ARC Review: Perfect Lies

by Kiersten White
4/5 stars
HarperTeen, 2014
232 pages
YA Paranormal Sisters
Scheduled to release February 18

Source: Received an e-ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Last year Mind Games won me over with its focus on a pair of sisters, its fast pace, and unusual structure. It also left me with a ton of questions that were going to require answers in this sequel in order to keep me engaged with the characters and story.

Again the sister-sister relationship is what pulled me in. As I continue to struggle with my limited attention span, it was difficult to straighten out the crazy timeline in this book (though that got simpler as more was revealed) but that connection between Fia and Annie sucks me in every time. In fact I would say that everything I like most about this book is due to that crazy connection. I'm pretty sure I relate so strongly just because I have a sister no matter how different our relationship is. I also feel pretty confident that if this relationship doesn't ring true for you, this book will be a difficult read.

Also you should definitely read Mind Games first and what you did or did not like in that book is pretty much here too. For example, the writing captures the twitchiness (for lack of a better word) of the characters and it feels like it was written in just as much of a whirlwind as Mind Games. It feels darker than White's earlier Paranormalcy trilogy due to the dark nature of the paranormal powers and how they have been directed. Furthermore there are the extremely difficult decisions the girls must face as they grapple with their "fate."

As for me, I wished for more answers to my questions and I'm not sure they were as answered as they could have been. However that killer portrayal of sisters has me hooked! Between that and the twisty timeline jumping narrative, I don't even really need anything else.

Overall: I think you will like this book if you enjoyed the first but best to avoid if not.

ARC Review: Dance of Shadows

Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black
4/5 stars
Bloomsbury, 2013
447 pages
YA Dance Paranormal Sisters
Scheduled to release February 12

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Why did I want to read this? Just look at the cover-how gorgeous is that? I knew I'd want to read it the instant I saw the cover and was so pleased to receive early access to a copy.

All in all, I found the book to be a good read but nothing out of the ordinary although it benefited from having several topics I adore: ballet and sisters. I love performing stories and ballet seems to be one of the more popular themes yet I never tire of them. As I've said, I also love stories about sisters. In this case, Vanessa is attending a New York ballet academy because her older sister Margaret disappeared from it three years earlier after scoring the lead in the school ballet "The Firebird." Although Vanessa enjoys dancing, her real motive is searching after her sister whose disappearance is one in a string stretching back for years.

I do feel like the book is on the long side when I consider what happened. I think some judicious editing might be in order. Still it was kind of like crack and highly addictive-I flew through the pages, reading almost all of it in one day. It is definitely plot-driven rather than character-driven. I kept getting confused and trying to remember if Vanessa or Margaret was the sister searching. Although Vanessa is friends with some of the other dancers, they are not very well-defined. This distance is increased by the third-person narration that mostly focuses on Vanessa but also jumps around some times.

Of course there are also some love interests. First is the enigmatic Josef, the choreographer with a dark past. Then there is Zeppelin (blech on the name, which especially stands out from the more restrained traditional names of the sisters) who is the male lead opposite Vanessa. And lastly is Justin (whose name is also a stark contrast to Zep's), who seems intent on stopping Vanessa from dancing, not that he shares any compelling reason why with her at first.

In short: fast moving plot but less than compelling characters. I know why this appealed to me but it will definitely not appeal to everyone.

Other Opinions:
MarjoleinBookBlog: 5/5 stars
Mundie Moms: 4.5/5 stars
Owlcat Mountain: "negative to 'meh'"
Smart Folks Read: 3.5/5 stars
The Title Page: 1/5 stars

All You Never Wanted

All You Never Wanted by Adele Griffin
4/5 stars
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012
227 pages
YA Contemporary Sisters

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Immediately after finishing this, I logged onto goodreads to update and the only word I could think of to put in my review then was "wow." Just wow. This was a very hard review for me to write-Griffin is such a talented writer and when she turns her lens on rich girls and the sister-sister relationship, she really hits on my soft spots when it comes to reading.

This book is told in alternating perspectives, first-person from younger sister Thea and third-person from older sister Alex. The reviews I've seen have mostly gravitated toward Alex but personally I found Thea more compelling and I think that was partly because she was telling her story. The other reason is that I think I like to read about master manipulators and liars, which describes Thea. She thinks Alex has it all and she wants it for herself; that means the cool friends, the reputation, the boyfriend, everything, no matter what story she has to spin to secure them for herself.

Meanwhile Alex suffers crippling anxiety from something that happened at an internship. This is revealed to us fairly early in the book and while it was definitely embarrassing, I don't think it deserved as much importance as she placed upon it. Then she spends most of the book hanging out with Xander, a guy who is very much not her boyfriend but who magically lifts her out of her funk over the course of one day...um...awful fast, eh? So even as Thea made me cringe with her obvious grasping ways, I at least admired her determination and nerve over Alex's more sniveling ways.

Lastly we come to the end, which just made me drop my jaw. I can't believe it ended that way. It's been about a week and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, this; on the other hand, that (Obviously I can't be too specific without going into spoilers!) The way that their sibling rivalry comes to a head and is resolved (or more precisely not resolved) just blew me away. I don't think anyone could predict this ending.

Cover: Makes me think "poor little rich girl" but I don't really think Thea or Alex when I look at it.

 

Without Tess

Without Tess by Marcella Pixley
3.5/5 stars
Margaret Ferguson Books, 2011
280 pages
YA Contemporary Sisters

Source: Library

One of the themes or plotlines that most preoccupies me in literature is that covering the relationship between sisters. This comes from my own actual life where I have a younger sister. I do not usually anticipate reading books where the sister-sister relationship is as functional as ours (because it isn't very dramatic) but then I don't usually expect a relationship as dysfunctional as the one covered in Without Tess.

Our narrator is Lizzie, a young girl faltering in high school, still mourning the loss of her older sister, the titular Tess. She has no friends, no ambitions, and clutches Tess' journal as her safety. Through the listening help of Dr. Kaplan, Lizzie begins to realize the mental state of Tess and release herself from crippling feelings of guilt over her complicity in her sister's death.

I felt so much pain reading about Tess, her imaginative fancies, and the way she brought Lizzie in to them. I understand that Tess had mental problems and that their parents were completely ineffectual in getting her the support she needed. But as an outsider, I just wanted to reach in and protect Lizzie. She constantly put herself at risk and alienated others in order to stay in the good graces of her temperamental sister. As it says on the book jacket, "...she did everything her sister asked her to do, even if it meant putting herself in danger." It's absolutely heartbreaking and one of the saddest sister stories I've read. There are the fun times that bind them as sisters but they are far outweighed by Tess' mental illness.

One last element to mention is the writing, which is beautifully lush and did an excellent job capturing Tess' poetic side, the way she could throw out a phrase or sentence to entice Lizzie. However that is not the kind of writing that I really like and I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the writing. It was pretty and character-based where I tend to like a little bit more action. As might be expected, there are a lot of flashbacks in the book to trace the development of the relationship between the sisters; sometimes this can be confusing but in general, I thought it was very clear when events were happening.

Overall: Beautiful poetic writing and a storyline that just made me want to go hug my sister and tell her how much I love her.

Cover: A fitting sparseness for the way Lizzie's life feels.

Never Enough

Never Enough by Denise Jaden
4/5 stars
Simon Pulse, 2012
375 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Received an e-galley via Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab Program (RIP).

I didn't know much about this book before starting it other than being familiar with Denise Jaden's work from her debut Losing Faith, which I read as part of The Contemps Challenge. My favorite part of that book was anticipating the relationship between sisters and I was pleased to see that sisters were also in this book. I wondered what the relationship would be like here.

And wow did we get a doozy of a relationship in this book, told from the perspective of Loann who is constantly unable to measure up to her beautiful popular sister Claire, making the title poignantly fitting even from the beginning. However as the book progresses we see more of Claire's perspective as well as a friend of Loann's, both of whom also live up to that title in absolutely heartbreaking ways.

But before we get to that good stuff, there was the choppy beginning. I felt very much in a daze and prepared for one kind of story based on the beginning. That story had more about friendship with one of Loann's friends stabbing her in the back and acting bizarrely cruel-the worst aspects of high school. Happily that passed and Loann begins to develop a friendship with loner Marcus, who I just adored.  As mentioned, his backstory and the ways he feels he is not enough are sad and we are teased with those details before they all spill out while also showing the many good things he tries to do. I really loved Marcus-he was a stupendous book boy!

The other element of note in my opinion is that of the relationship between sisters, always complicated, rarely easy (at least in my experience). Claire is the golden girl who has the world at her feet until she delays going to college and seems to throw herself into ballet, into work, into anything but confronting her dwindling frame. Meanwhile Loann, while never popular, has her strong friendship with Marcus and is the first to notice that something is not right with Claire, attempting to bring it to their parents' attention with lackluster results. The way Claire's eating disorder ends up consuming the family adds to the sadness. However I never felt overwhelmingly sad while reading this (which has happened to me while reading some books); I guess because I still felt some hope for the future and there were elements of humor along the way.

Overall: I was very thrown by the beginning but soon settled into the meat of the story, wiling away a pleasant afternoon with this book.

Cover: The girl looks pretty wistful as she contemplates the ways she can't measure up.

The Cranes Dance

The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey
4/5 stars
Vintage Contemporaries, 2012
383 pages
Adult Contemporary

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book caught me completely by surprise. Although I requested it based on the mention of ballet (hope of backstage dramatics and meltdowns) and the fact that the sister-sister relationship is integral, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. That sounds kind of negative but I did find this compulsively readable and I feel like it reached me just like I wanted it to.

The book opens with professional ballet dancer Kate Crane, describing the plot of one of the most famous ballets, Swan Lake, and hurting her neck. Although Kate is not the star, she is a soloist in the ballet company and continues the season while her sister Gwen sits out at their parents' home in the Midwest. The book covers the arrival of the sisters in New York City (separately but always linked), the progression of their careers as younger sister Gwen eclipses Kate, and the season when they are separated. I don't want to share too much about the plot because I feel like this touches on some of the important themes and because I feel like the journey through the book is important. I had no idea what to expect and I wouldn't want to spoil that for you.

I would have to say that my desire for a dance story was amply satisfied. There are many many scenes of Kate rehearsing and performing as well as backstage intrigue and ballet plot summaries. I ate up all of these bits and found it immensely enjoyable. I would be interested to know what dancers think of those scenes as I have no idea about their accuracy.

As for the sisters, they are separated both by distance and sentiment. I am an older sister and I do tend to identify with the older sibling in a situation so I'm glad that is who is the narrator in this book. Kate is wracked with guilt and Gwen is struggling with her own longstanding issues, which lead to her not speaking with her older sister. Although my relationship with my sister is nothing like the one in this book, I still strongly identified with Kate and how she felt in any given situation. This book is narrated in first person so that helps with identification but I think I was primed to feel for Kate especially as we reach the penultimate chapter.

I don't know how I feel about the finale, which does provide a hopeful future without neatly wrapping everything up. I kind of wonder how I would have felt about the book without that conclusion as I'm not sure it was necessary.

Overall: I found this book very pleasing in the two areas I was most interested in: dance and sisters. But it also gave me more in regards to character and writing style. If you are interested in branching out to adult books, put this on your list!

Dumb moment for me: Toward the end of the book, a character shares a story and I thought I had figured out where the book got its name. Well, that may be a reason but if you read my earlier paragraphs carefully, you may have noticed that the sisters' last name is Crane and they are dancers, which is a much more obvious explanation of the cover. I just did not figure it out!

Content warning: This is an adult book with language, drugs, and sexual references. I know some of my readers avoid books like that but if it doesn't bother you, I would definitely recommend you consider this book.

Cover: Not really to my taste-while you can see the thin straps from their leotards, I would have liked a cover that showed the ballet aspect more as well as the entire heads of the ladies.

Sisters of Glass

Sisters of Glass by Stephanie Hemphill
Alfred A. Knopf, 2012
150 pages
YA; Historical
3/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think it has been amply recorded on my blog that I adore sister-sister relationships so it was a no-brainer to request this book after seeing the title. I didn't need to know anything else. As an additional bonus, the author and I share a first name and I have been known to read books just because of that fact (see: Stephanie Laurens, Stephanie Perkins).

Due to only looking at the cover, I wasn't sure what to expect. Imagine my surprise to discover a historical novel set in Italy told in verse. Those three elements are not hugely popular in YA although there are amazing examples for each. I love historical novels, have no opinion about Italy, and am open to verse novels so that boded well for me. However I really struggled.

I felt like I was just dropped in to the world with little context to guide me. The story is set in Murano, the glass-making part of Italy, an island near Venice although I'm still not sure what the year is. Over the course of the book, we learn a bit but not nearly enough for my taste.

The thrust of the story is that first daughters are supposed to marry Senators, the chief politicians of the time, but in this family, the father was convinced that his second daughter should have that fate. This means the dowry is placed at her disposal and all of the family's resources will go toward making her a splendid match. That daughter is Maria who wishes to be a glassblower, not a wife while her older sister Giovanna, the beauty, wants that destiny and bristles against their father's breaking of tradition. The conflict between the sisters over this issue is a big part of the first book but they come together for the second part.

The plot is quite familiar. As stated Maria wants to be a glassblower and falls for their family apprentice despite his unsuitability. Meanwhile she becomes betrothed to a noble as wished by her father who is struck by her sister's beauty. If only the girls could change places! I found it very tired and called every plot turn. Of course, predictability is not a bad thing if redeemed by gorgeous writing and/or outstanding characterization.

While the novel is told in verse, it doesn't feel as poetic as other novels I've read in verse. It seemed like a prose story arranged on the page as if to convey the impression of verse. This was easy to read but it didn't blow me away. Furthermore the characters were average with little depth. As a sister, I was able to infuse those roles with some personality but they were all pretty flat.

Overall: Lacking in setting and characterization, this failed to impress me.

Cover: Very pretty and of course I love swirly fonts!

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

Scholastic Press, 2010

313 pages

YA; Contemporary

4/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: When Grandmother Sullivan announces that the rest of her family is cut out of her will, everyone knows it's due to the transgressions of one of the three sisters.  Norrie, Jane, and Sassy have all pushed their grandmother hard in the past few weeks.  If they want to inherit a tremendous amount of money, they have to submit a confession.

Thoughts: I have really been reading a lot of alternating perspective stories lately.  This one has each sister telling her story one by one in quick moving chapters.  Each has a distinct voice and wrestles with different concerns.  Some incidents are recounted in each section but each girl interprets them differently and they play different roles in their narratives.

Norrie's transgression is falling for an older man (she's 17 to his 25 grad school self) and running off to New York with him for three days instead of being a debutante. Jane wrote a blog revealing family secrets to the world in the most negative light possible. Sassy thinks she's indestructible and that she's killed her grandmother's husband.  My favorite was Jane's because she's so caustic.  I also liked Sassy's relationship with a girl she's trying to tutor in math.  My least favorite was Norrie because that is a huge age difference and I was left with the impression that she thought he was her true love, which made me uncomfortable.

This is a very easy read with some cute lingo and interesting characters but really nothing more than that.

Overall: Emphasis on family makes for a sweet read. I would recommend this book to people who like YA contemporary but don't always want a romance.

Cover: Three sisters in front of a mansion? Very appropriate.

The Year My Sister Got Lucky

The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman

Summary: Katie and Michaela are ballerinas, sisters, and best friends whose relationship undergoes significant changes when their family moves from NYC to small town Fir Lake.

I had some problems with this book as in I didn't really like Katie, the main character and narrator of the book. I don't know if this is because I also moved in high school and am an older sister more like Michaela or if I wouldn't have liked her anyway.

I did enjoy the description of ballet but I found Katie's attitude so off-putting. She hates that she's moved and she finds herself so much better than the Fir Lake natives. She doesn't even attempt to make new friends or even to be friendly to people. She was also very mean to her sister (not that my sister and I are always so nice to each other but I don't think we've ever been that bad.) My sister also read this book though and she didn't like it much either.

One thing I did like is that it left me thinking about my relationship with my sister and I think it might do the same for other girls. I find that we weren't really friends but are working to build more of a relationship beyond the fact that we have the same parents. In my opinion, she is being too much of a stereotypical teenager now as in bratty, complaining, never satisfied. But she can also be very sweet at times.

In general I also felt that the plot was underdeveloped. The sister relationship was the focus but plots with Katie giving up ballet in favor of yoga and her crush on a new friend's brother (I love that storyline but always feel like it would never work in real life) felt rather rushed to me. I guess it's already a bit on the long side (370 pages) but I never think that should stop an author from bringing everything to a satisfying conclusion.

Overall: 3/5 for a rather unsympathetic main character and underdevelopment of subplots.