Unexpected Results

25. Miss Entropia and The Adam Bomb

Jesus Christ.  That was rough.  I am not even really sure what to say about this book, other than it was very unexpected.  I bought it because of the fun title and cover.  I thought it was a YA book because it is about two teenagers, but I don't know many teenagers who could handle reading it.  It was well written, but my god it was sad.  The title made it sound fanciful, the cover made it seem mystical; I read it as a way to escape, and now I sit here dumbfounded.

These two kids are really screwed up and being together is tragic for them.  Their life stories are tragic.  The effect they have on people around them is tragic.

I truly don't know how to react to this.  It is a well written book, and Adam is a well developed and great character.  He is funny and honest and so very aware of all the oddness of life revolving around him, even though he is the one to wear the label of "crazy".  In many ways it is one of the best books I have read recently but I am not sure I would tell anyone to read this because it is just so sad.  The fact of the matter is that the outcome of the book is described in the first few pages but that didn't make it any less shocking to see it come to fruition.  A John Green novel this is not, which isn't to say that that makes it bad, I just walk away wondering how to be hopeful again.

Great Expectations

I picked up this book a few weeks ago based on a review I read, but more so because of the fact that it has a great title and an amazing cover!

Amazing right! And I defy anyone to read the first three pages and, like a Lays potato chip, not proceed to devour more.

I have been pouring over this book for the past few days and am about half way through but I have to admit that while it is wonderfully readable it is staggeringly sad.  Not because any cliche sad thing has happened but because these kids seem so messed up, and it makes me worried about the kids who are growing up in this new world of technology, "connectedness", and over medicated supposed issues.  This is the second book I have read that includes kids on the internet pretending to be people who they are not. Why is this something that has never crossed my mind?  It seems so mean to me.  At least face to face you may pretend to be better, happier, or more qualified than you are.  You can even flat out lie about every detail of your life, but you are still you. On the internet you can be anyone, and our kids know this and are doing it while we have them safely tucked away in bedrooms so that they don't get kidnapped by those crazy people outside, and take their medications so that we can explain away any misbehavior we as parents don't want to take responsibility for.  It is alarming really.

Power Struggle

14. The Radleys

I had promised to not read anything else until I finished Middlemarch, but on Saturday I needed a book for the bath and started this.  Then on Sunday we lost power for 12 hours and since MM is on the iPad I tucked in and finished it.  What a treat!

It was surprising.  It is about a family living in an English Village, trying to live through gossip and innuendo and their own doubts about one another.  Quite similar to Middlemarch actually!  One difference, the Radleys are vampires.  Abstaining vampires, but vampires none the less and the kids find out when the daughter murders a boy at a party, so things get sticky quick.  In the end, they are a family, a family full of faults, but a family none the less.  It is an interesting plot twist but a very accessible story about a family who is stuck and need to work together if they want to move forward.

Power is back and MM will be conquered today!