JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Giver by Lois Lowry

 

Jonas’ world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

I won’t lie. I picked up this book because the ‘major motion picture’ is about to come out, and I was curious. A lot of people seemed to read this in high school, and until the movie trailer was released, I’d never heard of this book. And to think of all the books I had to read in high school that I didn’t enjoy, and here was this book that I would’ve loved to have read in high school.

This novel is fast-paced and has an intriguing premise. It is a great children’s book and I can see why kids would love it. However, in saying that, the book probably could’ve been double the size and helped to fill in a few gaps that I noticed. I read this in a few hours and I wanted to know more about The Giver’s memories and about Jonas’ reaction when he finds out what ‘releasing’ entails. I think that there isn’t enough stylistic development between when Jonas makes this discovery and when he runs off with Gabriel.

Although the novel is fast-paced, at times it was a little too quick. The novel is supposed to take place over approximately one year and I didn’t get that from the text. It seemed like one month, maximum. And I feel like the social dynamic between Jonas and The Giver could’ve been explored more, but since this is children’s fiction, Lowry can get away with it.

My Score: 8/10

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

I should really review Divergent and The Hunger Games in the same post, because of all the similarities. They’re both dystopian, and the main character in both novels is a feisty female who must learn to survive in an environment full of people trying to kill her.

I read Divergent on a plane from Sydney to Brisbane. I bought it just to read at the start and end of the plane trip when you’re not allowed to listen to music because you have to “switch off all electronic devices”. I ended up reading it the entire trip and then finishing it when I got home.

The premise is at first confusing: futuristic, post-apocalyptic Chicago is separated into different factions (similar to the districts in The Hunger Games). These factions are Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Dauntless. Beatrice Prior grew up in Abnegation, the faction known for being selfless. However, in the year she turns 16, she – and all the other 16 year olds in Chicago – can choose if they want to change. Beatrice changes to Dauntless, and becomes Tris.

She is thrust into a violent faction filled with deceit, lies, murder, and brutality. She is trained to be a fighter and defender of the city, and those who fall behind from the group are cast aside and deemed factionless.

The novel has an intriguing premise, but the first fourth of the novel is a little confusing and Roth doesn’t quite explain the setting well enough for the reader to picture it. The main character is refreshingly feisty and learns how to survive. The book has a strong romantic element that I think is missing from The Hunger Games. Tris is independent and relatable, and Roth’s writing is strong. The pace moves quickly and she’s created three dimensional characters.

My Score: 8/10

 

The Fictional Woman by Tara Moss

I’m one of those people who doubted Tara’s ability to write because she’s spent so many years not trying to be a writer. Perhaps I thought that great writers are those who have always wanted to write, or tried to write. Many doubted the quality of Tara’s crime novels because she spent her adolescence as an international model. I haven’t read any of her crime novels – mostly because of this doubt – and was therefore the perfect person to read ‘The Fictional Woman’.

Tara squashes those who don’t believe she can write. The book is well-written and Tara comes across as honest, compassionate, and very self-assured. She talks about some very sensitive topics in a respectful way. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of Tara’s life, and the book could probably be read in a different order and still make sense. In each chapter, Tara weaves in personal stories, anecdotes, and facts to argue a certain side of her that she feels she needs to reflect.

The pace, however, does slow down mid way through (around the chapter on the gender wars). For a few chapters, there are few personal stories and a lot of facts, and I felt myself losing interest. She did regain my interest for the final third of the novel, but by then, I was inundated with information and statistics. After a while, you become quite passive to the facts and statistics because there’s too many of them.

This non-fiction novel highlights Moss’ intelligence and awareness of women and their importance in society. The book becomes an insightful eye-opener for those who don’t realise how marginalised women can be in the home or in the workplace.

My Score: 8/10

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare

It kills me when people say that they don’t like Hamlet:
“I just don’t get it.”
“Well, I don’t get you.”

That’s the best reply that I’ve got. But when they ask me why Hamlet is my favourite Shakespeare play, I can’t seem to answer. Perhaps it’s because it feels the most realistic. Most of Shakespeare’s plays seem to have that unnecessary death and silliness. Like, ‘I heard a rumour about you and before I work out if it’s true, I’m going to kill you’ or ‘I’m sad that you’re dead so I’ll die too, even though I haven’t double checked that you’re dead yet’.

Hamlet takes place after Prince Hamlet’s father, the King, has been murdered by Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius. And now, Uncle Claudius is married to Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet can’t quite move on from this, and plots revenge. But, he’s a procrastinator, and can never quite do it. He almost does it, but then kills someone else instead, and then he puts on a play about the murder so that he can judge Claudius’ reaction to make sure that he is 100% guilty. And then he tries to stab him, but stops himself, because he doesn’t want Claudius to go to heaven. It’s take quite a while for Hamlet to do what he set out to do. And, many people die in the process. But, it wouldn’t be a Shakespeare play without death.

The play introduces themes of supernatural, god, religion, madness, and identity (my personal favourite) and is a popular choice for Grade 12 English assignments. So, naturally, teenagers are bound to hate it if they’re forced to read it. But, I was forced to read it, and I’m glad I was.

My Score: 8/10
The Next Novel on my List? The Lord of the Rings series, by J.R.R Tolkien

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

I’ve been meaning to read Fahrenheit 451 for a while now, but never got around to it because of the hundreds of other books that I’ve been meaning to read. And truthfully, I finished reading it about three weeks ago, but have only now found the time to sit down and write this review.

I was thinking of studying it for my Honours degree, and I used that as an opportunity to read it. Now that I’ve read it, I’m not actually going to be studying it, but at least I can cross the novel off my list (I don’t actually have a list – who has time to write one?).

You’re probably noticing a pattern. My last review was a dystopian novel as well; that’s because I am a dystopian fiction writer. Or, a speculative fiction writer, but they really mean the same thing. Regardless, I read a lot of dystopian fiction (Margaret Atwood will probably feature a lot on this blog).

Set in a futuristic world, Guy Montag is a fireman, and in this dystopian setting, firemen actually start fires, instead of putting them out. That is, they’ll burn down houses if the person living inside owns outlawed books. Guy doesn’t doubt his job, but when he meets new neighbour, free-spirited Clarisse, and then a woman willingly burns herself alive in her own home (with her beloved books), Guy starts to second-guess his morals. And so Guy starts to hide books in his house, and read them aloud to his wife. And then he gets caught, and murders his boss, and then is on the run.

This novel is not too long, so for all those ‘I don’t read’ people, you have no excuse. Even though I’m not using this novel for my Honours thesis, I’d thoroughly recommend it.

My Score: 8/10
The Next Novel on my List? 1984 by George Orwell