The Girl Who Chased the Moon

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The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Number of pages: 261
My copy: UK paperback, Christmas gift from Angus

Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. Why did she leave her hometown so suddenly? Why did she vow never to return?

But in a place where unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight, where the wallpaper in your bedroom changes so suit your mood, and where a neighbour bakes hummingbird cakes in the hope of bringing back a lost love, Emily will find that the answers are not what she expects…

* * *

The Girl Who Chased the Moon is my third Sarah Addison Allen book, and I must admit that I was pretty excited to read this book mostly because I like the title and the UK cover. Of all covers, I think this one had the most magical feel to it — even the text on the cover affirms it: Discover a place where magic lights up the dark. How pretty, right?

Emily Benedict moves to Mullaby, North Carolina to join her grandfather Vance Shelby, after her mother dies. Besides not having a place to live anymore, she also longs to solve the mystery surrounding her mother and her past, and she figures the best place to find it was where her mother grew up. But what she comes home to surprises her, on top of the other mysterious things in town: the darting lights she sees behind the house, the changing wallpaper in her room, and just why everyone has an opinion of Emily and her mom when she knows nothing. Next door, there’s Julia, who spends her time counting the days till she can leave the town and baking cakes to call someone, until someone unexpected (and unwanted) comes to her instead. Julia befriends Emily in hopes of shielding her from the repercussions of her mother’s past, but there are just some things that Emily has to find out for herself.

As usual, there’s a certain comfort in getting lost in a Sarah Addison Allen novel, one that makes me just want to keep reading and keep getting lost. There’s a little bit more heartbreak and sadness in this book, though, but not so much that it makes it a sad novel all in all. I just found that there seemed to be a little bit more characters with serious issues in this book compared to the ones in the previous books. The magic stuff didn’t come from the two female leads, too, but more in the place and the people around them.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon read a bit like a fairy tale, and this fact was emphasized up to the end. I liked the dynamics of the characters with one another, how one avoided the other with all her might but couldn’t, and how one chased the other but had to stop because of old issues. I thought there was more romance in this book too, and even one that kind of borders on a paranormal romance type with the secrets and the secret bedroom visits. It’s not as bad as it sounds like for those who don’t like paranormal romance — it’s actually okay, although that wasn’t my favorite pairing in this book. I guessed the huge family secret chapters before it was finally revealed, so the surprise factor wasn’t there anymore, but it unfolded pretty nicely and SAA painted a pretty sweet picture of a happy ending for them that I couldn’t help but forgive those nitpicks after. I do love that there’s talk of cake in this book. I love baking, even if I can’t bake a cake yet to save my life. The significance of the cake and the sugar and all the sweet things made me yearn to not just eat one but make one. Someday, I will make a double layer cake successfully.

Compared to Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen though, this didn’t feel as magical despite its whimsical title. Garden Spells still feels the most magical, and I thought The Sugar Queen explored the friendships of the characters better. The Girl Who Chased the Moon kind of scratched the surface on those ends, but I think it did pretty well with town secrets and finding forgiveness from each other and from the past. Overall, while it’s not my favorite SAA, I still think it’s a good read. :)

This is my third Sarah Addison Allen novel, and I think it’s enough to consider myself as a fan. I’m glad I still have The Peach Keeper waiting for me on my TBR the next time I want a Sarah Addison Allen fix. :)

Rating: [rating=3]

Required Reading: MarchMy reviews of other Sarah Addison Allen books:
Garden Spells
The Sugar Queen

Other reviews:
Chachic’s Book Nook
Angieville

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In My Mailbox (23): Birthday Mailbox, Part 2

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Happy 26th!

So today I turn 26. Last night I had a karaoke party with some of my friends and it was a bit crazy, and we all welcomed my birthday together with songs, drinks and stayed up until 3am talking about scifi things. Or they talked about scifi while I waited for the alcohol buzz to pass with coffee and cake.

Anyway, as expected, there would be a part 2 of my birthday mailbox. Some of my book club friends were there last night and of course, they got me books. :)

Birthday books!

  • What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones from Kai — to those who don’t know, Kai of Amaterasu Reads and I work together. It was kind of funny how she sneaked this book away from me when we were together almost all afternoon. I saw her carry it but I pretended not to see it. :P
  • Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson from Aaron – trust Aaron to give me my first Brandon Sanderson book. I read the first page of this and it reminded me of the feeling of reading a Kristin Cashore or an MWT book. Hmmm exciting.
  • The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston from KD – KD is our book club moderator, and I told him to give me a more mature book since I did turn a year older. He got me this lovely scrapbook like book. I have no idea what its about but it looks lovely. :)

There’s also this one book behind The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt that the photo didn’t quite get clearly. It’s a book about this local artist, Christian Bautista. Now, I’m not exactly a fan and I don’t know why I got this, but hey, a gift is a gift. LOL.

I got home at 3am, like I said and woke up at 9, and then headed to mass and lunch with my brother and sister-in-law. Awesome lunch, and lots of food, and then finally went home in the afternoon because I was just tired. Then I got home and there was a package waiting for me in my room!

Colorful package for me out of its courier plastic

And inside:

Yay tiny post-its!

Tiny post-its for noting pages and quotes in books so I won’t have to dog-ear anymore! :) Thanks so much, Monique!

So now, I am home and I am quite happy to be not out on my birthday. I guess I’m just exhausted from the past week, and I’m really just looking forward to spending the night at home with my family and reading. Must be signs of aging, not wanting to party all weekend. Before you know it, I’ll be needing walkers for seniors! But I hope not. Haha. Maybe next year my birthday gift to myself is to finally take that reading vacation/staycation I’ve been wanting for so long.

Happy 26th birthday to me. :)

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In My Mailbox (22): Birthday Mailbox, Part 1

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I haven’t done an In My Mailbox post in ages, even if I’ve been sort of steadily getting books ever since my last post. Oops. I guess I was just lazy. I meant to do an IMM post for my Christmas loot but laziness got to me, and truth be told, I’m just not in the mood to post about it anymore. You’ll just see some of the books I got then in my reviews soon, when I get to read some of them. :)

But let’s try again. March is my favorite month because it’s my birthday month! I thought I’d turn over a new leaf as far as posting IMMs are concerned, so instead of a one-time big-time post, I thought I’d post in increments (assuming I get more before this month ends :D)!

So here we go — my first birthday mailbox post! :) I got some really cool stuff recently, and some of them were things I was totally not expecting! First, my favorite artist, Dave Barnes, released Stories to Tell, his newest album, the other day. :D Cue Squee here!

Stories to Tell

Stories to Tell by Dave Barnes on my iPod <3

I had it pre-ordered on iTunes, and when I got the email that it’s ready for download, I turned on my phone’s data and used it to download the album on my iPod immediately! I’ve been listening to it since I got it and as usual, Mr. Barnes delivers. ♥

Second. I got home yesterday and saw an unopened pink courier package on the kitchen counter. Since it was still unopened, I was pretty sure it was mine. Inside:

Hm, mystery package!

Continue Reading →

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The Boy Book

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The Boy Book by E. LockhartThe Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them by E. Lockhart
Ruby Oliver # 2
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Number of pages: 224
My copy: paperback, gift from Tricia

Here is how things stand at the beginning of newly-licensed driver Ruby Oliver’s junior year at Tate Prep:

* Kim: Not speaking. But far away in Tokyo.
* Cricket: Not speaking.
* Nora: Speaking—sort of. Chatted a couple times this summer when they bumped into each other outside of school—once shopping in the U District, and once in the Elliot Bay Bookstore. But she hadn’t called Ruby, or anything.
* Noel: Didn’t care what anyone thinks.
* Meghan: Didn’t have any other friends.
* Dr. Z: Speaking.
* And Jackson. The big one. Not speaking.

But, by Winter Break, a new job, an unlikely but satisfying friend combo, additional entries to The Boy Book and many difficult decisions help Ruby to see that there is, indeed, life outside the Tate Universe.

* * *

Spoiler warning: Possible spoilers from the first book in this review.

In the second book of the Ruby Oliver series, The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them by E. Lockhart, we meet Roo again fresh from the throes of her (mis)adventures in the first book. This time, though, the rumors about her had settled down but it doesn’t make her less of a social leper. On the up side, her ex-best friend, Kim, who stole her ex-boyfriend from her is not in school for an exchange program. On the downside, Jackson the ex-boyfriend is still there, and he is sending her notes all of sudden, despite the current attachment to Ruby’s ex-best friend. And then there’s Noel, who’s been hanging around her but only because he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. Or does he? With even more friendship issues and entries from a notebook called The Boy Book, will Roo find out that there is life other than what she knows?

A little story first, before I talk about the book. When I was in Grade 5, my best friend then and I had a notebook dedicated for our current crushes. Okay, the notebook idea wasn’t entirely original since another group of girls had their own (fancier) notebook, and we just wanted one of our own, too, since we can’t join their group anymore. ((They even have a fancy, name-combined group name. Or wait, it was a group name after the combined names of all their crushes)) So I got one of the many spare notebooks at home, made some (not-so) fancy artwork on the cover, fashioned a “lock” and made it our crush notebook. There we wrote letters, stories and all sorts of mushy stuff directed to our crushes, the things we can’t bear to say to them in person. ((Or, can’t. Because one of my major crushes back then was Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys, wohoo)) The notebook pretty much died soon after my current best friend told me to share the notebook with one of her close friends and I wasn’t comfortable with it, also with the fact that I couldn’t keep the notebook at home because people liked to snoop in my room an read my diaries and that crush notebook was sacred and cannot be seen by anyone else, ever!

I have long burned that notebook (my pages of it, anyway) because I’ve learned that owning a notebook like that with observations and letters about other people (boys in particular) is kind of dangerous, and not really a wise thing to do especially if someone who knows those boys reads it. Think Harriet the Spy. So the existence of The Boy Book in the book with the same name was kind of impressive, especially with the wealth of information Roo and her friends have written there. At her age, I have never even thought of trying anything that was accounted for there.

That’s the thing about The Boy Book: it’s so high school. Not even my kind of high school experiences, too. But not that it’s a bad thing — as usual, E. Lockhart excels in making the characters’ voices authentic and funny. There’s not so much external issues in this book as in the first one. The Boy Book had more of Roo trying to get her feet back under her again after the chaos that is The Boyfriend List, and also finding out just who her real friends are and that there is a world outside of her high school life. I wasn’t a fan of Roo’s choices in the first half of the book, but she grows is a more obvious way later on. Granted, they still revolve around high school, but she showed the first signs of maturity in the book even if she herself said that it wasn’t what she really wanted. But it was the right thing to do. While I liked The Boyfriend List just a little bit more than this, The Boy Book ended in such a way that I immediately wanted to get the next book on my hands and read what happens to Roo and her friends.

The high school tone of this book makes me think that this may be too high school for some older readers, though. Roo’s choices and predicaments a bit shallow compared to the “real life” problems like work and taxes and all that. But then again…that’s high school, you know? Admit it — at one point or another, we all thought that the world revolves around the things we worry about when we were at that age, and if things don’t go our way or if things go out of our control, it feels like the world is ending. Ruby’s story reminds me of my own experiences at that age, and it also makes me sigh with relief that I am already done with that stage of my life.

Now if only I could say the same about taxes.

Rating: [rating=3]

Reviews of other Ruby Oliver books:
#1 The Boyfriend List

Other reviews:
The Screaming Nitpicker

 

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Wonder

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Wonder by R.J. PalacioWonder by R.J. Palacio
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Number of pages: 320
My copy: ebook review copy from Netgalley

I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He’s about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, despite appearances?

* * *

There was a time a few years ago when I was hearing mass with my family, and I happened to stand beside this man at church. The man wasn’t dressed the way other people were dressed during Sunday mass. He looked scruffy, almost like he came straight from the streets to the church, without even wearing wide shoes for men. He didn’t look dangerous, and perhaps he even is nice given that he was in church and all. But what I really noticed were his hands. They were, if I were to be perfectly honest, kind of scary. The memory’s vague, but I remember that it looked like he had some kind of skin disease — lesions, wounds and spots — the kind that one would refuse to touch in fear of contagion. I was afraid to touch it, knowing especially that at a certain part of the mass, I would have to hold his hand while praying The Lord’s Prayer.

I tried, I really did. I was in church, and holding hands with a stranger during a prayer is the thing to do. It was the good thing, the kind thing, the loving thing. It was expected. I told myself that I would do it, that I would hold his hand during The Lord’s Prayer and not be scared or repulsed or look for a hand sanitizer after the prayer. I told myself, I prepared myself and I wanted to do it.

But I didn’t. When the priest told everyone to “join hands and as one family pray the prayer Jesus had taught us,” I chickened out, opened my hand but did not take his, looked ahead and prayed, feeling the guilt grow heavier as the mass went on.

This particular memory may seem insignificant and well, I may be blowing things out of proportion. Perhaps the man never even noticed me at all — but it struck me because I really wanted to do the kind thing, but I didn’t because I was afraid. Just like how the other kids and grown ups in the book reacted to Auggie in Wonder by R.J. Palacio. August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that made him quite special to his family for his need of extra care. He has never attended a normal school, until he agreed with his parents to start attending fifth grade at Beecher Prep. Auggie is a perfect fit for the school, except maybe for his face. Told in Auggie’s point of view as well as five more from the people around him, we follow Auggie as he faces one of the most challenging times of his young life.

I was prepared for a barrage of emotions that Wonder could probably give me, after reading several reviews and updates from Goodreads friends about this book. I knew that I was probably going to like it, but what I wasn’t prepared for were what kind of emotions it would bring. Being a middle grade book, the writing was pretty simple and easy to read, especially since most of the narrators were kids as well. Wonder is bound to remind readers of their own middle school (or in my case, late elementary years, since we do not have middle school in the Philippines) experiences. It’s strange to think of it, but young people can be very mean, even if it’s not on purpose, and Wonder shows how it could be. My heart went out for Auggie, especially since he did not ask to look like the way he does. Like his parents, I wanted the best for him too.

The story was told not just in Auggie’s point of view, but also with five other kids who surrounded Auggie’s life. This made the book a little easier to relate to because let’s admit it: most of us don’t have what Auggie has. Of all the characters, I identified the most with his friend, Jack. I really wish I could be like Summer, that I could choose to be kind before anything else. I think Jack represents the side of everyone who tries to be good but fails, and then tries again anyway. And I think the trying is the most important part of it all.

There’s a lot of buzz with what Wonder teaches, or attempts to teach, but I think maybe we shouldn’t over think it too much. Sure, there are some parts that may seem a little simple, that the ending may seem to be a little too nicely wrapped up, almost like how a movie is done and we know real life is never that way. I see it as a simple thing: I see Wonder as a middle grade book that teaches kindness — to quote, “…to be kinder than necessary.” That as human beings, we do not just have “…the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness…” and to choose that even when it’s not easy, when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Even though reading Wonder reminded me of that particular incident I shared at the start of this review which brought back some of the guilty feelings, this book made me feel a lot better after reading it. A little bit more whole, even. With a stronger resolve to be kinder than necessary. I think that a book that can make its readers feel like that is worth a second glance.

Rating: [rating=4]

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers
Good Books and Good Wine
The Midnight Garden
The Readventurer

 

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