Book Review: The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

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It’s been a while since I have done my last review so I am excited to share my review of The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAINS SPOILERS.

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Summery: Paris, World War I. Sophie Lefèvre must keep her family safe while her adored husband, Édouard, fights at the front. When their town falls to the Germans, Sophie is forced to serve them every evening at her hotel. From the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait—painted by her artist husband—a dangerous obsession is born.

Almost a century later in London, Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before his sudden death. After a chance encounter reveals the portrait’s true worth, a battle begins over its troubled history and Liv’s world is turned upside all over again.
 
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The story was really interesting and I liked how the two story lines connected through the portrait of Sophie.
Of the two story lines I have to say that I preferred Sophie/World War One storyline over Liv’s. That is probably because I liked Sophie more and thought she was a more interesting character then Liv. She carries on with her life even through the hardships of the German occupation of her town and she is willing to do anything to protect her family. On the other hand Liv has seemed to shut down completely after the death of her husband. While Sophie is willing to give up the portrait in order to save her husband Liv, selfishly, refuses to give it up.
The one thing that I like the most was Sophie’s portrait, The Girl You Left Behind, that was painted by her husband, Edouard, before their marriage. I really wish that someone from the art department had painted it and used it as the cover for the book. I liked how for Sophie it represented the girl she was before the war and for Liv it represented her marriage to David.
One thing that bugged me was the ending to Liv’s story seemed very contrived and I really wish it had had a more realistic ending. The notion that Paul only discovered Edith at the very end of the trial seemed too convenient and just plain unrealistic.
 
Best Feature: Sophie. Of the two main characters I have to say Sophie was my favorite. Out of the two female characters Sophie was the strongest. She carried on with her life despite the German occupation and was willing to give up the portrait to save Edouard.
 
Worst Feature: Modern storyline. The only thing I liked about the modern story line was that it brought up the question of ownership of items stolen during wartime. I didn’t like the character of Liv and felt that the World War One storyline held it’s own without having a second story running parallel. Plus the ending of this storyline was too contrived for me.
 
Overview: Overall I thought this was a great book. While I didn’t particularly like the modern storyline or Liv I think that Sophie’s storyline definitely made up for it.

If I Stay Giveaway

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In honor of the “If I Stay” movie release (based on the Gayle Forman novel) I will be doing my very first giveaway.

Here’s what you can win:

  1. Preview of “If I Stay”, “Where She Went”, and “I Was Here” by Gayle Forman
  2. “If I Stay” bookmark
  3. Autographed copy of the “If I Stay” movie tie-in. Signed by Gayle Forman and the film’s director R.J. Cutler
  4. “If I Stay” poster
Preview of “If I Stay”, “Where She Went” and ‘I Was Here” by Gayle Forman
“If I Stay” Bookmark
“If I Stay” by Gayle Forman movie tie-in
autograph of Gayle Forman and R.J. Cutler
detail of autographs
“If I Stay” movie poster
The Winner is Maggie Xiao
Here’s How To Enter:
  1. Like. Like Book You Very Much on Facebook here.
  2. Comment. Leave a comment below using the hashtag #IfIStayGiveaway.
  3. Wait! I will announce the winner on Monday August 1st.
Terms and Conditions:
  • you must LIKE Book You Very Much on Facebook to be eligible.
  • this giveaway is open to US residents only.
  • winners will be contacted via Facebook. if I do not hear from you within 24 hours, a new winner will be selected.
  • limit one comment per entry. multiple comment entries will not be considered.
  • this giveaway ends at midnight pst on Sunday, August 31st.
  • this is not a sponsored giveaway.

Book Review: The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

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It’s been a while since my last book review so I am happy to be back with my review of The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAINS SPOILERS.

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Summery: Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
 
Review: I picked up The Husband’s Secret after reading Moriarty’s other book What Alice Forgot. At first I was surprised at how different the ending were What Alice Forgot has a more upbeat/optimistic ending while at the end of The Husband’s Secret there seemed to be a lot of unresolved issues. But all in all I think that the ending was fitting for the story.
Out of all three women I found myself really liking Cecilia the most. I liked how she balanced being a mother, a businesswomen and a wife. I liked how when Cecilia finally finds out the secret her husband has been keeping from her it’s not the secret you would think (i.e. infidelity).
 
Best Feature: Secrets. As you can tell from the title the characters in the book (especially the husbands) have secrets. I liked how the book explored wether or not it was better to keep a secret and how the keeping/or sharing of those secrets changes a person’s life. I particularly enjoyed how at the end Moriarty also shows how it’s sometimes the things we don’t know that change our lives as well.
 
Worst Feature: Rachel. While I can’t image what it would be like to loose a child I found it very hard to feel sympathetic towards Rachel. Instead of trying to move forward with her life she seems content to wallow in her grief and to continually remind everyone that her daughter was murdered. She’s so caught up in the child that she has lost that she ignores her other child that is still alive.
 
Overview: I really enjoyed this book a lot. I thought Moriarty did a good job exploring the whole idea of how the sharing and keeping of secrets can affect someone’s life as well as how well does one know one own’s spouse.

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

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This is probably way overdue but I have finally written my review on The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

 

Summery: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Review: There is really nothing more I can say except, “I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK”. What really makes this story was Hazel and Gus. This is probably my favorite relationship in YA and Gus definitely makes it into my Top Ten Fictional Boyfriends list. My favorite part has to be the witty banter between Gus and Hazel. For me there where so many great moments between Gus and Hazel that I really have a hard time choosing just one but I think, for me, Gus’ pre-funeral has to be in my top five.
One of the things I really liked about the book was how Green was able to write about a serious issue, such as cancer, yet still add humor into the story. I really appreciated how Green doesn’t sugar coat how sick Gus gets towards the end.
I don’t know if it was just me or did the ending seem familiar to anyone else:
 
Best Feature: Hazel-Grace. I loved Hazel-Grace as the narrator of the book. She brought a lot of humor to the story. The banter between not only her and Gus but her and her parents was great and had me laughing.
 
Worst Feature: Nothing. Like I said before I freaking loved this book and there was nothing I didn’t like about it. If there was one issue I had about the book is that sometimes the banter between Gus and Hazel often times seemed a little too mature for two sixteen year olds.
 
Overview: I repeat “I LOVED THIS BOOK”.

*The Fault in Our Stars movie comes out in theatres on June 6th. Two things I know for sure about the TFIOS movie is 1. Shailene + Ansel= adorable and 2. I will most likely be sobbing like a baby throughout the entire film. Until then…*
 
 

Book Review: The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

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This is my review for the detective novel The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling). Although Rowling wrote The Cuckoo’s Calling under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith I will be referring to the author as J.K. Rowling. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

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Summery: After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

Review: When I first heard that J.K. Rowling had written a detective novel under a pseudonym I wasn’t exactly rushing out to buy it. But when it was chosen as my book club book last month I was actually excited to have an excuse to read it.
While I was reading I got so caught up in trying to figure out who the murderer was that it wasn’t until I finished reading the book that I realized there wasn’t a lot going on plot-wise: it was mostly just Strike interviewing Lula’s friends and family. I loved the descriptions of not only the different characters but of London itself. Rowling does a great job of describing the different people Strike meets during the course of the book. Many of them (especially Evan Dunfield) seem as if they could be based on modern day celebrities. However, despite the whole investigation being about Lula I felt that at the end we didn’t really know her so it was really hard to really care about her. I wish Rowling would have explored her a little more especially the whole mental illness aspect of her character.
I don’t know if Rowling did it intentionally, so that she would have more to draw on in the next book, but there was a lot of loose ends that hadn’t been tied by the end of the book. They never really explained why John had hired Strike in the first place. I mean if you had gotten away with murder why hire a P.I. to investigate. Also I felt that there was some unresolved tension between Strike and Robin that I really hope is explored more in the next book.
 
Best Feature: Cormoran Strike. Out of all the characters Strike was my favorite (that’s not surprising since he’s the main character) mostly because he was the most drawn out (again not that surprising). I thought his whole backstory is very interesting, from relationship with his parents and his sister, to his time in the army.
 
Worst Feature: The reveal. While I was surprised by who the killer turned out to be I felt as thought the big reveal at the end was a little bit anti-climatic. Although to it’s credit it very much reminded me of one of those old film noir detective movies when the detective (or P.I.) would confront the killer then proceed to tell the killer (and the audience) how he did the murder.
 
Overview: After reading this book I can understand why Rowling wrote this book under a pseudonym because coming into this book knowing it was written by her I had very high expectations. Overall I enjoyed the book. I don’t usually read detective novels but I am glad I picked this one up. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series because I feel very invested in the character of Strike and want to see what happens next with him (and Robin).

From Page to Screen: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

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Today I am excited to announce the launch of a new series of post I am calling From Page to Screen. In this series I will be reviewing/comparing and contrasting books that have been turned into movies or televisions shows. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
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Summery: Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth’s magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires—the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa’s best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger… and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

Book Review: Before I continue with my review I have to confess that I actually saw the movie before reading the book. I would always see the books on the shelf at my local bookstore but never picked them up because, quite frankly, I found the covers to be embarrassingly cheesy (see below). So it wasn’t until after seeing the movie that I decided to begin reading the series. My logic being that if I liked the movie so much and the book is usually better then the movie I would really like the books (which I did).
 
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Let’s being with the main character of Rose. I absolutely love Rose. She is probably one of the funniest characters in YA. She’s sarcastic and has a lot of witty one liners. Usually in YA the female characters are typically either a tomboy or a girly girl so I liked how Rose is not just a kickass guardian but also girly at the same time.
While I liked the romance between Rose and Dimitri and Lissa and Christian I appreciated that they were not the main relationships in the story. Too many YA books focus solely on the romantic relationship whereas in VA the main relationship was the friendship between Rose and Lissa. The bond between Rose and Lissa was so interesting and really adds another layer to their friendship.
 
Movie Review: Even before seeing the movie (or reading the book) I had pretty high expectations. As you may know VA was directed by Marc Waters (Mean Girls) while the screenplay was written by his brother Dan Waters (Heathers). Mean Girls and Heathers are two of my favorite teen comedies so I was really expecting a lot from Vampire Academy.
That being said, while it didn’t reach my high expectations, I really did enjoy watching the movie. It was a fun and entertaining while still maintaining the deep emotional content that was in the book. The one thing I do have to say about the comedic elements were that a lot of the jokes that seemed funny in the trailer ended up falling flat in the movie. I’m guessing that was probably due to the fact that they had to edit it down more for the trailer.
I appreciated that they kept the focus of the movie on the friendship between Rose (Zoey Deutch) and Lissa (Lucy Fry) instead of making it all about the romance. The way that they handled the bond in the movie was very well done. I enjoyed seeing the scene from Lissa perspective while still having Rose’s commentary.
I think some of my favorite scenes were the ones between Rose and Dimitri (Danila Kozlovsky). One of the reasons for this was the fact Zoey and Danila had great onscreen chemistry. The scene when she tries a surprise attack on him and he has her pinned down almost had me melting. (Best Line: “So, have any other moves you wanna show me?”).
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I enjoyed watching all the fighting/training scene in the movie and I appreciated the fact that they added a lot more actions sequences then were in the book. (While I am a total sucker for girly movies there will always be a place in my heart for action flicks). My favorite fight scene was the very first one when Rose and Lissa are trying to get away from the guardians and Rose ends up blowing up a motorcycle before kicking some serious ass. I thought this was a great way to introduce Rose as a badass while in the next fight sequence (with the Strigoi) you see that although she is a kickass guardian she is totally unprepared to face Strigoi.
 
Compare and Contrast: All in all I felt that the movie was a very faithful adaptation of the book. Obviously there were changes made (as is expected in any book to film adaptation) but overall I thought the changes were good and didn’t take away from the story. The one change that I didn’t like was Lissa. In the books Lissa wasn’t as catty as she is in the movie. The scene at the end when Lissa goes out in front of the whole school and gives her “blood speech” had me cringing. I hate it in films when characters get up (usually in front of a huge crowd) and give a big motivational speech (seriously, can screenwriters stop writing those speeches). I think that they wanted to show how Lissa was coming into her own and was standing up to Queen Tatiana but I really felt that that whole scene was unnecessary.
The other change that had me shaking my head was the very last scene when they do a pan out of the school and we see a cave full of Strigoi being led by Ms. Karp. I was very confused by this whole thing. I feel like they were trying to end with a cliffhanger to make people want to see the next film but A: the Strigoi (or at least not this particular group of Strigoi) don’t appear in Frostbite and B: when they do appear in the third book, Shadow Kiss, they are not being let by Ms. Karp so that scene was very perplexing.
 
Overview: Overall I enjoyed the movie. I thought it was entertaining and fun (which is, after all, the point of a movie). Not only was it entertaining but it was a faithful to the original material as well. There were changes made (some good, some bad) but overall I thought it was a good movie. Now all I can hope for is that they are able to make Frostbite (and possibly the rest of the series) into a movie (Hello Adrian!).

Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

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It’s been a long time since my last book review so I’m glad I finally got around to actually writing a new book review for the blog. For my second book review I decided to do The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Since I liked the format for my review of Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin I decided to stick with that for this and my other upcoming reviews. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

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Summery: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Review: I absolutely loved this book. The opening line was probably my favorite opening lines from any book I have read: “The circus arrives without warning.” Automatically my minds starts firing off questions: where did the circus come from?, why did it come without warning? It is definitely the type of opening sentence that grabs an audience. Even the name of the circus is enticing: Le Cirque des Reves, “The Circus of Dreams”. What I loved the most was how descriptive Erin was when describing the circus and it’s various tents. It just made me wish the circus was real so I could explore all the different tents.
The book was told from three different points of view: Celia and Marco’s, Bailey’s, and a third point of view. (The third POV seems to be the reader itself and is written as if the reader is entering the circus as an observer). Because Bailey’s timeline was out of order with Celia and Marco’s it was often confusing when you would jump from one POV to the other. For example you would have a Celia/Marco chapter taking place in 1884 then the next chapter would be Bailey in 1897 then back to Celia/Marco in 1885. I would often have to skim back to the previous chapter just to remember where I was in the book.
I liked that the romance between Celia and Marco was very gradual. Throughout most of the book Celia and Marco had very little face to face interaction with each other. Their romance really occurred through the circus. Each new tent they created and added on to was a love letter to the other.
I happened to really enjoy the ending of the book. I liked how when Alexander asks Widget to tell him a story Widget begins his story with the very first line of the book: “The circus arrives without warning.” It almost made me wonder if it was Widget who was telling the story the entire time since he is able to see the past and was always making up stories for Poppet. It was great how the last chapter (told from the reader’s point of view) ended with the realization that the circus is still continuing to this day when the reader picks up a business card that says “Mr Bailey Alden Clarke, Proprietor bailey@nightcircus.com“. The addition of the email address makes it clear that the reader is in  modern times unlike the rest of the book that took place in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. It became obvious that Poppet was the new fortune teller (since she was able to see the future) and that Bailey took over as the manager of the circus.
 
Best Feature: The Circus. Erin did such a great job describing the circus and it’s different tents that it almost felt real. I really couldn’t decide which tent was my favorite: the ice garden, the wishing tree, or Widget’s tent.
 
Worst Feature: Pacing. There were times when the pacing was a little slow and I really had to push through. It was also a little confusing when the chapters would skip from one point of view from another because I would have to go back to the last chapter just to reorient myself.
 
Overview: I really enjoyed this book. I absolutely loved Erin’s description of the circus. While I like the Celia and Marco story line I loved reading Bailey and the reader’s parts because you really got to discover more of the circus during those parts. While the pacing was a little slow at times it was such an engaging story that you had to find out what was going to happen next.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZJiW2w1xdc

Book Review: Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

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For the first book review for this blog I decided to do Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin. As this is my first book review I am trying out a new structure to my reviews. This may change as I go and become more comfortable writing my book reviews. Be Aware: This Review Contains Spoilers.

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Summery: Tessa Russo is the mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Despite her own mother’s warnings, Tessa has recently given up her career to focus on her family and the pursuit of domestic happiness. From the outside, she seems destined to live a charmed life.

Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie—a boy who has never known his father. After too many disappointments, she has given up on romance—and even to some degree, friendships—believing that it is always safer not to expect too much.

Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, the two have relatively little in common aside from a fierce love for their children.  But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined.

Review: On the whole I thought this was an interesting (if not completely original) story. What I liked most about the book was that it was told in alternating points of view: Tessa and Valerie. In most stories that deal with infidelity we only get the wife’s perspective so the fact that Giffin tells the story from both the wife and the mistress’ point of view was refreshing. However it didn’t make me feel very sympathetic towards Valerie.
In fact I had a hard time liking either Tessa or Valerie. I found both characters to be unsympathetic and annoying at times. Throughout the book Tessa complains that she is unhappy as a stay-at-home mother yet she doesn’t do anything to change her situation. The only reason I felt a little sorry for Tessa was because her husband, Nick, was cheating on her. But I really have to give her credit because unlike Nick she actually seemed to want to work on the issues in their marriage.
In the beginning Valerie seems unhappy in her role as a single working mother yet she seems to close herself off to others. The only people she allows into her life are Charlie and her twin brother. I really felt that  by being in a romantic relationship with Nick she was acting selfishly. She knew from the start that Nick was married yet she still brought him into Charlie’s life knowing that he wasn’t going to be a permanent feature in his life. I feel that she didn’t love Nick so much as she loved the idea of Nick. I also feel that Nick didn’t really love Valerie for herself but loved that she reminded him of Tessa when he first met her.

Best Feature: Alternating Points of View: The best feature for me was the alternating points of view. I liked that you got both sides of the story which made it a more interesting read. I only wish I had liked Tess and Valerie more.

Worst Feature: Nick. I didn’t like Tess or Valerie (no matter how hard I tried) but I really couldn’t stand Nick, Tessa’s husband. He seemed unhappy in his marriage yet, unlike Tessa, he didn’t seem to want to work on their issues. A couple of times in the book Tessa states what a great father Nick is yet instead of wanting to spend time with his own children he would rather leave them at home with a babysitter so he can be with Valerie and Charlie. For some reason this upset me more then his cheating on his wife. If there was anyone I felt bad for in this story it was Tessa and Nick’s children.

Overview: I really did enjoy this book. I would have enjoyed it much more if I could have liked Tessa and Valerie more but overall it was a fun read. I think what made the book for me was the fact that you got both Tessa and Valerie’s point of view. I think that more then anything else this is what made the book more interesting because you were able to see the story from both sides.