Man, have I been on a roll with reading. It's really making me feel smarter, and it's loosening the bonds of writers block.
For the last two days I've been reading "Fallout" by Ellen Hopkins. Before I even get into the review deeply, I have to say that this book is the last in her "Crank" trilogy, so do not read this until you've read the first two books. And, that this review is going to be more like me gushing about how much I love this author.
I came across Ellen Hopkins when I was reading books about drugs a few years back. I took Crank out the library because I thought it was cool that the words looked like lines of coke. I didn't know what the book was about, I didn't know what the Monster was (in NYC, the Monster is usually used as a code for HIV), I didn't know what it did to your body.
The books looks intimidating from a distance (or like an awesome challenge to someone that loves reading), but then when you begin, you see that it's written as poetry. Usually I try not to talk about plot too much, but I have to in this case. "Crank" is a fictionalized version of Hopkins' daughter's battle with crystal meth.
I really didn't know what an epidemic the usage was, but I'd seen those horror photos of people before and after meth. I didn't know that it was so widely available in so many places. I didn't know anything; this book taught me nearly all I know. This trilogy of books cover over twenty years in the lives of the character, and her children. "Fallout" is the story of her children.
The first thing I have to say, is I love Ellen Hopkins style. In this book, the three different protagonists/narrarators have three different styles of headings, three different type faces. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks, they're not. And then her poems themselves... I hope that there is a picture I can insert here (there wasn't, but at the first link, she has some amazing samples, and an awesome summary of the story better than this review lol). Her poems aren't written straight forward. Sometimes they tumble down the page, sometimes they take shapes, forms of letters, question marks. Quite a lot of the time, there is more than one poem in the poem, and I have to urge you to read the initial poem before reading the side poem, or you might get the wrong idea. Sometimes, the poems are part of a series of poems, and the side poems are a series of poems.
Each of the main characters have their own demons that they're fighting, their own issues stemming from the Monster. It shows how meth doesn't just effect the user, it effects everyone they come in to contact with, especially their children. I think this book should be on ever middle school mandatory reading list, especially in areas where meth is an epidemic. I always knew that there was a list in the back of my head of no-no drugs, and there is a reason why meth is at the top of that list. With "Crank" I saw how the protagonist, someone that could have been one of my friends, dabbled in it, and what happened with her life. It steals everything that ones has, and it rots holes in your brain, and metaphorically speaking, in your heart.
Unlike most of my other reviews, this book is an actual hard copy of a book; I held it in my hands, I flipped pages, I had its weight with me in all the rooms of my apartment. This is a book that will make you talk to it, talk to the main characters, whether you're urging them to take another path, or cursing at them for the choices they made (I did that a lot). The characters aren't perfect people, they're young adults, like me, but they grew up so very different from me; maybe they grew up in ways like some of you. And although they're siblings, they grew up so very different from each other. Even thinking about the things they went through, it makes me feel a type of negative way.
My recommendation for someone that wants to jump in to Ellen Hopkins' books, take them out the library. You can start with "Crank" or one of other stand alone stories. But if you start with "Crank", I really suggest taking "Glass" and "Fallout" out at the same time, because you're not going to want to wait to read what happens next. These are some of the few books I thoroughly plan on owning in my private library, hard copy, and if I can, getting them signed. Ellen Hopkins' is simply one of the best young adult writers out there.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Friday, August 2, 2013
"Second Child" By John Saul Review
I mentioned there would be a lot of updates.
A few days ago, I finally took up my sister on her fantastic reviews of the book Second Child by John Saul, and bought it for my Kindle. I spent my day yesterday reading it, and I have to say, it really was a good book.
It is quite a bit different from most of the other works that I've read, because it's incredibly modern, published in 1991, and its setting is the late 80s, early 90s. My sister read it years ago when I was a youngin'; from what she describes, it's odd that it wasn't one of the many books of hers that I stole at the age and read, although I must admit the cover looks somewhat familiar to me.
Anyway, on to the review. I'm not going to get into all of the details of the plot, but it revolves mostly around two half sisters, brought together by tragedy to live together amongst the elite hoity toity in Secret Cove, Maine, at their father's summer house. But strange things that have already happened, begin to grow more frequently.
This book has one of the worst mothers that I've read, only a few steps beneath Catherine Dollenganger , as far as how she treats her daughter. It's a really awesome story, and not something that I would have read recently if I wasn't told how good it is. It crosses over quite a few different genres; it's young adult, it's horror, it's supernatural, it's a bit psychological, it's a thriller... it's a really nice page turner.
There are some cons, some times where I shook my head, talked to my Kindle about how the character was acting/responding to what was going on with her. I'm trying to figure out how characters could be so totally blinded by beauty and grace to not believe what was going on around them. I really don't want to give away anything that happens, because I'd love for you to read it yourself.
As far as the Kindle copy, it was lovely... and $7.99. Now, I'm still not sure how I feel about paying that much for it, but considering my sister told me this is a book that I would want to own, I'm not upset. If you're a fan of John Saul, then I would suggest buying it. If you're someone that's never read his work, I would suggest going to your local library and taking out a copy, and buying it if you find that it's too awesome to part with. There are already other books by the same author that my sister is suggesting for me to look at, and I have to say, I'd love to read more of his work. I might actually have to go to the library and take out some books, just like I used to do when I was younger.
A few days ago, I finally took up my sister on her fantastic reviews of the book Second Child by John Saul, and bought it for my Kindle. I spent my day yesterday reading it, and I have to say, it really was a good book.
It is quite a bit different from most of the other works that I've read, because it's incredibly modern, published in 1991, and its setting is the late 80s, early 90s. My sister read it years ago when I was a youngin'; from what she describes, it's odd that it wasn't one of the many books of hers that I stole at the age and read, although I must admit the cover looks somewhat familiar to me.
Anyway, on to the review. I'm not going to get into all of the details of the plot, but it revolves mostly around two half sisters, brought together by tragedy to live together amongst the elite hoity toity in Secret Cove, Maine, at their father's summer house. But strange things that have already happened, begin to grow more frequently.
This book has one of the worst mothers that I've read, only a few steps beneath Catherine Dollenganger , as far as how she treats her daughter. It's a really awesome story, and not something that I would have read recently if I wasn't told how good it is. It crosses over quite a few different genres; it's young adult, it's horror, it's supernatural, it's a bit psychological, it's a thriller... it's a really nice page turner.
There are some cons, some times where I shook my head, talked to my Kindle about how the character was acting/responding to what was going on with her. I'm trying to figure out how characters could be so totally blinded by beauty and grace to not believe what was going on around them. I really don't want to give away anything that happens, because I'd love for you to read it yourself.
As far as the Kindle copy, it was lovely... and $7.99. Now, I'm still not sure how I feel about paying that much for it, but considering my sister told me this is a book that I would want to own, I'm not upset. If you're a fan of John Saul, then I would suggest buying it. If you're someone that's never read his work, I would suggest going to your local library and taking out a copy, and buying it if you find that it's too awesome to part with. There are already other books by the same author that my sister is suggesting for me to look at, and I have to say, I'd love to read more of his work. I might actually have to go to the library and take out some books, just like I used to do when I was younger.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Carmilla: The Seemingly Lesbian Vampire
While on my facebook, I came across a post about about a lesbian female vampire that predated Bram Stoker's Dracula. So interested was I that I immediately went to Project Gutenberg to find it and begin to read it. I did find it, and I did begin to read it, even though I first felt a bit guilty about cheating on "Behold a Pale Horse", but that's for another blog entry. Apparently there's also an audio book form, for people who enjoy listening to books. I'm personally not one, so I'm not including it here. You can backtrack from the link I put up to find it.
Carmilla is a very short story, I read it in just a few hours early two mornings ago, and I loved it. The story, like Dracula, is told in a letter form, a diary entry of sorts by the young women that experienced the phenomenon with the vampire known as Carmilla.
From the beginning of the story, we know that there is something off about the entire situation to which Carmilla is thrust into the world of the protagonist, although she immediately loves the other young woman. Although I use the world love, the entire thing is platonic, at least on the part of the protagonist, there is only mentioned the exchange of kisses.
I will not get in to the plot too deeply, but I will say that vampires in the book are viewed in the same way as they are in Dracula. There is nothing deeply romantic about them, although Carmilla is described as ridiculously beautiful, with dark hair and eyes, and charming almost beyond belief. Another interesting fact about Carmilla that makes her different from Dracula, is that she can walk about in daylight; granted, she is never seen very early in the morning, she still comes out and about, and she is known to drink hot chocolate (the only thing the protagonist actually witnesses her drink).
There is a connection between the protagonist and Carmilla that I feel isn't fully explored by the author, which makes it fall a bit short for me of a really, really good novel. I felt it could have been expanded upon, and fleshed out, because it is known that Carmilla treats the protagonist different from other victims, and that the protagonist is a distant matrilineal descendant of the vampire.
It felt a bit like the story stopped too soon, which is why I think it doesn't have the same fame as Dracula, and it's not as long. There are overlapping themes, although one of the ways that vampires are seen to become vampires is by suicide, and having lived a particularly ungodly life. There isn't much work about the history of vampires, except that Carmilla's family name had been extinct for at least a century, and that they were known as bad people. There are a lot of unanswered questions that I think also makes it less popular than Dracula.
The copy of the book that I had is a good copy, on my kindle, the margins are rather wide, making for a narrow page look. There isn't much difficulty with the language, at least nothing you can't click and find the meaning to if you have a digital copy for an e-reader, but even if you don't, you can figure out the context easily, and usually the protagonist gives a meaning.
All together, I enjoyed the story, I think people that like pseudo-lesbian literature, vampires, an old stories would enjoy it. It's not long, and it's fascinating to have insight that the protagonist doesn't. I had more than once I sucked my teeth and talked to the book, telling the character that she was stupid for not realizing odd habits, but there are moments the main character acknowledges that she was being stupid, so I like that as well. It's a nice little read that I think people would enjoy.
Carmilla is a very short story, I read it in just a few hours early two mornings ago, and I loved it. The story, like Dracula, is told in a letter form, a diary entry of sorts by the young women that experienced the phenomenon with the vampire known as Carmilla.
From the beginning of the story, we know that there is something off about the entire situation to which Carmilla is thrust into the world of the protagonist, although she immediately loves the other young woman. Although I use the world love, the entire thing is platonic, at least on the part of the protagonist, there is only mentioned the exchange of kisses.
I will not get in to the plot too deeply, but I will say that vampires in the book are viewed in the same way as they are in Dracula. There is nothing deeply romantic about them, although Carmilla is described as ridiculously beautiful, with dark hair and eyes, and charming almost beyond belief. Another interesting fact about Carmilla that makes her different from Dracula, is that she can walk about in daylight; granted, she is never seen very early in the morning, she still comes out and about, and she is known to drink hot chocolate (the only thing the protagonist actually witnesses her drink).
There is a connection between the protagonist and Carmilla that I feel isn't fully explored by the author, which makes it fall a bit short for me of a really, really good novel. I felt it could have been expanded upon, and fleshed out, because it is known that Carmilla treats the protagonist different from other victims, and that the protagonist is a distant matrilineal descendant of the vampire.
It felt a bit like the story stopped too soon, which is why I think it doesn't have the same fame as Dracula, and it's not as long. There are overlapping themes, although one of the ways that vampires are seen to become vampires is by suicide, and having lived a particularly ungodly life. There isn't much work about the history of vampires, except that Carmilla's family name had been extinct for at least a century, and that they were known as bad people. There are a lot of unanswered questions that I think also makes it less popular than Dracula.
The copy of the book that I had is a good copy, on my kindle, the margins are rather wide, making for a narrow page look. There isn't much difficulty with the language, at least nothing you can't click and find the meaning to if you have a digital copy for an e-reader, but even if you don't, you can figure out the context easily, and usually the protagonist gives a meaning.
All together, I enjoyed the story, I think people that like pseudo-lesbian literature, vampires, an old stories would enjoy it. It's not long, and it's fascinating to have insight that the protagonist doesn't. I had more than once I sucked my teeth and talked to the book, telling the character that she was stupid for not realizing odd habits, but there are moments the main character acknowledges that she was being stupid, so I like that as well. It's a nice little read that I think people would enjoy.
Captives of the Flame: Another Samuel Delany Review!
I won't lie, the exclamation point on the end of the title is only because I'm incredibly excited to review another one of Samuel R. Delany's books. It doesn't actually translate into real life, my face, or my voice right now, due to hormonal and life imbalances that have left me full of rage and anger, except when I'm reading, writing, or possibly drawing. But you're not here to read about my personal woes, you're here to find out about this story.
I bought this book via Amazon.com, although it was apparently translated to its digital state by Project Gutenberg, so I'm unsure whether it's available for free. I think I paid .99 cents for it, so it was definitely another steal.
This book is the first in a trilogy of stories known as "The Fall of the Towers". I've only read this first story thus far. Apparently this story was originally rewritten in a different form when it became the first book of the trilogy.
The story takes place in the same world as The Jewels of Aptor, however, the two cities that are the settings of this story do not know they are in the same world. Apparently, references linking the stories all to the same world were later omitted, so I think it might still take place in the same world, just in different time frames.
The story has a host of protagonists working together yet again, this time in an attempt to thwart a war that their civilization is threatening against an unknown enemy in a twin city.
Like the last work I read of Delany, it's incredibly visceral, so much so that you really have to pay attention when reading, especially the opening pages, so that you have a perfect idea of what the character is experiencing. But once you get a view, and you have your full attention on the book, you have no problem sailing through pages like nobody's business, because it's that interesting.
It is once again science fiction, and it has a lot of philosophical questions about war, and society, and even humanity.
I feel like this review is going to be more brief than the previous one because it's only the first part of a trilogy, therefore I only have the first third of the story. But never fear, I am actively seeking out the next parts of the story so that I can read further in. Because it's one of a trilogy, the main adventure of the story reaches a conclusion, but there are larger questions that are left for the later works.
I do have a few downsides about my digital copy. It has a plain black and green cover, very much like the free books that one downloads from the Kindle store, and not the beautiful original cover artwork like Jewels of Aptor had. Then, because the book was put in to press by Project Gutenberg, at the end I thought I had five or six more pages to go, but it was merely the project gutenberg conclusion, and all of the legal information therein. But other than that, I really don't have any complaints. I just realized that I didn't necessarily have to pay for the book, it's available for free via Project Gutenberg here, along with Jewels of Aptor. That makes me a bit angry that I paid, but fuck it, Samuel R Delany deserves my muneyz, so it wasn't a waste. The only thing I'm somewhat upset about is the fact that the free version has the original cover art available, and I didn't get a chance to get it.
Other than that, the book is awesome, and I recommend it to folks like myself that aren't big on science fiction, but love a good detailed story and something that will hold your interest until the last page.
I bought this book via Amazon.com, although it was apparently translated to its digital state by Project Gutenberg, so I'm unsure whether it's available for free. I think I paid .99 cents for it, so it was definitely another steal.
This book is the first in a trilogy of stories known as "The Fall of the Towers". I've only read this first story thus far. Apparently this story was originally rewritten in a different form when it became the first book of the trilogy.
The story takes place in the same world as The Jewels of Aptor, however, the two cities that are the settings of this story do not know they are in the same world. Apparently, references linking the stories all to the same world were later omitted, so I think it might still take place in the same world, just in different time frames.
The story has a host of protagonists working together yet again, this time in an attempt to thwart a war that their civilization is threatening against an unknown enemy in a twin city.
Like the last work I read of Delany, it's incredibly visceral, so much so that you really have to pay attention when reading, especially the opening pages, so that you have a perfect idea of what the character is experiencing. But once you get a view, and you have your full attention on the book, you have no problem sailing through pages like nobody's business, because it's that interesting.
It is once again science fiction, and it has a lot of philosophical questions about war, and society, and even humanity.
I feel like this review is going to be more brief than the previous one because it's only the first part of a trilogy, therefore I only have the first third of the story. But never fear, I am actively seeking out the next parts of the story so that I can read further in. Because it's one of a trilogy, the main adventure of the story reaches a conclusion, but there are larger questions that are left for the later works.
I do have a few downsides about my digital copy. It has a plain black and green cover, very much like the free books that one downloads from the Kindle store, and not the beautiful original cover artwork like Jewels of Aptor had. Then, because the book was put in to press by Project Gutenberg, at the end I thought I had five or six more pages to go, but it was merely the project gutenberg conclusion, and all of the legal information therein. But other than that, I really don't have any complaints. I just realized that I didn't necessarily have to pay for the book, it's available for free via Project Gutenberg here, along with Jewels of Aptor. That makes me a bit angry that I paid, but fuck it, Samuel R Delany deserves my muneyz, so it wasn't a waste. The only thing I'm somewhat upset about is the fact that the free version has the original cover art available, and I didn't get a chance to get it.
Other than that, the book is awesome, and I recommend it to folks like myself that aren't big on science fiction, but love a good detailed story and something that will hold your interest until the last page.
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