"The only thing worse than forgetting her past . . . is remembering it.
When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.
Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.
Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.
Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?"
I wanted to enjoy this book, to be honest I didn't have high hopes, but my eyes nearly fell out from rolling them so hard. You want me to believe that this girl loves this guy even though they barely know each other and most of their time spent together is in brief flashbacks.... NO. These are teenagers claiming their love transcends all things a la Romeo and Juliet. It's the whole, "They won't let us be together, let's run away" plot, when what you think you're getting is a novel that is more than just a tragic love story. Zen is very literally, the only boy Seraphina meets or has ever met for that matter and her life experiences are severely limited. This made it really hard for me to believe in their love and connect on that level.
The premise is what really drew me in. Seraphina is found at the scene of a plane crash with no memory of how she got there or anything from her past, including her name. As the novel wears on, the reader and Seraphina learn more and more about her past thanks mostly to the Mysterious Boy that she feels drawn to. In the beginning, I was really enjoying it because it was intriguing. However, once the romance manifested and consumed the plot, the original excitement I had began to die off. There is a scene where the love interest, Zen, is more focused on her remembering him instead of other memories I felt were a bit more important given her situation (AKA, bad guys are after her and she doesn't know why). Apparently, he didn't feel that was important, which struck me as odd. Sure, he told her the basics, but his main priority was her remembering their love. Yes, this is me rolling my eyes.
The time travel, ooops spoiler, is a really silly badly formulated idea which had me nearly laughing and her being an AI could have been interesting if handled with more delicacy. That also led to the question could she even love Zen. I mean had she been programmed to feel that emotion, and if so, why? Overall a slightly hot mess of a book that could have been okay with a few different plot devices.
Age Rating 12+. Nothing untoward that I can remember.
"It's the first thing they teach you when you start school. But they don't need to; your parents tell you when you're first learning how to say your name. It's drummed into you whilst you're taking your first stumbling steps. It's your lullaby. From the moment it first appears, you don't tell anyone the name on your wrist.
In Corin's world, your carpinomen - the name of your soul mate, marked indelibly on your wrist from the age of two or three - is everything. It's your most preciously guarded secret; a piece of knowledge that can give another person ultimate power over you. People spend years, even decades, searching for the one they're supposed to be with.
But what if you never find that person? Or you do, but you just don't love them? What if you fall for someone else - someone other than the name on your wrist?
And what if - like Corin - the last thing in the world you want is to be found?"
This was an okay story, but there were loads of plot holes, and I got bored, which was really disappointing cause I was really looking forward to this book!
Corin was a character that was difficult to really connect with. She dated boys with a certain name to fool people into thinking that that was the name on her wrist. For no reason but emo edge factor. She claimed not to have a problem with the whole ‘soul-mate’ thing but was really shocked when she learned that a married couple weren’t really soul mates, but then at other times totally disparaged the whole idea of soulmates. I really wished that even if she couldn’t tell anyone, the reader could have had more of a clue as to her direction, as she was so hot and cold on her own beliefs that just started to annoy me.
The two sister felt more broken then they should, logically, be. I understood Jacinta's story (Corin's sister) after it come out later in the book but Corin was so aggressive and mean for a reason I couldn't fathom. Of course losing a father must be awful but that doesn't make you a complete cynical bitch to everyone about everything.
Then there was the ending. I’m still not 100% sure exactly what happened, but by that point I was seriously annoyed and bored, but I do know that I didn’t like it. SPOILER. If the whole soulmate thing was just a rouse by the government to keep people in their place and make things easily controlled, wouldn't they have just killed Corin to keep their secret. That would have been a much better story, have Corin find out it was all a rouse earlier in the book, the government hunting her down and her with the aid of her sister team up with the anit-soulmate organisation and try to inform the world. (And end the ban on books because that was awful)
Corin however takes the easy way out, and side steps any world changing or interesting endings. I really wasn’t impressed, and it totally cemented how much I didn’t enjoy this book.
Age Rating 15+. Sex references, suicide attempts, bad language and a seriously dysfunctional family.
"I don't entirely understand how anyone gets a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. It just seems like the most impossible odds. A perfect alignment of feelings and circumstances . . .
Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly is always careful. Better to be careful than be hurt.
But when Cassie gets a new girlfriend who comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick, everything changes. Will is funny, flirtatious and basically the perfect first boyfriend.
There's only one problem: Molly's co-worker, Reid, the awkward Tolkien super fan she could never fall for . . . right?"
Set in the progressive Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED chronicles the summer story of 17-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso, who has had 26 unrequited crushes. A self-proclaimed "prolific crusher," Molly considers herself the opposite of her fraternal twin sister, Cassie: Whereas Cassie is blond, blue-eyed, and slender, Molly is brown-haired, brown-eyed, and fat. While young lesbian Cassie has hooked up with plenty of girls, Molly has never even kissed any of the 26 guys she's crushed on. Things begin to change when Molly finds herself with two possible suitors: "hipster Will," a handsome ginger who's best friends with Cassie's new girlfriend, and geekily tall "Middle-earth Reid," who works with Molly in his parents' eclectic home goods store. But while Molly realizes Will is objectively "hotter," she finds herself increasingly attracted to geeky and adorkable Reid and his too bright white sneakers.
Through Molly's journey of discovering what falling in love feels like, Albertalli has given voice to a character so often ignored and pushed into the jolly sidekick mode: the chubby girl who's sure she'll die a virgin because adolescent guys, even in progressive Montgomery County, Maryland, are more likely to say "no fatties" or "you're pretty for a big girl" than to see how awesome she really is.
That's not to say that Albertalli made Molly into some romance-novel model of a plus-size perfection. Molly's not rocking any big-and-beautiful or fat-acceptance labels; she's just not constantly trying to diet or obsessed with her weight. The story is about much more than Molly's weight or even her romantic prospects. It's also about how sisterhood and best friendship can change when one or the other person is in love; how loyalties and priorities shift when romance blooms and how your inner circle grows; and how sisters sometimes have to grow apart, ever so slightly, to grow up. But, there is romance. For those worried that this is another intolerable romance, never fear. There's only one real and true viable option for Molly, and he's wonderful. He and Molly talk with an ease that should be a lesson for all young readers. Love is about attraction, yes, but that attraction can start with friendship and a sense of being seen and known -- not simply desired, although there's that, too.
Like Albertalli's previous book, The Upside of Unrequited is extremely diverse, featuring LGBTQ characters and various racial, ethnic, and religious characters. Teens and adults curse (sometimes rather colorfully) in a believable way (some characters much more than others).
Age rating 14 +. As I said discusses some weightier topics that younger readers might not understand or really identify with yet. Language is mild-ish but there and there is the occasional sex reference.
"Meet Tannie Maria: A woman who likes to cook a lot and write a little. Tannie Maria writes recipes for a column in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.
One Sunday morning, as Maria savours the breeze through the kitchen window whilst making apricot jam, she hears the screech and bump that announces the arrival of her good friend and editor Harriet. What Maria doesn't realise is that Harriet is about to deliver the first ingredient in two new recipes (recipes for love and murder) and a whole basketful of challenges.
A delicious blend of intrigue, milk tart and friendship, join Tannie Maria in her first investigation. Consider your appetite whetted for a whole new series of mysteries . . ."
When I first read the synopsis of this book and realised it was set in my home country of South Africa I knew I had to read it and I am so glad I did.
Charming and heart-warming, this is a joyous read about a lovely group of women who find themselves in the midst of a murder investigation without meaning to. The main character of Tannie Maria is simply wonderful - I fell completely in love with her. I am so glad to find such a female model in a book these days. She is clever, brave, independent and strong-minded. But at the same time she is very soft, motherly, with an endless ability to give and care for others. She wants to be loved and to love others, she enjoys her creativity in the kitchen and how she can help others and improve their lives with her creations. There is something very authentic, naïve (in the best sense) and beautiful in that. The plot is suspenseful and easy to follow. All in all a great read. Looking forward to reading the next one in the series.
This is a murder mystery with plenty of humour, some of it slapstick, some understated, but readers will find themselves smiling, chuckling and laughing out loud. The romances (there are a few) were all tender and heart warming, but not overpowering. The setting was written beautifully in such subtle way and made me homesick and the food made me hungry and ready to whip an apron on!
Age Rating 13+. Domestic violence is spoken about but never described or viewed. The murder is creepy and there is an unpleasant kidnapping which could upset younger audiences.
"The Bible According to Spike Milligan is an irreverent but very funny spoof of The Old Testament in which, in his own inimitable fashion, Spike Milligan gives his version of the best known biblical stories.
In the Bible, according to Spike Milligan: "In the beginning God created the Heaven and Earth and darkness was upon the face of the deep; this was due to a malfunction at Lots Road Power Station...And God said 'Let there be light'."
A fun light hearted jab at religion that uses working class British humour that can have you cackling. Personally found it a bit if a slog after a while but that is just because the Bible is a little repetitive by nature.
Age Rating 14+. A lot of sex references and stoning and such.
"HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE
1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.
SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH
It's a small story, about:
a girl
an accordionist
some fanatical Germans
a Jewish fist fighter
and quite a lot of thievery.
ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES"
This story is narrated by Death during World War II, and it is the story of a young German girl who comes of age during one of the most horrific times in recent history. Death has a personality. If something bad is about to happen, Death warns you ahead of time. Death is trying to understand the human race as much as the humans are. When "his" job becomes unbearable, he watches the color of the sky as he gathers the souls and carries them away. The descriptions of the sky are like nothing I've ever read.
The Book Thief is not one of those books you read compulsively, desperate to find out what’s on the next page. No. It is, in fact, better to read it slowly, in small doses, in a way that allows you to savour every word and absorb the power and the magic it contains. All the while, you know what’s going to happen. Death has no patience for mysteries. However, anticipation of the inevitable makes it even worse. My whole body was tingling with fear because I knew what was coming and I knew that it was only a matter of time.
Zusak found a way to give a fresh approach to a much-told story. He offered a glimpse at the other side of the coin. Really, should we feel sorry for the people hiding in a basement in Munich suburbs? Sure, bombs are falling on their heads, but most of them are members of the Nazi Party, willingly or reluctantly. Some of them truly think that Jews are no better than rats. Some, on the other hand, are hiding a Jew in their own basement. Some are just innocent children. But the more important question is, are we any better at all if we don’t feel compassion and sorrow? Death does a great job of asking all these questions in a calm, unobtrusive way.
The only small thing I had against this book is that the so called "Book Thief" only steals 3 to 4 books during the entire novel. I was expecting there to be a little more deviant thievery going on.
Age Rating 13+. A beautifully told story that can be understood by a younger audiences. Not gruesome but still heart rending at times.
"Ruth Young and her widowed mother, LuLing, have always had a tumultuous relationship. Now, before she succumbs to forgetfulness, LuLing gives Ruth some of her writings, which reveal a side of LuLing that Ruth has never known. . . .
In a remote mountain village where ghosts and tradition rule, LuLing grows up in the care of her mute Precious Auntie as the family endures a curse laid upon a relative known as the bonesetter. When headstrong LuLing rejects the marriage proposal of the coffinmaker, a shocking series of events are set in motion–all of which lead back to Ruth and LuLing in modern San Francisco. The truth that Ruth learns from her mother’s past will forever change her perception of family, love, and forgiveness."
I had mixed feelings about this book. The first part of the book, about Ruth's problems and LuLing's negative parenting, dragged for me. The second part, set in China, was exciting with wonderful characters--the bonesetter grandfather, the wicked relatives, LuLing's first love, the suicidal nursemaid. The short third part brought things together well, but seemed to promise an almost too rosy future.
Amy Tan has a way of getting inside mother daughter relationships that is startling. All of her novels explore the bond at both its best and worst. Part of what makes her stories so interesting is the clash of culture and of generational change which is so different to my own. The Bonesetters Daughter is probably the darkest of her novels, despite the (too) neat ending. The stories of the women are fascinating, though I had a hard time liking Ruth much which is probably unfair, I know all too well how difficult mother daughter relationships can be.
I found the description of China under Japanese occupation very interesting. Over all an interesting historical novel that could have had a few improvements. Age Rating 14+ suicide and attempted suicide is witnessed twice and rape is mentioned but not by name.
"The only thing worse than forgetting her past . . . is remembering it.
