Abandon

Abandon

by Meg Cabot

She met him when she was seven.  She had just seen her grandfather buried and then watched a bird die in front of her eyes.  He came out of nowhere and brought the bird back to life, but couldn't save her grandfather.  

He amazed her.

At fifteen, she drowned in her own pool trying to save a bird.  He found her in the Underworld and she made her way out and back to life.

Now, at seventeen, after almost two years of problems stemming from coming back from the dead, Pierce has moved to her mother's ancestral town and begun a new life with the same old questions and the same old problems.

Because he hasn't let her go.  He always seems to be there when she needs him most, even if she'd prefer that he leave her alone.

But when she finally seems to get rid of him, she may need him more than ever.

Final thoughts:  I'm so conflicted about this one.  I LOVE Cabot's work, in general, but this was just not up to her normal standards.  The writing was stilted, often with quotes being broken up in strange ways.  "'I hope you're not planning on kicking me,' he said, not even bothering to look up from his book, 'as hard as you did those doors.'" (299)  She also had a tendency to repeatedly say things like "If I had known then about this, then I would have..." or "If they knew what I knew...", often at the end of the chapter.  It was like having mini-cliffhangers that wouldn't be resolved for entire chapters.  The chronology was frustrating with flashbacks showing up out of nowhere and then disappearing.  Pierce wasn't very sympathetic as a character; she was actually whiny and often blamed others for her problems.  Most of the rest of the characters were very one-dimensional and were obviously only there to further specific plot points.  The only person I really liked was John because he seemed the most realistic, even though he had the least believable storyline.  All in all, this was disappointing.  It's also yet another trilogy AND the end just lies there like a hangnail; it's a painful finish that never seems to resolve.  I'll probably read the next book when it comes out, but I'm not going to run right out and get it immediately upon release.

Rating: 3/5

Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin

Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers, better known as Jenna and Jonah on their nationally syndicated sitcom, have led double lives for the past few years.  In order to get ratings up after their first season, their managers came up with a plan to have them fall in love in real life, or at least pretend to.  So now they plan dates and outings to give the paparazzi a few good pictures for the gossip magazines.  Of course, the fact that they hate each other's guts makes that really difficult for them.

But when the paparazzi find out it's all a sham, Charlie and Fielding, go into hiding together to wait out the storm.  While away, they find out that they have more in common than they thought.

Could it be that the two worst enemies in Hollywood may be the most in love?

Final thoughts:  This started out so good!  It promised to be a great cotton candy book with tons of fluff and no substance.  Unfortunately, the authors pushed their agenda too hard.  It was supposed to be a modern day Much Ado About Nothing so they had the two characters suddenly star in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's version of the play even though they were completely wrong for the characters that they were playing.  It was forced, unbelievable, and often uncomfortable.  The first part of the book was good, but then it became obvious and underwhelming.

Rating: 3/5

Nerd Girls: The Rise of the Dorkasaurus

Nerd Girls: 

The Rise of the Dorkasaurus

by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

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When Maureen, 8th grader and self-proclaimed dork, risks her own reputation to protect an allergy prone girl from becoming an involuntary YouTube sensation, she unwittingly makes a couple of friends and begins a plot to take down the ThreePees (Pretty, Popular, and Perfect).

The ThreePees dominate the talent show every year and are determined to win one more time before heading off to high school.  Maureen and her new pals are determined to take them down.

With the help of her prankster brother, a "department store mom", and a robotic dog, they might even be able to win.

Final thoughts:  Full of stereotypes and constant name-calling, this book just isn't fun.  Maureen spends the whole book talking about justice and wanting vengeance and then never really steps up.  She constantly gives up, actually.  If other circumstances didn't arise to push her, she'd have just given up after the first incident.  She has no redeeming qualities, really, and spends most of the time criticizing her friends and calling them names (though the author tries to make it read like the friends are ok with that).  It's a quick read, but Maureen is a horrible protagonist.  I felt sorry for the other girls who thought that she could "lead" them against the popular group.  And as for that group, there's one character who is supposed to be some kind of comic relief, but she just comes off and truly idiotic and annoying.

Avoid.

Rating: 2/5

Misfit

Misfit

by Jon Skovron

Jael's been moving from town to town her whole life and when she was eight, she found out why: she's a half-breed.  She's the child of a demon mother and a human father.  While she's never met her demoness mother, the demon that tried to attack her in the playground convinces her that what her father tells her is true.

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Now, at 16, Jael's father gives her a necklace left to her by her mother and soon everything changes.  With the help of her demon uncle and a skater who may become more than a friend, Jael must learn to control her powers and believe in her abilities to fight the demon that killed her mother.

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Final thoughts:  Meh.  There were some good ideas, but the author just couldn't seem to pull it all together.  It was a disappointment.  I found myself repeatedly turning the Kindle off (ARC provided by NetGalley), and leaving it off for days at a time.  There were a few decent moments, but not enough to recommend the book as a whole.  The religious aspect was also clever, but I've seen it before, though not often.

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Rating: 2/5