The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June
written by Robin Benway

I loved this book.  Even more than I liked Audrey, Wait!, Benway's first big hit.  I had just finished watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and was in desperate need for a fix of lovable sisters, and April, May, and June filled that hole right in.  I loved the authentic dynamic between the three siblings, and while I really wished their powers had been more fleshed out, I thought they were remarkably well-developed, interesting characters.  Each sister had her own persona, and the three of them fit together wonderfully.  Some of the book was kind of predictable, but that definitely didn't ruin the fun--it actually seemed to add to it, knowing what was going to happen but waiting to see how the sisters would react.  The dialogue was snappy and so real!  I loved this book so much.

Rating: 4.5/5

Also by Robin Benway:
Audrey, Wait!

I got this book from...:

Fray

Fray
written by Joss Whedon

So here's the mistake I made going into this book.  I forgot that Joss Whedon has the impeccable ability to make me cry with everything he does.  Right.  This is no exception.  You missed the plot twists from Buffy?  Never fear.  This comic's got them around every corner, some predictable, most coming out of nowhere, especially the most heartbreaking one on the very last page.  Beyond that, it's really cool to see how the world has evolved since Buffy.  Granted, I would have really liked to have seen more of the Slayer mythology, but it was still neat to see what we got to see.  I'm pretty grateful that the opportunity was even given for a sequel of sorts to Buffy, that being said, I think it's time for me to go back to reading the Season 8 comics.  Give this one the careful read it deserves if you were a Buffy fan, though, and even if you weren't, the story's accessible to newbies, too.

I got this book from...:Paperbackswap

Dancing on the Edge

Dancing on the Edge
written by Han Nolan

Dancing on the Edge had a slow start, and for the first 2/3rds of the novel, I was thinking, of course, this is your typical award novel fodder--missing parents, coming of age for a young girl, ~symbolic~ names and colors and weather events.  But the last section of the book, wow.  The lead-up redeems itself in the pay-off, where Miracle's psyche is finally fully realized, not just for the reader, but for Miracle herself.  It's still all the typical coming of age awards fodder, but for once, it comes with a satisfying ending where the resolution delves into the true effects early abandonment can have on a child, rather than just having it be a convenient plot device.  Trope finally beautifully subverted.  Nolan clearly had this whole story planned out from the start, and the effort in the writing shows.  This is a careful book about a careful and miraculous girl.  Honestly, though, I could see this being read in middle school classrooms and the like, and that's bothersome to me.  I'm 21, and I don't think I would have gotten the full effect of the novel if it wasn't for my age.  I still don't think I do.  It takes some perspective to understand what's happening at the end, and something about having this read by kids Miracles' age weirds me out.  I wouldn't censor them from reading such a great story, of course, but I think the full impact would be missed.  This one is better enjoyed with some perspective.

Rating: 4/5

Crash

Crash
written by Lisa McMann

**contains spoilers**

I really didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did.  Supernatural YAs are getting kind of repetitive, but I ended up loving the originality of this one.  Like, yeah, visions are a repetitive thing, and I think I would have liked the book even more if it had turned out that she was exhibiting signs of schizophrenia or another mental illness, but that's because I'm a sucker for any and all books portraying MI.  I think the one thing that ultimately sold me on the visions was the ending, where they ended up jumping ship to Sawyer.  I was worried with it being a series that it would just be Jules having a vision per book with no point to them, but it'll be cool to see the repercussions of them jumping from person to person somehow.  I also like that, much like her Wake series, each character has such a well-developed persona.  I loved reading about Jules' siblings, and can't wait to hear more about them, as well as the relationship between the two families.  I hope mental illness is still a factor that is discussed in the next few books, and I'm pretty excited to see where Lisa McMann takes all this.  I'm just crossing my fingers that there is an explanation to the visions and they aren't just contrived one-shot plot points created to stretch this out into a series.