Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A sort-of sequel to Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and St. Clair are supporting characters), Lola takes place in San Francisco and the Bay area, following eccentric high school senior Lola through her trials with boys, friends, and parents.

Let me just put it out there, in case the five-star rating didn't make it clear: I loved this book! While I wanted to smack Lola at times (she is a teenage girl, it comes with the territory), for the most part I found her adorable and wanted her for my own. I loved her style, her relationship with her dads (more on that in a minute), and her general outlook on life. I loved Lola's best friend Lindsey, who stuck around even when Lola was being a brat about boys. And I ADORED Cricket. But, of course, that was probably the plan.

When the book starts, Lola is dating and "older man," Max, who is 22 and in a band. Needless to say, Lola's dads don't approve, and do what they can to keep tabs on her when she's with him (Sunday brunches with the family, calling in once an hour). You just KNOW that Max isn't the boy for her, you're just waiting for Lola to figure that out for herself. That is helped along quite a bit by the return to town of the Bell twins, Calliope and her brother Cricket, with whom Lola has a long history. Things get a little less clear for Lola when Cricket comes back into her life. And that's a good thing.

Now, Lola's dads. Yes, they are a gay couple, but they're not portrayed stereotypically or campy in any way (though her dad Andy does have a deep love for figure skating, which Lola considers his "gayest" trait). They are also not the typical absentee YA parents. They know where their kid is (or think they know where she is -- again, she's a teenage girl with an older boyfriend), and they discipline and punish her when necessary. Her birth mother is in the picture, but I won't say any more about her here.

Lola does some growing and changing in this book, but in what I feel are completely realistic ways. She feels like a real teenager with a real family and friends, and I love her.



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Book Review: Lightning of Her Own

Lightning of Her Own by Levi Montgomery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received this book for free from BookRooster.com. That did not affect my review.

Lightning of Her Own is a post-apocalyptic story, taking place about 70 years after an alien invasion that resulted in electricity no longer functioning on earth, and the subsequent chaos that caused. Teenage Amarylla travels with her father, an engineer, and two guards out of the Republic of New York in search of a man her father has heard of who has made electricity work again.

I enjoy a good post-apocalyptic story, as I like to see the world the author creates. This was a very interesting world. People don't really know what the aliens (which they call "bugs") are, though there's much speculation, including that Earth was treated as a penal colony, and the electricity was destroyed to prevent the bugs from leaving.

Amarylla and her party leave the relative glamor and riches of the Republic of New York to head into the wilds outside their walls. During the trip, Amarylla grows into a strong woman, one who abandons her frilly dresses and stuffed animals for practical pants and shirts, and learns how to shoot, stand guard, and drive a wagon.

This is told from a third-person omniscient point-of-view, which is a little disconcerting at first, but I ultimately liked it, because it lets you see the thoughts and feelings of characters without convoluted POV changes or annoying repetition of events.

This is part of a trilogy, but, unlike many books in series, I didn't feel like anything was missing from this book that could only be solved by reading the next. It's complete in itself, but reading the others would probably give one a more complete view of the world.



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Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


How do I explain how much I loved this book? It was laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, sad, and ultimately uplifting. I have a feeling that the authors wouldn't really like the "uplifting" part of that sentence, but I had to say it.

Will Grayson #1 had me laughing right off the bat. The whole "you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose" thing was hysterical. And I liked how that was a recurring theme through the book.

I wanted to bring Will Grayson #2 home with me and keep him safe and warm and happy. Luckily for all of use Tiny Cooper and WG1 sort of took care of that.

Oh, Tiny Cooper. I want a Tiny Cooper in my life. He struck me as the kind of kid who figured that, given his life circumstances, he could be miserable, or he could embrace who and what he was and run with it. Thankfully, he chose the latter. I really want to see his musical. :)

This book is definitely for the older YA audience. The characters are 16-17, and that's the age I would recommend for the reader, as this book deals with some mature issues, and the language is rather raw at times.



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Review: Force of Habit

Force of Habit by Alice Loweecey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Giulia Falcone is a former nun trying to make her way in the world. She works for P.I. Frank Driscoll, first as his administrative assistant, then as an investigator-in-training. When the case they're working on takes a personal turn, their relationship and Giulia's life are put in jeopardy.

I very much enjoyed the premise of the former nun as a private investigator. Watching Giulia struggle with the real world after being so sheltered in the nunnery was very interesting. Giulia isn't a shrinking violet, though. She stands up for herself and what she believes in, and doesn't take any crap. I wanted to punch Frank on her behalf for a few chapters, but I eventually got over it.

Honestly, it took a little while for me to get into this book, but once I did I didn't want to put it down, including staying up way too late to read just one more chapter.

I had the honor of meeting the author at a book signing and talk. I wish her luck with her other books.



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Review: Delirium

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was really hoping to like this book. I've been into the whole dystopian, government-knows-best thing for a while. However, I think my problem with this book was that the dystopia was so severe, the government so all-powerful, that it didn't leave room for anything to happen other than what happened. That is to say, the characters had no choice but to do what they did. I felt that I knew how it would end about half way through. I was mostly right, and I'm not pleased by that.

I enjoyed the maturing of Lena, as she was forced to realize that the world as described and dictated by the government wasn't necessarily the truth. But, again, that was inevitable given the way the story was told.

It was an interesting look at censorship and government control, and maybe would be satisfactory for a teen reader, who is obviously the target audience. It was a bit "been there, done that" for anyone who has read other dystopian novels.

This is the first book in a series, but I won't be reading further.



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Review: When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read this book at the urging of my 10-year-old son, who read it then gave it to me, saying, "I think you'll really like this, Mom." Smart kid.

I did really like it. The narrator is 12-year-old Miranda, whom, we find out, is writing this to a mysterious person who leaves her notes accurately predicting the future. Her voice is perfect, just right for her age. Nothing really horrible happens to her, she develops an age-appropriate crush, and she loves her mom like any kid would. She does have to deal with some hard things, both actual (witnessing an accident) and theoretical (trying to suss out the twists and turns of time travel) but she handles all the way you'd expect a savvy girl of her age to do.

This was a delightful book, and I highly recommend it. And I'm thankful to my son for making me read it.



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Review: Ready Player One

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I LOVED this book. And having Wil Wheaton read it was just the cherry on top.

This is the story of Wade, an 18-year-old computer nerd, whose entire life is spent in the OASIS, an online virtual reality world where much of the world spends there time, as the real world is a miserable place of fuel shortages, global warming, and unemployment. When the creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves his entire fortune to the person who can find the Easter Egg hidden in the OASIS. Wade, along with hundreds (thousands?) of others join the quest to find the Egg.

The creator of the OASIS grew up in the 1980s, so much of what the Egg Hunters (Gunters) study to figure out the location of the egg is 80s "stuff:" music, movies, literature, computer games. As a child of the 80s myself, it was great fun to hear references to all that stuff I'm familiar with.

This book combines a dystopian world with MMORPGs, 80s notalgia, adventure, suspense, and kick-ass fun. There's also a little bit of nerdy romance.



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Review: Shatter Me

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Beautiful book. I loved Juliette's voice, and how it changed as the book progressed, from fragile, scared girl to a confident woman. This is one series I'm looking forward to continuing.



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