Review - Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters

Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters

Series: Standalone

Published by Little, Brown and Company on May 4 2005

Genres: contemporary, young adult, LGBT

Pages: 250

Rating: 4/5

With a steady boyfriend, the position of Student Council President, and a chance to go to an Ivy League college, high school life is just fine for Holland Jaeger. At least it seems to be. But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship? This moving love story between two girls is a worthy successor to Nancy Garden's classic young adult coming out novel, Annie on My Mind. With her characteristic humor and breezy style, Peters has captured the compelling emotions of young love.

As you may or may not have noticed, I read pretty much any and every lesbian YA novel that comes my way. Because I can. This one has been on my radar for years – I mean, Julie Anne Peters is a mainstay of queer YA contemporaries, and this is one of her more popular books. Possibly the most popular? I’m not too sure. Regardless, there is a distinctly familiar tone to this book that leads me to think that I may have read it in high school and completely forgotten doing so. It happens.

Keeping You a Secret isn’t the most creative book in the world, but it is an important book nonetheless. Given that it was published nearly ten years ago, I’m pretty impressed with it. I can’t say that I’d be pleased to read something with this plot if it were a new release, but I’ll get into that in a moment.

The main draw of Keeping You a Secret, in my opinion, is the relationships between its characters. To start out, we have the main character, Holland. Holland has a lot of very complicated relationships – her boyfriend, who feels more like an obligation than a pleasure; her friends, who are sometimes judgemental and with whom Holland doesn’t feel comfortable sharing her true feelings; her mom, newly remarried and suddenly preoccupied with a ‘new’ family; her stepsister, a Goth whom Holland just can’t relate to (not that she really wants to). What I really loved about this book was that it went beyond the conventions of a simple love story – while the blooming love between Holland and Cece takes center stage, there is much more going on in Holland’s life. She is constantly navigating how to manage her relationships without throwing things off balance.

Holland’s relationship with her mother is one of the best and hardest parts of this book. After a lot of sneaking around with Cece and trying to keep the lid on their relationship, Holland’s mother finds out in a not-so-ideal way. Her reaction is absolutely terrifying. Holland’s mom has the reaction that every gay child has nightmares about. It isn’t unexpected – upon meeting Cece for the first time, she demands that Holland stop being friends with her. Her homophobia isn’t well hidden, but it is still shocking to see how she treats her own daughter. Just thinking about it makes my eyes well up. I don’t want to give away the details, but Holland’s life is plunged into a low that most people cannot relate to. The sad truth is that Holland’s circumstances are all too common for LGBT youth with bigoted parents.

The issue I have with Keeping You a Secret is that it is very middle-of-the-road. I’ve read books worse, but I’ve also read many books that are much, much better. The writing is mediocre and simplistic, which is good for readability but bad for memorability. I was never completely immersed in the story, mostly due to the fact that it was very formulaic and clichéd in many ways. I also found Cece to be a rather two-dimensional love interest, which was off-putting and disappointing. As I said before, I think that this is a very important book, but there are better LGBT YA books out there (Malinda Lo’s books are marvellous, The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth is wonderful, I’ve heard very great things about Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour, even Peters’ newest release Lies My Girlfriend Told Me sounds more innovative).

If like me you’re someone who devours every book about queer teenage girls that you can find, this one is worth reading, but if you’re less passionate about the subject, this might be one to skip.

Review - How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Came by Sarah Strohmeyer

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer

Series: Standalone

Published by Balzer + Bray on April 23 2013

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want? 

Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money. 

Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?

This is a difficult review to write simply because a lot of time has passed since I read this book and it honestly hasn’t left a very strong impression on me. I remember most of the events of the book, but it didn’t elicit a single strong emotion from start to finish. I wasn’t expecting How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True to be an earth-shattering, life-changing book, but I did expect a little bit more gravity and impact than what I received.

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True follows cousins Zoe and Jess as they spend the summer between eleventh and twelfth grade (AKA junior and senior year if you’re American) interning at a fairy-tale theme park in New Jersey. The relationship between Zoe and Jess was rather refreshing in that they have been best friends practically since birth and they are absolutely, entirely supportive of each other in every way. These girls have a friendship to be envied. The only problem is that they are both itching to receive the $25,000 cash prize given to two exemplary interns at the end of each summer: one girl and one boy. Zoe needs the money to pay off medical bills, while Jess needs it due to her parents financial crisis and its effect on her dream of attending NYU. The solution to this problem is kind of cheesy and all too convenient, but it fits the book. This book is very much about fairy-tale endings and happily ever afters, and while that may bother the more cynical readers (re: me), it isn’t entirely a bad thing. It can be nice to see everything turn out okay in the end every now and then.

The romance in How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True is pretty predictable, but cute. It’s misdirected by a crush on a not-so-nice guy and Zoe spends a large portion of the book completely blind to Noah’s charms. The scene at the lake/pond (I have the worst memory!) was adorable. So sweet.

The part of the book I struggled the most with was Zoe’s job. She was basically an assistant, even though that’s clearly not what she signed up for, and she did her job almost entirely without complaint despite the fact that the Queen, who I think is supposed to be like the park manager, was legitimately insane. I wouldn’t have made it two days in that job, especially given that it was completely unexpected. It bothered me that the Queen never seemed to be doing any real work. She had serious entitlement issues and I found myself spending most of the book longing to punch her in the ovaries. It just didn’t add up that this park could be run by one inept crazy woman and a bunch of teenagers (plus some security guards who didn’t really seem to care about their jobs at all). It was very unbelievable that a park could have any semblance of efficiency with such a flawed employee framework. It annoyed me and honestly affected my enjoyment of the book. I don’t like when things don’t make sense.

Honestly, I probably won’t read any more of Sarah Strohmeyer’s books. This one was the only one that really interested me, and it was a fluffy heap of cotton candy of a book, which I’ll repeat, isn’t always a bad thing. It just didn’t work for me. I think that has a lot to do with target audience – I kind of felt like Strohmeyer was dumbing her book down in a way. Maybe not even intentionally, but it still gave me a sense that there was something missing.

Review - The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Series: Standalone

Published by Penguin Books on June 24 2014

Genres: Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

Pages: 464

Rating: 3/5 stars

Another New York Times bestseller by the author of Me Before You—a spellbinding story of two women united in their fight for what they love most 

Jojo Moyes’s word-of-mouth bestseller, Me Before You, catapulted her to wide critical acclaim and struck a chord with a wide range of readers everywhere. Now, with The Girl You Left Behind, Moyes returns with another irresistible heartbreaker—a breathtaking story of love, loss, and sacrifice told with her signature ability to capture our hearts. 

Paris, 1916. Sophie Lefèvre must keep her family safe while her adored husband, Édouard, fights at the front. When their town falls to the Germans in the midst of World War I, Sophie is forced to serve them every evening at her hotel. From the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait—painted by her artist husband—a dangerous obsession is born, one that will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision. Almost a century later, Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before his sudden death. After a chance encounter reveals the portrait’s true worth, a battle begins over its troubled history and Liv’s world is turned upside all over again.

The Girl You Left Behind is a book I normally wouldn’t gravitate towards. I picked it up because it was the only book in the ferry gift shop that looked decent, and I was desperate for a book (I’d finished the book I brought in the car & my e-reader was dead!). I’ve heard a lot of praise for Jojo Moyes’ books and thought I’d give this one a shot.

I must say right off the bat that I just didn’t love this book. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t realise when I started that the majority of the book was devoted to the contemporary story line. I just didn’t connect with Liv and I wish the entire book had just been Sophie’s story. I loved the glimpse into life in a small French village under German occupation during WWI. It was fascinating. How could I possibly not love Sophie after that pig scene at the very beginning of the book? She was clever and stubborn and independent.

I found Liv rather unsympathetic. I understood that she was in a poor state of mind following her husband’s death, but I just thought she was whiny and irritating. She has come to be the owner of a very special painting (the connection between her story and Sophie’s) bought by her and her late husband on their honeymoon. This painting becomes part of a restitution case, as descendants of Edouard LeFevre (Sophie’s husband) claim that it was stolen during the war and demand its return to its rightful owners. Liv doesn’t want to return the painting because of the emotional attachment that she has to it, and she also suspects that the family is pursuing the painting for all the wrong reasons. I agree that the LeFevres were assholes, but I don’t think that what Liv did was much better. She was holding onto the painting the same way that she was holding on to every little thing that reminded her of David – it was holding her back from any kind of future she could imagine.

The main issue I had with the modern day storyline was that there was so much emphasis on the romance between Liv and Paul. I just didn’t see the chemistry at all. I didn’t care about them. I didn’t really care about what happened to in the restitution case. The only person who I felt actually deserved that painting was Sophie, but she was long dead by that point. I think that this book would have been much more successful if Sophie’s story took up the majority of the bulk, while Liv’s romance and legal case took a backseat. 

ARC Review - Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

Series: Standalone

To Be Published by Algonquin Young Readers on Oct 7 2014

Genres: LGBT, Young Adult, Contemporary

Pages: 304

Rating: 4/5 stars

High-school junior Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is something of a relief. Her Persian heritage already makes her different from her classmates; if word got out that she liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when a sophisticated, beautiful new girl, Saskia, shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would, especially when it looks as if the attraction between them is mutual. Struggling to sort out her growing feelings and Saskia's confusing signals, Leila confides in her old friend, Lisa, and grows closer to her fellow drama tech-crew members, especially Tomas, whose comments about his own sexuality are frank, funny, wise, and sometimes painful. Gradually, Leila begins to see that almost all her classmates are more complicated than they first appear to be, and many are keeping fascinating secrets of their own.

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This is one of the most enjoyable F/F romances I’ve read this year (and I’ve read quite a few). To tell you exactly how enjoyable it is, I shall paint you a little word-picture. Me, sitting on a rather uncomfortably stiff forest green couch in my mother’s living room. It is growing late, but I’m not in any hurry to go to bed. Instead, my eyes scan across the pages of the PDF document over and over again, for hours on end. The muted television does not even catch my gaze, I’m so enthralled by this adorable little book on my laptop screen. My laptop is hot on my legs, but I need to reach the end of the book. I can’t go to sleep until it’s done. Just a little bit longer…

I read this entire book in one rather lengthy sitting. I couldn’t open the document on my e-reader, which forced me to read it on my computer screen. Let me tell you, most of the time that is reason enough for me not to read a book, but once I got started with Farizan’s sophomore novel, I just couldn’t stop.

I’ll admit that it’s not a particularly original story – girl meets girl, girl has giant crush on girl, girl gets heart broken by other girl, etc. But I really liked the way that Farizan took a somewhat cliché story and put her own spin on it – partially through Leila’s Persian heritage and her somewhat difficult family, and through one of the cutest love interests ever.

It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that Saskia, as glamorous and incredible as Leila thinks she is, is bad news. She’s not a nice girl, and I wish that there had been more character development and background for what made Saskia the way she was. I was curious as to why she treated those around her like pawns, like she was the only real person and everyone else was collateral damage in the game of Saskia’s life. Part of the explanation for this limited look into Saskia’s life can be put on Laila’s narration, as she is without question a very self-involved teenager with a limited ability to put herself in others’ shoes. I really can’t blame her for it – she’s a sixteen year old girl. It’s normal for her to be self-involved. Aren’t most people at that age?

I think that Farizan’s writing style may not be for everyone, as her narrator came off as a bit young and immature and the writing was sometimes a bit simplistic, but I loved the jokes Laila told herself in her head. On page three is this gem: “Why would I ever care about frictionless acceleration anyway? How is that ever going to get me a girlfriend?” I make those kinds of jokes on a pretty much daily basis. I really related to Laila, though I’m much older and less insecure (now, at least. I was SO insecure as a teenager!).

I think what I liked most about this book was the fact that it was so fluffy. So often books about queer teenagers are so depressing, and it was nice to find a book with such an unequivocally happy ending. As Gwendoline Nelson (@writing_kills) said on Twitter, “Lots of good LGBT YA out there, but it’s pretty dark. If I want to read something light and fun, I have to read about straight people.” Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel was a lovely, much appreciated change of pace, and I’m very grateful for it. I was smiling so hard through the last three or four chapters that my cheeks started to hurt. It was a cute, sweet book and I’m definitely ready to read Farizan’s first book, If You Could Be Mine (which has been on my TBR since long before it was released over a year ago).

Review - Also Known As by Robin Benway

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Series: Also Known As #1

Published by Walker Books for Young Readers on February 26 2013

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Pages: 318

Rating: 3/5 stars

Which is more dangerous: being an international spy... or surviving high school? 

Maggie Silver has never minded her unusual life. Cracking safes for the world's premier spy organization and traveling the world with her insanely cool parents definitely beat high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. (If it's three digits, why bother locking it at all?) 

But when Maggie and her parents are sent to New York City for her first solo assignment, her world is transformed. Suddenly, she's attending a private school with hundreds of "mean girl" wannabes, trying to avoid the temptation to hack the school's elementary security system, and working to befriend the aggravatingly cute son of a potential national security threat... all while trying not to blow her cover. 

From the hilarious and poignant author of Audrey, Wait! comes a fast-paced caper that proves that even the world's greatest spies don't have a mission plan for love. 

Just what I need to do – start a new series. I was a big fan of Robin Benway’s first book Audrey, Wait!, which I read in high school, and I’m all about books about teenage spies so this book was a no brainer for me. I mean, it’s kind of like the Teletoon show Totally Spies, but as a book! And featuring only one teenage spy, not three! But I digress.

This book can be described with one word: cute. It’s not particularly hard hitting, or even incredibly memorable, but it was a fun read and I appreciated it for what it was. Let’s be real here, I wasn’t going into it looking for the next Second Chance Summer. I knew what I was signing myself up for with this book, and it didn’t disappoint.

Benway somehow manages to make the premise of the book entirely plausible. She makes everything look completely seamless. Kudos to Robin Benway for crafting not only an incredibly enjoyable book, but a book about teenage spies that nearly always makes sense. She managed to create a truly believable main character in Maggie. Sixteen year old Maggie has lived pretty much everywhere in the world (in fact, her family is not allowed within Luxembourg anymore), yet she’s never gone to high school. She doesn’t have any friends her own age – in fact, her only real friends are her parents and family friend and fellow spy Angelo. In the wrong hands, Maggie could be a very alienating main character. After all, I don’t know anyone who can relate to her life. But what makes Maggie special is that despite her fantastic and strange life, she’s a normal(ish) teenage girl. She is sometimes uncomfortable in her own skin. She’s in unfamiliar territory, and that’s something everyone can relate to.

The romance was incredibly sweet. When we first meet Jesse Oliver, he isn’t particularly impressive. This is mostly because we are introduced to him via a dossier, rather than in person. The first things we learn about Jesse are that he was arrested for shoplifting and that his family is incredibly wealthy. It’s safe to say that I was predisposed to disliking Jesse Oliver. But was I ever wrong. He’s a complete sweetie pie, and best of all there is no insta-love or love triangle to be found in this book! The romance between Maggie and Jesse is based not upon longing gazes but upon a shared sense of humour and common interests. And ice cream. Can’t forget that Cherry Garcia. Hurrah!

Even more impressive that Jesse Oliver is Maggie’s best friend Roux. I want need a Roux in my life. She’s pretty special, though I can’t quite find the words to express why or how. I suppose the best way to describe Roux would be complicated. She’s incredibly lonely and fights that loneliness with a lethal combination of biting humour and expensive wine in large quantities. She was hands down my favourite part of this book.

Another thing of note in Also Known As is the presence of Maggie’s parents. Maggie’s mom, a computer hacker, and her dad, a linguist, are spies like Maggie. Well, I suppose that should be Maggie is a spy like her parents, but alas that is not how I chose to word it. They’re pretty darn cool, but they never cross the line into being irresponsible. Sure, there’s the whole indoctrinating your only daughter into your spy lifestyle thing, but that’s beside the point. There is some tension between Maggie and her parents that most teenagers can relate to as they all try to adjust to their new roles – Maggie learning to act like a teenager while her parents learn how to be parents instead of friends and mentors. They have to learn how to treat Maggie like their daughter and not like a spy.

There are a lot of really great things in this book. I really enjoyed reading it, but unfortunately wasn’t totally blown away. It was a fun summer read, but it didn’t affect me enough to merit a higher rating. That said, I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for something light and breezy with a super cute romance.

Review - Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Series: Standalone

Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Younger Readers on May 4 2010

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Road Trip

Pages: 344

Rating: 4/5 stars

Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

I’m rather embarrassed that I waited four years (FOUR YEARS) to read this book. It isn’t that I didn’t think I’d like it – I know better. It’s a book about a road trip written by Morgan Matson. How could it possibly go wrong? Not to mention that it’s pretty much universally liked (not one of my Goodreads friends has rated it less than three stars, so there). It’s certainly not the best book I’ve ever read, but it was exactly what it claimed to be, what I expected it to be: a sweet, quick summer read.

Though the characterization wasn’t exceptional, it also wasn’t threadbare. I knew the characters motivations and I thought that I got a good glimpse into Amy’s head (and to a certain degree, Roger’s). I still don’t quite get what Roger’s deal was with his ex-girlfriend. He seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn’t get drawn in by her manic pixie dream girl charms. That said, I liked that he had his own reasons for wanting to go on this cross country road trip and that it wasn’t entirely a charitable act. Amy’s grief was also handled well, in my opinion. It was something that was constantly present in her life, but it wasn’t a total angst-fest. I didn’t really understand why she was so adamant that it was her fault, but I can see how grief twists logic into unrecognisable shapes. Reason can’t always overcome guilt.

I also enjoyed the minor characters we meet during the journey from California to Connecticut. (Sidebar: I did not know until this very moment that there were three c’s in Connecticut. I always thought it was Conneticut. What the fuck. I’ve read this word hundreds of times. How did I never notice this. My whole life has been a lie.) The side characters aren’t particularly fleshed out, and the mostly act as props for Amy and Roger, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. I was particularly enthralled by Roger’s college friend Bronwyn, and his ex’s brother. Like I said, these weren’t the most developed characters, but they were sweet. I liked them.

One of my favourite special features of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour is Roger’s playlists. They’re pretty fantastic. I mean, he has Ida Maria on the first one. I wish everyone had Roger’s (well, Morgan Matson’s…) taste in music. Because A+.

While there were some things that I didn’t quite love about this book, it left me with an overall favourable impression. I would have liked it to have a more solid ending (possibly a conversation between Amy and her mother, as that was a relationship that I really would have liked to have seen resolved to some extent), but on the whole it was a lovely book. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a light but not vapid summer read. It also inspired me to start saving money (in the fall) to do my own cross-Canada road trip next summer. Buuuut I suppose I have to get my driver’s license first! I’ll get right on that!

P.S. The Amelia Earhart part was my favourite part of the entire book. I know, I'm a weirdo.

Review - The Worst Girlfriend in the World by Sarra Manning

The Worst Girlfriend in the World by Sarra Manning

Series: Standalone

Published by Atom on May 1 2014

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

My best friend was now my deadliest enemy, the one person I'd hate beyond all measure for the rest of my life . . . 

Franny Barker's best friend, Alice, is the worst girlfriend in the world according to the many boys of Merrycliffe-on-Sea. She toys with them, then dumps them. But she'll never dump fashion-obsessed Franny. Nothing and no one can come between them.  

Not even tousle-haired rock god, Louis Allen, who Franny's been crushing on hard. Until Alice, bored with immature boys and jealous of Franny's new college friends, sets her sights on Louis. Suddenly, best friends are bitter rivals. 

Is winning Louis's heart worth more than their friendship? There's only one way for Franny to find out.

Sarra Manning has a gift for writing incredibly relatable characters. I have yet to dislike anything she has written, and I highly doubt I ever will. Because she writes really awesome books. The Worst Girlfriend in the World was no exception. I was so excited to read it, and I loved every moment of doing so.

I had a bad case of one-more-chapter syndrome while reading this. I picked it up around midnight one night and read nearly a quarter of it then and there, despite telling myself I’d read only one chapter or two. I was instantly drawn into Franny’s world and would happily have stayed there much longer.

Though there were moments when I desperately wanted to shake Franny and tell her to open her eyes and stop obsessing over somebody who clearly wasn’t worth her time (Louis), I completely understood her infatuation. I was exactly the same way in high school – idolizing people from afar because they intimidated me and there was nothing I feared more than rejection. For instance, I had a crush on a guy from grade nine to twelve (and beyond!) and I’m pretty sure we exchanged no more than three sentences during all that time. I mean, he was two years older and I didn’t see him as often after tenth grade, but you get the picture. So I totally related to that aspect of Franny’s life. We’re pretty much soul twins – I was obsessed with fashion (wanted to go to school to be a fashion merchandiser, not designer because I can’t draw AT ALL), had a best friend with an overbearing personality with whom I had a major falling out. The only thing I didn’t have in my high school life that Franny was blessed with is a Francis! I’m a big fan of Francis, and of the romance in this book on a whole. It wasn’t overbearing and was perfectly cute and slow burning and delightful.

Another important element of The Worst Girlfriend in the World is the titular character, Franny’s best friend Alice. Now, I can see how people could easily dislike Alice, but I just couldn’t. She was clearly so incredibly insecure and it just broke my heart. She pushed everyone away, with the exception of Franny, and when she felt that she was losing Franny she chose to push her away as well rather than let herself be vulnerable for once. I get that impulse, and I really loved Alice’s character arc. I also liked that we see both sides of Alice – we see the Alice that Franny has been best friends with since infanthood, but we also see the catty morally-unsound girl who is hated by every girl in and around her hometown. Honestly, I see Alice’s point re: other girls’ boyfriends. Maybe she takes it a little far, but her reasoning is logical.

All said, this was a really solid book. It was everything I expect of a Sarra Manning YA title, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. Yes, so bits were a bit cheesy and far-fetched (particularly the scene in London), but I’m willing to let that slide in light of the excellent writing, dialogue, and character development. I’m particularly impressed with the way that Manning wrote Louis and Alice, as it would have been too easy to make them clichéd and awful but she chose to make them different and totally plausible.

Review - The Summer I Wasn't Me by Jessica Verdi

The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi

Series: Standalone

Published by Sourcebooks Fire on April 1 2014

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT

Pages: 342

Rating: 3/5 stars

Lexi has a secret. 

She never meant for her mom to find out. And now she's afraid that what's left of her family is going to fall apart for good. 

Lexi knows she can fix everything. She can change. She can learn to like boys. New Horizons summer camp has promised to transform her life, and there's nothing she wants more than to start over. 

But sometimes love has its own path...

This book is essentially a cross between the (amazing) film But I’m a Cheerleader and Emily M. Danforth’s wonderful debut, The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Now, I’m generally not a fan of positing books as the lovechild of two other things, but the similarities cannot be avoided here. The first half of the book is almost identical to the set-up of But I’m a Cheerleader, particularly in the way that the degayifying camp works. For someone who has never seen the movie, this wouldn’t be a problem, but for someone who has it seems a little bit derivative.

The strongest part of The Summer I Wasn’t Me was definitely the characters. I felt like the four main teenagers – Lexi, Carolyn, Matthew, and Daniel – all made sense and were well-developed in their own ways. They were somewhat stereotypical, particularly Matthew, but it worked. The stereotypes were either built upon or subverted in some way throughout the narrative. I also loved that none of these characters were there just as supporting actors in the story of Lexi. They all had their own problems and their own issues to work through, and though Lexi was obviously the star of the book, the other characters were generally handled well. I do wish that there we learned more about their lives beyond the camp, which was a complaint I had about Lexi as well.

The one big problem I had with the characterization was the adults. Every single adult in this book is an asshole. With the exception of Carolyn’s parents (who we only hear about  and never meet), all of the adults or people in positions of power are incredibly bigoted for absolutely no reason. Not that there's ever a reason to be a bigot.

On this note, this book is very emotionally difficult to read. In all honesty, it should come with a trigger warning, because there are all sorts of unpleasant things going on here, not least of which is the rampant sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of the campers. It can be really hard to read sometimes. I know that if I were in Lexi’s position, I wouldn’t have made it through the first day without running away or getting kicked out. This place just isn’t reasonable. One of the ‘camp rules’ is that campers must obey their instructors at all times without asking questions. I would not be able to handle that.

I read this book in two sittings – a few hours before going to bed and a few more once I woke up the next morning, and it really sucked me in. I wanted to see justice for the emotional (and sometimes physical) torture that these teenagers were put through. I wanted to see Lexi realize that she is fine just the way she is, that she doesn’t need to change her sexuality to make her mother better. I wanted her to see that her mom’s well-being is not her responsibility, and that if her mom can’t bring herself to love her for who she is, it’s not her fault.

I found the ending of the book to be rushed and rather chaotic. I wanted a bit more closure than it offered – I wanted to see the consequences put into action, to see how Lexi and her mother could grow both individually and within their own relationship. I wanted to see more about Lexi going home, and how this experience changed her – not in the ways that the camp directors wanted it to, but it definitely changed her. There is no way that someone could go through what these teens went through and be unscathed at the end. Most of all I wanted to know what happened to Matthew – was he okay? Was he emotionally scarred by what happened or was he able to bounce back? Did his father apologize for what he put him through? There were a lot of unanswered questions, and I really needed a bit more to round everything out at the end. Another fifty or hundred pages would have really helped me out.

In all honesty, though this book was a quick read and it was relatively enjoyable, I would recommend you just go watch But I’m a Cheerleader and read The Miseducation of Cameron Post instead. Besides, the humour in But I’m a Cheerleader is amazing, and something that was very missed in The Summer I Wasn’t Me. Also, I really don't get (or like) the cover. It doesn't tell me a single thing about the book, nor does it look particularly intriguing.

Review - Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Series: Standalone

Published by Running Press Kids on May 28 2013

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Pages: 272

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Frenchie Garcia can’t come to grips with the death of Andy Cooper. Her friends didn’t know she had a crush him. And they don’t know she was the last person with him before he committed suicide. But Frenchie’s biggest concern is how she blindly helped him die that night. 

Frenchie’s already insane obsession with death and Emily Dickinson won’t help her understand the role she played during Andy’s “one night of adventure.” But when she meets Colin, she may have found the perfect opportunity to recreate that night. While exploring the emotional depth of loss and transition to adulthood, Sanchez’s sharp humor and clever observations bring forth a richly developed voice.

My decision to read this book was pretty shallow, I’ll admit: I was drawn to the simple, gorgeous cover and couldn’t look away. It was just SO BEAUTIFUL. It totally captivated me.

The thing about books with lovely covers is that sometimes the inside of the book is so very disappointing. DEATH, DICKINSON, AND THE DEMENTED LIFE OF FRENCHIE GARCIA was anything but disappointing. It was exactly what I needed when I needed it, and I am so happy to have read this book.

I actually read the book aloud for the first four chapters (it helps when I’m having trouble concentrating, okay) and couldn’t stop. I think I read the first five or six chapters late into the night, and then proceeded to finish the rest of the book promptly the next morning. It’s not a particularly long book, at just under 300 pages, and it flies by. I almost wanted it to be longer, just so that I could spend more time in Frenchie’s head.

On that note, can we just talk about Frenchie Garcia for a second? What a protagonist. She’s a truly complicated girl, and I was along for the ride from page one. She’s unlike any other protagonist I’ve encountered in my broad literary past. Frenchie shows signs of depression – pushing her friends away, lack of interest in any of her favourite hobbies or pastimes, the desire to spend all day in bed – but she is so much more than that. As her “unofficial third best friend” Robyn says, Frenchie can be a bit harsh. A bit “cold … prudish … uninviting … bitchy … snarky … evil ….” She doesn’t have many friends because, as Robyn attests, people are scared of her. And that doesn’t really bother Frenchie. She knows how people see her, and she’s okay with it for the most part. Frenchie is harbouring a secret that is eating away at her life: she was the last person to spend time with Andy Cooper before he committed suicide four months ago. But the most important thing about Frenchie is that she is so dynamic. She is moody and snarky and independent, but she is also needy and sad and so freaking lonely that it hurts even to think about. I get Frankie.

As Frenchie attempts to relive that fateful night with Andy (alongside new friend Colin), she learns a lot about both Andy and herself. It’s Frenchie’s self-discovery that really makes this book. It’s executed to perfection and I really felt for Frenchie every step of the way. She was a real person, which is pretty much the highest praise I can give a character. Another thing I really loved was her relationship with her best friend, Joel. Frenchie spends the book angry with Joel for his tendency to abandon her for whomever he happens to be dating at any given time. What I love about this is that Frenchie isn’t jealous because she has a thing for Joel – she’s jealous because he’s her best friend and he isn’t there for her when she needs him. She feels like his girlfriend is threatening their friendship. No one in this book is completely in the wrong, and Frenchie isn’t such a martyr herself. These are selfish teenagers who get so wrapped up in their personal dramas that they forget to check in on each other and make sure everyone else is doing okay. It sucks, but it’s normal. It’s natural for Joel to want to be happy with Lily, for his plans to change. It’s natural for Frenchie to long for stability in the upheaval she is experiencing. Everything makes total sense.

Another fabulous thing about DEATH, DICKINSON… is that there is minimal romance. I know what you’re thinking – almost all of the YA bloggers I know love themselves some romance. I’m not one of those people. I find it can be too contrived, and sometimes it just doesn’t seem necessary or important compared to everything else going on in the characters’ lives. In this case, there is a budding flirtation between Frenchie and Colin, but it really isn’t a priority. When Colin holds Frenchie’s hand it could be taken as romantic, but it could also be that he’s trying to show her that he’s there for her; he has her back. He respects that she may not be ready for or even thinking about getting into a relationship. She has bigger things going on in her life. Honestly, I didn’t really like Colin when he was first introduced, but goddamn did he grow on me. If I were to have a book crush, it would probably be on Colin. Just sayin’.

Last point: Diversity! Frenchie is (assumedly) Latina, though the only description I recall of her is that she has long black hair, and best friend Joel is described as half-black (and he has dreads! Swoon!). I loved that these characters were non-white, but that they were neither stereotypical nor was their existence wrapped up in their race or ethnicity. They were just people who happened not to be Caucasian. Yay!

Review - The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Series: Standalone

Published by Viking Juvenile on June 4 2013

Genres: young adult, contemporary

Pages: 435

Rating: 4/5 stars

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.
Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby. 

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby? 

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going? 

Sarah Dessen’s strong suit has always been characters, and she does not fail here. You’d think after so many books, she’d run out of steam eventually, but this is not that book. I haven’t related to a character the way that I relate to Emaline in a very long time. She may be a Type-A while I’m pretty laid back and carefree, but we have a lot more in common than I could have anticipated. This is primarily due to our shared strained relationships with our fathers. Like Emaline, I grew up in a (very) blended family with two older siblings and one younger. We were both raised by stepfathers who did a much better job at parenting than our biological fathers ever even attempted. Reading about Emaline’s conflicted feelings about her relationship with her father was like rehashing the last few years of my life.

While Emaline was clearly the best part of the novel for me, the supporting cast was all well-developed and interesting, as usual. The unusual relationship between Emaline’s best friends Daisy and Morris was particularly interesting, especially their decision to keep in touch via snail mail in the fall. It was a sweet relationship that I thought contrasted well with Emaline’s relationships with both Luke and Theo. They were both nice boys, but it was clear that personality-wise those relationships were doomed from the start. The vast differences between Emaline and Theo made for interesting events, and he was pretty adorable a lot of the time (I’m a sucker for unabashed enthusiasm) but I can see how his ambitious nature and desire for excess would conflict with Emaline’s less straight-forward worldview. I loved that the book ended with Emaline being single – it made sense for her. She needed to discover what she wanted, not what other people wanted for her. Also, it’s never a good idea to jump right from one committed relationship to another (in my opinion).

While not a plot-driven book, The Moon and More was swift-moving and captivating. Following the events of the summer after Emaline’s graduation from high school, there was enough going on at all times to keep the reader entertained without being overly involved. Between working for her family’s summer rental agency, boy drama, maintaining her friendships with Daisy and Morris, entertaining little brother Benji, and dealing with her tentative relationship with her father, Emaline is a very busy girl. This book is about her mental and emotional evolution into an independent young adult. I loved that it was about so much more than a summer romance.

The writing is just what this book called for, if that makes sense. It’s fluid and accessible, with a spattering of lovely turns of phrase. Like most contemporary YA, it relies more on dialogue and transitory action rather than description. And it does it well. Sarah Dessen has a lot of experiencing crafting contemporary YA, and she’s renowned for a reason. Her writing and stories are what other contemporary YA strives to; she’s the best of the best.

ARC Review - We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

Series: Standalone

Published by Wendy Lamb Books on May 27 2014

Genres: young adult, contemporary

Pages: 208

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Nell knows a secret about her perfect, beautiful sister Layla. If she tells, it could blow their world apart. 

When Nell and Layla were little, Nell used to call them Nellaya. Because to Nell, there was no difference between where she started and her adored big sister ended. They're a unit; divorce made them rely on each other early on, so when one pulls away, what is the other to do? But now, Nell's a freshman in high school and Layla is changing, secretive. And then Nell discovers why. Layla is involved with one of their teachers. And even though Nell tries to support Layla, to understand that she's happy and in love, Nell struggles with her true feelings: it's wrong, and she must do something about it.

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I love books about sisterhood, especially about when the bond between a pair of sisters who were once extremely close becomes strained. This is probably due to the fact that I’ve longed for a sister for as long as I can remember. Instead, I have three brothers. Yay.

            

The problem with a lot of books about this subject is that they have a tendency to be very boring if not handled properly. We Are the Goldens was handled properly.

            

The brevity of the book (it comes in at just over 200 pages and took only about three hours to read) really works for it. It was easy to become completely wrapped up in Nell and Layla’s tiny little world and I became attached to them very quickly. If the writing hadn’t been as powerful as it is, I believe that this book could have failed for me – not a lot really happens. It’s very introspective and character driven, and Nell and Layla are both beyond frustrating at times. I very rarely read about characters under the age of sixteen, but the narrator, Nell, is only fourteen (perhaps fifteen towards the end). She is a freshman in high school and I really thought that her lack of experience and inherent naivity would make me hate her, but I never did. I found that she had a voice that was much older than fourteen. She was believable and she often had bad judgement like most fourteen year old girls, but she was a refreshing narrator.

            

My biggest qualm with Nell was her undying loyalty to her sister. She knew that Layla was in trouble and she was the only person who could help her, but because Layla had begged her not to tell anyone, Nell chose not to tell. She seemed almost obsessed with Layla, with wanting Layla to love her again and to trust her. She so hated that her sister was drifting away from her, locking her out of her life. I understand that feeling, but it was still difficult to read as Layla became more and more secretive and reserved. Nell wasn’t doing her sister any favours by keeping her secrets.

           

We Are the Goldens is written as a kind of letter from Nell to Layla. As such, Nell almost always refers to Layla as ‘you’. It was a risky move, and it worked. I think that this book would have been far less powerful were it written in a traditional first person point of view. I really enjoyed the strange, not-quite-a-letter style in which it was told.

            

The ending was fairly predictable, though I can’t see any alternative way for it to have ended. I would have liked to see some of the fallout of Nell’s actions and how her and Layla’s relationship fared. I wonder if they could ever rebuild their friendship and how tortured Nell would feel in the meantime.

Verdict