Wednesday 30 November 2016

All the Light We Cannot See Book Talk

All the Light We Cannot See
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
Release Date: May 6th 2014

Spoilers

Synopsis:



From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.


In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. It was beautiful and tragic. It reminded me why I don't read a lot of fiction. Just plain old fiction, no fantasy or sugar coated romance. Just plain old undistorted reality. It wasn't because it was bad, not at all, it was just too real at times. It makes me really sad. I was completely shell shocked at times.




I was constantly worried about the characters, it didn't even get too bad until nearing the end. My jaw hit the floor when the book went into Jutta's perspective. She was just with her foster mother and sisters, then all of a sudden they are being invaded by Russians. Pretty much up until this point, things didn't seem to be going as terribly as you would think during a war, but then this group of girls got raped by these three Russian soldiers. These girls were nothing more than a commodity to the soldiers. Because they were on the other side of the war, these girls were treated less than human.




I was happy for Jutta at the end of the book. Despite having this terrible thing happen to her she managed to move forward. She became a teacher, got married to a man she loves, and who loves her. They had a happy life together, even having a son. 




I was so fascinated by the connection that the leads had. They only spent a day together in their entire lives, and yet it felt like they had known each other a lifetime. I thought that they would have more time together, or at least have something more than what they got. In the end, the little time they had together, I found worth it.




I didn't have time to get to upset about Werner's death. It just happened too quick for me to even react right away. After I finished the book it hit me, but for some reason I didn't cry at all. I was just filled with a feeling of foreboding and there was nothing to ease my fears because it's a stand alone.




I was happy, however, that Marie-Laure made it through the war and made a life for herself in America. She surrounded herself with people she loved and didn't let the bad things from the past keep her from moving onward.




The plot was exciting to say the least. My favourite part was the story of the tale of the Sea of Flames stone. It was the little bit of fairy tale in the cold harsh reality of life. It was this little thing that tied in so well to the plot. Something worth fighting for. It gave that little extra kick to it, Werner risked his life to bring it back to Marie-Laure, it went to his sister, who after all these years, went out of her way to find Marie-Laure. It was the catalyst to the whole plot.




Quotes:



“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”

“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest. Of course we do. Name me a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are.” 

“All your life you wait, and then it finally comes, and are you ready?” 

“When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?” 


“What do we call visible light? We call it color. But the electromagnetic spectrum runs to zero in one direction and infinity in the other, so really, children, mathematically, all of light is invisible.” 

Friday 25 November 2016

Pixar Book Tag

So I really wanted to post something, and then I thought, "I love Pixar movies, I should so a Pixar Book Tag." So I looked it up and, alas, we are here. The original post is from Chasing Faerytales, I will link the original post here.


This is a really hard question because I love Pixar movies so much. If I had to choose, it would probably be the Incredibles. Just because I still watch that movie every weekend on the dot. It helps me get my chores done. I love it to pieces.



Okay, Harry Potter is the obvious answer and because of that I am not going to choose it. Just for refreshment. So I will have to go with Inkheart. I still think about that book fondly, I mean, who wouldn't want their books to come alive. I would always read books if I could pull characters out. There are many people I would love to put into books too.



I know that it is pretty different, but Divergent just reminds me too much of the Hunger Games. People in a competition, trying to beat the others out to survive. They each live in their own little sections.



I have got a list of villains that I love, but I guess to appease the question, I'm going to have to go with Sebastian Morgenstern from the Mortal Instruments series. I loved him till the moment he died. He was just such a great character, way better than Valentine.


I guess the refreshment is over because I'm going with an old favourite of mine, I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. I recommend this book to everyone who asks for book recommendations. I just think everyone should read it. The family in this book starts out broken. The two main characters are twins who don't even talk anymore. They don't even really talk to their father and their mother is dead. By the end of the book they are just in such a good place. They talk and have fun and enjoy being around each other again. It makes me so happy reading it.


This one is really hard. There are so many good books with super cool powers. I'm going to have to go with Nix from the Immortals After Dark series. She is my favourite character and she hasn't even had her own book yet. She's a soothsayer and has all kinds of other little tricks up her sleeve. So cool.



I couldn't think of one at first and then it hit me. The Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead. So they didn't really go anywhere interesting, but there were lots of car chases and drama, so that makes up for the sucky scenery.


I don't like the term sidekick. I'm going to go with best friend instead. My favourite friend has to be Kenji from Shatter Me. He's the one best friend that I have never even for a moment disliked. Okay that may be a bit of a stretch, but of the best friends I can think of right now, he is the best option. Love him.


I don't like that many dystopians, but I do really love some. For this I'm gonna have to go with the OG. The Hunger Games. Books one and two, not Mockingjay. Mockingjay can go choke.



Most beautiful romance I've ever read. My god this one has a lot of pressure on it. I'm going to go with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. There is just something so timeless about it. Even at a young age I devoured this book despite it being huge. I resonated with the characters. Neither of the leads are really attractive, they relied on their personalities. They fell in love with each other and not their looks.

(Tessa and Will from The Infernal Devices was a close second. Wessa <3)


Now, there are so many strong brave main characters out there. All of my favourite characters are badasses in their own right. For this one I'm going to have to go with Hermione Granger. I know I said I wasn't going to use Harry Potter in this, but Hermione. Hermione showed us that you can still have feminine traits and be badass. She is the brightest witch of her age. She punched Draco in the face. Seconds before that she had him at wand point and he was quaking in fear. Hermione is scary and I respect the hell out of her.


A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. There were times when I actually had to stop reading so I could try to absorb the book into my soul by crushing it against my chest. it was really weird, so let's not talk about this again.



I hope you guys enjoyed that. Feel free to do it, you're all tagged.

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Top 5 Books I Want to Reread

It was kind of hard because I have a lot of books I want to reread. I just stuck with my more obvious ones though. Made it easier.

5. Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater



I love this book and it's been a long time. It's time for a reread.

4. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell



I've been meaning to reread this for several months now, I just recently started it again. It's better than I remember.

3. Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton



I didn't particularly like this book when I first read it, I gave it 3 stars. I think that if I reread it I ould actually like it more than I did then so I really want to do that.

2. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson



This is always the book I recommend to everyone when they want to read something. It's my favourite book, besides Harry Potter. It's been too long since I've read a Jandy Nelson book and I'm having a withdrawal.

1. The Harry Potter Series



I feel like this was just a given. This one is a bit more complex than the others not his list because I'm not doing them all straight away, I actually have to wait because I want to reread them as the illustrated editions when they come out. So I only get one a year. Le Sigh.

Thank you for reading this! I'll have a review up soon! Promise.

Tuesday 22 November 2016

Top 10 Animals

I'm sorry I haven't posted one of these in a few weeks, I was feeling rather uninspired. Thanks for being patient!

By animals I mean pets. Not shape shifters. There will be none of those on this list.

10. Buddy from Practical Magic



He was significant in that he kept Gillian from leaving Ben. He was the whole reason they worked things out. He was also really cute and loved Gillian.

9. Fleetfoot from Throne of Glass



I have a soft spot for dogs. I have an even softer spot for animals that are important to the main character in a story.

8. Blackjack from Percy Jackson



He's a pegasus! A fricken pegasus!

7. Buckbeak from Harry Potter



Hagrid loved Buckbeak so much, it was adorable.

6. Ghost from A Song of Ice and Fire



Iconic. Ghost happens to be the only living Dire wolf in the series (We don't know what happened to Arya's) He isn't he most important character, but he is the only constant in Jon Snow's life.

5. Havoc from The Iron Trial



Havoc is a symbol. Not all the chaos ridden beings are bad. He is also really important int eh main characters life. Also, really cute.

4. Bertil from Immortals After Dark



I don't even know where to start with this one. Bertil seems to be the only thing keeping Nix from going completely off her rockers. So he is really important.

3. Church and Chairman Meow from the Shadowhunter Chronicles



I couldn't choose one without the other, so here they are.

2. Chainsaw from The Raven Boys



When Chainsaw was first introduced, I got such a laugh out of her name. This little cute baby raven named Chainsaw. All I could think of in that moment was that scene from The Good Dinosaur. You either get that or you don't. I think Chainsaw's name was pretty significant. It gave us some intel on Ronan's personality. It helped us get to know him a bit better. He named this cute little fuzzy raven Chainsaw.

1. Hedwig from Harry Potter



Hedwig was there on day one. Reading Harry Potter wouldn't have been the same without Hedwig. She was a minor character, but that didn't matter because she was a huge part of the main characters life. When she died I cried. They were honest tears, not because I felt bad for Harry having his pet taken from him, but because she meant a lot to me too.

Sunday 20 November 2016

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2)
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor
by Rick Riordan

Release Date: October 4th 2016

Spoilers


Synopsis:



Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon--the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki--and the price he wants is very high.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 4 stars. I really liked it. It was a good book. I took away a star because I didn't love it, that may be because of my reading mood. I may have to go through and read it again and I'll probably enjoy it a lot more. I just wasn't in much of a mood for it.




I loved Alex. Alex has won my heart in just one book. Alex is a very complex character. Alex is gender fluid, which is why I am doing my very best to avoid pronouns. Alex is just so badass and snarky. I love his/her personality. I don't know about anyone else, but I ship Alex and Magnus. I think they would make a fantastic couple. Being snarky and sarcastic together. It would be magical.




I was honestly so mad that Magnus cut his hair! HE CUT HIS KURT COBAIN HAIR!!! I love Kurt Cobain and I loved the fact that Magnus looks like him. This was just a random small detail that my mind latched onto when reading. It's a bit stupid, but I was upset.




It was mentioned a couple times in the book that gods really like the Chase family. I find that really interesting, I hope it goes into more detail on that in the next book. I want to know why the Chase family specifically is so special. 




As always Rick's humour shone threw. If I've ever read a Rick Riordan book and disliked the plot, the humour has always saved it. I don't know why I used that example because I've never disliked one of his books before. Theoretically though, if he were ever to write a book where I wasn't too impressed with the plot, I wouldn't even care because his books are always so funny. My favourite part of this book was the chapter titles. They were funny, yet still conveyed what would happen in the chapter.




One thing I wish we would have gotten more of is when they have those cool fights in the hotel. They team up and fight amongst themselves. We got one scene in the first book, I loved that, but I want another one!




Hearth is so cute. He has become one of my favourite characters. Absolutely adorable. I was just so mad about the way his father treated him. He just kept calling him and embarrassment and blaming everything bad on him.




The whole thing with Loki was madness. Utter madness. I have grown to hate Loki, which after seeing the Thor movies, I didn't think would ever happen. I just thought that the part with Loki's wife was so creepy. The whole thing with Loki was creepy. He was trying to sell his daughter to Thrym, making this creepy situation even creepier. 




Knowing Rick's past works, this is really nothing int he chaos department. Which means, the next book is going to be the end of the world. Also, Percy is finally going to be in the series! So excited.




Thankfully the next book doesn't come out till November 2017, and I have a long time to finish the Heroes of Olympus series, because for some reason I still haven't gotten around to the last two books. Shame on me.




Quotes:


“Sam's phone buzzed. She fished it out of her pocket, checked the screen, and cursed. "I have to go.""You just got here.""Valkyrie business. Possible code three-eight-one: heroic death in progress.""You're making that up.""I'm not.""So...what, somebody thinks they're about to die and they text you 'Going down! Need Valkyrie ASAP!' followed by a bunch of sad-face emojis?” 

“Look, some people prefer they,’ Alex said. ‘They’re non-binary or mid-spectrum or whatever. If they want you to use they, then that’s what you should do. But for me, personally, I don’t want to use the same pronouns all the time, because that’s not me. I change a lot. That’s sort of the point. When I’m she, I’m she. When I’m he, I’m he. I’m not they. Get it?’‘If I say no, will you hurt me?’‘No.’‘Then no, not really.’She shrugged. ‘You don’t have to get it. Just, you know, a little respect.’‘For the girl with the very sharp wire? No problem.’She must have liked that answer. There was nothing confusing about the smile she gave me. It warmed the office about five degrees.” 

“At this point, most people would have thrown themselves down on the ground and given up hope. And by most people, I mean me.” 

“I turned to Alex. 'Hey, are you female today?''Hold on... There! Now I'm female.'My expression must have been priceless.Alex burst out laughing. 'I'm kidding. Yes, I'm female today. She and her.”