Mimosa Stimulus Reviews: July 2011

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Review: And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky

Title: And Then Things Fall Apart
Author: Arlaina Tibensky
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: July 26, 2011
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Galley Grab

Keek is not having a good summer. She and her boyfriend have just had their Worst Fight Ever (on the subject of her virginity, nonetheless), she’s been betrayed by a best friend, her parents are splitting up, and her mother is on the other side of the country tending to Keek’s newborn cousin, who may or may not make it home from the hospital. Oh, and Keek’s holed up at her grandmother’s technology-barren house with an abysmal case of the chicken pox. In Keek’s words, “Sofa king annoying.”

With her world collapsing around her, Keek’s only solace comes from rereading Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and typing on an old electric typewriter. Keek must ultimately decide for herself which relationships to salvage, which to set free, and what it means to fall in love.

And Then Things Fall Apart is a moving story about a girl and her relationships with the people in her life, told with a strong and honest voice.

Keek is an easily likable character. The strength and honesty of her voice draws me into her story, and her vulnerability makes it easy to sympathize with her. I enjoy her humor and angst equally, and find her to be a great narrator and story teller. Her flaws make her feel real. All of the characters in this book are wonderfully flawed, and those imperfections breathe life into them.

The story is told via the pages that Keek types up on an old typewriter. She doesn't want to call it a diary or journal, so I won't either, but it has the personal touch of the things one would write down privately. I find this personal storytelling to be effective in connecting the reader to Keek and generating sympathy for her situation. It feels as though she is sharing her truths with the reader alone. I like the way that Keek uses The Bell Jar and other Sylvia Plath works to supplement her story and illustrate some of the struggle it is causing her. It is woven into the text fluidly.

Keek does a lot of self-exploration and discovery in the novel, and not all of it is PG-13. She is mostly innocent, but enjoys exploring her sexuality gradually with her boyfriend, who is respectful and does not rush or pressure her. Some content, though, may be a little mature or graphic for younger teens.

I really like this book and its raw honesty and flawed characters. It's a wonderful story, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes character driven novels.

Check out my character interview with Keek, as well.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Top Ten Books Tackling Tough Issues

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten list features books that tackle tough issues. My top ten are:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - rape, depression
Amazon | Goodreads
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - suicide
Amazon | Goodreads
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - race, poverty, alcoholism, bullying
Amazon | Goodreads
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg - schizophrenia
Amazon | Goodreads
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma - incest
My Review | Amazon | Goodreads
Stay by Deb Caletti - emotional abuse
My Review | Amazon | Goodreads
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott - child abduction, pedophilia, sexual abuse
My Review | Amazon | Goodreads
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson - eating disorders, cutting
Amazon | Goodreads
Crank by Ellen Hopkins - drug addiction
Amazon | Goodreads
Willow by Julia Hoban - cutting
Amazon | Goodreads

I tried to choose books that cover a variety of difficult topics. Obviously there are a lot more books than this that tackle the tough stuff and do it brilliantly. What are some that you think do so particularly well?

Sunday, July 24, 2011

In My Mailbox (28)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Here are the books that I got this week:

For Review:
Paradise by Jill S. Alexander
The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines
Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly
My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody
Starstruck by Cyn Balog

Bought:
The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

NetGalley:
The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
Variant by Robison Wells
Eve by Anna Carey

What did you get this week?

Friday, July 22, 2011

Character Interview: Keek from And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky

I'd like to welcome Keek, the main character in And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky, to the blog today to answer some questions!

Keek is not having a good summer. She and her boyfriend have just had their Worst Fight Ever (on the subject of her virginity, nonetheless), she’s been betrayed by a best friend, her parents are splitting up, and her mother is on the other side of the country tending to Keek’s newborn cousin, who may or may not make it home from the hospital. Oh, and Keek’s holed up at her grandmother’s technology-barren house with an abysmal case of the chicken pox. In Keek’s words, “Sofa king annoying.”

With her world collapsing around her, Keek’s only solace comes from rereading Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and typing on an old electric typewriter. Keek must ultimately decide for herself which relationships to salvage, which to set free, and what it means to fall in love.

Amazon | Goodreads

So, why The Bell Jar? Some might find it to be a bit of a downer, so what is it about this particular book that speaks to you and gives you solace?

Oh, The BELL JAR! Just when I think I am sofa king sick of that book and could recite the whole thing word for word if I were hypnotized, I suddenly think of a scene from it or a quote from it and remember why I fell in love with it in the first place. I actually was into Sylvia Plath's poetry first. "Out of the ash/I rise with my red hair/And I eat men like air," or "Devilish Leopard!" or "Pure? What does it mean?" But in The Bell Jar, there is much more of it and a story to follow about a girl who is fighting like hell to not lose her mind. And Esther, the girl, is funny and fun, when she is not crazy. And every time I read it I find something new. I am I am I am. What is not to love?

To say that you're not having a good summer would be an understatement. Which part is the absolute worst?

My total sense of isolation (no TV, Internet, cell) is arm wrestling with you know, best friend betrayal and boyfriend heartbreak. And when I start getting all depressed about Amanda and her untrustworthiness or Matt and his Matt-ness, I want to call Nic, or go shopping on Etsy or something but, alas and alack. I can't. Wait, I forgot about the hideous chicken pox itching. And the idiotic parents. Don't make me choose the worst. It is all entirely demoralizing and horrible. I can't decide.

How awful! At least you have your grandmother there. What is the single most amazing thing that you've realized about her during your time at her house?

Besides the obvious thrill of the clothes and the asylum stuff and her overall bad assery? Just that she somehow, after everything she's been through, seems to remember what it was like to be young. Like, my age. More than my mom or my dad (who are both way younger than her), my grandma really gets me, better than the two people whose actual job it is to understand me. And she knows how to tie a cherry stem into a knot inside her mouth using only her tongue...a singular talent for sure.

What are the most interesting ways that you can think of to use your name in a sentence?

Here are three!

1. Once he left the room, she keeked like a baby, wiping her eyes with the non-absorbent backs of her hands.

2. While slicing beets, the blade nicked her thumb until there was red blood and pink beet juice swirled together all gory and day-glow and she had to clamp her eyes shut or she was going to keek all over the place and make it ten times worse.

3. There is nothing that makes Aurora laugh harder than playing a rousing game of Keek-A-Boo with her favorite cousin. And that would be me.

Do you have any survival tips for other people who might also be going through one of the worst summers of their lives?

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Or, at least it doesn't kill you. And when things get bad they don't always get better, but I think that you get stronger so you can totally handle what comes at you and move on to better days. And when you really can't take much more, immerse yourself in a great book and its fictional world. That's what I do. And it seems to work!

Many thanks to Keek for stopping by! If you'd like to read more about Keek and her horrible summer, you can find her in And Then Things Fall Apart, by Arlaina Tibensky. I'll be posting a review of it soon, so be looking for that as well.

Arlaina Tibensky is the world's oldest teenager. She lives in NYC where she curates the Pen Parentis Literary Salon at the Libertine Library. Her debut YA novel, And Then Things Fall Apart, about how Sylvia Plath and an old typewriter usher a reluctant virgin through the worst summer of her freaking life, is out July 26, 2011 with Simon & Schuster.

You can find Arlaina on: Website | Twitter

Thanks to The {Teen} Book Scene for hosting the blog tour for And Then Things Fall Apart.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Waiting On: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features upcoming releases.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone
by Laini Taylor
September 27, 2011

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Amazon | Goodreads

This book sounds so freaking awesome. The cover is completely gorgeous and reminds me of Carnival and Mardi Gras. And, as if the mind-blowing synopsis and mysteriously beautiful cover were not enough, I see this on Goodreads:

If Pat Rothfuss approves, then I'm sold, because he's basically amazing. I must have this book.

What book(s) are you waiting on?

Monday, July 18, 2011

Review: Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Title: Love Story
Author: Jennifer Echols
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: July 19, 2011
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Galley Grab

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions-it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter...so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter...except this story could come true.

Love Story is like a facepalm bound into pages. It is humorous, humiliating, and a little bit raunchy, with genuine and funny characters that make you feel their embarrassment and anger and affections.

Erin is a writer of historical romances and some people give her a hard time because of it, so she's often on the defensive. She's dedicated and a hard worker. There are times when she feels self-confident, and others when she feels vulnerable and foolish. Her range of emotions are realistic and make it easy to sympathize with her. Erin and Hunter's relationship is both intimate and awkward. They know too much about each other but have never really been great friends. He's smart, hard-working, and charming, and is easily liked. Their roommates remain largely in the background, but feel realistic and offer reliable insights into parts of the story that Erin may be seeing a bit differently than those around her.

Love Story is a light, quick read. I love the story within a story aspect of it. Erin and Hunter's stories for their creative writing class function as a dialogue between the two of them, in which they discuss their past and their present. Sometimes funny and/or humiliating, sometimes hurtful, their stories are their primary means of communicating about their relationship, or lack thereof. Their reactions toward each other can be a bit angsty, but are also raw and emotional. The end is a bit open-ended, but not in a bad way. Normally I wouldn't like this, but I feel like it works well here.

This is my first book by Jennifer Echols, and I liked it more than I thought I was going to based on the synopsis. I was worried that it would be totally cheesy with their stories for class, but it isn't. I'd recommend it as a quick, fun read for those who like awkward and complicated love stories told in honest and embarrassing ways.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

In My Mailbox (27)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

I'm pretty excited about some of the books that I received this week. Here's what I got:

For Review:
Legend by Marie Lu (LibraryThing Early Reviewers)
Goliath by Scott Westerfeld (Galley Grab)
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey (Galley Grab)

Bought:
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (signed)

Won:
The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky - from YA Books Central
The Demon's Lexicon and The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan (signed) - from The Reading Housewives

What books did you get this week?

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Friday, July 15, 2011

Review: Siren's Storm by Lisa Papademetriou

Title: Siren's Storm
Author: Lisa Papademetriou
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: July 12, 2011
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Won

Nothing has been the same for Will ever since what happened last summer. One day, on an ordinary sailing trip with his brother, there is a strange accident. When Will wakes up, he learns his brother has disappeared, presumed drowned. Worst of all, Will can't remember what happened—his family finds him unconscious, with no memory of the accident.

Now Will and his best friend and neighbor, Gretchen, are starting a new summer. Gretchen seems troubled—her sleepwalking habit is getting worse, and she keeps waking up closer and closer to the water. Will is drawn to Asia, the exotic new girl in town. Nobody knows where she's from—all Will knows is that her beauty and her mesmerizing voice have a powerful effect on people.

Then there is another mysterious drowning, and Will and Gretchen begin to wonder: Is Asia just another beautiful, wealthy summer resident? Or is she something entirely more sinister . . . and inhuman?

Siren's Storm is a somewhat dark little story. It is an entertaining summer read, though not particularly fulfilling in some regards.

The story is told from the perspectives of Will and Gretchen. Of the two, I like Gretchen better. More is revealed about her feelings than those of Will. So I find Gretchen to be easier to relate to, while Will seems somewhat aloof. Will's aloof nature doesn't bother me, though, since he is affected by the loss of his brother, and has a difficult time being around people who react to him differently since the accident and therefore wishes to avoid social situations. Asia is an interesting character, and I like her. She is mysterious, quiet, and strange, but is also sympathetic.

The plot arc is meh in this one. Most of the book is spent watching the characters deal with the previous summer's events as well as the several "strange and mysterious" things that seem to be going on, which aren't very mysterious at all since the story pretty obviously contains sirens. The curiosities, investigations, town legends, and concerns take up the vast majority of the plot. This lengthy focus on the non-mysterious mystery makes the novel seem over-simplified, giving it the feel of a younger read, but then it contains some darker material that makes it feel more mature, so it leaves me feeling ambivalent. I don't like the constant focus on the characters trying to find out things that are pretty obvious, but I do like the sinister way in which the sirens are handled. The revelation, explanation, and denouement are all crammed into the last bit of the novel, making it a really back-heavy plot line with a huge information dump, which frustrates me. The ending gives the reader a conclusion, but also leaves several things ambiguous and open-ended.

My complaints about the plot structure aside, Siren's Storm is pretty entertaining, with just enough dark mythology to be creepy without being outright scary. I would like to have seen a little more character development and a little less focus on uncovering the truth, though.

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