Snark and Circumstance by Stephanie Wardrop

Blurb on Goodreads: One superior smirk from Michael Endicott convinces sixteen-year-old Georgia Barrett that the Devil wears Polo. His family may have founded the postcard-perfect New England town they live in, but Georgia’s not impressed. Even if he is smart, good looking, and can return Georgia’s barbs as deftly as he returns serves on his family’s tennis courts. After all, if Michael actually thinks she refuses to participate in lab dissections just to mess with his grade, he’s a little too sure that he’s the center of the universe. Could there be more to Michael Endicott than smirks and sarcasm? If Georgia can cut the snark long enough, she just might find out.

Example: He shakes his head and his mouth is quirked at one corner. I can't tell if he thinks I am sort of amusing or truly pathetic. It's especially hard to tell because we are both looking resolutely at the teacher so she can't accuse us of not paying attention. We talk out of the sides of our mouths, like gangsters in those old movies my dad likes to watch.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Stephanie's Snark and Circumstance (enovella) but let me tell you, I enjoyed myself. I also laughed. A lot. Georgia, the main character in S & C, rocks. She's a smart girl who knows how she feels about things and what she wants and isn't embarrassed to say it at all. I had seen a few comments on reviews about people not liking Georgia (George, Georgiana... all of the above)'s personality and get that her snarky nature might tug on a few people's nerves, but here's the thing: Georgia is a black t-shirt kinda girl at a school full of girls wearing only sparkly designer camis. (Okay maybe that's not the best description, but she herself says she's the "black sheep" and this is what came to me to describe how she stands out.) She's got attitude and is adamant about the things that matter to her because well, she... cares. Her personality IS snark, hence the title of the novella. It fits her perfectly.

Regarding the similarities of S & C to Jane Austen's work, I'm going to be honest here: I haven't read much of it, so for me, the connections weren't there. This isn't to say it changed the experience; the set-up was perfect and I didn't need to know anything about that to enjoy myself. (I think knowing the history behind everything Stephanie based this series on would only enhance it so for those of you who "get that", you'll appreciate what she did.)

I loved how Stephanie's writing swept me up. I'm talking, as I read it I was thinking about her tie-ins and the way paragraphs melted into paragraphs and how her descriptions were so great and visual and still so "Georgia" and at times I was like, man I'm so jealous about how well she does this! I am not a quick-witted person so the way Georgia spouts off all the time makes me think I would have really enjoyed being her friend in high school. (Again, every time she spouts off, it's because she's got a serious emotionally charged reason for doing so.) I also thought about how likely it is that my 13 year-old daughter will really enjoy this series.

When I read Stephanie's bio and saw that she teaches writing and literature I thought, WELL THERE YOU GO. She knows her stuff and, she does it well. (This is the writer in me speaking now, of course.)

Another example: "Your powers of observation are formidable," Michael says and Darien giggles behind one perfectly manicured hand, like some sort of preppie geisha. (This is the kind of description that had me a) in stitches and b) seeing the scene perfectly.)

So that's my review. Snarky, funny, enjoyable, a light read and, like others have commented, way too short.  I can't wait to see what happens to Georgia and Michael in Charm and Consequence (the next novella in the series, coming out this May).

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PITY ISN'T AN OPTION by Jessica Brooks

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I am just... moved. Touched. Changed. Which is exactly what Afterglow Book Reviews is here for, to give us a chance to share these book-induced feelings with the world. There's something different about Jessica Brooks' debut novel, Pity Isn't An Option. It's more contemplative than I'm used to, and the writing is just gorgeous. It doesn't gimmick or formulate. It just goes. It just journeys. That's how I feel, like I just went on a journey that changed me.

Have you ever been on an adventure like that in real life? When I was a kid I went on a hike with my family and some friends. It was horrible and wonderful. Our friends got motion sick in the car on the way there. We hiked too slowly. The sun blazed overhead. We ran out of water at the halfway point and still had a long way to get back to the cars. The mother of the other family collapsed with heat exhaustion. We prayed. We walked along a dry riverbed looking for water. And we prayed. And we sucked on Juniper berries. Did I mention we prayed? When we discovered water, we went crazy, jumping all over in it, soaking our hot skin and our clothes, drinking it where it ran down the rocks. Best day of my childhood. I don't even remember the hike back. Just that incredible moment when our prayers were answered and we could fill out canteens for our friends waiting up the trail. One day, one simple adventure. Life defining.

That's how it feels to read PITY ISN'T AN OPTION.

It's the first of a series. The author classifies it as YA contemporary with dystopian elements. I'd classify it as near-future YA dystopian. It's a five-years-down-the-road-if-the-economy-keeps-going-downhill-and-our-political-system-gets-even-more-corrupt kind of thing. President Kendrick refuses to relinquish the presidency, and he's forcibly conscripting a civilian army for some unknown purpose. All the citizens know is that when their fathers and sons are taken, they are never heard from again. The Union holds meetings and talks about fighting back, but everyone is scared and nothing ever really happens. Hattie and Jonas experience a day-to-day tension that finally reaches a boiling point and forces them to action. The pace of this novel is slow suspense in the beginning and gets super intense at about the 60% mark. By that point, I felt a bond with the characters that wouldn't let me go. Wanless, their town, just feels all too real. (It doesn't help that I just read the part in Gone with the Wind when the land around Tara is desolated.)

The theme of the book (from my perspective) is Luke 12:27 "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Dark, yet marbled through with streaks of hope, PITY ISN'T AN OPTION reminds us we're not in control of anything except our own choices. And Jonas and Hattie do not disappoint on that score.

The blog tour for PIAO has ended, but you can still read excerpts and get to know the author:

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Full disclosure, Jessica Brooks is one of our reviewers.




 

BRUISER

Well, Neal Shusterman has done it again. No matter what this guy writes, he does a darn good job of it.

In BRUISER, there are four different points of view. Sometimes this is hard to handle in a book when you're switching back and forth, but each character stayed themselves for at least a few chapters, so the switches felt completely seamless. The first two characters are Tennyson and Bronte, twin brother and sister (high-schoolers) whose parents have a couple issues they're dealing with. This affects the home life, which comes into play later on. The next two characters are Brewster (Bruiser--also in high school), and his little brother, Cody. (Neal wrote a bit about the different points of view and shared it on Goodreads, so if you'd like to check it out, click here. ***Warning... if you're like me and detest spoilers... don't check it out until you're halfway through the book.)

Since I try not to know too much about a book going into it, I was taken aback by the actual premise of BRUISER. For some reason I had in my head that this was going to be a "bully book". But oh, man. So different. Brewster stays away from everyone all the time, but the reason behind that choice is not what you think at all. In fact, as you begin to read you're convinced his uncle is a flat-out jerk and think you've got the problem solved and want to scream IT'S SO SIMPLE JUST DO THIS BREW!!!! but the further you get into the book, the more you realize so much is intertwined that the detangling would take a while... it's just like life... answers come in every shade of if and or but, maybe, and everything in between.

Tennyson and Bronte have an awesome relationship. They're close, as they've been together their entire lives, but at the same time, each has their own quirks. As the family dynamic changes, they stick together, which shows their strong bond. Tennyson loves to push Bronte's buttons; he plays lacrosse. Bronte is a smart cookie who wants to solve problems. (Brewster isn't an easy problem to solve.)

And Brewster and Cody... well... Brewster proves his love for Cody (without even trying) over and over and over again.

You know you've got a good book in your hands when lines throughout the ebook have been highlighted by readers numerous times. Take this one, by Tennyson, for instance:

You think you want to know the secrets of the universe. You think you want to see the way things fit altogether. You believe in your heart of hearts that enlightenment will save the world and set you free.

Maybe it will.

But the path to enlightenment is rarely a pleasant one.

Or this one, which I personally loved, by Bronte:

... Happiness is a vector. It's a movement. Like my own momentum across the pool, joy can only be defined by the speed at which you're moving away from the pain. 

Certainly our family could reach a place of absolute, unchangeable bliss at Brew's expense; but the moment we arrived, the moment we stopped moving, joy would become as stagnant and hopeless as perpetual despair.

I'll be honest--I loved every single one of the characters. The quotes I chose make it seem like a very depressing book (sorry), but it's really not. I laughed out loud many times.

Brewster, however, holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it's the fact that he's the only one Neal wrote in verse novel form. Maybe it's because he sacrifices himself for everyone he cares about. I don't know. But I'll leave you with a short quote by Brewster (talking about his brother, Cody, and himself).

He nods and begins to cry,
But it only lasts an instant,
Because before a single tear falls,
His sorrow becomes mine,
A heaviness in my heart,
A sting in my eyes.

This is Brewster and the premise of the book, in a nutshell.

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The Runaway King

A kingdom teetering on the brink of destruction. A king gone missing. Who will survive? Find out in the highly anticipated sequel to Jennifer A. Nielsen's blockbuster THE FALSE PRINCE!

Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation. Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting within Carthya. Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it. But the further Jaron is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far. Will he ever be able to return home again? Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his kingdom?

The stunning second installment of The Ascendance Trilogy takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of treason and murder, thrills and peril, as they journey with the Runaway King!

This blurb doesn't tell nearly enough about everything that happens in book two of the Ascendance Trilogy. As I've just finished it, I'm still attempting to decide what's worth mentioning, and what isn't. What I think, bottom line, though, is that it's important to know that no matter what you think about anyone in THE FALSE PRINCE, you need to have an open mind in THE RUNAWAY KING. So many things are not what they seem in TRK!!! Things are constantly changing!

I'll be honest--I'm the first person to admit that when I finish a book I like things wrapped up in a pretty little bow and completely resolved. So, going into THE RUNAWAY KING, after having so much happen in THE FALSE PRINCE, I wanted to enjoy the fact that things had finally been fixed and Jaron (or is it Sage???) was the ruler of Carthya. (YAY) So when conflict arose (almost immediately), I was a little frustrated. I mean, really, Ms. Nielson? Could we not, I don't know, simply celebrate the arrival at the point the entire previous book worked so hard to get us to for at least a little while?

But, the further I got into the book, the more I enjoyed it. As in THE FALSE PRINCE, the chemistry between Jaron and Imogen was still obvious and alive. I'm not going to say much more about that except that the way he treated her at first made me want to scream; but he did something later proving he'd learned from that action, and that really redeemed him for me. Jaron learns a lot in this book, actually--especially how to see other people's feelings, and how to better share his own. And he continues to have such quick wit that I find myself laughing at his responses.

As I said, the blurb doesn't say enough about everything that goes down in TRK. Jaron Sage infiltrates the most unlikely group of people, and one person you'd never expect to come against him wants him dead. I wish I could say things were wrapped up in that perty little bow, but as usual, the moment things seemed wrapped up and resolved and I had that "yay to this ending" smile on my face, another issue arose. 

Which brings me to my conclusion: Why must I insist on reading books the second they come out? The final book in the Ascendance Trilogy is sure to be full of action--true, it'll probably be a year until reading it is a possibility, but I can't wait. 

Unravel Me

The Goodreads blurb:

tick

tick

tick

tick

tick

it's almost

time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

Wow. Just.... Wow. I'm so glad I stayed away from spoilers before reading this. There were a couple of unexpected twists that had me sitting up in my bed yelling, "Holy crap"! And "This is going to be such a good movie--is it going to be a movie?" and "oh my GOSH!!!"

Without giving too much away, Unravel Me picks up with Juliette and Adam (her boyfriend, one of two people in the entire world immune to her deadly touch) and Adam's pal, Kenji, in the compound they escaped to at the end of the first book in the trilogy, Shatter Me (the compound's called Omega Point). Kenji is by far my favorite character out of all of them, now. He's the quick-witted, sarcastic friend everyone wants to knock upside the head, but still loves to pieces.

One of the main points in Unravel Me is Adam and Juliette trying to learn how to deal with/harness their "energy". Adam discovers something about his "energy" that is a big issue in his relationship with Juliette (Issues are constantly coming up in this book. Constantly.) and that's quite the problem. Juliette still isn't sure how to get her strength to work on command, though boy are there some up close and personal strength moments in there!

Another main point is Warner. Now, if you plan on reading this series, I am telling you, you need to read the novella (ebook), Destroy Me, before reading Unravel Me. I am serious. This is Warner's story, it gives you a window into his brain, his heart and his soul, and not reading it before Unravel Me will only make you want to go read it halfway through Unravel Me to hear more about him, anyway (or kick yourself for not reading it first when you read it after Unravel Me). So, just read it first. I promise you will thank me later.

Regarding sensuality in this book, the heat is turned up even higher than in Shatter Me. Another... wow. There are moments you really truly did not think would ever happen. There are moments you're wanting something to happen, even though you know you should not be wanting it to happen! I wish I could say more, but I don't want to give it away! (As I was reading/reacting, my 13 year-old asked if she could read it. It's going to have to be a no--obviously others will feel different, but I'm talking hot and steamy Nicholas Sparks-y scenes here, guys.)

Regarding the "holy crap" moments, I am not going to ruin the mystery. But let me just say, Tahereh did a wonderful job of tying something in perfectly to where I almost thought later, Well of course she would write it that way--it's perfect. Of course! (And then another OH MY GOSH!)

A quick point before I draw this (hopefully really vague but decent) review to a close: for readers who have issues with Tahereh's prose and metaphors, I personally felt that she relaxed on those a little bit. (Or maybe I was just reading over them too quickly to notice!) And honestly, if just feels like Juliette. That's who she is.

Bottom line: if you liked Shatter Me, you're going to love Unravel Me. If you liked the novella Destroy Me, you're going to love Unravel Me even more. And if you're like me, you're definitely going to be rooting for... Warner.

Code Name Verity

Before I begin, I’d like to clarify that this is my first *ever* official review. (Not sure if there are particulars to doing this, but I’m going to go with my reaction and opinions, as the whole title of Afterglow Book Reviews is the afterglow when finishing a book, and I just finished CODE NAME VERITY.)

I’d like to be upfront by saying that I don’t usually purchase books based solely on reviews (as in, most books are purchased because I’ve seen them around online--trending in my Twitter feed, blowing up the blogs, things like that); but I hardly ever up and order a book because of reviews alone. In fact, the last time I ordered a book based on shock and emotional and surprised reactions only via reviews was THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. (I tend to find some of the best books this way, I’ve noticed--and they’re usually not books I’d normally buy for myself.)

I almost don’t even know where to start, there’s so much in this book. Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

This is the premise of Code Name Verity. To be honest, I did not expect it to open with the MC already captured and writing her confession. But her voice--oh her voice! Wein does a memorable job of creating a character who is speaking like someone at her wit’s end, being tortured and forced to confess, while having more strength than most of us would ever have in the same situation. I was enthralled and loving it by the end of page one. Here’s an example (from my book’s page 6): 

...I am a prisoner in the Ormaie Gestapo HG because I have no sense of direction whatsoever. Bearing in mind that the people who trained me encouraged my blissful ignorance of airfields just so I couldn’t tell you such a thing if you did catch me, and not forgetting that I wasn’t even told the name of the airfield we took off from when I came here: let me remind you that I had been in France less that 48 hours before that obliging agent of yours had to stop me being run over by a French van full of French chickens because I’d looked the wrong way before crossing the street. Which shows how cunning the Gestapo are. "This person I’ve pulled from beneath the wheels of certain death was expecting traffic to travel on the left side of the road. Therefore she must be British, and is likely to have parachuted into Nazi-occupied France out of an Allied plane. I shall now arrest her as a spy. ”

This is how the first bit of the book goes. Her banter. Her defiance. Her fear of being tortured. And then, just as you think you know what’s going on, things change. And then, they change again. And again. And... again. Until things build up to a point where you love these two girls and you feel what they feel and you get why they’re doing what they’re doing and yet surprised at the same time that half of what you thought was going on was actually something else entirely, and then the scene--THE SCENE--and the emotional part I had read about on the reviews and was anticipating just hit me and I was so emotional about it I actually had to set the book down and walk away. (This has never happened to me before.)

As I type this, I am still affected by it. And yet, the story continues. (I went back to reading a couple of hours later.) I can’t imagine anyone not liking Code Name Verity, but as I was impatiently awaiting its arrival, I read a few reviews and was shocked to see that some people flat-out hated the plane/flight elements of the book (it’s quite a bit of info, yes, but I did what I always do when I don’t “get” something I read about... I took the character for what they said, or glazed over it when I couldn’t perfectly picture it). One reviewer said they couldn’t even bear to finish it--I understand how subjective reading is (and here’s a quick shout-out to writers everywhere--this is life, it is never going to change, some will love us and some will hate us, but for the ones who don’t like what we’ve written, there are ten who do, and for the ones who didn’t like it, they’ll find ten books that they do) but all I could think as I read that one part, the part that tore me apart was DID THEY GET THIS FAR? WHEN THEY QUIT, HAD THEY READ TO THIS POINT?????

So bottom line, I loved Code Name Verity. I loved the characters, I loved the setting (World War II--Europe), I loved Wein’s voice. (Quick side note since this is YA: there is a bit of profanity in it, but in my opinion, it's all in context. Considering what was going on, however, it was used quite rarely.)