BOOK REVIEW: Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

BOOK REVIEW: Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I feel like Memory Police has such profound meaning but I cannot dig a well deep enough  inside my brain where I could find that meaning. As of now, it's loss that comes to mind first then I'll just go along as I type this overthought review.

It's not my first time reading a novel from a Japanese author and so far, I found the way they tell a story direct, yet metaphorical and deeply sensational. I could just read it simply, but I still find that it holds so much meaning that is so BIG for my tiny brain to process immediately. 

So to summarize the gist of the story, there is an unnamed island where our narrator resides. In this island, the disappearance of random things is just a normal thing to get through on a day to day basis. For them, there's no point in holding on to something that has no meaning to them already. One day she finds out that a person close to her remembers and they tried to find a way for her to hide that person from the Memory Police.

For a reader who looks forward to character and plot development so much, this would be such a huge letdown. I was actually waiting for something to stir up in the gaping holed hearts of most of the people on the island. But as you might have guessed, that was never the intended purpose of the book. It was never meant to entertain and give answers to a curious mind. It was meant to be questioned and here I am answering all my questions through real life association. Am I supposed to analyze it like a requirement for an english class?? Am I overthinking things?? Maybe?

Also, for someone who reads -um- typical american novels or sci-fi or dystopian or whatever, it could be hard to swallow the ending of the book. It wouldn't satisfy the curiosity that we have for the whole duration of the story. Like, who were the memory police? What's the mechanism of the disappearances?? Where did the 'people who remembers' go? What?! Wha-? I need answers!.... Yet, after all the initial outbursts of emotion, when the mind wandered back to the story, there was something bitter and sweet and salty and sour about the book and the meaning buried deep within the words of the author is still, well, buried at the back of my head. hahahahhha my mind's still reeling but nothing's getting caught on the line.

Lastly, I just want to say that I was deeply impressed by a change of voice within the story. It was written so harrowingly beautiful that I decided that I wanted to follow this other story line that just popped up. I didn't realize my idiocy at first since the characters of the book were all shrouded in mystery. I thought the identities of these people would unravel themselves on the chapters to come only to find my mouth agape in surprise because I didn't realize I was reading fiction within a fiction. How did I miss that? 

Here are the bits and pieces of nonsense that I could come up with considering I am not an expert with nitpicking literary masterpieces.

LOSS & GIVING UP

It's hard for me to piece together the puzzles but I do understand that the whole disappearance thing depicts loss, and how the people who remains (the one who remembers) hold on to what is left. 

Everyone knows how hard letting go is - how hard it is to hold on when the one you're holding on to is already succumbing to the loss themselves (without a fight). It's tragic but it's reality and the way the book portrayed it is full of desolation. My heart was so sad the entire book.

EXTINCTION

Halfway through the story, the thing I associate with the disappearances was the extinction of animals and superannuated things. For example, in this lifetime, dinosaurs were long gone even before the existence of human beans, yet we remember them even if we don't have a use for them anymore. Or the floppy disks or walkman. We don't have use for those anymore, yet we remember that they existed.Wait, dunno what my point is. I don't know why the book has to forget the things that have disappeared, maybe this was a shallow association. lol, maybe there was more meaning to the disappearances. hahhhhaha

SILENCING VOICES

I thought the book would focus more on the memory police hence the title, but the memory poilce were only present at times and their history and the reason why they existed or how they came about weren't tackled. So looking back, I think that they signify the silencing of voices and can be applied through all sorts of life aspects. It could be about a child's opinion being silenced by an adult which could result to loss of assertiveness. Oooor government silencing the voices of its people therefore the loss of their right to free communication or speech or something like that.

The memory police could mean a lot of things and that's the only thing I could compare it to in real life.

THESE WERE MY NOTES DURING THE TIME I WAS READING THE NOVEL

The book seemed reminiscent and full of regret.




In reality, a lot of things have been thinning in the world. Slowly crumbling and disappearing into ashes. I find that I'm afraid of how this book would end. What was this book trying to tell me? 



OMG, I am quite nervous about R's intention. gurllllllll!!! I thought he was a spy at first but then again, I thought O-M-G! He has retained memories! And then, yep, that's it. He's a wanted man.



There was this sort of feeling emanating from the words of the author. It was so direct, yet beautifully descriptive, it was like the words are honey bound to be consumed completely. The mystery that was put around the identity of the characters were mournfully depressing! They don't have names, yet I know them. I was briefly disconcerted by the fact that there were two stories, with one I've yet to unravel.




I knew from the very beginning that there was something about the old man. I just dismissed the idea entirely but came back like a gust of wind and it made sense. He was wise not just because he's old but because he remembers.... everything.



Oh wait, I've jumped to conclusions yet again. Oh goshhh, this is not turning out the way I thought it would.



Wait what? Was it mentioned at first that the woman who lost her voice was the story that the protagonist was writing? I was trying to decipher the identity of that woman because I thought it was another POV! I was shocked when after a horrific turn of event, the protagonist suddenly stopped writing and I was like, WHAT!?!?!?!

REVIEW
NOTES

BOOK BUDDY READING #1: Accidental Tryst by Natasha Boyd

BOOK BUDDY READING #1: Accidental Tryst by Natasha Boyd

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

After a few failed attempts on the books that both of us have been reading together, Sharlaine and I finally succeeded in finishing a book together. Congrats to us twinniebels!

So, I found a book buddy on instagram and we've just been talking everyday about a lot of stuff, and just recently, I've discovered that we're both Thomasians and we were both shocked because we've been talking for weeks now and not once did we mention about our schools. Haha, we've talked about our courses and stuff like that, but we never brushed on the topic about where we both graduated until I stalked her after I got a hold of her full name on her email. Haha, thankfully, she wasn't freaked out that I stalked her on facebook. 😅

Title: Accidental Tryst

Author: Natasha Boyd

Series: Penryn and the End of Days #1

Published by: Natasha Boyd, LLC on March 6, 2018

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Setting: NY & Charleston

Purchase:  Amazon | B & N

My Rating: 3.8 Stars 

A new standalone, sexy, romantic comedy! Meet Trystan Montgomery. Suit monkey, commitment-phobic serial dater. No more than three dates, unless he hasn't ... you know. 

Emmy:What a disaster! I only just made my flight to New York to help my uncle, and the phone I’m holding is not mine! It seems to belong to some commitment-phobic serial dater who’s never made it past four dates (according to the constant notifications he's getting from his fake dating profile...) And worse? I have a sinking feeling it’s that hot suit-monkey with the arctic grey eyes I just had a run-in with at the airport. Somehow I have to persuade him not to get a new phone until I get back. My whole life is on that phone. It’s only a few days. Surely we can handle it. 

Trystan:This is a joke, right? My life could not get more f*cked up. I’m in the middle of selling my company and on my way to a funeral and that hot mess hippie-chick stole my freaking phone. I’m not sure how she convinced me not to immediately walk into a smart phone store and get a new one, but now she’s going to have to play stand in and distract me while I deal with my long-avoided and estranged family. I don’t have my dating apps after all, and frankly she’s pretty funny. And sexy. And why can’t I stop texting her? And now we’re talking. And … look, I’ll admit that I usually run for the hills the morning after, but the morning after phone sex? That’s not really real, right?

This book centered on two characters with their own POV, so it's easy to see what they were feeling, because there are scenes where I wanted to know what he's feeling or how she's reacting and it's so good that I got to see both sides of these two lovable characters.

Here's a little jist, we have Emmy and Trystan who were in the same waiting area, I think. Emmy is going to New York and Trystan just arrived in Charleston. Emmy is from Charleston and Trystan is from NY, so basically, they're exchanging cities, and with that exchange, it also happened that their phones were also switched. So, you know, it's a big catastrophe for both of these people who depends so much on their phones for their lives' sake. With this catastrophe, it also happened that they formed a connection and it was freaking sweet that they both helped each other in a lot of ways even with the distance between them and only their phones to connect them. 

So I finished the book this morning and Sharlaine finished it yesterday afternoon, I think. It was a really quick and funny read. It was the literal translation of romcom put to words! As you may or may not have known, I live for the romantic stuff. No romance? No good for me. Hahhaha but not all the time tho. But really, I breathe romcom and chick flicks and romance and just ughhh and to be able to read books like this when I'm not busy cringing about it, it's probably a good one.

I'm not into YA contemporary, if you ever wonder why I said 'when I'm not busy cringing about it'. I just feel like they are too cliché and if I actually got to finishing one, it means I got past its cringe-y-ness and it was good or it was bearable.

This book was not a YA contemporary, though. It's a new adult for the latter half, but felt like it was YA for the first parts, so that's a warning y'all. It's pretty descriptive 😅

GOOOOOING BACK TO THE BOOK REVIEW. haha

There was a looooot of references to the things I love. Like Jamie Fraser, come on, that's my hottie boyfriend! It wasn't pretentious on the referencing, just like on other books that I have noooo idea what they were talking about.haha, it was so contemporary in that aspect, and I like it!

The beginning and the end was not really the best for me. I felt lost reading the first few chapters because I can't grasp what the eff Trystan was talking about haha, and I never really bothered understanding it, until it was clear to me that he was selling his company. Oooookayyyy.

And the ending? It did not really gave a parting impression on me. I was like, uhhhh okay... WHAT?!  that's it?? Nooooo, that can't be the way you end it!!! Hahaha but it just seems fitting to end it on a text tho, it's how they started after all.

The middle. Okay, the middle contains the good parts. The steamy parts. And the funny parts. I am the conversation type of reader. Sometimes, I get bored with long narrations and that's part of the reason why I enjoyed this book.

I never thought I would love a romance that would be centered on them texting throughout the book but then again, I found this book reeeeeeaaaaally interesting. So if you're looking for a quick and light read and if you love romcom, ugh, read this one, but not if you're underage please. Haha

BOOK REVIEW: Angelfall by Susan Ee

BOOK REVIEW: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Title: Angelfall

Author: Susan Ee

Series: Penryn and the End of Days #1

Published by: Hodder and Stoughton on May 23, 2013

Genre: YA Fantasy, Paranormal (angels), Scifi dystopia

Setting: San Francisco, California, USA

Purchase: FullyBooked [PH] | Amazon | B & N

My Rating: 4 Stars 

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

I have a new book buddy! Hooray! I've been book buddies with my college friends all throughout our university life and even up to now, but I've found an online book buddy who gushes a lot like me, and she's the one who recommended this new book to me. I actually have a long list now because of her. Hahaha! 😭

True to her words, this was really a fast paced book and I've had no time to adjust whatsoever to the surroundings and the new world that was thrown into me. 

So Angelfall is a world in chaos, a world in destruction, a world that is ripped and a society that fell apart. Thrown in the middle of this destructive mess is our main protagonist named Penryn, which we followed all throughout this book. Penryn, her sister, Paige, and her mother, I forgot the name, was at the wrong place and at the wrong time when a gang of angels swooped down having a "gang fight". Five to one, I think, and we have this lone angel with snow white wings ripped from him,  and the next thing that happened? You gotta find that out yourself because that was just the first part and you're going to find yourself deep in this story wanting to find out more. So many questions....soooo many questions. 

I really loved this book, story and character-wise. The story that we followed is pretty interesting and I was really curious as to what was really happening because the author throws so many things that have no answers, and I was hoping that the loose ends in the first book would be tied up as a whole as the series go along.

The characters were really lovable. It is really refreshing to find a female character that makes some wrong decisions but is not frustrating when she makes them, because a lot of female characters in YA fictions have been really frustrating. There have been a shift in female characters as the YA fiction became diverse and they became more badass and does not need rescuing and it was so nicely done in this book. It was a mixture of saving each other because both male and female characters have their own strengths and weaknesses that makes them have a good dynamic when it comes to saving and rescuing each other and that was what I admired in this book. Equality at its finest without making the other feel a little less adequate in the saving department and it was awesome! 

The ending had me at the edge of my seat. There was a mix of scifi paranormal stuff towards the end and I was a little bit confused and then more questions that went unanswered and then woah! That ending! Woah! I still can't get over what happened, so you guys, oh my gosh! I will never move on from that. I'm still grieving 😭😭😭

BOOK REVIEW: The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

BOOK REVIEW: The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

Friday, March 9, 2018

Title: The Rose and the Dagger

Author: Renee Ahdieh

Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on April 26, 2016

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Setting: Khorasan

Purchase: Fullybooked [PH] | NBS [PH] | Amazon | B&N

My Rating: 3.8 Roses

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

After long days and lazy ass nights I finally came to the conclusion of the duology I've recently been reading. I think I've already said that I did not love the first books through my review of that one and I certainly don't love this one either! It was a wee bit better in some aspects compared to the first book but it is still lacking and frustrating. 

I admit that I willingly want to be captured by the book but it is hard when Shazi is frustrating and when the climax is at the top and fell instantly into a nosedive because it feels like the author was playing safe on that conclusion. So, nope, I wasn't captivated by the seemingly promising retelling of Arabian Nights. 

I also wasn't motivated to write the review because I did not like it. I do understand other people's fascination though. I just felt like it could have been more.

In this last installment of the book, it was so good to see old characters by the end and the twist here and there. Shazi was still frustrating and her decisions are still questionable. A lot of things could have been prevented if not for her decisions that seems always stupid. The story wouldn't exist, though, if she didn't make wrong decisions but it's just really frustrating the way the things played our because of her judgement. 😑 Khalid was better, which is great. We saw more of him even though he's not present so much on the first half. There were a lot of potential build ups that could have been epic but sadly, it was played safely, as I have said. 

I did not hate this. I still liked it but cannot love it as much as other fantasy retellings I've read. The book still doesn't deserve a 3 and 4 is too high so I'm picking somewhere in between.

BOOK REVIEW: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

BOOK REVIEW: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Title: The Wrath and the Dawn
Author: Renee Ahdieh

Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on May 12, 2015
Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling
Setting: Khorasan
Purchase: Fullybooked [PH] | NBS [PH] | Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 3.7 Roses

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

I truly have no idea what the Arabian Nights was all about and I've been curious as to how that story goes. It just seemed so whimsical and holds magnificent stories and stuff. I really have no idea and I have been eyeing The Wrath and the Dawn for quite some time now and I was really curious as to why brides were killed each dawn of a new day. I have my theories and none of them were right, I did not see that coming. 

I'm deciding that I would read The Arabian Nights, by the way, because I'm curious about the mini stories in it!

So The Wrath and the Dawn is about the king of kings, the caliph of Khorasan (Khalid) who takes a new bride everyday just to kill them at dawn the next day. Shahrzad's (MY GOSH!! I CAN'T REMEMBER THE SPELLING!!! Let's just call her Shazi for the rest of the discussion) best friend, Shiva was taken as a bride and Shazi took it upon herself to exact a revenge upon the murderer of her best friend. Shazi volunteered to be a bride (I VOLUNTEER! well, by now, that famous line belongs to Katniss, but you know, Shazi volunteered. Just without the eyes of too many people in replacement for her baby sizzums) but to all of Khorasan's amazement and even amusement, this new bride survived to see the next dawn and the next and the next.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about loving this book. In the beginning, I was really excited and conflicted because I don't understand the caliph's motives and apart from that, I had a hard time grasping for the meaning of some words but I overcame that at the last page of the book, almost literally. Next, there was really no peak moment where you expect to be gripping the edge of your seat waiting for what was to come next. It was kind of linear and has no thrill, especially the moment when the truth became clear. The reason for that is because of the buildup. I think I was too expectant of the reason behind the killing that I was not shocked by the truth. It fell flat and I was really disappointed. Like, was that it?

Next, the portrayal of a strong feminine felt a little too forced and unnatural. I feel like the book wanted to shove into our faces that Shazi is cunning and strong and everything a woman should be. We all knew that that was her character but I think it was sprinkled with a little too much that it didn't feel natural at all.

Khalid's character is a bit bland. All the sprinkled seasoning was showered to Shazi that the character of the king fell behind. The book gave him a role of not doing anything but the book also wanted to shove into our faces how dangerous this man was. It was all talk about the characters' characters and not much action to back up for these adjectives that were crowned in these characters' heads. This is the reason why I was so conflicted if I want to love this book or not. It is a beautiful tale. It is woven beautifully but not intricately.

Khalid's letter to Shazi. My favorite part.

So why did I give almost four roses? I love the writing and the tinge of poetry in Renee's words and there are a lot of good parts. I also loved the little romance in there. There's tension everywhere and I was so giddy the moment that Khalid's wall fell apart. I loved every bit of that part!!! I loved Khalid's letter and the rose and their obvious happiness. It was a great experience to be transported into a world that I only watched in movies and have not been able to read about firsthand. I really loved these kind of setting.  So regal and whimsical and magnificent. Arabian culture (am I right? I actually lack the knowledge as to where Khorassan really is)  is really interesting and rich (both literally and figuratively) and I wanna read more books set in Persia or Arabia or wherever because I truly enjoyed Prince of Persia and I enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn. 

It took me a long time to finish the book but I obviously loved a good part of this book to give it almost four. I'm actually debating whether I would give it a 3 or 4. I cannot give it 4 and 3 is too low for it, so 3.7 is just the perfect rating.

The book ended with Shazi and Khalid separated and the bits of magic here and there were not established properly so you really need to pick up the second book to actually be clarified of the blurry things from this one. I'm reading it right now and I do hope I would enjoy it! BYE!

BOOK REVIEW: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

BOOK REVIEW: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Title: Shadow and Bone

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Series: The Grishaverse #1

Published by: Henry Holt and Company on June 5th 2012

Genre: YA fantasy

Format: Hardcover, 358 pages

Purchase: Fullybooked [PH] | NBS [PH] | Amazon | B&N

My Rating:  3.75 Roses

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

I never thought I would love this series so much, I am not even done yet with the whole series but I know that the next two books will be as amazing as this first one, hopefully (please please let it be). Story-wise, I am in love with how the story played out, especially with the second half of the book. Character-wise, I wasn't connected with the main characters. There were two characters that stood out for me but one is not a protagonist and one is not the main character. What?? How could I go on with that?! (I kno right? But trust me, it somehow gets better, kind of) I can't give away anything because I want you all to find out about these characters but the story is interesting and I would love to read the next two books and see how the characters would develop a connection with me. Let's see.

I was grasping at straws for the first few chapters because I was so clueless. I know nothing about the Grisha world or grisha people and the way Leigh Bardugo painted the whole scenery was not enough because I have no background of it. It was still hard to grasp what the group of people do. These corporalki and etherealki, I still get confused. The magic, it was hard to understand it. It wasn't really tackled in depth and there are a lot of things I would have loved to know but weren't answered. I wasn't into this world, so to speak, but it grew on me on a certain level. I think the world building expected me to just catch up as the story goes on but it never really clicked. I was still confused hahaha.

Anyway, that first half almost got me into not finishing the book but I endured it because I was hoping that it will get better, and it did. It was way better than I was expecting and I was expecting a lot. Not expectation from the hype but expectations as I read it and deym, was I satisfied with that ending! I was on the edge of my seat ready to throw my phone because I was really annoyed at what was happening leading to the end of the book, but boy was that annoyance redeemed by a whoop in the air victory I felt at the end. I'm expectant on the next books and I'm hoping it will get better and more kick-ass than this one! Please let it be awesome because if the second book flunk, I will be so disappointed! I finished this book in mere hours, that was how quick the pace picked up for me during the second half, so really, high expectations here darling!

SPOILER-Y PART!!!

O-M-G I was almost fooled for a moment there. I've had my moments though, because I've already grown on believing that not all darkness are evil because, duh, Rhysand?!? But, oh well, some evil still lurks in the darkness and this freaking Darkling is freaking one of 'em! Ugh I want to smash his face!!!!

You know, the first moment that the Darkling was introduced, I felt like, omg, this is gonna be a beauty and the beast all over again. The dark one whom everybody thinks is a bad person is really a good one and he just wants to do good and save the world and all that fuss, but nah, this isn't a typical story. I also thought that Mal would just be a "Gale", who will be the 'best friend forever', but I was wrong okay? I was an assuming beyotch for ever thinking of these things. But despite my wrongness, I wasn't convinced that Mal would not show up again, the bestfriends always does, you know? They always show up on unexpected moments, and I'm right, he showed up right before the pivotal moment in our story. 

And then he kissed me.It happened so suddenly that I barely had time to react.

SHUT.UP! When I read this, I was all W-T-F people! They barely had screen time together people!! What was I supposed to do with that kiss?? BELIEVE IT? EFF OFF! You're not fooling anybody (But of course, I was fooled for a moment, okay? HUHU) So anyway, I wasn't convinced with that first kiss, as you might have noticed by my reaction. The Darkling kissed Alina and then huh? What?! You kidding me? I wasn't even considering that you already like her! (Uh-oh, here I go again) This raised an alarm deep inside me, but the next few chapters had me almost believing that maybe they could be the leading people of this series,  and I was thankful that I wasn't so deep into this thing between Alina and Darkling because he's the spawn darkness and he really is, right down to his core.

So everything after this winter something was just perfect!! I loved every single part of it even those moments that I want to strangle her and strangle them just so they would see the obvious thing that would happen if they continue!!! But why was I even trying??!!! Protagonists always present themselves in front of danger when oppportunity calls for them! Ugh these people, can they be anymore dumb? Hahaha kidding, eveything fell into place eventually, so I was happy, okay?

Mal was, as I have said, I saw him as 'the bestfriend'. He has no layers that even with the first few chapters, I knew that there's got to be another interesting guy. It couldn't be him. He wasn't anything special. Although, there's some hint that there could be more to him other than his good-natured character. He could have a power, I think. The way he said things like he just feels things whenever he's tracking and the way that he's so good at tracking tells me that he might have a power underneath him. I should hope so.

So the Darkling has his own charms. He's a magnet, okay? It was interesting whenever we see him on the scene and I just can't help but hope that he is not the bad guy here, but he certainly is. I hate it though, that he is a cruel and evil person because I was hoping that he isn't, but I think there is more to him, or I hope there is.

Genya is the breath of fresh air amidst the glamour and chatter and jealousy of this grisha people's court. There's two sides of her, I can feel it. I can feel that she's good but indebted to the Darkling. Deep inside her, I don't think she agrees on this new world that the Darkling was envisioning, or she's just really blinded by the Darkling's lies, who knows, but she has yet to decide which side she'll be on because she already gained so much because of him and things like that. I'm hoping she'll play a vital role in the next few books and I'm hoping that she won't be a pawn on the dark side.

Lastly, the Baghra (did I spell it right?), I am so doubtful of her role. I don't think that that was it already for her. Right after she helped Alina, she just disappeared like that? I was thinking that there's more to her. I think she also has evil plans, because if not, where would the Darkling get his evil roots right? His mother, the mother of evil, I can't trust her. HUHU.

Book Review: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Book Review: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Title: Scythe

Author: Neal Shusterman

Series: Arc of Scythe #1

Published by: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers on 22nd of November 2016

Genre: YA, Sci-fi Dystopian

Format: Hardcover, 435 pages

Purchase: Fullybooked [PH] | Amazon | B&N

My Rating: 4 Roses

Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Diving into this book, I actually know nothing more than that it is about a future where there is nothing more to learn and discover. Everything was already at the peak of its progress that even immortality have been conquered and with that, Scythes were made to control a population where nobody gets to die, so the idea is to basically kill people to maintain the growth that has no equivalent deaths. This is like a Black Mirror episode y'all! And if you love that series, I bet you'll love how crazy a perfect world gets.

So this "killing", in this futuristic world, is called gleaning, and only a Scythe is allowed to glean another human being, and the people chosen to be gleaned are entirely from a scythe's decision. According to one scythe, Scythe Faraday, who took two apprentices (Citra and Rowan, the main characters), the way he chooses these people is entirely out of statistics. It is based on the most probable death that would occur during the mortal age. So from a pool of possible candidates, it was in a scythe's own volition on who he/she would choose to glean.

It's kind of illogical that a scythe would just glean just because he/she picked you but somehow I don't know if I find comfort in it that it's kind of the same thing when you die suddenly in the mortal age (although dying,  sometimes,  can be avoided at times. That's why we have doctors!) , but in here,  there's no god to give the verdict. In the future the god's verdict is a scythe's verdict and it's disturbing that a life is on the hands of another human being with a title. It's really scary to come to a time like that and we're lucky that we still live in a world where taking someone's life by another one's hands were still frowned upon and openly called murder and is not a legal thing in the society.

This is a very scary concept. I cannot imagine a more suitable way of executing this idea other than what Neal Schusterman did. You read a lot of utopian future but it was something else entirely to put the idea of stagnation in the midst of human race's highest peak. One would think that when humans unveiled everything, it would be perfect. It was far from perfect. It is a monstrous world. What with conquering immortality, having no faith and having nothing to hold onto, the lingering destruction is just around the corner; a ticking bomb waiting for the perfect time to explode and leave nothing to humanity in its wake. Ultimately, the destruction is always at the hands of the weapon's wielder, and in this book, natural weaknesses are far from it. We are the wielders of our own destruction and it is a thought that each one of us knows,  but no one dares to do anything about it. We just keep on pushing discoveries for the betterment of humankind, and there's nothing wrong if we continue the learning and knowing and discovering,  but I hope that the real universe (that's us)  will have a good outcome when our time for this kind of life come knocking on our doorstep. 

The world building is not necesarily that beautiful because we do not really need to see this new world entirely because as you progressed in the book, being in this futuristic world, you will bear witness to the big changes that the human progress have made. It was incredible how, as we go along the story, we saw what a thunderhead is or the advancement with the aging process or the changes in transportation. I think it was awesome that Neal Schusterman have thought of all of these. The story itself was scary in its own way. I can't imagine myself witnessing our world to transform into this futuristic world. No. Way.

Character-wise, it felt a little too forced for me because the character development was not profound enough for me to actually be in these characters shoes and understand them for their motives, their changes, I mean, I don't know a lot about their past or what they were before they plunged into that kind of life as an apprentice of a Scythe. All we know was that Rowan was a lettuce, which translates to a life that is just a filler, just there doing nothing compared to the beef patties who took all the world's spotlight onto them. Then we have Citra, who is not the favorite in the family. The characters have developed, yes, we ultimately saw that towards the end, but during the trainings, it was so hard to see how and why they evolved, they just did. I don't really know how to explain how I felt about that but the characters' feelings are just concealed until they were revealed, I guess that's how I felt. Speaking of these two, I felt even more disconnected with their feelings for each other. It's also a case of concealed until revealed. How could they love each other?? Anyway, I did not bought that subtle romance at all.

For the villain, Goddard,  I would love to hate him but it's really hard to do so. He stands firmly to what he believes in and for him, the end justifies the mean.  What really irritates me is how Rowan had responded to everything Goddard wants out of him. He was a former apprentice of a man with character and morality but he was so easily messed up by Goddard.  I hate that part. So moving on,  Goddard has no inkling of soul left in him and you'll find that some of what he believes in make sense but really,  he's just an entitled murderer.

Lastly, I just want to say that my favorite characters were Faraday and Curie. Not the main characters. Hahaaha just wanted to put it out there!  😂

Putting these characters and disconnections aside, I really loved how the story played out and the end was just perfect! HAHAHA. Those moments leading to the final pages were just omg, I cannot say anything more because I might spoil you guys, but I was shocked really. It made me excited to read the second book. So basically,  the latter parts of the book are the main turning point of the series. It starts the questions: 'how will the scythedom end?' or 'how will Citra be the key to humanity's redemption?'

I can't say I love the book but I really do love the concept and, as others have already said, it is thought provoking and it really is.  It makes you think about where the progress lies at this moment.  Are we at 50%? *shudders* I hope there'd be a different outcome when we get to the 100%.