The Unlikely Hero of Room 13b by Teresa Toten

Adam Ross has a real problem with OCD. He goes to weekly support group meetings that he hopes will one day "cure" him. Then one day a gorgeous girl walks in, and her name is Robyn Plummer. Adam immediately falls under her spell. But with his threshold and ritual issues, his mom's hoarding problems at home, plus the divorce, Adam doesn't know how he'll manage to win over Robyn. Not to mention the threatening emails his mom has been getting...

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I think that this book has some interesting qualities about it that made me enjoy this book. First of all, I was intrigued about Adam's OCD issues; for example, every time he walks into certain buildings and through certain doors, Adam needs to perform rituals in order to 'safely' walk in. He has to tap out specific patterns and execute movements so precise that if he makes a mistake he'll have to start all over again. Some people may find these parts repetitive as they do happen often, but I enjoyed reading them. 

However, this book did have some not-so-good qualities that I thought dragged on the story and at some points made it frustrating and boring to read. For example, Adam's mother, Carmella, has a hoarding problem and she and Adam live alone together. I personally think that Adam wishes to get away from the bad environment at his mom's house and she just drags him down with her, pleading him not to tell anyone or she'll be taken away. This worsens Adam's OCD problem because he's always stressing about his mom and Carmella makes him feel guilty about staying over a this dad's on the weekends, where the environment is better and you can tell Adam is a lot happier. For this reason I felt very frustrated with Adam's mom. Also, what happens at the end, (no spoilers) confirmed my frustration.

All in all, it was enjoyable, but the boring parts in the middle made it that much harder to like. One things that I thought this book did well was explain OCD and it helped me understand the what people are going through. Not many books talk about OCD so I thought that was a unique factor. 

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Pages: 262

Author: Teresa Toten

Published: 2013

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book Stats:  Title: Coraline
                    Author: Neil Gaiman
                    Publisher: HarperCollins
                    Page Count: 160 (10th anniversary edition includes +27 pages of reading group guide, a
                                         Q&A with Neil Gaiman, and an exerpt from The Graveyard Book.
                    Release Date: January 24th, 2002
                    Series Status: Stand alone 
 Summary: (taken from Goodreads): Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures.
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Book Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having already watch the movie when I was younger, it was fun to compare what was the same and what was different. This story, though short, was filled with details and morals that make it equally fun for adults or children to enjoy. The setting was very original and was described with the perfect amount of imagery to clearly picture it but not too much so that you'd get bored. The charaters were very vivid and felt like real people, and the "other" parents were equally scary yet very interesting. You always wanted to know more. 

The world that Gaiman created could house many different stories, even with the ending of the book. That is when you know that a setting is done well, when there is a possibility to continue on. 

One of my favorite parts of this book was the foreshadowing. Like I mentioned, since i had already watched the movie I knew what would happen at the end, (this did not impact my reading experience) and it was cool to be able to identify the foreshadowing that Neil Gaiman expertly weaves into the story.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a nice story before bed or a mild fantasy to keep you entertained.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

  

Library Haul

Hello fellow bookworms,

Recently I renewed my library card and got a whole bunch of books from my local library.
I'm super excited to read them and share them with you all.
Here are the books I got:

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Winger by Andrew Smith

Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

The Ominous Omnibus by Lemony Snicket

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I've already started reading Sabriel and so far I'm loving it! I think after that I'm going to read Winger, then Four, then The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and finally The Ominous Omnibus.


I've also acquired 2 books from the bookshop, one for my summer reading program for school, and the other for pleasure reading.
The one I got for school was: The Unlikely Hero of Room 13b by Teresa Toten.

And the one I got for pleasure reading was: Days of Blood and Starlight by Lani Taylor
(The Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)

Have Fun Reading!
Enrica

What I'm Currently Reading

Hello fellow bookworms,

I thought it would be nice if I gave you guys a heads up on what I'm reading at the moment:

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

14,000 Things to be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer

Ça by Stephen King, translated by William Desmond.
(english version: IT by Stephen King)

Have fun reading,
Enrica