"Real World"
(Or, I review almost every John Green book in one big post)
(Or, I review almost every John Green book in one big post)
Read it. John Green has become quite adept at writing realistic, yet original teenage characters. Gus, Hazel, and Isaac are some of the best examples of this. The book is a bit on the cheesy side if you step back and think about it, but it's high school romance. That's okay. Besides being a really good rom-nov, it's also really deep. It explores sickness and death and hope and love in a way that you don't often see in fiction. It stirs your soul and gives you a new viewpoint on people whose stories are not often told this way. It feels very real, very honest.
Set in the 80s, Eleanor and Park is a beautiful story about love and secrets and comic books and mix tapes. It's such a... pretty book. Which is weird, because it's actually quite dark. Eleanor and Park are both very different characters that what you would normally read about. Park is quiet and shy and small and elegant and Asian. Eleanor is big and obvious and new and fat and ginger. There's also hardly any dialogue in the book, which is really hard to pull off. A lot of it happens in their heads. It's very poetically written. This book is kinda hit and miss with people, some -- like me -- love it, and others (like Holly) don't. But it's a very unique and lovely romance, so if that strikes your fancy, read it.
by Rainbow Rowell
Fangirl is verrry different from Eleanor and Park. Cath is off to college, and literally everything in her life is changing. She is a super nerdy, socially awkward fanfiction writer who is terrified of change and being on her own. Her twin sister, Wren, is ready to grow up, to be her own person, much to Cath's terror. I love how Rowell explores growing up and loving a story and basically says "Hey, it's okay to be a nerd. It's cool to be a fangirl. And it's definitely okay to let go of some things." I really connected to this book and highly recommend it to anyone who would rather read Destiel fanfiction,or rewatch A Very Potter Musical or cry over "The Angels Take Manhattan" than deal with the real world. Oh, and Rainbow Rowell just recently published a book about Simon Snow, who Cath writes fanfic about in Fangirl. So that's super exciting.
by E. Lockhart
This book is amazing. I really don't know how much to tell you, because it's a book you just have to read. Basically, think "perfect," upper-class family with secrets and issues galore. This book is... shocking, and heart breaking, and so elegantly written. It's a bit of a ghost story, a bit of a mystery, a bit of an exposé. I realize this is the most vague description of a book ever, but I really, really think you just need to read it.
by Ned Vizzini
Craig Gilner has worked hard for what he wants since forever. But now it's all too much. After enrolling in the school of his dreams, Craig gets overwhelmed and becomes very anxious and depressed. He gets suicidal and ends up in mental hospital. The book is partially based of Vizzini's experience in a psychiatric hospital. It's a different view on depression, and mental illness in general. I, being slightly obsessed with psychology, really liked this book. It feels far more accurate than most books about depression/suicide. Craig has issues, but he never blames it on people, he doesn't play the victim. Which is refreshing to read.
by John Green
The first book John Green published, this book is so good and so frustrating. John Green doesn't wrap everything up and explain it nicely, the way you'd like a book to. No, he writes it like it's life: Sometimes you don't understand why. This book has some of the most amazing quotes and really showcases John Green's talent as a wordsmith. There's so many wonderful things about this book; the antics everyone gets into, the mix of humor and tragedy, the suspense, the mystery, the characterization of Alaska and her contradictory-ness, the 10th Anniversary cover (I'm in love with this cover), the quirks of all the characters.
Yeah, okay, I really like John Green's writing. Paper Towns might be favorite of his books. For those of you unfamiliar with the books, Paper Towns is about a boy named Quentin. Q has a plan for his life. He wants the stereotypical American dream. He'll graduate, go to a good college, get a good job, have a family and house with a white picket fence. One night, Margo Roth Spiegelman -- his adventurous, slightly crazy, super attractive neighbor -- brings him along for a madcap night of revenge. Q has the best night of his life and is sure that afterwards the two will be best friends (at the very least). But the next day, Margo is gone. Q and his friends search for Margo, eventually going on a cross-country road trip, looking for a girl who doesn't want to be found and a town that doesn't exist. This book explores life and personhood -- both our own and everyone else's.
by Esther Earl
The story of Esther Earl, a girl who died of cancer at sixteen years old. She inspired John Green to write the Fault in Our Stars, but her tale rarely gets the attention it deserves. This book will very much make you rethink how you live your life and give you a new perspective on things you used to take for granted (like breathing). It's such a wake-up call, I guess. I made it to page seven before crying, so there's that. Reading about Esther's life and then death will probably make you mad. It made me furious. I will give you a word of advice: Use that emotion and do something constructive with it. I don't care what, but I think a huge reason we need to read about Esther and others like her is to try to change things and make them better.
by Stephen Chbosky
Gritty, dark, and intriguing, this book is a very honest look at high school life from the perspective of a wallflower. The main character, Charlie, is the quiet, chill type that everyone likes and accepts because he will never judge. Two seniors, Sam and Patrick, take him under their wing and show him all sorts of things. One of my friends said this book was the epitome of teenage angst, with every single thing that teens deal with in it -- sex, drugs, homosexuality, abuse... You name it, it's probably in Perks. I do really like the book, though. There's something... Relatable about it. I would recommend it. Plus it has a really good mixtape mentioned that you can find on Spotify.
by Jon Krakauer
The non-fiction account of Chris McCandless, who trekked across the U.S. (and some of Mexico) for about two years before ending up in Alaska, where he died. I really admire Chris. He had guts, and there's no denying he was smart. He was an idealist of the highest order, and he lived what he believed. I get what drove him. It's a wonderful mystery. It wouldn't be nonfiction if everything was cleared up. I wanted to hitchhike across America after I read it. Krakauer does an amazing job tying McCandless's story to similar stories from the past -- including his own. This is a really, really good book.
*Denotes mature content (i.e. language, sexual content)
P.S. There are links to the books on Amazon if you click the titles.
