A Few of My Summer Reads

So, I’ve been doing a lot of summer reading and thought I’d post a few reviews I’ve written of some of the books that I’ve read.  Let me know what you think of them.  And I’ll be reviewing more of my reads soon.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell:

CW: Strong language, themes of abuse, neglect, racism and fat-shaming, use of racist, homophobic and ableist terms.

After reading this book, I’m not sure what to think of it.  This book, which takes place in the mid-1980’s, is about two teens, Eleanor and Park, who live totally different lives.  Eleanor, who has red hair (a fact that’s relevant in the book), is the oldest of a large group of siblings and lives in a bad household with her abusive stepfather.  Eleanor is deprived of a lot of basic necessities (her family doesn’t even buy shampoo), and no one knows about the abuse in her home.  Park is a biracial teen (his mother is Korean and his dad is Caucasian) and struggles to fit into his culture.  Park is a huge fan of comics and music.  When these two teens meet each other for the first time, they develop an immediate connection that they never want to let go of.  Initially, I was a huge fan of Rowell’s book Fangirl so I was quite excited to read this one.  Some parts of the book are beautifully written and you can tell Rowell really wanted people to love and sympathize with both Eleanor and Park.  However, parts of this book are not so pleasant and some other parts were totally offensive.  First of all, Rowell really stereotyped Asian people, most especially Korean people.  The way she wrote about them was a bit disconcerting at times, and she even used some slurs when she shouldn’t have, but that’s not where it ends.  She also uses two other slurs, the “R word” which is used towards disabled people and a slur used towards gay people.  I don’t know why Rowell put all these offensive terms in the book; maybe because it takes places in the 80’s, she wanted to capture what teens used back then.  Regardless though, Rowell shouldn’t have used these terms.  As far as I know, Rowell is not Asian, gay or disabled so she has no right to use any of these slurs.  Overall, I had very mixed feelings about this book and I would have a very hard time recommending it to anyone.

We Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman:

CW: Strong language, crude dialogue, themes of addiction, divorce and mental illness

And yet another book I don’t know how to feel about (at least it has no slurs in it)!  We Are Inevitable is about a teenager, Aaron, who lives with his dad, Ira, in their little bookstore, Bluebird Books, that Ira has been running since long before Aaron was born.  However, after a series of tragic events, Aaron’s parents divorced and Ira can’t afford to keep the store going.  So, Aaron goes behind Ira’s back and sells the store.  Then, when some new friends start showing up trying to help bring the bookstore back to it’s former glory, Aaron starts to wonder what the right thing to do really is.  Once again, parts of this book are good.  Forman is a really good writer, and the characters are very diverse. Aaron is Jewish and one character, Chad, is disabled and uses a wheelchair, and another character, Ike, has a wife who deals with chronic illness (fibromyalgia). I also love how each of the different chapters are named after different books (from books like A Wrinkle in Time and The Giving Tree to more adult titles like Fight Club and Gone Girl)!  And Bluebird Books, though fictional, actually sounded like a pretty cool place to visit.  However, I found Aaron to be extremely annoying at times.  He was incredibly rude to his father and “friends” like, for example, when some construction workers tried to build a wheelchair ramp for more accessibility Aaron basically threw a tantrum about it.  Also, his relationship with him and his girlfriend was awful but thankfully I think that was intentional and shouldn’t send any bad messages.  I mean look, dude, just because you’ve been through a lot doesn’t give you a right to act like a total jerk to everyone around you. Overall, while I enjoyed some parts of the book, others I didn’t.  So, I have mixed feelings about this one as well but wouldn’t tell you not to read it.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen:

CW: Divorce, some violence, plane crash

I don’t know why I decided to read this but just wanted something different, I guess.  This book is about a boy, Brian, who’s parents just divorced; and while on a plane to visit his father, Brian’s plane crashes and strands Brian in the Canadian Wilderness.  So, Brian has to figure out to survive in the wilderness left with nothing but a hatchet his mother gave him.  This book, while very suspenseful at times (the beginning and ending were very well written), is also flat at other times.  I mean Brian is pretty much the only character in the book (with the exception of some wild animal companions), so there’s basically almost no dialogue.  Paulsen also pulls what I like to call “a Tolkien” at different points as he describes in great length the forest around Brian.  However, I will give Paulsen credit for not making Brian annoying or anything like that.  The book could actually be surprisingly disturbing at times, though, and at those times you definitely couldn’t say the book was boring.  Overall, I once again had mixed feelings about this book but thankfully did not find it problematic and wouldn’t say don’t read it.

The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey:

CW: Violence, strong language, some crude dialogue

Wow!  That’s the word I think best describes this book, The 5^th Wave, which is about a teenage girl, Cassie (short for Cassiopia), who is one of the last surviving humans after a group of extraterrestrials invades Earth and leaves nothing but devastation. There have been 4 waves of destruction and the 5^th wave is coming.  The waves have taken Cassie’s parents but she thinks her little brother is still alive and sets off to find him, even if it may very well be the last thing she does.  This book was incredibly suspenseful!  I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen to Cassie next and to the other characters that were introduced throughout the book.  There’s all kinds of twists and turns, such as the reemergence of Cassie’s childhood crush, another unexpected romance (in more ways than one), and a plot twist that makes you realize some of these E.T.’s might not be so bad.  Yes, parts of this book are disturbing but parts are also worth reading.  However, I don’t think I will continue the series because I read some of the reviews for the next book and it sounds like the series might take a not-so-great turn (though I could change my mind about continuing the series).  Overall, I would highly recommend this book!

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram:

CW: Some language, nudity, themes of mental illness, c*ncer and racism discrimination against religious group (Bahai religion)

I love this book so much!  This book is about a biracial Iranian-American boy (his mother’s Iranian and his father is Caucasian), Darius, who loves Lord of the Rings, Star Trek and tea.  Darius has depression and struggles with the stigma that’s around it.  Darius also struggles with his relationship with his father who seems to have things a lot more put together than Darius does.  When Darius finds out his grandfather is very ill, he and his family go off to Iran to meet his mother’s side of the family that he’s never met.  And when he makes friends with his grandparents’ neighbor, Sohrab, Darius finally finds that best friend he never had.  First of all, this book is a tear-jerker so have some tissues on hand.  Second of all, there are so many things I love about this book!  Darius is such a great protagonist!  You start to love his character almost immediately, and his friendship with Sohrab was so sweet to watch (I love it when we have healthy friendships between guys!); and I loved how realistic Darius’s depression was.  I found it very similar to some of my mental health struggles; and like Darius, I hate it when people ask “What are you anxious/depressed about?”  Darius’s relationship with his family was also very sweet, and I loved watching the character development.  I also loved the “Darius-isms” (e.g. “soulless minions of orthodoxy” Ha!); I might just be quoting that one!  Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone of any age!