Destroy All Cars review

Title: Destroy All Cars
Author: Blake Nelson
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2009
Pages (numbered): 218
Rating: * */5

I tried hard to like this book. Really, I did.

Characters: I really disliked the characters. When the character, James, isn't whining about "the general lameness of all other people besides him"/being a hypocrite/being antisocial, he's obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Sadie- who I wasn't particularly fond of, either. They all seemed flat, limited, and completely unreal- along with annoying the heck out of me.

Writing: The writing was pretty repetitive and kind of dull- it didn't hold my interest at all. What I did like, however, was how it included essays by James- which I'll admit were really funny at times.

Plot: A typical love story, repetitive, and didn't have much of an impact- nothing significant happened.

Start/ending: Right from the start, it annoyed me, with said whining. The ending wasn't very... I don't know how to describe it- it wasn't really enough. It felt like Nelson got tired of writing, or was too close to his deadline and wasn't finished or whatever. It wasn't really satisfying.

Overall: Not very remarkable or memorable, it is not a book I'd recommend.

(Sorry to start back with a bad review!)

Art Geeks and Prom Queens by Allison Noel review

Title: Art Geeks and Prom Queens



Author: Alyson Noel



Publisher/Release Date: St. Martin's Griffin (August 11, 2005)



MSRP (Paperback): $8.95



Pages: 240



Rating: * */5 stars







Summary: Being the new girl is tough- just ask sixteen-year-old Rio Jones. A New York transplant, Rio has no clue how she's going to fit in at her fancy new private school in Southern California. Plus, being late, over-dressed, and named after a Duran Duran song doesn't make the first day any better.


Then Rio meets Kristi. Beautiful, rich, and a cheerleader, Kristi is the queen bee of Newport Beach. And Kristi isn't friends with just anyone, so Rio is thrilled when she's invited to be part of their most exclusive, popular clique. Of course, like with any club, Kristi and her friends have rules: Always smile (even when you don't mean it), always dress cute (and never repeat an outfit) and always flirt (but only with jocks, preps, and rich college guys) .


At first Rio is havign a great time, but as she becomes more immersed in this jet-set crowd, she figures our there is one last rule that her new friends forgot to mention- don't cross Kristi...





My thoughts on the....





PLOT: Oh my, it's been done SO many times before. Totally and completely predictable every step of the way.





CHARACTERS: I didn't feel much of an attachment to any of the characters, including Rio- she actually whined about how hard it was for her to be beautiful and model-like. ALL the time. Something about her just didn't work for me. And the other characters? Didn't click either. I felt like something was missing from them, like they weren't really there (yes, I KNOW it's a book, do you get what I mean though?).


START/ENDING: Slow beginning, but I was pretty happy with the ending. At least she got over herself, and it was cute and sweet.



SETTING: Not much of a setting- this book was pretty bad about using the details that make a book interesting. Mainly, it was a big breakdown of what EVERYONE was wearing. At every second of the day. Not fun, my friends.



WRITING: The writing did have some plausibility- it was respectably funny. But (there's always a but with this book) it was really repetitive, and, as stated in the characters section, whiny. I kept getting distracted and bored, letting my eyes flit around.


OVERALL/ANYTHING ELSE?: I've always shied away from Allyson Noel's books on the shelves- now, I kind of see why. If you're curious and in a serious state of bookdrought, maybe pick up a copy at the library, but don't waste your time otherwise.

Confessions of A Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain

Title: Confessions of A Teen Sleuth: A Parody

Author: Chelsea Cain

Pages: 160 p.s (Hardback)

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Hardcover Price: $15.95

Rating: * * */ 5

I honestly don't know what to think of this book, and I don't mean that in a positive way. Er, I think. So we'll give it 3 *s, mmkay? Just average, didn't hate it, didn't love it, like the way you feel about a neighborhood cat that sometimes comes around. ANYways.

This book is a parody of the Carolyn Keene series, Nancy Drew, who I'm sure many of us- me reluctantly included- read the books in this series. I, for one, refused to read anything else but the new Nancy Drew series by- possibly the 18Th Carolyn Keene? C'mon, we know this person didn't live to still be writing this stuff. The first was in 1913!

If you're expecting a hilarious, obvious parody of the annoyingly perfect "not blond, TITIAN" - haired eternal 16 year old who always had something like a lock pick kit handy (yet she's never arrested!), then keep walking. This is more subtle stabs at the above-mentioned qualities that made her perfect enough to give a girl some SERIOUS self-esteem issues, like at the words Nancy uses (catawampus, hypers, SPECIAL FRIEND- Ned N., but still... CREEPY much?), and how she constantly mentions her titian hair.

This is the blurb on the back of my library copy, which hopefully explains it: "As many of you know me only as a character in a series of books written by a former friend of mine, let me make one thing clear: she used my name without my permission, and made a career for herself telling stories of my adventures. I feared that if I revealed myself, details might come to light that would embarrass my husband and child... I feel that it is time to set the record straight."

- Confessions of A Teen Sleuth by C. Cain

The book is Nancy Drew's manuscripts, which it says in the intro was sent to Ms. Cain to be published. Carolyn Keene was actually her college roommate ( who Nancy had no issues pointing out was fat in the chapter about her as much as possible).

This book is more of a dry humor, which is weird that I didn't like it, because of my intense love for all things like the Office (WHAT!!!????! You don't like the Office? Breathe... okay, back to the review). If you enjoy things like that, however, give this book a try. It's pretty short, I finished it in half a day (Sooner if I had read nonstop).

The Nature Of Jade by Deb Caletti

Title: The Nature Of Jade
Author: Deb Caletti
Rating: **/5

Wow, two bad reviews today- I'm now getting books I read about a month or so ago, ones that really stood out to me- which wasn't always a good thing, proved in this book.
I really only grabbed this book because I saw that it was about a girl with Panic Disorder, I wanted to know what that was and what it did to you. Um, it makes you panic, shocker.
It's about a girl, Jade, obviously, with Panic Disorder. She finds danger and fear in almost anything, but there's one thing besides her patron saint candles that makes her feel safer- watching the elephants at the zoo. She keeps the Zoofinder camera on her computer up all the time, and visits them often, and when she gets braver starts to work there. She had originally came to the zoo with the full intent of becoming the next Darwin or something, and brought a folding chair and painstakingly formatted notebook to the exhibit- but they creeped her out, and she went over and watched the elephants, and fell in love with them.
One day, when she's watching the camera while doing homework, she sees a youngish boy, maybe 19 or 20, carrying a little toddler, showing him the elephants. For whatever reason she's fascinated by him and kind of... well, STALKS him. They meet, become friends, and she falls for him. But they can't be together. He's actually.. (SPOILER ALERT) on the run from his wife, who is the mother of the toddler, Bo. He's living with his grandmother in her city.
The plot is alright, but all of Caletti's books I've ever tried to read just don't make sense. She uses comparisons in stupid places, too frequently, and they make no sense. A favorite of hers, pretty much found every other page, is "tinkling ice cubes." HUH? What does that sound like?
Anyways, I really don't recommend this book, you're wasting your money, but if it's at the library, everyone has their own tastes, maybe I'm just crazy. (But I don't think I am so much, at least on this discision...)