Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider

Title: Severed Heads, Broken Hearts (UK/AUS), The Beginning of Everything (US)

Author: Robyn Schneider

Release Date: 1st September 2013

My  Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: In one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra's knee, his career as a jock, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for homecoming king, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra's ever met— achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

Together, Ezra and Cassidy discover flash mobs, buried treasure, secret movie screenings, and a poodle that might just be the reincarnation of Jay Gatsby. But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: If one's singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

With lyrical writing, nerdy humor, and realistic romance, Robyn Schneider's The Beginning of Everything is a story about how difficult it is to play the part people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

In A Nutshell:

Major love for this book. If the title doesn't instantly make you want to read it then the inclusion of geocaching, Harry Potter references, flash mobs and nerds being awesome should seal the deal.

My Review:

I absolutely, completely loved Severed Heads, Broken Hearts, but I can't put my finger on the exact reason.

Perhaps it is the coming of age story when the popular kid gives up trying to impress others to fully recognise his own interests and what real friends are. It could be the beginning of first love, the high school setting, or that it portrays that nerds know how to have fun too.

Or it could be the witty remarks, terrible puns, pop culture references which remind me of my childhood, the likeable characters, the music references, the sneaking into college classes, watching Disneyland fireworks from the hood of the car, the flash mobs, the Harry Potter love, debating competitions, geocaching or the giant poodle named Cooper… the list goes on.

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts, aside from having a freakin’ awesome title, has a good mix of comedy and tragedy, with the heart-warming storyline of people finding ‘their people’ but also the heartbreaking moments when life just doesn’t go to plan. Ultimately it asks, when the ‘thing’ you and everyone else have always used to define you disappears, what comes next? Who are you really? In this case, who is the real Ezra Faulkner?

If you liked this, try:
Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

Wildlife by Fiona Wood

Title: Wildlife
Author: Fiona Wood

Release Date: 1st June 2013

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Life? It’s simple: be true to yourself.
The tricky part is finding out exactly who you are…

In the holidays before the dreaded term at Crowthorne Grammar’s outdoor education camp two things out of the ordinary happened.
A picture of me was plastered all over a twenty-metre billboard.
And I kissed Ben Capaldi.

Boarding for a term in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sibylla expects the gruesome outdoor education program – but friendship complications, and love that goes wrong? They’re extra-curricula.

Enter Lou from Six Impossible Things – the reluctant new girl for this term in the great outdoors. Fragile behind an implacable mask, she is grieving a death that occurred almost a year ago. Despite herself, Lou becomes intrigued by the unfolding drama between her housemates Sibylla and Holly, and has to decide whether to end her self-imposed detachment and join the fray.

And as Sibylla confronts a tangle of betrayal, she needs to renegotiate everything she thought she knew about surviving in the wild.

A story about first love, friendship and NOT fitting in.

In A Nutshell:
I absolutely adored Wildlife! It is a companion novel to Six Impossible Things that focuses on friendship, bullying, self-confidence, fitting in and navigating the ins and outs of relationships. A must read for all teenagers (and the young at heart).

My Review:
I absolutely adored Wildlife. For those of you who don’t know, it is a companion novel to Fiona’s first book, Six Impossible Things. It is told from two alternating POV, Sibylla, and Lou (from Six Impossible Things). For one term a year, students spend their time at their school’s outdoor education campus, staying in 6-bed dorm rooms/huts and getting involved with the great outdoors. The story follows Lou, the new girl at school, and Sibylla, the once-‘invisible’-but-now-visible-girl, through their term amongst the wildlife.

Sibylla, ignored by her classmates for most of her highschool years, experiences a social status change at the beginning of the term after she appears on a billboard for a new perfume, hand-picked by her aunt who is in advertising. Suddenly, people know who she is and the boy she has liked for ages decides to start something. She worries about all the new-found attention but her scheming best friend Holly tells her ‘so what?!’ and to make the most of it…and make the most of it Holly does.

Lou struggles to fit in, not only because she is the new girl but because she has suffered a loss that she would prefer to keep to herself, rather than with the gossip-hungry girls of her dorm. She eventually makes a connection with Sibylla’s oldest friend Michael, a quirky ‘outcast’ who Lou recognises as a kindred spirit. Lou is the kind of girl who knows who she is and doesn’t care what people think of her. At Reading Matters, when discussing why she included Lou in Wildlife, Fiona said that she felt Sibylla needed a friend like Lou, and this is so true. Sibylla’s best friend Holly is the classic definition of a ‘frenemy’. She uses Sibylla’s new found fame for her own agenda and doesn’t fulfil the criteria that a ‘friend’ should. She is fake, inconsiderate and with no thought for other people’s feelings except for her own entertainment and social climbing.

I think the relationship between Sibylla and Holly is really important and I am positive that everyone will know, or has known, a person like Holly. The difficulties of navigating highschool and friendship groups are so hard because at that age you are still figuring out who you are and are being pulled in all directions: old friends and new collide and the popularity contest clashes with loyalties, respect and the right thing to do. Hopefully when it all ends up in the inevitable blender of highschool, the worst bits will filter out and you will be left with the person you want to be. And while in hindsight it is an easy choice, at the time, it can feel like it’s the be all and end all. Fiona Wood manages to portray these dilemmas perfectly. Wildlife is a novel every teenager should read. It is a story for both boys and girls however I think it is especially important for girls because it directly relates to the complexities of female friendships that can cause so much distress.

Wildlife is a realistic novel with some loveable characters. I can imagine being friends with Sibylla, Michael and Lou and the whole novel just gave me warm fuzzies, although I did want to bitch slap Holly a number of times (and I am so not a violent person!). A tale about friendships, bullying and fitting in, Wildlife makes it onto my unofficial list of amazing Aussie YA (hmmm… maybe I should make a list…) and I will forever read anything else Fiona Wood writes.

Also by Fiona Wood:

Six Impossible Things

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Title: Confessions of an Angry Girl
Author: Louise Rozett

Release Date: 28th August 2012

Age Recommendation: 14+

My Rating: 3/5

Blurb:

Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some confessions to make…

1. I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you?

2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine.

3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)

Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.

(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)

(Sorry. That was rude.)

In A Nutshell:
Confessions of an Angry Girl is about that horrible and confusing stage when you are in your early teens and it feels like everything is changing and you have no control. Although the characters can sometimes be irritating, it is realistic and compelling.

My Review:

Confessions of an Angry Girl is about that horrible and confusing stage when  you are in your early teens and it feels like everything is changing and you have no control. It's like magically, overnight, you are supposed to care about boys and clothes and makeup. And being popular should apparently be your top priority. For fourteen-year-old Rose, this isn't the case. She wants everything to stay the same. She doesn't understand why her best friend suddenly wants to join the cheerleading squad and is talking about sex. Everything is moving too quickly and Rose is still trying to come to terms with what her life means after the death of her father in Iraq over the summer.

Rose’s world has fallen apart. She’s angry, although she’s not really sure she is ready to confront why. She’s sad and doesn’t really know how to express herself and her grief. She’s vulnerable and feels alone but doesn’t voice this. 

The main problem for Rose is that she can’t understand why her best friend is suddenly changing. She gets frustrated with Tracey because she refuses to listen to her but what Rose needs to realise is that most of the time, you can’t tell someone something and expect them to believe you hands down, especially when it concerns matters of the heart. They have to come to realise these things on their own and as a friend, all you can do for them is be there for them when everything goes pear-shaped. I think almost everyone has experienced having a friend who has sold them out in their quest for popularity and it certainly hurts, but what Rose fails to see is that she is not completely innocent either. She has her faults, just like everyone else. And that is ok. That’s human nature.

Other things of note?

I read the book in one sitting. Despite the fact that certain bits annoyed me, it was realistic and compelling.

Rose and Tracey both got on my nerves but they are young and naïve and need to learn from their mistakes. What matters is how they come out at the end and deal with their respective situations.

There are underlying lessons throughout the novel that are important, such as explaining why and how friendships can change and that is ok to not what not follow the crowd and to be yourself. There is also the all-important sex-ed class. 

I haven’t said anything about the boys in the book. Matt, Tracey’s boyfriend, is a jerk and it is obvious from the beginning. Robert is a nice guy but really needs a reality check. Jamie is a bit of a mix and I’m undecided about him and Angelo, Jamie’s friend, is very sweet and I hope he has more page-time in a follow up.

Speaking of a follow up, I was slightly annoyed with the ending as I felt it left some things unresolved. I'm hoping that Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend, due for release in 2013, will be a sequel of sorts and tie up some loose ends.

 

Thankyou to Harlequin Teen Australia for this review copy.

Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

Title: Looking For Alibrandi
Author: Melina Marchetta

Release Date: 5th October 1992

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:
'And what's this about you and your friends driving around Bondi Junction half-dressed last week?'

'Who told you that?'

'Signora Formosa saw you. She said you and your friends almost ran he rover. She rang Zia Patrizia's next-door neighborhood and it got back to Nonna.'

Telecom would go broke if it weren't for the Italians.

Josephine Alibrandi is seventeen, illegitimate, and in her final year at a wealthy Catholic school. This is the year her father comes back into her life, the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family's past and the year she sets herself free.

I'll run one day. Run from my life. To be free and think for myself. Not as an Australia and not as an Italian and not as an in between. I'll run to be emancipated.

In A Nutshell:
Looking for Alibrandi is an excellent account of growing up in a culture that other people may not understand. Josie is still just a regular teenage girl; uncertain in herself and the direction she wants to take in life, and trying to juggle the pressures of family, school, friendships and boys. This a must-read Australian YA classic.

My Review:
Looking for Alibrandi is the first book I have read where I have seen the film first. Normally I will always read the book prior to seeing the film, if I see it at all, but this time, it wasn’t really my fault. I was only 5-years-old when the book was released and 12 when the film came out. I had only just discovered YA fiction and I’d never heard of Melina Marchetta. I absolutely loved the film and I think what made it so good is that Melina actually wrote the screenplay for it, rather than someone else re-writing an author’s story. All the important bits were included and now, having read the novel, for the first time I am not disappointed by the film version of a book. It must have really stuck with me because I can’t even listen to U2’s With or Without You without thinking of the film (if you have seen it you will know why). But enough about the film, this is a book review after all.

Looking for Alibrandi is an Aussie YA classic. How do I go about writing about a book that was released almost 20 years ago to the day and is still a favourite on so many bookshelves? Alibrandi was Melina’s debut novel and it won many awards, and it is easy to see why. It gives the reader the opportunity to realise they are not alone in what may be going on in their life and I believe it is a special person who can communicate with teenagers in the way Melina can.

Looking for Alibrandi is an excellent account of growing up in a culture that other people may not understand, which is such a prevalent issue here in Australia, even now, two decades after the novel was written. What Josie Alibrandi has to deal with are the same problems that teenagers are faced with every day. The issues are timeless. She reflects a typical teenage girl; uncertain in herself and the direction she wants to take, and trying to juggle the pressures of family, school, friendships and boys. It’s very interesting to see Josie mature in her understanding of the world and her acceptance of who she is and what part she may play in the years to come. The search for acceptance in all areas of life and the highs and lows of the family dynamic are universal.

The final year of high school is hard enough, but for Josie, having always lived with her mother and under the watchful eyes of her very traditional Italian grandmother, her life is thrown into disarray when the father she has never met suddenly reappears in her life. Not only that, but she has to navigate the unfamiliar territory of having a boyfriend, come to terms with the loss of someone she cares about, and unravel the secrets and lies of the Alibrandi family.

Having now read Melina’s four contemporary novels, I can safely say that her writing is captivating and it is very easy to sit and read a whole book at once. If you haven’t discovered the writing of Melina Marchetta, I strongly suggest you do. You won’t regret it.

Looking For Alibrandi Film Poster


Three generations of Alibrandi women

Preloved by Shirley Marr

Title: Preloved
Author: Shirley Marr

Release Date: 1st April 2012

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:
If you had a second chance at love, would you do it all over again?

Amy has enough to deal with for one lifetime. A superstitious Chinese mother. A best friend whose mood changes as dramatically as her hair colour. A reputation for being strange. The last thing she needs is to be haunted by someone only she can see.

Logan is a ghost from the Eighties. He could be dangerous. He's certainly annoying.

He might also be Amy's dream boy.

In A Nutshell:
Preloved is a story filled with Chinese superstitions, ghost tales, 80’s fashion, an obsession with The Princess Bride and quotes from Labyrinth. It is a story about letting go, reincarnation, letting love in all its forms in, and accepting yourself. A story for the younger YA market although will be adored by those of us who wish we had grown up in the 80’s.

My Review:
Amy doesn’t want to get caught up in stereotypes. She shuns most people, trying to avoid being associated with the other Asian students in the ‘Minority Group’. Ironically, her best and only friend Rebecca also attempts to shun stereotypes but is possibly the biggest one of all. Amy believes she would have fitted in much better had she grown up in the 80’s and while she loves being friends with Rebecca, she pretends that she doesn’t have a problem with always being in her shadow. She shuts everyone out in an attempt not to end up hurt like her mum did after her parents divorced.

When the ghost of Logan, a teenage boy from the 80’s appears out of an old locket, Amy is at first frustrated by the belief that Rebecca was supposed to find the locket, but later grows attached to Logan and his endless 80’s infused commentary and fascination with new technology. As usual, Amy is too preoccupied dealing with Rebecca and her admirers, and this new found ghost only she can see, to realise she may just have an admirer of her own.

I loved the references to 80’s movies (The Breakfast Club, Never Ending Story, Labyrinth, The Princess Bride) and music (Boy George, Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue and Icehouse) as well as mix tapes, which, as someone who used to make these before CD’s took over, I miss the effort it took to create such a collection and the meaning behind them!

I was also excited to find a reference to Etsy that was slipped in, as well as my favourite David Levithan book. There were also some character similarities to Lane from TV’s Gilmore Girls, another of my favourites!

Preloved is a story filled with Chinese superstitions, ghost tales, 80’s fashion, an obsession with The Princess Bride and quotes from Labyrinth. It is a story about letting go, reincarnation, letting love in all its forms in, and accepting yourself. A story for the younger YA market although will be adored by those of us who wish we had grown up in the 80’s.

And as a side note, this cover is stunning! I think it has to be one of my favourite YA covers of the year!

Thankyou to Walker Books for this review copy.

Vamplayers by Rusty Fischer

Title: Vamplayers

Author: Rusty Fischer

Release Date: 13th December 2011

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

At the Afterlife Academy of Exceptionally Dark Arts, the vampires in training follow one of two tracks: they become either Sisters or Saviors. Of course, everyone wants to be a Savior, swooping into infested high schools in matching red leather jumpsuits and wielding crossbows, putting down swarming vampires with deadly efficiency.

But Lily Fielding is just a Sister—a Third Sister at that, a measly trainee. When Lily and her two Sisters, Alice and Cara, are called out to their latest assignment, she figures it’s just another run-of-the-mill gig: spot the Vamplayer (part vampire, part player), identify the predictably hot, trampy girl he’s set his eyes on, and befriend her before the Vamplayer can turn her to do his bidding.

Finding the sleek and sexy Vamplayer, Tristan, and his equally beautiful and popular target, Bianca, is easy. And when Lily meets the adorably geeky Zander, she too falls under a lover’s spell. But this assignment turns out to be trickier than most when the Third Sister must battle the baddest vampire of all.

In A Nutshell:

A light, entertaining and humorous read, Vamplayers is total comfort food.

My Review:

I’ve read countless novels and short stories by Rusty Fischer and enjoyed them all. In Vamplayers, Fischer has moved away from his usual zombie protagonist and has reworked vampire mythology. They still drink blood but have a serious sweet tooth. Some are good, some are bad and the bad don’t just want to kill, they want to turn their victims, and their tactics have been perfected. Daylight may not be an issue, but garlic and holy water still is. And there is the ever-present pecking order that infiltrates every aspect of society, n both human and vampire worlds. There are rules the undead have to live by, and consequences are severe.

Lily is a Sister, whose job is to identify the Vamplayer before he manages to turn the whole school. The Sisters then call in the Saviors who take the Vamplayer down. Lily is sick of being a Sister but can’t seem to pass the test to become a Savior. When Lily and her fellow Sisters are sent to the latest school, she is determined this will be her last ever assignment as a Sister. The school is just like every other high school; the bitchy popular girls make everyone else’s lives miserable, there’s the hot guy who knows he is, and the nerdy but really totally awesome kids.  This time, Lily is to play the outcast. Her fellow Sisters are also to treat her this way to fit in with the popular crowd and gain their acceptance. Normally this exclusion would end when the girls are behind closed doors, but this time, Cara and Alice begin to take it a bit too seriously. As the girls turn on Lily, she is left utterly alone and the responsibility to find the Vamplayer before the whole school gets turned, falls solely on her shoulders.

With a focus on friendship, stereotypes and peer-pressure, it’s a typical highschool environment, but one that takes the opportunity to show characters who know what they want and try to succeed, no matter the obstacles thrown in their path. While I could see what was going to happen, Lily couldn’t and I think that is common for teenagers, to not look deeper than what is on the surface or beyond first impressions. While the story arc was somewhat predictable, the end certainly wasn’t. After the climatic showdown, I was expecting a very different conclusion but Fischer’s recreated vampire lore opened up a whole new realm of possibilities.

A light, entertaining and humorous read, Vamplayers is total comfort food.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan

Release Date: 9th September 2003

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Love is never easy. Especially if you're Paul. He's a sophomore at a high school like no other - and these are his friends:

Infinite Darlene, the homecoming queen and star quarterback.
Joni, Paul's best friend who may not be his best friend any more.
Tony, his other best friend, who can't leave the house unless his parents think he's going on a date... with a girl.
Kyle, the ex-boyfriend who won't go away.
Rip, the school bookie, who sets the odd...
And Noah. The Boy. The one who changes everything.

In A Nutshell:
Boy Meets Boy is one of my favourite David Levithan novels. Realistic and funny, I constantly had a smile on my face.

My Review:
Boy Meets Boy is set in a town and high school that is completely comfortable and open about everything, especially the gay kids. While I have certainly never come across a place so overwhelmingly supportive, I hope one day a place a country could exist like this and not just in the pages of such a fabulous novel.

The story centres around Paul, a guy who, by all accounts, has grown up pretty self-assured. He’s known he is gay since he was five and is extremely open and comfortable with who he is (read chapter two; hilarious and probably one of my favourite parts of the story for the ‘messages’ shared.). He has an eclectic group of friends and they have all the same troubles as every other teenager.

Boy Meets Boy is one of my favourite David Levithan novels. Realistic and funny, I constantly had a smile on my face. I loved the characters with all their quirks and extravagance, their insecurities and disagreements, desires and persistence.

Tony, who lives in another town, just wants to be able to go on a date with a boy without lying to his religious parents. Noah, who has been hurt before, wants to give a relationship another chance. Paul, he just wants his feelings reciprocated while his friend Joni, who has dated Ted on and off for years, suddenly decides the ‘off’ should be permanent. She starts dating Chuck, completely throwing off the group dynamics, especially when she starts ditching her life-long friends in favour of Chuck (I’m sure everyone has experienced that!). And Kyle is confused but thinks he has figured out what he wants.

When Paul meets Noah, the world is all rainbows and sunshine, until Paul screws it up. What I like about this story is that it is so realistic (aside from the fact there is no homophobia in their world). Life is messy and complicated and people make mistakes. When Paul accidentally makes a mess of things, Noah doesn’t easily forgive him; Paul has to make an effort to rebuild a relationship and the trust that they once had.

A loveable high school story about love, life, acceptance and the bonds of friendship.

“Do you really exist?” I blurt out.

“Not at all,” he says with a smile. “I’ve known that since I was four.”

“What happened when you were four?”

“Well I had this theory. Although I guess I was too young to know it was a theory. You see, I had this imaginary friend. She followed me everywhere – we had to set a place for her at the dinner table, she and I talked all the time – the whole deal. Then it occurred to me that she wasn’t the imaginary friend at all. I figured that I was the imaginary friend, and she was the one who was real. It made perfect sense to me. My parents disagreed, but I still secretly feel that I’m right.”

Geek Girl by Cindy C Bennett

Title: Geek Girl
Author: Cindy C Bennett

Release Date: 29th July 2010 (self-published), 8th December 2011 by Cedar Fort

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Jen's life of rebelling and sneaking out is growing stale. In a effort to combat her boredom, Jen makes a bet to turn Trevor, a nice little geek, into a 'bad boy.' She is immediately pulled into Trevor's world of sci-fi movies, charity work, and even-ugh!- bowling. Unexpectedly, Jen discovers that hanging out with Trevor isn't so bad after all. But when Trevor finds out about the wager, all bets are off.

In A Nutshell:
Geek Girl is a story about a broken girl who forges an unlikely relationship with the school geek after making a bet. What follows is the complete opposite of what she expected as she learns to trust people for the first time in her life and allows herself to believe that her life can get better.

My Review:
I really loved Geek Girl. Jen is a vulnerable teenager due to her horrible past and being brought up in foster homes where the only reason she was wanted was for the money the family got from the state each month. She doesn’t trust anyone, has low self-esteem and while she wants to be loved by others, she protects herself from letting that ever happen for fear of rejection or having them taken away from her.

Jen is stronger than she gives herself credit for, but her lack of self-esteem steams from never having anyone who believed in her. Our adorable geek Trevor is such a sweetheart. He is pretty straight-laced, comes from a good family and treats everyone with respect. When Jen starts to show an interest in him, he is thrown completely off-guard.

I love the supporting characters, such as Trevor’s friends and family, and Jen’s foster family. Once Jen lets people in to her life, she slowly learns that not everyone has an ulterior motive, even if she does. Jen’s foster family are good people and are different to the families she usually ends up with, and with the help of Trevor, Jen begins to trust and believe in people again, and herself.

The evolving relationship between Jen and Trevor throughout the book totally made me go ‘awww’ and there were definitely some swoon inducing moments. What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic! Long live the geek :)

When I first picked Geek Girl up I assumed it would be like the 90’s teen flick She’s All That. But for me, it evolved into something more than just a bet and addressed the real issues of vulnerability that foster kids experience every day.