STOLEN BY LUCY CHRISTOPHER

Stolen is Lucy Christopher's first novel. The entire book is a letter from one girl, Gemma, to a man who kidnapped her in Bangkok airport and took her to the centre of Australia, where he tried to force her to love him and understand the outback.

Gemma's captor Ty is far from the typical scary-guy stereotype imposed upon most fictional kidnappers. He is good-looking, young and strong, but obviously very troubled and isolated. He reveals in the book that he has been watching Gemma for much of her life, which is a disturbing revelation though it does make the book slightly more realistic, considering most kidnap victims know their captor.

Gemma herself seems not to appreciate her family before she is 'stolen', but the events in the book lead her to really miss what she had. The book also deals with the idea of Stockholm syndrome, where hostages begin to empathise with their kidnapper.

The book is written entirely in second person, a brave endeavour for Christopher to try, but she pulls it off very well! The book is engrossing (I read it in my breaks at work experience in just a couple of hours altogether) and an interesting look at how kidnapping is often so much more than being 'stolen' - it becomes your life.

However there were some aspects of the book that felt slightly unrealistic, such as Ty being able to get Gemma from Bangkok to the centre of Australia, pretty much under anasthetic, without being questioned at all. Also, Gemma is only with Ty for a short time before she starts to develop what appears to be Stockholm Syndrome. That said, it was still a good read.

Butterflies: 6.5 out of 10
Recommended for: people aged 13 and over who won't be too easily disturbed by the idea of the kidnapping
Warnings: some swearing, some references to sex and nudity, some references to drinking. Ty never rapes Gemma. Ty is a confronting, disturbed character and the plot could be disturbing for easily affected readers.

behind the times

I apologise for being so behind on the blogging! Everything has been completely hectic. I've been trying to pick subjects for year 11, finish a couple of major assignments and stay up-to-date with all my homework before the end of term. Four more days of school!

I'm soooooo looking forward to the holidays, particularly all the free time I'll have to read!

In the meantime, I'll review Stolen and try and write some more article-thingys about various things.

Also, I want to run some sort of competition? Maybe poetry? Something that could be posted on the blog. But I think I'll wait until I get more readers before I do that. When I have 20 followers, I'll do a competition, so if you want that, tell your friends about the blog!

Sorry about the length of this entry, time to tidy my room! :P

DREAMING OF AMELIA BY JACLYN MORIARTY

Dreaming of Amelia is the fourth book set in Sydney telling the stories of students at the private school Ashbury and the public school Brookfield. This time, the students are in Year 12, and two new faces at Ashbury have everyone on edge.

Amelia and Riley have won a prestigious scholarship to Ashbury, but no one seems to know anything much about their past, at least, not that they will disclose. Lydia, one of the Ashbury girls, talks to her ex-boyfriend about Amelia and Riley, and he warns her to stay away from them.

Meanwhile another Ashbury girl, Emily, is convinced that the newly renovated Art rooms are haunted, and quite a few people are starting to believe her.

Told through letters, emails, minutes of meetings, poetry, blogs and final Year 12 English exams, Dreaming of Amelia features lovable characters and a storyline that many high-schoolers will be able to relate to. Many of the characters are considering their futures, something that I myself am doing quite a lot at the moment. Tied in with the gothic aspects of this novel, Moriarty has created so much more than just a story: it is a work of art that, just like the other Ashbury-Brookfield books, will leave the reader so satisfied after they close the pages that they won't feel the need to read another book for at least a few days.*

Butterflies: 7 out of 10
Recommended for: people aged over 13 who can cope with an unconventional style of storytelling
Warnings: some drinking and small references to sex, a bit of swearing, but none of it is that bad.

*at least, it made me feel that way

novel formats

I recently read Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty as part of the challenge. This book is the fourth book about the lives of students at Ashbury and Brookfield high schools.

Moriarty's novels are not written in a normal format. They are written through a combination of journal entries, letters, emails, transcripts and, in the case of Dreaming of Amelia, Year 12 English exams.

I find looking at different formats of writing very interesting, being really passionate about writing myself. I think Jaclyn Moriarty's style of writing is incredibly skillful and a very clever way to portray lots of characters and events in one book. I really admire authors who kick the status quo and write in an unconventional style.

The reason I'm writing this post is really to ask your opinion. What do YOU think of books that are written in an unconventional style? Do you prefer normal books in chronological order with one or two clear main characters, or are you open to change? Let me know in the comments!

THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG BY MURIEL BARBERY

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is set in Paris, in an apartment block inhabited by rich... well let's just say it: snobs. Renee is the concierge in the apartment block, and one of the book's two protagonists. On the outside, she is the perfect conciege: subservient, quiet and uneducated. Behind her door, she reads Tolstoy and thinks philosophically about life. The other is 12-year-old genius Paloma, who plans on commiting suicide on her thirteenth birthday to avoid a dull adult life like that of her rich parents.

One of the men in the block dies and his apartment is sold to a new owner, who brings change with him. He discovers Renee's secret and he and Paloma work together to bring her out of her shell.

The story is told from Renee's perspective, and also through Paloma's two diaries: 'Journal of the Movement of the World' and 'Profound Thoughts'. The book is filled with philosophical thoughts and is, because of this, fairly complicated to understand, however it can be read as simply a good story with the more philosophical sections overlooked.

As a teenager, I read some of the philosophy, but I did find lots of it hard to understand. However, the story itself is incredibly good, so even if you think you won't understand the philosophy, I would still recommend this book.

Muriel Barbery is French and this book has been translated into English. I would highly recommend it to older teenagers and adults. The characters are well developed and the story is beautiful.

Butterflies: 7 out of 10
Recommended for people: who are 14+ and will understand at least some of the philosophy.
Warnings: the philosophy could be overwhelming but the book is excellent despite that. Paloma is frank in discussing some life issues and there are some events in the book that could be considered disturbing for younger readers but it is not a really huge issue.

P.S. I have changed the blog layout slightly, I think it looks a bit more interesting now. What do you think?

hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work i go...

So last week I was on work experience, and I had to catch a train and a bus to get there.

It took me up to TWO HOURS to get there/home every morning/afternoon.

Now, I'll let you in on a little secret. As much as I appreciate trains and buses, I DO NOT LIKE WAITING FOR TRAINS AND BUSES!!! And I had to do a lot of waiting.

The good thing about all the public transport was that I got to read a lot of The Elegance of the Hedgehog (by Muriel Barbery) and Dreaming of Amelia (by Jaclyn Moriarty) during the week, on trains and buses. But when waiting for trains and buses, particularly in the city, I could not read.

Firstly, there were no seats, and I feel stupid reading standing up. It makes me feel uneasy.
Secondly, then I'd have to juggle holding my wallet, phone AND a book while standing in a busy place.
Thirdly, I was nervous enough as it is, trying to find my way around in a place that was not so familiar to me and where I was at least a head shorter and five-ten years younger than most other people, that reading while trying to concentrate on all that was hard.

But that made waiting, sometimes for up to twenty minutes, really boring. Like, REALLY boring, particularly as I don't like listening to my iPod in crowds cause it makes me nervous I'm going to miss some sort of announcement. Like, I'll be waiting for a train and the CityRail guy will go (dum dum dum!*) "could all passengers please leave the platform, there is a fire. Thank you for your cooperation" and I won't hear because I'll be listening to Taylor Swift too loudly.

Sigh... I think I must be an impatient person. The Elegance of the Hedgehog will be reviewed shortly!

*that was me trying to imitate the noise that happens in stations before an announcement. I don't think it sounds as good through text...

OH and commenter Jacob? I think I am going to read 1984, maybe after Wuthering Heights and one more book I want to read. Thanks for the suggestion! :)

LOOKING FOR ALASKA BY JOHN GREEN

Looking for Alaska is a story about a boy, Miles, who lives his home to seek 'The Great Perhaps'. He goes to Culver Creek, a boarding school, where he meets new friends that he absolutely loves and, most importantly, Alaska Young, a clever, thrill-seeking, danger-loving, 'dead sexy' ( I quote from the blurb) girl who will change Miles' life forever.

Looking for Alaska was beautiful, tragic, hilarious, shocking and unexpected. This is not just another teenage novel about adolescent angst and infatuation. It's a coming-of-age story, a mystery, a love story and a tragedy.

The characters are realistic, and the main character and first-person narrator Miles (who is nick-named Pudge early in the book) is a clever and likeable guy without being too overly perfect. And Pudge's best friend, known as the Colonel, is just as likeable but flawed.

There's a lot of sex/drugs/alcohol in this book but it's also one of the best books I've ever read and I don't think the sex/drugs/alcohol detract from how good it is.

John Green has written 3 and a half books (one book was co-written with David Leviathan) and Looking for Alaska was his first book. I'm amazed that someone who had never written before could produce something this moving and incredible, just like that! If I ever write a book like this, I'll be head-over-heels.

Butterflies: 9 out of 10
Recommended for people: who are over 15, mature and can understand the points that John Green raised in the video in my post 'how far is too far in teenage books'
Warnings: lots of sex, smoking and alcohol, but the messages are right in the end

busy times!

I apologise MUCHLY for the lack of blogging this past week. (I don't really think muchly works in this sentence but it's a cool word. Also, just look at it for a while. Doesn't it look weird?!)

I was on work experience last week and it was absolutely fantastic! I had so much fun, but I was really tired in the evenings so couldn't blog.

I have finished Looking for Alaska (actually I finished it ages ago...) and two more books after that! I had a lot of time on public transport to fill in, and I'd finished Alaska before work experience so I actually got through The Elegance of the Hedgehog and Dreaming of Amelia last week, plus another book that I read at work experience that I may talk about on here, or may not.

Actually, I think I will. It was interesting. Anyway, that book was Stolen by Lucy Christopher.

So anyway, I have a lot of catching up to do, and I hope to have caught up by the end of this week. My next book is Wuthering Heights so I don't think I'll be starting that for a while as I am not very motivated to do so having heard it is a hard read.

On the plus side, I'm now ahead in my reading! YAY!

NOTE REGARDING EMAILING JOHN GREEN

I found this on his new website:

I do not respond to emails. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that I like all of the people who email me equally, and I feel like it is totally unfair to reply to some of them and totally impossible to reply to all of them. Also, I want to spend as much of my writing time as possible writing books. (Well, or tweeting.) Furthermore, babies are time-consuming. That said, I read every word of every email I receive.

Sad, hey? Though I do understand. He's heaps more popular than most authors because of his YouTube involvement so he must get a whole heap of emails. Mine would be read, I guess, but what's the point of asking questions that will never be answered?

That said, I commented on the FAQ page of his site, which you can find here (and check out my comment, I'm 'Liz', believe it or not!) but I don't recommend actually READING the questions on that page, as they are all about Looking for Alaska and I don't want to spoil it for you if you plan on reading it.