Review: If I Stay

Book: If I Stay
Author: Gayle Forman
Pages: 199
Published: April 9th 2009
Source: Bought

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

In a word…unforgettable. Hopeful. Honest. [I realize that that's three words, but…but…okay, fine, it's three words.] I loved this book way more than I expected to!

Mia was an inspiring character to read about. She experienced this tragedy, this horrible terrible thing that happened to her family, and yet she still managed to think clearly and honestly. She never lied to herself, or if she did she'd admit that she was lying, and I loved that about her. She was faced with a tough decision, and she didn't know which was the right choice to make, and yet in the end, I think she did choose the right path, even if she wasn't so sure herself. She was an extremely lucky girl, both in family and in friends. Her best friend, Kim, was a character that I loved seeing because she believed in her friend more than even she believed in herself, and I think that any friend who does that for you is a truer friend than any of us have any right to hope for. Adam was…well, he's basically the perfect boyfriend. I found myself jealous of Mia a couple times! He was so amazing to Mia, even when she wasn't conscious [well, sorta, but being a spirit-ish thing doesn't really count as being conscious] and there were so many times when I wanted to cry during his heartfelt hospital scenes. He'd do anything for Mia, and you know it.

This isn't an action book. It's not an adventure book. It's not a mystery. It's not a fantasy. This is a book about letting go, making hard choices, and ultimately deciding who you are and where you want to be, and who you want to be there with. It's about letting go and about family, love, and friendship. This is such a powerful book, one of the most powerful I've ever read, and when I finished it I closed it and stared at the cover for like, ten minutes. No joke.

Gayle Forman is a talented author. She knows how to write in a way that pulls at your heartstrings and challenges your beliefs and all the decisions you've made. All the characters and the events in this book clicked, and the writing was just a cherry on top of a huge, massive cake. Yeah -- I compared this book to cake. Now you know how much I loved it.

Cover: It took me a little while to understand why the cover was the way that it was, but once I did, I completely understood the significance of the tree and the bird. Very eye-catching and solid.

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Review: Audrey, Wait

Book: Audrey, Wait!
Author: Robin Benway
Pages: 313
Published: April 10th, 2008
Source: Library

While trying to score a date with her cute co-worker at the Scooper Dooper, sixteen-year-old Audrey gains unwanted fame and celebrity status when her ex-boyfriend, a rock musician, records a breakup song about her that soars to the top of the Billboard charts.

General Overview: I loved this book! I didn't expect to like it so much. It seems to be a typical teen story, but this book was so well-written that it didn't matter whether it was original or not.

Characters: I loved Audrey from the start! It didn't take any time to warm up to her and understand her point of view. Her voice is stark and witty, and she is everything I look for in a heroine! I loved her best friends, they provided lots of entertainment and laughs and supported Audrey through everything. Jonah was so sweet and a little awkward, and I thought he and Audrey made a great couple. I was rooting for them from the minute he was introduced in the story.

Plot: This book had the potential to be terrible plot-wise, but it wasn't. Benway added her own little twists that made this story unique and different from others with similar premises. The story had just a couple moments that were just a little too unbelievable, but it was hardly noticeable and didn't detract from the story at all!

Writing: Audrey sounded smart and funny, and her narrative was full of musical references (which I loved, cos I'm music-obsessed!) and hilarious opinions. Benway's writing was honest and everything was well-written and added to the entertainment level of the story.

Cover: The girl on the cover looks pretty close to how I imagined Audrey, actually! It's eye-catching and colorful and cute. I love the font used too.

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Review: The Espressologist

Book: The Espressologist
Author: Kristina Springer
Pages: 184
Published: October 27th, 2009 by Farrar Straus Giroux
Source: Library

What’s your drink of choice? Is it a small pumpkin spice latte? Then you’re lots of fun and a bit sassy. Or a medium americano? You prefer simplicity in life. Or perhaps it’s a small decaf soy sugar-free hazelnut caffe latte? Some might call you a yuppie.

Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it’s not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their coffee orders. Like her best friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte. But when her boss, Derek, gets wind of Jane’s Espressology, he makes it an in-store holiday promotion, promising customers their perfect matches for the price of their favorite coffee.

Things are going better than Derek could ever have hoped, so why is Jane so freaked out? Does it have anything to do with Em dating Cam? She’s the one who set them up! She should be happy for them, right?

General Overview: A very cute, quick, light read that will put a smile on your face. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would, and I was pleasantly surprised by it.

Characters: I'll be honest -- Jane annoyed me at first. She was…perky. Which is maybe something that happens when you work around coffee but really peppy people just bug me. Is it just me, or does it happen to you too? But, I will also be honest in saying that I warmed up to Jane, though it took me a little while. God, I wanted to smack this girl once or twice! Geez! Some of the things that were so obvious and were right in front of her, she didn't notice! Gaahh. Also, the antagonists? Yeah, they weren't so bad to me. Every school has girls like that, and trust me, these girls are not as bad as some of the ones in my school that I've had to deal with.

Plot: This book is very light. It's not serious reading. Therefore, the plot was easy and predictable. I did really like the premise of this book though. Very original! I never would have thought of something like that, and I applaud Kristina Springer for thinking of it. It was such a fun idea! And it was executed pretty well too, in my opinion. The only thing that I hoped for was a bit more depth to the story.

Writing: Kristina Springer sounds like a really happy teenager. I don't mean that in a mean or condescending way -- I said before, really really perky people just annoy me, and since this book is from Jane's POV, she had to sound like a perky person, right (this is where I stop using the word 'perky', it's starting to sound weird in my head…)? But really, this story had the potential to be very stilted and jumpy, and it was not like that at all. It had a definite sense of story and time and a concrete sequence of events, which I really liked. This book could have been awful, but it wasn't. It made me laugh a couple times and smile and go 'aww'.

Cover: This cover is really cute! To be honest, I really looked at it for longer than a second because of the cover. It has coffee on it, okay? Anything with coffee on it sounds (and looks) good to me!

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

Review: Every Little Thing in the World

Book: Every Little Thing in the World
Author: Nina de Gramont
Pages: 288
Published: MArch 23rd, 2010

A teenager. A pregnancy. A familiar story. NOT

When sixteen-year-old Sydney Biggs’s pregnancy test shows the tell tale plus sign, she confides in only her best friend Natalia, and Natalia promptly “borrows” her mother’s car so Sydney can confront the baby’s father. But after the car is reported stolen and police bring the girls home, their parents send them away to wilderness camp as punishment. With six weeks to spend in the wilds of Canada, time is ticking for Sydney, who isn’t sure what she wants to do about the pregnancy. As she befriends her fellow adventuremates and contends with Natalia’s adamant opinions on the choices available, Sydney realizes that making the right choice can mean very different things.

General Overview: I really wasn't expecting to like this book so much! To me, the whole idea of teen pregnancy is really overplayed, and it's portrayed very unrealistically in the media. But I thought Every Little Thing in the World was a fantastic debut and it surprised me how much I liked it.

Characters: I loved Sydney's narrative. She was such a genuine character, and she spoke her mind even if sometimes she was a bit afraid to stand up for herself. She sounded and acted like a real teenager, and I found that refreshing for once. So many books have teenagers that are overly perfect or overly whiny and that is not how all teenagers are. I guess I did like all of the characters (except Natalia. She really annoyed me, though I guess I did like her to a certain extent as well. Just...not as much) even if some of them were a little stereotypical.

Plot: This is a typical pregnancy story...with a twist. I loved the idea of having this girl, who's stuck in such a terrible situation, who also has to deal with surviving in the Canadian wilderness. It was interesting to see how Sydney coped with the challenges she had to deal with, and I admired her courage and persistence. There wasn't a single time where I felt the book was dragging or moved too quickly. The ending took me by surprise, and though her choice isn't the one I would have made had I been in her position, throughout the book you sympathize with her and because most of her thoughts revolve around her pregnancy, you understand what led her to make that choice.

Writing: de Gramont is a great writer. Her descriptions of the Canadian wilderness were apt and realistic (as confirmed by my Canadian friend. Thanks Sabi!) and made me kind of wish I was there too. Nothing in the book was exaggerated or underplayed, and I really enjoyed that factor of it. Too many times the author adds too much information or too little, and that was certainly not the case with this book.

Cover: The model is pretty close to how I imagined Sydney! At first glance, you can't really tell that this is going to be a book about a pregnant teenager, but I thought the cover drew me in all the same.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Review: Dear John

Book: Dear John
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Pages: 335
Published: December 1st, 2009

"Dear John", the letter read. And with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives changed forever.
When Savannah Lynn Curtis comes into his life, John Tyree knows he is ready to turn over a new leaf. An angry rebel, he had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing what else to do. Then, during a furlough, he meets Savannah, the girl of his dreams. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty. John must choose between love and country. Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover how love can transform us in ways we never could have imagined.

General Overview: Saddest. Book. Ever. I wanted so badly to cry at the end, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I have a feeling that this review is going to have a lot of capitalized sentences and many, many exclamation points and question marks.

Characters: I'm used to reading books from a girl's point of view, so it was very refreshing to see things from the point of view of a guy, for once. I think John is more observant than many other guys, and I very much enjoyed reading from his perspective. I liked Savannah at first, but in the last few chapters, I really started to hate her. I know the things that happened weren't her fault -- okay, maybe they were kinda her fault -- but I hated her anyway for what she did to John! What did he do to deserve that?????? I ASK YOU, WOMAN!!!!

Plot: The plot was fairly fast-moving, and although I thought that John and Savannah's relationship moved very quickly (which is acknowledged in the book) I thought that it was somewhat realistic, although of course it had many elements that for sure made it believably fictional. I loved reading about their dates, and how the met, and I loved the parts with John's dad! I felt so horrible for his dad, though. John never really appreciated him until too late, though I do think that John regretted pulling away from his father; he just didn't know how to apologize and make things better. So, having said that, I do have one more comment to make...I HATED THE ENDING!!!! OH MY GOD WHY DID IT HAVE TO END THAT WAY???? I WANTED TO CRY!!! I DIDN'T, BUT MY POINT STILL STANDS!!!

Writing: Okay, so I don't think Nicholas Sparks is a spectacular writer, but he definitely knows how to tell a story in such a way that you become totally absorbed in it, and he is an expert at creating characters that you can completely identify and connect with in such a way that you feel as if you know the character. His writing style is clear and concise, and although it may not be as flowery or poetic as some other authors' writing, his books are beautifully written.

Cover: So, this cover is actually the movie poster. All I have to say is: Channing Tatum.
Yeah.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Review: The Unwritten Rule

Book: The Unwritten Rule
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Published: March 16, 2010

Everyone knows the unwritten rule. You don't like your best friend's boyfriend.
Sarah has had a crush on Ryan for years. He's easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her.Lately it even seems like he's paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna's boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah's best friend. Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she's thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It's wonderful...and awful. Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can't stop herself from wanting more...

General Overview: I love Elizabeth Scott! She's such a talented writer, and her books, to me, are very realistic and she is unafraid to tell the truth, no matter how ugly.

Characters: Wow. Scott really brought these characters to life. I could identify with Sarah, and I thought Ryan seemed sweet (if not a little short on words). Honestly, I wish Sarah had been a little more gutsy, and Ryan too. If only they'd just stood up for themselves from the beginning, they wouldn't have all the drama they found themselves faced with. And oh my god, I hated Brianna with a fiery passion. She annoyed me so.so.so.much. But it takes a talented writer to create a character that a reader can both hate and sympathize with, and that's exactly what happened to me with Brianna.

Plot: The plot wasn't the best part of the novel for me. It seemed a little repetitive at times. Sarah and Ryan's relationship seemed to move in some sort of cycle, until they finally found it in themselves to get together. Don't get me wrong, I didn't not like the plot; I just thought that it could've been tweaked a little from that typical sort of story and could've kept me guessing a bit more than it actually did. The ending, however, very much took me by surprise. I thought that it was sad, yes, but sometimes things in life really do end that way, and even though Sarah didn't think so, I think she did get a happy ending -- she just didn't see it that way.

Writing: Scott's writing is absorbing and neat. I loved how she didn't shy away from the uglier side of people and relationships, but instead embraced it completely and brought it to full attention. I hate it when, in books, the author sugarcoats the less appealing aspects. Elizabeth Scott, however, is most definitely not one of those writers.

Cover: I like it! I think it's cute, and it suits the book perfectly. I've noticed a sort of pattern in Scott's books' covers -- you never see the models' faces, and I think that fits for the type of book she writes.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars