I first picked up a Sarah Dessen novel at the unreasonably small library at my school, since it seemed fairly interesting. This was last June and I was fairly new to the YA romance scene; now, I have been told that this first book was one of the best by Dessen. If so, then it unfortunately set my expectations "unrealistically" high. This book was The Truth about Forever, and you can read my review of that book here.

As I said, I guess I sculpted my expectations for Along for the Ride based on The Truth about Forever. It wasn't as though I'd only read one Dessen book-- I'd read two others besides: Someone Like You, which I disliked but thought was the exception, not the rule, and Dreamland, with its excellent writing (even with its topic making me uncomfortable.) Anywho, Along for the Ride was just not for me.

Bad:

1. Maggie & Co. are cardboard-cutout characters, vastly disinteresting. Mostly, I hated selfish and inconsiderate Leah (who just cares about going where she wanted ((TALLYHO))). Auden, the main character, was right in her first-impressions-judgement of them: They ARE superficial. Obviously, Maggie has more to her than meets the eye, but still: It's just her, and frankly it's not enough. (Think 4 Kaitlyns from The Fault in Our Stars, but one of them is quite intelligent.) Additionally, their taste in boys says it all (kind of), and makes them seem even more shallow, even Maggie, if such a thing is possible (it is).
2. Jason. I understand that he was made to be unlikeable, but STILL. Weirdly enough he said things like "I wouldn't blame you if you were to never speak to me again," showing his emotions. I think he cares for Auden but expects too much from her: to wait until he himself has time for her, and sit idly, skipping a lot of fun/parties, when he doesn't. Also: is he Jason from The Truth about Forever? While this is kind of unlikely due to timing, they have similar personalities, and I have heard that Dessen commonly includes characters from other books into new ones, reprising their roles. (But usually, MCs from other books get small roles in new books, so...)
3. Auden's actions? Like, specifically, Jake. >.>
4. Sarah Dessen's book formula. Like, I understand that you are supposed to look at books separately from each other, especially if they are not part of a series, and treat them independently. But one has got to wonder if Dessen is just really really really overusing all her plot elements.

Good:

1. Eli? He's quirky for sure, but.... the way he just opens up to  Auden & no one else, especially seeing that Auden is NEW TO TOWN, is really kind of unnerving. I love the laundromat-pie thing, though. It really adds an extra dimension to the Eli/Auden relationship (whatever it is).
2. Heidi. YES YES YES. Auden was condescending about her in the beginning but that only made me love her more when she turned out to be..........nice.
3. Auden....... but only sometimes. I'm glad she has a good relationship with her parents (Even if said parents are consistently make mistakes/use poor judgement regarding decisions).
4. Auden's brother, Hollis. Agh! He's lucky, lucky, lucky, and quirky, and kind of a spoiled kid, but he seems to be a genuinely nice guy with an interesting personality (even if he just keeps sapping money from his parents).

Quickie Review: The Good Earth

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ahh <33
This book is kind of long, so it has a lot of ups and downs. I didn't find this particularly good, because Wang Lung in general is not really an interesting character. It may just be my bad memory, because I read this almost a month ago, but although I plowed through it, I didn't read any parts that jump out at me in particular.

Sigh, I really wanted to like this book as a friend recommended it to me with glowing reviews. I guess I'm just not as cut out for these kinds of books....

Best part of this book: (view spoiler)[ I would say that the best part of this book was the part where Wang Lung and his family go to the south to try to live city life when their rural village town is stricken by drought therefore famine. (hide spoiler)]

Favorite Character: My favorite character would have to be Wang Lung's mute and mentally disabled daughter. She does not have a name, but is Wang Lung's especial pet, and he often says to her: "Oh, poor fool! You poor little fool!" in a way that is meant to be a compliment.



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Quickie Review: The Menagerie

The Menagerie by Tui T. Sutherland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I found this book to be very entertaining. The premise is simple, and at times cliched-- but it was enjoyable, in the least. Although I prefer deep, thoughtful, well-written books, I still like a good light read now and again, so this book was perfect for it!

I don't read much fantasy, mostly because not much of it interests me (vampires? zombie? ghosts? goblins? ugh.). But I decided to give it a shot because it sounded okay.

I didn't like the main character, Logan, mostly because it was like, (view spoiler)["Oh, you have a superpower. Great, you're suddenly better than someone who's been training all his life!!!" (hide spoiler)], even if Logan really couldn't help it and it wasn't his fault at all....

I am SO DONE with totally precocious main characters. Hello? They should have flaws too! UGH.

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Quickie Review: An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. just......wow.

This book's title has always intrigued me, and I'm so glad that I decided to check it out.

This book was just beautifully written and thoroughly entertaining. I'm sure that if I look closer and scrutinize it as I have in some of my other reviews I am sure to find some mistakes, or some part that is faulty in some way. And sure, some of the language just did not sit well with me. But the characters were so quirky and fun, and I was on Colin's side from the beginning. I wasn't sure about Hassan for a while, but he grew on me, too. And Lindsey! Oh, she was such a delight to read about.

The part about the factory wasn't very clear, I think, and at first I thought Hollis was Lindsey's adopted mom or stepmom or something because Lindsey calls her by her first name.......

But if I step back and think about it, I can't honestly say that this book was perfect. Still, it was a refreshing and interesting read, and I think that it was funny and amazing enough for me to really really like it.

So........... I found this book to be an enjoyable and good read (ha-ha, see what I did there?) and I would recommend it to many other readers.


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The Encyclopedia of Me, by Karen Rivers

The Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers

One sentence review-summary:

I kinda hated this book. Two stars, because some parts were memorable, but the whole thing was frustrating as a whole.

Summary:

This is the story of Tink’s summer leading up to her eighth-grade year. Written in the style of an encyclopedia and narrated by Tink, who writes it when she is grounded to have something to do, Tink reveals the complex emotions of a young teen.

Setting:

This book takes place in the present day. The location is not specified.

Main Characters:

Tink Aaron-Martin, a biracial soon-to-be eighth grade girl.

Freddie Blue Anderson, Tink’s Swedish best friend.

Ruth Quayle, an unpopular girl who likes to skateboard and who turns out to be an unlikely friend for Tink.

Kai, the extremely cute boy with blue hair who lives next door to Tink and who skateboards as well.

Thoughts:

The friendship between Tink and Freddie Blue is incredibly frustrating. Tink becomes concerned with what BFFs should feel and letting that dictate her emotions. “Freddie Blue is my BFF! I should be happy if she has a boyfriend first! I shouldn’t even care! But I do.” Definitely not a sign of a healthy friendship. Also, I think that Tink idealized Freddie Blue. Examples of this include Tink frequently saying, “Freddie Blue would never do that to me.”

Secondly, for goodness’s sake, Tink! You’re going into eighth grade. You sound like a fifth grader! Subject matter aside, if you add Tink’s personality with a childish love of paperdolls you could easily create a nine-year-old.

I think that Tink’s idea of her role in her household differs from her parents’ and in many ways Tink doesn’t like being labeled. I don’t think that she tried to defy the label but she openly disliked it. She couldn’t help being a Peacemaker. She wished her parents’ expectations were different.

Tink’s decision to switch to Isadora is ironic, in a way. When she was four, Tink probably begged to be called Tink, yet nine years later, she says, “You shouldn’t let a four year old choose her own name!” But she has a new identity now. That’s great. Obviously, frequent identity changes can be a problem (hint hint Mclean from “What Happened to Goodbye” by Sarah Dessen). But for Tink it’s actually healthy, like a breath of fresh air.

So while I had been very excited about reading this book initially, it fell flat for me.

Also the constant footnotes were SO annoying. Many times I would miss the note, only to find a parade of small text at the bottom, and the I would search and search for the note.

The whole “I’m writing an encyclopedia about my life so I can get famous” thing kinda failed to be honest. At times Tink says completely out of line things like “Don’t tell ___ I said that,” etc. If she actually plans on publishing it, which she constantly assures us of, then those people, like Lex or Freddie Blue, would probably know anyway.

I feel as if Rivers did not flesh out the characters much as far as appearances go; that, or she is under the false impression that soon to be eighth grade girls wouldn’t want to describe people. Quite the opposite! I am going into seventh grade but I know some people who are a grade older anyhow. I honestly don’t know what Freddie Blue looks like, besides that she is Swedish and has “expensive gold streaks in her hair.”

I don’t think Tink is like any other black girl I’ve known. If not for the parts where she talks about about her afro and her father, I would have thought she was a white girl. With all due respect, Ms. Rivers, you cannot just add an ‘interesting’ heritage to an otherwise Plain Jane character and just expect it to work! Tink has got to have a voice!

Besides having blue hair, what doe Kai look like? Even if Tink knew little about him, she would certainly be able to describe him, especially after mooning over him!

We don’t know much about Seb except that he has autism and therefore gets to do anything he likes. Tink is therefore understandably jealous.  Her jealousy may be understandable, but it definitely isn’t excusable, and he ‘he gets everything easy, why can’t I’ attitude just further proves how immature she is.

Recommendation:

I would recommend this book to teen girls with a taste for drama.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Setting

This book is set in futuristic New Beijing, in the year 125 T.E., at time when humans, cyborgs, and androids all coexist.

Summary (no spoilers)

Prince Kai wants to get his android Nainsi fixed—by none other than the most gifted mechanic in New Beijing, Cinder! But while in the local junkyard looking for pieces of metal to use with her stepsister, Peony gets letumosis, or the plague as it’s known, a sickness that is spreading like wildfire across the Eastern Commonwealth. Adri sends Cinder to the cyborg draft, where scientists use cyborgs to test for cures for the plague. That’s when everything changes….

Characters

Cinder, the 16-year-old protagonist, is the most gifted mechanic in New Beijing, and an adopted cyborg from Europe with an ambiguous childhood.

Iko, Cinder’s android with a unique personality, is also Cinder’s best friend.

Peony is Cinder’s stepsister who is a victim of the plague. She is also the excuse that Adri has to get rid of Cinder.

Prince Kai is the prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, as well as being Cinder’s love interest.

Dr. Erland is the head researcher for the cyborg draft with a secret of his own.

Adri is Cinder’s stepmother who despises her cyborg stepdaughter.

Queen Levana, the Lunar Queen, who is an enemy of the Eastern Commonwealth.

Thoughts

This book is a modern retelling of Cinderella. As such, the plot at some points became a little bit predictable. However, I really liked how only one of Cinder’s stepsisters was mean, as opposed to both in the original Cinderella fairytale. Although I believe Cinder was a fantastic book, there were a few confusing parts. For example, once, Dr. Erland was explaining something to Cinder (I’m trying not to spoil too much), and Cinder just took a long time to process this information. Instead of coming off as being shocked speechless, however, Cinder just seemed a bit unresponsive.

Also, I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I understand why Marissa Meyer made it into a series (with this subject matter, who could resist?), but I still expected some sort of closure. And so the ‘cliffhanger’ ending became more like a marketing gimmick, instead of a literary prop. And if the next book in the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet, stars a different fairytale main character (namely, Red Riding Hood), how will there ever be enough space for Meyer to tell Cinder’s ending AND Scarlet’s story?! With a series like this one, with each book starring a different protagonist (while, admittedly, the same antagonist), I would have expected there to be a fifth and final book explaining what happens when the four girls join forces (as in the juvenile fantasy series Sisters Eight). I guess I’ll just have to read the rest of the series—when it comes out—to find out!!

Girl Out Loud, by Emily Gale

Girl Out Loud by Emily Gale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually quite liked this book. I give out 2-star and 3-star ratings literally all the time, but this one made it to 4 :)

Where do I start with this? There were parts of the book I didn't like. But I think I'm a bit of a "hopeless romantic" (I'm not sure if I'm using this correctly), so I dislike reading books about people receiving very harsh treatment or anything like that. Let me elaborate: when a character gets treated unfairly by another, i.e. bullying, child abuse, harassment, etc., it makes me VERY uncomfortable, even if the case is very minor. But I digress.

The reason I mention that is because our main character Kassidy's dad has a sort of disorder. It's not very detailed in the story, and at parts it was so vague that it got to the point where I was wondering if the author even bothered to do any background research at all. But I understand that living with a parent with that disorder would make it hard for Kassidy to talk about it, and I don't blame her, so............that makes it all right.

I don't understand why Char, Izzy, and Kass, not to mention Luke and Cass(ian), all have family problems. Really? Is it that serious in their area? And Kass's family, apparently, has problems with both parents. But I see how living with Kass's dad could have caused her mom to do the things she did. (Trying not to spoil too much here (: )

One thing I really loved about the book was (view spoiler)[ the conflict between Char and Kass about Dream Boy, a.k.a. Cass. (hide spoiler)]

I also loved how, in the end, because of what was going on with their mom, Raff and Kass became closer to each other. It seemed so sweet.

But it also seems impossible how Raff gets away with every. single. thing. he does. Really? That seems really odd, considering how uptight the parents are with Kass, who is two years older.

I wished that there could have been more descriptions of how Kass didn't stand up to her father's outrageous demands.

I know that the (view spoiler)[ Gorton's fish sticks (hide spoiler)] incident was one, but then they didn't describe any of the other failed Operation: Stardoms, such as the Mensa IQ Test and Youth Orchestra.

And it was so unfortunate that nobody realized that Kass had tried to rebel against her father, more than once. Deep down inside, she didn't want to let him down, I think, because that might unleash his inner "monster". (Something they refer to as GTD or something that I never quite managed to understand, *shrug*)

Anyway. That's it for this book.
~Dana


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Quickie Review: Jefferson's Sons

Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Wow. This book was an eye-opener, for sure.

I believe that it was my mother who first thrust this book at me. Or maybe I had just seen the pretty spine or the "Historical Fiction" sticker or something. Anyways, as soon as I started reading this book, I was intrigued. Not hooked, necessarily, but intrigued.

The story is well-written and the facts are well researched. However, it did not make much of an impression on me now, so that's -0.5 stars.

But this book let me rediscover historical fiction, and the subject is so well done. This book actually kind of reminds me of The Hope Chest for some reason, although the topics are similar yet different at the same time. :3 I'm bad at explaining things, but hopefully you'll understand...?



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