Review "The Fault In Our Stars"

Some information

Title: The fault in our stars

Author: John Green

Pages: 313

Published: January 2012

Publisher: Dutton Books

My Source: Standaard Book Shop

My score on Goodreads: 3 stars

Blurb

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.

My review

I don't like cancer stories. 

Maybe that's all there is to say... I've had a real cancer story in my life and that was more than enough.

Why did I read this book in spite of my aversion? Because EVERYBODY praised the book and almost gave me the feeling I HAD to like it. Everywhere on the Internet I saw people showing this book, saying "this is my favorite book". Everybody said you would need some Kleenex while reading this book because it's so beautiful. Of course I need Kleenex when people have cancer and die too soon. 

Though I didn't like the book in the way I hoped I would like it, it's not bad either. Of course not :). I want to praise John Green for writing in such a beautiful way. He's able to describe everything in a way you have the feeling you're there with the characters. You feel like you know Hazel and Augustus. I loved the characters! Party because they feel so real, but also because they just don't care what people think or say. They want to enjoy life (although they also have their bad moments) because they know their version of life is and will be a little different from other versions. 

What I also liked about this book is the fact I really couldn't predict how it would all go. We're dealing with two main characters who describe themselves as ticking time bombs. They're living on the edge all the time and this made me reading a little faster. I wanted to know how it would all end (hoping everything would be solved in a miraculous way).

Something about the story... The main characters, Hazel and Augustus, meet each other at Cancer Kidd Support Group. Hazel hates to go there, but when she sees the handsome Augustus Waters appear, she starts to like it a little more. When this boy also seems to be funny and smart, she falls for him little by little. Augustus shows Hazel a totally new way of living your life and he makes her time on this planet more worthwhile. Hazel in her turn seems to calm Augustus down somewhat and shows him what real love is.

In short I liked this book but not as much as I hoped. Maybe my expectations where set too high because of all the good comments I heard about it. I'm very happy I've read the book but I don't think I'm going to recommend it to somebody. I hope the movie will be good because I'm planning on giving it a try...

Review "The Great Gatsby" - short

Some information

Title: The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pages: 122

Genre: Classics, historical fiction

Published: 1993

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions ltd.

My Scource: Boekenfestijn Gent

My score on Goodreads: 3 stars

Covertext

Generally considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald's finest novel, The Great Gatsby is a consummate summary of the 'roaring twenties' and a devastating exposé of the shallowness of the 'Jazz Age'. Through the narration of Nick Carraway, the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which lined the Long Island shore in the 1920's, to encounter Nick's cousin Daisy, her brash but wealthy husband Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby and the dark mystery which surrounds him.

The Great Gatsby is an undisputed classic of American literature from the period following the First World War, and is one of the great novels of the twentieth century.

My (short) review

Well, I'm glad I read this book! Still, because I want to write honest reviews, I have to say I didn't like it that much... I don't know why it wasn't my thing. Everybody else seems to believe this is a great book, well written, a good story,... I thought it was well written, but the story just wasn't for me. Those hollow characters and their hollow deeds probably have some depth, but I couldn't find it. I think that if I would have read this book at uni for some classes, I would have appreciated it more. I like it when there are different levels in a book, when you can link a lot of items to each other. This time I just wanted a book to relax, so I didn't jump into this book. Nevertheless I'm curious about the movie and still want to see it!

Preview "The Beach House" + Detachment

Today I found something really great in the mail: a book! Yes, I know as a reviewer you receive books in the mail from time to time, but every single one makes me happy and is special to me! The effort authors make to write this book and send it to me, means a lot and is appreciated over here! 

Thank you authors!

The book I received today is "The Beach House" by Helen McKenna. What a beautiful one! I hope I will enjoy it (but I think I will... love the covertext). Review will follow in a few days/weeks.

If you want the book trailer for "The Beach House", here it is! 

I expect this book to be something I enjoy reading. The covertext gives me the idea it's going to be a book with interesting content without being too heavy. It seems to be a story where there will be love and hate, where past and present will intertwine, where people will really discover themselves. Just the kind of stories I like to read! I hope my expectations won't be something to dissappoint me, but most of the time I'm not wrong when I expect a book to be good. We'll see about that when I finished reading it ;)

Before I read this book though, I'll have to finish "The Elephants of Shanghai" by Stephen Jared. A book that I like so far. After that I have to read "Keeping Score - A guide to love and relationships" by Marc Brackett. I know this one is on my list for quite a while, but I didn't read it sooner because I wasn't in the mood to read a book about love and relationships (if you know what I mean ;) ). Totally over it for a while now, so I think I will be able to read and review this one too very soon!

I also wanted to let you know I watched "Detachment" last night. Finally! I really wanted to see this movie for a long while because I'm a teacher myself and I worked for several months as an interim teacher in a school with difficult students near Brussels. Good reason to see a movie like this one and I haven't regretted it! Loved it, though I thought it was strange sometimes. Have to admit I did cry now and again (but hey, I do this all the time when I'm watching movies by myself :p) 

Here you find the trailer of Detachment too ^^ 

xoxo

Movie - Ruby Sparks

  

As you all know, I'm a big lover of movies too. When I'm not reading, I'm watching movies or listening to music. Today I saw "Ruby Sparks", a 2012 movie with Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan, and I loved it! 

Author Calvin Weir-Fields has a bestseller on his name. Unfortunately his inspiration is lost at some point. He struggles to get something on paper, needs therapy and doesn't have friends except for his own brother. As part of his therapy Calvin needs to write something about a person he could meet in real life, a person who would like or dislike his dog Scotty. It doesn't matter what kind of story he writes or who it's about, but his therapist just wants to get him back to writing. Calvin doesn't feel the desire to write something again but at the same time he starts to get weird dreams about a wonderful girl, Ruby. It's a girl he totally makes up, he creates her... and he starts to write about her, doing what his therapist asked him to do. He writes about this dreamgirl and makes her a girl he would really like to meet in real life.

One day the unexpected happens and Calvin DOES meet this immaginative girl, Ruby Sparks. The girl he created stands in his living room and acts like she's been his girlfriend for a while. She looks exactly like he imagined her in his dreams and has the past/history he gave her. Not believing what he sees, Calvin thinks this is the moment where he's finally gone totally crazy. Strange thing is... all the people around Calvin also see his "girlfriend" and talk to her. She's real. He made her real without knowing it...

I really loved this story and wished there was a book upon which this story was based. Sadly there isn't one, or I haven't been looking good enough. This movie made me laugh out loud sometimes. Other times it made me sad. One thing stayed the same during the entire movie: I really didn't want the story to end (the story of the film, but also Calvin's story) and I wanted to know how it would all end. 

About that end I'm not going to say a thing. I think you should discover it for yourself and let me know what you thought about it! 

Enjoy!