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February 21, 2013
Review: As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott
Well I found this draft that I never posted. In September 2011 I reviewed Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (found here). From that moment I was captured by her style of writing and the subjects of her novels. Over a year later I picked up another of her books in hopes of a successful repeat. What I found was much of a surprise.
Rating:
Goodreads summary:
"Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.
Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust."
My thoughts:
Either you will love this book, placing it on your top reads list and sharing it with everyone OR you will hate it, finishing it if you are lucky. The concept of As I Wake (dystopian/romance, amnesiac main character passing between two worlds not knowing which is real) was an interesting idea that intrigued from the get go (I love me some dystopian/romance!!!). I have two problems with this novel (spoiler!):
1) The setting - The dystopic future was not explained in enough detail. I understand that the main character is "dreaming" as we learn more about it, but there could have been more information provided.
2) The sappy ending - don't get me wrong, I love happy endings. BUT, this book was satisfyingly complete with the second to last chapter. Come on Ms. Scott! The entire book sets you up for the sad ending, not the "and they live happily ever after" one you left us with!
Aside from this I was definitely pleased with what I read and would recommend it to most readers of dystopian YA novels.
I'm about to start reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I know, I know, I know. I never made it past book four so I haven't watched the movies past then as well. I want to complete the series!
Rating:
Goodreads summary:
"Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.
Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust."
My thoughts:
Either you will love this book, placing it on your top reads list and sharing it with everyone OR you will hate it, finishing it if you are lucky. The concept of As I Wake (dystopian/romance, amnesiac main character passing between two worlds not knowing which is real) was an interesting idea that intrigued from the get go (I love me some dystopian/romance!!!). I have two problems with this novel (spoiler!):
1) The setting - The dystopic future was not explained in enough detail. I understand that the main character is "dreaming" as we learn more about it, but there could have been more information provided.
2) The sappy ending - don't get me wrong, I love happy endings. BUT, this book was satisfyingly complete with the second to last chapter. Come on Ms. Scott! The entire book sets you up for the sad ending, not the "and they live happily ever after" one you left us with!
Aside from this I was definitely pleased with what I read and would recommend it to most readers of dystopian YA novels.
I'm about to start reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I know, I know, I know. I never made it past book four so I haven't watched the movies past then as well. I want to complete the series!
February 20, 2013
Review: Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
It's been a bit since my last review because it's been that long since I have finished a book! I finished two in the last week so be prepared for the next review on The Power by Rhonda Byrne in the next couple of days.
Usually I either like a book or hate, then there are those that I fall head over heels in love with! Flat-Out Love is definititely one that left me dreaming about it.
From Goodreads: Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.
Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.
When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.
And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.
To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well ... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.
Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.
Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.
When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.
And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.
To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well ... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.
Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.
My Review: All the A+++++, ohmygoditwasamazing reviews almost put me off to the book, especially when I first sat down to begin. However, I quickly found out what all the gushing was about.
The concept of the story was as unique as the characters. You fall in love, you break, and you feel the emotions as you read. I find this to be the most difficult quality for authors to master, but Park does a magnificent job!
There were a few easily predictable parts and at times the dialog seemed a bit unrealistic (or unrelatable). The unusual story, however, makes up for these personal inadequacies.
The concept of the story was as unique as the characters. You fall in love, you break, and you feel the emotions as you read. I find this to be the most difficult quality for authors to master, but Park does a magnificent job!
There were a few easily predictable parts and at times the dialog seemed a bit unrealistic (or unrelatable). The unusual story, however, makes up for these personal inadequacies.
And look at that cover! It's gorgeous (in a not so ethereal kind of way!) Read it!!!
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