i am not a bookworm!: alternate universe

Monday, October 2, 2017

Once Every Spring by Janell Michaels/Lisa Logan | ARC | A Book Review

Once Every Spring by Janell Michaels/Lisa Logan | A Book Review by iamnotabookworm!

This is my first time to read a Janell Michaels or a Lisa Logan. I got this as an ARC. Thank you again, Janell Michaels for the copy.

This story was not what I have expected. It is surreal. A really good magical realism. It's a very good take on parallelism. If there is ever a parallel universe or an alternate reality, I would gladly take this one. This is way way too good to pass up. It's the perfect alternate universe, if ever there is one. It is a reality where it makes you whole and a totally different person. A better or the best version of yourself in this reality and I too would be just like Adam, I would be loathe to leave the place.

This story seemed like a modern fairytale because of the touch of magic in it. I don't know what a jacaranda tree is and I am not sure if one even grows in the Philippines. The name itself sounds magical. So, I can't blame the author when she saw one and came up with this magical story. It sounds very Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish when I read how the author came to write this. Yes, we all want to channel that Anne of Green Gables in each of us, if only to make this world a little less wearying that it is.

If there ever is Spring here in my country, it would be my favorite season. I love to see flowers everywhere and even more--trees overburden with very beautiful violet flowers. I googled what a jacaranda looks like and even in the pictures it looks so so beautiful and I imagine being surrounded by it. Just like in the story, I can't help but feel beautiful and bask in its presence and beauty. As it turned out, there are actually jacaranda trees here in the Philippines. I may not have actually seen one around here in my city but I think I have seen one in St. Louis when I was there for a training years ago. I thought it was a cherry blossom but now I think it may just be a jacaranda in full bloom in spring with pink flowers. Whether the tree I saw was a cherry blossom or a jacaranda it was still magical and beautiful. Jacaranda flowers do not just come in pretty pinks or vibrant violets but they also come in yummy yellows and in refreshing reds.

If this story ever happens to me just once in every spring, I would blissfully endure all the other awful seasons just knowing that I could have one season or a year in the alternate universe to live joyfully and carelessly--devoid of any worries. It would be the reason for having the strength to continue just like Adam. The one break in the monotonous and the uneventful story of my existence. I will trade anything for it. I will trade this life for that "once in every spring" phenomena.

It's not obvious that I can relate to the characters, especially Adam. Like him, I too felt that and have asked if there is anything more to this life. In some way, I may have an advantage over Adam because I still have full control over my body but that does not mean that I have full control of my life and the events that happened to me. I have felt like or I still sometimes feel like I am floating in a limbo. I am still unsure what I want to do. It feels like everything I want to put my energy into is not working out for me. And if I get the same kind of magical chance like Adam and Dana did, I would surely take it with without blinking. I think I would take anything, at this point just to get out of this place where I am in.

I give the book 5/5 jacaranda trees. This story made me want to look for a jacaranda tree right now and hope that it would also bestow its magic on me and take me to a better reality than what I have right now. Yes, a better place, a better me and a better life. This is not a sad story but a very hopeful one. A kind where when you think you have reached a dead end in your work or life in general, this will make you pause and look at your surroundings differently. Just like Anne of Green Gables, you can't stop seeing the magic in things just because you are beset with problems from all corners. The beauty of nature will always surprise you. I for one, feel better just looking at flowers and a stretch of green.

Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head. The last thing I need is a delusion with delusions of grandeur.

- Janell Michaels, Once Every Spring -

Friday, April 7, 2017

Winter Falls by Jacque Stevens | A Book Review

This is my second book by Jacque Stevens. The first one was also a fantasy story but totally different from this one. The Winter Falls is a retelling of the story of the Snow Queen.

The story of the Snow Queen that I am familiar with is the one on the Chronicles of Narnia and Frozen. *Cue in background music for the "Let it go!" the sound track* I have also watched the movie where Emily Blunt played the role as Snow Queen opposite Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen. The difference between this story and other versions of the Snow Queens that were done is that on this version the Snow Queen is part of the four princesses that are responsible for the four seasons. This also included an alternate-universe-kind aspect--the real world and the fairy tale world co-existing in the same time and the portal to cross between these two worlds was through a broken glass shard.

What struck me most about this is the author's note. The author described how this story came about. This was written when she was going through hard times as cold and desolate as winter time. Then this book got published in summer which spelled a lifting of the coldness and the coming of warmth and good things in her life. What I love most about everything she said was that, like everything else, winter ends also. No matter how cold, bitter and desolate it could get, spring comes and melts all the terrible experiences and lingering feelings winter has brought. This is a story of hope.

In a lot of ways, I can closely relate to what the author is talking about. Winter--the all encompassing metaphor for the hardships, loneliness, separation and emptiness we experience trying to get through life. And like the seasons, life moves on and with it the changes that come forth. Some of these changes we should be willing to initiate to finally find comfort and warmth. Others we need to accept as challenges thrown our way. We may not like them but they bring some sort of blessing or force us to find strength from all the strangest places. Just like what happened in this story.

I enjoyed this! The part where the main character, Katie, ended up in another world was so exhilarating. In that alternate universe, she was able to confront her weaknesses and find her strength. I think a lot of people can relate to Katie. We all have our own fears and frustrations. Most of us have built walls to not be hurt again. To protect us from getting our broken hearts from further crumbling to dust. We have fashioned full-body armors out of desperation and depravity as defense from all the foes whether human or otherwise. We walk around carrying these cumbersome armors in the hope of resisting pain and discouragement, all the while adding to our burdens.

I give this book 5/5 mirrors. Knowing where this story came from has affected me most. It made Katie's character so relatable and got me so involved in her experiences. I guess, understanding what the author went through and having been through the same contributed to the depth and sorrow expressed in the story. Yes, reading this felt like winter--freezing, isolating, desperate and tormenting but also filled with hope, just like all other fairy tale stories. It's always darkest before the dawn but through it all, the morning sun rises with all its glory and melts all the darkness to oblivion. This also pointed out a lot of parallelism to real life. If you haven't known, fairy tales are taken from real stories. They just use a lot of symbolism.