Will Grayson, Will Grayson Review

Hahas, so enough Levithan for now and back to Green! (Hell, please note this is only because I can't seem to get my hands on his books in the library. I still love you Levithan.)

So Will Grayson, Will Grayson, quick summary to the characters..

Straight Will Grayson — So this is Will Grayson number 1, the first you meet. Upon entering the first chapter, you realise this guy, like all of Green's other characters, is a reject. His only friend is Tiny Cooper. He has two rules in life: "1. Don't care too much" and "2. Shut up". He's one who believes in removing himself from situations so no one gets hurt. But obviously that don't go too well.

Tiny Cooper — Okay, so Tiny Cooper is Will Grayson 1's best bud. He's tall for a Tiny. He's writing a musical about his life, which is actually what the book revolves around. He's a real feeler. So much bottled up emotion in such a big guy. Spoiler: He falls in love with the Other Will Grayson. Which sucks because Tiny Cooper is (Straight) Will's best and only friend.

The Other Will Grayson (AKA The Gay Will Grayson) — This Will Grayson is portrayed by Levithan (woohoo), and this teen is in the process of recovering from depression (boohoo). He meets this guy online called Issac and man, Issac is so cool. Unfortunately, OWG finds out Issac is actually his girlfriend with a fake persona (more boohoo).

Shit happens, and the two one day cross paths (in a porn store) because straight will grayson is buying an *AHEM* magazine and the other will grayson is looking for the non-existent Issac. Things happen and OWG meets Tiny. Bam! They fall in love, OWG admits he's gay for the first time, they break up on a swing, straight Will Grayson falls in love with Jane, Tiny rewrites the musical, the musical, wonderful ending...

I really loved this quote in there though by (straight) Will Grayson. It says: "I'm not even his favourite Will Grayson anymore." I think it's so sad. Really.

And I also like the one LEVITHAN wrote for OWG. It reads:

Both ways, I think the book was a beautiful blend of writing styles (though we all know Levithan was secretly better). But I really like how the book emphasized, maybe you don't need to be in love to love someone. Friendship is a kind of love.

It's the most beautiful kind I know.

Mini Thoughts: The Lover's Dictionary

So, in the last 7 hours, I've read and reread The Lover's Dictionary... THRICE. Hell, that book is amazing. And because it has no actual chronological sequence, you can keep reading it over and over and over.... You never need to stop.

I think my favorite at this moment would be reservation.

Or maybe it's lover. 

Or maybe it's just aloof.

I've been missing the mam again. I got really upset in the evening. I tried to write a song about her and how great it would be to leave. I did and I sent it to Llama. I don't know, I let her hear the song. I just... wished she'd say something more. 

Maybe she's right and I'm just lonely.

I wish she was right.

Every You, Every Me Review

I just finished this book TWICE in the last six hours. Oh my goodness, this is one really intense book. Awesome read, loved the suspense, I can totally relate to the helplessness that Evan feels and the constant flash backing and intruding words in messy thoughts.

I don't really know how exactly to rate this book because it's just so spectacular and so magical: A mix of Paper Town's mystery with Looking for Alaska's emotions and a tinch of Every Day's awesome writing style.

This is a magical book I cannot describe in words, it can only be read and understood. Because you know one me. Just like I know one you. But you can't know every me. And I can't know every you.

"People are always separable." But hell, I can't separate myself from this book!

David Levithan is such a splendid writer. ;)

Papertowns Review

Okay, so here's another one by Green, John Green. (Just sidetracking, but I've learnt that in the world there are two kinds of people: Greenies or Levithans/ Tolkiens or Rowlings/ Lewis or Carolls. Ha, the last one's quite funny.) Anyways, yeah, I just finished Paper towns.

It's basically another typical Green story of surrounding an isolated boy and a strange strange girl, with the boy's best buds and some heck of a problem.

This time, the weird-ass boy is typical Q, or Quentin Jacobsen in full: A goody-two-shoes with psychiatric parents. The crazy girl is Margo Roth Spiegelman (however you even pronounce her last name). A popular girl in school who's quite an enigma and quite a bother especially when she's running away from home.

After an all-night run around trip with Q, the smart-ass abandoned builder locater Margo disappears, leaving clues for Q to follow because she only realises that night that she likes Q. And so comes this big adventure across the freaking state of America, including missing their graduation night because of the woman.

And the ending was more or less shitty, but not in the "WHAT IT JUST ENDED LIKE THAT? I NEED MORE!" kind of way but really just the "Man. That was a... FUDGING WASTE OF TIME!" kind of way.

I ran away from home yesterday. Ha, yeah. Though not under the influence of the book (which my mom believes it to be). Well, last Friday, my mom finally met the counsellor and she was supposed to come home and have some talk with me. Of which, seemed more like an interrogation.

I really felt... traumatised after that interrogation and so I felt I needed space. A lot of space. I felt judged. (Haha, insert Silver Lining's Playbook quote: "I opened up to you and you judged me!") But seriously, she was focusing much more on WHY I'm crazy and not "how can I help you?" or "what is this thing she told me bout?". It was just creepy.

And so, I ran on Monday. Mom almost called the police. She called the school, the school called me, I called the counsellor, the counsellor called my mom. One big round anyway. I'm going back on Thursday.

Hope shit is fine by then.

Looking for Alaska

It's 54 days till I die. And I know I've finished Looking for Alaska at least thrice now. It really is extremely depressing. Mainly, the book is told from Miles' point of view, or Pudge, as the Colonel calls him. The Colonel is his roommate in college. And on the first day of college, Pudge is introduced to Alaska.

And bam, it's love at first sight!

Pudge really gets along with Alaska, and he really likes her, both as a friend and as a girl. He never had any real friends before college. But unfortunately, Pudge finds out she has a boyfriend, of which she really really loves.

On one lonely night, Alaska introduces last-words-obssessed Pudge to Simon Bolivar's biography. His last words were: How will I ever get out of this labyrinth? And I really loved how the book played with the idea on whether the labyrinth was of death or life? The world or the end of it?

Finally, one day, after many adventures with the Colonel and Alaska, Pudge gets lucky. On that night, he finally got Alaska to bang him. But that's when it happens. She suddenly rushes off soon after that.

What happens after that, I really don't want to spoil it for you. It's a really beautiful book, much better than "The Fault in Our Stars" of which I personally hated by the way. I really loved the quotes in this one and all the secrets buried within.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Every Day Review (Exclusive)

Believe it or not, just 2 days after I posted the last post, I finished the book and MAN WAS THE ENDING HOR-RI-GI-BLE.

But anyways, I think it's my new favorite book for now. Basically, the whole story is written in somewhat of a diary format, yet without all the formalities. It's told from the view of A, this sort of shape shifting man who really questions identity. One day, he takes on the body of Justin and meets this angel called Rhiannon. First time he sees her, WHAM, love at first sight.

Soon, he gets addicted to seeing her. In the form of all these people he takes over, he searches for her and actually even manages to date her! But one unfortunate accident left one of the "victims" aware of his presence. And ever since, A is also being hunted down.

It's a really intriguing idea really. I love how Mr David nicely phrases all his words. Like you can really feel how lonely and desperate A really is. How tough his life has been. How tough it's about to be. How tough it is to be dating a girl and expecting her to just "get used to it".

I can't really say anymore other than the fact that it is truly an amazing book. It's made it's way to my favorites book shelf now. Well, hope you enjoy the book as much as I do. And tell me your reaction to the shitty ending!

P.S. I must get my hands on Will Grayson. It's this collab between David Levithan and John Green. Oh, and I'll probably post a review or just thoughts on Looking for Alaska. Because that was the only book by John Green that I truly truly loved.

Ketchup Clouds Review

Hey, so another month's gone by and another book finished. Ketchup Clouds took me quite a while because I've been busy and haven't found much time to read. But nonetheless, finished it just in time and here it is!

Well, first impression of the book: I thought it was a really cool idea. I mean, who in the world thinks of writing to someone who's about to die so he can literally die with the secrets. And Ms Pitcher also adds in the family problem thing, of which I can totally relate and understand to: The fear of divorce.

And OH MY GOODNESS, THE PAGES ARE AWESOME. I mean, LOOK AT THEM!

Anyways, the storyline ended up kind of warped though. It's basically about this girl who finally gets to go to a party and she meets this guy, instantly falling in love with him. Later they got separated and she met another guy, of which she also found really hot. Problem is she loved them both. But that wasn't her biggest problem. She ended up banging one of em and then found out the two boys were BROTHERS.

And so, the big secret I'm not supposed to tell you is that one of em dies. (But who?)

I personally think the story is kinda warped and weird. More of a romance story more than a bildungroman. Still, interesting read it is. Don't ask me about the title though. Haven't figured that bit out. Maybe it's realllllllyyyyyyy deep. But I'm too lazy for that.

Halfway through Every Day now. I bought it some time last year but it was so pops that my book's been on loan for almost half a year now. They say the ending really sucks but here it goes!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Review

You have no idea how much I love love LOVE Perks. Maybe Charlie's right, maybe my favourite book will always be the next book I read but what I do know is that this book is magical, fantastic, most impactful to my life. I will remember this book always.

I can completely understand how lonely Charlie feels, especially right now, this year. We just changed classes so I have new classmates this year. Even the old classmates seem distant. Well I have found a friend at last, just like Charlie found his Sam.

The only difference now is that I don't dare to go for therapy still.

And well, that I'm not close to my teacher I guess. Bill praised Charlie for being his brightest student ever. Well, on the first day of school my teacher looked into my eyes and commented that I havd a very dull spirit. So much for a first!

Silver Linings Playbook Review

I loved it. I absolutely loved it.

I loved how the book ended: Those last lines, that short fragment, all so powerful!

"I think I need you too."

But other than that beautiful ending, I loved how Quick had brought out all those emotions. The way he used speech to bring out the characters, and even more so, the speechless parts. How he described Pat's fear, his inability to control his temper... He brought Pat to life.

However, most of all, I loved how he perfectly presented how biased society was against the mentally ill. How unfair, how cruel, it was to be mentally ill and still be mocked. My favourite paragraph was this extract:

Cliff looks at me for a second, as if he does not know how to respond, and then says, "Tell me what worries you." 

"My father refers to T.O. as a psychotic pill popper. And on the phone this week, Jake also made jokes about T.O. taking pills, calling Owen a nutter." 

"Why does this bother you?" 

"Well, the reports I read in the sports pages claimed that T.O. was possibly battling depression." 

"Yes." 

"Well," I say, "That would suggest that he needs therapy." 

"And?" 

"If Terrell Owens is really depressed or mentally unstable, why do the people I love use it as an excuse to talk badly about him?" 

Cliff takes a deep breath. "Hmmm." 

"Doesn't my dad understand that I'm a psychopathic pill popper too?" 

"As your therapist, I can confirm that you are clearly not psychopathic, Pat." 

"But I'm on all sorts of pills." 

"And yet you are not abusing your medications." 

I can see what Cliff means, but he doesn't really understand how I feel — which is a mix of very complicated and hard-to-convey emotions, I realise — so I drop the subject.

I think it's a beautiful paragraph. Awesome read! Definitely very much worth buying! The movie was great too, though they left out a number of good scenes from the book. Still, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper did a great job!

Addition Review

So I was in London just last week and I bought a whole lot of new books from WHSmith. Books are so much cheaper there than they are in Singapore. One of the books I bought was 'Addition'. It's about this girl named Grace who is obsessed with counting things, anything, everything. She just counts and counts and counts and counts. It's not exactly OCD. It's different, and that's what I love about it.

Nikola Tesla, Grace's idol

Then comes in this "average man" named Seamus. He doesn't count stuff like she does. And he just works in the theatre, lives with two of his brothers. But somehow one thing leads to another and next thing you know, they're in the bedroom. But, of course, that is not why Grace loves him.

I think Seamus really goes the extra mile by bringing her to therapy and all. I mean it's tough, that's for sure — therapy, that is. I think it's a really brave thing to do but unfortunately, sometimes, no matter how brave you are, it just doesn't work for you.

One thing I really love about Toni's (Or Jordan's) work is that she really has a lot of word play in there. For example, just in the synopsis itself: Grace's problem is that Seamus doesn't count. Her other problem... he does.

Or towards the end of the book, she beautifully states one about "Average" but I shan't spoil that. It's a gorgeous revelation. Average is unique. That's all I can say.

Apart from the occasional bedroom scene, I really think this is an awesome book. It especially gives insights into anxiety, obsession and a teeny bit of OCD. I think Silver Lining's Playbook definitely covers more on mental illnesses so if you are interested, stay tuned.

P.S. The Silver Lining's Playbook movie was awesome though! Should catch it! Still halfway through the book. And Merry Christmas. :)

Toni Jordan

Wonder Review

So yeah, I just finished Wonder, and I think it was GREAT! Even better than the End of Your Life Book Club! (Sorry Will!)

I just love how Palacio writes and expresses in this very subtle way, it's like she can locate the emotion and then just put it in one simple sentence. Also, the chapters are only like a few pages long, so you get really motivated to read it! Finished the book in two days!

The book has like all kinds of tragedies, from divorce to grief to neglect to pets dying to bullying. Maybe one reason why I really loved the book was because in real life, I really do know people with all these problems. It's just makes me really sad yet really happy at the same time, because I finally understand them a bit, you know?

As for August, yeah, I think I can relate. No, I don't have a deformed face, but his face is really just a metaphor isn't it? For differences. I don't like it when people stare at me when I have a panic attack, I kinda understand his pain a bit.

It's "that look".

Well, at least the ending was wonderful! (Don't want to leak it out though.) Once again, thank you so much for reading this blog and joining me in my book adventures!

P.S. Palacio is a woman. I honestly thought she was male at first.

The End of Your Life Book Club Review

I just finished reading "The End of Your Life Book Club" yesterday. I'd say it's a powerful and moving book that presents everything in a simple, subtle way. I really admire Will's mother. She's done so much: humanitarian work, housewife, part-time blogger, fund raiser... An endless list to the amount of things she's done. I'd say Mary Ann's death was, in a way, also better than Romeo and Juliet living.

Mary Ann Schwalbe

My grandfather is suffering from lung and bone cancer so I could really relate a lot to the book. I kind of applied that thing he learnt in The Etiquette of Illness. Now, I always ask him if he wants to talk about how he's feeling rather than how he's feeling. And it does wonders.

But I guess even books cannot prepare you for the grief to come. He and my grandmother raised me up because my parents are busy with work most of the time, so we're really close knitted. And I honestly can't imagine a life without him.

But yeah, the book is really amazing. You can check out the synopsis here. A book you'd fall in love with almost immediately. By the way, I'm still book hunting for the next book. So, until next month!