review: Shooting Stars by Allison

pub date: Feb 28, 2012
publisher: Walker and Co
pages: 272
source: GoodReads giveaway (I didn't know people actually won those books!)
appeals: pop culture, music, romance, comedy
content: none that I remember

thoughts:
This was a fun book. Jo has a fun, upbeat, self-deprecating voice that set a good tone for the book. She's also a very likable character, for all of her paparazzi-ways.

I started off thinking I knew where the book was going, mostly because the summary told me where it was going. Or so I thought. I was pleasantly surprised at the turns the plot took. It kept me smiling.

As did the romance. It was a nicely developed romance, meaning it wasn't love at first sight. They became friends...and then started kissing. It was sweet.

The ending was very pat and idealistic, but I like happy ending so I wont whine about that. A fun book!

summary:
Meet Josephine Foster, or Zo Jo as she’s called in the biz. The best pint-sized photographer of them all, Jo doesn’t mind doing what it takes to get that perfect shot, until she’s sent on an undercover assignment to shoot Ned Hartnett—teen superstar and the only celebrity who’s ever been kind to her—at an exclusive rehabilitation retreat in Boston. The money will be enough to pay for Jo’s dream: real photography classes, and maybe even quitting her paparazzi gig for good. Everyone wants to know what Ned’s in for. But Jo certainly doesn’t know what she’s in for: falling in love with Ned was never supposed to be part of her assignment.

review: Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

pub date: October 25, 2011

publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

pages: 192

source: for review on Kiss the Book
appeals: adventure, death, male protagonist, comedy, hit woman, New York, prom :)
content: some swearing (20 words or so), some talk on sex/virginity, violence

thoughts:
What a FUN ride. I liked a lot about this book.

First, it's short! There are so many books that have come out/are coming out that are freakin LONG. It is so nice to find a fun, entertaining, quick, short read. I find that Very Appealing.

Second, Joe knows how to write! Wow. Do you ever read a book with such great words that the author's creation of setting and characters and plot seem almost effortless? But you know it wasn't because it is so well done? That was how I felt about this book. I loved it.

Third, lots of adventure.

Fourth, the novel's organization. Each chapter started with a question from college applications, and in the telling of Perry's night, he answers that question. It was so creative and fun.

Fifth, I loved the characters. I liked Perry a lot. And Gobi, too. Even when she was killing people for no apparent reason, I liked her.

Sixth, the Perry-Gobi relationship dynamics worked. The development of their relationship, from beginning to end, was spot on.

Overall, this book was FUN. Sure, there was a lot of blood and violence and death, but it was still FUN.

I'm very excited there's a sequel coming out this fall, Perry's European Playlist. It sounds like it's just as fun and full of adventure (and death), and it's just as short!

I think it has a lot of boy appeal, but there's plenty there for the girls, too.

summary:
Perry Stormaire is a normal high school senior– he is busy applying to college and rehearsing with his band –until he agrees to go to the prom with the Lithuanian exchange student who is staying with his family. It turns out that Gobi Zaksauskas is not the mousy teenager that she seems but rather an attractive, confident trained assassin. Instead of going to the prom, Perry finds himself on a wild ride through the streets of New York City as Gobi commandeers the Jaguar his father lent him for the prom in order to take out her targets. Perry learns a lot about himself – and ends up with some amazing material for his college application essays.