Teaser Tuesday[211]: What Happens Now by Jennifer Castle

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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What Happens Now by Jennifer Castle

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: June 7, 2016

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

"I know what it is to want something so badly, you feel like your cells aren’t properly bonded together without it.
I also know what it’s like to get that something.
And honestly, I’m still not sure which is worse..."

Ari Logan is battling to win her war against depression and the dark night she hurt herself on purpose. It’s not easy: her best friend is drifting away, her mom’s emotionally checked out, and she spends her days playing caregiver to her handful of a half-sister, Danielle. But it’s summer, and anything is possible...

That’s when Camden Armstrong steps onto the beach of Ari’s local swimming lake.

At first, Ari quietly longs for Camden from afar, seeing in him everything she wants to be. When the two discover a true connection the following summer, Ari lets herself fall not just for the quirky and self-assured Camden but also his friends, tumbling into their world of independence, adventure, and shared sci-fi fandom. As Ari’s romantic dreams come true, she must unlock the mysteries of the very real and troubled boy behind her infatuation, while also struggling with her own demons, obligations, and loyalties.

From the award-winning author of "The Beginning of After" and "You Look Different in Real Life," "What Happens Now" is a touching, insightful novel about learning to heal, learning to love, and what happens when fantasy becomes reality.

Excerpt:

“‘I’m helping my dad at his computer programming firm. I’d explain exactly what I do there, but it’s so boring, you might nod off and fall and injure yourself.’

‘Thanks for the safety considerations,’ I said with a laugh.” (ARC, pg. 128)

What are you reading right now?

Novel Review: You Look Different in Real Life by Jennifer Castle

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Contemporary

Publisher: HarperCollins/Teen

Publish Date: June 4th, 2013

Spoilers?: Minor/No.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

For the rest of the world, the movies are entertainment. For Justine, they're real life.

The premise was simple: five kids, just living their lives. There'd be a new movie about them every five years, starting in kindergarten. But no one could have predicted what the cameras would capture. And no one could have predicted that Justine would be the star.

Now sixteen, Justine doesn't feel like a star anymore. In fact, when she hears the crew has gotten the green light to film Five at Sixteen, all she feels is dread. The kids who shared the same table in kindergarten have become teenagers who hardly know one another. And Justine, who was so funny and edgy in the first two movies, feels like a disappointment.

But these teens have a bond that goes deeper than what's on film. They've all shared the painful details of their lives with countless viewers. They all know how it feels to have fans as well as friends. So when this latest movie gives them the chance to reunite, Justine and her costars are going to take it. Because sometimes, the only way to see yourself is through someone else's eyes.

Smart, fresh, and frequently funny, You Look Different in Real Life is a piercing novel about life in an age where the lines between what's personal and what's public aren't always clear.

Something Specific:

 Quotes:

•  "Can I just say no? That seems impossible. Or maybe it's one of those things that only seems impossible because you've never questioned it." (ARC)
• "'Practice makes better.'" (ARC) I like this more than 'practice makes perfect', because it's more realistic, and people shouldn't be trying to hold onto the standard of perfect, since it doesn't exist. It sounds awkward, since I'm so used to the perfect one, but I like it much more.
• "'It seems like she's doing okay. Finding her niche online, and all that.' 'But that's online,' I say. 'It's not real. Or at least, not the same real.'" (ARC) I like her differentiating that it's not the same real. Because I totally agree with that--online is a form of real life, but it's not the same as actual face-to-face interaction.

The Cover:

I really like the cover of this book. It's not overly embarrassing, it's pretty, and it fits the contents of the book. The model had similarities with Justine, the font is nice, and the colors are pretty. And the way she's set, staring at the camera, reflects the talking-to-a-camera aspect of the documentary. Overall, I rather like this one.

Review:

When I saw this at the book store, a while before the release date, I wasn’t sure if I wanted it, mainly because of what I’d thought of Castle’s first book, The Beginning of After. But it sounded good, as I’m usually attracted to books with media-related themes. So I decided to give her another chance, see if I liked this one more. And I am really glad that I decided to get it, because I was pleasantly surprised with this book.

Justine, one of five kids who were chosen to be in this documentary when she was six, a new movie to be made every five years, is now sixteen, and dreading being in the next movie. Most of the five weren’t friends to start with, and most of them aren’t friends now, for differing reasons. Justine is the feisty one, the one who supposedly always had a comeback to make people laugh, only now she doesn’t know who she is anymore. Rory is autistic, and sweet, but rather left out when it comes to the five. Felix is into music, but he’s never gotten very much attention, and is only friends with Justine. Nate used to be the loner that was bullied, but now he’s popular. And Keira’s mother left her and her father alone, and she left but now is back, and is only close with Nate. And now they’re all in the new movie together, when most of them don’t even want to be in the same room together.

I liked Justine, and I liked being in her head, even if I’d have liked being in several of the other characters’ heads as well (particularly Nate's and Rory's). Justine is very lost, is friends with Felix but doesn’t really feel close with anyone. Everyone liked her from the first two movies, but she doesn’t understand why. She has no idea what she’s doing with her life, and I liked how much she grew by the end of the book.

I liked Rory, and felt a bit bad for her, and maybe would have liked to have gotten to know her better. She seemed to be growing by the end of the book, and I would have liked to see more of that. Keira was alright, and her storyline was interesting. I liked Felix, and felt bad for his circumstances—I rather wanted to hug him, honestly. And hope that things get even better in the future for him. And I liked Nate—I was a bit unsure of him for a lot of the novel, but I did like him by the end.

The story is really slow going, focusing a lot on Justine and how the five of them don’t want to be around each other and yet are being pushed to hang out for the movie. I liked where the plot went, though; it went in a somewhat surprising direction, and I liked that a lot. Plus, where, in Castle’s first book, it had a hard time keeping my attention, this one was really easy to keep reading. I actually finished the book a lot faster than I’d expected to. Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book, by how good it was and how easy it was to read.

The romance is a very small part of the book, very minuscule. For a while, I wasn’t even sure if a romance was going to show up, but I was really happy with how it turned out. That plot was kept really subtle, which works because of how not-close everyone was, and with the fact that they all had more important things to deal with.

I really enjoyed this book—quite a lot. And now I’m sure that I will be picking up whatever Castle releases next.

Teaser Tuesday[49]: You Look Different In Real Life by Jennifer Castle

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

------------------

You Look Different In Real Life by Jennifer Castle

Genre: YA Contemporary (Light-Romance)

Publisher: HarperCollins/Teen

Publish Date: June 4^th, 2013

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

For the rest of the world, the movies are entertainment. For Justine, they're real life.

The premise was simple: five kids, just living their lives. There'd be a new movie about them every five years, starting in kindergarten. But no one could have predicted what the cameras would capture. And no one could have predicted that Justine would be the star.

Now sixteen, Justine doesn't feel like a star anymore. In fact, when she hears the crew has gotten the green light to film Five at Sixteen, all she feels is dread. The kids who shared the same table in kindergarten have become teenagers who hardly know one another. And Justine, who was so funny and edgy in the first two movies, feels like a disappointment.

But these teens have a bond that goes deeper than what's on film. They've all shared the painful details of their lives with countless viewers. They all know how it feels to have fans as well as friends. So when this latest movie gives them the chance to reunite, Justine and her costars are going to take it. Because sometimes, the only way to see yourself is through someone else's eyes.

Smart, fresh, and frequently funny, You Look Different in Real Life is a piercing novel about life in an age where the lines between what's personal and what's public aren't always clear.

Excerpts:

“I used to feel weird about coming here. Because of Nate.” (ARC, pg. 128)

“What happened to the rabbits?” (ARC, pg. 128)

So, what are you reading right now?

Review: The Beginning Of After by Jennifer Castle

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5 (maybe 4)

Publisher: HarperCollins / HarperTeen

Spoilers?: No.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Laurel’s world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. Behind the wheel is the father of her bad-boy neighbor, David Kaufman, whose mother is also killed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Laurel navigates a new reality in which she and her best friend grow apart, boys may or may not be approaching her out of pity, overpowering memories lurk everywhere, and Mr. Kaufman is comatose but still very much alive. Through it all, there is David, who swoops in and out of Laurel’s life and to whom she finds herself attracted against her better judgment. She will forever be connected to him by their mutual loss, a connection that will change them both in unexpected ways.

Review:

I had higher hopes for this book. At least, in the romance department. I had heard that there was more than there actually was; or, I took it to believe that there was more.

There was swoon, I will say that, but not a lot of physical stuff, until the very last bit of the book.

Um, anyway: this book is about Laurel, who’s family gets in a car accident with Davids parents, a boy she’s known since she was little, but isn’t very close with anymore. A lot of the book focuses on her trying to face what happened and get over it.

She tries to play it cool, like she’s alright, pretty quickly, before facing that she’s having a hard time and misses them and doesn’t want to do anything. It was pointed out a couple of times that she was being selfish, focusing only on herself and not on the people around her that are still there for her, but I didn’t really agree with that. First of all, she does have some reason to be, at first, but then later, for quite a bit of the book, it didn’t feel like she was focusing on herself. She just wasn’t focusing on anything, and just didn’t seem all there. Which is understandable as well.

I liked Laurel enough, understood her and maybe felt a little bit of a connection with her, but not enough. She didn’t pull me in or capture me like some have; which, I guess, is also understandable in some way, with how she was written. She just wasn’t there for a lot of the book, not feeling anything and trying not to feel anything, which I did kind of enjoy reading about. Not enough, though, I guess.

I think I just had a hard time with this whole book. I had a hard time with Laurel, the romance was taking too long, nothing really seemed to be capturing me or putting me off; it was all just, eh.

It did get better near the ending, I will say that. I started to enjoy it a bit more as it got more interesting, the romance really got going, and the ending was good. It left at a good place, and even though I would have liked to see more of her going to college and being with David, that was enough for me.