Showing posts with label YA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YA. Show all posts
07 November 2011
REVIEW: Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
lola
and the boy next door
Stephanie Perkins
ISBN #: 978-0-525-42328-7
Publisher
Name: Penguin Group/Dutton Books
Date Released: September 2011
Genre: YA
BACK COVER BLURB:
Budding
designer Lola Nolan doesn't believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume.
The more expressive the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But
even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend
with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right
down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and
Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When
Cricket—a gifted inventor—steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into
Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next
door.
COVER SNARK:
This
is actually a very pretty, intriguing cover. I would definitely pause as I
passed it while shopping and pick up the book to read the back cover blurb.
FIRST LINES:
I have three simple wishes. They're really not too much to ask.
LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
I
really, really, really wanted to read LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR. I wanted to
read this book from the moment I closed her debut Anna and the French Kiss.
I must say that I'm glad that I waited until my library ordered a copy of LOLA
AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR because if I had actually paid money for this book, I
would've been very angry. It wasn't the writing, which was great. It was the plot and the characters that drove me crazy.
Maybe
I expected too much? I'm going to try to articulate why LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT
DOOR was a letdown for me. The main reason was that Lola didn't connect with me
as a character. Probably because she spent the whole book lying to everyone
around her and deception/lying is one of my biggest romance pet peeves. I know
that as a teenager that your emotions are haywire and you often lie to yourself
and others without meaning to, but that still doesn't make you the best possible
choice for the heroine in a romance novel. I needed deeper motivation to
justify why Lola spent so much time lying to everyone.
It
wasn't only Lola that I had trouble with but I had trouble with the majority of
the main characters. The book seemed forced, as if she was trying to live up to
the success of Anna and having trouble doing so.
I
mean really, what was wrong with Max. He started out like this great character.
The only issue that seemed wrong with him was his age (he's 22, she's 17).
While that is something to raise an eyebrow about, in the beginning (before the
novel went down into lala land for the sake of trying to get Lola and Cricket
together) I didn't get why everyone around her freaked so much about it, even
she and him. Granted, I might have felt this way because when I was 16/17 I
dated a guy while not 22, was 19/20 and out of school. I was annoyed that Max suddenly morphed
into this bad guy. I mean really why wouldn't he, Lola had been lying to him
forever. When she finally went and broke up with her and he got nasty with her,
I was actually cheering for him and he was supposed to be the 'villain' in all
this. LOL.
This
love triangle Lola/Max/Cricket bothered the heck out of me. It was not well
executed like the triangle in Anna. I think because she was working too hard to
make Max appear to be a bad guy and Lola spent so much time playing games that
I lost a lot of respect for her. While I see how Lola and Cricket were actually
good for each other, I thought Max if she hadn't went down the very obvious are
you kidding me trying to obviously make him the villain road, would have worked
just as well. In the end, I agreed with Max's parting shout about Lola. In the
end, with all the costumes, Lola was just a little girl with a lot of issues.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed
from my local library.
RATING:
Labels:
31 October 2011
REVIEW: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
the heroes of olympus book 2: the son of neptune
Rick Riordan
ISBN #: 978-1-4231-4059-7
Publisher
Name: Disney Hyperion
Date Released: October 2011
Page Count: 513
Price: $19.99
Genre: Young Adult/Mythology/Paranormal
BACK COVER BLURB:
Percy
is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn’t know much more than
his name. Somehow he has managed to make it to a camp for half-bloods, but it
doesn’t ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is
another name: Annabeth.
Hazel
is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn’t do a very good job of
it. Now, because of a mistake she made back then, the future of the world is at
risk. Hazel wishes she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears
in her dreams.
Frank
is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes, but he doesn’t
see it. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially in front of Hazel,
his closes friend. He trusts her completely–enough to share the secret he holds
close to his heart.
Beginning
at the ‘other’ camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the
gods, this breathtaking second installment in the Heroes of Olympus series
introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other
remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophecy of Seven.“
COVER SNARK:
I
am in love with this cover.
FIRST LINES:
The snake-haired ladies were staring to annoy Percy.
LYNETTE'S TWO
CENTS:
Percy
is back. If it was possible to convey all your happiness in a sentence, that
sentence would be it. I was so happy to see Percy again.
The
Goddess Hera(Greek form)/Juno (Roman form) has been messing with the demi gods.
She placed Percy in a deep sleep for months and then when he awoke, she erased
his memories. All Percy remembers is that he has a girlfriend named Annabeth
and he might be a demi-god. Percy finds himself at Camp Jupiter, a camp for
demi gods, but everything seems a little off. He knows that this isn't his camp
and he has a habit of referring to everything by their Greek counterparts.
Camp
Jupiter is under fire. People who are dying aren't staying dead and a massive
force is on their way to attack the camp. When the war god Mars visits the
camp, Percy is sent off on his quest in Alaska with his new friends Frank and
Hazel (two demi-gods with secrets) to free Death from the clutches of the
goddess Gaia (spelling?) and her son. If they don't succeed their camp is
doomed.
Okay,
so you know my plot reviews suck. I have no idea why you keep reading them.
Let's
get to the point.
I
loved this book. Despite having lost his memory, Percy was his usual sarcastic
self. Hazel and Frank were just too cute for words. The plot was intriguing and
the pacing (differing points of view from all three protagonists) were
interesting and didn't slow down the pace of the story.
While
I really enjoyed The Lost Hero, THE SON OF NEPTUNE was better. I think it's
better because with The Lost Hero we were introduced to three new charecters
who we were supposed to identify with, characters who while interesting didn't
hold a candle to Percy. Can anyone? With THE SON OF NEPTUNE we not only have
the awesome Percy Jackson but his new cohorts Frank and Hazel have ties to some
familiar characters in the previous Percy Jackson series in some unique and
exciting ways. Frank and Hazel's backstory's were just as intriguing as Percy's
and you were rooting for them from the beginning. THE SON OF NEPTUNE is a
excellent filler story as we build up to the seven getting together to fulfill
the prophecy. Since the next book is called The Mark of Athena, I'm assuming
it's going to focused on Annabeth? I can't wait. It sucks that these books come
out one a year.
Really,
I know this review blows, but if you haven't read this series, or the one
before it (Percy Jackson) you are totally missing out. Read these books!
WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed
from my local library.
10 October 2011
REVIEW: Dark Passage by M.J. Putney
dark pASSAGE
M.J. Putney
978-0-312-62285-5
St. Martin’s Press/Griffin
September 2011
Historical/YA/Time Travel Romance
BACK COVER BLURB:
Merlin's
Irregulars are grateful to have made it safely home to 1803 England, but their
view of the world has changed. Not only are they more confident and proud of
their part in the heroic Dunkirk evacuation, but their powers have increased
because of their dangerous and exhausting magical work.
Tory
and Allarde become closer everyday until an agonizing conflict threatens to
tear them apart. Allarde is deeply connected to his family's estate, the land
he will one day inherit, but only if he denies his magical abilities. Being
with Tory will deny him his heritage, and his family lets Tony know this. Will
she have the strength to end their relationship?
Cynthia
is now a powerful and respected member of the Irregulars, but her prickly
attitude keeps everyone at a distance. Feeling isolated and very alone at
Lackland Abbey over the Christmas holidays makes her even surlier than usual,
but an invitation from Jack Rainford to join in his family's festivities is an
unexpected delight. There's an attraction between the two young mages, but will
Cynthia let her guard down enough to let herself fall in love?
Then
the Irregulars are called upon again. Once before their magic helped save
England's future. Can they do it again?
COVER SNARK:
I
like this cover. It conveys the message.
FIRST LINES:
Tory had almost reached her destination when a machine gun blasted crazily from the farmhouse ahead.
LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
I
really enjoy this series. I really do. To me DARK PASSAGE combines a lot my
favorite things: magic, WWII, love, school adventure, time travel, and
historical detail.
I
liked Tory as a character. She's come a long way from the first book. I am
really curious as to where Ms. Putney is going with her and especially her relationship
with Allarde. Tory's like sixteen now, will she be more open about her magic
and be stuck at Lackland until she's twenty-one? Will she just say screw it and
leave and start a life on her own? These are burning questions that I'm dying
to know.
Yet,
no matter how much I liked Tory, Cynthia (Tory's snobby roommate) really shined
in this installment. Cynthia has that edge that Tory lacked and her journey was
more of a focus in DARK PASSAGE than Tory's was. I loved Cynthia's evolution.
It was a complete 180 degree turn, yet Cynthia was still Cynthia. While Tory is
still ambiguous, I think Cynthia is actually a stronger character and I
actually don't worry about her as much, because I know that she has the
strength to pursue her own happiness.
OKAY
LOOK AT ME, I AM TAKING ABOUT CHARECTERS IN A BOOK LIKE THEY ARE MY KIDS.
SERIOUSLY, DO YOU HEAR ME HERE. I HAVE ISSUES!
Anyhoo.
The plot is rich, layered, and keep me on my toes. The minute I finished DARK
PASSAGE, I immediately re-read it. I admit that I might be biased, because I
really enjoy WWII fiction.
It
is so hard for me to describe this book. It is such a mash-up. If you're used
to Mary Jo Putney's romances, you might be disappointed, because the focus
isn't on the romance, but the development of the characters. If you don't like
time travels, you might be disappointed because the story is sooo deeply
entranced in both time periods 1803 and 1941. Even for die-hard young adult
readers, it might give them pause, because the historical details are such a
part of the characters that it's almost effortless. And once again, it's not
focused on the hero/heroine and their happily ever after, but the character's
journey. Also, I love, love, love the historical details the world full of
magic that Ms. Putney has created. I'm sorry to say that there are few
historical or paranormal romance authors out there who makes this appear so
effortless like Ms. Putney has done.
DARK
PASSAGE was a homerun for me and I'm looking forward to seeing what she's doing
next. Even as I'm saying this, I know that others might think differently
because really it's hard to put this work in a neat box. DARK PASSAGE was
written outside the box of what's being written today and it was executed
beautifully.
This
review is totally lame. I know this! My bad!
WHERE PURCHASED:
It
was a gift from my Twitter buddy Sarah who knows I love this series and sent me
the ARC she had received. I am blessed!
RATING:
03 August 2011
REVIEW: What Happened To Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
WHat
happened to goodbye
Sarah Dessen
ISBN #: 978-0-670-01294-7
Publisher
Name: Penguin Group/Viking
Date Released: May 2011
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Book
Format: Print.
BACK COVER BLURB:
ANOTHER
TOWN? ANOTHER NEW SCHOOL?
Mclean
really doesn’t mind. In fact, she welcomes the chance to try on a new persona.
Ever since her parents’ bitter divorce, she and her father have been on the
move, leaving the unhappy past behind them. And each move has brought a fresh
opportunity for Mclean to reinvent herself. Perky rah-rah girl. Drama mama.
All-round joiner.
But
here in Lakeview, for the first time she’s putting down roots, making friends,
and just trying to be someone she hasn’t been in a long time: herself. Dave has
something to do with it. He’s the most real person Mclean’s ever met, and he
thinks he’s falling in love with the real Mclean. Mclean doesn’t even know who
that is anymore, but she wants to find out – before it’s time to move on again.
COVER SNARK.
Once
you read the book, the cover makes perfect sense. I loved it. I also like that
you can’t see her face, it makes it feel as if any teen reading it can put
herself in the place of the heroine.
FIRST LINES:
The table was sticky, there was a cloudy smudge on my water glass, and we’d been seated for ten minutes with no sign of a waitress. Still, I know what my dad would say. By this point, it was part of the routine.
LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
WHAT
HAPPENED TO GOODBYE is a compelling story, but all Sarah Dessen’s novels are
emotional and compelling and hard to put down. Even if I don’t agree with a character
is doing, I completely get the motivation behind why they are doing what they
are doing and that is a testament to Ms. Dessen’s storytelling.
In
WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE, the heroine Mclean’s parents had a high profile
divorce several years ago. Her mother had an affair with the new basketball
coach of a top 5 college. Her mother gets pregnant by the guy, divorce’s
Mclean’s father and marries the man she had an affair wife. This emotional upheaval
tears Mclean’s life apart, the situation is made worse because her mother has
never acknowledge what she’s done to tear apart the family. So Mclean decides
to pull up stakes and move in with her father, who left his restaurant to take
a job with a restaurant conglomerate where he goes to failing restaurants and
turn them around aka Gordon Ramsay.
McLean
loves the changes because that means she can escape the constant scrutiny she’s
been under and just become a different person. Now, she and her father are at a
new place and somehow through meeting her neighbors and friends at school she’s
stopped becoming a character and has started becoming herself.
SO
THERE IS MY CRAPPY PLOT SUMMARY. CAN’T YOU SEE HOW HARD I’M WORKING AT THESE
THINGS. YOU KNOW NOW MY PLOT SUMMARYS SUCK BIG ONES.
I
loved Mclean. I totally got her. I got how/why she was so lost and felt the
need to disappear inside another person. This was so me as a teenager, except I
disappeared inside books. Mclean’s character arc and growing into herself was
beautifully layered into the story.
WHAT
HAPPENED TO GOODBYE is exquisitely written, and while Mclean was an awesome
fully developed character, WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE left me feeling as if I
missed something. I am fully aware that if this was a novel written by someone
else, I would’ve given it an A, but because it’s Sarah Dessen I was expecting
more.
Yes,
I am a hypocrite.
What
I felt was missing in WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE was the connection between Mclean and Dave. Dave charecter was lacking compared to her other hereos. Dave’s interactions with Mclean were lacking the emotional punch that ‘m used to seeing
with Ms. Dessen. Her heroes are usually drool worthy and I don’t feel that she
lived up to the great potential as she could’ve with Dave. I was so focused on
Mclean’s journey that I didn’t really care about Dave. And who doesn’t care
about the hero?
Having
said that, I still believe that WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE is a novel that is
worth the purchase price just for Mclean, she’s an awesome character and I
loved her.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed
from my local library.
RATING:
06 June 2011
REVIEW: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
I am number fourISBN #: 978-0-06-196955-3
Publisher Name: HarperCollins/ HarperCollins Teen
Date Released: August 2010
Genre: YA/Paranormal
Book Format: Print.
Nine of use came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books – but we are real.
But they know.
They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.
I am Number Four.
I am next.
Boring, but sci-fi.
FIRST LINES:
The door starts shaking.LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
When I picked up I AM NUMBER FOUR I didn’t know it was written by James Frey under a different name. I picked the book up from my library because I knew it was a movie and I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie. Someone on Twitter told me when I mentioned I was about to read it. Sometimes, I have my head in the sand and I’m not familiar with what’s going on with the world (my children tend to suck all the cells out of my brain and I can tell you what’s going on with Dora than what’s going on in the world). I know James Frey had a lot of drama about his so called autobiography. I never read any of the books. I knew they were Oprah books and I tend to run the other way. I was never a big Oprah watcher and only started watching her last season sporadically when the topic caught my eyes, so I’m not into the in and outs of the scandal.
Just thought I’d put that out there. So, I decided to go ahead and read I AM NUMBER FOUR since I already had the book in hand. I figure if it didn’t pull me in, I’ll just stop reading and use the author as an excuse for not finishing.
I loved I AM NUMBER FOUR. Loved this book.
John Smith and his handler have been running and hiding since they first arrived on Earth. Their planet was taken over by a group of beings who had used up their natural resources and intended to do the same on Earth. John and several other youngsters were smuggled off their planet with their handlers during the invasion. A charm was placed on them where the beings could only kill them in a certain order. 1, 2, and 3 have been killed. John, who is number 4 is next. When number 3 is killed John and his handler who is posing as his father pulls up stakes and move to Paradise, Ohio, where John is a high school sophomore. His first day sucks. He meets a beautiful girl (the daughter of his father/handler’s real estate agent) who greets him warmly, only to have her ex-boyfriend, the football star who still loves her harass him for talking to her. He meets a boy who is full of alien conspiracy theories, and his legacies (powers that come to his people during adolescent) arrive. After a while things start settling. He’s making friends, he gets the girl, but then at a party he saves his girlfriend’s life and blows his cover and the aliens are coming, but so is Number Six.
I sucked talking about this book. Don’t take my stupid plot summary as a fact. I’m trying to think of something to say other than I loved this book.
What I didn’t Like:
The prologue was written in present tense and was a little off putting.
I didn’t get the most obvious thing, which I wonder if it will be addressed later in the series ala J.K. Rowling. Here is the most obvious thing that I didn’t get. They took over their planet and destroyed all their resources. Why do they care that these nine kids escaped? They are in hiding on Earth. They can’t band together without messing up the charm cast on them. Why are they being hunted? They already destroyed the planet. What do they care about these 9 kids? I totally didn’t get that. Am I stupid? Has anyone read this that they can explain it to me?
However, that was my only issue. Loved the hero, loved the plot, loved the girlfriend, loved the friend, loved Number Six, even loved the dog and I’m so not a dog person.
There you go. The most useless review ever, but go forth and read.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed from my local library.RATING:
23 May 2011
REVIEW: Warped by Maurissa Guibord
Maurissa Guibord
ISBN #: 978-0-385-73891-0
Random House/Delacorte Press
January 2011
Young Adult Romance
Print.
BACK COVER BLURB:
His eyes. Tessa stared, blinked, and slowed her struggling. That face, those eyes, definitely came from a dream. Didn’t they? And it was impossible, but she could have sworn that she saw recognition in his expression as well.“Pray don’t scream,” he said, examining her closely. “It was you who released me?”
“Released you?” Tessa whispered. She trembled as an eerie sort of understanding crept over her. “The tapestry.” She turned her head.
The tapestry hung on the wall, smooth and intact. But in the center of the picture, the clearing was empty. The green grass had been replaced by a shadowy darkness of tangled threads.
The unicorn was gone.
Kinda weird.
FIRST LINES:
On a hillside stood three figures. Black cloaks billowed over them from head to toe, while hoods cast a pall of darkness over their faces. These walking shadows were the Norn.
I was trolling my library’s web-site to see what new books they had ordered and came across this. It looked interesting so I requested it.
Tessa Brody is a high school senior who works in her father’s bookshop. When she and her father are at an auction they bid on a box of old books, which also includes a tapestry and an ancient handwritten book written in Latin. Tessa feels an unusual connection to the tapestry and her father gives it to her. Once seeing the tapestry, she starts having visions of a life that is not her own, but one she feels unusually connected too. And when she sees one of the threads of the tapestry unravel, she pulls it out and to her shock a young man appears before her, a man who looks eerily familiar to her and one who claims to have come from fourteenth century England. He claims that a witch had him trapped him inside the tapestry for generations. A witch who needs his life force returned to the tapestry to continue her quest for immortality. Tessa is determined to help William to escape his fate, but the witch isn’t the only one after the tapestry, so are the Norn (or the Three Fates) who seem to think that Tessa is the one who stole the threads of life that have kept the witch alive all these years. Tessa and William have a hard time keeping the tapestry out of the witch’s clutches as well as the fate’s for seeking vengeance against Tessa for her supposed deception.
It’s amazing what good books you find by chance. WARPED is not something that I would’ve normally have thought twice about reading, but I was bored one day on the internet and just started clicking the Request button at my library’s web-site. I really enjoyed WARPED. While the characters are kinda predictable, the plot is not. The fantasy and the world the author created carried the story for me which made me root for the characters. The romance between William and Tessa was kinda flat, but WARPED was written in a way that made me believe that this was only the beginning. I was curious to see where Tessa and William were going.
This review is totally boring isn’t it? I think that’s because it was a solid story for me, it didn’t wow me, nothing stood out for me either in an awesome or not so awesome way. Solid read and if there was a sequel to WARPED, I’d get it so that I could see what was next.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed from my local library.
RATING:
06 April 2011
REVIEW: Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney
DARK MIRROR
M.J. Putney
ISBN #: 978-0-312-62284-8
Publisher Name: St. Martin’s Press/Griffin
Date Released: March 2011
Genre: Historical YA Romance
Book Format: Print
BACK COVER BLURB:
As the youngest daughter of the Earl of Countess of Fairmount, Lady Victoria “Tory” Mansfield is destined for a charmed like of status and wealth. The envy of many young girls, Tory knows she is lucky which is why she goes to great lengths to hide her special talent . . . magic. If her powers were exposed, it could strip her of her position and disgrace her family forever. Which is exactly what happens when a shocking accident forces Tory to reveal her magic, and she is immediately exiled to Lackland Abbey, a reformed school for other young men and women in her unique position.
What lies ahead is a strange and wonderful world where Tory will learn that it is not her social standing or her family’s wealth, but destiny and magic, true love and friendship, and courage and strength that determine her real worth as a young woman.
COVER SNARK:
The mirror image was a little weird to me. I get the theme but I wish the mirror image was something different.
FIRST LINES:
“Be damned to all mages!” the earl snarled as he stromed into the coffeehouse.
LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
I loved this book. While I was reading it, all I could think is that Mary Jo Putney has found her passion again. And now it’s YA romance. I've also re-read it several times since I first finished it.
When DARK MIRROR came to me, I was interested in seeing where she was going, but I didn’t have the desire to read it. I was a fool. I wish I read it the moment it came in the mail instead of waiting almost two months.
If anyone is familiar with Ms. Putney’s historical novels they are seeped in detail, DARK MIRROR is no exception but I love how it’s tailored for a YA Audience, yet doesn’t dumb down the details. I also loved her world building. If there is anything bad that I can say is that it did seem bogged down at times and I wanted more of Tory and her love interest, but based on the time and circumstances, it was realistic that more focus wasn't placed on Tory and her romantic interest. It just wouldn't have been believeable historically. And if anything Mary Jo Putney is great with historical details.
I guess you’d like me to tell you something about the book . . .
Magic is in the world. But the aristocracy hates magic and feel that it is only something commoners should possess. Any high-born person who shows a trace of magic is cast off from society. Tory has magic and when she uses it to save a life, she is disowned from her family and sent to a school where they purge the magic from them. All Tory wants is to get back to the family that she loves and all she knows. Yet, she has a hard time getting rid of a big part of herself, which is her magic.
At her school Tory stumbles upon a secret society where instead of trying to get rid of their magic, they are learning to use and harness it. They are doing this for a good cause. Napoleon is close to invading England and they feel that they could use their powers to help save England. During one such training session they are raided and why trying to lead the raiders away from others in the group, she stumbles across a mirror. She runs towards it and finds herself waking up in 1940's England facing the invasion of Germany.
Yada, yada, yada. It’s good, buy it. I loved the historical details and the intricant plot. The charecters were realistic to their time and place. I do with the love story was more, but because of what the charecters were dealing with it didn't bother me.
That is all. Go forth and buy.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Won from Goodreads giveaway.
RATING:
09 March 2011
REVIEW: Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
PROM & PREJUDICE
Elizabeth Eulberg
ISBN #: 978-0-545-24077-2
Publisher Name: Scholastic Inc./Scholastic Point
Date Released: January 2011
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Book Format: Print.
BACK COVER BLURB:
After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be – especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.
Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk – so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?
Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making?
COVER SNARK:
Totally cute.
FIRST LINES:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.”
LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
I know you guys are probably getting sick of the Pride and Prejudice adaptation kick I’ve been on lately. My bad . . . .
I suppose you are looking for a little more from me, huh. . . . Darn it.
Elizabeth Bennet’s life is a living hell as a scholarship student at Longbourne Academy. Her fellow students (such as Caroline Bingley and Cat De Bough) look town her and haze/bully her constantly. The only thing that makes going to Longbourne bearable is her roommate Jane Netherfield, the other scholarship student Charlotte Lucas, and renowned music teacher Mrs. Gardiner. If Elizabeth can manage to keep her grades up and make it through the awful bullying, she’ll have the chance to really make her musical career.
Prom’s at Longbourne Academy are media events and it could ruin someone’s future and social standings if they don’t go. Elizabeth knows that she’s not going to go, especially with the way everyone looks down on her especially Will Darcy from the neighboring Pemberly Academy. She gets some relief from George Wickham, a former student from Pemberly Academy who seems to understand what she’s going through and befriends her. When she hears how horribly he’s was treated by Darcy, that only solidifies her low opinion of Will.
Lizzie does have a bad opinion of Will, but it seems like Will Darcy has an equally bad opinion of her. Why else would he keep showing up at the coffee shop where she works, despite her telling him the days she works so he could avoid being there at the same time? But she has more things to worry about. The annoying Colin Williams keeps dodging her heels and her beloved friend Jane hasn’t been asked to the prom yet by Charles Bingley. People have been treating Jane differently ever since her father lost his job when his company got sold and since Jane’s brash little sister Lydia arrived at school making a fool out of herself. Why hasn’t Charles asked Jane to the prom? Is it because of his twin sister Caroline Bingley or was it because of Will Darcy?
Then Lizzie gets the greatest shock of all . . . Will Darcy, the boy she always thought hated her asks her to the prom.
Okay, I hope that was enough. Was it? Get PROM AND PREJUDICE. Seriously, guys, it’s the cutest thing ever. I loved PROM AND PREJUDICE.
And one day, I’ll promise to have more articulate reviews.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed from my local library.
RATING:
15 December 2010
REVIEW: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS
Stephanie PerkinsISBN #: 978-0525423270
Publisher Name: Dutton Juvenile
Date Released: December 2010
Page Count: 384 pages
Retail Price: $16.99
Genre: Young Adult
Book Format: Print
BACK COVER BLURB:
Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.
COVER SNARK:
This cover is very cute. I like it a lot. Part of me wishes they'd show St. Clair, but even then I'm iffy, because I don't think a picture of St. Clair would live up to the image of that I have of him in my head.
FIRST LINES:
Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings named Louis. I'm not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day.
FAVORITE LINES:
I mean, really. Who sends their kid to boarding school? It's so Hogwarts. Only mine doesn't have cute boy wizards or magic candy or flying lessons.
"How'd you get this number?"
"Well, you see, there's this book. It has white pages. And it has all these phone numbers listed inside it. It's also online."
This warmth over the telephone. Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place? Bridgette used to be home to me. Maybe St. Clair is my new home.
I mull this over as our voices grow tired and we stop talking. We just keep each other company. My breath. His breath. My breath. His breath.
I could never tell him, but it's true.
This is home. The two of us.
LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
I downloaded this book when the publisher was offering it free on Amazon. I download a lot of books that way. I have over 400 books on ShaNayNay (aka Kindle), and I rarely read the free downloads I receive, but I still collect them because you never know when a nuclear bomb or something might explode and all the libraries, bookstores, personal libraries, get destroyed and I can't get any books. How would I live? How can I survive like that? I need to make sure that I have access to something to read. Though if a nuclear bomb exploded the electricity probably wouldn't work and then I would only have ShaNayNay until she ran out of power? Right?
Umm . . .. Sorry, it's not Friday, I'm not supposed to be rambling.
Anyhoo, after I downloaded ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, I saw people on Twitter and Goodreads giving it really good reviews. So one day, I was at work and umm, my cell phone that has its convenient Kindle for Droid application just happened to be sitting on my computer and ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS just happened to appear on the screen.
Funny how those things happen to me. It's so weird. LOL!
ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is a wonderful novel. You cannot help but enjoy the ride as Anna and St. Clair fight their way towards their happily ever after. ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is a young adult novel, yet while Anna and St. Clair act very, very realistic to their ages (seventeen/eighteen), it's not written in a way that would make an adult reader want to roll their eyes or gouge them out with a butcher knife.
I loved, loved, loved, loved Anna from the minute she appeared on the page. I was immediately drawn into her situation, felt sorry for her and was rooting for her even if she did sometimes do bonehead things. Even when she did bonehead things, Anna was written in such a way that I understood where she was coming from and I totally bought into her actions.
Because this just crossed my mind because I'm eating my lunch as I type this. There is a hilarious scene in the beginning of the novel, where Anna having just arrived at school and the cafeteria menu is in French and so is the chef. She is so embarrassed that she can't speak the language or read the menu that she lives off of bread for awhile. It's freaking hilarious. You have to read this book.
Oh also. You have to buy this book for the subtle digs that the author gives to a certain author who writes romance novels but his charecters always die at the end of the books so people will think that he doesn't write romance novels. LOL!
St. Clair was to die for. Why weren't their boys like this when I was growing up? I'm sure their must have been but I must have been too stupid to see them. LOL!
Etienne St. Clair's is a mutt, so excuse me if I don't get this right. His mother is American (or English), his father is French, he was born in America, but raised in England. The way he portrayed reminded me of a mix between Robert Pattinson and Daniel Radcliffe. Robert Pattison for looks, Daniel Radcliffe for height and personality, I thought he was a dream and a great friend for Anna. Anna and St. Clair had such great chemistry, that I wished more non YA authors would stop falling back on smexing to build the relationship. I totally got why Anna and St. Clair were meant to be together and why no one but the other would do for them.
The conflict is realistic, compelling, and full of teenage angst stuff that anyone could relate to. Actually, I had a situation somewhat similar happen to me but I was twenty-one at the time and should've known better. LOL!
If I go on, I'd just keep gushing about how much I loved this book. So once again, it's a great read, both Anna and St. Clair go through such change that you feel for them. Though theirs angst is realistic and compelling. I laughed, I cried, I re-read immediately so ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is a definite win for me.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Was a limited time free Download offer from Publisher via Amazon
RATING:
A
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