Review - I Know It's Over / C.K. Kelly Martin

PURE. UNPLANNED. PERFECT. Those were Nick’s summer plans before Sasha stepped into the picture. With the collateral damage from his parents’ divorce still settling and Dani (his girl of the moment) up for nearly anything, complications are the last thing he needs. All that changes, though, when Nick runs into Sasha at the beach in July. Suddenly he’s neck-deep in a relationship and surprised to find he doesn’t mind in the least. But Nick’s world shifts again when Sasha breaks up with him. Then, weeks later, while Nick’s still reeling from the breakup, she turns up at his doorstep and tells him she’s pregnant. Nick finds himself struggling once more to understand the girl he can’t stop caring for, the girl who insists that it’s still over.

Review - I Know It's Over is a book that has scared me. It has received some fantastic accolades from critics and bloggers and deals with some heavy subject matter. I was scared it would not meet up to my lofty expectations. I was scared that it would.

I Know It's Over is a story that unspools in a way that slowly involves you until you are unknowingly immersed in every dimension of Nick's life. Considering it was her debut work, Martin daringly chose to tackle weighty issues - teen pregnancy, abortion, sexual identity - all from a teen male perspective. It is brave, confronting story that I won't forget in a hurry.

Martin could have attempted mimicry of teen male speak but she didn't. Instead she chose to show the similarities in the thoughts and feelings between the sexes. Only when Nick speaks to his mates are we reminded that boys aren't as communicative and open with one another as girls tend to be. There's a pause for them, a moment where they take everything in and consider, and then move forward. Nick is so busy processing most of the time that he doesn't react. That doesn't mean he doesn't care, he's just trying to catch up. Nick's story is a heart breaker in the revealing nature of his love for Sasha and his need for what she makes him. His slow and painful meltdown after their breakup is difficult to experience as we've grown to care for this guy immensely at this stage.

The honesty in which Martin tackles every facet of Nick's life is brutal, sparse and affecting. Though Sasha is a large part of the story, his interactions with his mates and his parents are similarly great. In particular his eventual honesty with his parents and their issues post-divorce really spoke to me. I wish I could find the strength to be as candid as he was. There are no issues in this book, only a story about what it means to be there for the people in your life. To be present, to listen, to comfort and to be frank. All the facets that happen to make this book a fantastically real depiction of teens today.

Confronting is a word that is used in conjunction with this book an awful lot. I am going to move in another direction - insightful, unflinching, stark and difficult.

Published: September 2008
Format: Paperback, 244 pages
Publisher: Random House
Source: purchased
Origin: USA

Trailer: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

My favourite of the Narnia series brought to life without having to put a little person in a mouse costume. (Though I did love the BBC version).

In US theatres Decemeber 10, 2010.

Official Long Trailer: Tomorrow When the War Began

Albeit a little fuzzy around the edges, here's the trailer for the movie adaptation of John Marsden's Tomorrow, When the War Began. I am totally digging the trailer and it pretty much seems to be running true to the book. I am impressed.

Opening on Australian shores September 2nd, I am pretty confident that it will pull in some numbers opening week. Every kid I know read at least the first book in this series at some point. For those of you not of the Australian persuasion, TWWB is a book that details the adventures of a group of country teens battling against a foreign army that has invaded Australia.

Some Americans might be thinking....sounds like Red Dawn. There are similarities but I feel confident that this book adaptation will allow the series to break away from that comparison.

Also....I LOVE Homer...always have, always will. Best Australian-Greek YA boy ever~

Review - Glimpse / Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual.

As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like 35, and she is pregnant.

Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other.

Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true.

Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future.

Review - Everything that I liked about this book disappeared around page one hundred and sixty-six. I can remember the page number because there was one line that made me groan out loud and I knew it was the beginning of the end.

Despite a protagonist introduction that felt a little overdone, I was pleasantly surprised by the set up of Zellie Wells and her tale. She's a small town gal, daughter of the local pastor and irrevocably in love with classmate, Avery. Zellie's a good girl, somewhat ordinary in everyday life with the exception to her ability to guess if someone is seriously ill or moderately ill. What was fantastic about the notion of this girl was that despite her religious background, it didn't play a major role in terms of issues. Her party is in the church's basement, her family doesn't have a lot of money but they are happy. Zellie (up unto a point) is a well sketched Christian girl completely lacking the caricatural edge that we typically see in a pastor's daughter.

Told mostly in Zellie's perspective, we are also partial to Avery's perspective at times. Here's where the trouble begins. Zellie's perspective is presented in first person and her boyfriend's is told in second. To be completely honest, Avery's isn't needed and is used as a narrative crutch. At times information is repeated through so many channels that I wonder if the editor of this novel was asleep. There is a great heart to this story had the mythology been all stripped away, the convoluted interconnected family love machinations, the dead returned and paper thin characters been fleshed out. If the story had been about Zellie, a normal spunky girl struggling with liking a boy in a town where she's the pastor's daughter, I would be writing a different review. If it were a story where she has a gift for "knowing", where she struggles with her love and lust for a boy that her parents don't approve of then I would be a happy girl. Benefiel's strength was in the simple storytelling, I just don't think she realises it.

When parental affairs, secret magical societies, abrupt character changes and choppy dialogue started to show their head I was bitterly disappointed. I blame the grandma. Seriously, everything was great before she came along. Actually I blame Zellie's extra powers. Why couldn't a dash of precognition been enough? Instead the author took a simple story that worked really well on a emotional level and sucked it all out to make a paranormal mishmash reminiscent of other books with matriarchal line abilities. The introduction of a wholly unnecessary boy near the end sealed the deal for me.

So much promise but ultimately disappointing.

Published: May 9, 2010

Format: Paperback, 262 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace
Source: publisher
Origin: USA

Review - Perchance to Dream / Lisa Mantchev

The stuff that dreams are made on.

Act Two, Scene One

Growing up in the enchanted Thèâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written. She knew the Players and their parts, but she didn’t know that she, too, had magic. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales, and determined to follow her stars. She is ready for the outside world.

Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY

But the outside world soon proves more topsy-turvy than any stage production. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Thèâtre, nothing goes as planned. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between—

Nate: Her suave and swashbuckling pirate, now in mortal peril.

Ariel: A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit whose true motives remain unclear.

When Nate is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Sea Goddess, only Bertie can free him. She and her fairy sidekicks embark on a journey aboard the Thèâtre’s caravan, using Bertie’s word magic to guide them. Along the way, they collect a sneak-thief, who has in his possession something most valuable, and meet The Mysterious Stranger, Bertie’s father—and the creator of the scrimshaw medallion. Bertie’s dreams are haunted by Nate, whose love for Bertie is keeping him alive, but in the daytime, it’s Ariel who is tantalizingly close, and the one she is falling for. Who does Bertie love the most? And will her magic be powerful enough to save her once she enters the Sea Goddess’s lair? Goodreads

Review - Perchance to Dream is the ultimate road movie in book form. It moves with the speed of light and has enough daring and panache to outshine Liberace on speed. Seriously, you find yourself stumbling to keep up, letting information sweep over you, new characters permeate and relationships clarify.

Mantchev has upped her game in terms of expectations of the audience. This isn't for the faint of heart! Staying abreast of the developments requires focus and further growing their vocabularies. PTD is so wonderfully gregarious that I found myself letting the worlds tumble around in my mind as I brainstormed strategies to use them in everyday life. She has a wonderful handle of alliteration and using (what some may consider) dated language to create a delightful mishmash of the fantastical. Pure and simple, it is fun.

Ariel gets some more face time as does Bertie's origin. Both are most welcome into the Theatre Illuminata series but the latter in particular needs to percolate some more. It seems that this particular storyline will get some much needed time in the third title which will do my heart wonders. Bertie has freedom from the Theatre and it is using it to good effect. Her travels allow the spotlight to shine more fully on herself and those around her. She's full of gumption, class and passion and it is a joy to see this world through her eyes. Despite questions of her parentage and identity she is very much her own person - an ideal protagonist in many ways.

Despite the pathos that serves as a needed undercurrent, it is the humour that propels me. Mantchev has a wicked and absurd sense of humour, most readily seen in her beloved faeries. The heat between Ariel and Bertie continues here but we also see the ties that bind her to Nate. Triangles are often tiresome as there really is no question who the author has picked for the protagonist - here the author could go either way legitimately. Both men have equal bearing on Bertie but I do love my men diabolical.

Mantchev is a thoroughly unique author with a definite perspective cushioned by snark, sass and sensuality. There isn't anything out in the YA world like this but that's not the reason to read PTD. It is a rollicking good read with relatable and real characters in a far and away world.

Anyone else waiting to see how this all ends and how much it will blow your mind?

Published: May 25, 2010
Format: ARC, 384 pages
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Source: publisher
Origin: USA