Sorry, I Can't Read This Book Because The Cover Scares Me.

I have a thing with masks. Specifically, masks when they are on faces. So naturally I hate this cover with every fiber of my being.

And I think the cover for the sequel may be worse.

That is all.

Zelah Green: One More Little Problem Review

Author: Vanessa Curtis
Release date: December 2, 2011
Publisher: EgmontUK
Most appropriate for ages: 12+
Other titles in series: Zelah Green: Queen of Clean
How I got it: From publicist for review

My name is Zelah Green – and I’m still here.

Summer’s supposed to be good, right? But I’m stuck at home with a lousy laptop, stacks of homework to start and dad being more useless than ever. And then Caro turns up out of the blue, all heavy metal and piercings and attitude and my boring summer’s turned upside down. It’s like she knows just what to say to wind me up, sending my OCD right out of control...
----

If you'll remember, I found the first installment in the series to be charming, quirky, and unique. While I found One More Little Problem to be a little less great, I still enjoyed it a lot.

This may sound weird, but I LOVE how small these books are. Though I did feel if it had been just a tad longer we would've gotten to know Caro better (something I was really hoping for), overall the book's size didn't detract much from the story, and I love being able to read one of these in such a short amount of time.

Sometimes I felt like we didn't get as much spunk and quirk from Zelah that we did in the first book, but I was also intrigued by getting to watch Zelah go through her normal life with OCD instead of being a home trying to "fix" her problem. It was fascinating to watch her attempt to navigate through issues with her friends and family as well as tackle dating. (Though, honestly, I found the way she dated to be highly unrealistic.)

As a whole, I enjoyed Zelah Green: One More Little Problem, even if I thought a few kinks could've been worked out.

Plot: Interesting and different enough from the first book.

Characters: Zelah's wit seemed to be lacking, and I never felt like we got to know Caro as well as we could've.

Writing: Light and easy to read

Ending: Pretty awesome.

Kid friendly: There's some swearing, self-harming, smoking, and drinking.

Overall:

I'd flail my hand a little at anyone that tried to talk to me.

This series is fun but also interesting--and the result is pretty darn cool and thoroughly engrossing.

Top Ten Tuesday

Today's topic on Top Ten Tuesday is...well, top 10 books from whatever genre you want. So naturally, today my list is gonna be on my Top Ten Contemporary YAs.

1. Looking For Alaska, Paper Towns, and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Cheating, but I don't think I care.)
2. If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman
3. Saving June by Hannah Harrington
4. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
5. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
6. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
7. Pink by Lili Wilkinson
8. Anna and The French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
9. Past Perfect by Leila Sales
10. And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tribensky

Honorable mentions:

Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski
A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

What are some of your favorite contemporaries?

Waiting On Wednesday

This week there's only one unreleased book I'm lusting over, and that is:

Touching The Surface by Kimberly Sabatini 

Life altering mistakes are meant to alter lives…  

When Elliot dies for the third time, she knows this is her last shot. There are no fourth-timers in this afterlife, so one more chance is all she has to get things right. But before she can move on to her next life, Elliot will be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people she’s killed.  

As she pieces together the mistakes of her past, Elliot must earn the forgiveness of her best friend and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if it means losing them both forever. 

AFTERLIFE. DEATH. KILLING. THESE ARE ALL THINGS I LOVE TO READ ABOUT.

Griffin Rising Review

Author: Darby Karchut
Release Date: June 28, 2011
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
Most appropriate for ages: 12+
How I got it: For review from author 

For centuries, rumors have abounded of a lowly caste of supernatural beings known as the Terrae Angeli. Armed with the power to control Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, these warriors secretly serve as guardians for mortals in danger. 
But for one young angel-in-training, Griffin, life is hell as a cruel master makes his apprenticeship a nightmare. On the verge of failing, a new mentor, Basil, enters his life and changes it forever.  

Taking on the identity of father and son, Griffin and Basil forge a special bond where honesty and trust go hand in hand to secure Griffin’s destiny as a Terrae Angeli. Griffin’s belief in himself and the love of a mortal girl are the perfect combination in overcoming the darkest days of his life. But will it be enough for him to succeed?  

For Griffin, it’s time to angel up.

Griffin Rising had some interesting mythology and kept me engrossed enough to keep me reading, but I can't help but feel like this book was on its was to awesome things but just kinda missed the mark with one mild error after another.

I was not expecting a romance when I started Griffin Rising, but that's what I primarily got.
Not that I hated the romance or anything--I actually thought it was an honest portrayal of a teen relationship, even with the cheesiness (cause Teens In Love are the cheesiest, guys. Don't even get me started). BUT though I didn't mind the romance, I was far more interested in the supernatural element of the story and I can't help but wish we had gotten more of it, as well as some more conflict to keep the story moving along better, because it definitely dragged for me.

Griffin Rising's a mildly entertaining debut, and if Karchut loosens up her writing then I can see her becoming a great author. If you're in the market for a different spin on angels with a heavy romance, then maybe give Griffin Rising a try.

Plot: Interesting concept, but too much romance for me.
Characters: Pretty good.
Writing: Kind of stiff, but definitely not unbearably so. It wasn't bad.Ending: My favorite part! (Can't say anything without spoilers, though.)
Kid friendly? Yeah. There's some mild swearing and mentions of abuse, but nothing graphic.
Overall:
I'd be willing to stop reading this book for a conversation.
Griffin Rising was an interesting debut despite the flaws I found with it, but it didn't hold my attention for long periods of time, so I was able to put it down and talk to someone while in the middle of reading.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks Review

Author: E Lockhart
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Publisher: Hyperion
Most appropriate for ages: 12+
How I got it: Library 

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14: Debate Club. Her father’s “bunny rabbit.” A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school. 

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15: A knockout figure. A sharp tongue. A chip on her shoulder. And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.  

Frankie Laundau-Banks.No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer. Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society. Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places. Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them. When she knows Matthew’s lying to her. And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.  

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16: Possibly a criminal mastermind. 
This is the story of how she got that way.

I've read 3 out of 4 books in E. Lockhart's Ruby Oliver series, and while I liked them, I never found them to be worthy of shouting that they were AMAZEBALLS like so many have. But guys The Direputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is AMAZEBALLS. I loved every single second of it.

One of my favorite things about TDHOFLB is how smart it is. Its characters are smart, its writing is smart, and even the hardcover looks smart. E Lockhart doesn't talk down to her readers, nor make you read about stupid drunken idiots in an attempt to be edgy and cool. It was so nice.

Frankie is a stubborn, twisted, fantastic main character. She is hilarious and driven and empowering and makes up words and I cannot say enough good things about her. Between her growth and just her general awesomeness, she's easily one of my favorite characters ever.

Also, the PLOT was great. I was completely sucked in from very early on. I just had to see Frankie's next move and see how she became a "criminal mastermind" and GAH IT WAS JUST AWESOME.

TDHOFLB is not to be missed by fans of YA. It's got statues with bras, hot guys with secrets, basset hounds, feminist sisters, and everything else you could want in a book. This one is a Must Read for any self-proclaimed lover of YA.

Plot: Unique and completely absorbing. I couldn't stop reading.

Characters: Frankie is THE BOMB. All of the side characters were really nicely done, too.

Writing: Smart and just plain good.

Ending: Perfectperfectperfect.

Kid friendly: There was some making out and drinking, but not much more than that.

Overall:

I would yell "Shut up!" at anyone who attempted to talk to me while I read.

I seriously loved this book, guys. I need to get my own copy to put on my favorites shelf to reread over and over again.

Under The Never Sky Review

Author: Veronica Rossi
Release date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Most appropriate for ages: 12+
How I got it: For review through Netgalley

Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive. 

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

I am very weary of dystopias lately because:

• There's A LOT of them being released right now.
• It's been a long while since I've read one I reallyreally liked because
• I--quite honestly--feel like authors have gotten sloppy when writing with several elements, especially world-building.

Veronica Rossi's debut, however, had a decent enough world. But there were several things about Under The Never Sky that just didn't fit together and a huge lack of connection between me and this story.

Let's start with said "decent enough world." You've got your people who live in pods and can really only get out through some kind of (pretty awesome) virtual world. Great, cool! Then you've got your Outsiders, who for whatever reason, didn't make it into these pods. They live in tribes and their ways are old and sometimes barbaric. Great, cool! Then you add in super-powers and cannibals. Um, what? Where did that come from? So when I say "decent enough", it doesn't really mean "good", it means more along the lines of...okay.

Also, I think a big reason I couldn't get into UTNS was how disconnected I was to these characters. They weren't bad characters, but there was nothing unique or exciting about them, but they also weren't plain enough to be realistic. It didn't help URNS that its pacing was so not good.

Under The Never Sky was just simply not for me. This book definitely has found its fans though, as shown by countless positive reviews, so I feel like I'm in the minority here. If you're on a dystopian kick and you're looking for something kind of different, then maybe you should try Under The Never Sky...but if you don't like it, don't say I didn't warn you.

Plot: Unique, but also kind of weird, and it was paced very oddly.

Characters: Blah.

Writing: Easy to read.

Ending: Appropriate, but it didn't really make me NEED the second book.

Kid friendly: There's some killing and mentions of it, as well as sex.

Overall:

I was striking up conversations with people while reading.

This book was just not for me, and it never seemed to be able to hold my attention. Check it out and see if it's for you, though.