Review: The Returned

The Returned
The Returned, Book 1

Author: Jason Mott
Pages: 352
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Read: August 18-
Source: ARC from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
Jacob was time out of sync, time more perfect than it had been. He was life the way it was supposed to be all those years ago. That's what all the Returned were.

Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human.

With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, award-winning poet Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

First Sentence: "Harold opened the door that day to find a dark-skinned man in a well-cut suit smiling at him."

Review:

At BEA, Harlequin was really pushing The Returned. The publicists were all really excited for it and recommending it highly. While a bit interested, I was also skeptical, because, hey, they're publicists and pimping the more highly marketed titles extra hard comes with the job description. Well, in this case, they were right. The Returned is slow-moving, but elegant, graceful and thought-provoking.

The Returned is not going to work for every reader, though that's not surprising since no book does. I suppose what I mean to say is that it will be a tough read for many. The pace of The Returned is slow most of the way through, though there is some serious speed right at the end. What Mott's really digging into is the concept, so it's a very philosophical read, a brainstorming of what such a strange occurrence could result in. If you need books packed with action and excitement, The Returned will not do that for you. Sure, it's people coming back from the dead, but it's not zombies and there's no mayhem or brain-chomping.

In The Returned, Mott puts forth this concept: people who died begin coming back to life. They don't all reappear, nor do they necessarily seem to appear in the location where they died. None of them remember anything between their death and returning to life, and they are all the precise age that they were at the time of their demise. All memories seem to be intact. Scientists can find no rhyme or reason in why anyone is returning and why some do or do not return.

Using a family in the small town of Arcadia as an example, Mott depicts the spiral of society into chaos and hatred as this phenomenon occurs. As one might expect, there's a lot of discussion of what it means to be human and what the Returned really are. These people died but now here they are. Is it the same person or a different one? Should they have rights? The ethical concerns are fascinating.

Mott also looks at the possible logistical issues with regards to the Returned. Since they pop up in seemingly random places, like Harold and Lucille's son Jacob who appeared in China, there's the difficulty of sorting people back to where they belong. More of an issue, though, is what to do with all of these Returned if the formerly dead begin to outnumber the true living. The government doesn't know how to handle the situation, and the public is torn between hatred and fear of them and joy and hope at having lost loved ones back.

What this does to interpersonal relationships is my favorite aspect, of course. A situation like this begs so many questions: if a person remarried after the spouse's death and the spouse Returns, what happens? What if two teenagers were deeply in love until one of them died, and, now the dead one Returns still 16 with former love so much older? If they had sex would that be statutory rape or a whole new situation? In pretty much every way, no one has any clue how to deal with the Returned. It's scary and confusing and hopeful and worrisome.

If you're wondering whether The Returned is right for you, I point you to those hypothetical questions. Do you find the consideration thereof a fascinating enterprise or do you think that such speculation on something so utterly unlikely and illogical is pointless? If the former, read away. If the latter, probably not, I'm sad to say. The Returned lives in the hypothetical, and the beautifully simple writing likely will not be enough to save the novel for you if you simply do not care for that.

However, despite the fact that I loved the intellectual exercise, the writing, and that the ending almost made this hard-hearted reader cry in a public place, I did have a couple of issues with the book. First off, I think it's a bit ridiculous that, at least towards the start, there was never any move to put The Returned to work, except for the one famous artist. I mean, come on, if there are more people then there will need to be more stuff, so there need to be more workers. Obviously. Also, I'm not a really a fan of how the book wrapped up, which, sadly, I cannot explain without spoilers. I just felt like it was sort of a weak and anticlimactic way to do it. I get why, as that ending is more poetic, but I thought it a bit too simple.

Though I have nothing against romance novels, I am really excited to see Harlequin broadening their horizons with titles like The Returned, especially since they're doing so with such great books like this one. Patient readers who adore high concept reads that will really make them think need this book.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "There is a music that forms sometimes, from the pairing of two people. An inescapable cadence that continues on."

Review: Maybe Tonight?

Maybe Tonight?
Snap Decision, Book 1

Author: Bridie Clark
Pages: 224
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication Date: August 6, 2013
Read: July 29, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
Maybe Tonight? opens as the reader is getting ready for the most exciting party of the year—Midwinter’s Night Dream, set in the frosty woods just off campus—with her roommates and best friends Annabel Snow, Spider Harris, and Libby Monroe. Choices unfold quickly and the reader must decide which risks to take in pursuit of social status, adventure, success, and love.

First Sentence: "Congratulations!"

Review:

Oh, the reviewer's dilemma: if you want to read something but it's going to be difficult to review, should you request it? While I could not resist requesting a choose your own adventure book, I find myself unsure how best to review it. Am I duty-bound to read through every possible path to correctly analyze it? Well, I hope not, because I didn't. I completed a couple of the myriad branches, enough to determine that Maybe Tonight? does offer the choose your own adventure fun, but leans a bit too heavily on the morals.

As a kid, I refused to read any Goosebumps books that weren't Choose Your Own Adventure. I would, inevitably choose the route that ended in my death, every time, then backtracking to try again. I delight in getting to be a part of the story, though I have to say I may be a bit old for them now, since they just do not seem to have the same charm that they once did for me.

The basic premise of Maybe Tonight? is that you are an incoming freshman at an exclusive boarding school. You're a motivated, brilliant scholarship student, and a bit envious of your beautiful roommate, who has tons of money, a generous heart, and the hottest boyfriend, how you wish was yours instead. Despite your book smarts, you're a bit vain and money-conscious. Depending on which route you take, you navigate one or a couple of days at school.

Now, if you're like me, and you choose the safe options (not letting a girl cut you with a knife, not drinking when you might lose your scholarship, not ignoring a friend because he's not popular), the story ends really quickly. My first path ended in like three choices, which was a bit anticlimactic. I wish there was a bit more doubling back and interconnection, but I think that once you make a choice, you can only move linearly through the book and they actually all come to an end fairly quickly. I'm not sure if it's meant to be for reluctant readers or if the audience is intended to read through all of the possible outcomes.

The choices are often leading, completely not subtly lecturing the reader on proper behavior. For example, "ratting out the party is social suicide, no question about it, but it's still better than expulsion." Rather than just letting the chips fall where they may and teens to soak in lessons therefrom, the questions are basically telling you what your options are. In this case, rat out the party or get expelled. The moral element is just too heavy-handed, and I'm not sure how much fun that will be for a teen reader.

While I definitely enjoyed the nice quick read in my busy schedule, I'm not all that impressed with Maybe Tonight? and won't be continuing with the series. If you enjoy choose your own adventure and have the perseverance to flip through every possible outcome, it might be more your speed.

Rating: 1.5/5

Review + Giveaway: The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret

Author: Liane Moriarty
Pages: 416
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Read: July 23-28, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died. . . .

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . . Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

First Sentence: "It was all because of the Berlin Wall."

Review:

To say that I was surprised by the quality and beauty of The Husband's Secret would be an understatement. In fact, I almost didn't pick Moriarty's novel up at BEA, but did so at the behest of a publicist, one whose name I wish I'd noted so that I could thank her. My hesitance to read The Husband's Secret stemmed from the cover (which bears an unfortunate resemblance to that of Black City) and the blurb (which makes the novel sound like a stereotypical novel about infidelity). If either of these reasons are holding you back, do not let them as The Husband's Secret is women's fiction at its finest.

The basic premise, the one that the blurb points to, is a sort of retelling of Pandora's box, a woman's life transfigured when she opens something she perhaps oughtn't. On a basic level, this is true. Cecilia Fitzpatrick does find a letter addressed to her to be opened on the event of her husband John-Paul's death. She calls him to ask about it, and he makes her promise not to open it. She agrees, but secrets it away curious. When John-Paul comes home early from his business trip and ventures in the middle of the night into the attic, which he avoids due to claustrophobia, to claim the letter, Cecilia pulls it from its hiding place and reads. From this moment, a certain chaos does enter the world, and lives and marriages are tested.

What the blurb only barely hints at is that this story is not just about Cecilia. Tess and Rachel are but a footnote of the blurb, but they have equal share in the story of The Husband's Secret. Though initially not tied together seemingly in any way, the lives of the three weave together inexorably as the pages pass. The story is a dark one, moving and gorgeously-written.

Though the subject matter may be a bit melodramatic, I found the story endlessly compelling and it almost made me cry, which is the equivalent of saying most readers will want to keep a box of tissues handy; I am not one who cries easily. Despite the scale of the drama within, The Husband's Secret actually feels quite down to earth, thanks to the personalities of these three women who inhabit its pages. Rachel, Tess, and Cecilia are all good women, whose lives have been thrown off kilter by personal tragedies, past or present.

Cecilia does it all. She's a brilliant wife, mother, homemaker, and brings in a hefty income doing Tupperware parties. She appears to other women, like Rachel and Tess, as one of those women who has everything together, and who has been blessed in life. Cecilia's three daughters are bright and affectionate. She and her husband love one another deeply, and have, until very recently, always had a very satisfying sex life. Opening the later, though, must change everything, one way or another. And, no, the letter's not about a secret affair.

Tess, like Cecilia, is a woman of vast achievement. She's a successful account manager for the advertising company she runs with her husband, Will, and cousin (also best friend) Felicity. Her son, Liam, is the source of some concern, as he is being bullied at school, but otherwise life is happy. One day, out of the blue, Will and Felicity sit her down to explain that they've fallen in love. Tess, questioning both of her relationships, leaves their home in Melbourne and takes Liam to Sydney, where they stay with her mother and he can attend a school his bully does not attend. In this break from her day-to-day life, Tess has space to evaluate what role Felicity has always played in her life and what she wants her life to be from here on out.

Rachel, a grandmother, has been a largely unhappy woman ever since her daughter Janie was murdered, strangled to death and left in a park, the murderer never located and brought to justice. She's always suspected Connor Whitby, but has no proof. Her one small joy in life, her grandson, will soon be wrested from her, as her son, Rob, and daughter-in-law, Lauren, are moving to New York City. With this announcement, Rachel descends even more heavily into her desire for closure in Janie's case.

All three women are likable and sympathetic, even when they make choices that aren't necessarily good ones. They face moral dilemmas with no good solution, and just try to muddle through. The Husband's Secret really considers whether choices should be made to protect the children or because they are morally right. Though I can't say that I'm necessarily in agreement with the way that each storyline wrapped up, each woman is so well-characterized that the routes they take do make sense.

Powerful, heart-wrenching literary fiction with a focus on women, The Husband's Secret is a lavish novel. Bear the warning of the Pandora comparison in mind, for the the tale is not a happy one. Liane Moriarty's writing and characterization have convinced me to add the rest of her adult novels to my to-read list. I can only hope I find them as moving and well done as this one.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Marriage was a form of insanity; love hovering on the edge of aggravation."

Giveaway:
In my continuing quest to share my very favorite reads with readers across the world, I'm offering an international giveaway for a hardback of The Husband's Secret. The book will be shipped via The Book Depository, so as long as they ship to your country, you can win!
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Review: The Shadow Girl

The Shadow Girl

Author: Jennifer Archer
Pages: 336
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Sometimes I forget for an hour or two that she's with me. Sometimes I convince myself that she was only a dream. Or that I'm crazy.

For as long as Lily Winston can remember, she has never been alone. Iris, a shadowy figure who mimics Lily's movements and whispers in her ear, is with her always—but invisible to the rest of the world. Iris is Lily's secret.

But when Lily's father is killed in a tragic accident, his cryptic final words suggest that he and Lily's mother have been keeping secrets of their own. Suddenly, Iris begins pushing Lily more than ever, possessing her thoughts and urging her to put together the pieces of a strange puzzle her father left behind. As she searches for answers, Lily finds herself drawn to Ty Collier, a mysterious new boy in town. Together, Lily and Ty must untangle a web of deception to discover the truth about her family, Iris . . . and Lily's own identity.

First Sentence: "Ty Collier shivered as he paused in front of the Daily Grind coffee shop to wipe his boots on the mat beside the door."

Review:
Though The Shadow Girl has a potentially hard-hitting premise, the end result doesn't really wow. I feel like I probably should have disliked this, but I didn't really; instead I feel largely ambivalent towards it. I've got a fair amount of criticisms to deliver, but, overall, this was a nice easy read, and wasn't a struggle to get through.

On the plus side, there's the concept of Lily having this other person in her brain, Iris. At the beginning the reader doesn't know why Iris is in her head or if Iris is a sign of Lily's insanity, but the idea is still a compelling one. Such concepts appear fairly frequently in YA, I think because there's something about the idea of hearing voices, whether real or imagined that calls to the human imagination. Do we all inherently both fear and desire such a voice? Also, given the popularity of the themes covered, I do think Archer considers them in a slightly different way, a less harried, action-packed way, that is refreshing. Though The Shadow Girl does briefly appear to be heading for a climactic showdown, there's really nothing of that sort here; it's a mental journey for Lily, and that's it.

Sadly, I figured out what was going on early on in the book, and I do not think I was especially clever to have done so. In fact, I think that the 'twist' is glaringly obvious. Lily does not really think there's anything weird about some of the facts she's uncovering when they should have been setting off immediate warning bells. Archer implies that this is because Lily doesn't want to believe what's going on, but that's a bit far-fetched for a girl as well-educated as Lily.

Perhaps my favorite part involves the Stradivarius violin that Lily locates in the garage in the wake of her father's death. Now, I can't delve into this because of spoilers, but I'll do my best. Archer weaves the power of music into her story, and I just love the idea she puts forth. I would have liked to see her do more with that, since it takes a backseat to the investigation plot line, which, again, was heading for a super obvious conclusion.

Otherwise, all that's really going on in this book is romance, which is pretty unfortunate. There is yet another love triangle, and there's instalove, or at least insta-serious-feelings. As ever, the two players for Lily's affections are her best friend Wyatt and the mysterious newcomer Ty. Lily is torn between the two, finding both physically attractive, nice, and eminently kissable. Now, on the one hand, I don't have a big issue with her being torn between the two guys; she's not made a commitment to either one, and she's welcome to make out with whoever she wants to. However, she's a total dick to her best friend in the process. While she's not unfair to Wyatt as a dating prospect, she's a horrid friend, and never fully apologizes for that.

Further, Lily's crush on Ty boggles my mind. She essentially discovers that he's been stalking her family for reasons that are basically insane. Lily, however, is totally okay with this and still deems him totally datable. Even better, having stalked her and lied to her makes him a great candidate for a road trip buddy. Apparently, attending Columbia makes you totally respectable no matter what the circumstances. In real life, this would have ended with her death, as would that whole thing with Jake. This girl has NO survival skills at all. Well, actually, she does have one that puts her above most YA heroines, the ability to realize when she's holding her breath.

Then there's Lily's relationship with her mother, or lack of relationship. Even though it's obvious all of the information is coming out, the mom freaking refuses to say a single thing to Lily about what exactly is going on. This pushes Lily to ask other people. Why was the mother so against explaining? Why did she cave so easily once Lily left? Was her daughter driving across country with a possible serial killer really the only catalyst to push her to admit she has a problem and get over herself?

I realize that based on this review, it sounds like The Shadow Girl should have a lower rating, but I honestly didn't dislike it. Nor did I exactly like it. Meh.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "I exhale the breath I've been holding."

Review: Anatomy of a Single Girl

Anatomy of a Single Girl
Anatomy, Book 2

Author: Daria Snadowsky
Pages: 240
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: For review from YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
With Judy Blume-like honesty and insight, this sequel to Anatomy of a Boyfriend is about life after first love--romance, sex, friendship, family, and the ups and downs of life as a single girl.

After everything that happened—my first boyfriend, my first time, my first breakup—jumping back into the dating game seemed like the least healthy thing I could do. It’s not that I didn’t want to fall in love again, since that’s about the best feeling ever. But as a busy college premed still raw from heartbreak, which is the worst feeling ever, I figured I’d lie low for a while. Of course, as soon as I stopped looking for someone, an impossibly amazing—and devastatingly cute—guy came along, and I learned that having a new boyfriend is the quickest way to recover from losing your old one.

The moment we got together, all my preconceptions about romance and sex were turned upside down. I discovered physical and emotional firsts I never knew existed. I learned to let go of my past by living in the present. It was thrilling. It was hot. It was just what the doctor ordered.

But I couldn’t avoid my future forever.

In Daria Snadowsky’s daring follow-up to Anatomy of a Boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Dominique explores the relationship between love and lust, and the friendships that see us through.

Prior Book in Series:
1: Anatomy of a Boyfriend

First Sentence: "The logical thing for me would be to date Calvin Brandon"

Review:

Where Anatomy of a Boyfriend tackles first love, first sexual experiences, and first heartbreak, The Anatomy of a Single Girl considers what comes after all that. Snadowsky delves into the mental recovery process and facing life and dating after the end of a relationship you were convinced would be forever, much as logic insists that most first loves don't end in marriage. The much-belated follow-up to Anatomy of a Boyfriend is thematically similar, but very, very different in overall message and frame of mind, yet another wonderful addition to literature for older teens.

Single and depressed, Dom doesn't know what to do with herself. Her parents and friends urge her to date to get over the last vestiges of love for Wes, to move on. At Tulane, her good friend, Calvin, really wants to date her, and she's seriously considering it, but she really struggles with whether she actually has romantic feelings for him. Sometimes she thinks there's something there, but other times not so much. I was SO glad to see this in a novel, because I felt like this SO MANY TIMES in college. When a good friend develops a crush on you, it is really hard distinguish between the love you have for them as a friend and romantic love, especially since you want to make them happy and would like to not be single. That can be a really tough line to draw, and I like that Snadowsky tackled the fine lines between different kinds of love.

The healthy attitude towards sex that I praised so much in the first book continues full steam ahead in Anatomy of a Single Girl. Her first love, Wes, was her only sexual experience, and Dom's not really sure what she's okay with now. She meets a highly attractive frat boy while home for the summer, and they have great chemistry. However, the relationship can only be for the summer. Dom has to decide whether she's okay with a relationship and sex for their own sake, or whether that will make her some kind of person she doesn't want to be. Her experiences with Guy, the frat guy, really open her up to new experiences and broaden her horizons.

Of course, Snadowsky continues to revel in the awkward moments of real life. Though Dom's sex life has dramatically improved, there's still no magic, immediately expert sex. Plus, there's a whole lot of rigamarole to get out of the way beforehand to be safe: getting tested and going on birth control. The description of her trip to the gynecologist was a bit more in depth than I personally would have liked, but it's honest and educational, without coming off like your over-eager health teachers in middle school.

This installment also focuses much less on romance overall, and more on Dom's relationships overall, none of which are especially romantic. Snadowsky dives into various kinds of friendship, like the two with the boys described above. She also gets more in depth into Dom's friendship with Amy, who becomes less of a sidekick now, as she goes through her own relationship problems. Both Amy and Dom turn out not to be quite who the other expected, and their friendship goes through some bumps.

There's also additional focus on Dom's parents, which is both good and bad. On the one hand, I like how involved and supportive her parents are, but the level of their nosiness is a little uncomfortable. They alternate between basically telling her not to get too serious in relationships and that she needs to play the field and telling her she shouldn't be going on dates. I couldn't really figure out their agenda, because they were so inconsistent.

Those that enjoyed Anatomy of a Boyfriend will also speed through Anatomy of a Single Girl. I think it's a bit stronger, with the writing coming across more authentically, and a very satisfying ending, though I do think there's space for more. I will be eagerly anticipating Snadowsky's next project, because writers who can be so open and honest are always a great find.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Hugs are really underrated."

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: Teeth

Teeth

Author: Hannah Moskowitz
Pages: 288
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: January 1, 2013
Source: Gifted ARC by Jenni of Alluring Reads

Description from Goodreads:
A gritty, romantic modern fairy tale from the author of Break and Gone, Gone, Gone.Be careful what you believe in.

Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house.

Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.

First Sentence: "At night the ocean is so loud and so close that I lie awake, sure it's going to beat against the house's supports until we all crumble onto the rocks and break into pieces."

Review:

Hannah Moskowitz has been on my radar for years, but only since I started blogging has she become a high priority to acquire, particularly once I discovered Cuddlebuggery. Kat Kennedy has a shrine in her corner of the internet devoted to Hannah Moskowitz, perhaps only slightly smaller than the shrine to Melina Marchetta. Seeing such passion inspired in a reader, I can't help but be curious. Teeth is, without a doubt, one of the weirdest, most unique books I've ever read, and I can see what all the fuss is about.

Moskowitz's writing in Teeth is not of a style that generally appeals to me, but the writing style perfectly dovetails with the mood of the story and the character of Rudy. Jenni of Alluring Reads described the writing as 'choppy,' when we were discussing this book on Twitter. That descriptor really fits perfectly. The choppy writing mimics the cracking ocean and continuous discomfiture of the setting. The breaking waves, the storms, and the gray sky all reflect Rudy's emotional arc, and further reinforce the dark tone of the novel.

My favorite aspect by far is Moskowitz' use of magical realism. Teeth reads and feels like a contemporary novel, but with the twist of these magical fish, which, when eaten, can cure diseases and prolong life. Rudy's family moved to the island in a last-ditch attempt to save the life of his younger brother, who developed cystic fibrosis as a toddler. Unable to obtain a lung transplant, the parents heard about this island with magic fish and gave up their normal life to move to this tiny, weird place in the middle of the ocean.

Rudy, a sullen, sarcastic teenager, resents the move. He misses his friends and normal life, and, even with the fish, he's not sure how much hope there is for his brother. His life now consists solely of watching his brother for improvement, running barefoot (something he does now, perhaps as an attempt to connect with the world around him?), and homeschooling. Most of the people living on the island are old, extending their lives by the consumption of these fish.

The island becomes much more interesting for Rudy on the day he discovers that he is not, in fact, the only teenager. He meets Diana, a beautiful teenage girl, who will not leave her house, and begins to think about the prospect of getting action again. He also meets, more strangely, a fishboy, as in half-boy/half-fish. A freaking mermaid, as if magic fish that can help his brother's lungs are not weird enough.

Without a doubt, Teeth is my favorite mermaid book thus far. Moskowitz' take does not romanticize. Teeth, though he becomes dear to Rudy, could never be described as anything but ugly, at least to human eyes. He's slimy, has webbed hands and sharp fish's teeth. Worst for poor Teeth, he cannot breathe underwater. He breathes oxygen, effectively trapping him by the shore with the humans he hates so much, since, despite his fish half, he cannot just disappear into the open ocean or he will drown. His origin story, though creepy and disgusting, is perfection, with a sort of Greek mythology flair.

Before I read this, I'd heard much made of the GLBT themes in this book. Those really are not the biggest or most important theme, though. What Teeth really delves into is what it means to be human and whether animal lives are worth less than human ones. Teeth really gets the reader to consider these classic questions through a different lens, and I loved this philosophical focus.

Though I did like the characters and very much enjoy their story, I would have liked a bit more character development. Rudy and Teeth are the only ones that were adequately fleshed out. The portrayal of Diana and her mother particularly disappointed me, as I would have liked to find out more about their motivations and really delve into their characters, like if Rudy had managed to get his hands on those journals, perhaps. His parents and little brother, Dylan, lacked personality too, having little existence outside of Dylan's illness.

Teeth is a dark, creepy story, completely unlike anything else I've ever read, and I highly recommend  it to anyone who really wants to look at the world in a new light. This will most definitely not be my last Moskowitz novel.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "'Look.' I take a deep breath and say the only thing that will make us both sleep tonight. 'I think this is the part where we stop pretending we're not going to see each other again.'"

I Don't Want to Be - Gavin DeGraw

What's Left of Me
The Hybrid Chronicles, Book 1

Author: Kat Zhang
Pages: 356
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Source: Kat Zhang Signing at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t…

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable–hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet…for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

First Sentence: "Addie and I were born into the same body, our souls' ghostly fingers entwined before we gasped our very first breath."

Review:
Often, as I'm reading dystopias, I am making a list of all of the elements borrowed from a prior dystopia. Having read so many, coming across a truly original idea is a bit startling and exceedingly impressive. Kat Zhang's book is like none I have read before. What's Left of Me is a story that questions what it means to be a human, to be a soul, and to be normal.

Author Lauren DeStefano is blurbed on the back of my ARC as saying, "A shockingly unique story that redefines what it means to be human." Usually, I ignore blurbs, because they often say so little, and they're often meaningless. This one I agree with wholeheartedly. That sentence captures the essence of What's Left of Me. This dystopia takes on philosophical questions and is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read this year.

In this world, a sort of alternate universe, two souls are born into every body. At the start of life, there are two people in each human frame. As time passes and the body grows, one of the personalities takes over, asserts dominance, and the other one dissipates, gone as though never there. By the age of ten, there should be just one soul where two used to reside; they should settle. Up until that point, the two souls trade off, so that body is sometimes the one and sometimes the other.

Some souls, though, do not settle. Neither soul goes away entirely. These people are called hybrids, and they are unacceptable. Hybrids are dangerous, unstable within themselves, thus unstable in society. The United States does not stand for this, because they are sick of the wars that hybridity brings, as evidenced by the war-torn, hybrid-filled, foreign nations.

Eva and Addie never settled. Eventually, Eva faded into the background and they pretended to be an I instead of a we, an us instead of a me. Eva can do nothing but watch and listen as her sister controls their body, can converse with no one but Addie, in their mental language. What does it mean to be a soul? To be a person? Is it Addie/Eva that's broken or society?

Told from Eva's perspective, What's Left of Me is daring in its storytelling. Never have I read a book written quite this way, just as I've never considered how different life would be with two people inhabiting the one body. Most of the story is told in first person plural, even though we're in Eva's 'mind' so to speak. This writing style never ceased being odd to me, but it always made sense.

Unlike a lot of dystopias, What's Left of Me does not have a ton of action, though there is some. The joy of this novel is philosophical and psychological. There isn't much romance at all, though there are some hints. Of course, how can you have a healthy relationship when your body doesn't belong just to you? Seriously, how crazy to think about is this?

Aside from Eva, and perhaps Ryan, I didn't get a great feel for most of the characters. Eva, our narrator, is so deep within her own thoughts that she doesn't necessarily have a great feel for anyone. I really didn't get a reading on Addie, except to wonder how she became the dominant personality. I suspect Eva probably should have been and may have faded back to save her Addie's soul, but that's all speculation.

Some spoilery thoughts that you'll have to highlight to make legible: The main issue that I had with What's Left of Me was that some things were too easy. When they're all trapped in the mental institution, they get out so simply. You know why? Because the freaking doors to the rooms weren't locked, so they could have late night powwows in the halls. The furniture wasn't nailed down. What kind of institution is this? If they think hybrids are dangerous and might try to escape, they're not going to have such weak security. Speaking of, the place wouldn't almost entirely empty of staff on some nights either.

For those of you that enjoy cerebral reads, What's Left of Me is not to be missed. I am truly in awe of Zhang's mind for coming up with such a creative, astounding idea.

Favorite Quote: "I was terrified. I was eleven years old, and though I'd been told my entire life that it was entirely natural for the recessive soul to fade away, I didn't want to go. I wanted twenty thousand more sunrises, three thousand more hot summer days at the pool. I wanted to know what it was like to have a first kiss. The other recessives were lucky to have disappeared at four or five. They knew less."

"I don't have to be anything other
Than the birth of two souls in one
Part of where I'm going, is knowing where I'm coming from
I don't want to be

Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately
All I have to do
Is think of me and I have peace of mind
I'm tired of looking 'round rooms

Wondering what I've got to do
Or who I'm supposed to be
I don't want to be anything other than me
I'm surrounded by liars everywhere I turn

I'm surrounded by imposters everywhere I turn
I'm surrounded by identity crisis everywhere I turn
Am I the only one who noticed?
I can't be the only one who's learned"

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Season of the Witch - Donovan

Burn Mark

Author: Laura Powell
Pages: 403
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Bloomsbury via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Glory is from a family of witches and lives beyond the law. She is desperate to develop her powers and become a witch herself. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition—the witches’ mortal enemy—and his privileged life is very different to the forbidden world that he lives alongside.

And then on the same day, it hits them both. Glory and Lucas develop the Fae—the mark of the witch. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together, whether they like it or not . . .

First Sentence: "The walls of the Burning Court were high and white-tiled, its ceiling one giant chimney."

Review:
Looking at this book on Goodreads, I noticed that the average was lower than I expected. Apparently, most people didn't like this much; it seems to have largely received a resounding meh. Well, I do so love to have a different opinion on a book, even if it makes me feel weirder than I thought I was, but I really enjoyed Burn Mark.

First off, I totally dig stories set in alternative universes. There's something about it that calls to me. In Burn Mark, everything about the world is the same (facebook, cell phones, cars, politicians, etc), except that witches are truly known to exist and have been. Witchy powers, known as the fae, are persecuted, just like the suspicion of them was in history. Powerless people fear the fae, and hate what they fear. Set in Britain, Burn Mark portrays the life of a witch in a Britain controlled by the Inquisition. Witches are still burned, dunked and blamed for everything.

Our main characters are Lucas and Glory. Lucas is a son of a Head Inquisitor, raised in privilege and the product of a quality magic-less lineage. Surprise, surprise, he develops the fae, and, not only that, he's a very powerful witch. Through his view, the reader can see the very few options open to a witch, and the mercurial nature of the power, the fact that it does not merely pass from parent to child but can spark up at random. Glory, on the other hand, is a bit of a street rat. She comes from a long line of powerful witches and has been waiting impatiently for her fae to come. Through her, the reader views the life of an unregistered witch, living in a rather seedy criminal coven.

While I wasn't especially emotionally attached to Glory and Lucas, I still liked them and was rooting for them to uncover and destroy the corruption in the Inquisition. (Seriously, the Inquisition? Come on, guys. Almost any other word would make you sound less like prejudiced bastards, but whatever.) Though there is some romantic tension between Glory and Lucas, this stories focus is not on romance. Instead, Burn Mark focuses on the political and ethical questions inherent in a world populated by people with powers and a jealous majority without.

For some, this book was slow-moving and boring. I recommend it to readers that enjoy considering sociological questions. This one focuses on world building more than characterization. If the idea fascinates you, I definitely think you should check it out. If you're looking for a YA paranormal romance, Burn Mark is not the book you want.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'A secret boarding school for teen witches? No thanks.'"

"When I looked over my shoulder
What do you think I see
Summer cat looking over
It shoulder at me
Any strange, sure is strange
You got to pick out every stitch
You got to pick out every stitch
Beat me its eye to make it rich oh no
Must be the season of the witch"

Machinehead - Bush

Amped

Author: Daniel H. Wilson
Pages: 288
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday
Source: Random House via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Technology makes them superhuman. But mere mortals want them kept in their place. Enter a stunning world where technology and humanity clash in terrifying and surprising ways.

Some people are implanted with upgrades that make them capable of superhuman feats. The powerful technology has profound consequences for society, and soon a set of laws is passed that restricts the abilities—and rights—of “amplified” humans.

On the day that the Supreme Court passes the first of these laws, 29-year-old Owen Gray discovers that his seizure-supressing medical implant is actually a powerful upgrade. Owen joins the ranks of a new persecuted underclass known as “amps” and is forced to go on the run, desperate to reach an outpost in Oklahoma where, it is rumoured, a group of the most enhanced amps are about to change the world—or destroy it.

First Sentence: "I'm standing on the steep slate roof of Allderdice High School, gripping a rain-spattered wrought iron decoration in one hand and holding up my other hand, palm out."

Review:
Amped is my first experience with Daniel H. Wilson, but it certainly will not be my last. Though I did not love Amped, there was enough awesome stuff in there to make reading his other novel Robopocalypse a definite. His science fiction plotlines (based on these two) are so awesome. I just adore science fiction, and I don't read enough of it.

In the world of Amped, science has developed the Neural Autofocus. When implanted, the Neural Autofocus can do many things. The primary use was to fix people. For example, the Neural Autofocus can make the use of artificial limbs seamless and natural. They can prevent epilepsy. They can also take a child with ADD or an unintelligent child and give them additional focus, turning them from one of the weakest students to one of the best. What Daniel H. Wilson has done is take the plot of Flowers for Algernon and then make it a solution for everyone, and one that lasts. Very cool.

I really, really liked the first half of Amped. My guess is that most readers will have a strong preference for either the first hald or the second, as they are VERY distinct. The opening chapters are all about ethics, about the political and social impact that this technology would have upon mankind. Basically, and totally believably, there is a backlash against the amps, the people with the Neural Autofocus, because the normal people, the reggies, resent that they are now being outperformed. The implant makes those people smarter, faster, better. So what does the government do? Declares any person with an implant to be non-human. OH SNAP. Shit goes down.

What Amped reminds me of more than anything is X-Men. People with extraordinary powers? Different, but check. Resentment of common man? Check. Senator out to get the people with powers? Check. Powerful guy that wants to start a war so that the amps can take over? Check. Powerful guy that just wants everyone to live in peace? Check. This book is X-Men, minus the colorful supporting cast.

The second half of the book really lost my attention, because it got into Owen, our MC, learning how to use the secret hidden parts of his Neural Autofocus (because his dad gave him a special one). This part is all explosions and battles and grisly descriptions of wounds. I was super bored by all of this. However, if you don't like philosophical, political discussions, then power through the first half and you will get to read about SO MUCH FIGHTING.

Overall, Amped was definitely still a fun read, even if I have to give it a lower rating for being uneven. If you like Amped, you should definitely check out Machine Man by Max Barry, especially if, like me, you were more fascinate by the first half.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: 

"‘It’ll turn me into a weapon,’ I say, my voice suddenly loud.
     ‘All you got to do is curl your hands into fists and you turn into a weapon,’ says Jim. ‘Your body is just another tool. This technology changes nothing; it only amplifies. You decide how to use your tools. Whether to do good or evil.’"

"Got a machinehead better than the rest"

The Leave Taking - Howard Shore

The Wicked and the Just

Author: J. Anderson Coats
Pages: 
ARC Acquired from: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.

Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl.

While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.

First Sentence: "Tonight at supper, over capon and relish, my father ruined my life."

Review:
The first thing that struck me about this book was what a complete brat Cecily is. I guess this should not have been surprising with a name like Cecily (literary reference: The Importance of Being Earnest). The book begins with her complaints about having to move to Wales (god forbid!), where there will be a bunch of savages and not a single marriage prospect. Admittedly, moving is a huge deal when you're young and will have to leave behind everything you know, but it is does not make you exactly "like the saints who were sent into the desert to be killed by infidels."

Of course, the second chapter comes from the viewpoint of a Welsh girl who has to serve this English family. After that first chapter, it is so satisfying that this girl calls her a brat. Spot on! Gwenyfar and I spent at least half of the book wanting to do nothing more than slap Cecily silly. Thankfully, she does grow as a person somewhat throughout the book.

However, she doesn't necessarily make as much progress as I was expecting. The way things play out is likely more realistic. Having to read so many pages from her insufferable perspective was definitely a pain, and I wondered why Coats set the book up that way. Eventually, I did figure it out, and felt kind of dumb for not having caught on earlier. Oh well. Cecily's character being the way it is shows starkly just how terrible the situation in Wales is, if even she can feel pity for the locals.

Except for the narrators, I loved The Wicked and the Just. The historical period and subject covered, that of the English domination of Wales, is one I have never encountered in fiction before. Getting to learn something from fiction is always a pleasure. Who says you can only learn from non-fiction? To those people, I say PSHAW.

Unlike a lot of YA fiction, Coats focuses on social issues and family relationships, rather than romance. There are some elements of romance, but they definitely take a back seat, and aren't even necessarily romantic, so much as part of the social order. I definitely recommend this for readers in search of realistic, well-written historical fiction.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "God save me ere I have any babies. They are grabby, clingy creatures who steal your figure and always want a ribbon or a wooden sword. And who sometimes make you die bearing them."

Lifeboats - Snow Patrol

The Lifeboat

Author: Charlotte Rogan
Pages: 275
ARC Acquired from: Reagan Arthur Books via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life.

In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over capacity. For any to live, some must die.

As the castaways battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it?The Lifeboat is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.

First Sentence: "Today I shocked the lawyers, and it surprised me, the effect I could have on them."

Review:
The opening of The Lifeboat is definitely an attention-grabber. The prologue is set in the future with Grace Winter alive and somewhat safe. Although the reader knows she survived the harrowing events on the lifeboat, it's also very apparent that something serious went down on that boat. Why? Because she, and some other folks, are on trial for what happened in the boat. Now, you have to read the whole book to know what happened on Lifeboat 14.

More than anything, The Lifeboat is about what people become when their survival is on the line. Just like in a dystopia, hardships bring out both the best and worst in people. Some will sacrifice themselves to save others; some destroy others to save themselves, perhaps even when it's unnecessary.

All of the people on the lifeboat are victims of circumstance. They were on a ship and that ship sunk, leaving them stranded with limited resources on an overcrowded lifeboat, all alone and surrounded by people they don't know or trust. What is it acceptable to do to ensure one's survival in such a circumstance? Do crimes committed in the name of the survival of the group count when back in the real world?

For me, The Lifeboat was a good, but not an outstanding read, largely because I could not connect to Grace's character. She is indecisive and reliant upon the strength of men. However, the ethical questions were certainly fascinating.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "I had been allowed to believe in man's innate goodness for the twenty-two years of my life, and I had hoped to carry the belief with me to my grave."

"Sing out sing out the silence only eats us from the inside up
I meant no harm but I only get to say these words too late
Wake up wake up dreaming only leads to more and more nightmares"

The Internet Is for Porn - Avenue Q

Chobits

Author: CLAMP
Volumes: 8
Publisher: Tokyopop

Brief Summary:
In a future where personal computers (persocoms) look like people, the line between human and technology is blurred. Hideki, a ronin (didn't get into college, so he's spending a year studying to take the exams again), barely makes ends meet with his part-time job, so he's one of the few people in the city without a persocom. He desperately wants one, so when he finds one on the top of a garbage pile outside his apartment building, he is thrilled. However, he has difficulty making her do anything except say the word 'Chii,' which he decides to name her. After consulting some technologically savvy, he finds out that Chii might be a Chobits, a persocom of legend with powers unlike any other.

Review:
If you're familiar with CLAMP, then you already know that they write some seriously crazy, confusing stories (See: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, XXXholic). They're good, but they're almost always convoluted, creepy and downright strange. Chobits is actually one of the more straightforward examples of a CLAMP work, based on my experience with this manga artist group.

The artwork in this series is completely gorgeous, done in the same style as the two series already mentioned. Everything is beautiful, dark (yes, I know it's black and white, but it conveys a dark mood as well, smart alec!), and ornate.

Of course, it's also really creepy. I mean, look at that picture. Gorgeous, yes. However, the whole series is about these sexualized personal computers, essentially robots. Not only that, but there is a ton of fan service. Chii has no qualms about nakedness, so she undresses all of the time (not to mention what one has to do to turn her on). Plus, even when she's clothed, she has outfits like the one shown above, which shows off her underwear. Gross!

This is my second time reading this series, since I wanted to review it. Even now, I am unsure what to make of it in a lot of respects. The philosophical questions therein are incredibly fascinating. Humans fall in love with persocoms, and there's a question of whether, apart from their programming, persocoms are capable of true love. That is cool. But...there's also the creep factor.

CLAMP's mangas may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy lavish art and a complex story that will undoubtedly make you think, then you may enjoy them.

Rating: 3/5

Cookie Jar - Jack Johnson

The Child Who

Author: Simon Lelic
Pages: 303
Review Copy Acquired from: Penguin Books

Brief Summary:
Due to luck, although whether good or ill is sometimes hard to determine, Leo Curtice a small town solicitor becomes the lawyer for the biggest case in a long time. A twelve-year-old boy, Daniel Blake, has been accused of brutally murdering a girl just one year younger. Although this case is excellent for Leo's career, it's tearing his family apart, but he just cannot give up on the child.

Review:
My thoughts on this one were rather mixed. I'll start with the good: the subject matter. The subject and the ethical questions associated with dealing with crimes by youth is fascinating to me. Given the horrid nature of his crimes, should Daniel be tried as an adult? Does his youth mean that he shouldn't be culpable?

Reading this book really made me think about these questions and innumerable others. I also thought, too, about the reactions people had to Daniel's crime. All of the flak that Leo took for trying to do his job and be this kid's solicitor was ridiculous. I just fail to understand why anyone would send him hate mail or protest him for fulfilling his role in the country's justice system.

Moving into the problems here...I think I would have preferred this if it were from the perspective of a child psychologist or something like that. Leo's understanding of Daniel is limited, and we see through his eyes any time Daniel's actually present. Even when he gets Daniel to talk, he doesn't know the right questions to ask or have any analysis to bear. Even when he gets a psychologist to speak with Daniel and she diagnoses a couple of things, nothing really comes of it because Leo isn't smart enough or isn't the right kind of smart to do anything with it.

What really got to me, though, was the writing style. For one thing, the sentences are really simple, which could be a stylistic decision, but just made the whole thing choppy and hard to read. Also, the third person narration tended to follow along with a character, but who changed from chapter to chapter. Lots of authors use this technique, but, here, it was rather difficult to parse. I think the reason it was so troublesome for me was that, rather than using the character's name at the beginning of each section, Lelic always refers to them merely as he or she, so I spent several sentences/paragraphs of each one trying to determine who the heck I was reading about.

On top of that, the story jumped around in time, which, again, can be used effectively but was not here. Instead of amping up the shock value or creating interesting comparisons, this method created confusion and removed the surprises. There was one twist of sorts, but I wasn't interested enough in the characters to care about it particularly.

All of that aside, Lelic has won awards for his mystery writing, so don't dismiss him based solely on my review. His style just doesn't work for me personally. If you think you might like this, give it a try, or check out one of his other books. His style just doesn't work for me personally.

Rating: 2/5

"'Well, it wasn't me,' says the boy with the gun,
'Sure I pulled the trigger, but it needed to be done,
Because life's been killing me ever since it begun.
You can't blame me, 'cuz I’m too young.'"

Born This Way - Lady GaGa

Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom

Authors: Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin
Pages: 257
ARC Acquired from: Walker Books for Young Readers via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Luke and Tessa have been best friends pretty much forever. Due to some kindly-meant interference by friends and family, Luke comes to believe Tessa likes him and that he returns those feelings, so he asks her to the Prom. And gets shot down. Hard. Because Tessa, as she has neglected to tell him, is a lesbian. Tessa decides that she does want to go to Prom after all, but that she want to use this chance to come out and be herself, by wearing a tuxedo and escorting her lady friend Josie. When a controversy erupts, will Luke stand by her?

Review:
Last year, I read Notes from the Blender by Brendan Halpin and Trish Cook. It was completely adorable, with excellent teen characters and touching on real issues. Halpin has done it again, this time partnering with Emily Franklin.

Multiple points of view can either be amazing in a book or completely awful; there doesn't seem to be too much of an in between. Both of Halpin's books that I have read are great examples of good ways to do it. Of course, it's a bit easier with two authors, each writing their own character. Still, I love it entirely, because it gives both of the characters their own unique voices.

The opening scenes, where Luke becomes convinced that Tessa is crushing on him, are absurd but in a totally true-to-life way. His analysis is way off, obviously, but who's isn't? He starts evaluating everything, reading only the things that add up to the answer he expects to find. Of course, none of this would have happened without the prodding of other people. This is clearly an argument against matchmaking.

The controversy about whether Tessa and Josie should be allowed to go to the Prom just makes me fighting mad. I mean, how could that possibly hurt anyone else? Of course, even worse is that I know there's a book about this because things like this really happen, because so many people in this country are still so parochial that they think it matters who people fall in love with. Come on, America, get over it! Oh, and at this point, I need to include a fantastic quote from Luke's part of the narration; keep in mind that it could be different in the final copy of the book:

"There are people who think I'm a hero because I'm standing up for biblical values. Like I've ever read the Bible in my life. Maybe if I did, I could find the part about how making a girl's life into a living hell is something that God thinks you should do."

Really, this was just the sweetest book. I completely love the message, one of acceptance and open-mindedness. There's no hating on Christianity or religion in general. Halpin and Franklin aren't trying to demonize anyone. I want to add a copy of this to my personal library and shelve it metaphorically next to Will Grayson, Will Grayson, though not literally, because I shelve alphabetically by author. This book made me cry and laugh out loud. Not many do that.

Now, go listen to some Lady GaGa (aka Miss Kaboom) and let your freak flag fly, be it what it may. We're all better when we're ourselves!

Rating: 5/5

"Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'cause baby you were born this way"

The Storm - Gaelic Storm

Eye of the Storm

Author: Kate Messner
Pages: 304
ARC Acquired from: Walker Books for Young Readers via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
In a future (2050) where the excesses of humanity have lead to completely insane weather (tornadoes like whoa), Jaden Meggs is sent to spend the summer with her dad, a weather expert. Although he has not yet been able to stop the tornadoes, he has managed to build a completely safe community. While there, Jaden will be attending a premier school for young science nerds. She teams up with fellow nerd Alex to try to find a way to stop the storms.

Review:
Middle grade dystopias are generally much lighter fare, not just in reading level. They tend to be less violent, less terrifying. Eye of the Storm definitely fits this mold, but is no less interesting for that. Don't think it's too sweet and fluffy; there are definitely a couple of intense scenes.

Jaden's father is the worst. I mean, seriously. He doesn't seem to make an effort with his family (either Jaden or his new wife and baby) at all. Whenever he has a bad day at work, which seems to be a lot, he blusters at them. He spends most of his time in his locked office, rather than with his family. It had been years since he spent any real time with Jaden, because he was researching in Russia, and yet now that she's there he only holds brief conversations with her. That's it. Plus, he doesn't do anything to make his wife happy; she loves dancing, and even though there are small amateur groups they could see live locally, he won't take her. What a completely awful man.

I loved that the central idea for the dystopia was one that I had not encountered before. The weather has gone bonkers in many, but this one focused specifically on tornadoes, although acknowledging that in other parts of the world cyclones and typhoons were just as much of a problem. After the huge storms in Japan this past year and Katrina's crazy damage to New Orleans, it's terrifying to consider what it would be like if storms like these only got more powerful and now went everywhere. Of course, it's also impossible for me to read this without constantly replaying the movie Twister in my head, haha.

Also cool is that Messner added some other scientific developments into the dystopian elements of the story. For example, along with building communities that are safe from tornadoes, Jaden's dad's company StormSafe also develops genetically engineered food. While this is in no way the focus, I think these little tidbits of other developments really set the atmosphere for where the world was headed.

Eye of the Storm is a good, swift dystopian read for younger (or older) readers. Especially recommended to those who enjoy stories about really clever kids, such as The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Stand Ins, Two - Okkervil River

Double

Author: Jenny Valentine
Pages: 244
ARC Acquired from: Hyperion via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Chap has never gone by any other name. He's a runaway, staying at a rundown hostel with a bunch of other luckless kids. Locked in a storeroom for fighting, the people running the hostel take an interest in him and try to figure out who he is. He refuses to give his name, but one employee recognizes him. She says that he is Cassiel Roadnight, which he denies. Then she shows him a newspaper article with a picture of a boy, one that looks precisely like him, who has been missing for two years. Desperate for love and to be someone, Chap decides to become Cassiel, without considering why Cassiel disappeared.

Review:
From the summary and the seriously creepy cover, I expected Double to be a thrilling, action-adventure ride. In fact, it's not. There is mystery and suspense, but the bulk of the novel was surprisingly understated. Actually, I liked Double better for that, for not taking the easy way out and focusing on the more obviously dramatic side of things.

Chap made a good narrator, very well conveying his own sense of discomfort and fear. He obviously isn't completely innocent, but he considers every action that he makes. It would be hard not to feel for a boy who misses his grandad, the only family he ever knew, from whom he was separated at the age of 10. Chap had to grow up fast, and has been unloved through so much of his childhood. Given these circumstances, it is totally convincing that he might choose to be someone else for a while.

My favorite characters were definitely Edie and Floyd, which I guess wasn't much of a competition, since the book doesn't have a huge cast. Still, I loved Edie, perhaps because her prickliness reminded me of myself. She's both so happy to have her brother back and so distrustful of how he seems different. Floyd is delightfully flamboyant, and incredibly smart.

More than anything, Double is about a boy trying to figure out where he belongs. The mystery plot is definitely secondary. The pacing of the book is somewhat slow, although I was not bored, so this would likely not appeal particularly to reluctant readers. If you're looking for an action-packed thrill ride, this is not the book for you. However, if you like to read stories of people searching for their identities, Double's worth a read.

Rating: 3/5