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.

Manga Review: Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy, Volume 4, by Maki Minami

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April, 2014

Volumes: 12

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Hime Kino's dream is to one day do voice acting like her hero Sakura Aoyama from the Lovely Blazer anime, and getting accepted to the prestigious Holly Academy's voice actor department is the first step in the right direction! But Hime's gruff voice has earned her the scorn of teachers and students alike. Hime will not let that stand unchallenged. She'll show everyone that she is too a voice acting princess, whether they like it or not!!

After days of grueling training at Yamad's special voice acting retreat, Hime can finally bring forth her prince voice! Now she's ready to start her next job as a recurring character in an exciting new anime. But her first day on the set doesn't go as she'd hoped. Why do her costars and the producers seem to hate her when they just met her?!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.

Review:

This series is just… it’s crazy and adorable. Those are the best adjectives I can think of to describe it, and I’m loving it.

There are hi-jinks happening with Hime and her voice acting, and with the Aqua boys. Her manager is a bit hard on her, but helpful. Hime has such a positive attitude, and I really appreciate that. She has a problem with her voice acting, and the crew don’t like her, but she deals with that admirably. She uses it as motivation to work harder, and takes the advice she’s given. I particularly like that she is getting better, and is moving forward in her career.

Now I get to talk about Kudo. I love him. He is adorable, he is so cute, and I just love him so much. Hime, as her boy counterpart Shiro, visits him a few times in this volume, and I love each one. I even felt like squealing during one scene in particular. He is adorable, and she is just so oblivious, even as she realizes how he works. I also really like their conversation about cats, how devoted he is to them and how well he understands each one, but maybe that's just because of my love for cats.

There is just so much grinning and laughing while reading this series. I am utterly enjoying it, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one.

Novel Review: Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Berkley Sensation (Penguin)

Release Date: 2008

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

No woman could resist him—except the one he wanted most...

Cool, Calm, Collected...

Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her—not even her cheating ex-fiancé. So when she's assigned to coach People's "Sexiest Man Alive" for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob's charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.

Confident, Famous, Irresistible...

Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he's thrown for a loop. She's unlike any other woman he's ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She's the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize she may just be his perfect match.

The Cover:

I find this cover rather adorable, and do think it works pretty well for the book. It gives the adorable, light-hearted feel of the book and the couple. It's a bit embarrassing, but still very cute.

Quotes:

• "'Life isn’t always about logic and reason—sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump. Particularly when it comes to relationships.’” (Mass Market Paperback, pg. 138)
• "'...you should follow your instincts. I just hope you’re willing to listen to those instincts no matter what they tell you.’” (Pg. 205)

Review:

I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while, have started it before, and have skimmed it before. I finally decided that I needed to just finish it.

It was good, but by the end I was getting tired of it, and I’m not sure if that was the book, because I’d been reading it too long, or because I’d skimmed it and knew what was going to happen (mostly).

I did like the chemistry between Taylor and Jason. Taylor was fun, hard-to-get, and smart. Jason was a lot of fun to follow, arrogant but sweet. They got along really well, and I liked them together. The ending was really sweet, and a bit adorable.

This was very much a chick-lit-y romantic book, cute and adorable, not-too-serious. I really enjoyed it, and have another of James’ books that I will be getting to at some point.

Manga Review: Wild Act, Volume 1, by Rie Takada

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Tokyopop

Publish Date: 2003

Spoilers?: No/Very Minor.

Buy it here: Amazon. RightStuf! (Out-of-Print)

Goodreads Synopsis:

Celebs Rule, Groupies Drool!

Yuniko is your typical 15-year-old girl — except she's obsessed with the late, great actor Akira Nanae. In fact, she'll go to any lengths to swipe anything that belonged to him. She breaks into dressing rooms, sets off fire alarms, and even employs robotic housekeepers to recover his lost possessions.

The only person who stands between Yuniko and Nanae's coveted Academy Award statue is Ryu Eba, and up-and-coming actor who's known as the "New Nanae." He's on to Yuniko's schemes and takes great pleasure in placing roadblocks in her way. When Yuniko's with Ryu, tempers flare and sparks fly—but before long, her anger turns into what might be attraction. Suprise!

But the real suprise comes with Ryu reunites Yuniko with her long-lost mother. This family reunion is nothing like anyone ever expected...

Review:

I’ve read a couple other of Takada’s stories, and have had this on my eye for a while. I finally got my hands on the full series, and plan to be making quick work of it.

This volume started out a bit slow, but relatively quickly got interesting.

Yuniko, a fifteen-year-old, is obsessed with Akira Nanae, a famous movie star who died sixteen years. And she’s determined to get all of his worldly possession, and has ended up having to steal them from the people that have them. Which includes taking the newly-awarded trophy away from Ryu Eba, a newly recognized and popular actor only two years older than her, on the night he’s given it. And that starts their friendship.

He gets it back, but teases her into trying to steal it again, and somehow they end up running into each other several more times, and then he takes a job at the theatre near where she lives, and where her best friend works.

I liked Yuniko. I’d already guessed the reason behind her obsession, but it still left me satisfied and looking forward to more. She has a pet flying squirrel, Kamui, her little apprentice who’s adorable. I like the few friends of hers that I’ve met so far, and look forward to getting to know them better. Her mother is in the hospital, and has been for as long as she can remember, and she goes to see her, for the first time, at the end of this volume and I’m looking forward to seeing how that works out. I like Ryu Eba, and am looking forward to seeing their relationship and attraction develop. Really looking forward to that.

This was a pretty good volume, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.