Sunday, June 30, 2013

Review: Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Interworld by Neil Gaiman & Michael Reaves


When Newbery Medal winner Neil Gaiman and Emmy Award winner Michael Reaves teamed up, they created the bestselling YA novel InterWorld.

InterWorld tells the story of Joey Harker, a very average kid who discovers that his world is only one of a trillion alternate earths. Some of these earths are ruled by magic. Some are ruled by science. All are at war.

Joey teams up with alternate versions of himself from an array of these worlds. Together, the army of Joeys must battle evil magicians Lord Dogknife and Lady Indigo to keep the balance of power between all the earths stable.

Teens—and tweens and adults—who obsessively read the His Dark Materials and Harry Potter series will be riveted by InterWorldand its sequel, The Silver Dream


Review 


When I first began reading Interworld I felt the voice and the world created inside of the novel might be for younger readers. I felt slightly odd reading a book that felt like it was for children or much younger teenagers. Maybe this was because I had been reading Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre Classics for English at the time, or maybe just the whole idea within the book felt too fantasy to be something believable in a adult's mind. Or possibly it was because the idea of different worlds was something I had thought and dreamt about as a child and it reminded me of those days.

I'm not sure which, but none the less I kept reading, I only ever really give up on a book when it really bores me, not when it is too tough to decipher or if it feels to young for me. So I read on, and I have to say although the outline of the story and the elements do on the surface seem like for a young audience, the way the book is actually written is very educational. I think because of this, it opens the book out to a much wider audience. Children and younger readers could enjoy Interworld because it is very magical and thrilling and they would simply not notice the deeper meaning in the words that older readers can, allowing the older readers into a meaningful story that involves young characters. So once I had gotten past the 'fantasy-like' concept of the book feeling too young for me, I saw how the writers meant much more.

For example, Interworld explores family learning to accept and let go of loved ones, bravery in a young child, friendship and loyalty, duty and pride, going beyond ones limit, having faith in others, not being accepted or being judge for something you didn't quite understand, feeling like an outsider, coming to terms with being alike others and that you belong somewhere else than your home.

There is so much within this story that makes it much more than a story of exploring the different worlds, there is action, greif, trust, loyalty, tension, fright, bravery... I could go on. The journey of the main character Joey is outstanding and I think a lot of young readers can be influenced by such a character.

4/5 A must read for younger readers and those older ones who enjoy fantasy and thrill.

I really enjoyed Interworld and I have its sequel The Silver Dream, which I hope to read and bring you the review of soon!


Reviewed for Harper Collins UK Publishers

See you soon! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer holidays!


Saturday, June 22, 2013

Allegiant!

Is it just me who is on the edge waiting for the third book of the Divergent series (Allegiant) to be released or? 


ALSO THE DIVERGENT MOVIE IS OUT NEXT YEAR!



 Doesn't the casting look great, Four especially meets my mental image of the character... let us hope the movie can live up to the book!

Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Hi Bloggers, I'm back from exam season! Wow two years of college went fast, off to University in just 3 months (scary stuff)...  I can finally read again and I have a few reviews from books I have read which I never got around to reviewing so here goes...


Paper towns by John Green


So if you happen to follow my reviews, or saw my review of The Fault in Our Stars, you will know that I fell in love with John Green's writing and I knew that I had to read more or his work (READ ALL THE JOHN GREEN BOOKS!) so I chose Paper Towns as my second read of his work, probably because of the title and cover which tune in with my desire to travel.

If you have read Paper Towns, you will know that it is not exactly about travelling, but it still has a big adventure with thrill and new experiences, fear and chemistry. Yet this is still not the adventure about this book that I think John Green intended to say with this novel, it is much deeper than that, like I have learnt all of his works are. They are insights into life from a perspective most forget to look from, or just over look and miss it.

The characters in Paper Towns are very real, normal high school students, written from a young boys perspective you see how life can be tough for a teenage boy who isn't that popular, gets bullied, and has a crush on a girl who is. But his life isn't terrible, because you don't need popularity to be happy, he has a group of friends, including his two best guy friends who both have personalities which made me laugh - a lot. His life is changed suddenly by Margo, a popular girl.. who although seems like she has everything... inside she feels she doesn't. Again, popularity isn't happiness.

It seems that Paper Towns underlining edges towards a persons desire to escape home, escape the people who have hurt them, escape the business, the blandness of a small town... onto something bigger, better... or to find safe so that peace of mind can be found.

And it shows how some people just aren't happy or don't belong in places and they cannot be tied down, that you have to let people go even if you could follow them cause they walk alone better.I felt i could really relate to Margo in this book, with her desires to be somewhere else, and the explanations about leaving really hit home.

It's a rather emotional book, but what John Green books aren't? I cried in places but also laughed, and tension was always between the pages.. Paper Towns is definitely one of those books I couldn't predict.. it surprised me all the way through. I think the journeys that the individual characters take have a lot of meaning to be learnt in them. A truly inspiring book, that deals with serious issues.


Of course a 5/5.. I'm not sure I can go any lower for a John Green! (though I still prefer The Fault in Our Stars)

Here are a few quotes to get your teeth into!

“What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.” 


“It is so hard to leave—until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world.” 


“The town was paper, but the memories were not.”


“Maybe its like you said before, all of us being cracked open. Like each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And then things happen - these people leave us, or don’t love us, or don’t get us, or we don’t get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack in places. And I mean, yeah once the vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable. Once it starts to rain inside the Osprey, it will never be remodeled. But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And its only that time that we see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. When did we see each other face to face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade, but never seeing inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.” 






Another trailer! - The Ghosting of Gods by Cricket Baker

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon - Trailer

Another great book trailer I have just stumbled across!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=499466303458164&set=vb.341306142607515&type=2&theater



Malorie Blackman - Noble Conflict Trailer

I found this such a great trailer for a book! So check it out!