Book Review: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Goodreads Synopsis: One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter's marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds.

466 pages
3.73 average rating on Goodreads
Published: 2011
Genre: Adult Fiction, Drama, Romance, Controversial

My Review:

When I picked up this book I expected an in-depth, multi-viewpoint account of some controversial issue, with quick-witted characters and raw emotions. Jodi Picoult did NOT disappoint.

Max and Zoe Baxter have been married for nine years, and have dug themselves into quite a hole of debt and despair with infertility treatments - the result of which has been two miscarriages and a stillborn. When Zoe says she wants to try again, Max decides he's had enough, and they divorce. Max moves in with his straight-arrow brother and his wife, and finds his way out of the bottle and into the arms of Jesus. Zoe finds her way into the arms of Vanessa, a counsellor at the school where Zoe sometimes works as a music therapist. Though Max and Zoe have gone very separate ways, they must deal with each other once more, in court, to determine what will happen to their remaining embryos, waiting in a freezer at the in-vitro clinic.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, which talked in-depth about Zoe and Max's fertility treatments. I hope to one day become a fertility doctor, so I like reading anything involving that branch of medicine.

As usual with Picoult's books, I fell in love with the characters immediately, especially Zoe. You can feel how deeply she wants a baby, and become so connected with her that you feel each injection, each miscarriage, each implantation, along with her. From page one, I was rooting for her to get what she wanted. Vanessa seems to be a super open-minded individual, and she seemed willing to do anything to make Zoe happy. Although Max was a slimeball at times, I generally liked his character as well and kept hoping for things to work out for him.

Is it just me or do all of the books by this author end up with someone in a courtroom? This doesn't actually bother me, but Angela, Zoe's lawyer in this novel, and her attempts at hilarity grew old fast in my opinion, and she got on my nerves quite a bit.

This book's plot is pretty fast-paced; there's always some new issue arising, and thus the plot was never boring. I was really pleased with the ending, although it was a bit abrupt and I wouldn't have minded it being extended, or even a sequel book. I'd like to know what happens to Max's brother, Reid, and if later on in life all of the characters are happy with the decisions they've made.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars. I really enjoyed it and it will probably be put on my "for keeps" shelf, but I would've liked a longer ending.

If anyone else has read this I would love to know what you thought of it!

Book Review: Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun -- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life -- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

666 pages.   

4.30 average rating on Goodreads

Published 2007

Genre: YA, Drama, Realistic Fiction

 My Review:

This book is yet another tragic story written beautifully in prose poetry by the infallible Ellen Hopkins. Three troubled teens, Tony, Vanessa, and Conner all come from very different upbringings, but meet and become friends when they are all admitted to Aspen Springs, a psychiatric centre for young people.

I really liked that parts of the story were told from the perspective of each of the young people. I love when books are written from more than one perspective, so that you get to see the intimate details of the past that make each character who they are.

Tony, raised by a mother who never wanted to raise him, and ignored by a father who never bothered to know him, turns to pills to deal with his feelings. He is unsure of who he is, who he wishes to become, and how to love other people. Tony is an incredibly nice, friendly person, and we get to see him open more as he learns to forgive his father and figure out who he is.

Vanessa was raised essentially by her grandmother, since her military father was usually absent and her bipolar mother preferred the pill bottle to her children. Vanessa now finds that she herself shows symptoms of bipolar disorder, as well as depression (likely brought on by guilt of a rather dark portion of her past). She cuts herself for no reason other than to feel alive. In this book we see her seeking a close relationship with someone who truly cares about her (unlike her ex-boyfriend, Trevor, who just wanted to get in her pants), and affirmation that she has made good decisions in her life.

Conner, raised with his twin sister in a seemingly perfect household, with two perfectionist parents and a nanny, finds himself finally cracking under the pressure to be nothing less than the best. Conner has grown up starving for attention from a mother who never showed him any, and finds himself drawn to older, female authority figures. Though Conner desperately wants love and approval from his mother, he needs his parents to slack off the pressure and accept his depression, and if they don't, the consequences may be fatal.

I enjoyed reading this book but I wish there would've been more time to get to know each of the characters. Some of the plot twists didn't make sense to me (ahem, Tony and Vanessa), but the ending was a complete surprise that I thought was a perfect fit! I also thought Ms. Hopkins did a great job describing each of the characters' thought processes, giving them their own quirky personalities. 

Although I enjoyed this book and plan to read the second one, Perfect, I probably wouldn't consider it a favorite, and likely won't reread it. However, Crank and Glass by Ellen Hopkins, I do consider favorites! See my review of Glass here: http://with-sugar.blogspot.ca/2014/04/book-review-glass-by-ellen-hopkins.html  

Overall I give this book 3/5 stars, simply because it wasn't as amazing as I'd hoped for. If you are new to Ellen Hopkins books though, I definitely encourage you to read it as you will probably think it's fantastic. 

Thanks for reading! :)

                                        

Book Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

http://johngreenbooks.com

http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com

Goodreads Synopsis:

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

221 pages

4.23 average rating on Goodreads

Published: 2005

Genre: YA, Realistic Fiction, Sob Continually Throughout because The Feels

May I just start this review by saying, WHY DID NO ONE PREPARE ME FOR THE FEELS THIS BOOK WILL CAUSE YOU TO EXPERIENCE - WHY?

Looking for Alaska is the first John Green book that I've read, and woah....mind = blown. This book is beautifully written, with just the right amount of quirk and comedy to balance the heavily dramatic topics that are present in this book. If you ask me, John Green has introduced us to a whole new style of writing and I LOVE IT. 

The characters in this book are so realistic and so well-developed that you feel as if you know them personally, as if they are your friends....and more than once throughout you wish they were your friends. I got strongly emotionally attached to all of there characters in this novel early on; I love that Alaska was such a strong, independent female character - witty and impulsive, she took crap from no one, - the type of girl everyone wishes they could be.

This book requires solitude and a plethora of tissues, which nobody warned me about (how did I manage to never get spoiled about the plot?). I spent the first half of the book mildly irritated that there were no chapters but rather "x days before"....like what the hell did the before mean? Before what? Then I finally turned the page to after, and immediately wished I could go back. I was NOT prepared to deal with what happened, and in fact I am still far from ok with it. That being said, this book makes you both laugh and cry, often within the same paragraph, so thank you for that John Green.

This book makes you think differently about the world and about the people you choose to face it with. It changes your perspective on life, and makes you want to live in the moment, and to go chase your own Great Perhaps.

In short, this book will both elate and depress you, make you laugh hysterically and sob uncontrollably. Looking for Alaska is a realistic book about teens and personal growth as they leave home to become their own person, and to discover their own Great Perhaps. 

I give this book 5/5 stars because I ABSOFRICKENLUTELY loved it! I will however warn you that there are some pretty mature topics (sexually and otherwise) in here, so maybe if you're under the age of thirteen you may want to wait a while to read it. Otherwise I absolutely recommend this book, my favorite read of 2014 thus far!

I would love to hear your opinion on Looking for Alaska, as well as your thoughts on any of John Green's work. Thanks for reading!!