My Life in…

I loved Impossible, though I wasn’t enamored of the ending, but this one was less successful for me. Part of the problem was that Phoebe is the main character, but she is so passive. She never resists any of Mallory or Ryland’s attempts to manipulate her and spends her narrative hero-worshiping her friends or her mother, rather than forming opinions on her own.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Penguin at ALA Annual

This was another departure for Elizabeth Scott and unfortunately I wasn’t wowed by this one. I appreciate the spare language used to tell the story, but the story itself wasn’t one I found very interesting. This one will be polarizing but will certainly find its fans, though somehow I think adults might be more pulled in than teens.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Penguin at ALA Annual.

This simple friendship story is well written, and I particularly enjoyed Amanda’s family dynamic and the friends she makes on the JV team. The coach was also a great character, and I liked the romance potential introduced casually in the book between Amanda and a certain guy. The book works because the characters and the storylines are authentic; few teenage girls make it through high school without facing the issues of growing apart from friends and having to try to make it work.

Reviewed from ARC provided by FSG at ALA Annual

This book is so strong. Every character is well-drawn, complex and flawed. It is interesting to read a YA book that takes such a large look at issues such as feminism, women’s control over their sexuality, and high school politics, and succeeds so deftly. You root for Natalie because she is so principled and confident, but at the same time, you see how judgmental she is and how afraid she is to deal with the reality of her feelings for Connor. You want to yell at Spencer for being such an idiot, for showing off when she doesn’t need to, and for being nonchalant about really bad events, even as you are impressed by how fearless she is and how she doesn’t let others put her down. Even Ms. Bee is both a strong mentor and a victim of believing rumors over proven worth. I want this to come out in paperback so I can put it on my summer reading list. (And if all that wasn’t enough, the cover is fabulous.)

This was a cute book, although it takes a long time for the plot to really kick into high gear. Some of the characters were amusing, like Purple, who wasn’t really what I expected, and Devon, who steals the show from grumpy Will. I’m not sure this is as good as some of the reviews have suggested, but it was cute, funny in parts, and a nice teen mystery novel.

This book is fabulous. The prose is lovely. The characters are engaging. The emotions are true and raw. On a sentence level this book is practically perfect. This is a book about grief that isn’t maudlin. I don’t know why most of my favorite books in the past few years have been about dealing with a death but this is another great one. Highly recommended.