Monday 19 March 2012

The Help by Kathryn Stockett- Review

 

 Three women, Aibileen, a black maid and raising her seventeenth child; Minny, Aibileen's best friend whose cooking is wanted all over town but whose sass is not; and white Miss Skeeter who had just come home from college and is in search for the maid who raised her, all come together to tell their story. Little do they know, what they are planning are more dangerous than they thought.

Rating: 5 out of 5

I'd wanted to read The Help for a while, but that massive queue for this book at the library was pretty detracting. I can tell you now that this was my first time being number 243 on a reserves list. Not even for Twilight, did I end up having to wait for so long. Four months I had to wait. And I wasn't even sure if I could finish the whole book and three weeks didn't seem like enough.



Turns out, the wait was worth it and I didn't even need the whole three weeks, I finished well within the return date.

The topic that this focuses on was a topic I was unaware of. I mean, I was aware that discrimination was happening in the world, but I never knew it was ever this bad. Plus I think Kathryn Stockett did a fantastic job at this. I was amazed at how simple her style of writing was and yet she could excel at describing an environment like this one. And this is her first novel! Goodness…




One of the things I loved most about the book was the strong narrative voice. Even with three points- of view, I could flick to a random page and be able to tell who exactly was speaking. There would never be a time where I’d sigh with relief when a particular person’s chapter ended, in fact, I dreaded that moment because I desperately wanted to know what happened to Minny when Johnny came home. Which resulted to me reading on, and on, until, before I knew it, I’d finished.



Another thing I liked was the fact that the one word of which was the name of the characters oozed personality. It’s like you can just say, “Skeeter”, and I’d be able to tell you what she’s like on the spot. I would do it now, of course, but you’re here to read about how great The Help was, not so that you can admire my many talents. And another thing I liked was that all three main characters, Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter’s lives were linked in some way and so were the other ones. Nothing annoys me more than useless characters.



I loved, loved loved, The Help. It was easy yet informative. Serious yet humorous. So go read it now! While I’m off in search of the movie…

Ela's note: Okay, so I know that this isn't exactly a young adult book but, I thought this book would teach you a lot about what happened in the past as it did me. Plus it's just a good read :)

Thursday 8 March 2012

Giveaways and the Likes...

First giveaway! @ Book Nerd Reviews


 











Book Nerd Reviews is hosting an international giveaway including the books Article 5 by Kristen Simmons, Our Fault in the Stars by John Green, A Million Suns by Beth Revis and Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood. Interested? Click here.
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Next giveaway @ Sparkling Reviews



How awesome does a $500 Amazon gift voucher sound? Pretty damn cool, we can assure you. Sparkiling reviews is hosting a giveaway at her blog. Click here for more information.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Tagged!

So after one blog award after another, we are pleased to tell you followers that we have been "tagged"!

What is tagging, exactly? Well, the idea around this is that you come up with 11 questions and then tag 11 people, then the 11 people answer those 11 questions, then come up with a set of their own 11 questions to give to the 11 people they've tagged. And it goes on and on. Very cool.

First, we want to thank Sarah@ That Teenage Feeling for tagging our blog.

Rules:
  1. You must post the rules. 
  2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged. 
  3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post. 
  4. Let them know you've tagged them!

 ***


Ela's Answers to Sarah's Questions:


1. Fill in the blank. When I'm not reading I'm ______
On the internet or writing. 
2. When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? 
When I was six or seven, I had this Barbie book that had all these careers in it, with Barbies as the models. I always loved the model for the landscape architect, so that was what I dreamed to be (yes, silly, I know).
3. What's the best non-YA book you've read recently? 
The Hunger Games the Official Illustrated Movie Companion, probably (what can I say, I am definitely excited for the movie).
4. What was your favourite book as a child and why? 
 Hmm.... I don't know. I can't remember that far back. Something Barbie related, I'm sure.
5. What song or artist are you loving at the moment? 
I am absolutely, absolutely in love with Foster the People, and their song, Houdini. Other bands I'm loving are Grouplove and Young Lyre
6. What food/drink/ is unique to where you live? 
Pavlovas, I think. They're, like, meringues with cream and fruit, such as kiwifruit and strawberries on top.
 
7. What is your favourite Disney movie? If you haven't watched/don't care for Disney, what's your favourite cartoon? 
Does Tangled count? I know it's a newer one. One of my older favourites is Cinderella. And no, me liking it doesn't have any relation to the fact that Cinderella has the word "ella" in it. 
8. If you could be any fictional character, who would you be? 
Tessa Gray from the Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, no question about it. Though, I think I would do a worse job at choosing between the two boys....
9. What was the last book that made you cry? 
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand. *Sigh* It makes me sad just thinking about it.
10. What would you name the autobiography of your life? 
The autobiography of my life? Would I even become famous enough to have an autobiography?
11. If they made a movie of your life who would play you?  
Anyone, really. As long as they're funny and not bitchy when the camera's off them. But I think I would be more interested in who plays my love interest.



Celine's Answers to Sarah's Questions:

1. Fill in the blank. When I'm not reading I'm surfing the net, hanging with friends or txting.
2. When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? 
 A singer (silly I know, I'm not even good, haha) [Oh, whatever. I know you're good- Ela butting in]
3. What's the best non-YA book you've read recently? 
 No idea....
4. What was your favourite book as a child and why? 
I actually can't remember, probably Winnie the Pooh or something.
5. What song or artist are you loving at the moment? 
FOSTER THE PEOPLE!!! (I'm seriously going to kill my IPod and Phone from it playing Torches 24/7, haha), Young Lyre and Grouplove.
6. What food/drink/ is unique to where you live? 
I don't think there is anything that unique from where I live, well nothing I can think of anyway so I'm just going to look at Ela's answers... I think Pavlova is the best answer :D
7. What is your favourite Disney movie? If you haven't watched/don't care for Disney, what's your favourite cartoon? 
When I was little a used to love Tweetie Bird and Mickey Mouse. But I would probably have to say everyone loves Elmo. XD
8. If you could be any fictional character, who would you be? 
Tessa from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, but I think I would be better with the boy decisions, haha. But if I couldn't be Tessa, I would be Clary from The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. <3
9. What was the last book that made you cry? 
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand *tear*
10. What would you name the autobiography of your life? 
Autobiography, ngaw yup that will so happen... :D
11. If they made a movie of your life who would play you?  
I don't mind, I totally agree with Ela though, I am more curious about who will play my love interest. <3 hehe.

***

Our 11 questions:

  1. Where in the world do you want to travel?
  2. What would you rather- ebook or hardcopy?
  3. What book are you most excited to be turned into a movie?
  4. If you could magically transport yourself into any book/movie, what would it be and why?
  5. What author would you be dying to meet?
  6. Is there a book that you could recommend to us?
  7. If you changed your name, what would it be?
  8. If you could go to a time and place in a book, where and what book would it be?
  9. If you could get an author to add another book to a series, what series would it be?
  10. Who is your book character crush and why?
  11. If you could be a character from a book/series, who would it be and why?
***

The people we have tagged:
  


***

Congrats to all that we've chosen!

New Excerpt From City Of Lost Souls

Here is a new excerpt from City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare



They stared at her, astounded. "Are you out of your mind? How the hell are we supposed to kill Simon? No dice," Clary retorted furiously. "You know what happened to Lilith. We have no chance, and I'd never murder my best friend."
The Queen regarded her coolly, amusement glittering in the depths of her leaf-green eyes as she watched them trapped by her deal, their butterfly wings flapping feebly while she mercilessly drove a stick into their bodies. "Is that your final answer, then? Once you decline my offer, it will never come again."
Isabelle opened her mouth, defiance against the Seelie Queen evident in the set of her jaw. But Jace beat her to it. "No. We need some time to confer before making a decision."
The two female Shadowhunters stared at him in rage and disbelief. "You're joking," Clary intoned bleakly. "You'd kill a living person to trace a glamour that would only lead us on a wild goose chase? You'd do this for a dead person?"
Softly, Isabelle spoke with absolute conviction, "Jace… I know Simon doesn't mean nearly as much to you as Alec did, but I doubt Alec would want you to kill some innocent person for him."
With the light extinguished in his eyes, Isabelle thought Jace had come to his senses, and would draw the line at homicide, but she was disappointed. "He's not a person."
The words seemed to bury themselves into Isabelle's chest, before groping for her heart and tearing it out, dropping it on the floor and grinding it beneath a heel of a boot. Distantly, she remembered the words she had said to Simon once: My mom didn't tell me who she was. She just told me you couldn't really trust men.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand- Review

 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Clara Gardner is an angel-blood with a purpose. She must find out what her purpose is and filful it.
On her way to finding out what her purpose means, she faces decisions and incidents with Tucker and Christian.
Whilst Clara is trying to figure out all her new problems and challenges, she also learns that she will lose someone. Someone she loves.

Captivating. Hallowed by Cynthia Hand leaves you wanting more. Exciting and deeply romantic, I'm so joyful to have finished the book but also sad knowing it will be a LONG wait for the next... ;(


description

Clara has a purpose, a purpose that at one point she thinks she knows and the next finds out the detial is something completly different. Cynthia Hand writes in a very good structure, always making you want to find out more.

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The quizzical love connections between Clara, Christian and Tucker result to finishing a beautiful novel.

I was all "She has to be with Tucker, he's so sweet and caring" after i finished Unearthly. But now after finishing Hallowed and learning alot more about Christian, my balance between the two are leaning over to Christian more. Don't get me wrong, I still love Tucker, I'm just saying that Christian really showed what he's worth and how caring he is thrughout the book, whereas Tucker seemed more defensive and not as much there.

To conclude this though, this book is not just about Clara and her infinate Christian and Tucker problems. Hallowed also puts Clara in more complicated decisions resulting from her purpose, which she still is learning about every second. Clara also learns she will loss someone she loves, someone she may have took for granted.

I loved this book, definately one of my favourites. It's just a book you have to read, after Unearthly ofcourse. :D