The Host by Stephenie Meyer | Book Review

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

N/A

First Published: 2008

Paperback

Young Adult, Sci-Fi

Rating:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

The Host is by far my most favorite of Meyer's novels, and one of my favorite books in general. Every time I re-read it, which I do about once a year, I am filled with the same emotions I did the very first time I looked between those pages.*

The premise of this book is like nothing I've read before. Aliens have been used and used again, but how many times do the authors make the aliens better than the humans? Make them a race that has barely any violent tendencies, that treats everyone as equals. A race that has no such concepts as thievery or crime in it. 

You must be wondering what kind of conflict could exist in such a perfect world. Well, mix in some human rebels, an alien who sympathizes with them and two people living in one body and things get a lot more interesting. 

Now, before starting the real review I would like to address the first 100 pages of the book, because some will find it very hard to get past them. Like my mother. Well, get past them. They are absolutely necessary to the plot, and from the second reading on I understood the real beauty and perfection of them, but they are admittedly slow. Don't give up. Read on. You won't regret it! 

Now that we've got that out of the way, my absolute favorite character in this novel is Wanda, the alien main character. Wanda is a pacifist who protects who she loves fiercely and always puts them first. Even if it might have disastrous ramifications to herself. I don't always love self-sacrifice, but here it was done perfect.

The dynamics between her and Melanie were very interesting, especially because through Melanie's memories Wanda learns to love those Mel does. So while Melanie is the complete opposite of Wanda in many ways, they can both agree that their family and loved ones come first, which makes them fit like a glove despite their differences and work together. 

Now, it wouldn't be a Stephenie Meyer novel without some romance in it, right? Well, there is that in this book. And I loved how it played out. At first I was very scared I will hate it because it presents itself as a very complicated love triangle at first glance, but it's not. It never was, as you come to understand at the end of this perfect novel.  

Jared, Melanie's boyfriend, is one of those love interests. To summarize him - he's a jerk. Maybe not to everyone, but certainly to Wanda. Does he have an acceptable good reason? sure. but Wanda has been nothing but a doll the entire time so I really couldn't learn to like him. Especially when the only times he was nice to Wanda, it was for Melanie and no one else.  

There there is Ian. 

the guy is major swoon!

He reigns at the top of my Book Boyfriend List. As the story goes on, this character develops into one of the most wonderful, loving and kind guys I've ever read of. The guy's freaking awesome! Honestly, he is the first of the rebels to open himself to the possibility Wanda isn't bad and from then on I was in love. 

Two other noteworthy characters are Jamie, Melanie's adorable brother and Jeb, the Dumbledore of this book. Wise, mysterious and eccentric, he gives Wanda the change to earn her place among the rebels and has earned my eternal love for it. 

And the ending... 

it so beautiful *sniff*

Everything about that ending was beautiful. From what Wanda chose to do to the proof of how much the rebels became her family - and she theirs. It was heartbreaking and courageous and stunning and sad and I can't even with this ending.

*Re-visiting this review made me unable not to re-read the book again. So... I did. 

Book Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Favorites Extravaganza: Day #11)

2015 Favorites Extravaganza: Day #11

Uprooted  by Naomi Novik
N/A
First Published: 2015
Hardcover
Mature YA, High-Fantasy
Rating:

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood's powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows - everyone knows - that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia - all the things Agnieszka isn't - and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl. And when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him.
From the author of the Temeraire series comes this hugely imaginative, engrossing and vivid fantasy novel, inspired by folk and fairy tales. It is perfect reading for fans of Robin Hobb and Trudi Canavan.

Initially, Uprooted caught my eyes when pictures of its beautiful cover surfaced tumblr (with very favorable reviews). So just like that, it was bumped to the top of my list. Sometimes, this method of book-chosing yields unfortunate results. And sometimes, it doesn't. Sometimes, it turns out to be the best of choices.

I wasn't even two pages in when I knew I would adore this book. I was absolutely correct. 

Every ten years, a 17 years old girl is chosen to live with the valley's wizard, the Dragon. And when her 10 years end, she leaves - never to come back. Agnieszka, our protagonist, is such a girl. But neither she nor her family are really worried, because the Dragon always takes the most beautiful and talented girl, and Agnieszka's best friend Kasia is the sure choice.

So everyone are shocked when she is chosen. Now she has to deal with being uprooted (see what I did there??) and worse -- living with a surly, neat-freak, perfectionist wizard who won't even try to make the transition somewhat bearable. 

From that point on, things get real interesting.

First of all, let me say this - the bromance (is there a female term for bromance??) between Nieshka and Kasia is life. I was worried that Uprooted will follow in Cruel Beauty's steps with more hate than friendship, but it totally didn't. Nieshka and Kasia are real, honest to god, best friends. They're practically sisters. It was beautiful, seriously. 

Then there is the Dragon. I was shipping him and Nieshka from pretty much the first time they met. They just clashed so beautifully - she with her spontaneous, outdoorsy, clumsy manner and him with his straight laced, dignified order. It made for some hilarious interactions, and you could see from the get-go that those interaction rattled both of them. In the best way possible.

I mean, it's sort of a hate to love relationship, and it is executed perfectly. You fall in love together with these two characters, and the best part is that neither of them need to voice their feelings to know they are there. 

Oh, and they are hot. Sometimes in an explicit sort of way. However, don't expect a NA level of things. The mature content in Uprooted is very tasteful and doesn't go overboard, staying true to the mood, story and characters. Novik isn't afraid to go past PG-13, because it's right for her story. And not for any other reason. 

Now lets talk a little about the world because it was beautiful and horrifying and magical. Novik did a wonderful job flashing out the world without info-dumping it on you, letting you learn the ins and outs through the characters and their experiences. In this world, some rare people have magic. And the biggest threat to all the kingdom's people is not the war always brewing on the horizon, it is the Wood.

Yes. When was the last time you read a book where a Wood was the main antagonist? And not just any antagonist - a manipulative, cruel, mind controlling one who will do anything in his power to devour all the land and kill everyone in it. 

What, you're scared now? You should be. 

Alongside Nieshka, Dragon and Kasia, there are many side characters, such as the other magicians, the (kind of hateful) prince, the king, and the villagers. They were all, even when they were kind of awful, charming in their own ways. Mostly because no one in this book is really evil. 

Oh, and you should know - this book doesn't pull any punches. There are deaths. From a certain point there is a death almost every page. And some of it is hella gory. But even so, it's still so damn charming.

GAh, I don't know. This book does stuff to me. 

Uprooted is everything. I just want more of this world and characters so damned much that I can't deal with this being the end!

Book Review: Deerskin by Robin McKinley (Favorites Extravaganza: Day #8)

2015 Favorites Extravaganza: Day #8

Deerskin by Robin McKinley
N/A
First Published: 1994
Paperback
Adult, High Fantasy
Rating:

As Princess Lissar reaches womanhood, it is clear to all the kingdom that in her breathtaking beauty she is the mirror image of her mother, the queen. But this seeming blessing forces her to flee for safety from her father's wrath. With her loyal dog Ash at her side, Lissar unlocks a door to a world of magic, where she finds the key to her survival - and an adventure beyond her wildest dreams...

You are probably slightly confused about the place of this book in my 2015 Favorites, considering its relatively low rating. The thing is, this book is one of those books that the farther away I am from it; the more I think about it. In a good way.

Before getting this book as a birthday present, I have never heard of it. Or Robin McKinley. I guess it's not too surprising, as this book is different than most anything I've read before, so it wouldn't have been on my radar. That's not the case anymore, as now the name Robin McKinley equals something I'd like to check out.

Deerskin is written in a matter which includes very few dialogues. Most of the story is told through a storyteller, who describes the surrounding, lore, and thoughts of our main characters. In fact, it takes about 170 pages, maybe even longer, until we meet a character for Lissar to speak to, and even then - Lissar is a woman of few words.

I expected this to really hinder my reading process, as the first time I tried this book, it did feel a bit oppressing. But this time around? I gulped it up, in one sitting, stopping pretty much only to eat. And when I reached the end of part one, I felt like the writing style was a smart choice.

Why? Because the writing style, especially at first, really helps distance you emotionally from what was happening. Now, you must be thinking - wait, what? How is that a good thing? But in this particular book, it was. I don't think I would've managed to go past the horrific events of part one if this story was written any differently.

And then, slowly, as Lissar began to interact, so did we as readers, right in time for the PUPPIES and OSSIN. So we were able to go through the horror, and still connect with the good. I think that is a wonderful thing; because this book is about overcoming and finding the good. Finding a will to go on.

And as I said, Ossin and the puppies. I mean, those effing puppies, man! Soooo cute.

And Ossin... Okay, let's talk for a minute about this guy. He's a prince, yeah? But his favorite place is the kennel, where he take cares of dogs... even dying puppies (two words that should never be said together!). And he is not handsome. At all. Like... nope. But he is sweet, and kind, and loyal and real, and I dig it!

Especially when he was together with Lissar. It wasn't the mushy, hands-on, I'll-die-for-you-or-without you type of romance, but it was real and sweet and sneaked up on both characters. <3

The reason this is not a four star is that the events at the end really confused me... Like, wtf happened to Lissar? Her mother?... and the blood?... like, what even? And what actually became of Lissar, and her powers? Were those just a loan from the Moonwoman?... Color me baffled.

Book Review: The Book Thief Markus Zusak (Favorites Extravaganza: Day #6)

2015 Favorites Extravaganza: Day #6 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
N/A
First Published: 2005
Paperback
YA, Historical Fantasy
Rating:

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.
SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH
It's a small story, about:
a girl
an accordionist
some fanatical Germans
a Jewish fist fighter
and quite a lot of thievery.
ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

The Book Thief has been reviewed many times over. I bet everything that could be said about it, already has been. But... as a Jew, reading this book, I feel obligated to add in my two cents. So bear with me. This is going to be a very personal review. In fact, it's going to speak largely about things surrounding the book instead of the book itself.

Originally, I never intended to read the Book Thief. 

As a general rule, I don't read Holocaust based novels. In Israel, we study the Holocaust extensively (in relations to Jews mostly, for obvious reasons) from the first grade to the twelfth. We annually mention and mourn the 6 million lost on a special day. We have school trips to the Holocaust Museum. We do papers and projects on the subject every year. We have lectures with survivors. 

And, honestly, every damn holocaust book I read brings me to a sobbing mess, and I don't enjoy that. 

I always tell my grandma, who made it her mission to read as many of those testimonies as possible, that one day, I'll probably start seeking those stories, but right now, I am too overcome by the darkness that engulfs me when I read of it.

So, again, I wasn't planning on reading this in the near future. But then the movie was coming out, and the book was on sale, and I found out Death was narrating the story, and that it's about a young German girl in the holocaust and I became curious. So I started it.

I was almost immediately disappointed. I did not like the narration, even though it was the thing I was most looking forward to. Death's voice felt a bit choppy to me, and I did not like how he felt the need to end every chapter (or what felt like) on these ambiguous notes. It took a long while to get used to It's voice.

I was feeling very dejected (even though I was loving Lisel and her Papa), when Max came into the picture. And from that moment on, I was hooked. I didn't know (and maybe I should've) that this book tells the story of what we call khassidey umot ha-olam, and in English is apparently referred to as: "Righteous Among the Nations".

I've always loved those stories. The stories that show there were people who resisted the brainwashing; resisted the propaganda; kept their humanity intact; saw through the veil over their eyes. That's what has always been the hardest to swallow, for me; how people were able to boycott and humiliate and demean people who have been their neighbors, their friends, their partners. And yet it happened, on a massive scale.

Hans Hubermann did not forget his friends, though. He wasn't fooled. I loved that. I loved Max. I loved the relationships that bloomed between the Hubermanns and Max. I loved everything that had to do with that.

And, I'll admit, I loved reading of the Holocaust from a different perspective. Not from the direct victims, but from the eyes of a little German girl. How her life was affected by it all. What the war did to her. To them.

Like death, I still pity those in the concentration camps a lot more than the Germans. I still pity the families broken or obliterated far more. I can't deny that--nor do I feel the need to. But this story was still powerful, and served to show everyone gets hurt in a war.

And, yes, I admit it: I cried. I was quietly sobbing in my room from part ten on. It was heartbreaking. In a different way than most of the holocaust books I've read before, but not any less powerful.

(BTW, anyone else shipping Max and Lisel despite the ten-year age gap?)

Book Review: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay (Favorites Extravaganza: Day 2)

2015 Favorites Extravaganza: Day #2

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay
N/A
First Published: 2013
Hardcover
Young Adult, Retelling
Rating:

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...
In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.
Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.
As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

Oh my, Oh my. I never expected this book to be... well, this book. That's not to say that I didn't go into it with high exceptions, because I did. I couldn't not to when it had such a gorgeous cover and was marketed as a retelling of one of my favorite fairy-tales (and favorite Disney movie *wink*).

But I never could've expected this enchanting world, a strange mixture of a bit of sci-fi and a lot of magic, or the beautiful writing, or the captivating characters.

It's almost a shame to call it a "retelling", because it's far more than that. It's its own story, capable of standing tall on its own two feet without the fairy-tale attached to it, and one does not necessarily need to love B&B in order to love it.

Because in Of Beast and Beauty  there is no clear "beast" and no clear "beauty". 

Isra Beast?? is a blind princess doomed to a horrible fate. She is strong, opinionated, kind, but also very much a prisoner in her own city. Her own castle. She's grown to thinks of herself as "tainted" by the mutation her people fear so much, and instead of being Belle enslaved by the beast, she is the one who does the enslaving when she catches Gem, a Monstrous, as he is infiltrating her city.

Gem Belle? may be a beast in his appearance, but he is such a good person. He only thinks of the best for his people, but still he can't kill even when his duty tells him he must. He tries to hate and yet finds himself unable. And no matter his motivations, he treats Isra with kindness and attention. The (almost) only person in her life who does.

These two are just... in one word? sigh. I mean, seriously, the shipping is crazy. They bring the best in each other, they encourage each other to be better, they open each other's eyes. They're also HAWT like lava and so very delicious. And the best part? It takes time for their relationship to grow. They start as semi enemies, then reluctant partners, then friends, then... more. It's beautiful!

Then there's Gaston Bo. Occasionally, we get a glimpse into his pov. That was smart, because Jay lets us see Gaston Bo is not a bad person. He is a product of years of prejudice and false information. He truly believes what he's doing is right, and he does have a heart and a sense of right and wrong. He just can't look past all he's been told to see the truth.

okay, Gaston Bo is no monster, but how was I supposed to resist? 

Another character worth mentioning is Needle, Isra's maid. I love this girl, and I kind of really really wanted to see her happy with someone. I'm all for Jay writing a sequel for Needle, maybe with Gem's brother? I feel like she could really teach him compassion and love...

The ending of this book was so amazing! And quite different than the Disney ending. Just like, a lot of asdfghjkl really.

Honestly, I don't have enough words to recommend this book with. Just read it, please. It deserves more love!

Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (Favorite Extravaganza: Day #1)

2015 Favorite Extravaganza Day #1

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
N/A
First Published: 2013
Paperback
Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse where she once lived, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
A groundbreaking work as delicate as a butterfly's wings and as menacing as a kinfe in the dark, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understadning of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out.

 I think I have a new fantasy in life; to spend one day inside Neil Gaiman's extraordinary mind. I've a feeling it would either be the most incredible and magical experience of my life, or the most traumatizing one.

"I wondered, as I wondered so often when I was that age, who I was, and what exactly was looking at the face in the mirror. If the face I was looking at wasn't me, and I know it wasn't, because I would still be me whatever happened to my face, then what was me? And what was watching?"

I wasn't sold on The Ocean at the End of the Lane before I started it. I've only read one of Gaiman's other novels, Stardust, and I wasn't overly impressed with it. So you could say I was wary of reading this book. Because what if I couldn't love it? What then?

So I breathed a sigh of pure relief when I opened the first page, the one from before the prologue, and realized that there is absolutely no way I could not love this. When I realized that this was going to be phenomenal.

It's almost impossible to describe this book. If someone asks you what's it about, you would either over-explain it to the point you yourself couldn't make head or tail of it, or simplify it so much it would present it less than it actually is.

It's a book that needs to be read, and that's the best answer there is to it.

It's narrated by a man, recalling bizarre childhood experiences. He has no name. For most of the story, he is eight years old. But that's not to say the topics and subjects dealt with in this book are childish - au contraire. The depth, themes and manner of handling both is decidedly "adult". 

"The Dream was haunting me: standing behind me, present and yet invisible, like the back of my head, simultaneously there and not there."

If anything, this book could be read by anyone, but the level of understanding it would differ. I can see in my mind's eye my younger cousin reading it right now (as a young teen), and then reading it again in ten years and discovering a completely different experience. It's like watching these childhood cartoons you loved again and realizing so many of the jokes were wasted on your younger self. But you still loved them. 

I think it's brilliant.

This book gave me the actual chills. It's like a horror story, only not... quite. The things this boy goes through are horrifying to the point I had to read with the lights on, but what was even scarier was how he forgot. Somehow, that seemed exceptionally cruel.

And don't think you can prepare yourselves; nothing happened as I thought it would, and at a certain point I had no idea what to expect anymore. It was like floating in a dream. You think you're headed in one direction, only to suddenly find yourself in a completely different story. The only difference was that this actually made sense.

Gaiman's lyrical, poetic, enchanting words were a big part of weaving this effect, as is the choice to make the boy and his life completely arbitrary. He has no name. His family is nameless. The city he lives in, his street... he could've easily been anyone, even me (were I a boy and had a sister).

And, for the duration of the book, it was. I guess that's the whole point.

"...In those dreams I spoke that language too, the first language, and I had dominion over the nature of all that was real. In my dream, it was the tongue of what is, and anything spoken in it became real, because nothing said in that language can be a lie. It is the most basic building brick of everything. In my dreams, I have used that language to heal the sick and to fly; once I dreamed I kept a perfect little bed-and-breakfast by the seaside, and to everyone who came to stay with me I would say, in that tongue, "Be whole.' and they would become whole, not be broken people, not any longer, because I had spoken the language of shaping."