GEEKY CHIQUITAS: unique

Book in Review: The Ghost Box by Catherine Fisher

2012 publication

Title: The Ghost Box

Author: Catherine Fisher

Publisher: Stoke Books

Publication Date: January 1, 2012

Library Binding: 67 pages

Rating: 3/5

REALLY SHORT SYNOPSIS:
Sarah finds a silver box in her room one day. Sarah meets a boy. Boy needs her to open the box. Sarah has to find a key for the box.

I don't really have much to say about this book. I believe it's because it's so short. The Ghost Box had the potential to become really great but because of its length, it failed to be spectacular. I mean, the plot was interesting and there were moments when you would really get creeped out but then again it was too short. I don't have anything against short stories but I feel like this one could be worked with and lengthened. Maybe there should have been more difficulty in getting the key or maybe it should have talked more about what happened to the boy.

The writing didn't really give a lot of detail about our main character. I don't know what her eyes look like, how tall she is, what's the color of her hair or even how old she was. Apart from the very little details about Sarah, the other characters and the places were described in full detail. There were some things in the book that were left unexplained. Also, Sarah's parents got divorced, one parent is remarrying and she hates her stepbrother but the book does not talk all that much about those things. Instead, it focuses on the boy and his box. However, the book did show the bond starting to form between the step-siblings so the book did not completely neglect the other problems.

Other than that the book was great. The writing was good and the plot was unique. The characters were likeable and they did not do things for no particular reason. It was a short read that would be perfect for those who want to read a story that will give you goosebumps but won't freak you out too much.

Have you read The Ghost Box? What do you think about it? Leave a comment!

2:16 PM
0 Comments

Book in Review: Summer on the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell

5 star

Title: Summer on the Short Bus
Author: Bethany Crandell
Format: ARC
Paperback: 272 pages
Publication Date: April 1, 2014
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Rating: 5/5
Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cricket Montgomery is a rich and spoiled kid, who is sent by her father to a camp. She is already dreading the fact of going to a camp, but what makes her eventually faint is when she finds out that the campers are actually handicapped. The only thing keeping her in the camp is a Zac Efron look-a-like aka Quinn. How will Cricket get through that summer camp? Which will she choose, her Zac Efron look-a-like, or her luxurious life back home?

This book has a unique beauty in it which is rare to all books. I absolutely agree with what others say that Bethany's writing style is funny and witty. It's also very blunt and clear which makes this book very easy to understand. The writing style made the book very suitable for its target readers. I wasn't exactly laughing out loud, but I definitely shared a few chuckles in my head. I couldn't put the book down when I started reading it. As a result, I finished reading the book in one sitting. I also liked how the book is a cliche, but still wonderfully amazing. Usually, when I read books with a cliche plot, I won't give it a 5 star rating. The difference with this book is that the author was able to write it well enough that I couldn't give it a lower rating.

12:21 AM
2 Comments

Book in Review: Everyday by David Levithan

audrey

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: August 28, 2012
Hardcover: 322 pages
Rating: 4.5/5

(We wrote this review together, so...)

This is a story about a being named A. A doesn't have a permanent body. A doesn't have a gender (for convenience we will be calling A "Being" like a replacement for he/she/it). Being moves from body to body to body, never staying in one for more than a day. A doesn't try to change a person's life or do anything too different or significant when being does stay in that person's body. Being could be a girl today and a boy tomorrow. Being could be Asian, American, German, or anything else. Being can have blond hair, dark hair, brown hair, or dyed hair. Being can be athletic, nerdy, artsy, suicidal, an environmentalist and many more. Being can be rich, poor, or middle-class. A can be the total opposite of what being was yesterday and it's totally normally for being.

On a certain day, A meets a girl named Rhiannon while inhabiting Rhiannon's boyfriend's body. A usually tries not to do anything too different while staying in anyone but this time, being just couldn't resist. A finds beingself liking Rhiannon and tries to find ways to meet her, even while in the body of someone else. They slowly build a relationship and get to know more about each other. Can their relationship survive under the circumstances?

We actually read this book a long time ago but have put off making a review until now. We needed a bit of time to reflect on this book. Even now, we're not sure if we consider the ending happy or sad. There's something about this book that drew us in. Maybe it's the unique plot? Maybe it's the impossible romance?

We loved how Every Day was able to show that though A likes Rhiannon, being is still capable of liking someone of the opposite gender. This highlights the fact that A really doesn't have any gender. Levithan was very clear on saying that A isn't a boy or a girl. A wasn't shown as a masculine character or a feminine one though others might think that A is more male than female.

Every Day was an extremely unique book. The plot was new and fresh, totally not a cliche. We love the plot since it makes you realize how creative Levithan is. He manages to make many books with different topics. His characters don't sound the same like some author's characters do. A was the kind of character whose voice was different from the others. Being was a being (as in being-being not being-he/she/it) that had already figured out what being (back to being-he/she/it) needed to do in order to not mess up anyone's life. we loved how the book started and also loved how it ended. We loved how A, though he never really got education from the same teachers for more than a day, isn't stupid. Being makes use of being's common sense and the things being learned while inhabiting somebody's body to survive. As for Rhiannon, she wasn't stupid either. We don't like her very much but we don't hate her either. She was on our neutral side but even so, we can understand why A would like her, why A would risk so many things for her. Rhiannon didn't do stupid things or rush off into danger. She and A were good together.

Normally, in books, we like happy endings but we realized that if this book ended happily, it wouldn't be perfect anymore and would seem forced just to please the readers. We also realized that if it ended sadly, we might hate the book, think of it as too depressing. What Levithan did was create an ending that wasn't sad but wasn't happy either. It was more hopeful than happy. Peaceful than sad.

The writing was easy to read and would grab your attention from the very first page. It showed everything it had to show and made the events perfect. We don't know why we didn't give it a 5. There's just a tiny little thing that's missing but we can't figure out what it is. Other than that, we loved the book.

Have you read Every Day? What did you think about it? Leave a comment!

9:48 PM
4 Comments

Soupy Sundays: On Cliches (5)

audrey

Soupy Sundays is a discussion post at Geeky Chiquitas in which we talk about our opinions on certain topics. This week's topic is on cliches.

ON CLICHÉS

Some people really hate cliches. They say that some plot lines are so overused. Of course it's nice to find a plot which is new and fresh since we tend to see a lot of the same plot lines in every genre. It gets tiring to see all of the same kind of books over and over again. They may be written differently but are, in essence, the same.

It may be so but we think that some books that are cliches are actually nice and enjoyable. We believe that a book's greatness is based more on how it was written. Maybe a book might be a cliche but if it is written well, if the plot was given justice, then it would probably be great for us. There is also a reason for why certain topics become so popular. Maybe that topic was simply great or could be worked with at so many different angles that people found it good enough to be worth reading about over and over again.

We admit that it might be hard to come up with new, fresh topics since there are so many books that you can't help but think: "What's the use of trying to think of a new topic when probably every single one has already been done?" Well, you might think that all topics are covered but we believe that if you think hard enough, you'll find a topic that's new. If you really can't think of one, you can choose to use one that you think hasn't been used much.

There are a lot of plot lines that we want to read yet haven't read yet. Sometimes, we are disappointed about how there are so many books on a certain topic but none on another. On a past post, we listed down a couple of topics that we haven't seen yet in a book that we would probably like to read. There were about ten topics there and we believe that we even had more that we didn't list down anymore. (You can check it out here.)

Even though we would like to see new, fresh topics when we read a book, we cannot deny that there's something about cliches that is kinda comforting. The feeling when you read a book and you already know what is happening is just different. It gives this comforting feeling. Makes you feel safe like nothing's gonna surprise you or anything. You already know what generally happens so you don't feel the need to analyze everything. You can just relax while reading a cliche.

In conclusion, we don't think that cliches are bad. We believe that a book should not be judged solely on its plot line but by it as a whole. Though we think of it as such, we would still like to see more unique topics. More books that cover new territories. Every plot is worth writing about because someone out there might be looking for a book like that so we hope that writers everywhere try as much as possible to write about different things. Audrey even saw a book on Goodreads that showed you how to sharpen pencils. If that isn't unique and different, we don't know what is.

What do you think about cliches? Leave a comment!

11:12 PM
4 Comments

BOOK IN REVIEW: Pigments of My Imagination by Angela Kulig

angela kulig

Received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Pigments of My Imagination

Author: Angela Kulig
Publisher: Green Envy Press

Publication Date: September 23, 2013

Epub: 826 pages

Source: RC

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Pigments of My Imagination is about Lucia, an artist prodigy who is about to enter her new school at Bayside Academy. Yet even if others would be thrilled to be at one of the most prestigious and advanced art schools, Lucia is nothing but bothered, as she has always felt as if she knows people (déjàvu, she has always dismissed it), and it has become even worse when she arrives at her new school. Her mother would send her to psychologists and after each session, she would feel better, not knowing that her memories are being repressed. Yet, Lucia still has an empty feeling, as if she has to remember something but can't - until she meets Leo. And then we find out that Lucia and Leo are two lovers, part of the Soul Painters, a group of artists who have been reincarnated over and over again. And Lucia finds out that she has started a war several lifetimes ago, and it will never end until she does something about it.

Pigments of my Imagination was definitely a fascinating read. I found Angela Kulig's writing so vivid and real. She was able to paint the setting quite so remarkably I could imagine the story play out in my head. The premise of POMI is very interesting and unique. For one, it's a reincarnation plot which has been done over and over again. But on the other hand, it uses art as the central key to the story. It is not just about fates, harpies and all sorts of magical creatures but it also talks about art and its beauty or curses. It's unlike any book I've ever read. At first I thought it to be a Mortal Instruments/Twilight crossover, but surprisingly it is actually very very different although some elements were similar. It didn't dwell much on the romance between Lucia or Leo, and the approach wasn't melodramatic with the story - though there were some melodramatic revelations.

8:27 PM
2 Comments

2014 Must Try Hairstyles

beryl

A new year has come and a good way to make it unforgettable at the end of the year is by trying new things!

This year, I would like to try crazy and different hairstyles, but I don't think my hair would grow that fast to try them all so I'll just share them to you.

1. Straight Bob-Cut

I have a natural straight hair with bangs, so I think this haircut is easy to do with my hair. You just need to cut it off. Even though it's risky, isn't it fun to try a new style? To have a new look? You won't need to worry for bad hair days anymore because with short hair, it's always easier to fix.

2. Wavy Curls

Wavy curls is my fave of all time! I love getting my hair wavy because who wouldn't get bored with having such straight hair all the time? Sometimes, I even bun up my hair then pull it off after some hours, just to make it wavy. How desperate am I, right? When you have to attend formal events, you can easily go with this hairstyle, no problemo.