Waiting on Wednesday (October 17)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown

Ashleigh's boyfriend, Kaleb, is about to leave for college, and Ashleigh is worried that he'll forget about her while he's away. So at a legendary end-of-summer pool party, Ashleigh's friends suggest she text him a picture of herself -- sans swimsuit -- to take with him. Before she can talk herself out of it, Ashleigh strides off to the bathroom, snaps a photo in the full-length mirror, and hits "send." 

But when Kaleb and Ashleigh go through a bad breakup, Kaleb takes revenge by forwarding the text to his baseball team. Soon the photo has gone viral, attracting the attention of the school board, the local police, and the media. As her friends and family try to distance themselves from the scandal, Ashleigh feels completely alone -- until she meets Mack while serving her court-ordered community service. Not only does Mack offer a fresh chance at friendship, but he's the one person in town who received the text of Ashleigh's photo -- and didn't look. 

Acclaimed author Jennifer Brown brings readers a gripping novel about honesty and betrayal, redemption and friendship, attraction and integrity, as Ashleigh finds that while a picture may be worth a thousand words . . . it doesn't always tell the whole story. (From Goodreads)

Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: May 21, 2013

Why I'm waiting: I absolutely adored both of Jennifer Brown's previous novels. That says something, because the subject matter isn't easy to read about!

Review: Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole -- a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her -- she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate . . . someone who truly loves and understands her.

At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass, though, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats.

As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose -- between her "true love" and herself. (From Goodreads)

Best Bits: Once again Jennifer Brown has written a gut-wrenching story about teens. I'd say that it's pretty accurate in terms of what an abusive relationship can be like. It certainly wasn't easy to read. It's not easy to see a character going through an abusive relationship when all you want to do is point out everything that the abuser is doing to hurt them. I don't think that this topic is often talked about with teens (or even in adults). Education about the cycle of violence is extremely important. I don't want to seem preachy here, but consider the fact that one in four women in the United States will experience domestic violence at some point in her life. That's not an acceptable statistic to me. The more education about the problem, the more work we can do to end it. 

Nit Picks: I don't really have any for this one. I was so involved in the story that I honestly didn't notice any major flaws. I know that some people have mentioned that the plot is a bit predictable. I can see where they're coming from, you do know what's going to happen to Alex from the start. I don't think that detracts from the story, however. It just filled me with an impending sense of dread. I know that a couple other reviews mentioned that they were unhappy about Alex's friends. Again, I understand what they meant...but Cole was trying to isolate her. As a teen you're not really well-equipped to handle something like your best friend being abused. I'm not sure that all teens would know what to do in that situation. So, I thought that reactions of Bethany and Zack to Cole were well-written. 

Bitter End 
By Jennifer Brown
Published by Little, Brown
359 Pages
Rating: A

In My Mailbox (July 15)

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. Here's what I got this week:



All links go to Goodreads

Books Mentioned:
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Hush by Donna Jo Napoli
Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot
7 Clues to Winning You by Kristin Walker
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
Won from Epic Reads: A Midsummer Tights Dream by Lousie Rennison

Mini-Reviews

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I'd heard a lot of great things about this one, so I was setting myself up for a bit of disappointment. While I liked most of the characters, I was kind of hoping for a heroine who didn't need to be rescued by her vampire lover. Still, Diana was a strong, stubborn character...so even though there were some portions where she relied on Matthew, she did hold her own when faced with angry witches.

During the first chapters there was more telling than showing. It set up a lot of Diana's past, but I'd rather spend 20 extra pages seeing it happen, rather than being told it. I will say that Harkness must have done an immense amount of research, and it showed in her writing. Things were extremely detailed, and that managed to keep my attention throughout all 500+ pages.

Overall, it didn't meet my high expectations, and fell victim to some vampire cliches. I did appreciate all of the detail Harkness put into it, however.

Rating: C

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

I can't really say that I "enjoyed" this book, because it was extremely tough subject matter. I think I'd describe it as a phenomenally written book about the tragedy and aftermath of a school shooting. Valerie and her boyfriend Nick are the outcasts, and they're treated badly by their fellow schoolmates. Together they've created a Hate List, which includes various different people/things that they despise. Still, Valerie doesn't expect Nick to exact revenge by taking a gun to school and shooting classmates, a teacher, and then himself.

I can't say that this book ends happily, that would have been horribly unrealistic. In a way, I wanted things to work out with her father (who I wanted to smack upside the head in basically every scene he was in), but tying everything up nicely would have ruined all of the growth we saw in Valerie. Instead, the book leaves readers with the understanding that the impact of the shooting has altered who Valerie is. She's changed completely from the girl in the flashback scenes, and she's ready to begin a new life.

Rating: A