One Liners

Right now I'm reading John Green's, An Abundance of Katherine, and it's going pretty well.  It's been a little slow simple because I'm working on biology research this summer and after working my mind all day I just want to fall asleep.  I'm nearly finished so I will probably review it once it's done but what I really wanted to talk about was the pleasure I get from finding the single poetic lines or phrases in novels.

I read mostly YA fiction and to be completely realistic the genre is not always filled with the same literary beauty that can be found in the classics.  I have no problem with this fact.  If I did I would be reading more adult literature or plunging my way through the classics. (Something that I want to do but can't manage this summer).  Every now and then though we are surprised by little bits of literary magic in the pages of these YA books.

I love finding these lines.  They make me exceedingly happy and catch my attention because they add a touch of texture to the language.  John Green's books are fun because they are filled with these little bits.  You only have to open any page of A Fault in Our Stars to find these gems and a few of these lines have crept up on me in An Abundance of Katherines.

These little pieces of poetry are one of the ways that YA literature redeems itself in front of all those that claim it's lacking in depth or sophistication.  These lines are important in expanding the reader's ability to understand her world.  These lines of poetic prose increases the vocabulary of a reader who is living in a world where vocabulary is become less important.

I'm probably being an overexcited English major but language is so important to me and finding pieces of language that I love makes my day.

A Fault in Our Stars Review

Goodreads

Okay it's been a few weeks of crazy but I am finally going to review A Fault in Our Stars, by John Green.  If you didn't know, I was extremely excited to read this book.  My friends recommended the book to me and after reading the first chapter on Amazon I had to order it. (As a side note I love when you can read the first few chapters of books online.  There really is no other way to know if you like the writing style).  Because I have clearly not entered the decade of reading from a Kindle, I had to wait a few days to get my hands on it but once I started I couldn't put it down.

Before I get into all the reasons I think you should read this book here is the blurb from Goodreads to tempt you.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.  

I know what you're thinking.  Is this really just another YA book about sick kids battling cancer?  What a cry fest, and you are partly right.  I broke down at the end of this book.  In fact, I had to stop a few times and tell myself what was happening wasn't real and everything in life was going to be okay. To describe this book as just a cry fest, though, is not doing it justice.  

First of all, in his character, Hazel, John Green has crafted an amazing voice.  She is cynical, yes I'm sure any kid dying of cancer cannot help but be a little cynical at one point or another, but she is also interesting to read.  She's funny, insightful, and wise in a way that very few 16 year olds are.  However, Hazel was also just a likable character, in my opinion.  

Then there is Augustus Waters.  What can I say about him other than that he is the perfect human being.  He is funny, charismatic, and a delight to read about.  The best part about his character is that he has flaws, like anyone else, but you learn about them slowly and he fleshes out by the end of the book.  I felt like I knew him so well.  

So despite despite this book focusing on a dying girl it was a fun read.  Even during the saddest parts of the book John Green inserts little bits of humor so you are laughing and crying at the same time.  I went through so many emotions while reading and at one point I was so close to throwing this book across the room (if you've read it you probably know which part I mean).  Overall, this book was a great way to break of the piles of work that are slowly taking over my life. 

So Excited!

Have you ever been so excited to read a book that you can't wait to get your hands on it?  I mean the "you need it now" kind of excited.  That happened to me a few days ago.  I was with some of my friends eating lunch when we began talking about books (because nearly all of my friends are die hard readers).  Both of my friends had read A Fault in Our Stars by John Green and loved it.

Now I wasn't sure how I was going to like it.  I attempted to start Looking for Alaska last year and failed miserably. I don't know what is was but I just couldn't get into it and so to this day it continues to gather dust on my bookshelf.  Hopefully one day I will give it another chance. Needless to say, I was skeptical but willing to give A Fault in Our Stars a chance.  (Plus have you seen the trailer for the movie? It looks really good and I can't watch something without reading it first or I will seriously never read it. Ever.)

This brings us to last Thursday.  I had finished class and decided to fire up Amazon and take a look at this book my friends were raving about over lunch.  It probably took me two paragraphs and I was hooked. I knew I needed the book!  I read the first eight pages and the main characters voice is just so great. The writing is crisp and sarcastic with a little bit of cynicism.  Perfection, I guess, if your going by my mind.

Hopefully the book will be here by tomorrow or the day after because I might be wrong but I feel like this is going to be a two day kind of book.  Two days and done.  Hopefully my classes won't be too taxing this week.  Either way I think reading is a much better way to procrastinate than checking your email five times an hour or looking at the same silly Facebook statuses.

Anyway I can't wait for it to get here so I can crack open it's fresh new pages.

Oh and here is a look at the trailer for the movie if you haven't seen it already.  The actress playing Hazel is also in the movie adaptation of Divergent, which comes out in March!  I'm extremely excited for that too.

xoxo Caitlin

Shadow and Bone Review

Goodreads

Now I know that I'm a little late to get into this series but if you're like me and need some fantasy to fill the spaces between the numerous dystopian novels this could be your book.  To be completely honest I bought Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo because of the hype.  I had seen it's cover on so many blogs it was hard to not pick it up.  I have to say that I'm happy I gave into the urge to buy this book.  While it was this book will probably not be on one of my reread lists it was certainly good. (Especially considering the fact that it only took me a few days to finish). 

The development of Alina is what sets Bardugo's heroine apart.

At first I was afraid that Bardugo was going to write the same female heroine that I've read over and over in just about every new young adult book ever.  You know the girl that's so sullen and sulky the pages are dripping in the stinky smell of teen angst.  Not to say that there wasn't a fair amount of sulking but what made this different is that Alina changed.  There was a distinct growth in her character by the end of the book.  In my head, at least, her voice changed from the confused and self depreciating teenage girl to something a little stronger.  I hope she becomes more able to see her self worth with the next book.  

I also enjoyed the other characters within the story.  Darkling was an amazingly manipulative character.  The kind of person you know you shouldn't trust yet something inside you says to give him a chance.  He's got the whole tall, dark and handsome thing going on.  Oh and let's not forget his immense power. 

Now there were a few things that I did not particularly like throughout this novel.  For one, it was very similar to Kristen Cashore's, Graceling.  Not to say that there is any plagiarizing here because there isn't but if you are writing in the same market as someone else there is pressure to make it better.  This book just wasn't as good as Graceling, in my opinion.  Katsa is a much better character than Alina and the world of Graceling is more developed than Shadow and Bone.  

And that's the thing. I wish Bardugo had spent more time describing her world.  

I felt like I didn't really know anything about it other than the dark shadow fold.  Just because you have a map at the beginning of your book does not mean that you don't have to enlighten the reader a little bit on the politics and geography of your world.  Fantasy is a genre built on worlds.  Sure you can have deep, impeccably flawed and relatable characters written into intriguingly twisting plots but without the world motives are lost and there are no rules.  Bardugo let her world slide away and that, for me, is the worst mistake in fantasy because fantasy world stick with the reader.  We might forget characters names or subtle plot lines but we never forget the truly magnificent worlds.  I didn't want to be apart of Bardugo's world because I didn't feel like it was much different from my own. 

So should you give Shadow and Bone a try?  Yes I think you should.  It might not be your favorite reading experience and there are many flaws in the writing but this book definitely captivated me.  I will be reading the next book in the series as soon as I get my hands on it in hopes for an even more fantastic experience. 

Why Veronica Roth is Dauntless

    

                                           Goodreads

Its been almost three weeks since I've been home and I have steadily been reading through my boredom as best as I can.  One of the books I decided to catch up on was Veronica Roth's, Allegiant.  Now I'm not going to do a traditional review because let's face it there are plenty of amazing reviews already out there.  Rather I am going to talk about why this series has shown Veronica Roth is a dauntless writer.  This being said, there are going to be major spoilers on this page so if you haven't read any of her books and plan on doing so turn away now.

I repeat get off this page now!

Okay now that you've been sufficiently warned I'm going to continue onward by saying that Veronica Roth is a bad ass writer.  Her series is well written and her characters and relationships are about as realistic as it gets.  

The first reason I wanted to post this was after finishing Allegiant I was completely stunned.  She killed off her heroine.  Like bang dead!  Authors find it difficult to kill off characters to begin with, let alone kill of the one person that they have placed at the forefront of their story (unless, of course, you are George R.R. Martin).  However hard it was to kill of Tris, though, I commend Roth on her ability to finish her character's journey.  She completed the character development of Tris fully and thus created on of the most whole and realistic characters I have read.  Sure Roth may have been able to get around killing off Tris but would that have made her character truly whole?  Maybe, maybe not, but I think that in the end Roth did the right thing even though it was truly heartbreaking to read the last few chapters of the book. 

It is strange when a character that you liked so much dies.  You say to yourself 'no this won't happen.  Someone will save them' and then they die.  It was a little like the way I felt when Ned Stark dies in Game of Thrones (wow there are spoilers all over this post, sorry).  I felt like it wasn't happening and by some miracle someone would save him and everything would be okay.  Instead it made for a more realistic story line because in real life odds are they would die.  I don't like to say that life doesn't have happy endings because great things happen every day but I will say that sometimes things happen for reasons we don't know.  To have a book end the way the Roth ended Allegiant makes it more realistic.  Tris had to die. 

The second reason that Veronica Roth is a beast of a writer is her ability to create realistically imperfect relationships.  I feel like too often books are filled with perfect relationships that always work out when in reality relationships aren't like this.  Tris and Tobias' relationship is filled with flaws.  They lie to each other, they feel betrayed sometimes, they bring huge amounts of baggage that only people who live in a post apocalyptic society could ever imagine, but they make it work.  I love the way that this allows people to connect to characters simply because they can empathize with the relationship on the page.  

The final reason that Veronica Roth is a great writer is that she make statements about life and society.  I believe that every good book makes a statement about something.  I think one of the statements she makes over the course of her series is that people should be judged on their personality and not the groups society places them in.  While it may seem as though she is criticizing the factions I think that she does a good job of highlighting the good in each faction.  She equalizes both the good and bad by having both good and bad characters represent each faction showing that individuality is what makes a person not a label.  

It is obvious that I enjoyed reading and watching the characters evolve as the stories went on and while the last book felt somewhat hard to get through I have immense respect for Roth's ability to create a realistic story.  I look forward to seeing what else she creates in the future. 

10 Fun Facts About Australia and New Zealand

Its official, I once again have my feet firmly planted on U.S. soil.  I landed in Boston two days ago after the longest Friday of my life (literally the longest because of the time difference).  I don't think it will really hit me that I'm home until I get back home and enter the infinite stretch of boredom that is known as winter break.  To help keep the magic of my trip alive a little longer, though, I thought it would be fun to type out a list of things that were different or fun about Australia and New Zealand. 

1. Australians don't eat peanut butter and jelly. In fact many think it is totally weird. 

2. Tim Tams are by far one of the best cookies ever! 

3. It is normal to become aware of the fact that you now have a funny accent. 

4. The Great Barrier Reef is dying.  I am so happy I got to see it before it was too late.

5. Food is super expensive and portions are smaller.  

6. Aussies like to shorten everything.  For example, the city of Brisbane and affectionately called Brissie. 

7. New Zealanders are called Kiwi's.  Don't worry they don't mind. 

8. If you have the chance to see a glacier in New Zealand. DO IT. No matter the cost. 

9. New Zealand farms deer.  As a girl from the Northeastern U.S. this seemed so strange to me. 

10. Australians and New Zealanders are some of the nicest people I have ever met.  

In the end Australia and New Zealand are some of the most unique places in the world.  Seeing kangaroos never got old and the beautiful scenery of the South Island of New Zealand is truly spectacular.  If you ever have the chance to visit I say go.  My time down under was one of the best experiences of my life.  

To the South of Middle Earth

If you ever have the chance to visit New Zealand, do it.

I don't really like making list of my favorite places I've been because really every place is so different and fun how can you compare them, but if I had such a list New Zealand would be pretty close to the top.  Right now I am touring around the South Island from Christchurch down to Queenstown and back up the Christchurch through the Kiwi Experience bus tour.  This tour was a little expensive but definitely worth it if you don't want to worry about driving yourself during your vacation.

The South Island has so far been one of the most beautiful places I've been to in a long time.  I would definitely recommend taking the train through the alps.  I did this on my first day from Christchurch to Greymouth and while Greymouth is not that great of a city the views of some of the most beautiful landscape is well worth it.

by Caitlin Maloney

After staying the Greymouth I slowly made my way down to Queenstown stopping along the way in small towns.  In Wanaka I took a helicopter ride up to a glacier which was quite possibly the most incredible moment of my life.  The glacier is one of only three in the world that goes right down into a rainforest.  It is slowly receding and it is sad to know that it may not be there when my children are grown.

By Caitlin Maloney

Franz Josef Glacier By Caitlin Maloney

Fox Glacier By Caitlin Maloney

Queenstown was my final destination.  Its a lovely little tourist town tucked deep in the mountains looking over a beautiful lake.  If you are in any way interested in adventure sports this is the place to get your adrenaline running. Whether it be bungy jumping, sky diving, or extreme biking this is the place for you.  It's also the place for you if you like looking at beautiful scenery, eating wicked good burgers, hiking mountains, and having a relaxing vacation in New Zealand.

Queenstown Warf by Caitlin Maloney 

Queenstown Warf by Caitlin Maloney

So really if you are looking for your next international adventure I would seriously consider jetting off to New Zealand.  In my opinion it is one of the most unique places on Earth.