Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

From Goodreads: Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and Iives intertwine.
It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.

Thoughts: I did hear about this book way back in 2010 when it came out, although I heard more about David Levithan at that stage than John Green. I even read one of Levithan's books - Love is the Higher Law and really enjoyed it.

For me, the idea of two authors writing a book together is a thing of intrigue. I imagine it's a bit like team teaching with someone - it either works really well or is a total disaster! This and Good Omens and two that work very well. Pratchett and Gaiman said that they wrote Good Omens with a lot of emails and phone calls. I would love to see those emails, I think they would be hilarious. Similarly I think Green and Levithan's conversations about this book would be incredibly interesting.

For two writers who have fairly different writing styles, they choose a fairly safe path. Writing alternative chapters, each author writing the POV of one of the Will Grayson's. And for anyone who has read either of these authors, it wasn't hard to pick who was who.

Green's Will was, as many of Green's main characters are, intelligent, nerdy, but part of a really solid friendship with a few other slightly out of the box kids on the edge. They don't fit in, but they don't really want to so that is ok.  Levithan's Will is much darker - suffering from depression and self imposed isolation, the one friend he seems to have is basically a conniving bitch. Both have aspects that I think teens would identify with. Eventually their paths cross and they end up sharing a friendship with the hugely flamboyant and ridiculous Tiny. The book provides some truly hilarious moments,  ones where I found myself laughing out loud. It also has moments where your heart aches for Will Grayson (Both of them.)

I found Levithan's Will slightly harder to read for a couple of reasons. Obviously as a way to distinguish between the two Wills, Levithan's chapters are written completely in lower case. no capital letters at all, for anything. lower case i's, lower case names, everything. i hate it. if you are going to need to distinguish your text, do something like use italics, or a different font. Don't go abusing grammar! I read a review where someone said Levithan did it because his Will "is a lowercase person. His whole self image is what he projects in that space, and his one comfortable form of communication is when he's anonymous and sending instant messages." I'm sorry, I'm not buying it. I think Levithan managed to portray that about Will without making it difficult for an old fuddy duddy like me to read.  Which brings me to the second reason I think I found Levithan's Will hard to read - he was so raw. Will was suffering from depression - proper, true, there is nothing good about me,  I can't get out of bed without medication depression. And Levithan writes it so well. 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is worth the read. In a market that is becoming increasingly saturated with substandard pulp fiction , Levithan and Green are making YA credible. 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson gets 4 stars!

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines

From Goodreads: Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart 
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

Thoughts: So having really enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, I approach any new John Green with excitement and fear. Excitement, because I'm anticipating another good book, fear because what if I'm disappointed.
I wasn't completely disappointed. In fact, if this had been the first John Green I'd read, I would have thought it was ok, but I wouldn't have rushed out to read his other books.
The characters in this just didn't really gel for me. Colin's best friend Hassan I found to be an annoying little twerp and Colin himself was only slightly better. In fact, although I know teenagers are a bit self-obsessed, Colin managed to take it to a whole new level.
And then there was the footnotes. Footnotes work in books if they add something to the story. Pratchett is a master at it. The footnotes in this were just distracting and stopped the flow of the story.
If you are a John Green fan, read it, but be prepared to finish it and just go hmmm.

An Abundance of Katherines gets 2 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

Book Review: Looking for Alaska

From Goodreads: A deeply affecting coming-of-age story, Looking for Alaska traces the journey of Miles Halter, a misfit Florida teenager who leaves the safety of home for a boarding school in Alabama and a chance to explore the "Great Perhaps." Debut novelist and NPR commentator Green perfectly captures the intensity of feeling and despair that defines adolescence in this hip, shocking, and emotionally charged work of fiction.
Miles has a quirky interest in famous people's last words, especially François Rabelais's final statement, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." Determined not to wait for death to begin a similar quest, Miles convinces his parents to let him leave home. Once settled at Culver Creek Preparatory School, he befriends a couple of equally gifted outcasts: his roommate Chip―commonly known as the Colonel—who has a predilection for memorizing long, alphabetical lists for fun; and the beautiful and unpredictable Alaska, whom Miles comes to adore.
The kids grow closer as they make their way through a school year filled with contraband, tests, pranks, breakups, and revelations about family and life. But as the story hurtles toward its shattering climax, chapter headings like "forty-six days before" and "the last day" portend a tragic event―one that will change Miles forever and lead him to new conclusions about the value of his cherished "Great Perhaps."

Thoughts: Like many people, I fell in love with John Green's writing through The Fault in Our Stars. Looking for Alaska was his first book and while not quite the power house The Fault in Our Stars is, it still packs a punch. 
Green takes you and places you in the teenage world and makes you see what is possible. Sure, the characters a little bit unbelievable, but if you took normal teenagers and put them in a book, it wouldn't be that interesting. Your characters need to be outside of what we think teenagers are for a couple of reasons. First it reminds readers that societal stereotypes are just that - stereotypes. And while there are those who fit that picture perfectly, there are also those who don't. There are teenagers who appear wise beyond their years, who read and comprehend above their age group, who think deeply and feel differently to others. There are those that form strong, dynamic, once in a life time friendships. In fact there are most probably more of those than we realise. Secondly I believe it shows teens what is possible - that they don't have to fit the stereotypes set by society, that they can and do have extraordinary events happen and the way they react to them is not the same as everyone else and that's OK.
As with TFIOS, it was fairly obvious what was going to happen. The beauty in the book is how the reader is lead to the pivotal point and the journey the characters go on after it. While I never found myself sobbing in this book, I felt for the characters and their pain - the pain of loss, of grief and guilt. Given the runaway success of the screen adaptation of TFIOS, I'm not surprised to here that this too is likely to be made into a movie. I've already put Green's next book An Abundance of Katherines on hold at the library. Hopefully I will continue to be impressed.


Looking for Alaska gets 4 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

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Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

From Goodreads: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Thoughts: I listened to this as an audio book. It was narrated by Kate Rudd, who is not someone I had every heard of before. I mention this because I have come to realise how important a narrator is to an audio book. Kate Rudd is a good narrator. I didn't find myself distracted by her voice, it didn't sound "put on", she made the book enjoyable.
It's easy to see why this book has done so well. I found it to be a strong story that dealt with the tough topic of teenage cancer sufferers without becoming condescending or clichéd. It became apparent to me what was going to happen fairly quickly, but I think anyone with half a brain would have seen it. I don't think John Green set out to put in a big twist that no one would see coming, instead I think he wanted a book with emotion and thoughtfulness and I think he achieved it.
The book made me cry, but I don't think I cried where most YA readers would have. The parts that had me almost sobbing as I sat in the car park at Woolworths (handy hint - emotion laden books while driving, not such a good idea!) was the conversation Hazel had with her parents towards the end of the book. Hazel is living on borrowed time - you know it the whole way through. As a parent, I cannot and do not want to imagine what that feels like. Hazel's fears for her parents took my breath away and had me wanting to reach out and grab her, hold her close and promise her they would be ok and then I wanted to tell her parents that when it came, I would support them too.
One of the thing Green is a master of is producing quotes you just know teens are scrawling down all over the place because those words touched them. Google A Fault in our Stars quotes and you'll see what I mean. Here's a taste:

The thing is, I remember just about every scene where those words were spoken. I could put them in chronological order for you. John Green writes words that have power. The problem may be believing those words come from teens.
After a short FB discussion with a friend about AFioS I started to think about the portrayal of teens in young adult books. I know I have often thought that the characters are unbelievable, wise beyond their years - and this holds true for AFioS. The insights and reactions of Hazel, Gus and even Issac is way beyond what I think most teenagers would display. But here's the thing, I don't remember ever thinking that when I was a young adult reading such books - and I don't think the characters in the books have changed that much. What has changed, obviously, is me. I'm older, I have more experience and I am now (far) distant from being a young adult and therefore the direct target audience for these books. So here's my conclusion on teens wise beyond their years in YA books - they have to be. If the characters in YA books were your typical teens, you wouldn't get the stories you do. I think it's also a way of showing YA readers what they can become, presents a model of maybe who they'd like to be. This slightly unrealistic presentation of their age group doesn't worry them because they can imagine that's what they could be like. If adults truly want to get the best out of YA books, they need to stop expecting them to be books for adults and accept they are books for young adults - teens.

Six Sentence Sunday

As frequently happens when I haven't blogged for awhile, I get a little overwhelmed with what needs to be reviewed.

I'm not sure where 6 Sentence Sunday comes from but I've seen it around. Basically it means you review your book in 6 sentences or less. I have four to catch up on, so lets get started!

Russian Winter - Daphne Kalotay

In the hope of closing the curtain on painful memories, Nina Revskya, a Russian ballet dancer who defected to America, is selling her extensive jewelery collection and donating the proceeds to the Boston ballet. Griogori Solodin is a professor in Russian who believes he has a link to the famous ballerina. Kalotay writes a beautiful story of a woman living in very dangerous times and a man desperate to know the truth. Jumping back and forth from present day Boston and Stalinist Russia, the story exposes piece by piece the mystery behind Revskya and Solodin's past. Russian Winter is a beautifully written history lesson, love story and mystery all rolled into one - highly recommended.

The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver

 This was our first Book Group selection for the year but due to my 10 year old breaking his leg I was unable to get to the meeting. The Lacuna traces the life of Harrison William Shephard, a half Mexican, half American raised in Mexico but moving back to America as an adult. I don't find Kingsolver easy to read and this was no exception. I spent much of the novel waiting for something to happen, and with our main character encountering real life people such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and  Trotsky, you expected something to happen! In the end the prose kept me going, it is beautifully written. Just don't pick it up expecting a great page turner.

Challenges: Ebook Challenge

Paper Towns - John Green

 I'd heard the John Green around the blogosphere a lot but had never picked up one of his books until Paper Towns - and wow - I now get the hype. Recently I have come to the realisation that a lot of YA fiction no longer does it for me - most probably because I am way past being a YA myself. But every now and then you discover something that works and for me this was it. I loved the characters, the story line, the adventure, the puzzle, everything. I'll be looking for more of Mr Green's work!

Halt's Peril - John Flanagan

Oh but it was good to be back with Halt, Will and Horace as they search for Tennyson and his band of followers. One of the things I love about this series is the characters actually change and grow as the books progress. This is the ninth book in the series and Horace and Will have obviously become very competent young men, well past their apprenticeships. Flanagan continues to produce quality writing that is a wonderful introduction into the fantasy genre for younger readers.

Challenges: Aussie Author Challenge

So there I am caught up, thanks to Six Sentence Sunday!

The Truth About Verity Sparks

Title: The Truth About Verity Sparks
Author: Susan Green
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Children
Format: Book - library

From Goodreads: Verity Sparks is a thirteen-year-old orphan working as a milliner in Victorian London. But Verity is no ordinary girl – she has an almost perfect memory and possesses the talent of Teleagtivism. She can easily find things that are lost! When Verity is wrongly accused of theft and dismissed from her job, she goes to live with the Plushes – a slightly Bohemian family who run a Confidential Inquiry Agency. Verity helps them solve cases and slowly becomes one of the family. But patches of the truth about her past begin to surface, along with the special talent that Professor Plush is helping her explore. Who were her real parents? Is she the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter? Who is sending poison pen letters about Verity to the Plushes? Who doesn’t want them to learn the truth about Verity Sparks? An adventure/mystery with a dash of the supernatural thrown in; The Truth About Verity Sparks is packed with chases through the dark alleys of London, séances in high-class dining rooms, pet pythons named Anthony and Cleopatra, murdered opera singers and much, much more.

What I thought: This is the second book from the The Children's Book Council of Australia Younger Reader's Short list.
I seem to have this ting at the moment where children's/ young adult books I read are reflected or have something in common. It happened with When We Were Two and Cloudstreet and now with The Truth About Verity Sparks and The Potato Factory.
Verity Sparks is set in England at a time when transportation to Australia is not common any more, but the class system is alive and thriving. Verity herself is incredibly lucky to have found herself apprenticed to a hat maker. However, a false accusation sees her out on the street where she comes into contact with the wealthy Plush family and embarks on an adventure to discover her past. The thing I really liked about this book was the adult feel to it. Yes, some of the characters were stereotypical - the down on her luck poor girl, the single minded professor, the evil doctor and the friendly benefactor, but it has enough twists and turns to impress Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! It's theme of supernatural and psychic abilities and the inclusion of a séance may concern some people, but most good books are controversial in some way! I personally would love to see some more Verity Sparks books!

Challenges: Library Challenge