Book Review: I Am the Messenger

Author: Markus Zusak 

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Borzoi Books  

Release date: May 9 2006

Genre: Mystery/suspense

Pages: 360

My rating: 5/5 stars

Stand Alone 

protect the diamonds
survive the clubs
dig deep through the spades
feel the hearts

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

It has to be said, this book has a great first chapter, one that is both exciting and very funny. You enter the story in the middle of a bankrobbery, hence the excitement. The bankrobber however is not that good at being a bankrobber, and Ed, our main character, and his friends are not very good at being bankrobbery victims. They are incapable of shutting up and end up getting almost shot. But in the end Ed is the one with the gun in his hand and saves the day. 

Stopping the bankrobber is the first notable thing Ed has ever done. He describes himself as less than ordinary and I have to agree with him, although it's not a bad thing. In the beginning of the story, Ed is not a hero, not even close. Even his own mother thinks he's worthless. It isn't until he receives a card in the mail and is almost forced to be a hero. This change isn't abrupt but takes place gradually throughout the novel. It is one of the best cases of character development that I have ever seen. 

Ed is also one of my new favorite characters. He is so down to earth and knows exactly who he is and what he's worth. He doesn't pretend to be anything that he isn't. Although he isn't extroadinary in any way he manages to help people by really looking at them and seeing what they need, being extremely selfless when giving them that. Ed is ordinary yet heroic. And if he can be a hero, everyone can. 

I however couldn't bring myself to like Audrey, the girl Ed is hopelessly in love with. Maybe because I was feeling a little protective of Ed and Audrey just wasn't treating him well. Ed even describes it as her killing him slowly. I did however enjoy their friendship and the way they seamlessly knew each other.  

There were also a lot of side characters that you grow to care off in the few pages that Ed interacts with them. Sophie, the Tatupu family and of course the Doorman (although he appears througout the whole novel) were some of my favorites. 

Markus Zusak has a very unique writing style that I just love. It's lyrical but not pretentious at all. He has a great way of describing certain things that makes them so much more powerful. At one point he describes a bright light to be deafening. In a way it doesn't make sense but yet you know what he means and it conveys a feeling more than a observation and that makes it powerful. 

The book is also divided up in a cool way, every chapter is a card. It starts with the ace of diamonds and makes its way through the suits. I know it's just a small thing but it's so creative and it suits the style of the book. 

There were also a few things that I didn't like about this book. Nothing major, but still. After the first chapter and before Ed takes action there was a part where the book couldn't really keep my attention. Luckily this wasn't a problem anymore after that. 

The ending and the resolution seemed to go really quickly compared to the rest of the book. I won't spoil anything but I still don't think I completely understand how and why everything happened. It wasn't bad, it just seemed a little sloppy and I think it could have been done better. But by that point I was so engrossed in the book and the big themes that started to surface that it couldn't ruin my love for this book. 

2014 LGBT Reading Challenge

I know I'm starting this challenge a little late, considering more than half of 2014 has already passed, but I still want to participate in this challenge. First of all because challenges motivate me to read and secondly because I enjoy LGBT books a lot. They're usually a lot more interesting than 'normal' love stories. 

The challenge is to read and review at least 3 LGBT books. I've already read Aristotle and Dante discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and loved it, so a review of that will follow. 

Other books I plan to read are Ask the Passengers by A.S. King and Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. Hopefully I'll also be able to read Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour, but I don't own that yet. (click on images to go to their Goodreads page)

       

Quotes #1

One of my favorite things in this world are quotes. I just love how scribbles form letter, letters form words and words form sentences that can make you feel things. Here I will share some of my favorite quotes. Either from books I've read recently or movies, shows or people.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger:

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz:

"I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand."

"The problem with my life is that it was someone else's idea."

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak:

"If they killed him tonight at least he would die alive."

"I have hated the words and I have loved them and I hope I made them right." 

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher:

"No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people." 

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

Publisher: Quirk

Release date: June 7 2011

Genre: fantasy

Pages: 352

My rating: 4/5 stars

First book in a series

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

First of all, I went into this book with a very different idea of what this book was going to be about. This is my fault because I didn't realize I'd never actually read a summary of the book. I'd heard so much about it, everything about the pictures of course, and thought I knew what to expect. In my mind this book was a creepy, sort of horror book that was set in the past. This resulted in me being a little confused for the first couple of pages because the books starts out in modern Florida. 

Something that has to be said about this book is that the design is beautiful. I own the paperback version and it's such a sturdy book. The paper feels a lot nicer and is less likely to rip than that of most other books I own. The cover fits the book perfectly and gives it the creepy vibes that attracted me to this book in the first place. Then the book is filled with antique pictures that sometimes give you an image of what a character looks like, and sometimes are just plain creepy. 

There's a lot of different characters in this novel. From Jacob's best, and only, friend who has green hair to his snobby mother to a kid who is invisible. Jacob himself comes over like a real person and react to the situations in a way that's reasonable and realistic. My favorite characters were definitely the peculiar children because of how they really acted like children. They asked lots of question when they weren't supposed to and used their abilities in ways that weren't always responsible. Sadly we didn't get to know most of them that well so I hope we'll learn more about them in the sequel.

Although the main focus of this book is definitely on the plot and the setting it did make me think. These kids are in a loop where they repeat the same day over and over again. Jacob has to decide whether or not he wants to stay. It made me think what I would do in his position. Would I be able to handle going through the same day in the same place again and again, even if I would be happy there?

There were two things I didn't really like about the book. The first one isn't that important, but the chapters are huge. There's 352 pages and only 11 chapters. This way I can't be like: "I'll just read one chapter before doing this or that". The other thing that made me feel a little awkward was the beginning romance between Jacob and Emma. Everything is all fine until you remember that Emma used to be the girlfriend of Jacob's grandfather...

I am pretty sure this book classifies as young adult but to me it felt a lot more like a middle grade book. There's nothing wrong with that because there are tons of middle grade books I love, but if you don't like those kind of books these may not be for you. Because apart from some gruesomely described scenes I don't think there's anything in the book that I would say is too mature for younger readers.

All in all I really enjoyed this book and am really curious about what will happen to Jacob and his friends in Hollow City. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars and would definitely recommend it. Even if it's just to find out what everyone's been talking about.

Side note: I found a reference to John Green's papertowns.

"Left at the multiethnic roof Santas!" (page 32)