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REVIEW: The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

Posted by Anastasia on February 8, 2012 2 Responses »

Feb 082012

024. The Unidentified by Rae Mariz
Publication: Balzer + Bray (October 5, 2010), ebook, 308pp / ISBN 0061802085
Genre: YA Fiction (dystopic?)

Read: February 1, 2012
Source: Bought

Summary from Amazon:

Fifteen-year-old Katey (aka Kid) goes to school in the Game—a mall converted into a “school” run by corporate sponsors. As the students play their way through the levels, they are also creating products and being used for market research by the sponsors, who are watching them 24/7 on video cameras.

Kid has a vague sense of unease but doesn’t question this existence until one day she witnesses a shocking anticorporate prank. She follows the clues to uncover the identities of the people behind it and discovers an anonymous group that calls itself the Unidentified. Intrigued by their counterculture ideas and enigmatic leader, Kid is drawn into the group. But when the Unidentified’s pranks and even Kid’s own identity are co-opted by the sponsors, Kid decides to do something bigger—something that could change the Game forever.

Review

I love dystopian fiction, but sometimes I get really tired of post-apocalyptic dystopias. Futuristic dystopias, of the kind where the society is still fully functioning and alive and whatnot, are one of my favorite kinds of non-apocalyptic dystopias. Think Feed or Uglies (although I suppose technically that’s a post-apocalyptic society which has become stable again) or even Inside Out. The Unidentified is somewhere along those lines: it’s a futuristic world built on some of the lines that American society is currently traveling on with an emphasis on the negative over the good. So, basically, it’s what might happen if our obsession with reality TV, consumerism, fame/celebrity, plus the government/ad corporations’ obsession with monitoring people, are ramped up to 11. Continue reading »

MINI-REVIEWS: Boy Meets Girl, The Wizard, the Witch and Two Girls from Jersey, Stupid Fast

Posted by Anastasia on February 7, 2012 4 Responses »

Feb 072012

020. Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot
Publication: Harpercollins (January 1, 2004), Paperback, 383pp / ISBN 0060085452
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Read: January 27-29, 2012
Source: Bought

Mini-Review

Sometimes you just want to read something fluffy and silly and easy on the brain, and Meg Cabot’s books are really good for that. I haven’t read many of her adult books, but I think they’re basically like her teen books, only with older characters who have slightly different goals (starting families rather than making prom queen, for instance). Boy Meets Girl is adorable, with adorable characters and an adorable plotline. And as a bonus, it’s written in an interesting way: through emails and phone calls and IMs instead of straight narrative stuff. Continue reading »

MINI-REVIEWS: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Vesper, Dramarama

Posted by Anastasia on February 3, 2012 No Responses »

Feb 032012

017. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Publication: Dell Books for Young Readers (April 26, 2005), Paperback, 352pp / ISBN 0553494791
Genre: YA Fiction

Read: January 26-27, 2012
Source: Bought

Mini-Review

I’ve been meaning to read this book for forever, mainly because it’s one of those generation-defining books that’re so important. I’ve seen bits of the movie and I know vaguely what it/the book is about, so I was expecting something cute and touching and possibly melodramatic. There’s actually not that much melodrama in it, but it IS cute and touching. And kind of boring, to be honest. Continue reading »

REVIEW: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Posted by Anastasia on January 17, 2012 5 Responses »

Jan 172012

004. Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Publication: Knopf Books for Young Readers (February 14, 2012), originally published 2010 in Australia, eARC, 273pp / ISBN 0375869530
Genre: YA Fiction

Read: January 7, 2012
Source: NetGalley

This book will be released in the US on February 14, 2012!

Review

Thanks to Pam for tweeting about this last month! She mentioned that it was available on NetGalley, and as soon as I read the summary I knew I had to read it.

It’s the last day of year twelve and Lucy wants to do something radical before it’s over. She wants to meet Shadow, a graffiti artist she’s been pseudo-stalking for two years and who paints some of the best art she’s ever seen. “Shadow” is actually Ed, who just wants to get enough money to pay rent for the month. He’s got a way of getting it but it means the possibility of going to jail– and of cutting off any dreams of a future in art. When Lucy recruits Ed to help her find Shadow, they ~~go on wacky adventures~~ do a lot of awesome things that I can’t describe in one paragraph or less. Continue reading »

REVIEW: New Girl by Paige Harbison

Posted by Anastasia on January 6, 2012 13 Responses »

Jan 062012

001. New Girl by Paige Harbison
Publication: Harlequin Teen (January 31, 2012), eARC, 320pp / ISBN 0373210426
Genre: YA Fiction (romance, sort of)

Read: January 1, 2012
Source: NetGalley

This book will be released January 31, 2012!

Review

I’d completely forgotten why I wanted to read this book by the time I actually started reading it, but as soon as I read the word “Manderley” I remembered why– because New Girl is a reimagining of Rebecca!

It’s the sort of reimagining that either you love or you hate: everyone’s a teenager, it’s set in a high school, and the ending is almost completely different. The nameless narrator moves from sunny Florida to dreary New England to attend her dream school: Manderley, where everyone is rich and snobby and obsessed with some girl named Becca. Continue reading »

REVIEW NOTES: Those Who Hunt the Night, Anna and the French Kiss, Making a Living Without a Job

Posted by Anastasia on January 4, 2012 3 Responses »

Jan 042012

I want to finish up on 2011′s reviews so I can start 2012! So, very quickly: review notes of three books!

167. Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly
Publication: Open Road (March 29, 2011), ebook, 350pp / ISBN 0345361326
Genre: Historical Fantasy/Paranormal, Mystery

Read: December 11-17, 2011
Source: eBookFling borrow

Review Notes

- Vampires! Yay. I’ve actually started to like vampires again…sort of.
- Vampires who do vampire-y things like eat people and be inhuman and stuff! Double yay.
- Interesting detective character– one of those amateur detectives who get in over their head, but not in a cozy mystery sort of way. I like his wife, too, who’s one of those modern-ish women in a historical fiction sort of people. But in a non-annoying way.
- It did feel a bit like “let me describe this fantasy world to you so you know how interesting/different it is compared to your world” whenever the vampires said something.
- Didn’t expect the solution! That’s good, right? I think it is.

Rating

Overall, I LOVED this book. The mystery was good, the characters were interesting, and although I didn’t like how much explaining re:vampires and their awesome vampire world was in there I still liked the writing.

Buy

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168. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Publication: Speak (August 4, 2011), ebook, 386pp / ISBN 0142419400
Genre: YA Romance

Read: December 21-23, 2011
Source: Freebie

Review Notes

- So cute!
- THIS BOOK CUTE BEYOND BELIEF
- Tell Your Girlfriend is totally the theme song.
- Maybe too much emphasis on how hot St. Clair is compared to everything else about him, but the romance builds in a way that I love. Plus St. Clair/Anna DO like more about each other than just how hot the other person is.
- Plus yay changing each other for the better!

Rating

ALL THE POSITIVE HYPE WAS TRUE.

Buy

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169. Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara J. Winter
Publication: Bantam (July 1, 1993), Paperback, 272pp / ISBN 0553371657
Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help

Read: December 24-31, 2011
Source: Gift

Review Notes

- Outdated a bit, but still v. good. Talks about mailing lists and using computers to do finances or something– recommends finding books via an offline searching service! There IS a newer version out now, though, which is good.
- Inspiring! And it helped me figure out what sort of things I’m good at already, things that I could apply towards making money (either in a “real” business or otherwise).
- Could maybe use a section on how to actually create business beyond having an idea. Doesn’t talk about anything re:how to find that info, either.

Rating

Should have read the updated version, but I still liked it. Best part was the bit that tells you how to increase your self-confidence. I needed that!

Buy

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REVIEW: Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye

Posted by Anastasia on December 12, 2011 2 Responses »

Dec 122011

159. Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye
Publication: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (April 28, 2009), ebook, 338pp / ISBN 1416583319
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Sherlock Holmes pastiche¹

Read: November 25-December 4, 2011
Source: RAK gift

Summary from Amazon:

From the gritty streets of nineteenth century London, the loyal and courageous Dr. Watson offers a tale unearthed after generations of lore: the harrowing story of Sherlock Holmes’s attempt to hunt down Jack the Ripper.

Review

I still haven’t finished reading the original Holmes stories, but that won’t stop me from reading pastiches! Pastiches, for those who don’t know, are basically professional fanfics of things. They usually refer to Sherlock Holmes pastiches, of which there are many. Lately there have been quite a few good Sherlock Holmes pastiches coming out, and most of them seem to be Holmes vs. something. So Dust and Shadow, for instance, is Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper. Continue reading »