Analyzing Books

Tag: Relationships

  • Fangirl

    Fangirl

    Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell has quickly become one of my favorite novels. Cather, nicknamed Cath, has always relied on her twin sister, Wren, for companionship. Growing up, the two read Simon Snow and wrote fanfiction together. After their mother left, the sisters relied on the fantastical storylines they read and penned to fill a void, allowing them to fall into a magical mystical world and spend time together doing something they loved.

    While Wren had moved on with her life, extraordinarily excited for freshman year of college, Cath still loved Simon Snow more than anything. She hung posters in her dorm room and placed copies of Simon Snow books by her bed. Every day Cath still wrote her Simon Snow fanfiction, Carry On, wanting to continue the story of Baz and Simon. Cath assumed she and Wren would room together in college, but Wren decided that it was time for the pair to separate and experience life on their own, forcing Cath into a situation she did not necessarily anticipate.

    In turn, Cath was forced to room with Reagan, who was not a freshman but an upperclassman. Reagan was not welcoming to Cath, making Cath feel even more isolated. Oddly enough, the pair bonded over the fact that they were forced to share a room. Cath soon started to interact with Reagan’s friends, particularly Levi, who stopped by their room on a regular basis. Rowell was able to incorporate his character in a manner that did not feel contrived whatsoever. I looked forward to Levi’s visits.

    While reading, I was amazed at Rowell’s attention to detail. Her writing skills and talent warrant a special acknowledgment. For instance, Cath’s mother did not know she was pregnant with twins, originally, selecting the name Catherine for her unborn daughter. When she found out she was going to have twins, she split the name in two, Cath and Wren. Small details like this really resonate with me as a reader. I appreciated Rowell’s ability to add unexpected depths, dialogue, and character traits.

    Similarly, Rowell’s characters are entertaining and exceptional. For instance, Cath used her fanfiction to fill a void in her life. By spending time on her computer, she was not out in the world experiencing life firsthand. This characterization and personality trait is rather ingenious. Cath was a talented writer who chose to focus on another author’s creation rather than craft her own story. In her creative writing class, Cath felt compelled to find a writing partner to work with rather than write on her own. Cath had a natural inclination to work with another person because that was the type of relationship she was used to, due to her reliance on Wren. In general, Cath was not used to working independently or being by herself. In a manner of speaking, her fanfiction was reflective of her inner turmoil or ambiguity.

    Rowell created a multidimensional protagonist who not only captivates the reader but is someone they can root for throughout the duration of the story. As a reader, I wanted Cath to find happiness and develop a sense of being outside from her sister, Wren, or her roommate, Reagan. Simple moments such as Cath being able to eat by herself in the dining hall or interact with new people on campus made me proud of her character growth. I do not want to give away any spoilers of Fangirl, so I will refrain from writing about Cath’s romantic life, but I will say that in order for her to have a healthy romantic relationship, it was important for her to develop a personal sense of worth and being beforehand. The manner in which Rowell included this development was brilliantly done.

    Everything about Rowell’s writing was spectacular! Her setting, characterizations, dialogue, secondary characters, and subplots were all phenomenal and created a superb novel. I would give Fangirl more than five stars if I could!

    Views: 5

  • Hart Broken

    Hart Broken

    I am a sucker for romantic stories. I devour them and eat them like candy. And Hart Broken by Annie Arcane was no different. Well, it was, in that it tugged so deeply at your emotions and was absolutely beautiful and phenomenally written. I mean, talk about an emotional rollercoaster.

    This girl…

    The main character is Mickey, short for Mackensington (I am glad that she has a nickname!). Mickey is a photojournalist who never drinks. Until the night that she does. She does not do one-night-stands either, but here she is the next morning in another man’s luxurious silk bed… in a penthouse. Then there is Cale. Wonderful, god-like, sculpted Cale. Rich Cale. But there is one thing that sets him apart – he is in a wheelchair. Quickly there is a sparkle, yet they are both concealing things that they would prefer not to reveal. Both have pasts that influence how they respond to each other.

    Hart Broken by Annie Arcane deals with very serious issues, but at the same time is so playful and full of laughter. At one point I think I was laughing, crying, and yelling at the same time. Yes, that can happen. I have never read a romance with a paraplegic main character, but man does it work. It is refreshing and feels very real and relatable. It is a side of romance I have never seen before and I absolutely adore it. It also shows how life is for a man in a wheelchair and brings a new perspective. It shows how they struggle on a day-to-day basis.

    I am dying for the next book of this series (which is called Hart of His… cannot wait!), but I would not risk delving any juicy details by telling you why. You will just have to see for yourself.

    Rating: 5 Stars

    Views: 33

  • The Infinite Moment of Us

    The Infinite Moment of Us

    The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle is a phenomenal young adult, YA, book. I immensely enjoyed it. In my opinion, The Infinite Moment of Us is a more modern take on Forever by Judy Bloom. While I think Forever is a great book that has become a pillar amongst the YA bookshelf, The Infinite Moment of Us has secondary storylines and more details than Forever included to some degree. Forever is a more direct story while The Infinite Moment of Us has a few additional underlying elements pertaining to the romance such as the family dynamics and past relationships.

    Charlie and Wren were a really fun couple to read about. It’s fascinating and enjoyable that two people who went to the same high school, for all four years, could have vastly different experiences and never cross paths until graduation. Wren lived a very sheltered life, working hard to fulfill her parents’ goals and dreams for her. She was accepted to Emory University and has her future all mapped out. Charlie, on the other hand, has had a tough life and no clear career goals or college plans. When Charlie finally finds a family, his adopted younger brother is in a wheelchair and he must assist his foster parents in paying bills. The pair could not be more different. Charlie always thought of Wren as untouchable and developed a crush on her from afar, but never acted on his feelings. It is not until a graduation party that he realizes he will not have another chance. This summary may sound similar to the 1989 classic film Say Anything starring John Cusack and Ione Skye, but the stories progress differently.

    I particularly enjoyed the characters were realistic and their emotions were relatable. For instance, Wren met Charlie’s ex-girlfriend, Starla, and she was not comfortable with Starla’s presence in Charlie’s life. As his love interest, why would she be comfortable with his ex-girlfriend? As a reader, Wren’s concerns were valid because it is awkward to see the person you like with someone else or strange to know that there was a previous relationship before yours. By Wren vocalizing this, she becomes a multidimensional character for the reader and a person with whom they could relate to and understand more in-depth.

    On a side note, when I was on Goodreads, I came across a negative review of this book and was very upset by the write-up. The user cited Charlie and Wren’s relationship as antifeminist or portraying stereotypical gender roles. As someone who has taken numerous gender studies classes, in addition to studying gender roles in many genres, politics, films, and literature, I did not find that to be the case in the novel. Rather than think of Wren as a stereotypical girl, I found her disposition to be reminiscent of someone who is meek and new to the world, having been sheltered her entire life. I thought it made sense she turned to Charlie or her friend for explanations. Taking into account that Charlie had an unconventional upbringing, he is more worldly to some degree. That personality trait is not him being a stereotypical man but a well-written character. The pair are opposites in many ways, which is why the reader is interested in their relationship.

    In the end, I highly recommend this novel for readers interested in young adult romance. Five out of five stars. While The Infinite Moment of Us focuses on a love story, there are many other details to entertain the reader such as fun secondary characters, witty dialogue, emotional elements, and some suspense.

    Views: 10

  • The Winner’s Kiss

    The Winner’s Kiss

     

    The Winner’s Kiss – Marie Rutkoski
    Publish Date: 24th March 2016
    Publisher: Bloomsbury
    Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, New Adult
    Pages: 318
    Format: E-ARC (from Netgalley)
    SYNOPSIS:
    War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.
    At least, that’s what he thinks.
    In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.
    But no one gets what they want just by wishing.
    As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

    ~

    The Winner’s Kiss was one of my most anticipated reads of 2016, having read and fallen in love with everything from the first two instalments of the series, and I was not disappointed. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book from NetGalley (you are literal gods, I cannot thank you enough!) and it took everything I had not to devour The Winner’s Kiss in a day.
    This story was so encapsulating, rich and vivid in language and threw you into the thick of things from the first page. But somehow, I paced myself, not wanting it to be over too quickly, I wish I had savoured it even more. It was one of those books that grasp you from the first word and doesn’t let go even after its last.

    I absolutely adore Rutkoski’s writing style, it’s intensely descriptive, fast-paced and flows like poetry, quite frankly I envy it. Her world building is strong and fantastically demonstrated throughout the series’ entirety, the plot is dense, full of twists and turns, and the characters are well-rounded, relatable and incredibly human.

    The story continues to follow the two protagonists, Kestrel and Arin. One of the things I loved about Kestrel’s character was the fact that she was trained and expected to be a warrior like her father but falls short at the ability. In modern YA literature, a strong female character is most often physically strong, in that they must be able to slice people’s throats and show little emotion, to live up to the stereotype, but in The Winner’s Trilogy, Kestrel defies this ideal and I think it is one of the reasons why she has become one of my favourite protagonists. She is strong, without being physically so, using manipulation and strategy as a pose to combat. “You don’t need to be gifted with a blade. You are your own best weapon.” She shows a range of emotions, not just the stark ‘happy’ and ‘sad’, questions the morality of her actions and what it means to forgive, live with her scars and to love. The messages conveyed throughout this novel and the series are confronting, fresh, and underrated in YA-Lit – dealing with revenge, betrayal, rights, and politics. As well as love – not only romantic love but platonic and unconditional love as well, which is not often explored thoroughly in YA/NA Lit. (which mostly focuses on the romantic/lust.)

    The thing I love about the characters in The Winner’s Kiss is that none of them are perfect, they’re all flawed, scarred and true to themselves, richly developed and portrayed by Rutkoski’s talented art, and strongly human. Arin, the male protagonist, continues to show his strength, ambition, delicacy, and kindness throughout the story. His backstory is further explored and drives his actions and desires – and something that wasn’t present in the last books but I felt was a really intriguing, cool addition, was the God of Death and his connection to Arin and involvement of the story. “Open your eyes, Death said. Look, my love, and see.” 

    One of the other things I was pleased with was how dark The Winner’s Kiss was. It has grown so much from the first book, where the relationship between Kestrel and Arin was a mere attraction and lust, the plot twisting from a drive for the freedom to a war and a revolution, and themes of strategy and gambling becoming more than just metaphors, integral to the storyline. It was full of gore, the brutality of war and focused a great deal on choices and how they affect not only a single character but an entire body and event outcome. It kept you on the edge of your seat, skillfully swapping POV between Kestrel and Arin right at the edge of a cliffhanger, leaving you no choice but to continue reading, plunging you further into the depths of the story. It was dark, there were no lies, if a character did something stupid they paid for their actions, it was very real, intense, and at times horrific and I adored it.

    Fans of the series will be happy to know that beloved characters, such as Roshar, Sarsine, Verex, Risha and Arin (the lion) all make appearances in TWK, some of which becoming integral to the ever-thickening plot and all of which growing in character development and demonstrating larger character depth. Everything wraps up nicely, yet the ending remains open in a way that is still satisfying whilst provoking wonder. I keep you thinking about the story long after it’s completed and I have a feeling its one of those series’ that never truly leave you, remaining in a special place in your heart.

    I can’t wait for what Rutkoski brings next, she has become one of my favourite authors because of this series and I strongly recommend The Winner’s Trilogy to everyone. It’s such a vivid tale full of strong characters, rich settings and dense plotlines, destroying ideals of characters and what is expected of their emotions, morals and beliefs, whilst simultaneously remaining true to themselves, man, and the human condition.

    ★★★★★ – 5 stars.

     

    Views: 8

  • The Energies of Love: Using Energy Medicine to Keep Your Relationship Thriving

    The Energies of Love: Using Energy Medicine to Keep Your Relationship Thriving

    The first book I ever read by husband and wife duo David Feinstein and Donna Eden was Energy Medicine – and I have to say that the book completely blew me away, and transformed my attitude to mental and physical health. I loved that book and raved about it to anyone I could: my dentist; my husband; the man in the grocery store who was coughing his guts up…

    The next book I bought by them, Energy Medicine for Women, was also a five-star hit; as was book number three, The Promise of Energy Psychology, which had EFT guru Gary Craig along for the ride. So when the latest Feinstein/Eden offering came out a few months ago, called The Energies of Love: Using Energy Medicine to Keep Your Relationship Thriving, I was chomping at the bit waiting for Amazon to deliver it already!

    I couldn’t wait for The Energies of Love to transform my marriage, the way Energy Medicine had transformed my approach to healthcare. But while it was still a very entertaining and interesting read, and had the standard mix of Eden’s first-hand ‘energy know-how’ and Feinstein’s superlative breadth of research and engaging writing style, it didn’t quite measure up to its forebears.

    There were still some very interesting ideas in the book, my favorite being the explanation of how oxytocin (the ‘bonding’ hormone) and high-pressure work just don’t really go together, which explains why women need a lot of companionship and R+R to be happy and relaxed, while men actually thrive, hormonally-speaking, on a healthy dose of ‘work pressure’.

    That sparked off a real ‘aha!’ moment for me, about why I’ve watched so many of my female peers crash and burn trying to balance the nurturing self-required for successful motherhood with the aggressive persona often required to succeed in the workplace. And it also helped me to understand why spending time with my young kids was the last thing I felt like doing when I had a full-time career.

    I spent years blaming myself for my inability to juggle stressful work with even more stressful toddlers until this book explained in the clearest of terms that it was really a foregone conclusion, hormonally-speaking, because stress kills oxytocin production, and you need oxytocin to engender that lovin’ feelin’. Phew! What a relief to find I had something properly scientific to blame for my challenges as a working mother.

    So even if that’s the only thing I got out of the book, it was still worth reading it. But in terms of solving my mother-in-law issues, helping my husband to open up, or helping me to connect a little more to my nearest and dearest in real time, the book wasn’t as helpful as I hoped.

    Okay, I know that at least, that first one is probably firmly in the realm of a ‘mission impossible’, but I’ve come to have such high respect for Donna Eden and David Feinstein, that I somehow hoped that they’d still manage to solve that particular problem for me (and everyone else).

    So to sum up: if you’re looking for a different take on why work can energize one-half of the couple while draining the other half; or why women love a deep and meaningful conversation while men typically want to run a mile when they hear the words ‘we need to talk’, The Energies of Love is very helpful.

    If you’ve got difficult in-laws, a huge mortgage or a super- stressful life, this book hasn’t got so much to offer in terms of transforming your ‘energies of love’ – but when you start melting down or acting out with your spouse, at least, you’ll have a better idea what hormone is behind it all.

    Views: 11