Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo

(Also known as Good Oil)

Published December 11 2012 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Hardcover, 243 pages

Borrowed from library

After school, Amelia works at a grocery store to help earn some extra money. She and co-worker Chris immediately hit it off, talking about anything and everything and before she knows it, Amelia is in love. The only problem is that Amelia is 15 and Chris is 21. Six years does not seem like a big difference (fun fact, my parents are six years apart!) but it's everything to Amelia and she knows it can't be. But still, she can't help that she's in love. And maybe, just maybe, there might come a day when he likes her too.

This has been on my TBR list for SO LONG and I'm just so HAPPY that I've finally gotten to it. Maybe because I can finally cross it off (as a person with a TBR that never stops growing, this is obviously a very monumental achievement for me) but also because I really, really, really, really liked this book. I might even use the word LOVE. Because man, Buzo just absolutely blew me away!

Going into Love and Other Perishable Items, I thought I was going to find a fluffy book with cute characters and cute writing that would make me SQUEAL a lot. Truth: I did not squeal a lot when I read this book. But instead, I found really solid, amazing characters, great writing, and a storyline that felt so REAL and great sub-plots hitting on real issues and I THINK I ACTUALLY DO LOVE THIS BOOK. Because Buzo has written one of those stories that's just so relatable, where you want to be like, Hey girl (or boy) I totally get what you're going through.

I loved the dual perspectives. They're usually a hit or miss for me but this time, the two voices worked so well. They actually helped me to connect more with each character and I loved that I could learn a little bit more about each of them through it and of course, their thoughts on each other and life in general.

You don't even understand, I'm getting MORE and MORE excited about this book as I'm writing this review. That has never happened to me before. Like honestly, I'm going to explode with tears of love (is that a thing?) in a minute because I just love this book too much and all I want to do right now is clutch it to my chest and keep it forever.

Everything was terrific. The writing was terrific, the characters were terrific, and THE ENDING WAS PERFECT. I could not have imagined it to end in any better way. LOVED THIS BOOK. 

LOVED THIS BOOK. Definitely going to be one of my favourites for the years to come. Everything about it was just so amazing and spot-on. It's one of those books that I regret getting from the library because I just want a copy for myself which I will probably end up getting. THIS BOOK IS WHY I LOVE AUSSIE AUTHORS. Gah, so good. So much depth. AMAZING. 

Not everyone will like this as much as I did but if it sounds like your kind of book, READ IT.

**********

Anna @ Anna Reads says "Amazing. No other words. Loved it. I suspect this book will be ranked among my favorites for years to come."

Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner calls it "a quietly beautiful coming of age story about the stickiness of crushes and first love."

Lee @ Rally The Readers gives it 2.5 stars: "I couldn’t find the emotional investment for this one."

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

Expected Publication Date: March 1, 2014 by Albert Whitman Teen

ebook, 259 pages

Received from publisher through NetGalley -- thanks!

Kate's boyfriend Sheldon (or Shelton?) broke up with her and after a few days, she's still absolutely miserable so her best friend (whose name I so don't remember) decides to bring her out on an outing with her boyfriend and her cousin, Aidan who's staying with her family for a while. Kate and Aidan spend time together and soon find themselves taking a fancy to each other. And because I don't know where else to put this, Aidan is also a war veteran who got his right arm blown up during his time in Afghanistan. Not that it has anything to do with the actual story.

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry is one of the cutest novels ever, because of its simple storyline and easy narration. It wasn't hard for me to get into it at all and it wasn't hard for me to finish it in a matter of three or four hours. It's just that kind of book. Cute and sweet but frankly, without much depth. 

This book did touch upon living with diabetes (Kate) and being disabled (Aidan) and I appreciated that but I always kind of felt that the novel was more centred on the romance and to the point that all of the other things Kate and Aidan were going through felt meaningless. Like they didn't add or take from the story, really making very little difference. I wish that they were a bit more emphasized throughout the book because it would have made The Summer I Found You less like a generic contemporary romance.

I did really like Aidan and Kate together. They're just so cute! Read this book and tell me that they don't seem cute! The dual perspective really helped in this case because the attraction between them were very well articulated on both sides, so it wasn't hard for me to imagine that they really liked each other. 

The Summer I Found You was a sweet book but not very memorable. Kate and Aidan were sweet together and the writing flowed very easily but there was very little depth and nothing that really stood out for me. It was a very fast read as I read it in a day which is really good because I'm usually a very slow reader.

you if you're looking for a cute and fast romance.

**********

Camelle @ Home of a Book Lover gives it four stars: "The book is inspiring and wonderful."

Book Passion for Life gives it 3.5 stars: "I don't think it's a book that will rock your world, but I do think it's a good story that is worth a read."

Adorkable by Sarra Manning

Adorkable by Sarra Manning

Published May 24, 2013 by Atom

Paperback, 387 pages

Borrowed from library

Jeane Smith and Michael Lee have absolutely no business being together. Jeane's a dork whose life only exists online with her 500 000 Twitter followers and Michael is a god at school, at home and basically everywhere. So when Michael approaches Jeane about their exes perhaps in a fling, Jeane shrugs him off. But try as she might, she can't get rid of him - he's popping up everywhere! And before she knows it, they're setting up dates to kiss. How did this happen...and how long will it last?

I love and hate Adorkable almost as much Michael and Jeane love and hate each other! Like for the most part, I thought Adorkable was a cute little romance but then Michael and Jeane would say something so utterly stupid that made me seriously wonder why I was still reading the book. I don't know, maybe it was Adorkable's cute Britishness because to be very honest, I think I would have hated this book if I didn't like it so much.

Doesn't think that make sense? Well then my dear, this book probably isn't for you because contradictions are basically what Adorkable lives on.

See, Jeane and Michael are complete opposites. Michael's hot and popular and gets all the action while Jeane is ugly and rude and mean and dorky whose only social life exists online. They meet after Michael suspects that his girlfriend and Jeane's boyfriend are in a little fling and confronts her about it. From the dual perspective, we find out that both's initial impression of the other is, well, general annoyance and dislike. But for some reason that is really shoddily explained, Michael kisses her. 

"Maybe I kissed Jeane because it made her shut the hell up. Or it might have been the easiest way to show her that I wasn't who she thought I was, that there might actually be some hidden depths to me after all. But I have a horrible feeling that I kissed her because I wanted to." (107)

That paragraph makes me want to burn this book. None of what Michael is saying make any sense! I'm not sure about kissing someone to make them shut up which could make sense if you guys are in love but with someone you hate that annoys the crap out of you? That is the LAST thing on earth I would do (or well, maybe the second to last thing) with the person I hate. Next kissing someone who you so obviously think is way under your league and totally not for you is not representative of your hidden depths. Maybe the first bit because I'm pretty sure you're too shallow to ever want to go for someone who isn't built like a model but SO not the second bit. And finally, I THOUGHT YOU HATED HER AND THOUGHT SHE WAS UGLY. How does that jump to kissing basically every spare minute you have?

And just when you're starting to believe that Michael and Jeane have finally learned to get along with each other despite their total difference in personality and character, it's HERE WE GO AGAIN with the hate which works out kind of like this:

Michael thinks Jeane is mean, rude, selfish, irritating and condescending which if I am very, very honest, she is. But he also thinks she's ugly and fat and a total hot mess and way too weird for him.

Jeane thinks Michael is self-absorbed, shallow, arrogant, cocky, jealous of her success, and so gross for buying mainstream clothes and not being a hip dork like her who gets her clothes from thrift stores. Which is kind of true too.

And yet they're still kissing and having sex regularly when it seems that they can't stand each other. Okay then.

No matter how much I hated Michael and Jeane as characters and together though, nothing peeved me more than Jeane's perception of dork. Jeane was all against judging people on who they are yet she did it ALL THE TIME. From judging Michael based on his Abercrombie & Fitch clothes to his hairstyle to basically everything anyone else did unless they fit under her very narrow definition of dork. Which is most likely a person who eats a lot of Haribo, loves Duckie, is socially shunned by everyone she/he knows in real life and buys clothes from thrift stores (and NEVER from Topshop, good lord).

Look, I can respect Jeane for what she's gone through which has obviously been tough. She's used to not relying on anyone but herself and that can for sure make someone feel very lonely and she's deemed totally weird and dorky by everyone at her school. And major kudos to her for reclaiming the word dork. But the fact is that what she thinks is dork is so narrow that she's really only celebrating herself through her lifestyle brand, Adorkable and shunning everyone else. Which is basically the same thing others have done to her. I mean, maybe she did it intentionally or not but regardless, this whole Adorkable brand really dragged this book into the dust.

I'm sure once upon a time that Manning had meant for Adorkable to send a really nice message about being yourself and not being ashamed of that but between the crap characters and the convoluted plot, somewhere along the road the book's message seemed to adopt more of a Jeane outlook on things which is probably because that was what this book spent the most time on. And as a person who isn't too big of a fan of Jeane, that's really not a great thing.

Okay but despite all this, I did actually enjoy this book. A lot of it was absolutely ridiculous and aggravating but there were also parts that I really liked and enjoyed and that had components of what I like in romances. When they weren't yapping each other's heads off, Michael and Jeane actually kind of worked and when I had gotten used to the kissing, I might have actually squealed once or twice. And you know what? I did actually see some character development on Jeane's part throughout this book which is never a bad thing.

Adorkable also had me flipping through the pages like crazy which I honestly haven't felt the want to do in so long. Something about Manning's writing was addictive and had me wanting for more. Given that her next characters aren't so annoying as Michael and Jeane, I would for sure read anything that Manning writes!

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I liked half the time and absolutely despised the other half. I thought Michael and Jeane, despite giving me squeals a couple times, were absolutely horrid together because they couldn't appreciate each other and look past their own prejudice. And even though we're made to think that they're polar opposites, the truth is that they're both really similar: arrogant, condescending, shallow, and totally self-absorbed. I also disliked how Jeane perceived dork and thought that it sent a negative message. So while I may not have agreed with a lot of the things in this book, I did enjoy it. It was a very addictive and fast read with a romance that was cute sometimes.

fans of Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. You'd appreciate the Britishness and wackiness of this novel. If you're looking for romance with a bit more, this might be the book you're looking for. 

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

Published September 2011 by Tom Doherty

Hardcover, 316 pages

Borrowed from library

The main character in this story, Cas, is a ghost hunter. He's taken on the job since his father died in a gruesome fight with a deadly spirit. Armed with the all powerful athame his dad used, Cas moves from town to town with his mother, following leads from trusted sources to defeat the ghosts. After hearing about a deadly ghost in Thornhill, Anna, that kills anyone who steps into her house, Cas relocates there to finish her off. But when he steps into her house to investigate and observe the ghost he's to kill, Cas realizes that Anna is unlike any other ghost he's ever hunted. She's tremendously powerful and comes so close to killing him...but doesn't. She spares him but Cas knows that he's going to have to do a lot more research before he can think of killing her again. He's wholly unprepared for Anna but the thing is, there's something far, far worse and more powerful than Anna...and it's out for Cas.

WARNING: CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

(ie. it's not something that, once you know, will ruin the book for you)

I'm definitely a horror gal. I actually get scared so easily but I love it! So when I heard that this book was scary SCARY, I knew I needed to pick it up. And Anna Dressed In Blood just sounded too perfect for me! I love reading about ghosts, especially human-killing ghosts.

And when I picked up the book and started reading, I was immediately hooked by the ghosts which is for sure, definitely, ABSOLUTELY  great sign. It's just so great to know that a book finally matches your expectations! So many books have left me disappointed and I almost feel like I have no chance in ever getting what I want. But with this book, I expected good, creepy, interesting ghosts and got exactly that! Blake made them so realistic that they seemed to pop out of the pages. I don't think I can confidently say that I don't believe in ghosts any more!

What didn't match my expectations was the fear factor of this book. From everything everyone had said, I went into this book totally thinking that my socks would be knocked off over how terrifying this book was. And then I read this book without anything as big as a jaw-drop. Which by the way, happened when we learned about Anna's backstory. (If you've read this book, you know what I'm saying! My jaw literally hit the floor. It was so unexpected and made me overcome with fury. I mean, can you imagine that?) I've been waiting for a good horror for SUCH  a long time and while this book definitely brought it in the supernatural game, personally I found the scariness was lacking a bit for a book I totally expected was going to be scary and for one that classified itself as horror. 

I also didn't fancy the characters too much. They weren't outstanding and I'm not going to lie, I'm definitely not going to remember any of them. They were all rather dull and didn't really make the book any better for me.

But now can we talk about the Anna and Cas romance? Like man, was it weird! I think it kind of worked though because I totally forgot for around a quarter of the time that Anna was a ghost. But I'm not sure what to make of that: is it a bad thing because her ghost-ness was lost or is it a good thing because it made the relationship make sense? I know I shouldn't be prejudiced against this - after all, everyone can love whoever they want, even if it's a ghost - but for me, I just didn't feel it was necessary to this story. But it did add some interesting dynamics to the end, knowing that Cas and Anna both like each other. 

Anna Dressed In Blood had a great premise that really piqued my interest (ghosts!) but it sounded better on the flap than it really was. This, by no means, MEANS I didn't like the book. It just wasn't as I expected. I did love the supernatural aspect but really wanted more from the book when it failed to scare me. I also didn't like the characters too much and some parts of the book didn't make sense/weren't explained very well. A good start to the series though and I would endeavour to read the next book because I'm actually really curious to see what happens to Anna and the rest of the gang. Also because it gets WAY better so excited to see that!

people who like ghosts or the supernatural. If you like the show Ghostbusters, this might interest you because it's also about a ghostbuster (though I really wouldn't know - I've never watched the show).