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!

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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?

Novel Review: The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

Rating (Out of 5): ~2.5-3

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Scholastic (Point)

Publish Date: 2010

Spoilers?: Some.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Love is all you need... or is it? Penny's about to find out in this wonderful debut.

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It's a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there's this certain boy she can't help but like. . . .

Review:

I tried starting this book a long while ago, and stopped because I didn’t like it. I started it again, thinking to at least get through it, and found that what I didn’t like about it before didn’t bother me, but something else did.

At first, I didn’t like the writing. I thought it sounded very immature teenager. I didn’t think so on my second read. What bothered me the second time, though, was the message being sent.

So, Penny gets her heart broken and decides she’s done with boys. And then she pushes her friends into joining her in a club that is very anti-boy, named after a Beatles song. At first, some of her friends are wary, but then they get hurt in one way or another by a boy, and so they join. Because, of course, boys are horrible creatures, right? Not even human, really. They’re the problem to everything.

Okay, so there isn’t actually very much boy-hate talk going on. But, while this sounded like it could have turned into a ‘go girls!’ feminist type of book, or even one where the message is that women don’t need men and can feel completely whole without them, that message wasn’t really pushed, nor did it really even come to a head. The only thing that seemed to last, was that the girls decided that they weren’t going to choose boys over their friends anymore. And I don’t really think that’s quite as powerful or important. I understand that not choosing a boy over your friends is important, but I don’t think that’s as important to push as not to choose anyone over yourself, which wasn’t really even mentioned.

And, yea, it really annoyed me the way some of the girls jumped to the conclusion that men are horrible, devil-spawns, to blame for everything. Especially when some of the girls jumped to that conclusion much too quickly. For instance, when one of the girls decides that this boy she likes doesn’t like her, without even having a conversation with him, she gives up and joins the club, deciding that boys aren’t worth it. And I just didn’t understand her reasoning, or believe it, and I thought that it was dumb. A lot of their talk and reasons, to me, were kind of dumb. And kind of pissed me off at times.

Also, the club gets very big, and we met a lot of different girls. And I guess we were supposed to actually remember a lot of them, know who they are, get the hints about their personal lives. I didn't. There were too many with too little time shown to them.

Then there was the fact that a lot of the boys were complaining, and Penny got in trouble with the principal at one point because of what she was doing, even though it was none of their business. Her mother stuck up for her at that point, though, which was very nicely done.

The only reason the rating isn’t as low as it could have been, is that I did like the ending. And I liked the boy. Also, I liked Diane, an old friend of Penny’s, who starts finding herself after breaking up with her long-time boyfriend. I actually liked Diane and her relationship with everyone, including her old boyfriend, more than I liked Penny.

I don’t have a whole lot else to say. The feminist part of me just raged a bit at this book. But I liked some of the characters, and I liked the ending. I’m not very eager to read any of Eulbergs’ other books, but I might pick one up at some point.

The Cover:

I don't really have a lot to say about this cover. I like it for the most part, I guess. It's not very embarrassing, it's not particularly pretty or ugly. It fits the book really well, so that's nice about it. It could be better, it could be worse, really. 

Manga Review: Sweat & Honey by Mari Okazaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~1 (maybe 1.5)

Publisher: Tokyopop (Passion Fruit)

Publish Date: 2005

Volumes: 1 -- One-shot

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

Passion Fruit is a unique, unforgettable collection of stories that examines our inner-most secrets and hidden desires. Here two female cousins learn that living together may bring them closer to each other ... or drive them apart; two friends discover the true meaning of 'loving yourself;' twin brothers share nearly everything, even their nightmarish visions; and a woman's heartbreaking love affair unfolds in silent, breathtaking images. With uninhibited authenticity and pathos, this volume of
Passion Fruit - 'Sweat & Honey' - explores the vulnerability and frailty of the human condition.

Review:

I was really hoping to like this. But maybe I just need to give up on finding a good, smutty manga. Because just about every time I try one, it sucks.

I was hoping this would be good. And it wasn’t. This might actually be a short review, but I don’t have a lot to say, and what I do have to say, isn’t very good.

The artwork isn’t good. Perhaps other people will disagree with me, but I did not like the artwork at all. It wasn’t pretty, the people were a bit oddly shaped. Just, it wasn’t good, and I did not enjoy looking at it in the least.

I also really didn’t like the storyline to any of the stories. Well, I suppose the first one was okay, in that it was a very different, interesting idea. But the others were just odd, and weird, and I didn’t like them. I wasn’t a big fan of any of the characters, and didn’t relate or connect with any of them.

This just wasn’t a good book. I didn’t much like it at all. I’m glad it’s over.

Oh, also: Passion Fruit. Apparently this was a label off of Tokyopop? I’d never even heard of it. I’m pretty sure it was short lived. Were there even any other titles released off of it? Maybe one or two?

I just found it odd to find out that Tokyopop tried releasing another label, especially for josei-ish, ‘edgy’ manga. But, then again, Tokyopop did try a lot of different, ‘innovative’ methods of releasing manga.

Novel Review: Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, #4) by Patricia Briggs

Rating (Out of 5): ~4+

Genre: Adult Supernatural/Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Penguin (Ace)

Publish Date: 2009

Spoilers?: Somewhat Minor/Nothing Major.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

New in the #1 "New York Times" bestselling urban fantasy series.
In a world where "witches, vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters live beside ordinary people" ("Booklist"), it takes a very unusual woman to call it home. By day, Mercy Thompson is a car mechanic in Eastern Washington. By night, she explores her preternatural side. As a shape-shifter with some unusual talents, Mercy's found herself maintaining a tenuous harmony between the human and the not-so- human on more than one occasion. This time she may get more than she bargained for.

Something Specific:

Quotes:

• "'Fear is a good thing,' he said at last. 'It teaches you not to make the same mistake twice. YOu counter it with knowledge. What are you afraid of?'" (Mass Market Paperback, pg. 99) Oh, Bran, always coming in with your knowledge.

Review:

I love this series. I love this series rather a lot. It’s just so good. It’s been a while since I read the last book, probably a month or two, and now I’ve gotten right back into it. As in, as soon as I finish this review, I will be starting book five, since I have it already. And I’m so excited. (I’m also very excited to read the second book in the Alpha and Omega series, but I don’t have that one yet.)

After what happened to Mercy in the last volume, she’s still having a hard time getting through things, particularly when it comes to Adam, but she’s getting better. Also, Adam and her are officially together now, which is just awesome. I like Adam, a lot, and I’m liking their interactions even more. I know that Briggs doesn’t really do very romantic scenes, but I’ve also noticed that there isn’t really a whole lot of swoon between them. I mean, we get the insight into Mercy’s head, but I’ve found that the reader is (at least, I am) kept at a bit of a distance. There’s still some, though. And I’m still looking forward to more.

Quite a bit happened with the vampires in this book. I don’t mind Stefan, but I don’t like Marsilia. At all. I’m honestly quite ready for her to go away, officially, and was hoping that’s what would happen in this book. It didn’t. Maybe (hopefully?) it’ll happen in the future.

Also, quite a bit happened with how Mercy can see ghosts, and we got a few hints as to her Walker abilities. That whole thing is interesting to me, and I hope we get to find out more, or that more of her abilities are used, in the next books.

Something else happened with a different vampire in this book, and it was quite interesting. I also quite liked the way that Mercy took care of most of it herself. She can handle herself in difficult situations, and I like that. She’s smart, can be calm, and she’s pretty good at handling things when they need handling. Which I really like. More heroines (and heroes) should be like that.

We met a person from Mercy’s past, a girl she went to college with, and I was a bit surprised by what happened with her. I particularly liked her son, though, this sweet, deaf ten-year-old. And I liked what happened between the woman’s son and husband. I doubt we’re going to see any more of them, but I would like to. Maybe we’ll get a glimpse or something in the next book. One can hope, anyway.

Oh, Bran also showed up in this book. Very briefly, but still. I rather like him. His appearances are usually important, short, but leave some sort of impact. I just like him, I suppose, and find his relationship with Mercy (and Samuel) nice.

I don’t want to talk too in-depth about what happened in this book, and I don’t think I have much else to say. I’m really looking forward to the next book, and seeing more of Mercy and Adam together, and possibly Mercy and Jesse getting closer, and just general character-relationship development. And now, I get to start that book.

The Cover:

  I really don't like these covers. Some of them are better than others, and this isn't one of them. I guess the art isn't bad, but that's not the problem I have with them. I understand the mechanic aspect, and that fits. But the rest doesn't. My biggest problem is that the woman on the cover always has a scanty top on--showing her stomach and a good amount of breasts, when Mercy doesn't dress like that, I don't believe. She doesn't really care how she looks, and I've always thought that she's usually pretty covered up. Then the model is posed kind of weirdly. And she always has so many tattoos, when I'm pretty sure Mercy only has the one, the paw print. Also, the model has blue hair---what for?

It just doesn't seem to represent the series very well, in my opinion. For instance, if Mercy wore scantily clad clothing, or even if there was sex and the romance had a big part, then the outfits wouldn't bother me so much. But it isn't. The romance is a rather small part of each book. And the tattoos are just unneeded.