Mini Reviews: YA Catch Up

Here are some YA novels I need to play catch up on.  I thought I'd do some short mini reviews in an effort to share what I've been reading.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth--In book two of the Divergent series, we find the fall out from the simulation and Tris trying to deal with her initiation into Dauntless.  Book two picked right up where the first left off and there is a lot of back and forth in this one.  We learn more about the role of the other factions and find that there is still a lot of intrigue confusing Tris about who is good and who is bad, who could be right and who could be wrong.  I really liked this installment, but will say that at times I was exhausted by what was not shared between Tris and Four.  I found myself yelling at Tris to just trust Four and tell him what was really going on!  Since I have just started Allegiant, I happen to know that will come up again, so I will be hearing more about that later on...  Still, an amazing read.  The last 75 pages or so really locked this one in for me.

Everbound by Brodi Ashton--Yet another second book in a series, this is the next in the Everneath series.  Book one, based on the Persephone story continues here with Nikki grieving her boyfriend Jack and his sacrifice for her into the Everneath.  How can she explain his disappearance and how can she get him back?  In this installment, Nikki has to enter the Everneath and figure out how to stay connected to Jack.  While I sometimes got confused with the layout of the Everneath at times, by the end, I was shocked and flipping pages like crazy to find out what was going to happen!  This is an exciting follow up to book one and not a disappointing sophomore follow up at all.  In fact, I'm eagerly waiting for the third book.

Out of Line by Jen McLaughlin--Technically considered "New Adult" more than Young Adult, this was a book I had seen discussed a bit online, so I decided to read it and give it a try.  I'm not sure I should have done that though, as my reading experience was a bit painful.  The story was about Carrie, the daughter of a Senator being tailed by Finn, the Marine.  However, Carrie thought she was away at college and free, not realizing that she was being tailed by secret protection.  Finn and Carrie became friends and then more than friends, but then how could Finn tell Carrie that he was being paid to protect her? Honestly, I really should have stopped reading this book around page 50.  The story became pretty predictable and I found it irritating that the lies and sexual tension were the main crux of the story.  I understand that the heightened tension, adult situations, and age of the characters all put it in the category of New Adult, but I can't shake the predictability of the story or the non-stop lies that kept the story rolling. 

Review: Hopeless by Coleen Hoover

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever."

Review:  In the realm of realistic, new adult fiction, this was a definite character study that I'm guessing one could be obsessive about.  There is an emotionally deep love story here, and two characters you feel you know quite well.  Sky has a past, Holder has secrets, and together they have chemistry.   But, can that mend the adult-sized drama that is unfolding?  That's the question that kept me flipping pages until I'd read the novel in one sitting.  The dramatic twists in this young/new adult tale left me feeling like the car ride I was on had dramatically left the roadway and was veering its way through alleys, side streets, and gullies.  In the beginning of the novel, it felt like other young adult stories, with the girl who meets the boy, the two become smitten and a little intrigued with one another, and then starts hanging out.  Then, she learns something shocking about her past and it takes a much more adult turn.

I really wanted to like this book, especially after the gripping reviews I'd read, but it felt overly dramatic with its many twists and turns. Honestly, I think I might just be wearing out with "wounded soul" story lines.  I did like the characters and the mysterious premise around the young relationship, but will admit to feeling worn out by all the turmoil.  Sky is a likable girl, and Holder is a smitten boy who seems almost unreal in his devotion.  Perhaps their sweet love is just too good and has to be challenged? 

Before I start talking myself in circles, I'll just sum it up.  Hopeless isn't a bad read at all.  A little adult in some of its themes and scenes, these lend it the drama that affects the characters' relationship.  Admittedly, I got sucked into the story, but also felt pretty exhausted by its twists and turns.  

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based on a personal copy of the novel. 

Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

I'll admit that I was a little late to the "New Adult" conversation that started to be all the buzz last year.  After catching a few conversations via book blogger posts and Twitter conversations, about all I knew was that one group felt that teens should not be exposed to mature material nor a genre that seemed to be focused on adult content in a YA setting, versus those who felt that the "New Adult" stamp would merely steer sensitive readers away as well as give a voice to those "tween" ages that move from high school to college.

Since I was unfamiliar with it all, I decided to read Easy by Tammara Webber, since I had seen it mentioned quite a bit in these conversations.  Let me just say that it really grabbed me from the get go and gave me a little more understanding of the subject of "New Adult."  Let me share a bit about Easy, since the title definitely makes it sound a bit scandalous!

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night - but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy."

Review:  This is a definite tale of facing ones fears in the best way one can, through action.  Jacqueline has a near rape experience one night after leaving a party.  Thankfully she is rescued by stranger, but a stranger that ends up being in one of her college classes.  Not only does she have to live with and face an unreported assault by a guy she knew, but now she also has to face the guy who witnessed it and saved her.

As you can gather, there is a lot of tension between Jacqueline and her hero.  Yes, he saved her, but he also knows what happened and that she didn't report it.  She is scared, but also finding her hero, Lucas, to be this person she grows to trust and fall in love with.  There is an interesting boundary between fears and intimacy in this novel.  Jacqueline is wounded and fearful of another attack, but building a relationship with Lucas that walks the line between pain and romance; he knows a lot about Jacqueline, but is in love with the girl and not the "damsel in distress."

Before I started to see the trend of I'm-in-pain-now-save-me/I'm-wounded-now-love-me that is so prevalent in New Adult stories, I got sucked right into Jacqueline's emotional turmoil.  You could sense that her emotions were all mixed up with the original assault and potential repeat by the creeper, but mixed up with a new romantic relationship.  How in the world was the girl to think straight?  Besides, from all accounts, Lucas is the bad-boy emo type that you never knew you wanted to date.  He is sexy, suave, and sensitive.  How could she not fall for him and seek his protection?

Yes, as a New Adult story, there is some mature content that had me too squeamish to share it with my high school students.  I can't say that it doesn't have a place for some students, as their life experiences are very different from some of their counterparts.  It does seem that the New Adult label is at least a good warning to those not wishing to be exposed to more adult content.  In Easy, the mature content was what might naturally occur between two college-aged students, so I think a more mature audience might also be in order.

Overall, I really liked Easy with its heightened emotions and mix of pain, fear, and love.  It was a complex story, but one that was gripping and probably needs to be told.  As a female reader, I found myself asking "what if" in the assault case.  How would I respond?  Who would I turn to?  What would it force me to evaluate in my own life?  Easy forces us to consider that "what if" and to stay open to the option of love.  This was a gritty read that you have to be ready for, but as for pure story and characterization, I thought it succeeded.

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based on a personal copy of the novel.

I'm not trying to open a Pandora's Box here, but what are your thoughts on the New Adult trend?