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BOOK REVIEW – The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett

November 5, 2015 /
BOOK REVIEW – The Unquiet by Mikaela EverettThe Unquiet by Mikaela Everett
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

For most of her life, Lirael has been training to kill—and replace—a duplicate version of herself on a parallel Earth. She is the perfect sleeper-soldier. But she’s beginning to suspect she is not a good person.

The two Earths are identical in almost every way. Two copies of every city, every building, even every person. But the people from the second Earth know something their duplicates do not—two versions of the same thing cannot exist. They—and their whole planet—are slowly disappearing. Lira has been trained mercilessly since childhood to learn everything she can about her duplicate, to be a ruthless sleeper-assassin who kills that other Lirael and steps seamlessly into her life.

Despite a promising premise, The Unquiet failed in its execution and left me literally unable to finish it. Trust me, that is not for a lack of trying.

► Am I bloody stupid?! That’s what I asked myself countless times. There’s only one thing I can say : YAY FOR THE BLURB! What? It did save me from understanding nothing during a long, long period of time. Indeed the elements of science fiction are barely explained at first, and each time I started to wrap my head around this world something else would throw me off, including :
✘ Weird jumps in time. Sometimes I ask my students to do this little exercise : put back the paragraphs of a text in order. Remember? Well. The book felt like that sometimes, except nobody’s gonna give me a good mark because I did it well.
✘ Nonsensical passages where the characters dynamic sounds pretty fake to me (her baby sister of 6 talks like she’s at least 12, her ‘friendship’ with Edith…)

As far as I’m concerned, it needs a good polish and a great deal of editing.

► Nothing happens. I swear, most of the book looks like filler to me. They arrive at the cottage. Filler filler filler. FLASHBACKS! They pass their exam. Filler. Filler. FLASHBACKS! They are sleepers. Fillers. Fillers. Fillers. FLASHBACKS! That’s so boring! The plot is…. streeeeeeeeeched for so long on nothing random anecdotes (let’s go fishing! Baking bread! Going in town! Selling fruits! Killing someone with a syringe! WOOT!)

► First but not least : except from the very beginning (which was surprisingly good) the story is related in a all tell not show fashion that as usual makes me cringe. Every freaking action seems emotionless and disconnected because crafted like a mission report – Not only it prevents me from caring for the characters, but it is so DULL. Even if I must admit that some parts are beautifully written, it’s not free from purple prose and sentences that made me roll my eyes.

► The MC is both flat and thoroughly unlikeable, which is far from a good mix in my opinion : to put it simply, I was either indifferent or angry at her during the 46 percents I read.
✘ First we have the detached way the killings (of innocent people) are handled : I swear, she could have baked a cake for all I know.
✘ Then the fakeness of every relationship, if somehow explainable by her upbringing in the cottages, still annoyed me a great deal. I mean, I get it, they’re all going to be killers but why not be a little nice to each other? For example, her hate toward her fellow sleepers in the cottage felt unnecessary and really didn’t make any sense to me.
✘ Moreover, the way Lira keeps repeating that she is a BAD person and that she doesn’t love ANYONE grew old pretty fast : I get it, you’re baaaad. Stop shoving your inner thoughts down my throat, ugh. This being said, I might have forgiven her if she wasn’t so one-dimensional : trust me, I’m all for unlikeable characters, but you have to give me SOMETHING to work with for me to care. I didn’t.

► WHAT WORLD-BUILDING? There’s nearly nothing. You would think that a book dealing with parallel universes would contain at least a few fun additions, but nah. The only descriptions we get are so random and uninteresting because everything is every bit as normal as it would in a contemporary novel. Oh, and please tell me in which area of time we’re in, because there are new technologies mixed with last century ways of life and I can’t wrap my head around this O_o.

► Why choose to set a story in France if the world building is so generic that it could be everywhere?
✘ First, except one or two exceptions, the names aren’t French : Cecily, Philip, Imogen, GRAY (really?!)…
✘ Secondly, the settings : so we are 1 hour far from Paris by train. Where?

The fuck if I know. Maybe that’s just me, but describing the city as ‘the town’ screams lazy writing to me. There are vines so I guess in Bourgogne maybe? Frankly, it’s as if the author ticked little cases in a “How To Live In France” fantasy list :
French grow vines ✔
Paris must be mentioned at least once ✔
A character must be named Madame ✔
… Oh, okay. That was a short list. Frankly? Why fucking bother? It may come as a shock, but French towns, landscapes and vinegars aren’t the same in the whole country : we need details please.

Now, as I said, I ‘only’ read 200 pages, so perhaps it gets better after… I just won’t be there to see it, sadly.

BOOK REVIEW – Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

October 24, 2015 /
BOOK REVIEW – Emmy & Oliver by Robin BenwayEmmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?


All in all, here’s an heartfelt story about family, friendship and what it means to belong somewhere, to grow up, without never hiding the hard truths and sore trials real life holds.

What is it that creates a family? A friendship? Are labels enough? Does calling someone a friend makes one?

“I looked up at my dad. “Tonight, when Oliver and I were talking, I said I’d still love you, even if you kidnapped me. I really would. I get how he feels.”
My dad smiled. “That’s the nicest and most sociopathic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Emmy & Oliver isn’t my first book by Robin Benway, therefore it doesn’t come as a surprise that her writing flows smoothly and hides several funny and thoughtful gems, making it really quotable, to put it simply. If the snarky monologues I adored in Also Known As are more discreet here, it remains that the characters’ interactions shared the smile-inducing quality that made me fall for her writing in the first place.

One might say that nothing really happens, but for me it can’t be seen as a flaw here : indeed it’s in the quietness that lie the most powerful scenes, don’t you think? Whose lives revolve around blowing things off and apocalyptic worlds, huh? To capture the essence of real life, sometimes we need to slow down, and in my opinion Robin Benway did it perfectly, even if I admit, it took quite a while for the story to completely hook me. Who cares, when in the end I’m smiling big and treasuring every moment I spent reading?

As for the characters, I can’t genuinely find a single one I didn’t like or understood, one way or another. They all show weaknesses without never crossing the line between what I can understand and what I find annoying.

Shaken to the core after Oliver’s kidnapping when he was 7 years old, they all had to find ways to cope, whether in being overprotective like Emmy’s parents or in creating a whole hidden life as Emmy did. All of them, while flawed, stay so supportive, realistic and heartwarming that I want to hug the hell out of them. Really. With a special mention for Emmy’s dad (thanks for the hooking up line, buddy) and her best-friend Drew (your driving skills didn’t go unnoticed, and I’m totally stealing your ‘The signs says STOP! Not GIVE UP!’ cry).

We recognize a great book when none of the characters is useless : family stands out in their lives (as it should be the case way more often in Young Adult), friends are well-developed characters (and don’t act as if they want to shred each others in pieces for once, thank you very much), boyfriends are supportive, kind, without any of the abusive and invasive traits that make me so, so angry. Not to mention that if romance there is, it stays light, slow, devoid of all this instalove crap authors love to feed us these days (or, to be fair, for ever – Romeo & Juliet, anyone?)

Life is messed-up and complicated, and I love nothing more than leaving a book without knowing how I would have reacted. This is what being a complex human is about, I guess, and I’m never denying that part of me, whatever that means.

► If you’re looking for a realistic, heartwarming coming of age story, don’t be fooled by that misleading cover and try it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Ps. THAT FUCKING ACOUSTIC GUITAR. GUYS. I know right??!

*high-fives Drew & Caro*

BOOK REVIEW – The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

October 19, 2015 /
BOOK REVIEW – The Masked Truth by Kelley ArmstrongThe Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal.

The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues.” But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.

The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.

Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next—but they’re about to discover that even escape doesn’t equal freedom.

► Let’s start with several questions, okay?

1) Are you able to repeatedly suspend your disbelief?

✘ It doesn’t bother you if the therapy weekend aimed at teenagers is organized in an old office building without windows (because apparently when you’re disturbed/suicidal/suffering from random mental illness issues, spending days without natural light is going to help you) and which is not up to fire code. You think that parents would willingly put their children through this.

✘ It seems natural to you that a teenager whose dad was part of a SWAT team actually knows loads of details about the way hostage operations are handled, but wait, hey, he knew that he couldn’t say anything, so they only watch SWAT TV shows and debriefed them. I’m so silly sometimes.

✘ If someone tells you that … Oh, damn, spoiler. Well, let’s just say that I couldn’t buy several scenes here.

The good news is, it’s not predictable, because obviously if it’s not believable every twist has the power to throw you off.

2) Are you excited about a plot which revolves around two teenagers who are running around in an office building for at least 50% of the novel? (I can’t say more, I stopped there)

✘ You don’t mind that most of their discoveries are constituted of doors, and doors, and more doors. They run. In an office building. Oh, a villain. Let’s fight. They run in an office building. A door. Did you hear that noise? *insert random childhood event* They run. THEY RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN.

✘ You intend to work on your frustration management : this book is perf for that!

3) Do you love ramblings?

✘ You just adore yelling to your characters to GO TO THE FREAKING POINT DAMMIT.

✘ Info-dumping and random anecdotes about the characters’ past are your thing.

✘A female-lead who spends her time internally dismissing herself for something GREAT she did doesn’t annoy you one bit.

► If you answered YES to every question, you should be good. As for me, I’m done at 50% : there’s only so much time I’m willing to lose on books that bore me. Of course, of course, perhaps it gets better after. It’s your call, as usual, and maybe my frustration management does need improvement.

Ps. Let’s talk about Max. Okay, I feel bad. Shame on you Max to make me feel as if I was lacking common understanding and empathy. See, Max rambles a lot in his head. But Max is entitled to be a serial rambler because of his condition. I loved him at first. Really, I did. I swear. It remains that as much as his ramblings were understandable and defendable, sometimes I just wanted him to GO TO THE FREAKING POINT.

So, Max, you make me feel as if I was a nasty bitch. You don’t want that now do you? DO YOU? I love him, and I thought that it was an amazing idea to incorporate such a different character. I did root for him and Riley to hook up. But it doesn’t replace an actual PLOT!

So unfortunately even him reached the limit of my patience. However, you should know that my extra half-star is for him. I might skim the rest to get to the kiss scene.

#Notevenashamed

BOOK REVIEW – First & Then by Emma Mills

October 13, 2015 /
BOOK REVIEW – First & Then by Emma MillsFirst & Then by Emma Mills
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing. She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.

Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

▶ In the end, I got the impression that First & Then was trying to address way too many issues without really giving them the time of a day.

Cut off the Darcy-ish romance slooowly built that I genuinely enjoyed (with the important exception of one of the most anticlimactic ending I’ve ever read – Ugh, just ugh), the reader makes its way in a widespread confusion :

☑ You’ve got truthful “WTF” moment where you realize that you have no idea what the characters are doing – think scenes cut short, weird transitions, a general “WHERE DOES THAT EVEN COMES FROM?” feeling, and characters who pop up from nowhere.

☑ You’ve got important issues that aren’t addressed properly/left unresolved : in a nutshell, a mum in rehab (maybe? I guess?), a teenage pregnancy (what is the point of Marabelle’s character really?), a weird gambler-survivor guy (don’t get me started about that Emir guy : who is this person and why should I care for him? Huh?), a crazy asshole who puts a psycho move when it’s convenient (but we know nothing about him whatsoever, and guess what : it isn’t handled at all either), an attempt at girl friendship (resolved in two pages) and big revelations that felt flat because they came out of nowhere. None of these issues are properly dealt with.

☑ You’ve got flat characters whose names I didn’t bother to remember (except Cas, the so-called best friend, whose name I do remember but whose personality I never saw – not that I was interested in this jerk in the first place, to be honest).

☑ You’ve got an uneven pacing and an uneven writing, if that makes sense : if some parts made me really smile, others made me roll my eyes something fierce (because HELLO, cheesy lines), especially in the first 30% (that got me bored) and the last 40% (WTF and cheese blended together). Yes, I do realize that the only part that remains is the middle-ish 30-60%. Don’t judge.

To be fair, I did appreciate Devon’s growth toward her cousin, Foster, who’s been living with her family since the beginning of the story. If I wanted to slap her at first, she started opening her eyes wider and slowly, slowly, became aware that fitting in wasn’t the only life goal we could pursue. Good for you, girl. Note that I didn’t hate her. I mostly felt indifferent to her, to be honest.

As I did appreciate several of Devon and Ezra’s (non) interactions, because I have a soft spot for guys who have the communicating skills of a turtle. I really do. Don’t ask.

Too bad everything felt flat and cheapened in the whole mess that was this novel. Sorry, I guess I’m just mad. I hate when the last thought that comes to my mind after closing a book is : WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT? You don’t add important issues to a story only to let them hanging in the air somewhere.

*arc kindly provided by Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

BOOK REVIEW – My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

October 12, 2015 /
BOOK REVIEW – My Life Next Door by Huntley FitzpatrickMy Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.

As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A transporting debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another.

Why, thank you book for all these wonderful platitudes. We need to part ways now though, at 35%, but don’t worry, I’ll compile here every amazing moment we shared together.

► Remember when Jase and Sam fell in love over a lemonade at 9%? Because I was there to follow their astounding banter and was deeply moved by the slow burn of their feelings….

“He drains the entire thing in one gulp, then reaches for the other cup.
“That’s mine,” I say.
“Oh, jeez. Of course. Sorry. I am thirsty.”
I extend my arm with the lemonade. “You can have it. There’s always more.”
He shakes his head. “I would never deprive you.”
I feel my stomach do that weird little flip-flop thing you hear about.“

It’s not insta-love guys, because it’s not the first time they talk. Nope. It’s the second time, not to mention that she has stalked him for years. Of course it counts!

► Remember when Jase kept telling Sam such profound and life changing sentences? I swear the guy must be an hidden philosopher gem or something.

“No, thank God. I’d die if I got in trouble.”
Jase looks at me intently, as though what I’ve said is profound” ← SEE?
“No, you wouldn’t, Samantha. You wouldn’t die. You’d just be in trouble and then you’d move on.”

MY GOD. Who needs Sartre when Jase is in the house? I might quote him someday.

► Remember when we met the most oblivious parents of the world? I know teenagers are tricky, but there must be a medal hiding somewhere for Nan and Tim’s ones.

“I know!” she says. “It’s so much worst since he got kicked out of Ellery. He spends all day like this [STONED & DRUNKED AT HOME], and God knows what he does at night. My parents are completely and totally without a clue. Mommy buys all his lies – ‘Oh, that’s catnip in that bag, Ma. Oh, those pills? Aspirin. That white stuff? Just salt.“

… and it’s not finished :

“He’s [the Obvious Dad] even got Tim’s pot plant in with his own plants, giving it Miracle-Gro. What kind of man was young in the eighties and doesn’t recognize marijuana?”

Who indeed? Should we warn someone? Put them on TV or something? Huh? (Not that Nan would tell them, of course. I mean, it’s only her brother’s life for fuck sake. FUCK. FUCK OFF. FUCK. FUCK. ← Tim’s favorite words if any.

► Remember when Sam caught her mum’s boyfriend (probably) cheating and didn’t say a thing?

“How can I say “Uh – Mom – I think he might be seeing someone else too”?

…
………
Hmm… Like this? Oh, no? You don’t want to? Okay.

► Remember when Jase thoughtfully listened to Sam’s Earth shattering conversations? I’m pretty sure it’s one of my fave parts. I mean, come on.

“How did you get so good at everything?” I ask Jase as he wipes his greasy hands on a rag from his tool kit.
“At everything,” he repeats thoughtfully.”

I might combust from butterflies each time he opens his thoughtful mouth – and it keeps getting better and better!

► Remember when Sam and me agreed on something? Frankly, it just made my day. Truly. Hope to die and all that shit.

“Jase’s green eyes meet mine, then his lashes lower. “I guess I like things that take time and attention. More worthwhile that way.”
I don’t know what it is about this that makes me blush, but something does.”

You and me on this, girl. Wait – NO! I didn’t blush! What I mean is that I have no clue about why this (wonderfully profound as always) sentence is blush worthy. NOT A FREAKING CLUE (explanations in comments are welcome). That SOMETHING though.

► Remember when …

OH BOY. Can I just forget it? To me My Life Next Door is silly, filled with platitudes and flat dialogues, bland and stereotypical characters I don’t give a shit about (including a perfect snowflake and an absent mum), an instalovish romance with no chemistry whatsoever and – Well, I guess that’s all.

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