Devilish (Maureen Johnson)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It all started with a cupcake...

Well, not really. It started at prom night, when Alison's date never came. Stood up by a guy off the internet, the shame! And then Jane's boyfriend of just over seven months broke up with her and started ignoring her even as a friend. And then the cupcake. And Ally's puke all over the freshman. And then Ally's new haircut. And then Jane found out that her best-and-only friend was dating her ex, but also had sold her soul to the devil.

Well, the devil likes games... the question is, who's the better player? Jane... or Satan?

Wow. I'm impressed. This is a much better book than I thought it would be. I'm not really one for the supernatural, but MJ didn't do anything weird like have a demon slayer hook up with Jane (though Owen is pretty cool for a 116-year-old 14-year-old) or have the demons really just be misunderstood... and you can never really be sure if everyone's going to die in the end or not. I mean, there's a distinct possibility through the entire thing that Ally or Jane could just die. Fun, right? YES.

Devilish is set in Providence, Rhode Island. Which, for the record, is a lot more interesting than it sounds. They have trollies. Do we have trollies where I am? No, no we do not. We don't have a subway, even. We also don't--so far as I know--have an all-female Catholic school. This book does. And it also has a heaping plate of MJ humour--the best kind. And a few dead people. And cupcakes. What more could you want?*

*Edward Cullen? You want an Edward Cullen? Much to my pleasure, nobody sparkles and the dead guys keep their hands off. So sorry to disappoint you.

Pillage (Obert Skye)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Is that a dragon carrying a mailbox on the front cover?

Yes it is! Handsome dragon, isn't it? Pity it's also barking mad and very dangerous. Because guess what? The dragons aren't the good guys again! Rather refreshing change, is it not? Back to the basics--until you get into some of the new, creative mythology Obert Skye has created for Pillage.

Beck Phillips could be what you call a "troubled kid". He's not unbalanced like his mum, but he isn't the ideal kid for a few different reasons, including the being kicked out of schools and beginning the story with a swearword said in the school ventilation system with a bag filled with bees waiting to be released to wreck some havoc.

He doesn't even get in trouble when he falls through and releases the bees. Because his mother just died. And now he's being carted off to the middle of nowhere, where his batty uncle lives. Where he can make vines drag people who threaten him out the window, and have lettuce learn to fly.

And that's just the beginning.

To start with, I love Obert Skye's Leven Thumps series. About as much as I love Pillage. It's creative, Beck is wonderful narrator, and he's completely open about his crush on Kate. The bad guys are honestly bad guys. The dragons aren't nice. The characters have depth, sure, but... well... alright, Beck and his uncle have depth. Milo, maybe. Kate, eh, kinda. The writing is basic and open, everything's out there--streamlines the process, puts more emphasis on the story. Occasionally I felt that information was skipped over in odd places, but only every now and then, and that may have been my own error from reading through so fast! It's a quick read, and a good story. The ending is great. Worth the read, and I can't wait for the library to get the second!

Girl at Sea (Maureen Johnson)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I keep wavering between four and five stars. I think the five may stick.

Six years ago, Clio and her father made a board game, and then they got rich. And then her parents got a divorce, one thing lead to another, and now Clio and her mother are deep in debt. Her father's not so well-off either.
Clio is pretty happy where she is, though. She's got a best friend, Jackson. She's sure that this summer, working at the art store, she's finally going to have her first kiss, with Ollie, who works there too.
Everything looks a-okay. Until Clio's dad calls, and says they're going to Italy. Clio's mother will be in Kansas, and her father has visitation rights after the divorce... so she doesn't have a choice. She's shipped off to Italy.
Clio knows that it makes her sound like a brat to hate the idea of going to Italy for the summer. But... what about her plans? And more importantly, what about her dad? He's insane. This summer is going to be the worst of her life. There's no way around it.
Well, okay, maybe there is. There's Elsa, the dairy goddess (or at least that's what she looks like), who's actually remarkably nice. And Martin, Clio's father's partner, who's definitely not that bad. Oh, and Aidan. Annoying, obnoxious, and incredibly arrogant. Elsa's official summer fling to get over her last boyfriend.
Oh, and Elsa's mother's assistant. Elsa's mother, Julia. Who also happens to be Clio's father's girlfriend. This is going to be one loooooong boat ride...

Incredible! Amazing! It's not love at first sight! Aidan is genuinely irritating! Clio is genuinely unhappy, but genuinely not a brat! Elsa is genuinely likable! The conflicts are genuinely... conflicting?

Maureen Johnson is a master of emotions, and weaves a surprisingly believable yarn in Girl at Sea. Every character is real. Every character is deeply developed. They all have their little quirks, even--like Elsa's fancy for wine--but it's not methodical to the point of exhaustion. The story flows. It is natural. It is smooth progression. It is beautiful. And it is a page-turner. Maybe too much so. But that's a different story.

That's it; the five stars is sticking until much further notice.

(Coming up... another Maureen Johnson. And another. And another. Because my library apparently has every Maureen Johnson book known to man.
Want something other than MJ? Make a suggestion in comments!)

Going Bovine (Libba Bray)

Oh, woe is my internet! Thankfully, though, it is back, and I can has review backlog!

First up to the plate is probably my favourite book this year... Going Bovine by Libba Bray



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ho-hum-ho. Clearly the stars had aligned when I was in the Half-Price on Anderson (which, by the way, I hate for various reasons), and I saw--THE BOOK.

THE book. Libba's new book. The one that won the Printz. THAT book. THE book.

I had high expectations for this book. But they weren't cosmic, allowing the book to surpass them.

Cameron has mad cow. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Creutzfeldt-Jakob. His brain is being turned into a sponge.
Then again, what was he living for anyway? Getting high with the three local stoners for kicks? Listening to crappy LPs of a guy he can't help but make fun of? He doesn't have a girlfriend; he doesn't really even have a girl he likes. Well, there's Staci, but she's a rabid female dog and Cam knows it.
But when a punk-rock angel tells him that he can be cured... well...
Off he goes, dwarf gamer friend Gonzo in tow.
The question is, can he reach the mysterious Dr X, the only man capable of saving him, in time?

What is real? What is hallucination? What is life, and what is death? Why does microwave popcorn taste so good? And what the heck is with all the snow globes?

It's like candy to read after writing something without much planning. Because this book doesn't feel planned (for the most part). It's a journey. It's an epic journey, though some might disagree (mostly history buffs that love the Odyssey and say it's the only 'epic journey' just because they can). There is a full cast of incredible actors throughout: Cameron. Dulcie. Gonzo. Balder, oh gods, Balder.

It's a lengthy book. I didn't get through it in a day. I get through everything in a day. I didn't get through the book in a day. I'm almost a little sore about that, seeing as I fully expected to finish it in a day. It's only a couple inches thick.

Then again, I also didn't expect it to be so good.

It vaguely reminds me of two different stories for different reasons. One, I cannot reveal, for reasons you may or may not discover after reading. The other is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Why? It's disjointed. Everything wraps up on itself. Things repeat where you least expect them to. You're on the edge of your seat the whole time.

Of course, in this one, there's also another slight little issue--the protagonist is completely mental.

All the better for the story! Full speed ahead to the nearest bookstore or ordering website! This is a book that needs to be read.

Because everyone needs to have their head screwed with every once in a while.

Wide Awake (David Levithan)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Highly entertaining, fast-paced novel weaving one part politics, one part "the future", and one part teen love story.

Incredibly enjoyable read. The future as we may-come-to-know-it is realistic, though pleasantly different. World-wide public healthcare has come. 9/11 has been joined by many other dates. There's been a new Jesus Revolution. Phones have video.

Even more identifiable than the possible future are the characters. Duncan, Jimmy, Virgil and all the others ring with the reality of human nature--they're not perfect, but they're real. Even the bullies--frequently overdone in YA books--are (unfortunately) genuine.

The plot itself is intriguing--a presidency challenged? (Now where've we heard this in real life? Ah, but that was Florida, not Kansas.) And a teenager going with his friends to defend it? There's a wonderful blend of political action and reaction woven in; it's never dry, accredited mainly to the idea of MONUMENTALISM though the whole novel. The author has built up a kind of contagious excitement that's impossible to ignore, sucking in the reader and not letting go.

Girl in Translation (Jean Kwok)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

FCC Disclaimer: I got a free advanced readers' copy and would have given this same review even if I had spent money on it.

It's been a while since I've had nothing to say flat-out about a book. Already I'm forming my argument for why my bibliophile friend should put down her (I'm sure simply fascinating ) book about... whatever she's reading right now, be it the rise of Communism or Neil Gaiman, and read this book.

I think I'll settle with force, as at eleven pm after having spent the best part of the last six hours (with breaks for insignificant things such as, you know, eating) reading, I can't properly think up a good argument other than... Well, "Blahblargblah I didn't get enough sleep. Read this book. Now. It's going to be a bestseller. When it comes out in a month." (editor's note: This review is a couple months old. The book has since been released, and indeed it DID make the New York Times Bestsellers list.)

Well, Twilight got to be a bestseller too, now, didn't it? What sets this marvellous piece of art apart from... I'm not going to say it. What argument will I have to present then?

Perhaps it is the wonderful lead character, Kimberly Chang, whose determination makes her identifiable to two teenagers taking as many advanced-placement classes in their high school years as possible to perhaps gain a good enough scholarship to go to a high-ranking school. Perhaps it is Kimberly's humanness, also, that would bring great appeal--she has high hopes and dreams, but she's not a stiff; she is actually witty and funny, despite what other characters probably would have thought, had them be real people. Perhaps it's the fact that she comes from the poorest of situations and makes it to the top, still without a ridiculous moral tacked onto the end that is impossible to believe. Maybe she is the reason I'll give my lovely bibliophile friend.

Maybe when I shove it into other friends' hands, after getting over my fear of letting the soon-to-be-priced ARC out of my sight, it'll be Matt Wu, the loveable male protagonist who seems to never learn what exactly he wants until it's too late. The heartfelt Matt, who rather than being a tribute to the swooning twelve-year-old's firm belief "Boys are SOOO much better in books!" is a tribute to real-life, seen through the eyes of a girl who never truly wanted to fall in love.

The novel is remarkably well-written, I could claim. It's true. Girl in Translation is no shoddy work, even in a, to quote the front cover "UNCORRECTED PROOF". It does not take wild, Hitchhiker's Guide-esque twists in the plot. Rather, it is a fast-moving river--it does not diminish in grace as it swirls its way around bends.

For the more cultured, I could mention its Chinese-American feel, the way the author avoids watering-down when she can. Many phrases she uses are incomprehensible before 'translating' (even from English to English), so I am driven to suppose they are genuinely of Chinese origin.

I could compare it to other works, of course. The theme rings of many. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, if it struck your fancy. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, if the previous did not. Even my prized-above-all Looking for Alaska could be used to throw some sway. The writing itself can be compared to Author Golden's best-selling, world-recognised Memoirs of a Geisha in its unmistakably biographical feel, or even Amy Tan's equally celebrated The Joy Luck Club. Perhaps the reason for the latter two is explained away easily--the author has stuck close to the truth, or at least the biographical information of her website. Memoirs is written just as a memoir would be--though it is written by an American. Joy Luck, when compared to Amy Tan's biography, includes many interesting parallels to her real life, just as Girl in Translation.

Or, if I am truly a mess of sleep deprivation, having spent about half an hour writing this review and flipping aimlessly through the thin pages, I could simply say--"Read it, because it's good. Trust me. You'll get over the prologue thing and the epilogue thing once you've read the rest of it."

Wings (Aprilynne Pike, Wings #1)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mon dieu! I was most certainly not expecting this book to be this good!

Watch out for mild spoilers ahead, as it's impossible to talk about the book without spoiling the premise...

Laurel knows she isn't isn't like most other girls. She's too pretty, she never gets hurt, she can only eat vegetables and fruits without getting sick, she's fifteen, has hit puberty without a single zit, and never got her period.
Oh, and she has suddenly sprouted a softball-sized lump on her back. Although that's not nearly as weird as it is when the lump turns into a flower.
And, naturally, all in her first year of public high school, after having moved that summer.
It gets weirder still when her best friend and science geek David looks at a sample of skin and finds plant cells. And then when trying to take a blood sample, they come up with only sap.
There's someone who knows what's going on. The mysterious Tamani, who lives on Laurel's family's property and swears she's a faerie. Laurel stubbornly resists the idea, but it all makes sense to David--and as the petals fall and the property is prepped to sell, Laurel may have to believe it, too.

Where to start, where to start... Hm. How about with the whole flower thing. Yeah. That takes prize for THE most creative faerie premise I have ever read. Ever. The idea of faeries being plants... stunningly original.

All of the characters are stunning as well, though they seem awfully convenient some of the time (David, all of the parents) or awfully inconvenient (Chelsea of the Fairy Obsession). Still, Laurel is a perfect heroine; David and Tamani are both incredibly genuine and just incredible in general; Chelsea isn't so... meh... as some other side female characters can be. And, impressively: When Laurel's got two different guys going for her, she doesn't choose both (-cough-HouseofNight), nor does she make an enormous drama out of it that eclipses the actual plot (-cough-BellaSwanCullen). No, instead, she deals with it like an actual teenager. (Although, I gotta say, Tamani's much cooler than David is. He's funny.)

The writing itself isn't the best I've ever seen, but it's certainly very, very good. The book is paced perfectly throughout, and isn't too weighty nor feather-light. There aren't any nasty sex scenes, there aren't any gory battle scenes. I don't even remember any swearing. And, the best part is... it doesn't need any of it.

Thoroughly enjoyed, highly recommended.