Born Wicked - Jessica Spotswood

So today we're here to cover a book I loaned from work last week. I've never heard of the author or the series, and I honestly didn't even bother reading the jacket before I took it home. Sometimes this 'blind run' really works for me, and other times it completely backfires (I'm looking at you, Above).

This is historical (though alternate-universe historical) fiction about witches. The novel revolves around three sisters, the Cahills, whose mother has passed away, leaving the oldest daughter in charge of keeping her sisters safe. Having been raised without the presence of an older motherly figure in their lives, they are not as ladylike and refined as society would like. In this time period this would already be a problem, but the Cahills have it worse: in their world, society lives in fear of witches, who are known to be evil creatures who will trick you and can even turn your own mind against you. This fear is instilled by the Brotherhood, a group of men who essentially run the show. Their female counterparts are the Sisters, a group of secretive unmarried women who are always searching for new young women to recruit. If one is found to be a witch, they are sent away to institutions from which they will never return. While everyone in this world lives in fear, the Cahills have more to lose than most - all three of the sisters are witches, as was their mother.

As usual, we'll begin with the characters. Cate, the main character, was well written in my opinion. Her motives were always clear, though her actions did not always reflect that. As an older sister myself, I can understand being protective of younger siblings. In fact, whenever Cate even began to think of her own life and happiness she would dismiss it because it wouldn't benefit her sisters in anyway. Sure, she was controlling of them, and sure, she overreacted about some things that were way less of a big deal than she made them to be. But hey, she's thinking of her family here. And I'm totally cool with that. Something to mention is that there was a bit of a love triangle happening here, though it was slightly less in-your-face than it has been in other books. For one of the first times ever, I wasn't really rooting for one character or another, either. Both boys had their merits and shortcomings and would be equally good for our main character.

Now, something I have to complain about a little. This paragraph will contain MINOR SPOILERS so if you really don't want to know anything about this book before reading it, please continue on to the next spoiler free paragraph and pretend you never saw this. Go on. Are you still reading? Do you WANT to be still reading? Cool. Anyways, so something I really have to mention is this whole "mind magic is so rare, but everyone I know seems to have it!" thing. Even the characters themselves comment on how many people seem to be able to do this supposedly rare form of magic. I won't do a count of how many people can do it, as I don't want to give away too many spoilers here, but it's more than a few. Maybe they'll address this in the next book, but it just seemed strange to spend so much time talking about how nobody can ever do this kind of magic (though the Brothers seem to think that it's everywhere, but that's mostly to scare people) and then it starts popping up in all these characters like it's just some garden-variety power. Again, maybe this was intentional, but it definitely bugged me.

Much of this book felt like setup for the next novels, which made it slow at times, but I think that in the end it works to this book's advantage. You don't see too much of the magic that the characters can do, and we're not given all the facts right off the bat. It was a refreshing departure from many of the books who jump into the action right away and rush the endings. While this might not work for every reader, I think that this book (which until the last third can almost be seen as a prologue to the actual story) does a great job of setting the scene and introducing the world and the concepts.

If you're into romance and good storytelling and magic, this book is for you. If you're looking for action and excitement you'd probably be better off looking elsewhere, but I urge you to give this book a chance. I look forward to reading Ms. Spotswood's other books.

SCORE: 7.4/10
IF YOU LIKE: Grave Mercy (Robin LaFevers), Masque Of The Red Death (Bethany Griffin)

Cracked Up To Be - Courtney Summers

So today, we're covering an oldie. This book was originally released in 2009, is by a Canadian author (!) and is a first time novel. I bought this one at a church book sale a few months ago for something ridiculously cheap so I'm not sure if it's still available in bookstores.

Parker Fadley was once your typical perfect high school girl. She's pretty, got great grades, was captain of the cheerleading squad, and dated the most popular boy at school. She wasn't a 'mean girl' by any means, either; people genuinely liked her, and she was a shoo-in to be valedictorian for her senior class. Recently, though, Parker has completely changed. She won't say why, and nobody knows how it happened, but she is no longer the person she once was. It's even gotten so bad that her parents have gotten involved and have put her on suicide watch. How did a girl like this fall so far? Jake, a nice boy at school who Parker wants nothing to do with, wants to find out. The question is, will Parker let down her guard enough for Jake to get in?

This book was so well-written. Parker is an anti-hero, and that's one of the things I loved most about this book: she's destructive, she's withdrawn, and she's not somebody that you want to be. She's probably not even someone you'd want to know. But she's incredibly intriguing, and Summers does a great job creating a sense of mystery around her. I had fun trying to figure out what exactly Parker had done to become this way. I was rooting for her, but not in the usual sense. I didn't want her to keep ruining her life - I wanted her to take the help she so desperately needed and turn her life around. She's not a likeable character, but she's not supposed to be. She's a damaged character that I was feeling empathy for by the end of the book.

The supporting characters were equally developed. I enjoyed the character of Jake, and even more so the dog, Bailey. Both of them gave Parker something to lean on when she didn't even realize she needed it herself. Jake had problems of his own and wasn't around as simply the 'perfect' love interest. There was a bit of a love triangle, but it wasn't overdone or too cliche. In fact, the whole book avoided the general cliches that I find in a lot of books. While some cliches are obviously present, they were written into the narrative in a way that made it feel like they belonged there. It's high school, and high school is full of cliches.

Overall, I thought the book was good. Sure, the ending could have been handled a bit better (the last few chapters of novels often seem a bit rushed to me) but I'm happy with the way it turned out. The ending is hopeful, but flawed. Not completely a happy ending, but gives enough closure. Things in real life aren't suddenly resolved with sunshine and rainbows, and Summers stayed true to real life.

It's not often I read a teen novel set in contemporary America with no paranormal aspects; they all seem very similar to me. Summers' novel is absolutely worth reading, though, and didn't feel like a rehashing of all the other high school centric novels I've read before. Recommended, especially for readers who like their characters to be interesting but flawed.

SCORE: 7/10
IF YOU LIKE: Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson), Some Girls Are (Courtney Summers)

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)

Girl Parts - John M. Cusick

Girl Parts was a very interesting novel. I received an ARC of it a while back, but after a few false starts trying to read it, I gave up and put it back on the shelf. I only recently discovered it again, and decided to pick it up and give it a good shot this time. What really drew me in is the cover: the girl on the front has the NICEST color of red hair!

The book begins with a suicide scene. The girl committing the act does get a name, and while this is her only real appearance in the book, she is crucial to the story. I liken her to Drew Barrymore’s character in the movie Scream: she is only in the beginning, but she is really the catalyst that sets the whole plot in motion. In this case, the girl committing suicide is doing it online, via webcam. Many of her classmates come across her webcast, watching her die right there, live on their computers at home.

David’s parents find out via his computer history that he took part in viewing this webcast. Even though David came across this webcast by accident, he didn’t call the cops or anything to report what he was seeing; he just watched it, the same as everyone else. His parents get in touch with his school therapist, who diagnoses David as “dissociative” and prescribes a very strange solution: a sort of living doll, created to be a companion to David and help him have become less dissociative. Of course, David sees this as a different kind of companion, and keeps interacting with it in hopes that it will eventually become a sex doll. This takes him a while, however, as Rose (the companion) is built with a reward-and-punishment system: good behaviour is rewarded, but bad behaviour (such as kissing before Rose is ready) is punished with an electric shock. Eventually, David gets to the point he wants with Rose, but is enraged by a discovery about her and sends her away. Enter Charlie, another dissociated boy who is very different from David. Rose connects with him, and they begin a friendship.

Girl Parts has some flaws, as most books do, but was an overall well-written book once you get into it. The ARC I was given describes the book as "hilarious", which I don't agree with. I went into this book expecting some sort of a comedy, but it was instead mostly serious. As for characters, they all came across the way they were meant to, I think: Rose was my favourite, gaining her own personality and feelings as the book went on, and coming-of-age in her own right. Charlie was nice and sweet, though a bit strange sometimes, and David was - well - a jerk.

The technology in the book was well-described, and it was a nice little satire of the age we live in today. A robot designed to help teens become more social? Ironic, but Cusick makes it work. The book was clearly well thought-out, and managed to give its message without cramming it down your throat.

The ending, however, left something to be desired. With the fates of the boys pretty much given to us (though still somewhat ambiguous), I was left wondering what happened to Rose. Will there be a sequel, or are we just supposed to forget about her? "Okay, we've explained what's happened to David and Charlie. Maybe they'll just forget about Rose."

A good book overall, with some reread value. But this isn't one that I'll keep I think - I have too many books that I like more that need a space on my shelf.

SCORE: 6.5/10
IF YOU LIKE: Flip (Martyn Bedford), Absolute Boyfriend (Yuu Watase)

The File on Angelyn Stark - Catherine Atkins

It's rare that I dislike the premise of a book. This is one of those cases. It's not that the whole thing was unenjoyable - that would be unfair to the author, and to the book. My problem is... well, you'll see what my problem is.

This book is about a girl named Angelyn Stark. Angelyn is a 15 year old girl who is a troublemaker, but has potential. Unfortunately, not many people see this potential in her - in fact, her support system is limited to about 5 people, two of which she is holding a grudge against, one of which she tries to avoid on a daily basis unless she has to, and her mother, who loves her because she's her daughter but doesn't treat her well all the time due to pressure from both her boyfriend and her job. Oh, and Angelyn's got a boyfriend who pressures her to have sex and deserts her when she refuses, and two wishy-washy friends who only like her because she's a delinquent, but they don't support her unless it's convenient for them.

That's one of my main problems with this book, actually - I know that teens face social problems all the time (I was a teenager, too!) but it seems improbable that EVERYONE at her school, with the exception of Jeni (who Angelyn makes fun of despite her being basically Angelyn's only friend at points), is a total and complete jerk. The school doesn't really seem to care about all of the bad things going on in the school, either; Angelyn's two 'sometime' friends get into fights and openly pick on other kids without any teachers or principals even bothering to step in.

The other problem I had with the book lies with the sheer amount of important plotlines in this book. Any one of these would have made a decent book on their own, but Ms. Atkins took all of her ideas and crammed them in one book. Angelyn has many problems going on in her life, you see. (Now's the time when I give a short list of them, so if you REALLY don't want any plot spoilers go past this part, but all of these are touched on very early in the novel)

1. Her stepfather/Mom's boyfriend is a jerk. He's not good for her mother, or for Angelyn. He is parasitic and oversteps his boundaries with both Angelyn and her Mom often. He is, quite simply put, a jerk.
2. Her boyfriend pressures her for sex, and expects a lot more from her. He's not a bad guy necessarily, but is under the impression that a 15-year-old girl should be putting out for her boyfriend if she doesn't want him to stray.
3. Her teacher, Mr. Rossi, is one of the few people who believes in Angelyn and thinks that she can make something of herself. Angelyn's friends think that he is in love with her, and Angelyn starts to blur the lines between student and teacher relationships.
4. When Angelyn was young, her neighbor and friend Nathan witnessed something between Angelyn and her stepfather. He claims that he saw the stepfather touching her - Angelyn claims that it was simply the way they were playing around. Since then, the Starks stand by the fact that Nathan (and his grandmother, who cared a lot for Angelyn as well) were lying about what they saw. Angelyn told the police that nothing happened... but Nathan and Angelyn can't both be telling the truth.

This book reminded me, in tone, to Prey by Lurlene McDaniel. However, where Lurlene's book was focused on just one of the subjects Catherine Atkins touches on, Angelyn Stark tries to cover a very broad range of topics all at once.

Not great, but not terrible. I wouldn't buy this one when it comes out in hardcover, but rather wait for the paperback or borrow it from the library. It's an easy read in the sense that the writing style isn't very difficult to understand, but the topics it covers might not be appropriate for the younger readers. The book isn't explicit or anything but the sheer amount of 'taboo' topics is a little overwhelming at times. This is the first book I've read by this author, and while I won't be running out to get her other books I wouldn't be against reading them.

SCORE: 5.5/10
IF YOU LIKE: Prey (Lurlene McDaniel), Alt Ed (Catherine Atkins)

Breakfast At Bloomingdale's - Kristen Kemp

I picked this book up a few years ago for something ridiculous like $2 on clearance. Given my giant backlog of books, it was inevitable that this book was going to get lost in the crazy mess I call my room. I forgot about it for so long - it was only while cleaning up recently I managed to find it again. I was looking for something light to read, and this seemed like just the kind of thing I needed.

The first thing couple of pages grabbed me immediately. The opening setting is not one that is used often in books: Upstate New York. (I know, I know, saying "upstate New York" is very vague. For native New Yorkers, "upstate" is anything that's not NYC or Long Island.) Specifically, the book opens in Queensbury, NY, a small city located north of Albany and Saratoga Springs in the Adirondack mountains. This is especially significant to me as my family has a summer cottage in the Adirondacks, and I often find myself in Queensbury. It was fun to read about a place that I have actually been to for once! :)

This didn't last long, though. Very early in the book, the heroine, Cat, moves to New York City to reinvent herself as a fashion designer. She has a dream to accomplish, one that she once shared with her recently deceased grandmother: sell her Audrey Hepburn-inspired clothing line, Breakfast, in Bloomingdale's.

Of course, this doesn't go as easily as Cat would hope. She meets a group of people who redefine the word 'eclectic', including the book's love interest: a hot guy who happens to moonlight as a clown.

This was a very funny, fast read, though it did lose me at times. In a nutshell, this book is about fashion. While you don't have to necessarily be a designer to understand this book, I imagine it certainly would help. I have an appreciation for fashion but know next to nothing about sewing and how clothes are created. There were many scenes in this book describing how exactly Cat is creating the clothes; I imagine the author either researched this book a lot or has worked in fashion. Picturing some of these outfits in my head, especially those made by the people Cat is working alongside, was a chore at times.

Overall, though, I did enjoy this book. While it was not the best book I have read this year, month, or even week, it was still fun and fast. I didn't LOVE this book, but I did like it. It didn't bring anything new to the table... but that's exactly what I was expecting. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has a passing interest in fashion.

SCORE: 7/10
IF YOU LIKE: The Daughters (Joanna Philbin), Ripped At The Seams (Nancy Krulik)

13 Little Blue Envelopes - Maureen Johnson

I just read a FANTASTIC book. It took me less than a day to read it from cover to cover, and I just couldn't put it down.

It's called 13 Little Blue Envelopes and it's by Maureen Johnson. I've never read any of Johnson's books before, though I've certainly seen them around. I was drawn in by the cover - I know, I know, I'm bad - but in this case, it was a good decision on my part!

The story is about Ginny, a girl who just lives life day by day and doesn't take any risks. She receives a letter from her dead Aunt Peg who, years ago, ran away to Europe and only kept in touch through a series of postcards and letters. In the letter, there are 13 smaller, blue envelopes. Peg gives Ginny a challenge, of sorts: open each letter one by one. The first can be opened on the plane, but the rest can only be opened upon successful completion of the previous letter. They must be done in order. There are some rules Ginny has to follow:

* Rule #1:
You may bring only what fits in your backpack. Don't try to fake it with a purse or a carry-on.
* Rule #2:
You may not bring guidebooks, phrase books, or any kind of foreign language aid. And no journals.
* Rule #3:
You cannot bring extra money or credit/debit cards, traveler's checks, etc. I'll take care of all that.
* Rule #4:
No electronic crutches. This means no laptop, no cell phone, no music, and no camera. You can't call home or communicate with people in the U.S. by Internet or telephone. Postcards and letters are acceptable and encouraged.

And so, Ginny gets on a plane and begins the single most exciting journey of her life. As she travels from country to country, completing the letters, she meets new people and finally starts coming out of her shell.

Now, I'm not going to tell you guys exactly where she goes, or what she does there. That defeats the purpose of the book - you find out, with Ginny, the locations and tasks and have to piece together the mystery surrounding Aunt Peg, and the people she came across in her journeys.

This book is a must-read. It's not paranormal, the kind of book I most like to read, but I found myself getting more into it than most books I've read in a while. One of the best parts of this book (in my opinion) is Keith, a boy she meets early on in London and gets a bit of a crush on. Keith is funny, smart, but also a bit messed up in his own way. Johnson nailed the accent on him, too - as I read, I heard his voice talking with an accent in my head! I've read some criticisms about Keith, with people saying that they didn't like the way he acted, and thought he could have been better written. I don't think so - yes, he has flaws, but doesn't everyone? I was actually a fan of him; he wasn't perfect, and he didn't treat Ginny perfectly all the time, but guys aren't perfect. I actually think that Johnson did a good job making him feel like a real person.

The only downside to this book, really, was the inclusion of a group of Australians later on in the book. I found that they didn't really do much to push the story along, were added in very quickly, and weren't that interesting. Had Johnson spent more time developing these characters I might have liked them, but I felt like they were kind of one-dimensional (filler, in a way).

If you can get past the fact that the story is about a girl who, at 17, is allowed to go off to Europe on her own (it happens all the time here, but we finish high school while we're 17) then I highly suggest you read this one.

I'm so excited that there's going to be a sequel - it comes out April 26th! Be sure to pick this one up now and read it before the next one comes out! :)

SCORE: 9/10
IF YOU LIKE: Paper Towns (John Green), Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Rachel Cohn)