JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos.

Who else is re-reading this ahead of the sequel release? Who else is so excited that Go Set a Watchman is coming out soon? The day it’s released, I’ll be outside the bookstore yelling ‘just take all my money’ and buying the first copy I see. Because this book is brilliant, and after 50-odd years, Harper Lee is expected to produce an equally-superb sequel.

First of all, this book is nothing like how I remember when I read it in Grade 10. True, I didn’t want to read it in Grade 10 because I was forced to read it in school, and we all know that if a child is forced to read something, they won’t enjoy it.

I remember this book being all about the court case for the alleged rape of a white girl by a black man. And although this case is mentioned a few times ahead of the court case, the trial doesn’t actually start until pretty much the final 50 pages of the book.

I feel like if this book wasn’t written by Harper Lee, and an author right now thought about writing it, the court case would start in the first 50 pages. It seems that with the current fiction market in the publishing industry, the book has to ‘grab the reader in the first chapter’. And this does help. BUT what To Kill a Mockingbird actually does in the first 250 pages is much more. It establishes setting and social and racial interrelations. It establishes the relationship between Scout and her brother and her father. It highlights their family values and their respect for black people. It also introduces a melancholic but scary atmosphere. The book seems dark and ominous and you worry for the characters – you worry more in the first half of the book than towards the end of the book when Scout and her brother are attacked (spoilers, sorry, but if you haven’t yet read this book, what have you been doing for the past 50 years?).

The dialogue is consistent and the characters have depth. Atticus is not overly affectionate, but is an inspirational father figure in literature. This book is just as good a re-read as it is the first time you pick it up. And it’s not overly long, so hurry up and read it before the sequel comes out.

My Score: 10/10
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If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

This is another novel I picked up because I’d heard so much about it on social media. It’s a huge hit among the YA book bloggers, and I had high hopes. The writing is well done, and Gayle Forman weaves between present and past effectively. There are moments in the book where you really sympathise with Mia and want to find out what happens. However, there are a lot of flaws as well, and I really struggled to get into the story and the characters.

Some parts of the story are a little unrealistic. Like the part where Mia plays Adam’s ‘body like a cello’ (it sounds sexual, but it’s not supposed to be). Cello bow and all. It was cheesy. And cringey. Also, Mia’s parents aren’t like all parents, either. Not all parents are laidback and encouraging and cool. A lot of reviews I’ve read of this book are ‘OMG I cried so hard I couldn’t control myself’. I didn’t even come close to crying – when was I supposed to cry?

The novel is called If I Stay because it centres around the idea that Mia can choose if she wants to stay or not. But there doesn’t seem to be any dilemma in the novel at all. The whole time she is just telling the reader about her life and then explaining the events as they unfold in the hospital. There seems to be no moral decision plaguing Mia’s conscious about staying or going. Also, the ending is slightly predictable.

Mia and Adam’s relationship doesn’t seem three dimensional – at first, I thought there’d be a twist that he was cheating on her with Kim (re-read the scene where the two of them arrive at the hospital and you’ll agree with me). Adam doesn’t seem realistic; his actions in the hospital don’t really mirror his actions in Mia’s memories. It doesn’t seem like their relationship is going to last and yet Mia keeps telling the reader how much she cares for him. It seems a little forced.

I’d recommend this book only to regular YA readers who don’t care too much for realistic characterisation and plot development.

My Score: 6/10
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The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother – Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard – each pledged to defend the queen to the death – arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding…

And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea’s story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance – it’s about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive…

I picked this up because the book has been in the media a lot lately; Emma Watson couldn’t put it down and now it’s being turned into a movie with Emma as producer and actress. I did enjoy it, to the point where I read it in a couple of days and was anxious to see what happened next. However, the novel is setting up a lot for the sequel and I felt that at times, the story moved a little too slowly. Kelsea didn’t actually reach her keep until about 1/3 of the way through the novel, and the Red Queen (the antagonist of the trilogy) isn’t featured in the novel much.

It’s quite clear that some of the author’s thoughts are coming into the story. I’m guessing that Erika is an avid reader of fantasy. Kelsea is the new Queen of the Tearling, and yet she spends a lot of time trying to build a library in her keep? It seems a little unrealistic that one of her first concerns would be this. Also, the setting is a little strange and conflicting. It’s set in the future (you won’t think this when reading it), but has a medieval feel to it. And then Kelsea talks about how much she loves Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I always try to avoid naming popular books/movies/people etc in novels because it time stamps your book and people reading it in ten years might not relate to it. Kelsea’s love of Lord of the Rings felt strange to me – it jolts the piece and disturbs the setting. It no longer felt like a fantasy tale.

I think the second and third book in the series will be better than the first now that the world and societal relations have been set up. If it weren’t for Emma Watson, I doubt this book would be as popular as it has become.

My Score: 7/10

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story.

My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.

Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.

I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.

I really don’t.

Finally. A YA novel about something other than sex, drugs and alcohol – a novel that I could recommend to a 12 year old without their mother needing to read it first to check it’s appropriate. My respect goes to Alice Oseman, who is only 19 years old and managed to write this clever, insightful, and completely-relevant-to-today’s-society story.

The main character is refreshingly pessimistic and enjoys spending time by herself and avoiding social interaction with others. Tori is believable, three dimensional, and realistic to teenagers today. Her ‘too cool for school’ classmates remind me of my high school experience and had me laughing that teenagers still act like that. Do high school girls still talk about which celebrity they find hotter? Is that still a thing?

‘Solitaire’ was a very unique plotline, but the blurb didn’t give any information about that. In case you’re wondering, Solitaire is an online blog that orchestrates pranks on people at Tori’s high school, and then publishes evidence of it on the blog. At first it’s harmless, but then it goes too far and people are hurt.

I read this in only a few hours, because Tori’s voice is conversational and real and I couldn’t quite put the book down. This novel incorporates technology and social media and highlights how dominant it is in a teenager’s life. I recommend this book not just to teens or tweens, but to anyone who has ever attended high school.
My Score: 9/10

Darkness on the Edge of Town by Jessie Cole

When a stranger crashes her car outside Vincent and Gemma’s bush home, their lives take a dramatic turn. In an effort to help the stranded woman, father and daughter are drawn into a world of unexpected and life-changing consequences. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN is a haunting tale that beguiles the reader with its deceptively simple prose, its gripping and unrelenting tensions, and its disturbing yet tender observations.

I’ve had ‘Deeper Water’ (Jessie Cole’s latest novel) on my reading list for a while now, but thought it was best to read Jessie Cole’s earlier work first. The cover drew me in. I’ve been reading fantasy lately, and the ominous and melancholic atmosphere evoked from the cover really seemed like it would be a nice change.

This book is genius. It’s more character driven than plot driven, and reminds me a lot of Margaret Atwood’s earlier work. Vincent and Rachel are three dimensional and realistic characters, and dialogue is definitely the strongest part of this story. Gemma seemed a little stereotypical, especially as the book progressed, and I think Jessie could have dialled back Gemma’s point of view and featured more of Vincent’s perspective.

This story is dark and frightening and I couldn’t put the book down – I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys literary books. Some readers may think that nothing much actually happens in this book, but the exploration and development of character is more than enough to produce a good story. The point of view shift between Vincent and Gemma helps propel the story forward and is a refreshing change. Now that I’m familiar with Jessie Cole’s writing, I’m going to pick up a copy of ‘Deeper Water’.

My Score: 9/10