Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien

My suite mate works at a bookstore, and she was reading an advanced copy of the novel Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien. I saw it on the common room table and was intrigued, so she let me read it. It's a young adult dystopian novel about a sixteen-year old girl, Gaia, who assists her mother, a midwife. She must deliver the first three babies born every month to the Enclave, a walled city which she resides outside of. These advanced babies are taken from their mothers within the first 90 minutes of their lives. When Gaia returns after her first delivery by herself, she discovers her parents have been arrested and taken inside the Enclave, and she embarks on a journey to rescue them and discover the mysteries within the Enclave.

The inside flap included an editor's note describing the book as a cross between The Handmaid's Tale and Hunger Games. I've never read The Hunger Games, but The Handmaid's Tale was one of my favorite books that I had to read for school and I definitely see a resemblance between the two books. I liked Birthmarked, although at times I definitely felt like I was reading a book targeted for younger girls (middle school or early high school age). The world was interesting, intriguing, and my biggest problem with the novel as a whole would be underdevelopment. I wish I could have seen a little bit more of both the outside of the Enclave and within, as I feel my picture of those places is vague and gray around the edges (then again, this could be due to a fast reading). I also felt some of the characters were a little vague as well. Overall, I just wanted more, especially with the ending. I feel like it's open for a sequel as the ending does not really resolve much ... unfortunately the book isn't even out yet! So waiting for a sequel will take awhile. Alas.

While I did enjoy this book, I would recommend this book for younger audiences. It comes out March 30, 2010. If you liked The Handmaid's Tale, you'll probably like this one. See the book on Amazon.

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Books I've Read in the Past Week:

• Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
• Make Lemonade, by Virginia Euwer Wolff
• Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow, by CLAMP, books 1-6

I haven't read this much in such a short amount of time in awhile. It was nice to just be able to read a book and enjoy it, and not have to worry about analyzing it and whatnot.

I don't really feel like reviewing them. The first three are books all written in interesting formats - Go Ask Alice is in a diary format, published in 1971 and apparently based on a real girl's diary. It takes place in the late 60's and is about a girl who becomes addicted to drugs. A sad story. Perks of Being a Wallflower is in letter format; main character Charlie writes letters to an unknown person whom he admires for the fact that he could have gotten with some girl, but didn't. Of the all the books I read, this one was probably my favorite, though I'm not sure why. I guess I like the narrator's voice the most. Make Lemonade was formatted like poetry and is about a 14-year-old girl who babysits for a 17-year-old mother who is struggling to make ends meet. It was a good story but it was difficult for me to read it the way it was formatted. Although it is a fast read because of the format.

My friend lent me the Cardcaptor Sakura manga and I read it in kind of a nostalgic mood for my middle school/early high school years when I was really into anime (Cardcaptor Sakura being one of my favorites).

Anyways, I just wanted to post to show that I am still here, still reading. Sometimes its difficult for me to write about what I read. When I read, I get so into the story and the characters that it's difficult to kind of distance myself from them. It's an emotional connection and attachment. I haven't read this way in a long time, since mostly I've been reading for school, and it was nice to be able to do that.

Also, I'm currently reading Kushiel's Dart, by Jacqueline Carey. You'll note that I read the third book in the series (by accident) while I was in Wroxton. There's something that I envy about these books, as a writer, which is that Carey is able to just start the series while Phedre is a child. And she basically is chronicling Phedre's life and her growing up. It's a long book (and even part of a trilogy) and I thinks she's lucky that people are willing to read through all of that. Granted I have skimmed over a few passages that I feel are a little too descriptive. It would be interesting for me to find out a little bit information about how she got published.

I still haven't finished The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, which I first started in 2004, read until page 400-something, then just got busy/lost interest. I picked it up again last summer, and I have gotten to page 543 (note that my copy is 1462 pages long). I read a little bit now and then, and I have enjoyed what I have read so far, it's just intimidating when you read 100 pages and barely make a dent.

Yes, it is typical of me to read more than one book at a time (although this isn't really something I've done since middle school). It helps to have different things to go to, depending on my mood. I read the books I have in the past week, despite being in the middle of Kushiel's Dart, because I knew they would be fast reads (as they are young adult lit, and one is manga). So I knew they wouldn't be too distracting from my other readings.