- Courtney Summers
"Not everything we lost, but good, because it would be so close. So close. We were so close.
But it would never be close enough.
What am I supposed to do, knowing that?" - Taken from the book.
PRC was everything I could hope for in a sequel, it was 58 pages worth of angst and anger and even a few 'aw' worthy moments were thrown in there to mix it up a bit.
This story was told through the eyes of the male protagonist, Rhys, and I gotta say that I really enjoyed the change. It gave the story a fresher outlook and allowed the readers to experience this world through the eyes of someone who has fought so hard to stay alive, not out of obligation or necessity, but simply because to them, giving up wasn't an option. Even when all odds were against him and he was plagued with the heavy burdens of all those left behind, Rhys was still able to hold on to an ounce of hope, and it was that desperate need for survival, that ever present desire to be reacquainted with his last and lost companion, Salone, that had me shouting at my tablet and praying along with him (though admittedly not in Spanish).
Everyone knows that no one really survives a zombie apocalypse, in some way or another, things start to get to you, and you run out of fight. No, there are no survivors in a zombie apocalypse, not really, and there aren't many heroes either, but maybe that's not the point. Maybe the point is to keep on keeping on even when your only option is to jump into frigid rough waters or be turned into things that not even nightmares are made of. Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
Sunday 31 January 2016
Monday 25 January 2016
This is Not A Test
-Courtney Summers
"What do you do when the line between living and dead is blurred? Now seems like the perfect time to give up... When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?" - Taken from the back of the book.
TINA.T was every post-apocalyptic wake-up call, it had tormented and shattered high schoolers, a building with too many windows, and a melancholic M.C. who didn't even have plans to make it through the day much less the end of the world. Yet, despite the fact that Sloan Price was battling with suicidal urges, a runaway sister, an abusive father, and a zombie bloodbath with little more than a few school mates and a once upon a friendship, she carries on. Or at the very least, does what she can.
Even though horror and supernatural are not Summers usual genre choices, you can tell that she was nowhere near out of her element writing this, proving to her readers that "different" doesn't always mean "bad" and in this case, was worthy of a sequel (also something new for Summers).
I'm proud to say that although I was left on the edge of my seat, I was not left disappointed.
Of course, there is always the possibility that I''m being completely biased, so please, read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
"What do you do when the line between living and dead is blurred? Now seems like the perfect time to give up... When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?" - Taken from the back of the book.
TINA.T was every post-apocalyptic wake-up call, it had tormented and shattered high schoolers, a building with too many windows, and a melancholic M.C. who didn't even have plans to make it through the day much less the end of the world. Yet, despite the fact that Sloan Price was battling with suicidal urges, a runaway sister, an abusive father, and a zombie bloodbath with little more than a few school mates and a once upon a friendship, she carries on. Or at the very least, does what she can.
Even though horror and supernatural are not Summers usual genre choices, you can tell that she was nowhere near out of her element writing this, proving to her readers that "different" doesn't always mean "bad" and in this case, was worthy of a sequel (also something new for Summers).
I'm proud to say that although I was left on the edge of my seat, I was not left disappointed.
Of course, there is always the possibility that I''m being completely biased, so please, read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
Monday 18 January 2016
Some Girls Are
-Courtney Summers
"Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend...if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first. Tensions grow and the abuse worsens, as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion..." -Taken from Goodreads
The third book in my winter month of Summers is about a girl apart of the fearsome fivesome (later known as the fearsome foursome). This book is a testament against the notion that girls are made from sugar and spice and everything nice, these girls targeted students, participated in and instigated school-wide freeze outs, they even got physical on numerous counts. Yet, the protagonist thought nothing of it, until of course, the tables were turned and she was the one on outside looking in.
This book allows the reader to see not only what it's like to be bullied, but a glimpse into the minds of the bullies as well. It gives a whole new meaning to the word bystander and personally caused me to think of all of the times that I sat on the sidelines and watched (or laughed along) as someone was being bullied. Though I have learned my lesson on bullying long before picking up this particular book, it definitely gave me a lot to think about. Sitting back and laughing although seems like nothing, is really only fuel for the fire and makes you just as bad or worse than the people doing the bullying, too bad for Regina, she finds this out the hard way and poor Michael was the one who suffered the most.
Bullying is something that many people can relate to or understand, and this read is definitely an anti-bullying campaign like no other.
- Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
"Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend...if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first. Tensions grow and the abuse worsens, as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion..." -Taken from Goodreads
The third book in my winter month of Summers is about a girl apart of the fearsome fivesome (later known as the fearsome foursome). This book is a testament against the notion that girls are made from sugar and spice and everything nice, these girls targeted students, participated in and instigated school-wide freeze outs, they even got physical on numerous counts. Yet, the protagonist thought nothing of it, until of course, the tables were turned and she was the one on outside looking in.
This book allows the reader to see not only what it's like to be bullied, but a glimpse into the minds of the bullies as well. It gives a whole new meaning to the word bystander and personally caused me to think of all of the times that I sat on the sidelines and watched (or laughed along) as someone was being bullied. Though I have learned my lesson on bullying long before picking up this particular book, it definitely gave me a lot to think about. Sitting back and laughing although seems like nothing, is really only fuel for the fire and makes you just as bad or worse than the people doing the bullying, too bad for Regina, she finds this out the hard way and poor Michael was the one who suffered the most.
Bullying is something that many people can relate to or understand, and this read is definitely an anti-bullying campaign like no other.
- Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Cracked Up To Be
-Courtney Summers
"When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?" - taken from GoodReads
Summer's first book deals with a young girl and her turn to substance abuse over the guilt of having witnessed something terrible and having turned a blind eye to it.
I came across this read a few years ago in my public library and I was not disappointed, for the first time, my eyes were opened to the bad things that the world had to offer, not just the monsters that go bump in the night, but the monsters that often live inside our own heads.
I was thrust into a world filled with anxiety and depression and unhealthy coping mechanisms. As readers, we didn't just witness Parker's descent down the rabbit hole, we were a part of it, but more importantly, we were able to be there with her when she slowly began to pull herself out of the ruins.
Like all of Summer's books, this one was left open-ended, it left the readers satisfied, yet wanting more and I'd like to think that with the help of her parents and the new faces in her life Parker was able to move beyond the guilt and shame, that instead of it being a weight tied around her ankles, it is now a ring around her finger. Like the story of Prometheus, her past will always be a part of her and never truly forgotten, but the agony of it all a distant memory that she no longer has to suffer through.
[To all those who are interested; you can follow my very unorganized GoodReads account at DrewJoanne]
- Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
"When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?" - taken from GoodReads
Summer's first book deals with a young girl and her turn to substance abuse over the guilt of having witnessed something terrible and having turned a blind eye to it.
I came across this read a few years ago in my public library and I was not disappointed, for the first time, my eyes were opened to the bad things that the world had to offer, not just the monsters that go bump in the night, but the monsters that often live inside our own heads.
I was thrust into a world filled with anxiety and depression and unhealthy coping mechanisms. As readers, we didn't just witness Parker's descent down the rabbit hole, we were a part of it, but more importantly, we were able to be there with her when she slowly began to pull herself out of the ruins.
Like all of Summer's books, this one was left open-ended, it left the readers satisfied, yet wanting more and I'd like to think that with the help of her parents and the new faces in her life Parker was able to move beyond the guilt and shame, that instead of it being a weight tied around her ankles, it is now a ring around her finger. Like the story of Prometheus, her past will always be a part of her and never truly forgotten, but the agony of it all a distant memory that she no longer has to suffer through.
[To all those who are interested; you can follow my very unorganized GoodReads account at DrewJoanne]
- Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
Thursday 7 January 2016
Fall For Anything
-Courtney Summers
"Now it's like I'm looking for answers to a stranger's death and I couldn't tell anyone why it's so important to me because this stranger didn't do anything for me. He never showed himself to me-- this tortured artist, who hated being here so much, who could find no good in anything. He just left, killed himself, and ruined everything. So why should I care? Why?" -Quote taken from the book.
Maybe I've mentioned this before, maybe I haven't, but either way, I'm mentioning it now. Courtney Summers is a Canadian YA author who gets teen angst like no one else. She gets down to the nitty-gritty bits of being a teenage girl and dealing with uncomfortable issues and heartbreaking situations. She's a genius with words and one of my all time favourite authors. That is why, for the rest of January in celebration of my birthday month, I will write a review of every single one of her books that I have had the pleasure of reading.
Summer's has a gift at making her writing seem poetic without the over the top rhyming and the loss of relatable aspects to her stories. As a reader, you feel the character's erratic heartbeat during the most intense parts of the novels, you hear their heartbreak once everything reaches its eventual crescendo, you smell their fear when life finally catches up.
Fall For Anything is the story of a young girl barely entering high school dealing with her father's suicide and the predatory advances of his young apprentice hiding behind the mask of a "caring stranger".
We are introduced not so much to a coming of age story, but a coming to terms story. We are allowed the honour of traveling with Eddie Reeve through her quest that only results in her developing questions to which there are no answers. We are allowed to be a part of Eddie's realization that sometimes a lack of answers although unsatisfactory is okay, that it is okay to get angry and to grieve. With Eddie, we learn that sometime's all we have in life are, "okay's".
So, my advice to you, dear readers, is to go to your nearest bookstore or get on Amazon and get yourself a copy of one (or all) of her books. Don't believe me? Have a look for yourself, or wait until my other reviews go up. But one thing's for sure, this one definitely has a way with words, and just like all of Summer's previously and currently published work, this book most certainly hit close to home.
Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
* If you're even more curious about Courtney Summers, check out her lovely tumblr.
"Now it's like I'm looking for answers to a stranger's death and I couldn't tell anyone why it's so important to me because this stranger didn't do anything for me. He never showed himself to me-- this tortured artist, who hated being here so much, who could find no good in anything. He just left, killed himself, and ruined everything. So why should I care? Why?" -Quote taken from the book.
Maybe I've mentioned this before, maybe I haven't, but either way, I'm mentioning it now. Courtney Summers is a Canadian YA author who gets teen angst like no one else. She gets down to the nitty-gritty bits of being a teenage girl and dealing with uncomfortable issues and heartbreaking situations. She's a genius with words and one of my all time favourite authors. That is why, for the rest of January in celebration of my birthday month, I will write a review of every single one of her books that I have had the pleasure of reading.
Summer's has a gift at making her writing seem poetic without the over the top rhyming and the loss of relatable aspects to her stories. As a reader, you feel the character's erratic heartbeat during the most intense parts of the novels, you hear their heartbreak once everything reaches its eventual crescendo, you smell their fear when life finally catches up.
Fall For Anything is the story of a young girl barely entering high school dealing with her father's suicide and the predatory advances of his young apprentice hiding behind the mask of a "caring stranger".
We are introduced not so much to a coming of age story, but a coming to terms story. We are allowed the honour of traveling with Eddie Reeve through her quest that only results in her developing questions to which there are no answers. We are allowed to be a part of Eddie's realization that sometimes a lack of answers although unsatisfactory is okay, that it is okay to get angry and to grieve. With Eddie, we learn that sometime's all we have in life are, "okay's".
So, my advice to you, dear readers, is to go to your nearest bookstore or get on Amazon and get yourself a copy of one (or all) of her books. Don't believe me? Have a look for yourself, or wait until my other reviews go up. But one thing's for sure, this one definitely has a way with words, and just like all of Summer's previously and currently published work, this book most certainly hit close to home.
Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.
* If you're even more curious about Courtney Summers, check out her lovely tumblr.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)