Could Have Been So Much Better...

All the Ways the World Can End

by Abby Sher

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published July 11th 2017 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

ISBN: 9780374304256

Checked Out From Library

About:

Lenny (short for Eleanor) feels like the world is about to end. Her best friend is moving to New York City to attend Julliard and her dad has terminal cancer. To cope with her stress Lenny is making a list of all the ways the world can end—designer pathogens, blood moon prophecies, alien invasion—and stockpiling supplies in a bunker in the backyard. Then she starts to develop feelings for her dad's very nice young doctor—and she thinks he may have feelings for her too. Spoiler alert: he doesn't. But a more age-appropriate love interest might. In a time of complete uncertainty, one thing's for sure: Lenny's about to see how everything is ending and beginning. All at the same time. (Goodreads)

Rating: 2 Stars

Review: 

This book was unmemorable. Nothing really happens during it. We have a selfish and self-absorbed main character (Lenny) who is dealing with her father dying in all the wrong ways. Mostly she spends her time hitting on her father’s doctors. Her mother and sister are just as selfish and are usually found doing nothing useful.  The whole boring plot of this book went nowhere. I usually enjoy family drama type books but this one missed all of it’s marks. With a title like “All the Ways The World Can End”, I was hoping for more on that topic. Instead it’s mostly used as a chapter starter with a short list or fact. They were semi interesting but not enough so to make the book actually good. I’m not sure that I would recommend this book to anyone, young, old or in between. Try “A Semi Definitive List Of Worst Nightmares” or “Speed Of Life” for a better read with a bit of family drama. 

Was College Really Like This For People???

I Hate Everyone But You

by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin 

Hardcover, 344 pages

Published September 5th 2017 by Wednesday Books

ISBN: 9781250129321

Received ARC From Publisher

About:

Dear Best Friend,
I can already tell that I will hate everyone but you.
Sincerely,
Ava Helmer
(that brunette who won’t leave you alone)

We're still in the same room, you weirdo.
Stop crying.
G

So begins a series of texts and emails sent between two best friends, Ava and Gen, as they head off to their first semesters of college on opposite sides of the country. From first loves to weird roommates, heartbreak, self-discovery, coming out and mental health, the two best friends will document every moment to each other. But as each changes and grows into her new life, will their friendship be able to survive the distance? (Goodreads)

Rating: 2.5 stars

Review:

Definitely an Older/College YA read. I’m not even sure a High Schooler would want to read this yet. It covers themes of growing up and self-discovery, but was kind of offensive in doing so.  We’ve got LGBT bashing/misunderstandings, sleeping with your teacher, drinking until you’re flat out wasted, drugs, and what seems like never going to class (not so offensive, but still not something to promote). The one girl, Ava, is homophobic but likes to cover it up when she says something offensive by going “lol you’re my friend so it’s ok for me to say that”.  Gen tries to call her out on it but it doesn’t fix anything. Ava also has a tendency to offend other people too, but gets away with it because she has bad anxiety. Gen on the other hand is just at school to drink, do drugs, and sleep around. Both girls seem to never go to class or do any work at all. They both have a I’m better than everyone else attitude that gets beyond annoying. Throughout the book both girls sound the same, so half the time I found myself having to go back to try to figure out who’s talking. To make matters worse, nothing really happens in the book. They drink, have sex, make rude comments, have more sex, never go to class, complain, and do drugs. The book gets credit in the way that it was set up. I liked the texts, emails, etc. back and forth between the two long distance friends. I think if the topics were more realistic it could have been a good read. As it is, it is really giving American College kids a bad name. 

Yuck!

Landscape with Invisible Hand

by M.T. Anderson

Hardcover, 149 pages

Published September 12th 2017 by Candlewick Press

ISBN: 9780763687892

Received ARC From Publisher

About: 

National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson returns to future Earth in a sharply wrought satire of art and truth in the midst of colonization.

When the vuvv first landed, it came as a surprise to aspiring artist Adam and the rest of planet Earth - but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Can it really be called an invasion when the vuvv generously offered free advanced technology and cures for every illness imaginable? As it turns out, yes. With his parents' jobs replaced by alien tech and no money for food, clean water, or the vuvv's miraculous medicine, Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, have to get creative to survive. And since the vuvv crave anything they deem "classic" Earth culture (doo-wop music, still-life paintings of fruit, true love), recording 1950s-style dates for the vuvv to watch in a pay-per-minute format seems like a brilliant idea. But it's hard for Adam and Chloe to sell true love when they hate each other more with every passing episode. Soon enough, Adam must decide how far he's willing to go - and what he's willing to sacrifice - to give the vuvv what they want. (Goodreads)

Rating: 2 Stars

Review:

I’ve read other things by Anderson in the past and enjoyed them, so I was expecting so much more from this book. I know a lot of other people out there love this one, but I just couldn’t get into it. The only reason I finished it was because it was short and I was hoping something would happen at the end, which it didn’t and left me very unsatisfied. I did not care about the characters at all. I had no feelings except for annoyance and hate for all of them. I didn’t care what happened to them. I didn’t care about the new Earth the Vuvv had created. If anything I wish we would have gotten to learn more about the Vuvv as a species instead of the whinny humans. Yes the book is written well. Anderson always seems to do good with his descriptions and wording.  I just wasn’t hooked by any of it this time. This book might interest older teens who are really into sci-fi, but for the most part I don’t see to many of them picking this title up. Recommend Anderson’s book “Feed” to them instead. 

Tale As Old As Time...?

Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book

by Jennifer Donnelly

ISBN: 978-1484780985

Hardcover, 352 Pages

Published  by Disney Press January 31, 2017

Bought Copy

About: 

Smart, bookish Belle, a captive in the Beast’s castle, has become accustomed to her new home and has befriended its inhabitants. When she comes upon Nevermore, an enchanted book unlike anything else she has seen in the castle, Belle finds herself pulled into its pages and transported to a world of glamour and intrigue. The adventures Belle has always imagined, the dreams she was forced to give up when she became a prisoner, seem within reach again.The charming and mysterious characters Belle meets within the pages of Nevermore offer her glamorous conversation, a life of dazzling Parisian luxury, and even a reunion she never thought possible. Here Belle can have everything she has ever wished for. But what about her friends in the Beast’s castle? Can Belle trust her new companions inside the pages of Nevermore? Is Nevermore’s world even real? Belle must uncover the truth about the book, before she loses herself in it forever. (From Goodreads)

Rating: 2 Stars

Review: 

When Belle of “Beauty and the Beast” fame gets stuck in the middle of a bet between Death and Love this is the disaster that happens. The story itself, if it were stand alone and had nothing to do with Disney’s movies, would have been entertaining. The problem with this book is that it IS suppose to be part of the movie universe and it just doesn’t fit the already set characterization of all the beloved characters. The book is suppose to take place around the time the Beast gives Belle the library. At this point in time in the movie a friendship is started and love might even be making an appearance. In the book however, Belle and Beast barley are talking and she’d rather get sucked into a weird book then interact with him. What adds to my dislike of this book was that the author insisted on making the “alive” inanimate objects (Chip, Mrs. Pots, Cogsworth, etc.) more human then they should be. I can’t imagine Chip pulling a book off a shelf and reading it. Or Chip going outside to feed the chickens. Or any of them washing the windows in the library. They have no hands or arms for the most part. The story just didn’t work for me. And what was up with the constant mentioning of toasted cheese sandwiches? Grrr! All in all read this book only if you’re a die hard Beauty and the Beast fan and are desperate for a fix. Or better yet, there are plenty other Beauty and the Beast retellings out there to read so go for one of them instead.