Divergent

   I've been really behind reading books almost a year after people have been raving about them.  I mean The Hunger Games I didn't read until about 6 months ago. The Perks of Being a Wallflower I didn't finish until last week.  The Faults in Our Stars I read over the summer, or at least tried to read. And I have NEVER read Harry Potter.  So now to add to my procrastination collection, I am proud to present, Divergent.

   As soon as I read the first line of the book, "There is one mirror in my house," (1) I was immediately confused.  You later find out that she is 16.  Now I don't know about you, but I don't know a single sixteen year old girl who doesn't have AT LEAST 50 mirrors in her house.  You read more to find out that she really doesn’t have anything that would promote "self-indulging" time. 

   She lives in a place that kinda reminds me of The Hunger Games; it too has a controlling society.  This society knows one thing for sure.  The world they live in was a warring one.  Those who blame selfishness go to Abnegation, those who blame aggression formed Amity, those who blamed lying created Candor, those who blame stupidity formed Erudite, and those who blame cowardness go to Dauntless.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Characters

Charlie-A high school student as well as the protagonist of the novel.  Charlie is an extremely smart student as well as a great writer and is looking for friends.  He spends his life examining people and over analyzing them.  He is really nice and wouldn't hurt a fly.  As well as that it has proven very difficult for him to find friends.

Sam- Well, eventually he does find a friend or two.  He ends up falling for Sam, who is older than Charlie.  Sam has a brother, Patrick, who Charlie also makes good friends with.  Over the course of the book Charlie tries to impress Sam.

Patrick- Patrick is probably Charlie's best friend, although there aren't many friends to begin with.  Patrick is known as "nothing" which I had an immediate connection to because my imaginary friend when I was little was named nothing.  He got this nickname when kids at school started calling him Patty and he angrily announced, "'You can call me Patrick or you can call me nothing,'" to which they started calling him nothing.  Patrick is my favourite character in the book because he reminds me a lot of myself.  Charlie describes him as, "rarely unhappy" which is a lot like me as well.

Mary Elizabeth- Charlie and Mary Elizabeth eventually start dating, which I found quite weird.  Personally I did not think they made a good couple because they are polar opposites to one another.  Mary Elizabeth is an american Buddhist and has a belly button ring.  Charlie tries to totally separate himself from reality.  Charlie is extremely unhappy in the relationship and gets so fed up with all the crap that she is trying to do to him that he kisses Sam in front of everyone at a party, making a very messy break up.

Bill- Bill is Charlie's high school English teacher.  He immediately sees all the potential in Charlie and has Charlie do extra work that Charlie enjoys.  They become good friends as well and Charlie considers him as an idol.

The Perks of being a Wallflower First Impressions

    So I just started a new book.  I have heard so many people raving about how good this is, and having recently finished a book, I was ready to pick up The Perks of being a Wallflower. Above is not the cover of the book, but rather the film cover.  The book has recently been made into a movie, so when I finish the book I will for sure get to watching the movie.  Below is a trailer of the movie.

   The first thing I though when I read the title was what exactly a wallflower is.  The dictionary defines it as, "One who does not participate in the activity at a social event because of shyness or unpopularity".  Honestly when I saw the term "wallflower" immediatly I thought of some giant ugly flower.  I mean normally when something has the word "flower" in it, it is a flower. 
   The next thing noticed was in the cover of the book as shown below, there is no picture on the cover.  It is just a blank green book with small white print at the top.  In the corner there is a small picture of legs.  I take this as the authors creative way of showing how he is in social situations, scared and in the corner. 

Thirteen Reasons Why Review

So I just finished Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and it was an amazing book.  For those of you who have not read this, I would highly recommend it.  Although you could predict the ending easily, the writing style was great.  Jay Asher had you at the edge of your seat, wanting you to read more and more.  I would recommend this to a person who likes suspense novels.  Unlike most, this book is mostly in Italics, which I will admit has annoyed me a bit, but it is to be expected.  I would rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars because it was amazing all and all, but you could see the ending from a mile away.

13 Reasons Why Predictions

   

So just as I've thought, I am in love with the book Thirteen Reasons Why  I've actually been enjoying the book, which is rare for me.  At the beginning of the book, Hannah explains that everyone who got this package of tapes has played a part in her suicide.  That is except for one.  Clay, the main person, has not been mentioned in the tape yet, but I believe that it is Clay that is the one who didn't play a part in the suicide.  I think this because Clay doesn't think that he did play a part in it to begin with, and all Clay can recall about Hannah are happy memories.  The only thing that wouldn't make since in that prediction is that I don't understand why Clay would be included in the tapes to begin with.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Alight so I started a new book...don't be to surprised, believe it or not I do read.  Well anyway I, as usual, had no idea what to read so I did a quick search to see what some other people have liked.  Immediately, I fell in love with the idea of this book.  As goodreads says,

"Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers."

I always love these types of books, the type where you can't put it down and you actually WANT to read. I know this is going to sound really creepy, but I really like books that have to do with death.  Now before you judge me, let me explain.  I really like to hear about the author or the main character's view point on death.  There are always those who are Debby Downers and dwell on death and then there are people who see the glass as half-full.  The optimistic opinions are the ones that I really like to focus on.  They all have different ways to focus on the positives, some believe that when one door closes, two more open and others take it in even more unique ways.

The cover of the book too.  Being a girl the first thing I noticed is how pretty her outfit is. I mean I kinda fell in love with her boots. On second thought, the look a bit like high heels and some socks, in which case my love for her outfit go from an love to a moderately like.  But anyway the cover gives off a bit of an eerie feel to it. She's looking straight ahead into the distance, face wiped from emotion.  The swing set too, there's always been something about a play set that's eerie.

Brain on Fire Setting

  Susannah Cahalan wakes up in a strange room.  She is unaware of what is going on.  She is alone, strapped to her bed, under guard, and unable to move or sleep.  Tentatively, she lifts up her arm to find a wrist band that reads, "flight risk".  Along with this she finds her medical records-chronicling from a month long stay of which she cannot remember.  These consist of things such as hallucinations, violence, and dangerous instability.  She remembers a week ago, a promising job, a serious relationship, and the picture of health.
  After this, she goes back a month or so to when all these curious things started happening to her.  First she notices a couple bug bites on her hand which she is sure are bedbugs.  Now, if I found a couple of bug bites, I would probably not take much notice of it, but not Susannah.  She gets her apartment sprayed for bedbugs not once, not twice, but three times.  After this more serious symptoms occur that closely resemble mono, fatigue, nasea, and irratibility.  These slowly evolve into serious symptoms including extreme paranoia, seizures, and violence.
   What will happen next in this thrilling tale?  Willl Susannah ever be diagnosed?  Will Susannah ever be the way she was before?