Bibliovermis

Lola and the Boy next Door, by Stephanie Perkins

26 Sep 2012 ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

Lola and the Boy next Door. Stephanie Perkins. Book Review: Lola's got friends, great parents, and an older, rock-god boyfriend who appreciates the elaborate costumes in which she lives her life. Her only desires are to dress as Marie Antoinette for the winter formal, for her parents to like her boyfriend­—and to never, ever, see the Bell twins again. When the Bell family returns to the neighborhood, Lola is confronted by her past, the fragility of her relationships, and her feelings for the boy next door. [Image: Moving truck] A cute novel, with an interesting cast, but lacking much of the charm of its predecessor and the strength of that book’s lead characters.

Good for: It's not quite as good or as cute as Anna and the French Kiss, but fans of that book may enjoy it—and will like the brief glimpses of familiar characters

I meant to draw something a bit more elaborate for this review, but thought I'd focus on posting it on time instead!

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Where She Went, by Gayle Forman

24 Sep 2012 ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

Where She Went. Gayle Forman. Book Review: Both Adam and Mia have become successful musicians. But since shortly after the events of If I Stay, they have barely spoken. The break-up has torn Adam apart—and provided fuel for the explosion of his musical career. There is so much Adam wants to tell Mia. And on one serendipitous night in New York, he’ll get the chance. It’s romantic, it’s emotional, and I liked it a bit better than the first book. But sobfests make me feel manipulated, and gosh, did I find these two frustrating together. [Image: pinboard with various ads, including one advertising tour dates with a band called Shooting Star, and one advertising a Carnegie Hall Young Concert Series with Mia Hall]

Good for: I think it's mostly a catharsis book, for people who are really interested in getting some good crying done. Young adult romance fans, especially those who enjoyed If I Stay may love it.

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The Future of Us, by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

20 Sep 2012 ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

The Future of Us. Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler. Book Review: What would you do if you could see the future... and change it? When Josh and Emma install the free AOL CD Josh got in the mail, they’re automatically logged into their facebook accounts­—15 years before facebook is invented. You’d expect a lot of coverage of the dangers of knowing and changing your future. But ultimately, it’s just a pretty cute romance. Considering the setup, it’s a little disappointing!

Good for: Young adult fiction fans, people who like very very soft science fiction. Anyone looking for a short, breezy weekend read.

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The Long Earth, by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

13 Sep 2012 ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

The Long Earth. Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Book Review: A design appears on the internet, simple enough for any kid with a nearby Radioshack to complete. Children everywhere build the potato-powered device, flip the switch... And step—into a limitless number of potential Earths, empty of human life. The ramifications of a possibly endless expanse of land and resources on a crowded and depleted 'datum' Earth, its economy, and the people left behind when many feel the itch toward Manifest Destiny are explored in this novel. The novel has an interesting premise and is a promising beginning, but it has a lot of incomplete narratives and ends rather abruptly. [Image: The 'Stepper' box described.]

Good for: It's a passably good science fiction novel, with some humorous elements and a couple good dramatic stories. Fans of such things may enjoy it—the only real downside is the abrupt ending, with plot threads left dangling.

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Shine Shine Shine, by Lydia Netzer

11 Sep 2012 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

Shine Shine Shine. Lydia Netzer. Book Review: Shine shine shine. [Image: a woman floats in space surrounded by stars, the earth in her pregnant belly and the moon in the dome of her bald head. A tiny space ship travels from the earth to the moon.]

Maxon is on a mission to the Moon, with robots of his own design that will ready the satellite for human colonization. Sunny is left on Earth, with a dying mother, a highly medicated child, a pregnancy nearing term, and a blonde wig disguising both the hairless skin she was born with and the chaos of her life.

The spaceship is struck by a meteor, Sunny's minivan is struck by an SUV, and the mission and the wig are thrown off course.

This is the story of one couple—united by a strong love and a shared history, separated by earth's atmosphere and a quest for perceived normalcy—their struggle to build a way back to each other, and the struggle to build a future for the human race.


The writing style is quirky and strange and beautiful. It combines a matter-of-fact delivery with an almost poetic, free-association flow of thoughts.

The style, the soft science fiction premise, and extrapolations thereof elevate the story from a common slice-of-life drama to something with deeper impact.

Good for: It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but the more I mull it over, the more I think this could be one of my favorite books of the year.

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Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

06 Sep 2012 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ bookshop.orgBuy the book

Book Review: Cloud Atlas. David Mitchell. [Image: Six people; 4 men, 2 women.]

A good man surrounded by ruffians on a Pacific voyage in the 1850s.
An insolent, irreverent, and very talented composer nonchalantly evading his creditors in 1930s Britain.
A journalist, on the trail of a dangerous mystery in 1970s California.
An old man in a series of unlikely and increasingly horrifying situations in the early 21st century.
A cloned woman awaiting execution, telling her story of achieving personhood in future South Korea.
A man in the far future, surviving in the ruined world.

David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas is an epic tale reaching deep into the past and far into the future. Its major conceit—6 characters, each reading or experiencing, and then interrupting, a story about the character before them—sounds irrational, but the execution is brilliant, compelling, and remarkably easy to read.

Good for: People who like books that are awesome. Adventure, science fiction, historical fiction, and suspense thriller—this book has a story for everyone. The interlocking themes of the stories lead you from one to the next, and the nesting, which creates a desire to get back to the characters you just left, makes it a hard book to put down.

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The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt

04 Sep 2012 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

The Sisters Brothers. Patrick deWitt. Book Review: The Sisters Brothers are murderers for hire. For Charlie Sisters, their work is a vocation. For his brother Eli, their work is just a job—one he is beginning to wish he could quit. When Eli and Charlie are sent to kill a prospector in California, Eli begins to think critically about his work, and just who really deserves to die. Eli Sisters narrates with a unique voice—his speech has a rhythm unlike any other. Part Western crime drama, part historical fiction, and part comedy, the book is an intriguing piece of work—much like the Sisters Brothers themselves.

This book's paperback cover is so good! My drawings cannot compare.

Good for: Fans of westerns, historical fiction, and good writing in general.

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Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James

29 Aug 2012 ★ ★ ★☆ ☆ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

Death Comes to Pemberley. P.D. James. Book Review: The life of the Darcy family—Elizabeth, Fitzwilliam, and their two children—is idyllic, with the beloved Bingley family close at hand. But preparations for the annual autumn ball are suddenly interrupted by the shocking arrival of Elizabeth's sister Lydia, shrieking that her husband, Wickham, long banned from Pemberly, has been murdered. The best thing about this book is that it is based on Pride and Prejudice. The worst thing is that it is not Pride and Prejudice.

Good for: fans of Pride and Prejudice (though if you're anything like me, it'll just make you antsy for it to be over so you can go read Pride and Prejudice), or fans of P.D. James.

This book was okay. But about a third of it was recapping Pride and Prejudice, which seemed very unnecessary.

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Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente

24 Aug 2012 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

Deathless. Catherynne M. Valente. Book Review: Deathless [Image: flock of birds] [Image: cracked egg with light spilling from inside]

Marya Morevna sees the underside of the world—the magic behind the facade of normal life.

But the world is changing rapidly—each bird that falls from the tree outside and becomes a man to marry one of her sisters wears the uniform of a new army.

There is a committee of house spirits, rather than the usual single domovoi, as so many families now share the small home.

As time goes on, the house becomes more crowded, goods harder to come by, disease easier to catch. Marya begins to think she never saw magic.

But when the fourth bird bounces up from his fall, Marya is married to Koschei the Deathless, boogeyman of folklore and the Tsar of Life.

His ongoing war with his brother, the Tsar of Death, mirrors the struggle in the human world.

And Marya must fight in them both.

A fascinating story that is hard to put down—a blood-soaked, historical-fiction fairy tale.

The movements in time and dreamlike setting and pacing can cause some difficulty in keeping track of the plot, but it's well worth the read.

Good for: Do you like history? Romance? War? Learning about Russian mythology? Me too! Not for kids—they can read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making instead. This story has many elements in common with that one, in that it is a story with a familiar, fairy-tale basis set against dark currents of reality.

I like that by combining folkloric elements with bits of history, Valente is able to write an original story, yet make you feel like it's always existed—like she's just recording something that has been around for centuries in the oral tradition.

This book has a similar plot basis as the Abandon books from earlier this week—a woman becoming the consort of a deity—but with a more interesting execution that ties into both history and mythology. I really enjoyed this story.

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Underworld, by Meg Cabot

22 Aug 2012 ★ ★☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ bookshop.orgBuy the book

Underworld. Meg Cabot. Book Review: Pierce Oliveria escaped the world of the dead, but found herself falling for its ruler... Back in the underworld, with her captor more determined than ever, and the threat of the Furies in the world above, is escape possible—or even desirable? Will Pierce accept the loss of life as she knows it to stay in the world of the dead at John's side? This book is really about getting accustomed to new surroundings. There's much less excitement and drama, and much more meeting and learning about characters and explaining the new paradigm. Not only was the story less exciting, but I could not get past the increased awfulness of the romantic relationship. In this book, John goes from being just kind of a jerk to willfully misleading and directly lying to Pierce so that she is unable to make informed decisions about her life, future, or their physical relationship. It creeped me the heck out!

Good for: Paranormal romance fans who are into this kind of thing, OR they could read Guardian of the Dead instead, because the relationship in it is way less skin-crawlingly gross AND it's got a suspenseful murder mystery!

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