The Days of Broken Promises

“When the moment comes to stop running from your past, to turn around and face the thing you thought you could not face--the moment when your life teeters between giving up and getting up--when that moment comes, and it always comes, if you can't get up and you can't give up either, here's what you do: Crawl.”

This book has been on my read list for quite some time. I have a friend that recommended it because she said it was creepy, bad ass, and sometimes sweet. And boy did it deliver for me!

Now of course Dystopian Lit [especially YA] is my favorite genre to read. For some odd reason I want to read about monsters, demons, aliens, and chaos over butterflies, rainbows, and unicorns. I just enjoy a good monster story, even if that monster happens to be humans. Now don't get me wrong I love an epic love story thrown into the mix for good measure too. It can't all be death and destruction.

I think that Zombie [Ben Parish] was my favorite character of the book. Cassie and Evan I loved as well. But there is a point at the end of the novel where Cassie is reunited with him and she makes an observation that he is so different from the popular jock she knew in high school. The end of the world changes people, it makes them re-think their humanity. And for Ben I think he realizes that it isn't all about football games and cheerleaders. Yes we didn't get a huge backstory as to what he was like in high school, but I'm sure we can put two and two together and figure it out. I am eager to see how things play out between him and Ringer in the sequel as well.

I was so utterly shocked when I discovered what the 5th wave was. I think I sat there with the book in my hands not knowing what to say or think. To me it was brilliant. Train humans who are desperate to fight back at any cost to eliminate other humans. MIND BLOWN. It was heartbreaking too though, because you are forced to acknowledge that humans have been murdering off the rest of the human race for our new alien overlords. I think Yancey had a pretty nice idea when he thought that up.

I can't wait to read the sequel, I must know if Evan is alive. Which personally I think he is. I didn't feel like he and Cassie's story is over. While I did feel that their story escalated rather quickly, I think that it was easy for them to be attracted to each other. They were both so alone for the longest time it was I'm sure a relief to be around another person. She gave him humanity and it was hard to read when we chose to sacrifice himself and blow up the base to save the world. But like I said she gave him a piece of humanity, and he showed that he was capable of being more human than alien.

Also the plane was able to take off in the end with all of those kids on board, I have a huge feeling that this won't be the end of the waves. So while the base is destroyed I'm afraid it is going to give them time to regroup, I just hope our ragtag heroes can save the world.

P.S. This is being made into a movie that will come out in 2016!

The Stand Book Two: Rebuilding

I'm finally getting time to do my post over book two of The Stand.  I'm glad King broke this story into different books because the tone of book two is very different from the first.  Book one is all about the superflu, death, and mystery while book two is about Mother Abigail's group rebuilding society.

Harold's character was really intriguing to me because he's gone dark side but there are moments he doubts what he's doing.  He seemed to be on the fence on whether he was going to join the dark man until Nadine comes into the picture.  I wonder if Nadine had stayed away if Harold would've changed his mind about getting revenge.

While I should feel bad for Nadine but I don't.  Leo (aka Joe) said it best.  She waited til the last minute to go to Larry.  While she is afraid of the dark man, she doesn't seem to be fighting her destiny. She just wants to blame what's happening to her on someone else.

I was really sad when Nick died in the explosion but I understand why King killed him.  The men going forward to make the stand against the dark man have to prove themselves.  Nick was the one that believed in Mother Abigail the most.  The others doubt Mother Abigail's divine connection and need to go face the dark man.

I'm a few pages into book three. Part of me is excited to see what's next and another is scared to see who will survive.  I'm really attached to Larry and Stu.  I especially want Stu to return to Frannie and the baby.

Watching the World Fall

The most identifying trait of humanity is our ability to be inhumane to one another.

DEAN KOONTZ

I am officially about halfway through the book and like Allyssa am not going to be finished anytime soon. Although, I definitely will complete this book within the next couple months. I am totally fascinated and terrified by the world King created and will continue hoping that there is a silver lining, no matter how small, waiting for me on the last page. I have never read any of King's books, which is surprising since I grew up in a household with tons of his books on the shelf. My mom was an avid reader and always tried to get me to read them but I was too engrossed in fantasy at that point in time.

I am glad Katie chose this book, because I now know I was missing out.I really enjoy King's writing style. It is descriptive without being redundant or overpowering. He simply states what the reader needs to know and nothing more. Every word is there for a specific purpose and it's a nice break from some of the more flowery, embellished writing you find today. The Stand is such an emotionally drenched story for me. I am not having are hard time getting through because of the writing but because I am having a hard time "reading" the world fall apart. I read tons of dystopian novels but normally your introduced to the world after the cataclysmic event. In The Stand you experience everything--the beginning, middle and end. It's fascinating and totally disturbing how humanity has this ability in implode during times of struggle or in this case disease.  

Another thing I like, is despite the amount of characters we are introduced to, I don't feel overwhelmed about information. And even through only parts of their lives are shown to me, I have been able to create an emotional attachment. Which is something I normally not able to do with so many characters. I usually only like one or two and start to get bored if I am reading from a less liked character's point of view. This is something I have most recently experienced while reading The Game of Thrones series. If it's not Jon, Sansa, Bran, Daenerys or Tryion, I just don't care!  

After I finish, I will do a small post with my final thoughts. And I just wanted you guys to know I did finish the last two books that we read. I am not going to do posts, but I rated them on Goodreads.

The Stand

I'm doing my post now because I won't finish The Stand before the end of the month unless I binge read. Unfortunately, I have to work so that'll interfere with any binge reading I try to do.

It's not likely I'm going to finish this book any time soon. I still haven't gotten out of Part 1 in the book. Overall, I'm not a huge dystopia fan, though Hunger Games did take me by surprise in my enjoyment of it. King's writing doesn't really pose a problem for me. He writes really well and I can hear the characters in the way he's describing them. Subject matter for me is what made it hard to read. I've heard the plot picks up once Part 1 ends but right now, I have a hard time bringing myself to read it.

I'm going to keep trying to read it. I've been curious about reading Stephen King's work, as I've heard he's a great author. Perhaps The Stand wasn't the one for me to start with, but I will finish it at some point. It may be in small parts, or maybe once I finally get myself out of Part 1 I'll find myself hooked into the rest of it.

You've definitely made an interesting choice here, Katie. One I'm determined to finish at some point, but slowly. :-)

The Stand Book One - An Intro to the Characters

I know some of you said you're having trouble getting into The Stand.  I did too until I got to Frannie and where she has to tell her mom she's pregnant.  The whole part that describes how Frannie equates her father and mother to different rooms of the house I was able to relate too.  It reminded me of my granny specifically and how the den in her house was where the family got together.  With this scene, I felt so bad for Frannie and her mother's mindset.  She is more concerned about material things (especially relating to the parlor) and her reputation in the town.  It also saddened me that Frannie and her mother's relationship never got to be mended because of the superflu.  I took from this was the message that life is too short and anything can happen to me, Nathan or the girls.  I need to be the best parent I can be every day and love my girls no matter what.

I love that Stephen King includes a variety of characters that range from the good-hearted to pure evil.  I especially love his description of Randall Flagg:

It was the face of a hatefully happy man, a face that radiated a horrible handsome warmth, a face to make waterglasses shatter in the hands of tired truck-stop waitresses, to make small children crash their trikes into board fences and then run wailing to their mommies with stake-shaped splinters sticking out of their knees.

Flagg is the evil man that keeps haunting many of the other characters even though they've never met him.  I'm interested to see how he interacts with some of the "good" characters like Stu and Frannie.
I'm also wondering if Flagg will also recruit Trashcan Man to his group.

Another favorite part of the book for me was when Stu was in the Atlanta facility and he faked coughing to scare Deitz.  I like Stu a lot because he is brave.  He admits he is scared but he does what he has to to get the answers he needs and eventually escape.

I am wondering what the connection is to the survivors of the superflu and how we are going to find out.  It seems like all those in the medical profession are dead and the government couldn't figure out how Stu was immune to the superflu (I also can't believe they injected him with it straight up. Scary, scary.).  It definitely doesn't seem to be something genetic that runs in the family since all the characters we've seen so far have lost all their family.  I realize Book One may seem like a downer but I have to say I loved it. I got wrapped up in the characters and I can't wait to see the interactions that are going to happen as they begin to find each other.

Let's not exchange numbers

I did not finish reading this book.  I read three chapters.  I couldn't relate to Poppy at all.  I found her flaky and materialistic.  While her narration was kind of humorous, I just simply didn't like her.  She doesn't trust her fiance enough to tell him about the ring.  I'm not saying she shouldn't try to find the ring but its better to deliver bad news sooner rather than later.  Then there's her stealing the phone.  Really?  If she would just come clean, she could have given the hotel Magnus's number and the whole stealing thing wouldn't need to happen.  Maybe I find the whole situation ridiculous because I've already done the engagement/wedding phase of life, but when it comes down to it, its just a ring.  If you're afraid your relationship is going to be over because you lost the family ring, then you didn't have a good foundation in your relationship to begin with.

I think part of the probably is that I'm not that into the romantic comedy genre.  I haven't read a book of this genre before and I know I'm not big into romantic comedy movies.  I don't dislike all romantic comedies but the ones I like I can relate to the characters and there's an interesting story line.  I felt like I've Got Your Number lacked both of these things for me.

Text Message Relationships

Ok, so, we all know it was unlikely to take me long to read a book by Sophie Kinsella. She's the author I go to for feel good reads. Kinsella always finds a way to make me laugh. One of my favorites by her is Remember Me?, which is entertaining and everyone should read!

One of the things I really enjoy about I've Got Your Number is how easily I can relate to Poppy. Not in the sense that I am having a romance blossom from stealing a phone, but because when she's with Magnus and his family she feels inferior. I've got friends and acquaintances who make me feel the same. I rooted for Poppy when she finally had the nerve to stand up to Wanda. The ultimate fall out was a bit expected after watching things with Sam play out.

The relationship between Poppy and Sam was fun. I laughed when Poppy went through and acted as Sam through his email, knowing in fiction she could get away with it while real life, not so much. Poppy's intentions were from a great place, but still made some situations awkward for Sam. It was fun seeing Sam's reactions when she finally had to own up to what she'd done.

I think I enjoyed most the conversations Poppy had with Sam when they were not passing messages back and forth for Sam's job. She could be real with Sam in a way she didn't feel real with Magnus. Sam was able to relate to her in ways he had a hard time admitting to. Plus, Sam was a bit adorable when he admitted he started life as an analyst.

All in all, I enjoyed I've Got Your Number.