Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Author: A.S. King
Publication Date: 10/12/10
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

_Blurb (GR): Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.
 
So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?
 
Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

Review:
Let me just get this out of the way, I am glad I gave A.S. King another chance. I liked her debut novel (The Dust of 100 Dogs) OK, for its creativity and originality, but I wasn't wowed by it. Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a better, even though more mainstream, YA novel.

I don't know how it happened, but I've read quite a few YA books about death and grief over the last couple of months (I Heart You, You Haunt Me, Revolution, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour), however Please Ignore Vera Dietz is definitely the one I enjoyed the most.

Vera's long-time childhood friend Charlie is dead. She is hurt by his death, but her feelings are ambiguous. Their relationship has been difficult and not always happy, maybe they even hated each other at some point. They used to be so close and yet so separated by their preconceived notions that a romance between them would never work. After all, they both have so much emotional baggage. Vera has to work through many deliciously convoluted aspects of her friendship with Charlie in her mind to finally find peace with him...

Please Ignore Vera Dietz is the kind of story I love to read the most in YA fiction. It is not over-burdened with romance, where a boy miraculously solves all heroine's problems, it is character driven. Vera is a multi-dimensional character, she has to face her past and deal with her mistakes and regrets in regard to Charlie. Her grief is palpable, but not expressed in hysterical fits and throwing herself around in despair, like it often is in teen lit. Vera's actions speak for it. Her inner world is complex - there are issues she has to deal with that add another layer to this already great story - how can she live up to her father's expectations? how can she get over her mother's abandonment? how can she overcome her seemingly pre-written destiny?

The more I think about this novel, the more I like it. It is not as quirky as The Dust of 100 Dogs, there are no pirates, magic dust or doggy lessons, but it is unique in its own way. I like that Zen Buddhism wisdom is added into the story. There is a ghost who sheds some light on the events. And there is the Pagoda with some opinions of her own. It all works beautifully together. As a whole, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is just one clever novel.

P.S. Who knew pizza delivery business was such a dangerous occupation? I will absolutely never, under any circumstances, do it, knowing now that there are people who open their doors to delivery people with no pants on and in "full alert."

5/5 stars

Finnikin of the Rock
Author: Melina Marchetta
Publication Date: 2/9/10
Publisher: Candlewick Press

Blurb (GR): At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.

But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.

Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock--to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin's faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

In a bold departure from her acclaimed contemporary novels, Printz Medalist Melina Marchetta has crafted an epic fantasy of ancient magic, feudal intrigue, romance, and bloodshed that will rivet you from the first page.

Review:
My second reading of Finnikin of the Rock and I am changing my mind - 5 stars!

Now, when I have more fantasy under my belt to compare this book to, I am pretty confident it offers something that many others in the genre don't. This is a fantasy that is not drowned in clunky, 1000-pages long world-building, this is a book about people. People whose country is torn into pieces, people exiled from their homeland, lost, damaged, abused men, women and children. As a story of a displaced, broken nation that fights to rebuild itself Finnikin of the Rock is almost without a flaw.

But of course there is more to love. All the nuances of the narrative, plot lines that make Melina's works so rich - there is a love story in which a couple struggle for the upper hand in their young relationship; there are scenes of friendship and loyalty; there are intricacies of the relationships between fathers and sons, respect, pride and competitiveness all tangled; there is a heartbreak of a love once powerful but now sullied by years of violence and abuse; there is an enemy, despicable and crass, but now not reformed but changed; there are strong men and there are even stronger women. It's hard to list it all, but Melina writes everything with such power, managing to break your heart with a sentence, a word, a glance.

I still think the pacing could have been better though. The climax, the high point of the story, is simply too short, too understated. There is not enough feeling of a lot being at stake, it lacks danger and excitement.

However, there are so many other things about Finnikin of the Rock I loved that I am happy to overlook the obvious flaws, to stick to my 5 stars and to wait for Froi of the Exiles with eager anticipation.

5/5 stars

Ship Breaker
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Publication Date: 5/1/10
Publisher: Little Brown

Blurb (GR): In America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota--and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life.…

In this powerful novel, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in a vivid and raw, uncertain future.

Review:

So, a reread after a dystopia-overstaffed year, and Ship Breaker still stands out. Actually, this novel has by far the best conceived vision of our future in terms of realism. Nothing much far-fetched or impossible here.

This future is grim and rusty. The planet's natural resources are exhausted, the global warming is happening, Antarctica is gone, cities drowned. Nailer, the main character, makes his living stripping old ships off of their metals which will be then sold to big corporations to be recycled over and over again. His life takes a turn when he comes across a wrecked ship whose only survivor is a girl who is the heir to one of the biggest corporation in the world. Nailor has to decide what to do about this girl - to help her or take advantage of her strained circumstances...

However, the reread highlighted the fact that, compared to Bacigalupi's adult works (pretty much all of which I devoured after reading Ship Breaker), this book is a tad juvenile, middle grade almost, and it touches only the surface of the issues the author explores so well and so thoughtfully in his adult fiction. Reading Ship Breaker for the second time, I just wanted more, because I knew how much more there was to this world Bacigalupi imagined.

I am not trying to dismiss Ship Breaker's accomplishments. Judged on its own, this novel is one of the strongest in the genre of dystopian YA. But if you are first a fan of Bacigalupi's adult work, I am afraid this book might just not be enough.

If you are new to Bacigalupi, go ahead, take a gentle dip into his dark imagination, Ship Breaker is a good primer. What he offers in his adult fiction is much uglier and more terrifying.

4/5 stars

Raw Blue
Author: Kirsty Eagar
Publication Date: 6/29/09
Publisher: Penguin Australia

Blurb (GR): Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing … and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago at schoolies week.

And then Carly meets Ryan, a local at the break, fresh out of jail. When Ryan learns the truth, Carly has to decide. Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy?

Review:
I remember this one surfer guy from 10 years ago. I was working a summer in a beach hotel in San Diego, and so was he. It was always very curious to me, how little ambition he had. He was smart and had opportunities to be promoted, to make more money, be a boss, but he always refused. When asked why, he used to say he didn't care to work more or have more responsibilities. All he wanted was to have his mornings open to surf and just enough money to pay for his beachfront apartment he shared with a roommate.

The idea seemed wild to me then and maybe now too, a little. But after reading Raw Blue I think I have a little bit better idea what it is about surfing that attracts people. The way Eagar writes about it, it is an experience, exhilarating and exciting, unlike anything in my calm daily routine (which I love, BTW). I now truly believe that this is something that can transform a person's life, make it better. And Carly, the narrator of the novel, badly needs for something good to pull her out of the abyss of her troubled past.

It is not very often that I come across an author who can capture someone's state of mind so painfully right. Carly's fears, shame, rage, the horror of her memories that come back in waves and sometimes drown her are so, so palpable! My heart broke for her, I suffocated in her pain, I rejoiced with her.

Although Carly's story is often very dark, it is, in the end, about light. Many of us have past experiences that plague us and sometimes they are so disturbing that we think we can never get away from them. But there is a lot of good things in our lives too. We just need to allow ourselves to let these good things define us, not the bad ones.

5/5 stars

Zombies vs. Unicorns
Editors: Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Publication Date: 9/21/10
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Blurb (GR): It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Review:
__And the winner is...


TEAM ZOMBIES!

Frankly, I have no interest in zombies and unicorns, I just don't, and especially in unicorns. But I was induced to give this anthology a chance mostly by many of my GR friends' positive reviews. They didn't let me down. Unlike almost all multi-author collections, this one is very strong.

The zombie stories are almost consistently very good. The weakest, expectedly, is Cassandra Clare's necrophilic Cold Hands. Not only is it written poorly, but it has a fundamental flaw in logic - why aren't bodies of the deceased simply burned? Wouldn't that stop all the town's problems?

The rest of the stories are great though.

Alaya Dawn Johnson managed to convince me zombies can be sexually attractive (that's a first!) in her Love Will Tear Us Apart, points added for boy/boy love story, points taken away for crassness and excessive use of the f-word.

Carrie Ryan's Bougainville is a million times better than the only novel of hers I've read (The Forest of Hands and Teeth). Great survival story with a twisty ending, no nauseating love triangles and quadrangles and the heroine is actually likable.

The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson is about creepy zombie kiddies and a freaky celebrity.

Scott Westerfeld's Inoculata left me yearning for more. The whole idea of people mutating to co-exist with zombies is fascinating. There is also some girl on girl action.

The most bleak story is saved for the end. Libba Bray's teen survivors don't have much to look forward to after Prom Night is over.

Ironically, both my most and least favorite stories are about unicorns. Garth Nix's The Highest Justice and Naomi Novik's Purity Test are half-baked creations that they probably threw together in minutes. Nothing original or exciting about them.

Meg Cabot's Princess Prettypants, as you can expect from the title, is a pure silliness and fluff, but the writing is very engaging and I have a soft spot for Meg's characters.

The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn definitely needs a better title, but the unicorn in this story is super-cute in spite of having sharp teeth and being carnivorous. Maybe I should give Diana Peterfreund's novels a try?

And finally, the best! The unicorn in Kathleen Duey's The Third Virgin is a hardcore addict! And Margo Lanagan's A Thousand Flowers is full of deliciously gory stuff like rape, bestiality, murder and child birth. Only fans of Tender Morsels should proceed with this one.

So yay for creepy unicorns as well!

(This one is up to no good) 

Good Oil
Author: Laura Buzo
Publication Date: 8/1/10
Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Blurb (GR): A wonderful, coming-of-age love story from a fresh new voice in YA fiction.

'Miss Amelia Hayes, welcome to The Land of Dreams. I am the staff trainer. I will call you grasshopper and you will call me sensei and I will give you the good oil. Right? And just so you know, I'm open to all kinds of bribery.'

From the moment 15-year-old Amelia begins work on the checkout at Woolworths she is sunk, gone, lost...head-over-heels in love with Chris. Chris is the funny, charming, man-about-Woolies, but he's 21, and the 6-year difference in their ages may as well be 100. Chris and Amelia talk about everything from Second Wave Feminism to Great Expectations and Alien but will he ever look at her in the way she wants him to? And if he does, will it be everything she hopes?

Review:
This book spoke to me like only very few do. It fit me like a perfect glove.

From the opening scenes when 15-year old Amelia is totally in love with and obsesses over her too-old-for-her co-worker Chris (oh, those simultaneously horrifying and sweet K-Mart check-out flashbacks of Justin, cold sweat, mumbling and crimson cheeks); to the humor, in equal parts witty, deprecating and pain-filled (Chris buys a sixpack of beer on the way to Rino’s. James Squire something-or-other. ‘Special treat,’ he says, parting with a twenty-dollar note. ‘You like beer don’t you?’ I hate beer. Hate it. ‘Yeah!’ Oh, well. Love is pain. Or is it beauty is pain? I wouldn’t know about the latter, but the former makes my sternum ache); to the characters - Amelia, naive, idealistic and smart, and Chris - love-torn, scared of his future and indecisive; to the not-friendship-not-love relationship between Amelia and Chris that is refreshingly unique; to the conversations about families, feminism, books, love and life; to, of course, the ending which is a heart-aching perfection in my eyes. I loved it all.

I doubt Good Oil would be everyone's perfect fit, simply because so much of my affection for this book came from the connection to the characters and their peculiar troubles. But it worked wonders for me.

5/5 stars

Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Author: A.S. King
Publication Date: 10/12/10
Publisher: Knopf

Blurb (GR):
Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?

Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

Edit: For some reason, many people seem to be finding this review while looking for the setting of Please Ignore Vera Dietz--it is set in an unnamed town outside Philadelphia. Somewhere in Eastern Pennsylvania. (at least I can't remember the author ever mentioning the name.)

Review:
Vera Dietz is a good person. This book is like watching Vera in the gallows being pelted with tomatoes until she is finally released to go on her way. Her lifelong best friend Charlie just passed away under somewhat mysterious circumstances, the town blames him for something which tarnishes his reputation, and Vera is being harassed by some of her schoolmates. The thing about Vera, and I absolutely loved her as a character, is that she just deals with it. She is angry with Charlie, she hates him and she loves him and she realizes it is possible to feel both of those feelings at the same time. She resents all the choices that he made that led up to his death and she resents herself for not doing something more to help him.

Vera’s father has been raising her as a single dad since his wife skipped town. The narration, which skips between Vera, her father, Charlie, and even a town architectural landmark, lets us know that the main characters are all worried about being foregone conclusions. Are we all destined to be like our parents or what everyone tells us we’ll become? I truly hope not, not because my parents aren’t lovely people but because that would be a sad state of affairs. Vera’s father Ken struggles with Vera drinking because he is an alcoholic. Vera worries about becoming like her absent mother. Charlie worried about becoming an abuser like his father. We all worry about something.

I can absolutely see why this book was a Printz Honor pick. Vera’s voice is very matter-of-fact but her contemplations and commentary were funny at times, poignant at others, and she keeps a level-head for almost the entire book. She deals with her missteps while still trying to figure out how to grieve for her best friend who was mostly lost to her even before he died. I’m reading another book right now where someone has just passed away (Minding Frankie) and a character talks about that saying that a person remembered through memories or mentions is never truly gone. Or how Jacob Coote tells Josie Alibrandi that he dealt with his mother’s death by crying at the memories until one day, he could smile or laugh at them. (Looking for Alibrandi) This book takes place before Vera has come to terms with the loss but by the end, it was clear that she was no longer using a band-aid to cover up a gaping wound.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz was very successful in audio format. The narrator’s Vera was perfect and I appreciated the fact that male narrators pitched in for the points in the story not narrated by Vera. I’m curious whether the descriptions of flow charts in the narration were actually flow chart images in the book so maybe someone who knows can chime in with an answer. I would absolutely recommend it in this format.

I’m excited to check out A.S. King’s upcoming Everybody Sees The Ants. After reading a review that said it had similar themes, I’m hoping that it will be sufficiently different but retain a similar tone. This one was sad but weirdly hopeful. It was about 4.5/5 for me.

4.5/5 stars

Stork (Stork, #1)
Author: Wendy Delsol
Publication Date: 10/12/10
Publisher: Brilliance Audio (Candlewick)

Blurb (GR): Moving from LA to nowhere Minnesota, sixteen-year-old Katla Leblanc expected the local fashion scene to be frozen in time. What she didn’t expect was induction into the Icelandic Stork Society, an ancient order of women charged with a unique mystical duty. Not only is Katla the youngest member, but Hulda, the society’s omen-guided leader, immediately bestows the coveted Second Chair on her   — a decision that ruffles a few feathers.

As if that weren’t enough, Katla also has to deal with her parents’ divorce and the social aftermath of a bad date with popular but creepy Wade. Katla, however, isn’t one to sit on her designer-jean-clad behind, and soon she’s assigned the fashion column for the school paper and making new friends.

Things would be looking up if it weren’t for editor in chief Jack. Even though they argue every time they meet, Katla is inexplicably drawn to him. Juggling her home life, school, and Stork duties, will Katla be able to unravel the mystery surrounding Jack? More importantly, will she find a dress in time for Homecoming?

Folktales collide with reality in Wendy Delsol’s debut novel, in which one girl finds herself tail-feathers deep in small-town life.

Review:

Oh, hey! Look at that! It's me at a playground! Look at how excited I am at the top of the slide:-) My ponytail is bouncing and I have a huge smile on my face. I'm waving to you;-) Life is so much fun when you are about to go down a slide--it's going to be a big adventure!

Hi. Now I am at the bottom of the slide. My ponytail fell out. There aren't as many MS paint flowers down here, but there IS a semi-barren tree--it has a bird in it though, so things really aren't all bad. And, I mean, even if a slide is bad, it's still good, right?

I think I might do more of my reviews on Paint...I mean, clearly my skills are out of this world. Anyway, Stork was a rather original concept in the YA realm: Katla (which is a little too similar to Katniss and Katsa, both heroines from books I love) moves with her newly divorced mother back to her mother's hometown in Norse Falls, Minnesota. It is a far cry from the life she'd been living as a fashion-obsessed, coffee-saturated California girl and she feels like an outsider. (At this point, we are still in pretty well-worn territory) Wendy Delsol deviates from the beaten path by introducing the fact that Katla is actually a stork who helps match essences of children to a potential mother. Before I went into the story, I was really skeptical about how successful this idea could be. As it turns out, I found the idea rather fascinating, though I had to tone down my cynicism a ton to roll with the story. (mostly because I kept asking myself: Is it only in this town? Or only towns with lots of Icelandic people? How do we have so many unfit parents? These questions are only partially answered) But the description of the process was still intriguing. I wish Delsol had concentrated this book on the revelation of Katla as a stork and her assimilation into her new high school and relationship with Jack.

Buuuut, she doesn't. Instead it turns out to be the ole good v. evil plotline and you see it coming from a mile down the track. And the love is epic predestined love and, while the romantic interest is rather adorable, it started to feel cheesy. I definitely enjoyed listening to this one and I kind of hope the author will continue writing books set in Norse Falls--I just hope they won't be trying so hard to be everything to everyone. I mean, this book has ALL of the following:moving,divorce, possible pregnancy of main characters, MAKEOVERS!, a school dance, a hiking trip,secret meetings,a childhood accident, mythology/folklore, mean girls, her mother's new boyfriend,FASHION(if you are annoyed by constant mentions of brands and outfits, avoid this one),a character death, AND foreverlove.

I am tired from just writing that list. It's a good thing I'm still sitting on that slide:-) I did enjoy it. Katla is funny, and I even caught myself laughing out loud a few times.

3/5 stars

Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publication Date: 12/2/10
Publisher: Dutton

Blurb (GR): Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Review:
A Haiku
Boarding school story
Girl meets short boy with girlfriend
Cue teenage drama

Also it is in France, some of the parents are douchebags, and it is as enjoyable as cookies and milk.

4/5 stars

Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Publication Date: 6/28/11
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Blurb (GR):  Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

Review:
I was talking to Lyndsey about how it feels to have a brother and the best example I could come up with is this: It feels like that force when you try to put two similar magnetic poles together, but right at that moment when it starts to push away. The love I have for my brother is so strong but he repulses me at the same time. I mean, he’s great as an adult but he is the same kid who once filled his Skeletor action figure with urine and sprayed all 3 of his sisters with it. He is the same brother who once fed 4-year old Flann a concoction of mostly Tabasco sauce while we were being babysat. (My mother made him drink it when she came home, FYI) He is the same brother who used to put his stuffed Hulk Hogan resting above his doorframe so if we tried to come in, it’d fall on us. And he is the same kid that said, “Polly want a cracker?” like a parrot all the way from Texas to Seattle on a road trip. (according to my mother) How anyone could ever be attracted to their sibling is beyond me. I do understand that it happens, usually in highly stressful family situations, but I just couldn’t get over my repulsion while I was reading Forbidden. I wonder what the correlation is between people who enjoyed this book and whether or not they have brothers. Oh, I guess I was assuming that everyone who would read this review would already know what this book is about. If you don’t, SURPRISE! It’s about incest. (well, really it is about being in a terrible family situation)

This is written in first-person present, which really isn’t my favorite style, but I couldn’t get over the following:

“Summer gives way to autumn. The air turns sharper, the days grow shorter, gray clouds and persistent drizzle alternating with cold blue skies and bracing winds. Willa loses her third tooth, Tiffin attempts to cut his own hair when a supply teacher mistakes him for a girl…”
What is this? Most of the book reads like personal journal entries from Lochan and Maya’s present alternating perspectives but every once in a while there would be sections of text that were reflections on long periods of time. Overall, I thought the dual perspectives were successful but who writes their present thoughts like this?

Dear diary,
Winter approaches faster than usual this year. Crisp, frigid air creeps into town with snowstorms right behind it. I made chicken casserole for dinner tonight. I cooked the chicken too long so it was a bit dry.

A bit jarring, eh? That’s an extreme example of what I am talking about but you get the point.

I want to make a comment on the names in this book but can someone named Flannery actually do that with a straight face? I’m not even going to tell you my other family members’ names—let’s just say it would be the pot calling the kettle black on this one. (though we DO all have Irish names so at least there’s a theme!) Willa, Tiffin, Kit, Maya, and Lochan? It reminded me of that quote from Baby Mama when the one mother reminds her kids that they have a playdate later with Wingspan and Banjo.

I found the whole story a bit predictable but was it entertaining? Definitely. And the sex scenes were really well-done, even though it makes me feel really creepy and dirty to say so. I have absolutely no idea what makes people love or hate this—my Goodreads friends are all over the spectrum and not in a predictable way. If you can stomach reading about an incestuous relationship, give it a go. It is worth the read but it was just a 2.5-3 for me.

Thanks for sending me a copy, Arlene:)

3.5/5 stars