Tag: #BooksforTrade

Book Review | Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Published by Dial Books on May 20, 2016

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 256

Source: #BooksforTrade

Goodreads: ★★★

Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.

Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But is ambition alone enough to get her in?

Enter Lisa.

Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her charming boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form an unexpected bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer and closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse and their friendships threaten to do the same.

BOOK REVIEW

After hearing great things about John Corey Whaley’s work, I was interested to pick up Highly Illogical Behavior very soon after its release. This young adult contemporary follows a teenager named Solomon who has agoraphobia, and hasn’t left his home in three years. One of his old classmates, Lisa, decides that she is going to “fix” Solomon for her college admissions project. We follow these teens as they become friends, and discover whether Lisa will be able to solve Solomon’s problems all on her own.

I was unfortunately left a bit underwhelmed by Highly Illogical Behavior. It took me a long time to get through this short book because I found it difficult getting immersed into the story. By the end, I did become attached to the characters, and I was overall pleased with the book. However, there are many things about this book that I find quite problematic.

First, Lisa’s character really bothered me. She is a know-it-all who thinks she has the capacity to be giving a fellow teenager mental health advice. I would like to say that she had good intentions, but Lisa is a huge liar and I feel like she never learns her lesson. I don’t think Lisa is necessarily a bad person, but all of her poor choices made her very unlikable for me. I can see how her character is purposefully written to be flawed, but I did not see Lisa truly grow even after sabotaging the people she is supposed to care for the most.

Moreover, Highly Illogical Behavior seemed very derivative of other books in the young adult genre. For example, I saw a lot of parallels between this story and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. In the same way, this book includes one of my least favorite tropes in young adult literature, which is the absent parents. Lisa and her boyfriend Clark spent a lot of time away from home at Solomon’s house. They stay nearly all hours of the day, and their parents never bat an eyelash as to where they are. I find it difficult to believe that any parent of a teenager, especially the ones depicted here, would let their child stay out until 1:00-2:00am without even touching base. The inclusion of this trope in Highly Illogical Behavior took away from the story’s credibility for me.

My final critique of this book is the ending. I did like the big event that takes place as the book comes to a close, but there are a lot of loose ends that did not get tied up for the reader. I wrote down a list of questions that I had after finishing the book, and I think an epilogue could have easily answered them.

Nonetheless, I really appreciate how Highly Illogical Behavior is #OwnVoices representation for mental illness, specifically agoraphobia. It was very helpful to see what Solomon goes through on a daily basis from his perspective and through the eyes of other characters. I thought it was great that Whaley includes both positive and negative receptions of Solomon’s mental health, as that portrays how he would be treated in the real world. Highly Illogical Behavior is also an #OwnVoices LGBTQIA+ novel, as Solomon is gay and Whaley is, too.

Overall, Highly Illogical Behavior is a good story that has an important place in the young adult world. While I did find a lot of issues with it, I also do recommend reading it. If the plot sounds interesting to you, read a few more reviews and see if you would get more enjoyment out of this novel than I did.

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Book Review | The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

Published by Scholastic Press on September 13, 2016

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Format: ARC

Pages: 403

Source: #BooksforTrade

Goodreads: ★★★★ 1/2

What isn’t written, isn’t remembered. Even your crimes.

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person’s memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn’t written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.

REVIEW

I knew I wanted to read The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron as soon as I heard initial buzz about the book. This young adult story takes place in Canaan, a city in which every twelve years all of the citizens lose their memories. In order to remember anything about themselves, including their names, their family members, and their jobs, people must write down their lives in books that are kept tied to them at all times. Citizens are supposed to write the truth, but more often than not that doesn’t happen. No one would know if it weren’t for Nadia – a teenage girl who has never forgot.

Not only is this concept of the Forgetting extremely fascinating, but the story captivated me from page one. I was extremely addicted to the book, and finished it in a few days because I couldn’t put it down. While I do have a few small criticisms of The Forgetting, my overall enjoyment of the novel greatly outweighs these minor issues. First, there are a lot of recycled concepts in this book that are found in other books within this genre. Luckily, these tropes are used in a new way. Similarly, some parts of the book felt a bit too contrived. There are sections with a lot of telling and not showing that could have used some strengthening.

Other than that, I absolutely loved The Forgetting. The story is one I will be thinking about for a long time. Can you imagine how frightening it would be to wake up one day with zero memories? Yet, at the same time, I can see how others would find this a refreshing new start. I am also very interested in the concept of truth. Even in our own world we have a lot of power in writing our own histories. How do we ever really know what is true?

Moreover, I also really liked how The Forgetting was completely unpredictable for me. The book starts out with a dystopian vibe, and the genre goes in a completely new direction midway through the story. While the book did not follow a trajectory I expected, I was impressed with the turn it took. It’s always great when a book can keep me on my toes right through to the ending.

In addition, we have a great cast of characters in The Forgetting. Our main character is Nadia, and I absolutely love seeing her grow as a person throughout the novel. I also adored the romance that develops between Nadia and Gray. I was never sure whether to trust Gray or not, and that added an element of mystery to the story.

Finally, I think the ending of The Forgetting is really well done. The story gets wrapped up, but there is still room for a sequel if the author gets the opportunity to write one. At this time, The Forgetting is a stand alone book, but I would love to see what happens next in this world. I highly recommend picking up this book. It is extremely fast-paced, quite thought-provoking, and a fantastic adventure.

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Book Review | The Haters by Jesse Andrews

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

The Haters by Jesse Andrews

Published by Amulet Books on April 5, 2016

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Adventure

Format: ARC

Pages: 352

Source: #BooksforTrade

Goodreads: ★★★★

From Jesse Andrews, author of the New York Times bestselling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and screenwriter of the Sundance award–winning motion picture of the same name, comes a groundbreaking young adult novel about music, love, friendship, and freedom as three young musicians follow a quest to escape the law long enough to play the amazing show they hope (but also doubt) they have in them.

Inspired by the years he spent playing bass in a band himself, The Haters is Jesse Andrews’s road trip adventure about a trio of jazz-camp escapees who, against every realistic expectation, become a band.

For Wes and his best friend, Corey, jazz camp turns out to be lame. It’s pretty much all dudes talking in Jazz Voice. But then they jam with Ash, a charismatic girl with an unusual sound, and the three just click. It’s three and a half hours of pure musical magic, and Ash makes a decision: They need to hit the road. Because the road, not summer camp, is where bands get good. Before Wes and Corey know it, they’re in Ash’s SUV heading south, and The Haters Summer of Hate Tour has begun.

In his second novel, Andrews again brings his brilliant and distinctive voice to YA, in the perfect book for music lovers, fans of The Commitments and High Fidelity, or anyone who has ever loved—and hated—a song or a band. This witty, funny coming-of-age novel is contemporary fiction at its best.

REVIEW

If you’re looking for a fun and entertaining read this summer, make sure to pick up The Haters by Jesse Andrews. This young adult contemporary follows Wes and his best friend Corey as they arrive at jazz band summer camp. The two quickly find out that jazz camp isn’t what they expected, and when Ash, the girl they just met, invites them to ditch camp and go on tour as a band, they jump at the chance. The Haters follows Wes, Corey, and Ash as they road trip throughout the southern United States, and all of the crazy situations in which they find themselves.

First things first, I wanted to talk about the book’s content. The advance copy I was reading states that this book is recommended for ages 13 and up, but I would personally recommend this for ages 17 and up. The Haters is extremely raunchy, complete with swear words galore. It truly lives up to the “sex, drugs, and rock and roll,” theme as well. While this content fits well into the storyline, and I wouldn’t edit any of these things out, I definitely recommend the book for older readers. If this book were a film, I’m guessing it would be rated R.

Speaking of which, The Haters would make an excellent movie. It reminds me of The Hangover, because the characters get into one crazy adventure after another. This is definitely the kind of book where the reader needs to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy it. This story would never happen in real life, but that’s what makes it a ton of fun.

What makes The Haters even more unique is the writing style. I haven’t read Jesse Andrews’s other book, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, so I’m not sure how it compares. Nonetheless, The Haters is written in first person from Wes’s point of view. The voice is almost stream of consciousness, and Wes is aware that he is telling the story to the reader. Some parts of the dialogue are written as if this were a movie script, or perhaps text messages, since proper capitalization wasn’t followed. There were also some charts, checklists, and other things sprinkled into the novel, too. At first I found the writing a bit difficult to adapt to, but once I was about 50 pages in I began to love the unique cadence, and the book flew by very quickly.

My main critiques of the book are in regards to the plot and the character development. The plot was a “whatever happens, happens” storyline, and while that worked on one level because anything could happen in the next chapter, I did wish we had a bit more direction for the story. Similarly, I wish the character development was a bit stronger. We get to learn more about Wes, Corey, and Ash as the road trip continues, and I was really intrigued by each character’s backstory. Each has a really interesting home life, and I would love to know more about them. Whenever I got to know a character more, I liked the book more.

Moreover, the ending was a bit hot and cold for me as well. While I enjoyed the ending in terms of what happens, I didn’t so much like how it happens. Wes gives the reader an info-dump in the last 10 pages, and I would have liked a bit more meat there. Nonetheless, I loved how the story comes to a close. It was realistic, and I think fit the tone of the book well.

I had a ton of fun reading The Haters and highly recommend it so long as you are comfortable reading quite a raunchy book. This is a quick read and perfect for the beach this summer. I will be definitely be checking out Jesse Andrews’s other books in the future!

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