This Lullaby

This Lullaby
By Sarah Dessen

While going through my past posts I realized that there is one genre I haven’t explored—romance. Though the majority of the books I’ve reviewed have a love story on the side, there isn’t one book that is completely about the most complicated thing on earth, love.  Looking for a book , my friend strongly recommended “This Lullaby” by Sarah Dessen, also claiming that if I ever want to read a really good book, Sarah Dessen is a great author. Wanting to test her theory I agreed to read the book, which, by the way, I have mixed feelings about. My goodness, love is so complicated, even in writing about it.

The book is written in the first person, narrated by 18-year-old Remy Starr, who doesn’t believe in love. Who could blame her, when her mom is about to enter her fifth marriage? Her dad, who died a few years earlier, claimed to love her and even wrote a song for her called “This Lullaby”—it became a huge hit— yet never showed any concern for Remy.

Before I start to explain the story there is one thing you need to know about Remy, she is really organized! When I say organized I mean really REALLY organized, not only in cleaning but also in her life. Remy is the type of girl who wants to have everything planned to the last detail, I guess to balance out the messiness of her mother Barbara  and brother Chris. With so much disfunction in her family all Remy wants to do is get out! Which is exactly what she is planning to do; by the end of the summer she is heading to Stanford University.

While Remy is at the car dealership where her mother’s fiance Don works , to talk to Don about details of the wedding, an awkward and clumsy musician named Dexter tells her they are meant to be together. Then he surprises Remy by writing on her hand without her consent; putting yourself in Remy’s shoes you would understand why Remy would be freaked out by this guy. No matter how much Remy tries to shake Dexter off he just won’t budge, and coincidentally Dexter’s band is the one Don hired to play at the wedding. Then Dexter’s band is hired to play weekly in the bar Remy frequently goes  to with her friends. Though Dexter is not Remy’s ideal guy, especially being a musician and messy , he is very persistent. Eventually Remy falls for Dexter.

Knowing she is going to college, not wanting to bring things from her old life to her new life, plans her relationship with Dexter to be just a summer thing. As time passes, people, including herself, are wondering why is she with Dexter. Her friends, knowing Remy, think her relationship with Dexter doesn’t make sense. Remy is such a strict person with high standards and rules that Dexter in no way follows. First of all he is a musician, a big no-no for Remy;he is messy, doesn’t have a steady job, never ties his shoelaces and makes the weirdest challenges—all sorts of things Remy doesn’t like. Yet Remy stays with him— maybe she is in love! Remy, who believes love doesn’t exist, denies it: loving Dexter isn’t on her agenda. She claims the relationship is a summer fling, but is it really? And what about Dexter? Does he see as it a summer fling, or something else? Want to know the love story of detailed-oriented Remy and disorganized Dexter? Pick up the book and read it!

In my personal opinion it is such a sweet story! The only problem I had with the book was that it’s really predictable. Maybe it’s just me because I grew up watching soap operas and I know how conventional love stories go. But while reading the book I could literally finish a sentence without looking at it. Still, I am not going to lie, I was addicted to the book! I guess it was the girly-girl inside of me that wouldn’t let me sleep without finishing the book. So for all the softies out there and lovers of romance, read this book, I highly recommend it! Until next time, READ!     

 My Rating:

~A.BW

Speak

Speak
By Laurie Halse Anderson

As usual when I don’t have anything to read, I walk straight into the library and check out the first book I see; “Speak” was the lucky one. This is a reminder that I am willing to read ANY type of book, just leave the title and author of the book you want me to read in comments below.

“Speak” is such an inspirational book that I recommend you read it when you’re feeling gloomy. Throughout the book we follow a girl named Melinda Sordino who goes through tough times with no support. Melinda was like every typical girl just wanting to have fun with her BFF, Rachel Bruin, especially when entering high school. The summer before Melinda gets to enter the glorious world of high school, she decides to go to a party with Rachel, a high school party! Unfortunately, Melinda doesn’t know what lies beneath the cheerful party; she overdoes it with the drinks and gets drunk. Meanwhile, senior Andy Evans comes over and flirts with Melinda, a freshman-to-be. Melinda, being in a drunken state is swept away  by the adorable Andy Evans and everything is just peachy. That is, until Andy crosses the line and rapes her. Not knowing what to do, Melinda wants to yell for help, so she takes out her phone and call the cops.

When Melinda finally goes to Merryweather High School, she get off to a rough start. The whole school hates her(for calling the cops), her friends have turned their back, the only friend she has is Heather—a new student who later leaves her, too—and no one knows about the rape. Imagine having to keep such a horrible event a secret because if you told anyone they wouldn't believe you. Each day is dreadful for Melinda; she is flunking all her classes except for art—the only place where she can express herself without getting in trouble. With the help of Mr.Freeman she is able to express her pain through her art, but still she suffers.

As I put myself in Melinda’s shoes this is what I see: I am trapped in a cage filled with terrors, no one wants to help me and no one cares. I am too scared myself to pick the lock and I don’t have the strength that others have. David Petrakis is Melinda’s fellow classmate, whom unlike her is not afraid to stand up for himself, especially against a teacher. Melinda wishes she could be more like David, but with no one supporting her or telling her what to do, how can she speak?

I think the story is truly inspirational and it’s something we can relate too. We all, at one point, have felt depressed and felt the feelings Melinda has, maybe not as extremely as her, but we know what it feels to be trapped and alone. The thing I didn't like about the book was that I felt there should have been more added to the end, the author gave us so many details and inside stories but by the end they didn't contribute to the ending. I felt this story would have been better as a short story rather than a chapter book; the ending kind of left me hanging. Well, that’s all I can say, if you want to hear more about Melinda’s story, check the book out. I recently found out that this book has also been turned into a film starring Kristen Stewart,  so if you want me to do another book vs. movie segment please let me know in the comments section.  I have nothing more to say than, read!

My Rating:

                                                                                                                                    ~A.BW   

The Lovely Bones: Part 2

The Lovely Bones Part 2: Book vs. Movie
(By Alice Sebold)

While I was reading The Lovely Bones people often saw me carrying a book around; most would ask what book am I reading. When I gave them the title they would respond with an enthusiastic “Oh really!” Believing they knew what book I was talking about I’d ask, “You read the book?” but everyone replied, “No, but I did watched the movie,” and that really annoyed me. I had a lot of my friends tell me that the movie was really good so I decided to watch it and compare it to the book then share my opinion with you guys.

The Actors
One major thing I look at when seeing a film based on a book are the actors—did they deliver the role? Did they show the hidden emotions well enough?  Do they fit the physical appearance of the character?

Cast of The Lovely Bones

Susie Salmon: Saoirse Ronan

Jack Salmon:Mark Wahlberg

Abigail Salmon: Rachel Weisz

Grandma Lynn: Susan Sarandon

Lindsey Salmon: Rose Mclver

Buckley Salmon: Christian Ashdale

George Harvey: Stanley Tucci

Len Fenerman:Michael Imperioli

Ray Singh: Reece Ritchie

Ruth Connors: Carolyn Dando

First the protagonist: though Ronan does not physically look like Susie, she actually did a pretty good job. In my personal opinion I think that Ronan did a good job delivering the emotions of Susie and showing that though Susie lived in a “perfect” heaven not everything was perfect for her. Two big roles in the story are Jack and Abigail Salmon. Wahlberg did a decent job but based on his acting I expected a little more; meanwhile, Weisz, I feel, did not do the job justice. Abigail went through a lot of pain losing her child, I expected Weisz to show that pain to the point in which I would feel her pain. Grandma Lynn is another big part, and I feel Sarandon did a fantastic job! She played the part perfectly showing how crazy and fun Grandma Lynn was. Lindsey was shown a lot in the book and so in the movie, Mclver was, in opinion, neutral—in others words I didn't hate her acting but I didn't love it either. Partly I blame the book because it didn't go deep into the emotions of Lindsey, but I feel there could have been more too it based on her actions. Buckley was mentioned several times but it didn't go too deep into his story same in the movie, but I think Ashdale did good for the little bit he got. Tucci did an incredible job as Mr. Harvey! Tucci honestly creeped me out giving me the chills. Len Fenerman was shown a lot throughout the storyline but I feel they cut him out a lot in the movie, but Imperioli did a wonderful job playing the part. I also feel that Ray and Ruth were cut out a lot, especially Ruth, but Ritchie and Dando did an amazing job and they physically looked like their characters.

The Plot
Another thing I judge is how true did they stay to the story, and the changes within the story. Compared to other movies the director did a decent job staying true to the story, but there were some changes I didn't like. For example, I didn't like the fact they cut out the part in which Abigail has an affair with Detective Fenerman, which, I believe, is important because it really emphasizes how hurt Abigail was. Another thing I didn't like was that they took out a lot of Ruth’s storyline. Ruth was a very important character because she was the only one who truly believed that Susie was still with them, the only one who could truly communicate with Susie. I did expect to see Samuel and Hal too because, although they are major characters in the story, they did help Salmon family throughout the entire story—they even became part of the family by the end.

There were some changes that I did like, for example giving Holly a bigger storyline. While reading the book, I felt Holly was a useless character who was there for no apparent reason, but in the movie she help Susie continue her own life. I also liked that they made her one of Mr. Harvey’s victims because she would be able to relate to Susie’s pain and not be hypocritical telling Susie, “I know how you feel.”

Overall, I believe their script was decent compared to a lot of other books made to movies, but the cast could have used some help. As a reminder, all of this is just my opinion so please don’t be offended if I criticized your favorite actor/movie. If you seen the movie and/or read the book leave comments below, tell me your opinion, and tell me if you want me to do more movie versus book segments. Until next time, read!

Vs.

 
  

My Movie Rating:

~A.BW