Cramathon Wrap Up

In total during the 4 day Cramathon I only managed to read 4 books - a novella, a book written in verse, a graphic novel and a children's story. The book I didn't complete was the hardback as it is a well known fact that many hardbacks are long.

In this wrap up I will only be reviewing 3 books out of the 5 which are....

* Mums Don't Get Sick
* Killing the Dead
* The Iron Trial (AKA the hardback I didn't read on time)

First Book - Killing the dead

Killing the dead is a novella by Marcus Sedgwick that was released - I assume, due to world book day and the celebration of getting a free book with the vouchers provided for participants. 

I however picked the book up only 2 weeks ago, and decided last week that it was the perfect candidate for the cramathon. 

It is an interesting short story that takes place in an all girls boarding school that has been built up upon its reputation and wealth. It is set in the 60's exactly 100 years after the school was first opened in the 19th century and is celebrated every year on this exact date with a ceremony where a queen is crowned and is made to lead the whole school in  a positive direction. 

This day is now remembered for both it's historical importance and the suicide that occurred the previous year that involved the Queen for this event.  (therefore making this day of happiness a day of grief)

I read this book in one sitting realising it was 3am when I had finished...

I love how the story is told from different perspectives because it all ties in together with the major theme which is the fact that you can never really kill the dead because they live in your memories. 

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 star rating, because although I loved the plot and found it interesting, the short nature of the story didn't allow us to see the development of any of the characters. (which could be a deliberate thing to keep us as the readers on edge constantly.)  

Mum's don't get sick

As I said in my previous post, this was one of my favourite childhood stories to read when I was around the age of 5/6. 10 years later...and A LOT has changed. 

I had to give this book a rating of 1 out 5, because I was angry at the message it was giving a young audience. I found the message when I was younger normal, and not at all wrong in any way.

The book is about a mother who is ill, and therefore cannot do the house work such as cooking, cleaning and looking after the children. The daughter in this book finds this revelation almost as if it is the end of the world because she has the expectation that her mum should always be well enough to do these jobs and it doesn't even occur to her that her dad could maybe do it. 

With good intentions, she decides to help her mum out and her dad leaves her in charge of the chores whilst he goes out? 

She is like 6, so I found this extremely weird. 

Once he comes back and see's the mess that has surprisingly occured due to leaving his 6 year old in charge. 

He now deems it fit to help out. The mum feels slightly better and can now return to the chores in a constant cycle. 

Of course if she genuinely loves doing so that is fine, but it was the daughters reaction and the dads lack of helping that annoyed me. 

The Iron Trial

This book was the hardback that I didn't complete in time for the cramathon - in fact I finished it 2 days after. 

I gave this book a rating of 4.5 out 5 stars, because it was A-mazing. The reason it didn't get 5 was because I have a feeling that the other books in the series will gradually get better - because that's just how Cassandra Clare rolls!

This book made me feel like this: 

This books series follows a character named Callum Hunt who was born with magic and is obliged to go and take a test to see whether he is eligible for the Magisterium (a super cool magic school). The twist is that his dad also has magic but has chosen to leave that world due to the death of Callum's mum 12 years ago when Callum was still a baby. He therefore makes the Magisterium sound as unappealing as he can so that Callum will be afraid of the place rather than drawn to it. 

I loved reading this book so much because it reminded me of Harry Potter. 

The two book series' are very different but give you the same feeling of innocence and magic in the first book when the characters are still young. 

Through out this book I kept thinking I knew what the twist would be, but nothing prepared me for the twist that actually happened which resulted in this sort of reaction. 

I also loved the book because I felt like I related to Callum, because he is friendless and picked on for something he can't control which I think is how many people feel in this day and age. 

Stay tuned for more adventures and posts coming soon!

Yours Faithfully,

~ She Who Writes