Stephanie Meyer - Twilight

If you love the Twilight books, I suggest you don't continue reading this review, despite the fact that it's going to be a really short one. Nope - I didn't enjoy the book, and worse, I didn't see any point to it. I struggled to page 279, and then, I just gave up. On one hand, I do congratulate myself for getting that far, but on the other, I berate myself for wasting that much time. The saving grace is, I didn't buy the books, but borrowed them from a friend, and she's going to get three of them back completely untouched. So, the "story" in a nutshell:

Girl (Bella) moves to her father's, after her mother re-marries and wants to travel with her new husband. While living with her mother, Bella is a misfit, but at Forks, she's cool, and all the boys at school seem to have a crush on her. Yet, she has eyes on only one: Edward. He harbours a dark secret, which she discovers, and despite that, the two of them cannot stay away from one another.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part was - that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Most of the book had me wincing with the cheesy lines, and cringing with the constant Adonis and Greek god references. Yes, I know it's for teenagers and young adults - but, it's so gushy, that, I was literally wondering why I was continuing to read it. Of course, when I came across the below, I snapped the book shut. I'd reached my saturation point:

"What am I going to do with you?" he groaned in exasperation. "Yesterday I kiss you, and you attack me! Today you pass out on me!"

[...]

"No - that wasn't the same kind of fainting at all. I don't know what happened." I shook my head apologetically. "I think I forgot to breathe".

I'm just not going to bother rating this book, as I definitely wasn't the target audience, and it's probably my own fault for seeking it out. Guess it's a love it or hate it book, and I unfortunately fell in the latter category.

Oh well...

Ann Brashares - The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

This book was recommended to me by a younger cousin, and I figured, it'll be a fun young adult book, which would be a pleasant distraction from most of the reading I've done this year. Also, I was planning on reading a young-adult book for the Take A Chance Challenge #9. Figured, by the challenge's name, I should try a book I wouldn't normally pick up. At the outset, I might as well say that I didn't really enjoy this book. The characters were shallow, the plot not that great, and I couldn't really sympathize or relate to any of the characters. Considering there are four characters, this is slightly depressing.

Reviewing haiku-style:

Not recommended Shallow characters, dull plot, Summer! Says it all.

Reviewing limerick-style:

Apart during the summer for the first time, Four best friends deal with this so-called crime, A pair of pants they swear to share, Through the summer, post it to one another to wear. And, in the end, it's all sublime.

Reviewing free verse-style:

'Tis the story of four friends, who spend a summer apart,

In Greece, at camp, at home, and at dad's.

They learn, they grow, they mature, make choices,

Write letters to each other, echoing their head's voices.

Lena at Greece, with her grandparents who she's never met,

They trying fixing her up with a boy - she starts to fret.

Things blow out of proportion on a misunderstanding -

Lena, filled with guilt, spends her summer repenting.

Then there's Carmen, excited to spend the summer with her father,

Unknown to her, she's about to meet her step-mother,

Anger and fury at her dad, leads her to break a window pane,

She runs away back home, on the first plane.

Bridget is away at a sports camp, where she makes new friends,

Meets an older boy, an instructor, who she wants as a boyfriend.

They're attracted to each other, but can't really date,

But an impulsive decision leads them to await their fate.

Finally, there's Tibby, who's at home, working at a store,

The manager's mean, the job a chore!

She befriends young Bailey, dying of cancer, full of life,

Turns out the relationship they form leads to strife.

As each of their summer takes a turn for the worse,

Almost as though things were cursed,

The pants are in the hands of one of the friends,

Gives them courage to make amends.

And when the friends meet each other at the end,

They remind each other of how the pants were a godsend!

Rating: 1