Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire by JK Rowling

Wooooooooooops! I was suppose to post this weeks ago as part of the Harry Potter read a long with

Harry is getting wiser and older in this book. Harry doesn't seem anywhere as whiney in this book as he has in other books. In this book we getting better insight into Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. I think they way the Dark Lord runs his crew is interesting. I also still can't help but to think, seriously Lord Voldemort, you can't kill that kid? You are like a fucking immortalish snake dude, you can't off some kid? Whateves.

Harry is thrown into the TriWizard Tournament in this book. This is where Hogwarts and other magical schools compete with one another. I liked seeing the snooty French witches and the bad ass Bulgarian wizards. There is more diversity in characters in this book than in the others. In this book the Dark Lord is rebodied and is super bad dude again.

I liked the really normal bits in this book. Ron and Harry are having a hard time finding girls to take to the school dance. Ron is grumpy that Hermione is going to the dance with someone else. I like the normal kid life aspects thrown in with the wizard shit. I think perhaps that is why I have been able to read these "fantasy" books and not others. I like having normal things to relate to.

While writing this half assed review I am listening to Lady Gaga - Bloody Mary

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Colie is the girl we walk with through this book. She is being shipped off to live with her eccentric Aunt while her Mother goes on a European tour for her fitness crazed career.

Colie used to be a heavy girl. She lost 45 pounds with the help and determination of her Mother who is basically the hottest thing to hit fitness since Tae-Bo. Colie's Mother is doing a summer long European tour promoting all of her fitness what not so Colie is shipped off to stay with her "art freak" aunt in a small town.

As a heavy girl I could relate to the main character. She was treated like dirt for being fat. I have always been treated like shit for daring to be fat. I have had random people say mean things to me in the grocery store to people in high school saying the only reason boys talked to me was because I gave good head. Colie has had to deal with a lot of the same bullying behavior. I never let it get to me as much as Colie does. I always stood up for myself. I never let people call me a slut and get away with it. Colie is a lot like many girls I knew in high school. Taking every insult and turning it into a twisted form of self punishment.

Yes this book has a cliched ending, but I didn't mind it. I liked that Colie ended up with an Art dude while learning to accept her art freak aunt. I think the art nerd in my soul smiled a bit at the cheese of the ending.

I would recommend this book as a fast summer read.

While writing this blog I was listening to Lady Gaga - Americano

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Annabell is a girl who on the surface appears to have everything until she and her best friend Sophie get into a huge fight. This book is about learning about that fight and the truth behind it for Annabell.

Annabell is sexually abused by Sophie's boyfriend. Annabell opted not to talk to anyone about what had happened to her. We the reader can kind of guess what happened to her if we pay attention to the clues but it isn't the lead topic by any means. I liked this book.

I liked the character development in this book. Annabell has to figure out how and when to speak up. I can relate to characters who have a hard time coming into their own voice. When I was much younger I had a really hard time talking to anyone. I was bound so tightly in my own head that once I learned to speak up it mostly came out in dramatic flare up and shouts. I still have a tendency toward the dramatic self expression, I am a poet after all.

Annabell develops a friendship with a fellow lunchtime outcast named Owen. This is your typical pissed off white male character who has gone through anger manangement classes. He helps Annabell learn to deal and speak about what has happened to her. His character development is the only character I had a hard time with. I wanted to know a bit more about him and his motivations for some of his behavior. Over all though I would say I still liked Owen.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy the pink books (chick lit) as much as I do, younger girls trying to figure themselves out, older women in the mood for a walk down memory lane.

While writing this review I was listening to Lady Gaga - Government Hooker.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Nora Gray is the main character in this story. She is annoying to me from the first chapter on. I never warmed to her as a character. I suppose I couldn't relate to her. I guess I just couldn't get into this one. Like the last book I read, Nora's Father died suddenly and Nora is learning to deal with the death.
Nora is trying really hard to make her normal life work. Then suddenly she is seated next to a guy named Patch in Bio class and all hell breaks out in her life. Nora is a stronger version of Bella from the Twilight series. I suppose this is why I disliked this book so much, it reminded me of Twilight a lot.
Am I asking too much when I ask that characters don't go from hostility to love in a matter of days? I have never made such a fast progression. I am not stupid enough to think I am in love after a few weeks. I really wish these type of books would stop thinking I, the reader, am retarded.
I struggled to get through this book. It was predictable from start to finish. I disliked every character. I also disliked the Fallen Angel talk without the mention of a God. Don't get me wrong, I am not even close to religious but I think if you have religion in your book you either have to have a clear explanation of the theology you are babbling about or pick a generic one that people already know. I found myself thinking back to what I know of Fallen Angels in a variety of contexts and this story didn't really jive with any of them and there wasn't further discussion other than mentioning a heaven.

I would recommend this book to people who want mind numbing cliched predictable crap. Basically, this might be a good read by the pool since you really don't have to pay attention to it very much.

While writing this post I am listening to Massive Attack - Mezzanine.