What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

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strawberryblondie

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I'm about to start Anna and the French Kiss

Also my 12-year-old brother is reading The Hunger Games. Every time he finishes a chapter, we discuss it which has been pretty awesome.
 

Lydia Sharp

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Has anyone read I AM NUMBER FOUR and/or going to see the movie this weekend? My husband read the book a few months ago and LOVED it, and we're going to see the movie on Saturday. I haven't read the book yet so I'll be seeing the movie first... not sure if that's good or bad.

Anyway, I picked up KEEP ME IN YOUR HEART today at Borders (so glad I still have a Borders to go to, for now). It is three of Lurlene McDaniel's novels in one book (SAVING JESSICA; TELLING CHRISTINA GOODBYE; LETTING GO OF LISA). I love those kind of books--they're like novel-anthologies. And since the novels within are usually a few years old, the books are uber-cheap.

This is the first I've read of any of her work, so it was kind of a risk for me to purchase. But seriously, how can you go wrong getting THREE novels (the book is 600+ pages) for $9.99 in a brand new release? I don't care if all the stories end up sucking really bad, the cover alone was worth the ten bucks.
 
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warofthesparks

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Has anyone read I AM NUMBER FOUR and/or going to see the movie this weekend? My husband read the book a few months ago and LOVED it, and we're going to see the movie on Saturday. I haven't read the book yet so I'll be seeing the movie first... not sure if that's good or bad.


I'd say see the movie. The movie reviews are almost as negative as the book reviews. The book has plot holes galore, and the writing style leaves much to be desired. If you're an adult, I would steer clear of it, as the book was written in a way that even school-age kids might find juvenile. Some people enjoyed the book. Others didn't. I happen to be in the "Others" category.


Besides that, the book is co-written by James Frey, he who was shattered into "a million little pieces" by the swift hammer of Oprah. Basically, "I Am Number Four" is the product of a sweatshop constructed by Mr. Frey himself, who payed the co-author $250 and made him give up his rights to the novel. The book series was designed specifically to be the "NEXT BIG THING" (Since when has the "NEXT BIG THING" been planned?) For the entire story, visit this link:

http://nymag.com/print/?/arts/books/features/69474/

Any "author" who does that to struggling students will not have my business--movie, book, or otherwise. Needless to say, I won't be picking up the sequel, which is due out this August.
 

adktd2bks

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I reserved I am Number 4 at my library before I heard about all the stuff with Frey. I was number 40 on the list. That was three weeks ago - I just got a confirmation saying it was ready, which means either that my library system is all screwed up or that a lot of people took it off their request list. Not sure if I'll bother to pick it up now after all the hype. Then again, I didn't buy it.
 

Parametric

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Has anyone read I AM NUMBER FOUR and/or going to see the movie this weekend? My husband read the book a few months ago and LOVED it, and we're going to see the movie on Saturday. I haven't read the book yet so I'll be seeing the movie first... not sure if that's good or bad.

Tastes like cardboard. Cardboard plot, cardboard writing, cardboard characters.
 

Smish

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Tastes like cardboard. Cardboard plot, cardboard writing, cardboard characters.

I've heard that from most people who've read it.

But then a friend who is a librarian and generally has good taste told me she enjoyed it. :Shrug:

I doubt I'll ever read it.
 

BlackBriar

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I am reading Tomorrow, When the War Began. Good so far.

Tastes like cardboard. Cardboard plot, cardboard writing, cardboard characters.

Ouch. And it was close on my to-read list too. :( Oh well, to the back of the line.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Yeah, i am number 4 the book was super suckorama with crap sauce. Dumb premise, dumber explanation of premise, awful whiny emo protag, dumb characters, minimal boring action, bad use of superhero and alien and teen drama tropes. It strongly feels conceived and written cynically by someone with no love or respect for either sf or ya genre--which it was.
 

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I also did not love I am Number Four -- it kinda read like an action movie screen play, and the thing that bugged me the most was the girlfriend character -- she was so BEAUTIFUL, she like PHOTOGRAPHY, she needed to be SAVED a lot. Booo! Let her do something aside from be pretty and in peril!

Elissa Marie
 

hyz

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I have CANDY by Kevin Brooks ready to start, and I've just finished PERFECT YOU by Elizabeth Scott. Vastly different reads, but I'm totally stoked for both. Elizabeth Scott's writing is awesome.
 

PollyAnna

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Finished Match3d and: gak. About as subtle as a crowbar upside the head. And bad world building. And couldn't care less about the MC or LI. Just gak.

Started Raised by Wolves (looking at YOU Parametric) and I like so far...
 

Parametric

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Started Raised by Wolves (looking at YOU Parametric) and I like so far...

Hope you enjoy! I thought RA1SED BY WOLVES was the perfect response to books like Rachel V1ncent's STR4Y (werecats) and Andr3a Cr3mer's N1GHTSHADE (werewolves).

It seems to be a rule that werewhatevers must live in incredibly patriarchal, repressive cultures. Women are treated like sex objects, physically weak, useful only for breeding. The protagonist, who is invariably young and female, is dominated and controlled by men to a creepy extent. In STR4Y the protagonist is literally kept in a cage in her father's basement; in N1GHTSHADE the protagonist is ordered to make herself sexually available to the future husband chosen for her. That's not a problem in itself, but the authors' critiques of these cultures are really incomplete and unsatisfactory. It's like the authors don't recognise just how bad a situation they've created. We're presented with apparently happy endings in which the protagonist has come to accept patriarchal rule (STR4Y), or has exchanged one form of domination for another (N1GHTSHADE). It's frustrating to read and I'm used to being disappointed by these books. So when I saw the whole patriarchal situation unfolding again in RA1SED BY WOLVES, I started rolling my eyes.

I was wrong. So wrong. :tongue The story engages with issues of self-determination and empowerment in a way I found painfully lacking from similar books. The protagonist takes on an entire culture - she not only breaks her own chains, she empowers others to break theirs. Kind of like Buffy. She basically starts a social revolution. And it's really, really satisfying. :LilLove: (Plus, kickass mother-daughter relationship ftw.)
 

adktd2bks

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Finished The Iron King. Slow starter, but once it picked up I enjoyed it. I haven't read a whole lot of fey stories so maybe that's why I didn't find it as predictable as others may have. I thought the description was really good, and i loved the character of the cat. Although when the MC was swearing it felt out of place somehow? Weird. I'll probably pick up the next one if I see it in the library.

On to Kristin Cashore's Fire now.
 

Smish

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I actually haven't started If I Stay, yet. I've been rereading Looking for Alaska. I've read the book many times, and still I can't help but laugh out loud and choke back tears.
 

Sage

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Did anyone (I mean, I know they did) read Beastly? What'd you think? The commercials for the movie are intriguing me.
 

Kitty Pryde

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I liked the previews for "Beastly". Only, do I have a problem, or does the "beast" not look very beastly at all? I'd date him if he was nice. He looks awfully punk-rock, I bet he'd have no problem picking up a sexy pierced and tattooed alternative girl. False dilemma, film-makers!
 

Smish

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I liked the previews for "Beastly". Only, do I have a problem, or does the "beast" not look very beastly at all? I'd date him if he was nice. He looks awfully punk-rock, I bet he'd have no problem picking up a sexy pierced and tattooed alternative girl. False dilemma, film-makers!

That was my thought, as well. He's not quite beastly enough...

I've seen uglier people get dates. :D
 

Smish

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DrummerGirl mailed me Graffiti Moon and I got it today. Thanks! :D

So, If I Stay is going to have to wait a little longer...
 

DrummerGirl

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ARgh, I've been sick for a month and couldn't read ~ and now that i can read again I seem to have lost my YA mojo :(.

Have read 4 adult fiction books and am now 80 pages into Going Bovine and just. can't. keep. going. Maybe I'm just in a funk ~ but I really can't seem to get into it. Thinking of abandoning it... Does it get better?
 

BethMac

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I just finished Prep and before that The Sky is Everywhere.

Loved Sky, it was amazing.

Prep has no real plot but I got sucked into the angst. Fish or Cheese???
OMG- I was sick to my stomach for Lee.
 

adktd2bks

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ARgh, I've been sick for a month and couldn't read ~ and now that i can read again I seem to have lost my YA mojo :(.

Have read 4 adult fiction books and am now 80 pages into Going Bovine and just. can't. keep. going. Maybe I'm just in a funk ~ but I really can't seem to get into it. Thinking of abandoning it... Does it get better?

Drummer girl!!! *big hug* Going Bovine is very very slow, and very heavy on description. I skimmed through about 50% of it. It's a great concept, just not quite there on delivery. Maybe come back to it now and then?

Great seeing you around again. :)
 

Senora Verde

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Did anyone (I mean, I know they did) read Beastly? What'd you think? The commercials for the movie are intriguing me.

I thought the character of the Beast was well developed and his internal changes were shown clearly. But I thought the book stuck TOO closely to classic Beauty and the Beast stories, to its detriment. I never could buy into the romance after the Beast holds the 16 yo girl captive in his mansion in order to get her to love him. ICKY!

When I complained about this to a friend who'd read it, she said, "but that's what happens in Beauty and the Beast!"

So if you want an exact retelling of the story in a modern setting, you'll probably like it.

I also thought the moral of "beauty is on the inside" was a little heavy handed.

In the book, he' an actual beast, with fur and claws and a snout. In the preview I saw, he just looks scarred. so, who knows what else they've changed for the movie. It might be a cool movie if they get rid of the holding-someone-prisoner=romance.
 

hyz

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Have read 4 adult fiction books and am now 80 pages into Going Bovine and just. can't. keep. going. Maybe I'm just in a funk ~ but I really can't seem to get into it. Thinking of abandoning it... Does it get better?

Everyone I know who reads YA absolutely loves Going Bovine, so I don't know! Keep reading! It might get better for you. I haven't read it yet (I'm always nervous about reading books a lot of people like, because I usually wind up being super unimpressed)
 

Smish

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ARgh, I've been sick for a month and couldn't read ~ and now that i can read again I seem to have lost my YA mojo :(.

Have read 4 adult fiction books and am now 80 pages into Going Bovine and just. can't. keep. going. Maybe I'm just in a funk ~ but I really can't seem to get into it. Thinking of abandoning it... Does it get better?

Yayy! DrummerGirl is back! :D

But I can't believe you've lost your YA mojo. Find it. Immediately.

I haven't read Going Bovine... because almost everyone I know who's read it said they had to struggle to finish it (or skimmed huge chunks of it). So, ditch it for now, and pick up something else.
 
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