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This book comes with a warning. About not picking it up if you have places to be. Believe it. And add to the list: sleep. If you are at all insomnia-prone, do not get into bed and pick up this book. You’re not going to want to put it down. You might not be able to put it down.
Clay Jensen is having a bad week. Which is a massive understatement. But I don’t think he’d have accurate words to tell you how he feels, so I’m certainly not going to try.
It started when Hannah Baker failed to show up for school. It continued in the whispers and looks. The reactions, some of which seemed random, some which almost maybe made sense. It culminated in the package left at his front door. The one with his name on it. No return address. The brief excitement ended when he found a cassette player and popped in the first tape. And out came Hannah’s voice.
Hannah Baker lost control of her life. At least, she couldn’t seem to gain control of her life. Even once she realized what was going on. As it got worse, and oblivion seemed to be spiraling her way, she took it upon herself to document what had happened. From the beginning. Which in this case was her move to town. The fresh start that got off on the wrong foot, through no fault of her own, and never ceased to misstep.
She wrote a list. After a specific and yet random night which caused it all to collide, she wrote a list. All the connections. The events and the people. From that list she narrowed it down to 13. Thirteen key players. Thirteen people whose lives, in one way or another, will never be the same. Not just because Hannah Baker didn’t come to school. She also left them a message. A message they and 12 others will know. If they follow the rules. No tellling who could end up knowing if they don’t.
There’s another set of tapes. And a follower, making sure the first set gets around.
Clay, for his part, can hardly take it all in. From the first time he saw Hannah, he liked her. But for varied reasons, not the least of which were the rumors that began it all, he never tried. He was afraid to find out he might be wrong, he thought she’d never give him a chance. And then he nearly had one…only to lose it. And then he really lost it, because Hannah took it all away. No second chances.
As he makes his way through the tapes, there’s an incredible amount of disbelief. A lot of inability to process. And yet he perseveres. He plays all the tapes, beginning to end, in one sitting. Trying to understand. Shuddering at every new piece to slide into place. Trying to imagine how he can go back to school and face these people, whose reactions now make sense.
It’s as much because of Clay, as because of Hannah, that you won’t be able to stop reading. And while it might seem you could never be left feeling anything but despairing…it’s not true.
This about awareness. This is about change. And most of all, this is about hope.
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The wait is over, and another begun. Like its predecessors before it, Eclipse will please, and leave readers wanting more.
Picking up with life in Forks racing towards graduation, Bella is under house arrest, she and Jacob still aren’t speaking, Charlie is barely tolerating Edward, who himself is more polite than Bella thinks Charlie deserves, and her plans to become a vampire are solid as ever. If only that were the end of the list of worries.
There’s still Victoria, forever hunting Bella to avenge her mate’s death. And the Volturi, displeased with a human knowing their secret. And, after winning her freedom, and going to see Jake, Jake and Edwards’ mutual dislike. Edward, of course, is the first to get a grip. And in Bella, the werewolves and the vampires find common ground. After a break-in at her house, Jake and Edward realize Bella, and everyone else involved, would be better protected if the sides worked together. For a long time, that leaves Jacob on his own, largely lacking in sleep, but he won’t hear of not doing his part.
Then there’s the matter of the murders in Seattle. Eventually, the Cullens suspect vampires. Newborns. An area with which Jasper has a great deal of experience.
A plan begins to form, and after some more insightful thought on Bella’s part, changes, as the plot thickens. For her part, she can’t stand any of it. Knowing that her friends are putting themselves in danger for her. Regardless of their claims that it will all work out, she can’t relax. And after hearing in detail what newborns can do, she starts to worry after herself, and what she’ll become when she changes. Whether she’ll still be herself.
A lot of big questions get asked, and answered, in this installment of the series, which is sure to please. For my part, I’m now eagerly, and rather impatiently, awaiting Breaking Dawn.
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After seeing a trailer for this movie recently, and then stumbling across my copies of the series in VT, I decided to re-read them.
This story is central to Lyra Belacqua, a child without family, left in the care of Oxford College. While the college does its best to educate her, Lyra more greatly enjoys running amok with her best friend Roger, who works in the kitchens. But her curiosity and hankering to know are what lead everything into being.
Having snuck into a room she’s not meant to be in, she gets trapped, and while hiding in a closet sees a plot to poison her uncle unfold. She then warns her Uncle without thinking, and after filling him in, is left hidden to spy on the upcoming meeting. The meeting, of course, leaves her all the more curious, especially about Dust.
Then come the Gobblers, child thieves, stealing children from their families all around England, and finally coming to Oxford, where they get their hands both on Roger, and a gyptian boy Lyra knew. Lyra has little time to mourn, as she herself is about to go away, newly made assistant to the beautiful Mrs. Coulter.
Not long into her new life, Lyra grows increasingly disturbed, both by Mrs. Coulter, and her daemon, the evil golden monkey, who can roam too far from his mistress. In the end, she runs away, meeting up again with the gyptians, who hide her and keep her safe, as they know even more about her and the big picture and the gobblers than she herself does.
And so begins Lyra’s Quest to save Roger, and all the captured children, and her father, as she comes to learn Lord Asriel to be.
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I read this book while on vacation in Vermont, which seemed really appropriate, even if the book was set in Wisconsin.
D.J., at 15, doesn’t have the world’s most pleasant life. Her two older brother’s have left the house, after a fight with their dad, and dad’s got a bum leg, so it’s up to D.J. to run the farm. She gets occasional help from her younger brother, but he’s big into sports, which come first. And just when she thinks it can’t get any worse, the rival football team QB shows up in her driveway. He was sent, it turns out, to help. Since he doesn’t want to be there, and D.J. doesn’t want him there, you can imagine how it goes.
When his coach, her dad’s best friend, comes by later, she bluntly explains that she think Brian needs a trainer, not a job. Apparently the coach agrees, and suddenly D.J. finds herself in a situation even more unexpected than she began with. She and Brian both reluctantly agree to give it a shot, and by the end of the week have grown quite comfortable with each other.
In the meantime, D.J. has also thought up another plan. After realizing how much she really does know about football, and how much fun she’s had training with Brian, she wants to play. Since she doesn’t know if it’s even possible, she keeps it to herself.
Her mother, a member of the School Board, finds out first, since the Coach brought it up in a meeting. Awkward, to say the least, but she promises to keep the secret. Brian finds out in an even worse manner, on the first day of practice, and her dad finds out last. All of which spurs D.J. to action, calling her brother Bill for the first time since the big fight.
Underlying all the ball, is a pretty insightful look into families and their dysfunctions and how easy some of them can be to avoid.
If you’re looking for a nice light read with a lot of laughs, this one’s for you.
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Having just recovered his father from a years-long enchantment, Charlie is on his own again—his parents have gone off for a second honeymoon. But there’s plenty to look forward to. Once they’re back, the family will be moving into its old home. Which, as Charlie and Uncle Paton find out while visiting, has been recently vandalized. By something not quite human, if the glimpse Charlie gets of two figures scurrying away is right.
At school, things aren’t going so well either. The appearance of a boy called Dagbert Endless has everyone ill at ease. Cook, because she knew his father. Charlie, because Dagbert has attached himself to him and is insulting all his friends. Charlie’s friends because…they’re being insulted. But the boy’s plot fails. He can’t actually break up Charlie and his gang, since they know it’s what he’s up to, and they aren’t falling for it.
Charlie’s aunt has also remarried, and is now step-mother to a sweet girl, and rather questionable boy, who happens to be under Manfred Bloor’s control.
But the real key to the story is the beast. Asa, after helping Charlie save his father, hasn’t been seen since. But mournful howls can be heard filling the air every night. The townspeople get themselves into a panic and go out on a hunt, after which Charlie knows he just has to find Asa. And thanks to Mr. Ominous, he has a plan.
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This is not the book to read if you’re looking for a happy story. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t end well, but it’s not going to leave you feeling uplifted and light.
Set in small town Minnesota, this is the story of a family. A mother who never quite wanted to be, a father who can’t quite get it right, and isn’t happy enough with what he has, a son who gets lost inside himself, and a daughter just trying to keep up. The story is told from ever side, each looking a little different.
Claire speaks to trying to cope first with a drunk, depressed husband, and then to life without him. Esau speaks to his time in the hospital, and to trying to cope with life outside of it. Kate speaks to all of it. Her missing brother, her lost father, her mother, lost in a different way. Trying to fit the pieces together.
The book is beautifully written, and seeing the story unfold through three sets of very separate eyes is…for sudden lack of a better term, eye-opening, to say the least. Fans of Hornbacher’s memoir will likely enjoy her foray into ficiton, as will anyone who appreciates a good book.
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For the first time in my reading of this series, I had a hard time getting through the book. I’m not really sure whether it was me, or the story. More than the others it felt a bit out of left field, even though it wasn’t.
Following up the previous tale, The Most High Academe has died, Quint is training to be a Knight Academic, sponsored by the Professor of Light, and Maris is in Undertown, in the “care” of her uncle.
Plots abound throughout the school, as the weather turns more and more wintry and hopeless. Every mission to the Deepwoods in search of Stormphrax fails; some before they’ve even left the city. Sky Scholars grow paranoid and start seeking out and destroying any hint of Earth scholarship. Meanwhile, it’s exactly that they need. And only by accident does anyone realize it.
While a battle broils in the city, Quint and his friends, and Maris, take to the skies with their last hope. An ancient idea that has to save the day.
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