Wake by Lisa McMann

Wake by Lisa McMann

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....

The description of this book makes it sound tons creepier then Wake really is. This sounds like she is sucked into a murder's or a rapist's dream. In reality - well I can't ruin the plot. It's just a little bit on the anti-climatic side.

The plot is excellent. The pace is excellent. I got completely sucked in. I wanted to know more about Janie - How'd she get this gift? What's going to happen to her? I can't wait to pick up Fade in the hope that more will be shared with us. The two leads are strong. Janie is an interesting character whose story is pleading to be told. Cabel defines the Transformers motto - "There's more than meets the eye".

I had one huge problem with the entire book. The writing style. It's extremely jumpy and blotchy. She writes. Her sentences. Like this. After a while I was able to stop caring about the way she wrote since the plot was so good. If either Fade or Gone is bad then reading them is going to be painful.

I also had a problem with how much drinking Janie did. My dad is an alcoholic so I have problems reading books where the leads knocks down booze without any consequence. I know a lot of teenagers drink (I myself have a fondness for margaritas and daiquiris, but I only have sips of my moms) but don't make it seem so easy or so simple. I know I just sounded like a hypocrite, but I don't know how to put my feelings on the subject into words.

Now back to the review.

Overall, pick this up from the library. I wouldn't want anyone to buy a book that they can't stomach reading. If you can tolerate the style, it's worth picking up.

B

I Know It's Over by C.K. Kelly Martin

I Know It's Over by C.K. Kelly Martin

Publisher: Random House
Category: Young Adult
244 Pages

Pure. Unplanned. Perfect. Those were Nick's summer plans before Sasha stepped into the picture. With the collateral damage from his parent's divorce still settling and Dani (his girl of the moment) up for nearly anything, complications are the last thing he needs.

All that changes, though, when Nick runs into Sasha at the beach in July. Suddenly he's neck-deep in a relationship and surprised to find he doesn't mind in the least. But Nick's world shifts again when Sasha breaks up with him. Then weeks later, while Nick's still reeling from the breakup, she turns up at his doorstep and tells him she's pregnant, and with his emotions and hopes crashing in around him, Nick finds himself struggling once more to understand the girl he can't stop caring for, the girl who insists that it's still over.

This book was really interesting. The cover doesn't do the story justice at all. I hadn't head much about this book when I picked it up. I knew it was a romance story. Nick was a triple threat - good looking, athletic, and actually used his brain. Sasha was the smart and sassy girl that could put him on his butt so fast he couldn't see straight. One day, Sasha leaves him. Then three weeks later she shows up and tells him that she's pregnant. Oh boy.

Nick was amazing. This is one of the first teen books I've read for a while from a guy's point of view. He made me smile throughout the book. Sasha on the other hand - I wanted to smack her so hard throughout the book. She's book smart, but outside school I just couldn't see it.

This is going to be real nit-picky, but I'll try not to spoil anything. Why were the only two options keeping the baby or aborting it? Where's the choice for adoption? I just thought Martin should have made that a choice too.

The story can be long and drawn out at times. It gets dull sometimes. This story will pull at your heart strings constantly.

B