Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Title: A Darker Shade of Magic

Author: V.E. Shwab

Series: Shades of Magic #1

Publisher: Tor Books

Publication Date: February 24, 2015

Genre: Fiction; Fantasy; Historical Fiction; Adventure; Adult for Young Adult

Pages: 398

Format: Hardback

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Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London—but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—trickier than they hoped.

Parallel universes, magic, London, London, and more London. How…intriguing.

Scene One: Red London. So saturated with magic, the inability to control the elements is considered odd. Scene Two: Grey London. Our London, aka the considerably less cool of all the Londons. Scene Three: White London. Oppressed by the cold, cruel, colorless Danes twins, this London is doomed to meet the unspeakable fate of Black London.

First of all, character building? Flawless. Lila, the bossest of characters I’ve read in 2016, was a hands down favorite (except, of course, the Danes twins, but we’ll get to that later…). Kell and Lila made the most fantastic team. The dynamic between the two was indispensable in creating the suspenseful nature withheld throughout the entirety of the novel. Let me explain:

Kell: Dreamy (emphasis on the dreammmyy). The pet of the Red London royal family. A good boy, except when he’s not. A curator of relics of other Londons and an unapologetically proficient black-market dealer, which happens to be a bit illegal. An Antari and one of the few remaining Travelers.

Lila: An all-round-good-for-everything badass. Dreams of adventure and escape, preferably of the pirate variety. A competent thief and incurably stubborn. Sarcastic, insensitive. A blast to read.

They fit together like two perfect pieces of a puzzle.

As they fight two villains who could possibly be two of my favorite villains of all time, they work in perfect harmony. I appreciate how Schwab doesn’t make their victory too easy. Those Danes twins were the most well-developed antagonists. With well-placed rumors of floors inlaid with the bones of their enemies, their wonderfully creepy appearances, and their insane, despicable dispositions, the Danes twins were entirely unlikeable (in the most likeable way).

Parallel universe settings are so easy to get wrong. Luckily, Schwab knows what she’s doing and does it right in every way. She cuts down on the potential confusion by focusing on one particular place throughout the entire novel with certain checkpoints to hold the three worlds together. She doesn’t go overboard with fifty worlds, nor does she lamely half-ass her attempt with only two worlds. She sticks with the nice, comfortable, simple number of 3 (or, technically, 4). She briefly mentions the differing surroundings of each world, but doesn’t go into too much depth.

Also, can we just take a second and look at this beautiful cover? Is it not stunning?

A Darker Shade of Magic was a job well-done. Every part of this book deserved the favorable reception it was given. I’ll be reading the sequel very soon.

“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”

A Gathering of Shadows

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke Review

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman

Title: Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke

Author: Anne Blankman

Series: Prisoner of Night and Fog #2

Publisher: Blazer + Bray

Publication Date: April 21, 2015

Genre: Fiction; Historical Fiction; Romance; Adventure; Mystery; Young Adult

Pages: 406

Format: ARC

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The girl known as Gretchen Whitestone has a secret: She used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. More than a year after she made an enemy of her old family friend and fled Munich, she lives with a kindly English family, posing as an ordinary German immigrant, and is preparing to graduate from high school. Her love, Daniel Cohen, is a reporter in town. For the first time in her life, Gretchen is content.

But then, Daniel gets a telegram that sends him back to Germany, and Gretchen’s world turns upside-down. And when she receives word that Daniel is wanted for murder, she has to face the danger she thought she’d escaped-and return to her homeland.

Gretchen must do everything she can to avoid capture and recognition, even though saving Daniel will mean consorting with her former friends, the Nazi elite. And as they work to clear Daniel’s name, Gretchen and Daniel discover a deadly conspiracy stretching from the slums of Berlin to the Reichstag itself. Can they dig up the explosive truth and get out in time-or will Hitler discover them first?

*Sigh*Historical fiction is so great.

Gretchen Whitestone was once Adolf Hitler’s pet. She was the perfect niece, and she admired Hitler to the point of fault. After meeting Daniel Cohen, her world shattered, and she ended up in England, free from Hitler’s tight reign over her and Germany. She’s happy, and she sees the life she always wanted stretched out before her. However, when Daniel is captured in Germany, Gretchen must face her horrible past, and triumph over the once inescapable grasp of her Uncle Adolf.

Even though we all know how it ends (Hitler gains control of Germany and starts a war around the world), Anne Blankman still manages to keep me guessing. She writes like there’s a chance of Hitler’s defeat, even if there’s not. When I’m reading her work, I’m in Germany while the Nazis are rising. I’m watching the Nazi parade and seeing Hitler’s stupid little mustache. Her melding of history and fiction together is astounding and thoroughly entertaining. Her painstaking attention to detail is enough to send her novels over the moon.

I love how this book shines a totally new light on who Adolf Hitler was, and how his comrades in his quest for domination acted and thought. I love the historical value of Anne Blankman’s writing, and it totally makes this whole reading historical fiction thing worth it ten times over. Reading and learning are two of my favorite things, and both come in this 406 page package.

I maintain that the Prisoner of Night and Fog series is one of the best World War II novels written, among Code Name Verity and The Book Thief. If there is ever another book in this series, I would read in a heartbeat. 

The Murder Complex Review

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Title: The Murder Complex

Author: Lindsay Cummings

Series: The Murder Complex #1

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication Date: June 10, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Dystopia; Science Fiction; Thriller; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 398

Format: Hardcover

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An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.

A boy trained to kill. A girl taught to survive. What could possibly go wrong?

Zephyr and Meadow live in a state packed with too much people and too much crime. Their lives and their deaths are controlled by the MC, the Murder Complex (*cough* Title *cough*). The MC tracks the delicate balance of the population in their community. After Meadow’s mother died in the streets during the night, her father is bent on protecting her and the rest of her family. Being put through grueling training has heightened Meadow’s instincts and ensured her ability to survive. When a chance encounter forced Zephyr, a meaningless Ward, into her life, her world is flipped, and truths start to turn into lies.  

The plot line was basic. Normal. Nothing new. Another Class A case of forbidden romance. Woo-hoo. It’s not like we don’t know how it’ll end. But the setting, that’s where it actually gets interesting.

The world Lindsay built was grotesque and horrifying, and ironically, intriguing. I’m not one for horror, but this book wasn’t a horror; it was a thriller. Big difference. Instead of being scary, it was more…thrilling. Edge of you seat, tips of your toes kind of thrilling. It’s the difference between captivatingly heart-stopping and just plain disturbing. While there’s plenty of death, guts, and blood, it’s all about suspense and mystery – not a showcase of the macabre.

The romance was vanilla. It gave me everything I expected, which honestly I didn’t really want. I wanted to be surprised. I wanted this book to give me the old razzle-dazzle. What I really needed were two things:

1.     Less of that gross mushy stuff. There’s no time for declarations of ever-lasting love! Hello?! You’re in a world ruled by murder – start acting like it please!

2.    More danger and frenzy and fear. See above points.

Be warned, there's no ending, just a real kick ass cliffhanger at the end. 

The Murder Complex was a good read for those still caught on the tail end of the dystopia fad or those you wanted to be thrilled with guts and glory. Honestly, it’s not a bad waste of time, and I wouldn't mind wasting more on it's sequel.

The Death Code

May 26, 2015

I Was Here Review

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Title: I Was Here

Author: Gayle Forman

Series: None

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Publication Date: January 27, 2015

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Disabilities; Coming-of-Age; Young Adult

Pages: 270

Format: Hardcover

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When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

I’ve read multiple books that confront the subject of suicide and depression. With this one, Gayle Forman adds her own element of writing that sets it apart from others. I Was Here is by no means like any of Gayle Forman’s previous light romance reads. It has a ton of baggage. So much so, a reader has to purposefully carve out time in his schedule to make sure he reads this book thoroughly and cover to cover.

Cody is caught in a tidal wave of misunderstanding, confusion, and guilt after her best friend commits suicide in a hotel room. Meg seemed to have thought of everything right down to the tip for the maid. While everyone is focused of healing, forgetting, and moving on, something keeps Cody from letting go of her best friend. She can’t accept the one and only explanation for Meg’s death. When opportunity hands her a ticket to Meg’s old dorm room, Cody takes it as a chance to discover what exactly was going on with her best friend.  

I respect Gayle Forman’s decision to write about a topic as serious as teen depression and suicide. I also respect her work on the characters and the emotions they encountered in the story. Her attention to the disasters surrounding the suicide, like the damage wrought around the epicenter of an earthquake, was realistic and tell it like it is. This story could’ve so easily been preachy, but she managed to stay away from that line.

The writing was unrecognizable as Gayle Forman’s. It was dark in all the places where her other books are lighter, and it was about ten thousand pounds heavier. She really pushed her boundaries with I Was Here.

 This book didn’t entertain me as much as it educated me. I left with more of an understanding of what drives people to suicide and the effects it has on those around us. I Was Here has an important lesson to share with all its readers, one that I will definitely remember. 

Stitching Snow Review

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

Title: Stitching Snow

Author: R.C. Lewis

Series: None

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Publication Date: October 14, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Science Fiction; Futuristic; Retelling; Adventure; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 328

Format: Hardcover

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Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

First Impressions: Stitching Snow looks like any other fairy tale retelling. A breeding ground for the infamous insta-love (*gag*). Little to no complexity in the plot. Shallow characters, (i.e. the wanna-be-hero male lead and pathetically-hopeless female lead). Extremely low expectations.

                                                                                                                                         

After Reading: Stitching Snow was nothing like how I thought it would be.

Essie chooses to live in the coldest, most desolate of planets. She keeps her distance and expects everyone else to do the same. When someone named Dane crashes near her home, she can no longer keep her distance. Something about him and his circumstances draws her in and forces her to confront the past she’s been desperately trying to forget. When it becomes clear she can no longer run from her role in the fate of the universe, she must choose a side.

Following a trend set by the well-loved Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Essie is a mechanic on a distant planet fighting to end an oppressive regime. It's no wonder that people have noticed the disturbing similarities between the two books, and while there is a undeniable like-hood between the two, I gave Stitching Snow a chance to prove it was different. It really wasn't that different, but there were qualities about this book that set it apart from its competition that made it worth reading.  

The characters, setting, plot line, world-building were all on point. Essie was a textbook case in terms of retold fairy tales. Independent, smart, defiant, cautious but not so much as to miss out on adventure. The exact opposite of the character they were based off. There will be no sniveling damsels-in-distress here.

With a name like Stitching Snow, I expected one of those nothing novels. The ones you read then instantly forget because it was so superfluous and unremarkable. I was extremely surprised to find heavy subjects distributed throughout this seemingly light and fluffy story line. Abandonment, death, abuse. They were all in there. Who would’ve thought? The confrontation of these topics caught me so off guard, I couldn’t help contemplate it long after I’d actually finished the book.

To sum up, this book defied all my pre-conceived notions on exactly how it would turn out.  I’d recommend it for a quick read, especially for the lovers of Cinder caught in the limbo of waiting for the next book of the Lunar Chronicles. For those still doubtful, pick it up any way. You may be surprised. 

Crazy Review

Crazy by Linda Vigen Phillips

Title: Crazy

Author: Linda Vigen Phillips

Series: None

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 20, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Historical Fiction; Poetry; Disorders; Young Adult

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

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Laura is a typical fifteen-year-old growing up in the 1960's, navigating her way through classes, friendships, and even a new romance. But she's carrying around a secret: her mother is suffering from a mental illness.

No one in Laura's family will talk about her mother's past hospitalizations or increasingly erratic behavior, and Laura is confused and frightened. She finds some solace in art, but when her mother, also an artist, suffers a breakdown, Laura fears that she will follow in her mother's footsteps. Left without a refuge, can she find the courage to face what scares her most?

Identity is an enigma for any normal fifteen-year-old. For Laura, she struggles with defining herself as she witnesses her mother being possessed by her mental illness. She fears her destiny has already been defined for her, and she sees it playing it out before her eyes as her mother is reduced to hysterics and erratic outbursts. Fear threatens to smother Laura, and she must find the courage to defy it.

Stories written as a series of poems are a strange thing. The poems themselves cannot stand alone, but when combined with others, it just works. Verse was a fitting choice for this book. Some things in life you cannot explain coherently in complete sentences; some things are just too messed up, and they don’t have a clear subject and verb and prepositional phrases. Verse gives the readers the opportunity to fully understand the turmoil going on inside of Laura’s head, the doubt, guilt, and fear she feels.

While Crazy is set in a time period when mental illness was all but taboo, the book is painfully honest on the hardships of suffering from a mental disorder and living with someone inflicted with this invisible illness. Laura is trapped in more way than one, not being able to talk about her fears or the way she feels towards her mom. The effort Phillips put into this book was visible in everything she wrote, and the readers could understand how important these topics were.

Crazy was an easy read with something important to say, and I’m glad I got the opportunity to hear it. 

This Shattered World Review

This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Title: This Shattered World

Author: Amie Kaufman; Meagan Spooner

Series: Starbound #2

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Publication Date: December 23, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Futuristic; Science Fiction; Romance

Pages: 390

Format: Hardcover

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Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

These covers SUCK!! The stories are great, but ohmygod the COVERS! Someone needs to take a class or something in the art of covering books. Honestly, it’s lucky I even picked these up.

The story of Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac is classic Romeo and Juliet kind of stuff. With a tad bit more arguing and reluctance, of course. Jubilee is stubborn and untrustworthy of everyone. Flynn is the leader of a rebellion, making him a number one enemy of Jubilee and her troops. After Flynn kidnaps Jubilee in the search for answers, their tumultuous story begins.

With the repetitive use of “star-crossed lovers” and “out-of-this-world romance,” you’d think this novel held nothing but angst and horny declaration of love, all set in outreaching planets of the universe. Thank all of the book gods that this isn’t actually what the Starbound series is about. If anything, I’ve could’ve done with a little bit more romance; it’s just my expectations were raised so high and they weren’t all really met, which made me a little sad.

Tarver and Lavender make a reappearance, and this makes me one superbly happy camper. Their story was better than Jubilee and Flynn’s, but what can do? Sometimes you’ve just got to accept that sequels usually fall short of their predecessors.

Spooner and Kaufman make one hell of a team. I didn’t think you could write a good novel with more than one person, but these two ladies make it possible. They’ve done an impressive job, both with These Broken Stars and This Shattered World. Besides the covers. The covers really do need some work.

Overall, a good job. I was happy with the outcome, and I’m looking forward to the last installment of the Starbound with a mixture of anticipation and sadness that it’s really ending. But, nothing gold can stay, am I right?

Their Fractured Light

December 1, 2015

Glory O'Brien's History of The Future Review

Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King 

Title: Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future

Author: A.S. King

Series: None

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 14, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Coming of Age; Young Adult

Pages: 308

Format: Hardcover

In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last--a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.
Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions--and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.

I always say that A.S. King writes young adult novels for adults. Her writing is so edgy and rough and sharp, it’s unique and cannot be duplicated in any way. Her novels are not for the fainthearted. It’s no wonder that A.S. King always gets honors and awards; she is so different than anyone else and takes risks other people are afraid to take.

Glory O’Brien’s mother went the way Sylvia Plath did. In an oven with dish towels shoved under the door to make sure 4-year-old Glory didn’t become a secondhand suicide. Not that it helped much. Glory’s mother may have stopped breathing, but Glory did not. She lived, or continued to breathe at least. With an overweight, depressed dad and a dirty void in the kitchen where the oven used to be, Glory was left alone, doomed to wonder if she would turn out the same way, if suicidal tendencies were genetically transmitted. She wondered if her future was already planned for her, and if what little say she had in it had vanished the day her mother’s heart stopped pumping. Her love of photography at least, was passed down along with the X chromosomes. The day Glory’s friend finds a petrified bat, deemed Max Black by Glory, and they decide to do something weird, even stranger events follow. After learning the future is at stake, Glory feels a duty to change it even when her own future is still a mystery.

Every time I read an A.S King novel, I just have to take a minute and try and process everything I had just experienced/read. Her books are so rough and unforgiving. She talks about things people only wonder about, but never really have the guts to say. A.S. King may have hard writing, but her fearlessness is more than respectable.

Too many books these days skim over things they’re afraid to write about or reflect upon. A.S. King dives in and attacks them with the style of a great white shark. She sinks her teeth into reality and rips it into shreds until she uncovers the disturbing truth behind honest subjects. In the History of the Future, she talked about suicide, the impending doom of humanity, depression, and loss.

While exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness, A.S. King’s ideas of the future and the present held echoes of truth and validity. I understand the strangeness of her method of writing because she’s dealing with tough topics, and people listen more to the truly outrageous.

Anyone wanting to read the History of the Future, make sure you clear some time for this book, both for reading and processing, but also for reflection. This book will make you think and continue to think weeks after you finish. Two words: Good luck.

Wildlife Review

Wildlife by Fiona Wood Review

Title: Wildlife

Author: Fiona Wood

Series: None

Publisher: Poppy

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Contemporary; Realistic Fiction; Coming of Age; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

During a semester in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and love that gets complicated? That will take some navigating.
New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can't help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

In this tender, funny story of first love, good friendship, and going a little bit wild, Fiona Wood introduces two unforgettable girls who discover that before you can be true to yourself, you have to figure out exactly who you are.

First of all, love the cover. Even though it has nothing to do with the story and is very misleading.

Set in an outdoor program, this book follows the lives of two girls: Sib and Lou. Sib experienced a brief stardom when her aunt put her face on a billboard for all to see, and the aftermath is still resonating throughout her life. She was never the popular one, but after her face was blown up and plastered on the huge advertisement, everyone wants to be her friend, even Holly, the most popular girl in school. It’s like all Sib needed for people to see her was her face enlarged and shoved in their faces. Mesmerized by her newfound popularity, Sib happily accepts all the attention and the friendship of Holly (because we all know the most popular people at school are the best at being friends). Lou is the new kid at school and is not looking for new friends. After suffering the death of her boyfriend, Lou never fully recovered even with all the not-so-subtle hints of everyone around her to move on, push past, and forget about it. Through the trials and tribulations of first love, betrayal, and camp activities, Sib and Lou find their way into each other’s live with the help of Sib’s hopeless admirer and mutual friend, Michael. Hiking, canoeing, and general teenage rambunctiousness are accompanied by vital life lessons about friendship and love in this endearing tale of growing up.

The cover really should have two girls on it because there really is not a romance in Wildlife. Okay, fine, there is romance, but it’s not the whole story. The real story is the unlikely friendship between two girls with completely different backgrounds. Does the cover reveal that? No, not so much.

If I were to compare this book with a Melina Marchetta or E. Lockhart book, I would consider this book 50 times lighter than anything Marchetta or Lockhart could come up with it. Don’t get me wrong, I like it that way. Marchetta and Lockhart are more serious and heavy. Wildlife was a light summer read with a couple dark undertones streaked throughout.

The writing was simple and pleasing. Nothing too hard core. It didn’t leave me with a feeling of absolute wonder, nor did it leave me with a feeling of bewilderment or disgust. I appreciated the sincerity and honesty of the stories Wood brought to the table. Betrayal of friends, bad friendships, disappointment, and first loves are things almost everyone lives through. I could relate with both Sib and Lou and their dynamics.

While good in an easy, vanilla sort of way, this book wasn’t really anything extraordinarily special. It was forgettable, yet enjoyable. 

100 Sideways Miles Review

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith 

Title: 100 Sideways Miles

Author: Andrew Smith

Series: None

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: September 2, 2014

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Romance; Fiction; Contemporary; Coming of Age; Young Adult

Pages: 277

Format: Hardcover
goodreads

Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved.

Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned—and learn how to write their own destiny.

The world is different to Finn Easton. He has hetero-chromatic eyes, time is measured in miles instead of minutes, and Finn’s atoms are ancient. Plagued by sporadic seizures, Finn is desperately trying to prove he’s not a character living a predetermined plot-line from one of his father’s books. Cade Hernandez, Finn’s best friend, is everything Finn isn't: hilarious, charismatic, well-versed in the ways of females, and totally fearless. They’re surviving in their boring California town until Julia Bishop shows up and messes everything up, including Finn. Julia is anything but in Finn’s league. She’s beautiful, smart, and different. As Finn falls in love with Julia, his life and his world inexplicably change and will never return to normal again.

I loved this book! 100 Sideways Miles perfectly captures the essence of teen angst and (I am purely guessing on this but I assume it is true) what is means to be a teenage boy struggling to escape the bounds of his father’s footsteps.

This is book is so imaginative, it actually hurts. Let me give you one out of about a million examples of what I’m talking about:

“Here is what I believe: Distance is more important than time.

The earth travels about twenty miles every second. 

It's easy enough to figure out: π, our distance from the sun, three hundred sixty-five days, and there you go. 

Twenty miles per second.”

I mean, come on! How can you get any more creative than that?

The only other book I’ve read by Smith was Winger. Like Winger, there was a quality in 100 Sideway Miles that attracts me like a dazed moth to a flickering flame, but I just can’t for the life of me name what it is. I adored Winger and 100 Sideways Miles, but I wish I could say why I loved them so much. Smith always puts something in his books. At this point, it very well could be honest-to-God magic that he injects into his stories.

Smith definitely has a talent. His characters are perfectly messed-up and chaotically complex. His themes are edgy and gritty. His words put on a performance that makes me want to give a standing ovation when the curtain falls. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in giving a round of applause to Andrew Smith for his brilliant book-making. *raucous applause ensues*