BR - Hush Hush


Hush Hush By Becca
 Fitzpatrick
Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's (29 Oct 2009)
  Genre: Young Adult   Source: Won

Rating;   


H
"I don't go out with strangers," I said.  
"Good thing I do. I'll pick you up at five." 

My thoughts - Hush Hush has been pretty much everywhere lately. There have been nothing but gushing reviews, but after re -reading Hush Hush I've had to re - think things. It's fast paced and engrossing I'll give it that. I read my original review and felt a little annoyed at how gullible I obviously was, so I new it was time I gave it another shot.


Upon meeting Patch Nora can't stop thinking about him even though she gets a little anxious around him. Actually she's convinced that he's stalking her, and boy she is not far off at all. Let's just say dear Patch is not the most romantic of boys at first. He has an agenda of his own and it's no coincidence that he's everywhere she goes. He's actually quite creepy, a stalker and dangerous and maybe this would be more apparent to readers, or to put it plainly - the readers would care if he wasn't glamorised so much into being this dark, mysterious smexy guy. I have to admit it's easy to fall for it, I fell for it hard at first, but I'd rather not fall for the BS anymore thank you very much.


I do urge you to listen to a slight warning. Nora’s best friend Vi? My god is that girl annoying. Annoying as in throw the girl against a wall annoying. She went beyond annoying and into something of which I know not the name. No seriously. If it helps? Skip the part where she speaks. *For sanity reasons only*


Nora isn't the most lovable character either. Knowing he isn't the best for her doesn't stop from her falling into his arms regardless like a lost puppy. How oh - so - typical. It gets one extra star because of the entertainment factor and due to the fast pace, which lets be honest - we don't get often nowadays.

"He was the worst kind of wrong. He was so wrong it felt right, and that made me feel completely out of control." 

Posted by Blueicegal ♥ at 14:55 Comments
What This Involves:

BR - The Pact By Jodi Picoult


  • Paperback: 528 pages Publisher: Hodder Paperback; New edition edition (18 July 2005)
  • Genre: Young Adult   Source: Library

RATING:       


"I love you," he whispered, and that was the moment he knew what he was going to do. When you loved someone, you put their needs before your own. No matter how inconceivable those needs were; no matter how fucked up; no matter how much it made you feel like you were ripping yourself into pieces." 

My thoughts - The synopsis itself has got you thinking I am sure. It's what gravitated me to the book. Being the first time I had come across such a concept I was very intrigued but slightly worried. Maybe because I knew it wasn't going to end well, but then again Jodi Picoult is fabulous at what she does, and it was that thought that gave me the final push.

Emily is dead...there’s only one problem though, Chris isn’t. When they are discovered Chris is the one to suspect, and why not? He admits it, yes, he killed Emily, but he was supposed to die too. Described as suicide pact it quickly held my attention, and so, as they dug deeper it became very clear that Chris was deeply in love with Emily. Yet it was Emily I was rather confused about. 

My original thought was how this could happen when both apparently loved each other? You see the perfect foundations of the two families who had gone out of their way to create this inseparable bond, completely shattered because of this event, and in its place came; Confusion, anger and pain.

Chris and Emily were supposed to date, and then get married. That's what everyone wanted, that’s what everyone expected. However, it would seem that, that’s not what Emily wanted.

Let me just say that I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews on this novel. I agree on one note now when I look back, yes I felt Emily was selfish, but I think why many blame Emily is because people argue that she had a loving family and boyfriend, a bright future ahead. Why would she want to throw all that away right? But just imagine feeling like the boy your with is like your brother *shudders* and then having to marry him. She was stuck in a situation she felt like she had no control over, they were both growing up. Chris knew what he wanted only Emily wasn’t so sure anymore. What most likely pushed her to the edge in my opinion was how she had no idea how to back out when her family and Chris' family had so many expectations.

You can interpret it as cowardice, but when is taking ones life ever easy? You have to feel like there is no other alternative and are at rock bottom to reach that stage. To think that this young girl suffered like this for so very long saddens me.

The ending was just heart-breaking, and so very sad, but at the same time uplifting. It raised a couple of questions, and did leave me slightly confused behind it's meaning, but I think the author left it that way to allow the reader to interpret it however they liked.

With The Pact Jodi Picoult has once again blown me away! A haunting and emotional story of an "apparent" teenage romance gone horribly wrong when; expectations, misunderstanding, and miscommunication gets the better of us. It's a book that still pops up in my head and makes me feel uncomfortable and confused all over again. I suppose that is in a twisted way the beauty of it, impacting you over and over again because 1) It leaves you with a ton of unanswered questions and 2) You are left wondering what will become of Chris whilst still trying to understand a girl who is no more.



"She was all the things I wasn't. And I was all the things she wasn't. She could paint circles around anyone; I couldn't even draw a straight line. She was never into sports; I've always been. Her hand, it fit mine." 


Posted by Blueicegal ♥ at 11:41 Comments
What This Involves:

BR - Lucas by Kevin brooks




Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Chicken House; Reissue edition (6 Mar 2006) Genre: Young Adult  Source: Library

RATING           


My Thoughts - Where has this book been all my life? I am still just in complete awe of this book, but more-so "Lucas" himself. I don't know if you have read Stargirl but if I were to describe Lucas, the first comparison that comes to mind is: Stargirl Simply because they share such similar traits in my opinion. Both are very mysterious and have an "Out of this world" presence. The way I felt when I finished Stargirl was the exact way I felt the moment, I finished Lucas. Speechless and filled with unanswered questions.


"I still don't understand what happened, I don't think I ever will. I suppose in a way, it was the start of everything; the beginning of the end"


LUCAS is the story of a 15 year old girl called Cait who is trying to find herself.  She is growing up, but feels as though everyone treats her as a child. She is at that age where you are still learning about yourself, experimenting, exploring and trying to figure out who you really are. We all go through it at some point. However, not all, if any will go through the experience that Cait will, an experience that will change her perspective on life, forever.


The story begins with Cate MacCann reminiscing on the summer she first met a boy named Lucas.  As soon as I read those first few pages, I could tell that the book was only going to get harder to read, Cait' story is not a happy one, but it is one which teaches you a thing or two.

It's the moment that Cait first sets eyes on Lucas, that she knows something as changed.  Maybe it's the fact that there is something unsettling, but special about him that she can't help but notice. Or maybe it's his blue eyes that she can't seem to turn away from.

Lucas is a survivor, probably best described as a drifter; but that is where any knowledge of him ends. Like I mentioned he is very mysterious, and that perhaps is a part of his allure, beside his strength and bravery that is. No one can seem to make sense of this young boy. Raised questions often are; who is he and where is he from? People always need a reason, most definitely when it comes to something they don't like. People at times, sadly, don't like what they can't seem to make sense of, it scares them. So they do the one thing that they can, spread rumours, and set out to do their worst.

Lucas is just a boy, a boy that even now is spinning in my head; I can't seem to make sense of him. There is this feeling though, that maybe like Stargirl he simply isn't a character that is to be attempted to figure out. Maybe as a reader I should just accept that he is not someone I can ever completely understand. For a reader though it's like telling me I might as well not know my characters. That's tough to do, it's tough to accept, but I accepted it out of respect for Stargirl, I think I can do that for Lucas. Maybe for the second time only, I will let him be. I have a feeling that he would want that.

Cait is a girl who I greatly admire; it takes a lot of courage for a 15 year old girl to go against a town and her own family for something she believes in. In this case being Lucas. This novel faces a lot of issues in today's society being; Discrimination, bullying, stereotype and most of all flawed people.

I ached for Lucas, for this boy who did nothing wrong, but was treated horribly all the same. What he goes though makes you look at us as humans as a whole with disgust and shame. The author makes you acknowledge that this is what we are capable of, and really... it doesn't take much for this happen over and over again, not much at all, and that scares me. This novel shows us first-hand how judgemental, fickle, and hateful people can really be without any real reason at all.

Lucas is a character who is very hard to explain. He seems out of this world, but mature beyond his years. He is soft spoken, calm and collected and minds his own business. It was clear from the very beginning for me that he never had any intention in harming anyone. It almost seems as though the things that were going to happen to him were inevitable, because people were so hell bent on getting rid of him. Even his good-doings are maliciously twisted and thrown against him. It is almost as though, he never really stood a chance. Then in the middle of it all is this equally strong and determined young girl, who hardly knows this boy but is fighting for what she feels is right; placing herself in the firing line, she is taking a great risk: a risk which is more than worth it for Lucas in her opinion.

I often got the feeling that people like Lucas are to special to stick around, they have a mission of some kind, attempt it or finish it and then are gone. Perhaps we are not worthy of them, and that scares people, it makes them afraid; maybe that is why they all turned on him, because inside they recognised that to. At times I questioned if he was even human. I was so confused and troubled about him that it frustrated me at times. I had come across something like this when I read Stargirl and felt a similar emotion when it came to his novel "Black Rabbit Summer" regarding the character Raymond who comes to mind frequently even now. I am no good at endings that leave to many unanswered questions, and both of his novels did exactly that. 

The saddest thing of all in my opinion is perhaps the moment Cait and Lucas are just getting to know each other, and start to become much more aware of what they are feeling, and suddenly everything is cut short. Leaving you angry, upset and unwilling to accept what just happened. You feel their pain, their helplessness and alongside them you ask "Did they even stand a chance"?

So little is revealed about him, even little is explained. Near the end you have to take it with a pinch of salt otherwise this story will haunt you for a long time, it's hard to just accept and never know, but, that is why years after first discovering this author as a child, his work still lingers and stays relevant to me and rated very highly among authors who I also grew up with and still adore, such as; Melvin Burgess, David Almond, Anne Fine, Bali Rai and Christopher Pike.

Overall, LUCAS makes you appreciate the smaller things in life, but also makes you aware of society as a whole, and gives you the lesson; just as quick as they can build you up, they can turn on you. Thought-provoking and gritty LUCAS is a novel that will not leave you for a very long time. Definitely a highlight for me; book-wise of 2009, and one that stood out and strongly held it's own.
"That's what happens. You just get on with it. There are no endings." 

Posted by Blueicegal ♥ at 08:32 Comments
What This Involves: