I have never condoned person and book relationships due to the many detriments they bring with them. I’m talking a bunch of tiny paper cuts, all over your face. However, I believe the day has come for me to change my tune.

One of my absolute favourite things about this book was the attention to detail, all the little ornamental bits that made every paragraph delicious. It should be noted that this book contains:

1. A dog that has the soul of Jay Gatsby
2. A debate tournament dress code violation in the form of a Gryffindor sweater
3. Numerous Doctor Who and other nerd culture references
4. PUNS GALORE

I spent a good portion of this book floating somewhere between wanting to punch Gabriel Merrick in the face and wanting to hug him and bake him cookies. Our pyromaniac always has the ability to bring up the most strong feelings due to his personality being so unpredictable. In Storm, I down-right hated him because, let’s be honest, he’s a dick. But somehow in Spark I started feeling differently. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t love Gabriel, but I don’t hate him anymore either.

Spark reminds me another book I’ve recently that features an anti-hero as its love interest: The Collector. The biggest difference is that Gabriel already has a past for really not being very well-liked in Storm. So he has to overcome a reader’s preconceived notions and I honestly didn’t think I could like this guy, even a little, after his behavior in Storm.

Attention Mister Rick Yancey,

I have kidnapped your review.  Your review is not harmed and shall be released as soon as you meet my demands.

In exchange for giving you back your review, which I am prepared to do, you will first need to provide for me:

1 copy of The 5th Wave #2 – undamaged, complete, unmarked (except for your signature or a stylized message to me).

This copy of The 5th Wave #2 must also contain certain characters unharmed and ready for me to snuggle them in my imagination.

Characters include:

Cassie – Because she’s badass

Zombie – Because he’s adorable.

Nugget – Don’t ever even think about hurting him.

Ringer – She is my hero.

The Silencer (I won’t mention its real name here so as not to spoil) – This character is essential.  Failure to provide this character will result in immediate disposal of your review.  I’m not even kidding.

While I most definitely do have a sweet tooth for all things romantic and gushy when it comes to YA, when I start reading a contemporary romance I always go in with two reservations: One, it might at times feel like a cycle of cliches and two, the plot will probably develop unnaturally.

But Eleanor & Park was a very different kind of contemporary romance than I am used to reading. Not only was it unique, the course of events felt natural and real.

The dual perspective between the two main characters strengthened each scene. Both Eleanor and Park were so distinct and well imagined, it definitely felt like they were real teenagers who I could bump into on the street. I loved how they were both quirky in completely different ways that complemented one another so well.

There were moments when I was frustrated with Eleanor because of how often she would push away or be rude for seemingly no reason, but everything she did felt true to her character, and reasonable considering her circumstances.

Where to even begin with piece of “literature”. The blurb painted the word picture that this would be a horror re-envisioning of Shakespeare’s best known comedy. I quote, “Get ready for laughter to turn into screams in R.L. Stine’s re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

Yeah, this is utter BS. I’m sorry, but it is. The only way in which this waste of a tree even vaguely resembles Shakespeare’s work is in the title, the character ‘Puckerman,’ who is neither Sprite nor Fairy but rather just a lunatic, and the fact that it culminates on midsummer’s eve (which is apparently the longest night of the year, because obviously that makes total fucking sense).

For this yarn Stine, the supposed master of horror (whomever gave him that title has never, ever read a work of true horror I swear), has attempted to engage the YA audience. Although I swear the reading of this feels more middle grade to me, but hey, maybe I think teenagers are more intelligent than Stine does, because this book sure as shit dumbs everything down.