Module 13

Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A book I read this week was SISTER WIFE by Shelley Hrdlitschka. This book was a quick read and at parts was hard to get through. I found that through one of the characters eyes Celeste that the religion of the commune that they live in is portrayed very negatively. She is having impure thoughts about a boy her age but in the community she lives in the girls at age 15 are given to a man much older than they are and become a sister wife. But Celeste doesn't want to have anything to do with that. She views the religion and the followings of the community very negatively and doesn't want to become a sister wife. I found this book to be really interesting. I could never live in a community where I had to share my husband or I didn't get to chose to marry for love. I know that arranged marriages do workout in some cultures but I didn't grow up that way I don't think I could live that way. I really liked the ending of this book and some of the things that happened along the way were unexpected but good.



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The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



During class this week we are talking about religions and different conflicts that parents and teens have when it comes to religions. Another book I read was THE PATRON SAINT OF BUTTERFLIES by Cecilia Galante. This was a very interesting but good book. I found it hard to put down because I wanted to know what was going to happen. From the very beginning I thought that Emmanuel was to good to be true and I knew something else was going to be happening. Two girls who are more like sisters live in a commune where one man Emmanuel is supposed to be the leader or the one God speaks through. But things are going on behind closed doors that no one knows about. Agnes wants nothing more than to be a saint and listens to everything Emmanuel says but Honey is different and doesn't feel that she fits there and acts out against Emmanuel and suffers the consequences. Agnes's grandmother comes to visit and finds out what is going on and takes the girls away. Agnes is in conflict with her grandmother the whole time. They argue about religions and how grandma knows that going back there is a bad idea. Nana Pete knows that Agnes can find her own religion outside of the walls of the commune and encourages her too. This book in some ways was very heart wrenching but overall I really liked it. I don't want to give it away but in the end things are settled as they need to be and Agnes and Nana Pete make peace with their conflict.



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Module 12

Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read DARK MIRROR by M.J. Putney. I have never been a huge fan of fantasy but I loved this book. This book definitely fits the definitions of fantasy. It has magic, the characters are true to themselves once they reveal and found out that they have magic, and the motivation to learn more about their magic makes sense in the context. I found myself flying through this book, I just had to know what happens next. It is set in 1803 where anyone who is in high society can not let their magic leak or will be sent to Lackland Abbey to learn to control and contain their magic. Tory recuses her nephew after she learns she can fly and is sent to the Abbey. At first she wants nothing more than to learn to control her magic and go home but soon she joins a group of students who embrace their magic. They are embracing their magic in order to help fight the French if they are ever invaded. In the middle of all of this Tory finds Merlin's mirror which can transport her back and forth in time. I won't give anymore away but Tory learns that she loves her magic because magic can help save people and change things. This is only the first book in this series and I really want to read the next. The fantasy that exists in this novel is the magic and magical qualities and the ability to travel through time.



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Geek Fantasy Novel by E. Archer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This novel was hard to get through. It was funny and fun but I found it kind of out there also. It definitely falls under the category of modern fantasy because it includes fairy tale characters, has magic, and has an alternative universe. The book begins in modern times in New Jersey with a nerdy main character Ralph. His parents forbid him to wish for anything, but he ends up leading his long lost cousins on their wishing quest (which the cousins’ parents have forbidden them from wishing, also). It was a little slow at first, and I didn’t think I was going to like it. At times, the scenes seemed disjointed and irrelevant to the plot, but eventually, it got better as the cousins were swept into the alternate world of their wishes which included faeries and bunny rabbits. It was quite bizarre in places. I found that I liked parts of it but didn't like all of it. Kinda proves why I am not a big fan of fantasy.



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Module 11

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This week we had to think about what dystopian or post-acopalyptic books make us think about.These books really make you think what if? I also in some of them think how did the author come up with this, because some of it seems way out there. I read DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver and it was good and suspenseful but also kind of out there. I loved Lauren Oliver's other book but this one not so much. The society has found a cure for the "disease" love and has a surgery to fix it. Well somethings happen during the interview for the main character to see if she is ready to have the surgery and there is a delay. I don't want to give away the ending it just didn't end like I thought or wanted it to.

I thought to myself who thinks of love as a disease? I understand where they are coming from in the novel because they talk about how love can lead to people going crazy and killing themselves or others but there is no way to really stop love. Without love what are we really fighting for? We have love for many different things and it normally is something we fight to keep or have. Romeo and Juliet are mentioned a lot in this novel and it all makes sense why in the end. This novel was just a little over the top for me.



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Matched by Ally Condie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I think the reason these dystopian books are so popular is because it gives us a look into a world that might happen. I think it can be a means of exploring a new world. I agree with the quote and I do think when we read books like these that we think oh my gosh could this really happen.
I read MATCHED by Ally Condie this week and loved it. The second book in the trilogy comes out today and I can't wait to read it! It is a story about a society where they don't have any say in anything. Their food is chosen for them, their clothes, their job, and they are matched with their future mate. Cassia is part of an experiment that she doesn't know about and she has always followed all the rules until now. She becomes a rebel and starts to think for herself and wonder why the society gets to make all the decisions for them.
I loved this novel. I know that if I was in a society like this I would be like Cassia and rebel and wondering why they get to make all the decisions and why we can't make them for ourselves. I think that maybe why these books are appealing to teens also. I don't think we will ever have to deal with societies like this but it is interesting to think "what if?".



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