Love Rectangle

 

Animal Attraction was better, I think. I do like the fact that I finally found out who does that "Over the Rainbow" song I like a lot. Just look at his name: Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. That's got to be the coolest name around! It took me a second after I put the book down to realize that it's basically a reincarnation of Animal Attraction, just not as good. Ponti seems to love the love rectangle. Girl caught between two guys and when she finally decides which one she likes most, that boy may have another girl who's interested and she may steal him away if she's not careful. Ponti also loves girls and boys getting to know each other in a car ride and apparently that's the right person to end up with. 

 

Brendan shows up randomly towards the end and he wasn't a fully developed character. I wish there was more to Zach and Monica's story than what was given because it seems they have a history and that was never revealed. This was still an entertaining read, thanks to Darby's best friend Kate who likes to say, "Tell me all the horny details!" or some derivative of that.

 

But all things aside, I'm getting sick of perfect guys showing up and the girl just happens to run into him and he automatically likes her back with no question. Maybe I need a break from rom-coms. :/

who i kissed

 

I have a friend who is deathly allergic to peanuts. Janet Gurtler certainly shows she has an unexpected imagination in Who I Kissed. (That doesn't even make sense. Imagination is all about the unexpected.) I came across this book randomly at the library and am glad I did. I was drawn to the cover. It initially looks like just another teen rom-com, but this where "don't judge a book by its cover" steps on your foot, hard. Because Sam kisses Alex and he dies on the spot. He has an asthma attack is also allergic to peanuts. Right before the party, Sam has a peanut butter sandwich. Put two and two togher and you always get four. Alex's sudden death is all over the news, naturally. And the rest of the school shut her out. Much like Jennifer Brown's Hate List. Yet this seems much worse. It was an accident. Everyone knows it was an accident. But no one is willing to make it any easier for Sam to get over it. She is stuck with the guilt of knowing she killed a boy with a kiss, a kiss that was meant to make another boy jealous. She hits the pause button on her life. Relief does come eventually. The book has the perfect ending and is perfectly timed. 

I seriously need some rest.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Gateway is such a simple, yet appropriate title for this book . The story was not bad, but I was really distracted by the Chinese names and words. They weren't complex enough. I will say the book satisfies the Asian girl's dream of being with a white guy. (Or is it White guy?) Her ending is just right and doesn't feel rushed at all, which I keep finding in a lot of books nowadays. Sadly I haven't been feeling too energetic the last couple of days so I'll make this a short one even though I do like this story.

 

It's not a rom-com, but I suspect mostly girls will be interested in reading this book. Maybe I'll do some guy-friendly YAs in the future, but for now, I do love a good love story and this one has one. It would be cool to go on an adventure like the one Daiyu goes on, but it would not be fun to have to deal with the memory part. I think the biggest question the book poses is what are we without our memories? Who are we when we can't remember what happened to us? I think it's a pretty simple answer and I'm truly glad that Daiyu was able to find her way back to Kalen in the end, even if his name changed to Caleb. It's his new St. Louis identity. That's one way to look at it.

 

Well, if you want to read more, you can check out my book review of it on my Examiner page. 



Relieved! and Satisfied!

 

I am so glad I read this right after my last YA. There's a satisfying happy ending and the book is amazingly not completely predictable. I love the fact that Jane actually has two love interests and it ends well with both, yet leaving it open in the end so you don't know who she ultimately ends up with. It's up in the air. She's definitely a lucky girl! Both guys really care about her and no one is a jerk. It's so refreshing because a lot of love stories have one couple that starts out well with a guy friend on the outside, waiting for his shot, until the girl realizes her boyfriend's a jerk and ends up with the nice guy. Animal Attraction, however, comes up with two really great guys who don't fall into the stereotype they seemed to be typecasted in and Jane ends up with a pretty tough choice.

 

Now, I don't like the fact that there's still the whole mean girl aspect of it. Girls who are all best friends suddenly has a friend who used to be a best friend and is not anymore. In fact, she's out of the group and the mean girl. That was too boring and predictable. I also don't buy it that Crystal starts crying when Jane yells at her and tries to get her to think of Melanie again. I think Ponti did a fantastic job developing Alex and Grayson, but not so much the girls with the exception of Jane. Even so, this was a fun read and finally, someone has verbalized Radio Karma! I was excited for that because I always wondered if anyone else believed in the radio predicting what may happen to you when you start the ignition in your car. I'm also glad that the book delivers a positive message to girls. The person you should be with should be someone you can be comfortable around, not the hottie who you have to try so hard not to fart around. But that's just me. =)



Are you good enough for your parents?

The question of the evening is, are you

It's taken me a while since my last post to write about the next YA I read because this one hits way too close to home. So close I was actually really upset right after I put the book down, no joke. For Paula Yoo's debut, it's not bad. I'm not Korean American, but the whole Asian-please-your-parents theme is pretty clear. Good Enough reads realistically, with some unbelievable parts like when Patti Yoon wins her concert master challenge even though she didn't practice. Come on. She's already getting straight A's and is going to HarvardYalePrinceton. You've got to put something in there that makes her human. Also, if she's so busy taking 5 million AP classes, doing SAT prep, going to youth group and playing the violin, where is she getting the money to buy all those magazines with Jet Pack on the cover?

I didn't like the first sentence. I didn't find the viola jokes funny. I kept reading because I could relate to being an Asian American girl in high school trying your best not to let your parents down. I couldn't relate to all the spam recipes, but this book made me want to try them for sure. I already know kimchi tastes yummy. I couldn't relate to youth group, at least not directly. But you can tell that she's for real. It just struck me as amazing how much Asians put pressure on themselves to be so perfect that it's the end of the world if even one thing goes wrong. Amazing, yet made me feel angry at the same time and I'm not sure I can explain it in words.

What upset me the most was BEN WHEELER. Patti calls him Cute Trumpet Guy because when she first notices him, it's at her All-State audition and he plays a note too loud for her to concentrate on trying to get first chair for another year in a row. It's the typical Asian girl-White boy crush. I won't go through all the details, but what I never got was how he could flirt with her, burn a CD for her, ask her to jam with him on Saturdays and take her to a Blister concert all to reject her in the end and only like her as a friend. B.S. A load of poop. I've actually calmed down a lot, but I wanted to chuck the book against the wall when I first reached the last page. The ending was bad. Yoo fast forwards through Patti's life then brings her back to the present moment to receive a kiss on the cheek from Ben and her watching him walk off the stage. They do not end up together and that is the most disappointing aspect of all. I learned something about myself from all of this. I LIKE HAPPY ENDINGS! Don't get me wrong though. You should still read this book. She likes Jet Pack and the cute lead singer is British and yes, he's a pop artist and she's secretly embarrassed about it, but hide magazines of the band in her room. One Direction anyone? I had a flashback to my *N'SYNC/BSB age while also playing the violin. Aren't Asian Americans so predictable? I know she's really smart, but this book is just as much about music and boys as many other YAs. I just wanted to know if Patti was going to end up with Ben. But HE BREAKS HER HEART, making her cry inside a club.

Maybe White guys are just that sweet, which is why they get all the girls or something. They act like your boyfriend even if they are not your boyfriend. OK, I know that is not true, but it broke my heart when Ben broke Patti's heart and friendzoned her.

That being said, here's my favorite part in the book:

"What? Tickets have only been on sale for five minutes. It's not fair! I do nothing but study all the time! I get straight As! I practice my violin three hours every day! I go to church every Sunday and don't complain! And do I get any reward for all my hard work? Like one measly little ticket to see Jet Pack in concert? Nope! Nothing! Why do I even bother?

I slump back in my chair. Who cares if I get into HARVARDYALEPRINCETON or Juilliard? Jet Pack has sold out. My life has no meaning anymore."--pp.205-6

I have to return this book to the library today, so I'll be quick. It has not stopped me from wanting to read more of her, but nevertheless, I am a little disappointed. This is not as good as The Ex Games, but it followed the same basic format. Erin has red hair, like Hayden did. Erin and Hunter fought back and forth the way Hayden and Nick did. This turned me off because I think Echols does a better job with development of Hayden and Nick's story. This time around it just felt recycled. Ironically, even though these two are in college, they are both virgins and therefore the sex scene was downplayed, which is very different from Forget You. It's pretty neat that the story is about one creative writing class, yet unbelievable that the kids in that class can become so close over the course of one semester. As someone who took several writing classes while at uni, I can assure you no one became that close with their classmates. The style for the workshop is realistic. Writers are supposed to read the set of stories for each class and provide comments while authors sit and listen and don't say a word until the very end. Gabe wasn't a very in-control instructor though. Most all of my writing classes were commanded by confident teachers who had no problem interrupting or telling you what they thought and I appreciated that. I also find it hard to believe that two people would be sending each other hidden messages in stories they write for class. I do believe the guys would gang up against the girls when talking about what is good writing and what is not. This is not her best work, but was still an enjoyable read.

a pure genius work of writing

The Ex Games is a work of genius. No, seriously, it is. I know from the cover you might not think so. I know I didn't when I first picked it up at the library. My thought was confirmed when I read the blurb on the back cover. This was going to be another typical teen rom-com where the two most unlikely people to get together end up falling for each other in the end. Blah, blah, blah. Bleh. That's not to say that that didn't happen. It did. It was how they got there, no, how Miss Echols got them there, that was pure genius.

Hayden is a redhead who comes with all the bells and whistles of being one. She has no problem with exploding in Nick's face whenever he provokes her with a Hoyden name-calling or something else inappropriate like that infamous fire-crotch incident. Nick and Hayden are the exes in question and they were an item in the seventh grade. It is now junior year, but Hayden hasn't let go of that humiliating moment in the movie theater right after Nick kissed her when she found out that he had been dating her only to win a bet that no girl would be interested in him for him and not his money. She's All That anyone? He didn't exactly apologize for it either. So here we are, four years later, still holding a grudge over the most popular, best-looking dude in school (as if we really needed the reminder from a now teenage Hayden about the nice shape of his ass and chest muscles to figure this out).

Since our heroine does not possess the stellar grades needed academically to go to college, her only hope is her one true passion. There's just one problem. She needed to get over her fear of heights so she can land that jump that will make her one step closer to becoming a professional snowboarder. And everyone is so supportive, from stepping in to come up with raps (her little brother who has hopes of going pro himself with the help of big sis no less) to challenging her in a comp for Poser tickets (only the hottest band who will be in town for a concert) in a girls against boys battle of the sexes. Guess who did that? Her ex of course. So now she must prove to her friends and family, but especially Nick, that girls can rock hader than boys. Only thing is, the biggest person she must prove is not even Daisy Delaney, the latest pro female snowboarder who Hayden just won private lessons with in her last comp, but herself.

In the meantime, Nick is being bipolar. One minute he's teasing her, downright insulting, and the next minute he's nice to her, making her heart race in a way you're not supposed to when you're currently hating on your ex. I just admire the creativity Echols put into Josh's raps and how she makes something so dramatic and silly seem so important. She makes you care about what happens to Hayden and whether she will ever resolve her issues with Nick. Will she win the comp for the girls? Will Josh come up with a really good rap? Will Nick build a relationship with his father?

There's a hint of a modern fairy tale as Nick lives in this mansion that is mostly empty and is guarded by fierce large cats that Hayden mistakens for mountain lions. Nick, ever the hero, comes to save her, much like Beauty and the Beast, except he's hardly a beast, save his jerk of a personality. Two clashing, headstrong teenagers in love make for a bumpy ride to true love. Echols has you constantly guessing, will they or won't they? Then you get to the end when Nick is being interviewed for People and texts Hayden if she wants to be a part of it and you can finally, finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Echols is one addictive YA author, as is Sarah Dessen. This one is by far my favorite of hers. She ties up loose ends so well and I love happy endings. I also love the reference to Lindsay Lohan when Hayden is compared to this famous redhead. Well done Jennifer.

it's the crabby coming through

I don't think I'll be able to switch it up. When I start reading one YA author, I have this incessant need to read all the books by that author before switching it up. That's a sign of a successful YA author. So here I am, having finished Jennifer Echols' Going Too Far. I have to say, my experience reading it may have been slightly tainted just because the copy I borrowed from the library smelled like perfume the whole time. I couldn't get it out of my nose the whole time I was reading it which may have affected my opinion of the book, which is a pity because things like that really shouldn't influence you while you read. Oh well.

 

I find it interesting that an eyebrow piercing is supposed to signify "bad girl." The part of her describing the cop she rides with was very confusing for me, though maybe Echols meant it that way. At the beginning I didn't know if he was young or old, or if he had a wife and family already or something like that. Though, to Echols' credit, Meg wasn't sure either. I just can't imagine a 19-year-old young man looking like he's 40. That just doesn't make sense to me. I also didn't find the ending to be satisfying. I couldn't believe Meg had cancer. That wasn't realistic. So Johnafter never goes to college to pick up art instead? He remains a cop forever in this town everyone else is so desperate to escape? This is not one of my favorites of Echols, but she has not lost my attention yet. This past weekend I checked out two more of her books. Have no fear. I will continue to read her.

 

On a totally side note, I never seem to know the right things to say. I know I already said this in my Xanga, but I can't help it. =(



same last names

I picked up my October 2012 issue of Marie Claire today and flipped to a random page and saw this article about a woman falling in love with an inmate named Damien Echols.

Wow! What a small world we live in. I wonder if he's at all related to Jennifer Echols. I'm now reading her Going Too Far book. I am hooked on her for the moment. It's so trashy reading, but I can't help it. YA will do that to you.

Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

I finished this book last weekend. Turns out the second book is a sequel to the first. It was very easy to follow for that reason. However, I did not appreciate the parts when we get inside Adam's head. I liked that the first one was inside Lori's head and stayed that way throughout. This one flipped back and forth, alternating between her thoughts and his. I guess in the end it was helpful to see what he was thinking as well, but it was kind of distracting. I did LOVE how she listens to Kelly Clarkson and all the pop artists like a regular teenybopper like I do. In all my years reading YA I have not come across a charater like that yet, so it was refreshing. Though the guys kept listening to Nickelback and I really wonder how realistic that is. I'm glad that Lori and Adam were able to end up together in the end, but I kind of find it not believable that his parents would just give up on sending him to military school altogether. These two books also lost the feel of some really big plot. It was mostly girl drama of whether the two main leads would get to be together or not, so the overall story was kind of dry. I did appreciate that this one was a lot less sexual than Echols' other books, so it was more age-appropriate. I'm not sure, but it has an older feel to it and I would not be surprised if this was one of her earlier works. I do have to say though, she does have a knack of getting you hooked because no matter how bad the story goes, I can't wait to read another one of her books as soon as I return the current one to the library.

two paragraphs in one

just put down The Boys Next Door, the first book in Endless Summer. thankfully, Lori does not frustrate me as much as Zoey did. so apparently we're doing two YA books in one now? i'm not even sure if the second book has anything to do with the first. i was at Walmart over the weekend doing my weekly grocery shopping and i picked up a YA book and it was also two books in one. made me wonder if they sold the books separately as well.

on Thursday i saw Julie & Julia. suddenly i am inspired to read the book and do a challenge similar to it. must be Eat, Pray, Love peer pressure. i mean, what would i even blog about? YA novels? there's an idea! read a YA novel a week.