If I Stay struck me as a ridiculously girly book, but was highly recommended by several people I know. While I was right and it was ridiculously girly...moreIf I Stay struck me as a ridiculously girly book, but was highly recommended by several people I know. While I was right and it was ridiculously girly, it wasn't as bad as I though it would be. It was well written and kept me interested throughout, though I felt guilty about wanting to read on because it was so 'mushy'. If I Stay is mainly what I would classify as a 'girl's daydream book', depicting a perfect girl, with a perfect family, and an absolutely perfect boyfriend. That's the main problem I had. She just was too unrealistic, her problems so rare that she is quite obviously a story book character, seemingly our of Forman's daydream. Not to say that it's bad, just, not my pick of books. Whenever the main character, Mia, has a problem, such as her having a fight with her boyfriend or feeling uncomfortable at her boyfriend's band's show, it is quickly resolved, no harm done, with out a single mark on her life. When she had a fight with Adam (her boyfriend), it's her perfect mom to the rescue. Everything is alright. Mia's character is not very relatable, and in the off chance that there is a relatable part of her life, it only lasts a second. Regardless, I still intend on reading the sequel, Where She Went.(less)
Problems: Hunger - Food has run out; all packaged food was squandered in the beginning of the FAYZ. Gaiaphage - This seems to be the main problem - earl...moreProblems: Hunger - Food has run out; all packaged food was squandered in the beginning of the FAYZ. Gaiaphage - This seems to be the main problem - earlier referenced as 'The Darkness', it is the green glowing evil mass in the mine shaft that the coyotes are lead by. Once it is inside your brain once, it's in it forever. It wants to take over the FAYZ, and constantly nags Caine and Lana (this 'thing' has invaded both of their minds) in the back of their mind, saying that 'its hungry'. Freaks against Normals - Kids without powers have formed a group called the Human Crew (HC) against kids with powers with Zil Sperry as their leader.
Solutions: Hunger - Quinn and Albert came up with the idea of catching fish, which worked fairly well. Gaiaphage - Duck, with his power (the ability to control his density), 'drills' through the crashed mine shaft (previously crashed by Caine, in an attempt to kill the Gaiaphage, which failed) and then drills himself through the Gaiaphage it self. This presumably kills it, and Lana heals everyone affected by the radiation given off by the pure uranium given to the Gaiaphage to feed it. Freaks against Normals - Essentially, this problem was not fixed, because the human crew is still around in the final pages of the book (this will presumably be adressed in the next book, Lies) but Sam has scared them into backing down, as did Orc, be nearly killing Zil, when Zil tried to kill Astrid (Orc has a slight crush on Astrid, which formed when she tutored him in math)(less)
Main Characters: Sam Temple - Good guy who doesn't really want to be in charge, but everyone looks to him because he is able to keep cool through tough...moreMain Characters: Sam Temple - Good guy who doesn't really want to be in charge, but everyone looks to him because he is able to keep cool through tough situations. He has to deal with complaining kids, the threat of Caine and his crew, turning 15, and the general disappearance of parents. His power is that he can shoot laser type beams out of his hand. Astrid Ellison - Sam's love intrest and one of the smartest girls in the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone, or, the bubble thing that the kids are trapped in). She is known as "Astrid the Genius". She is vital to Sam's sanity. Caine Soren - The 'evil' character. He doesn't want to take over the FAYZ to help others, but to have more control and more power than his brother, Sam. They did not know they were brothers until recently, when Caine told Sam that his mother (Connie Temple) decided to keep Sam and not Caine. Caine goes to Coates, a pretentious school for 'troubled' kids, (or mischievous kids). Many kids who go to Coates have powers. Caine has the power of telekinesis. Drake Merwin - Sadistic, pshycotic,etc. He is Drakes head side kick who doesn't want to be a sidekick, but is waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Other Stuff -When kids turn 15, they blink out, but Sam and Caine are able to stay in by refusing temptation. (less)
Plauge, in my opinion, is the best book of the Gone series so far. The characters actually develop and you see the motivations of character's actions....morePlauge, in my opinion, is the best book of the Gone series so far. The characters actually develop and you see the motivations of character's actions. The best improvement in the series that Plauge contributed, though, is insight into what Little Pete is thinking. In all the other books you know what everyone else thinks about him, but not what he actually thinks himself. You see that he isn't really a totally mindless (not in a harsh or cruel way) child because he is autistic, but just that is body doesn't respond the way he wants it to. As a result, he really can't learn anything, so he has a baby-like mentality, perhaps a bit more mature. A big part of Plauge is Sam and Caine finally confronting each other, no violence involved. Neither is quite satisfied because for Caine, he wants to have utter and complete control, and Sam has to hear the ugly truth of who he is, and how others make him out to be. The book is 'resolved' not by a big battle, but by each stating what will happen if the citizens of Perdido beach live under Caine or Sam. With a new citizen found by the lake that Sam found (where citizens would live if they choose to go with Sam, if they choose to go with Caine, they would remain in Perdido beach), Toto, they see if each statement/commitment they make to the citizens is true, since Toto was the power to tell lies from the truth. By the end of the book, the citizens are split 60/40, 60% going to Caine, the rest to Sam, and Astrid no where to be seen. She took off because she dropped Little Pete into these giant human sized mutant human eating cockroaches in an effort to end the FAYZ (since he started it) and get rid of the bugs and the plague of bugs that eat you from the inside out (which worked - getting rid of the mutant cockroach bugs + the plague of human eating bugs, not the FAYZ) and she feels absolutely AWFUL. She is entirely ashamed of herself since Little Pete disappears and she thinks she killed him (the reader knows she didn't, he 'poofed' himself out of the FAYZ and is watching over them, not in a body, but as a ghost type thing. It's very confusing, a supposed 'cliff hanger'. I think that the author just wants you to buy the next book) which is a first for Astrid, because usually she's very high and mighty, but she really 'examines herself and her actions' and questions God and religion in general in the FAYZ which is really interesting (and racy). Most say that there is no God in the FAYZ, and the few that know of Little Pete's tremendous powers believe that he is some sort of FAYZ god, but Astrid believed that God was still with them in the FAYZ for the longest time, but never really though about why. She really thinks about why and how religion could possibly exist, and appears to come to the conclusion that it can't.(Very depressing, even if the reader wasn't religious his/herself, because religion is a major part of Astrid, influencing many of her decisions, like the constitution she wrote, or her decision not to have sex with Sam, and she just dropped it.)(less)
Summmary throughCharacters: Ben - The story starts when his mother has just died in 1977, and he's living with his aunt and uncle, still in Gunflint La...moreSummmary throughCharacters: Ben - The story starts when his mother has just died in 1977, and he's living with his aunt and uncle, still in Gunflint Lake, just 82 steps from his and his mother's old house. He doesn't know of his father, the one time he asked, his mother burst into tears, and having no desire to have that happen, he doesn't ask. When he goes back to his house, he explores his mother's room and finds a locket with a picture of a man. Next, he finds a bookmark with an address in a book with an inscription to his mother, love, Dan. Ben figures that this man must be his father, and decides to call the number on the bookmark. While calling, lightning strikes due to a storm outside and causes Ben to go deaf in that ear, and since he was deaf in his other ear, this makes him deaf completely. After being taken to the hospital, he sneaks out and takes a bus to NYC, where his father is. Jamie - Meets Ben and discovers that he is deaf in the AMNH (American Museum of Natural History) where his (Jamie's) father works. Jamie takes Ben to his secret room in the AMNH and Ben stays there for a couple of days, discovering that find his dad isn't as easy as he thought. When Jamie first met Ben, he was at a bookstore named Kincaid's which appeared to be closed, but really had moved. While Jamie knew this, he didn't want to tell Ben because Ben was his first friend in a very long time. When he does tell Ben, ben rushes over, but not without yelling at Jamie first. Rose - Her story starts out in New Jersey in 1927, living with her father. She is deaf and runs away to NYC where she gets lost in the AMNH and her brother, who works their, finds her. Fast forward to 1977, she has become old, and is in Kincaid's, which was started and is run by her brother, and Ben comes in. She recognizes him because she has met him once before, when he was four, and because they are family. She is speaking in sign language with her brother. She and Ben eventually leave the store and go to the Queens Museum of Art, specifically to the Panorama. She explains to Ben about how his father was her son (Dan), which makes her Ben's grandmother, and how Dan has gone to Gunflint Lake for work and fell in love with Ben's mother. Ben's mother couldn't go to New York, and Dan couldn't stay in Gunflint Lake, so they parted. Later, because Dan had a heart condition, he died when Ben was four, without ever knowing about him (the funeral is where Rose met Ben). (less)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - retold through events(but not in order): Charlie is a socially awkward boy who's friend, Michael died before the stor...moreThe Perks of Being a Wallflower - retold through events(but not in order): Charlie is a socially awkward boy who's friend, Michael died before the story begins. He is writing to an anonymous friend which the reader never meets about what happens in his life. He starts out bu making friends with two seniors, Sam and Patrick, and with them gets into drugs, parties, and alcohol. Throughout the story, Charlie learns what being a friend versus being a doormat is. At one point, he lets Patrick kiss him because Patrick was confused and had no idea what to do. While Charlie thought he was being a good friend, he was really just making matters worse. He also, when asked in a game of truth or dare, kissed who he thought was the prettiest girl in the room - Sam. This wouldn't have been a problem if his girlfriend hadn't been in the room at the same time. He was, in a way, disconnected from the world, like a bystander, or a witness to life. Being with Sam and Patrick helps him connect with life, so after Sam moves away to college, because of them he can get on with life, and live like a normal teen - well, as well as he could. (less)
*GIAGANTIC SPOILERS BELOW* The Invention of Hugo Cabaret retold through characters: Hugo Cabaret - A young orphan abandoned by his uncle, forced to stea...more*GIAGANTIC SPOILERS BELOW* The Invention of Hugo Cabaret retold through characters: Hugo Cabaret - A young orphan abandoned by his uncle, forced to steal to eat. He resets set all the clocks in the Paris station every morning (this takes place in around 1937, so the clocks have to be rewound everyday) and uses whatever time he has left to fix a mysterious machine that his father had been working on before he died (in a fire in the museum that he worked at). His family was a mechanical family, so Hugo was very good with his hands. This made fixing the machine (which you later find out is an automaton) second nature, but his lack of income made it much more difficult.
Toymaker - Hugo steals from the toy shop by his 'apartment' (a one room area with a bed, the automaton, and his and his father's drawings) to get gears to fix the automaton, but the toymaker (who hates when people drag their heels - that becomes slightly important later) catches him. He then ends up working in the toy shop, fixing toys to pay the toymaker back.
Myra - The toymaker's granddaughter. When Hugo finally gets the automaton working, he discovers that he needs a key to get it working - a key that the granddaughter of the toymaker has. Together they turn the key and the automaton draws a mysterious picture. They wind up at Myra's grandparent's house where they finally discover that Myra's grandfather - the toymaker, used to be a film maker. When WWI came around, he had to give up film making and donate his film rolls to the army, which they would use to make shoe heels (this is why he hated when people dragged their heels - he hated to think that those heels could be his work. I told you the heel dragging would be important). (less)
Running with Scissors told through theme: A theme displayed in Running with Scissors is dealing with what life hands you. Through every thing Augusten...moreRunning with Scissors told through theme: A theme displayed in Running with Scissors is dealing with what life hands you. Through every thing Augusten went through, somehow, he managed to make it out alive, get his life together, and take advantage of his crazy life by writing a book about it. Getting adopted by Dr. Finch would drive most to the brink of insanity, which it may have done for Augusten. They broke down ceilings, left Christmas trees out until May, he had a relationship with a 30 some-odd year old man, and got out alive. His mother was clinically depressed, among other mental disorders (possibly even insane), insisted that Augusten called her by her name, Deirdre, and not Mom, and may have been raped by Dr. Finch, and like I said before, made it out alive. He turned situations that were nuts into stories that, to many, are enjoyable to read, and all because he chose to make the best out of his hectic life.(less)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children told through Events: Jacob is a boy with a grandfather who told him wild stories about his childhood and hi...moreMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children told through Events: Jacob is a boy with a grandfather who told him wild stories about his childhood and his friends throughout Jacob's childhood that he believed, that is, until he grew to be 8, and he grew skeptical, then 9, 10, 11, and so on. By the time he was 15 he didn't believe them at all. Then, things changed - his grandfather was mauled and killed by a terrible creature, one that only came from those crazy stories Jacob used to be told. His last words to Jacob were about those stories, sending him on a chase to help his old friends. Jacob travels across the globe to a small damp town where his grandfather had lived and finds a passage way back in time. Jacob discovers that his grandfather and his grandfather's friends had 'powers' and lived in a home. They were taken care of by Miss Peregrine, another women with 'powers' that could bend time. All of his friends stayed young as long as they were in the time loop, but their were monsters after them. Monsters that wanted their powers for themselves. Normally, these monsters couldn't be seen, but that was Jacob's power. He could see them, and it became his job to protect his grandfather's friends, which became, through the story, his friends.(less)
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