(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.

Tell Me a Secret

Review of: Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala
Release date: June 22nd, 2010
Pages: 292
Publisher: Harper Teen
Received: Won in a contest
Overall grade: A

"It's tough living in the shadow of a dead girl..."

It has been 5 years since Miranda's (aka Rand) sister, Xanda, died. Xanda was always the bad seed in the family and their mother always considered Miranda to be the good daughter. Rand is just starting to get used to things the way they are. Her mom is always tied up with something at church and her father is constantly working which really isn't nothing new in the first place. She has a new best friend at school, Delaney, and a pretty great boyfriend, Kamran, who has taken an interest in Rand's art work. But when Rand comes back from being gone all Summer she's got a secret of her own, and many more secrets to find out along the way.

Get ready for a real heartwrencher with this one. The last 100 pages or so were real tearjerkers but I loved every minute of of it. For the most part I couldn't really tell what would come next. It was hard not to feel bad for Rand during the whole story from the way she was being treated by everyone, and how her life had been for the past few years after her sister's death. This story was a real page turner. I never wanted to put it down so I'm thankful I actually had a block of time to finish it in. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who's had to deal with death or teen pregnancy. It sends out a good message. I can't wait until Holly's next book comes out!

Nothing Like You

Review of: Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick
Release date: October 20th, 2009
Pages: 209 (paperback version)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Received to review for: TeensReadToo
Overall grade: B

During her Junior year Holly lost her mom to cancer. In her Senior year Holly loses her virginity to Paul. She assumes it's just a one time thing because Paul is pretty much out of her league and he also has a long time girlfriend, Saskia. But after that day Paul keeps trying to talk to Holly and pursue her further. Pretty soon they are regularly sleeping together and Holly feels awful about it knowing that Saskia is Paul's real girlfriend. But it's really nice to have someone show their feelings for her even if it is only in secret. Since her mom died she hasn't been to feel much until now.

While this is going on Holly's only guy friend, Nils, has yet another new girlfriend. Holly thinks he has intimacy issues but should she really be judging him when she is doing what she is doing?

Everything changes for Holly when she's partnered with Saskia in class one day. She realizes that Saskia isn't the rude girl that Holly has always believed her to be. Soon the two of them become best friends and Holly is in a tough spot and knows that she has to completely end things with Paul, but how? Things get even worse when suddenly Nils and Holly start having feelings for each other..

At first I wasn't sure this book would really go anywhere but after the first couple chapters I realized what a pickle Holly had gotten herself in. And when she started talking to Saskia I was basically holding my breath every page! Holly and Nil's relationship was pretty great too. He was always there for her trying to cheer her up and make her smile. I was rooting for them to end up together during most of the book. Paul was just a total sleazebag. I kept wanting Holly to just smack him in the face or something. If you're looking for a great contemporary book to read then this is definitely it. I couldn't wait to get to the end of the book to find out what happened and I'm sure you'll feel the same way too. This was definitely a great first novel from Lauren Strasnick, and now I can't wait to read her other book, Her and Me and You.