Lostinbelieving's Blog

Book Thoughts: The Hidden Messages by Madeline Hibbert May 7, 2013

(**I received this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.)

Harley Ray Rider is a fifteen year old girl living in San Francisco, California. For the most part her life’s been pretty ordinary; expect for the numerous near encounters she’s had with death. After a third incident lands her once more in the “In-between” she once again sees her (deceased) best friend and learns surprising news. She’ll get the choice to return, but with that also comes the price of a duty only she’ll be able to do with new found “gifts.” Harley jumps at the chance to come back. Quickly however, she discovers how highly unprepared she is for the task that is up to her. Running away from home and hitting the streets of Los Angeles she’ll go all the way to catch the bad guy. But what happens when the bad guy catches her?

Now, you all know I’m a fan of YA books. I’m an even bigger fan of YA books when they’re written by young adults. When the author is actually younger than I am, I definitely want to become a fan. After reading The Hidden Messages, I am a fan of Madeline Hibbert.

Honestly, I’m not really a murder mystery kind of girl, and The Hidden Messages is exactly that; don’t let the beginning of this book, with its near-death experiences and sixth senses fool you. The beginning may not even connect at first (because it didn’t for me), but I promise that it all makes sense for the overall story of Harley’s life.

Harley herself is a pretty cool protagonist. She’s confident, sassy and does not let anything or anyone defer her from her goals. Told in first person, I found the writing voice to sound younger – which fit Harley, because she is a young teen. Harley has a very strong voice and although I found her immature at times I understood and related with her.

Unfortunately, the writing is also the biggest downside to this novel. Don’t get me wrong; Hibbert is a good writer, but I think there is too much extraneous detail in the story. There are many passages about random things in Harley’s life that do not actually contribute anything to the novel. There is also some awkward sentence structure, which disrupts the flow of the novel, typos, and misuse of grammar. Yes, all of that sucks, but it is also not the worst kind of flaw to have, as these are easy fixes.

What really kept my attention is the story line of this novel. Harley is on her own in an unknown city, using her ‘power’ to hunt down a serial killer. Very scary. Not only that, but she also proves to be a truly and intelligent protagonist, even outsmarting the FBI. Those two parts put together make an intriguing chase. I found myself getting caught up in Harley’s life, so much so that I would lose track of real-world time.

Overall, I enjoyed The Hidden Messages. Although the writing mistakes are distracting, there were some parts that gripped me enough that I was able to ignore them. I suggest you give the young author a chance and download her e-book.

Book Thoughts: Ugly to Start With by John Michael Cummings March 21, 2013

(**I received this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Jason Stevens is growing up in picturesque, historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the 1970s. Back when the roads are smaller, the cars slower, the people more colorful, and Washington, D.C. is way across the mountains—a winding sixty-five miles away. 

Jason dreams of going to art school in the city, but he must first survive his teenage years. He witnesses a street artist from Italy charm his mother from the backseat of the family car. He stands up to an abusive husband—and then feels sorry for the jerk. He puts up with his father’s hard-skulled backwoods ways, his grandfather’s showy younger wife, and the fist-throwing schoolmates and eccentric mountain characters that make up Harpers Ferry—all topped off by a basement art project with a girl from the poor side of town. 

Ugly to Start With punctuates the exuberant highs, bewildering midpoints, and painful lows of growing up, and affirms that adolescent dreams and desires are often fulfilled in surprising ways.

Ugly To Start With was definitely a first for me. Although I’ve read YA books that are realistic fiction, I haven’t read one where the main plot wasn’t based off of a romance of some sort. This book is based in 1970s, dealing with issues that are not as prominent today. Right from the beginning I was intrigued.

The protagonist, Jason, has a very realistic perspective. As a young adult, he expresses his anger and desires. He holds the prejudices that are to be realistically found in his setting. Although I didn’t agree with some of his views, I did understand that they were a product of the time and place he was raised, and didn’t let them cloud my judgment of the book, if anything it made it much more realistic and disagreeing with the main character added another level to the relationship I had with him. It felt like I had stepped into the mind of a boy. I also enjoyed that none of Jason’s thoughts were ‘censored’; it allowed me to step out of my bubble and see issues that other people are surrounded with.

While reading this book I kept asking myself what the plot was. To me, it seemed as if each chapter was still building up to the point of the book. I actually found out that Ugly To Start With is a series of short stories. At the time, I didn’t know that and concluded that this is a story about living life as it is. The reader follows Jason’s life, starting with him as a child and continuing into his high school years. Cumming’s writing allows the reader to feel lost, confused, and hopeful as the character does.  At one point, I was really uncomfortable with part of the story. I think a good book shows itself by its ability to stir up feelings in the reader, especially unsettling ones. At the same time, I was not expecting a scene like that to show up in this book…

Ugly to Start With does start out a bit slow and builds up to one point. I really, really enjoyed one chapter of the novel – but that is what disappointed me. It felt as the whole book was built up to this one scene, but nothing happened after that one part.

In the end, I did enjoy this novel, but it is not something I would choose to read again. Ugly to Start With is interesting; it also deals with common issues that many are still dealing with today. Check it out!

Book Thoughts: When We Wake by Karen Healey March 13, 2013

(**I received this book in exchange for an honest review.)

My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027–she’s happiest when playing the guitar, she’s falling in love for the first time, and she’s joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan’s life, she dies–and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity–even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn’t all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future? Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.

Stories dealing with cryogenics interest me. The first time I read about this process was in the Artemis Fowl series, and then again in Across the Universe. I decided I was going to read When We Wake before I even finished the summary. And man, am I happy that I chose to read this book.

Fourteen pages into the book, I decided the plot was very original. I knew that the protagonist was going to die, be cryogenically frozen, and then brought back to life. What I didn’t know was how that was going to actually play out. How is it suddenly decided that a body will be frozen without prior agreement? The author answers my question by introducing the story that way. Before her death, Tegan agrees to donate her body to science, not realize how widespread the word ‘research’ constitutes to. Maybe this idea is obvious to everyone else, but this absolutely blew my mind. Never once did I think that cryogenics was a possible option. Honestly, this book made me re-think the ‘donating my body to science’ deal…

Forty-six pages into the book, I realized that this book was getting major points in my mind due to the diversity of the characters. It’s not just one token character either; multiple characters are of different nationalities. Even when a nationality wasn’t specified, I was able to take a guess because the characters also have names that pertain to certain nationalities. I am happy to say that When We Wake is the first book I have read with characters that are Muslim. Characters plural.

As much as I loved the other characters in the book, I did enjoy Tegan a lot. She breaks the girl-protagonist norms by being confident with herself and her body. Instead of saying that every other girl is much more beautiful than she is, she calls herself attractive and says that she has a good body. She’s also honest; she admits that having guys not notice her assets were kinda weird. Even if she sounded a little conceited, I didn’t notice because I was too busy smiling at the fact that she valued herself. There needs to be more YA girls like her.

Another great aspect of the plot is Tegan and Abdi’s relationship. Yes, there is romance in this novel. But what I liked about their relationship is that it’s approached in a different way than most books. Abdi doesn’t like Tegan at first. Then they manage to become acquaintances, then friends, and so on. They gradually get closer as the novel goes on, their relationship building as the story does.

The issues mentioned/dealt with in this novel are realistic portrayals of our world. The story isn’t a light read by any means, but the topics are written in a way that it’s meaningful and powerful, while the reader is being entertained and getting lost in the plot. Today’s society has come closer to equality and dealing with certain issues, but nothing is perfect. And nothing will ever be, as shown in When We Wake. Even in the future, we’ll be fighting for more equality, or battling for morality and saving our planet. When We Wake is a really great book to divulge on huge topics without certain views being shoved down your throat.

If you didn’t notice already, I really got into When We Wake. I actually didn’t remember who the author was until I realized I tried to read one of her books a few years ago. Even though I didn’t end up finishing her other one, I am glad to say I found When We Wake to be a lot better. If you’re someone who is passionate about the world and issues we deal with, I definitely recommend this novel to you.