The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell.

The Vespertine

Author:  Saundra Mitchell

Genre:  YA

Publisher:  Harcourt's Children's Books

Date Published:  March 7th 2011

From Goodreads:  

It’s the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

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The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful cover of The Verspertine.  It really is gorgeous.  The book description then grabbed me, especially it being a historical YA. 

There were some solid good things about The Vespertine, but also some things that weren’t great.  Let me start with what I liked about The Vespertine.

1.    .   The time period was a huge plus.  A little different now and then goes a long way.  Saundra Mitchill did a great job with sticking with the time period, and making readers feel like you were there.  Basically the language, and mannerisms were accurate to the time period.

2.       Nathaniel, the protagonist’s leading man was freaking awesome.  He was a satisfying crush worthy character.  I understood Amelia’s draw to him. Sometimes I don’t understand the romances in YA, some guys just aren’t worth anyone’s time.

3.       Saundra Mitchell’s writing is so clean.  Does that make sense?  Her words flow and create this place I want to be. 

4.       The mystery, and the Amelia’s visions are very interesting and make for a good read. 

That being said I had problems with The Vespertine, as well.  I did not like Lizzy.  I don’t even have a good reason why I just don’t.   Also, though the beginning of the book is entertaining because Nathaniel is in the picture pretty quickly, the mystery part of the book seemed to come in too late for me.  Plot movement wasn’t quick enough for me in the beginning.

Overall, not a smashing hit in my eyes, it fell somewhere in the middle for me.  If you like time period reads I think you will enjoy it.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman and Giveaway

If you haven't read If I Stay this contains spoilers.

Where She Went

Author:  Gayle Forman

Genre:  YA

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Expected Publication:  April 5th 2011

From Goodreads: 

It's been three years since the devastating accident ... three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

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Review:

Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay, though it wasn’t as good as If I Stay I thought it was still worth a read if you are a fan of If I Stay.

Where She Went  takes place three years after Mia’s tragic accident.  It’s told in Adam’s point of view, which was a little of a shocker to me, but was really a great decision on Gayle Forman’s part.  We know what Mia was feeling in If I Stay, and now it’s great to know what Adam was feeling and is feeling now 3 years later. 

Adam didn’t make a strong impression in the first book, but in all honestly none of the characters did, but Where She Went changed that for me with Adam.  I was able to see a piece of him, and exactly how he felt, and feels about Mia.  Adam is definitely is a good catch. 

I didn’t enjoy it more than If I Stay, though.  Like I mention in my If I Stay review Mia is really hard character to enjoy for me.  After a while I was tired of seeing Adam put Mia on a glass shelf admiring her.  I don’t know it’s really hard to explain my discomfort for Mia, and  I was able to overlook that in If I Stay because of the plot, I wasn’t this turn around.

Though Where She Went fell short for me, I’m sure that fans of If I Stay will love the continuation of Adam and Mia’s story. 

GIVEAWAY

Since Where She Went is a hot commodity I’m going to giveaway my ARC copy.

Rules:

U.S  only

There are no MUST but you will get extra points for being a follower here and/or  twitter.

Also extra points for tweeting and/or blog posting about the giveaway.

Giveaway ends March 30th

Fill out FORM to enter.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay

Author:  Gayle Forman

Genre:  YA

Publisher:  Speak

Date Published:  April 6th 2010

From Goodreads:

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

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Review:

I heard so many great things about If I Stay that I had no choice but go out and buy it.  I came home after my stop and B & N, and immediately started it. 

Once I started reading If I Stay I thought “Crap, I’m not going to like it” because Mia was too perfect for me.  I really can’t stand goody two shoes characters, but quickly realized If I Stay isn’t about Mia but about her decision, her experience, and her journey.  Once I let go of my dislike for Mia’s Miss America personality I was able to enjoy If I Stay. 

This really is a heartwrenching story about death, trauma and the heartbreaking choice to stay or go.  Some of Mia’s thoughts during her journey did get me teary eyed.  Author Gayle Forman took me on a sad ride, her words flowed, sometimes poetically.  It really makes you think “What would you do?”

If I Stay is a well written book that will pull at your heartstrings.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon

Await Your Reply

Author: Dan Chaon

Genre:  Fiction

Publisher:  Ballantine Books

Date Published:  August 25th 2009

From Goodreads:  

The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways–and with unexpected consequences–in acclaimed author Dan Chaon’s gripping, brilliantly written new novel.

Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless can’t stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving stealthily from place to place, managing along the way to hold down various jobs and seem, to the people he meets, entirely normal. But some version of the truth is always concealed.

A few days after graduating from high school, Lucy Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her charismatic former history teacher. They arrive in Nebraska, in the middle of nowhere, at a long-deserted motel next to a dried-up reservoir, to figure out the next move on their path to a new life. But soon Lucy begins to feel quietly uneasy.

My whole life is a lie, thinks Ryan Schuyler, who has recently learned some shocking news. In response, he walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a bus, and breaks loose from his existence, which suddenly seems abstract and tenuous. Presumed dead, Ryan decides to remake himself–through unconventional and precarious means.

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Review:

I was not familiar with Dan Chaon’s work before I picked up Await Your Reply, other than the description of the book I had no idea what I was getting into. 

Await Your Reply is a complex and sometimes confusing book to read.  I had to reread the ending a couple of times to understand what the hell happened.  I googled the ending to see if the conclusion I came to was correct, but didn’t find the answers I was looking for until I came upon an interview with Dan Chaon where he explained to ending to some readers that had questions like me.  I had an “AHA” moment after reading it, then went back and reread the ending again knowing what I now new. 

Alright I’m getting ahead of myself.  First off the book is told in 3 points of view, each chapter is rotated between these three people.  They are all somehow linked but you don’t really find out until the end how.  I kept on thinking I had it, but then would get pushed in another direction until I was completely flabbergasted.  I loved Mr. Chaon’s writing, it reminded me of the simplicity that John Grisham has, very  straightforward movement of the plot.  The story moved at a great pace. 

The characters in Await Your Reply are complicated, and a mystery.  As the story moves along you get to know them.  It was like a courtship, you didn’t feel a attachment until the end when you realized you were sad to let them go.  They really did sneak up on you.

Await Your Reply will leave you scratching your head, but nevertheless you will be entertained.  

One Day by David Nicholls

One Day

Author:  David Nicholls

Genre:  Fiction

Publisher:  Hodder and Stoughton

Date Published:  June 11th 2009

From Goodreads: 

Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.

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“Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY”

I feel in love with this book.

So much goes on between Dexter and Emma. The sexual tension was there, friendship, unrequited love, and so much more. I loved every minute of One Day. One Day follows the lives of Dexter and Emma throughout their twenty year friendship, same day, different year. What a great concept, and it worked brilliantly.

What exactly was it that made me devour this book in one sitting? I believe it was Dexter and Emma. I enjoyed them, I laughed with them, I cried with them, I got mad at them…they were my friends. David Nicholls thought hard about what he wanted Dexter and Emma to be. They were well drawn out characters, you grew comfortable with them. You root for them you even want to yell at them.

One Day is heart wrenching, it’s beautiful, it’s even freaking poetic to me.

Did you know that there is a movie coming out in July of this year of One Day.  Emma will be played by Anne Hathaway, and Dexter will be played by Jim Sturgess.  I can't wait!!

One Day Photo/ copyrighted Focus Features

Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway

Audrey, Wait

Author:  Robin Benway

Genre:  Young Adult

Publisher:  Razorbill

Date Published:  April 10th 2008

From Goodreads: 

When her ex writes a break-up song about her that rockets up the charts, Audrey is suddenly famous--she can't go out without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi. Readers can take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, confronts her ex on MTV, and shows the world who she really is. This irresistible, fast-paced novel has a totally hot new paperback cover! Its the song everyones singing. And its about her! But for Audrey, becoming famous overnight equals total, life-changing disaster. .

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These are the reviews I dread writing and posting, but I must stay true to my opinions.

Audrey, Wait almost became a DNF for me, but I pushed through, and in the end I should have just quit when I wanted to.

I can’t really pinpoint what really didn’t work for me other than I was bored. Also, I didn’t understand what the big deal was. Someone wrote a song about you, and you become famous. Yeah, the song is not flattering but still you mattered enough to that person that they wrote a song about you. You will forever live in infamy…again what’s the big deal?

I always thought all I needed was a good plot driven book and I'd be happy, but I'm starting to realize more and more that if I don't like or can't understand the main character it just isn't going to be great for me. The plot was different, but her reaction to the song and everything that came with it just grated on me.

I guess it just wasn't for me.

From Notting Hill With Love..Actually by Ali McNamara

From Notting Hill With Love...Actually

Author:  Ali McNamara

Genre:  Chick Lit

Publisher:  Sphere

Date Published:  November 25th 2010

From Goodreads:

Scarlett O'Brien is in love . . . with the movies. Utterly hooked on Hugh Grant, crazy about Richard Curtis, dying with lust for Johnny Depp, Scarlett spends her days with her head in the clouds and her nights with her hand in a huge tub of popcorn. Which is not exactly what her sensible, DIY-obsessed fiancé David has in mind for their future. So when Scarlett has the chance to house-sit an impossibly grand mansion in Notting Hill ? the setting of one of her all-time favourite movies ? she jumps at the chance to live out her film fantasies one last time. It's just a shame that her new neighbour Sean is so irritating ? and so irritatingly handsome, too. As a chaotic comedy of her very own erupts around Scarlett, she begins to realise there's more to life than seating plans and putting up shelves. What sort of happy ending does she really want? Will it be a case of Runaway Bride or Happily Ever After? The big white wedding looms, and Scarlett is running out of time to decide.
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I’m a complete fan of chick flicks, and I’ve seen them all. Two of my favorites are Notting Hill and Love Actually, so yeah I wanted to read this one bad, so bad that I paid quite a bit and had it shipped from the U.K. , sadly it was just okay for me.




My main problem with From Notting Hill with Love Actually was the predictability of it. Yeah, I know the one thing chick lit can guarantee is it’s predictability, but I still thought the movie angle to this one would make it shine all nice and new. It didn’t. Scarlett loves the movies and is positive life should be and can be like the movies, but everyone else in her life seems to think that these romantic movies are all silly make believe fantasy worlds (hate to break it to you Scarlett, but they are). I’m glad I’ve outgrown that notion back in my early twenties, or I’d still be waiting for my Mr. Darcy (Bridget Jones), who liked me just as I was.

It was a sappy read, and I kind of liked that, but Scarlett’s problem with trying to push these movie scenes from real life started grating on me.

I did like the concept and I all in all it wasn’t a bad read, just didn’t give me what I expected. I will give author Ali McNamara another go though, I guess at the closing of the book I still liked her style.

This would make a awesome chick flick.