Teaser Tuesday[225]: Alice in Zombieland by Lewis Carroll and Nickolas Cook

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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Alice in Zombieland by Lewis Carroll and Nickolas Cook, Illustrations by Sir John Tenniel and Brent Cardillo

Genre: Classic fairy-tale adaptation

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Release Date: 2009

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

 
"They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank-the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable. All of them were covered in Alice's now cold and congealed blood, which made them even tastier looking to poor hungry Alice."

When little Alice follows the Black Rat down into the gaping darkness of an open grave, she falls and falls. And soon finds herself in an undead nightmare of rotting flesh and insanity. Venturing further into this land of zombies and monsters, she encounters characters both creepy and madcap along the way. But there's something else troubling poor Alice: her skin is rotting and her hair is falling out. She's cold. And she has the haunting feeling that if she remains in Zombieland any longer, she might never leave.

Can Alice escape Zombieland before the Dead Red Queen catches up to her?

Excerpt:

“'I speak severely to my boy,

I beat him when he sneezes;

For he can thoroughly enjoy

The pepper when he pleases!'” (Paperback, pg. 103)

Just in time for Halloween, I suppose!

What are you reading right now?

Wishlist Thursday[117]: Nothing Left to Burn by Patty Blount

Nothing Left to Burn by Patty Blount

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: August 4, 2015

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Reece’s father hasn’t spoken to him since the car wreck that killed Reece’s brother. Desperate for forgiveness, Reece joins the Junior Cadet program at his dad’s firehouse. But the program is grueling, and Reece isn’t sure he can make it through. Then he meets Amanda.

Amanda understands wanting to belong. As a foster kid, the firehouse is the only place that feels like home. She agrees to help Reece, but falling for him wasn’t part of the deal. And when a string of arsons suddenly point to Amanda, their relationship could go up in flames.

Why?:

After reading Some Boys, I’m pretty set on reading anything else by Blount. That book was amazing, especially in the way it handled the serious issues, and I’m intrigued to see what else she’s dealt with. This is her newest upcoming, and it sounds intriguing. Fires, firefighters, an orphaned girl. Has my interest just from that.

Is this on your list?

Novel Review: My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

Rating (Out of 5): ~1

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: March 2014

Spoilers?: Not really.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again.

Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then...

Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident.

Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters-her new guardians.

Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway)

Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

The Cover:

I don't mind the cover. I think it looks a little too amateur, or maybe the people a little too average, not as pretty or crisp as it could be. But I think the title and the cover go together well, give the feel that they wanted, and it works.

Review:

I am so overwhelmingly disappointed with this book, I can’t even believe it.

I’ve heard so much love for this book. It won Goodreads awards, it was so loved, it seemed to take off before it was even published. It sounded like a fun read, possibly with a little serious. I did not expect… this.

I don’t even know where to start.

Jackie’s family dies, and she’s forced to move in with a friend of her mothers, whom she’s never met. And she finds out that it’s a family with eleven boys and one girl who acts like a boy (don't even get me started on that "twelve boys" statement). And they are all horrible.

Jackie, having gone to a private girls school, is very uncultured, and prim and proper. And immediately upon arriving, all of the children are terrible to her. The younger kids push her in the pool, the teenage boys harass and hit on her, two of the younger twins decide to video-tape all of her humiliating moments.

The amount of sexual harassment in this book astounds me. The boys are all huge dicks, with no sympathy for thinking that women are objects. They bet on her humiliation, making her leave the bathroom in a shower curtain and recording it. And then blaming it on her, which Jackie’s goes along with.

I tried not to, but I couldn’t understand where the parenting was. I have to be sympathetic that the mother, and the father, were clearly frazzled with so many kids, they could only do so much. But at the same time, it sure felt like the kids never learned how to be decent or courteous or polite.

Then there was the “romance”. At least one other boy likes Jackie, but she quickly falls for Cole. And Cole is not only a douche, but Jackie hates on him, while at the same time admiring his looks and liking his attention. I did not feel any attraction there, and pretty much hated them both the entire time.

Most of the other characters I never really felt anything for. There was only one other boy that stood out to me, and I didn’t really care for Jackie’s new friends. They just kept fanning over the boys and pushing Jackie on Cole.

Jackie’s family died, but I never felt her sorrow, her depression. She would mention and cry about it, but I never felt her feelings for it, it always seemed one-dimensional or pushed to the background. Not to mention that she had a sister, who was only mentioned a few times, like an afterthought.

I expected to enjoy this book, and am so disappointed with how bad it was. I don’t even think I made it halfway through before just skimming the rest of it, and it never got any better. I’m just done.

Teaser Tuesday[141]: My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

 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!

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

My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

Genre: YA Contemporary

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: March 2014

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again.

Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then...

Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident.

Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters-her new guardians.

Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway)

Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

Excerpt:

“‘Alex,’ I said, trying to get his attention.

‘Maybe people should just give hugs. Physical contact says a lot without actually saying anything, but I guess people give hugs at funerals anyway. And I’d feel awkward giving you a hug since we barely know each other.’” (Paperback, pg. 136)

What are you reading right now?

Novel Review: Some Boys by Patty Blount

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Genre: YA Contemporary/Realistic Romance; Rape

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: August 5, 2014

Spoilers?: Not really.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Some boys go too far. Some boys will break your heart. But one boy can make you whole.

When Grace meets Ian she's afraid. Afraid he'll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses the town golden boy of rape, everyone turns against Grace. They call her a slut and a liar. But...Ian doesn't. He's funny and kind with secrets of his own.

But how do you trust the best friend of the boy who raped you? How do you believe in love?

A gut-wrenching, powerful love story told from alternating points of view by the acclaimed author of Send.

The Cover:

I like this cover. It's simple, the colors work well for the emotions in the book, and I like that the image represents Grace's turmoil and the emotions she's facing, and not the romance. It's fitting, and I like it. I also really like the tagline and title for the book, and think those fit and portray it really well.

Quotes:

• "'Hold your head up, Grace. Even when you’re dying inside—especially then—hold it up.’” (Paperback, 22)
• "'It’s not supposed to be easy. It’s right.’” (Pg. 271)

Review:

I think this book was what I wanted Not That Kind Of Girl to be. Because the girl message in this book, the rape one, was what I wanted to be said. Maybe it didn’t go quite as far in everyone else’s minds at the end, but it was there like I wanted it to be.

Grace gets drunk and then raped by the golden boy of the town, and even though she tells everyone and she goes to the police, no one believes her and everyone turns against her. Her friends turn away, her parents are kind of supportive, her teachers are absolutely no help, and everyone at school talks about her like she’s a slut. They think she just wants revenge because he dumped her.

I loved that Grace doesn’t hide. She doesn’t pretend that it didn’t happen, and she doesn’t shy away from what it was, and even though everyone is being terrible to her, she doesn’t lose her confidence about it. It’s really hard, but she sticks to her guns through it all.

I also really respect the way everyone else was portrayed. They frustrated the hell out of me, and I hated every one of them, but they were realistic. It disgusted me, even, the way that everyone turned on her and acted like women are there for sex, like if she’s drinking and/or dressed revealingly, she’s asking for it. It’s horrible and disgusting and I hate it, but it’s true that people think like this. I don’t understand it, but it’s true.

I appreciated having Ian’s point of view, because he agrees with everyone else, and it takes a while for him to finally understand. I also like the way that Grace dressed to take a stand, but how the repercussions of that was also pointed out to her. It was nice that all points of view were covered and shown realistically.

There was also a high technology aspect added here, the way that teenagers video and take pictures of everything nowadays. I hadn't quite thought of it before, and some of it even scared me a little, but it was realistic and I like how it was added.

I am supremely impressed with this book. It said what I have been wanting a book, a portrayal of women and rape and sex, to finally say. I don’t think I can recommend this book highly enough.