The Fault in Our Stars: John Green

"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."

I think it's pretty hard to find someone who hasn't read (or at least heard of) this story or seen its film adaptation that came out in theaters fairly recently.  It's created quite the buzz!  (Now I can see why "Okay?  Okay." is posted everywhere online!  Insanely sweet.)  Initially, I'd discovered this title on a list of book-to-film adaptations that would be coming out in 2014 (I found the list late in 2013).  Honestly, I skipped right over this one.  Cancer kids?  Someone's going to die.  I don't need to bawl like a baby while reading a book (though there are several times I can name where that has happened before).  The movie came out and I was a bit tempted to pick up the book, but none more so when my boyfriend shocked my by saying -- out of the blue -- that he wanted to see this movie.  I was flabbergasted.  This was probably the one movie that I didn't even attempt to ask him to accompany me to.  (Backstory:  His father passed away from cancer a few years before I met my boyfriend.  I never knew his dad, but the two of them were extremely close.)  I didn't think asking him to see a cancer movie was the kind thing to do.  I will add, however, that the movie only came up because my boyfriend told me he might want to go to the $5 movie night at our local theater alone.  I asked why and what movie.  He responded with this film and that he wanted to go alone because he might cry (because a twenty-something man sitting alone in a theater, crying, is a lot less sad than a guy doing it sitting next to his girlfriend?).  I told him that I would love to go with him and that I'd never thought to ask him because of the subject matter.  We still haven't gone, but I was kind of waiting to read the book before I saw the film.  Now that that has been accomplished, I suppose we're going to the movie soon!

I borrowed this book from a coworker who had to read it for her book club.  I had no idea when I'd get to it.  I'm so swamped with work and school.  It feels like forever since I've read a book for pleasure (looking back on the amount of book reviews I've done since this blog started, there's a very interesting trend of a decrease in the amount of reading as college started and I got more absorbed with my studies).  She said I could have the book as long as it took me to read it, which, I thought, would take months, if I didn't get to read it on my upcoming girls' trip to NOLA.  However, we happened to have NO plans for the 4th of July this year (yesterday), and I was able to sit on the deck and read (thanks to my awesome Walmart find:  Bistro patio set for $25!).  The dogs chilled on the deck with me and I got to soak up some sun while enjoying the first book-for-pleasure I'd enjoyed in a really long time.  Needless to say, the last thing I expected to do was FINISH THE BOOK!  Even with endless interruptions (i.e. I had a sick puppy, preparing our shish kabobs and grilling them for lunch/dinner, etc.) I still managed to finish the book in about 12 hours!  I cannot tell you how awesome it felt to do a reading marathon.  That's not something I've done in years!  I think this book was a perfect one to do that with.  I loved the characters.  They were witty and wry and cynical (not to the point of annoying, though).  It was difficult not to fall for Augustus (Gus) and the literary nerd in me really enjoyed his obsession with metaphors.  Hazel was intelligent and interesting as well.  I thought I might not like her at first -- she's portrayed almost abrasively in the first chapter or so -- but she definitely grew on me.  I have to say that I predicted the plot twist even a few chapters into reading about Gus and Hazel's budding romance.  This, however, didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.  This really is a true love story and I have not read as good a romance as this in a very long time.  (I will say that I didn't bawl like so many other readers have.  The story was beautiful and so lovingly, eloquently written, but I just didn't sob.  I did tear up a bit, but nothing drastic.  Maybe I have become a bit too jaded!)

As far as readability goes, the words flowed extremely well and the dialogue was interesting.  There's quite a bit of vocabulary that I think will be over the heads of most of this book's intended teen audience, but I appreciated it.  I can see why it's appealed to such a broad range of readers.  Now, as far as the maturity level of the audience, I think this book is definitely for a high school audience.  My friend is a middle school teacher and I'm fairly certain this was one of the books she saw her students reading.  Also, my cousin just turned 12 in May and she read this book around that time.  While she loved it (she said she cried at the end of their end-of-year tests while she finished the book) and she is an excellent reader with a broad vocabulary for her age, I think some of this material is just not something she should have been exposed to just yet.  There's sex (implied, but they do mention a condom and getting naked), and a lot of very deep discussion about death and dying.  While I feel like today's kids are a lot more exposed to all of this than even I was in the '90s, a line should be drawn.  Yes, it's a very good book, but there's a reason that so many people sob while reading it -- there's a reason it's so tragically touching.  I'm not yet a parent of a pre-teen so don't think I'm trying to tell you what to do, I'm just trying to be honest when I say, "If you have a pre-teen who wants to read this book, be prepared for one of several things.  Either tell them 'no' and wait a few years until they're in high school (they'll be better able to understand the vocabulary used and they probably would have already had 'the talk' and be a bit more mature and better able to handle such subject matter), or read it with them/before they do (which will help you decide whether or not it's appropriate for your child) and then at least you'll know exactly what they're reading and can prepare some answers for some questions I'm sure they'll have."  I know I fully intend on being the kind of parent who will pre-read books for her kids -- not to censure them, but to prepare myself to answer questions they might have.

I recommend this book for adults and (appropriately prepared and mature) young-adults alike.  Green's writing is vivid and alive.  I've not had to live with cancer (knock on wood), but from having my own serious medical issues, I can say that Green's descriptions of who chronic patients feel are spot on.  I highly recommend this book (for the right readers).  Now I suppose I've got to see the movie -- maybe my boyfriend and I can cry together!

Bastard Out of Carolina: Dorothy Allison

"Greenville County, South Carolina, a wild, lush place, is home to the Boatwright family--rough-hewn men who drink hard and shoot up each other's trucks, and indomitable women who marry young and age all too quickly.  At the heart of this astonishing novel is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a South Carolina bastard with an annotated birth certificate to tell the tale.  Bone finds herself caught in the family triangle that will test the loyalty of her mother, Anney.  Her stepfather, Daddy Glen, calls Bone "cold as death, mean as a snake, and twice as twisty," yet Anney needs Glen.  At first gentle with Bone, Daddy Glen becomes steadily colder and more furious--until their final, harrowing encounter, from which there can be no turning back."

Ah, yes, the joy of being a college student -- summer classes...  This was one of the books assigned for my American Souths (yes, that "s" is supposed to be there) class.  We read a novel each week (no exaggeration) that is supposed to help us gain some sort of appreciation for the history and literature surrounding different parts of the oft-difficult-to-concretely-define American South.  This book happened to be the one for which I signed up to lead the discussion and write a context essay (i.e. I have to find some major theme, locate articles on said topic, and relate everything back to how an understanding of those outside sources will better our understanding/appreciation of that part of the South).  You might be wondering why -- if we read a novel each week -- we're already into July and I haven't reviewed another book yet.  To be completely honest (don't tell my professor!) I haven't read any of the other books and have made it through with flying colors thus far!  My professor even sent out an email naming me as one of the best and most thorough contributors this semester!  How do I do it?  I've developed an excellent talent:  I'm a brilliant skimmer.  I absorb a lot of information in a short space of time and am able to apply it in a cohesive and eloquent manner.  I promise I'm not a student who normally does this, but I was very put-off by the fact that the professor expected us to have a novel read by the third day of the semester and hadn't even sent out an email telling us that we should be sure to order it early, let alone that it should be done by almost the first day of class!  I wouldn't be complaining if she'd just sent out an email like every other professor I've had, giving the students fair warning.  I don't think it's ethical to expect students to be able to do such a thing in three days -- we all take online classes for a reason!  Her response when I told her that I'd not yet received my book and (politely!) asked if there was an email I'd missed telling us that we needed to have this book read by the third day of class?  "I'm not going to change the syllabus because you didn't order your books early enough."  Nice.  Needless to say -- as someone who wants to become a college professor -- two things happened.  1) I learned how NOT to treat my students.  It's fine if you want your students to have a book read by even the first day of class, just let them know!  2) Being a jerk only discourages normally enthusiastic students to find ways around your system -- they know they're smart and they're only going to try to find ways to outsmart you.

Moving onto the actual review!  This was the first book I received when I ordered my books for this semester.  I figured I would try to be proactive and just pick up each book and read as it arrived.  Having lived in an area of the South very near to the one that Allison writes about, I took an interest in the setting.  A lot of the characters were lively and fun to read -- others were dark and made me rather uncomfortable.  I enjoyed a lot of the uncles -- especially Earl.  Daddy Glen, on the other hand, was disturbingly complex.  I still cannot quite put my finger on why he does what he does to Bone.  Does it get him off?  Does he hate Bone?  What did she ever do to him?  Why does he do it when he does?  Why does he seem to do it out of love for Anney?  What started it all?  What made him focus on Bone?  I think the disturbing thing is that, even after finishing this book, I can't answer a lot of these questions.

I had a difficult time getting through the chunk of the book where Bone becomes obsessed with religion and gospel music.  Whether that was simply because I'm not that religious, myself, or because it took up too large a chunk of the story to keep the flow, it's difficult to tell.

A couple of things bothered me about the last few chapters of the book:  1)  What happened to Reese, Bone's younger half-sister?  She seemed to disappear from the last part altogether.  I don't want to give away what happens, but part of me can see how people are so absorbed in what happened to Bone that they don't have time to ponder Reese, but Bone was close with Reese.  I'd wonder what happened to my sister after a few days.  I'd expect my aunts to know where she'd gone and for her location to at least be mentioned somewhere.  She's under twelve-years-old for crying out loud!  2) Bone's grandmother also seems to disappear from the last few chapters.  For a woman who played such a huge role in Bone's early life, I would have expected that she would have at least been there for Bone.  Looking back, I think Allison was trying to hint at the fact that Bone's grandmother was getting older and wasn't quite "all there" anymore, but it's one thing to explain the absence, it's another thing to ignore it -- it makes it all the more obvious.

I went through phases of loving (I loved the beginning with Anney's quest to amend Bone's birth certificate -- it's what really drew me into the book in the first place), feeling sympathy for, hating, and loathing Anney Boatwright, Bone's mother.  As someone who has never had such a life (as I'm sure a lot of the readers of this book have not) it was difficult to appreciate her tough choices and some of her actions.  I think one of the most important things to remember is that Anney is still only in her early-to-mid-twenties!  She's a mother of two girls, has had two husbands -- one of whom died tragically young while she was pregnant -- and has worked extremely hard to provide for her little family.  Taking a step back helped me to realize that she's grasping onto Daddy Glen because he's been there.  He might not have been reliable or stable or kind, but he hadn't up and left her.  Her age absolutely has to be taken into account.  She's not some stable-minded adult -- she was a baby who had babies.  This all adds depth and complexity to her character.  I'm not going to say that I liked her at the end of the book, but understanding all of this helped me to see what might have made her make such a decision.

This is probably minor (and I hope I'm not the only one), but I had a hard time pinpointing when in time this story happened.  There were a few hints, but not many until much later in the story.  It would have been really easy for this to just be backwoods, outdated lost-to-time and have taken place even recently.  A simple way to give the readers a sense of time would have been to talk about the model of car Anney drove.  One word would have solved this.  Instead, I spent most of the book flipflopping back and forth between believing this poor (in more ways than one) family was stuck without modern conveniences, and that this book took place in the '50s and '60s.

Overall, the book was deep, dark, and parts of it were difficult to get through.  I liked bits and parts of it and appreciated the depth of Bone's character.  Would I read it again?  Nope.  Would I recommend it?  Not to many -- unless I think they can take the weight of the story.  Allison's writing was interesting and she took this subject to a different place than I'd read before.