Month: December 2010

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: How it Ends by Laura Wiess

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: How it Ends by Laura Wiess

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, How it Ends by Laura Weiss. It is one of those that just captures you right away. It is a quick read and Weiss does a great job making interesting characters that readers can relate to.

I would classify the novel as having a split personality disorder meaning it could be classified as a Young Adult (YA) and adult book as one main character is a high school student and the other is an older woman.

Hanna (the high school character) is really engaging and captures the essence of a young teen struggling with the heart break of her first love. Every girl goes through that rude awaking moment when they realize their life isn’t going to turn out like a Walt Disney movie and Hanna does a great job of conveying those feelings of disappointment.

Her boyfriend, Seth, is such an asshole though that it’s hard to understand Hanna’s ‘love’ for him at some points, it made it more difficult to like him but at the same time, Hanna did a great job reminding the reader what attracts girls to guys like Seth in the first place at that age–at any rate Seth as a total loser and Hanna just can’t stay away from him.

One of the things Seth points out to Hanna is that she reads too much and lives her life in fiction. Everyone has a story (in most cases STRANGER than fiction) and some times it’s so easy to get lost in someone else’s reality. Being an avid reader I can sympathize with Hanna, it is sometimes hard to see the line between fiction and reality. Continue reading “Review: How it Ends by Laura Wiess” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Funny, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith

The satirical novel by Seth Grahame-Smith and of course Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has been gaining a very large cult following of readers. I was very hesitant to read this novel as I worried the zombies element would somehow desecrate the timeless tale.

I have read many other PP spinoffs over the years and often found myself disappointed. I had to go into this book with an open mind and know that it would NEVER be the same as the original and was really meant to be something more light-hearted and funny rather than a serious novel.

There has lately been a huge resurgence in the interest of zombies (like so many other supernatural characters)—I have enjoyed many hours of the Plants vs. Zombies video game and confess hearing the zombies chant ‘brains’ and growl is nothing short of hysterical. So in essence I was intrigued and decided to pick up the book and being with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised by the entire tale. Continue reading “Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Reading

Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

I was wondering through Borders quite some time ago and when a colorful, bright orange book cover with a curious upside-down dog cut out in the middle of the book caught my attention.

I picked it up and read the back cover and decided to buy it and put it in my ‘to read’ stack. Well I couldn’t ignore the book any longer, the orange cover beckoned me.

I have to say this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon bordered on the odd, eccentric side but that’s what made it so great.

The story begins with the death of a neighbors dog (Wellington) and is told from young Christopher’s perspective. Christopher knows every prime number, all the countries in the world, he hates being touched and hates the color yellow and above all he relates better to animals than people.

It took me a while to understand what was going on here, at first I thought Christopher was just a young child but he is really autistic. The story is brilliant and told with such unique insight into the human psyche, it is truly a smart and ingenious read!

For me the little details of the novel were what made it really shine. Every chapter is a prime number and the little pictures, diagrams, and schedules which are drawn/written by Christopher really demonstrate his perspective. The reader is immediately drawn into this poor boy’s mind and uses Chrisopher’s reasoning to try and make heads or tails of what ‘murder’ of the dog Wellington. His perspective is so logical it is difficult to NOT identify with the narrator easily and use his rational. Eventually though (almost before you know it) the audience realizes what is going on around them and begins picking up on the subtle social cues that Christopher cannot which is what makes the story that much more moving. Continue reading “Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon” →