Bliss

Bliss
Lauren Myracle
Amulet
$16.95 (much cheaper on Amazon)
2008
FTC: This is a library book. I am not being compensated in any manner for my review.

Characters 20/20
Plot 20/20
Setting 15/20
Cover 20/20
Ending 20/20
Total grade: 95% A

Sexual content: mild
Violence: heavy
Drugs: mild
Underage drinking: n/a
Swearing: moderate
Total rating: 16+

Summary:
In the summer of 1969, hippie teenager Bliss in the Morning Dew sees her whole world turn upside down. One day, she is unceremoniously dropped at her grandmother's house in Atlanta after her parents decide to leave their commune and move to Canada. Now, not only does she need to get to know her grandmother, but she also has to learn the ways of the society she now inhabits. That includes attending the exclusive Crestview Academy. This might sound like a typical story of a girl getting to know a long-lost family member, but it's not. This story is straight-up horror—with Bliss right in the center of the storm. The nice, polite, nonjudgmental teen has been singled out by one girl at school—a girl whose obsession with blood rituals borders on insanity. Lilliana was once a student at Crestview, but her mysterious death has long haunted the school. Yet, one girl believes that Lilliana can and must be brought back from the dead, and there's only one student who can help—Bliss. However, the protagonist has some secrets of her own, and she's not going to let Lilliana return without a fight. Myracle also works in period references, including the "The Andy Griffith Show" and the Manson Family murders. Although the story drags a bit in the middle and Bliss seems a bit too forgiving of a new friend, this novel is sure to cause goose bumps all the way to the dramatic and surprising end.

My Thoughts:
This book was not what I was expecting but it was delicious. I devoured it. The characters were all crazy and unique. It was fun getting to know each of them. The plot was very different. I know I had never read anything like it. It was creepy and chilled you to the bone. I was home alone one night while reading this and had to put it down because I was so freaked out.

The setting was just kinda blah. It wasn’t super but it wasn’t bad. The cover is amazing. To be honest that’s why I wanted to read the book! The ending was shocking. I never once expected what happened to happen.

I recommend pretty much anyone who likes a little creep to try this out.

Fences

Fences

August Wilson

Publisher:

Penguin

1986

FTC: This is a school book. I am not being compensated in any way for reviewing this.

Characters 20/20

Plot 20/20

Setting 20/20

Cover 10/20

Ending 20/20

Total grade: 90% A

Sexual content: mild

Violence: mild

Drugs: none

Underage drinking: none

Swearing: heavy

Total rating: 14+

Summary: (Barnes and Noble)

Troy Maxson is an angry man. He is an embittered ex-con who has built inner fences around his emotions that no one—neither his son Gory, his wife, Rosa Lee, nor his best friend, Jim—can cross. A proud and bitter man who was prevented by racism from playing major league baseball, Maxson is at fifty- three years of age a garbage collector. While his job allows him to successfully provide for his family, handling garbage represents for him a grim metaphor of his life. As he did during a bit in prison, he once again feels confined, and those who love him most, who depend on him most, suffer most for it.

My Thoughts:

Anyone who knows almost anything about me knows how I feel about assigned school literature. We wonder why so many kids and teens hate reading but the books we force down their throats at school only feed the hatred. I did not feel that way about Fences.

It was a great book that I felt offered real life lessons as well as educational. You could read it as a play or a book. I read it as a book. The characters were so vivid and bold. Nothing was left to the imagination when it came to them. The plot was honest and true.

I adored the ending. I felt that it was perfect and brought all to a close. The only thing I didn’t like was the cover, but I try to remember that covers weren’t so important in the 80’s.

I recommend this book to everyone.