Book Review- Going Underground by Susan Vaught

Going Underground by Susan Vaught
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read this book in one day, in a matter of a few hours. I attribute most of this to the exquisite story telling of this author Susan Vaught.

I must say that originally, I was beyond drawn to this story, because the macabre side of me loves anything involving graves, cemeteries, and boys who live or dwell in them. But I wasn't prepared for how good this novel actually turned out to be!

Vaught does an amazing job portraying the voice of a teenage boy. I fell in love with Del, the protagonist, easily. I also found it enjoyable the way she revealed much of the storyline. Del insists that he doesn’t want to tell the audience right away what he did that got him arrested, for fear of being judged by the audience, just like everyone else in his town judges him. But, as Del gains confidence in himself and his newfound love interest, we find out exactly what happened in a series of flashbacks and conversations.

Del is a teenage boy, obsessed with music, his bird Fred, and haunted by his past. In a digital age, one can’t help but relate to this story of living with the consequences of your actions, no matter how unprepared you may feel or how safe cyberspace may feel. This dark secret that Del keeps from the reader, webs the entire plot together, and threatens to come lose at the story’s climax.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but trust me. You want to read this novel. It’s intriguing, it’s funny, it’s serious, and it’s well done.

I love you Del.


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Haters gonna hate.

I felt the need to wonder aloud why everyone seems so bent out of shape over this whole new cover of J.K. Rowling's next book The Casual Vacancy. 

In case you've missed the bazillion tweets about it and blogs displaying it, here it is again:

Now, my first thought was... Okay. JK Rowling's new book is clearly Gryffindor.

My second thought was... the synopsis doesn't sound that great.

But I don't necessarily hate the cover. I mean, sure it's a little... minimalist, but not bad. I mean, some of my favorite books of all time have very simple covers. For example:

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But the lack of color and drama that usually graces the cover of novels doesn't make me hate this new book. 

I mean sure, if I was shopping in a book store, it wouldn't make me necessarily jump to try and read it.

However, it's not like J.K. Rowling has to try and appeal to fans. She already has a fan base. Millions of people will read her new novel whether or not it's good and whether or not the cover is Gryffindor.

Do people hate it because after such a crazy build up of Harry Potter adventuredom, they want to be WOW-ed and reassured again that the author of their favorite childhood protagonist wont let them down?

Or do people want an extravagant cover to make up for the lack of appeal in the novel's description?

Tell me. 

What do you hate about J.K. Rowling's new novel The Casual Vacancy?

Do you like it or hate it? Why?

Reading Reading Reading

So lately, I've been trying to finish reading a specific ARC from an author that I really love.

And for some reason I can't.

It's... boring. It sounds like she wrote her new novel trying to sound like someone else. But she doesn't need to. Her previous writing style was perfect. This is just... weird.

Being that I picked that ARC up on my own accord and no one is waiting for a review, I figured that I would set that one down for now and start reading a different novel that I am excited about.

It's called Sammy Keyes and the Night of the Skulls by Wendelin Van Draanen.

It looks like a fun, Halloween-esque read. We shall see.

Stargirl

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I thoroughly believe that anyone in the world will love this novel. I finished feeling good about myself and empowered to make good changes in the world and in myself. I strongly recommend reading this book.

Meet Stargirl Caraway. She’s a mysterious, happy go lucky, and unique girl living in an all too familiar cookie-cutter world.

She’s compassionate, considerate, and goes the extra mile for everyone… Which is why the people in her school don’t understand her. She is written off as weird. Bizarre.

Stargirl doesn’t notice..at first. She goes on to serenade people with her ukulele on their birthdays, wear strange clothing to school, and cheer for her school and their rivals during games.
But Stargirl isn’t obvious. Soon she starts to see the differences between herself and the others around her. In fact, she sees more than most humans do in a lifetime. Stargirl just believes in following her heart, which is harder to do that we’d all like to admit.

Follow Stargirl as she learns, grows, and falls in love in this amazing novel that teaches that though it’s not easy, it’s always important to be true to oneself.


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