If I Stay (If I Stay, #1), by Gayle Forman

If I Stay (If I Stay, #1), by Gayle Forman on Goodreads

Release Date: (Paperback) April 6th, 2010.
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Speak

Overall: 3 Monkeys
Categories: Romance, Drama, Contemporary

Challenge: 100 Books in a Year, 2011 Debut Author Challenge*
Read in June 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces - to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

My Opinion:

I was really hoping to super-love this book, as everyone kept saying how much they'd cried with it and how much they loved it (I love to cry when reading a good book). But, sadly for me, this book didn't quite reach me as it did others. 

I found the storyline (almost-dead girl's spirit -?- walking down the hospital's halls, trying to figure out if living is worth it or if she should just let go) to be already used. Maybe it was because I'd recently watched a 2007 film (Awake) with Hayden Christensen, where his character is almost in the same place as Mia is. Only, Mia's story is much more dramatic, as opposed to Clay's (Hayden Christensen) where he does want to live but finds that people are trying to prevent that from happening. 

Anyway, it wasn't the story that gripped me, but the flashbacks that appear throughout the book, that tore at my heart. 

Cover of my edition.

When Mia tells us about her family (Isn't it nice to read about a whole family for a change? Well, until the accident, of course.), about how she and Adam became boyfriend and girlfriend, and about her best friend Kim and her many eccentricities, that was when I loved the book. 

Because those insights were completely functional to the plot, to make us feel things for the characters. And boy, did I feel them. 

In the end, I think Mia made a good choice. But I didn't like the way the book ended, it was way too open for an ending. I would have liked to see something else. 

We'll see how I like Where She Went, book 2! Apparently, it's told from Adam's POV. Oh, how I love a boy's POV in a book... *sigh*

*This book was released a couple of months ago in Argentina, making it a Debut in my country. 

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Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Release Date: December 1st, 2005

Publisher: Vintage

Age Group: Adult

Overall: 3, 5 Monkeys

Source: Borrowed

Summary from Goodreads:

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is another classic by the author of The Remains of the Day.

My Opinion:

Kazuo Ishiguro created a whole new world in this novel, and while I had really high hopes for it -I kept reading nothing more than five stars reviews for it- it didn't live up to my expectations.

The book's written in Kathy's POV, and it tells the story of herself and her friends, Tommy and Ruth, growing up in a boarding house in England. Hailsham (the boarding house) was a school for special students. These three spend their lives together, with the exception of spending a few years apart at the end.

One thing I loved about the book was its writing. It's like Kathy's talking to us, telling us her memories of Hailsham and her friends. It really was a fresh and original way of writing, but the plot fell a little short in my opinion.

All throughout the book, we get little hints as to what the kids are doing in Hailsham, we learn that it's not the only school of its kind, and we get to see beforehand where their lives are headed.

Well, to me, all this was told a little too beforehand, so when the moment of the big revelation came along, I already knew what to expect, and it lacked the big WOW moment I kept waiting for. Actually, when it ended, I thought, "This is it?"

Things like Madame's Gallery and deferrals are addressed in the final chapters, but like I said, these revelations added little to what I'd already read about them.

Apart from the plot, I did love the way Ishiguro handled the group's emotions, and the depth of the characters. Since we see them from when they were little through Kathy's memories, we also get to see them grow, and the way they are is constant, making the characters interesting and relatable. You could see the why behind any one of them's actions, and understand it very well.

But, as I said, I didn't get to see the turning point in this book, perhaps I missed it, and while I was hoping to love, love, love this book (someone told me it was their favourite book EVER) I just liked it. It kept me interested enough, but at the end it disappointed me.

I must be one of those few people who think this, but it is what it is. Sometimes you love some books, other times, they just aren't for you.

I am expecting to love the film, however. I do like its cast. :)

Oh, and HAPPY 2011!!!

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Review: Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, by Allan Richard Shickman

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, by Allan Richard Shickman

Release Date: July 15th, 2007
Publisher: Earthshaker Books
Age Group: Young Adult*
Pages: 160
Overall: 3 Monkeys
Source: Publisher
Interest: Series, For Review
Other Titles in the Series: Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country

Summary from Goodreads:

The hero, Zan-Gah seeks his lost twin in a savage prehistoric world, encountering suffering, captivity, conflict, love, and triumph. In three years, Zan-Gah passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a position of leadership among his people. Themes: survival, cultures, gender roles, psychological trauma, nature's wonders and terrors.

My Opinion:

When I was first asked to review this, I visited its website to see if I'd be interested in reading it.
I'd never read a book about prehistory, so I said yes, and then I started reading it.

Although I thought the beginning was a bit slow, once you get to the middle it does get good!

I love everything that has to do with past and lost cultures, and the description that Shickman gave us of Zan's people's beliefs and customs was incredibly believable. I was thrown into this lost and supersticious world for a few hours.

When we meet Zan, he's a little boy trying to prove himself to the men in his village. But a life changing event turns him into a man, and throughout the book we read about him living up to that new status. He earns the name "Zan-Gah", Zan of the Rock, and people start respecting him. It was nice to read about him being put almost in the same category as the clan's leaders, but still being modest and prudent. It shows that people back then had a little more respect for others and every living thing. Which is more than we can say for ourselves.

He goes looking for his long lost twin, facing terrible circumstances. Those times when he would be alone, it did get slow, but then the pace found its way to pick itself up, whether it be by challenging someone or discovering a new weapon.

Once he finds his twin though, it gets really good. I found myself wanting to throw a rock at Dael, Zan's twin, for being like he was. And then we meet Lissa-Na. Oh love triangle, how I love to read thou!

The ending was a bit too fairy-tale-ending for me, so I wouldn't know what the sequel's about.


*I don't know if I would put it in the YA category. To me, it really should be a Middle Grade book. This is important, if you ever want to read this, or give to your kids.

Visit Zan's World.

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Monkey Review: Out of the Blue, by Val Rutt

Summary (from Picadilly Press):

An unforgettable story of first love in World War II

‘I'm not going to be able to see you for a while, Kitty. I have a couple of days' leave and then I'll be gone.'
Kitty felt her stomach turn. A few minutes ago, waiting to meet Sammy, she had felt giddy with happiness. Now, she felt sick with fear that she might never see him again.

One beautiful spring morning, Kitty Danby meets Sammy Ray Bailey, a handsome young American pilot stationed nearby. Sixteen-year-old Kitty and Sammy fall quickly in love and, for a few precious weeks, the future holds a promise of happiness that Kitty hardly dares hope for. But it is 1944 and a tragic incident changes everything, leading to a web of secrets and misunderstandings which will only be understood years later . . .

My Opinion:

First of all, I'd like to thank author Val Rutt for having contacted me on impulse. Great things come from acting on impulse, and I think this was one of them.

Why? Because I loved this book. The story of an impossible love. Who doesn't want to experience that at least once in their lives? I do.

From the start we're introduced to Kitty Danby, 16, who's left her home in London to go and live with her aunt and uncle in the country. This happened during WW II, where most kids had to leave the comfort of their homes to be safer.

And if Kitty hadn't moved, she wouldn't have met Sammy.

Sammy Ray Bailey, American pilot, enters Kitty's life as a rescuer, and sweeps her off her feet. The two of them immediately become friends, and later fall in love.
But what happens when one of them has a duty that forces him to go away, leaving the other one behind?

The writing style was one that's known, yet not really used nowadays. But it made complete sense. Going back and forth in Kitty's life, makes us understand the decisions that led her to where she is now. The people around her have an enormous impact on it, too. And I mean, it is big. This is one of those stories where you ask, what if?

And the ending made me go awwww! So, to me, that's what makes it a good book, one I'll remember reading when I'm older.

I wouldn't say this is completely YA, because it has Adult bits in it too. It can be enjoyed by people of all ages. (Well, 11+, really).

Monkey Rating: 3 Monkeys

Visit:
Val's website
Picadilly Press' site
Get from Amazon

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Monkey Review: Beautiful, by Amy Reed

Summary (from Amazon):

When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassie's chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl who's worth noticing.

Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined...one moment, one choice, will change everything.

Cassie's new existence both thrills and terrifies her. Swept into a world of illicit parties and social landmines, she sheds her virginity, embraces the numbness she feels from the drugs, and floats through it all, knowing that she is now called beautiful. She ignores the dangers of her fast-paced life, but she can't sidestep the secrets and the cruelty.

Cassie is trapped in a swift downward spiral tinged with violence and abuse, and no one—not even the one person she thought she could trust—can help her now.

My Opinion:

Beautiful is a very powerful novel, and the fact that it's told from a thirteen-year-old makes it all the more profound.

Beautiful starts with the introduction of Cassie, who's recently moved with her family, and sees this as an opportunity to start over. Having had no friends in her old town, Cassie will do anything if it means she'll be accepted.

So when Alex comes along and invites her to join her table, Cassie is more than happy. But soon she'll learn that being Alex's friend, and trying to stay on her best side is not an easy thing to do.

Alex pressures her into taking drugs and having sex, both things that don't really have meaning, according to her.

Cassie comes from a broken family. Her mother is an alcoholic and her father wishes her were someplace else, rather than pretending to love Cassie and her mother. The world Alex introduces her to seems to hold all the answers to her problems. With drugs being an escape from the real world, alcohol filling the emptiness, and sex only meaning that someone wants her -even if it is just a physical thing- Cassie begins to feel that she belongs.

And then comes Sarah, Alex's half-sister. With a backstory so dark, it makes Cassie feel sick.
Sarah and Cassie become fast friends, they both understand each other. But Alex is not so happy about this. Leading Sarah to make a decision that'll change her life forever. One that'll also impact on Cassie.

Did I enjoy the writing style, yes. What I thought was a little bleh was the ending, which was completely expected. I would have liked to see something different happen to Cassie, but this doesn't mean I didn't like the ending either. I goes to show how strong a person can become after having fallen so bad and hard.

Monkey Rating: 3 Monkeys.

Get the book from Amazon/TBD/B&N

Visit AmyReedFiction.com

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