Book Review-Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

I’m back! I am SO SO sorry for the random disappearance! Stuff happened with the internet and then I didn’t have motivation to do things. Seeing as it’s now impossible to fit everything into the original schedule, Rainbow Reads will run over into the beginning of October. All giveaways will end on the 29 September as planned. Normal posting resumes today!

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

 Author: John Green and David Levithan

Series:  N/A

Published:  April 2010 by Dutton Books,  10 May 2012 by Penguin in the UK

Length: 308 pages

Source: publisher

Other info:  David Levithan has written Boy Meets Boy and some other things. John Green has written The Fault in Our Stars, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns and looking for Alaska. John Green is awesome.

Summary : One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Review: Will Grayson goes to a concert with his friends, but isn't let in because his fake ID says he's not old enough.  Will Grayson goes to Chicago to meet a boy he has been chatting to over the past year. Both of them meet in an adult shop, meaning their lives go in different directions. Will starts dating Will's friend, Tiny, who is  putting on a musical at school.

 I read this sometime last year. I forgot to write a review. I reread it again for Rainbow Reads. It didn't seem any better or worse second time round.

For ease of reviewing, the Wills are going to be referred to by the person who wrote them. John's Will starts off  with a funny quote from his father and his explanation of why he is friends with Tiny Cooper. David's Will starts off telling us that he is “constantly torn between killing [himself] and killing everyone around [him]”. They're two different  characters with different issues and things to work out, but they're both intriguing and well fleshed out.

Tiny is a little annoying to start with, but you soon get used to him. He's very OTT, but does become a bit more complex as it all goes on. I really liked Jane, and the way the relationship between her and John's Will progresses.

I like David's stylistic point of David's Will only writing in lowercase. David's Will is living with depression, and the way David gets into the head of someone with depression is powerful and emotional. 

Plotwise, there's Tiny's putting on of a musical, and there's David's Will and Tiny's relationship, and there's Jane and John's Will's relationship, and there's the varying friendships, and there's character development from everyone, mainly David's Will. Not particularly epic, but you get to like the characters so much that you just want to know about and spend time with them.

Will Grayson Will Grayson covers the full emotional spectrum. There's happiness, there's heartbreak, there's anger, there's a good bit of humour, everything conveyed really really well.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a fun story about four peoples' journeys through life.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | John’s website | David’s Website  

Book Review- Equus by Peter Shaffer

 

Title: Equus 

 Author: Peter Shaffer

Series:  N/A

Published:  2 October 1984

Length: 112 pages

Warnings: semi-graphic sex and masturbation, violence,  person is pretty much  sexually attracted to horses. NOT FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 

Source: library

Other info: This has been staged many times, and has had a film version made.

Summary : lan Strang is a disturbed youth whose dangerous obsession with horses leads him to commit an unspeakable act of violence. As psychiatrist Martin Dysart struggles to understand the motivation for Alan's brutality, he is increasingly drawn into Alan's web and eventually forced to question his own sanity. Equus is a timeless classic and a cornerstone of contemporary drama that delves into the darkest recesses of human existence.

Review: Alan Strang is a seventeen year old who has blinded six horses with a metal spike. After the magistrate pulled a few strings, he ends up in a psychiatric hospital, being treated by Doctor Martin Drysart.  As well as learning the details about the events leading up to the incident, Drysart will also learn more and more about himself.

This book, is very very f***ed up. It’s a good book, but very messed up. It most certainly is not for: kids, those  offended by those who don’t  worship a conventional god, the squeamish, horselovers and a whole host of other people.

From a psychology point of view, it is one of the best things you can read. You really get into the heads of both the patient, as Alan and various other people recount past event, and the psychiatrist, as he questions himself in asides and thoughts spoken aloud.

Alan’s upbringing has caused him to get sex, religion and horses a little bit mixed up. Seeing his thoughts develop through the years, seeing what happened to get him where he is now, is really interesting. Drysart, too, with his moments of questioning how he got where he is, with his dreams of being an Aztec priest and his marriage to a disinterested woman and losing his own interest in life, and realising that he becomes much more lively when talking to Alan.

The relationships of the play are really deep. Alan is really an example of what different types of people do to shape you, from parents with conflicting views on religion, to the girl who shows him that things he’d held as important spiritually are actually normal.

The religion aspect of this is really interesting. you can see how Alan was drawn to create Equus as his deity, and how strong his belief is and what it drives him to do.

 I’d love to see this played live. The stage directions and the intimacy of what we get told is so intense. The humming  noise  of the god Equus is  well used in the script to indicate the importance of the following scenes. The climax of act 1, -that- scene that you all know about, gets you really into Alan’s head, but you also see the scene as a spectator in wonder at what Alan is doing an how he could be doing it. From the descriptions of how Shaffer  wants the horses, you can tell that this was meant to be a work of art.

Finally,  a certain staging and casting of a couple of years back solidifies its awesomeness. Because why wouldn’t you want Harry Potter stripping? (Even though that seriously is not the only reason to read/see this. It might influence your decision. but there is a lot lot more to this play than that).

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a book that is both f***ed up and fascinating.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads |

Final bonus- lots of love from Better Book Titles

Book Review- The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Title: The Glimpse

 Author: Claire Merle

Series:  The Glimpse #1

Published:  7 June 2012 by Faber

Length: 432 pages

Warnings: violence, rape, abuse

Source: Publisher (Really sorry it’s ridiculously late)

Other info: This is Claire’s debut novel.

Summary : London, in the near future: society is divided according to  a DNA  test that determines a person's predisposition to mental illness.  When Ana finds out there was a mistake with her Pure test, her whole world crumbles. Now, Joining with Pure-boy Jasper is her only hope of salvation. Until Jasper disappears.  Ana sets off on his trail, determined to solve the mystery of his abduction. In doing so she journeys into the darkest corners of society, and uncovers some devastating truths that destroy everything she’s ever believed.

Review: In this world,  your fate is decided by  a DNA test which sees if you have or if you’re predisposed to developing mental illness. Pures are separated from Crazies, who live in the City, away from the safety of the Community. Ana’s test is wrong. She’s not pure. From there, she has to learn more about her past, her family and so on. as well as this, her betrothed Jasper goes missing. Ana ends up going across London finding Jasper, her family, and an unexpected love interest.

Mental illness isn’t talked about that much in society, so it’s nice to have it addressed in YA fiction. As the set up behind a dystopian state-hmm, maybe not. And to some, the fact that those with/dispositioned to mental illness are labelled as being “crazy” and then being feared/cast out by the rest of society might also upset you. However, if you’re not easily offended or immature about these things, you should be able to enjoy this story.  

Ana’s voluntary stay in the mental hospital is pretty horrifying. Thankfully, I’ve not had any experiences with the mental health system, but a family friend has and her treatment was nothing like this. I know this was probably exaggerated for effect, but the girls’ treatment brings to mind the conditions of Victorian lunatic asylums, full of experiments that probably make you crazier than you went in.

Aside from the UK’s treatment of those who may or may not be mentally ill, which is extreme in the way that dystopias are, there’s some other elements of this future Britain that kind of make sense. Petrol shortages, economic downturns, media control and so on are all kind of visible in today’s world-they get turned up nicely in this world.

London based! Yay! I love London-visiting it, the sights, the little back bits. Books set in London always make me happy even if the rest of them are terrible-and the fact that a bit of the beginning is set in Camden was just—yes.  Having been round Camden many many times, it’s nice being able to accurately imagine settings.

Ana was both nice and stupid. I understood where she was coming from but some of her decisions annoyed me. Her relationship to her father especially, but also to the rest of the cast in general, were believable and made me like her a bit more. The love triangle didn’t really overshadow the main plot, which was good. it took me a bit of time to like Nate, but everyone else was likable and understandable.

The plot was good and it got off to a quick start. Things moved at a pace that kept me really interested, but  some things I didn’t really get without re-reading, especially at the start. The ending was a bit open ended, and I’d definitely like to see what happens next.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a thought provoking book with a great dystopian premise, but not something for everyone.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- The Bell Jar by Syvia Plath

Title: The Bell Jar

 Author: Sylvia Plath

Series:  N/A

Published:  1963

Length: 224 pages

Warnings: alcohol, implied sex, suicide attemts

Source: school LRC

Other info: Sylvia Plath has also written

Summary : Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under-maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational-as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

Review: This is the story of Esther Greenwood. She starts off in the city, having won a contest giving her a job in New York. At some point she is diagnosed with neurosis, and goes to a treatment centre. There’s not really any other way to describe this...just life in and out of the city with a mental illness...

 Part of my Book Club’s summer challenge was to pair up with someone and challenge them to read a book of your choice (I had Narcissa read Divergent). She challenged me to read this. I didn’t know what to expect, because my edition had no blurb, and the cover doesn’t help, and all I was told was “It’s very good’”. And it was.

I really felt for Esther and all that she went through, and believe me, she went through a lot.  The start was very good-telling you how Esther thinks of things, her surroundings, her situation and so on. it then goes on to describe how she gets out of town, tries to deal with Buddy, her childhood sweetheart who turns out to be not as good as she thought he was, how she copes with life and so on. It was very easy to connect with her, and also to imagine how she felt at every part of the story. The first person narrative made it easy to understand how she felt, and easy to follow her thoughts. You got a clear sense of her personality from her narration, dialogue and actions.

I didn’t like Buddy that much. He seemed to manipulate Esther and I feel sorry for her, with how he led a double life behind her back. I liked Joan a lot, and it seemed like Esther had a real friend in her. The other characters weren’t that important, but had clear personalities and influenced Esther a lot.

I didn’t like the way it ended. Not because ************ dies, even though it was really sad, but because it just seems to end suddenly. I didn’t understand what was happening in the final scene, and that’s just really the only weak point in the book.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a book that really pulls you in, even if you don’t think it looks very interesting. Because it is.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

Title: Mad Love

 Author: Suzanne Selfors

Series:  N/A

Published:  4 January 2011

Length: 336 pages

Warnings: romance, sex references,

Source: Library

Other info: Suzanne Selfors has also written other things like Coffeehouse Angel, Saving Juliet and Smells like Dog.

Summary : When you're the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can't write it. Alice needs a story for her mother—and she needs one fast.

That's when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol's voice in her head and see things she can't explain, she must face the truth—that she's either inherited her mother's madness, or Errol is for real.

Review: Alice Amorous is living a lie. Her mother Belinda is the bestselling Queen of Romance. But it's been a while since she's published anything, and her crown is slipping. Alice tells the publishers a lot of things. She's overseas. She's doing research. Alice doesn't tell the publishers her mother is in hospital being treated for bipolar disorder, or manic depression. And then the publishers start demanding a story or money, neither of which Belinda can produce. Enter Errol, or Cupid. He wants Alice to write his story. But doesn't she have enough to cope with? 

This book handles the subject of  mental illness, which is interesting for me because a family friend was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which I never knew much about. Mad Love presents bipolar in delicate, easy to understand way. It mentions both the scientific facts and traits, and also the way it can ruin family life. I liked the way that all this was presented in dribs and drabs, woven into context. If it had been Alice just saying in one block of text "my mother has bipolar disorder. This is what it is and this is what its like.",  that would be boring and wouldn't let you properly understand it. Mad Love is useful for those who are being forced to cope with those around them suffering.

In my opinion, the plot is not the most outstanding or intriguing. It takes some getting in to, and isn't the thing I normally read and enjoy. I think that if it was just the mental illness part,being really interesting, as a rule pure family life isn't really my thing and I might not enjoy it quite as much. The fantasy element of Errol aka Cupid was something that you wouldn't expect to see tied up with a serious topic like this, but it worked.

I liked Selfor's take on the tale of Psyche and Eros, which is completely different to  the one we're familiar with.

The characters were interesting. Alice has a lot going on in her life, and I liked the fact that she tried to do something to help her mother, even if it was difficult. Each character was different and distinctive, such as the church priest, the older gay flatmate and the girl who is mean at first and turns out ok.  Some of the characters were unlikeable at first, but by the end I understood their reasoning and personalities. 

It was written from Alice's perspective, which made it easier to understand everything Alice was going through. Although I didn't like the fact that at some point she's basically lying to everyone, I could see why she did it.

This is quite an emotional book. I found myself really hoping everything would turn out ok for Alice and Belinda, cheering for them when it did, and getting sad when various things happened, like the ending.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a book that mixes myth and reality in perfect measures.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |