Book Reviews
Book Review by Arieta Milford
‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games, the book you’ve heard of but were too lazy to read so you watched the movie! And if you did read it you read all of it and couldn’t stop thinking about it after you read it, so you are probably a giant book worm! But for those reading this that haven’t read or seen the 2 HOURS movie about it, you’ve come to the right place, I’ll be summarizing it so you don’t have to read it, but please if you have the time go read it, it’s a great book and has an amazing concept to it. So, without a second thought, let's get to the summarizing when you could just go to the library and read it but nahh (which is understandable, like look at all the pages and how thick the book is.)
It all starts with our main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen living in district 12. Just to give a quick rundown of the world of the hunger, the world is separated into 12 districts. The main and the privileged part is the Capital, and every year one female and one male from each district between the ages of 12 and 18 gets chosen to be in the Hunger Games. Katniss attends the Reaping ceremony and finds out that her twelve-year-old sister, Prim was chosen. Katniss volunteers to be chosen in her place and become the female tribute for the Hunger Games, the male tribute is chosen, and it is Peeta Melkark, a person that helped her when she was younger.
Before catching a train to take them to the Capital to be prepared for the games, Katniss and Peeta get to see their families. Katniss sees her mother and her sister Prim and tells them she will try her best to win. She also tells her mother to not “leave” Prim like her father had after a mine explosion. The two are rushed to the tribute train and taken to the Capitol and the Opening Ceremonies where the chosen few ride chariots that show and symbolize their districts. When she arrives, she is met by her stylist, Cinna. She shows Katniss her costume for the Ceremony. The costume is a black unitard with a headpiece and a cape. When on the chariot, Peeta and Katniss hold hands on the ride down with the other districts, to show the crowd their love and greater improve their odds by getting the crowd to favour them in the games and gain more sponsors.
When the games begin Katniss grabs a backpack and enters the outside forest. After nearly being killed by the other tributes she sleeps in the treetops, slowly dying from thirst Eventually, she finds a nearby pond to drink from and starts to camouflage her backpack, so it won’t draw attention demonstrating her survival skills. Her survival skills along with her other important attributes are shown a lot in her situations, for example, later in the book when Katniss retrieves her infamous bow, she finds a pile of supplies surrounded by landmines set by a group, she then shoots an arrow at a bag of apples that causes them to fall and trigger the mines. When the number of tributes reduces, one of the game makers announces that two people can win if they are in the same district which leads to try and find Peeta after being separated at the start. When she finds him, she sees he has a gruesome sword slash, Katniss
then helps him and shows her love for him by a kiss on the cheek, later a sponsor gives them the medicine she needs to help him.
In the end, the only people that are left are Katniss, Peeta, and Cato a tribute that killed many others and set the landmines around the supplies. Katniss and Peeta kill him by pushing him into a pack of wolf-like creatures introduced in the game as a challenge. But, just as the two rejoice the game makers announce that there can only be one winner, revoking the newly made rule. When hearing this, Katniss comes up with the idea of she and Peeta committing a double suicide by eating the poisonous berries scattered around the arena. The two agree and just as they are about to consume the berries, they are hastily declared the winners. However, the Capital becomes angry at them and thinks that she could start a rebellion by her “outsmarting” the game makers.
The book, The Hunger Games, showed us a glimpse of this well-thought-out and interesting world, showing more of it in its two sequels. The Hunger Games is a great book for anyone who enjoys reading about survival and more of a dark but romantic type of plotline.
Book Review by Fareshta Rezai
‘November 9’ by Colleen Hoover
November 9 Is a novel by Colleen Hoover, the author to many best-selling books such as It Ends With Us, Ugly Love and many more.
November 9 is about Fallon O’Neil, daughter of an old famous actor, Donovan O’Neil. The novel begins with Fallon having lunch with her father and telling him that she is going to move to New York to audition for a Broadway play. Her father is against the idea because he thinks Broadway doesn’t want people with scars. Fallon’s whole left side is filled with scars from when she was in a tragic fire incident when she was sixteen. A fire had spread in her house while she was home with her father who managed to get out unscratched, but Fallon was forgotten about and was severely burnt. She is now insecure about her scars and tries her best to cover them.
Fallon excuses herself and goes to the bathroom hoping her father would leave the restaurant but finds that he is still there when she returns from the bathroom. As she does so a young guy who is staring at her catches her eye. Fallon thinks he is staring at her because of her scars and immediately covers them and walks back to her seat. Her father is making her rethink her choice of moving but suddenly the staring boy slides in next to Fallon and puts his arm around her. He introduces himself as Benton James Keesler and pretends that he is Fallon’s boyfriend. Amazingly, Fallon decides to go along with it!
They continue having lunch and Ben finds himself defending Fallon against her father who soon leaves. Fallon and Ben spend the rest of the day together and they soon find themselves liking each other more and more. Ben teaches Fallon to love and accept herself with her scars and to feel grateful for being alive rather than being upset over her scars. She leaves for New York, and they decide to make a deal. The deal is that on each November 9 for the next five years one of them comes to either LA or New York and they meet at a specific cafe and get to spend the day together. They are also not allowed to have each other’s phone number or share social media. As Ben is a writer, Fallon suggests that his first book should be about their deal which we later learn will be called ‘November 9’. Before Fallon leaves, they give each other homework to complete by the time they meet again. Fallon’s homework for Ben is to read five romance novels and Ben’s homework for Fallon is to go on five dates and to keep auditioning until she gets a role she wants.
The novel then follows the next five November 9s as Fallon and Ben reunite, and their lives become more and more complex. November 9 is an exhilarating book that keeps you guessing.
The writing style of Colleen Hoover is descriptive and unique. Like all her books November 9 contain secrets that affect the plot and her characters excessively. It leaves you on the edge of your seat craving for more. Here is an example:
“He did say his first curse word, though. We keep his baby monitor on at night and last week, clear as day, he said the word s***. Little guy is starting early,” says Ben to Fallon.
This line is when Fallon finds out that Ben and Jordyn are a ‘we’ now and they then start to have more problems. November 9 is a phenomenal book, and it is a must read! I give it 5/5 and I think it is one of the best books to have ever been created.
Book Review by Mohidsa Qandai
‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel
Station Eleven is a dystopian and Sci-Fi novel by Emily St. John Mandel, published in 2014. It is about the spread of a flu known as the Georgia Flu which wiped approximately 99% of the world’s population. It has a non-linear structure, shifting back and forth between the pre- and post-apocalyptic worlds.
The novel starts with a famous actor, Arthur Leander’s on stage death during the production of King Lear. Jeevan Chaudhary, a member from the audience, tries to save Arthur’s life but fails. Moment after Arthur’s death, Jeevan gets the news of the Georgia Flu outbreak. He stocks up on food and goes to his brother’s apartment and they isolate themselves until the world goes silent. Jeevan’s brother, however, commits suicide and leaves Jeevan alone in the world to fend himself.
Due to the non-linear structure of the novel, it shifts back to Arthur’s life. Arthur was born in Delano Island. He later on moves to Toronto “Toronto feels like freedom” said Arthur once. Arthur meets Miranda in Toronto who is from the same island. He feels a sense of connection to Miranda, they get married. In his early years when he first moved to Toronto Arthur met Clark who he became super close with. Years after their intimate friendship, they met in a restaurant, Clark thought to himself “He is performing”. Clark had thought he was having dinner with a friend, but Arthur was not having a dinner with a friend. He was having dinner with an audience.
The novel then moves to 20 years after the collapse of the world. “Survival is insufficient” is engraved on the lead caravan of The Travelling Symphony. A group of people finding and giving meaning to life, travelling from town to town expressing the magnificence of art yet it still not enough to brighten up THAT one town?
Some communities trying to bury the past, some expressing the beauty of the past, some bring back the privileges and pleasures of the past, while some communities…
What would a world with, no rule, no government and no direction look like?
What is humanity? What does it mean to be human?
I recommend this book to people who love dystopian fiction, apocalyptic, mystery and possibly sci-fi.
Book Review by Theodora Tsitouridis
‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Written in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ nicknamed “The Great American Novel”, is a literary classic that flawlessly captures the Roaring Twenties. It is often studied in schools, used as a theme for parties and has inspired four film adaptations - most notably the version directed by Baz Luhrmann starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The narrator, Nick Carraway, a man from a wealthy family has just come back from fighting in the war. He becomes fascinated by his neighbour Mr Jay Gatsby who is mega-rich and throws lavish parties every weekend, which the whole town attends. However, Gatsby is never seen during these parties. Gatsby holds a dark secret about his past and how he became so great, a deep lust that will eventually lead to his demise.
‘The Great Gatsby’ is so much more than just a love story - it is also a reflection on the hollowness of a life of leisure. Fitzgerald draws upon the historical context of the 20s and the idea of disillusionment popular post-WWI to create a novel that explored the society and lifestyle of the time and the human nature to yearn for both the past and the out of reach. The exploration of the American Dream, love, wealth and social hierarchy is open to multiple interpretations, and readers, like myself, continue to be drawn back to this story to discover more on every reading.
Fitzgerald knows how to evoke emotion and paint a picture you’ll never forget. His lyrical descriptions really pack a punch for a story that is less than 200 pages in length. In fact, its short length makes it the perfect classic to discover today. If you are looking for a new novel to read, I highly recommend this novel that will immerse you in the dazzling world of Gatsby.
Book Review by Geoff Shinkfield
‘The Storyteller’ by Dave Grohl
In October 2021, Dave Grohl’s book, ‘The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music’ was published to much acclaim. It climbed straight to the top of the prestigious New York Times Best Sellers list and has also topped the lists for e-books and audiobooks. I love reading Rock Music biographies and have collected well over one hundred of them, but rarely do you find an actual musician writing the book and sharing their personal stories like Dave Grohl, the lead singer of the world’s current greatest rock band. That is what makes this book unique. As a fan of his band, Foo Fighters, I couldn’t wait to read it, so I bought the audiobook first because Dave Grohl narrates it, besides playing a few songs as well! However, I now have the hard-cover book in my hands, and I must say, it was worth every cent!
I first heard of Dave Grohl when I took an interest in the early 1990s grunge band Nirvana. Dave Grohl was their drummer. Early in the book, he recalls getting his first drum set from his parents and then basing his style on the classic rock records that he was listening to, from bands like Led Zeppelin:
Having taught myself to play the drums by ear on dirty pillows in my bedroom, I’d never had anyone standing over me to tell me what was “right” or “wrong”, so my drumming was wild with inconsistency and feral habits. I WAS ANIMAL FROM THE MUPPETS, WITHOUT THE CHOPS.
I find it interesting how the punk rock phenomenon of the late 1970s really transformed Grohl’s take on music. It was his older cousin Tracey who really influenced the young Dave into punk, and I love how he writes about that first introduction to the whole punk lifestyle:
As I stood waiting for Tracey to bounce down in her usual shorts and polo shirt, I noticed an ominous sound from upstairs. The sound of chains clanging and leather creaking, boots hitting the floor with a thud in every step, like a Viking slowly approaching an intended victim. A home intruder? A Hells Angel? The Ghost of Christmas Past? My heart raced as the footsteps grew closer, now at the top of the staircase. Boom. Clink. Boom. Clink. Boom. Clink. And then she appeared…
TRACEY WAS NOW A PUNK ROCKER
With shiny Doc Marten boots, black bondage pants, an Anti-Pasti T-Shirt, and a shaved head, she was a terrifying yet glorious vision of rebellion.
Dave Grohl reveals that after seeing and listening to his cousin’s extensive collection of punk rock vinyl records in her bedroom his life changed forever, and that “everything I knew about music up until that point went right out of the window.”
From there, Grohl writes about attending punk rock concerts and starting his first band, Dain Bramage, while still at school. He also writes about getting his first big break when he auditioned successfully for a well-known punk rock band called Scream. When he was offered the position as their new drummer, it meant making a life-changing decision which
was catapult him into fame with Nirvana and then with his own band, Foo Fighters. As a teacher, I am always interested how famous musicians make the transition from school into being a professional musician in a band as I have known several students who have done exactly that. It is amazing how similar many of the stories are!
I WAS AT A CROSSROADS. High School was going nowhere for me, and my future was looking more and more like a life of manual labor and suburban monotony with each dismal report card. My heart was entirely devoted to music, my one and only passion, so my grades (and my attendance) had by now slipped to the point of no return. A bitter pill to swallow considering that my mother was a much-beloved teacher at our neighborhood high school, and I, her only son, was racing down a dead-end street with the school guidance counsellor at best, expulsion at worst…
Without going into all the details of how Dave Grohl became a true rock star, I found it fascinating when he revealed how hard it was to take that first step, to face his disappointed teacher mother and his angry Republican father and then the school principal. Yes, he quit school and headed off into the great unknown, adopting the typical lifestyle of a young rock band on the road, with all its excesses. But if you want to find out what really happened to Dave Grohl once he left school and how he became that rock star, I recommend that you read or listen to this book. Dave Grohl has some amazing stories to tell about life and music. It is a wild ride and worth reading if you can borrow or buy a copy!
Book Review by Miriam Fee
‘Everything I’ve Never Said’ by Samantha Wheeler
“Imagine you have an itch, but your hands
are too scrunched to scratch it.
You can have something to say, but you
Can’t talk, so no-one listens.
There’s nothing you can do.
You’re locked in.
Like me.
Ava.”
Just imagine – you can understand all the conversations going on around you, but are never able to join in. This is the daily experience of young Ava, the central character in this novel. Intelligent, caring and determined with a fair bit of sass thrown in, Ava longs to share her thoughts and feelings with those in her life.
Although she knows exactly what she’d like to say, Ava is unable. She would like to let others know when she is hungry, which colour she prefers to wear and how freeing it is to be in the swimming pool. The hardest part of her silence is that Ava cannot express to her family how much she loves them.
Ava has Rett syndrome. She is physically unable to speak and has very little control over her body, which can sometimes react and move in ways that both frustrate her and perplex others around her. It grieves her that her involuntary movements can cause a scene, which her parents then have to manage. Worse still, these ‘scenes’ embarrass her older sister Nic with whom she longs to form a closer bond. Fortunately, for the reader, the author provides access to Ava’s inner monologue. As she articulates ideas, opinions and feelings in her mind, Ava leaves the reader hoping that she can indeed find a way to express herself outwardly for the benefit of all those around her as well as herself.
Classified as junior fiction, this novel is appropriate for younger readers in language level and content. However, it is also a story for all ages owing to the powerful human-interest themes at its heart.
Living life with significant physical challenges is hard work for Ava, and as the novel progresses, she and her family experience a major setback. This makes life even tougher for all, but also sets some events and connections in motion that work towards a very satisfying conclusion. Throughout it all, Ava uses humour, warmth and determination in the way she looks out at the world and strives to make her voice heard.