Book Review

Revolution 

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Revolution is a young adult historical fiction novel. The main character, Andi, is a struggling teenager. When her younger brother Truman is killed, it tears her entire family apart. A cloud of darkness hovers over her life, and Andi blames herself for her brother's death. Her father, a successful Noble Prize wining geneticist, stays away working, while her mother goes insane by spending day after day painting her dead brother. Andi is left with just her shattered emotions, and her music. Music is Andi's escape from the pain she can't bear to deal with. Andi struggled in school, not because she wasn't smart - she was brilliant - but because of the constant pressure to do well, she rebelled and blew everything off. She hung out with the wrong crowd and didn't care about anything except music. She can be very angry, hurtful, and venomous at times. She is on anti-depressants which she misuses to smother the pain by taking too many, or mixing them with alcohol. When her dad returns from a long absence he decides to take matters into his own hands to fix is withering family. He puts his wife in a Brooklyn mental hospital, and tells Andi she is coming with him to Paris (how horrible!) until she finishes her thesis to graduate. While researching and exploring Paris, she meets Virgil, a boy who loves Andi for who she is, even when she tries to push him away. When Andi finds an old diary belonging to Alex, a girl her very age, only living during the French Revolution in 1795, her life takes an unexpected turn. Alex and Andi have a lot in common. They are both very artistic. Andi with music, and Alex with theatrics. They both are motherly figures. Andi to Truman (her brother) and Alex to Louis (the Dauphin of France). Both of these boys die at the same age. Despite the time differences they are both feisty, smart, and strong-willed. Andi ends up warping back in time to June 1795, in the same shoes as Alex. Andi learns the importance of love, liberty, and the revolution within a person.

At the start of the book Andi is a pretty dark character that I had a hard time relating too. Donnelly does a great job contemplating and complying how a rebellious teenager would react and feel to situations, but I don't know if the majority of people can relate of how she deals with pain. (Then again, this is a young adult novel) For example: She would become so engulfed in playing her guitar that she would play through the pain of her fingers bleeding.

Gross. 
Maybe it's because if I get a paper cut I'm whining about it for the next 3 days, let alone willful, self-inflicting pain. A little too emo for my taste.

 The tempo of Andi's thoughts are disorganized, but somehow meshes for her character. Donnelly uses a lot of musical references for Andi's thoughts and emotions, further deepening Andi's connection with music. However, I found a lot of the songs and lyrics in the book were unfamiliar. I feel like I needed Youtube up to research the songs to understand the backdrop of inspiration as I read. Much of the musical references felt forced and awkward. There are "rapping" lyrics also inserted, which I skipped over and didn't bother reading. All of the songs felt like they were more in the way, than adding to the story.

The story-line didn't quite flow. The feel of this book starts out very dark, emotional, rustic, yet mysterious. Which I really enjoyed! Then, out of what seems like nowhere it turns into a time traveling, teenage romance. The two halves of the book don't quite go together. Donnelly didn't transition the "time-traveling" scene well, it happens out of nowhere! It made the whole story turn for the worst in my opinion. I think it would have flowed better if the "ghosts" Andi had been seeing became real in present day France, rather than her traveling back to the past.

Donnelly did do a great job researching the historical background for the novel, which as a history buff myself, I really appreciate that she took so much time doing so. I learned a lot of interesting knowledge that I had no idea occurred before now! (I'm currently reading The Days of the French Revolution because of it!) I think she made the French Revolution have life, rather than reading from a distant account. It is a great way to have young adults learn about history without wanting to stab themselves in the eye over and over again.

I also enjoyed how Donnelly slowly peeled away facts about Andi's past. At the start of the book we know Andi blames herself for her brother's death, but it's not until later that we learned she was supposed to be walking with him to school when he died. It made you intrigued to keep reading, but didn't hold out too long to be exasperating. Overall, this book is well-written, mysterious, and interesting. But, between the flawed storyline and the music references it just made it a little choppy. I would recommend it, but I wouldn't put it on my library shelf to read again. 

Book Review

Bird by Rita Murphy

Bird, is a young adult fairy tail. The story begins with the main character Miranda, who is a small, thin wisp of a girl who is easily carried off by the wind. She arrived at Bourne Manor, which sits on the shore of Lake Champlain, by a strong wind. Bourne Manor is quietly whispered about by everyone in the town. It is a mysterious old house that seems alive with misfortune, charm, and controlling powers that encompasses those who reside there. Miranda cannot remember where she came from, and has grown up only knowing Wysteria and the four hounds who occupy the manor. Wysteria an elderly widow who is somewhat cold, hard, and controlling who doesn't seem to care for Miranda like a daughter, but more like a maid. We're never sure if Wysteria is a naturally hardened person, or if the house itself is weaving its darkness into her. Miranda does not see herself as a slave at first; she sees herself as eternally grateful for Wysteria's kindness to take her in. Miranda spends all of her time at the manor, and isn't allowed to venture outside for fear of being carried off by the wind. When she does go outside Miranda wears a pair to steel plated boots to stay securely to the ground. Miranda then befriends Farley, who gives her a taste of freedom, adventure, and a side to the brave Miranda that she never knew existed. Miranda and Farley try to figure out the mystery and fortune of Bourne Manor, and escape before its too late.  

The creativity and sheer uniqueness of this story was a pleasure to read. The books feel eerie and enticing with a twist of magical delight. The characters were exceptionally well-developed, and Miranda might be one of my favorite characters that I've encountered in all my reading. Overall, I really loved this book, although it had even greater potential if the author would have done several things:

 1. I had a hard time understanding who this book was intended for. Children? Tweens? Teens? The book is written simply and is very whimsical, making you believe it may be for children. But, the dialogue of the characters refers to an older audience. The age of Miranda is also hard to pinpoint. At first I pictured her as a young child, but then throughout the book she seems older: 14, maybe 15. 

2. The book needed expanded by at least 100 pages. It was a little short, and kind of left us hanging and still wondering.  

3. Although the characters were not undeveloped, the overall story line was, but I think this goes along with the book being too short. Much of the story is engulfed in bewilderment. Most of the time one could see this as an appealing, suspenseful aspect, but in this case the majority of the story we're left in darkness just wondering...and wondering. Every time you think you might learn part of a secret, the author never really manifests any answers. For example, Miranda finds a bottle hidden in Wysteria's room with her name on it. She eventually learns it's a sedative, but we never learn its purpose or if it was ever actually used on Miranda! Small parts of the story like this seem imperative to unlocking the whole mystery, but we never do! I especially wish she would have expanded on Bourne Manor, Wysteria, and Miranda's past. I think it would have helped understanding why certain events happened in the book, especially if we knew more about the house's past since it was the predominate reason for events and kept the story moving. Although most of the book leaves us with even more questions, I stilled liked it, which is saying something.  

This book has little riddles whispering through the underlying pages of the book, which then transfer into the fascination of the Bourne Manor and Miranda, even after you put it down. As I sit here, I still feel like if I think about it enough, I can still lift the fog from the Bourne Manor and what all the clues meant. This is why this book was still good. In most stories if we don't figure out the mystery we're disappointed, but Rita Murphy manages to turn disappoint into a lingering sense of hope and wonder. I would absolutely recommend this book!

Book Whore

I'm a book whore.

Ever since Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in her warm little cabin in the woods with Pa, Ma, Mary, and Carrie I've been sold.

Every year when my family would go on vacation, my mom and dad always gave my brother and I a little money to buy some souvenirs with. And every year my brother and I gladly squandered invested all of our money at the bookstore. We didn't care about t-shirts, colored seashells, or a memorable magnet. No, not even toys could tempt us! We would spend hours contemplating on what books to buy.

Yesterday I finished reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

It's been raved about by the New York Times and many others. It's a story about a couple, David and Norah, who quickly fell madly in love, got married, and are expecting a baby. One blustery snowy night in Lexington, Kentucky Norah goes into labor and David, a doctor, delivers a healthy baby boy. But, right after their son Paul is born Norah delivers another baby, this time a girl. David realizes as soon as Phoebe is born there is something wrong with her. Pained by the memory of his younger sister who died as a sickly child, David directs a nurse to take Phoebe to a home for the handicapped. The nurse, unable to leave Phoebe in such a horrible place, moves away and raises her as her own daughter. David tells his wife Norah that Phoebe died at birth. The rest of the book focuses on how this one secret destroyed a family. Arguments, betrayal, and disappointment are all caused by this secret; It slips right under the surface of every disagreement, but can't quite be touched.

I personally had a hard time with this book, and I genuinely wanted to like this book. While reading it I kept persuading myself that I would eventually want to eat this book up...well, it never happened. The story itself is sad, but also incredibly irritating. Every build up in the book ends up dissolving away without any real resolution. Not one of the characters were likable to me; they came off as wishy-washy, very one dimensional, and slightly distant. The characters never seemed to actually feel the emotions they had. I understand every character has their good and bad, but in this book the character's weaknesses noticeably outweighed their strengths. Each time I thought, I had figured out a character's personality, they would do something completely counter intuitive to their character. For example Norah in the beginning is such a consistent, calm, caring person, a little childish, who never took big risks. By the end she was running her own big business, having multiple affairs, acting completely irrational, and always thinking the worst about people. The Norah I perceived as a young adult is not the one I would have formulated later in life. The idea for this story is actually interesting, especially the time period it was set in, but somehow the author didn't carry it out very well. It could have been a fantastically original book, but I was left feeling disappointed and "ehh" about it all.

I did like the references to Lexington, Kentucky (where I went to college) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (where I'm from). It was neat hearing Edwards describe places that I knew so intimately. Sadly, this is probably one of the only things that kept me interested.

Overall I wouldn't recommend this book. I just keep hoping it was all a big joke, and I accidently read the wrong, stupid version. Let me check--nope, I didn't. Dang it. Lesson learned: don't believe everything New York Times tells you.