Book Couture

Monday, 31 January 2011

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Series: Trilogy
Genre: Dystopian
Age Group:Young Adult
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Format: Paperback, 448 pages
ISBN-13: 9780340980927
RRP: $27.99 AUD

Cover love? Love how the girl is metaphorically "trapped" behind the letters, as if they were prison bars. The overall image is very unique and iconic.
<--Aussie & UK cover, by the way (has birds, no ornate lettering).

Synopsis

There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it.
Then, at last, they found the cure.
Now, everything is different. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Haloway has always looked forward to the day when she ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But then, with only ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable...

Review
The minute I got this, I had to start reading it. There’s been so much buzz surrounding Delirium, and I loved The Declaration and Matched, which are two similar books. To my surprise, I realised that I haven’t read Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver’s debut, yet, so I began Delirium without knowing what really lay ahead.

In my opinion, a dystopian novel is only ever as good as its futuristic society and the form of oppression it chooses to enforce. In Delirium’s Portland of the future, love is a disease individuals are cured of when they turn 18. This notion is brought to reality through it’s “scientific name”, amor deliria nervosa. (Clever! I love these extra touches.) The “cured” walk about with a film over their eyes, heartless and cold, void of emotions, because with their capability to love stripped away, they’re nothing more than robots programmed to do everything the society bids of them. Oliver has painted a stark future that gives food for thought.

Lauren Oliver is obviously well-read and clever, because each chapter shows a quote from a poem, play, or piece of classical literature that pertains to that chapter. Lauren Oliver has also written some of her own poetry, book excerpts and children’s play songs from the futuristic world of Delirium that are very clever and contain hidden messages. The writing in this book, oh my god. It’s so beautiful and descriptive, almost poetic. Lauren Oliver uses the sounds and assonance of words together perfectly, and her language is beautiful.

Here’s a non-spoiler excerpt:
“I close my eyes and listen. The feeling I had before of being surrounded by warmth swells and crests inside of me like a wave. Poetry isn’t like any writing I’ve heard before. I don’t understand all of it, just bits of images, sentences that appear half-finished, all fluttering together like brightly coloured ribbons in the wind.”

Beautiful, right? The bolded lines are so evocative – what a way to describe poetry through Lena’s eyes.

Lena is a great protagonist in this book and to me, she is an unlikely one, which is great. I could have imagined the entire story being told with Lena’s best friend, Hana, as the protagonist: beautiful, daring, wild, rich but not understood. But I think that with a shy, quiet and obedient character, readers will really understand and marvel at the power of love to change a person. Alex, the mysterious boy that Lena meets is exactly what I expected, but I was still amazed and warmed by his goodness.

Lauren Oliver has admirably captured the powerful emotion of love in stunningly beautiful words. Her gorgeous second novel, Delirium, is a captivating dystopian with a heart-wrenching love story that I recommend to lovers of all genres.

Rating:

Links:
Delirium at Hachette AU | Lauren Oliver's Website | Lauren Oliver's Blog | Delirium at Goodreads

Saturday, 29 January 2011

Review: Zelah Green by Vanessa Curtis

Zelah Green by Vanessa Curtis

Series: Zelah Green series
Genre: Contemporary
Age Group:Young Adult
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Release Date: 4th Jan 2011
Format: Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781405255059
RRP: $16.95 AUD
Source: Thank you to the publisher, who provided this book for an honest review,all opinions expressed are my own.
Cover love? Stark and streamlined, but meaningful. The pink labels it as YA. (NB. See what I did? I made some text in this review the exact same colour!)

Synopsis

My Name is Zelah Green and I'm a cleanaholic. I spend most of my life running away from germs, dirt, and people. And I'm just about doing ok and then my stepmother packs me off to some kind of hospital to live with a load of strangers. It's stuck in the middle of nowhere. Great. There's Alice who's anorexic. Caro who cuts herself. Silent Sol who has the cutest smile. And then there's me.

Review

Throughout Zelah Green, Vanessa Curtis thoughtfully paints a story focusing on the effects of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in teenagers. My only knowledge of OCD stems from reading Xenocide and Speaker for the Dead (#3 and #4 in the Ender Saga) by Orson Scott Card, and was not surprised to find that the symptoms were similar, and that OCD is a serious ailment that severely affects the victim’s lifestyle. Zelah Green describes herself as a “cleanaholic” who is always on “dirt alert” and “germ alert”; she performs daily cleaning rituals that often cause her hands to become red and raw.

I admire the research and accuracy with which Vanessa Curtis tells this story. The way Zelah avoids the scientific term for her problem, the backstory that explains how Zelah developed her condition, and the warm depiction of Zelah’s emotions and reactions.The gradual unveiling of Zelah’s life to the reader also makes it a journey of sorts, as we begin to understand what Zelah’s family situation is like.

Vanessa Curtis must also be commended for her excellent creation of characters. Each character is unique, and I can list the dozen or so of them off by heart, even weeks after reading it.

I’m not giving this novel five stars because it’s not as impacting as it could have been. It’s more lighthearted than serious, and I prefer serious, adventurous reads that bring out emotion, because that’s when I know a story has really connected with me. The story is not extraordinary, but it’s not evocative either, hence my rating.

I loved watching the growth in Zelah throughout this short read, as she changes from an unwilling patient at the rehabilitation centre, to a girl ready to charge of her own life and make a change for the better. It’s not a depressing, self-help novel, rather a light, funny and warm novel about a girl courageously facing up to her condition, and learning to do the right thing. It’s a perfect read for all teenagers.

Rating:

Links:
Zelah Green at Hardie Grant | Vanessa Cutis' Website | Goodreads

Friday, 28 January 2011

Author Interview with Beth Revis

Tina: Hi Beth! Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for BookCouture.com. I loved Across the Universe and am flipping out that you’re here. I worship your genius, and have tried to think up of some questions that you may not have answered yet. So I’ve only got five questions here:

Beth: Aw! THANK YOU!

Tina: The pleasure is all mine. Firstly, your vision of the evolution of the human population aboard Godspeed is very intriguing – the idea of an ethnically ambiguous race of people. (And their developments in physique, language, formation of slang…etc). How did you manage to come up with that? Was it through noticing patterns in human development across the centuries, or just through reasoning and perception?

Beth: The language was something that I consciously worked on—I am fascinated with linguistics, but never took it much past a couple of college classes. I figured that slang and curse words are the first things to change in language, so that’s what I changed. Some people think I was afraid to use “regular” curse words in the story, but actually, I was trying to show that language shift with the new words.

The rest of it developed organically. I was trying to show how different things would become, giving enough time in an enclosed area. Some things are little—for example, I make a point to show that Amy’s the shortest person on the ship, in part because people do tend to evolve taller as time progresses.

Tina: I thought that was what made the book a lot more believable. Another interesting concept that I presume would have become available through improved science & technology is the ability to modify the genes that code for intelligence in the characters of your novel. I gathered from reading Across the Universe that there are several different types of intelligence and that each generation is required to produce geniuses in order to survive. Of course, we don’t have this sort of technology, so what factors do you think determine intelligence (genetics, the environment), and why has intelligence on the ship become so rare (through inbreeding?) that injections must be given to “create” geniuses?

Beth: One of the key things I was trying to present in my novel is the concept of “nature vs. nurture.” I hope readers question this: is Elder a good leader because he was made that way through genetics, or because of he way in which he was raised? Personally, I think it’s a combination of the two—that we are, to a certain extent, the way we are because of the way we’re born, but whether or not we use what we’re born with, and in what way we use it, is determined in part by how we are raised.

Also, I don’t think intelligence IS rare on the ship—I think Eldest is so obsessed with creating a perfect society with the perfect number of people who do the perfect things that he’s afraid to let his world grow organically and instead forces things, such as certain intelligences, on people.

Tina: Oh, thanks for clearing that up for me!In my review of Across the Universe, I couldn’t help but compare Across the Universe to the Ender Saga by Orson Scott Card, as both are very similar in many aspects, but tell very different stories. I understand that you have read his books, and was wondering if you could comment on the similarities and differences between your novels? How much influence did Ender’s Game have upon your writing, and what other books influenced you?

Beth: The biggest influence I got from the Ender saga was the idea that it was okay to write sci fi in a certain way. I think a lot of adult sci fi books focus more on the setting and the science than on the plot and the characters, and I worried that it was a trope of the genre that couldn’t be broken. Ender’s Game and the sequels proved to me that the style of character-driven plots was possible in sci fi, and that there definitely was a market for YA sci fi, even if there’s not that much out there right now.

Tina: I’m also curious as to your decision to make Across the Universe a young adult book, rather than an adult book, and also, the reasons behind including a romance story in a science fiction, where romance is uncommon in this genre? Did you want to have two characters from different times provide a contrast in the novel, did you believe that romance was vital to the story, or perhaps because it would appeal to the target audience?

Beth: I have always written YA novels instead of adult ones, and personally, I prefer to read YA novels instead of adult ones. I believe that the difference between the two isn’t so much a matter of age suggestions as it is one of style. YA lit tends to be more focused on faster-paced plots and interesting characters (in my opinion).

As for romance: it’s something that came about naturally in the story. I think Elder’s desperately lonely, and when he meets Amy, he becomes obsessively attached to her rather quickly. Amy, on the other hand, isn’t look for love or romance, and she responds to Elder much more warily.

Tina: Finally, is there any recent news concerning the next book in the trilogy or perhaps (*crosses fingers*) a film adaptation? Seeing as the people on Godspeed are multiethnic, what actors do you have in mind for a movie version of Across the Universe?

Beth: I wish! I seriously have all my fingers and toes crossed on that one, and I hope that it happens!! As for actors—I honestly don’t know who would play most of the ship’s crew because it would require actors who are multi-ethnic, but I’ve always pictured Molly Quinn in the role of Amy.

Molly Quinn as Amy?

Tina: OMG, yes! She would be perfect for Amy.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Beth! Your answers are just as insightful and intelligent as your amazing book. I can’t wait until book two comes out in 2012!

Check out Beth’s website at: http://bethrevis.com

Beth’s Blog: http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/

The Official (and super awesome) Website for Across the Universe: http://acrosstheuniversebook.com

Check out an interview with Beth Revis on BTL.

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

Review: Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon

Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon

Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary
Age Group:Young Adult --> Adult
Publisher: Simon & Schuster AUS
Release Date: 4th January 2011 (AUS)
Format: Paperback, 432 pages
ISBN-13: 9781847393913
RRP: $22.99 AUD
Source: Thank you to the publisher, who provided this book for an honest review.
Cover love? It's very cute and dazzly, but screams chick-lit rom-com. The book is more mature than the cover suggests.

Synopsis

'Will you marry me?'
I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes.
'Lily?' he prompts. It's been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak...

Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn't have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can't forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart - and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.

Review

The book begins with a prologue, which you’ve just read above, and then cuts to a twelve-chapter long flashback of Lily’s life at 16, when her mother moves her from the UK to South Australia for her mother’s newest man. And in Australia, Lily falls in love with “someone she really shouldn't have fallen in love with”. When we cut back to the modern day, Lily is being asked the big question. But can she find it in her heart to forget her one true love?

I quickly got absorbed into Lily’s world, and through Paige Toon’s writing, I felt Lily the changes that Lily went through as she began to fall in love. My heart broke when things didn’t work out between them, and their bittersweet tale is one to remember. Despite the guy being wrong for her, what they had between them was real, and I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the novel.

There were only a few main characters in this novel, because at it's heart, it is about Lily's decision. That being said, I loved the way Paige Toon used dialogue to bring the peripheral characters to life, because her descriptions were very realistic. I thought that the setting of the book, which is in Australia, is very well done and highly believable, considering that her previous books were mainly set in America. Lily is also authentically English.

In ten years, Lily weaves herself a very tangled web. Richard is successful, sweet, and a loving boyfriend…but Lily can’t forget the man she loved first. This is a bittersweet tale about a girl who gave up on her dreams and her instincts about love, begging the question: is it ever too late? Emotional, heartbreaking and utterly honest, Pictures of Lily is a clean but mature novel for those looking for a good romantic contemporary read.

Rating:

Links:
Pictures of Lily at Simon & Schuster | Paige Toon's Website | Goodreads

Monday, 24 January 2011

YA Aussie Challenge 2011

Finally, I've taken the time to join this awesome challenge hosted by Nic @ Irrisistable Reads. There's also an awesome list of Aussie titles on Goodreads.

The Challenge:
Australian participants - Read at least 12 young adult books by Australian authors from 1^st January, 2011 to 31^st December, 2011.

The Aussie books I want to read: (in no particular order)

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Good Oil by Laura Buzo - Owned
Does my head look big in this? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood
Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell
Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang
Girl Saves Boy by Steph Bowe
Loving Richard Feynman by Penny Tangey

At first, I was thinking, awesome, twelve Aussie books will be easy! But I can see how this will be a challenge now, considering the fact that I only own one of them. There's the public library and school library, of course, but it's going to be hard to get my hands on most of them. Any Aussies out there willing to do a trade with me?

Sunday, 23 January 2011

Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars #1 by Sara Shepard

Series: Pretty Little Liars series
Genre: Contemporary
Age Group:Young Adult
Publisher: Hachette AU
Release Date: January 2011
Format: Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN-13: 9781907410871
RRP: $18.99 AUD
Source: Thank you to the publisher, who provided this book for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own.

Cover love? This has the TV show cast on it, which is awesome, but the mud-makeup is a little extreme, I think.

Synopsis

Aria, Emily, Spencer, Hanna and Alison have been best friends since the third grade. They go everywhere together, thinking no-one can come between them. If anyone is the ringleader of the group it is Alison, and the other girls cannot help but confide all their secrets to her.

One night, during a sleepover, Alison goes missing. Her body is never found. The girls mourn her death but move apart after time, assuming their secrets have disappeared with Alison too.

Three years later and Aria is having an affair with her teacher; Emily is questioning her sexuality; Hanna is a thief; and Spencer is flirting with her sister's fiance. They all think their secrets are safe, until they starting receiving messages from the mysterious A - who knows exactly what they are all up to, and is threatening to spill the beans . . .

Review

The minute I found and opened this in the mail, I began reading it and didn’t stop until I had finished it. There’s just something so enticing and juicy about this book that makes one hungry for more. In fact, Pretty Little Liars has been adapted into a highly popular TV show in 2010, and is still in it’s first season as of January 2011. I’ve been obsessively following the TV show on Go! On Mondays, 8:30pm in Australia ever since. Awesome show.

The novel begins with Ali’s disappearance and within a couple of pages, Sara Shepard’s cleverly shows us the group’s dynamics, setting apart each character (despite there being five main ones) and distinguishing them for their individual traits. I love that throughout Pretty Little Liars, readers can easily get a sense of who is who. They are each complex, and have their own dirty little secrets.

This book wasn’t long either, but a lot happened, and it is only to Sara Shepard’s credit that events weren’t confusing, although the murder mystery is. Although the girls’ actions certainly are not showing their best sides and, like all good television, is not role-model behaviour – that’s what makes it such a fun read. “A” is a deadly opponent, not to mention a creepy stalker with an agenda for these girls.

Pretty Little Liars is Gossip Girl with a better plot a dangerous villain and a murder mystery. Perfect for anyone looking for a saucy, suspenseful read. There’s twists and turns in every scene, and I cannot wait to see the angle Sara Shepard takes with Flawless, book 2 in the series.

Rating:

Links:
Pretty Little Liars Official Website | Pretty Little Liars at Hachette AUS | Goodreads

Saturday, 22 January 2011

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Series: Trilogy
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Group:Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin AU
Release Date: Jan 2011
Format: Paperback, 408 pages
ISBN-13: 9780141333663
RRP: $19.95 AUD
Source: Thank you to the publisher, who provided this book for an honest review,all opinions expressed are my own.
Cover love? Love this cover! It takes my breath away, especially with the significance of the positions of the silhouettes (now that I’ve read the book), and the metaphor that Elder and Amy are separated by a galaxy. It’s gorgeous and captivating…reflective of the book. Although the AUS cover lacks the pretty galaxy background the US cover has.

Synopsis

Amy has left the life she loves for a world 300 years away
Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But fifty years before she's due to arrive, she is violently woken, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy's lost on board and nothing makes sense - she's never felt so alone.
Yet someone is waiting for her. He wants to protect her; and more if she'll let him
But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies?
A killer is out there – and Amy has nowhere to hide . . .

Review

As an avid reader and huge fan of sci-fi, I felt mixed emotions about picking up Across the Universe. I hadn’t read a proper science fiction in ages, and I feared that I would be disappointed by comparisons to Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, my favourite book of all time. The two books were very different though, and I found myself amazed that such a different yet similar story could be told.

What I admire about futuristic novels is how the author presents their own vision of the future, interpreted from our modern world. Beth Revis’ future race aboard the starship Godspeed are ethnically ambiguous (due to inbreeding), taller, and have a darker skin tone, which stands to reason. Their speech has also evolved, with an accent that is hard for Amy to distinguish. I like that Beth Revis has illustrated these tiny but consequential changes in the human population of Godspeed, because it imbues the book with a sense of authenticity.

She also explores the concepts of a dictatorial rule in an enclosed environment: censorship, deception, a strong ruler, freedom, and rebellion. It’s an intelligent and mature topic for the Young Adult fiction genre, but is very appropriate in a time when young adults like myself are becoming increasingly aware of the politics of our time. Beth Revis presents her ideas in an intelligent way, and despite having read the Ender Saga (which features star ships abundantly and therefore raises similar ideas), I can’t help but imagine that this is most likely outcome from a less advance society’s attempt to colonise a planet in another star system. Beth Revis also raises many moral and ethical issues in the book, which I am hesitant to spoil, but was completely blown away by. Across the Universe is very, very clever.

Characters. For me, I couldn’t help but compare Elder to Ender (c’mon, just one letter different). I read somewhere that Beth Revis has read Ender’s Game, so I think my comparisons are legit. Elder is similar to Ender in many ways – they are both young boys chosen for a particular, pivotal role that they are unaware of, and forced into leadership positions. They are both intelligent (although Ender is superior in that sense) and have natural abilities that render them the prime candidates, yet they are continually deceived by adults. However, Elder is portrayed as an adolescent, whilst Ender was a child, and as such, Elder is much more heavily influenced by his attraction to Amy and has this character flaw (which isn’t really a flaw). The point that I’m driving at is that my reading of Across the Universe was influenced heavily by Ender’s Game, and therefore I thought Elder was a similar but inferior character to Ender, because Elder lacked Ender’s intuition, intelligence, character development and the scope of his perceptions. These elements directly influence the narration and therefore, the story that I experience. Yes, I’m long winded and biased, all of a sudden. It must be the holidays. Als

Amy and Elder’s romance wasn’t really as captivating as the romances in other young adult fiction, but it was the prime aspect that categorised Across the Universe as a YA novel, because really, what is a YA novel without a little bit of love? What I really feel is that the novel didn’t need the romance, and could have been great without it. But maybe that’s just my Ender’s-Game-fangirl side speaking. What’s your opinion – does a YA novel have to have romance?

What I love about Across the Universe was the plot! Reminiscent of science fiction films such as Moon and other horror murder mysteries, the storyline was very creepy and gives you goosebumps and chills down your spine when you find out who the murderer is. I thought it could have been scarier though…the big reveal could have been accompanied by a “Muahahahaha” by the perpetrator and a creepy, “Twenty long years I have waited to get revenge”, with really epic music in the background? But then again, this is YA, so the big reveal was downplayed and less dramatic than it could have been, and therefore less shocking. I was suspecting something along the lines of the truth though.

This review may have sounded a little harsh, but really, I was comparing it with Ender’s Game the whole time (which is in its own league entirely). I actually LOVED Across the Universe. Beth Revis employs an alternating first person perspective to bring to life a story that transcends time, space, and most YA: a starship romance plagued by the chilling threat of a murderer among the passengers, this is a book that no one should pass up.

Thanks for reading this long winded review if you have – and if you haven’t, I don’t blame you, but I’d like to hear all your thoughts on this question:

Is romance a defining factor of YA? If so, why, and if not, why is it so prevalent?

Rating:

Links:
Across the Universe Official Website | Across the Universe at Penguin AUS |

Monday, 31 January 2011

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Saturday, 29 January 2011

Review: Zelah Green by Vanessa Curtis

Friday, 28 January 2011

Author Interview with Beth Revis

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

Review: Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon

Monday, 24 January 2011

YA Aussie Challenge 2011

Sunday, 23 January 2011

Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Saturday, 22 January 2011

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

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