Review of Me & Earl & The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Review of Jesse Andrews' Me & Earl & the Dying Girl

Release Date: March 1st, 2012

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Sundance U.S. Dramatic Audience Award
Sundance Grand Jury Prize

This is the funniest book you’ll ever read about death.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.

         This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.

         Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking—this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling "a touchstone for its generation" and "an instant classic."

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I have found that I have gotten more interested in reading books about terminally ill children recently with the realization that they were actually great books after reading John Green's The Fault In Our Stars and Robyn Schneider's Extraordinary Means. When I saw this book was being made into a movie I wanted to read it before seeing it in theaters. I also heard great reviews about it from a friend at work.

Maybe it is my reading funk of lately, but I did not enjoy this story as much as I had been hoping. I found the narrator a bit annoying and the writing style of going back and forth from novel, bullet point, and play script styles a little too hectic. The character talks a lot about how you will hate this book and how he doesn't understand why you haven't put it down already. I was hoping that the main character would have been a more successful filmmaker, but I guess he wouldn't have been as realistic.

I just felt like the story had no real ending and lacked a reason for being. It wasn't about Rachel "the Dying Girl's" Life, because you don't find out much about her of substance until the end of the book. I'm just a little confused by it.

Another book bites the dust.

Review of The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray

Review of Mary Gray's The Dollhouse Asylum

Release Date: October 22nd, 2013

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a chance at survival.

At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.

The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.

If they play it right, then they'll be safe.

But if they play it wrong, they'll die.

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So I just finished The Dollhouse Asylum... my slump in reading continues. I need a good book or series to get me out of this funk. While this book had good moments, the plot was confusing and the characters were given poor personalities. The whole book had potential, but in the end was just poorly written. I am not one to stop reading a book, because I always want to know what happened to the characters. I'm sorry to say that for the characters that lived in the end, they were the unlucky ones. Had they died early, they would have been saved the embarrassment of continuing on.

I know that every author puts a lot of work into writing a book and I hate giving negative reviews for any book, but I am just a little upset with this one. Upset... confused... just over it!

Here's to hoping the author keeps this story at only 1 book. Maybe her next series will more thought out... and here's to hoping my next book keeps me entertained. 2015 has been my worst year in reading in almost 6 years.

Review of The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

Advance Review of Erin Bow's The Scorpion Rules

Release Date: September 22nd, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

A world battered by climate shift and war turns to an ancient method of keeping peace: the exchange of hostages. The Children of Peace - sons and daughters of kings and presidents and generals - are raised together in small, isolated schools called Preceptures. There, they learn history and political theory, and are taught to gracefully accept what may well be their fate: to die if their countries declare war.

Greta Gustafsen Stuart, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan-Polar Confederation, is the pride of the North American Prefecture. Learned and disciplined, Greta is proud of her role in keeping the global peace, even though, with her country controlling two-thirds of the world’s most war-worthy resource — water — she has little chance of reaching adulthood alive.

Enter Elián Palnik, the Prefecture’s newest hostage and biggest problem. Greta’s world begins to tilt the moment she sees Elián dragged into the school in chains. The Prefecture’s insidious surveillance, its small punishments and rewards, can make no dent in Elián, who is not interested in dignity and tradition, and doesn’t even accept the right of the UN to keep hostages.

What will happen to Elián and Greta as their two nations inch closer to war?

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So... I'm conflicted. I really loved the plot of this book. What would happen if Man-made Artificial Intelligent Computer Programs became sentient and to stop war all over the world, they held hostage the first born child of every world leader? It sounds like an amazing story. And for more than half of the book it was amazing. It had me on the edge of my seat. Then it went down hill really fast. By the end of the book, I was over it. I hate when books end so weirdly. I'm distraught, confused, and angry all at once.

Greta is a child of peace. Although she is the crown princess of the Pan-Polar Confederation (we know it as Canada), she has lived in the prefecture since she was 5 years old. She has seen friends be dragged away to be killed and all because their parent's country went to war... because when a country goes to war with another country, both of the first born children for either country are put to death. That is the threat that the AI, Talis has controlled world leaders with for the last 400 years.

When Elian arrives at the prefecture, Greta knows she is in trouble. He is the grandchild of the ruler of the country that is most closely bordering her own. The look in his eyes when he recognizes her tells her all she needs to know. Their countries are about to go to war and if they do, she is going to die.

With a plot like that, you know you are in for a wild ride. Maybe by the time the book comes out, the ending will change?!? I highly doubt it, but I can always dream right? I don't know how the author will be able to continue this into a series. Oh well! I am still rating this book 3 out of 5 stars, because I did enjoy most of it. Let me know what you think of it when it comes out in September!