Because I loved the original School Of Fear so very much, I was eager to get my hands on the sequel. I was delighted to find a copy in the children's section of my local bookstore. (My funds, however, weren't so happy, given that it was hardback and I already had four other books in my arms.)
I finished it much quicker than I expected, but it took me a long time to write a review, because I was stuck trying to convince myself that I enjoyed it more than I really did. Before I explain my feelings on the book, I suppose I should give a summary.
It's everyone's second summer at the School Of Fear, and Madeleine, Garrison, Lulu, and Theo are excited to be back. Well...sort of, anyway. But problems have been plaguing the residents of Summerstone - numerous break-ins and thefts have left everyone paranoid. On top of that, a new student joins the four. Hyacinth (or Hyhy, as she prefers) is an awkward ferret-loving girl with a crippling fear of being alone.
Frankly, I was disappointed by this book. Badly disappointed.
It had it's good points. Abernathy's backstory was excellent, and the reveal of Mrs.Wellington's motives for opening the school added an important depth to her character that was desperately needed.
However, it seemed like Daneshvari got tired of the story halfway through. There's no satisfying climax. The reveal of the "villains" is weak and somewhat forced. The fact that the author kept pushing the characters out of Summerstone whenever possible didn't help - as a result there's none of the wacky fear-solving techniques that were a treasure of the first book.
Basically, the book seemed like one long trailer - just a way to get to the third book.
Speaking of the next book, I know that you need to have a mild sequel hook, but the ending here was simply pathetic. Practically nothing got resolved. I felt cheated.
So yes, I was incredibly sad that such a fantastic book had such a weak follow-up. I'd say that if you want to get the best School Of Fear experience so far, just read the first book, maybe find some spoilers for this one, then go to the third.*
*Which I will be reading once I go through the crapload of books that are piling up on my bed because my bookcase in overflowing. Never let me loose on used book sales, people.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Student Calls Out Rick Santorum's Bible Bullshit
I SO want to be this girl when I get to college.
There are a couple of things to notice in this video:
1.More of the "Religion = Always right but science = just silly" argument that Christian bigots just love to make. Gawker said it best: "Yea, a bunch of centuries-old bullshit from withered old men in robes and a magic book...is unassailable fact about the evils of homosexuality, but scientific findings about it are just so much silliness." I made the title about this line of argument because it pops up so frequently, that it just needs to be KILLED WITH FIRE whenever possible.
2.Notice that Santorum does exactly what a lot of adults do - it's one of the things that annoys me the most about them: He consistently interrupts the younger woman, but then, when she tries to speak again, starts whining about being interrupted. Then he gets even more hypocritical by saying "I've given you a chance, now give me mine." (Uh, no dude. You didn't. You interrupted her, basically saying "She's using actual reason to discredit my see-through arguments! This must be stopped at once!" Not to mention his completely patronizing use of "Time out!"
But what I am really wondering is...why the fuck was this man invited to speak at a college? How is a heterosexist religious fanatic EVER a choice for appropriate guests? If my school suddenly brought in a hate speech politician to present to us the reasons he is such a bigot, I would have protested the hell out of it. I'm imagining LGBTQ students in this class, closeted, and having the reasons for that being all wrapped up in this jackass that their school brought in.
Someone PLEASE tell me that I'm missing some context here, and this isn't a case of a school bringing in a hateful person to be hateful...please.
There are a couple of things to notice in this video:
1.More of the "Religion = Always right but science = just silly" argument that Christian bigots just love to make. Gawker said it best: "Yea, a bunch of centuries-old bullshit from withered old men in robes and a magic book...is unassailable fact about the evils of homosexuality, but scientific findings about it are just so much silliness." I made the title about this line of argument because it pops up so frequently, that it just needs to be KILLED WITH FIRE whenever possible.
2.Notice that Santorum does exactly what a lot of adults do - it's one of the things that annoys me the most about them: He consistently interrupts the younger woman, but then, when she tries to speak again, starts whining about being interrupted. Then he gets even more hypocritical by saying "I've given you a chance, now give me mine." (Uh, no dude. You didn't. You interrupted her, basically saying "She's using actual reason to discredit my see-through arguments! This must be stopped at once!" Not to mention his completely patronizing use of "Time out!"
But what I am really wondering is...why the fuck was this man invited to speak at a college? How is a heterosexist religious fanatic EVER a choice for appropriate guests? If my school suddenly brought in a hate speech politician to present to us the reasons he is such a bigot, I would have protested the hell out of it. I'm imagining LGBTQ students in this class, closeted, and having the reasons for that being all wrapped up in this jackass that their school brought in.
Someone PLEASE tell me that I'm missing some context here, and this isn't a case of a school bringing in a hateful person to be hateful...please.
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