Entangled was Boring and Too Predictable.

Entangled by Nikki Jefford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Entangled is the story of a witch's family living in the muggle-world. Unfortunately the twin sisters that become Entangled, Graylee and Charlene Perez, don't appeal to the audience as much as Fred and George Weasley did.

Graylee wakes up one morning to find out that she has been dead for a couple of weeks. On the same day she also discovers that she has been reincarnated into her twin sister's body. The quick novel tells of the strain the mishap puts on the already polar opposite personalities that the sisters have. While trying to maintain romantic relationships for both girls, Graylee finds herself in a whirlwind of chaos as she spends the novel trying to separate herself from her sister's body.

Entangled is fine if you have nothing else to read and/or like to scour the free kindle books off Amazon. However, I wouldn't recommend it in general.

I read the free kindle version from Amazon.

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Definitely Read About Drizzt

The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A close friend introduced me to R.A. Salvatore in high school. She lent me her copy of The Dark Elf Trilogy which I quickly devoured. Unfortunately due to the stress and chaos of moving from high school to university in another country I never read past the third book until I was home for the summer and found it hiding on the bottom shelf in the Fantasy section.

What?

The Crystal Shard is an excellent novel both by itself and with the entire series. The novel continues on with the adventures of the beloved Drizzt as well as introducing the amazing Wulfgar. It begins their friendship while they battle an otherworldly power that threatens the simple happiness they crave. It is a tale of good vs. evil and also one of breaking through racial stereotypes and discovering who you are as an individual despite whatever cultural background you might have. On top of this, The Legend of Drizzt is just a great fantasy saga in general. Getting lost in the Forgotten Realms with the aid of R.A. Salvatore will entertain you for hours.

Definitely read it, whether you're into fantasy or not. It is a must read.

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The Handmaid's Tale and Warning

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a fascinating potential outcome for American society. Atwood links her talent of writing science fiction with the world we know today in such a way that it seems possible. Not that we want The Handmaid's Tale to become reality.

The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of Offred, her new name literally referring to the man she belongs to. Offred is what known as a breeder or a Handmaid. A woman whose sole use to reproduce in replace of the wife of the household. The Handmaid's Tale tells of the protagonist's mental struggle to accept this new form of hierarchy and is constantly on the lookout for her husband and daughter from before it all changed. Now she spends her day hiding behind the red of her dress; alien to tourists who stop to photograph them and loathsome to the wives but essential in their newfound culture.

The novel is considered a classic but might be found difficult to read due to its lack of quotation marks. However, it is often used in high schools alongside Orwell's 1984 and various other dystopian novels.

I personally enjoyed the novel. However, not a novel to just skim through. It is a novel that makes you think and requires you to pay attention. And for all the aspects that make it a classic, the aspects that attracted me to it in the first place, I really didn't like the ending. This is not a reflection on Atwood's ability to write but rather my affection of the happy ending, or at least an ending that secures lose ties. The Handmaid's Tale leaves you wanting to know more and Atwood leaves you hanging on the anxiety of this society and the creepy possibility of it happening to us.

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Life in Outer Space

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings for this novel.

Life in Outer Space is the endearing YA flirty-teenage-girl-relationship kind of book. It's really quite cute to read and is a great debut novel on the behalf of Melissa Keil. I think any teenager girl would get a kick out of reading it as it is quite easy to devour in no time.

I recommend it for anyone who is just looking for an easy, uplifting read over the weekend but if you're looking for anything more substantial than that you may have to look elsewhere.

Glad to see Aussie authors doing stuff. :)

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A Book About Book Clubs and Book Lovers

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If I was dying of pancreatic cancer I probably would want to spend, not all but, a lot of my remaining time reading. The End of Your Life Book Club illustrates a woman who does exactly this. Written through the perspective of her son (who also happens to be the author), Will Schwalbe, we are taken on a journey that highlights the power of literature and the bond it can create between two people. In this case, mother and son.

I enjoyed reading this book, however, I so desperately wanted to love it and was unfortunately did not finish it with that outlook. I wanted the story to read more fluently and less like I was listening to an old woman recounting disjointed events from her past. Instead, it seemed to ennoble the mother, Mary Anne Schwalbe. I mean, I know that she is his mother but I wanted to love her character the same way he did and I didn't because she just seemed to perfect in her personality, her life and her embracement of her death. It's comforting to read a book and think that the character only succeeds in life if you keep reading because then you as the reader become a part of it. Even when reading memoirs or biographies if the highlighted character doesn't need you it becomes more difficult to keep reading and in your own way, be there for them.

However, despite all that Schwalbe pulls you into the scenario quite well. The concept of their private book club is what sells this book. The book's love of good books, bad books, new books, old books, any type of book that you enjoy reading for one aspect or another, really holds the reader in if they also happen to be a book worm by heart or by trade.

So, not my favourite biography/memoir but still a pretty decent one. One that gives you comfort in mourning and hope that life will go on.

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John Green's Romance with Geeky Boys

Looking for Alaska by John Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Miles and Alaska. Colin and Katherine. Quentin and Margo. I have yet to read The Fault in Our Stars but I won't be surprised if I find the novel just about the same two characters with different names. Ironically, I bought The Fault in Our Stars first. I had heard good things about it and was anxious for a new book but as fate would have it and by a series of unrelated events I read Green's first three first.

Since I read Looking for Alaska first my opinion of it was untainted and I quite liked it. It's a good story with very entertaining characters and relationships. However, I couldn't decide where in fit in the age bracket because it is written like the atypical middle school fiction novel but then Green writes about concepts and themes that would be more suitable to a more matured high school audience. The downside to this novel is that the ending to the novel is highly anticipated but disappointedly poorly thought out.

Then I read An Abundance of Katherines with the notion that I would enjoy the quick read like I had its predecessor. I thought it was slightly better written but was a little downtrodden at its similarity to the first one only with useless and irksome math in the footnotes. If you want to read a book that helps you enjoy math, read The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa.

And then I read Paper Towns and finally my eyes opened up to pattern.

All I can say with regards to John Green; is that I hope, when I finally am able to read The Fault in Our Stars it surprises me and lives up to at least some of the expectations I had before I was educated in Green's favourite storyline.




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Branded with Repetition

Branded by Keary Taylor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Jessica is branded. Branded with the condemnation, whether that be good or bad, of others.

The story, unfortunately, follows the tracks of Twilight and the fad of paranormal romance that is currently sweeping the world of middle schoolers. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Twilight the first time I read it. However, since its release every potentially intriguing novel I pick up fails me time and time again with their poorly photoshopped covers and Edward-Bella-Jacob love triangle. And this one simply followed suit. I want to label the novel as fantasy but it has literally become its own genre of 'paranormal romance' which I have decided that I don't like reading. I mean, come on, he just shows up at her house and then they develop a relationship almost a day later.

Despite this, it was a fast read and it did keep me occupied on an eight hour plane flight. If you do decide to read it, follow my example and download it free for your kindle off Amazon. Frankly, I just don't think it's worth the money as it is just a one time read novel.

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