Dracula by Bram Stoker [1897]

I don't think that I like this book as much as I liked it when I was fourteen. XD
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this book, I didn't even dislike it all that much. But there were a few things that bugged me a bit and a few other things I'm not sure how to feel about!
For things that I didn't like, first of all, way too melodramatic. I know that it's the 19th century and melodrama was about as in back then as stupid teen romance is in now. But I found many scenes that were supposed to be dramatic, well, I found them quite hilarious.

Now for the things I don't know how to feel about.
First off, this book has a lot of rather sexist tendencies. I know, and I know, 19th Century, product of it's time, blah, blah, blah. But riddle me this, Batman! If that's just how 19th Century female characters are, then how come The Count of Monte Cristo has so many varied and interesting ladies? Then again, maybe it's just the , and not the author, who are being unintentionally sexist. I mean, they are all very courteous and kind to the point of revering Mina. And Mina is one of the smartest characters in the book. I just lost it when a character made a remark about Mina being too frail and delicate in mind to help them in their monster-hunting work. Hello?! Jonathan Harker? He's a man, and he had a big ol' nervous breakdown towards the beginning of the book! Who's frail and delicate again?

Then there was the cavalier treatment of the Holy Eucharist. As a Catholic, (I know most of my readers probably aren't, but this is me explaining my issues with the book, and to do that I have to sometimes bring up Religious issues), I believe that the consecrated wafers used in Mass are in fact, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The way Van Helsing hands out consecrated communion wafers like Halloween candy for the others to use against Dracula, it made me think of a rather important question! Do Van Helsing and the others have actual faith in the Holy Items they are using to fight the monster or are they just waving them around the way you would use a magic wand? It kind of bugged me in a big way how casually they used the Holy Eucharist.

The Verdict: B-
Yeah, it was allright. I did appreciate all the Christian stuff in the book, aside from the possible irreverence. I liked this book MUCH better than Frankenstein, which I plan on Video Reviewing as soon as possible, but I don't know if I'm going to read this again any time soon.

The Picture of Dorian Gray [1891]

[DISCLAIMER: This review is going to have a bit of philosophical rambling, and while I have a basic grasp on the philosophies brought up, I am by no means a expert. If you happen to be one of those smart people who know a lot about philosophy, feel free to correct me, as long as you're polite about it.]

I've got a confession to make, though you've probably already noticed. I like creepy things. I like weird things. Stories like Coraline, Odd Thomas, or Pan's Labyrinth are kind of my thing. Make of that what you will. This attraction to the macabre is what led me to read this book, and let me say that it didn't let me down in that area. But it's going to take more than some creepy goings on to make a book a favorite of mine. My major issue with this book was, I suppose, the philosophy and characters.
I'm not sure that Oscar Wilde was trying to promote this philosophy or show what was wrong with it (as authors frequently did with their writing, back then). The most prominent philosophy in this book is Individualism, which I don't know that much about aside from what I've hastily researched and read in this book, and it kind of got on my nerves after a while. Individualism focuses on the importance of the individual, and while the individual is important, this philosophy bends a little too much towards Hedonism, for me.
This book seems to show the consequences of living by such a philosophy, and if that's the case, great. I have no problem with different points of view being discussed, except that no other alternative to Individualism is presented. I feel like if you're going to make a successful critique of a certain lifestyle, you should provide examples of different ones. Just my two cents, you don't have to agree with 'em.
Anyway... the story! Which is probably more important anyway. This book is well written (Nice, descriptive language) and fast paced; I was able to read through it in just a day and a half. It did hold my attention, which is always nice. Of all the characters, only one was really likeable. And he dies. And horrible things happen to him, even after he's dead. ._.
I'm not sure how I feel about books with next to no likeable characters. It's hard to be moved by or care about what happens in a story when the characters don't even resonate with you. Stories filled with horrid people can be interesting because of the satire that is usually in them, but they aren't usually every enjoyable books. You know, they're the books you read because they're interesting and important *cough*1984*cough*, but you don't really enjoy them. And because I myself am kind of hedonistic at heart, (Je suis une hypocrite) I like to actually enjoy the books I read.

EDIT: I was reading Peter Kreeft's The Philosophy of Tolkien, and I found a good reason why for a story to be great it has to have likeable characters you can identify with.

"[...] A great story must also have great characters or at least one great character (greatly drawn, at least) for readers to identify with, to find their identity in. We become the characters- in spirit and imagination. No story is great unless it sucks us in, takes us up out of our bodies, and gives us an out-of-body-experience, an ek-statis, standing outside yourself in another. Great stories give us the grace of a mystical experience, on the level of the imagination."

A story like this, or like 1984 may have some points that are worth making, but in the end, the stories we remember and love are the ones that suck us in. So there. ;)

The Verdict: C-
This book is certainly interesting, and who knows, someday when I'm older and less stubborn maybe I'll read it again and come out with a more favorable opinion. But until then... yeah. I'll shut up now and stick my nose back into The Two Towers. :)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman [2002]

Okay, so I'm not going in order with this reading list. I started LotR, but my copy has all three books in one, and as a result it's really heavy and hard to carry around so I decided to keep that one on the backburner. ... not like you were lying awake at night wondering what I'm reading, but I'm the president of this blog, so I call the shots. :P
So! Coraline then, yeah?
Well, despite the fact that I shrieked when I encountered my first Creeper in Minecraft, and cower behind pillows when my Dad and I watch The X Files, I wasn't actually that scared by this book. Creeped out and perhaps a little disturbed, but not terrified out of my wits. But before I start the review I should warn that this book is full of nightmare fuel. Chock full of it. I mean, just look at that cover. Yeeeks.
This book is about a girl (presumably somewhere between the ages of 10-12) who moves into a duplex. In an empty storage room she finds a mysterious door that leads to her 'other' house. It's where her Other Mother lives, with Other Father, and they've apparently been waiting for Coraline's arrival so that she can live with them and be their little girl. Of course, it doesn't take long for Coraline to realize that something is horribly, horribly amiss, yadayada.
I already reviewed the movie, and I just now got around to reading the book again. I had forgotten some of the things that happen, which is always nice when you're re-reading a book. Neil Gaiman's writing is nice and descriptive (though maybe a little too hung up on food. Seriously. Every meal gets described in great detail.) and paints a really good mental picture. Which is mostly a good thing, until you reach the part where Coraline gets sent into the cellar.
Allright, the last bit about the cellar makes things sound a little clichéd, but Coraline is actually one of the most original books I've ever read. As a writer I find it simultaneously inspiring and... not inspiring. Inspiring because it's possible to still write something with much originality. Not inspiring because well in all honesty, I don't think I'll ever write like Neil Gaiman. Saaaad...
Unlike the snotty reviewers on Amazon, I thought that this book did have something of a moral message. In the beginning of the story, Coraline was kind of a brat. Not going to lie. She was interesting, but she wasn't endearing. As the story goes on though, she learns to appreciate what she formerly thought was boring and normal. I thought it was a good message. I mean, sure. It's not Aesop, but why you would go hunting for morals in a horror novel is a mystery to me.

The Verdict: A-
I always have a hard time reviewing books that I really, really like, because I just kind of mindlessly ramble and never reach a point. In short, I like this book because it's quirky, scary, and an all-around enthralling book. It's also short, and you can read it in less than a day. ;)
I for one really like this book, but there are some distressing thematic elements that warrant discretion. If I had a kid, I would definitely screen this book before them and decide whether or not s/he could handle it.

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz [2003]

"There's nothing worse than being alone on the evening of the day when one's [statue of a] cow has exploded"
-Ozzie Boone, Chapter Fifteen

Ever read a book that you just kind of 'fall' in love with? The kind of book that even after you're done, you carry it around, read your favorite parts, and talk about it unceasingly- so much that your friends roll their eyes and plug their ears at the mere mention of _____ by _____ _______.
That was me with Odd Thomas, except that I don't think I rambled about it enough to bug my friends that much. ;)
The thing is, it's a very unique book. It's dark and suspenseful, but there's also a lot of light and idealism.
The story centers around a young fry cook named Odd Thomas, who lives in the California desert town of Pico Mundo. Odd (and yes, that is his real name) can see ghosts, and they often come to him seeking justice. There's also his sweetheart, Stormy Llewellyn. They're destined to be together forever, as states the card they got from the Gypsy Mummy at a county fair.
Yeah, sounds really campy, but trust me, this is a lovely, touching, and very thrilling book. However, it is of the horror genre, and is pretty freaky at times. So, as much as I love this book and it's sequels, I can't really recommend it to anyone, unless I know for a fact that they like books like this, or if they've read and enjoyed other Dean Koontz novels. (I have to say, Stephen King readers might actually find Dean Koontz tame in comparison.)
So. This book is written in the 1st person, and is very well written. It's almost poetic, and puts very vivid mental images into your head. It almost feels like Pico Mundo is a real place!
Something I really like about these books is that they're very fast paced. From the first chapter, things are happening, and they don't stop. That isn't to say it's a non-stop rollercoaster of terror and suspense. This is, as my sister would put it, a book that let's you breathe.
The characters are very interesting. Aside from Odd and Stormy, there's his overweight father-figure, Ozzie Boone- the one who convinced him to write this 'memoir'. There's Chief Wyatt Porter and his wife, and- believe it or not- the ghost of Elvis.
All my gushy praise aside, this book and it's sequels aren't really for everybody. Well, what I mean is that not everyone will like them. They're quite dark and even though there's a lot of humor, some might find it a little droll and off-putting. The inappropriate content is never discussed at great length though, and the books have very stable morals (by Christian and Conservative standards, anyway.).
Admittedly, there are some flaws, I am willing to admit that. ;)
For one, characters just kind of 'show up' when they're needed. This isn't that obvious, but there is one bit that I thought was way too convenient. Oh, Odd has this mystery card with braille on it? Good thing he's got a blind chum who works down at the radio station!
...Yeah, that was kind of pulled out of nowhere. But that's a very small gripe about what is as a whole a very good book.

The Verdict: A
Interesting, quirky, and completely unpredictable, Odd Thomas offers a very memorable and suspenseful story. The horror elements are balanced out by wit and romance, the end result being a very satisfying read. Like I said before though, I can't really recommend this book to anybody unless I know they won't find the horror elements distasteful.

Notre-Dame de Paris (by Victor Hugo) [1831]

Kind of a weird cover, but the longer
you spend looking at the detail,
the cooler it gets.

Notre-Dame de Paris, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is a sweeping novel about Gothic Architechture, The Printing Press, and why Louis XI of France was lame. There's also a little subplot about a teenage girl named Esmaralda, the troubled priest Claude Frollo who's obsessed with her, and a tragically deformed young man named Quasimodo.

In all seriousness, Monsieur Hugo likes to go off on diversions a lot. Some of them are pretty interesting, others are... not pretty interesting. I suppose he has that in common with Charles Dickens.

Diversions aside, this is a really good book (and even the diversions are good, I just don't have a very mature attention span). Contrary to what the English title suggests, the main character isn't the hunchbacked Quasimodo, but Esmeralda.

Esmeralda is stunningly beautiful, and also a very compassionate and trusting person. It's this kindness that causes Quasimodo to love her, and it's her beauty that infatuates Claude Frollo. However, Esmeralda fancies the handsome captain Phoebus, who's a stuff-shirted peacock. Well, not literally a stuff-shirted peacock, but he certainly is one in spirit. Here's where Esmeralda not only gets irritatingly stupid, but also painfully realistic. Despite the fact that he only wants her so that he can have some fun for a few nights, Esmeralda considers him her knight in shining armor because he rescued her from men who were trying to kidnap her (Frollo and Quasimodo, actually). In a climactic scene, Esmeralda's whole-hearted devotion and love for Phoebus gets her into a royal fruitcake of trouble. I thought that was incredibly stupid of her, but it makes sense in a sad way. Girls always stick by men who aren't necessarily good because they (a) Believe they can change them, (b) are desparete, or (c) Believe that their good points make up for any bad ones.

Claude Frollo is an interesting antagonist. We're told about his life, and from what we can see, he isn't a bad man. Unlike in the atrocious Disney adaptation where Frollo kills Quasimodo's mother then tries to kill baby Quasimodo, Frollo finds the abandoned Baby at the church and takes him in. When Quasimodo was growing up, he knew Frollo as the only human being who didn't treat him with disgust. So at first, Claude Frollo is not a bad man. He was stern and cold, but he was not evil. It was only when he let himself be carried away by an infatuation that his soul became twisted.

Then of course, there's Quasimodo. Esmeralda is the main character of the novel, but Quasimodo is who you think of when somebody says 'Hunchback of Notre-Dame'. Quasimodo is one of the most tragic characters that literature has to offer. Rejected all his life, only to lose everything that he ever loved in one bleak day.

The writing for this book is really good- I mean, it's a classic for a reason. It's well told and executed. Something I love about Victor Hugo's writing is how poetical it is, and also the vivid mental images in puts in your head. Your mileage may vary as to whether or not you like how unapologetically dramatic Victor Hugo's writing style is, but it really is a gorgeous book, and it smothered my soul with ennui. (See? I can be unapologetically dramatic too!)

The Verdict: A
Notre-Dame de Paris was one of those books whose ending left me kind of silent. You know, you finish it, and you can't quite believe that you just finished it, and you just kind of sit there for a while, mulling over the last few lines. Of course, I have to cut through my unadultarated praise and say that it wasn't without it's flaws. There were some pacing issues, and I found Frollo yelling "DAMNATION!!" as he fell to his death really cheesy in a not-so-good way. But this is a very good read, and I would highly reccomend it to anyone who doesn't mind soul-shatteringly sad endings.

Brother Odd (by Dean Koontz) [2006]

Not like you’d be able to tell as of yet, but I’m a titanic Dean Koontz fan. I haven’t read all his books (Because the vast majority of them are- ahem- inappropriate.), but I’ve read all the Odd Thomas books, the ones with Christopher Snow, and The Taking. My favorite one that I’ve read so far though, is Brother Odd.

Mr. Koontz is Catholic, and this is the book where it’s probably the most obvious. The titular character, Odd Thomas, has a great respect for priests and religious, and has a very conservative life philosophy.

Aside from being very intelligently written, the books are terrifically fun to read. I’m writing this review now because I just finished reading it to my Dad and younger siblings, who loved it.

Now, let me slow down and explain what this book is actually about.

Odd Thomas is a young man with the power to see ghosts of the dead- and spirits that foretell coming disaster and dead, called Bodachs. His complicated life has led him to seek solace as a guest in an abbey- St. Bartholomew’s. However, his days of peace are interrupted when he sees Bodachs lurking the grounds.

All the Odd books have terrific supporting characters, and this one is no exception. It’s got the former mafia goon, Brother Knuckles, the scowling Russian, Rodion Romanovich, and Elvis is still hanging around, too!

The plot is quite interesting, and is very fast paced. Though to be honest, there is a definite pattern of action, then slowing down to talk. For the most part though, I think that the book balanced the two really well. I love the part where Odd goes to the kitchen for a snack after a quick brush with death (Literally!). He and Romanovich have a really humorous conversation.

Now. The scares in this book aren’t as bad as they sometimes are (Odd Apocalypse had me a little spooked, that’s for sure!). But they’re still really suspenseful. The most frightening part is relative, since we all have different phobias. The part that freaked me out the most was when Odd was down in the Kit Kat Katacombs and discovered- well, that’d be a spoiler now, wouldn’t it!

Aside from the suspenseful atmosphere, there’s a lot of emotional stuff that goes on in this book. Some real tearjerkers, too (I don’t really cry at movies or books or anything, but this got me to my equivalent of crying at a book or movie.).

All in all, Brother Odd is a great read. I think that if you’re a fan of mystery and suspense, you’ll really enjoy it!

The Verdict: A+
Notes:
I said before that I read this to my Dad and siblings, but I should mention that I censored some of the mature content. There isn't too much, but there's also a little swearing. Nothing too profane though.

Cheers!
-Xochitl

Deeply Odd (by Dean Koontz) [2013]

Alfred Hitchcock rides shotgun in the newest 'Odd Thomas' novel by Dean Koontz. The plot does indeed hold similarities with the Master of Suspense's work: A quirky hero, almost nonsensical plot twists that fly in the face of logic, and a strange charm that sets it apart.
Deeply Odd lives up to it's name, and has some of the highest stakes our hero has faced.
As the young, ghost-seeing fry cook struggles to thwart yet another tide of evil, he is assisted by a host of interesting allies. A tough old lady, a family of gun dealers, and the aforementioned Mr. Hitchcock.
The emotional facets of this book aren't so deep as they are in some of the other books in the series, but it still holds the same old themes of bravery and responsibility.
In short, Deeply Odd is a fun, clever, engaging read, especially if you hail from the Southern California area.

The Verdict: A-
Notes: This is a horror novel, so be careful. Odd Thomas books don't get over-the-top gory, but they are occasionally scary, and always suspenseful. Though the most inappropriate things about Odd books are the sometimes rude humor and mature subject matter. I'd also suggest reading the other books before this one. Just to avoid confusion.

-Xochitl