From the Bookshelf #15

Hello, lovelies!

This is going to be a shorter From the Bookshelf post, mostly because I just haven't had the chance to be reading as much since I've been buried under assignments and various school projects. (Which is tragic, because I'd much rather be sitting down with a nice cup of coffee and a lovely novel *le sigh*). Either way, here's what I've been reading lately.

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Spelled by Betsy Schow

Genre: Fantasy

Star Rating: 3

Notes:

This book is a spoof off of the original Wizard of Oz tale. You've still got the basics, like magic shoes, a tin man, and the whole evil witch thing going on. However, it's a little bit of a modern twist with the ruby slippers replaced with red-jeweled stiletto heels, among other things. I thought it was an interesting idea, and I know a lot of authors have recently done this kind of thing as well. 

I wasn't all that impressed with the main character, Dorothea, because she was shallow and spoiled (which is my least favorite type of character). I loved the character of Kato, but it took Dorothea way too long to realize how epic he was and she spent 3/4 of the book complaining about everything. That kind of ruined the atmosphere of the book because I kept waiting for her to stop moaning her spoiled little heart out, and it took her much longer than I would have liked. She was the only one really with character development, but spoiled princesses are very cliché.

Palace of Lies by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Genre: Fantasy

Star Rating: 2

Notes:

I used to ADORE Haddix books when I was in elementary school. I thought her books where amazing and could do no wrong. But as I've gotten older, I've realized either the sequels are pointless in the series, or everything is very similar with minor plot changes between books. This is Book 3 in the Just Ella and Palace of Mirrors companion/trilogy.

I had vague memories of the first two books, but I remembered them being pretty good. This one was decent. Again, I liked the male characters more than the female, because they were being much less bratty and melodramatic (yay!). I didn't like this book mostly because Desmia, the MC, spends almost the entire book being paranoid that everyone is lying to her, making it difficult for her to care about any of the people around her, and in turn, we don't get to know the characters that well because of that. Also, the ending is very "deus ex machina", in that everything just coincidentally falls together in a way that doesn't really make logical sense, and no explanation is given.

I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Star Rating: 4

Notes:

This book was really good, even though it's not a very long novel. It's about a group of teenagers who are in the summer before high school, and TKM is on their summer reading list. Long story short, they want to make more people read it, so they start making it disappear from bookstores to make it seem exclusive and in high demand. It's one of those books I feel like would just be a fun story if you read it in middle school, but reading it now makes me see the deeper themes running through it.

You've got the main character's mother who's recently beat cancer, but is still weak. You've got the MC's awkward little love interest (this was SO CUTE) and her best friend who's never really known her parents. I love the running themes of family and honest strength, and also just the cuteness that is the almost-freshmen trying to figure out how to "kill the mockingbird".

The Truth About My Success by Dyan Sheldon

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Star Rating: 2

Notes:

This had so many clichés in it that I can't even name them all. It had the bratty celebrity, it had the storyline of a poor girl and a rich girl swapping places because they look alike, and so on and so forth. I also couldn't take the MC's name, Oona, seriously, which caused some accidental giggling during serious parts. I just couldn't get into the book and truly enjoy it, which is why it took me forever to finish it. I just didn't look forward to reading it, even though the parts about Oona and her dog were kind of cute.

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That is all.

Cheers,

Sea