To Hear The Ocean Sigh by Bryant A. Loney: Book Review

 *No. of pages: 276

 *Average Rating on Goodreads: 4.82/5

 *My Rating on Goodreads: 4/5

*Date of Published: April 21^st, 2015 by Verona Booksellers

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SYNOPSIS Via Goodreads:

Jay Murchison believes he is a nobody at his high school in Oklahoma. Coming from a conservative family of affordable luxury, Jay has an overwhelming desire to become something great. After a mysterious girl named Saphnie in North Carolina mistakenly texts him, an unlikely relationship develops that affects Jay’s self-perception and influences the rest of his sophomore year. This correspondence leads him to a group of thrill-seekers who provide a grand departure from the quiet life Jay is familiar with and eye-opening experiences to witness first-hand the truth behind the loose morals his fellow classmates have come to know.

In a story filled with injustice, hope, hatred, love, grief, and understanding, readers will ask themselves what it truly means to hear the ocean sigh and learn of the dire consequences that come with its responsibilities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Via Goodreads:

 

Bryant A. Loney is an 18-year-old growing up in the U.S. Heartland. You can follow him on Twitter (@BALoney) and visit his website at BryantLoney.com. He was born on the 4^th of July, year 1997 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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Notes:

This is a spoiler-free review to encourage my blog readers to fully enjoy the pages of To Hear The Ocean Sigh by Bryant A. Loney. Verona Booksellers, the publisher of the book from Tulsa, Oklahoma, contacted me to write a book review of this young adult novel—and I certainly do not regret accepting the offer!

Review:

To Hear The Ocean Sigh by Bryant A. Loney really is befitting for the young adults of this generation who suffer from teenage dramas and conflicts. In this book, you would learn more about the injustice of life, of misunderstandings, peer pressure, depression and of course—you would learn more about the grand schemes of life, of serendipity, of friendship, and of love.

The protagonist, Jay Murchison lived his sixteen years of existence being a nobody. His life was all about going to school and going home, nothing more and nothing less. But everything changed when Saphnie, a popular girl with an adventurous and outgoing personality that lives miles away from Jay, accidentally texted him despite them not knowing each other. With just a wrong sent message that Jay has received, everything changes in his life. He finally has someone to talk to and even though it was not intended, Saphnie became a bridge for Jay to finally make friends and to experience things he never thought he would do.

Jay Murchison is a character that a lot can relate to. A lot of teenagers nowadays suffer anxiety, depression and feels isolated from everyone due to the feeling of being an outsider, an outcast, or even a loner. And although this may be a negative thing, most (if not all), loves an underdog—and Jay might just be one. Yet getting to exchange text messages with Saphnie brought new changes into his life. Saphnie suggested a book for Jay to read, which served as a bridge for him to be friends with Lily, while Lily served as a bridge for Jay to have more new friends and new experiences to add to his boring life.

Truth be told, the story was a bit slow and unprogressive, causing the first few chapters to be a drag. But all of that transformed into something exciting and exhilarating as obstacles and unexpected turn of events happens in Jay’s life. With that obstacle is finding out how his newfound friends admitted that they saw him as what statistics online have been talking about: that in a class, one is bound to commit or attempt suicide—and they saw that one person as him. Then, an opportunity showed up to which he could finally show that he is not what everyone thinks he is. That even though he is quiet, alone, and seen as an outsider, he definitely is not suicidal just because of those.

Everyone misinterprets and misunderstood one another, just how it really goes. Sometimes, just because a person is always alone and has no friends does not automatically mean that he is suicidal and does not see his life as something wonderful and important. Because sometimes, those who appear with huge grins plastered on their faces and has everyone wave at them as they are entering a house party just because they have numerous likes on social networking sites… are actually the ones who are suffering and are the ones who hides behind a façade to which underneath lies the dire need to end what they see as their worthless and fake life.

Saphnie and all of Jay’s new friends teaches him to savor life and every step of it; even to overcome insecurities and to come to an understanding to all of the theories and questions there are about life even though those thoughts started to dwell in your mind due to a newly released book in the first place.

I bet some of you may have heard (if not read!) of All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and this book struck me the way it did. I am very much not comparing it due to the fact that they are SOOO different from each other but because of implicating the heavy problem of prominent suicidal issues of teenagers nowadays. All The Bright Places may have been obvious of its theme, yet in To Hear The Ocean Sigh, everything that came out small turned out to be actually something big as the story progresses.

After reading To Hear The Ocean Sigh, it reminded me of how Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns by John Green made me feel as I close the book. That was how much the book pulled at my heartstrings and made me rethink and reanalyze my life and the people around me. So if you read any of the said books, you may now have an idea as to what the ending seemed like!

This book is all about:

-Stepping out of your comfort zone and discovering how much it could teach you;

-Having real friends no matter how few is more important than being popular and with a lot of fake ones;

-There is always more to what we see and what we know of a person and of a situation;

-Strict parents create sneaky kids, but no matter what, an individual should always know his/her limits. Because at the end of the day, the choices we make is always ours;

-And of course, a whole lot more!

I encourage you guys to start looking for a copy of Bryant A. Loney’s amazing novel! For I assure you that is jampacked with lessons about life, friendship, and love, and of course, with characters that has such colorful personalities and beautiful thoughts. So join me, read To Hear The Ocean Sigh to find out how does the ocean sigh, and wonder after that if you would ever have the privilege to hear it. 🙂

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Stay tuned for my next blog post: My chat with Bryant A. Loney, the author of To Hear The Ocean Sigh himself!

Follow him on Twitter: @BALoney

And check out his website on: BryantLoney.com

The Fault In Our Stars: Book to Movie Adaptation Review

 

*WARNING: May contain intense feels and uncontrolled fangirling.*

 

So, you read the book and watched the movie? So, you haven’t read the book and watched the movie? So, you haven’t read the book, watched the movie and now reading the book?

Whatever it is, The Fault In Our Stars is a beautiful book. And yes, a beautifully heart-wrenching movie. Josh Boone (director of the movie) managed to transform John Green’s (author of the book) words unto the big screen, honored the book and lived up to the expectations of the readers, thereby capturing the hearts of the non-reader viewers.

Let’s narrow this down, shall we?

 

1.) The Cast

John Green admitted to have doubted the main characters of the film, Ansel Elgort (who played Augustus Waters) and Shailene Woodley (who played Hazel Grace), at the beginning. Certainly not because he questioned their acting skills, but because Ansel Elgort and Hazel Grace acted as siblings in their last film together, Divergent. For those who don’t know, Divergent is another Young Adult book-to-movie adaptation that was released on March 21, 2014.

With Divergent having a lot of fans, John Green feared that people may find it really awkward to see the stars playing out as siblings then, and now as lovers. Fortunately, the feedbacks after the announcement of the final casting has been very positive, dissolving John Green’s negative thinking and grew to love Ansel Elgort, Shailene Woodley and even Nat Wolf (plays Isaac) during the set. Fans are now even shipping Shansel, even if they are just really great friends off-screen.

Shailene Woodley, on the other hand, really fought for the role of Hazel Grace, for Josh Boone was uncertain that she could portray a 16-year-old girl with her matured looks, and add up to the fact that Ansel Elgort (who is 20 years old) is two years younger than her. Obviously, Josh Boone saw Shailene’s unquestionable acting skills and being 22 years old didn’t matter. To be honest, I didn’t like Shailene Woodley to be our Hazel Grace. Yes, because she looks older, but also because she really doesn’t have that vibe of a Hazel Grace Lancaster. Even though I didn’t approve then, seeing the movie for the first time had me thinking, “Wow Shai, you have awesome acting skills and I’m sorry I didn’t liked you as Hazel at first!” Keyword there: liked. Shailene really deserved that role.

It is very safe to say that Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley awed us with their on-screen chemistry, and the cuteness of it when they are with their co-star, Nat Wolf, who played Augustus Water’s best bud. These three very important characters from the book really brought out the personalities that the readers were really looking for. And for those who didn’t read the book, I am sure that these three stars managed to let everyone see what they needed to know about the characters’ unique personalities, and made the audience love the trio almost as much as they love Augustus and Hazel.

As for the other characters like Peter Van Houten… Come on! Who doesn’t agree with me that William Defoe is the best choice for this role? He has strong characters, hard features, and he’s a really great actor. The appearance of Van Houten in the movie should give out a “thump” to the audience, and Mr. Defoe well-delivered the Peter Van Houten from the book. He managed to make us hate and pity him, all with just two scenes!

The parents of Hazel Grace, played by Laura Dern and Sam Trammell, were really how I imagined them. When I saw the trailer for the first time, I was like, “Geez, they practically came out of my mind!” Their acting didn’t disappoint, and I really am thanking the cast directors for the perfect casting.

Isaac, the best friend of Gus, doesn’t have that many scenes in the movie. Yet Nat Wolf up lived the personality of Isaac and his presence in each of his scenes were tremendously felt. However, I’m mildly disappointed on how the movie focused so much on Hazel and Gus that they weren’t really able to make the audience see the value of friendship that Gus and Isaac have. It was saddening because what the two of them shared really was beautiful in every way and I really think it’s important that those who haven’t read the book get to see how remarkable their connection is.

Hazel Grace was portrayed very well, thanks to the great acting skills of Shailene Woodley, who really had her pretty hair chopped off for this film; the smart, witty, strong and brave Hazel Graze that readers were expecting was witnessed by everyone. And of course, Augustus Waters… Isn’t he dreamy? I mean, guys, seriously! Ansel Elgort is this dreamy guy that would make you swoon the very first time he pops in the movie, just the way Augustus Waters really should be. Only he could pull off those smooth lines and voice out his weird thoughts without looking like an axe-wielding murderer! He was literally a brought-to-life Gus who could pull off that so-called “prosthetic leg” swag. If you don’t know, John Green absolutely adores Ansel Elgort so much and I think that’s the cutest part!

 

2.) The Script

As of June 23, 2014, the book got 4.48 ratings on Goodreads (that’s pretty high). On IMDb, the movie got a rating of 8.5/10, which is also pretty high!

For me, I think the reason why The Fault In Our Stars has a lot of fans is because of the words, the lines, and the quotes that John Green used. He mastered the art of tugging the hearts of his readers, the power of stabbing their weak points, and the control over the emotions all through those letters that formed a word, words that formed a sentence, and sentences that made up the book.

My utmost thanks to Josh Boone who gave John Green a power over the movie, and all thanks to the writers of the film. they managed to stitch-in all of the famous and most loved quotes from the book, making the fans of the book die of feels, let alone prompt the non-readers to tweet those quotes or post it on Facebook!

Although I know that three of the much-awaited lines were not heard in the film (comment if you want to know), let’s just stop and appreciate how everyone in the crew did their best to squeeze in all that we were looking for into a 126 minute film. And for those who are complaining that they changed a few stuff or that it wasn’t exactly like the book… may I remind you that again, the movie is only 126 minutes and the book has 313 pages. As much as we want to see every page of the book come to life, it is not meant to be. Let’s just be glad that they gave us such a great movie.

By the way, let’s not forget how the wonderful script wouldn’t really be oh-so wonderful without the cast delivering it almost perfectly. Honestly, some important or awesome quotes were left ignored by the viewers simply because they did not highlight it much the way it should have been. In some instances, a quote just rolled off the actors/actresses’ tongue like it’s just a plain sentence without any deeper strum to it. That disappointed me, because I believe that those quotes have great power over the audience’s emotion, and should have been under the limelight. On the positive note, a lot of the quotes were perfectly delivered and I have that to be happy about.

 

3.) Over-all Film

It is safe for me to say that Josh Boone honored and respected John Green’s work and most, if not the entire fandom witnessed that. It is not easy to transform a novel loved by many into the big screen, and it is definitely not easy to please a big crowd, more so, gain their support.

The Fault In Our Stars is such a beautiful movie and maybe not everyone thinks that, but please, watch it first before you give it a final verdict.

I recommend you not to bring some tissue when you watch this movie. Bring a handkerchief or maybe a towel. The latter is highly recommended. If you don’t cry or even tear up just a little bit, you seriously need therapy for that insensitivity!Or perhaps you could see yourself in the mirror and check if you’re really human… So read the book or watch the movie, whatever works for you!

Lastly, The Fault In Our Stars might be a movie about cancer… but it is also a movie about love and being young, on how one can still do whatever one wants, even if cancer is steadily consuming you.

 

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”  -Shakespeare