Tuesday 26 March 2013

Review: Dante's Girl and The Opposite of Hallelujah

Dante's Girl by Courtney Cole and The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzeb are two very different YA 3/5 star reads!

Dante's Girl is a book you'll probably want to save for a lazy summer afternoon... it's sweet, sometimes a little too sweet and while I liked it, I didn't love it.

The Opposite of Hallelujah is a crushing coming of age tale featuring a down to earth narrator which at its crux, will tear your heart apart.

Review: Dante's Girl by Courtney Cole

Publisher:
 Lakehouse Press
Date of publication: 24th June, 2012
Rating: 3/5 stars
SourceNetGalley
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | The Book Depository

The collage cover is ADORABLE and well, so is the book. Dante's Girl is another book taking on the dream-boy-in-dream-destination theme. Reece's chance encounter with Dante happens while boarding her last flight to London where she spends every summer with her father. Son of the most important man in a gorgeous-unheard-of Greek island, Dante is too good to be true. And so is the rest of her summer at said Mediterranean paradise, where she inadvertently ends up.

If you are willing to suspend disbelief, drink in the over-the-top-ness of certain situations and sigh happily rather than roll your eyes every time Dante is described as "beautiful", this book practically has your name written on it. It has that breezy stream-of-consciousness writing style that's perfect for this kind of book... and the main character, Reece, is down to earth, starry eyed and ordinary in a manner that is lovable. It has all the prerequisites of a dreamy summer romance.

I, however, couldn't sigh happily every time Dante was described as "beautiful" and did roll my eyes at some of the over-the-top situations. But despite my lukewarm feelings towards this book (it's a like-not-love for me), I am certain it does have the potential to be in your love-love-love list.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Review: The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzeb

Publisher:
 Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Date of publication: October 9th, 2012
Rating: 3/5 stars
SourceNetGalley
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Flipkart India

I had NO idea what this book was about till I dove headfirst into it. And I'm glad. It made the plot, at its core, all the more heart crushingly poignant.

The Opposite of Hallelujah opens with the arrival of Caro's elder sister, Hannah who had left home eight years ago. Hannah's departure from the family is something Caro could never understand, making her the sister Caro pretended was dead. Eight years later, Caro still feels the need to hide Hannah's existence. Only when clues to what made Hannah leave in the first place are unearthed, Caro is shocked at what has sister has been dealing with all along.

I could relate to Caro's annoyance and unexplainable shame when it came to explaining her sister. Her sister, Hannah, was after all mostly absent during her pivotal years as a kid and there was no concrete explanation for her absence. There is something so flinchingly honest about so many of the conflicts, Caro's own thoughts and how she coldly ignored what she didn't understand. And when the rationale behind Hannah's choices is delved into, the impact of the raw pain and guilt that had been suppressed for so long gave me the chills.

While the book dealt with heavy themes, there was this innocence about it that made me fall in love with the story. I felt a part of the Mitchell family, loved getting to know Caro's love interest, Father Bob and the other secondary characters also felt so real... they instantly stole my heart! I cannot imagine going through that roller coaster of confusion, pain and epiphany again, it's just that kind of book but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. While it was more of a one-time read for me, it was definitely a compelling one at that.

Rating: 3/5 stars

NOTE: Another, yes, I'm really alive note to this post! This time, for real. I'll hopefully get to reviewing all the ARCs that have piled up over the last couple of months! It's great to be back. :) Hope you've been awesome ^^

Friday 8 March 2013

Cover Feature: Double Click by Lisa Becker

It's going to take a while until I'll be fully active on the blog. But I'm still reading. A lot.

And it's still awesome.

And I wish I could post reviews in between last-minute assignments and project submissions and tests... but somehow, that doesn't seem to be happening in my final month of college.

Till then, I thought I'd do a belated cover feature of Double Click by Lisa Becker, sequel to the breezily quirky Click! I remember feeling giddy and excited when I heard there was a sequel. I had assumed it was a standalone and was kind of thrown off by all the loose ends! So here we go...

Click! An Online Love Story Facebook Page for updates on Double Click!

Don't you love the cover? It's equal parts sassy and light... just like the series! I found the first book, Click, to be "a quick, fun and witty read. To be fair, it's the kind of story that even if I've read a dozen times in a dozen different perspectives, I'd never get bored of. "

Judging the book by its (back)cover... I am absolutely psyched for another cyber dating spree! The best part? This time, it looks like Mark, my favourite character from Click who persuades Renee to get into the whole online dating game with him, gets some action too!

All right, have a nice weekend everybody <3