October "New Adult" Challenge Reviews — Link Them Up Here!

Participants in my "New Adult" reading challenge: if you have reviews from October, here's your chance to link them up!

U-Pick: Character Most Likely to End Up in Prison?

Here's how this feature works: each week I'll post a categorical superlative (e.g. "most sadistic villain" "crankiest father figure" "protagonist you would most like to slap some sense into" etc.) and list a few choices of characters from YA books in a poll. You get to pick! The poll will run for a week, and then in the following post I'll update with the name of the winning character. 

I haven't had a U-Pick post since July — so it's time to remedy that! Last choice was for the Broodiest Hero in YA, and I think it comes as a surprise to no one that the title went to...

...Edward from Twilight!

Yep, he's looking broody all right. Guys who came close to beating out Edward were Will from the Internal Devices series, Varen from the Nevermore series, and Ash from the Iron Fey series.

This time around the poll is: which character in YA is most likely to end up in prison?

There are lots of choices here, so vote below! (If the book is part of a series, I've just listed the series name. You can decide which book you want to base your vote on.) There's also an option for a write-in vote if your pick isn't listed. If that's the case, please choose "other" and then leave the character's name and book title in the comments :)

EDIT: the Blogger poll did not seem to be working properly (the votes kept disappearing!) so I've created a new poll that will hopefully be better. So if you voted once already with the original Blogger poll, vote again in this new one so your vote can be counted!

Waiting on Wednesday: Parallel

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

This week's WoW pick is:

Parallel by Lauren Miller

Goodreads' description:

"Your path changes. Your destiny doesn’t.

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She’d go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned 22. But one tiny choice - deciding to take a drama class her senior year of high school - changed all that.

Now, a year later, on the eve of her 18th birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she’s in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it’s as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality - an Ivy League address, a spot on the crew team, a birthday blind date with a cute lacrosse player - is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby’s life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn’t choose, Abby must let go of The Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soulmate, and the destiny that’s finally in reach."

Hey, look, it's a book that satisfies not one but two of my gaps in YA! Parallel realities: check. Set at a college (yes, it's a New Adult read!): check. And I think parallel universes might actually be starting to trend or something in YA, because I've seen a few of these sorts of premises popping up lately. What do you think?

And what books are you waiting for?

Pushing the Limits: A Close-Up Review

"No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again." (from Goodreads)

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Characters:

Echo: she's obviously gone through a lot of trauma. It's been suppressed, but under the surface it's tearing her up inside. Since she doesn't know what happened, she's been blaming some people — and there are a couple of people to blame. Namely, her mom and dad, neither of whom really handled the situation well.

Noah: I wasn't crazy about Noah (for reasons which will be mentioned below). However, he has a lot of good qualities — despite his "stereotypical tough guy" facade, he actually really cares about his brothers and his friends. It's sad what he had to go through, but it's great to see how much family means to him. It's also rewarding to watch him opening up to Echo and letting himself love her, since he usually suppresses his emotions and/or covers them up with sex. I liked that he was willing to reach out to Echo and get to know her. He doesn't care very much about what other people think (for instance, what his friends think about him dating Echo), which is also admirable.

His voice occasionally lapses into the overly poetic, but for the most part he sounds fairly authentic for a teen guy (complete with swearing and a general ineloquence about expressing himself).

Echo & Noah: The romance worked on some levels for me, but not entirely. It's a slow-burn romance at first, and the sexual tension is done really well. In some ways their relationship is a lot like Alex's and Brittany's from Perfect Chemistry. However, the romance itself lost some of its appeal for me once they started dating, mainly because of Noah's Neanderthal-like "manly instincts." He's got a bit of a possessive streak, always thinking of Echo as "his girl" or "his siren," etc. Also, this is a personal preference, but I really didn't like the way he called her "baby." (I'm sorry, some people may find it sweet or affectionate or whatever, but it just makes me cringe and think feminist thoughts.)

In a way Noah and Echo balance each other out pretty well. For Echo, Noah is someone who can protect her, and also someone she feels she can count on. He's a bit rough around the edges, and he challenges her and sparks something inside her that guys like Luke never did. And she can stick up for herself with him. However, I think sometimes he pushes her a bit too hard, and doesn't realize how much his words can hurt her.

The friends: Grace bugged me — she cared way too much about status and reputation and wasn't really a friend at all to Echo. Both Grace and Natalie could have used some more dimension, but Lila I liked. She sticks with Echo through thick and thin, and I have to admire her for that. She's really focused on Echo's wellbeing, and she doesn't ever try to make it all about herself. Furthermore, she understands how much support Echo needs and how fragile Echo is. In essence, she's a great best friend.

I thought Noah's friends Isaiah and Beth were more distinctive characters than Natalie and Grace. Isaiah's a really good friend to have in a pinch, and even though Beth comes across as thorny and prickly at first, she's got a soft side (even if she doesn't want to admit it).

Echo's parents:

I didn't like her dad very much. Well, I really didn't like him at the beginning, and by the end I was feeling slightly more charitable towards him. He made some major mistakes, but he seemed to care about Echo and her wellbeing. He's not the greatest dad, but not the worst one either. (His wife Ashley, on the other hand, I didn't like from the start and it stayed that way.)

As for Echo's mom, I think she really has a lot to answer for. I feel like even though the mom has some excuse for her behaviour, what she did later when she met with Echo was not at all what a loving mother should have done. She should have taken more responsibility for her actions, especially considering that she had made what appears to be a selfish choice and it had serious repercussions for Echo. I ended up feeling quite mad at the mom; I don't know how someone could do that to their child. (Major spoilers, highlight to read: I know she was in a deep depression when this happened and she didn't really have control of her actions at that point but A) she shouldn't have gone off the meds and B) when she met up with Echo in the cemetery, she should have said something different. Instead she kept all her emotions at distance, didn't want to talk about what happened, and it wasn't what Echo needed at all for closure. You'd think the mom would have been devastated by what she'd done to her daughter, but instead she just wanted to blame it all on her mental illness and shrug it off. Perhaps her decision to go off the meds was influenced by her bipolar disorder, but you'd think if she'd been on them for a significant period of time, her symptoms would have been mostly under control. I think the only reason she stopped taking her medication is because she wanted her creativity back, and it sounds like this was not the first time she'd gone off them, so I suspect she knew full well what she was getting herself into.)

Premise:

Pushing the Limits provides an excellent portrayal of the difficulty of living with a bipolar parent. Echo feels so torn about her mother. In one way, she loves her and she has good memories of her mom (some of her best memories are of when her mom was in her manic phase), but then she's also scared of her mom, and confused about why her mom would try to hurt her. And that, too, she attributes to her mom's bipolar disorder. Plus, because she looks a lot like her mom and they share an artistic streak, she's worried that's going to translate into her being bipolar too.

I wish Echo could have been told more about her mom's bipolar, and we could have gotten a better glimpse into what her mom was going through, and why she acted the way she did. We don't really get Echo's mom's side of it — namely, because the mom isn't willing to tell it, which is one thing that really frustrated me about her character. Still, I think someone should have sat down with Echo and talked to her more about bipolar disorder. 

And then of course there's the matter of Echo's scars, and everyone judging her. I thought there might actually be more specifically about the scars than there was — she never actually describes them or stares at them herself, although perhaps she's gotten used to them.

The therapist, Mrs. Collins, is very non-thereotically-oriented. She asks a lot of questions, but doesn't really come off as any specific type of approach (like client-centered or CBT, etc.). Mostly she just wants to know how things are going with Echo and Noah. We also see a bit of hypnotism in here too, which is interesting. I'm kind of conflicted about them attempting to pull Echo's memories out. While I understand that Echo wants to know what happened, hypnotic retrieval of memories is really something you should approach with caution. Admittedly, the therapist does this for the most part; she tries to perform the hypnosis in a safe space and she's there with Echo while she's being confronted with all these memories. I have to wonder if maybe it would be better if Echo didn't remember anything at all, but obviously this suppression of memories (causing what feels like a "black hole" in her mind) isn't working for her. She's clearly got some post-traumatic stress disorder — not surprisingly, after what she endured.  

Plot:

This book is compelling in a surprising way. The romance is an essential element, but there are also a lot of "issues" that are handled well for the most part. The mystery of what happened to Echo that night she can't remember gives the story some direction, and keeps you wanting to read.

That said, there is a part in the book where the general plot lags, and there's not much going on besides the romance. There's also quite a bit of repetition in the kinds of conversations that Echo and Noah have — usually it's either "I need to find out what happened" or "I love my brothers" or "Let's make out." Since the book is fairly long, I think some of these conversations could have been condensed or eclipsed into each other.

I felt good about how things were resolved in the Noah-and-his-brothers storyline. He makes an important decision that allows him to do what he wants in the future. (Spoilers: I'm glad that he realized his brothers were better off with the foster parents. While I admired his tenacity in wanting to keep his promise of having his brothers live with him, ultimately he made the mature decision. His life is his own, he can go on to college, and he won't feel tied down to his brothers. I think he could have grown to resent them if he'd tried to get his brothers back, because they'd be preventing him from doing what he really wanted to with his life.)
 

Both Echo and Noah end up in a pretty good place, and I was pleased about that because they have both been through a lot and deserve some breaks for once. However, I thought it was just a little too much of a happy ending — almost everything gets resolved nicely, and it's rather drawn out. Spoilers: Echo's relationship with Ashley starts to get repaired, she's on much better terms with her dad, she and Noah both get scholarships to the same college, he can see his brothers whenever he wants, and they're going on a trip to Colorado. Basically, there are several conversations with some kinda cheesy emotional bonding going on. Also, it's a shame that we don't get a bit of closure with Mrs. Collins — it's like she drops out at the end.

Final verdict: 3.5 shooting stars. I thought it was overly stretched out, without enough substance (there was a heavy focus on the romance) and too much repetition in the conversations. But, on the whole I enjoyed reading it and found the psychology quite interesting.

Note: There is some mature language/content in this book.

Disclaimer: I received this as an e-book through Netgalley.

This book counts towards my goals for the Debut Author reading challenge and the Just Contemporary reading challenge.

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Belle Epoque and Born of Illusion

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

This week's WoW picks are:

Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross

"When Maude Pichon runs away from provincial Brittany to Paris, her romantic dreams vanish as quickly as her savings. Desperate for work, she answers an unusual ad. The Durandeau Agency provides its clients with a unique service—the beauty foil. Hire a plain friend and become instantly more attractive.

Monsieur Durandeau has made a fortune from wealthy socialites, and when the Countess Dubern needs a companion for her headstrong daughter, Isabelle, Maude is deemed the perfect foil.

But Isabelle has no idea her new "friend" is the hired help, and Maude's very existence among the aristocracy hinges on her keeping the truth a secret. Yet the more she learns about Isabelle, the more her loyalty is tested. And the longer her deception continues, the more she has to lose."

Sometimes historical books can be a little stuffy, but this one just sounds like a lot of fun! Love the idea of the "beauty foils" (were there actually such agencies back then?).

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

"Anna Van Housen is thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in 1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?

Born of Illusion is the first book in a new series. Each book in the series will introduce a new historical figure, whose legend is shrouded in magic, along with the young woman whose fate is irrevocably tied to his. The through line in each of the books will be The Ghost Club, the real life secret society that was founded in 1862 by the likes of Charles Dickens, Sir Conan Doyle, and W. B. Yeats to advance mankind’s knowledge of the paranormal. The first three books in the series will deal with Houdini, Aleister Crowley and Rasputin."

I'm sticking with the historical theme here. The premise of this one reminds me very much of Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey, but the scope of the series as a whole seems much broader (and rather ambitious!). I'm interested to see how the author ties everything together. (Is it just me, though, or is the girl's eye on the cover kinda creepy?)