Island, by Jane Rogers

This novel came as a surprise to me, because...well...let's just say that I predicted blindly that something's going to happen to the characters even before I picked it up....and it did happen in the book.

Written by Jane Rogers, the novel is narrated by a conflicted, angsty 29-year-old Nikki Black whose intention was to search for her mother had brought her to a rural Scottish island. And no, this was not your typical 'oh my mother left me I want to be reunited with her and all will be warm and shiny and fuzzy and sweet again' Nicholas Sparks/Maeve Binchy type-novel.

No.

What Nikki Black wanted to do when she met the mother who had abandoned her at birth was simpler than sinister.

She wanted to kill her for revenge.

The mere idea to a sane person may seem far-fetched, and I was one of those people who go, "Is this even a viable idea to base a story upon? Could Jane Rogers make it work?"

Believe me when I say she did, and she did it wonderfully.

Nikki Black was at times disturbed, hotheaded, sarcastic; snarky. A strong-willed character, if you will. Her reasons for wanting to kill a woman she never met in her entire life came across as realistic, if not sympathetic. What was more interesting though, was Nikki's narrative, which made the readers wonder if her theories and assumptions were at all true. This was the simple case of an 'unreliable narrator', the one-sided view of a story that kept the readers on the edge. Her prose were punctuated in such a way that one could readily brand 'Nikki Black's and Nikki Black's only'.

Her journey eventually brought her to a small Scottish island, where she finally confronted her long-time faceless nemesis; only now Nikki discovered that she has a (half) brother; Calum. And this brother of hers was ordinarily unordinary, in the sense that he suffered from a slight mental retardation - and therefore irritating to Nikki at first. Yet Calum's many imperfections also was the reason for his strange, different, almost magical insight of the world - based on the only world he ever knew -- the island. While Nikki was sceptical, using cold hard logic domineered by hatred -- the independent girl who had traveled far and wide, having seen many layers of types of people, Calum was the opposite -- a mama's boy whose simple mind was guided by the many fascinating, almost mythical stories he had heard about the island, whose purpose in life was simply to retell the stories to others who are willing to listen. Although, beneath his awkward tenderness, lies a violent streak thatcould be frightening, even to the murderous Nikki herself.

Of course, like your usual family reunion stories, there is bound to be dark secrets to be uncovered. Skeletons in the closet. Yet even if you thought that you've seen it coming, Nikki's narration will keep you guessing, when suddenly, bam. It's right there in your face and your heart just skipped a beat. And you'll smile at the clever way Jane Rogers tied everything up -- from the irony and the paradoxes and allusions and foreshadowing.

If you had given such a mundane-sounding plotline to any other writer, you would've gotten a sucky ending. THIS however, was filled with witty dark humor laced with revelations that are purely intended to shock the readers. T'was a shame that the novel was rather PG-13, (or maybe I've been reading too much NSFW stuff) given the dark theme it attempted to explore. For 260 pages, I'd say it was succinct (despite the ending which felt slightly rushed); Rogers could've added something more to amplify the shock value.

My favorite interaction has got to be between Nikki and Calum, whose worlds collided and merged in such an endearing, beautiful, twisted way. She hated him, he was indifferent. She was irritated with him and his antics, but grew more attached to him than she would've ever wanted. He liked her, and that brought about a dozen million other problems.

The question is, will she or will she not kill her mother? How does Calum fit in the picture? How would this whole entanglement work out?

A compelling read. I never thought I could finish it in a few hours (and this was me trying to study Genetics).

Island will be adapted into an indie movie titled The Sea Change, starring Nathalie Press as Nikki Black, Janet McTeer as Phyllis Lovage and Colin Morgan as Calum MacLeod. (Ooooooooo, Colin playing a Scottish Islander)

On location, Isle of Mull/Skye(?), Scotland.

The Deathly Hallows

Well, what shall I write about it? Hmmm….first thing to say is that it’s not the best book in the series but, like Ayu said, it’s still a good book nevertheless.

I have to say, this time around, whenever I started to open the first few chapters, I wasn’t able to resist the urge to sleep. I was tired alright, and I can assure you it’s NOT due to lack of exciting plots and excitement in Harry’s journey towards defeating He Who Must Not Be Named (Hey!don’t make me say the name okie..it’s Tabooed!) .

The part I enjoyed most in all the previous books were the Hogwarts part, and even though J.K Rowling has mentioned in HBP that those three wouldn’t be returning to Hogwarts for their educations, I was still disappointed when Hogwart was mentioned only towards the end of the story. Nevertheless, I was truly touched, glad - and all other emotions mixed up - that almost everyone of the wizarding world ever mentioned in the previous series turned out at Hogwarts to “duel to kill” (as Mrs. Weasley said to Bellatrix) Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

I love it that Ron and Hermione still played a BIG role in this book, tagging along with Harry wherever he went and helped him out in his quest to destroy the Horcruxes. I was a bit disappointed at first that Harry didn’t get any help from Dumbledore but as my reading progressed, it became clear that Dumbledore was still helping Harry and The Order going through the dark times, albeit indirectly.

Among all the characters that got killed, I was the saddest when Fred died. I just can’t help but kept on imagining how would George’s life be without his soul mate to share everything with him. The Weasley Wizard Wheezes (or what’s the name of their joke shop again?) surely could not go on without one of the brilliant twins, but come to think of it, maybe George would keep operating the shop as he knew that it’ll the one thing that Fred would really want him to do.

The part that I love the most in this book is the ending; when Voldermort announced to the general crowd of Harry’s death; in hope that everyone would then bow to him and give him their full allegiance. However, what happened was I think beyond his imagination. Neville was heroic in his attempt to stand up to the Dark Lord and with the bravery it’s undeniably that he deserved to be prized with the Gryffindor sword.

I love the scene when out of nowhere; there came hundreds of man and a horde of centaurs thundering across the ground to battle the Death Eaters and their master. It’s amazing how easy Voldemort got defeated by The Boy Who Lived, despite all his arrogance and so-called outstanding magical power.

However, I do think that the final chapter of the book was done as if Rowling was in a hurry to finish it. It was such a sweet little ending that didn’t blend well with the rest of the book. But who am I to say, it’s her story so she deserves to do it whichever way she wasn’t to, rite?
It’s just depressing thinking that there won’t be anymore of Harry Potter to look forward to after this. I just hope there’ll be other stories as good, if not better, than HP in the years to come.

Ayu's HPATDH review

I miss Hogwarts!

I miss Quidditch!

I miss the Gryffindor Tower!

I miss Hogsmeade!

I miss Dumbledore!

I miss Hagrid!

I miss platform nine and three quarters, as well as the Hogwarts express and the candy cart lady!

..and I miss a whole lot more! All of which were not mentioned as much as before and as much as I would've liked in the final book.. but then again, its the finale, huh?

*sigh*

Still, I won't say its not a good book.. not the best maybe, but still very good..

Hahah.. ok, for Baizurah: Sorry for the delay hehe.. I've been a bit busy the past week (busy ke?)

Anyway, it took me quite a while to read the book as I had some classes to attend to (unwillingly haha..) and it took all my willpower to stop me from ignoring my class while giving full attention to THE book. However, it also took all my willpower NOT to fall asleep as I was really tired that day AND I wanted to finish the book on the same day haha.. so ta-daaa, at 12.30am the mission was accomplished *applause to self with a pat on the back*

All in all, I'd say I enjoyed it. Though there were no longer the fun-school-days in it. The only time Hogwarts was mentioned was when the death eaters had come to attack the school and Voldemort had gone there for Harry.

I enjoyed reading about Neville. Rowling managed to potray him as his mother and father's (both ex-aurors who are now admitted to St Mungo's) true son. With the absence of Harry, Ron and Hermione, Neville leading the way with Ginny and Luna went into rebellion haha.. I can just imagine him (though whenever I imagine him now, I see the face of the actor who played him in the movie) being a leader.. yeay for Neville! I've always had a soft spot for him, especially eversince I read about his parents and how his grandmother always seemed to be disappointed in him.. but this time, his granma was sure proud of him. Bravo!

Then there was Luna. I've always imagined her as plain looking with bottle-thick spectacles. I admit, I like the movie-Luna better. She's so cute, so soft-spoken, so.. I dunno, I just really like her. So in this book, whenever I read about her, I see the 'movie-Luna' which I like better than the one I've been imagining all along. When she was first added in the series, I always though she'd just be a small part, but it turned out, I wouldn't want the book without her and her eccentricities. I pitied her father though when the death eaters had abducted her but I was pissed when the tricked Harry, Ron and Hermione.. still, I'm not a parent yet, what do I know, huh? He really loves his daughter..

..and I was touched when Harry went up to her room and saw painted pictures (not moving magical ones if I'm not mistaken) of himself, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny that Luna had decorated on her ceiling with a golden chain surrounding them that was actually the word 'friends' written all over again.

Dobby proved to be a great friend too. I was stunned that he had to die but he died helping the only friend who had taught him trust: Harry! Even his last words were Harry's name but I guess he was glad to die helping Harry get away from the Malfoy's mansion that had somehow turned out to be like Voldemort's fort (though Draco here, to my delight-I never really thought he was THAT 'evil'-was seemingly uncomfortable of being on the dark side)

And hey, how 'bout Kreacher? Turned out, he only wanted attention.. and once Harry and Ron were able to be nice to him (as Hermione had ALWAYS told them to), he was really sweet to them. Always cooking their favourite meals and being the obedient house-elf he was supposed to be to Harry. It helped when they realized his favourite master had always been Regulus, Sirius's brother, who had always treated him kindly as opposed to Sirius who treated him dreadfully.. it goes without saying, you reap what you sow (or is it you sow what you reap??? My English is getting worse haha..) Well, they realized Regulus had actually disobeyed Voldemort and had wanted to make things right by stealing the first horcrux and destroying it and knowing that Kreacher was somehow involved made them see the house elf in an entirely different light (Me too, I always thought Kreacher was.. well, a 'creature' if you know what I mean!)

And whats a HP book without the prankster twins haha.. I laugh nearly everytime their names are mentioned and I guess, for the fun parts, I love their character the most! Like the time George had his ear blown off, he still managed to crack a joke, feeble as it was haha.. and I thought he was dying! They somehow manage to change EVERY dark moment into a jovial one with the punch lines and all.. but when I said 'nearly', it really meant EXCEPT the time Fred died.. though in a way, he did die they way he would've wanted.. while laughing at Percy (Oooooh, I'll come to Percy next).. but still, I felt quite lost for a while as I said, I really love George and Fred and I do wonder why Rowling didn't speak of what happened to George (though Percy WAS mentioned) in the 'Ninteen Years Later' chapter..

The loss of Lupin and Tonks were also sad parts in the book, though I think they deserve more recognition than just being mentioned as fatalities in the battle. I mean, Lupin was the one who taught Harry how to produce a Patronus and haha, this sounds crazy but I almost wish he was Harry's godfather as Sirius was actually too reckless in his own cheeky way while Lupin always seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Yeah, I know, Sirius was caught so Lupin was the one who was always there, but for someone who wanted a father figure, gimme Lupin anyday.

And Tonks, I must admit, for the recent movie, I was really anticipating who would become Tonks and the actress (don't ask me her name) was really good.. in my books at least. She didn't disappoint as Tonks and I have always been quite fond of Tonks and her clumsy ways. And yeah, that Colin boy who worshipped Harry also died, guess he just wanted to be in the front rows with his hero too.. quite sad though!

Anyway, I loved how Rowling bought back most of the characters from the series during the battle at Hogwarts. There was Percy (ooohh, I wanna talk bout him), Neville's gran, Dean (who was not allowed to go back to Hogwarts as he wasn't pure-blooded and has been on the run eversince), the Patil twins, Ernie whateverhisnameis whom I used to get annoyed with in the DA, Cho Chang, the head full of dreadlocks of Lee Jordon (whom if you don't remember, were the twins bestfriend) and the old quidditch team: Oliver Wood, Alicia something, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson (?).. and thats just to mention a few :)

Hahah.. I always thought Percy would, well, be Percy-ish till the end (He still is bossy anyway 'Ninteen Years Later' though I'm not sure what post his was holiding and why his voice was heard booming at the station) . turned out, he couldn't stand being too ambitious anymore and turned back to his family. It was quite a suprise as he wasn't mentioned that much in Half Blood Prince so I thought his character had somehow faded. But I'm glad as I always feel as if the Weasleys are the kind of family everyone wants to be in :) I laughed when Percy apologized to his family while Geroge/Fred rubbed it in (called him all sort of names haha) BUT while holding out their hands to him in a peaceful gesture.. awwww!

So, in a nutshell, its not the best book (I love happy books better), but I guess it has the greatest ending and is a fine finale for the series (C'mon, you can't expect a happy book for the end, right.. what with Voldemort and all those death eaters and dementors walking around like having a brisk in the park?)

Anyway, I keeping the book now. Don't think I can read it again in a few weeks as I'm quite full of it now.. AND since a lot of people seem to wanna borrow it.

Gee, I wonder if another book could ever make me feel this excited again??

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

...As requested by Ayu, I am copying the review I did for my blog here...

Like everyone else who has the smallest smidgen of enjoyment of Harry Potter I was looking forward to reading the last of the series (allegedly).

In fact, I went to Borders at 7.40am just to get my copy... after receiving an annoying buzzed text message from a certain someone in Ireland saying that she's got HER copy... Previously, I planned to go and get my copy with Nini at around 10.00am (yeah right!!). However, I could NOT seem to wait and thought back on Ayu's entry.. not to mention Baizurah's entry and of course Syuhada's entry... I SIMPLY HAD TO GET OFF MY BUTT AND GET MINE! So, I did. I called Nini to inform her about the change of plans (once my copy was in my hands) and called back to check her current progress to get her copy... and hahahaha sure enough, she's left house to get her copy. Note to Nini: Hahahaha.. tapi tak ada your *ahem BF (wink wink) plak Nini!! :D

Anyway, upon returning home and preciously holding my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I promptly sat down and tried to read it cover to cover in one sitting - didn't manage that, but I did manage to complete in in 24 hours! :D What to do?!! I'm a bookworm! Caterpillarbuku LIVES ON!!! This fantasy reads rather well, it has to be said, flowing nicely along at a good pace. It's dark and bloody, but then again what do you expect with Voldermort kicking around?

Alas, one could argue that therein lies the problem. There are not really any of the plot twists and turns that one expects from Harry Potter books. In fact, one could argue that must of it was rather predictable in extremism. That is not to say it is not a rather enjoyable romp through the final tale of the boy wizard. One thing that strikes one throughout the book is that it is rather visual, almost cinematic. The book was clearly written in a manner that would not make it too terribly hard to turn into a script... so look out people... coming soon to a cinema near you!

J. K. Rowling seems to have recovered the part of Hermione and she is not a whining teenager anymore. She does have a strop, which is a bit of predictable foreshadowing to the end of the book, well rather, the epilogue of the book. There are a lot of loose ends that are tied up rather well for all the characters, although I have to say that I was disappointed to see one of my favorite characters in the whole set of tales, Hagrid, reduced to a bit part in this novel. In fact, truth be told, much of the book only really revolves around the core three, which one might have expected.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is probably not Rowling's best book in the series and adults might find it to be a bit thin at times. It reads a bit rushed, and there are some plot glitches. But taken as a whole series, Rowling has done something only few other authors like Tolkien have done. She has created a series of books that can be read by child and adult alike and enjoyed in similar but slightly different ways. By the end chapter, I felt like there were no closure to a few things... like did Harry became the Auror that he wanted to be..? What is Hermione doing? If Rowling's intention was to create a"nineteen years later" chapter, maybe it should not be so hurried and answers all the questions that were raised in the earlier books... but that's just me and my opinion...

Secret Hour

Title: The Secret Hour
Author: Luann Rice

I was feeling a bit bored and decided to go to kak Yun's house to borrow some books for the raya holidays. going through her books, I came across this other book of Luann rice and since I was impressed with the first book I had read that she had written, I thought it would be a good idea to go for this book.

This book centres around this family of three with the mother missing after being killed in an accident along with another woman who was searching for her missing sister. The father in the family, John O'Rouke, works as an attorney, a criminal defense lawyer who at the time was defending a serial killer who took young girls as his victim. He has two children, 14-year-old Teddy and 11-year-old Maggie. his wife was killed in an accident after coming home from having a rendezvous with her married lover who is also John's bestfriend. John's sorrow in losing his wife to his friend clouded the sorrow he felt for losing the only woman he had ever loved, thus he buried himself in his work just to forget it all.

Enter Kate Harris, a woman who was in search of her sister. Her sister, Willa, fled from her home when she was caught sleeping with Kate's ex-husband. But somehow, Kate's love for her sister was stronger, thus prompting her to go search for her sister who had been missing for six months. She had received a postcard from her sister but only got it recently so she knew her sister's whereabouts during that date. However, her sister went missing after that and with the case surrounding John's client, Kate figured that there might be a connection.

When she arrived at the O'Roukes household, she was greeted with a chaotic situation where locals who didn't like John defending for the serial killer had thrown a brick in his house, causing the police and neighbour to flock around the house. Through the confusion of thinking that Kate was the new babysitter for his children, she managed to calm the siblings down, gaining trust from Teddy who didn't trust strangers who got around his sister.

The story went on on how Kate won the hearts of Teddy and Maggie when she showed them how much she also loved her sister. Teddy even invited her to his soccer match as his father has seldom went there himself eversince his wife died.

Eventually, Kate won John's trust when she told him of his sister. However, John didn't want to betray his client eventhough Kate really wanted to know if he had ever encountered her sister. Discreetly, he DID ask and found some interesting facts that made him want to investigate. However, Kate beat him to it and he found her at the spot he wanted to go.

Bla.. bla.. bla.. I guess they fell for each other at this point haha.. but the novel didn't exactly centre around the love story, which is why I liked it :p

In the end, Maggie, while on a quest to find some wildflowers to cheer up her family came across this bracelet charm which Kate instantly recognized as Willa's. Kate went to rescue Willa on her own just as John realized who was behind Willa's missing AND a recent copycat murder that happened while Merril (thats the name of the serial killer) was in prison..

Hahah.. I'm outta practice writing book reviews here but I recommend this book to those who love the Hallmark type of stories. A nice read and I'm looking forward to searching for more books from this author.

Summer's Child

Title: Summer's Child
Author: Luann Rice

Wow! Its been a long time since I last wrote a book review. Must be more than half a year. There are quite a few books I've read eversince the last time I wrote a review but things have just been getting in the way for me to really sit down and write a proper review <--lousy excuse, huh?

Anyway, my stock of books have been running out, and in wanting to go read some books, I went to kak Yun's house for a fresh supply of books. Though there were not much new books, I became interested in a few old books she had so these books are what I'll be writing about here.

The first book I read was this book. The cover was so 'English' I just had to find out what the story was about haha..

The beginning of this story was about Mara Jameson, who was heavily pregnant and living with her grandmother after running away from an abusive husband. Her whereabouts were supposed to be hidden from her husband but one day, when she went out to water her plants, she was never seen again.

Her elderly grandmother mourned the loss of her grandchild years after it happened. And the police officer, Patrick Murphy, who was in charge of the investigation was still obsessed with the case eventhough he had already retired. He still visited the grandmother in hopes of finding a lead.

The next scene, we are brought to the coasts of Nova Scotia with Lily Malone and her daughter Rose. She had opened a giftshop or something in that town and was well liked by the locals as she had come there a few years earlier. It was almost home to her and everything was calm until the arrival of another mum-and-daughter.. Marissa and Jessica. Unknown to the residents of the small town, those are not their real names. They had changed everything in order to flee from her abusive husband.

It is in this town that both woman discovered that the world wasn't built entirely out of bad people, out to hurt them and their daughters. And Lily as the more experienced one, showed that there was still kindness in this world for Marissa and Jessica. Marissa in return, who had an education to be a nurse, helped Rose who had quiet a weak heart.

There was also a Dr Liam Neill, a scientist who loved children and loved to entertain them with his stories of the oceanlife. He was in love with Lily but she though her trust in people had been restored, she was still afraid to trust a man.

One day, Murphy heard of the stranger who had come to Nova Scotia and judging form the age of Jessica, he guessed that this woman might be the missing pregnant mother of years ago. He went to the town to question her and also met with Lily who helped to shelter Marissa from anymore hurt that might be inflicted from old wounds.

Well, the story was pleasant enough, not so much romance, much to my delight haha.. not that I don't like romantic stories. But stories about families appeal me even more..

It was really surprising to find out that Lily was actually the missing Mara, and not Marissa. Murphy just couldn't believe that she had been practically under his nose all the while. just a few miles away from her home.. and as he had once suspected, she didn't really go missing. rather ran away when both grandaughter and granma heard that her abusive husband was coming to get her. The reason her grandma was sad, wasn't because she had lost her grandchild but rather because they had promised not to contact each other in fear that her exhusband would find her.

Another twist was that, Marissa's abusive husband was actually Mara/Lily's husband too. They had been drawn to that town in spite because their husband had a picture in their homes that was similiar to this town.. and as Jessica had always wanted, she got a sister in Rose!

Well, there wasn't actually no romance at all. Lily finally let Liam into her life while Murphy somehow found a way to be in Marissa's life.. Hehe, alls well ends well, eh?

Good read though. I loved the book.. in fact, I'm thinking of borrowing the book again so you guys might wanna try this book out :)

When Dad Killed Mom

Title: When Dad Killed Mom
Author: Julius Lester

When first the book was in my hands, I was swamped with work and assignments. I was hesitating whether to start reading and when I could complete reading the book - with all the other factors crowding my mind. The title of the book had me hesitating as well, as I didn't want to be brought down with heavy reading that will take up my time and distract me from work and assignments.... However, against all these notions, I opened the book and glanced through the first page, second page.... fifth page... tenth page... and by then, I knew I couldn't put the book down. I had to continue or not sleep for the night wondering how the book went. Admittedly it did took me at least three nights, before I could finally complete the books (Ayman was very jealous of the book... it did took up my time from him! hehehehe)....

Hmmm.... The book is a well written book about the aftermath of a murder. At first the title did portray something gory, that I was afraid of, but I am glad I read the book. The book revolves around Jenna and Jeremy.

Jenna and Jeremy's father Eric has just killed their mother Rachel and they are left with to pick up the pieces of his heinous crime. The story is narrated alternately from both Jenna and Jeremy's point of view. It is really interesting to read from their perspectives and how they felt - betrayal, coming to terms of their mom's death, coping with each other, dealing with their volatile feelings towards their father...

The story follows the two children as they struggle to come to terms with the heart-breaking legacy their father has left behind. Not the closest of siblings, with Jenna having been a Daddy's girl, and Jeremy getting on better with their mother, the two siblings are forced to reconcile their differences in order to survive the future. Not easy when you both have the weight of the world on your young shoulders.

There were times, reading as someone on the outside, you feel anger at the way the children are manipulated by some of the adults... in order to get what they want from the children. There were also times when I felt like family life before the murder were taken lightly and a lot of unresolved issues were the keypoint for the cause of the murder. It reminded me back to the time before I got married. An aunt of mine passed a little something to prepare myself for married life. She said not to bring the squabbles of today to tomorrow. Live a new day with a new perspective. She also told me to settle anything that is troubling the mind on that day and not sleep on it, as then the uneasiness and pricks of anger will be nourished to something ugly.

Anyway, back to the story, apart from their confusing feelings and uncertainty, there is their father's trial to deal with, a traumatic experience for both youngsters, plus secrets that need to be told as well as old family conflicts that have to be dealt with. I won't tell you what secrets, as you'll have to find the book and read through it yourself.

I highly recommend this book and thanks to Zelureus for recommending the book. This is a sharply written book with good dialogue, some of it very grown-up in places. Jenna is a precocious 8th grader, whilst Jeremy is almost bird-like, fluttering uncertainly at first as he tries to sort out in his head what made his father kill his mother. Both children bounce off the adult characters, such as Karen their father's first wife, their grandparents and an assortment of friends and curious hangers-on.

A thought provoking book that deals with the concept of violent death in sensitive and none-condescending manner.