Book Review: "The Fever"

The Fever by Megan Abbott is an interesting book, written in a unique style that goes back and forth between three narratives -- a father's, a brother's, and a daughter's. Falling somewhere in the categories of drama and mystery, this book revolves around the lives of the teenage female inhabitants of one particular town, who one by one, all contract some mystery illness. All sorts of potential theories abound -- have these somehow been caused by the HPV vaccine? How about tainted water in the local lake? How about... the questions go on and on, with no real, concrete answers, and no real conrete links between any of the illnesses, either. No two show the exact same symptoms, which only intensifies the worries. Seemingly, nobody's safe if they can't come up with any answers. And yet, the main character of the story seems to be excluded from what's happening. She worries -- understandably so -- whether or not she'll be the next casualty? Given there aren't any answers, the fears are not unfounded.

Without giving too much away, the resolution of the book did not end up feeling very satisfactory for the story. The ending was incredibly rushed, lots of loose ends were left untied, and it's not the sort of book that would warrant a sequel when the culprit is discovered. Add this to the myriad of typos and fragment sentences that seem to be a large part of this author's style, and this book felt very lacking on multiple levels. I feel generous in rating it even a 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: "Real Live Boyfriends (Yes, Boyfriends, Plural. If My Life Weren't Complicated--I Wouldn't Be Ruby Oliver)"

The fourth (and what I assume to be, final) book of the Ruby Oliver series, and I now retract my earlier statement -- this is my favorite book in the series. All is not well in paradise for Ruby with Noel, or so she thinks. He goes away during the summer to NYC to visit his brother, Claude, and comes back acting distant and weird towards Ruby. Naturally, her anxiety leads her to think the worst. The reality: far worse than she could have ever imagined.

There's much drama filling the covers of this book, and well-written drama at that. I really enjoyed it though, and I sailed through the entire book in two and a half days -- I just couldn't put it down, I had to know where all the twists and turns were leading to! I highly recommend this book if you've been reading the series, and am rating it a high 5 stars :)

Book Review: "The Treasure Map Of Boys (Noel, Jackson, Fin,, Hutch, Gideon -- and me, Ruby Oliver)"

Having just finished reading the fourth book in the Ruby Oliver series, I have to admit, I think I like this one the best so far. It perfectly captures the complexities of high school relationships with friends, enemies, boys in general, adults, employers....you name it, it has it. It conveys exactly what it feels like to be caught in the middle of so many strongly conflicting emotions with different people and not knowing ideally how to handle any of it, even when your heart is in the right place and you're trying to do the right thing. All of this sounds very vague, but take my word for it. There's a lot to be said for this little book; so much so that I'm giving it a 5 star rating!

Book Review: "The Boy Book (A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques For Taming Them)"

The Boy Book (A Study of Behaviors, Plus Techniques For Taming Them) by E. Lockhart is the second book of the Ruby Oliver series. The girls are a little older in this story, but the drama still hasn't stopped -- or even really died down since the last school year. (Then again, does high school drama ever?) But now our Ruby isn't just pining away after one boy, oh no. Now there's about three. As you can imagine, her reputation can hardly handle such a thing at this point. And then there's the matter of still being a social leper carrying over from the previous year...

Far-fetched though some of the drama may sound, a lot of it seems to be spot on for being exactly how I remember high school drama working. It sounds ridiculous as soon as you're old enough to be past it, but while it's going on, it seems like your world is going to end because of these things happening. (Obviously, it doesn't really happen.) I think a lot of girls could relate to the sort of feelings that get deal with in this story, and with some of the tough decisions that have to be made here. Have to say, I'm already looking forward to seeing how the story future unfolds in the next book! :) Rating this one 4 out of 5 star.

Book Review: "The Boyfriend List: (15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver)"

The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Cermanic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver by E. Lockhart reads as though it were the much-convoluted dating diary of one Ruby Oliver, average teenager. Or not so average...

When Ruby begins to suddenly have panic attacks, her mothers signs her up to start seeing a therapist. Her first assignment is to make a list of every boy she's ever had any sort of romantic connection to whatsoever, and well...that's what starts the ball rolling for all the chaos that ensues.

The teenage tales of woe told here are not only relatable, but extremely humorous at the same time. It pokes fun at the drama of high school life without painting it as a charicature. My only complaint is that it's hard to keep track of who all's who in this story, but then again, isn't that how high school works as well? Rating this one 4 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: "Confessions of a Teen Nanny #3: Juicy Secrets"

Well, I waded my way through the last of the Confessions of a Teen Nanny trilogy, and as usual with just about any series I enjoy, I'm sad to see it end. Although, there was lots of lovely juicy drama along the way! Some of the twists, you'll probably have seen coming since the beginning of the series -- others, these came out of seemingly nowhere and will knock you for a loop. There's scandal, there's intrigue, there's love, there's drama, there's...well, everything! Trust me, you'll love it. It's a fitting end to a wonderful series. 4 star rating :)

Book Review: "Confessions of a Teen Nanny #2: Rich Girls"

The second book in the Confessions of a Teen Nanny trilogy, I found this book to be very difficult to put down, as I kept getting so sucked into the drama of the storyline, I just HAD to know what would happen next. (I blazed through this book pretty quickly as a result. ;)) Without giving too much away, all I can say is this book is just dripping with revenge. And drama. And unexpected twists and turns. FABULOUS. Giving this one a big five star rating, and anticipating digging into the third book!

Book Review: "Audrey, Wait!"

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway reads like both a dream come true and a nightmare all at the same time for rockers everywhere. Who hasn't dreamt of becoming a musician's muse, having a famous song written about them, and instantly becoming famously immortal to the point of brushing elbows with the rock world themselves; even famously making out with one of the hottest musicians of the moment? Careful what you wish for; the reality can quickly turn sour and into a complete and total disaster.

Such is the case of Audrey Cuttler. Just yesterday, Audrey was your typical 16 year old American girl, with a boyfriend in a local band and living your typical, average everyday life. That is, until Audrey and her boyfriend break up, and he writes a song detailing their breakup that quickly shoots him into superstardom -- and subsequently, Audrey as well by association. Everything Audrey has ever known as her normality is turned absolutely upside down...and not in a good way.

The story is written from a fresh point of view of a girl who's caught in a private hell of unintended, unwanted noteriety and all the problems that go with it, but sounds very *real* as a person. I also have a great appreciation for the song quotes at the beginning of every chapter, I felt they were a nice touch and addition to the story as well.

Basically, I love everything about this book and highly recommend it on every possible level. A big, big 5 star rating for this book!

Book Review: "Remember Me?"

Remember Me? is a fresh spin on an otherwise tired-out amnesia plotline. Our main character takes a pretty bad clock to the head.... and can't remember a single thing about the past three years of her life. The thing is, those particular three years were a majorly transformative three years for her, and she doesn't even recognize the person she's become in that time. Everything feels foreign to her as she tries to navigate her way through her new life, with a new job, a new home, a new husband (!!!), and many other things that leave her feeling like this can't possibly be her life.

There's many twists and turns in this plot and I don't want to give much away - it's one of those books that's best if you just read it for yourself. However, I WOULD like to give props to the author on one major point (and sorry if this is a spoiler): I appreciate that the book doesn't end with some miraculous magical "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!!!" moment. No, our main character still doesn't remember what's been lost even as the book ends - only one tiny glimmer of one single memory. It's very open-ended to your own interpretation if you think she gets her memory back or not. I feel that this is a more realstic approach, because honestly, after so much time has passed, what would be the realistic possibility of one's memory just magically re-appearing? Yeah, exactly. So I think this was actually handled fantastically.

I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars :)

Book Review: "Knit Two (A Friday Night Knitting Club Novel, #2)"

The sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club, Knit Two by Kate Jacobs brings back almost all of the old characters (minus Georgia, of course) from the first book so that we can see were everybody ended up 5 years later (and beyond, when you reach the end of this one). Unlike the first novel, which centered around Georgia, this book is a bit more equal opportunity to the rest of the characters and gives all of them more time to develop each of their storylines and personalities more in full. For this, I actually prefer this sequel to the original, but the sense of loss is palpable throughout the entire thing, and you can't help but feel like you, yourself, have lost a friend as well while reading it. While most of the other reviews I've seen of this book rave about how they like how Catherine got more of a storyline in this one, I guess I'm rooting for the underdog here. I love the fact that Anita, the lovable old woman, got so much page-time as it were to detail her engagement, upcoming nuptials, and the search for her long-lost sister. Of course, I also love everything about the Rome trip. ;) And it's kind of cool getting to see Darwin in so much more of a domestic role now. A lot can change in 5 years, and this book definitely goes into it. The story has a bit of a twist ending that yanked at my heartstrings, similar to how the first book did that at the end too, but I think it tied up some loose ends, as odd as it may be to say so over that particular ending.

I flew through this book quite a bit faster than the last one, and I'm rating it a bit higher; this one gets a 4 out of 5 star review.

Book Review: "So Super Starry"

For a book with a title like So Super Starry, one would assume it to be about Hollywood starlets or the like. Especially with the photos on the cover. So please explain how, exactly, we end up with a very British book about posh, pampered, overly-sheltered English kids who live in their own little private community away from the rest of the world, and the only defining factor between all of them is wealth?

Of course, being a teen book, it's got all the usual ingredients: the main character who feels just a little bit different from everyone else, the popular kids, the outcasts, the bitches, the love interests, etc. In this particular go-round, the main character falls for one of the popular kids/bitch's brother, who has a reputation, blah blah blah. And because he comes from money, everyone makes a big deal out of what this girl ought to be doing to impress him, rather than the old addage of to thine own self be true. Yes, it ends up winning out in the end, but the entire book, it seems, is SO superficial that it's disgusting. Even the main character knows this, and yet it remains the same. Yes, I realize there are people in the world who really live like this, but this story seems to be more a study into the psychology of the superficial than it does a love story between people from opposite ends of the spectrum.

Not to mention, the author's style of writing is so very dry. This was really strange for me, because usually I pounce all over anything that's British, but this....I don't know. I struggled to even make it through the whole book because it kept losing my interest. As such, I feel that I'm being generous by even rating it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: "The Karma Club"

Just about everybody has at least some grasp on the concept of how karma works: that whatever you do and put out into the universe, good or bad, will come back on you tenfold. Thus is the basis of The Karma Club by Jessica Brody. After a group of three friends have all been scorned by their significant others, they form a club in which to exact revenge on the perpetrators, all in the name of karma. The idea is that they're helping to lighten karma's load by speeding up the karmic process a little and exacting punishments themselves. What they fail to recognize is that for the negative energies they put into the revenge tactics, they're only bringing bad karma unto themselves.

This book is loaded with typical high school drama, but there's enough humor in it to make up for that fact and then some. (Their revenge tactics are pretty damn creative...) I found it quite enjoyable, and rate it a full 5 out of 5 stars. :)

Book Review: "The Virginity Club"

The title alone of this book is probably more than enough to stir up controversy. Oh yes, The Virginity Club is one of those books; that no matter which side of the line you stand on, there's probably something between these covers that will end up getting your panties in a bunch. And I'm not immune.

This is by no means a new pet peeve of mine, but personally, it bothers me whenever a book, a film, or anything else decides to force the notion that virginity is something to be ashamed of and should be shaken off as quickly as possible. Let me make it clear: there is NOTHING wrong with virginity, and I don't care what age you are - if you happen to be one, even if you feel like you must be the only one left at your age, trust me. There's PLENTY of others out there who're just as old as you, and older. Whew, okay, got that out of the way. Now, onward.

This book has an almost schizophrenic sort of flip-flopping on the issue. All the girls in this book are vying for the same scholarship; one in which the biggest caveat is that you must be "pure of body and spirit". Not once in this entire book does it end up saying just how that rule is to be enforced. The term is very much open for debate as far as its true meaning goes. Regardless, prior to this scholarship, it seems that most of the girls wanted to lose their virginity ASAP. Then when this came around, oh, of course. It's a different tune now that money's involved. And you have characters from both sides here, ones ridiculing virgins, and ones martyrizing them. Not much for in between the two extremes, either. But that's not all... they also go the opposite extreme and do a TON of slut-shaming. (Yes, that's a real term.) Which makes one think then that the author must, on some level, be more on the side of thinking that virginity is virtuous and should be kept at all costs, but....there's so much in here that contradicts that. Basically, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't according to this book. Well what, exactly, is this book trying to convey as a message then? I don't know, and because of that, it seems to have missed its mark majorly. At best, I feel I can only bear to give this book a 3 star rating, and even that feels like it's being generous.

Book Review: "What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know"

First thing's first: let me start out by saying that I generally don't seek out poetry/prose books. Not that I have anything against them - I don't in the least - it just doesn't usually happen. And I had no idea when I picked up this book that it was written as such. What surprises me more, and is completely new to me, is that this author actually wrote a novel-length story out of their poetry and prose. I've never seen a story written that way, so forgive me if I'm being completely naive here, but I found it to be very refreshing and downright intriguing. I honestly never even occurred to me that an author could do that! So, speaking as a writer who has an incredibly hard time writing so much as one little poem, say nothing of a STORY out of them... I'm in absolute awe of this book.

The story too is also intriguing. You almost forget about the ages of the characters, they're so far ahead of their time. Then again, I might be biased, because in school, I felt I basically was a female version of the main character in this story. A social outcast; an avid fan of classic rock; an artist at heart; a hopeless romantic. I felt so much at home reading this that at times, I nearly felt like I was reading back through old diary entries of my own. I really, really enjoyed this one, and highly recommend it! Big 5 star rating!

Book Review: "Sunset Boulevard (The A-List Hollywood Royalty #2)"

Well, we're 2 down, 1 to go for the A-List: Hollywood Royalty trilogy! And I have to admit, I'm somewhat relieved that I'm nearly done with these. I was hoping that my lack of emotional connection to much of any of these characters was just the mark of it being a different series from the original and trying to get into the swing of something new. So far, that doesn't seem to be the case. The author is trying so hard to be hip that most of the characters sort of meld together in a kind of mismatched amalgam of the overly-trendy. Once again, the story mainly revolves around the characters' dating scene, and how they all trade lovers faster than square dance partners. There's also the topic of the filming of a movie taking place at the high school as well as...well, no. Everything else still classifies as relationship drama.

It's dry, kinda boring, and almost totally predictable. Yes, I say this as a 27-year-old reading this book, but at the same time, I can almost guarantee you that the average teen would say the same about this book and that it's not even with its price for the read. Ugh. Rating this one a generous 3 stars.

Book Review: "Some Like It Hot (The A-List #6)"

Some Like It Hot, the 6th book in Zoey Dean's The A-List series, takes a little bit of a step down from all the glamourous traveling that takes place in the last two books. Instead, this time, the storyline revolves around the senior prom. ...Yes, you read that right. (Speaking as someone who didn't even both going to her own prom because she thought it sounded lame, I might be a little bit biased against this particular book.) Sam decides she's going to make a documentary about the patheticness of the girls who revolve their entire life around that one "magical" evening; Cammie finds the whole thing an embarassment and doesn't even want to go; Dee has to get a day pass from the mental institution she's still in to go to it at all; and Anna just wants to go with Ben. But alas, a new face has appearance on our horizons: enter Maddie; a longtime family friend of Ben's family who's living with him for the summer. After a stomach stapling operation, she's dropped hundreds of pounds, but still looks the ugly duckling, despite having curves in all the right places that make even Anna jealous. But she figures that since Maddie's going to her own prom with Ben's friend, it won't hurt anything if she and the girls give her a makeover. Except that what Ben hasn't told Anna yet is that he'll be taking Maddie to her prom as well...and Maddie isn't exactly subtle about her crush on him. Major jealousy issues ensue. There's also a bombshell concerning the case around Cammie's mother's death that finally comes to light that just might change everything.

This story wasn't awful, but it does feel that it was lacking something, even with as many different storylines all got packed into one book. I'll rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars.