Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Walking Disaster

Jamie McGuire

Genre: NA (New Adult)

Cover: Eh, it's okay. Not really my taste

Coffee Beans: 3.5/5

Instalove: Kind of, but it's a worked-for instalove (if that even makes sense)

Spoilers: No. Same story as Beautiful Disaster

Content Rating: “R” for sex and for Travis’ extremely creative use of cussing

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. 

Publisher’s Summary: Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster.

Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

My Take: This book has been waited on in anticipation by A LOT of people. To be honest, I totally forgot it was coming out until I got an email reminding me about the ARC. You all remember by review about “Beautiful Disaster”. Well, Walking Disaster is the exact same story, but told from Travis’ point of view.

And I must say, after reading Travis’ side, and knowing his backstory, I like him better that I did the first time around. As extreme as they are, his actions are clearer and make more sense, for him. Abby comes across as the whiny, inconsistent, brat that I thought she was in the first book, so I’m glad the author was consistent.

I won’t go into all the issues I went into on the BD review(and they’re still here, believe me, just not as severe) because I don’t like beating dead horses.

So, what goes on in this version? Travis meets Abby (and we learn why he calls her that ridiculous nickname; it’s actually kind of endearing) and is attracted to her because she’s not like the other girls on campus. 

Mainly, she doesn’t put up with his shenanigans and isn’t throwing herself at him like all the other girls. One thing leads to another, and now Travis is on the prowl for Abby. He just has to make her his. With that goal in mind, he concocts all sorts of schemes for them to spend time together. His biggest one is making a bet he knows he’ll win so that she has to stay with him and his roommate (which happens to be her best friend’s boyfriend) for the next month.

During the entire book, they both dance around their feelings for each other. Travis keeps waffling internally about pursuing Abby. One minute he thinks things could actually work out, the next he tells himself that she’s too good for him and he should just stop. But he still gets mad when she dates other boys. And she still gets mad when he hooks up with the random girl from Red Door. America is still a little bi-polar when it comes to supporting or condemning Abby for her relationship with Travis. But, the voice of the narrator (Travis) was the best out of the two. Everything he say, all the words he uses, are spot-on him. You get a good feel for who his drive in life and the story seems all around better this time. Something that really bothered me about this one, the very end. It was waaaaay too cheesy for me. Like, 10 year aged, extra sharp cheddar kind of cheesy. 

Rating: Worth the read, especially if you’ve read “Beautiful Disaster” and want more of Travis, but be prepared for the same elements and dysfunctional moments. 

Happy reading!

--Me

Ballerinas and bad boys - a dysfunctional romantic combination

Crash (book 1) & Clash (book 2)

Nicole Williams

Genre: TFDR (Twisted fustercluck dysfunctional romance)

Rating: 4 (Crash) 3 (Clash)

Content Rating: PG-13 (Crash) strong PG-13/weak R (Clash)

Cover Love: Fun, although Clash was better

Instalove Factor: Not really

Publisher’s Summary (Crash):

Jude Ryder and Lucy Larson are this generation's Romeo and Juliet: Explosive. Sizzling. Tragic.

A steamy summer encounter with bad boy Jude means trouble for Lucy. Her sights are set on becoming a ballerina, and she won't let anything get in her way . . . except Jude.

He's got a rap sheet, dangerous mood swings, and a name that's been sighed, shouted, and cursed by who knows how many girls.

Jude's a cancer, the kind of guy who's fated to ruin the lives of girls like Lucy—and he tells her so.

But as rumors run rampant and reputations are destroyed, Lucy's not listening to Jude's warning. Is tragedy waiting in the wings? This racy romance is hot, hot, hot!

Publisher’s Summary (Clash):

The steamy sequel to Crash!

Their Romeo-and-Juliet-level passion is the only thing Jude and Lucy agree on. That, and fighting all the time . . .

Also not helping? Lucy's raging jealousy of the cheerleader who's wormed her way into Jude's life.

While trying to hang on to her quintessential bad boy and also training to be the top ballet dancer in her class, Lucy knows something's going to give . . . soon.

How can she live without the boy she loves? How can she live with herself if she gives up on her dreams? If Lucy doesn't make the right choice, she could lose everything.

My Review:

These types of trainwreck disaster books seem to be all the rage right now, and I have to admit, I did get sucked In for a bit, but I’m done now. (until I find another one I just can’t live without). This one was surprisingly not as cheesy ridiculous as the others (read Beautiful Disaster).

Here’s how it went down. I was looking at Beautiful Disaster on Amazon. At the bottom, it told me a few books other people bought. Easy and Crash were among the list. I clicked on Crash, it looked good, but I didn’t do anything about it. Then, I was on GoodReads, and a friend had just added it to her TBR list and had a couple of comments she’d posted as she read it. Then, I went to Google Books and read the first few pages to see if I’d like it. I was hooked. Like an Alaskan salmon during fishing season.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

“Summers turn me into a sucker. That’s why I was glad this one was almost over.

Every year since puberty, from mid-June to early September, I’d been sure I was going to meet the real-world equivalent to Prince Charmin. Call me old-fashioned, call me hopelessly romantic, you could even call me a fool, but whatever I was, I knew the end result--I was a sucker. To date, I’d never found a guy who was worthy to stand in Prince C’s shadow; no real surprise there, as I’d discovered more and more that guys were something of a pain in the ass. But here, working on my tan at Sapphire Lake’s public beach just a couple of weeks before I was all set to start my senior year at a new school, I’d just found me a Prince Hot Damn.”

I love the main Character, Lucy Larson. She is such a spitfire and strong and opinionated. She has goals and a dysfunctional family, and a crazy confused teenage life. She knows what she wants and goes for it. So, when Jude Ryder enters the scene and turns her world upside down, you understand why she makes the decisions she does.

I think that’s what I liked the most about this book, it’s pretty realistic (I said pretty. There is one scene that involves a football game that is entirely unrealistic), and I liked the book a lot. The twist at the end was amazing (I totally didn’t see it coming) and the struggle their relationship goes through is pretty believable, and I loved the ending. I read it dang fast and purchased the next in the series immediately after. In all reality, though, I think that the first book was perfect the way it was, ending and all.

Clash is the sequel. It follows Jude and Lucy through college (they’re attending different ones since they have different focuses--which I liked). This book was a little more drama-filled and unbelievable than the first. I kind of wish I hadn’t read it, but I just wanted to know more about Jude and Lucy. Their relationship goes through a lot more ups and downs, and the things that Jude asks of her I think are a little farfetched (“Yea, Lucy, I know this super hot cheerleader is following me around and wants me to take a shot from her chest at the party and has the hots for me and you and I hardly spend any time together, but trust me, there’s nothing going on.”). I don’t like how Lucy’s asked to believe--without ANY doubts or suspicions--that nothing’s going on between Jude and that cheerleader. The scenarios that are set up and that she walks into, how is she to believe anything else.

There’s LOTS of steamy scenes in this one, about a bajillion more than the first book, which got kind of tiresome. And the ending was sooo cheesy, I loved it so much!! :) Not gonna lie, I’m a sucker for an HEA here. Overall, I liked this book, and Nicole really is a talented writer.

So, my recommendation, read Crash and skip Clash. But, you’ll probably get sucked into the sequel, too. Okay, happy reading, my friends!!

--Me

An original concept that didn’t leave me disappointed

Origin

By: Jessica Khoury

Genre: YA, light sci-fi

Rating: PG

Coffee Beans: 3.5

Spoilers: None

First Line: “I’m told that the day I was born, Uncle Paolo held me against his white lab coat and whispered, ‘She is perfect.’ Sixteen years later, they’re still repeating the word.”

Favorite Line: I did have one, and I flagged it, but for some reason, my Nook (Newt) didn’t save it.

Cover Appeal: Pretty intriguing

Instalove Factor: A little, but it’s more like it grew quickly

Personal Recommendation: Read it

Publisher’s Summary:

The jungle hides a girl who cannot die.

An electrifying action-romance that's as thoughtful as it is tragic.

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home--and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost.

My Review:

Hahaha! Okay, sorry for that opening, but I just watched the trailer for the book and saw what they think Eio looks like. He’s like 26 in that clip! He’s almost 18 in the book. LOL.

Moving on…

I’d seen this book cover around, and it’s pretty darn intriguing. A jungle scene, with the cutout of a woman’s figure. The summary grabbed my attention even more. When my friend read it and told me I had to do the same, I was sold.

I was really surprised with the concept of this story. I mean, how original and brilliant is that? I was also happy to see that it was a standalone book. (I’m getting kind of tired of seemingly ALL YA books being turned into series. Present company excluded, of course).

The book is a fair length, about 300 pages on Newt. And it was good. But for some reason, it kind of dragged for me in the begging. It felt like forever for me to the halfway mark. Once there, though, the rest sprinted by.

The thing I loved most about this book were the characters. They came to life and were all so completely different. Her cold mother, the vivacious Mrs. Fields, her bi-polar Uncle Paolo, her meek father. And the gentle yet fierce Eio and conflicted yet driven Pia. I was impressed with the amount of active characters Khoury had in her story. I was able to keep them all straight, though, and they all had distinct personalities and purposes.

Pia lives in a converted greenhouse, and while that would completely AWESOME to have, they are in the middle of the Amazon jungle and I had a hard time believing that she wasn’t boiling to death all the time. I did believe, though, the subtle personality and thought process change that Pia was going through as she analyzed her desires and purposes in life. The introduction of Mrs. Field’s and Eio shook up her world, challenged everything she believed in and thought was right. And she made wrong decisions when it was important for her to make the right ones. But that made her human, something she’d been struggling with.

Plenty of action, and secrets, and disturbing Wickam tests, I really enjoyed this book that examined the motivation of the human heart with our sometimes, not so wholesome desires.

--Me 

A decent (read gory) zombie-A-pocolypse book

The Infects

By: Sean Beaudoin

Genre: YA Zombie-A-pocolypse

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2012

Rating: PG-13 for all sorts of awesome-I-won’t-be-able-to-eat-for-a-week gore

Coffee Beans: A solid 3.5

Spoilers: No

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review (Oh, and don’t read this while eating. Trust me.)

First Line: “The neighborhood was trashed, funeral pyres in the distance burning against a raw pink sky.”

Favorite Line: “Duff was an ancient janitor who had been at Rebozzo’s since before the Romans invented aqueducts. He’d probably ridden out the Flood in his mop bucket.” (ebook, pf 32)

Cover Appeal: I like it

Instalove Factor: None present

Personal Recommendation: Worth the read. If you’re into zombies and gore

Publisher’s Summary:

A feast for the brain, this gory and genuinely hilarious take on zombie culture simultaneously skewers, pays tribute to, and elevates the horror genre.


Seventeen-year-old Nero is stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents on an "Inward Trek." As if that weren’t bad enough, his counselors have turned into flesh-eating maniacs overnight and are now chowing down on his fellow miscreants. As in any classic monster flick worth its salted popcorn, plentiful carnage sends survivors rabbiting into the woods while the mindless horde of "infects" shambles, moans, and drools behind. Of course, these kids have seen zombie movies. They generate "Zombie Rules" almost as quickly as cheeky remarks, but attitude alone can’t keep the biters back. Serving up a cast of irreverent, slightly twisted characters, an unexpected villain, and an ending you won’t see coming, here is a savvy tale that that’s a delight to read — whether you’re a rabid zombie fan or freshly bitten — and an incisive commentary on the evil that lurks within each of us.

My Review:

So, I just finished reading this book, and while it was good, I can’t help but be a little disappointed. From the description from the publisher, I was expecting something more like the movie Zombieland (--> "You almost knocked over your alcohol with your knife." bahahaha!). And while there were some chuckle-worthy parts, it was, in the end, just okay.

I enjoyed the voice of the MC, Nero/Nick, and I know that it will appeal to a lot of the male readers out there—especially with the addition of the flesh-eating zombies. I enjoyed the two punch-in-the-face twists at the beginning of the book (totally didn't see those coming), and the interesting turn of events during the middle. I enjoyed the grisly DISGUSTING details Sean goes into when the kids are being attacked by the undead. Seriously. I was eating dinner. And then I wasn't  It happened just like that. I think I lost my appetite for about 3 days after reading those scenes. But that’s something that Sean rocks at: painting an “I’m so there” scene in a surprising limited amount of words.

There was a lot about this book that was jarring for me. The introduction of left-field elements half-way through the book, that for me, didn’t need to be there. The writing style at times, etc. And I have to say, that towards the end, I got a little muddled with what was going on and confused about how everything was going to be pulled together. There seemed like there were a lot of loose ends that didn’t need to be there in the first place because they didn’t add anything to the story (ie – The Dude and his involvement with Fresh Bucket. It played no part what-so-ever in the progression of the plot. Yeah, his initial involvement with the company, that happened way off stage, years ago, did, but the rest of his role in the book was obsolete).  I’m thinking they’re going to try to push this into a series…

There were only a few other things that I felt meh about: I got the epub from the publisher, and the formatting was all weird. Half the letters were missing, there was some weird code in place of a certain sequence of letters (06 = ff, __ = fl, etc) I felt like a spy with a secret decoder ring. And to go along with that, the “rules” were all messed up, too. For me, to make that kind of thing work, there needed to be more of them and they needed to be more entertaining.  Also, a the story moves on, you find out that (little spoiler here) Nero hears the voice of The Rock in his head. Which doesn’t pop up as much as it should in order for it to have worked for me. I also got confused as to the tense of the story. It’s written in 3^rd person, but when the voice popped up, I always got the impression it was in 1^st. Then I was ripped out of the story as it jogged back to 3^rd. I would’ve liked to have seen the entire story written in 1^st.

Okay, so it may sound like I didn’t like this book, but I did! It’s definitely for a certain crowd (mainly boys who like zombies), but for anyone else out there who just likes a good book, it’s for them, too. So pick it up, it’s worth your time.

Happy reading, my friends!

--Me

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Beautiful Disaster

By: Jamie McGuire

Genre: Seriously messed-up dysfunctional YA romance

Rating: R (for bedroom scenes and language)

Coffee Beans: 3.5/5

Spoilers: Nothing major

Favorite Line: “It looks like Vegas threw up on a flock of vultures,” America sneered.

Warning: This is going to be long, but I promise you, it will be interesting and entertaining to make the ride smooth. Also, I will not be commenting on the technical side of the book (writing, etc), I will only be commenting on the story itself. Point 3, this is, 100% a guilty pleasure review, because that’s the only way I could review this book.

How I would catagorize this book: Fight Club + a Lifetime Original movie = this train wreck of a romance.

Publisher’s Review

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

From me

I’m learning my lesson this time around and writing my review as I go. Mainly because with this book, there’s a lot I want to say and I don’t want to forget any of it.

I started this book at 7pm last night, read to 11 (past my bedtime) and then sat in my car before work and read as much as I could there, too. Repeat the process for lunch, add in reading under my desk and then in the car on the ride home. This book is addicting, and pulls you through with such force, you’re bound to get whiplash.

But that in no way means that this is a “good” book.

It just means I couldn’t put it down. And based on a lot of the reviews out there, that’s how the majority of the readers felt, too; no matter how slight.

Guilty Pleasure Review

I’m probably going to offend a lot of people out there with this next statement, but here we go!

Any woman who says, that deep down, she doesn’t have some sort of fantasy of or desire for (on any level), a man to be an Alpha Male around her is lying to herself. Girl Power is all over the place (yay, I support that! I’m all for strong women and doing things for ourselves, etc), but deep down, I think it’s a primal instinct of our gender that we want to have the big, strong, burly, somewhat aggressive/protective/dominant male to single us out, find us attractive, and then defend us against any other encroaching male. It’s also a strange (and somewhat stupid, IMO) desire to find the broken man and be able to “fix” or “change” him because we’re that special or he loves us that much.

That being said, I want to make it clear that I don’t think that that’s what this book does. AT ALL. I think this book supports more of an abusive, co-dependent, dysfunctional relationship. But that’s obvious, so I’m not going to talk about it anymore than that.

Continuing.

As I was saying, it’s not that this book is particularly well written or has a very strong plot. The female is a worse flip-flopper than Kerry during the 2008 presidential election and weak, but for some blasted reason, I couldn’t put the book down, and when I wasn’t reading it, all I thought about was picking it up to read it some more. I think the reason is this: That’s a pretty dangerous/exciting/thrilling life to be living vicariously through Abby. Admit it. Going back to your early college years. The partying, the hooking up, the careless fun with no consequences or responsibility….Psychopathic boyfriend with anger and obsession issues…..Oh, wait…

Moving on.

On a safe, light level, this is probably a life that some women secretly long for or wish they could go back to. And this entire book was one fustercluck of a dysfunctional, twisted train wreck that you couldn’t pass by without slowing down to gape at.

You all know how I feel about books being written glorifying this type of relationship, so I’m not going to get up on my soapbox…much. Instead, let’s break down what’s going on here, in a somewhat light-hearted manner.

The Setting

Okay, really, what college has a cafeteria and an hour lunch period devoted strictly to eating? Any hands? Bueller? That’s right…none. That I know of. I got the distinct impression that this was supposed to be/originally written in a high school setting. Here’s how I pictured the author’s original scenario playing out:

• Two girls in high school, maybe a private away-from-home school. America falls for an older guy from the nearby college. Abby follows suit with the guy’s cousin. (It would explain why the girls are living in the dorms and the guys are living in an apartment instead of in dorms or in the frat house, like they should be. Which is also why they have lunch hours – to develop the Travis-Abby relationship dynamic and the Travis-gets-to-pummel-the-football-team opportunities.)

• But wait! If I have it set in high school, then I can’t really have the content in the book that I want to (because, let’s face it, even though “anything goes” in YA, there are some decency limits). And, it’d be weird to be publicly talking about and okaying the fact that they’re sneaking off to their college boyfriend’s apartments and doing the unmentionable (Mare, at least).

• So I’ll make it college. Voila! Everything is fixed and now it’s okay that they’re dating older guys and there are underground fight circles and I can push the limits EVEN MORE!

• The end.

I’m sure it didn’t go exactly like that, but probably pretty close.

The Best Friend Factor

America sucks as a best friend. I’m putting that out there now. She encourages Abby to like Travis. Then tries to protect her from Travis because he’s “scary” and “dangerous”.  Then she doesn’t really give any merit to what’s happening in her best friend’s relationship. BUT, when her boyfriend, Shepley, makes some stupid wrong decision, the world is ending and she breaks up with him.Multiple times.

And what’s up with Shep? Always warning Abby to be patient with Travis and to overlook the “mistakes” he’s going to make. Uh, okay…is that what they’re calling psychotic-jealousy-induced-violent tantrums now a days? Mistakes?

Then there’s the scene where Abby ends up leaving in the middle of the night. Travis wakes up and freaks out. Tearing down drapes, throwing stereos, punching mirrors, ripping doors from hinges, etc. America actually has the nerve to call Abby and tell her what’s going on, confess that she’s really scared of Travis right now, and then tell Abby that she has to come back.

What the hell?????

(Let’s face it, reality is seriously skewed in this book, which is why I can’t really give it a serious review)

Abusive relationships

Yes, there is more than one. For instance, with me. I felt like I was in an abusive relationship with this book. At first, it’s fine. I like the storyline, I like the characters. The book is nice to me. The extreme fantasy of this situation playing out the way it was was okay.

Then, little things started happening. The wrong reaction from Travis, the wrong decision from Abby. The flippant attitude of everyone involved when disturbing things start happening. But then, everything goes back to how it was in the beginning, normal. Gifts were exchanged, smiles flashed, compliments given. It’s all good, right?

Wrong.

I didn’t want to read. What I was reading was wrong. But I was promised everything would get better. And I had to know what was going on. So I read on. Which is the whole point, and the cycle starts again.

Even though there wasn’t any physical abuse going on between Abby and Travis, there was certainly some mental and psychological abuse present. From the outside, this was definitely a relationship that shouldn’t have been explored. But I can also understand how it may not have been so obvious for Abby. But, there’s no excuse for Mare and Shep not to have stepped in with the red flags.

Abby

Oh, crazy, emotional, dysfunctional, blind, inconsistent, Abby. Okay, so I understand why she took the bet and held to it. I mean, she just out of high school and not all that mature. I’m sure that if a lot of girls were in her position, and Travis was a guy they were interested in (because, let’s face it, she was lying when she said she wasn’t interested), they’d totally lose that bet on purpose and claim integrity and honor by fulfilling it. So, for a few people out there, it’s a realistic set up. Sometimes I think Abby’s smart, seeing that Travis is not a wise choice for a boyfriend, and then she surprises me and turns dumb again, ignoring her previous decision.

Lame “Secret”

That’s right, I’ve called you out, “mysterious reason as to why Abby doesn’t want to get close to Travis”. L-A-M-E. I mean, it could’ve been good, if it were executed better, given more weight, and showed up more throughout the story except for where it was convenient to move the plot forward or explain some back-assward reasoning for Abby’s actions.

Nicknames

Everyone and their dog has a nickname! For the love of Pete, can’t we just call ‘em by their names?? Pigeon/Pidge/Abs = Abby; Mare = America; Shep = Shepley; Trav = Travis. Pigeon kind of annoyed me at first, but then it grew on me.

Addictiveness

I’ll admit, I thought this was a completely different book when I started reading it and was a bit confused when I saw it on an end cap in B&N next to 50 Shades and Ann Rice’s old books. (I thought I was starting the YA book Love & Other Perishable Items, the covers are so freaking similar. It’s not my fault).

But the more I read, the more addictive it became. And I couldn’t put it down. I stayed up past my bedtime the first night. Sat in the parking lot before work to read. Read on my lunch. Read under my desk. And went to read after work at Sbux, BUT MY NOOK BATTERY DIED!! So yes, this plot is strong enough and fast enough to pull you through the unbelievable crap that’s between the covers (and not the bed sheets kind).

I loved this guy’s review and in particular, this snippet:

“Anyhoo, with all this rambling it may seem like I hated this book. Not at all! Much like a junkie getting kicked out of rehab for shooting up the smack he smuggled in his anus, I continually keep coming back to these type of stories! It’s a love/hate relationship! I just want to see how the story is going to end…even though I sort of already do.”

For me, that’s the perfect description.

The Ending

It sucked. I’m not saying anything else, except: It was a little too cookie cutter of an HEA. I think there should have been a bit more dysfunction in the end. Like maybe a murder (Travis has it in him) or a mob contract, or something equally as interesting (Joking, but only slightly).

There’s Another One

And you can bet your bottom dollar that I’m gonna read it. It’s gonna be told from Trav’s POV so we’ll understand why he acted like he did and all fall in love with him. Awwww! (Every time Travis is in a scene, the song SmoothOperater comes to mind…)

My friend, Tiff, described it as a “train wreck of a romance” and I couldn’t agree more. There are two times when the characters describe the truth of the relationship. Abby says, “We are dysfunctional, Travis.”(amen) and then Shep tells Abby that when her and Travis are happy everything’s rainbows and butterflies but when they’re not, it’s like a tornado is destroying the world.

I think Beautiful Disaster is the perfect mash-up of Fight Club and some outrageous Lifetime Original Movie. In fact, I totally envisioned this as a movie and the success it would have if ever put into one, from the first scene at the Circle. Come to find out, it’s going to be made into one sometime in the future.
In the end, I think this book—as much as some people don’t want to admit it—is believable and a reality to a lot of girls out there. So deal, even if you don’t like it or agree. Overall, I liked it for the mindless, emotional abuse of a ride that it was.

Happy reading!

--Me

Unique dystopian being compared to Hunger Games isn’t quite there, but still good

Starters

By Lissa Price

YA Dystopian

Content Rating: PG

Coffee Beans: 3.5/5

Spoilers: Only a little

Favorite Line: It looked like a giant dandelion breaking apart, daytime fireworks that spread and then rained. (ebook, pg 203)


 
Publisher's Summary:

In the future, teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. One girl discovers her renter plans to do more than party--her body will commit murder, if her mind can't stop it. Sixteen-year-old Callie lost her parents when the genocide spore wiped out everyone except those who were vaccinated first--the very young and very old. With no grandparents to claim Callie and her little brother, they go on the run, living as squatters, and fighting off unclaimed renegades who would kill for a cookie. Hope comes via Prime Destinations, run by a mysterious figure known only as The Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to seniors, known as enders, who get to be young again. Callie's neurochip malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her rich renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, even dating Blake, the grandson of a senator. It's a fairy-tale new life . . . until she uncovers the Body Bank's horrible plan. . . .

My Review:

I loved the fresh idea in this dystopian world. The fact that Enders (or really old people) rent the bodies of Starters (teenagers and younger) to live life again, is fantastic and creepy. The writing was good and the plot exciting.

There were only a couple of issues I had with what I read. And I was on the fence between being annoyed and thinking that Price was pretty stinkin clever.

Some sort of malfunction/tampering causes Callie to black out out while she's being rented, going from being back in her real body to back at the Body Bank. Some plot holes/progression and relationship building were "fixed" this way. Almost as if the author didn't know how to properly build the romantic relationship between Callie and Blake, so she laid its foundation when Callie was passed out and not in control. Same with a few other key plot points. It felt a little…wrong.

The end was a little too sunshine and rainbows for my liking. In dystopian tales, I like my endings more the flavor of "poetic justice" or "good enough". The world sucks. Sunshine and rainbows shouldn't exist.

Over all, I thought this was a very interesting and unique book with a brilliant premise. The execution was good, but the writing felt a bit lower-end YA to me. Worth my time reading it and I'll for sure be picking up the next installment, Enders, when it comes out December 4, 2012.

Pick it up and check it out. It's pretty dang good.

Happy reading, my friends!

Red Heart Tattoo Book Report

Red Heart Tattoo

Lurlene McDaniel

Pub Date: July 24, 2012

Rating: PG

Coffee Beans: 3.5

Spoilers: Nope

Favorite Line:
Girls clustered like a bouquet of spring flowers to admire the pearl. (pg 81, ebook)

Disclaimer: I received this ARC free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.


 
Publisher's Summary:

At 7:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving break, a bomb goes off at Edison High. Nine people die instantly. Fifteen are critically injured. Twenty-two suffer less severe injuries. And one is blinded. Those who survive, struggle to cope with the loss and destruction. All must find new meaning for their lives as a result of something they may never understand.

My Review:

An inspirational YA novel about the aftermath of a school bombing, Red Heart Tattoo is a story that follows the lives of a handful of high school students in the months leading up to the disaster and how they heal and cope after the catastrophe.

I didn't know when it was an inspirational novel when I started reading it. By now, you all know how I choose books: Cool cover? Check. Promising synopsis? Check. Count me in. I've been on a contemporary kick right now, so this was a good candidate. The more I got into it, the stronger my hunch became that that's exactly what this was. Not that that's a bad thing at all. Then, in the "about the author" section, it was confirmed.

Why did I think this was an inspirational novel? Let me count the ways.

1. There was little kissing (despite the high school setting)
   
2. The main couple made it plain to each other and to the reader they had ground rules that they weren't planning on doing the dirty and their rules about not spending too much alone time together
   
3. The writing wasn't quite at the level of excellence I'm used to
   

Moving on…sort of. The writing. I liked the plot and storyline. The characters were somewhat run of the mill, though. I liked that the story was told from several points of view, giving us a deeper look into the characters that we otherwise wouldn't have gotten (although, there was a lot of head hopping in the same scene, so at times it was confusing). The writing was okay, which supports my long held suspicion that writing doesn't necessarily have to be superb to be published; it only has to be fairly decent…as long as the premise is unique and fresh. Which I felt this one. I kept thinking throughout the book, "She's so close, I can feel that this isn't quite there." It certainly didn't stand up to some of the brilliantly written books I've had the pleasure of reading lately. I got the feeling it's aimed more towards the younger age range of YA.



I thought the way she covered the tragedy at the school was good, focusing on the individuals and how they were effected emotionally as well as physically; how they survived and got through it; and how they went on with their lives. In the end, I enjoyed the book. I read it in an afternoon—only took me about 4 or so hours to read it, so it's an easy, not too deep (about 6 ft or so) book.



Give it a shot. You may enjoy it or think of someone who would really enjoy it.



Happy reading, my friends!

The Glimpse by Claire Merle

The Glimpse by Claire Merle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Glimpse
By: Claire Merle
Genre: YA Dystopian
Pub Date: June 7, 2012
Rating: PG-13 for some disturbing and slightly mature scenes at a loony dump.
Coffee Beans: 3.5/5
Spoilers: Nope
Favorite Line(s): “It was like a curse. He was her antidote. She was his poison.” (ebook, pg 35), “She stared at him fiercely, but her eyes snagged on his blue irises and her heart back-flipped, landing askew in her chest.” (ebook, pg 175), “Ana baulked like a horse reaching a ten-foot-high jump.” (ebook, pg 177, “Her mind felt like sludge the whole world had walked their dirty boots through.” (ebook, pg 256)
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review

Publisher’s Summary:

Throughout England people are now divided into Pures and Crazies according to the results of a DNA test, with the Pures living in small Communities cut off from the madness of society, and the Crazies living outside the walls in the squalor and mayhem of the City. Until the age of fifteen, Ana has lived a privileged existence amongst the Pures, but her whole world crumbles when she finds out that there was a mistake with her Pure test. She is actually one of the Crazies, and one day in the near or distant future she will become sick. But Ana has already been promised to Pure-boy Jasper Taurell. Jasper is from a rich and influential family and despite Ana's defects, wants to be with her. The authorities grant Ana a conditional reprieve. If she is joined to Jasper before her 18th birthday she may stay in the Community until her illness manifests. But if Jasper changes his mind, she will be cast out among the Crazies. As Ana's joining ceremony looms closer, she dares to hope she will be saved from the horror of the City and live a 'normal' life. But then Jasper disappears. Led to believe Jasper has been taken by a strange sect the authorities will not interfere with, Ana sneaks out of her well-guarded Community to find him herself. Her search takes her through the underbelly of society and into the pits of the human soul. And as she delves deeper into the mystery of Jasper's abduction she uncovers some devastating truths that destroy everything she has grown up to believe, but she also learns to love as she has never loved before.

My Review:

What?!?! The surmounting cases of mental disease as the main plot in a dystopian tale? A pharmaceutical company ruling the world through the creation of a one-pill-fix-all? GENIUS! I don’t know why this hasn’t been done before.

In a time when dystopians are all the rage, it’s easy to see the same ol’, same ol’ on the bookshelves of your local bookstore. Run down world, society crumbling, a controlling force running rampant. But The Glimpse offers us something new and fresh, and it’s welcomed.
The beginning drops you at the set-up of the conflict. Ana is in Home Ec class learning how to test water temperature for a baby’s bath (this future society focuses on the traditional values of homemaking and chastity and dresses for the girls. It’s unique.) She gets called into the principal’s office where her father and The Board is waiting for her. Apparently, they did some digging and her Pure test yielded wrong results. Her father is accused of tampering with the test and Ana’s life is forever changed. She is now labeled as a Sleeper, a person with mental disease genetic markers who isn’t exhibiting symptoms now, but will one day.

What I liked:

The premise is brilliant and original. Society is divided by a person’s mental status—the Pures (no genetic markers for mental instability) and the Crazies (individuals with any genetic marker of mental instability). The Pure Test’s validity—designed by Ana’s dad—is in question.
(And…..cue story conflict.) The world that Merle created is so real and possible is at times, unsettling.

While the feeding in of the back-story and political make up was there, it was cleverly hidden. I didn’t feel it was a “maid and butler conversation” which is good, but in the end I still knew I was being told instead of showed. Merle had a beautiful opportunity to really show the reader everything, and I don’t feel that was fully reached.

There was some great imagery: “The men and women who came to question her were always different, but they managed to create an unnervingly unified presence, like they were the close-up parts of a larger animal, whose singular striations and skin texture were always recognizable as part of a distinct whole.” Pg 57, ebook. And the way she described how horrible the loony dumps were, was perfection. It was all so unsettling and disturbing and vivid.

Reading a UK author, it’s always entertaining to see curb spelled kerb and those extra u’s all over the place and s’s instead of z’s or c’s as well as the foreign words for everyday items (i.e. fags for cigarettes). The Glimpse is a long book, but it reads pretty easily and is entertaining and engaging.

What I didn’t like:

The potential to really dig down into Ana’s world and build up layers is begging to be done. That’s why I was a little disappointed. I saw the possibilities. I hoped and was excited for the complexity and layers of what could be. But the story didn’t go deep enough. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed at what could have been.

I was a little confused in parts of the book as to what was going on and what the setting was at the beginning. But that was in part, my own problem. I’m used to the typical dystopian setting so Ana’s world was a little hard for me to imagine (even though it was set in existing towns). I know it takes place in London, but I’m talking about the feel f the setting, the technology, etc. I started to get a better image as the story progressed, I would have liked to have a stronger sense from the first page (think Cinder by Marissa Meyer), and there were still pockets of confusion as the story went along its merry little way. Even though that was my own handicap while reading, I did feel the world was a little one layered. As I mentioned earlier, I felt this story and setting had the opportunity to do so much more than it did, and I was a little let down.

I had a slight problem with the reasoning behind some of Ana’s actions and decisions. For example: Very early on in the story, Ana tells us that she hates her father because of this one action we’re shown (and I’m assuming from some vaguely hinted at feelings from earlier in her life). Anyway, with what the reader’s given in the story up to that point, I don’t feel her feelings or actions are appropriately motivated. Now, had we been given her feelings and reactions later on in the story, after some other things happen, then yes. Completely justified. I’d hate the man, too. The last thing that somewhat bothered me was that whenever Ana comes to a conclusion or a realization, it comes across a little stiff, almost like the author doesn’t know how best to get the idea across.

The Cover:

And now the cover, because I always make a comment on the cover. I didn’t like it. Not for this book. It didn’t make sense at all. It made me think that this story was going to be a literary or contemporary piece. Not dystopian. It’s a little too clean. (Maybe that’s because it looks SO MUCH like the cover of another lit/cont story I love so much). But, this is the UK cover (from my understanding, so hopefully the US cover will be a little more dark and brooding to fit the story.) Oh, and a side note, I don’t know if the title is the best for this book. But, what do I know?

Anyway, pick it up and decide for yourself. It’s definitely worth a read. Happy reading, my friends!

--Me

Lovesick by JA Campion

Lovesick
Author: J.A. Campion
Thriller/Suspense
Rating: R – Violence and Gore
Coffee Beans: 3.5/5
Favorite Line:"Blanche's made-up mouth puckered like a pug's bottom." (Pg 15, ebook)
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.
 
The introduction and takeoff of ebooks (in case you haven't been convinced yet) is a wonderful thing. Yes, there are some minor, negative points, but we aren't discussing those here. Here, we're talking about the doors ebooks have opened. They've made reading cheaper for the consumer, more cost effective for the distributor, and easier—distribution wise—for the producer. They've also made it possible for an author wanting to get their work out there into the hands of us readers. And for some, they've been picked up by publishers because of their success. The success that they maybe never would have seen if they'd continued to try the traditional route. Dreams are coming true, people. For example: Amanda Hocking (The Trylle Series), Susan Ee (Angel Fall), E.L. James (Fifty Shades Series), E. Lynn Harris (Invisible Life), etc.

The bottom line is, good books can be found anywhere. People who assume that a book is "crap" or "unworthy" because it isn't traditionally published, or alternately think that just because it's been picked up by one of the Big 6 it's automatically worth reading or of quality, are ignorant. I've read some pretty hyped up Big 6 books that made me want to chuck it across the room.

Okay, rant over. *Takes deep breath*

The fact that good books (heck, GREAT books) can and are being self-published, is one of the main reasons I started reading and reviewing indie and self-published books. If it's good, it's good. And I'll scream it to the world from the highest mountain top my broken little foot can climb!

Lovesick by J.A. Campion is one such book.

Official Summary:

FINDING A ROOM CAN BE MURDER

Handsome cab driver Steven Finn is looking for a room. Blanche Hunt offers him one in her run-down mansion. Seduced by its faded grandeur Steven moves in believing his luck has finally taken a turn for the better. But that's before he meets Ellen, Blanche's lonely, delusional daughter. Before long Steven's casual kindness ignites a dangerous obsession in Ellen and everyone in his life becomes a target for her deadly campaign of terror.

My Review:

First off, look at that cover. I mean, seriously. That's the way to do a self-published cover, folks. It looks professional. Which probably means the author put some money into it. Which will ALWAYS be worth the investment (especially with visual people like myself).

I'll admit, psychological thrillers aren't usually my cup of tea for reading. Movies yes, reading no. And if I weren't so gosh darn excited to get review requests when I first started, I probably would have said no to this book. But I'm so glad I said yes.

Campion did a brilliant job of showing us a revolting and psychotic Ellen. This woman made my skin crawl. So much so, that I would have liked to spend a little more time in her head to fully realize how crazy she actually was. Steven's POV was well told and strong. Although you might think that the story would be told from only their POV's YOU'D BE WRONG. There were several (I'd say close to 10) POV's throughout the book. I could picture this book as a Lifetime movie. Although Ellen is deranged from the beginning but I like how the author developed her actions and thinking into full psychosis. And poor, poor Steven, oblivious until the end.

It's a long 381 pages, but that's because there's so much going on. At times, almost a little too much. There were some POV's that were brought in that never really went anywhere, and although they did give me a glimpse of a little something extra going on in the story, the story would have moved along just fine without them. And I think it would have left just the right amount of blindness on our part, put us more in Steven's shoes to experience his terror better.

So, why the 3.5? Part of the rating is fueled by the amount of POVs and the confusion of all the characters. The other part of it is head hopping within the scene. Sometimes we'd go to three different people's heads in one scene. Overall, good book and worth the read. Pick it up on Amazon. It's only $2.30 right now. I think you'll be glad you did.

Happy reading, my friends!

Rebel Fire Book Report

Rebel Fire
By: Andrew Lane
Genre: YA Mystery
Pub Date: April 24, 2012
Rating: PG
Coffee Beans: 3.5/5
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review
 


Publisher's Summary:

Fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes knows that Amyus Crowe, his mysterious American tutor, has some dark secrets. But he didn't expect to find John Wilkes Booth, the notorious assassin, apparently alive and well in England—and Crowe somehow mixed up in it. When no one will tell you the truth, sometimes you have to risk all to discover it for yourself. And so begins an adventure that will take Sherlock across the Atlantic, to the center of a deadly web—where a friend is in peril and a defeated army threatens to rise again.

This is the second in Andrew Lane's Young Sherlock Holmes series, and it's was just as good as his first (Death Cloud). I was excited that I got this from the publisher, especially since I'd read and reviewed the first one for the publisher, as well. Then I started reading it and remembered that it was just as hard to get into as the first time around. It has nothing to do a little to do with the writing but mostly to do with the "heaviness" of the book. It was harder, this time around, for me to get into than Death Cloud was.

As true to the series, it starts with a death being witnessed. All the old characters are back, Sherlock, Matty, Virginia, Crowe, the evil head house keeper Mrs. Engaltine, and even his brother makes an appearance. And, as also is true to the series (and to the character), Sherlock almost dies quite a few times. Lane is remarkable at setting the stage for action and drama, adding details and tension. But when those times weren't around, I felt the story was dragging along far too slowly. The dialogue was far too "maid and butler" to me (As you know, Mr. Smith is actually a jewel thief…) and I felt like my hand was being held through everything possible, like I wasn't capable of figuring anything out for myself. I'm not gonna lie, I skimmed those parts.

Reading it was like a rollercoaster, and I'm glad there were several free-falls of excitement in the fight scenes to pull me through the lulls. As always, pick it up and read it for yourself. You may feel differently than I did.

Happy reading, my friends!

The Girl in the Park Book Report

The Girl in the Park
Author:Mariah Fredericks
Genre: YA Mystery
Pub Date: April 24, 2012
Rating: PG-13 (partying, underage drinking, strong undercurrent of sex)
Coffee Beans: 3.5/5
Favorite Line: "The sound of her crying is like vomit; you can tell it hurts to let it out." (pg 56, Nook);"Now the whole rotten memory comes back in a rush like vomit." (pg 75, Nook) (Disturbing that they both have to do with vomit)
Spoilers: Yes, a little about a subplot
Disclaimer: I received this ARC free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review
 
Publisher's Summary:

When Wendy Geller's body is found in Central Park after the night of a rager, newspaper headlines scream, "Death in the Park: Party Girl Found Strangled." But shy Rain, once Wendy's best friend, knows there was more to Wendy than just "party girl." As she struggles to separate the friend she knew from the tangle of gossip and headlines, Rain becomes determined to discover the truth about the murder. Written in a voice at once immediate, riveting, and utterly convincing, Mariah Frederick's mystery brilliantly exposes the cracks in this exclusive New York City world and the teenagers that move within it.

I immediately connected with this book for a number of reasons. Two of them being the voice it was written in and the fact that it reminded me of The Sky is Everywhere, and I absolutely love that book. So well written and interesting, this novel pulled me along at a speed that had me finishing the book in only a day and a half. Now, let's get down to the specifics, shall we?

What I liked:

• The cover's pretty stinkin' sweet. Come on, admit it. Uber mysterious and creepy. Perfect for a book about a murder
  
• It reminded me of Jandy Nelson's The Sky is Everywhere, but not as deep and aching—and with a murder—but still about dealing with the loss of someone you loved and finding out they weren't who you thought they were
  
• I loved how the plot kept me guessing who the killer was. By page 100, I was certain I knew who the killer was. Then, at least two other times I thought I knew who the killer was
  
• At first, the writing was a little scattered and abstract with all the breaks and scene shifts and flashbacks. I had to go back a few times and re-read a line or paragraph to understand what was going on, but once I got the flow of it, it was well executed and perfect.
  
• Lots of good lines in the writing. Good subtleties picked up on to give that extra bit of detail to the writing
  
• Overall the characters were pretty well-rounded. I didn't get that deep of an understanding for any one character, except for Rain, but I knew them well enough to feel connected with them in the story
  

What I didn't like:

• When Fredericks reveals the murderer, it was sort of anticlimactic for me. I was expecting them to be a little dangerous or violent when Rain figured it out. Instead, they sort of just cried about it. Not entirely believable for someone who's life is officially over
  
• Rain's mom. We don't see much of her, which is typical of a YA novel, but when she was on stage, I wasn't impressed. We don't get the impression that she's a "phone in" mom or a deadbeat. She's a famous opera singer and they're pretty well off. Anyway, the first time I got to be unimpressed by her is the very first page when Rain tells us she'd been at a party the night before and her mom was waking her up early and she was irritated by it because her mom knew she'd been out partying the night before and had gotten home late. The second time (SPOILER ALERT!!
  IT'S FOR A SUBPLOT, BUT STILL, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW AHEAD OF TIME, DON'T READ THIS NEXT PART!), was when her mom asked if Rain liked the teacher that walked her home and says the teacher likes her back. Instead of protecting her daughter from a potentially harmful situation, she comments that Rain should stay away BECAUSE HE'S MARRIED. Not because it's wildly inappropriate (like any parent should say) but because she doesn't want her SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER TO GET IN THE MIDDLE OF A MARRIAGE. I'm sorry for those of you who don't agree (and that's fine), but that's the ENTIRELY wrong message to be sending to teens. On so many levels.
  

Okay, overall, I liked this book. It was well-written, had a compelling storyline that kept me turning the page and a main character with a great voice. Pick it up and see how you feel about it.

Happy reading, my friends!