A Corner of White

By Jaclyn Moriarty

This book was one of the best books I have ever read.  The characters in A Corner of White are realistic and unique.  The writing is beautiful, funny, sad, and just overall unique and whimsical.  A Corner of White is a perfectly made raspberry cheesecake.  It is full delicious rich flavor that never gets old.  The cheesecake has a distinctive flavor that makes the it taste even better because it is good and different from everything else you've had recently.  A Corner of White was like a breath of fresh air that has a trace of flowers, bright orange leaves falling, and grass.  My summary won't do this book justice because the book is clearly a five.  One reason I loved this book so much was the use of color in the book.  In Cello there are monsters that are called purple, yellow, gray, and red as well as other colors.  Madeleine dresses in red, green, and blue.  Madeleine and Elliot talk about complimentary colors, primary colors, color waves, ultraviolet, infrared, and rainbows. (On top of the amazing contents of the book the cover is immaculate as well)

Elliot and Madeleine start out focused on one color but by talking to the other they learn to truly see the entire rainbow.  A Corner of White is beautifully written story about a girl in the world and a boy in the Kingdom of Cello.  Madeleine, of Cambridge, England, ran away with her mom from her dad.  By running away from her Dad she left behind the material comforts that her rich dad provided as well as her friends.  Elliot Baranski lives in Bonfire, Cello, and everybody knows him.  Elliot goes on frequent journeys to the Magical North looking for his father who he believes to have been abducted by a monster, called a purple.  Madeleine is homeschooled with two friends, Jack and Belle.  Madeleine discovers a note in a parking meter that is asking for help.  She writes a letter back that Elliot finds.  Throughout the book Elliot and Madeleine write letters to each other even though Madeleine doesn't believe that Elliot is a real person.  She believes that someone is writing the letters and putting them in the parking meter.  Although, Elliot has to be careful writing letters to Madeleine because communicating to people in the world is punishable by death.  Petra, Elliot's mom, rented out Elliot's dad's old store out to a nice family, the Twicklehams.  Naturally, Elliot resents them.  As Madeleine has troubles with her life in Cambridge she also struggles with knowing what she left behind.  Elliot starts to discover that his dad may not have been abducted by a purple but actually ran off with another woman, who is also missing (a lot of the book is actually this part but you'll have to read it to actually learn about it. A lot happens with Madeleine and Elliot in their worlds).  Through their letters Madeleine and Elliot learn about themselves as well as the other.  The book comes to a conclusion with a gripping twist for both Elliot and Madeleine. 

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

by Cat Winters

It's 1918, and death is everywhere.  Mary Shelley Black's best friend, Stephen, has gone off to fight in the war, and the Spanish influenza is rampant.  When her father is accused of being a traitor and is imprisoned, Mary is sent to live with her aunt, Eva.  Her aunt lives near Stephen's house, and Stephen's brother, Julius, takes spirit photographs, in which the spirits of the dead appear.  During a visit, Eva and Julius convince Mary to sit for a picture, and when she receives the photograph, the ghost of Stephen stands behind her.  Not long after that, Stephen's insane ghost starts to haunt her, and Mary is thrown into a tangled mystery as she attempts to determine exactly how Stephen died.
Supplemented with photographs, this book is brutally haunting.  Because school was closed, Mary is stuck with nothing to do but contemplate the horrors around her, which are emphasized by the gauze masks that everyone wears.  There was nothing that really bothered me until the end, although there were a few too many onions for my taste.  It ends with a hopeful tone, and everything is tied up except for one thing.  It just got dropped out halfway through the book.
I don't know much about this time period, so I can't comment on accuracy.
This book is a 3.7.  The writing was good, but not spectacular.  I have read books that pull me in and convince me the world is ending, which this book did not.  The cover is excellent; it is exactly what this book is like.  It was like tea without sugar.  Bitter and a bit difficult to drink.  This is not a sweet, easy-to-read book, but there is a comfort in having a good book to read.

The Nightmare Affair

by Mindee Arnett

Dusty Everhart goes to Arkwell Academy, a school for magickind such as sirens, wizards, and demons.  Dusty is a Nightmare (and I don't know why Nightmare is the only one that's capitalized).  She sneaks into people's rooms every other week to feed off their dreams.  One night, she feeds off Eli Booker's dreams and everything changes.
They have a special connection that allows Dusty to see the future in his dreams, so Eli is brought to Arkwell Academy even though he is not magical.  I knew from the back of the book that Eli was a love interest, but it went a bit overboard.  Naturally, they could not fall in love immediately, so there had to be some tension.  Eli's is understandable; he is frustrated with being ripped out of his normal life, where he was popular, and thrust into this one, and he blamed it on Dusty.  Dusty's tension is less understandable.  She seems to object to the hotness of Eli.  She is simply mad at him for messing up her life, except he didn't really mess up her life, he just made it a little bit more bizarre, then Dusty way overreacted.
The most annoying thing about the book was that Eli got called hot so much.  Almost every time Eli came up, he was described as hot.  There are other adjectives for good-looking.  I didn't like the beginning of the book for this reason.  Dusty was uninspired, her relationship with the other characters were a bit flat and stereotypical, and the characters were shallow.
However, the book did pick up near the middle, and I'm glad I read the whole thing.  Things get more complicated, some of the characters develop a little, and the plot gets more interesting.  Things get to the point where Dusty can't simply go on the internet and find the answers she wants in two seconds.  There are interesting turns to the story, and I enjoyed the ending.
Overall, the book gets a 2.8.  Not quite a three.  It could have been better, and I wish it got interesting sooner.  It was like a snow cone.  The first few bites are good, which would be the back cover description, the cover, and the first chapter.  Then it gets to the icy bit where all the syrup is gone and it tastes like nothing more than ice.  At the end, however, there is all the syrup that slipped through the ice and pooled at the bottom of the cone.  Enjoyable, but not the best thing ever.

Formerly Shark Girl

by Kelly Bingham


Formerly shark girl is a truly beautiful book written in verse. It is the story of a girl who lost her arm in a shark attack as she fights her way through her senior year. She is an amazingly determined character, who any teen can relate to, especially her struggles with her dreams and choosing a college. Unlike some books where things are a bit to cliche or overly dramatic, I think this really hit recovery from a major injury right on. She works long and hard to bring her painting skills back to what they were, since she lost her right hand, and struggles in science with tweezers during a dissection. The small things that don't seem that important and Jane's reaction to them is perfect. I especially loved her conviction that she is fine, that she has moved passed it and her determination to prove herself. When she faces water for the first time, a large swimming pool, and is too proud to admit how her whole world collapsed, I saw a lot of myself in her. I know some people will find it overly whatever, but to me it really is the perfect story. Jane isn't portrayed as some perfect person, and she struggles with the people who tell her the accident had some deeper meaning or something.

I would describe Formerly Shark Girl as a glass of ice tea on a warm day. Some people may find it to sweet, or not sweet enough, but if you have been outside, and are pretty thirsty, than nothing in the world is better.

If that isn't clear, here's the number: I give it a 4.5

Nobody

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The premise of this book is an interesting one.  It starts with the idea that when humans interact, they exchange energy that leave impressions on other people.  However, there are some people who do not exchange energy properly.  Nobodies cannot affect other people and Nulls cannot be affected.  Nix is a Nobody.  He has been raised by a secret society and is sent to kill people because who can get away with it better than someone no one can notice, and if they do happen to see him, they will certainly not remember him.  In general, he is sent to kill Nulls, who, because they cannot be affected by other people, are heartless sociopaths.
Claire is a girl who has gone her whole life without being noticed and she does not understand it.  She seems pretty close to depression at the beginning when she allows herself her two minute annual wallowing session as she looks through her yearbook and the general, meaningless comments left to her.  She is used to no one caring about her.  Her parents have forgotten her so many times that they have note stuck to their car that says CLAIRE so they can check if they have her before they leave.  Eventually, someone finally notices her.  Unfortunately, that someone is pointing a gun at her because she is Nix's next assignment.
There is instant reaction between the two.  As two Nobodies (and I don't feel as though I'm giving anything away here because it was pretty obvious what was going on), they have the ability to notice each other.  Nix is unable to kill her and ends up feeling oddly protective.  He has never been noticed before, even by the Society.  He had been resigned to his fate, but Claire opens up an entirely new set of feelings for him.
As I said, the concept is interesting, but I found it a little inconsistent.  Even if they do not exchange energy with people, they should still be noticed, and they are noticed sometimes, usually when it helps the plot a bit.  People will not remember reading an article about a Nobody, but if it had been an article about someone with the same name as a Nobody, they would remember that.  Also, there is this cabin in the middle of the woods, and it never explains how it got there.  The plot was a bit dull, and Claire learned a new skill set way too fast, even given the excuses in the book.  The end was also a bit anticlimactic, and they did not really end up accomplishing anything.
Overall, the book was a 2.4.  It was like the unsalted Cape Cod potato chips.  They're alright and there is nothing particularly special about them, but there is something that makes you keep eating them.  There was something in the book, and I do not know what it was, that made it very compelling.  It was difficult to stop reading it.

Wherever you go

By Heather Davis

Rob is killed when he runs off the road with Holly, his girlfriend, in his car. Unfortunately for him, he is earthbound. He watches Holly from his ghostly state for six months even though Holly cannot see him. Holly, who nearly died during the crash is devastated by Rob's death. The only friend she seems to have in the book, Marisa, doesn't understand what she is going through. On top of all this Holly's grandfather is diagnosed with a late stage of Alzheimer's disease and has to live with Holly and her family. Holly has to take care of her grandfather, Aldo, and her sister, Lena, by herself because her Mom has to work almost constantly to make any money.

Aldo makes a list of all the things he wants to remember, memories of his diseased wife and things he did as a child in Italy. Jason, Rob's best friend, decides to help Holly help Aldo relive these experiences. Rob watches over this and sees as is girlfriend and best friend begin to fall in love and begin to get over him. To Rob's surprise Aldo can see him. Aldo talks to Rob which causes Holly to think that Aldo is having hallucinations, a sign that his Alzheimer's is progressing. Rob also watches over his own family and sees the pain he has caused them. While watching his parent's therapy session he begins to remember the uncomfortable truths about the day he died and the actual cause.

Throughout the book Rob tries to understand why he is stuck on Earth and how he can help all the people he loves. He tries to sort out how to help Holly, Jason, and Aldo without being able to talk to them. Aldo's time is limited and he isn't always willing to help.

It's like a badly made chocolate cookie. You decide to eat the cookie even though it is burnt on the bottom. You hope it tastes good but it actually tastes bad. The more you eat of the cookie the better it gets until you eat the edge, where it is burned black -- the end. I give this book a 1.5 because I thought it was written badly. The character's would almost be developed but then a twist in the plot would bring out a new view of the character that differed from before. Although I did like the way the book was split up. (This part earned the 1.5 points it got) It was from the point of view of Holly (in first person), Rob (in second person), and Jason (in third person).

Exile

By Rebecca Lim

A drink of cold water can be very refreshing.  The feeling of cold water on your tongue which then slips down through your throat can feeling amazing.  But now, make that water a little warm.  Not quite as refreshing but still pretty good.  Now, put some red, yellow, and blue food coloring into the warm water to make it brown. Then dump in something that makes the water a little chunky. The warm brown water  with chunks is not nearly as appetizing as the cold water.  If I was going to chose between warm brown water or almost anything else I probably would.

Exile is about an angel who has been banished and calls herself Mercy -- mmm, water.  Mercy wakes up in different people's bodies, in Exile she is in Lela's body.  This idea was pretty interesting and I couldn't wait to start reading.  But, unfortunately, that wasn't all.  She is in love with Luc, an angel who has not been banished and talks to Mercy in her sleep.  She is also in love with Ryan, a boy who she knew from an earlier life -- warm the water up a little.  She calls Ryan Luc's mortal counterpart.  For the first 18 chapters Mercy, astonishingly quickly, learns to live like Lela, including balancing taking care of her dying mother and her job.  She then mixes herself up with a boy named Ranald when she promises to go out with him if he finds Ryan on the internet for her -- oh, here's the food coloring.  But, she never plans to do this because Ryan is going to come for her! She is so excited about that.  In fact, it is all she can think about; it is all I read about -- was that a chunk in my water?

One of the better aspects of the book was Lela's friend Justine.  Mercy learns to feel compassion for her and eventually sees how hard Justine's life is and tries to help her.  In general Mercy's feelings and actions seemed unrealistic.  They seem the most realistic in regards to Justine.

I think the book could have been better if just a few things were added.  I think the book would have been a lot better if Mercy/Lela was more realistic.  Everything seemed a little removed and her priorities didn't to make sense. As Mercy waits for Ryan, Lela's mother is less and less important.  This seemed weird because Lela's mother was dying.  Even if it wasn't actually Mercy's mother I think she should have cared for her a little more. I also think it would have been better if there was more conflict in the book.  Not enough happens to challenge Mercy's will or give Mercy a chance to prove herself or anything really.  The book just seemed a little pointless.  Many of the ideas were good but weren't done as well as they should have been.

This book is a 1.