Book Review: But I Love Him by Amanda Grace

Title: But I Love Him

Author: Amanda Grace (AKA Mandy Hubbard)

Published: 2011

Edition Read: Purchased Paperback

Overall: If there was a book that made me put it down, feel sad, toss and turn, then pick it up again it was this book.

Summary (Amazon) :

Sometimes at night, I wake up and stare at the heart for hours. I think of how I collected each piece from the beach, how I glued it all together into one big sculpture. I wonder if Connor realizes what it means, that he'll always have a piece of me no matter what happens. Each piece of glass is another piece of myself that I gave to him.

It's too bad I didn't keep any pieces for myself.

At the beginning of senior year, Ann was a smiling, straight-A student and track star with friends and a future. Then she met a haunted young man named Connor. Only she can heal his emotional scars; only he could make her feel so loved - and needed. Ann can't recall the pivotal moment it all changed, when she surrendered everything to be with him, but by graduation, her life has become a dangerous high wire act. Just one mistake could trigger Connor's rage, a senseless storm of cruel words and violence damaging everything - and everyone - in its path.

This evocative slideshow of flashbacks reveals a heartbreaking story of love gone terribly wrong.

The Longer Review: I didn't even want to finish this book. I put it down, stared at it, picked it up, and read. Put it down, stared at it, picked it up, and read. Repeat until the end of the book. I really didn't want to finish this book, because it was a very hard book to read. It starts off at the end of the relationship, one year later, and goes back to that one year mark occasionally. It's hard even writing a review about this book. In fact I've been thinking of how to review this book for a long time now. I didn't like the way Ann was being treated, but at the same time you realize that Connor isn't just an abuser. Connor is also the abused. He has grown up in a world where his mother is verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by his father. Connor swears he'll never be like his father, but you learn very quickly that this goal isn't met.

Mandy Hubbard (Amanda Grace) is a fantastic writer. I reviewed her first book, Prada and Prejudice, and really enjoyed that book. But I Love Him was in a category all it's own. It was hard hitting, and didn't make it easy on the reader. It definitely wasn't easy on me. I high recommend it.

Mandy Hubbard's next book Ripple is out, and I highly recommend reading it. I haven't picked it up yet, but I know I won't be disappointed.

Book Review: The Secret of Ka by Christopher Pike

Title: The Secret of Ka

Author: Christopher Pike

Published: 2010

Edition Read: eGalley from NetGalley.com

Overall: Just not completely pleased with this story, and how it was handled. As a stand-alone I'm disappointed. As a possible series starter I'm a little more intrigued.

Summary (From Publisher) : One minute Sara's bored on vacation in Istanbul. The next, she's unearthed a flying carpet that cleverly drags her to the mysterious Island of the Djinn—or genies. By her side is Amesh, a cute guy she has a crush on but doesn't yet trust. When Amesh learns the secret of invoking djinn, he loses control. He swears he'll call upon only one djinn and make one wish. The plan sounds safe enough. But neither Sara nor Amesh are any match for the monster that that swells before them. It hypnotizes Amesh, compelling him to steal Sara’s flying carpet and leave her stranded on the island.

Discovering the carpet has sparked a new path for Sara, one that will lead her to battle creatures even deadlier than djinn. In this fight, Sara can save mankind, herself, or the boy she cares for. Who will she be forced to sacrifice?

My Thoughts: I'm truly torn with this book. On the one hand I really was thrilled to read a new book by Christopher Pike. I loved him when I was younger, and I read all his Adult books because I love his work so much. I was even more thrilled to find out that his older books are being repackaged and reissued. Especially the Remember Me series which I still love. The Thirst books, originally the Last Vampire series, which I'd actually not read when it first came out. A new book by Christopher Pike? Yes, please!

But here is where I'm confused. Was The Secret of Ka the start of a new series? Because the ending was left wide open. I looked around on the interwebs, but found nothing about this. If not, and The Secret of Ka is really a stand-alone, then I'm even more confused. What was Pike thinking writing a book that ended in the way that Ka did? Loose ends weren't tied up, new revelations happened and...and...what happens next?! I'm thinking Ka is supposed to be the start of a series. We'll just see how that goes.

That aside I wasn't thrilled by this book. Overall Pike took a long time to get where he was trying to get this the story. By the time Sara and Amesh found the island of djinn I believe I was on page 75. That is a long time to get to the point of the story. In a book that was over 400 pages long I really felt like Pike needed to get to the point. I'm a get-to-the-point kind of person when it comes to my books. I understand you can't just say what you want to say because you want to build mystery and create a more diverse world by gradually bringing the reader into it. Especially when your main character is a 16 year old girl from the modern world dealing with creatures like djinn. But, in all honesty I just really feel like Pike could have spent more time on the island building up Amesh and Sara's relationship or building up Sara's knowledge of djinn and that world instead of just getting us to the plot point of Amesh making the big mistake of getting involved with the djinn. And, of course, not listening to Sara tell him HOW bad of an idea it was. THEN, start teaching us about the djinn. I may be in the minority, but that's just how I personally felt.

Then you read on as Sara risks everything to save Amesh from his very bad decision. Even if that means risking her own life and soul to do so. And, no I am not exaggerating when I say she risks her own soul. You can see why I feel like a little more time on the island building more of a relationship between Amesh and Sara so that her risking her own soul to save him would have made a little more sense. Or at least you'd understand her romantic interest in Amesh a little bit more then she'd just met, fell in love with him, and will now risk everything for him. I'm not an unromantic  person. I even believe in love at first sight, but the way that Pike navigated Sara and Amesh's relationship did not leave me with the sense of happiness for their love. It's really the best way I can put this.

That being said if Pike continued on with their story I'd still read it because I am intrigued greatly by the fairy tale-like aspects, and the world of the djinn. I loved the world building, the history of the djinn and how Sara plays into it. I really want to know more about Sara and her family, and, yes, I'd even like to see if Amesh and Sara's love will mold into something more. As a stand alone this novel simply confused me, and for that I'm sorry to have to give it such a low review.

Book Review: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Title: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Author: Marjane Satrapi (Random House Website)

Published: 2003

Summary: (Random House)

Originally published to wide critical acclaim in France, where it elicited comparisons to Art Spiegelman's Maus, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

My Thoughts:I came across Persepolis while in Barnes and Nobles and running across their Summer Reading table. I thought, for a moment, that some customer had just left the book on the table being too lazy to put it away. Then I realized that Persepolis was indeed in the right place. Then my father came up to me and said he'd heard of the book and even recommended it to me.

A graphic novel? Both being recommended by my father and as summer reading? Presumably by a school or college. I had to pick this one up. Persepolis is a memoir of Satrapi's life after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In 1980 Satrapi is 10 years old and before then had enjoyed a life of relative independence. Both her parents are Marxists and encourage Satrapi to fight for what she believes in. However the Islamic Revolution had occurred and Satrapi's life was then changed forever. She was expected to wear a veil in public. Her school, originally a bilingual French non-religious school, was changed, and she was separated from the boys that attended. This is a lot of change for one ten-year-old. Not to forget how alcohol, music, and  I don't think I'd accept a  lot of that same change as an adult. Satrapi's simplistic black and white drawings really bring out a lot of the pain and difficulty that comes from war and political repression. She speaks of these hardships how they effected her own family. How her mother hid herself because a photographer had taken her picture at a protest. Her mother feared for her life, and dyed her hair and hid behind large sunglasses. All because someone took a picture of her.

I can see why this story made it on a reading list. It was hard to put it down. The second volume, Persepolis 2, picks up where the first left off. Satrapi moves to Europe when her parents begin to fear her staying would end in her being executed. I have yet to read it, but will definitely pick it up as soon as possible.