The Devil Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger (book review/movie tie-in)

High fashion, bitchy gossipy girls, and a confused, fresh-out-of-college girl looking for her first foray into the adult world. I really enjoy the coming-of-age stories that pertain specifically to college-age adults, who have never really been in the adult world before. The story was not necessarily well-written but it did have its moments. The characters weren't exactly deep, but they were at least realistic. The story didn't flow very well, because there were several jumps in time, which would often happen in the middle of the page with no transitioning, and no page break to indicate that this was a different time, a different memory, or a different event. It was actually really difficult to determine where in the story the narrator was when she began telling it- she acts like all the beginning events happened in the far past, but she is not telling the story from the chronological end of events, either. The timeline was hard to figure out as well, with the terrible transitions and not even a mention of time passing until a chapter after the shift supposedly took place.

Humorous, and frustrating, and sometimes intelligent... but overall disappointing. The high fashion girls were stereotypical, the boyfriend was redeemable but weak... The only character I really enjoyed was Christian, the bad-boy writer who wants to help Andy in her career, and obviously is romantically interested. She lusts after him, but even after she and her boyfriend split, she still ignores him. He was the only character that I was actually rooting for- I wanted him to get the girl. In the end, no one gets the girl, Andy doesn't learn anything about how to survive in the professional world, the boss never gets her comeuppance, and Andy and her roommate are living back with her parents. Really? Is this the moral? That you can bust your ass for a year but you still have to move back home to your parents' house? There was no character development, no lessons learned, and ultimately no point. Lily, after slipping into a coma upon the car crash she causes, actually does "begin" coping with her alcoholism. And that is the 400-plus page book in a nutshell. I give 2 stars- it was just ok. Mildly entertaining, mindless time-consuming words... If you're in the mood for a brain nap and several hours to waste, this is the book for you!

The movie, however, was actually kind of redeeming for me. Anne Hathaway can play pretty much any role with grace, and come on.. Meryl Streep? Ya, I can sit through that much easier than the damn book! Cute man candy and a co-starring Emily Blunt add enough entertainment value to make it worthwhile, as well.

Red Glove by Holly Black, Curse Workers #2

Finally a sequel that takes all the excitement, wonder, and mystery of the world that is introduced in its predecessor, and flips it back onto the reader in such a way that it actually adds to those qualities. Instead of growing familiar- and therefore bored- with the universe, I was more drawn in and I was more emotionally invested than before. Only the truly best fantasy worlds do this, like Harry Potter's world or that of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. 

The characters are so real. The relationships between them are far from cliche, and their complexity allows insight into not just the fictional characters but into our relationships in the real world as well. It is so refreshing to have a paranormal young adult novel play with the themes of love and lust and desire without overworking them or letting them overrun the actual storyline. The side plots are a help in making the fantasy of the novel come to life in more ways than one- it's so interesting to see how these supernatural powers affect relationships between people and how their emotions are conflicting but not angsty. More telling, though, are the familial relationships. Often in young adult stories parents are strongly stereotyped. In this series they are just as realistic as the teenagers, and as such they have just as complex relationships with their children as you would expect to find in your own house, or maybe the house next door. Cassel is so torn between wanting to protect his criminal family and wanting to be a normal guy, but the thing is he never comes out and says it. He hints, but subtly, that he is exhausted with his floozy, over-the-top mother and his reckless and obnoxious brothers. Yet he still loves them, he still fights for them, and he still keeps his ties to them open. He should hate his mother but he just protects her, and shows that familial love is unconditional. No matter how many times your own mother curses you to agree with her emotionally, at the end of the day she's still your mother. You still love her, need her, and depend on her. 

This series has a firm hold in my favorites list, and I'm absolutely positive my heart will never stop aching for the tragically beautiful love between Cassel, Lila, and their families. I just want to walk into the pages of this book, slip between the lines of text and curl up between the letters in the words, and stay there. If I pretend like I belong long enough, maybe the story will accept me and let me live between it's covers forever.

Updating my book challenge!

I'm actually going to attempt 100 books this year, since I am already 12 books ahead of the recommended reading schedule for the 50 books. And, I feel like 50 books wouldn't actually be a "challenge" for me. So, laterkins while I go read (I am one book behind the recommended schedule according to Good Reads.)

Oh yeah! Add me on good reads!! :)

http:/www.goodreads.com/beetle1211

White Cat by Holly Black review (Curseworkers #1)

So, today I finished the first novel in the Curseworkers series by Holly Black. I had heard a lot of hype about Holly Black in general but I have never actually gotten around to reading one of her novels. I am actually really impressed, and I think that her writing lived up to the overall good opinion and reviews.

So, White Cat starts out with Cassel and his sleepwalking dream state that makes him follow a cat who has stolen his tongue onto the roof of his boarding school.The veil between dream and reality is thinned by the sleepwalking, and leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader- how much of these events are actually happening to him and how much are only in his dreams?

I found the world to be fascinating. I think I would be rather paranoid of the "workers"- who can do things like change another's emotions, alter their dreams, physically hurt them, change or delete their memories, or even kill them with just a slight touch of a finger. These characters wear gloves constantly, because a bare hand could mean that you are susceptible to being "worked" by them. I really like what Black has done in making it to where these powerful curseworkers- living among people who have no abilities whatsoever- actually have repercussions with every single curse they work. This blowback that they feel after they've cursed someone adds some complexity and believability to the world, and the overall paranoia that non-workers have surrounding them at all times makes the universe feel dark, dangerous, and suspicious of everyone.

Adding Cassel's hate/love relationship with his family which is full of workers, and his own lack of powers to this mix creates motives and ambitions and desires that never even have to be fully spelled out by the author. The characters are emotionally and psychologically deep, and the thrilling plot teeming with twists, mysteries, suspense, and the side dashes of love, humor, and sarcasm within this world all made me really enjoy the story. I'm totally entranced, and I haven't been this captivated by a fantasy novel in quite a long time. I have already picked up the second book in the series and I plan to devour it just as quickly as I did the first.

Congrats, Holly Black. You've given me a reason to fall in love with young adult fantasy literature once again!

50 Books Challenge- March

So here is the full list of books I have completed so far this year, up until April 1st. Those that I had to read for my courses are denoted with an asterisk*.

1.The Hobbit- JRR Tolkien*
2.The Help- Kathryn Stockett
3. An Abundance of Katherines- John Green
4. The Fellowship of the Ring- JRR Tolkien*
5. My Antonia- Willa Cather*
6. Sweet Tooth- Ian McEwan
7. John Dies At the End- David Wong
8. The Two Towers- JRR Tolkien
9. World War Z- Max Brooks
10. The Dollmaker- Harriet Arnow*
11. The Return of the King- JRR Tolkien*
12. The Color Purple- Alice Walker*
13. Crossed- Ally Condie
14. Reached- Ally Condie
15. Shiver- Maggie Stiefvater
16. Linger- Maggie Stiefvater
17. Forever- Maggie Stiefvater
18. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight (Sir Orfeo, and Pearl)- JRR Tolkien*
19. The Women of Brewster Place- Gloria Naylor*
20. Looking for Alaska- John Green
21. Paper Towns- John Green
22. The Fault In Our Stars- John Green


The literature courses that I'm taking this semester are American Women Regionalists, Tolkien Literature, and Medieval Welsh Literature. These are special topics courses which fall under larger headings (Modern American Literature, Modern British Literature, and Medieval Literature and Culture).

Get to reading! Cheerio.