Crossing (book review)

picture courtesy of examiner.com

I always like reading books exposing or showing different cultures such as in the case of Akata Witch or The Housekeeper & The Professor. I learn something new through the characters or even the environment they are put upon.

Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda does that. Written in the first person narrative, the novel is told in the voice of Xing Xu who alongside his family and friend, Naomi Lee, is a Chinese immigrant. Naomi and him are the only Chinese immigrants in a usual all-white school. And as another year begins, students start to die unexpectedly, reporting before their death a man with a red jacket. As the story progresses, Xing finds out many things of people and of himself that will amount to an interesting ending of the book.

When I read the first page, I got interested. However, as I read more I got more into the book. This book has impeccable vocabulary that it took me back to Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (and that book had so much vocabulary).

The mystery part of Crossing isn't focused on the murderer but rather the after effects that affect the main character. There is a struggle to fit in with a community that has never really seen people from a different ethnicity besides Xing and Naomi. This book got me to see more of the clash between "U.S. land of the free" and the reality of immigrants here. Fukuda did a wonderful job giving a realistic tint to a YA novel. Most YA novels deal with angst and fitting in but this novel deals in a deeper angst: one of living with a constant struggle of fitting in  that is harder to fix than a makeover. After all you can't change where you come from.

I definitely recommend this book if 1. you want to learn new words like "vociferous," "visceral" or "ephemeras"; 2. you like mysteries and ...3. you don't like perfect endings because this book did not end in a happy "perfect" ending. I can write so many more reasons as to why you should read this book but in the end: I rather you just try for the sake of another adventure on the go.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Hey there book lovers! Hope your summer is starting well. There is some interesting mysterious news going around lately. 

the book series (courtesy of hippiesbeautyandbooks blog)

For those of you who have read The Mortal Instrument series composed by Cassandra Clare: The Mortal Instruments will be adapted into film. Yes, folks, adapted into film. It is now in the process of production to be later on released next summer. And there is already two actors assigned for the main characters.

Lily Collins
(courtesy  We Fancy Books Blog)

Lily Collins (Mirror, Mirror) will be playing Clary Fray and Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd) will be playing Jace Wayland. There are already rumors that Chris Riggi (Vampires Suck) will be playing Alec Lightwood. As for the rest, there is still a casting process going underway. The film is said to be mostly filmed in New York and Toronto but settings along with the role casting may still be changed since it is in its beginnings. 

However, for you New York and Toronto fans: there will be look outs and hiring of extras. If you want to be part of this production and maybe even get paid for it, you can check Acting-Auditions site for more news and updates.

Personally, I am not much of a fan of book-into-film transformation. BUUUUUT, I do recommend for those who haven't read the series, to check it out. This series is epic in delivering supernatural action packed adventure with some romance as a side dish. I haven't finished reading or keeping up to date with the series since City of Glass, but I will be finishing this summer with the accomplishment of keeping up to date with it (expect the review this fall!).

Jamie C. Bower
(courtesy of We Fancy Books  blog)

As for now, just hold on to your seats: this is going to be quite a surprise. (I really had to be corny! lol)

(Note: If you want to be kept directly in check with what's going on for The Mortal Instruments film, check out this website. If not you can always hit "like" on the facebook page

Popping Like A Tropical Bird in the Jungle

It has been quite a while since I last wrote a book review, and for that I apologize for my disappearance. But enough excuses! Today, this blog post is a book review on an interesting book I recently finished, titled Hot House Flower & the 9 Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin.

hard cover version

Written in first person narrative, this novel focuses on the spiritual journey of a Lila Nova, who is a 32 year old divorcee living in downtown NY. After spending some time wandering around Union Square, Lila finds a plant vendor who introduces her to the world of exotic plants. After that, Lila ends up surrounding herself with the mystical and spiritual aura of plants, discovering all sorts of crazy spiritual happenings. Through out the book, Berwin makes sure to express a strong sense of spirituality not only in the plants Lila discovers but in the metaphors and symbolism behind them. Each chapter there is an image of a plant with a description of it or a refrain hinting at what Lila might do next. Of course, there are moments where I question whether to dislike or like Lila for the irrational actions she makes. In the end , I found there is so much more that I loved or found interesting in this novel I lost a bit a focus on Lila. Like for example, Armand, the old man who helps Lila on her adventure finding the 9 plants of desire; has a few or rather many of the great quotes in this book. There is even a recipe on how to make chocolate out of cacao beans. I definitely would recommend this book to any other person whose into spiritual romantic adventures that have more substance than the sex scenes in it, which this novel sure had a few erotic moments. Nevertheless, this novel is worth getting hooked on.

Til Next Book Review,

Miss Bobo

P.S. check out the book trailer!