All tagged Penguin

{Review} The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen

Sarah Moon
Books

You know that love-hate thing that everyone has with Julie Taylor on Friday Night Lights?

I had that same relationship with this book and with Ella, the narrator of Melissa Jensen’s The Fine Art of Truth or Dare. On one hand, she really is smart, and she matures throughout the story, on the other hand, like Julie, I didn’t find myself rooting for Ella to get the nice guy love interest, Alex, until the very end (kind of like Julie). 

Ella is a working with a  somewhat visible scar, on a scholarship at The Willing School, a wealthy private school in Philadelphia. Unlike her classmates, she lives in the neighborhood in which the school is located, where her family also runs a restaurant. In TFAoToD, we follow her as she navigates class differences, changing relationships with friends, mean girls, a research project about a dead artist and a budding relationship with her lacrosse star French tutor. 

Sounds like a lot? It is, even though the book is relatively lengthy for a contemporary YA at 380 pages.

There is, however, a lot to like in this novel.

{Review} Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Sarah Moon
Books

I don’t read a lot of novels in verse, nor do I read a lot about dance. The former is more because I don’t really know how to sift through the good stuff and the bad stuff, the latter because dance (especially ballet) kind of freaks me out—the body obsessive, intense grind of it is extremely disturbing to me. However, despite my reluctance with both of these elements, Audition was a fantastic read. 

Interesting Themes

Fish out of water, rural girl in an urban, sophisticated setting, is one of my favorites and it’s handled so, so well. Having lived that experience as a 17 year old, I appreciate when this is done well, and in a nuanced, non-stereotypical manner. Audition really nails the feelings of having the wrong everything—the wrong clothes, the wrong accent, etc. I haven’t seen this addressed in a lot of reviews, but it’s an important element. 

{Review} The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Laura
Books
FNL Character Rating: The guy that kept trying to rape Tyra.

This is harsh, I know, especially in comparison to the many rave reviews I’ve read.
However, I cannot abide by the effed up sex stuff & the attitude of Rhys Traehaern, the Iron Duke from the title. In my eyes, he is the prototypical abusive male. I guess some people might see Traehaern simply as an alpha male and find that attractive. I find him possessive, controlling & abusive, yet somehow making the object of his interest, Wilhemina “Mina” Wentworth, believe that’s what she wants.