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: Marked (HON1) by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Title: Marked
Author: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Published: 1st May 2007
Publisher: St. Martins Griffin
Series: House of Night #1
Source: Own Copy

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire -- that is, if she makes it through the Change. Not all of those who are chosen do. It's tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends. - From Goodreads

So this is a series that I am well behind in picking up on. I am not sure why it took me so long to pick this book up because a few years ago I borrowed Divine By Mistake from my local library and loved it. I had seen these books in the bookshop and had read the back, but it took for someone to actually tell me to read them before I finally bought Marked.

We meet 16 year old Zoey on the day that she is marked. A Tracker comes into her school and announces this to her in front of her best friend, and that is essentially the end of her life as a human! Once the mark appears on a human they only have a limited amount of time to get to the House of Night before "the change" happens. When Zoey makes it to the House of Night she is immediately thrown into the life there and has to find her place even though it is obvious that she is not like the other fledglings.

I loved this series right away. From the start we realise that this is not a world like our own, humans are aware that vampires co-exist with them. As soon as Zoey is marked while she is standing beside her human best friend it seems like all of the humans treat her as if she is an outsider and shun her. Her uber-religious parents think that they can "save" her with a prayer circle. Zoey turns to her grandmother, who is one of my favourite characters in the book, and who helps her with her transition to the House of Night. Zoey is a loveable character from the start who seems a little cynical, but who is genuinely a nice person who you would love to have on your side!

I really liked the other characters in the book, Stevie-Rae, The "Twins", Damien, Eric and even Aphrodite. There is an ease to the dialogue when Zoey and her friends are talking which makes the speech flow and feel very natural. As for the mean girls at school, who are fondly known as the Hags from hell, some of the back and forth between them and the twins made me chuckle out loud (I do love a catty comment!).

Oh and I can't finish my thoughts on this without mentioning how hot, hot, hot Eric Night is - mmmm, yummy! Caught at the beginning of the book in a compromising situation this stud muffin is the perfect hunk of a man for all of the females in the book to drool over!!

This was a great book with a plot line that kept going right to the last page keeping you interested and engaged. I thought the final few chapters were great and left me wanting to pick up the next book to see what was going on. I know I am going to love this series and I can't wait to catch up with everyone else so I can talk about these books without being scared that I will stumble over spoilers!

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: Jessica Darling 1 and 2 by Megan McCafferty

Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Published: 28th August 2001
Series: Jessica Darling 1
Source: Own Copy

From Goodreads: “My parents suck ass. Banning me from the phone and restricting my computer privileges are the most tyrannical parental gestures I can think of. Don’t they realize that Hope’s the only one who keeps me sane? . . . I don’t see how things could get any worse.”
When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?

Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Published: 22nd April 2003
Series: Jessica Darling 2
Source: Own Copy

From Goodreads: “Knowing that I’ve just done something that will take decades off my parents’ lives with worry, you’ll excuse me for not getting into the fa-la-la-la-la Yuletide spirit this year. . . . The only difference between Christmas 2001 and Christmas 2000 is that I don’t have a visit from Hope to look forward to. And Bethany has already packed on some major fetal flab. Oh, and now Gladdie doesn’t need to ask a bizillion questions about my boyfriend, because she’s already gotten the dirt from you know who.”
Jessica Darling is up in arms again in this much-anticipated, hilarious sequel to Sloppy Firsts. This time, the hyperobservant, angst-ridden teenager is going through the social and emotional ordeal of her senior year at Pineville High. Not only does the mysterious and oh-so-compelling Marcus Flutie continue to distract Jessica, but her best friend, Hope, still lives in another state, and she can’t seem to escape the clutches of the Clueless Crew, her annoying so-called friends. To top it off, Jessica’s parents won’t get off her butt about choosing a college, and her sister Bethany’s pregnancy is causing a big stir in the Darling household.

Review:This a 2 for 1 review special! I started reading the Jessica Darling series on holiday and read both Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings back to back. I loved these books so much. Not so much of a quest type story than a chronicling of Jessica Darling over the course of a year after her best friend moves to the other side of the country.

The characters are all lovable and I am sure I'm not alone in wishing I had had my own Marcus Flutie growing up!! I think that everyone will be able to relate to these books in some way as they really are a coming of age book for the normal teenage girl!

Now I can't wait to see what Jecssica's next few years will bring!

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.

Review: Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers

Title: Cracked Up To Be
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin
Published: Dec 23rd 2008
Source: Own Copy

When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?
Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.
Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.
Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

I have heard lots of good things surrounding the writing of Courtney Summers. I thought this may just be hype but none the less I was excited to begin her début novel. I was not expecting what I got...

Reading this book was like jumping into cold water. It hits you like a punch to the stomach you were not expecting. Once you give in to the bluntness of the writing and just go with the flow this is a book which grips you until the last word. The book takes off and drops you right into the middle of the story with no explanation. You learn little by little the events of the past which influence the behaviour of the main character. The writer gives away only a fraction of the past events at a time, making it feel like you have earned the whole story once you reach the end.

The book focuses on Parker Fadley who is a complete bitch and has made a decision to discard her friends, cheerleading and has been coming into school drunk causing her perfect grades to plummet As a person Parker is deeply flawed and is suffering after the events of a horrific night. In an attempt to distance herself from everyone around her decides to be as self destructive as possible. For me this makes her an incredibly real and likeable character who I can begin to imagine having conversations with throughout my day. She does not complain or feel sorry for herself and she knows that she is hurting the people around her however justifies most of her actions. Each of the characters in this book are written into life and I feel just as real as the people I work with.

The events held within the pages of this book don't unfold as much as they just happen and you are expected to accept them and move on. There is no hand holding with this story, it is delivered to you and you can either like it or leave it. I picked this book up one evening expecting to read only a few pages but I found it very difficult to put down. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a little more bite with their book.