Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

I absolutely loved this book. It was so simplistic in language but I loved the storyline. I loved the constant use of metaphors. It’s amazing and I know it sounds depressing but it really isn’t. I wish I’d written down all of the metaphors because they are the kind of ones you would want put on a sign around your room- I would anyway (The happy ones anyway).

 

I know that my blog is not about graphics and art but can I just mention that I love the front cover. It’s a picture of lungs that obviously represent the lungs infected by TB but turned upside down they also represent the trees and the forests that Lane and Sadie hang out in. They are not testicles though like my friend suggested.

 

The main character Lane has been diagnosed with TB which has reached epidemic in America. Scientists want to cure it and change Latham House, an old boarding school into a research centre which allows the teenagers with TB to be relaxed and hopefully leave. However, no one knows whether you will leave because you died or whether you leave because you are cured. I’m making this sound like a really depressing book but I promise, it really wasn’t. The main character Lane struggles to fit in and accept that he needs to focus on getting better rather than concentrating on school work.

“New places are like jeans. Sure, they might fit but they’re not comfortable”

Lane gets down and you feel that he thinks that being sent to Latham is a death sentence for ill kids but then he meets Sadie and her friends who are not the best behaved, or rather they live their lives to the fullest.

The book flips narrative perspective from Lane to Sadie which I always like in a book because you feel like you’re a step ahead of the characters. You feel really sorry for them both because they are both making the same mistakes. They both remember each other from summer camp when they were little but they both have since believed that the other one stood them up. However, once they realise the truth Lane understands that Latham isn’t just about being ill. Latham is about breaking the rules and falling in love.

You forget that the book is about ill children and it’s an inspiration for ill people that you can still live your life to the full. You forget about it until there are the subtle reminders of the possibility that the med sensors might go off if they have too much fun (heart rate increasing as opposed to a fun monitor).

“Life goes on until it doesn’t”

The book holds morals for everyone about having a positive outlook on life which I feel is summed up in the line,

“No matter how strong the current beats against you, or how heavy your burden, or how tragic your love story. You keep going”

 

Hope you enjoyed this book review. :)

 

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles

Sorry I haven’t written a book review for what seems like ages but I’ve been trying to read this book. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it but I had to stop half way through as it’s not a book you can just pick up and read a little bit each evening. If I had more time, possibly in the summer, I would like to reread this when I can read it in bigger chunks.

The book is set in Dorset, mainly Lyme Regis which is a town I regularly visit in the summer so I was able to read and understand the context of the book without too much research. I recommend it even if you haven’t visited Dorset.

Who is the French lieutenant’s woman? Sarah. She is a young girl who had a relationship with a French lieutenant but then found out that he was married and was never coming back. However, despite moving town from Weymouth to Lyme Regis she does not want to start a new life? Why? No one knows. Maybe they tell you in the second half of the book.

Charles and Ernestina are the other two main characters who live in Lyme Regis to escape the busyness of London. They have recently got married.

I’ll admit I don’t know much about this book even though I’ve been attempting to read it for three weeks. However, it has travelled all the way to Portugal. But what really interested me was the narrative as it is a modern narrative but it’s set in 1860s as if it’s a memory.

I hope you enjoy it because I really hope I have the time to revisit it over the summer.