BkRv :: Hello, Burrito, won't you tell me your name?

BOOK REVIEW ::
Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe
Shelley Coriell
@shelleycoriell :: website




YA | Contemporary

FIRST LINE :: eARC :: I loved being a burrito.

 









SUMMARY :: from the B&N website

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

REVIEW ::
Have you been itching for that new IT girl after AUDREY, WAIT!? Someone to make you revel in her awesomeness and make you a devoted fan for years to come? Well, dear Readers, I have finally found the next Audrey: Chloe “Poppy” Camden, and if I had to describe her as a candy, she would be a mouthful of Pop Rocks ( = AMAZING).

THE GOOD BITS
{You had me at burrito!} Without question, I was hooked after the first line, and Shelley Coriell continued to reel me into her debut with the bait of delicious Mexican food, luscious vintage shoes, and awesome cast of characters. The story hits the ground running with its joie de vivre and never lets up until the final page where the reader will be breathless but feeling so alive that a second reading may be warranted. Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe has a lot of heart and embraces the reader with such enthusiasm that will prove irresistable to put down!

{88.8 The Edge} I never got into the whole radio scene myself, but I have always had much respect for the radio peeps. Shrinking Violet comes to mind as the only other radio-themed book I have read, and it focused mostly on one character – whereas Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe gave a whole handful of characters to love at our own risk. They had their own adorable quirks and differences, but they were such a close-knit family who took care of their own. Also, I enjoyed tagging along as Chloe learned the ropes to running a radio station. It all sounds so very fascinating and more fun than I had originally imagined!

{Character chemistry} Not only did Chloe and her love interest sizzle in a way that melted the marshmallows in my hot chocolate, but I believe Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe stands out as one of the best assortment of characters I have ever encountered! I loved the tug-of-war relationship between Chloe and the radio station’s general manager Clementine. They may not have chosen to work together or have matching BFF jewelry, but their clashing personalities had that Odd Couple magic that worked against anyone’s better judgment.

{The highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows} Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe may bask mostly in the sunshine, but it also presents anecdotes of family issues and how it impacts Chloe and her classmates. Admittedly, I think most of them had happy resolutions – but I still appreciated that these problems were included because it made the characters more real and less “charmed life.”

THE BAD BITS
{More on Brie} While this ex-BFF gets some closure by the end, I feel like there is a lot left unresolved with Brie’s story arc that leaves me worried. She makes it her personal mission to ruin Chloe and has a few creepy choker-esque moments, but in the end, I feel like she has not made the same positive progress like the other characters. I know that not everyone can have a happily-ever-after, but Brie’s story screams of warning signs. If anything, I hope someone checks up on her *cough* SEQUEL! *cough* COMPANION? *cough* although I know it may not be as bright and chirpy as Chloe’s story.

THE OVERALL
It is not every day when you encounter a book that is just bursting with happy energy – and Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe is sure to brighten anyone’s day. This book is a pinata full of all the best sorts of candy, and readers will be just as desperate to crack open the pages and dive into the sweet mayhem!

DISCLAIMER :: NETGALLEY

RELEASED MAY 2012 BY AMULET BOOKS (ABRAMS)
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES :: NO.

Monday Mini(BkRv) :: 16 - 18

:: 16 ::

BOOK REVIEW ::

pieces of us

Margie Gelbwasser
@MargieGelb :: website




YA | Contemporary

FIRST LINE :: eARC :: [Katie] I first met Alex (or Sasha, as his grandparents call him) the day the chicken man came to the lake house.

SUMMARY :: from the B&N website

Every summer, hidden away in a lakeside community in upstate New York, four teens leave behind their old identities…and escape from their everyday lives.

Yet back in Philadelphia during the school year, Alex cannot suppress his anger at his father (who killed himself), his mother (whom he blames for it), and the girls who give it up too easily. His younger brother, Kyle, is angry too - at his abusive brother, and at their mother who doesn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, in suburban New Jersey, Katie plays the role of Miss Perfect while trying to forget the nightmare that changed her life. But Julie, her younger sister, sees Katie only as everything she’s not. And their mother will never let Julie forget it.

Up at the lake, they can be anything, anyone. Free. But then Katie’s secret gets out, forcing each of them to face reality - before it tears them to pieces.

REVIEW :: pieces of us is not a happy book. I would dare to say it leaves readers heart-heavy as the four characters – Alex, Katie, Julie, and Kyle - watch their lives intertwine and then unravel from each other. Katie’s story (spoiler :: of being raped) was the hardest to stomach, and understandably everyone else’s reactions to her story was equally harder to witness – and sometimes to forgive. Margie Gelbwasser has written a tough coming-of-age story, and even though I wish it had not felt so hopeless, I know that not everyone’s story gets that happy ending as promised. The only concern I had with pieces of us was keeping the four alternating perspectives apart. They did not have much to distinguish themselves from each other besides the name at the beginning of each section and perhaps certain references to key events, but overall they all seemed interchangeable. It is sad to think that pieces of us still feels true to our time – and perhaps also that times have gotten worse with the explosion of technology – and it makes me wonder how we can change it for the better.

DISCLAIMER :: NETGALLEY
RELEASED MARCH 2012 BY FLUX (LLEWELYN)
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES :: NO.

:: 17 ::

BOOK REVIEW ::

RIPPER

Amy Carol Reeves
@AmyCarolReeves :: website




YA | Historical | Mystery

FIRST LINE :: eARC :: “Damn.” If the pickpocket had taken anything other than that, I could have let it go. But not Mother’s brooch. I had to keep that.

History at its most sensational and lurid form, RIPPER follows Arabella as she becomes intertwined with the brutal serial murders against all better judgment. Instead of sticking to her upper crust grandmother’s plans for snagging a good marriage, Abbie gets too involved with her volunterring at the Whitechapel Hospital and uncovers some dark secrets about the physicians there. Should she trust a handsome face with some pretty manners or the fatherly figure who encourages her to pursue the medical profession? Between late nights at the hospital and grisly unpredictable precognitions, the last thing Abbie needs is to turn down the wrong alley and bump into the wrong person at the wrong time for the worst possible reasons.

REVIEW :: I find it hard to pinpoint my feelings for RIPPER. On the one hand, the time flew by as I wanted to find out what exactly Abbie was getting herself into at Whitechapel Hospital. Alleys drenched in blood and guts, secret societies wanting the unattainable, a woman testing her boundaries to expand her knowledge, RIPPER seems to have everything going for it – even a love triangle with two equally attractive men. Then again, while the pages flew, I cannot say that I was left with that WOW feeling at the end. It was more like a hmmm…? as if the story should have had a teensy bit more to really spice things up. The sense of dread, while present, never seemed to reach that boiling point where everything bubbled over to where I started frantically rushing through pages to see if the mess would right itself. RIPPER was good and enjoyable as it stands, but I think it needed something extra – whether it be more tension, more action, more horror, more drama – to really throw me into a deeper and darker rabbit hole.

DISCLAIMER :: NETGALLEY
RELEASED APRIL 2012 BY FLUX (LLEWELLYN)
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES :: NO.

:: 18 ::

BOOK REVIEW ::

A Tinfoil Sky

Cyndi Sand-Eveland
@NONE :: website




YA | Contemporary

SUMMARY :: from the B&N website

Mel and her mother, Cecily, know what it’s like to live rough, whether it’s on the streets or in the apartment of an abusive man. When Cecily announces that they’ve had enough and that they are going to go home to her mother’s, Mel dreams of security, a comfortable bed, and a grandmother’s love seem to be about to come true. But some mistakes cannot be easily forgiven or erased. Her grandmother is not what Mel expects, and though the local library offers sanctuary, a real home seems beyond her grasp. Mel’s determination to rise above what fate has dealt is about to change that.

Cyndi Sand-Eveland’s work with homeless youth gives her characters an authenticity no reader will forget. Ultimately, a story of hope and acceptance, A Tinfoil Sky is a powerful, can’t-put-it-down novel.

REVIEW :: Simple is as simple does, A Tinfoil Sky does not have a whole lot going on – at least, when I sit back and contemplate the book for this review, I cannot recall anything remarkable. Which can be viewed as a problem, yes? Let’s see, A Tinfoil Sky is about a girl who ends up in the custody of her ornery grandmother (more or less, a stranger) because her no-good mother lands in jail. After living with bad men to even worse men that her mother manages to find, Mel finally has a place to call “home” and the town inexplicably looking out for her well-being. I wonder if the other homeless youths are treated just as kindly. A Tinfoil Sky seems almost too-good-to-be-true in my mind, and I wish there had been more interactions between Mel and more local kids to get a better gauge of how unfortunate Mel’s life is. This book may be worth a gander, but I fear that A Tinfoil Sky may leave readers with more questions than satisfaction.

DISCLAIMER :: NETGALLEY
RELEASED JANUARY 2012 BY TUNDRA BOOKS
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES :: NO.

BkRv :: Gotta kick up the highway dust / Feel the grass that's green

BOOK REVIEW ::
wanderlove
Kirsten Hubbard - @kirstenhubbard




YA | Contemporary

FIRST LINE :: eARC :: As soon as I see the blond girl bouncing down the aisle, I know she’s heading for the empty seat beside me.

 










SUMMARY :: from the author website

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria’s a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan’s a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they’ve got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can’t run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

REVIEW ::
At first cover glance, wanderlove appears to be a feel-good book. Peaceful, hopeful, wishful… but what the cover does not say is that readers will be taking a trip into Central America and fall in love with not only the scenery but also the characters. Which is a travesty because wanderlove was absolutely perfect for anyone with that itch to travel!

THE GOOD BITS
{Bria} I think our shoes have got to be the same size because I swear we travel the same wavelength! Her artistic nature resonate so close to home with me. It is hard when one’s talents gets crushed by someone else, and I admire Bria as she struggles to figure out if art is worth giving up over a stupid boy. I adored the sketches scattered throughout the story – and I think that anyone with creative juices can easily sympathize with Bria.

{A journey worth a thousand steps and a few scrapes} I think Bria had the most perfect travel experience – not because she had booked an official tour, but because she had the balls to throw away the travel guide and truly embrace the backpacking lifestyle. I have never been anywhere nearly exciting, but I know several people who have – and seriously I can picture Bria, Rowan, and Starling quite easily. I would probably be in the same “uncool and untried” state as Bria, and I hope to be just as fortunate to meet the “cool travel kids” to take me under their wings.

{Sweet bud of a romance} Delicious, delicious tension – and I totally LOVED how Kirsten Hubbard handles Bria and Rowan’s relationship! I am all for the friends-first philosophy, and watching Bria and Rowan get stuck together against both their better judgments is totally worth the wait! The combination of Rowan’s mysterious past and Bria’s love-gone-wrong one created an impressive wall that they each had to break down. My favorite scenes involve them sitting in a hammock and simply talking.

THE BAD BITS
{The “no strings attached” storyline} I braced myself for Bria to be a wild child, especially at the very beginning since I did not know what to expect from wanderlove. I can understand why Bria might choose to use Central America as a way to nurse a broken heart – but, given how much Bria and I are like mind-twins, I simply cannot fathom meaningless hookups for her. While I am glad that this storyline did not take that direction, I do not quite understand why it entered into Bria’s travel itinerary.

THE OVERALL
I left wanderlove with a big, goofy grin on my face – and perhaps a few more dreamy-eyed thoughts about when I would follow Bria’s footsteps into the world. wanderlove makes the allure of traveling all the more tangible for anyone who dares to make it happen, and it also reminds us that sometimes the best travel plans are those left to where the wind blows or the heart desires.

DISCLAIMER :: NETGALLEY
RELEASED MARCH 2012 BY DELACORTE PRESS (RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN'S)
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES :: NO.