Jump by Elisa Carbone

Jump by Elisa Carbone

Received from Around the World Tours

(Author Page) (Book Page)

Jump. That is what P.K. has done. A totally wild, crazy jump from a restrictive life with her family into a life of total adventure—rock-climbing out west with a guy she barely knows. At first, everything’s amazing. Not only are they climbing in awesomely beautiful national parks like Yosemite but they seem awesomely made for one another. P.K. is in heaven. And then the cops show up . . . with an arrest warrant. And P.K. has to decide who to believe: this amazing guy whom she trusts with her life—or the cops, who want her to believe that he may take her life.

What I expected from Jump I'm not quite sure. I've read so many books told in two or more points of view I've come to see some well written books, some good, and some that just ended up confusing me. Which was the boy and which was the girl again? Jump fell into the good category. With names like PK and Critter it took me a bit to remember which was which. PK is a tomboy kind of girl, independent and on her own. She takes crap from no one, and this kind of attitude, I suppose, lands her into trouble. Trouble that makes her parents want to send to her a private boarding school because, I guess, they just can't handle her. However, the longer I spent in PK's mind the I less I could understand just why her parents felt the need to send her away. She seemed adventurous, but a troubled teen? Not really. Her friends didn't choose to go with her when she asked them run away and go climbing together. So bad influences? Hardly. It seemed more to me that PK dressed and acted in ways that her parents had a hard time identifying with, but in no way did PK seem to need to be sent away anywhere.I was confused by this definitely, but for the sake of the story I suppose PK had to have a reason to run away.

The one crazy thing I could see from PK was her need to run away so badly that she takes off with Critter, a boy she just met literally minutes ago, because he's the only one that will go with her on her rock climbing trip. Little does PK know, Critter has just run away from a mental hospital and just so happens to walk into the rock climbing gym right at the moment that she needs a climbing partner. After all she promised her best friend she wouldn't go alone right?

Surprising? Yes. But then, Critter is often surprising. Shocking? Not really, but he seems to think he has shocked me. He clams up, goes to get his sleeping bag, and walks back past me with it like he's going to find his own spot to sleep. I catch his hand on the way by.

"Critter it's not that bad," I tell him.

(...)

He looks at me hopefully. "So you're not totally freaked out?"

I shake my head. "Nope."

He grins. "So... you want to make out?" (pg. 102)

Critter is eccentric, but hardly a bad person. Despite having escaped rather spectacularly from a mental hospital he seems like a regular teenager who meets a girl he thinks is hot. Gets the chance to hang out with her,  and takes it so fast he can't believe other red-blooded males aren't taking PK up on her offer. He seems perfectly fine. Between meeting PK and running off to rock climb Critter seems no more different from any other male I've encountered. I generally enjoyed his point of view. He was just eccentric enough to make me want to know more about his way of thinking, and reading PK's reactions to him was funny, and had me nodding my head in understanding.

The rocks are powerful. I feel them pulling me into their three-hundred-million-years-ago-I-used-to-be-an-ocean-floor presence. I nearly disappear into them, but Dante's chatter yanks me back. New routes to be had. Untouched rock deep in the canyon. Too cold in the winter; now the weather is perfect. His girlfriend is coming to put up a new route with him. All I can think is, Spend the day climbing those amazing rocks, spend the night with a hot girl, what could be better? (pg. 51)

Jump was funny, suspenseful, and enjoyable to read. It was a sweet romantic story about two teens who find each other under the strangest of circumstances. It made me want to rock climb, to see the sights, to be in that car with the apostates, and have a conversation with Critter and PK just to learn more about them. I really enjoyed Jump more then I thought I would, and that is always a pleasant surprise.

Faithful by Janet Fox

Faithful by Janet Fox
(Author Page) (Amazon)
This ARC was received from Around the World Tours.

Sixteen-year-old Maggie Bennet’s life is in tatters. Her mother has disappeared, and is presumed dead. The next thing she knows, her father has dragged Maggie away from their elegant Newport home, off on some mad excursion to Yellowstone in Montana. Torn from the only life she’s ever known, away from her friends, from society, and verging on no prospects, Maggie is furious and devastated by her father’s betrayal. But when she arrives, she finds herself drawn to the frustratingly stubborn, handsome Tom Rowland, the son of a park geologist, and to the wild romantic beauty of Yellowstone itself. And as Tom and the promise of freedom capture Maggie’s heart, Maggie is forced to choose between who she is and who she wants to be.

I, like everyone else apparently, didn't realize this was a Historical novel. Because that summary in the back is a little misleading in not telling you the book is set in the early 1900s. I really enjoy Historical novels, and especially turn-of-the-century novels set in some place beautiful like Yellowstone National Park. I found all this intriguing and lovely, having never been to Yellowstone myself. I also found Maggie's dilemma entirely understandable. To her, the rest of her life hinges on her debut into proper society and finding a husband. Her mother has always been so eccentric and off that her place in society is already dangling by a thread.

When her father receives letters from Maggie's Uncle John he rushes Maggie off to find his missing wife, whom many have presumed dead. Maggie is a captor of society rules and her very gender. She must do what her father says, and when he betrays her trust in him it is heartbreaking. I can't imagine someone, especially my own father, being so blithe about my feelings. I can understand Maggie's situation, and I found Fox's writing to be so beautiful and moving that I was immediately sucked into that time period. I truly enjoy that aspect of this novel.

However...

I have to say that this book could of used a lot less flashbacks. Seriously, authors, if you're going to spend the first 40-50 pages of a book in flashbacks telling the history behind the story I will really, really dislike your book. I don't care how well written or how beautiful your main characters voice is you will loose me as a reader very, very quickly. I will put down your book and not feel badly about it. I was so very close to doing that with this novel. I got tired of those flashbacks so fast that every time one popped up I could only think, "Oh man another flashback?"

Overall though, this was a beautiful book in many other ways. It's out now in paperback.

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

(Author Page)

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...(Summary from author page)

This is the first romantic fiction I've read by Elizabeth Scott and my second book overall. The first book being Living Dead Girl which I couldn't put down. Unfortunately I read Living Dead Girl before I started this blog so I didn't write a review entry for it. Still it is one of my top recommended books for teens. It was haunting and sad but one of those books that seemed like it had to be written. Go check it out right now on Scott's site if you've never heard of it.

The Unwritten Rule deals with the lines drawn between girls, guys, and their friendships. I think every girl can pretty much understand Sarah's position when she says she loves her best friend's boyfriend. I think they can understand it even more when she holds herself back and does her best to be there for her best friend even at the cost of her own happiness. Where Sarah is loving and kind outwards she is self-loathing and guilt ridden inside. She knows she shouldn't love her best friends boyfriend. She know she should just forget about him.

But then they kiss. And she can't stop remembering that kiss.

"So are you ready to pay attention to me now?" she says, and kisses him. I stare at my history book and then open it. I'm not on the right page, but it doesn't matter. I'm not looking at it. I'm trying not to think about Brianna and Ryan kissing.

I'm trying not to wonder what he was going to say before she came in.

I'm trying not to think about how I know what his mouth feels like.

Tastes like. (pg. 74)

Sarah is a character I can readily understand. I know what if feels like to think of yourself as plain and unattractive, but while this may be what Sarah thinks of herself it doesn't necessarily make it true. She may be very attractive and Sarah and her best friend can't see it. Brianna is so used to all of the attention she gets and boys fawning over her. It may be hard for her to get that Sarah is attractive as well. I think for most readers Sarah will be easy sell.

Brianna, on the other hand, is really a unique element in this story. You are shown right away that even with all of Brianna's easy beauty and ability to find a date she doesn't have an easy life. She is a child of divorce, and a particularly nasty one at that. Her mother doesn't hesitate to say highly unhelpful things about her appearance, weight, and eating habits that only makes her feel badly about herself. Adversely Brianna treats Sarah in a very similar manner with the assumption that she doesn't see this about herself. And Sarah never tells her about it.

Then there is the relationship between Sarah and Ryan, Brianna's boyfriend and Sarah's love interest. With the unwritten rule of girl friends comes the idea that you betraying a fellow friend for (just) a boy. I think that most people, especially teenagers, only see the betrayal. There is the sense of 'How dare you!' as if, in Sarah's case, she could of helped her feelings. The more you read the book the more you will see that Sarah's supposed betrayal was at the end of a relationship that both Brianna and Ryan saw before that first kiss was ever shared between Ryan and Sarah.

I could completely understand Sarah's need to make it all better. She sees what Brianna is going through everyday and all she wants to do is not be someone in Brianna's life that disappoints her. I thought The Unwritten Rule was a really enjoyable book! I think it dealt with a teenage taboo and friendships really well. Scott didn't seem to try and make Brianna an automatic bad guy or Sarah an automatically horrible friend.

Listen to Elizabeth Scott talk about the book. Then check out other readers reviews of this book.

Airhead by Meg Cabot

Airhead (Series) by Meg Cabot
(Goodreads) (Author Page)

Emerson Watts, 16 and female, loves playing video games, and hanging out with her best friend, Christopher, who she is also secretly in love with. Of course. During a Stark superstore opening Em is involved in a serious accident which leads her to wake up as Nikki Howard, teen supermodel. Em finds that she has to get used to being so physically desirable while at the same time hold onto her feminist ideals.

Which isn't easy. Not when you're used to being judged for your brain rather then your looks.

When Em decides to go back to school and finish her high school degree she has to balance the stresses of fulfilling Nikki Howard's contractual obligations along with homework. She also quickly realizes that she is being watched. She's not sure why, but she's willing to put a stop to it. And she's pretty sure the spy-er is the head of Stark enterprises.

Now, I'm a huge Meg Cabot fan. I think I can say that I easily enjoy about 80 % of Meg Cabot's books, both YA and Adult. Sometimes I don't like her books for whatever reason. I just don't instantly love them. Take Airhead for example. While I thought there was an really good premise of a girl whose brain is transplanted into a super model's body I felt that this book moved along rather slowly. I mean, how extremely interesting to see what it's like to be a celebrity, and even more interesting that Nikki is being spied on for some reason by, probably, Stark enterprises. Most of this first book, however, was focused on Em easing into Nikki's life with no real focusing on the most interesting part of the book. WHY is Nikki Howard being spied on? WHY isn't Em more interested in figuring out that mystery then the mystery of why her best friend, and secret love, Christopher has changed so much after her "death"?

I suppose you'd need to read book 2 (book three coming out in May 2010), but I don't think I'll be finding out any time soon. Since I'll be waiting for the paperback release of book 2, Being Nikki, in order to continue the series. Although it does sound like, from the summary, things are heating up greatly for Em Watts, now Nikki Howard. Sounds like you will find out just why Stark is spying on her, and just why Nikki's family is so absent in her life. I believe that this book is still well received by fans of Meg Cabot's books. So don't take my review as a reason not to read it. Even though I didn't love book one it certainly hasn't made me not want to read the second book.

Prada and Prejudice

Prada and Prejudice By Mandy Hubbard

(Amazon) (Author Page)

Callie finds herself on a class trip to London alone and feeling ostracized by her fellow classmates. One night Callie overhears classmates of hers, the popular girls, plan to sneak into a nightclub. Callie decides that she must be one of those girls, and decides that she needs real Prada heels to do so. After spending more then a small fortune on Prada heels and clothes Callie leaves the Prada store feeling empowered. Until she falls head over heels and cracks her head on the pavement.

Callie wakes up in 1815 London, lost, bewildered, and out of her element. She happens across a duke's house, becomes mistaken for a girl named Rebecca, and finds herself a fake guest in their house. Now Callie must not only try to find her way back, but not out herself as a girl from the 21st century.

This book is not a book that should be taken seriously. If I sat here and wrote all the time travel problems this book has I'd kill the book. If I thought about it too much I'd have nit-picked the book to death. This is both good and bad, and for me I enjoyed the book enough to let my nit-picks go. I believe that everyone will like or hate the book because of this though. So I will understand if people will pick out problems with this book and dislike it.

This book is more a long the lines of a fluffy teen read. If you liked books like The Princess Diaries or just in general a romance teen read you will like this book. When Callie starts off hating Alex, the Duke, you know what that hatred really means. While so much of this book predictable, and questionable it is still a good book. It is still a lot of fun to read, and that is why I was willing to over look some things.

I found that Callie was very relate-able. She was a real, normal teenaged girl who cares about what she looks like, and what other people think of her. She cares about other people and she finds her own voice when it comes to defending what she thinks is right. I found Mandy Hubbard's writing fun and light, and I can definitely see this book become a favorite for teenaged girls. I can't compare it to Pride and Prejudice, however, since I've never read it. Still you don't have to be a Jane Austin fan to enjoy this book.

If you like romance, and you like historical settings then this book is for you.

The Dust of 100 Dogs

The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King (author website)

Emer Morrisey was about to run away and live a quiet life as a good Irish women when the love of her life was killed, and she along with him. However, this was not before she was cursed to live the life of 100 dogs as punishment for killing another man's lover. Over the next 300 years Emer lives the lives of various dogs with all her memories intact, before finally being born again as the human, Saffron Adams. Saffron is considered a genius by her parents, and she goes through most of her life waiting to turn eighteen. She dreams of leaving to Jamaica and finding the treasure Emer buried there before her untimely death. She also has violent daydreams that include inflicting horrible, violent actions on others.

Saffron wishes to be free. Free from her parents, free from her brother, and most of all free to get what rightfully belongs to her.

The Dust of 100 Dogs is a fairly violent and graphic novel. However, this doesn't not detract from the wholly original and intriguing story of both a female pirate and three hundred year old soul trapped in the body of a modern young girl. The most interesting storyline, for me, was Emer's first life. Emer was a child during the time when Oliver Cromwell invaded Ireland, and killed thousands of people. Essentially Cromwell commited genocide, and Emer is left without her father, mother, and brother. I won't write anymore since I don't want to spoil anything. I simply wish to say that this storyline was amazing, and I truly loved it.

The way that King interweaves all three storylines, yes there is another storyline besides Emer and Saffron's lives, are so well done that I was enthralled by the book. I had to finish it and talk about the story to someone else. I have noticed that quite a few other reviewers and readers become hung up on the rather bad language and some graphic events that occur in the novel. If you are a person who wishes not read a book with bad language and violent scenes this book may not be something you'd wish to read. If these kinds of scenarios are things that may not bother you then read this book. It is an excellent debut, and I for one look forward to reading more by A. S. King. Visit the author's website to watch a trailer for this book, read her blog and learn more about Dust of 100 Dogs.

Many reviewers have also commented on how this book might not necessarily belong in the Young Adult genre because of the very adult situations and bad language brought up. The author also states that when she wrote the book there wasn't a specific genre in mind. So in essence it was not originally written with a young adult audience in mind. However, I am a reader who thinks that just because a book has the label of Young Adult doesn't mean that it should be censored to fit a certain idea of what young adult readers should be reading. Every reader is different, and some YA readers can handle this kind of book.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefavter

Several years ago Grace was attacked by the wolves that live in the forest that borders her house. She was nearly killed, but lived because of one wolf in particular. Her wolf. The wolf with the yellow eyes.

Now seventeen Grace finds herself continuously entranced by her wolf with the yellow eyes. Every winter she looks forward to seeing her wolf just outside her home. Her friends know about her self-proclaimed obsession with the wolves, but none of them know the truth about the wolves.

Sam is an eighteen-year-old boy who has always lived a double life. During the summer he's a human and able to live a normal life. During the winter Sam becomes a wolf, and runs with his pack. Every year the amount of cold it takes to turn him into a wolf becomes less and less, and soon he knows that he will be a wolf forever. He thought he could handle that fact, but once he truly meets Grace and becomes apart of her world Sam realizes he doesn't want to let go of Grace.

I had a love/hate relationship with Shiver about half way into the book. Stiefvater started out really strong with her story. The first few chapters alone draw you in and make you want to know more. The fact that the book is narrated by both Sam and Grace makes this book even stronger. It isn't easy to write in two different protagonist voices and not confuse a reader. Stiefvater did so beautifully. She also wrote the story with such gorgeous prose that it was hard not to fall in love with the way it was written. Where the story started to almost loose me was some of turns not taken and some of the turns that were taken.

Grace's parents, for example, are extremely neglectful and out of the picture. Grace is left to fend for herself all the time while her parents gallivant around town pretending they don't have a daughter. When Sam is brought to their attention Grace's parents don't seem to care enough to ask too many questions. Without trying to say too much there is even more that makes me question these parents when Grace basically insults her mother when her mother does ask questions about Sam and her mother just shrugs it off like it's no big deal. All the while the parents are still painted as basically good people who don't care about their daughter. Those two personalities didn't mesh well with me at all.

Then there were the wolves. A lot of the story is centered on Grace and Sam living their lives together in their relationship, but very little is done with one of the more intriguing part of the novel; the wolf pack. They are mentioned and they make appearances but these appearances are far between. It makes the story move along slowly, then pick up, then move slowly again. It was a bit frustrating, but the story and the characters were still so interesting I had to keep reading. Stiefvater definately succeeded in making strong, likeable, and balanced characters which isn't easily done when it comes to a romance. Grace was a strong person on her own as well as with Sam, and Sam leaned just as much on Grace as she did him.

Over all though I enjoyed the book. I would recommend this to readers who love the romance of a story rather then any that look for action to really push a story along. It's a beautiful book and it certainly will garner quite a following. I will definitely be looking for the next installment.