BOY21 by Matthew Quick | Book Review (SPOILER FREE)

Title: Boy21

Author: Matthew Quick

Genre: Contemporary / YA
Originally Published: 2012

Page Count: 277 pages

Published by: Headline

Date Read: 10th July 2014

*Note: Book sent by publisher through Bookbridgr for review. All thoughts & feelings 100% genuine*

Boy21 is a multi-layered Young Adult contemporary novel, in which we follow the protagonist, Finley, a high school basketball player. Finley's life is a combination of looking after his 'Pop', sitting on his roof with his girlfriend, Erin, and basketball. When his Coach one day asks him to reach out to new student, Russ, as a favour, Finley's life gains a shadow and a friend who continues to go by the name 'Boy21' and believes he is from outer space and has a mission to complete. As the two boys develop a friendship in their town of gangs and racial divides, it becomes clear that their friendship is beneficial for both, as they both hide a past that they are refusing to confront. 

While the synopsis may sound a tiny bit ridiculous when I put it like that, the novel was infact quite breathtaking. I've never read any of Matthew Quick's work and I'll tell you straight away that I will be picking another of his novels up as soon as possible! It's so short and wonderful that I read it in an afternoon. 

There's more than just that synopsis I put together, there's the wonderful characters. (Note-to-self: Stop saying wonderful). Anyway, Finley is wonderful a breath of fresh air as a protagonist. He's a very quiet individual, but one who is always present and never judging. His growth in the novel is outstanding and you can't help but sympathise with him. Russ, or Boy21, was fantastic also. He was so imaginative and caring, there was definitely a sense of connection with the two boys. And finally an ode to Erin, for she was hilarious. Her interactions and mannerisms were so beautiful, you couldn't help but want to be best friends with her. 

The plot itself is intriguing. It can become clear that basketball was the centre of this novel, and that sport gave each boy a drive in their life when they needed it. In reality, however, its their friendship that drives this novel. The time they spend together, unjudging of one another, and discovering each other is what drives this novel and it was great that, although the love interest plays a big part of this novel, friendship was the glue that held together this YA novel, something which I feel is forgotten about with some of my recent YA reads. 

If you get a chance, pick this book up, it's much more powerful and warm (can a book be warm? I'm saying it can) than I first thought and I'm so grateful that Bookbridgr gave me an opportunity to read it. Definitely check it out. ★★★★☆ (4.5)

WIDE AWAKE by David Levithan (SPOILER FREE)

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY | Book Review

Title: Bridget Jones's Diary (Bridget Jones #1)
Author: Helen Fielding
Originally Published: 1996
Published by: Picador
Page Count: 336 pages

I think we all know the story of Bridget Jones by now, but if not, the novel is essentially the thoughts of Bridget, a 30-something singleton, desperate to quit smoking, lose weight and gain a boyfriend. It's all very simple.

The format of the book, obviously, is a diary. The novel is divided into months and each month has a collection of entries throughout that month. The entries can be at times monotonous and contrived. Bridget is so desperate for one man, Daniel (her boss), to take notice of her that many consecutive entries are simply: why hasn't he emailed me back? why doesn't he notice me? why won't he flirt with me? where is he? - One side of me was screaming inside: Get Over It! Why are you so desperate? You don't need a man! But to be fair, Bridget is a pretty good depiction of a lot of people. I have, and I'm sure most people have, spent minutes, hours, days, weeks (maybe - hopefully not), pining over someone to get back to them, to take notice of them. It may be pathetic but sometimes, that's life.

With that aspect of life does come some startling realisation that they're not worth it and your friends have been right this entire time. Which brings me to the characters. Bridget, aside from being desperately single, is incredibly funny. She talks about 'fuckwittage' and things being 'v.g.', she is actually quite interesting to study at times, as I'm sure she is real in many shades of each of us. She messes up, climbs up fireman's poles instead of sliding down them, she's infectious. Her friends are brilliant, albeit stereotyped and one-dimensional at times. Her gay best friend, Tom, epitomises the gay lifestyle that has so been characterised on television. In a way it's insulting but in a way it's also truthful and provides comic relief and sound advice. Bridget's other friends are hilarious, having terrible boyfriends or husbands, and succumbing to the new fad in self-identity and spirituality. They're people you know and people you can laugh and relate with. 
Bridget's mum was a personal favourite, probably showing the main reason Bridget is v. desperate. Her mum's overbearingness is tragic yet relatable (AGAIN!) - I'm sure this is an autobiography and not fiction. The lead male characters of Daniel and Mark are pretty boring. Daniel's a chauvinist, which is good because the novel made me hate him. Mark Darcy is a bit boring and isn't as likeable as one would think. 

I've rambled far too much. Often like Bridget. Her diary extracts do become very narrative-like, with whole conversations put in with speech marks and everything. It's definitely not a realistic diary, but to be fair, I don't think it'd be half as interesting if some conversations weren't transcribed. 

In the end I did enjoy this, it was at times stupid and monotonous but the initial opening became very funny and [trying to find a word that isn't 'relatable']... relevant (?). I don't know. I enjoyed it mostly, but the ending was predictable and boring. I may read the sequel if I need some easy reading. 3.5 stars.

ONE DAY | Book Review

Title: One Day
Author: David Nicholls
Genre: Fiction / Contemporary
Published by: Hodder 

Originally Published: 2009
Page Count: 435

Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? 
Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.

(Source: Goodreads)

My relationship with this book is a rather fond one. It will from now on remind me of long soaks, train rides, and my time in the Lake District last summer. I've been reading it for so long in theory; having had to put it down after I initially started it as it belonged to the cottage I was staying in. 

Although the storyline is one of cliché, I still enjoyed it immensely. The character of Emma is incredibly likeable and reminded me of myself a great deal. It's scary at how much, I just hope I don't have the shitty jobs she seems to end up in, although, I feel that is an inevitable part of my upcoming future. She was fresh and witty, with strong emotions and a definable personality. She has an identity crisis, almost, at the end of the book, which shows how life changes you. Dexter was infuriating at times and sometimes a boring cliché, it was a little predictable the paths he would take. Dexter probably typifies the male lead in this genre of romance or chick lit, but because I've not read much of this genre he's predictable but not something I have encountered often. I can see why avid romance readers are a bit bored of the Dexters in romantic fiction. 

The writing was colloquial and perfect. It wasn't overly pretentious or stupidly simple, it had the right balance that related well to its protagonists. The main issue I had with the book, inevitably, was its premise. It is 'one day' of this couple's life, the same day, year after year. And like normal people, not every day is interesting, it becomes tedious and sometimes infuriating that we did not get to witness the immediate impact of the events. The chapters that stood out came at the beginning and the end of the novel. The book is split into five parts and the last part was brilliant, if not a bit too sentimental. 

Overall, a fun read for someone uneducated in the genre. 4.5 stars. 

Review: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan.

Title: Boy Meets Boy

Author: David Levithan

Genre:YA / LGBT / Romance

Published by: Alfred Knopf 

Originally Published: 2003

Page Count: 185

"I was the first openly gay president of my third-grade class. I have seen men holding hands walking down the street in a big city and I have read about women getting married in a state that's not so far away. I have found a boy I might just love, and I have not run away. I believe that I can be anyone I might want to be. All these things give me strength." 

Boy Meets Boy follows the protagonist, Paul, an openly gay sophomore in high school. At the beginning of the book the captivating Noah tumbles into his life, and the pair are soon romantically linked as they both develop feelings for each other.  The town they live in is a paradise, an idyllic refuge for gay, bisexual, transgender, and frankly, every type of person. The book epitomises "YA romance" but has a whole cast of characters who are growing in character in each and every page.

The setting of this town is completely science-fiction, yet somehow believable. Every one in Paul's town seems wonderfully accepting and beautiful, they all embrace difference, and there's no one who epitomises difference than the homecoming queen and star quarter back Infinite Marlene (formally known as Daryl).

What I adore about this book is its collection of characters. You obviously have Paul at the centre of the story, he is the root that stems to each connecting character. Paul is likeable and relatable, he's your typical teenager. Noah is interesting and loveable. But besides these characters you have Tony (who I personally adored), he lives in the town next to Paul and lives in a religious household, where his parents try to ignore his homosexuality. His friendship with Paul is completely platonic and utterly perfect, the pair do not judge each other and are always there for each other.
You also have Joni, Paul's former best friend, isolating herself from her friends due to her boyfriend, Chuck. (We've all known a Joni, haven't we?)
You have Kyle, Paul's former ex who is now straight and claims Paul 'tricked' him. And you have Paul's parents, Tony's parents, Paul's brother Jay and Noah's sister Claudia.
Throughout the 185 pages you get a glimpse of people you have known in real life, fictionalised in Levithan's work but so beautifully. It's so sad that we don't see more of some characters. I personally would love to know more about Tony and Claudia.

There's not much I can say about this book, it follows and confines to certain tropes such as boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to win girl back. But no, we have two males at the centre and its refreshing and original. It's a juxtaposition of the norm, yet it is completely the same. With Paul's town being so accepting, the novel portrays a gay relationship as similar and as typical as any other, and that's what I like about this book. I believe it is a few years before its time. It perfectly depicts what teenagers go through and it has nice references to popular culture and certain issues, such as the US's boy scouts issue, in which gay boys had been excluded from the scouts (something which has now changed). It refers to Paul's town having 'Joy Scouts', which I think is just wonderful.

The novel is a very character-driven book, like I said, and it has become one of my favourites, which I feel is a necessity for all gay teenagers. If I had read this at fifteen, I would have treasured it so much. Sadly, 15-year-old me was not much one for books, nor one to be suggested this kind of book by the people I surrounded myself with.

A quirky little book with a lovely ending. 4 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. (NO SPOILERS)

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Genre: YA / Romance 
Published by: Penguin books
Originally Published: 2012
Page Count: 318


I've only recently got around to reading one of the most-talked about and anticipated book from 2012, and wow am I glad I did actually buy and read it.

The book is written in first person, from the perspective of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old girl suffering from Thyroid cancer, as a result a tank of oxygen is constantly trailing by her side. Hazel's life almost certainly changes instantly when she meets Augustus Waters, a seventeen-year-old plot twist in remission after losing his leg to osteosarcoma. It is a cancer support group where they meet and it is from there that this story develops into a breathtaking adventure about love and the meaning of life.

First of all I completely avoided this book after reading Paper Towns by John Green as I thought this book would almost be the same; annoying, a let down and incredibly pretentious. Now this book doesn't shy away from its dabble in pretentiousness, but you have to allow John Green to do this, as it adds to the likability and allure of his two main characters.

I had very little idea of the plot when going into this, in fact I thought it was going to be the same basic idea of a film I'd recently watched, Now Is Good, which starred a 'British' Dakota Fanning, and the gorgeous Jeremy Irvine. However, this book had so much more substance than the film I had watched. The film I had watched was very much counting down to the day the protagonist died, this book however may have had cancer at its core, it is the agent that pulls Hazel and Augustus together, but it doesn't necessarily drive the novel all the time.

The two main characters is where my love for this book initially came. Hazel and Augustus have this almost witty way of speaking and they're incredibly clever and well-spoken. In Paper Towns you could argue 'Q' is the same, but frankly he's boringly irate compared to these two. It may be said that this is not typical teenage behaviour or speech, but these two protagonists are not typical teenagers. Hazel has this view on life that is so refreshing and raw, she's not afraid to say what she thinks about those who treat her differently because of her cancer, she's not afraid to be blunt or hide away due to cancer. You end up respecting Hazel, she's just a teenager who happens to have cancer, and is terrified she's a grenade. A word she uses to describe herself, she feels if certain people form attachments to her its a matter of time until the grenade explodes and they are all left inconsolable and heartbroken. It's heartbreaking when you hear Hazel describe herself like this, as as a reader you want nothing more than for her to be happy and safe.
Augustus or 'Gus' is another wonderful character, he's witty, charming and in my head, he's incredibly attractive. He's not afraid to joke about what may be seen as sensitive issues, he finds humour in everything and he'll be damned if anything stops him from doing what he wishes. He's romantic and charming and you can see why he's so appealing to Hazel.

The plot follows the two as they get to know each other, we meet their mutual friend Isaac, who sadly is about to lose his eyesight due to his condition. Isaac is another heartwarming and funny character you can't help loving and feeling sorry for.

There's a quote on the edition that I own by Jodi Picoult that describes this book perfectly:

"Electric... filled with staccato bursts of humour and tragedy."

If a book can make me feel emotions and make me long for these characters then to me, it's a pretty good book. This book plunged me deeper into my emotions than I cared to think a book could take me.
I found myself laughing out loud several times, and I found myself crying at 1am over this book, actually not being able to breathe properly because my heart was breaking. Even in moments of sheer heartache this book still manages to make you laugh and immediately whimper after it.

Closing this book was like leaving friends behind. It was a journey that struck a note with me. It's filled with so many wonderful quotes that you can take with you on your way, my favourite being something that I associate with this book:

"As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." 

I don't want to be cheesy but this quote resonates so much with me for this book, you come accustomed to the wonderful writing and the magnificent characters John Green has created and you feel yourself being succumbed to the book's charm. And then you suddenly realise when you close this book that its nothing like anything else. It is perfect:  ★★★★★