Alternatives is the tagline feature for other forms of entertainment outside of discussing literature. These posts may encompass television, movies, games, and music with a randomized flavour of the moment approach to each post.
Genre: Coming of age, Drama, Family
Duration: 165 Minutes
Directed & Written By: Richard Linklater
Book Title: The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking Trilogy, #02)
Author: Patrick Ness
Number of pages: 519
Synopsis:
We were in the square, in the square where I’d run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her – But there weren’t no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men…
Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor’s new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode…
(re: Goodreads @ The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness)
– Ness is a wizard. You can’t prove me wrong.
– Character development of supporting cast is stellar. Also, a horse tries to replace Manchee–get out.
– Narrative is slower paced but the tension and suspense of all the unknowns keep the energy alive with some unexpected plot twists.
– Everything you thought you knew from the first novel may be discarded because doubt and question marks are thrown everywhere and at everything.
– The ambition in thematic discussion is elevated to regard a wider breadth of issues (i.e. war and terrorism, groupthink culture, ambiguity of morality, philosophical ideologies, hope and faith, racism, pressures of self-identity in a information-filled world).
I think I would have enjoyed this book if I sat down and read through it instead of sporadic reading while on commute. Alas, it was still good but I think it could have been better if the circumstance of the reading environment were different. That being said, I don’t think I was able to truly capture the essence of this novel in this review…but I tried anyway.
This is the second book to the Chaos Walking Trilogy, if you would like to read my review regarding the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, you can click here.
Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review from here onward.
Continue reading [Review] The Ask and the Answer – Patrick Ness
Book Title: Evidence of Things Not Seen (Standalone)
Author: Lindsey Lane
Number of pages: 224
Synopsis:
When high school junior Tommy Smythe goes missing, everyone has a theory about what happened to him. Tommy was adopted, so maybe he ran away to find his birth parents. He was an odd kid, often deeply involved in his own thoughts about particle physics, so maybe he just got distracted and wandered off. He was last seen at a pull-out off the highway, so maybe someone drove up and snatched him. Or maybe he slipped into a parallel universe. Tommy believes that everything is possible, and that until something can be proven false, it is possibly true. So as long as Tommy’s whereabouts are undetermined, he could literally be anywhere.
Told in a series of first-person narratives from people who knew Tommy and third-person chapters about people who find the things Tommy left behind—his red motorbike, his driving goggles, pages from his notebook—Particles explores themes of loneliness, connectedness, and the role we play in creating our own realities.
(re: Goodreads @ Evidence of Things Not Seen by Lindsey Lane)
– Open, interpretative narratives about the realities of life masked behind the mystery of Tommy’s disappearance. Some are coming-of-age stories with limited scope, others are charming tales of family, but they’re all uniquely independent lives with tangible difficulties
– Twenty very different narrators joined by the six-degrees of separation to Tommy Smythe; reads like a collection of short stories
– A quick, well-paced read despite a variety of darker societal issues that may not be explored in much depth (i.e. child and teenage sexuality, mental health disabilities, science versus religion, murder, physical and substance abuse)
I’m stumped as to how to go about saying anything about this novel. It’s different; twenty POVs different, and there’s a certain disjointed connectedness (wait, that doesn’t even make sense does it?) about this read that’s mind-bogglingly weird and interesting at the same time.
Also, I just reviewed the synopsis and I’m confused as to whether or not there’s supposed to be a name change or not (re: Particles, in the last paragraph).
Full disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of Evidence of Things Not Seen through Netgalley for an honest review. I extend thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) under Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing me the opportunity to review this book.
Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review from here onward.
Continue reading [Review] Evidence of Things Not Seen – Lindsey Lane
![[Alternatives] – Movies – Boyhood](https://anotherafterthought.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/boyhood_featimg_1038x576.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
thoughts and afterthoughts. 