Twilight (Twilight Saga, Book One)

 

STEPHENIE MEYER

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Little Brown and Company, 2008.

How acquired: No idea.

First line: I’d never given much thought to how I would die – thought I’d had reason enough in the last few months – but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I’ve had this book since 2008, and do not remember how it came into my possession since I was never remotely interested in reading it. But I wanted an inconsequential easy read before starting the next book in my review queue and it was right there on the shelf, so I plucked it down and started reading.

I was pleasantly surprised right away that the writing was better than I had anticipated it would be. As I got further in, it got a little tedious, what with the super detailed minutiae of every facial expression when Bella and Edward talked, and especially when one or the other would suddenly whisper instead of talking like a normal person. Though Edward, of course, is not a normal person. From there it was enjoyable enough, definitely worth at least three stars. And then towards the end the action ramped up and it was actually pretty tense and gripping, which bumped it up to four stars. And now, much as I hate to admit it, I actually would like to watch the movie. I think I saw it way back when it was still fairly new, but while I was reading I remembered virtually nothing, so maybe I didn’t see it, or maybe I just didn’t care for it enough to be bothered wasting any memory space in my brain. 

Synopsis from Goodreads: About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Supremacy (Supremacy, Book 1)

CHRISTIN LEE

Synopsis from Goodreads: Kate Parker is a 17 year old senior living in Texas. She's on the swim team, has two incredible best friends, and a passion for saving animals. She falls hard when she meets a mysterious and fascinating guy named Lucas. He has a sexy accent and a killer smile. However, she sees unexplained pain and anger in his dark brown eyes. He claims he’s a foreign exchange student from Spain who is attending the local University—Kate knows there’s more to his story than that. She works hard to discover who he is—what he is.

How acquired: ARC sent to me by the author for review. Scheduled release date June 3, 2016. 

My thoughts: I didn't know much about this book other than it's a YA/Urban Fantasy, and I really had no idea what to expect. Kate is an interesting character. The word “hyperthymesia” is never used, but Kate has it. In case you're unfamiliar with it, it's also called Superior Autobiographical Memory, and those who possess it can remember every detail of everything that ever happens to them. Kate tells Lucas if she hears it or sees it, she will remember it. Other than her memory, Kate is a pretty normal teenager. She's on the swim team, she likes hanging out with her best friends, she fights with her little brother. She also loves animals, and seems to feel a connection to them. I thought in the beginning that might be explored a little more or be more intrinsic to the plot, but after the first part of the book, where Kate is trying to rescue a starving stray in the woods, it became more secondary.

Lucas is a mysterious motorcycle riding foreigner. He's come to the US from Spain to attend college. They have a “meet cute” moment when Kate walks out of the woods to find Lucas stranded on the side of the road, and she ends up fixing his motorcycle for him. (“Lucas, if you hold my pork chop, I will fix your bike.” That line made me laugh out loud.) There's a slight element of paranormal introduced, as Kate feels a strange anxiety inducing energy when Lucas touches her. Kate's father is a psychiatrist, and she tells him about this weird feeling (I can't imagine telling my dad anything like that at 17!), which leads to an extremely embarrassing moment for Kate when her father meets Lucas for the first time. Her father was a little off the wall with the over protectiveness, and I'm not sure if it's just the way he's wired, or if there's something about Kate that will be revealed in a future book.

Overall the writing felt a little simple, which may be typical of a lot of YA? Since I don't read a lot of it I can't really compare it to the rest of the genre. I was interested in the story, but did not really get engrossed until Kate learned the secret Lucas was hiding about himself. Until then I think I had mixed feelings about him. He had very violent tendencies, and while he seemed to really care about Kate, he did inadvertently physically hurt her at one point, and not knowing what drove him made it hard to feel completely sympathetic to him.

Some of the descriptive passages were vivid, and there was a very funny scene between Kate and her mother in the kitchen, as mom is getting dinner ready and Kate starts acting like a boxer and pretending to throw punches at her exasperated mother. I could see the scene play out in my head and it made me laugh.

This is the author's debut novel, and I think she shows a lot of promise. The book ends a tad abruptly, not on a cliffhanger, exactly, but sort of...I can't tell you any more than that, but it will be interesting to see what unfolds in future books. 

Hopeless

COLLEEN HOOVER

Synopsis from back cover: Sky, a senior in high school, meets Dean Holder, a guy with a promiscuous reputation that rivals her own. From their very first encounter, he terrifies and captivates her. Something about him sparks memories of her deeply troubled past, a time she's tried so hard to bury. Though Sky is determined to stay far away from him, his unwavering pursuit and enigmatic smile break down her defenses and the intensity of the bond between them grows. But the mysterious Holder has been keeping secrets of his own, and once they are revealed, Sky is changed forever and her ability to trust may be a casualty of the truth.

Only by courageously facing the stark revelations can Sky and Holder hope to heal their emotional scars and find a way to live and love without boundaries.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Atria Books, 2013.

How acquired: Loaned to me by my daughter.

First line: I stand up and look down at the bed, holding my breath in fear of the sounds that are escalating from deep within my throat.

My thoughts: I see references to Colleen Hoover and her books constantly, on blogs, and on Instagram, where it seems the majority of the book-related accounts belong to teenagers and twenty-somethings. So much hype about this author and her books. I've gotten away from the YA genre in the last few years, so I didn't really have any interest in reading her.

My daughter, who will be twenty-three in a couple of weeks, loved books as a child, but once past elementary school she didn't spend much time reading. In fact, she hardly read at all, other than at work (a daycare) during nap time, and then she mostly read Joyce Meyer or similar, or self-help books related to relationships and nutrition and healthy eating. But one of her co-workers convinced her to try a Colleen Hoover book, and suddenly she's reading like crazy, wanting more Hoover books, and then she read Nicholas Sparks and wanted more of his books, and then she just wanted me to find anything similar that I thought she might also like. So I am forever grateful to Ms. Hoover for helping my daughter rediscover her love of books and reading. And when my daughter texted me and said I should read this Colleen Hover book she just finished and would I want to borrow it, I said yes, because I owe it to Ms. Hoover to give her books a chance.

So, I read HOPELESS. It took me awhile to get through the first half. Partly because of work and life and being so tired at night that I sometimes could only read for ten or fifteen minutes before I had to go to sleep. Partly because it just did not quite captivate me the way it did my daughter and all those other Hoover fan girls out there. To begin with, I'm not a big fan of present tense narration, so that put me off just a little, but I got to used to it fairly quickly and it didn't bother me too much in the long run. I just found the story kind of blah in the beginning. Sky tells us early on that Karen, her mother, adopted her when she was three. And yet all throughout the book she always refers to her mother by her name. When speaking to her mother she calls her mom, but when telling us about her mother she calls her Karen. I just didn't like the connotation that gave, as if since Karen is not her biological mother she's not entitled to be referred to a her mother. Even though she is.

And then there's just all the angst of being the new girl in school. Of having the reputation of being the loose girl in school who sleeps with everybody even though she's not actually had sex with anybody. Of the one person becoming her friend being the weird gay kid. And then of meeting Holder, who is a little disturbing with his violent outbursts.

And then the big secret comes out, and from that point on I was suddenly reading faster and was much more invested and it was intense and at times a little nerve-wracking, and I can't really say much more about it without giving away too much plot, but the ending was fantastic and I even cried a little bit. So while I don't necessarily want to run out and buy every Colleen Hoover book I can find, I understand why she's so popular and beloved, and she deserves to be. 

Ransom

 LOIS DUNCAN 

Synopsis from back cover: The lives of five captives hang in the balance while their families gather the ransom.

Two brothers, their family frantic to find their sons. A loner whose uncle doesn't even know he’s missing. An army brat whose family will never be able to raise enough money. A cheerleader who can’t count on her stepdad but knows her father will come through.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1990. Previously published under the title “Five Were Missing”.

How acquired: Bought at a library sale in 2012.

First line: The kidnapping took place on a Thursday.

My thoughts: School lets out one afternoon and kids board the bus. A substitute driver is at the wheel, and he misses the first stop, making the boy who gets off there walk back an extra block. The driver apologizes and tells the kids he was called in at the last minute and didn’t get a copy of the route, so Bruce moves to the front to point out the stops. When they’re approaching the last stop, in one of the better neighborhoods, there are just five kids left. But the bus keeps going, picking up another man with a gun.

It’s a disparate group of kids. Bruce, a freshman, a little awkward, living in his brother’s shadow, who he looks up to and admires. His brother, Glenn, the golden boy, jock and all around high school star. Normally he drives to school, but his car is in the shop. Marianne, popular cheerleader who goes out with Glenn. Her stepfather tried to pick her up from school, but she rejected him, as she always does. She resents his presence in her family and thinks the her father hung the moon. Jesse, a quiet loner. Her family are military, and the only family who rent a house in their upscale neighborhood. Her mother thought living off base would be good for Jesse, that she’d have a better chance at a normal life and would make friends. Dexter, another loner who hides his disease misshapen body under long sleeved shirts. He moved from New York to live with his uncle after his parents died, but his uncle continues to live the single bachelor life as if Dexter weren’t there.

The plot felt realistic and the tension came through from beginning to end. The writing was descriptive, although some of the dialogue felt a little stilted. I enjoyed the story, and the way Marianne and her stepfather bonded and arrive a new place in their relationship. As the kids wait out their captivity in a remote cabin with one of the kidnappers and his wife, they get to know each other, and their strengths come out. Bruce and Glenn have some tense moments alone that open Bruce’s eyes to who his brother really is.

I did have one issue, and I guess this might be considered a spoiler by some so be warned -

The only parent reunited with one of the kids on the page was Marianne's stepfather, and I would have like to witness the reunions between the other kids and their families. The narrative occasionally left the kids to focus briefly on one or more of their families, including a passage about Dexter’s uncle, who was out of town and unaware of the kidnapping. There were hints that the uncle’s conscience over his lifestyle and his non-relationship with Dexter was getting to him, and I thought in the end this experience would draw them closer together, make them start to feel like family. But once the narrative left the uncle, it never went back to him, and I was very disappointed that Dexter and his uncle did not have any resolution to their relationship. 

Thwonk

JOAN BAUER

Synopsis: Imagine having a personal cupid -- an actual winged being -- pop into your life and offer to make your dreams come true. The catch is that he can help you in only one way: artistically, academically, or romantically. That's what happens to aspiring photographer Allison Jean (A.J.) McCreary. A.J. knows she should concentrate on getting into a top-notch art school. But she's spent five torturous months obsessed with handsome hunk Peter Terris. Just one shot from cupid's bow and thwonk! A.J. will have the undying devotion of Peter...forever.

Stats for my copy:  Puffin Books, Published by the Penguin Group, 2004. Given to me by a BookCrossing member in December 2003.

A.J. is a funny, self-deprecating narrator. She has a crush on Peter, the most popular boy at school, who takes absolutely no notice of her at all. A.J. is the photographer for the school newspaper, and when she's given an assignment to provide a cover photo for the Valentine's Day issue, she goes searching for the perfect picture. Cupids are everywhere, but she wants something more artisitc. Then she finds a stuffed cupid doll in the street and takes it home. The next day, it's come to life.

Of the three ways in the synopsis that Jonathan, the cupid, can help her, of course she chooses romantically. She wants Jonathan to shoot Peter Terris with one of his little arrows and make him fall in love with her. Well, we've all heard that old saying - be careful what you wish for.

When A.J.'s wish comes true, her joy is short-lived. It's tiring and hard work being with someone who is fanatically devoted to you.

In the end, A.J. learns about herself and about what she really needs in life to be happy. Her story was cute and amusing, though the characters were often a little frantic, always shouting or screeching. Like that wouldn't get tiring in real life. A lot of young girls out there need to learn the lessons A.J. learned.