Review: Pretty Crooked

Title: Pretty Crooked
Author: Elisa Ludwig
Series: Pretty Crooked #1
Published: 2012 by HarperCollins
Version: Hardcover
Obtained: Bought

Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.
Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”-known to everyone as the Glitterati-without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.
The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her-evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.
But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?

First Sentence:
“To the locals, it was probably a weird sight: a short blond girl in a miniskirt and laced-up boots, riding through the desert on a bright orange 1970 Schwinn Suburban on an early September morning.”

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This attempt at bringing a Robin Hood–esque plot into modern day succeeded in making me very ticked off at the main character, while still appreciating her kind heart.

Although this was an entertaining and funny book, the main character made a thousand idiotic mistakes in her attempts at “evening out the playing field.” I understand wanting to help those who are bullied. It’s a serious problem, and this book’s insight into the online bullying world was very depressing (I don’t understand people who want to hurt others…). However, I’m pretty sure that the way Willa went about it wasn’t very helpful at all. Instead of actually standing up to the BULLY, she just went about making the targets even bigger targets by giving them suspiciously expensive clothes. I mean, it was nice to think of them, and I’m sure the girls appreciated looking nice, but it didn’t accomplish much in the long run. Also, it took half the book before Willa decided to steal anything. The beginning was all her making friends with the rich kids and spending too much money while trying to keep up with their lifestyle. I kept getting mad at her through this portion because her mom had trusted her. Although I thought Willa was sweet to be so legitimately concerned with helping those who had less, she mostly got on my nerves for being so stupid in her plans. It was less “mischief” and more plain old “crime.”

I do not blame her one bit though for wondering about her mom. Seriously, what is up with that woman??? I need that to be resolved quickly in the next book.

Elisa Ludwig has a very firm grasp on the social world of high-schoolers. Willa’s one real friend, Cherise, is an example of girls who do things they don’t agree with just to stay friends with the popular kids. I kept wanting Cherise to REALLY stand up for what she believed in, instead of saying a few words to Kellie and Nikki, the bullies. Aidan Murphy was the love interest and I did like him. Although I never could see how he was drop-dead attractive based on the physical descriptions of him, his conversations with Willa made me like him. He was all flirtation (I never did see how he had that HUGE reputation though…) mixed with the insecurities and problems of all teenage guys. My absolute favorite character is Tre. I loved his friendship with Willa and the way he was there for her even though he didn’t agree with her (probably a lot like most of the readers actually).

The plotline just got more and more confusing and frustrating as Willa’s mom was very secretive and there was curiosity about Aidan that was never resolved. Actually, nothing was resolved in the end except Willa’s “fate” (which by the way worked out WAY too easily). It was all very ambiguous and annoying.

So bottom line: I enjoyed the perspective the author gave me and good heart of the main character, but I was rather put off by the unrealistic-ness and the stupid decisions of the main character. It was fun, and I will read the second book, Pretty Sly, which comes out May 2012, in hopes that Willa has changed a bit and the character mysteries are resolved.

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Content Warnings: Language, bullying, kissing

Rating:

Review: One Night That Changes Everything

Title: One Night That Changes Everything
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Published: 2010 by Simon & Schuster
Obtained: Library

Eliza is in a full-blown panic. Her notebook has been stolen – the one that lists everything she wants but is afraid to go after. And the absolute worst person in the world has it: her ex-boyfriend, Cooper.

Like it’s not bad enough that Cooper was lying to Eliza for their entire relationship – now he and his friends are blackmailing her. They’re giving her just one night to complete the most humiliating tasks on her list or they’ll post her secrets online – including the ones that aren’t just about her.

Eliza’s sure of only one thing: she isn’t going down without a fight. Cooper may have what’s left of her dignity, but she’s not the only one with something to hide . . .

First Sentence:
"I lose everything. Keys, my wallet, money, library books."

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I’m actually surprised that I enjoyed this book. I picked it up because I heard a couple good things about it, the front flap description sounded interesting, and it was short.

This book was my Halloween night. Reluctantly, I decided that 17 is too old to trick-or-treat, so my evening consisted of me reading this book in a living room chair and getting up every 2 seconds to give candy to un-costumed teenagers with backpacks. (What do they think this is? Free-candy-hand-out-day? And yeah, my neighborhood might be a little ghetto, but can they not just put a dumb sports jersey on or something? It’s not that difficult to make a little effort and actually be deserving of getting candy. I love questioning the obviously un – costumed ones: “And what are you dressed as?” “Uhh, you know, myself!” “Fine. HAVE some candy.”) There were some cute costumed kids also.
Anywho, I finished this book in that one night.

The tale of Eliza is an inspiring and meaningful tale of reaching deep inside and facing your fears. Eliza has one crazy night, during which she must accomplish brave feats such as karaoke, swimsuit pictures, kissing boys, and the like. *gasp* During her perilous adventures she learns a lot about her friends, her ex-boyfriend, and herself.

That sounded so sarcastic, but I didn’t hate it. I enjoyed it for what it essentially is: a fluffy, contemporary, fast-paced novel with some cheese.

Eliza was pretty annoying. It wasn’t just her character flaws, which she had to rise above, it was her strange personality. She was just … a weird person. I mean, she was relatable on occasion, but usually I was confused by her choices.

I loved that her two friends, Clarice and Marissa, were well-rounded side-characters. We learn about their personal issues, and I was very interested in seeing their outcome would in the story.
It’s almost like there are three main characters and that you just have the first person narrative of one of them. I cared just as much about Marissa and Clarice doing the right things, as I did about Eliza.

As for Cooper, I could totally tell he was nice from the beginning-ish, but Eliza was blinded by her hate. Shame.

This is a great one-night-read, because well, the story is all in one night, so that’s appropriate. Also the fast pace and short size make it easy to read in one night. Don’t go in expecting a mind-blowing plot, but it’s a cute story.

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Content Warning: Language, kissing, mention of sex, etc.

Rating:

Review: A Need So Beautiful

Title: A Need So Beautiful
Author: Suzanne Young
Published: 2011 by HarperCollins
Obtained: Library

We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten... 
Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger. 
But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become--her mark on this earth, her very existence--is in jeopardy of disappearing completely. 
Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny--no matter how dark the consequences.

First Sentence:
"I sit on the front steps of St. Vincent’s Cathedral and pick at the moss nestled in the cracks of the concrete."

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It took me forever to finish this book mostly because while it looked interesting, I had other stuff to read. However, it is a quite good book.

This is the story of Charlotte who has started having these “needs” which compel her to find strangers, see their life story, and help them. Obviously it’s a little strange that she keeps leaving at random times, and her friends are a bit suspicious. Suddenly she sees a patch of gold on her shoulder, and freaks out. With the help of a doctor friend, she finds out that she is a kind of angel, sent to help people, turn completely gold, and then leave in a burst of light, making everybody feel happy for a little bit. However, this also means her friends and family are going to forget everything about her, pictures will fade, memories will change, everything will be gone. So why in the world would she want to accept her fate?

I give major creative credit to Suzanne Young because this concept is incredibly different. Also, her writing is stunning, I was right there with Charlotte, cringing and mourning her fate. Young’s skill at expressing emotion is spectacular especially near the end when Charlotte’s  friends and family lose memory of her slowly. I was quite depressed by this, and really felt Charlotte’s pain.

One problem I had was the relationship between Harlin and Charlotte. They were portrayed as being totally perfect for each other, and just completely in love, no doubts. However, it seemed to me that their relationship was more lust than love. Every time they were together it was physical. Charlotte mostly just thought about how hot he was, and he just checked her out constantly. Yes, a lot of times he was worried for her health, he went with her to special events, and at the end it was really apparent he loved her, but I couldn’t help feeling that their relationship was more based on how hot they both were, than on their actual LOVE for each other.

Anywho, this is a nice, short, book with fantastic writing and a creative concept.

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Content Warnings: Kissing/Making-out/Sex (fade-out), and language.

Rating:

Review: Steel

Title: Steel
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Published: 2011 by HarperCollins
Obtained: Library

It was a slender length of rusted steel, tapered to a point at one end and jagged at the other, as if it had broken. A thousand people would step over it and think it trash, but not her.

This was the tip of a rapier.

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure.

The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

First Sentence: “Jill shook her legs out one at a time.”

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I picked this up at the library for a couple reasons. Books in which time travel is involved, is something I love, and it also involves pirates. Two awesome ingredients. The result? Not so fantastic.

Jill just lost a fencing tournament and is still beating herself up about it, even on vacation. Then she finds this fragment of a blade which she keeps as a souvenir. However, this blade piece is “enchanted” and takes her back in time. Rescued by a pirate ship, she is forced to sign the code and become a member of the crew (women crewmates weren’t all that rare apparently, and the captain of this particular ship is a woman). While trying to figure out how to get home, she learns of the captain’s on-going battle with another pirate captain, learns better sword-fighting techniques, and figures out more about the magic blade that brought her there. Also, she likes this one dude.

Okay, so picking this book up I was excited, but I knew it was going to be more “meh” then anything else, and I was right. It’s too short to have a major, highly interesting plotline or very well-developed characters, so it’s a good short read, but nothing majorly amazing.

The whole “what does this magic piece of blade do and how can it get me home?” plot aspect got highly confusing to me. That entire aspect, the main point, was so complicated and entangled that by the end, I barely knew what was going on.

Also, as much as I love romance (it’s hard for me to read a book that doesn’t have romance in it), I wish she’d left it out of the story. While the dude (I forget his name, he’s THAT memorable) is hot and a fun sidekick kind of guy, you just know they're romance is going to be for only about 2 days because she’s got to go back to her time.

I DID enjoy the way the author showed the pirate culture. While pirates should never be looked upon as heroes, the author explains the miserable conditions on the merchant/soldier ships and then contrasts that with the fair, lawful, and democratic ways of the pirate ships. The pirates also voted on all decisions and their punishments were fair. Overall it was a much better deal for a sea-loving man to be a pirate (of course, there’s the whole “it’s illegal” part of piracy) then a sailor on a merchant ship where whipping and brutal treatment were commonplace. When they found castaways, they made them either sign a code, joining the crew, or they were kept in the brig until the next port where they were released.

I don’t know. This book is a quick, interesting read, but it isn’t ground-breaking or a new recommendation of mine. If you don’t mind the whole “underdeveloped everything” aspect, go for it.

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Content Warnings: Honestly, I can’t remember. I know there is one kissing scene.

Rating: