Review: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

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Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfil the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. 

A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.GOODREADS

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I'm gonna start off by admitting that I picked this book because of the cover and the synopsis about a Chinese  American family.  A family of two identities and two generations.  I identified with the expectations from parents to be perfect and the conflicting roles you can feel towards family members. 

The book starts on the day Lydia goes missing, there are some flashbacks to when the parents meet and to an important event and then it all comes together when they find the body and the aftermath of that. This is definitely one of the strong points of the book because it helps build an understanding of each character; especially the parents. Parents expect the best from their kids, they want them to do better and achieve what they couldn't. This is common in Asian immigrant families and this very expectation can be way too heavy sometimes.  

Favourite quote from the book

"If her mother ever came home and told her to finish her milk, she thought, the page wavering to a blur, she would finish her milk. She would brush her teeth without being asked and stop crying when the doctor gave her shots. She would go to sleep the second her mother turned out the light. She would never get sick again. She would do everything her mother told her. Everything her mother wanted"

_8/10 

Easy by Tammara Webber

A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

(Mature Young Adult/ New Adult)GOODREADS

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 The reason I picked this book up. 1. the cover, 2. I'm girl and I occasional love a mushy-romantic-predictable-dramatic love story. 3. The "mature young adult/new adult " tag got my attention as well.

The book starts off when Jackie leaves a party and almost gets raped and she's then rescued by the guy, Lucas. This is very predictable: guy saves girl, they fall in love. Yes, it is  mushy and I'd have initially given it a 3. But the book doesn't overly surround the romance it also addresses the college situation and life. Jackie almost got raped and didn't report it . Later on the potential rapist rapes another girl. Jackie didn't tell her friends because she thought  they wouldn't believe her. She later does and her best friend/room mate turns out to be really supportive , they take defense classes provided at the college.

The heroine is likable and at first a bit annoying.

 ""The whole thing was a competition to see who could get how far, and I could never figure out if there was more luck or skill involved, or some unknowable combination of the two. People rarely said what they thought, or revealed how they felt. No one was honest""

These are her thoughts on dating. I agree you like a guy, so you  don't tell him you like him and pretend you're interested in someone else or play some other game. come on!  Although she plays the stupid game she redeems herself and her character becomes likable and normal .

The there's Lucas, the hero. Pierced and tattooed Lucas. Lucas has a traumatic past and carries this guilt around. He's a great hero in the story. and he can cook!  too good to be true!

Lucas/Landon frustration!

In the book Jackie misses out on 2 weeks of economics class and has to make up for it. So her professor makes her get a tutor so she can get up to date on the material she missed. She has a busy schedule so she and the tutor, Landon correspond through e-mail. She likes Landon too,they kind of flirt a bit. It reminded me of that movie with Tom Hanks and that chick (you've got mail?). This was new for me: to read these correspondences between the characters (a new  kind of dialogue between them). It was also annoying because she likes Lucas but was also curious about Landon. It was so annoying I stopped to go look for spoilers to make sure it was one person (becauseI hate the triangle thing!).

This is a refreshing book to read and an easy one. It (slightly ) reflects the way young men and women socialize ( text ting/e-mailing) and also the hazards of college live for girls. So it's not just a mushy romantic love story and that's what gives it the 4/5.

Grade:

Mockingjay ( The Hunger Games # 3) By Suzanne Collins

"IF WE BURN

YOU BURN WITH US"

Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But she's still not safe. A Revolution is unfolding, and everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans - everyone except Katniss.
And yet she must play the most vital part in the final battle. Katniss must become their Mockingjay - the symbol of rebellion - no matter what the personal cost.

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Upon reading the last pages of Mockingjay. I have to say that it is one profound , moving and emotional read. This book brings to light a lot of issues, old issues we haven't grown out of yet. The uprising against the Capitol and it's downfall, the revolution, war, things our history books overflow with.

Mockingjay tells an old story through Katniss, an old story of war and the consequences of it.

The writing is really good and simple and touching. The characters are so real, you sympathize with their plight. Or hate them for their decisions. It all feels so sad and frightening .

Katniss changes a lot in this book. Not in a good way, she's grown too fast. She's a seventeen year old girl who has to survive. The physical and mental violence she has to go through is unbearable. The deaths of the people she loves haunts her.

I had hoped for a happy ending or a good ending. But it was more a bittersweet ending. The Capitol has fallen, there are no more Hunger Games. There's peace now.  Katniss and Peeta are married and have children but they're still haunted by the past. They won't ever forget. 

Catching Fire ( The Hunger Games 2 ) by Suzanne Collins

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Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are still alive. Katniss should be relieved, but now there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
As the nation watches Katniss and Peeta, the stakes are higher than ever. One false move and the consequences will be unimaginable.

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A dystopia is the idea of a society, generally of a speculative future, characterized by negative, anti-utopian elements, varying from environmental to political and social issues. Dystopian societies, usually hypothesized by writers of fiction, have culminated in a broad series of sub-genres and is often used to raise issues regarding society, environment, politics, religion, psychology, spirituality, or technology that may become present in the future. (from wiki)

The Hunger Games Trilogy falls under this genre and because it's dystopian makes it a likely scenario. That's why it's a scary book aswell. The themes of hunger,oppression,child labor,death are so well interwoven in this story/presentation that you can't help feeling angry at The Capitol or sympathetic to the people in the districts and even a bit scared of president Snow .but  other than the sympathy toward this fictional world and it's fictional characters   where's your sympathy for the real one. oppressed states, hunger,child labor. aren't fictional phenomenons. These are real things. 

After reading Catching Fire I no longer  feel comfortably saying this is an awesome book or an amazing book, for fear of sounding like someone from the capitol. And even if I call it an amazing book, what's amazing about Rue dying! or any of the other children (even if some of them were crazy). What I will say is that this is a significant piece of literature and if anything it succeeds in making you think. maybe seeing these things on the news over and over again while we're comfortable in our own homes, save and warm we're detached to the suffering of others.

For this book to make you think and  feel says a lot . It's a well written book and The characters are real in a way. If you like strong female leads then Katniss is definitely the girl. She's grown a lot since book one. Coming back from The Hunger Games has left her with nightmares ,guilt and fear for her family. nothing has really changed. In book one she was only concerned about her and her family but in Catching Fire things change. Katniss realizes although she's tried to protect her sister from the Capitol they have already hurt her by letting her watch her in the Games. Rue's death has also played an important part in Katniss's development. By the end of this book Katniss becomes the Mockingjay, the symbol of the revolution.

The book is divided into three parts:

The spark: Katniss and Peeta are back home and are getting ready for their victors tour. Katniss is anxious to get it over with. She gets a visit from president Snow. President Snow warns /threatens Katniss not to encourage rebellion but it's out of her hands really. But at the threat to her family ,Peeta's and Gale's she doesn't have much of a choice. Katniss makes plans to run away or start a rebellion. I think it's called The Spark because after Gale gets punished for poaching ,she realizes she has to do something.

The Quell: in honor of the 75th Hunger Games there's a new rule. The  tributes to participate in this Hunger Games will be chosen from the surviving victors. Which means as the only female victor from district 12, Katniss will be going back in. Coincidence? This part focuses on the training and preparations for the Hunger Games. Katniss's plan this time is not to survive and go home, she's adamant on getting Peeta out of it alive.

The enemy: Part three focuses on the Game itself. This time it's set on a beach. Before Katniss goes in Haymitch tells her to remember who the enemy is. At the end she figures it out. The other tributes aren't her enemy. The Capitol is, president Snow is. and she blows up the arena.

At this point I'm really skeptical about this series having a happy ending. Unrealistic but that's what everybody hopes for. This one ends with district 12 blown up , the other districts are rebelling , Cinna's probably dead. Peeta's been taken by the capitol. Katniss wants to kill Haymitch. It's all chaotic. But not so far gone for a happy ending I hope. 

Dystopia seems like a heavy cup of tea. I don't like thinking about the future. I only think so far forward as tomorrow. Even then I'm self-centered and only think about what I'm going to do. I'm no Katniss. But there are others out there. vigilantes, guard dogs. Showing us the truth. We just have to open our eyes and see it. and do something.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. 

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel. 

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl. 

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

I've read so many good reviews about this book.  Reviews about how awesome,funny and surprising this book is and I got to say they hold up to what they say.

The first thing that got my attention was the cover. I love the cover. The colours and the wings and after reading the book How Raffe loses his wings The cover makes more sense now. It's a pretty and meaningful cover.

The story is told from Penryn's POV completely. Her thoughts and observations and feelings. Penryn's a great female lead. The kind I: like a strong , smart female figure. She gets the angels Raffe to help her try to save her sister Paige who gets taken by some angel. On their journey to the angels compound they get chased by dogs and cannibalistic "demons" . There's also a lot of death in this book. It's  a post apocalyptic world with some very detailed scenes of carnage, destruction and death. Scenes where a family: mother, father and child  lay dead on a street half eaten. Of two young girls hung from a tree. of people  starving. 

Aside from these morose aspects of the book the banter between the two main characters is awesome and more light hearted(at times). Raffe is a smartass and handsome to boot. You're going to love this guy. Penryn and Raffe slowly fall for each other.  Some emotional, touching scenes. -When penryn has a nightmare Raffe takes her into his warm arms and comforts her penryn thinks she dreamt this  -when penryn has to leave the wheelchair behind Raffe tricks her into feeling better. You are totally going to love this dude. Then there's when they get into the angel compound and Raffe kisses her, penryn" It is not the gentle kiss of a couple on a first date, nor is it the kiss of a man driven by simple lust. He kisses me with the desperation of a dying man who believes the magic of eternal life is in this kiss.”  You must be sold already on this book!!

Then after the kiss he tells her that he doesn't even like her.  At this point I'm like "really"?

Then  there's also Penryn's schizo mother. This woman you will like ,fear and downright want to avoid  at all cause (if she were real that is). Especially if she has a probing rod. 

Penryn finds her sister but she's been altered ,she's been made into one of these cannibal demons Penryn and Raffe had to fight off in the woods. 

Raffe's wings get switched with bat-like wings. This was done so that Raffe would look like a traitor and his men would choose to follow  Uriel . This has to do with angel politics.  While this happens Raffe's wings and penryn's sister: there's a resistance happening outside. The humans blow the angels compound up .This they do for hope. For humanity. To show the angels and the people that they will fight.

I loved this book. It's a fantastic, ridiculous ,funny , sad and surprising book . The only thing I didn't like is the ending.  Penryn gets paralysed by some scorpion/angel thing .Raffe then takes her body(because he thinks she's dead) to the resistance. Penryn slowly overcomes the paralysis of the scorpions poison and notices Raffe following them. I know there's going to  be a second but I wanted MORE!!

Grade: O

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games 1) by Suzzane Collins

 

I read this last year and and loved it. Also seeing as this book has been getting a lot of hype you probably already know what it's about . I haven't seen the movie yet and if you have I'd advice you to still go read the book. 

The Hunger Games is an awesome book. It has a great story ,good writing, wonderful characters and a level of seriousness I didn't expect from a young adult novel. This is one frighteningly good book! I still haven't read Cacthing Fire or Mockingjay because I'm waiting on the paperbacks. Albeit that didn't stop me from looking for spoilers and becoming depressed by them. I still want to read the other 2 books!

This book is about children getting forced to participate in a game called "The Hunger Games". This event is held to show the 'people" who's the boss and discourage them from rebelling from The Capitol. You're going to get pissed off by the Capitol and the people from The Capitol. They are just weird and weird looking. The Hunger Games is harsh . The participants(children) are called tributes and if they wanna win they're gonna have to kill each other till the last one standing. This is the reason I find this book scary. This shit could actually happen! the (any )government could go all dictatorial on us! Children being forced to kill is also not a recent phenomenon. It's old and still around in third world countries. Hell they could make us go around looking like that Trinket lady!

At first I didn't want to read The Hunger Games because 1. it being compared to twilight 2. the whole team Gale/Peeta thing.

note to you people: these 2 books are not comparable. please stop. seriously.

As for the team thing. This book is about oppression, effects of war, starvation and you're picking teams!! and the wrong freaking team!! Team Peeta FTW!

Katniss is the main character and the book is told from her POV. She enters the games with the sole purpose of surviving and coming back to take care of her family. Katniss's a survivor she's been taking care of her family since her dad died. She's only a kid in age. 

As for Peeta. He gets drafted into the Games. The boy with the bread  has been crushing on Katniss since he was 5. Great at camouflage . He's just a civilian . Although what I like about he's character is when he says He wants to find a way to show the capitol that they don't own him. Peeta doesn't want to kill anybody but understands what he's going to be forced to do.

In this book people are going to die. Children are going to die. Death. Gruesome deaths awaits you in this book. Oh and then they get turned into chimeras. Ah what the government does with our taxes, very creative.

The most horrible scene and touching but also shows how horrible The Games are is when Rue gets killed.

Rue! oh Rue!! I read this last year but when I think of Rue I think of a small fury woodland creature that you have to protect or take care of. Although Rue was small and most thought she'd be the first to get killed. She was very fast and sneaky and sweet and kind and they freaking killed her! Katniss's sang to her before she died and covered her with flowers and then maked a sign with her hand to honour Rue. Sad and touching and horrible! you're gonna feel some stuff reading this

Like I said this is a great book. So go read it, understand what it's about. Feel it .

 

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. Richard Howard's new translation of the beloved classic-published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupry's original artwork. 

I read this last year. Time hasn't changed how good. How brilliant this book is.  How sweet, funny and magical this book is.

It's called "The Little Prince" because it's about a little prince (from another planet).  He leaves his planet, leaves his Rose behind all alone. He goes and visits the other planets near his and Earth.

Th writing is really easy even the grown ups (those strange creatures) can understand and enjoy this book. If not then what a pity that is.

I think the little prince is very wise. I like him a lot. Although this book is funny and you grow to like the little prince. It's also sad. I wish I had a rose of my own.

My favorite part in this book is when the prince meets the Fox and asks the Fox what "tamed" means. To which the Fox answers:

"It's something that's been to often neglected. It means to create ties"

Then the Fox asks the prince to tame him. The prince reluctantly does this. Eventually time goes by and the prince has to leave the Fox. The Fox is sad and cries but gives the prince his secret as a gift.

The fox's secret:

" One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes"

What a very wise fox. I wish I had a Fox as a friend. I'm afraid to tame anything,especially a person.

Speculation: The author, Antoine. The guy was a pilot and he crashed his plane more then once. Maybe he did meet the prince in the dessert! maybe it was a mirage! or maybe the guy had a very active and wild, no! fascinating and beautiful  imagination.

This book remains one of the greats. It's dedicated to Leon Werth ( When He Was A Little Boy). We should all try to remember that little boy/girl inside us.  At one point in our life's did we not recognize The Hat for what it truly is . A boa constrictor eating an elephant!!

Grade:   O

Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.
GOODREADS

Le Cirque des Reves ( The Circus of Dreams). I don't know where to start. I can't get my thoughts straight so I can accurately describe how great this book is. How fantastically brilliant. It's wonderfully imaginative and dream like. I've never been to a circus before but after reading this book, I have high expectations. Reading about Le Cirque des Reves is like walking into Diagon Alley or eating in The Great Hall at Hogwarts , seeing and being blown away by it all.The Magic.That's what it's about in the end. The magic of the circus. 

If you read this book expecting a love story then you will get one. A very subtle yet beautifully sad one. Cilia and Marco eventually fall for each other and don't want to continue the competition. But they are bound and can't escape the competition 'till one of them dies. In the end they find a way to escape and be together. I liked Cilia's character, I liked that she couldn't control her emotions sometimes. Emotions make a person colourful. Marco on the other hand I couldn't help but endure him. Only in the last few chapters Seeing him with Cilia did I begin to like him  more.

Although there's a love story ,it's not the main story.(I think) this book is more about the circus itself. A circus of magic and light. After all it is called The Night Circus, and what a place. I wish it were real, I'd be following it like the revuers. I'd even endure wearing something red. I'd just love to walk around the different tents and watch the statue's, eat caramel apples and chocolate rats. To get a chance to explore the Wunschruam clock and memorise it , visit The Ice Garden ,make a wish at the wishing tree. 

The other characters are fantastic as well. Popet and Widget are fun to read about. Widget's stories are brilliant and his love for foods is likable in any character. 

It's a bit confusing to follow the actual plot in the beginning because the chapters keep going back and forth. I stopped trying to remember the years and just kept reading. It all eventually makes sense and falls together nicely. 

The circus was suppose to be a venue for the competition ,in the end it becomes more than that. It becomes something magical, something important to many people. 

The circus arrives without a warning. 

paper dragons, ice gardens, bottled bedtime stories, black and white striped tents,a carousel that seems a bit alive. If you can't appreciate these little imaginative notions . Then this isn't you're kinda book.

Grade:O

Dedicated to Friedrick Thiessen,
Sincerely a reveur

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceshipGodspeed. She expects to awaken on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is nearly killed.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense.Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

" If you want to know anything, observe it's beginning and it's development" 

~Aristoteles~

This book is just great!  I fully enjoyed reading it. It's well written . Easy to understand, honest expressions and amusing curse words "frex " and "chutz"  and gives you a lot to think about. This book made me feel. It took me out of the numbness of routine life. It frightened me, it saddened me and it angered me. Any such book should be on your TBR list! 

The 3 causes of discord

1. Differences ~Apparently differences are bad and cause chaos. The people on the spaceship "Godspeed" are "monoethnic". Basically they all freaking look alike. They have no physical differences.

 Then Amy shows up. A girl with red hair and pale skin. She is deference. The people on the ship see her as a freak and are kind of hostile towards her.  Except the people on the  mental ward in the ships hospital. It's all upside down. The people who work and maintain the ship are crazy and the people on the mental ward are in fact the sane ones. It's infuriating as it is frightening. I live among differences. To me it's the epitome of beauty.

2. A lack of a strong leader~ Eldest is the leader of Godspeed. The guy is a crazy, menopausal tyrant. He runs the ship on lies and drugs.The man is insane as he is frightening. Although what he's trying to do is to protect the people on the ship, his means aren't right. He keeps the inhabitants of the ship in a passive state by drugging their water supply. The inhabitants are complacent, they question nothing and blindly follow Eldest's leadership.  Orion, the person who was suppose to take Eldest place . This guy doesn't agree with Eldest's way of doing things but his ways aren't better either. Then there's Elder, who at the end of the book becomes the new leader of Godspeed. He has an understanding of  what it takes to be a good leader. "being a good leader does not mean using your strenght to make people do things but to lend people your strenght so that they can do things"

Fun Fact: Eldest/Elder and Orion are clones. They are technically the same person.This raises the question. If they're the same person, if they're based on the same DNA . Then won't they make the same mistakes? 

3. Individual Thought ~  This is the scariest.  Not being able/allowed to think for yourself. The people on Godspeed are being drugged into a complacent state, this prevents individual thought. They are passive and think everything is alright they question nothing. They are empty. Their passiveness is creepy.  

Everything on Gospeed is fake. It's all artificial. The air,food,animals,water,rain. Not real. The characters feel trapt in a metal box, it's suffocating. It would kill me never to see the sky again. While the book is told from Amy's and Elder's POV you can feel the confinement from their POV"S. Their longing to feel something "real". You can also see the difference between Amy and Elder. Amy is from earth and knows what she's missing, she knows that life on godspeed isn't normal, she sees the lies. In the end she opens elders eyes to them aswell. 

Although I've developed a disinterest in YA books I' have to admit I'm glad I read this one. It wasn't what I had expected. Death, suicide, attempted rape,clones,conspiracy! yeah definitely not what I had expected.

I give this awesome book 4 stars and thank the dude from the blog " Roro Is Reading " for lending it to me.


Grade:   E

Review; I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

Meet Ed Kennedy — underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . . 

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

After having read The Book Thief , it's safe to say that Markus Zusak is on my list of awesome writers. That being said I had to check out some of his other works . I Am The Messenger is different from The Book Thief but it's just as brilliant. It's great, it's amusing, it makes you feel . It makes you care.

A lot of bad things happen in the world, your city, your town, your street. What can I possibly do to stop it? change it? It's a hopeless case. I'm too small and insignificant to really do anything. To really change anything? so why care. I've always thought this. I think we've all felt like this, but we still care . We still try. 

"If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did, then maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of."

Ace of Diamond

Ed Kennedy is the epitome of ordinary. The story starts with him, a cabdriver, and how he saves the day when he catches a bankrobber. That's where it all begins. After the robbery Ed gets the ace of diamonds in his mail with 3 addresses on it. He goes to these addresses. One belongs to an old woman who's lonely, one to a girl who runs barefoot, and the third belongs to a guy who comes home drunk everyday and rapes his wife. The drunk was the first address Ed went to. He's shocked and scared but what can he possibly do? He's a coward and he knows it. Because he can't save the woman, he can't save the daughter who hears what's happening in the other room. He can't do shit. So he goes to the other addresses. He finds a way to help those people. The people who sent him the card later send him a gun too. Ed uses it on the drunk. He's scared, he doesn't want to hurt anybody, not even the drunk who rapes his wife each night. In the end it all works out. Ed helps these people.

Ace of Cloves

"Say a prayer at the stones of home"

Ed gets another card. Ace of cloves. This time there are no addresses just a sentence"say a prayer at the stones of time". Ed's a cab driver so when a guy tries to run off without paying the fair, he goes after him. He ends up at the river near his home where he and his brother use to fish. He finds a stone with the next 3 people on it. A priest, whose church nobody visits. The rose brothers who always fight. A young mother with 3 kids.  Ed helps these people with free beer, by getting beat up and by simply buying someone an ice cream.

Ace of Spades

I like this part because I recognized one of the names on the card. Graham Greene. This card had 3 names on it of writers. After having a dream Ed figures it out too. This time he has to help a family with lights, a theater owner and his mom. Ed's mom sure is a character. She curses like it's a hobby and treats Ed badly. Ed confronts her. She thinks Ed's just like his father and useless. I felt for Ed."It takes a lot of love to hate you like this" his mom says.

Ace of Hearts

Ed was afraid of the ace of hearts the most. Although it's the last card and means it's almost the end.

"People die of broken hearts .They have heart attacks.And it's the heart that hurts the most when things go wrong and fall apart"

Ed was right to fear the ace of hearts. On this card there are 3 movie titles on it. It turns out to be 3 people who are important to him. His best friends. Ritchie, the laziest, Marv the smart ass and Audrey who doesn't want to love and who Ed's in love with.

I can relate to Ritchie. Ritchie is always the laid back one of the group. At first Ed didn't know or couldn't imagine what problem Ritchie could possibly have. Ritchie wants to want. He doesn't have ambition. He doesn't know what to do with his life. He sits in his kitchen each night listening to the radio. Ed helps him aswell. Simply by telling him what a useless bastard he is.

Then there's Marv. The cheapskate ,smart ass Marv with the crappiest car ever. Marv has been saving up money for years . He has almost 40k in the bank. In the end it turns out Marv loved a girl with all his heart. The girl's family moved when she got pregnant . Marv didn't know his girl was pregnant till it was too late. Everyday he makes it through but in the end he breaks down. and he can hear his heart crying. Hurting. For the little girl/boy out there. 

Then there's Audrey. He just dances with her. So simple? but it was more than that. Ed loves the girl. She loves Ed, but wants somebody else. Why is love so complicated. He just dances with her. 3 minutes . Just for 3 minutes they love each other.

You'd think that was the end but no Ed gets another card . The joker. The address on the card is his. Ed spends weeks worrying  about what's gonna happen. Who's coming. Who sent the cards? It was a shocker. Throughout the book I was wondering the same thing. and I went for the obvious people. Audry, his ma, in the end I even thought it was his dad. The shocking thing is when it turns out to be  the robber.

At the end of a good book when things are clearing up. It's the best and saddest part. Best because now you get to know who's behind everything , sad because the book's ending. The person behind everything. I think is Markus Zusak in the book. I think he wrote himself in. At first I thought it was the big guy. I loved the ending chapters. I'm telling you this is a great book. Ed Kennedy wasn't the messenger. He is the message. We can't just live for the sake of living. We have to live, feel, want. Be alive.

Ed's a very kind and caring guy. He's also a ordinary guy. If he can do what he did then anybody can.

Grade : O