Book Review Thread

[Ionic Doc]

What's this thread for ?

* This thread was created so that once you have finished reading a book, you can review it and share your experience with the AN community.
* So others can get a general idea of what you have finished reading and see if it sparks any interest in themselves.
* When you have finished a book, it's always good to reflect on what you have just read, a book review is a great way of doing that!


Book Review Formating

Spoiler Alert: Yes or No 


Title of Book

Brief Summary of Book:
* Should include main plot
* Setting of Book
* Brief description of Main Characters and relation to one another



Analysis (meaning and purpose of text):



Favourite Quote(s):



Reccomedantion out of 5:


Feel free to add more sections to your book review.




My book review on the Longest Memory coming in 24 hours . . .

[caffinatedloz]

What a great idea!

Spoiler Alert: Yes or No 

Spoiler

The only potential spoilers will be in spoiler tags. Open if you dare.

Title of Book
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

Brief Summary of Book:
A psychological thriller backtracks the friendship Jule and Imogen, a story told in reverse chronological order by an unreliable narrator. The plot involves romance, murders and lots of lies. It is set in a variety of places (including this beach) and involves a fair bit of travel. The friendship between these two seems tumultuous at times, but the truth is drip-fed to the reader, creating a lot of suspense. It was certainly a book that kept you wanting more, albeit a little confusing at first. Combined with the other characters, all suspicious of the nature of Jule and Imogen's relationships and the stormy relationships she has with Forrest and Brooke, we are left to wonder how things will pan out.

Analysis (meaning and purpose of text):
I'm not really sure, to be honest. This isn't something I often think about. I guess that this novel highlights many issues within our community and leaves us feeling a little uncomfortable as we begin to relate to a narrator who seems quite wicked in all she does. The issues this text touches on include adoption (and abandonment), crime and mental health.

Favourite Quote(s):
“She didn't know if she could love her own mangled, strange heart. She wanted someone else to do it for her, to see it beating behind her ribs and to say, I can see your true self. It is there, and it is rare and worthy. I love you.”

“The way you speak is often more important than anything you have to say.”

“She knew that women were rarely the centres of such stories. Instead, they were eye candy, arm candy, victims, or love interests. Mostly, they existed to help the great white hetero hero on his fucking epic journey. When there was a heroine, she weighed very little, wore very little, and had had her teeth fixed.”

“The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

"Your character isn’t static. It’s an adaptation.”

Spoiler

“If only she could go back in time, Jule felt, she would be a better person. Or a different person. She would be more herself. Or maybe less herself.”

Reccomedantion out of 5:
4/5 - I thoroughly enjoyed it but there were a lot of mixed reviews online. The reason I did not give it 5 is because of how confusing I found the story to follow initially, although it did get easier quite quickly. The ending was fantastic, which is always important when choosing a novel, so that's definitely a plus!

[Ionic Doc]

Great Review Laura_ on Genuine Fraud, I don't often read thriller books but this one seem's somewhat interesting and suspenseful - might pick it up sometime soon ( for now it's been added to my TBR list) 

Spoiler Alert: No

Title of Book
The Longest Memory by Fred D' Aguiar

Brief Summary of Book:
A somewhat historical novel relating to ' Slavery ' in America and how it was interwoven into society. Set on a Virginian Plantation, Whitechapel ( an old black slave ) is surrounded by his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and his wife. All is going well according to Whitechapel, all the slaves are working hard for the master ( Mr Whitechapel) and the Master is making a profit from the plantation. Whitechapel has a son ( Chapel ) who also falls into love with Lydia ( The Master's Daughter ). Lydia teaches Chapel to read and write, however, the Master catches Lydia and Chapel in the act of reading and forbids them from seeing each other. As time continues, Lydia and Chapel secretly meet at night where they dream of a life where they can be together . . .
This seems very unlikely to both individuals. One day Lydia informs Chapel of the ' Free North' where they can be together. They try and make arrangements to run away from the plantation and live happily ever after, unfortunately, Chapels mother (Cook)  falls ill. Chapel takes care of his mother but she later dies. Chapel devastated immediately runs away without telling anyone except his father. Not long after Chapel is captured beaten to death . . .  and his father is responsible for his death. . .

Analysis:
The novel explores how slavery is embedded into society, this is reflected by the Southern view and values at the time. Also explores how some slaves accepted their fate as slaves and showed symptoms of 'stockholder syndrome'.
themes such as Memory, Love, Family, Pain and Cruelty,  Freedom and Obedience constantly pop up throughout the duration of the novel.
The authours also aim to try and educate the reader on how slavery was justified during that time period and to remind them to remember and never forget what several generations have had to endure.

Favourite Quotes:

“Africans may be our inferiors, but they exhibit the same qualities we possess, even if they are merely imitating us. Their management is best exemplified by an approach that treats them first and foremost as subjects of God, though blessed with lesser faculties, and therefore suited to the trade of slavery.”- shows how slavery was justified

I told my son that we are different from slaves in intelligence and human standing before God. He asked why Whitechapel could do a knot that I couldn’t do. His first joke. Not a bad one. I said doing things like that was not a proper measure of intelligence. Then he asked why they were dark and we were bright. His word “bright.” - shows how even innocent white children questioned slavery

Your policy of a judicious whip failed to save him. There is only one whip, it eats flesh. - the pain inflicted on slaves through the form of public whippings.

I realised I was in love with a boy three years my junior. I realised I was in love with a slave - Lydia realises show loves Chapel

Reccomendation out of 5
5 out of 5 -  this book was amazing. D' Aguirre's writing style is phenomenal and each chapter is written in a different way. Eg: One chapel might be in  First Person while another may be in poetic form. The book is not very long so at no point did I get bored as it was a rather engaging and enjoyable book to read on an interesting issue as well.

[caffinatedloz]

Spoiler Alert: Maybe?

Spoiler

All spoilers will be in one of these!

Title of Book
We Know It Was You by Maggie Thrash

Brief Summary of Book:
This book is set at an American school (with a section for boarders). It involves a death, an amateur mystery solver, a pornography ring and a team of football players with their cheerleaders. It shows the way that high schoolers relate to each other as well as authority figures, including some very unbelievable situations.

Spoiler

This book revolves around the use of hypnosis and how one girl manages to take control of everything, inadvertently killing a pervert and seriously harming many other students.

Benny, the social outcast and "Mystery Club" leader, asserts to the only other member that the only way to solve a mystery is to Be There. As he and Virginia try to be there, suddenly the unexpected happens and a mystery arises before their very eyes. As they attempt to untangle it, things get more dangerous and confusing that they ever imagined.

Analysis (meaning and purpose of text):
Once again, not often something I think about, but this book definitely commented on the way that people relate to each other, and the way that so many people pretend to be happy or living in the moment, but are so busy putting on a mask that they do not actually experience the situation.

Favourite Quote(s):
"It’s better to know the truth. At least sometimes."

Reccomedantion out of 5: 3/5

Frustrations:
This book dealt very poorly with topics including:

Spoiler

- disability (although there was somewhat of a resolution, it would have been nice to see it taken a bit further)
- sexual assault (and child pornography)
- racism

The way that the book dealt with them was rather unimpressive, and it would have been great to see them delved into further.

It also feels as though it lacks an ending, which is understandable as it will be part of a series, but so many little details were left unresolved.

[caffinatedloz]

Spoiler Alert: Yes or No 
No

Title of Book
Scythe by Neal Shuterman

Brief Summary of Book:
Two apprentice "Scythes" (the bringers of death in a time when humans have truly conquered death) are forced to balance personal relationships, the way that society perceives them and the wishes of their mentors. They are entangled in plots far bigger than themselves, and sometimes it seems that the wrong action may be the only right choice.

Analysis (meaning and purpose of text):
This text portrays AI in a very different way to the Illuminae Files and I think that the idea of a benevolent and (almost) all-powerful leader is really interesting.

The other issue that this book looks at is the idea of humanity conquering death and disease by truly becoming immortal. No one dies, they are simply rendered dead-ish and sent off to be revived. Disability and disease and things of the past.

This book also considers the fact that we require pain and despair in order to experience true joy. If pain is numbed, then so is happiness, meaning that everyone lives in a pleasant (but not good) state.

Favourite Quote(s):
“My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human. There’s no version of God that can help us if we ever lose that.”

“Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy.”

“Everyone is guilty of something, and everyone still harbours a memory of childhood innocence, no matter how many layers of life wrap around it. Humanity is innocent; humanity is guilty, and both states are undeniably true.”

Reccomedantion out of 5: