artsy musings of a bibliophile

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Review: No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

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KHNOECHY

ABOUT THE BOOK

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale
young adult contemporary mystery published by HarperTeen on January 7th, 2014

Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population: 689 688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.

Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary (which Ruth’s mother had asked her to read in order to redact any, you know, sex parts), sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.

 

THE RATING


THE REVIEW

No One Else Can Have You is a weird book with a strikingly odd main character, Kippy Bushman, who lives in a safe, small town of Friendship, Wisconsin. I am aware of all the did-not-finish, what-a-slut-shaming-main-character, what-the-hell-is-this-book responses out there and you know what? All that coupled with a healthy dose of unease is a vital part of No One Else Can Have You. The reader has to be far out of reach of their comfort zone to read and enjoy it. So yes, I understand why certain readers couldn’t stomach all the weirdness that is this book but I could, I did and it was gruesomely aweinspiring.

The prologue of No One Else Can Have You sets such an eerie-ingly horrifying tone and that it’s hard not to cringe. It’s about a page long and it’s so disturbing that it still lingers in the back of a mind.

Kippy Bushman is equally flawed in her judgements of people and in her awkward quirkiness. She’s obviously had a hard time connecting to people which is painful to read about. Her relationship with her father, Dom, is as bizarre as the turtlenecks that are her standard choice of apparel. Ever since she lost her mother to madness and imminent death, Kippy Bushman has been overly attached to her only friend, Ruth Fried. But now that’s Ruth dead, well, that is enough of a push she needs to spring out of her shell.

You see, despite being her best friend, Ruth did not like Kippy. Sure, she appreciated their friendship but she wasn’t as good a friend as she seemed to be. And to know that your only friend in the world thinks that you’re pathetic to the point of being nauseous and that she was having an affair with a much older man only a few hours before that friend’s funeral is all just too much for Kippy to comprehend. So it’s no wonder that the funeral turns out to be the disastrous of funerals which is only the beginning.

Kippy is torn between her grief and anger over Ruth’s murder. With Ruth’s parents out of town, Dom acting all soft towards her and Ralph being his usual video-game-obsessed-neighbour-slash-second-best-friend, she turns to Davey to express her unease over Ruth’s murder and her alleged killer. Davey is Ruth’s brother back from war in Afghanistan minus one of his fingers. The almost-strangers-to-each-other duo manage to work together for a while before it all goes even further south for Kippy. With an avenging Sheriff, an overprotective father and a sketchy old lawyer, Kippy has her hands full trying to sort it all out but with a history of unintentional violence, it’s only a matter of time before the nice small town of Friendship turns on her for supporting the alleged killer.

No One Else Can Have You is a debut that tests the reader with its endless oddities. Despite being a little wary to pick it up, the disturbing prologue and the engaging mystery soon replaced my wariness. Whilst there are some things that are somewhat ridiculous and a bit exaggerated, they’re dismissible enough to not affect the murder mystery. Guessing and trying to sort out the mystery coupled with a dark and looming tone of the story makes the experience of reading No One Else Can Have You unique. If you are into reading an uncomfortable, character-driven story of a strange girl with her stranger behavior who’s too cool for a town named Friendship, this book is for you.

 

THE QUOTES

‘But I guess I still have this fear that you can catch invisible things from other people. That someone else’s insanity can creep under your skin and fry your brain.’


‘Now that I’m awake, I think of what I’ve lost and tumble between utter remorse and childlike hope, anxiously retracing all my wrong moves and praying for time machines. Part of me imagines clawing through the jungle surrounding this asylum, and crawling all the way to Davey—playing some kind of love song on a guitar outside his window, even though I don’t know how to play guitar—and begging for his company back.’

Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

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ACP

ABOUT THE BOOK

Pawn by Aimee Carter
young adult dystopia published by HarlequinTeen on November 26th, 2013
first book in The Blackcoat Rebellion series

You can be a VII. If you give up everything.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There’s only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that’s not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only beginning to understand.

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Review: Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

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Wild Cards | #1 | Simone Elkeles | YA Contemporary Romance | Walker | 1 October 2013 | 353 (eARC)
ABOUT THE BOOK
After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.
Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain–people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

THE RATING

THE REVIEW
Ah, where do I start with this book? I had been crazy excited for Simone Elkeles brand new series because I loved her Perfect Chemistry and Leaving Paradise series. She’s basically on my auto-buy list and rightly so. I squealed with joy when I got approved for Wild Cards on NetGalley. All I knew abou Wild Cards is that it’s a sports book where the girl plays football and there’re going to be snarky dialogues and hot scenes. I was so sure I’d love it but alas.

Derek Fitzpatrick is a former football star player and a self-acclaimed bad boy who loves to pull off pranks. He has perfected his I-couldn’t-care-less attitude to a tee. Nothing gets under his skin. I was really surprised to see him as unfazed as he was when he got expelled. His priorities are definitely messed up. The guy is more concerned about the unruly backyard than he was of getting kicked out.

Ashtyn Parker is a newly elected football captain with a body that begs for attention and an attitude that bites. She’s equally tough and girly though I did like her tomboy side more than her insecure, crying-into-the-pillows side. Oh yes, the book is heavy on emotions. However, due to the uneven pace, I found it hard to fully connect with what was happening with the characters.

Stuck together due to unusual circumstances, Derek and Ashtyn feel instant love-hate attraction towards each other. While one is too blatant about it, the other does her best to hide it for fear of being laughed at. The hot makeout scenes are definitely intense and oh-so-good. All the drama due to miscommunication and witty dialogue exchanges are interesting to read about. However, because of the alternating viewpoints, the story lacked in build-up.

Wild Cards turned out to be an enjoyable read for me. Where it lacked in depth and emotion it made up for it with all the crazy attraction between the main characters. Some of the scenes are definitely swoon-worthy, I enjoyed the non-date-date scene a lot. Humorous at times, Wild Cards is a predictable book that one can finish in a few hours. I’d recommend it to readers of Simone Elkeles and anyone looking for a quick read.

THE QUOTES

“Just because you can deal with bullshit on your own doesn’t mean you should.” 

“I know he wants to fight for something. . . deep down he’s got a basic, intense desire to compete. It’s killing him that he’s ignoring his instincts and instead is determined to keep himself a ghost of who he can be.”

Review: The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston

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ABOUT THE BOOK
The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston
young adult contemporary mystery published by Disney-Hyperion on 14 May 2013
first book in the The Rules for Disappearing series

She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.
But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.

THE RATING

THE REVIEW
Mystery always pull me in so it’s no surprise that I wanted to read The Rules for Disappearing. It’s like a book about multiple personality disorder without the actual disorder. It made me think and think hard about life on the run. It isn’t always glamorous. It isn’t always oh-so-cool. The reality hit me hard and left me on the floor, my mouth gaped open.
There is irony in the way each chapter begins with a rule, the rule that Meg then simultaneously breaks. I felt her pain and I kept thinking why did Ashley Elston chose a rural town for all hell to break loose? Why did it took six identity changes for Meg to finally hit rock bottom, emotionally and physically? These questions kept me going.
It’s clear from the narrative that life as Meg is as far and opposite from her original life as it could be. Nondescript clothing, hair that makes her look like a boy, dull brown eyes and riding in a school bus as a senior is almost too much to bear. And it doesn’t help that she meets Ethan Landry in her first moments on the first day of school. The new-girl-in-the-middle-of-school-year is bound to attract attention and she does attract attention. Of the most popular girl in high school (as popular as one can get in Natchitoses anyway).
For most part of the book, Meg is at the edge of her nerves and it shows. Her mother is an alcoholic, her father is being way too mysterious and acting suspiciously and Teeny is on the verge of a breakdown at only eleven years of age. It seems Meg is the only one keeping it together. Or at least the one trying the hardest.
But I was waiting for a twist to arrive, a hand to pull back the curtain on the mystery a little bit. So I was a little disappointed when it came in the form of a nightmare on Meg’s part. Clichéd. Then she gets paranoid by thinking that someone is out to get her. And oh, she also owns a secret notebook in which she writes her thoughts and feelings.
Meg knows that the only way out is to go back to the beginning and then it gets crazy. We did get glimpses of her past life, her crush and her BFF betrayal throughout the book but the reality is pretty twisted. I got to say, I was not expecting that kind of a mystery at all. But it wasn’t the ohmiGod-is-this-really-happening kind of a mystery at all, it was more low-key and oh-so-that-was-what-we-were-getting-at one. The book also has a little road trip which made my heart soar a little bit. So yay for that.
Ethan is a sweet farm boy and I liked how he kept coming in the pizza place where Meg took a job. They have a hot-and-cold thing going on because Meg knows that getting attached only leads to hurt and Ethan has no idea what he is getting into. Teeny is a great character, I loved the sisterly relationship she has with Meg.
Overall, The Rules for Disappearing is a dynamic read. I’d still recommend it to readers because it offers a good character development, well-placed plot and is a quick read. It’d be interesting to see how the series proceed now that we finally know her real name and the mystery.
THE QUOTES
‘But there is one part of this that hurts. The carefree, normal part. The part of me that was lost when we first moved and that I’ll never get back.’
‘Rules for Disappearing by Witness Protection Prisoner #18A7R04M: Don’t fall into a routine. Shake things up. Doing the same thing over and over makes you feel comfortable. And feeling comfortable is bad.’
Thanks to Disney Hyperion and NetGalley for providing me an eARC of The Rules for Disappearing for review.

Review: The Rules by Stacey Kade

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ABOUT THE BOOK
The Rules by Stacey Kade
young adult science fiction published by Disney-Hyperion on 23 April 2013
first book in the Project Paper Doll series

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.
3. Don’t get involved.
4. Keep your head down.
5. Don’t fall in love.
Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”
But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules…

THE RATING


THE REVIEW
Lately, the sci-fi genre has made a habit of leaving me underwhelmed so I went into The Rules thinking it’d be same old, same old. Only it wasn’t. I fell in love with Ariane and Zane. The book is so much more than just sci-fi; there are elements of contemporary, high school drama and mystery woven into the story making it out to be a wonderful read.
The book opens with Ariane Tucker who is the result of combination of human and alien gene pool. Created with a sinister intent, it was a lucky day when she escaped from the GTX lab to lead a (mostly) normal life. Living right under the noses of GenTex lab, Ariane has to follow the five rules to avoid being noticed and captured.
Life is going as well as it should with a breakfast schedule to follow and a father for whom she’ll never come close to being the real Ariane. The one who died. But then her best friend Jenna sets her sights on being a part of the popular group by being too friendly with Rachel Jacobs. Rache, the granddaughter of Arthur Jacobs, infamous CEO of GTX labs. It naturally strikes a chord with Ariane who cannot help but blow up in the face of all her unfairness. More like, blow up bulbs.
The thing with Ariane is that being forced to use her telekinetic abilities for the worse by the evil Dr. Jacobs, a wall now blocks her abilities from manifesting. The abilities that surface whenever she witnesses Rachel bullying others for her amusement. Luckily for her, Zane Bradshaw is tired of all the crap Rachel pulls day in and out. In a flash of brilliance and intrigue on the part of Ariane, he takes up the task of humiliating her.
Zane decides to doublecross Rachel in one of her many schemes to take down Ariane because she had the nerve to defend her best friend. The scheme pulls Ariane and Zane together. Being a loner because of the rules, it is very hard for Ariane to let Zane in and she’s pretty much a bundle of hesitation and awkwardness at the beginning. Ariane is a very conflicted character and she really has to learn to shed off her resistance and bring her right foot forward. I honestly cannot decide which character I love more.

Being able to read from Zane’s point of view really helped me see him as he is. It is never justified why one would want to be a part of the popular group in high school anyway. So reading about all the reasons Zane had to do it and why he was tired of all that is a definite plus point. I really came to admire Zane because of the way he handled his father and the tensions at home. It really seemed like he’d spontaneously combust with all the rage boiling up inside him!

The oncoming major plot twist took me by hell of a surprise and I was left gawking like an idiot. The action in the book really kicked it up a notch towards the end. Also, the way Ariane’s identity is finally revealed to Zane is very thrilling and not at all clichéd. I pretty much had no idea how it’d all end and let me just say that Stacey Kade has won me over and left me breathless. I’d highly recommend The Rules to YA sci-fi readers. 
Now just where can I find book 2?
THE QUOTES

“The trouble with rules, though, is that you’ll always be tempted to break one- for the right reasons, due to unavoidable circumstances, because it feels as if there’s no other choice. And once you break one, the rest seem like so much broken glass. The damage is already done.”

“It might have been my human side clamoring for blood, or my alien side looking for a chance to exercise strategic dominance over a lesser life form. Either way, I was going to win.” 

Thanks to Disney and NetGalley for providing me an eARC of The Rules for review.