Every You, Every Me by David Levithan

Every You, Every Me by David Levithan

Release Date: September 13th 2011
Pages: 245
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Random House Canada
Buy It: Book Depository

Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself.

I absolutely adored the last two books I read by David Levithan (The Lover's Dictionary and Will Grayson, Will Grayson), so I was pretty excited to pick up his latest– a novel inspired by a set of haunting photographs taken my Jonathan Farmer and e-mailed to him one at a time as he wrote the book. The premise was also intriguing, but although I didn't dislike Every You, Every Me, I was disappointed I couldn't fall in love with it either.

The use of strike out when writing is sometimes effective, I appreciated it in Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson for example, but I found it mostly distracting here. The writing is sparse but has an impact, and the book is a lot darker than anything I've read by Levithan before (for example, Boy Meets Boy) but feels genuine. Every You, Every Me takes on some important issues, though I won't be more specific to avoid spoiling it, and it does so with eloquence and authenticity. The novel itself is just as eerie as the cover would indicate.

Every You, Every Me is filled with the kind of angst and emotional struggle I probably would have had more appreciation for if I'd been reading the book as a teen, instead of in my early twenties. I felt very disconnected from all the characters in this book, and therefore wasn't invested in what happened to them, or had happened to them. YA is usually a genre that I love, even if I'm not in the intended age bracket, but maybe teens would better relate to Every You, Every Me than I did. Of course, I'm certainly not giving up on Levithan– I just won't be rereading this specific book of his.

R.I.P. Adrienne Rich

I've only reviewed one book of hers on this little blog of mine, The Dream of A Common Language, but Adrienne Rich has been a huge inspiration to me over the past few years. I actually discovered her in the only upper-level English course I took, Modern American Poets, where I fell in love with Diving Into The Wreck. Her sharp images and strong political voice gave her writing a unique and memorable edge to it, even if you didn't always agree with what she was saying. I have read four of her books, and it reassures me to know that there are still many left waiting for me– some as near by as my book shelf– even as I saddened that there will not be any more. I find it so inspiring that she continued to work and publish even as she got older, and though 82 is not young, I can't help wishing she had just a little longer to grace the world with her words.

I feel the best homage is to simply share some of those words for those of you who have not stumbled upon her genius and passion. Here they are:

“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you...it means that you do not treat your body as a commodity with which to purchase superficial intimacy or economic security; for our bodies to be treated as objects, our minds are in mortal danger. It means insisting that those to whom you give your friendship and love are able to respect your mind. It means being able to say, with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre: "I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all the extraneous delights should be withheld or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.

Responsibility to yourself means that you don't fall for shallow and easy solutions--predigested books and ideas...marrying early as an escape from real decisions, getting pregnant as an evasion of already existing problems. It means that you refuse to sell your talents and aspirations short...and this, in turn, means resisting the forces in society which say that women should be nice, play safe, have low professional expectations, drown in love and forget about work, live through others, and stay in the places assigned to us. It means that we insist on a life of meaningful work, insist that work be as meaningful as love and friendship in our lives. It means, therefore, the courage to be "different"...The difference between a life lived actively, and a life of passive drifting and dispersal of energies, is an immense difference. Once we begin to feel committed to our lives, responsible to ourselves, we can never again be satisfied with the old, passive way.”

-Adrienne Rich (1929-2012)

Mini Reviews: Birthmarked and Fracture Tie-In Short Stories

So one of the great things about the internet is that many authors have started to release tie-in short stories to accompany their novels. Of course, nothing too curial can happen in these (they save that for the books!) but it does give the reader the chance to get some added insight, often from a different character perspective. And the best part is when, like the two I'm reviewing today, they're free.

Tortured is set between Caragh O'Brien's debut novel, Birthmarked and its sequel, Prized. I think it works best if you've already read the first two books, just because there were some aspects of Prized that I didn't expect, and if I'd picked up Tortured first that would ruin them. Definitely not to be read until after Birthmarked though!

This short story is written from Leon's perspective, and it gives the reader a chance to experience first hand what a strong character he is. The Birthmarked Trilogy is really driven by the strong, female, lead character Gaia, so it was nice to see that O'Brien gave her a courageous love interest. Tortured is also heart-breaking because Leon, like Gaia, doesn't know if the other has survived. Having read Prized, and knowing what happens next, makes Tortured all the more painful. Overall, a nice short addition to a fantastic trilogy, recommended if you loved the books.

In Fracture, Megan Miranda's debut novel, a lot changes in eleven minutes for Delaney Maxwell. Those are the eleven minutes she spends trapped under the ice, while her best friend Decker tries to save her. In the free tie-in short story, Eleven Minutes, the reader gets the beginning of Fracture from Decker's perspective, including the time Delaney spends in a coma. Because Eleven Minutes is written from Decker's perspective and takes place early on, there is no hint of the paranormal that haunts Fracture. The result was actually a short story I preferred to the full novel.

Unlike Tortured, I actually think Eleven Minutes works on its own as a short story, but if you read it without having picked up Fracture it will likely leave you desperate for answers about what happens next.

I think what surprised me most about Eleven Minutes was what a compelling contemporary story it was– it even left me hopeful that Miranda decides to write a full-length contemporary in the future. There were also some beautiful phrases, like "Is this how it feels to drown? Maybe you didn’t even realize you were cold, dead, until something living touched you." And of course, having a look into the events from Decker's perspective only made me more fond of him.

Ultimately Tortured and Eleven Minutes are very different, but what they have in common is that they are two short stories, two different love interests having their say, and two great, quick reads for fans of the books they accompany.

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Release Date: October 13th 2011
Pages: 458
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Publisher: Penguin
Buy It: Book Depository

When Sara wins a  scholarship to study ballet, she moves to a strange city where she's deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem's muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she's chosen the right path. 

I love novels in verse, but Audition was one of those "not quite there" books for me. I didn't dislike it, but for a novel that started off with such potential, and had such beautiful portions about dancing, the last quarter just fell flat. And maybe my expectations were a bit high, but the book is blurbed by Ellen Hopkins of Crank, who is the reason I got into reading verse novels in the first place. So yeah, I wanted a lot out of Audition, but unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that it would have disappointed me regardless.

Sara's relationship with Remington was not only creepy– which I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be, but that didn't make it any less disturbing– but also really reminded me of the movie Center Stage. Released in 2000, Center Stage might be a bit of an old references for many YA-ers, but it's a film about a group of teenagers at a ballet academy, there's a lot of drama, including this one girl that doesn't seem to belong there, until she begins a scandalous relationship with one of the dance teachers. Sound a little familiar?

Of course, there are only so many stories in the world, and Kehoe definitely brings her own unique take to this one, particularly because of her writing, which was lyrical and poetic in a way that worked fantastically when describing dance. But the familiarity of the story definitely made Audition a harder sell.

But that's actually not where the book went wrong for me. What happened was that, Sara has a revelation that I just didn't believe. It's a huge shocking announcement, and even though Audition is written in first person POV, I felt totally surprised and confused when I read it. The character development just wasn't there, and in the end I felt cheated, as if I had missed something that would have made the turn of events more realistic. And it was that climax that overshadowed everything else I could have possibly liked, or disliked, about the novel.

When I pick up a book, I want to be transported to another world: Kehoe does that with the first three quarters of Audition, and then takes a wild turn into the unbelievable. Unfortunately, even lovely writing and an interesting story can't contemplate for poor character development, but Kehoe kept my attention long enough with Audition that I might still be willing to try a future novel by her. 

It's Monday, what are you reading? (17)

Hosted by The Book Journey

Wow, so I haven't done one of these since November! But I honestly haven't been reading that much since then either. Blame Masters crunch time. Still, since I spend so much time pestering Ambur about doing this meme, I figure I should try to get back into it myself. Plus, it really does help to look back on these posts when I'm reviewing books later.

Last week I finished reading:
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin

Still gathering my thoughts on this Korean bestseller. I think that the writing style might have been too experimental for me, it switched between first person, second person, and third person in a way I didn't really enjoy. But it was an emotionally complex and heart-breaking book.

The Thirteen by Susie Moloney

 

I already posted my review for this one, but overall a delicious read with a rushed ending.

Eleven Minutes by Megan Miranda

Tie in short story for Fracture, it was a compelling contemporary tale that I actually liked more than the novel itself. 

The Untamed Garden by Sonia Day

I definitely did not expect the sexually charged flower book I got, but it was beautifully designed and with some interesting information, even if it made me giggle and blush sometimes.

What I plan to read this week:
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

Just started this one this morning but loved the first few chapters. I was weirdly drawn to Meloy's descriptions of peoples' hair. I'm a little sad I have an ARC so some drawings are missing, but I bet the finished copy is even more gorgeous.

Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill

Okay so I read half this book before I got distracted by my thesis and needed a non-fiction break. But the writing was incredibly gorgeous, so I hope to get a chance to devour the second half this week.

The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks

I haven't started this book yet, but I usually have an ebook in progress and I got this from Netgalley and it sounds pretty awesome (and creepy! look at that cover), so if the print copies don't distract me too much I'll have to give it a try before it expires.

What are you reading this Monday?

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Release Date: January 17th 2012
Pages: 262
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Buy It: Book Depository

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

I went into reading Fracture hoping for one of those creepy paranormals, that don't revolve around creatures or immortal beings, and have mostly gotten pushed aside for star-crossed love stories. Plus it's a standalone novel, which is always nice. Miranda doesn't disappoint, but there were definitely some things about the novel that surprised me as well.

For one thing, even though I just said I wasn't looking for a love story, I have to admit that Decker is an incredibly swoon-worthy love interest. I even like the way Decker and Delaney sound together, I mean, why hadn't these two hooked up? Sigh. In Decker, Miranda's created an authentic but charming character, he might get mad, but you can't help loving him anyway.

Delaney, on the other hand, is a lot colder (no pun intended) emotionally, and because the story is told from her perspective, as a reader you get a lot of the creepiness that surrounds her experiences and her learning to understand what has happened. Still, I found her fairly easy to relate to, as she's conflicted between wanting to just accept the miracle that's happened, and wanting to understand it. I can imagine how difficult the kind of thing she went through would be for somebody scientifically minded, and I didn't blame her for trying to probe deeper, even as it put her– and others– in danger.

I was honestly not at all interested in Troy, and his entire storyline was the part of Fracture I found least compelling (especially its climax, though I won't give anything away, but I just didn't understand why he hadn't taken certain actions sooner since it didn't seem like the sort of thing that would just spontaneously happen). The romance between him and Delaney didn't warm me up to him either. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have missed him if it had just been Delaney figuring things out on her own, and it might have given the reader a chance to get to know her better, too.  I know Troy's not exactly the good guy in this novel, but he wasn't intriguingly bad either. He just didn't work for me as a reader.

Despite my reservations about Troy, overall I enjoyed Fracture, a dark thriller with a paranormal hint that enticed me to the last page with twists and turns.

The Thirteen by Susie Moloney

The Thirteen by Susie Moloney

Release Date: June 7th 2011
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Random House Canada
Buy It: Book Depository

When Paula Wittmore goes home to Haven Woods to care for a suddenly ailing mother, she brings her daughter and a pile of emotional baggage. She also brings the last chance for twelve of her mother's closest frenemies, who like to keep their numbers at thirteen. And her daughter Rowan– young, innocent– is a worthy gift to the darkness.

The Thirteen was one of those delicious novels that sucked me in right away. Moloney also managed an awesome POV, that was third person but switched between what character the reader got insight into, which made everyone (especially Paula and Rowan, but also many of the more sinister characters) intriguing and relateable in some way. I found every character in the novel– and there were a lot of them– unique, even if there were a few that made me uncomfortable... mostly one lady who had her fingers falling off. Gross!

It's not a spoiler because it's clearly indicated even on the cover of the book, but I really wish that this book didn't advertise it was about witches. That's because the majority of the book is so perfectly creepy and mysterious, and already knowing what the "ah-ha" moment was seemed unnecessary and took away some of the excitement. I don't usually read adult paranormal fiction, but I just loved Moloney's writing, which is what made The Thirteen so delectable and easy to read. The story flows smoothly and there is an interesting technique used with thoughts in parenthesis or italics which generally worked well.

Unfortunately, I did feel like near the end of The Thirteen there was one big collision of everything being revealed at once and as a result there's still a few aspects I'm unclear on (if anyone else has read this and wants to let me know, I'd love to clarify! Ha) which is a frustrating way to end a book. The epilogue especially felt unnecessary to me, but maybe it is leaving room for a sequel?

Ultimately, enjoyed the majority of The Thirteen immensely, so I'd definitely be willing to try a book 2, or another novel by Moloney, even if the last chunk of the book was rushed for my taste.

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

Release Date: March 20th 2012
Pages: 144
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books
Buy It: Book Depository

Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Her mother has an idea gives Fefa a blank book. "Think of it as a garden," she says. Soon Fefa starts to sprinkle words across the pages of her wild book. And when her family is threatened, it is what Fefa has learned from her wild book that saves them.

Maybe it's because I followed up reading The Wild Book with May B. by Caroline Rose Starr, another MG novel in verse about a girl struggling with dyslexia that I absolutely loved, but this novel didn't really live up to the potential. There were some lovely turns of phrase and images, but I found the story itself lacking. It was also this strange sort of book where it seemed too mature in language for its potential audience, but then too simplistic in style for older readers. I'm not really certain who the book is intended for, but despite my love of novels in verse, it apparently wasn't me.

At under 150 verse pages, The Wild Book is extremely short, and unfortunately that seemed like a detriment at times. Often, it came across as a good outline more than a complete book. Engle has some gorgeous images, but the story itself lacked vividness, it felt like it was a picture that hadn't been completely filled in. The historical setting in a lawless Cuba intrigued me, but I never quite felt like I really got to know it either. Overall, The Wild Book didn't quite work for me, but it's short enough that if it intrigues you it may be worth picking up a library copy to try.

Love Alone by Emmanuel Kattan

Love Alone by Emmanuel Kattan

Release Date: October 22nd 2011
Pages: 225
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Thomas Allen Publishers
Buy It: Book Depository

Judith and Antoine were lovers for a brief time. Then, suddenly, brutally, it ended. Nine years later, they meet again and attempt to revive their old passion. They dream of rewriting their history and burning the memories that are still troubling their souls. Eventually, the couple’s shared madness and jealousy turns homicidal.

Love Alone was one of those books that instantly intrigued me with its premise– I mean, homicidal lovers? But the actual novel, while one I enjoyed, was really different than I expected. In a way, it was a lot more about thoughts and feelings than actions, but the actions that did occur were definitely pretty disturbing.

After finishing the book, I described it as "Milan Kundera meets Simon Van Booy"– two of my favourite authors– "and the result is an incredibly but slightly twisted love child." Love Alone is both strange and lovely, filled with dozens of quotes I had to scribble down as I was reading. Lines like:

"Each return creates a new misrepresentation on the surface of the past; when we come back to the same memory too often, it becomes unrecognizable in the end."

and

"It’s the loves we haven’t lived that are the hardest to forget." 

But Kattan hasn't just written a bunch of pretty words, they are strung together into a creepy and intriguing novel. Despite that, the stage where Judith and Antoine went from being jealous that the other had lovers while they were apart, to being okay with murder, didn't quite connect with me. Kattan wrote about it beautifully, but some of their actions just felt so absurd, that it was really hard for me to relate to as a reader.

Thinking back, several months after reading the novel, my disconnect is a bigger concern than it was for me when I was reading it. When I was reading the book I was just completely entranced by the beautiful writing, but in retrospect, it's a novel I'm unlikely to reread because of the disbelief I felt about the story once it took its more wild turns. Still, Love Alone is an intriguing and beautifully written novel, and Kattan has definitely caught my attention.

Lark by Tracey Porter

 Lark by Tracey Porter

Release Date: May 24th 2011
Pages: 192
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Publisher: HarperCollins
Buy It: Book Depository

After 16-year-old Lark is murdered, she, her childhood best friend Eva, and Nyetta, a girl Lark used to babysit, find themselves facing hard truths about their lives and seeking a way to move on.

When I picked up Lark, the premise intrigued me, but when I heard mention of a "ghost" I guess I was thinking it was more like an emotional ghost than an actual ghost of the girl. It's not. This definitely has a paranormal twist to it. Still, it's the sort of twist, that like Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma, manages to be creepy rather than contrived. It's just enough to leave a haunting feeling behind.

A lot of Lark's creepiness is due to Porter's writing and imagery. I love the idea of these girls trapped in trees, and it stayed stuck in my mind long after I finished the book. That said, there was something that stopped me from falling completely in love with the novel. I was interested in Lark, the way she pushed herself so hard, doing gymnastics on a damaged knee, I could emotionally connect to her ambition and drive. The way she worked herself dry. And Porter managed this connection, even though Lark was dead. But somehow, when it came to Eve and Nyetta, the connection wasn't quite there. At times, they felt like more of a ghost than Lark did.

The other issue with Lark is that in a way there didn't feel like there was much of a story. There were feelings and ideas, and those resonated with me, but it's a very short novel and I wanted a little bit more out of it. I'm not sure if the length is to blame for this short-coming, but I did feel like perhaps with a longer book Porter would have had more opportunity to develop Eve and Nyetta as characters at least. 

Lark is a dark, creepy, and wonderfully written novel, but ultimately I found some of the characters lacking, and the overall result was one that didn't quite hit the mark. Still, Porter has captured my interest enough that I'd be interested in picking up another novel by her in the future.

Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay

Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay

Release Date: April 26th 2011
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House Canada
Source: Publisher
Buy It: Book Depository

In a small prairie school in 1929, Connie Flood helps a backward student, Michael Graves, learn how to read. Observing them and darkening their lives is the principal, Parley Burns, whose strange behaviour culminates in an attack so disturbing its repercussions continue to the present day. Connie's niece, Anne, tells the story. Impelled by curiosity about her dynamic, adventurous aunt and her more conventional mother, she revisits Connie's past and her mother's broken childhood. In the process she unravels the enigma of Parley Burns and the mysterious, and unrelated, deaths of two young girls.

There's a line in Alone in the Classroom that says "It’s a novel that works better as poetry". The narrator is talking about Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which I haven't read, but they could just as easily be referring to Hay's latest novel. That was my major problem with this book, it was absolutely filled with delicate, beautiful sentences and phrases, but what they added up to didn't fill me with any kind of emotion.

I think the root of my apathy stems from the odd narration style. Alone in the Classroom is written in first person, but the narrator, Anne,  doesn't really show up till midway into the book, and even then I didn't learn much about her. She was a non-entity. Anne was supposed to be the trigger for a passionate and bold turn of events, but even as they unfolded I didn't quite believe them. She told them with the same distance as if she were talking about somebody else. I also felt like the whole murder aspect was an after-thought, and though again, it was filled with lovely images, I didn't really get its point within the story.

It also really bothered me that Anne was able to tell this detailed story, filled with dialogue and richness, when she wasn't even alive when most of it was happening. I really don't feel like she would have known all of that, but unlike, for example The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes where the narrator is intentionally untrustworthy, I kept getting the impression that I was supposed to believe what the narrator was saying. The problem was that I didn't.

I don't want Alone in the Classroom to come across as a horrible book. It's not. There were many passages I had to jot down they were so beautiful. It was filled with perfect moments like:

"Movement always helps. A world of thoughts occurred to her whenever she rode a train, and a lesser world whenever she went for a walk." 

But they were contained within a story that had a lot of trouble keeping my interest. In the end, Alone in the Classroom was a book that was lovely by the sentence, but failed for me, as a story.

Author Jill Hathaway on Books

So there are a ton of amazing books I’ve read recently!

FRACTURE by Megan Miranda

I was soooo excited to get to read this one early. The book grabbed me from the very beginning, when Delaney falls through the ice. This is actually one of my greatest fears. Whenever I drive on a bridge over a river or something, I picture what I would do if I accidentally drove into the water. So I was completely on edge when Delaney fell. After they pull her out, she develops this weird affinity with people who are about to die; it’s fascinating. Also, Decker is one of my favorite characters of all time! Definitely check this one out!

UNEARTHLY and HALLOWED by Cynthia Hand

There are a ton of angel books out there, but what really sets Cynthia’s books apart is her gorgeous writing style. I read UNEARTHLY while I was on a camping trip last summer, and I’m afraid I was totally rude, ignoring everyone so I could find out what happened to Clara. UNEARTHLY has a really smart mythology, and I was riveted as Cynthia slowly revealed the secrets of Clara’s background. When I finished reading the book, I contacted Cynthia to let her know how much I liked it, and we became friends. She sent me a copy of HALLOWED, and it was every bit as brilliant as UNEARTHLY. It actually had me in tears, and I’m not one to cry when I’m reading. I can’t wait to read the third book in the series!

11/22/63 by Stephen King

So I’m a huge Stephen King fan (as is Rollins in SLIDE), and I needed something to read during those late night feedings after my son was born. I downloaded King’s latest novel and was immediately daunted by the book’s length… a whopping 1000 pages! But I was quickly sucked in by the brilliant premise. Jake Epping, a high school English teacher, finds an… um… portal (?) through which he can travel to the year 1958. So he’s able to go back and change things and see how they alter the future. But there’s a catch… Every time he goes back through the portal, history is reset. So he basically has to go back and change everything again and again if he wants to keep those same results. Ultimately, he wants to prevent JFK from being assassinated, but I felt like that was almost a backstory to the real tale, which is about Jake falling in love. This book explores whether, indeed, everything happens for a reason.

Thanks for having me, Zoe, and allowing me to share some wonderful books with you!

Thanks so much to Jill for stopping by!  Click here to follow the rest of the stops on this tour. 

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Release Date: August 4th 2011
Pages: 160
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Canada
Source: Publisher
Buy It: Book Depository

Now Tony is middle aged. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.

The Sense of an Ending is a wisp of a book, it can barely be called a novel, but it is incredibly masterful. Barnes captures a moment, a feeling, a desire, in a way that is both poetic and engaging. As a reader, I floated through its pages. I was captivated, and entranced. There is something slightly mystical about the writing, surreal and yet genuine in its emotion.

I loved that the narrator was imperfect and unreliable, because in real life, who isn't? I loved the dimensions of all the characters, and the ending I did not expect, and the complexity of emotions. I didn't like Tony, but I didn't really like anyone in The Sense of an Ending. That did not prevent me from loving it.

I realize this is a short review. Well, it's a short book. But it leaves a message. And hopefully so does this review, and that message is: pick up this book. By the time you put it back down, you may have accidentally finished it, and you won't regret it.