The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky

Genre: YA Coming of Age

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After watching the movie countless times and falling in love with it differently each and every time, I finally read the book. And I fell in love in a completely different way then the movie, and I have to say that everyone should read this book at some point in their life.

I loved the format of this book, how it was a compilation of letters like a diary and we actually got to see how Charlie thinks. Chbosky shows how Charlie’s mind would wander off as he kept asking why and I loved that. And Charlie’s thoughts were so insightful and relatable, as if I was thinking them myself. I actually think I relate to Charlie the most out of all the literary characters I have read about. He was sad and happy and he saw the pain in others and knew how to help them. He understands that people deal with pain differently and just because there are starving kids in china that doesn’t change the fact that people are upset. I am always telling people that, and I loved how Charlie was so accepting, just like I try to be.

Also, I loved how the book showed growth. In the beginning, Charlie seemed so immature and he cried a lot for reasons I didn’t understand, but as the story went on his voice, writing, and character really started to mature and evolve in more ways than one.

Last but not least, I just loved the story. It was so incredibly heartbreaking and appalling, but somehow Charlie managed to see a silver lining and he made it seem like less. There were so many moments where I just wanted to cry, and others when I wanted to smile, and at the end most of all I felt content. I won’t give away the ending, but even though Charlie was messed up, he made the readers and everyone else feel okay, including himself.

Overall 5 stars, completely!

This Girl by Colleen Hoover

This Girl by Colleen Hoover

Series: Slammed Book 3

Genre: Young Adult Romance

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I sped through this book, finishing it in just a few hours. I don’t know if it’s because I loved it, because it was a great story, or because I just really wanted to finish it, but I didn’t put it down until it was done, and it was great.

This book was from the point of view of Will and he was telling Layken about his experience meeting her. He was basically explaining his point of view of the events that transpired in Slammed.

It was so nice to hear the other character’s point of view for once. Everyone is always wondering what was going through his mind. I loved getting the chance to see how he reacted and his thoughts.

Also, I loved the format. Hoover started off the book with Layken and Will’s honeymoon and then Will jumped right in to his first anecdote. Then after each story, she would come back in to the honeymoon and show how Layken felt about what Will had said.

There are two sides to every story, and it was great to have the insight to both sides of this one.

I have to say this book wasn’t as funny and emotional as the second one. I already knew all that had happened, so there weren’t any big surprises and plot twists which I usually love. But this book wasn’t that type of book, so I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and let the story sweep me up.

And it did, easily. Four stars.

*Oh, and the slam poetry was great. Again.

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

Series: Slammed Book 2

Genre: Young Adult Romance

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After reading Slammed, I couldn’t think of anything else that could happen to Layken and Will. Their lives were already so messed up that I didn’t think that I, let alone they, could handle any more pain and torture. But, being a Colleen Hoover book, I knew that she would find some way to tear our hearts out. And she did a fantastic job at it, and I can’t decide if I should love her for it or hate her for it.

This book started slow, but not in a boring way. It was in a perfect way, in a way that kept the smile on my face. When the first hint of action came up, I was so extremely frustrated, and the happiness died away. Layken and Will were being stupid again, just like in the first one. Then the smile was put back on my face, however briefly, because Colleen Hoover did the unspeakable, and she had me on the edge of my seat with tears streaming down my face for chapters on end. Wow, just wow. After that, it began to wind down and for once I wasn’t cursing Colleen Hoover.

I fell in love with the side characters in this book. Layken and Will are still in a special place in my heart from their journey in Slammed, but in this sequel I fell in love with Kel and Caulder, with Sherry and Kiersten. Hoover did an excellent job, once again, with incorporating different characters with different lessons to teach, and I love that.

Las but not least, Layken’s mother got me again. Even though she was gone, she was still ever present in the story, constantly influencing both Layken and Will. I loved how Hoover incorporated her mom in the story with every chance she could get.

This book was the perfect combination of humor, loss, pain, anger, and happiness, and I know I couldn’t get enough. It was so emotional and quite the roller coaster. My only words are damn you, Colleen Hoover.

And I love you, too. Five stars.

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Series: Slammed Book 1

Genre: Young Adult Romance

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I have recently been very in to slam poetry. I have seen many of the most popular performances on YouTube and I enjoy writing my own. When I mentioned this to my mom, she asked me if I had started reading Slammed yet. I told her no, but was immediately interested in reading this book. The fact that it had to do with slam poetry when I was in the midst of an obsession was a happy coincidence, and I jumped right in. I had previously read Colleen Hoover’s book Hopeless, which was emotionally shattering, so I had high hopes for Slammed.

I was immediately attached and connected to Layken in that first chapter, especially when I saw how incredibly awkward she is. I loved how Hoover opened up with a short anecdote of Lake with her father, which really set the scene for the rest of the book. I could tell right off that bat that this was going to be an emotional book, although I still didn’t know what to expect.

Then Colleen introduced Will, and my heart was already in shambles, especially after their first date. He seemed so genuine, so real, and I was in love. He seemed perfect, until Lake saw him again in her high school—teaching her poetry class. I loved that twist and I couldn’t wait to see how they handled it, and time and time again Will kept pushing Lake away and pulling her back. Both of their reactions infuriated me. Will had no right to treat Lake that way, and Lake had no right to be that angry with him. It was a very frustrating love story and I figured that that was the substance of the book—until Lake’s mom came in. And, boy, did Colleen Hoover get me again.

I loved the way Hoover incorporated all of the little messages and life lessons, from both Will, Lake’s mom, and Eddie. I loved the character-to-character connections in this book and the way Hoover described all of the relationships. She made each character play an important role in the story and I loved that. And I especially loved the poetry, and I wish that I could see those poems performed. This book was fantastic, not at all sappy, and it was definitely heart wrenching!

I would give this book an overall 4.5 star rating (although I’d click 5 on goodreads J).

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

Series: The Lord of the Rings Book 1

Genre: Fantasy

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Just recently I traveled to New Zealand with my family. I fell in love with the ever-changing scenery and beauty there. It was my paradise. My trip to this foreign and exotic country also spurred my passion for The Lord of the Rings and all things Middle Earth. I got to see Hobbiton and the spot where they filmed Rivendell. It was magnificent. After watching the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies countless times, I finally decided to read the books, no matter how long and hard it will be.

And quite a journey it was. Tolkien took me through the Shire and Lothlorien, brought me to Rivendell and Bree. I met many characters, both in the movies and not, and I enjoyed the ride very much.

However, as I mentioned after reading The Hobbit, I couldn’t connect with the characters. In most of the books I have read, it was very easy to connect with the characters and their emotions. I’m so used to empathizing with them and feeling what they feel. Most authors lay that connection out right before you, but Tolkien either had difficulty doing that or did not plan to do so. The characters had no depth, and they were very static and one sided. I could follow along with the story just as well and often found myself lost in the action, but I didn’t feel as deeply as I have with other books of this kind, which definitely affected my overall opinion of this book. The connection with the characters is the most important part for me in any novel. That’s why it was so difficult for me to get through this book, as well as The Hobbit.

Also, I thought it strange that the first 300 pages consisted of small, unimportant events and one single short journey to Rivendell, and the last 100 pages consisted of the rest of the story, as well as a very long and tiring conversation during the council at Rivendell. That made it very hard to read this book because most of the substance was dialogue, both necessary and unnecessary (as it seemed to me), and it made the story quite boring.

Don’t get me wrong—I was enthralled from cover to cover, envisioning the movie whenever I could. But there were parts where the story lulled and I had to put the book down as opposed to the more appealing feeling of not being able to put the book down.

Overall, my opinion is in the middle. I did not like that I could understand the characters, but not empathize with them, and I did not like that Tolkien used many words to tell something that could have been told in very few. I did love the plot, and the story, and the amazing fantasy, and especially the connection I had between this book and New Zealand (and even the movies, though I enjoyed those far more than the experience of reading this book).

3 stars.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

Series: The Lord of the Rings Prequel

Genre: Fantasy

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I read this book despite all of the complaints I’d heard about how boring it was and how hard it was to get into it. After all, that was the very reason that I had not yet read this book in the first place. However, I read it anyways, and was surprised to find that it wasn’t boring at all. Perhaps I was able to get through the book because of my pure determination to prove those who told me I couldn’t do it wrong, but if that had been the fact then I would not have found the book quite entertaining. It is true, some parts were a bit boring, but the plot was generally fast paced and there were many interesting adventures that Mr. Baggins encountered.

However, in my opinion it was very hard to connect with any of the characters, which made it a little harder to remain interested. The whole book felt quite emotionless, while I am used to overly emotional novels (this may be explained by the fact that Tolkien was writing for children, but I explain my reasoning further down). I found that most of the characters were very flat and one-sided, besides Bilbo Baggins himself who evolved from a stuck-up respectable hobbit to a brave, clever, and adventurous burglar. I read somewhere that there are two types of books: commercial and literary, where commercial books are driven by the plot and literary books are driven by the characters. I would classify The Hobbit as a commercial book—now, don’t think I’m bashing Tolkien’s writing ability; I most definitely am not—because it focuses mainly on the events taking place and on the unfolding of the plot. That means that it wasn’t the author’s purpose to get the readers to connect with the characters so much as tell an entertaining story.

And what an entertaining story he told! Having grown up with The Lord of the Rings movies, I was already accustomed to the world Tolkien created, so his imagination wasn’t as much a surprise to me. Also, there were many worlds created after his time that rivaled his, and so imagination like his became slightly more common. But, when I realize that these books were published in the early 20^th century, I am greatly surprised at the wonderful stories he created, and I praise his work immensely.

Also, the whole time I was reading this book I couldn’t help but compare it to the movies recently created, which is why the lack of character depth was so surprising to me. In the movies, there were many personalities to each character and many back-stories. Yet in the books we did not get to know hardly any of the characters at all. The movies actually angered me, as well, because I am a very harsh critic when it comes to books being made into movies—what a disaster Divergent was!—and it bothered me that they lessened Bilbo’s importance and changed many events. Perhaps that’s just in my nature, though, to find everything wrong with a film representation of a book, because before reading this story I thoroughly enjoyed those those movies.

That doesn’t lesson my opinion on the book, and I’d give it 3 stars.

Hello!

Hello, everyone!

I am finally starting this blog with my first post. I attempted to start it before, but I was far to young and immature to formulate non-biased opinions on the books I read. I might not be mature enough even now, but I'm willing to give it a try!

So, I'm going to introduce myself. My name is Cameron, I am a freshman in high school and I read a lot. I love to write, as I'm sure most teenage readers do, and I aspire to publish a book sometime in the future. Besides that dream, I don't know where I'll be in ten years, and I can't see myself past college.

Well, I hope I will be able to keep this blog going longer than before and I hope my book reviews are helpful to readers everywhere!