The Twisted Thread

The Twisted Thread by Charlotte Bacon
Hyperion, 2011
374 pages
Mystery
3/5 stars

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

I saw this on Netgalley and thought why not? I think I thought it was YA and while it does involve teens, it is definitely more adult.

It is set at a prestigious prep school where a young girl is found murdered AND it is discovered that she recently gave birth. Thus we are left wondering who killed her and what happened to her baby? Multiple perspectives from the teachers, administrators, staff, and local police combine to unravel the twisted threads protecting the secrets of the august institute.

Based on the plot summary, I thought the focus would be Madeline Christopher, young English teacher who is somewhat adrift in her life. But then the story switched to other characters, following them through their own private intrigues and relationship to the secrets contained in the academy. This was sad in that I really liked Madeline and that there were two male characters who I kept confusing in my mind. I'm still not entirely sure I know their names.

I also thought that there was just too much-too many characters, too many backstories and subplots that weren't necessary. I wanted a tighter mystery story and I would define this as more literary.  I mean, sometimes it was almost like the characters forgot there was a dead girl in their quest to think about their own lives. While that may be more realistic, we're all pretty self-obsessed, it isn't what I look for in a mystery. The writing was pretty good at the expense though of keeping me engaged in the story.  Additionally I thought the ending was a little weird regarding the baby (no spoilers here)-definitely a surprise to me.

Overall: Good writing but not a great experience.

Want to Go Private?

Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman
Scholastic Press, 2011
330 pages
YA; Contemporary
4.5/5 stars

Source: Library

What a haunting book, dealing with such a timely topic. This book deals with teenagers and internet predators as in Abby, a freshman in high school whose fears, worries, and insecurities about high school make her ripe for the attentions of the guy she knows online as "Luke." Halfway through the book she goes away with him, leaving her family and friends to wonder if they could have prevented it and to frantically search for her.

I was back and forth on Abby. On the one hand, her younger sister was presented as a total brat, her father was emotionally unavailable, her mother wasn't very sympathetic, and her best friend was totally pulling away. She was obviously lonely and vulnerable to anyone who could offer a listening ear.  But her fears about high school were so overblown and ridiculous-what makes her think that things can ever stay the same? Why is she so afraid about trying new things when she has her best friend to try some of them with her? Why does she only have one friend and seemingly no other acquaintances? She seemed to want to continue along like a little kid instead of accepting that she has to grow up. Unfortunately she does end up growing up and much too fast when she gets in a car and drives off with "Luke."

I was somewhat shocked by the content in this early part as Abby is virtually seduced by "Luke," sending him provocative pictures, stripping for him, and otherwise bearing her body and soul.  There is some explicit stuff, which was hard for me to reconcile with the fact that Abby is only fourteen.

Then there is Part II which follows the reactions of Abby's sister Lily, best friend Faith, and almost-boyfriend Billy, who all wonder how could Abby do such a thing and fears about if she'll return. It was a switch to hear these new voices but I don't see how else it could have been handled. Happily in Part III, Abby is recovered yet she is shattered and her relationships are in tatters.  But she perseveres and ends up reminding her classmates about the importance of internet safety which is reitereated by Sarah Darer Littman at the end of the book where she includes links about internet safety in the back of the book: http://wanttogoprivate.com and http://chezteen.com. Check them out for tips on protecting yourself and your loved ones from internet predators.

Cat Vs Human

Cat Vs Human by Yasmine Surovec
Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2011
153 pages
Humor; Comic
5/5 stars

Source: Received a free copy for review via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Do you like cats? Well, I am the proud human of an adorable orange tabby who is totally the boss of our house and I am here to say that if you have any love for cats, you'll probably love this book.

First the cats look so cute! The main three are an orange cat (my favorite as he makes me think of my cat), a light gray, and a dark gray cat.  There is also a cartoon version of the author, her husband and their dog as she examines the place of cats and compares that to treatment of humans and dogs.

Some scenes seem to possibly come from the author's real-life while others are just representative of stereotypes (and sometimes of the realities) of being a cat lover.  Most of the comics made me smile and a few made me laugh out loud in recognition.  This was a fast read and I highly recommend it for lovers of cats and adorableness!

Circle of Fire

Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink
Little, Brown and Company, 2011
359 pages
YA; Historical; Paranormal
3.5/5 stars

Source: Library

As the conclusion to the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy, I approached this book with trepidation. On the one hand, I adored the first book Prophecy of the Sisters; it was one of the first books I reviewed on my blog and I had nearly complete praise for the book. But then I read the second book, Guardian of the Gate and was dismayed, mainly because of a blah new love interest and the feeling that this second book was useless filler.  Thus my excitement for book three was tempered with the knowledge that the aforementioned love interest continues to appear as the love interest even as I wanted to see the conclusion of this battle royale between sisters.

I'll start with what I liked, which was the relationship of the sisters. Lia and Alice are still committed to their respective causes and there is much more of Alice than in Guardian of the Gate.  I enjoyed their sparring the most. They also bring up important questions about the nature of good and evil as well as insights into the sister-sister relationship as well as interactions with the parental units.  Another aspect I liked was Lia's friendship with the four Keys. Each is different and some are more fleshed out than others but I liked that part.

I also mostly enjoyed the journeys although again it all reminded me of the Lord of the Rings films. Now I love those films but I wish it hadn't evoked them so strongly. Maybe that's just me being super weird though?

Now on to what I didn't like...it may be a longer list but it mostly stems from disappointment. I loved the first book but found the rest of the trilogy to be lacking in multiple areas.

First, I didn't have this problem with the earlier books but I felt like the writing was more formal and awkward. I understand that historical fiction aspires to be different from the more casual contemporary style but it was jarring in this particular book.

Second was Lia herself. She seemed to flip-flop in some ways. She'd say that her power was growing and she had a better grasp on her abilities but then she'd turn around and say that her power was weakening and they had to attempt to break the curse at the first attempt. Which was it? Was she strong and powerful or dying? In general it seemed to be the latter, but it was not consistent and it annoyed me.

Then there's Dimitri, who was introduced in the second book and who I had thought might be a spy/traitor. Something about him just didn't sit right with me and I felt safe reserving judgment. However he is in this book again as the Lia's love interest and I still hated him. On the one hand, he's not really a jerk, which is always great to see in YA lit; it's kind of scary how much non-jerky boys are missing. However he seemed too perfect and I was never able to shake my suspicions. If you like Dimitri, you will probably enjoy their love scenes as they are definitely more adult but I hated them. What was the point in making me like James if Zink was just going to shove him aside?!

A question for readers of the trilogy: What would have happened had Lia or Alice committed suicide or just died young? When their mother died, the curse passed to these girls. But neither has had twin daughters yet. From one line in the book, I think the curse would pause until a new family was chosen but I am unsure. Do you have any theories?

So Overall: Mixed feelings. I don't feel like the rest of the trilogy lived up to the promise of the first book. However I would still recommend it, with caveats, to people looking for a different kind of paranormal and who can appreciate historical elements.

Cover: So I really loved the original cover of the first book and have been much less impressed with these covers; definitely preferred the turned face for book 2 over the head-on shot of this book.

Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Dutton Books, 2011
338 pages
YA; Contemporary
3/5 stars

Source: Received an ARC via resugo's book tour.

I mostly liked Anna and the French Kiss with some qualms (mainly that St. Clair is super short, which is reiterated in this book and it may be shallow but I like guys who are taller than me; and the fact that St. Clair CHEATED on his girlfriend to be with Anna-yeah they only kissed at the end but there was serious emotional unfaithfulness going on way before then and I will never stop mentioning that because I've yet to see anyone else mention it and it really bothers me).

But I LOVED Perkins' writing so I jumped at the chance to read this book early despite knowing that the main characters were called Lola and Cricket; Lola is a nickname but Cricket is apparently his real name which makes me think that his parents were on something. Additionally his twin sister is named Calliope, which is rather out-there although less worrying. A Greek muse is clearly a better namesake than a bug. I can appreciate unique names in YA and I hate when character names run together (I read two books where the main characters were Emily and Emma and I kept confusing them in my mind) but they don't need to go that far, IMO.

Anyway Lola is the main character and she loves costumes; quite frankly, it sounded like she dressed like Claudia from the Baby-Sitters Club: absolutely cracked-out crazy.  And while I admired her sewing abilities, she was a ditz who could be out of it for days when the boys in her life confused her.  She is also a character who feels that lying is the best solution for her problems (that seems to be cropping up a lot in the YA books I read). So I wasn't a big fan of Lola.

Then we have her boyfriend Max, a guitarist who is 22 to Lola's just turned 17.  Because of the age difference, her dads require the two to have Sunday brunch, an early curfew, and hourly check-ins when they're on a date. Although Max isn't to my taste (he drinks, which is legal but I'm a teetotaler; smokes pot and possibly also cigarettes, which illegal for the former and super smelly for both!), he seemed like a mostly cool guy. The age difference at that particular point in life is kind of weird but they seemed to have a connection and to be working on building a solid foundation for a future.

However there is the complication of "the boy next door," the aforementioned Cricket, who had a chance with Lola but screwed it up big time. She has decided to hate him forever except that he's really cute, states quite clearly that he does like her and always has, and her dads love him.  Thus we have the typical YA hate of a girl for a practically perfect boy who she clearly adores and who tries to fight her attraction for way too long.

Beyond the romance, there is also Lola's family situation. She lives with her dads, technically her uncle and his partner, as her mom, Norah, became pregnant but was drug-addled and unstable. Norah is still occasionally part of Lola's life, causing embarrassment and hurt feelings whenever she appears.  Lola's dads are pretty great though, if overprotective and a little too interfering with her life. I think it's fine to disapprove of your daughter's boyfriend, especially when he could have already graduated college while she's still in high school; less cool to invite a boy she used to have a crush on but who broke her heart on a surprise "family" outing with absolutely no consideration of Lola's feelings.

Something that most early reviewers seemed to have liked was the reappearance of St. Clair and Anna. As someone who doesn't really like St. Clair, I found their together ALL THE TIME coupleness kind of disgusting (they seem to spend all of their time together or traveling to be together).  I'm usually a much more optimistic romantic but this couple just pisses me off.

By the end of the book, there were some swoony scenes...except that I didn't like Lola or Cricket so I didn't care. Additionally, I didn't feel like the writing was as strong in this book. More scenes felt contrived and the San Francisco background didn't come to life like Paris did. The humor was lacking

Overall-
What I liked: Lola's dads; Max until he was demonized; Norah, who ended up having touching insight.
What I didn't like: Lola--and almost every decision she made; Cricket's name

Cover: I hate people staring at me from the cover and the guy is only okay looking. My imagined Cricket is much hotter although equally tall and lanky.

Eve

Eve by Anna Carey
HarperTeen, 2011
197 pages
YA; Dystopia
3/5 stars

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

I requested this after seeing it on Netgalley without really knowing much about it. Then I read that it was dystopian or possibly more apocalyptic as most of the population has been wiped out by a virus and I became apprehensive because it sounded like Eve running around with the first boy she's ever met (who she of course falls in love with) and that didn't sound all that exciting to me.

Luckily there was a bit more to it. Although the above summary is mostly true, there are a lot of other characters who variously threaten and help Eve, the beautiful, brilliant girl who is wanted by the government in order to help repopulate the nation. Girls and boys are raised in separate locations. Girls study hard until they graduate and then they are used as baby machines until they die (this actually made me think of The Handmaid's Tale) while boys are slave labor to build the new city for the king. Eve will be his prize wife and thus it becomes necessary for her to run as far and as fast as she can.

Caleb is the other main character; they accidentally stumble across each other and her fear of him soon grows to appreciation of his inherent goodness. Although I thought she fell too fast, at least he's a good guy and not a jerk written as if I was supposed to swoon. I don't want to spoil too much but a lot of other things happen too to increase the tension and make life harder for Eve. However the general impression I had was meh. I didn't really feel for any of the characters and while it was easy reading, it wasn't enthralling. I didn't want to climb into the world and be friends with Eve.

Overall: A decent addition to the YA dystopia/post-apocalyptic canon; recommended for those who can't get enough of those genres.

September Stats

Looking Back at September: A much better month than August in terms of quality. I read a lot of books I really enjoyed, a lot of exciting YA, a lot of different genres.

Looking Forward to October: Another Netgalley month at Red House Books; I already have 10 downloaded and I'm hoping to mostly focus on books from there with the occasional library and Vine book topping my reading list. I'm not doing anything special for Halloween but I am hoping to read some classics and/or books by British authors for my BBC challenge.

Monthly Stats:

Books Read This Month: 30
Pages Read This Month: 8791 pages
Average Length of Book:  293 pages
Average Rating of Book: 3.77

Favorite Book: All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Most Disappointing Book: A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davis-bleh love triangle

Longest Book: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, 420 pages

Shortest Book: Queens of All the Earth by Hannah Sternberg, 159 pages of lyricism

Year Stats:

Total Books Read: 335

Total Pages Read: 99,531 pages

Average Length of Book: 297 pages

Average Rating of Book: 3.76

By Genre:
Mystery/Thriller-3
YA/MG-25
Romance-0

Classics-0

Science Fiction/Fantasy-1

Non-Fiction-1
Historical Fiction-0
Short Stories-0
Other-0

Challenge Updates:

Contemps: 2 read-COMPLETED!

Cozy: 0 read, 5 total

British Books: 1 read, 40 total

YA Debut: 8 read, 51 total

Ebook: 12 read, 112 total

Source:

Home Library-14

Own/Borrowed/Won-1

Booksneeze-0

Netgalley-8

Other ebook source-2

Audiobook-0
Amazon Vine-5

Stats for Previous Months: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August 

Books Read:
306. A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler
307. Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman
308. Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett
309. Pregnant Pause by Han Nolan
310. Pirate King by Laurie R. King
311. The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski
312. Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink
313. Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker
314. Deadline by Chris Crutcher
315. Mr. Monk on the Couch by Lee Goldberg
316. Variant by Robison Wells
317. Queens of All the Earth by Hannah Sternberg
318. Past Perfect by Leila Sales
319. All These Things I've Done by Gabriele Zevin
320. A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davis
321. Exile by Anne Osterlund
322. The Poisoned House by Michael Ford
323. The Implosion of Aggie Winchester by Lara Zielin
324. Eve by Anna Carey
325. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
326. Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly
327. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
328. Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik
329. Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
330. Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
331. The Simpsons by John Ortved
332. Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
333. The Twisted Thread by Charlotte Bacon
334. Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
335. As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

How was the month of September for you?