Review: Promise Me Something

Friendship and loyalty are tested in Kocek's Promise me Something and the results will surprise you. Reyna knows everything about loss. She lost her mom to a drunk driver and her father to a lover a few months later. The high school she is assigned to isn't the same as her best friends, causing shy Reyna more alienation from the ones she loves. Meeting Olive is the only thing going on for her. The problem is Olive is direct, rejected by others, and often selfish. The problem is Olive is secretly gay.

Kocek touches several LGBT topics, and sadly how being judged by others can lead to suicide. The loss of a parent holds the book together, providing the reader with several teary-eyed moments. Sex is the one thing that isn't discussed in this book. Instead, Kocek introduces Levi, a sweet puppy love interest for Reyna, making sure the harsher and more important topics get the main attention.

A debut worth noticing. Promise Me Something comes out September 1st 2013.

Goodreads

Feature and Follow Friday: Syllabus

Parajunkee / Alison Can Read

FEATURE & FOLLOW FRIDAY

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

Q: Back to school Create a list for the imaginary English Lit class you'll be teaching this semester.

The two high school teachers I've advised to use Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney in class tell me the kids love it. Plus they also get to watch the movie in class. 

Review: Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings

Transforming from girl to woman is a quite an experience -- but transforming from girl to mermaid is a miracle. Period. 

In this first novel of the Real Mermaids series, Hélène Boudreau introduces us to Jade. She isn't the most popular girl in school nor an outcast. Just a normal girl with a crush and a best friend trapped in the grips of her school nemesis. What really sets Jade apart  -- aside from the mermaid gene -- is that her mom drowned when she was young, and her dad is the only one who can advise her about boys and periods. How could her mermaid mother drown? Now that is what Jade is set on finding out.

Although the book is fun and innocently sweet, it tackles the serious issue of single parenting and how it can both affect the child and parent. Standing up to peer pressure is also a major theme in the book as Jade's friend Cori must chose between her or the in-crowd. Sadly, the ending felt a bit inconclusive to make way for book number two. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Revenge and Zombies

 

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish


BOOKS I WISHED HAD SEQUELS

                                             

 The Crucible

Can you imagine a diabolical book where all the mean girls get the plague and pay for all their devastating lies? I can O_O

Heck, I volunteer to write it.

 Harry Potter

How about a spin-off with his children? The last scene introduced us to so many offsprings that the idea isn't too far fetched.

 Shades of Earth

The book ended with such a bang (I wish I could tell you but I don't believe in spoilers.) I do, however, believe in spin-offs.

The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel finds a secret cure and brings back Augustus from the dead. Yup, zombie love story.

Review: Requiem

Requiem marks the finale of the Delirium series for Lauren Oliver, and for us, the ending of cliffhanger madness. 

Taking place right where we left off, Lena and Julian arrive at the resistance camp to find Alex waiting for her, both surprised and hurt that she'd taken a new lover. The wilds no longer mean freedom now that the government is after them and the trio will have no choice but to join forces and fight. In fact, Requiem is packed with so much violence, leaving little space for dialogue: Alex fighting with Julian, Alex fighting with Lena, Lena fighting with Alex's new girlfriend. By the time the government finds them we've grown accustomed to all the fights. People start dying left and right, and like a typical war, no one has time to mourn.  

Then there is Hana, who Oliver attempts to give a suspenseful Bluebeard retelling twist, but fails due to her dull cured mind. Hana takes too long to ask the right questions about her future government leader husband, and when she does figure out the answers her response is a nonchalant ''oh, that isn't okay.'' 

When the cards are badly set up, it's no wonder that it all comes tumbling down into a big unresolved mess. Does the rebellion triumph? Who owns Lena's heart? I'm still waiting for Oliver to say. Perhaps she is planning a spin off series.