REVIEW | Lost and Found by Nicole Williams

Lost and Found

Nicole Williams

Genre: YA, NA, romance

First published: 2013

Pages: 354

Language: English

Type: e-book

Rating: 4/5

In this novel, we meet eighteen years old Rowen Sterling who is the epitome of a bad girl. She smokes, drinks and sleeps around more than she, according to the opinion of her mother, should. Her dream is to study at an expensive art school, which her mother agreed to pay for under one condition—she is to work at a Willow Spring Ranch in Montana during her summer holidays. And as it always goes in these kinds of books, she meets the literal god sent on Earth, Jesse Walker.

This book is seriously all I could ask for from a romance novel. A troubled girl that meets a perfect boy and it ends in a love that could move the mountains. Excelent content for someone like me. I have to say, though, it was really, really predictable at times. I just knew exactly what was going to happen next, I've seen it all before. Love triangles (even though in this case it was more like a hexagon) and terrible dark secrets from the past, perfectly cliché. And yet, this cliché story made me feel things that I sure didn't sign up for.

Jesse Walker is the typical romance novel boy. Unrealistically perfect in every way. From the way he looks to the way he talks, you just can't help but love every single thing about him from the very first second of his appearance in the story. He doesn't only look absolutely gorgeous, with his blonde hair and big muscles and cowboy hat and white shirt, he also somehow treats everyone with kindness and always seems to have literal rays of sunshine shining out of his butt and always knows the right thing to say. Guys like him are the reason I will die alone surrounded by a pack of angry chihuahuas, because guys like that are setting me unrealistic expectations on mankind. 

Rowen is a great character, too. I mean, in the beginning, I was kind of really not into the way she was behaving, but then I somehow really started understanding the why's of her actions (even though I cannot say I would approve of them). I'm just really glad things worked out the way they did for her in the end.

Other notable characters are definitely Rose, Jesse's mother, who's full of wise words and knows exactly when to let them out (much like her son). Josie, Jesse's ex-girlfriend who gives the city girl a chance and becomes her good friend. And then there's Garth, this dark kid who seems to have no soul. He was actually one of the best character developments I've seen, cliché as it was. I actually kinda liked him the whole time, but he had shown he's not the soulless thing everyone thinks he is, and I loved that about him. Yes, please, let me drown in this kind of cliché. It never really gets old, does it?

So, what I was trying to do by writing this review was to get all of you to read this. Go give it a chance. I'm almost positive you won't regret it. Everyone needs this kind of romance in their lives. I'm definitely going to continue reading the Lost and Found series.

Do you know this book/series? Have you read it? What are your thoughts? Share them with me in the comments!

REVIEW | If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me
Emily Murdoch

Genre: YA
First published: 2013
Pages: 314
Language: English
Type: paperback

Rating: 3/5

In this book, we meet Carey, a fourteen-year-old who had spent a huge amount of her short life living in the woods with her drug addict of a mother. She also had to take care of her little sister for six years, from feeding her to teaching her clock and reading.

Their lives completely change when two strangers arrive at the place they call home and take them away. One of them turns out to be Carey's father, who, as Carey's mother claims, had beaten both her and the little Carey, which ended in the drug-addict bipolar mother taking her daughter away. The girls find themselves in a house with real beds, real food and, most importantly, real family, consiting of Carey's father, his wife and her daughter Delaney.

This book is really powerful. The whole concept is giving me chills because it could as well be a real-life story. Children disappear every single day, most of them are never found, and then there's Carey, who finds enough strength not only to survive, but to take care of another tiny human being as well. The story is absolutely amazing (I mean, if it's even possible to call such a tragic thing amazing), and even though I would have welcomed if there were mentioned more scenes from the girls' lives in the woods, I cannot really complain about the complexity of the story.

Another absolutely great thing are the characters. They're real. Like, real real. Their actions are in a way apt (according to the circumstances) and — even though I'm absolutely not justifying their actions — understandable. There's, for example, Delaney, who at first despises Carey for coming into her life, but is, in fact, a really nice girl who just basically feels like she comes second after her new stepsister — and, undestandably, doesn't like it. In overall, the few characters that appear in the book are well thought through, even though some of them would maybe deserve a bit more of page-time. It's the same like with the woods scenes. The book was kind of too short.

Now, you may be wondering: 'If she praises the book so much, why did she only give it four stars?'

The answer is pretty simple. (I actually considered giving the book three stars, but then I changed my mind.) I had a few issues with it. One of them being the writing style I couldn't somehow click with, even though there wasn't anything remotely bad with it. We just all have writing styles that don't fit us perfectly, and this was the case for me. 

The second thing is, Murdoch somehow managed to confuse me at the beginning about the girls' ages and parents. All I could think of for the first seventy pages — which absolutely distracted me from what I was reading — was 'who the hell is Nessa's father?' because Emily made it clear there were a few years between Carey leaving her father and Nessa being born, but then Carey said something about the three of them sharing DNA, and maybe I'm just not as bright, but it actually did confuse me and I had to read the actual line confirming my theory before I believed it was true. There's a difference between giving readers space for deducation based on facts they're presented and confusing them by not telling them things straight away. (Wow, I sound really bitter, don't I? I'm not, I liked the book, really.)

So. I recommend this book to all of you. It's a really nice read full of wise words, pretty words and much, much more. Have any of you read this book? Are you planning on reading it? What are your thoughts on it? Share them with me in the comments!

REVIEW | Aristotle & Dante by Benjamin Alie Sáenz

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Genre: YA

First published: 2012

Pages: 359

Language: English

Type: paperback

Rating: 5/5

You first saw this book in a new on shelf post. So let's have a closer look at it now!

The story of Ari, an angry fifteen-year-old with brother in prison, who meets Dante, a know-it-all who hates wearing shoes, was an incredible reading experience for me. This coming of age story has it all.

The characters are brilliantly written. They are complex and real. I fell in love with Ari after three words that had come out of hi mouth, and same goes with Dante. I'm still blown away by the emotions it made me feel, and by the beauty of the writing that's so simple yet so able to make you feel things you thought you weren't even able of feeling.

Aristotle. The boy who feels deeply, yet is shut inside himself. The boy who's confused, self-loathing and lonely. The boy who's sweet, big-hearted and loyal. The boy who loves rain. The boy who deserves the world and doesn't know it.

Dante. The know-it-all who looks at the world in his own way. The boy who hates shoes and loves his parents. The boy who makes Ari laugh. The boy who's sweet, lovely and big-hearted. The boy who loves to swim, who's honest and cries about birds. The boy who deserves the world and doesn't know it.

These two boys, Aristotle and Dante, question and discover the secrets of the universe; their identity, sexuality, heritage, and the bond between them that's so strong that it changes their lives. Even though they're completely different in many, many ways, theirs is one of the most sincere and loyal friendship I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. I laughed and cried with them. I adored the little moments they shared, the little laughs and the tears. And Legs the dog.

Apart from my two boys, I also love the way Sáenz gives us such a lovely and precious view of their families. I love how a family is something that's viewed as a really important thing, and I love the relationship the boys have with their parents, who are flawed but loving. They make each other stronger with their love.

I'm stuggling to find the right words to do this book its justice, but it's almost impossible. I cannot put in words how much I loved this book. Please, go and read it.

I cannot wait for the sequel, There Will Be Other Summers! What about you? Have you read it? Do you plan on reading it? What do you think about the boys? And are you excited about the sequel?

REVIEW | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ken Kesey

Genre: novel
First published: 1962
Pages: 281
Language: English
Type: paperback

Rating: 5/5

I first presented this book to you when I made a post about my England book haul, and then you saw it on my blog again in the very first #fridayreads post. And then, of course, in May wrap up. I'm going to talk about this book one more time. Because this book deserves all the attention in the world.

 

This novel is an exceptional portration of the life in a 60's mental hospital. Through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a half-Indian who claims to be deaf-and-dumb, Ken Kesey lets us experience the age of the Beat Generation and the LSD.

Now let me say something about the author of this book, first. He, just like the whole Beat Generation, is a fascinating human being for me. These people with their works are probably the most interesting group of authors for me. Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Carr. (If you haven't, you should definitely watch Kill Your Darlings.) And have you heard of Merry Pranksters? Look it up. I'm known for liking odd authors (have I mentioned my weakness for Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Verlaine?), but these are probably my #1. 

Anyway, let's get to the book finally, I just had to express my love for the others as well.

So, this book. I love Kesey for writing it. From what I know, he just basically got wasted on LSD, with which he volunteered to experiment, and then went talking to patients in mental hospitals, which inspired him to write this novel. He didn't think about the patients as though they were crazy, he saw them as people who hadn't been accepted by the society just because they didn't fit the standards of how they were supposed to act and behave. And that makes him an incredible person in my eyes, sorry not sorry.

The first thing I noticed about this book (if we don't count the amazing Penguin cover) were the little doodles on the pages. I have to confess that before I started reading the book, I skimmed through the pages like five or six times, just to look at them. They're so simple, yet so beautiful. And they perfectly fit the book.

What I loved about this novel is how we really get to see the life in the mental hospital as it was. I know I'm saying this over and over again, but as someone interested in psychiatry, I couldn't get enough of it. The reality of numbing pills and the EST and lobotomy. I loved how Kesey presented the people after the EST and lobotomy to us, how he said the people were different after these, let's say, procedures.

I loved the characters. Real, believable characters, not those "cardboards" we all dislike.  I loved Chief, the flashbacks, the way he narrates the story. I loved Harding, and Cheswick. And, of course, I loved McMurphy. They were all deeply flawed, and deeply human. Except maybe for the head sister Ratched, who was just flawed.

McMurphy is the kind of character that you either absolutely adore or detest. I loved him. He decided to declare himself insane in order to be transferred to the mental hospital. He stands up to the tyrannical Ratched, he basically "sacrifices" himself so the other men in the ward are liberated from the grip of her iron fist. I love that he never let Ratched get to him and break him. I loved that he knew the risk he was taking by behaving the way he did, and he didn't let the nurse win, anyway. He is, in his way, a very tragic character. At least his fate is. He broke my heart.

Anyway, go and read this book. It will stay with me, and I hope it'll stay with you as well.

And if you read this masterpiece, what are your thoughts on it? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Who's your favourite character, and what thing about Ratched do you despise the most? I'd love to talk to you about this book, so feel free to express yourselves.

REVIEW | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Six Other Stories by Francis Scott Fitzgerald

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ans Six Other Stories

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

Genre: a collection short stories

First published: 1920-1932

Pages: 202

Language: English

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Full grown with a long, smoke-coloured beard, requiring the services of a cane and fonder of cigars than warm milk, Benjamin Button is a very curious baby. And, as Benjamin becomes increasingly youthful with the passing years, his family wonders why he persists in the embarrassing folly of living in reverse. In this imaginative fable of ageing and the other tales collected here — including the Cut-Glass Bowl, in which an ill-meant gift haunts a family's misfortunes, The Four Fists, where a man's life is shaped by a series of punches to his face, and the revelry, mobs and anguish of May Day — Francis Scott Fitzgerald displays his unmatched gift as a writer of short stories.

I cannot believe how long I went without reading Fitzgerald. It's been months since I read the Great Gatsby, and I definitely regret not reading anything else by Francis Scott way sooner. I missed his writing so much. I thought about reading his Tender is the Night or The Beautiful and Damned, or This Side of Paradise, which are all on my list of books to buy, but when I came into a bookstore and saw this collection of short stories (which I usually don't really like), it was obvious the book would come home with me.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was entirely not what I expected. I thought it would be the same story as pictured in the film with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Turns out, the film only sticked to the original idea of ageing backwards. I wasn't disappointed at all, though, because Fitzgerald's writing is so beautiful that it made my heart skip a beat even without all the romance and heartbreak we experience in the film adaptation.

Besides Benjamin Button, I enjoyed all the other six stories as well. Some of them a bit more than the others—The Four Fists, 'O Russet Witch!', or May Day were my absolute favourites—but there wasn't a single story that I would consider bad. I won't go in much detail, because I'm awful when it comes to reviewing short stories, I'll just say that every single word Francis had ever written is worth reading. I'd be perfectly fine with reading about what he had for dinner, because he'd be able to put it in such a beautiful way that it would overcome many other writers.

In a nutshell, I loved it, I highly recommend it to everyone, and I need more Fitzgerald in my life.

REVIEW | Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Dragonfly in Amber
Diana Gabaldon

Genre: historical novel
First published: 1992
Pages: 768
Language: English

Rating: /5

Synopsis

For nearly twenty years, Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to the mysteries of Scotland's mist-shrouded Highlands.

Here Claire plans to reveal the truth as shocking as the events that gave it birth:  the secret of an ancient circle of standing stones, the secret of a love that transcends centuries, and the truth of a man named Jamie Fraser - a Highland warrior whose gallantry once drew the young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his.

Claire's spellbinding journey continues through the intrigue-ridden French court and the menace of Jacobite plots, to the Highlands of Scotland, through war and death, in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.

First things first. I'm always trying to write reviews without spoilers. The truth is, I am sorry but I may or may have not just got too much into this, so there may be parts with spoilers in it. You've been warned. (Also, this review is going to be LONG.)

Here. We. Go. I myself am not at all ready for pouring my heart out and going over all the feels the book gave me all over again, but I'll try. I promise, I'll try.

The book was giving me feels before I even opened the package it had arrived to me in. And from that point, it got only worse.

The first thing I saw was the beautiful cover art. I'm sorry, but I just need to tell you how in love I am with that cover. It's so sophisticated and neat and in overall just really sums up the whole story. You can feel the atmosphere of the book from the photo. I don't think it could have been done any better. Caitrione looks hot as hell in the dress, Sam (who would look hot as hell in anything) looks amazing. Murtagh, my favourite, precious Scot, is just great as well. I couldn't wish for more. And have you seen the colour? I mean, come on, it's burgundy. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that.

After opening the book, the first thing that amazed me was how lovely it actually looks. I'm always down for pretty pictures, cute doodles or lovely lettering. And this books has it all.

This review is going to be long for I plan to have my say to each of the seven parts. And I have actually quite a lot to say about them.

First of all, this photo right here, that's what I was talking about. The doodle, the lettering. It looks so magical. Also have I mentioned how much I love Diana's chapter names? I do. More than I love my phone, and I love that one a lot.

But let me get to the story itself. There's a little prologue before the start of Part One, and let me tell you, I already felt like dying after reading that bit. The worst thing is, in Part One, there's no Jamie, at least not in person, and even mentioning him made me realise how much of a Fraser trash I actually am. There are sixty pages completely without Jamie speaking or doing literally anything, and it still made me over-emotional. 

I have to admit, that I was a bit concerned about the different points of view. Then I got used to it, though (and then, in Part Two, it was just the regular ich-form again, thank god). On the other hand, a thing that I really enjoy is Diana's storytelling talent, and I like how, when referring to something that had happened in Book 1, she puts everything in a bit of a context (to make the healing wounds bleed again), so you can never get lost. Not that I would need it, I know the book better than I know myself, but it's nice to remember certain things again, and I'm completely okay with that as long as it serves the purposes of the story.

And since I started talking about Part Two, The Pretenders—or as I like to call it, The Suffering Begins—, let's take a better look at this part. I knew I was screwed after the first sentence—Claire and her referring to Jamie as to a large, warm object made me literally squeal. The worst thing about this part is that James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser appears and begins to talk and to do things. All the #JustFraserThings, such as being adorable, breaking my heart, being awesome, sweetly jealous, extremely chivalric, sassy, stubborn and definitely funny. There were parts where Jamie just casually said something, usually with no intention or effort to be funny, and it just came out being so hilarious that I had to put the book down a laugh. And there were parts where I had to put it down because I was experiencing feels—a lot of them, actually.

Also, this was the time where I randomly opened the book ad may or may have not accidentally spoiled myself.

But let's not just talk about Claire and Jamie for a bit. Let's take a look at the historical background as well. The first book of this series made me really interested in Scotland. Historical Scotland, to be more accurate. It even made me start learning Gaelic (no, it's not going as well as I would like it to). I became really interested in anything Scots-related and the 18th century and the Risings became my favourite time period. I've done a massive research on all clans and their tartans and mottos and flowers and coats of arms and castles. I've done a research about these clans participating or not-participating in the Risings. I've done a bit of a research of medicine of that time. I've read countless myths and tales linked with Scotland. I've done a research on weddings and on zodiac signs. I just became kind of obsessed. And all that just because of one book. I think it's fantastic how many historical facts we get to learn just by reading a book that's also really fun, really heartbreaking and really amazing. I love how everything is described in detail, the medical methods, the life in that time, everything. I'm seriously such a trash.

In the first book, the life in Scotland (mostly) was described. In this book, we get to see the life in France. And while reading, I could almost see myself walking the streets of Paris in 1740's, I could almost smell the sea in Le Havre, it just breathes out of the book. And I can certainly say that I'm really happy Diana's such a good writer and that I have such a good imagination.


Moving on. Part Three, Malchance—or as I call it, The One Where Everyone Comes Back and Claire's Being Unbearable. By the time I started reading this part I thought I had died and was in all the layers of hell at the same time. This part was awful. It was amazing but awful at the same time. Several heart attacks, goosebumps, tears. Sseriously one wild of a ride. An emotional roller-coaster. 

Also—one Scot breaking my heart is awful, but two, Murtagh, that's excessive and you really need to stop. Just be the great man you were in the first book, not bringing suffering into my life. That was an ideal relationship between the two of us.

Part Four, Scandale, otherwise known as The Part Where Everything Goes To Shit And Claire Is Being An Awful Person. I thought, at first, that I would finally have some peace, after the previous Part, since Part Four started off as calm, even funny, I would say. Good job with fooling me, Diana, good job.

This part was bad. Really bad. And not only between Jamie and Claire, that, of course, was awful, but the suffering was brought to me from a different person as well. I'm very fond of Fergus, the little boy Jamie had found in a brothel and brought him home to steal letters for him. And finding out what happened to him was just too much. He's a precious little baby that should be protected at all costs. I mean, come on, he even tries to speak with Scottish accent like his idol Jamie!

But, back to Claire and Jamie. This was a really stressful part for me and more often than not I was simply just mad at Claire. Some people could say that under the circumstances her behaviour was understandable (not in my eyes, though, not in my eyes), but just because someone's behaviour is understandable doesn't mean it's acceptable. And the way she behaved towards Jamie in this part just wasn't acceptable at all. I'm not saying that Jamie is a saint, not at all, he had done stuff that might had hurt Claire as well, but Claire's been hurting Jamie as far as I can remember, and she needs to stop.

Back to my favourite place. To Lallybroch. From the very first mention of this place in book one, I had loved Lallybroch and it's people. Jamies's sister, Jenny, his brother-in-law, Ian, and their kids are everything.

I don't have a particular name for Part Five as I had for the previous ones. The truth is, though, that the title is promising and sounds very hopeful but it actually refers to horrible things. Not only Jamie and Claire are come home.

The truth is, this Part made me feel mostly the positive feels. Jamie was a precious cinnamon roll, talking to Sawny, a wooden snake that his (older, dead) brother had given him. Jamie, talking with Jenny's youngest child all night. Claire and Jenny having a baby-talk. Small Jamie. Left-handed Jamie and right-handed Ian, guarding each other's "weak side". All of it was just so adorable that it made me somehow think that maybe nothing horrible would happen in that Part. I was wrong, as always. Of course, the Rebellion had to happen.

There's, though, one thing that made me really happy with myself. Jamie, talking to Jenny's baby, speaks Gaelic. He only asks her "how are you?", so it's nothing complicated, but if only you knew how satisfied I was with myself that I understood what he said (it's not translated in the book)! Yes, I just had to share that with you.

Anyway, let's take it straight (is that even possible in my case? whatever) to Part Six, The Flames of Rebellion. I call it "Too Much Unnecessary Suffering", and I have a damn good reason for that.

Not only this part includes preparing for battles and the battles themselves, it also includes Jamie's tearing your heart with his feelings. It includes many very unnecessary deaths that were breaking my heart. It includes Claire worrying the hell out of you by wondering what's going on with Jamie. It includes Bonnie Prince Charlie being a dick. It includes lots of weeping for the dead. It includes the MacKenzie brothers and the Randall brothers. It includes Claire being Claire. And Murtagh being the greatest clansman one could ask for. It also includes a chapter named "Damn All Randalls". But most importantly, it just includes Jamie, and that enough is something unbelievable. He's witty and funny in this part, sure, but he's mostly just sad and broken and so chivalric and proud it's heartbreaking.

If I thought the previous parts were those where everything had gone to shit, then I don't know exactly where did this part go, but it wasn't nice. At one point, I couldn't see through the tears.
The last part, Part Seven, was supposed to give me a nice ending, tell me it was all going to be okay and just make me feel a bit better. It wasn't supposed to end with a cliffhanger, leaving me wondering just what exactly had happened, wanting me to read the next book immediately.

I wanted to reach the last page as quickly as possible, but I didn't want the book to end. I didn't want to part with my favourite characters and my favourite places. The feelings this book is giving me are so intense.

I''ve also completely changed my habits of never writing in books. I've, of course, been highlighting quotes for as long as I can remember, but I never actually wrote in books. This book changed it. I just had to make little notes. I'll give you a little example of what I wrote, because I think that's going to show you better what I had been through than I could do with just describing it.

I wrote many notes, some of them being:
• Someone stop him
• You cannot even be mad at him
• Why did I have to imagine that
• Damn, Jamie, back at it again with that chivalry
• James are you serious right now
• Oh my god not this again
• I've imagined Sam doing that and now I'm dead
• What. The. Fuck.
• That's just Claire, casually causing more trouble to Jamie
• ???????
• I love his name.
• Yet another Scot breaking my heart. That makes three. That's unhealthy.
• :) :) :) :)
• This is so sappy and I am dying.
• Jenny what the hell I trusted you
• Bring me some ice for that burn
• Is everyone going to die in this part or what
• Here come the tears

Well, I think I'll leave it at that. You surely have an idea about how much I loved this book and about how much I want to read the next book in the series, Voyager.

REVIEW | Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

Digital Fortress
Dan Brown

Genre: science fiction, techno-thriller

First published: 1998

Pages: 510

Language: English

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

When the National Security Agency's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage - not by guns or bombs, but by a code so complex that if released would cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught it an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

There's one golden rule to reading Brown's books: suspect everyone.

I started the reading on Saturday afternoon and hadn't stopped until I finished the last sentence on Sunday, at 3:20 am, and let me tell you, it was one wild of a ride.

I'm not a technological type. I'd sooner write a fifty-page essay than solve a math problem that kids in the elementary school are able to solve. When it comes to codes, I cannot even do anagrams. But Brown and his amazing writing skill and his talent make the whole issue not only understandable, but also very enjoyable even for people like me who would more likely become a mermaid than an IT expert.

As I was looking at other people's reviews on Goodreads, I couldn't help but think that lots of people forget the book is sci-fi, which means most of the technologies used in the story don't exist. And I think that condemning a book so wonderfully written just because the author made things up is a nonsense.

Yes, the book is wonderfully written. The characters, just like in all of Brown's books I have had the pleasure of coming across, are real and believable. You feel happy for them, you feel sorry for them, you despise them, you're worried about them. As you read the book, these characters matter to you. Susan Fletcher and her incredibly smart and, according to the description, incredibly hot fiancé David Becker. Commander Strathmore and his service and devotion to the NSA. The genius Ensei Tankado who kicks the NSA's ass. All the supporting characters. I really enjoyed all of them.

Brown is marvellous. He makes you laugh at one page and then makes your heart race with anxiety at the other. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he just makes the reader on the edge of their seat with the cliffhanger chapters that just make you want to read one more. That's how I ended up sitting in my bed at three am, eyes burning, dying to finish the last chapter. If that's not a sign of a great book then I don't know what is.

Also the plot twist. I have to say, there were a few things that I predicted or figured out too soon. Sometimes I just knew what was going to happen. At the other hand, there were tens of situations that absolutely blew my mind as I didn't expect them, and made me think that those predictable moments were predictable intentionally (and even if not, it doesn't stop me from loving Brown's work). There's betrayal, no one's who you think they are, no one acts the way that you think they would. But the main plot twist, that was fantastic. Brown makes you think you know what's going on, and then he shows you that you don't. I know I am repeating myself by saying this, but that's just how it is. Fantastic.

I highly recommend this book to all of you, because even if you don't know a thing about computers and programming, Brown brings this topic to the table in a way that just makes you want to read on.

REVIEW | About a Boy by Nick Hornby

About a Boy

Nick Hornby

Genre: novel

First published: 1998

Pages: 307

Language: English

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Will is thirty-six but acts like a teenager. He reads the right magazines, goes to the right clubs and knows which trainers to wear. He's also discovered a great way to score with women - at single parents' groups, full of available mothers, all waiting for Mr Nice. That's where he meets Marcus, the oldest twelve-year-old in the world. Marcus is a bit strange: he listens to Mozart, looks after his mum and he's never even owned a pair of trainers. Perhaps if Will can teach Marcus how to be a kid, Marcus can help Will grow up...

Someone told me once that if you don't enjoy a book while being about 20 pages in, you should put it down and not bother finishing it. If I did exactly that, I would never be able to experience all the feelings this book had to offer. I wasn't really enjoying Marcus and Will's story until I was about 60 pages in, but the good part was worth waiting for. I really enjoyed the book at last.

Will is really such a good character. And I do not mean a good person, I mean a good character. The type of character you despise at first and grow kind of very fond of him during the novel. He's an expert in shutting the life out and not answering the door to it, and only cares about what to do with all of his free time and money since he doesn't have to work because his father once wrote a famous song. He's kind of afraid of commitment and doesn't understand what falling in love is for except for making a wreck out of you. He basically just wants to have fun, and he only ever goes out with women he wants to have sex with. And for some reason, he thinks that making up Ned, a baby he tells single mums he's the father of, is a really good idea. At one of the SPAT!  (Single Parents - Alone Together) meetings he meets Suzie, best friend of Fiona, Marcus' mother. And it's precisely through Suzie that Marcus and Will meet for the first time.

Marcus lives only with his mother, who's simply nuts. She's seriously fucked up and annoying. She forces her beliefs onto her son in arguments that he doesn't have a chance to win, using kind of a psychological abuse (I honestly don't know what else should I call her behaviour). The worst thing is that she actually thinks she makes him think for himself. The truth is, Marcus is annoying and slightly weird as well at the beginning - but with a mother like that, I cannot really blame him, so I'm closing my eyes to that a bit. My heart was breaking for this boy so hard while reading the novel, because his mother is not only crazy and depressed, she's also completely blind to him telling her about being bullied at school.

The day Will and Marcus meet, Fiona tries to overdose and little Marcus finds her covered in her own sick. From that moment on, the whole book is about the developing relationship between these two.  And they're the best thing that has happened to me in a while. Seeing how they go from total strangers, overcome Will's dislike towards kids, and develop this really nice kind of relationship, that's exactly what my little sensitive soul needs to be happy.

The problem with reading a book basically in one sitting is that all the feels come at once. The novel made me laugh, it broke my heart, then it was funny a light again, and then it shattered me completely. It made me laugh out loud. Once I actually had to put the book down and laugh it off properly. It took me about ten minutes to be able to concentrate again without thinking about the funny part. (I won't spoil it but it was seriously that hilarious.) At the other hand, it was breaking my little, fragile heart. It was so real and raw that it made me cry once. I was really pitying Marcus for what he had to go through with his mum, with his classmates, just in overall.

Another thing that I really enjoyed (kind of masochistically), since the book is set in 1993 and 1994, was Hornby's idea to contain Kurt Cobain and his death in the book. It was a perfectly thought idea for the story, since we have a crazy, suicidal mother there. His death somehow gives space to the characters to wonder about life. And with the fact that Kurt is in the book, I have to mention Ellie, a fifteen-year-old who loves Cobain and "befriends" Marcus by accident. I really liked this rebellious girl, she kind of reminded me of myself when I was fifteen. Well done, Nick, you know exactly how to hit the right nail with your hammer, don't you?

I'm just going to say that I really ended up enjoying this book, and that I'm definitely going to check out the film adaptation. If it weren't for the slow start, I would rate About a Boy five stars.