Sway Review

Sway by Kat Spears

Title: Sway

Author: Kat Spears

Series: None

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Disability; Young Adult

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

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In Kat Spears’s hilarious and often poignant debut, high school senior Jesse Alderman, or "Sway," as he’s known, could sell hell to a bishop. He also specializes in getting things people want---term papers, a date with the prom queen, fake IDs. He has few close friends and he never EVER lets emotions get in the way. For Jesse, life is simply a series of business transactions.

But when Ken Foster, captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming king, and all-around jerk, hires Jesse to help him win the heart of the angelic Bridget Smalley, Jesse finds himself feeling all sorts of things. While following Bridget and learning the intimate details of her life, he falls helplessly in love for the very first time. He also finds himself in an accidental friendship with Bridget’s belligerent and self-pitying younger brother who has cerebral palsy. Suddenly, Jesse is visiting old folks at a nursing home in order to run into Bridget, and offering his time to help the less fortunate, all the while developing a bond with this young man who idolizes him. Could the tin man really have a heart after all?

A Cyrano de Bergerac story with a modern twist, Sway is told from Jesse’s point of view with unapologetic truth and biting humor, his observations about the world around him untempered by empathy or compassion---until Bridget’s presence in his life forces him to confront his quiet devastation over a life-changing event a year earlier and maybe, just maybe, feel something again.

When I first read the tagline Boy Meets Girl. Boy Charms Girl…For Someone Else., I immediately thought of Ten Things I Hate About You, one of my favorite movies, then I thought of Heath Ledger, then I sighed because Heath Ledger, then I picked up Sway because any book that can get me thinking about Heath Ledger is worth reading. Simple. Logic.

Jesse “Sway” Alderman specializes in getting people what they want. Drugs. Alcohol. An A on the semester exam. Done and done, with little to no effort. But when the school’s meathead, Ken Foster, asks Sway to get him a girl…well, Sway’s never turned down a challenge. When he realizes the “girl” isn’t just a “girl” but actually the town’s perfect do-gooder, Bridget Smalley, things get a little more challenging. Especially when he falls for her. Sway starts to change, even earns himself a new friend, Bridget’s younger brother. The only problem is he made a deal, and Bridget’s not his to keep. Will Sway fall surrender to the feelings he never knew he could feel, or will he tap into his steely, unemotional self and tell himself that this is “just business”?

First worry: The undoubtable presence of the dreaded Insta-love (Just add water!). Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. Even though “Oh, I love you! Don’t leave me! I can’t live without you!” did show up right of the gate, it didn’t bother me that much. It could be because I was expecting it, but I don’t think so.  Something about the way the author incorporated dark subjects like drugs and suicide made it, I don’t know, make sense.

Second worry: The lack of plot. I had some reasonable doubts about whether or not the nine word tagline revealed any and all plot the book contained. Would Sway turn out to be a lame, two-dimensional, superficial let-down? Or would actual tell a story worth reading? It turned out the answer would be the latter.

So, the story was good, the romance was good. Any actual complaints? Why, yes, thank you for asking. The only problem for me that almost ruined the entire book was Bridget Smalley. Too perfect, too pretty, too privileged, and waaay too hate-able. No one likes anyone that’s too perfect. And Bridget Smalley was too perfect. Sway was great. He had faults that made him all the more likeable. But Bridget had no faults. How am I supposed to like someone like that? Excuse me, but I’d like to think that guys don’t fall for just the perfect ones. However, I was able to overlook this small problem in the favor of Sway. So in the end, it’s just a tiny complaint, not a game-changer.

I liked it. In fact, it’s one of my new favorites. I would recommend it to any romantic 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

An Ember In The Ashes Review

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Title: An Ember in the Ashes

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Series: An Ember in the Ashes #1

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: April 28, 2015

Genre: Fiction; Fantasy; Romance; Adventure; Young Adult

Pages: 446                     

Format: Hardcover

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Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

I was put off by this book for some odd reason. I think it was the word “ashes.” Apparently, I’m naturally repulsed by the word “ashes,” especially in book titles. I can only guess it’s because of past traumatic experiences.  Thank the Powers That Be that I had a momentary lapse in judgement and decided to read this book.

Laia and Elias live different lives. Their paths were never meant to cross. They should have nothing in common. But they do, and there’s nothing they can do to stop the attraction between them, no matter how much they know they should. One is a soldier, and one is a slave. One rules over the other. Mutual hatred is expected. Elias is a soldier, top of his class, son of the terrifying Commander. Everything about him should scream “Martial Empire!”, and yet, it doesn’t. He resents his family, his past. He is a slave to his own duty, and he only wants freedom. When a search for the new Emperor pulls Elias even deeper the realm of the Martials, he can no longer run. He must fight. Laia is a princess of the rebellion, expected to continue her family’s line of duty in fighting against the oppressive Martial Empire, but she is unexpectedly reluctant to fight for what her parents died for. When her brother is captured, Laia is willing to do anything to retrieve the only family she has left, including joining the Rebellion singlehandedly built by her parents. She is tasked with spying in the heart of the Martial Empire. She may get everything she’s ever wanted including her brother and her freedom, or she may die a torturous death at the hands of the Commander.

When you look at the cover, what are your first thoughts? Mine were simple: 1. Cool. 2. Post-Apocalyptic. 3. Too many words. 4. Fire. 5. Stereotypical Armageddon, maybe with a pinch of not-so-well-written romance. Five thoughts in all, and none of them were correct. Yet another example of that cliché about book covers and judging and whatnot. But seriously, I was so wrong, it wasn’t even funny. First of all, this book was more than cool. It was fantastic. It was more like a fiery pit of awesome than just “cool”. Secondly, it wasn’t even post-apocalyptic. It was futuristic yet kind of medieval and magic-y and different and intriguing. Thirdly, the book didn’t have too many words. It didn’t have enough. Fourth, fire really wasn’t a big deal. And lastly, it was not stereotypical, or Armageddon-like, and the romance was definitely not badly written and did not exist in a quantity that can be described as a “pinch.” So, in conclusion, all my preconceptions about this book were absolutely wrong.

The characters were so great. Mysterious yet understandable, complex yet simple. The romance was die-hard intoxicating and mind-controlling. You know the kind: the one where you walk around all day thinking about nothing but the complicated romance and the characters, and you constantly have to remind yourself it’s a book and you obsessing over it won’t change anything. Except, this one was a little different. Picture this: you’re at a basketball game and you’re cheering for a team, then suddenly, out of nowhere, the team you were rooting for changes into a completely different team, and even though you have no idea who they are, you continue rooting for them until you’re full heartedlly cheering them on. Then, BAM, you’re back to the original, and you’re still cheering like an idiot because you have no idea what else to do. Then there’s a giant puff of smoke and you’re in an entirely different game with entirely different teams, and now you’re really an idiot because you have no idea what’s going on, and you’re still cheering. It’s like that. But worse. It’s so great. Eventually, you familiarize yourselves with the teams and pick a favorite. I’m Team Elias all the way, baby. I can understand the other side, though. Actually, I take that back. I don’t get anyone who’s not on Team Elias because Elias ROCKS.

Read the book. You won’t regret it. I’ll even bet ten bucks that this is the next big thing. It’s that good. 

TBA

April 26, 2016