Raven: Fangirl

A novel by Rainbow Rowell

Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Publisher: St, Martin's Press
Pages: 445
Targeted Audience: All Fangirls (new and old)

Summary: From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.
A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Alright. 
I am ready for this.
Let's begin.
So... I-uh...I really... I just... Damn man! I am not ready! And I don't think I ever will be. Recently I have read so many beautiful books like 'Me Before You', 'Between the Lines', Addition', 'Pivot Point', 'The distance between us', and many many others but this book... This book is on a whole new level.

Now I am going to be honest with you here. Beez was the one who suggested that we should read this book since we have been fangirling over Sherlock, Doctor Who, Supernatural and Loki for a pretty long time. (Not that long actually. Just a few months)

So we start reading this book and it doesn't speak out to us. I mean, when you start reading a good book, the first page itself grips you in its tentacles and pulls you in but this book did not do that. We read like twenty or so pages and gave up on it. But then we read a few reviews by other people on this book and almost everyone loved it and so we decided to start off again and we kept reading and kept reading and kept reading...

For me, I was entranced by the book as soon as Reagan started talking to Cath. Her character was just so vibrant and hilarious. I have a bus mate who is exactly like her so I always kept imagining Reagan as that girl and now whenever I see her (My bus mate) I can't stop snickering! Reagan is a very intimidating person. Usually I don't get along with people who intimidate me but she and Cath got along so well that I couldn't help loving her.

Oops! Before we get into characters, the blurb. 
So Cath and Wren are twins. They have an awesome Geek dad and their mom left them when they were kids. Wren decides to go to college in Lincoln which is pretty far away from Omaha and Cath is forced to go as well.
Wren and Cath love each other (I mean they are twins! They grew up together) but Wren wants to have her own identity and so she does everything from cutting her hair to getting a different roommate in college. However, Cath doesn't want to let go of her sister. She does not like change. All she wants to do is sit in her room, put her glasses on and write Simon Snow fan-fiction and give Simon and Baz (The two main characters in the Simon Snow books) THE best ending ever. 

Simon Snow: It's just like how Harry Potter is to us.

Cath has a huge number of people who follow her fan-fiction and since she just loves writing she chooses 'fiction writing' as one of her subjects in college. And now she gets to learn from an awesome fiction writer called Professor Piper who thinks fan-fiction is plagiarism. 

The problem: Cath can't let go of Simon and Baz. She is losing her sister but gaining an awesome guy in the process. And as you can see, there is more 'change' than she can handle. 

Now lets continue with the characters.

Beez: Bridge to Terabithia

Katherine Paterson

Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone.

That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as king and queen, and their imaginations set the only limits.

This story.

We've all seen the movie. We all love the movie. We've all cried over it. But what about the book?

Yeah, the books the same.

This book is a trip back to our childhood where we all lived in our worlds, had our issues and saw the world differently. Its about the simple things of our childhood and how we were so new to this world and loved stories and had wild imaginations running around.

In this book, we live in Jess's mind and meet our favourite exotic Leslie and then go to the kingdom of Terabithia were two children are the king and queen of their fantasies. Jess might be a eleven year old boy who lives a life a world apart from ours but my inner child was immediately friends with him. Jess is a different sort of boy. He has some darn determination and a damn good heart. That is probably another amazing thing about this book, it lacks any malice and contempt people grow to have.

This book is definitely a childhood classic but well its a recommended read for all ages.

The author has created the characters so well and the story is quite beautifully written and you know, 'its an out of book feeling".

Another best thing about this book is Leslie's colourful imagination. She fascinates us the way she fascinates Jess. And then there's her awesome family.

Also Maybelle.

She is seriously the cutest!

In general, the part I love the most about the story is the end.

*spoiler alert*

No I'm not happy that the author killed Leslie off, but then she this probably was her only way to have her chance to have tea with Satan for whatever reason.

And that's not my favourite part of the story.

My favourite part is the part after Leslie's death, the part where Jess graciously kills us with his sweetness and cuteness and crowns Maybelle as the queen of Terabithia.

Because what could be a more wonderful moment than that?

Its one of those moments when your heart blooms with happiness and your choking with emotions and your smiling inside out because damn this boy is good. And because apart from being so cute and just lost a best friend, he's the sweetest guy and the best brother you could possibly ever have! Again, too much emotion.

I guess, now you should go and read this book?

You probably should.

Will break your heart but worth it.

(And now you know what to do if you ever want to have tea with Satan ;))

Raven: "WHY YOU SO CUTE JOSHY????"

Lots of love and watermelon,

Beez.

Raven : Doctor Who The Price of Paradise

Colin Brake

Aaaah! David Tennant & Billie Piper

Laylora - the Paradise Planet. A world of breath-taking beauty, where peace-loving aboriginals live in harmony with their environment. Or do they? The Doctor and Rose arrive to find that the once-perfect eco-system is showing signs of failing. The paradise planet has become a death trap as terrifying creatures from ancient legends appear and stalk the land... Is there a connection between the human explorers who have crash-landed and the savage monsters? What secret lies at the heart of the natives' ancient ceremonies? And what price might one human have to pay to save the only home he has ever known? When a planet itself becomes sick, can there be a cure?
The Doctor and Rose find themselves in a race against time to find out...

 This was my first Doctor Who book and to be honest, this book was kind of average compared to other sci-fi books that I have read. I expected a lot from the book since I love Doctor Who (New whovians here!) But it wasn't horrible, it got interesting after a few chapters. 

So, this time the TARDIS takes the Doctor and his companion, Rose to a beautiful planet named Laylora, or paradise planet as the human explorers call it. But the paradise planet seems to be in peril. It's been showing signs of falling such as landslides, earthquakes, etc which is very unlike Laylora according to the natives. But these signs worsen when Laylora gives birth to her protectors - The Witiku (I like the sound of it). The Witiku are savage monsters whose main purpose is to destroy everything that threatens Laylora.

And now it's up to the Doctor and his companion to save the day and protect the human explorers and the natives from the Witiku but also figure out how to save the paradise planet from falling.

Now like I said I didn't like this book that much but it had a great green message. If you actually think about it Laylora kind of represents our planet Earth. Earth too was beautiful once but we humans have ruined it and like Laylora, the natural disasters are increasing in number (And soon there shall be an apocalypse!) 

On the other hand I thought that Laylora had serious adapting issues. You could compare it to some people, who cannot handle a shift in their routine and will throw fits if their schedule is changed in any tiny way. These kind of people really need to learn to adapt. I mean, come on! I like having proper schedules too but change is good!

Anyway, back to the review. I didn't like how the Doctor and Rose were rarely together in the book. I also think that the writing was not that good since I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. However, I liked how the different story lines fused into one by the end of the story. So I would give it a 3.5 even though I want to give it more since I love DW. In the meantime I will keep a lookout for more DW books. 

Lots of Love & Pasta,

Raven

Beez doesn't like Macaroons... Bad Beez!