Life Is But A Dream Review

Life is but a Dream
by Brian James
From Goodreads:

 Sabrina, an artist, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her parents check her into the Wellness Center. There she meets Alec, who is convinced it's the world that's crazy, not the two of them. They are meant to be together; they are special. But when Alec starts to convince Sabrina that her treatment will wipe out everything that makes her creative, she worries that she'll lose hold of her dreams and herself. Should she listen to her doctor? Her decision may have fatal consequences.

My Thoughts:  I was really surprised when I learned that the author of this book had also written Zombie Blondes, and I enjoyed both books although they are very different.

Life is but a Dream deals with mental illness.  Unlike The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and various other YA where the heroine's mental illness is really some ability to see the dead, see fairies or some other variety of psychic powers, Life is but a Dream is about schizophrenia.  Sabrina is a teenager who has recently been committed to a mental health hospital, and the story takes place in both the present and the past.

I wasn't so sure I was going to like this book, we kind of got off to a bad start.  At first the writing style, with all the dialogue in italics instead of proper quotation, got on my nerves.  But the more I got into the story the more I realized that it all kind of fit.  It gave a sense of unreality to the dialogue, which fit Sabrina's state of mind. 

My favorite part of the book is how the author explains Sabrina's schizophrenia, because I've never understood before why someone with that diagnosis would ever want to go off their meds.  I really sympathized with Sabrina wanting back some of the beauty that her illness provided, and understood that, as the medication was working, how she could rationalize that she could get the good back without the bad. 

In the hospital Sabrina meets Alec, who is there because it was one way for his rich daddy to get him out of some trouble with his school.  There's an immediate attraction and Sabrina thinks she's met someone that really understands her.  Alec is the one that encourages her to go off her meds, but only because he can't comprehend the magnitude of her illness.  Along with Alec, and Sabrina herself, we watch as she spirals out of control.

This is not a pretty book, there is no magical cure for schizophrenia although it can be managed with medication.  It is a profound look at the realities of mental illness and it's hard not to feel for Sabrina.  She's so lost and confused, unable to understand why it was cute for her to believe in fairies when she was a child, but how it just makes people uncomfortable now that she's a teen, how the pictures she used to share with people no longer make them smile but instead make them look at her with fear. How she goes from special good to special bad.  Brian James does a fantastic job getting inside Sabrina's mind, so much so that I could understand why she did some of the things she did.  Honestly, it's a little terrifying to realize how easy it was to see things from Sabrina's point of view.

I realize that I've been going on and on about how realistic Sabrina's battle with schizophrenia was, but while I'm familiar with bi-polar and borderline personality order, depression, anxiety and cognitive impairment, I've never known anyone that is living with schizophrenia.  I'd really like to know if it's a fair portrayal, but even if it's not, James doesn't exploit the illness so much as he shows how common it can be. 

I've said the book isn't pretty, and it's not.  It made me cry a little, it made my heart hurt for people like Sabrina that might not have family to take care of them, but it's a good book.  Just no puppies and rainbows here.

Life is but a Dream gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

*I read this book through Around The World ARC tours, but all opinions, snark and wit are my own and were not influenced by receiving (briefly at least since it's a tour and the point is to send it on to the next blogger) a copy of the book.

Dirty Secret Review

Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother's Compulsive Hoarding
by Jessie Sholl
From Goodreads:

To be the child of a compulsive hoarder is to live in a permanent state of unease. Because if my mother is one of those crazy junk-house people, then what does that make me?When her divorced mother was diagnosed with cancer, New York City writer Jessie Sholl returned to her hometown of Minneapolis to help her prepare for her upcoming surgery and get her affairs in order. While a daunting task for any adult dealing with an aging parent, it’s compounded for Sholl by one lifelong, complex, and confounding truth: her mother is a compulsive hoarder. Dirty Secret is a daughter’s powerful memoir of confronting her mother’s disorder, of searching for the normalcy that was never hers as a child, and, finally, cleaning out the clutter of her mother’s home in the hopes of salvaging the true heart of their relationship—before it’s too late.
Growing up, young Jessie knew her mother wasn’t like other mothers: chronically disorganized, she might forgo picking Jessie up from kindergarten to spend the afternoon thrift store shopping. Now, tracing the downward spiral in her mother’s hoarding behavior to the death of a long-time boyfriend, she bravely wades into a pathological sea of stuff: broken appliances, moldy cowboy boots, twenty identical pairs of graying bargain-bin sneakers, abandoned arts and crafts, newspapers, magazines, a dresser drawer crammed with discarded eyeglasses, shovelfuls of junk mail . . . the things that become a hoarder’s “treasures.” With candor, wit, and not a drop of sentimentality, Jessie Sholl explores the many personal and psychological ramifications of hoarding while telling an unforgettable mother-daughter tale.

My Thoughts: I was really excited to read this book, because while I enjoy the show Hoarders, fitting a whole lifetime of hoarding and its affect on a family can't really be done in an hour. The parts of the book where Sholl talks about her mother, their relationship, and the condition her mom's house and mind are by far the best parts. Not so much author's various health struggles and her need to call her Mom and Dad "my mom" and "my dad" all the time (it might not sound annoying, but trust me, if you read the book you will understand). Her anger at "Mean Lesbian Neighbor" and the unfortunate renter that sublets the author's NY apartment make it difficult to feel empathy for Sholl. At times she is a champion for hoarders, bringing attention to a problem that seems to be growing in our world and the mental illness behind it. But despite knowing her mom's history and current mental status, Sholl is often sharp tongued and impatient with her. Of course, I imagine it's a lot easier to have patience with a hoarder you don't know than the one that plants rubber snakes everywhere to freak you out and gives you scabies that just won't go away. I admire Sholl for her honesty, hoarding isn't a mental illness that you can just take a little blue pill for and the author gives lots of information on hoarding behavior. I just wanted more about her mother's illness and struggle and less about repetitive motion strain and troubles with renters.  Although I found the hoarding issues interesting, I didn't particularly like Sholl herself, which took away some of my enjoyment of this book.  

Dirty Secret gets a Midnight Book Rating of: 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Review

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
By Michelle Hodkin
From Goodreads:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong.

My Thoughts:  This book caught my attention from the very first sentence.  It was easy to connect with Mara (or whatever her name really is) from the start.   In the beginning Mara is just your average teenager, afraid of losing her best friend to the new girl in town, crushing on new girl's brother, and doing her best to go along with what her friends want her to do.  Then new girl, Claire, pulls out the ouija board, so you know that some crazy Captain Howdy poo is about to go down.

Okay, raise your hand and give yourself a point if you got the Exorcist reference.

Anyway the spooky spirits running the board let Mara's bff know that Mara will be responsible for her death.  Cut to some months later and Mara is the only survivor of some accident that killed her best friend, third wheel Claire and Mara's boyfriend- Claire's brother.  Mara starts off with no memory of the accident. 

Mara's family moves to Florida in hopes of a new start, and a last ditched attempt to keep Mara out of the nut house since she's been seeing things and having freak outs since the accident.  Just a quick word on the Dyer family- they were one of my favorite parts of the book.  Not the parents so much, but Mara's older and younger brothers are pretty awesome.  Daniel, despite being on the fast track to Ivy League, does his best to look out for Mara and to help run interference with Mama Bear Dyer, and her little brother is pretty cool, and both brothers take an immediate liking to Noah (more on him later).  Overall the Dyer family is pretty normal, although a bit more closer and loving than you see in most YA books.

So, Mara is either being haunted by the ghosts of her friends, seeing visions of death, killing people with her mind, or losing her mind.  Or perhaps all of these things at once.  We don't know as the reader, and Mara certainly doesn't know.  She's busy trying to keep her mom from putting her in a mental hospital.  Frankly, if I were going through what Mara goes through, I'd welcome a stay somewhere nice, clean and quiet.  Think of all the reading I could get done in a mental health facility!  Weirdly, Mara does not seem to think of that, but it could be because she's all artsy, and not much of a book worm.  The point is, Mara has a lot on her plate, but then dishy Noah shows up and complicates some already complicated shiz. 

Noah, sigh.  Noah is British and attractive (I guess, in that underfed emo way that seems so popular in YA- please, teen girls like muscles too- Team Jacob, remember? Although, I'm Team Edward, the sparkly one was much more muscled in the books and didn't need spray on abs like a certain actor I could name but won't), and comes complete with a bad boy reputation.  But of course, there's more to Noah than the rumors, and there's something about Mara that attracts him despite the fact that he usually goes through girls like so many dirty gym socks.  Just joking, everyone knows boys just re-use the same smelly socks over and over again until they disintegrate. 

Once Noah is in her orbit, Mara's world goes from slightly nuts to crazy town.  And it turns out that Noah might know more about what's going on with Mara than she does.  And that is why this book is so long.  I read this book as part of an ARC tour and I was literally reading the last 20 pages outside the post office, slurping down my Starbucks.  There is a lot going on in this book, and it should be no surprise to you that there's more books to come.  Some of the questions raised in the beginning of the book are partially answered, but there's still a lot of What? What! questions left at the end.  Normally this frustrates me.  Every chapter seemed to bring new crazy questions to table.  There are a lot of plots- the mean queen at school who lusts after Noah and targets Mara and her one new friend at school, Mr. Dyer's murder case, the mysterious deaths of people who just coincidentally got Mara angry, the fact that she keeps seeing her dead friends in mirrors and just around town (seriously what is it about mirrors and horror stories? Why are they so scary?  I don't know, but I can't look in the bathroom mirror until the lights are on), mysterious Noah, and the possibility that Mara is losing her mind, all of this and more in just the first book!  It's enough to drive me crazy!

But it didn't, possibly because I really enjoyed the story and the characters.  The writing was pretty good, although because I read the ARC I did notice a few mistakes which I'm sure are worked out in the official release.  I want to know more about Mara Dyer and, yes, even the cliched anti-hero, Noah (who besides the sexy British accent and slut puppy reputation is also extremely wealthy.  Feel free to roll your eyes and fall in love with him anyway, because he's secretly sweet and a good foil to Mara).  I was expecting a more complete first novel, because I really thought it was a stand alone book.   I really have to stop assuming that, especially in YA books.  But while some YA series feel like just one simple idea painfully stretched over three or more books, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is bursting with plot that will easily fill up more books.  It reminds me of why I like series in the first place- more time to spend with the characters. 

I realize this review is a bit all over the place, but there is a lot to take in, and it's not just the simple "girl survives accident, girl thinks she's crazy, girl meets good bad-boy" story.  The ending leaves you with quite a cliff hanger, and it'd definitely going to make you want to keep reading.  Here's hoping Michelle Hodkin's a fast writer!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

It's not perfect, but it's a page turner despite it's hefty size!

*I read this book through Around The World ARC tours, but all opinions, snark and wit are my own and were not influenced by receiving (briefly at least since it's a tour and the point is to send it on to the next blogger) a copy of the book.

The Name of the Star Review

The Name of the Star
by Maureen Johnson
From Goodreads:

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago. 

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

My Thoughts:  I am a fan of Maureen Johnson.  She is hilarious, seriously if you aren't following on twitter then you simply must!  I shamefully haven't read that many of her books (Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett and The Last Little Blue Envelope), but I love her writing style, especially her most recent works.  Johnson has an amazing sense of humor.

So I have to admit that while I love anything to do with Jack the Ripper, I was a bit weary of my sunshine laughter girl going too dark.  Sometimes authors can switch up genres, and sometimes the reader is just left shaking their heads (Remember when Garth Brooks tried have the alter ego pop star personality of Chris Gaines?  Sadly, many of you are probably too young for this reference, but it was weird.  Really, really, creepy weird.  Okay, so maybe I did buy one of the Chris Gaines singles, but I also rocked out to C&C Music Factory as a teen so what did I know?).

I shouldn't have been worried.  Yes, The Name of the Star deals with a killer re-creating the infamous murders of Jack the Ripper, yes the main heroine finds herself caught up in the mystery, but there's still the humor and wonderful characters I've come to expect from Maureen Johnson. 

Rory is an American in London, which makes for many humorous fish out of water moments, studying abroad.  Unfortunately just as she arrives in the UK, the new Ripper murder begins.  Rory soon becomes entangled in the investigation and learns that there is much more to the world than she thought, but there's still papers to write, parents to reassure and roommates to deal with. 

I was so sad when I came to the end of the book! I hope Maureen Johnson is busy working her witty little butt off on the sequel because I want more. It makes for both a good read and a good listen (as I listened to it on audio and then read it), creepy but humorous. There's danger, hauntings, team sports (which might be the scariest part of the book), a 21 Jump Street feel to the plot, quirky characters, normal characters, boring, prissy characters, and a tiny bit of romance (although it's not the focus of the story, everyone- take a deep breathe of relief with me!). The Name of the Star is just brilliant. I am so twitter stalking Maureen Johnson that much more now. ;) If you're thinking, this book's not for me, it is. Unless your some kind of villain out of a Care Bear movie, but then I'll just turn the Care Bear Stare on you and pow! The Name of the Star is now your kind of book.  Honestly, one of my favorite reads of this year!


The Name of the Star gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

Disclaimer: I did receive a copy of the book through the Around the World ARC Tours, but I purchased my own copy of the audio book before then and all opinions, snark and witty commentary are my own and not influenced in any way. ;)

Truth (XVI #2) Review

Truth (XVI #2)
by Julia Karr
From Goodreads:

Nina Oberon’s life has changed enormously in the last few months. When her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council–ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all sixteen-year-old girls have. The one that announces to the world that she is easy prey to predators. But Nina won’t be anyone’s stereotype. And when she joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, she knows that they can put an end to one of the most terrifying secret programs the GC has ever conceived. Because the truth always comes out...and the consequences can be deadly.

My Thoughts: These books have gotten me into the habit of saying things are ultra.  It's like the whole "epic" and "fail" trend of a few years ago- which I still use all the time because I, myself, am epically unfail.  Truth is the follow up to XVI and yours truly got to read it before it gets released.  I know, it's pretty ultra.

Okay, now that I sound more like a empty headed "sexteen" then a 34 year old woman (is it weird that I sometimes forget my age?  I totally told someone I was 36 the other day, and I have no idea why in the world I would add numbers to my already bloated age number, but I did), lets discuss Truth.

Nina and friends are back in Truth, and now our heroine is tagged as a sixteen year old and while the threat of having to become a sex slave or worse in the FeLs program, and her creepy wannabe stepfather, are no longer hanging over her head, you'd think things would be looking up for Nina.  Uh, no.  Because this is dystopia, so shiz is going down.

Forces are coming together to take Nina and little sis, Dee, away from their grandparents, another boy is complicating her relationship with Sal, and Nina is determined to put her life at risk for the Resistance.  Now I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that while I am normally not a fan of the whole YA love triangle plot that's so overused, this one works for me.  Usually I'm loyal to boy #1, in this case Sal, but honestly it's not very realistic that the very first boy you ever date is the One (even if I personally married my first and only love).  I kind of think Nina and boy #2 are a better fit.  Oh, the horrors!   Now I'm fully invested in the outcome of Nina's love life- go boy #2!  I'm purposely not mentioning Boy #2's name because I don't want to spoil it for you, but his name is a heck of a lot better than "Sal".

A quick history into my obsession with Boy #1s-  Dawson vs. Pacey in Dawson's Creek, Angel vs. Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Edward vs. Jacob in Twilight series, Gale vs. Peeta in the Hunger Games series, Morelli vs. Ranger in the Plum series.  As you see, I had my heart broken a few times with these triangles.  Some worse than others (I do feel Hunger Games ended the way it was supposed to and I have made peace with Dawson and Joey not walking down the aisle... mostly).

Boy #2's- Hmm, this one is a bit harder and other than this series I can only think of a few times that the late comer to the love triangle has won my heart- Noel in Felicity (and of course she picks Ben, Boy #1) and Eric in the Sookie Stackhouse novels.  I really dislike vampire Bill, and I adore Eric.  But you know what, I'm thinking of placing money on a Sam and Sookie ending... just saying.

The XVI series is doing dystopia the right way, yes things are pretty bleak, but there is always a little hope to be dangled in front of our faces to keep us reading (unlike The Knife of Never Letting Go which was all just dark, darker, kick a puppy darkest).  I actually like the characters, I'm cheering them on, and I'm sad when things don't work out the way I wanted them too.

And I really want to see the author's vision of Nina's tattoo (and there's a cool scene in the book when Nina shows her Grams her new wrist tattoo that she got around her XVI tat, and the grandmother loves it!  It reminds me of how un-ultra my mom feels about her kids and grand kids and our various tats).  I'm hoping once the book comes out lots of fans with actual artistic ability will flood Deviant Art with their take on Nina's tattoo. Plus the ending, while tying up lots of loose endings leaves some major questions that you are going to want the answers to!

To summarize: Read XVI, then read Truth, then agree with me about Boy #2.  Or disagree with me, but know in your heart that I am right.

Truth gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

 

*Participated in the Around the World Arc tour for this book

Midnight Book Club

 The Midnight Book Club, because you can't ever be in too many book clubs!

I've always, in my heart, been a Midnight Book Girl.  Back in 2008 when I was still living in Oklahoma, my friend, Court of Abducted By Books (she has an awesome new blog design that you have got to check out, it is gorgeous!), convinced me to start a book club with her.  It was just the two of us, but we were having fun.  Then I moved to Virginia and we were both a little sad about the demise of our two person book club.

But it wasn't the end, we took our book club online and convinced a few friends to occasionally join in.  Eventually it fizzled because we weren't able to bring in new online book club members and I hadn't yet become a member of our book blogging community.  I was in a new city with a job where I just wasn't meeting any potential friends, so in February of 2010 I started a book club on a site called MeetUp.com.  Technically there's over 70 members in my book club, but usually our meet ups are of 10 people or less (sometimes a lot less).  Right now we have a great group and we might just stop using the meet up forums.

So I thought about using the website I had created for Court and I, conveniently both book clubs have the same name.  Yesterday I spent some time updating it a bit.  Then I thought, why not open it to all book loving internet addicted readers?  The site looks a bit rough- does anyone design for heaven forums?, but it works.  I'd love if ya'll would stop by and join.  This month's book is Like Water for Chocolate, and our book club meets up on Nov. 19th, so we could have a board discussion anytime after that. 

I was thinking of have 2 official books a month- one for my real life book club and one for the internet readers.  In my book club we tend to avoid new releases since several members rely on the library to get their copies and getting popular new releases is pretty difficult.  But like me, so many of you read new releases and ARC's all the time.  Plus there's places to discuss our favorite books and past selections. 

So, if you're interested, please say you're interested it'll be so much more fun with lots of us involved, check out the site.  Your log in name can be anything, and I can always change it if you hate it later on.  I'm hoping to bring Court back in the fold, maybe even include her real life book club's monthly selections too.  

Go Here to Join!

Abandon Review

Abandon 
by Meg Cabot
From Goodreads:

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away... especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

My Thoughts: I love Meg Cabot but I've really only read her adult novels. And I'm a huge fan of the Heather Wells series- she's one of my favorite literary characters.

Abandon is full of Greek mythology, which I truly love. I had a little trouble connecting to Pierce, the main character, as she seems to make a lot of hasty and thoughtless decisions. I'm not quite sure why a death deity that's been around for centuries would fall in love with a 15yr old girl, who's only claim to goodness is rescuing birds. But then again, instant true love is pretty common in YA romance, so I'll go with it in this series too.

A lot of the first book is merely uncovering what happened to Pierce two years ago, and setting up the mythology for the series. You will be left with a lot of unanswered questions, but that's not always a bad thing. I do want to know how Coffin Night turns out, what's up with Alex and Kayla, and I want to know more about the furies. It just felt a little incomplete, just a piece of the whole rather than a true first book in a series.  There are so many things that are set up, and very, very few plot lines resolved.  I prefer my first books to be a bit more independent. Cliffhangers, I can deal with, but not when almost the entire book is full of them.

Overall I like the series enough to continue with it, but I'm still waiting for my next Heather Wells book (please, I beg of you, Meg Cabot, more Heather Wells)!


Abandon gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

Tris & Izzie Review

Tris & Izzie
by Mette Ivie Harrison
From Goodreads:

“I don’t want him to love me because of a potion,” she said.

Izzie loves Mark, and why shouldn’t she? As the captain of the basketball team, he is kind and loving and he’s everything she’s ever wanted in a boyfriend. Her BFF loves . . . somebody, but she won’t say who. So when a hot new guy, Tristan, shows up at school, who better for Izzie to fix up her friend[LL1]  with? And what better way to do it than with a love philtre?

But even the best of magic has a way of going awry—and Izzie finds she’s accidentally fallen in love with Tristan herself. And that’s a problem. First of all, there’s Mark. Second, Tristan comes with baggage—like the supernatural creatures that keep attacking whenever he’s with Izzie, and the fact that he comes from the place where Izzie’s father was killed, years ago, by an enormous, evil serpent that’s still around—and it knows Izzie is out there.

Like Mettie Ivie Harrison’s The Princess and the Hound, praised by Orson Scott Card as “powerful, surprising, moving, and deep—a classic,” Tris and Izzie rings the changes on a timeless legend, this time in a contemporary high school setting.

My Thoughts: You know what would be really cool? If publishers would allow you to buy posters of book art with the purchase of a YA novel.  Because then this book would be worth spending my money on.

I hate to give negative reviews, which has been easier now that I'm no longer forcing myself to finish books that I'm not enjoying.  But I signed up for an ARC tour of Tris & Izzie, so I'm just going to be honest, and I honestly did not like this book.

Expect some spoilers, because I have to discuss the plot in order to explain all the reasons this book let me down.

Despite the lovely cover, despite the author's cool sounding first name, despite the mythology behind the main characters, this book fails on so many levels.  Izzie (Isolde) is the most selfish, arrogant, annoying main character I've come across in YA literature- and I freely admit to having read the Gossip Girl series.  All the other characters who are not named Izzie are shallow and one dimensional.  Branna has to be the worst friend in history, with mood swings rivaling Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.  Mark, the "perfect" boyfriend is boring and flaky, and Tristan, although hot, is so undeveloped and stiff that only his cool sword and homeless teen vagabond status made an impression on me.

But you're probably wondering what the story's about.  After all, it's based on a great love story.  How bad could it be?

Brace yourselves, because it's bad.  Or ridiculous, I'm still working it out.

Izzie lives the typical teenager life, you know, popular, dating the best looking boy in school, loyal best friend, clear skin.  But her mom's a witch.  Who makes potions.  So when Branna, her bff, starts acting all moody, Izzie decides that the best thing for her friend is to give her a love potion to tie her FOREVER to new boy Tristan.  A love potion so strong that the only cure is death.  And maybe not even then.  This is what Izzie chooses to give to her best friend just to get her out of the doldrums.  Because, God knows if you haven't found true love by sixteen, then you might as well hang up the old spinster cat lady sign on your door.

Okay...

So Izzie gives a love potion to Tristan, and I won't even tell you how impossible and ridiculous the scene is, and Tristan drinks it because he is already under Izzie's spell even though she's a complete wench to him (which begs the question why she'd want to hook her bff up with a boy she can't stand).  But of course Branna won't drink it and in order to stop her perfect Big Man On Campus boyfriend, Mark, from drinking it, Izzie downs it herself.  Instead of, I don't know, pouring it out.  Which was a mistake on the author's part because boy on boy love could have been the saving grace of this novel.

Then much magical and further ridiculous things occur.  Izzie suddenly not only lurves Tristan, but she hates him too.  And she hates Mark touching her and pretty much beats him like those poor animals you see on the Humane Society commercials *cue Sarah McLachlan music*.  She literally smacks the boy... but of course, and this is spoilerish, he PUNCHES her in the face later on.   Now, Izzie is annoying, she is a bad person, but I'm kind of not okay with boys punching girls in the face, ever.  

And what about bff Branna?  I can't even tell you how toxic their supposed friendship is.  Her character goes through more changes than Sarah Jessica Parker goes through wardrobe changes in a Sex in the City movie.  Nothing she does makes sense.  She's loyal to Izzie, no she's not, yes she is, no she's really not, then she's risking her life for her.  The girl needs some heavy medication. And Izzie doesn't find it at all curious why her best friend won't admit who she has a crush on, doesn't even really spend all that much time trying to pry the information out of Branna.  Izzie just decides to make her friend fall in love, a love so strong that you can die from it, with someone of Izzie's choosing.  I actually have to say maybe Branna's behavior makes more sense in that light- you know, what kind of girl who wasn't completely insane could stand to be friends with Izzie?

And Izzie's mom?  I'll just say her mom isn't very forthcoming.  Oh, yeah, you're dad didn't actually die from an illness, it was a giant snake.  Who wants to eat you.  Because he eats magical virgins.  Which is the best reason against abstinence I have ever read.  Wait, the giant snake won't eat me if I have sex?  Off to Planned Parenthood for some birth control!  This strangely does not occur to any of the teens in the town Tristan is from, because they are obviously hormone free teens much like "Tris" himself. 

What makes the legend of Tristan and Isolde so compelling is that the two of them fall in love, and through circumstances beyond their control, aren't allowed to be together.  In the legend the character of Mark is a father figure to Tristan, who fights valiantly for him, and Isolde is the woman who is betrothed to him.  But she and Tristan fall in love before they discover their connection.  It's all angsty and tragic, and nobody really wins because they all have love for each other.  (Not unlike Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, which I guess should have been a clue that I wouldn't care for Izzie since I always though Guinevere was a selfish rhymes with witch). 

You will find none of this in the book, although the love potion plot does appear in some of the legends (because back in the day it was used as an excuse for Tristan and Isolde to sleep around behind King Mark's back- the potion was controlling them! They had no choice but to give into their passion!)

Super-Spoilersh, but chances are you're not going to read the book anyway, so why not take a chance?:

So there's two headed dogs, giants, magical towns, and a bunch of other stuff thrown into the story (actually, I would not be surprised if this was a NaNoWriMo novel, but the fact that not enough characters are killed off makes me doubt that this was all done just for word count).  One character, Mel, appears to have no real purpose, and is written off at the end as an after thought.  Oh, Mel?  That somewhat evil and slimy character from the beginning of the book? Uh, he's gone.

Even the romance is hard to believe, and this is coming from someone who bought Bella and Edward's super-fast insta-love (hook, line and sinker.  Well played, Stephenie Meyers).  Tristan loves Izzie even before swallowing the potion, Branna loves Mark because... I don't know, because he's tall?  And Izzie and Tristan didn't really drink a love potion (which her mom knows, and yet says nothing, which really defies reason), so the romance supposedly driving this story is based on nothing.  Tristan doesn't even have a cool car or sparkle in the sun. 

I guess the best thing I can say about this book, other than the lovely cover, is that it was a fast read.  I honestly don't know anyone that I could recommend this book to, younger readers who could maybe forgive the weak plot and characters probably shouldn't be reading books in which teens go around hitting, smacking and punching each other without real world consequences.

I will say this in support of the author- she wrote a book.  She didn't just sit on her butt complaining about other people's work, she actually finished a manuscript and got it published (and not a self-publishing program on Amazon or the kind where you have to pay someone to print it).  It might not be very good- in my opinion- but I have to give her credit for trying.  This just was not the book for me.

Tris & Izzie gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

Although, as my friend Susan pointed out, I kind of feel like this book owes me my time back...

Epic Write-A-Thon

Today I'm taking part in Fake Steph's Epic Write-A-Thon!

It's 24 hours of writing, and it's a great way to jump start my NaNoWriMo novel, since I'm already behind word count.

I will not be writing all 24 hours of the Write-A-Thon, I've still got sinusitis, so I'm going to bed at some point.  But I am going for a word count.

As of now (a few minutes before Write-A-Thon begins) my word count is: 3198

I'm hoping for at least an additional 10,000 words today.  I'll be updating this post throughout today in order not to flood your Google Reader with my pathetic attempts at playing Stephen King for the day.

Let's make this happen!

Hours 1-3- went pretty well, I'm now at 6461 for word count, hours 1 and 3 being the best (2 was dedicated to eating breakfast and seeing the Hubs off to work).

It's now Hour 4, but I think I'm going to take a break to shower and walk to the post office.  I'm trying not get off my butt every once in awhile. 

You Are My Only

You Are My Only
by Beth Kephart
From Goodreads:

Emmy Rane is married at nineteen, a mother by twenty. Trapped in a life with a husband she no longer loves, Baby is her only joy. Then one sunny day in September, Emmy takes a few fateful steps away from her baby and returns to find her missing. All that is left behind is a yellow sock.Fourteen years later, Sophie, a homeschooled, reclusive teenage girl is forced to move frequently and abruptly from place to place, perpetually running from what her mother calls the "No Good." One afternoon, Sophie breaks the rules, ventures out, and meets Joey and his two aunts. It is this loving family that gives Sophie the courage to look into her past. What she discovers changes her world forever. . . .
The riveting stories of Emmy and Sophie—alternating narratives of loss, imprisonment, and freedom regained—escalate with breathless suspense toward an unforgettable climax.

 My Thoughts:  I read this book as part of an ARC tour, and to be honest I don't know that I would have finished it if I didn't feel that I should stick with it for the sake of the tour.  The storyline really appealed to me- a baby stolen, a young mother left to wonder what happens intertwined with the story of the now teenage daughter.   But the writing of the book didn't flow for me, the language, the voice, didn't draw me in.  The two main characters were not the main interest for me, instead it was Joey and his aunts- that part I really loved.  I loved these two women, raising this boy and helping to awaken Sophie, who is not unlike Rapunzel, locked in the tower- an image the author does use.  I liked that they were Joey's aunts not because they were sisters but because they were life partners, and that it's not a big issue, it's just a fact.

The weakest part of the book for me was Emmy's story. Her story started off good, and I thought the set up for Baby/Sophie's kidnapping was very realisitc.  It just fell flat after that, and while I appreciate the fact that she loses her mind when Baby/Sophie is taken, you never see her really come back.  And although I liked the glimpse of Emmy's own personal Girl, Interrupted experience, I really wanted to see how Emmy had fared during the years.  The Emmy at the end of the story is still a question mark.

Am I glad I stuck with the book?  Yes, I am.  I think Kephart had a good idea, there were elements to her story that I really liked- for instance the back story of the woman Sophie thinks is her mother.  Aunt Helen and Aunt Cloris- their love, their house, their support makes this story.   I am so glad that was introduced to them.  I loved how much they loved literature- clearly a trait shared by the author.

You Are My Only is technically meant to be a YA book, but it really works as an adult novel as well.  It wasn't a book I loved, or even liked, right away, but it's a story that sticks with you.  And honestly, now that's it's been over a week since I read it I'm actually feeling more fond of it and usually I have the opposite reaction for a book that I just found okay.


You Are My Only gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

I haven't read anything else by Kephart, but I am interested enough to consider reading more of her work.  Any recommendations out there?