Green Witch Review

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Green Witch ReviewAs an Alice Hoffman fan of the first order, I picked Green Witch prepared to add it to my lengthy list of her books which I adore and would recommend hands down. As other reviewers have pointed out, it's pure prose poetry.
What I didn't realize is that it's a sequel. I recommend reading Green Angel first (I will have to do that retroactively.) As a stand alone there is simply too much left unexplained. The five sections - Stone Witch, Sky Witch, Rose Witch, River Witch, and Green Witch, which comprise the slim Green Witch volume feel almost parenthetical to a far greater tale - as, indeed, they are. And though the ending is hopeful, as is true with every Alice Hoffman story, Green Witch has such a tragic overall cast that instead of feeling - oh, "things will be all right despite everything for these characters", I felt almost the opposite - despite their finding one another, coming together, being a "family" - nothing can ever be all right again, and they may survive and love, but they won't really live...
Here's what I think Scholastic should do. (My humble opinion.) Have Ms. Hoffman complete a third book, one that does bring the story full-circle, and has a more upbeat, maybe even a little funny at moments, overall feeling. Call it Green Garden, or Green Spirit... Then package the three as a trilogy.Green Witch Overview

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Lockdown Review

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Lockdown ReviewLockdown, the newest release from Printz award-winning author Walter Dean Myers, couldn't have come at a better time. Burned out from a succession of novels that each read much like the one before it, lacking voice and pizazz, Lockdown provided a much needed - and much appreciated - change. This journey into the life of a boy who made a mistake and pays for it over and over again is both beautiful and sorrowful.
Reese is a boy you've known: someone who tries his best to stay out of trouble when the story of his life is trouble. A big brother in and out of prison, an addict mom, a microcosm society of hopelessness, this is what Reese grows up with and when that fateful day comes that he makes his own mistake and is sent to juvie, no one's going to let him forget where he comes from - and what little he has to look forward to.
Reese has all kinds of obstacles to navigate at the Progress Center: physical violence, authority figures who alternately beat him down and maintain unrealistic high expectations of him, a crusty old racist in the retirement home he volunteers at, uncertainty about his future when he gets out. But Reese, despite his mistake, is self-aware and concerned for others. But even that gets him into trouble. How do you rescue a smaller kid from getting jumped when one more fight cancels out your early-release?
I was struck and saddened by the way the disciplinary system in Lockdown worked to damage Reese's character rather than heal it because it was so truthfully portrayed. Even so, Reese shines in his interactions with his sister, Icy, and I found myself hoping against fate that good things would happen for him. His optimism under pressure was inspiring.
Walter Dean Myers has one of the most vivid and real voices I have come across in Young Adult literature. I'd like to repeat that sentence three or four times, but I won't. He doesn't rely on dialect or slang to illustrate his setting and characters; instead, there is a natural rhythm to the narration and the dialogue that compelled me into the story, into the time and place and understanding of Reese's world. And yet, it feels subtle, not at all forceful or in-your-face. Myers is a master storyteller and Reese's tale shines under his treatment.
~review by YA Highway, [...]Lockdown Overview

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Poison Apple #3: Miss Fortune Review

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Poison Apple #3: Miss Fortune ReviewI honestly admit that when I first read the plot of this book I didn't think I would like it as much as I like the first two. I was wrong. The story remind me of the type of episode story one would expect from Nick's Are you Afraid of the Dark series. This case Zoe never believed in the super natural until holding up her ride from the carnival to have her fortune read leads to her being given a curse necklace that seems to find it way back to her whenever she tries to leave it behind. Lucky for her her best friend's good luck fortune helps her find the long lost antidote to the curse and the items needed to make it. Its just a question of if she can make the cure before the curse finishes her off.Poison Apple #3: Miss Fortune Overview

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Going Too Far Review

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Going Too Far ReviewAll Meg has ever wanted is to escape from her backwater hometown. Away from certain memories, away from her parents who seem to want to suffocate her in their dull lives...away from everything. And it looks like she's getting her wish, it's almost spring break and she's going on a trip to Miami and see the beach.
But then, Meg and a few friends end up on a bridge where, a few years ago, some kids died. They're caught by a cop, John After, who's only 19 years old and was one of the top students of his year...Meg can't imagine why he would choose to remain tied down in the tiny town and work as a cop. But John is connected, strangely, to the bridge and Meg and her friends' stunt provokes him to want to teach them a memorable lesson.
Meg is assigned to join John After during his night shifts for a week, to learn about the law and the importance of it.
Only, Meg isn't one to be complacent and she pushes to find out exactly what promoted John to remain bound to the small town that she's so determined to escape from. And he fights back, and stretches her boundaries in an attempt to figure out exactly why Meg refuses to remain in the small Alabama town that has shaped both of their lives so much.
So, this was my second Jennifer Echols novel. I'd always intended to read The Boys Next Door, but for some reason, I never got around to it. I *did* read Major Crush which was a pretty cute ro-com read. But then I read Going Too Far. It blew Major Crush away.
I'd expected Going Too Far to be good. To be great, even. I was sure that when I reviewed it, I'd tackle it like most of the other books I've reviewed. Normal and level-headed. Except this time, I have no CHOICE but to let loose and write a completely fan-girly review of Going Too Far. You've been warned.
Okay. So this book has depth. And I'm not talking the shallow pool that some YA novels are. Going Too Far is a freaking ocean. And I mean it in the best way possible.
The relationships and characters in this novel are so complex and layered. The main characters and secondary characters all seem so real. They all have their dreams, their hobbies and their insecurities. John and Meg's pasts both haunt them, every decision in the now is a reflection of certain events from before. Both have secrets that are hinted at, throughout the novel. But, it is only further in the novel that the secrets are fully revealed to the reader and the other characters. (And, of course, this fuels further conflict and further revelations and conclusions.)
The story is told in Meg's POV, and it couldn't be told any other way. Meg's voice is realistic; everything about her makes sense and stays true to her character.
Along with that, Meg's easy to relate with and feel for, despite her not being like the average teenager. When she hurts, you cringe. When she's happy, you smile. In that aspect, reading Going Too Far is like a (fun) roller coaster.
Similarly, John is well-rounded as well. His secret, his driving motivation in life and everything..really, are questioned by Meg in this novel. The way he handles his life, his job and the way he is, makes it easy to feel for him as well.
And when you put the two characters together? It's completely believable to have them get each other. To have them fall in love, even. There are so many books where relationships are handled shabbily; the girl and the guy meet, think the other is hot and decide, at the end of the book, that they should go out. It's not like this at all in Going Too Far. In the span of the week that the book takes place over, it's easy to see their relationship build as you read page after page.
Overall, Going Too Far is an intense, touching and believable story of love, loss and friendship that will resonate with you for a long time after you've closed the book.
Honestly, this is one that deserves a spot on your bookshelf. Make sure you pick up a copy!
Reader Rabbit
readerrabbit.blogspot.comGoing Too Far Overview

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The First Kill (The Slayer Chronicles) Review

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The First Kill (The Slayer Chronicles) ReviewI should probably start by saying that I hated the character of Joss McMillan in the Vlad Tod series. Therefore, I really expected to hate this before I started it. Well, I still hate Joss, but I didn't hate the book. Unfortunately, I didn't fall in love with it either, as I did with Eighth Grade Bites.
The story was interesting and well written. Author Heather Brewer continues her uncanny knack for fully understanding and flawlessly translating teen boy angst to the printed page. Joss, our hero, is fleshed out well and we are given logical--albeit trite ("I will avenge you!")--motivations for the path his character walks. Brewer even managed to make me feel a good bit of sympathy for him, even though I really don't like his character (at all) and could really give a crap less about his back-story.
Abraham is well done as Joss's uncle, though he tends to come across as a psychotic Mr. Miyagi at times. I would like to have learned more about the other slayers in the camp, but so little was revealed about them, I found it difficult keeping them separate in my head. I suspect this was done more for the sake of not bogging down the story than an oversight, so I'm willing to cut Brewer some slack here.
I have mixed feelings about the couple of twists at the end of the book. To the author's credit, I saw neither of them coming and I'm actually anxious to see where Brewer takes the series. However, I felt one of the twists was a little too convenient in that it comes off as a last-minute effort to create some conflict down the road.
Overall, a good read, especially considering I didn't expect to like it. Good job, Mrs. Brewer!The First Kill (The Slayer Chronicles) Overview

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