review: Chime by Franny Billingsley

pub date: March 17, 2011
publisher: Dial
pages: 320
source: ALA Midwinter
appeals: supernatural, witches,
content: a little swearing

thoughts:

First off, look! I'm actually writing a review!!!!

Second, I was really amazed by this book. I've never read anything quite like this before.

The thing about this book that makes it so original is Briony's voice. It's also sort of stream-of-conscience. We get Briony's thoughts as she things them, so it's forth between different ideas, or her interupting her own thoughts. Even changing her thoughts in midsentence when it's something she doesn't want to think about. Very cool. 

And the way she describes things, I can't even tell you what it's like. Billingsley's language is beautiful, her descriptions amazing. It's so...fluid. Her words just flow. Okay, that makes no sense, I'm just not sure how to describe it. Though after a while I did want some concrete descriptions, instead of the "flow." But it was really beautiful and amazing and original.
The world Billingsley created was also so very interesting. Witches and all these interesting, original, sort of creepy swamy creatures. And they aren't imaginary. The townspeople believe in them, have proof of them. There isn't a question in anyone's mind that they might be a myth.

I loved the beginning, I loved the ending (especially the last two pages), but the middle got a little muddy for me. I felt like Briony kept going in circles, around and around without hitting any mark for what felt like a long time. From the blurb (below) and the way the book was written, I had a pretty good idea what was going on and I got a little frustrated waiting for Briony to catch on. I also really wanted her to push past her guilt sooner.

Even though I got a little bored in the middle and at times I just wanted concrete details instead of Briony's flowery descriptions, this really is a remarkable book. Overall, I highly recommend.


blurb:
Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

Where She Went Winner!

The winner for Where She Went by Gayle Forman is...

Hailie Salazar!

Congrats!

Email me your address and I'll get it in the mail ASAP

Saturday Snapshot: La Push Washington

Saturday Snapshot is a meme hosted by Alyce over at At Home With Books. I'm so excited to participate today, for the first time!

The picture I wanted to share if from a few years ago. In August 2008 my sister and I went to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Mostly to visit Forks and La Push because of Twilight, but we did other things while we were there. It was one of the most fun vacations I have been on. It was awesome.

Anyway, this is a picture I took from the side of the road on our way to La Push to visit First Beach (where we crashed someone's bonfire and roasted marshmellows with them).  

so...blogging....

Wow, what a lazy blogger I've been this past month! What's sad is I've read a lot of books in that amount of time, and many of them I had great plans to blog about. But I put it off, saying I'd do it later. Well, later has come and as I sat down to write out all these reviews, I didn't have much. All those ideas of what I wanted to write got buried in time with other books and other ideas. Aaah! I'm really sad. They're such lame reviews, so I think I'm going to have to start with where I'm at. I hope. At the rate I'm going at, it might be another month before I write those ones.

Anyway, I'm holding a giveaway for Where She Went by Gayle Foreman. If you'd like to enter, go here. The entry link is waaaaaay at the bottom, after the veeeeeeeeeery rambley review.  Ends Sunday March 13.

This song by Taylor Swift reminds me SO MUCH of Where She Went. Everytime I hear it I think of Adam and Mia. Enjoy!

teaser tuesday: Chime by Franny Billingsley

I haven't done teaser in a while, but I love the first lines of Franny Billingsley's novel, Chime. So I had to join in.

Isn't that wonderful? I'm not very far into the book, but so far I'm loving it!

I've confessed to everything and I'd like to be hanged. 
Now, if you please.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Follow the link to join in.

(I have a contest right now to win an ARC of Where She Went by Gayle Forman. Check it out HERE. It's waaaaaay at the bottom, after the rambly review and apples.)

Chime blurb from goodreads:
Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.
 Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman + GIVEAWAY

pub date: April 5, 2011
publisher: Dutton
pages: 258
source: ARC from ALA Midwinter
audience: older teens
appeals: music, romance, contemporary, realistic fiction
content: language (including the f-word), sex (though not descriptive)


blurb from goodreads:
It's been three years since the devastating accident ... three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.


Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.


Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.


the preamble:
Have you ever had a book that just hit you so strong you couldn’t let it go? I’ve had a few throughout the years--The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (just to name a few). I would’ve loved the book anyway, but at that particular time in my life when I read it, it just spoke to me stronger than it would’ve other wise. That is Where She Went for me, right now. 


I first read Where She Went in January, and I’ve kind of been obsessed with it ever since. I reread it twice in three days. Even now I’ll just pick it up at random times and read chapters or paragraphs or even just a page. Especially the end. I love it that much.

On the other end of the spectrum, my friend Jaye read the book, and though she loved it too, she will never read again. In her words, it is sad and depressing.

Which, I must agree with.

But it just makes the end of the book that much more satisfying. Reading Adam and Mia’s experiences over the past three years, the struggles for both characters, and then seeing them come out at the end successful and strong makes the rest of the book worth reading again. At least for me.

I have rewritten this review over and over again, and each time it just sounds lamer. It just doesn’t translate my feelings for how much I love this book.

But I attempt it once again…

actual review:
Gayle Forman has a powerful way with words. Where She Went is beautiful. The characters are drawn so well, so real. Their struggles and growth are written so vividly. I got sucked in and did not want it to end after the end. I cried and laughed and loved right along with the Adam.

I loved being in Adam’s head, of seeing things through his point of view. It wouldn’t have worked if it had been Mia. A lot of her struggles we already know, of healing and lose. But to have it filtered through Adam? Awesome.

There is so much that is left unsaid in If I Stay. I hadn’t even realized how much until this book. I just filled in the unexplained with my own happy ending. But my happy ending was totally different from Foreman’s happy ending. And hers is so much better.

Like If I Stay, the present action takes place is just two days while a good portion of the story is in flashback. Which means memories of Mia’s family. How I love them. There are scenes from If I Stay told from Adam's point of view—super cool. I loved reading about when Adam met Mia and why he first fell for her. Then there are the three years of loneliness and heartache when Adam doesn’t have Mia or even understand why she left.

Love, love, LOVE Where She Went.

It is perfection.

now to the CONTEST!

Since you've stuck with me this long, I'm giving away my ARC of Where She Went. I've preordered the hardcover and though it is really difficult for me to giveaway my ARC (I am attached to it), I don't need two copies of the same book. I can only read one at a time and I really want a finished copy. So anyway...

This will be a short, very easy, giveaway.

It will close Sunday, March 13 at midnight.

Must have a US or Canadian mailing address.

I want to give the book away to someone who really, really wants it. If you fit that description, please enter! If it will just sit on your bookshelf for months unread, this contest is not for you.

Enter Here

review: Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore

pub date: February 8, 2011
publisher: Hyperion
pages: 336
source: publisher
appeals: werewolf, vampire, politics, racism, male protag, great book for boys,


me:
The world Moore created was very interesting. A world where wulves, vampires and humans coexist. Sort of. Moore changed our history to fit their history--the Nazis weren't after Jews, they were after wulves. The civil right activists were fighting for equality between species (is that the right word?) instead of race. Famous people in our world are famous in his world, their names changed slightly and they may or may not be human. So I thought all of that was really interesting.


I liked Danny. I respected him as a character and respected his choices. I can see boys really liking this book. There's vampires and werewolves and fighting and a bully, but without the romance. Well, there is romance, but it is not girly romance.

I felt like the book ended very abruptly. None of the big issues were resolved. Because of this I am assuming it's a series. It could end here, but there are so many more questions, and no easy answers. This isn't a fluffy book.


blurb:
Being only half-vamp in a high school like Carpathia Night makes you a whole loser. But Danny Gray manages to escape the worst of the specists at his school. Thanks to genetic treatments he had as an infant, most people assume Danny's other half is human. Which is a good thing.


Ever since the development of synthetic blood – SynHeme – vamps have become society’s elite, while wulves like his father work menial jobs and live in bad neighborhoods. Wulves are less than second class citizens; once a month they become inmates, forced to undergo their Change in dangerous government compounds.


For Danny, living with his vamp mother and going to a school with a nearly all-vamp student body, it’s best to pretend his wulf half doesn’t even exist. But lately Danny's been having some weird symptoms — fantastic night vision; a keener-than-usual sense of smell; and headaches, right around the full moon.


Even though it's easy to be in denial, it's hard to ignore evidence. There's only a month until the next few moon, and Danny's time is running out.


Peter Moore speaks to adolescents in a voice that will have them laughing, set in a world that will get them thinking.