As they are
Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell
Short Plot Summary - A self-admitted Star Wars nerd fights her over-protective mother to spend four days waiting in line for the new movie and be among hundreds of fellow superfans. Only to find it is two people long.
Read This If - You like (or are) people who celebrate being true nerds and books that make you smile with cute characters. Also Star Wars.
I am constantly aware that novellas this short (96 quite large-print pages) are really hard to flesh out, and the amount character development that was squished into such a small, beautiful packet was ASTONISHING. Elena's Mum, for instance, was only involved in maybe a maximum of five pages, but she cracks me up, and the relationship between her and Elena was adorable. Then there's Troy and Gabe. Don't even get me started on Troy and Gabe - I might start squeeing so loudly that you hear me from the other side of cyberspace.
In fact, Elena herself was really interesting too, because you don't really know much about her life beyond Star Wars at the beginning. You have to be drip-fed her secrets like a three-year-old begging for malteasers, and while all that teasing doesn't sound fun, it really kind of is. I'm a little uneducated worm of a book reviewer, so I don't know everything, but I think it's because she's so well-rounded and believable at the beginning . . . and then you get the backstory . . .
Some people might say that this book doesn't have a very daring plot - I mean, where's that line going to go other than in the cinema? - but there are twists. There are character reveals. And I don't care what you say, because CHARACTERS SO AMAZING NOT LISTENING LA LA LA.
Spot the Difference by Juno Dawson
Short Plot Summary - A girl is branded a freak by almost everyone she knows because of severe acne - but then the miracle drug her dermatologist gives her works.
Read This If - You struggle with acne or feel invisible at school, or if you just want to read about a girl whose awesome friends (her true friends really were awesome) help her be comfortable in her own skin. Or if you love Juno Dawson.
I went into this book with pretty high expectations, to be honest. The title is clever, but the expectations were mostly because COME ON. What part of the words Juno Dawson - and the nuclear brilliance explosion that is All of the Above - don't you understand? I've also suffered with acne myself for the last couple of years; although mine has never been as bad as Avery's (at least, I really hope not) I was really excited to see whether the way she processed it would be different to mine.
Trepidation, however, did seep in, and that's because Avery's new skin gets her in with the A-List. When characters suddenly become popular, they have an annoying habit of abandoning their previous friends, who are almost always amazing.
I have a really hard time identifying with them when that starts to happen.
And now, after reading this, I'm really, really confused about whether I have a problem with that or not. Yes, Lois was my kind of homegirl, and I did not like seeing how Avery treated her once the popularity pulled her away, but that didn't change the fact that the ending was very inspiring and put one of the biggest smiles ever on my face. I'm giving it four stars because, if you don't have a weirdly specific vendetta against one plot point, you'll love the themes of being comfortable in your own skin, the scarily accurate portrayal of English Secondary School, and of course Lois. Again she is brilliant.
I've said what I need to say. Now where's my coat?
***
In the comments: Are you a fan of World Book Day? What did you think of these books, if you've read them? And if not, do you want to?
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting! ;-D