Review of The Maze Runner!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One word can sum up the expectations I had for this book:

Yessssss.

I loved everything about The Maze Runner - intriguing characters, exciting story, creative, provocative... and I get to live in the story for a few more books!

Through Thomas's eyes, the small civilization in the middle of a maze is confusing, fascinating, and strangely familiar even though he has no memory of his former life. Some of the characters are mysterious, some are funny, but all of them have an important purpose in solving the dangerous maze they are trapped in. Thomas's part is the catalyst to discovering the mysteries of the maze; things become more interesting as his role - and the role of the only girl in the maze - unfolds.

I take it as a good sign that the 1st book in this series was able to sort of resolve one conflict and introduce a whole new dimension of mystery that builds on what the characters just went through. I'm excited to see what the characters go through next - whether they get their memories back, whether Thomas and the girl find out what their past was together, whether the young will once again outsmart the controlling adults in their world...

Yes! yes! yes! Many thanks to my dentist for telling my husband he had no cavities (hopefully you will tell me the same thing when it's my turn again) and for recommending The Maze Runner! :)



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Love for the Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One of those sweet and intriguing stories that makes you feel torn between whether you like reading the flashbacks better or the present. And you gotta love twists at the end.

I loved the mystery surrounding the fortune teller/story teller and how in the end, most of the narrative turns out to be her story. Was that too much of a spoiler? I hope not.

Being the English major/writer nerd that I am, I have to put a plug in for the narrative itself. There are multiple layers of story. Each character has a story that weaves throughout all of the others. It's intricate, it's...Dickens-esque, even. You get the spunky girl on the cover telling her story, you get the fortune teller, you get the news writer, you get the soldier writing home, and... you also get the ultra mysterious Jinx character, who I believe never actually tells his story from the 1st person, but who you can't help but identify with in some degree.

(*Slight spoiler alert here.*)

why you should love Oliver Twist

First of all, how can you not automatically like someone with the last name Twist? What if my name was Sam Spin? Or Sammy Shout? Dickens is totally the pioneer of making up cool last names.

Other things to love about Dicken's Oliver Twist:

1. The boy is adorably, heart-breakingly innocent.
2. He wants so badly to please people.
3. Did I mention the cool last name?
4. The book spawned a musical which I am seeing in November.
5. The book has also inspired several movies and spin-off's, including 1 magically moving film that is absolutely beautiful, musical, romantic, happifying, and a must-see: "August Rush." Just trust me. It really is magical. And that's what this blog is about, after all - stories that are magical.
6. The novel is a Dicken's classic, for heaven's sake.
7. Second only to the last name Twist is the name given to the spunky, independent pock-picket, The Artful Dodger, also called simply The Artful. You have to say it out loud with an English accent to get the full effect. Just try it. 
8. The book gets me thinking about the human element in my own writing. How some characters really are "all bad," but some are not.

Anyway, Moon Over Manifest is next, I promise. I hit a speed bump in my audiobook listening when I stopped driving to Provo, but I'm still an avid reader. Never changing that.

Everafter is... interesting

I think I picked this up ultimately because I may or may not have seen my 14-year-old sister reading it and thought "Okay, yes, I'll give it a try and then if we agree maybe she'll come to me for more book recommendations and thus will begin a lifetime connection of literary exchanges and shared passion..."

But anyway.

It had some interesting insights when it provided possible explanations for the omnipresence of spirits, the spooky sensation of feeling watched, and a land of limbo. Pretty good job with character development for the short space, though I personally would have liked more.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic. And many of the scenes were mostly interesting to me because I kept thinking, "ooh, I hope Huntley wraps up the significance of that scene." But most of the scenes didn't have that tangible sort of "ah" moment where it all comes together.

Still, no shame in recommending for juvenile avids.

No need to read Just Ella, but choose Ella Enchanted

Don't read

 I wanted something flighty and fast and that's what this is. Plus it reminded me distantly of the Newberry Honor book by Gail Carson Levine Ella Enchanted, which was my favorite book in middle school before the movie absolutely destroyed it.

I guess that's what Haddix was counting on. Riding on the misplaced associatons with another book. But the coattails of Ella Enchanted would not be ridden.

Decent female narrator voice. But, under-developed plot, overly predictable characters, and only a cute-ish romance that tries too hard to be... real.

I'd recommend it only to 13 year old girls. Maybe. But I think even they will get a much more rewarding reading experience from Ella Enchanted. Now there's a cute, chick-flicky book with some sass and just enough depth.

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