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)

Betwixt - Tara Bray Smith

It's pretty much a given for me that if a book is about teens and something paranormal, I'll read it, and probably love it. Bonus points to the book if it's already on sale, as this one was. This book was very intriguing even just from the dust jacket: one character seems to have a dark secret, one can make paintings come to life (what even??) and the third can see halos of light around those who will be dying soon. Immediately I started to speculate on what the plot would be about... Casters? Psychics? Something entirely new?

Well, I was partially right. This book is about fey, but the idea of what you know about fairies has been taken and twisted so much that it can hardly be called fey anymore. The book begins very promising, and the characters are introduced in a way that makes the reader want to continue discovering more about them. While some of the characters do posess powers, none of them know how to use them or why they even have them in the first place. The characters begin talking about a summer rave in the woods fairly early on in the book, and anyone can see that this is where their fates will start to be revealed.

And this is where the book began to lose me. For the first two hundred or so pages, we are given tiny teases of what lies ahead, but not much more. In fact, the first third of the book mostly revolves around the two main girls in the book planning throwing a party. This party serves as an introduction for other characters who will become more important later, but feels like a completely different book entirely. There are not many revelations made about the characters in this first part, and it feels somewhat like filler.

About 200 pages or so in, we finally make it to the secret rave in the woods. At almost 300 pages in, the main teenagers have finally left the party. Do you see where I'm going with this? The book definitely had its moments, but it seemed to drag on and on with not much direction until the very end. The climax definitely had me turning the pages to see what would happen next, but led to a very disappointing ending. Will there be a sequel? I'm not sure, and I'm not sure the author knows either. The ending feels like the ending of the first season of a television show: the writers want to make sure that all loose ends and major plot points are tied up, so that it has closure if the show is cancelled, but leave enough questions and "what ifs" so that a second season can be made if need be.

The book was confusing, and the plot could have been a lot better. Many portions of the book were very promising, and the powers that the teens had were for the most part very unique. However, the book dragged on, and felt more like a chore to read than I would have liked. Normally a book with a plot like this and of a similar length would take me about a day to read; this book took me over a week.

One last thing I'd like to mention: what's with the character names? Morgan D'Amici is normal, but the other two characters leave something to be desired. Nix Saint-Michael sounded like it was trying too hard to have a 'cool' name... I didn't like how the author shortened "Nick" to "Nix" for no reason. The one that bugged me the most, though, would have to be Ondine Mason. Ondine is a Latin name, I know, but it felt made-up to me. Who would name their daughter Ondine? There are much prettier names out there if you want to go for a mythological name that has some historical meaning to it. Really though, a parent is not going to name their daughter "Ondine" and their son Max. You either name your kids weird things, or you don't. Not to mention - the characters in the book were constantly commenting on how weird the names "Nix" and "Moth" (short for the character's last name, Motherwell) were. REALLY? Those are weird, but ONDINE isn't?

Anyways, /end rant. The book wasn't great, but it was somewhat readable if you really like the teen paranormal genre. Not recommended to the average reader, but if you're of the type who must read every book of the genre like I am, go for it. Just don't expect great things. If you go into it with lower expectations than I did, who knows... you might like it!

SCORE: 4.5/10
IF YOU LIKE: Wicked Lovely (Melissa Marr), Tithe (Holly Black)

The Other Side of the Island - Allegra Goodman

This is another one of those books that I picked up simply because it was a teen book, and cost only $2. I've been reading a lot of dystopian books lately, and this seemed like another good one to add to my collection.

Imagine a world where everything, from weather to school, jobs, and housing, is controlled by one person. This "Earth Mother", as she is called by the characters of the book, has slowly started controlling the world, island by island, after a flood. This was not just any old flood - it was a pretty major, earth-changing flood. Earth Mother decided that real weather is too Unpredictable. Unpredictable things can be dangerous, which instilled so much fear into the human race that people started fleeing to these controlled areas, where Earth Mother is regarded as a god of sorts, and all traces of old government and old religion are abolished. Earth Mother takes everything into her own hands - songs of praise are changed to worship her, books are not allowed to be owned in homes, drawing is forbidden, and portions of books are even changed (and only found at schools and libraries, of course) to fit with the new teachings.

While some people are essentially brainwashed and follow anything and everything Earth Mother/her government tells them to do, there are of course those who rebel. Bad things happen to people who rebel and are caught - they disappear forever. Honor's parents happen to be rebels to Earth Mother's plan.

I wasn't blown away by this book or anything, but I did enjoy it and read through it in one sitting. The story was somewhat predictable, but that didn't take away from the experience at all. While I had theories on what was going to happen and where Honor's parents were, I was glued to the book waiting to figure out if I was right or wrong.

One interesting thing to note is that Honor's age changes as the book progresses. She begins at a younger age (10) which was a bit strange for me to get used to, as I normally read books with much older protagonists. However, the book spans a number of years as Honor grows and learns more about the world and forms her own opinion of Earth Mother. I thought this was a nice touch, as it isn't something I've encountered often in my readings.

An interesting read that goes beyond your typical "teen wants to fit in" plotline. If you're looking for something dystopian but fresh, I would recommend this one. It's not your typical teen book by any means, and it lags at parts, but the author has created a compelling world.

SCORE: 7/10
IF YOU LIKE: The Sky Inside (Clare Dunkle), Floodland (Marcus Sedgwick)