Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Otherworldlies by Jennifer Anne Kogler

Summary:(from book jacket). Fern will never pass for normal again. Fern communicates with her dog, blisters from just moments in the sun, and has correctly predicted the daily weather for more than two years. Even so, she's always seemed to be a normal twelve year old girl... until one day when Fern closes her eyes in class and opens them seconds later on a sandy beach miles away from school. When Fern disappears again, this time to a place far more dangerous, she begins to realize exactly how different she is. With the help of her twin brother Sam, Fern struggles to gain control of her supernatural powers. The arrival of a sinister vampire in town- who seems to have an alarming interest in Fern's powers- causes Fern to question her true identity. Who is she? More importantly, who can she count on? Soon Fern finds herself in the middle of a centuries old battle- one that could endanger everyone she loves. Review: I liked this book. It was an entertaining story and kept me hooked until I was done. It was a unique storyline for this type of story that kept it exciting. Even though, some parts of the plot were a little bit predictable I didn't think it took away from the story. The plot was a little slow in parts but no so much that I was bored. I was excited to find out that there is going to be a sequel. This book is good and although it's not very action packed or intense it was still a good read.
   I really liked the characters in the story. I thought Fern and Sam were both really awesome characters. They both seemed so real and it had me rooting for them throughout the book. Also, because I seem to have a habit of liking the secondary characters the most I also liked Mr. Kimble. I can't really explain why but I did. My only problem with the characters was the fact that they were so young. throughout the book I kept forgetting about the fact that Sam and Fern were twelve. They came across as being older than that and i had to keep reminding myself that they were so young. Of course, this could also be because I am so used to reading about characters in hish school.
   I think anyone who wants to read a entertaining fantasy story give this a try.

Friday, October 22, 2010

How to (Un)cage a Girls by Francesca Lia Block

Summary: (from book jacket) The pain of wanting to fit in. The joy of being consumed by love. The shame of not feeling at home in your body. The strength of learning your beautiful. These are moments that every girl knows...for they are part of growing up, of uncaging yourself, form your childhood, your environment, your view of yourself. Francesca Lia Block follows the journey from girlhood to womanhood in this three part poetry collection that channels girls' innermost feelings and experiences and celebrates women everywhere. It is a call to embrace the girl within, to heal her and set her free.
Review: This book is really great. All the poems in the book really send the message of loving yourself for who you are and seeing beauty in yourself no matter what. I liked that because it doesn't seem to be a theme that is seen to often in ya books. This book is really short(only 119 pages) so I read it in a day. I really enjoyed the entire thing. my only problem was that the way some of the poems were laid out made it kind of hard to understand. There was no punctuation throughout most of it so some of the sentences were kind of hard to separate from each other. I also really would have liked to see this turn into more of a story. This subject is something that is really a problem for a lot of girls and showing a character go through that would be really great. I'm not complaing about this book necessarily but in genaerl it would be a good idea. i would recomend this book to every teenage gril who has a problem with seeing themsleves as beautiful.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Zombies Vs. Unicorns - Multiple Authors

Summary: (from book jacket). Which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? Justine Larbalester says that zombies are our own walking deaths, they cannot be escaped. Unicorns are sparkly and pastel and fart rainbows. Holly Black says that unicorns are healers, arbiters of justice, and occasionally, majestic man-killers. Zombies drool and shed and probably carry diseases. Some of today's finest writers have chosen their side, creating dazzling stories about both creatures. So read on and decide for yourself: Are you Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?
Review: I liked this book. The concept behind it was really entertaining and some of my favorite authors wrote stories in it which made me like it even more. This book also introduced to a few new authors and that's always a good thing. The book alternates between zombie and unicorn stories which kept it entertaining. I also liked the commentary before each story by Justine and Holly. Each was trying to advocate for their own team. I'm not going to go into a really detailed review of this book But I have to say my favorite Zombie story was Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson and my favorite unicorn story was Purity Test by Naomi Novik. I can also say that after reading this I am on Team Zombie. Anyone who wants in on the debate should defiantly read this book.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

This review may contain spoilers of previous books in the series.
Summary: (from book jacket) Hunter. Autumn. Summer. Different homes. Different guardians. Different last names. Different lives. But there is one person who binds them together. Kristina. Nineteen years after Kristina Snow met the monster- crank- her children are reeling from the consequences of her decisions. Instead of one big, happy family, they are a desperate tangle of scattered lives united by anger, doubt and fear. A predisposition to addiction and a sense of emptiness where a mother's love should be leads all three down the road of their mother's notorious legacy. Sex, drugs alcohol, abuse- there is more of Kristina in her children than they would ever like to believe. But when the thread that ties them together brings them face to face, they'll discover something powerful in each other and in themselves- the trust,the hope, the courage to begin to break the cycle.
Review: This book was really great. It was a great ending to an eye opening look at addiction that this series has become.
 I really liked the fact that this book is told from the perspective of Kristina's three oldest children. Instead of showing the way addiction affects the use ,as she does in Crank and Glass, Hopkins chose to show the ways that addiction affects the people who are close to the user. I thought it was a fitting end to the series and enjoyed viewing the problem from another perspective.
  I also liked the fact that readers get to see where all the characters form Crank and Glass ended up after nineteen years. Hopkins writes brief newspaper articles throughout the book to tell where various characters that don't really have a part in the story have ended up and what they have done with there lives. I liked slowly putting together the pieces of the puzzle and seeing how everyone fits together. I also really liked the way it ended. the ending was slightly open ended and it left me to imagine the ways Kristina's children will continue to fight to break the cycle of addiction.
 This book is a fitting end to this series. I recommend this series  to anyone who wants a to read a story of the ways that meth addiction affects the user and the people closest to them.