Spirit (My Work)

Something's got my spirit on lockdown

Do I set the demon free

Or trap it in and continue to scream

No one seems to hear me anyway

Is it even worth the stay

And my soul's bleeding a black hue

Like I'm getting what's overdue

Let me say my final goodbye

Before the darkness stops by

~~Riya

Review - Paper Towns

Title: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Pages: 305

Publisher: Dutton Books

Publishing Date:  October 16th 2008

 SYNOPSIS 

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew... 

 MY REVIEW 

"Nothing ever happens like you imagine it will. But then again, if you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all."

"Grass is a metaphor for many things: equality, connectedness, death. It's so many things at once that it's bewildering."

"There are a thousand ways to look at it (the strings inside a person breaking when he finally decides to die) maybe the strings break, or maybe our ships sink, or maybe we're grass - our roots so interdependent that no one is dead as long as someone is still alive. We don't suffer from shortage of metaphors. But you have to be careful which metaphor you choose, because it matters. If you choose the strings, then you're imagining a world in which you can become irreparably broken. If you choose the grass, you're saying that we are all infinitely interconnected, that we can use these root systems not only to understand one another but to become one another. The metaphors have implications."
- Quentin

"I like strings. I always have. Because that's how it FEELS. But the strings make pain seem more fatal than it is, I think. We're not as frail as the strings would make us believe. And I like the grass, too. The grass got me to you, helped me to imagine you as an actual person. But we're not different sprouts from the same plant. I can't be you. You can't be me. You can imagine another well - but never quite perfectly, you know?
Maybe it's more like you said before, all of us being cracked open. Like, each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen--these people leave us, or don't love us, or don't get us, or we don't get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open, the end becomes inevitable. Once it starts to rain inside the Osprey, it will never be remodeled. But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it's only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. Before that we were just looking at ideas of each other."
-Quentin

"I can't be you. You can't be me. You can imagine another person well, but you never quite perfectly understand them." - Quentin

____________________________________________________________

The plot teaches us a lot about life and death; and how we have a choice over how we live our life and see the future. Margo quotes Emily Dickinson, "Forever is composed of nows." It gives us the clear picture the author is trying to create: live in the now and don't stress about the future.

We all live like Quentin, having a lame ass goal in life: a bright future. But what we have to do to achieve that? Struggle. We have to limp through school and score good grades so that we'll get into a good college; then we slither through college to end up at a job we most probably hate but have to keep up in order to sustain a good living; then we save money to send our children to school so that they follow the same routine. We never once stop to think what will happen if we leave these Paper Towns and paper people to make a new happy life where we're a new happy individual.

I think that we're following routine way too much and pressuring ourselves into thinking about the future more than living in the moment. Honestly, how many of us today really enjoy what we do? We need to stop and analyse what we want to do, what we're passionate about, what will make us happy, and what will make our future bright without hindering our joy of today. Routine is familiar, boring. We need something challenging once in a while, a change.

 Then there's the main theme: metaphors. You can choose to be whichever metaphor you want: Margo's strings, Whitman's grass or Quentin's cracked vessel. Everything has its own implications. You can either be a broken person; an optimist who believes that a person keeps living as long as they are safe in the heart of another who is alive; or the vessel (people) gets cracked, damaged which is inevitable. Once the damage is done, its too hard to go back. We lose and fail and hurt each other. But this is when we get to see another person as they are. Only when a person cracks open they see themselves in clear light and are able to see through the cracks of other people.
I agree with all three versions shown by John Green. I don't think I can rule out even one of these observations. Yes, a person falls apart when all the strings inside him break. Yes, we keep living in the hearts of those who love us. And yes, once cracked we are easy to comprehend.

That's what I learnt from this book. I don't know whether I've completely missed the point John was trying to convey or have over-thought it. But what I've understood from it seems valuable. That's the beauty of words, isn't it? It takes different forms and meanings. It could mean two completely different things to two different individuals.

Also, the story not having a "happy ending" where Quentin and Margo get together is one of the specialities of the book.  It shows us the reality instead of the fantasy movie endings. They're just teenagers trying to find themselves and the portrayal of these characters were so real to the point I could honestly relate to it without having to imagine myself as being in a fictional world. That's the magic of this particular book. It shines light on reality and shows us what people are really made of, is something we really can't define.

For some reason, if you haven't read it yet (seriously?) add it to your to-read list here

My Rating: 5/5

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.

In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found here

Blog: http://www.johngreenbooks.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnGreenfans/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johngreen

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1406384.John_Green

Ballad of a Broken Girl (My Work)

I'm hanging suspended in vacuum, slowly fading away
I need someone to be my anchor, to pull me back the right way
It feels like I'm drowning in an ocean of nothingness
As I've lost all hope and happiness
My lungs burn with a thirst to live
But my brain says it's time to give
And my limbs have gone paralyzed
It's been long since I'd realized
Amidst all this chaos I'm trying to stay afloat
But I don't seem to find my bearings or any boat
Am trying to find some color in the empty greys
Although all I discover are abandoned bays
Am willing to find the meaning of life through infinite death
But I find it hard to take another breath
Making slow progress only to be pushed back down
Now getting up seems hectic from the ground
Tripping on each step, falling face first unto asphalt
And I find no one willing to halt
Feels like walking on lava, rolling on gravel
Even with high doses of Elavil
Success seems so far away
When the will to live starts to fade away
Memories are the only thing that keep me stable
But I don't think they're much capable
Comfort and confidence are lost sisters
When everyone seem to miss all my gestures
With each move my bones creak
Looks like I've reached my peak
Here's my reason to lie in my grave
Because complete silence is what I crave
Let me escape my dreadful thoughts
Before they make me any more distraught
I want to have a peaceful eternal sleep
Under the soft roseberry bushes, buried deep.

                                                     ~~Riya

Review - City of Heavenly Fire

 

Title: City of Heavenly Fire

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Pages: 725

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Publishing Date: May 27th 2014

 SYNOPSIS 

In this dazzling and long-awaited conclusion to the acclaimed Mortal Instruments series, Clary and her friends fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary's own brother.

Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.
The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris - but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?
When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee - even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned...
Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the terrible battle for the fate of the word in the thrilling final installment of the classic urban fantasy series The Mortal Instruments!

 MY REVIEW 

I've been a huge Cassandra Clare fan since I laid eyes on her first book of The Mortal Instruments series but if I had to choose between her books, I'd probably choose this one because it had more of everything: tension, suspense, love, sacrifice, bravery, family and friendship.

This book takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride into the world of Shadowhunter and Downworlders filled with death, grief, love, sacrifice and loss but still manages to make you smile. It gives you the satisfaction of going on an adventure while sitting in your room sipping hot chocolate.

"Heroes aren't always the ones who win," she said. "They're the ones who lose, sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes."

The thing that I love most about this book and the whole series is how well written and inclusive it is. It is very inclusive of all sections of the society and gives every character their fare share of POV and lets the reader connect more with all the characters. Even secondary characters have enough depth in them for the reader to root for them.

Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood are my most favorite characters and couple, closely followed by Jace Herondale, Clary Fairchild, Isabelle Lightwood and Simon Lewis.

The book is a must read and I would recommend one to read the whole Shadowhunters series including The Infernal Devices (prequel) and The Dark Artifices (sequel) in order to fall in love with Cassandra's writing, just like I did.

Definitely add it to your to be read here

My Rating: 5/5

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts.

Blog: http://cassandraclare.livejournal.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Cassandraclare

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cassieclare

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/150038.Cassandra_Clare

Hello!!

This would be my first ever blog post after I finally found a way to make the blog work...kind of. So I'd like to start off with one of my favorite quotes about my absolute favorite thing in the world - Books.

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” 

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars