Paper Towns- John Green BOOK REVIEW

Paper Towns
John Green
Published: October 16th 2008(hardback), September 22nd 2009 (paperback)
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: YA, Contemporary

The problem with John Green books is that they are so overrated, don't get me wrong I love John Green as a person, but as an author he's certainly not my favourite. Paper Towns follows the same sort of way as all of Green's other books, in that there is obviously a girl who is so completely original and amazing and mysterious and a boy who is so 'out of her league and spends his entire life thinking about said girl': it gets a little boring and a little repetitive.

I don't like Quentin or Q as he is referred to in the book, throughout it all I just couldn't get any emotion towards him other than 'urgh, shut up'. He is selfish towards his friends and is deluded into thinking that they should disregard their lives to look for missing Margo, despite the fact that it is around the time of their prom and graduation. Obviously if someone is missing in real life the pain is unimaginable but this book makes it so unrealistic its stupid. In real life situations (I am using the example real life despite the fact that I know it is supposed to be a fiction because I think Green is trying to make this book seem as close to real life as possible) the police would be doing everything that they could seeing as Margo has been missing for several days. However, in this book no one other than Q seems to care, his infatuation with her is worrying and I'm pretty sure no teenage boy would ever feel this obsessed with another girl his own age.

Q mocks his friends just because they want to go to prom and because they want to discuss their girlfriends (oh, shock horror). I don't know I just really didn't like Q at all, I just know that if he was an actual person I'd really dislike him.

The most redeeming part about this book was the ending. I loved the road trip with the Q, Radar, Ben and Lacey, it was entertaining, funny and lighthearted. Due to this part, its the only thing stopping me from giving this book 1 out of 5 and instead probably a 3 out of 5 (which is being generous).

It wasn't the worst book I've read, definitely not, but it certainly wasn't the best and I wont be reading it again for a long, long, long time. It was boring, seemed to go on forever without really having any benefit. This is probably the worst in the John Green books that I have read, my favourite being Looking For Alaska, this one just lacked that certain something that made me want to read on.

The Mortal Instruments- Cassandra Clare BOOK REVIEW

Possible spoilers if you’ve not read all of the books in the series

Fuelled by the release of the Mortal Instruments being made into a film franchise and by the recommendation from a friend I began reading these books a while ago.  The first in the series of five books (so far, I believe that there will be a sixth coming out soon) called The City of Bones kickstarts the series.

It follows the characters of Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus and the standard villain Valentine. Clary realises pretty soon into the book that she isn’t the normal human that she thinks that she is but has Shadow Hunter blood in her, and Jace, Isabelle and Alec, similar to herself are Shadow hunters that only she can see, the only difference is that they are trained fighters and she is not. Simon is what the Shadow Hunters call a mundane. It’s a pretty good book with a pretty good plot. However, there is a twist at the end of this book that makes me want to cry, because it is just so horrendous and gross, if you’ve read the book then you will know exactly what I am talking about.

It’s neither ground breaking nor something to be ignored, as it clearly hasn’t been. I believe that the general consensus of this book and all of the others in the series is you either love it or you hate it. Of course, I have to be awkward and say that I am completely passive about this series of books.

The second in the series is City of Ashes. Originally I couldn’t even remember what had happened in this book and had to re-read the blurb and a synopsis online before I could refresh my memory: take that, as you will. It just goes to show that this is a building block in the series, a filler if you will, a book that needs to be there so the next makes sense but doesn’t really fulfil your needs. Clary and Jace’s ‘relationship’ makes me want to throw up, seriously that is messed up.

This book is a lot more fast paced than the first, I’ll give it that but then the first in a series of books is always fairly slow. Simon is really developing as a character now that he is a vampire. I feel as if the most disappointing character in the entire two books is Valentine; I am not scared of him, nor do I think he a very good villain, he’s by no means sneaky or conniving enough, considering he is supposed to be trying to overthrow the clave he’s pretty predictable. Villains in novels like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games even Twilight for goodness sake are characters that you fear and you are constantly worried for the character. You don’t know that everything will be solved and be okay but with this series you just know that they will sort everything out in a way that is so ridiculously simple its stupid.

Third is City of Glass, this is my favourite in the series. This shows the ‘gang’ going to Alicante to basically fight a war. Can I just remind you all that Clary is a non-trained Shadow Hunter with absolutely NO experience. Suddenly just because she can use Runes she is undefeatable and yet Jace, arguably the best Shadow Hunter there is gets killed, then brought back to life. Really? Oh and Valentine is defeated. Okay fine, I know this sounds like I am bashing the book but it was the best to read but possibly the one with the worst plot. So much happens that you’re left feeling like “what the hell just happened” and not in a good way. Also why is it that Clary always seems to be making out with people she thinks are her brothers? What is going on in the author’s mind?

The fourth book is City of Fallen Angels. This book is incredibly slow right until the very end when all the action happens within about 5 chapters. (that’s an estimate number, don’t quote me, but lets just say it wasn’t long enough and was squeezed into a ridiculously short space when it should have been the focus of the book). After the finishing the very last page you are left with the sentence on most people’s lips “seriously, are you being serious Clare? This is ridiculous”.

She should have stopped writing these books after City of Glass. It makes no sense to carry it on, the main villain is dead, and everything has been resolved. Why bring up a can of worms now? Clary and Jace’s relationship is again a huge source of annoyance for me but for a completely different reason than last time. This time is because it is foolish- they finally are able to have each other in a non-gross way and yet they find fault with each other and there’s yet another reason why they cant be together.

URGHHHHHHHHHH there are so many faults in these books. I haven’t read the fifth one, I have it waiting on my shelf but I don’t think it will be read any time soon. This is another case of what I was talking about here when the author wants to milk the story for as long as possible but in short she/he weakens the plot by doing so. I think that you should read these books and come to your own conclusion because apart from the fourth book, whilst I was reading, I was fairly happy with the story, its only when I sat down to write this review that I realised the faults with it. So my advice is to read them and never review them.

If you don’t want to take my view for this then I suggest you go on Goodreads and read the reviews left by others on there; there’s definitely some interesting ones on there for your entertainment.

The Kingmaker's Daughter- Philippa Gregory BOOK REVIEW

“Anne Neville and her sister Isabel are daughters of the most powerful magnate in the 15^th century England, the Earl of Warwick, the ‘Kingmaker’, born with royal blood in their veins. Widowed at fourteen, fatherless, stripped of her inheritance and with her mother locked in sanctuary and Isabel a vengeful enemy, Anne faces the world alone.

But fortune’s wheel is always turning. Plotting her escape from her sister’s house, she finds herself a husband in the handsome Dyke of Gloucester, and marries without permission. Danger follows her and she finds she has a mortal enemy in the most beautiful queen of England. Anne must protect herself and her precious only son, from the treacherous royal court, her deadly royal rival, and even from the driving ambition of her husband.”

I have been wanting to read these books for absolutely ages, it was only when books by Philippa Gregory were made into a BBC television show (called the White Queen which is based on the books ‘The White Queen’, ‘The Red Queen’ and ‘The Kingmaker’s Daughter’.) that made me want to read them even more. You see, despite them always being on my reading list they always got pushed back in favour of something else. I think this is because I had some reservations because they are of course novels based on history. Whilst that may be true; they have far more dimension and entertainment than that of your average historical novel. The books are described as being fiction based on facts; which means that the main plot and what ultimately happens is all true, but some parts have been exaggerated and made into fiction to make it more enjoyable for the reader.

I don’t claim to know much if anything about the Cousin’s War or more commonly known as the War of the Roses but you don’t need to know anything about it to be able to understand and enjoy these books. You may also learn a little something about what happened along the way although I suppose you have to take it with a small pinch of salt because there are bits of complete fiction interspersed with fact.

Although this is the fourth in the series of books, it doesn’t seem to matter which you read first because ultimately they are all based on the same plot just with different view points. I chose the Kingmaker’s Daughter as the first one to read because Anne Neville’s character interested me from watching the TV show, (well that and it was the only one left in the shop).

Anne Neville is an extremely complex character; she has always been a follower and so when it is her chance to rule and be the better of the two Neville sisters she jumps at the chance. However, her path to the top is certainly not an easy nor enjoyable experience. Whilst she marries for love in secret soon it turns sour and she lives in constant fear of the Queen whom she believes is her mortal enemy.

I don’t believe she ever reached full happiness or if she did it was very short lived, I feel sorry for her and in some ways respect her for carrying on when her world was falling apart. She defiantly had a tough life with little who truly loved her. I believe though that when the book ended it ended with her finally being at peace.

This is definitely a must read if you are a fan of the BBC show or just a fan of historical novels. I finished this book within a day of intense reading, considering that this is a 400+ paged book, that shows you just how good this book was.

I am about to read the next books in the series and so I will also review them, once I have finished them all I will write another review telling you whose side I am on- York or Lancaster.

Casual Vacancy- JK Rowling REVIEW

As it may be clear to tell, JK Rowling is one of my ultimate inspirations and Harry Potter is a huge part of my life, so you can only imagine my excitement when she announced she was writing a new book. Of course, I knew it wasn't going to be another instalment of Harry Potter but none the less I was still counting down the days until she finally released a new book. So when the 27^th September 2012 arrived and my pre-ordered copy arrived on my front door, I began reading almost immediately. After reading about three chapters I put the book down, I had yet to make a judgement because everyone knows that the first several chapters of a new book are always slow; however, when I had read to roughly halfway I was starting to become extremely disappointed.

            The book is slow, boring and the plot is uninteresting. I didn't feel an ounce of connection towards the characters due to lack of dimension and I just didn't like any of them enough to really care about what they were doing. To be quite honest I didn't even finish the book because it turned into a chore even reading a sentence, so after reading about 75% of the book I gave up.

            I felt that JK Rowling has tried too hard to break away from her connection to children’s literature, I'm not sure why but I feel as if she tried to overdo the amount of language and sexual references, in fact she described one sexual encounter so vividly it left me feeling uncomfortable and just downright creeped out. The book could have been so much better had these pointless encounters and foul language not played such a huge part in the plot.

            I have heard that JK Rowling may venture back into children’s literature next, and despite me not loving this book I will certainly read anything else she writes and continue with my love for Harry Potter, but as for this particular book I wish I’d never bothered. 

rating: 2.5/10

Trying to put into words my love for Harry Potter

For my English presentation I have decided to do it on Harry Potter, however, trying to put in to words how much you love something is hard. None the less I think I have started (or at least tried to) to put my thoughts on to paper (or in this case a word document.) This is is in no way finished and barely even a beginning but its something and I thought I would share it.

The books are primarily about an orphaned boy with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead has to deal with the pressure of a prophesy set before he was born and trying to find the ways of destroying evil or else the Wizarding world would be under the power of the darkest wizard of all time, Voldemort or He Who Must Not Be Named; the books show Harry growing up in a Wizarding school name Hogwarts where he meets his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and his future wife Ginny Weasley, his faithful friends Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Dean and Seamus, Fred and George and the entirety or the Order of the Phoenix modern day answer of Dumbledore's Army. He gets taught by Professor McGonagall, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and many others, he also finds a father figure in the shape of Albus Dumbledore and in GodFather Sirius Black, he also finds family comfort in the Weasley family who take him in as if he were their own. But he also learns that evil can take any form even in the place that you think you are the most safe people like Dolores Umbridge who will sneak in and create havoc, and that people are not all they seem and may not be an enemy but someone who will protect you in the duty of love, like Severus Snape did for the entirety of Harry's duration at Hogwarts and long before hand. All the while, Harry has to continue on with his studies of becoming a wizard and partaking in subjects such as a 'History of Magic', 'Transfiguration','Potions' and 'Divination' just to name a few. 

The books are essentially a plot of good versus evil, but also shows love and friendship is what essentially conquers all; it also explores diversity with the issue tackled for example, by the Malfoy family being ‘racist’ by thinking that Pureblood wizards are the best and should be treated better than those of Half Blood and especially of Muggle Born (wizards with non-magical parents) heritage, and she also shows that bigotory is never the solution and she shows the impact of living in a world where it is run by those who discriminate on your blood and heritage not on your own personal values and merits, by showing this when the Death Eaters took over the ministry and made all Muggle born wizards declare themselves and be stripped of the right of being able to use their wands. 

Death is a huge part of the series and shows the brutality and loss of innocence that come along with war, it also shows the mark that death and war brings and that even the survivors of war are never really untainted, JK Rowling shows this through Snape loving Lily and doing what ever he can to protect her son despite Lily never really being his love and even though Harry was a son of his school enemy he protected him because of the eternal love he had for Lily. The books show the importance of community and pulling together even when times are tough and finding the light in every situation. JK Rowling shows the handling of power and the problems that come along with it and the need for redemption and a happy ending. 

So I think that's all for now before I start quaffling (haha, see what I did there;-) I'm sorry I'm not good at jokes) but I could honestly go on forever, and ever talking about my love for Harry Potter. Long live Harry Potter, "Always"

Here's a nice song to make you cry, you're very welcome.