Hey all you lovely folks! I’m so excited to be participating in the #ReadADessen countdown/campaign as one of many #PRHPartner’s. Today’s post is going to be a fancasting of Dreamland – one of my favorite Sarah Dessen books. In addition, the bottom of this post will contain a link to the huge giveaway going on as part of the count down. YOU CAN WIN A WHOLE SET OF SARAH DESSEN BOOKS!
Tag Archives: Abuse
The Word for Yes
Something real had happened last night. Something horrible had happened to Melanie.
Title: The Word for Yes
Author: Claire Needell
Series: Standalone
Publication: February 16th 2016 by HarperTeen
Pages: 256
Source: Purchased
Summary from Goodreads:
After their parents’ divorce, Jan, Erika, and Melanie have to get used to the new world order: a father who’s moved to another continent and a mother who throws herself into moving on. Jan, off at her first semester of college, has plenty to worry about, including an outspoken roommate who’s kind of “out there” and an increasingly depressed and troubled long-distance boyfriend. Her younger sisters, left at home in New York City, and dealing with all the pressures of life in high school, aren’t exactly close. Erika is serious and feels awkward and uncomfortable in crowds, though her beauty tends to attract attention. Melanie is socially savvy and just wants to go out—to concerts, to parties, wherever—with her friends. The gap between all three girls widens as each day passes.
Then, at a party full of blurred lines and blurred memories, everything changes. Starting that night, where there should be words, there is only angry, scared silence.
And in the aftermath, Jan, Erika, and Melanie will have to work hard to reconnect and help one another heal.
At once touching and raw, Claire Needell’s first novel is an honest look at the love and conflicts among sisters and friends, and how these relationships can hold us together—and tear us apart.
My Thoughts:
This is one of those reviews that is immensely difficult to write. First of all, I want to begin by saying that my view of the book as a whole in no way reflects my opinions on the topic itself. When it comes down to the meat of the pie, as it were, the writing just couldn’t hold up to my expectations, leading this book into a downward spiral all of its own.
The Way I Used to Be
As the girl closes her eyes, she was thinking of him. Thinking that maybe he was thinking of her, too. But he wasn’t thinking of her in that way. He was holding her in the palm of his hand, wrapping her around his fingers, one at a time, twisting and molding and bending her brain.
Title: The Way I Used to Be
Author: Amber Smith
Series: Standalone
Publication: March 22nd 2016 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 384
Source: Purchased
Summary from Goodreads:
Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.
What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.
Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year.
My Thoughts:
The Way I Used to Be is a hard book to read because it is a missed opportunity. What could have been a poignant novel following in the footsteps of Courtney Summers’ All The Rage and Aaron Hartzler’s What We Saw ended up becoming a one way road of self destruction and a lack of care for a serious subject.
Dreaming of Antigone
“I can’t ever be the blazing star that Iris was. I’m still just a cold, dark satellite orbiting a star that went super nova.”
Title: Dreaming of Antigone
Author: Robin Bridges
Series: Standalone
Publication: March 29th 2016 by Kensington
Pages: 304
Source: Netgalley
Summary from Goodreads:
Andria’s twin sister, Iris, had adoring friends, a cool boyfriend, a wicked car, and a shelf full of soccer trophies. She had everything, in fact—including a drug problem. Six months after Iris’s death, Andria is trying to keep her grades, her friends, and her family from falling apart. But stargazing and books aren’t enough to ward off her guilt that she—the freak with the scary illness and all-black wardrobe—is still here when Iris isn’t. And then there’s Alex Hammond. The boy Andria blames for Iris’s death. The boy she’s unwittingly started swapping lines of poetry and secrets with, even as she tries to keep hating him.
Heartwrenching, smart, and bold, Dreaming of Antigone is a story about the jagged pieces that lie beneath the surface of the most seemingly perfect life…and how they can fit together to make something wholly unexpected.
My Thoughts:
You hear that?
That’s the sound of all my expectations, hopes, and dreams being flushed down the drain. Oh lordy… Dreaming of Antigone is sort of like that food that smell delicious and tastes like complete and utter shit. It sounded interesting, it started off on a good note, and then BAM! It makes you want to puke, gag, and forget you ever started in the first place. To be perfectly honest, I cannot believe I actually forced myself to read – and finish – this mystery meat sandwich. But, on the other hand, I did have some pretty high expectations when I started this book – damn you internet.
This book, besides being poorly written (more on that later), just felt like a conglomerate mash-up of too many things where none of it was working. A book is a machine, you see. It is a delicate, wonderful machine with so many complex, itty-bitty moving irreplaceable parts that it’s noticeable when those parts aren’t working right. Dreaming of Antigone is one of those books where none of the parts worked, at all. Goth girl stereotype? Check. Trying to force some sort of diversity through illness that clearly wasn’t researched? Check. Trying to avoid instalove by having instahate instead? Check. Just… ugh, I wanted to rip my hair out. I am so sick and tired of reading the same pieces in the same stories over and over again – but each time it’s getting worse and worse.
Everything in Dreaming of Antigone felt forced. The reader is forced to care (which still didn’t work on me) by employing various tropes and sympathy cards. The “romance” was so forced it should probably be illegal. The family dynamics or lack thereof was probably one of the worst parts, too. Actually, this book is sort of like a “Worst Ideas In Book History” awards show.
As for the writing, are you sure you want to watch me go down this rabbit hole? I advise both caution and possible parental advisory if you find yourself easily offended by other people’s opinions. (Yes, that’s supposed to come off whichever way you just took it. Deal with it.) Okay….. WHAT THE HELL!?! This book houses some of the laziest, unimaginable, poor writing I have ever had the displeasure of laying my eyes on. I’ve seen first graders with better grammar and language usage than this. My biggest issue, besides everything else – of course- was the sheer laziness Bridges employs. “Antigone”, a play I’m sure most of us have read sometime during our lives, is the main tool for delivering everything here. Andria wants to explain how she feels (telling, not showing), she does so through relating her life to “Antigone”. The play “resonates” with her on a very, very, very personal level. Oh no, I’m weeping already. Jesus, this was such bullshit. If you’re going to use a play that’s already written to help you along through EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN IMPORTANT EVENT in your novel you might as well put your characters in the play and call it yours. Andria cannot feel a damn thing for herself unless she tells the reader about it through “Antigone”. Just, what the hell? I mean, honestly, how do you expect a reader to get behind this sort of thing when your characters have no autonomy and rely on a freaken play to tell them how they feel even though it’s comply irrelevant and wrong. No, no, and no.
Overall, Dreaming of Antigone was predictable, written by a two-year-old, and a horrible attempt to handle something serious. This book is laughable. It handles serious issues too lightly, so lightly in fact that you barely even pick up on the actual impact. A glossed over and half-assed attempt to do something other people have done a million times better than you – that’s what this is. No plot, no care in the writing, nothing. Just a whole lot of nothing.
Finding Hope
“Dangling
From a thread
Suspended, breath
Catching in my throat.
That Drop won’t kill me.
But how will I catch
What I lost?“
Title: Finding Hope
Author: Colleen Nelson
Series: Standalone
Publication: April 12th 2016 by Dundurn
Pages: 200
Source: Netgalley
Summary from Goodreads:
Hope lives in a small town with nothing to do and nowhere to go. With a drug addict for a brother, she focuses on the only thing that keeps her sane, writing poetry. To escape, she jumps at the chance to attend Ravenhurst Academy as a boarding student. She’ll even put up with the clique-ish Ravens if it means making a fresh start.
At first, Ravenhurst is better than Hope could have dreamed. She has a boyfriend and a cool roommate, and she might finally have found a place she can fit in. But can she trust her online boyfriend? And what can she do after her brother shows up at the school gates, desperate for help, and the Ravens turn on her? Trapped and unsure, Hope realizes that if she wants to save her brother, she has to save herself first.
My Thoughts:
What first caught my eye about this book was the cover. The cover – minimalist, metaphorical, and attention grabbing – is simply stunning, as is the book as a whole. I’ve never read anything by Colleen Nelson before this book, but boy, am I glad she is now on my radar. This book is not an easy read by any means, it deals with hard hitting topics like sexual abuse, drug addiction, bullying, and hazing – but it is so, so worth it.
Told through dual point of views, Finding Hope is a lyrically beautiful tale of a young girl looking for an escape and her brother who is entirely dependent upon her and his addiction to meth. This book, as I have said and will likely say again, is simply stunning. It is a delicate puzzle, a dainty lattice work of carefully crafted prose and beautiful poetic interludes. It is a glimpse into the mind of an addict and their loved ones. It is a balancing act – what point does the truth become too much? When can you no longer hide what is truly going on, even from yourself? This book is powerful. It is a whirlwind of emotions, heartbreak, and hope.
The characters were just as complex as the story itself. Our two narrators – Hope and her brother, Eric – are two completely different ends of the spectrum. Hope is naive, Eric manipulative. Hope is a supporter, a provider – and Eric is a leech. Hope, while naive, is strong willed and unafraid to do what needs to be done. She goes on, she fights and puts one foot in front of the other – trudging from one hell into the next. She is incredibly brave, she is a misfit, she is a poet. Her writing helps her through all of the bullshit she has to deal with on a daily basis – it is her livelihood, it is her escape from reality. It was beautiful.
This is a really dark book, so I don’t recommend going into this if you’re in a bad mood or a reading slump. But, overall Finding Hope was a profound story of a girl that will sucker punch you right in the gut and keep doing so until it is all you can do to take in a deep breath. It was morbid, heart-wrenching, and completely riveting. It is a small tale, but it sure as hell packs one hell of a punch. I feel honored to have gotten the chance to read this. Finding Hope is brutally honest, as all books should be.
Reed's Reads & Reviews 