REVIEW: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

            Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

            Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan….

            But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

            Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

            Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

            Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words…and she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

            For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

            I am livid and I want to vomit all at the same time. Fangirl is simply too perfect for this world and I am unworthy. Is the year 2016 or 3016? I don’t know if I, or the world, was quite ready for this book, but there is one this I know for certain. Rainbow Rowell be killing it! If this isn’t the new classic, then I don’t know what is. I know I wasn’t the biggest die-hard fan of Eleanor and Park, but Fangirl is still so much better. Not only is it one of the few books in YA dealing with the beginning of college despite the fact that there be turbulent waters there and the kids are all still teens, but Fangirl is also relatable and honest.

            It took a while for me to finally get around to reading this one, but I am so glad I did get to it because this book is absolutely one of my new favorites. I want to reread the book right now, and that’s saying a lot because I’m not the biggest rereader (I know, throw rotten produce at me). Rowell always seems to get her characters to perfection level. It’s amazing really, how incredible the characters are in Rowell’s books. She makes them and their problems completely relatable and honest and true.

            The protagonist is Cath, and she’s not the typical YA strong, independent, and sassy girl who fights off corrupt organizations and saves the world. No. She’s a girl in love with writing, and more so in love with writing fan fiction. I too am one of those girls, and I know there are countless more out there in the same shoes. She’s real, and it’s easy to see how all her personality traits tie back to her family and her upbringing. I think that’s the most extraordinary thing about Fangirl, that I know the exact moment that made Cath into the girl she is and exactly why she (and even her sister Wren) tick the way she does. And it was all show, not tell.

            I’m head over heels in love with this book, and I honestly do not have a single back thing to say about it. Every single character, moment, and action was perfection, and every single word made me begging for more. That’s all there is. Oh, and Levi is the most adorable human being ever. Done.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Doll Bones by Holly Black

            Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friend for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing…and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll—who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity…

            Now I won’t lie. This review might just be a little bit of a love letter to Holly Black, so be forewarned. Ever since I first read Tithe, I fell in love with Black’s style of writing.  She’s always able to turn the most mundane, non-special of settings into something completely magical. With Tithe there was the industrial-ness of the setting that made it deadly for the fae, but then there was still the magical undertones and secret world. Doll Bones really brought me back to that enchanting feeling, but in a new way.

            The setting in Doll Bones is really anything but magical. All the magic occurs in the minds of the three main characters—Zach, Poppy and Alice. I really connected with these three because I was absolutely one of those kids that played make-believe with dolls for “too long,” but I never really stopped. I just moved mediums and became a writer! But it was amazing to get to see this ordinary world through the eyes of a group of friends with extraordinary imaginations.

            Since the world was ordinary, there wasn’t a lot of apparent magic, just whatever the kids came up with. There was, however, that little pinch of creepiness that Black likes to sow in all of her book. Most all of the adults, when looking at the friends, saw four kids instead of just three because of Eleanor the haunted bone china doll. It was the perfect amount of eerie to take the book to the next spooky level.

            The book was really a perfect look at childhood and growing up (and how much it sucks). This quest to lay the china doll to rest is sort of these kids’ last chance to be together and go on adventures like they’ve done so often throughout their lives so far. This is the last quest before they have to grow up, and that makes the book almost even more terrifying.

            What I would have really loved to see in this book is a more omniscient POV. The majority of the story is told through Zach’s eyes and that made him immediately a dynamic character. Poppy and Alice, however, were not so dynamic. I found myself getting confused as to which girl was which, and I think getting to see a little more about them would have been great. Of course, at the same time I loved the mystery of being in one, singular person’s POV.

            I honestly didn’t find much else to be wrong with the story. I think everything worked really well and I absolutely adored it. Holly Black has yet to let me down.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Winger by Andrew Smith

            Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids in the Pacific Northwest. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

            With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart. 

            Winger was one of those books I had to throw across the room in complete anger and take a few days to get over before reviewing. It was a great book with an ending that made me bawl my eyes out I was so furious and anguished. I really did finish the book days ago, but I had to let the dust of my emotions settle before I could write this. Let me start out by saying that I really loved this book.

            The characters (especially Ryan Dean, a.k.a. Winger) were raw and totally real. I could absolutely believe that Ryan Dean was a fourteen-year-old boy and he was hilarious too! He had all these funny, and sometimes perfectly perverted, drawings that really brought his character to life in a new way. I could read about Ryan Dean all day. He was just a very relatable character and there were all these nuances to his voice that made him that much more real. Like how he felt stupid for being worried about Joey being gay. Or how he kept calling himself a loser for various things. Or how he thought Ms. Singer was a witch. It was all hilarious and the little bits of rugby were brilliant as well.

            One thing you should know about me is I love rugby because of Teen Wolf and now also because of Winger. It was rugby that kept the story going. It was the thing that tied Ryan Dean to all the parts of the story of his junior year. All in all, it was an amazing story to read and so very hilarious.

            Now let me move on to the things that bugged me. I never really understood when Ryan Dean and Annie’s relationship shifted from “never-gonna-happen-cause-I’m-fourteen” to “omg-this-is-flirting-this-is-real”. It was an awkward transition that I never actually saw. It kind of took me out of the story because I was confused as to when this relationship became possible. I mean obviously they’re meant for each other, but I wish I could have really seen what Ryan Dean did to change Annie’s view of him.

            Next, I felt that there was an over-usage of the word loser. It was funny, and at times I didn’t notice or care that Ryan Dean called himself a loser at least once every chapter, but it was definitely overkill.  I mean, Ryan Dean writes haikus to his friend, he could at least change up his words a little. At the same time, though, it did make his character consistent and likeable. I just wish it had been done every other chapter.

            And lastly, Joey Cosentino. I’m not going to say anything else on that subject because it will ruin the whole end of the book. Just, when you finish reading, come to me and we shall rant and yell privately.

            Overall, despite the cons, there was still way more good in this book and I would really recommend it to anyone. I would even give it to female writers trying out male voices because this one is spot on and a great starting point for similar characters. So please, read it and let me know what you think because seriously, Joey Cosentino. I’m done. With life.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

            I found myself whispering, “Do you think we’ll ever discover all the secrets of the universe?”

            I was surprised to hear Susie’s voice answering my question. “That would be a beautiful thing, wouldn’t it, Ari?”

            “Yeah,” I whispered. “Really beautiful.”

            “Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe?”

            Dante can swim. Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari’s features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.

            But when Ari and Dante meet, the bond. They share books, thoughts, dreams, laughter. They teach each other new vocabularies and begin to redefine each other’s worlds. And they discover that the universe is a large and difficult place.

            This is the story about two boys, Ari and Dante, who must learn to believe in each other and the power of their friendship if they ever are to become men.

            For me, this was that book that I literally had to hug after I finished it. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a book like I love this book. It shocks me how much emotion this little book evoked in me. I think I love coming-of-age stories. Not only that, I love homosexual ships that sail. This is a little-known fact about me.

            Aristotle, or rather Ari, was a great perspective to hear the story from. He was just a boy battling a war inside of him just like his parents were battling their own. He wasn’t a man yet, and he didn’t know when it would start. Ari’s voice was beautiful and the ending of the book had me crying from happiness.

            Then there’s his best friend, Dante. He’s charming and the kindest boy ever. He introduces Ari to a wealth of new things, and it’s amazing to see the beginning of their relationship. SPOILER: Ari saves Dante’s life and that’s where you see the cogs turning. The doctor asks why, when it could have killed Ari, and Ari responds that it was a reflex. Saving the love of your life should be a reflex. END SPOILER.

            The way AUTHOR wrote the book was also gorgeous. Every chapter ended on a sort of thinker from Ari. There were a lot of little moments like that throughout the book  where Ari was just trying to figure life out (his to be more specific), and I loved them all. I kept wanted to get to the end of the chapter because I loved them so much. But I also loved starting the next chapter. It was an endless cycle.

            The only thing I don’t think I liked were how Gina and Susie’s characters weren’t a constant or consistent thing throughout the book. They did their purpose, but I wish they’d been consistent. Granted, the only friend Ari ever needed was Dante.

            Did I mention the ending killed me? I have to go buy this book and read it again it was so good. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. Beautiful, beautiful book, and I really can’t say more lest I look like an obsessed maniac. Everyone needs to read this book!

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: We are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

Nell worships her older sister, Layla. They’re one unit, intertwined: Nellayla. As Nell and her best friend, Felix, start their freshman year in high school, on Layla’s turf, there’s so much Nell looks forward to: Joining Layla on the varsity soccer team. Parties. Boys. Adventures.

But the year takes a very different turn.

Layla is changing, withdrawing. She’s hiding something, and when Nell discovers what it is, and the consequences it might have, she struggles. She wants to support Layla, to be her confidante, to be the good sister she’s always been. But with so much at stake, what secrets should she keep? What lies should she tell?

This book was raw. That’s the best word I can come up with for it. Nell feels like her Layla are one and the same. They’re practically like twins, and they’re what I would call “sibling endgame”. Kind of like Dean and Sam Winchester. And yes, in the beginning I thought there might be some Nellayla-cest coming my way. I wasn’t okay with that, and luckily it never showed up.

It was an amazing book though. In the beginning, I wasn’t too sure how I liked the structure of the book or Nell’s character. It’s written similar to a diary or a letter to Layla without chapter heads. So it’s told in first person from Nell to Layla (you). It was weird and confusing after just reading Killer Instinct (another book that uses a second POV of sorts), but I really got into it. And the reason, I see now, I didn’t like Nell initially is because she wasn’t her own person. She was the second Layla—at least she certainly tried to be.

It was very raw to see Layla pull away from Nell and for Nell to have to find herself and become a singular when she’d always kind of been a plural. Layla was always the constant in Nell’s life, and then she stopped. Anyway, it was really great. The way it was written gave great insight into the situation and into Nell’s internal struggles against the person she’d always been.

Plus, there’s Felix. Oh my did I adore everything about Felix. He and Nell are my one of my favorite ships. I don’t know if it will ever sail, but it did in my heart. I’m not sure if that’s a spoiler or not…. But it’s definitely a book to read. All the characters’ struggles really tore at my heartstrings. Even Layla was a great character to read. She was horrible to her sister in a lot of ways, but I know it made Nell a stronger person by the end of the book. Everyone in this book had growing up to do, and it was amazing to read.

As for what I didn’t particularly like, well, that’s hard to pinpoint. The setting was great, the writing was beautiful, the characters soared. It was all really awesome. Some things I would have liked to see would have been the reason behind the story’s style. Was it a letter to Layla? Was Nell an avid diary writer? The way it was written worked incredibly well but I wish I knew why it had been done that way. I also wish there’d been a little more familial conflict for the Goldens in that the parents are divorced and the father is remarried so there should have been a little bit of tension between those two.

These are really small things though. I didn’t think I was going to end up liking this book, but I really did and I hope everyone reads it just so I can talk about it to people.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

A modern tale of star-crossed lovers with a fresh urban twist.

At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago, everyone knows that south-siders mixing with north-siders can be explosive. So when Brittany Ellis and Alejandro “Alex” Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemistry class, this human experiment leads to unexpected revelations—that Brittany’s flawless reputation is a cover for her troubled home life, that Alex’s bad-boy persona hides his desire to break free from gang ties, and that when they’re together, life somehow makes more sense.

Breaking through the stereotypes and expectations that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart, Perfect Chemistry takes readers to both sides of the tracks in a passionate love story about looking beneath the surface.

I had heard a lot of hype about this book for a long time, and I’ve actually owned the book just as long. It was only recently that I finally took the chance to read the book, and I have to say that the hype is completely true. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Brittany in the beginning because of how “perfect” she was and made herself appear to be. I’m not saying Brittany was ever my favorite character, but I understood her home troubles and why she was the way she was.

Alex, however, was one of my favorite characters. He was the bad boy, with a good heart and those characters make me swoon. He felt tied and unable to escape the gang due to his father’s mistakes and the mistakes he is trying to prevent his younger brothers from making. All in all, the characters and their flaws were portrayed amazingly, and the north-side, south-side dynamic was on point and perfectly executed.

I did have a few issues with the book though, the first being the ending. While I loved seeing the year’s later epilogue, I felt that it was an outdated and easy-out sort of ending. I know that there are a couple of sequels to this book, told through Alex’s brother’s points of view, and I would have loved to see the ending of Alex’s and Brittany’s stories through the brother’s eyes instead of the way in which Simone Elkeles did it. I understand that sometimes sequels aren’t a guarantee and you want your readers to know how everything ended happily ever after, but that’s the joy of YA. Your characters are teens and we read the stories to see them grow up and have their whole lives ahead of them. YA books are open-ended most times because of that. Sure, the guy and girl get together but we will never know if they stay together or the trial and the tribulations of their relationship because they’re no longer young adults.

A bit of a rant there, sorry. Other than that, the rest of the cons I had are just the other side of the coin of my pros for the book. While I thought the characters were great, I didn’t love them. Paco and Isabel were the only characters I completely loved. They were true to themselves and to their friends. Brittany and Alex just got so caught up in themselves, and everyone else in the book did too and that was annoying. One relationship cannot be the end of the world.

My final con was the whole part where Alex ran away. I hated that he did that and didn’t just deal with his issues. His family was in danger, which I believed, but it was so weak of him. Sure, he fixed all his problems in the end, but that just made me frown.

Anyway, that’s all I have for that book. Do read it, because it was really good! I know it seems like it wasn’t, but I did love it overall. I even loved the epilogue even though I hated that it was there. Does that make sense?

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

            Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.

            So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.

            I’m not kidding, he says.

            You should be, she says, we’re 16.

            What about Romeo and Juliet?

            Shallow, confused, then dead.

            I love you, Park says.

            Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.

            I’m not kidding, he says.

            You should be.

            Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

            Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. This was the only way I could think to start this review other than a slew of disgruntled and unorganized keystrokes of no discernable pattern. Now, first things first, I did like this book. I just did not like the ending. This book was promoted by John Green himself and is often given to readers who really enjoy his works. I, however, do not believe the hype. I know, you’re all like ‘NO’! And I’m like, ‘I know right?’ how could I ever not adore Eleanor and Park wholeheartedly?  It’s not quite that simple, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

            The cover is so cute, I just have to mention that, and the setting is perfect. Hello, ‘80s. I think the meat and bones of this book were great. The love story was beautifully developed and the families were diverse and the character voices were pristinely unique. This book seemingly had it all, except a good ending. The ending was clique and a total shift from what could have been. The ending has been done before, almost exactly, and the characters were incredibly wishy-washy at the end. Like I said, writing and development were great. I really believed the characters, but I did not believe the ending.

            Now, my problem with the ending was not even Eleanor’s split with her family or the final three words business, it was the fact that it was predictable and nothing happened conflict-wise. There was no confrontation, and I was not okay with that. Granted, it was all very realistic and I get that, but I don’t think the ending was what it should have been. It felt very cut-and-paste like she didn’t really have anything better so here’s a placeholder and I’ll figure it out later (and then she didn’t figure it out, but rather just left it). And the character! The bullies just flopped over and turned into entirely different characters altogether. I was all; they’re secretly helping her and will betray her! They didn’t. Gosh, that ending was just so womp! It fell completely flat to me! I just loved that book until then, and because of that ending I can’t give this book a very good rating and that makes me sad. Eleanor and Park were totally relatable and I loved them so much, but when I look at the book I don’t see their love story. I see that horrible ending.

            That ending has been done over and over again in much better ways. The love story was very original, especially the way it wasn’t love at first sight. I was so beautiful, but the ending is what brought it down. I think Park’s family was a little stereotypical (Eleanor’s too actually, but at least hers had additions of originality to it).  I just don’t know what else to say. This book was heart wrenching and beautiful. I loved it and I hated it and then I just overall really loved it. I simply believe that there are some things that could have elevated the book that much more.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

            A beautiful and distinguished family.

            A private island.

            A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

            A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.

            A revolution. An accident. A secret.

            Lies upon lies.

            True love.

            The truth.

            I honestly have to say that this was not one of my favorite books. I contemplated giving it a half star less than I did, but the ending and my after thoughts of the entire book brought it up that little bit.

            A lot of people will mention how the ending is insane and so unpredictable, but I knew about halfway through what the ending was. Granted, if you’re not as great a guesser as I, the ending will completely blow your mind most likely. That being said, the fact that I knew what the ending was going to be was still not the main reason I gave this book such a low rating.

            There was no reason why the four main characters were identified as the Liars by Cady. This really grated on my nerves, so get ready for a wee rant. Cady has amnesia throughout the majority of the book, and the slow build through all the years at the island leading up to the accident gave no suggestion toward the four characters being liars. They did not lie about anything except for the accident, but Cady doesn’t remember the accident so why would she be calling them the Liars for the entire book? I would have been okay with it a little more had the story been told in past tense rather than present. As is, Cady had this omniscient feel that was unfitting for the story since she was the least omniscient of all given her amnesia and the fact the story was happening as we were reading it. Of course, after the accident is revealed there are so many nuances about every character’s actions that suddenly makes sense, but the Liars title was not one.

            Aside from that, I wasn’t a huge fan of how the story was laid out. It was a very short book, which was good because not a lot happened, but it had such a slow-as-snails-riding-on-turtles build. The slow build is great for mysteries such as this one, but I don’t feel as though the author, E. Lockhart, offered up many crucial mystery-solving clues during this slow build. The book could have honestly started during the seventeenth summer on the island, and I would have had a lot less dead pages to get through.

            Don’t get me wrong, the beginning and the ending of the book are great. The ending had me bawling like a baby, and Lockhart gave such beautiful metaphors throughout the book. However, everything that was revealed in the first half of the book could have been done just as easily during the last two summers. I’m sure that watching the characters grow into who they become during the accident is great for character building, had such a thing occurred. Honestly, the descriptions Cady gives about her “Liars” throughout the book told me more about them that the actual story did.

            Sorry if this isn’t the huge appraisal review most have been giving about this book, but it just wasn’t enough for me. It wasn’t enough mystery, or thrill, or character building. I knew light-years more about every secondary character than I did about all of Cady’s “Liars” combined. Granted, the ending was amazing and it did bring every character into new light and I’m so glad I got to read that beautiful ending. I’m just sad I had to wade through the rest of the book to get there.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

            Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight she’s going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. Somewhere in the glassy darkness, he’s out there, spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night. And Lucy knows that a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for—really fall for.

            The last person Lucy wants to spend this night with is Ed, the guy she’s managed to avoid since punching him in the nose on the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells Lucy he knows where to find Shadow, the two of them are suddenly on an all-night search to places where Shadow’s pieces of heartbreak and escape echo off the city walls. And what Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.

            I have to say that this is one of my favorite contemporary books so far. It was a sleek, urban story about love, life and art. The way that Cath Crowley so vividly described the urban nightlife of this city in Australia was superb. Even better, though, was the way in which she describing all of the art. It was beautiful. From Lucy’s glassblowing to Ed’s graffiti to Leo’s poetry to all the rest of the art referenced throughout. The book had no magic in it whatsoever, but it was one of the more magical books I’ve read in a while.

            In general, I really loved the way Crowley laid this book out. The story was told through the dual perspectives of Ed and Lucy, with the occasional poetry intermission by Leo. Though the story took place through the course of one, singular night, there was still so much going on. Nothing was revealed until it had to be, and everything had a reason or a place in the overall story.

            Along with that, the characters were amazing. I simply can’t choose which one I enjoyed the most. Ed was this perfectly imperfect character who could only really speak properly through his art. And Lucy’s view could only be described as looking through a kaleidoscope. Then there was the psychic, Jazz, who started the whole crazy night, and then we see his and Leo’s love progress through Leo’s poems. It was just a perfect book if I’m being honest.

            Okay, but I think my favorite character might actually be Ed’s mom. She was barely mentioned (talk about super secondary character), but it was the little things about her that made me cry like a baby. I don’t know why, but she got to me. And the mother of the year award goes to her. She had no money and spent most of the book working on her budget, but she had this money jar that went toward Ed’s pens and Pez but she didn’t have a jar for herself. The only thing that made me cry most was the book ending. If I could give this book more than five stars I would.

XOXO Tia