It’s Monday! What Are You Reading??

Wow! The One and Only Ivan probably just became one of my favorite books!  I was completely captivated from start to finish, and if that happens to me it must be a great book.

At first when I started reading and Ivan was describing where he lived I instantly was able to picture the big top mall and what it possessed, that to me is very important in reading because if you can create the setting in your mind the author has done a great job keeping you involved.  It was very easy to visualize all the characters like Bob and Ivan.

In regards to the plot I had no idea what direction the book was going to go until Ruby showed up.  When Ruby showed up it was easier for me to start imagining what would happen next.  The connection Ruby and Stella had from the start was so cute and heart warming, I instantly felt like a part of the story if that makes any sense.  My favorite character interaction though was Bob and Ivan.  Bob was so callused because of what happened to him, which is completely understandable, but Ivan kind of helped him become softer and more understanding.

Ivan is obviously a crucial part of the story but until Ruby comes you never know what will happen to him.  How did Mack come to find Ivan?  Will he ever remember his past?  When I was little I always wanted a little monkey,  I thought they were so cute and you could dress them up.  Caring for a gorilla would be so weird and difficult.  I like how Ivan discussed human things and how that correlated with him actually being a gorilla, that really kept the story humorous in my opinion.

When Ivan was talking to Ruby about a zoo I instantly imagined the big top mall being like Reptile Gardens just not as awesome, and no reptiles.  Towards the end of the book when Ivan starts doing his paintings and hiding them under his pool then later inside No-Tag, that is when I didn’t want to put the book down.  I just wanted to know what he was painting and I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas!!  I wanted them to be happy and taken to a zoo to have a better life,  I was really glad to see at the end that Ivan and Ruby were in the same zoo and Bob was happy with Julia.  It was a perfect ending to a book that now I would consider one of my favorites.