The Book Addict Reviews: Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Genre:  Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Social Situations
Order Online: Amazon.com  
Author Info: Goodreads | Website
Rating: 4 stars   
Received this ARC in a giveaway from one of my favorite blogs: Jen Ryland/YA Romantics 

In A Nutshell:  
Anna Ryan has to move.  Her father has just taken a promotion that requires he move to another beach.  But Anna is not sure that she wants to leave.  She lost her mother here and she is afraid that with leaving she will lose her again or maybe lose more of herself.  For Anna's father though, this move means coming back to the place where he met her mother and to the memories of her that are the happiest.  And he wants to share all of that with Anna--if she will let him. 

Review:  
I was so excited when I opened the package with this book because on the cover of the book is a review by Sarah Dessen.  As many of you know--I love her books.  So the review made me confident I would love this book too.  And I did.  I do think that fans of Sarah Dessen will really like Jessi Kirby because their styles and the topics that they approach have a lot of similarities. 

Anna is a fairly private person who has had to hide a lot of secrets within herself.  This personality does not generally make for a great narrator.  At the beginning of the story, I was a little frustrated because Anna was not sharing very much of her story.  However, as the story progressed I found myself really drawn to Anna.  I wanted to find out her story--and I wanted to be there as Anna figured out her story.  I wanted to see Anna find some peace.

At the end though, I was a little disappointed that while the primary story was tied up, some of the side stories did not get tied up.  What happened with the track team?  How did Ashley and Anna work everything out?  I wanted to know more--and see if Anna found closure. 

Recommendations:
After reading Jessi Kirby's first book--I cannot wait to read her next:

But this book also made me realize how long it has been since I read a Sarah Dessen book--I need to read another one soon!

The Book Addict Reviews: Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre:  Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Order Online: Amazon.com  
Author Info: Goodreads | Website
Rating: 3 stars   
Bought this book with my birthday discount at Changing Hands.  

In A Nutshell:  
Ashley Hannigan sees herself as a "normal kid."  Not special enough to go to college.  Not special enough to worry about prom.  However, she is surrounded by friends and classmates who feel prom is one of the most important day of their lives.  These different orientations to prom collide when the faculty advisor to the prom committee steals most of the money that was raised for prom.  At that moment, Ashley shows her true colors by stepping in to help her best friend who wants the prom experience more than anything in the world.  In the process, Ashley's view of herself, what she wants, and what she deserves starts to change in significant ways. 

Review:  
I picked this book up after reading Speak.  By comparison, Prom seems frivolous.  It seems trite.  It seems underwhelming.  Those were my initial reactions to this story.  I had expected a story that touched me in the same way that I had been touched by Speak.  However, after some time away I realized that was really not a fair way to rate this book.  This book never claimed to be like Speak. 

So, I started to look at this story on its own merits.  As a light-hearted book, Prom delivers a unique cast of characters.  I think my favorite was Nat's grandmother who could moonlight as a professional baker if only she were not so obsessed with swimming (many times with her clothes on).  Prom delivers a strong coming-of-age story.  The Ashley we see in the beginning of this story would not even recognize the Ashley at the end who makes a stand for herself in a big way.

After recognizing these elements of Prom I realized that I really liked this book.  I am glad I read it, and I cannot wait to read another one of Laurie Halse Anderson's books.  I am sure she will surprise me yet again--but this time I will not let my initial feelings be dictated by the expectations set by other books I have read by her.

Recommendations:
If you have not read Speak, I cannot recommend it strongly enough--this book really shook me to the core:


The next book I would like to read by Laurie Halse Anderson:

The Book Addict Reviews: Triangles by Ellen Hopkins

Genre: Poetry, Romance, Realistic Fiction
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Goodreads | Website
Rating: 4 stars
Borrowed from the library. 

In A Nutshell:
Ellen Hopkins has done it again.  She has written a wonderful book full of engaging characters.  I could not put it down until the very end. 

Review:
I started Triangles with some reservations. I love Ellen Hopkins' young adult books, but I worried that her style and her voice would not transfer well into adult literature.  I should not have worried.  Ellen Hopkins' handled this story and these characters with the same eloquence that has marked her young adult books.

Triangles focuses on three women.  They are linked by family or friendship, but they each live very different lives.  The variety and scope of their experience will allow the majority of readers to find someone they can relate to.  Someone who feels authentic to them.  Someone who will draw them into the story.  For me, that person was Andrea.  So many aspects of her story resonated with me--so many of her feelings about what was going on around her struck me as similar to the way I would react in a similar situation (SPOILER ALERT: well except for her reaction to Jace which I felt was very very bad!).

But Ellen Hopkins' use of three voices allowed me to learn that my view and perspective is not the same as everyone around.  Maybe other people will not react to adultery or attraction the same way I would--but that does not instantly make them wrong and me right.  We have different perspectives, different experiences, and different concerns.

And once again, I found Ellen Hopkins' use of poetry and verse allowed her a freedom of expression that I do not see in many romance novels.  It feels a lot more like the way I think before I have to structure them into sentences and paragraphs.  It feels very organic and raw--which is where these characters seem to be as they work through all of the events that happen over the course of the book.

And this book is full of action, events, and movements.  There is always something going on in the lives of these women, which helps with the realistic feel of the story.  At least I know that is how I constantly feel!

The one thing that I was not crazy about was the ending--I wanted more resolution, more of an idea of where the women, their families, their friendships, their lives ended up.  It felt very unfinished to me--which makes me think there may be more of this story coming?  (I really really really hope so!)

Recommendations:
I have another Ellen Hopkin book waiting near the top of my TBR pile:


But I just found out that she has a couple more coming out this year.  One for adults called Collateral (due out in November 2012) and one for Young Adults:

The Book Addict Reviews: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

In honor of Valentine's Day and in honor of love in general, I decided it was very appropriate to review:

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Goodreads | Website
Rating: 4 stars
Borrowed from the library. 

In A Nutshell:
I read and loved Anna and the French Kiss so when I learned there was an opportunity for more time with Anna and St. Clair I was there!  But then I fell in love with Lola and Cricket--*gasp* maybe even more than Anna and St. Clair.  I sure hope Stephanie Perkins brings them all back for more!

Review:
After reading Anna and the French Kiss, I could not wait for more from Stephanie Perkins. Lola and the Boy Next Door delivered in so many ways!  I was almost instantaneously drawn in by Lola into her story--her struggle with her parents about her new boyfriend, her struggle to find herself among all of her costumes, and her struggle to face the boy who first broke her heart.

At first I found the cover striking--that purple hair is something I wish I had ever had the courage to do myself!  But the more I got into the story and the more I got to know Lola, the less I really felt the cover captured her well.  The girl in the picture has such a blank expression on her face--and that lack of emotion did not fit my impression of Lola at all. 

While Lola as a character was a little more adventurous and a little more elaborate than I was in high school, I felt a connection with her.  She was a balance of brave and vulnerable, quirky and stable, sensitive and strong.  She does not always know the "right" answer or do the "right" thing, but she tries.  She grows.  She makes mistakes and she learns.

Cricket was the one that left me guessing the longest.  I instinctively knew that he was the one that Stephanie Perkins intended Lola to be with, but how was it going to happen?  How was he going to overcome the bad event that divided him from Lola?  And expertly, Stephanie Perkins left me guessing until the end.  And left me craving more...

Recommendations:
There is another companion coming out in 2013: Isla and the Happily Ever After.  I cannot wait for it! 

But for today, I have to say Happy Valentine's Day to each and everyone of you. And I want to know--what books say Happy Valentine's Day to you?

The Book Addict Dares You To Read: Monster by Walter Dean Myers

I love having the opportunity to challenge people to read books that I personally found compelling or interesting or just all out fun.  But I want to know what you think?  Have you read the book?  Did it stick with you?  If so, why?  If not, why? _________________________________________________


Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Goodreads | Website
Rating: 4 stars
Borrowed this book from the library after reading this article.

In A Nutshell:
Written like a movie script--Monster has many characters that make it unlike any other book I have read.  It peaked my interest and left me asking myself questions even as I closed the last page. 

Review:
The scene opens in a courtroom--the actors are playing the parts of judge, jury, attorney, and defendant.  At least that is how Steve Harmon has decided to cope with his own felony murder trial--as he would a project for his film club.  He writes it all down as a screenplay and through that screenplay and the journal-style notes we get insight into how he feels, what he thinks, and how the proceedings affect him.

Walter Dean Myers handles a very bad and ugly situation with finesse and ingenuity.  The honest representation of the horrors of living in a prison surprised me in a young adult novel--but the way he handled it did not necessarily overwhelm me.  I was affected by the representations--but I was not turned off from the story.  I was able to keep reading.

Actually, I was compelled to keep reading.  The way that Walter Dean Myer set up the book, the reader is essentially like a juror.  In the beginning we do not know if he is guilty or innocent--we make our decision as the story progresses through the trial the same way the jurors do.  We also have to face our own perceptions of the proceedings.  Do we assume that the defendant must be guilty if he has been brought to trial? Or do we assume the defendant is innocent until proven guilty?  I have never been a juror--but as I read this book I began to notice my own natural inclinations. The effect of that self-awareness has stuck with me.

But we as readers also have some extra insight that the jury did not have.  We can hear Steve's thoughts and see his perceptions.  We can see how his attorney interacts with him outside of the courtroom.  We get glimpses of how the trial affects his family.  Together it puts together a complex picture of the effect a trial of this kind can have--and it is a different from the victim-focused perspective I normally see in books about trials.  Yes, we learn about the victim but this story belongs to Steve.

But the ending was complicated--at least for me.  The jury does vender it's verdict (and I will not spoil it for you!).  I agree with the jury's verdict based on what we as the reader get to see of the trial, witness testimony, and jury instructions from the judge.  But agreeing with the verdict of guilty or not guilty does not mean that I am completely sure whether he was guilty or innocent--and I am not entirely convinced that his lawyer was sure of the answer either.

Recommendations:
This book has inspired me to read more by this author.  My next book by him will be:

Series In Review: Summer Novels by Jenny Han

Series are a tricky thing. I have series that I love as a whole, but an individual book within the series did not impress me.  So I am not always sure that reviewing the individual books is fair to the author's vision. However, I do not want to postpone all of my reviews of the books within a series until the end. With those thoughts in mind I decided to start Series In Review. In these postings, I will be looking at more than one book in the series or if possible the entire series at one time.
_____________________________________________________
**This review may contain spoilers for some of the books in the series**

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Family Life, Romance
Books Released in Series: The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You, and We'll Always Have Summer
Author Info: Website | Goodreads
Rating: 2 Stars
Books purchased or borrowed from friends.
  
In A Nutshell:

After reading the first two books, I was glad I read this one and saw how the story came to an end, but I would not recommend this series to someone who has not already started it.  I struggled with the love triangle involving two brothers for a good portion of the series.  While I do believe Jenny Han ended this series in the best way possible given everything in this storyline, I would not describe the end as satisfying.  

Review:

I started this series because I was intrigued with the memory of the summer I turned pretty—the summer when boys started to see me as a cute girl rather than one of the boys.  However, there were also other small aspects of this series that I had trouble with even in that first book.  First, I do not think a teen girl would continue using the nickname Belly, particularly once she started high school.  It particularly did not ring true for me that she would keep going by Belly after the boys she had a love interest in called her nicknames, such as Belly Button.   

Second, I have struggled with the love triangle involving brothers since the end of the first book.  I admit that I was so intrigued that I felt compelled to continue reading until the end of the series to see if this story could end in a satisfying way.  I say compelled in the same sense that people are compelled to rubber neck on the freeway when they see an accident.  But can a love triangle that involves two brothers really have a happy ending?  Can they still have a close brother relationship if they both asked the same girl to marry them?  I can only imagine how family dinners will be in the future, but the word “awkward” comes to mind.  I commend Jenny Han because I can see she strives to accomplish a happy ending, and I could not see a better ending than the one that she wrote.  However, I would not say I necessarily felt satisfied at the end.

Third, one brother repeatedly pushes Belly away and leaves her alone when she needs him the most.  His actions towards her ruined many of her memories, including her memories of going to prom.  His actions towards her affected how she saw herself, how much she valued herself; she consistently wanted to please him.  The other brother hooks up with someone else while he and Belly were “on a break” and then comes back to her without telling her anything.  If he had told Belly about it, I would not have been so frustrated with him.  I probably would not have even considered it cheating since they were “on a break,” but he only admits it happened after Belly overhears the girl talking about it at a party. 

So I found myself asking repeatedly throughout the series, “why does she love them?”  The attachment comes off as more based their shared history and in some instances her affection for Susannah.  Is that true love?  Is that really what people should be striving to find?  Is that “love” going to last?  I have doubts.  And there were many times throughout the series that I found myself wishing Belly would see that she did not deserve to be treated this way. 

Fourth, in the end there were a lot of claims that things had changed.  In particular that Conrad valued Belly more and was willing to give her the love she deserved, but there was little proof offered to the reader.  There were glimpses and allusions to things he had done to prove that he had changed to her.  However, after spending the bulk of We’ll Always Have Summer detailing a few months of their lives, the last couple of chapters chronicled a few years without many details. 

One detail in particular that I was sorry to that the reader did not get to see Susannah’s letters to the boys. Since we were able to read Susannah’s letter to Belly, I really felt we should have seen Conrad’s letter because Susannah’s letter to Conrad was a turning point for him.  It seemed to be one of the things that led Conrad to value Belly and her love more. 

 

Recommendations:
While I may have not been gushing about this series, part of what kept me reading was that I liked Jenny Han's writing style, so I would like to try other Jenny Han books.
 
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Don't forget there is a GIVEAWAY still open this week.  You can find more information about it here.

The Book Addict Reviews: Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Realistic Fiction
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Website | Goodreads
Rating: 3 stars
Books picked up in Paperbackswap games.

In A Nutshell:

As a long-time fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I was instantly drawn and quickly became enchanted with this modern-day adaptation. I enjoyed reading Prom and Prejudice; however I quickly found it to be so much a copy of the original story that it lacked originality. 

Review:

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bennet and Will Darcy are caught in a stand-off.  Neither of them want to admit that their preconceived notions about the other based on social standing may be wrong, but they are attracted to each other anyway.  If you have read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, this scenario will sound familiar.  Even the names are all familiar. 

The only thing that changed is the time and the place.  Rather than Victorian England, Prom and Prejudice is set in modern-day New England.  Rather than stressing about finding a suitable husband, the girls at Longbourn Academy stress about finding a prom date.  Otherwise, the story will sound very familiar.

That is not necessarily a negative.  The book was fun and refreshing after finishing two emotionally-draining tearjerkers in a row.  I would recommend it for those times when you just need a fun read, but I feel that most of the substance of this book really should be attributed to Jane Austen.

Recommendations:
I loved the other book by Elizabeth Eulberg, and in some ways I recommend it over Prom and Prejudice.

The Book Addict Reviews: Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Website | Goodreads
Rating: 3 stars
Borrowed from a friend.

In A Nutshell:

This story was a little slow in the beginning, but worth it because it came together so well in the end.  It is a story of healing and of creating new dreams when the ones you had are taken away.  But most of all, it is a story of learning to really live and love.  

Review:

As a senior in high school, Chelsea has to come to terms with the loss of her dreams of college basketball, a goal that has given her focus and determination for as long as she can remember.  What does she have if she does not have basketball?  On top of her own feelings of loss, grief, guilt and pain over the way her dream ended, she feels like she lost her connection with her family.  They do not seem to know how to talk to her or interact with her without basketball. 

Clint Morgan used to play hockey.  He used to have a girlfriend.  He used to do a lot of things, but that all changed when a devastating accident took it all away from him.  He refuses to play team sports or compete in any way.  He does not want to take any risks that could allow another accident to take even more away from him.  So he sticks with what is safe—doing the summer job he loves and that he has been doing for years.

Holly Schindler weaves these two stories together by allowing both Chelsea and Clint to narrate at different times.  The reader gets a chance to be inside each of their heads and their hearts and really comes to understand where they are both coming from. 

But the element of this story that stuck out to me the most was the love story.  The reader wants to support all three of the characters.  This love triangle was not an instance of a bad guy, a good guy, and a good girl.  It was a triangle of a good guy, a good guy, and a good girl.  I kept reading waiting for some glaring flaw to surface that would justify Chelsea breaking one of the guy’s hearts, but…well I cannot say more because I do not want to ruin it for you.   

Recommendations:
I already have Holly Schindler's debut novel on my to-be-read pile, and, after reading Playing Hurt, I cannot wait to read it.