Andrea
Anya's Ghost is a graphic novel about a first-generation Russian immigrant living in the United States. She struggles to fit in, embarrassed by her heritage, her body, and her lack of popularity. After accidentally falling in a well, Anya discovers the remains of a murdered girl... only the girl never left. Tied to her bones, Emily Reilly has waited for ninety years as a ghost stuck at the bottom of the well for someone to find her. A tentative relationship forms between the two girls and soon Anya finds her life improving with Emily's help and support. But things take a dark turn when Emily takes “best friends forever” a little too seriously.
I strongly encourage you to go and read this graphic novel before reading any further in this review. Go in knowing as little as possible. It's a lot more fun that way.
Anya's Ghost was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The art and text are simple, never overwhelming the reader, yet express many complex themes.
What I enjoyed most about this graphic novel is the progression of characters. You can clearly see the changes in the characters frame by frame. There is Emily who begins are an intensely charming ghost girl to a terrifying monster that will probably haunt my dreams for the rest of the year. And then there are characters like Anya and Dima who change in much subtler ways.
Another thing I enjoyed was how scary the story became. I went into this graphic novel with no idea what it was about and that made the story all the more engaging... and terrifying. It was like taking a stroll through Candyland singing la-la-la while skipping along only to stumble upon the super secret ingredient of Candyland: the souls of lost children! There's a distinct moment you hit while reading where you flip back and forth between a few pages going, “wait... what?! WHAT KIND OF STORY IS THIS!?” For me that moment was on page 152 in the third and second to last frames. Hopefully, if you're reading this you've already read the comic because I felt it had such an impact going in knowing absolutely nothing about it.
I rate this a 4 out of 5 on goodreads and a 9.5 out of 10 on my own scale. This story was sooo good! I related to all the problems Anya faces as a girl and as a student. I only take off some points because the ending seemed a little too neatly tied up. But other than that, it was great!
P.S: Thanks ever so much, Vera Brosgol, for adding a few new nightmares to my nightly repertoire. ;)
The final book I have to read for my Canadian Literature course on Residential Schools starting in the Fall (2015). The last, but definitely not the least, as the saying goes.
I really enjoyed the differing perspectives and narrative styles throughout the course of the reading material. Each has brought it's own unique style and take on a tragic and senseless part of Canadian history. What I liked most about Stoney Creek Woman was that only the beginning was really about Mary John's time in residential school. The rest of the story centers on the “what now” portion of Canadian history. What has changed in the years following her time there? What has changed for indigenous peoples? How has prejudice and racism affected their way of life? It focuses on a community's journey towards healing and recovery.
There was so much tragedy and hardship that Mary John and her community had to endure just to be heard, just to have a voice. Amidst that struggle is a beautiful overlay of hope for a better way of life.
I found myself torn between the feeling of guilt and shame for how the Carrier tribes were treated by white people and a sense of pride at how they persevered against all odds.
Stoney Creek Woman is a short, fast read but I left it feeling the weight and magnitude of all it represents. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (as much as it can be enjoyed considering the content) and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to know more on the impact of residential schools and the struggle for Indigenous peoples to reclaim their heritage.
A tale that combines both humour and tragedy, western culture and aboriginal culture, wisdom and foolhardy decisions, Monkey Beach is as beautiful as it is haunting. Told in the perspective of Lisamarie Michelle Hill, a young Haisla First Nations girl, the story unfolds as a coming-of-age adventure fraught with heartbreak and humour in equal parts. Intertwined throughout the story is the tragedy of her brother's disappearance and her journey to look for him at Monkey Beach.
This novel captivated me. I couldn't put it down for long. And though I feel it deserves a five star rating, the interspersed scenes of animal pain and cruelty got to me quite a bit. However, to the novel's credit, I never felt it was gratuitous. It always served a purpose and furthered the story in some way.
The way the story is written makes the spirituality and supernatural elements feel strangely familiar, like I've somehow experienced it myself. Robinson's writing is fantastic and her ability to weave together truth and fiction into a seamless narrative gave the novel a unique verisimilitude.
I rate this a 4 out of 5 on Goodreads and an 8.5 out of 10 on my own scale. This is a truly special book; one that will stay with me for a very long time.
FANTASTIC! AMAZING! SO GREAT!!!!!
Before I get into this review, I just have to say that this is in my top list of most emotional, meaningful reads I've ever had. 10/10. Five stars. A++
To anyone who knows me, it comes as no surprise when I say that Princess Bride is my favourite movie of ALL time and I'm 100% certain it will never be dethroned. My love for this movie cannot be broken, not with a thousand swords (wink). So when I heard that Cary Elwes, the enigmatic and dashing lead actor who plays Westley in the movie was writing a memoir of his time making the film I flipped out. I was beside myself. And I eyed it on the shelves of bookstores, taunting me with its daunting price tag, yet beckoning me like a siren's call. Needless to say, this book was going to make it to my bookshelves no matter what. And it did. Even so, I was nervous after bringing it home. Would it be all I was hoping it would be? Would it be an interesting read? Is he a good enough writer to pull this off? The answer is a resounding yes. Yes, yes, yes.
I was immediately pulled into his hilarious anecdotes and the incredible antics of an amazing cast of characters. This memoir is as enchanting and sweet as the movie is, and I loved every second of it.
The book had such a huge impact on me for many reasons. One of which was sharing it with my best friend and brother, David. We read the book out loud together, alternating chapters and bringing our own uniqueness to each reading. I'd bring my uncontrollable giggles and commentary to certain passages, while he brought spot on accents when necessary. We laughed, we cried, we loved this damn book. I got particularly teary-eyed when we read the last chapter and I put on the movie theme song in the background.
If you love The Princess Bride as much as I do... if you can quote the movie's best lines with a grin on your face and if you can hum the theme song with all the joy in your heart then pick up this book and don't ever look back.
A literary zombie novel. Yes, you read me right. I'm 100 pages from being done. And this is about as far as I'm going to go with it. It wasn't... bad, per se. It had some really interesting ideas and interesting world building but the convoluted language and unnecessary jumping around in timeline meant I slogged through most of it.
There is one line, though, that made the book almost worth getting through. I laughed so hard.
“They wore ponchos, and what else but a being cursed with the burden of free will would wear a poncho.”
There. Now you don't have to read Zone One unless you really, really want to.
I really wanted to like this book. And it was really good! Up until.... well i'm sure the people who have read this book will know what scene I'm talking about. It was the single most horrible scene in a novel I have EVER read. It destroyed me. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER: Manchee's death scene. Omg. I can hear about people being tortured and hurt or dying and its horrible and I cry but I can get over it. If an animal suffers like that I can't handle it. I refuse to finish this book because it hurt me so badly. I seriously cried for an hour. Anyway, this was my choice for family bookclub. No one else wanted to go through that part so we're all putting the book down and won't be finishing it. Not only was it the death of the animal it was HOW Manchee died. I just can't even....
Okay maybe not the best book I've ever read but after seeing the movie recently, and now having a book to feed my Veronica Mars addiction, I have to say i'm pretty pumped right now! It was a good story that felt just like an episode with twists and turns and high stakes. I hope more come out because I could read these forever.
I had to read this book for class and while I really enjoyed some of the creative use of story in this novel I couldn't get past how much of a LOTR mimic it was. There were major scenes that seemed taken right out of the books or movies and given a YA tone. Towards the middle I was ready to forgive the book the similarities but by the end it was just too much. I'm a big fan of LOTR and I felt a little cheated by this version. I wanted to give this a 2 stars but maybe that would be a little emotional, because there are many elements to this story that can stand on their own merit and are really fascinating but as I mentioned I just couldn't get past the similarities.
What can I say about this series? I could say that the writing is beautiful in its simplicity; I could say that the characters are so well developed and unique that each voice is distinct and strong; I could say that the world is as lush and detailed as stepping out my front door and I could even say that with the addition of each new character to this cast of lovable misfits I grow more and more in love with every single one of them. But I can't describe how every chapter has me on edge. Every turn of events gets my heart racing and my mind spinning. Every word is an adrenaline rush until I finally reached the end feeling like I just ran a marathon of emotions. This series has me so captivated–Enthralled, Enchanted! Spellbound! Mesmerized! Pick your synonym–that I just want the whole world to read it and love it as much as I do.
I had a lot more problems with this one than I did with the first. I was really excited by the refreshing honesty between the two in the first book that completely turned around in the second book. I was so frustrated by the lack of communication and honesty in the second book. Despite that, I still felt all the feels in this sequel and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I need so many answers to so many questions!!!
