Elsewhere is OK, but just that. October 21, 2010

So even though it isn’t the greatest book ever, Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is a fairly good read. It is not as creepy and macabre as Gigi made it seem, no offense Gigi, but it doesn’t really seem like you gave the book a chance. OK so yes the conditions are kinda… odd. Heading to some weird place full of dead people who are reverse aging, but that is in no way the central point of the book and is NOT as morbid as it seems. Sorry but I just don’t get why people see something about death and automatically assume it is creepy or morbid, yes death is a somewhat morbid concept but it is a fact of life and this book is more about the healing process. The main character Liz is really upset about her death, understandable. I mean you just DIED, so she is thinking about how she won’t be able to do so many things just because of one little, avoidable accident and this book is about the process of healing she goes through as she watches her family on Earth try to cope. Although I don’t believe in this afterlife, I’m a definitely Christian who believes in Heaven, I didn’t feel offended by this “suggestion” that there is something other than Heaven, and if you do get offended by that kind of thing  (and I mean no offence by this) come on, it’s just a book. Overall I liked it, may reread it, but not in my top 100. So if you’re looking for an interesting read or are stuck to find a good book pick this one up, and please pay no attention to the ominous warning Gigi left you with. It seems how she perceived what seems to be just the first few chapters is way off base. (in my opinion) Also just a safety note here, please watch for bikes when driving a car and vise-versa, plus always wear your helmet, this book reminded me how many deaths could be avoided by these simple things. Keep safe and keep reading.

Halle

Harry Potter. Is there anything else to say?

Ok, so before I begin my review I feel the need to give a little bit of my history with Harry. Way back in kindergarten my mom used to read me the books, then once I could read I was finishing the series for myself. I have grown up with Harry. He and Ron and Hermione have always been there when I was bored or scared or upset. The book has always (and will always) be a source of comfort for me due to the familiarity and good memories I associate with this great story. So incase you didn’t figure it out yet I’m a pretty big fan, but it’s not just because of that, but because of the amazing characters you can so easily relate to, feel bad for, hate, or really just wish you could be. And one little thing I would like to add before I review is that it is completely ridiculous to compare with Twilight, J.K. Rowling created a whole new world of complex characters and really made connections between everything in her books, wether it be just with other plot points or actual history (spells are Latin or Greek I believe and all of the characters names, and components of their wands plus many other things, represent them somehow) While J.K. was being original, how about Twilight? (check out Gigi’s post for Interview) Need I give more evidence of Harry’s clear superiority over Twilight. Harry Potter is a series that will stand the test of time, plots that will entertain you more than just the 1st time you read it. Whereas Twilight is comparable to HSM, you read it one time “OMG that was awesome” the second time “Not as good as I remembered” third and more “eh.” So with that said here is my review: Harry Potter. Read it. Is there anything else to really say?

-Halle

Interview was Awesome!!!!

Ok, so this book was soooooooo good. For full details on the plot check out Gigi’s post, or you know, read the book. I really thought this book was great. It is at a higher level (so if you think Twilight was “deep” or “complicated” and ” took a lot to understand” please just ignore the rest of this and head to the kiddy section of your nearest library) but the occasionally concentration it took to fully comprehend and enjoy the book is completely worth it. Instead of your average vampire book where some hot guy falls in love with this exceedingly normal girl who we all love to think of ourselves as, it really attempts to give us a glimpse into the mind of a vampire. Think about it, you have been alive from hundreds of years. You know you’ve done horrible things, you’ve stolen, lied, murdered, and you have to deal with that weighing on you everyday. Because you feel the guilt of this you are totally different from the rest of your kind. (sound familiar, all you Twilighters who scoffed at my earlier warning, because it’s not the shallowness of Edward “Oh, poor me, my soul is gone forever! Now all I can do is wallow in self-pity then go makeout with some human girl, AND on top of that I’m rich beyond belief, poor me )=”) Louis, our main character, has loved (and hated) with such intensity that we cannot even begin to comprehend it, yeah twilighers this is again not like your man Eddy, we actually get to see into the mind of this vamp, so it’s a little more complex than “Omg he loves her so much! He’s soooo deep!” Have you ever tried to comprehend this truly or did that series ever try to make you fully understand. Didn’t think so. Overall I think this book is a great break from all the Twilight crap, so for all of you who want to read a REAL vampire book this is it, if not just keep reading Twilight as your brain slowly rots away.

-Halle

An explaination for Halle’s apparent falling off of the face of the Earth October 20, 2010

Hey everyone, so it kinda appears like I died or was kidnapped by aliens due to the lack of posting but I have a legit reason. I can’t give full details (darn those pesky government blackouts) but I can say that just as I began typing my reviews some agents- uh I mean people from a certain three-letter agency showed up in need of my assistance. So I have spent all my time since being “asked” for help training in simula-I mean,uh, studying zombie “video games” and, ummmmmm, using shows like Star Trek and Star Wars to help me learn to communicate with certain, “visitors”… Like I said government blackouts so not much info I can give you. And that whole time I was not able to access anything I could use to communicate, but we must do what we can when the world is in peril. Oh and for those of you who may know me and are all “Wait, you’ve been in school since the first day!” lets just say robots are very advanced now. So sorry I haven’t posted sooner but as soon as this goes on the site I will finish typing the posts.

-Halle

Look Elsewhere for a good read. July 23, 2010

Hey, Halle bailed on a book. I reserve my right.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Liz who gets hit by a car. Next thing she knows, she’s on a boat headed for Elsewhere, the Earth wannabe where people reverse-age, and then get sent back to Earth as babies to grow up again.

It was interesting enough, I guess. But it’s just such a morbid concept, I didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about it! Or thinking about what happens when people die. I was plain uncomfortable.

I’m not familiar with a lot of religions and what they believe the afterlife is like. I believe in Heaven, and this kind of anti-heaven sitch made me kind of uncomfortable also. Honestly, it kind of treads on what is a touchy subject with many people and I’m kind of surprised it’s gotten the accolades it has.

So I don’t know, I was just uncomfortable and I didn’t want to read it anymore. So I stopped. If you want to try it, be my guest, but you’re warned…

Gigi does the inevitable

I read Harry Potter.

I know, I know, I said I never would. I didn’t want to feed into the machine, ya know?

But one day I realized that being different for the sake of being different is wrong and kind of obnoxious. And I kind of did want to read Harry Potter, because I’d heard it was apparently pretty good and why should it matter if everyone else likes it too? So I did.

And you know what? It was really good.

I tried to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone from the perspective of it just having come out with no sequels yet, judging it purely on what was in the book, never having heard of Harry Potter or knowing what happens next (I’ve seen a few of the movies). It wasn’t the most complex book I’ve ever read. There were characters I found irritating and rather flat  (the Dursleys, Hermione at the beginning). I really have never met a fantasy book I like, so some of the dragon, goblin, and other mythical creature references left me slightly annoyed.

But having said that, I actually liked this book. JK has a certain style that pulls readers into the plot. It’s the book world’s “x factor” that very few writers have, that natural charisma on paper that can make an avid reader out of anyone. (PS, that’s why we all liked Twilight when we first read it.) She, Stephenie, and others use simple language masterfully in a way that conjures vivid images in the mind’s eye. I was sucked into the plot and thoroughly enjoyed the developments.

Now off to read the other six!

Wow, where has Halle been? July 4, 2010

Super sorry everyone! Things have been kinda crazy lately, like I have had no time to read. Thank God I can finally start reading again now that craziness with my schedule is over. I promise Interview will be reviewed very soon, just had a few issues with trips and needing to return books. Promise this won’t be a regular thing!

-Halle

Christine (finally being reviewed by the ever busy Halle) July 3, 2010

Hi everyone!  Sorry that I kinda disappeared off the face of the Earth for so long! Things have been ultra crazy you know, exams then trips and camps. really sorry! So anyway this book Christine. Personally I thought it was fabulous, although very creepy. Stephen King is now one of my favorite writers. (I’ve also read Misery and Carrie since finishing Christine) He is truly the master of horror and most of you, especially if you are as chicken as Gigi, will spend the next few weeks after reading this book afraid to go out on the streets after dark, because you know somewhere, somehow, Christine is watching you. So you guys are probably wondering “Who is this Christine anyway?” Well Christine is a car, a 1958 Plymouth Fury to be exact. Her previous owner, the old and cynical Roland LeBay, sells her in the beginning of the book to our main character Denis’s best friend Arnie. Now you may be imagining some cool, sleek, old car in perfect condition. Wrong. To put it simply Christine is a clunker, like to buy her you would have to be insane. But Arnie falls in love as soon as he sees her, and while he works on restoring her also develops an obsession that is just plain creepy, and possibly dangerous. Christine changes Arnie and Denis can see it, now Arnie was like the nerdiest guy ever, a pizza face who is like MVP of chess club that football superstar Denis has always had to protect from just about everything. Suddenly rather than having Denis save him from getting beaten up, Denis is having to stop Arnie from starting fights.  Then it gets weirder. The new girl in town and classic American girl-next-door Leigh Cabot is actually into Arnie and they start dating. “How is that so weird? The guy just got a little confidence and a girlfriend.” you may be thinking, but Christine is looming in the shadows as all of this happens, and she seems to have repairs that Arnie can’t remember doing. Almost like she’s fixing herself. Dun Dun Dunnnnn. After several mysterious murders (In which the victims were all Arnie’s tormentors who somehow hurt Christine) and an incident in Christine mysteriously similar to the death of LeBay’s daughter people start to realize there is something VERY wrong with Arine Cunnigham and his car. So because of all this weirdness Arnie gets dumped by Leigh after he has this huge blow-up fight with her about Christine and his general change in attitude. And, of course, Denis and Leigh hook up (Some R-rated content here, but not too much detail) and they decide that it’s time to get rid of Christine. For good. Will Denis and Leigh be able to defeat this mysterious force that is Christine, what’s wrong with Arnie anyway, and will any of the characters live to see last page? Well if you aren’t a bedwetter then read to find out.

Christine was a really good book, although you may have a mini-heart attack the next few time you see some car headlights go past your window at night. Be warned, ask parents BEFORE reading this book. With the R-rated stuff and a little gore (plus the fact that they may not want you reading something this “scary”) you don’t want to get in trouble just for reading. I give it 4 stars. Take out the gross, kinda perverted guy stuff that occasionally occurs and I would give it 5, overall a pretty good read so grab your old teddy bear and curl up as far away from the garage as possible to enjoy this great read.  Just remember: Christine is out there (Dun Dun Dunnnnnn)

-Halle (who is, again, really sorry about not posting!)

&S#Q@?! Exams. June 19, 2010

I finished Interview weeks ago and couldn’t find a good time to sit and write. Then, vacation, and lookie here, a month passed.

Anyway. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice has been a cult favorite of many for thirty years. Basically, it’s another one of these epics that details the entire adult life of its protagonist. Louis was a young man grieving the loss of his brother in 18th century New Orleans. Along came the vampire Lestat who needed cash and a place to put his coffin. Louis craves death, and Lestat gives it to him- physical death, eternal awakeness. The two are polar opposites- Louis is thoughtful and passionate, and Lestat is flashy and arrogant. But Lestat needs Louis, and out of fear of being alone, Louis stays with Lestat, even though he loathes him. Through various schemes *not revealing plot* Lestat procures a child, who they name Claudia. She matures and becomes an adult woman, trapped in a five-year-old’s body. She grows resentful of Lestat, who created her, and she and Louis plot to and kill Lestat, then escape to Europe to find others “of their kind”.

*MUAHAHA CLIFFHANGER SUMMARY* Let’s just say I bawled like a baby.

This book rocks. Seriously. It’s so, so well written. It’s the kind of book that you read with a highlighter in one hand, because there are so many beautiful passages. The wording is luxurious and juicy and plump. The characters are powerfully constructed, the settings sharp and vivid– I was positively glued to it. The book is a waltzing couple under a roof that collapses as they dance. The chandelier clatters to the floor in an explosion of crystal. The musicians stop. Finally the plaster caves in, and still they dance, stepping daintily over the rubble, seeing only each other’s eyes. That’s this book- a dainty spin of delicious disaster.

For all of you who like that Twilight remix vampire/ghost/zombie crap (no offense), read this. This spawned every modern vampire book. Including Twilight. Let us list some interesting coincidences:

-The vampires are beautiful- skin carved of glistening marble. Humans are always physically attracted to them.

-Most vamps live on their own. The ones in groups are called covens. They function as a family.

-Because of moral obligations, Louis doesn’t want to drink people. So he hunts animals!.

-Louis is a masochist who thinks he deserves to be in Hell. He falls in love with a human named Babette.

-The largest coven of vampires is located in a major historical site of Europe. They kill tourists for fun.

-The large coven wants to kill our lovely narrator. Who has a daughter they also want to kill.

Hmmm…. Interview was published in 1976. Twilight, 2005. HMMMM. Just saying, Stephenie.

I am very protective of my favorites. Can you tell?

There’s a really good movie based off this, and several companion books. I’m not going to watch/read them though (I often don’t), because I don’t want my mental pictures ruined. I had to cover my eyes every time they showed the previews for Percy Jackson and the Olympians on TV. I also have this problem with seeing pictures of the author- I hate it! Then when I read the story, I can picture someone creating it. It makes you realize that that it’s not real.

Anyway, read the book. You won’t regret it.

We are so sorry! May 16, 2010

It’s been… two months since we’ve posted.
To all two of our viewers, we are so sorry for this lack of interestingness!
More posts soon, for sure!