The One That I Want

The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols
3.5/5 stars
Simon Pulse, 2012
259 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Library

While most of the books I read, I pick up fully anticipating to like, that was not the case here. Although I have loved Echols' writing, I have had serious problems with some of the plots and characterizations in her most recent books, perhaps most notably in Love Story.  And this book features a plot I hate: girl with awful best friend falls for said friend's boyfriend.

That girl is Gemma, a band geek who is trying out for majorette after being pressured by best friend Addison. Gemma considers herself overweight and has been teased about that so there is little that sounds good about performing in a skintight leotard in front of a crowd. But she tries out, she succeeds, and she goes on to lose a good amount of weight, giving her a bit more confidence at band camp where she spies a hot football player from a rival high school. Addison spies the same guy and soon they are out with two guys. One is Carter, the QB, and the other is Gemma's crush, Max, the kicker. But through Addison's aggressive flirting and Gemma's diffidence, the pairs are swapped with Gemma going on her first date with Carter while falling for Max and his quirky personality.

There were so many times where Gemma talked about how she hated Addison and I just could not understand why she had stayed friendly with her for so long. Addison could barely speak without insulting Gemma and she had no qualms about manipulating situations for her own advantage. I know Gemma doesn't have much self-confidence but I think it would be better to have no friends than to have one who is so eager to stab you in the back. Of the several books I've read with this basic plot, Addison is probably the worst friend and the one where I most wanted her to get some comeuppance.

As for the guys, Max and Carter have their own complicated relationship, perhaps akin to Gemma and Addison's. While I didn't swoon for either guy, I can see why different parts of them appealed to the girls. One thing I wondered about was how fast they became boyfriend/girlfriend, ie after one date. I understand that it ups the ante but I don't understand why they wouldn't keep things casual. And of course there is a serious lack of communication between all parties that leads to most of the problems in this book. If people could have just been honest, well, this book wouldn't have happened.

I also wish we could have gotten more insight into Gemma and Addison's childhood friendship as well as into their personal family dramas. Gemma's father is not present in this book although he does send her a brand-new Mercedes-Benz for her sixteenth birthday (yeah, they're super rich). But they don't talk and I think there could also have been more about her distance from her mother. Their relationship is very fractured with her mother basically a workaholic.

Overall: I really didn't like this but dang is Echols' writing absorbing. I absolutely flew through this book because she just makes it so easy.

Love Story

Love Story by Jennifer Echols
Gallery Books/MTV Books, 2011
243 pages
YA; Contemporary
3/5 stars

Source: Received a free egalley through Simon and Schuster's GalleyGrab program.

So conflicted! While I've loved Echols' writing for a while now, I've increasingly disliked the characters and plots of her books.  Forget You had the incredibly stupid Zoey and Love Story has Erin and Hunter, incredibly dysfunctional and manipulative people.

The book opens with an excerpt from Erin's creative writing story, which is a loosely fictionalized version of her life with herself cast as the heiress to a horse farm and Hunter as her hunky stable boy.  Then he actually shows up in her class and their backstory is revealed: Erin was supposed to inherit her grandmother's horse farm but she was disinherited for wanting to major in English rather than in business.  Instead Hunter gets everything: the farm, the money for college, everything that Erin had expected for herself.  She's understandably upset and spends about eight chapters hating on Hunter while still feeling attraction until she starts to soften.  This is a very quick change and I barely had time to warm up to Hunter because he continually does hurtful things.

Yes, Hunter's hot (seriously Echols can write steamy YA scenes like no one else I've read) but he's pretty cold, controlling, and extremely manipulative. And Erin herself was so hot and cold about him.  I think I could have been more sympathetic if the story were told in alternating perspectives between Erin and Hunter because then his side of the story would have been told and I probably wouldn't have found him so cold.  Because Erin was narrating, I like her more but I also thought she was pretty whiny and that she thought she knew way more about what everyone else was thinking than she actually did.

Besides the main characters, there are lots of fun classmates, notably Erin and Hunter's roommates, who I loved.  Summer, Jordis (don't know how to make the slash), Brian, and Manohar were not the focus but they added a lot of humor to the story.  I wonder if the story could have been stronger if we had actually met Erin's grandmother.  Erin sees her but never confronts her or talks to her after the disinheritance, leaving a bit of a gap in the understanding of Erin's life.

Overall: Yay on the writing, nay on Erin and Hunter.

Read for E-book challenge.

Forget You

Forget You by Jennifer Echols
Gallery Books/MTV Books, 2010
292 pages
YA; Contemporary; Romantic Drama
3/5 stars

Source: Bought

Summary: Zoey thought she was going to meet Brendan.  But then she wakes up from a crash with Doug.  And now Doug is acting like he's her boyfriend and Zoey can't remember anything about that night.

Some spoilers-don't think it will ruin the book but...

Thoughts: This was a real mixed bag for me.  The things I liked, I really liked but the things I didn't like, I hated.

Liked: Echols writes steamy scenes very well so even when I didn't really like the characters (see below), I enjoyed those passages.  They were probably the most engaging part and I could see them as a couple then.

While Zoey's dad is a huge jerk (he cheated on her mom and knocked up his 24 year old coworker; they elope to HI after Zoey's accident), he was interesting.  He's very selfish, is a poor excuse for a father and I would hate to meet a real-life him but in the context of a book, I liked it.

Didn't Like: Let's start small: the timeline seemed a bit confused to me.  It seemed like more time should have passed than apparently did.

Then this is more of a quibble but Doug has been to juvie.  In many books, he would be the alluring bad boy who fascinates most of the girls but in this one he's a dangerous outcast. That just seems weird to me although I very rarely cheer for the bad boy when I'm reading (and he's not so bad anyway).

And biggest: Zoey is an idiot. She spent all summer listening to Brandon tell about the different girls he slept with (it seems like at least a new one every week) but then he sleeps with her, so she thinks they're a couple.  And it's not like they talked about it, she just assumed because they had been friends so long.  Plus he was obviously avoiding her and hanging out with Stephanie (why does Stephanie have to be a ho?  We're really not like that).  Zoey is justifiably protective of her mom (who was hospitalized after a suicide attempt) but how did she think such a thing was going to be contained?  And finally it takes Zoey way too long to admit that she has no memory of that night and start really digging for answers.

Overall: Some well-written passages but the story as a whole lacks.

Cover: It's okay from a distance but up close, Doug's stubble is heading in to perv territory.

Endless Summer

Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

Simon Pulse, 2010

298 pages

YA; contemporary; romance

2 books in 1

4/5 stars

Source: Bought

Summary: Lori and Adam are together! Except on their first official date, they stay out all night incurring the wrath of her father and causing him to demand that the two stay apart. Lori hatches a plan whereby she will date guys with worse behavior than Adam so that her dad will relent. Adam can't believe that Lori is actually interested in him and wants to make sure she doesn't fall for some other guy.

Thoughts: I loved The Boys Next Door (my favorite Simon Romantic Comedy with sawoony boys) and I've been enjoying some other Echols books. I was excited to read what happened for Lori and Adam next.

First this picks up right after the first one ends. And it uses alternating perspective between Lori and Adam to tell the story which is useful in order to see Adam and more of his interactions with his family especially his mother and brother Sean. Second Lori's plan is stupid, Stupid, STUPID! And it results in tangled webs of actions and feelings that confused and annoyed me. Adam, while thinking that Lori is totally awesome, still believes that she harbors feelings for Sean; understandable given that she spent most of the first book thinking he's great. Lori meanwhile is somewhat insecure given that he had just dated some other girl and in fact dated a lot of girls prior to her; understandable as she is just now seeing herself as a valid romantic partner.

Families: I understand that Lori's dad worried about his daughter but I found him most even-tempered in TBND and thus somewhat unbelievable in his extreme treatment of Lori and especially Adam. I was hoping to see more development in the relationship between Sean and Adam, who has always been picked on by Sean and I am pleased to announce that there is some more maturity there.

Some funny bits especially how Lori and Adam imply the use of a certain swear word without actually using it.

Overall: It was really choppy (possibly because of the split narration) and I did not love it as much as The Boys Next Door and it ALMOST makes me love TBND less.

Cover: I'm not pleased that they've stopped using the cartoon covers because I adore them as I've outlined before but this cover is fine. Lori is blonde and I think Adam has dark hair (I have a tendency to ignore the descriptions of the male love interest in books and just think of them however I want.)

The Boys Next Door-Reread

The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols

Simon Pulse, 2007

281 pages

YA; Contemporary; Romance

Summary: Lori has always been one of the boys but this summer, she's determined to win Sean, the hottie next door. In order to do so she hatches a complicated plot involving pretending to flirt with his brother Adam. But what will happen if Sean remains immune and Adam seems to have more of a hold on her heart?

Initial Thoughts: This book is pure sa-woon! (see Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever).

Reread Thoughts: Lori is an idiot! The luckiest idiot around though as she gets the chance to flirt with two of the hottest guys I've ever had the pleasure to read about. Her plan is sooooo stupid. And the relationship between brothers Sean and Adam is complicated; I quite frankly didn't really understand it but I imagine that is because I only have a sister and most of my friends have sisters or are only children so brothers have never been a part of my life.

Female Friendship (Minor Spoiler): Lori lacks in this, being as her good friends are the boys next door but her first attempt fails as the girl is using her in order to get closer to Lori's brother Bill. Luckily it seems like she will build some female friendships for the next book.

Overall: 5/5 My favorite Simon Romantic Comedy

Review of sequel Endless Summer tomorrow!

Going Too Far

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Pocket Books, 2009

245 pages

YA; Contemporary

Summary: Meg wants to get out of her crappy little town and she's so very close until a scrap with the law throws her in contact with John, a police officer who plans to never leave that town. Tension!

Why I Read: I saw good reviews of it and I enjoy Jennifer Echols' books.

My Thoughts: I wasn't too sure about this book as I usually prefer good girl/bad boy mashups (I can identify more with the good girl-yeah I'm kind of a goody two shoes) but I do love honorable men and I had a good experience with The Ex Games and I'm craving Endless Summer which doesn't come out until May (can't wait!) so I jumped in. Right off the bat I didn't like Meg or more accurately I didn't approve of her actions and attitude but she's honest and to the point so I started liking her more. She's hanging out with a pothead college dropout when she's arrested by police officer John who I also didn't like at first because she described him as looking maybe 40. He is very brusque and by the book. Then he decides to teach her a lesson by getting her assigned to shadow him to more fully understand the wrongness of her criminality. During they're conversations, there is immense growth and personal reflection (largely on her side since it's from her point of view) and I really appreciated that. There's more I want to say but they would be spoilers. It has a good ending and I recommend it.

Reader Warning: Casual attitude toward sex and some language.

Overall: 4 out of 5. I didn't love it like some bloggers have but I think it is worth reading, especially if you have enjoyed other Echols/want to read a slightly darker YA than usual. Not that this is that dark but compared to what I usually read, it is.

Cover: Not my taste-wish we could see the heroine's blue hair as that's pretty important to the story and I don't think the guy's chin is masculine enough.

The Ex Games

The Ex Games by Jennifer Echols,

Simon Pulse, 2009

302 pages

YA; Contemporary

Summary: Hayden and Nick have a history. And when he challenges her to a snowboarding contest, it's her turn to get the upper hand.

Why I Read: I love the Simon Pulse books and Jennifer Echols wrote my favorite, The Boys Next Door.

My Thoughts: Echols writes the most wonderful sexual tension scenes for YA that I've ever read. And Hayden and Nick have some good ones. And they have some good friends who are important parts of the story. I also love Hayden's family. The plot is pretty skimpy but you should know that if you've read any of these books.

Unfortunately the main characters are really stupid. I mean, they are such idiots and it takes them forever to just talk to each other and work out the massive number of issues that they have. Basically Hayden is still freaked out by having broken her leg years before and Nick is the son of tremendously wealthy parents. Why don't people ever talk to each other sensibly?! And Nick's hair sounds like it is too long for my taste but that's a weird thing that I have.

Overall: 4 out of 5 for delicious squishiness.

Cover: I love these covers-they're so distinctive! I'm definitely disappointed that they're changing them because I'm not sure I'll recognize them now.

Other Jennifer Echols: Endless Summer containing The Boys Next Door and a sequel is out May 25th-keep an eye out for it! I know I'm planning to buy it!

Reminder to self of Simon Pulse books I need to read: The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren (missed that one when it came out); Drive Me Crazy; Love Off Limits; Perfect Shot; Hard to Get; At First Sight