Fallen

Written by Lauren Kate

Goodreads Synopsis: There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. 

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. 
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

My Confession: I, for one, am royally sick and tired of supernatural romances that involve werewolves, vampires, and immortals of any kind. Twilight seemed to spawn some literary phenomenon where, all of a sudden, romances weren't good enough unless one of the amours was undead, and the other was constantly at risk of being killed by said-undead lover. Which is why I initially hesitated when presented with this book. The cover, which is startlingly beautiful despite the darkness, immediately signaled to me that once again, the concept of two normal humans falling in love was not going to be found in these pages. 

And I was correct. Daniel, the gorgeous, unattainable male, is an angel. Yes, an angel. Okay, this was mildly new. And the fact that he spends the first couple hundred pages blowing Luce off and acting like he doesn't give a damn gained him a few points as well. She, on the other hand, basically falls dead at the sight of him (even after he flips her off--a gesture I found wildly hysterical and extremely refreshing) and spends most of the book looking like a psychotic stalker. She just won't leave him alone, despite the fact that he clearly wants nothing to do with her.

Plot Twist: When, of course, he actually is madly in love with her. Well, her soul. See, Luce and Daniel are caught up in a reincarnation problem of sorts. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, Daniel and Luce fell in love. Only, that love is what killed Luce. But, every seventeen years, she reappears as someone else, and Daniel, happily immortal and unchanging, finds her. But, just like every other lifetime, Luce dies just as she and Daniel are about to get together. And she doesn't just die, she's murdered as some form of karmic payback to Daniel for something he did in the past. Of course, we don't know what that thing is. Got that? Yeah, took me a while too. 

The whole "I need to stay away from you because I'm dangerous" thing has gotten a bit old, hasn't it? The only thing that saves this book from being totally predictable are the supporting cast of characters, and the "bad guys" that aren't so different from the good guys. There's also some really well-placed biblical references throughout the book; they're used as a way of explaining the whole "fallen angel" story. Having gone to Catholic school my entire life, I know the story of Lucifer (aka Satan) pretty well. Putting a literary spin on the battle for heaven was a pretty cool concept. There are some interesting, different moments here, and the fact that Luce and Daniel don't spend the entire novel in a grossly unrealistic love-fest makes this a fairly pleasant read.

Recommendation: I'm not sorry I read it. I was happy to see a female character with a hint of a spine and a boyfriend who actually fights with her and doesn't apologize five seconds later. There are some cool battle scenes and some supporting characters with real depth. The fact that it takes place at a reform school is an added, unexpected bonus. 

Rating: 3.3/5

452 pages, published by Delacorte Press (Dec. 8, 2009)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Written by Stephen Chbosky


Goodreads Synopsis: Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is navigating through the strange worlds of love, drugs, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and dealing with the loss of a good friend and his favorite aunt.


My Confession: If you put a gun to my head and asked me what my favorite book was, this would be it. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a cross between two other fantastic books: The Catcher in the Rye and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. This is an epistolary novel--told entirely though letters. Fifteen-year-old Charlie writes letters describing his everyday adventures to an unknown recipient. We're never told who this person is, but in the first line of the book, Charlie tells us why he is writing to this person.


"I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have...I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn't try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know that these people exist."


It's clear right from the beginning that Charlie is not your average teenager. The book takes place over the course of a year, Charlie's freshman year of high school, to be exact. More happens to this boy in one year than most people experience throughout all four years of high school. But this book has the curious way of staying firmly rooted in the real world; not once did I stop reading, put the little lime green book down, and think, "Gee, this is just too out-there for me."


Charlie's voice is bright and honest, naive and unassuming at best. He's sheltered, slow, different, weird. He sees the world from a true outsider's perspective, because he's never been invited in. This makes him a true "wallflower." His fresh and startlingly honest perceptions are what makes this book so brilliant. It's an anthem for anyone who has ever felt out of place or out of touch. It's a generational tale, but told in such an unusual, captivating way, that it's carved out its own niche as a classic.


Being Infinite: "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." Even if you've never read this book before, chances are you've heard this line, quoted among many a yearbook and Facebook page. It's the kind of euphemism that you feel like you've heard forever but wish you'd come up with first. There's something about the scene that precedes this moment for Charlie. The carefree, wind-in-your-hair feeling of being infinite. Like nothing can touch you because you're encased in a protective bubble of pure bliss. That one moment that we can look back on and point to as a defining moment in our lives. That's the way that Charlie looks at the world in this novel. It'll leave you feeling infinite too.


Recommendation: It's a short book, and it can be a quick read. Take it slowly. Each letter, each page holds a revelation, an account so honest, so true, that you'll want to take your time. It's the kind of book that can be read over and over again, and you'll still find something new to marvel over. But that first time's the charm. Don't rush it.


Rating: 5/5


213 pages, published by MTV Books and Pocket Books (Feb. 1, 1999)

Something Borrowed

Written by Emily Giffin


Goodreads Synopsis: Rachel has always been the good girl- until her thirtieth birthday, when her longtime friend Darcy throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancée. Rachel is completely horrified. She pretends it didn't happen, maybe it will all go away-and so will her feelings for this guy. 
She prays for fate to intervene, but when she makes a choice she discovers that the lines between right and wrong are blurry, endings aren't always neat, and you have to risk all to win true happiness.

My Confession: I'm sure there have been plenty of books written about lifelong friendships, cheating, and romance. I've read quite a few of them. And let me tell you, none of them captivate me the way Something Borrowed does. Maybe it's because I've been the Rachel to far too many Darcys in my life. Maybe it's because I believe in that special connection, the one that causes you to throw all caution and convention to the wind and lead with your heart. But it's most likely because these characters feel like your best friends, and you're left wishing that more men were like Dex, who despite most rom-com conventions, is not--and does not turn out to be (thank God)--an asshole. The relationship between Rachel and Darcy is nicely depicted and picked away at as the story goes on. As the girls' history was unraveled, I became more and more sympathetic toward Rachel, despite the fact that she is her best friend's fiancée's "other woman." You become invested in this story, so much so that you'll find yourself picking sides. I'm on Team Rachel, but reading Giffin's sequel, Something Blue, may change your mind.

The Hollywood Factor: Yes, someone was smart enough (or stupid enough, depending on how you feel about books becoming movies) to scoop up the film rights to this novel. Something Borrowed, starring Kate Hudson as Darcy (evidently the filmmakers didn't get the memo that Darcy is a brunette) and Ginnifer Goodwin (I think I'm good with this...I think) as Rachel. The trailer, just released last week, looks hopeful. I'm guilty of watching it a few times, lingering on the casting choice for Dex (Colin Egglesfield) and wondering if he can live up to the stud of my imagination. The addition of John Krasinski as Ethan, Rachel's friend who plays a small but significant part in the book, but seems to play a much larger role in the movie, looks like a positive move. I'm usually cautious about scripts adapted from books. They're just never as good. But I'm holding out hope that when Something Borrowed hits theaters on May 6, it's going to do the phenomenal book justice.

Recommendation: Read it. Then see the movie with your girlfriends. Then read it again. And when you're ready (even though you'll probably balk, seeing as how most people hate Darcy by the end), pick up Something Blue. Trust me, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Stay tuned for that review.

Rating: 4.5/5

322 pages, published by St. Martin's Press (June 1, 2004)

Evenfall

Written by Liz Michalski

Goodreads Synopsis: In life, Frank could've had any woman he wanted.

In death, he'll try to win back the one that mattered...

Frank Wildermuth always regretted a mistake he made as a teenager: choosing Clara Murphy over her sister Gert. And like a true Murphy woman, Gert got on with her life, never admitting to heartbreak. Not even now, decades later, with Frank dead-dead, that is, but not quite gone. Now, Frank's niece, Andie Murphy, is back in town to settle his estate, and she sees that things have changed in Hartman, Connecticut. Aunt Gert still drives her crazy, but Cort, the wide-eyed farmboy she used to babysit, is all grown up-with a whole new definition for the word "sleepover." Even freakier are the whispers. Either Andie's losing her mind, or something she can't see is calling out to her-something that insists on putting right the past.

My Confession: I loved this book. Really, truly loved it. I hadn't heard about this book in advance, it wasn't recommended to me, and I didn't discover it on Goodreads first. This was a beautiful, spontaneous find during a trip to Borders. I walked up and down the isles, and this book caught my eye. The cover is reminiscent of a classic watercolor painting, and something about it was whimsical and inviting. The back cover, which promised a plotline filled with love lost and a ghost who would stop at nothing to keep the past from repeating itself instantly grabbed me. Bonus points for naming the main character Andrea--even if it was shorted to the offensive "Andie" for the majority of the book. The writing was gorgeous and breathtakingly visual. The attention to detail was painstaking and meticulous. As a writer myself, I know how important the little details are, and Evenfall just nails them. The setting, a rural farm town in Connecticut, was very realistic, the atmosphere of a slow (almost sleepy) lifestyle captured perfectly. The characters were extremely real, from the reluctant, unsure Andrea to the handsome, incredibly sexy Colt, and the time-hardened, regretful Gert. But, that brings me to...

The ghost element: Almost nonexistent. Frank, Andie's uncle and Gert's brother-in-law, appears and narrates parts of the story from beyond the grave. It becomes known that Frank, as a young boy, was madly in love with Gert but married her sister instead. After Gert returns home from serving in the war as a nurse to care for Andie, her reckless brother's newborn child, Frank and Gert are forced to live everyday with their mistake. Now, as a ghost, Frank sees Andie going down the same road, and he wants to keep the past from repeating itself. However, as neat and interesting as this sounds, it doesn't quite play out that way. Frank's narrations act more as a window to the past, instead of connecting that past to the present. His presence is felt during different parts in the book, but feels nowhere near as important as it could have been. The "whispers" that Andie's supposed to hear never really happen. She never recognizes the "humming" she hears as a supernatural presence, let alone her uncle Frank. This particular aspect of the plot had so much promise, and it fell a little short. 

A few other loose ends are left by the end of the book. Now, I'm usually all for an open-ended ending; I've grown to dislike novels that wrap everything up into neat, unrealistic little packages. However, I felt that I was left with a few questions at the end (which I won't reveal for spoiler purposes) that could have been cleared up in a subtle way. Everybody doesn't have to live happily ever after, but abrupt endings (endings at all, especially in a good book) are hard to accept. 

Recommendation: Read this book. Just read it. It's beautifully crafted, and the fact that this is the author's first book is truly impressive. It's a wonderful story about love, regardless of and apart from the supernatural element. 

Rating: 4/5

320 pages, published by Berkley Publishing Group (Feb. 1, 2011)