The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Book review #33
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
Rating: Five stars (refer to the rating system on the right)

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)
Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated polygamous community without questioning her father’s three wives and her twenty brothers and sisters. Or at least without questioning them much—if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her 60-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family. 

Oh.my.god! I literally feel nauseous, in a good way if that's even possible. The Chosen One was one of the most interesting books I've ever read. A few days later and I'm still amazed just thinking about it. I was let into a whole different world, so different than most of us are used to. It was somewhat disgusting, heartbreaking, and honestly inspirational.

Thirteen year old Kyra is content with her life in the community. She does what she's supposed to do...er except from the sneaking library books, seeing a boy after dark, and wishing the prophet was dead. Kyra just continues on with her regular life until the prophet makes a special visit to their place claiming he had a vision she was saved by becoming her sixty year old uncle's seventh wife. Kyra can't stand the thought of marrying her old creepy uncle! She doesn't even like him, let alone love him. Kyra must choose between her family and her own sanity.

Kyra, first off, I'm so proud of this girl! She's so brave and outspoken. I feel like if I was living in the community, I would have had the same feelings as her. Most people in the community would have accepted marrying their nasty uncle, but Kyra has other plans. Uncle Hyrum, I can't even barely bear to write about. This character is burned into my mind, and not in a good way-at all. He really is creepy and disgusting. Violence is his only answer to discipline, even on poor babies. Every time he tried to touch Kyra, I would literally cringe.  I couldn't believe he wanted, no insisted, on the marriage. As for the prophet, I think I may even hate him more than Uncle Hyrum. I couldn't believe people actually had to look up to him and follow him. Joshua was so sweet, he brought more of the normal to the book. Lastly, Patrick was one of my favorite characters. As the only contact outside of the community, and the driver of the library on wheels, he became Kyra's good friend.

The community was extraordinary. Almost everything was considered a sin. Women weren't allowed to show skin. Books were banned and considered the words of the devil. There weren't even mirrors allowed! According to them, you had to have three wives to go to heaven and kids were born almost every minute. And of course a female couldn't even gaze upon a boy.

One of my favorite parts of  the book was the role books played. Kyra would sneak books from the library on wheels, located outside the community-where she snuck out to. She would run back with books and hide them under the tree where she would escape into the wonderful world of reading. It helped her feel better about life. Could anyone imagine not being allowed to read?

The scenes and descriptions were so powerful. They were kind of disturbing to a point. The beatings were horrifying and made me want to curl up into a ball crying my eyes out. The preachings were just crazy and don't get me started on the scenes with Uncle Hyrum. The book got crazier as it went along. I thought I had gone through the worst, but boy was I wrong. This is a definite one-sitting read, or as my sister Sophia described, a not move a muscle for two hours read.

The Chosen One is so unique and extraordinary. My heard broke into a million pieces. Tears flowing down my face for so many different reasons.  This will leave you thinking. Thinking about all the other places out there, about the world we live in, and how lucky we truly are. This is a book everyone should read. Please, I'm almost begging you, pick this one up! You won't be disappointed.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Book Review #25
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Rating: Five stars (refer to the rating system on the right)

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined. 

I feel amazed, beaten down, and not fully recovered after spending my Tuesday evening reliving the last seven days of Samantha Kingston life. I almost don't know what to say. Before I Fall is truly unique and unlike any other book I've ever read. Without a doubt, it has made my list of all time favorite books. I've read amazing reviews about Before Before I Fall, but I still felt uneasy-I mean how could a book tell the story about the same day over and over again and not get boring? Well I sure was wrong, everyday was better than the last; the same, yet so different at the same time. Before I Fall went through so many twists and untwists, but more importantly it taught you the most important lesson of all: to not take things for granted and to try to fix your life, before it's too late.

Samantha Kingston is a popular, "has it all", high school senior. She wakes up on February 12th, with her biggest worries being about how many roses she will get and her big night with her boyfriend Rob. As the day goes on, things don't turn out exactly how she planned. To top it off Sam and her friends get into a terrible accident. When Sam wakes up the next day, she can't believe she's in her own bed. She is amazed to discover that the date is yet again February 12th. As she relives the same day over and over, she starts questioning the kind of person she is and eventually realizes it is not too late to change.

Ok at first, I can't think of many people that actually liked Samantha. She was a shallow, self-centered, and not very nice, BUT, I guarantee by the middle of the book you will honestly love Sam. Her transformation really is amazing and it's not done in a forced predictable way either. Instead of focusing only on her self, she tries to help others and save their lives. She is given second chances over and over again, something not many people have.

As for the other characters- I loved each and every one of them. Although Sam's friends were popular and rich, they had their faults. They were just like some of our friends. I loved loved their relationship between the four best friends. Yeah they fought, but they were always there for each other, and they honestly had so much fun together that it reminded me about my own friendships. Don't forget about the romance either. I didn't like Rob her boyfriend at all, but Kent on the other hand was one of my favorite characters. He was an adorable dork that was mostly a mess, but he has always had a crush on Samantha- for the real Samantha. I even loved Izzy (Samantha's little sister), she was the cutest thing ever! I have many younger nieces and nephews myself and the idea of ever losing them really hit me hard.

Not only did Before I Fall have an amazing plot with romance, humor, and inspiration, but the writing was simply amazing. I mean could you imagine reading a 500 page book and wanting more. I literally could have read another couple hundred of pages of this book. The memories and back-stories, along with the sarcastic relatable dialogue really blew me away. I was so into the characters I almost wanted to jump in to the book and at points yell at Samantha for doing something utterly crazy.

Just thinking about reading Before I Fall makes me smile and feel all fuzzy inside. All the crying and hard-thinking was done all from this one book. I learned so much-I had no idea the smallest things could affect someone's whole life for years. I honestly could just go on for days about how great this books is. I still find myself thinking about it two days later, and I'm sure for much longer. If you haven't picked this one up yet, what are you waiting for?