IT by Stephen King

Synopsis:

The story follows the exploits of seven children as they are terrorized by an eponymous being, which exploits the fears and phobias of its victims in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It" primarily appears in the form of a clown in order to attract its preferred prey of young children. The novel is told through narratives alternating between two time periods, and is largely told in the third-person omniscient mode. It deals with themes which would eventually become King staples: the power of memory, childhood trauma, and the ugliness lurking behind a façade of traditional small-town values.

This was my first experience reading a King novel, and it was an interesting experience for sure.

I have never seen the movie, and I didn’t even really know what the book was about aside from the clown that wreaks all sorts of havoc.

The first thing I really noticed was how long the chapters are. I don’t know if this is just King’s style, or if it is just this book, but it made it really difficult to read large chunks of the book at a time. It took me almost a full year to finish it.

The story was obviously super intriguing. The parts where Pennywise shows up were the most entertaining by far, he was so creepy and annoying.  I really wish that the story revolved more around him and his antics, and I wish that the whole thing was just about a creepy/annoying clown terrorizing these children.

That is why I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. It starts getting a little to weird when it starts revealing what is really going on below Derry. Even then, it is never really resolved for me. It is sort of along the lines of fear is only in your head, and when you enable it, it becomes real.

I did enjoy reading the book, but I enjoyed finishing it even more. The main gang of kids were great characters, and of course Mr. Pennywise. The supporting cast didn’t really do anything for me.

Final thoughts:

I wish the sections/chapters would have been shorter. That is my biggest complaint.

It is more enjoyable to read this when it is raining.

My favorite character was Ben.

3/5 stars. Good book, just such a chore to finish!

Memorable Quotes: “TV monsters and movie monsters and comic book monsters were not real. Not until you went to bed and couldn’t sleep; not until the last four pieces of candy, wrapped in tissues and kept under your pillow against the evils of the night, were gobbled up; not until the bed itself turned into a lake of rancid dreams and the wind screamed outside and you were afraid to look at the window because there might be a face there, an ancient grinning face that had not rotted but simply dried like an old leaf, its eyes sunken diamonds pushed deep into dark sockets; not until you saw one ripped and clawlike hand holding out a bunch of balloons”

“Scars can’t come back. They either are or they aren’t”

“”Whatever it was, It’s here again, in Derry. IT.”

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Cats, Scarves and Liars by Kathryn White

Synopsis:

Peppa is just your average Australian young woman, really. 23 years old, widowed and owner of a cat who can speak perfect English. (But no one will believe her about the cat.) Why is she being stalked by one of the customers from her job at the City South Post Office? What secrets does the mysterious Ivory Black know about Peppa and her past? What does he know about the strange murders that are happening all over Adelaide? And was it really necessary of him to steal her boyfriend's scarf?

Cats, Scarves and Liars is a quirky, offbeat tail tale from a unique Australian writer. You'll laugh, you'll cry you'll discover the meaning of life. (Actually, we lied about that last part.)

I didn’t really know what to expect when I got the request to review this book. All I knew was that I couldn’t turn down a book that had a cat as one of the main characters.

Cats, Scarves and Liars is a very quirky book. It is full of humor and can make you laugh. It is a pretty light read and is easy to get through.

Peppa is a really likeable protagonist. Her personality really gives the life to this book and makes it fun to read. The supporting cast was also written very well.

The storyline was a little weird, but in a good way. I feel like it could have maybe even been a little longer to go further into the lives of the supporting cast, but it is also good the way it is.

It got really weird at the end when the true story behind the talking cat was revealed, but it all came together and started making sense as well.

Overall, I felt it was just a pretty fun read. There were some deeper topics, but they were sort of glossed over and Peppa’s personality really took over.

I would recommend it for a nice Sunday afternoon if you are looking to have a little fun while reading.

3.5/5 Stars

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My Letter To Fear: Essays on Life, Love and the Search For Prince Charming by Patricia Steffy

Synopsis:

Over the course of two years, Steffy conducted interviews with the fabulous women around her and their equally fantastic friends. She put no restrictions on age, or ethnicity. They just needed to be willing to answer some questions. Steffy asked them about expectations they had for their lives when they were very young versus their current realities as adults. She asked them to tell her the best things about themselves (a question which was surprisingly difficult for people to answer) and the worst things. Those answers— the funny, the sad, and the hysterical—and her own experiences became the basis for these essays. 

I really enjoyed this book. It was funny at times, it was a bit emotional at times, and there were some essays that were just too easy to identify with. There is something for everyone mixed in the pages of this book.

The writing was fun and flowed well, there was never a point where I was bored and felt like I needed to put it down. But, I also feel like you should spread out the reading of the book over time so you can take in some of the essays and really think about them. It makes the book more enjoyable than reading it all at once at a rushed pace which results in forgetting everything you have read.

Each essay is pretty short, spanning only about 2-3 pages in length. It is the perfect office book. When you need a quick break from work to re-gather your thoughts (or sanity…) it is easy to pick up and read one or two, then put back down for later.

I think Patricia Steffy really got the feel for how a lot of women think and feel at various points in their life. That’s what makes this book so relatable and familiar.

It was a fun read.

5/5 Stars

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Blackout (Darkness Trilogy, #1) by Madeleine Henry

Blackout almost reminded me of the hunger games a little bit, except the point of the competition was to find true love, and in turn give your family electricity.

In 2015, Earth was hit with a solar flare that knocked out all of the electricity on the planet. The United States was able to bring enough scientists together to get some electricity back, but they could not power the whole country, only a part of it. This created the Dark Zone.

Families were left here to fend for themselves in the darkness with no power.

When Star and Phoenix’s families hear about a trade-off of sending a child to America in exchange for power, they both agree to go. They don’t know what they are in for on the other side, but they want the best for their families.

Little do they know, they are in the fight for their lives. Are they only battling for power? Or is there much more at stake?

The characters were generally likable and the writing was done really well. It was a very intriguing story, which made it hard to put down. It seemed as though the reader is always learning something new.

Phoenix was a bit too whiney for me. Every time something happened involving star, I imagined him throwing a hissy fit like a little child. It seemed like he was too caught up in his emotions and it was crippling his chances of survival.

Even though Star was a big part of the story, she didn’t make as many appearances and didn’t really seem relevant in them. She mostly lived in the story through Phoenix’s thoughts.

Overall, I enjoy the idea of the story. I liked the supporting characters more than I liked Phoenix. I can’t wait to see what happens next. It left off on such a cliffhanger!

This looks to be a really promising book series.

4/5 Stars

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By the Sea by Katherine McIntyre

Most children have an imaginary friend. They hang around for a few years, and then they disappear as the child moves on to different things.

Megan is different, she was so close with her imaginary friend Niall that he followed her for years, but he would only meet her by the sea.

When the restaurant where she works hires a new waiter, Megan feels as though she is seeing a ghost. He IS Niall. He looks exactly like him. But, that can’t be real. His name is Mason.

This seems like a charming innocent love story between a now-grown woman and her imaginary friend.

When she figured out the real reason he had to leave her, I couldn’t help bust burst out laughing. He is a seal that can transform into a human, but before having the choice to live on land or in the water, he must spend seven years in the sea. That is why he had to leave her as a child.

He cannot return to the sea because someone had stolen his pelt that allows him to transform back into a seal. Upon discovering that it was some sort of demon that had stolen it, Megan’s life is put in danger as the demon attacks her.

Niall comes to her rescue and she must try to find his pelt before it is too late.

Katherine’s writing style was good enough to keep me interested. It was written at a quick pace and didn’t seem to fall off, but after hitting the midway part of the book, the story just took a strange turn and lost me.

2/5 Stars

Home Fires by Judith Kirscht

What do you do when everything you thought you knew about your life comes crashing down around you?

Faced with finding out the truth about her husband’s affairs, Myra must decide what to do about her home life.

She struggles with the option of breaking up their home with the possibility of it having a hard affect on her two children, or facing the reality of being a used wife with a relationship that is beyond repair.

When Derek’s mother comes over to basically tell Myra to just deal with it because it is a fact of life for wives of professors, I could feel my jaw hitting the floor. She wasn’t only excusing his behavior by saying it was just something that happens, but she wanted Myra to see past it because, otherwise, it would ruin his career.

I know talks like this must happen a lot, but I just couldn’t believe it when I read it. I could definitely feel Myra’s confusion and disappointment with what she was hearing.

She decides to let him stick around until her oldest child goes away to college in the fall. She figures it won’t hit the family as hard that way. Little does she know, she is only adding fuel to the fire and everything will get worse from there.

Lies. Deception. Secrets.

Will their family ever return to normal?

This book has very harsh subject matters. It deals with divorce, pedophilia, and molestation within a family. Some scenes are very disturbing but respectfully written. In the hands of the wrong writer, that could turn out very badly. Judith Kirscht did a great job with her writing and handling of such damaging topics.

I feel like this book is aiming to please an older crowd of chick-lit readers. It has a very sophisticated and intelligent air to it.

I would label is as a summer read for sure. It isn’t too demanding and has a very light feel to it. Its rough subject matters give it a bit of a darker tone though.

The talking animals that she was drawing throughout the story were a little weird. I didn’t really understand why that part was necessary to the story other than to give her an escape from her real life. If anything, I wouldn’t have included them, but they are there so I dealt with them.

4/5 Stars

Memorable Quote: “Silence is wonderful, isn’t it? Erases ugly truths.”

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Read ahead for spoilers!