Movie Time! 'Snow White and the Huntsman'

"In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen."

I saw this movie last night on campus, so I thought that I'd share my thoughts with you!  You know, since I've been rather absent lately.

The entire film was exquisite in its cinematography.  Every image captured on screen was crisp and wonderful, just as any fairy tale captured on screen ought to be.  But once you get past that and look at the actual story, that's where it seems to be lacking.

The story focuses on the relationship between Snow White and the Huntsman (ergo, the title), but I didn't feel that there was much of a connection there.  He was sent on a task to retrieve Snow White, who had just escaped from the dark Queen Ravenna.  The Huntsman had a task and even though he changed and never brought Snow White back to the castle, there still wasn't anything to remark on as far as a relationship.

Kristen Stewart (Snow White) was awfully similar to Bella Swan in Twilight, what with her nervous blinking and heavy breathing all of the time.  Not to mention that both characters took a really long time to die... however, I feel that she's improved a bit as an actress since Twilight, so that's always a good thing.

William should never have been part of the story.  He was in Snow White's childhood and he came back towards the end of the movie to help her get to Hammond's castle, but really, he had such a small function in the movie.  I found it a little funny that he assumed he and Snow White would fall madly in love purely because they had history together.  When he kissed Snow White after biting the apple, it was really strange because they hadn't seen each other in like, ten years or something.  It just struck me as incredibly weird and the director/writer should have figured out a way to edit him out.

The Queen and her brother... ew.  The brother was so disgusting that chills were running up and down my spine.  He was just... gross.  From his haircut-gone-awry to his incredibly confusing relationship with the queen, it raised more than a few questions.

Questions were raised throughout the movie.  There were key things that I felt should have been known about each of the characters, but instead were not.  Why did Queen Ravenna want Snow White's father's kingdom (I believe his name was Magnus)?  What happened to the Huntman's first wife?  That was never really clarified, even though I know they addressed this at some point.  As a result, I really didn't care about any of the characters.  When and if they died or were severely injured, it didn't matter to me.

The ending.  Oh my god.  That was the most infuriating part!  There's no closure!  Snow White is crowned Queen, but we still don't know what happens with her and the Huntsman, the man who is supposedly her true love, given that he was the one to awaken her from the dead.  The movie ends with her coronation and the Huntsman is lurking in the background.

What the crap?!  I feel like there isn't a lot left for a sequel (if the writers and director think so, I'd be very interested in knowing their thoughts), so I'm left to assume that I'll never know exactly how this movie ends.  There is no closure and for me, that's very unsettling.  I'm left to assume that Snow White will fix the kingdom (because of some fickle power that movie-goers can't really see but is implied all the time) and the Huntsman will go back to doing what he's always done, despite being Snow White's true love (and really, who didn't see that one coming?).

Overall, I was disappointed by a lot of things in this movie, but the cinematography and the handful of great actors and characters really saved what could have been an absolute train wreck.  Instead, it was just a small train wreck.

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

College Adventures: Oh, College!

I have had my first full week of class this past week!  Orientation has come and gone-- it was quite helpful.  Now I know about the different resources available to me and just about all of my questions have been answered regarding how and where I could possibly get involved in something besides academics.  There is an activities fair on the twentieth, so I'm for sure going to go to that so that I can join French Club, maybe Social Dance, and who knows what else is out there on campus!

The first few days of college were difficult as I adjusted and tried to make friends.  No matter what happened, my dorm and everything around me just wasn't home.  But after that initial first couple of days, I grew accustomed to the fact that this new dorm was going to be my home for the next year and this campus for the next next four.  I accepted it and was ready to accept the next challenges that come after homesickness.  My orientation group happened to be made up of the people in one of my classes, so that was very helpful.  I've grown to know a good handful of people in that class and while I haven't hung out with all of them, I have hung out with a couple of them and they are delightful people!  So I had a few friends outside of my roommate.  I don't need a giant group to follow me around, just a few people that I can really get to know.

I became pretty self-sufficient, even in just two short weeks.  I know that I need to get certain things done each week (laundry, cleaning the fish aquarium, washing dishes, studying/homework, etc.) and I've been able to motivate myself to take a break every once in a while during studying or between classes and just get a couple of these things done.

This weekend, I came home for a day (my dad's birthday party) and my mom noticed how efficient I've become and how I've changed in other ways.  When I initially got here early Saturday afternoon, she left sheets and a pillow case on my bed so that I'd have a place to stay so that I could make my bed.  She also knew that I needed to do laundry (I brought my big orange laundry bag home... I was honked at while walking the four to six blocks from the bus stop... why was this attractive to those men in the car?).  I was outside talking to the adults most of the night, but every once in a while, I'd slip inside, start a load of laundry, switch from the washer to the dryer, and then made my bed so that when my blanket was done being washed, I could go right to bed.  She was about to head to bed and she said, "Before you shower, maybe you should get your laundry started," to which I responded that I was already completely done.  She came into my room while I was folding my laundry and offered to help me make my bed, but it was already done.

I felt like I kind of put her out a little bit by already having things done when she offered to help, but at the same time, I find it interesting that in such a short space of time, I have already acquired this mindset that my parents aren't there to remind me when to do things, so I have to make sure they get done myself.  My roommate will not say, "Jude, do your homework,"  "Did you study for your psychology exam?  I'd really get on that now... it's next Thursday," "Jude, did you do your laundry?" "Did you brush your teeth and make your bed?" "You're wearing that thing again?" "Did you wash your dishes?"  You know, be a mom. I don't want and don't expect my roommate to be my mom in this dorm situation.  Nor will I be hers, because we're adults now.

My mom was also a little impressed that I'm already thinking about J-Term and what I could possibly do for that month.  I think that I'm going to take philosophy at one of my school's brother schools.  It's considered a general at my school, so that would be one less thing for me to do during the rest of my time here.

My parents have made sure to ask if I can think of anything that I need that I can get while I'm here.  I have a short list now, but the list that I have of things to bring from my room is longer, but luckily, I lot of things on that list are flat or don't take up a lot of space.

The transition was harder than I thought it would be, but not altogether impossible to get through.  I'm doing very well in college.  I have become efficient and even assertive.  I'm having less of a problem talking on the phone with people when I need help (though I still hate talking on the phone... for me, it's very awkward because I can never anticipate when someone is about to talk because I can't see their mouths open in preparation.  I always end up talking over them accidentally and then I feel bad).

I have applied for five or six jobs, so this week, I get the joy of contacting them all and following up (with the exception of one who said that they'd call me sometime this week because she's finally done interviewing!).  Hurray phones...

Perhaps between book reviews (I'm afraid they're going to be a little far and few between) I think I'll post college adventures, since I've had a few and many of them will be ones I'll tell my kids when they head off to college.  They are tales of fear and stupidity, aggravation, and hilarity.

I'll see you next time and thanks for reading!

--Jude

An Explanation

Hello Everyone,

So about three days ago, I moved into college and I've since then begun my classwork and have begun to realize my course-load.  Because of this (and I kind of said this as an after-thought the last time I completed the Friday memes) I cannot promise you consistent book reviews.  I am taking an English class this semester though, so there will be a few coming your way, I promise.

If you find yourself missing me, don't worry, I'll be posting things here every once in a while, whether that's a review or just a post to get my thoughts out there.

Well, I've got to make a video and then hit the books while my laundry is going!

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

Happy Friday!

Welcome to Friday!  I hope you had a lovely first week back to school/continuation of your summer vacation/not too stressful week at work!  This week, I will only be answering the questions posed by Ginger @ Greads (TGIF) and Melissa @ i swim for oceans (Let's Talk).  Alas, this will be the last TGIF for a while.  I will certainly miss it, but I completely understand Ginger's reasons for discontinuing it for the time being.  Any way, let's get into it!

TGIF

Choose Your Next Read: How do you go about choosing what you read next?  Do you have a schedule you follow or do you read whatever makes you happy at the moment?

After I'm done reading a book, then I choose (almost immediately) what I'm going to read next.  Even if I already have three or four other books going at the same time.  I try to do it this way because I'm never sure what a book is going to do to me by the time I turn to that last page.  I could be emotionally drained and I'll need to read something that is more uplifting in order to bounce back.  I might not be affected at all and in that case, it's a mystery even to me what I will read next.  For example, one of the books I'm currently reading  is 'Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris.  It's for sure a horror novel, but I haven't yet reached a frightening part, though certain things have already reached a level of creepy for me... I'm probably going to have to read something lighter like, 'My Name is Memory' by Ann Brashares.

Let's Talk

Do you like issue books?  Why or why not.

I think I prefer issue books.  Well, the ones that are well-written, any way.  I tend to gravitate towards these types of books whenever possible because they aren't pristine.  They're about broken people as opposed to the books where the description in the inside flap says, "So-and-so was the ideal/perfect/perfectly ordinary ."  I just think that issue books have so many options as to where they can go because they typically deal with broken and often desperate characters.  In books with perfect characters, there are really only one direction they can go: down. It's the only option for them if the story is to remain somewhat interesting.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today!  I hope you all enjoy your weekends!  I know I'm definitely going to enjoy mine.  Tomorrow, I pack up the rest of my things and then Sunday, I'm moving into my dorm for the year!  I'm very excited to begin my first year of college!  That being said, though I don't have much of a schedule for posting reviews here, I will be even more unpredictable in the coming months because I will need to get in the swing of balancing my time like a normal person.  I will not make any promises to you until I can be sure that I can keep them. Just know that I'll still be around and I'll pop up every once in a while.

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Patron Saint of Butterflies' by Cecilia Galante

"Agnes and Honey have always been different, but the older they get, the more they are growing apart.  Born into Mount Blessing, a religious commune with stringent rules and guarded secrets, the girls are complete opposites of each other.  While Agnes has made it her life's purpose to become a saint, Honey wants to her as far away from the commune as possible.  When Agnes's grandmother Nana Pete unexpectedly visits, she discovers one of the commune's most sinister secrets.  Fearing for their safety, Nana Pete takes the girls and flees Mount Blessing.

During their journey from the commune toward what Honey hopes will be a normal life, the girls test the bonds of their lifelong friendship, and Agnes struggles to hang on to the life she had.  Only when the biggest-- and most dangerous-- lie is finally unearthed does Agnes realize she must find the courage to make her own future.

This stunning debut novel, inspired by the author's own experiences, is a powerful tale of faith, friendship, and the true meaning of love."

After finishing this book, I am a little bit speechless.  It's been a while since I read a book that I can relate to so well and yet still get so angry at.  It was really difficult to make a choice regarding which "side" I was on: Honey's or Agnes's.  I hated how far-gone Agnes was, delving into the extremes of Christianity.  Whenever someone tried to talk a little sense (and by that, I do not mean convert) into her, she shut her ears and refused to listen, following the antics of a seven-year-old.  I have no problem reading books about religion, but this was one book that got my heart racing, I was so scared.  The word that comes to mind when I think of Mount Blessing is, "cult."  One person was telling everyone at the commune how to think. It was absolutely frightening for me to read about this and the author did such a great job of going into detail and not holding anything back.

I didn't completely agree with Honey either, though I could relate more to her than I could to Agnes.  For a while, it was really hard to tell whether or not she actually believed in God, the way she was talking to Agnes.  I've come to the conclusion that she is just a less extreme Christian.  She was enjoying herself immensely when they went to a Baptist service.  I appreciated her attempts to reverse Agnes's brainwashing (though, maybe instead of "brainwashing," we could say "upbringing").

I will also say that I loved that this Young Adult book did not contain a love triangle.  Finally!  It's absolutely possible!  This made this book quite refreshing, even if it is about four years old.

Nana Pete was such a powerful character.  I admire her to the ends of the earth for bringing her grandchildren out of the situation they were in.  It was very gutsy to take her grandchildren away from their parents without their permission (even then permission of one of her grandchildren) and just leave.

The most powerful thing in this book, in my opinion, is that you do not have to lead a perfect life in order to follow God or whomever you believe in.  You don't have to be as extreme as Agnes was.  You can still live a free life.  I think you could even go so far as to say you need only be a decent human being.  You do not have to do this in the name of a higher power, but if that helps you, that's fine.  You do not need to prove your goodness.  If you are good, you are good.  Any higher power will be able to see this.

Overall, this book was very eye-opening and it was nice to get two perspectives.  I think just about everything about this book worked for this story.  It's a beautiful debut novel by Cecilia Galante.

I give 'The Patron Saint of Butterflies':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

Friday Memes!

Hello Everyone!  Welcome to Friday on the Blogosphere where many choose to answer the questions posed by Parajunkee, Melissa @ i swim for oceans, Jennifer @ Crazy-for-Books, and Ginger @ GReads.  Feel free to click the links below and join in on the fun for yourself!

Follow Friday

Worst cover?  What is the worst cover of a book that you've read and loved?

This one is really difficult to answer because part of how I choose the books I read is the cover.  But there is one particular book that I didn't exactly choose to read of my own accord where I thought that the cover was atrocious:

I mean, come on.  The 'A' in 'The Scarlet Letter' is very important, but that's not all that there is to this book.  There are about a million covers for 'The Scarlet Letter' and this is among the worst.  It's just so boring...

Let's Talk

What are your top three favorite series of all time and why?

1. The Harry Potter Series-- I grew up with Harry Potter and yet, they've proven to be timeless.  The books are filled with characters that people want to strive to live as.  I don't mean walking around like a witch or a wizard necessarily, but just the way they are as a person.  

2. A Series of Unfortunate Events-- Even though they are, at times, frustrating because of the way the adults act, the writing is just so clever and the stories are complete with a mystery that keeps you wondering until the very end.

3. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants-- I think this one is the most relate-able of the series.  The things these girls go through are (mostly) true to life which allows you to really care for the characters.  It's beautiful!

The Blog Hop

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

I like having an outlet to tell people what I think.  I'm not exactly the most eloquent speaker on the face of the earth.  When someone asks me in person what they should read next, I can shoot titles at them rapid fire, but when it comes to telling that person what they're actually about and what I thought was awesome, it feels like I need to tell them everything and at the same time that I can't.  Essentially, it all comes out in a garbled mess.  So writing down my thoughts about books makes me appear more well-spoken than I am in real life.  That's one of my most favorite things about blogging, among a bazillion other things.

TGIF

Back To School Reading: Which books would you like to see in today's high school literature classrooms?

I'm happy to say that I will eventually have some kind of control over what will be read in today's high school literature classrooms, if all goes well.  :)

Thank you very much for taking the time to stop by my blog today!  If you'd like, feel free to leave your own web address below and I'll try my best to come by for a visit this weekend!

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'Crossed' by Ally Condie

"Rules are different outside the Society.

Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky-- taken by the Society to his sure death-- only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons.  On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of rebellion.  But even as Cassia sacrifices everything to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.

Narrated from both Cassia's and Ky's points of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their paths more twisted than ever."

It took a little longer for me to get into 'Crossed' than it did for me to get into 'Matched.'  The beginning was interesting because first of all, we are reunited with Cassia and Ky.  That's really nice because they were great characters in 'Matched.'  Now they're in a completely different setting.  They're in a completely different place than the Society.

There was a lot of running and walking around in this book.  This is what bothered me the most about this book.  Ky and Cassia (along with Eli, Indie, and a couple other characters) were walking around in search of each other and then the Rising.  I didn't feel like a lot of character development happened in this part and that would have been a perfect time for this to happen.  It's true, these characters have a number of choices that they need to make, but for me, it still feels like the characters are going about making these decisions in a way that they would have had they been forced to make them in the beginning of the book.  Cassia was still clinging to Ky and wanting nothing more than to touch him.  This is definitely part of being love, but in this case, it just felt clingy... and given the situation where they could be killed or discovered at any moment, it just didn't feel right.

I was also disappointed at the lack of The Rising.  There was a lot of talking about it, but it didn't really make an appearance until the last quarter or third of the book.  On one hand, I really wish that they had talked about it more, but on the other, I'm really excited to read about The Rising in action in the last installment of this trilogy.

I liked that we are able to learn a little more about Ky's history.  He's such a closed book that even the smallest glimpses were interesting to read about.  I look forward to piecing it all together in the next book.

Some of the individual characters were pretty interesting to read about.  I'm very interested in hearing more about Indie, the girl who was kicked out of the Society for attempting to escape to the ocean.  Eli, because he's so young, I still don't really know why he was exiled from the Society.  I know that whatever happened, it was by his own hand that he was reclassified.  I think Eli is the character that interests me the most.  I really do hope we hear more about him in the next book.

Overall, I wasn't as impressed with 'Crossed' as I was with 'Matched,' but there are several things in this book that are essential to know for the next book that it is a necessary read for this trilogy.

I give 'Crossed':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'Running with Scissors' by Augusten Burroughs

"Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus.  So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed.  The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year-round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull, an electroshock-therapy machine could provide entertainment.  The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances."

'Running with Scissors' is one of those books that has always hovered in the foreground of my life, but I had never thought to pick it up and read it until now.

It's certainly a strange book and not meant for younger readers-- there is a ton of swearing and sex scenes.  If these things don't particularly bother you in a book, then it could very well be worth a shot.

The amount of disorder in this book was staggering.  I'm not referring to Augusten Burroughs' writing style, but just the life he led in his earlier years.  It would definitely take a strong person to deal with the environment Augusten was put in.  I don't believe that I could ever handle that life the way he did.  Everything was dirty all the time and there were essentially no rules.  The people living in Dr. Finch's house were not expected to go to school, they could live with whomever they pleased, take new parents, sleep with drastically older lovers... there was no structure.  With this fact alone, everyone who sits down with this is in for a very interesting read.

It was extremely helpful that Burroughs kept everything in a roughly linear order.  It was very easy to tell what part of his story was "the present time" and when he was going off on a tangent in order to make something clearer for the reader.

It was nice to be able to see how Burroughs' younger self developed as years passed.  Through him, we could see the people around him develop.  I never expected Natalie to do as well in life as she did.  She was definitely a strong personality, but I could never truly tell how serious she was about the things that I consider worthwhile (such as education).

I would have loved to have learned more about Augusten's mother.  For me, she was one of the more intriguing people because of the poised way in which she carried herself.  She was a classy lady that sometimes lapsed into psychotic episodes.  The scariest part was when her episodes reared their ugly head more violently and more often.

Even more interesting than Augusten's mother was the family dynamic between the Finch's.  Agnes and Dr. Finch were the center of the family, but it seemed to be the kids who were essentially in control.  It was a very different experience in reading, that's for certain.

I liked Burroughs' writing style.  It strikes a balance between judgmental and subjective-- he offers up his opinion on the situations he's in and the ones he's not and speaks honestly and bluntly.  It's very nice to read this kind of style, but also very startling at times.

Overall, 'Running With Scissors' is a memoir that has and will continue to intrigue readers everywhere.  It's a very striking and honest memoir.  It should not be read by those who are bothered by sex or swearing.  Because there are quite a few parts like this.

I give 'Running With Scissors':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

Happy Friday (On Saturday)!

Welcome to Friday Memes on Saturday!  TGIF, The Blog Hop, Let's Talk, and Follow Friday are brought to you by Ginger @ GReads, Jennifer @ Crazy for Books, Melissa @ i swim for oceans, and Parajunkee respectfully.  Feel free to follow the links I provide you so that you may link up with all sorts of fine people!  Let's get started.

TGIF

Unexpected Books: Which books did you have reservations about reading, but ended up loving once you did?

I tend to have reservations when it comes to new books that people are just raving about in the social circles outside the internet and on the blogosphere.  Maybe I'm just waiting for a second opinion or I don't particularly like being apart of a gushing crowd before I've read the book.  Wither by Lauren DeStefano was one of those books for me.  I found it at Half-Price Books months after it came out and the hype for it had dropped significantlyand I decided, "Why not?"  So that's when I picked it up and found that I was absolutely enthralled by this story.  This is the most recent title that comes to mind.

The Blog Hop

Who is your go-to author when you're in a reading rut?

I think it's between J.K. Rowling, Gabrielle Zevin, Markus Zusak, and John Green.  It all depends on what kind of mood I'm in at the time.

Let's Talk

Who are your top literary crushes and why?

Hermione Granger: She is such a strong character-- a role model to women everywhere and of all ages.  She knocks down walls that were created for seemingly no reason at all.  She is loyal, very clever, and she has a certain tenacity that I just love.

Augustus Waters: He's so young (well, maybe not quite that young), but already he has this great insight on life because of what he's had to face with his sickness.  He decided that his disease would not stop him from living and being a great human being.  He was a beautiful boyfriend to Hazel.  He tried so hard to be strong for her and her failing lungs and it was very difficult to see him be brought to his knees when his disease returned stronger than ever.  There will never be another character like Augustus Waters.

Follow Friday

What would you do if you were to start your blog again from scratch?

There isn't a lot that I would want to do from the beginning.  I'd like to have had a better idea of what I wanted to do on this blog from the beginning, but I don't even think I'd want to do that because it took some time to decide that yes, I really wanted this blog to be a book blog.  I needed that time to play around with my options and then make the jump and transition this blog from there.  So really, I wouldn't change a thing.

Thank you very much for stopping by!  If you'd like for me to visit your blog, leave your web address below and I'll try my best to make my way over to you this weekend!

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Wonder Singer' by George Rabasa

"For the past few months, Mark Lockwood has been at work on a ghostwriting assignment beyond his dreams.  To prepare her autobiography, he has been interviewing the internationally renowned diva Mercè Casals.  When the Señora dies unexpectedly in her elegant scented bath, she suddenly becomes a hot property and a celebrity biographer arrives to take the project over.  To save his own future, Lockwood steals the tapes, liberates the Señora's aging husband, and sets out to write the Diva's story on the run.

The Wonder Singer is an operatic literary caper about one grandly beautiful life and one young writer's manic attempt to expand his world by capturing it."

It's a very intriguing novel.  For me, this was just about the diva Mercè Casals rather than Mercè Casals and the other characters involved.  I was interested in Lockwood's personal story up until the end when everything started working out and there was no danger any more.

For the first three quarters of Lockwood's story, it was really interesting because he was interviewing this retired opera star when she dies in the classiest and most awkward places ever-- her very own bathtub.  All of a sudden, the diva becomes this hot piece of real estate for ghost writers everywhere, especially for Lockwood, who had begun this process long before her death, and for Lockwood's rival, Mr. Baylor.  Lockwood has to go into hiding in order to write this book around the clock.  That's what I found most exciting about Lockwood's story.  But after the book was finished, it felt like there was no reason for the book to continue.  After the manuscript is submitted, we are left to catch up with Lockwood and his crumbling marriage.  But there is one huge problem that relates to why I had trouble staying interested in Lockwood's story at the end:

The characters weren't nearly developed enough.

Readers don't have nearly enough time to spend with Lockwood, Perla, Claire, Nolan, etc.  We know who they are as far as characterization goes, but it's difficult to tell who they are as people.  What makes them tick?  What would devastate these characters the most?  What shaped them into the characters that we read about in this book?  I couldn't tell you.

My favorite parts were the excerpts of Mercè Casals' biography.  These were absolutely the most developed parts of the book.  I felt that I really knew who this character was.  I knew where she came from and how she became the character I was reading about.  She was the most three dimensional character of them all.

Another thing that I really like is the cover.  It's just so beautiful.  Simple, yes, but beautiful.

I would recommend this book to anyone who does not mind underdeveloped characters and who enjoys music and Spanish culture.  I give 'The Wonder Singer':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'Alive and Well in Prague, New York' by Daphne Grab

"Matisse Osgood is a New York City girl through and through.  She buys her clothes at Andy's Cheapies, watches indie films at the Angelika, and wouldn't be caught dead on a hayride.  But when he father gets sick and Matisse's parents decide to leave Manhattan for a small town in upstate New York, her perfect world crumbles.  As Matisse trudges through life in Prague, she dreams of waking up in her apartment on West 78th Street with a father who's well enough to walk with her in Central Park and a mother who doesn't pretend that everything is okay.  When rumors surround Matisse at school and her father's symptoms worsen, Matisse realizes that the friends she making in Prague are the kind you can count on.  They help Matisse find the strength to reach out to her father, who may not be as far from her as she thought.  And one particular farm boy shows Matisse that country living is a lot more magical than she ever imagined."

The things that I liked about this book can essentially be boiled down to these things:  The name 'Matisse,' Hal, and the cover.  Being a French enthusiast, it was really need to read about Matisse's parent's first meeting and how they came to name their child after a French artist.  That, to me, was really meaningful and adorable.

Hal was one of the only very like-able characters.  He had issues that he needed to work through with his parents, who were not very accepting of his passion for organic farming.  To balance this out, he knew how to handle himself-- he enjoyed meditation and had a very amiable nature to him. He listened to Matisse even when she was being horrible.  In short, while he wasn't a perfect character, he was more well-developed than the other characters in this book.

The cover is beautiful.  Along with the title of the book, I was very drawn in by the simplicity of the photography.  I love simple covers.  I do have to say though, that the model on the cover looks a bit older than sixteen, but looking at the cover from an artistic stand-point, I really do love it.

As I've briefly touched on before, I'm not a fan of the characters.  Most of the students (in this book) who lived in Prague was very stereotypical.  The head cheerleaders was beautiful and an absolute "insert-alternative-word-for-female-dog-here," nothing seemed to make Matisse or Violet happy, Marco was just... he was nice and at times a little goofy, but other than that, there really wasn't a lot to him.  The characters really fell flat for me and that made a lot of the rest of the book fall flat as well.

I didn't really like Matisse's reaction to her father having Parkinson's Disease.  I get that she was having a hard time accepting that this was happening to her father and her family, but between the students at Milo High School, Friends, and everyone else Matisse knew, they acted like he was already dead.  That's the biggest thing that bugged me.  Matisse's father's depression over this diagnosis and dealing with the symptoms was understanding.  Everyone else offered sympathy and acted like he was dead.  It's a debilitating disease, but he's still there, fully capable of functioning in certain ways.  Certainly not the way he used to before, but he can still participate.

Matisse's hate for Prague was really exhausting to read about.  She's was just very ticked off to be there.  Her mind was completely closed to what Prague, New York might offer her that New York, New York couldn't.  Even when some people tried to be nice, she claimed to hate them.  It was horrible.

The ending just got to me.  Matisse said 'sorry' and suddenly everything was better.  She found a neat boyfriend.  Violet was asked out by the guy who had been picking on her since she was four.  Suddenly Hal's problems with his parents were resolved.  The results were kind of explained, but not in a very satisfying way.

As much as I really wanted to like this book, this book was not a favorite at all.  This was a very uplifting read in that everything ends up okay and things end up kind of resolving themselves.  On another note, the was a very exhausting book.  The characters stayed within their own stereotypes (usually the average teenager who isn't really interested in anything), things that should have been big events really fell short of their potential... it just didn't work.

I give 'Alive and Well in Prague, New York':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams

 "Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Together, this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox-- the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens?  Why are we born?  Why do we die?  Why do we spend so much time in between wearing digital watches?  For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars.  And don't forget to bring your towel!"

My only real experience I've had with this book is when I saw the movie and when friends of mine who have read it wanted to tell me all about how awesome it was.  Now I'm only left with only One Question: Why didn't I pick this up sooner?

No, the answer isn't forty-two.

This was a very lucky rummage sale find.  They were selling larger books for $1 and smaller ones, such as this one, for $0.50, so I'm very happy to have found this one and 'The Salmon of Doubt,' as well as an illustrated version of 'The DaVinci Code' for about $3.00 or something like that.

Any way, this is a review!  There were several neat things about this book.  I loved the names; they were quite fitting for each of the characters.  I don't know about the meaning of each name, specifically, but there was something about them that added a certain quirkiness to each character.

What makes up pretty much all of this book is humor.  And what's really neat is that it's in the face of things that should be terribly devastating: almost getting blown up by an automatic deferral system on a dormant planet, the earth exploding, the death of a whale flying through the atmosphere... it was hilarious!  No matter what time of day I decided to read this, I always ended up bursting out laughing about something.  I think part of it was that the book is written in almost a serious voice but everything that's happening is so ridiculous that you can't help but laugh!  This is definitely my kind of humor.

If you're in the market for a really funny yet simultaneously serious (kind of) book, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' may be the book for you!

I give 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

P.S. This is apparently the 500th post I've made.  It's been a wonderful ride :)  Cheers to five hundred more!

A Review of 'Wither' by Lauren DeStefano

"What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every newborn has become a ticking genetic time bomb-- males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty.  In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege.  despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape-- to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom.  Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting the corpses in order to test his experiments.  With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left."

Now that I've finished this book, I don't really know what to say.  I'm speechless.  There were many, many things that I loved about this book and a few things that I have a bone to pick with.  to start, with the good things!

The world was terrifying and, taking everything about this book into account, it was believable.  I was easily drawn in and it was a struggle to put the book down.

The characters had diverse personalities and they interacted with each other in different ways.  Because of this, some of the characters were quite like-able.  Jenna was resilient and her only objective was survival until the inevitable, Cecily was the bouncing and excited bride, Rhine was the nice one who intended to escape.

I thought that it was really neat that Rhine thought of the other two wives as her sisters.  That was just something that was kind of important for me.  I thought that a lot of the book was going to be about the three wives competing for the affections of Linden, but that wasn't the case at all.  It was quite the opposite, actually.

The things that I didn't like were pretty basic parts of the plot.  I spent a lot of the book wondering, "Why would DeStefano choose North America as the only surviving continent?"  I'm probably not as up to date on global affairs as I should be, so the answer could be very obvious, but I'm completely missing it.  I did appreciate that DeStefano seemed to take Global Warming into account.  The weather was very strange in several of the settings and of course, every other country is underwater in this book.

Another thing that bothered me was how little credit Rhine gave Cecily.  She often refers to Cecily as something along the lines of a young, happy, and excitable bride, because she's thirteen/fourteen in this book.  She calls Cecily naive and at times, yes, she is, but Rhine seems to forget that Cecily is growing up in the same world that she is.  She's certainly not stupid and she knows what's going on.  Cecily's character is so complicated because, despite being a brat and not the most liked person in the sprawling mansion, she is forced into so many roles that she gets confused.  She is an orphan, then transformed into a bride, suddenly she's pregnant and she's left out because she's the youngest, then she's a mother who isn't allowed to take care of her own child.  Cecily is contemptible, but I can't bring myself to altogether hate her because she's going through all of this stuff that no girl her age should ever have to go through.  I have to say that I like Cecily more than Rhine because she's such a round and well-developed character whereas Rhine is older and essentially a one-track mind that's set on escape.

Speaking of Rhine wanting to escape, I couldn't help but side with Jenna on this.  Rhine is so set on escaping that it essentially consumes her.  My question is, why would she want to leave when she has so much going for her here in Florida?  I understand that she is worried about her twin, but Rowan seems to be the kind of character that's interested in survival.  Wouldn't you think that he'd leave if he didn't think that Rhine was ever going to come back?  So that leaves me with the same question.  If Rhine went back to Manhattan, she would have to deal with the Gatherers again, she would have to worry about being snatched, she would have to worry about all of the things that go into basic survival.  It seems that, despite being away from her family, the mansion is really better for her.  Housemaster Vaughn (I have more to say about him next) really seems to be the worst thing about the mansion, so why not try and pluck him off rather than getting out and feeling his apparent wrath later?

One thing that I don't really understand is the character of Housemaster Vaughn.  I agree, he's a frightening doctor that is a little out of his mind, but there's something about him that makes him seem like he's just words and no action.  There's no proof that he killed Jenna, though her death at the earlier than early age of nineteen by the virus is suspicious, I'll admit.  There are things that he apparently says and does, but how many times has he actually done anything that we, the readers, know about before the characters do?  We haven't seen anything Rhine hasn't seen and she hasn't directly seen Vaughn do anything.  She saw him feeding his grandchild a bottle, but that's the worst thing he's done.  He's said things that are much worse and he's more like this ever-watching doctor of the house.  He's a character that I will be interested in seeing more development in the coming books.

Rhine's relationship with Gabriel seems rushed and I think DeStefano kind of acknowledges this when Rhine admits that she hasn't had time to know how she feels towards anyone.  I like the idea of Rhine and Gabriel, but despite that, their relationship seems like some conversations and several kisses.  I'll be interested in seeing how this develops as well in the coming books.

Overall, this was a very thought-provoking read with an interesting setting and back story.  I can't wait to see how things turn out in the next two books, which I will for sure be reading.

I give 'Wither':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude