There's Rich, Filthy Rich and then there's Crazy Rich...

Crazy Rich Asian: Kevin Kwan

Ok, I'm not going to lie, I hated this book. There was too much going on between the story line with Rachel and Nick, then Astrid and her marriage and then everything with Eleanor and her family, this family tree is too big and trying to force everything into one book and it was sort of hard to follow. You have Rachel and Nick, living in New York and go to Singapore for Nick's best friend's wedding where she meets his extended family who is one of the richest families in Asia. From there we meet Nick's cousins: Astrid, who finds out her husband is cheating on her in the weeks leading up to the wedding, Eddie, a bigwig banker in Hong Kong who treats his wife and children like show props, Alistair, who deviated from the family expectations and works as a film director and recently engaged to a soap opera star plus many more. Nick's mother, aunts and friends do not like nor accept Rachel into the family no matter that everyone else likes her, thinking she is a gold-digging American-Born Chinese. With a lot of ups and downs, Rachel and Nick make it through the wedding, break-up and get back together.

Good Lord, I have never read a book that had so many confusing points of view and complicated story lines. There really was too much going on between Eleanor sabotaging Nick and Rachel, Nick and Rachel doing their own thing and Astrid finding out her husband is cheating on her and flipping back and forth seems to lose focus on the story. It was very true to Asian culture which I did enjoy being introduced to, a tool the author used was putting footnotes at the bottom of the pages that explained or defined certain phrases used that many people wouldn't know. Overall, I really do think this book was over-hyped due to the movie coming out. I personally won't go see it in theaters but I'll get it from the Redbox when it comes out on Blu-ray but until then, this really wasn't my cup of herbal tea.

Pros:
Very true to Asian Culture

Cons:
Too many complicated story lines

It's a different place through the rabbit hole...

Splintered: A.G. Howard

Sometimes what you know isn't always what's true. For Alyssa Gardner,  her family history was something she hid from. Being a descendant of Alice Liddell isn't she's proud of nor is the fact that her mother is in a sanitarium with delusions that she is Alice. Alyssa channels the voices she hears from bug and plants into her art to hide the fact that she is turning into her mother. When she discovers that the women on her family are actually cursed to go back to wonderland and fix Alice's mistakes, Alyssa goes and accidentally brings her neighbor and best friend, Jeb, on an adventure through Wonderland and meets the characters we thought we knew, especially Morpheus, the Caterpillar who taught Alyssa everything she would need to know to break the curse as a child in her dreams. With a truly unexpected plot twist, this book keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next.

I absolutely loved this series and how A.G. Howard takes you down a path you thought you knew then takes a sharp turn into what is the most bewitching retelling of Alice in Wonderland I have ever come across. We do have the typical love triangle between Alyssa, Jeb, and Morpheus so you never fully concentrate on the story because it always come back to the three of them. If you can get past the terrible love triangle trope and love Alice, this is the series for you.

Pros:
Fantastic imagery

Cons:
Love triangle trope

My top 5 book to movie adaptions

Book to movie adaptions are always iffy but some are really good and some are terrible. Here are my top 5 favorite book to movie adaptions!

5. Ready Player One by Ernest Kilne
Now, I know what everyone is going to say, "It's nothing like the book!", to which I say...ok yea sure.
It's not but when you go into this knowing they couldn't get the rights to EVERYTHING mentioned in the book so they had to make do, it's fine and the story moves on just the same. I also prefer how Wade/Parzival won the "extra life" in his bet with the curator versus the perfect game of Pac man. All in all, it was highly enjoyable.

4. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Amandala Sternberg is really killing this whole book adaption thing, huh? I personally think Everything, Everything was one of her best. She played Maddy so perfectly that it was like she walked off the page and onto the set. just everything about this was right on with the book including the little things like the astronaut and her book reviews and Nick Robinson's Olly was the perfect boy next door. (Hint: this won't be the last you see of him here)

3. Love, Simon (Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) by Becky Albertalli
Told you you'd see Nick Robinson again. This young man just embodied Simon and made you feel everything he felt. Even in this day and age, it is so hard for some young people to come out and this book and film so help. Yes some minor cuts and changes were made to help move it along (Simon;s older sister is cut and his younger sister is made younger, school musical is changed from Oliver! to Caberet, etc.), but, man was this a good movie.

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
My 3rd favorite Harry Potter book and my 2nd favorite book adaptation. Christopher Columbus really knew what he was doing with this film and I was sad to see him go for Prisoner of Azkaban, but Lord was the casting of Gilderoy Lockhart perfect. Yes, I missed the Death Day Party and more Colin Creevey but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
And surprise, surprise. Harry Potter rules them all. this was the absolutely perfect way to start off the series. this was an almost page for page likeness of the book. Hagrid and the giant motorbike, the glass disappearing at the zoo, King's Cross and Platform 9 3/4, the ceiling of the Great Hall. This movie is my childhood and made me a proud Hufflepuff. I will forever fly my flag in club Christopher Columbus and will always opt to watch this movie whenever I get the time.

If you have a favorite book to movie adaption that's not on this list, please list it in the comments below! I will be doing a top five worst book to movie adaptions in  a few weeks time. Have a good night and happy reading!

The 90's were a hard time

The Future of Us: Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

1996 was a weird time. Dial up internet, no cell phones, Tamagachi. Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler tell the story of two teenagers in this year as flawlessly as the pilot of Spongebob. Josh and Emma are neighbors since childhood who have grown apart but are brought back together with a free trial of AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). When Emma loads the disk into her new computer, she finds her Facebook profile from 15 years in the future. After seeing they are not happy in the future, Emma and Josh start to change things they do in their everyday life, including going out with a longtime crush, and realizing how much they mean to each other.

The 90's were a magical time and I am proud to be a child of the 90's. I have a special place in my heart for this story as I can relate to the time period the main story takes place in. The back and forth between the characters of Josh and Emma really flows and you just feel for them like they are real. I would love to see what my Facebook would look like 15 years from now and see if I'm happy but at the same time I don't think I would change a thing, as I am happy now. Emma learns the hard way that you can change your future but it will change you, as she does as many tiny, insignificant things to see what changes will happen to future self. Live the life you have and don't worry too much about the future.

Pros:
Character flow

Cons:
Shows how real internet addiction becomes

 

Wish I could be part of your world...

The Mermaid: Christina Henry

Historical fiction will always have a special place in my heart, no matter what time period. in Christina Henry's The Mermaid, we travel back to turn of the century New York and P.T. Barnum starting his museum. When he is brought the "Fiji Mermaid" he decides to expand on the exhibit by finding a real mermaid, and find a real mermaid he does. Amelia is a young mermaid who, after getting caught in a fisherman's net comes to land to marry him. After his death, she travels to New York and agrees to become part of the exhibit for a time. after falling in love with Barnum's lawyer, Levi, she leaves and finds home in Fiji.

Now, no matter what Hugh Jackman tells you, P.T. Barnum was a jerk and this book solidifies this statement. While Amelia wasn't real, Barnum was and treated all his "acts" as animals in cages, and the animals in cages and less than that. The author really brings Barnum to life as well as the other characters, including Charity Barnum, P.T.'s wife. Charity is overlooked by many when looking at P.T. and everything he did so bringing her to the front a center and making her best friends with Amelia is perfect. All in all, this book is perfect for anyone that has seen The Greatest Showman and wants to learn more about Barnum and the circus or wants to start a foray into historical fiction.

Pros:
phenomenal story-telling
accurate historical placement

Cons:
Wish it was longer
Phineas Taylor Barnum is a jerk!
 

 

Fairy tales aren't pretty things, and they don't end in Happily Ever After

Kill Me Softly: Sarah Cross

Modern fairy tales are always good but not always executed properly. Sarah Cross went above and beyond with her debut novel, Kill Me Softly. In which she tells the story of Mirabelle, raised by her "aunts" until her 16th birthday. When she gets restless with not knowing about her past, she leaves the week before her birthday to the town where she was born and meets quite the cast of characters, who like her, are cursed. Everyone in the town has what they call a "Marchen Mark",
a birthmark that designates what fairy-tale they are bound to follow. Such as someone with an apple Marchen will play a part in Snow White. When Mira arrives she meets brothers, Felix and Blue, who introduce her to her past and find what fairy-tale she is destined to play a role in. When she purposely starts her tale, Sleeping Beauty, her true feelings are revealed and settles down with her family.

I really enjoyed how Sarah takes these classic tales and puts that modern spin on them. Really puts then into perspective of how some old tales sometimes don't always translate to modern times. Obviously, it's not common nowadays for a young lady to be cursed at birth to prick her finger on a sharp object and sleep for an eternity and be awoken by true loves kiss, but the way she tells the story of the casino getting covered by thorns and her friends have to get in and wake her is so magnificent I thought I was really there. I have looked for this book for a while. I read it when it first came out at my local library but every time I went back for it, it was checked out and I could no longer remember the title or author's name, just the cover so it took me a few years to track this down but I have read it close to ten times since I came into possession if it and plan to read it many more times.

Pros:
Incredibly modern spins on classic tales
 
Cons:
Characters not super relatable