Falling for February #3

For my February feature, I decided to focus on the holiday EVERYBODY cares about during this month - Valentine's Day! Every Saturday I'll pick one book or series, that, no matter how trashy, really put me in the Valentine's Day mood. And this week's choice is...

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Amazon/IndieBound).  This might seem like a bit of an odd choice, due to the fact that it's a violent, disturbing dystopian novel about the evils of reality TV and Third World exploitation instead of a more traditional romance like the last two, but how could you not list this one for Valentine's Day when you factor in one of the greatest Team vs. Team debates since Team Jacob vs. Team Edward?

 In this book, in case you didn't know, it's Team Peeta vs. Team Gale, and the fans are pretty evenly split between the two.  In the dystopian nation of Panem, formerly known as North America, a wealthy Capitol rules with an iron grip over 12 Districts, all forced to produce for leaders who view their lives as expendable.  As punishment for a rebellion 74 years ago, the Districts must each send a boy and a girl Tribute between the ages of 12 and 18 to the annual Hunger Games, a brutal gladiator fight to the death that is televised and made mandatory viewing for the rest of the country.

In District 12, when our protagonist 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen's little sister's name is drawn from the reaping ball, Katniss volunteers in her sister's place, much to the dismay of her illegal hunting partner Gale.  When the name of Peeta Mellark is also drawn, a boy to whom Katniss owes her life, she figures it can't get any worse.  But it can, and does, when Peeta announces during an interview that he's been in love with Katniss.

I won't spoil the rest of the first book, but let's just say that the second is just as riveting, and the ending a hundred times worse of a cliffhanger.  The cover and title of the third novel, Mockingjay, was just released, and the book comes out August 24th, much to the chagrin of fans (myself included) who have been dying to read it since last August! 

As for its Valentine's Day appeal, Gale is a rugged, handsome, fiery revolutionary who refuses to endure the tortures of District life, while Peeta is the popular kid at school, a baker's son, a talented speaker with the uncanny ability to inspire everyone who hears him.  Honestly, who wouldn't want a choice like that?  (Though, for the record, I'm Team Peeta.)

Check back for my last Falling for February post next Saturday!

Freaky Green Eyes and Sexy - Double Review

These books were purchased as final published editions. In no way was I paid or subsidized for this review by the author or publisher. (See Disclosure in Accordance with FTC Guidelines)

Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates
ISBN 9780064473484
Associate Links: Amazon/IndieBound
 
Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates
ISBN 9780060541514
Associate Links: Amazon/IndieBound

For once, I'm actually doing a double review of two books that are NOT part of a series, only by the same author, but the style is similar enough that I'm pretty confident I can pull it off.  :-)  In Freaky Green Eyes, we follow the life of 15-year-old Francesca, or as she likes to be called, "Frankie", through her tumultuous adolescence and the extreme domestic (psychological and physical) abuse inflicted upon her family by her smart, rich, talented sportscaster father.  In Sexy, which was a lot more subtle than Freaky, Oates tackles homophobia and hate  crimes against gays in a small town, from the perspective of a very sexy but insecure jock on the swim team.

Both of these books were strange, difficult, compulsively readable and very, very beautiful.  Sometimes, beautiful is the only adjective to fit, and these are that kind of book.  The one that you read and think, somebody actually gets it.  Both are stories with no happy endings, both leave much to the imagination, both utilize a spare, simple prose style that somehow gets into the head of the teen protagonists perfectly.  Both tackle very serious, heartbreaking issues and somehow manage it without sounding preachy or forced.  I'd like to know how Joyce Carol Oates does it.

Even when you don't quite *get* what's going on with Frankie and Darren - sometimes I got a little frustrated when I really wanted to know more backstory, and the novel didn't elaborate - it's impossible not to sympathize with the characters and to associate them with yourself, the kids next door, anybody.  These are perhaps the most realistic novels I've ever read.  I don't always think realistic is a good thing - I think it's important to streamline a story sometimes, to use allegory to say what you mean to say - but somehow, in Freaky especially but in Sexy as well, it's done in a way that avoids the pitfalls.

I liked Freaky a little bit more than Sexy, perhaps because Frankie was a girl I could relate to - Darren was, in his own words, a "guy's guy" - but both are absolutely, 100% unbelievably fantastic YA fiction.  And you know I don't say that lightly.  Where can I find more Joyce Carol Oates?

The Final Verdict: Haunting, well-written, with unforgettable characters.  Five out of five stars.

My Soul to Save Giveaway!

I thought I'd remind everyone about the awesome giveaway over at Novel Novice - you have until Friday to enter!  They're giving away three free copies of Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Save, which I haven't read yet, so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll win one.  Check out the description from Amazon.com:

When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies.

So when teen pop star Eden croaks onstage and Kaylee doesn't wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can't cry for someone who has no soul.

The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad's ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend's loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld--a consequence they can't possibly understand.

Kaylee can't let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk....

Yay!  I'm excited!  So go enter, people!

Gone and Fade: Double Review

These books were purchased as final published editions. In no way was I paid or subsidized for this review by the author or publisher. (See Disclosure in Accordance with FTC Guidelines)


Fade by Lisa McMann
ISBN 9781416953586
Associate Links: Amazon/IndieBound
 
Gone by Lisa McMann
ISBN 9781416979180
Associate Links: Amazon/IndieBound

I was a latecomer to fandom for this trilogy, but wow.  In this case, better late than never!  I am not going to both summarizing the plot of Wake, the first book in the series, so if you haven't read my review of that book already you can read it here.  So after reading Wake and dying for the second installment, not being able to get into my favorite local bookstore, I actually broke down and bought both novels at Target.  *Hangs head in indie shame.*  I also, on a whim, purchased the third one (just released last week!) at the same time that I bought the second one, which I almost NEVER do, but I made an exception because I loved the first book so much!

And...I finished both books the same day I bought them.  *Gulp.*  That is also something that NEVER HAPPENS.  I'm a fast reader - I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows twelve hours after the midnight release, and six of those I was actually sleeping - but I usually have a slush pile of reading to get through before I reach my new purchases.  But I just.  Couldn't.  Wait.  For these two!  And, thank goodness, I wasn't disappointed.

Janie and Cabel are two of my favorite characters in YA fiction.  Granted, they may not be the deepest, best-written, etc., etc., but they are the characters I can relate to the most - low-income, hard-working, serious characters that aren't depressed or obsessed with that "someday" they'll have the money for clothes or fancy vacations.  Not disparaging people who wish they had more money to spend on clothes - or books, as the case may be (in my case, definitely) - but I'm kind of sick of reading about filthy rich characters or characters who want to be filthy rich when I am certainly not filthy rich, and don't really spend that much time wishing I was.  Janie and Cabel want to earn the money to get to college, and they eventually earn their scholarships through their own hard work.  And on another level of good role model-ship, their relationship has its ups and downs, but they never lose sight of their priorities.  And that's what makes this book so AMAZING, in my opinion!  It was so nice to see supernatural YA being used as an exciting, readable bridge into actual issues like poverty, drugs, alcohol, etc.

And on a slightly less intellectual level, Cabel would be my dream YA valentine.  Cute but not stunningly, enviably, jealousy-inducingly attractive, sweet, funny, understanding, smart, thoughtful, and low-maintenance.  My type.  Just saying.

So if you haven't read this series yet, read it.  If you haven't picked up on that yet, that's actually what I'm telling you to do here.  Seriously.  Yes, the writing has some flaws - sometimes the half-prose, half-normal-dialogue style wore a little thin, and the sections on alcoholism especially felt quite preachy - but the story is wonderful enough and the conclusion bittersweet enough (and the books short enough) to make it really, truly worth your time!

The Final Verdict: I believe I've said it all.  Four and a half out of five stars.

Giant Linger Giveaway!

Just in time for Valentine's Day!  Is anybody else dying for the sequel to Shiver?  How about the sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth?  ARCs of both Linger and The Dead-Tossed Waves plus more completely and totally amazing books are being given away by Maggie Stiefvater, the author of Shiver, at her blog!  Go check it out!  But read the description of Linger before you go:

In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in LINGER, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, LINGER is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.