Whiskers

Whiskers

The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani

Sophie always dreamed of being a princess in a story. In the small town of Gavaldon, two people are kidnapped every four years. One would turn out to be good, and the other would be evil. The children would be taken to the School for Good and Evil, to learn either to be a hero with an Everafter, or a villan with a Nevermore. These two were the highest honours awarded. This year, Sophie beleived she would be chosen for good, as she was pretty, and looked like a princess. Her best friend Agatha was the complete opposite, and everyone believed that she would go to evil. Sure enough, the school master came for them, to take than to their school. But then the tables turned. Agatha was dropped into the school for good, while Sophie into the school for evil. They both thought it was a mistake, and kept trying to swap places, but they gradually realized, they were in the right schools after all.

13 Reasons Why_Jay Asher: Full Review and Analysis

I am not normally a suspense reader. I rather prefer fantasy books. They are simple, and yet complete. But when i picked up this book, I knew it would have a lasting effect on me.

The basic script of this book is simple: A girl commits suicide, and leaves cassete tapes with thirteen reasons why she did it. But the book is anything but simple. Every sentence, every page, had a deepness in it, and it was bursting with emotion. A lot of times, i had to stop the book, when it got too emotional for me, but i ended up picking it up again and again. Why? The reason is simple. It was just… Amazing. So there is a girl, called Hannah Baker, who committed suicide, but before that, left some people a box of cassete tapes, in each two reasons why she gave up on her life. There was a warning in it too. The messages in the tapes had to be passed around to everyone who was on her list, everyone who was a part in this. This story is told from the point of a boy called Clay. He was also in the list, though he didnt know why, and he went through all the tapes, and found out that there was more going on underneath Hannah’s head that met the eye. Depression is common for young adults, especially in high school, and to much could make someone kill themselves. This whole book was so emotional, and sad, told from two points, Hannah’s tapes, and Clay’s narrative. There is a reason why this book was deemed worthy of being and original Netflix series. The whole lesson behind the plot was clear. Even though Hannah made the decision herself to commit suicide, it was the cause of many, many personal issues. So the meaning is, be careful of how you treat someone, or what you say to them, as you never know what they were going through. Taken apart, all of the reasons where short remarks, a few rumors, ect. But when it was all put together, it unbearable. I will still stick to fantasy, but this book gave me a fresh perspective about life.

The Land of Stories, book one: The Wishing Spell

The Wishing Spell is a book by Chris Colfer. Alex and Conner Bailey were twins, but they couldn’t have been more different. Alex was a smart, studious girl, while her brother could be lazy, and yet had a sense of humor which sometimes got him into trouble. After their dad’s death when they were eleven, their lives changed drastically. They had to move to a smaller house, and they could rarely see their mom, who was always at work. But they had a small ray of light: their grandmother. On their twelveth birthday, she gave them a book about fairy tales, which magically teleported them to the Land of Stories. More surprisingly, all the famous fairy tale heroes were alive. Cinderella was even pregnant, and Goldilocks was an outcast. But they couldn’t stay in that land, they had to find a way back to their world. A kind frog man told them of a Wishing Spell, which could fulfill any wish. They just had to get the materials for the spell. Though there was a catch. The Wishing Spell could be done only twice, and it was used once before, so there was only one wish left. Worse, Snow White’s Evil stepmother had escaped from the dungeons, and was looking for the spell too! So now it was a race, and the Bailey twins had to finish the spell before the Evil Queen, or they would be stuck in the land of stories. This book was really enjoyable. I was impresed at Alex’s knowledge, and Conners humour and wry remarks made me laugh.

City of Ghosts

City of Ghosts is a Paranormal fiction book by Victoria Schwab. It is about a girl called Cassidy Blake. After a close encounter with death, she was able to see ghosts, and ended getting a best friend who is a ghost. One day, she met someone who was also like her: a ghost hunter. Their job is to send ghosts on from the veil to the beyond. The ghosts are stuck in the place between life death, and it’s Cassidy’s job to send them off to the beyond. But that wasn’t the end of it. An evil ghost called the Raven in Red stole souls of kids so that she can live longer. And she was after one thing only now: Cassidy’s lifeline, which could bring her back to life. After she had succeded stealing Cass’s lifeline, Cassidy had to get it back, with the help of her friends, before the time ran out. So she worked with her best friend Jacob the ghost, and her new friend Lara the ghost hunter, she finally tricked the Raven in Red into giving back her life. This book was awesome in so many levels. There was Jacob’s humour, and there was the thrill of ghosts.

Muree, Pakistan

Muree, Pakistan

Conceal, Don’t Feel

Conceal, don’t feel is a book by Jen Calonita. Almost everyone has heard of the movie Frozen, which young fans enjoyed watching on the big screen. Not to mention Frozen 2, released around 2019. This book is an alternate version of the beloved movie. Imagine if Anna and Elsa didn’t know each other. How will their story turn out? What would change, and what would stay the same? Elsa, the future queen of Arendelle, holds a lot of responsibility and expectations over her head. Yet, she always felt that a crucial part of her was missing. And when her parents died unexpectedly, lost in sea, Elsa’s powers started appearing. Not only that, but she started getting flashbacks, memories which she couldn’t remember happening, and all of them, included a red-headed girl. Olaf was formed, still remembering Anna, and Elsa desperately started searching for answers. Anna, on the other hand, lived in a town called Harmon, with her adopted parents in a bakery. She couldn’t remember a chunk of her life, and yet, she always felt that Arendelle was calling her, reaching out towards her. After a disastrous coronation, when the folk of Arendelle found about Elsa’s, power, Elsa ran to the mountains, acting her famous ‘Let it go’ scene, just no singing this time. And Anna, after hearing what happened in Arendelle, started getting her memory back, piece by piece. Companied with a talkng snow man, a reindeer called Sven, and Kristof, she set out to find the truth. This book was amazing. The author changed the events, but still managed to keep it true to his original form. Even though a lot of things changed, some parts didn’t. For example, Anna was still chasing after Elsa, winter still surrounded Arendelle, the Duke of Weselton (weasel town) was still overbearing, and Hans was still a snake (metaphorically speaking of course). And the famous ‘Anna punching Hans’ scene still made me smile.

Flower Festival, Islamabad, Pakistan

Flower Festival, Islamabad, Pakistan

The Bed And Breakfast Star by Jacqueline Wilson

The bed and breakfast star is about a girl called Elsa. This book is about herself, her life, her family (including her stepfather, Mack the Smack), and the Royal hotel. Her family lost money, and had to go to that dreadful place. But, amidst it all, Elsa kept her sense of humor by her side, and released a never-ending torrent of jokes. She also made a few friends, a brainy girl named Naiome, and a rude boy who she calls ‘funny-face’. Elsa was never appreciated for her remarkably loud voice, but when a fire burst out, it was her voice which saved the day. This book was a really funny, plus, also had a variety of jokes.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The first book is simply called “The Hunger Games”. The series is young adult dystopian series. It is about a teenage girl, called Katniss Everdeen. Every year, two people -one boy, one girl- from each district are selected to participate in the Hunger Games, an event which makes the competitors fight to survive. One year, Katniss’s sister, Primrose Everdeen was selected, but Katniss volunteered to take her place, which was allowed. The other person selected was Peeta Mellark. Their district was district 12, which did not have many winners. Haymitch Abernathy had survived the games, and became alcoholic. He was also their guide. They had to endure many problems before, during, and after the games. This book was really tense, and exciting. It had the feel of thrill in every page.