"The Faults in Our Stars" by John Green

The Faults in Our Stars, by John Green, is a book following Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old cancer survivor who meets the charming, witty and dashingly handsome Augustus Waters at her cancer support group. This book, which I have previously read, is consistently one of my favorite books of all time, refreshed in my mind as being a wonderful, powerful, charming, emotional book every time I read it. I read this book for book clubs, and one of the questions my club had before we started reading was, "What keeps the character motivated?" I thought this question was really important to the plot of the The Faults in Our Stars. Many of the characters are driven by each other, and mutual want of respect and love, in this book.

For instance, Hazel is driven by Gus to do more with her life. Hazel has a fine life before she met Gus, but Gus helped her live more. Augustus introduces the idea to her that she can go to Amsterdam to visit their favorite author, Van Houten, the author of An Imperial Affliction, a fictional book in the world of TFiOS. Gus introduces a new, exciting sort of energy into Hazel's life, someone who has been living for so long prepared to die, and energy that makes her want to live. I think this is also cause for Hazel not wanting to get too close to Gus, as she thinks that she'll just break his heart by dying, and that their time together, the new energy he brought to her life, will just go to waste. However, overall in the book, I think Gus motivates Hazel to do more with her life than she could have imagined to do otherwise.

The parents in this book are also driven by love for their children. The parents of these teenagers with cancer want to make their kid's live as good as possible, and they help them in so many amazing ways. Hazel's mom, for instance, almost organizes all of the trip to Amsterdam to make her daughter happy. Knowing that her daughter may die at any time also motivates Hazel's mother to take good care of Hazel, and try hard to make her daughter's life better. She wants her to go to cancer support groups to help Hazel with any problems she's having, she supports Hazel in her relationship with Gus, a near stranger, and goes to Amsterdam with Hazel just so Hazel can meet one of her favorite authors.

I think that in this book, the characters are also motivated by their wanting to have made an impact on people's lives. They want to be remembered, as all humans do. So many of the characters in this book are given such short strings on life, because of cancer, they want to make sure they are remembered for something other than cancer. Hazel and Gus often talking about philosophy, I think, is an ode to this, as they want to discover something more about the world. They want to know that they weren't just defined by their cancer, but by something else, something important, something that changed people. Gus, especially, has this want, as he comes into people's lives, such as Isaac, or Hazel, and just tries his best to make them better. As Gus says, "The marks humans leaves are too often scars." Gus doesn't just want to be a 'grenade' that left scars in people lives. He wants people to live as much as he wants to live, and he wants people to know that he wanted them to live. I think in the end, everyone wants that, but as people who were told from the beginning, "You will most likely die", to have that terrible weight on your chest most of your life, they want to know that people remember them not just as, "The girl with cancer."

This book tackles with so many issues, so many, deep, basic human wants and emotions, it's really hard to talk about only one of them. I'm sure I could write hundreds of essays on the different themes in The Faults in Our Stars. The characters in this book are one of my favorite parts of it, which is one of the reasons I chose to respond this question. They're so strong, so inspiring, and so lovin
g. Each one of them made whoever they touched a better person. They're each are so motivated to help others, and to help each other. The book deals with mortality and sacrifice and so many more issues in a relatable, unique, funny, heartbreaking way. The characters in this book are almost doomed from the moment we meet them. These characters, however, these amazing, strong characters, are able to do so much more good in the world. They're not just angry (Though they are a little angry,), they're curious, intellectual, understanding, and compassionate. None of them ever gave up, and I think that's pretty great.

Update 2: The Faults in Our Stars

**Spoilers!!**

I'm basically done with The Faults in Our Stars, or FiOS, but I thought I may as well extend these responses until I've used all the content I can and responded to it until basically the end of the year, because for some reason I just don't want to charge my Nook and start the Curse Workers series again.
Sigh.

Okay, so first of all, I would like to say that even when I first read this book, from the moment they left for Amsterdam and Gus and Hazel's mom were acting fishy, I knew that he was going to get cancer.
And die.

Oh, this still gives me a lot of emotions, but anyhow, I've not technically read this part of the book yet. So back to where I am, which is-- actually wait, yes, I'm right past the eulogy Hazel tells Gus at his pre-funeral. So, Gus, is, unfortunately, dead.

The pre-funeral is one of my favorite moments in the book, pretty much because of the eulogy. The eulogy shows how someone who always know that death is always impending on their lives, and that they are forever bonded with the dark thing that is death, because they almost experienced it, views the world. Hazel is shown to see the world, or at least after she met Gus, as many infinities. I believe this is because a moment is not valued by the amount of time it takes up, or by the money it took. It's by all the beautiful and wonderful things that happened in these moments that are infinite, because they change us as people and shape us forever.

These moments that Hazel spent with Gus, they obviously weren't chronologically infinite (that is almost definitely not the correct use of that word). But Hazel knows that their little infinity, their little moments that made Hazel more happy, that made Hazel want to live more, that made Hazel love more, was one of her favorite infinities, favorite memories, favorite feelings, and was one of the 'biggest' infinities in her life, one that changed it for the better.

This scene made me want to live my life to the fullest. I would love to find some dashing Augustus Waters to bring me to Amsterdam and change my life and outlook on this said topic, but I most likely will not. I have to make my own little infinities to make my life as good as possible, and have to try to like the infinities I already have.

Also, John Green is an amazing human being.

Update: The Faults in Our Stars

I recently began reading, The Faults in Our Stars by John Green (cough cough I am a huge nerdfighter.) ANYWAYS

This is by far one of my favorite books, ever. I have previously read this book, this amazing, deep, philosophical, emotional, touching book, and now I am reading it again for book clubs.

One thing I initially notice about reading TFiOS, as I'm rereading it, is that Hazel doesn't attempt to do very much with her life until Gus shows up. I mean, Hazel has the urge to do things, and wants and desires like everyone else, but I feel like Gus is really the one that enables her, makes her want to do these things that seem ridiculous and impossible beforehand, like meeting the author of An Imperial Affliction and going to Amsterdam.

One reason I think this is is because Hazel is more physically weighed down than Gus is, due to her oxygen tank, so it's a more constant reminder of how she will always be held back by cancer, and how cancer will be forever affecting her life. Gus, though cancer still obviously affected him in huge ways, Gus probably will sometimes forget that he has an amputated leg more than Hazel will forget that she has to drag around a metal tank with her all day.

NOT THAT I'M TRYING TO DISCREDIT amputees. That is, if possible, the exact opposite of what I'm trying to convey. I'm just pointing out, with Gus' dreamer and optimist personality, it's most likely more easy for him to forget his troubles than Hazel is, who has a more serious and down to earth personality, especially since he doesn't have as much trouble as Hazel, let's say, walking up stairs because of a tank he has to carry around.

Gah, this is just a mess. I feel like I'm offending everyone.

"Other Words for Love" by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal

**Spoilers!**

Other Words for Love, by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal, follows Ari, who after earning an inheritance from her Uncle, attends a prestigious Manhattan prep school. She encounters glamorous and rich new people, and even gets Leigh, her new friend. With Leigh comes her enchanting cousins, Delsin and Blake. While Delsin is a smooth, slightly creepy ladies man, Blake is a warm hearted and undeniably handsome. He charms Ari until she falls for him. After blissful weeks of going out, Ari is suddenly broken-up with by Blake-- and left in a heart-broken trance. Why? Ari risked everything for Blake? Was Ari wrong all along about Blake?

This book was kind of good. 

Great way to start a review.

 One thing I don't like is that the blurb is that at the end it says: "were their feelings true love... or something else?" Which immediately makes me think what? What else besides love? It leaves and open topic and readers questioning which blurbs are supposed to do, but in a stupid way. Anyways, after reading the book, you immediately know that it was love, not lust, or something more animal in desire than love that brought Blake and Ari together. 

Ari's struggle with the breakup is justified slightly by how Blake was her 'first love' and everything, I do think Ari was too obsessed with him.  I get it that she thought he was amazing and she really thought he was perfect, but every 'normal girl' (as Ari often says she is) knows that no boy is 'forever', and that you have to get over it. Ari literally could have changed the course of her life because one guy dumped her. She almost became a stay-at-home slouch who would be obsessed with Blake forever. Why would a smart girl like Ari fall so easily into that slump?

One explanation for the possible for this, however, is that Ari was not only enticed by the attractive boy, like Blake, but the lifestyle of his social class in general. They live in high rises, with fancy parties and classy suits, and have cool families and hip moms and go to private schools without needing a scholarship or their dead uncle's inheritance. This glitz and glam life most likely took Ari away from the life of a girl in Queens (or is it Brooklyn?), who has a middle class lifestyle with homely parents and a messed up family life. Also, a little more randomly, I feel like the 1980's setting ending up being less as important as it seemed in the beginning.

This book portrays girls as so weak, and so needy for love if they're not getting it that they will give up all their dreams for a guy. The actions of Ari, even after knowing Blake was just weak and couldn't stand up for himself, were unbelievable. She was lusting after him and crying for a guy who would appear unattractive, I think, to many girls, as he was someone who couldn't hold his ground and make life choices. The book also jumps back and forth around this theme, and shows these two sides with conflicting consistency.

I mean you have Leigh, who, however mistreated by Ari and Blake, was an immature character, and she was scarred by her boyfriends death, yet she didn't understand any of the other characters desire for affection.  The author makes some moments with the characters so relatable, but some moments so awkward that you feel like you have to take a step back from the book to really get what was going on.

I think the relationship between Summer and Ari is very interesting, however, and was one of the more believable and interesting parts of the book. It was a classic 'friends breaking up' type of plot, but that happens in real life all the time, and was relatable. Also, Summer's character, no matter how unbearable, did make the story more interesting for me.

I was about 50/50 with this book, in terms of how much I liked/disliked it. I thought the author kind of spewed out the end and went a little too far into 'the obsession' of Ari with Blake. She made the characters too weak to believe. That bothered me. I like a book with strong characters with believable flaws that I can relate too. I wouldn't whine over a boy for a summer just because he broke up with me. I would probably mostly be angry, as Blake literally ruined Ari's future. 

"It's Not Summer Without You" by Jenny Han

**Spoilers!**

(I also read this book before, and decided to read it again.)


It's Not Summer Without You, by Jenny Han, is about Belly, or Isabel, is in her last year of high school. After her mother's best friend, and one of her best friends, Susannah, died of breast cancer, her life hasn't been the same. Her mother is breaking under the stress as executor of Susannah's will, and doesn't have any grieving time on her own. Belly's brother is far away, off at college, and almost non-existent in their current life. Her secret escape, Susannah's beach house, is now a memory, and Belly is dreading the summer without her time with her brother, mother, Susannah and Susannah's sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. To make matters worse, Conrad, the boy Belly has loved for forever, has broken up with her, and is detached and alone, not even talking to her, and dumping her right when Susannah died, when she needed him the most. But when Belly's told by Jeremiah Conrad is gone, she goes to find him without hesitation, and ends up at the beach house. This is her last chance to save her relationship with Conrad and finally come to terms with the death of the person that brought them all together. 

This book was pretty good, but it wasn't as good as I remember. It was still better than the last book, The Summer I Turned Pretty. The book is well written, like the last book (tip off the hat to Jenny Han). The whole story is well formulated, the characters are believable, the love story is sigh worthy, and it has a nice, neat love triangle to top the story off.

These are also all very basic and well worn tools by authors of YA romance books.

The character set up and development, thought predictable, are very nicely written. It's a very straightforward book in theme and plot, but the little details, as in the last book, make me like it so much. I love, strangely enough, the 'annoyingness' (no better word) of Belly after her breakup with Conrad, and after Susannah's death. She tries to use guilt to get what she wants, and find excuses for what I must say so myself, is terrible behavior. Also I liked how other characters (such as Taylor) react by getting mad at her, and not forgiving her. The holding grudges, obsessing, depression, whining, and just emotions of this book is what makes this a very believable book. The ways the characters interact have a lot to do with this, and it made the book a lot more enjoyable to read, in my opinion.

Many of the themes in this book are really cheesy. The brother love triangle, the way the brothers fight over Belly, the unrealistic things the people will do for love, all things that sometimes ruin a so far romance book for me. Even the classic beach cover with attractive girl with windblown hair is fairly overused. 

Reading this book again made me realize that many of the parts of the book that I loved last year made me a little queasy this year, and weren't as creative as I thought before. Though I obviously realized this book wasn't a greatest book ever, and that many plot points had been used before, it was just harder to enjoy when I realized it was glaringly obvious what would happen, not just because I had already read the story.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book, and thought it balanced sappiness and real-life emotions. Jenny Han has a very specific writing type, and has a talent for books such as these, teenager-y romance plots involving summer romances. Her books are a guilty pleasure of mine, and I would be interested in reading the rest of this series.

"Why We Broke Up" by Daniel Handler (Illustrations by Maira Kalman)

**Spoilers!**


Why We Broke Up, by Daniel Handler is the story of young love, and probably more importantly, young heartbreak.

The story follows 'artsy' Min, and jock-ish Ed Slaterton as they go out.

...

That's one of the reasons I didn't exactly like this book.

I mean, the book itself was very well written, and I loved a lot of the beautiful moments in the book. Some of Min's lines from her letters, or her narrations I suppose, were seemingly simple, but entirely gorgeous. Many of these included lines at the ends of portions of the letters, which gave the overall reasons why Min and Ed broke up. I loved the simple-ness of the illustrations as well, because though very well painted/drawn, they were simple pictures of only one or two items. But what they meant in the story and to the characters were the important.

A couple things I didn't like about the story was Min and Ed's relationship, or at least how it began. I think Min, so focused on not being, but still being artsy, and so openly knowing of her and Ed's differences, should have not fallen for Ed as hard as she did. I do understand, that these are teenagers. Us teens to stupid, and crazy things, but still, most people would realize, "Oh, this is a jock who I really have nothing in common with, I mean, he's hot, but really?" Min seemed to dive into this relationship knowing almost nothing about Ed, and then was surprised after only a month of dating, and barely knowing him, and almost always seemingly internally dissatisfied with the relationship, that he had cheated on her.

The relationship itself only really lasted a month too. Would anyone really get that attached to a person they only know as a popular figure in their school in a month?

In response to my comment on top, about how I didn't like the subject of the book, I feel like the book had no deeper meaning, and just kind of left the story there, almost just a pretty picture.

I understand this is a story of young, fast paced, head over heels love, but as a teenager in modern society, I can't imagine people getting this 'in love' (well, not really, but kind of, but not really, you know?) in a month!

I still very much enjoyed this book, however, and it creates a fairly beautiful image of a relationship and people walking into such relationships without really knowing what they're doing.

"Red Glove" by Holly Black (Curse Workers Series #2)

**Spoilers!**

In this continuation of the Curse Workers series by Holly Black, and follows Cassel struggle with not only trying to maintain is normal life at school in this last couple years, but dealing with the discovery of his new Transformative powers. Things get more difficult when Lila joins his school, making it even harder to separate his lives, as well as his confusing feelings for Lila. But a new mystery emerges when Cassel learns that his brother, Phillip, has been murdered, and all they know about the killer is that she's  a woman. A woman with Red Gloves.

I really liked this book as a continuation of the series. The book at many strong points that helped elaborate on the world of the story and the characters, their relationships.

Cassel and his mother's relationship is definitely developed, especially during the exchanges during Phillip's funeral and toward the beginning of the book when Cassel discovers his mother has curse-worked Lila into 'loving' him. Cassel's mother is seemingly trying to help, but at this same time, knowingly not helping Cassel much at all in the long run. Lila's feelings, being produced by emotion working, will fade, so no matter how much Cassel's mother wants or thinks she is helping, she must know this will happen. The mother's character itself is very fickle and irresponsible. I also find it interesting her interactions with the other family, like Barron, and family friends, during many of the scenes involving Phillip's death. She seems obviously melodramatic, but it's clear she does love her children, and almost as though she just doesn't know how to get that message across.

I want to know about why the mother is like this. Maybe she felt bad about attaching to her children while she was bringing them up in such an unstable and corrupted environment, or maybe because of this environment she never had the time to learn how to communicate with her children.

I'm already started with the next book, Black Heart, but I'm very excited to see where this story goes!

"There is No Dog" by Meg Rosoff

When Bob, the adolescent god of Earth, a small, unwanted planet (Simply placed upon Bob as none of the other celestial deities wanted it), falls in love with a human, and more importantly mortal, girl, the world turns upside down. Bob wreaks havoc on the little planet, and his under rewarded, fed up assistant, Mr. B, can do nothing to stop it. At the same time, his much ignored pet, Eck, the last one of the Ecks, is gambled off by Bob's mother to be eaten, and Bob does not care in the least. It falls on the shoulders of Estelle, a logical young immortal being, who is the daughter of the very god trying to eat Eck, and of course, Mr. B, while they also try to stop the world from being thrown into an environmental disaster from hormones. 

I just reread this book, and I am disappointed by the amount of appreciation I gave it. Though, the things I don't like about it still stand, I enjoy it much more than I did when I first read it. The book is funny, sarcastic, dynamic, and borderline blasphemous. All things I enjoy (though not specifically blasphemy, I just enjoy questioning beliefs and norms given to humans).  The book, though silly at times, takes up a couple serious questions. First of all, obviously, "Does God exist?" Followed by, "Why does God, if he does exist, do what he does?" "Who gave God the right to do these things?" All of these are woven quite nicely into the plot, and leave you with something to think about at the end.

Some problems that I had with this book were that the pace changed drastically at the end. They sped it up too much! I don't like when people rush books, especially at the end, which makes it seem like they weren't committed, and just threw it out there when they got bored. 

The actually end, in theory, was great however. It wasn't executed well, but it worked very well for the plot. It told so sweetly the companionship- love-friendship-(?) of Mr. B and Estelle. I wanted them to be together the whole book. I also wanted to punch Bob in the face. He was one of the most annoying, bratty characters I've ever read. Which I guess was the point, but, oh, God, did I want him to get thrown into space. Also, what is with the bureaucracy of these immortal, all powerful beings? They just throw the obviously worst choice into the job? Who does that? Don't they take any sort of progress report? I mean Bob did great things at first, but he was a whiny baby, not even capable of taking care of himself, let alone a whole planet. 

Some of the writing style of the author put me off a bit too, which had to do with the skimmed end of the book, but it was still enjoyable.

"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare

I finally have officially finished Romeo and Juliet, by, of course, Shakespeare.

Of course, this is a really famous piece of literature, and set a lot of standards, and is a super-classic, and is one the most produced pieces of theater ever.

I'm going to try to review, respond, whatever these are, to it without acknowledging this.

So first of all, I have to say that personally, I don't really like Romeo... or Juliet... Their characters, I feel, are fairly weak in the overall play. Of course, 'fate' and the 'the stars' are giant themes in this play, but I feel like they barely did anything besides die.

This is some kind of blasphemy, I know it.

But, I suppose some disbelief must be suspended. The time period this was written in was as much superstitiously believing in fate as it was believing in the Church. But still, I think that Romeo and Juliet's characters are mostly whiney and then dead the whole play. Juliet starts out fairly bearable, but gets as bad and bland as Romeo at the end. I'm not saying she didn't love Romeo, she committed suicide for him (though I do believe this was mostly due to her dislike of being controlled by her parents and not making her own decisions. Which is a little funny as the fates control her anyway the whole play.), but I think that if it would have been more interesting for me, as a character, if Juliet had been more active in trying to prevent her wedding to Paris, or more active in reuniting with Romeo. 

Some have claimed that they are the ideal representation of young love and the brashness of teenagers, but I doth protest. I know many teenagers that would have handled any situation similar to those of these Capulets and Montagues better then they would have, and smarter than they would have as well.

I think the rest of the characters were very well built, and all had clear motives and wants for their actions. This made the characters more easy to believe, even with fate intervening. I guess my biggest problem was with fate. I think that's fate hand is too much involved in Romeo and Juliet's relationship forming without enough thought from either one fo them them to make it myself really feel for their hardships or relationship.

This all is, of course, my opinion, which is clearly skewed as I live in a different time than when the play was written. Many of these behaviors were much more normal, such as quick courtships, or arranged marriages (by the stars or by parents). Just this play, to me, in my current postion as a person in this world, is just really touching the surface of what it could have been. I would have loved to see more of Juliet's struggle against marrying Paris (there's really nothing wrong with Paris, and she's known him for longer than Romeo. The only problem I see is that it seems she didn't want to do what her parents wanted her to.), and I think more of how Romeo views his and Juliet's family's quarrel. 

People kept talking about how this play has been relevant for such a long time because of it's themes when I read it with my class, but I think that some of these themes will be less and less easy to relate to as we progress in society and culture. 

"Half Moon Investigations" by Eoin Colfer

Half Moon Investigations  is by far one of my favorite books. I read this in something like fourth or fifth grade, but I try to reread it every year or so. There are so many reasons why this is a great book, so I'll try to keep is brief.

1) Eoin Colfer. Colfer is a really strong author, and is really well known, in my age group, most likely for the Artemis Fowl Chronicles, or series or whatever it's title is. The reason Colfer is such a successful youth writer is that he can keep the content youth appropriate, but make the story itself mature. What I mean by that is Colfer doesn't over sexual or over dramatize the pre-teen and teen experience to make it a good and still interesting read for teenagers and pre-teens, but doesn't make it hard to believe that these characters are, in fact, teenagers. He's able to make the tone of the story really mature, and develops these characters to be their own person, and doesn't try to make them 'squares.' These children are their own characters with their own wants and desires, that make them really believable.

2) Tone. I love the tone of this book, which has to do with the speil about tone and maturity I wrote up there. This book, to me, pretty much reads as a witty noir for teens. But the best thing about it, no matter how cheesy that may sound, or you may think it will be, Colfer retains really individual and interesting ideas in the story that keep it in modern context and in a relatable place for teenagers. He's able to take a mystery about a fiercely competitive talent show and add at least three fight scenes and menacing kidnapping scene, and a little bit of gore. Talent. Also, this book really makes me want to go to Ireland.

3) Mystery. Colfer is able to write a great mystery story. He leaves enough clues sprinkled around the book for people to deduce it on the own, but keeps you guessing the whole time. This makes the story really a great deal of fun to read, let alone the second or third time, when you start to really notice the little hints Colfer drops throughout the story.

So I guess the point of this was...
Eoin Colfer is a very good writer.

"White Cat" by Holly Black (Curse Workers Series #1)

I've almost come to the end of the book, "White Cat" by Holly Black, the first book of the Curse Workers series. The book tells the story of Cassel, a non-worker in a well known family of workers who work for one infamous working crime families. In the world of the book, "workers" are gifted individuals who can manipulate certain elements of a person- whether it is their emotions, luck, or even their very life. I've really enjoyed this book so far for multiple reasons.

I really liked the unique mythology and magic in this book, specifically the workers. Though the abilities they possess aren't unique only to the book, the way the author portrays these powers make them very interesting. I like the idea of "blowback" being established in the book, putting a limit on these very powerful powers. I also love that the powers are used in a mob or mafia style setting. In many books using magic, most of the people using this magic are good, but when you think about it, unfortunately, most would be using the magic for their own advantage, such as crime in the mob. People are selfish, it's the bottom line.

I also like how Holly Black wrote the characters in the book. She made the main chara
cter, Cassel, quite weak, but is a boy. It breaks the boundaries of female characters having to be weak, and men always having to save them. In fact, towards the end of the book, a stronger female character mostly controls the events that occur that change the plot. Holly Black as an author, to me, has shown she can write many different kind of characters as well. I've read a lot of her work and am further impressed with the diversity in her characters that make each one of them interesting on their own way. Many authors seem to reuse the same kind of character in each other their books.

As I've mentioned before in posts about Holly Black and her work, she creates an amazing universe around her books, one that makes sense and that you can get lost in, which is one of my favorite parts of her books. I can't wait to read the rest of the series, and to further 'get lost' in the Curse Workers world!

"Perfect" by Ellen Hopkins

**Spoilers!**

Perfect, by Ellen Hopkins, is the story of four high school students struggling with colleges, love, their futures, and what perfect really means.

This was the first book to get me to cry. Ever. I'm so serious. As an ode to how important this fact is, I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and The Faults in Our Stars, both of which I like to think of as a downright sad books, and did not cry during those. 

This book was amazing. When I first read the blurb, I thought it was going to be cheesy. But it was so intense and saddening and an amazing mix of poetry and narrative. The stories were so believable it hurt. You could feel all the raw emotion. Hopkins does some of the most amazing things I've ever seen with literature. I loved Crank, probably one of Hopkin's most famous books, but I think this book should be just up there with it.

The ending is what really did me in. It's so impossibly unhappy, but so terribly hopeful. Andre is ready to face his family, but Jenna is raped. Sean's life is permanently messed up and he's borderline crazy thanks to obsession and steroids, Conner dies, but Cara find her true self and finally finds love with Dani. 
Kendra is torn and anorexic (and seems to stay that way), but has seen inside her family and admitted her feelings fully for maybe the first time.

It's the mix of jealousy, desire, love, hate, lust, anger, violence, sadness and maliciousness that make this book such a deliciously dark read, and reel you in. The characters seem to each represent something perfect people want in their lives, each one twisting this image painfully, making you realize how fast cracks can form from perfection. Each character gives you a different approach on perfect in people's lives.

I hated Sean. He was so self-involved, and childish, and by the end of the book, I was afraid of him, and afraid of what he thought was right in his twisted, broken mind. He's so creepy and insane at the end, it's hard to imagine anyone like that. His motives started off so pure. He was so in love with Cara, you feel sorry for the guy that she didn't try to justify herself to him at all. She just broke it off, then even though he was hung up over her and one of her best friends (as she mentions in the first part of the book), she doesn't try to explain anything

Cara was near the most relaxed character. Most of the story, she was just crazy in love, and handling it, or thinking about her older brother. I thought that her realizing she was lesbian was a little too fast (like when they're skiing she just automatically says 'Maybe' she's lesbian when Danielle asks? There is no hint of that she is before that. I think it's amazing that she found what she really wanted, but it was kind of forced, especially if it was her first time with a girl. I think she would have been a little more nervous. Though I also didn't read the first book, which could have exposition to this fact in it), but her sadness at the end of the book was just so real. Her crying, "Mommy" and, "Daddy" when Conner died, even though she hated them most of the time and resented them? It was so raw.

Kendra was in so much denial. I wanted an emotional breach. It was almost hard to get attached to her. Her problem was so much more than her eating disorder. She reminded me of a mild Sean, because she only thought of Conner. She used him to justify her own madness.

Andre was also fairly mild compared to everyone else. He should be himself. I think that his relationship with Jenna really made him interesting. He adored and loved her unconditionally. But she was too childish, and too scarred by her parents to reciprocate. It's almost a relief when you see she realizes this. And when she gets raped right after Andre breaks it off with her, it's so sad. 

THE BOOK IS SAD.

But...
This book is one of my all time favorite, and always will be.

Update: "After Ever After" by Jordan Sonnenblick

**Spoilers!**

The book, After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick is the sequel to Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, following Jeffrey Alper, after his cancer went into remission, now in his eighth grade year, dealing with many of the same problems Steven Alper, his older brother, did in his eighth grade year in, Drums, Girls...

I really like this book so far. It reminds me a lot of the original story, and has extremely similar tones, probably due to that they're written by the same person, Jordan Sonnenblick. That's a pretty obvious explanation. But I like that Sonnenblick brings out new characters, and though in this story, as the last one, there's still the main boy character, his love interest, and the best friend.

One thing I would like to explore is the best friend in this story, Jeffrey's best friend, Thaddeus, or Tad. Tad is a really antisocial person, often really downright mean to people. He was even snide to Jeffrey when they first met, and to the girl he likes.

I believe that this is Tad's attitude at the beginning of the story, pretty much almost up to the point I'm at now in the book, because he was afraid to get close to people, and he wasn't sure even how long he would live to see them become friends.

Tad's cancer made him feel weak, and it made him afraid he wasn't going to live. This obviously made him look down on the world, probably seeing their problems as more insignificant than his, which explains his cynicism and sarcasm towards many in the book currently.

But I believe also that besides Tad's weakness bringing out this trait, it also made him question how much he wanted to do in his life, or if there was any point to it. He gave up trying to walk, and he was just complacent with the life he had. He knew that he had his best friend to get by with, so he didn't think he needed to go out of his way to be friendly to anyone else. I think that Tad is fully aware that is cancer could return in the story, which it does, so he tries not to get closer to anyone and uses his cynicism as a shield.

This also explains why Tad wants Jeffrey to pass Jeffrey's state tests so much. He wants to make sure that Jeffrey gets to do at least everything Tad does, and make sure that Jeffrey doesn't give up like Tad does. This also shows that Tad is not truly mean, and is actually quite compassionate, spending a lot of his own time working with Jeffrey on math.

"Evermore" by Alyson Noel

**Spoilers!**

Evermore by Alyson Noel is the story of Ever Bloom, a fairly normal teen, except she can see people's auras, see the dead, and mind read by touch. When Damen transfers to her high school, she is immediately drawn to him, and his terrible secrets.

This book is tired out and predictable. It's the same as Fallen, Twilight, and many other YA fantasy-hottie books that are today. Though, truthfully, this was printed in 2009, as were those other two books, but still, the point stands. If you're ever seen Twilight or read it, the book is boring from the first page. At least Twilight made an impact by being the first really big YA/romance/teenager/angst/fantasy/supernatural book to come out, though, admittedly, Twilight wasn't even remarkably good.

Ever, as many other of the main characters in these types of books, is sullen and a loner, but beautiful, conveniently, and so hot that only if she reached out she could be happy! But sadly, she doesn't, and neither does she try to fix herself. She only has to await the rescuing arms of some hottie (Damen) to do what you would never have thought to do: Actually try to fix your own problems to make you happy, instead of being anti-social and sullen. The things that annoy me the most about books like these is that they make women look like anxious wrecks who need men to come in and save them whenever pretty much anything happens. No girl that I have ever met has not been able to handle at least some of their problems on their own. An all these girls have amazing powers, like reading minds, or talking to the dead, or being vampire proof, or something else that makes them, possibly, the most valuable person in-book universe.

Back to the book...

Take these unmotivated, flailing female character aforementioned, then add some incredibly random BS myths, weirdo, unbelievably unmotivated antagonists, gullible characters, very vague descriptions about pasts of many peoples, and voila, you have a whole book that's extremely repetitive and washed-out.

Why does Noel have to add the random thing with Drina at the end? I hated that part. It was like she needed Drina to blurt out all the exposition she couldn't explain through the narration or through character dialogue, plot points, hints, or anything. And really? Drina pushed the deer in front of her family's car? Why? It's so random. Why doesn't Drina just sneak into her room in the middle of the night and slit her throat, like a normal murderer would? There is also no explanation to why Drina is so obsessed with Damen. He saved her, and they were married. But divorced people find others! They move along? Why does Noel drop the hint of alchemy being involved in Damen being an immortal, but then veers off and doesn't explain jack-squat? So much pointlessness!

Also, really? I don't get in these books how quickly people believe all the stuff their boyfriends tell them.

The book:

''I'm... An Immortal!''

''OMG NO WAY YOU'RE CRAZY''

''Nooo!!!!''

''Back to normal life!... wait oh no I'm being attacked!''

''Here I come to save the day!''

'Thank you! So what's up with you?''

''Oh, I've just been following you around for the past six hundred years because you're so hot... and I've never gotten in your pants, which I keep mentioning and you don't get creeped out at all about!''

''Oh, it's true! I knew it! I'm not skeptical, or need any more clarification! Let's go be together! Also I'm still underage! And you're six-hundred!''

That's basically all you need to know about Evermore.

Why do even bother reading these books anymore.
HOW WAS THIS A BEST SELLER? Thank god for people like John Green. Can we please have more books like Looking for Alaska, or Paper Towns on the best seller lists?

Sonnet

Sonnet

We danced, bright star eyes, but soon we know how
the world crushes most dreams of he who tries.
All we wanted was to have gracious bows,
we end up holding arms with silent cries.

And those who try too hard tend to get hurt.
We are the ones who held our hearts in hands,
begging others not to be so rude, curt.
But hands are not walls, no not at all, and

Soon the tender and sweet heart was burned, by
a known figure with cat eyes and strong heart.
They thought that all were strong like them, a lie,
but the poor star eyed were not so careful.

A heart never hurt is not experienced.
And hearts not hurt fall inexperienced.

"Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer

**Spoilers!**

In the book, Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer, she continues to expand the story and world she set in Cinder, the first book in the Lunar Chronicles. Scarlet focuses on a retelling of the "Little Red Riding Hood" fairytale, introducing Scarlet Benoit, a young woman whose grandmother has mysteriously disappeared. Soon, Scarlet realizes that this mystery is much larger than just her grandmother, and enfolds years of agression and tension built up between Earth and the Lunars, as well as the one person who could stop the threat of war. The missing Lunar, Princess Selene.

I finally read it! Yeah me!

So this book has been sitting on my Nook for weeks, and last week, I finally started to read it. I was so excited, and the book lived up to my expectations greatly.

As I mentioned in the first Lunar Chronicles book, the books are futuristic retellings of some of the most familiar fairytales, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. One of my favorite part of these books so far is the imaginative setting revamp. The world of the five nations in future-Earth is so vivid and well planned out. The prejudices, actions and thoughts of them as a society have been really thought out and still resonated clearly in Scarlet, which was interesting. I thought maybe because it was a whole different country, and each country was so large, the cultures would vary largely country to country.

One thing I did want to learn a little more about was France, specifically, in the book. We learned a lot about New Beijing in the first book, and had vivid imagery to go along with the new culture we learned about. Though this book was still descriptive, I wanted to learn more about Paris, farmland area France, and customs of the French in this universe.

Another thing I wanted to see, though less of, is the Wolf-Scarlet romance. I enjoy the relationship, and it was fun to see grow, and I have nothing against it, it was a little cheesy to see the last couple scenes with them and even the middle of the book. They barely know each other, but almost seem ready to get married. I get that the Prince Kai-Cinder relationship couldn't continue as a key plot point, but it kind of set the mood of the story. This is a series about girls not obsessed with love, ready to do what is important overall first. Scarlet is a strong character, but how fast she changes from not trusting Wolf, at all, to being head-over-heels for him, seems completely out of the character established at the beginning of the book. The Wolf and Scarlet relationship made this feel a little bit like Twilight. Oh no!

Overall, I still loved the book, and would recommend it to fans of the Hunger Games, fairytales, and sci-fi. Please, if you find this interesting, read the first book first. It won't make much sense otherwise!

Martin Espada Essay

Recurring Themes in Martin Espada’s Poetry

Martin Espada is a well known, educated and respected Puerto Rican poet from New York City. His poetry often deals with major issues and have recurring themes, which stretch between poems. One strong theme in Espada’s poetry is the idea of power, and the abuse of it.

For instance, in Espada’s poem, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School,” the principal abuses his power over the school by banning the speaking of Spanish in the bathrooms. He has no incentive to do so besides the speaking of Spanish, and hearing his name in these conversations, constipating him. The principal in this poem is abusing his power as the principal, cutting of the Spanish speakers in the school of a location where they can express their culture and may speak the language most comfortable to them, if they learned Spanish as a first language. 

Another example of the theme of the abuse of power in Espada’s poetry is in his poem, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”. The people mispronouncing the narrators name are either using the power of the narrators name and purposefully mispronouncing it to frustrate him, or just not taking the time to ask them how his or her name is pronounced. When you have a choice to make, like the subjects of the poem mispronouncing the narrators name again, and again, you have power over the situation. Being careless with this power to make better choices is still an abuse of a, even if small power much of the time, power.

Lastly, the theme of abuse of power is an important theme in Martin Espadas poems in the poem, “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877”. This poem speaks of the lynching of two Mexicans by whites in California. The theme of abuse of power is extremely strong in this poem. Not only is the extreme racism and prejudice obvious in this situation, the “gringos” in the poem had much more power than these Mexicans. There were forty of them present at the hanging of the only two Mexican people, which means that the Mexicanos were almost certainly outnumbered to fight the whites who were trying to kill them. The whites were higher status and have a better situation than the Mexicans. They could've gone on to face little or no repercussions for what they did. It’s murder in every sense of the word, and all murders or deaths are terrible, but the way it was committed makes it even worse. The white subjects in the poem abused their physical and societal powers over the Mexicans. 

In conclusion, the abuse of power is a huge theme in Martin Espada’s poetry. He uses it clearly in three different poems of his, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877”. Espada used many different forms of abuse of power in his poems, showing that no matter what kind of power you abuse, it’s still wrong if you do it for the wrong reasons.

"Breathing Underwater" by Alex Flinn

**Spoilers!**

Breathing Underwater is the story of Nick, a seemingly perfect and popular high school student who is charged with a restraining order on his ex-girlfriend, Caitlin. But why? Nick doesn't think he did anything wrong. He just taught her a lesson. The book chronicles his journey to his anger management classes that will "help him", and overall just his journey to redemption.

I enjoyed this book a lot. My favorite moments were the letters, and seeing how bad the abuse got in the relationship. I couldn't really imagine anyone besides some alcoholic father (like Nick's dad) abusing anyone, but this really shows me that abuse can happen for lots of reasons, and isn't always the reasons we think. I also was surprised about the relationship itself, and gave me an insight to an abusive relationship. The book showed me a lot about the kind of people who get caught in relationships like this, people like Caitlin who don't think they're good enough because of someone (Caitlin's mom), who think the person will be their only hope at a relationship. Also it was interesting that Nick didn't think he was being that harsh, or that we was wrong. It made me really worried for others who are in situations like this, and how they might not even know what they're doing is wrong.

Also is made me sad that Caitlin's or Nick's friends didn't try to help Caitlin when they saw something wrong about the relationship. I think if I ever saw a friend in trouble I would have to tell them, even if it meant losing a friendship. 

Overall, this book was really interesting and emotional to read, and I enjoyed it. The movement to Nick's "redemption" was well written, as Alex Flinn is awesome. Read it!

"After" by Amy Efaw

**Spoilers!**

After, by Amy Efaw, tells the story of Devon. Devon has always been the "good girl". Straight A's. Master goalie on the soccer field. Quiet and well-behaved, even with her slightly obnoxious and childish mother who goes through men just a little bit too fast. But when a new-born baby is found in a trash can behind Devon's house, left to die, and Devon is the one to blame, her life will change forever. But how could Devon herself have not known about the baby as she claims? When she was pregnant, gaining weight and throwing up? 

This was actually a really good book. I heard some bad reviews about it and wanted to see if it was as terrible as people were saying. Though really the only thing that bothered me was that Amy Efaw used too many soccer references in it. I'm kind of laughing at that now, because that's a very silly thing to think of a book. But I guess it was very soccer oriented? I did think Devon, as a character was a little useless at times, and some of her motivations were confusing me. But I know very little on the subject of the book, pregnancy and rejecting your child after birth, so I may not have the full picture.

I thought this was a really intriguing book about how far humans will go to keep their personal image. I hated Devon at the beginning. It seemed so obvious that she was pregnant, and all the things that were put up against her as evidence, mostly the details in the flashbacks, shows that she did know that it was likely she was pregnant. She even seemed to hide it from other people actively, which means that she did know! I understand that denial over traumatic events can occur, but it seemed so obvious that she knew that she was with child, and that she could have done something about it.

One of the reasons this book ended up being really satisfying for me is that at the end, Devon does realize all of the things I said above. She knows that even if she was denying it to herself, at some level she knew she was pregnant. She knew what she was subconsciously trying to do when wearing baggy clothes, or what she realized when she had cramps from sit-ups. That she knew that she had to pay and do something about almost killing her child was what really showed that Devon was still Devon. She knew she wanted the baby gone when she gave birth. She knew she was trying to make it go away by hurting the baby. If I tried to do get rid of a child in secret, I wouldn't be able to get it off my mind- that I tried to kill something as precious as a baby, but I didn't pay any consequences.

As I said before as well, I didn't like that there were so many random soccer references in the book. I get that soccer was important to Devon as a character, but would someone realistically think that everything was like soccer? I got all the little anecdotes about hard games and practicing and tough foul shots, but it kind of took me out of a story that was really about what humans can and will do and denial, and made me think it was one of those children's shorter chapter books all about some kid and his baseball team, and the conflict is all about how some other guy on another team cheat and he has to prove it or something. It just felt wrong. It was a weird tonal change in the book. I expect that from sports books, but do even professional soccer players always think in soccer metaphors, similes and analogies?

"Girl in Translation" by Jean Kwok

**Spoilers!!! (MASSIVE SPOILERS!)**

Girl in Translation is the story of Kimberly Chang, a Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong, who travels to New York City with her mother in hopes of a better life. The story follows Kimberly and her mother as they struggle to survive with almost no money and very little opportunity. I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was an interesting and very readable story of a modern immigrant. The characters were interesting to read, and the culture and topic was interesting to learn about.

One thing I really liked was how Kimberly and Mrs. Chang's culture influenced their decisions. They could have had a much better situation, perhaps as soon as they moved to America, if Mrs. Chang had not felt "in debt" to her sister. Most people in America would think this is strange. Why would you stick around someone who is so obviously not caring about you? Who intentionally hurts your progress towards a better life? But that's the thing about this book, you have to take into account the other culture that is a giant theme and powerful force in the book. I really liked learning about Chinese family dynamic and culture, but thought it wasn't too forced upon the reader. It just let the reader see the logic in the characters minds, and maybe even learn a little like I did.

I usually am not satisfied by endings in stories. However, I was pleased with the ending here. It wasn't shocking or amazing, but it was sweet and short. I really like how the author used the prologue to make is seem as though Kimberly would keep her and Matt's baby that she was pregnant with, and live with Matt. The small twist that she was not living with Matt, but still had the baby at the end of the story as an adult, was also nice.

That's another thing about the book that I like. The author keeps you guessing and reading the entire book. There wasn't one slow part of the book. Kwok had amazing pacing, glazing over whole months to years at a time, but then knowing just when to return to the story. Kwok also knows how to write these sequences, making sure it isn't unsatisfying to be reading something like, "The winter passed quickly...", and just giving enough description so you still know what's happening. It makes the story much more realistic, and easier to follow.

Kwok also sends you a message of you can do what you put your mind to. This book, at it's core, is a classic rags to riches story. She also shows that you can be in tough situations, like poverty, pregnancy, and even sweat shop or other excessive working, and you can still do what you want in school or out of it, and accomplish your goals if you try hard enough. I recommend this book to those who like historical fiction, and just a good realistic fiction story as well.

Update: "Girl in Translation" by Jean Kwok

Girl in Translation is the story of Kimberly, a Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong who moves to New York City with her mother.

So far, I'm pleasantly surprised by Girl in Translation. Usually, I'm not the greatest fan of historical fiction (even though this is not that far in the past) or immigrant stories. I usually feel like they're too played out and a lot of the time, not that well written. It's really hard to relate to these characters because of their situation for me, which makes me not enjoy the book as much.

In Girl..., possibly because of the relative modern-ness of the story, I can pretty easily relate to Kimberly as a character. She is a smart, aware character who still has normal wants as an eleven or twelve year old, but is not taken over by these actions. She knows the importance of family, another thing I like about Kimberly.

Also layers of the story are interesting. Kim wants to be accepted by her peers at school and in the factory, but her strong Chinese upbringing is keeping her from totally assimilating. She also wants to please her traditionalist Chinese mother, but at the same time it's hard to do that when you're trying to become more American so you can do well in school and make new friends, even talk to your crush. Kim is a torn character, and I can't wait to watch her as she grows and sees which path she takes.

I was also interested in the Aunt's role in this. Kim's Aunt, Paula, seems very reluctant to help her sister and her niece, for reasons that have been hinted at, but not totally explained. The customs of the Chinese don't let Kim's mother complain about her sister not helping them as much as was promised, but I want to see if the sheer terribleness of Kim and her moms condition makes Kim's mother break away from their customs for a little while.

"Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale" by Holly Black

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale is the story of Kaye, a "modern nomad" who travels around with her mother's band until she's sixteen- when someone tries to kill her mom, Ellen. Ellen and Kaye travel back to Kaye's original home in New Jersey with her grandmother to get some time off while Ellen tries to scrounge up a new band and to score on free housing. For Kaye, this brings back memories of her childhood, where her imaginary faerie friends, Lutie-Loo, Spike, and Gristle played with her, and her actual friend, Janet, as well as all the kids who teased her for being weird and believing in faerie tales. But when Kaye discovers a strange man in the woods with an arrow sticking out of him, she begins to doubt that she was just imaginative as a kid.

Worst. Summary. Ever. ANYWAY....

I loved this book! LOVED IT. The writing was so descriptive and intense, but still traditional in tone. I've read the Spiderwick Chronicles as well, and I noticed that Holly Black's style of writing isn't a lot like many modern writers, another thing that makes her so special as an artist. She can weave the modern tone and language into the story perfectly with the fantasy while still keeping her tone as a writer. I liked this book more than the Spiderwick Chronicles as well, probably because this book was a  lot more mature than the Spiderwick Chronicles.

One thing I also liked was how Black dealt with mature topics, like sexuality and problems at home. Corny, though fairly secure in his sexuality, still wasn't happy with himself. He (though he was under a spell) wanted Nephamael because he wasn't going out there to try to find someone for himself, but also was angered that he was so shallow as to enjoy the things they did.

Black also comments on family life and teenage behavior in her book. Both Kaye and Janet's families are not very happy, and they deal with them in the same way. I think Kaye feels like Ellen doesn't care and mother Kaye enough, no matter how tough Kaye tries to act. She deals with pulling Ellen's head out of the toilet, and she likes not going to school, but she needs help sometimes too. Corny doesn't refer by name of "Dad" to his and Janets step-father, and mentions that his mother deals with things through Star-Trek. Janet and Kaye deal with their families by drinking and partying, and Corny just chooses not to talk to people, keeps his feelings pent inside.

Overall, I loved this book. I can't wait to read Valiant: A Modern Faerie Tale and Ironside: A Modern Faerie Tale (because you know I will).

"What's Left of Me" by Kat Zhang

**Slight Spoilers!**

What's Left of Me, by Kat Zhang, describes a world where humans are born with two souls, and the country America, now containing both South and North America, has been all but cut off from the rest of the world. These two-souled humans, called "hybrids" are seen as dangers to society, outcasts, and illegal in the U.S. The book follows Addie, who's know a freshman in high school. Her sister soul, Eva, had trouble"settling", or receding so Addie could live as one person. But Addie holds a deep secret- Eva never settled. She still lives deep inside Addie, paralyzed, as she watches the world through their eyes.

I liked this book, I guess. It was an interesting enough idea to base a book off of, and I enjoyed to read it, but I just felt like the plot was recycled, the characters didn't really make realistic choices, and there were some holes in the lore and history of the world.

The first two reasons I didn't exactly love this book go hand in hand. The plot was so predictable. There were little insignificant plot twists everywhere, but I felt like nothing really made me want to re-read a chapter or something. This was partly because of the predictability of the characters. For instance, it would have been far more interesting if Addie/Eva (how I will refer to them from now on) would have ran after Devon/Ryan told her to. I mean, Addie/Eva knew they were going to be taken away from their family either way, so why be taken to a horrible place where children are said to be institutionalized? Who knows. I'm not exactly going to say the character was a Mary-Sue, but it was a little clear that Eva represented a more adventurous side, possibly what the author wanted to be, and Addie represented who the author thought she was. This was also the author's first book, which further enforces my idea.

Also, possibly because this was her book, the author skimped on much background information that would have made the story clearer. One thing, why is the government against hybrids? It's very loosely explained. "Oh, other countries have them, and we don't like other countries!" "People can sometimes go insane from them!" (which ended up not even being true). It just confused me. I guess we can assume that people in this world were just afraid of what they didn't know, but that would also just make the whole scenario a lot more boring. Possibly a more substantial explanation would be revealed later in the series, as I assume it will be.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it didn't impress me. I will try to read the rest of the series, just to finish the story, but it wouldn't be on my top ten list of best books this year or anything.