'Believe' was an interesting tale about a girl who was the only survivor after a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. There were so many parts about this book that I enjoyed, but there were also parts that I really had to think about - things that distracted me from enjoying the book totally.CharactersJanine was a strange character for me. There were times when I felt quite connected with her and other times, where I just didn't like her at all. But, I think that was what made her so realistic to me. She had her strengths and her flaws. There were a couple of flaws I didn't like and that was how she forgot her friends, because something more important to her came along, and how she always seemed to live in the past.At the same time, though, I didn't really like her friends either. They kept expecting a lot from her - making conditions on their friendship, not to mention using emotional blackmail. They knew how she felt about some things, but wanted to use her anyway.'Samantha turned to me. "That's why we were thinking...Janine...if we had to be a spokesman of sorts...someone famous...to raise some awareness..."Actually. We. Need. Someone famous. A spokesman.This was a thinly veiled hint--an emotional ambush.' 30%Janine was aware of what her friends did to her. She had said no to different things all the time, but still her friends, friends who were supposed to understand, asked things of her that they knew she hated. This was a common thread throughout the book. I know there was a lesson about friendship, and about using fame, in this book, but I just didn't buy into it.There is one character I would like to give special mention to and that is Emma. Emma was a character that I loved straight away, even though she wasn't in the story very much. Her beliefs came through strongly. In some ways I thought what she had done was stupid, but I could understand why she had made the choices she had.Writing StyleThis was told in first voice. First voice is used to make the reader connect to a character. As I said above - sometimes I was, sometimes I wasn't. I liked the dialogue, but found the back story to be info-dumped (although, not to a terrible degree like I've read in others) It just wasn't very emotive. For a girl to have gone through what Janine had, I just wanted the writing to be more powerful. I wanted to be able to cry at what Janine had been through, but I didn't.I still liked the writing style enough to stay intrigued with the book until I had finished.PlotThis was very good for the most part. There were definitely multiple themes to it, including one main one. The only problem was that it started falling apart towards the ending of the book. The ending felt too rushed. Almost like elements of the book were missing. Or maybe it was open-ended and therefore open to interpretation. Either way, I didn't like it. The thing that saved this book for me was the fact that the plot was unique. I have never read about a book that been based on faith-healing. It was fascinating to read about people who had faith in something that seemed so unbelievable, but that's how miracles can be born.ReligionOkay so if you're not into religion in books then this book definitely won't be for you. It is heavily a part of the story, which is kind of to be expected when the plot is about faith-healing. Now, I don't mind a faith-based book, but even I found this heavy-going. Every time I got into the story it would become more religious and it totally put me off. It made me enjoy the book a lot less than I would have normally. Boring/Not BoringHmm tough call here. It had moments when it was both. When I think of the book as a whole, it wasn't bad. Was it raging with action and adventure? Nope. It was more spiritual than anything else. And no romance. None at all. If there was I missed it.OverallOverall, I have to say it was okay. It wasn't my favorite by any means, but it wasn't the worst either. Do I think it could have been executed better? Yes. But it was still interesting to read and I did enjoy it for its unique take on something that sadly happens more often then it should. I would recommend this book to people who like strong faith-based novels.Now for my rating:Two out of Five starsThis review can be found here:-http://magicalmanuscriptsandwritingthings.blogspot.co.nz/
A Reader's Heart
Focuses on reviews of Young Adult novels with honesty and integrity. My ratings and reviews vary on how I feel about the book.
'Believe' was an interesting tale about a girl who was the only survivor after a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. There were so many parts about this book that I enjoyed, but there were also parts that I really had to think about - things that distracted me from enjoying the book totally.CharactersJanine was a strange character for me. There were times when I felt quite connected with her and other times, where I just didn't like her at all. But, I think that was what made her so realistic to me. She had her strengths and her flaws. There were a couple of flaws I didn't like and that was how she forgot her friends, because something more important to her came along, and how she always seemed to live in the past.At the same time, though, I didn't really like her friends either. They kept expecting a lot from her - making conditions on their friendship, not to mention using emotional blackmail. They knew how she felt about some things, but wanted to use her anyway.'Samantha turned to me. "That's why we were thinking...Janine...if we had to be a spokesman of sorts...someone famous...to raise some awareness..."Actually. We. Need. Someone famous. A spokesman.This was a thinly veiled hint--an emotional ambush.' 30%Janine was aware of what her friends did to her. She had said no to different things all the time, but still her friends, friends who were supposed to understand, asked things of her that they knew she hated. This was a common thread throughout the book. I know there was a lesson about friendship, and about using fame, in this book, but I just didn't buy into it.There is one character I would like to give special mention to and that is Emma. Emma was a character that I loved straight away, even though she wasn't in the story very much. Her beliefs came through strongly. In some ways I thought what she had done was stupid, but I could understand why she had made the choices she had.Writing StyleThis was told in first voice. First voice is used to make the reader connect to a character. As I said above - sometimes I was, sometimes I wasn't. I liked the dialogue, but found the back story to be info-dumped (although, not to a terrible degree like I've read in others) It just wasn't very emotive. For a girl to have gone through what Janine had, I just wanted the writing to be more powerful. I wanted to be able to cry at what Janine had been through, but I didn't.I still liked the writing style enough to stay intrigued with the book until I had finished.PlotThis was very good for the most part. There were definitely multiple themes to it, including one main one. The only problem was that it started falling apart towards the ending of the book. The ending felt too rushed. Almost like elements of the book were missing. Or maybe it was open-ended and therefore open to interpretation. Either way, I didn't like it. The thing that saved this book for me was the fact that the plot was unique. I have never read about a book that been based on faith-healing. It was fascinating to read about people who had faith in something that seemed so unbelievable, but that's how miracles can be born.ReligionOkay so if you're not into religion in books then this book definitely won't be for you. It is heavily a part of the story, which is kind of to be expected when the plot is about faith-healing. Now, I don't mind a faith-based book, but even I found this heavy-going. Every time I got into the story it would become more religious and it totally put me off. It made me enjoy the book a lot less than I would have normally. Boring/Not BoringHmm tough call here. It had moments when it was both. When I think of the book as a whole, it wasn't bad. Was it raging with action and adventure? Nope. It was more spiritual than anything else. And no romance. None at all. If there was I missed it.OverallOverall, I have to say it was okay. It wasn't my favorite by any means, but it wasn't the worst either. Do I think it could have been executed better? Yes. But it was still interesting to read and I did enjoy it for its unique take on something that sadly happens more often then it should. I would recommend this book to people who like strong faith-based novels.Now for my rating:Two out of Five starsThis review can be found here:-http://magicalmanuscriptsandwritingthings.blogspot.co.nz/
