Author Interview: Ellen Hopkins - Triangles

Today my lovely readers, I have the honour of interviewing the New York Times Bestselling Author Ellen Hopkins. Ellen is the author of several Young Adult books and has just published her first book for adult readers. Triangles was released on October 18, 2011 and published by Atria Books. Today she stops by to talk a little bit about it.

N: Can you tell us who or what inspired you to write Triangles?

EH: Interestingly enough, the suggestion for a book about midlife crises came from a teen boy reader. I assume one or both of his parents was experiencing one (which also underlines the fact that all family members can be aware of and affected by them).

N: What was your favourite chapter (or part) of Triangles to write and why?

EH: Hard to choose one, but maybe the part where Marissa and her husband, Christian, go to Monterey for the weekend to try and rekindle their romance. My husband and I have spent several romantic weekends in Monterey/Big Sur, and if any place could inspire love, I think that's it.

N: Did you base any of the characters in Triangles on people from your own life? Why or why not?

EH: Holly and Marissa are both inspired by friends who hit huge turning points in their early forties. And there are little threads of me in all three women. Which, I guess, says I've got multiple personalities or something.

N: Is there a message that you want readers to take away after having read the book?

EH: I think it's okay to question ourselves and our lives. To reevaluate when we must. It's natural. Smart. So don't worry when it happens to you. But choose your direction carefully, especially when kids are involved.

N: Was it always in your plan to move into adult books and essentially grow with your readers?

EH: My life has been a series of unfoldings, as a woman, and as a writer. I didn't plan to write teen fiction until the right story hit me, and it had to be YA. Then I discovered a talent for and love of writing YA. Neither did I plan to move into adult fiction until the right story hit me, and it had to be aimed at older readers. I feel fortunate that as my readers have grown they have continued to embrace my writing.

N: When writing, do you plot our story or is it more of an organic process?

EH: I generally don't outline a book, but rather carefully craft characters, building their stories as I learn who they are, partially in the prewrite phase, but mostly letting them tell me which direction THEY would go as I write.

N: What can readers expect next from you? Are you currently working on another book now?

EH: The next YA, TILT (Fall 2012), is a companion to TRIANGLES, focusing on three of the teens in that book. And I'm currently writing the next adult, COLLATERAL (Fall 2012), about deployment and what that means to those left behind. I've been researching the topic for months, including interviewing military families.

N: If you had to recommend one book to another person, what would it be?

EH: ONE book? Wow. That's hard. Maybe WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would like to thank Ellen for stopping by and participating in the interview.  You can order a copy of Triangles here!

Be sure to connect with Ellen Hopkins online!

• Website
• Twitter
• Facebook

Review: Triangles by Ellen Hopkins

Title: Triangles
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Rating: PG
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: October 18, 2011
Pages: 544 Pages
Source: ARC provided by Publisher
My Rating: 4*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

THREE FEMALE FRIENDS FACE MIDLIFE CRISES IN A NO-HOLDS-BARRED EXPLORATION OF SEX, MARRIAGE, AND THE FRAGILITY OF LIFE.

Holly: Filled with regret for being a stay-at-home mom, she sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?

Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband?

Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts.

As one woman’s marriage unravels, another’s rekindles. As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Unflinchingly honest, emotionally powerful, surprisingly erotic, Triangles is the ultimate page-turner. Hopkins’s gorgeous, expertly honed poetic verse perfectly captures the inner lives of her characters. Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost.

Get lost in the world of Triangles, where the lives of three unforgettable women intersect, and where there are no easy answers.

Quotes

’Falling to pieces. That’s how my life feels. Fractured. Crushed. Disintegrating. And the weird thing is, it’s all because of that stupid little word: love. I’ve fallen in love with ..., and it’s tinting everything normal about me with shades of insanity.’

My Thoughts

This was the first book by Ellen Hopkins that I have ever read.  It was also my first time reading a book written in verse.  When the opportunity came to participate in a blog tour for Triangles I absolutely jumped at the chance and I am glad that I did.


Triangles is an absolute roller coaster ride from beginning to end.   Told from the various point's of view, Triangles is at times emotional, erotic, raw, honest and above all real.

The stories of Holly, Marissa and Andrea are ones that are found in everyday life.  A woman unfulfilled and unhappy in her marriage, a woman struggling to hold on to her family and herself in the face of overwhelming odds, and a woman simply searching for something more.  All are stories that we hear about everyday, some of us, maybe experiencing for ourselves in some way shape or form.  That, to me, is the mark of excellent writing and storytelling.  The fact that it was done so well and in verse is a bonus.

This is not a YA book, but fans of Ellen's YA readers who have grown up and matured with each novel written by Ellen Hopkins will find Triangles to be a welcome addition to their collection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author
Ellen Hopkins is the New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, and Identical. She lives in Carson City, Nevada, with her husband and son. Hopkin's MySpace and Facebook pages get thousands of hits from teens who claim Hopkins is the "only one who understands me".

Ellen's Website
Ellen's Facebook Page
Ellen's Twitter Page

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to visit the other stops on the Triangles blog tour!

11/2/2011 Reflections with Coffee
11/3/2011 Taming the Bookshelf 
11/4/2011 Oodles of Books
11/5/2011 Ravishing Reads
11/7/2011 Review from Here
11/8/2011 Proud Book Nerd
11/9/2011 The Book Swarm 
11/10/2011 Tiffany's Bookshelf
11/11/2011 Kritters Ramblings
11/13/2011 Hippies, Beauty, and Books Oh My!
11/15/2011 So Many Books, So Little Time
11/16/2011 Book Snob 
11/17/2011 Reader Girls 
11/18/2011 Colloquium

Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Title: Living Dead Girl
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Genre: YA, Social Issues, Child Abuse
Rating: R
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: September 2, 2008
Pages: 170
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
My Rating: 5*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

The thing is, you can get used to anything. You think you can't, you want to die, but you don't. You won't. You just are.

This is Alice.
She was taken by Ray five years ago.
She thought she knew how her story would end.
She was wrong.

Quotes

     The audience always boos and says You Should Have Done Something.  You should have fought back.  You should have known no one has that kind of power.  You should have been strong.
     You shouldn't have been so stupid.
     The women nod and sniffle.  They are still broken.  They still agree with everything anyone wants.  Even the ones who try to explain end up with their heads down, their hands in their laps.  Little girl ready to say she's sorry.
     All our fault, always.

My Thoughts

Let me start this review off by saying that I have a cast iron stomach.  I also have a pretty warped sense of humor and I am not usually bothered by things that would make most people spend the rest of their lives on a psychiatrist's couch.  Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott disturbed me so much that it actually made me physically ill.

I have read books about abuse and I have read books about child abuse.  None of the other books I have read have have communicated the utter devastation, degradation and hopelessness that is demonstrated in Living Dead Girl.  It's not enough to just say that Alice is a victim and to get glimpses of the abuse that she has and is suffering.

What makes this story so profoundly disturbing is the insight into both the minds of Alice and her captor/abuser/tormentor Ray.  To see that Alice knows that she is never going to get out of this, in the traditional sense of being rescued and going home, but rather that the only way out for her is death and to watch her accept and welcome this is absolutely horrifying.

All I have to say is thank the lord that this book was only 170 pages long.  I don't think I could have handled reading much more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author

Hey there, I'm Elizabeth. I write young adult novels. I live just outside Washington DC with my husband and dog, and am unable to pass a bookstore without stopping and going inside.

All right, and I can't leave without buying at least one book.

Usually two. (Or more!)

Visit her website!

Review: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Title: The Lost Hero (Hero's of Olympus #1)
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Middle Grade, Action Adventure
Rating: G
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: October 12, 2010
Pages: 557 Pages
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
My Rating: 5*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.

Quotes

     "Coach," Jason pleaded, "they may be friendly.  Besides we're trespassing in their house."
     "Thank you!" said the old man in the bathrobe.  "Now, who are you, and why are you here?"
     "Let's all put our weapons down," Piper said.  "Coach, you first."
     Hedge clenched his jaw.  "Just one thwack?"
     "No," Piper said.
     "What about a compromise? I'll kill them first, and if it turns out they were friendly, I'll apologize."

My Thoughts

So at the time I read this book, I hadn't yet read the Percy Jackson series by the same author.  I own all five books in that series, but I stopped reading them after the first one.  I can't really say why.  I picked up this book on the sole strength of how much I love the books in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan.  

Can I just say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book?  I can't really say that this book is better than the original Percy Jackson series as I haven't read them yet, but in my opinion, this book can hold it's own.

I could not stop giggling when I read this book.  The humor in this book, just as it was in the Kane Chronicles, just didn't stop.  I am not really sure what it is about the Satyr's that makes them so funny, but it just works.  Give that satyr a bit of a complex and a megaphone and the hilarity just doesn't stop.

One thing I did appreciate about this book was not only the introduction of new characters, but the fact that each chapter or two was told from a different viewpoint.  I find that with these stories, getting the different view points works very well as each character has their own part to play in the story.  The best part of this book and in fact this series, is that not only does it get kids excited to read, but it teaches them quite a lot about mythology and in terms that they can understand.

Review: The Night Circus

Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Rating: PG
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Release Date: September 13, 2011
Pages: 387
Source: Finished Copy provided by Chapters Indigo

[Goodreads | Amazon]


Synopsis
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Quotes

"Well then," Chandresh says.  We are set as far as contortionists go.  That's a start."

"Shouldn't there be more than one?" Lainie asks.  "An entire tent, like one for the acrobats?"

"Nonsense," Chandresh replies.  "Better to have a single perfect diamond than  sack of flawed stones.  We'll make a showcase of her, put her in the courtyard or something."

The matter is considered settled for the moment, and throughout dessert and after-dinner drinks, the only subject discussed is the circus itself.

My Thoughts

     The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is absolutely masterful and after having read it, I can say that it has been without a doubt my favourite book of 2011.  The Night Circus is one of those books that you come across very seldom and it's one of those books that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.  The kind that you find yourself picking up and reading more than once, and every time you do read it again, another facet of it's brilliance is revealed.

     The prose is lyrical and almost poetic and with that same sense of fluidity Erin Morgenstern has created a world that leaves the reader with a longing to experience it for themselves.  The book is a feast for the senses.  As you are reading you feel the silk of a dress worn by one of the performers, taste the food at one of the midnight dinners, or smell the caramel in the air as you walk from tent to tent exploring all of the delights that the circus has to offer.

     I personally don't understand the comparison to the Harry Potter series.  To me, the only thing that they share in common is that they are both written by extremely talented women, on paper, and they both deal with magic!  That's it.  To say that The Night Circus is the second coming of Harry Potter does a great disservice to both stories.  The Night Circus is not a series, but rather one stand alone book.  It is a richly written tale that uses the circus itself as a backdrop.  It is not a book about magic.  It is not a book about vanquishing the most evil wizard of all time.  The Night Circus, at the end of the day, is a love story.

     The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is to me, much more than a book.  It is an experience to be savoured and treasured by all of those who read it.

Review: The Sixes

Title: The Sixes
Author: Kate White
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Rating: PG
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
Pages: 384 pages
Source: ARC Courtesy of the Publisher
My Rating: 5*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Kate White rises to the pinnacle of modern suspense with The Sixes, a page-turning stand-alone thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Hush, and the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. With taught prose evocative of Laura Lippman’s Life Sentences and Dennis Lehane’s Moonlight Mile, White paints the sinister picture of a quiet Pennsylvania college town left shaken after a mysterious death precipitates a cascade of evil events on campus. When new teacher Phoebe Hall undertakes the dangerous quest of uncovering the truth behind the ghastly recent happenings, her investigation will send her into the clutches of a deadly secret society—the Sixes—and unearth the dark relics of her own long-buried past.


My Thoughts

This is the first book I have read written by Kate White.  I have to say, if they are all like this, then I need to read more of her work.

The Sixes, like The Twisted Thread by Charlotte Bacon, is a book about a murder and secret society of mean girls.  Actually girls aren't just mean, they are sociopath's.  Sociopath's with far, far too much time on their hands.

Phoebe Hall is a famous writer recently a part of plagiarism scandal.  As a way to lay low and recover from this scandal she is offered a place teaching a writing class at Lyle College by her long time friend who is now the head of the school.  Shortly after her arrival, a girl is found drowned in the river just off campus.  During the investigation into her death, the school administration gets wind of a secret society of girls that may be operating on campus.  Desperate to contain possible damage to the school, Phoebe is tasked with using her journalistic talents to investigate The Sixes.

Phoebe's investigation, predictably, stirs up a hornet's nest and makes her the target for this group of mean girls on crack.  It's actually scary the complete lack of respect for authority or personal safety that The Sixes show in their bid to intimidate Phoebe from finding out the truth about them.  In the course of investigating The Sixes, Phoebe unwittingly becomes involved in the investigation for the killer that appears to be haunting Lyle College, its students and Phoebe herself.

Kate White has done a phenomenal job in weaving all the different back stories together into one cohesive and dynamic thriller.  I guarantee that this is one ending that you won't see coming.

This review was done after reading an uncorrected ARC copy courtesy of HarperCollins New York. My priority is to you, and I honour that commitment by being honest! I don’t do reviews for payment, nor do I guarantee favourable reviews for any book/galley/ARC sent to me for review.  I promise to stay truthful with you and all opinions represented here are my own. If you are uncertain what this all means, I urge you to read my Review Policy for further clarification. You can also contact me at contact@nicoleabouttown.com.

Review: The Twisted Thread

Title: The Twisted Thread
Author: Charlotte Bacon
Genre: Fiction
Rating: PG
Publisher: Voice
Publication Date: June 14, 2011
Pages: 352 Pages
Source: Digital ARC from NetGalley
My Rating: 3*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

When beautiful but aloof Claire Harkness is found dead in her dorm room one spring morning, prestigious Armitage Academy is shaken to its core. Everyone connected to school, and to Claire, finds their lives upended, from the local police detective who has a personal history with the academy, to the various faculty and staff whose lives are immersed in the daily rituals associated with it.


Everyone wants to know how Claire died, at whose hands, and more importantly, where the baby that she recently gave birth to is a baby that almost no one, except her small innermost circle, knew she was carrying.


At the center of the investigation is Madeline Christopher, an intern in the English department who is forced to examine the nature of the relationship between the school s students and the adults meant to guide them. As the case unravels, the dark intricacies of adolescent privilege at a powerful institution are exposed, and both teachers and students emerge as suspects as the novel rushes to its thrilling conclusion.

*Warning* May Contain Spoilers!

My Thoughts

A book about secret societies?  A book about secret societies of girls?  A book about secret societies of girls wreaking havoc on those around them?  I am so in.  Add in a murder of the girl who is rumoured to be the head of said secret society and it should be a great read.

Well, it didn't work out as well as I had hoped.

The book begins with scatter brained Madeline who now has a new job at the prestigious Armitage boarding school as a teacher, despite being little older than the student's she is in charge of.  Within the first few pages of the book, a student named Claire, is found dead in her dorm room.  It soon becomes clear that Claire was not only murdered, but that she had recently had a baby.  A baby, that none but a select few were aware she was even carrying, and a baby who is now missing.  From there is not only becomes a case of whodunnit, but it also becomes an investigation into the secret society that Claire was rumoured to run.

The story itself, at least the idea of it, was good.  It's the execution that falls a little short.  For some reason, we are introduced to 15 characters or so it seemed..  Characters, whose stories are so developed, and more often than not irrelevant to the central plot of the story.  I often found myself having to flip back and forth trying to remember what they brought to the story.  The answer: nothing!  I felt like I spent too more time trying to keep all the back stories straight than I did trying to figure out who killed Claire.  The fact that a girl was murdered and her baby was missing got lost in the back story until the last 40 pages.

I will say this, I really didn't see the ending coming and the culprit never even made it to my suspect list.


This review was done after reading an uncorrected ARC copy courtesy of Voice Publishing and NetGalley. My priority is to you, and I honour that commitment by being honest! I don’t do reviews for payment, nor do I guarantee favourable reviews for any book/galley/ARC sent to me for review.  I promise to stay truthful with you and all opinions represented here are my own. If you are uncertain what this all means, I urge you to read my Review Policy for further clarification. You can also contact me at contact@nicoleabouttown.com.

Review: The Quiet Game by Greg Iles

Title: The Quiet Game (Penn Cage Series #1)
Author: Greg Iles
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Rating: PG-13
Publisher: Signet Books
Publication Date: July 1st 2000 (first published July 6th 1999)
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 640 pages
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
My Rating: 4*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Trying to cope with the recent death of his wife, Cage takes his 5-year-old daughter to Florida's Disney World, where the child sadly sees visions of her mother everywhere in the fantasy-filled environment. Wouldn't a trip to his parents' stately home in Natchez be more soothing for all concerned? Wrong, as it turns out--and before Cage can catch his breath, he's deeply involved in several dangerous matters. His father, a dedicated doctor, is being blackmailed for a past mistake in judgment, and a powerful judge (who just happens to be the father of Penn's high school sweetheart) has a nasty personal agenda of his own. Then there's the unsolved 1968 murder case of a black man, which Cage insists on reopening with the help of an attractive, ambitious newspaper publisher. 


Quotes

"I will do those things which make me happy today and which I can also live with ten years from now."

My Thoughts

So I am not really sure just who turned me on to the Penn Cage series by Greg Iles.  If I did, I would give them a huge hug, because this series has turned out to be pretty amazing.

The Quiet Game is the first book in the Penn Cage series and of course, I read it after I read the second book, The Turning Angel.  Reading it second is probably why I didn't give it five stars as I was comparing it to the second book.  If you haven't started this series yet, please read this one first.  Don't read the books out-of-order as it really spoils them.

The book is really, really raw.  Penn Cage returns to his home town after the death of his wife to find out that his father is being blackmailed over a decades old mistake.  It all revolves around the 1968 unsolved car bombing and murder of a member of Natchez's black community.  As you can imagine, there was a fair bit of racial tension at the time of the murder, and now that Penn is digging into the case, the tension ratchets up once again.  It seems that most people in the town know something, but aren't willing to talk for whatever reason.

The case does get solved in the end, but it doesn't have the same resolution as one would suspect of a civil rights era murder case.  Added to that, Penn doesn't investigate the case as a lawyer, even though he is a former prosecutor.  He investigates it for both moral and personal reasons and it is refreshing to see a character struggle with his decision and trying to balance his need to help his father and his wish to protect his daughter at all costs.

*Warning* Like most books that deal with civil rights era issues, the language in the book is strong and has definitely reflects the atmosphere of the situation.

Review: The Pact

Title: The Pact
Author: Jodi Picoult
Genre: Fiction & Literature, Social Issues
Rating: PG
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: September 1st 2006 (first published May 6th 1998)
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 496 pages
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
My Rating: 3*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty-- they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born.


So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet-- a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.

Quotes

"I love you," he whispered, and that was the moment he knew what he was going to do. When you loved someone, you put their needs before your own. No matter how inconceivable those needs were; no matter how fucked up; no matter how much it made you feel like you were ripping yourself into pieces."

"Do you know what it's like to love someone so much, that you can't see yourself without picturing her? Or what it's like to touch someone, and feel like you've come home? What we had wasn't about sex, or about being with someone just to show off what you've got, the way it was for other kids our age. We were, well, meant to be together. Some people spend their whole lives looking for that one person. I was lucky enough to have her all along."

"He began to trace a pattern on the table with the nail of his thumb. "She kept saying she wanted to keep things exactly the way they were, and that she wished she could stop everything from changing. She got really nervous, like, talking about the future. She once told me that she could see herself now, and she could also see the kind of life she wanted to have - kids, husband, suburbs, you know - but she couldn't figure out how to get from point A to point B."

"Adults, light-years away from this, rolled their eyes and smirked and said, "this too shall pass" - as if adolescence was a disease like chicken pox, something everyone recalled as a mild nuisance, completely forgetting how painful it had been at the time."

"The mind is a remarkable thing. Just because you can’t see the wound doesn’t mean it isn’t hurting"

 My Thoughts

While I did like this book, it was not one of my favourite Jodi Picoult books.

There was just something about this book, and I still can't figure out what it is exactly, that I wasn't able to connect with.  The names drove me crazy.  I wasn't able to keep track of who was who and I had to keep going back to the beginning to remind myself who was who.  It also didn't help that there were these flashbacks that didn't really add to the story, in my opinion.

What I did love is that once again Jodi made me believe in a situation that was so far-fetched.  Do I think that a suicide pact is far-fetched?  No, I don't.  But the way that the one in this book plays out is.  Even after having read the book twice, I still don't know the reason it happened in the first place.  Not to mention, that Emily, who comes up with the idea never gives a reason for her wanting to commit suicide, not even to Chris who ends up being the surviving member of the pact.  Even though he is never given a reason a reason, Chris decides to end his life simply because he can't see his life being worth living without her in it.  To me, that isn't realistic at all and that is where Jodi Picoult's talent really comes in.  While I may not have believed in the circumstances, she did have me believing in the characters.

Review: The Throne of Fire

Title: The Throne of Fire (Kane Chronicles - Book #2)
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Middle Grade, Action Adventure, Magic
Rating: G
Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books for Children
Publication Date: May 3, 2011
Pages: 452 pages
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods haven't given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians.

And now their most threatening enemy yet - the chaos snake Apophis - is rising. If they don't prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end. In other words, it's a typical week for the Kane family.

To have any chance of battling the Forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god Ra. But that would be a feat more powerful than any magician has ever accomplished.

First they have to search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells. Oh, and did we mention that no one knows where Ra is exactly?

Narrated in two different wisecracking voices, featuring a large cast of new and unforgettable characters, and with adventures spanning the globe, this second installment in the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride.


Quotes

"The sign was spray-painted in Arabic and English, probably from some attempt by the farmer to sell his wares in the market. The English read: Dates-best price. Cold Bebsi.
"Bebsi?" I asked.
"Pepsi," Walt said. "I read about it on the Internet. There's no 'p' in Arabic. Everyone here calls the soda Bebsi."
"So you have to have Bebsi with your bizza?"
"Brobably."

"Felix believed that the answer to every problem involved penguins; but it wasn't fair to birds, and I was getting tired of teleporting them back home. Somewhere in Antarctica, a whole flock of Magellanic penguins were undergoing psychotherapy."

"Now, you'll have to answer my questions."
"Oh, very well," Set said. "I like Brazil for the World Cup. I'd advise investing in platinum and small-cap funds. And your lucky numbers this week are 2, 13--"
"Not those questions!" Menshikov snapped."

"Our camels plodded along. Katrina tried to kiss, or possibly spit on Hindenburg, and Hindenburg farted in response. I found this a depressing commentary on boy-girl relationships."

My Thoughts

I really like this series of books.  Much better than the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (they are both written by the same author).  This is book number two in the Kane Chronicles series.  The series is scheduled to conclude in Spring 2012 with the publication of the third as yet unnamed book in the trilogy.

The book follows siblings Sadie and Carter Kane as they try to revive the missing sun go Ra in hopes of doing so preventing Apophis from escaping his prision.  Rather than being completely on their own this time around as they try to save the world in 4 days, they have the help of some of the new magicians they have been training as well as the dwarf god BES.

I must say that this book was laugh out loud funny in some instances and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Sadie and Carter are 12 and 14 in this book respectively, but in terms of the way they are written, it is not really obvious.  They find themselves in mortal danger again and again and manage to come through with little to no adult supervision.  If only my life had been this interesting when I was 12!

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Genre: Fiction & Literature, Social Issues, Suicide
Rating: PG - 13
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: October 18, 2007
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
My Rating: 5*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face.

 Quotes

 "I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why."

"You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately you can’t be that precise and selective when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life."

"A lot of you cared, just not enough."

"You can't stop the future, you can't rewind the past, the only way to know the secret is to press play."

 My Thoughts

Have you read this book yet?  If your answer is no, then why not?

Thirteen Reasons Why is one of those books that you read that leaves a lasting impression on you once you are done..  I personally have recommended it to pretty much everyone who has asked me the question "do you have any recommendations for a good book to read?" in the past month and a half.  In fact, I sent my copy home with one of my assistants when she went on vacation.    This is one of those books that I wish they would make part of the regular high school curriculum.  There is so much to be learned from this book and so much relevance to a teenager's life, no matter what decade it happens to be.  I wish this book had been around when I was in high school.  It would have explained so much to not only me, but my peers as well.

Not everyone who reads this book will like it.  In fact some will hate it and some will tell you that it's not believable.  In my opinion, they are missing the point.

For me, the book wasn't so much about suicide as it was about demonstrating the consequences of of our actions.  To me, the book was about the fact that we are all connected as people and have the ability to influence each others lives, good or bad.  The book was about recognizing that what seems like it's no big deal to you and me, can mean the world to someone else.  The book at it's core, for me, is about recognizing that my actions and my words just aren't about me and that they have the ability to hurt or to  heal; enlighten or deceive.

That is the reason why I will read this book again and again and continue to recommend it to anyone who asks.

Review: Skinny

Title: Skinny
Author: Dian Spechler
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Age Restriction: PG
Pages: 368
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: April 26, 2011
Source: Digital Galley from NetGalley
Rating: 2*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis


After her father’s death, twenty-six-year-old Gray Lachmann finds herself compulsively eating. Desperate to stop bingeing, she abandons her life in New York City for a job at a southern weight-loss camp. There, caught among the warring egos of her devious co-counselor, Sheena; the self-aggrandizing camp director, Lewis; his attractive assistant, Bennett; and a throng of combative teenage campers, she is confronted by a captivating mystery: her teenage half-sister, Eden, whom Gray never knew existed. Now, while unraveling her father’s lies, Gray must tackle her own self-deceptions and take control of her body and her life. Visceral, poignant, and often wickedly funny, Skinny illuminates a young woman’s struggle to make sense of the link between hunger and emotion, and to make peace with her demons, her body, and herself.

My Thoughts

I received a digital copy for review from NetGalley. I really, really wanted to like this book, but was unable to find anything about the book that I liked personally which was very disappointing.  The premise sounded both interesting and witty and it was a topic that I have never really read about before.  From the moment we are introduced to the main character, she lacks any kind of personality and comes across as unbelievably whiny and self-absorbed.

It's not very often that after I have read a book that I find myself still asking what the point of the entire thing was.   Gray finds herself at as a counsellor at a Fat Camp for kids, ironically run by some fat people themselves.  From the descriptions Gray, she is about 15-20 pounds over weight and not really fat herself.  I will not spoil one of the other reasons about why she is at the camp. but needless to say, it is not an environment that she needs to be in.  She rather bizarrely blames herself for her father's death from a massive heart attack, even though he was morbidly obese by all descriptions.  Rather than deal with her grief, she begins binge eating and as such puts on those dreaded 15 pounds.

Rather than get professional help to get to the underlying reasons for her binge eating, she takes herself and her unhealthy mindset to the fat camp where she is supposed to be helping kids.   Then comes the casual sex, and cheating on the boyfriend who genuinely cares for her and is waiting for her at home.  I'm not really down with this skinny. shallow and unstable girl being put in a position of authority over children who need genuine help to make healthy changes to their lifestyle.  Gray would have been better off on a psychiatrist's couch getting much-needed help for inability to cope in a productive fashion when life doesn't go her way.

Review: Not My Daughter

Title: Not My Daughter
Author: Barbara Delinsky
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Age Restriction: PG
Series: None
Pages: 368
Publisher: Anchor
Rating: 1*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

When Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and herself.

Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lily's best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school, she has always been held up as a role model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughter's pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-fought-for dreams are all at risk.

The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother?   

My Thoughts

This had to be one of the most unrealistic books I have read in a long time.  The characters weren't at all believable and I had a hard time just finishing the book it was so absurd.  The idea that girls would get pregnant for the hell of it and the parent just sit idly by and pretty much let them run roughshod over them is insane to me.  Not to mention the whole getting pregnant as part of a pact.

This is one book where I feel that the author is very out of touch with today's teenagers, their mentality, or their reasons for doing anything.  There are very few teenagers out there who would say that I am going to get pregnant for the sake of getting pregnant.  You may find one of them, but to find a group of them operating under that mentality is just insane.  Not to mention, it says far more about the parents and their parenting skills if their children are 'convinced' to do something like that for the sake of the pact.

There is also an overwhelming lack of personal responsibility and maturity shown by the teens in this book.  That they thought that they were going to do this, in a town that has such puritanical views, and no one would be upset just screams that they are out of touch with the reality of their situation.  On top of that, we have a bunch of parents, who never express any real anger at the situation.  The express disappointment in the girls, but no consequences are implied (apart from the obvious one of being pregnant).  It's like there are no rules, and no consequences for breaking said rules.  I don't know, maybe I would be happier if someone had yelled, and told the girls how they have ruined their lives.  Of course, this does not happen.

Then you have the whole aspect of the town wanting to blame the entire thing on the mother of one of the girls, because she is the school principal who opened a clinic in the school to prevent this very thing from happening.  Did I also forget to mention that she had her daughter at 17 as well?  It is surely a case of history repeating itself, at least in the eyes of some of the school board, but in reality, this isn't the case.  She never intended to become pregnant when she was 17 (like so many other teen moms), was disowned by her parents and struggled to do it all pretty much on her own.  She has demonstrated to her daughter that being a single parent is not easy, and that there are struggles to overcome and sacrifices to make.  What she forgot to do was to actually be the parent and set some ground rules and give her daughter a dose of reality.  I find her reaction the hardest to stomach, as someone who has been where her daughter is and knows how hard it is.  For that reason, she should have been the most upset and disappointed that all her sacrifices were in vain (and that her daughter appears to be the most out of touch with reality).

All in all, there was nothing about this book that I would recommend to someone else.  Scratch that!  I would recommend it as a manual of what no to do in case your 16 year old daughter comes home and tells you she is pregnant and expects you to be happy about it.