Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The novel has intrigued me ever since I saw its movie trailer 3 years ago. It still intrigues me to this day, after I've read the whole book!

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Set in the UK, Hailsham is a place where batches of human clones are nurtured by guardians and released into the world upon adulthood to fulfill their birth purpose.

A memoir of Kathy's journey from her early years in Hailsham up to the present.

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I am a good book-review blogger so i'm leaving it like that. I will not take away the experience from you. Also, do not read further. What lies ahead is my personal opinion of the book and it will indeed be lengthy and it will spoil you.

My goodness. Where do I begin?

For starters, I cannot further emphasize how much a controversy this book is. Kazuo is truly, a gutsy novelist (pun intended)! It raped my mind, it questioned my values and morals. It got the philosopher in me to ponder about the book's atmosphere, its reasons of existence. Wow. How dramatically deep of me, right?

Relationship of Kathy and her friends:

We all have a Ruth in our lives or have encountered one. It amazes me how subtle Kazuo is. You wouldn't really brand Ruth the villain in the beginning, not even Kathy did, but her actions we're gradual and deliberate. It's astonishing how much her huge insecurity towards Kathy bounces off the page and how much you develop a massive dislike towards her. Another thing, i'm very certain the author never wrote that Kathy was ever in love with Tommy (in the movie version, it was implied that she was) but how great it is that no implications were needed here? I felt it. It was only natural to be in love with the boy who's been your best friend since the beginning. She never said it but she never really had to. What a shame. I still hate you, Ruth.

Sometimes, it is brave to give up.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

This is my second Marchetta. She never disappoints!

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When Francesca Spinelli's go-getter fight-for-the-right borderline overbearing mother (Mia Spinelli, a communications lecturer at the University of Technology-Sydney) suddenly switches off, she is left with the burden to go on with life without the person who although constantly nags on her is the one running their household.

Having been just transferred to St. Sebastian's (an all boys school that recently just opened their place to Year Eleven girls), Francesca tries her hardest to cope up with the new school environment.

With a few classmates from her old school (St. Stella's) who also enrolled at St. Sebastian's, the story of learning to get along with the opposite sex, rekindled friendships, understanding your family and a little bit of romance unravels.

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I made the review short because I have quite a few things to say.

First off, Melina has an amazing talent to create character after character that all varies but works very well with each other. She already proved that in Jellicoe Road and proved it yet again here in Saving Francesca. It's impressive actually because they all are very complex, they all have stories and reasons why they are the way they are. I'd like to acquire the same talent too.

Although Jellicoe Road was sad and beautiful and intense, this one is lighter and easy to read. I like it very much, it didn't lack substance regardless the nature. This is the only book I've ever come across with, in my five years of reading YA novels, that the heroine's love interest is described as "not attractive". It is certainly a breath of fresh air because this seems to be a book that is being true to the readers. We all know that, in the long-run, it is the personal qualities of a person we are attracted to and not the too-impossible standards of beauty.

Let's all see if Francesca was ever saved in Saving Francesca!

2012 Reviewed Books (book titles)

Last February, I did a showcase of books I've reviewed in 2012 with their respective covers. This time, as a possible future reference, I guess it would be nifty if I gather them all here with their respective links instead.

1. Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott
2. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
3. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
4. Looking for Alaska by John Green
5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
6. North of Everything by Craig-Crist Evans
7. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
8. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
9. The Amanda Project by Amanda Valentino and Melissa Kantor 
10. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
11. Paper Towns by John Green
12. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
13. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
14. Three Men in A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
15. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
16. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
17. The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger
18. The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott
19. Salingkit by Cyan Abad-Jugo
20. Man in the Dark by Paul Auster
21. All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
22. Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
23. Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason
      by Kristine & Joyce Atkinson
24. Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine
25. Claiming Georgia Tate by Gigi Amateau
26. Once was Lost by Sara Zarr
27. The Giver by Lois Lowry
28. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
29. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James
30. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James
31. Diana v. Charles by James Whitaker
32. Killing Britney by Sean Olin
33. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
34. It's Not that Complicated: Bakit hindi pa sasakupin ng mga 
      Alien and daigdig sa 2012 by Eros S. Atalia
35. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
36. Bared to You by Sylvia Day
37. Suck it Up by Brian Meehl
38. Party by Tom Leveen
39. Ligo na U, Lapit na Me by Eros S. Atalia
40. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
41. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
42. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
43. Dare to Love by Jaci Burton
44. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
45. Wifey by Judy Blume
46. Stolen by Lucy Christopher
47. The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life by Tara Altebrando

The Elite by Kiera Cass

And so the sequel to Kiera Cass' The Selection is finally gracing my blog.

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For the next installment of America Singer's battle with dreams, love, lust and palace life... our indecisive protagonist further discovers the past of Ilea. While doing so, she accidentally puts her spot in being the next queen in danger.

Also, her best friend Kriss (a co-candidate in the Selection) exits the competition in a rather unfashionable and barbaric way.

What would happen next? What would be title of the next book? Release date? Would it deliver? Will readers be satisfied?

We must find out!

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I hate America Singer. I hate her but I can't put the story down. I hate her because Cass is building her character up in a not-so-subtle manner and it's annoying. It's borderline trying hard and hypocritical. On the other hand, I can't put the story down because i'm in love with the idea of it; the idea of competition and murky pasts then put a frustrated handsome prince on top of that? I would read it through the end.

America is endlessly being described as the fearless compassionate hero. How would a sane human being believe that when she's being dumb kissing two guys at the same time and still gets to successfully play the innocent card? Oh my goodness, this is Twilight or The Vampire Diaries all over again.

Authors should stop copying the story-line blueprint of vampire novels.

Black Painted Fingernails by Steven Herrick

The cover and title is so interesting. I think a book with nail polish and a pretty girl involved will lure any teenager to read it.

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James Spalding, naturally stereotyped as the responsible live-to-please-my-parents nerd is on his way to the countryside to fulfill his student teacher job. While he fills up the tank of his Mercedes Benz (parents are rich, dad is a surgeon) at a gasoline station, an attractive-looking girl with Black Painted Fingernails comes up to him and successfully imposes receiving a lift.

Though hesitant at first, James began to unravel the murky details of his hitchhiker's life. As they got to know each other on this incredulous journey of trust and instant romance, clarity soon finds them.

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The book has its moments. A little bit cinematic, with quirky little details injected to some scenes, it is undeniably not just trying to tell a story but making readers contemplate as well.

I appreciate the journey. It may not be the best but it's a good book.

Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern

A friend from Vienna (paging Ate Maj) often instagrams Cecelia Ahern books and so I got curious as to why she liked it so much.

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After a 33-year-old woman named Joyce Conway goes through a miscarriage (she lost a lot of blood), she bluntly steers her life around. What she did was, she cut her hair real short, decided to divorce her husband for good and went back to live with her old and forgetful father while she tries to find herself.

Joyce started acquiring memories of Justin Hitchcock.

Justin Hitchcock is a recently divorced man who is giving lectures at a university in Dublin. Though he has a huge phobia of needles, he was successfully coaxed by Dr. Sarah Fields (a co-lecturer and a potential date) to donate blood. He wanted badly to know the very person who benefits from receiving his blood.

When Justin meets Joyce for the first time at the hair salon, there was a very indescribable and strong force that draws her to him.

Through back and forth plane rides from Dublin to London, the story of the illogical pursuit of finding someone you never really knew or met, of finding love, begins.

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You know, I've already read a lot of YA novels who evokes strongly of mature or sensitive content. It just makes me think about this one, a novel whose target audience are of the middle-aged (since the characters are somewhat within that bracket). This book is light, an easy and safe read. How ironic, isn't it?

It was a fine book to pass the time. Although, I was looking for something stark to whisk me away. Still... thanks for the memories Cecelia Ahern!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Well this has been a long-overdue book review. I've been busy with school lately but yes, it's not an excuse because there's always time to read and ergo, to review also.

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In the little town of Henrietta, Virginia is where Blue Sargent and her quirky clairvoyant family lives. Growing up without a father and being the only one in the family without a psychic ability (although she is said to have the special power of intensifying energies around her), Blue battles everyday life with trying "not" to fit in with the world but her family.

Blue has always been warned that her true love will die soon after she kisses him.

Richard "Dick" Campbell Gansey III together with his two best friends Adam Parrish and Ronan Lynch are Aglionby Academy's most adventurous-mystery-addicts. Dick is trying to locate Glendower's (a Welsh king)  remains/whereabouts and wishes to awaken it in exchange of any wish-come-true.

Glendower is said to be located within Henrietta inside its ley line (a pathway of the souls to another place). With that, Dick and his gang bang soon contacts the Sargent's residence to have themselves checked (or asks for help to find the ley line).

And the courageous story of friendship, mystery and maybe love begins!

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A really mindboggling ending. I don't know if I should search the net (I probably will) and see if there are any fortunate beings on this planet who have decoded what it all means.

1. Ronan said he got Chainsaw (pet Raven) in his dreams. How was that possible?

2. Blue and Dick. Are they for real now or what? If they're dating, that would suck, not being able to kiss. Also, how is Adam taking this nugget of fact?

3. And then, what really happened to Adam?!

To each his own and depends on your philosophy.