The Fault in our Stars

Yes, another book review from the Ficklemaster.  But trust me, this one's amazing.  I read it in a day because I couldn't put it down.

I can't really write a decent summary for this novel by John Green, because no mixture of words would be able to put it to justice.  So, you're just going to need to take my word for it.

When my friend lent it to me, she made me promise I would discuss it with her as I was reading it.  Since I read it all in a night, though, I simply sent her e-mails periodically with whatever I was thinking.  My first reaction after the first three chapters was: "Ugh!  You didn't tell me it was a love story!" after Hazel (the main character) goes to her cancer Support Group one week and lays eyes on Augustus Waters--a boy who lives for metaphors.  Wait!  Wait, wait, wait.  Don't let that scare you off--the cancer or the love.  It would have frightened me away if my friend hadn't been so excited about me reading it.  I've been so exhausted with the love triangles and other complications in the novels cleverly hidden away in the teen section that I was ready to give up by then.  But boy, am I glad that I didn't.

It is so much more than that.  My friend promised it, and she was right.  It beautifully demonstrates their experiences living with cancer, knowing that every day could be their last.  They understand that sometimes people are not meant to change the entire world--just a small piece in it.  "The marks humans leave are too often scars", as John Green puts it.  In the ups and downs of love, dreams, and wishes all shadowed by the omniscient overhang of cancer, John Green put together an amazing story that I'm glad I didn't miss.

Unwind (and Series?)

 

     So, I just finished an amazingly awesome book called "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman. It is sooooo good! It's another one of those books in the future. It takes place after the second civil war over human rights. The result is that human life is protected until the age of thirteen. Between thirteen and eighteen, parents can choose to have their kid unwound, which is when all of their body parts and organs are harvested. So if someone were to lose an arm, they could just replace it with a harvested unwound's arm. This way, the unwound doesn't technically die, but is still alive. It's kind of hard to imagine, right?

 

     I don't really want to do a summary, because I agree with Ficklemaster, it does give away a lot. ... And also, I read it about a week ago, and my brain tends to forget things quickly about books except about how good or bad they are. It would be hard to do a summary right now. But, yeah, it's crazy awesome and I think there's a series! I just haven't read them all yet, and this is the first book of Neal Shusterman that I've read. He seems to have a lot of futuristic ones like this.

 

    Don't just stand there, run to the library!!!

 

    Now.