The Princess Diaries Book Club #2: Princess in the Spotlight

10:03 Cilla 0 Comments

• The first thing I take issue with is the continuity problem with Mia's claim that she's been in love with Michael for ages. Umm, did we not just spend all of the first book with her all starry-eyed at Josh Richter? Also, didn't she suspect that Michael had a crush on her in the last chapter? She spent all of this book obsessing about whether Michael is her secret admirer, and never brought up the fact that he wrote a song about a tall girl who didn't realise someone liked her. Did I forget something here??
• I adored the plotline about Mia's mum and Mr. Gianini's wedding. I look forward to seeing Mia deal with yet another change in the family dynamic, and more of Mr. Gianini. 
• We got to see a different side of Mia's father here, which I loved. Apparently, he's not just a womanising prince and a detached father. Who knew?
• "And everyone knows that lately being an Asian is pretty cool." My copy is the Indonesian translation, so I don't know if this is the original line in English. In any case, this line bothered me. Did Mia mean it wasn't cool before? Why?
• It seemed slightly ignorant to me that Mia kept insisting to Boris that it's 'un-American' to tuck sweaters into trousers. Maybe it was just his personal style and nothing to do with his not being American?
• I mentioned in my previous re-read that Princess Diaries has a good range of diverse characters, and that's awesome. It made me aware of the fact that I did not notice that diversity when I was eleven; in my mind, they were all white, even Tina Hakim Baba and Ling Su. It's embarrassing to think about, but I also hope it means I've grown up since then. I do hope we get to see more of them though. Also, I'm going to keep an eye out for POC in the popular kids' group, because so far all of them seems to be part of Mia's 'freaks and geeks' group. Though I could simply have missed something.

The Princess Diaries Book Club #1: The Princess Diaries

13:58 Cilla 0 Comments

The Princess Diaries (#1) 

"Is everything all right? Is everything all right? Hmm, hold on a minute, let me see . . . my mom is going out with my Algebra teacher, a subject I’m flunking, by the way; my best friend hates me; I’m fourteen years old and I’ve never been asked out; I don’t have any breasts; and oh, I just found out I’m the princess of Genovia."


Reading this when I'm twenty four is so different than when I was eleven. I still really enjoy the book, but I also have more opinions about it. I don't really feel like writing a full review for a re-read, so you're getting my thoughts in bullet points for this one! 

Beware: spoilers ahead!

• I know a lot more about American and world culture now, and so I understand what Lilly was talking about with her protest of a deli's special discount for Asian students. I'm not certain she's right - that such preferential treatment could lead to a Holocaust-like situation - but I get her line of thinking. 
• Speaking of Lily, I also know more vocabulary now! Lily said Michael was controlled by his libido in defending Mia, so does that mean she's suspected that her brother had a crush on her best friend??
• Now I understand better why I loved Mia Thermopolis so much. That slightly obsessive nature and overactive imagination is something I'm familiar with. Also, her struggles with Algebra. Plus, could she BE any more oblivious when Michael was bringing up her plans for Saturday?
• I forgot how much I adore Tina Hakim Baba. I love how she loves romance novels and mentions that she doesn't use them as guidance in real life because she knows they're not realistic. Yesss, thank you!
• It turns out Princess Diaries was a diverse YA before there was a movement about it. I never thought about it before, but now that I'm aware of the concept of diversity, I noticed how many characters there were who isn't white. Most of them are just a name in the background, but they're still there.
• It's very odd now to read Grandmere being, well, not much like Julie Andrews at all. At the same time, the fact that she's so un-grandmotherly and pretty terrible at times is the thing that makes her a unique character.

All in all, this reread reminds me why I loved Princess Diaries to begin with: candid narration and vibrant characters.

Review: The Hidden (Animorphs #39)

12:51 Cilla 0 Comments

Title: The Hidden
Author: K.A. Applegate
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Synopsis:
The pint-sized Helmacrons left some morph-tracking technology behind, and the Yeerks have found it. As if avoiding a full-scale Animorphs hunt isn't enough, Cassie and the others must keep the morphing cube moving--so it doesn't land in the wrong hands.

Review: ⋆⋆

This is another lower-quality Animorphs installment, unfortunately. Although I like the continuation with the Helmacrons' technology and the morphing, as it makes this book feels more like a part of the bigger story arch, I hated the resolution. It feels too much like a cop-out. Plus I didn't buy the mechanics of how the animals could acquire both the morphing technology and people's DNA. 

Generally a Cassie book tends to be reflective and thoughtful, given that is the kind of person she is, but this one is really lacking in that department. There is a decent, very Animorphs-like philosophical question behind the plot - if an animal has human DNA, does that make it human? - but the execution was weak for me. I was so distracted by the freakiness of what was going on to feel any emotion apart from repulsion to be honest. I mean, this series has had some pretty bizarre, freaky creatures (Taxxons, anyone) and quite disturbing scenes, but the two creatures this book comes up with absolutely take the cake. If I had read this in primary school, I probably would have had nightmares. 

Animorphs has always been really weird, as any science fiction can be, but it usually managed to have enough realism to be believable. I questioned too much of the science behind this particular installment to enjoy it.

Review: The Arrival (Animorphs #38)

11:20 Cilla 0 Comments

Title: The Arrival
Author: K.A. Applegate
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Synopsis: Ax's people have arrived on Earth, and they want Ax back on board with them. Ax is torn. Should he join his fellow Andalites? Can he desert the Animorphs?

Review: ⋆⋆⋆⋆

'Rachel: "Let's rock and roll."
Ax: Rock and roll is a type of human music. Its relevance to the battle before us was a mystery to me.'

I was both excited and wary when I saw that this was an Ax installment. Excited because I love seeing things from Ax's point of view since his insights to and experiences with human cultures and creations are hilarious and sometimes on-point. Wary because, given the quality of the last couple of books, there was a chance I would be disappointed.

Thankfully, this is a better book than its predecessor. Ax once again has to decide where his loyalty lies - to the Animorphs or to Andalites? The discussion about morality was wrought with real emotions that were true to each character. Their frustration and hopelessness shone through, and I was reminded again that they were only teenagers. It's funny - I used to read Animorphs when I was about the same age as the characters, and I didn't think it impossible for a bunch of teenagers to save the world. Now that I'm older, I don't know how they have held it together and survived for this long. You get the feeling from this book that The Animorphs are beginning to think the same thing.

We meet more Andalites in this book, and once again they're not quite living up to their reputation of integrity and nobility. I like the romance; it gave Ax some character development, I could understand why it developed so quickly, and I like how it unfolded. The best thing about this book, however, is that the main plot is moving forward. Incrementally, at the moment, but it is moving forward. I really hope that this trend will continue, because all the tangents are growing rather annoying.

'It is a moral compromise. We have all learned to make them.'

Flashback Friday: The Princess Diaries

08:05 Cilla 2 Comments

Picture from megcabot.com

All she ever wanted was for her best friend's brother to notice she was alive-and to pass freshman Algebra. But now that her dad's told her she's heir to the throne of the country of Genovia (and that her horrible Grandmére is going to be giving her princess lessons every day after school) Mia Thermopolis has enough problems to fill a lifetime of diaries....

I was in love with Mia long before Anne Hathaway brought her to life. Mia was awkward, unsure of her future, struggled with Algebra, and wrote in her diary constantly; even though I was younger than she was when I read The Princess Diaries, she was the first character in whom I could see myself. My first cases of secondhand embarrassment were from her, and those moments were some of the earliest moments I could remember feeling so strongly for a character.

That relatability mixed with the fantasy - she was a princess, after all - was key to my attachment to the books. Thinking back to it now, I was eleven when I started reading the series - a bit too young to truly understand some of the words and references Lily used (I remember being really confused when she used 'libido' in a sentence, or her talk about genocide at one point). Nevertheless, that never stopped me from rooting for Mia all the way through.

I've started a re-read of the series to refresh my memory before I take on Royal Wedding. I hope I'll still love it as much this time around!

Review: The Storyteller

08:17 Cilla 2 Comments

Title: The Storyteller
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Source: Kinokuniya, Singapore/my aunt's bookshelf
Synopsis: 

For seventy years, Josef Weber has been hiding in plain sight. He is a pillar of his local community. He is also a murderer.

When Josef decides to confess, it is to Sage Singer, a young woman who trusts him as her friend. What she hears shatters everything she thought she knew and believed. As Sage uncovers the truth from the darkest horrors of war, she must follow a twisting trail between terror and mercy, betrayal and forgiveness, love -- and revenge.

Review: ⋆⋆⋆⋆

"Power isn't about doing something terrible to someone who's weaker than you, Reiner. It's having the strength to do something terrible, and choosing not to."

This was a true-to-form Picoult novel. It was emotionally exhausting to read, but I couldn't put it down even when I started tearing up. It's probably impossible to not feel at least horrified given the first person accounts of the Holocaust, and Picoult didn't hold back the punches when it came to the brutality. If you start to wonder how anyone - so many people, in fact - could dehumanise someone else without flinching, you have Josef's side of the story to illustrate what's been called the banality of evil. It doesn't necessarily take a monster to keep the wheels of a killing machine going, just men convinced they were doing the right thing. I liked that we get the shades of grey too; that not all Jews were good and not all Germans were terrible.

It is to Picoult's credit that there was still some light moments in a book about such atrocities. Although each of the main characters - Sage, Josef, and Sage's grandmother - were understandably heavy with their own tragedies, the minor characters populating the present provided some moments of humour. They were a relief to be around. I have mixed feelings about Josef, as you would with a guy who seemed to be a pillar of the community but turned out to have been a Nazi, I suppose. Sage's grandmother is admirable in her strengths, I adore Leo, and though I found Sage too deep in her pity party at first, I grew to sympathise with her. I'm uncertain about the romantic aspect of the book though. At one point there was a comment about Sage's tan legs and I had to wonder where a baker who worked all night and slept all day had the time to get tanned.

To me, there were two storytellers in this book and three stories. I loved the way each of them were wrapped up (or not), and how I'm left with so many questions. Which one is more important: justice or mercy? How can you decide that someone deserves forgiveness? How is it that genocide is still happening around the world?

All in all, The Storyteller has made me think and feel a lot of different things, and for that, this is among my favourites of Picoult's novels.