Review: The Universe versus Alex Woods

Ever felt underestimated?

Alex Woods was hit by a meteorite -- scarred for life and prone to epilepsy attacks -- but his wit and outstanding intelligence remained unscathed. Try telling people that. Poor Alex had no friends until he met Mr. Peterson. The only man to glance at him without pity and treat him like an average teen. So how could Alex, at seventeen, be found with Mr. Peterson's car, a bag full of pot and an urn full of ashes. What exactly did Mr. Peterson teach him?

To refer to this book as Gavin Extence's debut novel feels preposterous. His writing is beyond amateur level which explains why he's been getting so much praise. Not only did he tackle bullying, mother/teen relationships, overcoming shyness around girls; he also discussed euthanasia and faith in the unknown. He did it without being preachy. He did it with class. Teaching us new words, and how to dissect Kurt Vonnegut's novels along the way.

Instead of giving us a perfect Alex Woods, Extence also allowed us to see his bad side. Teenagers don't always appreciate what their mothers do for them. A lot can be learned from adults at that age if we learn to communicate, and this book is a fair example.

Feature and Follow Friday: Big Reveal

Parajunkee / Alison Can Read

FEATURE & FOLLOW FRIDAY

Once you answer be sure to leave me your link so I can follow you back

Q: What do you do with your books after you're done reading them?

I store them in my bookcase. It's a lot more colorful in person. People have advise me to remove the book covers to make it ''nicer'' but in my opinion the covers really do protect from dust. What do you think? 

Review: Burn for Burn

Don't believe in an eye for an eye. Well, neither does Lilia, Kat or Mary. These girls believe in something darker. They believe if you wrong them, they deserve the eye and every organ accountable for. 

Burn for Burn started up slow. The story cut from one perspective to the other, and the secrets remained secrets for too long. However, once they are revealed, it's hard not to get hooked.

Lilia is the over analytic popular girl, Kat the sexual vixen, and Mary the girl who was bullied for her weight and now suffers from anorexia. Together, they start off with so-so revenge methods that quickly spiral out of control when they realize how good it feels to take karma into their own hands. Topics like suicide, drugs, dead beat dads, family issues, and friendship, appear in the story. But for me it was the infatuation between Alex and Lilia that kept me turning the pages. 

Part two is expected August 2013.

Top Ten Tuesday: Arsenic and Dull Words

 

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

TOP WORDS YOU AVOID

As children we were all told to avoid one written word: Poison. Do not ingest it,  do not touch it. And do not test feed it to the plants to make them carnivorous. The word poison will eventually fade from our parents lectures to be replaced with drugs and herpes. But the stigma of reading poison anywhere will remain forever. Here are other words that turn me off when written on a back cover.

Journey usually implies lots of narration in which the main characters will over analyse the small issues in their lives and over over analyse the big ones. 

Teen Girls yurk. What if you aren't one? What if you are a boy or a mother that enjoys this type of YA literature -- must you be kept aside? This type of judgmental back cover is usually a sign for dull-witted narration.

I don't always avoid dual narratives. Although, I admit that aside from The Wolves of Mercy Falls I have yet to enjoy both narratives in a book.

   Too many buts can be confusing. 

Review: Eve

Life in the wild or becoming a human breeding machine? Sounds like a women's liberation right. Thankfully, Eve made the right choice by running away. Women aren't objects, although I admit it was puzzling as to why they were taught how to read and write only to be enslaved afterwards. 

Anna Carey added several characters to keep us entertained throughout the novel. First Eve is forced to escape with her school nemesis, Arden. A girl who would beat you up rather than give you a hand. And then, of course, Caleb. A love interest that is both protective and sweet. Eve's school lessons gave her a charming "Wendy from Peter Pan likeness" when she reached the boys camp and learned to survive. 

Enough action scenes to anticipate a great sequel.