Review: The List by Siobhan Vivian

Title: The List
Author: Siobhan Vivian
Published: 1st April 2012
Publisher: Push
Source: Own Copy

An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them.
It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.
This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

Siobhan Vivian has a gift for giving stereotypical characters depth and complexity. I read this right off the back of Burn For Burn since I enjoyed the writing and the story. Every year a list is made which names the prettiest and ugliest girl from each grade. This story highlights how each girl is changed by the list and how it is a curse for most no matter which side of the list you fall on.

This written in the same style as Burn for Burn with each chapter being a different character. This can at times get a little confusing as there are eight different characters. There was a lot going on here with many issues trying to be covered across too many characters. The stories that I really enjoyed and wish had been focused on more were Jennifer and Margo or Lauren and Candace. I found that these were the most interesting stories and these characters had the biggest life changes through the novel.

I enjoyed this book, and I like the way each of the characters, in their own way, develops through the course of the story. Most of the characters have a turning point that changes the way their character views everything around them and makes them a more likeable character.

This had an interesting story and was not something I had seen tackled previously, but at times I felt that the pace dropped away, or the particular character chapter I was reading was a bit of a slog to get through. I always enjoy watching the way Siobhan Vivian shapes her characters and turns them into real girls who each have flaws and issues, but maybe with 8 girls she bit off a bit more than she could handle.

Review: Pieces of Us by Maggie Gelbwasser

Title: Pieces of Us
Author: Maggie Gelbwasser
Published: 8th March 2012
Publisher: Flux
Source: eArc thanks to NetGalley and Flux

Two families. Four teens.
A summer full of secrets.

Every summer, hidden away in a lakeside community in upstate New York, four teens leave behind their old identities…and escape from their everyday lives.

Yet back in Philadelphia during the school year, Alex cannot suppress his anger at his father (who killed himself), his mother (whom he blames for it), and the girls who give it up too easily. His younger brother, Kyle, is angry too—at his abusive brother, and at their mother who doesn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, in suburban New Jersey, Katie plays the role of Miss Perfect while trying to forget the nightmare that changed her life. But Julie, her younger sister, sees Katie only as everything she’s not. And their mother will never let Julie forget it.

Up at the lake, they can be anything, anyone. Free. But then Katie’s secret gets out, forcing each of them to face reality—before it tears them to pieces. - From Goodreads

This book was nothing that I was expecting. From the description what I was expecting was a book about four broken teens coming together over the summer, but what I got was a book that was far more sinister. This book was a brutal look at abuse and "victims" set over the period of a year.

Katie and Julia are sisters and Katie is the star, at home and at school. Julia can't compete for her mother's love with Katie, the star cheerleader "The Pyramid Girl". Alex and Kyle's father killed himself after finding out that their mother was having an affair. During the summer Katie, Julia, Kyle and Alex all meet at their Russian Grandparent's summer houses and they have the chance to leave their normal selves behind to become Katya, Yulya, Sasha and Kostya. In the past summer and school lives have always been kept separate but soon the worlds begin to bleed together. As secrets get revealed the lives for the four of them change in ways that mean they will never be the same again.

I hit a barrier with this book almost immediately with the writing style. This book is written from the perspective of all four of the major characters. Often this can enhance the flow of a story giving the reader the opportunity to experience different perspectives. In this instance we were able to see parts of the story from different viewpoints, but I felt like switching narrator interrupted the flow of the story dragging us away from what was going on. My other issue with this was that 3 of the character's stories were written in the first person and Kyle's was written in the second person. I found this was like running into a brick wall every time I came across one of his chapters. This style was used for Kyle as he himself does not want to admit how much he is suffering, but for me the change in perspective was off putting.

It is very difficult to talk about this book without giving away too many of the plot points as they are littered through the book and spring upon you like they were laying in wait for you to get over the previous shock. I can however talk about the characters in this book. I disliked Katie at the start of the book finding her shallow, superficial and oblivious to her sister's pain. However as Katie evolved through the book and her pain she became a tragic character who became consumed with her own problems. On the other side of this we have poor ignored Julia who just wants her mother's love and approval. However as Julia starts to get some attention she becomes a cold and heartless person I had no time for.

Another character I had no time for during the whole book was Alex. I hated the way he spoke about women. He was full of hate and this pored onto the page making his chapters uncomfortable to read. We also can see that the hate that is in Alex waiting to explode manages to seep out of him every so often in sadistic ways. I could find nothing redeeming within Alex and nothing that made me think I would ever want to spend any time with him. Again Kyle for me was on the other side of this, as much as I hated how his chapters were written, he was possibly the character that I liked the most. He was broken even at the start of the book but there was a sweetness and a naivety to him that made him seem younger than he was.

I did not enjoy reading this book as the subject matter to me was very raw and brutal. Where I can see that this book tackles these issues with a sense of purpose and delivers them up with some style and grace, it was not my cup of tea. I found it a disturbing book and personally I like a little less reality and pain with my reading.

Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2nd March 2010
Source: Own Kindle Copy

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.
Instead, it turns out to be her last.
Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing. -From Goodreads

I picked this up as it was my first Lauren Oliver book and it had a story that interested me, a sort of Groundhog day where the main character knows that each day she relives ends with her death. I really wanted to like this book and went into it with an open mind. Unfortunately something did not click for me.
Sam is a privileged teenager who has a sweet life. Hot boyfriend and a powerful group of friends who rule the school with Sam at the middle of it. After a party one night there is an accident which kills Sam, but this is not the end of her story as she gets the chance to come back time and time again to change her actions on the day of the accident.

Maybe I am too different from Sam, but I did not care for her and in all honesty did not care if she learned the valuable life lessons of repeating the same day over and over again. I found her to be quite fake at the start of the book, and thought that she had not grown at the end of her journey. I think this instant dislike of the main character meant that I never really invested in the book.

I have always thought that there could be a lot of mileage in the repeating days story, I mean I am a fan of Groundhog Day! For some reason in this book I found the storyline to be slightly dull and predictable. There was a real focus on certain things on the first day which you knew would be changed or manipulated later on during one of the repeating days. I like a bit of unpredictability in my stories. Once it was obvious that this was what was happening I felt there was little point in finishing the book (I did though as I hate leaving books unfinished!).

Following on from that, I was hoping for a really interesting ending, and while there were details in the ending that made me go "oh, that's how it fits together", I still felt the ending was very unsatisfying. I was left with a slight feeling of disappointment. I have not read any of Lauren Oliver's other books, but I will be giving Delirium a try as I do think that potentially the only reason I did not like this book was because I could not gel with the main character and that made the rest of the story fall apart for me.

Review: Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

Title: Something Like Fate
Author: Susane Colasanti
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Published: 4th May 2010
Source: Own Copy

Warning Review Contains Spoilers!

Best friends Lani and Erin couldn't be more different. Lani's reserved and thoughtful; Erin's bubbly and outgoing. Lani likes to do her own thing; Erin prefers an entourage. There's no possible way they could be interested in the same guy. So when Erin starts dating Jason, Lani can't believe she feels such a deep connection with him, and it may be mutual. The more Lani fights it, the more certain she feels that it's her fate to be with Jason. But what do you do when the love of your life is the one person you can't have? - From Goodreads

I could have read this book easily in one sitting on holiday if my friend had not insisted we go for a walk and get a massage! Let me read my book woman (although the massage was spot on!). This book had an writing style I found offputting but I thought the characters were very realistic as teenagers right from the beginning (for some this may be good or it may be bad!).

I was torn with this book. There were some things I liked and there were some things that really annoyed me. Since I like lists, I will summarise these in list form starting with the good.

What I Liked
1. The Gay Best Friend - You have got to love a gay best friend and this one is particularly blunt and fantastic. 

2. The Parent's obsession with turning out the lights and not turning the heating up!! - This is how I grew up. My parents would refuse to turn the heating up ("Put on another pair of socks if your feet are cold" - My Dad) and you often got the light turned out on you (most often when we were in the bathroom!!!). So to me this was really familiar, realistic and to me amusing.

What I Didn't Like
1. The Writing - I am pretty sure when I was at primary school we were taught that it was bad form to start every other line of speech " Then I said 'blah, blah...'" we get know how dialogue works. (I was also told at primary that swallowing chewing gum would kill me - hmm...) To me it felt a little childish.
 
2. Lani needs to stand up to her bitch BFF - So I can be rather feisty at times, but I really think even a timid person would stand up to being treated like trash by a "friend"! Personally for me Erin would have been a goner as soon as she crossed me once.
 
3. The BFF - As should have been clear by the quotation marks above, I think Erin is no friend to Lani, especially not a best friend. I have a fairly close knit group of friends and in the past we have done some pretty crappy things to each other, however I think real friends are like family; things may seem awful when you are fighting, but you know you will make up eventually.
 
4. The coincidences!! - To me some of the coincidences are totally ridiculous! They both think of different water in terms of shapes and colours (is this not a disease?). Why only water? What about fruit juice or milk? NOT A COINCIDENCE, JUST WEIRD!!
Also they played together when they were babies? I live in the capital of Scotland, and if I stop 10 people on the streets of Edinburgh around my age, I will be connected somehow to at least half of them. If I narrow this down to speaking to people in the catchment area of my high school, or primary school, we will have gone to most of the same places, know the same people and probably have played with each other at some point. NOT A COINCIDENCE, JUST STATISTICS!!
I could go on, but I think I will leave it there!

Sorry for shouting, rant over, there was just so much about this book that rubbed me the wrong way. I think if it had been a longer book I may have given up. The things which annoyed me may be enjoyable for another reader, but for me I found them hard to overlook.

Rating: 1 / 5

Review: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Title: Some Girls Are
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin
Published: 5th January 2010
Source: Own Copy

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.
Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.

I have said this before and I will say it again, I love the writing of Courtney Summers. It is bold and in your face and nothing is held back for fear of scaring off the reader. All of the characters Courtney Summers writes are deeply flawed but the main protagonist always grows on me. This book was certainly no different. Everything I loved about Cracked Up To Be I also found in Some Girls Are. In no way is that me saying that this is the same book repackaged, what I loved about both books was the writing, the rich characters and the raw, and sometimes brutal, story lines.

Regina Afton is one of the popular mean girls of her school until her best friend's boyfriend tries to rape her at a party. Turning to the one girl in her clique that hates her Regina decides to say nothing and forget it ever happened. Unfortunately when she returns to school the one person she turned to has started the rumour that Regina willingly slept with her best friend's boyfriend. Regina is left isolated and friendless in a school of peers who Regina and her old clique used to prey on.

Some of the tactics used by Regina's old clique to hurt her physically and mentally are horrible. You begin to hope that in the end some of Regina's own small payback schemes work. I loved this book and all of the characters in it, even some of the characters that seem evil to the core. I found this book incredibly difficult to put down and I am looking forward to the next reading of this novel. This is definitely a book which will stay on my shelf forever.