Paperback Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Release Date: April 17, 2012
Publisher: Speak
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Pages: 288
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

WARNING: Contains spoilers for If I Stay. 

I will start this review with the first note I wrote to myself immediately upon finishing Where She Went: This is some serious shizz.

(FYI, I didn’t say shizz in my note.)

Adam and Mia’s relationship was never a “normal” teenage romance, but to find out just what happened after Mia decided to stay is heart-wrenching.  Three years later, we find ourselves in New York with rock star Adam and his enormously famous band Shooting Star.  He’s living his life On The Verge- he might topple over, he might resurrect himself, but he’s definitely walking a thin line between sanity and the pit of despair.  On a free day in Manhattan, he serendipitously discovers that Mia is performing at Carnegie Hall.  This leads to the one night reunion of Mia and Adam, where all the good, the bad, and the horrifyingly ugly over the last three years will be exposed into the night.  And it will break your heart.

Where She Went is the sequel that If I Stay deserved, more than any book has ever deserved a sequel.  Funny thing is, it never occurred to me that If I Stay needed a sequel.  Though it ends on a somewhat unresolved note, it is still one of the best and most satisfying books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Pretty Bad Things by C.J. Skuse

US Cover

Release Date: July 1, 2011 (UK: March 1, 2010)
Publisher: Scholastic (UK: Chicken House)
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: UK Publisher
Pages: 256
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
"Wonder Twins" on the run--and running amok--in Vegas. Road Trip!

Paisley and Beau are boldface names again. Last time, paparazzi called them the "Wonder Twins," two kids found alone but alive in the woods of exotic New Jersey. Three days after their mom's death -- and before their dad's criminal misdeeds.

Flash-forward to now: Their so-called lives? Suck out loud: Hating on their cougarized, Botoxic grandma, they're totally clueless about the location of ex-con Daddy. Till they discover a stash of old letters. That's when they decide to jack the Pontiac and hit the road. Holding up donut shops in Sin City might seem extreme, but if they can just get their pretty bad faces back on TV -- or TMZ -- they might wrap up their whole gaga saga with an Oprah-worthy reunion already!

UK Cover

If there’s one thing I can tell you about C.J. Skuse, it’s that she knows how to bring the funny.  She did it with Rockoholic (which I freaking LOVED by the way) and she’s done it again with Pretty Bad Things.  I should say at this point that although Pretty Bad Things was published in the UK a couple of years ago, it wasn’t until last year that I actually got round to reading a copy of the book (when it launched in the US).   The story is definitely original and the writing is exceptional, mostly due to the strong voice of the characters.  There’s a TON of LOL humour, complex characters and with Las Vegas a setting?  This sounds like a winner to me. ;)

Let’s talk about “The Wonder Twins” Paisely and Beau who couldn’t be more different to one another if they tried.  Whilst Beau tries to be good and follow the rules, Paisley is the wild child of the two.  She’s just purposefully got herself expelled from her fifth boarding school so that she and Beau can go on a road trip to find their jailbird dad.  They thought that the years of radio silence meant he didn’t give a damn but in fact, their grandma has been hiding letters from him the entire time.  As a modern day Bonnie and Clyde, they set off on a road trip with a plan to hold up donut shops and get themselves on TV to let dear old dad know that they’re in town.   You can guarantee that hilarity ensues. 

I have to say that my favourite character and probably one of the strongest voices in the book is Paisley.  She is fearless, reckless and beyond blunt.  She says what she thinks and makes no apologies for it.  It may sound strange but I can’t help but admire her for that.  There’s something liberating in her behaviour and although it gets her into trouble most of the time, she’s just so damn cool.  

There’s no real romance in the book as it’s mostly about family relationships and I never thought I would say it, but the book is so entertaining that I really didn’t mind the lack of romance.  I’m not going to give away the plot for you but it’s definitely worth reading and I am putting C.J. Skuse on my automatic pre order list right now. 

Fated Winner

And the winner is... 

Lisa J. 

Congratulations!  I will get this book in the mail to you ASAP. Thanks to everyone who entered, and stay tuned for more giveaways.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Kindle
Source: Purchased
Series: The Mortal Instruments #5
Pages: 536
Buy: Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

If you are reading this review of the fifth volume in the Mortal Instruments series in order to decide whether to read the series, here is my heartfelt recommendation: 

Step away from the computer, go pick up a copy of City of Bones, open to page 1, and begin.  

Once you’ve flown through all five books in a matter of days and are left bleary-eyed from a mind-bending combination of uncontrollable sobbing and lack of sleep, return here to participate in the commiseration known as Shadowhunter Feels.

City of Lost Souls is full of all the aspects we’ve grown to expect from this wild and unpredictable series: there's sweeping romance, pulse-pounding action, and an exceedingly complex and creep-tastic villain.

WARNING: FROM HERE ON OUT, MILD SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES MAY ABOUND. 

Waiting on Wednesday (11)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine 

that highlights eagerly anticipated books.

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For Darkness Shows the Stars
by Diana Peterfreund

Release Date: June 12, 2012

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Author Website: http://www.dianapeterfreund.com/

Pre-order: Amazon / IndieBound / Barnes & Noble

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot’s estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret—one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she’s lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Description from Goodreads.*

Why can't I wait?

A futuristic retelling of the Jane Austen classic Persuasion? Consider me curious.  From the beautiful cover to the engaging description of Elliot North and the new world in which she lives, this sounds like a very interesting twist on a most beloved story.  I like the past-as-future, history repeating itself motif that's been more common in novels lately, and I'm excited to see where Elliot's path will lead.

Life attacks, blog interrupted

 

We interrupt this blog to bring you a public service announcement... 

Guys and gals, I want to apologize for the last few days. Life and work and general crazy have consumed me and getting out from under it has been tough. In an effort not to stress myself out further I opted to let the blog slide for a couple days so I could attempt to straighten some things out. 

At this point, I'd say we are about 70% straight and still climbing. So yay! 

Things should be back on track tomorrow, so just bear with me and I swear I will beat my life into submission. (That or have someone take video of me going down proudly like the captain of the Titanic to post for your enjoyment.) Thanks for your patience, and Wastepaper Prose will be back and better than ever before you can say some really long word of your choosing.