It's almost summer and hopefully that means that I'll get to do a few more legit book reviews. I've just been really busy. That's a total lie. I guess the truth is that I've just been reading so much lately that it's really hard for me to review each and every one. But today I'm just going to run through the list of books I've read since I last posted and give you a brief compilation of my thoughts on the book. I'm just going to assume that you already know what the book is about so I don't have to go into a long summary or anything. :) Thanks for being patient to those of you who are still with me, here. :) (I'm going to start at #28 because it's the 28th book I've read this year. The first 27 can be found on my last post.) Also, rating is on a scale of five *'s.
28.) The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry- I'm a Lowry fan. I loved The Giver series and I figured The Willoughbys would be similar to the series. I figured it would be a bit dark, and I was very wrong. I found that it was insanely clever. It was disguised as an innocent parody of classic stories meant for children, but it actually carried an awful lot of adult messages. As a quick example, the middle Willoughby child, Jane, is constantly battling her brothers and other male characters in the book due to her gender. It's addressed in a funny way, but the Jane's feminist nature carried a lot of weight with me. The book is intended for children 8 and up, but I think that people of all ages could appreciate it's message, particularly those who grew up reading fairy tales about perfect families and children. It really flips those stories on their heads. (Rating: ****)
29.) Hate List by Jennifer Brown-I went into this book with very high expectations and as a book lover I really should learn my lesson with this. I figured that it would be emotional and sad, but I just thought it was annoying. Let me state one fact about the book before I continue: The book was inspired by a Nickleback song. Now, I'm not saying that's entirely bad...okay I am. The book wasn't the best, in my opinion. I didn't care much for Val. I thought that she had a desperate-to-be-different attitude that I just struggled to grasp. I did, however, appreciate the flashbacks to her relationship with Nick before the shooting. Those few moments were the only time I felt any sort of emotion at all. (Rating: **)
30-34.) The Delirium Series (including Hana and Raven) by Lauren Oliver-So this series was introduced to me by my very dear friend Sage, and I freakin' loved it. The premise of it itself sounds so cliche and silly but it is so well done. Never in a series have I had so many freakouts in such a close span of time. Luckily, I didn't have to wait between novels. If I had, I might have died. It is such an intense series. All of the characters are very dynamic which is usually hard to come across particularly in series. I fell in love with Alex, I fell in love with Julian, I hated them both and then loved them again, it's crazy guys. It's absolutely crazy. I can't even tell you how crazy it is. Please just take my word for it and read these books. The three novellas are all less than 100 pages each and add great depth to the book that came before it. (The order is Delirium-Hana, Pandemonium-Raven, Requiem-Annabel) DO NOT SKIP OUT ON THE NOVELLAS. I'm going to be honest, I didn't read Annabel. Once I finished Requiem I was in shock for quite some time and was a bit mad at Lauren Oliver, to be honest. Give it a shot. I'm serious. (Rating: *****)
35.) Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell-There have only been a few books recently that I've been so excited to read that my palms literally got itchy until I got my hands on them. Unlike Hate List, Eleanor & Park did not disappoint. It was amazing. From page one, I was utterly in love with Eleanor. I felt like she was the character that most resembled my personality, possibly out of any book I've ever read. Rowell eloquently grasped what falling in love in high school is like, realistically. Without all of the ooey gooey stuff. In fact, Eleanor and Park don't even share their first kiss until the book is almost over. The author I would most compare Rowell to would be John Green which is the highest compliment that I can give to an author. It was beautiful. (Rating: *****)
36.) Just Kids by Patti Smith-I hate nonfiction with a bloody passion. However, I was forced to read this book because I really didn't want to fail english. Luckily for me it wasn't bad. Other than Patti's incessant name dropping (boastful at best) I thought the story was great. Robert and Patti's relationship was so remarkable it's almost difficult to imagine that it ever happened. I don't know that I would've chosen to read it on my own, but I really didn't think it was that bad. If you're interested in what life was like in the late 1960s, or if you're a fan of Smith, give this one a shot. (Rating: ****) 
37.) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card-So my dad gave me this book when I was about 11 and I was never able to finish it because...well, there's really no reason. I probably started it and made it halfway a dozen times and I was finally able to conquer it this week after an intense 7 year battle. And it was really good! I'm normally not a sci-fi fan. At all. But this was a sci-fi story that was almost believable. The ending was rather intense and was so worth the kind of slow pace of the first half of the book. Also, Ender was really cool and I'm feeling a bit guilty about my major crush on him because I don't believe that at any point in the book he's older than 11. (Rating: ****)
38.) Room by Emma Donoghue-This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. I've wanted to read it for quite some time and I really liked it. Ma was such a strong character throughout the whole novel and Jack's voice narrating the novel was a really fresh idea. For those who don't know, the story is told from the perspective of 5 year old Jack. Basically what is happening is Jack's mother was kidnapped at the age of 19 and has been held in her captor's shed for 7 years. Her strength as a mother ultimately saves herself and her son's life. I highly recommend this book to just about everyone. It's rather hard to get through because of how realistic it is, but it's very much worth it. (Rating: *****)
OKAY THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR NOW! I have a small stack of books I got from Salvation Army that I'll be reading this week so I'll let you know how that goes. :) Right now, I'm reading She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb but it may take me awhile because finals are next week and all that fun stuff.
Talk to you soon! I promise!
