What Happens Here by Tara Altebrando (review by Liesel)

What happens when bffs cannot actually remain best friends, forever?


Tara Altebrando, in my opinion a highly underrated author, examines the complex double-standards set in all teenage friendships and the complex emotions of loss and despair in What Happens Here. Chloe and Lindsay had been the best of friends – they did everything together, and their lives were intertwined. They planned to travel the world and buy condos in several locations and complete their lives in happiness. When Chloe gets the opportunity of the lifetime to travel to Europe, she gets into a fight with Lindsay but sends her postcards from everywhere she goes, and finds a little romance of her own. Little did she know what would be awaiting her when she got home…


WARNING: Spoilers ahead!!!






Lindsay dies in a tragic murder, and Chloe wants to discover everything that happened that night; she feels guilty that she was not there when she was in Europe, and she finds herself clinging to her on/off crush on Lindsay’s brother Noah. More guilt is exposed as she believes that Lindsay would not approve of this liking, yet both of them work together to move past their terrible loss.






End of Spoilers


Similar to Sarah Dessen’s The Truth About Forever, this book examines the guilt associated with loss, and the idea of embracing imperfection when certain things can no longer be. That book is one of my favorites, and this one comes very close to that level. I feel that anyone looking for a compelling, emotional read should definitely check this one out!


xoxo, Liesel




Purchase What Happens Here via Amazon.

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner (Review by Liesel)

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner is an intriguing novel that puts quite a twist on the traditional fairytale. Here, the humans and Faerie people were previously at war, and items now exist that are categorized as either from Before or After. Why they began fighting remains unclear, but the remnants of this magic still affect the people in unforeseeable ways.

Liza is one of the many children impacted by magic. Her mother runs away, and when her younger sister was just a baby who happened to possess magical powers, she was immediately abandoned, and the sight of this haunts Liza to this day. Her father is highly protective and does not want any associations with magic. When she begins having visions and realizes that she too has magic within her, she feels that she must run away into the dark wood with a few companions by her side and solve the mystery surrounding her world.

Simner does an excellent job of keeping the novel interesting, though many questions remain unanswered and the descriptions are vague at best. The setting seems to be over dramatized; while the language flows smoothly, it is hard to understand the point of it, and at times it seems almost superfluous. Because of this, the details of the War and the after-effects are unclear. But for a debut novel, this is certainly a great start, and it will be interesting to see whether this story will become a series.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read in a promising new type of book in the fantasy genre.

xoxo, Liesel


Bones of Faerie can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Bones-Faerie-Janni-Lee-Simner/dp/0375845631/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241444912&sr=1-1

Brutal by Michael Harmon (Review by Liesel)

Synopsis:

With her martyr-doctor mother gone to save lives in some South American country, Poe Holly suddenly finds herself on the suburban doorstep of the father she never knew, who also happens to be a counselor at her new high school. She misses Los Angeles. She misses the guys in her punk band. Weirdly, she even misses the shouting matches she used to have with her mom.

But Poe manages to find a few friends: Theo, the cute guy in the anarchy Tshirt, and Velveeta, her oddly likeable neighbor—and a born victim who’s the butt of every prank at Benders High. But when the pranks turn deadly at the hands of invincible football star Colby Morris, Poe knows she’s got to fix the system and take down the hero.

With insightfulness, spot-on dialogue, and a swiftly paced plot, Michael Harmon tells the story of a displaced girl grappling with a truly dangerous bully.

Review:

So everyone has read a book at some point starring the protagonist unwilling to conform to standards set by a supposedly superior authority. Enter Poe Holly, a protagonist who is by no means like the rest. With her mother gone to help save precious lives in South America, Poe ends up moving from Los Angeles, a place with limitless possibilities, to suburbia, under the care of the father whom she has never met.

We are introduced immediately to Velveeta, a boy having a rough time in school because of constant abuse from bullies, and Theo, someone to whom Poe can relate immediately as another that never takes orders from a higher authority. Poe struggles against not only the unstoppable bullying force of Colby Morris but also against the strict enforcements of rules at her new school. She immediately begins challenging the social order, expecting the world to change for her as she tackles the innate social hierarchy already established within her new school.

In Brutal, Michael Harmon makes a powerful statement regarding adults in society as ones that allow social ladders to develop and flourish while keeping the reader entertained with Poe, a girl who refuses to take orders. Although reacting in different ways than the ones described in the novel, many readers will be able to empathize with Poe’s plight to overcome and defeat each level of the hierarchy. With wit and sarcasm applied in all dialogues, Brutal is a novel that you will not be able to put down.

xoxo, Liesel

Preorder Brutal here (release: March 10, 2009).

Visit Michael Harmon here.

Need by Carrie Jones (Review by Liesel)

Though a stretch to fairly compare this book to the phenomenon of Stephanie Meyer’s widely acclaimed Twilight, Carrie Jones creates an enthralling fantasy and an enjoyable read in Need and one that certainly sets itself apart from its comparison to Twilight.

Zara, a girl whom the reader finds lethargic and drained of all energy after the death of her stepfather, is sent to Bedford, Maine to live with her grandmother in hopes of reviving her usually overflowing spirits. She feels helpless because she was unable to help her own stepfather, the one person about whom she cared more than anyone else. Strange, unexplainable events start to occur almost immediately when she sees a person whom she thought she had finally left behind in Charleston, but she makes loyal friends, Issy and Devon, in the process. She is a character to whom the reader can truly relate because of the depth of her emotions and how omniscient the reader can become because of her narration.

When she meets Nick, a seemingly strange guy, and her over-achieving classmate, Ian, subtle hints are given as to the true identity of both. The supernatural aspect of pixies is undoubtedly a fun twist to the plot, and the characters feel very realistic.

Need is the kind of teen fantasy novel with which everyone has recently been falling in love – and while the plot is fairly predictable and juvenile in comparison to other novels, it is a book that you cannot put down. This new book will fare well among the masses of teen readers!

Need can be purchased here:

http://www.amazon.com/Need-Carrie-Jones/dp/1599903385/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232060842&sr=8-1

Reviewed by Liesel

Just Listen- Sarah Dessen (review)
In Just Listen, Sarah Dessen vividly depicts the surprisingly disjointed life of Annabel, a girl who is always in the shadows of her older sisters and mother and can never stand out enough to be in the spotlight.

Portrayed as "the girl who has everything" in a commercial, Annabel can only watch as her life as crashes down around her. For a summer, she completely disconnects herself from her friends because her nature to avoid confrontation causes one severe misunderstanding with her ex-bff, Sophie. It seems that she is trapped in an inescapable vortex from which she can never be herself, until she meets one person that changes her life forever…

Owen Wilson. An enigma to most students at her high school, Annabel slowly starts to open up Owen, a teenager who has gone through tough times and anger management and found solace in listening to all kinds of music. What surprises her most is how he has professed to be 100 percent honest about his feelings, no matter what the situation. The development of their friendship and Annabel's changing perspective about life are the most intriguing things in the novel.

Annabel is one of those characters that you can never forget. Because of the tough situations that she has experienced because of her sister, Whitney, who suffered from anorexia, she makes decisions that often annoy or confuse the reader. Truly a round character, the choices that Annabel selects continue to expose her three-dimensional personae to the reader.

I would highly recommend Just Listen to anyone, but mainly teenage girls, who can benefit from the many lessons and subjects presented in this novel: rape, anorexia, friendships, and the impact of honesty. Dessen creates an intricate plot with highly believable characters, and this book will leave you craving more of her writing. "Don't think, or judge. Just listen."

xoxo,
Liesel

Just Listen can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Listen-Sarah-Dessen/dp/0670061050

**Sarah Dessen is on the NSCG's List of Favorite Authors

Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart (review)

Fly on the Wall was the first book that I have read by E. Lockhart, and it made me want to keep reading. She creates an intricate personae in Gretchen Yee, a girl who feels she is simply normal in a school where individuality matters more than anything else.

Gretchen wishes that she could be a fly on the wall - and it happens.Suddenly she is in the guys' locker room and knows all the intimate details about the guys with whom she has been associating for so long without really knowing them, and that soon becomes clear.

While this book is certainly a quick read, it is one that captures your attention until its conclusion. Lockhart creates a convincing, three-dimensional character who develops. A farfetched story line turns out to be the most fun, and Lockhart does a great job of making such an absurd plot line seem possible. Fly on the Wall is a short read, but certainly one of the best books written recently.I highly recommend it!
+Liesel+

Fly on the Wall can be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Wall-E-Lockhart/dp/0385732821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226615071&sr=1-1

**E. Lockhart is on the NSCG's List of Favorite Authors (can be seen in our profile)

The Liesel Explanation

"Hi, I'm Liesel Weasley! I'm a junior in high school, so that's relatively exciting. I was born and raised in Long Island, New York, but I have somewhat adjusted to the southern ways of life. I have made distinctions between sketchballs, creepers, and lurkers because awkward situations are the best kind of situations! In my spare time, I run, read, write, and sleep… and eat, of course. I am extremely sarcastic and take things seriously, but I am quiet. I have an extremely calm mindset, and it is just about impossible to get me upset. I enjoy a good guffaw every now and then, and I guarantee that I'll be able to put a smile on your face. Questions, comments, and concerns can be directed to my agent. ;)

songs:

1) All You Wanted – Michelle Branch

I wanted to be like youI wanted everything
So I tried to be like you
And I got swept away

This song speaks of a girl who is clearly overwhelmed. She is looking for the feeling of being loved from the perfect person in the midst of her hectic life. Though an older song, it captures the exact feeling I often have – one of someone looking for the smaller things tangled into the confusion of the bigger picture of life.

2) Set Sail – Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Through a stranger's eyes
I take a good look at my life
Only to find that I'm not living
I'm not alive

This song puts things into perspective and vocalizes exactly how I feel about living. You should make every day one that you will remember, because you never know when it will be your last. Stay positive about changes in your life and embrace them before deciding whether they are better or worse. Essentially, we should all keep living life to its fullest in order to find ourselves along the way.

3) Remember the Name – Fort Minor
Nobody really knows how or why he works so hardIt seems like he's never got timeBecause he writes every note and he writes every lineAnd I've seen him at work when that light goes on in his mindIt's like a design is written in his head every timeA little out of the usual genre – a rap song to which I can relate my life? Yes.Sometimes, all you need is a push in the right direction; a little hard work and dedication will always leave a legacy - or, as so clearly stated, 100% reason to remember the name."