Author Archives: Nicole G.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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lordoftheflies_williamgoldingPre-reading impression:
Boys + island – adults = cannibalism

Post-reading impression:
British Boys + pig infested island – adults and their rules = wait … Was no one eaten?

I think this was one of the main disappointments. It’s a story about a bunch of little boys on an island. Is it too far-fetched thinking that cannibalism would eventually ensue?

The boys still go savage. That at least was consistent with my pre-reading assumptions. All the little boys are between the age of six and twelve. They start their adventure in an assembly. Their main chief, Ralph, calls them all together by blowing into a conch shell. One thing that always struck me odd is that no one ever knows exactly how many boys there were on the island. They have a whole bunch of assemblies where all the boys are present, but for whatever reason, no one bothers to count everyone during this time. Would it be so hard for Piggy, who is the only boy with brains and common sense on the island, to just turn his head and count the little kids and the big kids.

The characters themselves are pretty distinct. I ignored most of the little ones during the story because they didn’t do much except have nightmares. Simon and Piggy were my favorite characters, and Ralph can grow on you. He is a natural leader, and although he stuck Piggy with the unfortunate nickname, he knows how to take charge of a situation and manage the priorities on what must be done to survive.

Some phrases in the book became pretty common in the assemblies. No one liked listening to Piggy, because he was fat and wore glasses, so in order to get the boys to listen, Piggy would say, “I’ve got the conch.” In response, Ralph often replied, “Oh, shut up.” To which Jack demanded, “We need meat.” Where Ralph would say, “The fire is the most important thing.” Just the same argument over and over.

This is one of those classic books where everything is written for a reason. All the main characters represent a different part of society. It starts fairly organized but eventually gets more chaotic. There are strong archetypical symbols. I found myself thinking, rain is an archetype for rebirth. Thank you, freshman English class. But as fun as it is to just pick out symbols and match them with their corresponding meanings, the book just becomes so much deeper with these ideas in place.

So if you are looking for a classic book with all male characters between the ages of 6 to 12 on an island devoid of cannibalism, Lord of the Flies is the book for you.

-Nicole G., 12th grade

Lord of the Flies is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library, Overdrive, and Axis360. 

The Remedy by Suzanne Young

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remedy_suzanneyoung“I can’t remember who I am,” I say. “I’m not sure what’s real anymore.”

Actress. Imposter. Closer. Quinlan’s job is to step in and pretend to be whoever died to help families through the grieving process. She changes her hair, her clothes, and mimics them to the best of her abilities. She gives families the closure they need to keep going on with their lives despite the death of their loved one, but it is always only temporary.

Quinn is very good at her job. So good, in fact, that she can’t always tell her own past from the past of assignments. Quinn immerses herself so fully into her job that it’s hard to pull herself out. Especially on this new case. It’s the longest assignment to date, almost immediately after her last assignment. It might be too soon, but Quinn has no choice. She can’t say no to her boss when it’s her father.

“This isn’t my house. Isn’t my life. I let mine go and now I can’t find it. There’s nothing familiar to pull me back. I don’t know who I am.”

The only person who really gets Quinn is her mostly-ex-boyfriend Deacon. He was a Closer but quit a few months ago, around the time he quit on their relationship. Quinn still loves Deacon, but the last time she tried to let him back into her heart he shattered it. That makes twice where Quinn has felt him pull away. She isn’t sure if Deacon is worth risking her heart again.

Especially when her new assignment consists of consoling the decease’s boyfriend, Isaac. He’s cute, which may be part of the problem. The longer the assignment goes, the harder it is for Quinn to separate her own life from the assignment. It would be so easy to just forget about her life as Quinn and live happily in the dead girl’s world where she is treasured as a daughter and girlfriend. But throughout the assignment, Quinn can tell there’s something different about it.

Maybe it’s the secret about how her assignment died. Maybe it’s the mysteriously missing pages from the diary. Maybe it’s the dead girl’s friend who disappeared from existence. Whatever it is, Quinn is on the case. But the more she learns, the more secrets she finds. If Quinn isn’t careful, she might go so far into her role that she will lose herself in the process.

-Nicole G.

The Remedy is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library.

Book Review: Paranormalcy, by Kiersten White

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paranormalcyUsually paranormal and cute aren’t words used together to describe the same book. So this might be the exception. Evie is not an ordinary teenage girl. She’s a little boy crazy, obsessed with pink, and most importantly can see paranormals. Or could she be one herself? One thing for sure is that her sight has ruined many paranormal stereotypes: vampires aren’t sexy, unicorns aren’t beautiful, and mermaids don’t have seashell bras. The only person with this sight, Evie works to track down paranormals causing problems and keep the humans safe for a paranormal agency.

Sometimes, situations aren’t always what they seem. One day, several paranormals wind up dead. No one can figure out why. Evie starts having strange dreams about a prophecy that ends in lots of death. And amid this mystery, there are also fairies. Fairies that cause trouble as they provide transportation for the paranormal agency. The most troublesome fairy for Evie is Reth, her immortal ex crush/boyfriend. He wants to force Evie into her destiny, by any means necessary.

Evie wishes for a normal life at a high school (like her favorite TV show), but otherwise she’s pretty content with her strange life. That is, until she meets a shapeshifter that makes her question everything she knew about the agency she works for. Well, it was less of a meeting than she tassed him with her sparkly pink taser Tasey. He quotes the very same prophecy from her dream and the plot thickens.

Evie as a character has a great mix of optimism and sarcasm. She is perky and gets excited over the simplest of things like lockers and dinner dates. Oh, and her obsession of pink. The story follows Evie’s journey to find herself and her discovery she is not alone. She isn’t a perfect character by any means, but that what makes her different yet still relatable. She’s quirky at times, always saying bleep instead of any real curse words. Long story. Then there are some times I want to slap her from being so naïve, but some twists I admit I didn’t see coming.

This light-hearted paranormal read is really fun and easy to get through. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes reading about vampires and werewolves, or anyone who is tired of the traditional view of paranormals. Except for fairies. Fairies are always trouble.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Book Review: Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan

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percy-jackson-greek-godsWelcome to the ancient myths you know (or vaguely remember) from Percy Jackson’s perspective. It is completely biased with Percy directly stating which gods he loves, which gods he hates, and which god should build him a golden llama (come on Hephaestus!) So why should you read this book? Are some of Greek names so hard to spell, much less pronounce, that you want to make fun of? Do you wonder what Percy would do in an ancient greek myth situation? Have you ever thought about how the Greek myths affect everyday language? Do you enjoy your public service announcements such as drugs are bad and alcohol is for adults? Well, all of those are included here (even the last one; Percy needs to cover his legal bases when talking about the god of wine).

A lot (but not all) of the Greek myths are covered, everything from Zeus’s many affairs, to Hades kidnapping his niece, to Hermes first theft, and so much more. I really don’t want to ruin too much more because it’s fun to just discover what crazy things the gods are up to next. Well, in the past, but you know what I mean.

The only thing left to wonder about is when Percy had the time to write this book. He mentions Annabeth is his girlfriend, so it has to be after the first series. Then he mentions Piper is a vegetarian, so probably after the second series, too. Maybe around the same time he encountered Carter Kane, Egyptian magician. Speaking of which, this is a great book to get you ready for the third book in the Percy Jackson & Kane Chronicles Crossover that just came out– The Crown of Ptolemy. It has Percy (his perspective) , Annabeth, Sadie, and Carter against a magician trying to harness Greek and Egyptian magic to become a god. Can’t wait!

– Nicole G., 11th grade

Book Review: I Remember You by Cathleen Davitt Bell

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i_remember_you“I didn’t know whether to kiss him, smile at him, or ask him if I should call 911.”

It starts in the sort of cliché– eyes meet. Two different people from different worlds. Juliet is debate kid bound for law school. Lucas is a hockey star planning to enlist in the marines. And they fall in love. The only weird thing is Lucas knows things from the future. Not that he can predict what will happen, but he claims to remember it. Juliet initially thinks he’s crazy. With a brain tumor. Although, as time goes on, with more of Lucas’s “memories” come true, Juliet can’t help but believe his crazy theory.

These memories aren’t all fun and games. They come to Lucas as a dream. His dream progresses, and gets worse; both the dream and his mental state. Lucas told her that one day they will break up, so how can they hold on to love that is certain to end?

This is a really cool book. It’s a time-travely romance that takes place in the nineties. Reminds me of Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone in that respect, with the time traveling male love interest. But in this book, Lucas is very confused. He has no clue how he got here, only that he loves Juliet.

I felt Juliet just accepted some of his weirdness too readily, even though she did question some things like how he knew her schedule and locker, she didn’t stop seeing him after she concluded he had a brain tumor for believing in future memories. I suppose it’s about as believable as time travel. Oh, wait…

I really like how the book was written. It’s reflective on the past, giving little comments like I didn’t know then, or I should have done kind of thing. It made it feel more authentic, continuing the overall story arc that makes it all work out to a happy ending. So how does Juliet find happiness? You’ll just have to read to find out.

This review is based on an advance reader copy provided by the publisher. I Remember You hits bookstores everywhere on February 10.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Genre Introduction: Dystopia

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Dystopian stories have become pretty popular recently. There are, of course, the well-known Hunger Games and Divergent trilogies, but there are plenty of other messed-up futuristic worlds to explore. Dystopia worlds usually have the government trying to create a “perfect place,” that results in something far worse than today’s standards. Within different social/political structures, heroes face odds to change their world. There’s often some side romance as well. If you haven’t already started into this genre, here are some different types:

legend_coverLegend by Marie Lu focuses on class struggle.

Welcome to a world filled with plague. A plague, for some reason, only affects the poor people. When Day, the Republic’s most wanted criminal, finds his family has been infected, he’ll do whatever it takes to find a cure. After a break-in at the hospital, Day is the in the prime suspect for the murder of  a commanding officer, June’s brother.

June is the Republic’s prodigy, with perfect academic scores, but is constantly in trouble, for things like scaling a building when she wasn’t supposed to. June swears revenge on her brother’s killer, only to find that the Republic has been lying to everyone the entire time.

maze_runner_coverThe Maze Runner by James Dashner targets post-apocalyptic aftermath methods of recovery.

Thomas arrives in an elevator. Everything is dark, and the only thing he can remember is his name. His destination is the Glade, consisting of only teenage boys, surrounded by an impossible constantly changing maze. Every month a new boy arrives and everyone goes along with life, as they have done for the last couple years. But everything changes when, just one day after Thomas, a girl arrives with a mysterious message. The Glade is no longer a safe place. And if they want to escape, Thomas had better start running.

unwindUnwind by Neal Shusterman asks what it means to be alive.

There are too many teenagers in the future. The solution is not to kill them; instead, the rebellious generation simply lives in a “divided state” with every part of their body still alive, but not making up them anymore. Connor is turned in by his parents rebellious behavior. Risa is an orphan the state can no longer afford, since she has reached her musical potential. Lev is a sacrifice, knowing since birth he was going to be unwound for religious reasons. Fate brings these unlikely teenagers together and keeps them on the run because what will happen if they are caught might be even worse than death.

There are plenty other types of dystopias, not to mention the ones I’ve named have multiple meanings and interpretations. That’s the cool thing about dystopias– you can see, from an author’s perspective, how the world might change for the worst. It just makes me that much more grateful it’s only a story.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Book Review: Relax, I’m a Ninja, by Natalie Whipple

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“So, what exactly do we, uh, do?”
“The usual- sabotage, espionage, smuggling, and such.”

relax_ninjaFirst of all, I want to point out this has to be one of the coolest titles ever. I think it pretty much sums up the entire book, but I’ll go on about it anyways.

As you probably already guessed, this book is about ninjas. It’s difficult to believe there could be ninja clans in San Francisco, but sixteen-year-old Tosh has been training in the secrecy of his father’s dojo for years. Why not hide in plain sight? A karate place is the last place you’d expect a real ninja. Everything changes when Tosh’s father recruits long-time-karate-student Amy, who happens to be the crush of Tosh’s best friend. Huge cover risk. Plus, completely off limits. At least that’s what Tosh tells himself, but neither he nor Amy can deny their connection.

Some ninjas are evil. There is a serial killer on the loose, nicknamed “The Ninja” by the media because of his costume, stabbing innocents with one of the most deadly ninja poisons; Dragon’s Bile. Teaming up with Amy to find this elusive killer may prove there are more secrets in San Francisco than even Tosh suspected.

What’s amazing about this story is the levels of secrecy. I should expect this from a secret ninja book, but there were twists I didn’t see coming. Sometime of the people Tosh trusts the most may have a secret he never would have expected. Or some person who should have no knowledge about ninjas, might already be one.

Plenty of action with the ninja fights, but there is a splash of romance thrown in as well. This well written novel kept is well paced and captured my attention the entire time. Definitely give this book a try as long as you don’t absolutely hate ninjas.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Book vs. Movie: The Maze Runner

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maze_runner_bookvmovieFrom the very beginning, I could tell the movie was changing things.

The Box where Thomas arrives has a random caged animal never explained in the movie with Thomas. Then Thomas runs off for no apparent reason, and tries to escape the very first night.

Chuck has a smaller role, I felt. His storyline is still there, but Alby decided to give Thomas the tour in the movie version. Chuck basically solved the end puzzle in the book, although to his credit, Chuck in the movie saved the device thing from falling. Minho is also introduced early on as a key character. Gally is still a jerk to Thomas, but it feels more forced without the background of the griever sting memories. Which brings me to my next point.

The background of the glade was also a bit off from the book. Gladers had fewer deliveries, less knowledge of grievers (no one alive to tell the tale), and no cliff for the griever hole. The book basically left Gladers with puzzles that required the final push with Thomas and Teresa to put the pieces together. The movie, however, decided to flesh out the puzzles (maze spelling words and special place the grievers go) to encompass more action scenes with the maze.

One of the most action packed scenes in the book, besides the ending, was when Thomas spent the night in the maze. There was still a chase sequence in the movie, but cleverly tricking the grievers off a cliff with the combined teamwork of Minho was replaced with crushing with a wall (there are a lot of close wall squeezes in the movie). It started with this whole griever tracking device to a long hallway that screams the perfect place for an attack.

The part that always stuck with me from the book was Teresa’s ability to communicate telepathically in her coma and give Thomas some info. The movie introduced her later in the plot and took out the telepathy, coma, and info. She’s still a pretty tough girl. A really great scene was when she was on the top of a tree-house building throwing things at the Gladers. Chuck said something along the lines of “Girls are awesome.”

The movie focused mainly on the maze. Griever attacks were more intense, without taking everyone down one by one idea from the book. I guess WCKD didn’t care about their variables anymore. Best part of the movie was definitely the maze scenes, although my favorite moment was when they found this green exit sign above a door. It was just perfect comedic timing.

The action scenes were intense and fast paced. It felt more dramatic than the book, but it worked. Despite all this– not a bad adaptation, and can easily lead to the sequels. Wish there was more Glader slang than colloquial, though. So if you want more action, check out the movie. If you want to understand what’s going on with this strange world, I suggest reading the book first.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Book Review: Echoes of Us, by Kat Zhang

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Note: This is the last book in the Hybrid Chronicles, and may contain minor spoilers from the previous books What’s Left of Me and Once We Were.

echoes_of_usEva and Addie are twin souls in the same body. Eva was supposed to fade away when they were five, but she didn’t. Until recently, Eva hasn’t been able to move, talking only to Addie. But with a little help from some new hybrid friends, Eva was able to take control of the body she shared with Addie. Only to be captured, escape, join an underground resistance, and become even further fugitives in the eyes of the law, that doesn’t trust hybrids in the slightest.

On the other hand, Eva can sometimes be too trusting. When offered a job to go undercover in a hybrid institution by a reporter, Eva jumps at the opportunity in order save the boy Addie loves, even if it means leaving the boy Eva herself loves. Yeah, just because they share the same heart, doesn’t mean they share the same feelings, especially when it comes to love.

Only problems arise when Eva and Addie make their decision. Promises aren’t always kept, people can’t always be trusted, and situations aren’t always what they appear. This is the chance of a lifetime to make some real changes for the hybrid community, but if they aren’t careful, Eva and Addie could be destroyed permanently.

I really liked this series. It’s hard to wrap your mind around the two souls/one body thing at first, but I think that’s kind of the point. It is dystopian-esque more within people than in society, that tries to change people who won’t be “normal.”

I kind of wish Addie narrated part of the trilogy, but it was more of Eva’s story. As most endings, there are some losses in order to obtain a gain for the greater good. The ending was pretty perfect to me. If you enjoyed the first two books, definitely find out how it ends. If you haven’t started this series, I would recommend it to science fiction fans who also enjoy save the world themes with a splash of romance.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Book Review: Ink, by Amanda Sun

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inkI know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I couldn’t help it when I saw Ink. The cover was gorgeous as well as the story within about an American girl in Japan who sees a mysterious boy’s sketches move and discovers that she too is connected to the ink.

Meet Katie Greene: your average American teenager. Except she’s living in Japan with her aunt after her mother’s death. Struggling to learn the language and customs, Katie forgets to change out of her school sandals. When retrieving the correct shoes, she overhears a breakup where a boy is accused of cheating with another girl, a sketch of her as proof. It isn’t merely his deep eyes or that he lied when her told his soon-to-be ex that she meant nothing to him that has Katie fascinated. It’s the part where she saw his sketch move and look straight at her.

Katie learns more about the boy, Tomohiro (through various means of stalking), but the more she knows, the more secrets he seems to be hiding. Why did he quit Calligraphy if he is so talented? Why does he pretend to be cold and continually warn her away from him? Why does it look like his sketches are moving? And why, despite all this, is she (possibly) falling for him?

I loved the little sketches within the book. Some were little animations in the corner from turning the pages, while others were full page masterpieces that all tied into the plot. Just look at this.

bird_sketch_ink_amanda_sun

Another part I enjoyed was the overwhelming amount of Japanese culture. From the integrated language to just their way of life is so different from my own. The romance part is nice, but is seen too often with the “dark mysterious stranger who believes no one will ever love him because he is a monster but then the main character is the only one to get through because she is special” cliche. Even so, the twist at the end more than makes up for it. Overall, it is a great book that will leave you waiting for the sequel, Rain, that comes out on June 24th. Hope you enjoy.

– Nicole G., 10th grade