Book Review: Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

In alternating narratives, Sara Bennett Wealer tells the story of two talented teens--Kathryn and Brooke. Both girls are exceptional singers and, though they used to be very close, they have a rivalry that has spiraled out of control.

Brooke seems to have it all. She is the most popular girl in her class, she has talent, money, and people generally look to her to decide who's cool and who's not. Of course, life is not as perfect as it seems. Brooke is lonely and desperately wants her absent father's love and attention. She is surrounded by people who want to be near her so that they can be popular. None of her friends care about her passion for singing; they only care about parties and dances. Brooke finds a true friend in Kathryn during her junior year, but by their senior year their bitter enmity has completely clouded over any friendship they might have had.

Kathryn is more content in the shadows than in the limelight when it comes to being popular. That is, until she gets a taste for the spotlight when Brooke invites her to a sleepover their junior year. After that fateful night, Kathryn is kept busy with parties and activities and shows with all of her new friends. In particular, Brooke seems to want to hang out with Kathryn and talk about music. But, when Kathryn unwittingly betrays Brooke, their friendship crumbles and so does Kathryn's new popularity.

In the end, the only thing these two unlikely friends have in common is their desire to win at the Blackmore--a prestigious singing competition. And, it seems that both girls are willing to crush the other in order to win.

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Rival is an excellent debut for Sara Bennett Wealer.  It is always a risky venture to write a book where the main characters are complex and not always sympathetic. There were points in this book where I didn't like either of the main characters, but this dislike was because the girls are presented as real people who make real mistakes and use poor judgment. It would've been much easier for Ms. Bennett Wealer to present one of the girls as "right" and the other as "wrong." It's much more difficult to make each girl complex in their own way. 

In addition to the characters, I loved the format of this book. It alternated between main characters and from their junior to senior years. In all of this, I was not confused in the least by which character was speaking and when the scene was taking place. It was interesting to flip between the girls' senior year, when they hated each other, and their junior year, when they were inseparable. Through the shifting time periods, the relationship and the motives behind the girls' actions becomes much more complex and interesting. 

I loved that this rivalry was based, for the most part, on singing. There were some jealous moments based on boys and beauty, but that was not the crux of the girls' conflict. That story has been played out, in my opinion. In this book, the girls are vying for something real and based on hard work and merit. This focus on singing took away from some of the catty, stereotypical competition over looks that is often portrayed in YA lit. This story was far more serious and interesting than a typical girl-hates-girl story. 

This is an awesome debut novel and I cannot wait to read more from this author. I can imagine that there are several students in my classes, particularly those girls involved in chorus and one of our school's music programs that will understand the richness of this book.

**Thanks to The Teen Book Scene for providing this review copy**

Author Guest Post + Book Giveaway: Savita Kahlan, Author of The Long Weekend

Savita Kahlan is the author of the chilling thriller, The Long Weekend. This book is absolutely terrifying, due to the subject matter and the author's skill at creating a tense, suspenseful situation where the lives of two boys are at stake. Though this book is thoroughly disturbing, I know that it takes a great writer to develop this type of character/ reader connection. I am highly impressed and completely freaked out.

For her tour stop at DeRaps Reads, I asked Ms. Kahlan to share a bit about a nightmare that she's had. As many of you know from previous posts, I have nightmares almost every night. In fact, I just had a horrific one last night, based on a book I'm currently reading. I'm glad to report that it wasn't as terrifying as Ms. Kahlan's, which you can read about here.

My Nightmare

“It’s dark and the streetlamps emit little light. I’m crouched behind a car, hiding. I’m alone. The street is eerily quiet and deserted, the houses on either side are abandoned. I don’t know how I ended up here all by myself with not a single living soul in sight. I’m catching my breath, thinking maybe I’m safe for a while. I’ve been running all night, running and hiding, running and hiding. Am I doomed never to see the light of day breaking over the horizon, the sweet chorus of birdsong, the rattle and clink of the milkman? I can hear a distant rattle and clink, but it’s not the milkman making early deliveries of bottles of milk. This is the rattle and clink of something else, something that may have once been human, but any humanity it once had has been lost for an age and it has no recollection of what it was like to be human.

The dreaded sound is distant, but I won’t be fooled by that. They almost had me before – yes, there is more than one, more than ten, perhaps twenty or more. I did not stop to count each contorted, disfigured being as they defied their stuttering gait, their misshapen limbs, and robot-like seethed across the fast dwindling space that separated them from me. I begin to move, slowly at first using the parked cars as my shield, then quicker as a glimpse of a rotting arm from the other side of the car. I begin to run. They’re closing in on me. Their guttural cries, their agonised moaning, their strange wheezing, the rattle and clink of the chains that once held them dragging across the ground, it all becomes louder. I run into an abandoned house, hoping to find help, but there is no one there, no weapons, nothing I can use to defend myself. I hear the shuffle of footsteps scraping across floorboards. They’ve followed me. I stifle a scream, my hand stuffed in my mouth, my heart beating so fast I think it might explode...”

And this is when I hope to wake up from the nightmare! Sometimes I do, sweating and panting and clutching at the duvet, other times the nightmare continues...

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And that's just a sample of the quality of Ms. Kalhan's terrifically terrifying writing. The Long Weekend is sure to have you feeling disturbed--even the most jaded of readers will have some heightened sense of fear or fright!

Ms. Kalhan is giving away one copy of her book to one lucky commenter. You have one week to enter this INTERNATIONAL giveaway (closes March 4th). Please leave a comment reacting to Ms. Kalhan's nightmare or describe one of your own. Make sure to leave an email where you can be reached if you are the winner.

Winners Announced: Three of 'Em!

Yay! I'm finally feeling well enough to post the winners of my most recent giveaways. Sorry for the delay--It's been a rough couple of weeks. But, I am ready to announce and ship out some prizes to the lucky winners of the Valentine's Giveaway and the Rival book and necklace giveaway. Here we go...

Winner of Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer and necklace:

Ms. Ashley of Bookcase Siren!

Winner of Love is Hell and Dark Heart pendant:

Kristen of My Bookish Fairy Tale!

Winner of Love, Love, Love and Heart Pendant:

Melissa of My Chaotic Ramblings!

Congrats, ladies. 

Others, please keep your eye out for a super awesome giveaway coming this week-ish!

Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Is it possible that I like Gayle Forman's Where She Went even more than If I Stay? I didn't know that this was possible. I am a little taken aback. But, from the very first chapter, I was captivated by this second book and could not put it down. Now, I did have a difficult time putting down If I Stay, but there was something so compelling about this book, even without the lure of tragedy and melodrama.

**Please don't read this post if you haven't read If I Stay and want to. I'm going to have to SPOIL it for you if you do! There's just no way to talk about Where She Went without revealing what happened in If I Stay.**

Okay. Phew. I don't want to spoil anything about this series for anyone!

This second book is narrated completely from Adam's point of view. I have to admit that I was intrigued by this from the very start. I loved Adam in book one, but I completely fell for him in book two. He just seemed even more real to me in this second installment. Even though he's now famous and touring the world, his feelings and character just ring true to me.

And Mia. Love Mia. In some ways, she's even more complex in this second book than in the first. She, too, has become an accomplished musician, but there's something about her struggle to both move past and remember that fateful night on which If I Stay is based that feels very real to me. If you've ever had any sort of trauma in your life, I think you'll understand what she's going through.

I love that Adam and Mia are not perfect. I love that they are not fixed and that, though they've experienced success, they don't always feel deserving or good about it. All of this rings very true to me. And, Foreman made some great choices with this book. I loved that she start most chapters with lyrics from Adam's hit record, which is actually written about Mia. I found most of the lyrics to be interesting and to add to the narrative. I want to hear his music!

I know that many of you are waiting for this book to come out and that you cannot wait to read it. In my opinion, this is a great second book to a story that could have ended with the first. But, after reading Where She Went, I am happy to know more about Adam and Mia and understand where they'll go from here. I loved it.

**Thanks to Around the World ARC Tours for this reading opportunity**

Audio Book Review: Dark Life by Kat Falls

In the futuristic world of Dark Life, the world is divided. There are those who live "Topside" or above water, and those who dwell deep under water. On land, the Commonwealth Government rules what is left of the overpopulated Earth. Due to many environmental and natural disasters, there is too little space for too many people.

Under water, life is more like the Wild West. Those who choose to farm on the ocean floor are called settlers, and they have no shortage of dangers and dangerous personalities to contend with. Ty, a teenager who was the first to be born and raised under water, loves the freedom and adventure that his life brings. His days are filled with chores, roaming the wide ocean plains, and swimming with dolphins.

Some who live Topside say that the children born under water have develop Dark Gifts, but Ty and the other children deny it. One scientist supposedly discovered a boy named Akai, who could communicate with dolphins via sonar, but this boy's existence has never been verified. Nevertheless, there is definitely a divide between those who grow up Topside and those who live under water.

The peace and thrill of Ty's life changes completely the day that he meets Gemma. Ty comes across her just after she's gotten herself into a tough situation. She went under water to find her missing brother, but didn't really have a solid idea of where she was going or the amount of danger that she could encounter under the sea. Ty saves Gemma, but is quickly drawn into her quest to find her brother, which leads them further and further into the "darker" side of Dark Life.

The reader of this audio book, Keith Nobbs, does an excellent job. He reads for all of the characters, but still managed to highlight their personalities in his reading. I think that some high schoolers, particularly those who love a good dystopia, will enjoy this book. On the whole, though, I think that this is more of a middle grade read. I was entertained by it, and liked that the subject matter got a little dark at times. The was that great middle grade balance present, between edge and innocence. There was enough material to make you think about the world developed in the story and the ethics and morals (or lack thereof), but there was no language or sexual stuff going on. Definitely middle grade.

Details:

Narrator: Keith Nobbs
Length: 7 hours and 5 mins 

**Listened to as part of Presenting Lenore's Dystopian February Celebration**

**This audio book counts toward my participation in the 2011 Audio Book Challenge from Teresa's Reading Corner and Whisper Stories in My Ear Audio Book Challenge**

Book Review: The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

Phew. Deep breaths. My breathing is a tad labored right now. I just finished this Carrie Ryan's newest installment of The Forest of Hands and Teeth series and realized that I hadn't taken one deep breath in a couple hours. How can you with action and stress and edge-of-seat (or bed, in this case) plot twists and turns?

Okay. Beyond this first paragraph, I am going to admit that I have no idea of how to review this book without revealing any spoilers at all. Not that I cannot review the book without talking about the plot, but I don't know how to review this book with no spoilers about the entire series. Therefore, if you have not started this series, I suggest that you do. Those of you who have read it know how great it is. I'm making a bit of a leap here, but I think that most of what I've read online points to a fairly high approval rating. If you like zombie apocalypse stories, or if you want to start liking them, read this series. It's a great way to become a lover of zombie lit. It was my first. A gateway drug, if you will.

For those of you who have read the first two books in this series, I'll explain why this third installment is so very good. If you haven't, it's okay to stop reading. I still love you.

Okay. Let's get down to business. This third book is told from the perspective of Annah, the twin sister of Gabry (nee Abigail), who left her sister behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth a dozen years ago. Annah escaped the forest with Elias, and they carved out a bit of a life together, posing as brother and sister, in the Dark City. Now, the Dark City is filled with the Unconsecrated. It is unlivable and the Recruiters have begun to terrorize survivors.

Annah has managed on her own for three years. She's pretty much living just to avoid the Unconsecrated and is waiting for Elias to come back to her. That is her life. No companionship, no love, no fun. Just Annah and her fears and insecurities and longing. She's alive but dead.

Until she sees her sister, her twin sister, from across a crowded platform. That sighting changes her entire life. Seeing her sister leads to Annah's search for the long-lost Abigail. And their reunion changes Annah's life and her life's purpose forever.

*   *   *

I was not disappointed with this newest series books in the least. I am left wanting more, but I think that this is good. I don't feel like I need more answers about the characters or that any topic was not covered, I would just love to see what continues to happen in this world. And I'm sure that's exactly where the author, Carrie Ryan, wanted to leave her readers. 

I am such a fan of this series and have enjoyed lending these books to my students. I have a creating a serious following among my freshmen boys. It's kinda like an infection spread by the Mudo or Unconsecrated. One student reads The Forest of Hands and Teeth, "bites" the brain of a friend, and the books are spread. It's like the most awesome virus ever.

**ARC Courtesy of Book It Forward Tours**

**Read as part of Presenting Lenore's Dystopian February Celebration**

Book Review: Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

Corrinne lives a charmed life. Her parents own a posh apartment in NYC and a house on Nantucket. She has credit cards galore and goes out for sushi and (illegal) drinks with her best buds almost nightly. She plans to attend an exclusive boarding school in the fall and life is generally wonderful for cynical, whiny Corrinne.

Really, she is a little hard to like at first. But, when her life's station falls dramatically after the collapse of the economy and once her parents find that they've fallen victim to a Ponzi scheme, Corrinne joins the real world and becomes a much more human. But, it doesn't happen quickly. First, her whole life as she knows it has to disintegrate and crumble before her very eyes. This includes: the sale of the apartment, her father moving to Dubai, and Corrinne and her brother moving to Texas in order to live with her very Texan grandparents. Even worse, no more private school, no more sushi, no more credit, no more friends.

What she does find in Texas is lots of hot weather, twangy accents, public schools filled with (gasp!) public school students, and food with lots and lots of carbs. Basically, she's on an alien planet.

With the help of some of the locals, though, Corrinne adjusts. It takes time, but she is nothing if not a survivor. And, the fact that the town is home to a couple of extremely hot guys (see book cover) does not hurt matters.

Corrinne is truly a round character. I love her for this. Even as she's complaining and melting down, she has an endearing quality to her story. We can al identify, I'm sure, with having to change our habits after the recession hit. I know I have. I haven't had to move to Texas, but I have had to give up some of the extras. And I know how hard but ultimately rewarding this has been for me. By the end of the book, I was super proud of Corrinne and respected her as a person.

This is not a heavy book or one that's full of mystery and intrigue. You basically know what's going to happen throughout. But, it doesn't really matter. Because debut author Gwendolyn Heasley isn't really trying to develop an entirely new character, but improving on the existing character archetype. I think it's pretty successful in it's attempt at romance and realistic characters. I can't wait to pass it on to some of my romance-loving, cowboy-wanting teen students!