John Green. (Author focus)

Welcome folks to another, author focus and in this edition we're looking at the Y/A (young adult) author, John Green.

You may know John Green from his book, The Fault in Our Stars, which of course was made into a film and went on to sell ridiculously well, and very good it is too, but, luckily, there are more books to explore and enjoy.

Don't let his target audience put you off either because, for those who don't know me, I can tell you, I am far from a young adult, but reading John Green still puts a smile on my face, and a frown come to think of it.

In England we have just been treated to a new eight-part miniseries based on John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, which wasn't bad, but whatever you may think of that, please don't let it put you off reading the book because, in my humble opinion, Looking for Alaska is his best.

It deals with death, alcohol, teenagers finding their place in the world and it touched a nerve with me, there seemed to be an honesty about it, it felt raw, which I liked.

Turtles (for short) runs it a close second, dealing with anxiety and mental health issues with aplomb, and has I think, influenced many an author I have read this last few years.

I found, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Town quite formulaic and so less enjoyable but they are a quick read and all I want sometimes is a little teen angst to get me through the day.

So, The Fault in Our Stars, the big one, the movie one, the book most of you would have heard of. As I said above, The Fault in Our Stars is a good book, the subject matter (children dying of cancer in case you didn't know) is sad but handled in an interesting way and I can see why this book has found fame. I found Augustus and Hazel's relationship believable and you feel the emotion throughout the book, that one of them may die, but their obsession within the story about a fictional book about a girl with cancer did annoy me somewhat.

Overall though, I can recommend John Green to all, regardless of age or gender, just don't stick to The Fault in Our Stars, the world is bigger than that.

The Hate U Give, book review. (Angie Thomas)

There is a lot of love out there for this book, on Instagram, Goodreads and the likes but I only found some of it; let me explain.
Going to parties is not Starr's thing, and we soon find out why. Shots are fired, a teenager is killed, and in the mayhem that follows, she and a friend, Khalil, manage to escape, only to be pulled over by a cop a few streets away.
The premise of this story is that when Khalil leans back into his car to ask Starr if she is alright, (the cop having given no reason for stopping them), whether the cop felt he was a conceivable threat, or just shot him because he was black.
The shooting, the emotions that follow, the characters in general and Garden Heights, where Starr and her family live, are all very believable, but there’s other aspects of this book that are even better, more realistic.
When Starr's friends' find out she’s dating Chris, who’s white, there are all sorts of accusations, and when her father finds out - something she and her mother have deliberately kept from the dad - the shit hits the fan, albeit temporarily, and this I thought was very clever, because as we all know, the reality is that there is a fear in any ethnic group of outsiders, strangers, and although that fear can sometimes be overcome by being civil and wanting to learn, it quite often boil over into the hate that this book draws its name from, racism.
The protests, the verbal and physical threats that follow Starr through the book, are both edgy and believable, but the scene that created the most tension for me, that was genius in its simplicity, was when Starr's father is made to lie on the pavement by two cops in broad daylight, in front of his children and neighbours, for nothing more than a perceived argument. Again, as is so often the case, less is more.
So the author handles riots well, convinces us of the injustices of law enforcement, uses a subtlety around emotions, and has believable characters, so, why not five stars?
Two reasons: Firstly, this book has the story the characters and the trials and tribulations of a Y/A novel, but it's littered with far too much profanity. Call me old if you like but, The Hunger Games dealt with death, torture, maiming and worse, but never felt the need to use the F-word once, let alone the many times you see it here. Secondly, the 'N' word. We're told not to use it, that it is racist, defamatory, ugly, all sentiments I agree with, so why is it here? For an adult book, fine, go for it, knock yourself out, but for Y/A, I say no.
So, four stars then, for this tightly written rollercoaster book of emotion, fear, racism and understanding.
I hope the film is half as good.

Turtles All the Way Down, book review. (John Green)

Sorry I've been absent for a while, but I've been writing a lot recently and the books I've been reading are like doorsteps, and as I read at a snail’s pace, it takes me a while to get through them. Anyway, with that little update over, let's move on to John Green's, Turtles All the Way Down, (one of the smaller books I've consumed in the last few months).

You'll know John Green from, The Fault in Our Stars, of course, which is a fine book, but, Turtles All the Way Down, is just as good, if not better, (my favourite so far is, Looking for Alaska). Turtles All the Way Down, follows Aza, who, along with her best friend, Daisy, go in search of a one hundred thousand dollar reward, that's being offered in connection with the disappearance of her old classmate's father.

Within a handful of pages, you're sucked in to Aza's world and can't get out (don't want to get out) and it's like we become her friend, the third person in the room, the fly on the wall, and before you know it, you've turned the last page and cursed the author for not having a more extensive back catalogue.

But Aza has issues, (what teenager doesn't? I hear you ask, and this is teen fiction after all), but here, I think John Green handles these issues with conviction, and you find yourself mooching along in the poor girl's head, feeling hot when she's hot, scared when she's scared and just a little freaked out when she goes a bit nuts.

Aza and Daisy have a massive row, there are boys, a possible romance brewing, mental illness, jealously, the fear of success, of moving away when school finishes, doctors, mums and a missing billionaire to find, and John Green just makes it all so believable. He has a knack of making his characters and the world they inhabit so relatable, that the book just runs away with you, and then, when it’s done, (Note to author: your books are too short), you hanker for more. The author is so good in fact, at writing teenagers, that I have to question whether he's still one himself!

A solid four stars then for, Turtles All the Way Down and a good read however old you are. Next up from John Green, Paper Town; yeah!!!