Looking for Alaska - John Green

Before you read any further, please note that this review may contain spoilers.

Not my favourite John Green book (Currently that honour goes to Paper Towns)... but it still hit me right in the feels.

I didn't feel it was as polished as his other books, being the first, and his characters lacked the depth that his later books have, but as it was still well written.

SPOILERy bits and my own thoughts/experiences to follow.







Firstly, the bit I didn't like... the counting the layers thing. JUST PLAIN CREEPY. Do teenage boys really think like that? Sadly I already know the answer; it's not just teenage boys, I spent 12 years with a man who was just as creepy (but that's a story for a different time).

Secondly, the drinking, smoking and sex was really going to be a 'don't like' bit. I was going to complain and say this feels a bit unrealistic, then in reflection I realised, I drank and smoked more at 16 than I have at 34 (having quit smoking at 23 and lived with the alcoholism of the above mention creepy ex), as for the sex, well the same is, sadly, also true. So now it's floating somewhere between don't and do like...

The need to fit in is so strong when you're a teen, you're trying to make your mark on the world in whatever way you can, that there doesn't even need to be peer pressure for someone to join in with an activity they wouldn't have previously considered. The consequences be damned.

Things I liked... The chapter count down gave a sense of anticipation, what could we be counting down to, is it going to be the prank of the century? Are Miles and Alaska going to hook up? Then BAM! he hits you with that, right there in them feels.

I have been lucky, I have never lost anyone close to me through a car accident, but I know plenty of people who have, some numerous times. I have lost many people that I loved though, some after long suffering battles with cancer or other fatal disease, others through sudden causes; like heart attack, some through suicide. I had dealt with all 3 by the time I was 13.

I don't think it matters whether you have had time to prepare yourself for loss or if it's suddenly thrust upon you, you still question yourself. Is there anything you should have/shouldn't have done? was it something you did/didn't do? It makes you question your own mortality, maybe more so as a teen, when you do feel invincible, but definitely as an adult as well, when you realise that this person (in the case of this book for example) is the same age as you.

Overall, I think the book was fairly true to how I remember my teenage years, and how I've dealt with loss (looking for answers, wondering if it was my fault etc).

I was going to give this 3 stars, but upon writing this and looking at my written thoughts, I've moved it up to 4 stars.

Original post: cafebiblioaus.booklikes.com/post/1202755/looking-for-alaska-john-green

Marvel 1602 - Neil Gaiman

Before you read any further, please note that this review may contain spoilers.



It seems I'm having a very Gaiman related year, this being the third of his works so far this year.  Apart from his novels, I have also added a few of Gaiman's graphic novels to my read list for the year. The 8 part series of Marvel 1602, illustrated by Andy Kubert, is the one I listed as my book I can finish in a day.

Set in the year 1602, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first, Gaiman gives a fantasy twist to the traditional Marvel characters, featuring such favourites as the Fantastic 4, the X-Men and Spiderman.
With blood red skies over London, the unwell Queen questions her trusted intelligence officer, Sir Nicholas Fury, as to whether the world is ending.  She also questions her physician, Dr. Stephen Strange, as he enters the room to tend the ailing Queen.

While there, the Queen tells Strange to enlighten Fury on the details of a treasure that is on route to England, to which Strange has been charged with its safety.  Fury sets his best agent on the task of meeting the man that carries the treasure bringing them both to England.

Parting from Fury and heading home, pondering the possibilities of what could happen when the Queen dies, Strange searches for answers to this, and that of the unnatural weather phenomena, in his magic mirror.  In his visions Strange sees a young maiden and her native American guard aboard a boat bound for England, a man with angels wings and a nun clad in blood red, whom somehow senses his presence and banishes him from her position.

After preventing an attempt on his own life, Fury, with the assistance of Carlos Javier, uncovers a plot which included the assassinations of himself, the queen and the young maiden from Strange's visions, Virginia Dare.  The attempt on Virginia Dare was thwarted by her protector, Rojhas, but during her escape Strange discovers her secret, one which he keeps between himself and her loyal protector. While tending to Dare during her recovery, Strange discovers the origins of the strange weather is emanating from the room she is recovering in.

Fury informs the Queen of his discoveries, after the attempt on Dare's life happened while she was in court with the Queen.  The Queen brushes the concerns aside, informing Fury that there have been many attempts in the past and he as stopped them all.  As he leaves, to question his attacker about his employer, a gift from Count Otto von Doom is presented to the queen...

The artwork is everything I've come to expect from Marvel. Kubert, having worked for both Marvel and DC, is an excellent illustrator.  The story lines from Gaiman are, as always, brilliant and twisted. I love his little touches to the spelling of names, and the odd change to their marvel universe roles.  The outcome was something I did not expect, though it did answer one of my earlier questions (not telling you what it was to avoid giving away the plot).  I love when authors do their research, and indulge us with folk lore, Gaiman's twist on the Virginia Dare story fits well with this version of the Marvel Universe.

Overall there were one or two things I didn't enjoy, but given their plot significance, I'll leave them out of this review.

4/5 stars.

The Princess Bride - William Goldman

Before you read any further, please note that this review may contain spoilers.



As one of my favourite movies, I figured it was time I also read The Princess Bride.

The book opens with "This is my favourite book in all the world, though I have never read it" a great hook line, but one with absolutely zero truth.  Much like the movie, Goldman explains that his love of reading began when he was bed ridden and delusional with pneumonia at the age of 10. His father, a Florinese native whose English was poor, sat down and began to read A classic tale of True Love and High Adventure starting with the words "Chatper One: The Bride."

35 pages later, and the fictional introduction is finally over... So many times I very nearly stopped reading the book, or at least wanted to skip those pages. I don't feel it, or the little inserts of interruption throughout the story, added to the story at all.  I think I would have enjoyed the story more without them.

The fact that I knew the story fairly well did not take away from the excitement of the book. In fact being able to visualise the characters and the settings along with the anticipation of knowing what was happening next added to my enjoyment.

I enjoyed the little comic listings of the most beautiful women in the world (and later of the five kisses), and reading Buttercup climb her way up the list as she aged. Westley, always answering all her demands with 'As you wish'.  It was not until Countess Rugen, who along with her husband and a large entourage, showed an interest in Westley that Buttercup realised her affections for him.  That was when Westley decided it was time to make his fortune elsewhere, and left.

I loved reading the back-stories for Fezzik and Inigo, it gave depth to their characters that you don't get in the movie.  I did get a little annoyed to learn that Inigo and Vizzini should have been people of colour, and had the movie been created today, instead of almost 30 years ago, I would be far more enraged by this.

Prince Humperdink and Count Rugen were just as ruthless, if not more so, in the book. I found myself wishing Humperdink's Zoo of Death was featured in the movie. The way in which Rugen slayed Domingo Montoya and caused the scarring on Inigo's face was quite cold hearted.

The story line is very close to the movie, including the breaks where Goldman talks to his father, obviously there are differences due to budget, and technological ability, but I was very pleased to see that it pretty much held true.

Ultimately I enjoyed the book, but the fictional introduction and the interruptions throughout kind of detracted from the story for me. Next time I read it, I think I'll be skipping these parts.  This is one of the few, if not only, times I prefer the movie to the book.

4/5 stars

War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells

Before you read any further, please note that this review may contain spoilers. 

Wasn't sure what to expect with this book, it often appears on lists as a 'must read' classic, but after the disappointment of A Clockwork Orange, I didn't want to get my hopes up.

Though it has always been on my to read someday list, it was a suggestion from a friend as the March 2015 read for our bookclub. I also added to my reading challenge list for the year.  My expectations were to find this story quite dated, given the books publishing date of 1898, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Written from a first person perspective of an unnamed philosophical author, the story begins with Book One- The Coming of the Martians.  The Author opens with a description of Mars and of the human ignorance that life, let alone intelligent life, could exist on other planets and a retrospective comparison of nature of (white european) human towards 'lesser beings' and the behaviour of the Martians towards humans.

He is invited to observe Mars with well known astronomer 'Ogilvy' after an initial explosion is seen on Mars.  During this time our narrator witnesses a second explosion on the planets surface, and quickly relinquishes the telescope to his counterpart.  He goes on to explain that there were 10 consecutive nights of these 'eruptions of gas' on the planets surface.

After an unknown amount of time, the first of the 'meteors' crashes to Earth, near the narrators home, though he failed to witness the event, apparently being consumed by his work.  Ogilvy discovers the object in a pit n Horsall Common (1 on the map below), a cylinder with a diameter of approximately 30 yards (about 27.4m)

Map of the area Wells used, along with the approximate locations of Cylinders 1-7

Wells highlights the human curiosity and the quest for knowledge, with the examination of the first cylinder and the surrounding crowds trying to catch a glimpse of what may be inside.  Which ultimately leads to the deaths of the scientists and a significant amount of bystanders at the first crash site.  He also tells of the military involvement from the discovery of the first cylinder.

The narrator tells us a little of his experience over the next few days, delivering his wife into the safety of cousins at Leatherhead, his return to, and subsequent escape from his home town of Woking, before switching to his, also unnamed, brothers account of events in escaping from London.

Book Two: The Earth Under the Martians, begins where the narrator left his own story in the previous book.  Outlining his experiences, hardships and close calls during the weeks hiding from the Martians.  Ending with his discovery of the demise of the alien race and his return to his, still standing home in Woking.

Overall the story was well written, I can see why Wells has been such a prominent figure in classic science fiction.  I was a little disappointed with the ending, even though it is most feasible, it just felt a little abrupt.

Ultimately this classic, while slightly dated, can hold its own amongst more modern Science Fiction.  It's easy to see why there was hysteria around the radio drama in 1938, 40 years after the book was published, the story is very believable, with Wells use of actual locations and references real historical events adding to the realism.  Had it not been for such references to modes of transport, various artillery and monetary values, this story could have taken place at any time in living memory.

I gave War of the Worlds 4/5 stars.