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,

Hardcover vs. Paperback!

in which I attempt to decide which of the upcoming paperbacks for 2008/9 hardcover releases I like

thanks to Alea at Pop Culture Junkie for the idea

you rock

PANEL 1:

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti

Simon and Schuster, April 2009, 336p

Read it: Yes

Hardcover

paperback

I can't decide. Seriously. I mean, I like the paperback better overall, but the Quinn on the hardcover is just...Quinn. You know? (Probably not, especially if you haven't read the book.) The one on the paperback is just not Quinn. At all.

Overall, though, I like the paperback better. But just barely.

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.

END

Catching Fire

"In that one slight motion, I see the end of hope, beginning of destruction of everything I hold dear in the world. I cant guess what form my punishment will take, how wide the net will be cast, but when it is finished there most likely be nothing left.So you would think that at this moment, I would be in utter despair."

CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins
2009, Scholastic Press, 400p
buy here

Notable awards: None so far

Notable books by the author: The Hunger Games

Summary: Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Review: Sometime in March or April of this year, I read The Hunger Games, which, for any YA fan who's taken up residence under a rock, is the first in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins about 24 teenagers who battle to the death on live TV. It may sound kind of stock, but trust me, Collins' brilliant handles on suspense and plotting is not. The Hunger Games was one of the 20 best books I've ever read.

So Catching Fire came out on Sep. 1, and I really wanted to read it except that I was seriously broke, so I put a library hold on it and waited 1.5 months, and finally it came in about two weeks ago. I retrieved it from the library that Saturday, waited until Monday to started reading it (a torturous task), and then eventually started reading it.

I was a little worried before I read it. After all, we've all heard stories about how the second book in a series just doesn't measure up. I'm glad to report, though, that there was none of that here, for me at least. Catching Fire took me three days to read, and while that's nowhere near the fifteen hours it took me to read Hunger Games (sleeping's included in that), it's not because I couldn't get into it. It's just because I was really busy, it being October, a procrastinator's least favorite month. Anyways, CF was excellent. Collins is in top form in this book, ratcheting up the suspense like nobody's business. Katniss was just as...ah, illogical as in the last book, but I couldn't help but like her anyway. I gasped a lot while reading this book, though I don't gasp in real life, and I laughed a lot too (esp. on page 256--ha ha). Some people may feel that CF is a rehash of the events of HG, but I disagree--after all, the main focus wasn't supposed to be the Games, but instead the looming threat of possible rebellions AS NOTED ON THE SUMMARY, SO DON'T SAY I SPOILED YOU.

VERDICT: CF was really, really good. Being a person who can't write book reviews for squat, that's really all I have to say.

Really, really good.

RATING: 9

Thoughts on the cover: The cover gets a 9. Simple, yet effective. It gets the job done.

Note: I know it seems I only review books I like, and I guess that's true now, but trust me, that's going to change. I check out way too many books from the library for me to like them all.

Jellicoe Road (Top Ten Pick!)

"What do you want from me?" he asks. What I want from every person in my life, I tell him. More.

JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta
2008, HarperTeen, 432p
originally published in 2006 by Penguin Books Australia under the title ON THE JELLICOE ROAD
buy here
Notable awards: Michael L. Printz Award; Cybils 2008 finalist
Notable books by the author: Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca
Summary: Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeenm is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn't a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all. In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids w ho lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.
Review: Okay, I have to admit it. I have to be honest here, because if I'm not honest, what good does that do you, the reader? It does you a disservice, in fact. So the truth must be told. I was originally drawn to Jellicoe Road because of--of all things--the cover. Yes, the cover. I know, I know, don't judge a book by its cover and all that crap. But I loved it, for some reason. Anyways, so Jellicoe Road was duly checked out and read. I read it in four parts during the summer, each part on four different days. The following is a description of the thoughts in my head as I read this book:
part one (first 100 pages): "Okay, this is pretty good. A little confusing, but good...okay, that makes no sense...(laughs)...this is excellent..."
part two (100-200): "...hah...(laughs)...(silent in awe)...this is just...wow...okay, that was stupid...(You get the idea.)"
part three (up to page 240): "...Oh. My. God....No, really? (laughs)...She's what?...oh, crap...wow...I HAVE to finish this now!..."(I didn't, by the way. I waited until the next day.)
part four (rest of the book): "Wow...what?...that's a shocker...(doesn't talk for thirty minutes while reading)...oh...crap!...ONSD...wow...*cries*...that was amazing."
I didn't really make myself clear there, so I'll do that now: Jellicoe Road was one of the best books I've ever read.
I will go on to repeat myself on that several times, but there you have it: it WAS. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the characters. Taylor was probably one of my favorite protags ever, because I just felt like I could relate to her. The writing itself was amazing. Essentially, the way I knew this book was good was that I wanted to savor it, really savor it. It took me all summer to read this book, because I wanted to make sure that there would always be more of Marchetta's bittersweet prose and heartfelt plotting to come. And although the last 170 pages or so were the best, it's not like the other parts sucked. They were better than 99 percent of the books I read. And I read a lot, so that's saying something. Plus, I cried during one part, which I've only done twice while reading a book, ever. Again, greatness.
Thoughts on the cover: The cover gets an 8, being not as good as I originally thot (although the poppy is, I admit, extremely significant). I much prefer the Australian cover. Still, pretty good.
Verdict: Jellicoe Road is beautifully written and extremely funny--thus it is the seventh best book I've ever read and the best Australian-author book I've ever read (beats out The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, which is impressive, seeing as Bindy used to be in the top 5).
Rating: 10

MAJOR decision about the blog/All We Know of Heaven

Okay, so I've been thinking, and I've decided something major about this blog.

About fifteen minutes ago I was watching a review video about Gayle Forman's If I Stay (good book, BTW--I think I'll review it next week when I've had the chance to reread it), and I was thinking, "I like how she doesn't only review new books, just the ones she's just read." (I'd watched a few videos by the reviewer in question.) So then I thought, "I wish I could do that." Not only review older books when I read them, but also review books in a way that doesn't have to sound all scripted-School-Library-Journal-Booklist-professional-MBA-type. And then I thought, Well, you do have a blog, where you REVIEW YA BOOKS.

Thus, two major changes:

I will review whatever (YA) book I am reading at the time, and it will probably not be professional. If this bothers you in any way, sorry. (If anyone actually reads this.)

Now on to the review.

All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard

This book is about two girls who have been best friends since grade school, Bridget Flannery and Maureen O'Malley. They are really close and look very much alike. One December night, when they're driving home after cheerleading practice, they get into a horrible accident. Both girls are criticially injured, and one dies on arrival. The other is in critical condition. The girl dead is identified and buried (I can't tell you who's who, because I have a no-spoiler-unless-it's-on-the-book-jacket rule).The dead girl is is mourned, and the community rallies around the other as she eventually wakes up and begins a slow transition back into normal life (and I mean slow).

But the story doesn't end there. One day, a dental specialist comes to the hospital where the alive girl is at and checks her teeth. Everything seems perfectly normal, but as the doctor checks the records against the girl's teeth before the accident, he slowly comes to realize that the hospital has made a horrible mistake...

Basically, I have to say that I really liked this book. Mitchard--who is the author of many bestseller adult novels--tells the story of Bridget and Maureen without sounding boring, blase, repetitive, or extremely cliche. The characters seem real enough that even when they're doing something completely wrong, stupid, mean, or just evil, you understand what they're doing and their reasoning behind it. The dialogue doesn't seem forced, nor does the ending. Basically, this is a book that you really should read. And, like, it's good, and all. Yeah.

Rating: 8

312p

HarperTeen

2008

$16.99 / buy here

TODAY'S QUOTE:

Jamie and Lance arrive at play practice with matching hickeys on their necks. I've never understood the appeal of hickeys. It's like, "Hey, I'm into you, so let me give you a bruise. I'll just latch onto your neck like a leech and suck on your skin until I break enough blood vessels to leave a mark. That way everyone will know just how much I care about you."

from TMI by Sarah Quigley (Dutton, 2009) (will probably be my next review)

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