Book Review: Storm

Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys - all the ones she doesn't want. Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They're powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life's at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who's hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming.

After reading Elemental (a prequel to the Elemental series) I was excited to pick up book one, Storm by Brigid Kemmerer. Once again, I didn't read the synopsis and was slightly disappointed in the beginning that it wasn't a continuation of the novella. While Michael Merrick was a main character in Elemental, his younger brother Chris was the main character here. Well, him and Becca Chandler.

Becca has a reputation with the boys at school. They think she's a slut, that she sleeps around, and she gets harassed about it. Chris never really paid attention to Becca until she saved his life. And he finds himself trying to protect her. But she has another boy protecting her. New guy, Hunter.

I had a bit of difficulty getting into this one. There are four Merrick brothers. Michael is the oldest and has custody of his three younger brothers, all of whom are in high school. They are all elementals, the strongest of their kind. Michael is earth. Chris is water. And the twins are fire and air. To be honest, all four of them were assholes in the beginning. I didn't like any of them, and that's a big thing for me. How can I like a book if I think the love interest is a d-bag? They were aggressive and crass and like a lot of guys I went to high school with. Except for the elemental thing. And the guys that these characters reminded me of... they weren't friends. They were the kind of guys who teased me and treated me badly. It took a while for me to get past that.

Hunter was very helpful at this point. I didn't completely trust him, but at least he was sweet and kind and appeared to actually care about Becca. I enjoyed reading Hunter and Becca and I eventually warmed up to Chris. There were several times when I almost put the book down, but I'm glad I didn't. I ended up liking it quite a bit, and I'm excited to read the next novella in this series, Fearless, and then the second novel, Spark, which comes out next Tuesday. Definitely give this one a shot.

Book Review: Keeping You a Secret

Is it worth falling in love if you have to keep it a secret.

With a steady boyfriend, the position of Student Council President, and a chance to go to an Ivy League college, high school life is just fine for Holland Jaeger. At least it seems to be. But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship?

Being gay doesn't have to be a secret anymore. Recent news reports show that many more people are identifying themselves as gay or lesbian during their teenage years, and the number of high schools with clubs such as gay-straight alliances has grown dramatically. But there are still very few young adult novels that celebrate the love between teens of the same sex. In her trademark, darkly humorous voice, Julie Anne Peters has written a moving, compelling, and witty love story between two girls. Keeping You a Secret is a contemporary, worthy successor to such classic YA coming out novels as Annie on My Mind and I'll Get There, It Better Be Worth the Trip, as well a companion to recent popular gay teen novels, including Rainbow Boys and Empress of the World.

Keeping You a Secret is the second book I've read by Julie Anne Peters. Luna was the first. In fact, Luna was so amazing that I went out and bought several of Julie's other books. I loved both books, and I'm actually not sure which book I loved more.

Holland narrates Keeping You a Secret. She's a high school senior, school president, and someone everyone at school loves. She's one of those girls who has all her shit together. Or so we originally think. She lives with her mother, step-father, and baby sister. Her goth step-sister shares her room every other weekend. Despite all that, her life is really good. Then she meets new girl, Cece, who has a locker right across the hall. And suddenly, she's not so sure of things.

Cece is a lesbian, and she's been out of the closet for a while. From day one she wears t-shirts that lets everyone know who she is. She wants to start a club for LGBT teens, and when Holland brings it to the student council (filled with her friends), she realizes the homophobia runs deep in her school. With Holland's crush on Cece growing, and the confusion of feeling like she may be a lesbian, she feels like her life is falling apart. Her mother is judgmental, and her boyfriend is such a sweet guy that she doesn't want to hurt him. Holland just doesn't know what to do

Julie Anne Peters really captures that feeling of losing everything you've ever known. I had a similar experience when I was finishing high school and moving off to college. Growing up, I always knew what I wanted to do with my life. And then I get there and it's decision time and suddenly I'm not so sure. I think regardless of gender and sexual orientation it's a confusing time in every teen's life, and I don't think just LGBT teens will relate to Holland.

I proudly put Keeping You a Secret on my list of favorite books and my list of books that I think everyone should read. Not only will this book give LGBT teens someone to relate to, but I think (like Luna) it will open minds and teach tolerance. Trust me; you want to read this book.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Thirteen Reasons Whyby Jay Asher has sat on my shelf almost since about the time it came out in hardback. I had heard such amazing things, so I couldn't resist. But I only now got around to reading it. I was inspired to read it since the author was going to be coming to my state for a signing. I hate going to signings when I haven't read anything by the author. I like being able to say "I loved your book!" So I read it earlier this week, and oh my goddess... It was amazing!

It starts with Clay Jensen receiving a box of tapes from Hannah Baker, a girl who had recently committed suicide. "I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why." The first tape isn't so bad, but they continue to get worse as Hannah has to deal with more and more crap from fellow students. This book touches on bullying, rumors, sexual harassment, partying, drinking, rape, and more.

This story is told through two points of view. Hannah through the tape recordings and Clay as he's listening to them. I liked Clay instantly. He seemed so sweet and caring; it was hard to believe he was going to be on the tapes. Hannah, on the other hand, while I felt like I should like her, I had some trouble in the beginning. Her voice originally came off as too cocky and self-assured to be someone who just swallowed a bottle of pills. And then after a while, I started to recognize her tone as a way I've spoken before. It's anger and hurt and so many other things rolled together, that it comes off as snarky and sarcastic. That voice comes out when I'm talking about something very painful, something someone did to me that hurt but this person acts like it's nothing.

I'm going to put a warning here. Not a spoiler warning, but a "this is going to be personal" warning. While much of my experiences and Hannah's were different in the details, there is much that was the same. People talked about me in high school. I wasn't popular. I wasn't in the in-crowd. But rumors flew around so much you'd have thought I was. I found out people I didn't even know were saying negative things about me. Between that and the bullying, I mostly just tried to disappear. But I know how Hannah felt. Hating herself. Hating life. Wanting it all to end. I had to read this book a chapter at a time. I had to distance myself from her because I knew the kind of pain she was dealing with.

And because of that, this book sits firmly on my list of "Books Everyone Should Read." One of my favorite quotes from the book is as follows: "You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything." A lot of the stuff Hannah had to deal with was small. So small it would be insignificant by itself. But things build. And this book really shows how hurting someone, no matter how small, can impact a person in incredible ways.

Thirteen Reasons Why is depressing. It's about suicide, so how can it not be? It's amazingly well-written. And it's full of so many powerful lines, that I'd love to quote about twenty more. I look forward to reading more by Jay Asher.

I always take my dust jackets off when I read hardbacks. I get that the point of a dust jacket is to protect the book. But I take it off so I don't wrinkle or tear the dust jacket while I'm reading. And, every once in a while, I find a surprise under it. Sometimes it's an image or quote on the actual book or the dust jacket has an image on the underside. In Thirteen Reasons Why, Hannah sends out a set of tapes. Thirteen stories on seven tapes. And a map along with it. The map is starred and marked up... just like the underside of the dust jacket. I enjoy finding these little gems. It gives a little added something to the reader, in my opinion. You can see the map in the image above.