One of the best books you'll ever read

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

Rating: 5+++/5

Goodreads ⎪ Author Website ⎪ Author Youtube ⎪ Author Twitter ⎪ Book Trailer

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”

“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”

“That's the thing about pain...it demands to be felt.”

I've been waiting for this book for so long, just like a lot of other people. When I found it in my mailbox after school this wednesday, I instantly started it, and the next few hours had me on an emotional roller-coaster. I laughed, I got really happy, I got irritated and angry and I cried like crazy. I knew that the book was going to be sad, but honestly I thought that I would cry in an a-few-tears-rolling-down-the-cheek way, not loud sobbing, throat hurting, nose running, crying. No other book has had such a big impact on me. It was horrible.

But this is one of the best books I've read in my whole life.

I've read books about cancer before. I've read books about dying teenagers, teenagers who fall in love, teenagers who have a big dream. Although John writes about common topics, he does it in an extraordinary way. He has the most amazing writing, he gets you to see different perspectives on things, he makes you really care and he makes you feel all the things.

A John Green book can't be a John Green book without a great set of characters. They are always so alive, have the weirdest hobbies and passions. They (Augustus) are people I would just love to have as (boy)friends in real life. The conversations feel natural and not forced at all, and Hazel and Augustus really fits perfectly together.

The only good way I can describe John's writing is everyday-ish, but wonderfully different. He doesn't use some poetic language, it is more like "he did this and she did that". But his brilliant vocabulary, remarks on deep questions and just different comments on usual things make it something so different from other books. It has this kind of philosophical feel without getting too dry or heavy to read. It feels like every page has at least one good quote that I just want to write down somewhere.

The Fault in Our Stars is a book that is going to be in my mind for a very long time. This is one of those few books that I really want to keep in my bookshelf forever, one of the books I would keep if I in some point in my life have to life with a limited number of books. 

Just read it, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

A lovely love story

The Gargoyle
by Andrew Davidson 
Rating: 5 / 5

Goodreads ⎪ Wikipedia
“You are mine, I am yours; you may be sure of this. You've been locked inside my heart, the key has been thrown away; within it, you must always stay. ”

Before I started reading this book, I had no idea what it was about. The back of the book only gives us a vague explanation of what it is about, and after some research I only knew that it was either fantasy, contemporary or historical fiction. When I'd finished the book, I understood that it was a brilliant mix of them all.

It tells the story about a man, who hasn't had the best life. He gets really bad burn injuries in a car accident, and has to stay in the hospital for months. There he meets the mysterious Marianne Engel, who tells him that they were lovers in the 14th century, and that she has been waiting to meet him again for 700 years.

The plot was very original. We follow the unnamed main character as he recovers from his injuries, but we get to hear many fantastic stories along the way. Marianne has many tales to tell about her friends from different time periods. Including the story about her and the main character in their first life together. I really liked reading these beautiful love stories, and loved Marianne as a character. You really have to decide for yourself whether you think she really tells the truth about her long life or if she's just some psychotic woman with schizophrenia.

The Gargoyle isn't a book for everyone though. It was more of a very slow paced feel-good love story than an action filled fantasy. Some people might not like it, and will only find it weird and boring. But I loved it, and felt like the pace, the stories and the characters made it a interesting, and almost magical, read.

The Summer I Lost It - Review

The Summer I Lost It
by Natalie Kath
Publisher: Capstone
Release Date: August 1st, 2011
Rating: 3/5

Goodreads | Publisher | Author Blog

Kat is just like other fourteen-year-old girls. Except this summer, she's spending four weeks at a Health Camp . . . otherwise known as fat camp. Can she lose the weight she needs to be able to do the things everyone else does? Or will she let her body control her?

Even though this book dealt with a pretty heavy subject, weightloss, I think it was made into a lighter read and the issue was handled well. The novel tells the story of a young girl named  Kat. She's overweight, and when her parents tell har that thay can't afford sending her to fat camp, she decides  to loose weight by herself. You get to follow her journey through short diary entries. During one summer she get's to deal with hard excercise, calorie counting and her first love.

This was a short book which I read in only one sitting, every diary entry was about two pages long. Which, of course, left out some emotions and detailes, but it somehow suited the story. I don't think this book is meant as a deep read with all of the feelings that comes with weightloss, but more as a motivational story for someone who has decided to try and loose some kilos (or pounds if you wish) themself. (In the back of the books there's some information and yummy recepies that can help you along the way)

I first didn't know how I would feel about reading a novel in which such a young girl count calories, goes on diets and tries to loose weight. I usually associate teens who try to loose weight with bad selfesteem and eating disorders. But for Kat it wasn't about just looking pretty and getting skinny. No, it was about getting healthy. Which is how it should be.

Anna and the French Kiss - review

Anna and the French Kiss

by Stephanie Perkins

Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | Author website | Author Twitter

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

The night after I finished Anna and the French Kiss, I dreamt about it. I don't dream very often about books, believe it or not. But I dreamt that I was Anna, walking around in lovely Paris, together with my wonderful friends and to die for boyfriend Étienne. We just walked around the city, drank coffee, ate crepes, talked, went to the movies. It was so frickin awesome.

I wish my dream could come true.

I wish I could be friends with all those amazing characters in real life. I wish I could live in France, at some fancy boarding school. I wish I could have a boyfriend like Étienne. (Actually, I wish I could have any boyfriend at all. This book has turned me from a person who loves being single into a person who hates being single.)

This novel was perfect. Every page was fun, awesome, cute and wonderful. Perfection.

This story was really character driven. And all the characters were just as every author wants their characters to be. Alive. They had flaws, they had problems. The had something they were passionate about, something they loved. They all had these tiny details in the way they acted or in their personalities that were irrelevant to the story, but you got to know anyway. To show that these people weren't boring cardboard characters, but more like real life persons.

Stephanie Perkins, I admire you. Thanks for writing this awesome book.

Before I Fall - review

Before I Fall
by Lauren Oliver
Rating: 3.5/5

Author Website | Author Blog | Twitter | Goodreads


What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

When I started Before I Fall, I was prepared for a emotional roller coaster. I had loaded up with tons of Kleenexes and didn't read on the train or in school so that I wouldn't start sobbing in public. I was waiting for the moment that I would break down. Because all the reviews I read about this book told me to do that. 

But that moment never came.

So, no. For me, Before I Fall wasn't that emotional. Like it had been to most readers. But I'm not complaining, this was a enjoyable read despite the fact that it didn't have me breaking up in tears. It was a good book, good writing, an actually really amazing concept. That was my favorite part about the book. The plot was really carefully planned and developed. I've never heard about a book like this before, in which a person gets to relive a day many times.

I had a little problem with Sam's friends. They were like the stereotypic high school mean girls. Popular, rich, super hot and just really, really mean. Sam, on the other hand, was a character who started out as a bitchy mean girl but developed throughout the book into something more realistic and humane.

Before I Fall was kind of a let down for me. I had too high expectations from tons of five star reviews and was hoping for a deep and thought provoking read. I didn't get that, but still got a nice read about a girl finding herself and trying to make the right decisions to make it up for people she had hurt in her life.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson - Review

Will Grayson, Will Grayson
by John Green and David Levithan
Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | David's website | John's website | John's Twitter | David's Facebook page | John's Youtube channel  <-- most important of all the links!

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them legions of faithful fans.

This book is fricking awesome. It's really hard for me to hold back and not write "OMG, lovelovelove !!!11!!!!11!, <333 YOU HAVE TO READ! best book evaaaaaah!11!!! <3333" over and over again. But I'll try to write a review that makes sense. Not that you don't get the message from my crazy rambling, but I want to do this properly. 

The story is told in double narratives by two Will Graysons (John Green writes the straight Will Grayson's, properly written, odd numbered chapters. David Levithan writes the gay Will Grayson's, without any capital letters, even numbered chapters.) with very different lives. The straight Will Grayson tries to live his life without drawing any attention to him. He's friends with Tiny Cooper, who's not the world's largest person nor the world's gayest person, but "the world's largest person who is really, really gay" and "the world's gayest person who is really, really large". And he does not want to live his life without being unnoticed. In fact, he's putting up an big autobiographical high school musical. The other Will Grayson lives together with his single mom and has only one good thing in his life, the online friendship with the stranger Isaac. 

One night the two Will Graysons meet in a porn shop, a place where no one of them thought they would ever find themselves being. And after that meeting, their life takes unexpected turns.

One thing that not many books make me do is laugh. Like really laugh out loud. But this book, oh God. Reading on my lessons was really hard since I could any minute possible burst out in a non controllable laugh and get caught for reading. And on the metro on my way home people stared at me like I was some kind of psyco. This book is hilarious.

 I read this 300 paged book in one (school!) day, which is really unusual. But I just couldn't stop reading. It's an amazingly hilarious book about finding yourself and accepting what you find. I highly recommend this for everyone, girls, boys, teens, adults. Just read it, please. 

DFTBA!

If you're confused by these five little letters that make an awesome combination, you should watch John and his brother Hank's youtube videos. Or go to this link. And now while we're here in this non official review spot, I would just want to remind you that when you read this book, don't skip the acknowledgments in the end. Just as the rest of the book, they're awesome.

The Carlyles - review

The Carlyles (Gossip Girl: the Carlyles # 1)
by Cecily von Ziegesar
Rating : 4/5

Website | Goodreads

Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen were tha reigning princesses of the Upper East Side.

Until now.

In Gossip Girl, Tha Carlylwa the inimitable Gossip Girl introduces the most fabulous sixteen year-old triplets to ever inhabit the Upper East Side. When the Waldorfs move from their apartment at the end of Don't You Forget About Me, the Carlyle triplets Owen, Baby and Avery move in. In the new titles of the Gossip Girl series, we will follow the Carlyles, plus three other teenagers living in gorgeous apartments, attending the most exclusive private schools - the familiar Constance Billiard School for Girls and St. Jude's School for Boys - and treating New York's Upper East Side as their personal playground. Welcome to the new era.

Lucky for you, Gossip Girl is there to wisper all their juicy secrets ...

I haven't read the original Gossip Girl books, but I've watched the TV show. So from what I know about the TV series, Gossip Girl the Carlyles and the original Gossip Girl are pretty similar. You get all the drama, love and backstabbing. And of course Gossip Girl is there to tell us all about it. The stories are even set in the same places. The only things new are the characters.

Owen, Avery and Baby are triplets. They've just moved from Nantucked to the most luxurious part of Manhattan. Avery is ready to do whatever it takes to be popular, but after an incident in a high brand fashion store with the school's most popular girl watching, her attempts crash with her popularity status.

Baby hates it in Manhattan. And she's ready to do whatever it takes to get out of there, back to her boyfriend in Nantucket. Owen is a womanizer, a real player. He's barely ever had any real friends since he's always been busy with all the girls. But last summer he met a girl he just can't get out of his mind. A girl that he's probably never going to meet again, because the only thing he knows about her is her name, Kat. And that she's the only one he wants.

I thought that this would only be a decent read, but I really, really enjoyed it. The drama was wonderful, the pranks amazingly cruel. I felt sorry for Avery the whole time and got mad every time the bad girls were planning something new. I just couldn't stop reading to find out what would happen next. 

Overall this was a very fin light read with a lot of drama. If you like the Gossip Girl TV series I imagine you would like this. At least I did.