The review title is mostly in jest – if you’ve read my previous reviews, you know I love me some YA . In this case I’ve done myself a disservice because I’m reviewing it late and I’m most of the way through the second novel and they’re starting to blur together. I’m going to try to stick to The Knife of Never Letting Go (ugh, awful title). We start in a small village in a New World. Our narrator, Todd, is nearly 13 and his village […]
The Zeppo
Not everyone has to be the Chosen One. Not everyone has to be the guy who saves the world. Most people have to just live their lives the best they can, doing the things that are great for them, having great friends, trying to make their lives better, loving people properly. All the while knowing that the world makes no sense but trying to find a way to be happy anyway. (The Rest of Us Just Live Here, p. 216) It’s only fitting that I […]
Ready for Jolabokaflod!
Earlier this year, when someone posted an article on Facebook about the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod (Yule book flood), my mom, sister, and I were like, “We’re so doing this.” What’s not to like about hunkering down on Christmas Eve, drinking cocoa, giving each other books, and then spending the evening reading. Thanks to Caitlin, I now have both the books and a mug to start this tradition. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
The Knife of Not Really Getting Into It
I’m at a bit of a loss as to what sort of rating to give The Knife Of Never Letting Go. On the one hand I struggled at times to get into it, found the villain rather cartoonish, and the narration style (and phonetic spelling) of our protagonist, Todd, soon became something of an irritayshun. But on the other hand, I did feel really quite sad and angry more than a few times, so it obviously got to me while my back was turned. Todd […]
“Stories are the wildest thing of all, the monster rumbled. Stories chase and bite and hunt.
Pretty much every night, Conor wakes up screaming from the same nightmare. So when the monster shows up in his garden, just after midnight, he’s not as scared as you may have thought that he’d be. After all, he deals with some pretty unpleasant things on a daily basis. The bullies who pick on him in school. The fact that he seems to be falling out with his only friend. The teachers either ignoring him or being overly understanding and solicitous. His father, who seems […]
A Workout for Your Tear Ducts
This is a beautifully written YA novel that is appropriate for all ages and deals with a terrifying topic: the illness of a parent. The idea for A Monster Calls originated with writer Siobhan Dowd who died before she could write it. Author Patrick Ness was approached to create a story from Dowd’s notes, and he has produced a painfully honest and sad account of how a 13-year-old boy handles the illness of his mother. You will cry, but this story is so beautiful and […]
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