Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall

Lauren Oliver

Publication Date: march 2nd 2010

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 470

Genre:  Contemporary, Young Adult

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Holy mackerel this story is a work of art, the structure is a work of art, the growth of the main character is a work of art. This book honestly blows any other YA Contemporary book out of the water. In fact it kind of blows Oliver's other books out of the water as well.

The book uses techniques often not applied in YA novels with the repeating of the same day to show how the character grows. From her first day to her last repeat, she takes each day slightly differently, putting what she learned in previous days to work.

Okay, honestly, what it comes down to is that this book is like someone replaying a Visual Novel (a game that is like a choose your own adventure book) over and over again to get all the information that they possibly can. Because Sam made a decision during one replay of the day that was different than another we learn so much more than we would have about different characters and how people see Sam.

Then there's the fact that you realize that Sam is mourning herself in these repeated days, she goes through all the stages, until finally she comes to acceptance and tries to help as much as she can, before she knows what has to happen.

This is a book that makes you think, makes you realize that everything isn't always how it seems, that there are pieces to people, even people you think you know completely that you don't know. How people aren't perfect and that's okay.

I didn't want Sam to die. I knew she had to, that this was her last day no matter what, but I fell so much in love with the person she became, with the relationships she had created, I didn't want her to go, so I cried like such a baby at the end. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to reread this book again because of how much it affected me, but I want to own it still.

Read this book, read this book even if you start and you are turned off by Sam and her friends as characters, in fact if that happens I recommend you read it even more because you will enjoy it so much more when they are all enravelled as characters.

5 Bookmarks

Book Review: Once Upon A Toad by Heather Vogel Frederick

Once Upon A Toad

Heather Vogel Frederick

Publication Date: April 5th 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Pages: 272

Genre:  Contemporary, Fairytale, Young Adult

A girl gets into a mouthful of trouble in this modern fractured fairy tale, from the author of The Mother-Daughter Book Club. Once upon a time, Cat Starr lived with her astronaut mom in Houston. But when her mother gets sent on a long-term mission, Cat has to move to a far away land—her dad’s house, halfway across the country—and share a room with her real-life evil stepsister, Olivia. Just when Cat can’t take it anymore, Great-Aunt Abyssinia comes to the rescue. And things go from bad to worse.The next morning, Cat opens her mouth and a toad hops out! What’s more, when Olivia speaks, diamonds and flowers appear. How unfair is that? Before you can say "happily ever after," the girls are on the run from jewel thieves and a government agency. Can Cat save the day—and get rid of all those toads?This is an enchanting fractured fairy tale from acclaimed Mother-Daughter Book Club author Heather Vogel Frederick. 

To begin with Once Upon A Toad is a very different type of Fairytale Adaption than I usually read. As anyone whose noticed my reading pattern my now, pretty much the only traditionally YA Contemporary books that I read are thrillers or horrors. I rarely, if ever, read the light hearted tales of growing up, and this book is one of those tales.

The idea of the book is well done. It takes the fairytale of "Toads and Diamonds" and inflicts it on two stepsisters who pretty much hate each other.

The girls are true rivals, the main character's step-sister on the surface fulfils the role of evil step-sister very well, yet at the same time Frederick gave her quite a bit of depth, giving her hobbies, goals and dreams. Most of her reasons for disliking the main character are childish, left over from when their parents first got married.

The book is very lighthearted and is meant to be a comedy as well as a story about sisterhood and growing up, learning to put old feelings behind you and forge something new.

The fairy godmother is a riot! I'd love to hear more stories that she would be at the cause of. At the same time she does almost cross into the line of being too silly and her picking up the characters of the diner woman and the Elvis impersonator felt really superfluous

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys lighthearted Contemporary YA Fiction, because this book is of that style. It's also a good book to recommend if you have a sibling or child who really enjoyed Ella Enchanted due to its fairytale and simplistic nature.

4 Bookmarks

Book Review: Red Glove by Holly Black

Red Glove (Curse Workers #2)

Holly Black

Review of White Cat (Curse Workers #1)

Publication Date: April 5th 2011

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Pages: 325

Genre:  Contemporary, Alternate Universe, Thriller, Young Adult

Curses and cons.
Magic and the mob.

In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth — he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything — or anyone — into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she’s human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila’s been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion-worker mom. And if Lila’s love is as phony as Cassel’s made-up memories, then he can’t believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel’s oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue — crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too — they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can’t trust anyone — least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

Holly Black returns, making me want to read the Spiderwick Chronicles and finish her Faerie books due to her strong ability to tell a story that just sucks you right in. The Curse Worker books continues with the next chapter in Cassel's life, now that he knows what he is and what he did, his mom is out and about, and his love is cursed to love him not out of her own free will, it is obvious things are far from over.

Add to this the sudden death of one of his brothers and the FBI taking Cassel out of class to ask him to help figure out what's going on.

Black's characters are once again amazing to read. I adore Cassel so much, usually I am a bit overly critical of authors who write from the point of view of the opposite gender, this comes from years of being friends with people obsessed with yaoi (boy + boy smut manga for those who don't know) which I never got since one of the boys was always written like a girl (pretty much all yaoi is written by women for women). Since then, however, I became hyper aware of when people attempt to write the opposite gender, but it's very obvious that they don't quite understand the opposite gender as well as they thought they did (though of course that's always up for debate by people).

Pretty much this thought doesn't even cross my mind with Cassel, he just seems so natural.

I love the whole mystery part of this series, this time Cassel needs to figure out what exactly happened when he was young and see if he can fix things to keep himself safe, if nothing else. He also has to come to terms with these abilities which most of the time it seems he doesn't even want due to their nature.

Dude! I totally hadn't guessed that Maura had been behind Phillip's death at all, even though it made complete sense. He had screwed with her so bad and she was about to be made to make up with him because of his deal with the FBI. The way Cassel helps to protect her as well, warms my heart. What's fun and interesting about Cassel is that he's a conman with a heart (even if he likes to pretend that he doesn't)  and it's that part of him that doesn't fit in with the rest of his family.

Also, I have a theory! I have no idea if it's right or not, but I wonder if Lila was really ever cursed to like Cassel, I wonder if she liked him, but wanted an excuse so when she saw that his mother was going to curse her to like Cassel, she somehow avoided it and was pretending so that she could get her hands on him. JUST her luck, Cassel is too noble for that and I think it's pissing her off, and by  the end of the book, whether or not she was cursed, I don't think she is anymore, but I think it's obvious that she still likes him.

This series continues to be good, so keep reading. There's only one book left and I really wonder where it's going (I just gotta get through all these debut books that have suddenly fallen into my lap first).

4 Bookmarks

Stacking the Shelves [5]

Stacking The Shelves is a hosted by Tynga Reviews

Books I've Taken Out From Library

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers [goodreads | amazon]

Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguie [goodreads | amazon]
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis [goodreads | amazon]
Insurgent by Veronica Roth [goodreads | amazon]
Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury [goodreads | amazon]
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger [goodreads | amazon]
Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen [goodreads | amazon]

Trickster's Girl by Hilari Bell [goodreads | amazon]

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher [goodreads | amazon]

Books I've Bought

WWW: Wake by Robert J. Sawyer [goodreads | amazon]

WWW: Watch by Robert J. Sawyer [goodreads | amazon]

First Test by Patricia C. Wrede [goodreads | amazon]

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Reviews That are Most Likely to be Posted This Week

Red Glove by Holly Black [goodreads | amazon]

Once Upon A Toad by Heather Vogel Frederick [goodreads | amazon]

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver [goodreads | amazon]

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker [goodreads | amazon]

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman [goodreads | amazon]

Enchanted Glass by Diane Wynne Jones [goodreads | amazon]

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas [goodreads | amazon]

ARC Book Review: League of Strays by L.B. Schulman

League of Strays

L.B. Schulman

ARC Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with). 

Publication Date: October 1st 2012

Publisher: Amulet

Pages: 288

Genre:  Contemporary, Thriller, Young Adult

When Charlotte Brody, a lonely 17-year-old student at a new school, receives an invitation to join The League of Strays, she's intrigued by the group's promise of "instant friendship." The League does provide companionship--and even a love interest--but Charlotte grows increasingly uncomfortable with its sinister mission to seek revenge against the bullies of Kennedy High. When escalating acts of vengeance threaten to hurl her down a path of remorse, Charlotte must choose between her new friends and the direction of a future she's never fully considered.

I loved this book. I can't say that too much about many Contemporary YA Novels, but I really liked the idea behind it and how it all played out. It is also like the other half of the idea of Circle of Silence. Instead of there being a group of prankster kid outcasts with an outside person trying to figure it out, we are shown a similar story from the inside.

Charlotte is the new girl, in fact the only person she knows in her school so far is a bully from her old school that had transferred to the same area. When she is given the promise of instant friendship and understanding from a very charming, suave fellow, she really could not help but fall face first into it all.

The characters in League of Strays are all very unique, dealing with their situations differently and striving to be different people. There is the valedictorian, the good girl, the rebel, the victim and the controller. They have all been hurt by someone, but except for Kade, none of them do anything about it. He, of course, sees things differently.

There is a feeling throughout the book of seduction by ideals and a snowball rolling down a mountain, gaining momentum and becoming so much more than anyone expected.

It is a tale of control and revenge and things getting out of hand.

About a third of the way through the book I began to realize that Kade was a sociopath and this scared me, but I truly love that the author went that route. He was so classic sociopath/future serial killer with his charming personality, good looks and need to control everything. His careful seduction of Charlotte, Nora and even Richie showed his manipulation ability to the max. He knew that he was larger than life to all of them, and wanted the attention and love. He picked the people he did, because he thought he could beguile them all to his cause. He was like a miniature Charles Manson

I was so proud of Charlotte in the end when she cut him off, when she showed him that she was stronger than his charisma. Richie was also someone I became very proud of since he had been entangled with Kade for so long.

It was good to see Nora as well, however, because it really hits home that all these characters are different and all of them grew, maybe not in the best way from the reader's standpoint, but other than Kade, they all did.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy books about outcasts, contemporary YA of the thriller variety and tales where characters truly grow up.

4 Bookmarks

Feature & Follow: What made you Start?

Here comes the return of the Memes!

Q: What drove you to start book blogging in the first place?

To spare my friends and family from my constant yippering about the books I was reading *laughs*. I've always read a lot of book, I have just started to record what books I've been reading this year on my goodreads account, but I know I at least read 150+ books a year (I am already past that this year) and sometimes a book strikes me so much I want to talk all about it, and honestly half the time I'm boring people to death, so in my brain making a book blog meant I could talk all about why I liked a certain book in a review and promoting the books I loved the most.

Book Review: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Sisters Red

Jackson Pearce

Publication Date: June 7th 2010

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 324

Genre:  Fairytale, Horror, Paranormal, Young Adult

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

"Little Red Riding Hood" as a paranormal/urban-fantasy YA book sounds like it should be in the same lines of Twilight, Beastly, Darkest Powers, The Infernal Devices, and many other books with the same tropes. It should be about falling in love with someone with a terrible past who has a werewolf problem of some type.

Sisters Red is nowhere near what most people would expect. It is urban-fantasy, it has romance and it stars teenagers, but it is so much more than that. Sisters Red is the story about two girls and how they deal with a tragedy in their childhood that shaped their entire lives. It's about sisterhood, friendship and love and how they entertwine, and it is also about killing werewolf like creatures and being incredibly good at killing them, because if they don't, others will die.

The prose of this book is very dark, but very well done. In fact the author it reminds me most of is Dia Reeves (Bleeding Violet and Slice of Cherry) a horror/urban-fantasy writer (whom I recommend if you've never read). It is not the light fantasy happy fairytale adaptation that tends to be written, but more in the lines of how Brothers Grimm recorded and wrote them.

Good for Pearce for throwing us off about Silas almost last minute. I kind of wish that she had put the information out there sooner, however, so that I wouldn't have spent most of the book suspecting that he was the 7^th son that the Fenris were after.

Which reminds me, I love the use of the "7^th Son" being special and the whole idea that Fenris did change other men by bites, but it had to be during a very specific time and person. It's very original, yet staying with fairytale tropes and motifs.

Finally, I love how Rosie and Scarlett realized that just because they needed and wanted different things in life it doesn't mean that they don't care for each other.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of horror-type adaptations of fairytales. In fact, if you enjoy the TV show "Grimm" I recommend this book, because I feel like there's a similar feel to it (obviously the mythology is very different).

4.5 Bookmarks

Book Review: Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic #1)

Patricia C. Wrede

Publication Date: April 15th 2009

Publisher: Scholastic Inc

Pages: 344

Genre:  Adventure, Historical AU, Fantasy, Young Adult

Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he's supposed to possess amazing talent -- and she's supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from the beasts of the wild.

With wit and wonder, Patricia Wrede creates an alternate history of westward expansion that will delight fans of both J. K. Rowling and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

What's funny about this book is that if I had seen that it was Patricia C. Wrede, I might not have picked it up so readily, as I had recently read the Dealing with Dragons series, which I had liked, but hadn't really been my kind of book (it had been a recommendation). She was just an ordinary writer in my head and not an author to watch out for.

This book came to me by goodreads.com's recommendation, and partially because I thought the cover was very unique and partially because I really liked the idea I picked it up. And then it became one of my favourite books of all time! Wrede's writing has grown and this world appealed to me so much more.

So I like historical fiction, even if I don't mention or read much of it, but the historical fiction that I like the most is Oregon trail/prarie life/Lewis and Clarke era historical fiction. I love America when it was wild and magical. Now what Wrede did is take this era of American history and add a huge dose of Alternate Universe magic. America becomes Columbia, the Civil War the Succession War, and magic is a part of ones lessons in school, even a college focus.

Eff's family is originally from the East Coast, but end up moving out west when family issues become strained and her father receives an excellent job prospect to be a professor of magic at a college that helps to train wizards to go out past the Mammoth River, past the Great Barrier into the wild magics of the west. Do I still have you?

The characters are absolutely fantastic in their characterization, depth and relations towards each other. Eff comes from an absolutely gigantic family, which any author will tell you is hard to write, yet Wrede pulls it off so that each sibling (mostly the younger ones she actually interacts with) has a personality, and some a lot of depth.

The point of the book, however, is Eff growing into herself. The book starts off with her very young and ends with her in high school. We see her start off as a paranoid, easily influenced child, and end up realizing that she might just be able to trust herself, and maybe everyone else was wrong.

Eff's victory over the mirror bugs was so well celebrated in my brain. It was such a great way to turn the tables on her and make her realize that she is not useless.  She was the one to figure out the mirror bugs and it was she that found the twist and used it. It was the use of a different sort of magic (not the "European" magic that most of Columbia puts stock in). It was also really nice seeing Eff and Lan switched places for a bit, with her overshadowing him.

This book isn't as talked about as it should be. I remember putting out a Waiting on Wednesday for the third book in the series and no one knew the book at all. It's a masterpiece of a book and I love it dearly and wish it upon all of you. It's fantasy, historical AU fiction, the frontier and a story of growing up. 

5 Bookmarks

ARC Book Review: Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman

Circle of Silence (WiHi #2)

Carol M. Tanzman

No Prequel Review, can stand on own
ARC Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with). 

Publication Date: July 24th 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 302

Genre:  Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult

THE BIGGEST STORY OF MY LIFE COULD BE HOW IT ENDS It's my turn to run a "Campus News" crew, and I've put together a team that can break stories wide open. And Washington Irving High has a truly great one to cover, if only we can find a lead.

A secret society has formed in our school. It announced its presence with pranks: underwear on the flagpole, a toilet in the hallway, cryptic notes. A circle of silence keeps the society a mystery. No one knows its members, agenda or initiation secrets-until a student lands in the hospital under "strange" circumstances.

I "will" blow this story wide open and stop others from being hurt...or worse. And while my ex, Jagger, might want to help, I don't trust him yet. (And, no, not because of our past together. That is "not" important to this story.)

But whether you find me, Valerie Gaines, reporting in front of the camera, or a victim in the top story of the newscast...be sure to watch "Campus News" at 9:00 a.m. this Friday.

What I didn't realize until about halfway through the book, is that Circle of Silence is actually a sequel… So… What I can tell you is that you don't have to read the first book, dancergirl, before reading this one at all to understand it. Circle of Silence is an excellent standalone book.

So, for me, I'm not much of a Contemporary YA reader, in fact I've never been much of a Contemporary book reader, preferring things out of the ordinary, but what books like Circle of Silence have is a horror and mystery element that pulls me in and holds me prisoner. The book is fast paced, with thoughts from the mysterious pranking group's leader scattered here and there. Those parts actually amps up the feeling of horror as you see into a mind of a kid who might just be a sociopath. You also see some of the plans before they happen and you start to worry about others more and more.

As for the characters, I really liked them, especially the main character. There's something about high school hardcore journalists that really intrigue me. They have a stubbornness to them that gets them into all sorts of trouble and love it.

The love story is done all right, though personally I don't think the book needed it. I guess it did place the heroine off her game when Jagger was around, but even if he had just been a friend I think it would have worked fine. At the same time, people expect YA to have romance, and the publisher is a part of Harlequin, it's also just a personal preference.

I knew her sister was one of the group! I knew it, knew it! Considering how the group was so obviously a group of loners who felt ignored by the world, Val's sister fit that bill. I didn't think she was the one who was sending the e-mails though, until the point where it was learned they were being sent from the same location.

On the other hand, I adored the fact that the Skeletor was a kid no one ever noticed. It fit so perfectly, yet he was a complete sociopath, what had started out as a fun bunch of pranks had turned into life and death, initiations leaving kids in the hospital.

I also really like the fact that Val did not win the prize, yet at the same time didn't mind. It really showed how much she grew up as a person throughout the book.

I recommend this book to people who love the author Laurie Faria Stolarz, or any other YA Contemporary author that tends to dab a little bit in horror. If you love mystery, that's also a huge driving point for the novel. Overall I did enjoy it quite a lot.

4 Bookmarks