Throwback Review: Love and Other Perishable Items

A contemporary YA Throwback Review for you ravenous bibliophiles, this time. Originally posted back in February 2013!

Love and Other Perishable Items is a YA contemporary fiction novel by Australian author Laura Buzo.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day – and to celebrate I bring to you a story about first love. Not the mushy romance novel kind (not that there’s anything wrong with that) or the paranormal kind (not that there’s anything wrong with that either) but the regular, difficult, real-life kind.

It didn’t take long for Amelia to fall for Chris, her trainer at the supermarket in which she works. His easy way of talking, his friendliness, humor, and charisma has done her in.

This is a problem because Chris is twenty-one, a university student hungry to become an independent man. And Amelia? Fifteen.

Having always had a good head on her shoulders, Amelia knows it won’t go anywhere. Sure, it’s like a knife to the heart every time she sees him flirting with a girl his age – but she’ll take the moments of conversation, sharing opinions and personal moments with him at the checkout as they work.

But it’s those long conversations that buzz with wit and candor that start Amelia to wonder, eventually, if her crush really is one-sided… or if there is a chance that despite her age, Chris might like her back.

And even if he does… then what?

Love and Other Perishable Items is superb. I read the whole book in one sitting. I couldn’t stop. I was riveted, glued, and dumbfounded by the tender authenticity and genuineness.

From the get-go, Chris is immediately engaging, likable, fun, and cheery – the kind of guy you’d want to be around. He is able to talk – something that can be difficult to find in guys, and it’s one of the main reasons Amelia falls for him.

The tingly, nervous, excited, slightly obsessive feeling of a crush is evident and honest here. Any one of us who has felt it will recognize it easily. Laura Buzo writes extremely well – extremely.

Amelia is believable, feels like a legitimate fifteen-year-old with a brain. She’s not a bundle of gushy girl romantic fantasies, but can carry of intelligent exchanges, has views, and holds her own among the anguish of unrequited love.

Love and Other Perishable Items switches to Chris’ viewpoint occasionally, through his journal, and it is enlightening and cool. It’s a chance to see his darkness, the underground of his personality that is revealing, disheartening, but realistic. I loved that we got to see her perception of him, his personal hidden side, and then the two combined eventually as a whole human nature. Incredible.

This book isn’t sunshine and rainbows – it’s painful, heartbreaking and sad at times. It’s truly raw and presents unaffected, flawed people and the ache that is sometimes life. But – wow! I was stunned, as you can tell. There’s joy here too – and hope.

Love and Other Perishable Items is… special. I think you’ll think so, too.

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Throwback Review: Eyes Like Stars

Another throwback review this week! This one was posted originally in July 2009 and is still one of my favorites! Here ya go:

Eyes Like Stars in the first book by Lisa Mantchev in the Theatre Illuminata trilogy.

Bertie lives on a stage. Her friends are fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her crush is Nate, a pirate from The Little Mermaid. And her childhood friend and now frenemie is Ariel, a hunky spirit from The Tempest.

That’s right. On the stage Bertie lives on, all those characters from all those plays? They’re alive and bursting with drama. And not just the characters from Shakespeare. Every single play that has ever been written is represented in The Book. The Book that makes all of this possible. The Book that creates the magic.

But Bertie isn’t one of these characters; the theatre has taken her in, with a rather murky explanation as to why. It is her home. The only place she knows.

However, Bertie isn’t the most gracious of guests. She can’t seem to help making messes and getting into mischief. And when she is threatened with banishment – she has to find a way to make herself invaluable to the Theatre in order to stay. But while she works hard at doing just that, things start to fall apart. The very existence she is trying to maintain for herself is disappearing in front of her eyes.

Mixing drama with whimsical fantasy, humor with magical depth, Eyes Like Stars manages to be extremely hypnotic in it’s telling. Bertie is somehow very relatable, yet completely immersed in this world that is so unlike our own. She’s interesting and talented without being a goody-two-shoes. All of the incredible characters from all the plays are mesmerizing and stunningly entertaining.

And the plot weaves itself into more than it first seems. There are twists I can assure you, you won’t see coming! At least, I didn’t.

It’s not just a book for Shakespeare lovers, though I’m sure they’d enjoy the characters being lively and full of personality. I, myself, only have a read a couple of the plays and have only a basic idea of the others, and it was in no way an impediment to my delight in Eyes Like Stars.

Somehow, by the last page I found myself spellbound in this exceptionally unique, dreamlike YA novel and breathless for the next installment. The character depth and wit manages to grab a hold of your emotions in a way that you wouldn’t expect for such a quirky novel. But there seems to be more under the surface.

And ALL of it is excellent.

I think you all should find it when it comes out this month and decide for yourselves: Do you wish you had your own Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed (the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream)? My answer is an emphatic: yes.

I’d be shocked if you disagreed.

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Throwback Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Due to time restraints, instead of a new review I am doing a throwback! This review was originally posted back in April 2011 - and is definitely a great read! Here goes:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a YA post-apocalyptic, literary zombie novel by Carrie Ryan.

I know what you're thinking - "literary" zombie novel? Yep, never read anything like it!

Well, that's not exactly true. The whole reason I became obsessed with reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth (beyond the amazing title) is the short story Carrie Ryan wrote in Kiss Me Deadly, a compilation of a bunch of stunning stories written by some of today's best YA paranormal authors. It was called Hare Moon and it took place in the same world, the same village as The Forest of Hands and Teeth - and it was flat out spectacular. So I knew that I absolutely had to read The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

So, lets get to the synopsis, shall we?

Mary lives in a village surrounded by a fence. The fence keeps out the Unconsecrated that live in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, those who have Returned after being Infected - and whose hunger and moans never cease. The Guardians protect the fence, make sure it holds, make sure there won't be a breach. There hasn't been a breach in years. The Sisterhood knows best, and directs the village towards the survival of mankind.

The time is coming when Mary will be claimed and her life of commitment with a husband will begin. After all, in order to survive there must be children. And in a village plagued with miscarriages and barrenness, this is prized above almost anything else.

Yet Mary has never been like other villagers. Her mother has told her of the ocean, a place so many believe is nothing but a ridiculous dream - an impossibility. Mary longs to leave the village, to know of more. To see that they are not the last of mankind, as they've always been told. That there is hope. But secrets begin to reveal themselves to Mary, and what she has always known to be true is thrown into questioning and suspicion.

But then the unthinkable happens. The fence is breached. The Unconsecrated get in. And everything and everyone is in chaos. Mary is faced with unthinkable choices - between the brother she yearns for and the brother she's bound to, between the falling village and the uncertain place the fences old and worn path leads to.

And the Unconsecrated just keep coming.

Oh my. Okay, so my expectations were high from the short story. And my expectations were met - and exceeded. But my, oh my... What an unsettling book! The Forest of Hands and Teeth is horror through and through, written superbly and uniquely - causing a gripping, insanely intriguing, and darkly disturbing result.

I was on pins and needles practically the entire time - totally freaked out by its delicately terrifying, lyrically and deceptively simple prose, and the nonstop shocking turn of events that kept leaving me breathless. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is intense (to put it lightly) and heart-poundingly scary - its horror done almost too well!

Carrie Ryan managed to horrify and sicken me with a world that felt too real to be filled with flesh-eating zombies. She brought it to an entirely different level than any shtick with zombies could be. There was absolutely nothing cartoonish about Mary's story, a heroine flawed but lovely, naive but wise beyond her years, strong and perfect as a main character.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth never ceased to stun me, leaving me with an unforgettably nightmarish experience that was sprinkled with enough humanity, love, hope, and beauty to make it as effectual as it was.

I was heartbroken and exhausted by the end. And ready to see what was going to happen next in the sequel The Dead-Tossed Waves. And all the more wowed by the new implications of the short story Hare Moon, which I now realize to be an incredible prequel, and a must-read to any fan of The Forest of Hands and Teeth!

Have you read it, my fellow bibliophiles? Were you as floored as I was? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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Feeling Sorry for Celia

Feeling Sorry for Celia is a YA contemporary novel by Jaclyn Moriarty.

Elizabeth’s best friend Celia has gone missing… again. She has a habit of taking off due to her “free spirit.” Which is really quite inconvenient.

Elizabeth’s father has announced that he will be staying in Australia for the next year, rather than Canada – meaning lots of father/daughter time. Again, quite inconvenient.

In the meantime, Elizabeth’s mother is so busy that they tend to correspond with each other entirely through notes on the fridge.

So though Elizabeth initially finds her English teacher’s homework to start writing actual, real letters (to rekindle the “Joy of the Envelope”) to a stranger at another school quite ridiculous, soon she finds herself telling this stranger more about herself than most know.

Entirely written in the form of letters – either to/from her pen pal at the other school or from silly invented societies like “The Association of Teenagers,” Feeling Sorry for Celia is a unique, excellent read.

As always, Jaclyn Moriarty astounds me in her ability to make a book that is one moment hilarious and preposterous and then suddenly, unexpectedly, make it grounded, relevant and heartbreaking. This is why she is one of my favorite authors.

I’m only now getting a chance to go back and read her earlier works, such as this one. And already her skill is on full display. It was truly a pleasant, entertaining, poignant novel about friendship, family and crushes in the life of this clever and relatable Australian teenager.

Especially in its handling of the unstable Celia, Feeling Sorry for Celia manages to reflect a picture of what too much abandon given to a young person can bring, while not pulling the book into a depressing, unhappy mess. Somehow it remains hopeful and lovely – just the way I like it!

You can bet your bottom dollar I will be reading more from Jaclyn Moriarty!

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A Worthy Heart

A Worthy Heart is a Christian historical fiction novel by Susan Anne Mason, also the second book in the Courage to Dream series.

Desperately wanting to remove herself from an uncomfortable ended romance, Maggie is gleeful about leaving Ireland to visit her brother and his wife in America. Even if she does, of course, miss her family at home.

Hopeful to never have to return to Ireland, Maggie intends on digging her feet in and making something of herself in America – and then she meets Adam O’Leary.

Initially she thinks he is just an alluring stable hand, but soon enough she is told that he is the recently released from prison black sheep of the O’Leary family – and her brother Rylan’s brother-in-law. They encourage her to stay far away from him.

Yet there is something about him, and a bond that develops between the two, that is impossible for her to ignore – despite everyone’s best efforts to destroy it…

A Worthy Heart features many characters and is much more a family saga than a two-person romance set in 1914 New York City. Besides Maggie and Adam, we also follow Maggie’s brother Gabe and a society girl with nursing aspirations named Aurora.

Throughout A Worthy Heart there are a lot of switching viewpoints, providing plenty of story to tell. However, unfortunately, it did not catch my attention strongly enough to finish the novel.

I want to strongly express that I do not feel this is the book’s fault, but rather my own. I usually love family saga type novels – however with overtime at my job, schoolwork almost every other second of the day and a general lack of sleep: books can be harder to become enveloped in.

It’s a sad but truthful statement.

So, what I want to make sure and say is to READ IT FOR YOURSELF. Clearly we have a romance here, some family drama and plenty of room for redeeming oneself. Plus, for any of you Christian bibliophiles out there, the story is grounded in faith in God – always a good thing!

Give it a shot – sadly I cannot truly give an opinion, since I didn’t get far!

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Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty is a YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Rosamund Hodge.

Nyx’s birth was the result of a bargain between her father and the evil ruler of their kingdom, the Gentle Lord Ignifex. In order to provide Nyx’s mother with children, the Gentle Lord secured the promise that one of the daughter’s would become his bride.

Her father never thought to confirm that his wife would be able to survive the birthing. No one ever does think through their bargain entirely…

Since her childhood, Nyx has been being prepared to marry the Gentle Lord – this demon king who caused the death of her own mother. Her family preps her to kill him, to enact the ultimate revenge and save their people from his ongoing bargains and tyranny of curses.

So it is that on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx weds the immortal Gentle Lord via a stone proxy in the town church and proceeds to the mysterious castle that no one but the desperate – looking for a deal – ever comes near.

Yet Ignifex is not what she expects. His red, catlike eyes are frightening, yes, but he is strangely charming. Her own resentment and bitterness that has bubbled beneath the surface her entire life seem to find a kindred spirit – and the castle’s ever-changing labyrinth of supernatural rooms is intoxicating.

Nyx finds the mission she was groomed for since birth – to kill the Gentle Lord – to be a far more difficult prospect than she expected…

Cruel Beauty was a creepy, dark, angst-ridden retelling in the very best way.

This is a truly captivating novel with a heroine that struggles with her inner motivations, hostility and choices. She is no Belle from Disney – and that is okay.

Here we have a young woman who has never felt love from her father – as he has refused to provide love to someone he has to give up. Here we have a young woman that has known for years that she must marry her mother’s murderer – and in fulfilling her mission to kill him, ultimately will have to sacrifice herself for her people, as well.

So when she is suddenly in a position where this demon king actually seems to understand her and accept her for who she is – how is she supposed to kill him? And Ignifex is definitely appealing, while also being enigmatic and maddening with a little bit of scariness.

Cruel Beauty is really about two deeply flawed individuals in a world of curses, dark magic and evil that has haunted their world for ages. It’s about love!

I wouldn’t say I am AS enthusiastically over the moon onCruel Beauty as I have seen some other readers be, but I am definitely a big fan and found it to be a page-turner on both an emotional and plot-wise level.

Definitely one to read and add to the ever growing list of fairy-tale retellings!

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