Review: The Beginning of Everything

The Beginning of Everything

Author: Robyn Schneider
Pages: 330
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Source: YA Books Central for review

Description from Goodreads:
Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

First Sentence: "Sometimes I think that everyone has a tragedy waiting for them, that the people buying milk in their pajamas or picking their noses at stoplights could be only moments away from disaster."

Review:

Robyn Schneider's novel underwent a title change from Severed Heads, Broken Hearts to The Beginning of Everything. Both titles I think are fitting for the story within, though I must say I feel a certain affection for the original, which conveys both the humor and the darkness of Schneider's witty, brilliant debut.

Ezra Faulkner theorizes that no one's life really begins until they go through a personal tragedy. This may seem an odd sort of belief, but it makes sense. Tragedy has a way of putting things in perspective. The loss of a family member, of mobility, or of social standing has a way of forcing a person to reevaluate life and decide what is really important. Realizing how tenuous and random life can be, it's crucial to spend what life you have being who you really are and with the people who really get you.

Ezra and Toby were best friends until they were fourteen. That friendship came to a halt after a tourist stood up in the row in front of them on a roller coaster at Disney, the tourist's severed head landing in Toby's arms for the rest of the ride. For the rest of high school, Toby will be that kid with the severed head. Meanwhile, Ezra grew up well, attractive and athletic, and became friends with the popular kids. He partied, dated hot girls, and planned to get a college scholarship for tennis. Then, at a party one night, a driver hit his car, leaving him crippled.

As school starts up for his senior year, the former Homecoming King doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere. He walks with a cane, his girlfriend has hooked up with his former best friend, and his plans for the future are shot. In his life's nadir, he finds a sort of freedom, though. He can now admit to being intelligent and nerdy, rediscover his friendship with Toby, and cultivate a spot with some of the school's nerds. Tragedy serves as a bridge to help him realize how unsatisfying his life up to then truly was.

Schneider's writing is fantastic. First of all, she completely captures an authentic male voice. Ezra never read like a girl to me, but neither was his narrative over the top in an effort to sell his maleness. Secondly, Schneider peppers the narrative with literary references, which, admittedly, might be alienating to some teen readers, but that I loved. Finally, there are the puns. If you do not appreciate finely tuned wordplay, you might find The Beginning of Everything pun-ishing. However, if you deem puns fine humor, you may well laugh your head off (don't worry; Toby will catch it for you).

The romance in The Beginning of Everything falls a bit into manicpixiedreamgirl territory, but it works. Ezra is taken with Cassidy immediately, with her mystery, her intelligence, and her vibrancy. She appreciates his puns and can give them back. They have great chemistry, but she always keeps her walls way way up. Why this worked for me is that Ezra falls in love with her, but in a totally high school first love sort of way, and not in a true love forever sort of way. Also, there's a realization of how little she actually was the perfect girl of his dreams.

The only aspect of the book that left me wanting was the ending. The climax that leads to the spilling of Cassidy's secrets was unexpected, despite the foreshadowing that lead up to it. That scene did not rub me the right way, and just felt a bit out of place in the novel. Plus, Cassidy's sudden opening up didn't seem fitting with what went down either. Without explaining what happened, it's hard to put this clearly, but I found what happened a bit puzzling and melodramatic.

Robyn Schneider's novel is highly intelligent and full of black humor. Fans of John Green, particularly Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, will most definitely want to read The Beginning of Everything.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quotes:

"'I'd call them master debaters, but clearly you aren't mature enough to handle that, Mister Smirkyface.'"

"'Why do they even call it that, "saving yourself"? Like we need to be rescued from sex? It's not like virgins spend their whole lives engaged in the sacred ceremony of "being saved" from intercourse.'"

"'You act like that day at Disneyland was my big tragedy, but you're the one who lost your best friend. You're the one who started eating lunch with the popular jocks and forgot how to be awesome because you were too busy being cool.'"

"'Life is the tragedy,' she said bitterly. 'You know how they categorize Shakespeare's plays, right? If it ends with a wedding, it's a comedy. And if it ends with a funeral, it's a tragedy. So we're all living tragedies, because we all end the same way, and it isn't with a goddamn wedding.'"

Review: The Virgin Cure

The Virgin Cure

Author: Ami McKay [Website|Facebook|Twitter|Pinterest]
Pages: 336
Publisher: Harper
Read: July 4-5, 2013
Source: Publisher for review via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
From the author of the number one Canadian bestseller The Birth House comes the story of a young girl abandoned to the streets of post-Civil War New York City.

"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart."

Set on the streets of Lower Manhattan in 1871, The Virgin Cure is the story of Moth, a girl abandoned by her father and raised by a mother telling fortunes to the city's desperate women. One summer night, twelve-year-old Moth is pulled from her bed and sold as a servant to a finely dressed woman. It is this betrayal suffered at the hands of her own mother that changes her life forever.

Knowing that her mother is so close while she is locked away in servitude, Moth bides her time until she can escape, only to find her old home deserted and her mother gone without a trace. Moth must struggle to survive alone in the murky world of the Bowery, a wild and lawless enclave filled with thieves, beggars, sideshow freaks, and prostitutes. She eventually meets Miss Everett, the proprietress of an "Infant School," a brothel that caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for "willing and clean" companions—desirable young virgins like Moth.

Moth also finds friendship with Dr. Sadie, a female physician struggling against the powerful forces of injustice, who teaches Moth to question and observe the world around her. The doctor hopes to protect Moth from falling prey to a terrible myth known as the "virgin cure"—the tragic belief that deflowering a "fresh maid" can cleanse the blood and heal men afflicted with syphilis—that has destroyed the lives of other Bowery girls.

Ignored by society, unprotected by the law, Moth dreams of independence. But there's a high price to pay for freedom, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

First Sentence: "I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart."

Review:

Ami McKay's fiction came highly recommended, and I can certainly see why. The Virgin Cure was my first venture into her fiction but certainly shan't be the last. Slow-moving, contemplative and lush, The Virgin Cure is what I've come to expect from quality historical fiction.

Moth comes from the slums of New York City, Chrystie Street. Her mother works as a fortune teller, but they barely scrape buy, selling their possessions in the lean times. When need be, Moth's mother even trades favors to the landlord so he'll let her pay the rent late. In no way has Moth led a charmed life, so it's no surprise she dreams of escape, in the form of a beautiful house surrounded by gates. Perhaps sensing Moth's desire to fly for the light, her mother finds a placement for her in the house of a lady. Hard as life was with her mother, the lavishness of the upper classes hides damaged interiors, people just as screwed up as those without money. Where her mother withheld affection, Moth's new employer demands it, with pain as punishment for not meeting her every whim. Only twelve years old for most of the book, Moth faces the worst of what 19th century New York has to offer.

What's captivating about Moth is how incredibly young and old she feels all at once. At times, it's hard to believe she's only twelve, because she's so knowledgeable and strong. Other times her innocence and naivete, and the situations such a young girl is thrown into, about make you want to cry. Despite her tender years, she seems much more empowered and in charge of her own destiny than the average heroine. Even so, she's drawn like a moth to the light, but like Icarus it's warmth could be the death of her if she's not careful.

McKay's prose has a timeless quality, both capturing the historical era and not feeling heavy the way much historical fiction does. The Virgin Cure has an interesting format, interspersing little encyclopedia entries, letters, and newspaper articles throughout. Though I'm not entirely sure how I felt about their inclusion, it was esthetically pleasing at the very least, and it was nice having terms defined on the page, rather than having to flip to notes in the back or something like that.

Though I did quite enjoy The Virgin Cure, upon its conclusion I must admit I find myself a bit unsure what the point of it was. It may be that I simply wasn't paying enough attention at some crucial juncture to be able to pull the strings together, but I didn't get anything from it other than the joy of pretty writing and a compelling story, and I feel like there either was or should have been more. The ending came on in a rush, and the fates of the characters were so suddenly determined it has left me reeling.

All told, I deem my first McKay experience a success, and look forward to further of her works. I suspect readers who delighted in Memoirs of Geisha might appreciate The Virgin Cure, as it's a tale of a girl in similarly dire circumstances, only one with more gumption.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "We came from rear tenements and cellar floors, from poverty and pride. All sneak and steal, hush and flight, those of us who lived past thirteen, fourteen, fifteen years old, those of us who managed to make any luck for ourselves at all—we became New York."

Review: The Reece Malcolm List

The Reece Malcolm List

Author: Amy Spalding
Pages: 352
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Source: For review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

First Sentence:

"Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

     1. She graduated from New York University.
     2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
     3. Since her first novel was released, she's been on the New York Times bestseller
         list ever week.
     4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
     5. She's my mother."

Review:

That moment when you're super curious about a book but have pretty much no expectations, and it turns out to be completely awesome. I am living this moment. The Reece Malcolm List caught my eye with it's kooky cover and blurb, but I really knew nothing about it. Turns out The Reece Malcolm List is a deliciously funny and honest book about family, boys, and musical theater.

Reece Malcolm is Devan's Mitchell's mother, and this, along with four other facts, equals the sum total of Devan's knowledge about Reece. After her father's death, Reece's lawyer picks Devan up in St. Louis and flies with her to L.A., her new home. Every chapter opens with a continuation of Devan's list of things she knows about her introverted, prickly mother. Their relationship forms the core of the story, much more important than the romance or Devan's calling to perform in musicals.

Reece definitely probably will not be winning any mother of the year awards, but I really love her character. She does not act remotely like the stereotypical mom (either in the neglectful or involved sense), but, through her gruff exterior, you can see her attempts at affection. Being of an emotionally clumsy, somewhat taciturn disposition myself, I totally get Reece. She's a very permissive parent, allowing Reece to go out and do pretty much whatever she wants, but very much a present one, as is Reece's live-in boyfriend Brad. They have a lot of family dinners and shopping excursions, and she always knows what's going on in Devan's life. Plus, Reece probably wouldn't do anything too objectionable anyway, so really deserves to be trusted with that freedom. I also love the fights that they have, because they were very much true to life, full of intentionally brutal comments that later result in regret.

Devan, too, delights me and, other than being somewhat reserved and highly talented, is very much unlike Reece. Except when it comes to music and acting, Devan worries and constantly apologizes for things. She bottles up her emotions, polite to everyone even when they're rude, until she explodes and delivers a tirade. Devan's narrative voice includes a lot of humor, teen angst, and passion. She also just feels a hundred percent like a real teenager.

All of the other characters are fantastic too, even some of the lesser characters like Mira receiving some real consideration. What I love best about this book is how honestly teen it feels. The relationship drama, while full of angst and a huge portion of Devan's mental lanscape, does not come off as the most important aspect of her life. As much as she stresses thinks about boys, she does not act like her life will be ruined without a boy or like she's in true love forever. Plus, all of the relationships in here feel so real, awkward, ill-defined, and messy. Despite that, Devan's narration definitely keeps the book on the happier end of the contemporary scale, because her love of theater helps her maintain balance and perspective.

My only slight reservation deals with the writing style, which for the most part I love. The storytelling sounds completely like Reece, and really helps throw you into her head, so that is fantastic. The only questionable element is the use of strikethroughs to express Devan's confusion about her emotions. They are a bit too cutesy, and I really think Spalding got Devan's emotional state across perfectly well without that.

Amy Spalding's debut sparkles with wit and characterization, and I highly recommend it! I will definitely be reading whatever she happens to write next, and really wouldn't mind if it were more books about Devan. ;)

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"I spin my bracelet around on my wrist. 'Sorry. It's probably annoying I get nervous about everything.'
     'A little! Mostly I don't get it. When you sing you're this force of nature, all fearless and bad-ass. Then you switch off, and it's weird. It's like you really are in a musical, where you can only express yourself through song or whatever.'"

Review: Me Before You

Me Before You

Author: Jojo Moyes
Pages: 384
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: December 31, 2012
Source: Unsolicited ARC for review

Description from Goodreads:
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

First Sentence: "When he emerges from the bathroom, she is awake, propped up against the pillows and flicking through the travel brochures that were beside his bed."

Review:

Jojo Moyes was not really on my radar. I'd seen her name a couple of places, memorable because of its uniqueness, but had not really marked her down as an author whose work I suspected I needed to experience. Still, when I got an unsolicited ARC in the mail, I determined to go ahead and read it, because it's British and has gotten overwhelming acclaim. In this case, I deem the buzz and all the positive reviews to be completely accurate.

The novel opens in 2007 with Will Traynor, successful, fabulously wealthy businessman, in a state of post-coital bliss with his model-gorgeous girlfriend. He just oozes privilege, self-satisfaction, luxury and hot sex, a woman's fantasy. Then he gets hit as he tries to get into a cab. This accident leaves him a quadruplegic, unable to control his body from the neck down, except for a small range of motion in one hand.

Moyes tells the story from the first person perspective, with a few exceptions, of Louisa, a 26-year-old woman who has just lost her beloved job working at a local cafe. She still lives with her parents, and the whole family desperately needs her income. With the recession, she has to try alternative careers and winds up getting a job as Will's caregiver, two years after his accident. Though they initially do not get along in the slightest, she becomes the person he can truly open up to and who can really make him feel alive.

Before I started, I admit I was skeptical of the subject matter. That sounds like it could so easily turn into a depressing tearjerker, and, much as I like depressing stories, I don't like them to be one note or more dramatic than they need to be. Moyes manages to confront this story without straying into melodrama. She depicts both the hardships of Will's state and also the moments of beauty. I never felt like she added in an extra bit of sadness just to pull on the reader's heartstrings more. Everything felt purposeful and essential to the story, with no needless tragedy added.

Now, do not get me wrong, this book will probably make you cry, because it sure as hell made me squeeze out a few tears, and I rarely cry at books. I almost made it through without crying, but Moyes got me in the end. The situation really is just incredibly heartbreaking. The relationship between Will and Louisa reminded me a bit of The Secret Garden, and how Mary was just what Colin needed, even though she lacked medical knowledge. I wished so hard for Will, like Colin, to be healed through hard work and magic.

Will and Louisa have such vibrant personalities. I did not initially warm to either of them, but they became increasingly more dear to me as I read. In different ways, both of them are failing to really live when they first meet and help one another open up to new experiences. From mutual hatred, they ever so slowly carve out a rapport and eventually come to care about one another so very deeply. Their connection is one of the mind, not of the body. I really didn't think that Moyes could make me root for such an impossible love, but she really, really did.

Moyes brings up a lot of dark subjects, really considering the ethics and options of a person in Will's condition. She does not preach in the slightest, leaving conclusions to be drawn by the reader. I imagine this would make a marvelous book for a book club, because there is much to be discussed. Moyes delves into what really makes life worth living and how much one can accomplish when trapped in a largely useless body.

My only reservation about Me Before You is an odd storytelling device Moyes used. While the bulk of the novel is from Louisa's perspective, she includes one chapter each from the perspective of another character: Will's parents, his other caregiver in charge of his medical well-being, and Louisa's sister. While I can appreciate the skill in crafting these, since these first person snippets did have a unique feel for each character, they did not add to the story in any meaningful way. The information I glean from them does not add anything I had not already gotten or could not have gotten from Louisa.

For those of you who like books that make you cry and think, Jojo Moyes' Me Before You is a must-read. Moyes has a bunch of other books out already, and I can only hope they'll break my heart like this one did.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Now he was just Will—maddening, mercurial, clever, funny Will—who patronized me and liked to play Professor Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle. His body was just part of the whole package, a thing to be dealt with, at intervals, before we got back to talking. It had become, I supposed, the least interesting part of him."

Review: The Treasure Map of Boys

The Treasure Map of Boys
Ruby Oliver, Book 3

Author: E. Lockhart
Pages: 248
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
Ruby is back at Tate Prep, and it’s her thirty-seventh week in the state of Noboyfriend. Her panic attacks are bad, her love life is even worse, and what’s more:

Noel is writing her notes, Jackson is giving her frogs, Gideon is helping her cook, and Finn is making her brownies. Rumors are flying, and Ruby’s already-sucky reputation is heading downhill.

Not only that, she’s also: running a bake sale, learning the secrets of heavymetal therapy, encountering some seriously smelly feet, defending the rights of pygmy goats, and bodyguarding Noel from unwanted advances.

In this companion novel to The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book, Ruby struggles to secure some sort of mental health, to understand what constitutes a real friendship, and to find true love—if such a thing exists.

Series Up to This Book:
1: The Boyfriend List (review|Goodreads)
2: The Boy Book (review|Goodreads)

First Sentence:

"Ruby,
               In laboratories dim
               We bend to Fleischman's whim
               And suffer twice a week
               Horrors terrible to speak."

Review:

These Ruby Oliver books have truly wormed their way into my dark, judgmental heart. Reading series books all in a row has been a reading goal of mine ever since I got partway into the Wheel of Time books, took a break and couldn't remember anything by the time I came back to it, meaning I would have to start over. Still, I don't follow through on my series-reading plan most of the time, because sometimes you just don't want to begin the next book immediately after closing the one you've just completed. With Ruby Oliver, I want to segue directly into the next one, because I just need to know what will become of these flawed and loveable characters.

To a large degree, I do not have a lot to say about these books besides what I've said in my previous reviews, which I do not see a point in repeating ad nauseum. Ruby remains a marvelous character, with ups and downs, but general positive improvement. She grows and changes, but in a slow, natural way. Her whole situation feels so lifelike, and so does she. Her narration remains spot-on, consistently Ruby.

These books have been incredibly consistent in quality and narrative voice. In the previous installment, The Boy Book, I encountered some difficulties with infodumping information about the first book, but Lockhart locked that down here, keeping any needed back story for an unfamiliar reader to Ruby's footnotes. With that small weakness fixed, the writing is perfect and engaging for anyone who appreciates Ruby's way of expressing herself.

One aspect of the series I've as yet neglected to mention is Ruby's feminist viewpoint. She does wonderful things like getting boys to contribute to the bake sale, insisting that the idea that only women should bake is antiquated (true). Of course, Ruby still suffers from our society, struggling with labels like slut, and whether she's a good or bad person because of how she behaves with boys (she's not). I love to imagine Ruby in college and squelching these unhealthy societal attitudes from her mind, and loving herself wholly. Speaking of that, Ruby is not one of these heroines who goes on and on about how ugly she is; nor does she have perfect self-confidence. Basically, she's a normal girl who feels sexy sometimes and like a roly poly leper troll other times.

If you've been enjoying the Ruby Oliver books, The Treasure Map of Boys will not leave you disappointed, but will however leave you wanting more, namely the final book in the series, Real Live Boyfriends. Thankfully, I'm reading this next, because I just have to know what will happen with Ruby, Noel, Meghan and the rest.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "And in life, you do have to choose between your friend and the boy you like. She doesn't magically fall in love with someone else, realize she's gay or turn out evil. No one turns out to be evil. People are complicated and make mistakes."

Review: The Boyfriend List

The Boyfriend List
Ruby Oliver, Book 1

Author: E. Lockhart
Pages: 229
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it's unusual, but give her a break—she's had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:

* lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list)
* lost her best friend (Kim)
* lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket)
* did something suspicious with a boy (#10)
* did something advanced with a boy (#15)
* had an argument with a boy (#14)
* drank her first beer (someone handed it to her)
* got caught by her mom (ag!)
* had a panic attack (scary)
* lost a lacrosse game (she's the goalie)
* failed a math test (she'll make it up)
* hurt Meghan's feelings (even though they aren't really friends)
* became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)
* and had graffiti written about her in the girls' bathroom (who knows what was in the boys'!?!).

But don't worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.

First Sentence: "Before anyone reading this thinks to call me a slut—or even imagines that I'm incredibly popular—let me point out that this list includes absolutely every single boy I have ever had the slightest little any-kind-of-anything with."

Review:

When I started reading this, I added it on Goodreads and sort of scrolled through reviews, not reading them but eyeing the ratings. For most books, my friends reach a sort of general consensus; with The Boyfriend List, the ratings varied from one star to five. Thankfully, I fell on the higher end of the spectrum, a relief since I just bought the complete series in a fit of no will power.

The variety in opinions on this book makes perfect sense, though. How you feel about The Boyfriend List will likely have a direct correlation to how you feel about the MC, Ruby Oliver. Ruby has a very distinct way of expressing herself and somewhat controversial opinions. If she annoys you, the book will be utter hell. However, if you think she's hilarious and makes good points and maybe reminds you of your high school self, you'll think she and this book are the best ever.

Though I did not personally identify with Ruby, I did think that she was funny most of the time, with occasional forays into whininess or melodrama, though these fit her personality and her situation perfectly. The Boyfriend List revolves around a series of panic attacks Ruby had, leading her parents to send her to a therapist. Her therapist asked her to draw up a list of boys for them to discuss. Thus the list was born, ultimately with some Harriet the Spy kind of consequences.

What Lockhart got just right is the teenage drama. Ruby feels so much like a teenage girl, with her own misconceptions, weird slang and inability to deal with being a social outcast. Having a boyfriend matters so much. Her own world matters so much, and she has a lot of trouble seeing past her own issues. Her parents fight all the time, but she can't really see that until therapy, and the same goes for her friends' issues too. Ruby has blinders on, and it's wonderful to watch her gain new perspective on the world in her conversations with her shrink.

The romantic drama herein depicted may seem a bit like the absurdity of Gossip Girl or Glee, where the same twelve characters keep swapping boyfriends in an endless spiral of jealousy, betrayal and infidelity. However, Tate, Ruby's school, is this tiny prep school full of rich kids (except for Ruby, who's on scholarship); there just aren't that many fish in the dating pool. I went to a very small college, and one guy dated three girls out of the twelve on my freshman hall, so that kind of stuff does happen, though there was no drama with our instance. They're stuck in a small school with lots of hormones and not many people with whom to exercise them.

The other awesome thing about Ruby Oliver is that it's not romanticizing teens or trying to depict them as innocent or sex as awful. Ruby discusses sex openly and with overt fascination. She and her friends discuss boys and all of their exploits and that's just so much how life goes down; we all share the details with our best friends.

Now, this really does not affect my opinion of the novel or mean anything to those who have not read this book, but I still need to get this off my chest: Kim and Jackson are major d-bags. Jackson especially. He's a serial boyfriend, dumping one girl and immediately lining up the next (or already having her waiting). Kim may be a big proponent of "The Rules," and, yes, Ruby broke them too, but Kim stepped out of line first. She can talk about fate or how it only just happened all she wanted, but she is lying. Ruby needs to get those two awful people out of her heart entirely and out of her life as much as is possible at Tate.

The Boyfriend List is a humorous, sassy contemporary, sure to delight those who delight in misadventure, pop culture references, and romantic drama.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "Basically, it was like going to the dentist. Something unpleasant was happening around my mouth, someone else's face was too close to mine, and the best thing to do was to shut my eyes, breathe through my nose and think about something else."

Review: These Things Happen Blog Tour

These Things Happen

Author: Richard Kramer
Pages: 272
Publisher: Unbridled Books
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
A domestic story told in numerous original and endearing voices. The story opens with Wesley, a tenth grader, and involves his two sets of parents (the mom and her second husband, a very thoughtful doctor; and the father who has become a major gay lawyer/activist and his fabulous "significant other" who owns a restaurant).

Wesley is a fabulous kid, whose equally fabulous best friend Theo has just won a big school election and simultaneously surprises everyone in his life by announcing that he is gay. No one is more surprised than Wesley, who actually lives temporarily with his gay father and partner, so that he can get to know his rather elusive dad. When a dramatic and unexpected trauma befalls the boys in school, all the parents converge noisily in love and well-meaning support. But through it all, each character ultimately is made to face certain challenges and assumptions within his/her own life, and the playing out of their respective life priorities and decisions is what makes this novel so endearing and so special.

First Sentence: "A lot can happen in a day, sometimes."

Review:
In my recent reads, I've noticed a trend: there seem to be a lot more books now that take place on an accelerated time line. The whole book covering less than a week of time, where I feel like I remember reading a lot more books that took a lot more time. These Things Happens spans only a couple of days, but really packs a wallop nonetheless. Kramer focuses on the power of family, and embraces  the larger definition of what a family can be.

These Things Happen reminds me a bit of the show Modern Family, not so much in tone but in the idea of the 'modern family,' full of divorces, remarriages, straight men discovering their gay selves. Wesley's parents divorced ten years before, but, now, his mother sent him to live with his father, Kenny, feeling that in the transition to manhood Wesley should get to know his father. Kenny, a talented lawyer, works as an activist for the gay community and lives in a tiny apartment with his partner George, restaurateur and ex-actor.

The catalyst for the event's of These Things Happen starts with Wesley's best friend, Theo, who, upon winning the student election, concludes his victory speech by announcing to the student body that he is gay. Theo's pronouncement doesn't have an affect on their friendship, but does change Wesley's relationship with his family, in two different ways, one which I can discuss and one which I can't, because it would spoiler things for you.

Theo asks Wesley to speak with Kenny and George, to find out how they first knew they were gay and whether they think that being gay is a choice. Wesley promises to do so, good friend that he is. He never really talked with them about that before, and his sudden interest causes chaos in the family, curiosity about Wesley's interest and introspection on the part of George on how to answer those questions.

My favorite part of this novel, really, is the relationship between George and Wesley. Though George and Wesley are not related, not legally connected in any way, they have a closer relationship than Wesley does with his father, mother or step-father. George might be expected to have the least reason to help Wesley, but he's the one who can always make time and listen. I found this to be such a powerful theme, because I personally never did think that a blood relation indicated any sort of special bond with someone. Families are made, not so much by blood, but by time and caring. He doesn't need to be legally or biologically tied to George for them to have a powerful connection.

Kramer tells this story using multiple perspectives, though the last chapter is in third person, which seems a somewhat odd decision. Each voice has its own cadence and feels unique, the most important factor in using multiple perspectives effectively. Kramer did best, I think with Wesley, who seems the main character of the piece. More than anything, These Things Happen is a coming of age story, and might appeal to both adults and teenagers.

In These Things Happen, Kramer tackles the complicated field of modern familial relationships and weaves a touching story, set in the busy backdrop of New York City. His tale feels utterly authentic and true.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'I just hope you feel about your life how I feel about mine. Do you understand that?'
   Wesley nods; he does, and he feels understanding, sweet and prickly, flow through him. 'I do,' he says. 'You cherish it.'"

Review: Just One Day

Just One Day
Just One Day, Book 1

Author: Gayle Forman
Pages: 320
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: January 8, 2013
Source: For review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!

First Sentence: "What if Shakespeare had it wrong?"

Review:
Words fail me on a fairly regular basis, refusing to come to the call of my immediate need or to properly describe the feelings I want to convey. Actually, this partially explains my lifelong search for other people's words with which to fill myself up, to borrow and learn from. My life consists of a perpetual search not just for knowledge and meaning, but of the best ways to put those things into the precise diction that will allow me to share these insights with other in powerful ways. My favorite authors, Gayle Forman included, excel at conveying big life lessons in simple, natural ways, not so much handing down truths from their lofty, genius heights, but making you feel their truth in your core. Unfortunately, I do not yet posses this talent, so I will probably fail to properly describe the power of Just One Day to you, especially because there is so much of it that I cannot discuss, because I think this novel is best enjoyed completely without conception of where its headed.

For some reason, perhaps because I read just a little bit of the blurb, I imagined Just One Day to be a happy sort of contemporary novel, perhaps a slightly darker companion to Meant to Be, which also opens with a trip to London and includes numerous Shakespeare references. I really should have known better, having enjoyed the darkness of Forman's If I Stay and Where She Went. Forman positively shines at making the reader run the whole gamut of emotions right alongside the main character. Just One Day made me smile, laugh, sigh, swoon, and ache in my heart for Allyson. During the hours I had to stop reading and go to work, I could not stop thinking of her plight, and those thoughts came with an almost physical level of discomfort and worry for Allyson. Basically, any novel that can make me care so much rates exceedingly highly with me, particularly because that only happens in novels with marvelous characterization.

For those of you who like to take vacations through literature, this book will be such a great friend. There are so many sights and places to be experienced within its pages. Even better, they're not just the touristy highlights, but also the more basic culture. I had so many flashbacks to my own European travels, like how you really do meet Australians in hostels everywhere, and they're really loud and sociable, and how Europeans really do like to help, offering up extraordinary experiences and waving away offers of payment.

Yesterday, I posted on instalove in YA literature, and how tired I get of the relatively unvaried romantic plot lines in the majority of the fiction. Well, Just One Day was such a fitting read to embark upon after that, because I felt as though Forman targeted a lot of that and wrote something unique and meaningful and unflinchingly honest. What she did with the romance, though I cannot tell you what that was, I approve.

Forman differs quite a bit in her portrayal of family as well. In young adult fiction, parents are notoriously absent, allowing the teens to have adventures parents would never approve. Actually, Allyson's mother and father are not in that much of the novel, as she spends most of it on vacation or at college, but, though not physically with her, they are almost constantly present. An only child, her parents have exceedingly high expectations for her and seem determined to have her fulfill them, pressuring her and preventing her from figuring out who she really is until she has the space of this first year away from home to really come of age.

Of course, I wanted to twirl around with happiness during nigh every reference to Shakespeare, especially during analytical discussions of his works. However, I also felt a strong correlation to another of my favorite classic works, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, which details the coming of age of Lucy Honeychurch on a trip to Italy. Her experiences there change her in unanticipated ways, which at first frustrate and frighten her, but ultimately teach her a lot about life and the best ways to live it. Perhaps I'm just making this connection up, but there was a quote near the end that really brought that novel the surface to me, one about the Yes of life. Whether that second similarity was intended or entirely in my head, I marveled over the dialog Forman developed between classic works of literature and modern life.

Right now, I want to do nothing so much in the world as travel all around Europe, accompanied by a copy of the sequel/companion novel to Just One Day, which will apparently be from Willem's perspective, which seems an interesting correlation to If I Stay and Where She Went.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'See?' Willem asks. 'You thought too hard. Same with travel. You can't work too much at it, or it feels like work. You have to surrender yourself to the chaos. To the accidents.'
   'I'm supposed to walk in front of a bus and then I'll have a good time?'
   Willem chuckles. 'Not those accidents. The little things that happen. Sometimes they're insignificant; other times, they change everything.'"

Review: The Bookie's Son

The Bookie's Son

Author: Andrew Goldstein
Pages: 248
Publisher: Sixoneseven Books
Source: Author for review

Description from Goodreads:
The year is 1960 and the place is the Bronx. All twelve-year-old Ricky Davis wants to do is play stickball with his friends and flirt with the building super’s daughter. But when his father crosses gangster Nathan Glucksman and goes into hiding, Ricky has to take over his father’s bookie business and figure out a way to pay back his debt—before the gangsters make good on their threats. Meanwhile, Ricky’s mother, Pearl, a fading beauty of failed dreams, plots to raise the money by embezzling funds from one of her boss’s clients: Elizabeth Taylor. Fast-paced, engrossing and full of heart, The Bookie’s Son paints the picture of a family forced to decide just how much they’re willing to sacrifice for each other—and at what cost.

First Sentence: "The day started uneventfully."

Review:
Oddly enough, I received this book for review because I commented on Unabridged Chick's review of it, saying that The Bookie's Son didn't necessarily sound like a 'me book.' Andrew Goldstein sent me a review request later that day. Turning down such a daring personal request is highly difficult for me. If he thinks his book can charm me in spite of my initial disinterest, then I'm willing to let it try. Well, Andrew's boasts proved correct and I was rewarded with a good read for giving The Bookie's Son a chance.

The Bookie's Son is very much a character-driven piece, as opposed to plot-driven. Andrew captures a time and a set of people perfectly, bringing them alive in my head. Though I don't know anyone like any of these people, I could hear and see them clearly in my head, right down to their Bronx accents. Ordinarily, I am not a visual reader, but he built these characters and the setting so well that I was in this instance.

My favorite character by far is Rosie, the controlling, sassy grandmother. I've realized that I really adore sassy grandmother characters in fiction. They're just so hilarious, dropping truth bombs left and right, because they're old and no longer give any fucks. It's fantastic. Rosie, despite poor vision and breasts that hang down, remains convinced of her perfection and sexiness. She's the kind of grandmother who offers food to every guest, even the toughs sent in to shake down Ricky's bookie father. Even though she's constantly critical of her family, she would do anything to protect them. I just loved her.

Ricky's mother and father are rather tragic figures, both possessed of so much potential but failing to end up as more than a couple of indebted crooks. Harry has a lot of charisma, which is how he won Pearl, beautiful and hoping to be a star. Unfortunately, Harry's addicted to gambling, to schemes, to bets. Even worse, he's not good at any of those things. The family could live quite comfortably if he just accepted his lot, worked as a tailor, and didn't try to turn their minimal amount of money into a fortune. Pearl has a good job and they could live off of her salary, I'm sure. Pearl could perhaps have been a star, beautiful and talented, but instead she married this wastrel and had two children.

Ricky entirely lacks a good, strong adult to emulate. At 12 going on 13, he is about to become a man  according to Jewish tradition, but he has no clue how to be a good man. His father berates him and puts him down constantly. Lacking strength and living in a bad neighborhood, Ricky frequently runs into bullies he stands no chance of fighting, earning him black eyes and more judgment from his father. The tragedy of his tale is that he so obviously could be a wonderful man and is a good kid at heart, but he behaves the way people around him do, often ending up doing horrible things, particularly to Mara, the girl in his building who likes him.

Be prepared for some very adult themes in this book. I was caught of guard by both exceedingly violent and sexual scenes. I wasn't really expecting this slim volume to be so hard-hitting. These scenes do not feel gratuitous by any means, but, if you go in expecting fluffy, cute historical fiction, you will no doubt be horrified. Also, never borrow money from the mafia; it can only end in tears.

If you like books to really transport you to another place and time, then I highly recommend The Bookie's Son.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "Even as a child I knew that real mensches didn't go around proclaiming how wonderful they are. Real mensches looked out for others. They exuded kindness, generosity, caring. They didn't ask for anything in return. They didn't cut off arms and they didn't induce nausea."

Clementine - Elliott Smith

Unbreak My Heart

Author: Melissa Walker
Pages: 231
eGalley Acquired from: Bloomsbury via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

First Sentence: " 'Sit on it,' I say."

Review:
When Unbreak My Heart first appeared on NetGalley, I actually didn't request it. I haven't read any of Walker's prior novels, I don't have much history reading contemporaries, and I have a very black and white view of cheating in relationships. All of that told me this might not be the book for me. I went back and requested it when I saw some very favorable reviews roll into the blogosphere.

As I started reading, I was initially regretful of that decision. The opening of the book is so mopey and nothing really happens. All Clem thinks about is the horrible thing she's done, which slowly unfolds in front of the reader. Every other chapter goes into the past (at least until that's all explained). The others are about her summer, in which her family (mom, dad, little sister, and herself) sail down rivers on a boat. I really wondered how Walker was going to pull off a book where the characters are stuck on a boat.

Thankfully, the book picked up the more you learn about the past, and the better you get to know the other people taking this same boating trip. I know absolutely nothing about boating. Honestly, I had no clue people could take a sailing trip like this down rivers. Color me surprised. Early on, they meet four other people who are on the same timeline and route they are (an old couple, and a father and son).

The cheating aspect of the story, the frame of it, never really coalesced with me. It mostly made me angry in a way I was not expecting. Clem has become a social outcast because she fell for her best friend's boyfriend. That's bad, for sure. I mean, having those feelings and not confessing definitely violates the 'hos before bros' pact. What's incredibly NOT cool (slight spoiler) is that Clem didn't even initiate anything and yet she is the one who becomes a social pariah. Her best friend even takes the guy back. All we see of the friendship is them keeping secrets from one another. And, so far as I can glean, Amanda doesn't really even seem to like Ethan that much, so I have a lot of trouble figuring out why she would want him back, unless it's to prove something.

I think that my biggest issue was with Amanda's character. It might have helped to have better context for their friendship. We learn very little about Clemanda pre-Ethan. As it was, I never got a great sense of Amanda as a person. She seems to be a showoff. Clem definitely suffers from an inferiority complex, since Amanda is the kind of person everyone likes and can have any guy she likes. Amanda's also strange for not having been more afraid of Clem and Ethan happening, since they have this crazy obvious chemistry, and she even encourages them to go on a date. That's just weird.

What really worked in this novel were the character relationships. I loved how real Clem's family felt. The mother with her crazy cookbook, the dad with his hat, and, most especially, adorable annoyance Olive. It's so obvious how much Clem's family cares for her. They give her space for a while and they let her know that they're ready to listen when she can talk about it. They put up with a surprising number of tantrums with good grace. When she finally confesses what she's been so upset about, they are just so sweet and non-judgmental.

I also can't leave this review without talking about the adorableness of James. He may be one of the most genuinely sweet guys in YA literature. Girls, let me just say that you want a guy like this, not an Edward or a Jacob or a Noah. You want someone real who will never try to change you or tell you what to do. He has advice, sure, but he doesn't pressure you. Plus, he's a ginger. Oh, how I love redheads. He is cute, upbeat, and funny, and their chemistry is so moving.

Unbreak My Heart is well-written and touching, despite the slow start. There's a lot to be learned from Clem's story. I see more Melissa Walker in my reading future!

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: " 'You can't beat yourself up anymore,' he says. 'And you can't compare your thing to my thing or to anyone else's thing on the how-bad-should-I-feel? scale.' "

"You did anything to pass the time
And keep that song out of your mind
'Oh my darling
Oh my darling
Oh my darling Clementine
Dreadful sorry, Clementine'"

Jane - Ben Folds Five (Pretty Amy Blog Tour)

Pretty Amy

Author: Lisa Burstein
Pages: 304
ARC Acquired from: Entangled Publishing for the tour

Description from Goodreads:
Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.

First Sentence: "Unfortunately, I am only myself."

Review:
Pretty Amy was not at all the book I expected it to be. I was expecting a fluffy prom book, something like Ditched. Hijinks, misadventures and pretty dresses. That was all kinds of wrong. The book is like that for approximately five seconds, and then it's very clear that this book is deeper and darker. Pretty Amy is not a fun, feel-good book, not a prom book, even though Amy does have a prom dress like the one on the cover.

Actually, Pretty Amy is mostly about trying to find your identity in the unforgiving high school years. When we meet her, Amy is desperate, and, worst of all, she thinks her life is about as good as it's ever been. She has two best friends, Lila and Cassie, though she worries that they like each other better than they like her. But hey, at least she has them, right? And they have dates for prom. Only then they get stood up, and Lila steals a HUGE bag of pot from her boyfriend, and they get arrested. It's a mess.

Although I usually avoid reviews, I know that some people have been turned off by Amy; they just could not relate to her or understand why she would make such incredibly stupid decisions. Although I must admit that I did some serious Amy-judging, I also have a better understanding of her motivations. I know what it's like to be utterly friendless, and I know what you will put up with in an attempt to be liked, to not be alone. While I would like to think I'm too damn stubborn to have ever have done some of the stupid shit Amy does, like the smoking of all sorts, maybe I would have if I had had the possibility of friendship.

Amy's self-confidence is pretty much non-existence, which is, again, something else I can totally empathize with. It's pretty clear that most of this comes from her mother's treatment of her, and her dad's neglect. Her dad does seem to care, but he seems pretty hands-off, so much so that it doesn't make much of a difference. Amy's mom is one of those women who is so completely focused on appearances; she wants everything to be perfect, and criticizes Amy constantly for not reaching her standards. Her mother just does not listen to her; in fact, when someone asks Amy a question, her mom almost always answers, not trusting Amy to even speak for herself properly. Sadly, this kind of mother is entirely believable.

Amy is a real girl. She's not especially beautiful or smart or talented or friendly. As a result, she doesn't have anything that really sets her apart, at least in her own view: "It's easy for you to tell me that I'm wasting my life. You think I don't know that? You think I don't know there's nothing that makes me special? That the only thing I may ever do that makes news is, as far as my parents are concerned, the worst thing I've ever done?" (150). Let's be honest. We all want to be special, and we all want to be loved. As an adult or a kid that has your shit together, it's easy to say that her logic is stupid (it is), but, when you feel completely boring and unlovable, pretty much anything feels worthwhile to make that feeling stop. There were two things I wanted to say to Amy throughout the whole book: 1) It gets better 2) "Look at your life, look at your choices."

Pretty Amy is definitely a book that's going to make a lot of readers uncomfortable. It's not a pretty story. There's violence, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and generally teenage angst. However, I do think this is an important book, because it definitely captures the pain of being an awkward, lonely teenager.

Now, make sure you check out my interview with Lisa Burstein!

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

     "Unfortunately, I am only myself. I am scared and alone and unsure, but I am practicing. I am scared and alone and unsure, but that doesn't mean I always will be
     Like AJ repearing words, I can repeat being me, until I start to believe it."

"Jane, be Jane
You're better that way
Not when you're trying
Imitating something
You think you saw
So Jane, be Jane
And if sometimes that might
Drive them away
Let them stay there
You don't
 Need them anyway

You're worried there might not be 
Anything at all inside
But that you're worried
Should tell you that's not right
Don't try to see yourself
The way that others do
It's no use."

We Get On - Kate Nash (+ Giveaway)

Starter for Ten
Author:David Nicholls
Pages: 338
Review Copy Acquired from: Goodreads First Reads
Publisher: Villard

Description from Goodreads:
The year is 1985. Brian Jackson, a working-class kid on full scholarship, has started his first term at university. He has a dark secret—a long-held, burning ambition to appear on the wildly popular British TV quiz show University Challenge—and now, finally, it seems the dream is about to become reality. He's made the school team, and they've completed the qualifying rounds and are limbering up for their first televised match. (And, what's more, he's fallen head over heels for one of his teammates, the beautiful, brainy, and intimidatingly posh Alice Harbinson.) Life seems perfect and triumph inevitable—but as his world opens up, Brian learns that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

First Sentence: "All young people worry about things, it's a natural and inevitable part of growing up, and at the age of sixteen my greatest anxiety in life was that I'd never achieve anything as good, or pure, or noble, or true, as my O-level exam results."

Review:
I won this book almost two years ago in a Goodreads giveaway. Since it wasn't an ARC, I didn't see any special reason to prioritize the reading thereof, as the Goodreads conditions say you don't have to read them. However, given my luck in those giveaways since, I suspect they disqualify you if you have one with an outstanding review. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but that's why I moved this up my tbr list.

Edit: I won a book from Goodreads approximately four hours after posting this. You don't have to review them, my ass.

My expectations were not particularly high, nor was I thrilled to be reading this. Why? Well, I acquired a copy of One Day from a used bookstore and read it a while back, because I was really excited for. Unfortunately, I largely hated it. To find out why, read my review here. Starter for Ten has a lot of the same issues, but I did enjoy it a bit more, finding the characters to be a smidgen less obnoxious and the desperation a bit less unforgivable in a younger main character.

Oddly enough, what Starter for Ten reminds me most of is some of John Green's books, namely Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. What these books share is a young male lead, though Brian in Nicholls' book is in college rather than high school, who is obsessed with a mysterious, experienced, unreachable girl. For this reason, these are my least favorite Green novels, though I still quite like them. I just can't bond quite as much with the books when I loathe the 'heroine' so much, and when the MC, otherwise intelligent and awesome, will not just get over this girl who obviously does not want him, but wants to string him along to increase her self-worth, which is low despite being the most gorgeous creature ever to enter that institution of learning. Ugh.

Of course, Green's books are saved by the other characters. They're pretty much all seriously entertaining and funny, people I wouldn't mind meeting. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Starter for Ten. Brian is SUCH A PATHETIC PRAT. Phew. Had to get that out. Seriously, though. He's a really smart guy, as shown by all of the trivia, but he has pretty much no social skills and no common sense. He gets terrible grades at University, because he spends pretty much all of his time mooning over Alice, THE girl, and writing her what is assuredly the worst poetry ever composed. Thank goodness Nicholls spared us that!

Alice is apparently the prettiest girl in school, sexually experienced, and desired by pretty much every male on campus. Brian is skinny, may have the worst acne ever, and seriously questionable style. I don't know what the 'grandpa shirts' he's constantly going on about are, but I seriously doubt clothing of that name is going to help bring the ladies to the yard. This discrepancy in their social status and skills made most of the book seem unbelievable to me. I just could not buy that Alice would voluntarily spend time with Brian.

Sure, she might be nice enough to keep him interested if they happened to show up to the same party or at trivia practice. In what world, though, does this girl invite that guy to her house over the holiday? Why would she keep hanging out with him after he said something super awkward to her mother? There's just no way that Alice and Brian would be as close as they are in the book. It's not just their attractiveness; she really doesn't seem to like him much, which I can certainly understand. And, whatever he may say, Brian really only likes her for her beauty, as all he really ever commends her for is being gorgeous.

All the time, of course, the one character I actually liked, Rebecca, a snarky Scot, is pining after Brian for some reason. With an awesome girl right there, he just continues to go after the girl he so obviously is not going to get in the end. It's great that unlike in One Day it's a guy desperate for a girl's love, but that reversal is undone by the fact that, awful though he is, a woman is waiting for him even more patiently. Sigh.

Please note, though, that there are good things about this book as well. For one thing, Nicholls is an incredibly talented writer. If he wrote characters I found less entirely obnoxious, I would LOVE his books. I read so much for character. Seriously, check out the quote. I love that, and it really does encapsulate the feelings of going off to college. If you're in it more for the writing, DEFINITELY read Nicholls. He's also delightfully British, which isn't so much a talent, but I enjoy it immensely.

If you're interested in this book, please do not let me scare you off unless you have similar taste in books, because way more people love Nicholls' books than dislike them. In this case, I am definitely in a minority. Since I know other people enjoy his work, I am passing on my pretty copy to another reader, who will hopefully be able to love it.

Giveaway Details: To enter, just comment (because Rafflecopter hates me right now) on the review, telling me about your favorite bit of British pop culture. You may also, of course, comment on the review. Make sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win! Do so by May 17th at midnight. Following is not a requirement but is appreciated, especially since I'm almost to another follower giveaway! US only, sorry!

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "I want to be able to listen to recordings of piano sonatas and know who's playing. I want to go to classical concerts and know when you're meant to clap. I want to be able to 'get' modern jazz without it all sounding like this terrible mistake, and I want to know who the Velvet Underground are exactly. I want to be fully engaged in a World of Ideas, I want to understand complex economics, and what people see in Bob Dylan. I want to possess radical but humane and well-informed political ideals, and I want to hold passionate but reasoned debated round wooden kitchen tables, saying things like 'Define your terms!' and 'Your premise is patently specious!' and then suddenly discover the sun's come up and we've been talking all night. I want to use words like eponymous and solipsistic and utilitarian with confidence. I want to learn to appreciate fine wines, and exotic liquers, and single malts, and learn how to drink them without turning into a complete prat, and to eat strange and exotic foods, plovers' eggs and lobster thermidor, things that sound barely edible, or that I can't pronounce. I want to make love to beautiful, sophisticated, intimidating women, during daylight or with the light on, even, and sober, and without fear, and I want to be able to speak many languages fluently, and maybe even a dead language or two, and to carry a small leather-bound notebook in which I jot incisive thoughts and observations, and the occasional line of verse. Most of all, I want to read books; books thick as a brick, leather-bound books with incredibly thin paper and those purple ribbons to mark where you left off; cheap, dusty secondhand books of collected verse, incredibly expensive, imported books of incomprehensible essays from foreign universities."

Note About Today's Song: Change the bumping into anything else awkward and the song to putrid poetry, and this is PERFECT. Also, Kate Nash is amazing.

"I conducted a plan
To bump into you most accidentally
But I was walking along
And I bumped into you much more heavily
Than I'd originally planned
It was well embarrassing and
I think you thought that I was a bit of a twat

I just think that we get on
I wish I could tell you face to face
Instead of singing this stupid song
But yeah I just think that we might get on"

Little Red Bird - Dave Matthews Band

Ichiro

Author: Ryan Inzana
Pages: 282
ARC Acquired from: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Ichiro lives in New York City with his Japanese mother. His father, an American soldier, was killed in Iraq. Now, Ichi’s mom has decided they should move back to Japan to live with Ichi’s grandfather.

Grandfather becomes Ichi’s tour guide, taking him to temples as well as the Hiroshima Peace Park, where Ichi starts to question the nature of war. After a supernatural encounter with the gods and creatures of Japanese mythology, Ichi must face his fears if he is to get back home. In doing so, he learns about the nature of man, of gods, and of war. He also learns there are no easy answers—for gods or men.

Review:
Ichiro opens with an old Japanese legend about a tanuki, a raccoon that can shapeshift and often takes the form of a teapot. The tanuki forms the frame story for Ichiro, and it is also amusing and magical.

What Ichiro is really about is Ichiro, a young boy who idolizes his father. He wears his dads old sunglasses and constantly reads an old military book of his dad's that he found. Because he misses his dad, who he barely remembers, he romanticizes war and is bored by most everything else. He gets sucked into the realm of the gods, because of that tricky tanuki and gets a lesson in war and humanity.

The drawings are really cool, although I wish I had been able to read a finished version, since the digital galleys just don't quite have the quality of a printed graphic novel. The best part of the artwork was definitely the color. Inzana clearly has a flair for it; I love the contrasts between scenes in shades of grey, scenes with just one color popping brightly and scenes just bursting with color.

Rating: 3/5

"Guns and gods and little red birds
A comfort to count the battles won after the war is lost"

Do You Remember - Jack Johnson

One Day

Author: David Nicholls
Pages: 437
Publisher: Vintage

Description from Goodreads:
It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day—July 15th—of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself.

Review:
I really, really wanted to like this book. The concept sounded entirely fascinating, and, truly, it is. However, I completely loathed them as characters, Dexter especially. Emma I might have liked sort of, although not staunchly, were it not for her pathetic love for Dexter, which she insists on maintaining through the years.

Dexter, though, is perhaps the most awful, selfish character in all of literature. Remember how I had a list of characters I wanted to punch in the face? Well, this guy, he would be on it. Emma spends years mooning over this total loser. He sleeps with every woman that moves, including Emma occasionally. Not only that, but he sleeps with women he shouldn't, like really shouldn't, as in students during a brief teaching gig. On top of that, he's perpetually drunk, takes any drugs he can get his hands on, and rubs other people's noses in his success, such as it is.

Somehow, as a reader, I think I'm supposed to feel like I can't wait for Dex and Em to get themselves sorted and become a couple, like Emma has always dreamed. Yeah, that's not where I am at all. I don't Em nearly enough to want her to spend her life waiting for this waste of space to finish sowing his wild oats all over the world. There is nothing romantic about a girl (or guy if the situations were reversed) wasting her life pining over someone that's not showed a scrap of interest. She should be enjoying herself along the way, too. If they end up together, cool, but only on terms where they both lived their lives as they wanted to. This is so unbalanced; she's just waiting for him to choose her and he's keeping her as a backup, for when he's too old to keep doing what he's doing now. Just UGH.

The writing, though, is really good. The story's well-told, so that, as much as I want to throw it across the room (which is a lot), it also wasn't that hard to get through most of the time. I definitely think that this may be one of the most depressing books I have ever read.

Rating: 2.5/5

"I was crazy about you then and now
The craziest thing of all,
Over ten years have gone by
And you're still mine,
We're locked in time"

To Sir, with Love - Lulu

Aishiteruze Baby

Author: Yoko Maki
Volumes: 7
Publisher: VIZ Media

Brief Summary:
Kippei, a high school student, is a bit of a playboy without much ambition. Everything changes when his Aunt Miyako leaves her five year old daughter with his family, since she cannot take care of her for a while in the wake of her husband's death. Kippei is told that he will be responsible for Yuzuyu. At first, he resents this a little bit, but he quickly comes to care deeply for the little girl, who helps him grow as a person even more than he helps her.

Review:
Aishiteruze Baby is a pretty great shoujo series. For one thing, I really appreciate the fact that the main character is a male, because this is rare to see in shoujo series. He's not a perfect guy, but he definitely seems like a real person. Watching him evolve into a mature adult from the flirty guy with no thought of the future is quite touching.

Generally, I do not much care for stories about children, but even I must admit that Yuzu is often quite charming. What person has a heart hard enough to not feel bad for a five year old abandoned by her mother? And, of course, caring for Yuzu makes Kippei sensitive enough to be able to support a slightly bruised girl like Kokoro.

While mostly light-hearted, the story also takes on darker issues like child abuse and bullying. This is an utterly touching story about the importance of family and growing up.

Although this song is about a girl thanking her teacher, I think it captures better than any other the way that Yuzu will probably think about Kippei when she's older, even if he wasn't actually raising her until she was old enough for perfume. Then again, I doubt the teacher would have been teaching a student for that many years either.

"Those schoolgirl days, of telling tales and biting nails are gone,
But in my mind,
I know they will still live on and on,
But how do you thank someone, who has taken you from crayons to perfume?"