Waiting on Wednesday {32}

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

Goodreads

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he's dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myths and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.My name is Ethan Chase. And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday. 

Expected publication: October 23rd 2012 

Aaaah I've always loved Ethan as a character when I read the Iron Fey series. A nice and adorable 7 year old is good thing when you're reading books about a scary Faery world. I can't wait for another Iron Fey book and did I mention that the cover is super awesome? Woot woot definitely counting down to October 23rd!


So, what's your WoW this week? Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to check it out! 

ARC Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Series: Confessions #1
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Goodreads//Amazon
Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some confessions to make …1. I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you?

2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine.

3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)

Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.

(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)

(Sorry. That was rude.)

A compulsively readable and sort-of realistic account of a teenage girl as she tries to deal with her grief.

Technical Stuff

Writing (Flow, Style, etc.): I don't know why, but the first part of the book was as addictive as crack. I got through it so quickly, even in the midst of a massive pile of homework, because the narration was weirdly gripping. The narration also came through clear as day; the emotions came across loud and clear. Unlike some fictional characters who can go out partying and forget how unhappy they are, Rose never looses her head and the angst is balanced out so that it doesn't become overwhelming.

Plot: Okay, I think I'd be lying if I said that the plot was unexpected and filled with twists and turns. After all, contemporary YA isn't renowned for its detailed plotting or world-building; it's the characterisation I read for.

I thought there was going to be a love triangle at a certain point and it made me feel mildly nauseous, but it didn't turn out to be heavy or anything--it was more like unrequited love, so that was all good. There was also the usual cliche falling-out-with-best-bud and the bad-boy stuff, but other than that, the plot didn't delight but didn't fail either.

Characterisation: While some characters were highly developed (think the main, main characters), most of the others didn't have much backstory. The characterisation wasn't noteworthy, I thought Tracy was unnecessarily shallow, and the cheer team was so cliche it read like something straight out of Mean Girls. 

Other Tidbits: There wasn't really anything that bugged me in the novel.

TF Discussion

Let's just say that the synopsis doesn't give the reader the best impression. At first, I got the idea that the main character would be an angst monster who'd just lost her boyfriend and was longing to get a second one. The use of words in italics also comes across as immature and irritating instead of intelligent--it seems like she's a try-hard who's yearning for the opportunity to use big words so that she'll seem like a big girl.

No. Just...no.

But you know what? Rose is actually a funny, honest, and real character. I really connected with her, even with all those pent-up emotions and all her losses, because we had traits in common. We're about the same age (although I don't understand Tracy's obsession with losing her virginity; more on that later), we're both in high school, and we both have older brothers.

Disappearing Parent Syndrome was a bit of an issue at the beginning of the novel and the author seemed to feel that it could be explained away with a single statement from the mother, but while I felt it was an unresolved and highly irritating issue, others might feel differently. While DPS seems to be less common in contemporary YA as opposed to fantasy or paranormal, it annoys me nonetheless.

The thing I didn't like was how high school was portrayed. Now, I admit that I don't know much about high school in America, but in Australia when you're fourteen, you don't usually have guys who stick to girls like magnets and try to hook up with them.

Now, I know quite a few fourteen/fifteen year-olds, and the author's portrayal of Tracy, with her weird desires to fit in that totally cross the boundaries of what's expected of a normal teenager, doesn't seem to be a realistic one. That particular plot arc didn't seem to serve any purpose other than to teach teenagers that it is not OK to have casual sex, and while it's a positive message and yes, I totally agree, does it add to the story? And if the author wants to put in a few lessons, the message should be shown not told, and definitely not spoon-fed to the reader. It's YA, not MG.

So that's all I have to say about the touchy-feely side of things. Overall, this was an enjoyable read but had its faults nonetheless, so four stars.

Waiting on Wednesday {31}

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

Goodreads

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.


Now Parker wants a new life.


So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?


But how far is too far before she loses herself completely? 

Expected publication: October 1st 2012 

So, what's your WoW this week? Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to check it out! 

The Secrets of the Vanmars by Elisabeth Wheatley

Series: (Argetallam Saga #2)
Publisher:  Chengalera Press
Source: Kindle app on iPad (from author)
Goodreads//Amazon                                                                  
After her adventures with the Key of Amatahns, sixteen-year-old Janir Caersynn Argetallam returns home to find Brevia on the brink of war with a neighboring country, Stlaven. Her foster-father and even Saoven—a brave young elf warrior—think it will be safe at the castle where Janir grew up. However, while trying to unravel a looming mystery, Karile—self-taught wizard and Janir’s self-appointed best friend—becomes certain that there is danger in the mountains surrounding Janir’s childhood home and that it has something to do with Stlaven’s most powerful family, the Vanmars…

The TF Chat

Well, this book was not bad.  It's always a bit more of a bother having to read off my iPad since I need to sit next to a power point to charge it as I go - otherwise it'll shut down halfway through which is rather annoying.  That's not really related to the book at all, apart from the fact that the spot next to the power point isn't particularly comfortable to sit on, and so my mood is a little negative when I begin to read.

See, now that influences my thoughts on the book which makes it relevant *cough*.  I'll be honest here - I had completely no idea what was going on in the plot or much of anything else up to around Chapter 2.  The Secrets of the Vanmars is the second book in the Argetallam Saga which means I'm missing out on a lot of back story by reading it from the middle, but the 'recapping' didn't make sense to me.

I started the beginning of the book, without much knowledge on how it would be go about, but after reading the rather long introductory chapter I still couldn't figure out what was going on.  What I could make out of it was that a girl, presumably the main character (as I was unsure then) explains her adventures from the first book of the Saga to somebody else in dialogue.  Heaps and heaps of paragraphs of explaining and questioning and answering and it was just too much conversation! After a few pages of conversation and not much information absorbing, my mind flicked the switched to 'skim-reading mode'.  Until I got to the second chapter, in which I was still uncertain.

I got to meet the characters and actually get to know them a bit better at the second chapter - we're in a slightly different part of the setting, the mood is different and 'brighter', so overall its almost a fresh start.  Now we're finally understanding some things here!  I'm not going to go into detail about all the things that happened in each chapter, but I will mention that until Chapter 6, I was not particularly interested.  The plot would twist and turn in all directions, wandering away and doing strange things before going back on track - halfway through the book.  A great way to start ._.

Review

I figured that most of the stuff I wrote in the TF Chat belong down here too, but it's sort of overlapping so I'll just leave it there.

First point: the writing.  As I read through the book, I couldn't help pausing and rereading a few phrases here and there.  I picked up a few 'errors' here and there, but I'm not completely sure if it's wrong or not.  It would just be uncomfortable to read over because it just seems incorrect - but I can't put my finger on the reason.  In some cases, it felt like we were missing a few commas or breaks, other times I was unsure.

Secondly, the diction.  There were a few words in there that I didn't know the meaning of.  Luckily I read this on the Kindle app of my iPad, so I could hold my finger over the unknown word and the dictionary would tell me! Hooray for technology.  This means I don't need to sit with a dictionary by my side as I read. (Just saying, this is the first time I've actually stopped in my tracks to search up the reading in a book.  For as  far as I can remember, anyway)  Sometimes it felt like Wheatley was purposely choosing a regular word, thesaurusing it for a fancier one with a similar meaning, and replacing it.  Maybe it's just me and my tiny vocabulary.

Like I said before in the TF Chat, the plot was so-so.  I was reading and reading and reading, thinking, "Come on! Let's get this party started and finally get somewhere in the plot already!"  It was kind of like the characters were just wandering around, avoiding the things that the needed to do.  (Wow, characters can procrastinate too?)  Sure, their little actions built up to the plot and helped a bit with the back story in a way, but it was a bit unnecessary.

The epilogue was a nice way to end it.  It was also kind of predictable, but of course we need to be filled in on the details!  It makes things a bit more interesting, and cliffhangers are always ... nice.  We already know that it's the Argetallam Saga, so it's more than a sequel.  Now I sort of would like to read on, to know what happens and so on, but it's not the type of book that would make me feel super-depressed if I couldn't read on.  Good, but not so great that I'd be unhappy if I couldn't know the ending, if you know what I mean.

So overall, it was a nice story.  The Secrets of the Vanmars was a good read (ha ha, see what I did there) but there were a few little problems here and there.  It could have been better, but I'm satisfied with the product so far.  Of course there could be improvements!  Maybe the next book that will come out in 2013 will be better and easier to read!  3 out of 5 stars!

Disclaimer

This review was requested by the author of The Secrets of the Vanmars, Elisabeth Wheatley.  No money was received for this review and it is completely unbiased.

Sunday Wrap-Up {4}

Welcome to Teenage Fiction's Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Wrap-up for the week. Today's post is brought to you by Nicole.

Nicole's Loot

In the picture: Alvie's My Little Pony and my friend's pretty bracelet. 

Not shown: Hayley's typewriter, my DFTBA T-shirts, or my ukulele. Thanks everyone for making this a truly awesome birthday for me! <3 

Book haul: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta, Starters by Lissa Price, White Cat by Holly Black, Fever by Lauren DeStefano.

That's it from me for now. Please leave a link in the comments so I can check out what books you guys got this week!

Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Electric Monkey(an imprint of Egmont Press)
Source: Bought, Paperback

Goodreads //Amazon

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

One of my favourite reads of the summer, Code Name Verity blends mystery, history and friendship into a wonderful metaphorical milkshake of a book.

The TF Chat

First off, I'm not exactly sure what this is for, but I'm going to assume it's for me to talk about stuff unrelated to books. I already did that before this section was carved out, but it's pretty useful to have a designated area.

So, I'm back from the UK, after being there and not posting for over a month. I'm sorry! I really am, but I was busy soaking up all the Britishness, and therefore was a little preoccupied. I'd show you pretty pictures, but I sense this is not the place to do so (also I don't know where my parents have taken the camera in which the pretty pictures were kept) I'm back now, so you get to read posts written by 'the Waters' again.

(I realize that this is a terrible nickname.)

Review

Maureen Johnson mentioned this in a radio show a while back, so when I saw it in a bookstore, I decided to get it, not expecting too much from it, since I had read the first chapter and found the writing to be slightly awkward.

Later that night, around two or three in the morning, I finished the book with only one thought on my mind.

'Wow.'

I'm really not sure what to say, except that this is probably one of the cleverest pieces of fiction I've read in a while.

There was just so much within the said and unsaid, so many little details that you would miss and then realize just how integral to the novel there were. The characters were convincing- the main characters not necessarily always good and brave, the supposed baddies, while first seemingly static quickly revealed to be much, much more.

Not only that, under all the horrible things happening and the mystery of it all, there was always the tale of friendship that shone through everything that happened. The two girls loved each other, and it was completely and utterly refreshing to see something like that in YA again, where there is just so much emphasis on romantic love and we never really get to see any other types of love explored in YA much any more.

It was one of the most historically accurate pieces I had read in... I'm not actually sure when. There was just so much terminology and I felt completely immersed in it, even if I didn't understand it all the time (which really, was the point). It felt right, especially considering who the girls were.

The fact that this was partially inspired by something from Horrible Histories which I actually remember makes it quite a bit more awesome. 5 stars.

~Hayley~

Waiting on Wednesdsay {30}

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase upcoming releases.

Goodreads  

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war. In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable--they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash's long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they're caught, they'll be executed--but their feelings are too strong. When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

Expected publication: November 13th 2012 

So, what's your WoW this week? Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to check it out! 

Review: The Call Of The Wild by Jack London

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: iBooks on my iPad
Goodreads//Amazon                                                                  

An unusual dog, part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, is forcibly taken to Alaska where he eventually becomes leader of a wolf pack.

The TF Chat

Firstly, I really need to apologize for the lack of posting from me recently.  I've got a piano theory exam next Monday, and the actual piano exam a fortnight or so after that, so I've been spending a lot of time working on that.  Most spare time is used for homework and other things like that.  I have an awesome life.

But anyway, back to the review.  The Call Of The Wild was reviewed at school by a classmate who had read it and enjoyed it - thus recommending it to everyone.  I had looked around and found it was free to download on iBooks, so I had bought it.  I quite enjoyed reading The Call Of The Wild since I am an animal lover and I like cute/furry things, so I was really interested.

Unfortunately, some parts did not really make sense for me - at times, it would just be hard for me to read on, and it wasn't smooth.  The majority of it was fine and dandy, but of course there would be a problem for me.  The characterization was fine too - it was especially interesting reading about Buck - it was almost narrated by himself, looking onto his life as a human.  You would really grow to love that guy, and bond with him as you went through the story.  I don't have any pets (apart from a few deceased goldfish), but I can say that if you have any pets, especially canines, you might like to read this book.

It's the type of book that makes you want to keep reading on about the adventures of xxx and see how they react and cope with things, because those simple lifestyles are already interesting.  To have a storyline and a plot is simply an extra bonus.  That's how I saw The Call Of The Wild, it fit perfectly.

Review

Okay, so I've mentioned before that there were some bits that were hard to read.  It was mainly the dialogue that I found annoying - firstly, the men talk in slang.  I don't really mind slang, but when people talk like that through the whole book, even though it's not constantly in dialogue, it is annoying.  The subject matter of their dialogue was also partly boring for me.  I would read it, but not process it.  Some parts of the dialogue didn't really make sense to me, so that was a down.

The setting was really good.  I don't really travel much, just usually staying in one spot so I haven't ventured the big, wide world yet, I wouldn't really know but the descriptions are so good.  It was like watching a movie in HD, except book version.  I could really see the snow and the mountains and everything!  The pleasant descriptions, the more horrible descriptions - it doesn't matter what is being described, you could see it clearly.  That made the writing pretty smooth for most of the time, like the movie flowed freely without 'lag'.

For the animal-lovers out there, you should read it, but be warned! You might not like some of the content in this book because of the way the dogs are treated, and how they behave.  However, you do learn quite a lot from this book, so I'd recommend it to you if you don't mind reading the most tiny little 'gore' or if you aren't 100% animal rights.  So yes, the call of the wild tells me to get you guys to read it :)  I rate The Call Of The Wild 4 out of 5 stars!

~Alvie~

Jane Eyre and Twilight: Feminism Going Backwards

Warning: The following post contains massive Jane Eyre and Twilight spoilers. Please feel free to discuss, but I am not an expert on this topic (duh) and arguments in the comments don't do anyone any good. I'm also not hating on Stephanie Meyer--I admire her success. Peace.

Jane Eyre: A young girl meets a typical Byronic hero, falls in love with said hero, but due to tragic circumstances, is separated from him and meets a second love interest. Eventually, however, since she is obviously destined to be with Mr Rochester (You belong with me!), they are reunited and get married at last.

YA: A young girl meets a typical Byronic hero (or close enough anyway), falls in love lust with said hero, but due to tragic circumstances, is separated from him and (normally) meets a second love interest. Eventually, however, since she is obviously destined to be with Love Interest #1, they are reunited and stay together for the rest of the book. Repeat x2 for a trilogy. Marriage will sometimes but not usually follow.

Let's face it--despite being a fascinating work of literature, Jane Eyre has some of my modern-day YA pet peeves: a love triangle and a girl who almost immediately clicks with a guy at first sight and gets pretty possessive of him. There's also the undertone of True Love! running throughout the novel, and despite hardships and thoroughly unfortunate circumstances that have separated Jane and Rochester, because they are destined to be together, they marry in the end. I'm particularly wary of the part where Rochester calls for help at the end of the book and Jane magically hears his summons, which is how she finds him again.

Bronte, I think, is a bit of a hopeless romantic, mostly because despite the novel starting with a rather unfortunate course of events so far--let's face it, Jane's an orphan, her uncle dies, leaving her with an aunt who doesn't care for her, and she's sent to an institution where her only friend dies of tuberculosis--Jane finds ultimate happiness in her love for Rochester. Sure, she returned on equal terms to the love of her life, but what matters is that in the end, she did. Her way of finding happiness was to marry the man she loved.

And now, let's take a look at Twilight, which bears remarkable similarities to Jane Eyre yet warps it and turns it into an utterly disgusting pile of slush. Bella falls in love with Edward Cullen (remember our dearest Edward Rochester?), who is a brooding, dark vampire. They're separated at various points in the novel when Edward decides that he is too dangerous for Bella and takes off for Italy or whatever ridiculous plot twist was put in to fill up the gap between Books 1 and 4, and according to what I remember, Bella almost committed suicide because apparently she heard Edward-Mr-Overprotective-and-Possessive's voice ringing in her head every time she did something stupid.

Which stumped me, because she was always doing something stupid.

Anyway, the fundamental difference in these two novels is that 1. Jane returned on equal terms to Rochester, and she was the one who went back to him (I could ramble on about why I didn't like that ending, but I don't think I will), 2. Jane was a strong-willed woman who showed that she could cope, even without a male, and 3. Jane had a fiery sense of passion and rejected St John multiple times when she thought that what he was doing wasn't fair and just.

I'm going to wrap this up quickly because I need to go to bed, but what I'm trying to get at here is that even after so many years since Bronte first published Jane Eyre in the 19th century, have we gone backwards with our female protagonists? When we compare Jane and Bella, there is a very obvious difference in that Jane is a strong-willed, self-sufficient woman who has endured many hardships and is willing to stand up for herself, while when I look at Bella, I see a girl who is infatuated by a hundred and something year-old vampire, simply because he's hot.

You would think that after so many decades of feminists and so much fighting for the rights of women (and it goes on!), we'd have stronger female protagonists. You'd think that we'd have made progress from the days of Jane Eyre. But clearly not, and it's kind of shameful that in YA, feminism seems to be going backwards.

Not all females are damsels in distress, and I don't like girls being portrayed that way either, particularly not in sci-fi or fantasy, where these cliches appear to be the most prevalent.

Because let's face it: even though Jane is a 19th-century Victorian orphan, she's still way more badass and fun to read about than Bella Swan is.

And on that note, goodnight.

Waiting on Wednesday {29}

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

Goodreads

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of theShiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

Expected publication: September 18th 2012 

So, what's your WoW this week? Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to check it out! 

~ Maxine ~

Review: Pookie Aleera is Not my Boyfriend by Steven Herrick

Series: Standalone
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Source: Publisher
UQP//Author Blog
In a country town, in a school just like yours, the kids in Class 6A tel their stories. There's Mick, school captain and sometime trouble-maker, who wants to make the school a better place, while his younger brother Jacob just wants to fly. There's shy and lonely Laura who hopes to finally fit in with a circle of friends, while Pete struggles to deal with his grandpa's sudden death. Popular Selina obsesses over class comedian Cameron, while Cameron obsesses over Anzac biscuits and Pookie Aleera--whoever that is! For new teacher Ms Arthur, it's another world, but for Mr Korsky, the school groundskeeper, he's seen it all before.

Award-winning author Steven Herrick's latest verse novel is a heart-warming tale about friendship, grief and the importance of baked goods.

In a pinch, Pookie Aleera is Not My Boyfriend is a truly heartwarming story. Filled with tidbits about Australian country life then peppered with childhood innocence and a few fantastic laugh out loud moments, this down-to-earth verse novel has it all.

The TF Chat

Don't judge a book by its cover. This age-old saying really applies to Pookie Aleera--while the title and cover may not necessarily appeal to the overwhelming majority of YA readers, don't be fooled, honestly, as this verse novel delivers a far richer reading experience than I ever could have guessed.

Steven Herrick perfectly captures childhood innocence and the laughter of Australian schoolchildren and playground jokes. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Constable Dawe (there were 3), where he tried to explain road safety and water safety and bushfire safety to the class, which ultimately backfired as he made a complete fool of himself. Since I was reading this on the train, I actually laughed out loud a few times, which provoked strange stares and shifty glances from fellow passengers, but it was seriously that funny.

And I'm here to talk about road safety.
Can anyone tell me something about road safety?
Well, yes, you're right,
it should be called pedestrian safety
because no one can hurt a road,
it's just a large piece of concrete...
Can anyone tell me what we should do
before crossing the road?
Pardon?
Wear clean underwear!
Who told you that?
Your mother...
in case you're in an accident.
Well, I'm here to prevent you having an accident...

I mean, you can't get any funnier than that for an MG verse novel. Reading this honestly brought me back to the good ol'days of junior school playgrounds (despite most of my junior schooling not being spent in Australia, but yeah) and how innocent and funny these children were!

Year Sixes are very much on the verge of maturity but not quite there yet; much like Year Sevens, they seem to like the idea of being older but not taking the responsibility for it; wanting to date but not realising what dating really is and the ugly side of it all. They don't realise the consequences of what adults do, and yet they want to participate. They're starting to form cliques, but they haven't reached the high-school level of meanness yet.

And Pookie Aleexa brought back all of these memories and thoughts. It really struck a response and an emotional connection with me, as I'm sure it will with many.

This verse novel switches point of views between the entire cast of characters, giving readers the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with each of them and see the town through their eyes. While the characterisation wasn't exactly top-notch and not every single character was well defined, most of them were, particularly Mr Korsky, Cameron, and Laura. Mr Korsky stood out in my mind as one of the only properly-developed adults (I think that Ms Arthur may have had one or two chapters, but I'm not entirely sure) and he gave off that elderly aura of loneliness that I instantly felt sympathy towards, as a strict contrast to the cheerfulness of the children.

The characters had backstories, personalities, and families, and that's what I love to see in all novels, no matter YA, MG, or adult. I was surprised, frankly, to find the lighthearted humour balanced with more serious undertones and lessons that older readers can look for in this novel. It far exceeds many YA paranormal/science fiction/fantasy romances these days in terms of sophistication, characterisation, and depth, and it takes a completely different angle and approach to what I normally read, which was wonderful.

Review

In terms of readability, Pookie Aleera is highly accessible to children of all ages, ranging from young kids to the early teens. Any kid who can tackle chapter books can easily read this verse novel; the poetry also helps with the flow and makes it really easy to follow and read.

The setting was really excellent. After reading a few really bland and boring Australian novels for English, like The True Story of Lilli Stubeck, I wasn't particularly sure about picking up another book with a definite rural Australian setting, but the setting complemented the story very well and I liked the little details about the town, like how the council was putting down new roads and it was dusty and how the two brothers went outside to milk the cow in the middle of the night, which I thought was oh-so-sweet and a wonderful portrayal of rural life.

Steven Herrick is so good at using the smallest amount of words to capture the hugest of emotions, like loneliness and love. How he did all this in a verse novel through relatively juvenile main characters, I don't know at all. But all I know is that I really enjoyed this verse novel, and that I will definitely be watching out for his other verse novels in the future.

I don't think I can give this book a rating, really, because it's a MG book, I'm obviously not the target audience, and despite enjoying it so much, there was something missing that I honestly can't identify. But I do recommend you give it a go, because you might end up liking it, just as I did.

Similar Titles (MG Verse Novels)

• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Goodreads) 

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher but did not influence this review in any manner. Thank you to UQP for the book!

ARC Review: Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Series: Glitch #1
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads//AmazonIn the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.
When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.
As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.
In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.

The premise of the story was so amazing that I simply had to request it when I saw it on NetGalley--it was a bit of a synopsis-and-cover-love-at-first-sight thing. And I have to say that the first part of the book was action-packed, fascinating, and it definitely hooked me in, although the quality of the book seemed to decline overall towards the end.


The good first: what was absolutely fantastic about this story was the action scenes. The author does them well--they're extremely tense, and the one which stuck was the scene with colliding trains. My heart was literally thumping while I read it, and I tell you that it doesn't happen often at all. 


Zoe was, quite surprisingly, a rather easy character to understand. While it would've been easy for the author to write her as an angst monster, and she did come across as a little emo and whiney at times, with all of the emotional pressure put on her considered, she behaved relatively normally (I'm using other paranormal YA girls as tools for comparison, not people in the real world). The only weird thing was the insta-love but I did think that Adrien the love interest was okay, so that was forgivable :P.


The main problem I had with the story was the love triangle between Zoe and Max. There were some really disturbing quotes like this (not an exact quote):

'Can I look at your genitalia? I've been really interested since I started glitching.'

I mean, if a guy said that to me, I'd be running away and yelling SEXUAL ASSAULT. It's inappropriate, quite frankly disgusting, and definitely not an auspicious beginning to the romance that would eventually bloom between Zoe and Max.


There were also parts where Max was violent and disrespectful to Zoe; sometimes throwing things around, yelling at her, and being a seriously abusive boyfriend. The funny thing is that Zoe sometimes chooses to ignore this and kiss or make out with him anyway, despite thinking that this it 'feels wrong'.


There was also the issue of Zoe occasionally saying something weirdly formal like 'Would it be all right if we studied in your bed-chambers?' (I'm not quoting the book, but it was a little like that) and then following a few pages later, 'I don't think we should study right now. Let's chat.' It switched between seemingly archaic and today's English too often, and it sometimes seemed as though the author forgot about needing to use their formal-speech and just throwing a few lines in. I hope this will be fixed in the finished copy.


Overall? Glitch was the sort of book that reminded me of a dozen different dystopian titles, that had several inconsistencies in the writing, that was really quite unoriginal but did manage to entertain and keep me interested until the emergence of the rather disturbing love triangle. In short, it was an unremarkable read that wasn't anything particularly memorable, but quite an entertaining story nonetheless.

Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

The TF Chat

Poison Study was the book that I borrowed ages ago and sat in my library book pile for weeks, long after I had finished everything else.  I don't know why, but it just sat there and I didn't want to read it.  That is, until yesterday because the loan date expires tomorrow and I need to return it.  I don't like returning a library book without reading it since you're wasting everyone who wants to read it's time, as well as space in your house.

Once I started reading, I was surprised at how quickly I became deeply absorbed.  After so much procrastination of not reading it, I half expected it to be horrible and distasteful, but it was quite the opposite!  Then I received a rather nice surprise, and decided to keep going full steam ahead.  I liked Poison Study in various aspects - the plot was rather original.  I remember reading about food tasters in books before, but they would play really minor roles and appear in about two sentences of the entire book.  For the main character to be the food taster, well, that's something new!

Yelena's training and her activity was fun to read about - she was active, her responses were interesting, and it reminded me of The Ranger's Apprentice and Will's training (which I much enjoyed in the past).  Since I can't ever get enough of action packed full of surprises in my reading, Poison Study was an exhilarating ride. The characters were really well built up and their personalities strong, you could really interact with them, truly!

I have to say though, I'm relatively unimpressed with the romance in this book.  The way that it's slow progressing leading up to a 'finale' isn't a new concept, but not only that is it unimpressive.  I just found that it wasn't very well written - and by this I'm not saying that I'd much rather read a full report on their romantic actions - but I think it could be a little more described.  I recall it says somewhere along the lines of "and we kissed" or something like that.  There were few words which I found was a bit too short, but some can argue that it's enough to get the idea across.

Review

The writing was pretty good - I could see the settings really clearly.  It's the type of book that while I read, the 'movie' would unwind in my head almost in high definition.  Some puzzles I cracked way earlier on, some I didn't fully understand.  I don't really mind that much, as long as it all made sense in the end (which it did) and without any obvious flaws that I could pick up.

As you got to the last few chapters, the book gave off a vibe that yelled cliffhanger, or sequel.  Because I really liked it all the way up to that point, I was glad that there would be more.  The first chapter preview from  the next series (as shown at the end of the book) was not as good as I had hoped.  It was different to what I had expected and didn't join up with the end of the first book very well.  It just didn't seem right, and so because of that I think I'd rather it be a standalone.  I would've been quite contempt with making up little parts of my own sequel ideas, but nope, it continues.  I'll have to wait and see how that will go.

Overall it was a good book with nice ideas and a fun plot.  You should definitely read this if you like action, or fantasy, or adventure, or pretty much anything else!  One more word though - I didn't realise it would be magic-related until about halfway through the book when it is revealed... no more spoilers now!  I rate this book four and a half out of five stars!

Review: Wanderlove by Kristen Hubbard

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased for Kindle
Goodreads//Amazon
It all begins with a stupid question:
Are you a Global Vagabond?
No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.
Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.
But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.
Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.

In a pinch, Wanderlove was an excellent YA travel story that I would recommend to both lovers and haters of Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes. (They're similar, but this is slightly more realistic and more well-written than Envelopes).

The TF Chat

Before I clamber onto my literary soapbox, I would never have been able to write, I'd like to explain the latest posting inconsistencies and apologise to you guys for the lack of posts lately (I'm sorry! Really! Even if you don't really like our posts!).

So Miss Waters is back in the UK, and because she's rushing around and meeting relatives and being a busy person, she isn't stuffed to post. (Neither would I, actually. Shh.)

I am writing a novel, and this has given me quite a bit of perspective on my rather harsh novel-critiquing on this website and Goodreads, because I realise how hard it is to write a novel--write A novel, not even a particularly good one. I mean, I can't really be stuffed to go and generate a meme, but you can imagine the One Does Not Simply meme captioned with 'write a novel'. And I have since developed a healthy respect for authors.

This ain't saying that I'm going to go goo-goo eyed on the Twilight series right now, because I maintain that it is the bookish equivalent of junk food.

Maxine has gone to the US for summer school. I'm actually kind of jealous, since I imagine that peanut butter cups run rampant in America, and I love them so much it isn't even funny.

So anyway, now that I've explained our absences, please expect everything to continue as normal when the northern hemisphere summer holidays are over and everyone returns home!

Review

I guess I'm a little infected with wanderlust at heart; my family have moved around several times before, I've always loved travelling, so the appeal of reading books like this is pretty strong.

Wanderlove was everything I was looking for in Maureen Johnson's Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes and more. I went in expecting a sweet travel story, a bit of romance thrown in for good measure (after all, it is YA, where good girls meet bad guys and fall in love with them all the time), and perhaps some good sightseeing and bug-biting around Central America. What I got was all of this, plus beautiful descriptions and illustrations here and there that blended in with the story perfectly, and an absolutely wonderful main character.

While I have to admit that this story is not a particularly realistic one and there is a severe case of Disappearing Parent Syndrome, I'm not expecting complete realism in travel stories. There are books like Going Postal that I've really enjoyed--yes, the book is true and yes, the crazy author of the story travels around the world in a postie bike, but he's an adult. Bria is a teenager fresh out of high school, so I was willing to make accommodations for the sake of getting a good story. I mean, it's pretty obvious that in real life, the teen would most likely be accompanied by his/her parents and not get up to any drug-smuggling, which wouldn't exactly make for an interesting novel, right?

Despite Bria being a pretty strong and clear-headed heroine for most of the novel, the main problem I had was with her willing to leave with Startling and Rowan in the first place. I was, however, able to turn a blind eye to all of this, because the writing and the virtually flawless characterisation completely drew me in. Every single character was incredibly well-defined and had personality which extended far beyond my expectations, and it was obvious that Bria wasn't a perfect traveller nor a perfect person; she was by no means a Mary-Sue, which delighted me to no end (Mary-Sues seem to be growing increasingly prevalent in YA Contemporary these days).

There were times when Bria broke down and cried and wondered what the heck she was doing out in Central America with nothing but her backpack and a brooding male as her travel companion, and this was so real. There was no insta-love; despite Rowan being the obvious love interest from his first entrance in the novel, he and Bria didn't click together and fall into each other's arms magically. While this resulted in intense frustration for me as I wanted them to JUST KISS IMMEDIATELY, it was, again, incredibly real.

In fact, one of my only quibbles with this novel was that Bria kept on lusting after her old boyfriend, and despite him being a massive jerk and lying to her, when she was still thinking about him more than three-quarters of the way through the novel, I started getting a little tired. Yes, it must be hard breaking up with a boyfriend. Yes, you might think about him and wonder how things could've turned out differently. But he was a bastard, I would've broken up with him with no regrets (not that I have that much experience in the area), and I didn't understand why Bria kept on hankering after him. Ugh.

You know what? I think you should read this book. I really, really think you should. It's one of my favourite 2012 releases, it's packed full of laugh-out-loud, lighthearted moments, and it infects you with a kind of wanderlust wanderlove too, broadening your want to see beyond the paper towns and paper lives we live in (if you got that reference, I love you).

Similar Titles (YA Travel Stories)

• Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson (Goodreads | Review)
• Saving June by Hannah Harrington (Goodreads | Review)
• Paper Towns by John Green (Goodreads | Review)

~Nicole~

Waiting on Wednesday {28}

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

Goodreads  

Sixteen-year-old Evie Greene thought her horrific apocalyptic hallucinations were a sign that she was slowly losing her mind. But when her visions come true, decimating the world around her and killing everyone she loves, Evie is forced to accept that she was seeing the future.

Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she turns to wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate, the gorgeous and dangerous Jackson Deveaux for help. As Jackson and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have got the same call and discover that Evie is not the only one with special powers. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and as the battle between good and evil intensifies, it is not always clear who is on which side…

Expected publication: October 2nd 2012 

So, what's your WoW this week? Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to check it out! 

~ Maxine ~