From a corner in the library

Book info

Picture from Amazon.com

Title: Sickened: The True Story of a Lost Childhood
Author: Julie Gregory [http://juliegregorysickened.com/]
Date of publication: September, 2004
Synopsis:  A young girl is perched on the cold chrome of yet another doctor's examining table, missing yet another day of school. Just twelve, she's tall, skinny, and weak. It's four o'clock, and she hasn't been allowed to eat anything all day. Her mother, on the other hand, seems curiously excited. She's about to suggest open-heart surgery on her child to 'get to the bottom of this.' She checks her teeth for lipstick and, as the doctor enters, shoots the girl a warning glance. This child will not ruin her plans. From early childhood, Julie Gregory was continually X-rayed, medicated, and operated on in the vain pursuit of an illness that was created in her mother's mind. Munchausen by Proxy (MBP) is the world's most hidden and dangerous form of child abuse, but Julie Gregory not only survived, she escaped the powerful orbit of her mother's madness and rebuilt her identity as a vibrant, healthy young woman:not solely a victim of child abuse. [From Goodreads]

Right, so while reading this book my most frequent question was: What's the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? Yeah, I know... I was really into the book *rolls eyes for the people who didn't catch the sarcasm*
It was not boring, and it wasn't quite interesting. It was just there in between...
Obviously I was shocked to learn about Munchausen by Proxy. What a cruel and twisted way to destroy a kid, right? Super scary, if you take into account that doctors trust the mother to tell what the kid is feeling... but it is even scarier to think that kids actually begin to develop some of the symptoms so that the limit between what is made up and what is real becomes blurry.
But I felt cheated while reading the book. Yes, she had a crazy mother who took her to doctors all the time and gave her medicine she didn't need. And yes, that's freaking twisted and stupid and scary. But her childhood sucked mainly because she lived in an abusive environment. Her parents hated each other, they fought constantly, never showed love in a normal way and hit her! So yeah, she suffered because of the MPB, but also because she had sucky parents... which, for me is a huge part of the problem, and was not mentioned anywhere when advertising the book.
Now, don't get me wrong, I felt sick and sad when I read what she went through. But the book title and description made it sound like she was amazing because she beat MBP when really she overcame her past with shitty parents. I don't know if I'm making myself clear...
Anyway, memoirs/autobiographies are not my cup of tea, so that might just be the reason I didn't particularly enjoyed this book.


Would I read it again? Yeah... probably not.

According to writersdigest.com/ the difference between a memoir and an autobiography is mainly that an autobiography includes your whole life, while the memoir is only one part of it. :D Mystery solved.

Book Info

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green [johngreenbooks.com/]
Date of Publication: January, 2012
Synopsis: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. [Goodreads.com]

It is going to be very difficult to (finally) write a complete review about this book. I'm biased. This is one of my favorite books. I love the characters, I love the plot and the dialogues and the cruelty and everything.

Right, where do I start?
Hazel: I really like her. She's so smart and sensible. I loved that she tried to stop herself from falling in love with Augustus, but then she couldn't;

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She appears to be all serious or even pretentious, but then she has these moments when she's all goofy and I love that! Like when she told her mom she (the mom) would be a great Patrick. Or when she was kinda sarcastic, or came up with the pedophilic swing set headline.
Augustus: I really cannot begin to describe him or what I love about him. He was just so sweet. I think he started my thing for perfect YA lit fictional boys... See, Gus, you did get to leave a mark in this world!
Isaac: I just wished there was a whole book series about Isaac, I love him. The eulogies he wrote for Gus? Broke my heart nearly as much as Hazel's did. And I am so mad at Monica, though Hazel was right... she didn't have to handle him (but she made a promise and I, like Isaac, believe everybody has the obligation to keep their promises. I also believe in the true love thing).
Van Houten: I liked him, is that crazy? I mean, he was an assclown, but still. He lost his daughter and didn't know how to handle it.

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About the plot. I have a tendency to love everything John writes (novels, short stories, collaborations, grocery lists...), so I'm biased here. But I mean, come on! It's a tragic love story! And yes, I know I've said before that I kinda hate female YA characters who think they're not enough for their male counterparts... but Hazel really believed she was a grenade, she did have the potential to hurt him. And she tried to stay friends with Augustus instead of just pushing him away.
For me, what makes the story unforgettable is the unconditional bonds that are formed in the most unexpected situations (whoa, I just used the prefix un- three times in one sentence). Because Love is not only among bf/gf or whatever, but also parents and children and friends and sometimes random people who are going through the same shit you are, and other times books and authors who have no idea who you are. I liked that.
Also, not liking your life, or your choices and being jealous of others'. What's wrong with that? Of course, if you have the chance to change the course of your life, do it! And if you don't, well... "Life's not a wish-granting factory." But heck, make the best of it... because "It's a good life."

Okay... I'm almost done. Couple more things.
First, there are a lot of little things I love about the book that seem to go unnoticed. Like Phillip. Can you just take a minute to consider the fact that Hazel Grace named her oxygen tank Phillip because it simply, freaking looked like a Phillip?!?! I love that part!!! :) It makes me smile, and I don't know why.
Then, the part in Amsterdam when Augustus tells Hazel he "lit up like a Christmas tree" and he sits down in a chair and she thinks: "That chair. How old was it? Fifty years?" I got it the second time I read the book... The chair was older than any of them would get to be. And that's fucking depressing.
Also, her dad. He wasn't with her the way her mom was. But when he talked to her... omg, it was intense. He loved her, he just showed it in a different way. He's an amazing character, I think.

Last thing: the movie. I loved it. Most of the times, I hate that the movies miss so many important details or that they change so many things, but I didn't mind with this one (I told you I'm biased). I think that what they left out or change didn't affect the story's effect.
I was kinda mad that they left out John's scene!! :O How could they?!
The cast was perfect, in my opinion (but it is also my mom's opinion). I think the most impressive one was Van Houten...  Willem Dafoe was simply perfect! That's exactly how I imagine Van Houten.
But I'm pretty sure that I loved the movie so much mainly because I followed John's updates about it. Videos and pictures and everything... it just felt like I had part on it, you know?
Also, the soundtrack has Ed Sheeran. Nothing else to add.




One last thought: Don't you giggle every time you imagine John actually writing down that a 17-year-old boy's voice was "dead sexy"? I do ;)

Book Info

Name: Hopeless (Hopeless #1)
Author: Colleen Hoover
Date of publication: May, 2013
Synopsis: Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…
That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.
Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever. [From Goodreads.com]


My gods, it has never been this difficult to rate a book!
Here's the thing, my expectations for this book were really high. I've heard quite a bit about Hoover, so I thought her books were amazing, I thought she was the female John Green of my life.
But I was wrong. Let me talk about what I hated first, and then about what I liked.
-First, the first 55% of the book was terribly slow. There were so many things that I could've done without. I was very tempted to put the book down and start a new one.
-Second, does she even need friends? What's the point of having Six? or the mormon guy? Honestly the story focuses so, so much on Sky/Hope and Holder, that the rest is so unnecessary that makes the first part of the book very boring.
-Third, their names. OMG, I can't handle it. Hope... they literally and figuratively lost hope *facepalm* and Sky! 'cause she's out there... and don't get me started with Holder. Too much cheesy.
-Fourth, I wanted so hard to punch myself in the face every time he called her 'baby' or 'babe' that it's a miracle I'm bruise-free right now. I think I'll add the sex (or almost sex) scenes here, kinda related. There were some parts that make me feel like I was reading a teenage version of Fifty Shades of Grey. Honestly, I couldn't have gotten any worse. Terrible, just... no. Of course I understood at the end why all the sex (or almost sex) was relevant for the plot. But I found it kinda disgusting.
-Lastly, the plot. I get it, I really do... It is just something that I don't particularly enjoy reading about. And those plot twists. No, I won't even comment on them.

What I liked:
-Holder's texts. Very, very (like seriously VERY) deep in my heart I liked Holder. I didn't love him (or live him), but he was not annoying (most of the time). But those texts were something I would love to have in a relationship.
- "Chapter breaks." I didn't enjoy the plot, but Colleen Hoover has a really nice way to write. It was fresh and interesting. And OK, maybe some parts got a little bit intense (there were things that absolutely no teenager is going to say... not even a very mature adult.), but the writing was funny and sweet and engaging (otherwise I would've put it down around 40% in). I think it is because of the way the book's written that I'll give Colleen Hoover another chance.
-The ending. It made me cry!! If you'd told me when I was halfway through the book, that I'd cry at the ending... I'd have called you a liar! Who would've thought?! Maybe I didn't like the story, but I loved the ending. What can I say? I'm a sucker for happy endings ;)



Would I read it again? Probably not. I'll try other Colleen Hoover books, though.

Book Info

Name: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Date of publication: September, 2011
Synopsis: Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong. [From Goodreads.com]
Alright... I'd seen this book a thousand times before in Goodreads, but I never thought about reading it, though the cover looked incredible. I needed a book whose title started with "U" for the Valentine's challenge and ended up reading it.
Which was great at the beginning. I loved the story! I liked Mara and I loved the fact that there was something creepy going on with her. I really, really wanted to know how she had killed her friends (and fucking Jude).
For me, it's an exciting story.
My only problem is the ending; well, the part right before the ending, say the last 15% of it. When she realizes what she does and tells Noah and he tells her of his "thing" (Mara's words). It becomes kind confusing... There were complete paragraphs that I had to reread (several times, often) because I simply didn't get what she was saying or what was happening. Like what happened with Lassiter? What was his deal with Joseph? I don't know... that part was weird, and it felt like an incomplete subplot (one of many).
Oh, and it was so weird to have the story settled in Miami o.O Not that it was wrong... I just thought people wouldn't write a complete story in Miami. It worked well, though...
I was OK with Mara. I read some people compared her with Bella Swan. But I'd probably be freaking out over the fact that people are dying because of me and  hide in my room... wouldn't you? I didn't find her annoying (enough for me to hate). EXCEPT!!! why do YA lit female leaders feel they're not enough for or deserve the love of their male counterparts!? That's making me lose it... All.Of.Them! Be selfish for fuck's sake! I do not want to read about another relationship in which the girl thinks it is better to let the boy go than to hurt him (and at the end we all learn he wouldn't have been hurt!) because they are oh, so dangerous! *pointing finger, threatening all YA lit writers*
Now, Mr. Shaw. I liked him. I do have a thing for perfect boys in this kind of books... Though he was a little slutty. But it is not proven. See Anna's example. And I really don't care (I do care in real life, but not when it is a work of fiction, even though sometimes it does not feel like that at all). Also, he says "I'm just not that big of a person.”:P Not my favorite character of all times, but he's interesting
I am quite intrigued about Jude, though... when I read that last part of the book... I spent around 4 minutes what-the-fucking in my mind. Great cliffhanger, I think.

Would I read it again? Maybe...?

Date of publication: April, 2004
Synopsis: Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashums. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir's choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, wrenching them far apart. But so strong is the bond between the two boys that Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.


Where do I start with this book? I've heard it was good, really good, but I didn't know what it was about... so I took a risk and bought it. An even bigger risk was to read it. I was only on page 100 and I'd cried twice! :(
There are a lot of horrible things that happen on the book, things that I'm grateful to know that I've never lived through: war and destruction, the fear of losing everything. But I think the way is portrayed in this book is very cruel. We don't see it happening (which we know, which is what the news show us, right?), we see the aftermath through Amir's eyes. He escaped all that, but ended up being worse when he had to go back to it.
Also, there's the whole issue of regret. Don't we have that something we regret doing? Little or big, is there, I'm sure. I'm also sure that we all try to forget it, like Amir did, throw it in the river and let it sink. Rahim was right, he was just a kid and he was too hard on himself. But I think what makes me like the book is that at the end, he discover that no matter how badly he hurt others and himself, no matter how many times he wished he had done things differently, there's forgiveness, there's a moment in which everything will be OK again. But we do have to fight and suffer and learn important lessons to get there.
Wow, I'm so depressed right now...

 
Would I read it again? *sigh* I don't know...