Rating

Be careful what you wish for …

With the first few pages, Mason shares with us a crucial chapter in his life. The day the neighbor’s dog bit him, ultimately leaving him with a lifelong scar. The very same day he’s being told some shocking news from his single mother:

“Mason. I know I’ve always told you your father was … gone. But it’s not true. He just can’t be your father right now.” (ARC, p3)

Having said that his mother plays a videotape, revealing a man from the neck down, who’s reading from a children’s book.

And thus begins the story. Taking place 10 years later. Mason, now 15 years old, is a promising student attempting to get a TroDyn scholarship, where he dreams of being able to work in a laboratory, where brains rule, not looks.

“TroDyn Industries was a huge scientific complex [...] Mainly working on sustainability projects, the company supported the town.” (ARC, p9)

Mason drives to his mom’s work place in a nursing home, expecting old, care-dependent people, only to find his mother tends to a group of apparently brain-dead teens. After slipping the DVD (with his father reading from the book) into the player, one of them awakens. A girl. And she tells Mason, she doesn’t want the gardener to find her.

So he runs away. With her.

Soon, people start following them & bit by bit the horrible truth unravels about who the girl is & what TroDyn has to do with it all.

Not all researches are open to the public, but rather happening behind closed doors. Bodeen uses this mysterious air, governments or companies create & explores the “What-ifs” in a gripping, chilling & eerily realistic way, you can’t help but wonder what kind of research & experiments are being conducted without our knowing? And even IF we did know … Would we decide them being for the greater good? Look the other way if someone were done an injustice? Accept it all? Just like that? If that’s the case we might see ourselves in one of them:

(see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) (© Parc Cruz)

For me the, romance part happened too fast. It was given too little substance & thus unbelievable in my eyes. Mason and the girl-without-name were fine enough on their own, individually and although they went through a lot of stuff together and even depended on each other to get closer to the truth, it didn’t convince me of their “romance” or whatever it is you want to call it. Other than that it was easy to like our protagonist. The author’s description of Mason & the girl, definitely made me think of Beauty & the Beast …He was kind, loyal & reliable. I liked the fact that Mason mostly only spoke, if he actually had something to say, unlike some people who tend to fill the quiet with meaningless words, the choices he made were believable as well. He seemed to be the only 3-dimensional character in this short book though, which is too bad.

The writing is smooth, the main character is both real and sympathetic and the futuristic plot elements were unsettling and fascinating. The only other thing I did not like (besides Mason being the only fleshed out character, that is) was the ending or to be more specific: The epilogue. Why is that? Without wanting to give anything away …I just felt the story could’ve done fine without it.

Now, I don’t know about the intention of the author, but I’m guessing the characters weren’t that important anyway, it was more about the plot or rather the topics handled in the book, like immortality, death, beauty, sustainability, evolution, heritage and famine.

The Gardener will teach you a lesson that up-to-date topics needn’t be boring, but can be entertaining & even educational on some levels, although the character development was mediocre at the most. it was nice enough to read. The awesome cover is an added bonus. I noticed that I didn’t look at my watch all too often, which must mean that it was nice enough to read. Go figure!

Rating

New to town, Beatrice is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day. But instead, the alphabet conspires to seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet loner who hasn’t made a new friend since third grade. Something about him, though, gets to Bea, and soon they form an unexpected friendship. It’s not romance, exactly – but it’s definitely love. Still, Bea can’t quite dispel Jonah’s gloom and doom – and as she finds out his family history, she understands why. Can Bea help Jonah? Or is he destined to vanish?

I finished reading the last page.
Closed the book.
Got mad & felt sad. Then got mad for feeling sad.

Bea (Robot Girl) & Jonah (Ghost Boy) both were sweet, quirky (in a good way), innocent & naïve, being the way they were. Weaving stories, giving imaginary places names, meaningless things meaning, making the whole story cozy & colorful. Which is why I wanted to read it in the first place. The book even has a few colored pages (black, pink, blue), which makes it stand out even more than it already does.

I’m mad at Jonah for being so selfish at times. But maybe he needed to, to give himself time to let go? His father definitely was an as*, I’m not sure what he did was forgiveable in any way. Apparently Jonah saw it the same way.

Bea’s mother was awful, calling her OWN daughter a heartless robot, every time Bea didn’t feel or act the same way she did, though she (aka Bea) did a few times remind me of a certain someone … You might know her (or not)

I’m finished writing. And STILL mad. And sad.

Rating

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
Cat wants to win with her project in Fizer’s Special Topics Research Science class badly, because it would mean green light for getting a recommendation for college applications & eventually even winning scholarships. Basically a freet-ticket to reaching her dreams. PROBLEM: Cat’s topic for her 7-month project is about something she’s totally NOT interested in.

Stone age. Neanderthals. Hominids. Homo Erectus.

Cat hates herself. Cat hates her body. But Cat finds an interesting topic for her project to work on. She uses it, to experiment on herself.

And that when I realized: I wanted to be her.
Not her in the sense that I wish I had to fight saber-toothed hyenas just to get a decent meal, but her in looks. I want -and I know this sounds incredibly shallow, but science requires the truth- I wouldn’t mind for once in my life to actually look … good.

Or at least better than I do right now. Maybe even pretty, if that’s possible. When I wake up in the morning, it’s like I’m wearing this giant fat suit, and if only I could find the zipper, I could step out of it and finally go start living my real life.

Turning <Fat Cat> into <Cat>.

CAN MODERN HUMANS BENEFIT FROM RETURNING TO THE EATING &
LIFESTYLE HABITS OF THE EARLY HOMININS?

Proposal: Over the course of seven months (207 days), researcher will act as own test subject & attempt to duplicate as closely as possible the living conditions of early hominins.

She loses pound after pound, even guys begin noticing & asking her out. It works! Cat feels better than ever.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

I thought the book would be fun. So, yes I was I little bit more than surprised at its deepness.

How do we see ourselves?
How do others see ourselves?
What does beauty truly mean?

These & more questions are explored in this book.

Once upon a time, I saw this episode in MTV Made about a filled-out girl wanting to win a model contest. And there was her mentor (?) who told her: “Don’t love yourself fat? Then you won’t love yourself thin either!”

Which I thought -at that time- was a good statement. But THIS book, changed or rather broadened my perspective.

When Cat began losing her pounds. She felt more comfortable in her skin. More confident.
Let me emphasize my point:

(Skin confidence leads to self confidence when you believe in yourself and science, miracles can happen.)

… How truly true! Skin confidence IS self-confidence. Your chin’s raised a little higher. The posture’s a little straighter. You feel it, others see it.

Yup, beauty certainly does boost your confidence. But then again, beauty holds a differents image for everyone. (Or not.)

No wonder people feel demotivated, when seeing all those ads! Letting models pose for those (ads)? Ha. I think not. – That’s just the media trying to MANIPULATE you into thinking: Skinny equals Beautiful, giving teens (& all the others out there) a distorted image, about how people SHOULD look like, deciding what’s to be considered beautiful & what’s not. Never mind those pictures have been altered to perfection to hide potential flaws anyway.

Rating

A mysterious wizard, who calls himself North appears in Sydelle’s home, bringing rain with him, after a long, exhausting 10 years of drought.

Ultimately, Syd’s life is about to change forever, she just doesn’t know it yet.

North whisks her away from her friends & family to work as his assistant.
She’s hurt, she’s angry, but most of all, confused. Maybe being away from her home isn’t so bad after all?

Our redheaded heroine, Sydelle finds out some very astonishing & disturbing things about herself. Also her companion, the wizard seems to hide a few things too? But what? And why did he name her anyway, when asked what price he wanted for the eagerly awaited rain? Hmmm …

NOTE
I don’t care how much people praise this book jacket. I think it’s awful.

A certain something, still remains in the open & is not being concluded, even at the end of the book. Is that a reason to worry? Depends. That way the author left just the right amount of space for a potential sequel.

Anyways. Sequel or not. I’m content, either way.

Although the book was about Sydelle’s & North’s journey, making both of them the leading characters of this story … At times I felt they were just the fictional characters they actually were.

Black on white paper.

Which made me sad. I know for a fact that there are books out there, which make you realize only after the end of the book, you indeed were reading about it, not experiencing it. –That’s what I missed in this book.

But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book, because I did.
Brightly Woven did have me engrossed in it, just not that much I wasn’t able to forget time & space.

Heard about Google TV? No?
It’s Google’s newest invention, bringing together the best of your PC & TV. Basically it’s a software platform where you can search online (without PC) via your very own TV your favourite TV shows, movies, whatever.

Need more info? No problem:

Only problem: –it’s not out yet. DARN.

Yep. It’s been a couple of (stressful) days. Did I actually read nothing at all in all this time? Well … NO, I did read. Only I haven’t gotten around to write reviews yet. I am, to tell the truth –bored, since I wasn’t able to get my hands on books I’ve wanted to read for a long time.

Money, money, where are thou?
Why have you forsaken me?

Anyway. I decided to just order a batch of books & be done with it. It’ll (unfortunately) take a month or so. These are the ordered books. (Yay)

Once again in black & white :

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
By the time you read this, I’ll be dead by Julie Anne Peters
How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
The Line by Terri Hall
Fat Cat by Robin Brande
Go ahead. Ask me. by Nico Medina
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

I guess I’m quite busy twiddling my thumbs now. That’s gonna take a while … Sigh

Rating

Keep Your Head Down.
Don’t Get Noticed.
Or Else.

I’m Trella. I’m a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I’ve got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

Trella: The face of hope & defiance at the same time, she reminded me a lot of Katniss (The Hunger Games). No wonder!

Also Trella & Riley had bits & pieces of Aerin & Dane (Academy 7) in them.

I liked INSIDE OUT, only those two similar books (The Hunger Games, Academy 7), I liked more. Hmph.

Rating

As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another’s only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she’s lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she’s popular, happy, and dating, everything “Jennifer” couldn’t be—but she still can’t shake the memory of her long-lost friend.

When Cameron suddenly reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken.

From the National Book Award nominated author of Story of a Girl, Sweethearts is a story about the power of memory, the bond of friendship, and the quiet resilience of our childhood hearts.

This is a book that pulls at your very heart strings (Ha, always wanted to use this expression!). It was an exhausting & emotionally draining read. I actually only cared what happened to our leading characters, which I assume was more or less intended. The ending was unsatisfying, – BUT it still exceeded any expectation I might have had about it, before I turned the first page.

This is NOT a love story (at least to me), but a story about love.

I feel so depressed, now that I’ve finished it. Unfinished business, that’s what it is. But then again, Jenna/Jennifer already says admits that in one way or another:

In the end, I decide that the mark we’ve left on each other is the color and shape of love. That’s the unfinished business between us.

Because love, love is never finished.

… Argh, this book made me really grumpy! I guess I’ll just go & take a nap! *unhappySigh*

P.S.
SORTA – S P O I L E R START
In my imagination both Cam & Jen finally get to be together even if only years later. Jen said she wasn’t in love with Cam, only loved him. Uh huh.

And in the end? She tells us, she has had a pile of boyfriends by now, though none of them even close to Cam & what they had together as 3rd-graders. That’s got to count for something, right? The book doesn’t necessarily end sad, just … open, which is (as you can clearly read) driving me nuts! For the sake of it all, let me put little quote here:

There’s never enough time to do it right, but there’s always enough time to do it over.
- Jack Bergman

I wish for all Cams & Jens in this world to have their own happy ending! THE END.
SORTA – S P O I L E R END

Rating

A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she’s worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more. In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.

I’m afraid I do not share the same enthusiasm like many of the other readers out there who read this … book. It started okay, but turned out from corny to cornier. *ShakesHead*

Especially the (unnecessary) epilogue had me moaning & groaning in despair & anguish. The book equaled (most of) those cheap-cheesy adult romances out there, only the sex happened between the lines so to speak. Elkeles stripped the book of its remaining dignity!

Why, oh why have you forsaken me?

Rating

When a mandatory course forces Fiona “to try the knot” with super-jock Todd Harding, she’s convinced life couldn’t get any worse. Until her crush is paired with her arch-enemy (otherwise known as Todd’s obscenely hot, slightly sadistic girlfriend). But that’s nothing compared to her best friend’s fate – a year with the very goofy, very big Johnny Mercer.

A serious of hilarious pranks leaves Fiona wondering: Is there something her “best friend” hasn’t told her? Could there be more to Johnny Mercer than an awesome music collection? And most intriguing, could Todd Harding have a heart beneath his pretty-boy exterior?

This book was hi-freaking-larious. I strongly suggest you read this book, a wonderful time is practically guaranteed. Trust me you will not regret picking this book up if you’d like to have a good time and/or are into chick-lit.

The story sucks you in like no other, making you wish you were there to watch all of it happen or there was a movie with similar storyline. Sigh. You really can’t help but smirk & laugh out loud at many of those tastefully scenes with a very witty Fiona & her many pranks! … And all of that while it still manages to be realistic to a certain extend. Consider me impressed. You definitely can relate to particular situations or characters.

I would have liked for the book to be much longer, so as to spend more time with pretty much all of the characters (Ok, actually meaning: Fiona, Johnny, Todd).

Oh, I can’t wait for Walker’s next book.