The Miseducation of Cameron Post

The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Emily M. Danforth
470 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: library
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Cameron Post is a young woman growing up in the early nineties in the midwest.  Her parents died when she was twelve, but she still does the normal teen things: school, friends, swim team, but she has a secret: she likes girls not boys.  She explores this a little, but when Coley Taylor moves to town she develops a serious crush that has a lot of potential to move on to something more.  Of course, her aunt who has lived with her since her parents died is a born-again Christian and thus believes homosexuality is a sin that needs to be corrected, so when she finds out Cameron's secret, she sets out to "fix it" right away.

Here's what I really loved about this book - it was all encompassing!  The book starts when Cameron is young, just twelve years old, and follows her until she's sixteen.  It starts off with her first exploring her emerging sexuality and continues on through various girlfriends and rendezvous.  There are distinct sections to the novel: when Cameron was young, what it was like to live with her Evangelical Aunt as she continues to explore her sexuality, what happens when her Aunt finds out and sends her to a new school to try and "fix" her.  This book could easily have been split up into two or three books, a ploy I'm getting a little sick of in the publishing industry, and I was happy to have it all in one volume.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the time period it took place in as well as the setting.  I think both of those combined made the plot of the novel very realistic.  If you were gay in the early nineties in the midwest, I'm sure there would have been a lot of people who thought there was something wrong with you, not with themselves and their intolerance.  Cameron came off as very realistic as well; she struggled with being a little shy and having to hide her "problem," yet she was also just a normal teen with a quirky penchant for doll house interior design.

There was one small thing that bothered me, however.  I understand that not everyone can speak up and defend themselves, whether it be because they are shy or are simply trying to fit in, but I would have liked for Cameron to take an ideological stand against "curing" the gays.  If Cameron couldn't find it in herself to do that, I would have thought at least someone at her school could have.  It surprised me a little that no one did, though that didn't ruin the story for me.  Perhaps since the country is was less tolerant of the LGBT community at that time, I shouldn't have expected someone to take a stand at all.

Four stars!  Overall, I really enjoyed The Miseducation of Cameron Post.  I highly recommend this book as a standalone because it's so well-rounded, my only really complaint is, even though there will be no sequel, I want to know what happens next!  The book ends in 1993 and Cameron would be 35 in 2012.  What is she doing today?  I, for one, would like to believe she's leading a happy and fulfilled life.

6/12 complete!

In My Mailbox (33)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

FOR REVIEW:
Timepiece (Hourglass, #2) by Myra McEntire

 

PURCHASED: 

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

The Selection by Kiera Cass

SWAPPED FOR:

Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy

How to Moon a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale

The Chaos by Rachel Ward

 Total TBR: 170

My Life Undecided

My Life Undecided
Jessica Brody
296 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Source: Library
★★★☆☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Brooklyn considers herself "decisionally challenged" so when she accidentally winds up in jail for some bad decisions, she decides to give up on choosing for herself.  Instead, she starts a popular blog where she describes her situations and lets the Internet public decide for her.  But when it comes to her new love triangle, she's not sure the public knows what's best.

What I liked about the novel was how realistic it was.  The teenagers talked like teenagers and the adults spoke like adults.  There were a plethora of popular teenage activities in the novel, everything from typical girly primping, to rugby tryouts, to debate team.  And of course a game of Truth or Dare.

What bothered me about the book, however, was Brooklyn's character, who describes herself as "decisionally challenged."  To me that means someone who can't choose an outfit or a lipgloss color or where to go on vacation.  For Brooklyn it just means a lack of common sense leads to bad decisions, like the time she hosted an underage drinking party in her mother's model home, gets drunk, and tries to make fajitas with the fake rubber vegetables in the model kitchen, which of course leads to the whole place burning to the ground.  That's not "decisionally challenged," that's just plain stupid.  My only solace to Brooklyn's character was the ending of the novel.

Three stars - I liked it but I didn't love it.  I though the concept was kind of cool, but ultimately Brooklyn's character came off as just plain stupid and lacking common sense.  The book had it's moments, however, and I would recommend picking this one up either at a discount or from the library.

The Difference Between You and Me

The Difference Between You and Me
Madeleine George
256 pages
Publisher: Viking
Source: library
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

You know I'm going to read anything with Laurie Halse Anderson's endorsement on the cover.  I mean really, she's the queen of thought-provoking YA contemporaries.  But even before I knew she liked the book I'd been wanting to read it because the description really drew me in.

Jesse and Emily are complete opposites.  Jesse cuts hair with a swiss army knife into a short, boyish hairstyle and dresses in boyish clothing topped off with hideous fishing boots.  Emily, on the other hand, is VP of the student council and wears cardigans with pearl buttons.  But for some reason, they're drawn to each other and keep meeting each other in secret to make out.  But when an ideological issue draws them apart, will their "relationship" be able to withstand it?

I really enjoyed this quick novel.  I devoured in just a couple hours this afternoon and it was the perfect book to read all in one sitting.  I was hoping to see Jesse and Emily have a relationship, but really all they have is lust for each other.  (Don't worry, the book is not graphic!)  I was glad to see the storyline was much more than whether or not someone was going to come out of the closet, instead the book was more about what it's like to be a young person with a strongly held belief.

That was the part of the book I most related to.  I remember that feeling of being in high school and having an ideological belief that you feel you must take action on.  For my friends and myself that was starting a chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance at our school (only to be squashed by the blasted administration!)  For Jesse and her new friend Esther, it was stopping a Wal-Mart like corporation called StarMart from coming to town and killing all the locally owned businesses.  An admirable cause, to be sure and something my own neighborhood is currently facing.

Despite the book being written from both the points of view of Jesse and Emily, I felt like I got to know Jesse better than Emily.  I don't know if this was the author's intent, but I did feel more like rooting for Jesse, not that there was anything wrong with Emily.  I'm pretty sure she'll grow up to be a republican, but that's really neither here nor there.

Four stars!  Read this book and then give it to a friend who is passionate about a cause, any cause.  It will resonate with them.

 

Black Dawn (The Morganville Vampires, #12)

Black Dawn
Rachel Caine
367 pages
Publisher: New American Library
Source: review copy sent by publisher
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

When I finished Black Dawn, I shut the book and said out loud to no one in particular, "Oh my God, that was crazy, y'all!"  I received Black Dawn, the twelfth in The Morganville Vampire series, for review and despite having not read a single Morganville Vampire book before this, I was excited to read it.  After doing a little research on the series (during which I discovered I'm the only person in the world who hadn't started it yet) I felt confident enough to jump on in.

Morganville's residents, human and vampire alike, are facing a problem: the draug.  Enemies of the vampires, they are foul, odorous, moist creatures who feed off both humans and vampires, killing their victims in a cruel way.  Most of Morganville's residents have fled the draug epidemic, though pockets remain.  Now it's up to Claire, Shane, Michael, Eve, and a cast of other vampire leaders to fight off the draug, kill and/or drive them from town, and restore Morganville.

Despite having no knowledge of the plot threads or world Caine has built over the previous eleven novels, I didn't find it difficult to follow the plot.  I found the whole plot to be fast paced and enjoyable and even though I'd never met the characters before, I felt invested in their ability to fight off the draug.  Oh the draug, I've never read about anything like them before.  They really are foul, disgusting creatures and Caine does a great job with their descriptions; it made my skin crawl just thinking about how they lure you in with their song despite their vileness.  The post-apocalyptic-esque nature of the novel drew me in and the variety of points of view kept me reading.

Although, having never met them before, I occasionally had a hard time keeping some of the secondary characters straight, it did not hinder my reading of the book.  Every character in this novel is in high-gear; they have enemies to fight and they have to do it before the town is taken over permanently.  Despite the frantic pace of their mission, though, there are quiet moments and respites.  I found one scene in particular between Claire and Shane very touching; they make a sweet couple.  I adored the character of Claire, overall.  She's a well-balanced heroine who can kick-butt, but she also has a bit of a softer side.  I'm looking forward to getting to know her better as a I pursue the series.

On a side note, I thought the way Claire and her gang came up with the fight the draug was pure genius.  It was just so clever!

Five stars!  Black Dawn was an intense, fast paced glimpse into the Morganville Vampire world.  I will definitely be continuing on with the series and I'm looking forward to going back and reading the series from book one.  This world has me hooked.

Silence

Silence
Michelle Sagara
289 pages
Publisher: DAW
Source: review copy sent by publisher
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Based on the short blurb I read about Silence when I received it, I thought it was going to be about a teenage girl who visits the graveyard to talk with her ghost boyfriend.  I was wrong, Silence is so much more.

Yes, in Book One of The Queen of the Dead series, Emma visits the gravesite of her deceased boyfriend, Nathan, almost nightly.  But it's while she's there that she runs into the new boy from her class, Eric and a mysterious old lady who tries to give her a strange gift.  Soon after she's struck with terrible migraines, which soon turn into an ability see, touch, and speak to the dead.  Emma's a Necromancer and that means there are some higher ups who want to see her dead.  But all Emma wants to do is help the spirits, particularly a little boy who is stuck in the burning house in which he died.

This book was awesome!  The world Michelle Sagara creates within the pages is unique to anything else I've read in the paranormal genre and I really enjoyed it.  Sagara takes her time with the novel; we meet Emma and we learn about her life, her friends and slowly we begin to unravel her new Necromancer world along with her.  Instead of it being described to us in some background paragraphs, we get to learn about with with her, which I loved.  Additionally, Sagara writes a wonderfully detailed scene - I could picture the action very clearly while reading the book.

The characters in Silence were also fantastic.  Instead of Emma and her friends all having the same type of personality, they were uniquely different.  I really liked seeing Emma, Allison, and Amy work together even though they were from different social circles at school.  Michael was also a great character - it was heartwarming to see some of the more popular girls at school befriend an autistic classmate and it was refreshing to see such a character at all.  The only thing I felt was lacking was information about Nathan - we know Emma and Nathan were in love, but why?  I'm looking forward to reading more about Nathan in future novels.

In short, what I really loved was Silence deeper than other mainstream YA out there.  Sagara doesn't talk down to her YA audience, which is appreciated.  Instead, she draws them into an interesting new world and involves them.

Four stars!  The last two pages of the book have left me salivating for Book Two, which as far as I know has no title or release date scheduled yet.  Nevertheless, I cannot wait to continue on with this series, which I suggest you read because I'm sure it's going to be a hit.

April Recap

It's time for the monthly list of everything I read, whether or not it showed up on the blog or not.  I only got around to twenty books in April, even though it felt like I was reading constantly.  If you're interested in a book I didn't review on the blog, you can probably find a short blurb about it by me on my Goodreads page.

The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry
Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Envy by Gregg Olsen
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Fever by Lauren DeStefano
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
Talisman of El by Alecia Stone
Intangible by J Meyers
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Prom Dates to Die For by Mari Farthing
A Slave in the White House by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor
Silence by Michelle Sagara
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross
Black Dawn by Rachel Caine
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Total books read in 2012: 89
Total pages read in 2012: 24,518