My Sister’s Keeper Film

I have found out from the Jodi Picoult website that a film of the book My Sister’s Keeper is to be released some time in 2009 featuring Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz. I am very excited about this as I absolutely love the book however if it isn’t done well then they may ruin it as they did with PS I Love You (which was nothing like the book).

Shade’s Children – Garth Nix

 

I have always liked Garth Nix’s books and when this one came out I couldn’t wait to read it.
Shade’s Children is set in some futuristic city where no child is allowed to live past the age of 14. There are some older children who have managed to escape this awful fate and are now part of a resistance to bring down the evil Overlords who rule the city.
Under the rule of Shade, the children work to get the city back to how it was before the Change, all the while trying to evade the Overlords’ savage creatures.
This book is written very well and the description really gives you an idea of what this desolate and evil city is like. The creatures are also described with great detail and when one appears in the story I almost felt the fear that the children were feeling. The story itself keeps you gripped to the very end and I felt very attached to the four main children Ella, Drum, Ninde and Gold-Eye. This book, unlike most of Garth Nix’s others, is definitely for older readers as it contains sexual scenes and strong language but this gives it a very real and gritty feeling and doesn’t shy away from what would really happen if there was no one else in the world apart from escaped adolescent children.

Plot – 16/20

Characters – 14/20

Description – 14/20

Overall Enjoyment – 17/20

Percentage – 76%

My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult

I was told to read this book by my friend who had just finished reading it herself, and thought is was brilliant.
This book follows the story of Anna, a 13 year old girl who was born for a purpose, the purpose to keep her sister, Kate, alive. But now she is fed up of all of the transfusions, surgeries and injections and now she’s making a huge decision and suing her parents… for the rights of her own body.
Not many authors would be able to sustain a plot such as this, but Picoult does it extremely well. It is told from many people’s point of views such as Anna’s, he parents’, her sister, the lawyer and many others besides. The plot flits between the past and present giving the reader an idea of why Anna came to her very difficult decision showing how she has helped her sister in the past and what she’s had to give up to do it.
This book is definitely for older readers as it deals with a very difficult subject and the details of the court case and the illness is something that a younger reader may find difficult to understand in its entirety.

Plot - 14/20

Characters - 16/20

Description - 15/20

Overall Enjoyment - 16/20

Total Percentage - 76%

 

Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve

I have to admit that I only began reading this book because it was in a book shop for 99p and it had won and it was Blue Peter’s book of the year in 2003. I had never heard of it before and I was a little bit sceptic about it as the blurb didn’t really say much about the book.

I found the plot of the book really easy to follow but sadly a bit predictable. I also feel that the characters never really get to develop into ‘real people’ as there aren’t many feelings described throughout the book. However I do love the idea of settlements moving around across the planet, and I feel that the imagination of Philip Reeve helped this book along, as his ideas are interesting and different.There are two main plot lines that run through this book; one that follows Tom and Hester across the wilderness in search of London and another set in London itself which focuses on a girl called Katherine.

 

I think that I didn’t really enjoy this book very much because I am maybe too old for it, so I would recommend it for younger readers, but older readers could also enjoy it.

Plot – 11/20

Characters – 10/20 

Description – 13/20

Overall Enjoyment – 12/20

Total Percentage – 58%

Atonement – Ian McEwan

 

When I saw the trailer for this film I thought ‘wow that looks like a good film’, and it was. I decided that as the film was so good I would read the book, to see if it was just as good. The story is about a young girl called Briony who, on one very hot summer’s day in 1935, sees her sister strip off and jump into the fountain in front of their gardener, Robbie. Briony doesn’t understand and from there the things that she does changes everyone’s lives forever.   

The main thing I have to say about the film is that it is exactly like the book, and follows it almost perfectly. It took me a while to get through the first half of the book as I found it a bit slow but as I had seen the film I persevered as I knew the story picked up further on. My other problem with the book is McEwan’s writing style, but I know that if all authors wrote the same way then books would be extremely boring. His style is very descriptive and in some places he takes almost a page to explain something that could have been explained in a few sentences. However his style works well in other places where he is describing the characters feelings which, I feel, are very important to the story.

It is a very touching story and I would definitely read it again some time in the future. I did find that watching the film helped me to understand some parts of the book and I would recommend that you both read the book and see the film, as they are both stunning.Although the beginning is awfully slow I would urge you to carry one as the ending is one that only a few authors can pull off in such a fantastic way. Due to the style of the book I would recommend this book to older readers.

Plot – 16/20

Characters – 14/20

Description – 15/20

Overall Enjoyment – 15/20

Total Percentage – 75%

Lady: My Life as a Bitch – Melvin Burgess

This story is told from the point of view of a seventeen year old girl by the name of Sandra Francy. She’s a rebel who stays out late getting drunk, getting high on drugs and sleeping around, but her life changes completely when she is turned into a dog. Most people would think that is the worst thing to happen but Sandra begins to find pleasures that she never knew about. It also gives her time to reflect on her life as a human and the mistakes she made.

 

This book is written as though by a real teenager and deals with issues that confront many young people, such as family, friendship and boys. Most of the book is about Sandra in the present day living her life as a dog and getting used to not having hands and not being able to speak, but some of the book is made up of her thoughts of what she did when she was still human. It goes into her thoughts about her family and the talks she had with her older sister. It goes into her friendships and relationships with people and what they meant to her and it also shows her raw side, when she began to go downhill and how it affected her life. Burgess really digs deep into the mind of a teenager and I think that this book is really well written. I would recommend this book mainly to teenagers as they can relate to the issues but older people might find it interesting although it is definitely written with teenagers in mind.

Plot – 11/20

Characters – 12/20

Description – 12/20

Overall Enjoyment - 14/20 

Total Percentage – 61%

Buy ‘Lady: My Life as a Bitch’ at Amazon

In the Company of the Courtesan – Sarah Dunant

This book is told from the point of view of Bucino, a dwarf and working partner of Fiammetta, a courtesan. I think this makes the story better as it gives you an insight into the inner workings of a high class courtesan’s life rather than just a normal street prostitute. Overall the story really concentrates on the life of Bucino and how he copes with the everyday trail and tribulations of living and working with a courtesan, but it also delves into how he copes with his deformity in such a judging society.

The characters are displayed in such a way that by the end of the book I felt as though I had actually met them as the story lays out and uncovers their feelings and emotions. I feel that the only down fall of the book it that the storyline did come across to me a little haphazard in places and the characters details seemed tossed in randomly. The way that it is told from one person’s point of view took me a little while to get used to but it definitely makes it better and it means that you can work out some of the story for yourself as Bucino doesn’t see everything. I would recommend it to people who want a truly beautiful book laced with historical facts.

Plot – 13/20

Characters – 13/20

Description – 16/20

Overall Enjoyment – 14/20 

Total Percentage – 70%

Buy ‘In the Company of the Courtesan’ at Amazon