Book Review: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Jenny Han
Release date: April 15, 2015

Rating 3/5

The First Line:

I like to save things.

The Plot:

Whenever she needs to get over a crush, Lara Jean writes the boy in question a letter confessing her feelings…and then puts the letter in a box, never to be read by another human. But one day, her letters are sent out and suddenly, her life is upside down as all the boys start confronting her. Lara Jean isn’t sure what’s worse: that her first big love was Josh, her sister’s boyfriend; or that she somehow ends up in a fake relationship with her former childhood friend (and first kiss) Peter.

The Characters:

I have to say it straight up: I didn’t really like Lara Jean. Lots of reviews call her childish and naive and whatever and yes, that’s all true because girl is definitely flighty…but the problem was that she was super authentic. Normally I’d love having such a realistic character on the page, but she (unfortunately) reminded me of a former high school friend and I had a hard time empathizing with her because it brought back annoying memories. If anything, you could say that Jenny Han is almost too good at writing a realistic high schooler!

Lara Jean’s sisters, on the other hand, were a lot of fun to read. Older sister Margot is the long suffering sibling who is used to taking care of the others but is finally getting a chance to live her life (by going to university in Scotland). Younger sister Kitty is full of sass and mischief like any other nine year old and I could read about her antics all day long (petition to have Kitty star in a middle grade trilogy!!).

I guess I can’t properly review this book without mentioning at least some of the boys Lara Jean loves/loved, but I don’t want to give too much of the plot away. I didn’t really like Josh (and frankly found it icky that LJ was going after her sister’s boyfriend…) but I liked her fake relationship with Peter even if it was somewhat predictable.

The Writing:

As far as YA goes, the writing is pretty simple, but it’s engaging and keeps you moving at a fairly fast pace. I’m not sure I’m convinced that Lara Jean’s story needed three books to be complete (it really could have been resolved properly at the end of this one), but I get that trilogies are popular, especially in YA, and I’m sure she gets into all sorts of awkward situations on her road to true love. Props to Jenny Han for having a multi-ethnic protagonist though, and for making Lara Jean’s relationship with her sisters so believable (I would read a book solely based on the Song girls without any dudes).

The Bottom Line:

It’s cute and a little silly (seriously, why would she address the letters in the first place????) and I’m definitely in the minority when I say I didn’t love it, but it’s a good summery read.

The Soundtrack:

If there was ever a song version of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, it would 500% be Paradise Fears’ “Yours Truly”. The song is composed of a number of letters – all of them signed “yours truly” – addressed to a potential love: tomorrow, someday, never, and back to tomorrow. It’s equal parts hopeful and hopeless – just like Lara Jean’s quest to find true love – and has an ambiguous ending.

Dear My Someday
I’ll keep writing you nightly
And keep holding on tightly
To the words that you said

Book Review: The Boy, The Bird & The Coffin Maker

The Boy, the Bird & the Coffin Maker

Matilda Woods
Release date: May 15, 2018

Rating 5/5

The First Line:

The town of Allora was famous for two things.

The Plot:

Alberto the coffin maker lives all alone at the top of the hill in the town of Allora. He spends his days burying the dead townspeople and attending their funerals. One day, a young boy named Tito and his bird Fia stumble upon Alberto’s home while running away from someone. Alberto takes Tito and Fia into his home and teaches the boy how to build coffins until the day when Tito’s past catches up with him.

The Characters:

DISCLOSURE: This is a title I’m working on in my job as a publicist.

Alberto the coffin maker has had a tragic life. Thirty years ago, he had a wife and three kids but when a sickness swept across Allora, he was the only one who survived. He began making coffins in order to keep going and spends time “talking” to each body as it’s brought in so that they aren’t alone. Alberto is a recluse, but when he loves, he loves hard. After finding out that Tito and Fia don’t have a home, he’s more than willing to bring them into his home – and his heart.

Tito the boy has been on the run from his father for years. His mother had promised that Allora would keep them safe, but a year after moving there, she too dies and is buried by Alberto. Tito tries to survive on his own, but his fear of being found stops him from really experiencing Allora. Once Alberto takes him in, they form a sweet relationship with Tito finally filling the hole in Alberto’s heart.

Other townspeople like the gossiping Finestra sisters and the portly mayor make up the rest of Allora – while they aren’t as fully fleshed out as Tito and Alberto, they add to the small town experience and you can really picture them. And Fia the bird was a lovely addition – you could feel the love between her and Tito even though she didn’t say a word.

The Writing:

Matilda Woods has the type of lyrical, whimsical writing that takes ordinary middle grade and elevates it to a higher literary plane. There’s a fairy tale quality to Tito and Alberto’s story and it feels like it could have been written fifty years ago (in a good way). There’s just enough description that you can picture Allora but it doesn’t overwhelm the story. Tito and Alberto’s relationship is sweet and simple and if you’re not wiping away tears at some point, you probably aren’t reading it properly.

The Bottom Line:

I love whimsical middle grade novels, and I especially love them if they hit me in the heart. This one did and I highly recommend it.

The Soundtrack:

I couldn’t think of any songs that really represented the fairy tale feeling of The Boy, the Bird & the Coffin Maker, but Panic! at the Disco’s “From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins” had a similar quirkiness that I felt made sense. I also like to think that any references to birds and feathers could refer to Fia and her human-like emotions. Plus I just saw Panic! live yesterday and they’re all I can think about (which isn’t really that different from a normal day, to be honest).

Lying there
With a halo in her hair she cried
There are feathers everywhere
But it’s fine
You do this all the time

Book Review: The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle

Christina Uss
Release date: June 5, 2018

Rating 4.5/5

The First Line:

The front door to the Mostly Silent Monastery was missing.

The Plot:

Bicycle is a girl who grows up surrounded by Mostly Silent monks (they have Eight Sacred Words that they’re allowed to use) and Sister Wanda after being abandoned as a toddler (wearing a shirt with a bicycle on it). As a preteen, Bicycle wants to travel from Washington, DC to California to meet her cycling idol, but Sister Wanda insists she go to a friendship camp instead to learn how to socialize with other other people. Bicycle decides to take her fate into her own hands and takes off on a cross-country cycling adventure, meeting a variety of interesting people along the way.

The Characters:

Bicycle, our protagonist, isn’t really the sociable type. She’s content hanging out with the Mostly Silent Monks and Sister Wanda, and enjoys riding her bike around. The one thing that really brings Bicycle out of her shell is cycling and her idol, Zbig Sniewoski. Bicycle dreams of meeting Zbig and conversing in his native Polish and she’s determined to make that dream come true when she finds out he’s in America.

I really liked Bicycle. At 12 years old, she’s at a weird point in her life and she struggles to obey Sister Wanda (who took care of her her whole life) and chasing after her own dreams. She’s what you might call “precocious” but she’s persistent and people can’t help falling under her spell.

I also liked the supporting characters – the monks and Sister Wanda, of course, but also Griffin the ghost who haunts her bike, and the pie maker, and the cookie lady, and the soap guy. Bicycle meets a number of odd people on her trip across the country, but they all root for her and you’ll be cheering for her all the way to the end.

The Writing:

This almost felt like an “adult” book with a child protagonist because of how quirky and different it was. Christina Uss does a great job of describing Bicycle’s trip in a way that makes you feel like you’re cycling right alongside her.

The only thing that stopped it from being a full five stars was that it dragged a tiny bit in the middle (around the time when Bicycle was cycling through the middle of the US), otherwise it was a sweet little read.

The Bottom Line:

I really enjoyed getting to know Bicycle and rooting for her to fulfil her dreams and I think most people will find themselves cheering for her. Highly recommend.

The Soundtrack:

Because I like choosing literal songs, I went with The Brobecks’ “Le Velo Pour Deux”. While it’s actually a love song, I like the idea of it being about Bicycle and her bike, Clunk – all she wants to do is hang out with her bicycle and go on adventures.

Oh, it would be fine to spend my whole life
With you, on a bicycle built for two

Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Gail Honeyman
Release date: May 9, 2017

Rating 5/5

The First Line:

When people ask me what I do—taxi drivers, hairdressers—I tell them I work in an office.

The Plot:

Eleanor Oliphant is thirty years old. She works in an office and doesn’t have friends – she lives alone and has a conversation with Mummy every week. One night, Eleanor goes to a concert and finds herself falling for the charismatic lead singer. Determined to win his affections, Eleanor sets about trying to give herself a makeover. Around the same time, she meets Sammy, an elderly man who she helps after he collapses on the street, and Raymond, the new guy in the IT department who manages to get Eleanor to open up.

The Characters:

Eleanor Oliphant is perfectly normal, thank you very much. Never mind that she’s been in the same office job for nearly ten years, or that her one long-term relationship was with an abuser. Never mind that she grew up in the foster system because of some tragedy in her childhood that she purposely blocks out, and her weekly conversations with her birth mother end in tears. She’s fine. She has a routine and doesn’t like to deviate. She has a very literal understanding of the world and doesn’t like how inconsiderate people are (real talk though: why do I have to pour my own can of cider into a glass at a bar??) – but people don’t seem to appreciate her forthrightness.

Eleanor Oliphant is also broken. Her past is full of tragedy but she isn’t equipped to deal with it. Instead, she pushes it all to the back of her mind and when she has to talk about it, she’s very no-nonsense. It’s only when she slowly becomes friends with Raymond that she begins to work through her traumatic past.

Raymond is an IT guy with a heart of gold. I don’t want to talk about him too much because you really have to witness their relationship unfold for yourself, but he’s a good guy and he’s the type of friend Eleanor truly needed.

The Writing:

You can’t tell that this is a debut novel from the writing. Gail Honeyman really masters Eleanor’s voice so that you’re experiencing everything right along with her – the good, the bad, and everything in between. Even though you spend a lot of time in Eleanor’s head, she’s unreliable enough that you can’t always see what’s coming – there are some truly heartbreaking twists in the novel. I loved Eleanor’s relationships with Raymond and Sammy, and I could genuinely relate to her obsession with this singer. There’s a lot going on in this novel, but Honeyman deals with each topic with a deft touch.

The Bottom Line:

I don’t often read “adult” books, but this is one that worked its way into my heart. It was heartbreaking and hilarious and extremely well done.

The Soundtrack:

I picked a Biffy Clyro song for multiple reasons. 1) Like Eleanor, they are Scottish (in fact, there’s a throwaway reference to them in the last quarter of the book and I squealed). And 2) The lyrics of “Folding Stars” are directed at someone named Eleanor, and I feel like they could apply to Eleanor Oliphant.

Take a long hard look at yourself
How did you end up here
The blood drips like red inverted balloons
Tomorrow is a promise to no-one

Book Review: Lost in a Book

Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book

Jennifer Donnelly
Release date: January 31, 2017

Rating 2/5

The First Line:

Once upon forever, in an ancient, crumbling palace, two sisters, Love and Death, played their eternal game.

The Plot:

After the Beast gifts Belle with his gorgeous library, Love and Death make a wager – will Belle be the one to break the curse or is the Beast doomed? Death sends a book called Nevermore to the library, a magical book that draws Belle in and tries to win her over. Will Belle fall under the book’s spell? Or will Love win this time?

The Characters:

Since the book is based on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, you should already be familiar with the characters before going in. That being said, it’s a little off-putting to read a Disney character instead of watching them. Suddenly, their flaws are more obvious and harder to accept.

Take, for example, Belle. In the movie, she’s this strong, smart, sassy girl who likes to read and wants more from this provincial life. In the book, she’s a little wishy-washy, more prone to self-pity and moping than trying to make the best out of her situation.

The Beast is obviously in love with Belle already, but because this happens about a day after she tries to escape and is almost eaten by wolves, you kinda have to wonder when he decides she’s his dream girl, y’know? Like, I get that she’s reluctant to be his friend, but he’s pretty much head-over-heels for her already and I always forget how insta-lovey Disney really is.

The other characters are okay – Cogsworth seems even more pompous than you’d expect and the rest of them are pretty flat, but it’s easy to imagine them in these situations. I didn’t quite get the addition of Love and Death as characters, mostly because they didn’t seem to fit with the very childish vibe of the plot.

The Writing:

You can forgive a shoddy plot if the writing is great, but I’m sad to say that – in my opinion – the writing wasn’t anything special. There’s a really heavy handed message of the importance of books as well as the equal importance of living your own life (outside of books) but if I had to listen to Belle talk about how much she loves books ONE MORE TIME I was going to lose my mind.

I’m also confused as to what age range this is aimed at. I assumed it was middle grade, but a lot of people shelved it as young adult on Goodreads, so I really don’t know. I don’t think it was developed enough to be YA, but the personifications of Love and Death seemed a little intense for a middle grade audience.

I get that this book was released as a tie-in for the live action movie last year, but it probably could have worked as a non-Beauty and the Beast story. It just needed to be developed a little bit more since it sort of drops you into the middle of an ongoing plot.

The Bottom Line:

I only read this because my 12 year old niece read it and told me it was “okay” (which, coming from her, means it was pretty bad) and I had to find out how awful it really was. It has an interesting concept, but since we all know how their story ends, it’s not like we had to really worry about Belle abandoning the Beast. If you want an anecdotal look at Belle and the Beast’s lives together before the spell broke, you might as well watch the direct-to-video Christmas movie with the terrifying organ (who I just learned was voiced by Tim Curry and now EVERYTHING makes sense).

The Soundtrack:

When you’re watching the movie, it’s easy to forget how odd Belle’s relationship is with the Beast because it develops over time, but when you’re reading it, it really does feel like she falls for her captor because she doesn’t have a choice. Thus I’ve chosen Muse’s “Stockholm Syndrome” as the theme song because when you think about it, their relationship really shouldn’t work.

This is the last time I’ll abandon you
And this is the last time I’ll forget you