(Re)Cycler

Review of: (re)cycler by Lauren McLaughlin
Release date: August 25th. 2009
Pages: 288
Publisher: Random House
Received for review: Won in a contest
Overall grade: B

After the terrible incident that was prom Jill has to decide what to do after graduation. Should she travel with Tommy or should she go to New York with Ramie? Obviously since Jack is basically afraid of Tommy she chooses New York. Jack is of course thrilled because he gets to spend time having sex with Ramie as much as possible at their apartment. Jill is of course bummed because she misses Tommy terribly.

While there Jill and Ramie get mixed up with some "girl traders" that Jack has met. Jack is repulsed by this and wants to get back at the guys so he comes up with a plan to ruin their little scheme. But now Jill has sort of fallen for one of them and wants to lose her virginity just to get it over with. Recently Jack's cycles have been getting out of whack and Ramie is basically attached to this new fashion girl, Marguerite, who apparently has all sorts of connections. How many more problems can Jill and Jack run in to?

I think this was a great follow up to Cycler. It started off right after prom when Jill has to make her decision, and I liked that not a lot of time had passed from the first book. I also thought it was great that Jack actually wanted to protect Jill even though she had basically hid him for the first few years he was alive. Overall this was a good second book about Jill and Jack and their problems of being girl/boy. I hope there is a third book sometime in the future.

Big Contest!

Princess Bookie is having her Contest Craze start soon!!! This year it will be two weeks long. Aren't you excited, I know I am! The start date is September 27th. So be sure to stop by her blog and check out all the contest madness on the 27th! And also the major blowout contest day is on October 9th. So don't forget to stop by her blog on that day as well! :) Happy contesting!

Cycler

Review of: Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin (ARC)
Release date: August 26th, 2008
Pages: 256
Publisher: Random House
Received for review: from Random House (a while ago)
Overall grade: A

Jill is just your average girl. She's a senior in a small town. She has a best friend, Ramie. And of course, just like every young girl, she has a crush on a new kid in town named Tommy.

Oh yeah, there's one little thing I forgot to mention. Every month for the four days before her period Jill turns into a boy, aka Jack. This has been happening since Jill was 14. Now of course this puts quite of a damper on Jill's life. She has to keep this big secret from Ramie and the rest of the world. And now Jack has developed an obsession with Ramie. If it wasn't for Jill's 'Plan B' and her mantra "I am all girl" she would be stuck with all of Jack's thoughts (and actions) in her head all the time. But soon even those techniques might not even work anymore. What is a girl/guy supposed to do?

This was an incredibly brilliant first novel from Lauren McLaughlin (the second is out now too (Re)Cycler). It was so strange that it was amazing, if that even makes any sense at all. I absolutely loved it. It's hard to imagine what kind of life someone would have if they actually had this happen to them every month. It's crazy to even think about! But Lauren definitely captured the right feelings for both Jill and Jack I'm sure. I loved how each chapter switched between the two. So the book was basically half of Jill's point of view and vis versa. In the front of the book there is a message from Lauren saying that she was born to tell the story of Cycler and after having finished this story I definitely believe this. If I were you I'd go check this book out if you're in for a real page turner. And also, keep in mind that there is some mature subject matter in this book, and of course it mostly comes from Jack. Haha, boys.

Dark Song

Review of: Dark Song by Gail Giles (ARC)
Release date: September 2010
Pages: 292
Publisher: Little Brown
Received: won in a contest
Overall grade: A

"It felt dangerous. I found something dark in me that sang. I wanted to listen. Maybe I wanted to sing, too."

15 year old Ames has been betrayed. Her whole life she has been one of the rich kids until her father runs her family's life down the drain with his stupidity. Now her life is spiraling downwards. Her mother is freaking out and taking out her worries on everyone else, and all her father seems to be able to do is drink. The only level headed one in the family is Chrissy who happens to be 6 years old.

Now they are living in a hell hole somewhere in Texas and Ames is constantly being yelled at, worked to the bone, or getting very close to being smacked around by her parents. But in Texas she also has Marc. Marc is 22 and exactly the guy that Ames' friend Em would go for. Now that Ames has this different life she decides she could be dangerous like Em. Right away Marc says he's going to protect her, that he doesn't like the way she's being treated. When he's at her house one day and says he's got a gun it excites her. But she doesn't realize the trap that she is quickly being pulled in to.

This book was one of those page turners. I finished it in about a day. Of course it helped that it was one of those books that is a really quick read but even if it wasn't I'm sure I would have finished quickly. The first half focuses on Ames' family falling apart because of her father and the second part focuses on their new life in Texas and Ames' obsession with being a bad girl. As soon as Marc showed up I got a bad feeling but of course that was to be expected. I definitely wasn't expecting the book to end the way it did, and I liked the ending. If you're looking for a fast paced drama filled read then this is the book for you. Check out Gail Giles' other books as well. They're great just like this one.

Zombie Blondes

Review of: Zombie Blondes by Brian James
Release date: May 2009
Pages: 232 (paperback)
Publisher: Square Fish (imprint of Macmillan)
Received: Bought at Borders
Overall grade: C

Hannah and her father never stay anywhere for very long. She is never in the same school for more than a few months at a time at best. Because of this Hannah is always the new girl and usually has problems making friends. She has never been one to be popular.

This time they move to Maplecrest, Vermont. It has an old town feel to it that Hannah's father loves. But Hannah feels that something is off. Too many houses are for sale and it seems so quiet. Then of course there is the fact that the cheerleaders are strangely pale and all have amazingly piercing blue eyes. Hannah doesn't think much of it until her new friend Lukas tries to tell her that they are zombies. At first Hannah thinks he's crazy. Then the cheerleaders want her to be one of them and Hannah starts to notice things about them and the football players as well. What is going on in this town?

This book was okay. It wasn't breathtaking or anything, just okay for me. It was also a bit predictable but I liked Hannah and Lukas so that made up for it. I wasn't really hooked until the last forty pages or so. The rest of the book seemed to just drag out the inevitable. So unless you're really obsessed with zombies I wouldn't really recommend it. I do love the cover though and the way how the zombies were portrayed. It was a bit different then how they've been portrayed in other books and that was a plus. Overall it was a pretty okay read.