Review: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Title - Burn for Burn
Author - Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Publisher - Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published - 18th September 2012
Series - Burn For Burn #1
Source - Own Copy

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.
Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.
Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.
Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.
Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.

It's shallow, I know, but the reason I wanted to read this book was because it had a pretty cover and Jenny Han was involved with it. I didn't really know much about the story going into it, but I just dived right in. I started this book in the waiting room before a physio appointment, and I don't know if I was distracted, or just not paying attention, but the switching of narrator from one chapter to the next really threw me. Luckily for me I got over that super fast (I must have just been worried about my appointment) and each of the characters started to feel like they had their own voice.

This book took a long time to set up the premise of the story. I didn't mind this however as it gave me time to get to know the characters and their voices. At its core this is a book about revenge. Each of these girls has been wronged by someone that they want to get revenge on. This was really fun and I liked some of the ideas they came up with. I wished that the revenge had gone on for a bit longer for each of the victims as I would have liked to have seen some more of the suffering (does that make me a bit sick?)

I think what I liked most of all in this book, and what really stuck with me was that when you read about what the girls had been going through, their thoughts and fears about everything, we got to see that these girls are more similar that they appeared on the surface. The issues they were struggling with were great equalisers  showing that essentially we all have problems and no one has a charmed life.

I liked this book and enjoyed it on the whole. The one issue I had a little problem with was the Carrie style powers that appeared. This was not explained and we were left at the end of this book with only half of this story being told with no hint of an explanation to keep us excited until the next book. It left me wanting so much more and a little confused (did I just read a contemporary book or a paranormal book?). The whole ending felt rushed and cut off almost like it had been cut mid chapter. This little annoyance aside, I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to the next books in this series.

Review: Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

Title: Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe
Author: Shelley Coriell
Published: 1st May 2012
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: eARC thanks to NetGalley and publisher

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home. - From Goodreads

The cover of this book drew me in immediately. As I have said before I loved Pump Up the Volume when I was younger and always thought I might be quite good at hosting a radio talk show as I never stop talking!! Well the cover of this book made me think that it might relight my interest in broadcast radio (even if it did not seem that this was an underground radio show!).

After her friends turn their back on her, for something Chloe does not even know she has done, Chloe decides to throw herself into her independent study programme. Unfortunately the school counsellor does not like her topic of choice and instead signs her up to do promotions for the school's failing radio station. After some rocky starts Chloe finds her place in the group of "outsiders".

Chloe is a flake. She is one of those people that stabs you in the back, but without any idea that that's what she is doing, in fact she probably thinks she is helping. I did find her a little annoying and thought that her life would be so much easier if she was a little more humble. Saying this I do remember taking my friends for granted too at this age. I'm not saying that I disliked the character of Chloe, she was so upbeat it is hard not to like her and she also has a passion for vintage shoes, this scores major points in my book. All in all i did quite like Chloe, she made a good, but flawed, protagonist.

This story starts to play out exactly as you would expect from the cover, but as you delve a little deeper some of the threads running through the story start to get a little more gritty. We meet characters who are pregnant teens, children trying to deal with parental divorce and even someone trying to deal with a parent who is hooked on Meth. I thought these story lines added to the overall feel of the book, however they were glossed over slightly and I wanted them to be a little more gritty and real. I think if you are going to add in plot points like these you really have to commit to them.

I really liked this book. I thought the story could have been worked on a little more and felt it skimmed over some parts where I wanted more detail. I wanted to know more about the periods where Chloe felt alone after her friends, and most of the school, shunned her. To me she never really felt lonely or alone. All in all, this was a very entertaining and enjoyable read.