Still Waters by Ash Parsons

I have a bad habit of choosing books based on their jackets. I know, I know, you can really miss out on some gems by doing that. So, I decided on my most recent trip to the library to check out a book that was missing its jacket. And I did precisely that. Still Waters was the only book by Ash Parsons on the shelf, and its jet black binding and simple white title was nothing special. However, I stayed true to the promise I made myself and picked it up. I started it this morning while laying in bed, being completely blind to what it was about. After reading the first twenty pages or so, I was hooked.

Still Waters is about a high-schooler named Jason, who has a little sister named Janie that he adores and an extremely abusive father he can't wait to get away from. His upbringing has bred a fight-or-flight attitude, so his first instinct when popular-prom-king Michael approaches him with a wad of cash to hang out with him and his friends is to fight. While Jason understands that his reputation is that of a tough guy, he doesn't understand why this crowd wants him to hang around--however, as the plot unravels, things become more and more clear to Jason, and his internal struggle to become more than a victim becomes a struggle to survive and keep his sister, his best friend, and any he loves out of danger's path.

This book is an absolute roller-coaster ride. I was physically tensed the entire time I was reading it, and that doesn't happen often when I'm not reading a horror novel. The plot was so intricate and well-written that I not only didn't have a clue what would happen next, I literally could not find the strength to stop reading until I reached the end, the resolution. Parsons did an excellent job with every bit of dialogue, plot line, and character development in this novel.

Another aspect of Still Waters that I absolutely loved is the character of the nameless abusive father. I think this character could be representative of an evil in families that not only is the father, but the mother, husband, child, etc. that is abusive. The character being a drunk father fit well for Jason and Janie's situation, but readers could interpret this character and Jason's constant struggle to be victorious and lose his "victim" status over this character in their own way, making it an extremely relatable plot for millions of readers.

One thing that a lot of writers seem to struggle with is making their characters relatable/real enough for their audience to identify with and feel for them. I can tell you that throughout this novel, I felt real, emotional pain for several characters, and fear/loathing towards others. I was anxious and emotionally charged throughout this entire novel, and that made the sensory reading experience that I had so much more. Just more.

After reading Still Waters, I broke down and looked up the cover of the jacket. It's not a remarkable cover (or the one I saw wasn't) and didn't really portray anything about the context or content of the plot. However, on the back of the jacket, there are four words that really sum up this entire novel for me, and that is more indicative of how I feel about this book than anything I could ever write above:

Intense. Gritty. Chilling. Powerful.

I recommend Still Waters 10/10.

My Favorites From This Month: November

Hello all! It's time again for "My Favorites From This Month"! It's November, the month of Thanksgiving, and I can tell you, I am very thankful to have read the following books!

1. Emma by Jane Austen: classic literature, coming-of-age, romance
2. Speak Softly, She Can Hear by Pam Lewis: suspense, horror, fiction
3. Oil on Water by Helon Habila: historical fiction, African fiction
4. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams: play, drama
5. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes: horror, fiction
6. Gerald's Game by Stephen King: horror, fiction
7. A World Without You by Beth Revis: fiction, mental illness, loss
8. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery: fiction, coming-of-age, 2nd in "Anne of Green Gables"
9. King Lear by Shakespeare: play, tragedy, family
10. Long Division by Kiese Laymon: African American fiction, coming-of-age

I seriously recommend all of these very strongly. They are all good reads that will really make you think, and will allow you to reflect on your life and be thankful for what you have in this month of thanksgiving. Happy reading!

xoxo

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

So, I've heard A LOT about Cassandra Clare and her "Mortal Instruments" series. However, when browsing at the library, I saw this book, Clockwork Angel, that looked different from the other six books on the shelf. When reading the synopsis, I saw that CA as well as another book called Clockwork Prince were the prequel series to the "Mortal Instruments" series. Personally, I like to read the prequel(s) to series AFTER reading the original series, just because I think it really adds to the reading experience. It gives you new insight to the series you've already read, and I think it's just cool to look back and find reasons and history behind a story.

Anyways, I checked the book out from the library and brought it home to read during my recovery from surgery and over the Thanksgiving break. (Yes, I had surgery. All is well, and I am recovering surrounded by mounds of books! :) ) It took me four hours to finish this 476 page book. Let me tell you, I could NOT put it down. Clare is an exceedingly talented storyteller, and I cannot wait to finish this series as well as the "Mortal Instruments" series.

When beginning this post, I was trying to find the best way to summarize this plot without giving anything away. I couldn't think of one, so I have decided to post the synopsis provided by Clare herself here: When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean from New York to find her brother, her destination is London, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, Nephilim warriors dedicated to keeping the world free from demons, keep order amidst the chaos. Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, the shadowy figure who runs the Club will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own. Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy all Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping the Nephilim save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Sounds interesting, right? Well, it is. My favorite part about this book was the way Clare created a world that, while the idea is not a new one, is unique in its own way. Fantasy young adult novels all tend to have very similar characteristics, whether shown in the characters, settings, or plot points. And while Clockwork Angel does share all these similarities, Clare somehow differentiates this world of Nephilim and mundanes from all others, making it a unique, attention-keeping story that I simply couldn't put down.

The character development Clare uses is also interesting and unique. A lot of times, authors will give characters a shady past in order to not have to make up stories about their past or to divert attention from them. However, Clare uses the pasts of her characters in order to develop them in a way that is both mysterious as well as enlightening. It left me wanting so much more, but not in a bad way. (Really, it functioned to make me want to immediately drive back to the library and pick up the second book.)

While I loved this book, I did find a few flaws that are worth mentioning. There always seem to be background characters in books--it is a common thread that works to flesh out major characters as well as provide substance to a story. However, in my opinion, there really were no minor characters in this novel. It seemed as though every single character was extremely important, and all were given pretty extensive background. This didn't serve to make the book more interesting, but actually became confusing on a couple of occasions, and it didn't add much in the way of fleshing out the story. It became cluttered, distracting, and the fluidity of the story was interrupted.

A second flaw, while not completely ruinous, was the actions of a certain character that didn't really line up with his development in the beginning of the story. It seemed as though Clare was going forward really quickly with a plot line for this character, but towards the end, she wrote in some dialogue/situations that really seemed to contradict his previous development. I think she was attempting to make his past seem shady in the mind of the main character, and to make him seem deeper and more troubled than the main character originally thought he was, but it just served to confuse me.

All in all, Clockwork Angel is a unique, fun, thirst-quenching reading experience for anyone who likes a good, well-written (for the most part) fantasy novel. A few flaws here and there, but overall a really advanced, different version of a story you may or may not have heard before.

I recommend Clockwork Angel 8/10.

NOTE: for a young-adult fantasy, this novel is dark. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under 15/16 or so.. it took some dark turns emotionally, and while that made the book better for me, I feel as if it might confuse or scare younger children/adolescents.

Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi

Memoirs are a favorite of mine, simply because they not only tell the story of an individual, but often tell the story of many individuals. In Levi's memoir Survival in Auschwitz, he tells a chilling tale about his time in this concentration camp, and the moral/psychological/physiological struggles that he and many of the people he met there were facing. He not only gives an account of the way he and others were treated in Auschwitz, but he also gives his readers a look into the mind of someone facing systematic dehumanization, and what it takes to keep what makes you human alive.

Every facet of this book is wonderful. I drank up his words and his anecdotes. His strong spirit, and the spirits of many others, was so evident in every word of this memoir. Many memoirs about the Holocaust and other genocides are heavily focused on the inhuman behavior of the "bad guys", but Levi focused more on the psychological effect that the Nazi's system of dehumanization had on human beings. He connects the problems that the prisoners in concentration camps were facing to broader, common problems that are faced by humans every day; those of relationships, maintaining morality, and keeping up the human side of oneself. It was a new interpretation of the Holocaust that was really insightful. (Note: I am in no way downplaying the inhumanity and horrors of the Holocaust, nor was Levi. That isn't at all what I'm saying!)

I observed while reading this memoir that Levi never disguised the feelings of despair and lost hope that he and other prisoners felt. He never claimed that hope was what got him through his time there; in fact, he wrote often about how there was no hope, and that feeling any kind of hope was a death sentence. This was interesting to me, as I had never heard this perspective before. He claimed that remaining human, resisting the Nazi's efforts to strip them of their humanity, and retaining morality was much, much more important than hope.

A good example of the interesting way in which Levi writes is that he describes using a classic literary passage in order to teach someone Italian. He writes that he was so, so angry with himself when he couldn't remember every word exactly from this passage, because it felt as though this connection to an art form (literature) was a piece of his humanity that he just could not lose. This really touched me, because as you probably already know, literature is near and dear to my heart. This memoir is full of moments like this, and it will bring tears to your eyes as he describes the struggle to remain a human being.

Overall, Survival in Auschwitz gives its readers a very different perspective on the Holocaust. I liked Levi's subtle cuts at the Nazi's dehumanization tactics, his heart-warming anecdotes, and the way he described the relationships he formed in Auschwitz. His spirit shines through, and you can really tell that he wrote this memoir in order to keep the memory of everyone who suffered this atrocity alive. He told the stories of those who were not able to tell their own, and that is a beautiful, incredible, human thing. I highly recommend this memoir to everyone. Not just history buffs, not just lovers-of-memoirs, but everyone.

I recommend Survival in Auschwitz 10/10.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

If you've read any of my previous reviews, you probably came across one about the book "I'll Give You the Sun". After reading it, I fell in love with the quirkiness and brilliance that is Jandy Nelson. She writes in a way that is appealing to both young adults and grown-ups alike. I had previously thought that she had only written the one book. But, to my surprise, this gem is also in her bibliography. As I was browsing in Barnes & Noble, I saw it, and I had to get it. (Yes, HAD to.)

NOTE: I try to read and review books as objectively as possible. Therefore, I will not write this review comparing TSIE to IGYT :)

I'll start with a brief synopsis. "The Sky is Everywhere" is a novel about a girl named Lennie (Lennon) who has lost her sister, Bailey. She is lost without her, and so are her relatives Uncle Big and Gram, whom she lives with. As life without Bailey goes on, Lennie is torn between her grief and two beautiful guys. As the tagline of the book states, "One helps her to remember. One helps her to forget." Lennie discovers things about herself, her mother, her sister, and the rest of her family that she never knew, all in an attempt to celebrate her sister's life in the best way she knows how.

My favorite thing about this book is the subject matter and how it is approached. There are countless novels about grieving and losing someone that you love, but never one (that I've read) that has described it so beautifully. The way Nelson personifies Lennie's grief is so skillfully crafted that you can't help but feel her emotions yourself. (I cried several times.)

Nelson also addresses the idea of a nuclear family, and how one is not always necessary to be "normal" and loved. Gram and Big have their very own personalities and quirks, so not only do you feel close to Lennie, but you also begin to sympathize and feel the things that Gram and Big feel. Not to mention, Bailey is a character that, while not present throughout the novel, is developed so well that even without dialogue or an inner monologue, you feel as though you know what she would say or think at times throughout the novel.

As for negatives in "The Sky is Everywhere", it definitely feels a lot like a young-adult novel. There are some really cheesy, questionable dialogue choices a few times throughout the story, and the teenage characters (besides the main characters) are extremely stereotypical, which got annoying at certain points. There are two characters that lack development, and that I would have really liked to have read more about.

If you're looking for a novel that paints grief from the standpoint of a quirky, lovable teenage girl, then this one's for you. Also, if you live in a home without a nuclear family, or even if your family members are a little "out of their trees" (strange), then this book will be relatable and fun for you.

I recommend "The Sky is Everywhere" 7/10.