Although, I loved reading Jude’s journey as she rediscovered/reclaimed her former self, Noah and I could relate on so many different levels. As for Noah, he is not your typical child, he’s creative, funny, introverted, passionate, and a bit of an evil genius. Jude on the other hand, is bold, creative, superstitious, emotional, and extremely caring. Another one of my favorite characters was the grandmother, despite most of her appearances being in ghostly form. There’s no way you couldn’t like the grandmother, she had such an influential part in Jude’s life and the “Bible” she was infamously known for, was simply hilarious! The dad on the other hand was pretty terrible. I couldn’t believe some of the comments he made to his sonand I lost all respect for him when he fell apart when his children needed him most. Although, he does get a little redemption towards the end :). 


 I highly recommend this book to all my readers. It was one of the most touching and unique stories I’ve read all year. The connection between Jude and Noah, as well as both their journeys of self discovery are truly what make this book memorable. It’s so much more than just a contemporary novel and it will quickly become one of your favorites. Also, you can’t help but smile when you learn where the title comes from because it was so... moving.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014 - , , , , No comments

Girl On a Wire:

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Version: eBook
Author: Gwenda Bond

 GoodReads Summary:
A ballerina, twirling on a wire high above the crowd. Horses, prancing like salsa dancers. Trapeze artists, flying like somersaulting falcons. And magic crackling through the air. Welcome to the Cirque American!

Sixteen-year-old Jules Maroni’s dream is to follow in her father’s footsteps as a high-wire walker. When her family is offered a prestigious role in the new Cirque American, it seems that Jules and the Amazing Maronis will finally get the spotlight they deserve. But the presence of the Flying Garcias may derail her plans. For decades, the two rival families have avoided each other as sworn enemies.
Jules ignores the drama and focuses on the wire, skyrocketing to fame as the girl in a red tutu who dances across the wire at death-defying heights. But when she discovers a peacock feather—an infamous object of bad luck—planted on her costume, Jules nearly loses her footing. She has no choice but to seek help from the unlikeliest of people: Remy Garcia, son of the Garcia clan matriarch and the best trapeze artist in the Cirque.
As more mysterious talismans believed to possess unlucky magic appear, Jules and Remy unite to find the culprit. And if they don’t figure out what’s going on soon, Jules may be the first Maroni to do the unthinkable: fall. 


 Review:
This story is truly a modern day Romeo and Juliet retelling at its finest. This becomes even more apparent when you learn the true names of Remy and Jules later on in the book. Also strikingly similar to Shakespeare's cast of Montagues and Capulets, the Maronis and Garcias both possess a history of hating each other. However, the reason behind this hated remains a mystery for most of the book. Although you're given bits a pieces from different family members, you won't get the full story until it's forced out of the Grandmother, who is completely awesome by the way. The way Gwenda told the story not only kept me interested, but completely hooked me, so that I couldn't put the book down. 

 The setting of the story is forever changing, since the Maronis and Garcias are members of a traveling circus. How awesome is that? Honestly, this story is packed with a ton of circus lore and it was SO GREAT! Without going into too much detail, Jules makes a decision to better her family's financial situation, but at a cost of forcing them to cooperate with the Garcia's. Now as if that fact alone wasn't enough, just as in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the attraction between Remy Garcia and Jules Maroni is almost palpable. They fall in love and struggle to keep it a secret. This becomes increasingly more difficult as a mystery killer attempts to throw Jules, who is a tightrope walker, off her balance. What's so unique is that the mystery murder uses "mystical" possessions that date back to when the feud of family originally began. Now, it's left for the reader to decided if these objects are inherently magical or if it's the superstitions that give them strength. As for the mystery killer, can you figure out who it is before the story ends? I couldn't. 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - No comments

Stacking the Shelves (6):


Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where book bloggers share what we've recently added to our physical and/or virtual shelves! I know. It's been a while and I apologize for my lack of presence. However, I'm back, and I'm here to share what I've collected over the past few weeks!! Don't get too excited though, school's been hectic and I've literally had just about every kind of drama thrown at me that's humanly possible. 

eBooks:

  • None recently, however I highly, highly recommend Girl on a Wire. Not only was it the most recent eBook I read, but it was EXTREMELY good :>!

Physical Books:

1. Dust - Joan Frances Turner: This book was a gift and although I really love the cover design, I'm not looking forward to reading it. The plot doesn't sound too interesting and the GoodReads rating is relatively low. However, I'll surely give it a try sometime the future. 


2. I'll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson: I was in desperate need of some contemporary fiction, so this was the book I reached for. Not only does it have good reviews, but the plot sounded extremely unique, since the story is told from both twins at different stages of time. I recently finished this book and will have a review up shortly!

3. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami: I've been wanting this book for AGES! So, while I was browsing at Barnes & Noble, I just so happened to see this book and it's like I literally heard it shout my name. Needless to say, I purchased it and IT WAS AMAZING. Yes, I finished this book as well and the review will be posted just as soon as I figure out how to convey how much I loved this book. 





4. Empty - K. M. Walton: Yep, I'm on a contemporary fix. Once again, I was browsing at Barnes & Noble and happened to run across this book. The cover expressed exactly how I've been feeling recently, so there was no chance in hell that I was putting this book back on the shelf. Needless to say, I finished it within 12 hours of the purchase and the review is scheduled to be posted in the near future. 



5. Just One Day - Gale Forman: Unlike the last few books I've mentioned, I haven't finished reading this one. However, from what I've already read, the reviews I saw, and the amount of recommendations I received, I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to spending more time with this story. 

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