Giveaway!

I just won a book from Robin Wasserman this week, and it looks like I'll be winning another if no one else comments on this excellent interview of Holly Black's newest book, White Cat.

PS: even if I don't win, look out for a reviewof it within the next week. Had to make a library run :)

I guess I'm just not the target audience.

Mothers and Other Liars by Amy Bourret
Advanced Reader's Edition

will be published August 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin
288 pgs, $9.44 (as listed on amazon)

I've never read Picoult, and there's a reason for it. I know I wouldn't like her books. Seeing as this is essentially a Picoult knock-off (or it tries to be, at least), I most definitely didn't like this. I reviewed it for LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, so you can see a fuller review here, alongside several positive reviews. Sigh. I don't want to that much of a book snob, but is it so much to ask for books to actually be written well?

ON A SCALE FROM 1-10
Plot Development - 4
Character Development - 3
Depth - 3.5
Voice - 1
Average Rating - 2.9

Another co-authored book no better than the last...

How to Be Bad
by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle

Published in May 2008 by HarperTeen
325 pgs, $17.89 (jacket price)

Two best friends and one tagalong take a roadtrip across Florida to mend damaged relationships. Their journey takes them to unbelievable and comical places, and each of them learn important lessons about courage, friendship, and love.

I'd been dying to read this book since it came out two years ago, but never got around to it. Unfortunately, it's one I could've lived without ever reading. It wasn't necessarily bad, it just wasn't really all that good, either. Road trips are so overdone in YA, and to make a novel that completely revolves around a road trip has to sparkle. This book did not sparkle.

Another book written in shifting first person narratives, each chapter narrated by a new person, and written by a new person. Each of the three narrators had their shtick - Jesse's the Jesus freak, Mel is the rich girl, and Vicks is the badass. But besides these characteristics, not much separates the girls from each other. All three of the writers use extremely similar voices and styles, making it much more boring than, say, John Green and David Levithan's latest co-authored effort.

In a similar vein, each of the narrators were so self-absorbed, the other characters hardly get a word in edgewise, making each girl more caricature-like than actual characters. I found Vicks extremely annoying, Mel tolerable, and Jesse the most relatable. One of the cool things about this book is every reader is going to feel a little bit differently about each of the characters. There's a little bit of everybody in a book written and narrated by three different people. However, even as the girls got into crazy situations, I found myself bored and un-captivated by the writing and style. Just skip this one. You've already read it before.

ON A SCALE FROM 0-10
Plot Development - 6
Character Development - 6
Depth - 7
Voice - 4
Average Rating - 5.75

Beige - Cecil Castelucci

Wanted to jot a few lines about Beige. Okay, all I really want to say is GO READ IT. One of the best I've read all year. Heartwarming and interesting, true-to-life characters. Even if you can't completely relate to the protag (ie: I wanted to KILL her when she talks about not caring about music) she's not a boring bitch, and everyone feels out of place in some instance or another.

Castelucci really made me want to move to LA after reading this, just to experience the music scene. Aaaaaaand let's just say this book may also play its part in boosting our fragile economy a bit. I couldn't resist buying The Clash's London Calling, hehe.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green and David Levithan

Hello friends. No time for anything formal (but it's not like anything else I ever posted was terribly formal). Just wanted to mention that I finished reading co-authored Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I liked it. Didn't love it.

Here's why: YA books don't follow traditional fiction writing rules. Such as: SHOW DON'T TELL. I had wondered if it was only weaker authors who filled their YA books with such expository info, but these gentleman are both critically acclaimed and loved by many, and yet, there was SO MUCH straight-up telling narrative.

Second reason: there just wasn't enough heart in this book as Green's and Levithan's solo works. I'm sure people will disagree with me (being people that worship John Green, mostly) but I honestly don't think two great authors equals great book. I don't think anyone will ever be able to top Nick and Norah (not even Cohn and Leviathan themselves. They're second co-written attempt, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List something-or-other didn't even come close)

Also, people are RAVING about how brilliant Tiny Cooper is. And of course he's a fun character, but he's obviously set up to be a fun character: ginormous, very gay, football player, and all around exuberant guy? It's almost too obvious. And not one character seemed completely fleshed out for me. Many left me wanting more. (Maura! Give me more of that bitch!)

Over all, there were several good ideas and themes and plot devices in this book, but I think the co-written format of every other chapter screws up the focus that the meaty things aren't touched on as well as they should have been.

I suppose I'd give this 3 stars? Not sure how long the story will stick with me.

Tamar by Mal Peet

published by Candlewick in 2007

To make up for my negligence, I thought I might as well share a few thoughts about Tamar. The premise is very promising. (what more do you expect from a book with "A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal" as it's tagline?) Two narratives are spliced together as the reader jumps from the "Hunger Winter" of 1944 to the tale of two teenagers on a road trip/scavenger hunt in 1995. One of those teenagers happens to be the granddaughter of a Allied spy who's forages in the Dutch resistance of WWII we have the distinct pleasure of reading for half the book.

That said, while an interesting and refreshing take on the de-glamorized, not-so-Hollywood-but-realistic life of a spy, the spy bits of the story are told in an omniscient third-person's voice, flittering its focus from character to character, depending on where the action is happening. The 90s teenage bits are in the first person. The transition between voices is jarring at best.

Additionally, the WWII half is riddled with minor and moderately-major characters, making it difficult to really get to know or love anyone let alone the hero of the story. On the flip side, the teenage road trip half is dominated by first-person thoughts and relfections on her life and past experiences. Where there is interaction with other characters, it is generally with one other person, and this teeange relationship is not nearly exploited as much as the relationships are in the WWII sections. The unbalance between the two storylines made wonder, "What is the purpose of even having this second narrative? The war story would have been fine all on it's own!"

Well, the surprise ending answers the question. Is it fair to the reader to write from multiple perspectives for 400 pages for the sake of a plot twist? I didn't think so. Younger readers, on the other hand, would probably eat Tamar up.

3/5 Stars
Grades 7+

Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen

Jerk, California revolves around Sam Carrier, a senior in high school, and his relationships with both your typical perfect girl so often found in YA, Naomi, and his father who died when he was two and allegedly left him with nothing but Tourette's.

After graduation, Sam works for the local crazy as a gardener, who slowly reveals secrets about Sam's past. After a series of unlikely events, Sam is left with a map and lots of cash, embarking on an improbable road trip with Naomi in tow.

This book takes place in the boonies of Minnesota, and most of the characters use poor grammar and possess and hick twang. This is both annoying and a refreshing change of pace from the majority of YA books set in urban areas. But overall, the voice is amateurish and the book contains too many crazy coincidences. For realistic fiction, Friesen hands us too many unrealistic plot devices.

Another source of annoyance comes from Sam's disease. I have a friend who also had Tourette's in high school, and Sam's tics seemed to be just a little exaggerated. I didn't really feel sorry for him, even though that was the point. Friesen seemed to use the same language over and over again to describe Sam's fluttering muscles, and what started as mildly annoying became easily ignored, which almost defeats the whole purpose of the story. This could have been an important book on behalf of America's teen population struggling with Tourette's. Instead, it just falls flat because half way through, you breeze right through the tics and are left with a plot shot full of holes.

Jerk, California is interesting. It's definitely a page-turner, but it's not nearly realistic or striking enough to leave much of an impression when you're through.