Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It’s a time for book bloggers to share the books they’re waiting on. I call it Start Up the DeLorean because only time travel will get me the books on this list. I’ve missed doing these lately, and time is short, so I think I might alternate between WoW and my usual Bookish Bundles. I love digging up new titles that I can anticipate in the coming year(s), so either way, I win!

 

My dear friend Small gave me the heads up on this one. I knew I’d have to post it as a WoW asap because it fits me perfectly–perfectly–with the English setting, a Sarah Rees Brennan mention and the words Summerfield College. I so have to read this book.

August 27, 2013

A supernatural romance about the powers that lie in the shadows of the mind, perfect for fans of Sarah Rees Brennan, Alyxandra Harvey, and Libba Bray.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.

Each running from a shadowed past, Kate, Asher, and Elsie take refuge within the walls of Summerfield College. But their peace is soon shattered by the discovery of a dead body nearby. Is this the work of a flesh-and-blood villain, or is something otherworldly at play? This unlikely trio must illuminate what the scientists have not, and open a window to secrets taken to the grave—or risk joining the spirit world themselves.

What are you waiting on?

Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Status: Stand-alone
Genre: Teen
Other Info: This is Katie Sise’s first novel, but she is also a jewelry designer and wrote the nonfiction Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career.
Description and link from Goodreads):

In The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can’t wait to get out of high school. Her father’s death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring.

But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler—and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she calls the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she’s the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?

Lately, I’ve been really enjoying computer geek stories (maybe it’s all the episodes of The Big Bang Theory that I’ve been watching lately), so The Boyfriend App was one of those books that came along at the right time. But, basically, The Boyfriend App is a romantic comedy in disguise–and who doesn’t love a romantic comedy? Alright–fine! Half the population. Whatever. I’m well-aware that my readership is mostly female, though, so our lesser halves don’t count at the moment. Just kidding. Sort of.

The Boyfriend App is a fizzy bellini of a book. It’s sweet, indulgent and makes you feel giggly and good. They really nailed it with the cover. Sure, there’s a technological twist, but there’s no technospeak to, er, speak of. I’m completely computer illiterate (this is only a small exaggeration), but I understood things as Audrey explained them. Katie Sise does a fabulous job of making the reader believe that Audrey knows what she’s talking about without getting too complicated for the less technically-minded among us. I actually understood an episode of The Big Bang Theory better because of The Boyfriend App. I don’t know if that’s high praise, but it is a fact.

The strength of this novel isn’t in the mystery (it was kind of eye-rolling, to be honest), or the technological twists, but in the characters. There are a lot of them–which I don’t usually like–but each one is interesting and individual. Also, Audrey’s cousin, Lindsey, is a fashion blogger and that gives us a little behind-the-scenes peek into the blogging world we spend so much time inhabiting. That was really fun. The villain is villainous, but not without positive attributes (none that make her actions forgivable, but at least there’s dimension).

The weakest part of the novel was the romance. I liked the love interest, but we didn’t get to spend much time with him. Their breezy courtship fit with the pace and tone of the novel, but failed to add any depth. Surprisingly, that was okay with me because I liked The Boyfriend App for what it was–a light, fun read. Like when a coworker brings in a loaf of zucchini bread to share among the staff. You weren’t expecting it and it is very nice surprise but it’s no chocolate cake.

Questions to nibble on:

• Did you think that Sise did a good job putting the technospeak into plain English?
• Was Adrian believable as a “geek”?
• Do you hope Katie Sise writes another novel?
• If you haven’t read the book yet: Do you like romantic comedy books?

4 1/2 Matryoshkas: I’d go on a second date with this book.

Check out Helen Fitzgerald’s guest post and the Deviant giveaway!

Less is More (Except When We’re Talking Books)

–A discussion post on my personal philosophy–

What about you?

Do you believe “less is more”?

Do you always want more books? Or would you rather have just one awesome one?

Publisher: Soho Teen
Publication Date: June 11, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Status: Stand-alone
Genre: Teen, Realistic Fiction, Thriller
Other Info: Helen Fitzgerald is the author of Amelia O’Donohue is So Not a Virgin, The Donor, Dead Lovely, and many other novels. She has a masters in social work and has worked as both a probation and a parole officer.
Description and link from Goodreads):

When 16-year-old Abigail’s mother dies in Scotland–leaving a faded photo, a weirdly cryptic letter, and a one-way ticket to America–she feels nothing. Why should she? Her mother gave her away when she was a baby, leaving her to grow up on an anti-nuclear commune and then in ugly foster homes. But the letter is a surprise in more ways than one: Her father is living in California. What’s more, Abigail discovers she has an eighteen-year-old sister, Becky. And the two are expecting Abigail to move in with them.

After struggling to overcome her natural suspicions of a note from beyond the grave (not to mention anything positive) Abigail grows close to her newfound sister. But then Becky is found dead, the accidental victim of an apparent drug overdose. As Abigail wrestles with her feelings and compiles a “Book of Remembrance” of her sister’s short life, she uncovers a horrifying global plot aimed at controlling teen behavior: one that took her sister’s and mother’s lives, with vast implications.

One of the things that attracted me to Deviant was the comment someone made (if I could remember where I saw it, I’d link to it, I swear) that Deviant had all the elements of a Dystopian while actually taking place in our world. I think Deviant straddles the line between conspiracy theory and an exploration of society’s current mania for medicating children who “act out.” As a teacher, I’ve worked with medicated children, unmedicated children and parents of both. This is no way makes me an expert on the subject, but I’ve seen children be both successful and unsuccessful on medication and my personal opinion is that there is no neat answer. Medication may work for one child and not another, medication alone might not be enough, medication might be the wrong option… Children don’t fit into neat boxes and we can’t “fix” them.

The greater question–and one that Deviant raises–is whether or not we should try. If children and teens don’t act the way we want (or expect) them to, does that mean we can alter their behavior so that they fit our idea of how they should behave? Well, when you put it that way, of course not! I think this is an oversimplification of the issue, but certainly a valid, thought-provoking point. Parents, teachers, therapists, and doctors should not approach the issue of medication lightly; no one should.

Deviant gave me a lot to think about, which I always love in a book. Unfortunately, I found the rest of the novel less enticing. The pacing was a little too frenetic. Abigail, the main character, is swept up in a flurry of events that are as bewildering as they are suspicious. From foster care in Scotland to family in California, from poverty to luxury, some of the turbulence is to be expected. Only, other than Abigail (because she’s the narrator), we were given precious little time to get to know any of the characters and the romance seriously lacks build up. For a reader such as I, those were serious omissions.

Deviant works best as the set up for a series, but as such, I think it should have been a short story. It lacks substance in terms of plot, characterization and follow-through, but I was never tempted to stop reading. Deviant isn’t DNF material, but neither is is viscerally satisfying. If Helen Fitzgerald writes another Abigail book, I’ll probably check it out, but it won’t be a must-read.

Questions to nibble on:

• What do you think about the question of medicating children?
• Would you like to see another book featuring Abigail?
• If you haven’t read the book yet: Have you read other books featuring teens in the foster care system?

3 Matryoshkas: I would have coffee with this book.

Check out Helen Fitzgerald’s guest post and the Deviant giveaway!