Category: Reviews

The book reviews

Dreamology by Lucy Keating // Unremarkable, regardless of all the oreos

| Claudia Victoria

Dreamology

R4

Author: Lucy Keating
Publisher: Harper Teen
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eBook
Release Date: April 12, 2016
Goodreads  • The Book Depository

For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams—and only her dreams. Because he doesn’t exist.

But when Alice walks into class on her first day at a new school, there he is. It turns out, though, that Real Max is nothing like Dream Max, and getting to know each other in reality isn’t as perfect as Alice always hoped.

When their dreams start to bleed dangerously into their waking hours, the pair realize that they might have to put an end to a lifetime of dreaming about each other. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?You know, if this entire book was written differently, it’d be very easy to make the main character the antagonist.

Not because they’re all excellently-made grey character, but because her actions are similar to so many villains in your generic chick flicks.

Max – Real Max, not her Dream Max – has a girlfriend. Her name is Celeste. And no, she is not a The Other Woman cliche. She’s nice, she’s likeable, she’s not a btch. And she’s friendly to Alice. SHE’S NICE, PEOPLE. For the first time in forever (i’m sorry don’t kill me) we’ve got a “love rival” (I use this term loosely) that does not immediately be a btch and hate on our protagonist because reasons.

Alice even acknowledges it too. She says it herself.

But guess what? She still goes after her boyfriend.

She wants to get in between this happy couple – Max and Celeste, who obviously are very, very into each other because of apparently since she dreams of Max, he was hers first.

Like, no.

I get it, Alice. I really do. You love him (although you’ve never met him) and you know he’s your soulmate (despite not knowing much about him.) Uh huh. Got it. /sarcasm

The romance was also very boring. I felt no spark, no chemistry that I could sense. The building of it between characters was almost non-existent. I could probably let it slide since they’ve fallen in love through their dreams, but I still wasn’t really feeling it. I was crossing fingers for an epic love story, something that transcended reality and brought dreams to life, but all I got was a weak road trip with stringy characters.  

This book is not all kinds of awful, no. It’s more of a solid chuck of “meh.” Nothing potentially remarkable; the main conflict is resolved in a matter of lines, the romance is some junkworthy aspect that doesn’t do anything to help the already drab-characters, and the entire plot seems to follow a dull path of walking from Point A to Point B. It literally just went from Plot Point One to Plot Point Two, to Plot Point Three until it landed at Underwhelming Conclusion.

I was so excited for this book. I was picturing this intense love-hate relationship going on because of Real Max not being like Dream Max (sweet, caring, all the qualities of a dream boyfriend, you know the drill) and I was, well, disappointed.

The only redeeming point in this story was Oliver. Oliver, my baby.

In short, this book doesn’t stand out as particularly amazing, and while I did rip it a new one it’s not that that bad. It’s… eh.

would i recommend it? possibly, if you’re into a somewhat-fluffy-but-not-entirely-cute story. maybe if you’re looking for something to fill your time with.

I’ve Been Eternally Screwed Over // Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

| Claudia Victoria

Dangerous Girls

R10

Author: Abigail Haas
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Pages: 388
Format: eBook
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Goodreads  • The Book Depository

It’s Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives.But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations. As Anna sets out to find her friend’s killer, she discovers harsh revelations about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.

Awaiting the judge’s decree, it becomes clear to Anna that everyone around her thinks she is not only guilty, but also dangerous. And when the whole story comes out, reality is more shocking than anyone could ever imagine…

How much do you love me?

Mindfucked.

That’s the first word I could think of, and probably the only word I’ll ever use, to describe Dangerous Girls.

Mindblown is too soft a word. Being mindblown is after reading the end of Red Queen.

But being mindfucked? That’s right up Dangerous Girls’ alley.

Abigail Haas is a genius. A pure goddamn genius. This book is such a ride, with subtle hints drops and curveballs thrown at you at unbelievable angles at all the unexpected moments so you’re just forced to stop and think: what the fuck?

I want to keep this non-spoilery part of the review short and sweet. Because this book is not the longest, and because I believe that books like these need the smallest information given and only the evident go read it now put in their reviews.

So, adieu! Go read it! And don’t click on the spoiler – only if you dare!

SPOILERS

If you’ve read it, tell me what you felt!  clearly label your comments with spoilers, though! preferably with a couple of spaces between SPOILERS and your actual comment.

Yes, The Calling is Hunger Games 2.0 || The Calling by James Frey

| Claudia Victoria

The CallingR7

Author: James Frey
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Endgame
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Pages: 461
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Goodreads  • The Book Depository

Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game that would determine our future.

This is Endgame.

For ten thousand years the lines have existed in secret. The 12 original lines of humanity. Each had to have a Player prepared at all times. They have trained generation after generation after generation. In weapons, languages, history, tactics, disguise assassination. Together the players are everything: strong, kind, ruthless, loyal, smart, stupid, ugly, lustful, mean, fickle, beautiful, calculating, lazy, exuberant, weak. They are good and evil. Like you. Like all.

This is Endgame.

When the game starts, the players will have to find three keys. The keys are somewhere on earth. The only rule of their Endgame is that there are no rules. Whoever finds the keys first wins the game. Endgame: The Calling is about the hunt for the first key. And just as it tells the story of the hunt for a hidden key, written into the book is a puzzle. It invites readers to play their own Endgame and to try to solve the puzzle. Whoever does will open a case filled with gold. Alongside the puzzle will be a revolutionary mobile game built by Google’s Niantic Labs that will allow you to play a real-world version of Endgame where you can join one of the lines and do battle with people around you.

Will exuberance beat strength? Stupidity top kindness? Laziness thwart beauty? Will the winner be good or evil? There is only one way to find out.

Play.
Survive.
Solve.
People of Earth.
Endgame has begun.

…no matter how you look at it

Okay, so the Calling is a pretty not-exactly-a-new new book, so there’s been enough reviews to get the general – and probably – biggest nitpick of this whole shabang. It’s the Hunger Games without the Hunger, and a whole lotta emphasis on End.

The Hunger Game isn’t literary’s equivalent to the wheel, I get that (I’ve read pages and pages of hater reviews saying just that, so I know) but since it’s an uber-famous book with fantastico movies to boot, you cannot deny those blatant parallels.

You wanna get a list?

In this world we call Panem Earth, we have twelve districts lines where they each put forth a tribute player in a battle to the death.

Wait….

Wait a minute…

Or better yet, look at this fabulous review:

“In a world similar to Earth,”

(In a world similar to Panem)

“there are 12 bloodlines”

(There are 12 districts)

“Each bloodline has a champion between the ages of 13 and 17”

(Each district has a tribute between the ages of 13 and 18)

“And then one day they’re called to fight, and all the bloodlines but the winners will be exterminated. They’re fighting to be the last race.”

(And then one day they’re called to fight, and all the tributes but the winners will be exterminated. They’re fighting to be the last tribute.)

– Gillian http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20510241-the-calling

 

okay, fine, I get you’re name is bob

I’ve got this (un)healthy thing for names, right? Like, I love them. I spent days choosing out to decide what to name my dogs, making sure that they got rememberable, unique names. (In case you’re wondering, they got named Spot and Fluffy*)

But it’s so unpleasant to read the names in Endgame: the Calling because of how often it’s repeated.

I’m on the first page, and every other fcking sentence has the person’s name

Every.

Other.

Sentence.

It’s like Frey doesn’t want us to forget the names (which is totally plausible since there’s twelve POVs and then some) but he’s constantly shoving it down our throats, every sentence starting with Sarah Sarah Sarah or Jago Jago Jago or whatever the name is.

*nah i’m kidding. they got named griffin and saber

 

who r u?

there’s twelve POVs and then some

I was not kidding. Nope nope nope nope

Nope.

We’ve got Sarah and Jago and Marcus and Maccabee and Baits and Chiyoko and An and Christopher and Kala and Alice and Shari and (was that twelve? Oh… wait, missing one. It’s thirteen, actually) and finally… Hilal.

Was I kidding? Nah man. I was DOORNAIL SERIOUS.

It’s worse because you’ve gotta remember who tf are you  + what do you look like + what’s your line name (since that’s how they reference each other half the time [“The Cahokian” “the Olmec” “the Mu” “the Minoan”]) and how close are you to dying because trust me there’s a shit ton of that here.

 

loves diversity like nothing else

This book is diverse.

The settings are diverse.

The characters are diverse.

Holymotherofguacamoley this book is so. damn. diverse and I love it love it love it love.

it.

Characters are from everywhere and the settings are scattered around the globe and it makes me happy just so so happy.

Happy Claudia is a good Claudia.

 

bottom line?

THE VERDICT.

THE FINAL SAY.

Was it good?

Or was it… not?

YES OKAY FINE I LIKED IT.

I did. I actually did. Despite many of the misgivings I had in the beginning, I ended up enjoying it. The tension is pretty decent, and even with the amount of transparency we get by reading through all the POVs the book still had me wondering and predicting who’d end up dying.

There’s a lot of dying.

 

anyway. this book was good. it was pretty good. i wouldn’t say great, because it’s not really greeaat, but i liked it.

yeah.

#awkwardendings byeeeeeee

I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

| Claudia Victoria

I'll Meet You ThereR8

Author: Heather Demetrios
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Series: N/A
Pages: 388
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: February 3, 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads • Amazon • The Book Depository

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

 

And maybe some people are like collages – no matter how broken or useless we felt, we were an essential part of the whole. We mattered.

 

I’ll Meet You There was recommended to me by a friend, and I was wary, because I have a nice knack of disliking a book while everyone else liked it. I didn’t doubt the book was great – I just wasn’t sure it was for-me-great.

Oh, how I’m sorry about that doubt. You haven’t steered me wrong yet, Tika!

I enjoyed this book so so so so so much. There’s so many different, complex issues put into here and Demetrios handles them all so beautifully.

There are so many things that makes this book different from all the YA contemporaries out there. For one, the drama is not superficial. It’s not based on cheap miscommunication that could have been resolved three chapters into the story. It’s not because of “some girl” or “some boy” or any old flames coming to haunt them. The drama is about the characters and about scars that never heal.

Josh Mitchell has returned from war, and war changes you. You don’t go back to your old self, flirting with every girl you catch a whiff of. You don’t because you can’t. War is brutal. There are so many things you want to unsee, that you wish you never saw but you can’t and so you’re stuck with it and you just have to deal with it it because what else are you going to do?

Skylar Evans has two choices: take care of her deadbeat mom in a rundown town that she hates or abandon her to her succumbing funds and live a happy life in Frisco. Sure, there are you saints out there who would pick their mom in a heartbeat, but for Skylar, it’s not that easy. She hates the town. She needs something more. Something bigger. Something better. And she doesn’t know which side to take – the one where her family bonds keep her in Creek View, or the side of her that knows she deserves something better.

This book is just too… augh. Too good, I tell you.

And let me just say that I am beyond happy that there is a platonic relationship between Skylar and Chris. Yessiree folks, you read that right. A platonic relationship… between a boy and a girl! Gasp!

This book is very character driven, so you won’t expect much in terms of events. But the character aspect is done very, very well. The voices are spectacular and you can see the struggles they have to deal with as everyone’s just living their life and everything for them is so normal and they’re just there on the outside because they just have too much weighing them down. You get flashbacks of war and suddenly you feel like your their again with blood on your hands as you see your friends die one by one, or you have your mom to deal with who you know you should just leave behind but you can’t. You just can’t.

I am forever thankful I got to read this book, and reading the acknowledgements, I can see Heather did extensive research for this book. Pick it up. Please.

Have you read the book? What did you think of it? What would you do if you were in Skylar’s position?

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

| Claudia Victoria

ThisSongWillSaveYourLife

R2

Author: Leila Sales
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Pages: 288
Format: eBook
Source: Kobo Book Store
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Goodreads • Amazon

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, This Song Will Save Your Life is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

 

I believe that a person’s taste in music tells you a lot about them. In some cases, it tells you everything you need to know.

 

WARNING: POSSIBLE RANT AHEAD

When it comes to book, I usually classify them in three broad categories: a bad plot with good characters, a good plot with good characters, and a good plot with bad characters. This Song Will Save Your Life falls in the last category.

I’m down for a book that’s about growth and finding yourself and most of all being comfortable with yourself and exactly who you are. I love books where reality is so sharp and brutal, the character being so easy to relate and sympathize with.

But in a book about bullying, it’s always a good idea for the reader to sympathize with the protagonist. How are they going to care otherwise? This, my friend, is where This Song Will Save Your Life went wrong. Very, very, wrong.

Let’s start with that opening quote. To an extent, I agree that you could learn a thing or two about the person from their taste in music. Like how you can tell someone’s generally a happy, uplifting person if his songs are all upbeat and light. I have no problem with that statement. Nothing at all.

Until I read this:

The popular music wasn’t interesting-bad, but it was bad-bad. Auto-Tuned vocalists who couldn’t really sing; offensively simplistic instrumentation; grating melodies. Like they thought we were stupid.

What? Last time I checked, just because someone’s into pop music doesn’t mean they’re stupid. I’m not pop’s biggest fan, I’ll admit – but honestly.

Now, in the beginning of the book, Elise wants to be popular. She wants to be liked by everyone, be in the circle instead of standing outside in the cold. I get that. I resonate with that. I’m the girl at school who knows she has many groups to sit at lunch, but doesn’t truly fit in with anyone. I understand that yearning, that want to be included. Part of something. But then she repeatedly mentions that everyone in her school are idiots, and I have to wonder: why would you want to be friends with idiots that you clearly look down upon? If you look down on them so much, clearly marking yourself superior, why bother to be friends with them at all?

Elise does end up having some “friends” in school – I put friends in quotes because her offensive attitude makes me question that.

You may wonder how I managed to make these friends. Well, I will tell you: making friends is actually not that hard when you drop every single one of your standards

See what I mean by her superior attitude? If I was as alone as she says she is, I wouldn’t think so little of my friends since clearly no one likes her. I’d be a bit thankful, really.

Speaking of thankful:

I bet I do seem exhausted, Ms. Wu. I bet I do seem less engaged. I was up all night, doing something that I really love, and I’m sorry, but I just didn’t reserve enough energy to fully participate in this miserable, mandatory little exercise in public education.

Pardon my french in the next couple paragraphs, but she’s really pissing me off at this point. I can feel the anger all over again.

Hold it right there. Last time I checked, I thought you wanted attention? Now you have it. So shut the f*ck up. The teachers don’t come to school to deal with an attitude like that. Elise didn’t say that quote out loud, but I wish she did so the teacher can give her a nice grounding back into reality.

I think one of the biggest issues I had with Elise is her want for attention. Earlier in the book (some may think this is a spoiler, but really it happens to early to be considered as such) Elise attempts to kill herself. Only she doesn’t go through with it. But what does she do? She calls Amelia (a girl in her school) to tell her about it.

Sorry, no. Just no. I was so frustrated with Elise that I had to take a breather for a moment.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d call someone and tell them, “hey, I was cutting myself and thinking about committing suicide,” if I didn’t want them to call the ambulance. Because of course that’s what any sane person would do. They’d call the f*cking ambulance because what the hell are they supposed to do? Nod and say, “that’s great!?”

And get this: later, when Amelia asks Elise why she seems mad at her, Elise said she betrayed her. Then Elise has the nerve to believe she did nothing wrong when she notices Amelia shying away from her and being upset.

I look at her sharply, wondering if this was a reference to the time I cut myself. But how could it be? Ms. Wu didn’t know about that. Nobody at school knew, except for Amelia. Amelia, who now thought I had done something to hurt her, apparently. When all I had ever wanted was for her to just be my friend.

Gee. Nothing says friendship by calling them a traitor.

And Elise, here’s a tip: when you make friends, try going up there and actually talking to them, hmm? I’m pretty antisocial myself but I actually talk to people and when I don’t, I don’t expect them to be my friends.

I felt inklings of sympathy for Elise at moments, because she still did suffer from bullying and it’s never nice to read about that, but it just got squashed down by something she did or said, and I just started disliking her more and more.

This entire review turned out to be a bit of a rant, and I’m sorry about that. To be honest, I’m not sure why I continued this book. Maybe because I saw all those glowing reviews and wanted to believe I could find a trace of it. Sadly, I didn’t.

Maybe you’ll like this book. Maybe you won’t. If you did, please don’t yell at me. It’s not good for your health. And remember: I have my opinion, you have yours. Nothing wrong with that. And if I offended anyone (since I know there are so many people who relate to it), I am truly sorry. Really, I am.

All The Rage by Courtney Summers

| Claudia Victoria

AllTheRageR6
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 321
Format: Hardcover
Source: Chapters Indigo
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Goodreads • Amazon

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time—and they certainly won’t now — but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.

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