NaNoWriMo 2014

Marie and Faustus may only be fourteen but they've known each other for eighty-five years. She's a 1929 copy of a famous Degas statue of a ballerina, infuriating the other Degas ballerinas who are jealous of the attention she gets from museum visitors. Her best friend, Faustus is an often overlooked Roman statue, who waits excitedly for the next Day of Life. Those are the two days a year when all the work in the Metropolitan Museum of Art come alive. People dance and chat, closing the gap between millennia and paintings become portals and playgrounds to explore. On one Day of Life, however, a chase between Faustus and Marie and the ballerinas leads to them falling out an emergency exit. The alarm sends the Day of Life spiraling into chaos. Marie and Faustus fall asleep in the park, but when they wake up they discover they are no longer works of art. They are human.

Review: Since You've Been Gone by Mary Jennifer Payne

I have received an advance e-edition of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review of it.

Kids get scared when they lose their moms for a minute, so your mother disappearing in London must be horrifying. This is the set-up for Mary Jennifer Payne’s suspenseful and tragic new novel Since You’ve Been Gone.

Fifteen-year-old Edie is used to being on the run with her mom, but she is especially heartbroken when she finds out that they are moving to her mother’s native hometown of London from Edie’s native Toronto. Not only must she start again at a new high school, every teen’s worst nightmare, but she must also do so in a place where no one speaks or dresses like she is used to. Then it gets worse, and when Edie’s mom doesn’t come home she is sent on a journey across London to discover the truth for better or for worse.

Payne’s depiction of London was phenomenal. My favorite kinds of settings are those that seem to come alive off the page, almost becoming their own character. Here, the reader discovers London through Edie’s eyes, from the slummy section of South London where she lives to the luxurious section north of the River Thames. Payne’s description doesn’t read like a tourist manual of the top ten sites to see in London like some other books. Instead, it reads like a chaotic mess that is intimidating and fascinating at the same time to a newcomer.

However, the same could not be said of the scenes of the book that take place in Edie’s high school, which were to be completely honest a little lackluster. The mean girls were stereotypical, the outcasts even more so.  The dynamics between the teachers and the students were the best part of those sections of the book, but only mildly so.

The best part of the book was the developing relationship between Jermaine and Edie. Payne managed to include a romantic subplot to the story that was like a prepubescent version of Sex in the City. Instead, their love for each other took time to develop, and was full of understanding and simplicity. That part was great.

The overall idea for the book is also worthy of praise. I only wish that the plot didn’t move so quickly so that it might have been even better. The timing of the book seemed to move way too quickly, and Edie’s father’s actions seemed completely unrealistic. I also didn’t really like how everything seemed to be tied up into a bow at the end of the book.  With everything that happened, I expected there to be more loose ends. I wasn’t left disappointed at the end exactly, just disappointed that this book wasn’t as excellent as it could have been. Still, it was a fun read and has several high points in addition to its lows.

3/5 stars 

Review: Day 21 by Kass Morgan

Sequels have a reputation for never really living up to the quality of the original, and there are only a few rare exceptions. Day 21, the second installment in Kass Morgan’s romantic and badass science fiction series, The 100, is one of them.

Day 21 does a great job in continuing the story of the first novel pretty much where it left off, avoiding the odd time gap that sometimes creates an awkward bubble in between two books of the same series. Beginning with a funeral scene, Day 21 was not only going to be a continuation of the plot from book one, but also a continuation of the harsh realities that Morgan mixes with teen melodrama to achieve a balance between the two.

Another continued element from The 100, and one that worked particularly well, was the use of the four alternating perspectives in addition to the alternation between the present scenes that take place on the ground and the past scenes taking place in space, which clarifies important details of backstory for the main characters. While this alternation seemed fragmented and overwhelming in The 100, it felt much more cohesive in Day 21, and the lives of the characters seemed to overlap in a way that made more sense than the first book. This enhanced clarity and fusion made Day 21 feel like one book, whereas The 100 felt like four books that were vaguely connected by some character and plot details.

Another thing that was really wonderful about Day 21 are the differences between the four narrators, and the conflicts that they represent. Clarke, especially in this second installation, seemed to really embody the divide between scientific order and emotional chaos. Bellamy embodies this devotion to family, although I really loved how Morgan found a link between Clarke and Bellamy’s backstory. Wells struggles with the person he is and the person his father wants him to be. Once again, I really enjoyed how Morgan managed to connect his past to Clarke’s and Bellamy’s. Finally, Glass gives insight into what’s going on inside the ship, and she is struggling for survival, as well as the survival of her mother and boyfriend. It was great to see Glass playing more the role of the perseverant survivor than distressed female in Day 21.

Of course, Day 21 was not without its faults. One of the major drawbacks in the novel was the overwhelming focus on romance in this novel. The gritty details of the group’s survival seemed to sometimes be tossed aside in interest of who was hooking up with whom. Some of the romance was sweet, and certain moments between Glass and Luke or Clarke and Bellamy felt earned, but there were plenty of romantic scenes that seemed unnecessary or out of place.  

While there did seem to be a disproportionate amount of romance in this installment of The 100 Series, there were also many unexpected and shocking twists and turns in the plot that were an absolute thrill to read through. Readers will have to pick their jaws up off the floor at several moments in this book, and will often have to wipe the tears from their eyes as well. Morgan does suspense very well and the links she forges between her characters is commendable.

Since this is a series, and considering that there will probably be more books after Day 21, it was important that the book have a cliffhanger that leaves the reader thirsty for more. Morgan successfully did so, and another installment in the series feels natural, not forced, after the ending. However, while there is a cliffhanger, there could have been more unresolved drama left at the end of the novel. Still, the book warrants another in the series.

Overall, Day 21 was a smartly written follow-up to Morgan’s The 100. The novel, and the world that the characters inhabit felt rich, innovative and intriguing. Anyone who has read the first two will obviously want to continue reading, as Morgan makes us care about her characters, even if we might not always agree with their desperate actions both in space and on the ground.

 4/5 stars

Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

I won this book through a contest at Teenreads.com, so a big thank you to everyone over there! I kind of totally forgot about entering the contest and was pleasantly surprised one night to come home and find this awesome book in my mailbox. Here’s my review of Elizabeth Scott’s novel Heartbeat: :)

Mourning and sadness take many forms, but author Elizabeth Scott’s stunningly honest and emotional portrayal of her narrator Emma’s grief over the death of her mother in her novel Heartbeat is a refreshing new voice in young adult fiction.

However, Emma isn’t only suffering the loss of her mother, she’s also suffering from what she perceives to be her step-dad selfishly keeping her mother alive to potentially save her unborn half-brother. This twist in the story turns Scott’s novel from an average story about loss into an innovative and heart-wrenching tale about a girl fighting to overcome her loss while also struggling to accept the new life that will soon enter her family. Having seen similar stories on the news in the past about women being kept on life support to deliver their children, it’s awesome to see YA authors finding the teen voices in these clips of coverage we see everyday.

Emma’s narration is direct and honest, although it can feel overly simple and redundant at times. She doesn’t waste time with metaphors or indirect ways of expressing how she feels, which amplifies the raw emotion of the story. Readers will be able to feel Emma’s anger, frustration, sadness and loneliness through the pages. They will also be able to see how she progresses through the process of mourning with the help of a complicated relationship with neighborhood bad boy Caleb and her best friend Olivia. By the end, readers will feel satisfied with the outcome of the journey they have seen Emma endure.

Scott creates a cast of characters that are simultaneously relatable and quirky in their own ways. Olivia, Emma’s devoted best friend, is repulsed by modern technology, opting to write school papers on a typewriter and use encyclopedias instead of Internet research. Caleb, haunted by the death of his sister, is driven to commit dangerous crimes. However, Emma sometimes falls into the background of her own story as her life is defined by the loss of her mother, her apathy about her schoolwork, her anger towards her step-dad and little else.

Dialogue, though, is the strength of this novel. The way the characters speak to each other in Heartbeat is remarkably accurate and natural. Through Emma’s conversations with Olivia, Caleb and Dan she changes and learns about herself, her mom, life and death.

Another strong element of Heartbeat was the romance between Caleb and Emma. Scott transforms the classic bad boy stereotype to have Caleb reflect the devastation Emma feels from losing her mother. The result is an endearing romance stemming from mutual loss that readers will root for.

Heartbeat is an emotional and endearing tale about a girl’s journey from grief to hope. It provides an honest portrayal of grief at a young age, of the search for why and how to move on. This beautiful and well-written story also exceptionally demonstrates the importance of friends and family in difficult times. It also shows that, while not everyone should drop concerns about school completely like Emma, in the long run those assignments and papers aren’t worth excessively stressing over. The memories we have with the people we love are far more important.

While Heartbeat is definitely geared towards teen girls, readers of any age and gender will be able to appreciate Emma’s story and will enjoy making the journey alongside her.

4/5

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I just want to say this is the best book I’ve read in a really long time. Usually I’m able to close one book and start another but I needed to wait a while after finishing We Were Liars. It was one of those stories that hits you so suddenly and all at once, and one that I’ll definitely be rereading again and again in the future. Before I fangirl more, here is my review:

Everyone tells lies. Some lies just happen to be more treacherous than others. People can lie to others, but they can also lie to themselves. Young adult author E. Lockhart’s tragically beautiful new novel We Were Liars explores such lies, and the quest for truth, as the narrator Cadence Sinclair Eastman struggles to remember the repressed memory of an accident that occurred the summer she was fifteen.

Cadence is part of the Liars along with Gat, Mirren and Johnny. The four are the grandchildren (or in Gat’s case, a close friend of the grandchildren) of the eerily perfect Sinclair family, which summers on their island near Martha’s Vineyard called Beechwood Island. The Sinclair patriarch has three daughters, of which Cadence, Mirren and Johnny are the eldest children.

Lockhart’s depiction of this wealthy, self-destructive New England family is at once horrific and dazzling. Readers will both love and hate the family, for the Sinclairs are simultaneously repulsive and endearing. The language used to describe the setting is overwhelmingly rich and intense. At times, Readers will feel as if they are actually on the island looking at the houses or just taking in the salty, sea air. Lockhart’s skillful description makes the setting and the characters of this novel come alive.

While Lockhart’s novel is stunningly original, readers familiar with Spring Awakening will find similarities in the dynamic between the young and the old: the adults’ ignorance ultimately causes fracture and havoc for their children.

Cadence’s narration of the story is immediate, raw and emotional.  Lockhart combines her narrator’s realistic and natural voice with a twist-filled plot to create a well-paced suspense novel that will demand the reader’s attention from start to finish. The use of first person in the present tense gives the reader the sense that they are unraveling the Sinclairs’ secrets alongside her. Her selective amnesia from the accident she can’t, or refuses, to remember is exceptionally exploited to create a breathless suspense tale. Lockhart pushes unreliable narration to its best, and readers will be shocked when the truth is finally revealed. The ending of this book will leave every reader sobbing. Kleenex are strongly recommended for the last thirty pages or so of this book.

While Cadence is such a strong and dynamic character in We Were Liars, all of the other characters in the novel are as richly developed. Cadence’s mother and aunts each have a distinct personality that affects the course of the novel. The other Liars also have richly developed personalities. Gat has a strong-willed resistance to the Sinclairs’ ideals as an outsider while Mirren and Johnny’s reluctant adherence and subtle rebellion to the expectations of their family, creating an intricate network of developed characters. Each character has an impact on the course of events the novel takes and no one falls into the background.

Lockhart’s use of fairy tales to help Cadence sort through her repressed memories gives the book a fantastic, cryptic quality. We Were Liars is a modern fairy tale of loss, rediscovery, regret and endurance. It’s a story for everyone, young or old, male or female.

It is a book that discusses the desperateness of young love through the complicated relationship between Cadence and Gat. It shows the tragic consequences of family feuding and politics. It shows the closeness of bonds between friends and family and how those bonds change and twist over time. It’s a story of grief and loss as well as the search for truth and knowledge. It’s a story about the narrow-sightedness of teenagers, and of people, and how we try to control what it ultimately becomes uncontrollable.

Overall, We Were Liars will leave each and every reader feeling that they have read something simultaneously nostalgic, immediate, profound and magical. There are simply not enough words to describe how good this book is, so you’ll have to read it and see for yourself.

This is a book that lives up to the hype. All of it.

5/5

I have really bad commitment issues...

Okay...I have neglected my blog so far. I've been caught up doing research of 19th and early 20th century farming techniques and colonies for an independent research thing I'm doing and riding my bike because I don't want to stay inside. Before I put up my first two reviews, which will hopefully get the ball rolling on this thing, here's my top 5 list of YA books. Just because. I used to have a top 3, but that didn't last long...I know some people don't have a top list for reading, but here are the books I've found the most relatable, the most read or just the most awesome (so far):

1. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
2. The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
4. Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid
5. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

#LGLTreasures of My Hometown

I live in a town with just over 10,000 people. It's a tiny place, mostly residential, with only a few shops. Most people leave to go to nearby towns with better downtowns, malls, or bigger parks. That doesn't mean that there aren't some great treasures here, though. Look below for some of the places in my hometown that mean the world to me:

This is Fireman's Field. It's on the main drag and people usually pass it a couple of times a day without a second thought. This is where my Grandpa taught me how to hit a softball and where I played most of my rec soccer games, some of my best memories as a kid.

 These are the old pull-up bars at my elementary school. God, I hated these things. I have no upper body strength and loathed the day that Mr. Henshaw (Yes, that was his name) lined us up to do pull-ups. Still, they're old and awesome...and my mom was forced to do pull-ups on these too.

The TRAIN!!!! This is where I had recess during kindergarten. The girls and the guys would fight each other, but my best friend (who was a guy) and I would sit on the railing of the purple car and watch everyone fight. Good times.

Here's the whole train, just to show everyone how cool this thing was. The yellow car had a table in it that we used to dance on (we were 5, so it was cute) and the green car was the perfect place to wait and scare people. We were ruthless to each other.

Here's my playground at my elementary school. This picture is from the little 3' x 3' tree house I hung out everyday in with my friends, lovingly called The Clubhouse. I think your elementary school playground remains a treasure to you forever. 

The swings were my favorite part. The swings and the playground were the same as when my mom went to the same school, so this place is a treasure to a lot of people. The swings, though, are the biggest treasure. We used to fight each other for spots and compete to see who could jump the farthest. Here's me nostalgizing in my favorite place from my childhood. 

This is the little luncheonette, the old kind that's rare to find, in my town. If you want a good chicken cheesesteak or omelette, this is the place to go. 

This place reminds me of cheerleading practice! This is the playground at the rec center and after practice, we used to run around and play games. I thought it was the coolest playground when I was a kid.

 And THIS is where my love for Young Adult Fiction started. Here's the teen room at my local library where I discovered YA!

This is probably the little most known treasure that I took a picture of. It's the pond behind the library where there's a little waterfall. The pond is full of fish and it's fun to feed them crumbs. They come right up to the water's edge!

This is the path that leads to the pond. This area was created to memorialize the victims of the 9/11 attacks in our town. It's a beautiful spot, and one that not enough people in my town know about.

 Finally, here's my last treasure. It's the gazebo outside the library. It's the perfect place for hanging out. I have memories of making ice cream as part of a library program and laughing with friends when I got older in this spot.

So those are the treasures in my town! Your town doesn't have to be interesting to have treasures, because really, it's the memories that count. :)

Getting Ready to Start Blogging!

It's been super busy ending school. My goal is to have 4 reviews posted by the end of next week! Woo~

I feel like I should do some introductory thing or explain how this works...

I've been hearing the term book blogger get thrown around on Twitter a lot. I problem am on my way to becoming one and have NO idea. Regardless, I'm not looking to be a book blogger, I just want a place to review books (and maybe Broadway shows and art exhibits too).

I've written a couple of book reviews for my school newspaper. I go to a small school and only a few people ACTUALLY read the paper each week, and I'm sure only a fraction of those people take the time to read my reviews. Plus, there's not enough space in my section to do regular reviews.

So one night walking back to the PATH after a book reading, I came up with the idea for this blog. I hope to stick with it, even though I'm ridiculously busy, so hopefully it will go well.

This is basically how I want this to work:

• I'll try and post new content every week. Just something, whether it's a book, theatre, restaurant review. Whatever. I'm limiting myself to book reviews. That would be boring.
• I want to post at least one book review a week of a "new book" so one that's come out in the past year or so.
• Throwback Thursday: I'm hoping to do at least one review a week of an older book, so one that I read a while ago, but read again recently. If this is the case I'll explain how my reactions were different then and now.
• This is a major maybe at this point. I might try doing some vlog reviews of books where I hit record and just spontaneously talk about the book but I have to see how it goes. Literally putting my voice on the Internet seems creepy but cool.