Wondrous Words (6)

Source: (we♥it)

"The pearls weren’t really white, they were a warm oyster beige, with little knots in between so if they broke, you only lost one. I wished my life could be like that, knotted up so that even if something broke, the whole thing wouldn’t come apart."
- Janet Fitch, White Oleander

Losing Faith - Denise Jaden

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Indiebound Summary:
A terrible secret. A terrible fate.

When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

Review:
I read this book for The Contemps challenge they are hosting. Overall, Losing Faith is a story about death, the people left behind and how they grieve. The thread that connects most of the character is their loss of a love one and how each person has a unique way of dealing with the pain. Jaden adds a twist to the story with Brie's investigation on the mysterious death of her sister, Faith.

What shines in this story is how Jaden approaches the themes of death, grief and faith. Through the different families, Jaden reveals how the death of a love one can tear apart a family. In Tessa family, her mother left because her father could not move on. Brie's father buries himself in work, while her mom loses faith in religion and closes herself off. Both become overprotective of Brie, yet ignoring Brie's longing for comfort. Alis' father spend long periods of time on the road and his sister finds salvation in religion. Also using the different character, Jaden displays different ideas of faith. How faith can be a balm of the living and how faith can sometimes go too far.

What needs polishing is the mystery element of the story and some of the relationships between characters. Why would Alis tell Brie (who he just met) all about his crazy sister, especially if it might implicate her in Faith's death? Especially since she's all he has since his father never there. It was a little too unrealistic for me. And the mystery plot needed some work. The climax where everything was revealed seemed rushed and forced. I didn't think there was enough of a established foundation to have to cult thing thrown in so late and I don't know if I missed it, but how did someone with Faith's strong testament in her religion get involved in something like that? I just think that the mystery needed some tighter plotting.

Losing Faith was a good distracting read and has its good parts, but there was nothing extraordinary about it. It could have been great with stronger characters, a tighter mystery and a more tied up plot. To sum up, I liked it, but with reservations.

Book Source: borrowed from work

Author Website | Indiebound | Losing Faith

Scorch Trials - James Dashner

SPOILERS FOR FIRST BOOK AHEAD.

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Indiebound Summary:
Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

Review:
The Scorch Trials pick up moments after the end of The Maze Runner, where it is revealed that the Maze was an experiment by the group WICKED. In the real world, solar flares have destroyed most of the world and a disease called The Flare turns people into zombie-like creatures. When Teresa goes missing and the group of Gladers are told they have contracted the disease, they must journey across a hot blistering desert to receive the cure.

Once the story starts, it's pretty much non-stop, continuous action. I hoped for some answers about WICKED and the project Thomas was part of, but The Scorch Trials just created most questions that hopefully will be resolved in the final book.

I wasn't feeling this book as much as the first one. I felt like there was too much action, that the book never pauses to let the reader take a breathe. This also lead to more questions being asked, than anything being answered. It is a great move to ensure readers pick up the last book, because nothing gets fully answered in this story. But I felt very disconnected to the characters and the plot because the big WHY puzzle never gets remotely addressed. Because the motivation for the Maze project and now forcing the boys on a dangerous trek because they supposedly have caught the virus wasn't fully there, the plot felt very forced and contrived.

It felt like The Maze Runner all over again with no answers, except set in the real world. While the plot moves, the characters' understanding of the situation never grows.

I will probably pick up the last book to this trilogy, if only to get the answers for this whole mystery. Dashner pulls a risky move and I feel like the end could end up being a completely great series or a really sucky one.

Book Source: ARC borrowed from library group

Author Website | Indiebound | Goodreads

Wondrous Words (5)

Source: (we♥it)

"When they finished laughing they were on their way to being not just friends, but the dearest of friends, the sort of friends whose lives are shaped by the friendship."
- Robin McKinley, Spindle's End

Elixir - Hilary Duff

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Indiebound Summary:
Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, she has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea’s photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man—a man she has never seen before.

When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance, and they discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives—and their futures.

Review:
'Hilary Duff wrote a book?!' That was the reaction most people had when they realized what I was reading. To be honest, my reaction was the same when I first found out she was writing a YA novel. But when I read the summary, I was pleasantly surprised. It actually sounded promising. After finishing it though, I had problems with the execution of the plot and the characters.

One, Clea's background. Okay, so she's the daughter of a famous surgeon and a politician that has felt the spotlight her whole life. I might buy that she grew up kind of famous, but not to the extent portrayed in the novel. The America I know is more obsessed about the children of actors, models and the like. Unless you're the president or vice-president, most of America probably won't know who their politicians' kids are. I like to think of myself as sort-of politically savvy and I don't know who my senator's kids are, much less the kids from a senator from another state.

Two, Clea's characterization. Clea is rich, smart, famous, etc. Which probably won't be relatable to many readers. However, her sense of loss from her father's death, her drive for independence from her celebrity parent, and her strong friendship with Rayna does bridge the gap between her character and the reader's. That's a plus. However, Clea never felt completely fleshed out to me. She never becomes a three-dimensional person in my mind. I feel like with Clea and all the other characters is that Duff was just skimming the surface. There was so much to explore with these characters. But Rayna is the stock best friend. Ben is the boy who secretly crushes on her. And Sage is the mysterious boy who Clea is drawn to.

Three, Sage and Clea's relationship. I didn't buy it. It was one of those typical YA cliché where they have an instant connection and fall in love in a span of a couple days. Yea, that didn't sit well with me. I like my romances to build up. And it's not really about the days, but the fact that you barely know anything about him.

SPOILER POINT:
Clea, I can't believe you slept with him after knowing him for less then a week! And in a car?! I pretty much loss a lot of respect for you when you made that decision.
END SPOILER

Four and last point, the plot. The premise was oh so promising. But there were so many plot holes. A lot of the plot seemed forced and engineered to get to where the author wanted it to be. Nothing felt natural. The home schooling is mention a continuous amount, but that was seemed like a way to explain all the jet setting all the time. And the two groups after the Elixir. They never really get explained. They become convenient villains. And a web forum?! For groups that sound like secret cults, a web forum?! Way to broadcast your not-so-secret group to the rest of the world. And the climax, a complete dud.

I really wanted to like this book. But there were so many problems. It's an easy read, if you can get pass the undeveloped plot and 2-D characters. I couldn't.

Book Source: ARC copy from publisher

Author Website | Indiebound | Goodreads

Wondrous Words (4)

Source: (we♥it)

"There is only one page left to write on. I will fill it with words of only one syllable. I love. I have loved. I will love."

- Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife

Full Frontal Feminism - Jessica Valenti

Publisher: Seal Press

Indiebound Summary:
Feminism isn't dead. It just isn't very cool anymore. Enter Full Frontal Feminism, a book that embodies the forward-looking messages that author Jessica Valenti propagates on her popular website, Feministing.com. Covering a range of topics, including pop culture, health, reproductive rights, violence, education, and relationships, Valenti provides young women a primer on why feminism matters. Valenti knows better than anyone that young women need a smart-ass book that deals with real-life issues in a style they can relate to. No rehashing the same old issues. No belaboring where today's young women have gone wrong. Feminism should be something young women feel comfortable with, something they can own. Full Frontal Feminism is sending out a message to readers: Yeah, you're feminists, and that's actually pretty frigging cool.

Review:
Ever had that friend that told you "I'm not a feminist, but..." because this is the book for them. It's also a great book for people who are starting to explore feminism. In Full Frontal Feminism, Valenti jumps from pop culture to sex education to violence against women and other numerous topics, providing a foundation on the issues that feminists address today. Scattered in the book are also fun facts relating to the chapter topic like "The United States is one of the two industrialized nations (the other being Australia) that doesn't provide paid leave for new mothers." or "Men outnumber women six to one in top corporate jobs." What makes this book good is not just the information provided within the pages, but the style Valenti presents it.

Full Frontal Feminism is written a way that engages readers. She writes with a wit and sarcasm shines through as she discusses purity balls, plastic surgery, child care, etc. It flows and is very conversational. When I was reading it, Valenti writes like she was simply having a casual conversation with me. Valenti is also frank and doesn't dumb down the information or hold things back. While this style is not for everyone, I believe that this will appeal to the younger generation. It definitely is a good book to give to teens about feminism and what being a feminist means. I would have definitely appreciated this book in high school. It would have definitely given me new perspectives on how to see the world then.

However, if you are already engaged in reading about women's issues and are looking for something more academic, this might not be the book for you. Due to the many topics that this book covers, it is hard to dive into depth about sex education or the influence of pop culture on girls. This book is meant as a primer for young girls who know nothing or just starting to get involved in feminism and women's issues. I can see this book sparking many a young girl's journey to becoming a feminist. My conclusion: A must for every young girl's bookshelf.

By the way, if you want to explore more on feminism, check out Feministing, a blog and community for feminists and their allies started by Jessica Valenti.

Book Source: own copy that I brought

Author Website | Indiebound | Goodreads