Even though summer is over, it’s not too late to find a good beach book and read it. TTYL is one such book, comfortably airheaded and delightfully sincere, that provides everything a good beach book is.
Myracle writes in the manner of instant messaging, which provides her characters with frank personalities and attitudes. One thing I love about this book (series, actually. TTYL, TTFN, and L8R, G8R) is how each character is individual and real in herself. Angela (SnowAngel) is spunky, boy-crazy, and sparkly. Maddie (madmaddie) is tough, independent, and rebellious. Zoe (zoegirl) is quiet, introverted, and ambitious. These three “Winsome Threesome” are diverse enough to appeal to any range of readers.
Throughout the book, each girl gets herself into a series of scrapes. Battling boys, teachers, and the “Queen Bee,” Angela, Maddie and Zoe learn that friendship is tough, but being friendless is tougher. This sort of story makes me want to curl up with a bowl of ice cream and tell all my friends how much I love them. Be warned: Boys may not appreciate this series as much as girls will.
For added fun, read it out loud with two of your bestest buds.
In response to the many, many, many, many comments I have received about my harsh review of Twilight, I decided to read and review The Host by the same author. I expected, from the first few pages, to be bored with melodramatic actions and clingy heroines.
I was almost right. The melodramatics are very present in The Host, but the characters are real enough to distract me from that. I read over 200 pages in an hour and a half, and came up for air breathless. I was shocked to find that, as hard as I pretended that I didn’t, I was enjoying the book.
It is long. It is very long. 619 pages, a full 2.5 days to read, and really no good place to put it down to pick up in the morning. Even the boring parts (and there are long stages of boring parts) have an undercurrent of electricity running through them, just enough to make me keep turning the pages.
I finished the book this morning, after staying up past 1 for the last 2 nights to read. Needless to say, I am very tired. However, I am not too tired to point out the book’s flaws. Meyer has grown as a writer since penning Twilight, but she is still overly dramatic and emotional. In this book, that works, because when a book is over 600 pages long, a little excitement is necessary to keep the reader interested.
The pretense is interesting enough, and her character development is superb. I’m not turning into a Stephenie Meyer über fan, but I am willing to suspend my doubts about her for the time being.
The Host was good.
