Showing posts with label july book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label july book review. Show all posts

Saturday, July 28, 2012

ARC Review of Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

by Isabelle Doan


Random Info:
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Pages: 304 pages (paperback)
Series: Yes, this is #1
My Format: NetGalley
Time it Took me to Read: 10 hours
Rating: Library/Borrow/e-book/Paperback/Hardcover

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 My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time.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.)
 From Underachiever's Guide to being a Domestic Goddess

The age of fourteen is probably the most awkward year of anybody's life. (And if you're shaking your head at the screen right now, I suggest you stop lying to yourself.)

It's the age where you're too young to do anything, and too old to do anything. Too young for parties, drinking, IT (ahem), and too old for bouncy castles and slides and eating off the kids menu. You know, all the fun stuff. Rose Zarelli realizes this, and thus begins her tumultuous freshman year of high school.

But there's a catch- her father died the summer before, and she's an Angry Girl. (Note the use of capitalization.)

In a way, I suppose that Rose's angry-ness would have made her unlikable. After all, she treats her friend, Robert, like crap. Robert is basically one of those clingy, whipped guys, and Rose continually ignores him and figuratively beats him up, even as Robert gives Rose gifts and treats her nicely. And he keeps coming back for more, just as Anastasia kept going back to Christian.

But the love interest is not Robert. It is Jamie, who is pretty much a jerk. He's older (a junior, I think), and he's taken. And YET Rose wants him.

...

...

Yeah, I would have not read this book based on what I just said.

However, things pick up. Although Rose is sort of unlikeable, she's real, and acknowledges her faults. There is amazing character growth, and as the credits were scrolling, I came to the conclusion that I did, in fact, like Rose as sort of an anti-hero.

The supporting characters were interesting as well. The cast includes Angelo, (although all I really know about him is that he likes Nirvana and Metallica), Tracy (the best friend who has a falling out with Rose), Michelle (the nice cheerleader), and others. They're all pretty much archetypes, but I can't blame Rozett. They all exist in high school.

I still didn't like Jamie, though. He's a jerk to his girlfriend (Regina), who helped him in a time of need. WHY. Why would you do that?

From horrormovies.org. Yes, this is a real movie.

Because Regina is a stereotypical cheerleader that deserves to be punched in the face?

No.

NO.

I'm only hoping that in the sequel Rozett will make Regina more of a layered character, because I don't want to have to deal with some more cheerleader witches.

Other than that, the technicalities in this book were minor. There were a few discrepancies that removed me from the reading experience. For example, Robert works at a restaurant, and he's able to serve Rose's mom alcohol. It's illegal for minors to serve alcohol.

So. If you don’t enjoy reading about high school, don’t read this book. It is as much a tale of that dreaded place as any I’ve read.

Also, if you’ve never had anyone close to you die before- I probably wouldn’t read this book. It would be hard to connect with Rose, and I would understand why someone would find her character to be totally and utterly awful if said person could not make the connection.

But if you don’t fall into those categories, know that Confessions of an Angry Girl has a surreptitious way of filtering into your heart with its clever writing and humor. Definitely a worthwhile read.


4 STARS! 

Content: There's quite a bit of underage drinking, implications of sex, and mentions of condoms. However, none of these are condoned. 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Review of My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

by Isabelle Doan


Random Info:
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Pages: 395 pages (hardcover)
Series: No
My Format: bought e-book
Time it Took me to Read: Four Days
Rating: Library/Borrow/e-book/Paperback/Hardcover

A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another
“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

I'm not exactly sure what perpetuates the idea of "The Boy Next Door". All of my neighbors are meth addicts or kids. Well, respectively. I haven't seen a lot of bleary eyed babies around here of late.

Anyway, seeing as that I'm not attracted to the concept of being high, nor am I a pedophile, you can see why I wouldn't relate to Samantha's problems.

Samantha is the daughter of a state senator, whose next door neighbors are a family of ten, AKA the Garretts. Jase Garrett is the love interest of this story,and they have an epic, and rather fluffy love story. And that's basically it. Nothing particularly radical happens in this story. As I said before, it's rather fluffy.

The big "thing" at the end didn't surprise me at all. That's because, you know the copyright page at the beginning of books? You know how there's a summary on it? Well that summary give the BIG FRUGGING THING AWAY. However, I do have to admit, though I knew what happened, it gave me some chills reading Samantha's narration during it. If Fitzpatrick had written the whole book like that moment, I'd have given this book eight million stars.

I wasn't particularly happy with the romance in this either, though this is mostly a romance book. It was very rushed at the beginning. Let me give you an example. (Minor spoilers from first 100 pages, highlight to see)

Samantha asks Jase if he is a serial killer, because it's only, like, their third time talking. He says he's not. Guess what happens after this exchange.

Guess.

Guess.

NO.

They KISS.

(End spoilers)I wanted to slam my head into a bed of nails, it was just too painful. I considered dropping the book, but I kept going. All of the characters were archetypes, as there were just too many of them. None of them were layered or that interesting, and all of them have the luxury of being white. True, Samantha didn't much drama. But that just isn't interesting to read about.

In short, they were too goody-goody for my tastes. Which is okay, some people like that and I respect that.

However, this book did redeem one star because of Nan, Samantha's friend. I could identify with her because, I, too had a blonde, perfect, friend that I wanted to stab in jealousy and I always thought I was competing with. She was such a memorable character. From this, I can easily tell that Fitzpatrick knows how to write secondary characters- now can she do it for the main ones?

It redeemed another star because it became more readable as it eased off the romance, which I was rolling my eyes at.

All in all, you should give it a try, as I see everyone else has given this five stars, and I can't deny it is a good book. Everything's good, the characters are good, the plot is good, all is good in shangri-la. However, there just wasn't that factor that pushed me over the edge. It was too safe in my opinion. So give it a shot, you won't be disappointed, and I shall be reading Fitzpatrick's novels in the future.

3 STARS!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Review and GIVEAWAY of Want by Stephanie Lawton

This book changed my frickin life.
by Isabelle Doan

Website/Goodreads/Amazon

Random Information:

Publisher: InkSpell Publishing
Pages: 318
Series: Nope
My Format: Received for Blog Tour
Rating: Library/Borrow/e-book/Paperback/Hardcover


Julianne counts the days until she can pack her bags and leave her old-money, tradition-bound Southern town where appearance is everything and secrecy is a way of life. A piano virtuoso, she dreams of attending a prestigious music school in Boston. Failure is not an option, so she enlists the help of New England Conservatory graduate Isaac Laroche to help her. She can't understand why he suddenly gave up Boston's music scene to return to the South. He doesn't know her life depends on escaping it. Julianne must face down madness from without, just as it threatens from within. Isaac must resist an inappropriate attraction, but an indiscretion at a Mardi Gras ball-the pinnacle event for Mobile's elite-forces their present wants and needs to collide with sins of the past. Will Julianne accept the help she's offered and get everything she ever wanted, or will she self-destruct and take Isaac down with her?

Let me fill you in on a little secret. Once upon a time, I auditioned for a spot on a junior panel of piano players. It was highly prestigious, and my hands were shaking like crazy. I prepared for this for months now, and I probably played the piece a million times, had nightmares over it, and gained twenty pounds for all the ice cream I ate when I played badly. When I stepped in front of those judges, my life flashed before my eyes.

Guess what happened?

I botched the audition. And then threw up.

I'll let you decide whether that's a true story or not.

I'm pretty sure this was me.
From Parents.com
My point is, I got Julianne as she struggled with her audition to the New England Conservatory, but that wasn't important at all. The story is more than that. It's an edgy coming of age Young Adult novel with characters that made me cry my own pools. (Which was very efficient for the summer season, I might add.)

As she struggled with her crazy mother (and I do mean crazy in the most literal sense), her decade older mentor/ love interest, her decade older hilarious other love interest, and others, my hands were shaking again. What was I doing? I wasn't playing piano or anything. How could a novel make me feel anticipation that I only felt with something important? Why did I feel like I was going to throw up?

No, not because I wanted to throw up on the book. This is, in fact my favorite read of 2012. It was because I was FLAILING all over the place as I read this. Every little thing made me whisper, "Be still, my hairy heart." It was all too much for me.

Well, that, or because I was reading in the car.

The characters are amazing. Dave is perverted, older, and pretty much everything you want in a guy. Issac is akin to Heathcliff literary-wise, and also pretty hot if I do say so myself. And I know you're wary of love triangles, but let me just say, Juli is not some helpless Bella. She doesn't focus on guys. She focuses on her music, with a few sexy excursions here and there.

The writing is stellar- writers, if you want the epitome of show, don't tell, THIS IS IT. There are so many little insinuations and things you have to pick up on yourself. The writing is interactive, which is great.

So why do I refrain from giving it a glorious five stars (other than the fact that I'm afraid of odd numbers?) Well, it's purely personal, but though Juli made the right choice in the end, I DIDN'T LIKE IT. Plus, this novel left me in a literary corner for days, so really, it made me feel four stars emotionally.

Perhaps that's what actually makes WANT such "bejeezus" worthy novel. 

Now, you've probably noticed that I've refrained from saying that "This was a lyrical novel that sang to me" or something like that because I hate praise puns. But, I've got to say it.

WANT was a lyrical novel that hit the notes in all the right places.

HAPPY?


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Oh, hey, there's a giveaway for an ebook copy of WANT, so you can possibly win the awesome.


Duh it's international! Unless your country blocks internet... in which case... how are you reading this?



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Review of A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

 ★★★★★
A Midsummer's Nightmare
By: Kody Keplinger
Review by: Kimberly Ho

Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 304
Star Rating: ★★★★★/ Go out and buy it now.
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.

"But as the clock ticked the hours past and Dad still didn't come up the stairs to see me, I really wished that I didn't know the truth."

You've read The DUFF, you've read Shut Out, now it's time for A Midsummer's Nightmare to take the stage! (Wow, that sounded lame.)

I absolutely adored this book. It was up there with Kody Keplinger's debut, and excels the level of Shut Out. I loved everything.

But I half expected to be disappointed with A Midsummer's Nightmare, just as I sort of was with Shut Out. I'd thought I'd dislike Whitley's cynical personality as I did Lissa's. Don't get me wrong, Shut Out was good, but it was too much like the author's previous work. I wanted something more. It seems like that's always too much to ask for.

But A Midsummer's Nightmare was that more. Whitley always had a good retort and that sarcastic sense of humor that I loved in Bianca. And speaking of Bianca, she and Wesley are back! But honestly, the moment Wesley made a reappearence, nothing clicked. I thought he was just another character with the same name and, as I'm sure Whitley can testify, the same figure that can make girls swoon. That's how perfectly everything fit. I didn't feel their comeback was out of place in the slightest, it felt they were just another part, a very good part, of the story. And for fans of The DUFF, didn't our beloved characters grow so much?

However, what I think made me connect with Whitley on a whole other level was the way this story was set up. Like Bianca, like Lissa, Whitley was dealing with the aftermath of a painful event and situation. But it wasn't just all talk and no show with Whitley's story, we got to experience it first-handed alongside Whitley herself as she learns that nothing is ever as it seems. I think this is a book that can, and will, appeal to teens and adults alike. Kody Keplinger sure doesn't shy away from any topic at all.

And for a idea of how I looked while reading:



I think that just about does it nicely. But seriously.

Buy. This. Now.

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Review also found at: Goodreads

Contact me at: kimberlyho75@yahoo.com


Friday, July 6, 2012

Review of The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jenson

★★

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare
By: Melissa Jenson
Review by:  Kaede

Publisher: Speak
Pages: 380
Series: No
Star Rating: ★★/ I could live without it.

Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that's just fine by her. She's got her friends - the fabulous Frankie and their sweet cohort Sadie. She's got her art - and her idol, the unappreciated 19th-century painter Edward Willing. Still, it's hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is your French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before. But can the invisible girl actually end up with a happily ever after with the golden boy, when no one even knows they're dating? And is Ella going to dare to be that girl?


I don't think I've ever been so uncomfortable with anybody, much less a fictional female character. I just really hope that I don't ever meet anyone who talks to a picture of a dead old guy like one talks to their boyfriend/girlfriend. It's just not right. And to take advice from him constantly?...*shudders*

Now I could certainly settle for doing a bullet list for the things I didn't like and be done with it, but then it'd look a whole lot like this:

Things I Hated:

•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Ella.
•Alex.

I don't think you'd like that very much. But that doesn't mean that the list doesn't just sum up my feelings perfectly. Oh how I hated Ella. I bet you can't say, "Stereotypical character.", faster than I can choke our lovely protagonist to her death. And Alex.





No. Just no.

---------------------------------------Q&A TIME-----------------------------------------

Q: Did you find any redeeming qualities where Ella was concerned?
A: Why good sir, no I did not. Do you think you can any redeeming qualities when a girl-who-talks-to-dead-people-for-advice-and-thinks-she's-the-shit is involved?

Q: If not, did you find any redeeming qualities at all?
A: Actually, yes I did. I mean, dude, have you seen Frankie? He reminds me of Adrian. And if someone reminds me of Adrian, he has to be awesome.

Q: Did you like Alex, the love interest?
A: *disgusted face* (I don't even want to know how a disgusted face looks like...)

Q: What changes do you think the author should make?
A: Well if I were her, I'd first remove everything but Frankie. Then I'd open a copy of Anna and the French Kiss to see how a real contemporary is done. But sadly, the world doesn't revolve around me. *sighs* I might have to contemplate taking over the world one day if that's what it takes...

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Well, I think that's just about it! If you still insist of reading, I have only two words for you darling. Good luck. Believe me, you'll need it.

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Review also found at: Goodreads

Contact me at: kimberlyho75@yahoo.com