Kindred Spirits - Rainbow Rowell

RATING: ★★★★★

Publication Date: February 25, 2016
Publisher: MacMillans Kids UK
Genre: YA
Pages: 96 pages

Today is World Book Day and in honour of this special day, several authors wrote novellas that are only £1! A full list of the participating books can be found here, and this is my review of one of these books: Rainbow Rowell's Kindred Spirits. As mentioned in my previous post, I received this novella from Macmillan press, but this in no way influences my review.

So unless you've never been on my blog, Twitter or Tumblr, you are probably aware of the profound love I have for Rainbow Rowell books. I love her YA books like Fangirl and Eleanor and Park, but also really enjoy her books for an adult audience, especially Attachments. Kindred Spirits is a YA book again and delivers everything you want out of a Rainbow book: it's funny, endearing, surprising and most important of all, it makes you feel all warm inside, even on rainy March day.

Elena is a Star Wars fan through and through and when the new movie is released, she can't way to join the queue early and surrender herself to the "line experience". However, when she gets there four days before the release, there are only two other people in line, Troy and Gabe, and the cold Omaha winter quickly ruins her joy. However, Elena is not one to give up and is determined to stay in the line until the midnight screening. The 60ish page novella chronicles her adventures in the line and why Star Wars is so important to all three characters in the line.

As I said, I loved this book. Elena is an amazing narrator who is determined and doesn't take any shit from anyone in the line (hello epic rant about guys always judging girls who like something nerdy). It's easy to get into Elena's head and to understand why she wants to stay in the line and I guarantee you'll be rooting for her to stay in the line after the first five pages. 

The story is short and I really enjoyed how it only focused on the three characters in the line. It means that there's enough depth to all of them to understand and enjoy them, while never feeling bored with one of them. Even though I am not a Star Wars fan at all, and didn't even see this last movie, I somehow got swept up in the excitement of Troy, Gabe and Elena and was almost tempted to watch the movie - something that only shows how amazing Rainbow Rowell's writing is.

Though the book might feel predictable half way through, it really isn't. Nothing happens as you think it will, but it's still familiar enough that you're comfortable and just enjoying the ride. Rainbow Rowell again creates a world where it's okay to believe that fairy tale endings do happen, to only want good things for characters and to embrace the fact that happy stories can be amazing too - something I usually never think.

Kindred Spirits is obviously a quick read, but also an amazing one and a great pick for World Book Day. If you're unfamiliar with YA, this is a great introduction to one of the best authors the genre has to offer and if you are a teenager constantly forced to read classics in school, this book shows you that literature has stories on offer that you can relate to and thoroughly enjoy.

Carry On - Rainbow Rowell : Updated with Paperback info at the end!

RATING: ★★★★★

Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Publisher: MacMillan Kids UK
Genre: YA
Pages: 528 pages
Goodreads

I love Rainbow Rowell. I love love love love her. She could write my grocery list and I would enjoy reading it. She could write my monthly bills and I wouldn't mind reading them. Whatever Rainbow writes, I'm a fan. However, I was worried about Carry On. Fangirl is one of my favourite books of all time, but I just wanted that into the Simon Snow parts (I might even have skipped some of them...) and I just wasn't that interested to see the story of Simon and Baz develop...

Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.

Review

Sometimes it pays off to not have high expectations of a book. I knew I'd read Carry On, simple because Rainbow Rowell wrote it. What I didn't know is that I would absolutely completely fall in love with the story of Simon Snow. 

As I've mentioned many times before, I'm not overly into the whole "chosen one" idea (aka Harry in Harry Potter) and I don't love fantasy as much as I love contemporary stories, which makes it even more remarkable that Rainbow completely sold me on this story. My favourite thing about this book is the amazing characterisation. Simon is the chosen one of this story and he's still an enjoyable character! This is the first chosen one that doesn't act like a brat. Or selfish. Or has a pity-party every chapter. Or IS ACTUALLY JUST A NICE PERSON. I loved Simon;  he was funny, clumsy and completely clueless about so many things, but not cocky about it. Together with his best friend Penelope, who is also funny, but completely in control and smart, there are so many laugh out loud moments in this book.

The other great thing is the love story in this book. If you've read Fangirl, you'll know that Simon and Baz are nemesis who will fall in love eventually. The way this is played out in the plot is great; it's never too fast nor too slow. You can slowly see their relationship transform through "realistic" things (realistic for a magical world obviously) and can see them get closer and closer together. At not one point does the love story take over the general plot, the quest Simon and Baz are on together, which was such a relief for me. I love seeing LGBT representation that shows that, just like with heterosexual relationships, characters can be in a relationship without it being their only story.

So, just as the last few books I've read, I loved this one. Even with all my issues with chosen ones and fantasy stories, this book was just amazing. In true Rainbow Rowell fashion, it's fluffy, easy to read and incredibly comforting. Exactly what I wanted out of this book.
 

Update: Carry On is now the most AMAZING Paperback book!

I want to thank Macmillian Children's publisher for sending me all of this! Carry On was published as a paperback a while ago and when I finally got back to my London place, all this amazing stuff was waiting for me. I can't wait to colour in this paperback version of Carry On! Did you already colour it in? What colours did you pick? Which should I pick? Such an important decision!!

Not only did I get the book, I got Kindred Spirits, Rainbow's World Book Day story as well, which I will review later this week! I can't wait to read a new Rainbow Rowell story again and to really delve back into her world. I also got some amazing postcards and the coolest balloons! 

Hunky Baz!

Messy hair Simon!

Matching Simon and Baz!!! They're now in my room and every time I see them I just get a smile on my face. And it makes me want to re-read Carry On so badly - after I colour the cover in!

When Everything Feels Like the Movies - Raziel Reid

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Publication Date: October 21, 2014
Publisher: Arsenal Pup Press
Genre: YA
Pages: 176 pages
Goodreads

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book.

When Everything Feels Like the Movies is the story of Jude and his life as a transgender teen in high school. It is based on the true story of Larry Fobes KIng and the homophobic act that changed his whole life. I won't discuss it too much here, because it gives away the plot of the book, but there's a great summary here if you're okay with spoilers.

Everything Feels Like the Movies is such an important book. Jude is gay and openly interested in female clothing and make-up. Combine this with high school and it means that a lot of other teens are close minded. In a YA publishing landscape where straight white girls are the norm, this book was a breath of fresh air. Homosexuality, drug use, abortions,... Literally everything is discussed and I think teens reading this book will feel more comfortable talking about those issues.

However the way all those issues are handled in this book made me feel very uncomfortable at times. While Raziel Reid addresses all the topics that are important for contemporary teens, he kind of brushes over them at times. Abortion is casually mentioned, Jude takes hardcore drugs like they're M&Ms and every single homophobic remark that is made seems to completely miss Jude's feelings. Everything is glamourized, which makes sense for Jude's obsession for seeing life as a Hollywood movie, but I just wish we saw Jude's feelings more. Is he ever hurt? How did he build up those walls? When Everything Feels Like the Movies is such an important novel and I wish I got more insight into the main character and his thoughts. It was superficial and rushed and I wish there were 100 pages added to make the whole book more intense.

Another thing that bugged me was the flatness of the side characters. Again in line with Jude's Hollywood vision, it's all about him and everyone else is caricature of themselves. Jude's mom is the heartless stripper, his best friend is the slut, his father is a runaway dad, his stepfather the abuse asshole,... While they all are those things, I wanted to see them more in depth too. How did they become these people? Has Jude known them as anything else? Here is so much potential to show human problems and it is just glanced over by the author.  

Overall, When Everything Feels Like the Movies is an important book that will definitely get people talking. If you want a book that reads like a Hollywood movie, then this is the one for you. I however was left with an empty and unsatisfied feeling about Jude and his world. I can't wait what Raziel Reid will write next, but I just hope it's more in depth than this novel.

Save Me the Waltz - Zelda Fitzgerald

Rating: ★★★★★

Publication Date: 1932 (First edition)
Publisher: Vintage (Random House)
Genre: Classics
Pages: 225 pages
Goodreads

Those of you that follow me on Tumblr will know that I have been obsessed with The Lost Generation authors. In the never ending search of a thesis topic, I have now decided to focus on them and first up is Zelda Fitzgerald - a woman I've read so much about, but never read what she wrote. And thankfully I decided to change that.

Save Me the Waltz is the mostly autobiographical story of Zelda, represented by the main character Alabama, from her childhood until her father passes away, and focuses mostly on her marriage with David Knight. David is a successful painter and when the couple moves to Paris, Alabama tries to find her own creativity in a world controlled by men. She starts ballet at 27, just like Zelda did, and describes beautifully the agony and release she finds in this.

While this book is often read as a companion novel to Fitzgerald's work, mostly Tender is the Night, this discredits the creativity that can be found in Save Me the Waltz. While it does focus on the relationship between Zelda and Scott, and there are some clear parallels in events that happened in the book and in their real lives, the book mainly focuses on Alabama's struggle to find herself in a male oriented world. While in New York, she has nothing to do and aimlessly, and unhappily, wanders after her husband. In Paris, she discovers ballet and throws herself into it, even though her body cannot really handle the work.

This is where Zelda's fiction truly shines. My edition of the book followed the original manuscript which was filled with grammatical errors and words put in places that don't make any sense. Though this might bother some readers, it gave me the feel of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway and helped me relate to the main character.  We are thrown into a world we cannot fully grasp, no matter how often we read a sentence or even the whole book, just like Alabama is navigating a world she'll never grasp. The descriptions are beautiful though and it was so easy to feel the pain from all the ballet training. All the female characters, who are only properly introduced once Alabama enters the female world of dancing, are realistic and well-rounded and all struggle with finding their way in post war Paris.

Save Me the Waltz can be a confusing read and you might have to give yourself a few pages to get into, but it is also one of the most beautiful and gripping books I've ever read. It made me ache for Zelda Fitzgerald's talent; if she can produce a novel like this in just six weeks while admitted in a mental hospital, I wish we could have discovered the books she could have written earlier in her life. She might be the wife of one of the most famous authors, but she was a talented author in herself, who was able to describe the struggles of being a woman and the world of Parisian ballet in a way I've never encountered before. This book is one to read, just for the beauty of itself.

A Spool of Blue Thread - Anne Tyler

Rating: ★★★★☆

Publication Date: February 10, 2015
Publisher: Bond Street Books
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 358 pages
Goodreads

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book.

Once upon a time, I set out a goal to read all books on the Man Booker Prize shortlist of 2015. I decided to start with A Little Life, which is one of the longest and emotionally draining books I've ever read. Needless to say, I couldn't read any other book after that for weeks and thus I never read the Man Booker Prize shortlist. But when I was able to request A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler on Netgalley, I couldn't resist reading this book and I'm sure glad I did.

A Spool of Blue Thread follows three generations of the Whitshank family that all live in the same house. Their home is the core of the narrative through which different people are explored. There's the youngest generation, with four children all trying to find their way, their parents, who tried to find out what exactly family means and the grandparents, with the grandfather who build the house and his journey to make it a home.

It is important to note that nothing really happens in A Spool of Blue Thread, however, even though I am usually one of those readers who wants action, I really enjoyed A Spool of Blue Thread. The fact that there isn't a lot of action works beautifully for this story line. This is about a regular family who has their issues and problems, but nothing out of this world. There's romance, loss, worries, and concerns that any family has during any period of time. It felt realistic and touching, also because Anne Tyler just writes beautifully and is able to transport you into her world so easily.

A Spool of Blue Thread is a book you finish and then think about your own life, family and house and what really connects people together. Will the events of the book stay with you forever? No, not particularly. Like I said, they're not shocking or mind blowing. But it is a very enjoyable read and it really makes you reflect on your own life, while also missing the peaceful world Anne Tyler created. 

This book is perfect for this season; it's cold and rainy and who really wants to go outside? I suggest some tea (or coffee, if you're fancy like that), a cosy blanket, a fire place and A Spool of Blue Thread to get through February.

Perfect Days - Raphael Montes

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Publication Date: February 16, 2016
Publisher: Penguin Press
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 272 pages
Goodreads

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book.

After the success of Gone Girl, contemporary fiction has been constantly trying to find more shocking story lines that will draw readers, and hopefully eventually viewers, into their world. Perfect Days by Raphael Montes is the perfect example of this trend. Every chapter makes you think that this book has become as crazy as possible and then every next chapter will prove that it is possible for the story to get more crazy and sick. 

Reading Perfect Days is like driving past a car crash. You know you shouldn’t look, but you can’t help slowing down and trying to figure out what happens. Teo is a med student with an obsession of corpses, especially Gertrude, his best friend who is an old dead lady and the corpse he has to cut open in class. At a party he meets Clarice and immediately feels connected to her. As a reader, it’s easy to tell that Theo is off, he barely talks to Clarice and yet his narrative shows that he feels deeply connected to her and is convinced she is madly in love with him, even though she barely talked to him.

Instead of trying to build a normal relationship, Teo kidnaps ‘his girlfriend’ and decides to take a trip with her so she’ll realise how madly in love with him she really is. While they are on this trip, everything gets messed up and it turns out that both Teo and Clarice are quite eccentric in their ways of dealing with each other.

This book has left me really conflicted. On the one hand, I couldn’t wait to find out what the characters would do next, but at the same time, I felt like it was drama for the sake of drama. A lot of readers find dark humour in this book, but that completely passed me by and I never found it really funny. I get the irony of someone saying what a perfect boyfriend should do and then doing the most horrendous things to a girl because he thinks that’s the thing to do, but the actions were so dark that it was impossible to laugh about. Yet, I kept reading and finished this book in two days.

The writing draws you in and Teo is so fascinating in his thought process that it was hard to get out of his head, but there are so many gimmicks in the plot that it didn’t feel as organic as Gone Girl. While the twists there were unexpected, yet completely natural, the twists here were just too many towards the end and I couldn’t help but feel certain events were just put in there to shock readers.

Is Perfect Days a compelling read? Definitely. Does it set a dangerous trends of book being written just for the shock value? Definitely. In the end, it really depends on what kind of reader you are whether you’ll love this book, hate it, or feel as conflicted as I did.

Scarlet - Marissa Meyer

Rating: ★★★★☆

Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: YA
Pages: 452 pages
Goodreads

You might have missed it, but I LOVED Cinder and so it's no surprise to see a review of Scarlet on here so soon after. Marissa Meyer had me hooked and I couldn't wait to see what she was going to do with these characters!

Just like with Cinder, I struggled to get into this book. The beginning was once again slow, with too much time spend on one character and too much information that isn't interesting thrown in the mix. Setting up the mundane lives of characters can be important, but the, for example, great focus on Scarlet selling her vegetables just wasn't interesting and didn't draw me in. Maybe it's because I read this book right after finishing Cinder, but it was too slow and it took me a few days to get through the beginning.

However, just like with Cinder, once you persist through the beginning, there is a very enjoyable story. Scarlet is a great character, who is very different from Cinder and yet never compared to her. Both girls are allowed to show their strength and weakness in this story and it's very rare that this happens without it being a competition. This made the book enjoyable and made it easy to get invested in each character.

The plot was original and full of twists and turns I didn't see coming. The best addition to the cast was Thorne, who builds up a friendship with Cinder and is able to guide her through this book. Thorne is an attractive guy, Cinder is a beautiful girl, and yet there's never any romance. Other YA authors, take note - it is possible! Their friendship is funny and endearing and I really enjoyed reading about it.

This book was amazing once again. Not only did we meet a bunch of new and enjoyable characters, we also got to know Cinder better and see how her journey developed. Though it's not an easy thing to merge two different storylines together, Marissa Meyer does an amazing job in this book and creates something that will really transport you out of your own life.