loociejj culture, love, romance

The Sun is also a Star – Nicola Yoon

the-sun book-cover-envy

Firstly, the book cover alone makes this book amazing. Look how they made it!

Secondly, I was a little disappointed with Everything, Everything and went into this book thinking that it would be sort of the same quality. Girl with some weird thing wrong meets boy with some issues, they fall in love super quickly and then live happily ever after. Well, the only similarity is that girl meets  boy and they fall in love super quickly – or at least one of them does. Prepare to be blown away by this book – it’s a-maz-ing!!

At the beginning of the book we meet Natasha. We learn that she lives in New York with her mum and dad and brother, Peter. She was born in Jamaica and her dad came to the US to make it as an actor. She and her mum follow him over when she is 6 and they outstay their visa. She is now in the position where, after her dad has been arrested for Drink Driving and told the police that he is living in the US illegally, they are 12 hours away from being deported.

Daniel is of Korean origin and lives with his mum and dad and older brother Charlie. Charlie has a big chip on his shoulder and hates Daniel (this is never fully explained, although Natasha has her own theory). Charlie has just been sent home from Harvard after one  term. Daniel’s dad owns a black hair care product shop in New York (apparently it’s a thing for Korean people to own black hair care shops New York). Daniel is on his way to get his hair cut before he has an interview for a place at Yale to study medicine. Unfortunately he doesn’t want to be a doctor, he wants to be a poet.

Natasha and Daniel meet through a series of events and Daniel falls in love at first sight. Natasha has a lot on her mind and is hoping that she can persuade an attorney to help overturn her case. She is also a scientist and doesn’t believe in the romantic notion of love at first sight. Daniel tries to change her mind through a series of questions and some time spent together in between their respective appointments.

The book is written as a split narrative so, although Daniel thinks he is having a hard time convincing Natasha that she likes him, we know he isn’t. There is also some lovely asides from bit part characters in the book, like Irene, the guard at the Immigration Centre or informative chapters about the meaning of Irie. The neatness of the way the author summed up what happened to the characters, the explanations by Natasha’s dad as to why he was doing what he was doing, all make for a really clever and involved book.

I read this book really quickly and the characters are people that I will remember for a long time. The weight of expectation on second generation immigrants really made me feel for Daniel. The helplessness of Natasha to stay just because her parents had made a mistake made me see the injustice of the immigration system. Natasha had lived more of her life in America then in Jamaica, she had no connection to it yet she also had no legal connection to America.

You will read this book and connect to the events going on in America at the moment. When racial intolerance is rife this book brings it back to us that America is made up of so many different nationalities and cultures and they can all live together under one flag but, they will always have their own culture and identity and we must respect and embrace that. The kids in this book don’t want to be what their parents want them to be, they want to just be themselves, and this is a struggle in itself. The cultural baggage that they carry round from their parents is heavy, and it weighs them down. This might be the clue to the problem with Charlie.  It also demonstrates how powerfully love can hit you, and change you, and when you fall in love for the first time it will blow you away. Maybe it already has…

Further Reading: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith.

 

loociejj grief, love, romance

Everything, Everything – Nicola Yoon

everything

I think the mistake I made with this book is that I read Holding Up the Universe first and really enjoyed it. Then I went straight on to this one and it fell a little short. Not because it’s not a good book but just because I got a little fed up of kids with things wrong with them who then fall in love with someone who also had something wrong with them. Why can’t people just fall in love….

Moving on… Madeline has this thing called Severe Combine ImmunoDeficiency or SCID which means that she can’t leave the  house because she is super allergic to everything and it could kill her. Her house has been specially adapted so that anyone coming in has to go through a special airlock and be screened. She lives with her mum, who is a doctor, and a nurse who comes in every day called Carla. Her dad and her brother were killed in a car crash and her mum is a little over protective (another helicopter parent).

One day she  hears moving vans and, when she looks out the window sees that a new family have moved in next door. One of them happens to be a boy called Olly, who is easy on the eye, really good at climbing things (parkour) and always wears black. He has the room across the way from her and they start communicating. He sends her his email address and they start to IM. A relationship develops and eventually they persuade  Carla to let him in the house. He has problems with his dad, who is a drunk and beats his mum up.

This is where things start to unravel and I’m not going to tell you too much more after this point because it will spoil the story. Needless to say, all is not as it seems. The ending was a little unsatisfactory as I wanted to know more about what happened. It is cleverly written and I liked the use of notes, emails and quick chapters. It makes the book go really quickly and you will finish it in no time. Sometimes that’s nice and satisfying!

I also liked the characters. Madeline wasn’t too whiny and Olly was a nice boy who you would like to have as your boyfriend (if you were 18) and I hope that his life is improved by meeting Madeline. All in all, a good debut novel but I can’t wait to read The Sun is also a Star (Nicola Yoon’s new book) and see if it is any better. A nice romantic book with a twist and I suspect, the start of some good things to come.

loociejj death, grief, love, romance

Holding up the Universe – Jennifer Niven

holding-up-the-universe

I have literally just finished this book and I only started it yesterday. It is 388 pages of sheer joy. I really super enjoyed All the Bright Places and wanted to really like this one too. In fact I read my review of ATBP just now to remind myself of why I liked it and at the end of it I wrote, ‘this book is life affirming’. Well hold on to your hats people, this one is even  better!

The book is written as a split narrative by Jake and Libby. Jake is a bit of a high school player. He has an on again off again girlfriend (see mean girls everywhere) and we first meet him through a letter he writes to Libby. Libby is the other narrator. In the letter, Jake tells Libby that he has a disorder called Prosopagnosia. It means that he cannot recognize peoples faces, ever. But, no one else knows that he’s got it so he can’t recognize his family, or friends or his girlfriend and he has a series of identifying features that means he knows who they are. For example he assumes that his parents are his parents because they are in his house every day. There is also his adorable brother Dusty, who wants to carry a purse (I think this is American speak for handbag) to school and gets beaten up for it and another brother called Marcus. He exudes this kind of confidence which is just a front for the fact that he cannot recognize anyone.

Libby is famous for being fat. Not just fat but so fat that they had to knock down half her  house to get her out because she was  too fat to fit through the door. She was hospitalized and hasn’t been to school for years. Before the house incident she was home schooled by her dad after her mum died from a massive brain hemorrhage. She has since lost 300 pounds (21 stone!) and has decided to get back in the game and go back to school. There she confronts the bullies who picked on her when she was 10 and after an unfortunate incident with Jack in the cafeteria, finds herself in detention for a few weeks. The POV of Jack is written so well that I would almost believed that the author had the condition herself.

What follows is an unconventional love story, but one that will warm your heart. It’s a little bit like Thanks for the Trouble in that it is redemptive. Both Libby and Jack need to be saved in different ways. Libby might not look like she needs much help; she’s smart and sassy and wants to take on the world, but she needs to feel valued and Jack helps her to do that. Jacks needs are more obvious. He needs help with his disorder and figuring out how he is going to get through life dealing with it.

Jennifer Niven writes in such a way that you will want to read on and on until the last page, and then miss the book and the characters once you’ve finished. I already miss Jack and Libby and their crazy world. I miss the way  that Jack describes Libby as being full of sunshine. I miss the way she goes through life hurting but willing to fix things, to change things. There are the usual mix of the mean girls and stupid jocks and geeks and nerds and bullies, but there is also Jack and Libby; and they are perfect for each other.

I know that you will love this book. I know that you will read it and take these two into your geeky booky hearts and keep them there. They deserve it, and you deserve to enjoy it with them. But I also want you to feel sorry for those people that say ‘I hate reading’ because they will never get to experience what you have just experienced.

Spread the word.

loociejj death, grief, love

Thanks for the Trouble – Tommy Wallach

 

 

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I love Tommy Wallach. His writing is amazing. His descriptions of relationships is so good it makes me want to cry! He describes Parkers parents as ‘loving each other like the sea loves the sand. Slowly wearing it away…’ sad but so good.

Parker Sante is 17. His father died in a car crash and he hasn’t spoken since, he is an elective mute. He communicates by writing messages in notebooks, if he wants to communicate at all. He also doesn’t go to school and hangs out in hotels stealing things off rich people. This is how he meets Zelda. She is sitting in the hotel having breakfast and pulls out a roll of bank notes. She then leaves her bag unattended and he steals it. Unfortunately he leaves his notebook behind with all his contact information and, unusually for him, he also has a pang of conscience. He returns and they start to communicate. She tells him that she is going to spend all her money and then jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. She is just waiting for a phone call and then she’s gone. He is determined to stop her.

So begins a love story. Parker isn’t the most social of people but as you go through the book you realise that that’s because he has deliberately cut himself off. People are willing to give him time but he choses to isolate himself . His friend from Chess and War (it’s a club where you can read about war and play chess, perfect if you don’t want to talk to anyone!) are really geeky and nice. Parker realises that he wants Zelda to stay so tries to show her all the amazing things that life can offer. The problem is that Zelda has been alive for 246 years and has seen it all. She tells Parker that she is immortal and that she was born in Germany in 1770, been married, seen wars play out. She is tired of life and has decided that she wants to end it.

It’s up to you to decide whether she really is immortal or just at the end of the road. I’d like to think that she was but a small part of me also thinks that she needed to concoct a story that allowed her to make the decisions she makes. She sure has a good time though! This is a book about redemption. Parker and his mum needed someone to rescue them, even though Parker thinks he is rescuing Zelda it feels like it’s the other way round. Parkers mum is a mess after his father’s death and is drinking way too much, another problem for Parker to deal with.

It’s a lovely book. I really enjoyed We All Looked Up and it seems to be enjoying some cult status. Tommy Wallach’s way of speaking to the reader is so good you feel like he is sitting next to you reading out loud. Read it all in one go, you will want to go to San Francisco after! But you will also think a bit about why we love people. Treat people like it’s the last time you will see them, you might regret it if you don’t.

loociejj grief, love, romance

The Geography of Me and You – Jennifer E. Smith

geography-of-me-and-you

Morning all. I read this book a few months ago so bear with… I just saw it on my desk and realised that I had in fact read it, loved it and forgot to review it; so here we go.

The Geography of Me and You is the tale of two teenagers, Lucy and Owen. She lives in a swanky apartment in New York, so does he. She lives in a posh flat and he lives in the caretakers apartment. Her parents are mega rich and have left her home alone (She is 16 btw) and moved to Paris where her dad is working. He lives with his dad after having recently lost his mum. His dad is not coping very well but has been offered the caretaking job by a friend and enrolled Owen in a local school, even though he doesn’t need to go to school because he has enough credits to go to college already (I don’t really understand the American High School system but that sounds like he is pretty clever).

So, Lucy is home alone in New York. She has two brothers but they have gone away to college. One day she is going back up to her apartment and finds herself in a lift with a boy that she has recently seen around. The lift suddenly comes to a stop and they are stuck in it, they start to talk and find out a little about each other. When they are rescued they realise that there has been some sort of power cut and that New York is in darkness; what better thing to do then go and explore, ending up on the roof of their building watching the stars. After this perfect night together they are torn apart by circumstance.

Lucy’s dad gets a job in Edinburgh and they ask her to come and join them. She starts a local school and meets a dishy lacrosse player called Liam. He really likes her but her heart isn’t in it. Owen’s dad loses his job at the apartment and they decide to go travelling around America (evidently Owen doesn’t need to go to school after all – it’s those credits you see?) and they end up filling the car and going for it. He manages to keep in contact with Lucy through postcards and letters, even if very occasionally and therefore stays in her thoughts.

Time goes by, Owen and his dad finally end up in their old house with all the memories of his mum to think about and Lucy is trying to build her life in Scotland. Owen realises that if he doesn’t see her again he will never get over her so they agree to meet in New York to see if they feel the same about each other. this is the only unbelievable bit as they are still only about 17.

This book is lovely. It’s romantic and full of beautiful gestures that remind you why you fall in love in the first place. Its got all the romantic bits, long walks in the park, watching the stars on the roof top, romantic postcards from mysterious destinations… it also gives a really nice impression of New York. The two teenagers obviously like living there, Lucy describes it as her town and their exploration makes you want to go and explore it too. My impression of a big impersonal town is blown away by the affection they have for it.

My only issue with it is that they are still so young and yet seem to have so much freedom. They also are a little too grown up for liking. All in all though, if you suspend disbelief a bit then it is a really nice read. I haven’t read any of her other books so maybe that would be a good place to start for further reading.

 

loociejj death, grief, love, romance

The Radius of Us – Marie Marquardt

the-radius-of-us

This is a pre release review from Netgalley. This book is due to be released in January 2017.

At a time when the Americans are deciding who is going to be their next President, and of the two main candidates one wants to build a wall to keep all of South America from entering the USA illegally, this is a very pertinent book.

Gretchen lives in Arizona. She is at high school and has a boyfriend called Adam. She has a job and a car and parents who love her. She has an extended family and babysits for her little cousins. Gretchen’s life comes crashing down when she is attacked when walking back to her car late one night. She did all the sensible things; parked on a well lit street surrounded by other cars, she carried her keys in her fist to ward off attackers  – yet she still get attacked by a boy in a hoodie.

Phoenix is a boy from El Salvador. He has escaped a ruthless gang culture with his little brother Ari. Ari is below the age where he has to claim asylum; Phoenix is not. As soon as they cross the border they gave themselves up and were separated. they have not seen each other since and Ari has not spoken a word. He is in a children’s detention centre in Texas. Phoenix was taken to a detention centre for adults and then put in the care of two women – Sally and Amanda – who are trying to help him seek asylum in the USA. The problem is that Phoenix has done some things in the past which mean that this may not be possible. He is still carrying a scar that will have a profound effect on his fledgling relationship with a girl he’s not supposed to love.

The book is narrated from both their points of view and is superb. As they slowly seek redemption in each other and Gretchen pulls away from Adam and towards a new, different life, they both see that their world has changed but that it is not necessarily a bad thing. Phoenix cannot get away from his past but Gretchen helps him to see that there is good people that can be a part of his future, if he allows them to be. He just needs to let go of his memories. Gretchen needs to see that although she has witnessed something horrendous time can heal, and we need to see that judging a situation can be fatal.

The writing in this book is beautiful. When Gretchen is describing Phoenix she says ‘And your color: it’s light, but rich and deep, and it makes me want to climb inside you to see what substance God filled you with, to give you that sheen. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. You’re like nothing I’ve ever seen…‘ see what I mean?

This is a time when asylum seekers are constantly on the news and we are all thinking about the impact it has on our lives;  this book shows us the other side of those news stories. Each person that makes that journey across the sea, on top of a train or in the back of a lorry has a different story to tell. These boys were in the wrong place at the wrong time, they were trapped in a hell that they didn’t make. Gretchen is also in the wrong place at the wrong time and the way in which she copes with that will break your heart.

When this book is released, go and buy it. Read it in one sitting; devour it. It deserves your full attention. it’s not just the story that will touch you, and it will, it’s the writing, the flow, the way the author makes you feel about the characters she is presenting to you. You won’t regret it, but you may be sad when you finish it!

loociejj dystopian fiction, love, romance

The 100: Day 21 – Kass Morgan

the-100-day-21

# CONTAINS SPOILERS: READ THE 100 FIRST #

So, this is the second one in the series. I also found out that the book and the TV series are not necessarily linked; the directors of the series hadn’t even read the second book so apparently the TV series is only loosely based on the books, just the character names are the same. Bit weird. But anyway, the second book carries on where the first one left off. Glass is still not back together with Luke, Wells and Clarke are not together and Bellamy has a thing for Clarke and she might just feel the same. Oh, and annoying Octavia is still missing, possibly taken by the Earthborns. And I think at the end of the last book they captured a girl from Earth called Sasha.

So, you’re all up to date. Bellamy is going a bit crazy looking for Octavia and wants to torture Sasha for information. Graham just wants to chop her head off and put it on a spike. But, as Wells gets to know her he starts to develop some feelings for her, plus he feels a bit guilty about keeping her captive.

This is a good middle book as it ties up loose ends from the first one and sets everything up nicely for the conclusion. I liked the way that the Earthborns were arranged. It seemed more plausible that some people had survived and were living in relative peace but, that one group would take exception to this and break off on their own. In any society this would happen. Wells is trying to be the leader and again, I think any society needs a natural leader to follow and he is the obvious choice. I like his character for some reason,  but the others don’t seem to grab me. You’d think that if they were narrating large chunks of the book in the second book in you would know them a little better. Unfortunately I didn’t really feel that happened. Bellamy is obviously concerned for his sister but he still has time to get with Clarke and traipse around being angry. He is a pretty angry young man!

The scenes on the ship also lack a bit of excitement. Glass and Luke do make it but there is some stuff that happens along the way, including the fact that Phoenix is annexed with all the oxygen and cuts off the other two ships. It is survival of the fittest up there and eventually there is a mad scamble for the drop ships and Earth.

I am enjoying the series but it feels a little commercial to me. A bit like a TV company has asked an author to write an exciting TV series. I will definitely read the third one but I feel that I have other series to explore first.

loociejj death, dystopian fiction, fantasy fiction, grief, love, post apocalype

The 100 – Kass Morgan

the 100

I think I may have come a bit late to this book as it is a huge E4 hit with cult viewers and lots of good looking teen Americans… yes I Googled them all! I’m not being funny or nuffin’ but, if you grew up on a ship in space would you look that good?!

Anyway, back to the book. The book has four main narrators: Clarke – who is the daughter of two scientists who were investigating whether it would safe to return to earth (more on this later) Wells – who is the son of the Chancellor and a bit of a posh  boy, Bellamy  – his sister is in the dropship (more on this later..) and Glass who has escaped the dropship to look for, and apologise to her boyfriend. The space ship that they all grow up on is split in to three areas; Waldon – where Luke (Glass’s boyfriend) lives; Arcadia and Phoenix where all the elite people live. Wells, Clarke, Glass and Bellamy are from there. Wells, Clarke and Glass have all been imprisoned for various offences and are due to be retried on their 18th birthdays. The ship has been floating in space for 300 years after a massive nuclear war has made earth uninhabitable.

The government decides that instead of giving the teens a retrial they will send them back down to Earth to see if the atmosphere has changed and it is safe for them all to live on again. The oxygen and resources on the ship are at dangerously low levels and they need to look at other options (like maybe killing them all, but hey they’re only convicts right?) so they send 100 kids on the dropship down to earth to let them explore/ die. Bellamy’s sister is on the ship and he breaks on to it by holding Wells’ father hostage – in the ensuing struggle Glass manages to escape and remain on the ship where she gets pardoned (think her mum might be some kind of high class prostitute but it wasn’t too clear!)

This is clever as Glass is still on the mothership and we can get regular updates about what is going on up there. Meanwhile Wells and Clarke have had a relationship that ended in catastrophe and she now hates him. He still loves her and has broken the law so that he can also get banished to Earth. Even though this is super romantic she still hates his guts and strikes up a friendship with Bellamy.

This book is kind of Lord of the Flies in space. On Earth it’s survival of the fittest and Graham, the typical bully, starts to assert his authority and gather a gang of thugs around him. Octavia, Bellamy’s sister is also one to watch. At the end of the book they also discover that they may not be alone and that Earth may not be as uninhabited as they thought.

It’s an interesting concept but the best bit about the book is the interplay between the main characters and how/ if they will survive. Wells is a bit too bossy and Clarke is a little too sanctimonious but I have just started the second book in the series so I must be enjoying it right!?

Further Reading: Lord the Flies by William Golding and 1984 by George Orwell. Any dystopian novel because the themes are pretty much the same.

Maybe also try The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall or The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood- bit feminist these ones and they both explore the theme of the state controlling the birth rate post apocalypse. Also, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel which is also post apocalyptic (and brilliant!)

loociejj grief, love

How Not to Disappear – Clare Furniss

how not to disappear

This book is on the Hounslow Teen Read long list for 2017.

Hattie Lockwood is 17 and has just discovered that she is pregnant with her best friends baby. Her best friend Reuben is a bit of a rich kid screw up and after a drunken night together which meant more to her then it did to him, he has buggered off to France to spend some time with his dad. Hattie lives with her mum, her stepdad Carl and her twin brother and sister Alice and Ollie. I have to say that Alice is by far the best character in this book and her emails to Hattie are hilarious!

Anyway, Hattie is off school for the summer and feels abandoned. Not just by Reuben but by her other best friend Kat who has gone off with her slightly crazy girlfriend Zoe to Edinburgh. She works in a place called the Happy Diner (Which sounds anything but…) and is babysitting Alice and Ollie while her mum and Carl go to work and try and plan their wedding. Hattie’s dad, Dominic was a war correspondent and was killed in a roadside bomb attack when she was young. She doesn’t really remember too much about him but remembers that he was away a lot. Hattie is in denial about the pregnancy and is trying to work out what to do when she receives a phone call from an old lady called Peggy about her great aunt Gloria, who Hattie has no knowledge of. Peggy explains that Gloria is her father’s aunt and that she isn’t very well and would probably appreciate a visit from someone in the family; Hattie is a bit bored and lonely and so goes along to meet her. When she pitches up she discovers an old lady living in isolated squalor who drinks a heck of a lot of gin and loves a violet cream (whatever that is – a chocolate maybe?) The first meeting doesn’t go well but eventually they work it all out and decide to go on a road trip so that Gloria can see some old places before she forgets them. Gloria has the first signs of dementia and is terrified that she will lose her memories before she has a chance to share them – if she tells them to someone then they will still exist.

Hattie, trying to delay the inevitable decides to take Gloria on this last hurrah, Thelma and Louise style, and they both discover a lot of things on the way. I really liked the flashbacks in this book – I read another review that said it was difficult to distinguish who the narrator was but I disagree. Gloria starts off by describing the current scene before trawling back though her memories, which I thought was a nice touch The way in which the author deals with dementia and how terrifying it must be is really poignant. Gloria is a fiercely independent lady and has no one (apart from her neighbours) to support her. The idea that we live on in other peoples memories of us is just a lovely thought. I cannot imagine how I would deal with it if it happened to me but I liked the idea of doing crazy things before I forget what its all about. I loved the character of Gloria, she was such a strong, inspirational woman who has lived through some terrible times; as she says ‘who are we without our memories?’ and, good and bad, they make us the person we are. To lose that identity must be awful.

This book is beautifully written, explores the relationship between the young and old and reminds us that every old person was a young person once; a young person full of life and love and excited about their future. It’s how we deal with that future that makes up our character and I loved the way that the author connected the two women together, not just by family  but by experience.

I haven’t read any other novels by Clare Furniss but will give Year of the Rat a go; I hope this book makes the shortlist because it is brilliant.

loociejj death, grief, love, romance

The Sky is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson

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This is a big book…. it deals with raw emotion and all the big themes; death, love, grief and the sheer overwhelming ride that we call life (I know… a bit cheesy but it was deep man!)

Lennie lives in a small town in America – let’s call it ‘generic small town America’. She plays the clarinet in the school band, has an older sister called Bailey that she idolises, lives with her Grandmother and Uncle Big and has a best friend who she tells everything to. Life is good. Then, out of the blue her Gram gets a phone  call saying that her sister has dropped dead in the middle of rehearsals for a play and her world falls apart. Lennie has always felt like she isn’t good enough, or not as good as Bailey at any rate. Her mother has gone off and left them and her dad isn’t mentioned so not sure who he is so she probably has severe abandonment issues too.

The only person who seems to come close to understanding her loss is Toby, her sister’s boyfriend. They were both 19 and had just got engaged. He cannot understand what has happened and neither can she so they lose themselves in each other. But then along comes Joe Fontaine with his infectious smile and willingness to try and break through the grief to rescue Lennie. And he is adorable. He turns up at the house with breakfast every day, plays every musical instrument known to man, used to live in Paris so speaks French, has gorgeous brothers that all the girls fancy….. you get the idea? He even writes a song just for her (aah the romance!)

This book is deep. It deals with grief and the guilt that the living feel. Lennie feels guilty that she is still alive and  can still love and be loved, all normal emotions after losing someone you have loved. She makes mistakes, but then don’t we all? Don’t we all do stupid things when we are unbalanced and unsure of what to do next? The shock and the anger and the sheer selfishness of grieving is so well written; how each character deals with it in their own way and block each other out at the same time. I haven’t read her other book but it is on my list of things to do but whatever you do, don’t judge Lennie for her decisions until you can say you have walked down that road, her friend does and of all the  characters in this book she is the one I like the least.

PS. I love Uncle Big and his womanising ways, especially they way he seduces women in his crane!

Futher Reading: I Give you The Sun by Jandy Nelson and Bridge to Terabithia by Katharine Paterson.