Touch by Francine Prose

Touch
By Francine Prose
Pages: 227
Published June 16th 2009 by Harper Teen
Purhcase

Summary: What "really" happened at the back of the bus?

Did they, or didn't they?

Did she, or didn't she?

"Something" happened to fourteen-year-old Maisie Willard--something involving her three friends, all boys. But their stories don't match, and the rumors spin out of control. Then other people get involved . . . the school, the parents, the lawyers. The incident at the back of the bus becomes the center of Maisie's life and the talk of the school, and, horribly, it becomes "news." With just a few words and a touch, the kids and their community are changed forever.

From nationally acclaimed author Francine Prose comes an unforgettable story about the difficulties of telling the truth, the consequences of lying, and the most dangerous twist of all--the possibility that you yourself will come to believe something that you know isn't true.

MY REVIEW

Touch is a story about freshman Maisie who growing up has been friends with three boys Chris, Kevin and Shakes. They have been friends since diapers. Things change when Maisie moves to live with her mom, and comes back her freshman year. She grew up and the boys do not know how to handle the change. One morning, things take a turn on their friendship. Something happens on the bus that causes the friendships to be questioned and tested. Maisie struggles with what really happened and what she wanted others to hear. She deals with the torments of classmates and her own friends. She also tries to struggle with the personal gain of her own family members.

I enjoyed Touch. Sometimes you read so many different young adult books that it’s nice to read a young adult story that touches on a difficult subject. You see how things in Maisie’s world got turned upside down and how she struggled to come with the truth. Some points in the novel I wanted to throw something at kids in her school because of how cruel they were. Such a sad truth that teens act this way at times. I wanted to strangle Maisie’s step mom. She was on her own crusade in making history with Maisie’s case when Maisie just wanted things to go away and she can go back to her life.

I like that Maisie did get closure that she needed with Shakes. She realized what they had become and that things will never return to how they once were, but things were said that made their friendship close on a good note.  

The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn

The Last Summer 

By Judith Kinghorn
Website  and Twitter
Published: December 31st 2012 by NAL/Penguin USA
Pages: 433
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Summary: Clarissa is almost seventeen when the spell of her childhood is broken. It is 1914, the beginning of a blissful, golden summer - and the end of an era. Deyning Park is in its heyday, the large country house filled with the laughter and excitement of privileged youth preparing for a weekend party. When Clarissa meets Tom Cuthbert, home from university and staying with his mother, the housekeeper, she is dazzled. Tom is handsome and enigmatic; he is also an outsider. Ambitious, clever, his sights set on a career in law, Tom is an acute observer, and a man who knows what he wants. For now, that is Clarissa.

As Tom and Clarissa's friendship deepens, the wider landscape of political life around them is changing, and another story unfolds: they are not the only people in love. Soon the world - and all that they know - is rocked by a war that changes their lives for ever.

MY REVIEW

The Last Summer is a story about an upstairs / downstairs relationship between Clarissa and Tom Cuthbert. Clarissa first meets Tom when she is just seventeen years old and have a romance that isn’t what Clarissa’s mother wants. Throughout the novel, you live the affair that Clarissa and Tom carry out throughout their whole lives. Clarissa struggles through her life trying to please everyone else but herself and during this struggle she suffers; not only with her heart but physically as well. 

Overall I enjoyed this novel. I loved how the novel started off with Clarissa’s innocence and we got to watch her grow into a woman at the age of forty by the end of the book. The only downfall to this growth was that I felt it made the book drag on. It was always about her longing for Tom and wishing to be with him, and her struggle of being unable to do so. 

I did enjoy reading the times Clarissa was with Tom. I also did enjoy her relationship with Antonio. I believe that was when Clarissa was truly allowed to be herself. She stopped caring what her mother wished, and it was nice to see that finally come out. Such a shame it happened much later in the book. Antonio was the perfect person at the perfect time for her. 

I loved how Judith writes and describes things. It has been a long time since I’ve wanted to sit with a blank notebook next to me while reading to copy down quotes or passages that I enjoyed. The Last Summer was full of them. My favorite was this 

"No, there's nothing to be afraid of, other than the stars, the universe, and the sense of being infinitesimal."

Overall, this book was enjoyable. Definite recommend to those who like historical fiction or Downton Abbey.

The Rule of Thre3 by Eric Walters

The Rule of Thre3
By Eric Walters
Published January 21st 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 405
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Summary: One shocking afternoon, computers around the globe shut down in a viral catastrophe. At sixteen-year-old Adam Daley’s high school, the problem first seems to be a typical electrical outage, until students discover that cell phones are down, municipal utilities are failing, and a few computer-free cars like Adam’s are the only vehicles that function. Driving home, Adam encounters a storm tide of anger and fear as the region becomes paralyzed. Soon—as resources dwindle, crises mount, and chaos descends—he will see his suburban neighborhood band together for protection. And Adam will understand that having a police captain for a mother and a retired government spy living next door are not just the facts of his life but the keys to his survival

MY REVIEW

The Rule of Thre3 is a story about sixteen year old Adam who one day at school experiences a shut down of electronics; computers, cell phones, and anything in the 21st century loses it's power. While at first it seems like it just be their side of town, the students find out that the electronic shut off isn't just on their side of town. It's across the globe. Adam's family and town struggle with their new way of living with out communication, and find the best way they can to survive. 

While this book didn't really grab out at me, I felt like it wasn't a complete waste of my time. Sometimes when books don't pop out at you, you feel you want that time. This series definitely has potential once I stopped comparing and just enjoy the book for what it was. I compared it too much to Revolution's general set up, but there's a lot of difference between the two. The writing is great for a young adult novel, and the writer knows a lot of background for what was needed in the novel. 

A couple other things that bummed me a little was that Todd and Adam didn't have a lot of time together. I though their banter was great, and when it died out towards the middle of the book I wish it stated. They went their separate ways as jobs needed to get done, but I think it would have been great to have the banter keep the humor in between. They were thrown randomly together in the book at times, but I wanted more of their friendship to unfold. The other issue I had was that I didn't find a character that stood out to me. I usually find at least one that I enjoy, and this I didn't. 

Overall, I found this book enjoyable for a dystophian read. I will definitely read the second one. I'm hoping this is a series that gets better with each book in the series. 

4 to 16 Characters by Kelly Hourihan

Title: 4 to 16 Characters
Author: Kelly Hourihan
Pages: 314
Published November 7th 2013 by Lemon Sherbet Press

* This was given to me thanks to Lemon Sherbet Press & Netgalley for an honest review.

Summary: Fifteen-year-old Jane Shilling’s best friends don’t know her real name. In fact, they don’t know anything about her at all. Jane’s life has collapsed in the last few years; following the death of her mother, her father turned to drinking, and Jane is reeling from the double blow. To escape, Jane devises a number of online personas, each with a distinct personality, life history, and set of friends. But things become trickier when she finds herself drawing close to some of her online friends, and winds up struggling with the question of how to maintain a real friendship while masquerading as a fake person. With the help of Gary, a socially awkward classmate and competitive Skeeball player who is Jane’s only offline friend, and Nora, her therapist, Jane begins to sift through her issues. The only catch is that that involves taking a long, hard look at what her life’s like when the computer is shut off, and that’s a reality she’s been fighting for years.

MY REVIEW

4 to 16 Characters is a story of Jane who loves being online and creating fake personalities mixed with her own reality to not face her own world. 

I hate to admit this, but I related to Jane A LOT in this book. A few years ago I was apart of the very popular fandom of LOST, and would often role play characters from the tv. While I didn't do the fan fiction writing of it, the role play was very much in the same sense. I was glued to my group of online writing fans and we would talk about the show and talk about up coming lines we would have in the writing group. It was a lot of fun at the time. It's something that was a lot of fun, and allowed you to connect with other fans in the same fandom. Unlike Jane, I didn't have multiple personalities online. Just the one I was writing in the group, and when I was talking "out of character" I was true to who I was. 

I thought this book was entertaining and a quick read. This was told through emails, posts, and other forms of online which makes the book quick.  The only thing I would complain about is that the adults had voices like children. Sure the father did lose his wife and was a drunk, but how it was written he sounded like a whiny teenager. Overall, not a bad book. Enjoyable. 

 

{Arc Review} And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

Title: And We Stay
Author: Jenny Hubbard
Pages: 240
Published: January 28th 2014 by Delacorte Press

* This was given to me by NetGalley for an honest review

Summary: When high school senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school library with a stolen gun, he threatens his girlfriend Emily Beam, then takes his own life. In the wake of the tragedy, an angry and guilt-ridden Emily is shipped off to boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she encounters a ghostly presence who shares her name. The spirit of Emily Dickinson and two quirky girls offer helping hands, but it is up to Emily to heal her own damaged self.

This inventive story, told in verse and in prose, paints the aftermath of tragedy as a landscape where there is good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

MY REVIEW

Unfortunately, I could not finish this novel. This subject is not written a lot in YA and it should be addressed. However, when reading And We Stay, I felt that Emily's voice was much younger than a 17 year old. She felt more like a middle schooler. I give props to Hubbard for tackling a subject that is difficult, and as mentioned.

Dark Inside (Dark Inside #1) by Jeyn Roberts

Title: Dark Inside
Author: Jeyn Roberts
Pages: 368
Published: September 2nd 2011 by Macmillan Children's Books
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Summary: Since the beginning of mankind, civilizations have fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs...and now us. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening: An ancient evil has been unleashed, and it's turning everyday people into hunters, killers, and crazies. This is the world Mason, Aries, Clementine, and Michael are living in--or rather, trying to survive. Each is fleeing unspeakable horror, from murderous chaos to brutal natural disasters, and each is traveling the same road in a world gone mad. Amid the throes of the apocalypse and clinging to love and meaning wherever it can be found, these four teens are on a journey into the heart of darkness--and to find each other and a place of safety.

  

MY REVIEW

This story takes place in modern times and around a few different characters lives through the end of the world synopsis. You have Aries who was on her way to play practice, Michael who was driving with his friend, Mason who received some tragic news and Clementine who was at a town meeting when things happened. An earth quake took over the world, and you either survived or you didn't. If you survived you became one of them the "Baggers" or you fought to survive. 

I have been on a dystophian kick lately, and I loved this book. Each chapter is told from the point of views of Aries, Mason, Clementine, Michael and Nothing. You watch each of them survive the destruction, and each work their way towards each other. 

The writing was so different from many young adult books. It often felt that it should be geared towards adults. There was some scenes that some would not be able to handle if you have a weak stomach. You watched characters fight for their lives, and also fight the demons in themselves. I would recommend this in a beat for someone who likes dystophian type books and looking for a quick and easy read. I kept think how interesting this would be turned into a film or tv show. There wasn't a single character I didn't like. 

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Pages: 487
Published: January 1st, 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books
Goodreads
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Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

MY REVIEW

Beatrice Prior is from a dystophian Chicago where there are five fractions. At the age of sixteen, everyone takes a test to determine which fraction they will spend the rest of their life in.  Because of some choices children no longer speak to their parents, or the parents no longer wish to speak to their children because of the choices that they make. Divergent is the first part of the story of Beatrice, who changes her name to Trice when she arrives in her new fraction, initiation process. 

I despised this book.  It has been on my Goodreads list since I joined the site, and I finally got around to reading it. It took me two weeks to finish, and it was a struggle to get through it. I don't understand the hype of the story, and let alone, why everyone is sectioned off into fractions to cause a war. The characters were all a dull and so was the romance. This book falls into the 'I can't' category along with Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Both just make me boil.