Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Warning: There are spoilers in this review for both If I Stay and Where She Went.  If you haven't read them, which I suggest you do right now, you had better not read this review, because it gives away critical things.

Summary (from Goodreads): It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future–and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

Review: So.  Where do I begin. 
If you've been following the blog for a while you may or may not know how much I've been going on about this book. I even contemplated taking an intense crash course in French so I could read it when it was released in France back in November. Alas, the Russian subjunctive and German subordinate clause have given me more than enough to worry about at the moment, and it was probably never going to happen, so I never did.
And then it was finally released here in the sceptr'd isle, so I read it in English, which is probably for the best anyway, because I doubt the fantastically haunting and spare writing style could be sufficiently translated into any language.

However, it's probably worth me mentioning that I was hesitant to actually start it, as soon as it was in my clutches: What if I didn't like it?  What would happen if Mia and Adam had changed from the awesome people they had been? What if them both being like that prevented me from not only disliking Where She Went, but If I Stay as well?  Most importantly, what would happen if either of them were killed off? 
But then my inquisitiveness got the better of me, and so I ended up tearing through this book in about two sittings. I guess it was kind of a combination of the fact that it was just so, well, amazingly done, and out of curiosity to find out what was going to happen next.  If I Stay was one of the best books that I read last year, and it was fantastic to see the stories of the characters I loved so much three years on.    And it's just as good as If I Stay, but for much of the book in a much more subtle way, I think.
Three years on, and Adam isn't at all like the passionate, enthusiastic musician that he was when we left him.  He's a perfect example of the cliché that is rock and roll, complete with an actress girlfriend, a house in LA, and thousands of fangirls across the world.  Strangely, although Adam's band has really taken off in Where She Went, and Mia was about to embark on a tour to Japan, I didn't feel like music was such a strong element of the book. I mean, music was the reason that Adam had become such a train wreck, and why Mia was in New York, but actually, directly, there wasn't that much of it.  In some respects this was kind of a shame, because to me that was one of the most powerful things about its predecessor.  It's a book not about events, or what makes up or leads up to events, so much as the events after the event; about the wheres and whens and whys and what ifs.  Does that make sense?  Ignore me if that makes things any easier.

It's one of those books that I couldn't really give a proper plot summary of. If I said to someone who asked me what it was about, or what happened in the book, I'd be like, "it's about a cello virtuoso and a singer in a band...and they used to be in love, and then she was in a car crash and lost her whole family..." but no, wait, that happened in the first book. What happens here?  "Well, uh, they find each other in New York City, and they spend the night together, and then they fall back in love,..." Yeah, it could just be me because I suck at summarising books, but at such a summary it doesn't sound like the most heart-stopping, gut-wrenching, turn-the-page-with-so-much-enthusiasm-you-almost-tear-it sort of book.  But oh, it is.  Very very much so. I read most of this while I was babysitting, and if one of the boys I was looking after had woken up I would have been like, "Wait just a second!  Mia's about to tell Adam why she never came back!"

Which is where we get to all the revelatory stuff.  The way the story is laid out is absolutely perfect; everything is gradually revealed, so that just when one thing is worked out or explained you're told about something else.  It's like unwrapping a present. There are so many layers and as you get deeper and deeper into the story, and you find out more and more, until you're just left with the one thing that really matters, the thing that you really want to know.  And, to me, it was an entirely sufficient explanation for why Mia just vanished from Adam's life after deciding to stay.  I felt a little twinge of dislike for her then, for doing that to Adam, but she had her reasons, and I totally get that. Gayle Forman has such a powerful way of writing about people and why they do the things they do.

I feel like I'm rambling a bit now, and that I can't really do it any justice. So. Just find a copy and read it and see for yourself. Laugh. Cry. Scowl. Cheer.  And be glad that Mia decided to stay and she went where she did.  And that probably sounds really cheesy, but it's true.

In three words: Powerful, revelatory, haunting.
recommended for: Everyone who wants to know what happened when Mia stayed.
Rating: 5

Review: Wait for Me by An Na

Dear Blog,

Sorry this review's so short.  And sorry I haven't been reviewing much lately.  But I've been doing a lot of writing lately in my struggle to finish my NaNo novel from last year, so there's been minimal blogging time.

Summary (from Goodreads): Mina is the perfect daughter. Bound for Harvard, she's Honor Society president and a straight-A student, even as she works at her family's dry-cleaning store and helps care for her hearing impaired little sister. On the outside, Mina does everything right. On the inside, Mina knows the truth. Her life is a lie. Then, the summer before her senior year, Mina meets someone to whom she cannot lie. Ysrael, a young migrant worker who dreams of becoming a musician, comes to work for her family, and asks Mina the one question that scares her the most. What does she want?

Review: This is one of those books where before I actually get to the reviewing I have to say: look at the cover.  It's so gorgeous I could eat it. In fact my copy is only upstairs, and I'm still quite peckish.
I've never read any of Na's books before, but the reason I was drawn to Wait for Me was, in fact, the cover.


The story alternates perspectives between Mina and her hearing-impaired little sister Suna. Mina has a lot on her plate; the story's set the summer before her senior year in high school, and when not working in her parents' dry-cleaners she's taking care of Suna and trying to keep up the high expectations that her mother has of her, while hiding the fact that all of it is a lie. More I cannot say on that matter, because that would slightly give things away. Enter Ysrael, a Mexican immigrant who starts working for her parents and changes everything. He was, in truth, a typical mysterious guitar-playing love interest.  

The writing style is probably one of my favourite things about the book.  At a first look seems quite distant, as if the reader isn't feeling what the characters feel so directly, but rather is stood on the other side of the room watching them. But as I sort of got into it, it seemed like quite dream-like prose.   It certainly worked well for Suna's parts of the story; but I think I would have liked to have been able to relate to Mina more than I felt like I did. I certainly wanted for her to be happy, and resolve everything with Johnathon, but I felt like I was wanting that as an observer; almost alienated from her.
 Which isn't to say I didn't dislike the writing. It seems pretty cleverly crafted; Mina writes in the first person past, and Suna in the third person present.  Both of them seem like the perfect ways to tell their stories in relation to the character. 

The plot, however, I wasn't so keen on.  I think that was mostly because it's such a short book; I don't think there was really enough time for the plot to develop realistically or clearly; the Mina/Johnathon thing, for instance. I was entirely confused as to what was going on there, or what was really going on behind it.  They used to be in love, but now they're not?  Yet Johnathon is still helping her keep up her perfect facade?   But there's more to that, surely... The mind boggles.  And, similarly, the Mina/Ysrael relationship seemed pretty rushed.  It seemed like they'd just met when they were already kissing.  It was, I suppose, like the story was entirely in fast-forward mode, but I couldn't slow things down and really identify with the characters.  Suna, for instance.  She wasn't the central character- Mina was- but I think that An Na could have gone into her with more detail, certainly.  Her emotions were never really explored; just her actions.  Being deaf, surely, wouldn't suddenly stop her thinking or feeling anything of her own, not that much? 

Which brings me to the ending.  It's a very open conclusion to the book; with nothing really clearly resolved and leaving the reader to speculate what happens.  It's irritating that I can't really talk about it lest I give something away (but then, if it's an open ending, surely that implies  there's nothing to give away..?)  Nothing is concluded or wrapped up entirely, and though the story had come to a stopping point, it isn't an end.  There's certainly a lot more potential story to it, but alas none of it was tied up.  Maybe, as with some books, that could have been okay.  But I still had so many questions from the rest of the plot, I would have liked to have had some of them answered.

So, it's a nice enough book, but it really could have done with some more filling out and plot development.  I'm not sure if I would read any more of Na's novels, but I suppose I'm glad I read this.

In three words: rushed, poetic, hmmm.
Recommended for: mothers and daughters.
Rating: 2.5

Five Challenge: Great Book Covers

Dear blog,
day two of the Persnickety Snark FIVE challenge, in which I blog about which five books of 2010 have (in my opinion) the most gorgeous book covers.
This was a hugely hard sort of post to write, because anyone who stalks my blog frequently knows how much I love book covers, however many times I buy books with nice covers and then they end up being totally awful.
Anyway.  So here are my five favourites, in no particular order.

THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson
The UK cover is nice, but the US edition is even better.  (That is, the one I've pictured here).   I'm currently reading it-almost finished- and it seems so relevant to the book.
Anyway.  Much love for this cover.

HARMONIC FEEDBACK by Tara Kelly
So I haven't actually read this yet, but look at that cover.  That alone makes it worthy of my to-read shelf on goodreads.  However, I hear it's also about music, and that's a bonus.

 LOSING FAITH by Denise Jaden
Haven't read this either. Still,  I love simplistic book covers, and so the cover of Losing Faith is right up my street.  And it's pretty. 

FALLOUT by Ellen Hopkins
*drumroll* the grand conclusion to Ellen's gritty trilogy about Kristina Georgia Snow and her addiction to methamphetamine.  I love this cover because it's so relevant to the book; what you see is what you get.  A raw, disturbed and disturbing rollercoaster that follows the lives of three teenage siblings.

LIFE, AFTER by Sarah Darer Littman
Tree. Flowers.  Beautiful font.  Enough said.

Well, that's all.  It was irritatingly hard to pick my five favourites, so I'd better post this entry before I change my mind about some of them. 

Review: I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert

Dear Blog.

NaNoWriMo is over, which means that I've got more time now for book-reviewing.  All my time got sucked into an infinite void of writing, writing and more writing.  Anyway, it's over now, so you can expect many more reviews from me.

Summary (from Goodreads): A raw, edgy, emotional novel about growing up punk and living to tell.

The Clash. Social Distortion. Dead Kennedys. Patti Smith. The Ramones.

Punk rock is in Emily Black's blood. Her mother, Louisa, hit the road to follow the incendiary music scene when Emily was four months old and never came back. Now Emily's all grown up with a punk band of her own, determined to find the tune that will bring her mother home. Because if Louisa really is following the music, shouldn't it lead her right back to Emily?

Review: First things first- if there is one thing that you need to know about me it is that I am totally obsessed with music. 
However, armed with a classical guitar and a double bass, Mia of If I Stay is more my calling.  Still, whether it's rock or baroque I love books involving music because no matter what the genre or era or instrument, the passion for the sound and such is the same.  So I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone is one of those books that makes me want to punch the air and yell, "heck yeah!"  This is what it's all about. 

I should probably mention that it is in some respects a very clichéd book, and the plot is hugely overdone. There's mothers who abandon their daughters, quests to find aforementioned mothers,  drug addictions, underground venues, stalkers, cigarettes, abuse, and casual sex among other things.  It has all the trademarks of a sex-drugs-rock 'n' roll novel.  Yet it's still enjoyable escapism, and you can't help but want to go along for the ride (especially if you've spent a while trying to conquer something with a title like Etude Opus. 60, no.5 in A Minor) (which I frequently do). 

The star of the show, no wordplay intended, is Emily Black, the tough lead singer in her punk-rock trio She Laughs.  She is for the most part fearless and gutsy, but her emotions are really what drives her-  for instance, she spends a year going across America trying to search for her mother. She's intelligent, I suppose, but you can't help but snort at her impulsive recklessness now and again.  But, well, it wouldn't be any fun if she didn't take such risks, would it?

The story is told through her point of view, most of the time (I'll get to the parts that aren't in a minute). Her voice seems kind of careless, as if looking back on her past she really thinks nothing of everything that she goes through.  She sounds kind of distant, if that makes sense, as if just casually recounting the events of a slightly boring day rather than actually her teenage years up until the age of about twenty-three, the later years of which totally change her life.   But she sounds so calm about it, like, "Yeah, and then my supposed boyfriend tried to kill me, and I had to run away.  It was really no biggie."
There are a few chapters, however, describing the comings and goings on Emily's mother, Louisa, which are told in a distant kind of third-person, portraying her life and coming back to her now and again while Emily is growing up.
I suppose one of my main complaints might be- it takes a very long time  to really get going.  It reminds me a little of The Hunger Games is that the real stuff doesn't come into it until about a hundred pages in.  But the first 100 pages sort of build up to that, describing her childhood and early teen years, and how she had decided that rock-n-roll was the path she wanted to follow from a young age.  It's not exciting, but it's essential, and so worth getting through.
 
Still, it makes for an interesting read.  It's a teenage book, but I think that those who are now adults who were teens in the 90s, when most of the book takes place, would enjoy it too.  Especially if they were as into music as Emily was. I, however, missed out on this, being a small girl who watched The Wild Thornberrys  at the time.   Such recent times seem kind of unvisited in teenage fiction, so I found it pretty interesting. Like something I missed out on because I was a) too small and b) too busy wishing that my parents had a comvee. not from a small town in the Midwest with a huge empty warehouse in which bands turn up to make music and stagedive. 
 
Anyway.   Read it, and see for yourself.  You'll either think it's hugely overdone and a shaky sort of debut novel, or else you'll just be able to toss that aside and go along for the ride.
 
In Three Words: Gritty, musical, exhilarating.
Reccomended for: teenagers...and adults, too.
Rating: 3.5

Book Blogger Hop

Dear Blog,
it's Friday. It's the Book Blogosphere.  Which means the Book Blogger Hop (yay!) , hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy For Books.  Every week, as well as the Linky, those participating suggest questions for you to answer in your Hop post.  This week the question is:

Do you listen to music when you read? If so, what are your favorite reading tunes?

My answer: I don't tend to intentionally listen to music and read at the same time.  This is mostly because I'm one of those people who likes songs with meaningful lyrics, and to my mind they're the best part.  if I'm reading, I can't listen properly to the words, and if I'm listening  to music then I sort of get distracted from the book.  That said, I quite like classical music (a teenager who likes classical music? Who isn't the fictional imagining of an author?  Can this be true? *gasps*), so occasionally I put a bit of  Carulli or Vivaldi on my iPod speakers and listen to their music.

Anyway.   Enough of my ramblings.  Hop forth, book bloggers!

Review: Struts and Frets

Dear Blog,
Sorry about the quality of the picture.  But I felt like I ought to say something about Struts and Frets by Jon Skovron, and a cover makes things interesting.  Ta-da! *points to cover*  This is Struts and Frets!  *jazz hands*.

Summary (from Goodreads): Music is in Sammy’s blood. His grandfather was a jazz musician, and Sammy’s indie rock band could be huge one day—if they don’t self-destruct first. Winning the upcoming Battle of the Bands would justify all the band’s compromises and reassure Sammy that his life’s dream could become a reality. But practices are hard to schedule when Sammy’s grandfather is sick and getting worse, his mother is too busy to help either of them, and his best friend may want to be his girlfriend.

When everything in Sammy’s life seems to be headed for major catastrophe, will his music be enough to keep him together? [close]

 

Review: I'll list various things because the inside cover of the hardcover edition lists things: (These Are The Things That Keep Sammy Awake At Night, So Read This Book If You...that sort of thing)

 

Some Reasons I Like This Book:

• It's told with the point of view of a boy.  I read little contemporary fiction, and even less with a male narrator.  I thought it was an interesting insight into the mind of the opposite sex.
• In relation to the last bullet point, Sammy's voice seemed so very realistic.  Well, to my mind.  I don't know if any boys would read this and go, "pffft!"  and laugh.  But Jon Skovron is obviously a male and most likely speaks from experience.
• Still lingering on Sammy's character (he must be good to have 3 bullet points mentioning him), he's both ordinary and unique. That balance makes him likeable and easy to relate to.  He's like any other teenage boy.  He worries about love and the future of his band and his grandfather.
• I really liked the relationship between Sammy and Jen5 (there were four other Jennifers in their class at school and all the other Jennifer-related names were taken).   All teenagers will be able to relate to and in away learn from it.
• The main reason I love Struts and Frets: This book is chock-full of music, much like If I Stay. But it's a different sort of music. Instead of being a cellist, Sammy plays in an indie-rock band and his grandfather is a jazz musician. But still, it's music, and it feels fantastically alive. Unlike some other music-related books I could mention (ahem, The Journal of Danny Chaucer by Roger Stevens). There's even a Rock and Jazz Mash-up Playlist at the back of the book, and it's fun to look the songs up on YouTube and think about how they're related to the book.

Some Things  I Didn't Like:

• I can't really think of anything...Oh, there is one thing I guess.  There's a lot of swearing in this book and it doesn't really add anything to the story. That's all :D

Summary: boy or girl, Struts and Frets is a must-read.  Read, listen, enjoy.  4/5