Book Reviews: The Truth About Alice, Looking For Alaska, A Game of Thrones

Anyone who knows me knows that I read a lot. And if you don't know me, hi. I love books. A lot.
Since this is a blog of my thoughts, and since my thoughts are so often consumed by books, I thought it would be a good idea to post some quick reviews of the things I'm reading. Hopefully one will strike your fancy one day. Enjoy!

Young Adult, Fiction:

The Truth About Alice, by Jennifer Mathieu

I was actually given an advanced copy of this book on a recent visit to Macmillan, the book's publisher. The young woman who gave it to me recommended it with flying colors, describing it as "very Vassar," so I was pretty excited to read it.
The Truth About Alice is a young adult novel that came out just this month. Alice is a high school student who becomes the talk of her school and small Texas town when she sleeps with two guys on the same night at a party. Things get even worse when one of those guys then dies in a car accident after being distracted by sexual texts from Alice. At least, that's what the rumors all say.
The brilliance of this book is that the reader doesn't get to hear from Alice until the last chapter. Every other chapter is told by one of four people: the school's queen bee, Alice's former best friend, the jock who was in the car with the boy who died when the accident occurred, and the nerd with a secret infatuation with Alice. Mathieu is able to distinguish the four voices enough to make each one distinct, and the change of perspectives keeps the story fresh as it progresses. Because we don't get to hear from Alice until the end, we're able to see how little control people actually have once others start spinning tales about them. Often, the truth doesn't seem to matter once people have already made up their minds about someone, and this book reveals the real damage that that can do.
Though the characterization of the queen bee did seem a little juvenile at times, I think this book is overall progressive and bold. Mathieu doesn't shy away from teenage sex and sexual experiences, but instead confidently and unapologetically explores the pleasures and challenges her characters face.

Rating: 4/5 stars. A short book that packs a big punch.

Looking for Alaska, by John Green

As a big fan of The Fault in Our Stars, I've been wanting to read more of Green's work for a while now. I picked up Looking for Alaska first, because I had heard someone say it was even better than Stars. The narrator is Miles Halter, a sixteen-year-old boy from Florida who convinces his parents to let him attend an Alabama boarding school called Culver Creek, the same one his father had attended in his youth. The book tells the story of Miles's first year there. Though he becomes good friends with his roommate, nicknamed the Colonel, as well as a couple of others, it is the Colonel's friend Alaska that fascinates him. She is unpredictable, wild, fiercely loyal, and a mess. (I have to admit, I didn't quite share his fascination. I found her pretty annoying at times.)
In many ways, this book has a completely different feel than The Fault in Our Stars. It's hard to explain, but something about the narrator's voice, the boarding school setting with its lack of cell phones, the constant presence of cigarettes, and more makes it seem like this book could have been written fifty years ago instead of nine. The story feels in many ways like it comes from an older tradition, more Catcher in the Rye than Fault in our Stars contemporary.
That being said, there certainly are some noteworthy overlaps between Alaska and Stars (SPOILER ALERT). A couple of phrases ("I love you present-tense," for instance) literally repeat in Stars (which came later), and then of course there is the presence of teenage death. Green seems fascinated by the ways in which death affects the living left behind, and as with Stars, I think he explores this subject in a thoughtful and genuine manner in this book. I just hope I don't continue to see dead teenagers when I read his other books; Green is a talented writer, so I would hate for his stories to become repetitive.

Rating: 4/5 stars. Seems more suited to older teens and adults who like YA lit than younger readers, but I'm sure younger readers would like it as well. An engaging, well-written book that I devoured in a single sitting.

Adult, Fantasy:

A Song of Fire and Ice, Book I: A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin

Game of Thrones, Game of Thrones... how do I begin this discussion? Anyone who hasn't heard of this series by now has been living under a rock. A Game of Thrones was published back in 1996, but the series has exploded in recent years due to the hugely successful HBO television adaptation. It's difficult to summarize the book, because the story and the world it takes place in are quite extensive, but I suppose it's fair to say that most of the action revolves around the Stark family. Eddard Stark is Lord of Winterfell, one of the Seven Kingdoms that the King reigns over. When the King appoints Eddard as his Hand - essentially his closest advisor - Eddard and his two daughters move south to King's Landing, while his wife and three sons remain at Winterfell. This really only scratches the surface of the story, but suffice it to say there is adventure, treason, murder, incest, castle politics, and more in this powerhouse of a novel.
Because of the book's sheer length (over 800 pages in my copy) and the enormous breadth of the story, I feared it would be a dense and slow-going read. On the contrary, it is extremely readable and difficult to put down. Part of this is, I think, due to the fact that the chapters are told from different characters' perspectives, and part of it is undeniably due to Martin's amazing ability to tell a story. He works with an incredibly vast cast of characters and locations, but he writes of them all with just the right amount of detail. When you read the book, you get the sense that Martin knows the backstory of every character major or minor, that he knows exactly what's going on throughout the kingdoms at any given moment. He is in complete control and navigates his tale with masterful deftness.
Though I watched the first season of Game of Thrones after finishing the book and agree that it's very good, I really wish more people would read the books the show is based off of (and indeed remains faithful to, at least in season one). As for myself, I've decided to watch a season of the show only after finishing the corresponding book. And believe me, it is 100% worth it.

Rating: 5/5 stars. Please don't be daunted by the length. The book is truly even better than the show, and just as gripping, if not more so. Fair warning for more squeamish readers: the book has its fair share of graphic scenes, of both the sexual and violent varieties. To Martin's credit, though, they rarely feel superfluous.

Graduated College... Now What?

It has been a month since I graduated college. It's hard enough for me to believe it, but apparently it's even harder for strangers considering all the comments I receive about how young I look. (An annoyance which will have to be saved for another post.) My friends and I have been in school for the past seventeen/eighteen years of our lives, and now, with the exception of those going to some sort of graduate school, we're finished. So what are we supposed to do now?

The answer overwhelmingly seems to be to Get A Job. Of course, we need to be able to support ourselves and start our career track. Fair enough. But does this have to happen right away?

It seems to me that the primary focus for those who attend college is on having a job lined up for you immediately upon graduating. I want and need a job of course, but there are other things I want too. I want to finish tweaking my book, which I wrote four years ago but haven't had time to dedicate to fixing it up. I want to travel, oh man do I want to travel. I want to see things and experience things and, God forbid, take a couple months to celebrate the end of my college career, refresh after eighteen years of school, and consider my options. I feel guilty for having these desires, though, because most of my friends already have jobs. I don't. It isn't for lack of trying, but the fact of the matter is that I have been out of college for a whole four weeks and am still unemployed. 

So why do I feel guilty? After all, to want a break after a long period of intense work is natural. I feel like it's because this country has an obsession with working. As far as I'm aware, people in other countries take breaks. Here in the States, though, so often it's all about working yourself into the ground. (Unless you're an overpaid CEO of a major company, but I digress.) 

I fully understand that I am coming from somewhat of a privileged perspective to feel entitled to a break, and I don't deny that many people don't have the option to not work straightaway. I'm certainly not made of money myself. I just wish that more people did have the option. To not just work round the clock, but to live a little too. Financial security is undoubtedly a necessity, but what about psychological well-being?

So I will continue to try to Get A Job. I want one, I need one, and it is expected of me. But I may not find one for a little while. And in the midst of all my friends going off with their awesome jobs, I'm going to stick to my belief that that's okay.