Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Pub. Date: October 18th 2007
Source: Half Price Books


Book Description:

He consumed her with that kiss, leaving no question that whatever was happening between them was meant to be—that it had always been meant to be…

You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.

Review:

★★★★

I know this book is really polarizing for a lot folks, and that a lot of people have strong feelings about it. I'm just not that passionate about it, so this is going to be a really basic review. I have not seen the Netflix adaptation.

I think this book has a good concept. I liked the way that it was formatted, both by using the tapes as a way to hear Hannah's story and by using the tape deck functions (play, pause, rewind) as a way to tie in Clay's narrative and response to her stories.

I will say that this book held my attention. This is probably the fastest that I've read a book in quite a while. It was both intriguing and haunting. I found myself wanting Clay to keep listening and going forward with the tapes, but I also hesitated each time a new person was mentioned, unsure if I actually did want to know what happened to Hannah.

I think I would have appreciated this book when it came out. 2007 would have been freshman/sophomore year of high school for me, when I myself would have been in the throes of my worst depression and high school angst. To me it seemed, melodramatic yes, but also quite realistic. I never questioned the teenage voice that it's written in, and all of the things that happened seemed like they very easily could have been real. That's something that I don't find a lot in a lot of high school books, especially where parties are involved.

I felt connected to the characters, which was sort of weird, considering that Hannah is dead. But the same way that hearing Hannah's voice makes Clay a little jumpy because it's like she's alive again, because her narrative is so strong on the tapes, you feel like you know her. And I felt for Clay, who had to hear so much and continue on with the little chain letter type set up.

I don't think I'll ever read this book again, but I'm not mad that I read it. I don't really recommend it to anyone either- I'd hate for anyone to be influenced by the topics here. If you're suicidal, or have been impacted by suicide, I do not think that this is the book for you.

Review: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Title: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Author: Alison Bechdel
Format: Paperback, 232 pages
Pub. Date: June 5th 2007
Source: Half Price Books


Book Description:

In this graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father.

Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

Review:

★★★★

I didn't know anything about Fun Home when I saw it on Broadway in Chicago. My sister is a season pass holder to the theatre, and so we went. I was told, "I don't know, it's a musical about lesbians or something". Seeing as I'm LGBT, that was enough. I didn't expect to fall in love with the musical and the story, but I did. I was eager to get my hands on Bechdel's book to get a deeper experience out of it. I wasn't disappointed.

I wasn't expecting this book to be so smartly written. I know that sounds insulting, and I definitely don't mean it to be. I know Alison Bechdel is smart (understatement of the year, since I'm pretty sure she's a MacArthur grant recipient). But wrongly, I assumed that because it was a graphic novel, it wouldn't contain much.

I was wrong, and I stand corrected.

The amount of literary comparison and quotation and references in this book are insanely plentiful. Not to mention well done. As an English grad, it warms the cockles of my cold, cynical heart. I too speak of my life, and the people in it, in terms of literature. I related strongly. Sometimes I even, admittedly, had to go back and read again to make sure I understood the bookishness fully. It's not a fast read, despite the illustrations.

I also related strongly with the idea of loving one's father, but also hating them. It is confusing to people who don't understand. My father could be warm and charming in a room full of people. But home with us, he was cold, and he was cruel. I lived my life in a state of confusion, because which of these people was my father? I have people who don't believe he was abusive, because he was so fun. I have people who know how abusive he was at home, who have gotten angry at me for staying in contact with him. It is a very weird mix of feelings to even explain to myself, let alone to other people. Alison Bechdel, while having drastically different circumstances, managed to convey this perfectly. Far better than I could ever say. Alison, I feel your heart saying hi.

And then, there's the artwork. It's very odd to see such an emotionally driven biography in this medium, but it's super effective. At first I was disappointed that these illustrations aren't in color. But in a panel, she explains why she doesn't use color anymore.... And I unfortunately relate to that too. It no longer disappointed me. The art style is well done, familiar but with detail. I appreciated the many references to Sunbeam Bread throughout the course of the book.

I also liked that the book wasn't just somber all the way through. There are moments of humor. There are moments that as a young LGBT woman that made me smile, or upset me, or just hit home. Like when I first realized what it was like to be different. Like life, this book is filled with ups and downs and complications and emotions. It can be rough in spots, but it's worth it.

I'd absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys the musical Fun Home, who grew up queer, or who likes gritty, realistic autobiographies. It's so well done, both in text and in illustration. It will remain on my sexuality shelf for the foreseeable future.

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Mini College Review: Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

Title: Fledgling
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Format: Paperback, 320 pages
Pub. Date: January 2nd 2007
Source: SIU Bookstore


Book Description:

Fledgling, Octavia Butler's new novel after a seven year break, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted - and still wants - to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

Review:

★★★

I'd like to preface this review by saying that apparently I'm the one person who hasn't read Butler's book, Kindred so I have no prior experience with this author's writing.

Moving on, this is a book that I had to read in my vampire literature course in college. I had really hopes for it. Theoretically, it's everything I love. Vampires? Good. Science fiction? Good. These two things blended together in Fledgling ? Meh. I didn't feel it.

It's kind of dull. When I think of the word vampire, I think "intensity". Whether it's a horror plot, or a love plot, vampire novels tend to be heavy-handed more than lacking when it comes to plot and characters. I thought for sure this book would be intense, because twisting together science-fiction "how did I get like this" type plot lines with the vampire mythos sounds like a fantastic time. But instead the writing is dry, uninspired.

It's also creepy. Not in the vampiric respect so much as the main character, who has the personality/mind of an adult, is in the body of like a ten year old girl. Sex and romantic interest are involved, and it's creepy. I understand that the mind is not young, but when you're playing this book in the movie theater of your brain while you're reading, it's a little girl doing very not little things with a grown man. Which... I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, ew. On the other hand, vampirism is supposed to be kind of gross, and this is just sort of a twist on the same creepy factor vamps give off. Maybe it's a wash.

Despite my lack of enjoyment in this story, our class was able to cultivate a lot of good discussions from the issues presented in this writing, on topics like what it means to be submissive, sexism, racism, as well as a bunch of comparisons to the other vampire books we read in this course (which included Dracula and Carmilla). There's a lot of good themes that are in here... I just wish it was more interesting so that I wanted to dig deeper into the text.

It's an okay book. I'm glad it's just one and not a series. If you're looking for a tame read with creepy and science fiction undertones, go for it, but I want a little more *pop* in my vampire books.

Double Review: Out of the Box

Title: Out of the Box (On The Edge #7)
Author: Kallysten
Format: Kindle ebook
Pub. Date: March 2nd 2007
Source: Amazon Freebie




Title: Out of the Box 2 (On The Edge #8)
Author: Kallysten
Format: Kindle ebook
Pub. Date: March 2nd 2007
Source: Won from Kallysten


★★★★ ★

Four and a half stars.

---

The Out of the Box books are a series of short and steamy novellas. I only happen to own the first two, but I will definitely be continuing on with the series. I don't know why I waited so long to get to them.

Book One is where we meet Virginia. She knows that the On the Edge club is a place frequented by vampires. She was curious, and she couldn't resist the urge to see them, to enjoy their bite. It's there that she meets Anando, who though he is swarmed by eager young ladies, chooses her. Before she knows it, she's back at his place playing a whole new game...

Book one flies by. I knew it would be short (it is a novella after all). But it seemed like I was only just getting started and the first installment was over. I have to say though, it's quality not quantity. Kallysten writes in good detail and knows just how to grab my attention. From Anando's subtle teases, to the big white trunk of "fun" in his room, and even to the steamier pieces, I definitely just wanted more.

Thankfully, I had book two on hand as well.

Book Two of the Out of the Box series takes place a week later, when Virginia finally caves in and returns to the On the Edge club. This time, she tells herself, she will not give in so easily. She will control herself around the dark-honey skinned vampire. She again runs into him and is brought back to his lair for another play session.... But is she truly the one who is in control?

This book was just as good as the first one, but just as quick. I personally found this one to be a bit sexier, and it more accurately played up to what I would enjoy doing were I to stumble across a gorgeous vampire. I liked watching their "relationship" expand a little bit as Virginia tests herself and learns what she really wants, and how he can best give it to her. I'm really bummed I don't yet have book three.

These novellas were both steamy, fast, and fun reads. If you like a good vampire sexcapade mixed with a club scene and trunk full of adult toys, than this is a series I recommend you check out. Both of these novellas earn 4.5 stars. Thanks to author Kallysten for the prize of book two.

Rules of Darkness by Tia Fanning

Title: Rules of Darkness (Rules #1)
Author: Tia Fanning
Format: Paperback, 140 pages
Pub. Date: November 1st 2007
Source: Ramblings From This Chick blog

★★

Two stars.

Katia has been bound to Stoyan since she was born. He trained for a decade simply to protect her. Katia has terrible, wonderful gifts that encourage things that go bump in the night to go after her. It is because of these gifts that she must live by a strict set of rules. After her relative's death, she feels the need to run away from everything- including her husband to be. Only he's been watching, and waiting, but she really just wants to leave her life behind.

---

Sigh. I am tired of weak female characters.

-Katia, in theory, should be a kick ass heroine. But all she does is run. She runs away from her village, she runs away from the spirit that enters her house. She runs away from the man that she loves, despite the fact that she acknowledges her love for him. She runs from the visions. She's a runner not a fighter, and I don't have time to read about characters like that.

-On that note, she makes stupid decisions. She knows that breaking the rules will hurt her. So what does she do? Break the rules. If I were Stoyan, I would have just stopped protecting her and left her to the spirits and werewolves.

-Someone is always protecting her, despite her gifts. Let her kick some ass. -When was this story supposed to take place? She was raised in a village where she was born in a home and could be sold off to a boy at birth. And yet, she runs away to a place with laptops and cars. This jump is never really explained, other than she's now in America.

-Stoyan is a male character that I can not stand. I like rough, dominant males. However, he's just anger inducing. He walks into her life all of a sudden and tries to boss her around. I don't care if that's the rule of the village or not. I wouldn't want him telling me what to do either. He spanks her at one point for acting like a child. It wasn't sexy, or cute. It is the sign of an abusive ass. That's saying something, coming from me, because I normally side with the abusive asses.

+All that said, it was relatively well written. Things were well described and vivid.

I'm sure somebody likes this, but it isn't me, so I have no recommendation to make.

Thank you to Ramblings From This Chick for my copy.

Betrayed by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

Title: Betrayed (House of Night #2)
Author: P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
Format: Paperback, 310 pages
Pub. Date: October 2nd 2007
Source: Purchased.

★★★

Three stars.

Well, I have to say, I am glad that I decided to press on with this series despite the awful start seen in book one.

I found Betrayed to be a more enjoyable read, with more action & less immature speaking. I admit that the characters are growing on me.

Not a bad sequel at all, if you can force yourself through Marked, I would check out Betrayed.

Marked by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

Title: Marked (House of Night #1)
Author: P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
Format: Paperback, 306 pages
Pub. Date: May 1st 2007
Source: Purchased.

★★★

Three stars.

** spoiler alert ** It's been a long time since I've been this frustrated with a book. If vulgarity offends you, don't read this.

Let's get the negatives out of the way, since I feel that will go on longer. My first major issue with this book is the writing style. Zoey can say/think such words as "clit", "cock", & "fag".... And yet, she still says words like "poopie" & giggles at the word "boob"? She's supposed to be in high school, grow up. It's not even the character I dislike. It's not Zoey's fault that her vernacular wasn't written cohesively. The word "ho" is used more times than necessary, & it makes this book come off as really immature. Mixed with the over usage of parenthesis that only distracted from the plot at hand, it just wasn't very well executed as a whole.

Then there's the abundance of pop culture references. A few? Fine. But this was excessive. All it does, in my opinion, is sound like an attempt to prove to the reader that "I'm hip, look, Zoey likes hip things". And that's great... Until time moves on. Celebrities & movies aren't topical forever, & in the end the references only date the book.

My last major flaw in this book is the negative stereotypes. Emos, goths, & "dorks" are all dissed, even if only gently. It adds to the immature tone of Marked. By the by, watching Star Wars or Indiana Jones doesn't make you a dork. It means you have taste. I understand they're not everyone's forte, but there's a reason why they've made millions of dollars- people enjoy them.

With all that being said, I do have some positives to say.

Overall, I like the concept & plot of this novel. House of Night sounds like a pretty awesome school that I'd like to visit. I like the mythological aspects with tones of paganism, and I found the characters both well described & relatable. I probably will read book two, I do want to know what happens next. But I'm reading forward with the severe hope & prayer that the speech/writing is stepped up.

I give this a weak three stars. Don't go out of your way to buy it. If you're wanting Shakespearean speech, don't buy it. But if it's in your house or you really have a vampire obsession, then maybe check it out

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

Title: The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
Author: A.J. Jacobs
Format: ARC
Pub. Date: October 9th 2007
Source: Purchased.

★★★★

Four stars.

I am positively stunned that I enjoyed this book.

First, for the record, I am agnostic. However, I have always had a fascination with things greater than myself, religions included. So when I came across this book, I had to give it a shot. I've often had problems with the literal interpretations of the Bible, & I feel hypocritical thinking that some of its lessons or rules are valid, while others aren't.

I've read the Bible. Probably not as thoroughly or as deeply as I should, but, my brain has processed its words. But this book helped me remember just how elite or absurd or what have you the good book is. I've often wondered if I could live by its literal law.

And now I know- no. I couldn't. I feel part of something that transcends my life, but in my own humble opinion, I am not disciplined enough. I'm not that devoted to following so many rules all at once. Bad? Maybe. But that's my own issue.

Another thing that this made me realize, is that if Bible is literal law- I am a horrible person. I sin more times a day than I could possibly count. But, so does he. So it's something that's learned, I suppose.

Overall, I found this book easy to follow but not easy to swallow. He kept me entertained with little jokes & stories. Unlike some reviewers who claim this to be boring, I wasn't expecting a book full of Michael Bay explosions & car chases, so I had no issues there.

This edition that I have IS however an old ARC copy, so there were some spelling errors & grammar issues. But those weren't too common.

I think that anyone with an interest in religion, no matter what path, should at least give this a try.