Final Blog Post

Final Blog Post

During the second trimester of my Sophomore William Mason High School career, I have read a few books. It started with Divergent, and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Then I continued with the second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Then I finished Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. After that I read Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman.

Now that I have finished reading the books, I noticed some connections between the genres and story lines that say something about who I am as a reader. Divergent, Insurgent, Catching Fire, and Enders Game are all dystopian novels. These novels also contain bits of science fiction throughout the texts. Beautiful Lies is a mystery but one could argue that Divergent is a mystery too. Beautiful Lies also contains paranormal aspects that Enders Game creates traces of. Every book classifies as a fantasy too, in some format.

Out of diagnosing all of my books, I came to the conclusion that I enjoy reading Science Fiction, Dystopian, Fantasy, Mystery and Paranormal genres. I also learned from this trimester that I’m not alone in my tastes. Right now Dystopian and Science Fiction are among the top selling genres. There recently was a movie based off the book Hunger Games that is increasing interest in the dystopian genre and the books. And coming out soon is the movie Divergent, to add even more hype to the growing dystopian genre. Later this year we will be getting the second part of The Hobbit, which creates interest in the Fantasy series. TV shows are also influencing what genre one tends to read. Shows like The Walking Dead, or Doctor Who, point towards the Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, and Dystopian genres.

I have also learned that I don’t like structure in a class room, which is why I love my Best Sellers class. It has a basic structure that has been adapted to each week and book we read. On Mondays we hold a class activity pertaining to the topic of the week. Tuesday’s are spent reading. Wednesday’s spent creating this blog. Thursday’s are for another activity. Friday’s are laid back and a mixture of both reading and an activity. For someone it doesn’t seem like any structure, but the whole day, is go go go and you come to this class and it’s easy. Most of the class is spent getting to know everyone else in the class, create relationships, and then actually learn. I can function well in this stress free environment. The only thing that I need to worry about is reading, creating blogs on time, and completing final projects.

Best Sellers is a relaxing way to end the day, and it is fun. Whether we’re rap battling, reading an article, creating a quick presentation or just chatting and reading Best Sellers is the best way to end the day. Thank you Ms. Gentene.

Beautiful Lies Final Review

Beautiful Lies

Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman, is a paranormal mystery novel, depicting a snippet of a teen named Alice. When sneaking to go to the November fest fair, her twin sister Rachel goes missing. Alice and Rachel are not normal twins, they share a psychological bond, down to the last blood cell. If one gets injured so does the other.  Alice sometimes also get ‘feelings’, for lack of a better word, that are warnings that she uses to help her twin avoid getting hurt. Alice had one of those feelings the night at the fair.  It’s because of this nervousness that Rachel and Alice switched for the night. Switching is where Alice acts like Rachel and vice versa. When Rachel is declared gone, Alice heads home to inform her Aunt and Uncle, unfortunately they think that ‘Alice’ is gone. Alice has run away before, so her Aunt and Uncle are hesitant to call the police. Later that night Alice’s Aunt noticed blood on her wall as Alice sank into an emotional break down. Alice knows that this blood was not from an injury she caused, rather something that happened to Rachel. It’s then that Alice starts her quest to find Rachel in her own special way.

This novel holds an interesting voice. The author Jessica, tends to incorporate many flash backs. Each flash back pertains to a question, or provides information about Alice and her life before Rachel was taken. Jessica also successfully writes in a mental disorder into Alice though the book doesn’t come right out and tell you what it is. One can conclude that Alice has schizophrenia, a mental illness passed down through generations. Alice’s grandmother and mother are also believed to have this disorder. When Alice was young she asked her mom what was wrong with her slightly crazy grandmother. Her mom replied, “Sometimes people’s bodies get sick,” my mom would say, “and sometimes our minds get sick.” (Warman 202). Schizophrenia starts to show its symptoms anywhere from ages 16-30. Alice is 18 in the book, and shows signs of delusions (a symptom) and hallucinations (another symptom) throughout the book. Studies show that schizophrenia can get worse when one doesn’t constantly take their prescribed medicine, or show signs of substance abuse. Alice’s grandmother does both, causing her to have delusions of Caption her dog still being alive, her sentences don’t make sense, and she was constantly having her children taken away when she was raising them due to her being ‘unfit’. Alice’s mother was harder to diagnose because she died in a car crash when Alice and Rachel were seven.  Her only flashbacks were written about her and the twins’ dad. Due to a quotation comparing the three of them, Alice, her mom, and her grandmother, one might conclude that this disease was passed on down from one to the next. Rachel was talking to Alice, and comparing her with her family members when talking about their sensitivity “You’re like Mom,” She continued. “You’re like Grandma too. It runs in the family but not with me.” One can create a reference to the illness and proof of it passing through the generations.

One of Jessica’s weakness was when she incorporated clichés. A mysterious ‘boyfriend’, crazy relatives, brushes with drugs, teenage parties, or dead parents. Just name it, and it has probably been used at some point in the story. This can create frustration as a reader, one might wonder how all these clichés fit together. In reality, Jessica writes the story in such a way that the plot falls in to place as puzzle pieces seem so random, but fit together at the end to create a picture. The mysterious ‘boyfriend’ connects to the illness which connects to the parents which connects to the insane grandma. They all fit in some insane psychotic way. The only thing that the reader has to worry about is getting past the clichés because the rest of the Young Adult novel gets so good that you almost have to stop life to figure out the mystery.

Over all, this book generated a four out of five stars, five being the absolute best. It was due to the seemingly unconnected clichés that Beautiful Lies earned this less than perfect rating. The plot generated enough interest, and the epilogue will get one on the edge of their seats, reading in anticipation. Beautiful Lies created its own twist and signature on the mystery genre, through the seemingly paranormal aspects. This book would be recommended to any paranormal reader, or mystery reader, or survival story lovers. All in all, Jessica Warman did her job and created an easy read, interesting story, and used phenomenally researched and lovable characters who were a thrill to learn along with. 

Resources: 

SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml?utm_source=publish2&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=www.kpbs.org#part1 

BOOK QUOTES

Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman

WORD CHOICE

dictonary.com

VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ24cjwEy0k

PICTURES

google.com/images 

Du Du Dun!!!!!

What Classifys a Mystery?  

 

The phrases like “Who dun it?” or “Du Du Dun!” or even “The murderer is here in this room”, are just a few of common thoughts associated with Mystery.

Mystery, it’s everywhere. Every time you ask a question, watch a show, movie, or read a book, I’d bet a million dollars that there was a mystery buried deep inside. A mystery in short, is anything that has made you ponder. “How many stars are there in the sky?” “Who killed that man?” “And the winner is…” “Who are you?” These are all mysteries. There is a question in everything, the want or need to explore the unknown. Every day we solve these mysteries, and when we do we just find more secrets to uncover. To be inquisitive is in human nature, and I guess that’s why so many authors write about it.

 

Jessica Warman does just that. In her book Beautiful Lies, there are tons of mysteries throughout the book, even if I’m only half way finished. [See my last blog for basic book premise]. So far I have tons and tons of questions. First of all is of course, where is Rachel? Was she kidnapped, just lost, or running away? Why is her Aunt and Uncle seemingly unworried about the kidnapped twin? Just who is Robin, and why is his past so mysterious? Why did someone leave stolen money in a duffle in the cellar? Why is Officer Martin, different from all other police officers? What gossip did Rachel and her friend’s trade about Alice? I NEED to know this, solve the mystery, gain closure. These questions are just a few of the things you would want to know if you read this book. Every character holds a story, and it’s our job as readers to discover it.

Of course this drive doesn’t start over night. When I was younger, I read a LOT. My mother and father introduced me to the mystery genre and I was hooked. It started innocently enough listing to a book on tape, Hank the Cowdog, by John R. Erickson to and from vacations. Then I read The Boxcar Children, by Gertrude Chandler Warner. Then I graduated yet again to Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keen, and then The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon.  Then my grandpa gave me Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham. These are strictly Mystery Genre, but there are soooooo many books that can fall under this title, but are often left in the dust or are put in a subgenre.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling fits this. In the first Harry Potter, he has the mystery of who broke into the vault at Gringotts. This then leads him on a journey of who’s steeling the philosopher’s stone. In Harry’s second year, he’s on the lookout for who’s opening the Chamber of Secrets. Harry’s third year he’s busy solving why Sirius Black want to kill him. During The Goblet of Fire, Harry need to find out who entered his name in the competition. For Harry’s fifth year, he figures out what his dreams were meaning, and why the ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. In the Half Blood Prince, the golden trio is on the path to finding out who the half-blood prince is, and what Tom’s past is. During the Deathly Hollows, we need to find all of Tom’s horcruxes. Though Harry Potter is categorized by Fantasy, he clearly faces a mystery in every book, and tons of books can fit this bill. Genres like this, just might make you wonder what else can fit, and that my friends, is a mystery.

 Sources: Google, Dictionary.com, Wikipedia.com.

Beautiful Lies

Beautiful Lies

Beautiful Lies is a Paranormal Mystery book. It follows the story of a pair of twins. Alice and Rachel, are a pair of twins alike in every physical way. But it goes just beyond the normal look alike. When one twin get hurt, so does the other. So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other instantly knows. Bruises and cuts start to show on herself, and as the search to find the beaten twin begins, the one left behind must use their unique bond to find her. The deeper that she goes into this investigation, the less that she knows about her twin.

I selected this book because, it showed it held a fantastical element to it. Myself being one for the fantasy genre, I knew it would make the mystery book better and more enjoyable to read. The cover also drew me in. The way the girls blend until they are almost one was very intriguing. When I read the synopsis, I knew this would be my next read. I was gonna’ pick up a John Grisham book, and read a lawyer mystery. Which in itself would be good and interesting, but it held, nothing fantastical, but would have held sweet language. You know, being such an advance book, not written for teens, but for adults. Instead I picked up this book labeled mystery so there was no confusion, the Grisham might have caused some, and gave it a look, loved the intrigue of it and picked it up.

 

So far I’m about twenty pages into the book, so basically chapter one. Right now we are in that getting to know the characters part. Alice, and Rachel are with their friends Nicholas, Holly, and Kimber, at the fair. Rachel doesn’t want to ride the Ferris wheel, and was going to be brave for her sister and ride it with her. At the last moment Alice, the twin, gets off the ride and Holly rides with her. When Rachel gets to the top of the ride, she notices something off. She and her sister had always had this close connection but suddenly Rachel can’t feel Alice any more. That’s where I left off, Rachel lost Alice, and can’t feel anything. What happened to her, stick with me to find out.