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"Every Day" by David Levithan

2/27/2013

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Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Genre: Fiction
Date Published: 2013
# pages: 336
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Recommended?: Yes

“Every day I am someone else. I am myself—I know I am myself—but I am also someone else. It has always been like this.” A receives no warning and no preparation for the person he/she will become the following day. The life of transience that A, for whatever reason, has been forced to lead leaves little room for friendship and certainly no room for mistakes. The guidelines A has set for him/herself are simple: live each day without being noticed and without interfering. This system proves to be successful until the fateful day when falling in love causes A to break his/her own rules.

The constantly changing scenery in this David Levithan novel makes it a quick read, but the style also takes some getting used to. In the same way that A has to establish his/her own procedure for dealing with constant change, readers must find a way to adjust to an exceedingly dynamic main character. Despite the different bodies and situations in which A finds him/herself, however, A’s strong personality remains at the forefront of the narrative and gives the novel a sense of consistency. Every morning, he/she offers the reader a psychological and physiological analysis of the body he/she wakes up in. This unbiased report breaks open stereotypes, examines the nature of relationships, and presents the potential joys and horrors of high school in a way that evokes both pleasant and less desirable memories.

Although this novel is engaging for its ability to place the reader directly in the mind of the main character and in the bodies of several unsuspecting high-school students, it leaves much to be desired. A repeatedly makes imprudent decisions, the ending left me unsatisfied, certain aspects of the plot lacked development, and the romance reached a level of cheesiness that may have led me to set it aside were I not such already such a sucker for love stories. Nevertheless, it is A’s poor decision-making and romantic tendencies that help develop his/her character and the ending is, for lack of a better phrase, the way it had to be. In all, this was a good, quick read and one that I would suggest to anyone that has a few hours to spare.



Review by Christie Wentworth, A&S '13

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"Divergent" by Veronica Roth

2/5/2013

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Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Science Fiction
# of Pages: 487
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Recommend: Yes

Divergent
is the first book in a trilogy by young novelist Veronica Roth. Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior lives in a dystopian society that is divided into five factions, each of which highlights a particular virtue: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Although each child is born into a faction, at the age of 16 members of society are allowed to pick which faction they will dedicate the rest of their lives to. When the time comes for Beatrice to choose her fate, she struggles between her loyalty to her family and her own desires. Her surprising choice leads to an intense and competitive initiation that challenges her mental strength, her physical capabilities, and the durability of her friendships. As conflict brews and her seemingly perfect lifestyle begins to unravel, Tris realizes that her most closely guarded secret might be the key to saving the people she loves.



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Through the development of a society characterized by divisions and faux peace, Veronica Roth plays on stereotypes, human nature, and the danger of conformity while building her scene. There are few lulls in the action, and I actually felt a sense of urgency to push forward while reading this novel. It was as if the next important event would have gone on without me if I set the book down for just a moment. With a defiant teenage girl as the leading character, a futuristic, bleak setting, a budding romance, and a fascinating blend of excitement, dread, and mystery, I could not help but compare the first book in this trilogy to The Hunger Games. Do not start this book if you have any enticing plans for the next eight hours. Or during finals week, like I did. It started as a casual read that I hoped would calm my nerves, but instead I ended up pulling a non-academically related all-nighter to finish it.

Honestly, the only real downside to this book is that conclusion of the trilogy will not be released until next fall. In Divergent, some questions remain unanswered and many situations do not make sense. I am expecting that these issues will be resolved in the second and third books, though. I’m not one for patience and would have preferred to read all three books in close sequence, but as far as flaws go I would say that this is a minor one. While Divergent is not for everyone, if you enjoyed The Hunger Games series I advise you to pick up this Veronica Roth novel!

Review by Christie Wentworth, A&S '13                              Illustration by Patrick Hughes, A&S '14

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"Truth & Beauty" by Ann Patchett

9/2/2012

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Title: Truth & Beauty
Author: Ann Patchett
Genre: Memoir
Number of pages: 257
Year published: 2005
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

To begin, I would like to encourage my fellow seniors not to flee from the name Ann Patchett. While many of us may not be particularly fond of her due to the fact that she was the reason that we had required reading the summer before college, Ann Patchett is actually a very talented author. Truth & Beauty was written in light of the death of Patchett’s great friend, American poet and author Lucy Grealy. The book traces their friendship from its beginning in 1985 through nearly twenty years of love, rejection, hope, and despair. By recounting specific conversations, citing real letters from Lucy, and describing each moment with an enormous amount of detail, Patchett provides insight into the intricacies and overall beauty of her relationship with Lucy Grealy. It is a book on loyalty, devotion, and love.

I started reading Truth and Beauty after it was given to me by a professor who called it “her favorite book on women’s friendship.” I decided I would give it a chance, but braced myself for a slow-paced, drawn-out novel. To my surprise, once I began reading this book I found myself genuinely looking forward to the next time I would pick it up. While it wasn’t something I would sit down and read for long periods of time, it was a book that I could easily read in small sections whenever I had a free moment.

The friendship between Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy was unique, unexpected, and at the same time, perfect. Ann, a level-headed writer, served as a stabilizing factor for the erratic Lucy Grealy. Lucy, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the age of nine that required the removal of her jawbone, spent great chunks of her life in hospitals, recovering from facial reconstructive surgeries. Despite this obstacle, she remained a vivacious character that only exhibited her insecurities to those closest to her.

Naturally, once I finished reading this book I had a compulsion to see who my new friend Lucy Grealy was, to place her in a real world context. I found myself watching a Charlie Rose interview of Lucy from 1994, during which I felt as though I was watching an old friend speak. In my head, I already knew Lucy Grealy more intimately than Charlie Rose could ever know her. The Lucy I had met through Truth and Beauty was exuberant, energetic, dynamic, complex, and profound in a way such that she could only be truly understood by those closest to her—including myself, of course.

By all of this, what I mean to say is that Ann Patchett did such an outstanding job of bringing Lucy Grealy back to life that the written Lucy now seems more alive to me than the real woman that was captured on film. It is the detail of her writing, the honesty in each of her words, and the vivacity of her memories that serve to develop Lucy’s personality, Ann’s love, and their friendship so completely.

While this novel is not necessarily a “page-turner,” it still kept my attention. The sections of the novel that are slow or frustrating are only that way because Ann Patchett did such a tremendous job of portraying each event without any sugar-coating. I would recommend this book to any woman that is interested in reading about true friendship. In addition, writers should consider checking out this memoir since Ann Patchett describes her career path and the struggles she faced to become the author she is today. It is an entertaining and emotional novel in which Ann Patchett offers the reader a chance to be a part of the beautiful friendship between her and Lucy Grealy.  


Review by Christie Wentworth, A&S '13


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