Crash Review

I've been a Lisa McMann fan for a fairly long time now. There hasn't been a YA book of hers I haven't really liked. Unfortunately I think Crash is the first.

Jules keeps seeing a vision of a car crash play out on a billboard. Not just any crash--a plow crashing into her family's rival restaurant. So when she tries to tell Sawyer, the employee/son/Jules longtime love, he blows her off. But the visions just get more and more intense. Jules is beginning to think she's crazy, like her depressed hoarder dad, or her grandfather that committed suicide. But what if she's not?

Frankly I just felt like McMann went around in circles throughout the book. The first half is just Jules going, "oh no, what does it mean, why me, am I crazy," and such. Yeah, I get it. Move along please.

I would've much rather McMann focus more on the family element of this book. She created some nice characters in Trey and Rowan, and the line of depression in her family added an element of urgency to the story. I would've liked to have more of that than wondering what was going on for 150 pages and swooning over Sawyer, who didn't seem like he was that great.

Anyway, there wasn't many fantastic things about Crash, and it was all very average in the end. However, I will say that I found myself very invested at the climax of the story. So I guess it did something right that I was unaware of.

Plot: Meh. Could've been great but was just a lot of filler for book 2.

Characters: I loved her siblings.

Writing: Not bad.

Ending: After the climax, everything got very over-dramatic.

Content: Some swearing and mentions of sex.

Overall:

Meh.

People seem to be split 50/50 on this book. I am part of the 50 that was unimpressed.

I received my copy as a surprise from SimonTeen for review. Thanks!

More Please: Quirky Characters

YA is full of diverse family lives: dead parents, alive parents, divorced parents, straight parents, gay parents, adopted parents, one sibling, dead sibling...you get the idea.

But in my opinion what we need more of are crazy/quirky families that make me laugh and wonder why humans are actually so dull. Like the characters in Arrested Development.

Maybe not even quirky families. Why not just quirky friends? Yes, guys, I am ready for some more comedy in my books. It's almost exclusively what I watch these days and I love it. Mostly for these weird characters I keep talking about.

Some books I can think of that have characters like these: The Raven Boys, Welcome Caller This Is Chloe, Past Perfect, Swim The Fly...and...well, that's all I can think of. What are some of your favorite books with crazy fun characters? Give me recommendations!

Waiting on Wednesday (5/15/13)

Max would follow Sadie anywhere, so when Sadie decides to ditch her problems and escape to Nebraska for the summer, it’s only natural for Max to go along. She is Sadie’s confidante, her protector, and her best friend. This summer will be all about them. This summer will be perfect. 

But that’s before they meet Dylan. 

Dylan is dangerous and intoxicating, and he awakens something in Max that she never knew existed. No matter how much she wants to, she can’t back away. 

But Sadie has her own intensity, and has never allowed Max to become close with anyone else. And Max doesn’t know who she is without Sadie. 

There are some problems you just can’t escape.

Coming out on June 4th!

Enclave Audiobook Review

WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE  

In Deuce's world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed 'brat' has trained into one of three groups-Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember. As a Huntress, her purpose is clear--to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She's worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing's going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce's troubles are just beginning. Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn't like following orders. At first she thinks he's crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don't always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling the truth. Her partner confuses her; she's never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using his knives with feral grace. As Deuce's perception shifts, so does the balance in the constant battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat only due to their sheer numbers, show signs of cunning and strategy... but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. Despite imminent disaster, the enclave puts their faith in strictures and sacrifice instead. No matter how she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she's ever known.

OK, first let's get something out of the way. Deuce. Her name is Deuce. And it's pronounced the way a crude person may use when describing his fecal matter. I swear, every time someone said Deuce's name I chuckled.

I cannot decide if this is the best name ever thought up, or the worst. Anyways, onto the review.

After hearing some mixed things about Enclave, I went into it cautious and not quite sure what to expect. Apparently I should've listened to my instincts in this case, because this book was just not for me.

It is not that Enclave has giant horrendous flaws. It's not that I hated it. It's just that's so shockingly average that I didn't feel anything towards it. Enclave follows the basic formula of basic dystopian YA hitting the shelves today with some zombies thrown in to make up for the lackluster world that I never could picture clearly or really bought, despite some serious info-dumping.

The characters can fight, I'll give them that. I'll also say that Aguirre's fight scenes seemed to be where her writing shone. But in the end I felt no connection to this story or these characters, and I don't think I'm interested in reading the sequel.

Emily Bauer narrated the audiobook, and she's okay. She's definitely not the worst narrator I've ever heard, but her voice does get kind of squeaky sometimes, and she has a tendency to shout whenever things get physically or mentally intense for Deuce. 

Plot: Average.

Characters: Average.

Writing: Average.

Ending: Interesting, actually. I'm not sure how that will play out in book two.

Content: A bit edgy, but nothing shocking.

Overall:

Not for me.

Plenty of people have loved this. But I just...didn't. Maybe it was the book, or the narrator, or maybe it was me. I guess I'll never know.

I received this for review from the publicist. Thanks! And sorry this review took forever.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Review

“I wanted to tell them that I'd never had a friend, not ever, not a real one. Until Dante. I wanted to tell them that I never knew that people like Dante existed in the world, people who looked at the stars, and knew the mysteries of water, and knew enough to know that birds belonged to the heavens and weren't meant to be shot down from their graceful flights by mean and stupid boys. I wanted to tell them that he had changed my life and that I would never be the same, not ever. And that somehow it felt like it was Dante who had saved my life and not the other way around. I wanted to tell them that he was the first human being aside from my mother who had ever made me want to talk about the things that scared me. I wanted to tell them so many things and yet I didn't have the words. So I just stupidly repeated myself. "Dante's my friend.” 

When I first went into Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, I was hesitant. I ended up being very pleasantly surprised.

It's the late 80's. Aristotle's brother is in prison, for reasons he doesn't know. He finds himself either angry or wallowing most of the time for reasons he doesn't feel like talking about. Enter Dante, his first real friend. Together, the boys brave dangerous accidents, misadventures with girls, first jobs, and discovering the answers to secrets that have haunted them for their entire lives.

It sounds like a very simple premise, but when you're actually reading it, it feels much more complicated. Saenz's prose has way of captivating you during even the most mundane moments of these character's lives.

And oh boy, these characters. They were so sad sometimes, and they were so realistic. I ached for Dante and Aristotle, and even their parents. Especially Ari's dad, whose live was haunted more than Ari's.

There's not a lot you can really say about a book like this. It holds a certain magic and you don't really want to spoil it for anyone, you know? So I'll leave you with this: you should read this book.

Plot: A bit slow at times, but it's mainly driven by the...

Characters: Ha! See what I did there! Anyway the characters were good.

Writing: Gorgeous.

Ending: At first I thought it was a cop-out, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. So yes, great ending.

Content: Drugs, drinking, some swearing, and mentions of sex.

Overall:

A wonderful novel worthy of all the praise it's been getting. A much read for fans of Perks of Being a Wallflower, and other melancholy realistic YA.

Will You Still See My Posts?

Google Reader, if you haven't heard, is dying. According to the little thingy on the side of my blog, this is the way that most of you "follow" me. And I would love to keep you all as readers. So, what can you do to keep up with my blog?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Follow me on Twitter

Follow my blog on Facebook

Follow the blog through Feedly

And there are links on my sidebar to subscribe via email, feedburner, Linky Followers, and NetworkedBlogs!

I'm playing around with Bloglovin right now, and so far I really like it! But of course feel free to follow whatever way. Or, you know, not. It's your life. Though I would appreciate it.

What are you planning to use now that Google Reader is extinct?

Books I Want to Read This Year

You know those books that you feel that you've wanted to read for just about forever? The ones you keep putting off for reasons you can't accurately identify? I have a long list of those. Recently I've knocked a few books off that list (more specifically, The Book Thief and The Princess Bride) and it's made me realize that I am tired of putting these books off. So in the hope that my blog readers will hold me accountable, I am posting a list here of books I want to read by the end of this year.

Fight Club
The Catcher in the Rye
Cat's Cradle
Peter Pan
Ballads of Suburbia
Into The Wild
The Sky Is Everywhere

Any others that you think should be bumped up?