Novel Review: Radio Radio by Graham Marks

Rating (Out of 5): ~2-2.5

Genre: YA Contemporary; Script

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Release Date: 2003

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A group of kids want to start a radio station. They have known each other a long time and have shared their plans for years. And finally they do it - setting up in an empty flat they soon find themselves not only having to deal with the complications of running a pirate radio station but also fending off the attentions of competing broadcasters.

The Cover:

I don't mind the cover above, and think it fits relatively well, especially given the radio plot and that it's written in script, like you might hear it over the radio. It works. The cover on Amazon works just as well, too.

Review:

I picked this book up forever ago, and finally decided to read it, since it’s so short. But while it’s a short book, I did not really enjoy it.

It’s told in script format, which was okay. I suppose it went by fast because of it, but it also made it harder for me to connect to the characters. But I've always had that problem so that might just be me.

It’s about a group of characters who decide to make a radio show, during the time that radio is being heavily watched and censored. They’re doing it in secret, and trying not to get caught, because they can get in serious trouble for it. That part I found interesting.

But then there’s drama between the characters. Some of them are friends, some of them are exes and current boyfriend/girlfriend. One of the characters was unhappy in her relationship, in it just cause, and her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. Then this other character thinks that her boyfriend is interested in his ex, and she gets seriously depressed about it. I just didn’t care, honestly. I didn’t care about any of them.

The ending was good, I guess, at least for the radio show part of it. But I’m glad it’s over.

Wishlist Thursday[101]: Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches & The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches 1 by Miki Yoshikawa

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: March 31, 2015

Volumes: 16+

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

SWAPPED WITH A KISS Class troublemaker Ryu Yamada is already having a bad day when he stumbles down a staircase along with star student Urara Shiraishi. When he wakes up, he realizes they have switched bodies-and that Ryu has the power to trade places with anyone just by kissing them! After figuring out the workings behind this new and amazing ability, Ryu and Urara take full advantage of the situation to improve their lives. But with such an oddly amazing power, just how long will Ryu and Urara be able to keep their secret under wraps? From the Trade Paperback edition.

Why?:

This series was actually flying under my radar. I heard about it when it was announced, but it didn’t really stand out. But then Barnes and Noble had it up at half off, and the artwork looked very pretty, so I decided to add it. Now I’m looking forward to getting it. The story sounds interesting, so I’m intrigued.

&

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Release Date: March 31, 2015

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Why?:

I still haven’t picked up Lord’s first book, though I don’t know why. I’ve heard a lot of really good things about it, and this one, and they both sound like something I would like. This one sounds just as cute, and I’m hoping to get my hands on it at some point.

What are you looking forward to?

Novel Review: Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby

Rating (Out of 5): ~2

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Walker (Bloomsbury)

Release Date: 2012

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Meet Josephine Foster, or Zo Jo as she’s called in the biz. The best pint-sized photographer of them all, Jo doesn’t mind doing what it takes to get that perfect shot, until she’s sent on an undercover assignment to shoot Ned Hartnett—teen superstar and the only celebrity who’s ever been kind to her—at an exclusive rehabilitation retreat in Boston. The money will be enough to pay for Jo’s dream: real photography classes, and maybe even quitting her paparazzi gig for good. Everyone wants to know what Ned’s in for. But Jo certainly doesn’t know what she’s in for: falling in love with Ned was never supposed to be part of her assignment.

The Cover:

The cover is fine to me. It's cute, simple, and it represents the book rather well, although it perhaps gives a more romantic or mature feel than the book actually has.

Review:

I’m a little disappointed with this book, honestly. It was just a lot more immature, or Disney, than I thought it would be.

It had a lot of potential, I thought. Jo is a paparazzi, and she ends up going under cover to follow this famous guy into rehab. There’s a lot of potential there. Some darker stuff could happen, but instead the rehab ended up just being a get-away where the people get through their problems, but none of them have ever really done anything bad. And then there’s a surprise with Ned, the famous guy, which I wasn’t expecting but did like.

I didn’t particularly care for Jo. I was even majorly embarrassed for her at one point, when she made a scene. Ned was nice. Jo makes a friend at rehab, and I liked the girl. But there wasn’t that much development for the characters, in my opinion. Not enough to really get my emotions going.

The problems with Ned, and with Jo’s father, were handled rather easily, almost in a Disney-like fashion, in their simplistically unrealistic way.

The writing was the worst part for me, though. It was just too simple. The descriptions weren’t that great, the words used were all extremely simple. The overuse of paparazzi/paparazzo got on my nerves really fast. It didn’t pull me in even slightly.

Overall, this was a really simple book, and I didn’t really get anything out of it. The only thing that sticks out to me is the surprise with Ned.

Novel Review: Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1) by Simone Elkeles

Rating (Out of 5): ~4
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publish Date: October 1st, 2013
Spoilers?: No.
Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.
Teaser Tuesday. Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

Something Specific:
Quotes:

• "Everyone has a purpose in life, he once told me. Finding out yours is crucial to knowing who you are and who you want to be.”  (Hardback, pg. 50)
• "‘I guess havin’ hope is better than givin’ up and thinking life will suck forever.’” (Pg. 215)

The Cover:

I don't mind this cover, but I don't really think it fits. The images work, but the grainy, old-photograph look doesn't, in my opinion. It makes it look like an old-American tale of a sports hero, which it isn't, or like it's about some old tragedy, possibly a happily-ever-after romance story, which it also isn't. It's a very lighthearted, modern story. There isn't even a huge time skip at the end where the happy-ever-after couple is old and married with kids. Aside from that, the couple and football image work.

Review:

It’s been a while since I’ve read an Elkeles book. I’ve read all but her first series (which I have, and should get around to… at some point), and enjoyed all of them. And I guess I had missed her stories a bit. They’re dramatic, and romantic, and sweet, and cute, and funny. They’re lighthearted, cute stories, sometimes steamy, always good.

Her last series, the Perfect Chemistry one (and the Paradise one, I suppose), had a darker edge to it, so I was expecting that from this one. But instead, this one was pretty much solely cute and sweet, with a very little bit of angst worked in. It was a nice reprieve. It was a good story, very fast to read. Very good.

There’s Ashtyn, who’s on the football team, dating the quarterback, with a no-good father. Then her sister comes back to stay with them, and she brings back a young son and step-son Ashtyn’s age whose father is in some submarine in the ocean somewhere. Derek got kicked out of his last private school, and is not looking forward to staying with his step-mom, who he doesn’t like. But then he starts getting close to Ashtyn. And then his pushy, distant grandmother tries getting in contact with him.

I liked both Ashtyn and Derek, and the two together. It was obvious from the beginning that her boyfriend sucked, but her other teammates didn’t. I would have liked to have gotten to know them better, but I suspect that I will in the next books. It says Derek is a bad boy in the synopsis, but he’s really not. He’s running away from some things, and he plays a lot of pranks, but he’s smart, he’s a handyman around the house, and he’s very sweet to Ashtyn, right from the beginning, even if he does fool around with some girls while she has a boyfriend. Also, he has a southern accent, and that’s fantastic.

And then Derek’s grandmother comes in, and she’s great. Which leads him to doing something very big and sweet to win Ashtyn over at the end, and that was adorable and heartwarming. I also hadn’t seen or read anything with such a big move in a long while, so that was nice. I think that, plus Derek’s general good guy-ness, made this a very good read to me. Something that I was very in the mood for as well, apparently. 

This was really good. Really sweet and cute and adorable. And I’m really looking forward to the next books in the series, whenever they get released. Elkeles is on my automatic buy list (has been for a while), and now I might actually get around to reading her first series soon.