Life by a Letter

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell

Genre: teen adventure
Age Group: Young Adult
Book #: one
Pages: 368
Synopsis: Like her parents, 16-year-old Vassar is a Planner with a capital P! She leaves nothing to chance (guess where she plans to go to college?). Never, that is, until the doorbell rings one night, and before you can say unexpected, Vassar finds herself backpacking through the jungles of Southeast Asia with Gertrude, her madcap artist grandmother. How could her parents have permitted this? Well, it has something to do with what Vassar thinks of as The Big Secret. Will she solve the mystery before she's completely undone by fallout from Grandma's relentless acts of spontaneity?

This is one of those books that don't get well known, even though they should. I was introduced to Carpe Diem last summer (which is the summer of 2010) by a friend of mine who had picked it up at the library. She had adored the book and I read it while on vacation, and it was a laugh-out-loud read. Cornwell did an amazing job of making a teenage girl who was raised to plan, and then suddenly switch her into a girl who couldn't. The change challenged Vassar and I thought Cornwell was wonderful at the switch in emotions.

The best part of this book was the humor. Vassar's friends were cute, although not dwelt upon. They show up in the beginning, before Vassar goes with her grandmother on their vacation, and during the vacation, when Vassar answers their emails. Vassar herself was hilarious in what she does when she's forced to make the epic change from planning everything to having to wing it all the time. Vassar's grandmother was so funny when Vassar mentioned planning and sanitation. Hanks, Vassar's crush throughout most of the book, was Vassar's knight in shining armor, saving her from every weird thing she got herself into. I couldn't stop laughing!

Overall, I loved Carpe Diem. Cornwell's plot was so unique and creative, it couldn't compare to many other teen books. Vassar was funny and different and Cornwell's perception of the teenage girl was great. The side characters weren't dwelt upon, but they were there, adding twists to the book. The mystery of the Big Secret was shocking, and it left me laughing in a strange sort of way. Although the mystery is there, Cornwell writes so much happening around it that that's not the central part of the book. Amazing. Marvelous. Hilarious!

The Cover: I think this depicts the book well. I thought that it doesn't really speak Vassar until the end of the book, when she really learns to LIM. I love the neutral colors and how they represent Vassar's time in southern Asia. I also think the natury feel of the cover fits the mood perfectly.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Release: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand and Night School by Mari Mancusi

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees. . . Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what it is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place--and out of place, at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make--between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

After their parents' shocking revelation about their fae heritage and an attack on their lives, the McDonald twins are forced to hide out deep in the Swiss Alps at Riverdale Academy, a secret vampire slayer training facility. And with no way to contact their vampire boyfriends for rescue, they're going to have to play nice with the locals.But when Sunny starts acting strange, Rayne realizes that there's more to fear at Riverdale than getting staked by the student body-leading to a showdown in Fairyland that may cost the twins their lives.

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I have heard nothing but good things about these two books (actually, I've heard nothing but good things about the single Unearthly book, and I've heard good things about the entire Blood Coven Vampire series). Unearthly is said to be "...a perfect a perfect blend of realism with a supernatural twist, not to mention a unpredictable plot line and a beautiful love story." --Kristi from The Story Siren. And I've had a friend who has read the Blood Coven Vampire series and said it was hilarious and amazing. I've also heard it's a totally different twist to vampires, which is always welcome. Unearthly is also said to be nothing like the other angel books out there, which, in my opinion, are generally the same plot wise (girl meets fallen angel, girl falls for fallen angel, horrible battles occur, etc. etc.). Both are on my must read list and I hope they are as good as they seem.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Daily Dose (3)

Daily Dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly where we share inspirational photos we've found around. Like, on other blogs, floating on the Internet, or on websites.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (3)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey where we share what books we've read, what we're currently reading, and what we're hoping to read. Whew, break finally let me catch up on my reading. But, of course, there's more to come. Here we go:

Read:

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Extras (Uglies Series #4) by Scott Westerfeld

Reading:

The Summoning (Darkest Powers Trilogy #1) by Kelley Armstrong

To Read:

The Awakening (Darkest Powers Trilogy #2) by Kelley Armstrong

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers Trilogy #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Release: Wishful Thinking by Alexandra Bullen

Hello, everyone! With amazing books coming out in the year 2011, I have started release days in which I will tell you when another novel has come to be. This is late; Wishful Thinking came out yesterday, January 1st, but I forgot so I'm showing you today!

If you could wish for a different life, would you? What if that life changed everything you thought was real? Adopted as a baby, Hazel Snow has always been alone. She's never belonged anywhere--and has always yearned to know the truth about where she comes from. So when she receives three stunning, enchanted dresses--each with the power to grant one wish--Hazel wishes to know her mother. Transported to a time and place she couldn't have imagined, Hazel finds herself living an alternate life--a life with the mother she never knew. Over the course of one amazing, miraculous summer, Hazel finds her home, falls in love, and forms an unexpected friendship. But will her search to uncover her past forever alter her future? In the heart-pounding, luminous sequel to WISH, Alexandra Bullen asks the question: If you could wish for a new life....would you?

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I haven't read Wish, the prequel to this novel, but I've had friends who have and they love it. I hope to read it soon. This book sounds and looks amazing. The cover is beautiful and the plot sounds very cliffhanger-ish. Can't wait to read!

Extras (Uglies Series #4) by Scott Westerfeld

Synopsis: Fame. It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules. As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451,369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. Her only chance to escape extra-land is to find a big story to kick--something wild and unexpected. Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. But the Sly Girls are hiding something bigger--an explosive discovery that may change the face of the brave new world forever. If Aya kicks this story, she'll be propelled into the world of fame, celebrity...and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.

Extras doesn't focus on Tally anymore. It's more of an add-on to the trilogy that focused on Tally. This is about Aya and the world that Tally has left in her wake after destroying the uglies/pretties/specials regime, like the synopsis says. The new world after Tally is totally different than the world we're introduced to in the first three books. Everything has changed, and the loss of "bubbleheads" is affecting their economy and way of life. Old traditions are coming back, extreme surgeries are gone, and there is mixing of uglies and pretties, at least during the day. They must start to adapt to the new freedom, and they do that by expanding the cities dangerously fast and building a new economy. As in, the fame and cameras. They have merits that you earn by being famous or by doing good work around the community.

This story was partly better than Specials (see my review here) because it goes faster than Specials. You are instantly propelled into the world of extras and the cameras. The first 200 pages went by really fast, but not in a bad way. It was a little action packed, mostly focusing on how Aya puts her stories together and figuring out the economy. Then they meet these alien-like people and it goes slower as Aya doesn't listen to Tally and she starts to look a little moronic. I didn't like Aya as much as Tally. She doesn't grow really, at all. She's so sucked up into this virtual world that she doesn't believe life on the outside and that fame could be a bad thing. It really bugged me, but the plot made up for Aya.

There are three main side characters: Hiro, Aya's older brother; Ren, Hiro's best friend; Frizz, Aya's boyfriend. They don't seem to grow either, but they are more intelligent than Aya and are fine without the cameras. They understand the predicament more than Aya does and seem to listen better than she does. They're not so much fame-obsessed as Aya is, and I liked them a lot better. Tally only comes in at the end and you can tell that she still hasn't fully cured herself of the Special mind. She wars with herself and still has anger flashes.

Overall, Extras was a great final installment in the Uglies series. The first two parts went by fast, and the last part dragged on. The plot was messed up, though, as I thought the entire thing was about the Sly Girls and another government plot. But it turned completely around in the second part of the book and it confused me for awhile. But I finally got back into the swing of things, but the story was still confusing. They kept switching from believing the alien-people and not believing them. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't one of the best.

The Cover: I still like the incorporation of people, and Aya really was described like the girl on the cover. Her eye mainly showing I didn't really get, but now I understand that it's supposed to be like a camera, giving you the feel of always being watched. This cover somewhat freaked me out, but I thought it was still put together well. Although I thought the blue background on the back cover kind of ruined the mood. I didn't think it quite fit.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone! I would just like to wish you all a happy New Year! Hopefully, this year will be so amazing and new, with great books on the way, I don't know why not. I would do one of those 2010 followups, you know, where I tell you the greatest books this year, the least greatest, yadda yadda yadda? I can't really remember any bad books that I read, but here are some amazing reads/series that I adored: