Novel Review: A Monster Calls: Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd, by Patrick Ness and Illustrated by Jim Kay

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy, grief

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Release Date: 2013

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

The Cover:

The cover is dark and haunting, using the same artwork as throughout the book, which I think is actually very fitting. Thinking back on the book, it doesn't particularly feel like those adjectives, and yet the artwork feels very fitting to the story anyway.

Review:

Conor's mother has cancer, again, and she's doing worse than she used to. At the same time, Conor's being bullied at school, and now his grandmother is visiting again, and they don't really get along, either. During all of this, Conor suddenly starts seeing this giant monster at night, causing destruction and conflicts, and telling him these twisted stories.

I really liked the way that Conor meets the monster, how he's absolutely not afraid of him; he's facing much scarier things, and I love the meaning behind that. The stories that the monster tells him, too; they're unique and with a surprise ending each time, which Conor hates, and I love them. They're dark sometimes, and thoughtful, and very important to what Conor needs to learn. It's similar to the meaning behind his bullying, and how he kind of needed Harry to do these things. Their fight was very satisfying, honestly, and it needed to happen. I understood Conor's need, too, for things to go back to normal, for him to feel normal and be treated fairly, not pitied.

This story was really heartbreaking, honestly. Conor's struggle was hard and honest and rough, and no one around him was truly seeing it. The ending, too... It's heartbreaking, and his final confrontation with the monster was honest and brutal, and it made me cry.

These kinds of stories are just brutal, and sad, and necessary. This was a beautiful story, honestly, so thoughtful and well-written and meaningful. I'm glad I finally read it, and I think it's a very important story for a lot of people; that some people might need this exact story.

Novel Review: Me Before You (Me Before You, #1) by Jojo Moyes

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Penguin

Release Date: 2012

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

The New York Times bestseller, soon to be a major motion picture; US release on June 3, 2016.

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A Love Story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?


From the Trade Paperback edition.

The Cover:

My copy of this book was the movie cover, which I actually think is super cute. I don't usually care for the movie-version of book covers, but I do really like Emilia Clarke, and I think they look super cute as the main characters. The original covers are also really pretty, with big lettering of the title, and the colors used are pretty and fitting. I like how both covers are relatively simple and sweet.

Review:

Even though this is a very slow-burn, family-oriented story, it kept my interest from the beginning. Louisa is an odd girl, as everyone likes to remind her. She's quiet and thoughtful, but cheerful and wears odd clothing. She isn't afraid of being herself, though. The only point that bothered me about her, was how picky she was being about what job she got, despite needing one very badly. She also makes a very cringey scene at one point, at the horse race.

After losing her job, and since she lives with her family and is trying to help pay the bills as the only other person with a job, she has to get another one quick. She ends up being the caretaker of Will, a very rich previous-businessman, who's been paralyzed below the neck. He's angry, and sarcastic, and he doesn't want anyone's help or kindness. He also wants all of this to end.

I was afraid this was going to have a bad ending from the very beginning—and was pretty sure it would—but it still hurt. Louisa grows closer to Will as he starts wanting to open her world. She's been in this small town most of her life, and doesn't really consider going other places. She hasn't wanted to, or has been too afraid. He wants to change that, because he knows there's amazing things out there, even though he doesn't think he can enjoy them anymore.

This dealt with a rather dark, controversial topic, which surprised me. Part of me hates how it all ends—a big part, because it's awful and unfair and I hate it—but, I also sympathize. Will is constantly in pain and always on the edge of being even more terribly ill, and will always have to rely on someone else. He used to be extremely active and adventurous, and he doesn't want to be stuck in a chair his entire life. I get it, and it's his life, his right. It's still awful, though.

I really loved this book, honestly. Louisa and Will don't even really get to start a real romance, and yet their connection is strong. And it's awful. I haven't cried as hard at a book, ever, I don't think. I was practically crying my eyes out, for like an hour, as I read the ending. It's gut-wrenching, in ways I didn't expect, a lot more strongly than I ever expected.

I kind of don't want to read the next book, because I think this one was so good on its own, that I don't think it needs more, and I don't want to ruin it. But I also really liked these characters, and so I might pick up the next book to follow them further anyway.

Novel Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Ember (Random House)

Release Date: 2015

Spoilers?: Yes, with warning.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

The Cover:

I think this cover is very simple and pretty. While I do like how it relates to the drawings and whatnot inside now, it didn't really catch my eye before I read it. It's definitely a nice cover, though, and I like how it's not at all embarrassing to carry around.

Review:

Maddy is sick and has been on house arrest her entire life, pretty much. After losing her brother and father, it's only been her and her mother, and her nurse Carla. She takes classes online, and she loves architecture. And then a new family moves in next door, and Maddy meets Olly through the window.

Maddy and Olly get to know each other through looks and gestures first, and then through text, before they get to meet. They get along straight-away. Despite being stuck inside always, Maddy is pretty optimistic and easy-going. She doesn't let it bother her. And Olly makes her laugh. He's energetic and loves black, but he also has a fun sense of humor and isn't afraid to act a little weird. He also worries about Maddy, and he just wants her to be okay.

I like Maddy's struggle, it felt realistic. She wants to get to know Olly from the beginning, but at one point she decides that it would be too risky, to let herself want something she can't really have. When she decides that love and life, and experiencing things, is worth the risk, I respect that. I admit her decision is rather impulsive, but I still respected it.

(Spoiler!) The twist at the end I didn't expect. The signs were all there, but I still fully expected this to be a sad, diseased-girl leaves her safe environment and gets sick kind of story. I didn't think it was going to be one where she's actually been lied to. That plot twist made me like the story even more, though—I'm a sucker for those kinds of plots. I also really appreciated how Maddy handled it. I think she acted how she should have—sure, her mother had something mentally wrong, but she also wronged Maddy. And Maddy deserved to be angry about that.

My only thing is that I wish there had more past the ending. I wanted to know what happened with her mother next, where she goes from here. (End Spoiler.)

This was a really fun book. I liked the writing style, and how it included all these drawings and short book reviews, and a lot of quirky little things strewn out. It was very fast, and fun, and then that twist definitely made it for me.

Manga Review: Millennium Snow, Volume 1 & 2, by Bisco Hatori

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: 2007 (Omnibus on June 3, 2014)

Volumes: 4

Spoilers?: Not really.

Buy it here: Amazon (1) (2). Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Chiyuki Matsuoka was born with heart problems, and her doctors say she won't live to see the next snow. Toya is an 18-year-old vampire who hates blood and refuses to make the traditional partnership with a human, whose life-giving blood would keep them both alive for a thousand years.

Chiyuki makes the most of the time she has left, even though things aren't that exciting--until she comes across a reluctant vampire late one chilly night. Can Chiyuki teach Touya to feel a passion for life, even as her own is ending?

Review:

Volume 1:

Now that VIZ is releasing the last two volumes of this series, I’ve decided to give it a reread (and review). I first read it back around the time it was first released, and remember enjoying it. As I’ve said many times before, Ouran High School Host Club is one of my absolute favorite series, and so of course I’d already read this. And when I heard that VIZ was continuing it, when I hadn’t even known that Hatori had finished it, I got very excited. And knew immediately that I was going to need to reread the books, since it had been so long, I barely remembered what happened in them.

When I first started this, I was a little afraid that it wasn’t going to be as good as I remembered, and that Hatori had changed quite a bit through Ouran, so much so that this was more mediocre. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is actually still really good. I enjoyed it a lot, I am happy to say.

This series stars a vampire, his bat companion, a dying girl, and later a werewolf. The dying girl, Chiyuki, is very optimistic and upbeat, immediately accepting of the vampire, and wanting to be his friend. The vampire, Toya, is a little hard-edge, hard to get to know, but of course sweet inside, and grows protective/a little possessive of Chiyuki. Which means that he bumps heads with the werewolf, Satsuki, who comes to care about Chiyuki as well, when she is relentlessly nice to him.

I like all of the characters. This is obviously an earlier work of Hatori’s, but it still has her charm and humorous characters. The joking between them is fun. Chiyuki is a bit of a Mary-Sue, maybe, but she’s a very likable character, and I really like how easily she cares about people, and how she pushes them in just the right way until they like her, too.

I’m looking forward to getting to know them all better in the next book, as this one pretty much just introduced them all, and opened it up to wherever it’s going next. (I’m also very excited to see where Hatori takes it with the new volume, after such a long break, but I’ll talk about that more down below.)

There was also a surprising one-shot chapter at the end of the volume. It was about a girl and her best girl friend, who has this other person inside her, (a boy,) who comes out when she gets troubled. It has romantic and friendship elements to it, and I was rather surprised by it. Particularly the non-issue it seemed to have with gender. It was a pleasant surprise. It was a bit of a bittersweet, nostalgic, sweet but sad, story, but I really liked it.

Volume 2:

In this volume, there was some development between the main three, as well as a surprise with Yamimaru, Toya’s bat companion (who is adorable). There was a problem with a haunting that they worked through, and them being lost. And then we got introduced to a new character, Kei, Chiyuki’s cousin, who is extremely protective.

I am really enjoying this series. It’s very cute, and the humor works really well for me. The romance is slowly budding, and I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes in the new volume, as it’s obvious (to me) who she’s going to be with.

Kei is a bit intense to me, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen with him in the next volume. Satsuki is cute, an enjoyable character. Yamimaru is adorable, as was made very apparent in this volume. And I really like Toya. He’s a little too shy, or in denial, about his feelings, but he’s also sweet and protective, and I can’t wait to see where that goes in the next volume.

I am really, really excited to see what happens next in this series. It has been, like, ten years since this first came out, and Hatori went through an entire eighteen-volume series, and so she has obviously developed both her writing and drawing skills since then. This series could take a big turn, it could go very slow, it could do just about anything. And the release date is already so close. I seriously cannot wait for the next volume.

Review: Things I Know About Love by Kate le Vann

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Random House (EgmontUSA)

Spoilers?: Maybe. But not outright.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Things I know about love.

1. People don't always tell you the truth about how they feel.
2. Nothing that happens between two people is guaranteed to be private.
3. I don't know if you ever get over having your heart broken.

Livia Stowe's past experiences with love have been nothing but disappointing, but all that is about to change.  After years of illness, she's boarding a plane for the first time to spend the summer in Princeton, New Jersey, with her brother who's studying abroad.  This Brit is determined to make the most of her American summer and to record every moment of it in her private blog.

America is everything that Livia's ever dreamed of.  And then she meets Adam. 

Swept up in the promise of romance and the magical New York City that Adam shows her, Livia is smitten, but with all she knows about love, is Livia really ready to risk her heart again?

Review:

I had been eying this book for a while now, since about the time it came out, maybe a little after. But it was in hardback, and it was so small, and I kept convincing myself out of buying it for some reason. Finally, I got it, cheap, a couple weeks ago, and read it not long after. I was expecting something small and light, fluffy with not much substance. An easy read. It was… small, and a little light, very easy to read, but there was a lot more to it than I had been expecting.

Things I Know About Love is about Livia, a British girl who is flying to New Jersey to visit her older brother at college. She has to convince her mother, seeing as she is still getting over cancer, but is doing just fine now. She’s staying for a few weeks with her brother during the summer, and is planning to find out as much as she can about love, while writing it all down in her private blog. And then she meets Adam, a fellow Brit and friend of her brother who is also visiting his brother for a few weeks.

I loved the way it was written, and just being inside Livia’s head. She was fun and sweet, and was just enjoying everything. She’s very close to both her mother and brother, seeing as they’re all she has and pretty much all she’s known for the last while, ever since she got cancer and had to stay in hospital. We get a little look into her past, her relationships with everyone in school, and how she had a lot of friends and then she got sick and they faded away. She was curious about everything, about love, and was open to it all. She’d been in a relationship before, only to be pushed away and then dumped when her cancer stuff started happening again, and so a bit wary. She’d kind of jumped into it before, and wasn’t too sure if any other guy would stick around. She was still a little upset about the old guy, and when another one showed up, she was sure of her feelings, and even while a little cautious if she were feelings the same things as before, she was pretty sure that they were different. And that Adam was different from the boy before. Which he was.

I love Adam. He’s British and sweet, and he loves Livia and knows that he loves Livia. He knew that she was different from the first time he met her, a couple years previous to when the book takes place, when they only met very briefly. It could be considered insta-love, and it really kind of is, but it just worked so well her. It seemed so believable, and it was just full of swoon to me. He even knew about her cancer stuff and that only made him worried for her and made him want to hold her closer.

The book is written in journal-style, as Livia is writing everything that happens into a private blog, which I really enjoyed. I wasn’t expecting there to be small chapters in Adam’s point-of-view, though. I was surprised when they first showed up, and then just excited for each one. They’re so small and there are only a few, so they were kind of like treats to me.

I really liked reading about Livia and Adam, as well as her relationship with her brother and mother. There was also a little insight into her brother’s love life, which I enjoyed and felt a little sad about. I am probably partial to her brother, though, since I have a thing for brother-sister relationships (which is just my personal opinion, since I am very close to my own brother).

Now, the ending. The ending made me cry, just a little. Which, for me, is a lot; I barely ever even get teary-eyed at most things. I really don’t want to spoil it, since it was so unexpected, even though there were a few obvious signs saying that I should have been wary to this. But I wasn’t, and it hurt so badly. It hurts so badly, still. It reminds me a bit of The Fault In Our Stars, which was amazing and a little light but still heavy. Probably a little more heavy than this, but just as sad. The ending didn’t leave me unsatisfied, but it did leave me sad.

I’m… no, I’m not going to say anything more. That’s probably giving away too much, as it is.

I loved this book, a lot, and will probably be holding it close to me for a while now. I loved the characters, grew close to them, wanted more of them. I don’t think I want to let go of it quite yet. I am definitely planning to look for more of le Vann’s books.

Review: And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky

Rating (Out of 5): ~4 (Maybe 4.5)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Simon Pulse/Simon Teen/Pulse It [Whatever])

Spoilers?: Minor.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Keek’s life was totally perfect.

Keek and her boyfriend just had their Worst Fight Ever, her best friend heinously betrayed her, her parents are divorcing, and her mom’s across the country caring for her newborn cousin, who may or may not make it home from the hospital. To top it all off, Keek’s got the plague. (Well, the chicken pox.) Now she’s holed up at her grandmother’s technologically-barren house until further notice. Not quite the summer vacation Keek had in mind.
With only an old typewriter and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar for solace and guidance, Keek’s alone with her swirling thoughts. But one thing’s clear through her feverish haze—she’s got to figure out why things went wrong so she can put them right.

Review:

I was expecting this to be good, and it was. I usually end up enjoying letter or journal style books, especially when it's about a person that might be rambling and thinking a lot throughout the book, and when I found out that's what this book is, I wasn't disappointed.

The book is about Keek, who has chicken pox and is staying with her Grandmother, while her parents are divorcing and she's trying to deal with her fight with her boyfriend Matt, and so is re-reading The Bell Jar, her favorite book, (which I've never read, and so have no idea what the actual similarities are between this book and that one) and typing up her feelings on an old typewriter.

So, I did like Keek. I really got to know her in this book, and agreed with her on several things. I enjoyed her thoughts on everything, and her musings on it all while being sick, and I felt a little bad for her at some points. One of my favorite musings of hers, I think, would have to be what she thought of virginity. I won't say much more, but I really enjoyed that. (Oh, also, sofa king. That is the most amazing thing, ever, and I love it, and am so glad I read this book, just for that. I mean, I'm glad I read the book for everything else, too, but that? Icing on the cake, or whatever. And if you don't understand those two words, say them together, aloud, very fast. Isn't that awesome?)

I enjoyed living through everything with Matt and her parents and her friends, and just everyone else around her. Her parents took a bit of a turnaround, and they both kind of suck, but it seems like her dad, surprisingly, it getting higher on the scale than her mother is (because what her mother did, completely sucks; I mean, what he did sucks too, but it's more impractical and hateful what she did. It's like she took business and pleasure and mixed them together, and she shouldn't have done that. Not that what he did wasn't wrong, though, because it was). And Matt? There were some really nice, steamy scenes with him, which I enjoyed. And some of the time I liked him. But, honestly, he's kind of a douche (again, I don't like that word, but sometimes it just kind of fits, okay?). And I don't think he's getting all that better at the end of the book. I feel like he should be, but that's not how things turned out. Her friends, on the other hand, were, and so that was nice at least. Well, I guess Keek is, too, which is good.
The ending left a little to be desired, something a bit bigger and more definite. But that's alright.

Aside from some of those things, the book was really good. I liked being in Keek's head, and I liked how her journals were; they were very fun. The book was fun, and very easy to get through, and I was a little surprised by how attached I got to it, what with not wanting to put it down. I am definitely looking forward to Tibensky publishing more books in the future.

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5 (maybe 5)

Publisher: Penguin (Dutton Juvenile)

Spoilers: Very, very minor, and vague.

Amazon Synopsis:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Review:

So, I'm feeling a little unsure about this book. And so I'm not totally sure what to say about it. I feel like I kind of don't think it was amazing, but it was amazing. And there is no reason for me to not think it was amazing. Maybe it was just so much, and I'm overwhelmed and very unsure or something. Also, I feel a little biased and pressured, and like I should only say amazing things about it. But I also don't feel like there's really anything not amazing about it in the first place. And I don't really know what rating to give it. I feel like, maybe, it doesn't really deserve a 4.5, and yet it also deserves nothing less?

I'm just all kinds of conflicted. (And, I promise, I'm not going to spoil anything big in this besides general plot. So, Spoiler Free!)

Anyway: Hazel. Ahh, Hazel Grace. First of all, I want to say how well John did at creating a real girl. Especially because, as a (you know, mostly) normal teenage(-ish) girl, I related to her in a lot of ways. She's a bit cynical, and not all that sure of herself, and she says 'um' quite a bit and ends a lot of what she says in a question. And I love how she thinks about boys, and just living in general. And she's smart, and in college even though she's sixteen (with a completely understandable and logical reason), and she's honest (at least to herself). She's a teenager, even if she does have cancer.

And, ohhh, Augustus Waters. (Also, I want to mention that I love the names John Green came up with. They are brilliant.) I don't even... But I do, I do know what to say about him. He is simply amazing. He wants to mean something, and he's fun, and he likes Hazel and doesn't see why she shouldn't know this. He's just... full of swoon. He is all swoon. There is so much swoon with him that I don't even know what to tell you besides that you have to read it to fully understand the amazing-ness that is him and Hazel, when they are together and not. And I like that the drama wasn't pumped up very much or anything. Even when they have problems (that would usually cause a big scene or something), it isn't too tense, it's not dramatic. It just is what it is.

And I wasn't expecting what... happened to him, to happen to him. Especially not before her. The situation was different from what I'd expected when I started the book, and I'm glad. It turned out different, in a  very good way. Well, not very, but, you know...

Also, you guys. I'd read several reviews and seen lots of people talking about it, and how it was full of all these emotions. And, since I'm not the type of person that cries at things, I was like, 'yea, okay', but my interest was piqued. And you guys, they were all kind of right. A lot of the book is just fun and more fun, and there are a ton of cute moments between Hazel Grace and Augustus. It's much more funny than I thought it would be, like with moments of the them just joking around, which I really enjoyed. And, yea, there are several moments in the book where Hazel is by herself and thinking about things, and I enjoyed them, but I didn't think they were overwhelmingly upsetting or anything. But then. But then, you guys. A scene came up. And I was completely caught off guard.

I knew it was coming; it was obvious that it was coming. And even when it started, I was like 'aww, sad', but then, and I think I might have just put myself in Hazel's mind and imagined it for myself, but then I thought 'oh, there are tears in my eyes'. I'm not even kidding. This book brought me so close to crying, closer than anything I've read before. And it was amazing. Sad, but amazing.

And then there's Isaac. He's one of their friends, who goes blind. But him and Augustus play violent video games together, and then him and Hazel play vocal video games, and he has a moment of denial and hard realization that's a bit sad (and honest, and I genuinely enjoyed it), and he's just generally awesome.

We didn't see too much of anyone else's parents (although what we did see was usually pretty humorous or sad) besides Hazel's, who we saw often. She's close to both of them, and they were pretty awesome. Her dad, in particular, was so sweet, and very sensitive (and cried often). And she jokes around easily with her mom; for instance, when they take a trip with Augustus. Near the end, they got a bit pushy, but otherwise were pretty cool.

Also, the subject matter. It made me a little wary, but it didn't put me off from reading it or anything, because I was much too excited for that. And I haven't even read much about people with cancer, or many novels with sick people. But he did it really well. It was (I'm assuming this, because I haven't, nor have I ever been around someone who has, experienced this,) realistic. And I'm pretty sure he knew what he was talking about, as there were several technical words and stuff thrown around, and I know that he did a lot of research (not that that he couldn't have been making it all up, though). He wasn't afraid of showing the ugly parts of it. It seemed very honest, with the way everyone reacted to it, and thought about living and dying, and how they're all treated because they're sick, like with the Perks and Support Group. (And I liked the, “depression is a side effect of dying” thing, in particular. There were several parts of the book that made me think, “That's a nice/interesting way of looking at things”. There are just so many little things that matter so much in this book.)

And whole thing with Van Houten and An Imperial Affliction. That's just... hm. (Kind of messy? And a bit sad?) There's the big similarities. With the endings, for example. And it is a bit frustrating, but I get it. So, fine. Fine.
The book has John Green's general way of writing. It's his style. He's a bit subtle and honest and a little dark; just him. This book included text messages and letters and little things like that. They added more character to the story, more personality to the characters. I liked it.

It was good. It was amazing. It wasn't amazing. It was all of the things and not, all at the same time. But aside from all that, I really enjoyed it, maybe even loved it, and I would suggest it.

Edit 8/16/12: Now, a while after reading it, I've kind of changed my mind on a few things. I'm not conflicted about how I feel. This book was all of the things, but it's definitely amazing, awesome; one of my favorite books now, one that I would recommend to just about anyone.