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Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Book Thoughts: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

Tuesday, July 03, 2012 0 Comments

 "It's not about the destination. It's getting there that's the good part."

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 Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

 
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I have high expectations for this book since I’ve been seeing it in a lot of book blogs' weekly lists. And guess what? It did not disappoint. 

I love, love, love this book.

What I Love…

1.  Amy & Roger. They are just lovable characters who have a baggage of their own.
2. The budding romance. I was always looking out for when it will finally happen. Then, boom! 
    It took a slow speed and that made it even more beautiful.
3. The unforgettable/epic detour.  The places they visited, the foods they ate, the games
    they played. 
4. The emotional journey. It is a feel-good road trip but it isn’t just about that. It’s also about 
    love, grief, guilt, family, friendship, and moving on. 
5. The Travel Scrapbook: photos, receipts, maps, sketches. They added a whole lot to the story. It made it more real and made me, the reader, more engaged. This made you feel like you’re in on the trip.  (See below.)
6. Playlists. As a music lover, this is a major plus. It was a good way to discover songs and artists I haven't heard before. (I’m currently downloading the songs from the playlists.)  
7. The secondary characters. They met a whole lot of characters and they’re just great. Even though some interactions are just short, I loved them.  
8. It ended with this... 
       Which says something more about the story. And is just great!


I didn’t know how much I enjoyed it until I turned to the last page. I was sad the road trip is already over. All throughout the book, I felt like I was with them on the trip. I totally connected with Amy as the voice of the book. I just liked how Ms. Matson put this together with the photos, notes, quotes, and all and the flashbacks. I wanted to go on a road trip after finishing it. Something like that, no plans, never knowing where you’ll be next, just whatever comes up. If I live in America, I would want to retrace Amy & Roger’s course. 

This is a really great novel. I’m a fan.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Anna and the French Kiss: book trailer + book review

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 0 Comments

Book Trailer:

After making my very first book trailer through Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty, I was inspired to do another.  Here's my attempt for Stephanie Perkin's Anna and the French Kiss.


*Disclaimer: 
Anna is supposed to be a bit taller than St. Clair and St. Clair's supposed to have dark brown hair.

________________

"So what do I wish for? Something I'm not sure I want? Someone I'm not sure I need? Or someone I know I can't have?..."

Review: 

 

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited? -goodreads summary




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Anna and the French Kiss clearly capture that feeling of how two people become close friends and feel really comfortable around each other, then at one moment, there's suddenly that sense of awkwardness because their feelings started to change.

The story felt so real that I could just imagine it happening. It's not the flawed girl falls in love with the perfect guy thing. It's a not-so-perfect girl falling in love with a not-so-perfect guy as well. It's natural, relatable. There's a gradual development in their relationship. Plus, the characters are flawed and great at the same time. Not just Anna and Etienne but also their friends.  I loved their friendship. (Can I be a part of their group? =))

I also love Anna's voice. The way she tells the story is just... I like it.

Add to that, it takes you on a tour through Paris. You get the feeling that you're with Anna, visiting Paris for the first time. The theaters, Notre Dame, Point Zero, etc. (I want to go visit and make a wish at Point Zero.)

Plus, plus, plus... ETIENNE! St. Clair is not the perfect YA guy you might read but... Even though he is shorter than Anna, he's afraid of heights and he bites his nails. Etienne St. Clair is an ultimate crushworthy.

I absolutely-freakingly love this novel. It makes me giddy. I love Anna. I love Etienne. I love all the characters. I love every moment of it. 5 stars no doubt. 

The story is really charming. Go read it. I've read the book three times already, and I for sure will read it again. 

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Since the official cover is not so good for me, here are some great fan-made covers for the book: