Tuesday 10 September 2013

Picture Me Gone - Meg Rosoff

"Mila has a gift. She can see into people's souls."

The Backstory - Spoiler Free

Twelve year old girl Mila is said to have a  gift. When i first read this I thought it genuinely meant some sort of super power, but as it turns out, she is just super observant. She can look into a person's soul, and she can tell from their body language, or from the way they stand, if they're having an affair, or pregnant, or happy or sad. 

At the beginning, she is all set up and ready for a trip to America with her dad, where they are due to meet an old friend of his. However, just before they leave they get a call telling them that the old friend has gone missing! Oh no! Despite this, they head over to America all the same, to see them.

Mila uses her skills in observation, (her gift) to track down more and more clues as to where is whereabouts may be. She finds out interesting secrets along the way, about the friend, and about her own dad, and his past with the friend. But as it says in the blurb: Is the answer closer than she could ever imagine?

Despite this kind of backstory, it is not exactly a detective or crime fiction book, so be warned of that. It is more of a look into relationships and how people work than anything else, although the plot is still thrilling to read through, and keeps your interest easily.

How was is written?

If I was asked to compare it to one of Meg Rosoff's other books, it is similar in writing style to 'How I Live Now'. I say this mainly because she doesn't use speech marks or the usual punctuation. Some people in other reviews I have read find this idea disconcerting an a little confusing.

I see it completely differently. Someone said to me, once: "Why is a lack of correct grammar at all clever?". I shook my head at their lack of imagination. It suits both books very well. I'm not going to go into depth on How I Live Now as I'm sure I will get round to reviewing that separately at some point, but with this is fits the story well, because the book is written deeply as Mila would see it, and tell it.

It is first person like many of Meg Rosoff's books, but this time you are reading exactly what Mila is thinking at the time. And the lack of speech marks helps blur the difference between out-loud speaking and Mila's thoughts on things, and other people. So this effect really helps with the overall feel of the book.

I've also heard criticism that Mila sounds too grownup for a twelve year old. It is true that she does sound very mature, but I don't think she sounds unrealistically so. We must remember how observant she has grown up being, and also that she has grown up with older parents, so is going to see things in a slightly more adult manner, as that's what she's developed with.

The voice of the character is repetitive in many ways: Mila speaks in lots of similar sentences. She also talks about events in the past that don't link to the plot, but help us understand her more. I think it works really well, as it's told so believably.

Was there anything you didn't like?

If I had any criticism's with this one, (which is hard, the author is one of my favorite's!), it would be that in some cases Mila's voice does tend to drone ever so slightly. She goes on in a sort of monotone voice, and there are not very many question or exclamation marks in her speech, or in fact the speech of others.

At times this made it a little hard to concentrate fully, as it was a little ongoing, and dead. However I do not see this fully as a bad thing as it was her character. That's just my thoughts!

Would you recommend it?

Hell yeah! I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend the author as a whole anyway, never mind just this one. Mila's story brought back an observance I think a lot of us can lose if we don't think about it very often. Also, despite the fact it is an intelligent book, it is not hard to read, and it's enjoyable. It has several darker meanings and twists, but is far from sick-lit, and I didn't feel at all depressed about reading it, when it reached the end, like you can with other novels!

Thank you for reading my review of Picture Me Gone, written by Meg Rosoff :-) I hope you enjoyed it!

~Yellow Jane~

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Thirteen Days To Midnight - Patrick Carmen

"Because the Grim Reaper doesn't disappear... He catches up."

The Backstory - No Spoilers, as always!

 Jacob Fielding is a teenage boy, living a hard life. He has been in foster care for as long as he can remember, and the book begins with his first day back at school, after the last foster carer he had was killed in a car accident. Jacob, in fact, was with the man when the car crashed, and it is said to be a miracle he is even still alive.

But the reason soon becomes clear as to why. Somehow, it seems Jacob is invincible. When he says 'I am indestructible' - voila - he is! He also can say 'You are indestructible' to pass the power (temporarily) on to them.

At first he is hesitant to use them. But there's something kind of attractive about saving friends from a school fight, skate-boarding off rooftops, and walking through fire, and it soon becomes something him, along with his group of friends, are doing quite often!

One of these friends is Ophelia James. She's new in town: daring and said to a great beauty. After testing the power herself, Ophelia (referred to as Oh throughout the book) wants to pass the power to others to save them, doing heroic acts and saving lives.

But as things progress, Jacob realises his 'power' is actually becoming more of a curse to him and the ones he gives it to. The classic 'don't be greedy for superpowers' moral tale comes through, and things go a little wrong.

I like the idea; it's clever. You ask yourself the question Jacob asks you at the beginning: What superpower would you want? To fly? To read minds? To be invisible? But it also helps you think a little more logically about it. Reading minds could dig up oddly disturbing information. Being invisible brings up the classic problem of needing invisible clothing. And the list goes on.

What would you want!?

How was it written?

This book was first person, from Jacob's point of view throughout the book. If he wasn't seeing it, it wasn't included. I can't say the writing style was that distinctive or unusual, but it wasn't badly written at all. It really dived into the characters thoughts.

His relationships were also interesting to read about. He was obviously a bit isolated, with the foster care and all, and he only had two real friends, with several minor characters mentioned from his year group. And it was quite realistic in that aspect, describing how some people are popular and others aren't.

All the different characters: Jacob himself, his friends Milo and Ophelia, and his 'enemy', Ethan, all had distinctive personalities that were quite believable, Ethan in particular. It was a little stereo typical as in he was indeed the classic lonely person, but it was good.

The plot however is a different story. It started off very nicely, with the nice idea of being invincible, and them playing out all these ridiculous tests to see just how indestructible they really are. But as it went on I found myself becoming increasingly confused as to why they were doing what they were doing. By the end, I was totally mystified as to what they were doing, and I don't think it helped me get into the book at all!

It ended happily thank God, but still, there was that thought lingering of 'How exactly did it turn out like that?'.

Was there anything you didn't like?

Duh! I've already mentioned the failure in the plot for me. Another thing I found irritating was the way he called her 'Oh' rather than 'Ophelia'. I understand not everyone appreciates these more unusual names but it confused some paragraphs and sentences for me, by saying things like 'Oh, then I did... *etc.*'. This left me wondering if he meant 'Oh!' or Oh-short-for-Ophelia.

Then there was the classic problem which practically all books have, if they're written by older people: believable text-speak. I have had this before in books like 'A Fault In Our Stars'. Adults need to remember these are teens speaking. So perfectly spelt, grammatically perfect sentences with no emoticons ( :-) ) or x's (kisses) aren't really very solid, I find.

I also struggled to grasp exactly why Jacob cared about Ophelia as much as he did. There didn't seem to be any massive connection between them conveyed, although it was well written as a friendship. I actually found the girl a little annoying and couldn't see why he stuck with her as problems arose later in the book.

And one other thing: the title. It built up through the book, starting with THIRTEEN DAYS TO MIDNIGHT dramatically taking up a page, right down to 1 DAY and so on. But when it got there I didn't get what midnight was actually meant to be, other than it was the conclusion of the story.

Would you recommend it?

Yes, although it wouldn't be the top of my list for a birthday present. It's not cheery holiday reading: put it that way. And it's certainly not 100 % easy to follow.

But it was fun, and it was an interesting concept, and I thought the author mainly explored that well, without being silly. It made me think logically about these superpowers we say we want in throw away remarks, and it was fun!

Thank you for reading my review of 'Thirteen Days to Midnight' by Patrick Carmen :)

~Yellow Jane~