Hi everybody sorry I haven't posted in a while, I was supposed to be away at camp this week but turns out I'm actually not going this year, probably. So I was supposed to read this book a while ago, for book club. But as usual I procrastinated until the last second and I started it and finished it yesterday. Book club is tonight, so as you can tell great time management on my part but whatever. I finished it before the meeting and that's all that counts. I will try to be as honest as possible, and as accurate, for your guys' enjoyment (yes I just said guys', deal with it) Anyways I will try to not include any spoilers, and honestly since this isn't a series there isn't much to spoil. So, getting to the review...
This month, July, we needed to read How I live Now by Meg Rosoff.
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
"How I Live Now" is a book that mainly takes place in England, about a 15 year old girl named Elizabeth, prefers Daisy. Because he dad recently got remarried after her mom died in childbirth, and is having another child, Daisy gets sent off to England to live with her cousins. Daisy had never met her cousins or her aunt, but absolutely hates her step-mom so is happy to get away. When she arrives at the airport her 14 year old cousin Edmond arrives to pick her up, alone and smoking a cigarette. After that things start to get very interesting. The majority of this book revolves around a war that starts just after Daisy arrives in England.
Okay so truthfully I didn't like this book very much, but some parts of it were okay. At first I though I would hate it, but even though some parts were very depressing I overall finished it and though it was okay. I would give it a 6.8/10 stars and this is why...
The beginning of this book was very slow, but I get why. They had to introduce all the characters and get more acquainted with the setting before things could get interesting but for a 194 page story the beginning being 50 pages, that part did seem a bit long. I actually started it two days ago at 2am but only read 22 pages, and though that I wouldn't pick it up again. But yesterday at around 4pm I decided that I should at least try to finish it for the sake of this blog. And when I got to page 98, I actually wanted to finish it. I'm not saying that I couldn't put it down because it was so good, but it got a lot better as I got past the long intro.
Okay so diving into deeper analysis, the positives... I really liked how Meg described the settings in this book. It made you feel like you were part of it. Well at least the settings in London did. When Daisy and her little 9 year old cousin Piper were trying to walk home in the middle of the war, it felt so real and so sad. They had to camp out in the rain, eat blackberries, bath in the river, and hide from any strange sounds/rain in the bushes and huts. That whole middle section of the book when they were trying to find Edmond and their other cousins was so sad and kind of depressing, yet it was the best written part of the whole book in my opinion. Her descriptions of all the nature, animals, and houses were on point. And I really liked how she described the house and the lambing barn where they had to hide out. Overall, the description of the setting, especially the nature surrounding them was the best part. As well as the ending, which was also done pretty well (especially the choice of words to end the novel).
Something I didn't like however was, the character description. Usually when reading I can picture the book like a movie inside my head and kind of fall into it and watch. That didn't happen with this book, mainly I think because I just couldn't picture the characters. How they would look, or their personality. And it all seemed a bit unrealistic as the main protagonist Daisy was only 15 and had to go through so much. I was especially confused at the end, when she was a lot older and it was in the future, about just how old she actually was. As well I think we really lacked character development on some characters; Aunt Penn, Osbert and Isaac. I also didn't like all the writing style and phrasing at parts as there were some extremely weird, and hard to understand, sentences and similes... For example:
"... I have one of the best Oh Yeah, This Is So Much What I Usually Do kind of faces of anyone in my crowd."
"... I swear to god I will assign all my worldly goods to the Salvation Army and I'd say there's no danger of some religious tuba player ending up with my DVD player..."
"Well I couldn't take much more of all the blah blah blah so Edmond and I walked..."
"... If you had to choose an audience for illicit love based on the people you'd least like to have hanging around..."
"... And listened to the heavy low buzz of fat pollen-drunk bees and imagine melting into the earth..."
These are just some of the sentences that made me blink and re-read them like 5 times. It was just such awkward phrasing and they didn't make sense. That was another thing that I didn't like about this book. As you can see even some of the descriptions were very strange, and maybe that's what got in the way of me actually latching onto this book and not being able to put it down.
The last couple of things that I didn't enjoy were the main character's and her love interest's personalities. Daisy thinks that everything revolves around her, and even goes as far as to want to be skinny to make her father and step-mother feel guilty. Which doesn't work because they don't even notice, while she starves herself... But I think she did learn a lot from her cousins and from how she and a lot of other people almost died during the war; versus her dying by choice. I also didn't like Edmond's character. I just couldn't understand why two cousins would fall in love at the age of 15 and 14, Daisy being 15, and want to do very inappropriate things with each other. But that's a whole other story, the weird and creepy romantic angle this book took on what should've just been good ol' family love. Two cousins fall in love and make out and this makes them have an extremely deep connection so that they can read each other's thoughts and talk to each other in their dreams... Like what??? I enjoyed the end of the book, however I really wish they weren't related. I also didn't really like Edmond's personality. Yes, at times he was sweet and caring, but he acted way older than he was (like he was 20 or something) and didn't seem to act as a normal 14 year old should...
On the other hand a character I really did enjoy was Piper. She was made to sound like an extremely smart 6 year old in a 9 year olds body. She was so cute and sweet, and that whole section when it was just Daisy and Piper I loved. They learned so much from each other, and I really liked how at the end Piper was all grown up, but just the same as always. And her boyfriend Jonathan seemed sweet. I also loved their dog Jet, and Piper's special connection. It just demonstartes that even if you're young you can still help a lot of people especially if you're extremely smart like Piper (omg I swear cute but secretly a genius).
So overall as with most books "How I Live Now" had positives and negatives. As you can tell I found it had more negatives but to each their own. Some people might enjoy it more than I did, but anybody who wants to should read it. It introduces the hardships of war and makes you truly experience what these kids went through. Not necessarily in the best war but the experience none the less.
If you read this book I'd love to hear how you liked it. And I will be posting a July book club post later this evening (on this book and our discussion), after the meeting takes place. Thank you so much for reading my review, and as always feel free to comment on anything I said or you want to know.
- <3 Kat Hearts
This month, July, we needed to read How I live Now by Meg Rosoff.
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
"How I Live Now" is a book that mainly takes place in England, about a 15 year old girl named Elizabeth, prefers Daisy. Because he dad recently got remarried after her mom died in childbirth, and is having another child, Daisy gets sent off to England to live with her cousins. Daisy had never met her cousins or her aunt, but absolutely hates her step-mom so is happy to get away. When she arrives at the airport her 14 year old cousin Edmond arrives to pick her up, alone and smoking a cigarette. After that things start to get very interesting. The majority of this book revolves around a war that starts just after Daisy arrives in England.Okay so truthfully I didn't like this book very much, but some parts of it were okay. At first I though I would hate it, but even though some parts were very depressing I overall finished it and though it was okay. I would give it a 6.8/10 stars and this is why...
The beginning of this book was very slow, but I get why. They had to introduce all the characters and get more acquainted with the setting before things could get interesting but for a 194 page story the beginning being 50 pages, that part did seem a bit long. I actually started it two days ago at 2am but only read 22 pages, and though that I wouldn't pick it up again. But yesterday at around 4pm I decided that I should at least try to finish it for the sake of this blog. And when I got to page 98, I actually wanted to finish it. I'm not saying that I couldn't put it down because it was so good, but it got a lot better as I got past the long intro.
Okay so diving into deeper analysis, the positives... I really liked how Meg described the settings in this book. It made you feel like you were part of it. Well at least the settings in London did. When Daisy and her little 9 year old cousin Piper were trying to walk home in the middle of the war, it felt so real and so sad. They had to camp out in the rain, eat blackberries, bath in the river, and hide from any strange sounds/rain in the bushes and huts. That whole middle section of the book when they were trying to find Edmond and their other cousins was so sad and kind of depressing, yet it was the best written part of the whole book in my opinion. Her descriptions of all the nature, animals, and houses were on point. And I really liked how she described the house and the lambing barn where they had to hide out. Overall, the description of the setting, especially the nature surrounding them was the best part. As well as the ending, which was also done pretty well (especially the choice of words to end the novel).
Something I didn't like however was, the character description. Usually when reading I can picture the book like a movie inside my head and kind of fall into it and watch. That didn't happen with this book, mainly I think because I just couldn't picture the characters. How they would look, or their personality. And it all seemed a bit unrealistic as the main protagonist Daisy was only 15 and had to go through so much. I was especially confused at the end, when she was a lot older and it was in the future, about just how old she actually was. As well I think we really lacked character development on some characters; Aunt Penn, Osbert and Isaac. I also didn't like all the writing style and phrasing at parts as there were some extremely weird, and hard to understand, sentences and similes... For example:
"... I have one of the best Oh Yeah, This Is So Much What I Usually Do kind of faces of anyone in my crowd."
"... I swear to god I will assign all my worldly goods to the Salvation Army and I'd say there's no danger of some religious tuba player ending up with my DVD player..."
"Well I couldn't take much more of all the blah blah blah so Edmond and I walked..."
"... If you had to choose an audience for illicit love based on the people you'd least like to have hanging around..."
"... And listened to the heavy low buzz of fat pollen-drunk bees and imagine melting into the earth..."
These are just some of the sentences that made me blink and re-read them like 5 times. It was just such awkward phrasing and they didn't make sense. That was another thing that I didn't like about this book. As you can see even some of the descriptions were very strange, and maybe that's what got in the way of me actually latching onto this book and not being able to put it down.
The last couple of things that I didn't enjoy were the main character's and her love interest's personalities. Daisy thinks that everything revolves around her, and even goes as far as to want to be skinny to make her father and step-mother feel guilty. Which doesn't work because they don't even notice, while she starves herself... But I think she did learn a lot from her cousins and from how she and a lot of other people almost died during the war; versus her dying by choice. I also didn't like Edmond's character. I just couldn't understand why two cousins would fall in love at the age of 15 and 14, Daisy being 15, and want to do very inappropriate things with each other. But that's a whole other story, the weird and creepy romantic angle this book took on what should've just been good ol' family love. Two cousins fall in love and make out and this makes them have an extremely deep connection so that they can read each other's thoughts and talk to each other in their dreams... Like what??? I enjoyed the end of the book, however I really wish they weren't related. I also didn't really like Edmond's personality. Yes, at times he was sweet and caring, but he acted way older than he was (like he was 20 or something) and didn't seem to act as a normal 14 year old should...
On the other hand a character I really did enjoy was Piper. She was made to sound like an extremely smart 6 year old in a 9 year olds body. She was so cute and sweet, and that whole section when it was just Daisy and Piper I loved. They learned so much from each other, and I really liked how at the end Piper was all grown up, but just the same as always. And her boyfriend Jonathan seemed sweet. I also loved their dog Jet, and Piper's special connection. It just demonstartes that even if you're young you can still help a lot of people especially if you're extremely smart like Piper (omg I swear cute but secretly a genius).
So overall as with most books "How I Live Now" had positives and negatives. As you can tell I found it had more negatives but to each their own. Some people might enjoy it more than I did, but anybody who wants to should read it. It introduces the hardships of war and makes you truly experience what these kids went through. Not necessarily in the best war but the experience none the less.
If you read this book I'd love to hear how you liked it. And I will be posting a July book club post later this evening (on this book and our discussion), after the meeting takes place. Thank you so much for reading my review, and as always feel free to comment on anything I said or you want to know.
- <3 Kat Hearts
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