Storm

Storm

(Image from its goodreads page)

Donna Jo Napoli

Trigger warnings for the book- mentions of rape and death

Sixteen-year-old Sebah's home is washed away in a flash flood, killing her family. She is left with only a swamp kit, Screamer, and her mantle. She finds a nook in the rocks to live in, but she grows weaker by the day.

Eventually, a man washes up next to her. Now she has to take care of him, too, but he's slipping away. When they come upon an ark, will she be willing to leave him behind?

So, this book is kind of a retelling of Noah's Ark. I'm going have to admit, the last time I read the Bible I had a high fever and no clue what was going on. I'm not shooting for biblical accuracy here.

Sebah was a great character. She was smart and protective and... eee, I just wanted to hug her! Later in the book she no longer seemed to do anything, becoming a sort of plot device instead of a character, but if she stayed like she was in the beginning, I think I would have loved her.

I dearly hope Aban wasn't meant to be a sympathetic character. He's arrogant and possessive of Sebah. When the first thing a character does is grab the MC by the hair and say 'you are mine, you will be my wife', I start to hate them. And continue to hate them. Frankly, I was kind of glad when [spoiler] he died.[end spoiler]

There's a thousand Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and so on retelllings, and I LOVE seeing something new. I think a take on Noah's Ark was a great idea, and (to my limited knowledge of the story) it had great execution.

The story didn't have a lot of dialogue. Sebah, after all, is mostly with animals. However, that didn't make the book feel empty. Ms. Napoli wrote the lack of speech well, still building characters and pushing intrigue without spoken words. 

The one thing I really need to get off my chest, though, is the rating for this book. I think I might have really liked it had it not been labelled as YA. The voice of the story seemed very grown-up, and the goings-ons follow suit. There's a lot of talk of 'mating' or implied mating. Or descriptions of mating. If it was just the animals I would push it aside and ignore it, but it applies to Sebah, too. She mentions 'mating' with Aban multiple times. I understand it becomes important later on, but the wording messed it up.

(Still on the same thing as last paragraph) There's a lot of things I had to file under 'either I read something wrong or you said something wrong'. Sebah [HOLY SPOILER BATMAN] gets pregnant and then there's a lot of boob talk. Later, when she has the baby there's things like 'I heard the baby's cry and milk rushed from my breasts'. Like, okay. Really, didn't need to hear that. [It's okay, the spoiler is over]. What I'm trying to say is it didn't read like a YA. I think I would have been okay with it had it been called an adult book instead of a YA.

The stuff about Noah's family was really interesting. I wish there was a bit more on Ada and Leba, but what was there was great. The way Noah developed was amazing.

So, here's something weird that I want to say but isn't important. There's a lot of retellings that are set in modern times. Honestly, I haven't seen many 'add a character but keep the rest' stories. I liked that. It was fun that way.

The romance. The romance. You already heard my piece on Aban. [Just ignore the rest of this if you don't like spoilers] Bash would have been an okay character if he hadn't turned into another love interest. He felt like an excuse to keep Sebah from being independent. I loved the parts where she was independent.

(I liked this book a bit more than I let on, sorry)

~Corinne

If I Ever Get Out of Here

If I Ever Get Out of Here

(Image from its goodreads page)

Eric Gansworth

If I Ever Get Out of Here is the quintessential coming of age story. Dying dogs and overly-soppy first crush not included.

(The following description is from goodreads. Accept that I'm not always creative.) Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him -- people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home -- will he still be his friend?

I want you to know that I generally don't like coming of age stories. They always have the same themes with the same resolution and the same friggn' copy-paste character over and over and over and over...

Well, If I Ever Get Out of Here was... decent! More than decent! Possibly (much) better than Old Yeller. Though the last one might be because I hate Old Yeller.

I'm going to give a moment to gush. Oh my God. Middle schoolers that talk like middle schoolers instead of third graders. If you didn't know that was a problem, you don't read middle grade fiction. Sevvies swear and have screwed up not-quite-dating stunts. People need to stop pretending like they don't. 

Another misconception this book spectacularly says "No, that's not how this works" to. That idea relates to Maslow's pyramid of human needs. Here, I'm going to show you my version of it.

The thing is that if you lose one of those, everything above it ceases to be a problem. Don't like people? Well, you can't like yourself either, you selfish jerk. Can't eat? You better not be worrying about your family, because that's way higher on my nice triangle thing. Everyone is like, "Yup, that is most certainly human condition. 100000% of people feel this way." But, like with Lord of the Flies, this is not correct.

Back on the book (but relating to the pyramid), Lewis does not have security in money. However, he still cares about everything about the second tier. Which I think is wonderful. Also, it's the plot of the story, but, still, wonderful. I've read a number of "deep" books (written by people who have absolutely no idea about the problem they're writing about) that completely follow Maslow in his thinking. You know what that leads to? Boring, flat characters. 

Okay, the point I'm trying to make is that Lewis was a really cool character to read and I'm glad I read a book that actually kind of gets human condition. I'd almost qualify it for deep-without-the-scare-quotes. Not in a John Green kind of deep way, but Out of the Easy kind of deep, where it's important and deep without a bunch of metaphors and such. I... I'm going to assume you understand what I'm trying to say.

I also loved how the author wrote friendships like friendships actually work. You know, you talk non-stop for three months and then suddenly start avoiding each other for reasons. You're super close on some things, but others are secrets to be kept. Friendship is not a line. It's a bunch of lines. A lovely, liney story.

A comment I have to make because I enjoy ruining otherwise awesome books: I feel like the bullying parts of it were a little unrealistic? I'm not sure, bullying has never really been a problem for me, so I'm probably wrong. But the circumstances leading to how severe everything was were just a little too specific. Like, the individual things that compile into the events make enough sense on their own (Evan is a raging racist, the teachers are raging racists, Evan's a pretty easy target in the scheme of things, etc.). All together, though, it feels kind of overwhelming. 
 
Overall, I loved this book way more than I've shown it. Great book, would definitely recommend it.

Wait, quick! How many coming-of-age books have no romance/crushes for the main character? One. Or, one that I know of. And that one is this one. I find this to be new and exciting territory. Thank you, Mr. Gansworth, for not throwing that COA story trope in just to conform to the horribly overused norm.

~ Corinne

Into That Forest

Into That Forest

(Image from its goodreads page)

Louis Nowra

Becky and Hannah are on a family trip (Hannah’s family, anyhow) when a flood catches them off guard. Though Hannah’s parents are killed, the two girls survive and are found by Tasmanian Tigers. The tigers, having lost their pups, take Becky and Hannah in as their own. Soon the girls forget their language and assume the life of a tiger.

Wow. Horrid description I just wrote, but there it is.

Before we start, for the poor, uneducated not Australian readers, I’ll clear up a few things. First of all, the narrator (Hannah) almost always refers to Tasmanian Tigers as just “tigers”. No, this is not the big stripey cat that goes on adventures with Calvin and somesuch. It means Thylacine, which went extinct in 1936. Google Thylacine, it’ll make this book make much more sense. The tigers aren’t described much.

May I also clear up that the main part of this book is set sometime in the early twentieth century. In case that concerns you. It concerns me. I’m very concerned. Extraordinarily so. I was duped into thinking this wasn’t a historical. I am horribly wounded.

Finally, I want you all to know that this kind of pushes the limits of a YA book. The main character at her oldest in the book is 10, but it is... themey. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under sixteen.

A couple trigger warnings for the book: Mentions of almost-rape and suicide.

From the warnings onto the review.

Despite being an extremely short book for the number of plot points in it, the timing and execution were wonderful. The plot, even if it seemed kind of run-of-the-mill (child[ren] gets lost in wilderness, they're raised by animals), had an air of originality to it. I'm not exactly an expert on the trope, though, so I actually have no idea how original it really was.

The format was a little odd, since it's being told by Hannah when she's 76. Her grammar is also a bit weird (read: horrible) because she had to relearn her English later on. It can catch you up if you don't learn to ignore it, which usually starts on the third page after picking up the book.

I'm going to have to repeat what I said in an earlier review about a different book. It didn't scream at me that if I put the book down I would die a horrible death at a random time. However, I definitely didn't regret picking it up. There weren't any chapter breaks, which was kind of irritating at first, but I think it actually made it a bit better. If the scenes were actually separated, I'd probably put it down and forget about it, whispering to myself it's okay, you'll remember where you were- really. This is the fate of uncountable books of mine.

So, checking in on what the goodreaders think (I do that occasionally, it's like being transported into a mystical world where everyone is right and wrong at the same time), I'm surprised about what people thought about the emotions in the book. Personally, I'm thinking I'm either really, really, not emotional, or everyone else is wrong. I lean towards the latter. I didn't find the book particularly heartrending. I found the parts where it was supposed to be, and even cried at some of them, but overall? Not really. It was like there was a veil of apathy from the narration, a quick assuring of "But I guess that's just how it happened, its okay."

No matter how unemotional it was, I did feel a connection with the characters. Becky and Hannah were polar opposites at the beginning of the book (Becky was a little lady and Hannah was a little monster), but grow into more interesting, well-developed characters as the story progresses.

I don't usually delve into my social justice warrior side during reviews, but I'm going to bring it up now because I can and no one is going to stop me. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on Australia and what goes on in it (other than killer trees, octopi that can and will kill you, and something called the frickn' sea wasp), but from any viewpoint the book was less than politically correct. First off, the main character (SPOILERS) almost gets raped, and its treated like, yeah, that happened or whatever. What the heck. Nah, just near sexual assault, nothing wrong here. It's never even mentioned after it happened.

Along with that, the Aboriginal people of Australia are always referred to as "the black fellas". Okay, I get it's the 1930s and whatnot, but really? I don't want to speak for others, but the light they're painted in isn't the greatest, either. And do not say, "It's the 1930s! It was just being realistic for the time period!" You can write historicals without being 100000000% accurate on everything that's being said. Especially when sounding like a semi-decent person is at stake. Unless it's Regency era England. People will find the slightest details ("THE WORD 'SLEAZE' WASN'T IN USE AT THAT TIME OMG DO YOUR RESEARCH") and run with it for those.

*Coughs*

Uh. Ignore that, if you wish. Occasionally I just need to rant.

Ignoring those two issues, the writing style was actually really interesting. It was descriptive enough to know what was going, but not excessive. It was largely simple speak, almost bordering on beige prose. It pulled it off, though. It sounded more genuine than boring.

The ending was bittersweet. It was interesting and a good way to end, saying what happened after the book instead of making the rest of us yell at inanimate objects in hopes they'll tell us their secrets. At the same time, though, I kind of wish there was a little bit more after (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER) Becky died.

Overall, decent book, would read again if I had to.

~Corinne

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

(Image from its goodreads page)

Cat Winters

It's 1918, and death hangs in the air. Influenza and war have ravaged not only Europe, but the hearts of the American people. When Mary Shelley Black finds out her first love, Stephen, has died, she's grief-stricken. But when his spirit returns to her, she's determined to learn more about what happened to him.

Okay, I'm not huge on historicals (you may notice that they're an endangered species here), and I rarely get through them. This is definitely one of the better ones.

It took a while to get into this book. Nothing particularly interesting happens for the first two, three chapters or so. So I was just kinda sitting there like, "It'll get better. It'll get better. Going sooooo sloooowwww, but it'll get- HURRY UP." I am an impatient person. This took me two check-out sessions from the library to get through it, just because the beginning didn't pass quick enough.

But it's like a slingshot. Cat Winters pulled it back ever so slowly, took target (your very being), and let go. Once Stephen died (it's not that big of a spoiler, get over it), it was off. And Mary Shelley the rock was speeding ahead at speeds I didn't think rocks could reach. And I enjoyed that.

The plot was faaaaabulous. It was well executed (trust me, there are so many bad ways to write a murder/ghost book) and once we reached that flying point, well timed. 

The style was awesome. You have no idea (or maybe you do- maybe you spy on nerds and are freakishly obsessed about what they read) how many ghost or otherwise paranormal books are purple. Like, 'Okay, I see we know how to use our descriptors here. But what are you talking about?' I am so glad this book defied my expectations.

The characters, however, I wasn't so fond of. Most of them were fairly two-dimensional. Their actions got predictable once you found out their main characteristic. And it's never good when characters have a main characteristic. People don't usually have one personality trait that defines their existence. And I can tell you those traits right now.

Mary- She's smart. Really smart. Super smart. She does smart things. Smartly. And she's brave. Like Harry Potter if he was a Ravenclaw. Because then he would be smart.

Aunt Eva- She's superstitious and protective. She's protective because she's superstitious. Or maybe not. We'll never know.

Julius- He's creepy and no one loves him.

Stephen- He's brave and hot. Oh, and smart. I guess.

Well, that's not the entire cast, but you know. Now, I didn't mind that Mary was smart and could, thank the gods of Asgard and Vaniheim, do stuff by herself. She didn't need Stephen to give her step-by-step instructions to get the job done. She is the girl, in concept, that I have been waiting for for SO LONG. But it the whole intelligence/bravery combo thing was kind of shoved in your face. And there didn't need to be (SPOILER SPOILER SKIP THE REST OF THE PARAGRAPH OR YOU SHALL DIE AT THE FIREY HANDS OF THE GODS) so much dying for her. The briefly-got-the-flu-and-survived thing was just a little much.

La, the emotions in this book. They were so deliciously well written. And there were a lot of them- you can't write about death and not have them. HAIL TO THE CAT OF WINTERS.

A good debut novel, I expect more from her soon. :D

~Corinne

A Long Walk to Water

A Long Walk to Water

(Image from The Beachwood Reporter)

Linda Sue Park

I'm having trouble trying to summarize the book, so here's the summary from Goodreads:

The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

Thank you, Goodreads, for solving almost all of my literary troubles. 

I just finished this book this morning, and since I have to compare all YA books with younger-age characters to Diamond Willow, I must say that this is a Diamond Willow. You do not have to be an eleven-year-old to enjoy this book. But you can be. Or maybe not. Who cares? Despite having two protagonists that are eleven for almost all of the book (SPOILER ALERT: Salva actually isn't eleven for all of it, though), it was pretty non-age specific.

The writing style wasn't my usual kind of read, but it still did it's (amazing) job of pulling me into the life of the characters.

The pacing was flawless, and so were the characters. I just wish that we would have heard a little bit more from Nya. I feel like the little snippets about her at the beginning of the chapter could have been just a little longer. 

Just saying, bring a box of tissues for reading. This book can and will make you cry. Sometimes, it's hard to realize that not everyone has running water and a computer to type reviews on while sipping tea. And the realization is hard. But knowing is better than any kind blissful ignorance. You can't try to help if you don't know.

And, ah, there were so many quotable lines in this book. In 112 pages, it had more memorable lines and moments than in most 400 page novels. Alas, I could not highlight anything because it's a library book. 

Okay, I'm sorry that this review was so freakishly short. I mean, five paragraphs of actual review. Very, very short paragraphs, too. Frankly, since this book is based on the childhood of someone (Salva Dut), I feel kind of odd reviewing it. Like, I'm reviewing parts of someone's life. And it was impossible to tell which parts were fact and which were fiction except for Nya's parts. Or even if Salva's narrative was fiction at all.

Interesting fact: This is why I didn't review The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango (my computer doesn't allow me-to my knowledge- to make the accent mark in Maria, so sorry for that). That was an awesome book, too. Why did I review this one, then? The world may never know.

Also, this is Dut's organization that builds wells in Sudan- http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/

So you know. :3

~Corinne

The Future of Us

The Future of Us

(Image from Wired.com)

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Heya! So, you might recognize the second name on this cover. Carolyn Mackler is the writer of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. You might also recognize Jay Asher's name, for Thirteen Reasons Why, but I'm assuming you have no life outside of this blog.

Okay, onto the description

It's 1996, and Emma got a computer from her dad as a guilt gift for also giving her a stepsister. Josh, her next door neighbor and long time friend (until recently) comes over with an America Online CD-ROM. But when Emma puts it in, it gives her Facebook. One problem, though.

Facebook doesn't exist yet.

Suddenly Josh and Emma are looking at their lives fifteen years in the future. And everything they do changes that page.

I think it's obvious why I would want to read this book.

I love the plot with all my tiny, lead-hard heart. Love it so much it hurts.

The collab sounds like a good fit, but there are some moments when you can see the thin line between who was writing. It isn't particularly bad, so don't worry, though.

A big shout-out for these two for not having the two opposite-gender characters punch you in the face and then strangle you with romance. Cue confetti cannon.

As I sweep up this confetti, I shall tell you about the characters. Emma was generally likeable, if a bit control obsessed. Of course, if I knew what was happening in the future and could at least try to fix it, I would too. Most of her decisions were relationship-driven, however, which wasn't my favorite thing.

Josh was, while flat at times, mostly interesting and well-written. There really isn't much else to say about him.

The writing style was pretty simple. Not in an unintelligent manner, but in a "this is how it is and this is what they're thinking". Also a bad description. Basically, it wasn't flowery and purple. Not beige either. To paraphrase Goldilocks, "The style was juuuuust right."

This book has a way of messing with your mind. Yes, my friends, every action now will change the future. Every. Single. Thing. Besides pouring water on the carpet. But never mind that.

As a sci-fi story, I would have liked a bit more explanation on how things were happening. However, not every book does that, I have to accept it.

Overall, it's worth a read.

~ Corinne

Cinderella is Evil

Cinderella is Evil

(Image from the author's website)

Jamie Campbell

This is, sadly, only a short story. We can't have everything.

Cinderella is Evil is the classic story of Cinderella told through the eyes of one of the ugly step-sisters, Anna. 

Since that was a horrible description, here's a link to its goodreads page- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17701814-cinderella-is-evil

 Okay. On we go.

I'm getting really tired of all the Cinderella stories in YA. Cinder was good, but the sheer amount of Cinderella stories is staggering. And kind of sad. And really unoriginal.

This story is not a Cinderella story.

Well, it is, but it's a Cinderella story that isn't based on a 'boo-hoo, life's so sad' heroine who doesn't do anything but fall in love. This story was original and entertaining, with the voice of Anna living up to all of my literary expectations.

The story shows how Cinderella is shallow and unfriendly without making them her only characteristics or without reason. It kind of balanced everything out, like, 'yeah, Cinderella is a jerk and all, but hey, why shouldn't she be?'

A large portion of the story focused around the ball and preparations for it instead of whether Anna would help Cinderella with the whole shoe thing. The description promised a little more of that, and I felt disappointed there wasn't just a little more of after the ball kind of stuff. However, it was still good. It's not like everything that happened was shoved into one page, which it could have, considering the length of the story (it's not extraordinarily long for a novella).

The formatting was a bit strange. I didn't think it really needed chapters, just...

Uh...

What are those called-

***

That kind of thing. Page breaks? No... Whatever. The point is that it didn't really need to be defined by chapters. 

The descriptions were well thought out. Mind the tangent, but the descriptions in fairy tale retellings always seem to be so flowery. I mean, a bit of description is great, but 'the curtains were blue' is just as good (better, even) as 'the curtains, an azure blue like the sky of a crisp autumn day, tiny bone-white Fleur-de-lis lining the edges of the satin fabric, hung in front of the window'.

Back on topic. The descriptions were simple when they needed to be and more complex at appropriate times. Who cares about those blue curtains? The dress is where it's at. The dress deserves way more than those dumb curtains.

The romance in it seemed kind of misplaced. Well, it was important, in a way, but at the same time, I don't feel like it was totally necessary. I can see it as a 'looks are superficial, people can still love you' moral, but you know. Just my opinion.

Also not the point. The point is that this story explains the life of the ugly stepsisters and cushions and betters the backstory of Cinderella. It deserves a read.

Though I agree with the person on goodreads who put it in the 'bad covers' list. Sorry.

~Corinne

Out of the Easy

OUT OF THE EASY

RUTA SEPETYS

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.
She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With me, historical is almost never an option. I get hung up over inaccuracies, bored with the technology, or frustrated with the way they speak (this is the reason Old Yeller is my bane, besides the dog d- never mind). How did Ruta Sepetys get past this? No, seriously, I'm getting worried that there was some kind of brain control magic in this book.

The point is, this book defied my usual ways. I found the first chapter on Figment (http://figment.com/) and was like 'meh'. Y'know, prostitutes, history, the south... not my thing. Then I went on a trip to a city with more stores than five, and found it. I was like, meh, prostitutes, history, the south, money to burn... Sure, I'll get it.

Best. Book. Decision. In. My. Life.

I fell in love with the characters after probably three sentences. They felt so in-depth, so real. I get annoyed really fast with stencil-characters (more on those later), but there weren't any. It's like Sepetys grabbed someone off the street, stole their personality and every detail of their life and put it on paper. In a good way. Okay, some of them suddenly disappeared, though. That was kind of annoying. Frankie showed up, like, twice. There was so much moooooooooorrreeee!

It's kind of hard to define the plot. That's neutral, not good or bad. It's more like a snippet (a snappet, it was long) of Josie's (the main character) life. And there were so many elements (especially by the end) that it was hard to tell what was going on. And who's dead anymore? I mean, there were a bunch of dead people.

Oh, and then there were the emotions. Sepetys, were you trying to make me cry? Like, three times over? My tear ducts were dry by the end of the book. How do you do that, Sepetys, what are your secrets?!

So, basically what I mean to say is go buy the book. And cry. And laugh. And cry some more. You will not regret it unless you find the topic of prostitutes too hard to swallow.

~ Corinne

Dreamsleeves

                                                                  DREAMSLEEVES

    BY COLEEN MURTAGH PARATORE

Dreamsleeves follows Aislinn (whose name means 'dream', by the way) during the summer before her thirteenth birthday. Poor and with a drunkard father, her life gets worse as her dad's drinking does, so she tries to save herself with an ideas of hers- Dreamsleeves.

Dreamsleeves are the white part of 'Hello! My name is-" stickers with your dream on them. Her second youngest brother, D, wishes for a little red car. She wishes for her father to stop drinking.

Of course, it doesn't help that her friend, Maizey, chose Sue Ellen, the stuck up rich girl, to be her friend instead of Aislinn, and she wants to woo pretty boy Mike Mancinello. Her mom's going to have a new baby, and her world's falling apart.

The first thing I want to say about this story is that I love the way Coleen Paratore wrote it. The style she wrote it in made it sound much more emotional and realistic, nostalgia shaking you to your core, sadness ripping your heart, and hope blossoming.

Sadly, there were many problems to go with it.

Honestly, I don't mind the 'daddy why do you drink?' sort of plot, and I think that it was done well in this book (though I've never been through such an ordeal, so I may be wrong). What I didn't think was done as well was all the distractions that were thrown in. 

The one-or-two-wah-I-don't-know sided romance was fine, even though I'm not much into the topic (maybe because I'm a lonely, lonely soul). No, it was the my-friend-won't-talk-to-me-and-now-she-likes-my-enemy-better-than-me thing. Yeah, we get it, she's your best friend and you're sad, but we had a real nice plot that doesn't involve griping about it. I've felt that feeling a thousand times, and it wasn't really done right. It's not really jealousy, like Paratore described it as, it's hatred of both people involved. Then it's hatred of yourself. It goes like that, and when I've experienced it, I was never jealous of the person who had "stolen" my friend from me, because no one is jealous of a monster.

"But Cori-" You start. "Don't call me that." I finish. "But, Corinne," You begin again, "That was minor. It didn't distract the story from its plot too much, did it?" No, you're right, it was more of a little nuisance, but it bothered me.

Another distraction I feel horrible about mentioning is just how much she talked about her Roman Catholic faith. No, I don't mind that that was her religion, she could be a cultist for all I care, but it just seemed like all the instances she said it was getting in the way of my enjoyment of the book. It wasn't crucial to the plot and really turned me off.

Now, the characters. I loved most of the background characters, or even the non-narrating main characters (her father, Mikey). Instead of the normal "here is my character okay that's it", they actually had lives. Aislinn's dad collected hubcaps, Maizey was scared not to be accepted, Mikey wasn't just the cute boy, he was the cute boy with a personality. Awesome.

The sad thing? There was one character I had a couple issues with- Aislinn. No, I don't mean because she had flaws, it would be boring if she didn't, but occasionally she just didn't feel as realistic as she should have. At one point, she wet her bed (ew), which was actually when I started noticing the problem. Yes, it happens to some people, but the way she reacted was... not up to par. Instead of the feeling of "I'm acting like a three year old, I feel horrible" it was more of "this isn't my fault". Preteen girls don't do that. Crippling self-doubt and little self-worth is pretty much a tween girl's life. I don't care how strong she's supposed to be, you don't escape that kind of incident without a bit of emotion.

At another point, she finds out that long long ago when the earth was green, her dad threw away one of her favorite stuffed animals. Okay... that's... sad, I guess. But the cry-fest she replied with wasn't right for the subject. It wasn't her kitten, it was a stuffed rabbit. It had been years since it happened. I'm sorry, there was just too much emotion wasted in something so unimportant, something that was hardly mentioned afterwards.

One last thing before I get back to the review, the dreamsleeves themselves. Considering that 'Dreamsleeves' is the title, I was disappointed about how little they were mentioned. They felt like more of a background thing than part of the plot, which I didn't really like.

Overall, though, the book was okay, with realistic characters but a very distracted plot. The emotions were handled well, but not always in the right places. I would recommend it, but only to the more dramatic type.

~ Corinne