Thoughts: Looking for Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Year: 2005
Length: 221
Source: Owned
First Lines: "Everybody was sitting on sleeping bags, Alaska smoking with flagrant disregard for the overwhelming flammability of the structure, when the Colonel pulled out a single piece of computer paper and read from it."

Summary from goodreads: Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

**********

 Looking for Alaska is, perhaps, one of the saddest books I have ever read.  Beautifully written, but overwhelming tragic.  This was my John Green novel.  I have only heard good things about his work.  I was not disappointed, just left feeling extremely sad for these characters.  Looking for Alaska felt very real to me, portraying one of the worst ways to come of age.  I think these kinds of situations happen all too often in today's world. 

On a lighter note, I loved that Miles could quote the last words of famous people.  It is that kind of quirky trait that makes characters enduring and memorable to me.  I look forward to my next John Green novel.  

I started Looking for Alaska without realizing how devastating the plot would become for Alaska, Miles, and the Colonel.  Although I hope for happier outcomes in Green's other books, I am choosing to remain in the dark about their storylines.  I think my lack of information about Looking for Alaska made the emotional impact that much greater, and it is refreshing to be that moved by a book.     

Note: I read this book in January.  I just found the thoughts I had written, but never posted.  I know it seems like I've abandoned the book blog.  I don't want to give it up completely.  I've just been more focused lately on trying to keep track of life in general at By Hand With Heart.

Thoughts: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Year: 2011
Length: 452
Source: Owned
First Lines: "My name is not Mara Dyer, but my lawyer told me I had to choose something.  A pseudonym."

Summary from goodreads: Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. There is. She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

**********

I do not usually read from the paranormal genre.  So, I was a bit surprised with the turn of events in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.  As you can see, the above description does not exactly indicate such a plot.  I guess I pictured something more along the lines of Before I Fall or If I Stay.  

By the end of the book, I found myself a little confused and wondering what the heck was going on!  Even though I am not in love with this book, I am interested in finding out what happens to Mara and Noah.  The second book, The Evolution of Mara Dryer, is set for an October 23, 2012 publication. 

Thoughts: Thirteen Reasons Why

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Year: 2007
Length: 288 pages 
Source: Owned
First Lines: "'Sir?' she repeats.  'How soon do you want it to get there?'  I rub two fingers, hard, over my left eyebrow.  The throbbing has become intense.  'It doesn't matter,' I say."


It took me far longer to read Thirteen Reasons Why than I ever expected.  I certainly wanted to find out what happened, but it was just so sad.  I could not bear to read it over the holidays.  So I put it down for a few weeks.  When I finally picked it back up in January, I finished it in a few sittings.  About halfway through, Thirteen Reasons Why really grabbed hold and propelled me to finish as quickly as possible.

Thirteen Reasons Why is a difficult, but moving book.  Suicide, especially by a teenager, is hard to understand.  There is so much life left to live.  To think that spark can be extinguished in an instant is frightening.  In this story, Hannah explains exactly why she decided to kill herself, specifically recording thirteen reasons which correspond to various people in her life.

I cannot imagine being on the receiving end of one of those tapes.  How do you handle knowing not only that you contributed to another person's suicide, but that that person also went to fairly extraordinary measures to ensure that you knew explicitly what you had done?

For me, this was the key point of Thirteen Reasons Why.  Your actions, however inconsequential they may seem, impact others' lives for better or worse.  Perhaps even more powerful is inaction.  I think that sometimes the failure to act or speak on what we know is right may be even worse than acting or speaking upon that which we know is wrong.

Elie Wiesel said it best:

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.  The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.  The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.  And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.

Choose to read Thirteen Reasons Why and choose to challenge yourself. Everyone matters. We can each make a difference in another life.

Thoughts: Wither

Title: Wither
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Year: 2011
Length: 358 
Source: Public Library
First Line: "I wait."

The dystopian world of Wither is perhaps one of the most plausible to date, at least for me.  In this world, genetic engineering has gone to such extremes that people no longer live long, full lives.  Women die at age 20.  Men die at age 25.  I find this a little horrifying and a bit too realistic for comfort.  It is much easier for me to ignore the implications of other YA dystopian worlds.

Sadly, efforts to keep the population alive lead to the kidnapping of young girls who are forced into polygamous marriages.  They are, in essence, baby makers, which reminded me a little bit of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.  

Kidnapped Rhine becomes one of the wives of the somewhat pathetic Linden.  I alternated between despising Linden and feeling pity for him.  I never could reach a middle ground with him.  However, I admired Rhine's spirit and determination to escape her cruel fate. 

I heard about Wither through the ravings of other bloggers.  It took me a while to get into it; after I did, I flew through the second half of the book.  Naturally, this is the first book of a trilogy, The Chemical Garden Trilogy to be exact.  I am interested in finding out what happens to Rhine so I will keep reading.  Fever, the second book, is set for a February 21 release.  

Thoughts: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Year: 2011
Length:  338 pages
Source: Owned
First Lines: "I have three simple wishes.  They're really not too much to ask.  The first is to attend the winter formal dressed like Marie Antoinette."

I was a bit hesitant going in to Lola and the Boy Next Door.  It sat on my shelf for a couple of months.  How could it possibly compare to my love for Anna and the French Kiss?  However, last week, I craved something fun and light while on vacation from work.  And I was not disappointed.  I love Lola, too!

I did not realize that Lola is actually a companion book to Anna.  What a happy surprise to find Anna and Etienne happily running around in Lola's world!  I will not put off reading the final companion book, Isla and the Happily Ever After, when it comes out this year.  I cannot wait!

Back to Lola.  It took me several chapters before I fully gave in to loving Lola.  She is very different from me.  I will never be brave enough to have such a unique and imaginative sense of style.  Lola actually reminds me of a friend from high school.  She started off making her own clothes and continues to win fashion design competitions to this day.  Such talent!  So while I would not consider myself a Lola, I can relate to her and be her friend.  Kind of like Lindsey, Lola's best friend in the book.

On to the boys.  When the book begins, Lola is dating Max, an older musician of whom her parents do not approve.  I cannot say that I liked Max much either.  I guess I can understand the teen girl urge to date the bad boy, but I was prejudiced from the outset because I knew to expect someone better.  That someone is Cricket.  Yes, Cricket is a strange name for a boy.  But I loved him.  More than Etienne.  Shocking, I know. 

I am not going to delve into the actual plot, but I do want to mention the supporting characters.  They were so rich and memorable.  Each one obviously served a purpose related to the overall Lola story, but I could probably read a book about one of them, too.

Bottom line: Read Lola and the Boy Next Door so you can swoon like a tween girl at a Justin Bieber concert.  Except better, because the Beebs is not involved.  But first, you should read Anna and the French Kiss, if you have not done so already.  It will make you happy!

Thoughts: Anna and the French Kiss

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Year: 2010
Length: 372 pages
First Lines: "Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amélie and Moulin Rouge.  The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no ideas what the function of either actually is.  Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings names Louis."


I read Anna and the French Kiss during the read-a-thon in October.  I LOVED it!  Love.  Love. Love.  It just makes me happy!  Seriously.  I can't even explain it.  Just go read it immediately!

And because the previous sentences did not actually explain anything, here is a brief description from Goodreads:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Thoughts: Divergent

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Year: 2011
Length: 487 pages
First Lines: "There is one mirror in my house.  It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs.  Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair."


I went to Chicago for the first time this year and loved it!  I think my newly discovered appreciation for the city added a little something extra to my reading Divergent.  I suspect that the dystopian Chicago of the future intrigued me more than it would have had I not been there fairly recently.

I actually read Divergent at the end of October.  I must admit, I'm a little hazy on the details now.  All of the typical aspects of young adult dystopian novels were present.  I did enjoy reading Divergent.  It entertained me and then I moved on, I guess. 

I suppose Tris's bravery is the one thing that has stuck with me.  I am not sure I could make some of the decisions that this character makes throughout the book.  Side note: The tween girl inside me also liked Tris's relationship with Four.  Naturally, this is a trilogy and I do plan on reading the other books.

Many readers must like it because Divergent was chosen as the Favorite Book of 2011 and the Best Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy book in the 2011  Goodreads Choice Awards. 

Here is the description from Goodreads:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. 

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.