Book Review: The Elite

The Elite
by Keira Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 23rd 2013
Source: Library
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Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn't sure where her heart lies. When she's with Maxon, she's swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can't dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, she is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over - and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she's made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she's struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

If you're like me and you enjoyed The Selection because of it's cattiness and endless drama, then you'll be sorely disappointed in The Elite. I didn't really expect anything more from this book other than fluffy drama set in a pseudo dystopia, but gosh this one really disappointed me. There was one cat fight. One. GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WORK WITH HERE KEIRA CASS!!!

I really didn't mind the characters so much in The Selection. Sure, Maxon was a bit too vanilla, and Aspen was well, an emotionally manipulative jerk, but America was basically so bland I couldn't care less what she did. This time around? Oh goodness this girl got annoying really fast. I don't watch The Bachelor so I don't really know what happens on that show, but I feel like it's pretty much always the guy calling the shots. In The Elite, it's America calling the shots and being a bitch about it. You know that Katy Perry song Hot n' Cold? Yep, that was America.

She spent the whole book toying with Maxon's feelings, and then got all jealous and pissed whenever she saw him hanging out with any of the other girls. Plus on top of that she couldn't decide which guy she liked better, Maxon or Aspen. It was literally every other chapter that she changed her mind.

Maxon was putting everything on the line and saying "say the word and we'll be wed!" and America's all like "I can't be the princess... BUT I DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO HAVE MAXON HE'S MINE STEP AWAY BITCH!!!!"

Yep, it was awful.

As for the guys I am solidly on team "America get's killed by the rebels and Aspen and Maxon go off into the sunset marrying girls that are much more worthy of their love." THEY DESERVE BETTER THAN AMERICA. SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Ultimately The Elite was really disappointing, especially for someone like me who read it simply for entertainment/drama purposes. It was pretty much entirely composed of America whining, and one of my favorite characters got tossed to the wind. While this event did cause the only good drama in the story (if you could call it good drama), it also left the queen as the only interesting character and she was not around nearly enough to save what could have been.

Oh and did I mention that there's also one of those awkward "Did you, you know do it? What was it like?" *wink wink nudge nudge* type scenes which I thought was hilarious and terrible all at the same time. That stuff just does not translate to the page well. Authors take note.

I'll still be reading the final book in this trilogy, but my expectations are way, way down. Plus, I'm secretly hoping that America will get blindsided by a semi-truck and we'll never hear from her again. Too much to hope for? Darn it.

Julia :)

Book Review: The Program by Suzanne Young

The Program
by Suzanne Young
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: April 30th 2013
Source: Library
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Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane's parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they'll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who's been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone - but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He's promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they've made to each other, it's getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in.

When I first read the summary of The Program I thought it had so much promise, but at the same time I knew that it was the kind of story that could go one of two ways: It could either be a thought-provoking look at what can lead to teen suicide, or it could be a dystopian novel that completely exploits it's subject matter. Unfortunately, The Program turned out to be the latter.

If I were to sum up The Program in one word it would be angst.

THIS BOOK HAS SO MUCH TEEN ANGST.

The first third of the novel is almost entirely made up of the two protagonists, Sloane and James, having an angst off. They were both so emotional, yet unemotional and they spent all their time talking about how depressing their life was. To be honest it made me feel depressed just reading about it.

And then Suzanne Young went and decided to have the only character I actually liked commit suicide. To make matters worse, this particular suicide was pretty much just used as a plot device to get Sloane and James into The Program. I was not a happy camper guys. Not a happy camper.

As the book progressed it was pretty much just more angst, on top of more angst, with a side of, what else, ANGST. "I'm going to forget James." "James is going to forget me." "James will never love me again." "MY LIFE IS OVER."

CRY ME A RIVER.

The plot finally did pick up, but only about 2/3rds in and by then it really wasn't enough to save the story for me.

I've talked a lot about how the angst was just too excessive in this novel, but that certainly wasn't the only problem. In fact that wasn't even the main problem though I've harped on it the most in this review thus far. The true problem with The Program is that it took several extremely serious subjects, suicide and sexual abuse amongst other things, and instead of dealing with them in a respectful manner it turned them into plot devices for YA dystopian fodder. Nothing in The Program is even close to being scientifically or medically sound, and it pretty much makes a mockery of suicide and mental illness. Don't even get me started on the sexual abuse factor!

I hoped (though I probably should have known better) that The Program could be an intelligent look at teen suicide. Instead it's a bloated dystopian novel that is full of teen angst and uses difficult subjects as nothing more than plot devices. There was so much potential but nothing came of it. It makes me sad. :(

If you want to read a dystopian novel that's heavy on angst and light on smart, thought-provoking content, then I'd give The Program a read. Otherwise I would skip it.

Julia :)

Book Review + Giveaway: A Really Awesome Mess

A Really Awesome Mess
by Trish Cook & Brendan Halpin
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: July 23rd 2013
Source: ARC from the Publisher (Thanks Egmont!)
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Justin was just having fun - a lot of fun - when his dad found him and a girl in a compromising position. Add that fallout to his parents' divorce, a handful of Tylenol, and a pumped stomach, and it's clear that Justin is at rock bottom.

Emmy never felt like part of the family. Adopted from China, her parents and sister look like Ralph Lauren catalog. Emmy definitely doesn't. After a naked photo of Emmy leads to vicious rumors around school, she threatens to remove the man parts of the boy who shared it all on Facebook.

Enrolled at Heartland Academy - a reform school that will force them to deal with their issues - Justin and Emmy join a ragtag group of teens who are just as broken stubborn, and full of sarcasm as themselves. Their goal - to bust out of the school for a night of epic fun and in the end, they might just call each other friends. 

I feel like this cover does not do this book justice. After all, it's just some boring cafeteria tray with a fork on it, and this book is so much more than cafeteria trays and forks. SO MUCH MORE.

A Really Awesome Mess is a story of friendship, reform school, love, a state fair, and pigs. Yep, you read that right, pigs.

You'd be surprised how important pigs are in this story.

Emmy and Justin are two teenagers sent off to Heartland Academy, Emmy because of online bullying, and Justin because he accidentally on purpose tried to kill himself. Neither teen wants to be at reform school, but neither one has a choice. Slowly the two come to realize that Heartland Academy isn't as bad as they thought it would be. Sure, they have psychoanalyzing therapists and people watching their every move, but on a whole it isn't too bad. With the help of their anger management therapy group they may just come to enjoy being at Heartland Academy, and they may just discover that life is beautiful, even when it's hard.

A Really Awesome Mess shines because it's honest. It's probably the most honest portrayal of teenagers that I have ever read in a YA novel. In fact, sometimes I felt like it was a bit too honest (porn was discussed about 5 too many times) but I still appreciated the honesty. Too often authors skirt issues and just sort of brush them under the table or they decide to sort of sprinkle them into their story without doing enough research to actually do them justice. That is not the case with A Really Awesome Mess. Not only was everything dealt with in a super upfront fashion (absolutely nothing was watered down), but there was also no hint of disrespect for anyone who deals with the same issues, and that's saying a lot for a YA novel.

A Really Awesome Mess also has a whole slew of fantastic characters. Each one was multi-faceted and brought just the right touches of humor and depth to the story. The way the characters conversed and interacted reminded me a bit of a John Green novel, minus the slightly unrealistic narrative that normally plagues his books. Yes, I love John Green and all of his books but I'll be the first to admit that teenagers do not really speak like that. These characters on the other hand use language that is much more characteristic of the average teenager. On the protagonist front, Emmy was a super sarcastic spit-fire. I loved her spirit and her stubbornness, even if it did tend to flesh itself out in unhealthy ways. As for Justin he was pretty much the perfect mix of jerk and nice guy; the classic teen dude that you love to hate, but eventually can't hate anymore because he's so damn loveable. As for the supporting characters my favorites would have to be Jenny, a selective mute with a huge love for pigs, and Wilbur, a pig escapee from the state fair because hey, I love pigs.

I just have to give mad props to Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin for pulling off the dual narrative of this novel so well. I'm not sure if they wrote for a specific character (Trish writing Emmy's chapters and Brendan writing Justin's) or if they wrote for both, but regardless Emmy and Justin each had their own unique voices and it was easy to tell the two of them apart. I love dual narrative when it's done right, and this was definitely done right.

I also just have to mention the setting of Heartland Academy because as awful as that place sounded, Cook and Halpin also managed to make it sound like fun. No one really wants to get sent off to reform school, but the camaraderie of the characters and the shenanigans they all got into made it seem like the kind of community I would want to be a part of. The characters were that awesome.

Oh and even though there is a bit of romance in this book, it was definitely not of the insta-love variety. HALLELUJAH.

All in all, A Really Awesome Mess is a really awesome book. It's honest, hilarious, and the best contemporary I've read all year. If you're a fan of John Green, or other dual narrative books like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist then I definitely think you'll love A Really Awesome Mess.

---

Now it's time for the giveaway! And believe me you definitely want to win this book. Heck, I wish I could win my own giveaway for this book. :P

Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park
by Rainbow Rowell
325 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: February 26th 2013
Source: Library
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Two misfits.

One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough... Eleanor.

Park... he knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat that makes her want to keep promises... Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds - smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was suposed to make you feel something.

- Eleanor and Park, pg 165

If there was one word I would use to describe Eleanor and Park it would be bittersweet. This story is absolutely heartbreaking, beautiful, and just plain cute. Rainbow Rowell definitely tears out your heart, rips it into a million little pieces, and then tries to put it all back together again.

Eleanor is different. She's big and bold, but not in the way that earns her a lot of admirers. Park on the other hand tries to blend in, but stands out thanks to his mixed race heritage. Both are misfits, and both are perfect for each other.

Eleanor and Park is a love story. There really isn't much more to it, but even so I enjoyed it and it's minimalistic plot. In a sea of insta-love stories, Eleanor and Park stands out because the romance grows so organically. Through comic books and mix tapes, phone calls and family dinners their relationship slowly comes together and forms something beautiful. It feels real, and that's what makes this story so strong.

Eleanor and Park themselves were both fantastic characters and I loved getting to delve into who they were and what made them tick. Rainbow Rowell did an outstanding job creating these two. They're funny, insightful, and just so human. They have quirks and personality and feel like real people, not just words on a page. Oh and Park is half Korean so he's a total winner in my book. Lucky girl that Eleanor. ;)

One really unique and interesting aspect of this novel is the fact that it's set in 1986. For readers who are 80's kids this will totally bring back the nostalgia of their youth, but for the rest of us it's sort of a crazy time warp, back into a world that wasn't too long ago and yet feels almost completely alien. Cassette tapes? Calling someone on their home phone? No internet? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!?! One of the most interesting aspects of Eleanor and Park is that even though technology changes, people and relationships don't. Some elements of Eleanor and Park may not be relatable to a younger crowd, but we can still read and enjoy the story because there are certain universal human experiences such as love and friendship that remain the same regardless of the era.

Overall I really liked Eleanor and Park. I must admit that I didn't connect with the story or characters quite as much as I wanted to (maybe because I'm not an 80's kid?) but I still loved it and I think everyone should give it a read. It's a sweet and insightful romance that will touch even the most pessimistic of readers *cough* like me *cough*.

Oh and funny story, for some crazy reason I totally thought that Rainbow Rowell was a boy. Maybe it was because a lot of reviews kept comparing Eleanor and Park to John Green novels, but regardless when I discovered the author was actually a girl I was in total shock. Basically the books back cover fell open to reveal Rainbow Rowell's picture and my face was like this:

Awkward but true.

Sorry Rainbow Rowell. :P

Julia :)

Book Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Requiem
by Lauren Oliver
391 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Publication Date: March 5th 2013
Source: Library
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They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven - pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancee of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better of without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

I've read a lot of mixed reviews for Requiem so I really didn't know what to expect going into this book. Everyone's opinions have been so polarized that I was almost scared to open the cover and discover which category I fell into, the "I love the ending to this series" category.

Or the "OH MY GOSH I HATED THIS ENDING WITH A BURNING PASSION" category.

Okay, so maybe no one was actually flipping the table in rage over this book, but I still feel like a lot of people have negative opinions. After reading Requiem I can see why. However, I happened to really like the way that Lauren Oliver chose to end her trilogy.

First off I have to say that I just love Lauren Oliver's writing. Its been almost a year since I read Pandemonium so I had totally forgotten how positively gorgeous and engrossing her prose is. Even if Requiem had been a crappy story (which it totally isn't) the writing alone would have kept me glued to its pages.

That being said, Requiem was anything but terrible. Sure, there were a few bumps along the way *cough* lame romantic angst *cough* but overall I really enjoyed the story and I feel like it's a solid ending to a solid trilogy.

If you've read Pandemonium then you know that Lauren Oliver wrote it in a unique sort of backwards/forwards format that was both cool and confusing. For Requiem Lauren Oliver decided to switch things up yet again by having the chapters alternate between Lena's perspective and Hana's perspective. Personally, I liked this much better than the Pandemonium approach and I ended up loving it because it allowed me to view both sides of Oliver's futuristic society: One where love is forbidden and obedience is valued above all else, and the other where the freedom to choose is worth fighting for. Reading from Hana's perspective was both enlightening and scary. I can't imagine how hard it would be to live in a world where everyone is forced to live within the confines of a dictatorship. TALK ABOUT TERRIFYING. As for Lena's perspective it was frustrating at times. After all, she spent most of the novel pining after Alex while sorta-kinda faking a relationship with Julian. This aspect of the story was definitely the biggest downside for me. However, I loved everything else that happened with Lena. Rebellion, bombings, revolution. YES.

The main complaint I've read in other reviews is that Requiem was too open ended. To be honest I kept waiting for feelings of rage and annoyance to surface due to the ending, but they never did. In fact, I felt like the ending was perfect. Sometimes a trilogy ends and you just feel empty inside (like The Hunger Games) or you're just so sad it's over (like The Lord of the Rings) but when I put down Requiem and ended my journey of reading the Delirium trilogy everything just felt right. The story felt complete and I loved that the ending wasn't definitive. In fact, I think that was part of Lauren Oliver's point to the series: Nothing is definitive. The world is changing, people are changing, and the only constant you have is yourself and how you choose to live your life.

In closing, I feel like with the Delirium trilogy Lauren Oliver has crafted three beautiful stories, each with their own distinct meaning and each worth reading in their own right. Yes, Requiem is open ended, and yes, there are a few questions that I'd love to have answered, but ultimately the story is over and I respect the ending that Lauren Oliver has written. If you haven't read this phenomenal series yet I highly recommend that you do. It is definitely one of my favorites.

Julia :)

Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave
by Rick Yancey
457 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication Date: May 7th 2013
Source: Library
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After the 1st Wave, only darkness remains.

After the 2nd, only the lucky escape.

And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive.

After the 4th Wave, just one rule applies: trust no one.

Now it's the dawn of the 5th Wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alice, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother - or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

You guys I wanted to like this book. I wanted to like it so bad. In fact, I tried to push myself to like it so much that I didn't even realize how much I didn't really like it till nearly after I finished it. The ending sort of sealed the deal for me and I just realized that me and The 5th Wave just weren't meant to be.

Why didn't this book work for me? For starters it wasn't what I expected. I didn't know a whole lot about it going in except that it was about aliens and everyone I talked to kept raving about it being "awesome" and "a complete page turner." Awesome? A page turner? Complete exaggerations in my opinion. For one there was a complete lack of alien awesomeness. I mean if you're gonna write a book about an alien invasion can we please get some aliens?!?! And no, aliens that look and function exactly like normal human beings DO NOT COUNT.

At first I was okay with The 5th Wave not being what I expected. I was thinking "okay, I can get past this whole lack of aliens thing" but then I slowly began to realize that nothing much was really happening in the story and that just didn't work for me. Most of the book was completely static because it was all just the protagonist remembering things from the past waves. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this except that nothing really happened in these flashbacks. NOTHING. Where's the action? Where's the excitement? And why is it that the new hip way to bring humanity to it's knee's in fiction these days is an EMP? It was cool the first few times, but now it just feels like copycatting especially if you aren't doing it better than the people who wrote about it first.

So the plot, in my opinion, was nothing to write home about. There were a few sections I enjoyed, one in particular was really reminiscent of Ender's Game, but overall I just thought it was lacking in story development.

This brings us to the characters. I'll try to keep this brief: Rick Yancey needs to step away from female protagonists. Just walk away dude. WALK AWAY. I liked Cassie all right in the beginning. She was a bit flat, but overall she was okay. Then we got partway through the book and she meets Evan and it was all downhill from there. SPOILER ALERT----> WHAT THE HECK CASSIE WHY WOULD YOU EVEN GIVE EVAN THE TIME OF DAY?!?! Ugh. Evan was a total creeper and I don't care how "beguilling and mysterious" he was supposed to be, HE WAS AN ALIEN  MURDERING MACHINE WHO ORIGINALLY TRIED TO KILL CASSIE BUT THEN FELL IN LOVE WITH HER. NO. JUST NO. But the thing that bugged me the most? How much time was spent with Cassie saying to Evan's face "I can't trust you. We can't trust each other. YOU ARE BAD NEWS." But then she just goes off, kisses him, let's her guard down, and does the exact opposite of what she says she's going to do. I hated how wishy washy Rick Yancey made Cassie out to be. Most girls are not that dumb in real life. Oh and I get that Evan sort of redeems himself in the end, but it was not enough. I just hated their relationship dynamic. Absolutely hated it. 

For those of you who haven't read the book and don't want to be spoiled, my reaction to Cassie's actions can be summed up in this gif:

Yep, I think that just about covers it.

Ultimately The 5th Wave was a disappointing read for me. I was expecting something a lot more interesting and groundbreaking, but it ended up just being meh. The final nail in the coffin was when I was looking back after I finished it and I realized that the world building just plain sucked. I won't really go into it, but let me just say that no you will not get any answers as to who the aliens are, where they came from, and how they manage to do anything they do. *shakes head*

So should you read The 5th Wave? If you're looking for an alien invasion novel without many aliens, but with a whole lot of personal drama, and with a dash of Ender's Game then sure, pick it up. Also, note that a TON of people love this book. A ton. I'm definitely in the minority, so if these issues I've mentioned don't sound like they'd bother you, or you're still wanting to give it a chance I'd definitely go for it. What didn't work for me might just work for you.

Julia :)

Book Review: The Kill Order by James Dashner

The Kill Order
by James Dashner
327 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 14th 2012
Source: Library
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Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, the sun flares hit the earth and destroyed the world mankind took for granted.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next.

Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there's something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, It's mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there's a way to save those left from descending into madness. And they're determined to find it - if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you're worth more dead than alive.

I'm a big fan of James Dashner's the Maze Runner trilogy so I was super excited when he announced that he was writing a prequel to the series! Of course, in classic Julia fashion, I didn't actually get around to reading the prequel till 8 months after it was published. Hehe. But the good news is, I finally did read it and I definitely think that if you're a fan of TMRT you should read it too!

The Kill Order is set several months after solar flares have hit earth and destroyed most of society and the world as we know it. Mark and Trina are two of the lucky few survivors left on earth. Unfortunately, the solar flares were just the beginning of their problems. Now they have to face a deadly disease, one that turns people insane and is mutating at an alarming rate. Together, with a band of other rag tag survivors, Mark and Trina have to discover the source of the virus before it takes them down.

The Kill Order was a fast-paced thrill ride. If you've read James Dashner's other books then you're already familiar with his style of writing; short chapters, cliff hangers, and lots of action. An added bonus of The Kill Order was that it had a lot of flashbacks which, though unexpected, ended up becoming my favorite part of the novel. These flashbacks told all about how Mark and Trina survived the original solar flare incident and personally I feel like the Kill Order could have been an even better novel if it was simply based around the characters living through and surviving directly after the solar flares instead of focusing on the Flare virus. The Kill Order was great, but I found myself pushing through the present tense chapters just to get to Mark's flashbacks. In my opinion those chapters were packed with twice as much suspense and intrigue as the rest of the novel. I just love a good heart pounding survival story! However, I can definitely see why James Dashner had this prequel center around the Flare virus since that was more of a focal point for the Maze Runner trilogy as a whole.

The characters of The Kill Order were pretty standard. However, I don't read James Dashner stories for the characters, I read them to get swept up in an adventure. That being said, I really did love Alec, a super badass military veteran with a heart of gold. No one does badass characters quite like James Dashner! None of the other characters really stood out to me, but that didn't matter because the story and plot were engrossing enough to keep me hooked.

For a prequel I felt like The Kill Order was an enjoyable read. It wasn't super fantastic, but it definitely answered some of the questions I had about the Maze Runner trilogy and that's what prequels are all about. If you're a fan of James Dashner and this series then I would give it a read!

Julia :)

Book Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

Parallel
by Lauren Miller
432 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 14th 2013
Source: ARC (thanks Anna and Books Inc!)
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Abby Barnes had a plan. She'd go to college, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice - deciding to take a drama class her senior year of high school - changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there.Overnight, it's as if her life has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes,. When she finds herself falling in love with a boy she knows only from her Parallel's memories, Abby is in a race against time to take control of her fate and set things right without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

Out of all the alternate reality themed ARC's I have acquired within the last few months, Parallel was probably the one I was most skeptical about. To me it just seemed like a contemporary novel vaguely disguised as if it were something more. Boy was I wrong. Parallel turned out to be so much more than just a contemporary novel.

Abby Barnes was a girl with a plan, and it seemed to all be going perfectly until she had to change her senior year elective. Suddenly her carefully thought-out career path is careening off course and leading to a life of Hollywood glamour that she never even wanted. But just as that world begins to make sense, Abby wakes up in a completely different world; a world where she isn't an actress in Hollywood, but instead a student at Yale. How did it happen? And what can Abby do to protect the life and love she thinks she really needs?

Who hasn't wondered what it might be like to wake up in a different world, in a different life? I know I have. Parallel gives us a taste of that kind of situation and it shows us that even the smallest choices can make the biggest differences. I loved following along with Abby's story and seeing how the choices of her parallel would affect the outcome of her life. One of my favorite aspects of the story was that we as the reader knew exactly what was going on in both Abby's past, and her future, but Abby of the future didn't know what was going on with Abby of the past. Sound confusing? It definitely was at first, and it's nearly impossible for me to explain. In fact I think Doctor Who can say it best:

That's basically what was going on in this story. Personally, I didn't understand one lick of what was occurring science wise (though Lauren Miller did do her best to try to explain it in the story) but that didn't subtract from my enjoyment of Parallel.

Other than the cool wibbly wobbly timey wimey bits, Parallel also had a sort of mystery element to it (why was Abby experiencing a parallel world? How did it occur? AND WHAT DO THE DREAMS MEAN?!) and I loved it! I also loved the intrigue of alternating between past Abby and future Abby and trying to figure out exactly where the story was going to end up. It was all so much fun and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!

That being said there were some drawbacks to this Parallel. For starters the characters just weren't that great. Abby was really quite self-centered and there were multiple instances when she did things causing me to react with this:

And this:

Secondly, the romance really toed the line between creepy and cute. Lets just say it involved two brothers, an accidental break up, and a whole lot of misunderstandings that led to awkward moments.... Ultimately Lauren Miller tried to patch things up by making a broad statement about how "your path will change, but your destiny doesn't " but it still felt kinda weird. :P

Despite the character flaws and romance drawback, I really did enjoy Parallel. I flew through it, and I loved the sciencey/parallel universes aspect of the story. I've read a few books with this kind of past/future, actions/consequences set up (like The Future of Us) and Parallel is definitely my favorite of the bunch. If you think you'd enjoy a contemporary with that kind of twist I definitely think you should give it a read!

I'm giving away my ARC copy of this book so be sure to enter if this review piqued your interest! The giveaway is here.

Julia :)

Book Review: Prophecy

Prophecy
by Ellen Oh
312 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: January 2nd 2013
Source: Library
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Kira's the only female in the king's army, and she's also the prince's bodyguard. She's a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she's their only hope...

Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King's prophecy, but the legendary lost ruby treasure just might be the true key to victory. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, an evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.

I have a weird relationship with the fantasy book genre. On one hand, The Lord of the Rings is my favorite book series of all time and I read it every year, but on the other hand I seem to always have trouble connecting with other fantasy novels. That being said, I definitely had some issues connecting with Prophecy.

Kira is famous, but not in a way that anyone would want. Everyone in the kingdom despises her and looks upon her with fear and dread. This is partly due to her unnatural golden eyes, and partly because people view her as a killer. But when the kingdom gets taken over by a tyrant, Kira must follow an ancient prophecy, and save the world.

Prophecy wasn't a bad book, so much as I felt that it was seriously underdeveloped. The whole story from the plot to the world building and characters felt extremely one dimensional. Characters were given one or two defining features and that was it. The setting was equally nondescript and I just couldn't seem to conjure up a picture of it in my mind. I wanted more depth! I think most of the reason for the lack of development is because Prophecy is the first in a trilogy, so of course the story, setting, and characters will be expounded upon in future installments, but unfortunately that hindered the quality of the story. On top of that, I feel like the foundation of the series should be set in the first novel. I need to be able to understand and sympathize with the world and the characters from the get go in order to really care about what happens to them as the story progresses.

Kira was your basic misunderstood "tough chick." She kills demons, which unfortunately means that she's also killing the vessel of a demon. So if the neighborhood fish salesman gets possessed, both he and the demon have got to go. Yep, the fish salesmen (and any other citizens who happen to get possessed) is a necessary casualty. This aspect of the story really bugged me. You see, Kira's uncle happened to be the King of the kingdom and he had a rule that the demon possessions could never be made known to the public. This meant that every time Kira killed a demon and its vessel, the populous was left to either think that the citizen randomly "disappeared" or they could believe the rumors that Kira was a murderer. Talk about annoying and ridiculous. NO WONDER PEOPLE FEARED KIRA! And talk about throwing your niece under the bus. What a great king/ruler you are! #Sarcasm *shakes head*

Those were the two main problems I had with Prophecy. Other than that it was pretty much your average fantasy fare. Characters fighting against evil, ancient prophecies coming true, traveling to the land of the gods, all that stuff. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but without the awesome bending skills and cute hybrid animals. It almost made me wish that Prophecy was a cartoon TV show because that might have helped me to become more engrossed in the story and the world.

One thing that I will say I really appreciated was the fact that Prophecy was set in ancient Korea so all of the characters were Asian which is always awesome. Then again, I would have liked it to be more obvious that the setting was ancient Korea. I only knew because I had done prior research about this book series, but I feel like other people who read it for the first time and know nothing about the author may not pick up on it, especially since the only real clues are a few inclusions of Korean terms and phrases that I didn't even realize were Korean until I got to the end and saw the Korean Glossary section. Whoops. >.<

Overall, Prophecy was an okay fantasy read. Everything from the world to the characters could have had much more development in my opinion, and I was really annoyed by how Kira's character was treated, but it was entertaining enough. If you're a fan of the fantasy genre, and want to support Asian authors I'd give it a read!

Julia :)

Book Review: Level 2

Level 2
by Lenore Appelhans
281 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 15th 2013
Source: Purchased
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Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow prisoners, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she's lost - family, friends, and the boy she loved, Neil.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber disappears, and nobody but Felicia seems to recall she existed in the first place. Something is obviously very wrong. When Julian - a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life - comes to offer Felicia a way out, she learns the truth: A rebellion is brewing to overthrow the Morati, the guardians of Level 2.

Felicia is reluctant to trust Julian, but then he promises what she wants the most - to be with Neil again - if only she'll join the rebels. Suspended between heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself in the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it's not just her own redemption at stake... but the salvation of mankind.

I really hate to say this, but Level 2 was a huge disappointment for me. Huge. I think it goes without saying that we shouldn't build up an idea of how great a book is going to be before we read it because then we're almost sure to be disappointed. Well, that's what happened with Level 2 and it totally backfired.

Felicia died and is now stuck in Level 2, which is basically, for lack of a better example, purgatory. She spends all her time reliving old memories and longing to reconnect with Neil, her boyfriend from her old life. All that changes when Julian shows up, a boy from Felicia's past who she would rather forget. But why is Julian here? And why is it up to Felicia to save mankind?

Part of the reason why I thought Level 2 was gonna be such a great book is because the idea behind it is brilliant. An afterlife where people exchange memories like currency? Way cool! Unfortunately, the execution and world building were not at all what I expected. Instead of being futuristic and awesome everything turned out to be, well, boring. People sat around in these pods in their "hives" and it all came off as extremely sterile and white and hospital room-esque. I did NOT like it at all. In fact, most of the intriguing stuff happened outside of the pods in Felicia's memories which would be, you guessed it, in our world.

Which brings me to one of the reasons why this book did not hit home for me. It's really not an adventure/thriller/afterlife dystopia so much as it's a contemporary novel disguised as an adventure/thriller/afterlife dystopia. A huge chunk of the book is Felicia reliving memories of her and Neil which are honestly not that interesting and they don't even seem to push the plot along.

As for the plot, I'm still a bit confused as to what the plot was about. I mean yes, it was obviously Felicia pining after Neil and then getting grabbed by Julian to help "save mankind" but somewhere between "I love Neil" and "stop the Morati" I got totally lost. I'm not sure if maybe my reading comprehension was going down the tubes, or maybe I just missed something, but I was so, so confused.

It's possible that I didn't enjoy Level 2 simply because it wasn't the book I wanted it to be. I was expecting an exciting adventure story, and instead it turned out to be a personal drama with some evil angels thrown in. Maybe if I hadn't already built it up in my mind, I would have been able to enjoy it for what it was, but I couldn't help thinking throughout the book that if the idea behind it was executed differently it could have been so much better.

I'd still recommend Level 2 to people who might be interested in a contemporary novel with an otherworldly twist. As for reading the sequel I'm not sure if I will or not. Level 2 seemed to have a pretty definitive ending (am I wrong? Did I miss something?) so I feel like I won't be missing out on too much if I don't continue. However, if people rave about the sequel and really push me to read it I'll probably give it a chance. I'm all for second chances!

Julia :)

Book Review: The Forsaken

The Forsaken
by Lisa M. Stasse
375 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 10th 2012
Source: Library
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Alenna Shawcross hasn't seen her parents since they were dragged out of her house by government soldiers of the UNA, a new nation formed from the remnants of Canada, the USA, and Mexico. And now as a sixteen-year-old orphan, she has failed a government personality test designed to diagnose subversive tendencies.

As punishment, Alenna is banished to the wheel, a mysterious island where all the kids who fail get sent. A place where the conditions are brutal, and civil war rages between two very different tribes of teenagers.

So when Alenna meets Liam, a charismatic warrior who is planning to escape, she must find the strength to make a difficult decision: to either accept her new life on the wheel, or to embark on a journey that will uncover shocking secrets abou the UNA - and her own identity as well.

I wanted to like this book. I really, REALLY wanted to like it. Mostly for the superficial reason that it's probably got my favorite book cover ever (but no really, I LOVE this book cover) but also because I held a slightly deluded hope that this would not be a bandwagoning dystopian novel. Not to say that The Forsaken is a bandwagoning dystopian novel, but just that it really doesn't bring anything new or exciting to the table. :/

Like every dystopian novel, the protagonist, Alenna, lives in a world completely different from our own. In this case, its a world in which Mexico, Canada, and the USA have banded together to form a new nation called the UNA. In this new nation all sixteen-year-olds are given a shot that apparently tests to find out if they have any sort of potentially dangerous tendencies. Alenna gets this shot and, surprise, surprise, she fails. This sends Alenna to the wheel, a world filled with both sane and insane teenagers. Danger, intrigue, and of course, love, ensues.

The main problem I found in The Forsaken is that it pulled me in right away, but ultimately it just didn't have enough ingenuity to keep me fully invested. Teenagers getting sent to remote islands? Already been done. Teenagers fighting each other at said islands? Definitely been done. And why is it that in a dystopian world sixteen is always the magic age where adulthood happens and you make some huge life decision or you get an operation or a medical test is performed on you? I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND.

The story itself wasn't bad, just extremely overdone. If The Forsaken had come out two years ago I would have been all over this book like ants at a picnic, but the fact that it's out now sort of diminishes its shine so to speak. It has the same teenager on teenager violence that a lot of dystopians have, along with "unexpected" reveals, and of course, romance. Oh the romance.

Honestly, the romance is part of what killed it for me, because while it was not a love triangle (THANK GOD FOR THAT) it was really underdeveloped. Alenna and Liam fall in love simply because they have a "connection" when they first see each other?!?! Nope. Not buying it. NOT BUYING IT AT ALL.

I did like a few of the characters. Gadya in particular was a total BADASS and deserved much more credit than she got. Girl should not have been portrayed as a jealous bitch for most of the book. *shakes head*

Overall, The Forsaken was an okay dystopian novel. The world building was disappointing (if whether or not you like a dystopian hinges on world building I'd definitely skip this one) and the plot was nothing to write home about, but there were a few clever twists and I will admit that it was a page turner. I might not have cared too much about the characters, but I did want to find out where they were going and what was going to happen to them. If you normally enjoy dystopians I'd give it a read, but otherwise I'd probably skip it.

I'm not totally sure if I'll read the sequel yet, but it's cover is certainly screaming READ ME! READ ME!!!!

I may not be the biggest fan of these books, but damn do they have some good covers!

Julia :)

Book Review: Pretty Girl-13

Pretty Girl-13
by Liz Coley
344 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: March 19th 2013
Source: ARC from Wastepaper Prose
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Reminiscent of the Elizabeth Smart case, Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing and powerful psychological mystery about a girl who must piece together the story of her kidnapping and captivity.

Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods alone on a Girl Scouts camping trip. Now she's returned home... only to find that it's three years later and she's sixteen - or at least that's what everyone tells her.

What happened to the past three years of her life?

Angie doesn't know.

But there are people who do - people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren't locked inside her mind. With a tremendous amount of courage, Angie embarks on a journey to discover the fragments of her personality, otherwise known as her "alters." As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: When you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the parts of yourself that are responsible?

Pretty Girl-13's summary doesn't make it sound like an "easy" novel, but I was still surprised by how dark the story was. Seriously, this book is dark. Angie's story is no walk in the park and I'd imagine that it could definitely be triggering for people with a history of abuse. That being said, it was an engaging and completely unputdownable read. I raced through this book. It was so addicting, and not because it was dark and edgy, but because the psychological mystery was just so fascinating. I loved it.

Angie Chapman disappeared for 3 years, only to reappear with no memory of the time while she was gone. Instead, she has alternate personalities that took over while she was abducted. Angie, with the help of her awesome psychiatrist Dr. Grant, use a myriad of psychological tricks to get the alters to talk so they can piece together the missing 3 years.

I know it sounds a bit weird, but I have always been interested in kidnapping stories and multiple personalities. There's something so intriguing and mysterious about both situations. Out of all the books that I've read involving kidnappings, Pretty Girl-13 is probably my favorite because it's so much more than just a kidnapping story. It's a psychological mystery, and a tale of one girls journey to self discovery. It's dark yes, but it also has light, and that is what makes it so great. It isn't just a kidnapping story for exploitations sake. Pretty Girl-13 has depth, and a purpose beyond the mystery.

Overall I would recommend this book, but with reservations. It's definitely one of the most mature YA novels I've read, and the subject matter, which is already quite dark to begin with, is not glossed over or sugar coated in anyway. Liz Coley is not afraid to have the reader face everything head on, so if you're sensitive to stories involving sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, not to mention the whole kidnapping aspect, I would probably skip this one. I also would only really recommend it to older teens and adults, just because the subject matter is so dark. That being said, if you're looking for a novel that has a great psychological mystery, and is emotionally gripping I would definitely give Pretty Girl-13 a read.

I'm giving away an ARC copy of Pretty Girl-13! Want a chance to win? Enter here.

Julia :)

Book Review: Cat Girl's Day Off

Cat Girl's Day Off
by Kimberley Pauley
331 pages
Publisher: Tu Books
Publication Date: April 1st 2012
Source: Publisher for Review (Thanks Tu books!)
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Never listen to a cat. It will only get you in trouble. Actually, scratch that. Listening to cats is one thing, but really I should never listen to my best friend Oscar. It's completely his fault (okay, and my aspiring actress friend Melly's too) that I got caught up in this crazy celebrity kidnapping murder mystery mess.

If you had asked me, I would have thought it would be one of my super-Talented sisters who'd get caught up in crime fighting. I definitely never thought it would be me and my Talent trying to save the day. Usually, the only thing conversations with cats gets you is requests for my tummy rubs and tuna.

Wait... I go back to what I said first. Never listen to a cat. Because when the trouble starts and the kitty litter hits the fan, trust me, you don't want to be in the middle of it.

You guys this book is basically about MY LIFE. Hapa chick with colored streaks in her hair? CHECK. Gay best friend? CHECK. 5' tall? CHECK. Can talk to cats? Okayyy so not check on that one (I wish!) but seriously, Natalie is a lot like me which can probably explain why I loved this book so much. That and the fact that this book is just plain freaking awesome. I mean, it's got a pink cat in it: a pink cat. If that's not awesome, I don't know what is!

Natalie Ng has a special talent. In fact, so do the rest of her family members. The only problem is the rest of these family members have super amazing talents like chameleon camouflage skills, built in lie detector abilities, and super smell while Nat's talent is talking to cats. Seems pretty lame. But what happens when the cat of a high profile celebrity blogger claims her owner is being impersonated and Nat get's talked into solving the intrigue? YOU GUESSED IT! It's a catastrophe! 

Get it? CATastrophe?

Okay, sorry for the bad pun. :P

So this book is chock full of awesome. Natalie is definitely a kick-ass protagonist. She's full of sass, spunk, and smarts, which are all things I love in a character. On top of that Nat can talk to cats, which despite what she thinks, is actually a pretty cool talent. Oscar and Melly are also both great characters who perfectly round out this friendship trio. And then of course there's Ian Abbott, super nerdorable and awkward love interest. But probably my favorite character (aside from Natalie of course) turned out to be Rufus Brutus the Third, the super sassy pink cat owned by Easton West celebrity blogger. Rufus was HYSTERICAL. His catisms were absolute genius. If you think internet Cat memes are funny just wait till you read this book.

As for the plot, Cat Girl's Day Off is a sort of coming of age novel filled with super powers, a mystery, multiple kid (and cat) nappings, breaking and entering, movie stars, and it pays tribute to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and John Hughes. It's funny, witty, fast-paced, and just plain clever. If you're looking for a great quirky contemporary then pick up Cat Girl's Day Off. I assure you, it will be a choice you won't regret.

Julia :)

Book Review: Second Chance Summer

Second Chance Summer
by Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Publication Date: May 8th 2012
Source: Library
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Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

It may be the middle of winter, but that didn't make me love Second Chance Summer any less. THIS BOOK IS SO AMAZING GUYS, BUT FOR REAL IT IS AMAZEBALLS.

So Taylor is a gal who tends to run away from her problems. But then along comes a problem she can't run away from and to top it off she has to spend the summer at her families vacation house, which really isn't so bad (REALLY) except that the last time she was at the vacation house she managed to piss off all of her closest friends. What's a girl to do?

Okay, so that summary probably made this book sound a lot fluffier than it really is. Second Chance Summer does have a bit of fluff to it (don't all good summery contemps?) but it also has so much more. In all honesty this is probably the best contemporary I've read since The Fault in Our Stars. It's that good.

Taylor was a protagonist that I found really easy to relate to. Haven't we all run away from our problems at one time or another? I also loved the relationship she had with her dad and the rest of her family. Oftentimes YA authors end up writing parents (and siblings for that matter) as obnoxious, nosy, rude, or some combination thereof. It was refreshing to read a story in which family was highlighted as something to embrace and treasure. On top of that Morgan Matson did a fabulous job bringing depth to each of the family members in this story, even the grandfather who only shows up near the end of the book. I should probably just flat out say that I LOVE the way Morgan Matson crafts her characters. They are consistently awesome, and unique, and I love each and every one of them. <3 p="p">
The plot itself seems fairly basic for a summer contemporary except that it's anything but ordinary. Sure, there's you're classic "blast from the past first boyfriend turned teenage hottie" situation (BUT HENRY IS TOTALLY ADORABLE AND A HE WORKS IN A BAKERY AND HE WINS ALL THE BOYFRIEND AWARDS!!!!) and there's the first awkward summer job situation, but it's all layered with Taylor finding herself, and finding out how to embrace love in all of it's forms (family love, friend love, romantic love) and I'm not gonna lie this book is a REAL tear jerker. I was a mess during the last 40 or so pages. A total mess. Throughout the whole book you're sort of preparing for the sadness and then it all just hits you like a ton of bricks and you aren't prepared and just thinking about it is making me feel all sad again. It's so heartbreakingly beautiful. You just HAVE TO READ IT.

The only thing I'm a tad bit iffy on was the "big issue" that had caused everyone to dislike Taylor. It really wasn't THAT big of a deal. It was basically just an awkward elephant in the room for nearly half the book which I really felt was unnecessary. A similar thing happened in Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. I know all authors have certain quirks to them (like how John Green always seems to have some type of road trip in his books) but I certainly hope that this isn't Morgan Matson's because I am not a fan. But regardless this book is still amazing!

In conclusion Second Chance Summer is a must read contemporary. Even if you aren't normally a fan of contemporaries I assure you, YOU WILL ENJOY THIS BOOK. I give it 4.5 out of 5 ice cream cones!

Morgan Matson is quickly rising to the top of my fav contemporary authors list. Everything she writes is just SO GOOD and I can hardly wait for whatever she's working on next!

Julia :)

Book Review: Nobody + Giveaway!

Nobody
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
393 pages
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: January 22, 2013
Source: Publisher for Review (Thanks Egmont USA!)
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The most dangerous people in the world... are the ones you don't even see.

Some people are Nobodies: ignored, unloved, practically invisible in every way. No one notices them. No one cares about them. They exist under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away. No one sees them coming. No one sees them leave.

That's why Nobodies make the perfect assassins.

Seventeen-year-old Nix is very good at his job. So when the organization he works for sends him after a teenager girl named Claire, he doesn't ask questions. He's a killer. She needs to die.

For sixteen years, Claire has led a normal life being overlooked. Her parents are absent. She doesn't have any friends. She has no idea what she is, or why anyone would want her dead. But she's about to find out, because from the moment Nix attempts to carry out his mission, the two are caught up in a conspiracy of murder, cover-ups, and betrayal.

Nix is a killer. Claire is his target. But when he sets eyes on her, everything changes, because only the two of them can truly see each other - and two Nobodies are more than twice as dangerous as one.

What if the world is not what it seems? What if people are not what they seem? What if there's more to that celebrity, more to your teacher, more to your sibling, than meets the eye? In Nobody there are people, and then there are people who are more than people. The Sensors with their heightened senses, the Nulls who care only for themselves and can make you care for them too, and then the Nobodies, who don't really matter at all, until they're sent to kill you.

Sounds like a riveting and brilliant idea right? If there is one thing Nobody has it's ingenuity. Jennifer Lynn Barnes has managed to create a world in which everything is as it seems and yet nothing is as it seems. It's a world we know well, and yet there is also a world of intrigue and evil bubbling up from beneath the surface.

In this world of The Society there is Nix, a Nobody. He's been a trained assassin for The Society for years and he's never questioned a kill. Not until he meets Claire. He's told that Claire is a Null, but it turns out that Claire is actually a Nobody, just like him. Someone that is basically invisible. Living life but forever unnoticed and forgotten. Jennifer Lynn Barnes spent the first 3rd of this book setting up the Claire and Nix dynamic and honestly I was not a fan. Let's just say that if I saw a guy outside my bedroom window about to shoot me with a sniper rifle, I would not be cozying up to him just days later. I don't care that he's the only guy in the world who notices Claire exists, HE TRIED TO KILL HER. RUN GIRL RUN!!!! And yes, he built you a bookshelf which is admittedly sweet, but let's remember what's really important here: HE TRIED TO KILL YOU. Just remember that.

So after the slightly torturous first 3rd of the book in which the Nix/Claire romantic uncertainty is center stage, the plot finally picks up and we get to the good stuff aka Society take down badassery!  It's pretty epic from here on out. Breaking and entering, the Fade, drug serums, and poison gas all come into play. Did I mention the finale involves total meltdown annihilation and magical healing blood powers? Yeah, stuff get's crazy. And to top it off the ending is reminiscent of a fairytale complete with "happily ever after." I'm not even kidding. It's almost ridiculous how ridiculous the ending is, but that's part of the fun.

So all in all I have a sort of love hate relationship with this book. I have a pretty strong dislike for the whole Nix/Claire romance, but on the other hand I really like the rest of what Jennifer Lynn Barnes created. I think idea that certain humans give off different levels of energy was really unique and everything that went with those concepts was really well thought out. The only thing is that I wish more time had been spent on developing the Society and how it was run. We get a bit of backstory, but most of it is left to the imagination. I just felt like it needed more. I also wanted more descriptions. They were so sparse in this book that half the time it was like the characters were running around on a blank canvas in my imagination. Give the reader a bit more to work with!

All in all Nobody has a promising premise but, in my eyes, it falls a bit short. I wanted to love this book so much, especially since the concept is so unique, but ultimately there were a few major flaws that I just couldn't get past. However, I still enjoyed it and I hope that if this review piques your interest you'll give it a read!

I give Nobody 3.5 out of 5 ice cream cones.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!!!! *throws confetti*

Book Review: The Opposite of Hallelujah

The Opposite of Hallelujah
by Anna Jarzab
449 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 9th 2012
Source: Library
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Caro Mitchell considers herself an only child - and she likes it that way. After all her much-older sister Hannah, left home eight years ago, and Caro barely remembers her. So when Caro's parents drop the bombshell news that Hannah is returning to live with them, Caro feels as if an interloper is crashing her family. To her, Hannah's a total stranger, someone who haunts their home with her meek and withdrawn presence, and who refuses to talk about her life and why she went away. Caro can't understand why her parents cut her sister so much slack, and why they're not pushing for answers.

Unable to understand Hannah, Caro resorts to telling lies about her mysterious reappearance. But when those lies alienate Caro's new boyfriend and put her on the outs with her friends and her parents, she seeks solace from an unexpected source. And when she unearths a clue about Hannah's past - one that could save Hannah from the dark secret that possesses her - Caro begins to see her sister in a whole new light.

I am a huge fan of Anna Jarzab's first novel All Unquiet Things so when I saw The Opposite of Hallelujah on the new YA books shelf at the Library I had to check it out. I had no clue whatsoever what it was about I just new I had to read it because of how much I enjoyed AUT.

The Opposite of Hallelujah surprised me. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it definitely threw me for a loop in the best of ways and even now I'm finding it hard to explain what The Opposite of Hallelujah is about because, well, it has a lot of themes and a lot is going on in it. A LOT.

First you've got Caro, a protagonist that is both relatable, hateable, and by the end a completely changed character. She's unusual because she's one of the first protagonists I've run across where she's not particularly likeable but she's meant to be that way. Caro is selfish, lies easily, and you spend half the book banging your head against the wall thinking "WHY CARO WHY?!?!" But the thing is, she changes, and she grows, and by the end of the book you're thinking "Dang girl, you've come so far. HECK YES YOU DESERVE YOU'RE ADORABLE BOYFRIEND."

Speaking of the said boyfriend he is totally adorbs. Pawel (pronounced Pavel) is Swedish, has an awesome family, and on top of just being a really nice guy (seriously, he's really nice) he has this quirky love for Rube Goldberg machines that I found totally endearing. In case you don't know what Rube Goldberg machines are the game Mouse Trap is the perfect example of a very simple one. When I was a kid I happened to really like Rube Goldberg machines (though I didn't know what they were at the time) so I thought Pawel's obsession with them was really cute. I also just really liked that this book talked about Rube Goldberg machines. Seriously. RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINES.


On top of those two characters (and the awesomeness of Rube Goldberg machines) another main one is Hannah, Caro's long lost nun turned non-nun sister. She's an equally fascinating and multi-faceted character and the way Anna Jarzab deals with her story and struggle is great.

Besides all these characters to work out there's also the plot which is full of a ton of different themes ranging from religion and science, to sisterhood and friendship, to self-discovery and forgiveness. A lot goes on in The Opposite of Hallelujah but Anna Jarzab manages to wrap it all together brilliantly and it works. It really works. I was particularly impressed with the way Anna Jarzab dealt with religion. When authors write about religion there are countless ways they can go wrong and very few in which they can go right. The Opposite of Hallelujah is the perfect example of religion done correctly. It isn't preachy, but it does bring up excellent points about religion and it will make a reader think. Not since Melissa Walker's book Small Town Sinner's have I read something that dealt with the subject of religion so well.

So in conclusion The Opposite of Hallelujah is a lot of things.

It's a story of sisters and self-discovery.

It's about faith and forgiveness.

It's mysterious, beautiful, and full of hope and possibilities.

Ultimately if you're a fan of contemporaries you should definitely pick this one up. You won't be disappointed! I award it 4 out of 5 ice cream cones!

If you want to know a little bit more about The Opposite of Hallelujah, the author Anna Jarzab, and her upcoming Many-Worlds trilogy, be sure to check back tomorrow for an exclusive interview!

Julia :)

Book Review: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Burn for Burn
by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
356 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 18th 2012
Source: Purchased

Postcard-perfect Jar Island is the kind of place where nobody locks their doors at night, where parents can sleep easy, knowing their daughters are tucked away safe and sound in their beds. 

But bad things can happen, even to good girls, and sometimes the only way to make things right is to do something wrong.

Lillia used to trust boys, but not anymore. Not after what happened this summer. And she'll be damned if she lets the same thing happen to her little sister.
Kat is through with being called a freak. She's over the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes made at her expense. It all goes back to one person - her ex-best riend - and Kat's ready to make her pay.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. Now that she's back, he's gonna be in trouble... ' cause she's coming after him.

Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they've each had a taste.

I just want to start this review by saying that I want to live in a place like Jar Island. I don't care that it's isolated, and that you can only take a ferry to get there (talk about being screwed in a zombie apocalypse), and that everyone is all up in your business, I WANT TO LIVE THERE. A world with no fast food or WalMart? TAKE ME THERE!!!!!

Burn for Burn is basically my Jr. High dreams come true. Like most tweens and teens I experienced my fair share of bullying in middle school (even though I was homeschooled. Go figure.) so I can definitely relate to Lillia, Kat, Mary, and their need for revenge. But unlike these 3 girls I did not ever plan or take part in any sort of revenge tactics. However, I'm sure my very bitter middle school self would have been quite happy to take part in a group effort of revenge on those who had wronged me. It would have been awkward though considering they were all people from my youth group and some of them were elders kids. Whoops.... >.<

Anyway, Burn for Burn is one of those guilty pleasure reads. The kind where you imagine yourself as the characters, put yourself in their shoes, and, in this case, imagine the kind of revenge you'd wreak on your old enemies. Classy right? And oh so fun. I wouldn't say that I agreed with what Lillia, Kat, and Mary were doing but I definitely found it entertaining.

Lillia, Kat, and Mary are your stereotypical YA contemporary girls. Lillia is the popular girl, Kat is the girl who was once on the in, but is now on the out, and Mary is the girl who used to be overweight but is now slim and model gorgeous. Let me tell you straight up that there is nothing really special about these characters. If any of those descriptions sounded familiar to you (and I'm sure most if not all of them did) then you won't be too impressed. Mary does have an extra layer to her that I'm excited to see flesh out in future novels, but other than that the characters don't stray far from the familiar YA tropes they resemble. However, it's not the characters that make this story great but the revenge scenario itself. Each girl has a person from her past or present that she wants to get back at, and they're all willing to go to great lengths to make sure these enemies suffer. A LOT.

The revenge theme is what really makes this book. I know Burn for Burn isn't the only YA book on the market that involves revenge but this one felt a lot less catty which is always a plus. While reading Burn for Burn I felt almost like I was rooting for the underdogs and I actually found myself wanting the characters to succeed instead of just thinking they were being obnoxious, whiny brats. On top of that the ending started to give me some awesome Carrie by Steven King vibes which I was really digging. Take that as you may. ;)

Overall Burn for Burn is a pretty solid book. The real draw is the fact that it let me live vicariously through the characters as they carried out their crazy revenge schemes. It's probably not the best thing to admit, but I liked reading about the "bad guys" getting their just reward. I also loved the ending and how Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian spent the entire book romanticizing revenge, only to throw it back in my face as if to say "Is this what you wanted? IS IT?" That was the really great thing about this novel: regardless of run of the mill characters Burn for Burn made me think and got me involved and that is the mark of a good book. On top of that it had me longing for the next installment in this series. A win all around.

I give Burn for Burn 4 out of 5 ice cream cones.

Julia :)