August by Bernard Beckett

Title: August
Author: Bernard Beckett

Release Date: 28th February 2011

My Rating: 2/5

Blurb:

Trapped in a car wreck, upside down, bleeding, broken and in pain, Tristan and Grace are staring at death. When dawn breaks, they might be seen from the road and rescued, or not.

They wait, desperately holding onto life, unravelling the sequence of events that brought them together.

Tristan is a philosopher struggling with the question of free will. Grace's life of hardship allows no place for such ideas. But a brief encounter changes their lives, setting them on a collision course with love and death, and each other.

Part philosophical thriller, part love story, August is a compelling novel about will, freedom and what it means to live.

My Review:
August was quite the head-tripper and wasn't at all what I was expecting. It is set in an alternative time where a Holy Council is in control and those who are not worthy, live beyond the city walls. Both Tristan and Grace are originally from inside these walls but as their individual stories unfold, we discover the paths they took which led them to inhabit the outer regions and the circumstances that have led to their paths crossing on this fateful night.

It wasn't until I was well into the book that I realised August is not really aimed at the young adult market, more adult or at the least, upper secondary. Like Genesis, one of Beckett's previous releases, it questions human nature and is a philosophical thriller. It looks at human weakness, free will and probability. I personally struggled with it due to the content as I am not one to ponder philosophy and religion. However, I do enjoy Beckett's style of writing, and am eager to try Jolt and Malcolm and Juliet as they sound a little more up my alley, but unfortunately, August was not for me.

Teachers notes can be found here.
My review of Genesis is here.

The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson

Title: The Miles Between
Author: Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: 1st September 2009 (Not released in Australia)

My Rating: 3/5

Blurb:

Destiny Faraday makes a point of keeping her distance from her classmates at Hedgebrook Academy. Routine and predictability help her stick to her number-one rule: Don't get attached. But one day, with the crumpling of a calendar page and an odd encounter with a mysterious stranger, routine and predictability are turned on end.

Unexpectedly finding a car at their disposal, Destiny and three of her classmates embark on an unauthorised road trip, searching for one fair day - a day where the good guy wins and everything adds up to something just and right.

My Review:
I loved The Miles Between. It is such a quirky story with a fabulous assortment of characters. It is a story about hope, redemption, the hurdles of life, pain, heart-ache, fate and friendship. I laughed. I cried. I would read it again. I believe I have said before, I love road trip books, and this is no exception.

Destiny, our main character, pushes people away. Having been bounced around boarding schools by her uber-rich parents since she was seven, Destiny has her ways of coping. By making sure she doesn't get close to anyone, she avoids the inevitable hurt of leaving friends behind when she gets moved to the next school, something that always happens without fail. It is such a heart-breaking way of life and Destiny distracts herself by marvelling and constantly thinking about coincidence, probability, patterns and chance. Fate and unpredictability have no place in her life. Throughout the story we are given little hints and snippets as to why Destiny has always been in boarding school, but it isn't until the sad conclusion that we discover why Destiny is so screwed up.

With the arrival of a car and on an unexpected whim, Destiny takes off on a road trip with three of her equally odd and quirky classmates on an adventure based on fate. As unexpected events unfold, finding a lamb and later convincing a policeman it is actually a new breed of dog from France, meeting the president, getting attacked by a peacock and renting a boat, amongst other things, Destiny slowly lets some of the 'real her' leak out. She learns more about her classmates and that like herself, the way people choose to act around others, is not always how they are. As four unexpected friends come out of their shells, Destiny discovers that maybe she doesn't have to always be, and feel, so alone.

Check out The Adoration of Jenna Fox, also by Mary E. Pearson.

As a side note, after reading the book, that night I had a crazy dream which I suppose was inspired by their lambadoodle, the popular bread of dog from France. In my dream, I had a lambadoodle but it was a dog that could morph/shape-shift into a lamb (not a lamb pretending to be a dog, you'll understand once you read the book). For some bizarre reason, whenever we ended up in water (I think we were in a boat that capsized) the dog would morph into a lamb. Aside from, you know, a morphing animal, I thought it was really odd since you would think that lambs wouldn't like water and dogs do. But in my dream, even a splash of water was cause for it to shift to a lamb. I thought this was funny to have a dream like this after reading the book. Maybe I am just that bit strange...