Cori Reads Things

hello! my name is Cori and I read a lot of books!

[corireadsthings]

One Man Guy - Michael Barakiva

Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Why bother, when their home cooking is far superior to anything “these Americans” could come up with? Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted tat he’d meet someone like Ethan. Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. When Ethan gets Alek to cut school and go to a Rufus Wainwright concert in New York City’s Central Park, Alek embarks on his first adventure outside the confines of his suburban New Jersey experience. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend - he’s barely ever had a girlfriend - but maybe it’s time to think again. One Man Guy is a romantic, moving, laugh-out-loud-funny story about what happens when one person cracks open you world and helps you see everything - and most of all, yourself - like you never have before. If it wasn’t clear, I’m beginning to catch up on some of my readings right now. I also had finished this one for a while, but to be honest I hadn’t had the time to write a review until now. There’s a lot going on in my life! Okay, so to dive right into it, this book is amazing! I love a book with a little gay subtext, but this book was more than that. It tells the story of two boys who you would never guess would find each other and they fall for each other. It’s super cute and mushy but has its stressful moments. The book also isn’t all cute and mushy, which I think is the key to any great book. The book tells the story of Alek’s very - and I mean very - traditional Armenian family. They never eat out, they go to an Armenian church that’s an hour and a half away, Alek’s mom still doesn’t let him buy any of his own clothes, and they are very strict about everything - especially grades. Alek doesn’t even fail out of any of his classes, but his parents send him to summer school so that he can stay on honor track during his sophomore year. Basically, their plan backfires on them because Alek meets this really adorable gay skater kid named Ethan. They have fun together, they skip school a lot, they make out in Ethan’s bedroom. Honestly, the story is really cute even if it doesn’t seem to have a lot of depth to it. By the end, however, there ends up being a lot of depth. Alek’s parents end up coming home from a family vacation and walk in on Ethan and Alek in a somewhat-compromising position. They throw Ethan out and ground Alek for the rest of his life. He convinces his parents to let him continue seeing Ethan (and for his brother to start seeing his half-Turkish girlfriend* again) through a dinner party. The dinner party is really cute and touching and basically goes exactly the way they plan. Overall, this book is definitely a reccommended read unless you’re homophobic... in which case why are you even following me because I’m extremely gay? There aren’t any trigger warnings and the book is a pretty quick read, really cute and hilarious! I would rate it probably a 7.5/10. There weren’t any quotes that stuck out to me that much, but the quote that I chose to share is something that definitely made me laugh. It’s not as sentimental as the quotes I have been sharing in the past, so hopefully someone besides me gets a laugh out of it. “All the time. But I’d rather be giving it to the man the way she does than a slave to the system. Anyway, even if she were around, I don’t think I’d have a connection to her oppressed Hungarian ancestors the way you do to yours.” “It’s not like I think about it all the time, you know.” “Really?” “It’s like this,” Alek continued. “You’re gay, right, but you don’t go around thinking to yourself, ‘What am I going to wear today since I’m gay?’ or ‘How would a gay person react to this situation?’” “Course not. Sometimes I go a whole five minutes without thinking about my own gayness.” *The Turkish and the Armenians have had a hate towards one another ever since the Armenian genocide.The Turkish deny that the genocide ever happened, and the Armenians are bitter and hateful about it, for good reason. For more information about the Armenian genocide, go to: http://www.armenian-genocide.org/genocidefaq.html

[corireadsthings]

Lost Girl Found - Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca

For Poni, life in her small village is southern Sudan is simple and complicated at the same time. Stay in school. Beat up any boy who tries to show attention. Watch out for the dangers in the river. But then the war comes. And when soldiers arrive in her village, and bombs begin to rain from the sky, there is only one thing for Poni to do. Run. Run for her life. Poni does run from the bombs, and then she is walking - a long, dusty trek across the East African countryside with thousands of refugees. Along the way, many die from starvation, land mines, wild animals and despair, but Poni does not, driven by the sheer will to survive and the hope that, against all odds, she can one day continue her education. Okay so I finished this book a while ago, maybe two weeks ago, but it took me a while to process it and try to figure out what exactly I wanted to say about it. First of all, the book is absolutely beautiful. It's extremely tragic but it had that silver lining to it and it's a great picture of what people were actually living with during the war, and some are even still living with today. I guess I should also state that there is a trigger warning for rape, violence and death. Poni is a young girl who, when her village gets bombed, must leave everything she knows and travel to a refuge that she is not even certain actually exists. She leaves without any of her family members with a group of others who have survived the bombs. Even just by the time she leaves, she has seen some horrific things. As she crosses the desert to try to get the refuge, she watches many in her group die painful deaths. She does finally make it to the refuge and eventually she escapes to make her way to a woman she is told about who will teach her and help her get to the United States. That's a very basic plot summary of the book, but there is so much that goes on in the story that I would not be able to give justice to. The authors’ collaborate so well that I cannot even tell that it is written by more than one person. Sometimes if you read a piece that’s a collaboration, parts of the book seem choppy and out of place, but there was no such evidence in Lost Girl Found. I would definitely rate this book a solid 9/10. I would recommend everyone to read this book as long as rape and violence do not trigger you, otherwise stay away! The thing I am most amazed with is that the people in the book can still find happiness and joy in things even when they are at such a low point in life. This is exhibited in my favorite quote in the book, which is when Poni is on the refuge. All the women of the village find a certain comfort in dancing together and it helps them all forget their troubles even for a few minutes. It's a beautiful moment in the book. The only other small joy that I have is dancing. It is what we women do to remind ourselves that we are still alive, to remind ourselves of the joys we once knew. Even those of us who are starving, who are weak, when we hear a certain drumbeat, something stirs in us. Suddenly, even the elderly come alive, turn young, hop up and down, stomp their feet and clap. I push off the ground and send myself up into the air before allowing the ground to pull me back down. I don't want to stop. When I dance, I can jump out of my pain for just a moment. I can get that much closer to God, to yell straight into his ear. Have you forgotten that we are still here?

[corireadsthings]

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period - Gennifer Choldenko

okay hello! I actually finished another book before this but I like having the books in front of me when I write these because then I can pull information from them if I need to. so, look forward to another review tomorrow, but for now here is If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period. first of all, here is the description on the inside cover of the book, as I did with Escape Theory: Two Kids. Two Lives. For Kirsten McKenna, the world is crumbling. Her parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has come under the spell of the school’s queen bee, Brianna. Only Kirsten’s younger science-geek sister is on her side. For Walker Jokes, the goal is to survive at the new white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he’s going to screw up like his cousin. (Walk keeps telling her, “Don’t have to worry, Momma. Before I go bad I’ll let you know, send a Hallmark card ready-made for the occasion... ‘On the eve your son messes up.’”) But Walk is a good kid. So is his new friend, Matteo, though no one knows why Matteo will do absolutely anything that hot blond Brianna asks of him.  Two Worlds Collide In One Compelling Story. Then Kirsten discovers something that shakes her and Walk to their cores... “You knew all along,” Walk says. “No I didn’t.” “You’re lying... You found out and then you told the whole world.” okay so basically, the summary makes it sound like a super heteronormative love story about two middle schoolers, but it is not that whatsoever. I’m actually struggling to think of what I should actually tell you guys about the book because explaining even a tiny bit of the plot would lead you to spoilers. Walk and Kirsten both go to a private school that is really, really expensive. Walk is one of the only three African-American kids in the school which makes him feel really out of place. Kirsten’s best friend (well, former best friend) Rory is becoming closer to the clique of popular girls, which upset Kirsten because she’s not super skinny or good-looking and the popular girls make fun of her. she actually goes to see a therapist on eating disorders, but this whole section isn’t a very big trigger and unless you’re super triggered by eating disorders/body image issues then I wouldn’t worry about it... thought I would throw that out there though! anyways, Walk and Kirsten are both late on the first day of school and they end up having to help their teacher move classrooms on a Saturday. Kirsten gets accussed of stealing the teacher’s wallet, but really Rory and Brianna (who are also at this weird Saturday detention-like thing) plant it on her and frame her for doing it. eventually, this all gets resolved but let me tell you that the scene where the teacher finds his wallet in her bag gave me some anxiety. I was just so frustrated and upset for Kirsten and I really felt for her. eventually, Kirsten starts growing away from Rory and closer to Walk and Matteo. Kirsten’s mom thinks she’s dating one (or both) of them and sits her down to talk. a few days later, she overhears her parents talking about Sylvia (Walk’s mom) and Walk. I can’t tell you what she found out about them because that would be the biggest spoiler in history, but you’ll probably be just as surprised as I am. I think that’s all I can really tell you guys plot-wise about the book. the writing is definitely about eighth grade level so for me, it was a really fast read. I found some parts boring but I think that may have been because the author really took the narration of the characters on and I felt like I was inside the mind of two twelve year olds the whole book. for most of the book, it felt as though Choldenko was trying to do too much for her characters and add too much sub-plot into the mix. Kirsten has parents who are on the verge of a divorce, an extremely smart second-grader for a sister and friend problems. Walk has problems at home and his mom trusting him. there’s also a whole small subplot about Matteo and Brianna. I do have to say that even though she put a lot of subplot and side stories into the plot, she ties everything together very well at the end. overall I would give this book a 6 or 7. it wasn’t awful but it definitely isn’t my favorite book. I think I would like to go back and read it again and try to find any foreshadowing clues about the big reveal that Kirsten finds out. I feel like there definitely was some foreshadowing spread out through the book that I completely missed. there was also a jump between first and third person that annoyed me to an extent, but I got used to it and it eventually helped me settle into the two characters. Walk’s chapters are in third person and Kirsten’s are in second. I’ve never read a book that jumped between first and third person like that, but it definitely wasn’t a deal breaker.  anyways, I had a really good favorite quote this time around. while I was reading, I didn’t have anything that caught my attention until I came across this line. Kirsten is having a discussion with her dad, asking him why he always calls her brilliant when her sister Kippy is the brilliant one. “I’m not making fun of you,” he says softly. “I do think you’re brilliant.” “No you don’t.” “Yes I do. Some people’s brilliance is in their head. A surgeon’s brilliance is in her hands. But there are people who have brilliant hearts. They shine right through them.”

[corireadsthings]

Escape Theory by Margaux Froley

hi, I finally finished Escape Theory and it was amazing! as I had said before, I really thought that reading this book was going to trigger me at least a little bit. Froley wrote the book in a way that obviously describes the feelings of those left in the wake of Hutch’s death and the suicide itself without triggering me whatsoever. this is definitely a book I would recommend to others who like a darker theme to their books but can be easily triggered over things like suicide, anxiety disorders, or drug abuse.  this book is so real, to put it simply. it does not sugar coat anything. it tells the story of a 16-year-old girl facing the consequences of suicide. the relationship that Devon (the main character) and Hutch have is definitely strange. the only real time they had spent together was one night during her freshman year where they were locked in a kitchen all night together. sounds cliche, but it’s really cute and the book does periodic flashbacks to this night throughout the book.  Devon thinks that Hutch’s suicide is really a murder (SPOILER ALERT: she proves that it is!) and the entire story basically surrounds that. I don’t know how many times I can say it but I love this book, I love this book, I love this book! I think that for each review, I’m going to share my favorite quote from the book, so my favorite Escape Theory quote is: “You know,” Hutch began, his mouth still full of cookie. “There are two kinds of people in this world.” “The supposed-tos and the not-supposed-tos,” Devon replied, trying not to spit crumbs at Hutch. “Yeah, those two, but there are another two kinds of people in the world. Those who like peanut butter and those who don’t. And we, Miss Mackintosh, are the same kind of people.” I guess I’ll end by asking if anyone had any questions about the book?

[corireadsthings]

Escape Theory by Margaux Froley - Halfway Point

I think I’m going to write a small thing about my thoughts when I’m halfway through each book and then a thorough review when I’m completely finished. so, I’m a little less than halfway through Escape Theory and so far I really like it. I thought I was going to be moderately triggered by the book and I was fully prepared to stop reading it if I was triggered at any point. let’s start with what the book is actually about. the summary on the inside sleeve says: “Sixteen-year-old Devon Mackintosh has always felt like an outsider at Keaton, the prestigious California boarding school perched above the Pacific. As long as she’s not fitting in, Devon figures she might as well pad her application to Stanford’s psych program. So junior year, she decides to become a peer counselor, a de facto therapist for students in crisis. At firs,t it seems like it will be an easy fly-on-the-wall gig, but her expectations are turned upside down when Jason Hutchins (a.k.a. “Hutch”), one of Keaton’s most popular students, commits suicide. Devon dives into her new role providing support for Hutch’s friends, but she’s haunted by her own attachment to him. The two shared an extraordinary night during their first week of freshman year; it was the only time at Keaton when Devon felt like someone else really understood her. As the secrets and confessions pile up in her sessions, Devon comes to a startling conclusion: Hutch couldn’t have taken his own life. Bound by her oath of confidentiality - and tortured by her unrequited love - Devon embarks on a solitary mission to get to the bottom of Hutch’s death.” when I first read the summary, I thought it was going to be a melodramatic teen novel but so far it’s actually a great read. Froley makes the characters very relatable and the book is written in an organized way that helps the reader keep track of what’s happening. where I am currently in the book is directly following Hutch’s funeral and Devon is still trying to figure out exactly what happened to him. she knows that he couldn’t have killed himself because he’s just not the type of person to do that and she didn’t notice any of the early warning signs in him. she suspects foul play and is very convincing to get the reader to believe the same thing.  so far - a great read! 

[corireadsthings]

hi guys! okay, so I’ve basically been reading way too much for my own good and I just wanted to start doing something with the books I’ve been reading. so every time I read a new book, I’m going to post a review about it!  currently, I’m reading Escape Theory by Margaux Froley. I’m about a third of the way through it so I should have a review up by the end of the week. xx Cori