Wither by Lauren DeStefano

It’s some time in the future and every continent besides North America has been obliterated. Because of a virus brought on by genetic engineering, females only live to be twenty, males twenty-five. This has led people to kidnap young girls and force them into polygamous marriages so they will breed while they can. Sixteen-year old Rhine is one of these young wives, who along with her two sister wives, is married to a very rich young man with a very evil father (who had avoided the virus because he is of the first generation who are all extremely healthy and live to be very old). Rhine’s only desire is to escape and return to her home and her twin brother who she knows will be looking for her.

I really liked this book, it was well written and the story was well plotted and entertaining. The book is the first in a trilogy and I got the sense that a lot of what happened in the book was just setting up for the rest of the series. There seemed to be a lot of foreshadowing and character development going on. But not at the expense of the story though. I read this book in two days because it was a nice easy read but also because it was so interesting I couldn’t put it down.

Wither reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games, maybe because it was a dystopian novel with a female narrator, maybe because of the roles children (and teenagers) were forced to play in this new world but I kept finding myself thinking of Katniss and her struggles. I would think that a person who enjoyed The Hunger Games would probably like Wither as well.

I just have one tiny little complaint. The flow of the story, at times, just didn’t feel perfectly polished somehow. I know this is DeStefano’s first novel and it feels like a first novel. But a first novel of a talented author with many satisfying novels to come. I can’t wait to read the remainder of this trilogy and whatever else DeStefano may write.

Read for: Canadian Books Challenge

It is in the future (the near future according to the book jacket) and the bees have all disappeared.  Then randomly (or not as it turns out) five people across the globe are stung.  Each of them are then brought into special isolation rooms to be studied to find out why they were stung and how this information could be used to bring back the bees.  I found this part of the book interesting but then it took an odd turn.  After the stingees are sent back to their normal lives, they are again gathered up, and this time brought together on a remote island and told to tell stories to each other.  Then there are a bunch of their short stories in the book (which I’m sure had some deep meaning to the story but it wasn’t readily apparent and I just didn’t feel like thinking that hard to figure it out).    Then after all that weirdness, there’s some zombie references and then you find out why the bees disappeared and how the scientists plan on getting them back.

So, how did I feel about this book?  I’m still not sure.  It’s taken me a while to get to this review because I’m still deciding what I think.  I did enjoy the first half and I was satisfied with the ending, but the middle part was strange.  And I can’t decide if the beginning and the ending make up for the strangness of the middle. you know?

As always with Coupland, though, there were definitely parts that made me laugh out loud and many of his characters were pretty witty which made for enjoyable reading even in the weird parts.  I think overall it was a decent book and it wasn’t too long or deep so I can see past the middle part (which wasn’t bad – just different and isn’t that just typical Coupland?)

Note: I’m labelling this as dystopian fiction because it kind of has that feel, but it’s not typical dystopian either.

Read for: The Canadian Books Challenge

I find the more Atwood I read, the more I appreciate her writing.  Sometimes I don’t love the plot but her writing is brilliant.  If you’ve read Oryx and Crake you might recognize the setting and some of the characters in this novel.  It took me a really long time to clue into this though.  I did read Oryx and Crake right when it first came out so it’s been a while.

In this novel, there’s been a supervirus (the waterless flood) that’s spread through out a large majority of the population.  The story is told through two of the survivors, Ren and Toby who have managed to avoid the plague by being isolated from the general population.  Through flashbacks we learn that Toby and Ren were once part of the same religious group – called the Gardeners – and have since left for various reasons.  Eventually, Ren and Toby are forced to leave their respective hideouts and they are able to find others from their pasts and eventually each other.

I really liked this novel.  I sometimes have a hard time reading dystopian literature because it can be so disturbingly accurate.  Somehow this one didn’t get to me the way others have. (And not because it’s unrealistic.  Maybe I’m just becoming desensitized to it because I’ve read so much lately!)  With people making such a big deal over the swine flu and a possible pandemic it becomes a lot more real to read about a virus that killed huge portions of the population.

The characters in the book were likable and realistic.  It was really interesting to read how Toby viewed  Ren after they were reunited and see how different it was of Ren’s own view of herself.  I think this is quite often true in the real world.  How we see ourselves can be very different from how others view us.

I have a really hard time writing reviews of Atwood’s work because there is so much to talk about that I just don’t know where to start.  I also feel like I don’t want to give away too much of the story because it’s so much better to read it without knowing what’s coming next.  So for those reasons I think I’ll stop now.  Just read the book yourself!  It’s good.

Read for: Banned Books Week, 1% Well Read Challenge, Canadian Books Challenge

The more I read of Atwood, the more I come to realize what a brilliant writer she is.  I read a few of her books about ten years ago and I think I just wasn’t ready for them yet.  Everything I’ve read of hers recently (even the ones I haven’t enjoyed) have really struck me in some way or another.

Most people have read this one, and those who haven’t usually know what the general plot is so I’m going to make my summary brief.  This one is another dystopian society – Gilead.  Offred is a handmaid which means that her sole purpose is to procreate.  Handmaids are sent to Commanders and their Wives in the hopes that they will conceive a child.  If she does, she bears the child and then moves on to another Commander.  Handmaids (and in fact all women) are allowed almost no freedoms and are carefully watched to be sure that they do not  step out of line.  As the novel unfolds, Offred, whose real name is never revealed, reveals Gilead came to be.

I really liked this book, actually a lot more than I was expecting to.  Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down (which for me and Atwood is rare).  As I mentioned earlier, Atwood is a brilliant writer, but besides that she has the ability to tell a really great story.  Even though, Offred was in a truly depressing situation, Atwood kept giving little hints that all was not lost, there was hope yet.  Offred clung to the hope of her daughter and husband from “before”.  She was able to find friendship in unexpected places.  I liked that in the darkest of times, Offred was able to see the simple beauty in the flowers (or perhaps she imagined them, which makes it that much more amazing).

On the other hand, parts of this book were terrifying because Gilead is so plausible.  Almost every part of this society has some historical (and some not-so-historical) counterparts.  There have been times in the past and in the present in parts of the world, where women have been treated as less than human, as just bodies to clean up, cook and have babies.  Even the way Gilead was formed was scarily real and even reminiscent of certain incidents following 9/11.

I am really glad I finally took the time to read this book, but I’m also glad I waited until this point in my life because I don’t think I would have understood it as well without the lens of experience I’ve been able to view it through at this time.

Other reviews:

• Book Nut
• things mean a lot
• read_warbler
• it’s all about me

If I missed yours, please leave a link in the comments.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Read for: Banned Books Week

First of all, can I just say that I think it’s truly ironic that a book about books being illegal is banned?!  I had no idea what this book was about when I first picked it up except the whole dystopian future thing.  It seems pretty common for dystopian future books to be banned or at least challenged, doesn’t it?

Anyway, in this novel, written in the 1950s and set sometime after the turn of the century, firemen are no longer employed to fight fires, their new task is to start them.  At the firehall they receive alerts that tip them off to the presence of books and off they go to burn down the house of whomever was hiding the books.

As the novel begins, Montag a fireman, enjoys starting fires but as he is walking home from work one day, he meets a young girl and what she says causes him to question what he has always thought.  This girl actually plays a small role in the novel but is the catalyst for Montag to change his entire way of thinking and acting.  She has a huge impact on him.

I don’t generally enjoy books in this genre and this was no exception.  However, I can see the value in them, if that makes sense.  And this one in particular was actually quite accurate in some ways.  Montag’s wife was the epitome of everything that was wrong with their society.  She had these little seashells that she wore in her ears and they were constantly playing news and ads and who knows what else.  Remind you of anything?  The other thing she did was spend the day in front of her wall sized televisions (3 walls, and she was saving up to do the fourth wall) watching other people live their lives.   It reminded me a lot of reality TV.  One night she invites her friends over to watch some TV with her and one of her friends says this

“I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten.  I put up with them when they come home three days a month; its not bad at all.  You heave them into the ‘parlour’ (what they call their TV rooms) and turn the switch.  It’s like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid.”

I have to admit, I’m guilty of doing this sometimes.  In fact, just last week I was counting down the days until my oldest would go back to school because he was driving me crazy!

It’s creepy how well Bradbury was able to see the future.  However, he didn’t foresee the internet and I think the internet is so important today in the sharing of information.  As we’ve seen, it’s becoming harder and harder for governments and other authority figures to suppress the spread of information.

Although, as I’ve said, I didn’t really enjoy this book, I can understand it’s importance and appreciate Bradbury’s cleverness.  And I definitely don’t think it should be banned or challenged.  The only people who would want this book challenged would be people who support the suppression of information.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Read for: What’s in a Name Challenge – book with a medical condition in the title (this might be stretching it a little, but someone else has already used this for this category so SUE ME!)

Wow.  I don’t even know where to start with this one…  This book is horrifyingly good, let me see if I can explain.

Sometime in the future, North American has now become Panem, a country divided into the Capitol – the haves, and 12 Districts – the have-nots.  Every year the Capitol puts on the Hunger Games, where 2 children, aged 12-18, from each District are chosen to fight to the death in the arena.  The last man (or woman) standing brings fame and fortune to their district for the coming year.

Katniss, from District 12 (one of the poorer districts) volunteers herself for the Hunger Games when her 12 year old sister’s name is drawn.  Katniss actually has a lot of practical skills that may be useful to her in the games.  Peeta, the boy that is chosen from District 12, a baker’s son, once helped Katniss when she was starving to death, so there is of course a little history between them.

I don’t really want to say much else about the plot because it would require giving away too much about the story.  The book is divided into three parts and the entire first part of the book is about the reaping (chosing the names of the children that will participate), and preparing the children for the games.  The second and third part are about the actual games and what happenes afterward.  The ending is satisfying, but also leaves a lot of loose ends that left me dying to read the next book (which comes out September 1, 2009 – can’t wait!).

I almost forgoet!  To add to the drama of the Games, the entire thing is televised,including each gory death, so everyone at home is watching, like some sick reality TV show.  Of course, Katniss and the other contestants have some acting to do to try and garner sympathy so their sponsors might send them food or medicine or weapons or whatever they might be in need of.

So, when I first started reading this I almost put it down again, because I normally don’t enjoy novels about a dystopian future.  Somehow they are just depressing.  But, then the story drew me in.  Katniss was a very compelling character, but the reaping was what really got me.  It was kind of like watching a train wreck, I just couldn’t pull myself away it was so awful!  And by then, I was totally involved in the story and was able to forget about the dystopian future thing and just enjoy the story.

There is a love story in the book that actually becomes a major part of the plot and Katniss spends almost the entire book being entirely oblivious to the fact.  Some have compared her to Bella Swan in her obliviousness but I actually found Katniss to be a much more believable and likeable character than Bella.

The Hunger Games was extremely entertaining and I really could not put it down.  I will be buying the next book the day it goes on sale, which is called Catching Fire and will be released on Sept. 1.

The Hunger Games gets a 10/10 from me!

Other Reviews:

• A Comfy Chair and a Good Book
• Bart’s Bookshelf
• Becky’s Book Reviews
• Book Nut
• books i done read
• Dreadlock Girl
• Farm Lane Book Blogs
• It’s All About Books
• Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?
• Random Wonder
• Stephanie’s Written Word
• The Book Nest
• The Well Read Child

Did I miss yours?  Please link in the comments.