A Quick Recap

I’ve had so many people commenting on my #IMWAYR posts about the number of books that I’m currently reading. At one point I think I had four books started and all at various levels of completion. Well I wanted to do a brief recap before this next week’s Monday update, since I’ve finished reading three of my four books! (And added another two more…why do I do this to myself?! ha)

• Before I Fall
• Lauren Oliver
• Young Adult
• 3/4 stars. I’m leaving my review at 3/4 stars for several reasons. First, I did love the way this novel’s protagonist spoke using the teenage voice. It did so in a way that I felt was convincing, without being demeaning or stereotypical. I also loved how this novel explored the complexities of navigating relationships at any level, not just high school. It did an impressive job of emphasizing the importance of every one’s own personal actions, without sounding preacher-like. (Something that we all know teens resent.) Without spoiling the ending, I will say that I found the conclusion of this story refreshing and satisfying. This is a novel that I can see many teenaged readers enjoying, not only for the narration but for the life lessons it teaches.

• Paper Towns
• John Green
• Young Adult
• 1/4 stars. I’VE FINALLY DONE IT! I’ve abandoned this book on the side of the road at a run-down gas station and I am never looking back! This book most likely will end up being donated to my local Goodwill. I don’t even want to put it in my classroom library because I don’t want to expose my students to this driveling, dumpster-fire of a novel. I don’t know what it was about this novel that I hated so much, but nothing seemed to work for me. The characters, the snobby vocabulary that I’ve never remotely come close to hearing out of teenager’s mouth, the ridiculous roadtrip. Breaking into Sea World?? Seriously- no one on this planet is like the ridiculous and unrealistic people in this novel. And if they are, I’d imagine that they’d be committed to some sort of asylum. I’ve heard several people say that this was their least favorite John Green novel, which actually gives me immense solace. I’ll give him another chance in the future, simply because I enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars, but if you’re thinking of starting a John Green reading spree, avoid Paper Towns at all cost.

• Pashmina
• Nidhi Chanani
• YA Graphic Novel
• 2/4 stars. If you’ve recently abandoned a book like me, you’ll need another replacement as a pick-me-up. Look no further than Pashmina. This graphic novel’s illustrations are absolutely stunning, and make up for the story’s plot, which falls a bit flat. The very short graphic novel (VERY short! I think I finished it in about an hour) spends a lot of time building up Priyanka’s (nicknamed Pri) character. This is a young girl who is struggling with her identity. She is a first-generation girl, whose mother immigrated from India, leaving Pri’s father behind. Pri seems to struggle with not knowing anything about her father, her cultural and ethnic history, or her mother’s complicated past. She is also juggling an embarrassing (for her?) hobby of drawing cartoons, wearing fashionable clothes, and balancing her jealousy of her favorite uncle’s new daughter. The first half of the novel gave me pretty high expectations for the climax and conclusion- seemingly where Pri will find out that the answers about “who she was” were inside herself all along. Seems to be pretty predictable, right? Wrong. This novel took a turn and I don’t even know where it went. Chanai bravely tried to tackle several big ideas- bullying, family, feminism, self-love- that I honestly couldn’t keep up. The fast dialogue and illustrations left a lot to be imagined when it came to the plot, and most tragically Pri’s own development as the main character. The best part of the story definitely came at the end when Pri started to ask everyone to call her Priyanka again, her given Indian name. It’s worth a read for the illustrations alone!