In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is an internet meme hosted by The Story Siren to share new books received, purchased, or borrowed.

So here's what I got this week!

Borrowed from the library:

• The Replacement by Brenda Yovanoff (which I checked out and then promptly misplaced! It didn't come home with me; hopefully it's floating around my office somewhere!)
• Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

Purchased for my nook:

• Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking #3)
• The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (Maze Runner #2)
• The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (as an eBook it's currently being offered everywhere for $2.99; I was able to get it for $2.39 at B&N!)

Received from NetGalley:

• Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder

Just when I thought I was getting a handle on my to-read list!

Enjoy your reading!

Christi

The Twin's Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

The Twin's Daughter by Lauren Bratz-Logsted

Bloomsbury, 2010

Lucy Sexton had been leading a normal life in Victorian England. Her parents doted on her and she wanted for nothing. Sure, her immediate family was pretty much her only family, with the exception of Father's parents and sister, spinster Aunt Martha. But still, life was good; life was normal. Until 13-year-old Lucy happened to answer the door when someone knocked. That someone turned out to be Mother, if Mother had grown up poor and with no advantages.

Aunt Helen and Mother were separated at birth, and, while Helen grew up in an orphanage, knowing she was a twin, Mother had no idea. Lucy's family quickly welcomes Helen into their midst, and slowly Helen becomes accustomed to the new society she's living in, until the day comes when no one can tell which sister is which. Even still, Lucy is happier than she's ever been, until strange and terrible things begin to happen, and Lucy begins to question if Aunt Helen's motives are really as honorable as she claims.

This was an excellent story! Typically, I prefer my books to take place in modern times or future dystopian times, but I had no problems falling into Victorian England. There are twists and turns all over the place in this book. I went into this reading assuming I knew what was going to happen, but the ending was so far removed from how I thought the story would go that my head was spinning. It's definitely worth a read, and I was really impressed with one of Lauren's earlier titles, Crazy, which was about as different from this book as you could get. Definitely putting her other titles on my to-read list!

Enjoy your reading!
Christi

Good Golly Miss Holly contest!

In anticipation of her upcoming 1000 followers, Good Golly Miss Holly is hosting The All-Time Favourites Giveaway! She'll be giving away copies of her faves, which you can see here! Once she hits 1000 followers she'll pick a winner, who will have his/her choice of 2 of Miss Holly's faves. Follow her and enter to win! http://goodgollymisshollybooks.blogspot.com/

Enjoy your reading!
Christi

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

Razorbill, 2010

Kayla has created a thick armor around herself. She needs to protect herself from the popular, snarky girls of her high school, her mom, who's forever too busy with her event planning business to spend any time with her, and her brother, Chase, a college dropout who's new goal in life is to aggravate Kayla to the point of insanity. So she's become a shell of her former self, wearing outrageous clothes, providing sarcastic ommentary whenever she feels the situation requires it, and basically shutting herself off from everyone except her best friend Nicole, who, up until this year, had the same ideas about life as Kayla. This year, however, Nicole seems to be changing. She's paying more attention to her appearance and she has a boyfriend (the boy Kayla's been secretly crushing on for three years). Kayla blames this boyfriend for everything wrong with her friendship with Nicole, especially when Nicole is obscenely late for Kayla's Sweet-16 party (hosted by her mom, who took the liberty of inviting potential clients to view the festivities.). Depressed and upset, Kayla makes a wish before blowing out the candles on her sickeningly-pink cake:

I wish all my birthday wishes came true. Because they never freakin' do.

The next morning, Kayla wakes to find a life-size, pink My Little Pony (complete with an ice ceam cone painted on its hindquarters!) outside her window. The days only get weirder, as every single birthday wish Kayla's ever made comes true. We're already sympathetic to Kayla's plight when she reveals that last year she wished she would kiss Ben. Who is currently dating her best friend. Can Kayla stop the wishes in time?

This was such an adorable book! I generally gravitate towards the really heavy fiction--you know, death, destruction, all that good stuff--but there are times when I like the lighter side of YA, as well. You Wish was such a fun read, and laugh-out-loud funny at times, like the morning Kayla suddenly woke up with gigantic boobs, when the day before she'd been flat-chested, or having a life-size, walking, talking Ken doll chasing you around town in his yellow convertible.

I was a little put-off by the brazen pink cover, and I think a lot of people might be, as well. But it works with the story, especially once readers get to know Kayla and realize just how much she hates pink, and all things girly. Overall, I think Hubbard did an excellent job of showing us why we should be careful what we wish for.

Enjoy your reading!
Christi

Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

   Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2010

This free-verse novel opens suddenly, as the narrator, almost-thirteen-year-old Hope, describes walking in on her sister, fourteen-year-old Lizzie, holding a gun and preparing to kill herself. Lizzie is whisked away to the psychiatric ward of a hospital, leaving Hope and their mother behind.

Although barely a year separates the sisters, they've grown up looking out for each other, and Hope can't imagine what would drive Lizzie to attempt suicide. Through a series of flashbacks Hope revisits her childhood, and begins to examine events that may have caused Lizzie to become depressed. For instance, the girls' mother is a prositute who has no qualms about chasing her daughters away when she's entertaining. But what terrible thing could have happened to cause Lizzie to want to leave Hope behind forever?

This novel was absolutely powerful and I loved it. It's not always easy for me to read free-verse novels, but this one flowed very well. Hope's voice is very realistic as a scared twelve year old girl whose world is collapsing around her. I especially love when child narrators recount things exactly the way they remember them, without interjecting their opinions. Take, for example, Hope's retelling of a time Momma took Lizzie and Hope to the beach and spot a trio of snakes, only to realize that the snakes are, in fact, deadly water moccasins:

Momma didn't pick a thing up.
Not the umbrella,
not the towel she sat on.
Not even that sweet smelling
olive oil.

She just ran,
leaving me and Liz behind.

 (p. 318)

It's obvious we're not dealing with a potential Mother-of-the-Year here, but because the girls are so young, they don't recognize how badly they're being treated and just see things are they are.

Readers might pick up on Lizzie's secret long before Hope does, but I think that's done intentionally by the author. She wants us to know, and wants us to cringe with horror, so that we're ready to sympathize with Hope when she does find out.

A very moving book; I highly recommend it.

Enjoy your reading!
Christi

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is an internet meme created by The Story Siren to share new books received, purchased, or borrowed.


So here's what I've gotten this week!

Borrowed from the library:

• Tyrell by Coe Booth
• Kendra by Coe Booth (I'm planning to booktalk both at juvenile detention next week)
• Life by Keith Richards (I'm well aware that this is not a YA title, but I'm stangely excited to read about my favorite of the Rolling Stones. Maybe he'll reveal his secret to eternal life!)

ARCs received from publisher:

• Hush by Eishes Chayil

Downloaded to my nook:

• Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (have already read but it's a wonderful, terrifying book and now I can re-read it whenever I want!)
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner (again, I've already read it, but now I can re-read it right before starting The Scorch Trials--hopefully soon!)

A pretty quiet week for getting books, but that means I can play catch up!

Enjoy your reading!
Christi

Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman

 

Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman

Walker & Co., 2010

Emily has an idyllic life. She's lived at Stonybrook, an exclusive boarding school, since seventh grade. She is, however, in the unique position of being the headmaster's daughter, so her parents are never further away than a walk across campus. While most would see this as a detriment, Emily's parents are warm, loving, and completely understanding people. Her friends all have less-than-stellar home lives and refer to Emily's father as "Dad," which doesn't bother Emily at all. She knows she's got it good, and is willing to share.

You would think that the headmaster's daughter would be either a goody-too-shoes or a troublemaker, but Emily is neither. She's not a spectacularly great student and isn't athletic. Her parents are doting and attentive, so she doesn't lash out at them. She's not above breaking some of the school's rules (sneaking out after curfew) and would never think of ratting out her friends who commit more serious infractions (smoking in the dorm). 

Basically, Emily has a perfect life. Except for those pesky nightmares. The ones she's had as long as she can remember. The ones that revolve around either fire (Emily or one of her loved ones burning to death) or water (Emily or one of her loved ones drowning). Oh, and the sleep apnea that comes along with the nightmares. Her parents adamantly deny that a childhood trauma has caused these terrors, and sessions with the school's psychiatrist don't reveal anything, either. Seems that Emily will be stuck with a life of broken, damaged sleep.

Until Del Sugar transfers to Stonybrook. Good-looking and accompanied by rumors of a troubled past, Del sets his sights on Emily. During their tumultuous relationship Emily discovers that the life she's known as perfect has been anything but.

I really enjoyed this story. There were so many twists and turns that it didn't read at all like I thought it would. Just when you thought everything was figured out, bam! Another twist. Emily was a likable character--she was a perfect "every girl." Nothing really stood out--she wasn't inherently good, wasn't inherently bad. The romance between Emily and Del was realistic enough, too, although there were a few passages that caused me to believe the story would end way differently.

Actually, all of the characters were pretty likable, with the exception of Stephanie, Emily's best friend since seventh grade. She's got a weird possessive thing going on with her fraternal twin throughout the story, and it just gave me the willies. Oh, and the school's psychiatrist--thought she was an idiot. She prescribes sleeping pills for Emily, and then, when it's discovered that Emily hasn't been taking them, decides to up the dosage. ?? If she's not taking them, how do you know the dosage isn't right? That moved showed the woman's incompetence. Which may have been Warman's objective all along. 

Enjoy your reading!
Christi