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 :)

Super Six Sunday: Those book series that I STILL need to read!

Super Six Sunday is a new meme hosted by Bewitched Bookworms and inspired by The Broke and the Bookishes Top Ten Tuesday.

This week it's all about the book series that I need to finally read. I'm so glad this popped up as a topic because I've been planning on doing a post about this for awhile now and just haven't gotten around to it till now.

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6. The Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie

When I first started my blog Matched was just coming out and I remember there was so much hype surrounding it. I totally bought into the hype so, not surprisingly, it ended up falling a bit short for me and I never got around to reading Crossed or Reached. I'm sort of on the fence about finishing this series. On one hand I'm really curious to know what happens and if it got any better, but on the other hand I don't really want to waste my time on a series that isn't worth it. Thoughts?

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 5. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

This is sort of embarrassing for me to admit, but I haven't actually read all of the Chronicles of Narnia books. Crazy right? I'm pretty sure I've only read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (because who hasn't?), and Prince Caspian. I also think my mom read The Horse and His Boy aloud to my sister and me when we were kids, but that doesn't really count. The reason I haven't read these is because after listening to Focus on the Family's radio dramas of the books so many times (seriously, they're amazing) I sort of feel like I don't have to anymore. Of course, I don't really believe that, but the content of the radio dramas is pretty much all dialogue and descriptions straight out of the books so it's almost like reading them. I'll get around to finishing this series eventually, I just haven't yet. I WILL READ ALL OF THEM, I PROMISE!

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 4. The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins

Because I'm such a huge fan of The Hunger Games I of course want to check out Suzanne Collin's other popular series the Underland Chronicles. Anyone of my lovely followers a fan of this series? I love the concept of it, and I've heard really good things. It's just that longish series tend to scare me off, especially when they're all already published. Everything seems so much more manageable when it's just one book a year you know? 

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 3. The Curse Workers Series by Holly Black

This series has been recommended to me by a bunch of my friends and on top of that I totally I love the concept behind it. I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I REALLY NEED TO THOUGH. The blend of magic, con-men, and mystery sounds so awesome! Also, I'm pretty sure that we can all agree that Holly Black is amazeballs. I really need to devote some time to reading these!

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2. The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan

I read The Lost Hero and really enjoyed it, but I have yet to read The Son of Neptune and The Mark of Athena. The thing with this series is it's like my book intimidation kryptonite: the books are huge and I'm two books behind. Fortunately there is still time for me to catch up a bit before The House of Hades comes out, but not much. I should probably take advantage of that time before it's too late and at least read The Son of Neptune. 

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 1. The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

I want to read this series SO BAD. You have no idea how bad I want to read it. I also want it on my shelf even though I haven't read it yet. The covers are just amazing, I love the fact that Scott Westerfeld got a special illustrator to help bring the books to life, and everything about it sounds so awesome. I really do have to read this series pronto. In fact I should probably put Leviathan on hold at the library right now.

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So those are my top 6 book series that I still need to read or finish. What are some of the book series that you've been procrastinating on? Do we share some of the same ones, or are yours completely different from mine?

Julia :)

Cover Comparison: Sarah Dessen Edition

This cover comparison has been brewing for months now (I'm pretty sure Russell from The Habermann Press suggested do it sometime last year. WHOOPS.) but now it's finally here. YAY!

In all honesty the reason why I decided not to do this comparison till now is because I wanted to wait till the summer because Sarah Dessen's books are quintessential summer reading. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I can be a horrible procrastinator. Okay, so maybe it's partially because I'm a horrible procrastinator, but let's just forget about that....

As you guys probably know (unless you're living under a rock somewhere which I highly doubt since you're on the internet reading this blog) all of Sarah Dessen's books got cover redesigns last year. Yep, every last one of them. I'm sure you've seen at least some of these new covers already but lets take a good look at them and the original covers.

                                                                Original Covers

                                                         New Covers

                     

Original Covers: I'm a big Sarah Dessen fan so to me these covers are classic. I've read every one of Sarah's books when they bore these covers so it only makes sense that they hold a special place in my heart. Along for the Ride and The Truth About Forever are my two favorites, but I feel like This Lullaby and Dreamland both have pretty timeless designs. That being said I do have to admit that some of the other covers look a bit outdated and were probably in need of a revamp.

New Covers: The first thing thought pops into my head when I see these new covers is that almost every one of them looks super photoshopped and staged. I don't know what it is about the way these covers are edited, but they just look so sterile to me. Regardless I do love some of them. The Lock and Key cover? Perfection, and to be honest probably one of my new favorite book covers.  However, I feel like some of the other covers are just lacking. The Truth About Forever, What Happened to Goodbye, and That Summer just don't hit home for me. I feel like their original covers represented their story much better, but whatever.

So Who Wins? In this case I really can't pick a definitive winner. For some of these books I definitely prefer the original cover, while for others I absolutely adore the new cover. However I must admit that across the board I love the gorgeous coloring of Sarah Dessen's name on all of the new covers. They got that right!

Instead of telling me which set of covers you like best like you normally do, this time I want you guys to let me know which of Sarah Dessen's book covers, old or new, are your favorite! I'm super curious to hear your responses and see if we share cover favorites. :D

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.

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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

Super Six Sunday: My favorite summery book covers!

Super Six Sunday is a new meme hosted by Bewitched Bookworms! This is my first time joining in with this fun new meme. Maybe I'll make it a habit. :)

This week's theme is all about summery book covers, and boy do I have a lot to say about this because I am a huge book cover fanatic.

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6. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

This book is pretty much the epitome of the perfect summer beach read, so of course it's cover had to be on my list. It's simple, yet still manages to give off that beachy summer vibe. Plus, I've always been in love with the stylized title font. 

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5. The Moon and More, That Summer, and Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Yes, I do realize that I'm sort of cheating by putting all three of these books in the same category, but they're all Sarah Dessen so I figure it's okay right? Out of all of the covers for Sarah Dessen's books these four seem the most summery to me. I particularly love The Moon and More cover (can you say, summer beach house vacation?) and the original Along for the Ride cover. My reasons for liking the original Along for the Ride cover may or may not have to do with biceps.... :P

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4. The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life 

by Tara Altebrando

This cover totally reminds me of those late summer nights gallivanting about town with friends. Not that I've ever actually done that (I'm such a home body) but it makes me want to do that. Other cover designers should be taking notes because I absolutely adore the way the font is overlaying an image. More covers should look like this!

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3. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

I just love this book and it's cover. First of all, the color scheme is gorgeous. Orange is my favorite color so I'm a big fan of sunsets on book covers. Secondly this cover totally has that easy breezy summer feel to it. It also feels strangely nostalgic, which makes sense considering what the book is about. Overall I just really love this cover and it totally makes me want to head off to a vacation house on a lake. 

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2. Five Summers by Una LaMarche

I absolutely adore this cover! I do realize it's practically the same design as the Second Chance Summer cover, but I prefer this one for some reason. I don't know about you guys, but seeing this cover makes me really want to head to the beach with my besties. I really need a good beach day! 

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1. Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita

This is hands down my favorite summery book cover. I am such a sucker for this book (if you like summer camp books read it) and I think the cover is just awesome. It encapsulates the summer camp vibe perfectly and just looking at it makes me want to immediately pack my bags and head down to camp, even though I'm too old to go to camp anymore. Why is there no such thing as college student summer camp? Oh right, that's called being a camp counselor. Why am I not a camp counselor?

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So those are my six favorite summery book covers! Well, technically eight if you count the extra Sarah Dessen one's, but who cares, that's a technicality.

What are some of your favorite summer book covers? Leave them in the comments below and be sure to link me to your Super Six Sunday post so I can check it out!

Julia :)