Raven: Rooms

A novel by Lauren Oliver

Publication date: September 23rd, 2014
Publisher: Ecco

Pages: 320

Targeted Audience: Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Mystery/Contemporary Fiction

Blurb:  Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance.

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

I went into this book without reading any reviews; I hadn’t even read the blurb. All I knew was that it had ghosts.

I was right of course. This book does have ghosts, two of them, Alice and Sandra. Alice is the oldest and Sandra is not so much (Sandra is the one with the dirty mouth). Needless to say they both have secrets they haven’t shared with each other. 

The beginning of the book was a little hard for me to wrap my mind around. It starts off with the death of Richard Walker, husband of Catherine Walker and father of a teenage son, Trenton and a single mother, Minna. He left a will behind stating that the house would go to Trenton and certain amount of fortunes to both his wife and his daughter, but there also seems to be a third person who inherited his fortune. I thought the book would elaborate more on this third person but it didn't! This other person just seemed to me like a useless new character that was bought in just to torture the thought process of the dead mans wife.

Trenton had the role of any other teenager in an adult novel- whining. I just wanted to smack him sometimes. Minna was a sl*t who just had repressed feelings inside of her because she was never truly loved. Maybe she should have taken down the "I just met you and so let's sleep together because I don't give a cr*p about my little daughter who is just downstairs". I hated all the characters! I HATE THEM ALL SO MUCH. 

This book introduces the ghosts and the Walker family and so many other characters at such a fast pace that I couldn't even remember the name of the characters until I finished the book. 

Also, with so many POV's to keep a track of I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I felt zero emotions towards them, except one of the ghosts, Susan. Her constant cursing and joking around was a nice distraction from the not so nice writing of the book. 

I don't know if it's just me or if someone else out there feels the same as me, but I dislike Lauren Oliver's writing. I had read Before I fall and it was a nice book and that's it. Just a nice book that I don't really want displayed on my shelf and wouldn't bother reading it again, ever. 

After that I tried reading the Pandemonium series. 

Keyword: Tried.

I gave up on the first book after reading two lines. I just cannot handle her style of writing. It bounces off of me. The words register in my head but they just remain as words, they refuse to transform into my personal movie. 

However, I had picked up this book hoping I would fall in love with the ghosts (I was looking for a scary read) but it disappointed me because it was not even close to scary. It did not even creep me out. I've read a few reviews that say that this book made them feel watched in their own houses as the ghosts live and breathe in every part of the house, but I just felt ---'meh'.

So over all I rate this book with two Raven feathers and take a vow never to read any other Lauren Oliver YA or Adult books ever again. However, I'm really looking forward to reading her middle grade fiction books because they sound amazing and the cover looks awesome. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm a sucker for covers and recently I've been wanting to read some serious middle grade fiction. Don't ask me why.

 Lots of love and pasta,

Raven

Raven: The Book Thief

A novel by Markus Zusak

Publication date: September 1st, 2005
Publisher: Knopf

Pages: 550

Targeted Audience: Young Adult

Summary: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

I finished it.

And I was just looking at the news where this Nepali survived after 80 hours of being trapped and another guy who survived even after the tower collapsed and everyone else died. (Referring to the terrible earthquake in Nepal)

And I can't help but imagine Death going around and collecting their souls and leaving some behind, whispering that it's not their time. Not yet.

And I just can't handle this!

The last few chapters were so good, I had to go to the washroom and read it, cause I was sobbing so hard and I didn't want anyone to see me crying like a little baby over something that I could never explain to them. I can never make anyone feel the things I felt by summarizing it. It would feel like an insult to the emotions that this book evokes.

I had to stop reading multiple times because I couldn't see anything through my tears. There were times where I stopped, kept my glasses on the book and just sobbed like a baby. I was crying so hard like I had lost someone who was so dear to me and I truly had.

I was a big mess.

I was laughing at how absurd the idea is of crying over mere words but I was also crying at how devastating these words can be.

Anybody who just read this review needs to know that I am NOT going to talk about the plot here at all cause I can't and don't want to bring back the memories. It will only make me cry more and like I said, summarizing is just not going to cut it.

But I swear to you, this book is worth it. It is worth all the tears and laughter and joy and sadness and anger and hate and just about every other emotion you can possibly feel.

I have never read a book with words that are so powerful. 

People... Just read it, you won't regret a thing. I promise.

A fabulous Unicorn for a fabulous book

Lots of love and pasta,

Raven 

Raven:The Transfer

A novel by Veronica Roth

Publication date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 55

Targeted Audience: Young Adult (And adults) 

Summary: Fans of the Divergent series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth will be captivated by "Four: The Transfer," the first of four stories, each between fifty and seventy-five pages long, set in the world of Divergent and told from Tobias's perspective.

In "The Transfer," readers witness Tobias's aptitude test, Choosing Day, and the moment he is given the infamous nickname "Four." 

In this book Veronica Roth has thrown us into Tobias’ past. It starts with his aptitude test, where he chooses each option purposely so that it would land him only in Abnegation and not in more than one faction. We see how much Marcus has really terrified Tobias. The injuries he inflicted on him, his cunning chameleon nature, and his extremism of applying abnegation rules over Tobias by torturing him. Finally we see what made him choose Dauntless and how he molded right into the faction.

It was a beautiful book that made me respect his character and the choices that he made throughout the series.

I wished I had read this book earlier, at least before The Allegiant. I really felt the fear Tobias felt in the presence of his father. His terrible past was more real to me after reading it in ‘The Transfer’.

In the entire Divergent series all I read was, Tobias/Four was abused by Marcus – his dad. It was never really described so I never felt much for him, hence (Spoiler ahead if you haven’t read Insurgent) when he beat his dad I was pissed at him cause I thought no matter how much he says he was abused, Marcus was still his father! (Or maybe I was just thinking that way because I have been raised in a culture where respecting elders had been instilled in my bones)

However, by the end of this book I was almost screaming in my mind, telling Tobias to leave his terrible father, to leave Abnegation and to live his bloody life! 

(Spoiler ahead for those who haven’t read Allegiant) 

Now I feel absolutely terrible about not having loved Tobias before. I mean he had a terrible father, his mother had abandoned him and then got back years later and at the end of ‘The Allegiant’ he even lost Tris. I have never before fallen in love with a character after finishing the book series. I wish I could just get into the book and hug Tobias at the end of Allegiant. He’s been through so much. 

I highly recommend people to read this book after ‘The Divergent’. Because in the first book you will be introduced into the world of factions and you will learn a little about Four’s past, so when you read ‘The Transfer’ you will realize what he really went through and get a better understanding of the character in the rest of the books. Plus this book is really short; you’ll finish it in less than thirty minutes I believe if you are a fast reader.

I give it four out of five stars and hope your pasta is always cheesy.

Lots of love,

Raven.