Back to Books!

Hey all! Long time no see! I know, it's been some time, I've been insanely busy with school and I haven't been reading much for fun. 





However, in English this year our class, we've read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, which I must say, was phenomenal. I loved the book. It's about the war in Vietnam, and the soldiers' experiences during the war. At first, I believed I would detest the book, since war stories are not usually my type of book. On the contrary, I couldn't put down this book! I'm glad we got to read it in class. 

We finished TTTC in mid-October, and now we're reading a graphic novel called Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. It is a good novel. I was also surprised I liked this book so much, since I can't force myself to read a novel that's mostly pictures and few words. This book, however, has a decent amount of words, which I think kept me into the book. The book is about a young Marjane Satrapi experiencing the drastic changes in her life due to the Islamic Revolution in Iran, such as having to wear the veil, the Iran-Iraq war, etc. It's pretty fascinating, and very humorous at times. There is a second part to this novel as well, which I would like to read once I'm finished with the first novel. I'd suggest this book to anyone who doesn't mind diverging into a little bit of history while enjoying a comic at the same time. I actually have to a presentation on this book, and I have a topic in mind as my theme for the presentation. I don't know when the date of my presentation actually is, but wish me luck!!! 

I have read some books for fun this semester so far (I can't keep myself from buying books at Barnes & Noble, haha), one of which includes the Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano. I can't say much for this series, unfortunately. The setting and the plot should be quite interesting to me normally, but I couldn't quite keep myself interested in this series. 

This series takes place in the future of North America (which is all that's left of the world after a catastrophic world war that wiped out all the other continents), in which girls only live until the age of 20 and males die at 25 at the hands of some incurable virus. As a result, in order to keep the human race going and for families to keep their family lines/names going on, girls are abducted and sold to men with the intent of impregnating them. In this story, the protagonist, 16 year old Rhine Ellery, is one of these kidnapped girls forced to marry 21 year old Linden Ashby, along with two other kidnapped girls, Cecily & Jenna. In Linden's world, everything is not what it seems.  Linden's father, Housemaster Vaughn, is sketchy. And then there's Gabriel, a servant whom Rhine finds herself growing attracted to. Meanwhile, she desperately plots her escape from this world of illusions to return to her twin brother, Rowan. After reading the first novel, Wither, I decided to give the second book, Fever, a chance. I only got until half the book until I was completely bored with it. The only reason I stuck with this series for so long is because of the love triangle between Rhine Ellery-Ashby, the servant Gabriel, and Rhine's husband, Linden. I know it sounds odd to want Rhine to end up with Linden, the man who kidnapped her from everything she's known and forced her to marry him, but he's kind to her, and wants to protect her. He's painstakingly oblivious to the goings-on of the world around him, and that makes me pity him, makes me want Rhine to love him as he loves her. Even though she looks like Linden's dead first wife, Rose, I think Linden loves her for a different reason. I just never felt any chemistry between Rhine and Gabriel, even though I have a sickening feeling that they are going to be together at the end of this series. The last book, Sever, is set to release next February, and I will force myself through the book, if only to read the Rhine-Linden scenes and find out who she ends up with. 

Lastly, I read another novel recently called Stolen, by Lucy Christopher. I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. I loved it so much that I'm going to reserve a whole post just for that novel itself. Therefore, my review of this book will come in a later post, which will hopefully be soon. In the meantime, I suggest to those who haven't read it yet to go to their local library/bookstore and PICK IT UP ASAP. I'm dead serious. This novel will have you experiencing the exact same feelings as the protagonist, which is utterly freaky considering the situation. I won't ramble on and spoil it. Go read it! I mean it! 

Until next time! :)