Tag: genre: young adult

• Advance Excitement at a Glance III

  Posted at 6:43 pm by Laura, on March 1, 2014

  

  This year, in an effort to blog more, to become more involved with the blogging community, and to keep up with the latest publications, I thought I’d create a monthly post about the ARCs I’ve received. These ARCs will be read and reviewed a month prior to the publishing date. The Advance Excitement at a Glance posts will feature one or two (or more, depending on what happens this year) books to look forward to, and it will motivate me to keep my to-read list on track.

  Last month, I read Panic and Savage Girl. For April, there are four ARCs in my queue, but I will feature two in this post and leave the other two as surprises! I’m excited about all of them and can’t wait to share my reviews with you.

  Mimi Malloy, At Last! by Julia MacDonnell
  (Picador, April 8)

  …when an MRI reveals that Mimi’s brain is filled with black spots—areas of atrophy, her doctor says—it looks like she’s destined to spend her days in “one of those storage facilities for unwanted antiques.” Mimi knows her mind is (more or less) as sharp as ever, and she won’t go down without a fight. Yet as she prepares to take her stand, she stumbles upon an old pendant of her mother’s and, slowly, her memory starts to return…

  Divorced and retired Mimi learns to enjoy the quiet life, smoking an occasional cigarette and listening to jazz on the radio, but is constantly bombarded by her sisters’ nostalgia for childhood and children’s praises of assisted living. When she finds out about her medical condition, and discovers her mother’s pendant, she begins to remember bits of her repressed childhood, and finds love along the way.

  At laaaaast, my loooove…I met the author back in August and absolutely gushed over the title, chapter titles, premise of the story, Mimi, everything. She was so pleased that she and her editor offered to send me an ARC of the book, and I screamed in January when I found it on my doorstep (probably disturbed the neighbors with that one…). I cannot wait to meet Mimi and experience a second “coming of age” with her!

  Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
  (Balzer + Bray, April 22)

  Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.
  And Gretchen follows his every command.

  Gretchen Müller grew up in National Socialist Party and knows nothing of the true hardships of the people Uncle Dolf so fiercely despises. But after she meets Daniel Cohen, a Jewish reporter, she is exposed to the dangers of the Nazi Party and the devastation and destruction it leaves behind.

  Balzer + Bray has some amazing books, and since I’m always in the mood for some great WWII fiction I have high hopes for this book!

  What books are you looking forward to in April? Got any ARCs you’d like to share excitement over?

  Posted in Advance Excitement, books | 0 Comments | Tagged advance excitement at a glance, advance reading copy, ARC, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult

• Seth Fishman on “How to Write YA”

  Posted at 2:34 pm by Laura, on February 28, 2014

  Young Adult author Seth Fishman (The Well’s End, a superbly eerie, dystopian fantasy novel with viruses and quarantines) whips up a fantastic article for writers diving into the YA division. In “How to Write YA,” featured in Publishers Weekly, Fisherman makes six solid points that make me simultaneously nod professionally and jump up and down like an enthusiastic fan of YA (and want to high-five him multiple times for publishing this and finally make people realize…well, read on).

  1. Confront your failures.
  2. Don’t write down. “‘Young Adult’ does not mean stupid. It doesn’t mean ignorant.” *internally screams with joy* 
  3. Be timeless when timeless is called for.
  4. Remember what you felt, not what you remember.
  5. Be confident.
  6. Have a teenager help you edit. (Yes, this, it’s so important, especially for dialogue or dramatic moments!)

   

  Just read it like any good YA reader should! Fishman nails it.

  Posted in books, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged books, genre: young adult, news, publishing

• Book Review: “Panic” by Lauren Oliver (ARC)

  Posted at 11:15 am by Laura, on February 22, 2014

  Panic by Lauren Oliver 

  Publisher: HarperCollins
  Publishing Date: March 4
  Genre: young adult, thriller, contemporary
  ISBN: 9780062014559
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★

  Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

  Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

  Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

  For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

  Heather and Dodge, participants in a thrilling post-graduation game where the winner takes all, have different reasons for entering Panic. Heather jumps in to prove something to herself. Dodge, in a sense, plays for revenge. But Panic must be kept a secret from the adults and police of Carp — a small, poor town in the middle of nowhere — because Panic is the only chance any of the students have to escape and start a fresh, new life.

  First of all, this is not dystopian and it is not another Hunger Games. Yes, it sounds like THG, and yes it sounds dystopian, but this is a thriller contemporary novel through and through. The high school graduates of Carp of years past devised a daring, life-threatening game where the winner takes $50,000 — money raised from the school population, $1 donated from each student for every day of high school attendance — and escapes the awful, poor, messed up town. The winner can do whatever they want: go to college, get surgery, travel the world, pick up and leave, become athletes or actresses, you name it. These students are desperate, and they will put their lives on the line for that chance to escape.

  And that’s what fuels Panic, the desperation of the participants. Heather is deeply insecure, feels unloved and worthless, and she enters Panic blindly thinking she’ll catch the eye of her ex-boyfriend, when in reality she realizes she entered to prove something to herself and to the world. Every participants has a sad, angry, desperate story, and it fuels them throughout their frightening game. Jumping off tanks, crossing highways blindfolded…anything for the $67,000 pool for this year’s winner.

  So why 2 stars? While this was well-written, dirty and gritty, honest, and filled with intense emotion, it just wasn’t the book for me. I continued reading because I love Oliver’s work, but this particular book was not meant to be read by me. Maybe I’ve never felt this angry, scared, insecure, or desperate, or maybe I’ve had a sheltered upbringing, or maybe I just never interacted with people in these dire situations. Who knows? This is not a reflection of the book’s quality, but rather my enjoyment of the book.

  Thank you, Edelweiss and HarperCollins, for providing the book for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 2 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: contemporary, genre: fiction, genre: thriller, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Just One Year” by Gayle Forman

  Posted at 6:32 pm by Laura, on February 1, 2014

  Just One Year by Gayle Forman 

  Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
  Published: October 2013
  Genre: young adult
  ISBN: 9780525425922
  Goodreads: 3.88
  Rating: ★★★★

  After spending an amazing day and night together in Paris, Just One Year is Willem’s story, picking up where Just One Day ended. His story of their year of quiet longing and near misses is a perfect counterpoint to Allyson’s own as Willem undergoes a transformative journey, questioning his path, finding love, and ultimately, redefining himself.

  Willem wakes in a hospital, cut and bruised, with no recollection of the last few hours except a nagging feeling that he’s forgotten something, someone, very important. When his memory comes back, he’s desperate to find Lulu, a girl who stopped his heart and changed his world in one day. But she’s not in Paris anymore, and he has no idea how to find her because “Lulu” isn’t even her real name. From Mexican resorts to Indian film studios, from a best friend’s couch to his uncle’s loft, Willem travels the world and looks deep inside himself, his parents’ complex relationship, and Shakespeare to find the answers. And the answers all point to the mysterious American girl in Paris.

  

  While not as breathtaking as Just One Day — and I’ll only say that because I felt very much like Allyson and not like Willem, a spontaneous yet lost traveler — Forman packs another powerful punch in this world-traveling search for love and individual growth. Willem and Allyson were so incredibly close to running into one another throughout the novel, and it pained me to see them turn around or glance in a different direction and completely miss that connection. It was also fascinating to see the other side of the story: what happened to Allyson’s suitcase, how Willem came to find out about her letter, how Willem deduced where Allyson would be. They each, in their own books, pieced things together with scraps of memory, and it just made the whole concept of love — and finding the one — even more powerful.

  Shakespeare’s influence is stronger in this novel than the last, if that’s even possible. While Allyson’s story pieces together various plays to help her explain her life, As You Like It, or more specifically Orlando’s life, takes a hold of Willem throughout the novel. That play is his story, Orlando’s pain his Willem’s pain, and Willem’s role in the play in Amsterdam is intensified ten-fold because he’s no longer acting the role, he is the role.

  Bram and Yael’s story come together as well. Though Forman never states things point-blank, it is clear what Willem wants from love, what he perceived his parents’ relationship to be and his role in it. His parents’ story is so like his and Allyson’s, and it pains him to think that after his father’s death Yael no longer wants to see Willem. While that’s not the case at all, it’s so heartbreakingly beautiful to watch Willem’s childhood perception of his parents change into something else entirely — still an all-consuming love, but not one that blocks out the most wonderful proof of their love.

  Touching, heartbreaking, joyful, and humorous, Just One Year expresses Willem’s side of the year of growth, and how one day can truly imprint and change one’s being for the better.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: contemporary, genre: romance, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Just One Day” by Gayle Forman

  Posted at 1:57 pm by Laura, on January 28, 2014

  Just One Day by Gayle Forman 

  Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
  Published: January 2013
  Genre: young adult, romance
  ISBN: 9780525425915
  Goodreads: 4.12
  Rating: ★★★★★

  When sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem de Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

  For three weeks, Allyson and her best friend experience a whirlwind tour of Europe for students post-high school graduation. Allyson is less than enthused with the results, and decides to take up Melanie’s challenge of breaking free from her monotonous routine: they ditch a Royal Shakespeare Company’s version of Hamlet for an underground street version of Twelfth Night. It is here that Allyson meets Willem, a Dutch actor who lives a nomadic life of “accidents.” And the next day, the two have their own “accident” when they run into each other on a train to London. Charmed by Willem’s spontaneity and eager to try something new, Allyson decides to run off to Paris with Willem for just one day. But the next morning, Willem is gone. Allyson thought Paris would be her only adventure, but it’s only just beginning.

  

  I’m sure many people relate to Allyson. And I bet nearly all the raving reviews are about how much they are Allyson — the over-scheduled, straight-A, not-so-spontaneous, somewhat insecure, dependable, reliable good girl. And I am one of those reviewers. I am joining the masses.

  Allyson tried so hard to break free from her parents’ expectations, to be who she believes herself to be, and her time with Willem showed her that she can live her life however she’d like, that she has the capability to make her own decisions. The fear and panic that would rise in her — whether it was when she got lost or when she jumped to conclusions about Willem — is exactly something I’d do. Her depression, empathy, and concern are very real gut reactions to major events that were positive at the time and later colored by some unseen force. She’s so real. And I think it’s because of Forman’s portrayal of Allyson that so many of us see ourselves in her.

  That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the Shakespeare connections littered throughout. Either they’re blatant — like Allyson’s college class and her reading partner Dee’s remarks — or they’re subtle, helping the reader predict the outcome of the novel with themes and familiarity of Shakespeare’s plays. Even the characters showed growth, changing from one Shakespearean role to another as the novel progresses. It was so artistic, so fantastic, that I was excited to see more and more as Allyson’s quest solidified.

  On a different note, this is what I’d imagine New Adult should be. Not the erotica stuff that litters the shelves, but college and post-college experiences that show the growth from dependent teenager to independent adult. Allyson is about to enter her first year of college, and we watch her as she rises in Europe, falls her first semester, finds her footing second semester, and lands on solid ground the following summer. That experience, right there, is so very real and true to the university lifestyle and self-identification.

  I do not have the words to continue. This novel is near and dear to my heart. I’m itching to begin Just One Year (Willem’s point of view!). Trust me when I say that if you want the full human experience, this is it. I should not have to italicize one more word.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 3 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: contemporary, genre: romance, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Moth and Spark” by Anne Leonard (ARC)

  Posted at 9:00 am by Laura, on January 20, 2014

  Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard 

  Publisher: Viking
  Publishing Date: February 20
  Genre: fantasy, young adult, adult
  ISBN: 9780670015702
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★

  Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control.

  Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen.

  Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.

  Though educated in politics and skilled at charming the courtiers, Prince Corin would rather be out with the soldiers, protecting and defending his kingdom. Tam, sent by her father to be with her sister-in-law at court, would much rather read and explore the gardens than wile away with idle gossip. A chance encounter in the library draws Corin and Tam together, an intense love at first sight that changes the course of Caithen’s future forever. With Corin’s quest to free the dragons and prevent destruction of his kingdom, combined with Tam’s rising powers of Seeing the future, not all is splendid for the lovers. The fate of the kingdom rests heavily on their shoulders.

  While the ARC did not have a map to help with the geography and politics and names dumped within the first few chapters, Anne Leonard helpfully linked to a map that was immensely useful while reading the book. When the final print is published, readers may often turn to it for footing. After the first few chapters of groundwork, the fun aspects of the story begins — and it was quite thrilling!

  Tam is such a powerful female character, I couldn’t help but fall in love with her from the beginning. Her love for Corin does not dampen her strength at any moment — she’s quite an individual, very unique and confident and a breath of fresh air to read (and, apparently, fresh air for Corin too!). Corin was entertaining, clearly burdened by his duties but still young and playful without being rude or misleading. The two characters complimented one another, which is excellent because they certainly rushed everything in war-torn haste.

  Name-dropping and info-dumping at the beginning of books tend to bother me, but it was key for this fantasy. Without it, the rest of the book would be lost on the reader. Pay attention to the name, the politics, the events, because it all comes back later to haunt and threaten Corin. It made the world feel real, almost like an Arthurian legend. Throw in the dragons and the hidden magic, and it’s quite an adventure!

  A very difficult book to put down, exciting from start to finish with war, magic, battles, love, and courtly amusements!

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from Viking for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2014 | 6 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: action/adventure, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: romance, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “The Madness Underneath” by Maureen Johnson

  Posted at 11:13 am by Laura, on December 22, 2013

  The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson 

  Publisher: Putnam / Speak
  Published: December 10 (originally February 23)
  Genre: young adult, gothic, paranormal
  ISBN: 9780142427545
  Goodreads: 3.86
  Rating: ★★★★

  Rory Deveaux has changed in ways she never could have imagined since moving to London and beginning a new life at boarding school. As if her newfound ability to see ghosts hadn’t complicated her life enough, Rory’s recent brush with the Jack the Ripper copycat has left her with an even more unusual and intense power. Now, a new string of inexplicable deaths is threatening London, and Rory has evidence that they are no coincidence. Something sinister is going on, and it is up to her to convince the city’s secret ghost-policing squad to listen before it’s too late.

  After three weeks of pointless therapy in Bristol, Rory’s parents are convinced to send her back to Wexford in London to attempt to catch up and finish her first term. As Rory struggles with her trauma on top of mountains of schoolwork, she is recruited by the Shades as a human terminus: a person with the ability to zap ghosts into oblivion with the touch of her hand. But sinister events are happening around Wexford, events that link ghosts, Rory’s strange new abilities, and a history of madness.

  

  Once again, Johnson brings forth a thrilling paranormal murder mystery to young adult fiction. Rory is witty and humorous, and her internal monologues kept me laughing even through the serious moments. The way she seemed to float through her week back at Wexford — aware she’s behind, stressing out and panicking, getting entirely distracted and researching the history of Wexford’s land and a historical madhouse, and then coming to terms with her own academic failure — felt so real. And surreal. She cannot focus, she knows her priorities, but her trauma and her desire for answers take over any rational thought she may have had prior to the Ripper accident. The whole first half of the book builds on this, and I was quite relieved — trauma can really disorient a person, no one can truly jump back.

  This book appeared to have two things going on: more murders by ghosts, which makes Rory go on a quest about the history of London; and another secret society of ghost-seers and their plans for Rory’s cooperation. I was very intrigued by the madhouse storyline, about the bodies of the insane thrown into graves just outside the London city limits before the Great Fire, the site of which is below Wexford property. But the second we were going somewhere with that storyline, Rory’s tricked and abducted by a group of people who claim to have something in store for her, and threaten her to be silent and cooperate else all those she loves will be harmed. I felt a little lost with this one, as it could have used more development, but that’s what the next book is for, I suppose!

  Because of Rory’s distracted mind, we rarely see Jerome, Jazza, Alastair, and other Wexford friends. Everyone is concerned with exams, and Jazza is desperate to pass German while Jerome is more concerned about Rory’s stability and openness for a relationship. Stephen, Callum, and Boo are back, thank goodness — and I loved seeing them working together and discussing “office dynamics.” We get a better feel for who they are as people rather than a police force, which is appealing for Rory.

  The ending — the cliffhanger — broke my heart. I must find a copy of The Shadow Cabinet the second it’s published!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 2 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: gothic, genre: paranormal, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• December Book Haul

  Posted at 1:56 pm by Laura, on December 21, 2013

  December is when I buy and receive the largest amount of books. I have an employee holiday discount at the bookstore, the other students in the graduate program take part in the Secret Santa Book Swap party, and friends and family know books are the best Christmas gift for a hoarder/collector/reader. Although Christmas has not arrived, I’ve decided to share the piles received already. Quite a lot of books!

  

  Adult and Young Adult Collection (Some of these are gifts and will be mentioned later in the post.)

  Starting second from the left: The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston — I’ve waited a year for this to come out in paperback. Morgana is a silent young woman who is sent to live with a widower in the far hills in Wales. Her strangeness is the talk of the village, and soon a darker power threatens to turn the village against Morgana and her powers.

  Center: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke — A recommendation from Charles Finch (author of Victorian mystery series and future fiction publication The Last Enchantments) after I told him my all-time favorite type of book would probably be a mixture of The Night Circus meets Harry Potter meets Jane Eyre meets Dickens. Basically Victorian magic. He said I needed to drop everything and read this book — so I bought it!

  Blythewood by Carol Goodman — Every time I passed the Young Adult department, this book stared me down. It was like that with C.J. Redwine’s Defiance. So I began to give it some attention — turn-of-the-century New York with magic and factory girls and insanity. Loved it already. The first three chapters were read and enjoyed, so once again, my money went back to my job.

  The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson — The sequel to The Name of the Star, even more mad and witty than the last! Clearly I’m almost finished, that’s why there are bookmarks and tabs within the pages.

  Skip to the last book: Dark Witch by Nora Roberts — My first Nora Roberts. Something about the Irish setting, the historical fiction sections mixed with the present day, the magic, all spoke to me. I asked some friends if they’d ever read Roberts, and they claim she’s phenomenal, really brings you into the story. We shall see!

  

  Children’s Books and Miscellany 

  A Very Fuddles Christmas by Frans Vischer — An adorable story about a fat, curious cat who wants nothing more than to be pampered at Christmas, but the family is too busy cooking food and cookies, decorating trees, and playing in the snow. This is a signed edition, as the author visited our store!

  The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg — How have I not purchased this book for myself before now? My parents have a tattered copy back home; my brother and I loved it to pieces. This is the 25th anniversary edition, and it came with an audiobook CD of Liam Neeson reading it. Sounds of clinking mugs of chocolate, sleigh bells, children and crowds’ voices, and the train rattling and chugging along can be heard in the background. A very atmospheric listening! I found myself shouting, “No! Not the hole!” when the boy loses his bell.

  The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, illustrated by P.J. Lynch — This is my third copy of the beloved classic. The illustrations are to die for, and truly makes this reading feel like a wonderful children’s classic.

  The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo — Unfortunately I never read this as a child! I’ve always wanted to, though, and now seems like the perfect opportunity.

  

  On Black Friday, Penguin had a great discount on their hardcover cloth bound classics that I couldn’t resist. I was able to make the hoarder/collector in me extremely happy by adding to my Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights collection.

  

  Secret Santa Book Swap Party

  Finally, for the Secret Santa Book Swap party, my dear friend and Secret Santa gave me these three books: Stella Bain by Anita Shreve (WWI story about an American nurse having lost her memory, who is taken in by an English family), A Book Lover’s Diary (a place to list and organize everything and anything related to books!), and Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (I’ve wanted to read this ever since I was introduced to Marillier’s work, and my friend loves this book to pieces).

  What are some of the books you’ve purchased or received this December?

  Posted in books, Update Post | 3 Comments | Tagged book haul, books, genre: adult fiction, genre: children, genre: young adult, goodreads

• Book Review: “Her Dark Curiosity” by Megan Shepherd (ARC)

  Posted at 6:31 pm by Laura, on December 14, 2013

  Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd 

  Publisher: Balzer + Bray
  Publishing Date: January 28, 2014
  Genre: young adult, gothic, science fiction
  ISBN: 9780062128058
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★

  As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

  As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

  With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

  Juliet is back in wintery London, desperate to search for a cure that will rid the animal part of herself. But as Christmas fills the air, so too does the electrical spark of fear and scandal when a murderer begins his rampage throughout Whitechapel. Juliet notices a pattern: every victim victimized her, and every victim’s heart was clawed out similarly to Edward’s Beast on her father’s island. She begins her search for the murderer, for the cause and justification of the King’s Club’s involvement in her father’s dangerous experiments, and for a way to become fully human mind and soul.

  I thoroughly enjoyed this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde inspired novel far more than Shepherd’s first — and part of it may have to do with the setting and the novella. I was not familiar with Wells, nor am I a jungle-setting fan; I’m very familiar with Stevenson, and deeply love Victorian London. Once again, Shepherd dives into Juliet’s internal conflict of animal within human, human within animal. But this is on a more meaningful scale. Juliet must come to terms with not what’s instinctual and animalistic, but what’s moral and humane.

  Shepherd added another twist to this novel that was fun to read — ulterior motives of great and powerful men in London. Her father’s work was no secret, and they’re determined to replicate it. This is more than a Jekyll and Hyde scenario, but a book filled with political intrigue, global effects, and greater consequences. I liked that this layer was added. It drove the book into a new, fresh direction.

  It should be no surprise that Edward and Montgomery are back, of course. Edward is blatantly the two-sides-of-the-same-coin character, but every character within this novel encounters similar confrontations. Although not a fan of love triangles — they can be quite exhausting, and for me it is very clear that Juliet should be with Montgomery and Edward out of the picture entirely — Juliet thankfully comes to her own conclusion in this novel, with promises of conflict to come in the next book.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from Balzer + Bray for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 2 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: gothic, genre: sci-fi, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “And We Stay” by Jennifer Hubbard (ARC)

  Posted at 4:35 pm by Laura, on December 14, 2013

  And We Stay by Jennifer Hubbard 

  Publisher: Delacorte Press
  Publishing Date: January 28, 2014
  Genre: young adult
  ISBN: 9780385740579
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★

  When high school senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school library with a stolen gun, he threatens his girlfriend Emily Beam, then takes his own life. In the wake of the tragedy, an angry and guilt-ridden Emily is shipped off to boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she encounters a ghostly presence who shares her name. The spirit of Emily Dickinson and two quirky girls offer helping hands, but it is up to Emily to heal her own damaged self.

  Emily Beam transfers to an all-girls boarding school after her boyfriend Paul Wagoner kills himself in her old high school library. She and her parents believe it would be best for her to start fresh in a new place, away from everything that could remind her of that traumatic experience. But as Emily attempts to handle her grief, she begins to call upon Emily Dickinson’s works, and uses the poet as a guide to heal her wounds.

  The prose is simple, and the poems at the end of each chapter gradually grow from disjointed to lyrical. However, as much as I was hoping this book would be for me, it wasn’t. Emily and her friends K.T. and Amber were not characters I could relate to, possibly because they seemed to lack depth. Emily is an introverted but intelligent cheerleader who dated a boy who was exactly average yet everyone knew him well and he never once seemed like he’d commit suicide. Emily can also be quite hypocritical. Several moments in the novel she judges girls who sleep around, but she herself got pregnant. She at first doesn’t like Amber because Amber is “weird,” but Emily herself can be quite strange and off-putting around others.

  The portion that bothered me the most was the extreme stretches of comparison between Emily and the poet Emily Dickinson. Emily would make assumptions that Dickinson must have felt this way too, that she had these exact same experiences and she must have thought these exact things when she wrote poetry. The moments when Emily would visit the Dickinson house or read a book about Dickinson were attempts at bringing the supernatural into play, as if Dickinson were guiding Emily on a better path. I’m all for a good ghost story or a spiritual journey, but the connections were too thin, too stretched. I eventually became bored, as there was nothing for me to cling to when reading the novel.

  That being said, I think this novel does have a place for a certain type of audience. Unfortunately, that audience was not me.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from Delacorte Press for review.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2013 | 0 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

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• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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