Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Fairy Tale
Author: Cyn Balog
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: An impulse pick at the library.

Summary: Morgan and her football-star boyfriend are looking forward to their joint 16th birthday party. But then she catches him hanging out with a new girl.

Stopped on Page: 28
Why I Stopped: The main character’s voice was a little young for my taste. But the clincher for me and the reason I didn’t even make it to my 50-page line in the sand was what happened on page 27.

Morgan and her boyfriend Cameron have been dating since they were young kids. Here, Morgan is comparing her relationship with Cameron to how she sees other girls acting with guys:

I sigh, thinking of the girls at school. Most of them are going through hell for guys—playing weird head games like “ignore him and he’ll fall all over you” or seeing who can fit into the clothes with the biggest price tags and the smallest sizes. I’ve never been a part of that world, and I don’t want to be. I want to be with Cam. That’s the only thing about my life that makes sense.

This felt a little on the needy side to me, and having just come off reading about a needy, all-consuming love in Shiver, I wasn’t ready for another one just yet.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: The Fetch
• Unfinished: Girls for Breakfast
• Unfinished: Girlfriend Material

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Sophomore Switch
Author: Abby McDonald
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: Another impulse pick at the library.

Summary: California party-girl Tasha gets caught on video doing something embarrassing in a hot tub. So she agrees to a last-minute foreign-exchange swap with an Oxford student named Emily. But neither of them is prepared to live the life of their complete opposite.

Stopped on Page: 62
Why I Stopped: The curse of the alternating points of view strikes again! I have a hard time getting into novels that use that technique.

Tasha was the first character to have a go at telling her story. But her California-speak turned her into somewhat of a caricature, making it hard for me to connect to her. Here, she’s describing an “athletic blonde” student:

OK, so I’m being tactful here; by “athletic,” what I really mean is butch. Cropped hair, baggy sportswear, and if that doesn’t paint a clear-enough picture for you, she has a rainbow badge on her bulky backpack. Hey, I’m not judging. I just don’t see why a same-sex preference has to go hand in hand with complete fashion backwardness. I mean, look at Portia de Rossi: a hot wife and an Elle subscription. It can be done!

I wonder how I would have responded to this book if the straight-laced British girl Emily was the one to start talking first. I tend to like that style of voice more.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: Going Going
• Unfinished: ghostgirl
• Unfinished: Girls for Breakfast

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Girlfriend Material
Author: Melissa Kantor
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: An impulse pick at the library.

Summary: Kate’s parents are fighting again. This time, her mom decides to leave town to get some perspective. The only problem is, she’s dragging Kate along, shattering all of Kate’s summer plans.

Stopped on Page: 74
Why I Stopped: Part of it was I still felt a little bitter from getting stuck with my last book and finishing it when I should have stopped. But I also had trouble connecting to the main character in this book.

The entire first chapter is about how mad Kate is at her mom for dragging her away from home. But on the second to last page of that chapter, you find out Kate’s actually been excited about the trip all along.

After she’d worked me up into an empathetic state of outrage that her mom was forcing her to tag along and leave all her own summer plans behind, I felt a wee bit hoodwinked. So at that point, I found myself not really caring about Kate’s troubles. And I stopped reading.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Related posts:

• Unfinished: Beautiful Americans
• Unfinished: The Secret Life of Prince Charming
• Unfinished: My Life in Pink & Green

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters
Author: Sydney Salter
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I went to a writing workshop where this book was recommended.

Summary: Soon-to-be-a-senior Jory has a Super Schnozz, so she gets a job and starts saving up money for plastic surgery. Maybe then Tyler Briggs will notice her.

Stopped on Page: 22
Why I Stopped: Another casualty of that string of great books. This may be a good book, but for me, it didn’t compare to the ones I’d just finished.

The main reason I stopped reading is that the voice sounded too young for a girl who’s about to be a senior. An example, where Jory is talking about getting to borrow the family minivan after having an accident in her car:

I was still slightly shocked that Mom had let me drop her off at work early and borrow the minivan. Like I keep saying, it was an accident! I thought I was hitting the brakes, but I was hitting the gas instead. It was only in the movie-theater parking lot, and I totally blame the guy for looking like Tyler Briggs. Really, it was no big deal. Except that I lost my car. One little mistake and my car becomes too expensive to insure. (You’d think the Mercedes I hit would’ve had a sturdier bumper!)

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: Elsewhere
• Unfinished: Girlfriend Material
• Unfinished: Shine, Coconut Moon

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Audience Pick!

Title: The Truth about Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: Because you told me to!

Summary: 16-year-old Macy just lost her father. Unlike her older sister, she didn’t let her grief show. She was the one who kept it all together. She has a safe boyfriend, a safe summer job, a safe life. So why would she trade all that in for a job with a chaotic catering company?

Stopped on Page: 82
Why I Stopped: I usually enjoy Dessen’s books. But after a string of books that nearly destroyed my will to write, I couldn’t get into this one.

Reasons I couldn’t get into this book:

• You’re tellin’ me—I felt like I was getting told a whole lot without being able to see and discover things for myself.
• Flashback whiplash—They made it hard to get into the here and now of Macy’s life.
• Romantic let-down—When I started this book, I was expecting a good romance. But by page 82, Macy had just noticed a cute boy and they hadn’t had much real interaction. I wanted things to move a little faster in that department.

Still, I will probably go back to this one someday. The timing just wasn’t right this go-round.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: The Secret Life of Prince Charming
• Unfinished: Skunk Girl
• Unfinished: My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Serendipity Market
Author: Penny Blubaugh
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: When the world tilts off its axis, it’s up to Mama Inez to harness the magical power of story to put it right again.

Stopped on Page: 23
Why I Stopped: I couldn’t get into this one. The problem introduced at the beginning is that the world is tilting off its axis, which sounds bad and all but the book didn’t make me care one whit about it. I need a more personal problem to connect with a story right off the bat.

Part of it is that I didn’t connect with Mama Inez or the other characters introduced at first. Then when we start meeting everybody who’s being invited to tell their stories, I completely lost interest. I had no idea who I was supposed to identify with and root for.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: Elsewhere
• Unfinished: Girlfriend Material
• Unfinished: Sophomore Switch

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: The ABC’s of Kissing Boys
Author: Tina Ferraro
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I saw it on the shelf at the library, and the juicy cover convinced me to check it out.

Summary: Parker’s about to start her junior year, but she got stuck on the JV soccer team while all her friends made varsity. So she cooks up a scheme to finagle a spot on varsity. All she has to do is learn how to kiss first.

Stopped on Page: 32
Why I Stopped: I think I’m still pining after Harry Potter, even though it’s now been over a week since I finished the last book. But the premise of this book seemed too contrived to me.

Parker plans to earn her spot on the varsity soccer team by getting her brother’s hot friend to offer $300 if only he can get a kiss from Parker in the varsity team’s fundraising kissing booth. So, her logic goes, the coach will have to let her on the varsity team so she can earn the $300, and then the coach will realize her mistake and let her stay on the team.

But like I said, it could be Harry Potter’s fault I didn’t get into this one.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds
• Unfinished: The Fetch
• Review Double Feature: The Boy Book & The Treasure Map of Boys

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Elsewhere
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I saw it on the shelf at the library before I left for vacation and decided to bring it along.

Summary: 15-year-old Liz gets hit by a car and ends up in Elsewhere—a place where everyone ages backward until they become babies and get sent back to Earth.

Stopped on Page: 122
Why I Stopped: Intriguing concept of the afterlife, but the characters never came alive to me, so to speak. The story also seemed to slow down quite a bit once Liz got to Elsewhere. I was about to board the plane to come back home, so I decided to stop this one and start something new that I might like better.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: The Secret Life of Prince Charming
• Unfinished: Girlfriend Material
• Unfinished: Serendipity Market

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Shine, Coconut Moon
Author: Neesha Meminger
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: Sam is Indian American but knows nothing about her Indian heritage. Then shortly after 9/11, a man in a turban shows up on her doorstep saying he’s her uncle.

Stopped on Page: 38
Why I Stopped: I loved reading about a culture I know so little about, but I stopped this one because the amount of telling got to me. I feel like it could have been tightened up a lot to avoid telling something we’re about to be shown as well. For example:

“Today I’m on my way to Molly’s house. They’re having a huge birthday celebration for Molly’s great-aunt Maggie. I love and hate Molly’s huge family gatherings. Love, because her family is awesome—they’re a blast to be around, and warm and welcoming. Hate, because when I’m in the midst of all that laughter and familyness, I feel more alone than ever.”

Then the scene right after this shows the exact same things we were just told.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: Going Going
• Unfinished: My Life in Pink & Green
• Unfinished: Beautiful Americans

Summary: Quinn lives with her mom, her aunt, and her grandma, all of whom have been unlucky in love. She wants to believe in love herself, but it’s not easy when you add in that even your own dad is breaking more than his fair share of hearts.

Stopped on Page: 94
Why I Stopped: This story moved too slow for my taste. In the entire first chapter, it felt like nothing happened. It had all these asides and generalizations, but not much in the way of action.

Here’s the start:

When it came to love, my mother’s big advice was that there were WARNING SIGNS. About the “bad” guys, that is. The ones who would hurt you or take advantage or crumple you up and toss, same as that poem I would once try to write for Daniel Jarvis. The wrong men—the psychopaths, cheaters, liars, controllers, stalkers, ones too lazy or incompetent to hold a job, to hold their temper, to hold you properly, to hold anything but a joint or a beer bottle—well, there were RED FLAGS, and you had to watch for them.

But I’d like to give Caletti’s work another try. So see that Pick My Next Book box at the right? Recommend away!

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Related posts:

• Unfinished: My Life in Pink & Green
• Unfinished: The Truth about Forever
• Unfinished: Fairy Tale