Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse AndrewsMe and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Publisher: Abrams
Number of pages: 304
My copy: ebook ARC from Netgalley

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel.

Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl make her a movie, and Greg must abandon invisibility and make a stand.

* * *

I admit: I requested this book on Netgalley because of the cover. Don’t you think it’s so cute? This is the kind of cover that I would want to be printed as a poster and placed on my room. Or over my desk. The colors in this cover is enough to cheer me up, and I wouldn’t mind just looking at it without really knowing what’s inside.

Oh but wait, I actually read it. I don’t know about you, but the book’s synopsis reminded me of a John Green novel — and not just because The Fault in Our Stars had a girl with cancer in it ((I haven’t read the book yet, in case you’re wondering)). Even the start of the book kind of reminded me a bit of Green, with the geeky guy and the “sidekick”, but that is really pretty much where the similarities end.

Here’s the thing about Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: this book had a guy named Greg who’s content with just skimming and being under the radar and not making any real friends so he won’t have to be ridiculed for being a part of a group. The only “friend” he had is black-guy Earl, who’s had a difficult home life and whose default expression is “pissed”. And then there’s Rachel, the dying girl who Greg used to be linked to, and is linked to again because his mother asked him to visit her and keep her company. And there are movies, too – home movies, since Greg and Earl are big time movie fans and pseudo movie makers. Secret movie makers because they never let people watch any of them, until Rachel came along anyway.

Here’s another thing: this book doesn’t really have a real and solid plot that isn’t mentioned in the title. This book really feels more like a study on high school and how a kid deals with having a friend (who he won’t admit is really a friend) who’s battling cancer. And even then, Greg didn’t even admit it. He isn’t out to win any trophies for friendship, or any of his abilities for that matter. Greg is so down on himself and what he can do that it made my heart hurt. At one point in the book, I wanted to shake him and say that he better snap out of his “Oh I’m good for nothing so I’ll just make you laugh” type of thoughts. I guess there was just too much self-deprecating quips in the book that it got me a bit turned off — it’s either I’m just too positive, or his character is really just too negative. I’m not really sure.

That being said, though, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl really is hilarious, and it’s a good book to lift you out of a bad mood with all the quips and tangents and all the movie stuff (if you don’t think of the things I mentioned in the previous paragraph and stuff). I also loved Earl — maybe even more than I liked Greg — for all his tough-guy persona with a soft heart inside. I can imagine his “pissed” and “mega-pissed” expression, although I can’t exactly think of him as an actor. I think most of my LOL time happened when Earl was present, although he also showed that he had a more difficult life compared to Greg. Personally for me, if anyone had the right to complain about his life, it was Earl. Rachel also had more rights to complain, with the cancer and all. I liked Rachel’s quiet presence in the story, her snort-laugh and how she changed (but also not really changed) Greg’s life. I thought all the scenes with her was pretty poignant, and I liked how she really tried to help Greg even if he wasn’t willing to be helped that much. Their dynamic was pretty unusual, but it worked, and it really made the book true to its title.

Overall, this book is an enjoyable read, albeit not really as much as I expected. I guess I was used to having books make me feel so many things and think so many things that I imposed these expectations on Me and Earl and the Dying Girl too, when it’s really not that kind of book. I doubt this will be one of my favorites but in the grander scheme of things ((Wow, look at me using this phrase, haha!)), this book is one I’d recommend for anyone who’s looking for a few lot of good laughs.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews will be out March 1.

Rating: [rating=3]

Other reviews:
The Nocturnal Library
The Readventurer

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The Enemy

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The Enemy by Charlie HigsonThe Enemy by Charlie Higson
The Enemy # 1
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Number of pages: 448
My copy: hardbound, borrowed from Aaron

In the wake of a devastating disease, everyone sixteen and older is either dead or a decomposing, brainless creature with a ravenous appetite for flesh. Teens have barricaded themselves in buildings throughout London and venture outside only when they need to scavenge for food. The group of kids living a Waitrose supermarket is beginning to run out of options. When a mysterious traveler arrives and offers them safe haven at Buckingham Palace, they begin a harrowing journey across London. But their fight is far from over–the threat from within the palace is as real as the one outside it.

* * *

It’s been a long time since I last read a zombie book, so I knew I was in for a bit of an adjustment when I decided to read my stocked zombie books for my February challenge. The Enemy by Charlie Higson has been languishing on my shelf since 2010, after my friend Aaron lent it to me for my YA-D2 challenge for that year. Obviously I never read it for that, and I don’t think I would have unearthed this now if I didn’t choose to read it for this month.

Besides, a borrowed book on my shelf for a year feels wrong.

In The Enemy, all people aged sixteen and above have succumbed to a disease that turns them into flesh-eating monsters. Only the children are left and several have made it into some safehouses, banding together using their own abilities to survive in a bleak world. One of these groups of kids were the Waitrose kids, led by Arran and Maxie, who has lived in an abandoned grocery in the last few months. Food and important resources are already scarce, and the kids are already losing hope. Until one day, a kid in a colorful coat (made from contemporary fabrics and the like) comes and invites them to join him to Buckingham Palace, where another group of kids are living and are successful in creating a new life for themselves. The kids decided to go with him, but will their lives really change for the better once they get to the palace?

The Enemy starts of with action and doesn’t really leave that kind of mode until the end. Which is good, because it kept me on my toes and had me biting my fingernails for whatever else could happen to these kids. Other people warned me not to get attached to any of the characters in the book because the author kills them — and it is true. Boy how true is that. This makes for a very gripping read because you just never know who would die and how, and you never know who are the bad guys really are.

I also really liked Small Sam’s story — I think I was rooting for him the most! I like how his story paralleled the others, and where he got to. The subway (or to be appropriate, the tube) scene in the dark reminded me of a similar scene in The Dark and Hollow Places, and it truly got me worried for him and how he would get out of it. There’s also a hint of cannibalism in the story and I have to admit that it got my stomach churning uncomfortably there.

With all these positive things, though, I have to admit that I wasn’t that invested in the story. That, and I was partly grossed out for some reason. Maybe I’ve turned soft and my stomach isn’t as adept as handling zombie gore anymore. There were several times I felt like gagging while reading the book, and I couldn’t handle reading it while eating. With that, I didn’t really feel like I was glued to the pages. True, the story had all sorts of action and it made me fear for the characters, but my overall feeling in the end was, “Okay, finally that was done.” I only really wanted to see how it ended, but I didn’t care that much as compared to the other zombie novels I read and loved. My friends who have read this all sang praises to this…but I’m afraid I’m more on the lukewarm side.

Now that I think about it…maybe I have turned soft. :O

Nevertheless, The Enemy is still one of the better written zombie novels out there, and it’s a good read especially for those who like more gore than the usual. If you want to read a book about survival, a bit of politics and the undead, then his Higson book is for you. What’s more: its sequel, The Dead, is already out so you won’t have to wait too long to know what Charlie Higson had in mind when he thought of a post-apocalyptic world.

Rating: [rating=3]

Required Reading: FebruaryMy copy: borrowed from Aaron

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers
I Am Pinoy Peter Pan
Attack of the Book

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Bittersweet

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Bittersweet by Sarah OcklerBittersweet by Sarah Ockler
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Number of pages: 378
My copy: review copy, borrowed

Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances… a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life…and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last…

* * *

I wasn’t exactly a Sarah Ockler fan and while so many people raved about her debut, Twenty Boy Summer, I was just pretty lukewarm about it. So I wasn’t very interested to read her newest book, Bittersweet until I started reading cute reviews about it from some of my trusted reviewers. Curious, I borrowed a copy from a friend and read the first few pages, and before I knew it, I was halfway through. :D

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler is about Hudson Avery, whose bright figure skating career is just ahead of her. But that was three years ago, before her father left. Now she’s the best cupcake maker in the small town of Watonka, baking and serving luscious desserts in their family. diner. When Hudson receives a letter from her old mentor’s foundation for a shot at a scholarship, she starts dreaming again. But with Hudson’s family relying on her, she’s not sure if she can actually go for her dreams. And don’t get her started on Josh Blackthorn, the cute hockey player who’s sending her seriously mixed signals.

Okay, here’s the thing: I loved Bittersweet the moment I read about Hudson being a figure skater and then later looking for the perfect cupcake “to fix all things.”  I don’t think I’ve ever shared in this blog ever so let me share this now: 1) I like to bake and 2) I used to dream of being a figure skater. The only one I only really got to do was the first one and I have long ago abandoned the dream of being a figure skater — I don’t think I have the skills or the body for that. :P However, reading Bittersweet had me living vicariously through Hudson, and I was in a very, very happy world in the next few days of reading the book.

But it’s not a completely happy book. Hudson has been burned and she continues to be burned out in the things she’s doing. She wants something big, to do something she loves, and I can definitely relate with what she’s feeling. That being said, however, Hudson is not so jaded that she’s just full of angst. She’s a funny and reliable narrator, and I loved being in her head for the story. I loved her passion for both cupcakes and skating, and I really, really wanted the best for her as the story goes on. I also loved the other characters, particularly her past and present best friends Kara and Danielle and I completely adored her little brother Bug! The boys of the hockey team were also a very good addition, and I loved that particular angle in the story.

Bittersweet is also one of those books with the slow burn romance, and a love triangle that isn’t so annoying. I really liked how balanced the attention was, and for a moment there I wasn’t sure who Hudson would pick (but I was definitely campaigning for one number fifty-six). The love triangle also didn’t mean enemies for the two guys concerned, which was also a huge relief because who needs guys beating each other up? I was also glad that she wasn’t the kind of heroine who’s also fixated with having sex on top of her other problems in the book. The book’s ending reminded me a bit of a Disney movie, but I like Disney movies so I think the ending was just perfect. :)

On a final note, here’s a warning when reading this book: don’t read it hungry! Or, just make sure you have a couple of cupcakes on hand and use Meijer coupon codes for some organic snacks. I didn’t, but the moment I finished this I went to the nearest cupcake store near my office and got myself some treats. This book also made me really, really crave a cupcake baking session — I’ve never really made any fancy frosted cupcakes, but this book made me feel like maybe I could. And I should. Soon.

Like I said, I wasn’t a big fan of Twenty Boy Summer, and I wasn’t really interested in reading any other Ockler book after that. But now that I’ve read Bittersweet, I think I have changed my mind. Bittersweet is a cute, cute contemporary YA book, and I am definitely acquiring my own copy soon. :)

Last: writing this review had me craving for cupcakes again. Like these:

(all images from weheartit.com)

Nom nom.

Rating: [rating=4]

Other reviews:
The Midnight Garden
Blackplume

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1984

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1984 by George Orwell1984 by George Orwell
Signet Classics, 298 pages

Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell’s narrative is timelier than ever. 1984 presents a startling and haunting vision of the world, so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of multiple generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions a legacy that seems only to grow with the passage of time.

It’s the year 1984, and the world people live in isn’t the same as the world we know today. In this version of the world, everyone lives under close scrutiny of Big Brother — or at least representatives of Big Brother in the form of the Inner Party and the Thought Police. Here we meet Winston, a simple Party guy who is slowly realizing that maybe, there is something else other than the life he is living. Maybe the Party and Big Brother isn’t always right. Maybe, just maybe, the truth that he’s known all his life isn’t the truth at all. What follows is Winston’s “quest” to find out the real truth and perhaps even bring down Big Brother. But is Winston a big enough force to be reckoned with?

Totally honest moment: I would not have read 1984 if it wasn’t our book club’s book discussion book for January 2012. Perhaps I would have read it someday later, but not anytime soon. As much as I like dystopian novels (although not as much as I used to), I just didn’t have enough interest in this book as my other friends did. But like I said, I should read it because I’m a moderator of the book club and it feels like I should read it.

During our book discussion, we were asked to give a word to describe the book, and my chosen word was challenging. It was challenging for me not because I couldn’t grasp the story but because it took me an entire month to read the book. And it was a pretty short book too, if you think about it and I read pretty fast, so taking that long to read a certain book is really a new thing. But the truth is, I just wasn’t that invested in it. You know how there are some books that reel you right in and would make you want to lose sleep while reading it? Well, 1984 didn’t give me that impression. It’s not that I didn’t like it — I did, but I just wasn’t that invested in it to keep on reading it continuously. I think I may have read 10 books while reading this book — if that isn’t proof enough, then I don’t know already. :P

1984 is a good novel, but I feel like my reading is slightly tainted by all the similarly themed YA dystopia books I have read. You know how the main characters often prevailed, or at least almost prevailed in all the YA dystopia books? Well, it isn’t exactly the case here. I liked how the first part of the book started, but the second and third parts weren’t exactly my cup of tea. Oh sure, they were brutal, they were unexpected, but like I said, I was used to reading characters who go against all the odds and somehow win even against a TOTALLY EVIL GOVERNMENT. Perhaps it’s a YA thing, and this book was written way before the ones I know, so it has a really different approach.

The thing about 1984 though, is how it could have been real. Granted, I had myself pulled away form the narrative so much that I couldn’t imagine it being real in the current society and all, but some points during our discussion got me thinking that yeah, maybe it could be possible. Just take social networking for example — how many people can truly say they have their own privacy when they have a Facebook profile or update Twitter every minute or so? Or do we even really know how much information we put out online and how it affects us? It’s a lot to think about.

Even so, there’s a certain separation for me and 1984. Again, it’s not that I didn’t like it, but I also did not really love it as much as other people do. It’s definitely one of those books that should be read if only to get a real grasp of how a dystopian society could look like. Honestly, I don’t think a reader can be a true dystopian fan unless you have read 1984 (and Lois Lowry’s The Giver). You haven’t really seen a big bad evil government until you’ve read the classics, IMHO.

On a related note, though, I think having a real and intelligent book discussion on this book helped me understand and appreciate it more than I would have. It just goes to show that reading isn’t always a solitary activity, and it’s nice to be with like-minded people often with differing opinions to discuss a piece of literature. :)

Rating: [rating=3]

My copy: Kindle edition

Other reviews:
Bookish Little Me
Reading is the Ultimate Aphrodisiac

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Wanderlove

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Wanderlove by Kristen HubbardWanderlove by Kristen Hubbard
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Number of pages: 352
My copy: ebook review copy from Netgalley

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria’s a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan’s a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they’ve got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can’t run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

* * *

I love traveling. Granted, I’m not the most traveled person around, but I love being able to go to places. I love seeing new things, I love being (almost) anonymous in a sea of people who may or may not understand me. I love figuring out how a train system goes and how I can go from one place to another. The itch to travel hasn’t been that big in me until I got to go to Europe last year, and ever since then, I’ve been thinking of other places in the world that I must see in this lifetime. There’s something about being able to achieve a traveling dream that makes you want to travel again, especially while I still can. I’ve got a bucket list of places that I want to go to and while a part of me wonders how will I be ever able to afford all those trips, it does not stop me from dreaming.

I guess that’s why Wanderlove was such a hit with me. Bria Sandoval wanted to be a global vagabond, especially after her senior year in high school spun out of control and left her lost. She signs up for the Global Vagabonds tour to Central America, thinking that she would be with people her age. But the brochure she read was wrong and she ended up being with a group of tourists that followed a too-rigid schedule for her to actually find time to rediscover herself. Then she runs into a group of backpackers — real backpackers who go from one place to another with just the clothes and the bags on their backs — led by dive instructor with a bad boy aura Rowan, and his humanitarian sister Starling. Bria takes the chance and joins them. It’s the trip of a lifetime for Bria, and she hopes that somewhere along the way, against the backdrop of Mayan temples and Belizean islands, she finds exactly what she was looking for.

Again, I love traveling. But truth be told, traveling is kind of a cliche interest among people my age, at least from where I come from. Everyone wants to travel, because it’s such a good way to spend money and to see something new. But I know that only a few of those people who has put “traveling” in their interests can actually quit their jobs, sell everything and just travel.

I know I am definitely not one of those people.

The backpackers in Wanderlove? They’re the real deal.

I wasn’t really expecting to love this book so much. I was just expecting to like it, but not really like it. But I was captured from page one. I loved Bria — her doubts and uncertainties, how she pretends to be a well-seasoned traveler even if that wasn’t true. I loved how different she was from the first chapter to the last, and how her fears can translate into something universal, even if I’m not an artsy person. Bria’s need to escape is something everyone feels, and something that traveling can quickly fix, even if it’s just for a while. I feel you, Bria. I really do.

Also: the romance. This is another one of those slow burn romances that just makes my toes curl with delight. :) While the build up to the romance didn’t really span months like how it was in Flat-Out Love, it was still believable with all the time that Rowan and Bria spent together. I loved how they danced around one another, how their conversations can go from disliking each other to having a mutual understanding that led them to protect one another from people who do not understand them. There wasn’t too much drama in how their relationship was built up, and I liked how it all ended, especially where it all ended. Wanderlove at its finest. :)

Finally, the setting. I think it helps that the author is also a backpacker, so the experiences and the places that the characters visited felt very real. I have to admit that Central America was never in my bucket list. After reading this book, though, I also wanted to pack my bags and go see the places they saw. Okay fine, I don’t think I’ll go backpack like they did anytime soon, but I so want to go where they went. Someday, someday. I’ll go there. Maybe after I hit South America next year ((World Youth Day 2013 is in Rio de Janiero — wohoo!)).

If you’re ever one who’s loved traveling, or one who’s wished to travel but never got to, I recommend Wanderlove by Kristen Hubbard to you. I hope this book fills you with the same kind of love as Bria found and Rowan had, and that somehow, it also helps you find the place(s) in the world that would stick in your heart. :) You could find this book or similar titles by Kristen Hubbard with Amazon Coupons.

I leave you with this quote:

You got to find your own places. The places you get, girl, the ones that stick in your heart. And if you’re lucky, you find people to share them with.

Rating: [rating=4]

Other reviews:
Good Books and Good Wine
Makeshift Bookmark

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