Book Forty-Two

Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Maureen Johnson
Summary: If your free-spirited aunt left you 13 little blue envelopes: Would you follow the directions? Would you travel around the world? Would you open the envelopes one by one? Inside envelope 1, is money and instructions to buy a plane ticket. Inside envelope 2, are directions to a specific London flat. Inside envelope 3, tells Ginny: find a starving artists. Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/man-about-town called Keith go to Scotland together, with disastrous - though really romantic - results. But will she ever see him again?
Genre: Adventure
Time Started: 7th September.
Time Ended: 28th September, 11:54pm
Page Count:  319
Age Rating: 13+
Warning: Minor sexual themes.
Appeal Rating: 9/10.

First things first, the blurb is really misleading. It makes it seem like a romance novel ... it's not. Yes, Keith and Ginny DO fall for each other and kiss a lot and sleep on a bench when Ginny misses lockout at the hostel, but it is not all about Ginny and Keith. It's about Ginny, about becoming independent, travelling the world, making friends, coming out of your shell. In no way is it a romance novel.

Anyway.

I really enjoyed this book. It took me a while to properly get into it, and it took me so long because (a) homework is ridiculous this year so it kept me busy, and (b) I wasn't reading much.

The characters are amazingly developed, and they all have fantastic, real personalities. Peg seems like such an awesome woman, and it's a shame Ginny didn't get to spend as much time with her as she could. Only a truly amazing person would take their niece around the world, through thirteen letters, in such a short amount of time.

Maureen Johnson is a fantastic writer, with a large imagination and an excellent sense of humour. I will definitely be checking out more of her books.

Now, I have to go do homework, so I can't write any more. Definitely recommended!

Book Forty-One

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Summary: You can't stop the future, you can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret ... is to press play. Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes rrecorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and first love - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. All through the night, Clay keeps listening - and what he discovers changes his life ... Forever.
Genre: Angst/Drama
Time Started: 31st August, time unknown.
Time Ended: 5th September, 11:45pm
Page Count: 288
Age Rating: 13+
Warning: Talk of suicide, mention of rape and sex.
Appeal Rating: 10/10.

Before I say anything about the actual book, I'm listening to Hannah's tapes here, and it's kind of freaky. If you want to listen to them, go to last page so you can start from the beginning.

Now, onto the book. It's so amazing. A favourite, most definitely. It's such a moving book, and anyone who reads this and doesn't at least get tears in their eyes at some point is heartless. Because the tapes are deep and so emotional, even Clay cries. I don't know about anyone else, but I was so anxious as Clay listened to the tapes, as if my name were to pop up (I was anxious about Clay's name, actually, but anyone would think I expected mine).

I love the format of this book, too. It's really imaginative and original, and that's an instant thumbs up from me. This story is so real and so unbelievably touching, it really is fantastic. And it's late (I turned the laptop on as soon as I finished, so I could tell you about it), so I really can't think of anything to say.

I definitely reccommend!