The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Today's review is about:

THE SUMMARY

(The summary on the back mainly talks about how it's an 20th century classic, blah blah blah, so I'm going to write this one myself. Please bear with me.)

It all starts when Nick Carraway moves to West Egg in New York, next to the infamous Jay Gatsby who is known for his stylish parties, and not for his face. Before he knows it, Nick is pulled into Gatsby's life through a party invitation, where he learns of Gatsby's never-ending love for Daisy, his cousin. This book will leave you guessing, and will shock you till the end.

He seriously should've gotten an Oscar for The Great Gatsby!

MY REVIEW

This is the first (and hopefully last) time that you will hear this from me: I liked the movie better. The fact of the matter is that the book hooked me in the beginning, but couldn't seem to keep my attention throughout the rest. I don't know if it is because I knew what was going to happen, or because I thought that I had something better to read or something.

Although I didn't like it, it still had elements that charmed me from beginning to end. Gatsby's demeanor and love for Daisy is what made the book, not the little tea parties and meetings in the middle.

The story would capture my interest, but before I knew it, I was being set right back into on of the tea parties and getting very bored. I think that it could have done without the constant tea parties and general blabber (but save the tea party with Daisy, it was too cute!)

I'm not, however, trying to dissuade you, dear reader, from reading this book. My opinion is my opinion, so while I did not like this book, many of you out there will love it. As for me, I'm going to stick to the movie (which was EXTREMELY accurate!).

A LITTLE EXCERPT

In my younger and more vunerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

Well, that's all for now!

Thanks for reading!

~Sea-Solo

To you, old sport.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Listen to Young and Beautiful from The Great Gatsby soundtrack!

http://thegreatgatsby.warnerbros.com/

Visit the movie's website!

{A Blast from the Past} Divergent by Veronica Roth

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

ONE CHOICE
Decides your friends
ONE CHOICE
Defines your beliefs
ONE CHOICE
Determines your loyalties-
forever
ONE CHOICE
CAN TRANSFORM YOU

MY REVIEW

I was first introduced to this book by my sophomore English teacher, who also happens to have a book blog (http://apocalypsereads.blogspot.com/), and her opening line for this book was: "I like this book more than The Hunger Games." What you don't know is up until that moment all of us at the book club at my High School thought that she was a hard-core Katniss fan, so of course measures were taken and thermometers checked. After reading this book for the second time, I have to agree.
Let me explain:
What we have here is a story about a girl who goes up against everything that she believes of her society, and unlocks the power and strength that is hidden within herself. There is a love story, but it is not a love triangle (Can I get a hallelujah?), and still is as complicated as one. Although The Hunger Games is good, and I am still an avid Katniss fan (up until the last book that is), Tris has taken her rightful place as one of my favorite female characters of all time.
This book will take you on a wild ride from cover to cover, and the adrenaline that you will experience from it is no laughing matter. Every moment is a danger to Tris and the society that she lives in, every pause in the writing is heavy with the words of a fantastic author.
The scene is a futuristic Chicago, in which there are five different factions: Amity the peaceful (red or yellow), Abnegation the selfless (grey), Candor the honest (black and white), Erudite the intelligent (blue), and Dauntless the brave (black). When you reach age sixteen, you take an aptitude test to determine which faction you would be most suited to. Divergents are people who fit into more than one faction, and are therefore uncontrollable.
If you are caught as a Divergent, you will be killed.
Not giving away any spoilers, Tris is a girl who has to try to fit in and hide who she really is. Kind of like a Disney princess we all know and love...

Sorry, but I just had to put Frozen in here SOMEWHERE...

And a lot of us can relate to that, because all of us have times in our lives where we pretend to be someone else and hide all that makes us US. Unlike Elsa, though, the revealing of one's self could put you in the bottom of a chasm with a bullet in your head. (Violence, much?)
I love the Divergent trilogy, and I suspect that if you like Dystopias, you will too.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

My family might be able to help me make my choice, if I could talk about my aptitude test results. But I can't. Tori's warning whispers in my memory every time my resolve to keep my mouth shut falters.
Caleb and I climb the stairs and, at the top, when we divide to go to our separate bedrooms, he stops me with a hand on my shoulder.
"Beatrice," he says, looking sternly into my eyes. "We should think of our family." There is an edge to his voice. "But. But we must also think of ourselves."
For a moment I stare at him. I have never seen him think of himself, never heard him insist on anything but selflessness.
I am so startled by his comment that I just say what I am supposed to say: "The tests don't have to change our choices."
He smiles a little. "Don't they, though?"

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Watch the Divergent movie trailer!

And here's a clip from the movie.

{A Blast from the Past} Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

13 Elements you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel:
1. Mystery
2. A beautiful golem
3. Souped-up slingshots
4. Four black cats
5. Amnesia
6. Calamity Poker
7. Angry ponies
8. A shady truant officer
9. Top-13 lists
10. A sandstorm generator
11. Doppelgängers
12. A secret mission
13. Earwigs

"I want YOU
to leave me alone"

MY REVIEW

In true Emily the Strange fashion, I have decided to make a top 13 list instead of my regular routine. So, without further ado, here it is:
1. Black cats
2. A cafe called El Dungeon
3. Golems
4. Cool black rock
5. A traveling magic show
6. Amnesia
7. Easy to read
8. Cool drawings
9. An awesome van
10. Doppelgängers
11. Strange town names
12. Mystery
13. Top 13 lists

But in all seriousness, this book is really fun to read whether you're a little girl in elementary school or a older teen with a love for J.R.R. Tolkien. You will fall in love with the character Earwig, and follow her as she tries to figure out who she is and why she is in a little town called Blackrock.
I am myself a black cat girl, so I loved the cats and the adventures that they led Earwig to, and I also loved all of the "romance" that happened between Raven (the waitress at El Dungeon) and the guys from the traveling magic show.
I'm going to admit something: I envy the kids of today. They have stuff like Monster High, that show that it is okay to be different and like black cats and all of that stuff. When I was growing up, we had Tamagotchi (I think mine's still around my room somewhere) and Barbies to play with, and while the Tamagotchis were fun to play with (and still are), Barbie seemed to teach little girls that loving pink and wearing fancy dresses are the only ways to go in the world. I'm loving all of the different stuff that's coming out, but not to the level of the Bronies.
This book is great for girls (and guys) that are around middle school age and older. :)

"Spring Spring
go away!
I want some rain
so I can Play..."

A LITTLE EXCERPT

OK.
I think I better take some notes, cuz something super strange is happening to me, and I don't know
1. my name
2. anyone else's name
3. where I am
4. how I got here
5. where I live
6. how old I am (am I a kid or just short?)
7. anything I've done since I was born
8. whether I'm a cat person or a dog person
9. whether I actually believe people are either cat people or dog people
10. what might have been written on the eleven pages that were torn out of this notebook
11. why this happened to me
12. how long it's going to last, or
13. what I should do next.

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Visit the official Emily the Strange website to check out more art, buy some merch, and other cool stuff!:
http://www.emilystrange.com

Peaceweaver by Rebecca Barnhouse

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

Sixteen-year-old Hild has always been a favorite of her uncle, the king of the Shylfings. So when she protects her cousin the crown prince from a murderous traitor, she expects the king to be grateful. Instead, she is unjustly accused of treachery herself.
As punishment, her uncle sends Hild far away to the heir of the enemy king, Beowulf, to try to weave peace between the two kingdoms. She must leave her home and everyone she loves. On the long and perilous journey, Hild soon discovers that fatigue and rough terrain are the least of her worries. Something is following her and her small group of guards - some kind of foul creature that tales say lurks in the fens. Will Hild have to face the monster? Or does it offer her the perfect chance to escape the destiny she never chose?

MY REVIEW

If you were looking at the cover of this book and thinking: "This book looks like fun", well then you would be absolutely right! Believe me when I say that the cover isn't the most exciting thing about this book, but rather it is the extremely believable story that lives within it!
When reading, you form theories on how the book is going to end, and one by one they are all disproved until you get to the end, and even then nothing is for sure. That is one of the things that I loved about this book, it keeps you guessing until the very end, and then you have to somehow suck yourself out of the story so that you can go on to other books.
The cover is what really drew me in at first, and I'm happy to say that this IS a book that you can judge from the cover. The cover art depicts very realistically the horror that you encounter later in the book, a fight between Hilde and whatever that is, so take comfort in the fact that it won't catch you completely by surprise (even though it will surprise you still).
Hild's blackouts are intense and unpredictable and make you wonder what in the heck is going on, which makes it really fun to read. Still, this book is very violent, so we (my class) were thinking that this would be appropriate for ages 12+.
Another thing that is wonderful about this book is the fact that it looks at the sort of aftershock after King Beowulf (yeah, that's right, THAT guy) died while defeating the dragon. Even if you haven't seen or read Beowulf, the story is explained very well, so you don't have to force yourself to read it if you don't want to (though I would recommend it, just so that you have read it and have said bragging rights). The tie-in with another Medievalist novel was a good move and really sets you into the time-frame.
With all of that comes another plus: Norse mythology. Once again, if you don't know anything about Norse mythology, don't sweat it, because that is explained as well, and although it is a major part of the book, you don't need to know much to dive-in, feet first. (Pretty much if you watched Thor or Thor: The Dark World, you'll be fine.)
And the rest? Well, you'll just have to read it for yourself, won't you? ;)

A LITTLE EXCERPT

Within Hild, something snapped. White-hot fury filled her, and without realizing what she was doing, she grabbed her skirt in one hand, her sword in the other, and ran blindly toward her cousin. In less time than it takes a hawk to plummet from the sky after its prey, she was across the practice area, shouldering Arinbjörn aside and pushing with her sword. Her arm jolted as the weapon met resistance, but she shoved back against something she couldn't see, then shoved again, pushing her blade in front of her as it buried itself in something solid.
Everything stopped. Insects in the grass quit their chirring mid-note, the breeze in the birches held its breath, the bright autumn sky blanked into white -
-and then a weight was on her sword as the man standing in front of Arinbjörn staggered.
Now her own lips were parted and she stepped back, taking her blood-spattered hand from the sword, which was still embedded in the man's guts, and looked over his shoulder at Arinbjörn. A tuft of her cousin's hair was sticking up on one side, she noted incongruously. It gave him a comical appearance.
A raven cawed, unlocking the stillness, shocking the world back to life.

(pages 56-57)

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Visit Rebecca Barnhouse's website!:
http://www.rebeccabarnhouse.com/index.html

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

"A road's a kind of holy thing...
it brings all kinds of people and
all parts of England together."
Eleven-year-old Adam loved to travel throughout thirteenth-century England with his father, a wandering minstrel, and his dog, Nick. But when Nick is stolen and his father disappears, Adam suddenly finds himself alone. He searches the same roads he traveled with his father, meeting farmers, pilgrims, minstrels, priests, and thieves along the way. Through these encounters, Adam discovers that somewhere in the crowds of people are his father and his dog. But will Adam be able to find them and end his desperate search?

MY REVIEW

I was assigned this book for my Medieval Lit class, and loved it so much that I had to share it with you guys!
The adventures that you go on with Adam are fun and hold your mind until the last page. All the while, you are wondering if everything will turn out all right in the end. The music and minstrel's tales held the book together and really transported you back into the middle ages.
Adam is a very lovable character, with a big head sometimes, but is always out to make people happy, no matter what he himself is feeling at the time. As a reader, you watch him grow up, following him in his quest to find his dog and his father.
The most important thing that this book did for me was it reminded me of what it was like to be a kid. Many times in our lives we want something that we don't have; adulthood and childhood being one of the things we want throughout our long lives. We forget, however, about what it is to be a child, and this book brings us back. We feel the same sort of mystery and adventure as with any book, but rather than making us long for said adventure, it reminds us of the children we once were. And that, my friends, is the greatest gift of all. :)

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"Nick!" shouted Adam. "Nick!"
There he was. There was Nick in that boat, and every minute the strip of water between them was widening. "That's my dog!" he cried. "He took my dog!"
The people on the dock at once gathered around him with exclamations and questions.
"When the ferry comes back, dearie," said a pleasant-faced woman, "you can have my place and I'll wait for the next one."
When the ferry came back! By that time Jankin would be gone, and Nick with him. They were nearly to the other shore now.
Adam took his harp from his shoulder and his bundle; he unfastened his belt and wallet and took off his shoes, and piled them all together. "Watch them for me," he said to the friendly woman.
Then he dived.

Well, that's all for now!

See you in the next one!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Listen to Sumer is Icumen In, a medieval song mentioned in the book!

Movie Commercial: The Giver

Today I am going to talk about:

THE GIVER MOVIE COMMERCIAL

I know that many of you have read the wonderfully sad book The Giver by Lois Lowry for school, but for those of you who haven't encountered it yet, this is the summary:

December is the time of the annual Ceremony at which each twelve year old receives a life assignment determined by the Elders. Jonas watches his friend Fiona named Caretaker of the Old and his cheerful pal Asher labeled the Assistant Director of Recreation. But Jonas has been chosen for something special. When his selection leads him to an unnamed man -the man called only the Giver -he begins to sense the dark secrets that underlie the fragile perfection of his world.

Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

Like every dystopian novel, this book has a society that looks good on the outside, but on the inside it is broken. I read it first in Middle School and loved it, but it has mostly been forgotten by my mind (one instance it came back was when I read Son, the last book in the series).
I was shocked and excited to find out that they were going to make a movie about this amazing book, and even more excited when I saw names like Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep in the cast list! I know for sure that this is something that I would like to know about, so I'm sharing it with you here. :)
I'm going to have to find and re-read this now.

Well, that's all for now!
See you in the next one!
~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Listen to the first chapter of The Giver by Lois Lowry!