Food, Girls, & Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff

Food, Girls, & Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff
Publisher: Egmont USA
Publication Date: 8 September 2009
Buy it from: Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Gold star (4.5/5 stars)

What’s worse than being fat your freshman year?
Being fat your sophomore year.

Life used to be so simple for Andrew Zansky–hang with the Model UN guys, avoid gym class, and eat and eat and eat. He’s used to not fitting in: into his family, his sports-crazed school, or his size 48 pants.

But not anymore. Andrew just met April, the new girl at school and the instant love of his life! He wants to find a way to win her over, but how? When O. Douglas, the heartthrob quarterback and high-school legend, saves him from getting beaten up by the school bully, Andrew sees his chance to get in with the football squad.
Is it possible to reinvent yourself in the middle of high school? Andrew is willing to try. But he’s going to have to make some changes. Fast. Can a funny fat kid be friends with a football superstar? Can he win over the Girl of his Dreams? Can he find a way to get his mom and dad back together?

How far should you go to be the person you really want to be?

Andrew is about to find out.

Review: This book surprised me a lot. With it’s creative title, I was not exactly sure what to expect. But I can tell you now that there was never a dull moment in this novel with its abundance of humor, interesting characters, and the engaging plot! The first chapter immediately captures the reader’s attention with Andy’s funny insights. I shall put some funny quotes at the end of the review so that you can laugh so hard that you will run and get your copy ASAP. Zadoff has a real talent in making jokes and incorporating them into the story. What a fantastic job!

The characters were all three-dimensional and Andy, the protagonist, was realistically portrayed. Reading this book put a smile on my face as it was full of laugh-out-loud moments, but not only that, this novel was so addictive that once I started reading, I could not put it down until I was done. In this wonderful story, Zadoff covers issues such as bullying, peer pressure, insecurities, family problems and cheesy crushes. It is a perfect blend of everything. Yes, even the secondary characters each had their own problems and insecurities. I cannot stress enough that this book was absolutely wonderful. My only problem with it was that it was slightly predictable, but it was alright, the excellent characters and writing made up for it.

Food, Girls, & Other Things I Can’t Have was a humorous, sweet, and heartwarming story that should win the award for “Funniest YA Book of 2009″. It is a coming of age novel and discovering who you are inside and ultimately accepting yourself for who you are. Fans of My Big Nose & Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter would certainly love this book. Very highly recommended.

Speaking of shirts, I sometimes wear two– my regular shirt and a T-shirt underneath — just in case I’m hit by a car on the way to school. If the paramedics have to cut off my shirt to save my life, there will be another shirt underneath. It’s bad enough to be hit by a car. But to be hit by a car and have your blubber hanging off the side of an ambulance stretcher on WBZ-TV? No, thank you. (page 2)

Most of the time I look up at the sky pretending I’m somewhere else. I’m definitely not tangled up in a net in my underwear with forty-nine sophomores watching me. I’m not practically naked in front of the girl I want to impress most in the world. (page 51)

“What sport do you want to play?” Mom says.
“Something that would help me get some exercise.”
“You mean like bowling?”
“Bowling, baseball, whatever.”
“What about your asthma?”
The asthma again. My whole family is waiting for me to die. Unbelievable.
(page 109)

Is that a chuckle I hear? See? I was not kidding when I said this book was laugh-out-loud funny.

In My Mailbox (36)

It’s Sunday already? My December is passing by so quickly– too quickly in fact.

This week I didn’t get any books in the mail. *sad face*

I bought Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I can totally hear you now, “Didn’t Kate already review Hush Hush?” Yes I did but I wanted to own a hardcover as well so as a result, I caved in and bought it! =D

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

If you haven’t seen what the amazing Simon & Schuster in Australia did, I encourage YOU to watch this video. It’ll take up less than 2 minutes of your time. Cheers to Simon & Schuster Australia!

So this week I bought only one book but it’s alright, I want to clear my TBR pile before 2010.

Ex-Mas by Kate Brian

Ex-Mas by Kate Brian
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: December 1st 2009
Buy it from: Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Silver star (3/5 stars)

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Lila Beckwith’s parents just left for vacation, and Lila’s all set to throw the holiday party of the season. But when her Christmas-obsessed little brother, Cooper, discovers that global warming is melting the North Pole, he and his best friend, Tyler, take off on a runaway mission to save Santa.

Lila has to get Cooper safely home before her parents get back on Christmas Eve. But the only person who can help her is Tyler’s older brother, Beau — a.k.a. Lila’s musician, anti-everything ex-boyfriend.
It’ll take more than a Christmas miracle for Lila and Beau to overcome their differences and find their fugitive brothers. But could a journey destined for disaster help these polar opposites fall in love…all over again?

Review: Ex-Mas, for the most part, was enjoyable. It starts off slow and readers are introduced to Lila. Like most of Kate Brian’s characters, the main character is popular and usually superficial. Lila exhibits many of the same characteristics as typical popular girls, snobby, selfish and irritating. The concept for Ex-Mas is not exactly unique, it has been done before in Lauren Barnholdt’s Two-way Street which I have yet to read but nevertheless I was excited for this book.

Lila’s character was too shallow for me to like, half way through the book while they were on the road-trip, I thought Lila matured but no, she had to ruin everything when they arrived back in L.A. What really pissed me off was that Lila and Beau were actually reconnecting and poof! It suddenly disappears. I don’t want to include any spoilers but if you read the book you’d know what I’m talking about. All I can say is that I was ready to scream “After EVERYTHING you still revert back to your old self, Lila, are you insane?!” Another thing that bugged me was how almost impossible the whole thing sounded. Two young boys alone on a train? If they were so smart and not to mention tech savvy, wouldn’t they have realized that Santa Claus did not exist?

As for Beau, I completely liked and understood him. He’s undoubtedly a realistic and likable character who isn’t bothered about people’s opinion’s of him. The minor characters were somewhat poorly developed and at times unbelievable, and I had a hard time believing the popular girl would suddenly want to be best friends with the nerdy girl. Cooper, however, stood out from the other minor characters. He was surprisingly well-developed. I really liked the innocence and sweetness but as I mentioned above, I have a hard time believing he really thinks Santa exists.

Other than the problems, I found the story light and entertaining. While the whole romance of the story is pretty predictable, but that does not make it any less swell. Fans of the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies might enjoy this cute book. Ex-Mas is a great Christmas read that will leave you warm and fuzzy inside.

Waiting on Wednesday (23)

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Release date: March 2nd 2010 by Hyperion Book CH
Synopsis:

When Sophie Mercer turned thirteen, she discovered that she was a witch. It’s gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-Gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie’s estranged father–an elusive European warlock–only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it’s her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hecate Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward prodigium, a.k.a. witches, fae, and shapeshifters. By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard. Three powerful enemies who look like supermodels; a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock; a creepy, tag-along ghost; and a new roommate, who happens to be the most-hated person and only vampire on campus. Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her friend Jenna is the number one suspect. Meanwhile, Sophie has a more personal shock to grapple with. Not only is her father the head of the prodigium council, he’s the most powerful warlock in the world, and Sophie is his heir. As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all prodigium, especially her.

OH MY GOD, how pretty is this cover? It’s so bewitching and eye-catching. The designer did a marvelous job with it. I can hardly wait for this book! Everyone who has read it says it’s hilarious. Hex Hall is going to be amazing.

The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 1st 2009
Buy it from: Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Silver star (3/5 stars)

Synopsis: Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?

Review: The Splendor Falls was a suspenseful read but a let down. The story starts off slowly, I don’t mind. But when I was more than 3/4 into the book and the plot was still slow, I begin to ask myself why I am bothering to read this book in the first place. I shall discuss the good points about The Splendor Falls first and elaborate more about the flaws later. The Splendor Falls is a combination of humor, history, romance, and paranormal. The setting is both beautiful and brooding, I was so intrigued about the history of the town. The descriptions are so vivid, they leap right off the page. Sylvie was an interesting protagonist, given her background. She was likable, for the most part, and completely realistic with her stubbornness and difficulties. She is strong, exquisite and is able to come back up despite her setback.

There are two guys who catches the Sylvie’s eye, Shawn and Rhy. Shawn was a stereotype popular guy, president of the Teen Town Council while Rhy was a geologist, the mysterious one, whom I loved. But I found Sylvie too fickle, one moment she liked Rhy and Shawn the next. When she finally chooses who she likes, I found that too sudden. The other characters consisted of the annoying Aunt Paula, the even more annoying daughter of the cook/Paula’s business partner, Andie and a few other girls who are part of the Teen Town Council. It’s hard to describe the spirit sightings and other unexplainable events, on one hand, they made the plot more interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat. But I am left with questions and I don’t think they were fully answered. The background information is given a little here and there and up to readers to connect the dots. I found myself trying to piece together the whole thing but it made me even more confused.

The Splendor Falls so lengthy and I felt it could have been shorter. Some of the details, like the dog’s actions, could have been left out. Readers don’t need to constantly know what Gigi (the dog) was doing. There was such a slow build to the final scene that when if finally occurred it was anti-climatic. By the final scene, I was bored out of my mind, I just wanted to finish the book, know the ending and probably not attempt to ever read it again. When I finished the book (within a day), I was unsatisfied. I read 500+ pages and the ending is so quickly wrapped up and not very exciting.

I do have unanswered questions though, like did Sylvie’s dad know the truth about everything? What was his role in this whole thing? What happened to the diary she found? I admit I practically speed-read through the last few pages of the book so I might have missed this. One teeny thing that bothered me was that Sylvie looked up her family history in a book when there were laptops and most likely to have Internet access. A simple Google search might have sped things up faster.

Readers, whether or not you should read this book, I shall I leave that for you to judge. I have mixed feelings about this book; the writing was exceptional but I did not find the plot good. I am looking forward to Rosemary Clement-Moore’s future works.

Hunger Games #3 release date, Conrad’s new book and more ramblings

The third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy will be released on August 24, 2010. MARK YOUR CALENDERS! (And the title is rumoured to be The Victors!) That’s just 8 months away people!! We still don’t know the title or what the cover will look like, but you can be sure we will let you know more the minute we find out! Also, the paperback edition of The Hunger Games will come out on July 6th, 2010!

She’s a successful TV star, fashion designer and fiction writer, but she hasn’t written a book on style — until now. Lauren Conrad will unveil her top style tips in Lauren Conrad Style, to be published by Harper Collins in the fall of 2010.

The book will not only feature new and never-before-seen photos of the fashion icon, but the former MTV “Hills” star will show readers exactly how to interpret her classic and cool style into their lives. “I am really excited to write a style guide,” said Conrad, who designs an affordable clothing line for Kohl’s, in a release. “I think fashion should be fun and reflective of who you are. When you wear clothes you feel good in, it shows in everything you do. I know this guide will offer simple, practical tips to help anyone look fabulous.”

This year, Lauren released her first book L.A. Candy, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller; her follow-up novel, Sweet Little Lies, goes on sale Feb. 2, 2010 (for more information on Sweet Little Lies and Lauren’s 10-city book tour, go to harperteen.com).

This is a book I might actually buy from Lauren Conrad.

And guess what? Rampant book #2 by Diana Peterfreund is going to be called ASENDANT! It’ll be published around September 2010. Just a heads up!