My Sweet Reads

Trial: Weaves a sinuous spell... shot through with sneaky black humor... intoxicating.—The Virgin Suicide by Jeffrey Eugenides Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (kwesifriends) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 08:44:00 +0000

The Virgin Suicides
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Paperback, 249 Pages
2000, Grand Central Publishing
Goodreads • Amazon • Book Depository

Juxtaposing the most common and the most gothic, the humorous and the tragic, author Jeffrey Eugenides creates a vivid and compelling portrait of youth and lost innocence. He takes us back to the elm-lined streets of suburbia in the seventies, and introduces us to the men whose lives have been forever changed by their fierce, awkward obsession with five doomed sisters: brainy Therese, fastidious Mary, ascetic Bonnie, libertine Lux, and pail, saintly Cecilia, whose spectacular demise inaugurates "the year of the suicides." This is the debut novel that caused a sensation and won immediate acclaim from the critics—a tender, wickedly funny tale of love and terror, sex and suicides, memory and imagination.

— from the back cover of The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

*Photo taken from The Filipino Group and created by Aaron, you can read his review here.

Jellicoe Road, the prettiest road I'd ever seen, where trees made breezy canopies like a tunnel to Shangri-La.

The place is dark and I can't nearly see everything that surrounds me. With a lampshade sitting on my side and a long pillow sleeping in the other, this is the night that will fulfill my dream, my dream to visit the well-known Jellicoe Road. The prettiest among the roads without walking, just a simple stare and a very long read. Silence. I can hear the laughs of the children and the memories, ready to burst in a second, written in the cold stones for years. The history is ready and the skirmish, begin!

Jellicoe Road, written by an Asutralian author Melina Marchetta, is my first book from her best and well-known works for years. It was a pity that I never touched her books in the past and somebody should pull me around and feed me her book just to read it, and it was great! I can't believe it, reading Melina Marchetta is an exciting new experience. Something everyone will enjoy or not, somehow the target of the book is straight to your heart.

I would like to thank Aaron for sharing this book with everyone and to his great F2F discussion last Saturday (May 20, 2012). The laser tag was fun and I would like to give another round but my breath is chocking me in my neck but in the end, I did not make it. I would like to discuss the book with others but in the simplest way, I write a review for everyone to understand why I gave this book three stars and also thanks to Jzhun for sharing his insights but the night left me hang forever.

Trial 2: The Virgin Suicides

noreply@blogger.com (kwesifriends) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 10:35:00 +0000

The Virgin Suicides

Author: Jeffrey Eugenides

Description: Juxtaposing the most gothic, the humorous and the tragic, author Jeffrey Eugenides creates a vivid and compelling portrait of youth and innocence. He takes us back to the elm-lined streets of suburbia in the seventies, and introduces us to the men whose lives have been forever changed by their fierce, awkward obsession with five doomed sisters: brainy, Therese, fastidious Mary, acetic Bonnie, libertine Lux, and pale, saintly Cecilia, whose spectacular demise inaugurates “the year of the suicides.” This is the debut novel that caused a sensation and won immediate acclaim from the critics—a tender, wickedly funny tale of love and terror, sex and suicide, memory and imagination.

Edition: First Grand Central Publishing Edition, June 1994; Reissued, March 2000; Paperback

Rating:

Test: The Virgin Suicides

noreply@blogger.com (kwesifriends) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 08:40:00 +0000

Image Size Maximum Test

noreply@blogger.com (kwesifriends) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 07:33:00 +0000

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Evernight by Claudia Gray

noreply@blogger.com (kwesifriends) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:45:00 +0000

Bianca wants to escape.She’s been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn’t fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He’s not the “Evernight type” either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful even when it comes to caring about him.

“I couldn’t stand it if they took it out on you,” he tells Bianca, “and eventually they would.”

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can’t be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she’s ever believed.

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can’t be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she’s ever believed.

Dream High: Korean Drama Review

noreply@blogger.com (kwesifriends) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 04:45:00 +0000

Title: The Iron Knight
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey, #4
Year Published: 2011

Description:

To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

To survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale.
And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice. Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl— smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the (unwelcome) company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end— a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan’s side.

Unearthly, O how unearthly this book was.

Friends from The Filipino Group in Goodreads recommended this book. Being different from any other angel-related books they read from those books covered with hideous Twilight scenes and lots of positive reviews in Goodreads, from my young adult reader to anti-paranormal friends, I and my friend Rollie, was forced, no, tempted to read Unearthly by Cynthia Hand. The book smashed purple in cover but pink in the inside. Very mysterious but in fact showy in the outside.

Unearthly is the first book written by Cynthia Hand and the first book in the same name,Unearthly series. Featured angels and romance, the book circled the life of a normal teenage girl from California hunted by her vision of a guy surrounded by burned trees, smoke and ashes, and a heart of pure sadness. Cynthia's simple words and elegant style, no, evidence of having a pretty writing style made her prose readable with much emotion given from the reader's perspective. A soft and very delicate book with sweet and a pint of bitterness in the end.

Characters are well developed in the book. The protagonist, Clara Gardner, portrays a lady who cannot be herself to others hid from the painful secret of her family, the family of angel-blood. This is not a mystery in the book, she already knew who she was and her purpose-driven life but one thing she must understand that her life is controlled by the above. This part of the story made Cynthia different from the book I read. Not being so mysterious of who the character was but making the protagonist's future hidden from the readers. Revealing only few and giving clues to make the mystery more mysterious than before. It confuses the readers, giving more shriveling scenes and another interesting mystery in the end.

I also like the romance in the book but first I find it boring that it nearly sucked my whole energy force away from me but I'm still hoping for a good romance because most part of the story is built under that genre, romance as in love. After a great fell down from seeing her mystery guy, it made me think if this is another book written for Twilight fans or another book covering the thick Twilight hardbound in my hometown. People telling me no, this is different, this is better, now way it will be a Twilight fan fiction, swear that you'll like this than Twilight and hoping that this Twilight stuff vanish or maybe I'm just cautious of not going to touch another discussion of that saga. In the end, I don't know, you guys judge the book but I find the romance here good and I'm on Tucker (sexy-rugged) team now and leave Christian (sexy-brooding) away from Carla if I can only do that. It's like fighting for Gale or Peeta's team, or Edward or Jacob's team but the latter made me sick. Warning. Stay away. Beware.

My reading buddy, Rollie, find this book dragging. Dragging in what way? Slow-paced? Boring? Non-sense? Whatever? Or just purely shit out from a stink hole? I might say that the book is slow-paced, very slow that I want to end it when I'm in the middle of the book but I can't skip because I'm still catching for clues. Boring, because I hate the Clara-Christian part. Non-sense, because I hate it when Clara is staying all night thinking again and again of her vision without any updates. Whatever, because Angela and Wendy is jealous to each other because of friendship stuff but this kind of situation is normal that this will happen to anyone. Purely shit from a stink hole is another phrase that I won't use from this book. This is just purely pretty, like those who like this book.

But I need action, where is the action that I'm looking for? I want the villain torturing the angel or the angel pushing her sword in the heart of darkness. Well, you can't find a hardcore fighting scene here but a descending chapter. In the positive side, some questions were answered and more doors were opened. New possibility and probably a good story for us to read in the upcoming books in the series. Remember, prophecy destroyed or not, love prevail everything.

But most of it made me wanted to read the book as long as the clues keep coming and I keep on solving the ending. Yes, this runs most of my reading, by solving the mystery. Overall, I might recommend this to those YA readers who are looking for a good paranormal angel-related book besides having those trash books under the same genre. This is the best if you love romance andkilig (giggle) factor but make sure to stay open to angel clues.

Recommended by Alona and Mommy Maria too.

Rating: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, 3½ Sweets

Challenges:
Book #73 for 2011