Book Review: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Title:  Jurassic Park

Author:  Michael Crichton

Synopsis:  An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now, one of mankind's most thrilling fantasies has come true. Creatures extinct for eons now roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them- for a price. Until something goes wrong....

Review:

a.) Characters: 4/5 score.  Some of the characters were impossible not to like from the beginning.  Of course I am talking about Dr. Alan Grant!!  The book is told a little from each character’s point of view, and to be honest, it is easy to hate Ian Malcom at times and then to loath John Hammond even more.  But the characters felt very real to me.  

b.) Plot: 5/5 score.  Okay, OMG, dinosaurs, guys!  Of course this got 5 for the score!!  Reading this for the first time really changed a lot of things for me.  Even though I watched the movie (all three of them), there is something different about the plot when its in a book.  And this topped what you see in the movie.  

c.) Writing style: 3/5 score.  No really, it was amazing to read.  I loved the movies, all three of them.  When I got this, I was worried I was going to be let down because of how awesome the movies were- but it was the opposite!  I did enjoy the writing!  But when Malcolm would go on one of his rants, it was impossible not to cringe and want to skip those couple paragraphs.  

Rating: 12/15 total

OMG, just read it!  I have to admit, some of the technical stuff and Malcolm's rants were skip-worthy, but overall, it was hard to put down! 

Book Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

 Title:  The Lovely Bones

Author: Alice Sebold

Synopsis: "My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her - her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling.  Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy

Review:

a.) Characters: 5/5 score.  Susie Salmon was fourteen when she was murdered.  Clearly insightful when she was alive, she is more so now that she is dead.  It was hard not to fall in love with Susie, even when you knew she was already dead and gone.  You love her life, her memory, and her character.  But above all, you love her hope.  

b.) Plot: 4/5 score.  Susie witnesses all.  We learn much through her life, her death, and her afterlife as she views her friends and family grow without her.  We learn through her heaven, and we see the aftermath of her removal.  I found myself weeping and laughing with each mountain that was presented.  

c.) Writing style: 4/5 score.  I was amazed at how Sebold could get Susie to sound like the teen she was and also as the ground up she would never become.  There was times when I would read chapter after chapter and I would skip dinner and stay up hours passed my bedtime because I got so wrapped up in the tale.  And that’s how you know it’s a good book.  

Rating: 13/15 total

From the beginning to the end, hard to put down and absolutely powerful.  If you've never read this, you should.  I absolutely LOVE this book!  I seen the movie first (by accident) and really thought the movie was grand.  But the book goes beyond that and really captures a surreal world into a perfect little snow globe.   It's so hard not to like this book.  When I watched the movie and then read the book, I was put off by the rape/murder of a fourteen year old.  (Still am.)  But the story focused on Susie- not the darkness that took her life, but the life that continued on after the darkness. 

Book Review: The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Title: The Pact

Author: Jodi Picoult

Synopsis: For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty-- they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born.

So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet-- a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.

Review:

a.) Characters: 4/5 score.  When you first meet the family, they are a group of four (Augusta and James Harte (mother and father of Christopher); and Melanie and Michael Gold (mother and father of Emily)) that have been friends since their children were born eighteen years ago.  Emily and Christopher are three months apart in age and have spent their whole lives with each other.  You witness many scenes through their years, progressing forward to the present time.  Secondary characters are added in as the story grows, but from the first paragraph until the final line, the story revolves around Em and Chris’s relationship.  

b.) Plot: 2/5 score. In the beginning you are gripped with the loss of Emily and with the mystery of what happened.  As more is revealed, things become clear.  Eventually you are either with or against Chris by the time his truth comes out.  It has “adult” scenes and is not recommended for a younger audience.  It was, in all, a good read.  I myself didn’t care for the courtroom drama.

c.) Writing style: 4/5 score.  It is set in third person, jumping from each character’s point of view.  You really get inside the head of Em and Chris.  You do experience others, seeing the two main characters through their eyes.  It is an adult novel, a strong and compelling story showing both sides of suicide- the never-ending depression of before and the aftermath of leaving.  

Rating: 10/15 total

I actually really enjoyed this book.  I guess I wasn't expecting to since it isn't normally what I reach for, and it was a nice surprise when I was gripped by the story's plot.  The courtroom drama is what brought the score down so low.  Other than that it was an enticing tale of depression and the aftermath of suicide.  I read a couple of reviews on goodreads that had stated Emily needed to "get over herself" and to "grow a pair and get help".  And while I agree that suicide isn't the way to go, I know depression, and I know the darkness that comes down on you.  It doesn't even feel like the world will ever be right again.