The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

[description from goodreads]

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie’s struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.

Review:

This is another book that sounded like it was totally my thing, but I ended up being underwhelmed even though everyone else seems to adore it. Perhaps it's because I've read way too many "someone died and now the rest of us have to deal grieve and deal with all our other problems" books, but I never felt a need to finish the book. I put it down easily and wasn't totally invested in the story, but I did end up enjoying it.

I appreciated that instead of flashbacks, Lennie and Bailey's relationship was revealed in a more subtle way. Instead of the million flashbacks other dead-people-and-grief books use, their relationship was discussed in poems, very short memories, and through other people. Though I felt at times there was so much more to their relationship than what was shown, I was glad the book focused more on what Lennie was going through now and didn't get stuck in the past. It makes the book stand out a bit among all the other dead-people-and-grief books.

I never really understood what the whole Lennie/Toby thing was. Toby wasn't in the book THAT much and therefore I never really knew what his deal was. I knew why he was sad, why he did some of the things he did, but he always seemed so emotionless. (But perhaps that was intended since he is grieving and all.) To me, it just seemed like he would show up, stir up trouble, then go away again. His actions did provide some interesting plot twists and action, but I never really fully understood him. I did, however, like Lennie and Joe. Joe was sweet yet easily stubborn, endearing yet annoying, and made complete sense. He was incredibly realistic and provided many laughs. I was often frustrated by Lennie because she was so freaking impulsive; she knew she shouldn't do some of stupid things she did but she did them anyway. I wanted to hit her with something, but I also saw what her motivations were, which made my angry feelings not SO bad.

The writing and most of the characters in The Sky is Everywhere were lovely, but it felt a bit emotionless at times, and I think I've read too many other books with similar premises to really appreciate it.

(See, this is the problem with liking contemporary books more than fantasy. Most contemporary books have to have a dead person, so I end up really not caring about "grief" books. Give me more Paisley Hanover and Georgia Nicolson!)

Book details: Dial/Hardcover/$17.99

Links: Jandy's website

Numbers Giveaway

(Another giveaway, Khy? yes, deal with it.)

I'm giving away three copies of Num8ers by Rachel Ward (or Numbers, as I like to call it because typing numbers in the middle of a word is difficult. And because I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to call it.)

Here's a book description case you need one:

Ever since she was child, Jem has kept a secret: Whenever she meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. The two plan a trip to the city. But while waiting to ride the Eye ferris wheel, Jem is terrified to see that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today's number. Today's date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem's world is about to explode!

---

Details and such are on the entry form!

Feel free to judge.*~

You may have heard that Hilary Duff - yes, THE Hilary Duff- is writing a YA series.

In case you don't want to read the linked article, here's a quote from it:

"Actress and musician Hilary Duff inked a multiple-book deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers today. The first novel is Elixir, scheduled to be published in hardcover October 2010...The series will focus on a photojournalist named Clea Raymond, the celebrity offspring of a politician and a doctor. In Da Vinci Code fashion, she chases a dashing boy "in a race against time to unravel a centuries-old mystery that could unlock the key to her soulmate's true identity."

Not going to lie, I am excited and I will be DEVOURING this series, even it does end up sucking. The Lizzie McGuire fangirl in me will not die, and this announcement has only made my love stronger.

I was so happy that I listened to this song (multiple times) today, which was totally my 8 year old jam:



I know that many of you may not be excited by this news. Other books by celebrities (like LA Candy by Lauren Conrad) have supposedly sucked. Most of the time the celebrities don't even write the book. Usually I care and avoid celebrity books at all costs. But this time, I do not care because it's HILARY DUFF. Lizzie McGuire, guys. LIZZIE. MCGUIRE.

(I'm so good at separating actresses from their characters, aren't I? In this case, fiction and reality are the same thing.)

I'm not going to start talking about how much I love Lizzie McGuire and how many times I listened to Hilary Duff's first CD when I was 8, but I'll just say I still love Hilary Duff (my inner 8 year old won't let me dislike her. It's just not going to happen) and I still die from joy whenever I see this scene in the last-day-of-middle-school episode:


LIZZIE/GORDO FOREVER!!!

Vladimir Tod Giveaway

Last giveaway for the day! This one is for the Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer. I've had the first one in my TBR pile for a while and haven't read it yet, but I'm thinking I need to soon.

To find a bit about the series, feel free to watch the trailer for the third book in the series, Eleventh Grade Burns:




Or you could check out the series website or read the goodreads description for the first book, Eighth Grade Bites:

Junior high really sucks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: his mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he faces a much bigger problem: he's being hunted by a vampire killer.

the prizes! --->

Fill out the form to enter!

Little Miss Red Giveaway

Contest #2 of the day! This one is for Little Miss Red by Robin Palmer, which sounds super cute.

To find out about the book, here's a video of the author talking about it:



Or you can read the goodreads description:

Sophie Greene gets good grades, does the right thing, and has a boyfriend that her parents— and her younger brother—just love. (Too bad she doesn’t love him.) Sophie dreams of being more like Devon Deveraux, star of her favorite romance novels, but, in reality, Sophie isn’t even daring enough to change her nail polish. All of that changes when Sophie goes to Florida to visit her grandma Roz, and she finds herself seated next to a wolfishly goodlooking guy on the plane. The two hit it off, and before she knows it, Sophie’s living on the edge. But is the drama all it’s cracked up to be?



(If clicked the image doesn't work, click this. :])

Fill out the form to enter!





The prizes:

Incarceron Giveaway

Thanks to a lovely A at Penguin, I'm offering 3 giveaways today. The first one is for a copy of Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, which I've heard nothing but good things about. I mean, it must be good if the film rights sold in a bidding war. Totally going to have to read this one sometime.

To find out a little about the book, feel free to watch the trailer:



Or read the goodreads description:

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

More info is also available on the cool widget:



Fill out the form to enter:

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake

[description from S&S]

Is Taro, a fisherman's son, destined for greatness?

In the course of a day, Taro's entire life changes: His father is murdered before his eyes, and Taro is taken by a mysterious ninja on a perilous journey toward safety. Someone wants Taro dead, but who -- and why? With his best friend, Hiro, and their ninja guide Shusaku, Taro gets caught in the crossfire of a bitter conflict between rival lords for control of imperial Japan. As Taro trains to become a ninja himself, he's less and less sure that he wants to be one. But when his real identity is revealed, it becomes impossible for Taro to turn his back on his fate.

Review:

While this is definitely not the deepest, most intelligent book ever, it is still amazing because it has NINJAS! Do I care that it dragged in the middle? That I couldn't properly pronounce most of the names or Japanese words? That there were a few cliches? NO. Why? BECAUSE THERE ARE NINJAS!

Can you tell that I like ninjas? Because I do. They are amazing. (They are way better than pirates, just saying.) Obviously I view this book in a bit of a ~biased~ way because of my ninja love, but still, it was good. In the beginning and end especially, there was tons of fighting and action. The fight scenes were the best parts, as they were described well and after a while I was totally enamored by them. So enamored that in my head, the bloodthirsty part of me was coming out and going "BLOOD! FIGHT! POW!" I just wish there were more fights, or even a bit more action, because in the middle the group was just traveling and meeting people and it became a bit dull. There were chapters from the enemy emperor's point of view that added to the mystery of why Taro was being singled out for hunting; the mystery kept me interested, but the bloodthirsty side of me still wanted more ninja fights.

Despite all the information given about how the whole vampire ninja thing works and how you become and ninja and such, I always wanted more information. It seems like there can be so much more explored, especially with the vampire side of things, so I'm hoping the sequel will cover more ground. I'm also hoping the sequel includes more of the fantastic twists this book had, because there were always people changing their allegiances and doing crazy things. I also hope that, among all the twists, the characters can still be developed a bit more because this book was so plot-driven that sometimes it felt like the characters were forgotten.

Blood Ninja is definitely more of a fun book, but man it is fun, with plenty of awesome ninja action.

Book details: Simon and Schuster/Hardcover/$16.99