Book Review- Swim the Fly by Don Calame

Title: Swim the Fly

 Author: Don Calame

Series:  Swim the Fly #1

Published:  9 May 2011 by Templar

Length:336 pages

Warnings: Sex references, kind of adult things, 13+

Source: Publisher

Summary : Fifteen-year-old Matt Gratton and his two best friends, Coop and Sean, always set themselves a summertime goal. This year's? To see a real-live naked girl for the first time — quite a challenge, given that none of the guys has the nerve to even ask a girl out on a date. But catching a girl in the buff starts to look easy compared to Matt's other summertime aspiration: to swim the 100-yard butterfly (the hardest stroke known to God or man) as a way to impress Kelly West, the sizzling new star of the swim team. In the spirit of Hollywood’s blockbuster comedies, screenwriter-turned-YA-novelist Don Calame unleashes a true ode to the adolescent male: characters who are side-splittingly funny, sometimes crude, yet always full of heart

Review: Each Summer, Matt, Coop and Sean have had a goal. This year, see a naked girl. Then there’s Matt with his own goal-impress Kelly, the girl he wants to date. Method-win at the championships for the 100m butterfly.

About 0.2% of my real life interactions involve teenage boys. It really makes a change reading something from a boy’s point of view, where there isn’t crazy, fantastical things going on.

Matt and Coop and Sam are kind of crazy, in the good way. Their quest leads them to do things that...really aren’t normal (and from me, that’s saying a lot) but are great entertainment. Despite some of them being really really disgusting. I think that teenage boys, or people with stereotypically teenage boys’ humour,   would really enjoy this.

I liked the characters. They’re full of, well. Character, and it’s a good friendship. Matt comes along a bit. Valerie was really sweet. Swim teacher Ulf was my favourite because as wlell as providing hilarity in his treatment of Matt, he also gives him good life lessons with sticking with things and providing space for Matt to develop.

The writing is first person, chatty and honest. I really liked the chapter titles for some reason.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that wasn’t my thing, but still enjoyable. I’ll read the sequel, Beat the Band, because it seems a little more my thing.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-Undone by Cat Clarke

Advance warning- the review is 700 words, 250 of which are ranting. 

Title: Undone

 Author:  Cat Clarke

Series:  N/A

Published:  31 January 2013 by Quercus

Length: 502 pages

Warnings: rape, suicide, homophobia, violence.

Source: library

Other info: Cat has also written Entangled and Torn, which I reviewed here and here.

Summary : Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend. Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it.
Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online ... and he kills himself.
Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down. 

Review: Jem loves Kai. Kai doesn’t love her back, because he’s gay. She’s ok with this. Fastforward a few years, when he gets outed via internet video, and he receives a lot of hate mail. And he kills himself. A month later, Jem is ready to do the same, when she receives an envelope. It’s a year’s wotrth of letters from Kai, challenging her to do things and live life to the full. While following them, Jem decides to also find out who drove Kai to his death, and to get her revenge.

I’m going to start by saying that I didn’t cry at this *ducks from people calling me heartless* I got pretty damn close when reading Kai’s letters, which were by far the best thing about Undone. They were so raw and emotional and real and you really get a sense of Kai, even though he’s dead for the majority of the book. you can just imagine him sitting there, and what he’s going through, and how hard it is. The fact that they were handwritten, inconsistent and smudged, makes it all the more intimate and real.

The supporting characters in Undone were all seen in a really negative light to start with, but you started to like them more and more as you got to know them and form opinions of your own of them. They also developed quite nicely. Bugs, I didn’t have good or  bad feelings for, and I think he got off relatively lightly in Jem’s revenge plan.  Lucas wasn’t too bad either. Stu wasn’t that nice, but he is really badly affected by Jem. Sasha was my favourite living character, as she did seem genuinely nice and undeserving of what happened to her. Though to be honest, all the teens in Undone deserve a good slap at some point.

The characters were all well written and real. The social dynamics seemed quite real and full. I can’t say I approve of these people’s views on sex. The girls feel they’re there for the boys, and throw sex at everyone. But hey, it’s their views. Not mine. But it does say something about gender power among teens.

I love Cat. She’s a really nice person, from the one time I met her and her happenings on the interweb. And her style is beautiful, as always. So, realistic characters, beautiful but horrible set up, huge issues tackled and amazing writing. Why doesn’t this get five stars or more?

It’s Jem. To start with, I felt bad for her, what with her terrible month since her best friend killed himself and her being ready to do the same. She was trying to change herself and get on with life, and I respected her for that. She takes the plan to get revenge on whovever did what they did, showing she’s proactive and disabled. And then she changed so much. She wasn’t being true to herself, and she knew it.

I can just about deal with that. What I can’t deal with what she does around the 200 page mark. The three little words. And the spreading rumours, not little ones like with  Bugs, but big ones. And they seriously affect the person they’re about. And the subject matter. These two actions made me lose all empathy,  care and respect for Jem. And shout at her. “YOU DO NOT F**KING JOKE SLASH LIE ABOUT STUFF LIKE THAT. THAT IS DISREPECTFUL AND SERIOUS and if you can throw that around I cannot care for you.” *I'll save my thoughts on rape in culture and YA fiction for another day* 

I do love characters that develop. Jem most certainly did. I like characters that go up and down the morality scale-it did no harm for my love of Dorian Gray. But Jem did not so much slip, she was slightly wobbling and then she  fell at terminal velocity. And she changed beyond recognition. And I just cannot fully enjoy a book with a character that I hate so much. Even with an ending like that.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a beautiful emotional book, that I just couldn’t fully love due to its main character.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Title: Geek Girl

 Author: Holly Smale

Series:  N/A

Published:  28 February 2013 by Harper Collins

Length: 378 pages

Warnings:  None

Source: netgalley

Summary : Harriet Manners knows a lot of things.
She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.
As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did.
And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

Review: Harriet Manners is a geek, and proud of it. One day, she’s on a school trip, and she gets spotted by a modelling agency. Whisked away for a photoshoot and a makeover, Harriet finds her life changing in many ways-and not all for the better.

I requested this because lots of people said it would be good. I started this book. And Harriet started talking. And spouting some really random facts. And I did not like her for the first part of the book. I’m really glad that she was clever, because it beats the heck out of someone who is too dumb to live. But people who just talk on and on  to lengths such as Harriet  to people who aren’t interested irritate me.  As the book went on and it was established that Harriet was a geek, we focused more on the plot, I liked Harriet a bit more. Annoying fact insertation, Harriet is likable, funny and a great main character. She’s become a lot more mature by the end of the book.

I really liked some of the secondaries, for example Nat and Annabel.  Alexa got what she had coming together. Wilbur was downright irritating throughout. Toby, the stalker, was annoying, but cute. Nick, the love interest, was sweet from what we saw of him, but I feel we should have gotten to know him a bit more. I think all the characters could have been a bit deeper, and developed more (aside from Harriet, who was done really well).

The school side of Geek Girl, the atmosphere, and social dynamics were well captured. I have no experience of the modelling world, so I have no idea how realistic it was, but it’s a good setting to bring out different sides of the characters.

I really like the fact that Harriet stays true to herself, realises that it doesn’t matter what she looks like, that being a geek is good and dressing in XXX isn’t everything, and spreads the word majorly.

Overall:  Strength 3.25 tea to a cute contemporary with a nice message.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Title: Speechless

 Author: Hannah Harrington

Series:  N/A

Published:  August 28 2012 by Harlequin as an ebook. February 2013 by Mira in print

Length: 288 pages

Warnings: drink, homophobic violence, sex reference

Source: Netgalley

Other info: Hannah Harrington has also written  Saving June. 

Summary : Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret. Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.  Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse. But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself.

Review: Chelsea Knot is one of the popular girls. Until one night when she is drunk, walks in on something she shouldn’t have, and ends up being cast out of her friendship circle. Not because her blabbing about Noah and Andy got one of them beaten up and put into hospital, but because she’s the one who told the police that it was Warren and Joey. Realising  that her big mouth got someone badly badly hurt, Chelsea takes on a vow of silence.

Having highly enjoyed Saving June (review here). I definitely wanted to read this, despite it, once again, being out of my normal speculative fiction range.

I first like the originality of the concept-vows of silence you don’t hear about much in either fiction or real life, especially in 21^st century contexts, so putting one in the middle of a  modern American high school society would definitely be interesting.

This is a very character driven book. Chelsea undergoes a huge transformation to being second in command in the hierarchy,  to being her own person with much healthier friends. Her morals and ideas change along the way, and watching this happen is definitely intriguing. This is one of the rare books in which my favourite character is the main one, not a random side character. This probably is to do with the fact that Chelsea develops so drastically, and into a much nicer person.

The majority of the other characters were likeable too (guess who wasn’t). My second favourite character was Asha, who is unbelievably kind and non-judgementnal. Sam is patient and sweet, and despite Noah being in hospital for the majority of Speechless, he makes much more of an impact on Chelsea and the reader than you’d expect him to.

 I found it especially refreshing that Chelsea didn’t end up with the popular guy, but with someone she may not have looked at twice before her vow of silence. Yet another sign of her change.  

 There’s a lot of things to think about, well guided by a list of questions at the end. Hate violence, bullying, homophobia, the effects of speaking, the effects of silence. Once again, Hannah treats her chosen subjects delicately and sensibly, and makes you think. In Speechless, Hannah captures teen dynamics, peer pressure, and the importance of friendship perfectly.

Overall:  Strength 4(.25) tea to another powerful novel one of my new favourite authors. Looking forwards to more from Hannah!

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Torn by Cat Clarke

Title: Torn

 Author: Cat Clarke

Series:  N/A

Published:  22 December 2011 by Quercus

Length: 378 pages

Warnings: sex, murder, suicide 13+

Source: Bought

Other info: Cat’s other novel, Entangled, was reviewed here.

Summary : Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt. Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares…  Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.  Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever...

Review: Alice, Cass, Polly and Rae are put in a cabin together on a school trip. The four of them together may be a bearable combination, but there’s another. Mean girl Tara has been placed in the same cabin and the teachers refuse to move her. She’s generally hated by the girls who aren’t in her social circle, so much so that Cass wants to teach her a lesson. But then that lesson goes wrong. And the four girls are left with a body.

Like Entangled, it places girls in situations that are improbable, but still intriguing to read about. From the start, I was hooked. From the  point of view of Alice, we are told about the public’s view of Tara’s death, what really happened, and the way she’s haunted by Tara. Actually, the haunting comes first, which is nice because it leaves you wondering exactly what happened.

The characters are the main feature of Torn. The four girls involved all have different reactions, different scales of guilt. It’s really interesting seeing how they deal with it, and it shows that Cat is excellent at writing well developed characters with depth and multiple dimensions.

About a third of Torn is the story of Tara, from the start of the trip to the sudden end. Although it’s technically set up for the rest of the novel, it’s still interesting and you feel like the girls are justified for getting Tara back. Maybe they shouldn’t have gone that far, but  from the way Tara treats them all really makes you want to kill her too.

The supporting cast are equally built up, with differing personalities. Everyone has something hidden about them, even Tara, who it’s revealed isn’t quite as bad as you thought from how she treated everyone. The two girls that were part of Tara’s entourage also don’t seem as bad when you get to know them, but they aren’t quite as well fleshed out as the rest of the cast.

The romance in this is done well, with the general awkwardness of Alice having a hand in her boyfriend’s sister’s death. Yet another part of Alice’s character is revealed in the fact that she knows she’s guilty and that she knows Jack won’t want her after he knows what she did, but she still tries to carry on a relationship anyway. This leads to an ending that’s both sad, but makes you think Alice gets what she  deserves.

The writing carries all sorts of feelings with it. Guilt, love, doubt. The fairly short chapters all end at points that either leave you wanting to read on because there’s a cliffhanger or leave you wanting to read on because there’s a beautiful little quote.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a gripping novel with a great premise and cast.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads |   Author website | 

Book Review- I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Title:I Hunt Killers
Author: Barry Lyga

Series:  Jasper Dent #1

Published:  12 April 2012 by Bantam Books

Length: 361 pages

Warnings: violence, rape (off-page) 14+

Source:  Publisher

Other info: Barry has also written things like The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

Summary : You’re seventeen and your father is the most notorious serial killer America has ever produced. He brought you up. Taught you everything he knows. Everyone in your ordinary American town knows who you are. So even though Dear Old Dad is safely behind bars, when the killing starts all over again, you are the first person the police come to see. They don’t know whether it’s nature or nurture. And neither do you.

Review: Japer “Jazz” Dent. Seventeen. Has heamophilac best friend. Has African-American girlfriend. Has serial killer father Billy Dent has kills numbering in the hundreds. So when bodies start turning up, he’s the first person they turn to in suspicion. Determined not to end up like his father, Jazz does everything he can to help the police. And as The Impressionist claims more victims, killing them in the style of Billy Dent, Jazz is fully aware of the fact there’s only one reason why he’s so good at this-he has the mind of a serial killer himself.

I first found out about this book a little while ago, and from reading the first line of the summary, I knew I had to read it. Proper serial killers, the realistic kind, are pretty much never seen in YA today, so seeing it from a son’s perspective is original, interesting, and definitely drawing me in.

Jasper is a very fleshed out character. Even though I Hunt Killers is written in the third person, it was so easy to be pulled into his mind, his train of thought, and his conflicts. Which are huge. I like the way he keeps thinking back to his childhood, and the way he has no idea who he’s cutting in this dream.

Plotline development was great. There’s turns in all kinds of aspects to the story/ there are developments in the murder plotline, regarding Jasper’s grandmother, Jasper’s stability/ability to not go murdering everyone, even Jasper’s love life. Each got an appropriate amount of coverage, adding (mostly) unpredictability to the story, and further building Jasper’s character.

For once, the romance actually adds something, even though it’s not the kind of book you’d typically associate with romance. It isn’t your girly romance at all-more like a little bit of normality to remind us that Jazz is just a  teenage boy. We are often reminded about the fact that while he’d like to have sex with Connie, he’s scared. Just in case he snaps and kills her. Definitely not typical, but good in context.

The murder plotline is a case of rather picky copycat murders taking Billy’s victims, and replicating them carefully in some aspects but not others-the same hair colours and initials, but only loosely similar jobs. While good, it was rather predictable. My prediction made semi-near the start was right. Someone’s introduced in that random way that marks them as being either the perpetrator or somehow otherwise involved in this whole mess. Also, it’s rather coincidental (read conveniently placed by author) that all these hair colours/initials/jobs/locations match. In the course of things, this hardly matters.

The writing was great. It wasn’t complex, but it was detailed and I could imagine everything happening now, despite it being written in the past tense. Throughout I was gripped and did not want to stop reading.

The ending. Too vague to be a definite cliff-hanger, too vague to indicate a sequel of any kind. There’s a number of directions it could go from that ending point. I really hope that Barry Lyga writes a follow up, but if he doesn’t, I won’t mind-I’ve made up many alternate endings in my head.

Overall:  Strength 5 to an original, gripping novel on a topic that I’d like to see more of.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Carnegie Book Review-Trash by Andy Mulligan

Title: Trash

 Author: Andy Mulligan

Series:  N/A

Published:   1 March 2011 by David Fickling

Length: 210 pages

Warnings: clean 10+

Source: Library

Other info: This has been shortlisted for the Carnegie 2012 medal, and has won other awards too.

Summary : In an unnamed Third World country, in the not-so-distant future, three “dumpsite boys” make a living picking through the mountains of garbage on the outskirts of a large city. One unlucky-lucky day, Raphael finds something very special and very mysterious. So mysterious that he decides to keep it, even when the city police offer a handsome reward for its return. That decision brings with it terrifying consequences, and soon the dumpsite boys must use all of their cunning and courage to stay ahead of their pursuers. It’s up to Raphael, Gardo, and Rat—boys who have no education, no parents, no homes, and no money—to solve the mystery and right a terrible wrong.

Review: Raphael, Gardo and Rat have spent their lives searching through the rubbish that comes to their home of a rubbish tip. They’ve lived like that forever. However, one day, they find a bag. It has a letter in it, and a string of numbers, and nobody knows what it means. And then they’re hunted. Round the city they travel, from prisons, to graveyards to find out what it all means. They soon end up undearthing seacrets-secrets which have been kept for ages, for good reasons.

I only read this because it’s on the Carnegie shortlist. It’s not my normal kind of thing, but I was pleasantly surprised with this.

There isn’t too much explicit world building, but most of Behala is conveyed via small details that you pick up if you read closely. I’m not entirely sure where exactly this is, but the way it’s written really gets the atmosphere of everything across.

My favourite character is Rat. He’s very resourceful, clever, connectable and just really well written. Olivia, a British girl who came out and started volunteering, too-believable, lovable and interesting.  Rat doesn’t so much develop, as gradually show what he’s capapble of. The other boys, well rounded with their own voices and ideas.

The writing of this was really powerful. I really got into the world that this is set in, sadly realistic with its dumpsite boys, terrible prisons and corrupt politicians. It became real and this is definitely a world that I could easily get lost in.

This book has multiple narrators, some narrating the bulk, some narrating just one short chapter. I like the fact that each person introduces themself at the start, which is an interesting technique that somehow made them feel a little more important to you. Each person has their own voice to narrate in, consistant with the dialogue they have iwth other characters, and I found it really effective.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a powerful book where the best part was the characters. It’d make a good winner.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review & Author Interview-Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Title: Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters

 Author: Meredith Zeitlin

Series:  N/A

Published: 1 March 2012 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Length: 288 pages

Warnings: a little kissing, 12+

Source: Publishers

Other info: This is Meredith’s debut novel, but she’s also narrated a Goosebumps audiobook.

Summary : Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.  Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it. 

Review: Kelsey Finkelstein is your average fourteen year old. Average, aside from the fact that bad luck follows her everywhere. So starting as a Freshman is a perfect time to make a clean start, and be the girl she’s always wanted to be. Isn’t it? With the way her love life, her friends’ love lives, her acting career and her high school fame is going, maybe not...

This is definitely out of my comfort zone. No zombies, lycanthropes or serial killers makes this a very different read for me. I wasn’t sure how well I’d get on with this, but I turned out to be pleasantly surprised. 

From the start, we get a good idea of Kelsey, her friends and what they’re all like. Kelsey is quite a talkative girl to say the least, with a distinctive style of narrating everything. I’m quite amazed at Meredith for being able to carry on  writing in Kelsey’s voice throughout the whole novel.

Due to the fact I’m not used to this kind of book, it took me a fair bit of time to notice that some of it was actually the main plot. Some of the things at the start didn’t strike me as fitting in with everything, and I couldn’t see where some of it was going. It soon picks up, once we properly meet Ben, starts auditioning for the school play and so on.

A lot of things happen to her which are all really funny. Well, maybe not for her. But for someone reading about her, it is definitely a lot of fun. And while some things are really way out unrealistic, there are others on another scale that I could see happening perfectly with this story.

The romance in this is your typical “girl pines for somebody, but ends up with true soul mate after realising pine-worthy boy wasn’t for her” story. Which really worked for Kelsey, and it was nice seeing her have something good happen to her for once.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that is a lot of fun and a good pick-me-up (my life is not as bad as Kelsey’s. I’m ok.) that will make you laugh a lot.

Links: | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website |

And Meredith was also kind enough to answer some questions about herself and Freshman Year...

Twitter style-describe Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters in less than 140 characters. The hilarious tale of Kelsey Finkelstein's (mostly disastrous) adventures as a high school freshman.

What made you write about contemporary school life? Well, I really wrote the book as a response to the huge stack of YA books appearing at the time that I thought were fun but totally unrealistic - all these ultra-sophisticated girls with tons of money and insane clothes and very adult sexual relationships... that wasn't at all what my high school experience was like, and I thought teens should have a character who wasn't so fancy and perfect that they could relate to. 

What was the hardest thing about writingFreshman Year? Getting to the end. Before I realized I had an actual book, I just worked on it when I felt like it and played around. Then all of a sudden, I had to actually FINISH it, and I fell apart a bit. I'm the world's worst procrastinator, and will constantly get lured away by an episode of Law and Order I've seen 15 times...

How long did writing Freshman Year take?The first draft took about 6 months, writing on and off whenever I felt like working on it. Once the book was sold, the editing process - for a lot of reasons, most of them out of my control - took about 4 years. (That's a whooooole other story...)

Is there anything special you have to have while writing? DISTRACTIONS! Usually I listen to music or have the TV on when I work. I need my brain to be just a bit distracted. Oh - and candy. 

What are/were your favourite authors, and did they influence you in writing FreshmanYear? There are many authors I love, but not a lot of them influenced this particular book because they write such very different things (serious literary fiction, sci-fi, whatever). I guess I'd say the ones that inspired me for this project were the ones I loved growing up. Judy Blume, Paula Danziger, Lois Lowry. Other style influences are probably Louise Rennison and Helen Fielding. 

Did you find little bits of yourself going in to  Kelsey, or any of the other characters? Oh, absolutely. Kelsey is totally based on me, and most of her experiences were my own. The other characters not as much, but since most people share pieces of themselves with their close friends anyway, I guess you could say that indirectly I'm in there, too. 

If you could be any character in FreshmanYear, who would it be and why? Hm. Well, I always wanted to be Lexi when I was that age - the perfect-looking, charming girl who is universally adored and has everything come so easily to her. But now I think I'd choose JoJo. I admire her uniqueness and her strength, and how happy she is to be herself.

Where did the title come from? The original title was "The World vs. Kelsey Finkelstein," and then later "This Just In: Kelsey Finkelstein is Freaking Out." But the publisher wanted something that sounded older and had "freshman year" in it, so I started brainstorming - with the help of some VERY patient friends! - and eventually... I thought of the title the book has now. I had just discovered a show (which I love, btw) called "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret," and I loved the rhythm of that name. I tried to find something that was similar in feel.

Take Kelsey and four other characters. Who would you like to play them if Freshman Year ever became a film? You know, I don't have any idea! I actually think I'd rather the actors be newcomers, so they could really create the characters without reminding anyone of their previous work. 

Who's your favourite character? Well, if I say Kelsey I'll sound like an egomaniac... if I say her mother, maybe I'll win points with my ownmother, which could be good... hrm. I think the truth is that I don't have a favorite. Each character serves a purpose - usually to move Kelsey's story forward - that is important for its own reason. I did love writing Julie Nelson and her BFF Ned Garman, though. It's always fun to write the horrible mean characters. 

Anything else you want to say? Thank you so much for reading and promoting the book! This is my first foray into the arena of novel-having (a word I just made up, obv) and I'm so appreciative for how supportive the blogging community has been. You guys are rad.

Book Review- Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Title: Deadly Cool

 Author: Gemma Hallida

Series:   Deadly Cool #1

Published:  11 October by Harper Teen

Length: 303 pages

Warnings: Sex references, murder

Source: Library

Other info: The sequel, Social Suicide, should come later this year.

Summary : Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he's pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren't enough, now he's depending on Hartley to clear his name. Seriously? Not cool. But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim

Review: It all goes wrong for Hartley when she finds out her boyfriend Josh is "seeing" (and a lot more) the president of the school's Chastity Club. Then said president is found dead in his bedroom, obviously making him the prime suspect. Knowing that he's innocent, Hartley has a go at using her detective skills to find the real killer. And as the body count rises, and she thinks that she may be next, Hartley really does need a better boyfriend.

The whole First Love is a Killer tagline was what drew me in. I love it when these things can be taken literally or metaphorically. The book gets off to a quick start, with Hartley finding out about Josh's cheating on the very first page. By the end of the second chapter, we'd also found the first dead body. Pacing is not an issue with Deadly Cool-something seems to be happening all the time.

There's a good cast of stock characters, with the budding Nancy Drew, the mysterious boy who may or may not be involved with the whole thing, the supportive best friend, the mandatory OTT-goodgirls. Hartley was strong and intelligent, with her voice being friendly, chatty and relatable. Chase was an interesting guy, who I'd definitely like to get to know a bit more in book 2, Social Suicide.

The whole mystery aspect to it was good, a more girly, less gritty one that I did enjoy, even if gritty is more of my thing.

Some parts of it were quite predictable. And some others weren't. For example, after body 2 is found, I guessed who it was, but when it's officially revealed, there's also a big showdown that I was not expecting at all, just because it would be so out of character. Then again, so was the murders. Anyway.

Hartley's narrative definitely pulls you in, makes you seem like you're enjoying (ok, that's a really inappropriate word. But I can't think of anything else) the action right alongside her and the rest of them.

It all comes to a neat conclusion on all parts, but I definitely want to read Social Suicide  and see more of Hartley's adventures.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a fun mystery with a strong heroine that isn't as gritty or gory as I like mine, but I still enjoyed it. 

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Title: Sing You Home

 Author: Jodi Picoult

Series:  N/A

Published:  1^st March 2011 by Atria

Length: 446 pages

Warnings: open discussion of sexuality, drink, sex, abortion, self harm, profanity 14+

Source: Library

Other info: Jodi Picoult has written many other books dealing with issues in a courtroom.

Summary : One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter's marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds

Review: After ten years trying and failing to get pregnant, Zoe is close, but it still goes wrong. After yet another miscarriage, her husband Max files and gets divorced, and he turns to drink and his brother's religion. Zoe meanwhile is focussing on her work with Vanessa, and soon finds herself in love with her. Then Zoe thinks once again of the embryos that she created with Max, and has found another way of starting a family. But simply asking for his permission to use them soon turns into a legal battle featuring the Church, Gay rights, and a huge question about what makes up a family.

I was already a huge fan of Jodi Piccoult, so this is just another one that I'm reading because I already knew and loved the author. This tackles new moral questions, this time concerning families and homosexuality, and does what Piccoult always does, and shoves it into a courtroom. Despite the fact it follows a similar outline to her other novels (introduce family with big issues, all-for-all in the courtroom, semi-happy ever after), it never gets old and this one is no exception.

The characters, I got very attached to, especially Zoe, Vanessa and Liddy. I never liked the Pastor or Wade, possibly because of their views on Zoe and Vanessa raising a child, or maybe just because of their attitudes to people in general with different opinions. I think Max was the one who underwent the most development from start to finish.

These issues about families and homosexuality were well addressed. Throughout I was very firmly on Zoe and Vanessa's  side for getting the embryos, but I could see where Max's side were coming from, at least on the personal level of wanting the best for what would be his child and so thinking it would be best to give the embryos to his brother and sister-in-law. The other reasons, the ones provided by the church he belongs to, saying that Zoe and Vanessa would make terrible mothers because they're lesbian, are completely terrible, and I don't see how Wade managed to get the Court to see things from that point of view.

The plot unfolded well, with some things we expected and some things we didn't cropping up at various turns. The development in the case towards the end was completely unexpected, but the final ending was predictable on two counts. I won't spoil the suprise.

I love the multiple perspective style of writing. It gives everyone a voice of their own, and gives the characters some real backstory and depth, as well as letting us see the main plot as the opposition sees it.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a well woven book about what a family is by modern standards.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Japanese YA Week review- Kamikaze Girls by Novela Takemoto

Title: Kamikaze Girls

 Author: Novala Takemoto

Series:  Kamikaze Girls #1

Published:   English, 2006 by Viz Media

Length: 208 pages

Source: Library

Other info: There is apparently a sequel, which isn’t out in English, and also a manga, which is. Kamikaze Girls has also been made into a film rated 12 which is popular with people like me.

Summary : Life in the boondocks of rural Ibaraki prefecture is anything but glamorous, and so Momoko, a Lolita, daydreams about the Rococo period, Versailles, and dresses in the finest and frilliest of 18^th century haute couture from an expensive Tokyo speciality store. Her dreams of an idyllic existence are rudely interrupted by the appearance of Ichiko/Ichigo, a tough talking Yanki motorcycle chick on a worn  out moped. Together, this unlikely duo strikes out to find a legendary embroiderer, pachinko parlours, chic boutiques, and epic bike punk battles. This is more than a quirky coming of age tale, its a new way of life.

Review: Before we go any further, you all need to understand a little terminology. In this book, "lolita" is a style of fashion in which the wearer dresses in frills and dresses inspired by France, the 18th century and everything that is cute. A "yanki" is harder to explain, but its garish fashion, sloppy and the general opposite of Lolita. For more information, go here for lolita and here for yanki. And the Tokyo Specialty Store mentioned in the summary really exists. Look up Baby the Stars Shine Bright and you will find a real shop. Actually, don’t. The clothes are 1)expensive, 2)impractical and 3)only somewhat pretty.

Momoko is a Lolita obsessed with Baby the Stars Shine Bright and embroidery and Ichiko(born Ichigo, changed name because a tough yanki girl shouldn't have a name meaning strawberry) is a Yanki obsessed with her highly customised scooter and her girl biker gang. Through various chains of events that stem from Momoko's birth, they meet. They have adventures, they fall in love (Ichigo only, with the guy who'll be getting married to the ex-leader of the gang and her idol) they gamble(underage) at pachinko places and win a lot of money(Momoko only-Ichigo, despite being self-proclaimed "pro", never gets anything out the machines). Through various events, Momoko and Ichigo develop a lasting friendship, despite the fact they have completely different fashion and logic.

The entire thing is told from Momoko's point of view, which gives us a good insight into her character. As for Ichigo, you can get a good enough idea of her character as a)She talks enough and b)Momoko is repeatedly making remarks as to her opinion on Ichigo's outlandish fashion and attitude.

Both of the girls have very strong characters fixed in their beliefs as yankis and lolitas. They also undergo serious character development, with Momoko deciding on how she's going to live her life without *spoiler, so can't tell. It's not that she'll live without Lolita though* and deciding she may just be a little more outgoing, and Ichigo getting enough courage to leave the gang(which isn't easy, considering the ways these gangs make you "draw the line") and ride on her own.

You get a lot of insight to Lolita and Yanki lives, and rural Japan in general. Some things were new, such as pachinko, but it was easy to guess what was happening (it helped that I saw the film before too).

The ending is great. I'd love to tell you what exactly happened, but that would spoil it for you. It's kind of tied into what's been happening throughout, but it's so unpredictable and is generally great.

I love the tight friendship that eventually forms between Ichigo and Momoko. The fact they are completely different in all respects just makes it better and proves that you don't have to be alike to form a great friendship.

The film of this book is also really good(Do you want a separate film review, despite the fact this is a book blog? You decide...) and I enjoyed the manga spin off. I really want to get hold of the sequel(there is one. Novala Takemoto said so in the afterword), but I think that depends on Shojo Beat translating and publishing that, as I can't read Japanese.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a great book of laughs, friendship, frills.

Links:Goodreads |  

Japanese YA Week review- Chain Mail Addicted To You by Hiroshi Ishizaki

Title: Chain Mail Addicted To You

 Author: Hiroshi Ishizaki

Series:  N/A

Published:  January 2007 by Tokyopop

Length: 213 pages

Warnings: mild violence, 13+

Source: Library

Other info:

Summary : Four disillusioned Tokyo teenagers who have never met are suddenly drawn together by a mysterious chain mail message sent to their cell phones. In the tradition of classical Japanese tanka poetry, each teen takes on a role in the intriguing and absorbing narrative: the schoolgirl stalked by an older boy; her mysterious stalker; the schoolgirl's boyfriend; and the female detective. Written from each character's point of view, Chain Mail carries the reader on a suspenseful adventure juxtaposing teenage angst against a colorful Tokyo backdrop in an unforgettable tale that blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy.

Review: Sawako, Yukari, Mai and Mayumi are four teenagers fed up with life.  And one day they get an email to their phones inviting them to write a story. Each takes on one charcter and writes a little from their character’s point of view, and then the next person carries on the narrative. Each takes one of the four characters to narrate in this way, a schoolgirl, her boyfriend/tutor, her stalker and a detective. Together they write the story, but there is also a little more than that. They start writing having never met eachother, but then start wanting to meet up. They go on an unforgettable journey, of a kind, set in Tokyo and blurring the lines between reality and their fantasy world.

I only picked this up because it was one of the few young adult novels that came up when I asked my library database for something “translated from original Japanese”. So I reserved this, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it looked good from the blurb.

It was much more interesting than I thought it would be. It started really quickly with Sawako receiving and passing on the chain mail within the first twenty pages. We got really close to Sawako, Mayumi and Mai, both in the fantasy and real lives.

I loved watching Sawako, Mayumi and Mai develop. Their characters, their maturity, their intelligence. They are all amazingly put together characters. The characters and the story they made up were just as realistic and well imagined as their real lives.

Hiroshi Ishizaki has a brilliant writing style. Five of them to be exact. One to narrate real life, and four more for each part of the story that was put together by the girls, as it was a voice varying with each girl.

It’s perfectly paced, with a nice balance between the girls and the story. Throughout I just wanted to read on and on and on. It finished on a perfect note, with closure, and a little room for letting your imagination wander.  

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a really richly woven story.

Links: | Goodreads | Author goodreads| 

Book Review- The Bell Jar by Syvia Plath

Title: The Bell Jar

 Author: Sylvia Plath

Series:  N/A

Published:  1963

Length: 224 pages

Warnings: alcohol, implied sex, suicide attemts

Source: school LRC

Other info: Sylvia Plath has also written

Summary : Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under-maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational-as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

Review: This is the story of Esther Greenwood. She starts off in the city, having won a contest giving her a job in New York. At some point she is diagnosed with neurosis, and goes to a treatment centre. There’s not really any other way to describe this...just life in and out of the city with a mental illness...

 Part of my Book Club’s summer challenge was to pair up with someone and challenge them to read a book of your choice (I had Narcissa read Divergent). She challenged me to read this. I didn’t know what to expect, because my edition had no blurb, and the cover doesn’t help, and all I was told was “It’s very good’”. And it was.

I really felt for Esther and all that she went through, and believe me, she went through a lot.  The start was very good-telling you how Esther thinks of things, her surroundings, her situation and so on. it then goes on to describe how she gets out of town, tries to deal with Buddy, her childhood sweetheart who turns out to be not as good as she thought he was, how she copes with life and so on. It was very easy to connect with her, and also to imagine how she felt at every part of the story. The first person narrative made it easy to understand how she felt, and easy to follow her thoughts. You got a clear sense of her personality from her narration, dialogue and actions.

I didn’t like Buddy that much. He seemed to manipulate Esther and I feel sorry for her, with how he led a double life behind her back. I liked Joan a lot, and it seemed like Esther had a real friend in her. The other characters weren’t that important, but had clear personalities and influenced Esther a lot.

I didn’t like the way it ended. Not because ************ dies, even though it was really sad, but because it just seems to end suddenly. I didn’t understand what was happening in the final scene, and that’s just really the only weak point in the book.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a book that really pulls you in, even if you don’t think it looks very interesting. Because it is.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |