Kit's Wilderness, or Why Must School Ruin Books?

Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond is a classic light vs. dark redemption story, and it’s good. But reading it is an absolute chore. Let me explain. For the Junior Cert English exam, you have to study a novel in class and be able to write about everything in it. The teacher chose one book and everyone had no choice but to study it in class.

It’s unfortunate that our study of this novel consisted of dissecting it until I could hardly bear to look at it. We were allowed to read about ten pages in class, one person at a time, aloud. Did they not trust us to read it quietly by ourselves, at a halfway decent speed – say one that isn’t a page every four minutes?

I would’ve enjoyed this so much more had it not been compulsory. I do realise that it was technically a very good book, and feel out of place giving it a lacklustre review after seeing so many enthusiastic ones – but you try to enjoy a book that you’re forced to take often irrelevant notes on every thirty seconds!

I read an awful lot. I review the best books I come across on this blog for a number of reasons. First of all, I am a writer at heart. I love words. Secondly, I like to share my opinions and hear yours. Finally, I think authors deserve to have their work shared, if they’ve brought me this much enjoyment. These reasons basically end up with me writing a lot and having trained my brain to think of notes about the book while reading, for reviews.

So being spoon-fed notes about books from my English teacher – nice as she is – drives me mad. It’s mind-numbingly boring, and I’m a book reviewer by trade. This – reading and writing – is where I find my enjoyment, and I am not happy that it’s being systematically destroyed.

We spent about six months reading that novel. I like to do the same thing and have the review planned out in less than six hours. It made me dread English, something that horrified me, since it’s my favourite subject. Being me, I’d already read the whole book the first week we got it, so I had to endure another twenty-three weeks of repetition. Not fun. Thankfully, we’ve moved on and it is once again my favourite class. But I don’t want it to happen again. Of course, I’m a teenager. My opinions don’t matter to the Board of Education; they would rather cater for the group in majority, the predictable horde of reality TV-and-little-else-watchers.

The truth is, it’s not the school or the Government’s fault. They’re doing their best with what they have to work with. It’s because of the amount of people who look at reading for pleasure with derision. Their apathy means that those of us who actually care just have to put up with it. It’s true, they don’t trust the majority of the class to read the book at home – and they’re right. They wouldn’t! I really don’t know what to do about this anymore. Help – when will people realise what they’re missing?

Also, I'm going to start posting a picture of my rough handwritten draft for each post, if you'd like, just for a change? It's usually all arty and decorative, but this one isn't really a review so it's not as much. I have a lovely one for my next review, so I'm looking forward to that.

Ender's Game - Review

Published: Atom Books 2002 (originally 1985)
Pages: 326
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: Bought
Rating: 5 Stars

Synopsis: Ender Wiggin is battle school's latest recruit. His teachers reckon he could become a great leader. And they need one. A vast alien force is headed for Earth, its mission: the annihilation of all human life. Ender could be our only hope. But first he must survive the most brutal military training program in the galaxy...

Basically:
Probably one of the best books I have ever read - an oldie, but a goldie.

Everything:
I first read Ender's game years ago, when I was about eleven. So parts of it were essentially my childhood dreams on paper, á la Hogwarts. There were so many parts of this book that I loved, and it's probably one of the principal reasons I'm a fan of science fiction.

Ender is a profoundly gifted six-year-old child at the start of the novel, the third child in a society where only two children are allowed, but who has been commissioned by the government as a potential soldier because of the promise shown by his brother and sister, Peter and Valentine. I thought that Peter and Valentine were really interesting characters, and I loved the descriptions of their intelligence and disdain for what was taught to them at school because, wary as I usually am of saying it, it's so true for gifted children and nobody realises about asynchronous development.  I'll talk more about Valentine and Peter later.

A large part of this book centers around war games, but they involve flying. Flying in null gravity. If your inner nerd didn't get excited about flying games, I don't know who you are, I don't know what you want, but I will find you and force you to re-read it. The war games are intended to train the students of the Battle School for command or support of the military fleet to defeat an enemy alien race called 'buggers'. Young geniuses are chosen from Earth and brought into space to be trained until they're eighteen and ready to fight for the survival of the human race.

I LOVED the tactics Card devised for Ender to flawlessly implement. There is a certain pleasure in watching the hero's plans develop beautifully, never mind how unrealistic they are. The details of of group dynamics in the armies, manoeuvres, toon bonding and tactics are exquisite. And the writing technique was incredibly enjoyable. There are so many elements which combine to make for a brilliant reading experience, among them the relationships depicted between the characters, especially Ender and Alai and Ender and Bean. It's sometimes easy to forget that they're only children, albeit hugely gifted ones.

Ender's Game was written in 1985, before the internet came to power. So it was brilliant to read what he'd written about the 'nets', even though they were described as considerably different from what we know today. During Ender's stay at Battle and Command School, his older brother and sister Peter (12) and Valentine (10) set out to master the nets - and the world. I absolutely adored this part of the book, because it utterly fulfilled my childhood dream of taking over the world through writing. (Everyone has that dream - right?). It's probably no longer realistic to take over the world that fast through the internet because of the endless sea of bloggers (don't I know how hard it is to get one noticed), but it was perfect to read about.

The final war with the buggers was really well written also. Surprisingly enough, I didn't see the twist coming, although others did. If I'm completely honest, I didn't like the few days after the battle. But that's not because of a fault with the book, it's because I care so much about Ender and no Card what are you doing? Upon the second reading I actually grew to like the conclusion a lot more because I understood why it had to happen.

Oh Orson Scott Card, I really wanted to reader-worship you. But you're a homophobic bigot, and I just can't respect you for that. Nevertheless, this book is an exciting, well-written masterpiece and I highly recommend it.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green - Thoughts

Source: Borrowed
Pages: 313 (I know! Way shorter than usual!)
Rating: 3.5 - 4 stars

In Short:  Slightly disappointed because of the excessive hype, but brilliantly emotional ending. A little let-down because the writing wasn't as incredible as it was advertised.

The Breakdown:

Come on. You hardly need a summary. This book's been everywhere.

By 'disappointed by the writing' I don't mean it was bad, not at all. There was just SO MUCH HYPE. SO MUCH FREAKING HYPE. And the writing wasn't inspired, wasn't a revelation, it was just a serviceable way to relate the plot and a very fast read. My younger sister (twelve) read this book directly before me, sitting on the end of the bed, and as is our custom, handed it over to me the minute she finished reading it. I really wasn't expecting what she said as she did so, though : 'I was a bit disappointed. It wasn't THAT amazing'. I'm ashamed to say that I flipped out and almost banished her from the room for 'pre-emptively ruining my enjoyment of the book'. Yes, that is how my sister and I talk to each other.

And that is why it would be a little hypocritical of me to complain, like so many others have, about Augustus and Hazel's scripted speech. I really did like Augustus. I just suspended belief, and then he was an extremely enjoyable character, reader wish-fulfilment. Even if he needs to STOP ALREADY with the metaphors and grand gestures (a dutch-themed picnic? Putting a cigarette in your mouth for the purposes of not smoking it? Seriously?). NOBODY DOES THAT. STOP. I was talking to my boyfriend about the book and while b oth of us are pretty clever booklovers, we agreed that if I rang him at 3am and quoted some obscure poem he would have to get revenge, instead of using it as a bonding moment.

However, I really liked Isaac. His scenes actually made me come very close to crying, especially the trophy-smashing scene. It was so poignant and real, the part about Isaac's eyes was really a masterstroke. Oh, Isaac, how I love you. I have to admit, I cared more about Isaac's eyes than about Hazel's terminal illness. I just did, I'm sorry. I think Hazel's condition would have been more emotionally arresting if she'd been more visibly sick, like Kate in My Sister's Keeper (How I love that book).

Having said that the writing style wasn't particularly special, there is a good sense of humour in the book. I particularly loved 'the Literal Heart of Jesus' joke. I felt that the Peter van Houten subplot was unnecessary and dragged. I know it was meant to illustrate shattered dreams, idols, redemption and whatnot, but it just wasn't as enjoyable. When he came back in the end I was like 'NOPE. YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE. GO AWAY'. Although that could be how John Green wanted us to feel.

The end... was why I couldn't decide between 3.5 stars and 4. Throughout the book I kept urging myself to actually get emotional because everyone else was and how could I review the book if I didn't feel it and something must be wrong with me and argh. But finally, ALLELUIA, nearing the end/about three-quarters of the way through, I actually cried. Only one or two tears actually went down my face, but I did cry. I had an inkling this was going to happen but I didn't want to believe that John Green would pull such a brutal Jodi Picoult, but he did. And the reveal is SO QUOTABLE.

Considering my reaction at least 50 pages earlier I really, really expected to cry at the end. But i didn't. I finished the book at 1am, sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall, feeling...beyond sad. Hollow.

I fear that there is not a single coherent thought in the above, but that is what I thought of The Fault in Our Stars.

Mixed review, but I remain a Nerdfighter and kudos to the vlogbrothers.

Mila 2.0 - Debra Driza Review

Publisher: HarperCollins UK, Children's
Pages: 480 pages
Source: Netgalley, from HarperCollins UK
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, YA, Thriller
What it's about:
ANDROID.

Mila 2.0

In Short: I really need to stop judging books by their first few pages.

The Breakdown:

It’s not even so much that I judged the quality of the writing. I completely misjudged the genre. I ignored most of the blurb before starting the book, because I REALLY wasn’t bothered to read through ‘as she unravels the mystery surrounding her identity’ AGAIN. Which meant that I missed this: (either the basic premise of the story or the biggest spoiler you have ever seen, I don’t know – it is in the blurb) Mila is an android. Mobile Intel Lifelike Android. MILA.

So for me, not knowing the android bit, even though it’s stated plainly in the blurb, the foreshadowing and hinting at her nature was really good, and not too in-your-face either. We get clues about heightened hearing, missing memories and heightened strength, as well as the wariness of her mother, until one day she’s with two friends and something happens which removes all doubt for the reader and means Mila is forced to learn about what she’s really like – from information coldly dispensed, pre-recorded, from an iPod – in the form of a brochure, about her. And she reacts satisfyingly for once! She also experiences that peculiar sensation wherein once you discover something, everything reminds you of it and so many things are made clearer. And throughout the book, although she stubbornly refused it for a while, she begins to accept her design and eventually uses it as the advantage it is. And I loved it.

There is such a huge contrast between the first few chapters of the book and the rest, which serve nicely to illustrate how much Mila’s life has been shaken up. The first part has clichéd, but enjoyable/romantic/fluffy beginnings between she and Harper, but the rest has thrilling action scenes and drama. I’m ashamed to say that I immediately assumed it was going to be some kind of high-school romance (READ THE DAMN BLURB ROSE!), but even so, it was a good one!

Even Mila’s introspective bits, which were necessary because, did I mention, she’s just found out that she’s a freaking android, were concise and managed to fit in well with the plot of the book. Her natural, unbeknownst to her, fighting skills were VERY entertaining to read about, because who doesn’t love a well-written fight with a teenage heroine? Also, we find out that her memory loss, which she had presumed was because of trauma following the ‘death’ of her nonexistent biological father (dum de dum android), are because she really only has been alive for a few months, and she was ‘born’ sixteen.

The meeting with Mila 3.0 was one of my favourite parts. Mila 3.0  is just an updated version of Mila 2.0, the protagonist, but without – many – feelings. Mila 1.0 was destroyed because she had too many, and too many pain receptors, which caused her to fail the torture test (they’re government-created spies), thus providing a potential risk for US security. I loved this because it was a real psychological blow to Mila (2.0), teaching her that she really was just a manufactured machine. However, through the book she does change slightly, which her mother tells her is a point of hope, because if she can change and grow emotionally she is a person.

The last challenge provided to Mila by Holland (oh how I’d like to punch him) was brilliant reading. Never mind how psychologically cruel and difficult it was to Mila. She was pitted against the updated, more skilled version of herself and forced to try to win for the person who matters most in the world to her. What more could a reader ask for? I also loved this part because it reminded me of the arena in the Hunger Games, in that it was really well described and I could visualise it clearly.

There were a few parts that lowered my rating a star. The first was that her ‘mother’, who went everywhere with her and really provided little help, was SUCH  a liability! I was probably supposed to like her as a person but I was just frustrated at her because she’s just going to be an impediment to Mila’s awesome android skills sooner or later. Seriously, she is nearly destroyed/made torture/ bad things just because she insists on running back to some who she isn’t even related to. I shouldn’t be so cold-hearted maybe, but in this book I was. Having said that, there was a decently sad Prim/Dobby moment, if you know what I’m talking about, at the end. Can I just say, Prim’s death – WHY? The whole reason the story exists is because Katniss tried to save her sister! She can’t just – GAH!

Also, the way the set-up for the sequel was done wasn’t exactly inspiring.  And the ending – they just had to throw Hunter in at the end, when he’d had absolutely no involvement for half the story, didn’t they? But again, it was quite cute and the set-up did serve its purpose. I would be very gratified if there’s a Mila 2.1 also, although I doubt it. The description promises a breathtaking cliffhanger – read Catching Fire if you want to know what a cliffhanger ACTUALLY IS.

The cover very nearly put me off the book altogether because it promised clichés and shoddy writing. Please ignore that and the publisher’s description (not the blurb) altogether, they really don’t live up to it.

Overall, it was a very, very good book (debut author! Wow!), and the ‘faults’ are mainly  just my cold, picky heart talking. You can also blame the amazing book I read before this, which may have meant Mila should’ve gotten half a star higher. Anyway, I really enjoyed Mila 2.0 and highly recommend it.

There is also Origins, book #O.5, and two more to come.

I’m moving away from the science fiction with my next review, as I am currently reading a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel which I want to share my thoughts on.

And may I show off a little here? Because I really want to share this.

I’m 14, living in Ireland and I want to go to a kind of early college classes camp thing this summer which you may have heard off – CTY(I), which only accepts those who are in the top 5% in intelligence for their age group. So I did the PSAT, which is very similar to the SAT. And I got my results back the other day, and guess what!

In Writing, I scored higher than 98% of SEVENTEEN YEAR OLDS (high school juniors are generally seventeen, I think?)

In Critical Reading, I scored higher than 96% of SEVENTEEN YEAR OLDS.

In Maths I scored higher than 77% of SEVENTEEN YEAR OLDS

I think that’s pretty good for a fourteen year old! So that definitely qualifies as higher than 95% of 14-year olds in everything. And I did it without study.I’m sorry, I just had to share that news.

Turning the Last Page

Some books affect us more than others. And some go beyond that, leaving us emotional wrecks with difficulties moving on. Oops. You’re left hopelessly fangirling until you finally get it out of your system. Well, I’ve succeeded. I’ve come out alive, and you can too.

It can strike unexpectedly, as happened to me. I assigned Partials a five-star rating because it was a brilliant, inspired book. But then Fragments came along and if I could give it six stars I would. Not only did I have nothing to fault it on, it just emotionally attacked me. All the time. My emotional responses were weirdly heightened during Fragments, so that when the smallest thing happened I physically felt it. That is not normal and it felt like my mind had been hijacked. Stupid book.

They’re the books where you still feel like you’re with the characters . Contemplating reading other books just seems wrong because you’re still stuck on the last one. The ones which stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. You can’t read anything else for a while because it could never compare. And reading another book means accepting that the old one is over and that you’ve moved on.  By the end you feel like you’ve suddenly lost half your friends. It’s an astonishingly potent feeling.

I was young (eight or nine) when Deathly Hallows was released. I still queued up for it on the first day and dressed up as Hermione Granger, which meant that I won a coveted copy free that day for winning the fancy-dress competition. I remember being six and constantly asking my mam when the final Harry Potter was going to come out, after reading the first three when I was four and racing through them at an alarming rate after that. This actually led to her buying me another copy of Half-Blood Prince, much to my disgust. You can imagine six-year-old me like ‘Mam, you don’t know anything! Hogwarts has seven years so OBVIOUSLY there’s another book!’ (I didn’t quite understand that authors had to have time to physically write the books first at the age of six).  Even though I was beyond excited for Deathly Hallows and adored it, I think I was too young for it to affect me as deeply because I just didn’t have the emotional capacity then. It’s only after re-reading the series that I understand a lot of the tragedy and joy of it. I also didn’t feel as distraught at the end, which is a small mercy, I now realise.

Here’s the action plan for The End.

1.      Give yourself time.

Reread the ending. Read some of the start, if you want to. When you turn the last page, let yourself just sit there and think about what the hell just happened. This is especially useful if you plan to write a review and don’t want to be entirely incoherent.

2.      Don’t  commit to things in that heady post-book rush.

Trust me on this one. Your brain isn’t functioning properly after the overdose of awesome it has just experienced, so you have to be careful. DO NOT start writing a fanfiction within five days of finishing the book. If you genuinely can write one, write the whole thing before you upload it. Otherwise you’re going to find yourself in an unpleasant situation with people asking why you haven’t uploaded and you realising that you’ve run out of steam.

3.      When you’re ready, get it out!

My favourite way to do this is to write out everything you feel about it. I’m lucky to have a book blog, so I can publish that kind of thing. This kind of review isn’t exactly professional or detached-sounding, but I think people enjoy them, because they’re heartfelt. They can also be far too long, which is where editing comes in. Ha, as if.

It feels like these books have gotten rid of some emotional inhibitors within me. I don’t even think it’s my age. Just another way books have destroyed my life.

So now I send out a call to fellow sufferers – I know you’re out there! Tell me how you get over amazing books, or if you want to try my method. Or just laugh at my over-the-top reaction, I don’t know. What is my life.

-Rose.

*I accept no liability for following my advice. That might be a bad idea.

Fragments (Partials #2) - Dan Wells (Advance Review!)

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Author: Dan Wells
Pages: 564
Source: Netgalley
Published: March 29th, Ireland/UK
Genre: Post-apocalyptic, science fiction
Rating: 5 stars +

I was incredibly delighted to receive Fragments for review. Any readers of my blog will probably know how much (too much, I mention it all the time) I loved its predecessor Partials. I’m so happy to say that Fragments more than lived up to it, and finishing it has left me in a state of mourning. Partials finished spectacularly, with so many subplots pulling together at once in a thrilling action sequence, and somehow that huge momentum was kept up into the sequel – and I’m very impressed.

For an introduction to the trilogy, read my review of Partials (the first book). I’ve often found that the middle book in a trilogy isn’t as well executed as the rest, but Fragments joins Catching Fire on the list of those which keep the action alive. And Fragments is – dare I say it – even better. I’m finding it hard to order my thoughts about it – the feels. Too much.

Tension and drama are ever-present. Every other chapter ends in a cliffhanger and not just ordinary ones, killer cliffhangers. Sneak-up-and-eat-you-in-your-sleep cliffhangers. You feel breathless in parts, seriously.

The characterisation is just too brilliant. Kira’s character develops so much during this book. In Partials she goes from trainee medic to daring scientist, and here she becomes a bonafide heroine and leader. She’s not too perfect either; she headstrong and a diehard rebel. We learn at the end of Partials that she is *SPOILER* a kind of Partial *END SPOILER*. But she’s different. We find out so much about her during the book, as well as the incredible revelations about the creation of the Partials, RM and the Failsafe. And this was expertly woven in with the action scenes. It impressed me that part of her journey is to discover who and what she is, but it’s done with no introspection.

There is a variety of character types as well, even among the protagonists. In Partials Marcus was forgettable, just ‘the heroine’s boyfriend’ but in Fragments he had the narrative without Kira for almost half the story. I heard about this before reading and was wary; I didn’t think Marcus could have such an interesting, fresh perspective, but he did. He does a very important, intimidating task, but with him Wells shows that you can be a strong protagonist without being reckless. When he comes up with his plan, it’s presumed that he’s being foolhardy ad throwing himself into danger with a vain hope. But he replies ‘Who am I – Kira? I’m not doing this alone, I’m going straight to the Senate.’ He then mobilizes the state to do what nobody has dared to before, and without needless danger. I think that’s such an inspiring message – the smart scientist-medic gets to be a hero at last!

I fell so in love with Samm during Fragments. He’s intrigued me in Partials but here we saw so much more of his personality. Wells also poignantly shows the strengths and weaknesses of the Partials, making them seem both more and less human. Here’s a spoiler, but you know it had to happen: Samm realizes nearing the end that he’s fallen in love with Kira. But he’s unable to express it, because Partials show emotion through the pheremonal Link Kira doesn’t have. The link is used instead of body language and tone of voice, so although Samm is a quick learner, it’s still tragically difficult for him to show the oblivious Kira his feelings. I felt like screaming, because Samm deserves her after all they’ve been through together. He’s loyal, kind, smart, soldiers on against impossible odds and defies the bounds of his genetically engineered nature to love her. The heartbreaking part is that *PARTIALS SPOILER* Partials can’t procreate, and Samm is designed to die from his expiration date in a year. *END SPOILER* He’s so noble and self-sacrificing – why must Dan Wells give me all these feels? One of the great things is that there’s just a hint of romance and it’s between characters that have been developed enough that you care for them. Even though I was waxing eloquent about Marcus earlier, maybe he can die a heroic death so Kira and Samm can be together. That’s how much I love Samm – I’m willing to commit or condone fictional murder so he can be happy. It’s going to be a nasty shock for Marcus when he finds out the truth about Kira anyway. Revelations like hers were unfurled with breathtaking finesse, to the point where I was left shaking my head in wonder at how Wells does it.

The quest has a blessedly clear aim – cure the expiration date and RM. I love the power balance; both Partials and humans desperate for a cure for their respective diseases and torn apart by war. Wells shows extraordinary expertise on things from war tactics to genetics to chemical poisoning. I was so afraid that one of those dull, protracted camping trips would happen, but thanks to the superior, witty, badass Heron and the alternating of perspectives between Kira’s quest and Marcus’ mission, momentum was never lost.

There is also a hint of black-and-grey morality, which Vale shows Kira is necessary for post-apocalyptic survival. She is trying to do amazing things, and learns that she has to make some sacrifices. There is lots of philosophizing, but it’s done so well that it enriches the plot instead of interfering with it. There are no stereotypically good or bad characters, and plenty of thought-provoking ones – like Heron. An espionage Partial model, she was literally designed to be better at everything, but that is a technical specification instead of a lazy Mary Sue and reminds us of just how expertly her DNA has been engineered, like when she says ‘I’m an espionage model, and we’re designed to beat everyone at everything.’ Partial society is divided into strict castes, according to their design specifications, and nobody disagrees because they know that that’s simply their design.

There are many poignant moments, like when Afa joins their group as the IT expert. He is a computer genius, but he lived in isolation for twelve years after the Break, believing himself to be the only human left in the world, and has halfway lost his mind. In a rare moment of lucidity, he says ‘I know what I am. I do my best.’ And it’s so heart-wrenching. Add to that the tale of how Marcus survived as a five-year-old when his parents, like everyone else’s, died from RM during the Break, making himself cereal every morning until the milk ran out and he had to venture out into the world alone to find someone, anyone to explain why his parents were dead, and it leads to an emotional and intensely thought-provoking read. 

There was a great authenticity to the world-building. The layers of mildew and rot in buildings after twelve years of disuse, the shattered glass in every window, the blown-up bridges, remnants of the Partial War.  And especially the lack of knowledge the Plague Babies – people like Kira, Marcus, Maddie and Xochi – who  were young children when the world ended and didn’t remember computers or the internet, things that are second nature to teenagers today.

I am giving this my very highest recommendation. It comes out in a week, and it (along with Partials) should be the first thing you buy. But beware, it has probably the most evil cliffhanger I've ever seen that's sure to lead to an action-packed third book.

It’s a well thought-out, thrilling, touching and far-reaching post-apocalyptic read, and it’s honestly amazing.

And now I can’t bring myself to read any other books because they can’t possibly live up to Fragments. Help me.

- Rose

Quick Announcement

Just a very short post to say that A Very Potter Senior Year is here! I'm still working my way through A Very Potter Musical but I'm excited all the same. Have a look! It's on YouTube by Starkid.

And I will be publishing a long post this weekend, I promise.