aliciaclarereads's Reviews (1.25k)

Adorable. Seriously. This book is the perfect balance of character growth and romance and just a well done YA novel. If you don't like YA, then don't read it. But it you want to read a story about a fun girl and a cute boy, in Paris nonetheless, then definitely pick this one up. Or if you want something light, fun, and incredibly fluffy.

This book is exactly what it appears to be. There is no deeper meaning, no hidden message. This isn't Nobel Prize Literature, it's the story of a man and his dog. It's just a really good one.

Marley is an absolutely terribly behaved dog. His antics seem almost unreal, yet I can believe them as my dad tells a story when my parent's first dog ate drywall. Yet Marley is completely charming and endearing, and you can't help but smile. The book just isn't about Marley, it's about the lessons you learn when you have a dog, and how you grow and mature with them. Within 300 pages, you read the whole life cycle of this terribly behaved and you smile and laugh because you understand. If you've never owned a dog, or don't particularly care for dogs, then this is not the story for you. But if there has been a dog that's touched your heart, or you've had to put a dog to sleep, then this story will pull at your heartstrings. I have no problem admitting I cried for the last few chapters. I'm just a sucker when it comes to a dog dying.

I only picked up this book because The Hunger Games is constantly compared to it, and many Japanese readers felt that Suzanne Collins stole the idea. While the basic idea is similar, kids forced to fight each other to death by a totalitarian government. But these books are very different. For one, Battle Royale is incredibly violent. All of the deaths are described, with gory detail. Yet it didn't make me uncomfortable, but rather drew me into the book because i was so entranced with who was going to die (and there were a lot that did). Also, the book is told in third person, so it allows you to see different students at all times, despite the main character being Shuya. The Hunger Games really focuses on the corruption of the government, and starting a revolution, whereas Battle Royale focuses on the actual battle and the thought to overtake the government is a distant dream. It made the situation seem somewhat more realistic.

I really loved this book. It was so entrancing (even though I felt there were mistakes in translation sometimes, because certain words just sounded incredibly awkward) and I couldn't stop reading it. The violence didn't seem over the top, in fact it felt very necessary for the tone of the book. There are more students than Hunger Games, so you get a wider range of personalities. From a psychological perspective, the book is completely fascinating and rather Lord of the Flies-esque (except, this book is tolerable). Plus the ending was so well written, and had well placed twists.

Since this book was originally Japanese, the names can get confusing (the way American names would probably sound to the Japanese). It didn't help how incredibly similar some names were: Yukie, Yuko and Yuka, then Yumiko and Yukiko. That bothered me, and it bothers me in English when authors give similar characters too similar of names. But it doesn't really take away from the book. Oh and everyone is in love with Shuya. Everyone. That seemed rather excessive.

I'm kind of disappointed to give this book three stars. It was really different than I expected. If she writes a sequel, I'd definitely read because I would like a story about the mob.

The one thing I loved was the world Zevin created. Unlike other teen romance dystopian novels, this seemed so realistic. It's world I recognize, but everything is hard to come by. And no chocolate. The horror!

I did like this book much better than the first. I enjoy Bosch's writing, and I was cracking up during a few of his asides. I still don't know how much I like Cass and Max-Ernest though. I feel like this is one of those series that as the plot thickens and the characters develop, I'll grow really attached. Just currently I'm not in love with the characters.

And I can admit, it would be far easier to just look up spoilers and find out what the Secret is, but I'm genuinely curious and expect this series to have a Lemony Snicket worthy ending.