Circle of Friends Review

My Mom bought me Circle of Friends for my birthday because Mauve Binchy is her favourite author. I had never read a Mauve Binchy book before and I am someone who loves to get recommendations. Circle of Friends is set in 1950’s Ireland in the small town of Knockglen and the city of Dublin. The story starts out with best friends Benny and Eve who grew up the small town and are now heading to Dublin for University. This is where the other characters enter the story and things really start to happen.

The characters are great! Each person is believable, their actions make them realistic, and they are straight forward. Benny was the most relatable character to me, the way she saw the world and the struggles that she had to face really hit home for me.  I loved how each character got their say; each chapter was spilt up into sections that were narrated by a different character which gave an interesting and unbiased view of the events that were taking place. The characters became fast friends and then as the story unfolds they become closer and I felt like it was such a natural progression and that never seemed forced by the writing.

When I first started to read Circle of Friends I wasn’t really into it, but after about 100 or so pages things really started to happen and I was hooked. All of the events that take place in the story are interesting, but never outrageous. Everything that happens is completely plausible and I think that is what makes it such a captivating read. I honestly had no idea how things were going to turn out for the characters and some of my guesses were completely off the mark. I loved that the story was not predicable, it had the option to be something cookie-cutter but was a pleasant surprise by being something fresh.

I for sure recommend Circle of Friends; even though it took me a bit to get into the book it was worth it! It was such a great read and I really enjoyed the journey that characters took me on.

BEDA - Day Twenty-Seven

Across the Universe by Beth Revis is about a seventeen year old girl who is cryogenically frozen so that she can go on a mission to new earth with her parents 300 years into her future. The girl, Amy, gets reanimated 50 years to early and is thrown into the world that exists on the spaceship that she has been traveling on. Amy meets the future leader of the people who lives on the ship named Elder and together they begin to discover that the society that has been created within these steel walls isn’t what it should be.

Across the Universe started out pretty good, the first few chapters drew me into the story and I was interested in the characters. Unfortunately, about half way through the book there was a turn of events that turned me off and I didn’t really enjoy the book from then on. The incident, which I won’t describe in case someone wants to read this book, seemed unnecessary and I feel like the same effect could have been achieved in a different way. I think that the reason that I didn’t like the incident was because it was too graphic for a young adult novel. I could have done without this certain part and I wish that Beth Revis had written it differently.

The characters were alright in this book, there really were only five characters in the entire story. The chapters are divided between the two main characters Amy and Elder and I’m not sure how much I liked either of them. Amy seemed weak to me, she emerged into this completely different world from the one she knew and started to notice things that were right. However, she doesn’t really start to talk about those things until after the incident, when it directly affected her. After Amy noticed how things were different she never really tried to explain why things on the ship weren’t right, she just said that were right. Never once did Amy do something heroic or out of character, it seemed like her only purpose on the ship was to stir things up.

Elder had lived on the ship for his entire life and just started to realize that the way things were being run might be corrupt and even after his realization he still often agreed with the corrupt side. I did like Elder better then Amy because he was acting out of turn and was trying to get answers, he had a rebellious side. The thing that I really liked about Elder is that he seemed to put everyone else’s well being ahead of himself. It was right at the end of the book that I ended up not liking Elder as much, he did something that made me think about the story completely different. It was the one thing that ruined Elder for me and also ruined the book a bit as well.

The other characters are hardly worth mentioning, they are the stock people that you expect in a story of this sort. There was the best friend, the bad guy and the bad guy’s henchman. Other than that there was the mindless masses that had no idea that anything life changing was happening. The characters were a bit predictable, and not at all interesting.

The writing was ok, but near the end it seemed to be overly emotional. I feel like that whole feel of Across the Universe is that it started out good and then it end really bad. I’m not sure that I want to continue reading the rest of the books in the trilogy. To me I can’t see where the story could possibly go after this; I honestly can’t believe that there are two more books written about these characters.

I gave Across the Universe a three out of five because I really did enjoy the beginning of the book, but I really did hate the end of the book.

BEDA - Day Twenty-Five

Divergent by Veronica Roth is set in Chicago during a dystopian future. Something has happened that has shut the city off from the rest of the world, and the people have created five factions which each have a different purpose in governing the city. At the age of 16 a test is administered to see if the faction that you were born into is the faction you should stay a part of. This is when we meet the main character Beatrice, and the story follows her through her choice.

I really enjoyed Divergent; I read half of it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. The writing really draws you in and I wasn’t able to figure out what was going to happen next, it was always a bit of a surprise.  I found the idea of different factions where you are raised to believe a certain thing, and to act a certain way really interesting. The idea of factions make you think about society and how it works, and why it works.

I loved the characters in Divergent. The main character Beatrice is awesome; she is so brave and kind. I like the journey that she takes and it is fascinating how she continues to have an internal struggle even after she makes her decision about which faction she belongs in. Beatrice seemed too real to me, like her thoughts and feeling could be exactly what someone would actually have, and it made her more believable. I wish that more female heroes were written like her.

The male lead, named Four, is completely swoon worthy and I’m not talking in an Edward Cullen sort of way. Four really cares about Beatrice, and works really hard to make sure that she gets through all the hard ships she encounters. The thing about Four that is really cool is that he doesn’t coddle Beatrice, he helps her, but in a way that makes her able to deal with things better on her own. Four never once tries to save her from pain, because he understands that it is part of life, and he never puts her up on a pedestal.

I gave Divergent a four out of five on Good Reads, and if you enjoyed The Hunger Games you will definitely like this book.  It is a dystopian novel, where the world is different and the government is bad, but I enjoyed Divergent and would recommend it to anyone.

The Name of the Star - Review

The Name of Star by Maureen Johnson is set in present day London, England during a particular turbulent time for the city. There is a copy cat Jack the Ripper on the loose, one that is has incredible attention to detail; copying the manner and locations of each murder. It is at this time that Rory arrives at Wexford, from New Orleans, to start her senior year of High School and first year at boarding school. Wexford is right in the middle of Ripper territory and Rory and her friends begin to speculate about the murders, but no one could have guessed that Rory would become an integral part of the Ripper case.

The Name of Star is such an amazing book. I had a hard time putting it down; I needed to know what was going to happen to Rory. Maureen Johnson did a wonderful job writing this story. The plot is intriguing with many twists that, I admit, I could not even dream were coming. I love the way that Maureen was able to weave the trials of being a teenager with the terrors of having a Ripper on the loose. And it is also great the way that she is able to convey the feelings of a teenage girl in this situation without going over the top.

It is fitting that I read this book leading up to Halloween, as The Name of Star is thrilling and frightening. However, this is a young adult novel and never once was I creeped out enough to lose sleep over this story. I feel like I have learned something new about London and its history, and I also really want to visit the city in this story even more after reading about it. I definitely recommend The Name of the Star to youth and adults alike, it’s story is one that, I believe, anyone will find interesting. Please support Maureen Johnson; she truly is an amazing author.

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Sorry, I’ve watching Canada’s Walk of Fame ceremony as I write, and they just presented the award for Dr. Roberta Bondar. I was, honestly, almost in tears. If you don’t already know Dr. Roberta Bondar is the first Canadian woman to travel into space, and you really should look up her story, it’s amazing! Dr. Bondar is such an inspiration, and after listening to her acceptance speech I feel like I could do anything. Now this is someone who deserves a star on the walk of fame.