Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo

Love and Other Perishable Items

By: Laura Buzo

Genre: YA Contemproary

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Coffee Beans: 3/5

Cover: Plain-Jane, but appealing

Instalove Factor: Not present

My Personal Recommendation: Not a bad way to spend your time

Disclaimer: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for this honest review

Publisher’s Summary

Love is awkward, Amelia should know.

From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, 15, is 15.

Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?

Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up.

My Review

This book had its moments. It was good, but in the end rather un-impressionable and somewhat forgettable.

It’s about the Amelia, who’s just turned 16 and has fallen in love with an older boy she works with, Chris. The thing is, it will never work between them. Chris knows this, and Amelia knows this, but part of her still holds out hope. And part of him is sort of interested.

I think what appealed to me most about this book was the fact that the author was able to capture that part in a young girl’s life with such realistic accuracy. Falling for the older guy, knowing nothing’s going to come from it, but holding out hope for it anyway.

It’s told from two different points of view, Amelia’s and Chris’, so we get both sides of a situation and what’s going on inside their heads. In the end, you cheer for, somehow--beyond all socially accepted and legal odds--that they would find a way to be together. But that’s not realistic. The ending that the author wrote, however, is.

Happy reading, my friends!

--Me

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host

Stephenie Meyer

Little, Brown & Company

Publisher’s Summary:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that takes over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. But Wanderer, the invading "soul" who occupies Melanie's body, finds its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Soon Wanderer and Melanie-reluctant allies-set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

My Take:

I was reluctant to read another Stephenie Meyer book after the Twilight Series because I didn’t find her writing to be that good or her stories that deep. But, the movie’s coming out at the end of the month, the previews looked amazing, and the summary of the book seemed pretty interesting, so I gave it a shot. Here’s what I’ve come to decide about The Host:

It’s about 200 pages too long. The total length of my ebook was 601. Meyer tends to over state her ideas when she’s writing. She’ll choose the long way of saying something simple, and she’ll give unnecessary details to add word count to her story. There were quite a few times where she would over describe how the cave looked to her, or who was present in a room--all by name--or give us a play by play of just exactly what it was the main character was doing at all times. She did the same thing with the Twilight Series, so it seems she hasn’t necessarily learned to be a better writer, despite her fame and popularity.

I had two other big problems with this book, and they too, are due to Meyer’s writing. The character development and relationship development between characters was nothing short of weak. The book opens with the scene of Wanderer entering her host, Melanie. (This next part is somewhat of a spoiler, but you find out about it pretty soon in the book--within about 30 pages or so). Melanie is still present inside her head with Wanderer, and Melanie hates Wanderer. But then, a month or so passes in the book, we know this because Meyer says “a month or so later”, and magically, Melanie and Wanderer don’t hate each other anymore so much as tolerate each other. I enjoyed it more when Meyer showed how they went from tolerating each other to liking each other, later on in the book.

Then there are the love interests Melanie has. She has a younger brother and a boyfriend, Jamie and Jared. Melanie loves them both so much and Wanderer has access to those feelings and memories. And magically, again, Wanderer loves both Jamie and Jared, not because Melanie’s feelings love them, but because she loves them. And of course, this development mostly occurs during the month that takes place “off stage”. It’s cheating when authors use this method to explain development they don’t have the skill to create.

My other point of irritation was that the main character, Wanderer, was so incredibly weak. The beginning of the book, she was kind of a “middle of the road, sometimes I can be tough”, pretty normal character. Then when the true story starts, she disappoints, and literally curls up into a ball most of the time, waiting to be beat-up on because of what she really is. She never stands up for herself, always backs down, never says what she should say, and a lot of times, is a coward. I can understand her acting this way in the first part, but as time progresses, I expected her to grow as a character. Apparently I was expecting too much. Instead of evoking sympathy from the reader, Meyer almost creates a self-righteous weakling, with Wanderer’s actions. It wasn’t noble, it was annoying. And, she's so hard on herself all the time, the reader doesn't end up rooting for the underdog, they end up hoping someone will stuff a rag in her mouth and knock her silly (or at least, I did).

But, there was something I was very impressed about, and that was the love triangle or rather, love rhombus. It was not forced or instant or annoying. It was actually very natural and subtle and I wanted Wanderer to end up with the new guy and not Jared. That relationship, the relationship that really didn’t matter, was the only one I thought was truly developed the way it should have been. The way all the other relationships should have been developed.

And despite the generally weak characters, there were a couple I warmed up to, though they weren’t as developed as I’d like to have seen.

Some of you may argue, “Well, she must be a good author, all of her books were made into movies and she’s probably a millionaire by now.” And to you I would say, “Tsk, tsk. The outcome is not necessarily a result of the quality of her writing, but the salability of the idea.” Poor writing is still poor writing, even if it’s made into a movie or some publishing house pays six figures for a series.

Like I said, the movie looks a lot better, definite changes were made to the overall story, though. I'm hoping that the movie will add in what the book lacked (with a background song like Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive", how could it not, right?) But, I'll have to wait and see. 

Read more here: http://blogs.idahostatesman.com/meyers-newest-book-doesnt-show-any-improvement-from-twilight-series/#storylink=cpy

All of that being said, here’s the bottom line: the idea for the book was very intriguing and good. That’s what kept me reading the story (and also seeing which boy would get the girl, because up until the very end, you really have no idea), and it’s not a bad way to spend the afternoon, you just have to get past all the filler Meyer puts in and see the story for what it is: unique and one of a kind. I did like it, despite the small annoyances I found. 

Happy reading, my friends!

--Me

A fresh spin on Romeo & Juliette, but not fresh enough

Mystic City

Author: Theo Lawrence

Genre: YA Dystopian/Sci-fi

Rating: 3/5

Content Rating: PG (Some drug use/make-out scenes)

Cover Love: So in love

Instalove Factor: Not really

Spoiler Alert: None

Publisher’s Summary:

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.

My Review:

There were a few pretty impressive things about Mystic City.

1. This is Theo’s debut novel
2. It’s a female progtag POV written by a male author
3. The world was pretty impressive

The idea behind the story, to me, was intriguing. I loved the idea of a Romeo and Juliet-esque story set in a dystopian/sci-fi future Manhattan. I got a very good visual sense of the Waterworld-type setting with the lower half of the city underwater and everything pretty much being built on cat walks.

I loved that Aria woke up one morning, remembering nothing, but being told she was in love with their family’s sworn enemy’s son. I loved that, while she trusted her family and what they told her, she still was unsure of a few things and wanted to pry.

But that’s where the loving stopped and reality busted in.

Do away with the prequel. Just skip it. I got the wrong idea from reading it so I had an incorrect mindset while reading the whole rest of the book. It doesn’t have any “need to know” info so just don’t bother.

The MC was pretty weak. She really didn’t take much action at all, just kind of stood there and let life (read: abusive father, overbearing mother, superficial best friend, back stabbing brother, and  lying fiancé) push and pull her around. It wasn’t until the end of the book that she actually started making her own decisions that I really got into it.

More of Tuck. There wasn’t nearly enough page time for this peripheral character. As it stands, I don’t know why he was even in the book except to act as a chauffeur when Aria needed one and no other character was available. I think he would have added A LOT to the story, so I would’ve liked to see more of him. In fact, I would have liked to see all the characters fleshed out more. They were too two dimensional.

There were too many times where I got this strong sense of déjà vu about Harry Potter while reading this. (ie - Aria’s looking for an address, but the houses skip over the number she’s looking for. She does something that triggers the “door bell” and the two houses spread apart and there appears her missing house. Order of the Phoenix, anyone?)

Ugh. It’s a series. And it’s a long book. Probably about a quarter of the book didn’t need to be included. Nothing happened. She would be at work. Or out eating with her friends. Or just filling space with text on a page. There really was a lot of filler in here. And I’m sure not invested enough to pick up the second book. Sorry.

I originally wanted to give it a 2.5 but decided to up it to a 3. Don’t ask me why. I guess because it wasn’t entirely bad. The thing that disappointed me the most was the amount of potential this book had and it didn't live up to it. But, as always, pick it up and decide for yourself, you may be thoroughly impressed.

Happy Reading!

--Me

Shatter Me Book Report

Shatter Me
By: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: YA Dystopian
Rating: PG-13
Coffee Beans: 3/5
Spoilers: No

Okay, so I'm a huge fan of this author. She has a popular and successful blog/website and tumblr page. She has an amazing presence on Twitter and she's friendlier than all get-out. She's personable and relatable and funny and seems like an all-around nice gal. There was tons of hype surrounding her book and her thousands of fans (including myself) were lined up and couldn't wait to get to their hands on it when it was released. The cover is pretty cool, I love the shattered glass behind the model. The dress is okay, kind of distracting, and I don't particularly like it when books put faces on them only because readers like to imagine what the characters look like themselves.

Here's the official summary:

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. 
 
Here's my summary:

Rougue from X-Men set in a dystopian society. The end.

For those of you who apparently live under rocks, I'll fill you in on Rogue's mutant power: When she touches people, she sucks their life force out and they die. Cool concept, right? So why the low coffee bean rating, you ask? Simple: I don't think this was an original enough story nor did it have enough meat on it to warrant more than three. I know some of you are going to disagree with me, and you're allowed to, but the only thing original about this story line (and I mean original as in different from Rogue's) is that there are two people in the world she can touch and they don't die. SPOILER: One of them happens to be her make-out partner. How convenient to be able to let out all your pent-up sexual frustration on this one strong, handsome soldier boy. Not.

Tahereh's writing is beautiful, there's no doubt about it. And her metaphors are creative and unique. But come on, sometimes, someone just blushes. You don't have to find fifty-thousand ways to say that, and when you do, you risk not making any sense. Which is what happened in over half her metaphors. And now that I'm on that subject, there were A LOT of metaphors. Like, too many. But that's just my personal opinion. It was a beautiful writing style (although the strikethroughs were extremely annoying), but there were more times than not when it seemed like she was trying to be too lyrical in what she was saying. Again, sometimes it's just best to say it.

Juliette is a weak female character. There's no way around it. Although at the end she seems more independent, she isn't stronger. And that's a problem. I wanted her to so much be a bad ass and I was let down. She was dependent on Adam too much, never able to do what she needed when it came down to it, Adam always and to step in and save the day, and although we all want a male lead like that, it's important for the female to be able to take care of herself, otherwise she deserves what she gets. 

Her weakness was a distraction to me, but even more so, were the protag's constant thoughts and talking about how beautiful Adam was. *GROAN* We get it, you think he's hot; can we move on now? To, like, the story? And while we're at it, can you take a freaking break from one of your MILLION AND A HALF heavy-breathing make-out scenes and help me FIND THE STORYLINE? It's small and easy to miss, but maybe a couple extra pairs of eyes will help me—HEY! I said stop with the making out! Sheesh.

Shatter Me felt like a hot and heavy romance in which the plot to a backseat. Not okay--Unless you're a Harlequin romance and that's expected. I could've done with a lot less of that crap. I get it—they can't keep their hands off each other and his lips taste good, or whatever, and sex sells everywhere, especially among YA, but that doesn't mean you can get by without having a story.

And talk about insecure, Juliette keeps asking Adam the SAME QUESTION (three times, no joke). "Why did you save me?" And three times, Adam gives the same answer. While he's patient and explains his reasoning with love, I would've been tempted to smack her and say, "Look we've been over this already. Accept it or get the heck out of here."  I thought Juliette would have grown, but she remained a flat, weak female protagonist who hid behind a boy and his washboard stomach.

Wow. This is a bit of a harsh review, but at least it's honest. Look, I've read way better books, and I've read worse books. Pick it up, read it and judge for yourself. You may agree, you may disagree, but form your own opinion. :) Happy reading!

Clockwork Prince, Book 2 in The Infernal Devices Series

Clockwork Prince (Book 2, The Infernal Devices)
Cassandra Clare
YA Historical Urban Fantasy
PG
3/5 coffee beans
Spoilers: No, just strong opinions :)

So, this review may be a little disheartening, but I feel I have a right to write it that way since I've been a fan of Cassandra's since the very beginning. I devoured the Mortal Instruments series when they first came out. Drove out in a snow storm on a Sunday to Costco so I could get the third book. I was sad when they ended, I wanted more. Then she came out with a fourth! Oh, happy day! Then I read the fourth. Meh. Then she came out with a "prequel" series, the Infernal Devices series set in Victorian England. At that point I started to groan. You can only beat a dead horse so much before it becomes a sadistic action. I feel this series is one slap with a stick too many.

But, I'm into self punishment, and I am a loyal reader, so I picked them up to give them a shot. The first book, Clockwork Angel, was actually pretty okay. Not the best, but okay. I wasn't particularly interested in picking up the second book, this one, since I wasn't really attached to any of the recycled characters or invested in the storyline. But, I got a Nook for Christmas and a $50 B&N gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I couldn't think of another book to purchase (immediate gratification, people).

Right around the time CP came out; the release date for book five in TMI series was announced. Oh yeah, along with the third in the prequel series, Clockwork Princess, and oh my gosh I just looked at her website and there's a SIXTH book in TMI series scheduled to come out and for the love of Pete can this just stop?!?!?! You can't help but wonder, with so many LARGE books in the same series/storyline, if the integrity of the writing and the story will be compromised. I love the idea of Shadowhunters, but I'm starting to wonder if Clare's "cast-typing" herself. Is that all she knows how to write? I guess it doesn't really matter since she's built a gazillion-dollar empire and a movie's coming out soon for Book 1 in TMI – City of Bones, and people LOVE this series (for cryin' in a bucket, the woman has FIVE–if not more—websites dedicated to the books, TMI, TID, her own, and a tumblr account, PLUS a LiveJournal account, not to mention Twitter and fb). I mean, how the heck is she keeping up with two series and all this other crap? Anyway, I've seem to have gone off on a tangent. Let's get back on track, shall we?

I feel that the characters in TID are just regurgitations of her original characters from TMI with the addition of a second, possible romance and little bits to make the books fraternal in nature. But, scrape away the 1800's British English, and the bustles and stiff clothes, and you've got the same blasted story. I don't think Clare did a good job of setting up the place and time of TID for the reader. I feel that she just went to Wikipedia or some other comparable sight, read a few broad details and left it at that. She gives you those common elements in the beginning of the book, but that's about it. Most of the time I was reading, I didn't feel that I was there in that time period. I think she could have included a lot more unique details to make it more "there" for me. More than just a parasols and bustles and carriages. The only thing truly convincing to me was the dialogue.

So, in the end, it was just "okay." The storyline is entirely forgettable, I'm really sad to say, because it's too much like her other series. I could definitely live without reading the next in the series, Clockwork Princess, but unfortunately, I was so excited about my new Nook that I pre-ordered it. I need to look into B&N's return policy.


Okay, here's my usual disclaimer at the end of all BR's: Read it for yourself. Make your own judgments and come up with your own thoughts. You may feel the exact opposite of me, and that's great. But the important thing is to read it for yourself and find out. :) Happy reading!

Me, Earl & The Dying Gril

Me, Earl, & the Dying Girl
by: Jesse Andrews
ARC
Rating: PG-13
Coffee Beans: 3
Spoiler Alert: No
Pub Date: 3/1/2012

I finished this ARC the other day (okay, about a few weeks if not more) and decided to sit down and write about it. Here’s the publisher’s synopsis:

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel.
Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl make her a movie, and Greg must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It’s a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school by a prodigiously talented debut author.

My synopsis:

A boy is in his senior year of high school and has skated through his academic/social life by “befriending” everyone and not standing out. Skating under the radar. As a result, he is extremely socially awkward, especially around girls. He doesn’t have any real friends, besides Earl.  This all changes when he hits his senior year of high school when he finds out a girl he knows has Leukemia. His mom makes him befriend her, and thus, a story is born.

First, what I liked about it:

·         It was stinkin’ hilarious (I was literally laughing out loud during several spots). The voice was witty, snarky, sarcastic, and so boy

·         The formatting was fun: screenplay, outlines, narrative, flashbacks, &

·         It was a fast read

·         Very realistic character, situation, and outcome

What I didn’t like about it:

·         At times, the language was a bit offensive

·         There were some vulgar topics/conversations

The first half or so of the book is nothing but back story. And it was wildly entertaining. At the halfway point was where the story with the dying girl comes in. I kind of wish the entire book was like the first half, maybe tuning it into a "how to survive high school" manual. I was a little let down at the ending. I kept waiting for something meaningful or profound to come out of the tragedy of what was going on, but it didn’t.  I know that that doesn’t happen all the time in real life, but I feel, that in a book, it should. Even if the “profound” event isn’t that big for the reader, but monumental for the character, I was waiting for something. (Like in The Sky is Everywhere). I felt let down. I finished the book, and looked back, asking myself, what was the plot arc? What was the point of the story? And I couldn’t come up with anything.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a good book, well-written, believable characters, funny, and worth the read, but as far as substance, I felt there could be more going on there. Just my opinion. But pick it up for yourself and decide. 

--Me

The Wild Soccer Bunch: Diego the Tornado by Joachim Masannek

Diego the Tornado

by Joachim Masannek

Elementary Fiction

Content Rating: G

Spoilers: Yes

Coffee Beans: 3/5

This is such a fun book for youngsters! I found it entertaining and fast-paced and passed it on to my nephew who is a huge soccer fan. The concept dealt with is very relatable to children in this age market, and everything in the book (reactions, emotions, situations, etc) is magnified by ten so that it's easy for the young reader to pick up on what's going on.

I liked how the author snuck in bigger words to encourage and motivate the reader to broaden their minds and add to their vocaublary when they go to look them up. I also liked how the kids didn't win their game in the end. The only downside I saw to this was the lack of respect the children had for their parents at times.

--Me

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

First Grave on the Right

by Darynda Jones

Paranormal Mystery/Romance

Spoiler: Kinda-sorta, yeah
Rating: Strong PG-13
Coffee Beans: 3/5


Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. (Summary courtesy of http://www.darynda.com/index.php/first-grave-on-the-right/)


Join Charlie Davidson, Danger, and Will Robinson on a crazy, laughable adventure complete with mystery hunks, lurking dead people, and that pesky, hot detective that keeps showing up to ruin your day. Charlie is part-time PI, part-time Police consultant, and full time grim reaper. THE grim reaper.

Charlie's visited by three lawyers, all killed the same night, all partners at the same law firm, and all working on the same case. Coincidence? Me thinks not. Helping the dead lawyers say their goodbyes and find out who killed them takes Charlie to the police case she ends up working with her uncle and the hot, annoying detective (both of which know her secret of talking to the dead).

Throughout the book, Jones has two other subplots and back story woven in, and it's done pretty well. One of Charlie's cases as a PI is a faint blip on her radar, only really popping in at the beginning and then again at the very end. The other is a mysterious hot dude she keeps having dreams about and is madly in love/obsessed with.

That part kinda bothered me. She eventually figures out that he's in prison and in a coma, and oh yeah, he's the guy that threatened to rape her when she was like twelve after she saw him get beat up by his dad and offered to call the police.

Way to fall for a winner, Charlie. This is worse than an obsessive-stalker-vampire boyfriend.

Her feelings for him were completely unbelievable for me, no matter how 'hot' she thought he was. And the cherry on the sundae? The thing she finds out about him at the end that was totally out of left field......not gonna tell ya what it is, though. Find out for yourself. :-)

The storyline wasn't overly original, and I'll tell ya why. When you're writing about something (grim reapers, vampires, angels, etc) paranormal (or not) that has a pretty monotonous/predictable/cliche storyline to it, you HAVE to jazz it up a lot to make sure you grab the right kind of attention from your readers. And a groan followed by the words, "Another Twilight?" doesn't count.

It was almost like Jones took a page from The Ghost Whisperer TV show with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Which is fine--if she would have twisted it and made it her own, which I didn't really feel she did. Both Whisperer and Grave had the identical premise of helping the departed cross over into the light, and it was their job to find out why the lingering earthbound spirits were here, and help them finish any unfinished business so they could cross over.


Jone's writing is good and I think it's a good debut novel. The mc was witty, sharp, and funny. But by the middle of the book, it was getting obnoxious. I got to the point in a scene where I could say to myself, "Cue witty remark...now" and there it would be. (I have mad skills, people, mad). I mainly just glossed over the parts where I knew they would be.

I felt the characters weren't as developed as they could've been, even Charlie, and the side characters in the novel were flat and almost cliche, but they served their purpose in helping to get the story told and keep the plot moving.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and even with all the pet peeves I mentioned above, the book was still entertaining and fun to read and had a pretty good mystery to solve. It went by fast and had a little bit of steam and a lot of wit. If you get the chance, pick it up and give it a read. It's entertaining and a fast read, but not one of the best books I've read.

--Me