Tag Archives: romance

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Posted on by
2

greatgatsby_fscottfitzgeraldPublished in 1925, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of the staples of American literature, and a favorite for high school English teachers. The novel takes place during the  early 1920s, called The Jazz Age by Fitzgerald. The narrator, Nick Carraway, just moved into the area, and is invited to his cousin Daisy’s home, who is married to Tom Buchanan. What follows is a drama-filled narrative revolving around a peculiar, mysterious man named Jay Gatsby.

I’ll admit at first I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book, especially due to, in my opinion, a slow first act that doesn’t engage me till a few chapters in. Despite the poor pacing of the opening chapters, I find the rest of the events of the book to be spread out well. The first person perspective of Nick is also used well, as it upholds the mysterious tone and uncertainty surrounding many of the characters. The characters themselves are also all well developed throughout the book and fairly different from each other, providing a unique story that blended many themes together.

Fitzgerald is known for his excellent symbolism and imagery, as many seemingly small events contain messages that foreshadow future events or provide commentary on society. I appreciated these as I went back and noticed them, or as my teacher explained them to me. Another element I enjoyed was the humor, as Fitzgerald poked fun at society and at the ignorance of characters, parodying the Roaring 20s’ American lifestyle.

Overall, I was very impressed with The Great Gatsby’s storytelling, characterization, symbolism, and social commentary, while somewhat disappointed by its less than thrilling first act. I would recommend The Great Gatsby to readers who like grounded dramas.

-Ahmed H., grade 12

The Great Gatsby is available, in all its versions and adaptations, for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download from Overdrive.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Posted on by
2

hereandnow_annbrasharesMeet your every day immigrant Prenna. She comes from a place very different than our own. Because it isn’t where she came from – but when. Her future is an awful place so she, along with other like minded time travelers, take refuge in present day. But along the way, they must never try to rewrite history or worse, fall in love. Through the course of the story, Preena will break both of these rules.

All because of her long time friend Ethan who is able to see who came from the future. He helps Preena adapt to card games and other things she isn’t used to while she eventually tells him about how different the future is. When a mysterious stranger tells her to change a single event that could change the world, Preena delves deeper into a greater conspiracy she didn’t know existed. Going against every rule her society created, Preena must figure out what to do before time runs out.

As far as time travel books go, this book purely goes one direction and stays in the present day. As the title suggests, there is a seize the day/ don’t just survive but live themes going on, but they don’t make much of an impact. The characters are fairly generic and corrupt society Preena runs from is really one dimensional. The main focus is the romance, which somehow feels a bit like insta-love despite Preena knowing him for years. Preena and Ethan have their cute moments, but other times their chemistry felt forced. Not a bad book, but not spectacular either. It’s great as a light reading book to pass the time.

-Nicole G., 12th Grade

The Here and Now is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Library. 

Solstice by P.J. Hoover

Posted on by
1

solstice_pjhooverDo you like dystopias or mythology books? What about books that are both?

Solstice combines a dystopian-end-of-the-world atmosphere with a core plot that connects to mythology. Meet Piper. She’s just your average teenage girl with an overprotective mother living in a world that hasn’t seen winter for as long as she’s been alive. The heat waves that threaten the world are getting worse, which makes Piper’s mom more protective causing Piper to rebel all the more. She gets a tattoo with her friend and plans on moving away as soon as she finishes high school.

When Piper’s mom goes out of town, Piper finds herself pulled towards freedom and romance. But will it be with Reece who breaks rules for fun or Shane who makes her heart beat faster when she sees him? As she learns more about gods and the battle for the underworld, it’s hard for Piper to know who to trust. But whoever she is with, Piper can tell everyone is keeping secrets. Will she find a way to stop the world from dying and even find out who she is?

The romance here is a bit cliche with the insta-love-triangle. It isn’t bad per say, just nothing that new or special. I think I enjoyed more of the idea of the plot, how the mythology and dystopia blended together more than the characters. If the premise seems interesting enough, give it a read because it’s an interesting take of gods dealing with the end of the world.

-Nicole G., 12th Grade

Solstice is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Kimi Ni Todoki by Karuho Shiina

Posted on by
2

kiminitodoke_karuhoshiinaKimi Ni Todoki is a manga about a quiet, lonely girl, named Sawako who finds it difficult to make friends with, until she meets a boy named Kazehaya. He’s one of the most popular people at school and instantly makes a connection with her. He teaches her on how to be more friendly with others, but people feared and misunderstood her because of her appearance; rumors around school report that she can see ghosts and curse people.

Sawako later meets Yano and Yoshida, who become her best friends. She never dreamt of having friends, until she met Kazehaya. He showed to his fellow classmates that Sawako isn’t such a bad person. After Sawako made friends, her friendship with Kazehaya slowly developed into a romantic feeling. But what will be the result if someone else has her eyes on Kazehaya? Will Sawako and Kazehaya be together, or will something drive them apart from each other?

This is personally my favorite manga ever, so I would rank it 10/10. It’s worth reading! Go check it out.

-Kayla H. 11th Grade

Itazura na Kiss

Posted on by
2

itazura-na-kiss-1871Itazura Na Kiss is a manga, and later adapted into an anime, about an unlikely romance between two high school students. Spoilers to come!

Kotoko Aihara, a poor achieving high school student, falls in love with the genius Naoki Irie only to be flatly rejected and humiliated. Kotoko had fallen for Naoki since her first day of high school. When an earthquake strikes her house, she is forced to live with her father’s childhood friend. When Kotoko meets the family, she discovers that Irie is their son. How is she going to survive living under the same roof as Irie, especially being rejected?

Throughout the manga and anime, Irie develops feelings for Kotoko but life finds a way to intervene. They are both pulled away by other people in their lives, like Kotoko’s friend Ikezawa, who her ever since she started high school. There’s also Christine, a foreign exchange student who plans to marry Irie. Will they be drawn apart or will they settle down and get married?

Check out the anime and/or manga if you would like to know more about Itazura Na Kiss! I’ve spoiled enough. I would definitely recommend someone to check it out. This was my first anime that I’ve ever seen and probably one of my favorites! I would rate this series a 9/10.

-Kayla H. 11th Grade

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

Posted on by

bestofme_nicholassparksI recently watched the movie The Best of Me, which is based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. After watching the movie, I just had to read the book and found it to be surprisingly similar to how the plot was represented in the film. The setting of the story starts off in the spring of 1984 at the small town of Oriental, North Carolina. Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole are two teenagers that fall deeply in love until unspeakable events cause them to drift apart and move in different directions.

Dawson Cole comes from a bad background; he was always abused by his father and treated even worse by his father’s friends. One day, Dawson was accepted by an elderly man named Tuck Hostetler who lost his wife years ago. Tuck provided Dawson with everything he needed, and was extremely kind towards him for being a teenager that showed up at his doorstep with some bruises and cuts. During the day of the senior prom, Dawson and his best friend leave for the dance, while back at home Tuck is attacked by Dawson’s horrible father and friends. Dawson forgets something and turns the car around, only to find Tuck sprawled on the floor, hurt on his head. Dawson grabs his shotgun and drives recklessly to his father’s place to enact revenge. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes at home resulting in Dawson being sent to jail.

Amanda visits Dawson at the jail every day for a year and weekly for many years, but Dawson refuses to see her since he believes that she is better off without him. Eventually, Amanda gets married, and Dawson and her reunite due to the unfortunate circumstances of Tuck’s funeral twenty-five years later. They spend time together, and realize how good it felt for them to be with each other again, even though Amanda does have two kids with her current husband. When Amanda is back home from the weekend spent for Tuck, her son gets into an accident and is in need of a heart transplant. Dawson is still at Tuck’s place, since he does not have any family or anybody to go back to. Amanda and Dawson’s lives are once again changed as a result of an unfortunate turn of events.

I fell in love with this story as soon as I finished reading because of its key message: even when your soulmate drifts away, their love always remains with you.

-Nirmeet B.

The Best of Me is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library. It can also be downloaded onto tablets and mobile devices from Overdrive.

Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Posted on by
2

abundance_of_katherinesAn Abundance of Katherines by John Green is phenomenal book that is about a boy who has only dated girls named Katherine. The book starts with a boy named Colin who is introduced to be a child prodigy. He has just had is heart broken by his nineteenth girlfriend named Katherine. Colin is extremely upset, so his friend Hassan convinces him to go on a road trip.

After convincing both of their parents, they go on the road trip. They stop in a town called Gutshot where they are offered summer jobs and a room to live in. The women who offers them these jobs has a daughter named Lindsey. Meanwhile, Colin is set on the fact of finding an equation that will predict the future of any relationship.

Eventually, Colin finds that he is attracted to Lindsey. However, Lindsey already has a boyfriend. Anyone who has read any John Green books in the past would certainly be interested in this book and it is a wonderful book that I would recommend to everyone.

-Melika R., 9th grade

 

Book Review: I Remember You by Cathleen Davitt Bell

Posted on by

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

Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Posted on by
Reply
pushing_the_limitsAnybody out there want a romance story that is good, but not as cheesy as Twilight or as heartbreaking as Romeo and Juliet and The Fault in our Stars? Well, you’re in luck!
To start the story off, Echo is a good girl. She gets good grades and has given up art, both are which to please her father. That’s when she has to tutor bad boy Noah, who can get grades if he tries, skips class, smokes weed, and has slept with just about every girl in the school. But both of them are hiding something. Like why does Echo have scars that people whisper about and cause her to wear long sleeves even in summer? And why in Noah in foster care with his two friends Beth and Isaiah, especially without his adorable brothers?
This book is really good. While a main part of the plot is about a certain love relationship (hint: Echo and Noah), there is also the realistic fiction of what goes on in the real world, so it’s not cheesy at all. Also, this couple helps each other get through the problems that they are facing.
Additionally, this story actually ends well, with the couple living on and not dying.
Like all romance books, it has a well felt story. In  this case, it’s the good girl and bad boy meet, good girl and bad boy do not want to admit that they like each other, and good girl and bad boy confess their love story.
Literature wise, it is well written, with the author using both points of view and teaching some “school” stuff, such as a little Spanish.
Finally, the author tells of the common lesson that love can happen unexpectedly.
Please check it out; this book is awesome!
-Megan V., 9th grade

Book Review: Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell

Posted on by
1

eleanor_parkWhile browsing Sparknotes one night for help with homework, I was lured into the “fun section.” You know, the section where you can find information about celebrities, current events, and popular books. Well, I’m very glad I did, because there was an article on great books to read during the summer. Eleanor & Park was near the top of the list. The comments on the book were mostly positive, so I decided to give it a try.

Guys, this book is really, really good. It’s funny, exciting, and relatable on so many levels. Eleanor & Park follows the lives of two teenagers in high school as they go through all of the awkward stages of love.

It’s not a typical, boring, lovey-dovey type of love story, but rather it is raw and honest. Both Eleanor and Park struggle to find their respective places in the world, and both have issues with their parents (problems I think most teenagers can easily relate to).

The story is told in a dual-narrative style, with both Eleanor and Park sharing their opinions on the events taking place.  I usually don’t like this type of narration because it can easily become repetitive and boring.  However, Rowell manages to keep it fresh, without rehashing scenes that the reader already knows about. Overall, the book was very enjoyable to read, and I definitely recommend it!

-Amanda D., 12th grade