5 posts tagged “romance”
Breaking up is really, really hard to do (Dating Game 2)
By "Natalie Standiford"
I read this because I had read the first book in this series, and I wanted to see how this would stack up. (You may recall I found the first one to be Hilariously Awful)
And you know what? Either these girls are growing on me, or the author figured stuff out better, but this one was quite a lot better than the first one. Maybe the first one had to set up so many characters and situations, this one was freed up to just explore the plot.
It follows the same formula as the first book, alternating points of view in chapters between best friends Holly, Madison, and Lina. Each chapter also starts off with a brief horoscope that foreshadows the events to come in that chapter.
Continuing from the first Dating Game novel, Holly is now second-guessing hooking up with nice guy Rob (who drives her crazy asking permission every time he wants to kiss her); Madison is still pining after unattainable senior Sean; while Lina is hopelessly in love with their teacher.
Madison gets some character growth in this book, evolving from the love-struck girl desperate for popularity in book 1 to developing her artistic talents in this book (and meeting a cute artist boy who helps her move on from Sean, sort of). Holly is also more developed here - in the previous book, all we really knew was that she was a blond bombshell who wouldn't take crap from anyone. Her storyline of wanting to get rid of Rob to realizing maybe she was too hasty in trying to break up with him, will probably ring true to a lot of girls. Finally, Lina gets the most cringe-worthy moments as she finds her beloved teacher's on-line personal ad and starts e-mailing him, pretending to be a film student in grad school... and then she agrees to meet him! You are cringing but obsessively reading on to see how that trainwreack will go over.
Anyway, this is a much better book than the first one, in part because there is a lot less casual use of drugs and alcohol (maybe there were complaints about this in the first one? It wasn't even the drug and alcohol use that bugged me there, but the fact that it didn't really have to be there and seemed to be trying to be "cool" or something to impress readers). I would put this series in the same category as the "Mates, Dates" books, not quite as good as the Georgia Nicolson books, not as trashy as the "Gossip Girls" books...
Rating: A nice, sweet pick for girls ages 12 to 14.
By "Natalie Standiford"
I read this because I had read the first book in this series, and I wanted to see how this would stack up. (You may recall I found the first one to be Hilariously Awful)
And you know what? Either these girls are growing on me, or the author figured stuff out better, but this one was quite a lot better than the first one. Maybe the first one had to set up so many characters and situations, this one was freed up to just explore the plot.
It follows the same formula as the first book, alternating points of view in chapters between best friends Holly, Madison, and Lina. Each chapter also starts off with a brief horoscope that foreshadows the events to come in that chapter.
Continuing from the first Dating Game novel, Holly is now second-guessing hooking up with nice guy Rob (who drives her crazy asking permission every time he wants to kiss her); Madison is still pining after unattainable senior Sean; while Lina is hopelessly in love with their teacher.
Madison gets some character growth in this book, evolving from the love-struck girl desperate for popularity in book 1 to developing her artistic talents in this book (and meeting a cute artist boy who helps her move on from Sean, sort of). Holly is also more developed here - in the previous book, all we really knew was that she was a blond bombshell who wouldn't take crap from anyone. Her storyline of wanting to get rid of Rob to realizing maybe she was too hasty in trying to break up with him, will probably ring true to a lot of girls. Finally, Lina gets the most cringe-worthy moments as she finds her beloved teacher's on-line personal ad and starts e-mailing him, pretending to be a film student in grad school... and then she agrees to meet him! You are cringing but obsessively reading on to see how that trainwreack will go over.
Anyway, this is a much better book than the first one, in part because there is a lot less casual use of drugs and alcohol (maybe there were complaints about this in the first one? It wasn't even the drug and alcohol use that bugged me there, but the fact that it didn't really have to be there and seemed to be trying to be "cool" or something to impress readers). I would put this series in the same category as the "Mates, Dates" books, not quite as good as the Georgia Nicolson books, not as trashy as the "Gossip Girls" books...
Rating: A nice, sweet pick for girls ages 12 to 14.
The Dating Game #1: The Dating Game
By "Natalie Standiford"
OK, so I just finished reading this book, and while at first I thought it was The Worst Book Ever Written, I have since decided that it is simply Hilariously Awful. This is the first of a series, and I look forward to reading the next few.
What makes this book so Hilariously Awful, to me, is the fact that the subject matter would be best suited to probably 16-17 year olds, but the language and dialogue and overall writing style is better suited to 12 year olds. So I don't know who it is really aimed at. I guess 12 year olds? But that is fairly creepy considering:
a) how obsessed with sex the three main characters are
b) the casual drug and alcohol use in the book (with no real negative consequences)
And I have no problem with YA books that deal with either of these things - but when the style of a book makes it seem like it is clearly marketed to 12 year olds, I find this all somewhat offensive. But at the same time, throwing all of this stuff in the book does make it more realistic - what high school party didn't include drinking and/or pot? I guess, though, since characters in book are usually a few years older than the intended audience (i.e. these girls are all 15 and 16, which is why 12 and 13 year olds would be reading these books) the characters are acting almost like role models to the kids, and if the characters are drinking screwdrivers and making out with potheads and getting themselves into extremely dangerous situations - I guess I am afraid that 12 year olds will be going out and trying to emulate this behaviour.
Man, I am getting old. Probably kids would read this and just think, "Man, that is awesome, I can't wait till I'm in high school and my life is like this!" Or, alternately, kids would think "Geez, I was doing all that stuff back in Grade Three" (because kids are growing up faster these days)
Anyway. The bottom line is: the writing style is so unbelievably crappy (for instance, the introductory chapter's desription of all of the girls feels like a throwback to Nancy Drew books or something where you have to describe exactly what all of their hair is like, how tall they are, and what they are good at) - but, I will freely admit, that the characters are spunky and fun and I do think that 12 and 13 year old girls would eat this up. That may make me feel kind of bad for them, but there really are worse things they could be reading.
Oh, and also - this book makes very good use of modern technology. An example is how the girls fill out an on-line quiz for "what is your love aura" (while drunk, incidentally), e-mail the results to a classmate, the classmate posts it on her blog, and at school the next day, everybody knows that one of the girls is apparently a slut because she has a red love aura. That sequence of events, which would not even exist ten years ago, seems realistic and a good handling of the way that teens use the internet.
Rating: A good pick for girls aged 12-14
By "Natalie Standiford"
OK, so I just finished reading this book, and while at first I thought it was The Worst Book Ever Written, I have since decided that it is simply Hilariously Awful. This is the first of a series, and I look forward to reading the next few.
What makes this book so Hilariously Awful, to me, is the fact that the subject matter would be best suited to probably 16-17 year olds, but the language and dialogue and overall writing style is better suited to 12 year olds. So I don't know who it is really aimed at. I guess 12 year olds? But that is fairly creepy considering:
a) how obsessed with sex the three main characters are
b) the casual drug and alcohol use in the book (with no real negative consequences)
And I have no problem with YA books that deal with either of these things - but when the style of a book makes it seem like it is clearly marketed to 12 year olds, I find this all somewhat offensive. But at the same time, throwing all of this stuff in the book does make it more realistic - what high school party didn't include drinking and/or pot? I guess, though, since characters in book are usually a few years older than the intended audience (i.e. these girls are all 15 and 16, which is why 12 and 13 year olds would be reading these books) the characters are acting almost like role models to the kids, and if the characters are drinking screwdrivers and making out with potheads and getting themselves into extremely dangerous situations - I guess I am afraid that 12 year olds will be going out and trying to emulate this behaviour.
Man, I am getting old. Probably kids would read this and just think, "Man, that is awesome, I can't wait till I'm in high school and my life is like this!" Or, alternately, kids would think "Geez, I was doing all that stuff back in Grade Three" (because kids are growing up faster these days)
Anyway. The bottom line is: the writing style is so unbelievably crappy (for instance, the introductory chapter's desription of all of the girls feels like a throwback to Nancy Drew books or something where you have to describe exactly what all of their hair is like, how tall they are, and what they are good at) - but, I will freely admit, that the characters are spunky and fun and I do think that 12 and 13 year old girls would eat this up. That may make me feel kind of bad for them, but there really are worse things they could be reading.
Oh, and also - this book makes very good use of modern technology. An example is how the girls fill out an on-line quiz for "what is your love aura" (while drunk, incidentally), e-mail the results to a classmate, the classmate posts it on her blog, and at school the next day, everybody knows that one of the girls is apparently a slut because she has a red love aura. That sequence of events, which would not even exist ten years ago, seems realistic and a good handling of the way that teens use the internet.
Rating: A good pick for girls aged 12-14
Runaways Vol. 2 : Teenage Wasteland
By Brian K Vaughan, et al.
So, I just finished reading the second and third (and am midway through the fourth) installments of the Runaways series of graphic novels. These are seriously extremely enjoyable.
I would say that Volume 2 shows more character development of the core group of teens, and increases how much we know about the world they are living in (i.e. the Marvel universe). They also introduced two characters who are apparently C-list Marvel heroes from the seventies, Cloak and Dagger, who are themselves former teen runaway superheroes.
It is also in this volume that the Nico character realizes that the way to unleash her magic wand (which resides inside of her body usually), is to cut herself. When she bleeds, it emerges. This is an interesting twist to the usual teens-cutting-themselves thing, especially since her character is quite gothic-y.
I was going to complain that when this new character, Topher, shows up, the Runaways all come kind of unhinged (both Nico and Karolina end up kissing him) and I was going to criticize that silly plot development, but then when we find out more about Topher in this volume, there is a good character reason for that all to happen.
Which leads us to...
By Brian K Vaughan, et al.
So, I just finished reading the second and third (and am midway through the fourth) installments of the Runaways series of graphic novels. These are seriously extremely enjoyable.
I would say that Volume 2 shows more character development of the core group of teens, and increases how much we know about the world they are living in (i.e. the Marvel universe). They also introduced two characters who are apparently C-list Marvel heroes from the seventies, Cloak and Dagger, who are themselves former teen runaway superheroes.
It is also in this volume that the Nico character realizes that the way to unleash her magic wand (which resides inside of her body usually), is to cut herself. When she bleeds, it emerges. This is an interesting twist to the usual teens-cutting-themselves thing, especially since her character is quite gothic-y.
I was going to complain that when this new character, Topher, shows up, the Runaways all come kind of unhinged (both Nico and Karolina end up kissing him) and I was going to criticize that silly plot development, but then when we find out more about Topher in this volume, there is a good character reason for that all to happen.
Which leads us to...
Runaways Vol. 3 : The good die young
By Brian K Vaughan, et al
What is interesting about this one (volume three) is that it basically wraps up the first "volume" of Runaways comics, tying up all of the loose ends and making these three kind of like a trilogy. (But now I am starting up Volume Four, which starts a whole new plotline - and introduced new characters due to the carnage at the end of this one - SPOILER!!)
What I think works very well telling this story in graphic novel format is that - everybody knows one of the Runaways is a mole (i.e. working against the other Runaways by secretly helping their evil parents). But the parents don't know which one is the mole. The Runaways don't know which of them is the mole. And by doing it all in graphic novels, where we don't ever see the thoughts of the characters, only what they say and do - the readers don't know either. Even when The Mole makes a phone call, we (the reader) can't tell if it's a male or a female voice or anything other than the words the mole says.
And I won't spoiler stuff here, but the whole reveal of Who Is The Mole, is very well done. The authors clearly knew before they started who would be The Mole, and after finding out who it is, you can go back and look at that character's actions in earlier comics and suddenly you can read all of their actions a different way.
I think it is in this comic that two unlikely characters make a romantic connection - and that kind of works for me. Obviously you heighten sexual tension in graphic novels featuring teen superhero characters - but that sometimes doesn't work, like Alex and Nico's declarations of love for each other, or when (in Volume 2) Topher kisses Nico and also Karolina. But the unlikely connection between two characters in this one works very well.
And I did read ahead on-line to see plot outlines for later volumes, so I know where Karolina's character is headed (i.e. lesbianism!) and that is all being nicely foreshadowed here. Having her be an alien, and also a lesbian and also a teen girl who only wants to be "normal", is a neat way of looking at things - in so many ways, she feels disconnected from her friends, and (bad pun!) alienated from her closest friends.
Anyway, I have to go now and finish reading Volume Four.
Rating: Totally good! If you read the first one, you have to read these two (obviously) as all three volumes are really part of one long story. Ages 12 and up.
By Brian K Vaughan, et al
What is interesting about this one (volume three) is that it basically wraps up the first "volume" of Runaways comics, tying up all of the loose ends and making these three kind of like a trilogy. (But now I am starting up Volume Four, which starts a whole new plotline - and introduced new characters due to the carnage at the end of this one - SPOILER!!)
What I think works very well telling this story in graphic novel format is that - everybody knows one of the Runaways is a mole (i.e. working against the other Runaways by secretly helping their evil parents). But the parents don't know which one is the mole. The Runaways don't know which of them is the mole. And by doing it all in graphic novels, where we don't ever see the thoughts of the characters, only what they say and do - the readers don't know either. Even when The Mole makes a phone call, we (the reader) can't tell if it's a male or a female voice or anything other than the words the mole says.
And I won't spoiler stuff here, but the whole reveal of Who Is The Mole, is very well done. The authors clearly knew before they started who would be The Mole, and after finding out who it is, you can go back and look at that character's actions in earlier comics and suddenly you can read all of their actions a different way.
I think it is in this comic that two unlikely characters make a romantic connection - and that kind of works for me. Obviously you heighten sexual tension in graphic novels featuring teen superhero characters - but that sometimes doesn't work, like Alex and Nico's declarations of love for each other, or when (in Volume 2) Topher kisses Nico and also Karolina. But the unlikely connection between two characters in this one works very well.
And I did read ahead on-line to see plot outlines for later volumes, so I know where Karolina's character is headed (i.e. lesbianism!) and that is all being nicely foreshadowed here. Having her be an alien, and also a lesbian and also a teen girl who only wants to be "normal", is a neat way of looking at things - in so many ways, she feels disconnected from her friends, and (bad pun!) alienated from her closest friends.
Anyway, I have to go now and finish reading Volume Four.
Rating: Totally good! If you read the first one, you have to read these two (obviously) as all three volumes are really part of one long story. Ages 12 and up.
How to be popular
By Meg Cabot
So, a lot of Meg Cabot's books are really super crappy. Take one "unique" teen girl (unpopular and/or vegetarian and/or misunderstood and/or artsy and/or thinks she is a lot weirder than she is) and add one kooky best friend (renegade filmmaker or daughter of religious zealots or farmgirl) and add the gorgeous but secretly mean head cheerleader who the heroine used to be friends with, and the gorgeous quarterback boyfriend of the mean cheerleader who the main character is in love with... throw in misunderstandings, excessive use of the phrase "I mean", and extremely current pop culture things that leave the books really weirdly dated (i.e. a character is thinking about Party of Five in the first book in a series and by book Four is talking about The O.C. as though those shows existed within two years of each other) - oh, and also the fact that the heroine is totally clueless that, although she thinks she is in love with the Stupid Quarterback, but she is actually in love with the Geeky Guy Who Is Her Friend.
This one follows the generic Meg Cabot style, but does have some interesting other stuff. Yes, there is the mean head cheerleader (I think she is not a cheerleader in this one though - shocker!) and the "outsider" heroine is in love with the quarterback boyfriend of the mean girl... but there is interesting stuff about the heroine's family (very fertile mother who owns a bookstore; grandfather just built a planetarium to woo an older lady), and OK, yes, so she realizes at the end of the book that - OMG! - she is actually in love with the guy who was her friend all along (who saw that coming!) - but, whatever. I don't know. This one was OK.
Rating: This one is OK, in Meg Cabot terms. Definitely a girl book (duh) and I'd say best for ages 12-16.
By Meg Cabot
So, a lot of Meg Cabot's books are really super crappy. Take one "unique" teen girl (unpopular and/or vegetarian and/or misunderstood and/or artsy and/or thinks she is a lot weirder than she is) and add one kooky best friend (renegade filmmaker or daughter of religious zealots or farmgirl) and add the gorgeous but secretly mean head cheerleader who the heroine used to be friends with, and the gorgeous quarterback boyfriend of the mean cheerleader who the main character is in love with... throw in misunderstandings, excessive use of the phrase "I mean", and extremely current pop culture things that leave the books really weirdly dated (i.e. a character is thinking about Party of Five in the first book in a series and by book Four is talking about The O.C. as though those shows existed within two years of each other) - oh, and also the fact that the heroine is totally clueless that, although she thinks she is in love with the Stupid Quarterback, but she is actually in love with the Geeky Guy Who Is Her Friend.
This one follows the generic Meg Cabot style, but does have some interesting other stuff. Yes, there is the mean head cheerleader (I think she is not a cheerleader in this one though - shocker!) and the "outsider" heroine is in love with the quarterback boyfriend of the mean girl... but there is interesting stuff about the heroine's family (very fertile mother who owns a bookstore; grandfather just built a planetarium to woo an older lady), and OK, yes, so she realizes at the end of the book that - OMG! - she is actually in love with the guy who was her friend all along (who saw that coming!) - but, whatever. I don't know. This one was OK.
Rating: This one is OK, in Meg Cabot terms. Definitely a girl book (duh) and I'd say best for ages 12-16.
I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you
By Ally Carter
Hyperion (2006), 288 pages
Warning: the disembodied, trampy looking torso on the front has nothing to do with the tone of this book, which is really very sweet and wholesome.
This book is kind of like if Hogwarts was a spy school for girls, rather than a co-ed wizarding school. Cammie, our heroine, is the daughter of the school's headmistress and starts a "dangerous" affair with a boy from town.
THe first quarter of the book is spent explaining the history and operations of the spy school, and how nobody in town knows it is there. This part goes on for waaaay too long, but I guess since this is the first book in a series, the author needed to set all of this up.
I have to say, the climax of the book - where Cammie and her friends have their final assignment for Covert Operations class - is kind of disappointing. For a novel about spies, to never face any actual threats except for a practical exercise overseen by their instructors? Disapponting.
Oh, and I say her relationship with the townie boy is "dangerous" because girls from their school aren't supposed to leave campus - but she does! Secretly! A lot! And then it turns out the teachers knew she was doing this - because the teachers are all retired spies! So there really wasn't any real danger at all!
What I like best about this is, Cammie considers herself a "chameleon" - she can blend into crowds, and even some teachers lose track of her during practical exercises. She is so skilled as blending into a crowd - but after evading the rest of her class, the townie boy sees her - and that is such a neat twist, that he notices her when nobody else does.
I also enjoyed the methods she and her friends use to figure out if this boy is an enemy spy - going through his garbage, hacking into his family's e-mail accounts. The information they come up with would be of practical use to a lot of teen girls trying to figure out how to start a conversation with their crushes - those girls may read this book as a kind of wish-fulfilment (OK, I did a bit, too)
Bottom line: Fluffy, frothy fun for girls ages 10-14. I could have used some more actual danger, considering these girls are spies. The love story is sweet and hopefully later books in the series will capitalize on some of the darker themes that are sort of suggested here.
By Ally Carter
Hyperion (2006), 288 pages
Warning: the disembodied, trampy looking torso on the front has nothing to do with the tone of this book, which is really very sweet and wholesome.
This book is kind of like if Hogwarts was a spy school for girls, rather than a co-ed wizarding school. Cammie, our heroine, is the daughter of the school's headmistress and starts a "dangerous" affair with a boy from town.
THe first quarter of the book is spent explaining the history and operations of the spy school, and how nobody in town knows it is there. This part goes on for waaaay too long, but I guess since this is the first book in a series, the author needed to set all of this up.
I have to say, the climax of the book - where Cammie and her friends have their final assignment for Covert Operations class - is kind of disappointing. For a novel about spies, to never face any actual threats except for a practical exercise overseen by their instructors? Disapponting.
Oh, and I say her relationship with the townie boy is "dangerous" because girls from their school aren't supposed to leave campus - but she does! Secretly! A lot! And then it turns out the teachers knew she was doing this - because the teachers are all retired spies! So there really wasn't any real danger at all!
What I like best about this is, Cammie considers herself a "chameleon" - she can blend into crowds, and even some teachers lose track of her during practical exercises. She is so skilled as blending into a crowd - but after evading the rest of her class, the townie boy sees her - and that is such a neat twist, that he notices her when nobody else does.
I also enjoyed the methods she and her friends use to figure out if this boy is an enemy spy - going through his garbage, hacking into his family's e-mail accounts. The information they come up with would be of practical use to a lot of teen girls trying to figure out how to start a conversation with their crushes - those girls may read this book as a kind of wish-fulfilment (OK, I did a bit, too)
Bottom line: Fluffy, frothy fun for girls ages 10-14. I could have used some more actual danger, considering these girls are spies. The love story is sweet and hopefully later books in the series will capitalize on some of the darker themes that are sort of suggested here.
