Wake by Lisa McMann

4/5*

Recently, I bought Wake for three bucks at Books-A-Million. Let’s just say I love that store’s bargain tables recently. The book was in perfect condition. Later that week, I found Fade and Gone, the sequels, and snatched them up, too. I’ll post my reviews of them later…I plan to read them before I leave for Kentucky on July 5.

Wake follows the life of Janie, a girl who intercepts other people’s dreams. She isn’t trying to do it, and she doesn’t even like to do it. And it’s getting old to her—especially the dreams about falling or being naked in a crowd that everybody has. She simply picks up people’s dreams if she is too close to them.

And the dreams are beginning to get frightening.

She picks up on a dream that is horrifying to her, and she doesn’t know who is having it, until the monster gets a face. And the face is one of her good friends.

There are lots of complaints in reviews about the writing of this book; like that McMann uses sentence fragments too often. That didn’t bother me at all, actually, but it did bother me was when she wrote like this sometimes: I hate. When. She. Writes. Like. This. Yeah, that’s seriously how some of the book’s sentences were. And it’s only a couple of times, but it’s enough to bother me.

Overall, I think that the book deserves better reviews, because it’s interesting. I loved the idea and the story, actually. I may be biased, though, because I’ve always been extraordinarily interested in dreams. (By the way, lots of the stuff they talk about in the book is possible, like changing your own dream and telling yourself what you will dream about, and that you will remember your dream. Just a cool fact.) I started the book last night and finished it this morning. For me to have that much concentration, it has to be a good book. And I think that Wake definitely was.

Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford

4/5*
In a recent impulse buy of mine, Jeff wakes up in a hospital. No, not just a hospital. The nut house.

Jeff isn't crazy. That's what he tells the nurses, the psychiatrists, and the patients. But the cuts on his wrists tell a different story. As the story progresses, Jeff begins to open up to the place in a somewhat predictable fashion. Slowly but surely.

This book is packed with dark humor remnant of but stronger than It's Kind of a Funny Story. Many times this book had me laughing, but it's also quite serious at times. The book is light-hearted while covering a heavy subject, which is hard to do. The only problem that I have is that maybe it was a little bit too light-hearted, which makes the subject matter seem like less of a big deal.

The characters are funny and likeable, especially the patients. I really enjoyed most of the characters, although a few of them (Namely Rankin) seemed somewhat dull and flat. However, Sadie's character made up for that if you ask me.

Overall, this is a good book, although there are parts that I didn't like. I don't know what it is, but something about this book just didn't meet my expectations. However, the writing is good, and the humor is good, so I gave it four stars. Still, there are only certain people I would reccomend this book to.

When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

5/5*
I won this book in a giveaway on Goodreads. I loved the idea of it and the story sounded interesting enough.

Here's a description, because this book is hard to describe:

"Young Elly's world is shaped by those who inhabit it: her loving but maddeningly distractible parents; a best friend who smells of chips and knows exotic words like 'slag'; an ageing fop who tapdances his way into her home, a Shirley Bassey impersonator who trails close behind; lastly, of course, a rabbit called God. In a childhood peppered with moments both ordinary and extraordinary, Elly's one constant is her brother Joe.

Twenty years on, Elly and Joe are fully grown and as close as they ever were. Until, that is, one bright morning and a single, earth-shattering event that threatens to destroy their bond for ever.

Spanning four decades and moving between suburban Essex, the wild coast of Cornwall and the streets of New York, this is a story about childhood, eccentricity, the darker side of love and sex, the pull and power of family ties, loss and life. More than anything, it's a story about love in all its forms."
The book begins innocent and moves on to a darker theme. It is written in two parts, part one follows much of Elly's childhood, and part two follows a period of her adult life. I was hesitant to read Part Two because I had read reviews on the internet saying Part Two isn't as good as the first part. I wholeheartedly disagree; It's just as good, maybe even better. It's sadder, that's for sure, and it doesn't hold the humor so much as the first part, but that's fitting for the events that go on in it. I think that's why the second half of the book gets so much criticism.

The book covers so many events, some of them historical, some of them close to the fictional family, that it keeps the reader interested throughout the entire book. This was one of those books that I didn't want to stop reading until I got to the ending.

Quite frankly, this is one of the best books I have ever read, and I am afraid that it will go unnoticed by many readers. The writing is fantastic, and the story is incredibly quirky and brilliant. Readers, I beg you, pick up this book. Miss Winman, I beg you, never stop writing!