Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author:  Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Publisher: Quirk Books

Language: English
ISBN-10:  1594743347

ISBN-13:  978-1594743344

Buy this book on Amazon

Rating: 

I previously said I'll be reading this but I ended up ditching it because it bored me.  Well, in between books, I tried to read a few pages and now I am done, hence this review.

At first I was really fascinated with the concept of introducing a completely bizarre story into the classics, helps stir things up and encourages a renewed interest in the books.  I even did a post on these book mashups and most of the commenters on that post said they have a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  I was also thinking of which book I could pick up, and thinking that this book is the most popular one, I know a friend who has a copy and borrowed this and started reading.  The first few chapters are funny and interesting, but I think all of you have experienced having a conversation with your parents/friends/anyone else you know where they always bring up this silly incident which makes you laugh the first few times but then the joke gets old pretty soon and all you could say when they repeat it again is, "Yeah, I think you already told me that story..." but they still insist on telling you about it again?  That's what happened in this book.  I loved Pride and Prejudice so much and I understand that that book, as well as Austen's other books are really very powerful that the magic of their stories transcends time.  I also like zombies although not too much to go gaga over them but enough to give me a laugh when I read about them, and it was interesting to see Austen's storyline being invaded by zombies.  But mere insertions of a zombie fight or some such thing is not really that riveting to me, it was just like reading Pride and Prejudice all over again, but this time it's like my mind is warping some of the passages that makes reading about zombies not very amusing.

I thought the book would be giving different twists and quirks and maybe that's what disappointed me so much.  I suppose I could not expect any of the major characters to die or turn into a zombie, but something to that effect could have been better, could have at least made the book more fascinating on its own, than relying on Austen's power and just tossing in some undead beings.  For me, it doesn't really matter if you don't stay too faithful to the original book, the point here is to create a new story from an old book and a new concept right?   This book had a lot of promise, but the execution was poorly done.

Of course, Austen's prim and proper manner of writing is preserved, the voice solid and clear, the characters charming and relatable.  I loved the graphic illustrations and the realistic tone of dialogue but that's where it stops.  If the story itself had been written with more creativity and force, this book could have been better.  I could not picture myself  buying this book and keeping it on my shelf to re-read it over and over.  Good thing I did not get this on my own, otherwise, I would be really kicking myself in the head right now for wasting a lot of money on something as useless as this book.

What If... All the Rumors Were True by Liz Ruckdeschel and Sara James

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title: What if... All the Rumors Were True
Author: Liz Ruckdeschel and Sara James
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Language: English
ISBN - 10: 038573641X
ISBN - 13: 978-0385736411

Buy this on Amazon
Rating:

 

Remember the time when you used to horde those Goosebumps Choose Your Own Adventure books?  Well, this one's a Choose-Your-Destiny book. TM.

This is the last book in the What If... series of choose-your-own-destinies by Liz Ruckdeschel and Sara James, and stars a girl named Haley.  After a year in Hillsdale High, she thinks she has finally conquered her new school, now a Junior, she is in a rush to fill her college application with interesting activities, like her other classmates.  But along with that hurdle is the upcoming SATS, being ignored by her supposed-boyfriend, and a huge bundle of rumors.   Can she really handle all of those issues?  And what if the rumors were true?

I picked this book up without really thinking and seeing that it was a choose-your-own-whatever thing, I thought it wouldn't be that bad.  I was wrong on both counts.  I should have thought before picking this up, and just because it's those interactive fiction stuff does not mean it would turn out good.

The plot is simple enough, the endings predictable enough, that no matter what you choose, you're pretty sure what's going to happen already.  There is also a lot of repetition in the plot going on, as if you haven't read about what happened before turning the page, and you have to be reminded for the umpteenth time AGAIN.  I understand that as choose-your-own-adventures go, it's easy to lose the reader, but in this book, it's like your mom telling you over and over again that her back is aching so you need to do the vacuuming yourself.

I also don't like the characters that much.  I mean, Haley's very well-rounded and everything, but they're all so one-sided, the cute well-rounded smart guy Reese, the beautiful and sporty Sasha, the rich bitch Coco.  It just screams "Book Characters!" to me.  I don't really connect with them and I can't feel them as live human beings.  And to think that Haley's destiny is in my hands.

After reading the book once and getting to my chosen ending, I decided to read the whole book, every destiny, and every ending, to see if it would improve. No, it didn't.  If you would like to read books about teenage life, better not pick this one up, too dull.  But then, if you've read the other books, or this is your thing, then go ahead and dive in.

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Author: Rebecca Wells
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Language: English
ISBN - 10: 006075995X
ISBN - 13: 978-0060759957
Rating:







Unfortunately, I bought this for myself, albeit on sale. I thought this was going to be a fun read as it's obviously something about friendship, mothers and daughters, that type of thing. However, once I began to read, I'm afraid I could not wait to put it down.

This is a story of 40-year old Siddalee Walker whose relationship with her mother was tested when she unknowingly humiliated her mother in the papers. Siddalee began to doubt her own capacity to love, and her mother sends her a scrapbook, named "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The book contained various personal mementos of her mother and her three friends that was hoped to help Siddalee in understanding her mother without putting too much emotional effort in the process.

However, although she has the scrapbook, she does not understand everything in it, and only the readers are given the opportunity to learn about each mysterious fragments through Vivi's own recollection of the past. That was my first issue with this story. If the readers are the only ones to learn about Vivi's own memories and not Siddalee, how can she be as magnanimous and understanding of her mother's flaws? How did she gain understanding in the first place? Merely sorting through another person's memorabilia does not help one become enlightened about that person's self.

Another problem with this story is that it was all too predictable. And harrowing. And long. Mother had a problematic past. Daughter could not understand mother's hardness. Daughter finds out about mother's childhood. Mother and Daughter reconcile. That's been done in a dozen other books and I thought this one would be different. Turns out, I'm wrong. In an effort to take us back to Vivi's past, we are introduced to her three other friends. We are shown their wild, adventurous lives; but theirs was a life of privilege compared to other children at that time - Vivi did suffer physical and mental abuse from her parents, but don't we all - that their characters did not appear lovable, and instead, they seemed spoiled, bratty, and insensitive.

The story tried to create too much tension in every conflict, that made it as shallow as its characters. I have been touched by some dramatic stories of abuse and learning to stand up amidst all the pain, but this one made it seem like Vivi was too caught up in her own high school life and drama that she was too busy to grow up and live up to her responsibilities as an adult, a wife, and a mother. The story provided us with an excuse as to how she reacts with such hysteria in everything that happens, and with why she drinks and smokes every chance she gets. Hardly encouraging reading.

It did not help matters any when I found out this was just a sequel. Wow, the author was not done writing yet? Obviously she's not, and obviously, she's still got a lot on her mind. The book was full to the brim of exhausting selfish details about the ya-yas I was tempted not just a few times to put it down.

On the bright side, I like the imagery and the imagination behind the story. You could visualize beautiful South in all its heat and magic, and you could almost feel the cold of Seattle. In terms of vision and powers of description, I have to hand it to the author. In the future, I hope the author could extend her powers of description and imagination not just to the scenes and settings of her stories, but to the story itself - that it not become too boringly predictable and unlovable. This book had potential, but it just could not carry the weight of all the character's idiosyncrasies and the author's exhausting ideas.

Overall I'm happy that I did not have to spend too much when I bought this book. Maybe it's just me, but I did not enjoy this story about a supposedly strong Southern woman with secrets. But if this is your cup of tea, go ahead and dive in. You might just like it.