Book Review: Persepolis

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So my husband put a wonderful word out there when I asked him how he felt about this book: important.

I didn't necessarily like the way it was written... I didn't like the lack of detail and emotional connection, but it is important.

Here's why I consider it important: It is a perspective about people who, due to tragic and horrific events, a lot of people might tend to judge immediately and be scared of. A perspective that shows that no matter who is in charge and the heinous acts they commit -- there are day-to-day victims who may be from the same country.
I think of this often when I hear about people who have traveled to Hawai'i and have watched a film at the Pearl Harbor memorial. I have heard multiple people exclaim how angry they are at the Japanese... how horrible the Japanese are. I always cringe. It breaks my heart. Just because a few extremists got into power -- and even if they convinced a lot of people to follow them (usually it seems the followers were bullied) -- there are still plenty of innocent victims who do not feel the same.
THAT is why I feel this book is important -- it reminds us that there are plenty of people in the Middle East who are victims of an oppressive government, who are just regular people with regular problems. We are reminded through this book that even if we have different political ideologies we don't have to wish anyone harm.

A simplified way to find out how a regular girl might feel while living in the Middle East.

Books with the same message:

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

This is a book rather than a graphic novel. It is much more in depth and better written while accomplishing the same perspective. The people are easier to empathize with, as well.



Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford







This book is about the American-Japanese and the oppression and scorn they experienced because of a war they had no part in. Being evacuated into internment camps because of the blood they share with their ancestors rather than ideals they {didn't} share with their ancestors' countrymen.

Book Review: "Promised" by Caragh O'Brien

Promised by Caragh M. O'Brien
My rating: 4 and a half of 5 stars

Great ending to this series!!! This book was wonderful. The pacing was great... I mean, once I picked the book back up I had a really hard time setting it back down. LOVED this series. Glad I own all of the books as I will be reading them again. They were all quite clean, too. I don't remember any language (there may have been, but I don't remember it) and there was only one brief innuendo that made me blush a little in the second book.

This book picks up with all the people of Sylum that chose to head for the Enclave packing to get ready to leave and try to set up New Sylum. Leon, Peter, Will, and Gaia along with quite a few others are making the journey. There was just enough time spent on the journey without wasting a huge portion of the book on their trek. Of course, once they get to the Enclave they find things are worse than ever and that their prediction of how the Protectorat would treat them was accurate.

There were some sweet moments between Gaia and Leon and not very much time spent (wasted) on the love square with Will and Peter. This is one love story that was done well: not cheesy, not domineering, but just lovely.

A bittersweet ending... a lot of sadness at the end, but it was mixed with some really good things. There was a minute there when I thought things might end even sadder than they did and I almost teared up until I saw things were going to work out. I always appreciate a book that is written well enough to make you laugh out loud, smile like a goof to oneself, or cry.

What I didn't like: You didn't see much of Maya. The whole second book is centered around getting her back and then you only see her briefly throughout until the end. Her part in the ending is sweet, though.
Always sad to see likable characters die.

Definitely worth a read!! This series is great for boys and girls. It's tough, and real, and full of people fighting for what they believe is right. NOT a waste of time.

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to follow me ;).

-B

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Book Review: Girl to the Core

Girl to the Core by Stacey Goldblatt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Cute book. Fun, quick read, too. It's a 'girl power' type story. Also a story about finding out who out are and being comfortable with that. Oh. And not letting people walk all over you.

Inspirational for young girls. As does almost every contemporary YA for girls fictin it address the 'should I or shouldn't I with my boyfriend' topic. Since this is a girl empowerment book it is nice that this says that falls under the category of standing up for yourself.



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Rowan Hood book/ series review

Silver star.

Last night I finished the final book in the Rowan Hood series. It's a series of books about Robin Hood's daughter who forms her own band of outlaws but also spends time with Robin Hood and his men. It 's a series about a young girl trying to find her place in a man's world and the friends she meets along the way as well as about their adventures. The first and the last book are all about Rowan but the middle books are about her friends in her band.
I am just posting my review of the final book because even though the stories are different, the books are very similar and I enjoyed them all about the same.

Well. This was the final book in the Rowan Hood series and to be honest... I am not sure I liked how it ended. As most people do, I think the end is the most important thing. A book can be well written and end poorly and you are left feeling usatisfied no matter how much you liked the book while you read it.


I play a musical instrument and let me tell you... if the beginning ofyour performance rocks and then end does too, you can get away with a few mistakes in the middle. Maybe I am alone in this (and don't get me wrong, I want a book to have a great middle) but I feel the same way with books. The middle can have a few plot holes, it can be just okay, it can just move a story along, but if the beginning draws me in and if the end leaves me content, I will, generally speaking, love the book.

So. This book wascute, as were the others. Still don't enjoy this series as much as the Enola Holmes series.

I thought there definitely could have been more character development and that even though this book focused on Rowan in particular it would have been nice to feel the other characters' stories wrap up as well.

Also, call me a hopeless romantic, but I wish there had been a love story. I know Nancy Springer seems to be all about women's empowerment, but I think a really strong woman still deserves love AND that if you are really a strong woman you can still be that WHILE being in love. So. a little disappointed there.



This series is cute and fun and worth the time it takes to read it.