Tagged with awesome female characters …

Apr 22 2012
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Adult Lit, Young Adult Lit

April Mini-Reviews

Since I am so behind on book reviews, it’s time for mini-reviews! Here are some books I’ve read but have yet to review:

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie: Along with The Count of Monte Cristo, this book is a Revenge inspired read. The EW recapper floated an Agatha Christie theory [full of spoilers for Revenge and Orient Express] that–even though the show is based on CoMC–maybe the writers are layering in an Orient Express element of revenge as well. I won’t spoil the book, but I liked the idea, so, of course, I had to read Murder on the Orient Express after reading the article.

I think I read this book when I went through an Agatha Christie spell in high school/college because I was not at all surprised by who did it and how. Plus, everything about the book felt really familiar. So it was good, but unsurprising. If you want to read it, I recommend going in cold and trying to figure it out with Hercule Poirot. It’ll be more fun that way.

Also! This book counts for the TV Challenge because there totally used to be a Poirot TV series! I’d call that a win.

TV Addict: 2; Classic Double: .25

Source: Library

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi: A quick read about a girl who boards a ship whose crew members attempt a mutiny. Charlotte is smart and clever. If you think about it too hard, her transformation, as a review on Goodreads says, isn’t well foreshadowed in her character’s background. But I didn’t think about it until after I read that review, so I bought her transformation. Love Charlotte.

Off the Shelf: 3

Source: personal collection

In the end, my hope is that you’ll learn that Angry Management ain’t really where it’s at. When the rage has got ya, it’s got ya. But if you learn to tell your story, an’ tell it loud, your angry won’t get you so often.

Angry Management by Chris Crutcher: You know what’s sad? I totally started a review for this book, but never finished. That is SAD.

Anyway, it’s a collection of three short stories–excuse me, novellas–all based on some of Crutcher’s other works. Really, what Crutcher does is write fanfic of his own novels. Can you do that? Sure, if you cross, say, the world of Sarah Byrnes with that of Angus Bethune, especially when they live nowhere near each other or exist in different times. I mean, Crutcher doesn’t even have to come up with a plausible scenario for these two to meet/live near each other (oh, right, except the frame for all of the stories is that the kids are all in group therapy together, but, except for Sarah/Angus, the stories seem to exist outside of that framing device. I just went with it. Because, really, what else can you do?) but they do! So they become friends. AU fanfic right there. And, let’s face it, we all know that Crutcher is a big fan of his own books. As well he should be.

The three novellas are:

  1. “Kyle Maynard and the Craggy Face of the Moon”: Sarah Byrnes and Angus Bethune (from Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes & Athletic Shorts, respectively)
  2. “Montana Wild”: Montana West and Trey Chase (from a book/books I never read)
  3. “Meet Me at the Gates, Marcus James”: Marcus James, Mr. Simet, Matt Miller (set in the same town as Whale Talk with Mr. Simet from Whale Talk and a kid mentioned briefly in Deadline)

I liked all of the stories, but the third was probably my favorite. Matt Miller is totally literary boyfriend material. I LOVE HIM.

Man, what do you do when you know the truth, when it’s stretched out in front of you, silent?

If you’re Matt Miller, you totally do the right thing. So much love.

POC Reading Challenge: 3

Source: Library

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Mar 24 2012
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Adult Lit

Book Review: The Count of Monte Cristo

Yes, but one gets out of prison…and when one gets out and one’s name is Edmond Dantes, one seeks revenge…

It only took me two and half months, but I am DONE! I have totally PWNED The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. YESSSSSSS. It is quite possibly the longest book I have ever read in my entire life, and as someone who studied English in undergrad, completed a master’s program, and is ABD in a Ph.D. program, I have read a lot of really, really, REALLY long books.

The only thing that may come close to my affection for books is television, so you best believe this was a TV-inspired read. And if you have not been watching Revenge AKA my new favorite show AKA the show inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo, then you have been missing all the way out.

Written a gabillion years ago (or in the 1800s, if you care to nitpick), The Count of Monte Cristo is about Edmond Dantès, a man wrongfully imprisoned on treason charges for a really effing long time. He gets out, strikes it rich, and then seeks REVEEEEEEEENGE on those who did him wrong. And, oh, they did him so wrong. Edmond! They did you so wrong.

Dantes had entered the Chateau d’If with the round, open, smiling face of a young and happy man, with whom the early paths of life have been smooth, and who anticipates a future corresponding with his past. This was now all changed.

What I Liked

1. The revenge plot. I mean, obviously, the driving force of the narrative is Edmond’s need for revenge, and after seeing how wrong Danglers, Villefort, and Fernand did him, WELL, to say I wanted those fools to go down is not an understatement. They did him so wrong. Sooooo wrong. Poor, sweet, innocent, wrongly accused Edmond.

I also like that the plot is not carried out as smoothly as Edmond would like. There are quite a few innocent people hurt by his vengeance, which makes sense. No matter how well thought-out his plots are (and they are), people are involved and we all know how they can screw things up. I mean, Villefort’s family! Wow.

That said, Edmond is a little nutty. Remember when Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Pulp Fiction quotes the vengeance verse from the Bible and then kills that dude? Yeah, that’s Edmond’s attitude. He ascribes his revenge to Providence (until he screws up) and thinks of himself as God’s avenging angel. Edmond! Just own that you’re pissed and doing it for yourself, dude!

“But I, betrayed, sacrificed, buried, have risen from my tomb, by the grace of God, to punish that man.”

Edmond sure does know how to keep his hands clean, though. Nothing he does can be attributed back to him, he’s often out of town when everything hits the fan, AND he is a master manipulator. You know why? Because when he was in jail, he had nothing to do but sit, think, read, and plot. Whew.

Misfortune is needed to bring to light the treasure of the human intellect.

2. All the awesometastic, badass characters–several of which are FEMALE (WHAT). In no particular order, I really dug:

  • Abbé Faria
  • Mercédès (in the later chapters)
  • Eugénie
  • Albert
Huh, that list is shorter than I expected. Whatever, the point is I liked a lot of the characters. I mean, I loved the Abbé, Mercédès totally redeemed herself after waiting less than a year to marry someone else, Eugénie’s defiance of her family is OUTSTANDING, and Albert fell asleep after he got kidnapped and was waiting to die.

3. Grandpa Noirtier. Okay, this character gets his own number because he is the most badass of all the grandpas. Let me tell you how amazing this man is:

He had a stroke which rendered him paralyzed from the neck down and mute and HE STILL RUNS EVERYTHING. This man blinks and things get done. Things like stopping marriages, killing people, shaming his son, saving his granddaughter’s life. THOSE KINDS OF THINGS. From a wheelchair. When he can’t even speak.

“But to do this he must have spoken?”

“He has done better than that—he has made himself understood.”

I’m sorry, but you wish you were as badass as Grandpa Noirtier. I know I do.

4. SHAWSHANK! Which, btw, I am going to use for the Classic Double challenge since as soon as Faria and Edmond started communicating, that’s exactly what I yelled at the page.

5. It’s hinted at that one of the characters is gay, and I thought Dumas was going to keep it as subtext, but nope. He totally went ALL THE WAY there. Good show, sir. Absolutely no doubt at the end of the story that the character was gay, and all the fanfic can be written without having to justify it by stating subtext. BECAUSE IT’S TEXT.

6. Basically all of the female characters become ovaries-out amazing by the end–whether they were good or bad. Loved that.

What I Didn’t Like

1. The book is too long. Now you may be thinking, “Akilah, it’s an 1100 to 1300-page book (depending on which version you get; my Nook had it at ~1100 pages; Goodreads has it as ~1300). That automatically makes it too long.” But you’d be wrong. The beginning of the book zips along at quite a fast clip. From the set up to the betrayal to the arrest to the long, long time in jail to the freeeeeeeeedom to the striking it rich. All of that is super fast. And then the third act gets all juicy again and zip, zip, zip.

But Italy. Italy is soooooooo slow and sooooooooo boring. I think I put the book down for a little while during Italy because I just didn’t see the point. And then I picked it back up and had to skim to get through it. And do you know how long Italy goes on? Like, 300 pages. That is a lot of pages for boring is what I’m saying.

Also, it’s such an abrupt slow down and really destroys the momentum of the book. Yes, some of the stuff we learn there comes into play later (more specifically: the introduction of Edmond as The Count and the introduction of Franz, Albert, and some other characters who mean something to the plot), but it does not have to be (a) that detailed or (b) that boring. The only explanation I can come up with for how/why it’s even in the book is that people back in Dumas’s day didn’t have TV (or even radio) so they could read really long books like that without thinking of, you know, watching the movie instead. That’s the only thing I can think of.

2. I couldn’t keep the characters straight. No lie, I totally had to refer to SparkNotes at one point because I couldn’t remember who was who. Sometimes Dumas refers to them by their first names, sometimes by their titles, sometimes by their last names. Oh, and of course, if there’s a son and a father, they tend to share the same last name–same with the mothers and daughters.

Again, that may have been fine way back in the 1800s, but we don’t really do that in the 21st century.

In conclusion: Totally worth it! Except for that one really slow part in the middle (which made me hate Franz, btw, since he was the POV character at that point) the book is totally satisfying with lots of drama and great plot stuff.

Oh, and if anyone else is doing the Classic Double challenge, this book pairs nicely with a few stories from the 1001/Arabian Nights (as the classic!) since lots of Edmond’s monikers/adventures are inspired by those short stories–specifically Ali Baba, Aladdin, and Sinbad the Sailor. I have the collection on my shelf and plan on reading those…someday.

Also, this book is perfect for an e-reader because, omg, the copy at the library was a gabillion pages long and had itty, bitty tiny text. Although, I guess I could’ve used that print version to do bicep curls. Oh well.

TV Addict: 1; Tea & Books: 1; Classic Double: .5; POC Challenge: 3

Source: Project Gutenberg

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Jan 28 2012
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Adult Lit

Play Review: Wicked: The Musical

I got my daughter tickets to see Wicked: The Musical for Christmas while it was on tour here in Florida.

For those who don’t know, Wicked is based on the book of the same name by Gregory Maguire. I read it many years ago when it first came out and here’s what I remember:

  • The book tells how Elphaba became known as the Wicked Witch of the West.
  • Maguire explains how she gets around the whole bathing thing since water destroys her in the end.
  • Glinda’s (the Good Witch of the North) name is actually Galinda.
  • Dorothy is a very peripheral, non-entity of a character until she, of course, liquidates the witch.
  • It’s sad. And long. Good, though!

Yeah, so the play is nothing like that. I mean, yes, we still find out how Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda is Galinda. But the play focuses more on the friendship between the two women and is way, way, way more upbeat and funny.

There is nothing (nothing!) I didn’t like about the play, so some of the things my daughter and I enjoyed:

  • Seeing the people turn into the iconic creatures: Tin Man, Scarecrow, etc.
  • Galinda. She is so shallow and funny. I want her to teach me to be popular. *tosses hair*
  • The song “Loathing”
  • Actually, getting context for all the songs was fantastic. We had listened to the soundtrack before but didn’t follow the plot through that. Much like, Dreamgirls, hearing the songs sung in context gives them more power and meaning.
  • “Defying Gravity” is an absolute showstopper.
  • The set was amazing.
  • Media manipulation is real. Poor Elphaba is just a victim of bad press.

Basically, the show is awesome. If you’re a fan of female friendship, fairy tale retellings, musicals, showmanship, strong female characters, fun wordplay, and exceeding cleverness definitely check out Wicked when it tours near you.

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Jan 24 2012
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Young Adult Lit

Book Review: Getting Over Garrett Delaney

I can’t keep doing this to myself: getting my hopes up so high, only to have them come crashing down. I can’t keep waiting for him to come to his senses, having my whole emotional state rest on what he decides. What if never wakes up to how perfect we’d be together? What if I spend another year pining for him–or longer even?

In Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald, Sadie is in love with her best friend Garrett. When he goes away to camp for the summer and falls in love with yet another girl who isn’t Sadie, Sadie realizes it’s time for her to move on.

What I Liked

- I love, love, love, LOVE that the women Sadie works with band together to help her get over Garrett. In that way, the story becomes all about female friendship. To which I say YES PLEASE.

- Sadie reconnects with her old female bestie, Kayla.

- Awesome female characters. Between Sadie (who is, of course, kind of annoying in the beginning because she is so wrapped up in Garrett), Kayla, LouAnn, Dominique, and Sadie’s mom, fantastic women abound.

- Sadie does not get over Garrett by getting a new boyfriend!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Nor does she need a boy to show her the way to enlightenment. It’s all about her, her female posse, and her mom.

- The format is ace. Once Sadie gets for real about getting over Garrett, there are little self-help type chapters between the main action to preview what Sadie is working on, and the progress she’s making.

- The emphasis on discovering your own interests and figuring out what you like and who you are outside of your friends–male or otherwise.

- Dominique, the black character has an Afro. Yay for natural hair.

- Literary references abound in this book. So much so that I started keeping a list of authors/books mentioned throughout. The books/authors (that I caught):

  • Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
  • Atlas Shrugged
  • Crime and Punishment
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • Lolita
  • Collected poems of Rainer Maria Rilke
  • Elaine Dundy
  • Lorrie Moore
  • Emma Forrest
  • Matilda
  • Henry David Thoreau
  • John Donne
  • Ernest Hemingway
  • D. H. Lawrence
  • Anaïs Nin

- Because navigating relationships always involves compromises, there are no easy answers or black and white situations. McDonald addresses that through the characters without being preachy or condescending and by letting them work through the answers themselves. The key is, according to the book, to know yourself and then you can know your boundaries.

What I Didn’t Like

- I thought the ending was a little abrupt. It’s not a bad ending or anything; I just wanted a little bit more. Which is also a good thing because it meant I wanted to spend more time with the characters.

- Dominique, the only black female character, is bitchy. She’s also French, so her bitchiness may have more to do with that than anything. At least she wasn’t sassy, I guess.

In conclusion: Very solid contemporary YA. Realistic and believable characters with a good, non-preachy message.

Source: NetGalley

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Jan 19 2012
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Young Adult Lit

Book Review: Ditched: A Love Story

“What are these stains? You an intern for Bill Clinton or something?”

Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom is a prom story. I love prom stories! This one follows Justina who wakes up in a ditch by 7-11 (home of the Slurpee! There are no 7-11s around here and it makes me sad) and recounts her prom experience for a patron and employee of said 7-11.

What I Liked

- I love the pacing of the story and the way the plotting is handled. We start at the end with Justina using the stains, bruises, and tattoos (!!!) she received as a road map for detailing her disastrous prom night.

- Another reason I like the framing device of Justina talking to the two women at 7-11 is it allows the insertion of two grown-up voices into a pretty neurotic teenaged angst-fest. I’m not saying the two women are founts of wisdom or anything, but outside perspective is always nice.

- I like that there’s a reason for Justina’s bad decision making–namely, that she has low blood sugar. As someone who tends to get super cranky when I haven’t had enough food AND has a daughter who tends to get hyper emotional when her blood sugar dips into the dangerously low range, I found it plausible. I also like that we’re reminded constantly that Justina hasn’t eaten, so (some of) her idiotic behavior makes sense.

- I think this would make a fun movie. It reminds me of Can’t Hardly Wait.

- Outstanding supporting characters. And when I say that I mostly mean the Mikes and Serenity. LOVE Serenity.

- Someone on Goodreads or Amazon complained about the contradictions in Justina’s character, but I think Mellom handles her characterization well. Justina claims not to care what other people think, but everything she does is to not draw attention to herself because she does care what people think. Also, the other characters–particularly Ian and Hailey–call her out on her false bravado throughout the entire novel.

- The situations Justina gets in are so ridiculous, but so fun. Also, drunk people are idiots. FYI.

- I didn’t think I would, but I bought the love story. I even found myself smiling and giddy about it. This is pretty spectacular considering…

What I Didn’t Like

- …Justina got on my nerves throughout pretty much the whole book. Yes, low blood sugar. Yes, kind of insecure. But she was seriously neurotic like Mia from The Princess Diaries AT HER WORST. Yeah, Justina was that kind of neurotic, and I didn’t have several books of goodwill preceding this one. I mean, this book is it!

- Also, I didn’t feel like I knew Ian that well outside of some kind of romantic ideal. AND considering the fact that he left her alone most of their prom night made me spend most of the book wondering whether or not her describing him as a Professional Boyfriend was completely unwarranted. I didn’t trust Ian is what I’m saying.

But, in spite of both of those points, I really did fall for them as a couple in the end, and I guess that’s all that matters.

- Not enough Hailey! She’s Justina’s best friend, and we don’t meet her until a quarter of the way through the novel and then she disappears when prom starts. I mean, I guess if she were around, Justina wouldn’t do a lot of the dumb stuff she does, but still. What a waste of awesome best friendness. Sigh.

In conclusion: Fun and engaging read with a plot that overcomes its main character, perfect for a study break.

Source: NetGalley

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Jan 16 2012
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Young Adult Lit

Book Review: The Romantic Obsessions & Humiliations of Annie Sehlmeier by Louise Plummer

I don’t like being an immigrant. I think of coarse-faced peasants in burlap pants carrying a couple of chickens in  a basket and leading a goat down a gangplank when I hear “immigrant.”

I picked up The Romantic Obsessions & Romantic Humiliations of Annie Sehlmeier by Louise Plummer at the library book sale because I really enjoyed The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman, which I picked up on a whim. So! Why not spend ten cents on an author I enjoyed before?

This book is about a girl whose family immigrates to the US (specifically, Utah) from Holland and what happens to her during their first year in the US.

There’s nothing about the book I didn’t like, so some highlights:

- I realized that I really want to read more realistic fiction that deals with slice of life stories. By which I mean, no heightened craziness, no wacky stuff, just…life. So I really appreciated this story for that.

- I loved the look at what it’s like to live with a senile grandparent and how difficult it is–especially dealing with the feelings of loss, anger, resentment, and sadness.

- Bras are for old women!

- The romances and obsessions of Annie and her sister, Henny, are fantastic. I loved that Annie could really like one boy and enjoy his company, but also be completely infatuated by the complete pretty and charm of another boy.

- Great exploration of sisterly relationships and, again, more resentment, but also forgiveness and love. Annie is the favorite, which causes, understandably, lots of issues.

- Awesome female friendship stuff here.

- Plummer also covers concerns of immigrants. Annie and Henny speak English, but their parents and grandmother don’t. They also had more money in Holland than they do in the US. The way the homes are laid out is different, the streets, the schools. Also, the pain of translation when doing homework is addressed. Annie has to translate all of the directions before she can do her work, so her math homework especially winds up taking her hours and hours even though she can do the work and understands the concepts. Oh, and the bra thing of course. Annie is pissed she has to wear a bra.

- I really love every single thing involving Oma, heartbreaking as they may be.

- Annie and Martha read The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough and suh-woon over the steaminess of it all.

- The cover fits the story perfectly. Perfectly.

Off the Shelf: 2/30

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Jan 13 2012
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Young Adult Lit

Book Review: The Future of Us

What’s a blog?

In The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler set way back in 1996, some glitch with Emma’s AOL CD allows her to see her Facebook page. Freaked out, she shares her page with her estranged male best friend and neighbor, Josh.

What I Liked

- Obvs, I liked all of the ’90s references. I also quite dig that Emma and I are the same age. AND that this book is set the year I graduated from high school. Class of ’96, represent!

- I also liked them trying to understand Facebook and future technology in general. My favorite quote is “What’s a blog?” because blogs are everything! I am using one right now! But if you had told me that back in 1996, I would’ve reacted just like Josh.

- Even though this book involves time travel, the novel stays firmly grounded in contemporary realism. I guess because the future is all glimpses through the real life internet…that won’t exist for fifteen years. Hmm. What I’m saying is, I’d be very, very reluctant to call this novel sci-fi in any way, shape, or form. I mean, it’s speculative but not on any grand scale.

- Emma and Josh have different reactions and responses to their future selves and even knowing about their future lives.

- I was going to say that Emma clearly has never seen That’s So Raven because if she had she would know that trying to change the future can sometimes lead to the thing you’re trying to change, but, OH YEAH, THAT’S SO RAVEN DOESN’T EXIST YET.

- Discman! Dial up! Going to do something else while the internet boots up! Using a CD-ROM to load AOL! AOL! AOL DISCS THAT COME IN THE MAIL. All of those things were great for me because, duh, teen of the ’90s.

- Okay, okay, setting aside, I really enjoy the character work here. It took me a while to really get into the story, but after a certain point I was hooked and really wanted to find out what would happen with Emma and Josh, even if the ending was predictable.

- Loved the two best friends, Tyson and Kellan (I think; I returned the book already). I also liked seeing glimpses into their futures.

- I like that the future remains unresolved. (I don’t think that’s a spoiler; that’s basically the conceit of the entire book.)

What I Didn’t Like

- The book is all concerned with boyfriends and girlfriends and “I’m married in the future and unhappy, so clearly it’s because of my mate choices!” And there’s so much more to delve into here. Josh finds out something pretty big about his brother that isn’t really dealt with. Emma has more issues than Time magazine, yet instead of addressing any of that in a significant way…boys, boys, boys. I don’t mind teen romance at all, but this seemed to want to do more than that.

In conclusion: Great premise with interesting characters, I just wish it would’ve gone a little deeper.

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Jan 09 2012
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Audiobooks, Children's Lit

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – Chapter 8

Recent HP observations:

- Stephen Fry’s Hermione is much, much better. There was no way it wouldn’t be since I hate Jim Dale’s Hermione very much. But yes. Fry’s Hermione sounds bossy and like a know-it-all, but she doesn’t sound absolutely annoying. If any of the Harry/Hermione shippers ever heard the way Dale has Hermione say Harry’s name, I’m pretty sure they would all find the pairing absolutely unbelievable. That’s how terrible Dale’s Hermione is.

Of course, the true test of Fry’s domination over Dale will come when Luna appears. Nowhere to go but up there either.

I should add that I enjoyed Dale’s reading of HP overall, but I hated the way he voiced Hermione and Luna and maybe one other character. Those were the moments that took me out of the story. All of his other voice work and character work was just fine. But, omg, Hermione and Luna are just terrible. Terrible.

- I love Percy. I really do. I know people don’t, but he makes so much sense to me, and I love that Hermione is able to talk to him about classes. Also, Percy’s comment that Peeves won’t even listen to prefects is perfection.

- Hagrid hints that only losers have toads as pets. Enter Neville with a toad for a pet. Oh, Neville. I love you. I really and truly do.

- Snape is a terrible teacher. TERRIBLE. I’m not even counting how he treats Harry (which is, of course, awful). He calls Neville “idiot boy.” That is not on. Also, Hermione raising her hand so high she lifts out of her seat in his class is, again, perfection. I feel you, Hermione.

- Harry’s first dream at school is that Quirrell’s turban talks to him and tells him join Slytherin, which makes his scar hurt. Oh, and Quirrell doesn’t want to talk about what happened to him when he faced zombies in Albania. But he’s fine with the vampire questions.

- Hagrid is delightful when read by Fry. I think this is the most I’ve ever liked that big guy.

- James’s wand was excellent for transfiguration and Lily’s was perfect for charms. Never noticed either of those details before.

Also, because everything exists on the internet, here’s a comparison of Jim Dale and Stephen Fry reading from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. (Seriously, what did we do before YouTube?)

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Dec 31 2011
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Young Adult Lit

Book Review: The Son of Neptune

Multigrain fighting is not allowed!

Oh, gosh I just loved The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. LOVED. The second book in the Heroes of Olympus series, it picks up with Percy (YAY PERCY!!!!) and the kids at Camp Jupiter.

There is nothing about this book that I didn’t like, so a few highlights of why I loved it.

- Rick Riordan wears the hat of cleverness! The Amazons run an online business that specializes in low prices and fast shipping. (Can you guess which one?)

- Love all of the characters. All! Even Ella the harpy who mostly talks in book quotes and Terminus the armless boundary god.

Also, even though these characters are just as tragic as the ones in The Lost Hero, they are more fun and less, well, annoying. I mean, I loved all three narrators whereas last time I just loved Leo.

- Loved the inclusion of Chinese mythology here with Frank’s character. Also, he’s Canadian! In fact, I’m a big fan of the diversity in this series overall. Two thumbs up.

- Oh, and Frank has a badass grandma and those are the best. THE BEST.

- The title, again, works on levels.

- Obviously, I loved seeing Camp Jupiter and all the ways it’s different from and similar to Camp Half-Blood.

- Riordan introduces his readers to The Art of War by Sun Tzu. There’s just a mention of the Tzu’s book at the end of the novel, but you know some kids are going to seek it out.

- The humor is spot on. Just so great.

Oh wait, there is one thing I hated about the book. The cliffhanger! But that’s only because I want to read the next book now, now, now.

Apparently, I’m not the only person who had that response. From Riordan’s blog:

In the meantime, sorry about the cliffhanger in The Son of Neptune . . . wait, no I’m not! I always do cliffhangers. I’m just evil that way.

Yes. Yes, you are.

I can’t believe I have to wait basically a whole year for the next book. I wonder who the narrators will be.

YA Challenge: 40; POC Reading Challenge: 25

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Dec 31 2011
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Young Adult Lit

Book Review: A Tale of Two Proms

It occurred to me that this was my first big adult decision. And I have to say if this was what it meant to be an adult–to worry that any big decision you made was the wrong one–maybe growing up was seriously overrated.

Before I even get into my review of Cara Lockwood’s fourth Bard Academy novel A Tale of Two Proms, I have to point out that this novel represents two firsts for me: (1) the first book I read on the Nook I got for Christmas and (2) the first book I am reviewing via NetGalley. Exciting stuff!

Okay, and now since I have never reviewed any of these books here before, allow me to nerd out like the big literary nerd I am. So, basically, I love this series because the books provide a big old lit nerd fest. Aside from the fact that school is called Bard Academy (after Shakespeare, of course) and that the teachers are ghosts of authors stuck in purgatory (Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Ernest Hemingway, etc.), Lockwood manages to seamlessly blend plots and characters from many classic novels. In this book alone, she uses characters/plots/settings from:

  • A Tale of Two Cities
  • Wuthering Heights
  • Jane Eyre
  • The Great Gatsby
  • The Odyssey
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Like I said, that’s just in this book. The previous three include references to other classics.

Anyway, the basic premise for the series is that Miranda gets sent to Bard Academy, which is for problem teens. Once there, she falls for Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights who has somehow escaped from his book. Each book deals with the fallout from characters leaving their narratives and also some wackiness that Miranda manages to enmesh herself in.

In A Tale of Two Proms, the focus is on literary doubles–particularly Catherine from WH (who Miranda favors)–and, of course, the prom. Oh, and Heathcliff asks Miranda to marry him and she finds out that she got into one of her dream schools. Which will she choose????

The only thing I don’t care about in the books is the romance between Heathcliff and Miranda. However, that’s pretty easy for me to get past. Which..considering that’s pretty much the foundation/driving conflict for all four books is saying a lot about how fun they are.

I love the setting and the characters. (I really get a kick out of Parker taunting Miranda for being “Fictional-American or whatever.” Because why not? Hahaha. I am easily amused sometimes.) There’s lots of humor and the characters are definitely teenagers with teenage concerns even as they are trying to save their school. So I enjoy that.

Lockwood said on her blog that this is probably the last book in the series, and I think everything is wrapped up pretty nicely. I did have one plausibility issue with the end, but then I reminded myself that this is a book with a Fictional-American character, book characters that come to life, moving settings, and ghost teachers, so I let the whole plausibility thing go.

In conclusion: If you’re a fan of gothic, gothic romance, mystery, paranormal, teen lit, classic lit, or adventure stories, this book/series might be something you’d want to check out.

YA Reading Challenge: 39

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