A Reader's Diary

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Reviews: Blood and Chocolate and Persepolis 2

Today's reviews:

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (horror/fantasy/youth fiction)

Summary: Vivian is a teen girl and a werewolf, member of a pack. When her father, the pack's leader, is killed in a fire and the pack is forced to relocate after two human girls are killed, Vivian meets a human boy in her new town. She begins to fall in love with him, even though her pack tells her that humans and werewolves cannot be together. She hopes that this boy is different.

My thoughts: I decided to read this novel after having it recommended to me a dozen times. It's an interesting story. The character of Vivian is a bit distant from the reader; it's hard to get too close to her, to really understand her and to empathize with her. She is moody, swinging from angry to violent to lovesick. The way the pack members are described made me not like them, yet Vivian seemed to care for them very much, which could be confusing. I just couldn't get too into the story, and found it hard to understand why this novel is a favourite of so many people. I hear there is a movie being made, and it will be interesting to compare the two. Overall it's an interesting story, especialy for horror, werewolf, or even vampire fans, but not a great as I had the impression it would be.

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel)

Summary: *POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING*
This book, the sequel to Persepolis, tells the story of a young woman who travels from her native Iran to Austria, lives in various places including a home run by nuns and on the street, makes friends with punks and anarchists, and takes up smoking. She then returns to Iran, tries to fit back in but is still different, gets married, then in the end gets divorced and realizes that she will need to leave Iran once again, as it is not the place for her.

My thoughts: A more mature book that the first one, which is fitting as the first was about growing up in Iran and the second is about Marjane becoming an adult. It was an enjoyable read, interesting and humorous, though at times sadder than the first book even though the death and violence of the first was more obviously tragic, making the contrasting humour funnier. I'm really getting to like the graphic novel format.

Happy Easter! And remember to post *comments* if you would like to see book giveaways here!

~Happy reading!

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