Quote of the week

"All our dreams can come true; if we have the courage to pursue them" - Walt Disney

Friday 18 October 2013

Dog Eared YAs: The Unspoken

HELLO THERE :)

Today has been an unusually gloomy day here in the sunny tropics... :( But that's alright because it completely set the mood for a horror YA book that I picked up at the library today!

THE UNSPOKEN by Thomas Fahy

In five years' time, your greatest fear will consume you.
It will rob you of your last breath.


Summary

Five years ago, six children who lived with their families in Jacob Crawley's Divine Path religious cult escaped by burning the compound to the ground. They are reunited at the funeral of Jacob's son, Harold. Harold died of drowning -- his worst fear -- even though his body was found miles from any water. And it seems that each of the teens is marked for murder -- as Crawley had predicted years earlier. Can any of these teens save themselves?

Review

Alright! So basically, THE UNSPOKEN is a story centred around a cult prophecy. In my country, cults are outlawed, which made this read especially interesting for me. The incorporation of a cult concept gave an original, fresh setting as opposed to the predictable, overrated urban fantasies and futuristic dystopias of average Young Adult novels. UGHH D: 

Aside from the setting, the plot was also riveting as it was full of twists and turns. As the protagonists tried to figure out the identity of the person behind the murders, it reminded me greatly of a who-dun-it story. They searched libraries, uncovered physical clues and worked their way through the mystery with logic and common sense. Being a largely logical person myself, I found the process of detective work by the main characters enjoyable and convincing. :)

Who exactly was behind the murders?
Read the THE UNSPOKEN to find out!

The author, Thomas Fahy, also successfully managed to keep me riveted by enticing me with a promising back story. While each character lead seemingly normal lives, they were constantly haunted by a dark past. Suspense was built throughout the story as each character was systematically murdered in a gruesome and horrifying manner. 

In essence, the mounting tension was almost palpable and it compelled me to read through the entire book at one shot.

A highly suspenseful read with great characterization, I give THE UNSPOKEN a thumbs up for making my gloomy day into a more-suspenseful-and-thankful-that-cults-are-outlawed-in-my-country kind of day :)

Stay tuned for more reviews and recommendations kay! :)

-Crystal

Thursday 17 October 2013

The Juvie Piles: Fearless

Hello there!

So today, I'll be recommending cum reviewing my first book to juvenile readers (readers aged between 7-11), that is.... *drumroll please!*

FEARLESS by Tim Lott


Isn't the cover eye-catching?

Summary

FEARLESS, like most other stories in mainstream fiction,  is set in a not-too-distant dystopian future where offenders and outlaws are sent to reform schools. The protagonist of the story, Little Fearless, is one of those unfortunate juvenile offenders. She had been sent to City Community Faith Schools when she was a young child (god knows what crime she committed) and has been locked up in the compound since then.

Little Fearless goes into juvie jail :(
In the compound, she is stripped of her name and rights, hence causing her to lose her individuality.  Though she makes friends in the school, and learns to adapt to the internal caste system, she can't help but wonder how her life might be outside the compound. Determined to make a change, she relies on her wit and silver tongue to escape the compound and to tell her oppressed story to her community. Yet, as each attempt fails, Little Fearless becomes more desperate and begins to fear for the safety of her friends and her own life.

Ultimately, FEARLESS offers a haunting story that questions the courage and sacrifice that one must make in order to expose the truth to the public.   

Review

The first thing that caught my attention was, (obviously), the cover of the book. In my opinion, it is one of the most eye catching book covers I have seen so far. Heterochromia, the trait of having differently colored irises, is featured on the cover and it is also the most defining characteristic of Little Fearless. In addition, this characteristic is a main plot point of the story, so it is extremely apt for it to be portrayed on the book cover! :D

Another plus point for this book is its relatable characters. Despite having a great number of supporting characters, namely, Beauty, Tattletale, Soap Dish and Star Gazer, I felt that I could understand the personalities of each individual character. I could almost imagine their tone of voice, facial expressions and even habitual actions because Tim Lott did a splendid job in characterization.

Thank you Tim Lott! :)

However, no book is without sin! A downside was the lack of consistent usage of symbols, which left me a tad bit confused  towards the end. What did the white rose, as pictured on the cover, symbolize? Don't ask me, because up till now, I still dont have a clue :<

Also, the plot began to become a bit mechanical and repetitive towards the end, because Little Fearless escaped out of the compound three times and returned three times with no visible progress in plot development. This may bore more experienced, older readers as the plot becomes predictable and boring. But the structured plot may  also help younger readers to understand the flow of events easier.

To conclude, I felt that it was an interesting read. The plot flowed smoothly and there wasn't a bombardment of difficult terminologies that would turn off young readers. I was able to relate to the book and could feel Little Fearless' fiery determination as the plot progressed.

FEARLESS is definitely a book that I would recommend to juvenile readers with a thirst for dystopian fiction!

Stay tuned for more reviews and recommendations! :DDD

-Crystal

Hmmm... A First Post!

Hello there! :)

As a new blogger, I admit that all this - meaning, Blogger, the social media site- is pretty foreign to me. But I'm sure everything from basecodes to template will begin to fall in place as I go blogging away :)

Alright! The reason why I started this blog is because I wanted to share my passion for books and also to share some of my musings with other enlightened blogreaders.

In where I live, there are very very few people who adopt the "reading is for life" attitude. Perhaps it's because they never had the habit to read when they were young? Or perhaps its because newer, more technologically advanced gadgets are occupying all their time, whether they are relaxing or simply stuck in the toilet.

Either way, its a very sad trend to see more and more children and young people picking up their smart phones instead of picking up a hardcopy book to read. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that though this blog, more people (of all ages!) will once again, find a place for a book in their lives.

Reading is, most definitely, for life :)
Check back regularly for updates! :)

-Crystal