The Illusionarium by Heather Dixon Book Review

The Illusionarium by Heather Dixon - 3 stars

SPOILER-FREE 

SYNOPSIS:

From the author of Entwined comes The Illusionarium, a fast-paced thriller in which a boy has to navigate a new world where the only way to survive is to perform illusionary shows. Upon discovering his mother and sister are both suffering from a mysterious plague, Jonathan decides he will help his dad find a cure for the plague that is ravaging their world. Enter Lady Florel, the woman who believes that with the help of magical fantillium, someone can be whisked into her version of London (Nod'ol) to help save her world. When Lady Florel discovers Jonathan can perform apt illusions, she offers him a deal: Come to Nod'ol for a few hours and then receive the cure, which she has already created. Leaving everything behind, Jonathan enters this mysterious Nod'ol only to discover how bleak the world has become--the people wear mysterious masks and rely on fantillium, and the city has all but been destroyed and deserted. What he doesn't realize, is that by entering Nod'ol, he is signing his name to the line of competitors in the Illusionarium. Now, he is expected to compete against two other Illusionists. All of them are competing for something of importance, but it is up to Jonathan to win the game and give the best performance, so that he may save his world.

This book sounded AMAZING based on the synopsis. And that freaking flawless cover (so much love for whoever designed it, because it completely captivated me all the way to the cashier at B&N). Unfortunately, this book didn't necessarily live up to my expectations for quite a few reasons. 

SPOILERS AHEAD 

THE GOOD:

Originality. I loved that this book had such an original premise! I have never heard of a book that consists of illusioning, at least not in the sense evoked here. It was so interesting that a sort-of drug-induced coma could allow people to essentially imagine things and have them appear to pop up in real life! It's everyone's wildest dream come true! It was especially interesting that the illusionists needed to know the chemical makeup of certain things before they could make anything appear in their illusions. The whole process was very creative and in-depth. The characters were also very out-of-the-box, in the sense that they were unlike any other cast of YA characters I had read about. For instance, Jonathan was an extremely clumsy protagonist, which was quite enjoyable to me, as it's sometimes nice to take a break from the endless slew of badass, sword-wielding characters.

Imagery. I died at the imagery. Heather Dixon was phenomenal at world-building in this book (but this only applies to the second half--you'll hear about this in my rant below). Everything was so beautifully imagined, I could literally see it in my mind as she explained every facet of this world. I found this to be evident everywhere from the broad explanations (the city on the clouds, the airships, the masks), down to even the minuscule details (the color gradient on the dinner table, how each character was assigned a color to represent them throughout the Illusionarium competition). And when the cast of characters had their first competition, and there are mechanical spiders battling glass men, all throughout the city Jonathan illusioned... So perfect. It was written so beautifully. It's always impressive to me when an author's words paint the clearest picture in the world. It's borderline enchanting when this happens.

Schisms. UM. WHAT. Was anyone else even a little terrified when schisms of freaking body parts were introduced?! Because that was completely haunting to me! To think that this whole beautiful world based on literally making dreams realities, was actually the cause of horrible mutations of the people... Man. It was just so dark and enthralling to read about. I was particularly fascinated with the idea of schisms in life, or the idea that there are multiple realities, created based on different choices and little details throughout life. This was especially interesting because everyone has has the thought, "What if...." Well, Heather Dixon's book takes that and practically runs with it, and it was a little overwhelming to digest, even if it was so intriguing.

Footnotes. Holla to Heather Dixon for writing the only footnotes I've ever been interested (and excited) to read. 

THE BAD:

There wasn't a plot during the first half of the book and there was no hint of the direction this book was heading. No, really. There was nothing. I felt cheated during the first half. The sleeve of the book promised an adventure, and it almost felt like the first half of the book was focused on introducing us to the stage for which the scene is set, but there's actually little to no world-building. I found myself wondering what the real story was, and what the real plot was, because the first half did not match the synopsis at all.

The language. "Dead nice?" "Deader nice?" ....What kind of language is this? And why was it so utterly irritating to read...? This one is just personal preference, but seriously. I was cringing at some of the language choices in this book.

One dimensional characters with zero complexity. I was interested in Jonathan, even though he was a slightly flat protagonist, but only because he was an unwilling protagonist and was so clumsy and interesting to read. And I enjoyed Lady Florel/Queen Honoria, because unlike the rest of the cast, she was complex and served a great purpose. The rest of the cast was SO. DAMN. IRRITATING. I hated Lockwood in this story. He seemed like an unnecessary bit added for comedic value, and I probably would have liked his character in almost any other story. The two antagonists in the Illusionarium game/show were the absolute worst, though (notice how I can't remember their names--isn't that funny?). The girl was obnoxious and rude, and the guy was just a brute who wanted Anna (Jonathan's sister's parallel self). God. The characters were so bad. So, so, SOOOO BAD. It's like Dixon looked at Jonathan's character development, and just though, "Eh. Good enough."

Casually glossing over the fact that Jonathan learns to illusion like a pro in less than 2 days. So. You're telling me that illusioning is this complex practice where the illusionists need to understand the chemical makeup and/or bonds of the elements needed to make the illusion, and most of the illusionists study this for years, but Jonathan can learn this skill in one day?! AND be considered good enough to compete in the Illusionarium?! AND he can create cities, but he can't create the replica of a door in his own dad's study?! RIGHT. OK. Maybe I'm being a bit too critical, but I was so irritated that he just magically learned to illusion at the beginning of the book, and then had to study up later, just so could create a door. CALL ME CRAZY, but that was just oh-so irritating. He freaking illusioned the world sideways, for God's sake. AND LET'S NOT FORGET THIS WHOLE DAMN THING TAKES PLACE IN LESS THAN A FEW DAYS. Jeese.

Lockwood and Jonathan's relationship. This is kind of a pro/con for me. I really enjoyed their friendship near the end of the book. They were the epitome of bros, and it was fun for everyone involved. But at the beginning, Lockwood just hates Jonathan, for literally no reason whatsoever. But he still tries to kill him..... They had a random brawl outside of Lady Florel's cell, and another one when they both got locked up! The second one was understandable, but the first had no foundation! I mean NONE. There was no real conflict or reason for why these two should have even been fighting! Just.... No. Just no.

Lockwood falling in love in a day. DAMMIT. I was over halfway through with this book and was so pleased that there was absolutely no insta-love or corny romance--it was just a fantasy book with beautiful imagery, and fun action. It was great! But then, we get to the end. And for some stupid reason, Lockwood and Anna fell in love. IN ONE DAY. It wasn't even insta-love and angst, it was just straight up insta-love with no foundation for the feelings. They literally met each other in a day. I was so irritated that this was in the story. It almost seemed like an afterthought, though. As if Dixon realized her story was missing a romantic element, and it was thrown in last minute. I could have done without that whole part of the ending.

OVERALL:

Eh. It was ok. Yes, just okay. I actually really enjoyed the entire second half of the book. I loved when schisming was revealed and I loved Jonathan's fortitude as a main character. Even more so, I loved the imagery Dixon created, especially in the scene where Jonathan illusions the whole world sideways, and runs to find Lockwood. All that cannot make up for the train wreck that was the first half, though. I was just so bored with the characters and the plot (or lack thereof) during the first full half (the story doesn't get going until about 160 pages in, and that's almost inexcusable). Usually I can excuse a slow start, as long as there is adequate world-building. But there was really nothing special about the first half--no world building, just mediocre character introductions, no emotion, nothing. I found myself so irritated by this book, that it became a job to get through it (until the second half, which I actually enjoyed).

Honestly, this book was okay, but so utterly forgettable. I read this book only two weeks ago, and had to reference my notes multiple times in order to remember exactly what happened. At the end of the day, this was a wonderful idea that was just poorly executed. I'd like to see another author give the illusioning act another try. 

END VOTE:

3 stars

★★★

The F-It List by Julie Halpern Book Review

The F-It List by Julie Halpern - 2 stars

SPOILER-FREE 

SYNOPSIS:

The F-It List is about two girls, Alex and Becca, who are best friends. That is, until Becca sleeps with Alex's boyfriend the day of her father's funeral. A whole summer passes without these two interacting. When Becca finally heads to school for her junior year, she's confronted with awful news: her once-best friend, Becca, has been diagnosed with cancer. Alex sees this as a reason to reach out to Becca again. During the re-kindling of their friendship, Alex agrees to help Becca complete her bucket list, which they aptly re-title as "The Fuck It List." But this is no average bucket list. Instead, there are a number of things to do that range from simple (have a kool-aid stand with every flavor of kool-aid ever made), to difficult (have sex with someone you love). Upon agreeing to let Becca live through her vicariously, Alex starts junior year with the hopes of helping her best friend complete the bucket list she's had since she was little. Wild antics ensue!

From the premise alone, I was immediately hooked! It sounded like a fun take on The Fault In Out Stars! It sounded silly, wild, and potentially life-altering. When any reader goes into a book that's saturated in cancer stories, that reader is probably expecting a beautiful life lesson to emerge from the pages. Unfortunately with this book, I didn't find that to be. That's all I can really say without giving spoilers, so let's move on.

SPOILERS AHEAD 

THE GOOD:

Humor. My rating for this book was salvaged by this one aspect. While most of the humor is over-the-top and filled with vulgarity, some of it was quite laughable. I feel the need to note, that it's extremely rare for me to laugh out loud at a book. At best, certain lines and pages receive a chuckle, but there were some great clever lines in this book. One of my favorites being the following:

"You're such a help," Mom said sarcastically.

"So you'll raise my allowance?" CJ hinted.

"Only if you stop raising my blood pressure."  

This joke was so subtle and on point, because honestly, think about parents all over the world who feel this exact sentiment. When the jokes weren't too generically raunchy, they were a bit funny. Halpern executes the humor well. And even the less-than G-rated humor is executed well. Although I will say, while some of the humor was tasteful, most of it was just a bit too much for me. Now, I'm completely aware this is just my personal opinion and a lot of people will disagree with me here, being that humor is so entirely subjective. Regardless, I appreciated a lot of the light-hearted humor that was thrown into these pages. This was honestly one of the only saving graces of the whole book.

Leo. Leo was such a wonderful romantic interest. He was jagged and messy, and not the perfect pretty-boy that most authors paint for their female leads. He was rough and gritty, and not without flaws. He felt like a real human, not some paper doll cutout written in by an author whose main focus is to make 13-year-old girls swoon. Not even close. Leo was complex. He was smart without being an over-achiever, he was nice without being irritating, and he dealt with the loss of his brother in a strangely-human way. I really loved that the author didn't sugarcoat his experience with a family death. He holed himself up, he was depressed. All too often, when deaths occur, authors make it seem as though these deaths bear the left behind some beautifully profound message that magically makes the tears and pain disappear. Luckily for us, Halpern avoided that overused cliche. Leo was such a fun male lead.

Honesty. Even though a lot of these pages were filled with raunchy jokes I couldn't stomach, I really enjoyed finally reading a book about a girl with cancer, in which the cancer did not magically make her wise beyond her years. The cancer didn't change Becca--she still retained her wit and humor. Even though I didn't love her as a character (let's be honest, Alex was WAY worse), I loved that having cancer was seen by her a temporary setback. She took each step of the cancer on a day-by-day basis. Now, this was way more realist than any other cancer book I've read, especially in the YA genre. This to me held much more honesty than TFIOS (The Fault In Our Stars). One of my closest friends went through cancer, and this book nailed the experience right on the head. The most honest paragraph of the whole book was:

"I watched helplessly as she dealt with the side effects: constant nausea, puking, not being able to walk, not being able to see, not to mention the tubes and holes and weight loss and not wanting to eat. Why did this happen? To Becca, and to anyone? Why can someone get so sick that the only way to get better is to make them more sick? It's like the world's longest exorcism. It doesn't make sense that I can chat with someone live on a tiny screen, that governments spend billions of dollars on war and mayhem, that actors make millions of dollars to just look pretty and skinny, yet no one can fucking figure out how to cure cancer without torturing people." 

Another great one:

"Instantly my mood changed. I never knew what to expect from Becca's cancer treatment. It seemed like a lot of up and down, sick and normal, Regular Becca and Cancer Becca. If she were to be at school next week, it would mean jokes in the hall and instant updates on ridiculously unimportant things. Things that weren't worth typing into an email or holding for our Skype conversations. Toilet paper on shoes and whose hand grazed someone's ass in gym or who farted in AP Spanish. Laughter at lunch and looks in the hall that spoke louder than words. That's what I was missing from my life. Even alive, cancer took away my best friend."  

NAILED IT.

THE BAD:

Raunchy jokes that were cringe-worthy/Vulgarity. This is such a subjective review, wow. But honestly, the humor in this book was way too raunchy for my taste. There were so many over-the-top sex jokes that had me making sour faces left and right. At certain points, I couldn't even believe an author would be able to write such scenes without blushing. My absolute favorite was this gem of a quote that probably made every reader cringe a bit:

"He had a, well, me-eating grin on his face, and I was embarrassed to look at him after how I completely let go." 

I'm sorry, but what? I was asking myself if that joke was even necessary, but apparently the author felt like it was.  Even worse for me was the over-use of vulgarity. Hey, curse all you want. I know I do! But come on, sprinkle it through your book with class so as not to demean the nature of the story. The frequent use of every curse word in the dictionary just felt so unnecessary at certain points. And the BEST part?! Sometimes, the author deviated from the curse words, and it was so ridiculous that our main character went from saying "Fuck it," to saying things like, "frakkin." Yes, "frakkin." It was so ridiculous that such a large portion of this book was dedicated to purely vulgar words, and then suddenly, the main character's stream of consciousness goes g-rated. So much "ugh."

Alex was annoying at best. Being inside Alex's head was so irritating to me. She literally denied every little, tiny good thing in her life. Now, at the end of the book, we learn why that is, and the reasoning is great and actually somewhat thought-provoking, but throughout the whole book, I was so annoyed by her. She was at her prime stage of annoyance when she was toying with Leo for sex. You know, the boy she liked and stared at. But God forbid she like him once they have sex! But more on that below.

Becca was annoying. I mean, yeah. We all have fights with our friends. We all have times where we're out of contact with those closest to us. It happens to everyone. But Becca literally slept with Alex's boyfriend on the day of Alex's father's funeral. This was explained in the first few pages, and from the get-go, I knew I didn't like Becca. Now, that's not to say I didn't feel bad for her when she was diagnosed in the book. Actually, I felt awful for her. But if her entry scene wasn't so damn deplorable, maybe I would have liked her more as a character. But realistically, she seemed to be overly sex-crazed and more worried about sex and hooking up, than she was about her cancer or her best friend's feelings. Part of me appreciates the open honesty of the character and the fact that cancer doesn't change her, but part of me also hates that cancer takes a back seat to sex. 

The Alex and Leo "Friends-With-Benefits" to boyfriend-and-girlfriend situation. This was borderline unbearable for me to read. Alex talks about Leo, and how she's liked him for so long, but she refuses to let herself get close to him! Oh, except to meet in a hall closet so he can *ahem* pleasure her....?!?! Oh, ok. And don't even get me started on how graphic the sex scenes are during this budding relationship, but then (SPOILER) at the end, when they finally (and obviously) get together, the sex scenes become much more modest, almost as if the author wants us to feel a transformation of the relationship. I can actually appreciate this facet of the writing, though. However, that did nothing to redeem the relationship development. The fact that they kissed the first time they even talked and Leo claimed that Alex looked like she wanted to be kissed.... Just, so much "ugh." I was very confused by the fact that she clearly liked him, and got physically attached, while maintaining emotional detachment, while still yearning for him. I appreciate the reasoning behind it (her father's death and her friend's cancer made her feel like she couldn't be happy when good things happened to her), but honestly, I was just so irritated by the relationship development, when Leo had so many wonderfully redeeming qualities. I was even more upset that she decided not to go to his brother's funeral. She pretty much behaved like a grade-A bitch throughout that whole montage, all while consciously recognizing she needed someone when her dad died, so therefore Leo probably needed someone, but that someone couldn't be her. ANGST. *Insert massive eye roll*  

The fact that the book isn't even about cancer or a bucket list, as much as it is a coming-of-age tale of a girl who is just looking to get laid. That's honestly the best way I can even explain the true plot of this book. I probably wouldn't have a problem with this, if only the book were advertised as having such a plot. But no. I went into this expecting a witty tale about two friends battling through one friend's cancer. What I got was whiny Alex calling Leo every time she wanted sex from him. Which, was great for some laughs, but not what I thought I was getting into. It made the postulated message feel so silly and hollow. I couldn't take the ending pages seriously. Which brings me to my next point!

The ending that tried to be profound, but really just made me laugh out loud in the worst way. Jeese. Let me just give you the quotes I'm talking about, in which they are lamenting the lives of bugs that sleep for seventeen years:

"For seventeen years. Do you think they dreamed underground for seventeen years?" I clarified. 

"Do any bugs dream?" Caleb asked.

"It's so sad. To wake up and die so soon after," Becca said.

"I bet it's really fucking awesome for those couple of weeks when they're awake, though," Leo noted.

"Maybe they spend seventeen years dreaming about what they want to do during their minuscule lives." I smiled at the thought of bug dreams. Then something came to me. "Hey, Becca. I wonder if they have bucket lists."

"A bug-it list!" She laughed.

"That was so not funny," I said. "Okay. Maybe a little."

I shook my arm, and the three bugs lazily flew away, on their way to accomplish great things in a short amount of time. Really, how we all should try to live our lives. No matter how long we've got."

Um. I'm sorry, but did the author really try to derive an inspirational message from CICADAS?! You're joking, right? Seriously, that was the last page of the story. Here's the thing, the last paragraph is great, IF SHE WASN'T COMPARING HER CAST OF CHARACTERS TO BUGS. This is one of those strange passages that makes me wonder: How did this even make it through editing? How did an editor even read the last page and think, "Oh yeah. This is gold--let's publish this"? I just couldn't appreciate the inspirational words. I mean, we're talking about cicadas dreaming and doing big things. It's practically a farce.

The bucket (*ahem* "Fuck-It") list never gets finished. This is kind of a good/bad scenario for me. My inner-OCD was peeved the list was never finished, I mean, that was supposed to be the main premise of the book. But then part of me thinks, "Oh, well, it's a good message that the list was ever-living, just like Becca." 

OVERALL:

This book was just so "meh." There's no other word I can think of to describe it. I was entertained, there's no doubt (mostly by the over-the-top vulgarity, because why not?). But there was no real message--no thought-provoking words that made me stop to think about how I should appreciate every day as if it were a gift. While this detail made this particular book a nice breath of fresh air compared to other cancer stories, it also made the main plot disappear into a sea of curse words, sex scenes, and unlikable characters. It was easy to forget what the main plot of the book even was. I finished this book in less than 24 hours, and it was a quick, slightly entertaining read. I would describe this book as The Fault In Our Stars meets Chelsea Handler's raunchy humor (if you've read any of her books or seen her shows, you'll totally understand). Because of this odd mix, I thought I would adore the humor and realness within these pages, but at the end of the day, it just fell a bit short for me.

END VOTE:

2 stars

★★

The Night She Disappeared by April Henry - Book Review/Rant

The Night She Disappeared by April Henry - 2 stars

SPOILER-FREE 

SYNOPSIS:

So this book starts out with some high school kids that work in a pizza place--none of them are too close, nor are they overly friendly to one another. Then, one night, a mysterious man calls in to order 3 pizzas and asks for the girl in the mini cooper, who happens to be our main character, Gabie. What this man doesn't realize, is that Gabie is not working that night, but instead, Kayla is working and making deliveries. She takes the 3 pizzas to a non-existent address. The next morning, everyone realizes she has disappeared.

As the story unfolds, we follow Gabie in her attempts to understand and come to terms with the fact that the order was meant for her, not Kayla. And with time running out, and an unhelpful (and slightly shady) police force leading the investigation, Gabie must use her intuition and her newfound friendship with co-worker Drew to find a way to save Kayla, or else.

SPOILERS AHEAD 

THE GOOD:

Mystery. The mysterious element of this book was just SO promising. I finished this book in a day because I was completely on the edge of my seat. The whole time, the readers are given tiny clues regarding what may or may not have happened to Kayla. We're set to believe that everyone is a suspect and no one is safe. Throughout the whole book, I kept waiting for this epic mystery to unveil into a spectacular ending, which I feel a bit cheated out of. To add to the mystery, we get glimpses into "John Robertson" (Kayla's kidnapper) and how he is viewing the situation. I was particularly intrigued in the mystery surrounding her kidnapping scene, which entailed: her car, her purse, the keys in the ignition, and a bloody rock. I was almost completely salivating at this, as it seemed like a promising setup for a sinister kidnapping, which it wasn't (but I'll get into that later). Overall, the mystery was the redeeming quality of this book. It was so entertaining and I breezed through this book quickly because of it. Unfortunately, that's where the good qualities begin and end.

Pictures/Newspaper Clippings/Evidence. I enjoyed that tiny aspect of the book. It was a small detail that made the kidnapping case feet a bit more immersive.

THE BAD:

Gabie and Drew. God. What is it about authors that makes them believe that every story needs a romance? I was particularly annoyed with Drew in the first few pages when he discussed how beautiful Kayla was, and how beautiful Gabie was. As a reader, I had no idea which girl he was interested in (because OBVIOUSLY he had to be interested in at least one of the girls). That's just a little minor problem compared to how the characters were actually written. Can we just take a moment to recognize that the narration for both characters was practically identical? I would sometimes catch myself in the middle of a chapter, and realize I was reading it as if it were from Gabie's point of view, instead of Drew's. There was no clear variation. I don't even understand why it was necessary to include Drew's narrative, as it was usually a re-telling of Gabie's. That's pretty much my number one pet peeve with dual-narrative novels. Even more irritating was Gabie's incessant rantings: "Poor me--it should have been me! Poor Kayla, but it should have been me!" It was so hard to stomach. I thought Gabie was the most irritating character for this reason. Even worse, she kept claiming that she could feel Kayla alive, even when no one else could. Um, WHAT?! They weren't even friends, nor were they even close (which she reminds us of, constantly), yet she "feels" Kayla is alive. Ugh. The idiocy was too much to handle.

Kidnapper. This was the most glaringly annoying facet of the story. It was actually what made me throw this book across the room upon completion. Throughout the whole story, we're basically led to believe the kidnapper knew Kayla or Gabie--we're led to think he must be someone close to them in proximity, if only just a regular in the Pizza shop. Which, he was. But when Kayla is kidnapped, about 1/3rd of the way into the plot, the kidnapper laments that she recognized him and smiled when he got out of his truck and went to meet her (she was parked by the river, due to the fake address she was trying to find). But then, when she's locked in his basement, her POV claims she has no idea who he is (Excuse me while I guffaw at this irritating inconsistency). What's even MORE irritating about this mysterious kidnapper, is that we literally never find out the motive for his kidnapping. NEVER. There's even a chapter where he is literally having an internal struggle: He wanted Gabie for his purpose, because she was perfect, but now he has Kayla, so he can mold her. Okay, so I was intrigued by this, and I assumed we would be told the motive at the end when he was (inevitably) caught. BUT NOPE! We learn NOTHING of his motive! WHAT?! That was the most irritating part of the entire book, because after 230 pages, we're literally left with a kidnapping story, completely devoid of a motive. Even worse, Kayla soon discovers that she is not the first girl the kidnapper has kidnapped. But do we ever find out why he was kidnapping girls....? OF COURSE NOT BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE SILLY. We only find out that he wants Kayla to address him as "Master." Hmm. Ok.

After I closed this book, I was so irritated at the lack of closure I felt. I was so annoyed, and irritated, and baffled, and just completely confused as to why the author just decided to add details, only to completely ignore them later in the novel.

"Gaby". Ohhhhh, yes. The author actually wrote, "Gaby" instead of "Gabie." Total hilarity. How do you even mess up your main protagonist's name? I almost laughed. 

OVERALL:

Well, I don't even know how to sum up this review. I was irritated by the characters, my questions were unanswered, there was no clarity of motive, and yet..... I still read it and enjoyed the fast pace the author so expertly adopted. There was a reason I read this one day: it was edgy, dramatic, chilling, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. Perhaps if the ending had been better, or if the actual kidnapping had been explained, or the kidnapper's motive had been identified, maybe this would garner more stars. However, due to an unfulfilling ending and a largely unlikable cast of characters, my review rests at 2 stars.

END VOTE:

2 stars

★★

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – 5 stars

Note: I will start by warning all readers that there will be spoilers in this review! I will begin with a light synopsis, so as not to spoil the review for anyone who has yet to pick up this book, and then I will move into a more detailed review. Don't worry, I'll let you know when the spoilers are coming.

SPOILER-FREE 

Have you ever read a book, that you considered a borderline masterpiece, for reasons foreign to even yourself, but for some reason, you deemed it to be so? That is exactly how We Were Liars made me feel. Now, if you haven't read this book, it is recommended you go into the story without knowing anything other than this: You are about to meet a cast of characters that go to an Island every summer. They are the Liars. 

I know, I know. Cheap and simple synopsis. But believe me, it's best not knowing what you're getting yourself into. With most books, I understand the desire to seek out the plot before delving head-first into a potentially horrid story. But PLEASE refrain from doing so if you have any interest in picking this book up. It is just over 200 pages and a quick read, so even if you (for some strange, and ungodly reason) end up hating it, you can look back on the book knowing you didn't invest much. 

That being said, I too went into this book without knowing anything of the plot, characters, or the synopsis. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. All I can say in this spoiler-free section, is this: take a chance and read this book. It's mysterious and intriguing, and that's reason enough to give it a shot. 

SPOILERS AHEAD 

SYNOPSIS:

I'm trusting that if you scrolled past the spoiler warning, you've read this book. So let's just dive in at full speed. We Were Liars was a thrilling mystery, that you weren't even aware was a mystery, right? There's something about the name, the vague description, and the cover that just scream "contemporary summer read!" But then, about halfway through the book, you realize something's off. The side characters act strangely--walking around in the middle of the night, claiming one of the houses is haunted. And as a reader, you probably start feeling uneasy. This book focused on a group of friends, named "The Liars" who, despite school and outside life, re-connected on their family's island every summer. Our narrator is Cadence, who is going through what can only be described as a life-changing few years. The book brushes over a lengthy amount of time before we are able to get to the crux of the actual story, which was Cadence returning to her family's island after missing a summer and feeling disconnected and forgotten by her family friends. But when Cadence returns to the island, nothing is as it seems. Mirren, Johnny, and Gat are all acting differently, as though they don't want her to partake in their summer shenanigans, like cliff diving. The whole time, Cadence cannot figure out why they are being distant, or what has changed. All she can make sense of is that she has strong feelings for Gat, despite her grandfather's disapproval. Through the summer, her family fights over the estate, and essentially deals with what I've aptly defined as "rich people problems." It isn't until the other Liars start hinting to her that she needs to remember something, that we are introduced to the real story and the real conflict. We then follow Cadence on a journey to discover the tragedy that happened on the island, leaving Mirren, Johnny, Gat, and the family dogs dead in a fire. 

THE GOOD:

Mystery. I didn't even know I was picking up a contemporary novel riddled in mystery and intrigue! This was borderline shocking to me, because I went into this book with zero preconceived notions. The actual mystery was so masterfully constructed, it's almost hard to put into words what made it so perfect. While reading through the first hundred pages or so, I was thinking to myself, "Wow, this family is messed up, her friends are being less-than-kind, and there's no real plot here, just a lot of anecdotes about this money mongering clan." And I could see how many people would feel this way prior to about the halfway mark. Once you realize the mystery, and the revelation comes that Cadence is responsible for plotting a fire that killed The Liars, you are suddenly capable of looking back and noting that every little story and detail in the first half of the book was relevant--everything was a clue for what was to come. This was completely jarring to me, but in the best way possible.

Characters. E. Lockhart did an amazing job writing every character to near perfection. I absolutely hated every single person in this family, which was the point. After the mystery is solved, it becomes clear that we were absolutely meant to abhor every member of this wretched family. We were meant to find them awful and self-absorbed. We were meant to like the Liars and appreciate their own little world they built away from their otherwise horrid family. If the readers did not have a foundation for such feelings, there would have been no way to get the readers on Cadence's side when the fire plot was revealed. As readers, we needed to hate this family so that we could side with the Liars and understand why their revenge plot was necessary, even if poorly-planned. Upon completing the book, it becomes clear that all of this negative character-building was necessary. E. Lockhart did this masterfully.

THE BAD:

A minor plot hole. Overall, the book was pretty much devoid of anything that would seriously compromise my five-star rating. However, there were small plot holes that made me reflect and think, "Huh?" When the Liars made a mess around the house they were staying in, was it really there? One of the adults walked in and noted it, which makes me think the mess was indeed real. Which makes me wonder if Cadence made it on her own, a side effect of her clear mental illness. This was the only thing that bothered me when reflecting on my reading experience, because all I could think about was how the mess was there when Cadence walked in. Which leads me to question whether the Liars were real, or just a figment of her imagination. But then again, maybe this was Lockhart's intent?

Liars(?). This was such a minor detail that was never explained, which peeved me only slightly. We were never told why the group was called "The Liars," only that the adults had aptly named them that. Once I got to the end of the book, my first thought was that the term "Liars" made sense because they were all living a lie the whole summer. Maybe it was intended to be a foreshadowing term to describe their later actions? Or again, maybe all of this was Cadence's imagination. There's so much room for interpretation on this. 

OVERALL:

So far, this has been the best book I've read in 2015. To me, the mark of a good book is whether the characters and story have the ability to haunt you. If you can look back, months later, after reading numerous other books, and still remember the story, and still feel just as affected by it as you did the moment you closed the book--that's a good book. For me, this story was almost unbearably haunting. I wasn't expecting such a dark read when I picked this up. I was in the mood for light-hearted contemporary, and basically something that would just make me go, "Aww." While this book was none of those things, it was an amazing read. It was short, mysterious, dark, and haunting. I can honestly say I've never read anything like it. Because of all the mysterious details in the first half of the book, I am tempted to go back and re-read this story, so that I may be able to pick up on little bits of foreshadowing that I missed during my initial read. This was such a haunting read that I couldn't get out of my head even if I wanted to.

END VOTE:

5 stars

★★★★★

Soon To Be Reviewed and May TBR List

Fellow Book Lovers,

As you'll notice, my review for Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is below. And it's actually the first book review I've decided to write and post! Now, I won't go into details why exactly I'm choosing now to start this journey (when I've had this blog for ohhhh, I don't know, almost five years), but I'm very excited to start sharing my thoughts and reactions to YA novels with fellow book lovers around the internet.

After suffering through a silly reading slump earlier this year, I have just read a slew of books that are deserving of their own detailed reviews. So, without further ado, here is the list of reviews I plan to write and post within the week:

Upcoming Reviews: 
Endgame The Calling by James Frey
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Even more exciting is the fact that I am currently sitting in front of a stack of TBR books that I also plan on reading within this month (YAY):

May TBR: 
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
H2O by Virginia Bergin
Prodigy by Marie Lu
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Seeing as how I've already read 4 books within this past week, May is off to a good start. I'm so excited to FINALLY start this journey. :) If you're interested to see my ever-growing list of TBR books, plus a list of books I've already read and rated, here's my Goodreads profile: goodreads.com/jmreynolds92. Add me if you'd like to be friends, see what I'm reading, or you're just interested in seeing weird lists of books! I always love meeting new booklovers, as they seem to be a rarity around me these days.

Until Next Time! <3

NOTE: Please note that my Goodreads lists of "Read" books is not an all-inclusive list. I've read so many books before discovering Goodreads, and I know it will take time for me to inventory all of them. Treat my Goodreads lists as the most current books I've read (because I honestly have no idea how to review books I remember reading in 3rd-8th grade, especially because I don't remember the plots of them all). I pretty much remember reading books like Nancy Drew, The A-List, Gossip Girl, The Clique, etc. But as most of those books are not very memorable (as well as many other books I once read), you will not see reviews for all of them. Thank You!!

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – 3 stars

This is one of those rare books that was so over-hyped, I found myself completely buying into all the great reviews, and I bought it immediately at Target, due to the immense amount of praise the book received. My first mistake.

Because of the great reviews form so many popular Booktubers, whose opinions I tend to value, I didn’t even bother looking at the synopsis or reading the dust jacket to find out what the premise was. It had good reviews and a beautiful cover, and for the first time ever, that was enough for me. My second mistake.

At the end of the day, what I found in this book was a nice try at a debut novel from Victoria Aveyard. Take a dystopian premise, add a sprinkle of teen angst and the feeling of not-belonging, throw in a love triangle for some added drama, and a plot twist (that could arguably be seen from the midway point of the book). BOOM. You have the Red Queen…… And a number of other YA books that currently grace the shelves at any local bookstore. That’s not to say this book didn’t have redeeming qualities, because it did. But at the end of the day, it was unoriginal.

SYNOPSIS: 

Mare is a girl living in a world of silvers versus reds. People in are sorted in society based on the color of their blood: the silvers are royalty and possess magical abilities, and the reds are powerless and poor, left to suffer in slums while the royal silvers live in richer neighborhoods (think the Hunger Games and the Capital versus District 12). Mare seems to think she is rather ordinary, except when it comes to her above average pickpocketing skills. For this reason, she has consigned herself with being placed into the draft for the war that is ravaging their lands. Until she meets a mysterious woman who says she will help Mare escape conscription if she is able to pay a high price. Desperate to avoid the war that has already claimed members of her family, Mare sneaks into the palace to steal from others. However, after a series of interesting events, she finds herself working in the palace alongside her sister, and her powers are suddenly revealed to a slew of Silvers. Because of this rarity, she is then forced to pretend to be a long-lost Silver from a high-ranking family. All the while, she is forced into an engagement with one of the Royal Princes, Maven, but she clearly also begins to harbor feelings for Cal, the older of the two brothers. The situation escalates to a fiery ending full of betrayal and death, and the assumption of a sequel (obviously).

THE GOOD:

Mare. She is surprisingly human. We get to watch her mental state unravel and re-work itself. We are able to witness her internal struggle with staying true to herself and everything she believes, while also trying to evolve in order to usher in a better tomorrow for other Reds like herself. She reminds me so much of Katniss in the Hunger Games (how she has to reluctantly play the capital’s puppet, but does it to help bring about a better tomorrow). She is a surprisingly strong character with human faults. Even though we’re in a fantasy world, her shortcomings are surprisingly relatable.

World Building. I give Victoria so much credit in this department. There are parts of the story that are under-developed (we never really know much about the war being fought, we’re never introduced to the outside sources fighting the war, etc), but I can only assume these facets are left out for the sake of following books. However, what she does offer up is a beautiful description of Mare’s world. I found myself being able to vividly picture the stilts she lived in, the glass palace, the river journey she embarks on with the Royal family, and the action scenes throughout. The world is dark and beautiful and I’m in love with it.

Characters. Every main character is distinct. Cal, Maven, Mare, Elara, and Kilorn all are very distinct and easily distinguishable. They seamlessly interact and are written so masterfully. It seems as though we never know exactly what is going on in any of their minds, and their opinions really do change on a whim. This is so intriguing, because it gives the characters a human dimension that is so often missing from YA books. Love them or hate them, the characters are well-written.

THE BAD:

Story. The story honestly had so much potential to grow further in this first book. Unfortunately, I felt the introduction to the beautiful world was a little lengthy and longer than necessary. Consequently, the actual crux of the story doesn’t take place until about 150 pages in. It’s a slow start, and an even slower read. The real action doesn’t take place until deep into the second act of the book. For this reason, the book took me awhile to finish—there was no real urgency.

Plot Twist. Here’s where I was really bothered. Going into this book, I knew absolutely nothing about the plot, the storyline, the characters—nada. I went into this completely blind. SAVE for the fact I knew there would be a twist of some sort. Now, the particular plot twist in this book was said to be mind-blowing and completely unexpected. Let me just say, I was not shocked in the least. Mare was told on more than one occasion, “Maven is his mother’s son,” or something to that affect. Further, Victoria’s story and Mare’s telling placed so much stock in absolutely everything Cal did from the moment she met him. Suddenly, Mare was content with Maven because he seemed kind to her, and instantly Cal became the bad guy because he didn’t want a war and he was sympathetic to his Silvers, but Maven happened to be sympathetic to the Reds his family had suppressed for years. Now, I’ve read plenty of YA books to know that these signs pointed to one clear point: Mare was OBVIOUSLY not going to be picking between two brothers, it would be one or the other (because let’s not forget her inexplicable soft spot for Kilorn, also). That coupled with the repeated “Maven is his mother’s son” meant that something was going to happen with Maven. AND THEN SUDDENLY IT DID. And I wasn’t shocked in the least. I’m more shocked that this “plot twist” took anyone by surprise. The one part of the “plot twist” that I would classify as a twist was the killing of the King. But even so, this felt like a cheap rip off of the Season 1 finale of Game of Thrones—it was so irritating because the King hardly did anything, but was so likable, and he just had to die. Granted, it seemed necessary, but somehow also annoying.

Kilorn. Okay. So Kilorn is basically the Gale of the Red Queen (I know I’m referencing the Hunger Games a lot, but COME ON). He’s a part of Mare’s home and she just can’t let him go because he reminds her of who she is and where she’s from, and she’s grown up with him. But he isn’t like her. He’s foreign to her and her cause at this point. And he’s seriously getting in the way of the clear budding relationship between Mare and Cal. Just like Gale, he seems to be the one who brings out the anger in her and brings out her worst traits, while Cal makes her want to strive towards cultivating a better future for all. Kilorn was the most irritating and unnecessary character, and I feel like the novel didn’t suffer because of him, but nothing would have been lost had he not been written into the story in the first place.

OVERALL:

This book wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great, nor was it original. The writing was lovely, the world was interesting, and the characters were great. But the plot was slow, the premise felt like every other YA dystopian, and it honestly just took me way longer to finish than it should have. Despite all that, I find myself wondering where the overarching plot of the series is going. I will pick up the second book in the series with my fingers crossed for more originality, because at the end of the day, Red Queen just had too many parallels to too many other high-grossing YA dystopian novels.

END VOTE:

3 stars

★★★