She--and He--went to Hell

Gayle Forman knows how to SHOW a story.  I'm always telling my students the importance of SHOWING not TELLING a story--really making their audience FEEL what is happening on the page.  Forman has caught that.  Wow.  What makes WHERE SHE WENT even more powerful and wonderful is the fact that it is told from the point of view of Adam whereas IF I STAY is told from Mia's point of view.  I don't remember ever reading books in a series where one book is told from one POV and the next book in the series is told from the POV of another character in the story--albeit a major, important character, but seeing the story through the eyes of that other character....WOW.

Jodi Picoult has a wonderful way of weaving the POVs of several characters within her books and she does it VERY WELL.  So well that for the past ten years, I have pre-purchased every new book of hers which means that I have at least ten years' worth of hard-back books for Picoult.  And I don't regret a single hard-back purchase.  Of course I will continue to do that with her books.

Stephenie Meyer attempted to begin to rewrite the TWILIGHT series through the eyes of Edward in MIDNIGHT SUN--a wonderful foil for having read their story through Bella's eyes, but because the manuscript was leaked during the drafting process, Meyer chose to quit working on the project--much to the dismay of her fans.  As far as I know, she'd be the only author to write the same story from the POV of a different character in the story--and it sell just as well as if not better than the original!  Finish MIDNIGHT SUN, Stephenie!  Please....?!

Adam's story of what has happened after Mia decides to stay is REAL.  Having suffered horrific tragedies within my own life, I GET Adam's fall into hell, but I also GET Mia's rejection.  There is no right or wrong when it comes to Grief.  It is what it is:  powerful; overwhelming; all-consuming; destructive; restorative; devastating; soul-wrenching; and it is NEVER exactly the same from one person to the next.

I can't even begin to imagine exactly what Mia and Adam each go through during this horrific time in their lives, but I do understand the all-consuming grief and how neither one knows how to handle it--what to do with it.

WHERE SHE WENT is a powerful, wonderful, sad, amazing story that is WELL WORTH YOUR TIME TO READ.  Forman is a true storyteller and I, for one, am thankful that she is sharing her stories with me.

Yes, I'm reading them all....AGAIN!!!!

OK, so it's not my fault that a really good, close family friend--a young woman who is like a daughter to me--is having a baby girl and has chosen to name her baby girl Isabella!  How can I help it if just the thought of a new baby with such a name sent me back to the TWILIGHT series?!  I HAD to read them AGAIN in preparation for "our" Little Isabella's birth!  LOL!

In a way, NEW MOON is my favorite book in the TWILIGHT series.  Why?  Because of Jacob.  It's so easy to fall in love with Jacob.  There are so many questions where Edward is concerned.  He's so moody and cranky all the time and it gets annoying that he's constantly saying things to Bella that are just plain confusing to her--and not explaining himself.  Granted, as a reader, Edward is easier to read than he appears, but it's still annoying that he keeps so much to himself.  Jacob is refreshing.  Bella sees him as her own personal sunshine--her own "safe harbor."  He doesn't let Bella's depression keep him from expressing himself and glowing anyway.  I do wonder why HE doesn't go see Bella first and try to do something with her earlier.  I know.  I know.  Bella was in her Zombie mode so even if Jacob had gone to her first during that time period, she probably wouldn't even have been aware of him, but I just find it odd that if he cares about her so much--even from the first time he saw her at La Push in TWILIGHT--why does HE wait for Bella to come to him rather than he going to her?  (Does that make any sense?)  But once Bella is awake and aware of her surroundings again, it's wonderful that she finds Jacob and that they so easily fall into a close friendship.

Anyone who has ever been through a loss can understand the hole Bella fought so hard to keep a hold of. I can relate to Bella's pain in NEW MOON more than I like to.  While my losses were my children rather than my soul mate, the pain--the numbness--the hole--the zombie-like state are still the same.  Like Bella, I know who/what I can't live without; it's just that mine isn't my soul mate.

Bella finds happiness in life, even some joy, through her convoluted relationship with Jacob.  It might be complicated, but it works and Bella is able to be Bella again.  I find my joy in my Jesus:  "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me.  Remain in my love....I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!"  (John 15:9, 11)

While this is quite possibly the saddest book in the series, it's still my favorite simply because Jacob is so easy to love and because I can so easily relate to Bella's pain in this one.

August 23, 2012 to August 25, 2012
February 22, 2014 to Saturday, March 8, 2014

Oops, I read it again!

OK, so TWILIGHT won't ever be considered "great" literature.  It won't become part of the literary canon.  It isn't even close to the level of the HARRY POTTER books or Jodi Picoult.  But let's face it; TWILIGHT is a FUN read.  I can't help it.  It draws me in even though it's not serious reading.  I call it my "guilty pleasure" reading, just like my Mary Balogh books.  I know it's sappy and, in many ways, just plain ridiculous, but I love it.  I find some of the story just plain embarrassing and others simply unrealistic, but even at that, I am drawn to the story like a moth to a flame.  I won't apologize for enjoying TWILIGHT or any of the other books in the series.  It is what it is.

I think we all need some things that we read that are just for pure enjoyment rather than having to THINK so hard about the symbolism and deeper meanings and theme and setting and so on and so forth.  Sometimes we readers just want to read something for the sake of reading.  It's kind of like how I'll read even the backs of shampoo bottles or deodorant cans in the bathroom when I don't have a book in there with me.

Do I believe in vampires?  Absolutely not.  I do believe that there are people who want to be vampires so much that they'll go to great lengths to become as close to a real vampire as they possibly can.  I think that's pretty ridiculous, but to each his own.

Do I believe even for a second that if Bella smelled as incredible to Edward the Vampire as he clams that he honestly would have been able to control his vampiric urges and keep from killing her?  Not even for half a mili-second.  Really?!  I just don't think so.  Bella was dead the second Edward caught her scent.  But it's fun to imagine that Edward is strong enough to withstand his basal vampiric urges and ultimately to fall in love with the one person who is his "brand of heroin."

Would Edward really be able to suck the venom out of Bella after James' bit her?  Not a chance.  That's too easy.  She'd have been a vampire right then and there.  But if she'd become a vampire this early in the series, we never would have the triangle between Jacob, Bella, and Edward.  Bella would never have a chance to get to know Jacob better if she were already a vampire by the end of the first book.  And what fun would that be?!

Let's face it....for all those nay-sayers about TWILIGHT, they're right that TWILIGHT isn't GREAT.  But my response is that it doesn't have to be GREAT to be FUN to read!!!!!

Now on to MIDNIGHT SUN!  Yeah, I'm gonna read that before I get to NEW MOON!  I haven't looked up MIDNIGHT SUN on Goodreads yet; it'll be interesting to find out if it has it listed!!!

August 19, 2012 to August 22, 2012
February 11, 2014 to February 20, 2014