Review of The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Title: The Song Of Achilles

Author: Madeline Miller

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published: September 20th, 2011

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction - Mythology - LGBTQ+

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their difference, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. 

But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

"Name one hero who was happy."

"You can't."

"I can't."

"I know. They never let you be famous AND happy." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret."

"Tell me." I loved it when he was like this.

"I'm going to be the first." He took my palm and held it to his. "Swear it."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the reason. Swear it."

I'm not usually someone who cries because of fictional characters. I think I have cried only for a movie (The Bridge of Madison County) and two books (The Book Thief and The Fault in Our Stars), but I have to say that The Song Of Achilles made me cry A LOT, especially towards the ending! I knew what was going to happen from the beginning, but this didn't prevent me from hoping that the author had decided to change it (spoiler alert: she didn't). 

Having watched the Hollywood version of the Iliad, I really didn't think I would have come to care so much about Patroclus. I'd always seen him as the sidekick, the one who was always obscured by Achilles' qualities, both inside and outside the battlefield. Kudos to Miller then, for taking all these two-dimensional greek heroes of mythology and shaping them into three-dimensional characters you can't help but falling in love with! Patroclus was the real hero of this story, in my opinion. On the surface, he might seem the weak one: an exiled prince, not very good at fighting and without particular abilities; yet, he was loyal and honest and caring, he didn't let pride get in the way of doing what was right, all in all he was the most human of all the Greek heroes attacking Troy. Achilles, on the hand, was of course The Hero, but he lost his humanity as the book went on, blinded by pride and the obsession of becoming famous as Aristos Achaion (the best of the Greeks). I found that the more the book went on, the more Achilles paled as opposed to Patroclus. Their romance however, felt very real and alive. It was neither perfect nor forced, and it had its ups and downs, but it was clear both the characters loved each other in their own way.

Another character really well written was Thetis (Achilles' mother). I don't want to ruin the end of the book, so I'm just going to say that she really surprised me. I didn't expect to hate Odysseus, though. I've always enjoyed the Odyssey even more than the Iliad, and I've always thought Odysseus was better than all the Greek heroes because he was cunning and smart, however in the book he came across as arrogant and too pleased with himself and his intelligence.

The pacing dragged a little at times, plus the Troy war was not very present in the book, and the fighting scenes were scarce, but I never found myself bored throughout the book. The writing was gorgeous and full of details, it almost felt like I was there in the middle of the story. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to every fan of mythology and whoever is in the mood for an epic story of love and war and doesn't mind shedding a few tears in the process!

Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.

Book Review: Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty

Title: Lock & Mori

Author: Heather W. Petty

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published: September 15th, 2015

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre: YA - Mystery - Retelling

In modern-day London, two brilliant high school students—one Sherlock Holmes and a Miss James “Mori” Moriarty—meet. A murder will bring them together. The truth very well might drive them apart.

Before they were mortal enemies, they were much more…

FACT: Someone has been murdered in London’s Regent’s Park. The police have no leads.

FACT: Miss James “Mori” Moriarty and Sherlock “Lock” Holmes should be hitting the books on a school night. Instead, they are out crashing a crime scene.

FACT: Lock has challenged Mori to solve the case before he does. Challenge accepted.

FACT: Despite agreeing to Lock’s one rule—they must share every clue with each other—Mori is keeping secrets.

OBSERVATION: Sometimes you can’t trust the people closest to you with matters of the heart. And after this case, Mori may never trust Lock again.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

I am addicted to Sherlock Holmes retellings! I'm ashamed to say that I've never read the real thing, or rather I tried in high school, but found Conan Doyle's style too flat and boring. Then I read Every Breath a while ago and fell in love with the character of Sherlock Holmes. I've read a lot of retellings since then, and, although I'll probably never get tired of this character, it was nice to read a Sherlock retelling from an entirely different angle!

Lock and Mori is set in the present days and told from the point of view of Miss James Moriarty. Now, everyone who's a little acquainted with Sherlock Holmes' world knows that Moriarty is supposed to be Sherlock's nemesis (and of course in the original text he is a men), a mind as brilliant as Sherlock, but dedicated to crime. In Lock and Mori, Moriarty is not evil, she's only a girl trying to shield her brothers from an alcoholic father, a girl who makes bad decisions because she feels trapped and thinks she doesn't have any other choice. Throughout the book, Mori's voice was so clear, you couldn't help putting yourself in her shoes. There was never a time when I didn't agree with her decisions because I, too, felt trapped and hopeless. Although in retrospective, she could have done so many things differently. It would be interesting to read this book from Sherlock's point of view, I guess it would be a totally different story! I think the fact that the story is told through Mori is one of the main strenghts of this book. Most of Sherlock retellings tend to fall into the trap of choosing a bland and uninteresting Watson as the main point of view, and as a result, Watson ends up being a two-dimensional character always in awe of Sherlock's methods. For example, I thoroughly enjoyed Jackaby, but the fact that it was told from the point of view of a bland 'Watson' dampened the story a lot. In Petty's book, on the other hand, both Lock and Mori were fleshed out, but Sherlock faded into the background, because Mori was the focal point of the whole story.

I enjoyed the romance between Lock and Mori very much, because it remained true to the characters and canon: Sherlock was clueless and awkward, Mori independent and not used to trusting people. I can't wait to know what happens next between these two, but I have a theory that it won't end well between them. I'm also curious about Watson's role in the future books, since for now he seems a really unpleasant person!

The mystery was pretty interesting, although I realized who the culprit was early on. I expected a huge plot twist to show me that I was wrong, but it never came. This left me a bit disappointed and it is the reason why I didn't give it 5 stars. However, if I had been Mori, I probably wouldn't have noticed too the small detail that made me realize who the killer was.

Overall, Lock and Mori is a very enjoyable book for both fans of Sherlock retellings and readers who like thrillers/mysteries. It is a fresh take on the character of Sherlock Holmes and the dynamic between him and Moriarty.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

If you liked Sherlock's character read Every Breath by Ellie Marney or watch the movies by Guy Ritchie

If you liked Moriarty's character read Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz (not YA and Moriarty is a man) or watch Elementary (great Moriarty!)

Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.

Book Review: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Title: A Madness So Discreet

Author: Mindy McGinnis

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: YA - Historical Fiction - Thriller - Horror

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

"I think we're all quite mad. Some of us are just more discreet about it"

When I received my OwlCrate and saw A Madness So Discreet, I was very disappointed (although I liked the cover so much, I didn't care if the book was awful)!  The blurb didn't wow me, and, although I don't mind gory details and bloody descriptions, I can't abide books without a little bit of hope shining through the darkness of the story. After reading the synopsis, I thought nothing else than pain and desperation could come from this story. I'm happy to say I was wrong! This book was definitely dark, but it had its lighter moments and, most important, it managed to convey a sense of hope for the future of the characters.

"Nothing you say will be believed. You're insane"

Grace was a fantastic main character, haunted by the demons of her past, and she kept them at bay retreating in herself so much that she couldn't feel anything. This ability was rather intriguing but also frightening, because clearly if you retreat in yourself too much, you risk losing your way out. Grace couldn't speak for most of her day, and it was interesting how this created a chasm between the person she was in the asylum, who had to keep everything bottled up inside, and the person she was when she was free to be herself. They almost seemed like two different people. 

"So are we really that different, the healthy and the ill?" (...) "I would argue there is no difference at all"

Grace walked thin line between madness and sanity, like all the characters of this book: Thornhollow, who looked into the abyss of the criminal mind too much, Grace's father, all the patients in the asylums. Reading the book was like becoming mad yourself, until you were at a point when you couldn't say which character was sane and which was not. You could almost say that the patients were saner than the people outside the asylum. The only really sane character was Grace's sister, but one could argue that she was sane because she kept to the surface and didn't venture down to the depth of the human mind. Along with the exploration of what makes a person mad and if everybody's actually mad but some madness are more discreet than others, the author tackled the idea of morals and whether it's right to follow one's moral system when it clashes with the law. I liked that the book didn't shy away from certain ideas of "eye for an eye" and "the end justifies the means".

The historical fiction aspect of asylums and how patients were treated was deeply fascinating and well-researched. As you may well imagine, the treatments were brutal and lobotomy was largely practiced to tame the most difficult patients. However, I enjoyed the book much more when it delved into the homicide and the study of criminal profiling. Also, the ending was perfect and gave me so much satisfaction!

Overall, this book was riveting and compelling, and I recommend it to anyone who's not afraid of some gory details. I've already read a review comparing this book to Criminal Minds, so I can say that I was not the only one who thought so while reading the book! If you are a fan of this telefilm, this book it's for you!

 Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.

Review of Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Title: Plus One

Author: Elizabeth Fama

Hardcover, 373 pages

Published: April 8th, 2014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Genre: YA - Dystopia

It takes guts to deliberately mutilate your hand while operating a blister-pack sealing machine, but all I had going for me was guts.

Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller in an America rigidly divided between people who wake, live, and work during the hours of darkness and those known as Rays who live and work during daylight. Impulsive, passionate, and brave, Sol deliberately injures herself in order to gain admission to a hospital, where she plans to kidnap her newborn niece—a Ray—in order to bring the baby to visit her dying grandfather. By violating the day-night curfew, Sol is committing a serious crime, and when the kidnap attempt goes awry it starts a chain of events that will put Sol in mortal danger, uncover a government conspiracy to manipulate the Smudge population, and throw her together with D'Arcy Benoît, the Ray medical apprentice who first treats her, then helps her outrun the authorities—and with whom she is fated to fall impossibly and irrevocably in love.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights—and a compelling, rapid-fire romantic adventure story.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD

I have to say, after years of loyal devotion to the genre, I've realized I'm sick to death of dystopian fiction. I don't know if it is due to the fact that I've binge-read a lot of it or because dystopian books really have become repetitive, but they all seem to blur together, until I wonder if Cassia was Divergent or Tally got matched with Ky or maybe Thomas participated in the Hunger Games?! 

Plus One made me realize all of this, precisely because it's not your typical dystopian book. Yes, there is politics, government corruption, outcasts, persecution and discrimination against one social class (because if you think of it, it's obvious that people who live during the day will be more productive than those who live during the night, because biologically the human body is "programmed" to sleep during the night). BUT Sol is not a heroine, she's not the chosen one with special abilities, she doesn't fight or shoot and she doesn't want to free herself from her Smudge restrictions. She just wants her Poppu to hold his grand-daughter before he dies. It took me some time to warm up to Sol, mostly because she's my exact opposite. I don't think I could be so selfless, and each time Sol was cynic, I kept hoping for a happy ending. However, once I understood more about her motives and past, I felt I could relate more to her, although some times she was infuriating, because she was so willing to sacrifice her future! 

D'Arcy, on the other hand, was so easy to love! He seemed privileged, but we soon learned that his family was destroyed by the Ray/Smudge divide since his mother had been reassigned to Day. Since the story took place during a few days, I can understand why Sol and D'Arcy went from 0 to 300 in no time, but all the same it felt too rushed in some points, especially after the twist (which isn't actually a twist and I saw coming a mile away).

This is basically the same problem I had with the plot. It felt like riding a roller-coaster: some things were rushed and then there was a lull where they went to the national park or slept, followed by other action and then the tension dissipated again for a couple of chapters. I was fine with this rhythm because I prefer books focused on the development of the characters rather than action, but I can see how it can be off-putting for reader who love action-packed scenes. Also, the book ended quite abruptly and not how I would have wanted it to finish, though it was more realistic than those of other dystopian books.

Overall, although the plot felt choppy at times, I would recommend this book to everyone who is tired of dystopian literature but doesn't want to let go of it just yet!

I liked it a lot. Would recommend.

ARC review: The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest Of Us Just Live Here

Author: Patrick Ness

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA - Contemporary - Paranormal

What if you aren’t the Chosen One?

The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.

Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

Thanks to EpicReads for providing a copy in exchange for a honest review

"Feelings don't try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large. A feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You're responsible for it's consequences, you're responsible for treating it. But Michael, you're not responsible for causing it. You're not morally at fault for it. No more than you would be for a tumor."

As soon as I learned that Patrick Ness was writing another book I just knew that it was going to be awesome. Every single book by Patrick Ness rocks my world! I love how in his hands, even your usual dystopian becomes something totally new and different from anything you've ever read. Whoever doesn't think that writing a book about the "extras", those who are in the background when the chosen-one saves the world and falls in love, please raise his/her hand. Nobody? Yeah, I thought so, because it's genius. 

Every chapter begins with a brief summary of what's happening to the chosen one, but we actually follow the story of Mikey and his friends, who are trying to decide what to do with their lives after graduations. I love how Patrick Ness managed to overturn all the usual YA tropes in just a few sentences at the beginning of every chapter. The chosen-one's story was so absurd, I couldn't help but laughing every time I was reading her story. 

But there's so much more than satire in this book. Ness also succeeded in wonderfully portraying two characters with mental illness, in particular anorexia and O.C.D. I'm well-acquainted with both disorders, and I can attest that, based on my experience, they were accurately described. It's really rare to find a book about mental illness where the therapist is actually helpful, and this one is one of them. Mikey had only one session with his psychologist, and Patrick Ness nailed it, right down to the last word. It's also rare to see friends who help out without judging you (both in real life and in books), and I loved how Mikey and Mel's friends worried about them and stopped them from being destructive without forcing things too much. 

The novel also featured a gay character whose story didn't revolve around his coming-out, and I believe it's very refreshing that nobody cared that he wasn't straight. Moreover, Mikey admitted that he fooled around with him in the past, without being ashamed of it.

If I really had to say one tiny thing that bothered me, was Hanna's behavior towards Mikey. With the pretense of wanting to "experiment", she kept leading him on even if it was clear she would never see him as more of a friend. I didn't like her hot-and-cold attitude towards him, and I definitely didn't want them to be together at all! 

Overall, this book was both serious and satirical, it tackled important issues and it was an amazing portrayal of the importance of friendship without losing its funny side. I definitely recommend it to everyone!.

Totally EPIC! One of the best books I have read. A MUST read!!

Review: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Title: Made You Up

Author: Francesca Zappia

Hardcover, 428 pages

Published: May 19th, 2015

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Genre: YA - Contemporary - Mental Illness

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

Did I Make You Up?

This book left me speechless. Made You Up is an amazing portrait of schizophrenia, a haunting novel that leaves you with a question: how would you live if you couldn't tell apart between reality and hallucination? This book is so wonderfully written that you can't help but putting yourself in Alex's shoes, while you try to understand with her what's real and what's not. 

I particularly enjoy books told by unreliable narrators, and this one is no exception: you, the reader, think you can distinguish between reality and hallucination (snipers on the roof of the school are OBVIOUSLY not real!), yet you're fooled by Alex's voice into believing that some hallucinations are real! Alex felt authentic, and it seems to me that the author did her research, although I don't know much more than the basics about schizophrenia. I like that Alex refuses to be defined by her illness, she wants a shot at a normal life, she wants to go to college and in order to achieve her goals, she tries to act as normal as possible. She ignores the hallucinations, she keeps shooting photos of her surroundings, trusting that, in time, they will only show what's real when she looks at them.

I also must praise this book for the lack of the love-triumphs-over-illness trope. Every time a book features a character who suffers from mental illness who's miraculously cured by a love story, I start to cringe! The romance between Miles and Alex is slow burn, and it takes some time for Alex to feel safe enough when Miles is with her to not do her perimeter checks for possible threats. At the beginning Miles is a little bit unlikeable, but then it grows on you and you start hoping the ending won't crush your dreams (and Alex and Miles' dreams!).

I have a few criticisms, though, and this is what made me give this book 4 stars instead of 5. Sometimes I felt like there was no actual plot and no climax. I enjoyed living in Alex's shoes, but I felt too detached from the whole Celia plot (I'm being deliberately vague because I don't want to spoil anything!) and I didn't understand the reasons behind Miles' decisions towards the end. Moreover, I found the ending a little bit rushed and it left some loose ends.

Overall, Made You Up is a very compelling book that you don't want to miss, especially if you love YA contemporary or are interested in mental illness. I also enjoyed Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, which also deals with schizophrenia, although it's a little bit more confusing that Made You Up!

Totally awesome! I loved it, would read again.

Review: Trouble From The Start by Rachel Hawthorn

Title: Trouble From The Start

Author: Rachel Hawthorne

Paperback, 400 pages

Published: April 28th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA - Contemporary - Romance

Avery knows better than to fall for Fletcher, the local bad boy who can’t seem to outrun his reputation. Fletcher knows he shouldn’t bother with college-bound, daughter-of-a-cop Avery. But when their paths cross, neither can deny the spark. Are they willing to go against everything and let their hearts lead the way? Or are they just flirting with disaster? 

Trouble from the Start releases simultaneously with companion novel The Boyfriend Project. These heartwarming paperback originals are the perfect summer reads, great for fans of Jennifer Echols, Lauren Barnholdt, and Susane Colasanti.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

I probably should start by saying that I’m not a YA contemporary romance kind of girl, I usually prefer drama and pain over fluffiness and romance. That said, I cannot bring myself to dislike this book, not even a little! Is it clichéd? YES. Is it a little bit cheesy? YES. Did I enjoy it regardless? YOU CAN BET!

Trouble From The Start is your usual good girl falls for bad boy story, and it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. There were some twists I saw coming a mile away and, of course, it is revealed that Fletcher (a.k.a. bad boy) has a tragic back-story and it’s not as bad as his reputation suggests. Add to this the fact that the plot moved at a very slow pace, and you’ll understand why it took me a while to get engaged in the story. However, I soon didn’t care how many tropes were used, because I loved the characters and wanted to see how they could overcome their differences!

Avery (a.k.a. good girl) is not what you would expect from the heroine of this kind of story. Never was I more wrong than when I was convinced that in most of chick-lit books the girl just thought about the love interest all the time and pined for him until he decided to get his act together and be with her. Avery is such a smart and strong girl who has high expectations for herself. I like that she doesn’t feel like she needs to break the rules because she’s tired of being a good girl and that she isn’t willing to let go of her self-respect to have a on-off relationship with someone who doesn’t want to get serious. Fletcher has a rough life, with his mother being dead and his father beating him when he gets drunk, and that’s why he’s a guy of few words and unwilling to share or trust, with a reputation of getting into brawls and having a different girl every night. The book is written from both Avery’s and Fletcher’s POV, so you get to understand their thoughts and the reasons behind their actions really well, and I loved watching their romance unfold from both points of view. They really work as a couple and I laughed out loud when they bantered!

One thing that convinced me that this book deserved three stars was the lack of Absent-parent syndrome which seems to be a typical feature of YA lately. Avery’s family is amazing and supportive! They are not a dysfunctional family, and I appreciated that for once I got to read about a normal family with two caring parents and a funny adoptive brother without drama. I didn't like Avery's best friend Kendall, though. She was always trying to control Avery's life and always repeating that she had to find someone like Jeremy (Kendall's boyfriend), then she started whining about her boyfriend being too much of a good guy. This is why I'll probably won't read the companion novel, which is about Kendall trying to transform Jeremy into a bad boy. 

Overall, I’d say that Trouble From the Start is a fluffy and sweet story and I’d recommend it to fans of YA contemporary romance but also to everyone who needs some lightness and a swoony couple to ship!

Note: I decided to read this book because the synopsis is similar to a Disney channel movie I’ve recently watched on tv, Prom. To me, Avery and Fletcher have the same features of the main characters of the movie, so if you liked the book and you like Disney channel movies (and I know you won’t admit it in public!) I’d suggest watching Prom!

I liked it a lot. Would recommend.