Elsewhere

Elsewhere
written by Gabrielle Zevin



The idea behind Elsewhere is a fascinatingly unique one. It is set in a world where one dies and then ages backward in a land called Elsewhere, until they are babies set to be reborn in the real world. So the natural assumption I had was that this would be a tragically depressing book--but surprisingly enough, it was absolutely NOT! The progression of time is done in such a great way that there are no periods of time when you think to yourself that it's going too quickly or too slowly, it all just moves naturally along. I was surprised by how much was in this book--it wasn't just a girl getting over her death, there were elements of mystery, suspense, romance, plot twists where you'd least expect them. All of this is tied up with what could have been a horribly sad ending, but is short and sweet and leaves no room for tears other than happy ones. What surprised me most was the elegance found in the symbolism. I can tell you with all honesty that before this, I had never found a book in which I enjoyed the symbolism or thought it contributed to the well-roundedness of a book, and I probably never will again. The symbolism (Charlotte's Web, Tuck Everlasting, the Nile river, etc.) is actually relevant and easy to find and understand. It actually makes sense, adds to the story, and I have never encountered that before. Well done, Ms. Zevin!

Rating: 5/5

Magic Lessons

Magic Lessons
written by Justine Larbalestier



Magic Lessons starts off strong, asking lots and lots of exciting new questions, building suspense, as any good book does. This, however, gets overdone. By the time the reader is in the denser middle section, there are too many questions and not enough answers and a lot of frustration. I'm still extremely ticked off that Sarafina doesn't show up at all in the book, as she is my favorite character and the one I would love to learn more about, so it's frustrating, and I'm really hoping the third book sheds more light on this intensely interesting woman. Magic Lessons does a great job of combining realism with a greater dosage of fantasy than seen in Magic or Madness, and it does so with perfect balance. Reason's dilemma at the end of the book was painfully obvious, though, and I was disappointed--it was the one part of the book that definitely lacked the suspense the rest of the book upheld. There are still questions left unanswered, but since it's a trilogy, I expect they will be answered shortly! The one thing that left me most gleeful was the SPAGBOL reference--hooray for married authors!

Rating: 4/5

Saga

Saga
written by Conor Kostick



I began and ended this book with a single question: "Is this book really necessary?" While vaguely reminiscent of Scott Westerfeld's universe, it's nowhere near as good a read. The reader is kept waiting for some kind of point, a reason this book exists, and I still haven't been able to figure that out. I loved Epic, but ever since I heard there was going to be a sequel, I was skeptical. There was no story after Epic, and there was no reason to force one. But a story was forced, and it's not a very interesting story at all. While I was glad to see the old gang from Epic, that was the only part I enjoyed. They were well-developed characters we were familiar with, whereas the ones given here were just overkill. I think the part that really irritates me is that it is marketed as a sequel, when it's really more of a spin-off, as the word 'sequel' implies continuation with the same characters. Although there were many dull parts that made for extremely tedious reading, I did enjoy the last few chapters, where there was actually something other than gratuitous action scenes. The end outcome was very predictable, but worked given the circumstances. I was disappointed by the lack of suspenseful plot twists and by this book in general. I still do not understand why it was necessary.

Rating: 1.5/5

The Plain Janes

The Plain Janes
written by Cecil Castellucci



First things first: I went into this without a clue that it was a graphic novel. So that was a bit of a shock when I opened it up before class and saw pictures and not as many words as I expected. The dialogue and situations (minus the Jane/Jane/Jayne/Polly Jane name coincidence) were extremely realistic and very refreshing to read. I found myself at times absolutely cheering the various Janes on and just loving the crazy situations they managed to get themselves into. The whole idea behind P.L.A.I.N. is pure genius, and I love that Castellucci was creative enough to come up with such an intriguing plot. After the initial shock, I realized that this would simply not have worked as a regular novel, and was thankful that it was presented in a graphic format. This book provides a great discussion on censorship and how pointless it can be oftentimes. The characters were very complex and well-developed for such a short book. I have two minor complaints, and that is that the plot itself was not very complex, and the love subplot was the most pathetic loveplot ever. Other than those slight issues, I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing book, and would be glad to read more YA graphic novels that don't necessary appeal to the adventure/fantasy crowd, and are just regular YA novels.

Rating: 4.5/5

Checkers

Checkers
written by John Marsden



There are lot of complaints I can give about this book. The plot is too narrow. There are not enough sub-plots to make it interesting, and it just seemed like it was the one story; reading about even the other patients would have been interesting. Everything in this book was sickeningly predictable. You knew exactly what was coming at the end, which didn't make it any less horrible, but did make it quite a dull read. I was glad to see a tone that was real and honest, with very powerful writing, but overall, it's just a dull book. Nothing happens. It's a flat read, and in the end, an unnecessary one. It would have served its purpose in a short story just as well.

Rating: 1.5/5

Me vs. Me

Me vs. Me
written by Sarah Mlynowski



Just like Milkrun, the problem with this book was that it seemed extremely pointless. It feels like it could have been written well as a short story, but it doesn't work. Mlynowski tries to be Sophie Kinsella, but she's not. The main character acts like an immature child at times, which makes for a very flat story. Everything is ridiculously predictable and the ultimate solution is even mentioned, not just hinted at, flat out mentioned, in an earlier chapter. I think there was so much potential for a twist, such as Cam continuing a relationship with Gabby's friend, or maybe Cam having parallel lives as well as Gabby. Some of the characters and plot threads were unnecessary to begin with, given too much emphasis for no apparent reason. There is just too much pointlessness, and it's not a very interesting read.

Rating: 1.5/5

Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely
written by Melissa Marr



While the beginning of this book was frustratingly confusing, probably intentionally so to a degree, as I kept reading, an amazing new world unfolded. The evolving relationship between Seth and Ash is a real joy to read about and is one of the more powerful friendships/relationships out there in the YA book world. Once the mythology is explained, everything clicks and forms such a great new setting that you just want to learn more about! The faeries are interesting little creatures, and it seems like they vary from being relatively good to absolutely evil--quite the interesting dichotomy! I enjoyed reading about the old mixed in with the new, particularly when technology played a part (like the search history being an important part of the plot). Seth and Ash, I just can't stop gushing about the chemistry between the two. It's really a wonderful relationship, but the suspense throughout the book whether they can or cannot survive is heartbreaking at times, in a good way. I do want to know more about Ash's family history; sounds like her father may play a role in future books as his identity is kept secret. As far as that goes, I'm really not sure why a sequel is needed. That is the only loose end I saw, so I'm a little confused & concerned about the quality of Fragile Eternity, which obviously won't stop me from reading it, I'll just go into it a little more cautiously.

Rating: 4.5/5

Lost It

Lost It
written by Kristen Tracy



This book is a little too scatterbrained for my tastes. The narration is all over the place and takes a while to get into, and I found it to be all-too predictable the entire way through. Reminiscent of Louise Rennison, there are these absurd topics that come up and make no sense, but for some reason, the author thinks it's a good idea to keep them in and thinks they're funny. No. No, they're actually not. Parts of it had pretty accurate stream of consciousnesses when it came to how teenagers think, but as far as talk and actions went, I found it to be highly unlikely. I really did enjoy the character of Zena, so it was quite a bummer when she ended up spending the majority of the book not actually in the book. I feel like this would have been a much better read if Zena was the narrator, she's just a more interesting, well-developed character. While I did pick this up for some mindless fluff, I suppose I got more than I bargained for. Tess's relationship with Ben is the most predictably boring relationship ever, and you can tell from miles away exactly what will happen between the two of them, which is extraordinarily frustrating. Way way early on in my notes, I wrote "no way this ends well." and with that many unnecessary clingy moments, I am not surprised. Maybe a different narrator would have made it a more fun read. Tess was just insufferable in what a big deal she made out of small issues. I did enjoy reading about the relationship between her and her grandmother, but other than that, she's an extremely boring typical teen. I just feel like this is an immature book for immature readers.

Rating: 2.5/5

Burned

Burned
written by Ellen Hopkins



I made the mistake of reading two incredibly scary books one right after the other, so this was additionally chilling as I had just finished Endgame. But really, I have no idea how Ellen Hopkins does it. As usual, the writing is phenomenal and unique, as is the revolutionary plot, featuring a rebellious Mormon. Hopkins' writing style is just something else, and her tone is realistic, speaking to teens everywhere even though the words are spoken by a Mormon teenage girl. Ellen Hopkins gets into all these dark places, and it really makes one wonder how much effort and pain it takes for her to find them. I found some of the issues extremely predictable (pregnancy, guns), and definitely knew there was a huge climax at some point, but without a clue how it would all fit together. There were some statements of awkward foreshadowing, particularly foreboding statements regarding the future at the ends of chapters. I end my notes with this statement, and feel it is an accurate way to end this review as well: "OH SWEET AMBIGUITY!!!"

Rating: 5/5

Endgame

Endgame
written by Nancy Garden



I had expressed an interest in what exactly was going through the minds of the shooters at Virginia Tech and Columbine, and a dear friend of mine recommended this book upon hearing me talk. I was intrigued by the incredibly original concept and subject matter, and immediately delved into the book. I had a little trouble focusing at times, but once it all started genuintely getting serious, this was an amazingly powerful book. It has so many extremes. On one hand, you know what happens at the end, but through the entire thing, you keep hoping and praying that Gray has a change of heart. You know that killing is wrong, but at the same time, you know that Gray is a good kid, and everything is so emotionally heavy on both him and you, the reader. There's so much wrong in his life and as a bystander in his fictional story, you can do nothing but sit back and watch the inevitable unfold, as nobody does a thing to help a child that can be helped. And just think, if this is the fictional example, what about the real one? The ending is an unjust one. You know Gray had reason to do what he did, and while what he did was extreme, he needed help, not a jail cell, and that's the saddest part of it all. This is such a powerful book, and I strongly urge everyone who has had difficulty processing the VT shootings or even Columbine to pick this amazing, mind-chilling book up.

Rating: 4.5/5