Review: The Selection

THE SELECTION (The Selection #1)

Kiera Cass
Young Adult/Dystopian
327 pages
HarperTeen
Available April 24th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

MY THOUGHTS

Sweet with just a hint of an edge, The Selection is a puzzle that initially feels familiar, the individual pieces all ones we’ve seen before in other stories, but yet Ms. Cass manages to guide our hands through a beautifully and artfully executed assembly where the familiarity quickly fades to a non-issue in the face a truly enjoyable tale. While there is certainly a level of predictability stemming from the presence of the aforementioned easily recognizable plot elements, Ms. Cass quickly reminds us why such elements are so popular, drawing us swiftly into America’s tale when a forbidden love is immediately put to the test as circumstance, opportunity, and pride force the taking of irreversible first steps toward a new fate.

America is a girl we start out seeing in the muted earth tones representative of her level Five status–someone cute and seemingly typical who entertains us without shocking us into forming an instant and visceral connection to her. However, her relationship with Aspen in the wake of her selection slowly begins to imbue our protagonist with different hues, her ordinariness replaced with streaks of bright color as pain and loss etch themselves across her features. Those colors continue to bleed and spread as she navigates the world of the Selected, new facets of her personality revealed with every page until she becomes a swirling mass of color and emotion that catches our eye and holds it, making us wonder how she could have possibly slipped under our radar in the very beginning.

The romantic relationships are crafted with a great deal of care, our loyalty and affection genuinely torn between our short memory of Aspen and the possibilities represented by Prince Maxon, and it's nothing short of entertaining to sit back and wonder how things will progress. Though we spend the least amount of time with Aspen, America’s feelings for him resonate with us immediately, and while we may not be as moved by him as she is given the brevity of our exposure to him, we can’t deny the strength of their connection even as Maxon slowly begins to heal the wounds Aspen left behind, helping America to find the beauty in those puckered emotional scars she thought would keep her from discovering anything real in the gilded cage of The Selection.

Things with Maxon start with an uneasy friendship and progress ever-so slowly into something more, leaving us with a tentative smile on our faces as we try to block out the anxiety over the developments we know are inevitably coming, understanding with 100% certainty that we have absolutely no idea how we’re going to feel when they come to pass. While our delicious confusion concerning the two young men in America’s life secures our emotional involvement in their story, it is her decision in the concluding pages (beware of the abrupt ending) of this first installment that ensures we will pick up the next book without fail, her handling of the general upheaval of her life showing us just how colorful she’s truly become, and her radiance a truly stunning thing to be left with as we close the back cover and being the tortuous wait for book two.

Rating: 4/5

*I will say I think this book is going to be one that sparks a wide variety of differing opinions, but I entered into it just wanting a fun read, and America's story provided exactly that*

Sneak Peek: The Immortal Rules Trailer

The first book in Julie Kagawa's new vampire series, The Immortal Rules, releases April 24th and I'm extremely excited today to give you all a sneak peek at a still from the trailer before it launches on Harlequin Teen's Facebook page. I, for one, adored this book and cannot wait to see the trailer in its entirety!

 

The Official Trailer & bloodofeden.com website for THE IMMORTAL RULES By Julie Kagawa will be released on Monday April 16th at 11am on Harlequin Teen Facebook! (https://www.facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN)

Pay close attention to The Immortal Rules Trailer!  It contains the code you need to unlock exclusive content on http://www.bloodofeden.com/

Get ready to count the number of Blood of Eden symbols…

There will also be an awesome Immortal Rules Twitter Contest starting at 11am on Monday April 16th to celebrate the cool new website and trailer!  Follow @harlequinteen for details!

Cover Critique: Whoa Naked

Let me preface this post by saying that my critiques of these covers are in no way, shape or form a reflection on the author, the content or the publisher. My intent is simply to have a bit of bit of fun and hopefully make people laugh.

Each time I do a cover critique, I challenge myself to find covers that are more soul-scarring, disturbing, or ridiculous than the last set and I often worry I won't be able to top the week prior in those particular areas. This week I really needn't have worried. I believe the crotch o'flame was pretty memorable a couple weeks ago, but the ones I have today I think will haunt most of you for the remainder of your lives. No thank you necessary my friends, I do this out of the goodness of my heart because I find such fulfillment in sharing snort-inducing images with all of you ;-)

HOW NOT TO DATE A BEAR

*sputters*

*rubs eyes*

*falls down dead*

I don't really know what else to say other than you're welcome for the gift I have bestowed upon you all with this masterpiece of naked hairy weirdness. I feel like we all know each other well enough now that I can openly admit I'm a little traumatized by this gentleman. I may have trouble sleeping tonight. And if I'm traumatized simply by looking at this cover, how must that poor little bear feel pressed up against his no-doubt fuzzy goods? Our stuffed purple friend is going to need therapy, but I for one am extremely grateful for his presence as it hides a view I'm not sure I'd ever recover from if I saw it.

In addition to being super furry he's also incredibly shiny. You would think the hair would dull the shine a bit, but you'd be wrong. Through the forest of black fluffiness he glistens, a beacon of naked masculinity that's only slightly hindered by a violet stuffed animal standing (sitting?) guard to keep prying eyes off his most-prized bear appendage. Can't you just hear that as a voice over for this if it was a movie or audio book? Maybe I've missed my calling...

I don't know about you guys, but I like my fictional naked men to have a little confidence. Some self-assurance. Something that says "I'm naked, you're looking, so what of it? Let's make something happen." This fuzzy fellow looks extraordinarily uncomfortable (and really, who can blame him), but I think he could benefit from some lessons from naked bachelor number 2....

WOLF'S BLOOD: FIRE WOLF

Shazam! He just exudes confidence doesn't he? He's got his cocky stance and his balled fists, not to mention his flowing hair and bulging muscles, all of which say he owns his nakedness and dares us to find fault in his physique. He's all "my twig and berries are so hot if you but kneel in their general vicinity you will be set aflame, forever branded by my glorious peen and my obvious sexual magnificence." Well said Fire Wolf, well said.

Were I in his shoes, I'm pretty sure I would be slightly apprehensive at the idea of fire in and around my nether regions, but clearly I'm not quite as secure in my physical perfection as he is so what do I know? He's doing his fist pump in the middle of the arctic wilderness bare as the day he was born, and he's got his woman on her knees literally burning for him. Apparently life is good when you're the Fire Wolf.

NIGHT RIDES

This cover just makes me happy. First, there's a unicorn and I happen to be a fan of all things equine. Second, his hair is amazing. Like a fairy-tale princess. Third, he's naked. Except for his CAPE. A cape people! And a lined one no less! Obviously you can't go around at night riding black unicorns without your cape. It's just unheard of. There would be whispers and rumors flying everywhere in society, so really, the cape is completely necessary to preserve modesty and propriety. Now we've all been schooled in Night Rides social etiquette, so when we decide to go out butt-arse naked and swing a leg over our trusty unicorns, we know a cape is required. Doesn't matter if boobs and boy parts are a bouncin' in the wind as long as a cape hides the more intimate parts of our bodies. Like our backs. Whew. That was a close call. I was minutes away from riding down to the mailbox sans cape and startling my mailman with my gross disregard for the rules. Fear not mailman, the crisis has been averted and all is well. Breasts on display? Check. Crotch in full view? Check. Back and butt cheeks covered? Double check.

I think perhaps even better than this cover is the blurb:

"Beware the virgin. Chastity brings death." 

Reiter has been living in the shadow of that prophecy for ten debauched years. He has built a herd of the fiercest warriors and the most sexually experienced women in the land. He has everything a prince could possibly want: unlimited sex, wealth, and too much power. Why then is he fascinated with the one woman who could hurt him the most?

CHASTITY BRINGS DEATH!!!!! That is perhaps the greatest line I've ever read. I literally smacked my forehead on my desk because my neck couldn't hold my head up under the force of my laughter. Gotta watch out for those tricky virgins, they're harbingers of evil they are. Don't let them seduce you with their innocent wiles, keep to the slutty ones! THE SLUTTY ONES WILL SAVE YOU PEOPLE! I feel as though back of his cape might read something like "there's safety in sluts" and he probably struts about wearing it with pride like a letterman jacket, letting it serve as a reminder to himself and everyone around him the dangers of virtue. Death awaits those on the road of purity my friends, you heard the prophecy. You know what you have to do. Get naked. Get a cape. Get riding.

My day has been made, how about yours? Happy Friday everyone!

*UPDATE: There seems to be some dispute as to whether the individual in the above cover is male or female. I'm going with male since the protagonist is male and those are some massive thighs for a woman, but it could go either way, and doesn't that just add to the fun ;-)

Review: Social Suicide

SOCIAL SUICIDE (Deadly Cool #2)

Gemma Halliday
Contemporary Young Adult
272 pages
HarperTeen
Available April 24th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

Twittercide [twit-er-sahyd]: the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting.

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the Herbert Hoover High Homepage would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper’s brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went... a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the Homecoming Queen-hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH’s resident body finder, I’m stuck trying to prove that Sydney’s death wasn’t suicide.

I’m starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos...

MY THOUGHTS

Social Suicide is a cute follow up to Gemma Halliday’s young adult debut Deadly Cool, drawing us laughingly back into Hartley’s world as she stumbles across yet another dead body and takes it upon herself to play the inexperienced and somewhat inept detective. Though the humor and the fun relationships between Hartley, her best friend Sam, and high school newspaper bad-boy editor Chase are light and entertaining, this installment does seem to read a touch younger than the first book, an abundance of the word “dude” in the dialog regardless of the age or gender of the speaker as well as some other prominent teenage slang making the characters more caricatures of high school students than they appeared to be previously. Knowing that going in however, it’s easy to gloss over some of the language and just appreciate the read for pure entertainment value.

Hartley is as adorable as ever, charmingly doing everything but what is logical when she finds herself staring at the body of another classmate, refusing to be truthful with the police and deciding at sixteen years old she’s capable of uncovering what law enforcement professionals cannot. If we picked this book up expecting a realistic, intense, and hard-hitting portrayal of a murder mystery, then Hartley and company’s antics would be frustrating and most likely the complete opposite of the way actual events would unfold. However, this is not meant to be that type of story, and so the ridiculousness of the events and the repeatedly botched crime-solving attempts just drag a smile from our lips and force a shake of our heads as we take what happens as things meant all in good fun.

Hartley’s potential romance with Chase is fraught with a sweet, awkward tension as she tries to figure out where they stand after book one’s oh-so brief touching of lips, and her continued misunderstandings where he’s concerned are the highlight of the book. Each time she makes an assumption about how things with them are going to be, he turns it on its head and leaves Hartley endearingly confused and more than a little embarrassed. While overall not quite as strong as Deadly Cool, Social Suicide is still a solid read for anyone likes to pick a book up knowing they’ll simply enjoy the experience without the promise of anything deeper or richer. Hartley, Chase and Sam are quirky characters if a little over the top in their teenage mannerisms and dialog, each of them a blend of pastel colors that makes them a quick and cheerful detour before we desire to return to the muted earth tones and darker blacks and grays of the paranormal or dystopian reads.

Rating: 3.5/5

Interview: Elizabeth Norris + Unraveling

Today I'm thrilled to welcome young adult author Elizabeth Norris to the blog to answer a few questions about her upcoming novel Unraveling. Unraveling is a book I hadn't heard much about when I picked it up, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I cracked the spine. Color me pleasantly surprised and thoroughly impressed! I fell in love with this book and devoured it one sitting despite its 450 page length. I couldn't really feel my butt or my legs when I was finished, but it was definitely worth it. I think maybe that could be a new rating for me: butt-numbingly good. Win.

When Janelle gets hit by the truck, she flashes on one of her happiest memories of her and her mother. If you had to pick a favorite memory right this minute, what would it be? 

In October 2010 I went to a writing conference in San Francisco and met and fell in love with my boyfriend. The writing conference was awesome—I met so many wonderful writers and had a great time. I saw several friends who lived in the area that I hadn’t seen in a while. And of course I met this guy who I just clicked with. We liked the same things, had endless interesting conversations, and on the last day, after the conference was over, we went around and toured San Francisco for the day.  It was one of those weekends where everything went right, and at the end of it when we both went to the airport to go to different cities, I knew that I loved him.

Janelle has a slight emotional advantage over Ben given she’s able to see herself briefly through his eyes when he’s with her at the scene of the accident. Let’s say Janelle is somehow able to project similar snippets of her feelings for him after all the events of Unraveling take place, what might he learn about himself through her? 

Janelle was so afraid of opening herself up to love, and Ben really surprised her. In their English class debate (and later), he challenged her. He’s smart and because of his experiences he made her question things about herself and the world around her. He’s also so thoughtful and he makes her feel cared about. And he has a strength to him. Over the last seven years he’s been through something she can’t really imagine, and he hasn’t given up.

If there were an actual countdown to the end of the world and you had one hour left, what’s one food you would make sure you ate before the clock hit zero? 

Really spicy guacamole and tortilla chips. I have skipped dinner after eating entirely too many chips and guacamole.

There’s a science fiction element running throughout Unraveling, but luckily for us you never bombard us with technical terms or overwhelm us with various scientific theories. Is there one specific part of the science fiction aspect that was especially easy or difficult for you to wrap your head around? 

Thinking of it was really easy when I started out. I have a subscription to Scientific American so even though I made things up as I went along, certain elements were definitely inspired by articles I’d read. I love the idea of multiverse theory and parallel universes. It was after the first draft of Unraveling was done and one of my readers or my editor were asking questions, like “why does this happen?” or “can you explain this more” that I had to dig a little deeper and even reread certain articles or do some research and brainstorm some ideas.

Janelle is no stranger to loss in this story. If she caught her mom in one of her more lucid moments, do you think there is one thing in particular she’d really want to say to her? 

She would say, “I’ve missed you.” She’s really grown up without a mother figure in her life, and I think both of her parents, through no fault of their own, haven’t really been there for her the way she wanted them to. I think it’s something a lot of us can relate to. But with her mom especially, Janelle hasn’t had the chance to have mother/daughter moments. I think she’d want to share a bowl of ice cream and tell her mom about Ben and how awesome he is.

You’re sitting in your house when suddenly an earthquake hits. What one material possession do you grab and protect from being destroyed? 

My laptop for sure. It has all my pictures and all the novels I’ve started or thought about on it.

Janelle’s FBI father has one case he’s yet to solve that haunts him each and every day. Can you tell us if we’ll ever see it solved in future books? 

Yes.

Janelle shares her “ideal” marriage proposal with Ben and her entire class in probably one of my favorite moments in the book. What romantic, humorous, or blunt question might someone have to ask to get you to take a chance on them? 

I’m not sure if there’s anything specific. I dated a guy once who used to make these super romantic sweeping gestures, and at first I loved it, but then he would spend the next few months telling everyone about the wonderful thing he did for me. And it really started to bother me—those romantic gestures are romantic because it’s two people sharing them. When you start sharing that moment with everyone else, it becomes less personal. But I am a huge fan of surprises. I love when someone calls me and says, “We’re going out tomorrow night, dress warm” and then we go ice skating (or something like that).

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Elizabeth! Unraveling releases April 24th from Balzer + Bray, and I hope everyone adds it to their lists! More information on Elizabeth and her books can be found here:

Website
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads

UNRAVELING

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming.

Review: Masque of the Red Death

MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

Bethany Griffin
Paranormal Young Adult
320 pages
HarperTeen
Available April 24th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

MY THOUGHTS

Darkly atmospheric, Masque of the Red Death beckons us into its dichotomous world with the crook of a diseased finger, delighting us with technological advancements beyond those of our reality while simultaneously horrifying us with the deterioration of human health and quality of life. One page paints pictures of sumptuous debauchery for those who can afford it, with steam carriages for transport and needles full of liquid oblivion to escape the gruesome deaths of those unfortunate enough to contract the Weeping Sickness, while the next details the dirt, grime, and disease crippling the city one sore-ridden body at a time. We can almost feel the disease itself settle on our bodies with a tangible weight, our fingers itching to rub our skin red to alleviate the psychosomatic tingles as we follow Araby down from the highest perch above the city into the gutters themselves, discovering along the way that sickness isn’t only physical, and those suffering from it the most are often hiding behind wealth and privilege.

Araby is an interesting young woman, someone with status thanks to the masks her father invented that filter the air the wearer breathes so that no contagion can get through, but yet she isn’t overly proud of her elevated place in what remains of society. She’s similar to the porcelain mask she wears every day in so many ways–a hard shell that functions as it's supposed to but hides anything real behind a cool, smooth exterior. An honorable promise made to her late brother Finn has debilitated her, making her into someone who is alive but not truly living, and someone who wears her survivor’s guilt as armor plating to keep any happiness from finding its way in. Luckily for us, her sense of responsibility over Finn’s death, while heavy at times, isn’t all-consuming, and we’re able to catch glimpses of the real Araby when she every so often allows Will to create a chink in her armor.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is with regard to Will and Elliott, two young men with varying levels of interest in Araby. The synopsis has us believing we’ll find ourselves in the middle of a love triangle, and while that is partly true, the dynamics of their individual relationships are so deliciously fascinating that we can’t quite work up an appropriate level of irritation over a commonly used young adult fiction plot device. Ms. Griffin shows a true talent for creating both physical and emotional masks in this tale, with the physical obscuring facial features and making it difficult for Araby (and us) to decipher intent and sincerity, but more intriguing are the various emotional masks each boy dons. We think we have things figured out, confident in our knowledge of which boy is better suited to Araby, but we soon find ourselves embroiled in a shell game–masks sliding on and off the boys’ faces so quickly we can barely keep track of the one we think is the real one, and all the while we are completely absorbed by Ms. Griffin’s sleight of hand and the web of deception it creates.

Due to the aforementioned emotional masks, we don’t quite get to know any of the characters as well as we might like in this first installment, but we certainly know enough about them and the gritty, steampunk world to find ourselves drawn in and invested in the story’s outcome. While there is no jaw-dropping, hair-pulling cliffhanger, things are left unresolved and quite literally up in the air as a new and more ghastly plague known as the Red Death begins its gruesome attack on an already frightfully thin human population. Based on the conclusion of this first installment, this series promises to get darker and more complex as it goes, and I for one will be counting the days until I’m able to again try my hand at deciphering Ms. Griffin’s deliciously wicked games of duplicity and betrayal.

Rating: 4/5