Review: Butter by Erin Jade Lange

Title: Butter
Author: Erin Jade Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release date: September 18th 2012
Pages: 272
Genre: Contemporary YA
Source: NetGalley
Add to Goodreads | Purchase from Amazon

A boy everyone calls “Butter” is about to make Scottsdale High history. He’s going to eat himself to death live on the Internet – and everyone will watch.
He announces his deadly plan to an army of peers and expects pity, insults or even indifference. Instead, he finds morbid encouragement. When that encouragement tips the scales into popularity, Butter has a reason to live. But if he doesn’t go through with his plan, he’ll lose everything.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I'm going to be honest here. I struggle a lot with sizeism. Even though I've learned, rationally, that size and health are not directly related, and that overeating is an eating disorder like any other, I still struggle. The idea that thin equals healthy, and that fat people are lazy and just need to stop eating so much and just try to be healthy were instilled in me so much while growing up that it's really hard to let go of them. I'll know that my thoughts are really mean and problematic, but I just can't turn that inner voice off, telling me that obesity is the obese person's fault.

So my attitude meant that Butter and I didn't connect right away - in the beginning, I'll admit I was a little grossed out by how much he eats and by how he insists that it's not his fault. But after a while, he grew on me. As the story progresses, we get to see behind the facade, to read about his insecurities and all his troubles, and those did make me feel for him. It was eye-opening to see how every single aspect of his life is affected by his weight. His character growth is tremendous, and towards the end, I really grew to love Butter. Butter is a great character; so much more than what he seems to be. I just wish we'd gotten to know some more about his past, about how he turned into this 400-pound kid.

But even if I hadn't connected with Butter, I would have kept reading, because the concept makes this book impossible to put down. The whole idea is morbid and disgusting and just wrong - and completely intriguing. I was disgusted and horriefied, but I couldn't stop reading; I needed to know whether Butter would actually go through with it. There's an underlying sense of tension and fear of what Butter will do, the knowledge that there is no way this could end happily, that had me on the edge of my seat throughout.

I love the secondary characters. With one exception, none of them are black and white. They all make mistakes and none of them are really innocent in this whole thing, but you could always see where they're coming from. Even the characters I would have loved to hate, I couldn't, because you could see that they're not terrible people; they just make some bad decisions.

I'm not the best to judge, but I do think Erin Jade Lange handled the difficult topic of child obesity with great tact and grace. Her portrayal felt very honest and real, and I love how it never got preachy. There are so many ways this book could have preached about obesity or about bullying, but it doesn't - it just tells a story. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending - a little too happy for my taste - but in a way, I get it, because a darker, more pessimistic ending would have been really hard to take.

Butter is, at times, horrifying and, quite frankly, disgusting. (Seriously, the scene describing how Butter got his name made me want to never eat again.) But it also tells a hopeful, honest, beautiful story. There are scenes that'll break your heart, and there are scenes that'll put a smile on your face. It's not an easy book to read, but I highly recommend it.

Top Ten Tuesday #19: Best Books I've Read Since Starting Blogging

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish with a different topic for a top-ten list each week. You can find out more about it here.


The links will take you to my reviews, if available.


This week's topic is: Top Ten Books I've Read During the Lifespan of My Blog


This week is HARD. How am I supposed to choose just 10 of the awesome books I read within the last one and a half years!? Okay... Deep breath... Here we go.


1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green


This book has turned into my standard answer to the impossible-to-answer question of "What's your favorite book?"


2. Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff


I wish more people knew about this one! It is awesome; subtle and just good.


3. Sweethearts by Sara Zarr


Sara Zarr is amazing, and this is my favorite of her books. The sobbing mess it can turn me into is so worth it because of the beautiful writing.


4. How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford


How to Say Goodbye in Robot is pretty much the same thing as Sweethearts, to me, just in a more personal way. If that makes any sense at all....


5. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by AS King


Oh, this book. I don't even know what to say. It's just stunning.


6. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta


Same goes for this one. I'm an idiot for not seeing its beauty on my first try and having to reread the first half to make it to the end, which is just brilliant.


7. Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield


I just read this one, so it might just be because it's fresh on my mind, but wow, I love this book so much! It's sophisticated and atmospheric and gorgeous and mysterious and perfect.

8. Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz


This book is my messed-up-ness in book form.


9. Split by Swati Avasthi


Why have you not read this book!? You should; it's all kinds of awesome.


10. Hold Still by Nina LaCour


Another one I didn't love at first but grew on me after a while! I'm so happy this is going to be a movie soon!


Basically, I just want to say "So good. Looooved it." about all of these. They're awesome, and you should read all of them!

Book Blogger Confessions #14

Book Blogger Confessions is a new meme hosted by All-Consuming Books and For What It's Worth. You can find out all about it here. 

Every second week there is one topic that has something to do with book-blogging that you can discuss on your blog.

This week's topic is: Have you ever loved a book that you know is not a great literary gem? Maybe it's filled with spelling errors, tired cliches, and is utterly cheestastic but you loved it anyway. How do you handle that as a blogger who is used to critical thinking and analysis? Do you pretend you never read the book - never to be reviewed or added to your Goodreads shelf? Do you write a review but maybe apologize and make excuses as to why you enjoyed it or are you bold and proud of any book you enjoyed? Conversely - have you read a classic, that is considered a literary gem but you just didn't get it? Are you embarrassed to admit that or do you review it anyway?


That happens to me ALL THE TIME. I've read so many books that I know are of little to no literary value but I just enjoyed reading. The most recent example would be The Selection by Kiera Cass. Objectively, I could see that it is pretty terrible. It is cheesy and makes no sense and the characters are flat and everything about it is terrible. And it was pretty hard to turn off my critical-thinking brain that was making lists in my head of all the bad stuff I could include in my review. But somehow, I did manage to tune all of that out, and then, I kind of loved it. A lot of the technical stuff is bad, but it's a fun read, and that's what matters most, to me. I ended up giving it 3 stars.


It happens the other way around, too. To be honest, I haven't read many classics, but there've been lots of books that I could see, objectively, were good, but I didn't connect with. Like Paper Covers Rock by Jennifer Hubbard. I could see that the writing was good, and that there was so much hidden depth in the book, but I didn't work for me. It was just too weird and felt like too much work for me, which is why I didn't enjoy it, even though I can see, objectively, that it's a good book. I ended up giving it 2 stars.


That might seem wrong, and I do feel a little bad about it, but I think it's justified. I don't give ratings or write reviews about whether or not a book is good; I have no business deciding that. I review and rate based on whether or not I liked a book - that's the only thing I can really judge. And if I enjoyed a cheestastic book and did not like one of more literary value, then I think it's fine to give the cheestastic book a higher rating.


At least, that's how I deal with it in the blogging world. In the blogging world, I'm proud of liking the books I like and disliking the books I dislike - I feel like the blogging world gets it, you know? In the real world, though, I'm not that open about what books I like. I'd be kind of embarrassed to say I loved a book that I know the other person would hate, with good reason, or to say I didn't get a book that is supposedly so great. In the real world, I just say something non-commital or something.


How do you deal with loving a "bad" book or hating a "good" book?

Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Title: Confessions of an Angry Girl
Author: Louise Rozett
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Release date: August 28th 2012
Pages: 304
Genre: Contemporary YA
Source: NetGalley
Add to Goodreads | Purchase from Amazon

Freshman Rose Zarelli has rage issues.
First of all, her father lost his job, took work as a contractor in Iraq...and never came home.
Second, she likes the wrong guy and his super-intense, scary cheerleader girlfriend is now her nemesis.
Third, her fashionista best friend, Tracy, is suddenly infinitely cooler than she is—and talking about losing her virginity. (What?!)
Rose is ahead when it comes to studying for the PSAT, but she’s so far behind socially that she might as well be moving backward. She needs Tracy’s help choosing the right clothes, she likes all the wrong extracurricular activities, and she can’t even make a decision about which photo of her father to put on the memorial website she’s making (and hiding from her adolescent-shrink mother).
With her brother away at college and her mother always locked in her office with her messed-up teen patients, Rose struggles to get through each day without inflicting bodily harm on anyone.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars


I usually go for older YA, and I was a little worried I wouldn't like Confessions of an Angry Girl because the MC is fourteen. I generally can't relate to fourteen-year-old girls because, well, fourteen-year-old-girls are the most annoying species on earth. So my expectations for Confessions of Angry Girl were pretty low. I wasn't even sure I wanted to read it, but I'm so glad I gave it a try because, guess what? I loved it!


Like I said, fourteen-year-old girls aren't my favorite type of people, but I'm making an exception for Rose. Rose is AWESOME - there's no other way to put it. Sure, there are a few times where I wanted to roll my eyes at her naiveté, but those times were far outweighed by the times I wanted to highfive her and ask her to be fourteen-year-old me's best friend. Rose is snarky, cynic, sarcastic, hilarious, sassy, and attitude-y (why is there no adjective for attitude!? this is ruining my sentence!) - everything I love about an MC. Even though she's fourteen, she... she gets it. But not in a way that would make her unrealistically wise for her age, or anything like that - you can definitely tell she's fourteen. Just in a way that made me love her so much.


The humor is what's best about this book. Really, I love any book that can make me laugh, and I had to laugh out loud all the time reading Confessions of an Angry Girl. Louise Rozett's writing style and Rose's snarky humor work so well together, and Rose gets herself in the most ridiculous, hilarious situations. But again, not in a way that'd be unrealistic - the messed up situations she gets herself into are so real! Really, all of those situations are ones fourteen-year-old me could have gotten herself into. Only, I wouldn't have known to say those awesome, snarky things Rose says about them.


But Confessions of an Angry Girl isn't just fun and games - there is definitely some serious stuff thrown in there, too. One of the scenes about Rose's grief even made me tear up - and what's better than a book that can make you laugh and cry!? The balance between the humor and the more serious issues is perfect - it never gets too heavy, but it doesn't get crazy or unrealistically ridiculous either.


I don't know what else to say; I just loved this book so much. It makes me so happy when a book can completely take me by surprise, like Confessions of an Angry Girl did. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a light, fun read that also has a little substance. I'd recommend it even if you prefer older YA, since I loved Rose despite her age. I can't wait to get back to Rose's hilarious voice in the next book in the series!

Random Mini Reviews

My reading has been all over the place this summer. I interned at a bookstore, where they gave me lots of books that made up quite a bit of my summer reading. But, most of these are in German, and a lot of them are adult books. I'm not going to be writing full reviews for any of these, since this is a YA blog, and because it feels weird to review books that I read in German, since translation may have been a part of why I liked or disliked the books. But it feels wrong to not acknowledge these somehow - I've gotten used to stating my thoughts on books in one way or another. Soo I've decided to do mini reviews! These are the random books I've been reading over the summer (minus the ones that don't exist in English) and my brief thoughts on them.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking to save someone else's life.

Surprisingly good! I wasn't expecting to like this one, since it's about a 60-something-year-old guy, and when I read adult, I tend to go for the younger MCs.  I did end up liking this one, though. Very well-written and such a unique idea! Some parts in the middle get a little boring, but I especially liked the last part, when the secrets and the bad stuff start coming out. A very refreshing read for me! 4 out of 5 stars

Finding Sky by Joss Stirling

When English girl Sky, catches a glimpse of bad boy Zed in her new American high school, she can't get him out of her head. He talks to her with his thoughts. He reads her mind. He is the boy she will love for ever. Dark shadows stalk her past but a new evil threatens her future. Sky must face the dark even if it means losing her heart.

Ugh. No. I'll admit that the translation was part of it, because the translation is pretty terrible. But the story itself didn't work for me, either. The first part is all annoying 14-year-old MC ("Does he LIKE me!?"), insta-love, and a love interest that is, essentially, Edward Cullen 2.0. (Or 100.0. Whatever.) Then starts the paranormal stuff, which, again, is the Cullen family minus the bloodsucking. I only liked the very last part, when we start to find out about the MC's past and get to explore her character. 2 out of 5 stars


The Confidant by Hélène Grémillon

Paris, 1975. Sifting through the letters of condolence after her mother's death, Camille discovers a strange missive sent by someone she does not know. She thinks it is probably an error. But then, every Tuesday, a new letter arrives, recounting a tale of two impossible loves, four broken destinies, until the final dénouement destroys everything in its inevitable path. Little by little, Camille begins to piece together the puzzle and is shocked to realise that this story has a direct bearing upon her own life.
Alternating Camille's story and the mysterious letters from the unknown correspondent, Grémillon transports us to the years between 1939 and 1943, a fascinating time in French history, to tell a powerful story of friendship and secrets between women, of surrogacy, passionate love, jealousy, revenge and reconciliation.

Loved this book SO MUCH! Nothing makes sense at first, and I loved slowly putting the pieces together. It is weird and dark and AWESOME. Jellicoe Road meets adult historical, sort of. Just really, really good. 5 out of 5 stars


When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

This is a book about a brother and a sister. It's a book about secrets and starting over, friendship and family, triumph and tragedy, and everything in between. More than anything, it's a book about love in all its forms.

Hmm... Not sure about this one. The writing is incredible - every page has a sentence so beautiful it'll just make you stop and read it over and over again. But I was kind of underwhelmed by the plot. There are so many issues that are never really addressed or resolved, and that made it kind of hard for me to get invested in any one of the storylines. The fact that very large parts of the MC's life are just skipped over made it even harder to connect with her, and I found myself a little confused as to what part of her life we were reading about when. Still, it was worth it for the gorgeous writing. 3 out of 5 stars

A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias

The author of "Fearless" delivers his first novel in 13 years, an autobiographical and devastatingly raw appraisal about what it means for two people to spend a lifetime together.

I really liked the first half, when the chapters alternate between the two meeting and the last few weeks before Margaret's death. But in the middle, it kind of went downhill for me; the way Enrique's cheating is handled did not work for me at all. I started feeling removed from the story when it started switching between so many different parts of their lives. 3 out of 5 stars
(I'm showing the German cover here because the one for the English edition is ugly and I really like this one. Hehe.)

Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

July 1964. Chartwell House, Kent: Winston Churchill wakes at dawn. There’s a dark, mute “presence” in the room that focuses on him with rapt concentration. It’s Mr. Chartwell.
Soon after, in London, Esther Hammerhans, a librarian at the House of Commons, goes to answer the door to her new lodger. Through the glass she sees a vast silhouette the size of a mattress. It’s Mr. Chartwell.
Charismatic, dangerously seductive, Mr. Chartwell unites the eminent statesman at the end of his career and the vulnerable young woman. But can they withstand Mr. Chartwell’s strange, powerful charms and his stranglehold on their lives? Can they even explain who or what he is and why he has come to visit?

This book is so weird, in the best way possible. The whole idea is crazy, and I didn't think I'd like it that much, to be honest, just because it sounded so out there. But I'm so glad I gave it a try - it totally works! The writing is great, making this weird, impossible stuff somehow seem possible, and making this a very entertaining, surprisingly lighthearted read. 4 out of 5 stars

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

At Westish College, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league until a routine throw goes disastrously off course. In the aftermath of his error, the fates of five people are upended. Henry's fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz realizes he has guided Henry's career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life. As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets.

I loved some storylines but did not like a few others. And there was too much baseball for me - I was confused and bored by most of the baseball scenes. But there was still something about this book - it's very readable, if that makes any sense. I just really liked reading it, whatever the reason. 3 out of 5 stars

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want--husband, country home, successful career--but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.

Really liked this one! Elizabeth Gilbert's style and voice are great; entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time. The middle part was a little too spirituality-focused for me, though. 4 out of 5 stars

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

***No summary because of spoilers - this is the sequel to Eat Pray Love.***

I didn't like this one quite as much as Eat Pray Love, simply because the topic doesn't interest me as much. Marriage is just not something I'm really concerned with, yet, so some parts were boring for me. But some of the stuff was still really interesting to learn about, and I still love Elizabeth Gilbert's style. 3 out of 5 stars