| The Clique |
[Dec. 13th, 2009|06:11 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  giddy | ] |
Massie Block believes her life is perfect until her father's friend Jay Lyons moves his family from Orlando, Florida to Westchester, New York. Her father allows Jay, along with his wife, Judi, their son Todd, and their daughter, Claire, to move into their guest house while they search for a new home. When Massie and Claire first meet, Massie is rude for Claire wears very "un-stylish" clothing. Massie doesn't believe she is "clique" material, but Claire continues to attempt to become friendly with Massie and her friends: Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen.
My Review:
The Clique is a stereotypical look at life for rich girls. The looks, the money, the boys, power, etc. I was taught in 5th grade that Money = Power, and No Money = No Power. This is taught to be true in this book. Massie is pretty, is rich, has boys, had most of all, power. Her sidekicks have all of this too, except in a lesser way. And then there's Claire, the one with no looks, no money, no boys, and definitely NO power. The Clique teaches a lesson that being mean is good, and therefore you will have power. That is it's downpoint. However, it juxtaposes life between rich girls and poor girls, which is its bright point.
Rating: 2/5 |
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| Fallen by Lauren Kate |
[Dec. 13th, 2009|04:12 pm] |
Series: Fallen #1
Publisher: Delacorte Press 2009
Genre: Romance/Horror
Sub-genre: YA; Paranormal
Rating: 3 1/2 pints of blood  
Hands up who loves this cover.
Hands up who bought, borrowed, stole or connived this book just because of the cover.
Hands up who knows nothing about the story and couldn't care less.
I admit, unashamedly, that I bought this book for its cover (please, click on the image to get a better view, it's worth it). 2009 has been a very, very good year for YA covers, and this is easily in the top 5 (don't ask me what other books are in the top 5, because it's like the Tardis: bigger on the inside). It's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. Composition, typeface, colour, atmosphere - it has it all.
Since I got it for the cover, and on the vague assumption that it would be some kind of paranormal romance book (they usually are, with covers like this), I came to it with virtually no expectations. This turned out to be a great advantage for the novel, because the prose isn't its strong suit. "But what is it actually about?" I hear you asking. Let's not rush into these things. I'm still gawking at the cover ...
Read the full, spoiler-free review at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) genrereviews |
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| Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher |
[Dec. 12th, 2009|10:49 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  geeky | ] |
| [ | music |
| | watching SNL | ] |
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
from goodreads.com
Logan Witherspoon recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years cheated on him. But things start to look up when a new student breezes through the halls of his small-town high school. Sage Hendricks befriends Logan at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. Sage has been homeschooled for a number of years and her parents have forbidden her to date anyone, but she won’t tell Logan why. One day, Logan acts on his growing feelings for Sage. Moments later, he wishes he never had. Sage finally discloses her big secret: she’s actually a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her. But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.
View all my reviews >> |
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| Crewe, Megan: Give Up the Ghost |
[Dec. 12th, 2009|09:10 pm] |
 Give Up the Ghost (2009)
Written by: Megan Crewe
Genre: YA/Paranormal
Pages: 244 (Hardcover)
The premise: from BN.com: Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.
As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance . . .
My Rating
Worth the Cash: which isn't bad for a hardcover. Crewe has a tendency to twist expectations a bit, and every time I thought something major was resolved in the book, Crewe turned that resolution n its head and let it lead into more interesting territory. It's a good story for anyone who's ever felt out of place, especially in high school, because Cass's story is about not just finding her place (and trust me when I say it's NOT about finding her place in the normative social cliques), but about Cass finding a way to interact with the real world again, instead of just the world of ghosts. I personally would like to see Cass's story continue, because while she grows and changes in this book, I feel like it's time for her to make a change in her world, and her ability to interact with ghosts is just the way to do it. This is an incredibly fast, fast read. I finished it in less than a day, and I'll be very happy to pick up Crewe's next offering, whatever it might be. As a writer, Crewe shows a lot of promise, so it'll be exciting to see what she does next.
Review style: expect spoilers, simply because it's a short book and the things I want to talk about are directly related to the more spoilerific aspects of the book. If you want to remain clean, there's no need to click the link below. But if spoilers don't bother you, or you want to chat about the book, the come on over! Comments and discussion are always welcome.
REVIEW: Megan Crewe's GIVE UP THE GHOST
Happy Reading!
Book club selections @ ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) calico_reaction. Hop on over! We'd love to have you!
December: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
January: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson |
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| a poll |
[Dec. 9th, 2009|10:03 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cold | ] |
| [ | music |
| | none | ] |
So.. I need a help deciding what book to read next out of the ones I own!
These are the books I've read:
"Aimee" by Mary Beth Miller
"Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
"Cut" by Patricia McCormick
"Dark Secrets: Don't Tell" by Elizabeth Chandler
"Dreamland" by Sarah Dessen
"Go Ask Alice" by Anonymous
"It Happened to Nancy" by Beatrice Sparks
"Life As We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
"Malka" by Mirjam Pressler
"Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Vol. 1" by S. D. Perry
"Resident Evil: Nemesis, Vol. 5" by S. D. Perry
"Resident Evil: Genesis" by Keith R. A. DeCandido
"Smack" by Melvin Burgess
"The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
"Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
"You Don't Know Me" by David Klass
And this is what I'm currently reading:
"Suicide Notes" by Michael Thomas Ford
What do you think I should read next? Here's a list of unread books that I own. :)
"Bloodletting: A Memoir of Secrets, Self-Harm and Survival" by Victoria Leatham
"Burned" by Ellen Hopkins
"Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
"Ghostgirl" by Tonya Hurley
"Girl, Interrupted" by Susanna Kaysen
"Glass" by Ellen Hopkins
"I Don't Want to Be Crazy" by Samantha Schutz
"I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" by Joanne Greenberg
"Impulse" by Ellen Hopkins
"Jay's Journal" by Beatrice Sparks
"Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov
"Lucky" by Alice Sebold
"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden
"Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America" by Elizabeth Wurtzel
"Resident Evil: Caliban Cove, Vol. 2" by S. D. Perry
"Resident Evil: City of the Dead, Vol. 3" by S. D. Perry
"Resident Evil: Underworld, Vol. 4" by S. D. Perry
"Resident Evil: Code: Veronica, Vol. 6" by S. D. Perry
"Resident Evil: Zero Hour, Vol. 7" by S. D. Perry
"Resident Evil: Apocalypse" by Keith R. A. DeCandido
"Resident Evil: Extinction" by Keith R. A. DeCandido
"Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
"Sybil" by Flora Rheta Schreiber
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
"The Truth about Forever" by Sarah Dessen
"The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides
"This Lullaby" by Sarah Dessen
"White Oleander" by Janet Fitch
"Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
"Witch Child" by Celia Rees
Any help is appreciated! ^^ |
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| "Generation Dead' By Daniel Waters |
[Dec. 5th, 2009|03:56 am] |
This book was soo good. Basically this book is about teens rising from the dead and not being welcomed back, even by their own families. This strange phenomenon is only happening to teens and only in the United States and no one can explain why. At Oakvale High School, they are accepting these teens into their community as well as in their schools, and many kids and parents do not appreciate this. The main character is Phoebe who falls in love with the "zombie leader" Tommy. Its about their entanglement of trying to be together despite everyone else's views on the matter including her best friend Adam who is in love with her.
This book is part of a series and it is book one. I really enjoyed this book, because it isn't your typical love story. Tommy and Adam pretty much profess their love for Phoebe where as Phoebe doesn't know what she feels for Tommy and is completely in the dark about Adam. I think i enjoyed it the most because of that fact. You had to keep reading to figure out what she was thinking and what these "worm-heads" were going through.
Now i don't really know if it was the pressure of trying to finish this book in time that it wont lapse into my school work, or if i am just booked out (doubt it) but for some reason it seemed like such a slow book, even though it interested me and i wanted to read it. Yea i know it doesn't make sense to me either. I thought for sure that i might not have a good review on it and that i wouldn't end up buying the second book, but once you get to the last ehh fifteen chapters, you are totally engorged into it and you can't wait to get your hands on the second book to find out what happens. If they didn't put the first two chapters of book two at the end i think i would have had to make a late night drive to walmart to read what happens. It is a really big cliff hanger.
Overall: I feel that this book is really good. I feel though that you need to make time to read it or you wont full satisfaction of it, like i am unfortunately feeling at the moment. I definitely recommend this book and say it is worth the read.
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 4/5
DISCLAIMER!!
1. Did You receive this book for free?
No i did not, i paid for it with my own money on borders.com.
2. Are you getting paid to write this review?
No, i am writing this review for my own health and to help others on their quest for tasty reading.
3. Do you have any affiliation with the company?
I do not have any affiliation with borders, other than being a club member,the publisher, the author, disney or anyone else associated with this book.
4. Is this review in your honest opinion?
Yes, this is my honest to god opinion. |
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| "Hush, Hush" By Becca Fitzgerald |
[Dec. 1st, 2009|08:01 pm] |
Hush, Hush is about a girl named Nora Grey who finds herself wickedly attracted to a "bad boy" named Patch, a fallen Angel. The story plot is about her finding out who he really is (a fallen angel) and who the person is who has been trying to kill her. This book starts out and almost ends with sooo many questions. When you start getting towards the end you want to just call the author and yell "WHEN AM I GOING TO FIND OUT ANYTHING!!" but by the end you find everything out. This book was seriously sooo good. I found myself wishing i could be Nora for a day just to see how Patch acts in real life. I read this book in one day, which is really good considering my busy high school schedule.
I am seriously recommending this book to everyone i know. My friend Amanda was talking about buying it, but i think i might just let her borrow it as long as she promises to take good care of it and to not bend the pages. I will kill her!! lol Books are like my kids.
Rating:♥♥♥♥♥5/5
Disclaimer: I dont know if the new FTC disclaimer law relates to book reviews or not, but just in case, because it goes into effect today.
1. I did not get this book for free. I bought it with my own money
2. I am not getting paid to write a review for this book.
3. I do not have any affiliation with Borders inc.
4. This is my honest opinion about the book and it was not coaxed in any way by anyone. |
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