We're an Open Book
I discovered the page 69 theory from the Books on The Night Stand podcast, but I guess it’s been circulating the bookternet for while. The theory states that the litmus test for if you will like a book can be found by reading page 69. Well, challenge accepted.
…
- Release Date: September 2009
- Pages: 479
- Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction
- Publisher: Candlewick (US)
In his debut YA series, Patrick Ness, takes us to Prentisstown; an isolated settlement where the thoughts of men, boys and animals( known as the Noise) are constantly broadcast for everyone to hear. Women don’t give off the Noise, but that’s no matter because there are no more women. They were all killed by the virus that created the Noise. Or so 12-year-old Todd Hewitt, the youngest boy in Prentisstown, has been lead to believe. Weeks away from turning thirteen and becoming a man, Todd has to run for his life and discovers nothing is at all what he knew.
I picked up and put down this book a couple of times, I really had a to adjust to the setup. Right from the first page Todd’s dog Manchee is talking to him which was just weird, but I kept coming back because I had heard amazing things about this novel. Then it turned out the meat of this book falls into my least favorite category of YA fiction, the “kids in the woods” variety. I just can’t get into the survivalist fiction, these stories never do it for me. But the world and questions Ness built into the story kept me so captivated that I was racing to the the end.
Also, that cliffhanger.
…
- Release Date: December 2, 2010
- Publisher: Dutton (Penguin)
- Pages: 372
- Genre: Contemporary
This book has been on my to-read list since I saw this video where John Green practically gushed about it. I finally bought it in 2012 and its one of those books that sat on my shelf for so long I forgot about. I ended up picking this out of the TBR book jarand I figured it was about time, especially since book three in this series comes out later this year.
The titular Anna is the daughter of a Nicholas Sparks expy who decides that for Anna’s senior year she is going to The School of America in Paris, an American boarding school right in the city of love. There she joins up with a close knit group of friends and Étienne St. Clair, the American boy with a French name and English accent. Yes, you read that right.
Now, I’ve read a lot of contemporary YAs and Anna and The French Kiss hits all the usual marks:
Girl who is pretty, but doesn’t see it ? Check
Nice, hot guy, everyone likes ? Check
Mean girl ? Check
References to literature and philosophical concepts that call back to the plot ? Check
…
In 2011 we were newbie book bloggers not sure where to start in the new world of YA fiction. Soon we got swept up into four debut YA series that have followed us on our blogging journey. As Books and Sensibility grew these series continued to keep us guessing at how it was going to end.
Reviewing third books is hard, so we are going to review these final books as they relate to the series as a whole and give a final verdict on if we think the series is worth getting the whole box set or stopping book 1. And of course, these will be SPOILER FREE REVIEWS.
…
- Release Date: October 2, 2012
- Pages: 272
- Genre: Supernatural Realism
- Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Harper Collins)
Through to You is one of those books that is an insta-pick up for me; a contemporary realistic story with a slight unexplainable element tossed in. The main story focuses on Cameron Pike as he mourns the sudden death of his girlfriend, Viv; and what happens when a mysterious girl and mysterious green light show him to an alternate version of his life.
This is one of those books that is hard to talk too much about without ruining too much of the plot. Nothing in the book is every really what it seems and there are some interesting twists and turns. However, I think this book would have made a great short story or novella, because as a novel it dragged on its feet in the middle and was grasping for plots.
Cameron as a protagonist didn’t pop off the page, while there are some great moments when we see him work through some of his depression and relationships his voice didn’t come through the page. The supporting character inhabiting both the real world and the alternate world were also kind of one note as well.
…
 |
| Between 2013-2014 I attempt to read a large selection of David Levithan novels. See the full list here |
I’m reviewing these books together because they are both pretty short and deal with the theme of young people who become part of something bigger than themselves.
…