Tag Archives: Simon Pulse

Review: Last Year’s Mistake by Gina Ciocca

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

Last Year's Mistake by Gina CioccaLast Year’s Mistake by Gina Ciocca
Simon Pulse

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Kelsey and David were best friends the summer before freshman year. Then a misunderstanding turned the whole school against her, including David. A family move gave her a chance to start over in a new town at a new school, but just when Kelsey thinks she has rebuilt the perfect life, David sets her whole world spinning by transferring to her school. Committed to maintaining a casual peace, Kelsey keeps him at arms’ length… until she can’t. The fierce chemistry between them reemerges, and she finds herself faced with a terrible dilemma: the boy she’s dating isn’t the boy she loves. But is it too late to tell David the truth?

This story is packed to the roof with teen melodrama. She wants him, she doesn’t want him. No, she wants him. But does he want her? Maybe he does, but no, he can’t! He mustn’t! Wait, she mustn’t! If you’re looking for an oozy gooey romance, this definitely fits the bill. While some of the plot twists could be considered a bit farfetched, it’s easier to believe they’d play in the high school arena. Many of the characters outside Kelsey and David were a bit two-dimensional. David’s sense of honor and integrity is refreshing. Their family histories also add a bit of depth to him and Kelsey.

Language Content
Extreme profanity, moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Kelsey has been having sex with her boyfriend. While there aren’t scenes in which the dirty deed is described, she references her feelings about it and they make plans to have sex while her house is empty. She hears rumors about David with other girls and when he starts dating and being pretty cozy with one of her friends, she assumes he’s having sex with her, too.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
One boy attacks another and beats him up. Few details.

Drug Content
Kelsey’s friends do quite a bit of drinking alcohol at parties.

Review: Mirage by Kristi Cook

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

Mirage
Kristi Cook
Simon Pulse
Published June 5, 2012

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Violet returns to Winterhaven for her senior year, convinced that with her awesome friends and fabulous boyfriend, this year is going to be the best yet. She’s paired with the famed Dr. ‘Hottie’ as her mentor, Aiden is closer than ever to finding a cure for his vampirism, and she’s still on top in the fencing team. Then a mysterious serial killer leaves a trail of blood-drained women in his wake, and violent visions of death for those closest to her terrorize Violet. With her mentor’s help, she hopes to discover enough clues about the visions to stop them from becoming reality before it’s too late.

Though it begins at a slow pace, delving into details like who’s taking calculus or has which lunch period, Mirage quickly ramps up the tension via Violet’s mysterious visions and Aiden’s distant behavior. Few of the characters really shine with complexity, but Violet and Aiden can be listed among them.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme but infrequent.

Sexual Content
Violet laments the fact that she and Aiden won’t be able to have satisfying sex because for a vampire, part of the satisfaction comes from biting his partner. Dressed in an inviting outfit, she meets Aiden in the loft of the barn for some alone time. The couple engage in some heavy making out, but stop before clothes come off.

Spiritual Content
In the story, Violet and her friends each share certain super-human gifts. These are thought to be a leap forward in human evolution rather than any source of spiritual power.

Violence
A rogue vampire leaves a trail of victims. No descriptions of the attacks.

Drug Content
Aiden and his friends work together to create a serum that will cure his vampirism.

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Go Ask Alice (Anonymous)

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

Go Ask Alice
Anonymous
Simon Pulse
First published in 1971

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Go Ask Alice is a haunting story of a young girl’s descent into drug addiction and her desperate attempt to break free again. Her journal entries detail the highs and lows she experiences as she falls deeper under the spell her addiction to LSD. Through Alice’s eyes the reader sees her family’s desperate struggle to reach her, and the seductive power of the chemicals that pull her away from them.

First printed in 1971, Go Ask Alice still remains one of the most popular works about teen drug addiction.

It’s definitely a dated tale, but I think one of the reasons it survives is how haunting the story is. Something about it reminded me a little bit of That Was Then, This is Now by S. E. Hinton.

Did you know?
Those of you Go Ask Alice buffs… Did you know that though Alice is generally accepted as the unclaimed diary of a teen-aged girl wrestling with drug addiction, it is in fact a novel! As in… fiction. Yep. Check out the info posted on the Snopes Urban Legend web site. Posing as a diary gave the story a huge amount of credibility, but nope. It’s all made up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Heavy

Sexual Content
With the entrance of drugs into Alice’s world follows sex. Her experiences are reflected back upon via her diary entries. The references are not drawn out, but still briefly state what occurred. Some characters also refer to homosexual experiences.

Spiritual Content
None

Violence
While there isn’t really any violence as a part of the story, some of the hallucinations Alice experiences are vivid and really creepy.

Drug Content
This is a book about drug addiction, so there are several scenes that detail Alice’s drug abuse. The book also shows the consequences of drug addiction– her life spirals out of control, she winds up in a sanitarium, has physical side effects from detox and long term abuse.

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