Review: The Family That Wasn't

The Family That Wasn't by Gene Twaronite
Publisher: iUniverse.com
Pages: 128
Release date: August 24, 2010
Website
Summary (from Good Reads): The Family That Wasn't is a humorous fable of how our families live inside us. It will appeal to both teen and adult readers. The 13-year-old narrator, John Boggle (whose real name is John Bazukas-O'Reilly-Geronimo-Giovanni-Li Choy-Echeverria), finds his family so impossibly crazy that he cannot stand living with them another moment. He invents a new perfect family so convincing that he suddenly finds himself living inside this imaginary world.

But John finds that he too has changed. He sees his too perfect image in the mirror and begins to wonder if it is all some kind of mistake. Only trouble is, now he can't remember who he is. He only knows that he must leave this family at once. His sole clue is the name, John Boggle.
To find his true family he embarks on a cross country quest. Along the way he encounters other characters who have also lost touch with their families. Together they must find a way to reconstruct the connections to bring back the family that once was.

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It’s interesting to me that The Family That Wasn't has been described as a novel that novel will appeal to both teen and adult readers, because while I was reading it, I just kept thinking, “This book is something I would’ve read when I was in elementary school. It’s perfect for that age group.” Had this book been written when I was that age, reading Goosebumps, The Baby Sitters Club and The Boxcar Children, I would’ve loved it.

The Family That Wasn't is an enjoyable read. I love the concept of being able to write your family out of existence, and replace them with your ideal family. That’s something everyone can relate to. As much as I love my family, there are definitely certain quirks my family members have that I would love to write out of existence. I think kids especially will love that idea, as well.

I also like the fact that although this is a fantasy novel, it’s not set in some other world with other rules that are difficult to understand. One reason I don’t read a lot of fantasy novels is because they’re set in fantasy worlds and they have crazy rules that I don’t always understand. Even books that are more realistic fantasy, like Twilight, sometimes have rules that I just don’t get, for whatever reason. That wasn’t an issue with The Family That Wasn’t, mainly because in the end, the experience of John being able to write his family out of existence, go on a journey, and find them again wasn’t one that could be explained. I can see how this would be a problem for a lot of readers, because it could mean that the story isn’t believable. But for me, it was never an issue of believability—I don’t believe we can write people out of existence—so I didn’t need an explanation for how it was possible for John to do so. I liked the mystery behind it and the fact that not everything can be easily explained. I also liked the idea that if he wanted to, John could do it again.

There’s so much in this novel that I think kids can learn from and love. I love it that even though John creates the ideal family for himself, even that family isn't perfect, and he begins to miss his real family. I think The Family That Wasn’t also has the potential to show kids that it’s okay to be creative and explore ideas like having an ideal family, while teaching them how to accept and love people for who they are. It’s a novel that I think kids will have a lot of fun with, and I love it that since there’s no real explanation for how John was able to write his family out of existence, they can come up with their own explanations.

I think kids will adore The Family That Wasn’t—as someone who loves children’s books just as much as teen’s books, this is one that I’m thrilled is now a part of my middle grade collection.

Overall rating: 4/5

Cover rating: 5/5

Review: Bitter Melon

Bitter Melon by Cara Chow
Publisher: Egmont USA
Pages: 320
Release date: December 28, 2010
Website
Summary (from book jacket): Frances has one job in life: to get into Berkeley and become a doctor so that her mother's ambitions will be realized. And Frances doesn't think there's anything wrong with that, until the day she accidentally steps into a speech class and begins to discover a talent her mother wouldn't approve of.

Frances turns out to be a natural at debate and public speaking. But to win in competition, she needs to say things she really believes--and to hide what she's doing from her mother. And once Frances steps out beyond her narrowly prescribed life, she begins to question many things about the way she is raised. Why can't she go to a dance with a boy who likes her? Why can't she get a job, or have any money of her own? And most of all, why is her mother never happy with her?

Frances knows she should be obedient, and that her mother has sacrificed everything so she can succeed. But when it's time to take the biggest step of her life, will Frances have the courage to defy her mother?

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The first word that came to my mind when I thought about how I would describe Bitter Melon was "phenomenal." I could also say this novel is amazing, fantastic, incredible, or that it blew me away, but those words do not do it justice.

I was not prepared for how emotional this novel would be. I loved Frances. I sometimes, but not always, like Theresa. I liked Ms. Taylor. I hated Gracie. I had strong feelings for every character in this novel, and I think that's a difficult thing for an author to accomplish. A lot of the times, I go through a novel loving the protagonist, hating the antagonist, and not really caring about any of the other characters. That was definitely not the case with this book. I had strong feelings, whether positive or negative, for each character in the novel, including the more minor characters, like Frances speech teammates, as individuals. I also had strong feelings about the characters and their relationships with one another. Frances' relationship with her mother horrified me. Her mother is so emotionally abusive, and at times physical abusive, and as clichéd as it might sound, it broke my heart. All I wanted was for Frances to open up to someone, like Ms. Taylor, and tell someone about her mother's abuse. I hated Frances' mom. I understand the cultural aspects of the novel, but I really despised Gracie. I did not want good things to happen to her.

Frances' friendship with Theresa was another character relationship that I had strong emotions about. The girls used each other and helped each other. They competed with each other, and they also supported each other. I didn't always like the way Frances treated Theresa, using her to cover for her lies and whatnot, but it annoyed me when Theresa complained about it, because she was allowing Frances to treat her that way.

The great thing about the relationships in Bitter Melon is that we get to see so many dimensions of them. We get to see Frances' and Theresa's friendship in the moments where Frances is using Theresa just to get what she wants, but we also get to see it when the girls are supporting and encouraging each other, building each other up instead of tearing each down the way their mothers do. We get to see the moments where Theresa's mother says horrible things about her, but we also get to see the moment where Theresa's mother supports her daughter in an amazing way at a speech competition. And of course, with Frances and her mother, we see the moments where Frances' mother abuses her emotionally and physically, but we also see the moments where her mother brags about her, even though it's only to benefit herself and not to truly show support for Frances.

To me, everything about Bitter Melon is perfect. The story, the cultural aspects (both Chinese and American), the characters and their relationships, the setting. . . . Everything comes together. Nothing is out of place in this story. Every moment holds significance. Bitter Melon is a stunning debut. I can't wait to find out what other stories Cara Chow has to tell us.

Overall rating: 5/5

Cover rating: 4/5

Review: Entice

Entice by Carrie Jones
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 266
Release date: December 14, 2010
Website
Summary (from book jacket: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!): Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that's not how things have worked out. For starters, well, Nick is gone. He's been taken to some mythic place for warriors called Valhalla, where Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. It's just not going to be easy.

Meanwhile, Bedford needs its warriors more than ever, since a group of evil pixies is devastating the place, with teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent. But even if Zara and her friends can find the way to Valhalla, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie-kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to leave with her? Especially considering she hasn't just turned into any pixie. . . She's Astley's queen.

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When I first read Need and Captivate, I loved them. I thought they were awesome, and I couldn't stop raving about them. I was really excited to read Entice.

And then, I read Entice. And I was completely, utterly disappointed. It wasn't awful, but it certainly wasn't great. I was actually bored throughout most of it. It was easy to read, but I kept thinking, "Is it over yet?" especially toward the end. I wanted to know how it ended, but I didn't really care about how we got to the end. For me, the same things kept happening, with slight variations: Zara and Astley tried to get to Valhalla. They failed. Zara and Astley tried to get to Valhalla again. They failed again. The main conflict of the story was getting Nick back, and frankly, 266 pages of nothing but trying to get Nick back is boring. I noticed the same emotions were expressed multiple times throughout the book: What if Nick hates me now because I'm a pixie (Zara)? Don't worry, we'll get your wolf back (Astley). There was a little additional conflict with people in Bedford disappearing and with the idea of an imminent war, but overall, those were secondary conflicts that weren't in the book very much at all. This is a novel that definitely needed a second conflict to play a much larger part, instead of everything being about Nick.

And frankly, I hated Zara in this novel. As some of the characters pointed out, she was completely selfish. All she cared about was Nick. She mentions that she does care about her friends and family and the Bedford residents, and she wants Astley to protect them and blah, blah, blah, but overall, she was selfish and never hesitated to put her closest friends and family in harm's way. I don't know why anyone stood by her, especially Astley. I felt awful for Astley. Zara was such a jerk to him, using him just to get Nick back, when it's obvious that Astley's a good guy and he really cares about Zara. I wanted Astley to say screw you to Zara instead of doing so many things for her only to get nothing in return, and I wanted Zara to say screw you to Nick and fall in love with Astley.

Since I've already read the first three books in the Need series, I'll have to read the last one, but right now, I'm not really looking forward to it all that much. I really wish Entice had lived up to its hype, but for me, it didn't.

Overall rating: 2/5

Cover rating: 3/5

Review: XVI

XVI by Julia Karr
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 325
Website
Summary (from back of book): Every girl gets one. An XVI tattoo on the wrist--sixteen. They say they're there for protection. Some girls can't wait to be sixteen, to be legal. Nina is not one of them. Even though she has no choice in the matter, she knows that so long as her life continues as normal, everything will be okay. Then, with one brutal strike, Nina's normal is shattered; and she discovers that nothing that she believed about her life is true. But there's one boy who can help--and he just may hold the key to her past. But with the line between attraction and danger as thin as a whisper, one thing is for sure...for Nina, turning sixteen promises to be anything but sweet.

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XVI blew me away. I loved it. It is one of the best dystopian novels I've read. It was well-paced. I was never bored when I was reading, even during the parts that seemed to be a more mundane. There were some really intense moments between Nina and her mom's boyfriend, Ed. And the friendships were incredible. I liked Nina, I loved Wei, and I loved Nina's grandparents. Julia Karr did a fantastic job with the characters. They were well-rounded and interesting, and their relationships with each other were interesting.

That said, there was one character I couldn't stand: Sandy. I understood why she and Nina were best friends, and I understood Nina's desire to protect her, but I really hated Sandy. She was so freaking annoying. She was the type of person I would've wanted to stay far away from when I was in high school. Truthfully, I wanted to punch her in the face. She was a good friend to Nina in some ways, but overall, she was so fake that I couldn't stand her. I liked it that I hated her, though, because for me, a good writer doesn't just create characters I love; she also creates characters I intensely dislike or downright hate.

Another thing I really liked was knowing what year the novel takes place in. I've read dystopian novels that I've loved that never tell me what year the novel actually takes place in, but when it comes down to it, I want to know what year it is in the novel. It's just a piece of grounding information for me that I feel like I need to have, so I'm glad it was there.

XVI was fantastic. I'm totally in love with it. I can't wait to read the sequel, Truth.

Overall rating: 5/5

Cover rating: 5/5

In My Mailbox: 22

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. I know I said I wasn't going to do IMM anymore, but I wanted to do is this week because I won a giveaway.

Lilly at Booklungs held a debut author giveaway, and I was one of the lucky winners!

I won a copy of Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck, and I'm incredibly excited to read it. I also received a bookmark, which I don't have a picture of. Tiger's Curse is the first book in a romance-fantasy. I don't normally read fantasy, but I loved the interview Lilly did with Colleen, and the cover the this novel is gorgeous, so when I entered the contest, this was the book I decided I wanted if I were to win. Thanks to Lilly and also to the publisher, Splinter, for the lovely book!

It's been a few weeks since I've done IMM, so here's a quick list of other books I've gotten in the past few weeks.

Gift:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver. My parents got it for me for Valentine's Day. I was so excited when I got it that I squealed, "You got me Delirium!" And the first thing my mom said was, "Is that good?" To which I said, "YES!!!!!"

Purchased:

The Duff by Kody Keplinger
Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

Library loot:

When I Was Joe by Keren David
XVI by Julia Karr
The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them by E. Lockhart
Rules of Attraction: Simone Elkeles
Real Live Boyfriends: Yes, Boyfriends, Plural, If My Life Weren't Complicated, I Wouldn't be Ruby Oliver by E. Lockhart
The Treasure Map of Boys: Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon--and Me, Ruby Oliver by E. Lockhart

I actually got more than that--I borrowed several adult fiction and non-fiction titles from the library, plus I purchased an adult novel and a book of poetry, and I borrowed several adult novels from my mom. I just didn't list them out since they're not YA.

What did everyone else get this week? Happy reading!

Review: The DUFF

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 288
Release date: September 27, 2010
Website
Summary (from Good Reads): Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren't so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

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From what I can tell, The DUFF got a lot of hype when it came out. I knew a lot of people loved the novel, and it sounded interesting, so I wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, I found it to be a little disappointing.

Overall, the book wasn't what I was expecting. Yeah, the summary says Bianca and Wesley have an enemies-with-benefits relationship, and that's primarily what the novel was about. That didn't really bother me, but I did wonde: what's the point of the novel being called The DUFF, and Bianca dwelling on that term when Wesley calls her a duff and nicknames her Duffy, when the issue of duffs isn't the major point of the novel? I really didn't feel like the concept of being the duff played nearly as large of a role as it should have, considering the title and considering the moments when Bianca really struggles with that term--instead, the novel was about a sexual relationship between two teens. Near the end of the novel, the concept of the duff plays a slightly larger part of the book, but not by much. And by then, it was too late for me. I was disappointed in this because I think the concept of being a duff, and how every girl can relate to being a duff at one time or another is much more interesting than two teens having sex to escape from the stresses in their lives. I really would have liked to see the concept of duffs be played out more.

The characters were fun. I cared about Bianca. I even cared about Wesley a little. I enjoyed their banter. Some of the moments they shared cracked me up, especially when it involved insulting each other. I also liked Casey and Jessica. I liked their loyalty to Bianca. I did feel, though, that Casey and Jessica, and even Wesley and Bianca fall a little flat. They're not quite as three-dimensional as I would have liked. It seemed to me that Bianca cares primarily about hating love, having sex with Wesley, doing well in school, and her parents. But she hates a lot of things, which is completely realistic, since I've known people who are like, but there didn't seem to be a lot of depth to her as a result. Wesley just cared about sex--we never really got to see into his character in great detail, except for his sexual activity and the situation with his parents. And when it comes to Casey and Jessica, they're all about partying and having a good time. I really would have liked to see all the characters in more detail--there has to be more to them than what we got to see.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this novel. I wouldn't say it's the best book I've ever read, but it was entertaining, and the few times that it did touch on the idea of people being duffs have really made me think.

Overall rating: 3/5

Cover rating: 3/5