LIAR /NEW MOON

This video comes to you in 2 parts.

I: Liar

Today's review is Liar by Justine Larbalestier.

My father is a liar and so am I.

But I'm going to stop. I have to stop.

I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions.

This time I truly mean it.

LIAR by Justine Larbalestier

2009, Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 384p

buy here

Notable awards: None (yet)

Notable books by the author: How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness Series

Summary: Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing? Taking readers deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them—and herself—that she’s finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers see-sawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly.

Review: I told you in a previous post how much I love this book, so feel free to tune this part out if you did, because I can't really tell you anything about Liar other than that it is gripping, fast-paced, original, has a character that is--despite her flaws--completely emotionally investing, and a book that is FREAKING AWESOME without spoiling it. For instance, in the words of Cory Doctorow:

Indeed, if this book has a failing, it's that it's nearly impossible to explain what's so great about it without risking some important spoilers. So you'll just have to trust me -- this is worth the price of admission and then some.

I couldn't have put it more eloquently, mostly because, as is obvious by now, I so don't have a way with words when it comes to book reviews.

Thoughts on the cover (which I just realized I forgot on Boy Toy): This has to be one of my favorite covers. I'm truly quite happy that they changed the Liar cover (if you haven't yet heard of the cover controversy, then click here for a post by the author about it), although some people are a bit iffy on it (Steph Su has an interesting and very well-justified take on the matter here). Overall, though, I love it. Rating on the cover? 9.

Verdict: Liar? It's a top ten pick that will--and I say this at risk of sounding like School Library Journal--grab you from the first page and spit you out 371 pages later, wondering if you even truly know who you are.

Rating: 10

II: NEW MOON

This is where I admit it:

I liked the Twilight series.

...

Still here? Haven't run away in disgust? Good.

Anyways, so yeah, I liked it. Twilight in itself was below subpar, and Eclipse was merely okay (I will not disclose my Breaking Dawn opinion), but New Moon was awesome. You began to see the kind of person Bella really was without Edward, even if her every thought was still tinged with him. I liked the relationship between her and Jacob, what with the "friends" thing and all. I wasn't disappointed when Edward came back, mostly because you knew he would, considering there were two more books and all. Anyways, so New Moon was a top 30 pick and I liked it and the movie comes out in 26.5 hours or so. (Not that I'm counting.) Will probably go see it this weekend,

AUSTIN TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL

Sooo...
A week from yesterday I went to the Austin Teen Book Festival in Austin, TX (duh). In one word, it was awesome. I got to meet all the authors I wrote about in the previous post, plus many more. Got to buy JL's Liar (more on her later) and was photographed with the awesomeness Deb Caletti. Libba Bray's keynote speech? Awesome!
So, yeah. It was a lot of fun.
AND I GOT LIAR!
While I was reading Liar, I kind of fell in love with the book, in a creepy, mildly stalkerish way. I started referring to the book by "Micah" instead of Liar (Micah is the MC's name) and carried it everywhere. Eventually, I was obsessed with it. Has anyone ever seen that TV show on Cartoon Network, Ed, Edd n Eddy? (Last good show on CN. The network is dead.) Anyways, if you have, Micah kind of became my Plank, and I vowed to take her everywhere for as long as I could. Creepy? Yes. Good idea? That's up to you.
I have pictures of the ATBF on my camera, which I lost the cord to. I will upload as soon as I can find the cord!

(Be on the lookout for:

• Liar review
• "The Liar and I" post, which elaborates on me taking Micah/Liar everywhere. Includes pictures!
• Going Bovine review
• Gimmiques, including Hardcover vs Paperback/I WANT THIS DAMN BOOK!/Quotes on Friday.")

An Unprecedented Turn of Events/Boy Toy/Quotes on Friday/YA Festival

This blog postcomes to you in four parts (and yeah, I totally stole that line):

PART ONE An Unprecedented Turn of Events

In an unprecedented turn of events that no one saw coming, I actually wrote two blog posts in one week! Hospitals, prepare for stroke patients.

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PART TWO Boy Toy

Today's review is Boy Toy by Barry Lyga.

"Lucky thirteen," my dad said when I blew out the candles on my birthday cake, and my mom shot down his lame attempt at humor with a disgusted "Oh, Bill!" But honestly, that's not the important part. Not at all.

BOY TOY by Barry Lyga

2007, Houghton Mifflin Company, 416p

buy here

Notable awards: None I can think of

Notable books by the author: Goth Girl Rising, Hero-Type

Summary: Josh Mendel has a secret. Unfortunately, everyone knows what it is.Five years ago, Josh’s life changed. Drastically. And everyone in his school, his town—seems like the world—thinks they understand. But they don’t—they can’t. And now, about to graduate from high school, Josh is still trying to sort through the pieces. First there’s Rachel, the girl he thought he’d lost years ago. She’s back, and she’s determined to be part of his life, whether he wants her there or not.Then there are college decisions to make, and the toughest baseball game of his life coming up, and a coach who won’t stop pushing Josh all the way to the brink. And then there’s Eve. Her return brings with it all the memories of Josh’s past. It’s time for Josh to face the truth about what happened.If only he knew what the truth was . . .

Review: I was really excited about this book. Seriously. I was so excited to read it. AS soon as I got home from the library I sat down and started reading. And the first 175 or so pages? Amazing. And the next?...

Well, that's the thing. I'm not really so sure about what happened after that. I mean, Boy Toy was fun to read and all, but I don't know. Things didn't turn out the way I thought they would. At all. Not that the way they did turn out was bad, but still.

The book was good, there's no denying it. I liked the plot and really liked the premise. The characters were real and funny and even when I was supposed to hate them, I couldn't. Not even Eve. I don't know if that was what the author intended or not, but that's how I felt about it. In fact, if it wasn't for the ending, this book would've gotten an 8.

But the ending...

It wasn't that the ending was bad or anything. It was just really unsatisfying. I felt that so much more could've been done. The baseball subplot was tied up nicely and effectively, and while I'm sure it wasn't the author's intent, I felt it was the best done of all the plot endings. The others just didn't come together so well. I felt like...well, I felt kind of cheated.

Verdict: Overall, Boy Toy is pretty good. The author uses elements like foreshadowing and past-and-present-tense-switching (I have no idea what the real name for it is) to great acclaim. But really? I felt cheated. And that's never a good thing to feel when you finish a book. But don't take my word for it. Read it for yourself and see what you think.

Rating: 6.75

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PART THREE Quotes on Friday

I don't particularly care how many calories it has, anyway. I love those butterscotch things, and besides, I'm too skinny. My mom says it's nervous energy, and I'm thinking she's right. I've probably burnt the calories I've set on the table just by worrying about the grade I'm going to get on the Faulkner paper I've just turned in.

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti

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PART FOUR YA Festival

Excitement is filling the air here at Random High School Gym. Or at least, here in my corner it is. Tommorrow I'm going to Austin, Texas for the Austin Teen Book Festival. Several amazing authors will be there: Libba Bray (author of the Gemma Doyle trilogy and the recent Going Bovine), Justine Larbalestier (author of the acclaimed Magic or Madness trilogy, How to Ditch Your Fairy, and the recent Liar), and Deb Caletti (author of tonnes of books, including Wild Roses, The Nature of Jade, and the extremely excellent The Fortunes of Indigo Skye. I am extremely excited for this event, which promises to be at least mildly kickass. I plan to get my recently acquired copy of Going Bovine signed by Libba Herself, as well as attend panels, eat food, and do other stuff. I'll tell you how it goes Sunday.

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