YA Review: She Loves You, She Love You Not...

She Loves You, She Loves You Not... by Julie Anne Peters

Published: June 1st, 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 278
Part of a series? Nope.
Got via: I bought it! I had a giftcard, and it was really cheap from Chapters and Indigo.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Seventeen-year-old Alyssa thought she knew who she was. She had her family and her best friends and, most important, she had Sarah. Sarah, her girlfriend, with whom she dreamed with about the day they could move far away and live out and proud and accepted for themselves, instead of having to hide their relationship.

Alyssa never thought she would have to make that move by herself, but disowned by her father and cut off from everyone she loves, she is forced to move hundreds of miles away to live with Carly, the biological mother she barely knows, in a town where everyone immediately dismisses her as "Carly's girl." As Alyssa struggles to forget her past and come to terms with her future, will she be able to build a new life for herself and believe in love again? Or will she be forced to relive the mistakes that have cost her everything and everyone she cared about?

Review: I've talked a bit before about how I enjoy the kind of "life after the big deal thing happens" books, and this is one of them. I like seeing people deal with consequences and life changes more, sometimes, than I like reading about the drama and the falling apart bits. That's a thing I enjoy. (Obviously, did you see how many blog posts I just found? And there are probably more! But it was getting to an embarrassingly long time ago and an embarrassing quality of blog post, so I stopped.) The small town setting also worked really well for me, and generally, I enjoyed this.

Let's jump into the other bits, because my face kind of hurts and I'm debating an ice pack. Wisdom teeth suck.

Plot Talk: It's pretty much what is says in the summary. Stuff happened, girl moves to a new down, girl deals with new town and old stuff. I don't think it's the most original plot on the world, I guess, but it works fine. Yeah, you've probably read something similar before, but whatever. It was cool with me.

Characters: Alyssa is quite honestly pretty unlikeable. And I liked that! She hates driving and is a terrible driver at that, isn't an altogether sympathetic character, makes a lot of really horrifically ill-advised decisions. She is definitely a complex, interesting character, and I don't think everyone will like her, honestly. I'm into that. I don't approve of everything she does, and there are things I'll probably mention, but she is definitely interesting to read about.

One thing I liked a lot was that her love interest was a WOC, because, yeah, that's always nifty. She's also Canadian, so excuse me a second while I wave a flag. Yay patriotism and all that. And I think her depiction as a person of colour is handled pretty well, but I am by no means an expert there. I did a bit of googling, and didn't get anything I could link to, so hopefully there wasn't any issues with that. I also thought that character, Finn, was a nifty character. She's kind of got a rebel without a cause thing going on, and that's a thing I can get behind.

I think on average, Peters writes very complex, and interesting characters. Not all of them are sympathetic, or even morally good characters, but they are interesting. I especially liked Alyssa's mother, who is much like Alyssa in being complicated and imperfect. With Carly, Alyssa's mother, it is really nice to see someone who is a sex-worker treated generally treated with respect, and not degraded or insulted by the narrative. However, while better than most, it has some issues. The language can be pretty whorephobic/sex-shaming*, which does make sense because of Alyssa's POV, but full-service sex work is treated as something much worse than Carly's dancing in a club.

I'm not explaining it well, I don't think, but the terminology used definitely has some issues. Carly doesn't even say "I don't do that kind of sex work" or something like that. She says "I'm not a wh*re." I realize it's YA, and there would be pushback, but I think objectively, that still has issues, and there could have been better ways to go.

PG-13 stuff: It's for older YA readers, probably. Underage drinking, some sex which I think is handled very well, just mature themes in general. Alyssa's father has a really bad reaction to finding out she's a lesbian, so if that would bother you, maybe pass on this one. I will say, though, and it's totally a spoiler so you can skip this part if you want, but I know some people appreciate knowing this, there is a happy ending when it comes to the romance. There's not any tragedy or anything.

Maybe the only other thing I'd mention is that there is generally a fair amount of age difference between Alyssa and the people she dates (both younger and older), so if that's a thing for you that you don't enjoy, maybe pass on this one if you don't think you'll enjoy it.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: Like I said, I think the depiction of Finn is good, but I won't say as it's entirely non-problematic in an "I'm an expert" way, just in an "I hope it was" way. And I think some elements of Carly's work are handled well, but others don't seem to be handled as well. The narrative changes up the tense and POV (going from first to second person), and while I liked that, I could see other people not being fond of it.

I also did not really like that Alyssa is a little too aggressive about trying to get her girlfriends/love interests to come out, which is pretty uncool. I mean, the worst case scenario of outing people without their consent is people die, so that's a problem. I could easily see people really not liking that, and I won't blame them in the least. That definitely was not my favourite part of her character. I also felt almost like she was very... I don't want to say defensive, but maybe a little... mean? I don't know. I'm kind of uncertain about how I felt about that whole business.

Cover comments: It's very pretty. It actually made me think the book was going to be a touch darker/more depressing than it actually was, though, but it's fine.

Conclusion: I always sound like I didn't like stuff at all! I definitely did enjoy this. I spent a Friday night reading it all in one sitting. I absolutely adored the whole small town/tourist trap in the off-season angle, and how much of a city mouse Alyssa was when confronted with nature. I liked seeing a character that hates driving. The ending is very, very sweet and hopeful. A lot of the narrative is about the fallout of Alyssa coming out to her father, so if you're over those stories, this might not be your thing, but I thought there was enough of everything else to balance it. Bear in mind, also, this book is already 5 years old, and a lot of things change in half a decade.

This was solid to me. It had some definite issues, but I don't regret reading it, and it probably even gets to keep its shelf space. I don't think it's going to work for everyone, but I can see some people connecting to it, and enjoying it a lot. It wasn't phenomenal for me, but neither was it horrible, and I genuinely enjoyed it. The writing just worked for me in most areas. I'm giving it three and a half roses.



Other notes:

- *I'm sincerely hoping I'm using the best language possible here, but if I'm not, leave a comment or shoot me an email or a DM on Twitter or a messenger pigeon, and I'll change it if it's needed.

- There's a character who uses a wheelchair who owns a cafe. He wears gloves when he cooks, because his hands touch the rims of his wheelchair. Okay, sure. But if you touch stuff with your gloves that's germ-y, your gloves are dirty now, and they need to be changed. Gloves don't just stay not-dirty. They never mention changing the gloves and THAT BOTHERED ME.

That's about it! Hope you enjoyed this review.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: A Boy Like Me

Yeah, look at me go with this reviewing thing! Oh, yeah. It's a leap day miracle!

A Boy Like Me by Jennie Wood

Published: September 4th, 2015 by 215 Ink
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 264 plus some resources which is a really nice touch, acknowledgements, and an about the author.
Part of a series? No, it's a standalone.
Got via: It was sent to me for review consideration. And it was only, um, a year ago. Which is not horrible considering my track record.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound / Author's website

Summary (from goodreads): Peyton Honeycutt meets Tara Parks in the eighth grade bathroom shortly after he gets his first period. It is the best and worst day of his life. Determined to impress Tara, Peyton sets out to win her love by mastering the drums and basketball. He takes on Tara’s small-minded mother, the bully at school, and the prejudices within his conservative hometown. In the end, Peyton must accept and stand up for who he is or lose the woman he loves.

Review: First things first, just for the record, I'm on the asexual spectrum, but I am cisgender, so I won't talk about this like I know anything about the experience of being trans, or saying that this is inauthentic or even if I believe it is authentic, since I'm not the person who gets to say that. And if at any point you think I'm totally messing up, feel free to comment (Anonymous is always on), or email me, or DM me on Twitter, or... you get the point.

For once, I think I actually know what rating I'm going to give this book before I get to the end of the review, and that pretty much is my summary here. I liked it a lot, but there were also a lot of storytelling choices that just did not work for me, and while my over-all reading experience was positive, those things were frustrating because they did throw me out of the story, and make me notice the writing more, and that lowers my over all rating. We'll get into that as we go on!

Plot Talk: The book stretches from eight grade to the end of high school, and that's actually something that threw me off. I thought it was going to be set solely in middle school, and instead, a lot of time passes very quickly. In the few two chapters, a full year passes. This causes a lot of things to be glossed over that could be really interesting. Then at the same time, Peyton would be say something, and his friends would be like, "You didn't tell us that," and meanwhile I'd be like, "You didn't tell ME that either! When did that happen?"

The plot is basically described in the summary, although it's not my favourite summary. It's basically a coming of age, discovering yourself story, which is fine. But there are times when it felt like it focused on things that were mostly set-up, and ignored things that could have been really big conflicts. How much time passes in the book also makes it feel rushed, especially at the beginning when several years pass within the first few chapters.

Characters: Peyton is kind of clueless at a times, but in a sweet way, most of the time. He's really bad with girls. Seriously, the poor guy is a mess when it comes to dating, which obviously you can't blame him for with everything he's got going on. Sometimes, though, though, his motivations and characterizations didn't seem quite as fleshed out as they could have been. I did really love the music angle. There's so much stuff about music in here, and it's great to see the moments where Peyton gets to shine. And this is a bit of a spoiler so skip it if I want, but I also really enjoyed that Peyton got a GED, because that happens very rarely in YA, in my experience. Showing alternative paths of life education-wise is a really nice touch.

I wasn't so in love with Tara. She got kind of MPDG at times. Sometimes I just didn't believe that she would be acting in ways she was acting. It seemed more fantasy-girl than real girl. And it's not like girls can't do things that are sexual, or whatever, but maybe it was because we didn't get POV from her, it just wasn't the most believable thing. A ton of the plot is just based on the romance, too, which at times can get a little frustrating.

Meanwhile, both their mothers were terrible, but Peyton had a few great members of his family, and I really liked that he had a positive therapy experience. You guys know how I feel about therapy in books. The other characters also felt very authentically small-town, bigots and all. Which sounds terrible, but I live in a small town, and that's a reality.

PG-13 stuff: There's a fair amount of language, including several slurs (although not the one you'd expect considering the subject matter), violence including Peyton being attacked for being trans, a sex scene, and a brief time when Peyton becomes somewhat suicidal, and that is talked about a fair bit. There is also an abortion that is handled incredibly well. Which is not to say these things aren't handled well, or that they're bad to have, just so you know about those things going in.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: The rushing is probably the biggest thing. Especially at the beginning of the book when you're supposed to be establishing stuff still, that is just frustrating.

There are two specific instances where I know things from reading and listening to people who know much more than me. At one point, Peyton's therapist defines transgender as meaning "you feel your gender identity is the opposite of the in which you were born", and I feel like that erases people who don't fall into the gender binary. There are many more than just two genders, and opposite is very binary language.

And I will say this with confidence - Peyton binds with elastic bandages, which is apparently what the book the therapist gave him recommended.

DON'T DO THAT.

It can seriously injure you, like deform your ribs and stuff. That is a really bad idea, and a book published in 2014 should know better. I was really disappointed to read that.

Cover comments: I like the cover. It's slightly cut-off here, but it's a good cover. I like that you never see Peyton's face, so it leaves a lot to the imagination, and I love the stars and how beautiful they are. I love galaxy stuff.*

Conclusion: Like I said, I liked this one. The story was really good, especially once it settled down and stopped skipping around. The rushing and the skipping was what I had the most problem with. I also thought the heavy pop culture mentions could get a little dated, but at the same time, many of them worked in context. (Although while mentioning Davis Bowie is actually clever, it kind of changes now that he's died.) Peyton is a very easy character to like, and he had a pretty unique story arc.

I'm going to put this out there, though - I wonder about how different this is from other books in the same vein. I think he has an interesting story just in the fact that he takes a different education/career path, and a lot of the book is about the romance. There's not really a huge moment of Peyton "coming out", more like a slow gradual process. Again, I'm not sure about this one, so I'm putting these out here as questions, not statements. These are things that I'm curious about how other people feel.

So my rating here of three roses is not based on that aspect, but on the rushing that happens at times, and somewhat on Tara's characterization. This almost feels like something that is an earlier draft of something that could have been amazing with more editing. As it is, it is good. Not amazing, but good, and I enjoyed it.



Other notes:

- Although it keeps making me think, like "universe in his head", and then I just read another book where music was a big thing, and some of that music was like church music, so my head keeps going to that "He's got the whole world in His hands", and guys, how do I know that song? I've never been to church or Sunday school or whatever in my life.

- The font in this is like identical to a book I had as a kid called Parents From Space, which I loved so much. There's probably a metaphor in there somewhere.

- I forgot to mention this, but the formatting in this had a few wonky moments, like places where the indenting would be messed up, or the last sentences in a paragraph was justified, so there'd be weird gaps in the line.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

Things I've Read Recently (17)

If you're new around here or I just haven't done one in a while, Things I've Read Recently is a series of posts I do that are basically mini-reviews of books that I either forgot to review, didn't have enough to say for a full review, or just didn't want to do a full post about for whatever reason. 'Cause those things take me a lot of time!

Also, this one is a very strange round-up, but I want to get a post up for March, so. Here it is!

The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson

Published: January 1st, 2009 by Clarion Books
Genre: I would classify this as contemporary MG, but apparently most people see it as YA/it was marketed that way?
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 144
Part of a series? No.
Got via: I bought it off Amazon.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound
(Affliate links.)

Summary (from goodreads): Meli Lleshi is positive that her drawing of her teacher with his pelican nose started it all. The Lleshis are Albanians living in Kosovo, a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors, and suddenly they are homeless refugees. Old and young alike, they find their courage tested by hunger, illness, the long, arduous journey, and danger on every side. Then, unexpectedly, they are brought to America by a church group and begin a new life in a small Vermont town. The events of 9/11 bring more challenges for this Muslim family--but this country is their home now and there can be no turning back.

Thoughts: I had mixed feelings about this one. I don't know much about the subject, so it was a learning experience for me. It's diverse, obviously, as Meli is Albanian and Muslim, as is her family. And it was a very interesting story. There is something, however, that just says "homework" about it to me. Like as a study unit, or a reading list book, it would fit very well. It reminds me a lot of the Breadwinner series that I read as a kid.

I dunno, I didn't dislike it, and it's small, so I'm not all "I must weed this for the shelf space", but I don't think I really connected with it. The plot seemed kind of confused, if that makes sense. This is one of those ones I'd really like to read other reviews of. I also think the timeframe of 1998-2000 is somewhat hard to work with and describe - it's not contemporary, but it's not really old enough to be historical, in my opinion. The writing, too, was a bit hard to get into, and I think reluctant readers would struggle a lot, and even strong readers may decide it's not worth it. Possibly I would enjoy it more on a reread.

I'm reading reviews now and a lot of people are saying this is a YA, whereas I would have categorized it as MG - I don't think this works as YA at all. Meli is I believe thirteen when the book starts, and fifteen at the end, but only barely, and most of it has her around thirteen and fourteen, which is very young for YA, and the arc is not really a YA arc to me. This book can't seem to decide where it wants to live, and I think it struggles with a lot of confusion. Also, for a YA, this is very short, whereas it'd be okay for MG. The problem is, I think, is that there are so few books about this subject that I want more from this.

And this is why I blog! Half the time it's not until I start writing that I work through my feelings!

The Haunting of Hiram by Eva Ibbotson

Published: This edition was published in 2009 by Macmillan Children's Books, but it was originally published in 1987 by the same publisher.
Genre: Fantasy MG
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 172
Part of a series? No, but it should would make a nice set with her other books.
Got via: I bought it from Amazon or Chapters, can't remember which.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound
(Affiliate links - this is also called the Haunting of Granite Falls for some reason.)

Summary (from goodreads): Alex MacBuff can't afford to keep his beloved Castle Carra, and an American millionaire has made him an offer he can't refuse. The castle is shipped all the way to Texas, but its ghostly inhabitants, including Krok the Viking warrior and a hell-hound called Cyril, follow their home across the Atlantic. How can Alex stop the haunting Hiram and also save the millionaire's daughter from an evil ransom plot?

Thoughts: I love Eva Ibbotson, but this is not my favourite of her books. She writes ghosts wonderfully. There's so much colour in them, and they are so very British. They're really fun, and she's not afraid to, like, flat-out murder the bad guys which can be very satisfying when you're young, and I think a lot of kids would enjoy this. This is a type of book where you need to go in expecting the silliness of it - ghosts exist, they live in castle, that castle is gonna be moved. You go in expecting something realistic, you're not going to be in the right mind frame.

But there's things about this that I didn't like. The man in a dress trope is transmisogynistic. Encouraging kids to not take medications that they need (even if they decide they don't) is not a good idea, and it's bad disability representation to do the "sunshine and friendship will heal all your issues" thing. Also, there's a running joke about "prairie ghosts" and Native American ghosts that is kinda racist.

So while I enjoyed the book, it's hard to say if I would recommend it for kids. I think the new covers are neat (this one is actually a bit darker in real life, with richer colours), but the content in this one is... somewhat dated, and problematic. It's really hard to look at these things, because I've loved Eva Ibbotson since I was small, but ... I don't wanna be the one who says that stuff is okay. I think she has better stuff that I would reach for first.

The Search by Nora Roberts

Published: July 6th, 2010 by Putnam
Genre: Romance
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: Goodreads says 488 and I'm gonna have to go with that because I don't have the copy I read anymore.
Part of a series? No, I don't think so.
Got via: The library
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life-a quaint house on an island off Seattle's coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescues. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare...

Several years ago, Fiona was the only survivor of the Red Scarf serial killer, who shot and killed Fiona's cop fiancé and his K-9 partner.

On Orcas Island, Fiona found the peace and solitude she needed to rebuild her life. But all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He's the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy, foisted upon him by his mother. Jaws has eaten through Simon's house, and he's at his wit's end.

To Fiona, Jaws is nothing she can't handle. Simon, however, is another matter. A newcomer to Orcas, he's a rugged and in-tensely private artist, known for the exquisite furniture he creates from wood. Simon never wanted a puppy-and he most definitely doesn't want a woman. Besides, the lanky redhead is not his type. But tell that to his hormones.

As Fiona embarks on training Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona's life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of his hands...

Thoughts: My mom kept reading me bits of this because of the puppy, Jaws, that were hilarious, and I had just finished finals, so I sat down and spent an evening reading this. I don't really review most of the romance I read because I review YA/MG, and I track/tag my picture books, so romance is about the only thing I just... read. So I have no notes or anything from this, but I enjoyed it. I really needed something like this after finishing finals/my final projects. This isn't even a mini-review, this is just a "I read this".

Okay, the next thing is neither one book nor really a review nor a first time read, but, hey, I need to get this post up and clean some books out of my room, so let's go with it!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Published: January 1st, 2008 by Scholastic
Genre: Dystopian YA
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 374
Part of a series? The first book of the Hunger Games trilogy.
Got via: I bought it at Walmart.
Amazon (also the kindle copy is only like 3 dollars) / Book Depository / Indiebound
(I'm also going to throw it out there that the boxed set is only a little over 20 dollars for paperback, 36 for hardcover, and under 15 for kindle, because, hey, that's a nice deal, and I like to tell you guys these things.)

Summary (from goodreads): The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The 'tributes' are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.

When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

(I'm going to put the summaries for the second and third books, too, so after this point, here be spoilers. If you've managed to avoid Hunger Games spoilers for 5 years, 3 books, and 3 movies - congratulations! What's the address of the rock you live under???)

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Published: September 1st, 2009 by Scholastic
Genre: Dystopian YA
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 391 in my hardcover copy.
Part of a series? The second book of the Hunger Games trilogy.
Got via: I also bought this one at Walmart.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Published: August 24th, 2010 by Scholastic
Genre: Dystopian YA
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 390 in my hardcover copy.
Part of a series? The third and final book of the Hunger Games trilogy.
Got via: Lindsay gave it to me because I was having a lot of trouble finding it where I live. (Love you!)
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans--except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost.

Thoughts: I have a notebook around here somewhere that I took all my notes in. Well, some of my notes. I reread the Hunger Games as a school project, and wrote a 5000 word essay on it for my final project for my Social class, so those notes are completely different from my regular "reading" notes, and for the other two, I just like writing stuff down as I read. I was not necessarily writing down review notes.

So my notes for the first book are largely on the "ways this relates to democracy" and my other homework stuff spectrum, but it was really nice to reread it. I am a person who enjoys rereading - I used to have a very, very small collection of books as a kid, and I read them all time after time. I can't do that to the same extent these days, but I still enjoy rereading.

And I really do like these books. Honestly, I love the movies (except I haven't seen Mockingjay yet 'cause I'm waiting to watch it with a friend and we've both been ridiculously busy), which isn't always the case, but I do love both the movies and the books, although I am good at separating them, too. There are things in the books that simply would not work in a movie.

Funnily enough, actually, some of the things I enjoy about the movies are exactly opposite that what I enjoy in the books. I like the fast pace of the Catching Fire movie, but I like the way the book spends so much more time showing us District 12, the people there, showing what Katniss' new life is like. I like how much more time people get in the book versus the movie a lot, although I also understand that things that are great in books sometimes just don't work on screen.

My notes make little sense here, honestly, because the further I read because the less coherent I was. Mockingjay makes me cry like a baby. Half of my notes are just me going "I'm not ready". One thing I really like about Mockingjay, though, is Katniss' experience of PTSD - she's mentally ill and physically disabled (actually the one thing that makes me really angry the movie is that it glossed over how injured both Katniss and Peeta were in the games, especially Peeta's leg and her ear) and I like that that makes people so angry because I'm sort of vindictive like that.

So this is really rambling, but I have too many feelings to really do this in a short form - 5000 word essay, remember? This will probably have to be my best effort! Plus I really want to get this up before March is over so I don't break my "at least one post per month this year" goal.

Oh, and I thought you might like to see my copy after I finished my homework.

I like post-its. I counted and there was 4 pink paper post-it strips, 8 green paper ones, 20 of those green plastic flags that are clear on one side, 43 blue plastic flags. I really like those plastic flags, by the way. They're really nice for studying.

See you in April!

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend

Fun fact! I wrote this as homework. Best homework yet! Cross your fingers I get a good grade on that. I'm actually only doing minor editing to make this work for here!

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner

Published: June 10th, 2010 by Dial which is an imprint of Penguin
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 259
Part of a series? Nope, standalone
Got via: I think I bought it from Chapters with a giftcard. Either that or Amazon.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound
(Affiliate links.)

Summary (copied from goodreads, but edited to match the inside flap of the dust jacket because I'm strange like that): For months, Cass Meyer has heard her best friend Julia, a wannabe Broadway composer, whispering about a top-secret project. Then Julia is killed in a sudden car accident, and drama friends make it their mission to bring the project – a musical entitled Totally Sweet Nina Death Squad – to fruition.

But Cass isn’t one of the drama people. She can’t take a summer of swallowing her pride and painting sets, and she won’t spend long hours Heather Galloway, the girl who rudely questioned Cass’s sexuality all through middle school and who has somehow landed the starring role.

So Cass decides to follow her original plan for a cross-country road trip with Julia. Even if she has a touring bicycle instead of a driver’s license, and even if Julia’s ashes are coming along in Tupperware. When Cass returns in late August she’s not the same person – and neither, she discovers, is Heather. In fact, it’s hard to tell what will happen to the play when they start falling for each other…

This is a story about friendship. About love. About traveling a thousand miles just to find yourself. And it’s a story about the bloodiest high school musical one quiet suburb has ever seen.

Review: First of all, I kinda cried through about half of this. I’m a little bit of a wuss, but it was a really good book. I do think the beginning was a little hard to get into, and at first, the non-linear story can be hard to follow, but once you get into the swing of it, it works for the story. It’s not the most unique storyline in the world, but I think it is different in that Cass isn’t straight, and her story is very different because of that. Diverse stories like this don’t need to be as unique as stories about straight character, especially, because the representation isn’t there yet. People need stories like this about characters like them, so in that, the plot not being the most unique thing is not a bad thing.

Plot Talk: Like I said, this isn’t the most unique plot ever. I’ve actually read a few in the last few years along these lines, and considering how not on the times I am... that's saying something. The two I really liked were Saving June by Hannah Harrington and Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott. (Bear in mind my linked reviews may be pretty old and not very good - personal growth and all that.) Saving June was actually also about a road trip of grief to scatter ashes in California, although that was a sister, not a best friend. Love You Hate You Miss You, though, also had a dead best friend named Julia. Combine those and add lesbians and you get A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend!

No, I'm kidding, but it is a trend. Ones that makes me cry a lot, actually. Other variants I’ve read include 34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues, which was pretty diverse itself, but I thought was kind of cliché and a little weaker in the writing, maybe Rosebush by Michelle Jaffe which I was not a fan of, and maybe we could include this small press book I read The Green-Eyed Queen of Suicide City by Kevin Mark Fournier, which I had a lot of conflicted feelings about and was kind of weird - you can hit up my review of that for more information.

So again, the dead best friend road trip of grief thing isn’t the most unique thing, but it is unique in its representation, so that’s not a problem for me. I did really appreciate that although Cass is not entirely certain of her sexuality, it’s not really a coming out story. Questioning is fine, you know? Lots of people do it, because sexuality is something that can be constantly changing and shifting.

I also did like that her road trip was on a bike, not in a car or anything. That is pretty different from any others I’ve read. Plus, road trips tend to be a very male literary trope, so whenever you get girls taking them, it’s nice to see.

Characters: Our main character is Cass, who lost her best friend only a few months before, and is still dealing with her grief, and the loss. The story is told through alternating chapters between the past and the present. The past in this case is the road trip Cass attempted to take after Julia’s ashes to California, on her bike. From Illinois. And I don’t know US geography that well, I’ll admit, but even I know that’s far. The trip, however, isn’t really about getting to California. It’s about Cass’ grieving and trying to find out who she is without her best friend, and what her feelings for Julia really were.

The present here is about Julia’s musical, Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad, which Julia’s boyfriend and drama friends decided to put on, and was one of the major factors in Cass needing to leave, because she was feeling left out, like Julia’s friends were just that, Julia’s friends, and not Cass’ friends. It also deals with her confusing feelings for Heather, the star of the show, who used to make her life miserable until she went away to Catholic school and is now back, and… confusing. Very confusing.

Heather is an interesting character. She’s gay, but was very much not out in middle school, when she made Cass’ life miserable by spreading rumours about her. She’s trying to… not erase what happened, but try and make up for it. I’m not entirely sure I like the idea that it was her being closeted that made her bully Cass, because I’ve read some criticisms about that, and how it’s a problematic narrative with kind of unfortunate implications. Something about dating your bully just squicks me out a little, too. That kind of seems like a bad base for a relationship, but it works alright, and she doesn’t try to excuse her actions. So I don’t love that part, but it’s not a dealbreaker for me. I would, however, have to read other POVs about this before I say much more.

Now, the dead best friend – usually in these books you get a much better view of the dead friend or sister or whatever, with flashback or scenes set in the past, and this one is different in that even the “past” storyline is still post-death, so you don’t get quite the same impact of who this person was. She’s still there, but it’s different, and that’s something that is unique about Love Story.

I do think the story suffered a little in the other secondary characters. They aren’t bad or anything, but they weren’t as fleshed out as they could have been. Horner also didn’t have the strongest physical descriptions of the characters, which can be a plus or a minus, but I think didn’t work so well in this one. On the plus side, the cast, especially Julia’s friends, were pretty diverse, but that didn’t have the time to shine that it deserved. At times it was almost blink and you miss it.

PG-13 stuff: Nothing too much to report. Mature subject matter, especially in the grief aspect, but I wouldn’t say this is inappropriate for younger teens. There’s not much for language. Some, but it’s used sparingly. There’s some sex talk, but nothing that happens on screen, and it’s realistic, and very well handled. If I was the person doing the little stickers on books, I’d say maybe 12+.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: I didn’t like that they never mentioned the concept of bisexuality. It’s basically danced around that Cass is either gay or straight, and I’m not a fan of that. Cass’ sexuality is never labelled by her, although other people do, but despite all her questioning, that’s never a word used, and I didn’t like that. Bisexual characters – or, god forbid, asexual characters – are like unicorns. Except you see unicorns on TV, and they don’t call them horses that don’t like labels.

Um, other than that, I think I’ve mentioned everything. Narration style is a little confusing at the beginning, secondary characters could have been a little more fleshed out… I think that’s about everything.

Cover comments: I like that it takes the elements of the book like the bike, the motel, the theatre-type sign. I don’t like the girl because she looks very model-y, and really smiley, which is not appropriate for the story. If they had, like, cut the girl and slid the bike over a little under the window, I think it would have been just right. It’s a nice cover, still, though.

Conclusion: Cass’ struggles in finding herself her best friend’s death, of trying to figure out who she is and what she wants, of trying to take part in this ridiculous wonderful musical, just trying to find her place in a world where she’s lost a person she’s cared about very deeply, they’re realistic. None of this stuff is easy, but that’s kind of how life goes. Thing are hard and sometimes they suck and sometimes they’re really awesome.

When I showed my friend my stack of books I was considering, I had a little bit of feeling he’d pick this one, because I knew he loved it, which was actually part of the reason I bought. I mean, I had a gift card and it was on for really cheap so that was a part of it, too, but also I knew he liked it. He really recommended it, and recommended it as something that was unique, and I think in the end, I do think that while the tropes are familiar, the writing is good and the representation especially makes it very unique. I bawled like a baby and like actually couldn’t reread one of the scenes without tearing up a little while I was checking some of the stuff for the review, but in the end, while I did really love this book, and that’s great, it’s not really written for me, and that’s okay, because there’s somebody out there who desperately needs this book. And I’m glad that person has a good book waiting for them to find.

Somewhere between three and a half roses and four for this one. I'll put 3.5 for simplicity's sake, but probably 3.75 if I gave quarter ratings!



I don't think I have any other notes, so...

OH I meant to mention - last year I posted at least once every month. Hoping to keep that up again this year! I'm barely squeezing this one in, but it was the end of semester, so I'm not being too hard on myself about that.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

Things I've Read Recently (11)

So if you're new around here or if I haven't done one of these in a while, Things I've Read Recently is a series of blog posts I do that are basically mini-reviews for whatever reason. Sometimes they're a little eclectic. Case in point.

First up:

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Published: May 6th, 2008 by Little Brown
Genre: Adult Science Fiction (Ooh la la)
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 620
Part of a series? Okay, it's rumoured that there'll be 2 more books, but really, don't hold your breath. It's probably never going to happen.
Got via: Garage sale. I think it was a dollar or something.
Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound

Summary (from goodreads): Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Review: I know the very valid issues with Twilight, don't get me wrong - but I still enjoy both the books and the movies. And I'm glad I finally got around to reading The Host. Do I think it's the most well-written book ever? No. But it's enjoyable and I do think the writing is super-engrossing. It's very much a book you don't want to put down. I also think it's a lot different from Twilight. It seems further away from her personal beliefs, honestly. (Premarital sex exists! Gasp!) The romances are preferable for me personally, Wanderer and Melanie are vastly different, and there's also a neat discussion about what makes one their gender. Unfortunately, it does come back to "female = bears young" which is obviously not true and very erasing of people who can get pregnant who aren't female (also - how do you explain seahorses then?), but it does raise a good point in that people shouldn't have to defend their gender.

Sometimes the writing is a little rough. Sometimes the romance is problematic (although not nearly as bad as Twilight, really). The book is much more character based than plot based, but I don't really think that's a bad thing. I'm not here to say it's a perfect book.

But it's a very enjoyable book. The voice drew me in and I basically read the whole thing in one sitting. Which considering it's 600 pages long, says something. Quite honestly, I think Stephenie Meyer puts very unique spins on things that have, obviously been done before. Vampires, the concept of the aliens in this book is actually really similar to the ones in Animorphs when you think about it. And it'd be a shame if we never got to see the things should could come up with as she becomes an older, more experienced writer.

I enjoyed this a lot. I would recommend it for sure.

Oh, and I like the cover. It fit the book and I like that they didn't shoe-horn it into the "Twilight" look.

(Also I have a note here that just says "Kevin *snickers*" and I wonder if anyone will get that but me. Probably not.)

Next up:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Other Stories by Lewis Carroll

Published: This edition is by Barnes and Noble in 2010
Genre: Children's Fantasy or Classic Children's Lit, I think?
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 1165 pages
Got via: It was a gift.
Goodreads link to my edition.
Amazon (This is like three dollars, great deal!) / Book Depository / IndieBound / Oh, here's the Barnes and Noble link to my edition because it's all pretty and stuff

This has like, all of Lewis Carroll's published writings, I guess? I flipped through some of the others, but I was just in the mood to reread the Alice stories so I mostly read those. So I'm going to approach these are two books, basically.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Published: Originally in 1865
Page count: 120 pages in my edition
Part of a series? There's a sequel, obviously.

Summary: ...okay it's hard to find a simple summary. But we all know this one, right? Alice chases the white rabbit and falls down the hole. She ends up in Wonderland, goes through a bunch of weird things, eats some stuff that makes her grow and shrink, and eventually ends up playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts who's always all "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS". I mean. The book is almost 150 years old. I think that's a good enough summary, right?

Review: As I said, this is a reread for me. I've read it several times since I was a kid. I like this edition just fine - all the extra stuff is really neat, and the end papers are beautiful - but I really do love the ones that have full-cover illustrations. The one I read first ever was a set of classics my school owned and it had gorgeous pictures in addition to the original black and white ones. It's mostly a nostalgia thing, though, honestly.

Anyways! I'm not really reviewing this so much as just mentioning I read it. I made some notes because it's habit, though, but not that many. Mostly that it's weird how most of the adaptations skip the Pig and Pepper chapter and leave out the Duchess completely, isn't it? And they leave out the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon, and also change the garden scene and how it happens.

Through the Looking Glass

Published: Originally published in 1871
Page count: It's about 125 in my copy
Part of a series? Sequel to Wonderland

Summary: Okay, this one is less commonly known, I think. Basically the set-up is that Alice, on a boring day, ends up slipping through the mirror into a mirror world. She ends up playing a giant game of chess with the chess pieces she'd been playing with earlier in the real world.

Review: Both the other 2 editions I've read have had this along with Wonderland since they're both so short. They only about 250 pages total. But I've always loved this one, even more than Wonderland. When I was a kid, I had this thing about mirrors (thank you, Rugrats and my own imagination) and chess (thank you, Harry Potter - not that I could play at all) and this just appealed to me more because of those things.

Now. Isn't it weird that Jabberwocky, the Garden of Live Flowers, the Bread-and-Butter-Fly, Humpty Dumpty, the Walrus and the Carpenter, unbirthdays, and, of course, Tweedledee and Tweedledum all say "Alice in Wonderland" when they come from this one?

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan

Published: August 27th, 2001 by Speak
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 215
Part of a series: Yes, there's a sequel - or more like a companian since it's told from Battle's POV.
Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound

Summary (from goodreads and then edited to match the back of the book): Nicola Lancaster is spending her summer at the Siegel Institute - a hothouse of smart, articulate, intense teenagers living like college students for eight weeks. Nic's had theatre friends and ochestra friends, but never just friend friends. And she's certainly never had a relationship.

But on the very first day, she falls in with Katrina the Manic Computer Chick, Isaac the Nice-Guy-Despite-Himself, Kevin the Inarticulate Composer... and Battle.

Battle Hall Davies is a beautiful blond dancer from North Carolina. She's everything Nic isn't. Soon the two are friends - and then, startlingly, more than friends. What do you do when you think you're attracted to guys, and then you meet a girl who steals your heart?

Review: I actually reviewed the second book, The Rules for Hearts, here because I'm a dork like that and didn't realize it was a sequel. Don't read it because I was terrible at reviewing back then! But I would like to reread it now that I've read Empress of the World and see how they work as a pair. It's confusing to read books backwards, but I didn't even realize this existed when I read the other.

So obviously that affected my reading experience a little. Mostly because I kept trying to remember what happens in the next book XD Anyways, I liked this one. It's cute, only ever so slightly angsty, and everyone lives at the end. Basically, it's just your average cute summer romance book with just a little self-discovery thrown in.

And the fashion descriptions are hilarious. It's weird to think 2001 was over a decade ago. And 2001 was a lot closer to the 90s than the 2010s. Although one thing that did bother me a little was that all the three girls were apparently basically the same size and could trade clothes. We couldn't get a little body diversity?

I also have to mention this:

(It's a little blurry, sorry, the lighting was bad and my camera batteries are dying so I was rushing. The part you need to know is "It really expressed the things that young lesbians growing up have to face.")

And at first when I saw this, I was all, "yay, sounds good".

Then I read the book and it turned into "did we read the same book?"

Because the thing is - Nicola is not a lesbian. She states that she has likes boys before and probably will again, and as such, prefers bisexual if a label must be used. She says multiple times that she doesn't like being called a lesbian, because she isn't.

Battle likes girls, but she never states in this book what she prefers to be called, and she dates boys, too, after dating girls. While Battle might eventually identify as a lesbian (I can't remember if she does in the second book, but she doesn't in this), assuming she does, along with calling Nicola one, is bi-erasure and that hurts people. Absolutely I don't blame the author, but I think at some point in the publishing process, maybe somebody should have said "Maybe that's not the best wording we could go with", you know?

But all in all, this is mostly just a sweet book and it's special in that it's not special. We have pretty much all read a similar type of book - but this one has two girls in love instead of a girl and a boy. Representation! Very much important. Recommend this one!

(Fun fact - the cover of this is a Lookalike of the Comeback Season. Which I also own. I'm considering putting them next to each other just to amuse myself. There are others similiar, too, but I don't own any of those!)

Okay, I think that's everything. We'll count that as four since there are two Alice books.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: Replica

Look a review!! Shhh, don't spook it ;)

Replica by Jenna Black

Published: July 16th 2013 by Tor
Genre: YA Science Fiction, specifically Dystopian
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 368
Part of a series? Book 1 of the Replica Trilogy. The second book came out in March and the third will be out in November.
Got via: The library.
Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound

Summary (from goodreads): Sixteen-year-old Nadia Lake comes from a high-class Executive family in the Corporate States. Her marriage has been arranged with the most powerful family in her state, which means she lives a life of privilege but also of public scrutiny, followed everywhere by photographers, every detail of her private life tabloid fodder. But her future is assured, as long as she can maintain her flawless public image — no easy feat when your betrothed is a notorious playboy.

Nathan Hayes is the heir of Paxco — controller of the former state of New York, and creator of human replication technology, science that every state and every country in the world would kill to have. Though Nadia and Nate aren’t in love, they’ve grown up close, and they (and the world) are happy enough with their match.

Until Nate turns up dead, and as far as everyone knows, Nadia was the last person to see him alive.

When the new Nate wakes up in the replication tanks, he knows he must have died, but with a memory that only reaches to his last memory backup, he doesn’t know what killed him. Together, Nadia and Nate must discover what really happened without revealing the secrets that those who run their world would kill to protect.

Review: I've only read one of Jenna Black's adult books, so I was sort of going into this one not knowing anything besides reading the back at the library. I also read most of this while completely stoned on knock-off Sudafed because my sinuses were killing me. (You can imagine how tidy my book-notes are.) Possibly partly because of that, Replica was a bit hard for me to get into at first. I actually considered doing the 50-page test, but the fact that I was stoned out of my mind by that point and didn't feel like standing up because I got wobbly every time I did really helped matters immensely!

No, in all seriousness, it took me until about 100 pages in to really get invested in things. It didn't seem like things really kicked up until around then, too. When they did, I did end up really wanting to know what would happen, and especially who killed Nate. (Which by the way literally happens in the second chapter. Not a spoiler.) While I had some trouble getting into it, I was glad I did. By the ends of things, I was satisfied that I'd read it and with how it ended.

Plot Talk: So Replica takes place in a dystopian-type vaguely futuristic setting. I... kind of assumes it was the future, anyways. I suppose it could have been an alrternate history type deal, but the advanced technology, the part where the US has kind of fallen, and the whole cloning/human back-up thing made me assume future. It was pretty vague, though, and I think that the world-building suffered quite a bit.

That was not really about plot, was it? Okay, so. The plot itself is your average girl is engaged to boy. Boy is not into girls but it's a political arranged marriage. Boy gets killed and brought back to life. Girl gets threatened by a government agent employed by boy's father into spying on boy. Boy and girl go to extreme measures to find boy's killer and end up discovering all the dark secret-type things you'd expect in this kind of thing.

There. Plot! *jazz hands*

Characters: This is an alternating POV book, starting with Nadia's POV. Nadia is sixteen, arranged to be engaged since the age of four (because they couldn't be legally engaged until they were both eighteen because arranged marriage is totes cool when it involves barely legal teenagers), and... kind of boring. I'm sorry! I really wanted to like her, but I didn't feel like she actually had much personality and the plot definitely did not give her a lot of agency most of the time. There were a fair amount of instances where she could have been removed from the book and it wouldn't have changed things, and that really sucked.

As the book was told in third person, I think Nadia ended up feeling removed. You didn't really know that much about her besides that she really liked tea. She didn't get nearly enough characterization for my tastes. t was disappointing because her story was really interesting and the moments where you got to see a little more of her personality were great and made me want so much more.

Nate got a lot more characterization and character growth. He went from spoiled playboy to much more grounded and realistic through the book. His POV starts with him waking up as a clone (or Replica) so you never get to see the "Original" Nate's POV, only him from Nadia's POV, which raises fascinating questions regarding the whole "what makes a human" thing. That was a really cool idea and that element was handled well.

Nate being a MOGII* person was also handled extremely well. I think it's super important that sci-fi and fantasy be diverse and that everything doesn't have to be an "issue" book. Having only one kind of story told about people like you is not really great representation, and represention is so important. Nate being gay was obviously important to his character, but it wasn't that important to the plot. It ends up just being another part of his character.

Nate's boyfriend Kurt Bishop was very important to the plot, but also not because of their relationship or his orientation. He was a chritical character for reasons other than the romance between him and Nate. This is actually a book that does not focus heavily on romance, although their relationship is focused on more than any other in the book. In general, the romance is very minimal - the only kiss is actually a kiss on the head that ends up being very poignant - but their relationship is talked about and on-screen the most. Which is great.

The side characters were good, too. I'm not always a huge fan of "mean girl" characters because I think they can be very shallow and misogynistic, and there were a few of them, and Nadia's father didn't really seem to get a lot of screentime, but her mother had a few great, really unexpected moments. And the villain kind of completely shocked me.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: I really do hate that Nadia wasn't more characterized. That's something that actually makes me sad. The pacing and world-building could have been better stronger, as well.

PG-13 stuff: It's definitely an older YA, or for a more mature reader. There's some language, teenage drinking mentions of drug use, and sex. But there's also, more importantly to me, a lot of fridge horror in the cloning aspect, the realities of having a very rich popular controlling a large, very poor population where there's crime and violence and hopelessness. There's also a mention of Nadia's mother once having a miscarriage (not plot related, but some people have trouble reading that) and sex workers, including very young people, even children.

It's not necessarily bad to me to include things like this in media, but I think it's important to talk about it in reviews/discussions for people who might not be okay with reading it, so that's what I'm trying to do here.

Cover comments: I like it. It's very science-y. Sleek. It works very well for the book, I think.

Conclusion: This review is coming off a lot more negative than I expected! While the things I had problems with were almost enough to make me stop reading because I had trouble getting into it, I did end up enjoying it. I don't think the plot was too unique - it's vaguely Hungers Game-esque in the world-building - but the book did have a good amount of interesting, fairly unique element and, although the ending seemed a bit like sequel bait, it was satisfying to finish it. It's somewhat of a cliffhanger, but it was predictable enough to me that it would me a cliffhanger that it didn't bother me.

And I really did like that one of the characters was a MOGII* person because representation is super important and this kind is particularly refreshing. Diversity in YA and all that good stuff.

So while I had issues, I don't want you to think I hated it or anything. I really didn't! I liked the plot, I really liked a lot of the creepier elements, I liked most of the characters. I liked a lot of the book, I just had... issues connecting at times. I give Replica three and a half roses out of five for me personally, but I do recommend it and I think a lot of people would enjoy it.



*Marginalized Orientations, Gender Identities, and Intersex

Other notes:
- I have a note here that literally says "Thing about hair dye, cookies, etc, Laina" so apparently I was getting tired when I wrote this out.
- OH yeah, a character at one point shaves his head because "dye stinks". Dude, it's the FUTURE and body mod is huge, apparently. I have hair dye that smells like grapes. DON'T YOU GIVE ME THAT NOISE.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: How to Tend a Grave

Look, another review! I'm kinda proud of myself, heh.

Okay, this is a serious book, so let's get serious and pretend that Olivia Newton John's Physical didn't start playing in my head the second I said "let's get serious".

How to Tend a Grave by Jocelyn Shipley

Published: March 2012 by Great Plains Teen Fiction
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 178
Part of a series? No.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): When Liam’s mom is killed, he thinks life can’t get any worse. He’s wrong. He’s forced to live with a grandfather he’s never known, in a small town where kids called Youth and Crime lead the local gang. They’re posers, but they mean trouble, and their favourite hangout is the cemetery where Liam’s mom is buried. But the cemetery is also where Liam meets Harmony, a gorgeous but unusual girl who records the names of all the babies buried there long ago. Besides their grief, both Liam and Harmony have secrets.

The very different stories of these two fifteen-year-olds interweave brilliantly in this fast-paced, engaging and unforgettable novel about family, love and healing.

Review: Little bit of background - if you don't know (and you may not), Great Plains Publications is an indie Canadian publisher and they publish YA under the Great Plains Teen Fiction label. And now you know something new!

How to Tend a Grave is told through the alternating POVs of Liam and Harmony. Liam loses his mom at the beginning of the book and, through Harmony's diary entries, we learn that she has recently had a late-term miscarriage. The book deals largely with the process of them both grieving. I kind of have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I liked a lot of it, but I also had some issues with it. I thought that the Harmony parts, being that they were in first person, were much stronger than Liam's third person parts. His parts tended to be kind of rushed with not enough time to really get into his characterization or motivation. In fact, the whole book could have done with expanding a lot of scenes. This easily could have been a 300 page book and it would have been a lot better, I think.

Plot Talk: The plot had some very unique aspects. Liam's plot wasn't entirely unique - dead parent, move to new town, get into trouble - but his mother being a sex worker was something that I don't really see that often. And I really actually liked how the author presented that. His mom wasn't a drug addict or anything, and, while Liam hated that she was gone a lot at night and wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of his mother having sex at all, it was treated respectfully and she wasn't really shamed for her choices for most of the book, besides when Liam latched onto it as part of his grieving process.

But the part that I thought was absolutely unique was Harmony's plot. Her POV comes in the form of journal entries. She's almost sixteen and she's dealing a recent late-term miscarriage. What's unique, I think, is that she has such mixed feelings about it. She's grieving, she's sad, she wants the baby back, but she's relieved, she's guilty, she's guilty about being relieved, she knows she probably didn't want to be a teen mom. It's a really interesting story that I actually would have loved a lot more of in the book.

Characters: The biggest characters are Liam and Harmony. Liam, again, is dealing with the recent loss of his mom. Unfortunately, I think because of the rushed pacing and maybe even the choice to use third person in writing his POV, he comes off kind of flat. You don't really know that much about him at the end of the book. His motivations in going along with the Youth 4 Crime gang is vague and doesn't make sense. His character could have been a lot deeper and more complex, and I'm disappointed it wasn't.

Harmony's character seemed a lot more developed, which is funny because she got fewer chapters. Maybe it was because she had interests and stuff, or because we learned more about her parents, I'm not sure. Maybe it was just because her POV was in first person. But you felt like you knew Harmony more, and her voice was much stronger than Liam's. And I hate to say it, but she was honestly just more interesting than Liam.

I also thought it was a very strong point that she talked pretty frankly about her miscarriage.  Her journal entries are addressed to her lost baby, suggested as a grief tool by a counsellor. I think it was unique that, while obviously it was sad and scary and everything, she didn't gloss over the medical side of the miscarriage, if that makes sense. She talked about how she bled without it sounding like a horror movie, about having medical procedures, about how she didn't want to see the baby. It's not unemotional, mind you. But it rings very true to life. It feels like how a fifteen year old girl might react in that situation, even her slightly-odd coping methods.

Harmony's parents were imperfect. They put a lot of pressure on her to keep the baby even though she wasn't sure she wanted to - and in fact was at one point very sure she didn't want to. Harmony even states that she felt her parents made the choice for her because they wanted another chance at having a kid, since they'd only been able to have her. They are also grieving throughout the book, and it takes most of it for their relationship to be better at all. I actually wish there had been more about them healing, maybe even a confrontation since Harmony had a lot of feelings hidden.

Liam's grandfather was pretty neat. I liked the way he and Liam bonded over his garden. I do again wish that they'd had more screentime, though. He's another one who suffered from the book being so short.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: The voice, especially in Liam's POV, is rough sometimes. There are a lot of scenes that really could have been expanded to deepen the characterization and it does end up feeling rushed because of that and some characters come off shallow.

Okay, this next part is going to be a little spoilery. Not terribly much, but a little. Skip it if you want, but it shouldn't ruin anything. Why is everything that's a con a spoiler? Alright. So it comes out at one point that there was a forty-five year old who had an affair with a seventeen year old. Who was his student, as he was her history teacher. And this character's father says this:

"If I'd known at the time... and I didn't. And he swears it was mutual. Which doesn't excuse him, but I didn't. And he swears it was mutal. Which doesn't excuse him, but he might not be completely to blame. You have to realize that (character) was seductive."

NO. This is victim blaming. I don't care what the age of consent was (and yes, in 1996, it was stupid in Canada and way too low as far as I'm concerned). When you are forty-five, you cannot have sex with your seventeen year old student and call it consensual. That student is a child who you are in a positition of authority over. I just... I had a lot of problems with that and I didn't blame the character who ended up being enraged and disgusted by it.

PG-13 stuff: The afore mentioned spoilery part. Harmony's miscarriage is discussed frankly, along with the conception (which she does not remember - trigger warning on that). Liam's mother is a sex worker and that's also discussed frankly. There is, weirdly, not a lot of language going on. There's some violence.

Cover comments: I really like the cover. The contrast of the pink of the roses against the mostly grey cover is lovely. It's also very presentative of both plots. The gravestone being Liam's plot, the mobile being more of Harmony's. It's beautifully designed and absolutely eye-catching.

Conclusion: I wanted to like this one so much more than I did! I love finding great Canadian Lit and I really thought it sounded amazing. Unfortunately, it really suffered from being so short and such quick pacing, and Liam's chapters were weak. Because I did like Harmony's chapters a lot, I'm going to give this a three out of five.



Other notes:

- This is set in the fictional town of Dunlane, Ontario. There are, however, ghost towns named Dunblane in both Ontario and Saskatchewan, apparently, and a Dunblane in Scotland. And sad things happened there.
- It's mentioned that Harmony's mom is part Asian, so Harmony is biracial. Diversity, yay.
- Worst gang name ever.

Alright, what do you guys think about this one?

Peace and cookies,
Laina