Review: Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith

Title: Kiss Crush Collide
Author: Christina Meredith
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release date: December 27th 2011
Pages: 313
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Sarah
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Kiss
What Leah did—only she really shouldn’t have—one hot night at a country club party.
Crush
What Leah has—only she really shouldn’t have—on the guy with the green eyes, the guy who is not her perfect boyfriend, the guy who does not fit in her picture-perfect life, the guy her sisters will only mock and her mother will never approve of. Not in a million years.
Collide
What happens when everything you always thought you wanted—having cool friends, being class valedictorian and homecoming queen—runs smack into everything it turns out you really do want.
Kiss. Crush. Collide.
For Leah and Porter, summer is only the beginning.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars


To be fair, it's my own fault for reading this book despite the reviews it'd been getting. I'd heard only terrible things about Kiss Crush Collide, and yet I read it anyways, so it's not like I wasn't warned. But, yeah, it really is terrible - it felt like the author made each decision thinking about how she could most piss me off. I'm sorry, I know that sounds rude... but that's how I felt. I almost never take notes while reading, but I have two full pages of notes about what I didn't like about this book because there's so much to dislike! It was even kind of fun to see how many more ways this book (and the main character) would find to piss me off - that's the only reason I finished the book at all, really.

Let's start with our main character, Leah. She alone could have made me hate this book. Leah is the most bratty character ever. She's rich and beautiful and popular and perfect, and she takes it all for granted. She's fully aware that she gets everything she wants without having to work for any of it. Characters that just sort of float through life always bug me, but Leah pissed me off even more because, despite having the perfect life, she complains and whines all the time. (Also, who refers to their boobs as their "goodies"!?) I guess a main character like that would be okay if she showed some character growth, but Leah does not. The situation at the end is the exact same as the beginning, except now she knows Porter.

The family storyline didn't work at all the way it should have. The whole story relies on Leah being forced to be someone she's not by her parents. But... I didn't see it. Sure, Leah's mom is a bitch, but the parents didn't seem that controlling to me. Nobody really tells Leah she has to do the exact same things her sisters did; she just can't imagine doing anything else. She doesn't consider any other options, and instead complains when people can't tell her apart from her sisters. I didn't even get why Leah thinks her parents would not approve of Porter. He works as a valet, so I thought it was because he doesn't have money, but that's not true. He's stinking rich, just like Leah. I don't even know why he's working as a valet. And yes, their relationship isn't exactly traditional (meaning, they get to second base without even knowing the other's first name), but the parents wouldn't have to know that.

Speaking of, I did not like the relationship between Leah and Porter. Porter might have been an okay guy, but we don't really know much about him, and him being with Leah means he can't really be a great person, either. The way their relationship develops is strange. It moves fast, then slow, and their encounters don't even make sense. There is no connection between the two; what they do is almost only physical. I didn't even see a real difference between Shane, Leah's boyfriend, and Porter, other than Leah not being put off by the idea of hooking up with Porter. It isn't even mentioned that what Leah and Porter are doing is cheating until page 214. How can it take someone 214 pages to realize that they're cheating on their boyfriend!? And even then, Leah doesn't think that's wrong - she says it "just happened." And the issue of cheating is never really addressed. Okay, Leah's boyfriend is a tool, but still. Cheating? Not cool. It also bugged me how dependent Leah is on Porter - she's trying to escape her (supposedly) controlling family to be who she wants to be, only she's being controlled by someone else now. And that's not mentioned as an issue, either, that's just how their relationship works.

The pacing is very strange. There are so many flashbacks! And not in a way that would make sense, showing what happened earlier in Leah's life or anything. It just tells the story, talking about what's happening this evening, and then there's a flasback to this afternoon. And from that flashback, there's a flashback to this morning. That might make sense once, but it's like that  all the time, and I didn't see the point. That kept tearing me out of situations and dropping me in another one, and then going back, and what!? The whole thing just confused me and wouldn't let me get into the story.

And, to top it all off, there are loads of details in this book that don't match. I know most books have a few of those, and when there's just a few, I don't mind. But in Kiss Crush Collide, there are so many! For example, Leah's sister Freddie is about to go to France for a year. She's been in AP French for all of high school, and she's supposedly some kind of genius at French. Freddie's practicing French in a few scenes, and she's always practicing how to conjugate verbs. And, well, if you're fluent in a language, why are you learning how to conjuage verbs!? You'd learn that in the first few lessons. Also, Leah and Porter are constantly making out while driving. How does that work!? Another example would be Leah's lifeguarding job. The pool hours make no sense whatsoever! Sometimes she opens the pool at 1 PM, sometimes early in the morning, and sometimes not till 6:30 PM. The closing times vary from 5 PM to 9 PM, and not because weekdays/weekends or anything that makes sense. I know, these tiny things don't really make a difference, but there were so many of them that they bugged me. And I know I might be crazy for writing all of that crap down, but like I said, my main entertainment while reading was trying to find as many things wrong with Kiss Crush Collide as possible.

Valerie was the only part of the story that was tolerable. Sadly, she doesn't play too important a role. I would have loved to read a book about her instead!

I'm sorry, I know I'm kind of bitchy in this review. But Kiss Crush Collide pissed me off more than I can remember ever being pissed off by a book before. (Except for maybe Jersey Angel.) The book itself is not something I enjoyed, at all. But like I said, it was kind of fun to spend the whole time finding as many flaws as possible, and it's my own fault for reading a book I knew I'd hate. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend Kiss Crush Collide. (Also, if you stuck with me for this long - thank you! I know the review got out-of-control long. But there's just so much to hate!)

Review: Jersey Angel by Beth Ann Bauman

Title: Jersey Angel
Author: Beth Ann Bauman
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Release date: May 8th 2012
Pages: 224
Genre: Contemporary YA
Source: NetGalley

It's the summer before senior year and the alluring Angel is ready to have fun. She's not like her best friend, Inggy, who has a steady boyfriend, good grades, and college plans. Angel isn't sure what she wants to do yet, but she has confidence and experience beyond her years. Still, her summer doesn't start out as planned. Her good friend Joey doesn't want to fool around anymore, he wants to be her boyfriend, while Angel doesn't want to be tied down. As Joey pulls away, and Inggy tours colleges, Angel finds herself spending more time with Inggy's boyfriend, Cork.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars


I hate writing negative reviews. Hate, hate, hate. And giving a book only one star... I haven't done that in a while. I feel so mean! But Jersey Angel annoyed me to no end, and I have no choice but to give it a bad review.


The reason I didn't like Jersey Angel is Angel. She is not a likeable character. At all. She's full of herself, doesn't do anything and blames everyone around her if her life isn't perfect, and sleeps with every guy she meets. She hooks up with her best friend's boyfriend - and it's not a one-time-thing; they hook up all the time. A cheating-storyline can be good if it's realistic and there's a lot of sexual tension; the best friend and the boyfriend hold back until they can't resist each other anymore, or something like that, but that's not the case in Jersey Angel. They hang out once and immediately sleep together, and then they're just hooking up all the time. Angel doesn't feel the least bit guilty about it. Once - once - she thinks about what she's doing might be wrong, and she imagines herself and Inggy as eighty-year-olds, how she might tell her she slept with her boyfriend and how Inggy wouldn't be mad because friendship is what's most important. Um, what? How does that make any sense? Angel has no morals, no qualms about sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend - or anybody's boyfriend - and, God, she just made me so angry!


Then there's the way sex is addressed. I don't want to sound like a prude, and it's not like a mind sex scenes in books - I mean, it's a normal part of life - but there is just way too much sex in Jersey Angel. It's basically all about sex! Seriously, more than half of the scenes are descriptions of Angel hooking up with various guys. How can that be the main plotline? Just... ugh.


Angel isn't the only character who is totally focused on sex and whom I didn't like - there's Cork, Inggy's boyfriend who sleeps with Angel and is a total ass; Angel's mom, who, instead of getting a job, also sleeps with whatever man she can find and, get this, makes out with Cork, a guy less than half her age who also happens to be her daughter's best friend's boyfriend; Angel's little siblings, who, even though they're only eight and ten, are somehow also all about sex; Joey's new girlfriend, who is basically just as bad as Angel; and the list goes on. I didn't like any of the characters.


Really, that's all I have to say about this book. The obnoxious main character and the complete focus on all things sexual made me feel icky and just... wrong. I wanted to stop reading several times but made myself finish the book so I could write my review. I do not recommend Jersey Angel.

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Review: Kane Richards Must Die by Shanice Williams

Title: Kane Richards Must Die
Author: Shanice Williams
Publisher: Lands Atlantic Publishing, LLC                         
Pages: 288
Release date: May 9th 2011
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought
Find out more: Amazon ; Goodreads

Goodreads description:

After an unexpected transfer to the States for her senior year, Suranne's new friends give her just one instruction: stay away from Kane Richards. According to everyone, he's a heartless playboy concerned only for himself. With one glance, it's easy to see why he gets away with it. But things aren't always what they seem- especially when he sets his sights on her and whispers that she's different.
Despite all the red flags, Suranne considers whether or not his intentions are genuine or if she's simply another name on his list. In the process, she may just uncover the real Kane Richards. But, when it comes down to it, the real Kane Richards may not want to be found.

First sentence:

As I drew up to the secluded school building the butterflies started.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars

I really hate writing bad reviews, but this book annoyed me to no end, and I just can't give it anything more than 1 star. Of course I wasn't expecting Kane Richards Must Die to be the most meaningful, literary book ever, but it took the whole fun/thoughtless-romance-thing way too far. Everything about this annoyed and frustrated me, so much that I didn't want to finish it (I only finished it because I didn't have enough other books with me on vacation).

What annoyed me is how melodramatic the whole book is. From the beginning on, it's like the relationship between Kane and Suranne is the only thing that exists in the world. Suranne is new at school and everyone knows about it - everyone's talking about how there's going to be a new girl, everyone knows her name and where she's from. Maybe it's like that at a really small school, but Suranne says the school is so big it's confusing, so that makes no sense. Kane also immediately comes up to her, which I didn't get - what does he need Suranne for, if so many girls want to get with him? How would anyone even know about her? The whole book is way too focused on that storyline - no other storylines are really explored. Highlight to see spoiler: Even when Suranne finds out she has to go back to Europe because her mom is sick, she's not sad about her mom being sick at all, just about the fact that she needs to leave Kane.

The characters annoyed me. Suranne has absolutely no personality - we know nothing about her outside of her relationship with Kane. We know she plays the piano, because that's what connects her to Kane, but other than that, she has no interests of her own. There are no hobbies, no friends in London she misses, no scenes with friends in the US, no scenes with her aunt, with whom she's living in the US, except for when they're talking about Kane. Suranne has no personality; we know almost nothing about her, and she's our main character! And one little thing: Suranne's last name is Williams, just like the author's. Shanice Williams wrote a book about Suranne Williams. Is it just me, or does anyone else think that's weird?

Kane is just as bad. While he has a personality, somewhat, I really, really disliked him. The way he treats girls is terrible! He doesn't even remember the name of the girl he slept with last night! The stuff he says to them is incredible (I should have gotten a quote, but I'm not reading through it again to find one). He treats girls, including Suranne, at least at the beginning, like objects, and I really, really hated him. Yes, later on we find out about his life, and I guess that explains it, but that didn't make me like him. He's still conceited, talking about how good-looking he is and how he could have any girl he wants, and he's still only interested in sex. It seemed like the author wanted the reader to like Kane, once we found out his secret, but that didn't work for me at all - he just pissed me off. Kane's issues are under-developed and do not seem realistic, and they're solved way too easily.

Another thing that annoyed me about Kane is the swearing. Not that he swears, because that's normal, but the way he swears. He uses swear words in the weirdest ways - I can't even explain it, but it's just not how normal people talk. It seemed like those were used to make him seem like a real teenaged guy, but it didn't work - basically, it's that 'shit' is added at random times in random sentences, and it just sounds off.

The plot is, well, kind of crazy. I thought the plot would be predictable, but that's not the case. There are crazy plot twists, which is a good thing, normally. The problem, though, is that they make no sense. It seemed like the author just made stuff up along the way, like "Oh, now that could happen to the characters", and didn't go back to make sure it worked with what she'd previously written. Of course I know that can't actually be the case - she must have edited, like every author does - but it seemed that way to me. Kane's secret, for example, isn't mentioned at all before he tells Suranne about it. I don't mean that the reader should know about it before Suranne - that would take the suspense away - but... Okay, how do I explain this without spoiling it for anyone? For example, Kane plays the piano at night and says something about waking his family. His secret is a family issue (that's not too big of a spoiler, right?), and because of that what he said makes no sense. The plot-twist with Kate is like that too. There were absolutely no signs for what happened - and I don't mean that in the good, I-never-would-have-seen-that-coming way, I mean that the plot-twists make no sense.

One storyline I would have enjoyed reading more about is Suranne's friendship with Kate, but that's underdeveloped; barely even addressed. Kate tells Suranne to watch out for Kane that first day, and just like that, they're friends. We don't really have any scenes between the two of them; we're just told that they're friends, and they sit together at lunch. I would have liked to read more about how Kane affected their friendship, but that's never even addressed. I was frustrated by how Suranne chooses Kane over Kate without a second thought - what kind of message does that send? The same goes for Suranne's relationship with Lawrence, the one character I could have liked, if there'd been more scenes with him.

Despite these problems, I guess this could have still been an enjoyable read, if the romance were well-done - it is, after all, a romance novel. But I didn't like the romance either. Honestly, I didn't feel like Kane and Suranne had much of a relationship - it's almost all physical, which is strange, as Suranne supposed to be different from all the meaningless sex Kane has with other girls. There's nothing about what Kane and Suranna like about each other - they just talk about how hot they think the other one is. The attraction is all physical. Really, the only reason Kane goes to Suranne in the first place is because he can't get it up anymore when he's with other girls. They even say that they only spend time in the bedroom. It's not that I mind a few scenes like that, but that alone does not make a good romance.

The whole topic of sex is kind of strange in Kane Richards Must Die. It's not that I mind that the characters have sex - that's normal. But Kane is seventeen and says he's with a different girl every night - and it's been that way since he was fourteen. That's just, well, crazy. Where does he find so many girls willing to sleep with him, at that age? Even if he's as good-looking as the melodramatic descriptions say he is, not that many teenaged girls sleep with guys if they're not getting a relationship out of it - that's just not realistic that there are hundreds of girls throwing themselves at him, willing to sleep with him even though they know it's just for one night. Suranne doesn't address the topic, either - she sleeps with Kane after going out with him once or twice, and she doesn't even think about it. I don't mind that they have sex, but I mind that it's dealt with as if it weren't a big deal at all.

Wow, my review is long. If you've beared with me this long, thank you! Obviously, I did not enjoy Kane Richards Must Die, not a single aspect. It's not a fun romance; to me, it was melodramatic, superficial, annoying and kind of ridiculous.

Review: Saving Zoë by Alyson Noël

Saving Zoë by Alyson Noël

(Amazon / Goodreads)

Goodreads description:


It’s been one year since the brutal murder of her older sister, Zoë, and fifteen-year-old Echo is still reeling from the aftermath. Her parents are numb, her friends are moving on, and the awkward start to her freshman year proves she’ll never live up to her sister’s memory. Until Zoë’s former boyfriend Marc shows up with Zoë’s diary. At first Echo’s not interested, doubting there’s anything in there she doesn’t already know. But when curiosity prevails, she starts reading, becoming so immersed in her sister’s secret world, their lives begin to blur, forcing Echo to uncover the truth behind Zoë’s life so that she can start to rebuild her own.

First sentence: They say there are five stages of grief: 1.Denial 2.Anger 3.Bargaining 4.Depression 5.Acceptance.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars

I hate writing bad reviews. Hate, hate, hate, especially since Alyson Noël is an established author. But I don't know what else to do -  there was absolutley nothing I enjoyed about Saving Zoë. By the end, I was annoyed by everything and just wanted to get it over with.

My first problem is the writing and style. Mainly, it isn't even written like a novel, more like the way an adult imagines a 15-year-old would speak, which annoyed me - yes, we say "like" too often, but writing a novel like that doesn't make the voice authentic, just annoying. Sometimes, though, in between that type of writing, there are a few passages attempting to sound deep, which just doesn't fit. Zoë's diary entries are just as annoying - that's just not how you write in a diary. As far as I know, when you write in a diary, you write about your feelings, and you don't use dialogue and long descriptions. There is almost no difference between the normal narrative and the diary entries, except things like writing "cuz" instead of "because". To me, it doesn't even seem realistic that Zoë kept a diary in the first place since she hates reading and anything academic.

The characters are also annoying. All of them have one or two characteristics - Abby is the bossy one, Jenay the optimistic, fun one, Echo the smart one, Zoë the outgoing, wild one, etc. - but none of them have actual personalities, no individual quirks whatsoever. They all just personify that one characteristic. For the characterization, the author only used telling, and no showing. I couldn't relate to Echo at all - I didn't even get any giref from her. Mainly, she doesn't seem like she misses Zoë at all, and then there are two or three passages about the "gaping hole" Zoë left in Echo's heart. Usually, I love reading about dealing with grief, but I didn't get anything like that from this novel - not from Echo and not from her parents. Marc is the only character with a bit of a personality, but I didn't really get his relationship with Echo either. Echo starts going out with her dead sister's boyfriend, but never once feels guilty about it.

There is no development, character growth or suspense; there isn't even much of a plot. That's not saying I need books to have loads of action - I love books that are mainly about inner processes and character growth - but since there is none of that, either... For me, the book never really got started. What Echo tells us about her life in the beginning has little to do with her sister's death, just teenage life. I thought the story might pick up once she starts reading Zoë's diary, but there's almost nothing in there the reader doesn't already know: only that she was killed by an Internet predator. The reader just gets to read about another boring teenage life, just with a different voice.

I didn't really get the point of the whole novel - it didn't make me feel anything, and it has no message other than warning readers of Internet predators  - which, honestly, I think is kind of stupid - most of us who use sites like that aren't as stupid as the characters in Saving Zoë and know not to meet up with random people sending creepy messages. The ending didn't really do anything for me either - other than what happens to Jason, there is no relevation. I'm not even sure you can call it a relevation - the guy is creepy from the beginning on.

I don't know what else to say about Saving Zoë. I just didn't enjoy it - writing, plot, characters, none of it. Obviously, I don't recommend it, but I've read a few reviewers who like the same types of books as I do give this one positive reviews, so decide for yourself whether or not to read this book. I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Review: XVI

XVI by Julia Karr
(Amazon / Goodreads)
Goodreads description:

 

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars

I hate giving a book with such a great idea such a low rating, but honestly, aside from the idea, there wasn’t a single aspect of the book I liked – it was executed very badly, and the plot was overdramatic and clichéd.

For one thing, there just weren’t enough explanations for the reader to really understand the world Nina lived in – we never find out how it was possible for society to change so drastically. The reader got plenty of information and explanations about minor things like how they don’t eat meat anymore in the future, but nothing about how it’s possible that society moved backwards so much that people are classified in “tiers” and women have basically no rights.

I was also annoyed by the characters and their relationships. Nina was not a relatable character whatsoever – her emotions switched from sad about her mom’s death to happy to worried to in love with Sal to sad because of Sal way too quickly without any sort of explanation.

Sandy seemed too superficial and selfish – when Nina’s mom died and Nina had to move in with her grandparents, she only thought about herself and how she won’t have a friend living close by anymore. I didn’t understand why Nina would be friends with her, they were just too different. The only explanation about their friendship is that they became friends because they both like animals, which, honestly, is ridiculous.

Nina’s relationship with her mom seemed to perfect – she told her mom everything, which I don’t think is realistic. I didn’t like Dee or her relationship with Nina, either – she was 11 but usually acted like she was 5. The relationship between Nina's grandparents was supposed to be funny, but it was trying to hard and just got annoying.

The dialogue seemed fake; they switched topics way too often, which made it all kind of random, and all the characters, in my opinion, were too open and always said whatever they were thinking. That would be fine if it were used as characterization for one or two characters, but each of her friends spoke like that.

The different storylines were all over the place. Nina’s obsession with Ed and Dee was overdone (I thought that if I had to hear “Cinderella girl” one more time, I’d have to scream), while the plot of finding her father, which I thought would have been much more interesting, wasn’t elaborated on until the very end.

I don’t know whether there will be a sequel for this book, and if there will, I can’t criticize this, but I had the feeling the plot didn’t really pick up until the end. I thought the book would be more about Nina turning sixteen and having to deal with what that entailed in her society, but she didn’t turn sixteen until the last chapter. The ending didn't offer any solutions, but (again), if there will be a sequel, I can't really criticize that.

This novel had great potential but was executed very badly. I did not like the writing and never cared about the characters, and most aspects of the story were lacking. I would not recommend this book, but since it has gotten mainly good reviews, maybe it just didn’t connect with me personally.

Review: The Secret Year

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
(Amazon / Goodreads)

Goodreads description:

Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year, and no one—not even Julia's boyfriend— knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can't mourn Julia openly, and he's tormented that he might have played a part in her death. When Julia's journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he's desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars

I was extremely disappointed by this book. All the reviews I read were basically raving about it, so I expected so much more than I got. I couldn’t tell you a single aspect that I liked, except for the switches between flashbacks and the present, which were seamless and very well done.


Some of the side characters I liked – for example Tom (Colt’s brother) and Michael (Julia’s brother) – but I didn’t like the main characters. Colt was mean and inconsiderate (especially to Syd and Pam) and Julia was extremely self-centered, as she didn’t care how it would affect anyone but her if she stayed with both Austin and Colt. That whole storyline seemed unrealistic – Julia seemed like she wouldn’t care what anyone thought of her but still dated Austin solely for appearances. I don’t think it would have been that big a deal, either, if she had made her relationship with Colt public. This might have made sense had this been historical fiction, but since this story takes place in the present, I don’t really think it would have mattered that much.


The whole feud between Black Mountain kids and kids from the flats seemed silly – as far as I know, nowadays popularity has little to do with how much money you have, and people don’t really care that much – for example, except for my closer friends, I couldn’t tell you what my classmates’ parents do for a living.


I didn’t get the romance between Julia and Colt at all – basically, all they do is have sex. The whole rich-girl/poor-boy relationship seemed corny, especially when Colt talked about all those rich kids are spoiled and stupid and how different Julia is.


I didn’t feel Colt’s grief at all – it all seemed like facts without feelings to me, and it was very flat. Actually, I didn’t only not feel Colt’s grief – I didn’t feel any of his feelings. For example, he never tells or shows us how he feels about his dad being an alcoholic, or about his relationship with Kirby. The sub-plot of Colt’s brother coming out of the closet and his father disowning him (to which Colt didn’t emotionally react, either) was ridiculous and didn’t add anything to the story.


All in all, this is not a book I would recommend. The main idea was good, but it was badly executed and terribly clichéd. There are way better books on dealing with grief.