My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

Summary

Daniel Grey is special because he has what is called, “The Memory,” or at least that’s what he calls it.  In an earth in which every person is a reincarnation of a soul, he remembers what happened in his past lives and he can recognize people he once knew. 

Lucy Broward is completely normal, besides the fact that she feels extremely drawn to Daniel.  She doesn’t know that there is a perfectly logical reason.  In their past lives, they’ve always had a connection. 

This book alternates chapters, one set following present day Daniel and Lucy, and the other explaining Daniel’s long history, spanning centuries and continents, and all the times he has ran into Lucy before.  Lucy herself is being forced by her stubborn past life, Constance, to remember the man she never wants to forget.

Opinion

I really like this book, right until the end.  The end annoyed me, and I wasn't aware that this was going to be a trilogy, but also, the characters seemed to drastically change in the last fifty pages or so for absolutely no reason.  I also didn't quite like Lucy until a hundred pages in, and mostly read it for the parts about Daniel's past.  The character's didn't have much development, and I understand that with Daniel.  His main point was to stay the same no matter how many times he changes, but everyone else seemed a little two-dimensional besides Ben, a very minor character who seemed to be the only one who excepted change.  It was definitely a casual read even though the author probably meant otherwise.  

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

After by Amy Efaw

After by Amy Efaw

Summary: 

This is the tale about a high school freshman with the whole world ahead of her. Devon is fifteen, bright, and athletic. She loves soccer and has a future in the Olympics ahead of her. And then the unthinkable happens. Although it covers pieces of Devon’s past, this is truly the story about what happens after.

From the first few pages, we notice a few things.

1. A baby was left in a dumpster.

2. Devon is bleeding heavily.

Within minutes of the start, Devon is taken into custody. Her world is forever changed.

Opinion:
Efaw doesn’t go out of her way to make Devon a sympathetic character. She doesn’t gloss over the reality of what happened. Devon did this and she is facing the punishment for it. 

There is something about the way that Devon is written, something about her desperation, her being that tugs at the heartstrings despite what she did. You want her to suffer for what she did to the child, but at the same time you want her to be okay.

There is a line in another review that I think exemplifies her pain. It doesn’t excuse her actions, but it does remind me of the impression I got while reading. "She strives to be everything that her mom isn't - strong, independent, reliable, and definitely not a teen mother like her."* 

Devon has issues she needs to work through. She needs to face herself and what she did, but she also needs to see that she is not alone and that she doesn’t have to be a completely different person than her mother to be a better person.

In the majority of reviews about After, they talk about the ending being too sudden. I think it’s better for being the way it is. More human, less fiction.

All in all, I loved this book. Not my usual fare, but it was enjoyable, heartbreaking, and well written. I will be on the lookout for more by Amy Efaw.


READ IT. ^^
*Nely, in a book review from her blog.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Summary:

Unlike her previous YA novel, Beastly, Alex Flinn’s Cloaked is a re-imagined telling about more than one cherished fairy tale. Using the stories of The Frog Prince, The Six Swans, The Elves and the Shoemaker and more, Cloaked tells the story of a modern day teenager thrust into seeing a world beyond his imagination and the journey to find a missing prince.

This is the tale of Johnny, a teenage boy who works to run his family’s failing shoe repair store. An encounter with a visiting princess sets Johnny on a quest to find the princess’s missing brother—who had been cursed into the form of a frog. If he succeeds, the princess will marry him and provide riches--more than enough for Johnny's mother to stop working two jobs. At first he doesn’t believe any of her stories. In an attempt to persuade him, he is given a simple cloak. But the cloak, it seems, isn’t so simple after all.

Using the cloak to travel, Johnny goes off in search of the Frog Prince, meets a family who had been turned into swans, is helped by a fox who wished to be human again, runs from witches, battles giants with the help of his best friend Meg, and falls in love in the process.

But most importantly, Johnny is finally able to find exactly where he belongs. 

Opinion: 

Though the story is at times clichéd, it was a fun tale about life and love. I couldn’t help but root for Johnny, pray he saved the swans and the fox, and hope he realized that his best friend loved him. The ending had a few unexpected pieces, but the story tied together well.

A great read and one I will revisit in the future. 

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot

Summary: Every Boy's Got One is the third and final of the 'Boy' series by Meg Cabot featuring the staff at the illustrious New York Journal. The story is conveyed through emails, instant messaging, letters, journals - any form of communication involving the written word. This instalment follows romantic cartoonist Jane Harris and her account of her best friend's elopement to Italy and the barriers she faces through the form of marriage-hating best man Cal Langdon.

Opinion: This book, while not my favourite from the series, is a great read. The Italian setting is lovely, and this is definitely the most 'provocative' of the three books in terms of content. It gives a very basic argument for and against marriage, and throughout the book both arguments develop until one reigns victorious. It also portrays the romance of Italian countryside not so much through description as experience - a very refreshing change of pace from NYC. A very enjoyable read.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

Summary: Boy Meets Girl is the second of the 'Boy' series by Meg Cabot featuring the staff at the illustrious New York Journal. The story is conveyed through emails, instant messaging, letters, journals - any form of communication involving the written word. This instalment follows one of the NYJ's Human Resources reps Kate Mackenzie and her comeback from total ruin.

Opinion: This books is possibly my favourite from the 'Boy' series - it features all of my favourite things: tasty treats, recipes for aforementioned tasty treats, hot lawyers, snazzy penthouse apartments and B&E - to name a few. This story is the ultimate in overcoming the fearsome Tyrannical Office Despot - a key feature in every office - as well as building a life after a terribly horrific fall from grace, with the help of a knight sporting Super Friend ties. There are a few recurring characters who played minor parts in the first book, none of whom have become less entertaining between reads.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Summary: It all starts with Fanny Price going to live with her wealthy aunt and her family, the Bertrams, due to the poverty her own family lives in; being her father an inactive sailor, unable to support a big family, her mother decides to send her away to her sister. As soon as Fanny gets to Bertram State in Mansfield Park, she is treated badly by her aunt, Mr. Norris who lives with the Bertrams. Tom, the elder cousin is a gambler and a drinker; Maria and Julia Bertrams, are two ambitious girls who look down on her for her upbringing; and Edmund the younger male son of the family is the only person who is kind to her, which causes that both become close to each other. In time, Fanny grows to a shy and ingenuous person, due to the poor indifferent treatment the family seems to cast upon her, but still beautiful and with a kind mind. While Mary and Henry Crawford arrive to Mansfield Park to their sister’s State; Maria Bertram is promised in marriage to Mr. Rushworth, a wealthy man. The Crawfords and the Bertrams are introduced, Julia and Maria are attracted to Henry, while Mary is to Edmund; and from that point forward relationships start to develop coming to fruition the ambition on some of them, infidelity, and realizations of love.

Opinion: It should be said, this has been a first for me concerning Austen; this is my second book by Jane (after Proud and Prejudice years ago), and I certainly didn’t expect such “damaged view, and perspective” that mostly all characters seems to have in regards to moral in this book. It seems like you are reading a damaged part of Society, a truthful, negative part of Society in the 18^th century that is just shameful. And I’ll say “crafty” since there is a sense of “being right” in all the story development, a tone of hypocrisy very present. However, as bad and negative as this might sound to some of you so far, I did like it. When you are ahead of this piece, you realized you’ve become involved in an interesting moral trip to the standards of the characters. It’s interesting to watch how natural comes to all of them to just let things be; and the same happens when you see the heroes, Fanny, and Edmund, specially the former, struggle around their family, and all the other that seem to be attracted to them. 


Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot

Summary: The Boy Next Door is the first of the 'Boy' series by Meg Cabot featuring the staff at the illustrious New York Journal. The story is conveyed through emails, instant messaging, letters, journals - any form of communication involving the written word. This instalment follows the NYJ's Gossip columnist Mel Fuller and the journey she takes to find love and become a 'real news' columnist.

Opinion: The three books can be read as a collection, but can also stand alone due to the individual context and characters that make each book unique. The intriguing format of the novel is what draws the reader in - it's oddly relaxing not having to deal with 'description' - so much is left to the imagination, or nothing at all if you're lazy enough. Following the story you feel as though these are real people you know, and somewhat ironically it builds the suspense of the story as well as pages and pages of description might. The actual plot of the book is intriguing and well thought out, and while it's not exactly a challenging or thought provoking read, it is light, fluffy, dramatic and all things you expect from good chick lit (and Meg Cabot).

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆