How I Lost You, by Janet Gurtler- Review and Blog Tour

From Goodreads:
There are a few things Grace Anderson knows for sure. One is that nothing will ever come between her and her best friend, Kya Kessler. They have a pact. Buds Before Studs. Sisters Before Misters. But in the summer before senior year, life throws out challenges they never expected. And suddenly the person who's always been there starts to need the favor returned. Grace and Kya are forced to question how much a best friend can forgive. And the answer is not what they expected.

An interesting look at where you cross the line between forgiveness and manipulation in a friendship, how i lost you was equal parts intriguing/dealing with serious matters and one of those stories where you kind of want to slap the heroine over the head and yell at her for being such a push over.

What I liked about the story was how it dealt with sexual violence, consent and a variety of issues that fall within those confines.  I also really liked that Grace and Kya were not so much girlie girls, that they were competitive paintball players (who knew there was such a thing?!), and that Grace at least, didn't seem to worry too much what others thought of her.  I also liked that although Kya and Grace had been bosom buddies for many years, family and friends around them were not shy to let Grace know when it stopped being a healthy relationship for her, regardless of her feelings for her friend.  There was a lot that was sensible, strong and empowering in this story, and since it's a very girl oriented story (I cannot picture guys wanting to read about two BFF teen girls, dealing with their BFF-iness and growing up), I can't help but applaud Gurtlers intentions.

What I didn't like was the somewhat caricatured extremes Gurtler took Kya and Grace's friendship too.  The BFF extremes, the tattoos, the sayings and hand signs, they became very 12 year old girl at a certain point and I started having issues believing that two teen girls would be quite so over the top about it, especially in front of the guys they were potentially interested in. 

An intriguing read with a lot of merit, I would consider this a prime book to read and talk about with the pre-teen girl in your life.  Be aware it deals with a lot of aspects of sexuality, so if you're hesitant about sharing that with your pre-teen then this is not the book for you, however it does so in a very informative and thoughtful way, discussing many of the ways it's consensual versus abusive. An important and sometimes difficult differentiation for the inexperienced, to understand.

If you want a sampling of Gurtler, then now's the perfect time, as her previous book, I’m Not Her is the iBookstore Book of the Week and is available for free this week (starting today!) at the iBookstore.  

how i lost you, by Janet Gurtler
Published by Sourcebooks Fire, April 23 2013
Buy How I Lost You on Amazon

Gorgeous, by Paul Rudnick- Review

From Goodreads:
When eighteen-year-old Becky Randle’s mother dies, she’s summoned from her Missouri trailer park to meet Tom Kelly, the world’s top designer. He makes her an impossible offer: He’ll create three dresses to transform Becky from a nothing special girl into the most beautiful woman who ever lived.

Becky thinks Tom is a lunatic, or that he’s producing a hidden camera show called World’s Most Gullible Poor People. But she accepts, and she’s remade as Rebecca. When Becky looks in the mirror, she sees herself – an awkward mess of split ends and cankles. But when anyone else looks at Becky, they see pure five-alarm hotness.

Soon Rebecca is on the cover of Vogue, the new Hollywood darling, and dating celebrities. Then Becky meets Prince Gregory, heir to the British throne, and everything starts to crumble. Because Rebecca aside, Becky loves him. But to love her back, Gregory would have to look past the blinding Rebecca to see the real girl inside. And Becky knows there’s not enough magic in the world.
Ahhhh! This book! This funny, irreverent, sometimes potty-mouthed, silly and yet totally on the money book!  I don't even know where to start outside of the obvious, you HAVE to read it.

I've never read any of Rudnicks other books, but Gorgeous has put him on my radar in a big and bad way.  It's rare, in my opinion, for a male author to truly nail a female protagonist and vise versa for a female author and a male protagonist.  There's just too much that's unspeakably hormonal about teens, and I think you really need to experience it to describe it, I hardly need to tell you that girls and boys are like different species who just find each other inexplicably intriguing at that age.  Barry Lyga and Libba Bray are the only two authors who I can instantly think of who have done unbelievable jobs of writing in the opposite teen sexes voices, but Rudnick is definitely joining their circle.  If Paul wasn't such an unequivocally male name, I probably would have doubted the likelihood it was a he. With Becky, and her friend Rocher (how much do you love that she was named after Ferrero Rocher chocolates? I mean, I might have to pitch this as a possible baby name), Paul not only nails the insecurities of teen girls, but also the fiery protectiveness of BFF's, the lusty group drooling over boy stars, and all the real places these hormonal reactions come from.  He never plays them at face value, there's never that limp wrist flick towards something as if to say - you know how teen girls are.

Speaking of Becky and Rocher, can I tell you how totally I loved these two crazy, small town girls?  How tough and strong they are, even when they have no idea they are, how smart and razor tongued they can be, and yet how totally down to earth they both manage to be, in often the most spectacular circumstances.  Gorgeous has a fairly strange premise, and there is a lot of tongue-in-cheek suspension of disbelief that's asked of the reader, and if Becky and Rocher weren't so wonderful it may have been a hard thing to give into the more bizarre aspects of the story.  Their funny, and often outrageous point of view, and commentary on what's going on around them made me laugh out loud more than once.

Once inside the palace I was greeted by a woman who introduced herself as  "Lady Veronica Arnstelt-Bowen, Ranking Secretary to Her Majesty."  Lady Veronica was wearing a fuzzy  wollen suit that wasn't gray or pink or cream, yet included all of these colors, as if a few dozen kittens and a visiting Easter chick had crawled all over her and settled in for a mass nap.  And while Lady Veronica's smile was steady I knew that I'd be instantly judged and that whatever Lady Veronica's assessment might be, it had been copyedited, factp-checked and filed in a small cement room lit by bare bulbs in the subasement of her brain. Lady Veronica was most likely in her fifties and she hadn't undergone any cosmetic procedures except for a hint of almost medicinal beige lipstick and two barely blended circles of rouge, like inflamed mosquito bites.  Her face was rigid with diligence and dignity, which are English Botox.

What I loved more than the humor, the repartee and the stellar cast of characters was Rudnicks commentary on beauty, love, confidence and how easy it is to loose sight of yourself.  As the drop dead gorgeous Rebecca, Becky is told repeatedly how fleeting beauty is, how disconcerting and sometimes down right off putting it is.  It's only when Becky hits rock bottom that she can start to put to use the confidence Rebecca has taught her, and gradually discovers she can earn peoples love by being herself and doesn't need Rebecca's easy-in.

A fantastically funny book with heart, I can't recommend Gorgeous enough.  I can pretty much guarantee you're first thought after reading this book will be- why didn't I read it sooner?!

Gorgeous, by Paul Rudnick
Published by Scholastic, April 30th, 2013
My copy kindly provided by the publisher
Buy Gorgeous on Amazon

That Time I joined the Circus, by J.J. Howard- Review

From Goodreads:
Lexi Ryan just ran away to join the circus, but not on purpose.
A music-obsessed, slightly snarky New York City girl, Lexi is on her own. After making a huge mistake--and facing a terrible tragedy--Lexi has no choice but to track down her long-absent mother. Rumor has it that Lexi's mom is somewhere in Florida with a traveling circus.

When Lexi arrives at her new, three-ring reality, her mom isn't there . . . but her destiny might be. Surrounded by tigers, elephants, and trapeze artists, Lexi finds some surprising friends and an even more surprising chance at true love. She even lucks into a spot as the circus's fortune teller, reading tarot cards and making predictions.

But then Lexi's ex-best friend from home shows up, and suddenly it's Lexi's own future that's thrown into question.


Um, so let's be serious here.  Who hasn't wanted to join the circus? Especially when you were a teenager? Don't lie...I know you did.  The closest I came was the summer I worked at the exhibition and got asked to go on the circuit with all the carnies and concession people (they needed someone to keep the ice cream stand going).  It almost killed me when my mom said no (shocking, I know!), I was 17, and after spending a week working long hot days and nights with these people, and coming in early to join them for tent breakfasts I couldn't think of anything more exciting or fun.  Plus there were cute boys.  So when Scholastic sent me That Time I Joined the Circus, I was uber excited to dig in.

I have to be honest, there were a lot of soft spots in this book, where if you poked at them the whole thing would collapse.  How Lexi ends up with the circus is beyond ridiculous, and the idea that any lawyer, will or the parents of childhood friends would let her be evicted with no money and send her chasing down a circus in the hunt for her mother is so unbelievable I won't even bother talking about it further.

However, if you can suspend your disbelief through this intro, then you get to the circus, and you quickly get caught up in that part where you can vicariously enjoy running away with the circus.  Friendships are made, cute boys are flirted with, circus families and the traditions are touched upon (I would have liked more of that actually), and in the end happiness is had.

Although I enjoyed the bulk of this story, at least the Circus part and a small amount of when her best friend Eli shows up and all is revealed about what actually went down in New York before she left, there were, as I said, a lot of holes.  There was also a considerable amount of mush towards the end with her mom, the reveals about her parents relationship and how and where Lexi decides to settle down in the end.  So it was tempered, a bit of fun with a handfuls of stuff I had to overlook to continue enjoying the story.

What I found totally intolerable was the music theme throughout the story.  Every chapter title is followed by a song reference, and over and over again Lexi talks about how important music is in her life. OK. I get it.  Teens like music, and her dad was a radio DJ, so music = big deal.  I'm not sure bludgeoning me to death with this fact instead of working it more into the story was really how this should have been dealt with.  Also, I can't take anyone seriously about music if one of the music references is Britney Spears. I kid you not, page 48.  Nobody references Britney Spears unless you're talking about how your dance major roommates spent hours learning the dance routine from her first video Hit Me Baby One More Time (true story) or how you watched endless pervy old guys drool over that video in bars (sadly, also true).

Although I found this story heavily hit and miss for me, I can see the appeal for a younger (girlie) audience who aren't necessarily going to roll their eyes at some of the plot softness or at least not feel the need to poke at them until the story collapses and they stop enjoying it.  Who knows, they likely won't even be old enough to know the full train wreck story that is Britney Spears, and Howard can introduce them to all new nuances of fun while they mock her school look and sexy dance moves from the early 90's. Then someone can tell them about the Smurfs and they can totally have their minds blown.  Good god, I am so old!

That Time I Joined the Circus, by J.J. Howard
Published by Point, April 1st, 2013
My copy kindly provided by the publisher
Buy That Time I Joined the Circus on Amazon

The Elite, by Kiera Cass- Review

From Goodreads:
Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

I continue to really dig this series.  The writing is simplistic, the names are hard to take seriously America, and Aspen especially, and the plot is basically The Bachelor, with a dystopian bent to it, but it is good, quick read fun, through and through.  Cass isn't going to win any awards for this series, but she's got a crowd pleaser on her hands, without a doubt, and I can't wait to see how things go down in the final book, The One.

In book two we get considerably more in-depth background on Maxon and some of his more defining personality quirks are explained.  This was exactly what I needed to keep the story ticking for me, as much The Selection was very surface oriented on all characters except America.  As Maxon becomes less of an enigma Aspen becomes more and more unappealing as a secondary love interest, and I'll be interested to see if Cass will blow that relationship up before the end of the series. I was just so sure that Celeste was somehow going to out America and Aspen in The Elite and I was a bit disappointed they continued to get away with their clandestine meet ups.  Especially since America decided at the end of The Selection to really give Maxon a full chance.

The dystopian element, such an underdeveloped aspect of the first book, also became much more fleshed out in book the second.  I'm not sure Cass is taking it anywhere shocking, but I was glad she delved a bit more into the creation of America's world, and gave air time to the rebellion with small possible insights into what they're trying to achieve.  As enjoyable as a page turning love story is, it's nice to see she's introducing more depth to it all.

Gourmet reading The Selection novels are not, but what they are, commercial fast reads, are done well.  Cass knows her audience and provides exactly what they need to keep them flipping pages with alarming speed.  Kudos to her for improving upon this style with her second book.  So next time you're looking for something fun to keep you occupied during a long flight, or a particularly unpleasant family gathering, know you can't go wrong with this series, they'll keep you happily entertained.  And if you can't get enough, then make sure you check out The Prince, Cass's short story from Maxon's perspective positioned to be read between The Selection and The Elite.

The Elite, by Kiera Cass

Published by Harper Teen, April 23, 2013

Buy The Elite on Amazon
Buy The Prince (ebook only) on Amazon or through Kobo

Beta by Rachel Cohn- Review

From Goodreads:
Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist.

Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers-soulless clones like Elysia-are immune to.

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under­current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care-so why are overpowering sensations cloud­ing Elysia's mind?

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi­ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive.

You know when a book is so bad, and/or boring that you just don't care about anyone in it? Yah, that.  Seriously. Told from Elysia's perspective, the narrative is dry and often completely monotone, even when she starts to have feelings about everything around her.  Scared, turned on, intrigued, mad, it all comes across in the same bland way, it made it impossible for me to get on board with Elysia's issues.

Unfortunately all the characters fall into a pattern very early on and never break the mold. The humans are almost all unequivocally calculating, evil and completely self serving.  The clones are bland and uninteresting, even the ones who are revolting. This left me with nobody to cheer for, not one person who had a case of morals, not one person who had some sort of emotive response to anything going on around them.  It was monotonous at best and off putting at worst.  

Even stranger was the level of sexuality to the story. One of the many aspects of the clone ownership is the use of them as sexual objects, and Cohn is very open and descriptive of it.  But she also shows sex amongst the clones as well as talks about it as it concerns the islands rather promiscuous teens.  I'm no prude but it seemed excessive in it's description and frequency as it concerned the story, and would make me seriously consider the age range I would recommend read the story to (which, it's bad anyhow, so no recommendations, but if there had been some redeeming aspect, the sex would have given me strong second thoughts).

Obviously sexual abuse, of any kind, is hard to write about in a way that makes and impact but isn't exploitive, and to be fair Cohn is trying to show sexual abuse of the clones.  The teens, on the other hand, just seem to be acting out every Paris Hilton story you've ever read about or seen on reality tv.  If Cohn had taken more time to delve into these kids screwed up backgrounds or shown some remorse or struggle it would have gone a long way to round them out and make them more believable and worthy of my sympathy.  In the end though, they were just as disgusting, screwed up and self-involved as their parents.

A totally unsatisfactory read where even the odd twists thrown out as a teaser to book the second, by the end, were not enough to interest me in reading another word of this series.  

Beta, by Rachel Cohn

Published by Hyperion, October 16th, 2012

My copy obtained at the BEA

Buy Beta on Amazon

The Return of Feline Fridays!

It has been FAR too long since my last Feline Friday post, and lest you think I've started neglecting my furry babies in anticipation of the non-furry babies arrival, I thought it was about time I get back to it!  

 The kids are either blissfully unaware or somewhat bemused by the baby prep in the household.  The boxes of gifts that have started to arrive are endlessly amusing,

 my greatly growing belly is constantly in the way of cuddles, and for Thurman- treats (he head butts my tummy to get at treats), the wee parasite has kicked Cheddar during a snuggle which he found shocking but sort of fun, she's also kicked Deliah in mid-cuddle and was deftly ignored (one of dilly's specialties).  But other than that it is so far a non-event for them, as they carry on being endlessly spoiled and loved, enjoying long naps in the sunshine and most recently, a return to back yard visits.  

People keep asking what the cats will think when we bring this new little terror home.  My answer is this:

Cheddar is going to love her.  He loves everyone, and is particularly enamoured by diaper changes.  He has offered to clean up babies bottoms in the past.  Though I doubt he'll enjoy the crying.  He also is likely to want to sleep with her in her crib, which is one reason we've put off buying and setting up the crib, no need to suggest it's a big cat bed before her arrival!

Deliah will greatly dislike her, and she will be infinitely annoyed at us for bringing her home to dilly's sanctuary.  There will be cold shoulders and sulking.  She will loath the crying and stay as far away as possible.  By about 6 months she'll have forgiven us, and although she may never love the baby, she'll likely be as snugly with us as she was prior to the infamous arrival.  So in other words, she'll treat this child like every foster and adoption we've brought into the house.

Thurman will be weirded out.  She is going to have what is currently his room, and his beloved Futon will be tossed to make room for her stuff.  He's not going to be impressed by this.  He'll also probably find her somewhat freaky, especially when she cries.  However, as it becomes obvious that she'll be a constant source of food, he'll decide she's awesome.

Opal is more like Cheddar, and although she won't likely be quite as instantly social, she will be curious and I imagine down right accepting in no time.  She likes to groom, and I suspect she'll find the baby a constant source of bathing opportunities.

We've always worried about what our beloved cats would think if we ever went ahead and started procreating.  There's no way our pets, some of many, many years, were going to get neglected the minute we brought a baby home.  Without a doubt, we'll be going to great lengths to make this change as easy as possible for them.  We've also got the added benefit of past practice going for us.  Our cats had three years of revolving fosters coming through the house, and all of them except for Opal has lived through at least one new addition to the furry family, so they're all used to frequent change.

In the end I suspect outside of the crying (pretty much going to be universally disliked by us and them) it will be a bit of novelty but a non-event.  And since she may be here as early as 4 weeks from now, we'll soon see!  Wish us luck! And, you know, sleep.

Teacher's Pest Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Part three in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School, Teacher's Pest came out tuesday and is ready to be added to your collection.

From Goodreads:

DON'T BE FOOLED by his friendly smile, his perfect manners, or his shiny red apple. Student council president Howard Mergler is actually a sinister bug-monster in disguise—and he's summoning swarms of roaches, wasps, fleas, and head lice into the corridors of Lovecraft Middle School! Twelve-year-old Robert Arthur is the only student who can stop him--but he'll need help from his best friends: the school bully, the school ghost, and an extremely courageous two-headed rat.

A fun and wild Middle School read, the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School remind me of a slightly older version of the Scary School books.  I suspect they appeal to the same readers.  So here's your chance to give them a try!  Enter to win a Teacher's Pest bookmark, a Teacher's Pest poster, or the grand prize- All three of the Lovecraft books!  Contest is open to US mailing addresses and ends next thursday the 16th of May at Midnight. Just fill in the contest form below.