Review of Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Title: Let It Snow
Authors: John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
Published by: Speak
Pages: 352
Source: Library
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads:  Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.

Three authors, three stories, and all the joy of the holiday season wrapped up in one book.

John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle each wrote a short story about one Christmas Eve.  I have to say that John Green's story was great.  As always his characters were realistic and a bit edgy.  The story had a little more mush than I'm used in his writing, but it fit the overall feel of the book.  Plus sometimes a little romance is just what is needed on these chilly winter nights. 

Maureen Johnson starts off the novel with her short story.  While at times I had a hard time believing everything was true, I was still invested in the story and the characters.  It was a great way to start off the novel because it truly felt like I was reading a Holiday romance...just not one that I may have expected in YA literature.

The final story by Lauren Myracle was my least favorite.  I had a hard time with the main character.  I though she was selfish, self-absorbed and just not a very nice person.  I understand the story was more about her growing as a person, but I never really ended up liking her.

The best thing about this book is that all the stories are connected in multiple ways.  It's not just one place or character that overlap, there are multiple characters and scenarios that are repeated in a new light in each story.  I'm not sure how these three authors worked it out, but it was genius!  I only wish there were more books like this out there.   

Review of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Narrator: Kate Rudd
Published by: Brilliance Audio
Length: 6 sound discs (7 hr., 19 min.)
Source: Library
Format: Audio
Rating: 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Seriously, how does John Green amaze me every single time? 

Like the rest of John Green's novels, The Fault in Our Stars was phenomenal.  This story is so much more than a girl battling Cancer; it's about the epic and sometimes ironic adventures of life.  It's about finding happiness in the darkest of times and leaving your mark on the universe.  Is it sad?  Sure, once I was actually crying so hard I had to pull over and stop the cd for a while.  (They should put some warning labels on these audio books!) But again, the whole novel is not sad and tragic; instead the sad parts highlight the rest of the story and makes it that much sweeter.

Hazel and Augustus are two characters that will easily enter your life and make a lasting impression.  In fact, all the characters in The Fault in Our Stars had so much depth and dimension that the story easily came to life.  Hazel, Augustus, their family and friends have an inner strength that could rival any Marvel superhero.  They haven't lived the easiest of lives, but that didn't stop them from having a life, falling in love, and dealing with not only the death of loved ones, but also the guilt of survival and health. 

I can't pinpoint exactly what makes John Green's novels shine the way they do, but I believe it has to do with his writing.  He is a master of language and verbal sparring.  He has an extensive vocabulary and puts words together in such a flawless way that I'm in awe of the writing before I even fall in love with the story. 

This is the first novel that I have listen to with Kate Rudd as the narrator and I look forward to listening to more in the future.  She portrayed so many different emotions in such a way that I almost feel I got more out of listening to the book than by reading it.  This is what makes a truly great audio book in my eyes.  Phenomenal story and great audio version...you can't go wrong with that combination.

Thursday's Name Game: Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars

When I first started blogging I did this feature called Thursday's Name Game and as I was going through my posts I realized that I had a lot of fun putting the posts together so I thought I'd try it out again.

Essentially I just take whatever book I'm reading, pick a character and research a little about their name. So here it goes...

Name: Hazel

Gender: Female

Character From: The Fault in Our Stars

Origin of Hazel:

It comes from the name of the tree or the color.

Places named Hazel:

Hazel Green, Wisconsin
Hazel Grove, England
 
Characters named Hazel?

• Hazel, (male) rabbit in Watership Down by Richard Adams
• Hazel, a 1960s TV show
• Hazel, a witch on Bugs Bunny cartoons

Have you heard of these gals?

• Hazel Patricia, Julia Robert's daughter
• Hazel Clark-Riley, a US Olympic Runner

Do you know of anyone named Hazel or any famous Hazel's I am missing?

*adapted from http://www.babynamewizard.com

Review of Paper Towns by John Green

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Narrator: Dan John Miller
Published by: Brilliance Corporation
Length: 7 sound discs (ca. 8 hr.)
Source: Library
Format: Audio
Rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night - dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows her. Margo's always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she's always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q.

Does the nice guy ever get the girl?  What I've noticed in John Green books is that there is a nice, cute guy chasing, a hot, popular girl.  Paper Towns is no exception. 

Margo Roth Spiegelman is the unattainable next door neighbor to Quentin, "Q."  She's definitely fun, quirky, a bit moody and completely crazy, but in a good way.  She eccentric and fun.  Despite her disregard for other's feelings and her self-centeredness, I did enjoy her as a character.  She was carefree and adventuress.  I think part of me wanted to be her a little bit; to have to worries or cares and to let loose and just have fun. 

As always John Green's characters are FABULOUS.  They are so much fun and so completely real at the same time.  They are refreshingly witty and comical and I promise you'll be laughing throughout the novel.  Ben and Radar are the perfect best friends.  They make a great balance to Q and are almost larger than life, yet they are band geeks.  You can't help but love them. 

As for the story, I loved the mystery.  The clues Margo left were extremely cryptic and it was fun trying to decode them along with Q and his friends.  It kind of felt like a big scavenger hunt or a treasure map.  It was so much fun and I really felt like I was part of it.

The narration of this books was done extremely well.  It had a good pacing and was really easy to follow. 

Review of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Title: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
Narrator: Jeff Woodman
Published by: Brilliance Audio
Length: 6 sound discs (ca. 7 hr.)
Source: Library
Format: Audiobook
Rating: ★★★★

Summary from Goodreads: When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun ? but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

Who it the world dates 19 girls before they themselves are 19 and all of the girls just happen to be named Katherine?  The situation of Colin dating all these Katherines is a little surreal but still quite funny.  My sister herself went through a stage of dating only guys whose names started with "J," and we thought that was a crazy coincidence.  I really can't understand how this geeky, child prodigy not only dated 19 girls, but they all had the same name with the exact same spelling.  I mean Colin only had one friend so how in the world did he get so many girlfriends. 

Colin is the type of guy I feel would always correct my grammar.  He's a nice guy and very smart, but really doesn't have the social skills to fit in.  After being dumped for the 19th time by the latest Katherine, Colin and his only friend, Hassan take a rode trip and end up in the middle of nowhere trying to figure things out.  The gem of this novel is the characters.  Each one is a bit quirky and doesn't really fit into main stream society.  They all have great personalities and are so unique you can't help but love them.

The other thing that John Green does really well is dialogue.  You will be laughing so hard at times you'll be giving your abs a workout.  When not laughing you'll be contemplating Colin's words and thoughts.  It's a crazy idea trying to come up with a theorem to predict the future of relationships, but Colin's determined to figure it out and along the way he discovers a lot about himself and love in general.  With the help of a few local towns-people this is a summer Colin will never forget.  

This book was wonderful and the narrator was great.  He had the perfect tone for Colin and portrayed just the right amount of snarkiness to keep the listeners engaged.

Review of Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green
Narrator: Jeff Woodman
Published by: Brillance Audio
Length: ca. 7 hr.
Source: Library
Format: Audio book
Rating: ★★★★★

Summary from Goodreads: Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words - and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

For a lot of people Looking for Alaska evokes a love hate relationship.  For me it's purely love.  There is something about John Green's writing (or maybe Jeff Woodman's narrating) that pulled me in from the very first minutes of the story.  Don't get me wrong it is not a happy, uplifting story, but it's raw and real.  I enjoyed everything about this story from the crazy characters to the heartfelt story line.  Are not we all looking for something that could possibly make our lives better or what's the next adventure to be bestowed?  

All of the characters in this novel are quirky and completely memorable.  I only wish that I could have been part of their lives a little longer.  Miles doesn't really have any friends so he decides to go to boarding school to look for something better to happen.  And it does on the first day when he meets his roommate Chip who is called The Colonel and the gorgeous but very moody Alaska.  They have many adventures throughout the year and while there are fun times and pranks, there is also heartbreak and pain.

I love the growth of Miles throughout the novel.  While I'm a little unsure of his complete and utter besmittenness with Alaska, I like where he finds himself at the end of the novel.  While I'm not much for swearing I didn't think that it took away from this novel like it does in others.  It could have been the audio or just that I was so enraptured in the story.  Jeff Woodman has the perfect tone for each of the characters the caught my attention from the minute Miles stepped foot at boarding school.  I immensely enjoyed his narration and I hope to hear him again.

While this wasn't the light book I was hoping for I still fell in love with it and I can't wait to read more of John Green's work.