This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Pages: 416
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

There are those books that grab hold of your heart and your attention and refuse to let go.  They fill you with Epic Feels that you must preach to any and all who so much as ask you how your day is going.  Then, there are those books that quietly sink in, that don’t compel you to do anything drastic or cause you to squeal or cry in a public place but that still bring you joy.  And sometimes, those quiet books are exactly what you’re looking for.  Jennifer E. Smith’s latest novel This Is What Happy Looks Like is the latter.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.

If you’ve read the jacket copy of the book, then you already know exactly what you’re getting into with Ellie and Graham.  There aren’t a ton of twists and turns here.  The ones that happen feel organic, and they move the plot along in all the right ways.  Since we get a look at the emails between Ellie and Graham right from the beginning, we already know how they feel about one another.  There’s no will-they-or-won’t-they urgency here, as far as I’m concerned.  To me, though, this story isn’t about the end result.  Of course, as a fan of romance, I want Ellie and Graham to be together forever and for all time, but more than ever, I want these two to be happy with themselves and with their choices.  I think that they are.

Jennifer E. Smith really has a way with words, where it sort of sneaks up on you rather than smacks you in the face.  Often when I read, I wonder what it would be like if my current read is turned into a movie.  This book brought that up mostly because of its own movie set plot.  There are certain stories that I think lend themselves to the film medium very well with very minor changes.  This story, however, wouldn’t carry over as well.  Ellie and Graham are both very internal, which makes for a tough film.  However, it makes for an entirely interesting character study.  There wasn’t much action, but I always felt like turning the next page to find out what would drive Ellie and Graham forward at the next juncture.  This is all courtesy of the wordsmithing of Jennifer E. Smith.

It’s tough to write an ambiguous review like this.  This story didn’t entice me to read into the late hours of the night.  It didn’t haunt my mind and follow me throughout the day when I wasn’t reading.  It did entertain me thoroughly, and I felt a sense of calm, remarkable finality when I closed the book.  If you’re looking for something to blow your mind, this isn’t your tale. If you’re looking for a sweet story of two people searching for each other, then your happy is This Is What Happy Looks Like.

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Release Date: Sept. 7, 2010
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 224
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

The first thing that stood out to me about The DUFF was the cursing. I don’t remember there being any cussing in anything else I’ve read for Wastepaper Prose, but within the first few pages of The DUFF  Bianca is cursing like a sailor. It’s a detail I appreciated not just because I enjoy cursing, but also because it’s one of many details that adds to the authenticity of almost every conversation in the novel. The way people interact in The DUFF is the way real people act and react. From Wesley using “Duffy” almost as a term of endearment and not realizing how much it bothers Bianca to the way Casey’s understandable anger dissipates as soon as she realizes just why Bianca has been such a flake, I struggled to find a scene that felt inauthentic. Characters make the same awful decisions for the same complex reasons as real people do. Supporting characters that appear for ten pages or fewer have more depth than some of the main characters in other novels I’ve read.

Very few characters come out of The DUFF without displaying some sort of dark side (neither Jessica nor Toby seems to have one). Some of the ugly parts are glossed over rather quickly, such as Casey’s not-entirely-selfless altruism, but most are rather obvious, like Wesley’s womanizing. The novel manages to touch on an impressive array of common issues in its short 200 pages, from alcoholism to divorce to teen pregnancy. Most impressive is that the novel doesn’t offer up any easy answers, instead realizing just how screwed up everyone is and how complicated all of these issues are for all parties involved. Its treatment of alcoholism and divorce is particularly strong. The novel somehow manages to squeeze in three points of view, three different ways of coping, and the repercussions each of the three characters’ actions has on the other two. And the divorce isn’t even the main plot. Impressive stuff.

While everyone comes out looking dirty, Bianca comes out of the novel looking the worst. She uses Wesley (just because he likes it doesn’t mean it’s not true). She uses Toby. For a decent chunk of the novel, she shuns her friends. She’s insecure, judgmental, unreliable, and a bit of a bitch. Having the main character of any narrative also be the biggest jerk is rare, but when done well, as it is in The DUFF  it can make for some stellar storytelling. By not shying away from letting Bianca be a crappy person, Keplinger manages to capture pretty accurately how self-absorbed most of us were in high school (or at least how obliviously self-obsessed I was).

The DUFF also manages to subvert a lot of the Gossip Girl-ish beats to its plot. Easily my favorite example of this comes at the end of the novel, when Bianca is walking across The Nest to Wesley. She’s wading through the crowd and you can almost hear the cheesy music and see the film-reel-in-your-head slow down. Then she loses balance on her heels and falls over, commencing the least sappy starcrossed-lovers-finally-reunite scene I’ve read in quite some time. Sure, the plot point is basically two people who are meant to be finally realize it, but there are surprisingly few flowers and lollipops involved.

And now we get to the real strength of The DUFF  which I hinted at earlier: its simple understanding of how people relate to each other and how to convey that to the reader. While I’d love to iterate through all of the examples I highlighted (“Toby, you’re stalling”), I think the following scene illustrates it the best:

He moved slowly forward, like he was afraid I might run away. Then he wrapped his arms around me, pulled me into his chest, and buried his face in my hair. We stood there together for a long moment, and when he finally spoke, I could tell the words came through sobs. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“I know,” I murmured into his shirt.

And I was crying, too

It would be so easy for an author to fall back of overblown emotion. You know, sadness welling up inside, dams bursting, so on and so forth. Instead, in just a few terse sentences, the conveys the awkwardness of not knowing how to ask for forgiveness; the relief of getting back something you thought you’d lost forever; and the knowledge that, while simply saying sorry will never be enough, you’ve got nothing else to offer. By the time she gets to, “And I was crying, too,” your heart is just as broken as theirs.

Catherine by April Lindner

Release Date: Jan. 2, 2013
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 320
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
A forbidden romance. A modern mystery. Wuthering Heights as you’ve never seen it before.

Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad’s famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?

Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a sudden illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years—a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn’t die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her—starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground.

Told in two voices, twenty years apart, Catherine interweaves a timeless forbidden romance with a compelling modern mystery.

Confession time: I’ve never actually read Wuthering Heights. Not only that, but I’m not that familiar with the story. I know there’s a girl named Catherine, a boy named Heathcliff, and they’re always wandering the foggy moors.  Oh, and it’s also dead depressing, emphasis on the word dead. However, April Lindner’s modern retelling of Jane Eyre (2010’s Jane) somehow got me to care about a novel I had despised since high school (love the plot, but please Charlotte, get to the point!). I’m happy to state that while I didn’t love Catherine as much as Jane, I found Lindner’s new retelling to be edgy, exciting, and enthralling, and I know I’ll carry this story with me for a long time.

Chelsea Price grew up believing that her mother Catherine had died when she was only three years old. One boring summer day before her senior year, she discovers a letter from Catherine that turns her world upside down—Catherine may still be alive and hiding in New York City. Without hesitation, Chelsea takes off to the letter’s return address: an infamous rock venue in The Bowery called The Underground. Alternating between present day Chelsea and a teenaged Catherine, Chelsea digs deep to solve the mystery of her mother’s whereabouts, finding an entirely new story along the way.

The alternating narrators prevail here. Chelsea starts as so naïve, but she’s strong-willed and stubborn as well. As soon as we hear from Catherine, we find that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Still, their voices, and most definitely their stories, are distinct enough to where you’re never confused. The most compelling aspect, though, is the stark difference between the Hence that Catherine meets in the past versus the snarly, drunken, bitter Hence of the present. As the stories unfold and you get why Hence has become that way, your heart breaks just a little bit more. I’m not a stickler when it comes to retellings about keeping every plot point. To me, it’s far more important that the tone and theme of the original carries through to the retelling.  From what I’ve now learned about Wuthering Heights plus the little I already knew, that’s definitely the case here. Oh, sweeping, all-encompassing, impossible romance. How you tear us all asunder!

Now, you’ve had time to get to know me through my previous reviews, so it shouldn’t surprise you that what I would have liked to see here was a bit more back story. What happened to Hence before we came to The Underground to make him so broken? Why was Quentin so creepily laser-focused on Catherine, and why didn’t that raise any big honkin’ red flags to anyone? These may not have been vitally important, but I think it would have enhanced the characters to know their motivation. Also, occasionally I found the dialogue to be awkward and stilted, more like the way you think people talk as opposed to how they actually talk. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it took me out of the moment.

Catherine succeeded to me because it piqued my interest in the source material, and it could easily do the same for you. Whether you’ve read Wuthering Heights before or not, I think Catherine is an excellent example of a retelling done right.

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Release Date: Nov. 6, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-galley
Source: Netgalley
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Pages: 517
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

Last year, I basically made an incoherent fool of myself in my review of Laini Taylor’s Daughter ofSmoke and Bone.  I closed that review with an open plea to all readers to pick this one up, as you wouldn’t find anything like it.  That statement has proven itself to be so true, at least until I picked up the sequel Days of Blood and Starlight.  Obviously, Laini Taylor’s never heard of Second Book Syndrome, and bless the godstars for that.  Days of Blood and Starlight is, in a word, phenomenal.

I won’t go into the plot details in this review (I’d rather not ruin the surprises for you!), but at its core, Days of Blood and Starlight is all about war, every aspect of it.  It does not shy away from the pain, the dirtiness, the ugliness than comes during wartime.  Laini Taylor takes the reader on a journey deep into the heart of Eretz, both with seraphim and chimaera, and we experience all sides of the story.   I had originally said you get to see both sides, but honestly, there are way more than two sides to this battle.  And don’t expect to have anything figured out before it’s revealed to you, because that’s when you’ll discover you have no idea what lies ahead.  There are twists and turns and dips and dives and when you think things might be okay, oh, you just wait. 

The cast of multidimensional characters is largely familiar, with a few new and welcome faces.  Karou is much altered from the girl we originally met on the streets of Prague.  She’s carrying more secrets than ever before, and she tries so hard to shoulder a burden that isn’t necessarily hers.  Akiva is as dark and twisty as ever, bringing his siblings Liraz and Hazael along for the ride.  My favorites Zuzana and Mik also return, and they provide almost all of the lighter, happier moments through the novel.  My two favorite new additions are Ziri, a “lucky” Kirin warrior, and Sveva, a young Dama girl on the run from seraphim slavers.  For Daughter, I stated that every character was awesome, that even the characters that sucked were awesome.  This still holds true for Days, though it’s more that they are all so authentic, even the most minor of beings.  Certain members of this story are decidedly NOT awesome.

Laini Taylor!  Your words!  I truly believe this is the most perfect writing I have ever read.  Ever.  Every word is essential.  That’s a brave thing to say about a 500+ page book, but it’s the truth.  I am a very quick reader, but I could not breeze through this one, not did I even want to try.  You can only immerse yourself into the vivid, sweeping landscape and hope to emerge on the other side unscathed.  The hardest thing for me was stepping out of the story to once again exist in real life, which becomes even more boring than usual.  There are no portal rips in the sky, no monstrous beasts, no wicked angels.  It’s kind of jarring.  (Via Twitter, Laini tells me that this has a name: “Reader’s Dissatisfaction with Reality Syndrome.”)

You might see all of this gushing and become suspicious.  Don’t.  Days of Blood and Starlight is the real deal.  This series deserves every bit of gush it’s received.  Do yourself the biggest favor and read this series now.  If you have, find someone who hasn’t and recommend it.  I am desperate to know what happens next, but I don’t know if my poor heart can take it.  (Yes it totally can.)

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Release Date: Sept. 18, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 608
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

The Diviners’ greatest strength is Bray’s style, which is closely entwined with her main character, Evie. While reading, there’s a sense that we’re really just watched Bray play. It seems like almost every page, aside from those dealing with the Big Bad, has at least one knee-slapper or clever turn of phrase. These witticisms are delivered almost exclusively by Evie, the consequence being that most of the other characters seem a bit dull by comparison, despite being mostly well-rounded themselves. It’s hard to criticize Bray for that, though, since Evie simply makes the novel so much fun.

Bray’s choice of setting, 1920s Manhattan, is perfect. It’s a rebellious time (flappers, speakeasies, jazz) that fits our heroine’s personality and Bray’s bouncy writing style. It’s also a time when science was advancing just enough that we started to believe that anything was possible. The Wright Brothers had figured out flight less than 20 years before. Humanity was just starting to toy with radiation. Why couldn’t there also be cyborgs and soothsayers and people with special abilities?

Considering the jolly style, Bray manages to cover a surprising number of heavy topics, from underage drinking to premarital sex to rape. With the obvious exception of rape, she avoids passing any judgement. She forces the characters to deal with the consequences of their actions, but often employs a one-liner from Evie to undercut the weight of a topic (e.g., her response to the suggestion that god doesn’t care that evil exists: “Well, that certainly explains Prohibition”). As a semi-spoilery example, Evie and company go to a speakeasy. Naturally, they get arrested, but rather than turning this consequence into an anti-drinking sermon, Bray uses it to reinforce the book’s theme of clashing belief systems. Evie isn’t wrong for drinking, she just got caught by people who think she is.

Despite all of the above fawning, the book has a few nagging issues, all closely tied to The Evie Problem mentioned above. It boils down to this: there are other Diviners, but they don’t matter. Only one of them has a full character arc and the motivations of the others only become apparent, and are nowhere near resolved, in the final 50 or so pages. The Diviners wants to eat its cake and have it too, trying to tell a self-contained story that also sets up future stories. Unfortunately, the result is about 150 pages that end up going nowhere and probably should have been the beginning of the sequel, although it’s hard to fault Bray too much when those pages are as enjoyable as the rest.

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

Release Date: July 17, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 448
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairytales.

The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.

But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought. 

I should start this review by stating two important facts: I haven’t read any middle grade novels besides the first few Percy Jackson books, and I am an unapologetic Gleek.  My love of all things Chris Colfer brought me to The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, and I decided to try my hand at middle grade for him.  Alex and Connor’s epic scavenger hunt was a wonderfully fun story, but it didn’t enchant me as much as I hoped.  Sadly, much of that had to do with the writing.

I’ll begin with the plot, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Colfer’s Land of Stories, a magically real place where all of the fairy tale characters you know and love exist together, is familiar yet uniquely fun.  Alex and Connor Bailey are our guides through the land—two average 12-year-old twins who grew up hearing all of the stories from The Land via their late father and their grandmother.  The kids can be a little Mary Sue-ish at times, but that’s also part of their charm and it works for them in this situation.  Many times, I found myself giggling at Connor’s quips, especially during their trip into Red Riding Hood’s castle.  I also loved the creative take on the different kingdoms: each section is ruled by a different fairy tale heroine (Cinderella, Snow White, etc.), each with their own set of personality quirks and leadership styles.  Queen Red Riding Hood stood out as particularly silly, trying her hardest to fit in with these more famous queens of lore.  I also thought the search for the items in the Wishing Spell was an interesting way to take the Bailey twins (and the readers) throughout the entire kingdom.  It’s a great twist on tales as old as time.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think the writing was as strong as the story itself.  It’s clear he has a great idea in his head of where the story should go, but the words don’t reflect that passion.  Because I haven’t read much middle grade, I don’t know what is typical, but there were many passages that I felt could have used a fair bit of editing. Colfer’s style is less about showing and more about telling, and that’s not my favorite. For example, Alex and Connor often repeat themselves and the purpose of their journey in a Harry and Ron circa Chamber of Secrets way.  This is a technique to remind the readers of the action thus far but it happened too often for my taste.  I wish the depth and creativity of the story had translated more to the words on the page.

I know this book is a long time coming for Colfer, which is another reason I gave it a chance.  I’m glad I spent the time in The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, despite my reservations about the writing.  I look forward to diving into more middle grade novels in the future.

The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze

Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 304
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
A series of natural disasters has decimated the earth. Cut off from the rest of the world, England is a dark place. The sun rarely shines, food is scarce, and groups of criminals roam the woods, searching for prey. The people are growing restless.

When a ruthless revolutionary sets out to overthrow the crown, he makes the royal family his first target. Blood is shed in Buckingham Palace, and only sixteen-year-old Princess Eliza manages to escape.

Determined to kill the man who destroyed her family, Eliza joins the enemy forces in disguise. She has nothing left to live for but revenge, until she meets someone who helps her remember how to hope—and to love—once more. Now she must risk everything to ensure that she not become... The Last Princess. 

The tale of struggle and survival for a princess of the House of Windsor in a post-apocalyptic Great Britain should be exciting, thrilling, a pulse-pounding story of epic proportions.  Unfortunately, The Last Princess did not strike me as any of those things.  For the majority of the story, I was bored, reading it with an odd feeling of disconnect.  I wanted to like it more than I actually did.

The plot sounds great on paper.  In the year 2090, after The Seventeen Days where a series of natural disasters destroyed the ecosystem, England struggles to feed its people.  Eliza Windsor, her older sister Mary, and her younger sickly brother James exist in a royal bubble where they know things aren’t right, but they aren’t as affected as others.  The night of the Roses Ball, Buckingham Palace is stormed and overtaken by Cornelius Holister, who murdered Eliza’s parents and believes he should be King instead.  When Mary and Jamie are captured, Eliza manages to escape and vows to rescue her siblings and bring England back to its former glory.

Sounds exciting, right?  That’s what I thought too.  Regretfully, this didn’t work for me for a number of reasons.

For starters, I never really connected with Eliza.  The reason behind her mission is clear- to save her brother and sister- but her struggle has very little urgency to it.  Everything just sort of happens, and there’s no suspense, no increasing conflict to urge her along. Whenever Eliza is stuck in an uncomfortable or life-threatening situation, there is always a way out or a rescuer or the thing she needs to be saved, and it rarely comes from her own mind.  It is all a bit too easy for me.  She joins the Tudor army to find her siblings, and no one recognizes her for reasons that aren’t fully explained even though she’s a princess and her face is literally on billboards.  She is mistreated on her first day of training; she immediately makes friends with a hot soldier boy named Wesley who shows up in the nick of time with the deus ex machina of the moment.  I wanted to believe that Eliza could inspire her countrymen and women to stand up against the terrorists and form a resistance, but honestly, I couldn’t.  Not on her own.

The writing, while enjoyable, is also very direct, describing the action in a perfunctory manner without many details.  This style of writing works in certain instances, like during the battle sequences or when the Palace is invaded, but other times, I would have liked to have more of Eliza’s thoughts on her crumbling nation.  She notices how things have changed, but not how it’s affected her or how she hopes her sister Mary will correct the injustices when she is Queen.  In my opinion, there were many missed opportunities for social commentary that would have improved the story and possibly solved the problems I had with Eliza as well.

Contrary to how this review sounds, I didn’t hate The Last Princess.  I simply thought it could have been better.  According to the About The Author, there will be a sequel in 2013, so I hope that some of these issues will be addressed.  I am curious as to where a sequel would take this story.

Belles by Jen Calonita

Release Date: April 10, 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 368
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she's ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn't go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls' lives forever.

Belles started very well for me.  There was a blurb from Meg Cabot, which will always grab my attention in a good way, and the first few chapters hooked me.  First, we meet Isabelle (Izzy) Scott.  Izzy grew up in the poor beach town of Harborside, raised by her mother (until her death in a car crash) and her grandmother.  After her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s takes away her ability to properly care for Izzy, a social worker takes her to her closest relatives- the family of her “distant cousin” and budding senator Bill Monroe in shiny, upscale Emerald Cove.  Mirabelle (Mira) is Bill’s daughter, and she is none too happy to have her life ruined by a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.  Many familiar twists and turns of the new-girl-in-a-new-small-town tale occur, but they weren’t of that “ugh, not this plot again” variety.  Izzy is adorably awkward in dealing with her new, more expensive surroundings as well as finding out that her summer crush actually lives in Emerald Cove but has a girlfriend, while Mira and her group of popular friends, especially Queen Bee Savannah, don’t take well to Izzy at all.

After those initial chapters, though, the familiarity goes from comfortable to formulaic.  Every single plot twist could be seen from miles away.  Unfortunately, the biggest twist of the entire book, the most important and most climactic part of the novel (which I will not reveal) was spoiled for me… because it was written in the description on the back cover of the ARC.  Though I could pretty much see where the author was going, it still sucks to have that sort of thing ruined before the book even starts.  I kept waiting for that piece of information to show itself, thinking that it would be mentioned early, until I realized that I was more than halfway through the book with no reveal in sight.  I wonder if I would have enjoyed the story more had I not known from the beginning.

The narrative switches points of view from Izzy’s to Mira’s at about every chapter, which I thought was a nice touch.  Izzy is clearly the more sympathetic of the two, but it was good to know where Mira was coming from with her decisions regarding her secret art classes and her interaction with Savannah.  Personally, I enjoyed Izzy’s voice more, but Izzy also had a meatier story than Mira, so that’s to be expected.   The dialogue does veer into the unbelievable at certain points, and I thought the names of the male characters were too similar (Hayden, Brayden, Kellen), but all in all, the story of these Belles kept me entertained.

If it wasn’t for the reveal on the back cover, I believe I would have enjoyed Izzy & Mira’s story much more.  As it stands, though, I found Belles to be pleasant if not predictable. I am interested enough to see where this story will go in the sequel, out Fall 2012.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Release Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 432
Buy: Fountain Bookstore / Amazon
Description: Goodreads
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. 


In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. 


And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. 


Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. 


When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

I don’t even know what to say about Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  I don’t think the words have been invented that describe my feelings for this amazing book, and truthfully, the only person who could properly create and position the words for me is the incredibly talented author of said amazing book, Laini Taylor.  Oh my stars and garters, I am in a glass case of emotion, there is no gif for these things that I am FEELING. 

To say I was completely and utterly blown away would be an understatement. 

The thing is, I have no idea how to review Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  No idea.  I can’t even.  I tried to explain the plot to a friend while I was still mid-book, and she had to stop me because she said I was only speaking nonsense words.  So, instead of spouting nonsense words to you, here’s a list of just a few of my favorite things in this wildly original story.

Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Release Date: October 10, 2011
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 304
Buy: Fountain Bookstore / Amazon
Description: Goodreads
 As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet.

But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah's universe begins to change, and she must decide if she wants to compete against the other "bunheads" in the company for a star soloist spot or strike out on her own in the real world. Does she dare give up the gilded confines of the ballet for the freedoms of everyday life?

Before I even cracked the spine on Bunheads, I knew I would enjoy it.  Why?  Firstly, I have a ballerina past, in which I spent 7 years taking all sorts of dance classes (though I ultimately gave it up, which is still one of my biggest regrets).  Secondly, one of my guilty pleasure movies is Center Stage, and I originally thought this would be a YA version of that (what YA book reviewer doesn’t love a book version of their favorite Saturday afternoon movie?).  However, while there are a few similarities to that guilty pleasure, Bunheads is not cheesy in the slightest- it’s a beautifully written, sweet, hilarious, entertaining story of the life of a corps dancer at the Manhattan Ballet Company.  It’s the tale of don’t-call-me-a-ballerina Hannah Ward, a self-proclaimed bunhead whose life gets knocked a little sideways when she meets handsome college student and musician Jacob Cohen.

What I love the most about Bunheads is that it’s not about the star prima donna fighting to stay on top or even about an up-and-comer trying to push her way to the top: it’s about a member of the corps, the background line.  This isn’t just her passion- it’s also her livelihood.  Since Sophie Flack is a former corps dancer, she knows all the dirty little secrets, and she doesn’t gloss over any of them.  Every painful injury, every back-stabbing moment, every insinuation regarding weight is included in perfect detail, just like reality.  Ballet is a tough business, open to only an elite few for only a handful of years, and it’s not always as pretty as it seems.  Hannah can barely make time to breathe, let alone see Jacob who longs to know her better.  Her struggle to maintain what we would call a normal life while still staying on the top of her game is painful at times, fantastic at others, but it’s so very real.

At its core, however, Bunheads is about a girl who simply loves to dance.  Period.  This is a love story for ballet.  Hannah dances for no one but herself.  Hannah exudes ballet, and she never feels quite like herself unless she’s on the stage.  As a former ballet dancer, I knew a ton of the terminology and dance steps without having to research, but I found that it didn’t really matter if I didn’t have the knowledge.  Listening to Hannah describe how she felt while doing the steps made each one come alive.  I could close my eyes and be there in the audience, awed and amazed by every moment.  Flack’s words practically draw a picture for you in your mind.  It’s gorgeous.

This is a wonderful debut by Sophie Flack, and I look forward to anything else she may write in the future.  Seriously, anything.  You just let me know, kay, Ms. Flack?  Also, fun side story: I tweeted Sophie about how much I was enjoying this, and not only did she immediately write back her sincere thanks, her mother also retweeted me!  I just love that.  I just love Bunheads.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Release Date: August 23, 2011

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: ARC

Source: Publisher

Pages: 320

Series: Fairytale Retellings #2

Buy: Amazon

Description: Goodreads
Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.


Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.


Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

This remix of Hansel & Gretel is a must for all fairytale buffs, young and old, but beware. Jackson Pearce's version is darker, more grisly version of the story you heard as a child and scary enough to make you question the original.

I was drawn in from the first page with the story of  how Gretchen and Ansel lost their sister to the witch in the forest when they were young. Pearce kept me engaged with the depth of detail in her writing and her smooth story telling.

After both of their biological parents die, Ansel and Gretchen stepmother kicks them out, sending them off on a quest to start over. Gretchen has been living in the shadow of her sister -- a girl whose name hasn't even been mentioned in years -- and she feels like part of herself is missing. She is the half that survived, and for years she has wondered why. Why wasn't she the one who was taken?

When their car breaks down in Live Oak, South Carolina, the siblings believe they've hit a streak of bad luck. Busted car, no cash, and everyone in town is treating them like pariahs. The plan is for Ansel to do some work for the owner of the local chocolate shop, Sophia Kelly, but plans quickly change as he and Gretchen become attached to her. Their unplanned detour and newfound friend may be just what they needed to leave their old lives behind.

But just as Gretchen gets comfortable her fear of the woods comes roaring back. Girls have gone missing in the tight-knit southern town and it's all too eerily familiar for Gretchen. Enter Samuel Reynolds, who saves Gretchen from a brush with death and the witch she thought she left behind in Washington years ago and gives her the chance to stamp down her fear for good.

Sweetly held true to the slow build that classic fairytales tend to have, yet the pace felt off somehow. I wanted more action. Things got intense occasionally, but intrigue prevailed. My interest was often piqued and still there was no payoff. I thought that if I held out and absorbed all the clues that the end would be worth the wait. Like a good mystery novel, I was waiting for the big reveal. That aha moment when it all comes together.

If you've ever read a well constructed mystery novel then you know what I'm talking about. The story held me because it was beautifully written and carefully pieced together like a complex mosaic, but I didn't feel my heart racing as the bigger picture was revealed. In fact, with the exception of one small facet (which I won't reveal to avoid spoilery), I predicted the plot twist well before the characters put it all together. Perceptive readers will likely do the same.

That being said, I did thoroughly enjoy the Sweetly. Some of the smaller reveals in the story are very emotional moments, including Gretchen's realization about the witch and Sophia's confession. Watching Gretchen and Samuel's relationship unfold was one of my favorite parts of the book. They are two extremely guarded people who very slowly, over the course of the novel, dare to be vulnerable with each other. The brief moments they share early on are pure magic and the trust built between them is unshakable.

Despite a somewhat predictable plot, Sweetly is such a multi-faceted book that is definitely worth a read. It's difficult not to become invested in these characters and the relationships they build and destroy.