The Wishing Boy

by Emma Maxwell McCone

Summary from GoodReads

Dublin, 1930s - political unrest between Republicans and the De Valera Government. An art exhibition takes place and contains an unusual painting entitled "The Wishing Boy". Catrin Kilpatrick, the daughter of a well-known business man, admires the unique painting and wants to buy it, but Devlin O'Farell the artist refuses to sell it. Determined to have her way, she travels to Galway where he lives, and plans to make the purchase. Little does she know, Devlin worked for Flan Maguire, the most powerful man in Galway, and Commander of the Galway IRA Brigade. She has walked into the Lion's Den, and will find herself in great danger. 

Thoughts on the Book

I got this one from BEA from Austin Macauley publishers.  I selected this one because I don't know much about Ireland and their fight for independence, and I really wanted to learn more.

My Review

This book didn't really seem to have a set plot, there were too many things going on.  There was Catrin's obsession with a painting, the artist, Devlin's struggle with his work and his past, as well as all sorts of other odd storylines.

Catrin, as a main character, was extremely unlikeable.  She was so self-entitled.  She would not take no for an answer and she pestered everyone she possibly could to get what she wanted.  I guess her strategy is to annoy everyone to the point where they just gave her what she wanted, so she could go home smug and relish in always getting her way.

Devlin on the other hand I liked very much.  He lived a hard life, but was kind and loyal.  I sympathized with him a lot, and of all characters to get a happy ending I wished it for him.

The fact that the heroine was unlikeable and the hero got the short end of the stick every single time made this difficult to get through, without a solid plot (other than Catrin trying to get what she wanted through any means necessary) the only one you had to root for was Devlin because the more you learned about him the more you pitied and rooted for him.  Even the 'character growth' moments I found to be lacking.  The whole bit with the soldier, what was the point?  To show that Catrin is unnecessarily lucky?  Her 'traumatizing' moments with him could have been so much worse.  Or was his point to show how awful the Galway IRA leader was?  We could have gotten that from a multitude of other ways.  The ending left a sour taste in my mouth because of this, reading the book was kind of pointless, Catrin got exactly what she set out for and the other characters?  Eh, nothing changed for them, they got the endings they were always going to get. 

Overall I give this book a 7/10.  It did hold my interest and it was cool to read about Ireland, but I just wish Catrin was a better character, it would have made the whole book so much better.

Fans of the Impossible Life

by Kate Scelsa

Summary from GoodReads

Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it’s as if he’s been expecting him.

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.

As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.

A captivating and profound debut novel, Fans of the Impossible Life is a story about complicated love and the friendships that change you forever.

Thoughts on the Book

I got this book from BEA and it's been sitting in my TBR pile for a while.  It finally made it's way to the top and I was starting to see some great reviews for it so I picked it up to give it a read.

My Review

This book is about three teens, all with some sort of issue, Mira who suffers from depression, Sebby who lives in foster care, and Jeremy who can't quite figure out who is is.

I hated every second of this book.  The only character I could semi relate to was Mira, but even she was awful.  And the chapters?  Ugh.  How quaint, each character will be told from a different point of view.  It was horrible, especially Sebby's second person chapters. 

Let's begin with Mira.  She suffers from depression, he father gave up caring about her after she completely betrayed their trust.  She doesn't do a thing for herself no matter how many people try to support her.  She latched on the the one person who was the absolute worst for her, feeding into all of her bad habits all the while not caring one bit about her.

Then there's Jeremy.  I almost liked him, he's a shy kid growing up with two dads.  Kids at his elite school start making fun of him, to the point of he had to leave school, because if his dad is gay then he must be too.  The thing that annoyed me with him was he seemingly gave in to the pressure and was like, well, everyone things I'm gay, my dads are gay, therefore I also am gay.  Imagine if it were the opposite, a gay kid feeling like he has to be straight because his parents are and everyone around him thinks he is.  Neither scenario is okay, but Scelsa felt that if he struggling to figure out who he was, him being gay would be so much more edgy and topical.

And lastly Sebby.  By far the worst character.  He was a walking stereotype.  Flamboyantly gay, going after whatever guy he fancied.  He's a foster kid, so he steals and runs away from home, drops out of school, has zero respect for anyone and of course, turns to drugs because his life is just so horrible.  

There were so many stupid side stories that took away from the main three stories.  Way too many things going on in this book.  There was Rose and her girlfriend/ex girlfriend with all of their alluded to drama, there was their English teacher who they all got inappropriately close to which caused him to loose his job, there was the girl who helped Jeremy out the previous year that had her own drama to deal with which sort of played a part in the main story.  It was just a jumble of too many things going on and everything was left unresolved.

I think my main problem with this book was Sebby.  His chapters were too harsh and they just made me hate him.  The most unrelatable character was done in second person, all of his decisions started with 'you' so my reaction was hell no not me.  Even his very first chapter, getting a bj from some poor schmuck in the mall, and thinking that it's okay?  Turning to drugs and totally screwing over everyone who cares about him?  Hating his foster mother who really cares about him but he's too blinded by his 'woe is me' attitude.  At the end I was almost hoping for him to O.D. then the book would have at least been a cautionary tale. 

I give this book a 1.5/10.  It was a struggle to get through it and when I finally did get to the end my only reaction was 'thank god it's over'.  

Crenshaw

by Katherine Applegate

Summary from GoodReads

In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.

Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.

Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?

Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary.

Thoughts on the Book

Growing up I was a huge Animorphs fan.  When I heard Katherine Applegate was going to be at BEA I was so excited, I had to get a copy of this book.  Unfortunately she was signing at the same time as another author I wanted to see meet even more.  I was super lucky though and I was able to get in line (they had a finite amount of books, way too few for the amount of people who wanted them) and get a copy.

My Review

Crenshaw is about a boy, Jackson, from a poor family who was about to evicted, again.  Crenshaw is Jackson's imaginary friend who made his original appearance the first time Jackson's family was homeless and who returned when Jackson started suspecting they were going be homeless again.

I loved this book, it was really cute and moving.  The family really cares about each other and his parents try their hardest for their kids.  It's a lesson on sticking together as a family and trying your best no matter what life throws at you.  

Jackson was such a cute kid.  He loves science and wants a logical explanation for everything and he loves sharing his random bits of animal knowledge with people.  Crenshaw is as absurd as Jackson is logical.  He's funny and nonchalant all while being extremely insightful.

I also loved how ambiguous Applegate was with if Crenshaw was real or not.  Obviously, he's not real, he's an imaginary friend.  But then, Aretha, the family dog sensed he was there, and Jackson's best friend made a comment alluding to him.  And Crenshaw knew all about Jackson's father's imaginary friend.

Overall I give this a 9/10.  It was a cute, fun read.

Illuminae

by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Summary from GoodReads

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

Thoughts on the Book

I got a copy of this at BEA.  It was kind of amusing how I came across one of the most coveted ARCs.  I went to a signing then was wandering around looking for my friend and saw someone handing these out, so I was looking trying to see what it was and the woman was like 'oh it's a YA sci-fi book', so I figured I would be down with reading that and grabbed it.  A while later I found my friend, we're walking around talking and I mentioned getting this ya/sci-fi book and she asked for the name.  She totally freaked when I told her and I had to immediately lead her over to where they were handing them out, luckily there were some left (it had been at least an hour after I got my copy) so, yay!  It was such a low key book drop all the way in the corner of the venue.

My Review

This book is about a planet with an illegal mining operation being attacked by a rival mining company.  Some refugees from the planet made it onto two research vessels and the only warship that came to their rescue.  A plague breaks out, introduced by refugees, and the warship's AI is highly problematic.  Oh yeah, and one of the ships that attacked the planet is chasing after the three ships with the refugees.

Oh My God.  This book.  Just look at it, it's soooooo cool.  I love every little bit of it, the cover is cool, but then take off the dust jacket and it's even cooler!  The inside cover is awesome too, but I think that's just for the ARCs, I want to see what they do for the final version.  I love the theme of the book and how everything fits into that theme.  It's so unique and so awesome and wow, what a great book.  

The way it's written is so different from anything else I've ever read.  It's a mix of confidential reports, IM logs, emails, transcribed conversations.  The beginning was a little rough to get into, it kept switching between Kady and Ezra's interviews and each interview picked up where the other's left off.  So it was difficult to follow who was being interviewed.  But once those were completed the rest of the book read quite easily.

I love Ezra, he's such a great character.  He's so anti-authority, snarky teenage boy, who's a total softy.  He cares so much about everyone.  Kady I wasn't too fond of.  She's awesome, don't get me wrong, but she comes off as very holier-than-thou and standoff-ish.  AIDAN I have mixed feelings about, totally crazy machine, but then at the end...I think it'd come super close to passing, or actually pass a Turing Test.  Which is a terrifying notion.

At first the story felt like there was way too much crap going on, the initial attack, being pursued by the Lincoln, the crazy AI, then the plague?  Way too much.  But it really wasn't, the story tied it all together beautifully.  At points while reading, especially during the second half, I had to put the book down.  I couldn't take it, what they were going through was just too much.  The ending especially was way difficult to read.  And I was excepting a cliff hanger, a really really bad one that I would curse the authors for while anxiously watching the calendar until book 2's release date.  And there almost was one, but then there were those few pages, almost like an epilogue, but not because this isn't your typical book.  The last part, the almost epilogue, that very last surveillance footage summary, it left me with tears in my eyes. Then that last line.  Beautiful.  Loved it.  So freaking good.  So glad it ended the way it did.  It was complete, it was amazing, it was everything you could want with a book. 

I was actually surprised at the end.  I totally called the two big "shocking" things earlier in the book.  Like when Ezra said something I was like that's it! That'll be the shocking revelation right before the final climax of the series, or at least the kicker for book 2.  Then near the end, I called something else, which if I allude to it it's automatic spoilers.  In the final IM conversation in the book it confirmed both things I figured out, and it didn't make a big deal out of it.  I found that surprising.  Illuminae is so not your typical book.  It's allure isn't mysteries and tensions.  It's all about what is happening and how the people involved are coping with it.  This is going to be a book that sticks with you a long time.

I give this a 11/10.  Such a phenomenal book.  I'm so glad I stumbled upon it at BEA.

Dumplin'

by Julie Murphy

Summary from GoodReads

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Thoughts on the Book

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book since my friend Nori posted it as her Waiting on Wednesday back in March.  I was lucky enough to snag a copy at BEA and meet Julie, who’s awesome and grew up a few towns over from me!

My Review

This story is about a heavier girl, Willowdean, and how she copes with not fitting into our society’s ideal of beauty.  Will has to deal with bullies, budding romances, self doubt, and latent jealousy of her best friend.  All in the midst of her town’s teen beauty pageant.

I LOVED this one.  It’s been a long long time since I stayed up way too late because I couldn’t put the book down.  It happened with this one.  Fortunately I have more self control than I used to, so I didn’t finish the book that night, I wouldn’t have made it into work the next day if I had.  That didn’t stop me from finishing the book while at work though…

Willowdean is such an amazing powerful main character.  She has so many doubts about herself, caused by what others say directly to her, or hint at.  Some classmates are cruel to her or avoid her, Will’s only friend is her best friend, Ellen.  Her mother though, forced diets on her until she was in middle school and her mother always fought with Will’s obese aunt about Will’s size.  She would also make comments that either intentional or not, implied that Will really needed to lose weight in order to be happy. Will’s main role model is her aunt, who died before the story begins.  Will has to deal with the loss of her idol as well as realizations about her aunt that she never thought of before.

Bo is another amazing character.  After he got injured (which happened before the story) he went through some major self-realization, Will met him near the end of this, and helped him become the awesome person he is.  Bo is pretty much what every guy should be, completely uncaring of what others thing and just following his heart.  He is totally my new fictional boyfriend!

Ellen I didn’t think was too great, Will was definitely the bigger person (no pun intended) who repaired their friendship and let a lot of things Ellen did slide.  Ellen really didn’t care about Will’s feelings with certain matters, like her new horrible friend, Callie.  Ellen didn’t even care about what her boyfriend thought of Callie.

I thought that there would be a much larger focus on the pageant and I’m really happy there wasn’t.  Will didn’t care about it, so she didn’t stress about it.  I loved that we did get to see parts of it though, and I love that Will ended up being a fantastic role model for others and that while Will was coming to terms with herself so were her new-found friends.  I love how Will’s finding herself and being comfortable with herself really relied on others and in turn she helped them come into their own as well.  It was so much more realistic than other coming of age stories I’ve read where the main character only needs themselves.  I know I wouldn’t be who I am without influence from my friends, acquaintances, and even the bullies. 

I give this book an 11/10.  It was so good and engaging not to mention a fantastic character driven coming of age story.  I can’t wait to see what Julie Murphy comes out with next!

The Accident Season

by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Summary from GoodReads

It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?

Thoughts on the Book

This is a BEA book, I had grabbed it because the cover looks pretty cool and concept was unique and I couldn't wait to read it.

My Review

This book is about a family who seem to have awful things happen to them during the month of October, which they dub the 'accident season'.  Near the end of October Cara realizes that a classmate, Elsie, appears in every one of her pictures.  The next day Elsie isn't at school and Cara makes it her mission to find Elsie.

I mostly liked this book.  I liked Sam/Cara dynamic, and I loved Alice.  Bea didn't come off as unique and awesome as Cara felt she was.  I think the main thing that bothered me with them is the constant drinking and smoking.  Are kids really like that in Ireland?  Or was I just a goody-two-shoes growing up and didn't do anything that I wasn't supposed to?  I also didn't like how the constant drinking and smoking was glorified, it sets a bad example for kids.  Smoking is not cool, it's awful for you and disgusting to boot.  There should have been some horrible accident involving a cigarette, rather than Sam blowing smoke rings and everybody loving it.  

The story also seemed to focus more on the drinking and partying than on the accident season or the characters themselves.  I would have loved to see Bea being super witchy, instead of just pulling out her Tarot cards whenever she wasn't imbibing.  Or more of Cara and Sam clowning around together with the underlying awkwardness, there were only a couple parts with that, but then it stopped so abruptly.  A little more on the Alice/Nick front would have been nice too, something to make the end a little more powerful.

Speaking of the end, it left me confused.  I don't get it, which I usually don't mind if it's written that way, like obviously left ambiguous to make your own conclusions.  This ended left one thing obviously ambiguous (which was cool, I liked that part) but the other stuff it explained away, but not fully, so it still doesn't make sense, there's no deliberate ambiguity.  The explanation doesn't make sense for everything, only certain things so if all the other things are just coincidences, not cool.

As awesome as this story was, it could have been so much better.  I'm expecting great things from Moïra in the future.  It's a solid debut, and a lot of authors start a little shakey before they really hone their writing and become amazing best selling authors.  I really hope she is one of these authors.

Overall I give this a 7.5/10.  I loved the concept and the characters, I wasn't a fan of the entire resolution and the focus on drinking really bothered me.

Awake

by Natasha Preston

Summary from GoodReads

Scarlett doesn’t remember anything before the age of five. Her parents say it’s from the trauma of seeing her house burn down, and she accepts the life they’ve created for her without question—until a car accident causes Scarlett to start remembering pieces of an unfamiliar past.

When a new guy moves into town, Scarlett feels an instant spark. But Noah knows the truth of Scarlett’s past, and he’s determined to shield her from it...because Scarlett grew up in a cult called Eternal Light, controlled by her biological parents.

And they want her back.

Thoughts on the Book

I got this book at BEA, there was a huge cool stack of them done in this pretty circle.  The cover is gorgeous, and it came in this dust jacket type thing that added to the mystery of it.  I'd been itching to pick it up and give it a read, so I happily grabbed it when it made it's slow way to the top of my BEA pile.

My Review

This book is about Scarlett, who doesn't remember anything before the age of four.  Everyone things this is completely bizarre, especially the new guy, Noah.  Right when Noah shows up Scarlett falls for him, and the feeling is mutual.  Everything changes when Scarlett is in a car accident and she begins to remember things from her early childhood.

When I began to read this I was like "Oh, okay, we're going with the main character falling for the new mysterious boy meme, it's not horribly overdone yet, so sure".  That part actually wasn't too bad, it wasn't insta-attraction/obsession a la Twilight, it felt a bit more natural, they were friends first then began dating.  But where shall I begin?  Let's stick with characters first.

Scarlett was an okay protagonist, she wasn't a great heroine and she did make stupid mistakes.  But she is a sixteen (or almost sixteen, I couldn't figure that out, it kept switching back and forth) year old girl, they're bound to make a dumb mistake or two.  Especially involving a guy.  Trust me, I once was one, I know this from experience.  At the end of the book when she really needed to stand up for herself she was so weak, she spent most of the time crying.  I get that what she was going through was hard, and she did make the wise choice of pretending she would go along with stuff, but she really spent too much time crying.  It got annoying.  Fast. 

Noah was another solidly okay character.  He's supposed to be this big mystery, who is he, what does he want with Scarlett? But he's just boring - a good guy who likes Scarlett.  Who everyone forgives way too easily.  The other characters are stupid.  Imogen?  Completely pointless, the other "best friends" that I completely forget the names of because they were so insignificant - pointless.  The members of Eternal Light, so stupid, if they're important enough to be mentioned they should at least have some sort of personality.

The parents were weird.  The first time Scarlett goes over to Noah's her parents insist on following to meet him, they then talk to his parents.  This right there should have negated the entire story, but NOPE!  After that point her parents completely love Noah.  They spoke to him for like 5 minutes before he and Scarlett left for the movies.  Noah's parents were also weird, or at least his dad was.  How was the end even a thing?  No father would do that, especially a father who has spent the last 18 years raising his son.  Oops was that a spoiler?  Oh the horror!  Noah being 18 was such a big reveal at the end, despite the totally awkward "foreshadowing" (if you could even call it that) right at the beginning. 

Now for the stupidest part of the whole book.  Lately, completely unrelated to this book, my friends have been talking about how little they remember before the age of 5 or 6.  I remember quite a bit from my preschool years, as does one other friend, the rest don't remember much of anything.  So why, WHY is it such a big deal that Scarlett can't remember anything earlier than her 4th birthday?  Most people can't!  She, her parents, Noah, everyone makes such a big deal about how weird it is that she can't remember anything.  She even goes to a shrink to try to remember!  SO STUPID.  Maybe it would be weird if it were like anything before the age of 10, because that's a solid 4 years that most people do remember parts of.

Overall I give this book a 3/10.  I nearly stopped reading it, but I hate leaving things unread, and I feel like I can't properly hate on a book without finishing it.  And as I've said before, I'm a masochist when it comes to bad books, I have to finish them!

Goodbye Stranger

by Rebecca Stead

Summary from GoodReads

Bridge is an accident survivor who's wondering why she's still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody's games--or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade? 
This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean to fall for a girl--as a friend? 
On Valentine's Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in plain sight?

Thoughts on the Book

Another BEA book.  When I opened it up I was surprised to see I had gotten this one signed, I completely don't remember doing that.  I also didn't realize that it is considered a children's book since it takes place in middle school.  I guess I should really pay more attention to the books I pick up...

My Review

This book is about a girl, Bridgette - aka Bridge -, who got hit by a car and should have died, it was through the efforts of the surgeons that she survived.  Goodbye Stranger takes place a few years later once Bridge is completely healed and fully reunited with her best friend Tabitha and new since the accident best friend Emily.  The book deals with the struggles of growing up and basic middle school awfulness.  

Reading this book made me miss my friends from middle school (and high school), the three of us were inseparable, and we can still be found together around town occasionally, although those sightings are become more and more rare the more life gets in the way.  (And, side note, it's super appropriate that this is the review being posted today because it's one of those two best friends' birthday today - Happy Birthday Jessi!)  So I related to Bridge, Tabitha, and Emily greatly.  Even the Sherm side of things I could relate to, although I wish my past matched their future.

I mostly loved this book.  I loved the story-line of what Emily was going through, how the three friends did their best to stick together through it all.  I also loved how welcoming Emily and Tabitha were of bringing Sherm into the group, they didn't force Bridge to choose new friends over old and Bridge never shunned her old friends to hang out with Sherm.  Even Emily did her best to not do that, despite not being around much because of soccer practice.

There were only three things I didn't like, two bugged me a little, and the third I would have hated the book if it went on for more than it did.  First, Sherm's grandfather.  I don't get it, what was the point?  It was such a random thing to have happened and it really didn't add anything to the story.  All it did was allow for Sherm to write letters to him. Second, all the nicknames, no one was called by their full name, it was all Bridge instead of Bridgette, Sherm instead of Sherman, Tab instead of Tabitha, and Em instead of Emily.  For all these characters I actually prefer their full name to their nickname. The third thing was the random chapters in second person.  Who writes in second person? Seriously, it's awful.  It added absolutely nothing to the main story.  It was an unnecessary "mystery" that the resolution of was stupid.  Moral of the story - we all have friends!  

Thankfully those chapters were very short and it was just a minor annoyance.  Bridge's story was so good that it made those chapters fade into the background.

Overall I give this book a 9.5/10.  It would have been a solid 10 if not for those second person chapters.  Seriously though, who writes in second person if you're not writing a choose your own adventure book?

Tonight the Streets Are Ours

by Leila Sales

Summary from GoodReads

From the author of This Song Will Save Your Life comes a funny and relatable book about the hazards of falling for a person you haven't met yet.

Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she's tired of being loyal to people who don't appreciate her—including her needy best friend and her absent mom.

Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called "Tonight the Streets Are Ours," the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.

During one crazy night out in NYC filled with parties, dancing, and music—the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does—Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either.

Thoughts on the Book

This is another BEA book I got this spring.  After I picked it up I sat in the Richelle Mead line and the girl in front of me was gushing about Leila Sales and how amazing This Song Will Save Your Life is.  This was one of many people who commented on Sales with the same sentiment.  I'd never read it, so I went into this book hearing nothing but awesome things about that book and the author, so I finally got around to picking up this one to read.

My Review

This book is about two best friends, Arden and Lindsay.  They are inseparable and completely opposite each other.  Lindsay keeps getting into trouble by making stupid mistakes while Arden is forever bailing her out and helping her.  Arden is also in a relationship with the star of the high school theater department.  One day Arden finds a blog online and her and Lindsay go on an adventure that changes Arden's life.

I LOVED this book.  I think one of the reasons why was because I happened to read the right book at the right time in my life.  It was the perfect escape for me, a nice bit of light, fun, reading after too many epic, in depth books.

Aside from timing of me reading it, the characters were great too.  Arden was such a realistic character.  I could completely relate with her, I've been her, minus the impromptu trip to NYC to stalk someone she "met" on the internet.  I wasn't really a fan of Lindsay, and I actually loved their fight, it was exactly what needed to happen to them.  I enjoyed Peter too, he was interesting, and way more complex than I originally thought he would be.

All the non-New York secondary characters were really flat, Lindsay's parents were fit nicely into one stereotype, Arden's dad fit into another, and her brother filled the annoying younger brother stereotype perfectly.  Chris was the perfect self-centered asshole of a boyfriend, the girls at school were your typical mean girls.

Once Arden and Lindsay got to New York things got a little bit more interesting character-wise.  The reader met everyone through Peter's blog, but then got to meet them in real life.  It was really fun to have your preconceived opinions about them completely thrown out the window.

As for the plot, it was a cool premise, but not so realistic.  Who drives six hours from middle of nowhere suburbia to one of the country's most major cities when they've been there once before (when they were 8) to find the author of a blog - on a whim.   Then there was the subplot with Arden's mom, it felt off and unnecessary.  Essentially it felt like a plot device for New York.  

Despite everything I didn't like about the book it came together beautifully and it was really just a story about Arden growing up and coming into her own.  The good things from the book completely overshadowed the bad.  To the point of if I wasn't thinking about it to write the review I simply would have said I loved the book.  It wasn't until I had to figure out why I loved it that I kept thinking of all the stupid/bad bits. And I still can't come up with a solid reason why I loved it.  I just did.  It must be some Lelia Sales writing magic.

Overall I give this a 9/10.  It was great, en lieu of what I complained about above - trust me.

The Golden Compass vol. 1

by Philip Pullman (adapted by Stéphane Melchior and Clément Ouberie) 

Summary From GoodReads

The world of Philip Pullman’s internationally bestselling His Dark Materials saga is brought to visual life in book 1 of a three-volume graphic adaptation of The Golden Compass.

Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her dæmon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle—a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, and a mysterious substance known as Dust. As she hurtles toward danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win—or to lose—this more-than-mortal battle.

The stunning full-color art offers both new and returning readers a chance to experience the story of Lyra, an ordinary girl with an extraordinary role to play in the fates of multiple worlds, in an entirely new way.

Thoughts on the Book

This was one of the books I was the most excited about from BEA.  His Dark Materials is my absolute favorite series ever written.  

My Review

Volume 1 of The Golden Compass goes right up until the mechanic bugs see Lyra on the ship. 

Pretty much the only thing I liked about this adaptation was the underlying story.  The part that they took from Philip Pullman.  The artwork wasn't very good.  Fadar Coram was downright creepy looking.  As were almost all of the characters.  The pictures didn't really enhance the story at all, and the parts from the book that were taken were only dialogue.  So much was missing, it made the story so dull and rushed.  Even major plot devices were left out.  For example, the caught one of the mechanical beetles, but that was that, they didn't put it in the round tin and weld the sides.  Um, that's kind of really important even though it seems like an insignificant event.

In reading the original novel I absolutely loved Lyra, she's such an interesting character, and my favorite female protagonist ever written.  Pan was also a great character, the one that hung back when Lyra didn't care about the consequences, the one that voiced intelligent concerns before rash decisions.  In the graphic novel Pan was there to be different animals randomly, and add a bit of dialogue.  On top of that Lyra wasn't developed at all.  It was more like the adapters were like "oh! this dialogue is important, let's just throw it in here with a creepy drawing" and didn't care one iota about character development.  Even Mrs. Coulter didn't seem that evil.  Her true evil comes from the fact that she acts so nice and sweet all the time.  And the monkey?  Not even a little scary in this.  The creepiness of the normal characters made the drawing of the monkey almost cute.

Another thing that really bothered me is Pan, he appears mostly as a pine martin, which he hardly ever was during the book.  That was just lazy and unnecessary.  Bravo illustrators/adapters you read the Amber Spyglass!  The adapters don't even bother to try to explain dæmons, there are just a bunch of random animals with everyone, and Lyra's looks different every couple of pages. It's like everyone has an insignificant pet with them, but Lyra's is slightly different because it talks and can shape-shift.

If you've read The Golden Compass, you may as well skip this adaptation, it will probably just annoy you and make you want to reread the book to get the awfulness out of your head.  If you haven't read it yet DO NOT read this version, the story is so much better than what they threw together.

Overall I give this a 4/10.  If it were any other story it would be less, but the four points it gets are strictly because the story itself is amazing, despite what they did to ruin the telling of it.

Reawakened

by Colleen Houck

Summary from GoodReads

When seventeen-year-old Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian prince with godlike powers, who has been reawakened after a thousand years of mummification.

And she really can't imagine being chosen to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe to find his brothers and complete a grand ceremony that will save mankind.

But fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon, must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world.

From New York Times bestselling author Colleen Houck comes an epic adventure about two star-crossed teens who must battle mythical forces and ancient curses on a journey with more twists and turns than the Nile itself.

Thoughts on the Book

I've been making some good progress going through my BEA books.  This was the next on my pile to read.  It got bumped up in the list because some fellow bloggers gave it awesome reviews, so I couldn't wait to read it myself.  And then there's the cover: sooooo pretty!

My Review

This book is about a mummy, Amun, who awakens.  He's not an evil mummy, but a demi-god blessed by Amon-Ra and Horus to return every millenia to thwart Seth (or Set) with his two brothers.  When Amun wakes up he is in the Met in NYC and the only one around is a perfect rich girl, Lilliana, who is discontent with her "perfect" life.

The characters in this are amazing.  Lilliana, or as Amun calls her, Lily, is wonderful.  I absolutely loved her.  Her parents are sort of there.  They try to be there for Lily, but she finds them to be mostly absent.  They're both very power driven and want Lily to be perfect and influential, not to mention do absolutely nothing to tarnish their reputation.  But the do really care for Lily, and she knows it.  That's the struggle for her.  She wants to go to college, but not an Ivy League one just for the prestige, she loves observing people, but doesn't want to disappoint her parents by going for a not-so-fabulous degree.  Meeting her at the beginning when she was contemplating college while hanging out at the Met I thought she'd love Anthropology, it's all about people watching and understanding them.  After finished the book I'd be shocked if she didn't go that route, maybe not Cultural Anthropology anymore but Archaeology.  

Amun is another fantastic character.  He's so sweet, and very smart.  Not to mention eloquent.  Good lord some of the stuff that guy said.  Even Lily thought he was being overly cheesy, but she quickly realized he was just speaking from the heart.  Those ancient Egyptian princes, they were real poets.  I also absolutely loved his second nickname for Lily (Lily, or Young Lily, being the first), Nehebet.  It means water lily, specifically a rare water lily that only grows in oases.  

Reawakened was action-packed throughout.  From the very beginning when Amun awakens then gets hit by a car then run over by a few more.  The journey to Egypt, the epic battles throughout that lead up to the even more epic battle at the end.  There wasn't a dull moment.  Even the slower parts of the book were laced with humor.  Amun would call taxis yellow chariots and airplanes white flying chariots.  When he first met Lily he told her he was accustomed to waking to a feast and singing, but she could sing to him later.  Silly things like that kept happening, and even after Amun became more accustomed to our time Asten showed up and started making silly comments along with his over the top personality.

I absolutely loved this book.  It wasn't written like your typical YA book, it felt more like an adult novel.  The romance wasn't all consuming, it was more of an annoyance to Lily for most of the book.  It also read like a stand alone book.  I actually thought that it was until I looked at GoodReads and it said "the Reawakened #1", sigh, why can't there be awesome stand alones?  Why do they always have to be part of a series?  I just hope the later ones in the series read the same way this one did.  

I give this a 10/10.  My only complaints are a smidgen more foreshadowing when they met Osahar would have been nice, and more Asten and Ahemet.  Seriously, the little taste of them we got just left me wanting to know them more!  Asten's so great, and his bantering with Ahemet was so entertaining.  So for book two, more of the brothers please!!

Stone Rider

by David Hofmeyr

Summary From GoodReads

"Intense, original, compelling . . . bristles with attitude. So cool. Just read it."--Michael Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Gone and BZRK

In the vein of The Outsiders and the early Western novels of Elmore Leonard, this inventive debut novel, a cross between the cult classic Mad Max movie series and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, blends adrenaline-fueled action with an improbable yet tender romance to offer a rich and vivid portrayal of misfits and loners forced together in their struggle for a better life.

Adam Stone wants freedom and peace. He wants a chance to escape Blackwater, the dust-bowl desert town he grew up in. Most of all, he wants the beautiful Sadie Blood. Alongside Sadie and the dangerous outsider Kane, Adam will ride the Blackwater Trail in a brutal race that will test them all, body and soul. Only the strongest will survive.

The prize? A one-way ticket to Sky-Base and unimaginable luxury.

And for a chance at this new life, Adam will risk everything.

Thoughts on the Book

Yet another BEA pick. There were three YA book piles, each with a different book, by the time I got to it (there was a line leading up to table) only two of the three books remained, this was one of them so I grabbed it.  This past weekend I finally organized my BEA loot in order of when I should read things.  This made it to the top of the list since it was published earlier this month.

My Review

This book is about a kid, Adam, who is orphaned and friendless.  He lives in a society that relies heavily on bykes.  If you don't race with the byke you're forced to work in the mines, which is a horrible existance, alternatively if you do race and you survive you are allowed to work anywhere.

I started reading this book knowing nothing about it, so when I just looked at the summary posted at GoodReads I had to laugh.  My first thought after opening the book was "wow, this is a lot like The Outsiders".  It definitely started with that same feel, but Stone Rider is so much better.  It's a YA book that is definitely more geared towards boys, riding bykes (fancy mind-melding motorcycles that run on sun-power)and  minimal romantic entanglement, there's a girl, Adam has a major crush on her, he's incoherent when she's around, he races and writes her off until she joins him.  

I really enjoyed this book, which is surprising because I wasn't expecting to, it didn't seem like my type of book at all.  The race was kind of predictable, even the horror of it, setting things up so kids would die while the Watchers from the sky watched for entertainment and made bets.  The characters really made the book.  Adam was great, he's your average kid, not really wanting to be part of anything, to scared to risk his life in the race, but knowing that he was an excellent rider.  His personal growth throughout the book is great, I absolutely loved his decision at the end.  Sadie was a great character too, a bad ass girl who didn't take shit from anyone, especially her brother.  She knew exactly what she wanted and she made sure she got it.  Sadie's also really smart, kind, and open-minded.  She was definitely my favorite character.  Then there's Kane, he was by far the most interesting character, you have no clue about anything about him until the very end of the book.  You learn bits along the way, but it's not until shortly before the finish line that you really find out exactly who he is.  It's almost out of left field, unless you're very imaginative and pick up on the smallest hints dropped throughout the book. 

Overall I give this book a 8/10.  The race was a little predictable (although the order of the finish I was slightly surprised at), and I wish Hofmeyr spent a little more time describing things, like the wolf attack.  And an explanation for Adam's blackouts, why he suddenly stopped having them, what exactly happened when he did have them.