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Book Review: Lola And The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

April 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Lola And The Boy Next Door (Penguin Group USA Incorporated)

By: Stephanie Perkins Level: Young Adult Pages: 384

 

SUMMARY

In this companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss, two teens discover that true love may be closer than they think

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit – more sparkly, more fun, more wild – the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket – a gifted inventor – steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

 

MY REVIEW

 What another awesome book from author Stephanie Perkins!  If you’re looking for a cute story, that is filled with romance, has great supporting characters that aren’t one dimensional, than this is a must read!  I first fell in love with Stephanie Perkins when I read Anna and The French Kiss.  She has such a great sense of humor and her writing style is very similar to Sarah Dessen, which is also one of my favourite authors!  One thing that really intrigues me about Stephanie’s writing is that she is able to describe a place so well that you feel as though you are there!  She described the scenery in San Fransisco so well that you could easily picture what she was talking about.  One thing I really loved about this story was the fact that Lola had two gay dads!  It was very refreshing because it’s not something that gets talked a lot about in books.  At least not in YA.  I thought Stephanie did a great job at bringing them to life and she created two outrageous personalities which was fun for a reader!  Just like Anna and The French Kiss this book had juicy, adorable romance.  I liked the idea of being in love with your childhood crush and he has always been in love with you, however is too afraid to admit it.  I thought that was really sweet.  This book is also a fun read if you really love fashion and have a passion for designing.  Lola’s dream is to become a costume designer and some of the outfits she creates are so cool.  Plus, the way Stephanie describes them you can easily picture what she is talking about.  For anyone who loves Sarah Dessen and needs something to tide them over until her next book comes out,  check out Anna and The French Kiss and Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins!

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS REVIEW 

Stephanie Perkins Official Website

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 *Make sure you check out her blog for her upcoming Spring events!*

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Daughter Of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor- Review

March 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

THE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE
By: Laini Taylor
418 Pages
Little, Brown & Company
Release Date: September 27, 2011


SUMMARY (Goodreads): Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

MY REVIEW: I really loved this book so much. I found it to be absolutely captivating and unique. It’s definitely one of the most original creations I’ve come across in a long time, particularly in the YA realm. I can practically say I have loved every aspect of this book. It has action, romance, and mystery. The structure of this book of the book is different and unusual. It starts with Karou, an art student, with her friends in this normal human life. There’s no mention, and you have no idea about her other world with the Chimera, and until this point in her life, neither world came together. Then Karou goes to see her Chimera family and you learn all about her world here. There’s some unexplained happenings going on, and Karou is starting to question her blind faith in her Chimeras. Why she’s suddenly being called more frequently than usual to retrieve more teeth for her father figure, Brimstone.   What are the teeth for anyways? Why must she never touch the wishbone hanging on his neck? Are there more Chimera?  Why there’s that one door in the all the doors of portals to other worlds, that she’s not allowed to enter, and when someone visit from there, she must hide. She’s even unsure who she is. How she ended up with Brimstone and the Chimera anyway? I really want to give you all these answers so as your reading, you really understand that there really are answers and reasons for all this abnormal things.  There’s so much going on, you have to read the whole book to figure it all out. While it really seems like this book is all on this dark side, a girl raised by a devil-like creature that collects teeth, the world, the creatures, it’s all just so beautiful.

Characters: I LOVED LOVED LOVED these characters in this book. I also love all the names in this book, so unique. Karou, oh Karou, what can I say, well Karou is the most fascinating character I’ve come across in a long time. She has blue hair, yes it does it grow out of her that color, and there is a reason for it. She’s multilingual, very creative, artsy, smart, she can handle things on her own, and she’s a little sassy. She does however, get a little girly and loses herself when she comes across Akiva. He sort of knocks her beside herself with his AMAZING ANGELIC BEAUTY. There’s a strange attraction and a strong connection between them. So, now, my favorite character, Zuzana. WOW! I loved her. She’s petite and mighty. A riot, she’s a loyal friend and is there when she’s most needed. She alone is reason enough and worth reading this book. Brimstone, known as the Wishmanger, gives wishes. In exchange for teeth, the traders can receive wishes. There’s actually different levels of wishes, the smallest are beads, and they can earn higher level wishes and wish for bigger things. I just thought that was so neat. At first, Brimstone came off more fierce and scarier than he really was. Before the end your seeing who was and what Karou really means to him and everything he’s gone through and done for his daughter figure.

Writing: I found the writing wonderful, it’s complex and beautiful. I applaud the author’s work. It’s such a unique and creative idea, and rather complex I couldn’t imagine trying to write and put all these details together and make all the ends meet like the author. No one else could have written this book as well as the author did. I could only imagine the outline of this book, it would seem like it’s all these puzzlelike pieces, but I must say, Laini Taylor puts them all together VERY WELL!

Rating
5 Stars Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW BY:

LINKS
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Question(s) For The Reader
Did you read this book? If not, do you want to read it now?
Would you like to have blue hair that actually grew out that way?
What do you think the teeth are for?

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Matched by Ally Condie- Review

March 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

MATCHED
By: Ally Condie
366 Pages
Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: November 30, 2010

SUMMARY: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate… until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow
MY REVIEW: I liked this book, really I did, and when I first started reading it, I could not put it down or stop thinking about it. It was really off to a great start. The institution and all the matters in this Matched world were absolutely captivating. All these typical human elements, food, marriage, occupation, even exercising were precisely monitored and controlled. There were times when I could see what’s happening and couldn’t stop or help any of it, making it excruciating to watch Cassia deal with The Officials. It was emotionally engaging and romantic and could have used some action, but I think it did well without it. I just wish I hadn’t read Delirium before reading Matched because the worlds were partially similar. I kept doing this horrible relational/comparison thing while I was reading it and it aggravated me terribly, because having already been introduced to this similar world in Delirium, I feel it took away from Matched.
Characters: I was proud of Cassia to become a unique thinker, and she had the will to learn and want to know more. I kind of felt it as her own way of rebelling to the society. Cassia and Xander were childhood friends, and he is Matched to her and this made me happy. FYI, Team Xander. I just sort of felt like Xander and Cassia complimented each other. Xander had a deep love for Cassia, he was sweet and nice, and noble,   he obviously cared for her long before The Officials told him to. While Ky will most likely be the soulmate factor in this series for Cassia. He opened up Cassia’s world, he taught her cursive writing, and poetry and they had some adorable moments together and there was all this spontaneity and secrecy that would be appealing in any teen relationship. I just missed it emotionally for the two of them. I felt the author had Cassia tunnel visioned in on Ky, she was too focused and thought about him too much but the emotional reasoning as to why she felt this way was lacking, I mean technically before she decided she was in love with him, it wasn’t like he was doing these things that deeply touched at her heart, he was planted in her head and then she was fascinated with who he was and she determined she was in love with him after that point. Cassia really thought too much period, she was a little less action and a lot more thought. She didn’t even say a whole lot conversationally, just thought about a lot of stuff and said minimal to anyone else but Ky, but that was probably authors point now that I think about it really. That was his significance to her.
Writing: The writing was really good. Not a lot of action but she did pretty well in holding the interest. The only problem, this book boomeranged me as a reader and these tend to bother me more than they probably should.  I was caught in her words to start off with, then I’m gone for a litte bit and just not feeling the book anymore, and before it was over, she brought me back. So I was proud of the ending, she had me just as hooked leaving the book, as I was starting it.  I felt the book had needed some help around half way through and I was getting a little easily distracted, but eventually things did swing back into motion again. Overall it was a very good book and it is worth reading I promise. Technically in rating, I’d really give it more of  a 3.75 Star rating, but we don’t have that, I just couldn’t put it up there at 4 Stars, but it’s so darn close. :-)

Rating
3.5 Stars Out Of 5 Stars

 

REVIEW BY:

LINKS

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Tiger’s Curse by Collen Houck Review- Jenni’s Review

February 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Tiger’s Curse
By: Colleen Houck
402 Pages
Sterling Publishing
Release Date: January 11, 2011

 

 “A fantastic and delicious read” Me

 

SUMMARY: The last thing teenager Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing over the summer was meeting Ren, a mysterious white tiger and cursed Indian prince When she learns she alone can break the Tiger’s curse, Kelsey’s life is turned upside-down. The unlikely duo journeys halfway around the world to piece together an Indian prophecy, find a way to free the man trapped by a centuries-old spell, and discover the path to their true destiny.

MY REVIEW (Spoilery): I loved loved loved Tiger’s Curse and I couldn’t put it away. It’s a fantastic and delicious read. I was obsessed with the book. It’s full of magic and romance and adventure. I hadn’t come across a were-Tiger book before, and I must say Colleen Houck did an amazing and awesome job. A key reason I really loved this book, is the adventure and the romance. Tigers, Indiana Jones and Twilight all rolled up into one fantastic tale. The book takes a huge dive into the Indian culture, which is unique and refreshing as a reader. The story involves the main character Kelsey, who began working at a traveling circus taking care of a white tiger that she later learns, is also a cursed, unaging, handsome Indian prince named Ren. He is perfectly gentle and sweet and in their adventure she falls deeper and deeper in love with Ren. Ren is cursed to spend most of his time in the form of the tiger. Kelsey and Ren set off across India to end the Tiger’s Curse with the help of Mr. Kadam. Mr. Kadam, who is Ren’s princely advisor/mentor has continuously been seeking to free Ren from this Tiger’s curse for all these many many years. They travel to temples, through many test and battling things like the kappa vampire monkeys as they progress in their adventure solving Ren’s curse. She soon comes across Ren’s, distant, fellow cursed, and similarly handsome prince brother, Kishan. Kishan tends to complicate things for Ren, and makes the book more intense and more delicious.

Characters: Kelsey is a fairly normal person, until she encounters the magical white tiger and her life changed. She falls in love with the cursed Prince Ren/ White Tiger. Ren is the delicious factor of the book, he’s sweet and gentle, protective and loves Kelsey. Every once in awhile, Ren recites and just purrs sweet poetry and pet names for Kelsey in his native tongue, that is overwhelmingly precious and just send chills up your back at the sweet words.

Writing: Colleen Houck is very amazing writer, with complex and diverse writing style. She has such a wonderful and precise writing language, and beautiful poetry usage. Not many author’s can or attempt to approach unfamiliar culture or territory, which just shows that Colleen put a lot of work into research, to ingrain this Indian culture, and it all resulted in a very creative and astonishing tale.

 

 Rating
5 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW BY:

 

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Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick Review- Jenni’s Review

February 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

SILENCE
BECCA FITZPATRICK
438 PAGES
SIMON AND SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 4TH, 2011

SUMMARY: The noise between Patch and Nora is gone. They’ve overcome the secrets riddled in Patch’s dark past…bridged two irreconcilable worlds…faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal, loyalty and trust…and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven and earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another, Patch and Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they’ve worked for–and their love–forever.
MY REVIEW (Spoilery): I really liked Silence. While I was a bit saddened by Crescendo, and let down, I must say Silence definitely won me back. Silence takes place where Crescendo left off, and Nora was kidnapped. Nora is been missing for around five months and is found in a graveyard with her memory wiped. She comes home with many things changed in her life, her mom is dating the father of her enemy Marcie Miller, and she has no memory of Patch. She comes across an old encounter, Scott Parnell and a new guy, she doesn’t remember, but claiming to be from her past. She is drawn back into the Angel world, during this time of the rising battle Fallen Angels against Nephilim. She is retaught things she has lost in her memory, many things she had once learned in the first story(Hush Hush) after she met Patch. While at first it was a bit frustrating being retold as a reader all these things about Becca’s angelology that we already know, and was told in the beginning (Hush Hush). But it’s a crucial basis for Nora in this book. Once she’s recaught up to speed, things take right off. She begins to retrieve bits of memory and sees keeps seeing Patch’s dark eyes even though she doesn’t know who he is. One thing after another the story captured me, as we struggle along with Nora to figure who kidnapped her and why, why her memories are gone, to figure out who she can trust, and who not to trust, why several people she has trust in, seem to have secrets and lying to her, how and why her mom is dating Hank Miller, and why she instinctly doesn’t like him. There’s so much going on and its all so fascinating, and I was just completely swept away in this book and all this mystery and searching for answers.
Characters: Nora is a progressing and growing character, while previously Nora was aggravatingly stubborn to her ways in the beginning, now she’s more vulnerable after the kidnapping and missing a lot of time in her memory and finding trustworthy companions and company. She’s grown and developed as an individual, which is always a great factor for characters. The returning characters have their flare and development as well, and there’s some twist with a new character as the story develops. I feel they had special distinctiveness and characterization  that has been nicely achieved in this work.
Writing: I applaud Becca Fitzpatrick on this third book in the Hush Hush Saga. Becca’s always seem to be a fast-paced eventful writer, making every moment in the book count, and keeping her readers interested, but I must say I feel she did such as excellent job in Silence, and I believe she has improved in her writing since Hush Hush in the beginning. She’s done well developing her characters and angels, and creating a great backstory and foundation for the books, as well as providing a fascinating underlying story of the big the battle that the saga’s been working up to in Finale.

Rating:
4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars

 

REVIEW BY:

The 4th book in the Hush Hush Saga titled, Finale, is due out October 13th, 2012.

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