Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Goodreads
Hannah Moskowitz site
Series: n/a
Copy obtained: e-ARC S&S Galley Grab for review
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release date: April 19th
Rating: 5/5

"Noah's happier than I've seen him in months. So I'd be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It's not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah's happiness because of a kiss?"


Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family's beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive...

First off, that blurb (taken from Goodreads) is misleading because it implies a heavy romantic focus. That is not the case at all, it's very much a focus on family. I hadn't read Hannah's previous book, Break, when I read the ARC for Invincible Summer, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from it. But whatever my vague expectations were, they were not what I got. What I got, was an emotional, heart breaking, kind of strange, and ultimately fantastic read!

Chase is almost 15 at the start of the book, and we join him as he and his siblings are arriving at their beach house as they do each summer. We're introduced to the family, and the next door neighbours who they've been friends with their whole lives. They always spend their summers messing around together. But as Chase is growing up and dealing with more issues, he sees things changing.

Invincible Summer only tells their story over the summers. Once the summer is over and they leave the beach house, it skips forward a year to them arriving the next one, covering 4 summers. It's an interesting choice for telling the story, but it works perfectly. You get told little snippets of Chase's life, and his family, away from the beach house but it's clear how much the place means to him and that he only really seems to feel alive at the beach, his real home as it were. I completely love the strange, screwed up, family dynamics here. Chase has an older brother who's always running away; a younger sister who acts like she's about 30; a younger brother who is deaf which creates it's own issues; and there's the baby sister who their mom is pregnant with at the start of the book. And there are issues with the parents as well. Throw in the friends next door who feature very heavily in Chase's thoughts and world as well, and you get even more interesting events.

No matter what's going on, it's all utterly engrossing and very, very intense. There is the odd laugh out loud moment, and some sweet moments that really made me smile. But a lot of the time I was aching for Chase. So young and so old at the same time. Very lost in many ways, trying to figure out what growing up means and where he fits in his family, how they all fit together. It's heart breaking in it's realness, even with the sometimes strange moments and connections. There are some almost surprisingly deep moments from Chase as well through a philosophy book he discovers and becomes somewhat obsessed with.

I could barely stop reading Invincible Summer once I started. It's intense, beautiful, powerful, gritty and raw. Ultimately heart breaking. I was in floods of tears through the last quarter of the book. It was a refreshing read in many ways, with the focus on family, not romance and with the way it's told as well. The blend of Chase's thoughts, screwed up family and philosophy. I was completely captivated by the narrative and characters. How this one family connected and fell apart through good times and bad. If you like gritty YA's, then this is a must read. It is easily one of my favourite reads of the year so far and one I'd highly recommend. Just amazing!!

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Goodreads
Jennifer Brown's site
Series: n/a
Copy obtained: bought pb
Publisher: Little Brown
Released: Sept 2009
Rating: 4.5/5

"The list was my idea. I didn't mean for anyone to die. Will you ever forgive me?"

Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Val was as shocked as everyone else - but, despite her own serious injury, she's implicated in the crime because of the list. The list she and Nick made of people they hated. The list Nick used to pick his targets.

Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating the rocky relationships with her family, her former friends, and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place, and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

There is a comment from the author in the back of this book which states that while most would say that this is a book about a school shooting, for her it's about Valerie, it's Val's story. And, having just finished and still in tears, I read that and went 'no kidding!' because that's exactly how I felt about it. Yes, it starts off about the shooting, but within a couple of chapters it wasn't about that for me, it was about a girl who loved, who had something terrible happen to her, and is lost in a sea of confusion and desperately trying to find a way out, feeling unable to turn to anyone. I can relate to that, being lost in confusion. I felt so much for Valerie as she tried to deal with what happened, what it means for her, what is says about her and the role she played in it all.

There is no question this is a powerful, thought provoking, tear-jearker of a book. The descriptions, the power to the flashback scenes of the shooting itself actually made me flinch when the gun went off. I cried for Val as she realised what some people thought of her. I was proud of her as she took steps forward. I ached for her almost the whole way through the book. Val is far from perfect, but that just makes her all the more real. I like how she's so conflicted about events and herself; how she learns and grows through the book from her own views changing; the pressure and hurt from her broken family and the others in the school around her. Not to mention the therapist. I love all the adult involvement in this book! Not all of them are nice characters nor are they all trying to help Val, but they're there and play a very real role and add a presence so often wrongly missing from YA novels.

I found Hate List very hard to put down, and if not for certain issues, I think I'd have easily read it in a single day instead of two. It's paced perfectly, with such well drawn characters and descriptions of the mess of emotions and reactions that really got to me. I got kind of lost in Val's journey and I was sad to get to the end of it. But I do love where this story ends. I won't spoil it for those who've not read it, but I do love it. A heartfelt, powerful book. I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed reading it, because with something dealing with such raw, broken emotions, so much pain, it's hard to enjoy it. But it is excellent reading, and I love it. I'm so glad I read this book, and I think it's one that could maybe help teens who are struggling, or parents of teens who a struggling. With bullying, family issues, life in general as much as anyone who has had to face such a tragedy. And it's certainly a book I'd highly recommend.

Other Words For Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal

Goodreads
Lorraine's site
Series: n/a
Copy obtained: bought it
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release date: Jan 11th (US)
Rating: 4/5
Challenges: DAC 2011

When an unexpected inheritance enables Ari to transfer to an elite Manhattan prep school, she makes a wealthy new friend, Leigh. Leigh introduces Ari to the glamorous side of New York--and to her gorgeous cousin, Blake. Ari doesn't think she stands a chance, but amazingly, Blake asks her out. As their romance heats up, they find themselves involved in an intense, consuming relationship. Ari's family worries that she is losing touch with the important things in life, like family, hard work, and planning for the future.

When misfortune befalls Blake's family, he pulls away, and Ari's world drains of color. As she struggles to get over the breakup, Ari must finally ask herself: were their feelings true love . . . or something else?

Other Words For Love is a great debut novel. I liked Ari very quickly, despite finding the start a little slow. It's easy to get a good picture of Ari's personality and issues from the word go. And understand them as well. I don't think that blurb actually gives a real clear idea of what the book is about because while yes, the boyfriend plays a big role, it's not one the main factor at work, or I don't see it that way at least. More than anything this is the story of Ari growing up and learning to deal with things past and present and become her own person. I found Ari easy to relate to, particularly towards the end of the book. She's insecure, weighed down by her parents expectations and her sisters past failures, never feeling 'good enough' at anything or for anyone. I love how her character developed over the course of the book. Ups and downs, reactions and emotions, they're all realistically handled and I felt so much for Ari at times. She managed to irritate me as well, but more like a good friend who you know isn't being smart, rather than outright irritation that would make me want to stop reading.

Something I really loved about Other Words is that it's set in 1986. No internet, no cell phones and a different 'feel' to the book than the majority of what I read. It was a refreshing change of pace and something that worked incredibly well. Throw in an obvious connection between author and setting and it created an atmosphere that I soaked up and loved.

The relationships (parental, sibling, friendships, first love, etc) are all so well drawn! The way things change as people grow up, the impact events and words can have, and the depiction of how things can go so wrong without bad intentions. The selfish comments, the snide ones, the loving ones, they're all a part of life and I really liked how the bad things didn't get hidden away at all. I want to explain some parts of what made this book so brilliant for me, but that would hit spoiler territory so I won't. So I shall finish by saying that this is not your typical first love story, it's heartbreaking at times, bittersweet, beautiful and all around great! Will certainly be checking out future titles from Lorraine!

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

Goodreads
Author's Website
Series? The Mockingbirds #1
Copy obtained: for review from UK Book Tours
Cover: 3/5
Rating: 8/10

Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way - the Themis way. So when Alex is date-raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds - a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

The Mockingbirds gets off to an intense, impressive start with Alex waking up naked in bed with a boy she doesn't remember. She's stumbling around, trying to get dressed and out of there, trying to remember what happened and panicking about exactly what could have happened. The confusion of emotions Alex is going through are very vivid and it almost feels like you're going through them with her. That intense and vivid writing continues throughout the book as Alex makes her choices of what to do and how she's coping with the aftermath of the rape.

I found The Mockingbirds very hard to put down. It's a very strong book both in writing and with the characters, most of whom I found to be really well drawn. It's brutally honest as Alex starts remembering things, and the roller coaster of emotions that go with the events. Even down to the littler details, like how she took different routes to classes to avoid the boy and wouldn't enter the cafeteria for lunch. I loved the idea of the Mockingbirds and how they worked too. I liked seeing Alex adapt and grow and stand up throughout the book and her reactions felt very real. It was hard reading at times because I got so wrapped up in Alex's emotions it felt like I was right there with her.

One thing that did bother me a bit though and stop this from getting a higher rating from me, is the lack of adult involvement. I can understands why Alex was adamant not to go to the police, although I wish any girl in real life facing the same situation would go to them. And I can understand her hesitance to speak up to any of her teachers as well, but I really wished she would have. I don't think it's the kind of thing where a student shouldn't find an adult to talk to. There is one scene in particular where there are a couple of teachers talking with Alex and another student after an incident in class and I would seriously hope that that is not a real portrayal of how any teachers at any boarding school would act now!

However, it is still a very strong book. I really liked how things worked out in the end and the roles various characters played, I won't mention details for spoilers sake but it was something I found very satisfying. It's a heart wrenching, powerful read and one I'd highly recommend! It is brutally honest and not easy as it doesn't hide any of the dark facts about date rape, but those are reasons to read it, not avoid it. This is a subject that needs to be talked about more, not less, so that girls who are raped don't feel that they can't come forward, so they can stand up and take their lives back.