A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

"You were like a piece of magic. You held the fixed stars in place for me and you stopped them from falling" 

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty follows the story of a girl from the World and a boy from the Kingdom of Cello. They live in different worlds, but are connected through a small crack- just wide enough to fit letters. They write to one another, and help each other with their problems. 

The funny thing is that I actually borrowed this book a few months ago, read a few pages, got tired of it, and returned it again. But I had forgotten I had already started reading this book, and just a few weeks ago, I borrowed it again. And I'm glad I gave the book a second chance. 

The beginning is quite slow (that's why I didn't finish reading it the first time), but the story gets increasingly better. Since part of the book is set in a magical Kingdom, I found it hard to understand everything that was going on. I think that Moriarty should've explained this Kingdom in more detail, and what the 'Colours' are. 

Velvet by Mary Hooper

“All at once it struck her that there were many degrees of evil in the world.”

Velvet by Mary Hooper is a historical fiction novel exploring the world of clairvoyants. The main character, Velvet is a young lady and an orphan. She works at the laundry in order to make ends meet. When something goes wrong and she thinks she is going to lose her job, the famous psychic, Madame Savoya, employs Velvet. Velvet becomes a sort of assistant and gets an inside look into how the world of mediums works. At first, she is completely mesmerized. However, as she learns more, she begins to realize that nothing and no one are really what they seem.

This is going to be another short review. This is because I find that with easier to read books I get so entranced by the story that it becomes hard for me to go back and analyse what I just read. What I can remember is that I loved the book. I read it in a few hours and wanted more!

Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney

“…Well, you can’t have it both ways. You wanted a father, so you’ve got one.”

Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney follows the story of a Gold Coast elite high school girl, Macey Pentecost.  She is being visited by ghosts who need help to ‘move on’.  Although she doesn’t understand anything of the supernatural, she thinks she has it under control. That is, until she is visited by the ghost of ‘Nick’, who stubbornly refuses to admit he is dead.  He tries to warn Macey of danger, but even he doesn’t know what the danger is.  It all becomes more complicated as her father comes home with a surprise, Macey gets threats messages from a stalker and she starts developing feelings for Nick’s cousin.

Yesterday, my laptop stopped working and I took it as a ‘sign’ that I shouldn’t be doing homework :P I must say I am happy that my computer is crazy because I then found Almost Dead. The same day I finished it. It’s light, it’s cute and it’s romantic. Definitely different to the recent books I had been reading, and I was very glad to just relax for a bit. While it is very easy to read, it still has a very interesting plot. I was just a bit disappointed when I found out who the stalker was. Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t think we had enough mentions of the stalker. I had to quickly read back to remind myself who this person was. At least it was a surprise.

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

“Grief is love turned into an eternal missing”  - Lupton

Do I even know how to access my blog anymore…? It’s definitely been way to long since the last time I read a book. I think that life can be explained just by looking at this blog – as time passed the less book reviews, not because I’ve grown lazy, but because I feel like I’ve lost the time to read. But with some of my tests over, I gave myself a quick break before I have to get back to my studies. Needless to say, I devoured two books in two days and will hopefully read another one today. Enough about me.

Rosamund Lupton’s Sister, is a thriller (well at least for my standards, as I am not really used to scary things) and almost detective fiction. It follows Beatrice’s journey as she looks for her missing sister. When the police end the case, Beatrice is unsatisfied with the verdict. It becomes all up to Beatrice to uncover the truth. She doesn’t just uncover the mystery but also learns about herself and her relationships.

Maybe it’s the fact that I hadn’t read a book for a long time, or that someone left this book on their fence for someone to take it for free or just simply because I always get to attached to novels, but I absolutely loved it! The language was simple and it was quite easy to read. The only hard part was figuring out when the settings switched - when Beatrice was talking to the detective or talking to her sister through the letter. But this form is perfect for the novel when you get to the end and learn the truth about this ‘letter’. I didn’t start reading expecting much but by the end I was screaming out loud at the plot twists.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

“One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.”

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley reminds me of a more disturbing and extreme version of 1984. The 20^th Century novel is set in London in 2540 (in the book, known as 632 after Ford).  The world is stable; nobody ever suffers, the world is united, the people are happy and everyone is in a job that is satisfactory to them. However, this means controlling everything; the world has a stable population of 2 billion, children are ‘manufactured’ in labs, genetically modified to fit a caste and then educated – almost traumatized/terrorized – to fit into society. The lower castes (the majority of the population) are bred through a process in which one single egg produces up to 96 identical children. When Bernard and Lenina travel to the “Savage Reservation”, they are shocked at the difference between the two worlds. They end up encountering, John, a young man that was born from World State parents but born and raised in the Savage World. John is an outsider due to his appearance in the primitive village, and finds comfort in reading Shakespeare. Bernard decides to take John and his mother back to London. However, John finds the ‘civilized’ society appalling and is still feels as the outsider...

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

“I started my life with a single absolute: that the world was mine to shape in the image of my highest values and never to be given up to a lesser standard, no matter how long or hard the struggle.” 

“If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.” 

“It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live.” 

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is the story of the creative minds, the hard workers, the inventors protesting against the corrupt government and society. It is mostly told through Dagny Taggart’s (a railroad executive) point of view. She struggles to follow her moral code and love for her industry while having to sacrifice everything for a society/government that judges her as amoral; taking advantage of her virtues. John Galt becomes the symbol of everything she hates, but mostly everything she loves. Dagny finds a broken down motor which runs on static electricity, as she tries to find the inventor and his reasons for abandoning the motor she begins to find a whole new world and philosophy. Dagny is reluctant to give up her railroad but she begins to see that she is only helping the looters.

As you should be able to tell by my use of three quotes, I really liked the book and what it had to say. I had previously read, We the Living, and I had really enjoyed it so I decided to read another of Rand’s book. I must say, I have found that I really agree with Rand’s philosophy. There were a lot of teachers that did not support me reading this book, they thought it would ‘brainwash’ me; too extremist. I don’t think these teachers had completely read the book, because too me it wasn't just about being rich and selfish. Sure, it justified capitalism and some things were exaggerated; however, it talked about hard work, about only giving and taking what is deserved and about money being important but only the tool and not the means or the end.

Witch & Wizard : The Gift by James Patterson and Ned Rust

“Knowledge is valuable, but imagination is invaluable.” – James Patterson

 Witch & Wizard by James Patterson is a fantasy series that depicts the persecution of two magical siblings by the new totalitarian government, ‘New Order’. The Gift is the second instalment and it follows Whit and Wisty Allgood as they figure out how to better control and use their magic while trying to save everyone endangered – their parents, Whit’s girlfriend and all the brainwashed children. Meanwhile, the tyrannical leader is on the hunt for the Allgood siblings in order to take their gifts and be able to control everything and everyone.

I received this book as a gift and I’ve really enjoyed reading it. I can’t wait to read the next book, to figure out all the cryptic clues. However, I do feel that The Gift went in a circle; I don’t really know more than I what I got from the first few pages. It seemed that Patterson was trying too hard to extend the plot so that it could become a lengthy series; at one point, the plot became Whit and Wisty running away, then getting caught by the villain then escaping then getting caught – and it just wasn’t going anywhere! Really, none of the answers proposed at the beginning were answered. Maybe, this was because I skipped the first book and went straight into the second; the lack of background information could have hindered my immersion into the story. However, I don’t think this was too big of a problem as I didn’t even realise this was the second book until I started writing this post. Patterson managed to catch all the readers up to the full story quite easily, as there were so many references to the past, which I’m assuming mostly happened in the first book.

Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick (#4 Hush Hush Series)

“Arrogance can be deadly.”  - Finale

Finale is the fourth and last book of the Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. In this book the leader of the leader of the Nephilim revolution has died and now Nora must lead them. Nora wants to end this upheaval and bring things back to peace. However, other don't agree and there is a lot at stake. Nora must find her inner leader all at the same time maintaining her relationship with Patch. The people she thinks she can trust are the people that will surprise her.

As I mentioned, this is the last book of a series. I do not usually write a review on the sequels so I will keep this short and sweet. (If you would like to read the longer review on her it all began here is the link, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick )

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

“The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter - often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter - in the eye.” 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a gothic romance novel that has become a classic. It is the story of Jane Eyre a strong, fierce, passionate, educated, god-righteous woman as seen by her eyes. Jane was an orphan, she was sent to a boarding school for the destitute when she was 10 by her neglecting aunt. There, she received quite a good education and found a teacher that really inspired her. Jane always wanted to travel and discover the world so after completing her schooling and teaching there for two years, she becomes a governess to a rich family with a mysterious master. The story is her struggle in finding the balance between the morally right thing and her own passions, between being obedient but independent and free-willed. Jane critiques the social class division however sticks to it and believes in it all through her life.

Charlotte Brontë made my thoughts on old novels change. Through Jane Eyre I found that there can be classic that I become absolutely enthralled. Sure, it still had some of the conventional language found in older and gothic books: long paragraphs describing something that appears to be insignificant (I’ll confess that sometimes I end up skipping a line or two when it is too descriptive) and the complete opposite, when a scene changes without notice that you are left to wonder what is going on.

I think that Brontë used Jane Eyre to explore concepts of social hierarchy and if status and behaviour is innate. However, she did not use the protagonist to challenge these concepts but rather, through her writing, gave the readers a ‘challenge’ to ponder for themselves in this issue. Jane Eyre was a strong, independent woman however she never saw herself as an equal.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

" The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” – The Giver

Jonas was born into a perfect society. Every little detail was organised and planned, everything was methodical and conventional. No one ever experienced thirst, hunger or pain – no one even knew these things could exist. By the time children reach 12 they are told what they will work as; even though they didn’t have the freedom to choose what area they would work, their job was a perfect reflection of their personalities. Jonas was given the most honourable job as the “Receiver”. He will be in charge of all the memories, therefore no one else has to experience pain but there is one person to remember and not repeat mistakes in history. However, when Jonas starts receiving memories he opens his eyes to a whole other world. No one feels pain but nor do they feel love, everything is the same for everyone but there is no colour – the world is grey - there is no sunshine or soft snow. Jonas realises holding memories may be painful but they hold so much warmth and happiness that everyone should have the opportunity to experience them and most importantly have a choice in life.

The Giver by Lois Lowry is a science fiction book reflecting on the perfect world and the importance of memories, experiences and free choice. Lowry wrote the book after her father lost most of his long term memory. Memories can traumatise someone but they are so important to learn from and to grow from. Memories also contain just as much, if not even more, goodness in them.

Lois Lowry tries to create the perfect world, but the whole concept of perfectness can never be truly established within the limitations of human’s imaginations. It is only subjective to one’s perceptions. Therefore when the characters in the book went through their lives they didn’t question it.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

" Voices and faces aren't manifestations of good or bad. " - Fairest

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine is set in the fictional Kingdom of Ayortha. In Ayortha a person is judged on their appearance and their voice, it is considered normal for one to just break into a song in the middle of conversations. The main girl, Ava, has a beautiful voice however she is not so lucky with her looks. Ava always feels embarrassed and is very harsh on herself, all she longs for is to be beautiful. When she gets the opportunity to travel to the castle the Queen grows fond of her however but for the wrong reasons. The Queen quickly learns of Ava's secret ability and uses it for her own benefit. Ava also finds out the Queen's secrets and she too uses it for her own good. Both will learn that with any action, potion and spells comes great consequences. 

I read this book in under 3 hours. The plot was simple and the language was very easy and simple. By this description I do not mean to say the book was bad or even boring but I am stating these facts so that you can decide if you would like to read the book. I personally like reading these books when I don't want to spend too much of my time reading or when I want a cheesy, cute book just to pass my time.

Eve (the Eve Trilogy) by Anna Carey

“A relationship between two people can be judged by the list of things unspoken between them.”  - Eve

Eve by Anna Carey is the first in the Eve Trilogy. The story is set in 2032, in the New America after a plague (and its vaccine that was meant to help) killed most of the world's population. The U.S.A is now ruled by a King. Girls and boys are completely separated into schools. Eve, the protagonist, is graduating from school and hopes to become a great painter. One day before graduation one of her colleagues shares her plans and knowledge with Eve. It seems that the King nor the teachers are telling the truth. Everything she believed in is a lie. Eve escapes all of this and meets Caleb. They fall in love but with them being fugitives she must choose between safety and love. 

This book is AMAZING!! I don't really know exactly where this books achieves this success or how Anna Carey did it but I just found I was completely absorbed by the book and the characters. I read non stop and finished it in less than a day. I would burst out at random moments screaming for Eve or Caleb, I was nearly crying at the end when Caleb was leaving. This is seriously such a cute, sweet book for all the dreamers and thinkers out there.

Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

"In Venice, a secret is indeed more powerful than a sword. " - Cross My Heart

Cross my Heart by Sasha Gould is set during the Italian Renaissance. Laura della Scala, the protagonist, is sent to the convent at the age of 10. When her sister dies her father calls her back home to marry her sister's fiancée. Laura despises whom she is to marry, he is completely disgusting. However, all her father cares about is wealth and power. Laura finds out about someone who can help her; they call themselves the Segreta, a secret society of women all they ask is a secret. At the start they seem to help but soon she realises that it may not have been all good. She thinks they link up to the murder of her sister. 

This book will have a similar review to a recent book review I wrote about Ever . It is a very quick read with a short plot. There was quite a lot of mystery but I wouldn't say it was a complex novel. At the end things got quite gruesome but overall I found the story very cute and romantic. 

Ever by Gail Carson Levine

"Fate...may...be...thwarted. [...] I long...for..a happy outcome" - Ever.

Ever by Gail Carson Levine is the intertwining story of Olus, God of the wind, and Kezi, a normal village girl. Olus is much younger than the rest of the gods and longs to live with the mortal humans. One day, when living in Hyte he falls in love with Kezi. Kezi's love for him is reciprocal. Her days, however, are numbered because of an unbreakable oath. This is the story of their love and race to change fate. 

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

"A birth is not really a beginning. Our lives at the start are not really our own but only the continuation of someone else's story.” - The Thirteenth Tale.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. This is quite a suspenseful plot where I cannot dwell much into the plot without giving away the experience. Basically it is the story of Vida Winter, a storyteller with a mysterious past. She finally decides that it is time to come clean. Her story might be even bigger and better then all the fictional stories she has told. 

I was told to read this for school. My teacher told me that this was a really good book and a very quick read I had my doubts since I don't really share the same taste in books with my teacher. However, this book I found really interesting. The part about the quick read didn't really apply for me though. The words itself were pretty easy but the way they were arranged made it a bit hard for me, I had to re-read some paragraphs quite a bit of times. I do have a friend who read it in one day and I was really surprised about that and mind you, I'm quite a quick reader. 

The plot was amazingly good!

Bloody Tower - The Diary of Tilly Middleton, London 1553-1559 by Valerie Wilding

Bloody Tower; The Diary of Tilly Middleton by Valerie Winding is about the short lived reigns of Lady Jane Grey and Queen Mary as well as how Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne. The story is told through the eyes of the young Tilly Middleton who lives in the castle as her father is the physician.

This novel is part of the My Story series and like I said in my last blog, I really like that series. There are many things that are found in all of the books in the series that I really like and find useful, such as the timeline and historical background notes at the end. (More on that can be found on my last blog on the ' Anne Boleyn and Me.') I was lucky that by chance I read this one straight after the story of Anne Boleyn and Me, because it gave the story more flow and I had a bit of background reading going into this book. 

Now, about this specific book; I found that it was good but it wasn't the best of the series. The book's plot left a bit to wish

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Didn't help to ponder things that were forever gone. It only made a body restless and fill up with bees, all wanting to sting something.”  - Chains

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson is a historical fiction novel set in 1776 during the American Revolution. It follows the story of thirteen-year-old girl, Isabel. Her mistress has just died and although this is a mournful period it is also a happy celebration because in her will Isabel and her sister were freed. However, the mistress' relatives do not know this and do not want to know this and sell Isabel and her sister to the highest bidders, who turn out to be a loyalist couple returning back to New York, the Lockton. Mrs Lockton disregards any human emotions of Isabel and uses her cruelly. One day when Mrs Lockton sells Isabel's sister, Isabel turns against her 'owners' and spies on them. 

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

'If the innocent are unjust, I'd rather be counted among the guilty.-Valerie'

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is gothic twist to well known fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood. Valerie lived in a small village, it was just like any town except for one thing- every full moon people lock themselves and leave an offering for the wolf. On a certain night there is a red moon, then the next day someone had been killed by the wolf. When Father Auguste, the expert on werewolves, comes to their village he teaches the villagers about the wolf's way of life and suddenly everyone becomes a suspect. Valerie finds that she can now hear the wolf talk to her. Who is the wolf.

I really do ask, who is the wolf?!?! I didn't do any research beforehand so i ignorantly believed that like most stories the book comes first and then the movie. However, this wasn't the case with this novel. I really wish I knew this before because I probably wouldn't have read it.

So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duan

"Reading one book is like eating one potato chip," she said. (Mrs. Lesser to Nita.)

So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. The library is a refuge for Nita. She has read, more than once, all books in the junior section. One day, when trying to hide from Joanne- the bully - she was surprised to find a book she'd never read. It was part of the So You Want to Be a ... This time it was So You Want to be a Wizard. At first Nita felt silly, believing such thing. But, there was no harm in trying it out. From the moment she took the Oath her life completely changed and she now follows a path of adventure and different universes. She must fight for Earth.

The book was first published in 1983. It isn't old enough to be a classic, but it is old. Surprisingly the only relation to its age can be found with the number next to the date published.

Inheritance Cycle by Cristopher Paolini

"Knowing is independent of being. I did not know you existed before you bumbled in here and ruined my nap. Yet that doesn't mean you weren't real before you woke me."  - Solembum 

Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. This series, previously meant to be a trilogy, is an epic fantasy series intended for young adults. Eragon  has no idea of who his mother or father are, instead he lives with his uncle, Garrow, and cousin, Roran, which to him they are his father and brother. Eragon helps in the farm as well as with the hunting. One day while hunting he finds a mysterious stone, no one knows what it is but it is fascinating. To his surprise the 'stone' hatches, it was a dragon's egg. Eragon has to flee, learn magic and mature if he is to fulfil his destiny, to become the next dragon rider and kill Galbatorix; the merciless and powerful dictator of the fictional world of Alagaesia. 

 Like many books the Inheritance cycle ponders on the coexistence of good and bad. Eragon himself realises that people might not be generally bad but really do believe their ideas to be beneficial. When Galbatorix talked to Nasuada about his plans there seemed to be some really good basis to what he wanted to achieve. Of course Galbatorix didn't care for people and manipulated them making him the 'baddy' however he made very good points, especially the fact that it was the Varden that went around killing people and then bashed Galbatorix for his cruelty. How do we know if what we believe in is really for the good of humanity? I may believe in something so profoundly that I do not realise that I'm hurting others or it may be that I am hurting others to help the many but in truth there is no line separating the good from the bad but a mix of both in everything.