Book Review: Everlasting by Angie Frazier

Everlasting by Angie Frazier
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication date: June 1, 2010
ISBN: 9780545114738
Source: ARC from Traveling ARC Tours

Camille is not your typical 1850s girl.  She's grown up sailing the world with her father.  But, when she embarks with him on her last voyage before getting married, she doesn't expect that this trip will change everything in her life.  Her father is lost on the voyage, but she learns a secret about her mother, who she thought was dead, and a treasure that yields both great power and danger.  Will she be able to keep her father's business from debt, find this dangerous treasure, and be able to master her growing feelings for the handsome sailor Oscar, who is definitely not her fiance?

Things I Liked:
The adventurous parts were very fun - nothing like a sailing and treasure-hunting story to make a book thrilling.  When there were good sailing adventures or exciting parts, they were very good.  I was caught up in those particular parts.  The plot was quite twisty and kept me interested throughout, despite some of the slower parts (see below).  It definitely was what kept the book moving and held it together.  Camille was an interesting character, both wanting to please her father and live according to the expectations of the time, but also and wanting to be free of societal constraints. 

Things I Didn't Like:
I thought the fantastical elements surrounding the treasure were very underdeveloped.  The ending felt very rushed, not completely thought out and explained, and a bit too easy.  While Camille did have to make a difficult choice, I thought that it still kept her from dealing with death in a healthy way.  Also, while the overall plot was exciting, I did get bored at times.  There were some lulls in places that drew me back from the story.  But, a very good first novel and with some possibility for a sequel left in the ending.

Read-alikes:
A bit like The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
a very few

mrg-factor: X
innuendo for the most part

v-factor: ->
some fighting

Overall rating: ***

Do you have a favorite action-adventure story?

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Dystopian Winner!

I almost forgot to pick a winner for my Life As We Knew It contest!  Fortunately, I remembered.  So, the lucky winner is:

LLM

I've sent an email to you and hopefully I'll be getting this book to you as soon as possible!  Thanks everyone for entering and for reading dystopian lit!  I loved reading everyone's favorite things about dystopian books.  The most common thing I noticed was how it has some element of believability.  I wholeheartedly agree!  I think if it is too far removed from our current sphere, it loses some of its potency.  Also, many expressed gratitude for not living during those rough times.  It sure does make me grateful too!

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication date: February 2008
ISBN: 9780060890902
Source: Library

Waiting for normal is taking a lot longer than Addie wants.  She and her mother just moved into a tiny trailer in a new part of town.  While her mother spends her time online and in chat rooms, Addie looks on the bright side of things: she's made friends with the people across the street, her stepfather and stepsisters love to spend time with her, she gets to play flute at her new school, and she loves her pet hamster.  But, things start to get harder for her to smile about as her mom become increasingly absent in her life and she watches her stepfather start a new life without her.  Will she ever arrive at normal or will she always be waiting?

Things I Liked:
The best word to describe this book is bittersweet.  Addie stole my heart and the way she faced the difficulties in her life often broke it to pieces.  The way she sticks by her mother, also while realizing she is not doing much to help their lives, just makes you want to cheer and cry.  I think Addie is so real because, of course she'll defend her mother, of course she won't want people to know she's in trouble or alone.  You keep wanting her to tell someone so she won't have to deal with it anymore, but you know why she doesn't.  The book had me in tears in places, particularly when she decides she can't spend time with her stepfather and stepsisters anymore.  Addie, who is very young, acts so much older than her age, though you can see sometimes how young she is.  It was so sad to me that she had to grow up and basically care for her mom, when she should have been a little more carefree.  Sobering, inspiring, heart-breaking.

Things I Didn't Like:
I don't know if I disliked it about the book, but her mother really drove me mad!  Sometimes I wanted to slap her, but sometimes she really helped me understand how people like her become the way they are.  We all know people like her in our lives and they usually make us angry, especially if they have children they can't take care of.  But, I think this book helped me understand them better.  

Read-alikes:
Invisible Lines by Mary Amato
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: none

Overall rating: *****

This book made me cry, unabashedly.  What's a recent or favorite crying book for you?

Posted as part of Tween Tuesday, hosted by GreenBeanTeenQueen.

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage