BOOK REVIEW: After Dark by Haruki Murakami

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

(Goodreads)

A short, sleek novel of encounters set in Tokyo during the witching hours between midnight and dawn, and every bit as gripping as Haruki Murakami’s masterworks The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore.  

At its center are two sisters—Eri, a fashion model slumbering her way into oblivion, and Mari, a young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny’s toward people whose lives are radically alien to her own: a jazz trombonist who claims they’ve met before, a burly female “love hotel” manager and her maid staff, and a Chinese prostitute savagely brutalized by a businessman. These “night people” are haunted by secrets and needs that draw them together more powerfully than the differing circumstances that might keep them apart, and it soon becomes clear that Eri’s slumber—mysteriously tied to the businessman plagued by the mark of his crime—will either restore or annihilate her.  

After Dark moves from mesmerizing drama to metaphysical speculation, interweaving time and space as well as memory and perspective into a seamless exploration of human agency—the interplay between self-expression and empathy, between the power of observation and the scope of compassion and love. Murakami’s trademark humor, psychological insight, and grasp of spirit and morality are here distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery.

What's interesting about this novel isn't about where it takes place, but when it takes place. After Dark spans its 200 pages from the hours of 11:56pm to 6:52am. What happens in between those hours is a mixture of events that can only happen to one, well, after dark. Bumping into a guy that liked (likes?) your sister, helping a retired wrestler that runs a love hotel, and jumping from strange place to strange place in order to pass the slow time of the night.

"It's true, though: time moves in its own special way in the middle of the night," the bartender says, loudly striking a book match and lighting a cigarette. "You can't fight it." (78)

Murakami doesn't fail to bring in the magical realism in his works. While After Dark takes place in a completely average world, there's a eeriness that creeps up on the pages when you least expect it. The chapters focusing in on Mari's sister, Eri, give the sense that something otherworldly is happening. Eri has been stuck in a sort of 'Sleeping Beauty' state, doing nothing much more than sleeping for the past couple of months. While that is strange in and of itself, the narration places us directly in the room with her as a silent observer.

"Unfortunately (we should say), there is nothing we can do for Eri Asai. Redundant though it may sound, we are a sheer point of view. We cannot influence things in any way." (185)

There's not a lot that happens in this novel, in fact, the small instances that happen to either Mari or Eri are greatly magnified. However, that isn't to say that the moments aren't written beautifully. There's a lot of events left open for interpretation and I would say that in fact, nothing comes to a sound conclusion.

COMIC REVIEW: The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat (And Pokey!) aka Grumpy Cat Volume 1

The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat (And Pokey!)

(Goodreads)

Dynamite proudly presents the comic book misadventures of Grumpy Cat, featuring "The World's Grumpiest Cat" and her brother, Pokey! With her ever-present pout and sassy disposition, Grumpy Cat has won the hearts of people everywhere. Now, her unbearable cuteness and infectious sourpuss are featured in an all-new, all-sensational collection of comic stories, sure to make fans of all ages laugh! If you love the memes, the videos, and that irresistible scowl, then get ready for the wildly fun antics of Grumpy Cat and Pokey!

Thank you to Diamond Book Illustrators at NetGalley for this eARC!

Comic books intimidate me. It's something I've always wanted to get into but always back away from due to the numbers and editions and universes available. I'd love to start...but where? Do I find the first one or do I pick up the latest one and what's the difference between titles based on the same character? Are they the same character or is it a completely different story??

So many questions. 

Thankfully I didn't have to ask any of those for Grumpy Cat Volume 1. I love cats in general (understatement) and love Grumpy Cat (real name Tardar Sauce) ever since she surfaced the face of the internet in 2012. 

I mean, what's not to love?? Remember when she was on Anderson Cooper's talk show?

So tiny. 

Or when she basically had Disneyland all to herself and met Grumpy?

Grumpy Cat Volume 1 is a fun and easy read that highlights Grumpy Cat's snarky bad temper and her brother's innocent enthusiasm. They go on adventures you'd expect (dealing with dogs and missing cat treats) and wouldn't expect (alien invasions and becoming super heroes). I don't think this series will become as addictive to children as Captain Underpants, but it's definitely a cute read that will keep you entertained. 

Volume 1 comes with 11 different stories that are sometimes as short as one or two pages. The only (slightly) negative comment I have is that the different artwork threw me off until I realized there were different artists for each story and it wasn't just a case of inconsistency. 

Grumpy Cat in "Detective Cats"

Grumpy Cat and Pokey in "I Know What You Did Last Summer (I Just Don't Care)"

Grumpy Cat and Pokey in "I Know What You Did Last Summer (I Just Don't Care)"

Book Review: Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

(Goodreads)

No one believes Helen when she insists she isn’t Ellie, and suddenly, everything that used to be Helen’s—from her toys to her friends to her identity—now belongs to her sister. With those around her oblivious to her plight, the girl who used to be Helen loses her sense of self and withdraws into a spiral of behavioral problems, delinquency, and mental illness. In time, she’s not even sure of her memory of the switch.  

Twenty-five years later, she receives a call that threatens to pull her back into her sister’s dangerous orbit. Will she take this chance to face her past?

Thanks to Bloomsbury USA at NetGalley for providing me with an eARC!

I had a huge headache around seventy or so pages in. And I'm sure Helen (Ellie? Smudge?) had more than a headache to deal with after this childhood fiasco. The premise to this novel immediately grabbed me when I came across it; it's incredibly frustrating when no one believes something that you know to be the absolute truth and what's even worse is when someone's lie is believed over your truth. Honestly, this has happened to me (mostly as a child) and has driven me to tears and resentment so I can't imagine what my life would be like if I was in Helen's place.

(To avoid confusion, I will refer to Helen as 'the main character' hereafter.) 

Beside Myself alternates each chapter from two different points of views: the main character's present and past. It was really interesting to see the POV change from first person to second person to third; it really showed how detached the main character became. However, I believe that the switching back and forth between POVs is what actually gave me a headache, it's definitely a lot to keep up with.

It was hard not to gloss over some of the early chapters of the main character's present because of how descriptive they were. It does make it seem like a slow start at the beginning, but thankfully the plot quickly picks up after that. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed with the ending, but I did leave incredibly frustrated. Since I was reading this as an ebook, what I thought were about 40 more pages of the novel were actually just blank pages.

I would have liked the ends to be tied a bit neater and more of the main character explored. There's so many questions that I felt she didn't ask: time she spent silenced, waiting for answers for questions she never asked. A lot of the time growing up, it seemed as if she was an only child when in reality she was a twin who shared a room with said sister. Was their time together really spent in radio silence? Was there never a shared moment or another attempt to reveal the truth, at least between them?

Nevertheless, this novel gives you a really close-up look at how a mental illness can develop in early childhood and what can happen when it's swept under the rug. It made me tremendously sad to see the main character develop so many unhealthy thinking patterns and cope with them in unhealthy ways. But honestly, who can blame her? When no one wants to believe you, it makes you not want to believe anyone, including yourself.

Memorable Quote 

"And that is when I learn the secret: that you don't have to be anyone. You don't have to be Helen or Ellie. You don't have to be any kid of person. You can just float up through the branches into the sky like balloon, until you are far away looking down on the people scurrying about their Christmases like ants and no one can touch you at all." (111)

Book Review: The Round House by Louise Erdrich

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

(Goodreads)

     One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.  

     While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

Without a doubt, my favorite theme in novels is coming of age (or bildungsroman, if you will). I love reading how a character grows and matures in either a positive or negative way; it feels like I am watching them grow before my own eyes. And because so much of that internal conflict is shared with me, I feel that I have grown with them.

It's hard to believe that Joe, the protagonist, is only 13 years old. At the beginning of the novel he seems very mature, and that is only emphasized by the tragedy that strikes his family. However, the reader is often reminded of his age by all his decisions that make you want to reach into the book and yank him back by his collar! Honestly, I found myself shaking my head many times, thinking 'you're only 13!'

There's a lot of pain in this novel, and one can definitely feel that through the pages. For anyone who's ever had a tragedy in their family, had a deep depression or were close to someone that went through one, you'll be reminded of what those days felt like. A person doesn't heal in one day, no matter how much love is thrown at them; this novel is a painful reminder of that.

Sections of this novel feel slow, which I think is the main reason why it took me so long to finish this novel (a little over two weeks?). The slow pace of the novel made it hard to follow at times and I found myself having to reread some sections more than once because I realized I hadn't been paying attention. Erdrich doesn't use quotation marks, which I think is beautiful when executed well. However, there were many times where I couldn't differentiate if a sentence was dialogue or Joe's point of view. It was something I could have gone without.

Overall, I can see why this won 2012's National Book Award for Fiction: it's powerful, mythical, and moving; however, it just wasn't quite for me.

Memorable Quote(s) 

"As I feel into a darker sleep, I understood that I had learned something. Now that I knew fear, I also knew that it was not permanent. As powerful as it was, its grip on me would loosen. It would pass." (264) 

"And how funny, strange, that a thing can grow so powerful even when planted in the wrong place. Ideas too, I muttered. Ideas." (293)

Book Review: The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss (a novel IRL) by Max Wirestone

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss (a novel IRL) by Max Wirestone

(Goodreads)

The odds of Dahlia successfully navigating adulthood are 3,720 to 1.  

But never tell her the odds. Meet Dahlia Moss, the reigning queen of unfortunate decision-making in the St. Louis area. Unemployed, broke, and on her last bowl of ramen, she's not living her best life. But that's all about to change.  

Before Dahlia can make her life any messier on her own she's offered a job. A job that she's woefully under-qualified for. A job that will lead her to a murder, an MMORPG, and possibly a fella (or two?). 

Turns out unfortunate decisions abound, and she's just the girl to deal with them.

Thank you to Redhook Books at NetGalley for providing me with an eARC!

Without a doubt, this book is for geeks. And I say the word 'geeks' in a loving, 21st century kind of way. For those who are into about fifty different fandoms, gaming, and enjoy in-depth discussions of fictional character analysis. 

Dahlia Moss is extremely ordinary and she knows it. She's surrounded by people who are larger than life and don't know it. But without a doubt, Dahlia is funny. Her sense of humor comes through the pages and made me chuckle a lot throughout this novel. Because she's so ordinary I couldn't help but root for her, I kept thinking, 'jeez, give this girl a break!' at every turn.

I wasn't too fond of the romance, I don't feel that it added anything to the plot and it seemed mostly in the background and forgettable. I didn't feel a connection between Dahlia and her love interest and think I could have done without it. On the other hand, the gaming world of Zoth was explained very well and I have to commend Wirestone for that. I think a reader who didn't know the first thing about MMORPG would have an easy time understanding it. 

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss (TUDODM?) is a quick and light humorous read with some mystery thrown in there and with about a hundred different geeky references. If Max Wirestone were to release another book with her adventures, I would definitely look forward to revisiting the mind of ordinary, but mostly funny, Dahlia Moss. 

Memorable Quote:  

"There was of course, no metal detector at the convention center. Because this was Arizona. At the Phoenix airport white people are offered complimentary handguns after passing through baggage claim, as a way of saying thank you and welcome to the Grand Canyon State."

Book Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan 

(Goodreads)

Every morning, A wakes in a different person's body, a different person's life. There's never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It's all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

I'll be honest, I'm a huge sucker for Buzzfeed's endless lists of random information. One day I succumbed and gave them my email for a newsletter and that's more or less how I came across Every Day by David Levithan. In a list of 27 Seriously Underrated Books Every Book Lover Should Read, a reader gushed about this book and said,

"It’s an amazing read about identity and who one truly is. The main character changes bodies each day, so you never know what will happen." 

(If you click on the link you might notice a lot of those books I've reviewed, so I guess this list had more of an influence on me than I realized.)

So, changing bodies everyday? That premise definitely intrigued me. I wondered, how will this work? Will I just be reading about different lives or will they somehow all connect like Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel? (Great film btw!!) However, the last thing I expected from Every Day was a romance and that's completely on me because I didn't read the entire summary. I know, I know, but I was excited to read this, ok??

But alas, a romance is what I got. I wouldn't say I disliked it but I had a problem with A's infatuation with Rhiannon, who he meets when he inhabits her boyfriend's body. It just didn't seem realistic, I couldn't understand why A felt so much for this girl he didn't know. Do I believe in love at first sight? Not in real life, at least not yet, but in literature? LOVE IT. So in this case, it just didn't work for me. I didn't see why I (or A) should care about this girl, out of all the thousands of people they've met in their lives, she definitely didn't stand out. It wasn't until later that I began to appreciate Rhiannon's character. She had her flaws, yes, but she seemed like a good match for A.

What I enjoyed more about Every Day was catching glimpses into other people's lives and the different experiences that A had. I almost feel like David Levithan could have done more with this plot; I felt disappointed in the end by what felt like loose ends.

I apologize for a lack of a memorable quote. While I had a good handful to choose from, the page numbers were lost in an infinity of scribbles. 

Book Review: This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

(Goodreads)

On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses: artistic Alma; the aging Miss Lora; Magdalena, who thinks all Dominican men are cheaters; and the love of his life, whose heartbreak ultimately becomes his own.

I've been waiting so long to read this book! I remember seeing it at a Barnes and Nobles and the name 'Diaz' making me do a double take; it's not often that I see a Latino-sounding name while browsing the popular sections. I loved the cover and the title but I didn't get it at the time for some reason or another. Fast forward a couple of years and I devoured it in a handful of hours and a bus ride to work. It's hard to say that This Is How You Lose Her (TIHYLH? lol) either met, surpassed, or underwhelmed my expectations because I'm not quite sure what I expected. 

Through a collection of short stories, I met Yunior at various stages of his life. Each of them found him in a beautiful relationship (I'm using the word 'beautiful' loosely) that didn't work out for some reason or another. I wouldn't say they're epic romances that anyone would aspire to be in, they're definitely not #goals. But Diaz' way with words puts you right in the middle of Yunior's emotions and boy does he have plenty of them. 

Every other sentence is memorable and it's no wonder I've seen plenty of TIHYLH quotes running through my tumblr dashboard, they capture that one moment of emotion like no other. Diaz sure has a way with words. Although there's plenty of Spanish in this book, it didn't stop my non-Spanish speaking friend from understanding with the help of context clues. However, I did find myself doing a handful of google searches for some slang but nothing that would keep you from understanding.

I feel like I could write multiple essays on this novel, from the mindset of a cheating man, sexualization of women of color, repercussions from machismo upbringings, and so many more college worthy topics; this book packs a lot in. While I related to it and Yunior's experiences as an immigrant person of color, I didn't fall in love with This Is How You Lose Her. I don't feel enough towards Yunior. I didn't hate him and I didn't like him; I'm ambivalent and I wish Diaz did something more to push me in either direction. 

That isn't to say I wouldn't recommend this book because it's extremely vivid and full of life even when life isn't full of anything.

Memorable Quote(s)

"And that's when I know it's over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it's the end." (24) 

"I've always believed that the universe invented the color red solely for Latinas." (21) 

"This is what I know: people's hopes go on forever." (74) 

"Dude had lost eighty pounds to the chemo, looked like a break dancing ghoul (my brother was the last motherfucker in the jerz to give up his tracksuit and rope chain), had a back laced with spinal-tap scars, but his swagger was more or less where it had been before the illness: a hundred percent loco." (95)

Book Review: Devious Minds by KF Germaine

Devious Minds by KF Germaine 

(Goodreads)

When Sydney Porter transfers to Northern University, she’s ready to put her past behind her. Landing a job on campus as an irreverent radio personality, she uses the anonymity to air all the campus dirty laundry—earning the infamous Sunday Lane more than a few enemies. But her true passion is spinning records, even if Drunk Earl is her biggest fan. 

Sydney’s junior year kicks off with the promise to be amazing. Or at least it does until Gray Peters, hotshot quarterback, unexpectedly reenters the scene. His presence threatens to destroy everything she has going, as well as resurrecting a night Sydney never wants to remember or repeat. She’d run away like a coward, but this time she's determined to stay and fight.  

A twisted battle of wit and trickery ensues, with one common goal—vengeance. Sydney and Gray set out to make each other miserable. But misery loves company, and soon, walls are destroyed and truths are revealed that could change their future forever.

Thank you to The Hype PR at NetGalley for providing me with an eARC! 

When I first started this book, at about 30 pages or so, I couldn't decide if I liked Sydney Porter or not. I knew Sydney Porter was a badass, a tough chick with a very independent mindset. But what I couldn't figure out was if she was all bark and no bite. While she used her anonymity as a campus radio host to expose dirty laundry and act as a "cheeky, no-filters personality who picked apart university flaws and campus morons," (7) she also simultaneously used words like 'she-male" (28) and slut-shamed other girls for sleeping around.

Devious Minds alternates each of its 50 chapters between Sydney and Grey Porter (the object of Sydney's revenge), which I really enjoyed. The alternating chapters often told me more about the other character than themselves.  While I found Sydney problematic, I continued reading in hopes that she would redeem herself. And despite the alternating points of view, I would say that this is absolutely Sydney's book.

Gray is...well I called Gray a lot of things before calling him 'sweet' and unexpectedly so. I was impressed by the level of pranks that he pulled on Sydney, they were definitely clever and honestly funny (I'll just throw it out there: XL child size Iron Man costume; I was telling all my friends about it). I found their back and forth prank war honestly refreshing and funny and I almost wish it lasted throughout the entire book.

I have to give KF Germaine a thumbs up for her side characters, they were fleshed out, believable, and my heart went out to them because they reminded me of dear friends I've had. About a quarter of the way through the novel, I did find myself on #teamSydney because there's more to her than her tough exterior. Getting to know her as Gray did allowed me to understand why she wore that hard armor (although still side-eyeing the 'she-male' comment and slut shaming, it's 2015!)

Without a doubt, Devious Minds is funny and relatable. It does contain sexual content, but nothing too extreme that I felt myself needing to put my iPod touch away on public transit in fear that someone was reading over my shoulder. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a light and humorous read.

Memorable Quote: 

"Peters was an ass, and he just made a very lame joke (which I could appreciate), but still, I was standing outside a club at one in the morning, on my twenty-first birthday, with the first boy I'd ever slept with." (86) 

Review: Invisible Monsters Remix by Chuck Palahniuk

Invisible Monsters: Remix by Chuck Palahniuk

(Goodreads)

Injected with new material and special design elements, Invisible Monsters Remix fulfills Chuck Palahniuk’s original vision for his 1999 novel, turning a daring satire on beauty and the fashion industry into an even more wildly unique reading experience. Palahniuk’s fashion-model protagonist has it all—boyfriend, career, loyal best friend—until an accident destroys her face, her ability to speak, and her self-esteem. Enter Brandy Alexander, Queen Supreme, one operation away from becoming a bona-fide woman. Laced in are new chapters of memoir and further scenes with the book’s characters. Readers will jump between chapters, reread the book to understand the dissolve between fiction and fact, and decipher the playful book design, embarking on a ride they’ll never forget.

I bought this book two years ago as a Christmas present for my best friend. It didn't take her two years to read it lol but it did take her a long time to start it. So last week after she finally finished it I was able to grab it off her desk and take it to work.

I finished this book in three days. I don't know if that's saying much to others, since I know people can go through multiple books a day. BUT, for me, after reading became a chore because of school, that's saying something.

What's unique about this book (aside from the insane storyline) is the format. It jumps back and forth between chapters so that you don't quite know when you're going to finish. And even though I kept track of the chapters I read and began to see a pattern, I still felt like I didn't know when the end was coming or if I missed a chapter by mistake. Part of me wants to go back in a couple of months and read it from beginning to end, see how much of a trip that is or if it creates a whole different story line.

Without a doubt, the narrative has Palahniuk written all over it. For those of you that have read his 1996 novel, Fight Club, you'll get some of the same feeling from the narrator in that they both have this constant 'catchphrase' that is almost a part of their identity. Both the narrator from Fight Club and Invisible Monsters have this struggle of self vs. self that is incredibly unique and it blows my mind how much of a different point of view they were able to give me.

The narrator of Invisible Monsters is a confusing woman to say the least. Her story is told from the first-person POV but even so I felt like a bystander throughout the novel. I don't find myself rooting for her or wanting her to fail, I find myself simply observing. However, even with all my observations I still found myself surprised at various points in the novel like I was when I first saw Fight Club (which my friend still laughs at for not being able to figure out).

The characters are CHARACTERS. You know how you come across people sometimes that you just can't believe exist? Like some little old lady who gets dragged for three blocks from a pick up truck carrying away her favorite tree? Or a coffee shop barista who somehow manages to remember everyone's name and the entire content of their lives?

Overall, Invisible Monsters Remix is a solid book with plenty of twists. Is it now a favorite? No. Would I recommend it? Without a doubt.

Memorable Quote 

"My inventory of people who can save me is down to just me. Not my best friend. Or my old boyfriend. Not the doctors or the nuns. Maybe the police, but not yet. It isn't time to wrap this whole mess into a neat legal package and get on with my less-than life. Hideous and invisible forever and picking up pieces." (225-226)

Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

(Goodreads)

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery sister Bailey. But when Bailey dies suddenly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding.

Alright. This is my first book review so I may or may not know exactly what I'm doing. I haven't read a book for pleasure since I graduated from school last year and I'm not exactly sure what made me pick this one out of the piles of books that my friend has in overflowing cardboard boxes.

I've been blessed so far in my life in that I don't know what it's like to lose someone so close to me like Bailey was to her sister, Lennie. However, being close to someone who has lost a sibling made it feel like I was gaining a the smallest of insights to that gigantic life changing event.

So. Lennie. The main character of the book, seventeen years old and quite an accurate portrayal of the average teenager. In the first 50 or so pages, I couldn't really tell what kind of person she was. Everything happened so fast. A plant that reflects her state of health, going back to school, meeting this new guy, notes scattered throughout her hometown. It was a bit disorientating but now I can appreciate how I was thrown into the middle of this person's life without having her entire life explained to me in the first five pages.

What I enjoyed most about the book was the way each chapter began with the image of Lennie's notes and poems. I do wish they had looked more realistic rather than it being a font in front of an image of different kinds of paper.

I have to praise Nelson for Lennie's voice. I do feel like I am in her head and I can really feel her thoughts growing as the pain of mourning doesn't necessarily get easier, but becomes a part of her daily life. Many scenes in this novel reminded me of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl (the film version, which I was able to catch at the LA Times Book Festival last weekend) in which Lennie learns things about her sister after her death. It's haunting to think that you can find out so much about a person through the things they leave behind.

While I wasn't a huge fan of the two boys in Lennie's life, I slowly came to an understanding that...to put it quite frankly, shit happens. Life happens even when you want to press pause and you have to learn to go with it or you'll be left behind in your past.

So...that's my first book review! I don't know how I did, I wanted to say more but I'm afraid of saying too much.