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

Broken China (a non-review)

Broken China

(Image from its goodreads page)

Lori Aurelia Williams

This is a book I am highly disappointed did not get a gigantic gold medal to show off on the cover, because it was way more deserving of it than most of the books that do.

This is a non-review because the book is roughly eight years old, and while I know I've reviewed older, I've got policies on that kind of thing now. This is mostly for the purpose of getting it out there.

Onto the description.

China Cup Cameron had her baby, Amina, when she was twelve. Two years later, tragedy falls in the form of a heart condition no one knew about, and Amina dies. The funeral is much more than the three thousand the insurance company will pay for. China's uncle can't work, but China can. Even if it's at the local strip club.

This book is two things that are hard to find together in YA- important and interesting. You'd be amazed how hard it is to find a book like this. (Almost) All the stories about big, hard topics are boring. Most of the ones that can keep my attention are more of light reading. It's horrible that way. But Ms. Williams pretty much punched that standard in the face. Good on you, Ms. Williams.

The characters are fun to read and realistic. The pacing was fast, but not pull-you-along-razzle-dazzle-impossible-to-read fast. I'm planning to force myself to forget all the details and plot points to enjoy the full experience over again later. Of course, forgetting won't be fun, but let me do what I do.

Once again, not a review. Many apologies. But, seriously, awesome book.

Expect an actual review when fairly soon. Yeah. Sorry again.

~Corinne

Apologies and other such assorted things

I, Corinne of Yasreadyas, solemnly apologize for the utter lack of reviews. Yeah. School has taken up a lot of my time. But, in my free time, I shall make a list of books that I'm in the middle of that have, so far, been awesome.
(Pictures will be added later)

You Look Different in Real Life by Jennifer Castle

Broken China by Lori Aurelia Williams

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

Blood Calling by Joshua Grover-David Patterson



I will finish at least one soon, and I promise I'll do a review as soon as I'm done.

Things that make me avoid books

They say not to judge a book by its cover. I kind of do. These are the things that keep me away from 90% of bad YAs. (To be added onto later.)



I will not read your story if the main character’s name is just a mutilated version of a real name. (Abygale, Jazmin) I don’t want to earn a migraine from trying to make sense of the names.

I will not read your story if the main character’s name is blatantly connected to the plot. (Fallon A. Engel in a story about fallen angels, who’d a thunk it?)

If within the first sentence of describing Mr. Love Interest, the word ‘chiseled’ is used more than once, I will not read your story. I will lose hope at the first instance.

If you want to write a story involving paranormal creatures, that’s just ducky, but you are not allowed to ‘forget’ major characteristics of the race you are writing about. Vampires don’t live on hugs and kisses, guys.

Relating to that, if your story is based on an actual mythology, you must get your facts straight. And no saying ‘but what ACTUALLY happened was...’ No.

I will not read your story if I cannot pronounce any major character or place’s name.

If the first sentence of the summary is praise for the book and not by a person other than the author, I will not read your story.

If the title contains any of the following, I will not read it:

His [adjective] Heart
The name of any precious gemstone and then the following: Boy, Girl, Heart, Mind, Soul
Any color and then ‘Soul’ is also not permitted
Crimson
Immortal
Oxymorons of any type
Puns
Parts of an adage are allowed, but don’t use the whole thing, please
Teen
Eternal

I will not read your story if it at any point vehemently denies any belief system.

I will not read your story if the cover includes a shirtless person of any gender, even if they are wearing a bra. And I am entirely aware City of Bones has that exact thing. There are rare exceptions.

If most of the descriptors are referencing to celebrities or TV shows, I will not read your story. I don’t know who these people are and if I wanted to learn I wouldn’t be reading this book.

I will not read your story if your alien species has a monarchy and that is never explained.

I will not read your story if the title is in a language I do not speak. Not because I assume it’ll be a bad story, but because I will think the entire thing is in that language and figure I can’t read it.

If you describe your character as ‘independent and strong’ but she needs her boyfriend/family/friends to do anything, I will not read your story.

How badly is the cover photoshopped? Are there dead pixels? Do different parts of the cover have different lightings? If so, congrats, I’m not reading your story.

If you write out accents, I will not read your story. (“Ah ain’t got no funkah ack-sent,” he said southernly.)

If the love interest is described with any more than one of the following words, I will not read your story:

Dark
Mysterious
Intriguing
Dangerous
Jaded

I will not read your story if more than two normal words are capitalized to make them sound more “magical”. (“But... her Essence!” She cried, fighting the burning tears rapidly filling her eyes, “What will happen when the Shimmer comes and brings the Twilight?”)

I will not read your story if instead of saying “Book __” like a respectable person, you say “Episode __”.

I will not read your story if there is punctuation in the title.

I! Will! Not! Read! Your! Story! If! There! Is! More! Than! One! Exclamation! Point! Per! Paragraph!

Asylum

Asylum

Madeline Roux

(Picture from r-moran.blogspot.com)

Daniel is a gifted student. Not in a paranormal sense, but a legitimately-smart way. He decides to go to New Hampshire College Prep, a five-week course for those wanting to enrich their educations. But NHCP harbors a dark secret, one that can only be found by going headlong into it.

I read this book in a day. This is saying something, because I'm usually a fairly slow reader and this wasn't exactly a magazine.

So, I'm sure you can assume from that that this was a good book. The main character, was fairly well developed and the plot was intricate and interesting. 

I like ghosts, so I'm going to have to say that this review might be a bit subjective. But otherwise I probably wouldn't have read the book, so that's how it goes with most of what I review. Sorry. 

You pretty much can't mess up ghosts for me. Actually, you can, but let's not delve into that since these ghosts were awesome and I don't want to get side-tracked. Yeah. Freaky messages, unexplainable notes and untrackable texts? Count me in. And I am so, so glad of this, Ms. Roux didn't go overboard with it. I know, ghost story, gotta be creepy, but when you put in too much writing on the walls? Nada. It's annoying, not suspenseful.

The characters I didn't like quite as much. The only one that really clicked with me was Dan, the narrator (which is kind of a shock because I usually hate the MC). Abby didn't seem to develop all that much, and Jordan finally confirmed the most bizarre trope I have ever seen in YA: The Camp Gay Sidekick Who Comes Out Really Early On Even Though it Doesn't Make Sense and Disappears Conveniently for the Romance to Take Hold. I'm not kidding. I have seen that way too many times. It doesn't even make sense. He comes out in the first minute he knows Dan. That's just wrong. And then he disappears when it gets lovey dovey. That's just odd.

Eh, enough about that, let's talk about the plot. As I said, it was intricate and well developed. I can't go too far describing it simply because I don't know how. It was good, okay? There. That's all I can say, that's all I care to say. I don't want to be too spoilerful. Spoilerriffic. Spoiled. Uh. Something. I don't know.

Okay, so, awesome. Let's get to the one thing that really, really bugged me, because something always does.

This book was extremely predictable.

I don't know if it's just me being a jaded little book emo or what, but I found it really predictable. I knew who the love interest would be as soon as we saw them (hint: it's not Jordan), I knew the antagonist and the antagonist incarnate.

I kind of blame Far, Far Away for the figuring out the physical antagonist, though. Yeah. I think otherwise that would have been a shock moment.

Overall: Good book, short review, kind of predictable, weird tropes with gays.

~Corinne

The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls

The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls

(From julieschmaucer.com)

Julie Schmaucer

Adrienne Haus liked reading, she really did, just not with other people. And most certainly not when she's signed up for a mother-daughter book club. She has three other literary prisoners to keep her company- Jill, who was pressured into it because she 'needed to socialize', CeeCee, who bashed up her parents car and had her trip to Paris canceled, and Wallis who, for reasons unknown, actually wanted to come.
Of course, it couldn't be a regular book club where you eat fancy crackers and discuss classics. Book clubs can kill.
... Uhhh... Well, I've got to say, I can't explain it that well. I assure you it was a good book. I shall now review it.
I'm going to start in the exact way I do not enjoy starting- I LOVED this book. Correction, I loved the book after I was done. Not in a 'thank Moosamoset it's over' way, but because it took a while to really get into the book. And then it basically strapped you in, and in a gruff voice said, "You know you ain't comin' out again, right?" You, fortunately, have no control as to whether or not the car starts, since it was a rhetorical question. Then you laugh and scream and cry like a maniac.
And that's when the ride starts.
First turn, laugh. This book was awesome. It didn't try to force humor where it wasn't welcome and it didn't go bland. Though there were a couple moments which I think might have possibly probably were supposed to be jokes that didn't quite make sense.
Second turn, and you scream. I'm sorry, but somewhere in this review I have to mention the books weak points. None of them are actually scream-worthy, luckily. Just a couple of pet peeves  of mine that I must now whine on.
Okay, so I already mentioned that it was slow to get into. Yeah. Okay. Won't go farther on that. And you know how great I am at complaining about MCs, but there was only one little thing that irritated me about her, and I'm sure we've all seen this problem before: If she's such a bookworm, why does she only read classics? I get it, they're easily recognizable and their copyrights have probably expired, but still. Can one YA MC read, well, YAs? What kind can't you type up a bad summary of a random idea in the back of your mind and call it a book? You don't even need a title.
And then, per every book that wants to send a message, there is the drinking scene. I shall summarize all of such scenes, this book's included. Girl does not EVER NEVER drink. Girl is offered alcohol. Girl takes alcohol. Girl complains about alcohol, either in dialogue or in thought. Girl commences to drink a whole lot. Drunk scene. Faints. Hangover/consequence scene.
Thank you, thank you. I understand this time the scene was actually kind of important to Adrienne's development (shy, unassuming girl becomes rebellious that's just as unique as everyone else), but there could have been a better substitute. Come on, something. If anyone has any idea on a substitute for this scene, please inform me. It's getting boring.
Third turn, now we go up a hill, cry. You bounce along in your seat, both dreading and getting anxious for the inevitable drop you will face, along with the twists and loops of the following track. This is edging towards the climax, so the emotions are tight.
Very tight.
Very, very tight.
Tight as emo jeans.
I appreciate the change in tone from 'summer read' to 'book I will remember and author I will look up to'. This is when I actually grow attached to the characters, when I finally get a favorite. The emotions are right and are shown instead of told. *applause*
You've reached the peak of the hill, and the moment takes centuries of looking down the hill to drop. Then, in the blink of an eye, the climax is over and you're rushing towards the epilogue.
The ending.
The ending the ending the ending.
I LOVED the ending. Eeeeeeee! Plot twist! Twist twist! DON'T CARE.
Not like I get anything such as, say, a few, a lot of my questions answered, but that's part of the ride. You have to answer some of your questions yourself. It's practically inviting fanfiction and giving it a mint as it comes through the door.
Highly recommend it.