Note to VH1: No one loves the 80s as much as YA authors. This is the 3rd book I've read this year set in the 80s, and it's BY FAR the most comprehensiNote to VH1: No one loves the 80s as much as YA authors. This is the 3rd book I've read this year set in the 80s, and it's BY FAR the most comprehensive.
This may end up being one of those "on the other hand" reviews where I seemingly have 3 hands and keep contradicting myself because while I enjoyed the book, I also had issues with it.
Good hand: The premise was intriguing and grabbed my attention immediately. A virtual scavenger hunt for billions of dollars based on a rich man's love of the 80s? I'm game! Bonus points for keeping my attention in audiobook form. I've listened to exactly one audiobook in full before -- Finnikin of the Rock -- which had 3 things working for it: 1) It had an Australian narrator, 2) I'd read the book before, and 3) Hello, it's Melina Marchetta. None of those factors were in play for Ready Player One, and since I'm more of a visual person, I worried about how much of the story I would be able to retain without reading it. I actually didn't have any problem understanding or retaining the story because...
Bad hand: ...the beginning was really repetitive. I started this while stuck in my car for hours and at one point, I checked to make sure I hadn't accidentally hit the back button on my iPod because he was saying the same. thing. I think part of the reason may have been to make sure the audience understood this virtual world but the thing is...
Ugly hand: ...the world Ernest Cline is describing isn't SO incomprehensible or wildly imaginative. It's a few steps beyond our current reality, but nothing I can't easily wrap my brain around. I think many readers would say that this is a good thing, but when I read sci-fi, which isn't often, I want to be wowed and blown away. For example, I loved 1984. I loved that it was the world as George Orwell saw it in 1948. Ready Player One is looking at 1984... from 2012. A lot of the world building felt tedious because we don't need all that explanation in 2012. We're already there. It's like when I read articles in the New York Times last year explaining Twitter. Gee, thanks for the tutorial 20,000 tweets in.
Still, the story made me curious enough to stick around for all FIFTEEN+ HOURS of the audiobook, and I'm definitely not the target demographic. The Comic-Con crowd would probably eat this book up. I went to Comic-Con with my friend and when we saw Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, our reaction was,
"Eric from Days of Our Lives!" "And Dean from Gilmore Girls!" "What are they doing here?"
Wil Wheaton as the narrator was great, except for when he went into his Asian voice for Shoto. Um, why? He didn't suddenly make his voice higher for the female characters so I don't get why he went all Joy Luck Club for Shoto.
Ready Player One was an intriguing concept that lost its novelty for me partway through, but one that I had to finish nonetheless.
This was a book I was ready to hate. Actually, if I'm being honest, this was a book I wanted to hate. What? German foosball players aren't the only onThis was a book I was ready to hate. Actually, if I'm being honest, this was a book I wanted to hate. What? German foosball players aren't the only ones capable of schadenfreude. [image]
Plus, this was a story about horses, those vicious, four-legged beasts that naive children are tricked into riding at summer camp before they're brutally thrown off. Hypothetically speaking, of course. Yet I found myself drawn into this story, this mythic tale of savage water horses in a barbaric race created by all too real people, and I found myself hoping it was all real. Because that would mean Sean, Corr, Puck, and Dove exist. I loved these characters, never mind that Corr and Dove are two of those four-legged beasts I despised not too long ago.
Maggie Stiefvater's mythic capaill uisce are wild water horses that come ashore the island of Thisby once a year. Those capaill that have been captured are raced in the island's famous Scorpio Races, a tradition similar to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, but with far more deadly results. It attracts crowds from all over, people drawn to the thrilling and terrible spectacle. The Scorpio Races are so dangerous that fatalities occur before the race even starts. Capaill are controlled by two things: the call of the ocean and their bloodlust. Despite months or even years of training by the capall whisperer, Sean Kendrick, capaill can never fully be trusted. Their natural instinct to kill is too strong. It can only be temporarily curbed. However, the tremendous risk of the races comes with even greater reward. The races are Thisby's main attraction, so most islanders just manage to eke out a living. Winning the races comes with an enormous, irresistible purse. All residents of Thisby have lost a person, or more often persons, to capaill. And if the horses don't get them, Thisby gets to them and they end up leaving. For Kate "Puck" Connolly, one has already happened and the other is about to happen. Her parents were killed by capaill while out fishing, and her older brother, the main breadwinner, is about to leave the island. (Raise your hand if you just pictured Matthew Fox as both Charlie Salinger and Jack Shephard.) Puck impulsively says she's going to race to get her brother to stay, or at least delay him, but when she finds out they are about to lose their house, she realizes she has to race. Sean, the whisperer, lost his father to capaill and his mother to the mainland, but he's won the races 4 times. That enormous purse and the gorgeous horse he rode on, though, belong to his boss. He races because it's his job, and he can't imagine anyone else on Corr. Puck and Sean are literally on a collision course.
This is usually the part of the story where a rich and handsome 3rd party enters the picture, but The Scorpio Races isn't a love story. It's a survival story. The only love triangle here is between a capall, his rider, and the ocean -- and it's beautiful and heartbreaking.
This is a book I saw in my head. Maggie Stiefvater crafts such a visual story I could picture every scene. For Thisby, I pictured Jersey in the Channel Islands. The dual points of view of Sean and Puck allowed me to get into their heads. When I started this book, I figured I'd just read it and rate it and be done with it. After all, why spend my time writing a review for an author who doesn't really value them? In this case, it's because what the author put out is that good. It's the same debate I go through whenever I think about buying Kanye's latest album. Yeah, he says shit that irritates the hell out of me, but damn, does he know how to make music. Maggie Stiefvater? She knows how to make music.
Megan McCafferty, you can't fool me. Sloppy Firsts isn't a work of fiction. It's McCafferty traveling back in time and stealing pages from my high schMegan McCafferty, you can't fool me. Sloppy Firsts isn't a work of fiction. It's McCafferty traveling back in time and stealing pages from my high school diary -- not the proper one I left behind for my mother and, okay, posterity because I had a heightened sense of self, but the real one I kept locked in my head, full of doubts, fears, hopes, wants, desires, and prejudices. And yes, those desires were sexual even if I was not at the time.
This is a book that I absolutely loved reading now and would've loved reading then. From the time Jessica Darling thinks "Manda thinks that reading feminist manifestos makes up for her borderline ho-bag behavior" and refers to her as "The Headmaster" on page ten, I knew I was in book love. MASH and Saved by the Bell references cemented it. I don't know if I said the exact things Jessica says, but I could have said them. McCafferty just nails Jessica's voice.
So what's it about? ME!!
Kidding. Although that was one of my reactions while reading.
It's about 16-year-old Jessica Darling, the brunette sheep of the family. She's always felt left out of her blonde sister and mother's golden circle of Stepford perfection. Her father though has always supported her, or rather, he's always supported her running track. Like most girls her age, her real source of support is her best friend, Hope. Unfortunately, Hope's family has just moved back to Tennessee. This leaves Jessica socially adrift but not totally outcast during her vital sophomore year. Every year was vital according to my mother, but I digress. Jess is in love with Paul Parlipiano, who obviously doesn't know she exists, but that's a minor concern. A bigger problem is that she hasn't gotten her period in months.
This is one of the areas in which this book would've been such a comfort to the teen me. I skipped my period all the time, but during 11th grade (or Year 11 -- hi, Aussie friends!), I didn't get my period from September to December and January to June. Same for 12th grade. I realized it after the fact, but I was so stressed during the school year that it basically stopped my cycle. It came back with a vengeance in the summer though. Of course I didn't tell my parents about it even though I was convinced my ovaries were dying and it was stressing me out even more. My best friends were who I went to, for this and everything.
Jessica no longer has her best friend close by and is limited to one 60 minute phone call a week and daily emails. This is where the generation divide shows because there are certain things, like her cycle, that Jessica doesn't discuss with Hope over email. Nowadays, email and text are the standard methods of communication, even for friends who aren't separated by distance, and I'd venture to say that there are less off-limit topics.
In her perpetual state of PMS, Jessica's sarcasm catches the eye of class dreg Marcus Flutie, or as I refer to him, Marcus fucking Flutie. I won't even talk about his appearance. (Noelle, you think a ponytail is bad? Try RED DREADS.) Marcus fucking Flutie is THAT guy -- the one who thinks he is too cool for school, but also God's gift. Think an unattractive Jordan Catalano. Sorry, I can't get over the dreads. Now instead of being illiterate, imagine if Jordan Catalano was secretly a genius.
Jordan Catalano - his attractiveness + a genius IQ
Do you know what that equals? Jess Mariano, or as I refer to him, Jess fucking Mariano. I couldn't stand him. He's the guy who not only thinks he's cooler and smarter than everybody else, but also wholeheartedly believes it to be true. Everything is about him, unless he decides that a girl is temporarily worthy. Even the girl in question is a reflection of his ego because it's about getting her.
Before reading Sloppy Firsts, I remember seeing Marcus Flutie's name on lists for Top YA Guys -- alongside the likes of Jonah Griggs, Tom Mackee, and Adam Wilde. AS IF! The girl in my book club who was gushing about Marcus Flutie when the book club pick was announced was suspiciously absent the night we discussed this book. I love my book club because we have differing opinions (ex: I hated Miss Peregrine, some loved it, some were indifferent), but 8 out of 8 girls had the same reaction to him: Marcus FUCKING Flutie! However, what I loved about Marcus was how Jessica reacted to him, and how that changed in the beginning, middle, and end of the book. Like the rest of the book, it felt honest.
Sloppy Firsts is a book that effortlessly takes you back to high school. Luckily, Jessica will make you laugh much more this time around.
Miss Peregrine was the December selection for my book club, and I know people LOVE it and there are over 100 people waiting for my library copy, but IMiss Peregrine was the December selection for my book club, and I know people LOVE it and there are over 100 people waiting for my library copy, but I can't with this book. I always feel a bit traitorous when I hate a book my friends loved, but in this case... [image]
Most writers start with a character or an idea. When Melina Marchetta was asked why she chose to write about Tom Mackee and not, say, Jimmy Hailer after Saving Francesca, her response was that Tom spoke to her. I think if Ransom Riggs were asked why he chose to write about these children, his answer would be: [image]
My expectations going into this book were admittedly pretty high. Aside from the hype, the cover and title were really intriguing. Add to that creepy vintage photographs and I figured I'd be in for a good read or at least a good scare similar to The Others -- and I scare pretty easily. Seriously, sneeze loudly behind me and I'll duck and cover.
My actual reaction to this book was utter boredom. The writing and the pictures turned out to be a giant letdown.
Here's a picture of a woman and a bird! And? It's vintage!
Here's a picture of a man holding a child! So?? Vintage again!
Those pictures actually had some loose association to the story though. Usually the author would describe a character with some peculiar ability and then there would be a picture depicting that. It got to be overkill because I actually don't need someone to show me a picture of a man on a couch with a gun after I just read about a man on a couch with a gun. My imagination can handle that. But then there are times when the author is obviously desperate to use a picture even if it makes no sense at all. Description: Fiona is a girl who can control plants and make them grow to whatever height or shape of her choosing. Picture: A girl dressed in rags holding a chicken. Explanation: Isn't it cool how we dressed her up for this picture?? Me: Kill me. Another picture that reeked of the general desperation of this novel was a letter "handwritten on fine, unlined paper in looping script so ornate it was almost calligraphy." If you used to read The Baby-Sitters Club books, picture Kristy's writing. That's what this "so ornate almost calligraphy" writing looked like.
So why would the author use all these unnecessary pictures? Oh wait, lookie here, Ransom Riggs has a book coming out early next year called Talking Pictures, which is just a book of pictures he found! Ransom Riggs should make a hat with all the money he's raking in. [image] See, I can pull a Ransom Riggs too! Find picture ---> write sentence.
So anyway, plot. I'm making the plot secondary in my review since that was obviously the case in the book. Blah blah blah, then the last quarter of the book enough happens to require a sequel. To be fair though, it's hard to write when your hands are busy doing this: [image]...more