BOOK REVIEW | Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Brown's "Hate List" immediately drew my attention with it's premise: the concept of a school shooting basing its victims upon a "hate list" started by the shooter and his girlfriend. I knew it was going to be a grim story, but I hadn't braced myself for the beauty it would unveil between its pages.

The reader follows the protagonist, Valerie, as she journey's from what she was before the shooting into a new skin - who she is after. Valerie and Nick, the shooter, had been dating for three years before Nick let loose his inner demons on the school, killing five students and one teacher. In the aftermath, Valerie is forced to deal with the blame that all of the city is laying on her. She is placed in the psych ward, under careful scrutiny from the police and then returns to the very same school her boyfriend wreaked havoc upon.

Brown did this with careful plotting. I felt that Valerie's acceptance back into the school (and her shunning as well) was spot on. My only critique's are the pacing and the late unveiling. At first, the pacing goes as follows: newspaper article, present day (end chapter); newspaper article, past scene (end chapter). If Brown had stuck to that mathematical equation of chaptering, I would have been content. Instead, somewhere in the middle of the book, it becomes a giant flash back and then we're thrown into the present again for the entirety of the book. For me, it felt a bit skewed and I felt like the careful methods she had been using before was just thrown out the window.

My second critique is the fact that quite a bit of the unveiling of characters and plot isn't revealed until close to the end. For example, the graveyard scene with Duce and the hospital scene with Ginny explain a helluva lot of the story that would have been beneficial to learn early. If Brown had kept to the present/past chapter method she was using before, this could have been exceptionally executed. I was a little sad to see this because it was on the verge of doing so much better. It makes the story a bit dry until the end.

Overall, I very much enjoyed "Hate List" and the ending had me in tears. Brown introduces some eccentric characters like Hieler and Bea to balance out the terrible home life that ensues for Valerie, as well as the hate and isolation she experiences from within herself. I was exceptionally glad to see Valerie realize that by creating the hate list with Nick in the first place, she was one of the biggest bullies of all - but this was barely glossed over. I do wish that they had dived deeper into her own part in the entire thing.

I recommend this book. To anyone and everyone. 

BOOK REVIEW | Looking Glass Friends by E.L. Neve

Looking Glass Friends by E.L. Neve follows the story of a man and a woman who married the wrong people. Neil feels stuck; he’s in a loveless marriage and is on the verge of ending his life when he is saved by a new pen pal, Ellie. Ellie finds herself in an equally loveless and unfulfilling marriage. Through their email correspondences, both Neil and Ellie find solace in each other’s intellect and wit, and soon find themselves falling in love.

There is a lot to like about this novel. For one, Neve knows how to construct a beautiful sentence. The novel is full of imagery, beautiful metaphors and figurative language. I often found myself marveling at how poetic it seemed. Her writing gives the book a dreamy feel, as if what you’re reading isn’t quite real, isn’t quite tangible. Instead, it’s floating among the clouds, which is exactly as it should be, for both Neil and Ellie are the kind of people who would live among the clouds.

That being said, the writing style is a double-edged sword. When it came to Neil and Ellie’s perspectives, it made perfect sense to keep the flowery, poetic style, but I was a bit confused as to why that style remained when the reader was given the point of view of Jake or Fay (Ellie and Neil’s respective spouses). Neither of those characters lent themselves to an imaginative or dreamy mindset and yet the writing didn’t change. I think this book would have been even more powerful if there was a clear cut style to each narrator.

Also, in terms of narrator, it was sometimes difficult to pin point which POV I was reading from. The book starts off as a third-person limited narration style, but then there were a few instances when the book suddenly became third-person omniscient. Why was I reading about Neil’s feelings in Ellie’s chapter? I’m not sure if this was simply a mistake or if the author wasn’t aware which narration style they wanted to go with.

There were a few grammatical errors, but nothing outstanding or jarring. For the most part, I noticed the author didn’t know when the place a period inside or outside of a parenthesis. For example, at 24% in the Kindle edition, we have this line: “(and would fire her, eventually, when the novelty wore off.)” This is written in the middle of a sentence so the period should actually come after the parenthesis. The only time a period goes inside the parenthesis is when the entire sentence is in it as well. There were also a few times the author forgot a comma or used a comma incorrectly inside of a parenthesis. Once again, these mistakes were very minor and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m an English teacher, I may not have even clocked them. None of them were dramatic enough to pull me out of the reading experience.

I believe it’s important to note for anyone interested in reading this novel that there are a few mentions of sex as well as a sex and almost-rape scene. I did not find any of it to be vulgar and it did not make me want to stop reading. There is nothing that is particularly explicit, but if you’re looking for a perfectly clean romance, this may not be for you. However, I would personally classify this as relatively clean.

I believe that hopeless romantics, people who love flowery and poetic writing and those who love literature – there were many references to great works of literature, particularly novels by Ayn Rand – will greatly enjoy reading this. However, those who have had marriages fall apart due to infidelity or who are greatly uncomfortable with the aspect of cheating, even emotional cheating, may want to steer clear.

BOOK REVIEW | The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

 5 creepy and magical stars.

The Graveyard Book is a deliciously creepy tale of a young boy who is raised in a graveyard by the dead. Nobody Owens ran to the graveyard when he was a baby after his parents and older sibling had been murdered. When the ghosts of the Owens family - a nice family who had always wanted children - saw him, they decided to keep him immediately. And thus, the graveyard became the baby's home, and Nobody became his name.

I've only ever read Stardust by Neil Gaiman before, but I think I'm starting to understand his style: a little bit of creepy, a little bit of action and a whole lot of magic. There are ghosts and ghouls abound in this book, as well as secret orders, and ancient tomb, a spirit animal - or what I think is a spirit animal, anyway - and a man who is both dead and alive. Nobody can "fade" himself and haunt a person and uses these tricks to his advantage to get out of some sticky situations, as well as for dealing justice at his school when needed.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, which was narrated by Neil Gaiman himself, and wow... I really recommend it. I'm in the car for three hours a day because of my job and my transit to school and this really added a nice little kick to my day. Even the kids I watch liked it and kept asking questions about it! Gaiman has a very versatile voice and can do heaps of different character voices, which always made me laugh. He also has a very soothing voice, so be careful lest he lull you to sleep like he did to me once.

This book is magic. Gaiman himself is probably magic. Highly recommended in whatever format you choose

BOOK REVIEW | Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

5 squealing stars.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell follows the story of Cather Avery, a 18-year-old college freshman hailing from Omaha, Nebraska who is obsessed with a franchise called Simon Snow. (Think Harry Potter.*) Cather is a twin who was raised by a mentally unstable father and an absent mother, and suffers from anxiety. She finds solace, comfort and acceptance in the world of Simon Snow, but has sort of forgotten how to live in her own.

When I was younger, I loved writing fanfiction. I never "fangirled" over books (that would happen when I was older and started reading Game of Thrones...) but I fangirled like craxy over video games. My fanfictions were various stories using the characters from franchises like Kingdom Hearts, FFX, FFVII, most of the Final Fantasies... and even a few anime, like Sailor Moon. But then I got older and my fangirl tendencies seemed to have faded away. (For the most part. Damn you, George R. R. Martin.) (Just kidding, I love you.)

That being said, I really couldn't identify with Cather. She is reclusive, scared and avoids nearly all human contact, which is about as opposite of me as it gets. To be honest, when the book first began, I was afraid I was going to end up disliking the novel because I couldn't get over how clingy she was. However, Rainbow Rowell has a gift. Not only did I get over Cath's imperfections, I ended up really liking her, even before she began to open her eyes to the real world.  This speaks wonders about the author, because she was able to create a sense of empathy in me for a character that I originally found irritating.

Cath somehow got me rooting for her. I wanted her to go out and have fun with her room mate. I wanted her to be a regular 18-year-old girl and not have to worry about her possibly-alcoholic twin, disappearing-and-now-reappearing mother and her wonderful-but-sadly-disturbed father.  I became invested in her problems and her terrible coping skills.

Watching Cath grow was fulfilling. When she finally began going out with her room mate, Reagan (who was a hilarious and very real character), and starting her own romance with Levi (a sweet, adorable 21-year-old with the patience of a saint), I felt really satisfied as a reader. Rowell gently led into Cath's growth and I felt like I was growing with her. Of course she still did things I didn't understand (like hold a kiss over Levi's head for three months... get over yourself, girl), but by then I understood her so thoroughly that it made sense.

Cath also grows as a writer. As her personal world is broadened from the world of Simon Snow to her own, she realizes the endless possibilities that she could write. About herself. About her world. That was a great metaphor for how she had finally accepted her reality.  She grows as a writer as she grows as a young adult, subtly yet powerfully.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book. The characters were so fleshed out and real that I felt like I was reading a book about my own friends. Rainbow Rowell, next to having a fantastic name, has a fantastic writing style that is easy to read, easy to relate to and funny.

* There is mention of Harry Potter in this book, which sort of confused me. She set up Simon Snow as the Harry Potter of that universe and then threw in HP randomly... I sort of wish that had been edited out. I don't understand the reasoning for that inclusion