Della says: OMG! - Keris Stainton

Summary from Amazon:

Don't miss this fantastic debut novel - Keris Stainton is a fabulously contemporary, witty and fresh new voice who teen girls will adore. Della’s over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party – but then she discovers her diary has disappeared... When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della’s distraught – how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

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Della Says: OMG! made me incredibly happy when I read it! I finished it a few months ago and went through it again to write the review and I found myself rereading it! Sweet, funny and witty, Della will definitely make your day and you will want her as your best friend!


Della is an average teenager living in the UK. She is in that No-Man's-Land between popular and complete loser but she's ok with it. Her sidekick best friend Maddy is made of awesome and she helps out Della with that sisyphean quest towards popularity. When Della's big sister Jamie organises a party in their house to celebrate her departure for America for the summer, Della is dressed with nice clothes and she makes out with Dan Bailey, her longtime crush, who seems to be interested in her. What should be one of the best days of her life turns into a horrific nightmare when *gasps* Della's diary is stolen and she receives (very embarrassing) pages of it through Facebook in a stalkerish kind of way. I know, OMG!

Della is a very down-to-earth teenager and has a great personality. I really loved being in her head and seeing her react to the loss of her diary. She is a great friend and very fun to be around. Her budding romance with Dan is wonderfully portrayed, they are adorable together and the moments where they get to know each other are swoon-worthy. I also liked the way Dan sees Della and how it contrasts from the vision Della has of herself. Della wants to take over from her parents' Deli business and run one of her own and it was great to see her liking her summer job running one deli!
The other characters are all well described and great! I *love* Della's parents!


Through the pages of Della's diary which are put in various locations and sent to various people, we go through Della's most personal thoughts and you can't help cringe at some of the situations. But Della is courageous and she goes through this with the help of her friends and Dan. It also touches important themes for teenagers and it gives a great depth to the story. One of them is the relations between family and friends and it was really great to relate to some of the events in the story.

You know I'm a sucker for an interesting background to a story and I loved the Britishness of Della's story and all the popular culture references. I also loved the fact that they seemed to be *gasps* normal teenagers (you know, the kind you were yourself in that grey area between angel and  thug).

The book is told from Della's point of view and the general style of writing flows perfectly. I could really feel Della's personality and thoughts rising from the pages and most of the episodes are laugh out loud funny and original.


I can't quite describe this novel, it is a real piece of sunshine. The story is incredibly uplifting and after finishing it I was dancing around and quite horrifyingly singing to cheesy music and having a blast (*cough* I mean, I know a friend who did that - not me, I swear). Della says: OMG! is one of the best contemporary novels I have read recently and by far the funniest and wittiest. Go read it - you won't be able to resist it!


And boy am I excited for Keris Stainton's new novel Jessie Hearts NYC out in July (YAY!!)

FYI: The kindle edition was entirely in italics (Twitter tells me the paperback isn't)

Della Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton | 2010 | Bought and read on my kindle

Runaway - Meg Cabot

Runaway
(Airhead Book 3)

By Meg Cabot

Published by MacMillan in 2010


Genre: YA

PB: 275 pages


Bought in Waterstones or WH Smith (can't remember!)

Runaway is the third and last part of the Airhead trilogy written by Meg Cabot. I have reviewed both Airhead (here) and Being Nikki (here). I will try keeping my review spoiler free but I highly suggests you don't read the following if you haven't read Airhead or Being Nikki!

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The Airhead trilogy is about Emerson Watts, a geeky teenage girl whose brain is put in the body of Nikki Howard, the hit girl of the moment. The first book is about Em trying to get over the whole weirdness of the situation and learn how to live a new life. She gets to grips with being a model and having everyone touch you and see you naked, as well as try to handle Nikki's love life which was insanely busy when Nikki was using her own body. But even during the first book, Em starts questioning the whole brain transplant thing and especially her employer Stark enterprises. Being Nikki, the second book in the trilogy, becomes more and more a thriller and much less a chick lit book. Em  starts to investigates the Hows and the Whys and finds some startling things about Stark.

Runaway picks up at the end of Being Nikki where Em realise that the real Nikki is still very much alive (her brain was transplanted in another body) and that Brandon Stark, Nikki's on and off boyfriend has found out the conspiracy truth and is blackmailing Em (in Nikki's body) to come with him. Em doesn't know how but she is determined to take Stark down.


I have really fallen for this series and I am really happy that I loved the third volume as much as the two previous ones! There are classic chick lit themes, but there is also so much more in this series that I really can't encourage you enough to read it!


I have to admit that this series is the first (and only!) Meg Cabot books I have read and I have definitely become a fan of her style! She is funny, witty and has a knack for pinpointing how teenage girls are!


I will only repeat here what I already said about the two previous books so I'll keep this short! I still love the characters, the writing, the pace of the story and the humour!


About the serious issues treated in the background (i.e. the brain transplant and the dodgy dealings of that evil Stark) are really fascinating. You are going to be amazed! I like how in some ways it feels like a futuristic/scifi story and how, when you think about it, this could totally be happening right now without us knowing!


I like how self-perception is portrayed in this book. I feel that it is very important to be said (repeatedly and continuously) to teenage girls not to think there is a single way to be pretty. As Charlotte Brontë beautifully put it in Jane Eyre, "Beauty is in the eye of the gazer".


Emerson is a great heroine to follow and she has a heart of gold. Her sister Frida is wonderful as well as her friend Lulu (I absolutely *love* Lulu!). There are some truly laugh out loud moments as well as some edge-of-the-seat action and you will devour this book in one sitting, not being able to put it down!


Enough gushing! Anyone who likes their YA chick lit and Meg Cabot needs to read this series, the others should honestly give it a try :)

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Sarra Manning

Summary from Amazon:

Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules. And the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don’t get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve's heart since university. But William’s been in LA for three years, and Neve’s been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he’ll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her.

So she’s not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she's an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she’d better get some, well, experience.

What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia’s colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he’s such a man-slut, and so not Neve’s type, she certainly won’t fall for him. Because William is the man for her… right?

Somewhere between losing weight and losing her inhibitions, Neve’s lost her heart – but to who?

~~~~

I read this book a little while ago and Neve's story is still present in my head. Her fight against her weight, but especially against herself, hasn't left me since.

When I think about Chick Lit as a genre, I usually picture a couple of blonde fashionistas going shopping and searching for love in a big city (like probably most of the people who don't actually read Chick Lit). So I tend to dismiss those books very easily - you know, with all those pirates, dragons and werewolves books I haven't read why on earth would I read a Chick Lit book?

Well maybe because these books talk about me. Not me me. But me as a person, a woman living in this century (where the existence of dragons and werewolves still hasn't been proven yet). One of the best aspects of the book is how contemporary it feels. Sarra Manning gave Neve's story a context that many people can relate to with themes such as issues to find a decent job, to make friends at work, to get over what happened during your teenage years etc. The atmosphere feels very real and shows how much some people struggle nowadays to find happiness or fulfilment.

Neve is a very realistic and striking character. She is very bright and her job might not be thrilling per se but she enjoys it (to a certain extent) and has some hopes of one day publishing a book. She has been in love with William since University and despite his move to LA. Neve had a little problem with food during her teenage years and became overweight. When William left for America, she set herself the goal of losing all her weight and becoming "perfect" so that William, upon his return, would fall in love with her. 

A couple of years later and many pounds less, Neve thinks she is prepared for William's return but her sister Celia reminds her of the tiny issue of Neve's complete inexperience in men. As in complete inexperience. Enters Celia's mad plan to take Neve to her work (fashion magazine!) party and introduce her to some of her colleagues. Little does she know that womaniser Max will be the one chosen by Neve.

The contrast between bookish Neve and ladies' man celebrity journalist Max is striking, but it is what makes their interactions so fascinating. They are worlds' apart in appearance but find some deep-rooted connections. I just love what happened between them as well as being able to see behind the scenes of fashion magazines and the world of celebrities. Sarra Manning - having been a journalist for years - depicts very well this world.

The characterisation in the story is just brilliant. I tweeted Sarra Manning about the realism of Neve's personality, and she told me that she drew a lot of her own experience for this book, qualifying it as her most "me" book. You can read her incredible piece for The Telegraph here where she talks about her transformation.

But describing You Don't Have To Say You Love Me as a book about weight and diet would be too reductive. The book is a coming-of-age story of someone who has always lived in the shadows and about her journey to learn how to love herself.

The explicit sex scenes made me blush down to my toes - note to self: do not read explicit sex scenes in the tube where people read over your shoulder.
I loved how all the characters had very distinctive personalities and how they related to Neve: her father, her sister, her brother's wife (and ex-bully when she was at school), her gym trainer and her friends at work. I liked the story of her attempting to write a book on Lucy Keener and how it interestingly completed the main plot.

The writing is simply gorgeous. Sarra Manning has amazing story-telling skills and I literally couldn't put the book down.
 I really loved this book, I found that the characters and the contemporary-feel of the story was fascinating. It is a feel good book in the most realistic way possible (no irrational makeovers or unbelievable male love interests). If you are a fan of Chick Lit, you will love this book, but you might also like it if you are not a fan of the genre!

 

There are two covers of this book. When I first saw the Lips one I really fell for it, the colour is just so striking and it symbolises what the book is about. But the Petals cover definitely has something. It might be less striking but I really like how the petals circle the page. What do you think? Which one would you rather have on your bookshelf?

Many thanks to Transworld for the book!

Kissing Kate - Lauren Myracle

Good morrow people !

I had been waiting to read this book forever and when I - finally - received it, I read it in one evening ! 

Kate and Lissa were best friends. Then one night last summer at a drunken party, Kate leaned in to kiss Lissa, and Lissa kissed her back. Now Kate is pretending Lissa doesn't exist. Confused and alone, Lissa's left questioning everything she thought she knew about herself, and about life. But with the help of a new friend, Lissa is beginning to realize that sometimes falling in love with the wrong person is the only way to find your footing.

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This book is very simple and short, but it is so beautifully written that its meaning is very powerful and feels just right. It happens often that in the moment you need your friends the most because of how much you struggle with your identity, they reject you or don't know how to talk to you, and you end up feeling more alone than you could ever feel. And often, help and advice comes in the most unexpected manner from a most unexpected person. Even though the subject is very serious, I found that the story gave hope. 

Lissa struggles with her sexuality after she and Kate kissed at a drunken party, and it hurts her even more that Kate ignores her whereas she is the only one whom Lissa could talk to about these things. Kate, after the kiss, seems very concerned about what people could think, how they could find out. As if they did something wrong. And she prefers denying those feelings rather than trying to understand them. 

One of the main things I liked in Lauren Myracle's book was the doubts and interrogation Lissa felt after what happened between Kate and herself. I found it very touching and it was very well brought up in the book. 

Lissa says at one point that she can't possibly tell people in high school: they would either laugh at what a freak she was, avoid her, or make nasty comments about two girls going with a guy "if they were hot enough". That is what many people usually get when they mention their sexuality. Being a teenage girl is already very hard on Lissa, because she never felt like she belonged before, and now it feels like she is doing something bad. I found that the relation between Lissa and Kate before and after the kiss was incredible. Because no matter how people are "ok with homosexuality", it is still a very "not in my backyard" kind of ok. I also found it interesting how Lissa interacts with her sister about issues of growing up, and how she takes the place of her Mom to help her little sister throughout her teenage years.


I like the character of Ariel *weird people rock*. And I love how Lauren Myracle writes about different people. As in people who are different. I am not saying this to say that it's good to have those characters as a "diversity quota", it is just that in many YA books that I read, I find that diversity is practically inexistent. People are white, healthy, have no important physical and intellectual issues, and reading Kissing Kate felt like a breeze of cool air on a very sunny day (not that we would know what this feels like in the UK). Lauren Myracle invents and describes characters that exist everywhere and yet are highly overlooked in fictions. They might be seen as boring, too loud, not funny, hardly pretty, have a lazy eye and wobbly knees but they are way more common than the flawless-perfect-hair-perfect-body-perfect-bank-account girl types you read in other books. And they're the only characters worth reading, but that's just my point of view !
I also found that the adult characters were very sweet and well described, especially the singles' club. 


It is such a wonderful book ! I think that even if you are not questioning yourself about what you like, or having a tough time at school, you should read this book, it is fascinating and makes you look at things from a different perspective. But more than that, the book is an ode to people in general with all their little habits and flaws which make them irresistibly human.


What do you guys think ?

Split by a Kiss - Luisa Plaja

Hey everyone !

I have *finally* read this book and I am now officially a Luisa Plaja fan ! YAY !

Jo has never been one of the popular kids... until she moves to the USA. Suddenly, the coolest girls at her high school adopt her, and the hottest boy, Jake Matthews, notices her.  But when Jake picks her as his partner in the kissing game Seven Minutes in Heaven, it's not half as heavenly as she imagined!

Jo has a choice: should she carry on with Jake for guaranteed popularity - or should she tell him where to get off and risk losing her new friends ... ? 

At this moment, Jo splits. She's Josie the cool - girlfriend of Jake, member of the in-crowd. But she's also Jo the Nerd - rejected by the It girls, single... ordinary. Will her two halves ever come together again ?

~~~~~~~~~~~

I have to admit that I was at first not very convinced by the cover which looked waaay too girly for comfort. And I thought - silly me - that it would be a book about high school relationships and cheerleaders being mean and jocks being jocks and all that. But this book is so much more than that. The plot contains the very essence of what goes down in schools such as the importance of peer pressure, and issues of rape or homosexuality etc. 

I really enjoyed the characters and how they are described. I prefer Jo the Nerd and how she doesn't let herself touched by a random guy. You go, girl ! Whereas Josie seems way too concerned by popularity to care for her real friends anymore. 

I think the character of Tori, Josie's/Jo's friend when she's with the It girls, is very sweet and it shows that you shouldn't judge someone from their look or for who they hang out with.
I love how her father is so fascinated with the Queen. I find, in general, that the adult characters are very truthful and full of those little habits that make them funny and adorable (and utterly annoying if they're your parents). Geeky moms rule!  As for Rachel, the goth rebel friend of Jo, she is a very interesting character, I like how she defends the woman cause by insulting jocks in the bathroom. I don't know if it is, but it looks like a reference to Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Melinda warns the other girls of a certain guy getting too friendly by writing it in the girls bathroom). I definitely can't wait to read Swapped by a Kiss to learn more about her !

There are two sides to peer pressure which are very well described in the book. The first one is the influence Chelsea and co. have on Josie and other girls in their high school. These chicks, who are a complete minority by the way and very stupid also, autoproclaim themselves cool and force everyone into their vision of what is acceptable and what is not. Earth would be quite the boring hot spot if they had their way, but when you look at women magazines and websites nowadays, you realise that they still exist, you just learn not to pay attention to it anymore.

The second one is the pressure from the boys to have sex. This is, for me, very well described in the book. Maybe it's just an American thing: the "first base", "second base" etc. but I find it hilarious as in ridiculous the way everything is broken down in steps, like in a self-help book. Through the story of Kendis, we learn that when a girl isn't ready and chooses to say how she was forced by the boy, her friends treat her like a pariah and no one believes her. Again, it reminds me of the Laurie Halse Anderson book Speak which you should read if you haven't, and how difficult it was for Melinda to say what happened to her. I like how Luisa Plaja cleverly hints at those subject without making the book entirely serious. 

The story is told alternatively from Josie the Cool to Jo the Nerd, and I like how, from that one different choice she made in the closet, they are different on the outside, but still the same person inside. It is very well written.

This is such a beautiful book, I laughed for half of it and cried for the other half, and I learned plenty (like on how to differentiate British from American). I would advise it to any girl, even if you don't read Chick Lit, because you'll see that most of what is written will hit home.

What did you think of the book ?

Remember, it is the last week for the Werewolf Giveaway ! (to participate: here)

Being Nikki - Meg Cabot

Greetings everyone !

Since I just reviewed Airhead (here), I might as well review the second book in the Airhead trilogy by Meg Cabot today ! After reading the first book, I was so in love with the story that I immediately bought the second one. Which tells you how much I liked the story. Unlike the Immortals series for example.

The book sees geeky tomboy Em Watts get progressively used to her new life as teen-supermodel Nikki Howard. She discovers that being a supermodel isn't that easy, especially since she decided to go back to high school to keep an eye on her love interest Christopher to pursue her studies and spend time with her little sister Frida. She is still best friends with Lulu and has so many boys turning around her that she hardly manages to do her supermodel photoshoots and fashion shows right. Many unexpected characters appear in Em/Nikki's life and she will learn many scary things, especially on Stark entreprises, that will make her take decisions which will have a strong effect on her future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quite unsurprisingly, I loved this book just as much, if not better than Airhead !

I still love the characters. And I find Meg Cabot's style incredibly insightful and funny. I would praise her even more for putting at the centre of the book the theme of education vs. fame etc. It is such an important theme, and it is such a crucial matter when it comes to young ladies, who are constantly appealed in the medias to be beautiful (as if it were important compared to an education) and famous and rich. If I had a teenage daughter, and if she were to tell me that the only thing she wants to be when she grows up is Miley Cyrus, I would make her read this book. After grounding her for life.

There is also some rommaaaance. No swooning behing the screen, ladies. Will Em get to see her beloved Christopher at school? Will she risk making contact? Is he still the same after her death? Will he like her in Nikki's body, the same body they were making fun of before?  

Awww plenty things happening! But since I'm incredibly cruel, you'll have to read the book to know the answers. 

Aside from everything I said yesterday about Airhead. I would like to add that Being Nikki is turning, from a YA Chick Lit story, to a wicked thriller with the whole Em vs. Stark. Call me a conspiracy theory nutcase, but I love how the plot is turning out. This is so much more than a geek body-swapping with a model.

I believe that people owning entertainment/communications company are half ruling the world. And they're probably watching you read this blog at the moment, you better put some disguise or something. No, seriously, they rule the world in the sense that they create needs we never had and then make us buy things we never wanted in the first place (and this is said by Em in the book, that's not just me saying) and then become super rich and do it all over again. And again.
Actually, if you ever wanted to conquer the world, that's exactly how you should do it. Yeah, I've given world domination a thought or two back in the day, that's definitely the best plan.
I really like actually how this company and it's boss Robert Stark look so much like a graphic novel villain. It's just awesome !

So I really like the way Meg Cabot is putting these ideas in the book, and how, in the end, she shows that friendship and family are more important than anything else, especially the newly released Stark computer or a several million dollar bra.

I sooooo can't wait for the last book of the trilogy, Runaway, to be published (in September in the UK but is already out in the US with a much less prettier cover). Because that's where (hopefully) Em is going to bring those people down and restore a little humanity in this world. Finally. Go geeks !

Anyways, I'm sure people who liked the first book will love the second book, because the story is taken one step further by the marvelously talented Meg Cabot who develops some very interesting themes.

A must read !

What did you think people, do you like the whole story Em vs. Stark entreprises ?

Good night !!

Airhead - Meg Cabot

Good afternoon !

It is with utmost shame that I confess never having read a Meg Cabot book before last week. I know, I know, stop looking at me like that !

Anyways, I didn't know which one to choose so I browsed the few titles in my bookshop and ended up with Airhead on which I had read a few good reviews.

Ok, so I have a thing for pink shiny covers too, it's hardly a crime ;-)

Airhead is the incredible story of Emerson Watts, high school tomboy-geek, who finds herself in the body of Nikki Howard, the superhotmodel of the moment, after a freaky accident *nooo I would have dared a play-on-word with Freaky Friday?!! Shame on me!*.
Emerson discovers that celebrity isn't what you read in the magazines, that some friendships are real and others not and that a busy love-life is hardly fun when you are the object of all the attentions. Em has to play the part of Nikki, being friend with socialite Lulu and going to photoshoots, to save her parents and little sister Frida from enormous bad consequences *now you can be scared* after they made a pact with the Stark company to save their daughter. At any cost. Even if that would mean putting her in someone else's body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I loved this book !

When I read the back cover and saw the whole body swap thing, I thought it would be something slightly unbelievable like Freaky Friday. I was more than pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be some conspiracy thing from super rich people who have the power. Because, let's face it, everything is true.

I liked that the book takes many many stereotypes and just turns them around. I am not surprised that geeky Em has a sister who wants to try out for cheerleading. I am not surprised that Nikki Howard has a busier love-life than Elizabeth Taylor and Paris Hilton put together. Nor that Brandon, Nikki's ex and son of the Boss of Stark Enterprise, hates his dad. But it is written in a way that you actually discover things. I'm sure all the Meg Cabot fans here will tell me that it's no surprise, but she is clearly a talented writer to write purposefully about stereotypes and create an interesting and amazing plot.

I think the characters are great. I absolutely adore Em Watts. I can totally relate to her. If you're interested, you can read the poem Portrait of a Woman by Wislawa Szymborska that gave its name to this blog (which is here), where the poet draws a portrait of a woman (of every woman) which is full of contradictions but which, in a way, makes complete sense. Part of those contradictions is the line "Reads Jaspers and ladies' magazines" (Jaspers being a German philosopher). And during the entire book I laughed so much when Em, the super geek, says she has read her little sister Frida's CosmoGirl, Romance Novels and others, "just because they were lying around". I mean I can talk to you about Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan (which is only useful if you study political sciences) as much as the biography of Kristen Stewart, so I totally relate to that, and I thought it was hilarious ! And I'm sure all the geeks like me found it fun that the name of the company is Stark, like Tony Stark Iron Man ?!! Or maybe I'm the only one !!

I also like the fact that Nikki Howard's life isn't as glamorous and fun as people might think. I would personally hate to be paraded around as a half-naked piece of meat and taken for stupidity personified, but that's just me. It is important to show that no matter how money, fame and beauty can be attractive, it's not entirely fun and fulfilling, and I think the book does just that.

I love the secondary characters. I am a huge fan of Lulu who erm... might not be the brightest tool in the shed but has ideas of her own and is extremely loyal and kind-hearted. Frida is such a sweetheart that even though she thinks Cheerleading is an acceptable activity which it isn't, I would have loved to have her as a sister. I found it funny and cool that Em's mother is a Uni teacher and a real feminist and that Em is so into school, I was starting to get mad at YA literature because of the two last YA books I read....

The style is actually pretty simple, you get into the story and never get out. It is not entirely centred on romance and boys, which is a big plus because these aspects in YA books are slightly tiresome at times. Why are you frowning at the screen?! They are at times !

I really really like the whole conspiracy-hidden-medical-facilities thing. It's awesome ! And it gets even better in the second volume of the Airhead trilogy, Being Nikki, that I will probably review tomorrow.

Anyways, reading this book made me go back to the 1990s where I was a devoted Spice Girls fan (not that I ever was a fan per se, I happened to listen to the songs quite by accident actually) and girl power was the only acceptable behaviour there was !

So I would strongly advise it to the Chick Lit and YA afficionados because, you know, Meg Cabot and all that, and to the hidden Chick Lit and YA fans among you (yeah you, hiding behind your philosophical essay and your New York Times, we all know you just finished reading Elle and Cosmo in secret), this book is extremely fun to read and is made just for you !

What did you guys think of the book ?

Cheers!