Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
768 pages
Finished 8/4/08














I've been putting off writing this review for awhile, mainly because I'm still not sure how I feel about the book. This book is the fourth and final installment in the series (following Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse). As you can see, I had varying degrees of liking the first three books, and this book was no different.

I didn't like the beginning of Breaking Dawn. It tried too hard to be cheesy and romantic, and I just wasn't feeling the G-rated loving that was going on. Yes, I know, this book is written by someone who is highly religious, and the book is for teens, but still.

The problem with this book is that it takes an unexpected twist in the beginning, and the book isn't the same again. By unexpected, I mean...illogical. I saw the twist coming right away (the author tries a little too hard with the foreshadowing), but the twist doesn't make sense. (Wow, it's hard to write this review without giving away a major part of the plot!)

The book gets better as it goes, and I was pleased with the ending (although I know some people definitely are not!).

Overall, I would say three stars. The author wrapped up Bella's story nicely, but also left it open to continue on if the money and demand is there. :)

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
462 pages
Finished 3/19/08











I like to judge books by their covers - so I picked this one up based on it's cover only. I had never heard of the book (and certainly hadn't heard of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, which is the first book of).

It's very easy to see how this book is compared to Harry Potter. This book follows the story of a novice magician named Nathaniel, and what happens when he summons a djinni (or demon) named Bartimaeus to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from a magician that had once humiliated Nathaniel.

The book switches back and forth between Nathaniel and Bartimaeus, but it's definitely Bartimaeus that steals the show. He is shown as a smart, witty, and very self aware. His sections are littered with footnotes to further explain what is happening. I personally love the footnotes, and think they are great - especially when Bartimaeus explains his reasoning for them part way through the book.

I will definitely be looking into the next two books in the trilogy - I have no idea what they are about, but hopefully they will be as good as the first.

Four stars.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
240 pages
Finished 2/24/08












I found this book while browsing a local Goodwill for books. It caught my eye because it said on the cover that it was a "companion" to Lowry's book The Giver. The Giver is one of the best children's/young adult book ever, in my opinion. I had no idea that Lowry came out with a companion book - so it was even more interesting to learn after reading Gathering Blue that she had created a bit of a trilogy - The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger (which I've yet to read, but is added to my wishlist).

Gathering Blue is not nearly as good as The Giver was. Gathering Blue is set in the future - a future that is actually much like the distant past when everything was extremely basic. The men hunt for food, the women raise the children in their huts, and any person born with a defect is typically left out to die in the burial field.

I am interested to read Messenger now, because I really felt like Gathering Blue ended in an extremely abrupt way. There were so many things that were not explained, and it looks like Messenger follows some of the characters that were in Gathering Blue.

I still gave it three stars, because Lowry rocks. Mild bias, of course.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
629 pages
Finished 1/2/08













This book is the third in the Twilight series. The good news is that it was (slightly) better than the second book. The bad news is that it was no where near as good as the first.

This book dealt with more of the same - we are supposed to believe that Bella is such a strong character, when she is constantly standing in shock, feeling nauseous, or nearly passing out from being soooo tired.

The best part of the book was again the ending, although there were a few things that made me roll my eyes. I like the addition of the love triangle to the book, even if I don't like the person it is centered around (Bella). It actually a bit of a bummer that I've found myself disliking the main character so much.

Regardless, I'm sure I will pick up the sequel when it comes out later this year.

Three stars.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
563 pages
Finished 12/31/07












What a disappointment! I was a little worried this would happen - it seems like teen authors are trying so hard to become the next JK Rowling, and it's just not happening. New Moon is the second book in the Twilight series, and to be quite honest, I thought it was pretty bad. I'm trying to put into words my distaste for the book without giving much of the plot away, and it's hard. (I don't want to give up the plot because I know how annoying it is to read information about a second novel in a series when you haven't read the first - too spoilerish).

My biggest issues stem from the main character - she absolutely drove me nuts. She's so melodramatic about everything! I don't think she has a ton of redeeming qualities, and yet somehow every guy she meets is drawn to her and in love with her. It was forced a little too much in this book.

The last quarter of the book was by far the best part, and that really wasn't good enough.

Two and a half stars.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
498 pages
Finished 12/30/07













To say that this is a fast read would be an understatement. I began reading this book yesterday afternoon, around the beginning of the 4th quarter of the Packer game (Go Pack!). I finished it by 9 last night, and I was definitely not reading the entire time (took some time off to make dinner, drink some wine, and put the book down every 3 minutes or so to meow at David. Which he didn't find annoying. At all.).

I was throughly absorbed and addicted to this novel. It is a young-adult novel about a high school junior named Bella that moves to a new school and falls in love with a vampire. It was easy to see why/how a teenage girl can get swept up in it - what heterosexual teenage girl didn't day dream about the perfect guy falling for her and whispering sweet nothings to her? I thought it was a very romantic novel when looking at it from eyes of the teenage girl I used to be.

Of course, other things drove me nuts - things that were unexplained (Edward, the vampire, can read everyone's thoughts...but Bella's), Bella's ridiculous outfits there were supposed to be cute (floor length khaki skirt? Really?), and even the sexual tension got a little annoying. It was all too pure. The two barely ever kissed!

Either way, I still really liked it, and I am already reading the second novel, New Moon. I'll let you know how I feel about that one.

Four stars.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
294 pages
Finished 11/26/07













This is a young-adult novel - the first in a series. It was also made into a movie awhile back (a year or two? I'm not sure). I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard good things about the book/series, and decided to pick it up.

It was really cute, and actually pretty surprising in a couple of aspects. Sure, the characters were somewhat cliche - the rebel, the jock, the shy one, the "mother" of the group, but what wasn't so cliche is that they were all friends - best friends. It's a cute story about four friends who find a pair of "magic pants" - pants that fit all of them, even though they have different body styles. The girls spend the summer apart (their first summer in years), but have the pants and their letters to keep them connected.

Like I said, I thought it was really cute. I will probably read the rest of the series eventually, and want to watch the movie now (although chances are pretty good I won't get David to watch it with me...)

I give it three stars.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
234 pages
Finished 11/21/07













I'm not going to lie, I only picked this book up because it was on my banned books bracelet, which is my new favorite piece of jewelery - here's the link: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog&_pn=product_detail&_op=2151

Anyway, I actually really didn't know much about this book until I started reading it. It's essentially a love story about two high school students - both female. It is a young adult novel and was written and published in the early '80s (1981 or 82, I can't remember).

In some ways, I think the story was extremely well written. The blossoming love between Annie and Liza was sweet, and I honestly think that anyone who reads it will be able to relate to the feelings they have - nervous, unsure, etc. On the other hand, there were little things about the characters and the story that drove me nuts - mainly the constant foreshadowing ("And by the time the whole thing was over with, I wished she'd known..." and "But, oh, God, neither of us had any way of knowing that I would do something..." are just two examples from the first quarter of the book).

I can definitely see why this book has been challenged, although there are no overt sexual scenes in the story (there are probably more explicit things shown on prime time television).

I give it two and a half stars.

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar

Instead of starting with the book, I decided to start with the TV show. Gossip Girl (Wednesday nights on the CW) is officially my newest guilty pleasure. It has replaced The OC as the teen soap that I love (Ok, that's a lie. Nothing will ever replace The OC, but it has helped fill the void).

I first tuned into Gossip Girl because I heard it originated as a book. I like books (duh), so I decided to check it out. I wasn't entirely in love in the first episode, but I am now. I am so addicted, mostly because of the actors that play Serena and Dan (both far left in the pic). Looove them.

I decided to check out the book to see how they compare. I thought it would be cool, because it gave me a mental image of all of the characters.


Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
201 pages
Finished 10/19/07












So, how does the book compare to the TV show? Well, I think I'd be more hooked on the books if I hadn't seen the TV show first. The show's first episode (or two, I can't remember), followed the book in many ways (Serena showing up at a party, Blair having no idea she was coming back, the Kiss on the Lips party, etc). However, there are some pretty different things between the two as well, including the fact that in the book, Serena's brother Eric is older and at college, versus the show, where he is younger and suffering from depression.

Other things didn't really match up, including the description of Dan in the book, plus spoilers I've read about the book's series (which, thankfully, the TV doesn't seem to be going in that direction...yet).

Overall, for a young adult book, I did think it was pretty interesting. I'll probably pick up the rest of the series eventually, just to see how the original author intended it to go. I have heard that von Ziegesar wrote around 8 or 9 books in the series, and the rest of them are now being ghost written. That should be interesting.

Distancing my complete adoration with the TV show from this book, I give it three stars.

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

This book is a Young Adult novel. It was supposed to be the 3rd book and final book in a trilogy, but it looks like the series is continuing...


Specials by Scott Westerfeld
372 pages
Finished 10/4/07











I wasn't so sure going into this book, as I had read the first two books in the supposed trilogy and had mixed feelings. I really liked the first book - I thought it was very interesting and original. The second book was way out there - the author created a ton of new terms and used them ALL THE TIME. I wasn't a huge fan of the second book.

Luckily, the author redeemed himself a bit in this book. The silly terms are still there, but they are not used as frequently. Like the other two novels, this book is extremely fast paste (is that the right paste? It looks funny, but I am having a huge brain fart). Don't be fooled by the 372 pages - the print is large and the book is small.

Overall, I liked the book. I thought it wrapped up a lot of storylines in a pretty decent manner.

I give it three and a half stars.