June Recap

Books:
Total Books:  14  | YA:  12 | MG: 1  | Adult:  1 | Fiction:   14  | Non-fiction:    0  | Re-reads: 0
Hardcover:  1  | Paperback:    1  | Kindle:  12
Total Pages Read:  4,105 |  Pages per day: 137

Best Book(s) Read: Something Like Normal
Most Disappointing Book(s) Read:  Fifty Shades Freed

Movies:
Total Movies:  7   | Comedy:  2  | Drama: 2    | Horror: 1   | Action: 2
New:   4  | Re-watch:   3 | Theater: 2

Best Movie(s) Watched:  Brave
Worst Movie(s) Watched:  Snow White and the Huntsman

Other and Miscellany:

• I wrote 30 posts this past month
• I reviewed 12 books and 1 movie
  
• In addition to weekly meme posts, I talked about 5 things I’m currently obsessed with, and did some movie news posts.

Goals for Next Month:

• Read at least 12 books
• Watch at least 5 new movies

Book Review: First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky

Gray is content to brood and sulk about the tragic turn his life has taken.  Then he meets Dylan, a girl who seems unable to stand still and who is always searching for a new adventure.  In many ways, they’re opposites, but once they form an unlikely friendship, they’re inseparable, and it isn’t long before their feelings deepen.  Staying in love is hard when someone’s always looking to move on, though, and the two might have to learn that the hard way.

Told in alternating perspectives, Kacvinsky’s sophomore novel offers a love story for teens that’s accessible, fairly compelling, and a quick read (the book clocks in at just 200 pages).  Unfortunately, there’s not enough depth here despite the very real chemistry between the two leads.  Teens looking for a fairly simple love story with some superficial depth won’t be disappointed, though.

While Gray is a remarkably well-developed character with a convincing narrative voice, Dylan never manages to elevate herself past the well-worn, entirely irksome manic-pixie-dream-girl trope.  Nothing about her is authentic or convincing, and her constant need to move and go and seek out adventure starts to wear early on in the book.  Her whole decision to approach Gray and befriend him comes out of a challenge she sets upon herself, and the reader is left wondering if her actions are more methodical than emotional.  Like so many other stories about boys who are awakened by a manic-pixie-dream-girl, this one pretends to care about its female protagonist while presenting only the most shallow view of her.

The novel’s romance is uneven, as it its pacing.  Despite being a short, quick read, the first part of the book speeds by while the end seems to drag on forever.  A neat, too-tidy ending will frustrate critical readers, but others will enjoy the predictability.  Certainly  not offensive and sometimes even sweet, this is a good pick for teens looking for YA romance featuring slightly older protagonists.

First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 2012. Library copy.

Book Review: Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

Noelle has been bullied for what seems like forever.  Every day is about making it through in one piece.  She keeps a lot of her pain inside–her mom is neglectful, and Noelle feels shame about her life and keeps much of the worst of it from her best friend.  When Julian Porter starts paying more attention to her, Noelle is torn: it’s easier to stay hidden than to stand out, but what if it means losing something that has the potential to be great?

It’s hard to write a critical review of a book whose intention is so good, but it’s not impossible.  This is especially true when the book in question is such a total mess, which is the case with Susane Colasanti’s latest offering.  Her preachy, overly-didactic, after-school special of a YA novel has some good stuff between its pages, but it gets lost in the book’s message, which is practically screaming at the reader in every sentence.  The book is so earnest that it becomes almost hard to take it seriously.

Part of the problem that Colasanti tells, tells, tells.  We’re never shown enough of Noelle’s life to really get a sense of her or of why her life is terrible.  Sure, Noelle tells us how awful her mother is, and she tells us how awful school is.  We get that Noelle’s life sucks–but we don’t know anything except for what she tells us.

Stock characters don’t help things in the authenticity camp.  Noelle is okay, as far as protagonists go, but everyone else is so one-dimensional that it’s hard to care.  Sherae, Noelle’s best friend, is dealing with the aftermath of sexual assault–and that’s all we’re given about her.  Julian is sweet and cute and seems to like Noelle, but that’s about it.  By far one of the most problematic characters is Noelle’s mom.  She’s given virtually nothing to do except complain about how hard it is to be a single mom.  This didn’t work for me for a number of reasons, most of all because we’re not given any context except for the fact that she complains a lot.  All of it felt contrived to work within the constraints of the story.

There’s a manipulation in the narrative about three-quarters of the way through that’s supposed to act as Noelle’s impetus to change.  Savvy readers will see the twist coming from a mile away and will likely be irritated by it.  It’s too late in the game for Colasanti to expect readers to be shocked by what happens.  What’s worse is that it doesn’t feel like it would be a real motivation for Noelle to change her situation.  It’s a clunky plot device, and it’s as clunky as the rest of the book’s subject matter.

Sure, there’s some heart here somewhere, and it might work for young YA readers who are looking for reinforcement about the fact that It Gets Better.  However, there are better options out there for kids looking to read books about bullying, and I think we’d be doing them a service by providing those resources to teens.  Pass on this one.

Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti. Viking Juvenile: 2012. Electronic galley accepted for review via NetGalley.

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Expected release date: October 9, 2012

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett’s unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna’s life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together.

Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, TIME BETWEEN US is a stunning and spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new talent in YA fiction.

(summary via Goodreads)

The first thing I’m struck by is how much our cover model looks like Keira Knightley, she of the protruding lower jaw.  It’s uncanny.  So much so, in fact, that I’m pretty sure it was calculated.  That’s okay.  I know that this ARC was one of the ones to grab at BEA this year, so I’m eagerly awaiting early reviews.  It’s got a lot of promise, and the super-early buzz has been largely positive.  I’m really looking forward to this one.  Time travel, when done well, can be a lot of fun.

What are you waiting on this week?

Book Review: The Night She Disappeared by April Henry

The night that Kayla goes missing after a pizza delivery run, Drew thinks about the fact that the last caller had asked for the girl who drove the Mini Cooper.  That’s Gabie, who took the night off work.  The two of them are horrified about the fact that the kidnapper took their coworker, and they’re worried about the fact that he asked for a different girl.  The police won’t listen to their theories, so the two strike out on their own to try to find Kayla before it’s too late.

Much like Henry’s Girl, Stolen (another book about kidnapping), this is a quick read designed, I think, for reluctant readers.  Likely to find an audience looking for mystery/suspense titles (of which there are woefully few in the YA world), this book isn’t particularly offensive, but it’s not particularly inventive, either.  Fluffy fiction masquerading as a story with an edge, this is a good choice for summer readers who don’t really want to read.

There’s nothing inherently wrong here, and Henry has actually grown a bit as a writer as far as her prose is concerned, but there’s also no suspense.  This has to do with the fact that Henry offers multiple points-of-view throughout the book, so readers hear from Gabie, Drew, Kayla, and her captor.  Because readers get Kayla’s point of view, they know she’s alive and relatively unharmed.  This takes away any uncertainty about what has happened to her and kills much of the book’s momentum.

That being said, Henry’s choice to use a collage-type approach to the narrative works in its favor.  There are images and police reports interspersed in the narrative, and these things help add dimension to what is otherwise a pretty flat story.  There’s also some mild adventure, a bit of gore, and just a hint of romance.  All of this feels fairly calculated, but most teens probably won’t pick up on it.

Mildly entertaining but also pretty forgettable.

The Night She Disappeared by April Henry. Henry Holt & Company: 2012. Electronic galley accepted for review via NetGalley.

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  The purpose of the meme is to discuss books we are reading this week, as well as books we completed the previous week.

Books I Completed This Week:
From What I Remember by Valerie Thomas and Stacy Kramer: Cute but way too long.  It’ll have good appeal for teens, though.  Review to come.
37 Things I Love (in No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon: The relatively light title and deceptive cover don’t hint at the depth of this book.  Review to come.
Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Peña: Read for social justice class. I liked it, but didn’t love it?

Books I’m Reading This Week:
The Princesses of Iowa by M. Molly Backes: This one is pretty long, but the writing is good.

What are you reading this week?

Viewed this Week (14)

Inspired by Ticket to Anywhere’s What I Watched, I’ve decided to try to post on Sundays about what movies and/or TV shows I watched the week before.  Some weeks will be epic, and some weeks…won’t be.  There’s no hurt in trying, though, right?  The format might change as I figure out what I want this to be.

TV:
Girls 1×10 – “She Did”
True Blood 5×2 – “Authority Always Wins”
Bunheads 1×2 – “For Fanny”

Movies:
Snow White and the Huntsman
Brave

Thoughts on what I watched:
I thought the Girls season finale was damn near perfect.  It took me about 10 minutes to adjust to what was happening w/r/t Jessa’s “party.”  That’s how shocking and uncomfortable it was for me.  She’s fast-becoming one of my favorite characters, though.  The only people I love more than Jessa are Shoshanna, who has transformed into an actual person, and Ray, who has also undergone a terrific change.  The scenes between them were sweet, funny, and wonderful.  I’m so excited they’re hooking up.  Waiting for the second season (which is currently filming) is going to be brutal, though.  My love for this show runs deep, y’all.

True Blood is back to boring me.  I don’t know what it is–I keep watching it, mostly because it’s so enmeshed in pop culture cannon that I feel left out if I don’t–but I’m not enjoying it at all.  As cool as it is to see Christopher Meloni play a super evil vampire, the rest of it doesn’t work for me.  It might have to do with how annoying I find Bill. I don’t even like looking at his face (and have never found him attractive, which is a bummer, because Bill is supposed to be good-looking) because I find him so creepy.  Also, Sookie continues to plumb new depths of irritation for me.  There isn’t enough time spent with the characters I do like (Jason, Hoyt, and Jessica) to make this an enjoyable view for me.  I’ll continue to slog through it, though, because that’s what I do.

Bunheads continues to be the show that I most look forward two, despite having aired only two episodes.  I still think the show has some serious pacing problems, but the final scene in last week’s episode where the girls dance for Fannie was so well done. I may have teared up a little.  Maybe.  That being said, the strange controversy over Shonda Rhimes’s tweet about the show and Amy Sherman-Pallandino’s response has totally bummed me out.  Both actions were problematic, and I’ve come to the realization that while I love Palladino’s work and writing, I can’t watch or read interviews with her.  She’s kind of terrifying, and I feel like I’d hate her if I ever met her in real life.

Snow White and the Huntsmen is a cheat, since I technically saw it last week but didn’t include it in that Sunday’s roundup.  I hated it, you guys.  HATED IT. I don’t know what I was expecting, and it wasn’t like I had super-high expectations to begin with, but it was awful.  Slow plotting, no character development, and a weirdly uneven message.  Absolutely worth skipping.  I’d sit through Prometheus again before subjecting anyone to this movie.

Brave was one I was really looking forward to.  Reviews were tepid, and so I went in with lowered expectations…and ended up loving it.  It was seriously fun and sweet and different.  It’s a great mother-daughter story, and I can’t wait to drag my mom to see it.  I loved it a lot.  I could listen to Kelly MacDonald talk all day long.  All day.

What did you watch this week?

Movie Blather and Randomness

Another Saturday, another post about movie news.  I have been completely apathetic about the movies I’ve seen lately and can’t be bothered to write a full review for any of them, so you get this instead.  ONWARD.

1. Pitch Perfect’s trailer is out and it looks…awesome?

Okay.  I’m super embarrassed about this one, but I’m also strangely excited.  The movie stars Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, and Rebel Wilson as collegiates who join an all-girl a capella group and face off against some dudes. It looks totally predictable (down to the jokes about Wilson’s weight, which is a bummer), but the music is guaranteed to be fun (Ace of Base and Blackstreet, what up).  I’m a sucker for music in general and secretly love a capella.  This reminds me of Glee if Glee wasn’t ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE in EVERY SINGLE WAY.

2. As the Emmy’s approach, so does speculation about nominees

The Emmy Awards (usually held in September) are about to release their list of nominees for this year, and there’s a lot of speculation about who will be nominated.  One of the most interesting categories is the movie/miniseries category, because there are so many great contenders this year.  Deadline has a great rundown of what will probably be nominated.  My vote: Game Change.  I really enjoyed that one.

3. 2 Days in New York, the sequel to 2 Days in Paris, has a trailer

I loved Julie Delpy’s dramatic comedy 2 Days in Paris, and I had no idea she was making a sequel (this feels like a pop culture failure on my part, and I’m bummed about it).  This one stars Delpy and Chris Rock, who has toned down the annoying and might actually be sort of sweet.  In this movie, her very French parents come to visit and chaos ensues.  It’s definitely a retread of the first film, but I’m excited to see it all the same.

4. A sequel (threequel?) to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset is set to begin filming this summer

Speaking of Julie Delpy (and really, why don’t we speak of her more often?), Ethan Hawke has confirmed that a follow up to 1995′s Before Sunrise and 2004′s Before Sunset is in the works and should be shot this summer.  I loved, loved, loved these two movies and am excited that there will be a third movie about Jesse and Celeste.  Even though I think the last film ended on the perfect note, I’ll see this one and see what Richard Linklater has in store for the characters. (Indiewire)

5. Have you seen the trailer for The Queen of Versailles?

Tapping into America’s bizarre obsession watching reality shows featuring the rich and irrelevant, this documentary follows a couple as they attempt to build the biggest house in the United States–right before the economy tanked.  It looks funny, sad, and profound, and I can’t wait to see it.  I really can’t.  This is one documentary I won’t wait to see on DVD–this is theater-worthy.

Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus arrives without any advance warning.  It just appears on the outskirts of a town and draws people to it.  The all black-and-white circus amazes people with its fantastical elements, and it is an experience that stays with its attendees forever.  Little do the common people know that there is an ongoing competition within the circus.  Two young people have been selected to compete against one another in a battle of skill and imagination.  Despite their destiny to be opponents, Celia and Marco fall in love and must contend with the consequences of their choices.

Morgenstern’s novel garnered a fair amount of publicity and critical acclaim when it was published last year.  Topping many of the best of lists for 2011, the book also managed to make a number of lists of adult fiction recommended for young adults.  Rich description, lush writing, and an absolutely creative premise make this book a standout. It’s already been optioned for a film, and its cinematic story will translate beautifully to the screen.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. A lack of character development for the book’s two leads combined with pacing problems and a surplus of secondary and tertiary characters made this book an uneven read at best.  However, the book’s undeniably beautiful prose and moving conclusion helped make up for some of the issues with the story.

Part of the problem present here is that despite the fact that the two main characters are supposed to be in competition with one another, there’s never any sense of true tension.  At one point, Celia remarks about the fact that the game feels more like a “dual exhibition,” and she’s never proven wrong.  Even though there’s some loss of life, both Marco and Celia never seem to be in any real peril.  They also remain fairly static throughout the course of the novel, and since the book spans much of their lives, this feels oddly inauthentic.

The fact that there are so many characters who populate this novel is also problematic.  The chapters jump around in time and focus on a wide variety of people.  While this is a neat narrative trick, it’s only partially successful, because some of the characters are much more interesting than the others (I could have done with way more of the twins and way less of pretty much everyone else).  It’s hard to keep everyone straight, and at a certain point, you start to wonder why you should have to, anyway.

Some readers won’t mind the issues I found in this book.  It’s got a sort of magical realism to its story that makes it intriguing in a very unique way.  The descriptions will be enough to keep some readers satisfied, and others will revel in the love story between the two magicians (though I kept feeling like something was missing).  Despite my issues with the book, I can see this one’s appeal, absolutely.  I’ll definitely be seeing the movie.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Doubleday: 2011. Borrowed copy.

Book Review: Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story by Kelly Milner Halls, et al

Short stories told from the perspective of both the guys and girls, 12 YA authors lend their voices to this collection.  The stories run the gamut, from first love to first heartbreak and everything in between.  The lesson at the end is that relationships are messy, complicated, and never easy, and that there’s always another way to see the same events.

I’ve been putting off writing this review because I was so disappointed by this collection of stories.  The problem with creating an anthology featuring a wide variety of writers is that the result is a wide variety of skills.  The result of this particular anthology was uneven pacing, plotting, and characterization.  There’s not enough here to allow the book to stand out.  What’s more is that while it is a book that could definitely appeal to both male and female readers, the overtly-girly cover is going to alienate nearly half the potential audience.  Also, how uncomfortable does that pose look?

While the first set of stories, by Chris Crutcher and Kelly Milner Halls, were the most powerful for me, they’re more likely to irritate most readers.  They feature two incredibly damaged people who are disastrous together, despite their undeniable chemistry.  I thought Milner Halls did a particularly excellent job of creating a female character who thinks she’s tough and has seen it all but is in fact incredibly needy and vulnerable. Crutcher’s portrayal of the boy she finally falls for is astute, too, and he manages to capture the helplessness of being caught in a bad relationship.

One of the other stories that stands out features a gay teen who agrees to meet his online crush only to find out that things aren’t exactly what they seem.  This one was sad and smart, but because the stories are so short, it’s hard to form connections to the characters.  Things have to be conveyed quickly, and I couldn’t help but feel like the stories were overly didactic and relied too much on stereotypical characters.

That being said, this is a unique concept for a short story collection, and it’s likely to work for teens who are looking for accessible YA short stories.  There’s plenty here for all interests and tastes. I just wish it had been executed better.

Girl Meets Boy by Kelly Milner Halls, et al. Chronicle Books: 2011. ARC accepted for review via author.