A Sweet Disorder - Jacqueline Kolosov

A Sweet Disorder is another one of those books I picked up for cheap simply because the cover looked pretty. I've always wanted to get into historical fiction, but every time I try to pick one up I find myself not being able to get into the setting or the style of writing. Movies are a completely different thing for me - I love movies like The Other Boleyn Girl. The books, however, I struggle with, and this one was no exception.

Once I got into the book (which took a few tries, let me tell you!) I found an enjoyable story about a teenager, Miranda, whose father dies suddenly. Because of this, her and her family are left in relative poverty with no dowry and no prospective suitors for Miranda. The man she was promised to, Henry, is forced by his family to pull out of their arranged marriage. With nowhere else to go, Miranda gets sent off to live with some distant family relations who prepare her for her final destination: the Court of Queen Elizabeth. Though she is going to court, the Countess of Turbury (her distant relation) is planning on marrying her off to a rich old man. This marriage will benefit both the Countess and Miranda's family, as the man is very wealthy and will be able to support them.

At court, Miranda is singled out for her sewing talents (How do I keep reading all these books about sewing and fashion?) and quickly becomes a favourite. This angers many of the other girls there, who would also like to be the favourites of the Queen and the court. Miranda realizes that this sewing talent may be her only way out of the marriage the Countess has arranged for her, and attempts to become a royal seamstress.

During this, Henry shows up at court. All the other girls would love to marry him, and many are very catty about it, willing to do anything to beat the competition and become his wife. Miranda, however, is still in love with Henry and (though she tries to hide it) finds herself drawn to him.

The main gripe I have with this book is the characters. Aside from Miranda, many of the ones that we were supposed to care about seemed like stock characters. For example, there was a small amount of character development on Henry, but for the most part he just played the 'gorgeous unattainable guy' stereotype and was very wooden. One of the antagonists in the book, a girl who wants to marry Henry, seems to have little to no motivation aside from wanting to marry Henry. Other characters showed promise, such as Chidiock Kyd. However, after a great introduction and development, Kyd only showed up again near the end of the book.

The dialogue didn't always feel real, especially for a historical book. I imagine it must be very difficult to write using language and sentence structure that isn't what we're used to today, but sometimes the lines coming from the character's mouths didn't seem consistent with the setting and events. I found that Miranda's thinking was sometimes a little ahead of her time as well. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I definitely would have changed the ending (which was predictable) and given other characters like Kyd and Elizabeth I their time to shine.

SCORE: 6.8/10
IF YOU LIKE: The Red Queen's Daughter (Jacqueline Kolosov), The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory)

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)