Review and Giveaway: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Geek + runway = a hilarious runaway hit! This bestselling UK debut is full of humor and high-fashion hijinks—and now it’s coming to America.

Harriet Manners is tired of being labeled a geek. So when she’s discovered by a modeling agent, she seizes the chance to reinvent herself. There’s only one problem: Harriet is the definition of awkward. Does she have what it takes to transform from geek to chic?

Geek Girl is the first book in a hilarious new trilogy. It was also the #1 bestselling YA debut of 2013 in the UK, where it was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Best Book for Teens. With all the humor and fabulous shenanigans of Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson and Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries, Geek Girl is about to become an international superstar.

Best Bits: I love a good British comedy, so when I read comparisons to Louise Rennison's books I was itching to pick this up. In some ways it met my expectations, and in others it fell flat. The thing that I enjoyed most was, surprisingly, the conflict between Harriet and her best friend Nat (who wants to be a model, and is not spotted). I think it was realistic that there would be conflict between the two after Harriet gets chosen to be a model, despite having zero interest in fashion. The friendship drama was more about honesty, rather than jealousy. It was sort of refreshing to read a book where the main character is gaining maturity in a friendship, rather than dealing with a best-friend-turned-mean-girl.

I also really appreciated the family support that Harriet has throughout the book. Sure, both adults are a big misguided, but it's apparent that they care about Harriet and her happiness. This is particularly true of Annabel, Harriet's stepmother. Throughout the book we see her trying to make decisions in Harriet's best interest. This doesn't mean that she's a perfect character, as she sometimes bases her assumptions and decisions on what she believes Harriet would want, rather than asking her. I think that may be one of the overall messages of this book. Every character has their flaws, but that's acceptable. None of the characters are meant to be perfect. That's always a good message to send.

Nit Picks:  At times I felt like Harriet was a middle-grade character. She is dealing with your typical teen issues (aside from being spotted and turned into a model), yet she reads more like a child. I had an internal debate about whether this was due to being overly sheltered...but it's hard for me to believe that a character can be so naive. At some points in the read it drew me out of the story.

Geek Girl 
By Holly Smale
Published by HarperTeen
384 Pages
Received for Review

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Review: The Infects by Sean Beaudoin

A feast for the brain, this gory and genuinely hilarious take on zombie culture simultaneously skewers, pays tribute to, and elevates the horror genre.

Seventeen-year-old Nero is stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents on an “Inward Trek.” As if that weren’t bad enough, his counselors have turned into flesh-eating maniacs overnight and are now chowing down on his fellow miscreants. As in any classic monster flick worth its salted popcorn, plentiful carnage sends survivors rabbiting into the woods while the mindless horde of “infects” shambles, moans, and drools behind. Of course, these kids have seen zombie movies. They generate “Zombie Rules” almost as quickly as cheeky remarks, but attitude alone can’t keep the biters back.

Serving up a cast of irreverent, slightly twisted characters, an unexpected villain, and an ending you won’t see coming, here is a savvy tale that that’s a delight to read—whether you’re a rabid zombie fan or freshly bitten—and an incisive commentary on the evil that lurks within each of us.

Best Bits:  I can always appreciate YA books that focus on guys, since those tend to be rare in the genre. Plus, the way that the zombie apocalypse begins in this one is totally believable. Nick works at a chicken processing plant, and in a typical teen fashion is crushing on a girl he thinks is out of his league. Things head south at said job, and he ends up fighting off zombies at a wilderness camp. I'm actively choosing not to share how the zombies come into existence, but it's pretty clear when you're reading.

 This book definitely didn't skimp on the gore or scare factor. I was genuinely spooked reading some scenes, with the anticipation that something bad was about to happen (I was usually right). What makes this book even better is the possibility that Nero may have been exposed to the virus and could be changing as well. We get a great look at his inner monologue and fight against the voice trying to control him.

Nit Picks: This book has it's own language, and a completely new slang vocabulary. In some books this works well, but at some points during this one I was drawn out of the story. I also thought that the end wrapped up extremely quickly. It was a time jump, and I wish I could have seen the bits in between.

The Infects
By Sean Beaudoin
Published by Candlewick
384 Pages
Purchased

Book Review: The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant

So many secrets for such a small island. From the moment Anne Merchant arrives at Cania Christy, a boarding school for the world’s wealthiest teens, the hushed truths of this strange, unfamiliar land begin calling to her—sometimes as lulling drumbeats in the night, sometimes as piercing shrieks.

One by one, unanswered questions rise. No one will tell her why a line is painted across the island or why she is forbidden to cross it. Her every move—even her performance at the school dance—is graded as part of a competition to become valedictorian, a title that brings rewards no one will talk about. And Anne discovers that the parents of her peers surrender million-dollar possessions to enroll their kids in Cania Christy, leaving her to wonder what her lowly funeral director father could have paid to get her in… and why.

As a beautiful senior struggles to help Anne make sense of this cloak-and-dagger world without breaking the rules that bind him, she must summon the courage to face the impossible truth—and change it—before she and everyone she loves is destroyed by it.

*I originally wrote this article and Blogger had a bit of fun and totally deleted it. Good times. This review isn't as well-written because I was trying to recapture what I originally had written and was happy with. I'm off to sulk now.

Best Bits: What I really appreciated about this book was the meta moments. About halfway through she has this moment where she realizes how unreal her experiences have been. Anne attends a dark and creepy school (*thunder crashes and lightning flashes*) filled with the world's elite. You don't often find characters who are self-aware enough to say, "That's more than enough Crazy for one lifetime, never mind one week." These moments were peppered throughout the book, and were a nudge and a wink to the reader. That tone kept the book from being too over-the-top and cheesy.

I'm not sure that many readers will have seen the movie that I'm about to reference, and if you haven't then I fully suggest that you don't. The divide between the school and the villagers reminded me a bit of The Wicker Man (the 70's Christopher Lee version, not the even more ridiculous Nicholas Cage version). The reader sees some creepy rituals that the villagers partake in, and although it felt really sinister I wanted to know more about why the villagers were doing these things. Seriously, don't watch the movie. I had to watch it for school and write a paper about it. I'm having awful flashbacks. I digress...

Nit Picks: I think that this one was more of a NA than a YA read. I don't feel like it's spoiling too much to say that at Cania Christy the race for valedictorian depends on an individual's abilities (i.e. seduction). This is an area where I feel that the book missed it's potential. Why not give the girls abilities (there are a few that are also learning how to manipulate via seduction), and make them vastly different? This piece of the plot had the opportunity to be great, but it missed the mark. I also thought that this one took a long time to get going. It did take over a hundred pages to get through the first week of school, in which not a lot happened. Yes, the second half was suspenseful, and allowed the reader to figure out the motives behind many characters, but if it hadn't been for the humor I'm not sure it would have kept me reading.

The Unseemly Education of Anne merchant
By Joanna Wiebe
Published by BenBella Books
272 Pages
Received for Review

Review: Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

Secrets, romance, murder and lies: Zoe shares a terrible secret in a letter to a stranger on death row in this second novel from the author of the bestselling debut, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece.

Fifteen-year-old Zoe has a secret—a dark and terrible secret that she can't confess to anyone she knows. But then one day she hears of a criminal, Stuart Harris, locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. Or lies. Or murder.

Full of heartache yet humour, Zoe tells her story in the only way she can—in letters to the man in prison in America. Armed with a pen, Zoe takes a deep breath, eats a jam sandwich, and begins her tale of love and betrayal.

Best Bits: The reader is introduced to "Zoe" through letters that she writes to a death-row inmate. Zoe isn't her real name, of course...not when she's confessing to a crime and writing to someone who has murdered his wife. For the most part I enjoyed the format of the book. We read the letters being sent to Stuart Harris, and Pitcher does a good job of showing the intensity and drama that goes along with being a teenager. I also really appreciated her depiction of Zoe's family. They're kind of in crisis...in the way a family is when everything is going wrong all at once. Each member has their flaws, but the reader is also able to see their strengths. We also get to see Zoe's guilt and shame mirrored by her parents. They all express these things so differently...as a counselor it made me cheer! These are hard emotions to talk about, much less capture with authenticity.

Nit Picks: I was very sick when I read this one...so I think that made me a bit cranky. I had heard really good things about it, and I found the book a little predictable. I guessed what Zoe was going to reveal fairly early in the book, and I struggled not to skim through portions. The romance didn't really strike me either. I know that many people loved this book, and while it didn't quite live up to that expectation, it's still worth a read.

Ketchup Clouds
By Annabel Pitcher
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
272 Pages
Received via Library

                        

Book Review: Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

Rachel died at two a.m . . . Three hours after Skyler kissed me for the first time. Forty-five minutes after she sent me her last text.
Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. . .before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead. The police blame a growing gang problem in their small town, but Jaycee is sure it has to do with that night at the old house. Rachel’s text is the first clue—starting Jaycee on a search that leads to a shocking secret. Rachel’s death was no random crime, and Jaycee must figure out who to trust before she can expose the truth.
In the follow-up to her powerful debut, Jennifer Shaw Wolf keeps readers on their toes in another dark, romantic story of murder and secrets.

Best Bits: Jennifer Shaw Wolf is the master of misdirection. I suspected who the killer was more than once, but I kept second-guessing myself because all of the potential killers are so interesting. No one is grinning menacingly or anything, and each time a character shows a dark side, they soon display kindness. Characters who have moments of goodness can't be murderers...right? So, when the killer was finally revealed I had an "OMG WHAAAAT" moment, and then went back and connected the dots. Jaycee weren't speaking when Rachel died, but little things trigger memories and guilt. I appreciated that it was a complicated situation, and that despite what had happened to their friendship, Jaycee was still determined to get some closure for someone who had a big impact on what kind of person she was.

Nit Picks: Much like my experience with another Netgalley read, this one had random letters throughout the book. It meant that I had to guess at what characters were saying, and occasionally what was happening. I can't fault the author's writing for this, but it's really hard to be engaged in a mystery and know exactly what's going on when you can't read all portions of the book. So, it gets calculated into the overall experience. I also would have liked some of the background characters to share a bit more of their histories in the story (assuming that wasn't in some of those sentences that I missed).

Dead Girls Don't Lie
By Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Published by Walker Childrens
352 Pages
Received via Netgalley

Book Review: Hover by Melissa West

On Earth, seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander was taught to never peek, but if she hopes to survive life on her new planet, Loge, her eyes must never shut. Because Zeus will do anything to save the Ancients from their dying planet, and he has a plan.

Thousands of humans crossed over to Loge after a poisonous neurotoxin released into Earth's atmosphere, nearly killing them. They sought refuge in hopes of finding a new life, but what they became were slaves, built to wage war against their home planet. That is, unless Ari and Jackson can stop them. But on Loge, nothing is as it seems...and no one can be trusted.

Best Bits: I liked the forward movement of the plot for Ari. She's now on Loge, and there is a lot that comes with that. She has to adjust to a new place, and come to terms with the choices that her family and friends are making on Earth. She's now accepting why people see her as a leader. She's basically been trained for it by her father. She also doesn't shy away from her responsibilities. That doesn't mean she has no "OMG why me?!" moments, but she handles them well. Plus, she also has to deal with the constant physical and emotional threat of Zeus. I appreciated getting to see more of how Zeus became a ruthless leader. Perhaps that's George R.R. Martin's influence on me, or my age, but lately I've really enjoyed feeling some empathy for the baddies.

Nit Picks: Okay, I can't fault the actual book for this, but my review copy had places where almost entire paragraphs were glitched and I couldn't read them. It was particularly frustrating because it felt like I was missing extremely crucial information. I'm not sure if this was a wide-spread problem, but I had to make guesses about the content of sentences that looked like this "XSOSIGH OSIRH SOSI." It made the reading process kind of a bummer. I do think that Hover was a bit of a victim to the middle book phenomenon. Yes, the characters were expanded upon, but I felt like I was waiting for more to happen.

Hover
By Melisa West
Published by Entangled Teen
352 pages
Received for Review

 

Book Review: The Circle by Sara Bergmark Elgren and Mats Strangberg

On a night after the apparent suicide of high school student Elias Malmgren, a blood-red moon fills the night sky. Minoo wakes up outside her house, still in her pajamas, and is drawn by an invisible force to an abandoned theme park on the outskirts of town. Soon five of her classmates—Vanessa, Linnéa, Anna-Karin, Rebecka, and Ida—arrive, compelled by the same force. A mystical being takes over Ida’s body and tells them they are fated to fight an ancient evil that is hunting them. As the weeks pass, each girl discovers she has a unique magical ability. They begin exploring their powers. The six are wildly different and definitely not friends . . . but they are the Chosen Ones.

In this gripping first installment of The Engelsfors Trilogy, a parallel world emerges in which teenage dreams, insanely annoying parents, bullying, revenge, and love collide with dangerous forces and ancient magic. An international sensation with rights sold in 26 countries, The Circle is razor-sharp and remarkable from start to finish.

Best Bits: The book opens in quite a gruesome way, which, while technically not a best bit, definitely started off by hooking me. It's clear right from the start that there's a supernatural entity at work, but the reader doesn't find out what it is for quite some time. There were quite a few twists and turns, I was wrong about who was aligned with whom on multiple occasions. The authors definitely know how to create a mood, and I definitely enjoyed being unsure of what was going to happen in the end. It's a dark book, so if that's something you enjoy during the fall, this might be a great time to grab it.

Nit Picks: I'm not one to shy away from long books, in fact, I usually enjoy the wealth of information that would have to be cut to keep it around 300 pages. Still, it dragged. At times I had to go back and re-read because I caught myself skimming. The twists were great, but they weren't enough to keep me fully engaged with the mystery and plot when nothing happened for chapter after chapter. There were too many characters, as well. Even though I enjoyed them, I never felt fully connected with them. There were a couple of them that I empathized with on a basic level, and one that I absolutely disliked from the start. It was different from a series like The Daughter of the Moon (shout out to my 12-year-old self!), where each book focused on an individual member of a group, but the story continued to progress. I'm wondering if that's the way this should have been broken down.

The Circle
By Sara Bergmark Elgren and Mats Strangberg
Published by Overlook Juvenile
608 Pages
Received for review