34 Pieces of You

by Carmen Rodrigues

ISBN: 9781442439078

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: June 11th 2013
Number of Pages: 352
Source: Local Library
Goodreads Summary:  There was something about Ellie; something dangerous. Charismatic. Broken. Jake looked out for her. Sarah followed her lead. And Jess kept her distance and kept watch.

Now Ellie's dead, and Jake, Sarah, and Jess are left to pick up the pieces. All they have are thirty-four clues she left behind. Thirty-four strips of paper hidden in a box beneath her bed. Thirty-four secrets of a brief and painful life.

Jake, Sarah, and Jess all feel responsible for what happened to Ellie, and all three have secrets of their own. As they confront the past, they will discover not only the darkest truths about themselves, but also what Ellie herself had been hiding all along.

My Rating:  

We have a teenager Ellie who overdoes and dies - no one knows if this was truly just an accident. The only person with her when this happens is her best friend, Sarah. After this experience, Sarah basically falls apart and beings a shut-in. Her young sister, Jess, had a secret relationship with Ellie. And Ellie had secrets of her own, bad experiences as a child and some mental issues now. The summary mentions the 34 scraps of paper that Ellie wrote with her secrets on them. I found this part of the book to be confusing and not needed. Some of the chapters have one of these messages preceding it but they don't make sense usually and we never know who the person she refers to in the particular note is.

We have varying points of view, which worked for me. I just never connected with any of the characters. None of them were likable and all the secrets they had and their treatment of each other was bothersome.

If you liked Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price - give this book a try as it has the same mysterious elements & is realistic with the issues presented. However, I feel like that book was better written. Or if you decide not to take a chance on 34 Pieces of You, but like this type of book, go read Zoe Letting Go.

Retellings of Stories We Already Know

Most of us know the classic fairy tales or had to read Shakespeare in high school. There are plenty of YA books out there that take these stories we know & (maybe) love and twist them into something new. Some take the tale and just retell it and others take elements from the story and give us a brand new book. The inspiration for the list came from An Epic Chart of 162 Young Adult Retellings. Check that list out and also see my top picks below. Clicking on the title will bring you to the Goodreads page for that book. The titles that have * next to them have been reviewed by me on this blog and will link you to that post. Let me know what you think!

Beauty & the Beast

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge 

Beastly by Alex Flinn

The Little Mermaid

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

Snow White

The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson

Cinderella

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Captive Maiden* by Melanie Dickerson

If have A Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince? by Melissa Kantor

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The Frog Prince

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

The Snow Queen

Cold Spell* by Jackson Pearce

Little Red Riding Hood

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Hansel and Gretel

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Bewitching by Alex Flinn

Rapunzel

Towering by Alex Flinn

Cress* by Marissa Meyer

Sleeping Beauty

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Peter Pan

Tiger Lily* by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Romeo and Juliet

Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors

 Romeo and Juliet/Hamlet

Such Sweet Sorrow by Jenny Trout

Hades and Persephone Myth

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Anthologies

Grim by Christine Johnson

Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales* by Melissa Marr

What are your favorite fairy tales? Do these retellings give the original stories justice? What is your favorite retelling? Comment below!

Grasshopper Jungle

by Andrew Smith

ISBN: 9780525426035

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: February 11th 2014
Number of Pages: 388
Source: Local Library
Goodreads Summary: Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.

To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He's stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.

My Rating: 

*Warning* I am classifying this book as New Adult due to the explicit and rampant sexual references (as you see in the summary of this book above). There is also graphic violence portrayed.

The setting is Ealing, Iowa - an extremely small town where a big corporation that provided most jobs for the community has shut down after the demise of its CEO/founder.

Our main character is Austin. He is extremely annoying and really got on my nerves. First off, every other thought he has is sexual. I was never a teenage boy, so I have no idea how accurate this portrayal is. As I warned, be prepared. A lot of these thoughts revolve around his mixed feelings towards his girlfriend (Shannon) and his gay best friend (Robby). I appreciate the introduction of the idea of bi-sexualism in YA literature, though I was a little put off by the fact that Austin didn't want to label his feelings as such.

I DID NOT like the way that women were portrayed in this book. Again, it may be because our main character is a teenage boy but STILL. There are absolutely no good female characters in this book. Austin's & Robby's mothers both take drugs to deal with their lives, Austin's girlfriend has no depth (all we hear is how much Austin wants her body), and the female grasshopper is used as a reproduction carrier. This does not seem fair to girls and I did not approve. 

Another problem I had with not only Austin, but with the author's way of writing is the "historian." Austin is apparently documenting and writing down in his journals all of the events that happened for future generations. This is okay with me (the aspect of recording these incidents). What I did not like was how we have Austin's thoughts and then the chapters switch and we are witnesses to scenes that are happening elsewhere. How does Austin know about those events to record them?! He also has this really vexing trait of going off on long tangents about his ancestors. I have no idea how this played into the book or helped further this plot? We do have a reveal towards the end of the book but I don't think we needed such an intensive back-story to understand the twist.

"Even when I tried to tell everything that happened, I knew my accounts were ultimately nothing more than an abbreviation. It's not that I neglected to write details...But no historian could ever put everything that happened in a book. The book would be as big as the universe, and it would take multiple countless lifetimes to read." - Grasshopper Jungle, 67

Now for the juicy stuff that I really liked! Shannon's stepfather, Johnny, owns a thrift shop where in his office he stores weird things that his brother (that corporation CEO) left him after his death. This is where Austin & Robby discover something disturbing: 

"The plaque read:

MCKEON INDUSTRIES 1969CONTAINED MI PLAGUE STRAIN 412E

Inside the globe was a festering universe...The black thing inside the globe pulsed and twitched like a beating heart. It seemed to become more animated the longer we stared at it. It was almost like a gelatinous cauliflower. Here and there on its velvet surface, a mound would rise up, like a mosquito bite, a black pimple, and then burst open at its peak." - Grasshopper Jungle, 55-56

This globe is the source of our exciting science fiction element - the creation of giant, man-eating bugs! We have 7 "victims" that turn and start wrecking havoc on this small community very quickly.

"...we watched as a six-legged bug the size of a small man crawled like some kind of windup mechanized toy out of the hollowed remains of Hungry Jack. It wiped itself clean with four of its appendages, bringing its spiny hands up to its mandibles, licking itself clean and dry with crackling, smacking bug-mouth sounds. The thing's head was triangular. It looked like a praying mantis, only it was as tall as we were." - Grasshopper Jungle, 128 

This is what an actual praying mantis looks like:

Photo courtesy of National Geographic

These insects portrayed in Smith's novel do closely resemble giant praying mantis, as this description from the National Geographic website accurately describes the behaviors of the bugs in this book: "...the insects will also eat others of their own kind. The most famous example of this is the notorious mating behavior of the adult female, who sometimes eats her mate just after—or even during—mating. Yet this behavior seems not to deter males from reproduction." Yet another instance of the sexual references. These bugs (only one of whom is a female) just go around eating people and taking turns reproducing. 

I did like the second half of this story - the discoveries Austin and his two pals make and the twists in the story are disturbingly weird but I liked it. The ending was a little far-fetched for me but oh well.

So, I couldn't really say I liked the book but it was a little bit above being "okay." Thus my 2.5 star rating. Not sure who this book is going to appeal to - possibly boys and probably anyone who likes gross science fiction stuff. The story-telling moves a little bit slow for the reluctant reader and the overwhelming sexual references might turn people away.

Cress

By Marissa Meyer

Series: Book #3 The Lunar Chronicles
ISBN: 9780312642976
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: February 4th 2014
Number of Pages: 550
Source: Local Library
Goodreads Summary: Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. 

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

My Rating:  

Yes, I have got another fairy-tale retelling for you guys! I think I'll be posting a list of my favorite re-tellings in the next month.

I am so happy with this series by Marissa Meyer. This is the third book in the series. The first two books are Cinder and Scarlet. If you remember, Scarlet was my top pick for 2013 (see the post). I'm going to write this review as if you have already read the first two books, thus they will probably contain spoilers for them! If you like a futuristic dystopian society mixed with some science fiction and then add in some fairy-tales - this book is for you!

We pick up the story-line right where Scarlet ended. Linh Cinder (aka Princess Selene), Scarlet, Wolf, and Captain Carswell Thorne hiding out on the Captain's ship, the Rampion (which has the personality of the beloved Iko!) We are introduced to our latest main character, the namesake of the book's title - Cress (aka Crescent Moon). She is our Rapunzel in the story, the evil "mother figure" is Mistress Sybil, our prince is Thorne, and the tower she is locked away on happens to be a satellite circling Earth.

Let's start with the romance in this book, mainly between Cress & Thorne *sigh*. I love Thorne - he is the typical player with the awesome personality that also happens to have a secret soft spot. You can feel the chemistry between them (though some may think it's one sided, as Cress has been obsessed with Thorne for years - which yes is a little creepy, but hey it's kind of romantic too right?!)

"Though they were separated by two screens and vast amounts of empty space, she could feel the link being forged between them in that look. A bond that couldn't be broken. Their eyes had met for the first time, and by the look of pure amazement on his face, she knew he felt it too." - Cress, 40-41

When things go awry, we get our fairy tale optimism as Cress has unshakable faith in him:

"Thorne would come for her. He was a hero. She was a damsel. That's how the stories went - that's how they always went." - Cress, 293

We do get a little bit of Kai & Cinder towards the end, so hold out! There is no Scarlet/Wolf interaction (as you will find out why in the book!) His moping did get a little annoying at times but I was intrigued by Scarlet's story-line.

Speaking of story-lines, I think Meyer has done it again with weaving several plot lines perfectly and changing the chapters up in the exact time for us to see what's going on at the same time with our other characters. The book did get a little bit slow in the middle, but I think she was trying to build some suspense and also set us for the reveals that come at the end.

We find out the shocking origins of the deadly disease, Letumosis (which the cure is being used as a bargaining chip to force Kai to marry the scary & evil Lunar Queen Levana).

We are being set up in this book for the big war that is coming between Luna & Earth and we discover that Princess Selene has support.

"'That's what it's like,' said the woman. 'To have your own body used against you. To know that your brain has become a traitor. We came to Earth to get away from that, but we're all lost if Levana gets her way. Now, I don't know if this young lady can stop her, but it seems she's the only one worth putting any faith into right now, so that's what we're going to do.'" - Cress, 368

Still a little confused on why some Lunars are born as "shells" but hey, I guess we just have to accept it.

We also get a glimpse at our final "princess" whose book Winter won't be out until February of next year (2015)! I'm pretty excited that we are getting a crazy and ethnic Snow White, aka Princess Winter:

"Her warm brown skin was flawless and healthy, her fingernails perfectly shaped and clean. Her eyes were bright, the color of melted caramel, but with hints of slate-gray around her pupils. On top of all that, she had silky black hair that curled into perfect spirals, neatly framing her high cheekbones and ruby-red lips." ...

"Yet there was one anomaly. Or - three. The right side of the girl's face was marred by three scars that cut down her cheek from the corner of her eye to her jaw. Like perpetual tears. Strangely, the flaws on her skin didn't reduce her beauty, but almost accentuated it." - Cress, 517

We also discover that her love interest is the confusing character of Jacin Clay, "with the blond hair and beautiful eyes and the rising sun in his smile." - Cress, 521

We end the book with the hint of things to come:

"War had begun.
'You said yourself that the people of Luna need a revolutionary.' She lifted her chin, holding his gaze. 'So I'm going to Luna, and I'm going to start a revolution.'" - Cress, 550

DUN DUN DUN!! Ahhh - I can't wait for the final installment of this series!