Book Review: Why We Took The Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf

Why We Took The Car

Wolfgang Herrndorf

256 Pages

Published January 7tth, 2014

A beautifully written, darkly funny coming-of-age story from an award-winning, bestselling German author making his American debut.
Mike Klingenberg doesn't get why people think he's boring. Sure, he doesn't have many friends. (Okay, zero friends.) And everyone laughs at him when he reads his essays out loud in class. And he's never invited to parties - including the gorgeous Tatiana's party of the year.
Andre Tschichatschow, aka Tschick (not even the teachers can pronounce his name), is new in school, and a whole different kind of unpopular. He always looks like he's just been in a fight, his clothes are tragic, and he never talks to anyone.
But one day Tschick shows up at Mike's house out of the blue. Turns out he wasn't invited to Tatiana's party either, and he's ready to do something about it. Forget the popular kids: Together, Mike and Tschick are heading out on a road trip. No parents, no map, no destination. Will they get hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere? Probably. Will they meet crazy people and get into serious trouble? Definitely. But will they ever be called boring again?
Not a chance.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from Why We Took The Car, but it sure was a surprising read. The story starts off hard and fast, with our main character, 14 year old Mike, being interrogated by the police. He's clearly badly injured and immediately tons of questions popped into my mind. Why is he hurt? How badly? What is such a young kid doing at the police station? What the heck did he do to land himself in such a serious situation?!

Sadly, my questions weren't answered for quite some time.. and I think that was the big beef I had with this book. I don't tend to be the most patient person, and I was a little ticked off and quite confused when the story shifted to a completely different area of this kids life. We're lead on to see how his life was before, for much of his childhood. We get probably over a third through the story before we even get a hint of what started this journey, why he and Tshick stole a car and how they wound up at the police station and eventually the hospital.

Once we finally get the ball moving, Why We Took The Car was a fairly decent coming of age story. The writing style was simple and pleasant, and you could really tell that it was told from the point of view of a young teenage boy. Many of the things.. ok.. pretty much everything, Mike did was pretty stupid, but hey, that's how a lot of youngsters are, eh? It was a bit weird that he just went along with what Tshick said without much questioning, but I decided not to be bothered by that. Instead, I let myself be swept along with them on their road trip across Germany.

Things moved pretty fast in the second half of the book, the two boys always on the run from any cops they caught a glimpse of. Some pretty strange stuff ended up going down, some of which wasn't all that believable, but still.. awesomely strange things always happen in road trip stories. Though lots of self reflection happened on the part of Mike, I didn't witness too much character growth, which disappointed me a bit. After all the reflecting her had done, I was hoping for him to think more highly of himself. Even at the end of the book he was hung up on how "boring" he was. Judging by his recent trip, I'd say he was anything but boring.

Though not a favorite of mine, Why We Took the Car was still an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. If you're looking for a crazy story full of thrills and silliness, sit down with this one and be prepared for something truly unique.

Book Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

All Our Yesterdays

Cristin Terrill

368 Pages

Published September 3rd, 2013

"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.
Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was.

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.

This book confused the hell out of me when I first started reading it. Right away we jump straight into the action with some pretty intense scenes, and though it was confusing and I had no clue what was happening, I was still riveted. Slowly things are revealed to us and my knowledge and understanding grew. I may be a bit slow at times, but I think I was 75 pages in or so before I really got what was going on and who was who and such. After that.. things got so so so good!

All Our Yesterdays is a story about time travel. I should have gathered that through the cover, but I didn't. Since I jumped in blind, this may be why I was so confuzzled in the beginnings chapters. Chapters break between two viewpoints; that of Em and that of Marina.. two of.. the same character. Yup, they're the same character, just from two different periods of time.

Em and a boy named Finn are being kept in a dungeon type area and are regularly tortured. Em sees a drain in the middle of the floor that she is oddly drawn to.. because she has hidden a message from her previous self in it but just doesn't remember. The story basically follows the duo (Finn and Em) escaping from the clutches of their captor, "The doctor" and trying to change history and save the world. In short, they are trying to stop the time machine from ever being made, because with it the world turns into a pretty dark and scary place.

Was I the only one who knew who The Doctor was really early on? Like, as soon as I started reading about another key character, I knew who he was.. he just had to be. When it was finally revealed, I shouted Ha! and got some pretty strange looks, but it came as no surprise.

The story line did a great job of moving along fast, jumping along from place to place to keep your attention. I read this in two sittings, the same day, and though the beginning was strange the rest of the story more than made up for it. I'm sooo glad I picked this one up.

Book Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren Destefano

Perfect Ruin

Lauren Destefano

356 Pages

Published October 1st, 2013

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.
Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

I really enjoyed the Chemical Garden trilogy by Lauren Destefano. Her writing style is unique and absolutely captivating, I'd go as far as saying her words have a lyrical tinge to them. Of course I was super excited about this one when I first heard about, months ago. When I saw it on sale for $1.99 for my brand new Kindle I snagged it up immediately.

Perfect Ruin is about a 16 year old girl named Morgan who lives on a floating chunk of earth, or island as some might call it. The whole premise of this was so different from anything I'd ever read before, it really helped draw me into the story asap. People are free to do almost anything they want here, but there are rules and regulations as there are in any society. It is said that no one can leave, due to the wishes of the "sky gods". People really believe in these gods and it keeps them from jumping off the edge.. that and anyone who jumps off the edge is seriously messed up for life afterwards and they never make it off the island.

One of these jumpers is Morgans brother, Lex. He's kind of crazy, an author who has now gone blind due to jumping. He's supposed ot be on medication; the whole family is; but none of them take it. Later in the story a girl is found murdered on the train tracks, something that never happens in Morgan's society. Soon the governmental forces are trying to figure out what is going on and.. things get crazy.

I loved the characters in this book, though Morgan wasn't my favorite. I loved Basil, her best friend who she's set up with to marry. He was calm in the most heated situations and you could tel he was truly in love with Basil; he'd probably do anything for her. I also loved her best friend Pen, a spunky and at times over emotional character who always tried to stick by her side.

There is a lot of action in this tale and it was confusing at times, but I still ripped through it in a day. Lauren Destefano has done it again, and I can't wait for the second in the series!! Especially with that huge cliff-hanger..