Todd Mitchell: "Backwards"

Title: Backwards [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Todd Mitchell [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller, Contemporary with a Twist
Year: 2013
Age: 14+
Stars: 3.5/5
Pros: Fresh, well-executed premise. Great guessing game.
Cons: Lacks a strong emotional punch - though the very structure of the story accounts for that.
WARNING! Graphic depiction of suicide. Rape in the background.
Will appeal to: Those who like unusual premises, bookish puzzles, and stories about second chances - of the time-travel (but not sci-fi) variety.

Blurb: At the moment Dan's life ends, the Rider's begins. Unwillingly tied to Dan, the Rider finds himself moving backwards in time, each day revealing more of the series of events that led to Dan's suicide. As the Rider struggles to figure out what he's meant to do, he revels in the life Dan ignores. Beyond the simple pleasures of a hot shower and the sun on his face, the Rider also notices the people around Dan: his little sister, always disappointed by her big brother's rejection, his overwhelmed mom, who can never rely on Dan for help, and Cat - with her purple hair, artistic talent, and misfit beauty. But Cat doesn't want anything to do with Dan. While the days move in reverse and Halloween looms, it's up to the Rider to find out why Cat is so angry, and what he must do to make things right. (Amazon)

Review: As I already stated in the introductory section, this is NOT a sci-fi book, despite time travel being at its core. So you may probably enjoy it even if sci-fi is not your jam.

YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET

I'm fairly sure that you've never read anything like Backwards. Going back in time may be a pretty common book device, except I can't name another novel where not only the thing happens on a day-by-day basis - that is, every new day the narrator (the Rider) lives is, in fact, the day before, from start to finish - but the real protagonist (again, the Rider) is also unsubstantial and just a spectator at first; and later, when he tries to retroactively change what's to come, the flesh-and-blood character he's tied to (Dan) is oblivious of it - or even gets in the way. I know, this sounds like a mind-fuck...except it's easier to actually follow the story than to explain its logistics. Also, while the narrator tries to prevent a tragedy (that may not be the one we think it is in the first place) by slowly peeling layers of truth away and figuring how to influence things, we have our own mystery to solve - just WHO is the Rider, and how did he come to be? and are there any other entities like him? This makes for a fascinating read, even if Dan's everyday life is pretty average on the whole, and the Rider's interactions with...well, anyone are fairly limited at first. [...]

A.S. King: "Glory O'Brien's History of the Future"

Title: Glory O'Brien's History of the Future [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: A.S. King [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist
Year: 2014
Age: 14+
Stars: 3.5/5
Pros: Visionary novel that managed to anticipated the 45th U.S. Presidency climate. Quirky, deliciously caustic lead.
Cons: The premise is very far-out. But more notably, there should be no place for "sluts" in a self-professed feminist book.
WARNING! Suicide is often mentioned or discussed. There's talk of sex, though the actual thing remains offscreen. A gruesome picture is described in detail.
Will appeal to: Those who can go along with weird premises. Those who like honest characters with a dry sense of humour. Those who are worried about the current state of the world.

Blurb: Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities - but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions - and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: I'm sure that, had I read this one a few years ago (when I was less woke), I would have given it 4 full stars at least. Because I can relate to Glory, up to a point - the point where you feel like an outcast, but kind of enjoy the feeling because you secretly think you're better than most people. I used to be a closeted adolescent with zero friends, which turned me into a very much closeted middle-aged woman with almost zero friends. But here's the thing - I can still relate to Glory, only in a much less judgmental way. So here's the story of how I didn't gave this book 4 stars.

LET'S GET REAL

If not for that certain thing I've already addressed in the Cons section (and on which I'm going to comment more extensively in the next paragraph), Glory would be a relatable character - because, even if you're nothing like her, there's something liberating in a teen who takes no shit from the world and is able to see its faults AND to comment on them with a sharp, if dry, humour. Also, she's looking for answers about her mother's suicide and how it affected her life, and she doesn't know what to do about her future (which most teens, and even adults, don't either - except, most of the times, they go through the motions). And...as much as the author underlines her faults, Glory's friend Ellie is a well fleshed out character too, and if we can't actually relate to her (or we try to convince ourselves we can't), there's a lot of truth, but no actual malice, in her being oblivious to other people's (namely, Glory's) issues, or her inability to see the bigger picture - like about women's rights and feminism ("It's over. We got what we needed. We don't have to fight anymore."). Also, the "friends by necessity" dynamic is well explored in the novel, and much more nuanced that you would probably expect. [...]

Allison Rose: "Tick"

Title: Tick [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Tick (1st of 3 books)
Author: Allison Rose [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Sci-fi, Dystopian
Year: 2015
Age: 14+
Stars: 3.5/5
Pros: Not your usual dystopian. Never a boring moment. Romance plays a very small part in the story (which I think should be the case with a sci-fi book).
Cons: Main character is not easy to empathise with. Near-future L.A. and lead's relationships would have benefited from a little backstory.
WARNING! Very graphic violence and gore.
Will appeal to: Those who like action, conspiracies, stories about redemption, and tough girls who can cry nevertheless.

Blurb: Jo Bristol has a tick...she has visions of killing people. Los Angeles is under attack from cyber terrorists, and in an effort to stop them, the city uses spy drones to seek out civilians with brain abnormalities and adjusts their brains to remove any criminal tendencies. Jo has spent her life evading the drones and having her brain manipulated by keeping her tick a secret, until a week before her seventeenth birthday her visions threaten to become reality. Having always wanted to be a painter, Jo knows any adjustment to her brain could alter her artistic sense and she could lose all that makes her who she is. She must do everything she can to hide the darkness in her mind or lose her muse completely. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I won this book in a giveaway. And I did befriend the author on Twitter after that. She even commented on one of my posts. This didn't affect my review in any way.
I was sold on this book after I read the blurb. I so wanted to read the story of a girl who fights in order to stay who she is and preserve the very thing she values above anything else. Also, the art theme, in all its forms, is very dear to me. I ended up reading a book that soon took a different route than I expected, but it was gripping and entertaining in its own way. The only thing that prevented me from giving it a higher rating (apart from not getting the story I thought I'd read, but it's not like I meant to punish the book for that ;)) was the fact that I found Jo a bit hard to empathise with...but I suppose it couldn't be avoided, given what happens to her and the predicament she finds herself in. I reckon the author didn't give birth to Jo with the intent of creating a character you could connect with in the usual way - by putting yourself in her shoes. (That's just my opinion though). But since I tend to need to do that with my characters, it had an impact on my rating, if small. On the other hand, I highly appreciated the work and thought that went into crafting this story, and the fact that it didn't shun going to very dark places - and I'm sure most people would be more than willing to rate it four stars and more :).
Don't get me wrong, Jo is not your average love-to-hate character. Not the petty queen bee who takes pleasure in bullying schoolmates, or whose main interest is painting her nails à la mode, but who is forced to become a better person as the story proceeds. She's not perfect by any means, but just wants to be able to paint, and fights in order to preserve her vision. Too bad that there are other kinds of vision that plague her, and soon swallow her whole life, spitting out a nightmare. Things get very rough for Jo, but those around her pay a high price for that. One begins to question what tells her apart from your usual killers who claim they don't take pleasure in offing people, but simply can't help doing it again and again...until...Jo starts a path of redemption, and we get a final revelation (though still very mysterious) that makes us understand there's a lot more to her "killer instinct". [...]

Christopher Pike: "Die Softly"

Title: Die Softly [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Christopher Pike [Facebook | Goodreads]
Genres: Thriller/Mystery
Year: 1991
Age: 12+
Stars: 2/5
Pros: Believable depiction of a male teen...up to a point. Photography makes for an original plot device.
Cons: Unlikeable characters. Not particularly engaging prose. Some paragraphs could have benefited more editing.
WARNING! Some gruesome deaths. Sex is mentioned/implied; drugs are heavily featured.
Will appeal to: Those who love a classic teen thriller '90s-style...only a lot darker than average.

Blurb: Herb just wanted to photograph the cheerleaders in the school showers. He planted his camera high in the corner where no one could see it, and rigged it to a special homemade timer. He hoped that by Friday night he would have an exciting roll of film to develop. But a girl dies Friday afternoon. On the surface it appears to be nothing more than a tragic car accident. But when Herb finally does collect his roll of film, he develops a picture that shows a shadowy figure sneaking up on the girl who has died with a baseball bat. It makes Herb wonder if the girl was dead long before the car accident. But unfortunately for Herb, he doesn't wonder if the murderer knows he took the picture. (Goodreads excerpt)

Review: Well, yes, this isn't one of my favourite Pike books - obviously. I'll state my reasons for that in a moment. But one thing needs to be said in advance...even when YA was still in its infancy, Pike never shunned the darkest angles of human psyche, nor the most gruesome outcomes of human emotions. In a way, this book is mature YA, right because of that. On the other hand, it's still a kid of the '90s, in what it lacks sophistication and conciseness. The best teen novels out there nowadays would never spend pages describing the wiring of a camera to a tape recorder and their location on a ledge, or the development of a roll of film. Not cool ;).
But my main problems with this book are the characters and the tone. I'll get to the characters in a few lines...but I'm starting with the tone. The story is told in third person by Herb, an eighteen year old "nobody" (that's how he thinks of himself) with one single talent - photography. The chapters alternate between the past, when death struck Herb's small clique of friends and acquaintances, and the present ("In the End"), when Herb is on the phone with Sergeant Fitzsimmons, recounting the events. The book ends with an epilogue. Now, Pike's typical style is made of short sentences, on the descriptive side. While it works for his most interesting stories (especially those told in first person), it tends to get a bit dull and simplistic here. I get it that we are in Herb's mind, so the writing style probably mimics his mental processes quite accurately, but it also sets a flat tone on the whole. [...]

Kate Larkindale: "An Unstill Life"

Title: An Unstill Life [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Kate Larkindale [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary
Year: 2014
Age: 14+
Stars: 2.5/5
Pros: Honest depiction of first love/sexual orientation awareness. Synesthesia episodes make for a different, creative prose. 
Cons: Some convenient (if not often agreeable) occurrences piling up.  Inconsistencies with the side characters (they seem to change their opinion/stance too easily). Requires some suspension of disbelief.
WARNING! Underage sex (though not overly graphic). A couple of sexual harassment episodes. A self-harm instance. Book also features a terminally ill character.
Will appeal to: GLBTQ+ romance lovers. Fans of coming-of-age stories.

Blurb: Things at home are rough for fifteen-year-old Livvie. Jules, her beloved older sister, is sick again after being cancer free for almost ten years. Her mom becomes more frantic and unapproachable every day. Just when she needs them most, her closest friends get boyfriends and have little time for Livvie - except to set her up on a series of disastrous blind dates. Livvie seeks refuge in the art room and finds Bianca, the school ‘freak’. Free-spirited and confident, Bianca is everything Livvie isn’t. Livvie finds comfort and an attraction she never felt before with Bianca. When their relationship is discovered, Livvie and Bianca become victims of persecution and bullying. School authorities even forbid the pair to attend the Winter Formal as a couple. At home, her mother’s behavior escalates to new levels of crazy and Jules is begging for help to end the pain once and for all. While searching for the strength to make her life her own, Livvie must decide how far she’s willing to go for the people she loves. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I received this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. Here goes...
This novel touches many bases. First love. Sexual orientation awareness. Coming out. Bullying. Friendship. People drifting apart. Mental issues. Family issues. Sibling love. Terminal illness. Death. And of course, synesthesia. All packed into 220 pages. Maybe that's why I found it a bit difficult to suspend my disbelief about some of the events occurring here. Sometimes it sounds like too much is going on all at once. On the other hand, I can feel the author is striving for honesty about the love story and the people involved in it. And if you're looking for a first love tale where the sex element is only part of the equation, and the characters involved do, indeed, have more compelling reasons to be together, you have come to the right place :).
Livvie doesn't have a clue about being a lesbian. To be more precise, she doesn't seem interested in having a love life of sorts - she simply acknowledges that she's pretty invisible to the boys at school, but doesn't make much of it. She's not your typical loner though, because she's been friends with Hannah and Mel for years. Livvie's first crisis arises when the two of them suddenly get boyfriends and drift apart from her, while, at home, her sister Jules relapses into cancer after ten years. From here, all hell breaks loose. The girls' mother dotes on Julia, but is pretty uncaring when it comes to Livvie. And when Jules' doctor finds out that Livvie can't even donate her marrow this time, because of a tattoo that might have given her hepatitis, her mother crosses the line from indifferent to maddened. It doesn't matter to her that Jules is refusing treatments this time, aware that she won't make it anyway (while the mother herself refuses to admit it). In the meantime, Hannah and Mel obliviously try to drag Livvie into the dating game, pairing her with the worst specimens of the male gender. And in the middle of all this, Livvie finds herself drawn to Bianca, the school freak, who seems to be the only one who genuinely cares for her.
Now, I have some issues with this part. All the characters who play a part in Livvie's life at this point (except for Jules) seem to suddenly follow a rigid pattern in a way. Her mother hates (or, at best, resents) her; her friends are so totally engrossed in their love lives, they can't even see what's in front of them anymore. Bianca is always there when Livvie needs help (and she always seems to need it in a big way), like a deus ex machina. No wonder the poor girl ends up clinging to her. Undoubtedly, there's more than that to their relationship. Livvie and Bianca share a passion for art (and I really like what Larkindale did here), and Bianca is protective of Livvie, which is sweet; also, the attraction between the two of them is believably depicted. I only wish that Livvie had met at least a decent guy in the dates her friends set up for her, and that she weren't so helpless and dependent from Bianca. That would have added depth and (more) believability to their romance, making us feel like Livvie had chosen to be with Bianca, as opposed to falling in her lap, so to speak. One thing I did appreciate a lot, though - Livvie doesn't immediately identifies with a lesbian just because she's in love with a girl. She's aware that it may be this particular girl she wants to be with. Since she hasn't questioned her own sexuality for fifteen years, this sounds like reasonable and mature thinking. [...]

Katie Williams: "Absent"

Title: Absent [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Katie Williams [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife
Year: 2013
Age: 12+
Stars: 3.5/5
Pros: Bittersweet story, with a peculiar setting for an afterlife novel and some refreshing (if not totally original) elements.
Cons: Conflicts get resolved too easily. One of the twists is quite obvious.
WARNING! Deals with drug abuse and suicide (not graphically though).
Will appeal to: Those who can appreciate a quiet book with a purpose-driven character.

Blurb: When seventeen-year-old Paige dies in a freak fall from the roof during Physics class, her spirit is bound to the grounds of her high school. At least she has company: her fellow ghosts Evan and Brooke, who also died there. But when Paige hears the rumor that her death wasn't an accident - that she supposedly jumped on purpose - she can't bear it. Then Paige discovers something amazing. She can possess living people when they think of her, and she can make them do almost anything. Maybe, just maybe, she can get to the most popular girl in school and stop the rumors once and for all. (Amazon)

Review: This is a fairly short book - 184 pages. And an elegant one at that, with thin, smooth pages and a cute design. I'm not usually into these things much, but I couldn't help noticing, because in such respect, Absent is kind of peculiar.
We step into the story in medias res, with Paige already dead and hanging out with Brooke (a recently deceased schoolmate, who died of an overdose) and Evan (who doesn't volunteer any information about when and why he died, but admits he's been dead for a while). The three of them have stricken an unlikely friendship, since they are stuck in the school building where they all died. None of them can leave its boundaries - if they try to, they're snapped back to the spot where their life ended. For Paige, said spot is a portion of the school roof, where she banged her head before taking the plunge. Also, apparently, this is the only place that actually feels solid to her. Now, Paige has a problem: her classmates are convinced that she jumped on purpose. What's worse, her best friend thinks so too. What's even worse, Paige doesn't know how she died herself - the only thing she's sure of is that she didn't choose to die. Because, why would she? So Paige embarks on a mission: clearing her own name. In the process, she will discover startling and not-so-startling truths about her friends, living and dead - but ultimately, more than anything, she will grow as a person, if a dead individual can do that.
Despite its shortness, the pace of this book is quite relaxed. The characters are not particularly developed, but not to the point of feeling bidimensional. The only real problem I had with them is, they seem to accept Paige's possession too easily, as if the things she makes them do were already lurking inside them, and only waiting for her to force them out. Also, some characters seem to change too easily - their conflicts (both the interior and exterior ones) too effortlessly solved. That's what brought my rating down a bit. [...]

Kate Spofford: "The Art Kids"

Title: The Art Kids [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None (but there is a companion novel, featuring some of the secondary characters in TAK and titled after one of them: Bethany Caleb. Look for it: on Amazon | on Goodreads)
Author: Kate Spofford [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary With a Twist
Year: 2013
Age: 12+
Stars: 3/5
Pros: Heartfelt and genuine. Refreshing, because of the art-related setting. Faces crucial themes without wallowing in angst.
Cons: The main secret doesn't hold for long - though this won't probably detract from your reading pleasure. Large amount of (often idle) details in the first chapters. A few annoying attitudes. A few mistakes slipped through revision. 
WARNING! Some characters deal with depression and self-harm; others do drugs or get drunk.
Will appeal to: Those who are into visual arts (especially painting). Those who have an introspective streak. Those who know what a close friend is. Those who feel inadequate. Those who don't quite fit in.

Blurb: Sophie thought her senior year was going to be the best. That was before the new girl Laney arrives in her art class. Now, instead of good times hanging with her friends, everyone is acting strangely. Paul is angry all the time, Kevin and Jenna aren’t quite the perfect couple anymore, and everyone is ignoring Evan. Sophie knows there's something different about the new girl. Something that seems to be tearing her group of friends apart. When Evan starts dating Laney, it looks like the end of the Art Kids… but maybe Sophie isn’t seeing the whole picture. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I received this novel via the Making Connections YA Edition group on Goodreads (ARR # 303 - I think there are still copies left currently, if you are interested) in exchange for an honest review. Also, the author is on my Goodreads friend list (due to our sharing an interest in a certain writer's work), but this didn't influence my review in any way.
It's difficult to review this book without giving away something massive. I have probably spoiled it enough already just by using the "Contemporary With a Twist" label. On the other hand, while I'll admit that I was able to uncover the big secret pretty early in the story, this didn't deprive me of my reading pleasure...I'd go as far as saying that it was someway enhanced, because I was able to get deeper into the story, knowing what I knew. Anyway, I only got part of the secret right. I will entertain you with my original assumption at the end of this review (and don't worry, the big spoiler button will prevent you from accidentally stumbling into it, though I won't even address the differences between my original theory and the ultimate truth...).
First off, TAK is split into four parts (plus an Epilogue) with catching titles: Abstract Idea, Mixed Media, Still Life and Self-Portrait. They serve the purpose of describing four different art assignments the class is given through the year, but on a deeper level, they also give us powerful clues about the main character's state of mind and predicament. The book is probably set in the late 90s, because neither cell phones nor PCs are mentioned (or to be more precise, PCs are at one point, but they're also dismissed as "unnecessary" by a parent). Another reason why I date this book to be from the second half or said decade is something that happens toward the end...and that I can't mention because of my no-spoiler policy. Anyway, I didn't even noticed the technology issue at first, because TAK deals with timeless problems and struggles teenagers have to face, regardless of the time frame.
The Art Kids (or Art Freaks, as they are mercilessly called by the popular clique) are a group of high school friends who take part in the Art Club as an extracurricular activity. We follow Sophie (the narrator), Evan, Roger, Paul, Kevin, Jenna and Jeff, plus a few of their classmates, during a whole school year (with some flashbacks thrown in the middle). Also, in the very first page, we are introduced to a character whom Sophie calls "the new girl" (only later we are to discover that her name is Laney)...I can't really say much about her, because it would spoil the novel big - anyway, it's clear from the start that Laney and Sophie share a history of depression and self-harm. Spofford does a good job in not revealing the reasons behind Sophie's state of mind and self-destructive streak early in the novel - reasons that actually date way back, well before the "incident" that will be revealed in the last pages. [...]