Jo is an out lesbian teen in Atlanta, when her radio evangelist dad gets remarried, moves them to small-town Rome, Georgia, and asks the impossible ofJo is an out lesbian teen in Atlanta, when her radio evangelist dad gets remarried, moves them to small-town Rome, Georgia, and asks the impossible of her: keep her sexuality on the down-low for the sake of his new in-laws and his ministry.
I was very skeptical of this book, and at first, I really didn't like it. It felt preachy. The "best friend" character was a stereotype of the promiscuous, in-your-face, gay teen. And the author didn't handle exposition well, so I was pretty confused about a few things. But once the story got going, I actually got into it, and I could see the need for this type of book.
I'm sure there are LGBTQ teens out there who have been raised in a church and are struggling with how to reconcile their faith with their sexuality, and this book is for them. (Obviously, that's not me, hence my trepidation.) This book never tells them that their sexuality is wrong, or sinful, or something to be hidden (while there are certainly characters who espouse those views, the book makes it very clear that they are in the wrong).
Overall, I ended up really enjoying the story and (some of) the characters. Here are my few quibbles, some of which I feel like should have been fixed by a good editor. The exposition thing. Your readers should never be left going, "Wait, what?" and re-reading to figure out what they missed. Also, Dana and Deirdre were gay stereotypes. Gemma was borderline black stereotype. The whole book reeked of rich white privilege. Oh, Jo's dad makes buckets of money off his ministry, but it's ok because he doesn't live in a mansion? No. Also, *spoiler alert* the lie that Jo tells Mary Carlson at the start of their relationship was completely unnecessary, which rendered the whole conflict and plot of the second half of the book pointless, stupid, and frustrating.
Still, I'm really glad this book exists for the teens out there who need it. The author gets all the kudos in the world for that....more
I think I enjoyed this even more the second time through. I definitely got more of the gods. I think this is a book that you can find something new inI think I enjoyed this even more the second time through. I definitely got more of the gods. I think this is a book that you can find something new in each time you read it....more
Overall, I liked this book. But I do have a few mixed feelings about it.
Willowdean is a plus-sized teen in a small Texas town where all anybody cares Overall, I liked this book. But I do have a few mixed feelings about it.
Willowdean is a plus-sized teen in a small Texas town where all anybody cares about it football and the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet beauty pageant. Willowdean's mom, a former Miss Teen Blue Bonnet herself, even runs the pageant. But Wil and her best friend Ellen don't care about all that. Until things get complicated, they flame out, and both girls end up entering the pageant. Will they make up? Will a plus-size princess win the crown? Will she finally get a boyfriend? Will her mom ever stop harping on her to lose weight?
I liked Willowdean and a lot of the supporting characters, and the book was very enjoyable. But I wanted it to be too many things, and that's my fault. But kind of not. I recognized Willowdean's feelings and fears about her body: wanting to love herself as she is but not quite making it, worrying that if she gets the cute boy, people will make fun and talk, cringing away when a boy touches certain parts of her body. I get all of that, and I think that it's important for teens to recognize themselves and their feelings in books. So that's great. But I also wanted it to be more body positive, more #effyourbeautystandards.
And that's a problem of scarcity, not with this book. There aren't enough plus-size protagonists in YA (or any literature, for that matter), so all my hopes and dreams were pinned on this one book, and it just can't live up to that. So, sorry, Dumplin', for having unrealistic expectations for you. You were a good book, and I hope more YA authors follow your example....more
This is a hard one to review because SO MUCH happened, and also I read it in fits and starts, so I may not actually remember the beginning any more.
ThThis is a hard one to review because SO MUCH happened, and also I read it in fits and starts, so I may not actually remember the beginning any more.
The blurb on the jacket just really scratches the surface of the plot. This woman lives six or seven different lives in the course of the book (not really, she is just constantly reinventing herself and/or getting shuttled from circumstance to circumstance). It was a very interesting look at a time in history I knew little about (mid- to late-nineteenth century Paris, with a little of the rest of Europe thrown in for good luck) and an art form I knew little about (opera; also, the art of the French courtesan?).
I liked the writing, but not the narrator for the audio version. She was very dry, and her accents were nonexistent to bad. But she did all the work of pronouncing the French names and words for me, and for that I'm grateful to her....more
This book was pitched to me as "Sherlock meets Doctor Who," but I would tweak that slightly to "Sherlock meets Supernatural, before all the apocalypseThis book was pitched to me as "Sherlock meets Doctor Who," but I would tweak that slightly to "Sherlock meets Supernatural, before all the apocalypse-angels-and-demons stuff, when it was just monster of the week."
I intend to read the rest of the series, but I think I will read the print versions rather than listen to the audio. The narrator did a fine job on all the voices except Jackaby's. At first I wondered if she just couldn't do an American accent, but I finally decided she was just trying to give him a peculiar way of speaking. Peculiar, yes, but also incredibly irritating. I hope I can get it out of my head when I attempt the next one....more
I really loved this book, even though Cath irritated me to the point of wanting to slap her sometimes. And that's a really odd thing, because Cath is I really loved this book, even though Cath irritated me to the point of wanting to slap her sometimes. And that's a really odd thing, because Cath is basically me, with a different family. I ate Easy Mac and tuna lunch kits in my dorm room instead of going to the caf my entire freshman year in college because I was too scared to go by myself. I was (am) obsessed with Harry Potter to the point of scaring people. I was in a junior-level writing course my freshman year (didn't turn in any fanfic, though). I've procrastinated on assignments until the pressure of doing them was so much it made me sick to my stomach and gotten bad grades when I was perfectly capable of getting good grades, perfect grades. Maybe it's *because* I understand Cath so well that she irritates me, since she reminds me of things I don't like about myself? I dunno. But a book that makes me THIS introspective has got to be a good book. (I'm still taking off one star for the irritation, though. And because I think she should have put her name on that story with Nick. A publication credit is a publication credit, for the love of Simon Snow!)...more
I really wanted to like this one. But it was just the same old YA and fantasy tropes rehashed in a not-really-different-at-all way. Probably won'tMeh.
I really wanted to like this one. But it was just the same old YA and fantasy tropes rehashed in a not-really-different-at-all way. Probably won't bother with the rest of the series....more
Violet and Finch meet at the top of their school's bell tower, both thinking about jumping. Violet is pretty and popular, or at least she was, before Violet and Finch meet at the top of their school's bell tower, both thinking about jumping. Violet is pretty and popular, or at least she was, before the car accident last year that killed her sister and left Violet afraid to ride in cars. Theodore Finch, better known as Theodore Freak, is, well, the class freak. They embark on a class project together and an unlikely romance.
*Spoiler alert, although it's pretty obvious from the first page* One of them doesn't make it. This is a suicide book. It's so very important, but it's not fun to read about. I was dreading reading this book.
That being said, it's pretty enjoyable for a suicide book. The characters are engaging, their wanderings are interesting, and the whole thing seems pretty realistic. Sure, Finch is somewhat of a manic pixie dream boy. And Violet is a little bit...blah. But she can be forgiven for that, since she does have interests and talents, she's just pushed them aside while moving through the fog of her grief.
Some of the adults in the story are horribly frustrating, as they fail to see or fail to help these kids in trouble. I suppose, from a teen viewpoint, this is par for the course. It certainly seems to pop up in YA books often enough. Violet's parents are so caring that it's maddening. Finch's are the opposite. His mom is so apathetic that you want to slap her.
While the adults are not really fully drawn characters, the teens certainly are. Even the peripheral characters have a lot of depth.
So, overall, a good book. About suicide. Which isn't really what I want to read about. But I'm glad it's out there for teens who need it....more
This book was lovely. It really captured the feeling of being sixteen, and feeling out of place, and hating your family, but loving them too, and worsThis book was lovely. It really captured the feeling of being sixteen, and feeling out of place, and hating your family, but loving them too, and worshipping someone who doesn't deserve your worship, and falling in love for the first time. My one and only criticism is that sometimes the thoughts attributed to Maggie seemed a bit deep for a sixteen year old. But there were only a couple of those instances, and they were very important pieces of wisdom, just perhaps a bit too wise.
I'm sure reading this is a very different experience for me as a (now) adult who remembers the suicide of Kurt Cobain from my teen years. It would be different for an adult who wasn't affected by his death, as it would be for a (now) teenager who wasn't even alive in 1994. But for me, (spoiler alert) I could see the similarities between Uncle Kevin and Kurt Cobain from the very start. I was unsurprised when Kevin died and suspicious of the supposed "natural causes." And when Maggie bought the concert tickets for April 8, I knew the significance of that date immediately, and waited in nervous anticipation to see how events would play out. Would a teen know that date? Maybe, if they're an audiophile. But they wouldn't have a first person memory of it. I was very much affected by Cobain's suicide, even more so by the suicides of classmates that followed a few years later. I would have loved to have had a book like this that mirrored my experiences, somewhat, and helped me grieve....more
Ok, now that I have more time, a real review: I thought several things about this book were brilliant. First, the aI really, really enjoyed this book.
Ok, now that I have more time, a real review: I thought several things about this book were brilliant. First, the alternating twin narrators, Noah when they are 13 and Jude when they are 16. I've read novels that jumped around in time, and I've read novels with multiple narrators, but I don't think I've ever seen both combined before. It has the potential to be really confusing, but since each narrator stayed chronologically in their own time period, it wasn't confusing at all.
Second, the gorgeous and vivid descriptions of all the art and the artistic perspectives of the artists. I loved the way that art framed and illuminated every aspect of the book. And how different it was from both of the twins' perspectives.
Third, how the book dealt with capital "I" Issues without being "A book about DATE RAPE" or "A book about GAY TEENS," etc. Those things were worked into the narrative naturally, I felt.
Some reviewers have thought that the ending wrapped things up too neatly in a nice little package with no loose ends, and I can see that, but at the same time, it didn't bother me. I like my fiction nicely resolved, and this book provided a very satisfying ending....more
I really didn't care for this book that much. I was turned off at the very beginning, when the opening scene was of the protagonist complaining about I really didn't care for this book that much. I was turned off at the very beginning, when the opening scene was of the protagonist complaining about how fat she is and then sneaking down to the kitchen to shame-eat. Of course, soon afterward, she loses a bunch of weight, and then things really start looking up for her. In addition, she is on a mission from God, a mission that apparently must include killing those who use sorcery. Can we say witch hunt? The whole book has an uncomfortable focus on war, especially when all the main characters seem so certain that God is on their side. The enemy definitely uses some questionable tactics, but so does the supposedly "good" side, and the only real difference between the two sides seems to be geography. All in all, a very problematic book for me, which was disappointing, because I do so love fantasy with a strong female protagonist. My recommendation would be to skip this one and just read Graceling again....more
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