Review: How To Love by Katie Cotungo

How To Love by Katie Cotungo

Balzer + Bray, 2013

Like many other reviewers have mentioned – this book confused me. I feel conflicted, because I’m rating it 5 stars – for sheer enjoyment (I read it in one sitting last night!), but I’m also not sure I like the message it sends.

How to Love has been on my TBR list since I read the synopsis in the Chapter’s New & Hot Teen Fic section.  I actually jumped up and down when my hold finally came in at work (it took forever). I’m a sucker for teenage pregnancy stories, but it should also be noted that I find them a bit of a double edged sword. It is so easy to judge other’s decisions. Being a birth mother myself, I have this weird thing where I hate reading/seeing fictional stories about adoption, but I also become seriously enraged when young/surprise pregnancy stories fail to mention adoption as even an option.  And then, there’s also that whole thing where seeing/reading young women successfully raise their children makes me feel a little sad and guilty, but that’s just life, and I try to push through It (my own story worked out the way it’s supposed to).

So Reena has grown up with Sawyer as friend of the family, secretly loving him from a young age. Because she has a hard time talking about her feelings, her best friend is even unaware of the extent of her massive crush on him. This leads to a relationship between the best friend and Sawyer, much to Reena’s shock. (Spoiler) stuff happens, and eventually Reena begins a rocky relationship with Sawyer, who certainly has some issues of his own.

I love drama – I hate admitting that. I mean, I don’t crave drama in my own personal life, I swear, but in books and TV, I love me some good dramz. This book had plenty of it. I was hooked on Cotungo’s Reena voice from the first page. I love that – when you start the first paragraph of a book, and you just keep going – and going, and going. There were no boring bits to wade through to get to the good stuff.

The book is written in this flip-back-and-forth-format – two storylines running simultaneously side by side – “Before” chapters follow “After” chapters. One is the story of how Reena falls in love and begins her tortured relationship with Sawyer, which obviously ends with her pregnancy and his mysterious departure. The “After” is the current day story that starts with his return to town after 3 years.

So in the beginning, you don’t know the whole story – you don’t know the details of Sawyer’s problems, why he left, what he did when he was away or how much contact he had with his family.  Before I knew all this, I was pissed. I couldn't understand why she was even giving him the time of day, let alone letting him take care of her kid. This is where I've seen some reviewers fault the book.  But I thought it was a good, slow reveal. I might just also be a sucker for a broken guy, but as the story went on, I could understand why she was in love with him. She didn't make great choices – in her past relationship with him, nor with his return home (she seemed to forgive him so, so, quickly), but she’s only human, and so was he. If you’re a shades-of-grey-thinker, you might agree. If you’re more of a grudge holder, black and white thinker, you might hate Sawyer or Reena, and thus, this book. I didn't though. I couldn't stop reading it. I think it wrapped up well – a little predictable (and quickly, if I’m to be honest). But I liked the ending. I like a happy ending.

As long as you’re reading the book with the understanding that not everyone makes the right decisions – I think it was a great read. And isn't that life, anyway? People make mistakes, they have weaknesses and soft spots.  Sometimes stories are just stories – not every story in life is meant to be modeled after. Also, I think, Reena did have some admirable qualities. She was a great mom, if not a little emotional, but one can understand such reactions given the situation. I was glad she (sort of spoiler) eventually stood up for herself in the end with the parents in the story. Her whole “Oh, poor me, I’m the whore of Babylon” shtick was getting old fast.

The book left me with a weird feeling a heartache – for the way the “before” timeline ended, when Reena was very alone and pregnant. But, knowing the current day Sawyer and then the ending, I was comforted. They’ll obviously have a lot to talk about in the future, but I was happy with the (again, somewhat predictable) ending.  It was what I was rooting for, by the time I fully understood Sawyer.

Also – no mention of adoption. Strange, considering how Catholic the families were. There is one conversation where her friend Shelby tells Reena  “you know, you don’t actually have to do this …” referring to the abortion option, but Reena’s response is about how it’s already changed her life and how she loves the baby, etc.  This response answered the question for me – clearly she was into raising the baby, but I wish Shelby would have just included like, even just the word, “adoption” in this options conversation. Reena’s response would have answered both suggestions well.

All in all, a great, quick read. I’m still trying to think of other perfect read-alikes. My first suggestion would be Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen – teen pregnancy, BFFs, bad-influence-boy intense romance. I’ll update later if I think of another one. 

Review: Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil 

Peachtreee Publishers, 2013

I first heard about this book while I was at work doing research for a YA book list called "Around the World". I had been looking for YA novels set in various different countries around the world, and this must have popped up on one of my Goodreads lists for recent, country specific books ( I can't remember where, exactly). It had me immediately hooked with only the tiny Amazon.ca blurb - geeks, romance, World of Warcraft, and Princess Leia? I was sold! We didn't have it in our system, so I quickly put in a request for purchase for my branch with my selector. Does it sound like I'm bragging here? Haha, I might be! I get this weird nerdbrarian satisfaction from knowing that *I* was the person that suggested we purchase a certain book. Especially when it turns out to be awesome - screw the author, I asked my selector to BUY that sucker! Lol - I'm a narcissist for sure. Also kidding on the screw-the-author bit. Great writers (writers at all, really) are what makes my job even possible!

Being written by an Australian author, and set in Australia, this book also satisfied the "Australian" requirement for my current Quarterly Young Adult Book Club Reading Challenge. I would have read it anyway, regardless, though. I've been waiting anxiously for it to get through processing for some time now - had it on hold as soon as the record was available in Horizon. There's also some satisfaction in knowing that I was the first person to read my branch's copy.

Luckily, my anticipation was not let down - I LOVED this book! It wasn't really deep or surprising - occasionally predictable and cheesy, but I loved it for what it was. Great, nerdy, YA romance.  If you think about it - there really aren't enough books like this. It's nice to see books written about nerdy teenagers - I would imagine that many teens who are book gobblers are also nerds themselves, and of course it's always fun to see yourself reflected in a book's character. I find I notice this most often with emotional or family situations - these are what we talk about teens finding relatable in YA books. Occasionally I've read books about other readers, sure, but they usually seem to be more about the literally teen girl - Oh, I just love to read Wuthering Heights and Pride & Prejudice. Sure, those teen girls exist - but what about the pop culture video game nerd kind of girls (or guys)? This book fits that kind of teen, instead. 

Don't get me wrong - they don't actually even talk about reading, really (aside from school studying, and maybe a one-off LOTR reference). They aren't really book-nerds. Sam, the main character, is obsessed with scary movies, and wants to be a screenplay writer. He troubleshoots IT problems at school, plays World of Warcraft (squee!), and quotes movie lines like they're going out of style (oh, and he finds Princess Leia sexy - but who doesn't, really). He has a core group of friends: Mike - the karate champ who just came out as gay; Adrian, an overly enthusiastic hobbit-looking short and chubby guy, and Allison - a shy, quiet girl who is obsessed with Anime and all things Japanese (a girl after my own heart!). They are frequently bullied by the popular-cool kids. 

Camilla - the new girl in town, enters the scene and turns life upside down - her dad is big in the music scene - she has beautiful long hair that she wears in a number of different ways and wears cool, vintage clothes. She has loads of self confidence, and decides (much to their bewilderment) to be friends with our misfit nerd crew. They find out she also loves WoW, Star Wars, and even knows particular Strar Trek TNG episodes. 

The conversation between Camilla and Sam when she sees his WoW night elf screen saver was awesome - it felt real. I've had those conversations before - Do you play Wow? (excitement!) Errr... yeah (cautious, scared response, please don't make fun of me). It's always a little nerve wracking telling people you have a level 87 blood elf warlock, lol (which if you don't know WoW, isn't overly impressive or anything, it just seems to be those words themselves that make non-Blizzard people bawk). I enjoyed the way Keil wrote about the WoW interactions as well - in-game actions made sense, and I also liked that the dialogue stayed the same as regular dialogue - they didn't change the font or anything funky like that to differentiate WoW chat versus IRL convo - she used words to explain what was happening. It felt more organic and real. The only thing I disliked about her WoW-related storyline was the fact that Sam was ALLIANCE. Pft. Ridiculous. Booo. Especially as a slasher film enthusiast - I don't think Sam would have played Alliance, but, you never know. This wouldn't effect my star rating for the book at all, haha.

The novel plays out as you would imagine - there is a decent amount of teen angst - oh no, why are my friends leaving us alone together? I couldn't love her, could I? If I love her that changes my whole world! Same old, same old. But in a good way. Romance is romance is romance, right? You can only do it so many ways. I felt the angst was also believable for Sam's character, as well.

The nerd culture references were also well done - WoW, Battle Star Galactica, Star Trek TNG, Star Wars, Dr. Who, Lord of the Rings ... but they're dropped subtly. Not too much at once, so it doesn't look like Keil's trying too hard. 

Characters were well developed - I felt like I really knew the friends in Sam's group, and Camilla too. Perhaps the parents could have used a little more character-wise, but that's fairly norm with the YA genre. It's often an us-and-them mentality, which is the way it feels when you're that age anyway.  

I loved the bromance between Sam, Mike and Adrian. I love a good bromance in a storyline - it also makes the male lead more likable, I find, when you get to see how he cares for his friends, too. 

My only criticism - other than the Alliance bit (lol) would be the name-dropping. It drove me crazy - when Sam and Camilla talked to each other, they frequently started the sentence by using the person's name - "Sam, I'm bla bla bla" ... "Well, Camilla, you'll have to bla bla bla". I don't remember it happening with any other characters though - and upon further reflection, I think I made this very same criticism for another YA romance recently. It could actually maybe be a form of flirtation? It just felt weird. I could've used less names, I guess. But if that's how you flirt, to each their own!

Overall this was an awesome YA romance that I gobbled up in one night. I gave it a full 5 stars on Goodreads. There were many adorable moments - namely, without spoilers - I squee'd/laughed out loud at the blue-velvet-hat part (you could really feel the chemistry in this moment); I also loved Camilla's costume for the Spring Dance. You go girl. Let your freak flag fly! That was also a great moment of realism as well (don't we all cringe at those She's All That moments - she's taken off her glasses and has now had a make over! Whoa!). 

I'd recommend this book largely to anyone who likes cute, nerdy, YA romance  - which, to be honest isn't a huge genre, is it? So I'll go with cute YA romance. More specifically, I think you should read this book if you liked The Summer I Became a Nerd  by Leah Rae Miller and/or Lola and The Boy Next Door  by Stephanie Perkins: YA romances that also deal with teen angst over being yourself, even if that version of yourself differs from other people want/expect.