Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Book: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Publication Date: October 16, 2008

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Rating: 3 Stars

I never really understood what people meant by the John Green formula until I read this book. The mysterious, cool, distant girl, the slightly geeky boy, and the journey. It's very reminiscent of Looking for Alaska, which I think is part of the reason I didn't like it as much. Looking for Alaska is my least favorite John Green book, and I think that if I hadn't read that, Paper Towns would've gotten a higher rating from me. As it is, I think it's just a better done regurgitation of LFA.

There are some things about John Green's writing that I really enjoy, despite the repetitive formula. I like how he uses symbolism and how his books usually revolve around one clear concept (in this case, paper towns and facades). Some people might see it as needlessly rehashing something, but his ideas are usually pretty unique and about stuff I've never heard of. Also, his dialogue and characters never fail to make me laugh. The road trip in this book was my favorite part. It was so isolated from everything else and it really brought the friendships among all the characters into perspective. The way they all come together for a 23 hour car ride and the strangeness of the situation highlights John Green's capacity for imagination. Out of all the characters, my favorite character was Radar because he didn't suffer from the melodrama and selfishness that the others had. I didn't have much patience for Q and Margo's dramatics. In fact, I didn't understand how they went from not really talking to each other at all to suddenly in love. For Q, it's understandable. But why would Margo give him the time of day after years of not really interacting with him? Doesn't make sense.

The book is exciting, I'll give it that. I wanted to keep reading. But I got tired of Q's obsession with the projection that Margo was giving off, and I guess that was kind of the point. However, it was too reminiscent of Pudge's angst after Alaska's disappearance. I probably need a break from John Green before I pick up another one of his books.

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Review: Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

Book: Ten Tiny Breaths
Author: K.A. Tucker
Publication Date: December 11th, 2012
Publisher: Papoti Books
Rating: 3 Stars

Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.

Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.

But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgivable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.

“I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. Give me your heart, Kacey. I’ll take everything that comes with it.”

For all the times this Uncle Raymond dude is mentioned in the summary, he sure never appears in the book. At all. Really, you get what this book is about if you just read the last two paragraphs of the blurb.

I thought this book was interesting. It kept me reading, and I was curious to see what would happen. I got a little caught up in Trent's hotness too, but then again I always do that. I liked Tucker's writing style; it didn't drag, and it definitely could have. Why? Because nothing happens in the first half of the book. Kacey settles down in Miami with her sister, Livie, starts working at a strip club as a bartender with little experience, and avoids her hot neighbor, Trent.

A lot of things that happened in this story made me wonder if this was all possible. Running off to Miami without being found by your legal guardians, miraculously finding people who are that good with tons of cash to spare, getting a job at a club where the bouncers and the owners are complete gentlemen... I don't know, seems a little too perfect for me. Maybe I've been reading too many my-life-is-shit novels or something.

After the initial wow-that-guy-is-sexy phase, I started getting really annoyed of Trent and Kasey's reaction to him. Fine, he's really hot. But do you have to mention how you can't speak and your legs turn to jello every single time you meet eyes? Also, I'm sorry, but he's a stalker. There is no way to get around it. It's mentioned later that he has followed Kasey's life for months before he actually met her, and that is just creepy. Somehow, people think it's okay when the hot guy does the stalking, but stalking is still stalking. It's still the act of creeping on another person without his/her knowledge.

Here's the run-down of this novel:
30% Trent staring at Kasey
40% Kasey thinking about Trent
20% Kasey and Trent sexy times
10% actual substance

To conclude, 90% is about Trent. And he's pretty important, but come on. I thought the book was about Kasey healing herself, not her depending on some guy to do it for her. The unveiling at the end definitely gave me a good shock, though I feel pretty stupid for not foreseeing it earlier. I actually got more interested because of it. The book would've been pretty boring and less fucked up if Tucker had left the twist out, although it might still have worked. I thought everything was too easily solved with the epilogue and last chapter. I don't know if therapy is that miraculous. Maybe it is. But the way everyone seemed to come together again... Like the rest of the book and its characters, it seemed a bit too perfect. I didn't think Tucker spent enough time exploring the other characters for the conclusion to make sense; if she'd laid off a little on Trent and Kasey, there might have been some real, believable development in relationships. As it is, this book is interesting if you like runaway snakes and sexual tension.
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Review: Wait for You by J. Lynn

Book: Wait for You
Author: J. Lynn
Series: Wait for You
Publication Date: February 26th, 2013
Publisher: J. Lynn

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

I can basically dumb this book down for everyone else who hasn't read it yet with 10 basic sentences.

1. Girl with dark, secret past that she's ashamed of telling to anyone because it'll make people see her differently moves to a new place.
2. Girl tries to avoid deep connections with other people, especially attractive males who seem to be potential boyfriend material.
3. Girl runs into Boy on first day of class (literally). Boy is attractive (surprise!).
4. Boy is very interested in Girl even though Girl turns down his every advance (actually, maybe that's exactly why he's interested...).
5. Girl finally lets Boy in. They do lots of fun things, like going to a drive-in theater, meeting parents, feeding each other eggs...
6. Girl finds out that Boy is definitely worth it, and so she pushes him away.
7. Boy and Girl fight because Girl is still insecure even though Boy has made it completely clear that he would do anything for her.
8. Boy and Girl get back together because they're both masochists (especially Boy).
9. Boy and Girl fight again because Girl can't get over anything and would rather cry.
10. Boy and Girl get back together and Girl suddenly decides to forget her past and move on.
11. SEX. Or, as Avery words it, "swesomely amazing sex."

I definitely was reminded of Beautiful Disaster while reading this. It's the exact same formula, with less throwing things and abuse on the male's part. Actually, I think Avery is pretty much guilty of all abuse in this book. I must say that if there's one thing that Armentrout is good at, it's her male leads. Despite all their moments of douchiness, they turn out to be upstanding men, and that's what Cam was. He had astonishingly good moments. There was this one part when Avery says, "Cam, you're a good guy" and he replies with, "I'm only good with you." Pretty heart-melting stuff. His biggest character flaw was getting involved with the hot mess that was Avery. I don't know what to think about the way sexual abuse is addressed in this book. I thought it was overdone in that it was mentioned too much without any details, and it told me nothing new. In a way, it was more a device to further the plot than anything else. In addition, there was an explosion of spelling/grammatical mistakes, and some of the characters have the tendency to speak like middle schoolers who still have to put quarters in the swear jar.

Overall, I didn't really enjoy this. Unlike a lot of people, I actually like the tired, trite formula, just because I'm a sucker for the cliche. But I guess this moment was bound to happen sometime. Now I'm going to expect to bump into a hot guy my first day at college, and what a disappointment that will be.

P.S. WHY IS THIS BEING MADE INTO A SERIES?
P.P.S. Still don't get the title. It was like it was drawn out of a hat marked "Typical YA Romance Titles," and then J. Lynn forced it to relate to the plot.  

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Review: Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Book: Going Vintage
Author: Lindsey Leavitt
Publication Date: March 26th, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Rating: 4 Stars

When Mallory discovers that her boyfriend, Jeremy, is cheating on her with an online girlfriend, she swears off boys. She also swears off modern technology. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in 1962, Mallory decides to "go vintage" and return to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn't cheat on you online). She sets out to complete grandma's list: run for pep club secretary, host a dinner party, sew a homecoming dress, find a steady, do something dangerous. But the list is trickier than it looks. And obviously finding a steady is out . . . no matter how good Oliver (Jeremy's cousin) smells. But with the help of her sister, she'll get it done. Somehow. 

This book caught my interest the moment I learned that the main character had a certain violent streak and a love for chips with salsa and cream cheese. Also, there's apparently this thing called milk toast, and it sounds so disgustingly DELICIOUS.

Anyway, back to the book. It's exactly like the summary says. A girl finds out that her boyfriend's been cheating on her with an internet chick named, of all things, BubbleYum. How do you take someone with a name like that seriously? Mallory finds out about BubbleYum, she gets mad while her boyfriend is in the kitchen (where he belongs, sexists), and she throws a virtual book at his virtual icon and makes him bleed. Then she posts on his Friendspace that he's a massive tool and runs out of the house.

Of all the dramatic exits in the world, that is probably one of the best. Just leaving your boyfriend to see that you've told all his friends he's a massive tool on a social network. Imagine the look on that guy's face! It probably looked something like this:

I have to say, I admire Mallory for her courage. There were a lot of times that I thought she'd crack and go back to Jeremy, but she never did. And nothing about her experience is contrived. It does take her a while to get over him and move on, but it feels natural when it happens. 

Example: He looks marginally tortured. Before I can let pity creep in, I have to remind myself that his torture is self-inflicted and only .083 percent of what I feel. 

Yeah, Jeremy's kind of a douche. I don't know what else I learned from this book about him except that he's half Asian and a douche. I hope those two aren't related. Speaking of relations, let's talk about his cousin, Oliver. Actually, I'll just show you guys some quotes spoken by him or about him.

"Five minutes of talking to you is more entertaining than a lifetime knowing Jeremy. So either you came to your senses, or he did something stupid." 

 He's written an extensive list in tiny, slanted caps. No writing tablet or smartphone. He's a pen-and-paper lister, a beautiful and dying breed. 

I've seen people laugh at funerals, so why not be giddy post-breakup? Especially around a guy who makes life feel so effortless, like a meteor could crash into his car and we would just shrug and take the bus.

What really stands out about Oliver is his sincerity. A lot of the guys from YA novels are now too cool and too disdainful, relying on their looks to get all the girls drooling after them, so I liked that Oliver was so effortlessly hip. In the beginning, he seemed like another stereotype, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of dedication he put into the pep club and the way he goes about pursuing Mallory. The moment she observes that he's only perceived as a hipster because he doesn't hold back with his thoughts was the moment I loved him. With Oliver, I totally wouldn't have minded if he wasn't as hot as Mallory said he was. His personality more than makes up for any appearance defects.

The plot itself is interesting, and it hops along pretty quickly. I loved Mallory's sister, Ginny, and how easily she jumps into the List. Lots of sisterly love in this book. Her character isn't explored too deeply, but I wasn't expecting much from that aspect of the relationship. The List itself poses an interesting challenge, and it reminded me a lot of how technology is making us dumber. I mean, when's the last time one of us went to the library to research? And did MLA citations the right way? I've been inputting those suckers into the laptop ever since I discovered easybib.com and copy-paste. It was fun to watch Mallory dodge the hurdles of technology while avoiding her ex and any possible feelings for adorable Oliver at the same time. Quite a task. 

I've mentioned before that Mallory is a pretty strong girl, especially when it comes to staving off Jeremy and his desperation to have a homecoming date (ugh). But I don't really appreciate her flakiness, especially when she just decided to blow off Oliver. She says she's a flaky person, but there was no need to add an irrelevant character flaw where it wasn't needed. I do like that for a long time, she made her life revolve around Jeremy and ignored extracurriculars and everything else. It's a good lesson, especially since many girls (probably boys, too) try to find an identity through having a significant other.

There were a lot of issues in this book that I didn't anticipate, like the conflict between past and present, the way we like to romanticize the past and say the present is never as great as what happened before (Midnight in Paris, anyone?), and the mistakes we've all made and how we try to go about solving them. There were multiple storylines with Mallory's mother, father, grandmother, and sister. As a result, each problem is solved quickly with a messy resolution. However, this could also be because the problems were too deep to be solved with a simple hug or a family sit-down.

All in all, I loved the concept behind the book and reliving the vintage era. So much fun. While the whole thing about technology warping our lives and making us forget ourselves tends towards overexaggerated sometimes, it's to be expected when you're reading from the eyes of a teenage girl. Very adorable book if you feel like feeling happy.

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury for giving me the chance to read and review this book!
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Review: Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Book: Such a Rush
Author: Jennifer Echols
Publication Date: July 10th, 2012
Publisher: MTV Books
Rating: 2 Stars

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly.

Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.

But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.

By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.

Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.

I like all the different ways you can spin a contemporary novel. You can focus on only characters, and the setting doesn't matter. You can focus on an idea, like a girl pretending to date someone else, and that idea is the overriding aspect of a story. Or you can focus on the way characters travel through a setting. I especially like ones that incorporate something new, be it a traveling circus, a different country, or a high school with strange traditions. The novelty always gives me a rush (haha). And I thought I'd find the same thing with Such a Rush. Sadly, that didn't happen.

I don't have much experience with Jennifer Echols's writing; this is my first glimpse at one of her books. However, I do compartmentalize her with the period of life that I spent reading about melodramatic relationships and sex between teenagers that seemed too fake and too fast. I'm talking books like The Other Boy by Hailey Abbott and The Au Pairs. I didn't read many of those kinds of books, just because I found the material extremely repetitive and shallow. Such a Rush didn't seem like that kind of book, and I found the concept of a girl learning to be a pilot really interesting. It's definitely something you don't regularly see in a book. Also, I can't say no to a sexy bad boy, which is what Grayson is, supposedly.

In the beginning, I got into this book with all the excitement that Leah has on her first flying lesson. I've never read anything that depicted life in a trailer park to the extent that this book did, so it was a harsh glimpse into the way life is for people. However, I did feel that sometimes it was portrayed to the point of overkill because of the number of times Leah mentions the "whores on the beach" or the pitbull. Although Leah says time and time again that she isn't bitter about people having more than she does, the way she flies off the handle every time somebody questions her about her life makes those statements hypocritical. I can't hate her entirely, though; she takes what she has and runs with it. She's exceptionally driven, and I never wanted to strangle her at any time through the book, except maybe when she did that cutting at the throat motion, just because it seemed like a rude and random thing to do.

Now, the other characters. Grayson is a bipolar douchebag. He keeps assuming Leah is a whore, blackmails her into dating his brother for his own purposes, and despite all his sweet words, he still wants her to continue doing what he tells her to do. Alright, he's muscular, has curly blond hair, and always wears aviators and a cowboy hat. That's all really great, but not exactly a good reason for a person to fall in love with him. There is some depth to him, considering how he changes after he almost crashes his plane and after his father's death, but that could have been explored further instead of just being used as an excuse for his assholery. Alec and Molly are equally infuriating. I probably hated Molly most because she dragged Leah to a party even when Leah explicitly did not want to go. Molly is selfish and bitchy, a classic rich girl who puts herself first. Alec is one-dimensional and vindictive. The conflict in the book wasn't much of a conflict, since everybody seemed to already know what the problem was.

My greatest problem with this book is that it seemed supremely unrealistic, both in the way the plot unfolds and in the way the characters treat each other. Sure, Leah might be desperate, but it doesn't make sense that she would befriend people who treat her like trash and rub their richness in her face. There were also periods that Grayson or Leah would say something that was supposedly profound but sounded more like a preachy let-me-rub-a-moral-lesson-in-your-face line. I couldn't connect to any of the characters because I didn't find any of them that likable, and none of them possessed much depth. Also, why is the cover (gorgeous as it is) of a girl with straight hair when Leah harps so much over her curly hair?
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Review: Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara

Book: Lovely, Dark and Deep
Author: Amy McNamara
Publication Date: October 16th, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Rating: 3 Stars

Since the night of the crash, Wren Wells has been running away. Though she lived through the accident that killed her boyfriend Patrick, the girl she used to be didn’t survive. Instead of heading off to college as planned, Wren retreats to her father’s studio in the far-north woods of Maine. Somewhere she can be alone.

Then she meets Cal Owen. Dealing with his own troubles, Cal’s hiding out too. When the chemistry between them threatens to pull Wren from her hard-won isolation, Wren has to choose: risk opening her broken heart to the world again, or join the ghosts who haunt her.

Before this book, if someone had approached me and said that it was possible to write a 350 page novel that basically revolves around a teenage girl angsting in a forest, I would've called bullshit. But this book proved me wrong. Apparently, teenagers can have a lot of angst. Enough to fill 350 pages. I don't want to blaspheme Lovely, Dark and Deep though, because at its heart, it's a beautifully written book. The writing is poetic and conjures up images in a way that a regularly written script of dialogue and hasty descriptions can't. One of the first things that clued me into the prose was the quote on the front jacket flap:

I came here because it's pine-dark and the ocean is wild. The kind of quiet-noise you need when there's too much going on in your head. Like the water and the woods are doing all the feeling, and I can hang out, quiet as a headstone, in a between place. A blank I can bear.

I still can't believe she compared herself to a headstone. She's basically saying her life is a cemetery. This should have been enough of a clue that I was about to venture into depression-land, but apparently it wasn't enough to drive me away.

The entire time I was reading, I kept imagining myself in this silent forest, the kind of forest you find in the east. The trees have heavy snow-covered boughs, and the only sound is silence. Other times, it seemed that this book had submerged me like a rock in the ocean, where everything is muffled but in clarity. This is the world that Wren seems to move through. After her car accident, when she sees her boyfriend die before her eyes, she's lost and can't seem to find meaning in normalcy anymore. The grief in this book is potent, and I had to take breaks from the book because there were times when I thought it would take me under and not let go.

Wren is a tormented character; she takes midnight jogs in the forest and basically wanders around, oblivious to everything around her. It wasn't so bad in the beginning, but as the book went on, I found it really hard to like her. There's an amount of grief that i can deal with, but the way she treated the people around her seemed too harsh. Her decisions were so childish, especially when she decides that she hates Nick, that I couldn't feel sorry for her. She hates quickly and falls in love equally quickly. Cal remains two-dimensional; although his illness gives him character, I never felt like I truly understood him or what he and Wren found in each other beyond their mutual knowledge of what grief feels like.

What I did like, besides the writing, were the side characters, like her father, Mary, and Zara. Although there's not enough exploration into each, their personalities are warm and offset the coldness that seems to surround Wren. When they appear in the book, despite Wren's sulky responses to their attempts to help, they seem to be beacons of hope and recovery. The normalcy they provide becomes more frequent, and I think McNamara did a good job of inserting them into Wren's life slowly but surely. I would've liked her to come to terms with her mother in some sort of way, but I guess the point of that and what happens to her and Meredith are both evidence that there are some circumstances in life that change everything, and there's not much we can do to change it back.

Lovely, Dark and Deep is a heavy novel, but it doesn't have enough momentum. As I mentioned in my introduction, it's 350 pages of teenage angst. The end didn't seem like an end because the story cuts off, and maybe McNamara intends for us to imagine the rest of Wren's life, now that she's learned to care about others again. At any rate, the story just seems like one prolonged moment, and I have a hard time finding a plot in it. It could have been cut down a lot more so that the sadness was more profound and seemed less like it was dragging on. Also, the fragmented sentences sometimes interrupted the flow of things, especially since the rest of the writing was poetic and smooth.

Well, that's that. I'm exhausted from this book. Time for some Julia Quinn! 
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Review: The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

Book: The Storyteller (Der Märchenerzähler)
Author: Antonia Michaelis
Publication Date: January 1st, 2012
Publisher: ABRAMS
Rating: 4.5 Stars

A good girl.
A bad boy.
A fairy tale that's true.
A truth that is no fairy tale.

It begins the day Anna finds the child's doll on the floor of the student lounge. When it's claimed by Abel, the school drug dealer, Anna becomes determined to learn more about this mysterious boy with the military haircut and deep blue eyes. She follows him after school and discovers a secret: Abel is caring for his six-year-old sister, Micha, alone. Anna listens in as he tells her a fairy tale, the story of a little orphan queen pursued by hunters across the oceans for the treasure she carries: her pure, diamond heart.

It's a story with parallels to reality. Social services and Micha's abusive father could take her from Abel if they discover the truth.

Despite friend's warnings, Anna is drawn to Abel and Micha, and falls under the spell of the story of the little queen and her desperate voyage.

But when people Abel has woven into his tale turns up dead, it's Anna whose heart is in danger. Is she in love with a killer? And has she set out on a journey from which there is no return?

"...big, burst droplets of blood the color of poppies. A sea of blood, a red endless sea, crimson waves, carmine froth, splashing color..."

Lately, I've been having this problem. I've been wanting to go to Neverland. I want to experience the worlds of pirates, assassins, princesses, and golden apples again. And I have. But the problem is that I just don't believe anymore.
Somewhere, a fairy is dying...

The thing about The Storyteller is that it made me believe again. It was spellbinding in all the right ways, and it was the perfect book to urge me back into the world of dark fantasy. Michaelis combines a fairytale and reality, and she does it so well that even Abel's and Anna's story seems like something out of a dream, despite all the mentions of study dates and spilled hot chocolate (by the way, if Micha drinks that much hot chocolate, she must be a very happy--and chubby--little girl indeed). It gives this element of reality, yet when Anna and Abel are together, it seems so much more magical. Which is weird, since they're just being coupley. I'm chalking it up to Michaelis's writing style; the fairytale that Abel tells seems to weave its way into reality.

I'm still pretty awed at the genius of the book, the way the fairytale matches up with everything that's going on in Anna's and Abel's lives. Michaelis is essentially tells two stories at the same time, paralleling them exactly. That takes some serious skill (and probably hardcore outlining).

I was surprised at how dark this book is. I mean, you kind of get that from the blurb, but there's other stuff that's not hinted at in the blurb. It really took me by surprise. I had no idea there'd be so many mentions to problems that afflict children and different castes (Abel hates me for saying that word, but I can't think of something else).

It really reminds me of Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma in that there are these momentary gleams of happiness that make the darkness brighter and more real. Because without those moments, can we really count as humans? We need the happiness and the sadness, too. As with Forbidden, this couldn't have had a happy ending. The hope is there, and so is the fairytale, but in the end, reality triumphs. But there is hope that continues in the heart of a little girl.

The mystery added to the darkness, something that always lurked in the background and wouldn't come to light. Michaelis throws out so many different hints, and I totally thought I suspected the right person, but in the end I was still wrong, and I admire her for leading me on such a goose chase. The only thing that's keeping me from the 5 stars is that I didn't like Anna until towards the end. She seemed too fickle and irresponsible, even if she was doing the things she did for Abel. But Michaelis has executed almost every aspect of this story well, from giving all the characters different motives and traits, to making the plot twist and turn but ultimately come to a satisfactory conclusion.

I feel so melancholy now. Going to listen to some Leonard Cohen.
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Review: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Book: My Life Next Door
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Publication Date: June 14th, 2012
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Rating: 4 Stars

A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

Wow. Okay. I need a while to digest this book. I actually had to take some breaks from it because of how intense it got.

I expected something way different than what I got. I expected a cute, flirty summer romance with one of those shallow forbidden high school loves. I got that, and more.

From the start, My Life Next Door sucked me in. Something about the protagonist, Samantha, and her sterile life that was so close to crumbling, really got me. She's quirky and different, and her genuine care for the people around her is clearly visible. She definitely doesn't spend time feeling sorry for herself.

Then she meets the Garretts, and everything gets crazy. My favorite Garrett was George and his cute, naive questions. But I liked all of them. They made me laugh. They act exactly the way a loud, boisterous family with so many people would, and they made me want to join them. My family's not all that big, and I always wonder what it'd be like to have so many people always around like the Garretts. Especially contrasted with the silent elegance of Samantha's home, the wonderful disorder of the Garrett house is even more attractive. I think Fitzpatrick's description was especially good in this aspect. Her juxtaposition of these two homes next to each other yet so utterly separate is admirable, especially because it enhances the different facets of each.

Jase is perfect. Jase is actually too perfect to be true. He fixes cars, fixes vacuum cleaners, fixes houses. He's a fixer, and it's interesting to see his own insecurities brought to light, his own desire to do something about his future and not just be the boy from the "wrong side of the tracks." I would've liked to know more about what would happen to him afterwards, but we can't get everything. His relationship with Samantha is stuttered by pain and awkwardness, but I definitely don't think the love in this book is forced. It happens seamlessly, and I wasn't at all surprised when they confessed to loving each other. However, what does surprise me is how easily Jase accepted that Samantha's mother had a problem with him, as well as how easily her mother deals with their relationship. By all the emphasis placed on the Garretts and how they were not to be associated with, I thought Samantha's mom's discovery would be a huge blowup of mega proportions.

Then there's Clay. Clay made me want to punch something. But there's something to be admired in his smooth, Southerner speak, and his total lack of any morals whatsoever. I was pretty deceived too, knowing there was something wrong with him but not able to pinpoint exactly what that problem was. The same with Nan, who I cannot tolerate either, though in a different way. I wish she could've gotten her just desserts in the end, but that's how life works, and I think Fitzpatrick was trying to tell us through her ending that life happens sometimes, and some people get lost in the shuffle.

After all my talking about characters, it's reasonable to assume that the part I liked most about this book was the characterization. Sure, there were inconsistencies, but the people are real. So real that it hurts. I cared about their lives, and I wanted to know what happened. When the plot started taking a turn for the dramatic and serious, I followed along because I cared. Otherwise, I would've just rolled my eyes the entire time.

I really did enjoy this book, especially the Garretts. Although, I wouldn't say it's a fun summer read, or even dreamy, like that deceitful blurb says. You read this book, and you remember what you learn from it.
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Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Book: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author: John Green, David Levithan
Publication Date: April 6th, 2010
Publisher: Dutton Children's
Rating: 4 Stars

This book is one of the strangest combinations of things ever. I mean, if I told you to read something involving a straight guy who watches a girl with an extremely masculine boyfriend he's not sure he likes so much anyway so he can get her locker combo who meets a boy with the same name who suffers from depression and has an online relationship with another guy, and they have in common one extremely large, extremely gay, and extremely musical guy called Tiny, wouldn't you look at me like I've gone crazy?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a book gone crazy. And with two authors like John Green and David Levithan, I'm not surprised. My English teacher actually recommended this book to me and said that, true to the blurb on its cover, it was rude and crass, but that it was wonderful. I agree with her, to an extent. I guess the hype around this book got to me, so I still have some reservations concerning it.

The book is a quirky mix of characters, and though every person stood out to me, I never felt that connected to any of them. For some reason, I thought Will Grayson, Will Grayson would be about two guys named Will Grayson meeting and falling in love, and I kept expecting that to happen. But it never did. However, one thing that I really admired was the portrayal of Depressed Will's mother, who is one of the best parents ever. Though she isn't used to dealing with her son's troubles, she takes it all in stride and has a courage that I think many parents lack when their children come out to them.

Anyway, I thought this book was about Will Grayson(s). Instead, it ended up revolving more around someone else. I don't know if the authors intended this, but if they did, it worked out well. Still, I expected the two Wills to have more interaction than they did in the book, and that disappointed me a little. In this book, I liked David Levithan's character more, since John Green's wasn't anything unusual. If you've read his books and you read WGWG, his Will is pretty much any of the angsty, philosophical males out of his other novels.

Even though this book is unrealistic, it was somewhat a journey for me, and I liked how everything culminated in a huge, gay musical. It would've been cliche, but it wasn't. And I loved that.


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Review: If I Lie by Corrine Jackson

Book: If I Lie
Author: Corrine Jackson
Publication Date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating: 5 Stars

A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception.

Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.

I don't know if I can write a review that will fully articulate the impact that this book had on me.

If I Lie is a contemporary read that is fully contemporary. It has none of those charming happy endings or fluffy kisses. Instead, it contains nothing but reality and the fact that even when things become the worst that they can be, there's nothing to do but remain stoic and keep trying to escape.

Sophie's story is not an easy one to read. She is intensely ridiculed by her old friends, hated by everyone in her small town because she "cheated" on her boyfriend, Carey. Recently, I read a book, Speechless, that involved the same sort of high school ridicule. But Speechless has nothing on If I Lie. Sophie isn't just hiding a secret from everyone; she's also juggling the feelings she has for Carey's best friend, the stony silence of her father, and the way her mother abandoned her years ago. Jackson weaves a complex and heartbreaking plot, and there's no way for you not to sympathize for Sophie and admire her bravery for keeping Carey's secret safe despite everything. In addition, the loving relationship she has with George just tears you apart. I was very close to crying when I got to the end of this book.

There is extraordinary depth in this book. Not just to Sophie and the push and pull factors that lead her to keep her secret, but also to side characters like her mother and father. It's so hard to understand how they could treat their daughter the way they do, but you come to realize that it's all about that one defining moment when things change forever. Sometimes, you can't go back. All of the characters can be related to, with the exception of Jamie, who's just a bitch. There's nothing good about her, but you can understand that because of her position, as someone who's always loved someone who never loved her back, who's always had to stand out of the spotlight. It makes sense that she would fight back.

If I Lie has a bittersweet ending. It shows that there are some wounds that can't ever be healed, and that sometimes, we have to put ourselves first in order to be happy. But there's also the importance of friendship, and how, with the right people, those bonds will never fall apart. I think that's what Jackson wanted to emphasize: the power of friendship. The characters make millions of mistakes and are defined by their flaws, almost. In the end, this matters, but so do blood and loyalty, which also reflects the attitude in the army. Even if two men hate each other, they'll still save each other.

Jackson uses gorgeous language to express Sophie's emotions, and if you look at my status updates on Goodreads, you'll see some of them. She also calls attention to the "don't ask, don't tell," policy. Before this, I assumed that it was a good policy to just keep it on the DL, but now I've realized that's no way to live. Not sneaking around and getting beaten up for something you can't control.

Overall, this book... made me speechless. This isn't one of those "WOWZA SO GOOD" books, but it's one that makes you think about your perceptions of other people and makes you want to know their stories. Because we don't know each other's stories, and that's what handicaps us in our judgment. If you want to feel, then I suggest reading this, because you definitely will. There's quite a lot of crying, but it's understandable because of all the shit that Sophie's been through. One of my favorite parts was her relationship with an old veteran at the hospital, George. It was tear-worthy, especially their banter and the way George treats her like a daughter. Jackson has basically twisted my heartstrings into an ugly mess, and I'm recovering slowly.

Maybe I'll be able to stir up some motivation to read While He Was Away now, but I doubt it.

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Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Book: Speechless
Author: Hannah Harrington
Publication Date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Pages: 288
Rating: 4 Stars

Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret.

Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.

Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself.

"Hate is...it's too easy," he says. His face is calm, calmer than it has any right to be, his eyes not wavering from mine, like he's so completely sure of what he's saying. "Love. Love takes courage."

As cheesy as it sounds, in context it was actually very emotionally heartrending.

I can't argue that Speechless is amazing or spectacular, but I can argue that it is one of the more trustworthy books out there. It will take you on a girl's journey to becoming a better person (since the book itself has a fair amount of cheese, I decided to insert a lot into my review as well), but even better, it will make you believe that it's possible for a person to change.

The book begins with a stereotypical mean girl, someone who goes to parties, gets drunk, laughs at people as they're insulted. She's not the instigator, but the follower. Her best friend dictates what she wears, who she hangs out with, what she does. Basically, she doesn't have control of her life. And you don't like her at all. I didn't. I especially didn't like her best friend. I wanted to punch the lights out of her, especially as the story progressed.

But then something big happens. Something that I won't ruin for you guys, since it surprised me a bit. It's actually something that I could see happening in a high school. Anyway, it happens, and Chelsea (the MC), is wracked with guilt over it because of how she actually endangered someone's life. So she takes a vow of silence.

Harrington spins the silence aspect remarkably well and realistically, starting from Chelsea's difficulties with getting through to her teachers that she's serious about the vow, and the fact that she has to stand and be insulted because she can't speak for herself. It's so painful to read because of her helplessness and the terrible way that people treat her, but you know that that's what would happen if someone had committed a mistake like hers.

The interesting thing about the debacle is that it goes both sides. Chelsea's hated by the popular people because she ratted out the criminals, but she's also hated by the other side because she caused the problem. So she's stuck, and she has nowhere to go.

But then, like the summary promises, she meets people she probably would have overlooked or been contemptuous of otherwise, and she discovers they're much more forgiving, even after what she's done. It actually reminded me a bit of Sarah Dessen's work, particularly The Truth About Forever, especially the part with the diner and how she meets this motley group of people through it.

Sam is adorable. Actually, he's a bit too adorable to be real. Why aren't there boys like him at my school? Dorky but cute ones who can quote movies and books? Jeez. I wouldn't be itching to go to college if there were guys like him still in existence. Despite the impossibility of this dorky but adorable species of male, he seemed wholly real in the book, and despite Chelsea's misgivings about him and his dislike of her, both of them come around in a way that's completely believable.

Another book this reminds me of is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, in that it's also told from the point of a "bitch," and though you find it hard to like the MC, she redeems herself in the beginning. These kinds of books are always a gamble, since there's a very high chance that readers will still hate the MC regardless. However, Harrington and Oliver do a wonderful job with this. Though Chelsea becomes a better person through her experience, she still retains that snippy, bitchy aspect of herself.

I liked the multiple facets that Harrington gave to her characters, even Kristen (though I still don't like her and I would've liked her to be punched in the face, and this part could have been developed more), and I loved Asha, though she might dance the line of stereotypical. But kudos to Harrington for putting her in such an important position in the book, considering many authors' circumvention of non-white characters. In addition, I awwhed at the end with Noah and Andy, because how could you not? I think Speechless is a good example of the underlying tensions in high school, maybe even the world, and I think Chelsea's journey to self-discovery (cheeeese) is one that most people would enjoy reading.

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Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Book: Catching Jordan
Author: Miranda Kenneally 
Publication Date: December 1st, 2011
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 281
Rating: 2 Stars

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Greeen moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?

This may just be a coincidence, but now I get why they didn't show the people's heads on the character! Oh, that little plot twist in the middle. I don't know why I didn't see it. Of course Jordan couldn't just be a badass tomboy; she had to regress to being a whinging teenage girl at some point!

Cons: 
The crying.
Jordan acting like a total girl, and mentioning that Ty is "hot" as an excuse for why she's dating him when she obviously has feelings for someone else. 
The crying.
Tyler being a crybaby...?
Mediocre writing that's very choppy at times (One phrase where the coach "stares into" Jordan's eyes, which is a bit weird.)
The crying.
The fact that Jordan uses Sam's last name, Henry, so much that I completely couldn't connect him to the his first name. And I happen to like the name Sam very much.
Lots of welling eyes and pooling tears and however different ways to describe crying.
I'm beginning to sense a pattern here, are you?

Pros:
Sam and Jordan's friendship. Very sweet, and I especially liked the part with the football charm and how he picked wildflowers for her.
Brief moments of hilarity, like when Jordan cries into Luigi's face (what?).
The happy ending.

In conclusion: 
Feelings towards this book are lukewarm at best. All the crying just didn't do it for me. It actually angered me to the point of writing a post ranting about it, which can be found here. Liked the football and the fact that it was contemporary, but I didn't like Ty at all, and I had no idea what was going on with him. He was just there as a catalyst for Jordan's realization that she loved someone else, and after that, he pretty much disappeared. It was all HenryHenrySamHenry after that. And tears, of course. Let's not forget that.

I'm sad. I need something good to read.
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Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Book: Shut Out
Author: Kody Keplinger
Publication Date: September 5, 2011
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 273
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling...

I think I know what Shut Out wanted to accomplish. I think it wanted to be a rahrah womanhood book, but in the end, the preachiness of the entire thing turned me off. If it had just been a light-hearted read about a bunch of girls trying to get back at their boyfriends without all the fanfare about sex and how it doesn't define a person, I would've enjoyed it much more.

After reading The DUFF and being too disgusted with it to finish, I didn't really have high hopes for this book. But after reading, I have to admit it's better than Keplinger's debut. The premise is interesting: a sex strike? Some things weren't believable to me, especially the fact that everyone was having sex in this high school (or something close to it). In my experience, there are select people who can be classified as sluts or whores, but the entire population as a whole usually doesn't start having these huge debacles with sex until later. Call me jaded, but I'm graduating high school, and I'm a bit sick of the stereotype that high school athletics are breeding pools of sex and debauchery, because really, they're not.

The main character pissed me off. Lissa was whiny, neurotic in a bad way, and a complete bitch to everyone, including but not limited to her best friend and the potential love interest. I found it difficult to believe it was so easy for her to repair her friendship with Ellen. And the fact that Cash (what is with the name? Bleech.) first became attracted to her because she was beautiful?

Urgh. And she was given this sad background, with the dead mom and wheelchair-bound dad, but I never could summon up much sympathy for her, which was also a problem when I read The DUFF. It's funny because I liked virtually everyone else. I liked the slutty best friend, who had these tiny nuggets of wisdom when they mattered. I liked Mary and Finn, and their adorable relationship with each other, which I would've preferred to learn about over Lissa and Cash's lackluster one. I even liked Kelsey. I liked all the girls, because they did what was right when it mattered.

But Lissa didn't. Lissa pretty much offended everyone, but they welcomed her back. For a couple of chapters, I had to deal with her repeating We have to win. We have to win, as well as her endless droning about how guys suck, and her gigantic text blocks of inner monologue where she mused over how sex is okay and being a virgin is okay and OKAY I GET IT. I've never read a book that preached so obviously as this one did, and I did not like it. At all. It ruined the story, it ruined the main character, and it ruined the experience.

Giving this 2.5 because despite the way the storyline annoyed me, there were some random moments that squeezed a couple chuckles out of me. And Cash was too perfect to be true, despite his name.

Highlight:
In unison, they stripped off their shirts and tossed them onto the grass. An audible sigh--like the ones you hear on a sitcom that is "filmed in front of a live studio audience"--filled the room. It was almost funny, really. Such a strong reaction to a bunch of shirtless boys.

Of course, Lissa had to come in and ruin it by shutting the window and forbid the girls from looking. What's wrong with looking, I ask you?

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Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Book: Pushing the Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Publication Date:  July 31st, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 384
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

"An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!"-Gena Showalter,  New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series.

I wanted to like this book, mostly because of the blurb that promised a "girl-using loner bad boy." And I guess I got that, though not in the way I wanted.

The best way to explain my reactions toward this book would probably be in quotes. So. Let's begin, shall we?

Quote #1: In a lightning-fast move, he placed both of his hands on the brick wall, caging me with his body. He leaned toward me and my heart shifted into a gear I didn't know existed. His warm breath caressed my neck, melting my frozen skin. I tilted my head, waiting for the solid warmth of his body on mine. I could see his eyes again and those dark orbs screamed hunger.

Yummy Noah is yummy. I can totally see the dangerous sexiness he's got about him. However, this would have been a lot hotter if it hadn't happened almost in the exact same way several times throughout my reading of the book.

Quote #2: "No apologies. I could kiss yo right now." Judging by the look in his chocolate-brown eyes, he meant it.
"Don't. I think I'm gonna puke." I loved the way his lips turned up--part mischievous smile, part man of mystery.

Okay, I get that Noah is dangerous and sexy and mysterious. But I don't need to hear it over and over again. The puking part was funny, can't deny that. But I can't handle the redundancy in this book. Especially the parts with Noah always referring to Echo as "baby" or "my siren" or his "cinnamon oven" or whatever it was that he liked about her smell. It got old. And, as I mentioned in my status update, it reminded me of John Tucker Must Die, where I learned that John actually called his different girlfriends "baby" so he wouldn't mix up their names. Not a good sign.

Quote #3: "Yes, but never love. Just girls who didn't mean anything. You..." His tongue teased my bottom lip, thawing my body. "Are everything. I got tested over winter break and I'm clean and I've got protection." He reached to the side of the bed and magically produced a small orange square.

*Cough* *Snort* I think my coffee came out of my nose at this part. I definitely rolled my eyes. Is Noah a magician?

Quote #4: "I made out with Beth." The two of us leaned against the counter and drank our beers.

Do guys tell each other that they "made out" with a girl? I don't know. I just found this scene extremely feminine, for some reason. Except instead of drinking fruity stuff, they're having beers. I keep getting the feeling that McGarry is trying too hard to make these guys seem bad, and it doesn't come off as natural, just stereotypical.

Quote #5: Like everything else in life, if it contained the word free, it implied slow.

Ha! I like that. It's so true. Now here's a little, unique nugget that McGarry lets us see once in a while.

Quote #6: "I wish I could sleep with you," Echo's sexy-as-hell drowsy voice mumbled through the phone.

"Say the word, baby, and I'll rock your world."

*More coughing, snorting, laughing* Who SAYS that? Honestly, if some guy told me he'd rock my world, I'd laugh in his face. It's so cheesy.

Quote #7: "...I added a fucked up thought to another fucked up thought and I created a pile of shit."

Yet another funny nugget in the forest of badly used cliches and sayings. Wooooo. At this point, I just want everything to be over.

Quote #8: I waited for my pulse to stop beating my veins like a gang initiation, for the blood to leave my face and for my lungs to not burn as I gasped.

Errr. Like a gang initiation? What a strange simile. I had to read that a couple times, and I'm still a bit confused. There also is that strange comparison of her stomach butterflies to mutant pterodactyls? The pterodactyl part I can understand, but why are they mutant? Many times, I get the feeling that McGarry is using all these words but not pausing to really evaluate their meaning and what they contribute to the story.

I liked the way that Echo pieces together what happened, but I had to wonder whether it was strictly necessary to have so many flashbacks and so many meltdowns. It felt repetitive after the first two hundred pages, and the last hundred was just overkill, I think. I thought this story could've been a lot more compressed, which would have made the characters much more likable. I didn't really like Echo or Noah, Echo because she angsts a lot, which is obviously understandable given how much crap she has going on in her life. But there are moments where she seemed to acted in a way that was overly emotional, and it just didn't endear me to her. Likewise, Noah's perspective wasn't all that fun to read, either. He uses curses liberally, and normally I don't mind that, except that I think McGarry overdid it again. Also, he acts irrationally, and at the end when he sneaks into Mrs. Collins's office, I don't even get why he did it. It was just confusing to me.

The characters didn't leave much of an impression on me, despite what happened to them. Noah and Echo both have unenviable pasts, and that aspect drew me the most, though McGarry somehow blew them all out of proportion so the emotion seemed more forced than sincere. I don't think I liked anyone, really. Maybe Mrs. Collins, but I hated how she was likened to a dog. All of the comparisons made in this book are overcooked. If we likened this to a dish, I would say it was a delicious bowl of fried chicken that almost couldn't have gone wrong, except in the end the chef got insecure and dumped a bunch of salt in, which completely overcompensated.

That said, this still might be enjoyable, especially for fans of Perfect Chemistry and other books by Simone Elkeles.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read and review this book.

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Review: Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

Book: Flat-Out Love
Author: Jessica Park
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 400
My rating: 3 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well ... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.
Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.

There is no denying that Flat-Out Love is a very well-done book. That despite Jessica Park's little team-up with Jamie McGuire, this book will make you feel. Even though she's not acting cordially through her her support of McGuire in attacks against reviewers, I do not regret reading this book. The behavior of an author does make my opinion of him/her fall considerably, but it doesn't stop me from reading a book that promises to be good.

The revelation at the end was mind-blowing. I had no idea it was coming until a couple pages before (probably because I was up at 3 AM finishing up). Park duped me, and I feel simultaneously gratified and offended.

The cast of characters...I loved the characters in this book. Celeste, Matt, Erin, Finn...Ha. The dialogue was quick and witty, and I couldn't put the book down. I read it, in fact, for 5 straight hours. It's beautiful. This messed up, dysfunctional family, was beautiful. Julie was plenty amazing, too, with the way she deals with the situation and her attempts to help. Even though it was hard to like her at first for her rejection of the quirks of the Watkins family, her behavior towards Celeste and Flat Finn was enough to redeem her in the end.

I need to reread all of the messages with Finn after this. Damn it, that was brilliant.

I decided to be diplomatic and rate it a fair 3 stars, because even though I gave my honest opinion in this review, I still can't completely forget Park's past behavior.

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Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Book: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Publisher: Self-Published
Publishing Date: May 25th, 2012
My rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:
When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, stalked by her ex’s frat brother, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Her econ professor gives her an email address for Landon, the class tutor, who shows her that she’s still the same intelligent girl she’s always been. As Jacqueline becomes interested in more from her tutor than a better grade, his teasing responses make the feeling seem mutual. There’s just one problem—their only interactions are through email.

Meanwhile, a guy in her econ class proves his worth the first night she meets him. Nothing like her popular ex or her brainy tutor, Lucas sits on the back row, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. At a downtown club, he disappears after several dances that leave her on fire. When he asks if he can sketch her, alone in her room, she agrees—hoping for more.

Then Jacqueline discovers a withheld connection between her supportive tutor and her seductive classmate, her ex comes back into the picture, and her stalker escalates his attention by spreading rumors that they’ve hooked up. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

I'm considering whether or not to create a new shelf titled swooning-like-a-schoolgirl, but I already have a similar one, which makes it redundant. This book should come up with a warning about fanning yourself and internal combustion. It made me want to go make out with my boyfriend (but I don't have one right now. boo.).

I honestly did not think that Lucas would be as sexy as he ended up being because I don't go for the tattooed, pierced type. It's just never been my thing. But Lucas blew all my petty annoyances out of the water. He was sensitive, smart, possessive (maybe overly so), and oh-so-sexy. If you read the blurb, you sort of expect a mildly stalkerish introvert. Which I suppose Lucas is, but Webber manages to portray him as a good, decent human being despite his bad boy appearance, and I loved him regardless. His gruesome past comes as a pretty big shocker, and I liked that this was emphasized in a realistic way, instead of through those big dramatic moments and hand-to-mouth gasps. And his complete devotion towards Jacqueline, as well as his lack of caring when she caught him staring at her? I was about to burst into flames from all the sexual tension, holy cannoli.

This book can't be argued as completely unique or outstanding, but Webber explores the topic of rape in a way that isn't overly preachy and that emphasizes the power that women have. When the sorority president gave her speech, I wanted to applaud. It was beautiful.

Jacqueline is a very likable character. She has her own regrets and bad decisions, but she comes to terms with them in a way that's reasonable. I also have to give Webber kudos for the side characters like Erin, Benji, and even Kennedy. They had developed personalities, and I never felt that they submitted to any specific cliche. I especially liked Erin, probably because of her obsession with groin-hitting. Heh.

That said, I love this cover. It has some understated elegance, I suppose. It doesn't hurt that I happen to love the shades of blue they've used.

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Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Book: Bittersweet
Author: Sarah Ockler
Publishing Date: January 3rd, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
My rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances... a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life... and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last...

One thing is for sure: Bittersweet is definitely better than Twenty Boy Summer. That book was just...blech.

So, I really like this cover. I think it's very fitting, and it gives off that quaint wintry feel that I got from the entire setting of Watonka (is that a real place? The name is so...whimsical. I like.). I really liked Ockler's writing in this novel, and I remember it was pretty good in That Other Book, too. This is how Hudson describes the place in the end:

All the little quirks that make even the most barren, frigid places beautiful, that make a tiny gray dot on the map the one place you'll always call home, no matter where your glamorous, boring, adventurous, average, ridiculous, impossible, epic, romantic, bacon-infused life leads you.


It's not the best quote in there, but it was one that struck a chord with me. As someone who yearns to leave my dumpy little town for the big city, this book was a good reminder that it's the people that make a place special, and to be alone while reaching for your dreams is sometimes worse than having support in your failures. Also, I loved the cupcake descriptions. If I weren't on a diet, I'd go snarf a couple vanilla wafers from my pantry right now. I mean, dark chocolate espresso cupcakes topped with cinnamon café au lait icing, white chocolate chips, and chocolate-covered espresso beans? Come into my mouth, please!

This is a sweet book, packed with delicious desserts and likable people. Bug was the cutest one of them all. I think Bug added a star to this review. He thought maraschino cherries were martian cherries. I wish my sister were that cute.

However, I can't say as much for the main character, Hudson. Strangely enough, I liked what Ockler did with her side characters like Trick, Bug, and even Dani. But it was hard for me to like Hudson. That's not to say that I couldn't understand her conflicts or her sudden alienation of everyone important in her life. She just didn't do things that were very endearing and made it difficult to sympathize; namely, when she kept cutting off Frankie when she was trying to tell her about Will. I thought it was obtuse of her, especially after she'd already learned that Frankie was right the first time. It bothered me that she wouldn't learn. Josh was your average, cute boy who shares music and all that cute stuff. But he didn't have much of a defining aspect, besides his sister Abby (and who hasn't seen the girlfriend-is-actually-sister thing before?). In fact, I felt that Will had much more charisma and personality than Josh. So I think Ockler should have worked a bit more on her main characters, who pale in comparison to the other less important people.

That said, I enjoyed this book way more than That Other Book, and the characters and plot were way more fun to read about, too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go stare at cupcake pictures on Tumblr.
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Review: Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Book:  Wanderlove
Author: Kirsten Hubbard
Release Date: March 13th, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Pages: 338
My rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story

There needs to be a destination, even if it's way off in the haze of my unlived life. And in that life, I'd like to be an artist.


I have a headache from reading this book. I think this is one of the few times where I'm pleased, despite the pounding in my head.

I honestly didn't expect the impact this story would leave on me. Maybe a few iguanas, some rain forest talk, barracudas...But Hubbard managed to make this into something profound. She brought the eternal problem of discovering yourself to South America, and in the process, she made something beautiful.

To begin with, the main character, Bria, has incredible character development. Over the course of her stay in various places of the wilderness, she develops her own independence and confidence in fighting for what she loves. Of course, she is pretty pitiful in the beginning, but I found it adorable instead of irritating. She has a voice that's completely sincere. As a teenager, I can completely sympathize with the way she feels: torn between places. Her connection to her art reminded me of how much I love my own writing and the possessiveness that comes with our own personal creations. Also, I loved the little pieces that Hubbard would slip in that made Bria so much more believable. For example, there's this one part when she's trying to put on her summer dress in front of Rowan and two other girls and gets stuck before she can get it all the way on. It's stuff like that that makes me believe that the author really has gotten into the mindset of the characters she's writing and knows that it's not just pretty words that makes a story: it's voice. And I'm happy to say that Bria's is an especially enjoyable one to read.

Onto Rowan. Damn, does he sound like a delicious piece of man meat. Despite his ponytail. Ha. I loved that he had his own problems, and that his bad boy past hadn't turned him into some dark poetry-reciting maniac (It has happened in other books. I would know.). Throughout the story, he comes off as someone truly likable and sweet, with a big heart and secrets of his own that he won't share unless the right person comes along. I loved tracking how he changes and opens himself to Bria throughout the novel, and I'm thankful that Hubbard never made their love story easy. Caution: whenever Rowan and Bria seem to be getting along better, don't get your hopes up. Something, be it Scandinavian giants or seasickness, will probably mess it up. Those who've read this book know what I'm talking about. But it all comes down to the issue of trusting someone else, not just with your safety, but with who you really are. That's why those who are sick of insta-love and unrealistic characters should read this book. There are real discoveries of what it means to exist in this world, and what it takes to step out of the comfort zone and pursue dreams that are actually worthwhile.

Not only do we have a hilarious, lovable, and begrudging travel couple, we have the beautiful backdrop of South America and the Caribbean. After all this, I have a hankering to visit there. Although I would never backpack. It sounds brutal, and I like comfortable hotels. Yup. Anyway, the way Hubbard describes the seas and brilliant sunsets are so vivid, it makes me yearn to be able to experience it once in my life, too. The drawings that were included were a lovely addition, especially the last couple ones, which let me visualize what kinds of people Starling, Rowan, and Bria are. I'm actually considering buying this book, which is big, since I'm pretty stingy in buying books because I think I won't ever read them again.

In truth, I don't think any review I write can do this book justice. You'd have to read it to know why I love it so much. Just like Bria observes that people can't understand the beauty of travel unless they've done it themselves.

So...yeah. READ THIS BOOK. If you don't like it (which is doubtful), at the very least you won't have felt like you lost brain cells in the end.




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