Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

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Fiquei muito surpresa com o tanto que gostei deste livro. Esse não é o tipo de coisa que prefiro ler, com temas futurísticos, de naves e tudo o mais, mas realmente foi cativante e envolvente. Depois que terminei, tive que sair na rua gritando para todo mundo comprar e ler, de tão bom e impressionante que achei! (Ok, eu forcei meus amigos a me escutarem falando sobre o livro por meia hora, e meio que os ameacei a lê-lo, mas não foi na rua e tals.) Adorei os temas feministas e bem atuais na nossa sociedade. Eu simplesmente amo distopia, e foi por isso que este livro foi direto para a minha estante de favoritos. 

Atualização: Já consegui fazer/forçar duas amigas e a minha mãe lerem Glow/Brilho, e elas amaram. Mais gente precisa ler. ;) É muito mais do que a sinopse descreve.

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16-year-old Kieran was the first child to be born abord the Empyrean (closely followed by Waverly, his probable wife-to-be), and was highly celebrated by a crew that went through so many hardships trying to find a way to cure the fertility problems they started to suffer in their journey to a new planet. That is why everyone assumes he'll be the next Captain. But his chance to prove himself worthy comes way sooner, and in a much more difficult package than he could ever have predicted.

The spaceship New Horizon should have been years ahead of the Empyrean, but for weeks now they have been getting closer and closer. The crew is alight with curiosity, but the Captain seems quite nervous. And with no lack of reason. The New Horizon is preparing to invade his ship and kidnap all the girls. And kill everyone that gets in their way (some of them more than deserved it -especially the MEN-, but it wasn't really the way to settle things, I guess). When it finally happens, all that are left are the boys, along with a handful of seriously injured adults. 

The kidnapping ship is filled with religious fanatics under the control of Reverend Mather, a woman with understandable reasons, but certainly not deserving of pity. Anne Mather is totally cuckoo. She wants the girls in order to harvest their eggs to impregnate the brainwashed women in her ship. Aaaand she wants to keep the 'egg factories' close by. For now, that is. (evil laugh). Until Waverly finds a way to take off with all the girls in search of their own ship. 

When the girls get there they are surprised (and THAT's putting it mildly) to discover that there were no adults in charge, and that the older boys (Kieran and -hottie-though-slightly-crazy- Seth) had fought a LOT for the power, with Kieran 'winning' in the end. Kieran struggled to find a way to keep the morale of many hopeless newly-made orphans in what was starting to look like a sinking (watch out for the pun!) ship, until he finally found a way to bring them together and restore their hope. With, ta-da! RELIGION. O.o

Waverly's head almost blows up (I could totally picture it) when she sees her beloved almost fiancee and last hope on Earth (uh, ship?) slowly becoming her worst nightmare: another Anne Mather. And Kieran is heart-broken when Waverly doesn't automatically 'digs' his newly found power of 'being the vessel of god and carrier of his will' and all that.

The book ends in a way that was sure to give me a few white hairs and now I can't write much more because I REALLY need to get my hands on a couple of Sparks, like pronto.

P.S.: I noticed tons of people did not like this book, but I particularly found it BRILLIANT. The author was just amazing and found a great way of introducing serious matters (rape, excess of male empowerment and female DISempowerment in a enclosed society -inside a freaking ship lost in the middle of space-, along with excessive religious views, power struggle, and sabotage) to young and mature audiences alike. Sure, maybe this wouldn't be perfect for 13 year-olds, but from 14 up it's one hell of a great book. 

Teens need to know there is evil in the world, and it's usually closer than you think. Power figures, people that should protect and take care of you CAN, in fact, turn out to be the enemy. DUH! Watch out, girls. Men aren't always trustworthy and you should learn it as soon as you can. Oh, and old ladies that look all nice and comfy? Well, they can turn out to be crazy religious bitches who will 'surgically' rape to steal your eggs and shoot you if you try to run from them, but she still totally loves you and wants you safe. In her crutches, but safe. O.o Okay, maybe not the second part (you never know, tho), but the first is a fair warning. 

Remember Red Riding Hood? Now imagine the wolf is a member of your family or your neighbor. Keep your eyes open, don't show weaknesses. They might be a predator. Aaaand enough with this, jeez. This was supposed to be a book review, not a speech on rape awareness. But I do ADMIRE Amy a hell of a lot for putting the word out there in a more constructive way than usual.

This book is amazing, don't let the low ratings fool you. Give it a try and let me know. ;)

#FF - Feature and Follow #29

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.
Lovely button by Reading Into Hiding.

Q: Worst cover? What is the worst cover of a book that you’ve read and loved?

The Heart Of Hannen

Christine, a troubled teen with a dark past, is miserable in her small town. Shadowed in shame, she feels destined to live her lonely life as an outcast. She has no idea that her true destiny lies in a different town, in a different world; a most brutal world called Atriia. There she learns the true meaning of misery, the true meaning of loneliness, the true meaning of shame. But she also learns that her bravery is boundless as she battles against a formidable foe, a dark shadow that tries to smother the land. And in the arms of a most unlikely candidate, she also learns the true meaning of love. He is Hannen Fallier, the one they call the foul fraigen dropper, revered by men for his fearless feats, but looked upon by women with open disdain. With a face horribly mauled, he hides behind a mask of shame, deeming himself unworthy of love. That he would seek acceptance from Christine is irony in its purest form. That he would seek her love . . . the ultimate betrayal.

This book is crazy, but very, VERY good. The plot is creative, the characters are complex, the ending is surprising... the cover is unfortunate, though. :) LOL. 

For a first book, it's incredible. It certainly deserves more readers. 

If you're a new follower on GFC or Networked Blogs, please let me know and I will be glad to return the favor. :)

Early Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

by Jesse Andrews 

Expected publication: March 1st 2012 by Abrams, Harry N., Inc

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel.

Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl make her a movie, and Greg must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It’s a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school by a prodigiously talented debut author.

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My Review

The book starts with 17 year-old Greg S. Gaines introducing himself, his school and the chaos caused by the vacuum at the top of said school's hierarchy. 

He explains that once you join a group (Rich, Jock, Smart, Theater, Goth...) you automatically make an enemy of every other group you failed to join. His solution to this issue is to not join any group outright. (because groupless people are simply prey). By doing that, he can, theoretically, be protected and/or accepted by all cliques.

However, this choice may bring many complications, such as having to act as a sort of 'spy', always hiding his presence in one group from the other groups. He also can never really be part of a group, just a peripheral 'participant'. Oh, and he has to be especially careful during all mixed congregations, like lunch or even his classes.

It's Greg's senior year and things are surprisingly not sucking as bad as they usually do. Until he discovers that his childhood jew classmate, Rachel Kushner, has an acute form of leukemia. And their mothers insist that he be especially nice and friendly to her. And, at least in his head, that starts to make his life a nightmare at school.


Things get even worse when Earl, his weird 'best friend' shows their house-made movies to Rachel (which makes her happy and distracted during those horrible chemo sessions) and Greg's childhood crush, beautiful, popular Madison, finds out about his secret hobby. And asks him to make a movie for Rachel. Word quickly travels through school and soon people are calling him 'Spillberg' and telling him how touching what he's doing is and how they also want to be in the movie.... problem is, Greg and Earl have NO idea what the movie should be about. Their plans were hilarious... in very disturbing ways.

This was possibly the weirdest and craziest book I have ever read. There were jokes thrown in  the middle of very serious sentences, there were "scripts" between the narration... and the narrative itself was so very blunt that it was sometimes shocking. But in a good, clever, surprising way.


I absolutely loved the huge scolding Earl gave Greg about him caring so much about what everybody at school thought about him. In Earl's words: 

"You all worried 'bout what they think about you, man, they don't give a fuck. They don't give a fuck if you live or die, you pussy-ass bitch. (...) Rachel is the only one who do give a fuck. She don't have big-ass titties, so you don't fucking care, but that other bitch don't give a shit about you and, and fucking Rachel do, and you don't fucking give a shit cuz you're a dumb little bitch."

Excess swearing and troubled household aside, Earl is a really good person and Greg totally had it coming, if you ask me. That was probably the only thing that was a bit tiring about the book, the endless self-deprecating and feeling sorry for himself... but at least there was some really good character development, so Greg made up for his annoyance. LOL


Me and Earl and the Dying Girl has a very refreshing take on cancer, friendships, growing up and movie-making. Like I said before (and the author himself repeatedly announces), this a  weird book, but everybody should give it a try. Honestly.


If you like eclectic, funny and bittersweet Young Adult books that are also a quick, interesting kind of realist fiction that is different from everything you've ever read before, this is certainly your book.


*I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Thor 2011

Thor (2011)

The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

Director: Kenneth Branagh.

Writers: Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz.

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman

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Kenneth Brannagh had already proven to be a skilled director from his Shakespeare adaptations, but taking one of Marvel's most pompous character and transforming into an epic movie is really remarkable.

Here, Thor (Chris Hemsworth - his hotness needs no comments... *-*), son of the god Odin (Anthony Hopkins) in the Norse mythology, is a very pretentious, reckless and selfish young man. Odin feels that he's getting old and plans on appointing Thor as his heir. As he's about to do so, Frost Giants (from the planet Jotunheim) try to break into the vault where Odin keeps their Casket of Ancient Winters, the source of their power, taken from the Giants in a previous battle. They are killed by The Destroyer (a giant robot controlled by Odin) and even though Odin says he's not gonna do anything about it, Thor convinces his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his friends to go to Jotunheim and defy the Giants. Their little adventure would almost end in tragedy if not for Odin's arrival.

Disappointed and angry at his son, Odin banishes Thor from Asgard and declares that only the person worthy of using the Mjolnir (Thor's hammer - no jokes intended) will be able to retrieve it. Thor lands on Earth where he's rescued by the physicist Jane (poorly played by Natalie Portman), her assistant and her mentor.

Odin gets so heartbroken that he falls into a coma and Loki seizes this opportunity to proclaim himself the new heir. Loki goes to earth and tells Thor that their father died and their mother (Renee Russo) doesn't want him back in Asgard. Thor gets devastated and tries to adjust to life on Earth while Jane falls in love with him. Without his powers, Thor realizes what is like to be vulnerable and ordinary, which helps him improve his character and become more humble and selfless.

As the plot evolves, we find out that Loki is a traitor and sends The Destroyer to devastate the Earth. As Thor sacrifices himself in order to save everyone else he finally becomes worthy of recovering his Mjolnir and manages to finish the Destroyer off. Thor decides to go back to Asgar to stop his brother from destroying Jotunheim. As they fight, Thor hammers the bridge that connects to other worlds so he can save that planet. Loki falls into the outer space, apparently to his death. Thor gets saved by his father hopes to find a way to go back to Earth and be with Jane.

The movie turned out to be a great adaptation of the Marvel comics, with good special effects and soundtrack, and very good performances delivered by Hemsworth, Hopkins and Hiddleston. Still, Portman didn't live up to the lead feminine role and was constantly outshined by Kat Dennings (who plays her assistant Darcy) and her amusing lines.

(Actually, even if you don't like hero movies, action or adventure, the whole thing is worth it just for Chris Hemsworth and his shirtless scenes. :P)

 

Written by:

 Amebugi

Friday Recommends #1 : Jack Knife

Friday Recommends is a meme hosted by Pen To Paper.  This is where we can share a book we would highly recommend. 






The rules for Friday Recommends are:

• Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
• Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
• Pick a book that you've read, and have enjoyed enough to recommend to other readers. It can be a book you've read recently, or a book you read years ago - it's up to you - but make sure you tell us why you love the book (like a mini review). You make the post as long or as short as you like.
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of this post after posting your blog post.
• Put a link back to pen to paper (http://vogue-pentopaper.blogspot.com) somewhere in your post.
• Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My choice is:

Jack Knife

by Virginia Baker

Whitechapel, London, 1888.

For Inspector Jonas Robb, each night brings new terror. But this night is different. It's brought two strangers-David and Sara-who have arrived in London seemingly with no past. What they do have is incredible knowledge about the Whitechapel fiend known as Jack the Ripper. Because David and Sara do have a past. It just happens to be in the future.

Sent back in time, they're in pursuit of a 21st-century madman whose purpose is to change history. As the body count rises, Sara and David realize that their quarry and Robb's have become linked in a way that threatens not only Victorian London, but the very fabric of time.

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This was a great book! I got it at a local bookstore and a day later I found out it was out of print, (O.o) which made me ever happier I bought it in the first place. If you look at the reviews of this title on Goodreads, you'll see that there are all kinds of opinions about it. Some people absolutely hated it, and some, like me, absolutely loved it.

I've always enjoyed time-travel romances, so that was part of the reason I got it. The other was the 'Jack-the-Ripper' part. It really got my attention. *-*

Okay, okay, maybe some things were a bit over the top, like the too-modern gadgets used by the time-travellers from 2007, and maybe the beginning of the book was a bit slow, but it was all worth it afterwards!

The book gets better and better, the characters are very interesting and complex, and the heroine was super strong. I loved her!!! It was very satisfying to see some of the things she told those chauvinistic assholes from the 19th century. LOL.

Also, even though it is fantasy, the author obviously did her homework on the time period, the clothing, locations and the Ripper murders, which made the book even more fluid and pleasant to read.

But, just a small 'spoiler' here, the ending was very unnerving. I get it that the author was trying to be as realistic as possible, but romantically speaking, she broke my heart. >.<

With that out of the way, it is a shame this book is not very well-known. It's almost the same as with The Sterkarm series. They are gems that need to be discovered.

Too bad the author didn't write anything else, either. A waste of talent.

Believe me, it is worth your time. I bought it as a gift to two of my friends already, and they loved it too, so I'm glad I did my job spreading the word about it to them, and now to you. ;)