anjali

I had this book with me for a long time but I could never make myself read past the first chapter because the writing was so dull. But I watched the trailer recently and decided to read it this time. And I'm glad I took the decision. While this book was really good, it had so much more potential. I wasn't very impressed with the writing. The sentences were too long and I forgot the first part of the sentence by the time I finsihed a line. Which was why I couldn't finish it the first few times. And I wished the author was more descriptive about certain scenes like the scuba-diving one.

I also thought the POV change was very abrupt and bizzare. It would have been better to stick with Lou or maybe alternating between Lou and Will. And speaking of them, I really liked them both. However, I really did not like Katrina and Patrick or their relationship with Lou. Katrina seemed liked a snotty, selfish bitch at least until her POV. She was like a terrible sister to Lou and I never got the she-still-loves-her-sister vibe from her. But I did like her as a mother to Thomas in her POV amd it made me hate her less. As for Patrick I could never really see why he and Lou were together. I understand that is kinda the point to show they weren't meant to be but still.

Aside from what I listed above, I loved the book. If it weren't for the writing, I would have probably given it five stars. All in all, it told us a great story and while I knew how it was going to end, I still kept naively hoping I was wrong. But I understand why it happened. A lot of people seemed to be offended by the ending, but spoilers I don't think it meant that a life of disability is not life worth living. It just was that way for Will. While his decsion was selfish, I can see how a life bound to a wheel chair is not very welcoming to someone who was once very active and loved to explore new places.

I only realized the struggles of being a quad after this book amd my kudos to you as well as your carers. And I hope that, unlike Will, you guys choose to live.

Why I picked it up: I have been trying to read books people consider as “classics” and seeing that the new Jungle Book movie came out recently, this book was an obvious choice.

Even though I was slightly hesistant about the book because it is meant for kids, my doubts soon disappeared. The book contains a bunch of stories :

1. Mowgli's Brothers
2. Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack.
3. Kaa's Hunting
4. Road-Song of the Bandar-Log
5. “Tiger! Tiger!”
6. Mowgli's Song

The first six are a collection of short stories revolving around Mowgli and his friends (or foes, for that matter). These were undoubtedly the best out of the bunch for me. They reminded me of waking up early on Sundays to watch your favourite cartoon on TV while eating your cereal. There's something nostalagic about it all. Only downside would be the poems which ruined the flow, but that maybe me because I'm not a poem person.

7. The White Seal
It is about a white seal who goes on a search for a safe place for his fellow seals and succeeds. It was okay. Sort of.

8. Lukannon
Another poem. Meh.

9. “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”
This was a part of my syllabus in school so I chose to skip over it. But I distinctly rememmber all of us hating it. We had a collection of short stories such as The Gift of Magi by O.Henry and Dusk by Saki among others and this was undoubtedly the least favourite of our class as evident by the groans that broke out when we had anything to do with it. Anyway, it is about a pet mongoose, the titular character, and his fight with a snake. The story is unnecessarily dragged out and gets on my nerves.

10. Darzee's Chant
Another poem. Mehh.

11. Toomai of the Elephants
About an Indian boy and an elephant called Toomai. Okay-ish.

12. Shiv and the Grasshopper
A song by Toomai's mother.

13. Her Majesty's Servants
About a bunch of animals each boasting about their part in fighting for the British Army. Kinda left a bitter taste in my mouth seeing that I'm an Indian and not so hot about the British Army.

14. Parade Song of the Camp Animals
Poem about the previous story.

Frankly, in my opinion, you could skip all of the non-Mogwli related stories and you would not be missing much. But I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with me. And it is probably blasphemous to say this but : I liked the 2003 movie better. I know, I know the book is always better than the movie but sue me.

There a lot of reviews about how great this book is, but like every other person pointed out, Fangirl doesn't give the best impression of what it's like to be a fangirl. Being a fangirl doesn't mean just reading a book and writing fanfic about it. It is so much more..

Obsessing. Reading, rereading. Discussion on forums. Online quizzes. Arguing with others. Waiting for the movies. Arguing about the cast. Watching the movies. Obsessing about the movies. Tumblr. GIFs. Hijacking posts. Noticing things you didn't notice the first time. Swooning on a particularly hot guy. Crying about a character's death. Making up your own theories.

Cath doesn't do any of those things. She read the books and writes fanfic and maybe sometimes reads others fanfic. That's not it. That's not what a fangirl does.

Also, the Simon Show is obviously inspired from Harry Potter. And Simon and Baz are obviously Harry and Draco. I get why Rowell had to use different names. Copyright problems. I get it, I do. But I really wish she stocked to it. To a world, without Harry Potter. You either use the real deal, or you fake it. You don't mix both. So when she mentions Harry Potter in the book, it made me so mad.

Also what the hell is wrong with Cath? Being a fangirl and being neurotic isn't the same thing. The girl stashes energy bars because she's scared to go eat in the dining hall. What the hell? I have never in my life done that or anything similar to it. And if someone called me pathetic, I wouldn't be okay with it. But Cath just whines and forgets about it. Which pissed me.

Okay so there's so much more I could say about it, but I won't. Despite all that, the book was a good read. The biggest problem with this book for me was that Rowell is probably not a fangirl. Or atleast didn't do enough research. But if she did this would have been one of the best book and would have easily gotten five freaking starts.

The book started out really fun and cute and I loved the set up except there was no payoff at the end and the ending fell way too flat and rushed.

This book was like a breath of fresh air. Especially, for me since I had been reading dark, serious novels back-to-back. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I just felt depressed after reading them. And when I tried to the cotton candy chick-lit, I just felt disgusted since real life isn't the way they portray them in most chick-lit. But this book wasn't like that. Sure, it had a lot of cliche and was predictable at times but it was never tedious. And I love Haley because I totally get her. Flynn is totally adorable and sweet. All in all this was a good book, something to read in the summer in a day. It won't last with you long but you will enjoy it as long as it lasts.

I previously rated this book three stars. Later when I decided to read it again I could not help but wonder what “possessed” (you will realize after reading the book that this is in fact, a pun. ) me to give it three stars.

The idea behind the book is brilliant. A girl Susie is raped and murdered on her way home from school by her neighbour. She is then stuck somewhere between Earth and Heaven, watching her loved ones cope with the grief of her death while her attacker goes unpunished. The blurb was interesting enough for me to read in spite of not having any romance in it. It sounded like such a promising read.

And it was too, for the first ten pages or so. It starts with Susie being attacked and the scene is powerful and realistic. This scene is probably the highest point of the whole book beacuse it goes entirely downhill from here. There are a bunch of flat cliche characters with equally flat thought sin the head. Susie's father starts to neglect his family and his wife finds comfort in the arms of the detective with a tragic past. And then there are metaphors that make no sense : “The snow was falling lightly, like a flurry of small hands...” Hands. Not cotton or clouds or a million other things that are white or cold or both. I previously rated this book three stars. Later when I decided to read it again I could not help but wonder what “possessed” (you will realize after reading the book that this is in fact, a pun. ) me to give it three stars.

The idea behind the book is brilliant. A girl Susie is raped and murdered on her way home from school by her neighbour. She is then stuck somewhere between Earth and Heaven, watching her loved ones cope with the grief of her death while her attacker goes unpunished. The blurb was interesting enough for me to read in spite of not having any romance in it. It sounded like such a promising read.

And it was too, for the first ten pages or so. It starts with Susie being attacked and the scene is powerful and realistic. This scene is probably the highest point of the whole book beacuse it goes entirely downhill from here. There are a bunch of flat cliche characters with equally flat thought sin the head. Susie's father starts to neglect his family and his wife finds comfort in the arms of the detective with a tragic past. And then there are metaphors that make no sense : “The snow was falling lightly, like a flurry of small hands...” Hands. Not cotton or clouds or a million other things that are white or cold or both. And a lot of people have already pointed out this quote in their reviews but I will do it again because of its sheer ridiculousness: “Her pupils dilated, pulsing in and out like small, ferocious olives.”

But the worst part of it was the ending. I'm ashamed to admit that I did not catch it the first time I read it. What would you do if after you died you were given few more minutes to live by possessing someone? Would you like to say goodbye to your family? Help catch your murderer preventing other from suffering your fate? Or maybe you would take advantage of this wonderful situation by
having sex with your childhood crush. That's right. Susie Salmon, victim of rape and murder, uses her precious last few minutes to have sex, with her childhood crush, Ray by possessing the body of a lesbian friend, Ruth. And this is not the kind of voluntary possession where you need to ask permission or anything. So after an out of body experience, Ruth awakes to finds herself raped in a bike shop (I'm not sure why Susie chooses to go there). You would think that being raped herself, Susie would be a tad more considerate. But, obviously the path the true enlightment and nirvana by forgetting all earthly pleasures is by taking in the most earthliest pleasure of all.

Spoilers Ahead

These days I don't know what is wrong with me, but I'm starting to hate all the books that others seem to love. Okay, so I didn't completely hate it seeing that I gave it three stars. But it was only because I didn't want to be the cold hearted robot who gave two stars to a book about a guy losing his voice.

First of all, the accident and its consequences were too implausible. I know others pointed this out as well, but how the hell did he survive if he lives in an island with no proper hospital nearby? And if we were to believe he was in an accident, how come the only part he got hurt was his neck? In fact it even says that Carter and Rain fell on top of him. And these guys are like jocks who play basketball/football and do bench presses and stuff, so doesn't it make you wonder how none of his other parts got hurt. At least a hand sprain, maybe? Look, I don't want to put Jake in any more pain, but come on. Most of the medical details were brushed under the carpet. Like, isn't he supposed to get checked regularly or anything? The only time he goes is when he has a fever or something. Oh, and he lost his freaking voice for God's sake, so shouldn't he be attending regular sessions with a shrink?

I'm just sixteen and have no idea about drinking or booze but can you get drunk from drinking two beers? I think the author was being way too preachy. Sure, drinking a lot is bad. So what? They are not going to drink ever again in their whole life? It would be way more sensible if they advised against drinking and driving. But, no. They are hell-bent on taking a pledge to “not drink again, ever, this whole school year.” Right. Because it is perfectly okay to drink after the school year is over.

And last but definitely not the least was Samantha. First and foremost why does Jake even love her? All that he tells us is that she has chocolate eyes and lips that taste like different fruit everytime he kisses her. That she is smart, pretty, nice, funny. We get it. I felt that he only had a crush on her.but iff Samantha had actually done something nice, maybe I would have got why Jake loved her as much as he did. But instead she says that she is glad that the accident happened to him because then she would have someone to talk to.

Ex-freaking-cuse me?

Sam, sweetie? He lost his ability to speak after his accident but it isn't like he couldn't listen to you before that.

It was she who never approached him. After that, her likability just rolled down the hill. What with her telling Jake that he has a perfect life and that he should be grateful. Yeah, her life was rough. Her mom died, she was living on her own. This could have been totally handled better. The best and first example that comes to my mind is Ruby from Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. But that didn't mean she could be a total bitch (should be pronounced as “witch” by kids under 13)

But in spite of all this, the book was good. I liked Jake and how he dealt with the things going on his life. How he was there for Sam when she needed him. But it wasn't enough to make me love the book. Also I was surprised to know that author had a somewhat similar experience because then I would have expected the book to be written better.

P.S I would like to recommend a manga with a similar concept which was done so much better. And even if mangas aren't your thing, it would be worthwhile to check it out http://mangafox.me/manga/kingyo_sou/

Have you ever wondered what would it be like if a robot had written a love story? Or how sometimes when you are sick and you eat something, you can't feel it's taste? That is how I felt this book was.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad but if it weren't for the fact that I read ‘A Walk to Remember' before I read this book, I would have probably given it two stars. I had very high expectations for AWTR, but the book was so...bland. So, my expectations for ‘The Notebook' were significantly much much lower. Strictly speaking, my rating is a bit misleading considering it is not in the same league as the other books that I have given a three star, but I couldn't help but compare it to AWTR.

The thing with Nicholas Sparks is he choses a great plot but the story, the writing, the characters, the dialogues and the ending bring the plot down. This book in particular was like a rom-com — you know the story, you know what the characters are going to say, you know how it is going to end but the movies at least have something going on for them. They make you feel warm inside and you feel something in your heart, but this book didn't have a lot of mushy dialogue or hot action either. I know it is supposed to be a slow romance but where is the romance? This book was like a summary of facts or something. But, I must say the book had some potential, in fact all of his books do but they don't have much to offer other than initial spark (Lame pun intended). When I read the summary of his books, I imagine something mind blowing but it always ends up falling flat on its face. Sigh.

While I would not gush about the book to people I meet in the grocery store, I will also not stop others from reading it because it was a good story. I really hope the movie is better.

P.S Did anyone else find it weird that she hasn't done it with another guy for fourteen years? Also, they seemed very comfortable speaking to each other considering they haven't spoken for such a long time. If you ask me, there would have been a weird thing where they don't know how to greet each other since shaking hands would be too formal and kissing on the cheek a bit too much so they would probably end up giving each other an awkward stiff hug. I'm rambling so I guess I'll shut up.

Oh, God. Where should I even start? Let me tell you how I came across this book.

Some of my classmates were reading a couple of Chetan's books and told me that they were great. Now, I'm not sure which ones they referred to, but I hope it isn't this. Anyway, I had this ebook for a couple of years and I always read around twenty pages before completely forgetting about it. In retrospect, I guess my body was trying to protect me like how sometimes trauma victims don't remember anything about the accident. Anyway, I finally decided to read it till the end.

Now, to tell you what is wrong with the book is very difficult because there are so many things that I would probably exceed the word limit of my review. I'll start with the basics. When I usually read books with bad grammar that would mostly likely be the low point of the book. But this book is an exception since the story totally took the prize. It took predictability to this whole new level that I didn't know existed. But the book's summary is totally spot on. In fact, the summary is as good as the story since they are pretty much the same thing. Boy and girl meet each other, fall in love, convince girl's parents, almost convince boy's mother when lots of drama ensues resulting in a break-up, drama increases due to boy's abusive father, depressed boy, blah blah, miracle occurs, aforementioned abusive father turns into world's best dad by getting boy and girl back together, some more drama on who is and isn't coming to the wedding, wedding, end. Think Romeo and Juliet with bad prose and trying-too-hard-to-be-funny jokes, set in modern day India, with protagonists from different states instead of clans and a happy ending.

The next has to be the writing style. I get that this book is written from a guy's POV and doesn't dwell much on feelings and stuff. But, please! If the author didn't describe anything at all, it wouldn't matter much but, no, he constantly described a) the girl's clothes b) food But, not a single line about feelings or facial expressions or surroundings whatsoever. However, the worst part of the book was this: I have no idea how they fell in love with each other. I don't know when they fell in love with each other. I don't know why they fell in love with each other. And that sucks.

I'm going to give you some advice regarding this book:

a)Don't read this book
b)If you decide to read this book, please don't judge India by it. Also, consider it as one of the three mistakes of your life. (Pun intended.)

Beneath all the funny,adorable frills of You Son't Have to Say You Love Me there lies a lesson to learn. It is a pity that Manning can't do that without sounding a wee bit preachy and tiresome.

Neve : Though adorable at times,Neve can be very irritating.Granted, I don't know what it is to be fat but Neevy is way too obsessed with...her weight,her appearance and William.The problem with Neve for me was that she thought too much.Way too much.But Mia from Princess Diaries was an overthinker as well but I could follow her thought process but Neeve not so much.But don't be put off by what I said, because Neve can be a likeable herione at times.She has a good head on her shoulders (unlike some others) and is capable of using the aforemetioned head.
Character Rating - 3/5

Max : I don't know if it is just me, but Max reminds me of a younger Mark Sloan minus his doctor's coat.They really have a lot of similarities. Both are man-sluts with a heart.They both have issues and they both are funny and lovable. Max says some mean things to Neve in the book but that did not make me hate him.In fact it made me love him more because those were the same things I wanted to tell Neve as well. And I the way he hates William because everybody likes to see a huy jealous sometimes.Not I-will-strangle-anyone-that-lays-his-eyes-on-my-beloved beacuse that would just be creepy.
Character Rating - 4/5

There are two kinds of good books. The ones that are very enjoyable to read but once you put them down, sooner or later, you forget about them. Then there are ones that you don't. They stay with you forever and change you and the way you look at life itself. My Sister's Keeper was one of those books. Since I read this book, it has been my benchmark book, my litmus test, if you will. Every time I finish a new book, I compare it to this and wonder how it fared. And for now only one book managed to be in the same level as this. And even that didn't make me cry half as much as this. No book ever did.

The book has everything you'd want in a book. It has really beautiful prose. The author talks about everyday things such as stars and fire and makes them seem so beautiful, it makes me wonder if we both are seeing the same thing. The story is touching and heartbreaking but it leaves a glimmer of hope. A person who manages to read this book without crying seriously needs to be awarded a Nobel Prize. And the characters have a depth unlike any other. Anna was undoubtedly my favourite followed closely by Jesse. I actually had to stop reading because my eyes were so blurry at the part where Anna is thinking about her funeral and how it will be so much different from Kate's. And even though I haven't talked about them a lot, Campbell and Julia's story was very interesting. One of the many reasons, this story is so close to my heart was because I fell in love with Anna almost in the start of the book, when Brian says:

“...Anna is our family's constant. Anna comes in with a smile. Anna tells us about the robin she found with the broken wing and a blush on its cheek; or about the mother she saw at Wal-Mart with not one but two sets of twins. Anna gives us a backbeat, and seeing her sitting there unresponsive makes me realise that silence has a sound.”

And if that quote alone doesn't make you read this book, I don't know what will. Sure, the book's ending is going to rip your heart out,stomp on it with spiky shoes and then pass it though a shredder but it is still worth it,if you ask me.

Some facts about me:
1) I don't usually review books.
2) I have never stopped reading a book in between. (Even if I did, I usually picked it up later at some point)

But this book made me break my rules. Read on to know why....

Willow was actually quite a promising book. The blurb was quite interesting and it was similar to some other books I read so it ended up in my recommendations and I thought it would be one of these deep, dark, meaningful books. And I had this ridiculous notion that since it was about a serious subject, it ought to be good. Boy, was I wrong.

First up, let me say this: Self-harm is a very serious issue. I can't stress on this fact enough. And I am accustomed to reading about deaths, suicides, bullying, abuse, rape and accidents, so it wasn't that I was squeamish about self-harm.
Like many others said, I can't help but think that the third perspective was a huge mistake. Especially for an issue such as self-harm because that isn't something many peoples go through. I don't know about others, but I seriously don't understand the reason behind self-harm. I get suicide. I'm not encouraging it obviously but to me it makes sense: when the whole world around me was crashing, I would rather collapse along with it rather than strive in the ruins of it. But self harm? Putting yourself in pain to forget about some other pain, doesn't make any sense to me. But I hoped that after this book, I would get it, why someone would do this thing to themselves, I mean.

Willow: Willow's parents die in an accident. As if that isn't it bad enough, she was driving the car. So she is living with her older brother who doesn't speak beyond five words a day to her. So Willow turns to self-harm to numb the pain.
Okay so this sixteen year old girl's parents died in an accident while she was driving and so she injures herself. She is bound to have some issues, right? But issues or not, Willow is a bitch, pardon my French.

Willow thinks that she and only she has like the right to feel pain. Yeah so, this is how it works in Willow World: “My life is so hard. Everybody should feel sorry for me every second of my life. And no one should mention/complain or cry about their own problems because my problems are bigger. ” I'm not kidding. This girl doesn't feel an ounce of sympathy for anyone except herself, so how does she expect me to feel sympathetic about her? There was this one time when a girl break some lab equipment and this is Willow's reaction:

“Willow is shocked to see that she's on the verge of tears. Doesn't this girl know that a couple of broken beakers and a failed physics experiment are nothing to cry over? Willow sits back on her heels, the sponge dangling uselessly from her hand, and stares at Vicki. Doesn't this girl realize how lucky she is that the worst thing in her life is some broken glass?Tears, actual tears, start to form in Vicki's eyes and roll down her cheeks.Over some broken glass?Willow is stunned. She can't help it, maybe she should be more charitable, but she simply can't bring herself to feel anything but contempt for someone so weak.”

I would have been okay with it if Willow herself wasn't so weak. Also Willow is paranoid. If everybody is looking at her, it is because they want to see the freak that killed her parents. If no one is looking at her, it's because they don't want to look into the eyes of a murderer. If they are talking to her, it is because they want to get the scoop on her. If they are not talking to her, it is because she killed her parents. If people are eating it is probably because they need energy to escape if she decides they are her next victim. Okay, the last one wasn't true but everything is because she killed her parents.

Guy: Okay, so next comes the guy...uh..what's his name again? Oh, that's right! Guy! You know what would have been a better name? Gary. As in Gary Stu. No, he's not perfect. But still everyone thinks he is and acts as if he is. First of all, he grabs her wrist. Because, of her injuries it becomes much more complicated. Unless, there is murderer on the loose or something equally catastrophic you never grab a girl's wrist. As if this weren't enough, he throws a box of razors at her.

I have stopped reading by this point but apparently (from other reviews), they have sexwhich totally clears up all the issues including the self-harm. They throw the box of razors into a lake. Think about the marine life, you idiots. And can't they use them for something? I mean throwing in lake is very symbolic or whatever, but can't Guy use them to shave his beard? Do they use the same blades for both the purposes? I have no idea. Also, Guy is more of a charmer than I thought : He carries a condom since he meets Willow. I would rather take Edward Cullen watching me while sleeping over this crap.

The rest of the two dimensional characters whose names I don't remember :

David: I don't actually remember his name. It was in the blurb. Yeah so lots of trauma and what not. And he's totally okay with his little sis doing it with a random guy.

There's a girl who talks about dying her hair and a couple of girls who talk to Willow while she comes up with her conspiracy theories. And there's this guy who talks about rowing. Also there's David's wife who does something sweet which I don't really remember but Willow just brushes it off. And oh yeah, David has a baby too who is also the subject of Willow's conspiracy theories. She thinks that David doesn't want to let Willow babysit as she's gonna kill the baby or something.

This is one of the books where you would rather see the girl stand up in her own like Dreamland or Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. But no, she enters into a creepy relationship with a stranger. I mean, putting all the happily ever after theories aside, what is going to happen if they break up? Willow is going into jump into the lake for her razors? Also is this the message for girls who harm themselves? Wait for your Prince Charming to show up?

I give you my permission to hit me on my head if I ever read another word by Jublia Hoban.