Month: March 2022

“What is bad for the heart is good for art. The terrible irony of our lives as artists.” –– Jandy Nelson, I’ll Give You the Sun

Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You The Sun is the exquisitely written story of Noah and Jude, a pair of twins that once shared a soul but now barely know each other. The book ebbs and flows with their cycles of hatred and love and bitterness and forgiveness as they age into young adulthood. 

I’ll Give You The Sun is first and foremost a homage to art. Noah and Jude are both visual artists, inspired by their late mother. She is the catalyst of an ongoing and underlying competition that grows and evolves between the two where every challenge, every argument, every bout of bitterness and hatred that arises between them is symbolized by their art and creative visions. 

Not only does I’ll Give You The Sun revolve around Noah and Jude’s love for art, Nelson’s writing itself is art transposed into words, to put it simply. Somehow, she manages to bend the English language to wrap perfectly around the minds of Noah and Jude. Frankly, Nelson could write 500 pages about nothing and I would read it solely for her words and metaphors and the way they seamlessly fall into pictures in my mind. The reader truly finds themself in Noah and Jude’s world; it’s actually startling how perfectly Nelson captures the relationship between the twins. The downward spiral of  “NoahandJude” and their subsequent yearning to love each other again is the true lifeblood of the story. While the actions and events of the book are interesting in how they overlap and connect over the years, the essence of I’ll Give You The Sun is encompassed by Noah and Jude as their own family and their unadulterated passion for art and love.

“By the time I was sixteen, I’d forget this moment. But then I’d remember it again. And everything would change.”

The best way I can describe Still Life With Tornado is to say that it’s intriguing. It’s the kind of book that you can’t predict how it will end, and it really makes you think because there are so many ways it could go. There is something unexpected in every chapter.

Still Life With Tornado is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Sarah who is having an existential crisis. As a reader, we watch this crisis progress and piece it together with chapters alternating between Sarah’s point of view, and her mom’s point of view, and chapters that are flashbacks from the past. I think it’s especially interesting to read because Sarah is going through this existential crisis in real-time in the book, and as a reader, we hear her personal thoughts. I think that in almost all of the books I have read where a character has a mental breakdown it’s told as a reflection with the character looking back on it, not as something that’s happening in the moment. 

To be completely honest I am just a little over halfway through the book at the time of writing this, so while I can’t say how I feel about the book overall as I don’t know how it ends, I can say that I am completely hooked and I am so excited to finish it. I am very curious to see where this goes, and I genuinely don’t have a guess as to how it will end. It’s the first time in a while that I have read a book this unpredictable. 

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something that will really make you think.

Reading this book It wasn’t one of my favorites i’ve read but it was a nice read and out of my comfort zones for books. This book is an older book based around the  Renaissance. It’s filled with romance, and history. I prefer books with emotion and teens not so much kings and queens. For being out of my comfort zone it showed me what I like and don’t prefer to read.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes Romance and history books. This book is around 1500 and filled with lots of History about life in the Renaissance times. This book also has some challenging battles like Elizas lifestyle changing. Although I didn’t prefer this type of novel I think a lot of people would love to read this it was a good read for being filled with history and kings and queens.

King Henry VIII was a ruler controlled with his power as the king. There were six women. All of which six went through different scenarios, either divorce, death, or just simply an unwillingness of love. While the wives went through different changes, each of them survived by the power of the king. Jane was one of Henry’s first wives, but when she gave birth to their child she decided to leave him with Henry for the day. When she arrived back Henry had informed her the baby chocked and died. Henry was to invested in his royal power being known as king that it made him forget what kind of person he truly was without the royal label.

This book was filled with lots of suspense, however, it was not the best book I’ve read. This book was definitely a new style I’ve read, for it was around the Renaissance and it showed me it was not of my interest. The book was still a good book for those who may like the history during King VIII, but I prefer books with more emotion over war and power.

I recommend this book to those who are interested in learning more about the mid-1500s. This book was written in a journal form with the idea of each wife telling a story. Although it was not the best book to me, I do feel others can disagree on that and find enjoyment in reading it because we all have different styles of books we like.

“Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it.”

This book was, objectively, awful.

Neil Josten, a mysterious kid with an even more mysterious past, gets recruited to the Palmetto State University Exy (a made up sport somewhat similar to lacrosse?) team after being on the run since his mother died. His teammates are violent and kind of just questionable people all around, and on top of all that, there’s an underlying plot surrounding crime, which Neil and his teammates seem to be caught in the middle of.

The Foxhole Court left me with an extraordinary amount of questions and just general confusion surrounding, well, everything. But I will acknowledge that this is simply the first book in the series, and I was bound to be left wanting more. I think part of my confusion is because of how secret Neil’s backstory is and how, while he’s the narrator, we as the audience know barely anything about him, and everything we learn about everyone else comes from him—who is an overwhelmingly unreliable narrator. 

This book actually reminded me quite a bit of fanfiction in that it leaves out significant details regarding the general plot while possessing the air that the audience already knows what’s going on. I also felt it was similar in the same way that it didn’t feel like an actual book, more so someone’s interesting but unnecessary additions. I felt like I was waiting for the action to begin and for the inciting incident to arise for the majority of the book, and unless I’m mistaken, it doesn’t seem to happen until the second to last chapter. 

But despite all of that, I actually really enjoyed reading this book. As the story moved along, I grew significantly more attached to the incredibly flawed characters that make up the Exy team, and loved to see the evolution of their relationships together as Neil became closer to them. And while the plot of the story seemed lacking and also confusing, there was enough to keep me intrigued, and the confusion honestly just made me want to read more.

Because The Foxhole Court is only the first book in the series, I can’t say for certain whether or  not I like or even recommend it yet, but I’m anxious to get my hands on the second book, and desperately want to know what happens next. I will preface though by saying that this book absolutely has its problems, including a string of slurs that are spoken multiple times throughout the novel, and excessive violence and drug abuse also throughout the book, and would highly suggest searching up content warnings before reading!

“Hope in the shadow of fear is the world’s most powerful motivator.” 

Scythe by Neal Shusterman is a dystopian fantasy that takes place on Earth hundreds of years in the future, a time where the threat of natural death has been eradicated and the sole enforcement of population control are scythes, a group individuals professionally trained to “glean” civilians. Citra and Rowan are chosen as two scythe apprentices, and find themselves the center of turmoil that begins to permeate the scythedom. 

I immensely enjoyed Scythe. Shusterman’s world building was absolutely immaculate and detailed. I’ve found that fantasy authors can often fall into a world-building trap, either by being too vague or overly specific and tedious. However, Scythe does not fall victim to these dangers of fantasy writing, in fact, Shusterman managed to legitimately suspend my disbelief for much of the book, which is an uncommon experience for me when reading fantasy. Furthermore, I found the “post-mortal world” in which Scythe is set genuinely intriguing, and I was actually eager to learn more about it as I read on. 

In terms of the plot, it was equally impressive. I am a huge fan of “apprenticeship” stories, and Scythe Faraday and Scythe Curie were admirable mentors to Citra and Rowan, as well as simply enjoyable characters. Additionally, I particularly found the dual perspective aspect of the novel to be appealing (as I always do). The switching POVs and the journal excerpts that were included between chapters allows the reader to piece together the complicated layers of Scythe’s plot. In this sense, Scythe seemed similar to a mystery-thriller; I found it suspenseful and engaging, and Shusterman was very purposeful in allusions and foreshadowing. 

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a riveting trilogy. Although I wouldn’t call Scythe a quick or light read, it really hooks the reader into the story, and definitely checks all the boxes of a captivating story.

Death Note Another Note by Nisio Isin is a sort of prequel to the original Death Note manga. It is narrated by Mello, a boy who grew up in an English orphanage alongside L. Mello ‘wrote’ this novel in hopes that Kira and Near would read it. (Near being another boy he and L grew up with, and the one who discovers Light Yagami as Kira)

The novel follows FBI agent Naomi Misora as she is enlisted by L to try to catch Beyond Birthday, a serial killer on the loose in Los Angeles who leaves miniscule clues at each of his murders. Misora quickly realizes that these clues are like a jumbled up road map, where the roads keep intertwining and crossing and it’s all just confusing.

L realizes that these clues being left behind are meant for him, meant to be a game to test his true knowledge against Beyond Birthday.

Why was BB doing this, you ask?

Mello, Near, L, and Beyond Birthday all grew up together at Wammy’s house in England. The four boys, along with the other inhabitants of Wammy’s, were incredibly smart- the smartest children in the world. And they were being raised to become L.

It’s a title passed down through Wammy’s house, and the four boys were the top contenders for the prize. The L we all know and love won, of course, but BB was not happy, to say the least. He wanted to outsmart L- and be the only person to ever do it. (Before Kira, of course.)

While Naomi is working on this case, she’s approached by a private investigator who is… also working on the case. There’s something off about this detective, though, he’s weird. He sits weird, he looks weird, and he definitely dresses and talks weird.

While this investigator “helps” Naomi throughout the novel, he’s really just unraveling the murders in front of her. Because he is the murderer. He is Beyond Birthday.

And he wouldn’t hesitate to kill himself in order to beat L.

For years, Hayley Kincain has been traveling across the country with her father, Andy, in his 18-wheeler. All of the traveling was in an attempt to help her father outrun the demons of his past in Iraq. Now the two of them have settled down in Andy’s hometown trying to have a “normal” life. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson is about how Hayley tries to navigate high school life with a little bit of romance while also looking out for her father and trying to keep him from drowning in his past.

After having Mrs. Phelps and Sonny recommend this book to me, I decided to take a stab at it. I’m happy that I did because it was definitely worth the read. I found that I was unable to put this book down once I cracked it open, and as a result I finished it within two days over February vacation. There was just something about Hayley’s story that kept drawing me in and I found myself lost in her life. 

I loved the way Anderson structured the relationship between Hayley and her father. Instead of having the whole story be about her father’s moments of instability, there were times where readers would see more wholesome moments between the two. These very short and sweet moments helped readers to fully grasp why Hayley was so devoted to helping her father, despite the many mistakes he makes throughout the book. 

With this, I found Hayley’s devotion to her father extremely accurate. I think that some readers might feel frustrated with the way Hayley constantly forgives her father or the way she chooses to keep their situation secret, but it perfectly lines up with the actions of a child in that type of situation. The only person Hayley has is her father, which is what truly makes this story all the more heartbreaking. It perfectly captures what it’s like for a child to watch their parents spiral out of control without knowing what to do. 

I also loved the way that the author depicted Andy’s struggle with PTSD. I found that his mental health was captured in a very real and honest way that didn’t at all detract from the plot. I sometimes find that when authors try to write about mental health, they fall short of fully capturing the struggles being faced. Andy’s experience has the potential to bring awareness to the situation for veterans after they return home, and the struggles they face trying to adjust back into society. 

One of the things I would criticize about this book would be the way Hayley tends to see herself as being something special. She is constantly talking about herself as though the things that she does make her “different from other girls.” Apparently, just because she reads, doesn’t wear makeup, and dresses conservatively, she’s better than other girls. Nowadays, we refer to these types of women as “pick-me girls,”

Hayley also has an issue with judging everyone else. She walks around her high school and immediately assumes that all of her peers are “zombies” who can’t think for themselves or understand what the “real world” is like. I can understand how teenagers tend to be self-centered, but this just takes it to a whole new and annoying level. I was extremely disappointed by the way Hayley was so quick to make assumptions about others, especially when Anderson’s other book, Speak, showed how important it was to not treat others this way. Having read Speak, I was expecting Hayley to be more accepting and understanding, and not as close minded. 

The best books are the ones we become lost in; the ones where we lose track of time while reading them. That was what happened to me with The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson. Despite Hayley’s character flaws, I still found myself unable to put this book down. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book that they can quickly read through, but still find enjoyment out of.

The manga Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba follows college student Light Yagami as he navigates through the hardest, yet most exciting years of his life.

Light Yagami is a senior in high school when the manga starts; he has perfect grades, perfect attendance, and is probably the smartest kid in Japan. One day when he’s sitting in class, bored, he sees a notebook falling from the sky outside. After class, Light finds the book outside. It’s thin, black, and has two words written on the cover: Death Note.

Not long after, Light meets Ryuk the Shinigami, the owner of the notebook. The Shinigami are Gods of Death, and he informs Light that if he writes someone’s name in the book while picturing their face, they will die.

It doesn’t take long for the genius to become psychotic with this new power. He draws the attention of international police, bringing the anonymous detective who goes by the name L into the Kanto region. L, having no true name or face, is the smartest detective in the world. He takes the cases that no one else can figure out… and solves it.

Light is now known internationally as Kira, who plans to rid the world of violence and become God of his new world. He kills off as many criminals as possible, no matter how minimal their crimes are. The Japanese Police Force and L are running in circles trying to catch Kira, who happens to be right in front of them.

Light’s father is the Chief of police, and helping the Kira Task Force (run by L), so Light is able to get insider information to help avoid police suspicion.

This doesn’t last long, though, because Light is recruited to the Task Force at the same time that he becomes L’s number one suspect.

Years pass with Light and L working together to hunt down Kira, and the story ends heartbreakingly. L is murdered by a Shinigami named Rem, Light is killed by the Task Force, and Light’s girlfriend, Misa, who knew he was Kira and was helping him kill, kills herself by jumping off of a bridge at sunset.

L spent the final years of his life hunting down his best friend, and he never got to know that it was really him all along.

Light wasted those years trying to become a God, even though Ryuk had told him, “Humans haunted by Shinigami usually have nothing but misfortune.”

Misa wasted those years fawning over Light, begging him to love her, when the entire time he was using her for his own personal gain- the only thing that prevented Light from killing her was the threat from Misa’s Shinigami, who told him that if Misa got hurt in any way, she would kill Light.

This manga is over two thousand pages long, so obviously I didn’t go into immersive detail with the summary, but it is truly a work of art.