I have to say I was a little wary when I took on yet another challenge in the form of the 1% Read, but I am so glad I did, because I don't think I would have got around to reading this book as quickly as I did and I thought it was wonderful.

The book is in three parts and each part deals with the relationship between an older woman,Hannah Schmitz, and Michael, a fifteen year old boy coming to terms with puberty.

The first part of the book is about the illicit and illegal affair that occurs so naturally between them. Michael is completely infatuated by Hanna, a ticket girl from the trams, who helps him when he is really sick. He cannot keep away from her and Hanna takes advantage of this situation and the two become lovers. She is everything to Michael and he will do anything she requests. They begin to spend every spare moment they have together. Their relationship follows the same pattern, they shower, they make love and then Michael reads to Hanna. She loves to hear him read and participates in all the stories he reads to her,commenting on characters and story lines.

One day almost a year after their affair begins, Hanna just disappears. Michael discovers that she had left her job and moved out of her house, with no forwarding address. Michael is heartbroken and it takes him years to get over it.

The second part of the book follows Michael's unexpected discovery of Hanna. He is a law student working on a case against people who had worked for the Nazi's during the War and were guilty of being involved in the of murders of so many Jewish people. Hanna is accused of allowing many Jewish women to die in a fire in a church, when she could have let them go. Hanna is one of a few of women charged with this, but she is completely unprepared for the trial. It then occurs to Michael, that Hanna is unable to read or write. She was unprepared for the trial, because she had not been able to read any of the information provided for her. Hanna is scared to reveal her inabilities and ends up being jailed for twenty years, because she would rather say she wrote a document that condemned her, than admit her inabilities.

The third part of the book looks at a new relationship that develops between Michael and Hanna during her prison sentence. Michael, older, divorced and wiser, starts to record books on tape for Hanna to listen to. For many years, he sends the tapes to her without any written response. Eventually she writes back to him, telling him what she enjoyed about the book and showing her new skill of writing. I won't give away the end, as I feel I have revealed so much of it already.

This story is beautifully written. Even though, you are aware that the relationship between Michael and Hanna is wrong, the way it is written shows a young boy's innocent love for an older woman.

One of the main themes of the book occurs in the second part of the book, where it deals with the Holocaust. However it doesn't just deal with the Holocaust, it also deals with how younger generations coped with the actions of their beloved families during the Holocaust. They had to come to terms with what they did and struggle to live with the terrible guilt caused by the atrocious actions of members of their own families.

The following passage explains how many must have felt.

'At the same time I ask myself, as I has already begun to ask myself back then: What should our second generation have done, what should it do with the knowledge of the horrors of the extermination of Jews? We should not believe we can comprehend the incomprehensible, we may not compare the incomparable, we may not inquire because to inquire is to make the horrors an object of discussion, even if the horrors themselves are not questioned, instead of accepting them as something in the face of which we can only fall silent in revulsion, shame and guilt.'

You may wonder why Hanna had become involved in the extermination of Jewish people, until you realise that she literally fell into the job, all because of her inability to read. Whenever reading and writing came up in her life, she ran away to a new start. Her life would have taken a completely different route, if she had admitted in the beginning that she was unable to read and write. You can not help but feel sorry for Hanna, because her life was destroyed because she was too proud to admit she needed help.

When discussing the title, you realise that Michael is not the main Reader of the book, but the book is actually referring to Hanna. Although she was unable to read herself, she loved books and devoured all the stories that were read aloud to her, even in the concentration camps.

I would definitely recommend that everyone read this book. It is a very powerful story, which deals with very strong issues. It is also a beautifully haunting book, that will stay in your memory, long after you have read it, showing that you cannot be held responsible for the actions of other. It had the same affect on me as the first time I watched Schlinders List back in the nineties.

Spell Hunter by R.J. Anderson

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5.0

Before I say anything about this book, I have to say I just loved it. I loved it so much, that I know now I am going to have to buy it and have as one of those books that you just keep in your collection. It will definitely be read again.

But first things first though, let me tell you a little bit about it so you can make your own mind up about it.

The story is about a faery called Bryony who desperately wants to leave the world of the Oak Tree to see what happens outside. It is very rare for any of the faeries living there, to venture into the outside. The only faeries ever allowed out are the Gatherers who gather berries and seeds for everyone to eat and the Hunter who catches and skins all their meat. Everyone else stays inside. There are no male faeries, only female ones; when they die, they disappear and an egg is left behind, from where a new faerie hatches.
As Bryony grows up, she still dreams of seeing the World outside and gets her chance when she is chosen to train as the new Hunter. Bryony becomes the best Hunter the faeries have ever had and is granted the wish to change her name to Knife ( what a cool name for a faery). She chose this name after an obsession with creating the best weapon to kill prey with and her bravery at stealing a metal blade from the house where the feared humans live.

Whilst Bryony is outside, she becomes fascinated by the people living in the house by the tree. She befriends a young teenager, paralysed in a car accident and helps him to feel good about himself and empower him to be creative.

When the Queen of the Oak finds out, she does everything she can to stop the friendship as she believes humans to be too dangerous for faeries to know. Knife sets out to prove to the Queen that faeries need contact with humans in order to evolve and to help the sick faeries recover from a disease called The Silence, which basically causes faeries to lose the will to live.
I won't tell you any more, because I don't want to give the story away.
I was very skeptical about reading this before I got it out from the library. I had enjoyed Tithe and thought that this might be a really tame version of that. After reading the first page, I nearly put it down, as the first couple of scenes reminded me of The Borrowers, where Arriety is desperate to go outside and where Pod is seen by a 'uman'. However, that is where the similarity ends and after that I was gripped. The story is just as enjoyable as Tithe, though there is none of the vulgarity in it, which I found in Tithe.
Knife is a very strong character, who is desperate to live her life the way she wants to. She has a constant dilemma between helping her fellow faeries and living to her own needs. The relationship between Knife and Paul the human, is beautiful and at first I had not seen any romantic intentions between them as it was so subtle, but as you reach the end of the book it blossoms.
The Queen of the Oak tree is an unusual character and I couldn't make out if she was really good or bad, as she seemed to walk a very thin line between both.
Overall, I loved this book, it was beautifully written and charming too read. It is a romantic story with a twist. It is definitely a faerie story for the teenagers of today, but I would also recommend to adults too. It made me wish there were faeries living at the bottom of my garden.
I almost feel that faeries are finally coming of age, they are no longer seen as the domain of children, but can stand up their shoulder to shoulder with the teen fictionals characters of vampires, witches and demons.
As I understand from reading the sites connected to this book, it is known by a different name in America and Canada. There is it called Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter. Here is the cover for you. I have to say I prefer the Knife cover as it looks more sinister and would probably attract more adults to read it.
This is the first book by R.J Anderson and I hope she writes many more, which I can then add to my collection.
Did I mention earlier, how much I loved this book, well I did, just in case you forget. If you like Holly Black, Cassandra Clay or even Stephanie Meyer, you will definitely enjoy it, so go forth and buy it, but someone leave me a copy so that I can have one of my own to become one of those well loved, well read books we all cherish.

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serendipity_viv's reviews 762 reviews

serendipity_viv's reviews
762 reviews