Response #3 "Evermore"

    In the book "Evermore" by Alyson Noel I thought that the overall theme of the book is that love conquers all. I thought that the theme was very clear and touched upon during the book, but it also made the book too predictable because the theme was shown so early on in the story.
    Evermore is about a girl named Ever whose family dies in a car crash. After the accident Ever finds out that she can hear peoples thoughts and much more. In the beginning of the school year Ever meets an "immortal" a person who cannot die, and will live forever. The immortal is a guy named Damen, who has been in love with Ever for many lifetimes but they've never gotten their happy-ever-after. The book centers around their relationship and how Ever struggles with her gift.
    I thought that the books theme was really boring and unoriginal. Because the book was so romantic and gushy from practically the very first page, it made for a really predictable and uneventful read. I think this because on almost the third chapter of the book, it was clear that Damen was interested in Ever, as he would give her flowers, wink, and do nice things such as hold doors for her.
    Another reason that I thought the book was so boring is because the main character was not someone I could relate to or even wanted to. Ever reminded me very much of Bella in the book Twilight because of what a bland person they both were, and how in no way could I find them lovable. For example, in the book Ever gets jealous when she sees that Damen gives flowers to another girl, and instead of asking him about it she pouts and ignores him.  I found it really annoying that I couldn't find reasoning for any of her motives such as not going to see Ava, a woman who could help clear her head of everyones thoughts.
    In conclusion I thought Alyson Noel did great in showing her theme, but not so well in choosing it. I thought she could've found a more interesting plot, and maybe a more detailed character.
    

Response #2

 I liked that Martins blog was very short and quick to the point, he had a specific piece of his book "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar that he wanted to focus on. In a way he could've expanded his response to include what he thought of the book itself, and more on why he enjoyed reading it. His conclusion was also very short but I liked how it was very essay-like and professional. I think Martin did great in showing his opinion on the consequences Kaira gets Armpit into. 

  I really liked Malachs blog on the book "Battle Royale" because  although it did need a little editing it was really interesting to read. There was also just enough opinion to it and summary. It was also great that he set up a question he needed to answer from the very beginning, and I think he did very well in answering those two questions. I also liked how he compared the kids in Battle Royale to present-day kids. In the end Malach made me want to read this book.

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone is a book about an ordinary eighteen year old orphan girl, Alina Starkov who has grown up with her best friend and crush Mal. They're sent into the army and soon they have to cross the Fold, which is everyones worst nightmare come to life. The fold is a desert crawling with vicious monsters, when they're attacked Alina finds a power within her that surprises everyone and soon enough she's training to become a Grisha, a very respected person in the royal court who has magical abilities. Now Alina has the chance to become everything she's never let herself dream of being, beautiful, strong, and most of all, wanted. But is it worth losing Mal? One of the reasons that I loved this book so much is that it put a really complicated and incredibly twisted, dark fantasy story around one of the most commonly thought of and used ideas. The idea that beauty isn't found on the outside, but the inside, and that its what's on the inside that counts. I thought Leigh Bardugo, the author did a great job on keeping her main character realistic. I loved how the main character, Alina was very far from perfect and that made her a lot easier to relate to which is, I think, one of the most important traits of a book. Alina was very skinny, weak, and sickly in the beginning of the book, and it was something that was constantly brought up throughout the book. I liked that the author had her turn strong and then beautiful because of her strength rather than vise versa. Another thing I really loved was how in most books the heroine or hero, has been special in some way from the very first page of the book. For example Tris from the book Divergent was divergent, Katniss from The Hunger Games was incredible at hunting, Katsa from Graceling had a grace. But Alina on the other hand was plain as could be, there was nothing to her. Very much like Bella from Twilight although she remained boring throughout the whole book. In conclusion I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone because it was like reading an adult fairy tale. It used one of the most known morals, beauty is found on the inside and turned it into this incredible plot.