ARC Review: Finding Paris by Joy Preble

Title: Finding Paris

Author: Joy Preble

Published: April 21st, 2015 (Balzer & Bray/Harperteen)

Pages: 272

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Family, Romance

Format: E-ARC

Source: I received an ARC of this VIA Edelweiss and Balzer & Bray.

Disclaimer: This in no way affects my review or thoughts.

Rating: Three Stars

Goodreads Summary:

An evocative and compelling story of two sisters who would do anything for each other–perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why and Speak. Joy Preble’s stirring new novel explores the lengths to which sisters go to protect each other, and the winding road that brings two strangers into each other’s lives.

Sisters Leo and Paris Hollings have only ever had each other to rely on. They can’t trust their mother, who hops from city to city and from guy to guy, or their gambler stepfather, who’s moved them all to Las Vegas. It’s just the two of them: Paris, who’s always been the dreamer, and Leo, who has a real future in mind–going to Stanford, becoming a doctor, falling in love. But Leo isn’t going anywhere right now, except driving around Vegas all night with her sister.

Until Paris ditches Leo at the Heartbreak Hotel Diner, where moments before they had been talking with physics student Max Sullivan. Outside, Leo finds a cryptic note from Paris–a clue. Is it some kind of game? Where is Paris, and why has she disappeared? When Leo reluctantly accepts Max’s offer of help, the two find themselves following a string of clues through Vegas and beyond. But the search for the truth is not a straight line. And neither is the path to secrets Leo and Max hold inside.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Cover Thoughts: I really like the cover, it’s so summery to me and really gives off the road trip vibe.

First Line: My sister leans over me as I am trying to sleep.

~Review~

Finding Paris was an interesting book to read. What drew me to it were the comparisons to Speak, a book that I really loved. I can understand the comparison to it now, even if I don’t think it was done quite as well as Speak.

A mystery, a scavenger hunt, a mostly one night engagement and sisters, this book sounds like it was made for me. Unfortunately there were a few flaws in it that kept me from really loving it. First though, I’m going to talk about what I DID love about it.

As I read Finding Paris, I couldn’t help but kick myself (once again) for not going to Las Vegas with a friend years ago. I loved the descriptions that Preble used to describe Las Vegas. She perfectly described the hotels and the general area. I definitely felt I was living out my Vegas fantasy while reading.

While I dug deeper into the mystery and the scavenger hunt, I found Leo’s life unraveling. I really loved hearing about her home life. Leo nor Paris have the best relationship with their mom and stepfather. Due to this, Leo and Paris only have each other to depend on. It was kind of hard to understand their relationship to each other since we don’t see them together much.

I liked how Paris and Leo’s personalities were different. Paris was more of a free spirit person whereas Leo was precise, careful and a perfectionist. I loved Leo’s voice as she was really sarcastic at times and just funny I thought. What intrigued me about Paris is this almost child-like personality she has and dreamer nature. When Paris takes off, Leo figures it’s just Paris being Paris.

I thought the plot of Leo having to find Paris with the help of Max was really interesting. I don’t know what I would have done in her place. I found it insane that Paris just left her sister without a car, her phone or wallet. On top of that, she leaves her sister notes to help her find her. If this was my sister, I would have been so ticked and Leo definitely was. Leo was really trusting of Max to allow him to help her, but she didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

One thing I was a little weary of was the possibility of insta-love, even though I’m a fan of “one night engagements”. There wasn’t a reason to worry there because that’s not the case with Leo and Max. I’m not sure what I thought of Max exactly. I liked him as a character. I found his personality believable. I’m not sure how likely his actions would be in real life, but I enjoyed reading about him.

There were times when I thought Leo and Max  shared a bit more than they should have, realistically, since they just met that night. The forefront of Finding Paris though, was Paris being missing and I really liked that. There were somewhat romantic encounters, but it didn’t overwhelm the book at all, which was great.

The ending really surprised me and I liked that. I wish Finding Paris delved a little deeper into it, but overall, I enjoyed it. There were a couple confusing things for me though that I didn’t understand when I finished. I think if the book had been a bit longer, enough to help detail the aftermath and home background, I would have loved it. I rate Finding Paris three stars.

~Do I Recommend?~

Yes

~Recommended For~

Fans of sister relationships

Fans of mystery

Fans of gorgeous writing and great description

~Will I Re-Read It?~

Yes

ARC Review: Positively Beautiful by Wendy Mills

Title: Positively Beautiful

Author: Wendy Mills

Published: March 3rd 2015 (Bloomsbury USA Childrens)

Pages:368

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Death

Format: E-ARC

Source: Netgalley via Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Disclaimer: Receiving a copy from the publiher does not affect my review.

Rating: Four Stars

Goodreads Summary:

16-year-old Erin is a smart if slightly dorky teenager, her life taken up with her best friend Trina, her major crush on smoky-eyed, unattainable Michael, and fending off Faith, the vision of perfection who’s somehow always had the knife in for Erin. Her dad, a pilot, died when she was very young, but Erin and her mom are just fine on their own.

Then everything changes forever one day after school when Erin’s mom announces she has breast cancer. And there’s even worse news to come. Horrified, Erin discovers that her grandmother’s death from cancer is almost certainly linked, the common denominator a rare gene mutation that makes cancer almost inevitable. And if two generations of women in the family had this mutation, what does that mean for Erin? The chances she’s inherited it are frighteningly high. Would it be better to know now and have major preemptive surgery or spend as much life as she has left in blissful ignorance?

As Erin grapples with her terrible dilemma, her life starts to spiral downwards, alleviated only by the flying lessons she starts taking with grumpy Stew and his little yellow plane, Tweetie Bird. Up in the sky, following in her dad’s footsteps, Erin finds freedom chasing the horizon. Down on the ground it’s a different story, and facing betrayal from Trina, humiliation from Faith, and a world of disappointment with Michael, Erin knows she must discover the truth about herself. Sure enough, she’s positive for the gene that’s slowly killing her mom.

Suddenly, Erin’s life has turned into a nightmare, and the only person she can truly talk to is a girl called Ashley who she meets online. But when, in a moment of madness, Erin flies away with Tweetie Pie to find her new friend, she finds herself on a journey that will take her through not only shock and despair – but ultimately to a new understanding of the true meaning of beauty, meaning, and love.

Cover Thoughts: I love this cover a lot. The sunset on the cover represents healing and life to me. I also featured this cover on a past Wondrous Covers Wednesday here.

First Line: Three reasons you don’t want a crystal ball:

 

~Review~

Positively Beautiful was an interesting read for me. When I read it, I thought I already had my rating on lock for it, three stars. It was only after I finished and analyzed it, that I understood everything. That’s not to say Positively Beautiful is a difficult book to understand, only that my feelings for it changed when I finished.

Positively Beautiful is a journey. I didn’t like everything that occurred in the novel, but until I got to the end, I wasn’t sure where everything fit. Some things in the novel may seem out of place or unnecessary, but I think the ending really shows how necessary they really were.

Throughout Positively Beautiful, Erin goes through four different parts of her life and none of them really easy. Dealing with her mother having breast cancer caused Erin to make some irrational decisions, but I think they were necessary. Erin definitely grows throughout Positively Beautiful from the somewhat shy, bullied girl to the woman who is strong for her mother. Erin went through a lot and it was interesting to see how it affected her.

 

What I loved about Positively Beautiful are all of the relationships that are shown: Erin and Trina’s relationship, who would “Dorkster Twins Activate” when they were together, Erin and Michael’s vague relationship, the relationship Trina shares with her later significant other, Erin and Faith’s “hate” relationship and finally Erin and her mother’s relationship, the heart of the book.

 

When Positively Beautiful begins, we’re first shown Erin’s life before her mother’s diagnosis. She has her best friend, Trina, her mom and her crush, Michael. Erin’s your pretty standard teenager.  After Erin’s mother’s diagnosis, her life falls apart. She has a falling out with Trina, her almost rivalry with Faith gets worse and she can’t exactly be there for her mother.  She’s also dealing with the fear that she has a gene mutation that will make her more likely to get cancer. I liked how Erin constantly worried about whether or not she had the gene and how it would affect her. An interesting thing was how Erin was told that she shouldn’t even be tested for the gene until she was at least 21, but more likely not to even worry about it until she was 25. How do you not worry about a gene mutation that could kill you? I loved seeing Erin struggle with this. I hadn’t heard about BRCA gene before reading Positively Beautiful. I like that it gave me something to think about.

Erin turns to learning to fly like her father did when he was alive. I loved reading about how she took an interest in flying.  I like how Erin used flying as a mental escape from what was going on with her life. It also helped her feel closer to her father who was dead and flew. Erin does make a few questionable decisions that I didn’t like at all. Fortunately though, they happened to really show the growth she was going through.

 

There’s a relationship plot in Positively Beautiful that was just so “A Walk To Remember” esque that I didn’t like particularly much.

I did love a lot of the conversations that occurred due to it though. I liked how it made Erin think of things differently. I also loved that it wasn’t the center of the story and it was a side plot.

 

Positively Beautiful was sad to read about, I felt bad for what Erin was going through. The relationship between Erin and her mom was nice to read about because the cancer was the center of everything. It affected how she lived her life and what decisions she made. I loved how much social media Erin used in Positively Beautiful. Erin went on support forums that were for people with the BRCA mutation. I like how she felt the desire to know whether or not she had it. I know if I had the chance of having a mutation like that, I would want to know no matter what. In the forum, Erin read about how some women had a mastectomy before ever being diagnosed with cancer to prevent it. The thought of having parts of your body removed before having cancer was just painful to read about. While on a forum for people with the BRCA mutation gene, Erin becomes friends with someone. I liked seeing how Erin turned to this person a lot when she dealt with everything. 

I love seeing teenagers interact with social media a lot in fiction. If I were going through something, I would definitely turn to the internet for people going through similar situations. I love that Erin did that and she found help through them. 

 

There were a few other things I didn’t like in Positively Beautiful. One was all of the drama that occurred, there was drama between Erin and Trina, Erin and Faith, Erin and her mom and Erin’s romantic relationships as well. On one hand, I do like the drama because everyone knows that things can always go from bad to worse and with Erin’s life, that was definitely true. Erin grew a lot throughout Positively Beautiful and I loved seeing that growth she had.

 

~Final Thoughts~

It took the entire reading of Positively Beautiful to really grasp how I felt about it. After I read it, I can say that I really enjoyed it, despite decisions Erin made. There were a lot of quotes throughout Positively Beautiful that I highlighted and stopped and said “Wow, that’s me, that explains my feelings toward something”. I love books that have quotes or conversations like them in them. I loved how Positively Beautiful really made me examine my own life.

 

I loved reading about how Erin dealt with the possibility of having the BRCA gene. It ran her life basically because she worried about if she had it and how it would affect her if she did have it. I wouldn’t call Positively Beautiful a super emotional read, but it was emotional because of everything Erin went through. I liked seeing how it affected her and her inner monologues she would have. Overall, I enjoyed Positively Beautiful and I feel it would only benefit from a re-read.

There is also an author’s note at the end of Positively Beautiful where Mills writes about her experience in doing research for BRCA. One thing I thought was interesting is how people were kind of against her having a teenager worry about being tested for the BRCA mutation, like Mills writes, you can’t tell someone to not worry about it or think about the possibility once it’s in your head. I would encourage everyone to read the author’s note.

 

~Do I Recommend?~

Yes.

~Recommended For~

Fans of sad contemporary

Fans of emotional stories

People who like to read about characters and social media.

~Will I Re-Read It?~

Yes.

ARC Review: Little Peach by Peggy Kern

Title: Little Peach

Author: Peggy Kern

Published: March 10th, 2015

Pages: 208

Genres/Themes: Contemporary, Social Issues, Human Trafficking, Family

Format: E-ARC

Source:  I received an E-ARC via Edelweiss and Balzer & Bray/Harperteen, this in no way influences my review.

Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads Summary:

What do you do if you’re in trouble?

When Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother, she has just enough money to make it to New York City, where she hopes to move in with a friend. But once she arrives at the bustling Port Authority, she is confronted with the terrifying truth: she is alone and out of options.

Then she meets Devon, a good-looking, well-dressed guy who emerges from the crowd armed with a kind smile, a place for her to stay, and eyes that seem to understand exactly how she feels.

But Devon is not what he seems to be, and soon Michelle finds herself engulfed in the world of child prostitution where he becomes her “Daddy” and she his “Little Peach.” It is a world of impossible choices, where the line between love and abuse, captor and savior, is blurred beyond recognition.

This hauntingly vivid story illustrates the human spirit’s indomitable search for home, and one girl’s struggle to survive. 

Purchase: Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Cover Thoughts: I really love the font for the title, it’s a bit elegant It makes for an interesting juxtaposition with the gritty streets as the background.

~Before The Book~

This could go very well or it could go very bad. This totally gives me the shivers and Devon sounds like a complete and utter creep. I’m excited to see how this plays out because it sounds very dark and gritty, which sounds perfect right now. I really love the last line in the third paragraph “where the line between love and abuse, captor and savior, is blurred beyond recognition”. I wonder if the “love” will be a sort of Stockholm syndrome love or a sort of “love” Michelle may have for Devon because he’s the only person she can depend on. Either way, I can’t wait to explore this.

First Line: You ask me to tell you the truth, but I’m not sure you’ll believe me, even though I’ve practically killed myself to find you.

~First Thoughts~

From the first line, Little Peach takes off to an extreme start.

~Review~

Ever since I learned about human trafficking years ago and watched a documentary about it, the subject has been close to my heart. When I heard about Little Peach, I knew that I wanted to read it.

Little Peach introduces us to a gritty, dark world that we don’t encounter often in fiction. It’s authentically and frightfully told. I think many readers will take away something from Little Peach and learn something. Little Peach tells the dark story of fourteen year old Michelle who’s left to fend for herself in New York when she runs away from home. The events leading up to her leaving are certainly heartbreaking in themselves, Michelle loses the one person that cared about her. She’s then living with her drug addicted mother and her questionable boyfriend. When Michelle is unable to stay there because of her mother, she decides to move to New York and live with a friend.

However, once she’s in New York, Michelle finds out she has no idea how to find her friend at all. She meets Devon though, who is clean, nice and smells good. When Devon offers to take her in for a few nights, she decides this is a good thing. Michelle soon meets Kat, who wears a hard and tough exterior and twelve year old Baby, a girl with the heart of a child.

Of course, readers are sure to know that Devon’s not good news at all. I just wanted to shield Michelle from him. It’s so hard to read this and not want to just go find every girl in human trafficking and rescue them. Little Peach delves into the world of human trafficking, a world rarely talked about, especially when it’s occurring in the United States. Peggy doesn’t back down when it comes to describing Michelle’s new world.

This is one of the hardest and most emotionally draining books I’ve ever read. It’s no wonder I’ve had trouble sleeping after reading it over two nights. I knew this would be dark and most likely without any kind of happy ending, but I didn’t imagine the affect it would have on me.

I could picture the entire story in my mind and it was haunting to say the least. I had to stop and set it down a few times because of the emotional toil. Little Peach definitely caused a fear in me, having not living in the most secure area, it almost felt as if Devon could be right outside. Watching. Waiting. Peggy did a wonderfully disturbing account of Peach, Baby and Kat’s lives in trafficking. It done so well that laying warm in bed, I felt all the emotions the girls did.

I think it was hardest to read about Baby because she was so young. It’s hard to imagine anyone so young doing the acts that she did. Baby was obsessed with Finding Nemo, this seemed so fitting for the story. Both Baby and Michelle were away from home without a parent to take care of them. They were both two lost girls doing whatever they could to survive. I liked how Finding Nemo was mentioned a fair amount in Little Peach. The themes of family and finding a home rang so much clearer. I loved the contrast Baby and Kat had with their personalities. Kat already knew how the world was whereas Baby still had a bit of her innocence left in her. It was troubling seeing Michelle, Baby and Kat live with this everyday not knowing what else to do.

The scariest part of Little Peach is that it’s so easy to see how girls can end up in human trafficking. When you don’t have a family and don’t have a home, you’ll do things you may have never imagined just to have that security. I could almost see myself at Michelle’s age, being in her original situation and then being thrust into this new one.

Devon himself was certainly charismatic, I didn’t find it hard to believe Kat, Baby and Michelle all going to him. What I thought was interesting was how Devon kind of sought Michelle out at the station, looking at her, smiling, nodding to her. When they weren’t working, Kat, Baby and Michelle kind of had a normal life, they watched tv, got in arguments and played around. Michelle would cook and clean for everyone. It was interesting seeing this sort of bond form between Kat, Baby, Michelle and Devon. Michelle really thought of them as her family and Devon as her hero of sorts.

I did feel there were a few flaws though in the actual writing. The writing style was a bit hard at times since there was a sort of dialect going on in the beginning. Little Peach also jumps around in time and places. It was confusing in knowing what was going on and when. I did enjoy the flashbacks though and seeing the situation get set up.

~Final Thoughts~

This is an extremely raw story. When you go into it, attempt to prepare yourself. It’s emotionally draining, really powerful and ultimately heartbreaking. I will be thinking about Little Peach long after this review is posted. It’s definitely a book I will be recommending to everyone. While human trafficking isn’t a happy topic to write about, especially in YA, I am so happy that Peggy stepped up and did it. When people think of human trafficking, they may think of something that happens in foreign countries, I know that was my first exposure to it in a video called Baht (taking place in Cambodia). I like that Peggy set this in New York though. While I know this is Michelle’s story, I wanted to know more about Kat and Baby.

What I loved most is the author’s note Peggy writes at the end where she tells how she researched this topic and interviewed people. You can really sense that this was a story Peggy really cared about telling. I hope people read this and try to learn more about human trafficking. I rate Little Peach four starts.

~Do I Recommend?~

Yes

~Recommended For~

Everyone

Fans of contemporary

Fans of darker contemporary

Fans of social issues

~Will I Re-Read It?~

Yes

ARC Review: Since You’ve Been Gone by Mary Jennifer Payne

Title:  Since You’ve Been Gone

Author: Marry Jennifer Payne

Published: January 23rd, 2015 (Dundurn Group)

Pages: 224

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Social Issues, Domestic Abuse, Romance, Family, Mystery

Format: E-ARC

Source: I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinions or review.

Rating: Two Stars

Goodreads Summary:

Is it possible to outrun your past? Fifteen-year-old Edie Fraser and her mother, Sydney, have been trying to do just that for five years. Now, things have gone from bad to worse. Not only has Edie had to move to another new school she’s in a different country.
Sydney promises her that this is their chance at a fresh start, and Edie does her best to adjust to life in London, England, despite being targeted by the school bully. But when Sydney goes out to work the night shift and doesn’t come home, Edie is terrified that the past has finally caught up with them.
Alone in a strange country, Edie is afraid to call the police for fear that she ll be sent back to her abusive father. Determined to find her mother, but with no idea where to start, she must now face the most difficult decision of her life.”

Purchase: Barnes and Noble / Amazon 

Cover Thoughts: The cover gets across the feeling of isolation and worry that Edie feels. While I don’t really like it, it fits the novel.

First Line: Today I punched Ranice James in the face.

~First Thoughts~

Do not leave the cat! DON’T LEAVE THE CAT. Oh my gosh. I can’t believe this. This reminds of The Perfect Man (You know, that movie with Hilary Duff where she moves a ton).

~Review~

What attracted me to Since You’ve Been Gone was the domestic abuse background and that Edie and her mom have been on the run for years. I found this to be really interesting, particularly the “on the run” part. Mostly because I’ve always wondered how people can just pack up and leave on the whim. 

The pace in Since You’ve Been Gone was sort of distracting because it was uneven. In the beginning, Edie’s whisked away to London which was fast paced, then Edie gets used to school for a day or two, slowing the pace down and later, after her mom disappears, it picks up a bit. I loved how Edie was from Canada originally, I have a weird love for Canada, so I loved this aspect. I definitely felt for Edie, she was always on the run, she lost her friends every time she moved and was never able to completely relax.

When Edie goes to school she meets several characters. She meets one girl who she brushes off to sit with others because she finds the girl to be weird. I hated this, the girl was genuinely being nice. Later Edie meets a guy named Jermaine who despite teachers being leery of, turns out to be a “better” person than they think or see. Finally Edie meets a mean girl who hates her for no real reason other than this is high school and that definitely happens in high school.

Some of Edie’s actions after her mom disappears were questionable at times, but given her past and circumstances, I can understand them at least a little. An interesting twist, though maybe a little predictable is that Edie’s father is a cop, which explains how he can always find Edie and her mom. Due to this, Edie’s afraid to go to the police in fear they would believe her father over them, she would be taken into care (if not given back to her father) and her father would find her.

I have to give her credit because if my mom disappeared when I was 15, I wouldn’t have been as strong as she was. I didn’t really like how one of the characters came out of the blue to help her find her mom. Especially given who this character was and how they had previously acted. There’s a slight romance between the two, but it definitely wasn’t the focal point which is good. The romance did feel extremely rushed and random however. The love interest seemed a little too good to be true, especially for a girl he’d only just met a few days before. It was hard to believe it.

I loved how Since You’ve Been Gone took place in London because now not only is Edie dealing with her mom’s disappearance, she’s dealing with being alone in a foreign country. if I was that age, or even now at 23, alone in a foreign country with my parent missing, I would have been completely freaked out. Edie was a really strong character who was determined to find her mom and continue on.

I enjoyed Edie and her mom’s conversation, despite the initial conversation, they really cared about each other. I would have liked to have been able to get more of a grasp on Edie’s past home life. We see the aftermath of it and how it’s affected her, she’s angry, she’s not trusting and worried at times. Something that bothered me is that from the first sentence, readers can tell Edie has a little anger problem, but it’s never really touched on again. I would have liked to see this anger more, especially given her circumstances. I think if there was more of the home life explained, I could get a better idea of “who” they were running from, though it is explained later. I loved how Edie always thought about other families and how they weren’t like hers. I was interested in Since You’ve Been Gone enough to finish it and figure out what had happened.

~Final Thoughts~

Since You’ve Been Gone was really easily read, I felt the writing style was done well. I was wrapped into the story curious to what happened and what would happen. I loved how much description Payne put into the story, it really helped when reading. I was really looking forward to an exciting and meaningful book. For the most part, it was exciting and it was definitely meaningful. It gave me all kinds of feelings, angry, sadness and it made me wonder. I love that Payne tried to tackle a domestic abuse past and the effects it has on a child.  I think if the characters were developed further, it moved at an even pace and the ending wasn’t wrapped up so neatly, I would have liked it a lot more. Since You’ve Been Gone also could have stood to be a bit longer because in such a short amount of pages, it was hard to get real attached to Edie and get a sense of how her life was for the past five years.

~Would I Recommend It?~

No.

---

~Memorable Quotes~

If more people talked about things that happen in their homes that no one sees, rather than feeling ashamed, there might be less violence.

Review: Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

Title: Get Even (Don’t Get Mad #1)

Author: Gretchen McNeil

Published: September 16th, 2014 (Balzer & Bray)

Pages:  320

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance

Format: Paperback

Source: Borrowed

Rating: Three Stars

Goodreads Summary:

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process.

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.

When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose.

Cover Thoughts: This cover was featured in a past WCW. I really love the silhouette vibe in the background though it gives off a Pretty Little Liars vibe.

First Line: Bree sat back against the chain-link fence, bouncing her tennis racket lightly against the toe of her black converse.

~Review~

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars

Let’s see, I understand the Pretty Little Liars comparison but The Breakfast Club comparison I don’t understand at all. Don’t Get Mad reminds me of Pretty Little Liars with the lack of real connection the members of DGM have. In Get Even, there are four girls, Margot, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot who have joined together to form the anonymous group Don’t Get Mad, also known as DGM.

I liked how one of the characters actually had a brush with bullying, it helped to understand why they would step up and be in DGM. EAch of the girls have a specific reason for agreeing to be in DGM and I thought all of their reasons were valid. It was nice to see they weren’t just creating DGM to get back at people.

Margot is girl who is nice, intelligent and overweight. In the past she was bullied and attempted. Margot’s parents now keep her really busy all the time on a strict schedule so she won’t have time to think about committing suicide. She’s very smart and is in all advanced placement classes with plans of going to an Ivy League school.

Olivia is a popular, gorgeous, social butterfly as well as an aspiring actress. She is “best friends” with Amber, she has a somewhat broken home with her mother living through her. Olivia and Amber’s relationship didn’t really work for me, they were more “frenemies” (Friends/Enemies” and I kept wondering why Olivia dealt with her. I’ll also say it bothered me that Amber, who was a mean girl, shared the same name as me. 🙂

Kitty is the student vice president. She ends up being interested in Donte, Olivia’s ex boyfriend. Kitty is also captain of the volleyball team.

Bree is the girl with the politician for a father though by her clothing and behavior, you wouldn’t know for sure. Bree seemed a little cliche just by that personality. Bree’s best friend is John who ends up being the top contender for DGM. I liked seeing their friendship shift and change, at times they were okay with each other and other times they were on the rocks. It was nice to see their friendship wasn’t perfect and I like how it developed. Although each of the characters annoyed me at certain times, I liked Bree and John.

I feel like the characters weren’t as real as they could have been. It seemed like McNeil sort of just chose personalities and names that were so different from the others to create the characters. Then again, this seems to be a common theme in “group friendship” books and as they say, opposites attract. I did like each of the girls’ backstories and hopefully they’re elaborated on more throughout the Get Even Series.

The girls aren’t exactly friends and only formed DGM after being assigned in the same group for an assignment.  An interesting aspect Don’t Get Mad shares with Pretty Little Liars is the lack of any common ground among the girls. Each of the characters is different from the others besides one thing, their need of revenge for those who can’t get it for themselves.

These girls take it upon themselves to get revenge on bullies, teachers and other students who harass others. I thought the idea of this was really interesting.  Unfortunately Don’t Get Mad definitely wasn’t executed as well as I would have liked. The premise was interesting but I’m not quite sure what I was expecting. Something a little different though. Don’t Get Mad jumps straight into action and afterwards their target is murdered. When Ronny is found dead with a DGM card in his hand, the girls are prime suspects for the murder. The girls then suspect that one of them had actually killed Ronny.  I think it would have been interesting to hear more about the girls’ past Don’t Get Mad experiences.

If that’s not enough, the school and specifically Coach Creed goes into super protective mode and tries to figure out who DGM is. The coach creates a group of students called the Maine Men who’s job it is to find out who DGM is. Coach Creed was an awful character who humiliated his students without care. He takes a particular interest in discovering DGM after he becomes a victim of one of their public humiliation stunts. He eventually heads into a downward spiral which is one of the parts of Don’t Get Mad that I actually really enjoyed. It was interesting to see him losing his mind more and more.

As the mysterious, unknown villain of sorts (or murderer really) begins sending the girls pictures and notes, the girls decide that they shouldn’t contact the police. Now what does this remind me of again? Pretty Little Liars. I will never understand why these teenagers take it upon themselves to solve a mystery or just deal with harassment and stalking. I wouldn’t be able to do it. Well, I guess if I were Veronica Mars, I would.

There were quite a bit of characteristics, coincidences and relationship drama that came a bit close to Pretty Little Liars that I didn’t like. There are aspects of each of the girls that I liked. I could definitely relate to Margot’s feelings regarding herself and I loved how she grew throughout Get Even. It also didn’t hurt that she was in the drama scene helping out with memorization. I like how Kitty felt responsible for the group and took over the leader position for DGM. I envied Olivia’s acting abilities and loved that she was involved in theater and didn’t necessarily go after “big” acting jobs such as tv shows or movies and focused on school plays. I liked Bree’s attitude and how she didn’t conform to who she should be as the politician’s daughter, but was just herself. Although I felt this was pushed a little too hard in Get Even.

There were a lot of coincidences in Get Even where the characters would almost find each other, but then at the very last second wouldn’t. There was a twist that I like, which may not exactly be a ‘twist” per say and I suppose it’s fairly predictable, but I still enjoyed it and it kept me on my toes. I did predict quite a few things in Get Even which I didn’t care for, but didn’t mind too much.

~Final Thoughts~

There are a number of suspects and characters I still want to find out a lot more about. The ending definitely drew my attention back to the book and I will be reading the next book. Overall am interested in finding out who the murderer is, why they’re after DGM, and a few other “mysteries” involving other characters.

I wasn’t impressed with how the girls attempted to solve the problem. I couldn’t help but comparing the characters to those in Pretty Little Liars, while I found the characters in the latter to be a bit more interesting and I was disconnected to the characters in Don’t Get Mad. Although I couldn’t get a connection to the girls yet in this book, I found the characters in Don’t Get Mad to be more relatable. I’m interested in seeing where Don’t Get Mad goes. I rate it three stars.

Review: Flawless (Pretty Little Liars #2) by Sara Shepard

Title:  Flawless (Pretty Little Liars 2)

Author: Sara Shepard

Published: April 1st, 2007 (HarperCollins Publishers) (First published March 26th, 2006)

Pages: 330

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance, Murder

Format: Paperback

Source: Borrowed

Rating: Three Stars

Goodreads Summary:

In the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, where the sweetest smiles hide the darkest secrets, four pretty little liars–Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna–have been very bad girls. . . .

Spencer stole her sister’s boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. And Hanna’s obsession with looking flawless is literally making her sick. But the most horrible secret of all is something so scandalous it could destroy their perfect little lives.

And someone named “A” is threatening to do just that.

At first they thought A was Alison, their friend who vanished three years ago . . . but then Alison turned up dead. So could A be Melissa, Spencer’s ultracompetitive sister? Or Maya, who wants Emily all to herself? What about Toby, the mysterious guy who left town right after Alison went missing?

One thing’s for certain: A’s got the dirt to bury them all alive, and with every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message A sends, the girls get a little closer to losing it all.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Cover Thoughts: I like how the series matches each of it’s covers with a doll and a different background color.

First Line: You know that boy who lives a few doors down from you who’s just the creepiest person alive?

~First Thoughts~

I love books that talk directly to me, it gives me a movie feel. I love flashbacks.

~Review~

In the second book in the Pretty Little Liars series, we meet the girls again after they have received messages from the anonymous texter known as A. As a watcher of the television series, it was really interesting to see how certain plots changed or remained the same in Flawless. For the majority of the part, I loved Flawless a bit more than the tv series which had changed things I think could have been better on the show.

One of the few things that bothered me in Flawless were the secrets that the girls were keeping from each other and how they wouldn’t just come clean about A. I just wanted to shake them and tell them that they should tell each other what was going on. I liked and disliked how the girls really had their own lives from each other. In Flawless, we barely even see them interact with each other after the first meeting. I loved this because it showed the girls differing personalities and life situations. I thought it was interesting to see how they did apart from each other.

Each of the girls had their own problems going in their lives which I thought was really good and realistically done. Aria struggles with the effects of her father’s cheating and her secret relationship with her english teacher, Ezra Fitz. Spencer deals with the repercussions of having a crush on her sister’s boyfriend. Hanna is now single, has been caught stealing and has a DUI. If that’s not enough, she tries to obtain a better relationship with her father. The girls also have one giant problem that all four of them are dealing with that none of them can come clean about.

This is where A comes into the picture. In the midst of the girl’s “regular” lives, they’re all receiving messages from A and dealing with their best friend’s death. A blackmails each of the girls to tell their secrets or offers to do it themselves. The girls wonder who A is, why they are doing this and how they’ll make A stop.

I just want to say, “wow”. I’m amazed these girls can sleep tonight, I’m amazed they’ll actually go places by themselves, and I’m amazed they don’t just hide away in their house 24/7. If I had someone like A watching my every move, ready to spill all my secrets, who may have played a part in my best friend’s death and harassed me, I’m not sure I would ever go anywhere. I don’t think I would even sleep for fear A would come into my house and kill me.

Okay, maybe I’m getting a little extreme. . . Wait, no I’m not. I would totally lock myself in my house, get the best security system I can buy and cry. So the fact that these girls continue to live their lives with A around, I am very impressed and give them kudos.

It was interesting to see the girls interact with Allison in flashbacks. One can definitely see the hold Allison had on the girls and with A on their trail, maybe she still does. Rosewood police questions the girls about what they know about the night Allison disappeared. Allison is not a nice person, I can’t say I’m upset she’s dead. She treated the girls badly, she was mean to Mona, she was some little princess who could talk anyone out of anything and it just drives me insane. I can see why the girls would want to be her friend, she’s pretty, popular and makes them feel special, I can definitely see why, but still…

Seriously.

Flawless is definitely easy reading but it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable for me. I was wrapped up into each of the girl’s life feeling sorry about their best friend’s death, even if she wasn’t the greatest girl in the world (an understatement) and for their own problems they dealt with. Spencer by far is my favorite with Hanna coming in second followed by Aria, then Emily. I loved Spencer’s intelligence, crumbling relationship with her parents and her newfound relationship with Wren. My heart completely broke for Spencer as she dealt with her parents ostracizing her. Of course, she has Wren, her sister’s boyfriend to make things a little better. This is one aspect I wish the show had expanded on. On one hand, I felt what Spencer was doing was really wrong, on the other hand, Spencer and Wren definitely had chemistry that I enjoyed reading.

I loved reading about Hanna’s plots in Flawless. My favorite plot of hers was seeing her relationship with her father who’s engaged. I felt bad for Hanna because since her father left years ago, she never really felt “right” and it was sad to see. Hanna is best friends with Mona, a girl Allison and the girls used to make fun on. I liked Hanna’s relationship with Mona and wish there had been a bit more of it.

Aria’s forbidden relationship with Ezra Fitz was definitely one the “iffy” parts of Flawless for me. I couldn’t get over the age difference, the fact that Ezra’s her teacher or the fact that Aria’s his student. I’m pretty strict by the book when it comes to Teacher/Student relationships with the very small exception of Paige/Mr. O from Degrassi: The Next Generation. Other than that…eh. I wasn’t really feeling it. Still though, I loved seeing Aria deal with her parents marriage falling apart, her brother’s struggle with coming to terms of it and A’s role in all of it. While I was extremely sad for her, I found it one of the most relatable parts of Flawless.

Emily’s sexuality plot is one I loved reading about in Flawless. I liked seeing her deal with the peer pressure to act like she’s straight and coming to terms with being gay. Her feelings and actions were realistic. As a star swimmer, I could really understand why she didn’t want to be “out” as gay. People may make fun of her and unlike other characters, she’s never had to deal with that before.

Besides the main girls, there are other characters such as Mona, Jenna and Toby. Mona was an interesting character and it was nice to see her and Hanna’s friendship. Jenna and Toby are in Flawless a fair bit of it. Toby really surprised me in Flawless with his behavior towards the girls and Jenna. I felt sorry for Jenna given her circumstances.

Despite the mystery of Flawless, it’s a very light, easy read. While the writing was simple, I felt engaged throughout the entire book. I also loved the titles each chapter had since I don’t really see that in any novels. I like Flawless a bit more than it’s predecessor as I learn more about the characters. The mystery is still a highlight despite knowing who A is already, due to spoilers. I am still excited to see how everything plays out exactly. I rate Flawless three out of five stars, mostly because I hated the girls not interacting with one another, the secrets, and the simple writing style.

~Final Thoughts~

Wow. Even though I knew this was going to happen I’m just so surprised! I can’t wait to read the next one.

~Recommended For~

Teenagers (14-17+)

Fans of mystery

~Memorable Quotes~

Ali had a talent for finding a girl’s weakness, and even if she was right about Imogen, the girls all sometimes wondered if Ali was ever ripping on them when they weren’t around.

Don’t get too comfortable. It’s not over until I say it is. -A

Review: 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith

Title:  100 Sideways Miles

Author: Andrew Smith

Published: September 2nd, 2014 (Simon & Schuster)

Pages: 277

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Social Situations, Coming of Age, Identity, Road Trips

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

Rating: Two stars

Goodreads Summary:

Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved.

Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned—and learn how to write their own destiny.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Cover Thoughts: I love how unique this cover is.

First Line: Look: I do not know where I actually came from.

~First Thoughts~

That first sentence is definitely eye catching and makes me want to read more. I love the backstory Finn immediately gives in the beginning. It almost feels like he’s telling his own story.

~Review~

My relationship with 100 Sideways Miles is a bit of a complicated one. It was requited, then unrequited, then requited again. On one hand, I really liked certain aspects of the book, on the other hand, I was a little annoyed by other aspects of it. Going into 100 Sideways Miles, I think I had a different expectation than what I read, which is probably my fault.

I saw some definite similarities between 100 Sideways Miles and An Abundance of Katherines and Looking For Alaska by John Green. Namely the characters, the writing style, the plot and the dialogue.

I love the title and the reason for the title. I thought it was really unique. Finn is a teenager with a scar on his back, heterochromia tridum and suffers from epilepsy. Oh and he’s also the main character in his father’s book, The Lazarus Door.

I always love when fiction plays a big part into a book and Smith definitely adds that in with The Lazarus Door. Finn is forever trapped inside it which is about another boy named Finn, with a scar on his back and Heterochromia Iridum, different colored eyes who may be from outer space. I thought it was interesting how despite the outer space theme in Finn’s father’  book, how into space Finn was. I love how Finn’s father wrote him into the book because in a way, he immortalized him.

I thought Finn’s feelings about the book were definitely spot on. He was upset about the book being about him. Anyone who read the book and knew Finn could connect the dots and realize it was about him. I liked seeing Finn deal with his identity inside and outside of the book. When Julia creates a shadow play for Finn, he’s left asking her the ending to it thinking it will help him figure out his own. Finn’s identity crisis was well written and I could relate to his feelings as he wondered who he really was.

I liked reading about Finn’s relationship with Cade, his best friend. They came across as best friends well enough, but I still wish there had been a little more under the surface. Cade Hernandez just gave me an all around Hassan feel from An Abundance of Katherines, which isn’t exactly a good thing. I didn’t think Cade had much development.

One of the things I loved about 100 Sideways Miles is the space talk Finn did. I loved how he always mentioned how many miles away something was. I’m fascinated by the universe so these sentences definitely made the book a bit more enjoyable for me. Finn also has a dog named Laika who’s named after the dog who went into outer space.

Speaking of Julia, there is one huge thing that really bothered me with Smith’s writing for her and that would be her backstory. Considering her backstory and her and Finn’s relationship, I didn’t find it very believable and wasn’t exactly comfortable with it. I didn’t feel Julia had much depth even though I liked her a little bit.

I didn’t care for all of the sexual talk the book contained. There was a lot of mentions about erections and such. Seeing as it is about teenage guys, I can understand. I wish there wasn’t so much of it and that it didn’t occur so often. It seemed to play into the “all guys want and think about is sex” stereotype. It was definitely a bit vulgar for me.

100 Sideways Miles is definitely well written, quirky and contains a good coming of age story, but I wasn’t crazy about it. Finn’s whining got on my nerves throughout the book, I sort of preferred the parts where he was quiet and introspective with space talk and his feelings, like in the first few chapters. I feel the tragic past may have been a little overkill because all I can think about is Perks of Being A Wallflower and how writers seem to use a tragic past as a “buffer” of sorts. While it worked well in Perks, I can’t really say the same for 100 Sideways Miles, I liked it enough but I didn’t love it.

Rating 100 Sideways Miles is really hard to do. While I disliked the majority of the 100 Sideways Miles, there were aspects and the ending that made it worth the read. The ending was definitely excellent, fast paced and unexpected.  I thought 100 Sideways Miles contained more flaws than positives in it for me. Due to this, I rate it with two stars.

~Final Thoughts~

I wish I would have liked 100 Sideways Miles a bit more than I did. I also wish I had seen more character development.

~Recommended For~

Fans of John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines and Looking For Alaska

Fans of quirky writing

~Memorable Quotes~

“I thought about words – like words in books – and how just saying them made things real.” 

“Sometimes books imitate life. And sometimes books imitate lives that imitate books.” 

“I am not the only one who sometimes thinks I came from the pages of a book my father wrote. 

“Life goes on. Twenty miles per second.”

“Here is what I believe: Distance is more important than time.”

Review: A Midsummer’s Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Title: A Midsummer’s Nightmare 

Author: Kody Keplinger

Published: June 5th, 2012 (Poppy)

Pages: 291

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Social Situations, Family, Partying

Format: Hardcover

Source: Borrowed

Rating: Four Stars

Goodreads Summary:

Whitley Johnson’s dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She’s just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée’s son? Whitley’s one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin’ great.

Worse, she totally doesn’t fit in with her dad’s perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn’t even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she’s ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn’t “do” friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn’t her stepbrother…at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger’s most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble / Amazon 

Cover Thoughts: I found the cover to be okay. It doesn’t really give anything about the book away.

First Line: Hangovers are a bitch.

~First Thoughts~

I love this! Finally! A real party girl!

 

~Review~

I loved A Midsummer’s Nightmare from the very first sentence. I read A Midsummer’s Nightmare in one day. This is the first book I’ve ever read with a real party girl, a character trope I’ve been dying to read about. Whitley’s always loved spending summers with her father, they would hit up the beach, share some drinks and basically party every night. When Whitley goes to her dad’s this summer though, everything’s changed. Whitley’s father is engaged, she has two soon to be step-siblings and much to Whitley’s displeasure, her father’s moved into a suburban neighborhood. 

 

 

This is one storyline I always wonder about, what kind of parent doesn’t take five minutes to call their child and tell them they’ve gotten engaged and moved? It is a storyline I never tire of though. I was instantly reminded of Hanna Marin’s storyline in Pretty Little Liars and Carmen’s in Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants. What makes A Midsummer’s Nightmare unique is that Whitley acts out in extreme ways by drinking, partying and hooking up. This alone would be enough problems for Whitley to deal with, except she’s also slept with Nathan. This adds to a very interesting twist in A Midsummer’s Nightmare.

 

I loved Whitley. I loved her sarcasm, her hard demeanor, her partying behavior, her brokeness, and her flaws. This is an unpopular opinion as i liked her from the very beginning. In the summary, she’s called a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl. I was a little worried about that as while I haven’t read Catcher In The Rye, I know not a lot of people liked Holden due to his personality. I definitely didn’t need to worry about that when it came to Whitley. In the beginning, Whitley was very upset about her summer which makes sense given her circumstances and acted out. I thought her behavior was realistic and I loved how she realized she was being a bit selfish, mean and making stupid moves. Whitley was a character that I got angry at, sad about and wished for a happy ending for her summer. She developed amazingly from a party girl to a girl who realizes that even with a biological broken family, they’re not her only family.

 

Whitley is a party girl in every definition of the word. She drinks alcohol, goes out at night, hooks up with random guys and does neither friends nor boyfriends. She put herself in questionable positions which everyone in town begin talking about. This leads to a Facebook page being created by someone for Whitley’s newest escapades. The emotions I felt while reading A Midsummer’s Nightmare were up and down. I loved the humor, I understood why Whitley was so upset, I felt her pain, I enjoyed the sweet scenes between Whitley and Bailey and I swooned a couple times.

 

A Midsummer’s Nightmare is very family-centric. Everything Whitley does is because of her parents and her feelings about her stepfamily. I felt Whitley’s pain of being abandoned by her father during the summer, while thinking of how the summer should have went. Whitley idolizes her father when we meet her, he’s one escape she has from her mother. Whitley’s mom always insults Whitley’s dad which Whitley doesn’t understand. I felt so bad for Whitley because neither of her parents were the best.

 

Unfortunately, this summer things have changed and her father’s constantly working unable to hang out with her and when he can, he doesn’t. I just wished her father would have talked with her. Whitley feels abandoned and confused as her father’s changed from her drinking friend to a man who’s appearance and personality has changed. I liked how Whitley’s soon to be stepmother reached out to her when her father wouldn’t.  

 

I liked Whitley’s relationship with her older brother, Tracey. I was glad that her whole family wasn’t bad and she had someone to depend on. I liked that Tracey set Whitley straight about her dad. He knew more about his parent’s divorce than Whitley did and due to that, he understood what Whitley couldn’t. It was nice to see Whitley see her parents differently than she initially had. Some things wrapped up a little too nicely for my liking, but I liked there was still a somewhat unresolved issue.

 

Besides being family-centric, there’s a budding friendship when Whitley attempts to find a party by flirting with a guy. The guy, Harrison ends up being gay and Whitley’s unexpected friend. I loved Harrison. He was funny, loyal and he tried to help Whitley how he could. He was definitely one of the highlights and I wouldn’t mind a book revolving around him.

 

In addition to the family plot line and the friendship, there’s a taboo relationship evolving between Whitley and Nathan. I loved how Keplinger developed their relationship with each other. It’s extremely awkward at first, of course, then gets complicated and finally is resolved at the end.

 

Nathan was a great character without being the dull, perfect, more or less golden child to counter Whitley’s outlandish behavior. I liked reading about his past before meeting Whitley. It added an interesting amount of depth and surprise. Reading about Nathan was entertaining, he was a nice guy with some nerdy attributes and saw beyond Whitley’s tough exterior.

 

The relationship between Whitley and Nathan is one I’ve encountered only once before in the fictional show, Degrassi. I have to say that Keplinger did a lovely job at writing Whitley and Nathan’s relationship to not come across as disgusting or alarming.

 

Whitley’s interactions with Bailey were entertaining. I loved the contrast between Whitley and Bailey, who couldn’t be more innocent when she meets Whitley. Bailey’s about to be a freshman in high school and is so excited to have a new stepsister. It take a little bit for Whitley to warm up to Bailey, but once she does, she loves her.

 

I only saw a couple flaws in A Midsummer’s Nightmare. I thought the ending was wrapped up much too neatly like I mentioned. I wish some parts would have been expanded such as Whitley’s partying. Other than that, I loved it. A Midsummer’s Nightmare is a great story of flawed characters, love, friendship and family. It’s a novel I thoroughly enjoyed and I can’t wait to read Keplinger’s previous and futures works.

 

~Final Thoughts~

The scariest part about reading this book, is that I almost didn’t pick it up at the library. It was a last minute move. I had heard about A Midsummer’s Nightmare on the internet, but I didn’t care for the title and wasn’t completely sure what it was about. Once I read the summary, I knew I needed to read it. I’m so glad I did. A Midsummer’s Nightmare deals with so many topics that it was a fast read and I was quickly hooked. The characters were interesting from the lead Whitley, to her younger soon-to-be step sibling, to Harrison. A Midsummer’s Nightmare was a great read with plenty of character development, humor and storytelling.

 

~Recommended For~

• Fans of Carmen’s plot in Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants and Hanna’s plot in Pretty Little Liars

• Fans of sarcastic characters, witty remarks, party girls, dysfunctional families, family-centric, edgy topics, and not over-the-topc romance.

 

Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Title: Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe

Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Published: February 21st, 2012 (Simon & Schuster for Young Readers)

Pages: 359

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age, LGBT

Format: Hardcover

Source: Borrowed

Rating: Four Stars

Goodreads Summary:

A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Cover Thoughts: This is the most gorgeous simple cover ever. I love how the cover plays into the book itself.

First Line: One summer I fell asleep, hoping the world would be different when I woke.

~First Thoughts~ 

Whose POV is this anyway?

~Review~

After I discovered the secret that Aristotle and Dante is a singular point of view novel in the fourth chapter, I enjoyed it a lot more.

I’ve read so many good things about Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe. I couldn’t have been more excited to read it. It definitely held up to my expectations. From the first sentence, I was completely hooked to it. Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe is the perfect example of why I love character-driven novels. I don’t need action to be happening all the way through a novel. Aristotle and Dante Discover The The Secrets of The Universe is a story of friendship, identity, family, love and life. It’s a beautiful coming-of-age story. I feel it’s written in the same vein of Stephen Chobosky’s novel Perks of Being A Wallflower, another coming-of-age novel I loved, with its simple, beautiful, thought provoking writing.

I read Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe fairly quickly in only two sittings captivated by the two characters. I liked how each section of Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe began with a title and a quote. They really gave a sense of the novel as it went on. There was such a beautiful poetic writing style that I loved.  I loved how Aristotle (known as Ari) and Dante became friends, it seemed really natural to me. Throughout Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of The Universe, both guys try to figure out life, themselves and each other.

I thought both Ari and Dante had such realistic problems that were portrayed great. There were a lot of identity problems for both characters which was incredibly well done. I understood Ari’s desire for his parents to acknowledge his brother as well as his own wanting to know him. He has two older twin sisters who he’s distanced from due to being born so far apart. Until Ari meets Dante, he seems to be just a loner distant and disconnected from everyone. Ari’s father went to the war before Ari was born and came back a changed man with haunted by the war. Ari has a desire for his father to reach out to him and it’s sad to watch it because I know it has to be hard on both sides. I thought the angst on Ari’s part was very well done, it could have come across as whiny, but it seemed less like angst and more like a boy just discovering himself and life.

I liked seeing Dante struggle with being a “real” Mexican and feeling like he didn’t fit in. Dante was a very clever, intelligent, sensitive and artistic character who’s completely comfortable with himself. I liked that he read poetry, drew and liked art. At times he seemed older than Aristotle and other times younger.

Although the summary states Ari is an angry teenager, I didn’t immediately sense any of that anger until halfway through Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe. His anger added another layer to him. He was extremely mad at himself, his parents, his siblings, and even Dante at times.

I liked how Aristotle acknowledged things, questioned things, tried to figure out who he was and grew so much as a person.. I loved his relationship with his mother and his sense of humor. I love how the two characters balanced each other in a way. I loved the playful banter Dante and his father did back and forth. I thought Ari and Dante’s parents had an interesting contrast to each other.

There was a fair amount of drama, but it wasn’t over-the-top drama. One of my favorite things in the novel is after Ari buys a truck and takes Dante to the desert to talk. This reminded me of another Young Adult novel called Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, in which the title character also takes someone to a desert. I loved seeing their quiet encounters in the night. They seemed to be the most real then.

I fell in love with Ari and Dante, they were complex, developed, emotional, realistic characters. They could have easily come across as the psuedo-intellectual and angst-ridden, woe is me characters, but they didn’t. I loved their interactions and Dante seeing Ari alone by himself. I liked seeing the change in medium that Ari and Dante take when Dante moves away. The letters were interesting and surprising at times at how much Dante revealed. I liked that Ari and Dante both had regular teenage lives, they went to school, they had jobs, they hung out and weren’t always with the other one. I liked that there relationship wasn’t always a perfect, uncomplicated one, but they fit together either way. I would have loved to see Dante’s perspective of the novel because he was a bit of a mystery that I loved.

I loved watching both guys grow up into men as they discovered who they are and some of the secrets of the universe together.

~Final Thoughts~

Aristotle and Dante was a very enjoyable book to read. It’s magical. Benjamine Alire Saenz captured Ari and Dante perfectly. I loved how thought provoking it was, how honest it seemed,and the rawness of each teenagers feelings. Before reading Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe, I sort of forgot what it felt like to read a book and not know what happens. I’m so glad Ari and Dante wasn’t spoiled for me and I got to read it without knowing anything about it that would have lessened my experience. While reading about Ari and Dante, I felt myself cheering for a certain ending relationship between the two boys. Throughout the entire novel I was kept guessing, on my toes, coming to one conclusion, then jumping to another, back and forth, until it was over. The ending was mostly satisfying, though an epilogue would have been wonderful.  I highly recommend Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe.

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~Memorable Quotes~

I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone’s hands.

The problem with my life is that it was someone else’s idea.

Yeah, I had all kinds of tragic reasons for feeling sorry for myself. Being fifteen didn’t help. Sometimes I thought that being fifteen was the worst tragedy at all.

I wasn’t very good at asking for help, a bad habit I inherited from my father.

Words were different when they lived inside you.

Did all boys feel alone?

Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder.

Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Characters That Deserve Their Own Book

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish. Every week there’s a new list for bloggers to participate in. To link up and view others great posts, you can go here

 

I always think about alternatives to books with characters I enjoyed or didn’t see enough of. That’s what makes today’s post really great for me. This week’s list is:

~Top Ten Characters That Deserve Their Own Book~

1. Rashmi (Anna and The French Kiss #1)

In Anna and The French Kiss, all of the focus is on Anna and St. Clare. We don’t find out much about Rashmi until almost the end when we discover she’s been going through a lot. I would be satisfied with a pre, during, or post-Anna and The French Kiss involving Rashmi.

2. Alaska (Looking For Alaska) Rashmi

Alaska was a flawed character who was also really mysterious. I would love to see her first go to the boarding school. I think it would be interesting seeing even before then and viewing her home life.

3. Isaac (The Fault In Our Stars)

I would like to see a post-The Fault In Our Stars book with seeing Isaac deal with being blind and losing Augustus (and possibly Hazel). It would be a great chance to incorporate flashbacks of Augustus and Isaac pre-Hazel.

4. Peeta (The Hunger Games)

I would like to see Peeta’s perspective of The Hunger Games.

5. Gale (Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)

Though I feel this could easily be an annoying book with the romantic feelings, I think a book from Gale’s point of view would be really interesting. I would like to see his feelings on watching the Catching Fire games, now knowing that there’s “something” between Katniss and Peeta. It would also be nice to see him talk about his feelings with Katniss and see how long he exactly liked her. It could probably do great for flashbacks as well.

6. A (Pretty Little Liars series)

I would love a book from A’s point of views. A’s such an interesting character, unknown and mysterious. It would be really interesting seeing A work (revealed or not to the readers) against the girls. A has so much power and money, I would love to see A get ideas of what to do next.

7. Spencer Hastings (Pretty Little Liars series)

Spencer is my favorite character in the Pretty Little Liars series. I would love a prequel PLL book of her life before and during her knowing Allison. It would be great seeing her living with Melissa during school and their relationship.

8. Nathan (A Midsummer’s Nightmare)

Nathan is a main character in A Midsummer’s Nightmare and towards the end, we discover he had been very similar to Whitley. It would be interesting seeing his “wild” years before he and Whitley ever met.

9. Dante (Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe)

I really liked reading from Ari’s point of view in Aristotle and Dante, so I’d love to read more about Aristotle from Dante’s view. We don’t really know his thoughts aside from what he directly tells Ari. It would have been interesting to see him voice his thoughts while away from him.

10. Mary (Long Day’s Journey Into Night)

Although Long Day’s Journey Into Night is based on Eugene O’Neil’s life, I’d love to read a book from Mary’s point of view. I would love to see her dealing with her addiction to morphine before she went to treatment and before that Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

Bonus:

Sam and Patrick (Perks of Being A Wallflower)

I would love to see a book in Patrick’s point of view during Perks or a book involving the two in college post-Perks.

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Let me know what you think in the comment section. 🙂