The Beginning of Everything - Robyn Schneider

                                                   

The Beginning of Everything - Robyn Schneider 

Pages - 335 

Publisher - Katherine Tegen 

Rating - 2.5/5 stars 

Review:

I really, really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I swear. But I just couldn't, I couldn't even finish the novel, and the saddest part is that I really liked the main characters voice. A strong voice, a strong personality. This could have went over really well. But obviously, it hadn't.

The Beginning of Everything is about a golden boy, Ezra, (Cute name) who gets into a car accident the summer before his senior year, leaving him impaired, and no longer front man. He loses his girlfriend, his position on the Tennis Team, his group of friends, and his leg. Things were really looking down on poor Ezra. Enter the MSFTS, the people that wait for Ezra with open arms. More specifically, enter Cassidy, the typical hipster that Ezra just finds so SPESHUL. This is all about Ezra navigating an entire new world in an entire new social status.

My main problem with this book is that it was so cliche. The characters were more a cluster of over used traits, thoughts, and actions than actual characters. I hated how Schneider made it obvious that she thought her rag-tag group was WAAAAYYYYY better than those slutty, stupid ho/douche bags that are the Jocks/Cheerleaders. There were so many tropes, so little depth. The secondary characters were all flat, and had no life other than their life surrounding Ezra. They weren't, in my opinion, really fleshed out. They were there for one purpose, to move the plot along. It's completely unrealistic, especially for a novel driven by characters and their interactions.

The romance that would inevitably develop between Cassidy and Ezra is just. . .SOOOOOOOOOOOO STEREOTYPICAL. I don't like rereading contemporaries, and I have never read this book before, so tell me why it feels like I've read this book way too many times? Cassidy is the typical manic-pixie-dream-girl. She has one job, to lighten Ezra up. That's it. Cassidy's apparently smart, and funny, and pretty, and PERFECT yet she only exists in this two dimensional role as Ezra's Lady. It just didn't sit well with me.

Girl on girl hate.

Slut shaming.

Cliches, and tropes, and caricatures.

It was just all too much.

I would not recommend this to you unless you would like a rip-off John Green novel, this is a cluster-fuck of other well-known contemporaries. Aughhh. So disappointing.  

X RAMO 

Half Blood - Jennifer L. Armentrout { R E V I E W }

Half Blood - Jennifer L. Armentrout 

Pages - 281

Publisher - Spencer Hill Press 

Rating - .5 out of 5 stars 

R E V I E W: 

I am really, really, conflicted with what to rate this book. I actually really liked this novel, and it was a really kick-ass introduction into a new series that I would have been totally down with, if it hadn't already been done. This isn't me trying to hint at a cliche, because this isn't a cliche, a cliche would use certain plot, and character elements and interpenetrate them into whatever, and sure, they may have similar aspects of a novel, it is still its own novel. Not this book though, this book was an exact replica, like, i'm not even joking. It shouldn't be legal. 

For any of you who haven' t just stumbled across YA literature, the majority of you should be failure to the Vampire Academy Series, and if you haven't read it, you must have at least heard of it. Well, obviously, Armentrout heard of this novel, read this novel, then tried to write fanfic of this novel, then oops, she accidentally sent it for publishing. It just makes me so angry, that this can happen. And this work was exceptional, amazing really, and it was a total rip-off of one of the most recognizable series in current YA. Wow, Armentrout, Wow. 

I can't except this. I wont. I'll give this a .5 for at least writing your name, Armentrout, but nothing more. And I loved the Lux series, too. So sad. So, So sad. 

I would not recommend this book, go read the original. 

R A M O. 

The Truth About Alice - Jennifer Mathieu { R E V I E W }

The Truth About Alice - Jennifer Mathieu 

Pages - 208 

Publisher - Roaring Book Press 

Rating - 4.5 out of 5 stars 

R E V I E W:

It's very hard to find an original piece of work, period. Almost everything has already been told, all land has been discovered, any and everything worth mentioning has already been stamped with almost all available arguments, but this novel, this story rooted in 208 pages, told in multiple perspectives just blew my mind. 

This is the tale of Alice Franklin, Rumor has it that she is a slut, and after star quarterback, Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, rumor has it that it is all Alice's fault, Apparently she had been sexting Brandon while he was driving, leading to Alice's social downfall, and label as an outcast. Rumors run rampant, and with everyone having something to say, the only way to find the truth is to ask Alice herself. 

I think I cried after reading this, it sends such a powerful message about slut-shaming, and fragile social structures, as stated before, this is told in multiple points of views. From the "Most Popular Girl" in their school, to Alice's fellow Outcast, I absolutely loved this. A worry that I have when reading a book with multiple POV's is that the voices of the characters would muddle in my head, and that I would forget who was saying this, talking about that. That never happened, this book harbored five different narrators, and each one is distinct in personality, and voice, and thought process, and to add icing to the cake, Mathieu made the characters, and their reactions to this very realistic situation believable. This should be recommended reading for everyone. 

While I am on the note of positiveness, other things that went very well for this novel was the character venturing, and the depth each character had. This isn't just the story of Alice, everyone in this story may have something to say about Alice, but that isn't their extent, just like real human beings, they each had shit of their own happening, and they each had their own demons to slay. I, personally, enjoyed Alice's Ex Best-friends character the most. Her entire subplot just. . . Astonishing. Each character was very well done, and very hip-with-it. ( That was my way of saying CURRENT ) which is also another fear of mine when Author's write novel's dealing with these types of subjects. 

The one fault in this novel is the ending. It wasn't that I didn't like it, it was just that it wasn't enough. I'm all for authors leaving a story at it's resolve, but it wasn't resolved, or, at least not to me. Sure closure was handed out, but I didn't really feel concluded by the last page. Maybe it was just that I wanted more, personally. IDEK. 

I would highly recommend this to any, and everyone. Please read this, this is like, one of my third favorite novel of all time, right under Wintergirls, and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. 

GOODREADS

BUY IT NOW

TTYLXOX (Remember that song, though. ) 

R A M O.