Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Flowers for Algernon

Author: Daniel Keyes

Published: May 1st 2015 (o: 1958)

Synopsis:

With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance--until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?

Buy on: Amazon

Review:

I tend to avoid tear-jerker books so I held off from reading Flowers for Algernon for years. But now that I'm specifically looking for books that will make me cry and because I've just finished reading Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything which basically was my final trigger, on one hand, this was a disappointment. However, on the other, Flowers for Algernon brings a story that's unlike any other and in that regard, this was anything but a disappointment.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Published on: Published September 1st 2015

Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Synopsis:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: The Crown's Game

Author: Evelyn Skye

Published on: May 7th 2016

Published by: Balzer + Bray

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository 

Confessions by Kanae Minato: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Confessions

Author: Kanae Minato

Translated by: Stephen Snyder

Published on: August 19th 2014

Published by: Mulholland Books

Purchase link: Amazon

Synopsis:

Her pupils killed her daughter. Now, she will have her revenge.

After an engagement that ended in tragedy, all Yuko Moriguchi had to live for was her four-year-old child, Manami. Now, after a heartbreaking accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation.

But first, she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that will upend everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.

Narrated in alternating voices, with twists you'll never see coming, Confessions probes the limits of punishment, despair, and tragic love, culminating in a harrowing confrontation between teacher and student that will place the occupants of an entire school in harm's way. You'll never look at a classroom the same way again.

Review:

Just a heads up that this is going to be spoilery. It’s up to you whether you continue reading or not. I was also spoiled prior to reading this but that never prevented me from being surprised by this book. Spoiler starts after the read more button!

As someone who’s pretty much always updated with anything that has something to do with Japan, I really cannot explain how this book escaped my radar. Confessions by Kanae Minato was originally written in Japanese, published on 2008 in Japan and it even had a movie adaptation (which I’m also not aware of until now.) The book was then adapted into English and was released in 2014.

Confessions is told in an alternating point of views. The first POV was of Ms. Moriguchi, the class adviser, whose 4-year-old girl died from the school grounds because of drowning presumably because of an accident. Her POV focuses on telling the class the real story of how her child died; that it wasn’t an accident but a murder, and that the murderer was a student in her class. The following POVs are then focused on the events that come after the day of Ms. Moriguchi’s confession which was also her last day in teaching at the school.