Double Review: You Know Me Well - Nina LaCour & David Levithan

You Know Me Well
Nina LaCour & David Levithan 
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT+
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Like every other reader of YA, David Levithan has been an author I've long admired and whose work never fails to leave me reeling. I'd never read anything by Nina LaCour, however, but after this book I'll definitely be keeping tabs on her future work.

The book takes place during San Francisco Pride Week, and alternates point of view between Kate -- a senior in high school madly in love with a girl, Violet, she knows only in glimpses (pictures, descriptions, letters) -- and Mark -- a junior on the baseball team madly in love with his best friend (sometimes with benefits), Ryan, who seems to have no idea. Mark and Kate both sit next to each other in Calc but have never noticed each other until the night the book kicks off.

You Know Me Well is a really short (248 pages), light book. It doesn't have any shocking plot twists or unexpected murders or anything like that. It is what it is: a book about friendship, romance, and personal reflection. So, if you aren't into cute contemporaries, this is probably not the book for you. I, personally, thought it was a fun read with a good story.

The book jumps into the action and therefore doesn't take too long to set up who the characters are before things start to happen but they never felt undeveloped. I love the way their personalities unfold as the book goes on, but even in the beginning they are cohesively introduced. Often when I read a book I picture the characters interacting in my mind, but this time, there was something about the writing style of both point of views that made me picture myself (in the first person) experiencing all their experiences and I really liked that about the book. I was Kate, afraid of committing to something real, exploring the possibilities. I was Mark, feeling so deeply, so purely. I didn't share their specific experiences in reality but the way they were written I could find bit and pieces to relate to.

I loved exploring the friendship between Kate and Mark, as well the friendship between their respective best friends. I know some people were complaining about them being insta-friends and it not being believable but honestly I have made so many of my friends by just hitting it off in one go and just becoming close right off the bat. I don't think insta-friends is a real thing.

They had such a sweet progression of their friendship and really seemed to care about each other. Also, I found it really amusing whenever Mark would third wheel even when he didn't want to because it subverts the whole thing where characters get together and then they abandon their friends or only mention them in passing. Their friendships and their relationships were all important. Speaking of friendships, there were some hard truths with both Kate and Mark's best friends and it was sad but honest.

You Know Me Well is a pretty fast-paced book. The whole thing happens over a week and there are a decent amount of things that take place over very few pages, but I like when books move quickly. However, this can make it seem kinda...surface-level? (Not sure what word to use there to convey my meaning.) Some of it was definitely a little "this is definitely a contemporary novel and not real life" but it wasn't overly so and it didn't really bother me. I thought the ending was a little cutesy and would have liked to see a little unhappy mixed with the happy ending (not that I like seeing characters sad, just that it would be cool to have reached understandings about relationships with some people) but it was still sweet and I still enjoyed it.

Overall, I think both authors did an awesome job. Like I mentioned before, this was my first Nina LaCour book and I am interested enough to keep an eye out for anything new. While this didn't become my new favorite David Levithan book or anything, I thought it was a fun read and would definitely recommend it.

- Noor

Amrutha's review of You Know Me Well

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Hello friends! Like Noor, I have been a fan of David Levithan since the powers that be dropped him in my lap many years ago. I have also never read anything by Nina LaCour but I'd be open to reading more from her.

This book was a /super/ fast read, it took me all of a couple hours to finish it -- this is mostly where the book gets points off, I think a lot of stuff happened for just one week of action, personally there should've been a lot more hashing out of the plot for the amount that went down in this book. I love fast paced reads but too much happened for the physical amount of book there was.

So as Noor said, the book goes down during pride week where two people (Kate and Mark) fall into an instant friendship. I honestly really think instant friendships are a thing, I experience them all the time -- also, in regards to insta-love, I never have a problem with people feeling an immediate romantic connection, just when they commit their hearts and souls to each other after a weekend on a beach or something.

I really loved this book too because as Noor mentioned, both the main characters are LGBTQ+, and in even the most ~diverse~ books, there is at most, one LGBT relationship mentioned. I also really liked that they weren't questioning their sexualities, just struggling with love in general -- most of the books I've read before with LGBT characters face some sort of identity crisis. The plot of the book was nice and simple, and discussed the woes of loving friends and strangers alike, genuine friendship, and figuring yourself out. I liked how everything played out a lot, and while the character development felt a /tad/ choppy for my taste, I really resonated with the characters.

Kate and Mark were written so well, with two completely distinct voices. I loved so much how their parts flowed in with one another. Even the supporting characters, Lehna, Ryan, Quinn, and Violet all had such complex backstories and emotions that it felt like I was reading about real life, rather than two real main charcacters and a bunch of static side characters. The thing I liked the most though, was the way the book ended. I'm all for happy endings but I like when happy endings are happy in a way that I wouldn't have thought possible. I have a lot of love for this book, I just wish it was a little less choppy.

Always in love with David Levithan and looking forward to more of Nina LaCour's books!

- Amrutha

Who knows you well?
Let us know in the comments!

Review: Vanishing Girls - Lauren Oliver

Vanishing Girls
Lauren Oliver
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Suspense
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

I know I'm super late to the game with Vanishing Girls but just be proud that I got around to reading it before Replica comes out. I'm so happy I finally read it because it definitely pumped me up for Lauren Oliver's newest book and had me reeling at the ending.

Lauren Oliver's writing has always interested me -- I think you can definitely see it develop and mature with each book she publishes, while still keeping her own recognizable voice. In Vanishing Girls, the writing was as compelling and poetic as I expected it to be, and also more descriptive/detailed than some of her previous books. It made for an excellent novel and an immersive read. I found myself going through page after page without realizing how much I'd read. I think the writing style threads the whole book together and brings the story up a notch, making it more interesting to read.

The book itself is about two sisters, Dara and Nick, once thick as thieves, now barely speaking in the wake of a terrible car accident. It's told in both dual points of view and in two time frames -- before the accident and after. It took a while to get into the whole point of the story and for the plot to really go anywhere other than point of view shifts describing summer jobs and resentment. And while I did really enjoy all that insight into our characters and didn't feel bored or anything, I was wondering where the story was going. Fortunately, the story did go somewhere, the pacing was just kinda slow until the ending. I think it's around the halfway point when things start really ~happening~ but I could be wrong, it's been a few weeks since I finished it.

Because the book takes its time telling the story, it gives us room to get to know our characters. The characters in this book were truly well-developed. Dara and Nick are telling the story, so they get the most focus and it was such a raw and real relationship Lauren Oliver showed. They both thought so highly of the other, thinking the other couldn't possibly share the sentiment. The relationship was so honest and then after the car accident it was heartbreaking exploring how each sister felt and couldn't share with the other. The side characters were all great too. Parker, the Boy in the story, was cute and funny and I appreciated that he wasn't some random insta-love insert, or that his love didn't immediately Fix All Problems or something else lame. Everything with him was so realistic and so well-done. Nick's coworkers were all great too and I enjoyed seeing her make new friends and seeing them become close to her as the book progressed.

I didn't see the direction the ending was headed which surprised me a little because I can usually figure this type of stuff out. I think I was just so engrossed in the book that I didn't have room to think about anything other than the information presented at face value. Personally, I thought the ending was shocking and unexpected and brought closure to the whole story in an interesting way. I can understand that others might find it gimicky or hackneyed -- and I definitely agree that there is a fine line -- but I thought it worked for this book.

Also, some of the other factors that were explored more towards the end seemed a little disjointed, like the photographs and the necessity/significance of Madeline Snow. However, overall, I really enjoyed the book and spent a lot of time engrossed in the story. I also appreciated that the overarching theme in the book always went back to their sisterhood. I think Lauren Oliver has a beautiful talent for prose and for writing characters and I can't wait to read more from her.

- Noor

What are your favorite books about siblings?
Let us know in the comments!

ARC Review: A Step Toward Falling - Cammie McGovern

A Step Toward Falling
Cammie McGovern
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
Release Date: October 6th, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

There's always a clear distinction between throwing in certain characters as an aside in a a story -- the token black girl, the sassy gay friend -- and truly creating a story with dynamic, diverse characters. Cammie McGovern does the latter, exploring different ways those with disabilities can function and interact, without reducing them to gimmicks. These characters are the heart and soul of the book, carrying the story.

The events of A Step Toward Falling begin when Belinda, a developmentally disabled senior, is being attacked behind the bleachers at a football game. Emily sees and freezes in panic mode, doesn't physically help her. She sees Lucas coming out from behind the bleachers too and figures he must have stopped it or said something, he figures the same and neither of them do anything. Belinda eventually saves herself by yelling and getting the attention of a janitor, who calls the cops. The guidance counselor makes Emily and Lucas volunteer at a Boundaries and Relationships class taught at a learning center for disabled adults as they are both responsible for not speaking out.

The story is told in alternating points of view: Emily's and Belinda's. Honestly, I'm glad we had Emily's and Belinda's and not Emily's and Lucas's because while I did really love Lucas as a character we got to learn so much more about Belinda this way than we would have from the scenes we would have seen if we only saw her through the other two's limited vision. Also, while I'm not really too sure Emily was a character I liked all that much, I feel like I appreciated her point of view, if that makes sense? I didn't hate her, I just felt like she could be a little full of herself sometimes and she didn't see the way her words affected others. In the beginning, she had this image that all football players are dumb and none of them need to go to college and blah blah blah and now she meets Lucas and he can hold a decent conversation and he's funny and decently smart and she knows those cracks get to him but she still makes them and doesn't realize it's rude? And she still has all her notions about her "smart" friends and the "popular" kids. Like, in one part Lucas is talking about what they do at parties and she's literally like "I think about how my friends and I talk about weightier issues. Usually it's through music and song lyrics that we analyze to death." Just think about a bunch of high school seniors sitting in a bedroom analyzing printouts of song lyrics. Think about it. She's a little off kilter but I think ultimately she has a good heart.

Belinda provides us with a stark contrast to Emily. She sees the world differently than her point-of-view counterpart. Where the audience understands things, Belinda doesn't. For example, when Ron, a football player, and his friends laugh at her attempts to ask him to watch Pride and Prejudice with her, the audience knows they are being rude, but Belinda thinks they are a group of people who laugh a lot and something funny has happened unrelated to her question. She's more well-adjusted than some of her classmates -- one is wheelchair-bound and cannot speak or move due to his cerebral palsy and her close friend with Down Syndrome is often hard to understand -- but still is struggling to find work once she finishes high school. Her main job in school was sorting mail, but clerical jobs like that are few and far between and the list of disabled people up for them is in the hundreds. Her grandmother refuses to let her do janitorial work, so she has few options. This dilemma of hers did well to highlight a huge real life problem for those with disabilities. Many are unable to find jobs that suit their needs and the waiting lists for jobs available are ridiculous.

As the story provides us with insight into these characters and more, not only does everyone grow on you, but the whole story just grows on your heart. Some of my favorite parts were reading about Lucas and Emily's volunteering sessions at the center. Cammie McGovern didn't write a classroom full of disabled characters like children who needed to be taught manners and discipline and control. She wrote them like the people they are who have a different set of rules for their lives. And Lucas and Emily talked to them like people, not awkward creatures to skirt around, which the discussion leader mentioned in one class as well. Speaking of Lucas, he was one of my favorite characters. I felt like he was the most compassionate, the most kind, and had the biggest heart. Without seeing his point of view, he had an air of mystery (maybe a little more mystery than I wanted but it happens), but we got to know him through dialogue, which Cammie McGovern did excellently. His character development was done beautifully, not too rushed or too slow, and I'm just in love with him as a person and as a character.

I feel like there is so much about this book and I've just spent all these words just talking about characters but there's a lot more and I don't want to bore you. Basically, the story is excellent and well done and equal parts funny and cute and sad and witty and all the YA things you could ask for. There are characters you will totally love, like Belinda and Anthony, and there are some really shitty characters like Ron and Richard (ok I know Richard is supposed to be redeemable but I really don't like him, he's Emily's "best friend" but he's pretentious and selfish and she can do better; actually all her friends kinda suck).

There was some of the actual writing that was a little iffy for me but not enough that I didn't like the general feel of the book, just a few lines here and there. Like, in the beginning, Emily is attracted to a boy so she thinks "I feel a tingle in my armpits." My armpits have never ever been a place that have tingled in any situation ever and I doubt they ever will so that was just weird. There were a few other random lines that just didn't fit but overall the book was well written. Also, some situations in the book felt a little unrealistic while some were done pretty well. Like, many of us know there's a big issue with rape culture and victim blaming and assailants getting off without many repercussions, so I wasn't sure if the backlash was something that would happen, but it wasn't something I disliked because it felt like a portrayal of how situations should go. Also, this could totally be how some school handle situations where they have proof of assault. Another thing was the whole trope where the football players are idolized and worshipped and are jerks and airheads mostly. I don't know many high schools where this was actually true. But it didn't detract from the story, so it's not a huge complaint.

I feel like I could probably talk about a decent amount more but, on an end note, it does an amazing job discussing the stories of people with disabilities, whose voices we definitely need more of. Cammie McGovern works with disabled children and young adults in a resource center and also has an autistic son so she has first hand experience connecting and interacting with those with disabilities which means she isn't just pulling their personalities and mannerisms from thin air, she's working from real-life experiences. This gives the book authenticity and makes it that much more important because these are positive, accurate portrayals of disabled people, which are lacking in novels and media.

- Noor

Have you ever not done something you should've (or vice versa)?
Let us know in the comments!

ARC Review: Infinite in Between - Carolyn Mackler

Infinite in Between
Carolyn Mackler
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: September 1st, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Thanks to HarperTeen for the ARC I received at BEA!

Five freshmen, five letters to open after graduation thanks to a freshman orientation activity, and four years separating them from one another. Infinite in Between is an easy read that still brings about its fair share of feelings.

Told through five different points of views and following them through high school, I definitely liked some characters more than others. Mia was by far my favorite. I felt like her voice stood out the most. It was distinct, defined, her distress and angst was palpable as she felt herself live life as the screwball character. Her frustration with her life, her parents, her "best friend," -- they were all artfully done, and Mia's scenes were my favorites. I was rooting for her the whole way.

I think Whitney was my least favorite which might be an unpopular opinion? Whitney is the biracial beauty who's queen bee but is still nice to everyone around her, even if she has to be superficially nice. Whitney isn't a bad person, even if in the beginning she's very quick to judge other people and is so concerned with who her friends are that she ends up losing a lot. She goes through a lot of character growth though. so she understands her mistakes there. She still rubs me the wrong way though and no matter how much I want to. I can't like her character. I love her older sister though. Alicia is three years older and just a more fun character and I liked exploring their relationship too.

Now that we've covered favorite and least favorite, I don't want to spend three more paragraphs going in depth about every single character so I'll just say that I enjoyed all the other characters and every single person's "thing," their hardship. was interesting, and well fleshed out, and enjoyable to read. I feel like there maybe could have been a little more of a shift or a distinction in tone/voice in the characters but when you're writing five characters who all have to age I understand that's hard to do and there definitely was a certain amount, just maybe not as much as I would have liked. However it didn't take away too much because the voice shifted as they got older which drew attention away from the fact that some of the voices sounded a little similar.

I liked that towards the end the story started to get more cohesive, but it takes a long time to get to the point where it reads like one story rather than five individual ones. I personally didn't mind this because I liked the stories of each person and I was willing to wait until the end to see if they met up or if their timelines collided but some readers might want the story to become intertwined earlier on, provided a more solid/stable plot, which is something to think about if you'e planning to read this.

I thought it was a worthwhile read, full of proof that everyone is fighting a battle, and full of cute moments and sad moments and happy moments and lots of other kinds of moments in between.

- Noor

What's your favorite memory from high school?

Let us know in the comments!

Double ARC Review: Another Day - David Levithan

Another Day
David Levithan
Series: Every Day, #2
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: August 25th, 2015
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

I expect everyone is getting tired of me beginning half my reviews mentioning how much I love the author but if you're looking for unadulterated hatred, you have to go to Amrutha's reviews for that and if you want to skip my ramblings of love proceed to the next paragraph. Anyway, David Levithan has been a favorite of mine for quite some time now. From my first experience with his books (Boy Meets Boy) to falling in love with his command of language in The Lovers Dictionary (and subsequently stalking and going on retweeting binges on his Twitter, which he's dedicated to posting the unabridged version of said book), from reading Every Day (review here) and being enamored by the feelings it left in me to meeting him at BEA at reading Another Day before any other BEA book (resulting in a Save the Date post), it's been a wild ride.

My feelings about this book are honestly a little mixed. Going into it, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect because the entirety of Every Day chronicles A's and Rhiannon's journey, so I didn't know how Rhiannon's side of it would be different and nuanced and not just be a rehashing of the same story. I trust David Levithan as an author because his other works are so well-done in my opinion that I wasn't worried about it being the last one but I still didn't know where to put my expectations.

I really liked the fact that the voices for the two books are clear and distinct. You know how sometimes you see a quote and you just know it's from a certain author? While I'm sure David Levithan has his own authoristic flair (I know authoristic isn't a word shush) he still wrote Another Day with a separate narrative style than that of its companion. It added to the sentiment that this was truly a companion novel because it didn't feel like a continuation of the same story, in the same voice. This was something different. And, of course, the actual voice and writing was spot on. David Levithan's writing is remarkable and I admire his ability to slip powerful lines into dialogue-heavy writing.

An aspect I had mixed feelings about, however, was Rhiannon herself. I liked her as a narrator, but I'm not sure I liked her all that much as a character. I'll start with the positives. As a narrator, Rhiannon gave another dimension to the story. If you don't know the gist of it, Rhiannon meets A, a being who wakes up in a different body in every day, no restrictions on gender, but the age and general location stay the same. I elaborate a little more on this background in my Every Day review which I linked above in the first paragraph so if you want a slightly longer explanation it's there. Anyway, from Rhiannon's perspective, we can see the way she struggles accepting this facet of A's being and with her accepting A's different bodies, which shows us her internal struggle to reconcile her emotional attraction to A but her lack of physical attraction to some of the bodies A is inhabiting.

For example, we see her shy away from holding hands when A is one female (a "pudgy Indian girl") and we also see another scene where A is in the body of a suicidal teenage girl and kisses Rhiannon and she thinks "If it's A, the person who kissed me at the beach, it's one thing. But if it's this girl, that's another." She does let this one happen for a minute (I don't know if that's a long time to lock lips considering I'm not experienced in that area but it seems like a decent amount of time, long enough that it wasn't an immediate recoil) before telling him it's definitely weird and it should be obvious why, citing three reasons, one being that A is a girl. In one scene we see her speaking to a friend about attraction, asking if we love people enough, do our "types" matter? He replies with the opinion that "we're all wired to like certain things and to hate certain things," explaining that he prefers boys with swoopy hair, and he could love a boy without swoopy hair and yes, he could love a boy with a mullet but it would be harder, and now talking about if he could love a girl with a mullet, he says only as a friend, that he wouldn't want to have a relationship with her.

Objectively speaking, lips are lips and hands are hands, right? But Rhiannon is seeing how love is not objective and who they're attached to physically is just as important as the person inside. So I really liked going into that aspect of her character, and seeing that part of the perspective. However, I'm just not sure if I'm remembering Every Day differently or if reading it in her voice changes things, but I found her to be more annoying in this book. I actually liked A less in this book as well and I wasn't sure if it was the lens I was viewing them through, but I feel like that might be it. Something just felt off about the pair, not as a couple, just as characters.

The other characters were a bonus, though, because in Every Day, we didn't get to really see anyone in Rhiannon's life, we just got a story about A and Rhiannon. Now, we meet her friends, who were excellently written and down to earth, and we get to see a lot more of Justin, Rhiannon's boyfriend in the beginning of the book, whose body A wakes up in in the beginning and kickstarts everything. In Every Day, we see a brief glimpse of him and think "oh what a jerk glad he's gone" but now we see more, why she stuck around, a much more dynamic picture.

Overall, I definitely don't think David Levithan retold the same story, even though the same general story remained the same. I didn't realize how much time they actually spent apart and it made for an interesting look into the side of the person's whose days aren't spent floating from body to body. The end of the book was definitely ambiguous and set the book up well for a sequel, and if I recall correctly, Every Day had sequel-worthy points as well, so I think it'd be interesting to see a new chapter in the story.

I apologize for the long review for anyone reading, I didn't realize as I was typing that I had gotten wordy, but in general I enjoyed it though I do think some parts of it needed to pick up the pace just because they were Rhiannon-heavy and she wasn't as strong as the supporting characters.

- Noor

Marlon's Another Day Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Literally I screamed when I heard about this book. This happens a lot, because Levithan writes a lot of books (and edits tons more). I want to thank him and his team for an ARC copy of this book, and for being kind, yet efficient, while handing them out at BEA; the line for this book was long, so pictures and small talk were not an option. Luckily I happened to see him right after the signing and get the picture. You can find it on my twitter. I also have a shrine of it inside my heart, with the rest of his books (collabs included, of course).

Anyway, with that out of the way, I really like this book. On the first page, there's a letter addressing three types of people: those who have never read Every Day, those who have read it a while back, and those who have read it right before Another Day. I read Every Day either last fall or the fall before, I'm not entirely sure . . . and I only remember my emotions, random quotes, and the general plot.

My main worry was that Another Day wouldn't be able to deliver on its promise of being a stand-alone. Not because I didn't trust Levithan's writing, I just wasn't entirely sure what was missing from Every Day, as Rhiannon's character seemed very open and developed.

Another Day delivers. It builds narrative tension and character development the way a stand-alone does: from the ground up, and it never relies on past material to prompt the reader. It's hard to even consider some of the lines as throwbacks since they take place at the same time. Something that really drove this distinction from Every Day was Rhiannon's narration. Her tone and style diverge from what we see A deliver in Every Day.

It is just as beautiful as Every Day and all of David Levithan's work. That clipped narration is always cut with gorgeous wordplay and devastatingly emotional thoughts. Rhiannon's narration, though, stems from a different place. I see traces of the narration from one of the Wills from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and the harsher sides of The Lover's Dictionary.

A, perhaps from their* transient nature, is not aggressive and has generally neutral thoughts open to outside stimuli (like their love for Rhiannon). Rhiannon, on the other hand, is edgier, more erratic. It makes sense, given the situation she's in. Like the reader just opening Every Day, she has to come to terms with what A is after having a complicated, painful relationship with Justin.

*(Most reviews will use he, or rarely she. Rhiannon goes back and forth depending on A's current sex. A doesn't have a sex and his gender is questionable, but definitely more masculine. I just use they because otherwise I'd be really confused.)

What I really liked about Rhiannon's side is that it can be a lot darker and spiteful than A's, and thus it has more room to deal with the emotions that come from this adventure, from learning more about herself and what it's like to love a person who is the same yet not the same, and especially from thinking about that lowlife Justin.

Other than that, the plot is pretty much the same. Sort of in a bad way, sort of in a good way. Both characters are usually trying to find each other, now we just see more of that from Rhiannon, though now we get to actually see what Rhiannon's life is like without A, and that space really helps her and us with clarity. We get to see the little lies Rhiannon tells Justin and even her mom so she can run off and be with A; it's all very adorable. There's unique and wonderful discussion about sex, gender, and what it means to love a person rather than a body (but why preference is also important), but now we see Rhiannon coming to terms with that rather than having A literally exude that philosophy from their life. The novel climaxes and ends on a similar note to Every Day. 

My only real problem with this book is that Justin features so prominently in it. There are too many Justin thoughts. He's a gross human being who, while I now understand better, only hate more. And Rhiannon nearly wants him back at a point! This is where Rhiannon's side of the narration gets hard to deal with, as her self-hatred mixes itself with her dying love for Justin and it takes its toll on her. It is highly fascinating and leads to very painful moments like this:

"A lot of the time, love feels like it's about figuring out what the other person wants and giving it over."

While personally I like what this does for the tension, as it complicates the primary relationship in the novel, it brought, in my mind, too much negativity and confusion to the book, often leaving Rhiannon tired and angry, unable to neutrally and effectively understand A or tackle the hard questions the book has to offer, which she leaves for later in the book, only easing them out in the first two acts.

In all, it's a very good book. Whether you've read Every Day or not, I think this will be an enjoyable journey.

- Marlon

Do you have a "type?"
Let us know in the comments!

Double Review: Royal Wedding - Meg Cabot

Royal Wedding
Meg Cabot 
Series: The Princess Diaries, #11
Genre: Young Adult/New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

!!!!!!!!!!!! I had the pleasure of meeting Meg Cabot at BEA 2015 and it was quite an adventure (I mistakenly thought Dave Baldacci was her, you can read all about it in our BEA recap posts and look on in jealousy at my picture with Meg). Thanks to BEA and Meg Cabot for my copy of Royal Wedding!

Quick anecdote: when I was in middle school I used to volunteer at my local library over the summers as a "summer reading buddy assistant." My job was to watch the table and let people sign in on the book available, and on a good day, hand out bookmarks. Needless to say, it was a very thankless and quite frankly, really boring job. However, I was only supposed to leave my post during break times, so I got reallly into the shelf of books I was stationed next to -- it just happened to be the shelf of all of Meg Cabot's books. So sixth-grade-Amrutha hopped right on the Princess Diary train (I had already seen the first movie at this point), along with other iconic books of hers. When thinking of the authors that really shaped my childhood reading experience, Meg Cabot is one of them, so, this goes without saying, I loved this book too.

As Royal Wedding implies, Mia is getting married! This is the same Mia Thermopolis from the very first book, and she's back now as a 26 year old engaged (to Michael!!) princess ready to take on random political drama and obviously even more family drama on top of that. I just want to say how honestly happy I am that Mia is really similar to her character in the other books, but that she talks about how her teenage self had flaws, and showed normal character development for a someone who went from teen to adult. I was really afraid that Mia would either be completely different or exactly the same, but Cabot accomplished a happy medium that I'm mostly on board with. I thought some of her reactions were overly reminiscent of her teenage self -- I should hope 26 year olds have a little more chill than 16 year olds. I thought all the characters I grew up with (Michael, Grandmere, etc) all kept the same charms that I remembered them with but grew in their own rights (again though, not as much as desired).

Here's the deal -- there's no real way of going into this book without spoiling a lot of it, and I just don't want to do that because I can't do justice to the story the way the royalty of YA can. I will say this though: the new character that's introduced? (Once you read it, it'll become clear who I'm talking about) I thought that introduction and Mia's reaction were both really tacky and not well done at all, and thats where the book lost most of its points with me. This book had a couple questionable plot points and lacked /some/ of the sparkly romance flashy flash that I wanted from it, but all in all, still really good. This book is just a really light, breezy read and I got through it really quickly. While I feel like I enjoyed it way more because of the backstory and my personal attachment to these characters, I do think you could read the book as a standalone (especially if you know some backstory), mostly because this is branded as an adult book as opposed to YA. However, even though the characters do have some growth with age, its not enough to say that I think this book is an adult book, I think its just YA with adult-aged characters.

- Amrutha
 

Noor's Review

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Stars

When I met Meg Cabot at BEA, she was wearing a tiara and the second I noticed that detail everything in my life felt fulfilled. As someone who owns a tiara (that I believe to very beautiful) and likes to break it out as frequently as possible -- it was a very popular choice of headwear on the days near my birthday -- I felt a strong connection to her. Like Amrutha, I was very familiar with the Meg Cabot shelf of the library, although unlike Amrutha, I was not bound there through a job. Anyway, I was super excited for this book ended up finding it adorable and lovely.

Something I'd like to point out is that it you can definitely read this book without being caught up with all the books in the series. I'm personally someone who would just read everything but to each their own so if the idea of 11 books seems daunting you only really need the backstory so if you watch the movies and read it, or read the first one or two and then read Royal Wedding, you'll definitely keep up. Like Amrutha said, the book works as a standalone if you understand the backstory, which was nice because it's definitely been a very long time since the last time I read a Princess Diaries book so I'm glad it didn't rely on remembering super insignificant details from random books in the middle of the series.

One of my favorite parts of the book was Mia's voice. It was more refined, her being 26 and all, but still retained her original charm. It was so interesting to see the shift from 14 year old Mia freaking out about finding out she's a princess and 26 year old Mia and the way she handled freaking out about things like getting married, political turmoil in Genovia and nearby countries, and some family troubles. She was much more composed and -- in her terms -- "self-actualized." For instance, before Michael was proposing to her, she was worried about his behavior, but quickly dismissed it by realizing it was highly unlikely he was breaking up with her and that he would most likely not have spent so much money to do so (they were partaking in birthday celebrations) and so she "squashed that thought." Of course, sometimes she got a bit obsessive about things, like her rating on RateTheRoyals.com or her eye twitch that may or may not have been existent. I loved the way this nature added to her character. She was also hella politically correct all the time which was amusing to read and something I liked about her character.

Anyway, like Amrutha said, most of the major plot points are also major spoilers, besides the whole wedding thing which is kind of a given. I thought Mia's internal reaction to the other big thing that happened besides the wedding was a bit over-the-top and then her actual handling of the situation was kindof unrealistic. Also, I'm not sure how to explain this, because my issue isn't that things worked out too smoothly because in this type of book you kindof expect -- and want -- the happy ending, but the way they were smoothed over, if that makes sense?

My only other grievance, which is pretty minor, is that I wish there was more of Lilly Moscovitz, Mia's best friend and my favorite character. I just love her stubborn, abrasive personality and I wish there was more of her in the book considering how close of a bond her and Mia are supposed to have -- not that that bond seems weakened here, just that there's less of her character. The parts she's present in, she'd written fabulously.

In fact, all of the writing is spot on and all of the characters are developed wonderfully. Michael is gracious and charming and swoon-worthy, while Mia's rotating casts of both philanthropist friends and royal staff all offer gems of advice, quotes, and complaints as the book progresses.

All in all, I definitely loved the book. It was such a fun book to read and the issues I had with it weren't enough to take away from the experience as a whole and to stop me from enjoying the quirks of the story. I would definitely recommend the book, to both fans of the whole series and to those who have only seen the movies, it's guaranteed to be amusing and entertaining to all parties. (I agree with the majority opinion, though, it's definitely a YA book -- at most New Adult -- definitely not the Adult book it's being marketed as.)

- Noor

When was the last time you felt like royalty?
Let us know in the comments!

ARC Review + Giveaway: Positive: A Memoir - Paige Rawl with Ali Benjamin

Positive: A Memoir
Paige Rawl with Ali Benjamin
Series: N/A
Genre: Memoir
Release Date: September 14, 2014
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Word Rating: Gripping
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Wow, I picked up Positive at BEA this year and I'm so glad I did because I flew through this book in just a couple hours and thought it was totally great! Memoirs aren't really my usual genre but I'm always open to them and this one centered around the author's middle school years as an HIV positive student who faced bullying, much of which came from people she thought were friends.

The book was so gripping and compelling and as soon as I picked it up I couldn't put it down. For one, even though it's heavier material, it's easy to get through. The writing details her time as a preteen and the maturity of the writing mirrors that so even though the content is about straggle and bullying, it's not hard to read. Once you start, a certain rhythm develops that pulls you through until you realize you're 100 pages past where you promised yourself you'd stop so you could finally clean your room like your mother's been asking you to for a week and has now just done herself. On the flip side of that, however, is that the writing oftentimes felt choppy and juvenile, which is where the star deduction comes from. That's my biggest qualm and while it's not a big deal, I think the writing could be greatly improved, especially because it's so good in some parts and so mediocre in others. For example, the one chapter called Red, which I'd quote but then I'd be quoting the whole thing and it'd be super long, I thought was SO well written and and I LOVED the way she described her emotions and actions and everything. I wish other parts of the memoir had used descriptive techniques like that. I think having two people write the book kindof made for a sort of disconnect. That being said, it didn't take away too much from the book and it was still well written and evocative and all the points that needed to be made were still made so definitely still read it. It's definitely still a nicely written memoir, I just would go over it again with a fine-toothed comb in the final review, maybe.

Okay, so this book is so powerful because it's the real story of this girl who goes through quite a bit of turmoil and I found myself hanging onto every word. I remember reading about the part where her guidance counselor is useless and legitimately getting so angry and wanting to punch her in the face and go on an angry rant at her because of how ignorant and stupid she was being until I remembered that even though this actually happened, it's still a book and I can't actually do that, especially not about a situation that happened years ago. It literally filled me with fiery rage, that scene. And the part with the note that she didn't write gave me anxiety and the IM's stressed me out. I said this book was gripping because I felt myself feeling everything in response to Paige's life experiences and forgetting that I wasn't supposed to be exhibiting actual emotions.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story. It didn't take long at all, I started and finished within a few hours and the book felt very light despite the content. Dispersed throughout the main story of her battle with HIV are small stories about Paige's other life accomplishments, like how she entered and won Pageants, or how she did cheerleading. I would definitely recommend reading this book if you're looking for a lighter memoir that still packs an emotional punch!

- Noor

Giveaway

We also picked up another ARC of Positive, so we'll be giving it away! I really enjoyed this book so I would definitely recommend entering and experiencing a great book!

To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open US only, unless you are willing to pay the shipping, and is open through August 23rd. The winner will be selected shortly after and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Good luck! :)

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