ARC Review: I am Pusheen the Cat by Claire Belton

I am Pusheen the Cat by Claire Belton
Release Date: October 29th, 2013
Publisher: Touchstone
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

This collection of oh-so-cute kitty comics—an online cult phenomenon, now for the first time in an adorable gift book—Pusheen combines the online reach of The Oatmeal’s How to Tell if Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You with the super-sweet appeal of Hello Kitty.

With more than 2 million page views a month, 500,000+ blog subscribers, and 500,000+ Facebook followers, Pusheen is a pleasantly tubby gray tabby cat who has warmed hearts and tickled funny bones of millions worldwide with her signature GIF animated bops, bounces, and tail wiggles. Now, Pusheen is ready to make the leap from digital to print with her first comic collection!

I Am Pusheen the Cat features some of the most popular comics from the website, including Reasons I Love Fall, Career Options for Your Cat, and Christmas To Do List, as well as a healthy serving (at least 25 percent) of never-before-seen material that is sure to delight Pusheen’s many dedicated fans.

I don't like this book. 
It is evil.
Cats are children of Satan.

This book is full of evil.

I've come across the occasional Pusheen gif but had no idea a book had been made until I saw that Summer had reviewed it. I immediately requested it because let's face it a book full of Pusheen Gifs is totally worth it.

I read little by little each day until yesterday. I cracked yesterday. I read more than half of it at once. It was addicting. It was awesome. It was full of cats.

You must be wondering why I don't like this book right? It's because it's full of cat cuteness. In fact this book is full of rainbows. Much like Pusheen in the image below.

The sad thing about this is that I don't have any cats. I've always wanted cats. In fact I'd like to imagine that when I am older I'll own tons of cats and become the crazy cat/book lady. I'll shoo the kids out of my backyard.

It's not fair that I have to read a book full of such awesomness and not have a cat to snuggle up to.

Anyways, all you cat people out there, READ THIS. You cannot resist this can you? And you dog people? You might just come over to our side once you read this awesome book. 

Discussion: The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta
Release Date: March 1st, 2010
Publisher: Viking
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

The award-winning author of Finnikin of the Rock and Jellicoe Road pens a raw, compelling novel about a family's hard-won healing on the other side of trauma.

Award-winning author Melina Marchetta reopens the story of the group of friends from her acclaimed novel Saving Francesca - but five years have passed, and now it's Thomas Mackee who needs saving. After his favorite uncle was blown to bits on his way to work in a foreign city, Tom watched his family implode. He quit school and turned his back on his music and everyone that mattered, including the girl he can't forget. Shooting for oblivion, he's hit rock bottom, forced to live with his single, pregnant aunt, work at the Union pub with his former friends, and reckon with his grieving, alcoholic father. Tom's in no shape to mend what's broken. But what if no one else is either? An unflinching look at family, forgiveness, and the fierce inner workings of love and friendship, The Piper's Son redefines what it means to go home again.

Read along with Summer from Miss Fictional's World of YA books

A couple months ago, Summer finally jumped on the Marchetta train and seeing her read all these books by Marchetta reminded me of the fact that I had been putting off The Piper's Son for ages. Marchetta's books tend to be emotionally exhausting and I really didn't feel up to it on my own so I asked the wonderful Summer if she would be up for a buddy read. She said yes and we had the most fabulous time reading this awesome book. Today she'll be joining me for a discussion about the book (well technically we joined each other since this will be cross posted on her blog as well.)

Rashika: Ahhhh wasn’t this book AWESOME? I just want to hug it and cry.

Summer: I KNOW RIGHT! I really miss the Finch-Mackee family. :')

Rashika: Okay so I just want to start off by saying that doesn’t this remind you of On the Jellicoe Road? I mean what with a whole family being torn apart by a death it kind of does resemble the situation in Jellicoe. Maybe that’s why I am kind of on the edge about what to give this book. Jellicoe is way too close to my heart.

Summer: I'm still unsure if this was as wonderful as Jellicoe Road. My favorite part in Jellicoe was the flashbacks to give us a closer look into their family, but in the Piper's Son the story wasn't as heartbreaking as in Jellicoe. Wait, no, I don't want it to seem like I didn't like this, because I LOVED it, but maybe 0.05% less?

Rashika: Yeah the flashbacks were.. heartbreaking, I kept telling myself nothing bad was going to happen but it did and it broke my heart. That isn't to say this book didn't break my heart either. Marchetta enjoys shredding our hearts.

Rashika: There is so much heartbreak in this book. And half of the time it’s like there is this weight around your heart and it’s all you could do to not break down and cry for all of these characters.

Summer: That's the thing with Marchetta. She creates these characters that make you feel what they feel, it's this magical talent she has. So since most of this novel is  pretty sad, I couldn't hold in my tears. The hopelessness, the grief, the desperation, everything the characters felt, I felt.

Rashika: I’ll admit it. Tom and Tara’s story was not my favorite. In fact, I love Tom but at the same time he will never take Jimmy’s place in my heart. But Georgie and Sam. Their story. I cannot even. She explores something that a lot of people are touchy about, infidelity. There is so much anger and confusion between the two even 7 years later and why wouldn’t there be? Even with all that, they are having a child. At first I wanted her to lash out at Sam and get back at him for everything he had done but I realized that would be wrong, Sam is already miserable. Because for him to have his son, he lost the most important person in his life. He loves his son but he had to lose another person he loved to have him. Like Bill, who had to lose his best friend to gain a wonderful family, or Georgie who had to lose her brother for her to have the baby.

Summer: When I first met Sam, I wasn't the biggest fan of their relationship. Besides the fact that it wasn't the traditional first-love thing common in YA, I couldn't help but imagine him as a sort of antagonist. Then again, I kind of began to love him as the story progressed, just as Georgie's love for him was slowly being revived. This was a common quality for a lot of the characters; at first, I hated Sam and Bill, but as we got a closer look into their lives, we began to understand and empathize with them, which I think was Marchetta's goal.

Your point on how these characters had to lose someone to gain another is such a great and heartbreaking topic. The whole issue of loss in this book is so profound that I find myself tearing up just thinking about it. It creates conflicting feelings in these characters and in the reader as well because it makes us think, "If so-and-so hadn't died, would I have ever met this person?"

Rashika:   In the beginning I didn’t like Tom. I didn’t. The way he treated Georgie broke my heart. But as the author dwelled more into his story, you couldn’t help but fall in love with him. The boy who lost all his family. The boy who lost his hero. The boy who stayed behind to take care of a father who left him. But even with all that his story didn’t touch me nearly as much as Georgie’s did. Tom had friends who wanted to help him but he pushed them away. Georgie had no one, her mom left her to bring back her brother’s body. She had no one to turn to as she hit rock bottom, so she ended up turning to the very person who betrayed her. And it breaks my heart that she was busy taking care of everything when her own heart was breaking. There was no one who could stand by her side and comfort her because everyone was too busy dealing with their own grief.

Summer: I'll admit, Tom was an a-hole in this book. I don't remember him being that much of a jerk in Saving Francesca, but at the same time, I can't blame him. His life is tearing down before his eyes, and he can't cope with it. People have different ways of dealing with grief, so I guess he deals with it by ignoring his friends and putting on his facade of "I don't give a crap". Although, I agree with you that Georgie's story affected me so much more. She had to lift herself up, and at the same time trying to lift her loved ones up, and her immense strength really is commendable. I was disappointed that she had to turn to Sam for help, but I now know that he was and is perfect for her, as cheesy as that sounds.

Rashika: As someone who loves second chance romances, I actually enjoyed that part. I had no idea going into the book there would be one. Honestly the best thing about second chances are that they show that a relationship cannot be perfect. People make mistakes.

Summer: Exactly! And the thing is in this genre that the characters usually end up spending the rest of their lives with their “first love”, but really, how realistic is this? I love that Marchetta does not shy away from the harsh realities, and instead faces them head-on.

Summer: To Marchetta fans, I feel like it is kind of a big deal that she chose to go the third-person POV route instead of first-person POV. Small as a change it may seem, I'm still a bit unsure if this was the correct way to go. I'm used to reading their thoughts from one perspective, but now we get a more broader look into their world. I like it, but at the same time I miss the first person just like Jellicoe, Saving Francesca, and Looking for Alibrandi.

Rashika: Seeing that I liked Georgie’s story better I was happy but I’ve heard that Jimmy’s story might have 4? Or was it 4 main characters. I am slightly confused about that. I am sitting here trying to decide how Marchetta’s books order on my mental list. Jellicoe is without a doubt my favorite but… seriously, I cannot decide. Alibrandi has a special spot because it’s different from the rest of her books (it isn’t nearly as depressing) and well, this woman is a genius, it’s kind of hard to decide which one of her books I prefer.

Summer: Gahh hopefully her new book with Jimmy will live up to our really high expectations, but I have no doubt she’ll blow us away (again).

Rashika: Yes. Jimmy was my favorite character in both books (even though he remained absent in this one). I look forward to reading his story :D Anyways THANK YOU for reading this with me Summer! It was reallyyy funn and I enjoyed fangirling over Jimmy with you (and I am laying my claim on him as well) :P

Summer: Samsies! And thank YOU so much! (actually he is mine :D)

(I decided there was no point in fighting with a delusional Summer :P Obviously she cannot see that Jimmy is mine but I won't burst her bubble).

Thanks for joining us guys!

Review: The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Title: The Mad Scientist's Daughter
Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke
Release Date: January 29th, 2013
Publisher: Angry Robot
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository

Goodreads Summary

"Cat, this is Finn. He's going to be your tutor."

Finn looks and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task is now to tutor Cat. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, Finn is her guardian, her constant companion...and more. But when the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world, and in Cat's heart.

It’s been two weeks since I’ve read this book and I still don’t feel ready to write a review. I’d rather just post all the quotes I collected and force people to read this book. Because yes this book was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I knew that would be the case before I went in (I have good instincts okay?) but that still didn’t prepare me for the amount of love I would feel for this book.

I’ll admit I didn’t cry while reading it but I wanted to. I had class right after I finished this book and I was so worried I’d start bawling right in the middle of, and I did come close to doing just that. Even thinking about this book just makes me wish I could hug someone who understands why this book is so fucking special.

The thing is that there isn’t a particular scene or chapter that breaks your heart. The WHOLE book is heartbreaking. Finn is. Cat is. Everything about this book is. But then there are also those parts that make your heart soar.

I actually tried to take it slow but gave in to my need to know what became of Finn and Cat, but the book did last 3 days.

This book takes place over the course of many years, from when Cat was a bright little kid to when Cat became a subdued adult.

Cat is the daughter of two scientists. They’ve never had enough time for her and they don’t really believe in sending her to school so they get her a robot tutor, Finn. She thought he was a ghost at first and was afraid of him, she even went so far as to take him to a graveyard to see if he would move on but he didn’t. The fact that he could tell her tons of story convinced her to finally be his ‘friend’. She never really realized he was a robot though so she never understood why he gave her such detailed answers.  Here is a quote from the first scene that broke my heart.

      “You’re boring,” she told him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t wish to be.”

She learned at a dinner party that he wasn’t in fact a ghost but a robot and her first reaction was relief, she was relieved that her most favorite person in the world wasn’t in fact dead

“I don’t mind that you’re a computer.” She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his legs, leaning her head against his hip. He put his hand on her shoulder, and the weight of it seemed to sink straight through her.

“I’m glad,” he said.

But as she becomes older, she finds herself attracted to Finn which makes things awkward because how can you be attracted to a robot? I am not even going to rebuke her for thinking like that because there was a point early on in the book where I pondered that myself, I fell in love with Finn quite early on but it took me a couple of chapters to get used to the idea. But even with her own confusion about her feelings she was always protective of Finn.

She didn’t trust the grown-ups waiting in the house, the people who knew Finn for what he was the minute they laid eyes on him, the people who called him it.

But as she matures into an adult her parents start paying more attention to her. They don’t approve of her relationship with Finn and think she should spend time with people her own age. So after years of being homeschooled by Finn, she is forced to go to school where she doesn’t get along with most people. She even gets into a fist fight with someone who dared to insult Finn.

 Before I go on, I just want to mention her parents. They come off as unfeeling at first and I didn’t like them much but Clarke pulls it off, she doesn’t cast them as the normal cliché of absent parents, you come to understand why her mom was the way she was and even love her father, the mad scientist.

I could probably base this whole review on Cat’s life and fill it up with quotes but the point is that Cat spends so much of her time running away from how she feels about Finn. She dates people that look like Finn, marries a guy she doesn’t give a rat’s ass about who also turns out to be abusive. You want to shake her but at the same time you want to hug her. She is so lonely for most part of the book, going through the motions and not even realizing what she really wants. When she finally stands up for herself, I was so happy. I practically jumped out of my chair and.. ran around??

The thing about Cat is that she is such a human character, she screws up, runs away from her feelings, constantly deludes herself, isn’t particularly strong, in fact I don’t think you’re meant to like her, just understand her, but I ended up loving her even though she bothered me some. It’s because of the realness of her character.

“Yes,” he said. “A violation.” His eyes vibrated. “But how could you know that? You can’t be shut off.”

While this book is based on Cat’s life, this is definitely Finn’s story, and my god it’s a heartbreaking story. I realize I’ve already said that a gazillion times and now it just seems like I am shoving it down your throats but I feel the need to reinforce the point because it’s Finn that constantly breaks your heart, not Cat. The thing about Finn is that he is a pretty mysterious character, half the time it’s hard to figure out what goes on in his mind aside from his obvious feelings for Cat, but even then you cannot help but feel for him. He seems so human to us readers but people in his world don’t see that, to him he is just a mechanical unfeeling object and they treat him as such. And for the most part Finn readily accepts that because that’s what he feels defines him.

I realize I haven’t talked about much else, like perhaps the plot but I don’t even know where to begin with that, this book is like a coming of age story. Except both characters are adults (well one is a robot but you get what I mean). It’s a story about opening up to true love and looking beyond just yourself. It’s a story about finally being happy again. It’s a story about many goddamned things. Honestly this book reminds me so much of Artificial Intelligence, which was one of my all-time favorite movies.

I don’t even think what I wrote can be called a review, it’s hardly coherent and it was emotionally exhausting having to revisit everything that this book makes me feel, in fact I had goosebumps almost the whole time I was writing this review and right now my heart just feels heavy.

This book is heartbreaking and wonderful and I wish I could marry it (Finn). There I said it. It’ll stay with me for a long long time but if you’re not one for an angst filled book even when the main character is a grownup, skip this, or if you can make an exception (like I did), DO IT, READ THIS BOOK, LOVE IT, and cry with me over it.