"When sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson goes missing one night, her family, friends and boyfriend are devastated. Nothing ever happens in Long Thorpe, so the disappearance of a school girl shocks the whole community."
What I Liked
The best part about The Cellar is its potential. The premise is fascinating and the reason I picked up the book to read in the first place. Four pretty girls held captive in a basement, named after flowers. The thrill of a kidnapping and hopeful escape.
What I Didn't Like
The writing in this book simply isn't up to par. There is almost no descriptive language. At the end of The Cellar, I sat and stared at the last page, thinking, "What did any of the characters even look like?" There is no real emotion to be found. A phrase I've been told by English professors is, "Show, don't tell." An example of this would be writing "My heart sank to my toes" instead of "I was scared." Natasha Preston is constantly telling instead of showing in The Cellar.
Clover drives me insane. He is not ominous or terrifying. The most disturbing scene in the entire book is when he watches a movie with Summer and softly strokes her hair the entire time, simply because this draws on every woman's fears of sexual assault. It seems like Natasha Preston Googled the characteristics of a murderous pyschopath and blandly painted them across Clover's character in broad strokes: hatred of women, need for control, a strange relationship with his mother. Two stars.
Emma by Jane Austen
"Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others."
"Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others."
What I Liked
One of my favorite parts of this novel was the character of Mr. Knightley. He is certainly more likable (in my opinion) than Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. He prefers his wife (or really, most women in his life) to disagree with him at times and have a mind of her own, which is certainly different from some of the men in this time period.
What I Didn't Like
I'm not a big Jane Austen fan, as unpopular of an opinion as that may be. I find her stories so predictable. No matter how many love triangles or misleads Austen may have created, I knew the outcome of the three main couples from the first few chapters of Emma. Austen sticks with class rules (nobility must only marry nobility and etc) almost to an art. "The stain of illegitimacy, unbleached by nobility or wealth, would have been a stain indeed," as she stated in the last chapter of the novel.
Three stars.
One of my favorite parts of this novel was the character of Mr. Knightley. He is certainly more likable (in my opinion) than Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. He prefers his wife (or really, most women in his life) to disagree with him at times and have a mind of her own, which is certainly different from some of the men in this time period.
What I Didn't Like
I'm not a big Jane Austen fan, as unpopular of an opinion as that may be. I find her stories so predictable. No matter how many love triangles or misleads Austen may have created, I knew the outcome of the three main couples from the first few chapters of Emma. Austen sticks with class rules (nobility must only marry nobility and etc) almost to an art. "The stain of illegitimacy, unbleached by nobility or wealth, would have been a stain indeed," as she stated in the last chapter of the novel.
Three stars.
"Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black."
What I Liked
I like Ally Condie's writing. She uses beautiful symbols, even through simple things like colors, and this makes Cassia's narrative voice stand out. I loved Condie's emphasis on the value of poetry and culture.
The romance was also bearable in this book. I was prepared for a love triangle (what I hate most about YA books), but it was fairly minor. However, Cassia's situation made sense. She was told to love one boy; she felt real attraction for another. There were only a few kisses in the entire book, which I appreciated. (Sorry, I just don't like to read awkwardly-detailed teenage make-out scenes.)
What I Didn't Like
The setting of Matched is not particularly intricate. Even though the genre of this book is dystopian, there is very little tension wrapped up in the war or the government. There isn't a lot of malice in the Society. I would appreciate more background to explain how society came to be this tightly controlled and why there is a war going on. Who is the real antagonist here? Throughout the book, the government is faceless, nameless, and empty of much threat.
Finally, I wish there would have been more of a recognizable arc to the story. I understand that this is a trilogy, but there was never a real climax or enlightenment moment for Cassia. Even the problems left in the cliffhanger weren't caused by Cassia's mistakes, only by the bad, faceless government that is seen as one white-dressed mass of lukewarm evil. Four stars.
"The Society chooses everything. The books you read. The music you listen to. The person you love. Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him."
What I Liked
A lot of YA fiction has the female character bound so tightly to her romantic interest that he is the only reason she still tries to survive. At one point in the book, Ky says, "I don't fool myself that I hold her together--she does that on her own." Thank you, Ally Condie. Thank you. Cassia is a strong, independent woman and I appreciate that.
Another quote from the book I enjoyed: "When you first love, you look blind and you see it all as the glorious, beloved whole, or a beautiful sum of beautiful parts. But when you see the one you love as pieces, as whys--why he walks like this, why he closes his eyes like that--you can love those parts, too, and it's a love at once more complicated and more complete."
What I Didn't Like
Love triangles. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them. Why do they exist? In Matched it was bearable; in Crossed it's not. It doesn't make sense when the protagonist is thinking, "Woe is me, I just can't decide between these two beautiful boys," because that isn't how love works.
The plot worked better than in Matched, but it was slower and a little boring at times. By the end of the second book, there is still no context to this trilogy. I don't quite understand the war going on... or most of the setting/background of this world, for that matter. Hopefully it's all going to be explained in the third book, but I'm not sure that it will. Who is the enemy? What exactly is the Society and who is its leader? What world is left outside of Utah? I have too many unanswered questions. Three stars.
"This is the story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs."
What I Liked
This is a beautiful little book. I remember reading Island of the Blue Dolphins as a young girl and being both devastated and enchanted by Karana's life on the island. Karana's voice is strong and very real.
One of the things that amazes me most about this book is how plausible it is. (For good reason: Island of the Blue Dolphins is based off a true story with an extraordinarily tragic ending.) A 12-year-old girl should not reasonably be able to survive for 18 years alone on a beautiful but very harshly-set island, but she did, in real life as well. Not much is known about the true Lost Girl of San Nicolas Island, but O'Dell's writing is so beautiful and possible that one can't help but blend the two tales together.
What I Didn't Like
After the initial shock of Karana's isolation, her survival turns into that of day-to-day boredom. I would not recommend Island of the Blue Dolphins to every young reader, because those children who do not typically like reading would be easily bored by the detailed depiction of Karana's island life. Five stars.
What have you been reading? Do you agree with these reviews?
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I read for class: Emma
I read for fun: The Cellar, Matched, Crossed, The Island of the Blue Dolphins
I recommend: Matched, Crossed, The Island of the Blue Dolphins
One year ago: 7: Waste
Two years ago: A Taste of Encouragement
Three years ago: Creepiest Puppy Ever
Four years ago: Leave an Encouraging Bible Verse
Did you forget to rate Matched and Island of the Blue Dolphins? I would like to know how many stars you would give them.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! I rated them all, but for some reason I forgot to add those stars. I will now. :)
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