Review: The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas

Title: The Survival Kit

Author: Donna Freitas

Release Date: October 11, 2011

My Rating: 5/5

Synopsis:  ”When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a  paper kite, for letting go.

As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?”

I LOVED this book.  I felt completely giddy through 80% of the book as if I was actually experiencing what was going, and found myself grinning non-stop.  Good thing I was in the privacy of my own room at these points.  This was just an adorable book, exactly the kind that I like.  It made me feel good in a Sarah Dessen kind of way.

I’ve mentioned before I seem to be a sucker for books that start on the premise of the main character losing a parent. So, naturally, I was drawn into this one.  Add in the fact that the male lead is the school’s hockey star, and how could I not love it? Classic Canadian girl, I love hockey, and I love hockey players.  It is rare that hockey plays a part in a book, but the fact that it had a role in a book that is all around so ideal for me as this one just makes me overjoyed.

So enough gushing, let’s get down to it.  I love the characters, particularly that the ones you are supposed to like still show their flaws, and the characters that you normally wouldn’t like so much in a book still had some very endearing qualities.  Take Chris, the initial boyfriend and star quarterback, who is just not right for Rose. In most other books, I probably just wouldn’t like this guy, but all through the story, he remains a good guy, who I have a  lot of sympathy for.  On the other side, we have the swoon-worthy leading boy (this is YA, I don’t think I can call him a man), who is wonderful, but he is still flawed, and he messes up.  The characters have different levels to them, it’s not just black and white, which was quite refreshing.  Real life characters aren’t either good or bad with no in between, so it is nice to see that mirrored in fiction.  I also loved all of Rose’s friends.  They were some seriously good friends, the type you would want to have around when you’re going through hard times.

The Survival Kit was an emotional, heart-warming story, that I would recommend to any fan of contemporary YA.  I am surprised to see that it doesn’t have all that many reviews on Goodreads yet, but I feel like with time people will discover it and love it.

I got this one from the library, but it is definitely going on my to-buy list as a new favourite.  It really had all the elements of a good contemporary YA that I love.  Sigh.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Ten Favourite Books

So I want to start participating in some weekly memes, so I will start with Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and The Bookish!

Since I am new to Top Ten Tuesdays, and today is a pick your own, I guess it makes sense to just do my top 10 favourite books.

1. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.  My love for Harry will never be dethroned.  This was my childhood, that simple.  I love everything Harry Potter, and I even made my first vacation as an independent adult to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando a few months after it opened.  I am just that obsessed, and luckily have a best friend who felt the same way.  It was awesome.
2. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.  I have read this book over and over again, and I get something new out of it every time.  It is such a wonderful, emotional story, and I can just throw myself into it entirely each time.  It is particularly welcomed when I want a good cry.  (those two are locked in at the first and second positions, but 3-10 are not necessarily in any particular order)
3. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series by Ann Brashares.  I loved everything about these books.  I loved having the perspective of four different girls, and felt like they were friends by the end of the series.  I find it very comforting to go back to this series, and I loved follow the up, Sisterhood Everlasting, as well.  I also liked that she incorporated all of the fun quotes in between chapters…sometimes I like to just open them up and read a few quotes.
4. Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  I am new to Hunger Games fandom, just read them last month, but I already know that they are going to be revisited many times in my life.  I love them, and I really love Peeta Mellark. I am eagerly anticipating the movie release, and have watched the trailer far too many times.   
5. Moonglass by Jessi Kirby.  I was completely absorbed by this one, and can’t wait to read Jessi Kirby’s new releases as they come, starting with In Honor in May.  I picked it up after hearing what Sarah Dessen had to say about it.  It was realeased around the same time as What Happened to Goodbye, so I got them together, and actually ended up favouring Moonglass out of the two.  It was a wonderful, emotional story that had me hooked from the start.  And I love the cover.
6. Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson.  Another debut that makes me very excited to read her future releases.  It was a happy yet emotional road trip story, filled with fun little extras. Conveniently her next one, Second Chance Summer is being released the same day as In Honor, so I will be able to get them together. How efficient!
7. Lock and Key, This Lullaby, and Along for the Ride by  Sarah Dessen.  My other favourite Dessens, I’m cheating by throwing them all in there, and really I love all the others too, but for the sake of variety I am not going to fill my entire top ten with Sarah Dessen.  But really, she knows how to do what she does.  If that makes sense.
8. Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella.  I have a love hate relationship with Sophie Kinsella Books, the characters drive me nuts, and I often just want to scream at them, “ You idiot! Stop lying!” but they are fun, and I keep reading.  This is my favourite of hers; I have read it multiple times and think it is adorable.
9. Baby Proof by Emily Giffin.  I haven’t read all of her books, but I have liked what I have read, and this was my favourite.  I don’t know what it was about it, but I thought it was very sweet.
10. Stevie Diamond Mystery series by Linda Baily.  I’m going to throw in a childhood throwback.  I absolutely loved this series as a kid, it involved a girl who had a knack for solving mysteries.  I can still remember all the details so clearly, and they are fun to re-read even as an adult.  Plus, they are Canadian, which is a nice added bonus.

Review: Variant by Robison Wells

Title: Variant

Author: Robison Wells

Release Date: October 4, 2011

My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: “Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life. He was wrong. Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive. Where breaking the rules equals death. But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.”

I didn’t know what to expect from this one, I hadn’t heard too much about it. It’s nice to go into a book without any preconceived ideas.  I was drawn in pretty immediately to this one, there are lots of questions thrown out in the beginning as to what is really going on at the school.  I felt very uneasy about the situation that these kids were put in, and I wanted to see how it would resolve. It kept me interested, up until the cliffhanger ending, so I definitely plan on reading the sequel when it is released.

The concept of the book kind of reminded me of the Stanford Prison Experiment, which if you don’t know was a psychological experiment done by Stanford University in the 1970s. They saw how people would act when divided into roles as prisoners and guards.  In Variant, you can see the roles that the students take on, some playing roles  that keep others from escaping, are quite plausible given the situation they are in.  Of course, there is more to it than just that.

Variant was a very enjoyable read that kept me hooked all the way through.  It had elements of dystopia, but if you read it you will see that there are other elements involved. It wasn’t over the top fantastic, but it was entertaining, and good enough for me to want to read book two asap.

Review: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Title: The Probability of Miracles

Author: Wendy Wunder

Release Date: December 8, 2011

My Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: “Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine – a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it’s undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe – in love, in herself, and even in miracles.”

I had read lots of great reviews on this one, all saying it was a beautiful emotional story. It was, to a certain degree, but I don’t think I got as much out of it as everyone else did. Part of me thinks maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for it.

I had very mixed feelings about this book.  On one hand, I really enjoyed it, I was sucked in and read it quickly.  I liked the idea of the plot, and hoped to get lots of tears out of it, but I didn’t.  It’s not hard for a book to make me cry, so I figured a book about a girl who is dying of Cancer was a sure bet.  It got maybe one tear out of me at the end.

Cam is described in the synopsis as dry and sarcastic, but really I just saw her as cynical.  You can’t blame her for her cynicism, given all the bad luck she has been dealt in her life, but I wouldn’t try and call it something that it isn’t. She has developed a hard shell to cope with her impending death, and I really hoped to see more of a break through from her near the end in regards to her relationships with her mom and sister.  We see a bit of that, but not as much as I would have liked.

Her mother is desperate to find a miracle to cure Cam’s seemingly hopeless disease.  In search of this miracle, they go to Promise, Maine, a town that people claim is full of miracles.  I love how her mother and sister are so hopeful, and try to make the best of Cam’s situation.  By looking for a miracle, they are able to provide Cam with new experiences.

Overall, it was certainly worth reading, and I am glad I did, but it won’t be a book that I will come back to again to read over and over.

Review: The Last Little blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

Title: The Last Little Blue Envelope

Author: Maureen Johnson

Release Date: April 26, 2011

My Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: “Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny’s backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he’s found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.”

I first read 13 Little Blue Envelopes back when it first came out, and loved the adventurous feel of it.  It definitely ended with a mystery hanging in the air, what was in the last letter.  When I heard Maureen Johnson had written a sequel, I knew I had to read it.  Since it wasn’t too fresh in my mind, I re-read the first one last week and enjoyed it again.

The follow up was satisfying, but had a different feel from the first.  For that reason, I don’t think I liked it quite as much.  Ginny heads back to London when she is contacted by someone who has found her letters. Unfortunately, everything isn’t as it should be, and this guy is trying to blackmail her.  In exchange for the final letter, she has to agree to give him partial profits from the sale of her aunt’s final art piece.  While this was an interesting angle for the new book to take, it felt pretty skeezy, especially when their relationship starts to elevate. Overall, relationships all around have changed.  This was a little upsetting from where the last book ended, but at the same time these things happen.

There were elements of the book that I liked, but overall, it just didn’t have the same adventurous feel as the first book.  Where before Ginny was on a journey of self discovery, where she needs to be spontaneous and depend on herself, in this one she was forced to go on a journey because of someone’s need for money, where he is controlling the trip.  She does end up gaining a lot from the trip still, but it just wasn’t the same.

There were, however, some highlights, I especially love the dynamic between Richard and Ginny, and I liked to see that they were keeping a relationship and accepting each other as family.

So, while it was still a good read, it wasn’t as fun and adventurous 13 Little Blue Envelopes.

John Green and BSC; My Book Life This Week

I’m still trying to get the feel of this whole book blogging thing, so things are a little sporadic at the moment, but I am hoping to settle into a routine soon.  I accidentally deleted my original site, Along for the Read, while being indecisive as to what the name should be.  Since I can’t get my original wordpress domain back now (it is permanently deleted) I just went for something generic and lame (which suits me just fine). So we’ll see, stay tuned!

This week I read Looking for Alaska, my first John Green book (with the exception of Let it Snow). I totally get why everyone is crazy about him now. He is an incredibly talented and smart writer, and I found myself in awe of him through the whole book. I will definitely put the rest of his books on my to read list.  I particularly like the looks of his new release, The Fault in Our Stars.

I’ve been spending lots of time at the library, and on the website “managing my holds”.  I have a serious on-again-off-again relationship with the library.  I go through stages where I spend a large amount of time there, taking out piles of books, and then I end up keeping a book or two for too long and racking up fines, which causes me to avoid the place for a few months, and inevitably am wooed back to pay those fines and repeat the cycle.  This has been a life long affliction.

Lately I have really been craving a revisit of some childhood, mass-produced book series, particularly the Baby-Sitters Club and Baby-Sitters Little Sister.  I devoured these as a child, I wish I knew where my collection was, I am going to try and see if my Library has any, but they aren’t in the online catalogue so we’ll see.

This one, Karen’s Ghost was one of my favourites, I always loved the spooky stuff.  I would always skip the first chapter of these, because they were all pretty much the same explanation of her life, so there was no need to repeat. Oh childhood.

I also read The Last Little Blue Envelope this week, which I will do a review of today.  Next In my pile I have a few options, including Maureen Johnson’s The Name of the Star, Kenneth Oppel’s Half Brother, The Maze Runner and more.  I’m not sure which I will pick first.

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Release Date: December 2, 2010

My Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: “Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near – misses end with the French kiss Anna – and readers – have long awaited?”

After re-reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes yesterday, and feeling some serious wanderlust, I was happy to have this at the top of my to read pile to keep the European adventure theme going. While the title of this book nearly put me off (french kiss made it seem a little flakier than it was), the countless rave reviews I have come across told me I needed to give it a shot.  And when I thought about it, a YA novel set at a European boarding school is exactly my kind of story.  The reviews were right, and I loved it.  This was a very fun read, with an adorable girl meets boy story line.

This book makes me want to go back in time and insist my parents send me to a foreign boarding school.  Once I am done writing this I am going to strategize ways to escape to Paris with no money and start some crazy self-finding adventure. Or to England to find a boy with a cute accent. Beyond the seriously romantic setting, the things I loved about this book were the characters.  They seemed so normal and real.  I found Anna to be very easy to relate to in the way that she processed her thoughts and didn’t take herself too seriously, Stephanie Perkins did a good job finding humour in the mundane.  St. Clair was adorable, but I think his flaws were what made him most endearing, and different from a lot of leading men (er, boys).  Here was this guy who was pretty much perfect in the eyes of the protagonist, but really was just as self-doubting and unsure as anybody.  Even though he had girls fawning over him on a regular basis, he never let it get to his head. The two of them were so adorably awkward trying to figure things out.

I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading Lola and the Boy Next Door, as well as her future releases!

Review: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Title: Twenty Boy Summer

Author: Sarah Ockler

Release Date: June 1, 2009

My Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: “According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.”

I was hoping to connect with this story a little more than I did.  With Ockler’s new book Bittersweet coming out this week, I took a look through her other books on her shelf at the store, since they did not yet have Bittersweet in stock. Looking at the title, I was not drawn in, it sounded a little more flaky than what I would want, but reading the back cover I realized the title was slightly misleading.  This wasn’t just a story about hooking up with boys at the beach, there appeared to be a bit more to it.  Anna is struggling with keeping a secret that has been eating her up for the past year.  Her best friend’s brother/ best-friend-that’s-a-boy died shortly after they elevated their relationship, but before they had a chance to tell anyone, and Anna has been trying to decide whether or not she can give up her secret.

After realizing there was more to this book I was interested to read it. It was very readable and well written. Sarah Ockler seems to have a way with words, and I would definitely be willing to give her another try with her other books.  That said, I didn’t really love this one, and I can’t quite say why. I think maybe I had difficulty connecting with the mentality of the two girls in this story.  I sympathised with them, but never really am able to get behind characters on a quest to lose their virginity just for the sake of it.  Frankie was a difficult character to like, even though I felt for her.  She was grieving the loss of her brother in a way that made her into a different person, and that person was not someone I could relate to.  Anna was much more down to earth as the protagonist, but she still let Frankie influence her into doing things she wouldn’t normally do.  I guess what I was lacking with this story was the real ups and downs that I was looking for.  From a story with this type of plot, I would usually expect to connect more with the characters and feel what they were feeling, high highs and low lows, but that just wasn’t the case here.

I see potential to enjoy Ockler’s writing in other books, and hope to have more of a connection with Bittersweet. Overall, it was a good concept of a story, good writing, but I just didn’t connect like I would hope to.

New Year

I am re-emerging after spending the day reading Mockingjay and concluding the Hunger Games trilogy, overall I loved the series.  The first two books were great and kept me wanting more, but I’m not yet completely sure how I felt about the third.  It definitely wasn’t as enthralling to read, I felt it was a little slow at points, but overall I liked it and was happy with the ending. (I think).  Oh and, I love Peeta.  Now I can finally start watching movie trailers and reading up about the cast now that I am done reading and don’t have to worry about tainting my perception of anything.  How fun!

I think for my next read I am going to go for something light and contemporary.  In the middle of reading the Hunger Games I was expecting to be craving more dystopia as soon as I was finishing, but now that I have made it through Mockingjay, I realize it has taken a lot out of me and I need a change of pace for the time being.  I think I will go for Holly Schindler’s Playing Hurt next.

There are a few books coming out this week that I would like to get, I really like the looks of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith which is released tomorrow, and Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler which is released on Tuesday.

 

I am have my last book store shift next Monday, so I have a list of books I want to stock up on before I am done.  Plus I will have nothing but free time to play with when I am done, so I will have lots of time to read.

Happy New Year!

Currently Reading

I have been buying a load of books while I still have the chance to use my book store employee discount, since my contract finishes soon.

 

I know I am way behind on the Hunger Games craze, I bought book one a couple of weeks ago, and made the mistake of not buying the other two at the same time.  I started reading it on Christmas and finished yesterday evening, and instantly regretting not having Catching Fire to dive straight into.  So I went out and bought the other two this morning, but have not yet had the chance to crack them open.  Phew.  I need to find out where this love triangle is going.  Here I was thinking maybe I could hold out on the other two for some hypothetical paperback releases.  Yeah, right.

Pretty Little Liars the tv show is a guilty pleasure of mine (meh, who am I kidding, there is no guilt involved), so I thought I would give the books a try, I found it at a used book store for a nice low price and great condition.  On that same trip I found Emily Giffin’s Heart of the Matter which I had been meaning to read for a while as well.

My Best Friend’s Girl and How to Save a Life were both books that caught my eye on goodreads, hoping they are successful purchases, and Playing Hurt is one that I came across after reading Catching Jordan, continuing on with the athlete theme.

OK, that’s all for today, I am off to read about Katniss and Peeta, with fingers crossed for their relationship.  And then sleep!