© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Blurb:

Hunched over in the corner was the beast; I could see a slight glow from his eyes, and I knew he had his gaze on me as he let out a tiny growl. I took another deep breath, “Hello,” I said weakly. The beast shifted and moved closer to me. “Hello,” I said again, this time firmer than the last. 
“Hello,” he said in a low rumble. I exhaled the breath I had been holding. 
“Who are you?” I asked.

My review:

It’s never easy to read a book by someone that you know. You want to adore it and be able to shower them with compliments because let’s be honest, I want the same when someone I know reads my book.

All that said, Samantha and I are new friends and I bought her book a few months ago and I finished it just this past week. It’s her first, it’s self-published and it’s a fairytale retelling (adaptation? What exactly is the difference?). It’s pretty cool to find an author right at the beginning of their journey, when they are full of ideas and enthusiasm. It might mean that their first go isn’t perfect (what book is, really), but you see the potential despite a few hiccups.

I really enjoyed the story. The new version of Beauty and the Beast. I especially liked the protagonist, an orphan with a burn scar from when she’d survived a house fire and her family did not. I love that it’s set in the 1920s and included the slang of that era. I liked the message that beauty, real beauty is more than just the surface.

There were a few things that distracted me from the story; the prose didn’t always flow easily, a few typos, and sometimes I didn’t feel like I knew the characters as well as I should have. But it’s a compliment to want to know the characters more, to live in the world more. And that’s what I wanted more of. It’s definitely a YA novel, toward the younger end of YA and truly has a great moral to it. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Book at B&N and Samantha’s website.

SOTM: Love is Blindness by Jack White

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

from http://www.flickriver.com

I finished my reread of Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye quite awhile ago, but waited until I’d gotten through it with my American Lit classes before posting on it. Part of the discussion they engage in seems to help me take the books I read a little further that just my own reading of them.  If that makes any sense.

I first read the book in college, on my own, when I was about twenty or twenty-one years old. A bit older than the protagonist, Holden, but I remember really relating to the story and the character even though I recognized how very non-Holden like I was then and as a teenager. Something about his experiences and point of view resonated even with me; the good girl. That and with how the book has influenced pop culture, I was very excited about teaching it this year.

It didn’t resonate. On the whole, with my students. Which bewildered me and also taught me that I should probably not get so excited about a book via teaching again. Some found Holden to be a jerk (which I agree with) and some couldn’t empathize or sympathize with him (which I didn’t understand). Maybe it’s all personality, but I want to hug Holden by the end. I’m not so romantic as a reader that I think I would actually be friends with Holden. I think he, with his cynicism and hypocrisy, would probably frustrate me as much as he frustrated those in the book. I don’t idealize him. He is/was a jerk and pushed people away, but I feel for him and his loss and confusion. It doesn’t matter that I never experienced the things he did (prep school, loss of a sibling, absent parents, possible sexual abuse, New York City). At the core of Holden is the viewpoint that adulthood is scary and that phoniness is real. And all that is true. Being a teen is hard, even if it’s a privileged life or not. The learning, both in and out of the classroom, at that age is confusing and affecting. There is so much you figure out and so much that you still have to learn. You’re treated as both an adult and a child at the same time and are supposed to know when to act like which. That is what Holden’s story says to me.

He breaks my heart. It’s probably my maternal instincts, but I think he could use a hug and someone to just listen. He so desperately needed to feel that he’d been heard even though he couldn’t actually say what he wanted to for the course of the story. I enjoy the voice and how authentic it is, even sixty years later. The symbolism of the carrousel, the hunting cap, the ducks in the pond and Allie’s baseball mitt. I like that even with a jerk of a character, Salinger causes me to care for a boy who I don’t have a thing in common with except simply; the human condition.

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

I have been reading. Three? Wow, three books on my Kindle, all Etopia YA authors. I feel very much like I’ve been some sort of reading marathon and owe it to them to read and support them. Which, as I like to read (surprise, surprise) has been pretty fun for me.

Also, there will be some spoilers in these book reviews, so consider yourself warned.

First One:

Blurb:

Eighteen-year-old Anna has lived her whole life in shame, losing herself in books to cope with crippling panic attacks triggered by her abusive parents. Forced into a psychiatric hospital, she can’t imagine a future that’s anything but bleak—until she meets Caleb, a gifted, 19-year-old artist who insists he’s an angel.

He swears his mission is to help Anna break free from her parents’ control and fulfill a destiny that she can only dream of. The doctors, however, are convinced that Caleb is delusional.

Anna doesn’t want to be that girl who’s in love with the crazy guy, but when she sees his stunning portraits of her and the way he risks everything to keep her safe, she can’t help but imagine a new future for both of them, filled with hope. But just when it seems they’ve created heaven on earth, Caleb’s past emerges full force, threatening to destroy their tiny, blissful world. And Anna has to decide if she should follow her heart, or if Caleb’s really as troubled as his doctors say…

My Review:

I don’t really read angel books. It comes from the church-going background I have. The theology for most of them doesn’t match what I learned growing up and for some reason, it’s hard for me to suspend my belief enough to get invested. I know, silly, but there it is. I more drifted to this book due that it was Etopia, the cover was gorgeous, and the psych ward angle. I’m not sure why, but I’m fascinated by mental institutions. And something about this one appealed to me.

First of all, something that I wasn’t expecting was the fact that the end is rather ambiguous. You do not find out if Caleb was indeed an angel or not. Which is both a strength and weakness for me as the reader. I think not knowing is engaging and certainly cause me to continue thinking about this story long after I read it. However, it also bothered me. Because Caleb ‘returns’ to heaven to await Anna. He returns by entering the lake and basically dying. If Caleb is not an angel, he committed suicide. And that…as it is not necessarily looked on in a bad light in the book, it is really hard for me to be okay with that.

If Ms. Towbin did that on purpose, to make the reader question and wonder, she definitely achieved her goal. The book is well-written and seems to have a good understanding of mental illness (I am no expert) and there is something very desperate and sweet about Caleb and Anna’s relationship even though it does smack of insta-love just a bit. Anna’s parents are so easy to hate (nice to have some definite villains), and the side characters are well drawn if not vitally important. It’s really just Caleb and Anna.

So, in conclusion of my rather scattered thoughts, I think this is a well-written novel. Original story to my reading experience and I have the utmost respect for its author.  It just didn’t connect with me, personally.

Straightjacket at Amazon & Barnes.

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Numero Dos: (and I cannot figure out why the text either attaches to the photo or not. Just bear with my pathetic blogging abilities)

Blurb:

When myth becomes reality, reality becomes a nightmare.

Like any other teenager in America, Ashley just wants a normal life. But growing up in an orphanage for the insane is anything but normal. After endless therapy and increasing medication, her nightmares have only gotten worse.

Probably because they’re not nightmares.

When Ashley’s mysteriously abducted, she finds a reality even less normal than the orphanage. And she discovers something else—she’s no ordinary orphan. Faced with enemies thought to only exist in fairy tales, Ashley discovers she possesses a powerful Maya bloodline. She’s the daughter of an ancient Maya Guardian, whose duty is to protect the Stone of Muuk’ich, an enchanted relic blessed by the gods. But first she must get it back from Sarian, a power-hungry demigod who slaughtered the last guardian—Ashley’s mother. Without the stone, all will be lost.

When she meets Arwan, a hot Belizean time bender, his delicious olive skin and dark eyes make her feel a little less alone. But his gentle whispers and reassuring touch might not be all they seem. How can she balance love and duty when it’s up to her to prevent the rising of the underworld? Especially when the guy she loves might be its crown prince…

My Review:

3.5 stars. Some bits I adored and others I was not as pleased with. The mythology and plot were pretty fantastic. Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance subplot. I just didn’t much like Arwan, or his abs (mentioned many times). He was too instantly in love with Ashley and too sentimental for my tastes. I think others would find him pretty dreamy though.

But Ashley and her abilities were so cool. Her stubbornness which often frustrated me was admirable, and her loyalty. And truly a really cool world that Ms. McClinton created. I wasn’t much intrigued by the Maya concept before reading, but it totally won me over. I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series.

The Stone Guardian at Amazon & Barnes.

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Finally:

Blurb:

Weapons training and winter formals…a deadly combination.

All Mia ever wanted was to fit in at Whispering Woods High. But being a portal-finder who dates a guy from another dimension sort of makes it hard. Mia’s brother disappeared over a year ago, and agents from the IIA began policing people’s movements through dimensions. She’d trusted Dr. Bleeker from the local university when he’d told her the IIA were the bad guys. But even a girl with an extraordinary ability to sense things can make mistakes.

Now two people are dead, and as a portal gatekeeper for the IIA, Mia needs to find Dr. Bleeker before he hurts anyone else. And her boyfriend Regulus, an Agent for the IIA, carries secrets of his own. Between learning about weaponry, finding the perfect dress for the winter formal, and catching bad guys, who has time to fit in?

My Review:

For some reason, I really got into this one more than the first of the series. Maybe because I knew the characters already and was ready to go on an adventure with them. Maybe because I’m a little dreamy-eyed over Arizona. Still. Lol.

The plot thickens and poor Mia is just trying to keep up. She is so strong and loyal. I love her best friend, Em. And I feel for both Austin and Em in feeling a bit abandoned for Mia’s new relationship with Regulus. I’ve so been that friend who gets ditched. And because of that, I probably wanted to shake Mia once and awhile due to her extreme enthrallment (is that a word?) with Regulus. There is a moment where she breaks her father’s rules (which is inevitable, but not super like her) to see Regulus. She ‘needs’ to see him. This is personal annoyance of mine. Needing to see a guy. It just…bleh, bugs me. But then again, I’ve not been in as deep as Mia is.

Also, I’m a fan of Tiny.

The twists and turns of this one were great. I was unsure of where things would go and I like not knowing. Finally got to meet a few characters we’ve been hearing about (not spoiling anything). Especially visual in the fact that the entire climax occurs with Mia still in her Winter Formal dress. I am so ready to read the third book (which is not out yet).

Whisper of Memory at Amazon & Barnes.

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There you go! Book reviews extravaganza.

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

(and the heading picture is of my dog, Margie, who is at the moment with my parents and I miss her terribly.)

Ink and Page (a book review blog), linked my review of Looking for Alaska. Which is pretty cool and a first for my short blogging career. Anyway, it’s a pretty nice blog, so I thought I’d direct you over there.

Also, in Phase news, according to my most current receipts, I’ve sold almost 1000 copies (both ebooks and paperback) of Phase! That’s astonishing. And I know perhaps a good portion of those are people who know me or my family, but not all of them. We definitely don’t know that MANY people. So…how cool is that?

BOTM: (Book of the Moment) Straightjacket by Meredith Towbin

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SOTM: Let’s Groove by Earth, Wind & Fire

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

(Blurb from Goodreads)

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter’s whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

Review:

I gave this four stars and not five (like Paper Towns) simply on a personal level. Green’s dealing with heavy subject matter: death, underage drinking and teen sexuality. I greatly respect him and how he presents these characters. I just didn’t relate. I wasn’t that kid and I don’t understand the need to rebel and go against the school’s rules as Pudge, Alaska, the Colonel and the rest of them do. I didn’t cry either (I say that because others have told me that that was their reaction to the book). I was grateful that consequences were shown for the choices that the characters make. It didn’t glorify their choices or demonize them. It was just real.

I do like that this is often used in schools to deal with such issues as above. That thrills me because it’s hard to find books students want to read that actually mean more than just a love triangle and angst.

I feel bad that this is so short, but it didn’t affect me as much as Paper Towns did.

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

These are not the same stories.

Paper Towns is my first John Green book. My students adore this writer and I went searching for the videos he and his brother Hank made a couple months ago. And I liked John Green just by his literature crash courses and Vlogbrothers entries. He’s funny, engaging and smart. I had nothing other than his personality through video to base that on. In some ways, I felt good that I just liked him as a person as much as I could glean from youtube. Liking an author due to assuming you know them because of their books can be completely misleading.

He’s a darn good writer. As I read the beginning of Paper Towns, I’d pause and read sentences and sections aloud to my friends. Whether they cared or not. So many turns of phrase and happenings made me laugh and smile. He balances description and prose with snappy dialogue and wonderful characters. I loved Quentin (Q) and his friends: Radar and Ben. They were funny, loyal, real and just plain entertaining. I liked Margo Roth Spiegelman too. I would never have her boldness to do the things she does, but I admired them, just like Q. I’d would probably have been swayed to join her on her night of revenge as well even though I’m a chronic good girl.

The clues, the truth behind what paper towns are exactly, the road trip, the saying goodbye to high school: I LOVED it all. I guess I relate to Q. Probably not as smart (Duke? Wow), but I also used to love the band kids at my school even though I wasn’t in band (they were the only good thing about pep rallies). I never had a true deep fascination for one classmate, but there were definitely guys I was bewitched by. Guys that I knew, for me, if they’d ever liked me back, we couldn’t actually date. They were partially tragic and potentially unsave-able. That’s probably why I liked this so much. This book wasn’t about the romance or Margo so much. It was about growing up, amazing friends, and realizing that not everything is a happy ending.

I’m not finished with Looking for Alaska yet. But I’ve gotten to the ‘After’ part and although I want to know how it all ends, I’m not as connected with these kids as I was in Paper Towns. The reason is simple: I’m not like the kids at Culver Creek Boarding School. I was never intensely rebellious. I would never have been Pudge. Which is okay. I was not, am not edgy but some people are. And those will like LFA over PT. And kudos to John Green who can write and paint both worlds with a realism I’m in awe of.

SOTM: Marchin On by OneRepublic

© ecnewman, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.