Mismatched Lovers

Published:  February 1st, 1979

Harold and Maude

By: Colin Higgins

Avon Books

ISBN-13:  9780380003853

Nineteen-year-old Harold Chasen is obsessed with death.  He fakes suicides to shock his self-obsessed mother, drives a customized Jaguar hearse, and attends funerals of complete strangers.  Seventy-nine-year-old Maude Chardin, on the other hand, adores life.  She liberates trees from city sidewalks and transplants them to the forest, paints smiles on the faces of church statues, and "borrows" cars to remind their owners life is fleeting -- here today, gone tomorrow!  A chance meeting between the two turns into a madcap, whirlwind romance, and Harold learns that life is worth living.

Review

       Ugh.  I know this is a classic, and I have a couple friends that absolutely loved it.  Maybe it also doesn't help my opinion that I've never seen the movie?  Not sure, but for some reason I'm not at all a fan of this one.  It was okay, but overall un-inspiring for me personally.

       I found it to be kind of similar to Love Story, in the fact that you can totally tell it was written to be a screenplay.  It was never written to just be a book and for me personally, that hurt my enjoyment of it.  There was no real flesh to the characters and barely any plot happening.  And that freaking ending...

       Since when is that the freaking answer?  Maybe if I had seen the movie, or read this as a teenager, I'd have had more tolerance for the whole "suicide-star-crossed-age-gap-lovers" thing.  But get this: I just didn't.  She could have just told him, "Hey yo, I'm way too freaking old for you.  Find a nice girl your own age and P.S. I'm going off on further adventures."  Instead she committs suicide and Harold learns a nice, neat lesson?  FUCKING GAG ME.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received this book from Avon Books on NetGalley.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was originally published on February 1st, 1979.*

Reflections of a Small Town Family

Published:  September 1st, 1991

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

By: Peter Hedges

Simon & Schuster

ISBN-13:  9780671038540

Just about everything in Endora, Iowa (pop. 1, 091 and dwindling) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving.  His enormous mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide, and the floor beneath her T.V. chair is threatening to cave in.  Gilbert's long-suffering older sister, Amy, still mourns the death of Elvis, and his knockout younger sister has become hooked on makeup, boys, and Jesus -- in that order.

But the biggest event on the horizon for all the Grapes is the eighteenth birthday of Gilbert's younger brother, Arnie, who is a living miracle just for having survived so long.  As the Grapes gather in Endora, a mysterious beauty glides through town on a bicycle and rides circles around Gilbert, until he begins to see a new vision of his family and himself...

Review

       I did not even know this was a book until I ran across it by chance on Goodreads, on some list or another.  If you don't like personal reviews, abandon ship now because this shit's about to get real up-close-and-personal -- because this book was super-personal and self-revelatory for me as a human being.  That doesn't mean I will necessarily be gushing about it to everyone who asks for book recommendations, because I think this is a book that not everyone will understand.  Thank you Peter Hedges, you freaking bastard, for that unwanted look in the mirror.  I have a confession to make: I am Gilbert Grape.  We might not have the same name, live in exactly the same circumstances, or feel exactly the same about everything, but we are the same person where it counts the most.  We are the one who stays, the one who takes care of everyone else.  

       Gilbert Grape is someone who has gotten sucked into being the breadwinner and pretty much SOLE provider for his family, whom he both loves and hates at the same time.  He lives with his mother Bonnie Grape who is so obsese that the floor is caving in under her, his sister Amy who is selfless and good (and who deserves better than wasting her youth being mother to her siblings), his younger sister Ellen who is a pretentious brat (verging on slut at times) and his brother Arnie, who is mentally handicapped, never seeming older than five or six years old mentally.  Gilbert works at the local grocery store, that is slowly going under due to the new superstore in town.  He's worked for the owner Mr. Lamson for seven years, and believes in loyalty to the man (and the business) who has been a father figure/oasis for him in the midst of his family issues.  Also, Gilbert has been in a sexual affair with Betty Carver, the insurance man's wife, for about the same amount of time.  He feels trapped in by his family, his dumb-ass friend Tucker, his job, and Endora in general.  

       Things are building up and feelings are coming to head, as Arnie's thought-to-be-impossible eighteenth birthday draws nearer and the rest of the Grape siblings make their way home.  The Girl from Michigan also shakes things up for Gilbert, making him think of his life in new ways, even if they're not always pleasant or easy.  Can the Grapes begin to let go of past hurts and move on, or will they continue to stagnate, with Gilbert "shrinking," as Arnie puts it?  This was uncomfortable to the max.  I saw myself at the age I am now (24) working a dead end retail job, supporting my family because no one else can/will.  I am also not perfect.  In the moments Gilbert calls his brother a "retard" I see myself with my mentally ill mother, and I'm ashamed.  Not to say that I'm a monster, but I lose my temper too.  I am "shrinking," letting things go unsaid and being everything for everyone.  I also see myself in Momma & Amy, eating all of my feelings and multiplying in size.  But this novel is also hopeful, because as the ending tells us, nothing lasts forever.  Things, people and hardships cycle in and out of life.  A beautifully harsh portrait of the American Dream dying in the Midwest, only to be partially re-invented by the time the book ends.  A story that'll stay with me, but I don't see myself revisiting it often.  Highly recommended if you're brave and daring.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

Favorite Quotes

"I'm told women scream when they give birth because of the intense pain.  And I think about how easily life can slide away, like thawing ice.  And how it's only the living that scream."

"You can tell the idyllic nature of a family by the upkeep of its picnic table.  Ours is its own indictment.  We are splintering and peeling.  We rot."

All You Get Is This Crummy Note

Expected Publication:  January 27th, 2015

Playlist for the Dead

By: Michelle Falkoff

HarperTeen

ISBN-13:  9780062310507

A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.

Here's what Sam knows: There was a party.  There was a fight.  The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead.  And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam -- listen and you'll understand.

As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself.  But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend's story.  And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Review

       I can hear you all speaking to me as a reader, asking me the same question: "Why bother reading this?"  I'm sure it sounds like a rehash and one of the reviews I've read compares it to 13 Reasons Why and that's the one I was thinking of after I'd read the synopsis.  It seemed like a substitution at first glance, with the tape scavenger hunt being replaced by a paltry music playlist.  It turned out to be more than that, at least for me personally.  I thought that the relationship between Sam and Hayden was very realistically portrayed.  Your best friend is the person you think you know the best out of everyone and the one who knows YOU best.  That doesn't mean they're the person you're necessarily the nicest too, or the one you stick up for the most.  Friendship, just like every other realtionship in our lives as people, is imperfect and has the potential to be ugly.  I was glad that Falkoff didn't shy away from that in this novel.

       When we meet Sam, his best friend Hayden has just committed suicide, after a particularly disastrous encounter with his bullies (including his own brother) at a party they went to, that Hayden had convinced Sam to attend.  All Sam has now is a playlist of songs that's supposed to explain everything and a very uncomforting note.  He listens to the playlist and tries to understand, but some songs have stories behind them, while others he's never heard before.  It's basically a survivor's journey of figuring out there will never really be a satisfactory explanation for his friend's choice to die, he didn't know everything about Hayden like he thought he did, and that sometimes to move on, you have to accept the world's truths in ways you never expected.  I did feel that the secondary characters left something to be desired, especially the whole "romance" with Astrid, who was basically using Sam to play out her own revenge fantasies.  But he does learn that there is life after Hayden, which is the most important message in any book about suicide.  By no means a perfect narrative or characters, but an emotionally powerful one all the same, with a great sense of self and human nature.

VERDICT:  4/5 Stars

**I reviewed this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is January 27th, 2015.**

Bright and Fake Things...

Expected Publication:  January 6th, 2015

All the Bright Places

By: Jennifer Niven

Knopf

ISBN-13: 9780385755887

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor & Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself.  But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom.  And when they pair up on a project to discover the "natural wonders" of their state, both Violet and Finch make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all.  And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them.  But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink.

Review

     Violet used to be a happy-go-lucky cheerleader, and all-around popular high school student, who ran a blog with her sister Eleanor.  She was involved in extracurricular activities and had the perfect boyfriend.  Then she was in a horrible car crash that took away her sister, and left her drowning in her grief.  Now, almost a year later, Eleanor is barely making it day by day.  So when the school weirdo, Finch, finds her up on the ledge of the bell tower and talks her down, Violet is kind of annoyed with him.  Finch begins inserting himself into her life, with his inability to understand the word "no" and his larger than life, quirky personality.  Partnered for a project on state "wonders," Violet begins to let her guard down and live life again.  But Finch, who is struggling with crippling depressive episodes, is sliding further down as Violet climbs her way upward.  Can they save each other, or will their story be unable to find a happy ending?

     I have superbly mixed feelings about this book.  On one hand, the portrayal of depression in the character and behaviors of Finch, was very realistic and I appreciated that the author didn't diminish his struggles and make everything get resolved magically at the end of the book.  On the other hand, Finch's quirky, variant personality was a little too "different."  It was a case of the author trying to hard to make him interesting, unpredictable and relatable.  If I want to care about a character, he doesn't need to be so unique as to almost circle around again to Gary Stu status.  Violet was the opposite.  I really thought she was extremely dull, lifeless and just all-around two dimensional.  I understand that she's still grieving her sister, but it was like she was the personification of the color gray.  I liked the writing style and the literary quotes.  Some of the one-liners were awesome.  I just feel like this book spent so much time trying way too hard to be the next big thing, that it delved into cliche territory and overreached itself.  And the ending was believable, but at the same time, contrived to make the reader emotional and tearful.  I myself was emotionless and scoffing.  Overall a decent effort and definitely points for beautiful writing.  But really nothing all that memorable or special.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is January 6th, 2015.*

Just Stay Strong, Cause You'll Make It Through

Expected Publication: May 31st, 2011
Keep Holding On
By: Susane Colasanti
Viking Juvenile
ISBN-13: 9780670012251

A romantic and empowering book about bullying

Noelle's life is all about survival. Even her best friend doesn't know how much she gets bullied, or the ways her mom neglects her. Noelle's kept so much about her life a secret for so long that when her longtime crush Julian Porter starts paying attention to her, she's terrified. Surely it's safer to stay hidden than to risk the pain of a broken heart. But when the antagonism of her classmates takes a dramatic turn, Noelle realizes it's time to stand up for herself--and for the love that keeps her holding on.

Review

   Noelle has a horrible living situation.  Her Mother has basically gone into a mode of full-scale neglect, leaving Noelle to fend for herself when it comes to being clothed and fed.  There is never any food in the house and when Noelle bothered to dream about college (working at a crappy job to save toward it) her Mother wiped out her life savings to pay bills because Noelle 'owed' her.  At school she is bullied mercilessly because of her shabby appearance and pitiful lunches, when all the other kids come from rich families and privileged upbringings.  She eats in the bathroom to avoid Warner, her main tormenter, only to be sidelined by Carly who makes verbal and physical threats to Noelle's safety.  Then Simon Bruckner invites her to join the literary magazine and gives her a safe haven.  Her boyfriend Matt refuses to acknowledge her in public and only wants to use her for physical satisfaction.  Her best friend Sherae is basically the only good thing in her life, keeping her sane and alive.  Then Noelle breaks it off with Matt and is attacked by girls at the bus stop with paintball guns.  At first she refuses to allow nice guy Julian into her world because of her past hurts.  But once she does, Noelle begins to realize that no one deserves the sort of treatment she's been getting.  And maybe it's time to stand up against the bullies and pull the shades from her Mother's eyes.  Then something horrible and devastating happens to someone Noelle knows.  Will Noelle's life actually change at all?  This book ripped me to shreds, probably because it was so personal to me.  I was a victim of bullying from 1st grade, until the 9th grade.  Like Noelle I coped with being the poor kid in a rich school, with everyone teasing me mercilessly because of my unfashionable clothing and reduced price lunches.  I was an individual and that made me a target as well.  Colasanti really grabs you where you live and makes you realize that even if you pretend not to see it, things like this happen every minute of every day.  To someone a comment about there clothes hair or personality could actually be the difference between life and death.  Noelle was an extremely strong heroine.  It takes serious courage to stand up and not let yourself be bullied anymore.  I loved that she had a true friend in Sherae and that she eventually began to realize her self-worth.  My only complaint would be that for as horrifically realistic as the bullying is, the resolution is seriously unrealistic and overly neat.  Things do not change that much, that fast in real life.  And at times it got a little after-school specialy.   Overall it was a very well written, heartbreakingly true book.  I highly recommend it. 

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is May 31st, 2012.*