Room Review

I'm sure many of you have heard of the movie, especially since Brie Larson won best actress for it. I have not yet seen the movie though.

Emma Donoghue's Room is about a girl who is kidnapped when she is nineteen years old. She is held captive in the man's outdoor shed that he reenforces to be soundproofed and locked at all times. He rapes her multiple times and she ends up having a little boy, Jack, in this room. The book opens up with him turning five, he has no idea that there is a world outside of Room and his entire life revolves around his Ma and the games they come up with to pass the time. Eventually, they come up with a plan for Jack to pretend he's dead and to escape their prison. The hardest part for them though becomes readapting to life outside.

This book was incredibly emotional and difficult to read. It's difficult to talk about because it was really interesting how Ma's character had to take care of Jack at all times and then when they escape it was so difficult for her to try and reintegrate herself into the world, but she had to take care of her five year old who was missing the simplicity of Room, which was her hellhole. As sweet as Jack was, I know I would have been driven a little crazy by him. However, both of their tenacity was so fascinating and well done, because their situation was so terrifying. I felt like Emma Donoghue managed to create a great balance in their bravery and fear. The book was amazing and so touching in showing how amazing a mother's love can be. They do ask the question at one point about what her feelings were on the fact that he is also the son of her rapist, but that does not deter her from loving her son. It's a scary book, but also beautiful. I loved that there would be times where the book would challenge gender roles too, because of Jack's long hair or the fact that he loved Dora. The mentions of social norms were so great and subtilely woven into the larger story that was going on.

I plan on watching the movie soon too! The actor who plays Jack is just adorable! He has an Instagram account that his parents help him run and he loves Star Wars, he honestly looks like the sweetest child.

Sorry short review, but I enjoyed the book so much and didn't dislike anything about it that I can't be as critical as I am in other reviews. There isn't anything bad to talk about! While a definitely more emotional book, it is a worthwhile read and I gave it five stars!

Boston Trip!

I've been on Spring Break since last week Friday, so hopefully I'll be posting a review soon!

I went to Boston first to visit my friends, Emma and Sasha, and one of my sisters! On Tuesday though I came back home to Chicago to spend the end of my break at home. I'm really glad I got to break it up because I loved visiting Boston, but I was also kind of homesick so I loved being able to hang out with my mom and stepdad again, because I'm really close to them.

Here are a few pictures from Boston though! We went to a bunch of bookstores, Brookline Books was really awesome, the first floor was a regular bookstore (that had an amazing selection, one of the best I've ever seen) and then the basement was used books! We also saw the Vagina Monologues at Boston University. It was really good, haha if a little uncomfortable at times, but it was done fantastically and ultimately so worth seeing.

Brattle Book Shop is an outdoors bookstore of used books and was really cool (even though it was a little cold)

Boston is such a cool city! It is really old and has more history than the majority of America's cities (History is my favorite subject). The streets and buildings are beautiful too, I live outside of Chicago, which has a much different type of feeling to it. My college is also outside of Philadelphia, which may be historical as well, but Boston felt much cleaner to me and more sophisticated I guess. I would love to live in Boston one day. I kind of fell in love with it while I was there and it has so many coffee shops and bookstores. It's now a small goal of mine to live there for part of my life and I'm so jealous of people living there now.

I promise I'll be posting some reviews soon!!!

The Man in the High Castle Book and Show Review/Comparison!

One of the periods of time that I am most interested in is the World War II era. I love history and this time period is so intense and fascinating and the fact that it was a world war means the outcome would affect the whole planet. Which is why I was so excited to hear about Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. It's about a world where the Japanese and Germans won the war. A terrifying thought when you really think about what that could mean. It's 1962 in this book though, so not contemporary and not during the war, making it into an interesting middle. The Japanese have received the west coast, the Germans the east coast, and the midwest is the neutral zone. The central conflict of the story is that there is a book, "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy", going around and gaining popularity that tells a story where the Allies won the war instead of the Axis Powers. The author of the book is the "man in the high castle."

Onto the actual review! First, I am going to talk about the book and then, go into the tv series:

The Man in the High Castle was one of the more unique books that I have read lately. It has been a little bit since I actually read it and I am still a little perplexed by my feelings of it and still trying to interpret the ending. There were many main characters that all connected in some odd way and they each encountered "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" in their own ways. While the book was about the Allies losing the war, I first thought it was telling the story of our world. However, there were many small differences that would throw me off and made me realize our world and the world in that book were not the same still. Also, while each character would mention the book or hear about it, it was only the main focus of Juliana and Joe. These two characters met in the neutral zone and started a relationship, Joe had the book and got Juliana hooked on it and then they eventually decide to try and find the author. However, even for them for the majority of the time the book was in the background of their relationship. The Man in the High Castle had a very open ending, because even though we eventually find out where the book came from, we don't know what the characters will actually do with that information. The world they live in is incredibly scary to me and it just felt very unresolved where not much will go changed. One thought that I've had is that the Japanese are obsessed with memorabilia from America's past and will spend hundreds on the extinct culture. One of the characters, Frank, starts to make jewelry and tries to sell it, but everybody says he'll fail because nobody likes the new. By the end though, there are two men who connect with his jewelry in a really odd and confusing way. (Sorry kind of spoiler next, but also not a major one I think) One of them holds onto it so hard and connects with it where it seemed to bring him to the world where the Allies won the war and suddenly everything changes around him. It didn't last long, but I'm curious that maybe they need to accept the future again and what's real. However, this theory is confusing to me because it's never specified if it's possible for them to change. Which brings me onto the show!

The show was great, has ten episodes, and is on Amazon Prime! The show is pretty different from the book. First of all, the book, "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy", becomes film reels showing the Allies winning the war. Second of all, the nature and path of a major character is changed. Thirdly, two characters who were separated in the book, are together in the show. Those were the big changes that were made. While the book was very open ended and I am still not sure what it's purpose was, the show is much more focused and elaborates on so much. While I was reading the book, I had no idea on how they could make it into a show. Which is why I understand the changes they made. They had to make it much more understandable to gain people's interests and to keep them. While I know this can be taboo to say (I'm sorry!), I think I like the show better. I am still so unsure about the book and what it was trying to convey that I enjoyed following the show's plot line more. I feel bad saying that cause I enjoyed "the easier one", but no matter how much I think about the book, I feel like it ended way too soon and left me with way too many questions. The show realized this I think and decided to take creative liberties (because the author's dead) and finish the story. I like answers and the show is trying to give them to me, which I'm enjoying.

Both book and show are great! I'm, unfortunately, the only one of my friends who has read The Man in the High Castle and so I would love feedback on other people's ideas about it! I enjoyed it, but I have so many questions that I still feel a little lost about it. However, I recommend both to anyone who loves WWII era and historical fiction about the Allies losing the war (such an interesting concept!).

Top 15 Books from 2015!!!

I realize this 2015 has already been over for about a month but I really wanted to do one of these! These are my top fifteen favorite books from 2015! I also grouped some series books if I read and loved all of them!

15. Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley

      This was one book that surprised me, it isn't very well known and it was a topic (military school) that I had never really read before. I found it to be realistic and it also dealt with certain topics in a way that I found really great.

14. The Martian by Andy Weir

      I love sci-fi and the humor in The Martian was so fantastic, I also learned a lot about science! It was so awesome to see the survival methods and how hard we will fight to survive when we are faced with that situation.

13. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

      I love books that incorporate Ancient Roman facts and the brutality of this book is what made me take a deeper interest, as that's often glossed over. What truly made me fall in love with this book though is the character development that the main character Laia went through. It was so gradual but after finishing the book and then looking back at the beginning it's an incredible transformation.

12. Young Elites/Rose Society by Marie Lu

      I did not like Marie Lu's Legend series, so this series took me by such a surprise with how dark and incredible it turned out to be. It kept me so enraptured throughout both books. I found it to be unique in where it is going, which is something I love finding in series.

11. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

      Having been the first nonfiction book that I actually enjoyed, this story amazed me in so many ways and changed my outlook on many things.

10. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

      I loved the book as I was reading through it and then the end just solidified the fact that it would be one of my all time favorite books. Twists and turns are what I love to see.

9. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

      George R.R. Martin is just a genius, even though I hate him at times. The world in these books has just become so alive in my imagination with the combination of the books and the tv show. It's so rare to find one of those series where the characters feel so real in my life. Maybe my favorite books I read this year, but it will always be in my top favorites with how incredible it is.

8. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

      This is one of my favorite series and while I did not enjoy Queen of Shadows as much as I did Heir of Fire, I'm so in love with all of the characters and their character development and the magic of this world that it was still one of my favorites.

7. Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

      Sarah and Susan's friendship makes me life, so seeing it exist in a high fantasy book with action and them being badasses just made it all the better. I'm also a big fan of friendships in books, because I don't think romance ever needs to be the main purpose in books and so that helped me fall in love with the book even more.

6. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

      One of my favorite historical fiction authors and this book was so incredibly emotional and hopeful and sad all at the same time. I felt so many emotions throughout this book and saw so many different stories. I loved it so much because it also showed me how many stories go untold and unknown. Her author's note was also just so great with her talking about her purpose for the book, which made me love it so much more.

5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

      The first book in this series and I am already addicted, I can see it going in such incredible places and the hot faeries aren't such a bad thing either. I loved all of the characters and I am so excited for the next one.

4. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

      One of the most emotional books I have ever read. I cried so hard, but I loved it so much. It just showed me how everyone goes through things and some people are able to get through it and others aren't. It also made me want to go out and experience some of the weird things around me.

3. Red Rising/Golden Son by Pierce Brown

      World building is incredible and the characters are so complex. I don't think I can describe why this series made it to be number 3, but I just fell in love with the series so much.

2. The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain

      I try and get all my friends to read this book, but it's so hard! It's really short too! My advice is to forget what you've read of Mark Twain and of Huckleberry Finn because I never really liked that book either. Which is why many people haven't read The Mysterious Stranger. This novella is from the end of Mark Twain's life when he becomes a lot more cynical. Which is why it's about an angel named Satan visiting earth. Literally so mind-blowing and has changed my perspective on everything.

And finally, my favorite book that I read in 2015...

1. City of Thieves by David Benioff

      This book wasn't the one that my cry the most or connect the most with the characters or be amazed by the character development. Instead, it's less than 300 pages about two young men during the Siege of Leningrad who must search for a dozen eggs to avoid being executed for looting and desertion. Somehow this book brought me to their time period and the dangers they faced by everything and how unfair everything was. It was filled with humor and terror and it's only after looking back on the books I read in 2015 that I realize this one was the best. While I often hear Catcher in the Rye being described as one of the best coming of age stories, I find City of Thieves to top them all.

Carry On Review

Warning! There will be a lot of spoilers!

Many of us know Rainbow Rowell as the writer of a lot of emotional books that deal with things not addressed by too many authors. This makes her a well loved author by many since she is always successful in talking about issues and making them relatable. My favorite book of hers was Fangirl. Which is why I was so excited when I heard about Carry On, the true story of the world that Cath wrote fanfiction about. Baz and Simon are roommates at Watford School of Magicks and also nemeses. It's Simon's duty to take down the Insidious Humdrum, but he is a little occupied dealing with his roommate who he thinks is a vampire.

I loved Fangirl because it reminded me a lot about Harry Potter and how it has inspired so many in being fangirls or fanboys of their own and into writing their own fanfiction. It was understandable to me in this book on how she replaced Harry Potter with her own version of a magical world. However, I ended up thinking that maybe Rainbow Rowell took it a little too far with the writing of Carry On.

Before I get to the Harry Potter aspect, I want to talk about the characters. I loved it as I was reading it, I thought the different story lines were great and how the characters had good and bad aspects of them. I also really liked the relationship between Baz and Simon, at first. I think it's great that Simon was bisexual, but it was also a very abrupt transition. Simon hated Baz for years and never showed an ounce of affection or attraction to him, except for an obsession on if he's up to something evil. As soon as they get together I love their relationship, but I also feel like it may have been used as a plot device to appeal to people. I just thought it was extremely fanfiction like, when people ship characters together that aren't together in canon. This might just be me, but I didn't think they would be together, until they were if that makes sense. To try and explain this thought process more (sorry if I'm rambling), as soon as they did get together, I loved them and thought they were great. In my opinion their relationship from before didn't flow perfectly into their relationship after. I also didn't realize this until I started looking back. Despite this, I still think it's really important to have gay characters in books, especially as main characters. So that is one reason I enjoyed this book, but I just feel like it could have been done a little better to make more sense. Now onto how Rainbow Rowell used Harry Potter!

After I finished the book, I ended up thinking there was a line that might have been crossed. Harry Potter is sacred in the world of books, at least to me. It's hard to express my feelings on this, because I'm sure Rainbow Rowell meant no disrespect. However, I enjoyed her incorporation of Harry Potter in Fangirl, because it was more respectful in my opinion. Except now Carry On kind of completely rewrote it into an entire book this time. I also felt like this was more for the profit. After seeing how much people loved Fangirl and the references to Harry Potter as Simon Snow, she decides to write a book all about it. I know she says she and many others wanted to know what happened to Simon and Baz, but the book also ended up very anti-climatic in my opinion. Baz and Simon end up together, as hinted by Cath's fanfiction. Then, the Insidious Humdrum ended up barely even doing anything. Looking back on the book, I don't see much of a point of it. It was great while I was reading it, but now I don't feel much of anything for it. This kind of makes me sad because I enjoyed it a lot while I was reading it. However, Harry Potter is a million times better to me and this book could never in a million years replace it for me. And to me, I see it as an attempt to replace Harry Potter. It may be a stand alone, but why was it necessary for her to make this into an entire book? I would have been fine with it being kept in Fangirl. Now, it's a little ruined to me. It may not be intended to be disrespectful, but that's how I see it.

Many people will say that means all fanfiction is disrespectful then. I don't agree with that. I see this as fanfiction turned into a book purely for profit. At least with Fifty Shades of Grey, it was nearly unrecognizable as Twilight fanfiction. But I saw way too much of Harry Potter and not enough originality in Carry On.

Don't get me wrong, I love the lgbtq representation and I feel bad that I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would, but all I see the now is the book having no real point. I always feel bad when I don't like a book because I know authors put in a lot of effort into their books, which I have loads of respect for. I also know a lot of people will disagree with my review, but this is just my opinion on it. I won't hate on people for loving all the things I didn't like.

College Update!

I am so sorry! I feel awful using it is an excuse but I started college this year and these first few months have been crazy busy trying to get used to this new routine! I am from the Chicago area and now go to school near Philadelphia so it's been an adjustment! While I will admit that I took a break from reading :/ I have been recently reading again and now I'm just trying to get back in the habit of reviewing! It also sucks that I only have so many books with me here and the vast majority of my books are back home :( I really miss them! I'm hoping to get some reviews up again soon! So try and stay tuned!

In the meantime here's a picture of my dorm room! My side is on the right!

The Darkest Minds Review

When a mysterious disease kills the majority of America's children, it changes the ones who survive. Something that caused Ruby's parents to lock her in the garage and send her to a brutal government rehabilitation camp on the morning of her tenth birthday. The children who survive have strange abilities. There's the blues who are telekinetic, the yellows who control electricity, the greens who are more intelligent than average, and the oranges who can control minds. Now, Ruby is sixteen and finally escapes the camp. She joins a group of other kids who are trying to find East River, a safe haven for kids like them. There's Liam, who quickly falls for her, but she can't allow herself to get close to someone again. When they reach the camp, it is more than originally believed and they aren't safe yet.

The Darkest Minds is a really highly rated book on Goodreads and I'd been meaning to read it for so long and I finally got to it. I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was very well written and I was definitely left wanting the next book. However, I don't think it was incredible. A really common problem I have with books is love interests. I don't know why, but it's usually what holds me back in books. They're usually unconvincing in my mind and I was just never convinced in this book again. I think I have a thing for the darker guys and Liam was too optimistic for me and trying too hard to be the perfect guy in my opinion. I know loads of people who love him though so don't let my feelings turn you away!

While The Darkest Minds was written first, I had read The Young Elites first and so I was strongly reminded of this other book as I was reading. There was a widespread disease and the ones who survived gained powers. I enjoyed The Young Elites more, because of how much darker it was. I absolutely loved that book, so this one just wasn't as great in my opinion.

I found the ending to be fantastic though, and I hope the next books don't make the series too light and have too much of a happy ending. I honestly think the only really happy endings I can handle are ones in realistic fiction. That's when I enjoy the cutesy romance stuff. I'm trying to think about my feelings for Ruby, the main character, and I feel really bad for her. She's gone through a lot and was completely isolated from boys for so long, that I can see her falling for the first cute nice boy she sees. For once I'm kind of hoping for a love triangle in the next books, because I want her to realize there's more to the world than just Liam. A series that did this amazingly was Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

All in all, this book was really good, despite my problems. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars and I will read the sequel, but I hope it will be darker and better.