Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Plot: Susie Salmon is raped and murdered, and when she goes to Heaven, she sees how her loved ones (and her murderer) cope with her death, while coming to terms with her own fate.

My Thoughts: This book was phenomenal. I like that it wasn't your usual murder-mystery point of view, and I thought it was interesting how you could feel the passage of time through the narration. At first it was slow, with every detail, and then it got faster and skipped days and months and then years, kind of like what happens when someone dies and you grieve them. I spent weeks reading this because because I didn't want it to end. This book was so good.

Review Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Plot: When the love of Katie's life, Matt, leaves her, he leaves behind a diary. This diary is written by his former wife, Suzanne, to their infant son, Nicholas. Suzanne tells the story of how she met Matt and about their relationship and having Nicholas. Katie is torn between hatred and love, worrying about this other family while hating what Matt has done to her.

My thoughts: The movie was better. I hate it when people say this. It makes my skin crawl. But I did not like this book. James Patterson needs to stick to writing suspenseful books.

Review: The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry

My Rating: The Giver-- 5 out of 5 stars; Gathering Blue-- 4 out of 5 stars; Messenger-- 4 out of 5 stars; Son-- 4.75 out of 5 stars; Overall-- 4.5 out of 5 stars

Plot: The series begins in Jonas' community-- a utopia of sorts in a dystopian world. Jonas learns that the world is not as small and perfect as his community, and the truth of this new world needs to be told. The following three books follow different characters (with appearances of previous characters in each book), and shows how each community is different, and the scary traditional ways that they are all the same. Son wraps the quartet up nicely, bringing much of the plot full circle and ending on a happy not.

My Thoughts: These are not happy books. They're emotionally straining, especially for books that you're required to read in middle school. They hurt. You get attached, and you feel everything. Reading the second book, I had a feeling that it had something to do with The Giver, I just wasn't sure. Then I stumbled upon Messenger and Son, and I knew I had to read them all. Gathering Blue was kind of frustrating, because I just wanted answers. But Messenger and Son wrap it up nicely. However, I do have a lot of unanswered questions, so I can't completely give it 5 stars, even though the series is really, really great. If you haven't read these books, you really should. Especially since The Giver is coming out as a movie in August (lord, help us).

Review: Son (The Giver Quartet #4) by Lois Lowry

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Plot: Claire is a Birthmother. Her purpose in life is to birth three newchildren, and when she is done with that, she will be placed somewhere random in the community. When her first birth goes terribly wrong, she is placed at the fish hatchery; but she feels incomplete without her son. She makes it her mission to reunite with her son, even when a string of events make this seem completely impossible. She will do anything it takes to get her son back, even if it means risking her life.

My Thoughts: This book as an individual unit is amazing. I love that it was split nicely into three parts. I love that it connects the other three books to make the series come full circle. And I love that it ends with a happy ending. At first when part two started, I thought I would lose interest, but I kept reading and I loved it so much. Minus .25 of a star because I have so many unanswered questions. If you haven't read the first three books in The Giver Quartet, do so, and then read this book. You will not regret it.

Goodreads Challenge

[reposted from my tumblr]

I’ve set my goal for fifty books this year. Last year, I set it to 45, and I didn’t quite make it. Mostly I just read textbooks because that’s all I had time for. But this year, I really plan on reading a lot more. I’m starting the year with the Potter books, then I’ll move on to The Giver Quartet, then some singles, and go from there. 

I feel like I need to redeem myself after the crap reading I did last year.

Wish me luck!