So back to books. I've read three books already but I've been procrastinating to blog about it. I shall start with My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. This is my fourth Picoult book. Anyway, the plot isn't too complex. Basically, these two parents had a kid with leukemia, and in order to provide genetically matching blood or marrow and whatnot, they genetically engineered another kid. This engineered kid, files a lawsuit against her parents, because apparently when she is required to donate a kidney to her dying sister, it becomes too much for her to handle so she flips. However, at the end, we learn that its her dying sister's final wish - that the engineered kid shouldn't donate her kidney, so that she could die. The leukemic kid was suffering too much, she just wanted to die.
The story was written in multiple POV's. Picoult's fashion, just like she did in Leaving Time. All the characters took turns to speak their mind. Although sometimes its hard to keep up, but its okay for me. I can enjoy it. For me, if the engineered kid filed a lawsuit based on the initial claim (that she just can't continue being a default donor without proper consent), I would have loved the story more. Its because I would look at that kid as being really mature, and doing what most kids cannot do, which is to fight for themselves. However, that turned out to be a cliche as it was the dying girl's wish to die a dignified death.
It all became too perfect, when the engineered kid got into a car crash, in a way that only resulted in brain death, which made her a perfect candidate for kidney donation. Her leukemic sister needed a kidney - how convenient. In the end, the sister with the rare leukemia survived with the kidney. The ending was just too perfect. I enjoyed the journey. I always do with Picoult's novels. The endings doesn't necessarily impress me, except for the case of Leaving Time. All her novels are thought provoking. I kind of imagine myself in both the situations of the dying kid, and the genetically engineered kid, and in both situations, life sucks. I watched the movie after reading the book, and the movie was even more of a cliche because the leukemic kid just died instead. Nevermind.
This was the next book I read. It's actually a trilogy, and this is the first book. I doubt I'm going to continue with the other two books though. I actually started the second book, when someone on Dayre recommended me Die Again by Tess Gerritsen. Usually, when I put a book down, its really hard to pick it up again. Plus my exam is on wednesday next week, which makes tomorrow less than a week I have till exam. Novels isn't the thing I should be doing now. Oh well.
This novel is about a guy who is a werewolf (Daniel), and this girl (Grace) who adores this guy. After some fallout, this guy left town, to explore himself and his wolf. Years later, he returns, and this girl is still crazy over him. Apparently, there's a cure to this wolf thing. It has to be someone with no predatory intent, but true love to stab the wolf (in the wolf state, not the human state) in the chest, directly injuring the heart with a silver weapon. Conflict of the story is that, Grace's brother was bitten by Daniel sometime before the fallout many years ago. So the brother is in fact a wolf too. The thing about the transformation of wolf in this book is similar to The Vampire Diaries, where you need to make a kill to complete the transition. It takes time for the wolf to come in control, so the brother has been killing some people in town without realizing when the wolf takes over.
Somehow, (to cut the story short), the brother bit her sister, Grace, while Grace stabbed the silver knife into Wolf Daniel's heart. So basically, Daniel is now cured. Grace becomes a wolf because her brother bit her before she did the stab, which makes Daniel's kill her first blood to complete her transformation. Her brother is now still unconscious about the fact that he is a werewolf and tries to keep Grace away from Daniel. There was romance in the book. Mostly about kissing and knees getting weak while kissing. Its all sweet, but whether I would enjoy it or not really depends on my mood. I was reading it because I had nothing else to read. That's why I abandoned it when I had another recommendation HAHA. Perhaps I might continue the second book in the trilogy after exams, who knows?
Okay next. This book I started last night, and finished it about an hour ago. It was just amazing. I couldn't put it down, except to sleep yesterday night HAHAHA. I didn't know the author, but now I do and apparently she is a physician. There was a dual storyline, until the meeting point somewhere around the climax. The first storyline was happening six years ago. 7 people trapped in a safari, and they were dying one by one, leaving one survivor and of course the killer itself. The second storyline was about two murders, and an ongoing investigation. Eventually both story lines meet, and the murders are tied up to each other.
The serial killer turns out to be a person who takes on different identities, and instead of hunting animals, he hunts humans. He puts them in a hunting circumstance, and its just downright horrifying. He feels the power of being a predator. The novel didn't go into the psychological aspects of serial killers. It was basically a police investigation finding a criminal. There was quite extensive research on Felidae (cat family) for this novel and how they hunt. It was enjoyable and a really fun read. The serial killer has been doing this for years now. The only mistake he made was assuming, the survivor would not have survived the safari alone for two weeks. Along with some photo taking mistakes, he realized he needed to cover his tracks, and to do so, he committed another two murders that stirred up everything. It's a higly recommended read, and in fact there's a whole series of books that Gerritsen wrote. I'm sure I'm going to explore more of it.
"I’m alive merely because I was too terrified to die.....
I will always be that cracked porcelain doll."
