Review: Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wuthering Heights was so amazing! It made me laugh, it made me grin like a fool, it made me scream in anger and frustration. I mean, it was just so good, interesting beyond the very end. I just loved it, and I doubt you will ever get a better formed review out of me. Maybe after I have read it 5 or 10 times, but then probably not. I will forever sound like a fan girl when it comes to Wuthering Heights.

Update 2/20/2012:

Wuthering Heights is the classic tale of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw's tragic but epic love, and how it slowly but surely ruined the lives of everyone around them.

Writing:
The writing for this story was haunting and beautiful. I am not sure if I am just getting used to the language after fighting my way through two Austen novels, but I found Emily Bronte's language to be amazing. Her language alone made me feel like I was apart of her world, although I am glad to keep my distance. I did get confused a bit when she would switch from one narrator to the next, but after a while, I just got used to it.

Characters:
The absolute best part about Wuthering Heights, is its characters. The characters in this book are the worst of the worst, and the best of the best.

Heathcliff is a true villain, you won't meet another fictional character more evil than him. I absolutely loved to hate this man. Every time I would start to feel sorry for him, he would do something that would just chill me right down to the bone. He is ruthless and just plain crazy. His love for Cathy reaches whole new heights of obsessive. I mean he is a real sociopath.

Despite Cathy Earnshaw being the lesser of two evils, she really (really!) got under my skin. Heathcliff pointed his evil and obsession in one direction, and was set on ruining many lives. He was a sort of genius really. Catherine was flighty and confused. She ruined lives simply by chance, and she always made a bigger impact than Heathcliff's planned destruction. I just found it incredibly hard to forgive this woman, when she spread her destruction so aimlessly. She was the most human in the story, just simply a selfish silly woman who fell in love.

My favorite character is of course Hareton. For him to remain so loyal to an evil man like Heathcliff, and yet still be the nicest character in the entire book, that was really quite awesome. I loved reading about him. Also, the supporting characters in this book were so interesting. Their personalities even felt like they could develop outside of the story, which I found especially fascinating.

Story & Plot:
By far the most complicated plot that I have ever been exposed to. So much happened, and the story was so long, I was honestly surprised that I finished it as quickly as I did. It is indeed a very dense read. Despite that, I found it to be really well paced. It kept me interested from the first chapter, and from then on I was hanging over the edge of ever seat. It is definitely one of those books that I will read more than once, if only for the fact that I am sure I missed a lot of good information.

Basically:
I adored this book. So far, it is still my number one favorite. I am patiently awaiting a book that might knock it out of first place, but I doubt that will happen. I highly recommend this to everyone, but I am probably getting ahead of myself with that recommendation. Like most classics, this book is probably getting swept to the side by a 100 high school students right this moment. Take it from me, someone who reads a lot of Young Adult literature, that this is the most interesting book that I have ever read, even without the paranormal creatures.

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Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lola and the Boy Next Door is, of course, about a super fashion eccentric designer girl named Lola. Lola likes to dress in costume, she likes being in love with her 22 year old rocker boyfriend, and she likes creating the ultimate dress for her high school dance. What Lola does not like is her old crush Cricket and his twin sister Calliope moving back in next door. It could very well mean disaster.

Stephanie Perkins writes the cutest stories!

Lets Go!

Writing:
Stephanie Perkins has a very easy-going writing style. Her characters are young, and they talk young. Somehow, Perkins infuses that with the most beautiful use of language, and it comes off as light, and easy-going, and just all around feel good.

Characters:
I love the characters in this book. The female protagonist, Lola, is so full of imperfections. She makes a lot of mistakes, she seems to feel confused a lot. She is, by no stretch of imagination, the typical human, and none the less, the typical teenager. She is also fresh, and passionate, and interesting. Her crazy outfits are intriguing, and her reason behind wearing them, even more. I would have pegged her as a attention seeker, as we all can be at times, but it was clear, that she was truly passionate about her costumes. I love when characters have a thing or idea or past time that they are passionate about. There are too many YA characters that have been left without lately, they are defined by their paranormal powers and the person they "somehow fell in love" with. I was beginning to miss characters who just liked to do "things".

Cricket is adorable and nice to read about. I did have a slight problem with Max. Not with his character, which I liked, but with his somehow indefinite spiral towards being the evil jerk of the story. I saw it coming the entire time, that eventually Max would be painted as a sort of antagonist, making it clear and easy for Lola to just knock him out of the picture towards the end. But, I wouldn't ask Perkins to change that aspect, or any other. It just bothered me because it was predictable, and it happens a lot. But hey, I also hate when female characters hold on to useless love triangles, when clearly, they wouldn't give one side the time of day, and the other side has their panties dropping with a thought. At least Lola seemed to have the true inner turmoil that comes with having feelings for two people at the same time.

I loved the supporting characters. Especially Lola's two dads, they were cute and so lovable. I guess I just have a thing for father figures because I am a total daddy's girl. Off course, every extra glimpse I got of Anna an St. Clair was more than welcome, and appreciated, they were so cute! I felt like I didn't see enough of Lola's best friend, but other than that, good supporting characters.

Story & Plot:
Perkins is very good at making her stories light and cute, even with the inclusion of the many problems and mini tragedies that ensue. It's never too heavy, and it just feels good to read. Good pacing, I was never bored by the story one moment, and then completely overwhelmed the next. Perkins is just an awesome story teller.

Basically:
I enjoyed reading Lola and The Boy Next Door. It was fun and light of heart. I definitely want Perkins to write more. She will be my go to writer when I need something to cheer me up, something that will make me grin like a fool.

Speaking of grinning like a fool, did I mention than Anna and St. Clair were cute!

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Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is about a beautiful, mysterious, blue haired, art student name Karou. In addition to being all of that, she also runs errands for monsters. Things are already pretty crazy in Karou's life, and things start to get even crazier when Karou crosses path with a mysterious and deadly winged man.

Laini Taylor is a dream. Her writing is flawless!

Now lets get into the book.

Writing:
Like I said, flawless! There were many times when I would just get lost in all of the pretty. Taylor is thrusting all of this information onto me, and I just keep getting sidetracked by "the shiny stuff".

Characters:
Karou is one of the coolest female protagonists that I have ever read about. Why? Simple, she is the only female protagonist that I just wanted to be. Like, I just want to be as cool as this mysterious, bad-assed, blue-haired chick. I have loved female protagonists before, but never have I just wanted to be them.

I am a bit iffy on Akiva. It is his fault that the story moves from an acceptable moderately slow pace to just rushing at my face, leaving me no time to breath. I mean seriously, One moment he is trying to kill Karou, and the next moment he is so in love with her that he is acting like a love sick idiot! I understand why, now, but at the time, it was all just going ridiculously fast. Don't get me wrong, I love his character, It just sort of felt like I was on one page, and he was a total hard ass, and I flip the page, and suddenly he is full of sap. But the sap was of a tasty flavor, so I forgive him.

Supporting characters, Love Love Love! Even before understanding Brimstone, every time he appeared, I just wanted to climb that beast and attack him with a bear hug. No matter how cold he could be or how much of a monster he looked, I just always saw this immense love behind everything he said and did. All the other supporting characters, I just fell in love with them, even if they had small parts, they had such big personalities.

Story & Plot:
Fantastic world building! Fast paced and fun to read. My only problem was that, about half way through the book, the story got a bit muddled because of the sudden romance, and then it just shot off without me. It was very jarring, and I couldn't help but wonder why things were happening so fast. But it did have me flipping the pages like a mad woman until the end. I also think that the first part of the book was cooler than the last part, even though the last part was much more exciting.

Basically:
I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It was fun and exciting and cool! I definitely recommend it to people who want a solid fantasy novel, but also want some romance. I loved it because it is a character driven story, with a bunch of awesome and cheesy things happening in between some mind blowing prose.

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