Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan

Title: Boy Meets Boy

Author: David Levithan

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

Category: YA

Release Date: 2006

Source: Bought in Waterstones

Paperback : 185 pages

Summary from Amazon: 

Love meets love. Confusion meets clarity. Boy meets boy. "There isn't really a gay scene or a straight scene in our town. They all got mixed up a while back, which I think is for the best! And whether your heart is strictly ballroom or bluegrass punk, the dance floors are open to whatever you have to offer. This is my town." Meet PAUL. Gay his whole life, and finding love as wonderful, confusing and heartbreaking as every other teenager in his high school. Meet Paul's friends: JONI -- his best friend, who may not be his best friend any more; TONY -- his other best friend who can't leave the house unless his parents think he's going on a date! with a girl; INFINITE DARLENE -- homecoming queen AND star quarterback in the football team; KYLE -- the ex-boyfriend who won't go away; RIP -- the school bookie who sets the odds; And NOAH -- the boy who changes everything. Witty, engaging, refreshingly upbeat and slightly surreal, David Levithan's debut has been attracting glowing reviews in the USA. After all, being in love at high school is a challenge for any teen -- regardless of sexual preference!

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This book is a breeze of fresh air in the recent books I have read. It is extremely sweet, fun and original. I don't know exactly what I was waiting before reading the book, I had read some good reviews and thought it would be a fun love story, but it ended up being much more original than that.

The narrator Paul lives in a town where there is no discrimination against people's sexual orientation. The LGBTQ and the straight crowds have mixed several years before and you can see the utopic city where everyone is respected even Infinite Darlene the homecoming queen and star quaterback of the football team of Paul's high school. I loved reading about this, it represents such a change from the less positive and optimistic LGBT books.

Paul's voice in the book grips you from the first page and you share his emotions as the story evolves around him, his friends and his love interest Noah. 

The story is about that moment in life where you meet someone and you know. You know this isn't like anything you have encountered before. You know this is the real thing. Or maybe not. Though it looks like it. Your entire life gets attached to that person and it makes you the happiest you've ever been in years but it hurts and scares you so much at the same time. Not that I know the feeling.  :-D

I absolutely loved reading about Paul and Noah. Their feelings, their doubts, their fears, their hesitations and certainties. It was just extremely swoon-worthy and cute.

I liked all the characters. I feared it might look like an accumulation of stereotypes, but all the characters felt real to me. As real as they would be in this utopic society where they wouldn't have to justify their existence to the others and could live openly. They don't have to hide themselves and their feelings cease to become an issue: they feel attracted to others, they have doubts, they try, they realize their preferences, and they can do all that in a peaceful environment. 

At the beginning of the book I felt that Paul was more a narrator than a character so to speak, but his personality emerged through the story. Even though the story talks a lot about being gay and coming out, it is first and foremost a love story between two characters and their journey towards this love.

I particularly enjoy the character of Tony. He lives in another town and goes to another school which isn't as open-minded as Paul's. His parents are devoted Christians who feel that homosexuality is the work of the devil. He is an extraordinary character. I loved all the moments where he showed his courage and sensibility.

I don't even need to say anything on Infinite Darlene, she is absolutely wonderful (and definitely knows it).

I hate labels in general, and these ones in particular. It feels like you constantly need to add a letter at the end of LGBT to include everyone. This multiplication of labels doesn't have the result of making people more accepted in general, it just gives them a name and a group in which they can be recognised. As Paul says in the book, people love labels. I liked that the book presented the characters without having to label them automatically. They are all human beings - the other labels are superfluous.

I absolutely loved the artistic vibe there was in the story. I now want to paint the music like Noah and create origami flowers like Paul! The writing is beautiful especially in those moments. I liked walking with Paul through his city and share what he saw in it. I also liked following Tony in the nature where he likes to be alone.

This book literally took me by surprise. It is a very sweet and original read and the LGBT theme is presented in a very unique way through amazingly vivid characters. 

The love story is so romantic... *swoon* :)

Book News: Entangled by Cat Clarke

Hello lovely people,


I am writing a tiny post to share some awesome news about a book I cannot wait to get my hands on (and that will be pretty soon I hope):

The lovely Cat Clarke, whom I've had the pleasure to meet a couple of months back at our first UK Book Blogger meet up, will be publishing her first book, Entangled, in January 2011 with Quercus. When I read the summary of the book, I was highly intrigued and I have been quite impatient for it to be released!

This week, her book finally got its cover. *Yes that would be the gorgeous picture above* I know it's bad to judge a book by its cover, but seriously, this cover ROCKS! I am loving it so much!

And here is a summary of the book (from Goodreads):

Grace meets enigmatic Ethan the night she's planning to kill herself. The next morning she wakes up in a strange room with a table, chair, pens and paper. There's nothing to do but write, and as she writes, Grace remembers the things she's tried so hard to forget. 

The hazy memories lead Grace into a dark place where friendship, heartbreak and betrayal tangle together...

I don't know about you, but I am very excited about it :)

And if you want to show the girl some love, head over to her blog. 

If you're a UK Book Blogger and want to participate in the tour, check out the UK Book Tours website managed by the wonderful Lynsey of Narratively Speaking.

On a more personal note, I would like to mention that since Cat is a cheese person, she is fundamentally awesome :)

Wasted - Nicola Morgan

Title: Wasted

Author: Nicola Morgan


Publisher: Walker Books

Category: YA

Release Date: 2010

Source: Sent for review and won in a contest organised by the amazing Sammee @ I Want to Read That

Paperback : 290 pages

Summary:

Jack worships luck and decides his actions by the flip of a coin. No risk is too great if the coin demands it. Luck brings him Jess, a beautiful singer who will change his life. But Jack’s luck is running out, and soon the stakes are high. As chance and choice unravel, the risks of Jack’s game become terrifyingly clear. An evening of heady recklessness, and suddenly a life hangs in the balance, decided by the toss of a coin. In the end, it is the reader who must choose whether to spin that coin and determine: life or death.

~~~~~~~~~~

Wasted is one of those books you love to hate or hate to love. I loved some aspects of the story, and at other times, I just wanted to creep behind that narrator and hit him/her/it with a frying pan. So bad that I even considered not finishing the book. But I did continue and even though I didn't exactly like the book, I am glad I did read it in the end.

The story centres on the relationship between Jess and Jack. They are both musicians and they meet by chance at school and start becoming friends when Jack asks Jess to be the singer for his band for Prom. There is some serious chemistry between those two, and they soon develop feelings for each other that are more than just friendship.

But the book has a second level where chance and luck are questioned through the presence of that annoying narrator and what is called "Jack's game". Ever since he was a little boy, Jack was led to believe that chance doesn't exist and that people simply get lucky or unlucky*. That is why he flips a coin for it to decide what he should do, so that he isn't responsible for the decision or choice. That is Jack's game, whenever there is a decision to be made, he flips a coin to go in one direction or another.

The relation between Jess and Jack builds up because of their passion for music and their respective personalities. I loved how they interacted. The two characters are really well described and have very interesting lives. There is a lot of depth in all the characters, even though there aren't many overanalytic descriptions either. They also felt like real teenagers with many flaws and doing several bad things for some. 

I was also very touched by Jess's family situation. I am sure that there are a lot of children taking care of themselves on their own and even having to take care of their parents as well. Jess's dad left them to go live in America and Jess's mom is an alcoholic. She is a very strong character and I was really happy to continue reading the story and discover more aspects of her personality.

One of the most important characteristic of the book is, for me, the narrator, who seems to take at times more space than the actual characters of the book. The narrator knew too much and was talking way too much. I know what you must think "How can the narrator of a book 'speak too much'?", but it really feels that way. It felt to me as if the narrator was chance or luck (or whichever you want to call it) personified, playing with its character puppets. I hated that narrator with all my guts. It made me feel as if the character had no choice or influence over their own lives and just played in someone else's game. A someone way more powerful than a mere human. It felt a little obscene sometimes, especially when two different chapters would be written with two possibilities and the reader could flip a coin to decide which was the version that would happen to the characters.

The book made me question my own perception of life. I am very passionate about being independent, and this book shows how completely irrelevant independence is. I seriously disagree with that. With independence comes responsability of your actions, they are the two sides of the same coin, and I didn't like how this responsability was sometimes surrendered knowingly to chance or luck by the characters. I don't want to write a lot about it, but I really didn't like that part of the story.

I was also surprised by the style, the book is written in the present tense, it definitely serves the story, but it felt highly unusual to me at the beginning.

I wouldn't say I liked this book, but it spoke to me and even brought some very extreme reactions. It is an interesting read and I feel that the story would have been less powerful had the narrator been more subtle. It is also interesting to challenge your own beliefs and opinions. It is a very unique book, I would advise it to people who like challenging and original books. 

Thank you to Walker Books for sending me this book and Sammee for organising the giveaway!

* I found it funny because in French, "luck" translates as "chance". It is interesting to see the emphasis put on the difference between the two concepts.

The Spider Moon (Bk1) - Kate Brown

Title: The Spider Moon
(Book 1)
Author: Kate Brown

Publisher: David Fickling Books (Random House)

Category: Graphic Novel, YA

Release Date: 2010

Source: Given to me by Random House 

Hardback : 78 pages

Summary from Amazon:

They tell a prophecy of our homelands being crushed by a falling sky. That fate has been a shadow over our people ever since. The end has begun ...in my lifetime. Bekka and her people are facing the end of times. They must do all in their power to save themselves from the fate they believe is theirs. But destiny is like a tightly coiled snake. Which Bekka must unfurl without getting bitten ...

~~~~~~~~

I don't read a lot of graphic novels, but I love reading fascinating stories with great illustrations. It took me one glance to fall for this graphic novel, the cover is *gorgeous*. The colours just make me want to dive in the sea!


The story centres around a fantasy world which is about to end (hello environmental theme!) and the need to find another place and another way to live. The main character is a young girl named Bekka who has her own personality and doesn't let herself get chewed on by anyone else. She has a pet - a Dodecapod named Fii - which follows her everywhere. From the beginning of the story, you know that something big and frightening is about to happen to this world, and it makes you even more passionate about it when you discover its beautiful landscapes (and especially underwaterscapes) and its inhabitants.


The style is very original, you can clearly spot some manga influences in there. I love the fact that the characters change expressions all the time which makes the story so much more vivid. The way the pages are organised is also - I find - very original, and it changes from the graphic novel pages divided in equal squares. 


I absolutely loved the underwater illustrations and colours, it is simply wow. By the way, Bekka's people have this physical thing called webbed fingers which enables them to swim easily underwater. Which is awesome. (And yes, I secretly want webbed fingers myself)


I can't wait to read the new adventures of Bekka and the Prince Kaliel, because I can feel a romance building up there, where they travel to new places and try to find a way to save their world. Prince Kaliel comes from another people than Bekka and has other physical features specific to his people, which are equally awesome!

Anyways, this is a very quick read which offers beautiful images and a very promising story, you will definitely fall for Bekka and her world. 

Here is an interview I found on YouTube of the amazing Kate Brown, where she talks about The Spider Moon, her work as a graphic novel artist as well as her tips on becoming one:

Thank you so much to Random House for making me discover the talented Kate Brown and the adventures of Bekka!

Linger - Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Linger
(Book 2 of The Wolves of Mercy Falls series)

Author: Maggie Stiefvater


Publisher: Scholastic

Category: YA

Release Date: 2010

Source: Bought on Amazon

Paperback : 416 pages

Summary:

In SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in LINGER, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ... and figuring out a way to survive the future. But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

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

If you haven't read Shiver, the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, you can read my review of it here.

When I read Shiver several months ago, I fell in love with the story, the general atmosphere of the book and the style of writing. I thought it might be a stand alone novel but I was thrilled and a bit weary to see that it was in fact a trilogy. When I picked up Linger, I had this mixed feeling of high anticipation and fear I wouldn't like it as much as I liked Shiver.


Well, a few pages into the book and my fears most entirely dissolved. I was again falling for the characters, the atmosphere and the style. I can spend hours describing how much I loved this book and why. But I won't since it's boring I prefer rereading it and loving it all over again instead of analysing everything as I always do.
Sam has become a man who won't be changing into a wolf anymore whereas Grace is feeling the call of the forest more acutely than ever before. But she can't change, can she? Sam comes to terms with being the new leader of the pack, but he finds it hard without Beck. 


If you haven't read any Maggie Stiefvater books - Uh, are you even living on the same planet?!! - you should. She has a unique way of writing and she gives an incredibly interesting dimension to the werewolf myth.  Her characters are irresistibly flawed, they have doubts and they are always real. If you have read Shiver, then fear not fellow reader, you won't be disappointed!


The book is told from the alternate point of view of lovers Sam and Grace as well as from the ice queen Isabel and the new member of the pack, Cole. Isabel was one of my favourite character in the first book and I loved to get into her head. Cole is an interesting choice for a narrator and it was fascinating to get to know him. Some parental figures play an important role in the book, that's quite interesting to read as well. 
You will *love* the evolution of the werewolf thingy - I love when fantasy makes sense.


The book is perfect and it feels just right. It is one of those books you'll keep next to your bed to reread and rereread whenever you lay your eyes on it and feel again all those powerful emotions embottled in its paragraphs. 

*sigh* 

I love that book.