Waiting On Wednesday: Where She Went

Sorry, there's next to nothing available information-wise on this book!

All I know:

Published in 2011
The sequel to If I Stay
From Mia's boyfriend, Adam's, point of view three years later.

Sorry I can't really give much information, but I just thought you might like to know about the sequel! If I Stay was completely amazing and unforgettable, I absolutley can't wait.

Waiting On Wednesday: Razorbill Books Double-Feature!

It was so hard for me to choose which book to feature this week- I had a good feeling 2010 would be a good book year, and I was right: My Amazon cart is filled with pre-orders!

I couldn't choose between these two TBP Razorbill Books works, and it seemed like they balance each other out: a cute chick-litesque book with an ADORABLE cover, and an awesomely creepy novel with an equally awesome terrifying cover. Enjoy :)

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

Being published by Razorbill Books on August 5, 2010

Summary:

Kayla McHenry’s sweet sixteen sucks! Her dad left, her grades dropped, and her BFF is dating the boy Kayla’s secretly loved for years. Blowing out her candles, Kayla thinks: I wish my birthday wishes actually came true. Because they never freakin’ do.

Kayla wakes the next day to a life-sized, bright pink My Little Pony outside her window. Then a year’s supply of gumballs arrives. A boy named Ken with a disturbing resemblance to the doll of the same name stalks her. As the ghosts of Kayla’s wishes-past appear, they take her on a wild ride . . . but they MUST STOP. Because when she was fifteen? She wished Ben Mackenzie would kiss her. And Ben is her best friend’s boyfriend.

My thoughts: Personally, I don't celebrate birthdays, but this sounds like a great book. I have Hubbard's first book, Prada and Prejudice, in my To Be Read pile, and have read about 15 pages (I always do that before I stack them)- usually, I'm not a fan of Pride and Prejudice/Jane Austen spinoffs, but I like her writing style, fresh and funny.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

To be published by Razorbill Books on September 21, 2010

Summary: Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago.

Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants. A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

My thoughts: I would buy this for the cover alone, really: how awesome is it!? (Sorry, I've been sleeping all day, causing me to be slightly over-peppy. Bear with me) I love the mobile of death. Wish I had something like that when I was a kid: yup, totally good for my psychological health. Why do I have to wait until September? *sigh* *heads off to mope/talley days on walls Shawshank style*

In My Mailbox

Hey everyone! So sorry it's been quite a while since my last IMM post- I've been super busy. We're remodeling my church and my family helped, piles of homework... etc., etc.

I got a decent haul this week- mostly library books, and I borrowed a book from a friend.

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme telling about books borrowed from friends, gotten from libraries, bought, review copies, anyway you obtain them, created by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Review copies/mail:

None

Library:

Blade: Playing Dead (Book 1) - Tim Bowler
Frozen Fire- Tim Bowler
The Cupcake Queen- Heather Hepler
Heist Society- Ally Carter
The Line- Teri Hall
Girl In the Arena- Lise Haines
Out of Africa- Isak Denisen

Borrowed:

Animal Academy, Volume 1- Hakobune Hakusho (Borrowed it from my friend Jacob, and I'm officially in love with manga! While we're on the subject, know any good manga series, sans paranormal themes?)

Bought:

None

So, it's been a pretty decent book week. I'm proud of myself for not spending any money on books, for once :S ; I discovered manga; and got some really great library books; and made a huge list of books coming out this year I need to read. What about you?

Book review: The Heroines by Eileen Favorite

Title: The Heroines
Author: Eileen Favorite
Publisher: Scribner, December 11 2007
Pages (Hardcover): 256 pp
MSRP: $24.00
Rating: * * */ 5

Summary: Although a true lover of books, Anne-Marie Entwhistle prefers not to read to her spirited daughter, Penny, especially from the likes of Madame Bovary,Gone With the Wind, or The Scarlet Letter. These novels, devoted to the lives of the Heroines that make them so irresistible, have a way of hitting too close to home -- well, to the Homestead actually, where Anne-Marie runs the quaint family-owned bed and breakfast.In this enchanting debut novel, Penny and her mother encounter great women from classic works of literature who make the Homestead their destination of choice just as the plots of their tumultuous, unforgettable stories begin to unravel. They appear at all hours of the day and in all manners of distress. A lovesick Madame Bovary languishes in their hammock after Rodolphe has abandoned her, and Scarlett O'Hara's emotions are not easily tempered by tea and eiderdowns. These visitors long for comfort, consolation, and sometimes for more attention than the adolescent Penny wants her mother to give.Knowing that to interfere with their stories would cause mayhem in literature, Anne-Marie does her best to make each Heroine feel at home, with a roof over her head and a shoulder to cry on. But when Penny begins to feel overshadowed by her mother's indulgence of each and every Heroine, havoc ensues, and the thirteen-year-old embarks on her own memorable tale.
******************************************************************


In theory, this book sounds like a fantastic premise, and it is: a magical inn, absolutely drowning in Southern charm, and a mother and daughter who own it, where heroines of famous novels come to life? What could be better?

I had many problems with this book, but one of the main one was that I felt Favorite was trying to accomplish too much with her book. It seemed as though she was trying to blend teen angst of the most annoying manner, a female Holden Caulfield, satire on the huge amount of praise given to books just because they've endured the test of time (and not because the book itself is any good), a kind of "Girl, Interrupted" thing, AND magic into one book, and was spreading the characters, elements and plot too thin to try to accomplish it. As a result, inconsistencies abounded.

The most major inconsistency was of the heroines themselves: sometimes they were portrayed as modern individuals who had no problem with the modern lifestyle, working things fine and dressing/speaking normally; then, about halfway through the novel, they suddenly became old-fashioned, starting with Hester Prynne and Pearl from The Scarlet Letter.

Another thing is on the plot. Like I said, it's a really fantastic idea- but it wasn't delivered on. It wasn't as charming and magical as the premise called for, and it was very vague about the heroines: they stayed for too short a time, and we never really got to "re-meet" them again as promised, and if we did there was never enough description. I felt like this really took away from the believability of the book, and as a result the enjoyment.

Penny wasn't a character you'll like- she's self-centered, angsty, bratty, and stereotypical. She may have been planned this way, but she wasn't so much of an antihero as just a slightly crazy, foolish young girl.

Despite many discrepancies and follies, the book did have it's likable moments that, for some readers could be a sort of redeeming quality. I really wouldn't recommend buying it or going out of your way to get it, but if you see it on the library shelves pick it up and skim through, if you're still interested.