Audio Book Review: Trouble is a Friend of Mine

Trouble is a Friend of Mine (Trouble #1) 

By Stephanie Tromly

****

“Who brings a picnic to a break-in?” 
― Stephanie Tromly, Trouble is a Friend of Mine

Ok, that was pretty fun. Zoe made a relatable character and was often the voice of reason (a voice that mainly went unheard, but still). Digby had some definite Sherlock vibes, but while he clearly had boundary issues, he wasn't a BBC Sherlock or Sheldon Cooper caricature - he may have been brainy and weird, but he was still a teenage boy. Even the mean girl wasn't quite as terrible as she could have been. I mean, she was pretty terrible, but not 100% irredeemable. 

That being said, I honestly can't figure out why Henry was with Sloan, though. Like I said, she was terrible, while he seemed like a genuinely good person. I do not believe his mama would put up with her. Man, I hope that scene happens in the next book!

Oh, and Felix may have been my favorite. And his dad was pretty awesome, too.

I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator was great. So many YA narrators go for the breathy, angsty voice, which makes me gag. Thankfully Kathleen McInerney did not do that; her voice was realistic to the characters and emotions without going into whispy voice of teen melodrama. 

The mystery itself was solid. Frankly, I didn't expect any of the twists and turns that took place throughout the book. I also like how the mystery built; first they're looking for a missing person, then there's the weird cult and all kinds of criminality going on around them. By the time the story ends, the mystery is wrapped up neatly and, for the most part, satisfyingly, while a new mystery is planted for another book. This new mystery: I'm not sure if it will be the main mystery of the next book, or a series arc, but it looks like it will be a good one.

All in all, Trouble is a Friend of Mine was a fun read and a nice change-up from the more drama- and dark-filled YA novels I've been reading. And the characters were pretty great - I'd want to be friends with most of them.

Book Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1) 
By Jenny Han
****

“Do you know what it’s like to like someone so much you can’t stand it and know that they’ll never feel the same way?” 
― Jenny Han, To All the Boys I've Loved Before

To All the Boys I've Loved Before is the story of Laura Jean Song Covey, who is about to begin her junior year in high school. The three Song girls - Margot, Laura Jean, and Kitty - have been extraordinarily tight since their mother died years ago. Margo, the eldest, is about to leave for her freshman year of college at Saint Andrews in Scotland, leaving Laura Jean to take over the big sister role. 

The year starts off with a bang for Laura Jean. Over the years she wrote love letters/goodbye letters to the boys she's loved to provide herself with closure. Once she wrote the letters to the boys, she seals them up, addresses them, then sticks them in a hat box in her closet. They were never supposed to be seen. But on the first day of school, Laura Jean finds out that her former crushes have received their letters.

I had some trouble with this book initially - I really don't handle embarrassing situations well (be they fictional, real life, or my own), and boy howdy does this story start off with a doozy. But after getting over that hump, the story was touching and sweet and funny. I really enjoyed the characters and their growth. 

Laura Jean discovers a lot about herself, as well as a few of the boys, and I liked how much she grew. I know some people have been a bit shocked by the ending (no spoilers here!), but I liked where it left off. Also, it doesn't hurt knowing there's a sequel. I can't wait to see these characters again and find out what happens next!

Except for one: 

Audio Book Review: Grasshopper Jungle

Grasshopper Jungle   

By Andrew Smith

Narrated by Philip Church

Story: *****

Narration: *****

“History provides a compelling argument that every scientist who tinkers around with unstoppable shit needs a reliable flamethrower.” 
― Andrew Smith, Grasshopper Jungle

From Goodreads: 

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.

From Me: 

Umm...sooo this book. It's, well...how do I?... Huh.

Let's try this again. Grasshopper Jungle is unlike any book I've read...EVER. The story is completely bonkers. BUT IN A GOOD WAY. 

I'm not going to go into what the story's about - it's impossible for me to describe and you can read the official synopsis above. That being said, this world is both familiar and bizarre and the boys go through normal teenage stuff as well as events that are wackadoo. The story was at times hilarious, touching, and gross. Austin's "history" was fascinating, especially the way Andrew Smith had everything circle back to itself. I found myself completely enthralled. You know what I mean.

If you're easily offended by mature-immature content (and by that I mean the thoughts, words, and actions common to pubescent teenagers - and if you think they aren't, then you're probably deluding yourself) then this book probably isn't for you. But if you like the strange and bizarre, if you like stories about growing up and trying to understand yourself, if you like books about friendship and love and family, then this book is for you. And if you know a teen who thinks reading is boring or dumb or a waste of time, give them this book - I'm pretty sure they'll have a difficult time putting it down...or getting their eyes to pop back into their heads. BUT IN A GOOD WAY.

Book Review - In Your Dreams

In Your Dreams (Blue Heron #4)  
By Kristan Higgins
*** 1/2

"Nothing kicked off Emmaline Neal's weekend like using a Taser." --In Your Dreams, Kristan Higgins

Emmaline is a small town cop who needs a date to her ex's wedding. Jack, scion of a wine dynasty, is known for being happy to help women who have need of dates for various life events - just a good guy doing a nice thing, no strings, no romance. In the process, they find they like each other more than a little, but complications back home make getting together difficult, if not impossible.

One of the interesting things about this story is the long looks at what went on in Jack and Emmaline's pasts prior to the current action. We get to see both of their past relationships in great detail. This added a lot of depth to the story and fleshed out what made Jack and Emmaline the people they are today, but I couldn't help wanting to get back to their presents rather than spending so much time in their pasts. This is the main reason I didn't rate this book higher; I was much more engaged in their *now* than I was in their *then.*

There's a lot of great humor (though I could do with out all many the embarrassing moments - I don't know, I may have too much empathy or something, but I *hate* reading/watching/seeing/doing humiliating things), and while you have to suspend reality to believe in the adorable small town atmosphere, the situations were believable. Mixed in with the flirting and cute relationship stuff were some fairly intense situations, including the aftermath of a horrible car accident and subsequent PTSD, family drama, and bullying. This book may look like a light-hearted romp at first glance, but there are parts that give the story weight, as well.

In Your Dreams is the 4th book in the Blue Heron series. I wasn't aware of that prior to reading (I hate coming into a series late), but it didn't affect the story - it can very much be read as a standalone. I never felt like I was missing any important details; rather, knowing that the supporting characters likely get more page-time in other books made me more interested in reading the rest.

Kristan Higgins is incredibly popular at my library, and I have no doubt that this book will please those fans, as well as lovers of contemporary romance and stories of relationships and character growth.

*FYI - the cover art is wintery, but this is not a holiday title.

**I received In Your Dreams as an Advanced eGalley from Net Galley**

Book Review: Fangirl

Fangirl 

By Rainbow Rowell

*****

“To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.” ― Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl

I'm not sure I know how to put into words the love I have for this book and the joy I took in reading it. I devoured it the way that Magicath's fans devoured her entries of Carry On, Simon. I felt connected to Cath in a way that I haven't felt connected to a character in...well, maybe ever. 

I don't want to go into too many details, since so many of the situations that affected Cath and who she was and how she related to the reader felt more powerful for me not knowing about them in advance. But a quick rundown: Cath, full name Cather Avery, is an identical twin (her sister is Wren), a freshman in college, and a majorly popular fan-fiction author of Carry On, Simon (fic for Rowell's fictional story-within-a-story creation similar in feel and popularity to the world of Harry Potter).

Fangirl follows Cath as she struggles through her freshman year. The story sucked me back into my college years (which aren't terribly far removed, but still pre-YouTube) and the excitement and anxieties (especially those) related to that time in my life. And if I had known that fan-fiction was a thing, I totally would have been involved in it; maybe not as a writer, but definitely as a reader. So while my experiences weren't like Cath's, I feel like we're almost a little kindred. 

I don't feel like I'm doing this review justice; it may be too close still for me to coherently express my feelings, other than grunt "unngg, LOVE." But I will add this: Levi is my new book boyfriend. He rates right up there with Gilbert Blythe and Forney. No, actually, he wins. 

This book completes me.

P.S. I love the fact that this is a stand-alone novel, that the story is complete and I don't have to wait for the next installment, but I do wish it could go on (I guess that's what fan-fiction is for).

P.P.S. Isn't that the best cover ever? I think it's the best cover ever.

Book Review: How to Lead a Life of Crime

How to Lead a Life of Crime

by Kirsten Miller
****

“What would it be like to exist in a world without suffering? To have no needs, only desires? To be surrounded by so much beauty that you forget how ugly life is for everyone else? Who wouldn’t want that? Who wouldn’t be willing to fight for it? What the alumni did to get there – lie, cheat, steal, kill – I’m sure they’d all say it was worth it. And I bet they sleep soundly because they know that their nameless, faceless victims would have done the same thing.” 
― Kirsten Miller, How to Lead a Life of Crime

From Goodreads:
A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer.

Anywhere else, they’d be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they’re called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear.

Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick’s old flame. They’ve been told only one of them will make it out of the Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other—or will the school destroy them both?

From Me: 
This book wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be something with a lot of fun and snark. Um, yeah, not so much. 

There *was* some snark, but graced with a healthy dose of bitterness and anger. Flick is a kid living on the streets after escaping a lousy home life (that's putting it mildly). He's offered a chance to attend a prestigious school in NYC and get revenge on his father and he decides to take it. But this school for criminals is cutthroat (literally) and generally horrible.

While the story was significantly harsher and edgier than I was anticipating (that's what happens you make assumptions), it was ultimately very satisfying. This book is not for the faint of heart and does have mature themes and elements, so take that under advisement, but I highly recommend it.

Book Review: The Book of Blood and Shadow

The Book of Blood and Shadow
By: Robin Wasserman
(*****)

“I should probably start with the blood.”

From Goodreads:

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead. His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.


From Me:

The Book of Blood and Shadow is like two books in one: first, you have Nora and her friends, their lives, how they deal with school and relationships. Then you have a mad dash through the streets of Prague searching for mysterious clues to an ancient puzzle, which once solved, can give a glimpse into the divine.

Nora's past involves a tragedy that she keeps to herself. Her parents are lost in themselves, leaving Nora as an afterthought. Nora, a bit of a Latin prodigy, was admitted to a prestigious school on the other side of town, disconnected enough from her world that no one knows about her past. There she becomes best friends with Chris and his girlfriend, Adriane. Fast forward to Nora's senior year, where she is interning at the local university where Chris is attending, and they both assist a professor in translating and transcribing 400 year old Latin texts, along with Chris's roommate, Max. They're attempting to break a code that has puzzled the best mathematicians and code breakers for four centuries. Nora finds the key to breaking the code, and the wrong people notice, leading to the death of her best friend. To avenge Chris's murder and clear Max's name, Nora and Adriane head to Prague, where the Latin texts were originally written. There, they stumble through clues that lead to an unexpected ending.

The first half of the book feels like a typical real-life-issues young adult novel. The characters struggle through evolving relationships, family issues, and the question of their future. You get to know them and connect to them, the whole time knowing that one of them will shortly die while another is blamed for that murder. The first page opens with these bombshells, quickly followed by a flash-back that leads up to this big moment. After that, we get to the mystery in Prague, where Nora and Adriane search for Max and hide from more than one secret society that wants to hinder or hurt them.

The mystery and historical portions of the story were fascinating. Wasserman does a great job of describing a scene and really getting you attached to the characters. The only thing I wasn't terribly fond of was the religion angle; at times it felt like Wasserman was getting a bit heavy handed with the atheism, while at other times she provided an interesting focus on historical and current Judaism and the mysticism tied to the ancient relic they were searching for in Prague. Like The Da Vinci Code and The Golden Compass, the religious aspect of the book could potentially turn off readers.

I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery or treasure hunt. Wasserman included a lot of real historical information about Prague, plus the impossible code they were trying to break is actually real - and still unbroken; this will appeal to historical fiction fans. It was great learning about a part of the world and a part of history that I wasn't familiar with, that of Prague during the Renaissance. The Book of Blood and Shadow is a very cool book and a great read.