Triple Threat Book Review

My first review is about "Matched", by Ally Condie.

What an amazing, thought-provoking story. It reminded me of The Giver, or Shades of Grey, in that it takes place in a distant future where everybody's lives are run by very strict rules, and forget how things used to be. The society seems clean, safe, a perfect paradise, until someone discovers that secrets are being kept, and not everything is as it seems.

In the case of Matched, the main character, Cassia, learns that her Society may not be as perfect as she first thought when she sees two pictures, not one, of boys that she's supposed to be "matched up" with. (That's right. Arranged marriage.) One is a good friend from childhood, and at first it seems plain to see they're meant to be together. The other is someone she knows, but not that well. Still, the more she spends time with this guy (in secret, of course), the more she discovers what true love really is.

The writing style is really something. Not to mention the amazing world that the author built up in my head, and some of the characters that inhabited it. The budding romance between Cassia and her secret love, Ky, was a beautiful thing. The only problem I'd have with it is that her first Matchee, (oh, I've forgotten his name already. O,o) never really had a chance with her in my mind. Yeah, he was a nice guy, but he couldn't compete for her love. So the love-triangle didn't stand very well.

Also, as much as I enjoyed flying through the pages, I have to admit that the ending was a pretty big letdown. Very anti-climactic. Lots of loose ends. By the last couple chapters, I stopped caring about Cassia and knew that, if there was a sequel to this, I wouldn't bother reading it.

But still, despite all that... I'd say Matched was a good book. I'm glad I read it. ^_^

Now... You all remember my last review of a James Patterson book, right? Well, it's time for a double-dose of Patterson reviews!

I think I can definitely say that I'm a fan of James Patterson now. ^__^ I simply love the style he has, of making all his chapter 2, 3, or at most 4 pages long, and leaving a cliff-hanger at every last paragraph. This guy knows how to string the reader along, hanging on to his every word, to find out what becomes of his characters... just likeanother certain James I know. ^_~

First I read "Toys", which happens to be Patterson's latest release. Fantastic! It also takes place in the future, only it's not one of those "perfect" societies. More one of those dystopian futures, where attractive, powerful, super-smart superhuman cyborg people, called Elites, control the world, and ordinary humans are considered lower-life forms. You should hear them at their fancy parties. They tell human jokes like they were blonde jokes. O_o The story takes off when the main character, Hays, discovers that he's not an Elite like he thought he was, but human. And it's up to him to save mankind before the Elites destroy them.

The other book, "When the Wind Blows", was the best Patterson novel I've read yet! One thing that really impressed me is that I saw how it was possible to tell a story from many different sides, including a first person narration. Each point of view had a very distinct voice to it. I loved all the characters, most especially Max, the girl with silver angel wings. The romance between Frannie and Kit was quite well done (if there's anything I've learned from James Patterson, it's that he always includes a couple love-making scenes in his books. And he's not half-bad at writing them! O_o), but Max and the other "bird children" were the characters I wanted to keep reading about. It's a good thing there's a sequel, "The Lake House", because I'm going to read it right away. In fact, I've already started! ^_^

I know that there's a whole separate series for Max and her friends, the Maximum Ride series. I remember glancing through a graphic novel of that, but it didn't hold my interest very well. But since learning what a phenomenal writer James Patterson is, and since I've heard good things about it from my friends, I fully intend to give this series a chance in the very near future. ^_~

Sunday at Tiffany's

Believe it or not, before this book, I had never read James Patterson before. Sunday at Tiffany's was the perfect novel to break the ice. What a first impression!

Basically, a woman runs into her old imaginary friend, who had to leave her when she was 9 years old, and they both fall in love. Hmm... that actually sounds a little weird, falling in love with your imaginary friend. O,o But trust me, it's a really beautiful romance. The characters were awesome, and the chapters were really short, like 2 or 3 pages per, so it makes for much, much page-turning action. It was nearly impossible to put down.

I think I have a new favorite author. ^_^

Across the Universe

This is one of those rare books that I'd probably classify as one of the top ten best books I've read this year. That's right. I think I'd definitely put it up there with the likes of "The Book Thief" and "Shiver".

I first learned about this book in a review by old friends of mine, the Lateiner Gang.You can see their review here. They pretty much tell you the whole story without spoiling too much.

When I heard about it, the story kind of reminded me of "Wall*E", only without the robots. Basically, it's a sci-fi story that takes place in the future, with people taking off in a big spaceship to colonize a new planet, which is 300 years away from Earth. Certain people, like scientists, military leaders, important people, get cryogenically frozen. Then you have a couple thousand other people to run the ship and help it reach it's destination. Fast-forward a few centuries, and you have a mystery-murderer unplugging certain frozens, one of them a teenage girl. Why?

The love story is okay. It's the sci-fi stuff that was really amazing. All the people who live on the spaceship, centuries after it launches, evolve into a kind of "mono-ethnic" race. Everyone has roughly the same features and traits, so no one is different. Each person has a mini-communicator embedded inside their ear, so you can talk to anyone you want on the ship with a simple vocal command. (I know someone who'd probably think this was ultra-cool. ^_~)

Amazing story. Really compelling. Will definitely leave you thinking after you've closed the book.

Shiver

This book was heavily recommended to me by my friend Amy, aka the Simple Little Bookworm (see her review of it here). Since I had read and intensely enjoyed The Book Thief, another novel Amy said I would like, I decided to give "Shiver" a try.

Getting into it, I knew right off the bat that it would remind me a lot of the Twilight Saga, because they were both paranormal teen romance novels. I only hoped that thisstory would be a better one. Trust me. It was. ^_^

Here are the few key differences that makes Shiver the better read:

~There are only werewolves. No vampires whatsoever! This was a very good thing, in my case. (I've been on Team Jacob from the start. ^_~)

~The book is written so that almost every other chapter is narrated either by the human girl, Grace, and the werewolf boy, Sam. Well,most of it is from Grace's view, but at least not all of it, as was Bella's case.

~There aren't any love triangles. So the story is ultra-simple. Grace loves Sam. Sam loves Grace. That's it. It's like what might have happened if Bella had never fallen in love with Edward, only Jacob.

Besides these things, the similarities to Twilight were pretty strong, but this book somehow seemed a lot better written. The characters seemed more like real, multi-dimensional, good-hearted people. The rules of this fictional world (some people can turn into werewolves, but only when the temperature gets cold) were acceptable, with some suspension-of-belief.

Most of all, the 2 lead characters, Grace and Sam, were characters that I truly wanted to see get together. They treated each other like equals, even though one of them obviously had super-natural powers that the other didn't. (This is unlike the relationship inTwilight, where Bella basically treats Edward like a god, and she doesn't understand why he's in love with her, because she has low self-esteem.)

I'm not sure what else I can say without giving away the story, but suffice it to say that I really liked it. I hear that this is only the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, though I believe Shiverdoes quite well, even on it's own. (Except the ending felt strangely anti-climactic. O,o) Well, perhaps I'll read the other two in the series,Linger and Forever, when the latter comes out this July.

Thanks, Amy. 2 for 2, you have steered me in the right direction of a good read. What do you have for me next? ^_~

The Book Thief

Gosh, what a reading experience... I don't think I will easily forget it. The story, the characters, the setting... it all felt so real. (Well, I expect that's because it takes place in Germany in the 1940's. Perhaps the characters are fictional, but the events that were written about, I could easily believe actually happened.)

So here's the scoop on this book: It's narrated by Death (yeah, really. And he is quite the story-teller, I can assure you). It takes place in Nazi Germany, when Hitler is gaining power and support, and Jews were hunted. (Gulp. Personal subject, since I'm a Jew myself. I remember going to Israel last summer on my Taglit trip, and going to the Holocaust memorial. Just breaks my heart... !,!)

A 10-year old girl, Liesel, is sent away to live with a foster family, because her poor mother can't take care of her anymore. It takes getting used to, but eventually she adapts to life with her new family. Her foster dad is a wonderful character; you like him right from the start. Her new mom is a more complex kind of person. She acts pretty mean, but as the story goes on, you see that she's really got a big heart. I also love the character of her best friend, Rudy Steiner, the boy next door. During the course of the book, Liesel learns to read, she begins stealing books from the mayor's library, and her family takes in an escaped Jew named Max (for complicated reasons).

It is a wonderful coming of age story. It will no doubt make my list of "Ten Best Books of 2011" at the end of the year. One of the best things about this book is that it teaches you a few interesting words in German, so it's slightly educational. Another special thing I discovered, when I was more than halfway into the book, is that... I am a fictional character! The boy Rudy has a 5-year-old sister named BETTINA! She is mentioned a few times as a very minor, throw-away character... But still!!!

So yes, I'm in a famous book!!! Only my last name is Steiner... ^_^

My 2010 Books

Sorry that I pretty much stopped posting book reviews since October this year. ~,~ This will probably be the last post you hear from Bettina's Book Club. It had a good, long, 2 year run.

This doesn't mean I'm going to stop reading, or be any less of a bibliophile than I am now. No sirree bob! All you have to do to keep up with my reading habits (and much more!) is to go to The Majik of Magenta, my home blog. Follow me, please. Cya there. And Happy New Year. ^_~

~~~~~~~~

74 In all for 2010! WOW!

January books ~ 11

February books ~ 6

March books ~ 7

April books ~ 12

May books ~ 3

June books ~ 3

July books ~ 10

August books ~ 9

September books ~ 9

October books ~ 4