Wake

Written by Abria Mattina

Goodreads Synopsis: Eighteen isn't too young to run your life into the ground, but it's not too old to fix it, either. The desire for change drives Willa Kirk from St. John's, Newfoundland back to her hometown of Smiths Falls, Ontario, away from her mistakes and the place where her sister died. She's looking for a place to settle and rebuild, but Jem Harper just wants to get out of town, back to the life he knew before cancer. By letting the tragedies in their lives define them, they are both dying a little more every day. Welcome to the wake.

My Confession: So, this is a first, Book Nookers. My first requested review. I had the privilege of meeting Abria when we roomed together (along with two other girls) during my six weeks in New York at NYU. The longest conversations we'd have, crowded around the small kitchen table (there was no living room in our dorm apartments...odd) were about the books we'd written (Abria) and the books we'd almost finished writing (me). I watched her fiddling with her Kindle all the time, and a few weeks ago, I found out why: she self-published Wake, her first novel, as an e-book through Amazon. I'm still warming up to my Nook, but wanted to read this book. From the synopsis, I wasn't really sure what the book was about. Once I started, though, I knew almost instantly where it was going to go.

Wake reminded me quite a bit of Keith, a short story written by Ron Carlson about a cancer-stricken boy who befriends the most popular girl in school, bonding with her over little stupid stuff until the two eventually fall in love. I liked Keith so much, I adapted it into a screenplay for a Screenwriting class I took in college. Wake feels like a full-length version of this short story. Jem is recovering from cancer, and Willa is running from what cancer stole from her. They're thrown together as partners in a Home Ec class, and while they, at first, can't stand each other, they realize rather quickly the important aspects the other brings to their life. I really enjoyed how the story was told from both perspectives, sometimes the same events overlapping for both Jem and Willa. I felt like I really got the chance to know both of them as characters: what they were thinking, how they really felt, what they didn't want the other person to know. It was so awesome to see the same events two different ways; their voices felt so accurate and realistic. The book isn't short, and the length really lets the reader grow more comfortable with Jem and Willa; I felt like I knew them. I grew quickly attached to their relationship and loved the little, unique quirks that made the dialogue pop. I haven't read these characters before, and for that, I give Abria lots of credit.

If I'm going to harp on one thing about this book (and since it's an e-book, I'm still not convinced myself that it matters) it would be the cover. Don't love it. And while I get it, and having read the book, I know where it comes from, I don't think it accurately portrays the story inside. I picture something with a little more color, a little something extra. I actually pictured something like a girl's hand on a boy's chest, covering a catheter (a sore spot for Jem throughout the novel). When I say I went into this book completely blind about the plotline, I mean blind. The cover, title, and synopsis didn't really clue me in. Now having read it, I can see where they work, but I'm still not totally buying it. Now, as an e-book, does the cover totally matter? Not really. But this story's quality lends me to think that I could very well see this on the shelves someday. So maybe just a little something to think about. This book needs--and deserves--every  possible chance for success.

Recommendation: For $3.99, you're not going to find a more worthwhile e-book. It's so well written, and I found myself being mesmerized by the language almost as much as I was drawn in by the story itself. Abria initially warned me that this would be "morbid" book, but I'm not convinced. Sure, the subject matter isn't always super-uplifting, but I don't know about you--books without conflict and struggle just don't ring authentic enough to bother reading. And while you won't be finished in a day, this is the kind of novel that will stick with you. I started reading it at work and had an extremely difficult time putting it down. I'm truly impressed, and I can't wait to read what she comes up with next.

Buy Wake on Amazon here!

Rating: 4.5/5

Quote of the Day

"If you care about something, you have to protect it. If you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it."

A Prayer for Owen Meany

Beautiful Creatures

Written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Goodreads Synopsis: Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.


My Confession: Just a disclaimer: any YA novel that rivals the Bible in thickness WILL BE PURCHASED by yours truly. I don't know why I'm attracted to humongous books, but I am. I love how they feel in my hands, almost like they don't quite fit. Beautiful Creatures  is a monstrous book, over 500 pages. And it took me a long time to get through it. You'd be amazed how much story (and sometimes, lack thereof) you can find in almost 600 pages. It's complicated, beyond messy, and at times, really difficult to follow. Lena can't be just a witch, and Ethan can't be just a human. There can't just be two sides, good and evil, and there can't be just love. Every element in this book isn't what it initially appears. And, for the most part, I really enjoyed it.

I really thought telling this story from Ethan's perspective set this novel apart from other supernatural/paranormal romances. For one, Ethan is a human (even though he has some kind of unknown power, since he and Lena connect on a much deeper level than thought possible for a mere mortal) and it's refreshing to experience a romance with a twist from a male perspective. He's a very level character who takes everything in lighthearted stride. He doesn't seem surprised by all the mysticism, and I think that's due to the Southern setting chosen by Garcia and Stohl. A Yankee myself, I don't know much about Southern traditions or values, but this book was just riddled with them. And they were played up to the point where I wasn't surprised when the out-of-the-ordinary started occurring. There's a magical quality to the entire setting that is both inviting and fascinating. It really ends up defining the book, as well as the characters in it.

Recommendation: Do it! But just know that it's neither a light nor a quick read. Due to its sheer size, expect there to be parts that drag a bit. The entire story takes place over the course of a little less than a year, and by the time you finish, that's the amount of time you'll feel you've spent reading it. As a positive, the length allows the relationships to blossom and develop at a normal pace. I believed in Lena and Ethan's relationship because they had so much time to grow together. The downside, of course, is that in a book like this, with lots of crazy stuff going on all the time, the parts that lag are pretty frustrating. Some parts could have been cut, but then again, it wouldn't be the huge, massive text that I love. Bigger book, bigger story. And in the end, pretty worth it.

Rating: 4/5

563 pages, published by Little, Brown (Dec. 1, 2009)

Quote of the Day

"If you love someone, if someone loved you, if they taught you to write and made it so you could speak, how can you do nothing at all? You might as well take their words out of the dirt and try to snatch them from the wind. Because once you love, it is gone. You love and you cannot call it back."

Crossed

Breaking Dawn: Part One Movie Review

First off: yes, I succumbed. And no, I'm not going to apologize. I read the Twilight series back in college, before the insanity began and way before Robert Pattinson died a wizard and woke up a vampire. I gave them a shot because, hey, I'm a book freak and these were getting good reviews. Are they the best things ever written? Hell to the no. Is the story kinda catchy? Yep. It's a guilty pleasure that none of us really take seriously. The movies started off awful, with blue-tinged film and horrific acting, and slowly got better (at least cinematically). But the only thing I cared about when I slipped into my seat at the theater to watch Breaking Dawn Part 1 was how they were going to cut the massive fourth book in half. And if they were going to do it well.

And you know what? They did. They really did. I actually enjoyed this film because it paid extremely close attention to the book. I think this is the first film where I really felt like I was watching the book come alive on the screen. Everything that happened in the book happened in the movie--almost to a T. And, no matter the story, I'm always impressed by that. Pay very close attention to this next sentence because you will never see me write it again: I found Kristen Stewart tolerable as Bella. While I find Rob positively yummy (so long as he doesn't open his mouth when he goes on talk shows--boyfriend is awkward ), I have always found Kristen flat, dull, and personality-less. Which somehow makes her the perfect Bella. And yet, especially during the scenes where she's defending her life-threatening pregnancy (cue the feminists here), I found her mildly convincing. I know. An early Christmas miracle.

I found the sex scene tasteful, the wedding actually pretty moving, and the graphics intense and cool. This franchise has come a long way since the first film (which, oddly enough, is still my favorite of the four so far) and I'm a little tired of people hating on it. No, I'm not a Twi-hard, but I also know that two-plus hours of a minimal escape from reality with a face like Rob's isn't awful either. This movie was pretty decent. You don't need to have seen the first three movies or even be familiar with the plot to see the film. It's pretty self-explanatory. It's certainly not going to gain any new fans, but it's definitely going to please the ones who already exist. And the last moment? Extremely cool. Saw it coming, but I still jumped a little.

Oh, and if you want a sneak peek of Renesmee, click here. She's a cutie.

Grade: B

Photos courtesy of Google Images

Quote of the Day

"I think of how perhaps the best way to fly would be with hands full of earth, so you always remember where you came from."

Matched

Crossed

Written by Ally Condie

Goodreads Synopsis: In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky--taken by the Society to his certain death--only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.
Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander--who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart--change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.


My Confession: I really enjoyed the first book in this dystopian trilogy, Matched. I was completely drawn in to this world where free will has become a fairy tale. When Cassia leaves in the first book to go after Ky, I was under the impression that she understood what she was leaving behind, and she was okay with that. Xander, her family, her friends--she cared for them, but needed Ky to feel complete. Which I was all for. Regardless of what the "Matching" pool said, it's made clear that Ky is her soulmate.

And yet, here we go again with Xander. There was so much about Crossed that I liked, from the scenes in the wilderness to the new characters introduced along the way. I loved the dual-narration of this sequel and found Ky's voice authentic and moving. Seeing inside his head was the key to making this a complete and whole story. Despite the barren landscape and occasional lags in plot, there was a lot of depth to this continuation of Cassia and Ky's story. But then a "secret" is revealed about Xander that changes the whole game. And for me, not in a good way. What makes this trilogy so good is that it's built around not a love triangle, but a choice: Cassia's choice between Xander and Ky isn't superficial; it represents a choice between the life she's expected to lead, and the life she wants to lead. Xander is the warm, comfortable, Society life; Ky is rebellion. Now, after the secret, it's back to being just a choice between two boys, not the two sides of herself. And, with that, I think this trilogy loses a little something.

Recommendation: I am not jumping off this bandwagon--not in the least. I'm still excited to see how this story ends, how Condie brings some form of resolution to a very complicated situation. However, I wish the need for a love triangle wasn't pushed so hard in this book. I like Ky, a lot. I like him and Cassia together, and despite what we discover about Xander (which, for some reason, I have a hard time believing), I still believe Ky and Cassia are meant to be together. And I don't appreciate a monkey wrench being thrown into their situation just for the sake of it. They're both such damaged and complex characters, and they have no problem getting in the way of their own relationship. There's obviously much to uncover about the two of them, much that they still hide from each other--that's the more interesting obstacle to their love. Not another person.

Rating: 4/5

367 pages, published by Dutton Juvenile (Nov. 1, 2011)

Quote of the Day

"Maybe they didn't want you to realize that every civilization has its weakness. There's always one thing we depend on. And if someone takes it away, all that's left is some story in a history class."

Uglies

What Happened to Goodbye

Written by Sarah Dessen

Goodreads Synopsis: Since her parents' bitter divorce, Mclean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move--four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, Mclean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new places gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, Mclean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.


My Confession: Sarah Dessen is another one of those authors who I read incessantly as an adolescent. She certainly has a style, and many of her stories have similar themes of abandonment, loss, hesitant love, and a struggle to "fit in." I've always admired her ability to keep coming up with fresh stories of teens who didn't magically transform into vampires or discover superhuman powers on their sixteenth birthday. Her books are meant to be about real kids facing real problems in the real world. With an extra dose of drama, of course. And even though sometimes her stories feel a little too  similar, I still read everything she writes.

There was a lot about this story that I liked. I always admire how Sarah never makes the budding romance (in this case, between Mclean and Dave) the center of the story. This time, all the issues between Mclean and her mother, as well as the troubles at her father's new restaurant, stole the show. The focus was placed solely on Mclean's inner struggles as she tries to figure out who to be in this new town; being herself was never an option before, usually because her and her father leave town after a few months. But this time, she meets people she cares about, and wants to be her true self. But even that comes with baggage, and Mclean is certainly in her own head enough of the time to clue the reader in to her inner turmoil. I really enjoyed climbing inside her head, mainly because I think it's hard to write a character that readers of all backgrounds can identify with. However, does this inner voice start sounding a little too repetitive at times? Yes. Mclean comes off a little too wounded, and while I can understand--to an extent--why she feels that way, the sing-songy nature of her melodrama and self put-downs get a little old.

Recommendation: I totally get (and appreciate!) the fact that Sarah writes characters who form strong identities by the end of her books. But, I need those characters to show some semblance of identity at some point throughout the story. Dave is a great character, and I think he was under-utilized. As usual, the writing is great, and the cast of supporting characters steals the show again. In the future, I'd like to see Sarah go out on a limb and write something a little different than what she's used to. Throw out that old blueprint and create something totally off-the-wall. I'll always read her stuff, but I'd like to not be able to always predict where everything is going.

Rating: 3/5

402 pages, published by Penguin Young Readers Group

Quote of the Day

"I'm just the librarian. I can only give you the books. I can't give you the answers."

Beautiful Creatures

Between Here and Forever

Written by Elizabeth Scott

Goodreads Synopsis: Abby accepted that she can't measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: second-best. Invisible.
Until the accident.
Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby's life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.
She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she'd never seen. Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could....

My Confession: I was pleasantly surprised by this story. My initial worry was that Abby would turn out painfully one-dimensional, obsessed with her sister and her own perception of inadequacy. But to Scott's credit, she paints a pretty sympathetic picture of a "golden girl," who has everyone wrapped around her finger. Tess, in the snippets we see from Abby's memory, is not a likable person--she's horribly mean and condescending to her younger sister. She's filled with rage while at home with Abby and their parents, but turns on the charm when others are around, causing a warped and false image of Tess' true personality.

Abby does more than live in her sister's shadow--she's swallowed by it. The chip on her shoulder has been earned; she's had painful reminders her entire life that she's not Tess, and never will be. She's been looked-over and picked second one too many times. When she meets Eli, she's so brainwashed into thinking he'll automatically want Tess, she sabotages her own chances at happiness without realizing it. I have to give props to Scott--she really kept the theme consistent, and Abby never wavered in her mentality. Her character was defined and steady, and as much as I wanted to shake her, I felt like she was a real person. As was Eli, a physically beautiful boy with flaws of his own.

Recommendation: The writing was really simplistic and wonderful here. When I closed the back cover, my first thought was of how well-written the entire story had been. Not once did I think Abby was too whiny, or Eli's perfection too improbable. And I never expected Tess' secret to be what it was. It took me off-guard and forced me to revisit the beginning half of the story with new eyes. And that's always a good thing. Unpredictable with growth. All in all, a pretty solid and worthwhile read.

Rating: 4/5

250 pages, published by Simon Pulse (May 24, 2011)

Quote of the Day

"It's like Brad Pitt for us. You might not like blond men with pretty features, but c'mon, it's Brad. You're not going to kick him out of bed for eating crackers."

Something Borrowed

Bumped

Written by Megan McCafferty

Goodreads Synopsis: When a virus makes everyone over the age of 18 infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food. 
Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody's doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job. Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she's running from.
When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls' lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, and that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

My Confession: I'm going to make this short and sweet: no. Just no. And I'm so disappointed. I'm still struggling to comprehend that the woman who wrote the Jessica Darling series, a 5-book phenom that pretty much taught my angsty adolescent self everything I needed to know about life, could also write this thing. And I know I sound awful and harsh, but this story was just terribly flat. I should have known when I opened the first page and discovered the twins were named Melody and Harmony. Now, this could have been ironic and sarcastic, but it just wasn't. The story reeked of corny, and I just didn't buy that this kind of society would exist in 25 years. There was something weird and wrong in imaging teen girls getting paid to have sex and then give away their babies. Melody is wishy-washy at best; even by the end of the book, I had no idea who she was or what she really wanted. Her relationship with Zen had a lot of potential, but that too was under-utilized. His height (5'7'' which, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't make for an obscenely short man) seemed to be the only thing I knew about his character. And when [SPOILER ALERT!] he and Melody kiss at the end, I wasn't buying it. Neither of them seemed remotely attracted to the other. There's no Romeo and Juliet thing going on here, no deep attraction that's forbidden because of Melody's contract. She never even seems to contemplate what "bumping" with Zen would be like. That whole plot line just never appeared. Zen's presence ended up feeling convenient, a hook to get me to read the story. Not cool.

And Harmony? Far from some Bible-thumping freak. She too had zero personality, and her big "secret?" My Lord, it was lame. Flat, flat, flat. The twin sisters are portrayed as not being able to stand one another, and for the duration of the entire book, they're actually in the same room together once or twice. We hear both their voices, but we never actually watch them interact and grow together. By the end, I didn't see what they shared besides DNA. As far as I'm concerned, that is all they shared. And the big identity-mix-up plot twist? So predictable, I should have bet my life savings on it. I hate knowing where a book is headed before it begins, and I hate even more when that predictable plot does absolutely nothing for the story. I already knew what was going to happen. And I kept thinking how many different avenues this story could have gone down and actually portrayed a creepy-yet-possible future. But it never did.

Recommendation: If you haven't, don't. Megan McCafferty's pride and joy rests in the Jessica Darling series. Read those, I beg of you. I may have to just to wash the sour taste of this novel from my mouth.

Rating: 1/5

323 pages, published by Balzer + Bray (April 26, 2011)

Quote of the Day

"Love is one kind of abstraction. And then there are those nights when I sleep alone, when I curl into a pillow that isn't you, when I hear the tiptoe sounds that aren't yours. It's not as if I can conjure you there completely. I must embrace the idea of you instead."

The Lover's Dictionary

The Lover's Dictionary

Written by David Levithan

Goodreads Synopsis: How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.

My Confession: This little book packs a big punch. It accomplishes in 211 short, small pages what most hefty novels dream of capturing: the reality of a true, nitty-gritty human relationship. Want the truth? It's ugly. Relationships aren't made of rainbows, butterflies, and cotton candy. Sometimes they're slow, boring, stagnant. Levithan's narrator, whose name we never know, discovers the hard way that faithfulness in a relationship isn't a given. His girlfriend cheats on him, and throughout the novel, he grapples with this truth and how he's going to deal with it. Interspersed as he goes over and over her confession in his head, we get glimpses into this relationship. Forget chronology, forget order--we're thrown into important (and sometimes the most un-important) moments in their lives, all classified under specific words found in a dictionary.

Sometimes the entries are longer, taking up a few pages and involving back-and-forth dialogue. Others are shorter, less involved. And somehow it's those that pack the biggest emotional power. Like the entry under the word indelible:

indelible, adj.
That first night, you took your finger and pointed to the top of my head, then traced a line between my eyes, down my nose, over my lips, my chin, my neck, to the center of my chest. It was so surprising, I knew I would never mimic it. That one gesture would be yours forever.

Recommendation: Levithan does a really fantastic job of letting the little things speak for themselves. This story is heavy without becoming overwhelming. It's relatable in its simplicity and normalcy, but the undertones of passion, fear, lust, confusion and pain shine through under almost every entry. I became the narrator myself, his thoughts and emotions clouding my own as I read this. It's a short, quick read that really makes you wonder about your own definition of the word love, a word even this narrator cannot define.

Rating: 4/5

211 pages, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (Jan. 4, 2011)