Review: Austenland by Shannon Hale

Synopsis: Jane Hayes has an aunt who sees right through her facade. The truth: Jane is obsessed with Austen, and she uses Austen movies and books to ignore real attempts and pursuits of love. When her aunt dies, she arranges in her will to send Jane to England for an all-expense paid vacation at a relatively secret resort that allows women to live out their Austen dreams. There, she, along with a couple of other women, delve into the 1700's and pretend to court the men provided by the resort. Jane has a hard time becoming the actress she wishes to be, overthinking all of her choices and the reactions of those around her. Stuck between two men, the actor Mr. Nobley who seems to not be acting at all when it concerns Jane, and very real Martin, the estate's gardener, who she falls for almost immediately but seems to be just another one of her love mistakes? Who will she fall for? Does she even need to fall for anyone at all on this trip?

Review: There was so much I liked about this novel. It was a fun, short, cute, cheesy read that I am truly glad I finally picked up. Jane was relatable. Her actions and her reasonings were something I think most people could relate to, and this made her easy to like. There were also many moments in which I laughed out loud. Some of the characters are just absolutely hilarious and ridiculous, including Jane herself at times. I liked the outcome of the novel and who she ends up with, as I felt something was a little iffy with one of the men. I won't ruin it, but I think who she ends up with is a better fit for her then the other guy. I also liked that this left me feeling as if I had just watched an awful, but super cute romantic comedy. I was smiling like a fool as I read the last several pages and giggling to myself because it was just so adorable.

With all that being said, there was much about this novel that just didn't do it for me. It really did feel like watching a cheesy rom-com, and sometimes not always in the best way. Don't get me wrong, I love a good rom-com, but sometimes, they just aren't good movies. I find that the more cheesy it is, the more idealistic and almost too perfect, I just find it all too unrealistic. This is what happened with Austenland. I loved the ending, but my laughing was half from thinking it cute and the other half from thinking it was far too ridiculous and unrealistic. The entire last few scenes of the book was over the top and absurd. Though laughable, it just left me feeling like the characters did not have to work for their happy ending. It was more like they just happened to stumble into it and leave all their previous insecurities and problems behind them.

Plus, this could have ended on a completely different note. I mean, for most of the novel Jane is thinking this is her last Austen celebration before going back to the real world again. She's going to give up Austen and go back home and live her life like a normal person. Then, she falls in love with her own personal "Mr. Darcy" and this entire idea goes out the window. I know it's a romance, but I felt like Jane was cheated out of the chance to learn and grow from this experience.

So, like most rom-coms I watch, though I had an absolutely fun time being entertained by this novel, I don't know if I would read it again. I do, however, want to see the movie based off of this book. I think I'll probably find some of the same things ridiculous and I'll probably only ever watch it once, but I would like to see it.

I would suggest for those who want a quick, fun read, for those who love romantic comedies, and, obviously, for those who love Jane Austen.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


Your Pemberley Reader,
Acacia

How To Deal: Book Buying Bans

I have come to the recent conclusion that I own too many books.

Actually, that isn't possible. Let me rephrase. I own too many books that I haven't read. With this conclusion comes the sad fact that my book buying habits have to change. So, with the support of my roommate (who acknowledged my book buying problem about three years ago), I have placed myself on a Book Buying Ban for the foreseeable future. This isn't my first rodeo with the Ban, and I've got it down to a science, now.

So, I thought I would walk you all through my 5 Steps to Book Buying Bans:

1) Accept That You Have a Problem

This can stem from the sudden realization that you're bookshelf is full of unread books. It could stem from an empty bank account and you wondering where all of your money has gone only to notice the stack of new books on your bedside table. If either of these have happened to you or if you return home from the bookstore with shame instead of joy, it is time to make the harsh decision to go on a Ban.

If you're still in denial, see the infograph to the right. If this is your bookshelf, accept the Ban.

2) Decide the Severity of Your Ban 

All of us have varying degrees of problems with our book buying habits, and so each and every Ban is different. You can decide the severity of your Ban in a number of ways. Some will quit cold-turkey. I do not suggest this. It makes it easier to fall off of the wagon if you have nothing to look forward to. I like the perhaps easier route of deciding that you are allowed one book every now and then. What is everyone now and then? Well, the first option is choosing to not buy any books for say a month, allowing yourself one book, then back to another month without books. The second option is to set a goal, so for every five books you read, you can buy one book. I usually prefer the second option. Currently, I can only buy one book every ten that I read. (Yes. I have that many books to get through.)

3) Decide How Long Your Ban Will Last

You also have a couple of options here. A) Set an amount of time to be on the Ban. How much time do you need to get through your TBR? Three months? A year? Go ahead and start small. This can always be reassessed if you feel like you still haven't gotten through much of your bookshelf. Then B) Decide as you go. Now, I know this can seem unrealistic to the Type A's out there, but sometimes you just got to go with your gut. You've been on your Ban for months and you feel like you have successfully lowered your TBR? Go ahead and end the Ban. Just be cautious with this option. You can not be weak, here. Your decision to end the Ban can not just be because you are tired of not buying books. It has to be legitimate.

4) Survive

Deep breaths. You can do it. I know it will be hard. It will suck, in all honesty. You're going to see all of the newest releases every time you go online. You're going to tear up every time you pass a library. Your friends may think you're insane, your parents may ask if they can buy a book for you, and worst of all, you may be offered a free book during this time. Do not allow them to change your mind. Stick with your Ban. Stay strong, readers, stay strong.

5) Keep Your New Habits

At one point or another, you will stop your Ban. This can feel like the greatest moment of your life. Forget your wedding day, forget graduation, forget all of that. From today on, you can go to the bookstore whenever you want and buy a book, heck you could buy two books! "Wait," your friends say, "won't your bookshelf just get packed again?" Do not ignore your friends when they ask you this. Consider it. Decide to limit yourself and not fall back into your old habits. You don't have to be on a Ban to show some will in a bookstore.

If you would like to go on a Ban, I wish you all the best. If not, carry on. I wish you all the happiness buying all the books I currently can't.

Your Pemberley Reader,
Acacia

Review: Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

       Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee... Where do I begin? It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me confused, and it made me question a lot of things.

       First of all, this book is incredibly different from To Kill A Mockingbird. If you're picking this book up expecting it to be a long awaited sequel, then take a minute to wipe those expectations from your mind. This is not a sequel. Though it has many of the same characters, it is actually an early draft of To Kill A Mockingbird. So, though there are some similarities (ex: some characters, entire paragraphs, the topic of race) there are also a number of things that vary in this novel that make it a very separate and distinct thing from To Kill A Mockingbird. I highly suggest going into this novel with an open-mind about this being its own piece of work and not getting hung up on how different it is from To Kill A Mockingbird.

       Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It had a number of components that I really appreciated. For one, it perfectly portrayed the transition from childhood to adulthood.  I just turned twenty a few weeks ago, and though I am in no means an actual adult (How exactly does one do their taxes? Can I bring my mommy to jury duty with me? What do you mean I have to make my own doctor's appointments?), there has been a lot of transition in the past few years that I allowed me to recognize and empathize with some of the things Scout goes through in this novel.

       Returning to Maycomb with Scout (now Jean Louise) and seeing all that had changed since her childhood, since even her last visit home, running into people not seen in years, reminiscing about how things used to seem so much simpler, it is something everyone who grows up and leaves home feels at a certain point. Things change slowly when you're home, but when you leave and come back after an extended amount of time, things seem to shift out of nowhere and it can leave you, much like Scout does, feeling sick. This was something I definitely related to and absolutely loved about the book.

       Just as Jean Louise thinks she is at the end of this transition period, she is thrown a curveball when she learns about Atticus's involvement in the County's Citizen's Council, a breeding ground for prejudice and racism hiding (poorly) behind a number of political stances.

       This makes Jean Louise realize that the man she has looked up to and idolized as the only true compass of right and wrong throughout her entire life is not, in fact, perfect. In all honesty, the chapter in which this is realized was probably my favorite chapter of the entire book. The entire plot line of Jean Louise coming to realize that she, not her father, is her own compass, gave me chills. I think this is also something, not always at this extreme of a level, that happens when transitioning to adulthood. I know in the past few years there have been things that I have come to be very passionate about and think are right (Whether from naivety or actual correctness is yet to be determined. Check back in ten years.) that my parents don't always agree with or are not as passionate about as I am. It is a part of growing up, and I think this change was portrayed so well by Lee.

       This also leads me to the way Jean Louise handles things. The novel builds up to one explosive argument with Atticus in which Jean Louise must make a choice of whether to stick around Maycomb with people she highly disagrees with or to get as far away as she possibly can. The way she comes to her conclusion, with some help from Uncle Jack, held a very important lesson that I think many have problems with when beginning to set their own watchman (or moral compass), and that is to remember that though one disagrees with someone else's belief, it doesn't mean the relationship has to be over. However, it also doesn't mean that you can't be vocal about your own beliefs.

       Though there was much done well in this novel, I can also see why this was an original draft and not the draft that first made it to publication. At time, there were random tangents and references that made little to no sense. They added very little to the novel and were something I imagine many skimming over. It was, however, very interesting to see how Lee got To Kill A Mockingbird from this novel. How I would love to see the edits and brainstorming that went into changing this into that. I mean, talk about some amazing editing and revising.

       There are also aspects of this novel I have mixed feelings about, such as Henry. I liked his character at first, but as the novel went on, I just couldn't stand him, though not for the reasons Jean Louise's family doesn't like him. Some of his comments in his and Jean Louise's fight made me angry, and I don't think I can simply go back to liking him after that.

       I also have a lot of mixed feelings about the topics of race and politics that came up in this novel. There was a lot to take in, and a lot of it I didn't agree with. I did love the fact that Jean Louise stood so strongly for her beliefs that racism and segregation were horribly wrong. I will also say that I think this novel showed, in a very intriguing way, the intricacies and complexities that played out in people's everyday lives during this time of change in America.

       Again, I did highly enjoy this novel, perhaps not as much as To Kill A Mockingbird, but it made its own distinct impression on me. I would recommend this book for those who have read To Kill A Mockingbird, those who are looking to read about tough subjects, and those who want an excellent, thought-provoking read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Cups of Tea
 

       Your Pemberley Reader,
              Acacia

Author Spotlight: Ally Carter

    Today, I wanted to introduce a new section to my blog: Author Spotlights. I want to try and do these at least once a month. Basically, I'll be talking about specific authors that I love, whether recently discovered or having read their books for years.

    I will be starting off with one of my favorite authors in YA literature today, Ally Carter. 

    Carter is the author of three separate YA series: the Gallagher Girls series, the Heist Society series, and the Embassy Row series. I began reading Carter's books in late 2008 or so, and ever since I have loved each and every one. I was thirteen at the time and going through a CIA and FBI loving stage. I wanted anything having to do with spies or anyone undercover, and I found exactly that in Carter's books. 

    Her first series, Gallagher Girls, is all about a school that trains teenage girls to become the next generation of spies and world leaders. When I thought I couldn't love Carter's books anymore, she came out with Heist Society, which follows a team of teen thieves who, in Robin Hood-esque style, thieve for good. It's amazing. Then, this past year, she came out with the first in a new series, Embassy Row, which is about a young girl living on Embassy Row among ambassadors and children from all around the world. 

 

    The first books I read by Carter were the Gallagher Girl books. I read the first two quickly, and I remember waiting for the third to come out. Here's the thing about Carter's books, though: I binge read them. They are fairly short novels, and after waiting over a year for each new installment, I always manage to read through the new book within a day or two. This means waiting prolonged periods of time, reading for a day or two, and then waiting even more prolonged periods of times. For years I did this, as I followed the Gallagher Girls series. The Heist Society allowed for a bit less waiting, however, because even though it wasn't the same characters or story, it still meant more amazing characters and plots from Carter. 

    I love the Heist Society and Embassy Row books nearly as much as I love the Gallagher Girls series, but I don't think anything will ever replace the amazing feeling I get while reading the Gallagher Girls series. I grew up with them. I literally shared my junior high and high school experience with these characters. It was a heart-breaking moment when this series ended, especially since the last book, which chronicles the girls' last semester of senior year, came out just after I had graduated high school and was about to move to Seattle for my first year of college. It seemed fitting that their last chronicled adventure happened the same year I graduated. It felt like the perfect ending to the series and to my high school years. 

    These books are the perfect mix of light and dark, funny and serious, fun and dangerous. I highly recommend them for anyone who wants a book to fly through on a weekend off, for anyone who loves spies, thieves, or foreign affairs, and for anyone who loves books with widely diverse and eclectic groups of characters. 

    These books are also, in my opinion, the perfect books for those between the ages of 11-13 who are wanting to start reading outside of the kid's section. I know that these books made my transition from kid's book to YA books much easier, and they hold a very special place in my heart for that exact reason. 

    Have you read any of Ally Carter's books? Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments below! 

    If you haven't read any of her books, I highly recommend any of them. Read them all. Go splurge and buy yourselves one of these 10 amazing books. I promise you won't be disappointed. 

        Your Pemberley Reader,

              Acacia

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

    Synopsis: Todd Hewitt is a month away from leaving boyhood behind in a town made up entirely of men. The women were all killed, years ago, by a virus that also cursed the men with what the town calls Noise. Plagued by this Noise, which makes every thought you think an audible one for the rest of the world to hear, the silence Todd finds in the woods outside of town is kind of a big deal. When the secret of the silence comes out, as everything eventually does with Noise, Todd is forced to run away as the town comes for him. Running for their lives, Todd, a new friend, and his dog find a world that will make Todd question everything he has ever been told.

    Review: I have mixed feelings about this one. I've heard such good things about this series, and so I was excited to pick it up. However, I’m afraid it may have been over-hyped for me.

    First, it took me some time to get into this world. The language threw me off at first, because it wasn’t what I was expecting. Todd is uneducated, and this comes across in his narration. Words are misspelled often, and the narration reads like how you would expect a young uneducated boy to speak. Once I got used to this, it was fine, but I think it made the story a bit hard to get into at first.

    Second, once I did get into this world, I was quickly disappointed by the lack of knowledge given to the reader. There were times in which Todd would find things out, things that were crucial to the story, but that he would not share with the reader. This annoyed me to no end. If you’re going to put readers into an unknown world, please do not keep relevant information longer than you have to. It perhaps would not have been that bad, except for when readers are told the truth of things, it seems so anticlimactic. When I was told the big “plot twist” at one of the final confrontations, I was unimpressed. Why was this something I could not have been told earlier? This was a problem multiple times throughout the book.

    Third, you may have noticed I said “one of the final confrontations.” Towards the end of the book, it seems like the characters just can't catch a break. By the end, you're left with a feeling of horror, because literally nothing good comes out of the last 50 pages or so of the book. It was one thing after another, and though I’m all for putting your characters through horrible situations, this was just excessive.

    Fourth, there is a character, that no matter how many encounters, no matter how many fights, and no matter how badly he seems to be hurt, will simply not die. It’s ridiculous. I swear, the amount of times this dude came back into the story after being nearly slaughtered was just plain absurd.

    With all of this being said, I did find myself enjoying parts of the book. I wanted to know more about the world and the characters. Finding out the truth of the situation is the driving force that kept me reading. This will probably be what leads me to buy the next book, as so much of what was set up to be answered in this book was not answered.

    I give points for the story idea, which was not what I expected when I started, and that actually had some underlying conflicts that I hope will be explored further in the rest of the series.

    It was worth the read, though some of the major aspects of the book annoyed me. I plan on eventually getting the second book, but if many of my complaints are still present in the second, I don’t know if I will be picking up the third.

I would recommend this book for those who like science fiction or thrillers.

Rating:

2.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea

        Your Pemberley Reader,
              Acacia