Blogger Meme: Friday Firsts

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The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.

• Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
• Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
• Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title & author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
• Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?
• Come back to this blog post, hosted on WellReadReviews.com and add your direct link to Mr. Linky! ** Very important!

That’s it

Here is my Friday Firsts: Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (ISBN: 0689824750) 160 pages.

He saw the first tree shudder and fall, far off in the distance.

No, it’s not the most engaging sentence. It definitely takes a few before you begin to start wondering what is happening and why! But because the topic interested me and it’s such a short book, I decided to keep reading!

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)

Make sure to add your link below if you have participated! (To do so requires a comment. When you comment, make sure to check participant so your link can be added to Mr. Linky below!)

1. Bluestocking

2. Andrea M.

3. You're next!

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)

When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends — her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.

Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.

This is Alice’s story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.

Review:

This book, Living Dead Girl,  has a touch of genius — touching on a topic in all its honesty that is both unsaid and harsh. We are taken into the life and mind of a teenager, abducted when she was a child while on a Field Trip with her school. Forced to be called “Alice” and dress and act like his incestuous daughter.

“Alice” is raped repeatedly day after day — but why doesn’t she attempt to escape, you ask? Some would say psychologically she had bonded to the captor, but I did not feel this way at all. Her hate for him was apparant, and her fight for survival was immense. “Alice” did what she had to do to survive the day in and day out torment of Ray.

Ray has a disgusting and vile fascination with little girls — and “Alice” knows her time with him (and her life) is expiring as she is growing older and cannot control how tall she grows, or her womanly cycles. In Living Dead Girl, we are brought on “Alice’s” journey to find a replacement for her so she can make her escape.

I was torn with this novel. On the one hand, I couldn’t put it down. On the other hand — the way it was written, it must be for young teenagers. The wording was very simple and descriptions easy to imagine. The writing level was well below college-level. More likely at a middle school level. However — the context of the text was way, WAY, too adult to have a child read. So who EXACTLY is this book geared towards?

Unless you want to look at the simplicity of the writing as the thought process of a teenager who was kidnapped (and therefore without schooling) since she was 10 — then it would make some sense. But because I am so confused as to who the intended audience is for.. I can’t exactly say it was “phenomenal”.  In bookstores, Living Dead Girl is considered YA, although I think it’s way too deep and inappropriate for children (or young adults/teenagers) to read as it discusses rape and fellatio — as well as the obvious age difference [i.e. adult with child]) It seems immoral to subject young readers to such a twisted text.

Do children need to know of such possible dangers? Sure — but in such detail? I don’t really think so. It gives me a slight “ick” factor. Then again — I was reading V.C. Andrews, “Flowers in the Attic” in the 8th grade and that (just as well) touches on absuse as well as sex and incest. So maybe — I am thinking too much about it. I have no absolute idea. I just know that Living Dead Girl was intense and a read I wouldn’t allow my below-high schooler to read.

The last issue I had with the book is the ending is rather vague. While discussing it with a reader, we both discovered we had completely different interpretations on how the book ended. One of us thought she lived, while the other thought she died. Neither of us fully understand the truth.

While mentioning @EScottwrites (the author on Twitter) and asking her about a possible sequel –she said she had no intentions but has learned to “Never say ‘never’.” It’s hard to ask an author via Twitter what happened to the character without spoiling it for others.

But if you HAVE read Living Dead Girl, I would like to hear what you think. Did she live? Die? What do you think happened with “Alice” next?

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page * BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser: The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (ISBN: 1590513134)

Synopsis: (Taken from Back of Book)

One day in early spring, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material. She is promised a nicely furnished apartment inside the Unit, where she will make new friends, enjoy the state of the art recreation facilities, and live the few remaining days of her life in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty–single, childless, and without jobs in progressive industries–are sequestered for their final few years; they are considered outsiders. In the Unit they are expected to contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing, and ultimately donate their organs, little by little, until the final donation. Despite the ruthless nature of this practice, the ethos of this near-future society and the Unit is to take care of others, and Dorrit finds herself living under very pleasant conditions: well-housed, well-fed, and well-attended. She is resigned to her fate and discovers her days there to be rather consoling and peaceful. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, the extraordinary becomes a reality and life suddenly turns unbearable. Dorrit is faced with compliance or escape, and…well, then what?

The Unit is a gripping exploration of a society in the throes of an experiment, in which the “dispensable” ones are convinced under gentle coercion of the importance of sacrificing for the “necessary” ones. Ninni Holmqvist has created a debut novel of humor, sorrow, and rage about love, the close bonds of friendship, and about a cynical, utilitarian way of thinking disguised as care.

Teaser:

The stillness had been disturbed, as if someone had drilled right through it and smashed it to pieces. All of the sudden I felt cold, frozen. – pg. 38

Note:

If you’ve also participated in Teaser Tuesdays, feel free to add your link (AFTER you have commented) to Mr. Linky. When you comment, click the box that says “participant” and it should include your link in Mr. Linky below:

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Review:

After hearing about this book all over the blogosphere — I had to read it. Plus the cover was just awesome looking to me. It was so dramatic and eerie. It looked like a must read.  But , you know how people can be wrong — right? I found Beautiful Creatures to be just another over-hyped Twilight-esque disaster (minus the sparkly vampire). Except with Beautiful Creatures, I couldn’t even get past page 100.

In just 100 pages I had the following issues:

• Ethan Waite? For a name? Something about this name just struck me as phony. As if it’s something two teenagers (eer… older ladies) picked a name out of a hat. What tops the gun is when Ethan finds a locket belonging to his great-great-great Grandfather (or something along that line). His name was Ethan too. *gag* Can you imagine the name Ethan being used in the mid 1800’s? I can’t. It just doesn’t seem like a good fit.(But I guess it’s not as bad as “Bella Swan” (Beautiful Swan? *Gag*) or “Renesme”) Even so, I felt it a bad choice. If you want memorable characters — create memorable names. Random name generators are not useful tools, people. Use your heads. Put some thought into the names.
• The way Ethan acted, thought. He is supposed to be a teenager but his character was written as if the authors have never met a teenage male in their entire life. He spent way too much time observing nailpolish, tans, purses, clothing (and anything else in a teenage female mindframe). On top of this, this basketball store secretly enjoyed reading Tolstoy and other hardcore literary geniuses. So much so that he hid them under his bed. (And because the authors are big into stereotypes, it seemed it would be more fitting in their belief system, based on powerful stereotypes that Ethan would be gay.) Are they writing him to make him appear as if he is “Mr. Perfect??!” Well news flash — he’s , what? 16? 17? No boy is perfect. He’s a teenage boy! I doubt a girl’s nailpolish or purse is the first thing boys think of when they meet a beautiful girl for the first time.
• The authors centralized this tale around the superficiality of Gaitlin County. It seems EVERYONE was tan and blonde and if you weren’t — you were a Loser with a capital L. I don’t know about you — but my high school wasn’t that superficial. Granted I live in Florida so — sure, tans would be a given. But if you weren’t tan, it wasn’t a big deal. If you didn’t have big boobs, or short shorts — or designer purses. No one gave a rat’s @#$.  However in Beautiful Creatures — it was an important fact that if you weren’t Miss. Teenage Barbie, you were automatically thrown into the Loser category. (Great message, by the way – Ladies). There was this one instance in which this girl was trying to attempt to start a conversation with Lena (the mystery girl) and Miss. Popular Emily (nice stereotypical name for a popular girl, by the way..) shot her a dirty look and she retreated. Where on EARTH do “popular” people have this much power? Therefore, this made the story all the more unbelievable.
• Ethan says “Lena Duchannes” over and over and over again. Just like that. Whole name. It’s as if the authors did that because they figured the readers were too stupid to remember who she was. Then add on top that they keep reminding you how to pronounce it, “Like rain.” — I wanted to throw the book at the wall. Who the hell cares how I pronounce it in my head? That is the beauty of books — you can visualize things how YOU visualize them. The author should guide you, but not tell you how to read. But anyway, it seemed to be a popular trend in Beautiful Creatures, to call a person by their whole name. After hearing “Ethan Waite” and “Lena Duchannes” for the 80th time in 100 pages, I said, “That’s it. This book stinks.”
• Ethan starts hearing voices in his head, which Lena is communicating with him. He immediately assumes it is her and it doesn’t freak him out. Then they  hold hands and la-di-dah they are in this together. *GAG* *GAG* *GAG*

Those are just my issues in the first 100 pages — to name a few. Beautiful Creatures was superficial, unbelievable, and the pacing was entirely way off. They would spend 90 pages on his first day of school (okay over-exaggeration) and then in two pages, him and Lena were a team. OH COME ON! There was no build up– it’s just one minute she’s there and the next they’re together.

The book was entirely way too predictable, way too cheesy, way too superficial — and way too boring for my taste. I couldn’t imagine putting myself through almost 500 more pages of this mess.

Any book that spreads the wrong message to our youth and can’t even eloquently do so is an automatic on my bad list. This book is bad. Seriously. And the fact that it was written by TWO grown women is just downright pathetic.

Edit: I guess J.Kaye is no longer doing it, but has passed it on to Sheila.

J.Kaye created a Meme for Mondays where you list the books you have recently completed this week, books you are currently reading, and books you hope to read this week. This is one of my favorite memes (and favorite bloggers) so make sure you check it out and participate, if you can!

The books I have read in the past week:

• Horrid Henry’s Underpants by Francesca Simon
• We the Children (Benjamin Pratt & The Keepers of the School vol. 1) by Andrew Clements
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Blankets by Craig Thompson
• Emma Volume 1 by Kaoru Mori
• Buddha Vol. 1: Kapilavastu by Osamu Tezuka

Books I am currently reading:

• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Books I plan on reading this week:

• The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
• Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

What are YOU reading?

Synopsis: (Taken from back of book)

Ancient India vividly comes to life in this multiple award-winning series that has convinced American readers Osamu Tezuka is indeed one of the world’s greatest comic masters.

Bringing unprecedented visual richness to a traditional story of Siddhartha Gautama, Buddha is an epic masterpiece that is as humorous as it is moving. In this first volume of eight, “The Blessed One” is born.

The Himalayas await you, and Kapilavastu….

Review:

When doing research on good graphic novels, the Buddha series by Osamu Tezuks one kept coming up.  It’s not your typical manga-style (i.e. Emma or Miki Falls) but instead a historical story based on real history. (Although there are some fictional spins to it, just like any tale..)

I decided that I would purchase it and read it — although I still wasn’t sure I would 100% love it. (But it’s from the “master of graphic novels” — so I had to read it, you know?)

Earlier this afternoon I was sitting in the car, waiting for my husband in Lowe’s (getting a toolbox) when I decided I would enjoy my graphic novel (and peace and quiet since he took the kid in with him). In the time that my husband was in Lowe’s (about an hour, if not a little more) I had finished the entire novel. I could not put it down!

We are taken back to the time in India when social classes were something you were “born into” and not earned.  Once a slave, always a slave. We are introduced to a series of characters — who are both magical and inspirational. (And for a story revolving around Buddha, this story did not really center around him — yet). While Buddha is “born” sometime in the duration of the novel, it is centered around other characters.

I felt very drawn into the storyline and very attached to the characters. I definitely plan on purchasing the remainder of the books in the series, and reading it over, and over, and over again! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves graphic novels! Buddha: Volume 1, Kapilavastu was one of the best ones I have read in a long, long time!

Synopsis: (Taken from back of book)

An upstairs gentleman and a downstairs servant share a secret love. The saga begins. In Victorian England, a young girl named Emma is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid. When she meets William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, their love seems destined. But in this world, even matters of the heart are rules by class distinctions.

Review:

Emma is another popular series that keeps popping up around the blogosphere. I’ve seen it on many blogger’s websites; bloggers with varying tastes. Something about this book was attracting readers of all sorts — and I was determined to find out what it was.

Last week I ordered Emma Volume 1 by Kaoru Mori from Barnes and Noble. When it arrived later in the week, I was very excited. After finishing up some other books, I opened this one and found myself quickly hooked.

Kaoru Mori manages to make Victorian London seem anything but trivial and boring. Instead, there was humor and intrigue — and romance.

We are introduced to Emma — a beautiful but shy maid who works for a former governess, Kelly Stownar (who I believe is to be in her late 40’s/50’s).  Kelly is widowed and known to be on the “tough love” side but very quickly, you grow to appreciate her for her little comments and her intentions.

One day — a young man by the name of William (who comes from a wealth family) comes to visit his former governess, Kelly — who he hasn’t seen in quite a bit of time. Upon arrival, William’s face meets the door as Emma is on her way out, slamming him to the ground. William, ego in tact, is not at all disrupted by his fall — which is caused by a “maid”. Instead, he finds something about her — something captivating. He just has to know her.

Emma, even a low class maid, is no stranger to having men fall in love with her. Used to turning possible suitors down, there is something about William that prevents her from turning down his attentions. Emma, Volume 1, is a light-hearted and interesting tale set in Victorian England that will have you wanting to read more! I just loved it and cannot wait to read more.

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)

At 592 pages, Blankets may well be the single largest graphic novel ever published without being serialized first.

Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith.

A profound and utterly beautiful work from Craig Thompson.

Review:

The first time I saw this book, I was in a little Japanese-style novelty shop in Winter Park Village.  (The shop, unfortunately, is no longer there!) I was interested to see a graphic novel that was as huge as it was and so unlike anything I had seen before. I did not purchase it then, but it had stayed in my mind since then.

After a discussion on Twitter, I decided to go ahead and make the purchase (once and for all) and I very much anticipated its arrival. Yesterday evening, I told my husband I wanted to read “a little”. He went to bed and I sat up until about 11:30 finishing off this tale by Craig Thompson. Yes, I read the entire book in one sitting.

Although graphic novels of great thickness can appear overwhelming — they are often pretty quick reads. This one took me maybe two hours to read.

Walking away from it – I felt a sense of sadness for Craig Thompson; both sadness and admiration. In this graphic memoir, he is very candid on his experiences during childhood and his feelings. You cannot help but read and sympathize with this person you’ve never met — but knowing he is indeed very real.

Blankets is a must read — plain and simple. If you are in the position where you need to read a memoir for whatever reason, but shiver at the fact that it’s not anything that you WANT to do .. pick up Blankets. It’s a tale that is anything but boring — and will keep you captivated until the very end.

I sure hope that Craig Thompson will write a sequel to this memoir, Blankets — as he has aged quite a bit since his childhood and young teenager-self. It would be nice to know what happened next, and what events took place that helped shape him into the successful graphic novelist he is today.

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Review:

I wasn’t sure about starting this one. Although I’ve heard so many good things about it — it just didn’t sound like something I would normally pick up and read. However, when I asked Twitter what I should start reading, this got the vote. So – with that, I began my journey into this fantasy-fiction novel.

Katsa is this young woman who has her guard up – literally. Trained and Graced to kill — Katsa has little room for human relationships. Being her King’s personal “go-to-killer”, Katsa is one of the most feared woman in all of the kingdoms. But — many people fear what they don’t understand.

Tired of killing innocents, Katsa decides to start a rebellion against her king and leave on a journey to discover and kill and even bigger threat — King Leck.

Katsa, head-strong in her decisions and feelings knows what she has set out to do.. but what she doesn’t ready herself for is falling in love with another Graceling, a Prince.

The only thing I did not like about this book was the beginning – the introductory of characters. I absolutely hate when books feel the need to introduce every possible character in a matter of pages. Especially when it’s fantasy characters with unique names. It’s very hard to keep track of who is who unless you have some substance to their character. There was a lot of opportunity to introduce characters throughout the book that I do not believe Cashore HAD to introduce them all at once.

This is the ONLY issue I had with Graceling, as it may be discouraging to those who aren’t NORMALLY fantasy-fight type book readers.

Overall the book was really good — and I read it in a matter of about 2 days. You’ll come to know Prince Po and fall in love with him as he’s so gallant and charming and it’s so obvious when he’s in love. The match in personalities between Po and Katsa is ideal as she is not much of a communicator of feelings or emotions, and he does all the talking. He knows what she’s feeling and seeks out to make her life happy and comfortable in any way he can, even at the expense of his own un-happiness. (How can you NOT love a man like that?)

I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to be introduced to this type of genre, as well as anyone who enjoys sort of a medieval-type fighting life with kingdoms — and timeless romance!

After many issues posting this entry — I finally got it working. I apologize to Twitter for having this announced at least 3 separate times. Thanks for your patience.

Thank you from OnlinePosterPrinting.com for allowing me to giveaway the following item.

• 18×24 Poster Print for One (1) Winner
• Paper Stock: High Gloss or Semi Gloss
• Specifications: 1 Business Day Turnaround
• Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping
• Eligibility: Limited to US Residents only

Selected at random via Random.org is Melanie! Melanie stated in her entry:

If I were lucky enough to win, I’d probably give it as a gift to my friend. She has this picture that she loves, and I’d like to blow it up for her and put it on a poster.

Thanks again to OnlinePosterPrinting.com and everyone who entered for allowing this giveaway to happen!
Thanks for entering, Melanie — and I hope you and/or your friend enjoy their custom poster!