Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Book Review: Galagolia-The Hidden Divination by Dubai Abulhoul

Overview:

It’s the story Maitha BinHumaid, a ten-year-old Emirati girl living in Deira, Dubai.Growing up, she was told that her mother had died soon after her birth. After the death of her father, Maitha finds a portal
to Galagolia, a new world, and learns that, all along, she had known nothing abouther life and that she has inherited the throne to Galagolia. But can a ten year old really handle that responsibility? Can Maitha handle reuniting with the mother she’s never met? Why was her mother
held captive in Galagolia all this time? Step into the spellbinding fantasy, and self-discovery and join Maitha on her journey of dangers, deception,, and sacrifice.Galagolia is a world you do not want to
miss!

I was grateful to know about Galagolia through Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature. Galagolia is written by a fifteen year old author. AMAZING RIGHT? She was inspired by Harry Potter. (Pretty awesome right? Potter fans RULE :P) I met the author and get this book signed. I must say I really enjoyed reading this book as well.

First of all, I have to start my review with the setting:

I loved how Dubai Abulhoul added and was influenced by the Emirati culture throughout the book. You could see Emirates in the book. The people, the culture, everything. This is before the protagonist enters the other world, Galagolia.

The Characters:

Maitha is our main character. She is ten years old. I think Maitha was portrayed very well. She represented an Emirati girl in an accurate way.  Maitha is sometimes annoying with her cheekiness and bossiness toward people, but she is tolerable afterall.

Hamad, Saeed, Meera, and Rashid are Maitha's family. Saeed and Rashid her brothers, Meera her mother, and Hamad her father. Saeed and Rashid don't have much of an appearance throughout the entire book, but they might be important in the future books. Meera and Hamad perfectly portray the parents' love towards their children.

The World:

Galagolia is a very original fantasy world. I loved it. It is full of unique creatures and fantasy elements. I loved the idea of the falcon, horse, and camel.

The necklace was pretty awesome too. I liked the description. The red color. What it did was pretty awesome too.
I also liked how the spells were in Emirati. That was very smart.

The Ending:

The ending was a cliffhanger. I really want to know what happens next.
All in all, great book. Get it if you live in the UAE.


Sunday, March 11, 2012

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Overview:
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Before I start my review, I have something to say: READ THE BOOK ALREADY IF YOU HAVEN'T.

I REALLY loved this book. This is more than a book. The content is too precious.

On with my review:

The Story:

The story talks about Hazel, a girl who has survived cancer. She has pushed back her cancer.It talks about her struggle and life. It also shows the life of people suffering from cancer.

The Writing Style:

I immediately fell in love with the writing style. That first sentence sucked me right into the book. I can't even explain how amazing the writing style was. I'd like to point out two things about why I loved the writing style:

1- John Green masters talking in a girl's point of view. I don't know how he does it, but I know one thing: this is a rare talent. Not every man can talk in a girl's point of view and not every woman can talk in a guy's point of view. I really could listen to a girl's thought as Hazel was narrating.

2-This book was full of amazing quotes. Touching quotes. I usually write down quotes that I like from books, but this time there was just too much. Eventually, I started marking the quotes I liked with sticky notes. There are just way too much.

My favorite quote in this book is the following quote: “There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.”

That's just written way too perfectly and beautifully, isn't it?

The Characters:

I'm going to talk about about the three main characters:

1-Hazel Grace: Hazel is the protagonist in this book. As we know, she has fought her cancer. I thought that Hazel's voice was unique. It was unique, but I didn't exactly like her at the beginning, but I think the development and change in her character made me really like her by the end of the book.

2-Augustus Waters: Augustus is Hazel's lover. I think that their love was very deep and emotional. Augustus also suffered from cancer (I can't recall what type). Augustus was a really cool character. He was that kind of character you'd love to read about.

3-Isaac: Isaac is Augustus' friend. He also suffered from another type of cancer. I think what was amazing is the fact that John Green showed the struggle each character went through with their different types of sickness. Isaac is a fine friend. If you want to befriend someone, you have to befriend Isaac.

The Mood:

The mood and theme in this book was pretty sad and depressing. I do not like happily ever afters. I hate them. I'm not saying I'm all for depressing books, but this book was just REALLY realistic. Also, this book made me tear up. This never EVER happened to me before. The words were TOO powerful.

This book was a perfect book. FLAWLESS. I couldn't put the book down. It moved me, changed how I think.

Grab your copy ASAP.