Passing Strange by Daniel Waters (REVIEW)

Karen DeSonne is used to pretending to be something she’s not. All her life, she’s passed as a normal all-American teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing this time, as alive.

Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of anti-zombie regulations that have forced nearly all of Oakvale’s undead into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: betraying her love by becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is because the consequences would be even worse than death.

-----------------------------------------

MY THOUGHTS:

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The first two installments in the series was Okay, but this book really disappointed me.

Karen has always been one of my favorite characters. She's cute and fun and I always suspected that she had a thing for girls. When I discovered that this book would mostly be from her point of view, I was all like "Okay, I'm on board! Let's mix it up a little!" But as I began to read, I literally felt my eyelids closing. It took me nearly two hundred pages to even get interested, and after that I didn't hang on very long. There were several times when I shoved the book to the side and started reading another.

This book also focuses on Tak (one of the creepy zombies) and Pete (a psychopathic zombie killer person). Karen has to date Pete in order to get to the bottom of the charges that were pressed against the zombies in the previous book. I expected it to be sort of suspenseful and really make me feel the repulsion of having to date the enemy. Instead, there was absolutely no suspense whatsoever. Throughout the entire book it flips perspectives from Karen to Pete to Tak. With all three of those combined there was really little mystery left in the plot.

I found myself really missing Adam and Pheobe, because now that they're together and Adam is breaking all sorts of zombie laws, I wanted to see more of their story. But they are only really mentioned in passing.

A lot of the characters felt very flat to me in this story. Tak and Pete especially. I mean, we understand why Pete hates all of zombiekind and why he's going off and trying to eliminate them all. It just feels kind of pushed for me. "Oh, my girlfriend didn't come back so you guys are all evil." That doesn't even make sense to me. I feel like his motives were more crazy than justified.

Now, onto The reasons I liked it:

• The premise. I think the whole "trying to get zombies to fit in with society" idea is kind of nifty. I like that they're not "AHHHH BRAINS!" because, quite frankly, that kind of thing kind of makes me scared to go to sleep. I also like, in this book, the idea of a lesbian zombie. It's just unique.

My rating:

2 out of 5 stars.

Suzanne Collins, James Patterson, and Daniel Waters

Lately, without a T.V. or anything productive to do, I have been able to buckle down and do a very good amount of reading. I had been slacking a lot lately because I just moved for about the ten billionth time this year, and there were countless things that needed to be done.

But, after a good amount of time at the library, I left with a stack of carefully selected books.

First, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I know you are probably wondering how in the world I have just approached the wonderful series. Sadly, I have to admit that I was incredibly hesitant to read the book. I had no explanation for my reluctance; I had heard numerous fantastic reviews about it and the plot seemed interesting enough. I just couldn't bring myself to get the cover page. Perhaps it was the lack of mystical creatures or the surplus of action, but I just couldn't. I had checked the book out at least three times from the library but I never got around to reading it. Then, when I checked it out this time I promised myself that I wasn't allowed to read the other books I got until I read The Hunger Games.

It's safe to say that I am one hundred percent blown away by the first installment. I know I am not the first and I certainly wont be the last when I say it was the perfect young adult action novel. It had emotional depth and a love story that exceeds the expectations of all love stories. The whole book is about betrayal and trust, and unless you read ahead there is no way of knowing what is going to happen next or who is going to die next.

What surprised me is the amount of tears I shed while I was reading it. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I cried at least one time each chapter. Because really, how could you not tear up when there is this fifteen year old girl that sacrifices herself for her little sister and thrown into a barbaric game of slaughter, when the only hope she really has is luck. Granted, Katniss is skilled and resourceful and quite intelligent, but there were others who had been trained their whole life for the Hunger Games. It was really just an emotional ride for me.

My only regret upon taking that novel out of the library is that I forgot to snatch the following two, which were readily available for check out. I'm excited, though, to see how the story goes from there on out with poor, love-struck Peeta and poor, confused Katniss. I have been informed, though, that I will cry a lot harder and I will be tearing my hair out.


The second book was Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say what compelled me to take that book off of the shelf. I don't know anybody who has read it, and I could tell from the description that there was an extreme lack of romance. There wasn't particularly zero romance, it's just not the kind that leaves you at the edge of your seat with an "AWWW" threatening to burst from your mouth.

However, the novel was a surprising good and quick read. It was a very fast-paced novel with sneaky little tricks around each corner. The narration, in my opinion, was excellent, alternating between fifteen-year-old Whisty and her seventeen-year-old brother Whit. Very cute, very comical, very fun.

To say the least, I would recommend this book to those looking for  light read.


The last book I am going to discuss in this post is Generation Dead by Daniel Waters. Please, don't get me wrong, it was a good book. An original idea, cute little background. The narration just seemed so artificial to me. Like Waters was trying much too hard to sound like a teenager. I'm not really sure how I can explain how I feel about the novel. But I can say that I felt very disconnected from the characters. All, that is, except for Adam, who I felt was the best portrayed.

Even with that in mind, I'll admit that the end left me wondering what was going to happen next, and very much craving the sequel.



All three of the above books are worht reading, and I am happy I selected them. Input on my oppinons? Good or bad, you can leave it in a comment below.

-BookBreather