The Taming - Eric Walters and Teresa Toten

Opening line: The noises in my head got louder.

If you're anything like me, Shakespeare makes you cringe. His writing has been ruined for me thanks to many school projects and assignments about his work, so I never really think of going out and reading his books on my own. However, I really seem to enjoy adaptations (generally pretty loose adaptations) or modernizations of his work. In the case of The Taming of the Shrew, the only "version" of the story I know is in the form of 10 Things I Hate About You, which I'm assuming is not a very accurate representation of the original play.

I got an ARC of "The Taming" before it came out, and was pleased to find out that the plot revolved around a school's production of The Taming of the Shrew. As you've probably guessed, the story of the characters who will be in this play also follows a similar plot to the original Shakespeare. Let's dive into the plot, shall we?

Katie, an average, 'invisible' girl at school who only has two friends (and would blend into the wallpaper if she could) does NOT like being the center of attention. The one place she feels at home is on stage, where she comes entirely out of her shell and really becomes her character. Evan, on the other hand, is a spoiled rich boy who loves the attention of others and goes out of his way to be noticed. He's a new kid at school, and has gotten more attention from the other students in his short time at the school than Katie has her entire school career. When they both get cast in the high school production of TTOTS, they start to spend lots of time together. Katie's not like any of the other girls Evan has known (or dated), but he's as intrigued by her as she is by him. They start a relationship - one that is as intense and dangerous as it is loving and sweet.

This is the kind of book I'm on the fence about. While I enjoyed it - I read it in one sitting - by the end I felt a little underwhelmed. The story is told in alternating viewpoints, with both Katie and Evan having about equal page time. By being able to see into both characters' heads, it wasn't hard to guess the characters' motivations. I don't know if it was supposed to be a shock or anything, but I thought it was obvious enough so I'll say it: Katie is VERY naive and innocent, and Evan is a 'reformed' bad-boy who enjoys manipulating people.

I didn't like the way the characters behaved at the end. I find it hard to believe, as someone who went through high school with kids similar to these, that someone who has acted one way for their entire lives suddenly, in the span of a few days, has a complete 180 in behaviour and starts acting a different way. I don't know, maybe it's just me... but the two main characters, particularly Katie, were not as believable at the end.

I really did like how Katie became a different person onstage, though. I think of myself like that - embarrassingly shy in person, but the moment I hit the stage, I'm in my element. I can be whoever you want me to be, and will (try, at least) to command your attention while I'm there. Katie was exactly like this, and I like when I can recognize parts of myself and people I know in book characters. I also really liked the secondary character of Travis, Katie's friend. He was well-written and I wish he would have had more development over the course of the book.

Ultimately, I liked it enough. It wasn't my favourite book by far, but it kept my attention and I didn't feel as if I had wasted my time by the end of it. I wish there had been more humor, as it's based on one of Shakespeare's comedies, and some of the subject matter wouldn't be appropriate for younger readers. I won't be keeping this one (I have limited space!) but I'll be passing it along to friends, as I'm confident enough that they'll enjoy it.

SCORE: 6.5/10
IF YOU LIKE: Jane (April Lindner)

Juliet Immortal - Stacey Jay

Have I ever mentioned how much I love getting ARCs? I get books that I would have never normally picked up, or even heard about. This novel is one of those: it came out officially in September, but I've yet to see it in a bookstore. It's a shame, because the idea of this book is so new and exciting.

Juliet Immortal takes the world's most famous love story - Romeo and Juliet - and twists it around entirely. Yes, Romeo and Juliet did the whole 'forbidden love' thing, and then got married. But soon after, Juliet awakes to find Romeo... in the middle of sacrificing her. Okay, so he didn't just flip out one day and decide to sacrifice his new wife: he was talked into it by the Mercenaries, a group dedicated to stopping true love. They convinced him to do this by promising him eternal life if he complied. Who wouldn't do that, right?

But it's all okay, because Juliet's nurse happens to be someone sent from the Ambassadors of Light, a similar immortal organization that does the opposite of the Mercenaries... that is, ensuring that soul mates remain together. They offer Juliet one last chance at life, to dedicate her existence to preserving romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Juliet, however, doesn't get to have a full life; she is brought down to earth at various points in time to protect soul mates in danger.

Now, there IS a love interest in this book. The problem is, Juliet falls for him while she is using a host body during one of her missions. He doesn't know who she really is, and Juliet has to wonder whether he is falling for her or the body she is currently using. I did like the character of Ben, but there could have been a bit more character development beyond the fact that he was good-looking and overprotective of Juliet. He wasn't all bad, though, and I looked forward to him being around.

The character of Romeo, on the other hand, was very well written. He was messed up, but not completely evil, and I spent much of the book wondering if he was going to stab Juliet in the back or if he was being somewhat truthful. I like when characters are not simply black and white. Yes, Romeo was the 'villain' of the book, but there were times where the reader felt bad for him, and times where you wanted to rip his head off.

Now, I'd just like to mention the ending. While I can't say here what exactly the twist at the end of the book was (because that would violate my unwritten 'no major spoilers' rule), I would like to say that I didn't like it, at all. After all that we went through, the twist took everything and threw it away. Essentially, the end of the book was as frustrating as if they had said everything contained in the book was a dream. It feels like the ending was rushed, and didn't really make sense with the motivations of EVERY character in the book and the rest of the plot. But whatever, I'll deal. Still, I feel that the second twist, about Ben, is probably worst of all... it just didn't need to happen.

While I do recommend this book, be cautious: it's great, until the last few chapters or so. Enjoy it, but don't feel bad if at the end you're pretending that the book finished differently.

SCORE: 7.5/10
IF YOU LIKE: Illuminated (Erica Orloff), After Obsession (Carrie Jones)

Delirium - Lauren Oliver

I received this book at work months and months ago, before it came out. That's one of the perks of working at a bookstore - you get Advance Reader Copies (ARCs, as they'll be known on here!). They're always uncorrected proofs, so there are occasionally typos or mistakes, and the cover is not always the final one (as it was in this case). However, it's a free book, an EARLY book, and I would never turn down something like that!

So, let's get cracking. The premise of this book was certainly an interesting one - not one I'm sure I'd ever seen done before. I would consider it to be teen science fiction; it's not paranormal, but it is certainly not your average story. Without giving too much away, here's the basic plot:

Lena lives in a world where love is a disease, and has a cure. When someone nears their 18th birthday, they have to have an interview to help them find a potential mate for the future. After this is done, as soon as their birthday happens, they go in for surgery to 'correct' the disease. People then either go to college, if they're smart enough, or go directly to their new life with their new spouse. 'Cured' people all bear a similar scar from the surgery, and go through life without ever experiencing love. Life is considerably boring for these people, but once the surgery's been done, they see their lives as happy and fulfilling.

Those who are not fixed by the surgery either die, or live in "The Wilds". The Wilds are barren, destroyed, and - according to the government - nonexistent. They are kept out of the rest of the USA by electric fences, meant to keep out both their disease and their ideas.

Lena, however, does the unthinkable right before her birthday... she falls in love with a boy from the Wilds. Hiding their romance is hard as they are constantly surveillanced, and as Lena gets to know the boy, Alex, she begins to question the surgery, her ideas, and her government.

I won't lie - it was a bit slow at the beginning. I knew from the back of the book that Lena would meet a boy, and I spent the first bit of the book waiting for it. Once it finally introduced him, the book took its time creating the romance between Lena and Alex. Once it got started, however, it was SO worth it. The book picked up and I found myself so caught up in it that I didn't sleep one night! The characters were well written, though I wish the character of Hana would have been in it a bit more; she was a main character at the beginning, but then disappeared and didn't come back until the end of the book. I guess this is what the sequels will be for, though! Alex had a fantastic personality, and I was glad to see that he had a back story and real motives, unlike many male characters.

I'm looking forward to reading the following two books in this series. I wish they were out now... I'm not sure I can wait for them! In the meantime, I think I'll pick up Oliver's previous work, Before I Fall.

SCORE: 9/10
IF YOU LIKE: Matched (Ally Condie), Gone (Michael Grant), Uglies (Scott Westerfeld)