Review: GRACELING by Kristin Cashore

TITLE: Graceling

AUTHOR: Kristin Cashore
AUTHOR WEBSITE: kristincashore.blogspot.com, GracelingRealm.com
GENRE: Young Adult, Romance, Adventure, Fantasy
PUBLISHED: October 1, 2008 – Harcourt
MY RATING: 5

SYNOPSIS:

(Courtesy of Goodreads-No Spoilers!)

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...

REVIEW:

This story is truly captivating. The tone caught me immediately and drew me in. A Graceling is someone born with an ability far exceeding human capability (exceptional swimmer, fighter, etc) and marked by eyes of different colors. Katsa is a Graced fighter and virtually unbeatable. In the first half of the book she is forced to fight and bully on behalf of her tyrannical uncle. She is forced to torture people who do not comply with his rule. She secretly formed the Council which protects the innocent from being taken advantage of by any of the seven kings.

Katsa’s character is believable even though she is a teenager who changes the course of seven kingdoms. Most of us felt invincible as teenagers and probably wanted to change the world. This story fulfills that desire. The gifts as a Graceling give us room to believe in the unbelievable things she can do because of her Grace.

In the second half of the book she joins forces with a prince to find out the reason his grandfather was kidnapped. She has never felt love or friendship before and every moment they spent together was magical for reasons I won’t share. (No spoilers in this review!) But I will say the only part that irked my (only slightly) was the abrupt resolution to a major plot point. I found it odd, but hey who wants to wait around for these things!

RATING:

This is Kristin Cashore’s first novel! Her writing style is exceptional and I was thrilled to find myself caught up in the story world she created. I’m glad to have finally found another book to give a 5. Excellent: Worth every minute, I’d probably read it again. (I’ll probably buy this one too, because I read the library copy.)

Bring on Book 2!!

RECOMMENDATIONS:

I would definitely recommend this book to my pre-teens and teens. It would make a great PG movie as well!

More books by Kristin Cashore:

Graceling Realm Series:

Book 1: GRACELING

Book 2: FIRE

Book 3: BITTERBLUE

Review: ROOMS by James L. Rubart

TITLE: Rooms

AUTHOR: James L. Rubart
AUTHOR WEBSITE: www.JamesLRubart.com
GENRE: Adult, Christian, Mystery, Fantasy
PUBLISHED:  January 1, 2010 – B&H Books
MY RATING: 2

SYNOPSIS:

(Courtesy of Goodreads-No Spoilers!)

On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out. Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend.

When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual. This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way. But as he slowly discovers, the home isn’t just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny.

REVIEW:

**SPOILER ALERT**

The main character, Micah, is pushed into a journey of spiritual discovery. This book had a great premise: A house that represents his soul. I liked the idea of the house and dealing with the hidden parts of the soul. My mother uses this sort of thing (she calls it the House of Soul) in her wholeness counseling sessions. (Link to her blog: bearcreekblog.com) I went right out and bought it from Books-A-Million with high hopes but sadly they were dashed.

The major theme of the story is giving up worldly things for things of the spirit: Choosing God over money. I was happy with this concept until the guy is losing things as he advances his relationship with God in a sci-fi way, not in a "turning from it" sort of way. It made the whole story ridiculous. None of this book seemed like Micah had a choice at all. To me, God gives us a choice to seek him or not. God gives us the choice to lay aside the things of this world.

If a good Christian guy has a fab idea and sells it to the world, does that mean he has a bad relationship with God? This is a trite generalization. It makes this character seem contrived for the sake of making this lesson plain to people. Micah gets to know God and therefore loses things in his life. They are mysteriously changing (for the worse.) He doesn’t intentionally decide to leave certain things behind. They are TAKEN from him. It feels more like a punishment for knowing God than the changing of a man’s heart. I’m sad that it appears that way. It really could have been a good demonstration of how to come to wholeness in our own lives.

God gives us a choice to lay the things of this world aside. It would have made for a more practical story to see Micah do it intentionally. So, BIG Strike One!

Strike Two: Holy preach-fest! It's hard to read a novel that has almost as much bible verse quotes as it does pros. People don't go around talking like that. I don't think even God's angels would quote scripture like the one in this book does. (Do you quote your friends from what they've written, or by what you talk about with them?)

Strike Three: There is no such thing as self-deliverance. Maybe I’ll pretend it was fiction based on fiction, OR I’ll say that I work in deliverance ministry and there’s no way a demon will leave just because you get worked up into a religious frenzy and tell it to leave. Ain’t happ’nin’! No one has ever, or will ever see the middle of their own back with their own eyes. Only where "two or more are gathered" and the full name/authority of Jesus will this ever occur. (Link: PropheticDeliverance by Tim Mather )

RATING:

I’d rate this book at a 2: Fair: Not quite worth the time. (I won’t say it was “Totally not worth it” because I liked the mysterious house and the IDEA of it all!)

HYPE-BUSTER: They say this book is like THE SHACK by William Young. Let me sum up with one word: NOPE! The Shack has truth in it without being preachy. So it can be done… Christian Fiction without preachy-ness—what a novel idea!

Review: THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold

Book and Movie Review

TITLE: The Lovely Bones
AUTHOR: Alice Sebold
AUTHOR WEBSITE: www.AliceSebold.com
GENRE: Young Adult, Mystery, Crime
PUBLISHED: July 3, 2002 – Little, Brown and Company
MY RATING: 3

SYNOPSIS:

(Courtesy of Goodreads-No Spoilers!)

The spirit of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon describes her murder, her surprise at her new home in heaven, and her witness to her family's grief, efforts to find the killer, and attempts to come to terms with what has happened.

REVIEW:

Suzi, the narrator tells her story from heaven. She tells us how she was lured into an underground cave where she was brutally raped and murdered. This is not a “who dun it” book. She shows us from the start. This book is a gripping piece about grief, love, and family with an odd coming-of-age angle. She has trouble letting go. She is in heaven (almost/sort of) but won’t let go of the “why” to be able to go fully into heaven.

I don’t really appreciate when people make stuff up about heaven. Not that I have strong views about what it will be like, I just avoid filling my head with ideas, I don’t think it will be anything like what anyone thinks. I was annoyed at everything that happened in the “heaven” scenes and noticed I breezed through those parts. Avoidance.

My opinion about the storyline is that it is AWEFUL, only because it is so painful to hear about a child being raped and murdered. It was painful to read this book from beginning to end. Their family is of course torn apart because of the murder of Suzie. Of course her father went crazy looking for his baby, of course her mother avoided the pain and had an affair. It was hard to finish because of all the pain in this novel. But one can say that it did its job. It made an impression. It got to me. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill the bad guy.

RATING:

With that in mind I am having a hard time determining the “time value” of this novel. I almost wished I hadn’t read it because of all the pain in it. Yet, Alice did her job by getting to me through all that emotion. When I think about the latter, I say 3. But when I think about how much it hurt, I’m settling on a 2: Not quite worth the time invested.

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MOVIE TITLE: The Lovely Bones

MOVIE RATING: PG-13
MOVIE WEBSITE:
GENRE: Drama, Fantasy
RELEASE DATE:  January 15, 2010
STARING: Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan
MY RATING: 2

REVIEW:

I was wary to watch this movie for a while after I read the book. I finally decided to take a swing at it. This is the first time I have ever said this and probably the last, but the movie was better than the book. I could cope with the story easier. I, of course, saw less of the family’s struggle. But I got to actually see what Suzie was describing in the weird heaven. When I read about weird stuff that I’ve not seen with my own two eyes, it’s hard to grasp. But it was beautiful and riveting watching huge ships in bottles crashing along the rocky shores. That was cool.

Not a lot was changed. As usual, stuff was combined and scenes were shortened or omitted. But they did a good job condensing it. I still hated the rape and murder part so it was still revolting. But to actually watch the justice in the end made me feel better.

RATING:

2: Fair: Not quite worth it. Still hard to stomach this story. 

Review: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Garcia & Stohl

TITLE: Beautiful Creatures

AUTHOR: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
AUTHOR WEBSITE: www.KamiGarcia.com
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
PUBLISHED: December 1, 2009 – Little, Brown and Company
MY RATING: 2

SYNOPSIS:

(Courtesy of Goodreads-No Spoilers!)

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

REVIEW:

*SPOILER WARNING*

This is Gothic Tale about a high school boy from a small southern town who falls in love with the creepy new girl, Lena Duchannes. He falls in love with her and is drawn to find out the supernatural connection between them.

The best thing: The story has beautiful descriptions of the setting, the people, and the mood. The authors know how to make all your senses get involved. I was really sitting there in the middle of a vision of burning lemon trees and rosemary.

But it was so hard to choke down the history detailed in the excruciatingly long book. It was almost painful trying to keep myself reading at some points. I am not surprised when there are dragging moments but when there are many and for long periods of time, I almost want to slam the book down and go hit my head on the wall. If only they would pinch out the stupid history lessons like an infected pimple which ended up having NOTHING to do with the main storyline. I endured all the civil war jazz thinking, “Oh, this must be part of the reason something happens here, hmm!” But NO it didn’t!

Characters: I have to say they took an interesting angle by writing the book from a guy’s point of view. He was saintly. I can’t say he wasn’t believable because my brother is totally awesome. But there’s a point to where a character loses his credibility. They really should have gone with omniscient. It would have taken some work, but it would have made more sense when they described the teen girls clothing from head to toe, pink fingernails to silver purses. I believe this book may have been written on a series of bad decisions.

Narrator should have been limited-omni. Ethan would have appeared less like a girl. Lena might have been a little bit more interesting. Amma was my fav, such attitude. There were some funny parts too. But when they were talking “in their minds” I got confused by who was saying what.

PLOT: Seriously up until Lena started explaining her family as “casters” (witches) I was LOVING this story. I love the mystery and dreaming, etc. But then all the witchcraft started and I was nauseated. Can’t anyone come up with something better than witchcraft for the reasons for supernatural powers? I was disappointed.

RATING:

Okay, Here it is. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. I won’t be reading any sequel because this one seemed like such a waste of all the good ol’ hype. I give Beautiful Creatures a 2. Fair: Not quite worth it. It didn’t kill me to read it, although I should have been doing something else. And the ultimate reason is because it was too stinkin’ long!

RECOMMENDATIONS:

I won’t be letting my teen read this because of the witchcraft element. 

Review: MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE By Nicholas Sparks

Book and Movie Review

TITLE: Message in a Bottle
AUTHOR: Nicholas Sparks
AUTHOR WEBSITE: NicholasSparks.com 
GENRE: Adult, Romance, Chick Lit
PUBLISHED: April 1st 1998 by Grand Central Publishing
MY RATING: 3

SYNOPSIS:

(Courtesy of Goodreads-No Spoilers!)

Thrown to the waves, and to fate, the bottle could have ended up anywhere. Instead, it is found just three weeks after it begins its journey. Theresa Osborne, divorced and the mother of a twelve-year-old son, discovers it during a seaside vacation from her job as a Boston newspaper columnist. Inside is a letter that opens with, "My Dearest Catherine, I miss you my darling, as I always do, but today is particularly hard because the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that of our life together." 

For Garrett, the message is the only way he knows to express his undying love for a woman he has lost. For Theresa, wary of romance since her husband shattered her trust, the message raises questions that intrigue her. Challenged by the mystery, and driven to find Garrett by emotions she does not fully understand, Theresa begins a search that takes her to a sunlit coastal town and an unexpected confrontation. Brought together either by chance or something more powerful, 

Theresa and Garrett's lives come together in a tale that resonates with our deepest hopes for finding everlasting love. Shimmering with suspense and emotional intensity, Message in a Bottle takes readers on a hunt for the truth about a man and his memories, and about both the heartbreaking fragility and enormous strength of love. 

REVIEW:

A bottle thrown into the ocean could have ended up anywhere. This one ended up washing ashore for Theresa to find. It changes her life not only when she reads the message, but when she tries to find the man who had written the beautiful letter that starts with: "My Dearest Catherine, I miss you my darling, as I always do, but today is particularly hard because the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that of our life together...."

Anytime I read a book by Nicholas Sparks I know I will get to experience the beach. I love the fact that he includes his passion for the sea in the majority of his novels. In MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE he not only took us to the beach, he took us on the ocean in a sailboat—beautiful descriptions. (Thanks Nick!)

There was an obvious contrast of city life and small town life. You can feel the difference in each location, through the tempo of the characters lives, the sights and sounds that were described.

I could have been Theresa. I felt her pain. I felt her curiosity. She is pushed into finding Garrett (which I wouldn’t have needed a push.) Garrett was a mystery. I like knowing what people are thinking and look forward to reading books written in omniscient/limited omni. I was glad to know how he felt. It made my heart hurt to watch him struggle with having to move on after the death of his spouse. His struggle seemed so real and even made me struggle with the idea of him moving on.

I love romance stories that are tasteful with strong and original storylines. This is one of those stories. I loved Garrett’s letters. They were filled with truth, passion and intimacy.

Garrett’s dad was such a great character. (Nicholas Sparks always writes interesting dads.) He said very little but what he did say was genuine and to the point. He didn’t mess around. Why he didn’t show up more is a mystery to me.

RATING:

I’d rate this book right in the middle. 3. A Good read. Simply, it was a good story.

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MOVIE TITLE: Message in a Bottle

MOVIE RATING: PG-13
MOVIE WEBSITE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139462/?ref_=nv_sr_1
GENRE: Adult, Drama, Romance
RELEASE DATE:  February 12, 1999
STARING: Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Paul Newman
MY RATING: 2

REVIEW:

In reading the book first we get so much detail into the lives of Theresa and Garrett. But then you sit down to watch MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE movie (Released in 1999) there’s so much left out, so much background that book gives and movie doesn't. I’m sure as a standalone movie it would work. But I read the book first and was bothered by how MUCH they changed in the movie. I can understand changing a few things in the storyline to make it shorter. But they changed weird things, like Theresa’s home town, Garret was not a scuba instructor, the name of Theresa’s son. (In the book it was Kevin, and in the movie it was Jason—I don’t get it.)

They also removed an entire character, an important character: Deanna, her boss. They were best friends and had an interesting relationship. She was the one who helped find Garret and pushed Theresa to find him. It was odd that they replaced her character with some sexist boss. It was a strange choice. I think they may have done it to add more conflict to the story.

{{{SPOILER ALERT}}}

One thing they did change, which I absolutely LOVED… (Nick should have thought of it for the book!) Was when Garret found out about the letters in Theresa’s drawer. He had only written two. He didn’t write the third one. AWESOME!! (Yes, I’m sharing spoilers because this movie came out in 1999 and you should have seen it already, so get over it!) His dead wife had written one of the letters. What a great twist for the movie. It held my interest even though I knew the ending.

The end was tragic and disappointing. I thought they might make it a happy ending, but no.

RATING:

So I have to rate this movie at a 2: Fair: Not quite worth watching. I think as a standalone movie that it would probably work. But even the book wasn’t that excellent.

Review: THE LAST SONG by Nicholas Sparks

Book and Move Review

TITLE: The Last Song
AUTHOR: Nicholas Sparks
AUTHOR WEBSITE: NicholasSparks.com 
GENRE: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit
PUBLISHED: September 8, 2008 - Grand Central Publishing
MY RATING: 3

SYNOPSIS:

(Courtesy of Goodreads-No Spoilers!)

Seventeen year-old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father… until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him.

Ronnie’s father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story about love in its myriad forms – first love, the love between parents and children – that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that deeply felt relationships can break our hearts… and heal them. 

REVIEW:

THE LAST SONG by Nicholas Sparks is a story about a 17 year old girl’s summer at her father’s house. Her parents had been divorced for three years and Ronnie was still angry that he left. She hardly says anything to her dad for the first part of the book. She meets a boy who steals her heart. Her father attempts to make peace by catering to her dietary needs, and not telling her what to do and (my favorite) hiding the piano from sight. It was sweet. Her father enjoys watching her fall in love as their relationship heals.

The father’s house was right on the beach and I could almost smell the salt air as I read about her sleeping on the beach watching over a sea turtle nest. Teens and their anger can get pretty tiresome but Ronnie had a softer side too. She protected the nest from raccoons for several nights until it could be properly sheltered.

One major thing I liked about this story was the mass of layers. There were many storylines folded together to make this charming novel. Ronnie’s estrangement from her parents, the smart and funny little brother, the bad crowd and all their own quirks and downfalls, the hot guy and his weirdo family, and of course the dad’s storyline.

Oh, and talk about a tear jerker! I loved the love story, and the coming of age elements. I like reading stories about people who do the right thing. There were several instances where the characters spent time keeping secrets to protect themselves or someone else, but in the end they didn’t let me down.

RATING:

I enjoyed this book, partly because I love young adult novels and it was a good story. I’d give the book a 3 because it was a Pretty Good Read. No regrets. 

 RECOMMENDATIONS:

I’d rate it PG for this teen romance and would let my teen read it. I’d recommend my teen read the book rather than see the movie. 

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MOVIE TITLE: The Last Song

MOVIE RATING: PG
MOVIE WEBSITE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1294226/
GENRE: Young Adult,
RELEASE DATE:  March 31, 2010
STARING: Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, Greg Kinnear
MY RATING: 1

REVIEW:

Heading to the movie theater with low expectations I wasn’t too disappointed. I had read a few reviews to see if it was any good. (Because I’m cheep, gosh darn-it, I don’t want to spend my money on a movie that is lame.) Regardless of its bad reviews, I went to see Miley Cyrus in her first movie role outside of Hannah Montana.

About the Movie itself: It was a great story to begin with. They didn’t change a whole lot. It was the entire book in a two hour experience. Steve, the dad, played by Greg Kinnear, was a superb and layered character. He did the role justice. He was funny, sincere, touching and, of course, heartbreaking throughout the movie. The little brother was cute and did a great acting job too.

As for Miley Cyrus, I’m sure you’ve already heard that she cannot act. It was disappointing to watch. She didn’t make the right faces at the right time. It was difficult to bear because I liked the story. I believe, like anyone else, actors should know their limits.

One other thing I was disappointed with was the scene with the flame throwers. I was hoping that it would look cool and they’d work it up into a big act (like a circus act!) But they didn’t and it was like, “Oh, that was the fire part.”

RATING:

I guess after it was all said and done, it’s a pretty good story, played by a bad actress. I’d give it a 1: Poor: A waste of Time. I should have waited till it came out on DVD.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The movie is Rated PG and rightly so but I'd choose to read the book over the movie any day.