Little Brother

Little Brother
author: Cory Doctorow
published by: Tor Teen
released: January 1st 2008
pages: 384
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars













Marcus aka “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, his injured best friend Darryl does not come out. The city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: "M1k3y" will take down the DHS himself.

“There's something really liberating about having some corner of your life that's yours, that no one gets to see except you. It's a little like nudity or taking a dump. Everyone gets naked every once in a while. Everyone has to squat on the toilet. There's nothing shameful, deviant or weird about either of them.” 

This book gets all the stars. To be honest, I didn't even plan on writing a review for this book, because it's already kind of old and I had it standing on my shelf for a while and didn't think it would be that good. But it was.

This book explained perfectly why the whole "if you don't have anything to hide, you have nothing to fear" is nothing but rubbish. It shows, why privacy is so important, especially with the internet around. I felt like this authors took all my opinions about privacy and surveillance and put them in book form.

Marcus and his friends are suspected to be a terrorist for no reason whatsoever by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and even after they are released the DHS is still keeping an eye on them. But Marcus is so infuriated by this incident that he decides to change something about it.
He is an awesome hacker and even though I didn't understand half of the technical explanations, I still want to start hacking now. So he starts a huge movement against the DHS all while being anonymous.
The people in "Little Brother", Marcus included of course, where all really cool. Almost everyone was a computer geek and it was so much fun to read about.

But even though hacking and just computers in general are a huge part of this book, it was't the only part. The parts where he is interrogated kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
And it was hilarious. So many parts of this book made me chuckle or made me really satisfied.
This might be a odd comparison but if you liked the chaos Fred and George caused in the Harry Potter books, I think you might really enjoy "Little Brother". Also this is the kind of book you read until its actually way too late but you keep reading regardless, even if your really tired or know that you need to wake up early tomorrow.

So if I didn't make it really clear already, I loved "Little Brother". I would recommend it to everyone but I guess if you don't enjoy lots of talk about computers and freedom, this might not be your kind of book. If you do, then read it as soon as possible!

Room

Room
author: Emma Donoghue
published by: Little, Brown and Company
released: September 13th 2010
pages: 321
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars













To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

"You actually lived in TV one time?"

Jack lives with his Ma in Room and he thinks, it's the only thing there is. He thinks there is only one bed, one plant, one rug, one room. For him, life is great and he is perfectly fine with living in room. So when his Ma explains to him that she didn't always live in room, that there is an outside not just in TV and that she want's to escape, he doesn't believe her right away.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire, there's no outside."

That was the most twisted thing in this book. He lived in only one room, was a prisoner there and yet, he doesn't want to leave room. In fact, he even wants to go back once he is outside. Obviously he is a five-year-old, so he doesn't understand lots of things going on around him and that somehow makes it even worse. Despite everything he goes through he is still so naive and innocent, he doesn't understand all the bad things that happened but he still sees and describes them so you still know whats going on and it's just really heart-breaking in some parts.

His Ma is what matters most to Jack, he can't stand not being near her. For him, she is perfect and knows everything best. She tries to make Jack's life in room as normal as possible and raises him as well as she possibly can. Even though Jack never really notices it, she's understandably exhausted, desperate to escape and almost going crazy. She goes through hell and yet she pretends that everything is fine to make Jack happy.

When Jack gets outside for the first time in his life he finds out that he doesn't know much about the world at all and even his Ma doesn't have all the answers. He discovers a for him whole new world and it's amazing how well the author describes the world from the eyes of a five-year-old.

For me, this book was beautiful and really sad at the same time. The innocence of Jack is what touched me most of all while reading this. To be honest I expected it to be more sad and suspenseful because lots of people say that this book broke their heart. Maybe it's because the last book I read made my cry like crazy but I feel like while this book did touch me and made me sad and happy and everything it didn't quite bring out my feelings like I expected it to (maybe that just makes me really heartless, I don't know). It did succeed to make me keep reading because at one point I just couldn't put it down.
I'm actually considering to changing my rating (4 out of 5 stars) for the better while writing this review because there wasn't really anything I didn't like. So yeah, I definitely recommend reading room.

Me Before You

Me Before You

author: Jojo Moyes

published by: penguin

released: January 5th 2012

pages: 481

my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

To be honest, I didn't even want to read this book at first. I don't really read contemporary that much and I thought this book was probably really overhyped. What finally made me read it was the trailer (I know I'm horrible). 

This is one of those books where you actually laugh and cry. I don't usually cry (or show to much emotion at all) while reading books, but this book made me actually sob at one point. 

Clarke is perfectly happy with her job and small little life and doesn't plan on doing something different. But then she loses her job and has to take what's available. So she ends up taking care and helping Will Traynor, who is a quadriplegic and doesn't see anything good in the world anymore. At first they basically hate each other but that soon changes. 

I don't know this book managed to be heart wrenchingly sad but also really really funny but it did. Clarke is a very unique character to say the least. When you just look at the things she does and want to do she seems a little boring when actually she's quite the opposite. She loves to dress colorful and fun and likes talking to people. Will is pretty much the opposite when they first meet. He is sarcastic and witty but also depressed and tired of living. 

Throughout the book they both undergo huge character development and even though the characters in the end seem totally different from how they seemed in the beginning of the book, I didn't even notice it until a while after I finished. 

Nothing in this book is rushed but it never gets boring. The way their characters develop and they come closer seems very natural and I always felt with Clarke. 

I also managed to read this in a span of three days in which I was really busy and didn't expect to read much. 

Basically this book affected me in a way I didn't expect at all and really broke my heart. So yeah, maybe this book is getting hyped a lot but I completely understand it now. 5 out of 5 stars. Oh and also a fair few of the lines in the book were adopted literally into the trailer, which made me extremely happy. I'm definitely going to see the movie as soon as it comes out.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer
author: Katie Alender
published by: Scholastic
released: September 24th 2013
pages: 296
my rating: 3 out of 5 stars













Colette Iselin is excited to go to Paris on a class trip. She’ll get to soak up the beauty and culture, and maybe even learn something about her family’s French roots.

But a series of gruesome murders are taking place across the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours museums and palaces, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks suspiciously like Marie Antoinette.

Colette knows her popular, status-obsessed friends won’t believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they uncover a shocking secret involving a dark, hidden history. When Colette realizes she herself may hold the key to the mystery, her own life is suddenly in danger...

When I first finished reading this book I immediately gave it 5 stars. But for some reason I put off writing a review for it and since then my opinion of this book has changed.
I think the summary is a little misleading, because it makes it seem as it's this big, creepy mystery when really it isn't.

Colette tries really hard to fit in with her "perfect" and rich friend, one of whom is a typical mean girl, who bosses everyone around and gets everything she wants. Colette is aware that her friends don't really care about her the way real friends should but is to obsessed with trying to be perfect to change anything about it. When they visit France she starts to realize that maybe they aren't the best people to be around and slowly understands that popularity isn't everything. It was frustrating sometimes how long it took her to realize that, but still enjoyable to read about. She also stars to fall for a French boy, which again was a bit clishee but nice to read about.
In all this drama the actual mystery felt secondary and only started to get serious in the last part of the book.

Sure there are murders happening but they don't really affect the plot for a majority of the book and every time she sees "Marie Antoniette" she gets freaked out for a bit but then tries to dismiss everything. Some chapters are written from the murder victims point of view which I thought was great but it also took away from the mystery part, since I (the reader) knew lots of things before Colette did. The actual action only takes place in the last few chapters but those last chapters were definitely the best. What disappointed my a little was that it wasn't really scary or creepy at all. I know the cover and title might already give it away a little but I already read "Bad Girls don't Die" by Katie Alender and that was way more creepy so I guess I expected this to be more like that too.

I think if you don't take it to seriously this is a really good and entertaining book and it was exactly what I needed when I picked it up. I am planning to pick up more of Katie Alenders books in the future, although I do hope they will be a little more creepy.

Bob - No Ordinary Cat

Bob - No Ordinary Cat
author: James Bowen
published by: Hodder & Stoughton
released: February 1st 2013
pages: 304
my rating: 3 out of 5 stars













'We are all given second chances every day of our lives, but we don't usually take them. Then I met Bob.'

James Bowen was a homeless musician, busking on the streets of London to survive. But the moment he met an injured stray cat with ginger fur and big green eyes, his life began to change. Together James and Bob the cat faced the world - and won.

This book was something I had to read for my english class and I have to admit, when I first heard of it I thought it was going to be really boring. But to be honest it really surprised me. The book title and cover makes it seem like it's just about a cat and while it's true that a majority of this book focuses on the cat Bob it wasn't as bad as I had thought.
It's actually a real story from James perspective about how Bob changed his life and helped him get back on track again. This (James past and his way to leave it behind) was the aspect of the book that I really enjoyed. James used to be homeless and has struggles with lots of different problems in his past. He is making his money by busking in London. But finding and caring for Bob helps him to slowly get better and leave his old life behind.
Even though I did think that it's a little cheesy to say a cat changed his life, in this case it's the truth. Personally I think that it shows how everyone can change something if he/she finds the motivation to do so and in this case the motivation for James to change his life once and for all was Bob.

So yeah, I guess I kind of liked it after all. I always go into books I have to read for school expecting the worst (believe me, I had to read some really bad books for school) and it turns out I actually enjoyed this one.