Category Archives: Romance

Review: How to Be Brave by E. Katherine Kottaras

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

how-to-be-braveHow to Be Brave
E. Katherine Kottaras
St. Martin’s Griffin/St. Martin’s Press

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

In the wake of her mother’s unexpected death, Georgia struggles with the advice her mom left behind. She told Georgia to be brave and do everything, and with the help of her friends, Georgia sets out to do just that. She makes a list of fifteen things she wants to do, ranging from trapeze classes to kissing the boy she’s had a crush on forever. As Georgia pursues checking the items off the list, she learns that loss is a part of life. That she’ll have to fight for happiness and push through adversity, even when sometimes it’s of her own making.

I loved the descriptions of Georgia’s exploration of painting and how that was such a cathartic experience for her. It made me want to take up painting myself or spend many long afternoons wandering art museums. I liked Daniel, Georgia’s crush, and thought he was definitely worthy of her. Her relationship with her dad felt so authentic – this suddenly single dad dealing with a teenage girl in the midst of his own grief and just so lost on what to do. I also felt so sad for Georgia as she struggled to be patient with him but also to find ways to express her needs. Not an easy time for a girl to be without her mom.

Georgia definitely proved her bravery in her ability to rise to challenges life brought her. I loved that she was compassionate and had these moments of real insight into the girls around her. It’s definitely something I wished I had during my own high school experience.

I liked that Georgia wasn’t the typical girl. She was very real about her insecurities over how she looked and even about her embarrassment over her mom being heavy. She wanted to embrace valuing a person for who they are rather than how they look, but it wasn’t like this easy thing, even though she loved her mom. Her experiences felt authentic and yet they didn’t take over the story. Georgia’s journey isn’t about shedding pounds and becoming the popular girl with the hot boyfriend. It’s about self-discovery and what brings value to our lives: friends, love, art.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.

Sexual Content
Brief kissing. One of Georgia’s friends plans to have sex with her boyfriend. (The event is not described.)

Spiritual Content
Georgia’s father is Greek Orthodox but the family rarely attends. Georgia describes art as her mother’s god.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
Feeling justified by her mother’s counsel to “try everything,” Georgia and her friends experiment with marijuana (shown in several scenes), cigarettes and alcohol. The consequences, particularly of the pot, lead Georgia to regret her decision.

What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

So… I don’t like spiders. I’m not as terrified as some, but I’m NOT a fan. My best friend called me one night in a panic over a huge arachnid in her apartment. I drove over to help her hunt the critter down and destroy it. I remember arriving, stepping inside and looking at the gargantuan thing and then looking at my friend and saying, “I don’t think I can kill that.” (What IS it about large spiders that make it so much more than a bug? It’s like a strange intelligence or more-than-animal-ness or something totally creepy.) Anyway, after so much wailing and screaming that I’m surprised the neighbors didn’t call the police, we killed the beastie, and peace was restored. (Love you, Beth!!)

Review: These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

These Shallow Graves
Jennifer Donnelly
Delacorte Press/Random House Children’s

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When news of Jo’s father’s sudden death rips her away from school, she returns home to her grieving family. Unable to accept the story that her father accidentally shot himself, she teams up with Eddie, a local reporter who worked for her father’s paper, to uncover the truth about his death. As each clue leads to more questions, Jo and Eddie quickly realize that the uncovering the truth could destroy everything her father once built. Jo also realizes she may be falling for the handsome reporter, but to surrender to her feelings would mean turning her back on her family.

I first fell in love with Donnelly’s writing in A Northern Light. More recently I’ve read the first three Waterfire Saga books, which are a lot lighter and geared for a bit of a younger audience. I enjoyed those books, too, but I have to say I’ve been craving the darker, more complex historical feel that first book contains, and These Shallow Graves absolutely delivered all that I hoped for and more.

The romance between Jo and Eddie had me flipping page after page. I loved the dynamics between them and also the way they each related to other characters in the story. I loved that the side characters had a lot of personality and many became significant to the story. Jo’s journey has a lot to do with answering the question of who’s valuable, and over and over Donnelly presents answers in the way these minor characters unexpectedly play significant roles in the way the story develops. I loved that message.

Readers looking for a murder-solving suspense, a taste of historical fiction, or a swoon-worthy romance will find these things and more in These Shallow Graves. If you liked A Northern Light, I suspect this one will be a sure win, too.

Language Content
Infrequent use of moderate profanity.

Sexual Content
Girls briefly discuss curiosity about sex – no details. Jo learns of the existence of brothels and briefly visits the parlor of one. She spends the night in the company of a man, but only sleeping occurs.

Spiritual Content
References to church attendance. A man claims regret over his past misdeeds causes him to have visions of Hell.

Violence
This book contains a lot of suspenseful and intense moments featuring bad, violent men, who don’t hesitate to harm women and children. The description are often brief, but so sinister.

One of the characters is a student of forensic medicine. He relates information about causes of death to Jo and Eddie. His descriptions can be a bit graphic.

Drug Content
Brief reference to morphine addiction. Several scenes take place in a bar or show characters drinking alcohol.

Waterfire Saga Giveaway

Don’t miss a chance to enter the giveaway for the first three books in the Waterfire Saga plus series-themed nail polish. Check it out here. (Giveaway ends 11/3/15)

 

Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Illuminae
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Random House Children’s Books/Knopf Books for Young Readers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

I’m going to pull the marketing copy from Goodreads because honestly, I won’t be able to come up with anything to the story better justice:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

What I thought
This story is kind of like World War Z meets 2001: A Space Oddyssey. SO. MUCH. TENSION. An unpredictable AI who may or may not be trying to kill everyone, plus a highly contagious epidemic of people basically turning into paranoid, violent zombies. In a closed spaceship. In the middle of outer space. With an enemy ship closing in behind them. Are you on the edge of your seat? OMG, you should be.

The story is told through various “records” like emails, interviews, crew reports, and instant messages. At first I didn’t think I’d like this. I felt like it really limited how things unfolded, but once I got past the first couple of chapters, I felt like the pacing and the choice of which documents are included and the order in which they appear really adds to the feeling of tension building and building as the story progresses.

I loved the quick, witty dialogue between characters, especially Ezra and Kady. What I didn’t love quite so much was that after a while, it seemed like that voice got used too often and too many characters sounded the same to me. I was definitely willing to overlook that, though. It hardly affected my ability to enjoy the story. It was just more something I happened to notice.

Also, the end was fantastic. There was a moment in which I worried that it was going to all wind down leaving me bitter and disappointed, and instead Kristoff and Kaufman totally kicked it up a notch. I would absolutely read a sequel.

Side note: I read an ARC acquired from Netgalley, so the formatting in my version may not match the final version, but I’d recommend ordering a hard copy of the book rather than an ebook. There were a few pages that, because of how they displayed, were a little bit difficult for me to read, and I felt like I was missing parts of words at the edges of the page. I think it might have been easier to read as a paperback, though I usually prefer an ebook version.

Language Content
Loads of profanity and some crude references.

Sexual Content
References to sexual acts.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
A biological warfare agent/virus causes those affected to become violent. Sufferers maim and decapitate others. Lots of descriptions are of the aftermath of the outbreak, but there are some really intense moments in which a point-of-view character faces someone with truly gory intent. I’m pretty sensitive to violence in literature, and it was definitely at my upper limits of what I can take.

Drug Content
See above.

Review: Shades of Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Shades of Doon
Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon
Blink YA/Zondervan
Published: September 1, 2015

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

As Vee embraces her role as Doon’s Queen, she looks forward to the day she and Jamie will be able to rule together. Her best friend Kenna still searches for her own place in the kingdom. Just as Kenna begins to feel she’s found her niche, a dark force boots both girls from their beloved land and drops them back in the real world. As if facing the shock of their old, broken lives wasn’t enough, all signs indicate that this is just the beginning of a new threat. Together with the MacCrae boys, they’ll have to face an old enemy once again, one who’s determined to have the rule of Doon for herself.

Vee and Kenna are very different, but their friendship makes them each stronger. I liked the dynamics between them, where Kenna kept Vee from taking herself too seriously and Vee kept Kenna from losing faith in herself. The circle of friends and advisers added interest, too. I definitely wanted to know more about each of them. I haven’t read either of the earlier books in this series, so I may have to do that in the hopes that some of these other characters get a little more stage time.

I also really enjoyed the references to musicals and theater that were sprinkled throughout the story. Though I’m far from a theater buff, I picked up on several of them, and it felt like being in on a joke or something. I thought it was a nice touch.

While I found myself captured by the idyllic landscape of the story, I felt like it lost tension in a couple of places. One is after the girls are booted out of Doon, which is resolved in a snap once the boys arrive. The other is following an attack by an unknown enemy. The attack ends and everyone kind of dusts themselves off and moves on. I was like, wait, what?! Is the enemy still out there? What’s going on?? But… no one else really seemed too worried. So that was a little confusing.

There was also quite a bit of kissing in this story. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for a bit of smooching, especially when I’ve been rooting for the romance to finally blossom for the entire story. This was more like, the couple has already fallen in love and it’s kind of just happily ever after on rinse and repeat. I would have liked to see more tension or conflict between the couples to keep me guessing and hoping. However, if I’d been a reader from the very beginning of the series, I might still be happy-sighing every time a well-earned lip-smack happens. So it could just be me. And the authors take things up a notch toward the end, definitely creating some anticipation for the next book.

Language Content
No profanity.

Sexual Content
Lots of scenes that include kissing. There’s one moment where it gets pretty intense and the characters stop themselves from taking things further, wanting to respect the boundaries they’ve set for their relationship which include waiting to have sex until marriage.

Spiritual Content
The Protector seems to be the name the Doonians use to refer to God. They believe that some have a calling to live out their lives in the kingdom of Doon, and that calling involves being joined with a soul mate.

Violence
A witch threatens the Doonian people. No graphic details beyond an admiring description of Duncan or Jamie’s rippling muscles.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Everything, Everything
Nicola Yoon
Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Published September 1, 2015

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Everything, Everything

My disease is as rare as it is famous. It’s a form of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, but basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in fifteen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives. New next door neighbors. I look out the window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. I want to learn everything about him, and I do. I learn that he is funny and fierce. And I learn that his eyes are Atlantic Ocean-blue and that his vice is stealing silverware. I learn that when I talk to him, my whole world opens up, and I feel myself starting to change—starting to want things. To want out of my bubble. To want everything, everything the world has to offer.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

My Review

Maddy’s narrative is accompanied by random snippets: super short movie synopses, clever charts and definitions that speak to Maddy’s state of mind, and transcripts of instant messages exchanged between Maddy and Olly.

The story is witty and cute and definitely packed with romantic tension. I was as enamored with Olly as Maddy was upon his entrance to her life. He’s fun and smart, yet has that sort of dark, angsty mystery to him, as well.

Confession: I snooped and read a spoiler (which I immediately regretted) before reading the book for myself. I was worried that knowing a major twist (which the reviewer felt was too perfect or too simplistic) would affect my ability to enjoy the story and really stay in the moment while reading it.

I found the characters so engaging that I wasn’t bothered by knowing what would happen. The outcome felt organic to me, and much more plausible within the context of the story than the review had made it seem.

The one thing that rang a little false to me was Maddy’s confidence about the outside world. I would have expected her to have more anxiety, even if she felt like the risks would be worthwhile. She seemed a little too in control at some moments.

All in all, though, I felt like Yoon does an amazing job with the character development and with the reference to poetry, philosophy and math. Those parts along with the situation concerning Maddy’s health elevate the story from a common contemporary teen romance to something much more substantive. Readers who enjoy books by John Green and movies like The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or The Truman Show should give this novel a read.

Content Notes

Profanity or Crude Language
A handful of instances of brief strong profanity, usually in reference to a drunk man berating his family.

Sexual Content
One sex scene – includes a short description of what happens. Their bodies “moving together” and that sort of thing. It is supposed to be Maddy’s first sexual experience.

Spiritual Content
Madeleine and Olly briefly discuss ideas about hope and faith – more general, less specific to any one religion really. He is pretty convinced there’s nothing more out there in the universe whereas Maddy finds the idea of faith appealing.

Violence
Maddy spies on neighbors and witnesses a confrontation that turns violent.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt
St. Martin’s Griffin

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Alma can’t wait to shake the dust off her small southern town from her shoes and make something of herself in college at a prestigious school. She has spent the last several years preparing and convincing her family. Now all she needs is a scholarship, and thanks to a dedicated guidance counselor, that goal is within reach. Then a handsome white boy turns Alma’s head the two begin a romance that jeopardizes everything Alma has worked towards.

Evan is the classic American rich boy. Alma isn’t sure he could ever understand her world – her strict father and large, close family. Her family’s dangerous status as undocumented immigrants.

At first I wasn’t sure if the story would strike a good balance between Evan and Alma’s romance and the themes concerning immigration. I was afraid that either the romance would drown out the rest of the plot or the politics would get too preachy.

There are a few moments where the romance really heats up, but Alma’s goal was never to find a boyfriend or to find love, so her motivations keep the story on track. As her family’s ability to remain in the US becomes less and less certain, tension soars, and I found myself turning page after page, desperate to know the outcome.

Without getting into a long monologue about politics, I felt like Marquardt presented a great story and created excellent characters. Dream Things True brings a face to the plight of undocumented immigrants and invites us to reexamine stereotypes and fears. Since reading this novel, I’ve spent more time reading about current laws and issues regarding immigration in the US than I ever had in the past. The fact that the story prompted further education must be something its author would consider a win, I believe.

I liked that the romance between Evan and Alma added to and was transformed by the story. It’s not romance strictly for the sake of romance. It made sense why they liked each other; they felt worthy of one another. Yet those things didn’t mean that love was the perfect solution to all their problems. Love played a role, but it wasn’t the point of the story.

Readers who enjoy romance should definitely give this one a go, especially fans of Jennifer E. Smith.

Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Sexual Content
Alma knows that if she gets pregnant, she will lose the opportunity to go to college. She sets boundaries for herself and is committed not to cross them. At a party, she begins kissing her boyfriend pretty amorously, and the next day can’t remember what happened. He did not take advantage of her. Later he does ask her to have sex with him, but she says no and he respects her answer. There are a few scenes in which they lie down next to one another or she sits in his lap and kisses him. At one point they go swimming together in just their underwear.

There are rumors that one of the boys on the soccer team drugs girls and has sex with them. A boy confesses to Alma that he participated in this once. His confession is plain, and Alma is appalled and won’t let him make light of the situation. The boy receives consequences for his actions.

A fifteen year old girl and a twenty year old boy plan to marry. The girl has a baby.

Spiritual Content
Alma’s family is deeply religious and has a statue of Mary in her home. She and her aunts pray the rosary and light candles before the statue to pray for Alma’s mother, who has died.

Evan attends church with his mom, but it seems to be largely about keeping up appearances. We don’t learn anything about what Evan personally believes.

Violence
See sexual content.

Evan and Raul help break up a fight that started at a party. Evan and another boy get into a fight which the police break up.

Drug Content
Evan’s cousin Whit abuses prescription drugs and alcohol. Evan tries to keep him from engaging in those behaviors, but it’s kind of a lost cause. Whit ends up having to be hospitalized and later goes to rehab.

Teens, including Alma, drink alcohol at a party.