Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Book of the Week: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Tea of the Week: Black Tea

Excerpt:
“‘Reagan!’ the boy said happily. ‘Look, your roommate’s here.’
A girl stepped around Cath in the doorway and glanced back coolly. She had smooth, auburn hair and an unlit cigarette in her mouth. The boy grabbed it and put it in his own mouth. ‘Reagan, Cather. Cather, Reagan,’ he said.
‘Cath,’ Cath said.”

Meet Cath. Not Cather. Not Catharine. Just Cath.
Cath is a Simon Snow Fan. Don’t know who Simon Snow is? Think nerd.
Ok, but let’s be real… The entire world is a fan of Simon Snow.
Being a fangirl is what Cath excels at- it’s basically a way of living for her. She and her twin sister, Wren, were the biggest fans, but times have changed. They are both off to college, and while Wren has let go of Simon Snow, Cath is still in her comfort zone.  And with meeting new people, like her surly roommate, and her always around boyfriend, her fanfictions-hating professor, her dad who’s never been left alone and a boy who only talks about words.
Cath constatnly questions: Can she do this?  Is this really what she wants?

Fangirl. It’s by far, one of my favorite books to read, and Cath being one of my favorite characters yet. I honestly love everything about it. I love the plot, the characters, the development. I love how Cath changes from beginning to end. To me, Cath reminds me of a butterfly, and I know it sounds so cliche, but it’s true. Cath starts out as a girl who’s afraid of her own shadow, and she is hopelessly stuck in the same situation over, and over. And then with the help of her friends, and herself mostly, she begins to realize her potential, and her own needs aren’t as selfish as she thinks they are. I also love Cath, for the way Rowell wrote her as. Rowell wrote Cath as a character, a girl, with many flaws, and in the end, Cath is still a flawed being. Rowell doesn’t make her characters as the cliche “girl with so many flaws but in the end of the story she’s perfect and has a perfect life”. No. She still makes them flawed in the beginning, but throughout Fangirl, Cath realizes herself as a flawed being and she tries to fix them, or rather she does something about them.

I also love the main/side characters, such as Levi and Reagan. I love them, because there’s that point in the book where I, as a reader, realized that theses characters all have their own story, and how us, as a reader, and through Fangirl, are just getting glimpses of their story, while we are looking at another person’s story, Cath’s. And it gets me to think, how are other people’s stories like in real life? How much of ourselves are included in other people’s stories? I guess those thoughts are saved for another of my random rants.

Another thing about this book, is that since one of the main parts is how Cath is writing her own fanfiction for Simon Snow, and how she feels that it’s a race to finish her fanfiction, before the writer of the Simon SNow series finishes their last book, shows how much Cath cares about Simon Snow. I love how Rainbow Rowell gives the reader glimpses of Cath’s writing, and the author of Simon Snow’s writing.

I also realized that Simon Snow, in a way, symbolizes something different for everyone, like different memories, objects, but in the end it all has the same meaning of not wanting to grow up, and holding onto that part of yourself of your childhood, or something precious that keeps you in a safe bubble. And I think one of the ways that makes Fangirl such an amazing novel, is that it makes the reader grow up a little inside, and broaded their way of thinking and perspective.

And concluding my thought’s on Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, read it. It’s a way of living that some of us readers will understand and if you don’t, it’s fine, because it’s surely a novel that even just the tiniest thing, even just one percent of this book is relatable.

ofdragonsandtea out.

China Dolls by Lisa See

Book of the Week: China Dolls by Lisa See
Tea of the Week: Jasmine tea with some honey

Excerpt:
“The boys stood and brushed the sand off themselves. When they held out their palms, I paid them their promised nickels. Once they scampered off, I turned to Helen.
‘Where to?’ “(16).

San Francisco, 1938
Grace, Helen and Ruby meet in the most unusual circumstances. In Chinatown, life is buzzing around and there’s a war about to drop just overseas, and the city? The city is buzzing with opportunities.
Grace, Helen and Ruby, three women with the most different backgrounds, meet with fate on their shoulders, in the chic Forbidden City nightclub. This trio becomes fast friends, but when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, paranoia and shock lead down a twisty path full of betrayal and problems.
And then, everything changes.

I have read this book so many times, it’s probably a favorite of mine. I remember the first time I read it, I couldn’t stop reading it (I mean that hasn’t changed but..) and when certain parts got to me, I couldn’t stop crying, and the emotional stretch this had on me was very grand, and it really was an unfathomable experience.

I love the writing style, because the way Lisa See writes this book, is from the different perspectives of the three main girls, and it gives the reader three different ways to see the plot of this book. She also makes her characters complex, and relatable so that the reader can’t hate any of the characters, but it’s not like any of the characters are perfect. It’s not like the cliche, good guy versus bad guy, where the good guy wins and gets the girl.

This novel is also very empowering towards women, and Chinese and Japanese culture which I love, because I haven’t found many books that empower Asian women, which is a shame because there honestly should be a lot more! I also love the fact that this novel doesn’t “slut shame”, and is geared towards showing the artistic side of burlesque and showing the reality of prostitution and working at a nightclub.

Although this novel has some graphic scenes, and themes, it developes the book into something more. Something that can be related to our modern world and be used for inspiration. The graphic scenes, aren’t that graphic, but the things and themes that are applied wouldn’t make this novel suitable for immature readers.

And after reading this novel, it gave me inspiration to do somethings, it’s one of those books. I would definitely reccommend to read this, and although it isn’t the perfect sappy romance for Valentine’s Day, it shows another type of love. Friendship.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Book Of the Week: The 5th Wave, Rick Yancey
Tea of the Week: Jasmine

Excerpt:
“ALIENS ARE STUPID.
I’m not talking about real aliens. The Others aren’t stupid. The Others are so far ahead of us, it’s like comparing the dumbest human to the smartest dog. No contest.
No, I’m talking about the aliens inside our own heads,” (Yancey, 1).

You know those aliens that movies show as like green slimy blobs and say “Take me to your leader puny human!”?
So go figure, aliens may be like that, but The Others? Not so much.
1st Wave. No lights. 2nd Wave. Earthquake. 3rd Wave. Virus. 4th Wave. Silencers.
5th Wave. Unknown.
Meet Cassie. Short for Cassiopeia. Duh. Her life is turned upside down when the waves start hitting Earth. With her parents dead, her brother taken away, and when the 4th Wave hits, men are out to kill her. She meets Evan, a boy just like her, on the run and playing with Death. And Cassie will stop at nothing to get her brother back.
Meet Zombie. He’s only trained to do one thing. Kill or be killed. That is, until he meets Nugget, and his perspective of his reality opens up, and is never the same.
And like all cliches, the two are destined to meet another, in some case or another.

Again, another book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It’s not like your typical cliche dystopian novel where the girl is caught between her love interest and her destiny. No, no siree. Cassie is the type to be headstrong, and go for somethings until she gets it, even if that means risking her life.

Yancey writes the book where he changed the point of view, but when he does, he leaves you on a strong cliffhanger where you end up wanting to know what happens next! He develops his characters throughout the book, and when you read it, it’s like you’re growing with the characters as well. He expresses such raw emotion through his characters as well, so that it’s hard to hate any of them.

Each new chapter will catch you by surprise with the twists and turns, and the odds and ends. And by the end of this book, you’ll wish you had it’s companion and sequel novel, The Infinite Sea. Which I actually need to read. Ha!

What I really love about this book, is how the characters are twisted, and how the plot seems to be all over the place at first, but the more the reader reads, the more the lines tie together and eventually in the end, the reader is desperate for more. I also love his portrayal of the Others. Like, how he calls them the Others, and not aliens, or he doesn’t give them some weird name. It makes the book even more mysterious, and I love that about it. The entire thing seems so mysterious at first, but then things tie together in a cliffhanging ending. It’s probably one of the must reads of our modern age.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Book of the Week: Stardust, Neil Gaiman
Tea of the Week: Green Tea with Superantioxidents from Yogi

Excerpt:
      “He straightened his shoulders, placed the crystal snowdrop in the top buttonhole of his coat, now undone. And, to ignorant to be scared, too young to be awed, Tristran Thorn passed beyond the fields we know . . .
        . . . and into Faerie,”(Gaiman 54)

What happens when you combine high fantasy and a plot-twisting romance?

You end up with Gaiman’s classic novel Stardust.
In the quiet village of Wall, nothing of the unexpected happens. No adventures, or quests are to be found here.
No sir, not at all.
I mean, until Tristran Thorn promises the love of his life, Victoria, that if he were to bring a fallen star to her, then they are to be wedded. But to do so, he must enter the mystical realm beyond the old stone wall. Faerie-where nothing is expected and where witches do the wicked and brothers are the kill’d.

I would highly recommend to read this novel because it gives a nostalgic feeling that makes your chest grow warm and fuzzy all over. It pulls you in and your mind is thrown into the world of Faerie, full of never ending and mystifying stories. And then you finish exploring the world with a different look on your life.

It gets you to think about life, for a main theme in this book is that things that people search for may be closer than they expected. And another, is that although this is a high fantasy book, it includes themes that can relate to our modern world. The theme of love conquers all is clearly shown, but this common theme is developed into deeper meanings throughout the plot. When it shows two characters that have lots of internal and external conflict, it also shows them supporting the other when times get hard. It shows them disagreeing, and arguing.

What I love is that he makes this type of love realistic. He doesn’t make them fall in love at first sight, nor does he make them a perfect happy couple, where they agree on everything. He makes their relationship realistic.

And romantic love, isn’t the only type of love that is shown. Gaiman writes the platonic love between friends in a manner that makes me wish I had it. He makes the characters so that none of them are completely evil, or completely good. He has the ability to make you pity a character, and then the next minute think that they are a complete idiot.

With this novel, the reader has to take note of small details, for some of them hint at the ending. And with all the different plot lines, it may get confusing, so read carefully, because the unexpected might just become expected within the lines of this novel.