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When Ben Wolf goes for his yearly physical prior to Cross-Country season, he gets some rather unexpected news. the worst sort of unexpected news really. But Ben has always felt that he wasn’t meant for a nice, long life on this earth, and takes the news about as in stride as anyone can. His doctor is none to pleased, dragging him to a specialist, and swearing him to twice weekly therapy for his silence and pass on the physical. Ben, being 18, knows the decision is his, and threatens legal action should his family find out.
Instead of returning to Cross-Country, where he’s a shoe-in for the State Title, Ben turns out for football, much to the amusement of the other players, and bemusement of the Coach. For a pint-sized guy, he’s quite the surprise as it turns out. And for a large part of the season, he’s their best-kept secret. The Horseshoe Bend game, which will surely go down in Trout History gives him one of the best moments of his life.
Meanwhile, outside school, he’s somehow landed the girl of his dreams. A thing he’d never conceived as a possibility. But dying made him bold. And is now tearing him to pieces. Not only does she like him, she forsees a future with him. One he won’t be there for. She tells him so secrets so huge he knows he should reciprocate, and yet by that time it seems too late.
The more the year progresses, the more Ben finds that attempting normalcy when the reality is anything but really wasn’t a good idea. And they tried to tell him. The doctor, the therapist, the next therapist, Hey-Soos. heck, even town drunk Rudy McCoy has confided an earth-shattering secret in him, and he still can’t get the guts to come clean.
He does though. Starting with Rudy, as it happens. And then Coach. And Cody.
Sometimes it goes much better than he could hoped. Sometimes it’s about the worst thing ever. Dying aside. Worse than that, even.
While it would seem that this would be a sad tale and a depressing read, it was uplifting throughout and largely funny, with its supremely serious interludes thrown in at just the right junctures. Definitely a recommended read for all.
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An eternity of reflecting one’s misery back on oneself, as it turns out, gets quite dull. Really, it’s torturous. You can’t change anything at this point, it’s all been said and done. And the thanklessness of it…well. It’s just more than Kiriel can deal with. So what if he’s breaking all the rules? He deserves a vacation. And the body he slipped into…well, it was about to die anyway.
After eternity as a spirit, the physical realm is quite something. In fact, Kiriel is giving the Creator props at every turn. Color! Wind! It’s all just incredible. Of course, learning to be human whilst being supervised is more than a little awkward, so his first order of business is to remove himself from the company of Shaun’s best friend and head home for some solitude.
After getting caught essentially making out with a t-shirt, spending a couple of hours in the bathroom, and overhauling Shaun’s appearance, Kiriel thinks he’s getting the hang of this physical thing. Each new experience is incredible. Like ketchup. Oh does he love ketchup! Ingenious.
But he has bigger issues at hand. Better experiences he wants to try to get to before someone notices and his trip comes to an end. Only at this point does he realize his choice of someone generally unnoticed may not have been the best. These are not the boys who…get on well with girls. But he can try!
Speaking is his biggest issue really. It’s a bit hard to remember to try to talk like an uninterested, unenlightened teenage boy when you know pretty much everything. Eager to try to make an impact while he can, Kiriel decides to give some advice to a bully, who he knows he’ll see in Hell if things don’t change. But apparently attempting to counsel a bully on his fears of inadequacy in public is not the best idea.
After a few days as Shaun, Kiriel’s curiosity is starting to wear off. The novelty is wearing off. Being human is hopelessly futile. Shaun has disappeared, and no one has noticed, aside from his cat. It’s horribly depressing. And the changes he’s begun, being nicer to Jason, well, he won’t be here to carry through on that. So what’s the point, really?
Still. It’s been fun. And you can learn things while physical that you just wouldn’t otherwise. So it wasn’t all pointless. And maybe he will leave a mark after he’s gone. Maybe it’s not all futile.
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Tessa Scott is dying, and there’s some things she’d really like to get to before she does. Ideas scribbled everywhere around her room. On the wall. On scraps of paper. Her best friend, Zoey, thinks she should gather them together, make a real list, get on with it. Anything’s better than lying about in bed all day. And as much as Tess would like to disagree, she eventually comes to realize she has two choices. Get on with living or get on with death. And since her life has already been cut short, isn’t making the most of the rest of it the best plan?
The list is not necessarily the kind of thing a parent would love. In fact, Tessa’s pretty sure that her dad will hate most of it. But it’s her life. And she wants to get to experience it. After all, what’s the worst that can happen?
Of course, making up one’s mind to go through with something so big and actually doing it are different stories. And when Zoey comes to collect her for their night out, where they intend to take care of number uno–sex–Tess isn’t so keen to leave the house. Nor is her dad keen to have her out late. Zoey cares about neither objection, and off they go. It’s not exactly everything Tessa was hoping for. In fact it might be nothing she was hoping for. But it’s still one off the list. And it’s a start. Which might make it easier to keep going. But nothing can make it easy.
Her relationships are strained at best. Her father is at wit’s end. Zoey comes and goes. She meets the neighbor boy, after a long stretch of watching him through the window, only to get close, push him away, get close, push him away.
The day she decides to say yes to everything lands her in a river, and afterwards in hospital. Her wish for fame leads to a radio interview where she divulges some details her father could have done with out. But once she’s really made up her mind to go out on her own terms, there’s certainly no stopping her.
Not the easiest story to read, in terms of sunshine and happy times, but it’s certainly well worth the read. Tessa is someone to aspire to, when all is said and done.
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I’ve been an avid Block fan since a friend had me read Violet & Claire in 2001, after which I went out and bought all the books on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. Hanged Man has always been one of my favorites. It’s always struck me as odd, as it’s one of the touchier subjects, centering around molestation and repressed memories, but I suppose I felt I could identify, and her writing is just incredible.
As per usual with FLB books, her style is unique. Reality meats fantasy, poetry meets prose.
Laurel’s father has died, and she and her mother spend their days floating around one another, like ships anchored just out of reach, or at sea always passing but never meeting. The AIDS scare has begun, and Laurel worries for her friends and their wild lifestyles. Though constantly urged otherwise, she doesn’t eat. A man has been going around the valley breaking into women’s rooms, and Laurel can’t sleep, though her room is in a tower.
Phantasmic Jack haunts her dreams, appears at random at parties, on the streets. It’s he who eventually helps her to break free of her internal bars, to let go of everything held inside. Only after this point can she and her mother then confront what’s been between them for so long.
Laurel’s emotional journey will likely resonate with many, even if they can’t relate to her specific circumstances. The language alone makes it worth the read. I have a handful of favorite authors, but I’ve still yet to find anyone who can out-style Francesca Lia Block.
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I originally started re-reading this series when I first saw The Golden Compass preview on TV. Since it has come to annoy me, as having recently read the book again, I can tell they’ve altered the story. Unfortunately, I put down The Subtle Knife for a long time while concentrating on school books and other reads. Surprisingly, picking it up again after a long span of time, I was able to jump right back in, and it was every bit as compelling. But it does make reviewing it a little harder.
We pick up Lyra’s story just after she’s gone into the hole in the sky created by her father, intent on finding him and putting a stop to whatever he’s doing. Instead of finding Lord Asriel, however, she finds herself in a beautiful city inhabited by only children. Some invisible menace known as Specters has driven off, or killed, all the adults.
A series of events conspire to unite Lyra with Will, a boy who grew up in an Oxford very much like, and very different from, her own. Will is searching for his father, missing for 12 years. Lyra has vowed to help him. Along the way of course comes the unexpected trouble of having the alethiometer stolen by and old man who turns out to be someone Lyra has already had a run-in with, the police looking for both she and Will, brokering a deal to go after a mysterious knife, only to find out it’s incredibly powerful and has deemed Will its new master.
It’s a very fast read, with never a dull moment. Any Pullman fan or Potter fan yet to read His Dark Materials will find plenty to like. And you’ll certainly be left wanting to know how it will all end.
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I was first introduced to Dexter in a trailer for the series coming to Showtime. Sadly, that is not a channel included in my cable lineup, and I had to wait until I could Netflix it to check it out. But it was well worth the wait. It may be one of my all-time favorites ever. And the idea of a lovable Sociopathic Serial-Murder….well who could not be intrigued by that?
Knowing the Dexter, Season 1 was based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, I was very curious to check out the book and see how it might vary. I love the show Bones, for example, but have never read Kathy Reichs. My mother has read all the books, and hated the show, because they apparently changed just about everything. So I was pleased to work my way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter and find not so many changes. Or changes that at least held true to the stories and characters, making it easy for the show fans to love the books, and vice versa.
With Dexter already set in my head as Michael C. Hall, there were a few times where I felt as if the book version wasn’t holding up. But only a few moments. And they may just stem from the fact that every first book comes with a few of those moments. Every book period may come with them.
But he was still the same darkly twisted good bad guy. Silently ridding the world of evil men at set intervals. Always carefully. Except for that once.
The character development was not as much as in the TV show, but had I not seen it I wouldn’t know that, so it couldn’t have bothered me. And since I have seen it, and did know, it didn’t bother me.
It’s very hard to do Dexter real justice, as he’s very much something you have to experience. Yeah, there’s some gore, but even the squeamish will likely take to him. Because even Dexter doesn’t really like gore.
Any mystery fan should definitely enjoy this series, and I think any great story fan will as well.
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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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Rating:
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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Rating: 
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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August 20th, 2007
10:32 am
Book Review, Harry Potter Read-Alikes, Series, Staff Favorites
adventure, artemis, death/loss, family, fantasy, greek mythology, juvenile ficiton, magic, monsters, olympians, percy jackson, titans, ya fiction
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The action is non-stop in this installment of the series, right from the get-go. Percy, Annabeth and Thalia are on their way to Maine to answer Grover’s call for help. Unsure of what they’re walking into, they don’t have much of a plan, which leaves them without much to go on when the first people they encounter are a couple of the school administrators.
After managing to squeak by that sticky situation, the kids are undone again as the monster-in-residence at the school makes off with the half-breeds Grover found. Percy goes after them alone, unable to find any of his friends, and lands himself in yet another bad spot. The gang arrives to help him out just in time to realize it’s all a trap. Only some completely unforeseen assistance gets them out of the jam, but not without losses.
The group arrives back at camp only to prepare to leave again on a mission, ultimately, to save the world. Their friend-turned enemy Luke has gotten himself in with the wrong crowd, and a plot to overthrow the Olympians is under way. Three Hunters and two campers are chosen to go after the goddess Artemis, who needs to be at the meeting on the solstice or all hell will break loose. Percy, unwilling to be left behind, follows along unbeknown to the rest, unwilling to sit idle while he has a friend in trouble.
As foretold by as prophecy before the group departed, they suffer loss along the way, and obstacles at every turn. Will they succeed in their quest, or will Kronos awake and the Titans be restored?
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