Author : Leila Sales
Genre : Contemporary
Published Date : September 17th 2013
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Pages : 279
Pages : 279
Source : Bought
From Goodreads :
Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.
Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.
Review
When it first came out, this book received so many attention on the blogosphere. But I'm not really interested at it at that time, because well, music is not my thing.
And the first time I actually am curious this book, it's from one of my friend in blogosphere (Cue to you, Kezia :D), saying about how much she loved it and all. And since our taste is similar, I said to myself, well why not?
And turns out, this one is a piece of amazing.
"Because throughout it all, you are still, always, you: beautiful and bruised, known and unknowable. And isn’t that—just you—enough?"
—Elise
And I really love that this book managed to captured that raw emotion so beautifully, and it really connect with the real world and the real peer pressure. The writing was also light but still thoughtful, and it has managed to make me devour it on one sitting.
The characters were all great and very well-developed too.
Elise as the main character had this unique personality, and it's lovely to see her living up to this until the very end, that even the condition changes, she doesn't. And the way she behaved is believably weird, and maybe if you read it, you could say like "Wow, this girl is exaggerating everything", but I see it with my teenage's eye, and her action was like, weird but just how I expected a socially-awkward teen to behave. And another plus point is that both her parents are pretty much alive and existing, not just questionably absent like soo many YA novels out there.
The side characters also had its different role too, all with their own issues and their own personality. And even the assholes did has his own issue for doing things, and making it perfectly sensible, while being still unacceptable. And if it's not an amazing balance, I honestly don't know what is.
Overall, I think this book really succeed in tackling the issue of bullying and overwhelming peer pressure and identity crisis in teenager. Completed with powerful characters and fun but straight-to-the-heart writing, I truly recommended this book.
Cheers, x
NK
Author : Marie Rutkoski
Genre : Historical
Published Date : March 4th 2014
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Pages : 355
Source : Bought
From Goodreads :
Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction.
Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.
Review
The first time I added this book to my TBR, I just thought "Oh, super pretty cover." and add it. Even when I buy it and read it, I still have no idea that it was going to be a historical fiction. And I still have no idea too that it was such a hyped up book everyone is talking about.
I was never particularly like those genre from the beginning, because it is often too boring for me. But even when I read this one, I still think "Oh, it's going to be dystopian maybe?". But then it was historical all the way until the end. But, well, who knows this book is actually a really nice surprise?
"You, I understand. You, I know how to read."
—Arin
One thing that maybe appeal to me so much is that although the history was maybe all made-up, it's still very well-thought of. It all seems so believable, full of depth, and overall very interesting. Like we could rolled out a map and see "Hey, that's the Herranian Peninsula up there."
And did I say it already, just how much I coveted the cover? It soo freaking beautiful.
The plotting of this book was pretty enjoyable. It is unpredictable, thrilling, and managed to keep us curious and dying to know what's next, all the time until the last page. Also love it that we actually could guess where it was going if we noticed the subtle hint being dropped here and there, but in the end we're still surprised and said "Why didn't I see this?"
I also love the fact that this book is very character-driven, and most of it is because of our brilliant main character, Kestrel (Although, honestly, her name is just so damn weird and hard to pronounce).
She is very smart and tough, using her brain when she obviously couldn't get out of a situation with her power and her lady's weak hand. And another thing that I admire from her character is that she was not that bratty wealthy girl, yet still hold her origin as a lady even though she might be sparring through mud or something.
And I really enjoyed the way she drove the story, guessing what she might have done this time, because she would always somehow had a logical, truly believable and valid way to get out of any situation. And man, doesn't I loved that just so so much?
Arin, as her counterpart and literally a slave of her, was also very well-developed. He has a strong and distinctive personality, and managed to look both strong and fragile at the same time. I also love how he successfully made us reader sympathize with his former-noble-but-now-a-slave condition, but not making it hyperbolic and melodramatic for a male.
One thing I didn't really love from him though, would be that (But not much, thankfully) sometime, when he stood to his personality, he is just simply weird. Like, I don't know what the hell you're doing even if you lay all your reason right there in front of me kind of weird. But I don't know, maybe it's just me.
Unfortunately, all the other supporting character, like Kestrel's friends, were just so generic and common that when Kestrel risked it all to save them, I just couldn't connect because, well, I don't see the why.
And the ending of this book, also, feel like it was missing a conclusion or something. I don't exactly know what it is, but I know that it left me feeling a lil bit emptier than before.
But overall, I think this book was very worthy of the hype that surrounds it. Sure it might not be the most brilliant book out there, but it does live up to the expectation. If you're a fans of historical fiction or if you want to try to read one, this book with its strong and admirable main character and a plot that'll keep you entertained until the very last would be a great choice.
Cheers, x
NK
Author : Julie Halpern
Genre : Contemporary
Published Date : November 12th 2013
Publisher : Feiwel & Friends
Pages : 256
Source : Bought
From Goodreads :
With her signature heart and humor, Julie Halpern explores a strained friendship strengthened by one girl’s battle with cancer.
Alex’s father recently died in a car accident. And on the night of his funeral, her best friend Becca slept with Alex’s boyfriend. So things aren’t great. Alex steps away from her friendship with Becca and focuses on her family.
But when Alex finally decides to forgive Becca, she finds out something that will change her world again—Becca has cancer.
So what do you do when your best friend has cancer? You help her shave her head. And then you take her bucket list and try to fulfill it on her behalf.
Because if that’s all you can do to help your ailing friend—you do it.
Review
"So I carried on, waiting for what ever was to come, with or without God’s help"
—Alex
While in Goodreads, I saw a glittering 4-5 stars every here and there, I do wondering if maybe I'm the black sheep here (Am I?). But oh well, here's my thought on this book anyway. And I really can't comment about the story or the ending or whatever, because I didn't read this until the end and it just won't be fair.
The main issue I had with this book was, number one, it's romance. Honestly, so far as I read it, it didn't cause ANY big thing on the story except that now Alex had someone to be kissed, crossed a few item on the bucket list, and nothing else. And the biggest issue yet? They were like "Who are you and who are you?" at the first time they met, and YET, here comes the magic, they were kissing! Or, making out while lying on the grass, really.
Another thing that just annoyed me is just how super-extra-mega perverted this book is. Or Becca and Alex is. I mean, I am a high-schooler too, and I totally am not like you. And I bet no one is. I lived your live, you know. Okay, minus the cancer, but cancer certainly doesn't make you perverted as hell.
And on top of that, if it was not enough reason, there would be no way—however perverted someone is—they would act like Becca. I mean, come on, there's no way she would think about sex every single second of her life, playing game about sex, talking about sex, and guess what? Doing a bucket list full of sexual thing. Like she literally have nothing else to think about, please.
Some thing I found redeeming enough to make me give this book two stars instead of one, though, was mainly because of Becca's personality. Not the sex-addict personality, of course, but more of her straight-forward attitude. Not afraid of doing what she want to do, and not wait another day to do it. And she and Alex just complement each other really nicely.
And, that, I think, is the only thing I could think of that was positive from this book. And oh, the pretty cover, and those intriguing blurb. Nothing else, really. Period.
If you're looking for a touching contemporary story about friendship, or possibly just looking for a tearjerker book for your weekend reads, just look for another book. I bet there's lots of them way better than this.
Sorry, but, just not my taste, really. Waaay out of my taste.
Cheers, x
NK
Meet the Author
This is Neysa & Kessy, two girls who enjoys reading good stories as much as we enjoy talking about it. Stay tune with our journey as we find and share the latest story we've read here in Papier Revue.
Hope you enjoy,
Cheers! x
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