Thoughts on: Beautiful People in Books (And Love!)

You know how it seems like almost every YA book features a romance involving two (sometimes three) stunning characters? Ever read a book and thought, why do these people not look normal? Why can't they be ugly!

Well, I read a book I enjoyed. After rating the book on Goodreads and writing my review, I looked around to see others' reactions to the book. One person said something very interesting: why can't that guy the main character likes be ugly? Why does he have to be hot?

That made sense in a way. I mean, the world is not filled with stunningly attractive people. At the same time though, and I may not know too much about this, but don't you have to be attracted to the person you love? Don't you have to think they're beautiful? Can you be in a real relationship with someone whom you consider ugly?

I'm not being superficial here. I'm saying that some people, you look at them and think "Damn, that's hot." But others, maybe you'll notice they have great eyes or hair. There will be initial attraction. From there, don't people in love usually notice all the great things about their partner after they got to know their personality? So of course, in a story that is told in the biased perspective of one fallen-in-love character, there are beautiful people.

Would you call your (good) friends ugly? I wouldn't. So maybe that's why there aren't so many real "ugly" characters in books. It's hard to imagine an ugly character, and unless it's some kind of enemy. The main character usually perceives their loved ones as beautiful. That doesn't mean they are the drop dead gorgeous model some people imagine in their heads- it just means that they are beautiful to the characters, and from there the reader gives them a look based on their own definition of beauty.

*all images were pertained from the awesome website, http://www.sxc.hu/

What do you guys think of that? Agree, disagree, is this completely wrong? 

Review: Those That Wake

Author: Jesse Karp
Pages: 336
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Source: Library
Synopsis: New York City’s spirit has been crushed. People walk the streets with their heads down, withdrawing from one another and into the cold comfort of technology. Teenagers Mal and Laura have grown up in this reality. They’ve never met. Seemingly, they never will. 


But on the same day Mal learns his brother has disappeared, Laura discovers her parents have forgotten her. Both begin a search for their families that leads them to the same truth: someone or something has wiped the teens from the memories of every person they have ever known. Thrown together, Mal and Laura must find common ground as they attempt to reclaim their pasts.

Buy the Book (Amazon/The Book Depository)

Those That Wake has the appearance of a book about zombies but, you should know, it isn't. The book is instead about helplessness and fighting it.

To be honest, after finishing the last page my reaction was "What happened?" I was thoroughly confused. I couldn't really grasp the concept Jesse Karp was using so many things had me puzzled. I read one passage three or four times and still didn't understand what was going on. Maybe someone else will understand or there could have been better explanations. You had to pay very very close attention to understand what was going on and I honestly wasn't willing to put that much effort in a book I had hoped would entertain me.

The characters... What can I say? I didn't actively like any of them. I thought they ranged from "I hate them" to "normal." I just couldn't seem to connect with them or what they did. For example, the "romance." It didn't make sense. It wasn't needed. Does all it take for love to appear is a girl to see a guy? There wasn't any foreplay. No one ever questioned their feelings. They just felt protective from the start. I couldn't understand it.

The world building wasn't really amazing. I couldn't tell if this world was supposed to be a near future or an advanced future. They referenced 9/11 so it could be near but based on how people were so technologically advanced I really don't know. We were told people never looked up from screens. Besides a few events, I couldn't really picture the New York in Those That Wake.

You may have gotten the impression I wasn't too impressed by Those That Wake,but there were good things. A lot of cool stuff happened like Laura being forgotten and having to deal with that. The characters' backgrounds were also interesting. Those That Wake make you want to stop using the Internet and testing all the time and instead look around the world. It also raises awareness of media's influences.

This book wasn't the book for me. I couldn't get into it, I didn't find myself liking the characters, the plot confused me... Definitely not for me. I'm sure someone else may enjoy this book. If Sci-fi with conspiracies against media and corporations is your thing, you'll probably like this. 2 stars,

**

Book Trailers (x5)

It's been a while since I've posted some book trailers, so I decided to check some out on YouTube. As always, the best ones I decided to share.

Dreamless has an incredible trailer. It grabs your attention and I love it!



Yes, yes, I know, Insurgent has come out ages ago. But I saw the trailer for the first time and I want to share it with the world.




And again, probably the last one to see this trailer too, but whatever. I read the book and it's cool to see a trailer and recognize the scenes.




This one is not by Harper Teen (I'm all for variety) and it looks really good too. It's called Whisper and I've never heard of this book before, but I think I may have to seek it out. I think they did an excellent job with the trailer.




I probably shouldn't have watched the next trailer since I haven't read From Bad to Cursed yet, but it didn't spoil anything for me. Plus the trailer is interesting.



So I hope you enjoyed those! And have a great Tuesday! :)

Review: Savannah Grey

Author: Cliff McNish
Pages: 234
Publisher: Orion Children's
Source: Library
Synopsis: 15 year old Savannah Grey has never felt she's belonged. She keeps her distance, so she's surprised by her attraction to the new boy Reece. Then strange things begin to happen: nature, it seems, is exerting an overpowering force on the world. Birds behave strangely; gusts of wind blow leaves so fiercely they seem to lure people away. And Savannah learns she has supernatural powers. Nature has a purpose for Savannah and her friends. For they are on course to meet the vile and evil Orcrassa, who wants to destroy the world by corrupting nature. And it wants Savannah Grey to help realise its savage intent.


Buy the Book (Amazon/ The Book Depository)

When I picked up Savannah Grey, I didn't know how I'd like the book. I knew there were monsters in the story and a certain creep factor but that's it. Was it a werewolf story? Vampire? Faeries? No, it's about monsters and it's an utterly unique story.

Savannah has this... thing in her throat. It's not something bad. Quite the opposite- it feels precious to her and she want to protect it. With that knowledge of her specialness we meet Savannah. Savannah is otherwise like any other teenager. Her friend Nina tries to set her up with guys but she's still waiting for the right one. She's been in foster care and has a hard time letting people in. But Savannah's loyal though and loves deeply. She's a compassionate person and I liked her. Her reactions made sense. She wasn't too heroic or too cowardly.

I have to say, the focus of the story was less about the characters than the actual plot itself which made for some interesting characters which weren't fully explained or explored. I don't think I know the cast as well as I want to but well enough so that I do care about them.

Now to the story... Wow, oh wow. Savannah Grey is told in predictably Savannah Grey's perspective but in some chapters/parts we get backstory about this very creepy villain, the Orcassa, a monstrous creature. I was so fascinated with the monsters. They were different and the backstory was so interesting and twisted but I couldn't help loving those parts and wondering how the plot would work. Then at the end when Mr. Cliff McNish revealed this hidden twist I was shocked. But also jumping up and down thinking that was an excellent plot device and very fitting of the villain. Needless to say, the story was the kind that pulls you in and at the end you feel content and happy.

I'm not sure at this moment if there's a sequel. The book ended in a way that a sequel isn't needed but if there was one, I'd be excited to read it.

All in all, if you're looking for a great story of love, with evil, friendship and nature, you should definitely consider Savannah Grey. It's a unique reading experience- in the best way possible. 4 stars,

****

The Weekly Progress

The Weekly Progress is supposed to be a weekly post basically recapping my week(s) in books. It's basically my version of a wrap up post (just a day late). All pictures link to Goodreads.

Currently Reading

I'm reading two books at once which is kind of weird. I was originally reading Slice of Cherry but I had to spend the night somewhere and I realized I forgot to bring it with me. So now I'm reading Ashes. I'll go back to Slice of Cherry though. 

Previously Read

I wrote a review for, I think, all of these books. So stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for those! (Or just friend me on Goodreads to see what I rated the books.) I can say City of Lost Souls was my favourite of all these books. 

Next I'll Be Reading

It was a pretty good week

Let's Talk: E-Books vs. Real Books

This is my first time doing Let's Talk, a feature at i swim for oceans. It's a basically a feature all about discussion. 

Question: Do you prefer real books or those on your e-reader, and why?

I prefer real books. This is a really obvious answer for me because just yesterday, I realized I hadn't seen or even thought of my Kobo e-reader for more than a month. (Don't worry, I found it.) 

I love reading books on my Kobo, it feels like it's so high tech and it's light and pretty. It's this clean white on the front with the lilac textury thing at the back. At the same time, it still feels like something I force myself to do. It isn't very natural and maybe that'll change if I bother to use it more, but there's something to be said about opening up a new hard cover read, with the way the brand new pages feel and the smell of new book. (Does anyone else enjoy that?) 

I also feel really guilty whenever I read a book on my Kobo. I feel like I'm destroying a tradition and as much as I love technology, I don't want real books to disappear. (It's irrational, I know.) 

So that's why I prefer real books to ebooks. Thoughts? 

Cover Wars: Want vs. What's Left of Me

Cover Wars is when I post two covers, and you basically get a week to vote for your favourite. The winner continues on to next week, and it's kind of cool seeing which covers work and which don't. In the comments section we can discuss what we like about what cover, and it's basically some fun competition.

Want by Stephanie Lawton is really on a roll here. It seems to be steamrolling the competition! This week, Want will compete against What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang, which features another pretty cover. I'm very curious to see which cover will win this battle. They're both very different and it's up to you guys to pick whichever one you prefer by voting on the sidebar to the right. Let the Cover Wars... begin!

vs

Have a great weekend guys and if you find any more beautiful covers, please let me know in the comments! Oh, and remember to vote!!!