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.

review: Irises by Francisco X. Stork

pub date: January 1, 2012 
publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
pages: 288
sources: for review at Kiss the Book
appeals: sister, death, orphans, religion,
content: two swear words, some talk about sex but rather mild comparatively

thoughts:
This is the second book I've read from Francisco X. Stork. My first was The Last Summer of the Death Warriors. I didn't love that book (I gave it three apples), but it was interesting enough that I decided to try another Stork novel. The summary for Irises appealed to me, so I picked it up. I probably didn't need to bother.

What I have decided after reading Death Warriors and Irises is that Stork's style of writing doesn't appeal to me. I find it kind of boring. There's no beauty to his language. It's just...words on a page.

Also, I had a really difficult time keeping Mary and Kate straight. One was brilliant and studied a lot, one painted. That was it. The first thirty pages I was very confused on who was doing what because I couldn't figure out which was which. All the characters seemed very one dimensional. And sometimes behaved in odd ways...like Kate's best friend becoming her best enemy in just a day without much provocation. It was weird.

Religion is a large aspect of this novel and ties into the growth of the characters, and I did find that interesting. But...that's about all.

Without beautiful words or strong characters, the plot itself wasn't enough to keep me interested. I did finish it, but near the end I was reading just so that it was finished, not because I cared so much.

summary:

Two sisters discover what's truly worth living for in the new novel by the author of MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD.

TWO SISTERS: Kate is bound for Stanford and an M.D. -- if her family will let her go. Mary wants only to stay home and paint. When their loving but repressive father dies, they must figure out how to support themselves and their mother, who is in a permanent vegetative state, and how to get along in all their uneasy sisterhood.

THREE YOUNG MEN: Then three men sway their lives: Kate's boyfriend Simon offers to marry her, providing much-needed stability. Mary is drawn to Marcos, though she fears his violent past. And Andy tempts Kate with more than romance, recognizing her ambition because it matches his own.

ONE AGONIZING CHOICE: Kate and Mary each find new possibilities and darknesses in their sudden freedom. But it's Mama's life that might divide them for good -- the question of *if* she lives, and what's worth living for.IRISES is Francisco X. Stork's most provocative and courageous novel yet.

review: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

pub date: October 18, 2011
publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
pages: 341
appeals: adoption, teen pregnancy, realistic fiction
content: swearing, sex though not descriptive, abuse

thoughts:
I love me this book. Love, love, love! Passionately.

The characters in this novel are so real and flawed and believable and whole and awesome. I loved them all.

I loved Jill and Mandy. Their perceptions of the world and how they dealt with crap was so believable. Their struggles and how they dealt with horrible stuff and how they grew. Their insights into their world were so great. They're like real people to me now. I was really pleased with where they ended up, too. I usually find Sara Zarr's endings a little...unsettling, but this one was fantastic. It was actually happy. All the secondary characters were just as amazing. All the little details and peronality quirks were so tangable. Jill's father was dead, and he was a solid character in this book as if he was sitting in the leather chair in their family room.




 
I feel like I'm just blabbering and not saying anything (but I guess that is what I do when I review). It's an amazing story of growth and love and acceptance and moving on. It's beautifully written. Once I started it I didn't want to put it down. I was at work and all I was thinking about was lunch so I could read more, and after lunch I was counting down the hours till I could go home and read more. And then when I did go home and finish the book, I just hugged it to my chest because I was sad it was over. (not really, but you know what I mean)
 
This is a must read book. Please read! You are totally missing out if you don't pick it up.

summary:
Jill MacSweeney just wants everything to go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she's been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends--everyone who wants to support her. You can't lose one family member and simply replace him with a new one, and when her mom decides to adopt a baby, that's exactly what it feels like she's trying to do. And that's decidedly not normal. With her world crumbling around her, can Jill come to embrace a new member of the family?


Mandy Kalinowski knows what it's like to grow up unwanted--to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, she knows she wants a better life for her baby. But can giving up a child be as easy as it seems? And will she ever be able to find someone to care for her, too?

Critically acclaimed author and National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr delivers a heart-wrenching story, told from dual perspectives, about what it means to be a family and the many roads we can take to become one.

review: The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle

pub date: September 6, 2011
publisher: HarperTeen
pages: 432
source: NetGalley
appeals: death, family, contemporary, realistic fiction,
content: a heavy make out scene

thoughts:
I had the hardest time not comparing this book to If I Stay by Gayle Forman, at least in the beginning. Which really wasn't fair because they aren't similar except for the family dynamic (mother, father, brother) and what happens to them (they die in a car accident). This book doesn't answer the question, "should I stay?" like Forman's, it instead answers the question, "I'm here, how do I deal?" 

This was a great book. I had a hard time putting it down. I wanted to know what would happen next. I thought Castle handled the situation and difficulties of Laurel's world changing really well. The writing flowed, and though this is a long book, it didn't feel like it. It read really quickly.

I appreciated the romance in the novel. There were two boys, but I didn't feel that it was a love triangle. Laurel's relationship with both of them were realistic and real and Laurel's feelings for them changed and evolved as she grew as a character. I liked how real it felt.

Laurel was a sympathetic and likable character and I felt for her plight. But even as I write that, I felt the telling of her story was very much on the surface, and didn't delve deep. I never felt deeply her pain. I wasn't attached to her family. There were memories Laurel shared, but they weren't deep enough to evoke an emotional response from me.

I liked this book a lot, but I wanted more. I wanted to feel more than I did.  


summary:
Sixteen-year-old Laurel's world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. Behind the wheel is the father of her bad-boy neighbor, David Kaufman, whose mother is also killed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Laurel navigates a new reality in which she and her best friend grow apart, boys may or may not be approaching her out of pity, overpowering memories lurk everywhere, and Mr. Kaufman is comatose but still very much alive. Through it all, there is David, who swoops in and out of Laurel's life and to whom she finds herself attracted against her better judgment. She will forever be connected to him by their mutual loss, a connection that will change them both in unexpected ways.

Fans of emotionally true and heartfelt stories, such as Sarah Dessen's THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER and IF I STAY by Gayle Forman, will fall in love with Jennifer Castle’s incandescent debut novel...a heart wrenching, surprisingly witty testament to how drastically life can change in the span of a single moment.

review: Everfound by Neal Shusterman

pub date: May 3, 2011
publisher: Simon and Schuster
pages: 512
format: audio from library
appeals: awesome and exciting and mind blowing and suspenseful and completely rocked my world
appeals (for real): friendship, adventure, death, adventure,
content: violence--a lot of kids die in this book. so sad

thoughts:
I love Neal Shusterman! 

Let me say that again: I LOVE NEAL SHUSTERMAN!

Passionately. I've read seven of his books and I've loved every one. There are very few authors I can say that about. If you haven't read his books, you're missing out. I'm just sayin.

Everfound is the third in the Skinjacker trilogy, following Everlost and Everwild. The ending of Everwild was seriously wild. It was disturbing (in a good way...sorta) and I could not wait until Everfound. It was worth the wait. Everfound is complete awesomeness.

The limbo between life and death that is the world of Everlost is SOOO very original. There are rules that govern the world and they are so cool and twisted and surprising. I never knew what was going to happen next. It was exciting to listen to with all the surprises and twists and turns in the plot.

One thing I really respect about Shusterman's villains is that they don't know they're villains. They think they are doing the right thing, and that is how it is with this series. The fact that Evil Hightower in Everfound is so convinced that she is right and all the horrible things she does is for the benefit of all mankind, makes her beyond wicked. Much more than if she knew she was wrong. She gave me the shivers. I listened to this book while driving and I screamed so much at Evil Hightower I went hoarse.

The ending was perfect. Perfect. But that didn't make it any less sad when it ended. Though I impatiently listened until I discovered how it would all resolve, once I'd reached the end I wanted more.

I loved all the original characters (even if they were evil, I loved how evil they were!). But I especially loved Allie and Nick and Mickey. My favorite new character was Clarence. He was awesome. Saying goodbye was hard.

Okay, so after all that rambling, I don't think I actually wrote much of the particulars, just gushed about how much I loved this book. It was just that good.

And if you like listening to books, you should get this series on audio. Nick Podehl is an awesome reader. He gave me the shivers, too.

summary:
I'm not pasting in the summary. Unless you've read the first two, it gives spoilers. And spoilers should not be allowed where this series in concerned.

review: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

pub date: April 19, 2011
publisher: Harlequin Teen
pages: 293
format: ebook
source: LibraryThing Early Reviewer ebook
appeals: mythology, romance, family, contemporary
content: there is an off-page sex scene. nothing is described, you just know that it happened.

thoughts: 
I enjoyed the beginning. It really pulled me in. New girl, new town, new friends. And then the mysterious boy makes her a deal she can't refuse and the adventure begins!

Sorta.

Kate has agreed to live on an estate with Henry for the next six months. Because she's on the estate, she doesn't go anywhere, and it seemed as if we were just treading time until the six months were up. Things happened, of course, but it wasn't as much adventurous as interpersonal. I didn't feel that it was slow, I just didn't get where the story was going. I kept expecting these obvious tests to happen, but they never did. Instead, they were more subtle tests that were hinted to near the end, and explained eventually.

I found it odd/interesting that the estate is full of dead people, there to garden and cook and clean, but they live like they're alive. They can eat, sleep, have sex. So they weren't really dead. Right? The ending does explain why--sorta. But while I was reading, I though it odd.

Anyway, I did enjoy the book. I thought the mythology was interesting. I loved how Carter updated the ancient mythology for today. I also really liked the characters, especially Kate. I liked Henry, but he was a little standoffish and I didn't get to know him well.

I will read the next in the series when it comes out. I'm intrigued about where this story is going. Though I'll be really annoyed if it turns into a love triangle. There are hints it might, but I really, really, hope not.

summary:
It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.


Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.