Fins Are Forever

Fins Are Forever
by Tera Lynn Childs

Warning!!! Contains spoilers for Forgive My Fins!!!

Just a few short days after returning to land with her beloved Quince and every intention of renouncing her mer-crown, Lily’s world is rocked yet again.  Who should show up on her aunt’s doorstep but her annoying, malicious baby cousin, Dosinia?  This is bad news.  Doe hates humans and everything about them.  The truth is, she’s been exiled by Lily’s father from the ocean and cannot return until Lily says she has learned to appreciate humans.  This could not come at a worse time, as Lily has to study for the SATs now that she plans on staying on land.  For the cherry on top, Doe has gone and bonded herself to none other than Brody, Lily’s former long-term crush.  What’s a soon to be former mer princess to do?

As cheesy as it was, I really enjoyed the first Fins book.  I wish I could say the same about the sequel.  I found Lily to be obnoxious this time around.  I don’t get that Brody all of the sudden has a change of heart toward her (even before the bond), and Quince is also kind of too melodramatic.  Overall, not nearly as good as the first.  But still, there’s a lot of fun in imagining the world of Thalassinia, like how a mermaid’s ballgown would look.  If you liked the first, you don’t necessarily need to read the sequel.  You’ll probably be disappointed too.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Stargirl

Stargirl
by Jerry Spinelli

Mica High School doesn’t know what’s hit it.  Everyone follows the social norms, and then Stargirl shows up.  She wears pioneer dresses and serenades people on their birthdays with her ukulele.  She brings flowers and a tablecloth to each class and sends cards to people she doesn’t know.  She’s a cheerleader, and she cheers for both sides.  16-year-old Leo doesn’t know what’s hit him, either.  Stargirl is an anomaly… and she likes him.  And he’s surprised to find out he likes her, too.  But this little town finds it can’t handle star people.  When it comes down to it, whose attention and approval would Leo rather have: Stargirl’s or everyone else’s?

Things I loved about this book: the way we are introduced to the characters – two pages in and I’m hooked; the narrator is not the title character; Stargirl has the face of a girl I know; my heart ached at the end.  I downloaded this ebook on a whim (I’ve been meaning to read it), and I read it on my phone in two days.  That’s a tiny screen to read a book on.  I couldn’t stop.  Spinelli’s writing is just so… perfect for Stargirl.  If you’re looking for a book about real people, I’m going to hand you this one.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Beastly

Beastly
by Alex Flinn

In this modern-day take on the classic fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” Kyle Kingsbury has it all: looks, popularity, money.  Everything but a kind heart.  One day, he pulls a mean prank on the wrong girl – she’s actually a witch.  Seeing that his inside is nowhere near as attractive as his outsides, she transforms him into a hideous beast and gives him two years to find true love, or else he must stay that way forever.  His father, unable to handle the burden of a “beastly” son, buys him a huge house in New York City and essentially locks him up with access to everything he’d need except the one thing required to break the spell.  When a drug dealer breaks into his “castle” and offers his daughter in return for Kyle not calling the cops, he sees perhaps his only chance at breaking this spell.  But who could ever learn to love one so beastly?

I loved this book.  I loved it even more than Flinn’s romping fairy tale conglomeration that was Cloaked.  With enough tongue-in-cheek to let the reader know that Flinn knows parts of this are somewhat ridiculous, but definitely enough fairy tale and romance to make any female reader wish it could happen to her, this was a great read.  I also loved the way that it was written: Flinn’s voice is poetic and captivating, even if thoughts like that wouldn’t probably ever occur in a 16-year old’s mind (wouldn’t know – never been a 16-year old boy).  And in between each section is a transcript from a support group chat session Kyle has joined for victims of magical transformation that was hilarious to read.  I am definitely curious about the movie that they’ve made and I will definitely be reading more of Flinn’s work.  She has become a favorite of mine.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Solid

Solid
by Shelley Workinger

Clio is not a normal 17-year old.  It turns out that her mother was given tainted prenatal drugs along with 100 other mothers on different military bases around the country.  And these drugs… they changed one of her chromosomes.  Now the military is trying to understand what happened with this rogue doctor’s experiment, so they’ve rounded up all these teens into one compound to gather data.  Clio’s not complaining – her room looks exactly like it does at home, there’s great food, free Starbucks, and not to mention this REALLY cute guy.  But some things aren’t adding up, and she starts to suspect more is going on here than meets the eye.  With her new group of “gifted” friends, she’s determined to figure out what the government really wants with them before it’s too late.

There’s definitely a cool story behind me reading this book that I’d like to share.  I first learned about this book through a blog that used to be posted on my library’s website.  I though it sounded interesting enough to put it on my “to-read” list on Goodreads.  Several months later, I get a message from the author saying she’s got some proof copies left over and would I like one?  Heck yes I would!  So I have an autographed copy with a personal note.  How awesome is that?  Granted, it’s taken me months to read the book since it doesn’t have a due date… But anyway, onto the review.

Kids finding out they have genetic mutations.  Mutated kids all kept together in one compound.  Sounds kind of like X-Men, right?  Honestly, that’s kind of what I was hoping for, but that’s pretty much where the similarities stop.  This book definitely focuses more on the teenage characters themselves rather than their mutations.  It also definitely feels like an introduction to the characters rather than a complete story in itself; this is just the beginning.  At first, I thought I didn’t really like Clio.  But the more I thought about it, I realized that her mind worked a lot like mine did when I was 17, and I just didn’t really want to admit it.  So I will definitely be checking out the next book in this series.

Also… Happy Independence Day!

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

I Am Number Four (the movie)

I Am Number Four (the movie)

If I hadn’t read the book before seeing the movie, I probably would have had a lot of questions about what was going on.  There are things that the movie doesn’t really explain, like why the kids need to be killed in order.  And they don’t really go into any detail about the home planet of Lorien or how Number Four starts developing his powers.  For me, those were the most interesting parts about the book.  There’s also a lot in this movie that isn’t in the book, but seems like it will come up in the sequel.  Either that, or they’re just making stuff up now.  If I get around to reading the sequel, I’m sure I will also watch it.  But I can’t rave about either of them.

As for the film and the acting, the main characters were my least favorite.  A slow and boring stock love story with really corny acting (at least they leave Sarah behind at the end) is pretty much only redeeming for teens in the eye candy aspect.  I’m a little too old for them.  I did, however, thoroughly enjoy and approve of the performances of Teresa Palmer (Number 6) and Callan McAuliffe (nerdy best friend Sam).  First of all, Number 6 is totally BA, and I’m glad they introduced her early on in the film (as opposed to in the book).  The complete opposite of Sarah, she is so much more fun to watch.  Secondly, with McAuliffe, what a novel concept actually casting a teen actor as a teenage character!  He actually looks like the guys I went to high school with and is absolutely believable in the role.  I’m sorry, but I don’t recall anyone I ever went to school with looking like Alex Pettyfer.  I found myself much more interested in the movie when Six or Sam was on screen.

If you’re looking for something brainless to watch and you’re not into physical comedy, this might interest you.  While it’s really slow in the middle, the end is filled with explosions and fighting and stuff like that.  Just keep a gag bag nearby for the lame love story.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood
by Sarah Blakely-Cartwright

Valerie’s village has always lived in fear of the Wolf.  Every month, they leave out a sacrifice for it.  It has not attacked a person in years.  Then suddenly one day, it kills her sister.  Valerie, already an outsider, has now lost the one of the only people she feels has ever really gotten her.  And she has this feeling the Wolf is coming for her next.  She’s the only person who can hear him speak.  The Wolf could be anyone, and she starts seeing him everywhere – in her beloved grandmother, in the man she loves, in the man she is promised to.  The only way for the Wolf to leave everyone alone is to join him, but can she do it?

I put this book down only once because I had work in the morning.  Incredibly well-written, engaging story, engaging characters – this book was much better than I had hoped for.  I picked it up because the movie looked intriguing; but I’m one to read the book first.  Everyone says the movie can be missed.  I say the book should not be.  However, be forewarned: the final chapter is not in the book – you have to go online to read it.  I sincerely hope subsequent editions will have the book in its entirety because that’s annoying as a reader.  I’m glad I didn’t purchase this book because of that.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com

Where She Went

Where She Went
by Gayle Forman

Warning!!  Contains spoilers for If I Stay!!

Truthfully, this whole book’s existence is a spoiler for If I Stay.  Three years after the car crash that killed the rest of her family and put her into a coma, Mia Hall is now living in New York City.  Having graduated early from Julliard, she is about to start off her first virtuoso tour.  Ex-boyfriend Adam Wilde doesn’t know that when he arrives in New York City, on the verge of his own European tour.  This time told from his point of view, Adam intermittently relives his break-up with Mia and experiences one crazy night in NYC after running into her after one of her shows.

Up until the last 30 pages or so, I didn’t think this book was nearly as good as the first one.  It was a little too unrealistic.  It reminded me of a writing prompt we had in 7th or 8th grade: boy meets girls, boy gets girl, boy loses girl.  Emocore singer/guitarist meets classical cellist.  Music binds them and they fall in love.  Girl almost dies in car crash and she moves to NYC, leaving boy in Oregon.  Believable.  Boy is a rock star with number one hits beating out Lady Gaga.  Girl is virtuoso cellist.  Girl’s best friend is a photographer for National Geographic.  One night answers three years of questions.  Just seemed too far out there.  However, Forman is still able to use words – inadequate notes – to describe what music can do to a soul, which is an amazing talent.  This is a book that I wish had a soundtrack, because every other chapter starts with the lyrics of one of Adam’s songs.  They are pure, angsty poetry, and I would love to hear more them.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com

Cloaked

Cloaked
by Alex Flinn

Johnny works with shoes.  His whole family have been cobblers, so Johnny is also a cobbler.  While some teens might be angry going into this particular family business, Johnny doesn’t mind too much.  What he’s learned from repairing shoes in his family’s shop in a fancy hotel he’s applied to designing his own shoes.  When a princess comes and stays in the hotel, Johnny sees his chance to actually get somewhere with his designs.  If he can just convince the princess to wear his shoes… Well, the princess is interested in Johnny, but for an entirely different reason.  She is in America looking for her brother, a prince who has been turned into a frog.  In return for his help, the princess agrees to marry him.  Johnny gets more than he bargained for in accepting the princess’s quest.  While at first she though he was just nuts, he actually gets tossed into a magical world of talking animals, witches, and curses.

This was a fun, light-hearted read.  I thoroughly enjoyed Flinn’s incorporation of many different fairy tales, not all of which are well-known.  Some I’d heard of, and others I hadn’t.  Thankfully, she put a guide at the end of her story so I could learn about them.  It’s a unique, modern take.  Interestingly, the hardest part I had believing about this book was not the magical cloak that took you anywhere you wished, talking animals, curses, or witches; the part that made me incredulous was the idea that 16 year-olds know remotely what true love is.  I’m sure it sounds more than a little bitter and cynical… but just think about it.  If you were with the person you thought you were in love with when you were 16, would you be happy?

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com

Jekel Loves Hyde

Jekel Loves Hyde
by Beth Fantaskey

This second novel from (relatively) local author Beth Fantaskey takes the reader on a scientific and literary journey into the lives of two teens – Jill Jekel and Tristen Hyde – whose meeting is less than coincidental.  Jill Jekel, a shy and brilliant chemistry student, and Tristen Hyde, a too-cool-for-school British exchange student and equally brilliant chemist, are an unlikely pair.  But they are drawn to each other through the shared grief of each having lost a parent to brutal murder.  Of course as their relationship develops, they discover how un-coincidental everything about this year is… and that they share a literary fate – Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was based on their ancestors.  Hyde and Jekyll couldn’t coexist… so is it possible now that they can love one another?

After reading Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, I was totally geeked for what Beth Fantaskey would create for her readers next.  Jekel Loves Hyde offers its audience many of the same elements as its precursor without being formulaic.  The characters and setting are similar (write what you know, right?), but their stories are different.  Still, I didn’t quite get into this book like I did Jessica’s Guide.  I’m not sure why; I’m usually a sucker for characters and her characters are pretty good.  I know that Fantaskey is a completely capable author and she can surpass her debut novel.  I just don’t think this one was it.

Besides, this is the best modern version of Jekyll and Hyde I’ve ever seen: http://www.shmoop.com/news/2010/10/05/jekyll-hyde-facebook/ Just couldn’t compete!

Additionally… happy birthday, Grandma!!!

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com

Forgive My Fins

Forgive My Fins
by Tera Lynn Childs

Lily isn’t your average teenager.  She’s half mermaid.  Her mom was human.  Her dad is king of this quaint little kingdom about 45 miles off shore and a couple of leagues deep.  For three years, she has lived on land with her aunt, doting on one particular young man, Brody.  On the night she plans to confess everything to him, something goes wrong.  Instead of meeting Brody, the man she meets and who subsequently kisses her is the annoying boy next door, Quince.  Things get more complicated.  When merpeople have their first kiss, they are magically bonded to their partner.  This is not at all how Lily planned on living the rest of her life!  There’s only one way for this magic to be canceled, and she’s got to see her father about it.

I checked this book out almost two months ago because I saw it on a YA blog and it sounded interesting.  I planned on reading it tonight because it’s due, and I really need to bring some of my books back.  The funny thing?  I had been thinking I finally needed to read the sequel to Oh. My. Gods., so I checked it out (probably intending to read it 2 months from now), not at all realizing they were written by the same author.

I thought it was funny.

For some reason, YA lit is probably the only venue through which I buy into romantic comedies.  Forgive My Fins is a perfect example of this.  I thought I had this entire book figured out from Chapter 1.  Well, I had some parts figured out.  They were obvious.  But Childs threw in some twists and loops I was not expecting, even up until the last few chapters.  Maybe I’m just the sucker audience she’s looking for.  Who knows?  But I will definitely be on the look out for the sequel, even if it was so cheesily planted.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com